34 weeks!

I can't believe that in 5 weeks or less, little Brody will be here! Time has seriously just flown by. I finally found a doctor that I like. Whats nice about this office compared to the other? Oh let's see....
-They weren't shocked that I was married
-Didn't freak out over the fact that both kids have the same "baby daddy"
-I don't have to get a 30 lecture on getting my tubes tied (which I'm not but I still was going to have to listen to this)
-I'm not the only white person in the clinic
-An actual doctor will do my surgery, not a resident
-They weren't shocked that I don't drink, smoke or take any kind of street drug, while pregnant or not (which just blew my mind)

That's only a handful of reasons, but those are the ones that stick out the most. The new office is closer to home and reminds me a lot of Dr. Terry's office, so that's a comfort. PLUS, they are going to do an ultrasound this Thursday so we can find out how big he is. I have always wanted an ultrasound later in pregnancy to get a better idea of everything and see the baby and the features, not just a little alien. According to Baby Center Broden is about 18inches and just a little under 5lbs...we will find out soon enough! Neacel was 8lbs 14oz and 22in at birth, and the dr and I don't want this baby to be that big at birth, I'd like a 7lb baby please. So if Brody is measuring ahead then the due date will be changed! So it's a possibility I could have him in a month or less. I don't have any pregnancy pictures because I feel HUGE and don't want to show the world. I am a ton smaller then I was with Neacel (I'm not even close to this and this is just a week ahead), I think Neacel realized he could stretch one way and would have more room and Broden is just staying close to mom :-)
This pregnancy has been a dream, no sickness, no swelling, plenty of cravings, and no more stretch marks!!!! So cross your fingers that we can have Broden sooner...I'd love maybe hmmm October 24th???
I'll update more about the family later, we are heading to Elyria for the day to see my family. My brother is back in town and preparing to leave on his mission (he reports Oct 13th and will be serving in Riverside Cali) so I have to see him. We are going apple picking, which Ill explain why later, and I have to drop off my money making Martha Stewart projects to a friends store......but apparently both the boys realized today was busier, its 10am and both are still sleeping, Neacel never sleeps past 9 at the latest....just my luck!

Nick and Neacel at Wyoga Lake

A post by Nick. Mandy and I live on a lake and for some reason, we have never actually spent any time in/on it. So the other day, I decided to take Neacel to see it before summer was over. I only had a little time before I had to go to class, but I was able to snap a few photos. Here is beautiful Wyoga Lake.

Family Fun Night at U of A

A post by Nick.

The other night, in an effort to save money, we all went to the family fun night at the University of Akron. It was in the ballroom at the student union building, and they had all sorts of stuff set up for fun. They had family feud, crafts, board games, dancing and an favorite game in Ohio called "cornhole." As I like to point out, cornhole means butthole outside the state of Ohio, but no one seems to realize that.

Here Neacel is decorating a cookie.

Here is his chubby little hand putting on some sprinkles.

Tasting his creation.

I wasn't as angry as I look. Also, I think I look pretty trim in this picture. Down under 200, now that I'm not sitting at a desk all day.

Neacel happy to have some cotton candy.

Showing me that his mouth is "empty" so that he can have some more food.

Mandy pretending to be happy that I am taking her picture.

Neacel confused by the people dancing. Apparently there is something called the "Cleveland Hustle" which is sort of a combo between the "electric slide" and line dancing.

Neacel jumping after playing a game of "cornhole."

A view from a window in the Student Union building. In the background, Akron's terrible football team is practicing. They couldn't beat a punching bag if their life depended on it.

Butchel Hall, named after the schools founder in 1800 and something.

Neacel and Mommy going for a walk on campus.

A view in the center of campus.

The glass building in the background is their famous polymer engineering school.

The library where I spend a lot of time.

This is Kolbe Hall. My classroom is on the 4th floor.

This is Leigh Hall. Both of my classrooms are on the second floor.

Neacel and Daddy walking back to the car. Neacel wanted to push the stroller.

The walkway leading to the student recreation center.

Here is the new Zips football stadium.

Where Were You?

It's a day that no one will forget. A day that our children will read about in history books, one that we all lived to tell the story about. I'm curious, where were you when you heard the news?

For me, I was a sophomore in high school, sitting in biology class when a girl ran down the hall yelling "We have been attacked" Now in my high school, you laugh at this, just another crazy person stoned on something loosing their mind. We went on with class, then I went to choir. The news was on and that's when it hit us, it was real. We sat there, an all girl choir, crying our eyes out, hugging and holding each other in disbelief. Then all the sudden we saw another plane, and watched as it hit the second tower. A few screamed, I sat there, I'm sure my jaw hit the floor. Did I really see what I think I just saw? We watched the towers fall, we watched people jumping from the buildings, we didn't miss a single thing. School that day wasn't the same, the teachers didn't teach, we just watched the news and talked about what was happening. Even in Spanish class, we watched the news, yes it was in spanish...and no I have no clue what was said, but it didn't matter. I knew what was going on, you didn't need to understand what was being said to know that our country was under attack. Fear covered the school that day, I thought many times that I was just going to walk home but for some reason never did till it was time to go home. There was a quiet calm over everything that day, Elyria was a quiet town, people just looked at each other with a look of fear and love for each other. According to a few friends, churches in town were full. Flags were hung everywhere....

Here we are 9 years later. A war still going on, and still remembering that horrible day. We haven't forgotten a single thing, the pictures still in our head, the anger for what happened still in our hearts, and the love for each and every person that has passed away due to this. 9 years is plenty of time to heal over most things, but every year on this day we stop and think, ponder and talk about that day. I promise you that's one of those days that you know every little thing about....I remember what I was wearing. Blue jeans, black flip flops, red purse and guess what....a black shirt with the NYC skyline on it, including both of those towers standing proud. I hold on to that shirt because of the memories and the coincidence.

Please share, where were you that day? How did you hear the news?

Labor Day Weekend

Saturday we went up to Cleveland with my family. It was grandma Jacki's (step dads mom) birthday so that side of the family spent the day together. They were going to go on the Good-time 3 which is a 2 hour boat tour of the Cleveland area, but the waves were nuts due to the hurricane. So we all met at the Cleveland Natural History Museum. Neacel hadn't had much of a nap so I was thinking he would probably not be too fun, but he loved the museum and was just running around non stop. My child has to much energy! He loved the dino area, and the kids play area downstairs...he wasn't impressed with the jewels like I was.
We spent hours there and then decided to go get something sweet. We went to a place in Rocky River called Sweet Melissa's. Oh dear goodness, the sweets there are amazing! The cupcakes were HUGE! I couldn't finish one. (Jen, you would love this place, its one of those sweet treat snotty people places that you shouldn't take kids, but we totally would. You would die over the sweets though! I totally thought of you the whole time I was there) I had a carrot cake cupcake, which was good but it had pineapple in it, which is fine but I wasn't expecting it so it threw me off. I also had a chocolate covered strawberry, not just one chocolate but 3, white, milk and dark...can we say heaven? Nick had carrot cake but I think he was more impressed with his buffalo chicken wrap. Neacel had grilled cheese and fruit along with any sweets that he could get from all the adults! Such a little mooch.

We had a great time with family, but Nick had to hurry to my parents house to watch the BYU game. WOOHOO they won!!! Good thing they have a channel or two that he can watch a few games from. Mom and I went shopping and then to my Aunt Leslie's were we sat around eating peanut m&m's and talking. Peanut m&m's are a must at any late night gathering in my family. And if they aren't there someone will complain...

Sunday was spent baking and relaxing....nothing special. We had plenty to bake for labor day so we made Impossible Pie, Sunny delight (cake) and lemon bars.

Monday we went to Leslie's for a picnic and had a ton of fun. Neacel got stuck under a car because he was trying to get a basketball, so he has a nice scratched up chin. His clothes were filthy and he was happy. He chased the dogs all day and ate way too much. I was nice sitting around with family, talking and stuffing our faces with way to much food, but for some reason we never stopped. It was nice being at the first big family gathering since moving back out here, I can't wait for other gatherings!

***Don't forget the post below about Neacel.....***

Little Monster

Lately, I love watching Neacel and thinking about what he might be when he grows up. He laughs at everything, and loves making people laugh...comedian? He will tell you when you have an "ouchie" and when you are ok....doctor? But then he loves cars, trucks, and climbing under them...mechanic? It's amazing to think that Nick and I are raising this little person that one day is going to do something huge and amazing with his life. No matter what it is, you know he will make an impact. Neacel is becoming so independent, even more then he already was. Which means, he thinks that he doesn't need a nap and that bedtime is when he wants it, not at 8 like its always been. In fact, last week Neacel went to bed at 8 and around 9 we still heard him playing in his room. This isn't anything new, but will still would walk by his room and tell him to go to bed, he quickly told us no. Well, super long story short, Nick went in there at 10:30 to tuck him in and everything. As Nick opened the door Neacel booked it out of his room, and started dancing around the living room. Till midnight that night, Neacel was running around the living room laughing, dancing, jumping on the furniture, playing with toys etc etc. We asked him many times if he was going to bed, he quickly replied "No, UP UP" We just sat here watching him. We were laughing so hard. We had never seen him like this, this was like 3 days of energy dying to get out! At midnight, after trying to get him to lay down in our bed and trying everything in the book we finally just decided he needed to go to bed....at 1am Neacel was kicking our wall saying "No Sleepy Time.....UP UP!" My first thought was, well maybe he will sleep in, NOPE! Neacel was up at 8am that morning, and a brat all day. Luckily, we haven't had that happen again, but my goodness, it was one of those moments that you think about and just laugh and remember that even though everyone was tired and bratty the next day, we had a fun night together as a family, enjoying Neacels entertainment. That crazy wacky night, Neacel started saying "Neacel, I want..." and will sometimes still saying...maybe it was just the sugar rush that night?

Nick is doing great in school, just needs to figure out a study schedule. His Thursday teacher just piles on the reading, while Tuesday and Wednesday teachers give a decent amount without over doing it. So that's been a little hard on him. He will spend time Monday studying and then Tuesday and Wednesday reading at the school. By Thursday he doesn't have all of his reading done, so he has to spend time on Friday catching up with everything. Its just a cycle that he needs to find a way around, but the plan that he had hasn't worked because of that one class. So even though he wants to spend time with his wonderful family :-) he has been going to the school between noon-3 so that he can study a ton. Poor guy, I know it's best for him and for our family but it just stinks!

I finally was able to go to the dr. Broden is doing good with a strong heartbeat of about 130. Im measuring 32 weeks, so only about a half a week ahead of what I am. I can't schedule my c-section till Im 36 weeks, which sucks because Im ready to set the date now and don't plan on changing my mind. I know Ive leaned towards Oct 28th but Nick gave me a good reason not to go that day. He has school that night, and even though I don't care if he left the hospital and went to class, he has a huge project due that night. Again, I thought OK well just go to class, its not a big deal. Then he said that it would be hard to focus on this project knowing that I was in the hospital with a new baby....oops! I didn't think of it that way. So Oct 29th is the day unless for some reason the dr says No. I go to the dr again next week, because they didn't have my records so we will do another checkup just to make sure everything is stable since I hadn't seen a dr in a month in a half. Nick yells at me for still sleeping on my stomach, and Broden recently has started moving more, and a lot lower. Its painful to be honest. Ive got braxton hicks daily now, and usually spend my night laying in bed trying to relax and get them to quit. I'm wondering if all this is Broden's way of telling me he is going to be here early?

My grandpa's surgery went well. We will know in a week what he has.....it could be something as little at a folic acid deficiency or cancer. Either way, its a blessing to know what it is.