Jenn's Blog

W2D2

2009-06-14T16:21:00.003-04:00

Yesterday, knowing in was going to be a long day and not sure if I would be able to fit in my running. I got up at 8 and ran ,the not so bad part of my driveway, which still kinda kicked my butt. I was so stinking hot after, it was crazy. With Jake still in bed I went up starts and opened all the windows turned the fans on high and took a cool shower, with all the doors open. lol I was pretty excited that the girls and I were going to go to David's Bridal with Sam to try on Wedding gowns and Bridesmaids dresses. To back up a little, Thursday I went to Dress Barn to see about finding a dress for Shara and Jake's Wedding next weekend. I usually dread finding something to wear cause nothing ever fits right. So I found on that I loved. I made Jake, who was playing at Borders with the girls, come back and look at it. I was excited cause it was a size smaller than what I am currently wearing. So anyway he wasn't crazy about it, thought it was too blue. :P So went around the store and gave me like 5 dresses to try on. The grabbed one that I had passed up several time, because I thought there is no way that is going to look good on me or I wish I had the body to get away with that dress. So he gave it to me. I LOVED IT!!! AND its 2 sizes smaller that what I am wearing now. YEA!! That's what I said!!!! I still could loose a bit to make it look even better but you know what. If I keep up the running it will be a dress I can continue to wear even after I lose more weight. So I am wicked excited, I have never had a little black dress and this is a kind of sexy one. :)
So back to bridesmaid dresses, I had a blast cause I can now feel comfortable about the size I am grabbing off of the rack and know that I look good in it. I makes to more excited to know that if I keep running and stay active I will just look better and better. LOL :)

W2D1

2009-06-10T11:47:00.003-04:00

Well yesterday started Week 2 Day 1 . I new my time was going to step up from 60 sec of running to 90 sec of running and 2 min of walking. So ok not bad. Jake actually should of been a few weeks a head of me but because he has been sick he decided to step back to my week so we could do it together. So after he got home yesterday we were off. Kyndal running with us and Ally in the running stroller. The time is longer that Week 1 so we figured we would make it to the bottom of Flagg (our road) before we needed to turn around. Just to add one more thing our running stroller doesn't have working breaks. :) So down the first hill, while running, was ok. Our plan was for me to push down that for Jake to take it coming back. Almost to the end of the road and still going strong. We can to the second hill. UGH it was longer and steeper. It never failed that I was always running when we can to them either. So the running stroller was pretty much pulling me down, while I am trying to slow down and kill myself on a rock or something. LOL I am sure it was quite a site. So the way back. We turned, oh and we did make it all the way down the road, which it a mile. Still going good. Then it cam to running back up the last hill. We both lost it. LOL It was a killer. i stopped and walked half of it and then walked my 2 min. Then ran. That was the last set I ran. I think I just skipped one. But that hill killed us. I told Jake after that I think I will just stick to the driveway and that I don't want to add in hills until like week 20. lol But you know what even though we didn't make the running/walk program we still got out and went 2 miles. We got off the couch!!!! So on Thursday we are SO just going to go to the track!!

W1D3 & D4 :)

2009-06-07T11:29:00.004-04:00

To recap the week. I downloaded the FREE C25K podcast, ugh even though the music isn't great its nice to be actually running and walking the amount of time that I am suppose to be. Its so easy right now, but pushed you at the same time. Kyndal has been running with me too, its cute. So this week I walked with Jake on Tuesday, ran the c25k on Wednesday, the cam home after church today and ran the c25k program. After church the family took me to Olive Garden for my birthday yesterday and so by the time we got home I had that Sunday afternoon nap feeling but I really didn't want to sleep so I said ok I am going to go do. I need to do at least one more day to I can move on. I mean 3 weeks on week 1 is enough. So went and ran and it felt great and i can pack with a ton of energy. Kyndal and I actually left the driveway and ran down the road a bit. ( I have a long driveway) So with week 1 gone i welcome the challenge and the step up in running from week 2. Here we go we are doing it!!!

Are we done???

2009-06-04T21:00:00.000-04:00

So today (Thursday) we went to the Neurologist for my check up. He said everything is going really good. My visual fields look great. We are staying on the meds for now. We asked him how my Papilladema (that's what I have) would effect us getting pregnant again. Since it was brought on by that in the first place. He said it would be very hard to treat and that there were things that could be done if need but they weren't really fun and easy things cause obviously the baby would come first. But the biggest thing that all of the treatments would prevent would be me going blind. So basically if I got pregnant again I could go blind. UGH sooo not what we wanted to hear. I don't think anyone every wants to have a Dr pretty much tell you that you are done having kids. That my decision to make, not theirs. I say screw them and lets have a baby. But I do want to be able to see that baby. UGH to much to figure out. I wouldn't even know where to start to look into adoption and who knows if we would meet all of the requirements and the money. God knows we don't have that. So we are just sitting and waiting and praying about it. Maybe we are done?? Only God knows right now.

A Hard Week!!!

2009-05-30T11:25:00.002-04:00

Well Jake was away in Cali all week. So that makes it a crappy week just to start off. But it also rained pretty much all week so I was not able to run but only on Tuesday. UGH for rain!!! All I can really say for this week is that I am glad that Jake got home early this morning!!!!

W1D2

2009-05-26T11:19:00.000-04:00

So even thought this is week 2 day 1 since I didn't' run but only one day last week i figured i would stay on week 1 of the program so that I wouldn't really mess it up. I really need to do it consistently. So today I ran and still feeling like I can't make it all the way through cause I am doing to much!! I think I saw on the C25k website something about podcast maybe I should see what that is about. I would rather something in my ear telling me when to run/walk. Ohh well another day 1 down. :)

Bombed the first week!!

2009-05-23T11:18:00.000-04:00

Ok so the first week was a total bomb. I ran on Tuesday but that was it I was suppose to run 3 days a week. But with working 2 and then the ACSI festival Thursday I just couldn't fit it in. Jake also leaves for California for a week next week so I am not going to run this weekend cause I will be spending time with him. I guess if you count y game as a day then I ran 2 days :) ??!!!!

I will do better next week!!!

W1D1

2009-05-19T11:11:00.000-04:00

So I figured it was a bit hard to look at the stop watch while I was running and know when to start and stop. We are suppose to start with a warm up then run the walk then run the walk for a certain amount of time. so instead I just made a play list of songs to equal the amount of time and figured I would walk then run 2 songs then walk one the run 2. While was a little more that what the program start us doing. They only want you to run for 60 secs. then walk for 90. So at about the 3rd set of running. I was wiped. LOL I think I tried to push myself a bit to much!! We will see what i can figure out, maybe one more try.

Couch to 5K in 9 weeks!!!

2009-05-16T10:59:00.001-04:00

So we started looking on the internet about running programs, not really knowing what is good and what isn't. This weekend I was at a women's event at GCC and some ladies and I were talking about it and one of the said that she said she remember some website that was about going from couch potato to 5k. I just started laughing. Could someone really come up with a program like that, seriously?? SO go figure!! i google Couch potato to 5k and what comes up. Couch Potato to 5k!!! LOL

This is the program we are doing its very cool and starts off easy everyone should check it out.
www.c25k.com , get is "C"couch 2 5K. wow people are brilliant. LOL

We are doing it!!

2009-05-15T10:55:00.000-04:00

So I guess you can say that Jake took the 5K idea and ran with it. The next day he went to work and found the 5K, pretty much exactly when he wants it. So we are actually going to do it. We have to now to posted it on FB, LOL. The race is Sept. 11, and it benefits the Friendly kitchen in Concord. So its a good cause. He said that a few of the guys in the office might do it with us also. So we will make a little GCC team. :) Now we just need to find a program and figure out how to go from not really running to doing a stinking 5K.

5K!! What!!!!?

2009-05-14T22:44:00.002-04:00

Ok so we had a soccer game tonight. To catch everyone up since I haven't posted in a while. I have been playing indoor soccer at the Bow Fiedhouse for a few months now. Jake and I have started our own team, "CRUSH", for the session we are currently in. Anyway, after the game Jake comes up with the crazy idea that we should do a 5K. That is we found one some time in Sept. or Oct. we would have plenty of time to train and get in shape. Which I am all for getting in shape, I have been wanting to drop more weight for a while.
Speaking of weight since finding out about my eye/head condition in November I have dropped about 26 pounds. I still have at least 30 that I need to drop. UGH that seems like such a big number. :)
Anyway, so that's my crazy husband for you!!!!! We will see exactly how far his ides goes. :)

Updates!!! :)

2008-12-12T16:48:00.003-05:00

Well I know I have been kinda lax in blogging. I am sorry : ( Well I little update on things. First with the girls. Ally got an ear infection toward the beginning of November and went through 3 does of 3 different antibiotics. She just finished the last set about a week ago. She seems to be doing fine but we will see. Not much for Kyndal going on. Still crazy, LOL.

Well for me. I has recent eye appt and an appt with my neurologist this week. We dicided to start on a Medicine call Diamox. It a kind of water pill that will reduce the fliud behind the eye, in the brain and the fluid that the spinal cord is make. So that what we are doing. Now we are just praying for no side affects from the med. It has a 1 in 100 change for kidney stones. So pray for none of those.

Last night witht the freezing rain we lost power at around midnight. Luckely we have a generator that powers the furnace, water pump, lights in the kitchen, microwave, and the fridge. So we have been very lucky. Since we heat with wood we have stayed warm. Its a little darker than normal but kinda fun. There is a power outlet by the breaker box that we plugged an exstention cord into and are now about to watch a movie. So we have TV. :) I don't think that really counts for roughing it. If anyone wants to come get a warm shower and you wan make it up our hill, come on!! :) I took some pic of our road when we went out this afternoon. I will put them up later. Even though it sucks it was kinda pretty outside. :) There were about 4 power lines down on one of our roads.

Anyway, hopefully I will stay up now. I was doing so well too. I am a slacker I know. LOL Well I'm off to watch Horton

Greater Impact a Joyous Ouch.

2008-11-04T09:59:00.008-05:00

Greater Impact is the name of the GCC building campaign. Last night we had a commitment dinner. The food was great. :) But that's not what it was all about. The past couple of sermon series, have really been speaking to us. I think the best place to start would be the sermon on living with less. There are so many things we have that we don't need and could defiantly live without. Some of those things are debts that we don't need and if we got rid of them we could put that money to better use. I have always wanted to be able to bless people in different ways but have always felt held back because of budget reasons. So Jake and I have really been trying to get rid of the unnecessary things. We are right now in the process of getting rid of our van, oh how I hate to say that. I love our van, it is sooooo perfect for us. But you know it is an unnecessary debt. That we could live without. The money that we pay each month to out van note could go to a much better use.
Then we move on to the Greater Impact. Were we have been asked to make a 3 year commitment to give to the building fund. We have been challenged to pray and ask God what he would have us give. Big or small. I think the best way I have heard it put was from the speaker last night. He was talking about a campaign that they were asked to do for there church and how there were talking about there giving being a sacrifice. So said he was asking his 2 sons what the word sacrifice means to them in one word. His oldest, type "A" son he called him, said "Ouch". His youngest, type "Z", said "Joy". When he asked his type "Z" son why he said Joy he said because the sacrifice would be for Jesus and it would bring Joy to him. So he said they came to the conclusion that sacrifice was a Joyous Ouch. Which is so right. Giving the amount we would like to give or that God is telling us to give would defiantly stretch us and make us fully trust in god to provide for us. There is no way we could do it without putting our faith in him to provide. 3 years is a long time to make a financial commitment when you don't even know what the future is going to bring. But all we need to do is trust God that he knows what he is doing and that he will not let us go hungry or homeless.
I feel like I have done a bit or rambling, and it may not all make since to some of you. But then again I really hope it does and that it speaks to you.

A Greater Impact from Grace Capital Church on Vimeo.

Birthday Party Pics!!

2008-11-04T09:48:00.002-05:00

About to dig it, but still not to sure what to do.

Every child need to take a pic with there birthday cake. Just ignore the spot that Jake messed up when he was taking the cover off. :)

LOL Major cake over load.

I lOVE this one. I made her her own cake from the leftover sides.

Peeking in.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALLY!!!

2008-11-03T17:22:00.004-05:00

Ok so we had a little birthday party for Ally this past Sunday. She will be 1 on Thursday. Wow the year has totally flown by. I knew it would go fast but come on give me some more time . :) So I took her outside after we got home from church and took a few pics. What I could by myself. She had a really good time. Eating cake, lol. She has been having a little runny nose and runny eyes since Thursday. I just thought it was a cold or allergies, since we all have them. So Monday Jake took her to the Dr. to get it checked out. Come to find out, she has a doubt ear infection. The Dr. said that she couldn't even believe that she was still sitting there smiling. I guess we have super tough girls. :) so hopefully she will be feeling alot better on her actual birthday and I can get some pics that don't have red puffy eyes. So here are some good ones that I took.

FALL

2008-10-29T15:46:00.003-04:00

Some fall pics of our place!

Well Last week we finally found the right 4x4 vehicle. We got a 2000 Ford Explorer. Its nice and drives great. I still need to detail it but other than that its perfect. We are still praying about giving up our van so we can get out of debt. Jake is really wanting to be debt free and really our van is the only thing we have right now. We wanna give it up and save some money to buy another 4x4 family vehicle. So we just keep praying about!!

Matching Dresses

2008-10-08T16:58:00.003-04:00

My mom had dresses made for the girls, in Patriot colors. Kyndal's is too short for her but maybe with some legging it will work. But still really cute!!

Kyndal Horseback Riding Pics!!

2008-10-08T16:51:00.001-04:00

Health

2008-10-08T16:28:00.002-04:00

Ok well since I haven't posted anything about the health issuse. Most of you have heard about already from my MySpace of FACEBOOK. I will start from the beginging for those who don't know what going on.
THE BEGINNING!!! :)
On 9/17/08 I had a reagular eye appt. The Dr took picture of the back of my eye and noticed that my optic nerve was swollen. Which, to back track a little, they found it to be swollen when I was about 7 months pregnant with Ally. My vision went cloudy for a day, which promped them to look. So after that appt., noticing that it was still swollen. the Dr. told me that it could be caused by a brain tumor or excess fluid in the brain, both putting pressure on the nerve. SO he refered me to a Neurologist.
On 9/24/08 I have my consult with Dr. Martino. I check a bunch of, what I would call silly things. But said that since I don't really have any side effect that everything was probably fine but because of my family back ground it would be best to do an MRI and MRV. If that came back fine another thing that they have found that could cause it is, I hate to admit it, but its weight. More specifically around the abdomin, which of coarse come when you are pregnant, so thats why the problem usually spikes then. So I may need to go on a diet, be there done that, not that painful. :)
On 9/30/08 I had my MRI and MRV (were they inject, LOL sorry its funny, a rare earth metal as they called it, into my veins so they can see my veins.)

Results came back on that the following Monday and they both came back normal. Praise GOD!!! So now I am just waiting it out until my next appt. I have an eye appt next Wednesday 10/15/08 to follow up on the appt I had earlier. The Neurologist also said that they would watch the visual field test that the eye Dr. does to make sure that its not getting worse.

So yeah thats about all of it!!! Thanks for all of your prayers. I will definatly keep everyone posted if something changes.

Last Set....

2008-09-24T18:23:00.001-04:00

What a Flowergirls does while she waits.....

2008-09-24T17:59:00.002-04:00

More.......

2008-09-24T17:50:00.000-04:00

Some more pics.....

2008-09-24T16:59:00.003-04:00

First day of school!!!

2008-09-22T17:27:00.004-04:00

Oh well I thought I posted this but I guess I saved it as a draft so I just now found it. :) my bad

Here are some pics of Kyndal on her first day of Pre-K. Jake took her to school, she was so excited!!

House PICS!!

2008-09-22T17:24:00.001-04:00

Just a few pics of the house, for all of you impatient people. To see more go to my FACEBOOK or MySpace.

Prayers... and more

2008-09-18T22:16:00.002-04:00

Well we are still slowly getting settled in. I just have to explain why I am not able to put a ton of pics up anymore, well so often. We only have internet by plugging my cell phone into the lap top and if I upload or download stuff on the computer is uses more of my month amount. Make since?? I know it suck, well for me it does. But it is the only way for us, right now, to get internet out here. SORRY!! So when I am about to go somewhere and use someones wireless network I will up load lot of pics for everyone :)

I would love to show everyone the pics of took of Kyndal at my brothers wedding. She was beautiful. I actually got a bit misty when she walked down the isle. I don't know why?? :) I did get some REALLY beautiful pics of her though.

Ever since Kyndal saw, well some horse movie, I can't remember the name of it. But since then she was been talking about horses and wanting to go see one and everything. So Jake decided he was going to find a place were he could take her riding. So today we actually took her to a, kind of a trial, riding lesson. She LOVED it. I was so hopeing that she wouldn't freak out or anything when it was time to get it. The lady giving the lesson was great. She showed her how to brush it and they put the saddle and pads all on together. Then they walked out into the arena and got right on, All by herself!!! I guess she was doing so good that half of the time the lady wasn't even holding on the the horse with her. She even let he go over a little jumping thing and even let the horse start trotting. I was really suprise. After she was done she helped put everything away and then brushed and feed the horse. She wanted to get right back on. We aren't sure if we are going to actually put her in lessons, it is a bit pricey. But we will see. :) I have pic of it too... :)

SoooOOOoooo on too ME... I had a regular eye appointment on Wednesday. My Dr wanted to take pics of my eye, cause when I was pregnant with Ally I had an issue where my vision got cloudy and there was some swelling on my optic nerve. So we took some more pic and found that it was worse than it was a year ago. So he has now referred me to a neurologist. I have an apptointment this Wednesday with him. My eye Dr said is could be caused from excess fluid in the brain causing pressure or a tumor. So we will hopefully find out something on Wednesday. We are guessing that we will just meet with the Dr and then scheduale to butt load of test, MRI, CT Scan..etc. Which will all be fun with not having any insurance. :) yea!!

So please keep us in your prayers. I will keep all of you posted.

The Place.

2008-09-02T20:36:00.003-04:00

Ok well after being begged to put picks up. I will give you the one pic I sent my mom. Since it is only fair you know.

ENJOY!!!

........... My mom thought it was nice. LOL

Settleing in

2008-09-01T23:33:00.004-04:00

So Saturday was moving day. It actually went very well. We started about 7, well Jake did. Then the help (Mark W. Jimmy M. Sterling, Jim & Sam, and Diana & Craig L.) So we had 9 people total. Which is a good amount not to big not to small. We were done unloading everything here at the new house at about right at noon. So it was just the time we were hoping for. So we are getting settled in now. My parents will be here on Sunday so I want to get as much done as I can ( They survied Gustav!!). I really wanna put up pics to show everyone but I don't want my parents to see the place until they get here. So I will try to wait, I might so it though cause I don't think my mom really looks at my blog. Anyway, We are loving it here. Jake says he feels like he is on vacation. I don't him not to get use to that. All thought spending more time as a family, like you do when you are on vacation is not a bad thing. I feel like we are already starting to do that. :) Well I gotta go to bed. WICKED tired from the weekend.

STUPID computers or STUPID ME!!!

2008-08-23T23:18:00.003-04:00

Okay well I was getting Ally ready for bed and I put on her patriotic onsie for her to sleep in. It made me realize that one of the things I lost when my computer crashed was ALL of my pics from our camping trip during the 4th of July, No Happy Harbinger Pics. I can't find them anywhere online either, no I must not have posed them anywhere. UGH I am soooo upset. I took some really cute ones of the girls in the red, white, and blue out fits and Ally with Shara's hat. Also with there letter shirts that they made. UGH I am REALLY P.O.ed. Stupid Computer, or Stupid me for not putting them online. I don't I ever send them to anyone. But in case I sent them to you and you still have them, send some back this way PLEASE!!!!

GCC Staff Shoot

2008-08-23T17:04:00.010-04:00

These are a few of Jakes photos from his GCC Staff photo shoot. All of the pics came out great. they were taken by Hinkley Photo, they are a married couple that go to our church. They jsut took these pics in downtown Concord. Their lighting and color of there pics are just amazing. Check out their website. They ROCK!!
http://www.hinkleyphoto.com/

Boxes, Boxes and More Boxes!!

2008-08-23T16:50:00.002-04:00

Well last week I finally got a good load of boxes for Old Navy. They are the best moving boxes and plus they are free. What better deal can you get. So we have started to process of packing......well I have. I take that back Jake has helped pack up some of the kitchen. I am a pretty fast packer. It does not seem to take me very long to get things done. When we moved up here from LA I packed the entire out in a week. And now I could do it again, I am going a bit slower this time because I have more time and we can come back and get things even after the "Big Move". But I always have everything ready by moving day. I hate helping some one move and its just like a free for all, just grab whatever. No that's not how we roll.

Also in the mix of all the packing. We have so many other things going on this past week and the coming. Jake and I sang at a wedding this morning. A guy that his youth group went to NY with on Missions Trips got married. So he wanted all the youth that could come that he ever took to NY. It was a nice small wedding. But of coarse, for those who know Jake, we didn't practice our song until last night. I of coarse had been practicing but I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to sing it because I have been sick and haven't really had even much of a speaking voice. But it went well.

Okay well my break is over so off to finish filling the boxes. :)

A fresh start!!

2008-08-15T19:22:00.004-04:00

Oh I forgot to mention the worst and well best thing that just recently happen, within the month. Well lets start with the good news. As of August 1st Jake is now officially full-time(part-time) at our church. He is technically part-time(4 days a week) but does not have any other job so I call it full-time. We are very excited. I joke and say that now he gets paid to play his guitar. :) lol well on Sundays he does. :) We will be starting very soon his licensing process with Foursquare. So then he will have the pastor title. :)

So along with that. He got a new Mac Book Pro ( I think, something big that he can do music stuff on) So he transfered all of his setting off of our computer on to his new one. So now I get ours all to myself. After he did that it mine was running kinda slow so he shut it down....... and well it never turned back on again. Lukily we have AppleCare so he called them they couldn't get it to work so they sent up a box. I was so praying that it would be an easy fix and we would get it back and ALL of my stuff would still be there. WELLLLL....... we go it back on tuesday and I turned it on and what did I hear. The new start up programming music!! I could have thrown it out the window. They replaced the entire hard drive. I lost EVERYTHING!!!! All of my settings, the pics ( that I hadn't put on the internet or backed up to our other hard drive.), my bookmarks, files, address book.....ect...... Like I said EVERYTHING!!!! Its realy frustrating having to start from scratch. I almost didn't even feel like doing it.

But I am slowly, slowly, :) getting it back. You know its rough when you can't even remember what you had and were to find it. Cause you are so use to just clicking a button. Oh well. I guess a fresh start is good sometimes. But it won't happen again. I am now backing everything up with out external hard drive useing time machine. So if it every happens again all I have to do it plug it in and it will bring up EVERYTHING!! All I have to say it Thanks God for AppleCare cause we didn't have to pay anything. Okay there was my crisis for the month, I HOPE!!!!

Catch UP!!

2008-08-15T15:43:00.002-04:00

Ok well I have been really bad at keeping this thing up the past 2 months. I can't really give an excuse why. So let me see if I can catch up a bit.

We went camping 4th of July weekend. Happy Harbinger Getaway!!! It was very relaxing and fun.
At the end of July to the beginning of August was Soulfest. GREAT TIMES, AS ALWAYS!!!! Its was a little wet, lol butyou can still rock in the rain, right??

I am having a hard time really thinking right now. I have pink eye in BOTH eyes and the med i using makes it had to see and they are really itching me today. UGH!!! (Thanks for giving it to me JAKE!)

Anyway..... on a lighter note we will be moving September 1st!!! WICKED EXCITED!!!! I can't post pics until my parents come on the 7th. Cause I don't want them to see it till they get here. But its beautiful and has amazing views, and can't wait for everyone to see the place. PARTIES AT OUR HOUSE (sorry no cable though) !!!

I will be sending out an email of our new address soon. I will also post some pics soon too. Ally is now 9 months, Jakes birthday is on Sunday and Kyndal will be 4 on Wednesday. So I am sure I will have alot to write aobut in the next coupld of days...............

Ally 7 months

2008-06-10T14:40:00.001-04:00

Ally turned 7 month on my birthday, June 6th. It seems like she is doing thing a little slower that Kyndal did. She isn't crawling yet. That doesn't really keep here from getting around though. She also isn't pulling up, she does try but isn't successful yet. She is starting to get a nice little scream when she isn't getting what she wants thought. :) But we still love her!!

These are 2 pics of Kyndal around the same age. I love to push up pic. She still likes to do push ups. Crazy kid. :) Sorry for the poor quality. Our camera was not as advanced as it is now.

Hurricane Rita

2008-05-01T13:07:00.000-04:00

I found this pic and thought I would share it. We lived in the southwest part of Louisiana. right by that little body of water. If you click on "RITA" it should take you to a moving pic of it. I couldn't get it to do it on here for some reason.

The KKK's.....

2008-04-07T00:33:00.000-04:00

Ok Well The other day the KKK's well just KK. :) where coming down on me cause I haven't blogged in like 2 weeks. So to make the KKK happy. LOL ( I like that name for them) I will. Its been a bit crazy at work this past week cause we had our annual spring banquet Thursday. It went very well and Im kinda glad it is over. On the other hand Kyndal started pre K on Wednesday and is going very well. I was a bit nervous cause she is only 3 1/2 but we wanted to try it cause it would help our babysitting situation. So she will be going Mon, Wed, and Fri, Just the days that I am there. She will be in the Pre K room in the morning and then in the Kindergarten room in the afternoon for the extended day. She is really loving it and I think it will just get better as we get in more of a routine.

We had some much needed family time this weekend. We went to the Boston Aquarium. I was nice to get away for the day, even is the aquarium is kinda disappointing in size. Kyndal really liked the Penguins. The exhibit was closed so we could only see them through this little room so that sucked. But it was still good!! Well I guess I don't really have much more to say.
Ohh Ally is 5 Months today. I will try to do some compairing pics. Maybe Tuesday. We got an extra hard dive so we pic a big chunk of our pic on there so I think Kyndals are on there so I have to actually plug in the laptop to get them. So I'll try......

This is a pic of Kyndal and Jake when we wnet bowling for Max's birthday.... I love it!!!

Easter Sunday!!

2008-03-18T21:13:00.000-04:00

ALLY Check Up

2008-03-15T21:10:00.000-04:00

Ally was 4 Months on the 6th she went to the Dr on Thursday she is now 15lbs 13oz and 24 inches long.

Get Away!!!

2008-03-15T20:30:00.000-04:00

Well, Sorry its been a while so let me do some catching up.

Work is going very well. I really like it there, I just still not sure its 100% were I suppose to do. I'm still torn between staying home full-time and working, part-time. Its a really hard decision! Im one of those black and white people that if there is nothing stopping me then maybe I should do it. And well right now there is really nothing stopping me. So until God puts a STOP sign in front of me then thats where I will be. I don't like letting people down either. So if I was to quit I would feel really really bad. But at the same time they would understand. Kyndal will be going to school there next year so I will be working the 3 days that she will be there, she will just go to the extended day in the afternoon. Which will be in the Kindergarten class which I think is really cool. Its like getting a jump on things with the older kids. :) I hope she does well, I'm a little nervous to see how she will do. I guess every parent has that when there first child heads to school though. Well we have about 6 months till then......

I was about to go to the NNE4 (Northern New England Foursquare) Womens Retreat in Portland, Maine on Friday night through Saturday. I wasn't really sure how it was going to be. I was mainly just looking to get away and the fun of staying in a nice hotel. :) But it was really good. Relaxing. The speaker was great. We also had a break out session and I went to the Mothers one. Which just happen to be lead by some ladies at our church. It was really good. I did bring home some thing that I wanna change and something that I'm going to work on. It also helps to know that you aren't the only one going through things and just to share stories with other moms. Anyway so it was a relaxing night away. Ohh and most of all I got to eat Popeyes which is a rare sit up here, its everywhere in the south, And the BEST!!! We also went to the Christmas Tree Shop. Which was pretty cool. It wasn't what i was expecting but it was still cool. EVERYONE LOVES A BARGAIN !!!

So I'm trying to get Jake to take us away for Spring Break. Nothing big. But I have been wanting to get away for awhile not. Anyway, just more than a night. I don't even care if the girls come. Just wanna go away with the family and relax and have fun. So if he can get away from his, stupid, job that would make me soooooo HAPPY!! I already have it all planned. We have been wanting to take Kyndal to the Aquarium in Boston since we have lived up here but we are horrible parents and haven't done it yet. She has never been to anything like that. They have hotel packages you can get with ticket, breakfast, and a family fun night in your hotel room. I also thought we could go to the Children's Museum there. Its pretty cheep and looks like alot of fun. So yeah thats what I want for my get away. My brother Mike is moving up to Richfield Springs, NY which is only like at the most 6 hours away. So Im hoping maybe the other half of the week the girls and I can drive down and visit him. I can't wait for him to be closer, than Florida. Even though I'm kinda bummed that I won't have anyone in Florida to visit. At least now I will have a relative a half a days drive away. That will be nice for both of us.

Ok well this is officially the longest blog I have ever written. :)

An official minivan driving soccer mom...............AND Loving it!!!

2008-02-26T13:08:00.000-05:00

Okay well an update on things. Im enjoying work and its going really well. If the girls where older I would probably be working full time. But we will see what happens. I really like working, being at the school. So we have a new ride. We got a minivan sunday night. We are loving the room. Now we can all go somewhere at actually bring people with us. :) We don't have the best of credit. So we where approved for a loan with a credit rebuilding program. So for about 6-8 months will will be paying a little more than we would like but after that time our credit score will be alot higher and then we can refinance and get a lower payment. We are willing to do it so we can get our credit back to where it should be. So hopefully in a year our credit will be better and we can get a house. Well thats my update for now. Im get enjoying my vacation this week.

Has everything, but a DVD player. :) but thats ok with me :)

3 Months Old

2008-02-08T15:28:00.000-05:00

Well the past 3 months have gone by really fast. I really can't wait for next month when we have absolutly nothing going on. No basketball every night!! I have to admit that I really really enjoy doing stuff with and at the school but I don't know if it was going from having a Baby, to an always crazy One Voice then to Christmas. But Since the beginning thing have just kept rolling along no slowing down or you'll get run over. So that said............

Ally just turned 3 Month on the 6th so I thought I would do a little comparison. of the girls. Now the pics are exactly taken at 3 months but close enough. :)

Kyndal at 3 Months
( with your first child you actually take them ever month or so and get professional pics done, with your second you get sloppy! )

Allyson "Ally"

They both hit the chubby stage at the same time. :) It seem that all babies go through the chubby stage and grow out of it in a month or so. Of coarse some don't ever grow out of it, lol :) But mine WILL!!!!!! :)

What a week...

2008-02-04T19:30:00.000-05:00

Okay well I forgot to update on how my run went. It was as good as running can be. :) Nothing exciting, but I don't have to say I haven't ran since. LOL I know I'm bad. But I did realize that I desperately need new shoes before I run again. I haven't had a new pair since I was pregnant with Kyndal. So about 4 years. So until them I'm stuck working out with bad shoes.

Well to update on everything else. I might be going to work part time, just two days a week for a couple of hours. They need some help at the front office at the school. So we are trying to see if we can work something out for the girls. Some days it looks more promising than others. But some extra play money would be nice then I could get some new running shoes and some shoes for soccer. I did make my first sell on ebay. I sold my soccer cleats that won't fit anymore. $52 with shipping. I think I did pretty well. I was wicked excited.
Kyndal had her first soccer thing on Saturday. She had so much fun. Nothing like running for an hour to tier her out. But she can't wait till next weekend. And of all things. Our battery in our camera died so I got no pics. Only ones that I took with my phone and some video. So sorry for the poor quality, for the ones i upload.

Pats....??? Well don't have much to say for the superbowl. But that Jake and I were really sick Saturday night and Sunday. Jake had to call in cause he was suppose to lead worship. We where also suppose to go to a party that night for the game. But.... Jakes mom came and got the girls before they woke up and took them for the day. We could barely move. I had fever and all we did was sleep. I finally was able eat and take some med. So today we just kept it low key and relaxed to get our energy back. Still kinda sluggish.

Video of Kyndal at Soccer, Sorry I can't get photobuckets to work for me.
http://s202.photobucket.com/albums/aa198/Jennifer_Downing/?action=view&current=0202081154.flv

The first step is always the hardest.

2008-01-28T17:27:00.000-05:00

Well tonight I'm going to go to Jake Basketball practice and run. Yes, i said run. Unless I just feel completely stupid running with a bunch of High School boy. Thats ok if they laugh I'll just kick there butts. I just really wanna get in shape and I would like to do some running before I get on the soccer field and really kill myself. So since its winter and I can't run outside. I might as well go to the practice and let Jake yell at me to run. NO he better not do that or I'll kick his butt. But being around other people doing it to will make me wanna push myself even more. So I'll let you know just how much fun I had.

Basketball, SOCCER!!, Basketball, Basketball...........

2008-01-24T22:25:00.000-05:00

Well, Its been a little while since I have written anything. We have been busy going to LCS basketball games and supporting the team. And the Coach I guess. :) After one of the games we went to 2 of the boys soccer game at the Bow Fieldhouse. While we were there they had a ad for a soccer clinic type thing for 3-4 year old. So of course I got wicked excited. So I ended up calling a day later and well...... we signed Kyndal up for it. We even went out and bought her some cool soccer shorts and shirt. Oh and socks with shin guards and a cool pink soccer ball just her size. She is very excited every day she say "Mommy can we go to my game?". And well we just keep counting down the days. It starts the first weekend of Feb. So almost a week. So in my mission to get into shape. I signed myself up for there Womens Open on Monday night. I'm pretty pumped myself. A bit nervous but mostly cause Im REALLY out of shape. Im not sure yet if I will be able to plat this session cause they just started on Monday, but my name is down in case a team needs another player. This is indoor soccer for those of you who where wondering how we were going to play in the snow. :) Well, that is my update on things so right now we are just trying to finish out the Basketball season. Cause I would really love to see my husband more. Its been pretty rough winter. But as soon as I can get out of this house to do something I pretty much jump all over it. Okay well I gotta go finish dinner I'm taking my time cause Jake is at practice. But I'm getting hungry and Kyndal is starting to bug me for food. Gotta go feed the chicks!!!!

Kyndal in her new soccer outfit. Taken with my phone so poor quality. The shirt doesn't look like much but its one of those sports type shirts thats really soft. Sorry I can't explain it very well.

Compare the whole FAMILY!

2008-01-09T19:50:00.000-05:00

Ok well I just thought I would go to the next step. This is a picture collage that I made and had in a frame for our wedding reception. Why not compare all of us together. LOL :). I have nothing else to do, right???

(Should be able to click on them to make them even bigger :))

I know we are / where adorable thats why we make BEAUTIFUL BABIES!!!!!!!!

Loving Two

2008-01-08T18:53:00.000-05:00

I walk along holding your 3-year-old hand,

basking in the glow of our magical relationship.
Suddenly I feel a kick from within,
as if to remind me that our time alone is limited.

And I wonder: how could I ever love another child as I love you?

Then she is born, and I watch you.
I watch the pain you feel at having to share me
as you've never shared me before.

I hear you telling me in your own way,
"Please love only me."
And I hear myself telling you in mine,
"I can't," knowing, in fact, that I never can again.

You cry. I cry with you.
I almost see our new baby as an intruder
on the precious relationship we once shared.
A relationship we can never quite have again.

But then, barely noticing,
I find myself attached to that new being,
and feeling almost guilty.
I'm afraid to let you see me enjoying her -
as though I am betraying you.

But then I notice your resentment change,
first to curiosity,
then to protectiveness,
finally to genuine affection.

More days pass,
and we are settling into a new routine.
The memory of days with just the two of us is fading fast.

But something else is replacing those wonderful times we shared, just we two.
There are new times - only now, we are three.
I watch the love between you grow,
the way you look at each other, touch each other.

I watch how she adores you - as I have for so long.
I see how excited you are by each of her new accomplishments.
And I begin to realize that I haven't taken something from you,
I've given something to you.
I notice that I am no longer afraid to share my love openly with both of you.

I find that my love for each of you is as different as you are,
but equally strong.
And my question is finally answered, to my amazement.
Yes, I can love another child as much as I love you - only differently.

And although I realize that you may have to share my time,
I now know you'll never share my love.
There's enough of that for both of you -
you each have your own supply.

I love you both. And I thank you both for blessing my life.

Arthur Unknown

Camera Pics

2008-01-08T18:09:00.000-05:00

First of All I had forgotten that my brother had made Kyndal a website when she was born and i put a lot of my pics on. So i was able to get them all off of there and not have to fight with taking them off of the PC. Second looking at all of them made me REALLY appreciate our new 'high tech" :). Cause probably almost half of the photos that I had uploaded to her website where blurry. Which really sucks. So at least Ally will have nice baby pics. :)

Kyndal's website that has been kinda forgotten.

http://groups.msn.com/KyndalPaige

Comparing......

2008-01-08T17:23:00.000-05:00

Ally at Birth.....

Kyndal at birth..... Just remeber there size difference at birth of 3 lbs. They do look alot alike. I can see Ally in more of Kyndals older pics but I'll wait till Ally gets to that age to share those. Don't wanna spoil the suprise. :)

Well this is Ally at Christmas a little before 2 months.

This is Kyndal not sure exactly when but around the same time. Probably a little older. LOL Ally has the same pants on today as Kyndal does in the picture.

First set of Shots.

2008-01-07T19:07:00.000-05:00

Well Ally had her first set of shots today. She did not like them at all. It was a really pathetic cry. One of those where you just wanna hold them cause its like they are just whimpering. I never know weather to cry or smile. Cause its kinda cute. Maybe I smile to keep from crying, thats it. But anyway she survived. She is now 11 lbs 1 ounce. and 23 inches. And well we played around a bit and Kyndal is 38 lbs and 41 inches. Just thought I do some comparing. Maybe tomorrow I will follow in Kristins footsteps and compare by pics. that means i have to find some of Kyndal most of hers where on our old computer and they are still there. But if I have one I'll have to scan it. So I'll see what i can come up with. Fun project!!!!

A New Year a New Start

2008-01-02T16:35:00.000-05:00

Well after a nice night out with the hubby. We have now be dragged back to the everyday jobs of life. :) Today we officially started on our diet. Hey its the new year doesn't everyone diet, for at least a little bit. But seriously, we really are doing it. Our diet of choice is South Beach. All I want is for the mountains of snow to be gone so I can get back out side and walk. I would rather bust my butt in working out that diet. I have a big goal ahead of me. First I wanna get back to where I was before Ally, than back to where I was before Kyndal, than back to where I was when Jake and I got married and then, why not, back to where I was when we where dating. So My goal are big that about a total of, I hate to say it but, 70 pound. Wow thats what life, marriage, BC, and 2 kids will do. Here is my now pic and my about 6 years ago/ after my diet, i hope, pic. LOL :) Wish me luck!!!!

New Years Eve

2007-12-31T17:47:00.000-05:00

I just wanna say that I am very excied for tonight. A night out with out the kids, just me and Jake. I do feel kinda bad we took Kyndal to the Dr. today cause she has had a nasty cough, but didn't think it was anything bad. But come to find out she had a sinus and ear infection. Nice, first one ever. The Dr. did say that the ear infection hasn't set in yet thats why she is still acting normal for the most part. No pain yet. But Im sure with some good meds in her she will be back to normal soon. I also had an appt today. Let just say I won't have to worry about anything for atleast 5 years. LOL :) Unless we want another one. :) We will see. But it is nice to know that I don't have to worry about taking anything everyday. We are just praying that I don't go *itchy with the hormones. They sometime do that to me. My Dr. said that things work different because of the placement of where they are. So if you start seeing some nasty blogs you might wanna give Jake a call and make sure he is still alive. LOL j/k :) Well Im off to get the girls packed and ready for Grammys house.

2007-12-31T16:33:00.000-05:00

The Girls!!

Kyndal & Allyson

Relaxing Day.

2007-12-29T20:15:00.000-05:00

Well today was the first Saturday that we have had nothing at all to do in a long time. It was nice to sleep in late with the family and just spend time together. I can't wait for some more days like this.

One Voice Christmas pics.

2007-12-28T18:44:00.000-05:00

Just a couple of pics, mostly of Kyndal cause she is so cute:)

Kyndal standing next to Jessalyn during Wonderful One.

Footsteps...

2007-12-19T10:18:00.000-05:00

Well yesterday we sang at the service for Dave C. It was a wonderful service. I do believe Dave would of been very pleased to hear what people said about him. It sure was a celebration of his life!!! I always wonder what people would say at my funeral. I know that sounds weird but you can’t say you have never thought of it.?? You know as long as they have something to say. I guess I’m good, lol :). Honestly listening to the way Dave lived his life really makes me wanna make sure I’m living mine in the same way. So I can touch lives and share Jesus with others. I mean that’s why we are here. To share the Gospel. So I think we all need to follow in Dave’s footsteps!!!

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Long Day.

2007-12-18T06:38:00.000-05:00

Today was a long COLD, colder with the wind,day. After running around in Concord; getting jeans for Jake, returning stuff, and getting Mics for One Voice. I’m TIRED!!! Plus once I got home at about 4:30 we had to get ready to go to One Voice practice at 6:00. So that was feed Ally pack the bag to go back out. Hurry and cook dinner, scarf it down and after all that hurrying be late. But I do have to say that that blocking went very well. I was ready for another late night but we were home before 9 well except for Jake :). I did manage to get some Christmas cards in the mail too. I have more to do and send tomorrow. Ohhh I forgot church was canceled Sunday cause of the mass of snow and wicked wind. So Jake and I braved it ad FINALLY did our Christmas shopping. I honestly don’t remember half of the things we bought but its done. I’ll check them all out when I got to wrap them. Well tomorrow is another long day with the funeral. One Voice is singing at it so that will be really nice. And then of coarse One Voice again tomorrow. I’ll let you know if we survive the week.

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A Better Place

2007-12-15T06:41:00.000-05:00

Well this week has been kinda rough. One Wednesday we heard that a good friend of the family passed away, Bruce Brown. I didn’t know him that well but I did know his daughter and her family. Then early Friday morning we got word that Dave Constance had passed. A wonderful man that was involved in One Voice with us. Its just so hard to imagine a lose this time of year, or anytime. The best part it that we know that these two men will be celebrating Jesus’ birth a whole new way this year. A way that we will never know until we get to heaven. They are definitely in a better place. I wonder what it must be like to be with Jesus on this Birthday????

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Will it ever slow down??

2007-12-15T06:33:00.000-05:00

Well Im not really sure what I did yesterday. It all kind of went really fast. I do know that I only saw Jake for about 15 min. maybe. After coming home he had to go to worship team practice and then back to work. Him and Josh had to drive a truck back to Lebanon. He didn’t get home and to bed till 4am. So needless to say he is still sleeping. So much for everything we were suppose to do today. His job is really frustrating me. We haven’t gone Christmas shopping yet, hes just so busy we don’t have time. And all next week we have One Voice every night. So who knows when its going to get done, if it does. Maybe we will just skip Christmas this year. I can’t wait till next year so things can slow down a bit. Tonight we have One Voice again, and a production meeting after so we are going to be out late. I guess the good thing is that we will be together.

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What you can do away from the Computer......

2007-12-13T13:27:00.000-05:00

Well for my self. I haven’t done much of anything since, well it started when we got this laptop and then got worse when my parents came to help before Ally was born. So this morning I decided that I would only get on the computer when the girls where napping. Which I did just to check my email. In the mean time away from the computer I’m very proud to say that I accomplished……. Putting the mounds of clothes away in ALL 3 rooms; cleaned ALL 3 rooms; cleaned down stairs by putting the piles of stuff away that just didn’t get where it belongs; mopped the floor and vacuumed, which actually made Ally stop crying and then of course start again after I was done. So now I feel like I have a fresh start on things and feel some what better. I haven’t cleaned like this since before my mom came and did the cleaning for me. I got Lazy!!! But I can do it, even with 2 kids. A clean house is soooooooo RELAXING!!!!!!

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Dirty Laundry!!!

2007-12-12T10:43:00.000-05:00

I will never understand why someone would build a house or apartment without a washer and dryer hook up. Ever had 4 people living in a house and not able to do laundry when they want. Let me tell you it piles up. Its an all day job. Thankfully, the in-laws let us come over and do it here. So I don’t have to spend the money or the time sitting in some laundry mat with the kids. We even had a set when we moved up here but had to give it away. Why did I ever think it would not be a big deal to not have one. Who knows?? The one request I have for next place we live, which better be soon, is a washer and dryer in my own home. Ever had spit up and poopy clothes sit of a week????

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Learning to Let It Go!!!

2007-12-11T08:11:00.000-05:00

Well, when the first baby comes your up tight for a few day and then you learn to relax and let things so. But for me now that number 2 is here I do let things go but I feel like I worry more about her. Maybe its cause we are in a totally new place than when we had Kyndal so its not the same. Who knows? I actually called the Dr. today to question a runny nose ( but its not actually running, :P) We have all had a runny nose for weeks now and of course have done nothing for it. So I just need to relax and don’t sweat the small stuff.

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Peer Pressure!!

2007-12-11T07:45:00.000-05:00

Okay! Well as the people of the “Blog” word keep multiplying they keep trying to suck me in. So I figured why not give it a try and see if I can keep up yet another website full of information. This is just the beginning!!!!

Moving On....

2006-12-26T10:13:00.000-05:00

Well I do have to say that I am some what relieved that the holidays are over. The One Voice concerts went very well. Kyndal did a great job I was so proud of her. Ally did good as well :). It was nice to relax and not do anything on Christmas Eve but go to church that night. Jake did have to work half a day but I guess that was ok. What was I to do?? I do have to admit that Christmas Day was a very stressful and not very enjoyable most of the time for me. I was ready for the day to be over. I’ll spare you the details. But it over and we move on. Now I get the joy of rearranging the house again to fit all the stuff Kyndal got that we don’t have room for. I guess I’ll just cram it into another corner. Okay well Im just starting to vent now and who knows where it will go so I better stop……..

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