Christmas Celebrations

We've had 3 of our 4 Christmases so far this year. We still have one more this weekend in Greensburg, so I'm sure I'll have more stories to share from that one, but here's the run-down of the 3 we have had already.

The 20th we spent time in Greensburg for an extended family Christmas at Aunt Beth's house. We had a good time watching all the little kiddos open up their gifts. Leyton was pretty excited about his Cars tent he got for his room. We finally got it out yesterday and he begged me get inside with him. Let's just say we both didn't fit. Last night Daddy had to take a turn. I think he pretty much wore the tent as a shirt.

We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas day in Holland with Josh's family. We woke Leyton up with the video camera and, after figuring out what was going on, he took off running upstairs to see what Santa had brought him. He was so excited and immediately started looking for the castle and dragon he was sure he would be getting. Santa saved that one for last! At first, he wasn't sure about it...but now he is loving it!

Jada was content sitting with GG for the morning while Josh and I opened her gifts. GG did a great job showing Jada all her new stuff! [Look at those chubby cheeks! :)]
On Saturday, we headed to Pioneer, OH for Josh's extended family Christmas. We had a white elephant exchange for the adults and the kids exchanged gifts as well. I came home with a hospital water jug. Josh got two Cleveland Indians mugs. Leyton was very happy with his new race car trailer. The kid has more toys than he knows what to do with and I'm sure he's going to come home with more from Mamaw and Pa this weekend. Jada had no clue what was going on, but still got all kinds of cute outfits, teethers, baby dolls, and even her first purse! She was stylin' on Saturday in her new sweater dress!

Sunday, we spent the afternoon in the SNOW! Lots of snow. We took Leyton sledding. He loved it! I took a video while the two of us went down the hill, but unfortunately I have no clue how to download it to the computer. I'll have to have Josh teach me that one and I'll share it with you. [If there is anyone that even reads this!] I was able to take a few pictures too though.

This is the trail on the way to the top of the hill. Quite the scene!

We made it to the top!Emily, Elizabeth, and JonathanLeyton and Uncle Jonny getting set for take off.

I would say we have definitely had a successful Christmas holiday. We have been lucky enough to be able to spend time with both of our families. I hope everyone else has enjoyed their holiday as well!

Thoughts

I went to the funeral of one of my patients yesterday. I don't go to many of my patient's funerals. Actually, this was the first funeral I've gone to, but I have gone to two other patient's calling hours. Like many other people, I wouldn't say going to a funeral is one of my most favorite activities, but this funeral was one of the best I have attended...if there is such a thing. The life of this man was definitely celebrated, and what a great life it was. I always think that I wish I had the opportunity to meet some of the people I have been privileged to take care of prior to them becoming sick with cancer. I have met some of the most amazing people during the past [almost] 5 years I have been an oncology nurse. I can only imagine how their lives were before they got the devastating news of a cancer diagnosis. Even in the midst of battling a horrible disease, these people are always so positive and uplifting. Someone said yesterday during the funeral that [we'll call him T] had every reason to be bitter and angry at the world, yet he was always the exact opposite. The first person to have a smile on his face, the first person to have encouraging words...even when the doctors told him from day one that he was terminal. It's amazing the attitudes of these people. I am seriously inspired every day I'm at work. I'm pretty sure that's just one reason I love my job. People always ask how or why I would want to take care of cancer patients. Isn't it sad? Yes, it definitely has it's sad moments...but it also keeps life in perspective. It constantly reminds me that life can change at the drop of a hat. You never know what tomorrow will bring. That's why we have to live every day with purpose.

Thank you, T, for teaching me how to live life. Your life was a great inspiration to many people.

First Christmas

This was Leyton's first Christmas. 3 years ago, already. It really doesn't seem possible that this is his 3rd Christmas. It seems crazy, actually.

But, really, this year seems like his first Christmas. He LOVED seing Santa this year---all 3 times so far. He has LOVED waking up the past few mornings to snow being on the ground. He has LOVED seeing Christmas lights when we drive down the road. And, he is LOVING seeing Christmas presents under the tree. Actually, he said it best just last night. "I love Christmas time, Mom!" [What 2 1/2 year old says that?!]

I can't wait to see his face Christmas morning when he sees that Santa has brought him new toys! Hopefully Santa finds the castle, dragon, and fighter he wants. After all, he's asked him for it 3 times!

For my sister...on her [almost] 30th birthday!

The first memory I have with my sister I was being chased around the yard by her. She loved to chase me with her big, googly eyes. It scared me but made her laugh. She apparently got a kick out of it. What big sister wouldn't, I guess?

A few years later, I remember going on a camping trip with the whole family. I have no recollection of where we were, but I remember a campsite and a lake. Lindsey and Jeni decided it would be fun to go to the other side of the lake...without me. Me, being the little sister, wanted to follow...so I took off running to catch up to them. I fell and gashed my leg open on a tree stump. Many stitches later, I now have a nice scar on my right knee as a forever reminder of that trip. [Pun, intended.]

I remember when I was 8 and our grandma lost her battle with lung cancer. I remember waking up that morning freaking out because I thought we were late for school. Lindsey sadly told me we weren't going to school that day, that mom needed to talk to me, and she escorted me down the stairs to mom. I got the news...with my sister by my side.

In high school, I was a measly freshman while Lindsey was a senior. Of course, still being the little sister, I always wanted to follow her everywhere...out to dinner with friends, taking a drive through the woods, shopping--anywhere. Wherever she was going, I wanted to go along. I remember her being extremely annoyed when Jody would be on my side and talk her into letting me go. [Thanks, Jody! :)]

Later in my high school years, Lindsey became my battle fighter. She was always the first person to stand up for me. Any time she thought someone was treating me badly, she wasn't afraid to do the talking for me. She fought many battles in my honor.

Then, off to college I went and things changed. My sister was no longer just my sister. She became my friend. It's funny how that change just happens, isn't it? All my life I grew up with this girl. We fought. She suffocated me. I scratched her--and left scars to prove it. We yelled at each other. I'm sure we even said 'I hate you' once or twice. But, we grew up...thank goodness. And now, I can honestly say, she is one of my best friends. I am so thankful to have a sister, and even more thankful to say that Lindsey is my sister.

Happy birthday, Sister!

Sisters is probably the most competitive relationship within the family, but once the sisters are grown, it becomes the strongest relationship. ~Margaret Mead

Lazy days

I really don't have anything fun or exciting to talk about. Just felt like writing, I guess.

Jada is 2 months old already. Time flies by when you don't want it to, that's for sure. I only have a little more than 2 weeks before I have to go back to work. It's kind of bittersweet, actually. In some ways [like the pocketbook] I'm totally ready. I do miss my coworkers and just my job in general, but I'm sure once I get back I'm going to wish I had more time at home with Leyton and Jada. It's been a lot of fun to be able to spend time with Leyton every day. I'm sure he's going stir crazy though. We've spent quite a few of these days locked up in the house thanks to the yucky weather and the lovely swine flu floating around. It'll be interesting to see how he does once I'm back to work and he's with the babysitter. I'm sure he'll be fine...he always is, but this is obviously the longest he's gone without having to stay with a babysitter.

We're gearing up to spend the next 3 weekends away from home again. This weekend we'll be back in Greensburg for an extended family Christmas. The following weekend we'll be in Michigan for Christmas Eve until the day after Christmas. Then, the first weekend in January we'll travel back down to Greensburg for Christmas with mom, dad, Lindsey, Jordan and Landon. Then...it's back to work I go. I think having the holidays during maternity leave has made it go by even quicker. It's been great to be able to spend the holidays with our families, but not so great that it's made the time fly by.

I'll keep that in mind next time...if there is a next time. :)

Sweets and Treats

Mom and I have been busy...just a little.

Yesterday we spent 10 hours in the kitchen making up some yummy goodness. I'm not even kidding when I say the kitchen looked like our own little candy store/bakery. I would shop there anyday!

I spent a good 5 hours dipping pretzels and marshmallows in chocolate. I'm telling you, it was well worth the time. They are delicious!

Take a gander and let me know what your favorite is. Maybe we'll save you some! ;)

Quite possibly perfect red velvet cupcakes [homemade, of course]

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Red velvet cupcakes iced and ready to much on!

Peanut butter balls...aka buckeyes.

Banana bread fresh out of the oven.


Chocolate covered marshmallows...like a s'more, only better!

My personal favorite, peanut butter fudge.

It's been a lot of fun and a lot of work. Hopefully it will pay off tomorrow when the whole family gets a chance to enjoy [and buy] some of our treats!

What a goof!

Not so funny funny story.

A couple of days ago, I was sitting with Jada on the couch when Leyton walks into the living room with a tator tot. Not a tator tot from the freezer or from his plate...but from the OVEN! Like, straight out of the oven! He opened the oven door and plucked a tot off the scorching hot pan. He walks up to me and says, "Blow on this Mom. It's hot!"

After a few minutes of trying to explain to him that he is never to get into the oven I decided to see how much he was paying attention.

Me: "Leyton, who is allowed to get into the oven?"
Leyton: "Mommy and Daddy."
Me: "Right. What will happen if you get into the oven?"
Leyton: "I will get burned....and cooked."
Me: "Right."
Leyton: "Me not a cheeseburger, Mommy!"

Where do they come up with these things?!

She's here...

...and a week old already! How is it that time goes by so quickly when you don't want it to, yet takes for-ev-er when you do want it to? Not sure why that has to be, but it's certainly true.

After 40weeks and 3 days of waiting on my little girl to enter the world, she is finally here and home where she belongs. Labor was much easier than it was with Leyton--what an answered prayer. I was seriously dreading being in labor, but I can honestly say I felt great after Jada was born. I didn't feel tired, didn't have much pain, and was extremely happy to see that a healthy little girl was born.

Then, of course, she had to give us a scare and end up in the NICU for almost 4 days. Being told she was being admitted to the NICU scared me to death. It was about 1 a.m. and the nurses tell me they're going to keep her in the NICU to rule out a blood infection, but not to worry and try to get some sleep. Are you kidding me? How was I supposed to do either of those things? Let's just say I did the exact opposite. I spent the next 2 1/2 hours scared, anxious, crying, and praying that everything was going to be fine. At about 3 a.m. I was able to go into the NICU and see my sweet girl attached to monitors, IV lines, a feeding tube, and oxygen. Not the sight I was hoping for. She was breathing about 70 times per minute---in other words--working very hard. I continued to pray that she would be fine and I would be calm. Seeing her did ease my mind and I knew the nurses and doctors were going to take great care of her.

Every day, Jada continued to get better. She was slowly able to get rid of a wire or two each day, until she was finally able to come home with us Wednesday evening. What a blessing!

Leyton has been doing pretty well adjusting to having a baby around so far. He loves to give her kisses and hold her [although briefly]. Thursday, the first thing he said when he woke up was, "Where's my sister?" I think he's going to be a great big brother!

So remember the post about being patient? Well, I definitely think God was trying to teach me a lesson...and let me tell you, I think He got His point across.

[Im]patiently waiting

I've always thought of myself as a patient person, for the most part. I think I'm changing. We're 2 days from Jada's due date and I'm about to go crazy! I think the fact that Leyton was 4 days early made me think that Jada would come even sooner...seeing as that's usually how the 2nd pregnancy goes. I was dilated the same as I was with Leyton at my 36 week appointment and I've made even better progress this time around...up until now. On Thursday I was 4 cm dilated and about 80% effaced so I thought for sure we'd be coming home from the hospital with a little baby girl by today. I'm sad to say that's not even close. :( Even worse...the doctor says I'll have to wait until the 14th to be induced should the baby decide to continue liking her environment! The 14th! That just sounds unbearable. My hips hurt like they've never hurt before, I'm certain my belly can't stretch any more than it has, and I'm sure my husband is sick of helping me off the couch and out of bed. I'm ready. I'm more than ready, actually. Anyone have any suggestions for moving this along any quicker?

There's no doubt she's a Stearns...already making me wait on her. ;)

A nursery in the making

A couple of weekends ago, I called in all the troops for a day of painting. I had planned to paint the nursery, Leyton's bedroom, and our bedroom...all in one day. Let's just say I was a little off. After about 12 hours of painting, with a few breaks for eating, we were able to get the nursery and our room painted. We decided to leave Leyton's room for another day so he didn't have to sleep in the middle of the hallway while we were invading his room for the night. The paint cans are still sitting outside his room waiting. I decided to go with the yellows in the nursery. I couldn't find a green that matched the fabric well enough and didn't look like vomit, so yellow it is. Sister rolled on the first of the 'school bus' yellow paint. This is only on the wall behind the crib. The rest of the walls are 'butterfly bush' yellow...so sister has named the nursery 'butterfly bus'.

After we finished painting Saturday, sister and I got to work in art class. I painted the letters of Jada's name to hang above her crib, and sister began painting the wall art.

These projects took a little longer than expected as well. I was able to get the letters finshed before bed, but sister was only able to get part of one of the wall paintings finished before she had to leave. Luckily, I still had 3 of my 7 days off from work[!] left, so I was able to finish them by Monday evening.

Leyton painted his own project on Monday to keep me company. It's possible he painted the table as well, but luckily it was an easy clean up.

And, just in case you were wondering, mom and Jeni came to town as well. They were great at keeping Leyton entertained outside while we were busy filling the house with paint fumes.

This is a somewhat-finished product of our painting. The white stripe between the two walls will be painted the lighter of the two yellows, but we were unable to tape off the darker yellow wall due to the paint not being dry quite yet. Almost 2 weeks later, the white stripe is still there. Hopefully I'll remember to paint it before October arrives!

Random Ramblings

[1] We have a cat. Well, we don't technically have a cat, but there has been a cat in our yard every morning for the past few weeks. Leyton spotted him [?] one morning and I thought he was just making stuff up until I looked out the window to see for myself. The next morning, Leyton was so excited to see him again. I still thought he was making it up until I looked for myself, and sure enough, he was back. We haven't named him, except for Leyton referring to him as 'my cat'. I snapped a picture of Leyton staring at him the other morning. I don't mind looking from a distance, but I'm not a fan of having one in the house. We'll just stick with the neighbor's cat visiting for now.[2] My friends from work came up for a visit yesterday. We had planned a day at the Splash House [the water park in Marion...yes, we have one!]. They brought their kiddos and nephew for a day of fun...in the freezing cold. Who would have thought a month ago when we planned this that it would be barely 70 degrees on June 30th? C'mon Mother Nature. Anyway, we had a good time anyway. We lined the kiddos up on the couch for a group picture. Trying to get kids from the ages of 11 months to 6 to be happy, much less look at the camera at the same time, is a joke.

Roll call: Diane's nephew Thomas [6], Season's daughter Georgia [11 mos], Shanielle's son Brady [22 mos], Aubrey's daughter Meriah [18 mos], Leyton [26 mos], and Diane's son Jaden [4]

[3] Leyton and Brady "played together" at the Splash House. It cracks me up how 2 year olds play together. Took a look for yourself.

[4] Jada is growing! I'm 26 weeks today. I feel great, besides the fact that I think I totally ripped my round ligament the other day. I'm really not sure if that is possible, but it feels like it is. I picked Leyton up Sunday night and felt the burn. Now, it burns whenever I move the slightest bit. Otherwise, things are progressing well. My next doctor's appointment is July 10. It's hard to fathom having 2 kiddos, but I guess I better get ready! :)

Time to get creative!

Well, I've decided I'm going to attempt making my own crib bedding for baby Jada. Sounds exciting, doesn't it?! I've been looking online for different sewing patterns, and I've found some that make it seem pretty easy. I'm going to start by making the dust ruffle [in the striped pattern]--I think it'll be the easiest--and then move on to the bumper pads [in the dot pattern]. Only problem is- I got rid of my sewing machine a few years ago. Maybe I should've realized this before I bought the fabric. :) I'll find one though. Maybe Josh's grandma will let me borrow hers for awhile. I'm excited to get started! Here's the fabric I've bought so far. I LOVE it! I've also picked out a couple of paint samples to match with the fabric. I'm thinking I like the yellow better than the green at this point. I'm thinking of painting the darkest yellow just on the wall behind the crib and then one of the lighter yellows on the rest of the walls. [You can't really tell in the picture, but the yellows are different.] What do you think?

I'll keep you updated with pictures as I get started. Gotta find a sewing machine first! :)

Meet Jada Layne!

How cool is that? A 4D picture of Jada's little face! Her arm is up by her face as well, and you can see the umbilical cord in there. Pretty amazing the things we can do with technology these days. She's beautiful, isn't she?! :)

This is a look directly at her face. It's kind of hard to make anything out in particular besides the shape of her head and eye sockets, but she's in there and doing well!

Another profile view with her full bully in the shot this time. We think her ultrasound pictures look a lot like Leyton's. What do you think?

This was Leyton when I was 19 weeks pregnant with him. I think they have the same little button nose.

And lastly, here's a quick 4D glimpse of Jada's profile. Amazing, if you ask me. :)

I'm pretty sure I'm in love.

I love this kid!

Leyton and I spent some time outside today to play in the sunshine and the sprinkler. I maloves to play in the water! He's found many times throughout the day standing on his step stool in the bathroom "washing his hands"--as he likes to put it. I think I made all his little dreams come true when I dressed him in his swim trunks and turned the water on just for him. I have to admit, I loved watching him run through the water and scream when it hit him. He had tons of fun!

Tiptoe through the Tulips

I spent the last few days with sister, momma, and Leyton in Holland, MI for the TulipTime festival. We went up on Thursday [after a drive that seemed to take FOR-EV-ER] and came home yesterday afternoon. If you've not been to see the tulips, you should. They seriously line the streets of downtown Holland...

...and there are fields of them in the most random places.

It's pretty amazing.

We spent a few hours on the beach of Lake Michigan. Poor Leyton was strapped into a car seat or stroller for the majority of our visit, so he needed to break free for some time in the sand.

We visited Veldheer's Tulip Farm where there are literally 500,000+ tulips planted to walk through and choose your favorites. After seeing all the choices, we ordered some that will be shipped in October for planting. This is just one of the bunch that I ordered. Isn't it pretty?

Unfortunately, Saturday night ended with a trip to the Urgent Care Center. Leyton was wheezing so badly, he could hardly talk. After a breathing treatment and a chest x-ray, it was determined that he was having an asthma attack [even though he's never technically been diagnosed with asthma...yet]. We were sent home with some prednisone and an albuterol inhaler. He's been doing better, but still coughing and wheezing a lot. The poor kid doesn't know how to slow down enough to catch his breath!

So, now we're beginning a new week. What joys will this week bring?

Happy belated Mother's Day!