Jude spends the night!

On Valentine's Day, Erika brought Jude over so she could go to the Climber show. We (Erika and I) had been to Target recently and they had some great pj's on clearance, so we ended up getting Jude and Caden matching ones! So, of course, when Jude came over in his, Caden had to wear the same ones. Nigel and I had so much fun watching the 2 of them together and kept saying to eachother, "Pretty soon, this will be our reality!" We loved it. I think we're both ready to meet this baby and give Caden a brother or sister. Anyway - they were so cute together in their matching pj's. You have to look at the picture of Jude with the huge green frog. Look at the sweet smile of adoration he's giving to that frog. He LOVES a stuffed animal like I've never seen a baby love a stuffed animal before. He squeals with delight when you bring one out and then, he kisses it and slobbers all over it - showing true baby love :) So much fun!


Here's my newest belly pictures! I was bored the other day and decided to try some self-photos. This was as good as I could get. I'll have Nigel snap a new one this weekend when he's home. In fact, maybe I'll try to have someone else take the picture and get Nigel in on it so you can see my handsome husband, too :)

Why the blog has gone ignored . . .

Well, I'm finally updating this blog! I took a break because I wasn't taking many pictures. Nigel was gone for 2 weeks straight and let me tell you - it was 2 weeks I would like to erase from memory :) Needless to say, it was rough. I would choose to never do it again, however, Nigel will again be at academy for 2 weeks straight starting on Monday, February 23rd, which just so happens to be my birthday. Boo-hoo :( I just hope it goes smoother than the last time :) Anyway - the reason for the awful time - Caden decided to become a 3 year old, which I believe is so much worse than 2! Whoever said terrible 2's hadn't gotten to 3's. I've dubbed 3's the tortorous 3's. Honestly. Caden, overnight, became defiant, argumentative, and just naughty. It was an incredible transformation that we have been working on. But, my goodness, I never knew to which level someone so small could push me! I spent several days just trying to figure out what happened, and then I got serious. Things changed and rules got stricter. We made it through, barely, but I know that there will be more to come. He's testing his limits and pushing and trying to figure out where and with what he has authority. Whew, it's exhausting. Especially when 7 1/2 months pregnant and alone! I don't reccommend this combination :) The following pictures represent how each and every day went.
One minute happy:


The next minute, this face would show up. I know, I know, it's kind of cute in the picture, but trust me, it wasn't cute.

Nigel's 1st Graduation!

Nigel had 1 of his 2 graduations last Friday. It was so fun and exciting. Now, the countdown is really on because he'll be done before we know it! He went back to school on Sunday and will be there for 2 weeks, and then he has just 2 more weeks after that. So, March 7th, he'll be officially graduating and finished with Academy and ready to get working! Just in time to have the baby :) We'll have about 1 1/2 months of him working before the baby comes, so it'll be nice for him to have a break (from school). I'm so proud of him and can't wait for this to be finished so that we can enjoy his new career and start seeing much more of him. Caden and I have really been missing him, but are so proud of him and all of his accomplishments. Speaking of accomplishments, Nigel also got an award at graduation - he was awarded the Defensive Tactics award. They have classes called Defensive Tactics where they learn how to "fight" basically, and protect themselves. He was picked the best in the class, so that's wonderful! Especially considering that during one "DT" session, Nigel actually broke another guy's nose :) I guess he's a good fighter! Hopefully at the next graduation, I won't be having the camera problems that I was having at this graduation, that's why there aren't many pictures. Enjoy!

Nigel was in the color guard, just like in the Coast Guard :) In the picture of the whole class, you can't see Nigel. He's in the very back, they were seated alphabetically.


This is Nigel and Chris, his roommate for the last 16 weeks. They're trying to look pretty tough.

And finally, a nice smile! Chris was the best roommate that Nigel could have asked for and they made eachother's time in Academy much more enjoyable!

And then, we throw Officer Caden into the mix. Behind his hand is his very own police badge, again. He wants to be tough just like Daddy and Chris :)

P.S. In baby news: My glucose tolerance test came back normal!!! Woo-hoo!! I have started seeing my new OB and she's wonderful. I only had one appointment, but I'm thrilled with my decision so far. Also, the due date for the baby will stay the same - April 20th. I'm actually more comfortable with this date, since it's past Caden's birthday! Hopefully this little one will come a little late rather than early, to keep these 2 kids' birthdays as separated as we can :)

In Caden news: Our poor baby boy has developed asthma. I knew that he probably would, since he's had eczema since he was born and the two are related, plus Hans and I had such bad asthma as kids, but his came on a lot earlier than I thought it would. We're currently fighting a little pneumonia in him, too, that was caused by the mucus build up from the asthma. Now, just to find out what's triggering his asthma. I have to take him to the lab for some allergy tests and find out if it's the dog or a food or what that's making his asthma so bad. So, we'll see. If it's Byron, we might have to say goodbye to our crazy dog. We'll cross that bridge when we get there!

Tagged . . .

My friend Lindsay posted this on her blog and I thought it looked kind of fun! So, here goes . . . by the way, it's about Caden and I'll do one for the new baby in a few months :)

1.Where were you when you first found out that you were pregnant? In our duplex in Bellingham :)

2.Who was with you? No one, Nigel had gone to a motocross race.

3.How did you find out that you were pregnant? I peed on 2 tests :)

4.What was your first reaction to finding out you were pregnant? Thrilled, and then terrified.

5.Who was the first person you told? Amy! I didn't want to tell Nigel over the phone!

6.Did you plan to get pregnant? Definitely.

7.Did you tell everyone else right away? Nope, we waited quite a while. I was too scared.

8.Was everybody happy for you? Oh yes, very excited!

9.Did you go out and celebrate? I don't think so.

10.Did you want to find out the sex? Nope, but Nigel did, so we found out.

11.What was the sex? A boy!

12.Did anyone throw you a baby shower? Yes

13.Did you get any outfits at the baby shower that you just knew that you wouldn't put on your baby? I don't think so. I think I liked them all a lot!

14.How much weight did you gain? I honestly and truly don't know what the total was. I believe somewhere around 25-30 pounds.

15.Did you lose all of the weight that you gained? After about 2 years, I finally did :)

16.Did you get any stretch marks? Yes, but only a few.

17.What did you crave the most? Hard shell tacos and marshmallows, not together.

18.Did you crave anything crazy? Nope

19.Who or what got on your nerves? I don't remember anything specifically.

20.Did you have any complications during your pregnancy? Not really.

21.Where and when did you go into labor? I was induced, so it happened at the hospital.

22.Did your water break? When the doctor broke it, it did :)

23.Who drove you to the hospital? Nigel!

24.Who was in the room when you gave birth? Nigel, my mom and my sister.

25.Did you go early or late? 1 week early.

26.How long were in labor for? It ended up being around 28 hours.

27.Did you have any drugs for the pain? Yep, good old epidural.

28.Did you go natural or have a C-section? Natural

29.What was your first reaction after giving birth? I can't believe he's so tiny!

30.How big was the baby? 6lbs, 11 oz, 18 3/4 inches.

31.Did your husband cry? A little bit, don't tell him I told you :)

32.What did you name the baby? Caden Merle!

33.Does her name have any significant meaning? Caden we just liked, Merle is Nigel's middle name and his grandpa's first name.

34.Did you have any visitors? Yep, my mom, my sister, my dad, Amy, and Ian.

35.Did the baby have any complications? He was too cold. He had to go to the nursery for a little bit to be on the warmer.

36.How old is your baby today? Almost 3!!

37.When is the next one coming? About 2 1/2 months from now :)

38.If you could, would you do it all over again? Well, I guess so, seeing as I'm pregnant now :)

39.Tag five: Just do it if you want to!