Jackson’s first Dodger game

san diego

shamu! shamu!

family photo

timmy and mercy getting ready to swim with dolphins

fam at the beach... good times

our Mac is fixed…

we finally got our Mac back and I’m able to post some pictures.

here are Jackson’s announcement photos, courtesy of Max Wyatt.

we used this one for his announcement

there were so many amazing pictures, but i couldn’t post them all. hope you enjoy. Jackson is a little bigger than he was at 3 months. He’s growing and changing everyday… I wish he’d stop! More pictures of our summer adventures to come…

My encouragement today…

So I’m in the process of losing some of my pregnancy weight… and today on MyFoodDiary.com this was the quote:

Don’t let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of your doing it. The time will pass anyway; we might just as well put that passing time to the best possible use.

~ Earl Nightingale

Yeah, I agree.

duck, duck, duck… GOOSE!

My lovely sister-in-law, Joni, tagged me in a recent blog. (check her out at Lloyd Mountain–she’s pretty amazing.) So… here it goes

But first, the rules.

1. link back to the person who tagged you. (Joni)

2. post these rules on your blog.

3. share six unimportant things about yourself.

4. tag people at the end of your entry.

Let’s see, what’s interesting yet unimportant about me… hmmmm

one: I’m a butt slapper. sounds odd, but it really isn’t. it’s from playing umpteen years of sports (especially volleyball). and i don’t slap random butts. just people i love. so, if i love you, you’ll get a love pat-pat. those of you who know me, know what i’m talking about.

two-my nick-name during my freshman year of high school was “spaz” given to me by my freshman volleyball coach.

three>i hate the word “kinky”. hate.

four–my new favorite artist is Brooke Fraser. check her out!!

five: i have to have the clothes i am going to wear picked out before i get into the shower. and yes, the shower is warming up while i pick out my outfit.

six… i am absolutely a water snob. i don’t like tap water. i prefer bottled. and even then, i prefer arrowhead.

Okay now I am supposed to tag some more people, but I’m not sure who reads this blog. SO i tag two of my girls: Anna and Mara. That’s all.

ps So our Mac is still getting fixed. UGH!! Matt will have that blog… And I am just dying to put up pictures.

i heart summer!

It’s been a while since I (“we”) last blogged about the ongoings of life here in So Cal. I’ve been meaning to, but somewhere between vacations, summer league volleyball and a teething 4 month old… yeah–well I’m here now. And that’s what matters. Except, I won’t have pictures this time, because our pictures are on our MacBook, which is in the shop. So, I’m on our PC. bleh!!

The week before San Diego, we helped our friends, Cody and prego-Anna pack up and move back to Portland. It was incredibly hard to see them leave. Our group of friends has slowly decreased over the year and it’s hard to watch people leave. But these are friends that we’ll be close with probably forever. Cabo ‘09!! That very same week Cody and Anna left, one of my bestest friends who played an intrigual part of my spiritual journey, told us she, too was moving. Although it was hard to hear Candice was(is) moving, we knew it was a wise decision. And then… approximately 2 days later, she got ENGAGED! To Trevor Ford. YAY! He is a great man and we are so proud of and happy for them. I can’t wait to post pictures of their wedding (set for November 22nd).

At the end of June/beginning of July, my brother and his amazing family, took us to San Diego. We stayed in Coronado at the Hotel del Coronado. You should stay at this hotel. It is amazing!!! You might have to save for a few months and tap into your child’s college fund–but it is sooo worth it. We went to Sea World, where we had breakfast with Shamu. And boy, does that fish EAT! Later in the afternoon, my niece and nephew (Mercy, 7 and Timmy, 5) got to swim with dolphins. So fun to watch! And I got some greats photos… which are on the Mac. ugh! San Diego was awesome. I want to go back, like, now. Matt and I also stopped by OGN–Operation Good News–to say Hi to some great friends. It was so refreshing to be back there and talk with old friends about new adventures… good times.

About a week after we got back from San Diego, Matt and I left for Canada. (Are you singing their anthem in your head right now? I know you are!) It was Matt’s grandparents, Oma and Opa, 60th wedding anniversary celebration. We had a lovely time hanging out with family. And for me, it was the first time meeting some of Matt’s family. (HI Aunt Luella!! and Jared… and Evan… do i have to name everyone now??) I was worried about how Jackson would do on the flights. And interestingly enough, so were the people around us who saw we were on their flight. The stares you get when you’re traveling with an infant, I swear!! But Jackson did great, on all the flights. so… TAKE THAT YOU AWFUL STARERS OF PEOPLE TRAVELING WITH INFANTS!! Ha! I showed them. Or… we showed them. On the way home we stopped in Portland to see our dear friends, Cody and Anna. It was so nice to see them since they moved in the middle of June. We miss them terribly. But we’re home now and it is so nice to sleep in our own bed. Now we just have to get Jackson back on his schedule and boy! what fun that is.

We don’t have any more trips planned for the summer. Although I’d like to visit the beach as much as humanly possible. Matt starts summer school next week. OH OH and DJ and Mara and little Eli are coming out to Pasadena to visit in August. I am very much looking forward to that. (Right now, my son is talking to himself in the mirror. Too cute!)

As soon as we get our Mac, I’ll be posting pictures from our recent adventures.

XOXO

Days like these make me miss Fresno…

So Jackson is 12 weeks old now…. and you would think by now that he’d have his social security card. I mean, here in LA it takes like 3 weeks to get it. Although we were told that it could take up to 8 weeks. Well, how ’bout it, he’s 12 weeks old and still nothin’. So I decided to call social security, just to make sure they had got the information right, and what not. That was mistake number one. Have you ever tried to call the social security office?? HA! It’s the biggest joke. I had to go through this automatic system and at the very end–I didn’t even get to talk to anyone! Oooohhhh I am SO frustrated! So I called again to state my plea and again, nothing. I wish I could go into great detail about my phone call but it would just exacerbate my frustration. I went to the website and found out that I have to GO INTO the social security office (which isn’t far) to pick up Jackson’s card. *sigh* When did the internet become more user friendly than the telephone?

OH— so then I decided to call about my son’s birth certificate… but, much like the previous incident, I have to DRIVE to NORWALK to obtain my child’s birth certificate. It’s a 1/2 hour drive without traffic… Lord knows that it’ll be like when we go. At least when I called (and still never “talked” to anyone) the information was plan and simple and easy to obtain.

See, if we were still in Fresno and trying to get these things, it’d be much easier. Or at least I’d like to think so. I know where the social security office is (in fact, I know someone who works there!) AND–I know where to get my son’s birth certificate. And I wouldn’t have to worry about traffic as much as I do here. AAAAANNNDD housing is cheaper. But that’s a different story.

I’d vent to my dear, sweet husband, but some of our friends are over watching soccer. So he’s kind of unavailable. And that’s where blogging comes in. Sorry, no pictures for this post. Just me. Venting. *sigh* okay, I’m going to go play with that sweet, adorable son of mine.

Some random pictures and on-goings of our life

Here are some more pictures since our last post

On our anniversary Matt and I went to Green Street Restaurant for dinner and then saw “Prince Caspian”. The theater was soooo empty–it was great!

This is Mother’s Day…. outside of Green Street. (yeah, we really-really-really like Green Street.)

We also had a trip up to Fresno for dentist appointments. We got some really great pictures of Jackson and family.

the cousins on my side: Timmy, Zeke, jackson, and Mercy… sooo cute!!

and the cousins on Matt’s side… minus one who was still in-utero at this time. Macy and Jackson. (Zach finally made his appearance June 5th! YAY!)

Those are all the pictures for now. We’re heading up to Fresno soon to meet the newest cousin and cannot wait. Matt has finals this week–two papers down and two tests to go! Then he’s off school until the end of July. We’re looking forward to vacationing in San Diego and Canada this summer.

I am going to start coaching volleyball again and am so very excited! Maybe it’ll help me lose some of this baby weight. Summer league starts soon.

And with summer comes change. Some of our friends (DJ, Mara and little man Eli) left earlier this year and that was so very tough! And now this summer some more very close friends of ours are leaving–Cody and Anna and in-utero baby Lail. We are so terribly sad to see them go. We have created such community with both these couples (and gone through quite a lot with them) and to not have them close by breaks our hearts. But we will visit them and I’m sure they’ll be out to Cali to visit us as well. It’s just hard to lose this one-of-a-kind community and I’m especially having a hard time with it.

Well let’s end on a happier note: Jackson will be 12 weeks tomorrow! Holy Cow! He weighs about 9.5 lbs and is 22 inches long. Yes, he’s small. Like the 10th percentile for his age. But he’s healthy, so no worries here. He’s smiling and cooing and drooling like crazy. Hopefully I’ll finish his announcements soon and get those sent out.

We love the beach!

As most of you know, Matt and I love the beach! When we get the chance to go, we take it! So when our friend, Jordan, asked us if we’d be interested to go today (Tuesday, May 20th) we said HECK YEAH! It’s been an adventure preparing for this day.  You wouldn’t believe how crazy I’ve made myself trying to find something that provided shade for my little one–I didn’t want to expose his delicate skin to the sun… at least not yet. So I have been searching and thought I found one thing that would work. But when I went to Sports Chalet, they didn’t have it. *sigh* I decided to settle for a beach umbrella. It will do for now.

This morning, amidst the semi-chaos, I got Jackson ready for his first adventure at the beach. Board shorts, rash guard–he was set to go!

Too cute for words!! We got out to Manhattan around 11:30am and the marine layer was still hanging around. But it let up around 12:30p when Jordan and Matt went to get subway for lunch. Mmmmm! Since the sun came out it was time to put up the umbrella to shade our little man.

Looks great, right? Yeah I thought so too, until Matt and Jordan went for a walk without their phones!! And wouldn’t you know it, the wind picked up, clouds came back and umbrella went flying!! So I had to chase it down, bring it back, fix it from being inverted–twice! And where were the boys this whole time? Walking… just relaxing on the beach. Oh and by this time our parking meter had expired it’s 3 hour limit. So needless to say, when the boys got back we packed up and headed home.

It was a nice relaxing time. I didn’t get sunburn. Matt has a few red spots where the we didn’t get sunscreen. And Jordan… well Jordan decided he wanted lobster legs, so he didn’t put any sunscreen on them when we got there. Silly Jordan

We love the beach and can’t wait to go back!

Update!!

Since Matt was supposed to finish the blog below and didn’t… I will!

After being sent to labor and delivery, we were told I would be monitored and most likely induced. And sure enough, I was given a cervix softener (OUCH!) and catheter (double OUCH!). The Dr said that the cervix softener would take about 10 hours to work from the time it was given, and then he would come back to check on me to issue the potcin to start contractions. So we waited… and waited… and called my parents and Matt’s parents and text messaged our friends to start praying… and waited some more.

Around 8:00pm the nurses came to check on my urine output and noticed that it hadn’t been very much in the later half of the day and started to decrease even more. By 9:00pm my urine production had decreased so much so that the Dr came in and said “I suggest a C-Section.” I’m sure he said more than that, but really, all I heard was “C-Section.” What came next was really a blur to me– I was prepped for surgery, my parents and mother-in-law showed up, Matt was running frantically around the hospital trying to direct my parents and mother-in-law, and Aunt and cousin and Brother to the labor and delivery ward… I barely got to kiss my family before i was wheeled into surgery. But that’s a different story, right Dad?

I remember some things from the C-Section, like getting my numbing medication and wondering where the heck is Matt?!? (He came like 3 minutes later, but it felt like a life time.) Then Matt was sitting to my left, holding my hand, praying when the nurses or Dr or someone said “There will be a little pressure and then the baby will be here…” And sure enough a few seconds later at 10:07pm I heard my son, JACKSON DAVID LLOYD, cry a newborns cry. FINALLY he was out and I couldn’t have been happier. He was 7 lbs and 7 oz, 20 inches long. (Lord have mercy had I gone another 2 1/2weeks)

After the C-Section the healing process took a while… I didn’t get up to walk until 2 days later, and boy was that fun. (Insert sarcasm.) But I did heal and am doing quite well now. I’ve lost a total of 35 lbs in water weight, which has got to tell you how swollen I was! i don’t wish preclampsia on any of my worst enemies. It sucks!

LIFE AFTER THE BIRTH

Jackson is 7 (almost weeks now and I am loving this whole mother thing! He’s gaining weight and growing and changing every day. He is very strong (Juice Plus, baby! no really… he’s a Juice Plus baby –that was for you, Mom.) Jackson is starting to smile on purpose now and coo just a little. He’s a lot more alert and looking so much like his dad. One of my favorite things is his little fish face—his eyes get real big and he’ll purse his lips together, SO precious. I can’t help but kiss them.

So I’ll finish this blog with the things I’ve learned in the past 7+weeks;

• I’ve been peed on, pooped on, spit-up on and sneezed on and yet it doesn’t change the enormous amount of love I have for my son
• I’ve experience late, late nights of crying, constipation and putting thermometers where they should never have to go, and yet I love my son even more
• Even in the middle of the night, when Matt and I are trying to sleep and Jackson won’t close his eyes, then lets out a little coo–he warms my heart and I don’t care if he’s asleep or not
• Being a Mother has given me a glimpse into the heart of God and his love for his children. And has made me fall in love with my husband all over again.
• Oh! and I’d much rather be a Mom than pregnant.