Fat Tuesday/ Ash Wednesday

Well, a day late and a dollar short, but better late than never....right!

I worked on Monday night, and went straight on through until Tuesday night without sleep. I barrelled through the day without regards to rest...and I paid for it today!

Yesterday was Mardi Gras day (or Fat Tuesday) as we call it here round these parts. When I got home from work, Mike, Jacob and I jumped in the car and headed in to town. We packed up my dad and headed to the very large, very crowded parade near my parents home. We had a blast, minus the small second that a lady basically shoved me right out of her way with her LADDER, informing me that I was in her spot! HELLO lady, you just shoved a pregnant woman with a LADDER.....this is not looking good. But, Mike and I held our own and stood our ground....squeezing in to the tiny spot she left for us. We caught a ton of beads/toys/trinkets....Jacob is a great decoy. His cuteness attracts all of the goodies off of the float!

He basically begged for a stuffed tiger from every float that passed (not that they could hear him), but instead received countless footballs, soccer balls, a puppy, some bears, a frog, and a magnet. Good enough for him!

Being the good parents that we are, we forgot the camera. So Mike pulled out his handy dandy Blackberry and took these few pictures. Yes, I was in my work scrubs...I was way too tired to change!





and today marked the first day of Lent...Ash Wednesday. Mike and I tend to forget about the no meat rule throughout lent...but I did great today and avoided all meat (and since I don't eat seafood, and I am pregnant - so no tuna - that does not leave much for me too eat....PB&J or grilled cheese for me), but Mike forgot at lunchtime and had him some chicken. Oh well, we will always have Friday (Fridays are also no meat days during lent). I gave up candy (ack) and Mike gave up goldfish crackers (double ack). He is ADDICTED to those little orange crackers. He buys that jumbo huge box from Walmart, and eats the whole thing by himself...without Jacob or I eating any! Good luck to us both...it will be a long 40 days..........

Mardi Gras madness!

What a fun day!

Jacob and I went to a neighbor boys' birthday party this morning while daddy was at the gym. We then contemplated on driving in to town for Endymion (one of the biggest parades in New Orleans pre Mardi Gras day). I heard Kid Rock was the King of Endymion this year....not that I like him all that much=)
Anyways, our neighbors invited us to follow them in and watch the parade with them, but since we had the party this morning, we could not leave as early s they did. We decided against driving in to town, mainly because trying to fight the traffic and crowds simply was not desirable to us (really Mike, I don't so much mind the crowds!)
So we decided to attend the local parade today. The Spanish town parade. It is really an adult parade....adult themes, songs and such. The young ones don't know enough to pay any mind to those themes, so bringing them is not a big deal. We went with a friend of ours and his little girl. Jacob was pretty crabby at first (because I would not let him drink my entire can of soda), but once daddy caught him a life size Tigger plush, he was totally in to it! Waving his hands and trying to catch the beads! He had a blast.
We are home now, and it is raining now, so we are in for the night. I think this may have been our one Mardi Gras parade this year, since I work Monday night.
Now we have plenty of beads around from the parade today that Jake can play Mardi Gras for the next few months!

Home again home again jiggity jig.........

We're baaaacckkkk!! We had a GREAT time. We missed Jakey too much though. I swear he got bigger while we were gone! He had a blast with all of the grandparents though, and we were thankful for some 'us' time!

On the trip there I got sick twice. Once on the flight and once on the ride to the hotel. Thank goodness I did not loose it IN the van!!! How embarrassing would that be. Anyway, let's move on. Our hotel was wonderful, breathtaking lobby and our room was nice, with a view of the California Adventures Park. We had some friends and family warn us that it was not as good as Disney world, and there was not as much to do. However, we were pleasantly surprised by both parks, especially the Disneyland park! It was very similar to the Magic Kingdom in Disney world. They did not have as many rides, but the ones that were there were great, some being better than Disney world. They recently updated the "It's a small world" attraction and we loved it, rode it twice! Mike rode all of the wild rides by himself, and we took advantage of the fast pass option, so there were only a few times that we had to stand in awful long lines. We spent about 2 days in each park, so by Monday we were left with nothing to do. Which was OK, because the weather was awful all day on Monday. SO we went to a movie in Downtown Disney. We also got to celebrate Valentines day a night early. Everything was all booked up for Saturday night (duh), so we went to a nice restaurant in the hotel on Friday. On Saturday, we could find nothing available for dining, so we got some Mexican food to go and ate it in the room. A Valentines we won't forget=) We also indulged and got ice cream every single night we were there.........YUM! Thank goodness I did not gain any weight from all that!

Overall, the trip was wonderful, but we were ready to come home to our boy and our bed! The return trip was awful, for some reason I could not tolerate the flights, and I got sick SIX times yesterday!!!!!!!! Black! I have recovered today though and unpacked us all. Enjoy the pictures!!



Check out the snack machine we came across (it was in the Monsters Inc ride!)
For some reason, I am not happy with the way any of the pictures Mike and I took together turned out, therefore you won't see many. This one is the two of us sharing a churro, a yummy cinammon dessert that Mike indulged in every day!







Our one and only character breakfast....they REALLY need the dining plan! We (stupidly) ate without checking the price of the meal. So $50 later we decided that there would be no more character breakfasts for us!








They had a VERY small section in the Magic kingdom that remotely reminded us of Epcot. Mike participated in a computer enhancing program that showed him what he would look like (much) fatter, with sun damage, and if he smoked. Nice huh!!! I also nabbed this sweet photo of a bunch of fat....makes you rethink what you eat huh?







(very) recently renovated 'It's a small world'. Great landscaping work!








Toontown....we loved this section of the Magic Kingdom. Though it is intended for kids...we thought it was precious! The way they had it set up, you felt like you were really in a small cartoon city. Check out the picture with the "mountains" in the backdrop. We could not get over how real they looked!

Some pictures from New Orleans Square. Mike got panicked when he walked in to this skull booby trap and could not find his way out.....and we rode on a real pirate ship!







Cave on Mark Twains Island in New Orleans Square, and Mickeys' house!







California Adventures theme park. We spent the total of a day in this park (actually part of two seperate days). We compared it to Animal Kingdom and MGM. They had a few rides from both of those Disney world parks entwined in to this one.

Mike and I stood in line for almost 2 hours to get this picture with Mickey!!! They did not have characters walking around often, and I told Mike we could not travel that far and NOT get a picture with the mouse.....little did we know, the very next day, Mickey was walking around taking pictures, no lines in sight....grrrrr!

Goofy however required no line, no waiting at all=)

We saw the most AWESOME 'Aladdin' musical. I have never seen a Broadway show, but I would think this is what it would have been like. They even flew on their magic carpet out into the audience.

This last picture is of a store in Downtown Disney that we passed everyday. Each time we sopped in front, trying to figure out what the name of the store was. We finally ventured inside on the last day and figured it out. Can you guess???

Disney(land) or bust!!!

We leave in the AM!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hvae a great weekend, we sure will=)

Decisions to make

One more day until we leave for Disney!!! Mike and I are SO ready for a little alone time=) Although we will miss Jake tremendously, and I am sure everything in Disney will remind us of him!

I was supposed to work today, but got a nice 'scare the hell out of you' phone call around 430 this morning telling me that I was cancelled today. That is the only downside of working PRN (as needed). On the positive side, I got to spend today cleaning and packing, something we desperately needed to do!

After the phone call, Mike and I were both wide awake staring in to the pitch black darkness of our room. SO we both got up and came upstairs to play on the computer. We are also trying to decide if I should stay home once the baby is born, instead of returning to my normal work schedule. I would still work about 2 days a month, to keep up my nursing skills, but would primarily be home with the kids. We would also switch Jacob to a preschool that is literally 1/4 of the cost of his current preschool/daycare. He would attend school 3 hours a day, 5 days a week, and be home with the baby and I the rest of the time. I am pretty excited, yet nervous about this. We would be giving up almost all of my income (not that I am blowing the roof off with what I make now) and would be dependant on Mikes' salary.

Decisions decisions.

'I Love You'

This is Jacobs' newest favorite random thing to say....and I LOVE it!!! I cannot get enough of his precious cuteness. He just randomly says it..."mommy, I love you", "mommy, I like you", "I love you so much mommy". No matter what he is doing, he stops and says it to both Mike and I, all throughout the day. Perfect timing for Valentines day huh!

Tonight we were listening to baby bug #2's heart beat with the doppler, and Jacob started talking to the baby. "Hi baby" he says, "I love you baby". There is no way possible anything in the world could be more precious.

Every day I read other blogs with stories of heartbreak, illness, death. I thank God above that He so blessed us with our precious Jacob, and our new one on the way. Nothing is sweeter.

Hug your babies, keep them close, tell them that you love them....always.

baby baby!

Oh well, no ultrasound today=( We went for my 16 week checkup today and I was hoping that I would be persuasive enough to convince the doctor to let me have an ultrasound in hopes to see if we could find out the sex of the baby, since this is when we found out Jacob was a boy! But no suck luck, the stenographer tech was all booked up today. So we are set up to find out on March 6th....4 more weeks.

My SIL found out that she is having a BOY!!!! Going to join their 2 year old little girl=) Congratulations Courtney and Matt.

Coming home!

My boys are coming home tonight!!!! Oh how I have missed them!

I know I have been mum about it, but Jacob and Mike have been out of town (for Mikes' job) since Sunday night....and they are coming home tonight=) The grandparents cared for our boy while Mike (and I) worked the beginning of this week. Sometimes, alone time does a mommy good, (I even made it to the gym on Monday - it has been 4 months since the gym - and I am SORE) but after 3 nights of alone time in a big scary house, I am ready for the troops to return home.

On a side note....I have been thinking that I have felt 'baby flutters' for the past few weeks now, even though it is way early in my pregnancy for that. I know for the past week I have felt movement at night when I am sitting perfectly still on the sofa. BUT, today I felt definite partying going on in my belly right after lunch. It was awesome! It really makes me feel truly pregnant. Until now (and still) I am just a large and in charge person, who looks way more chubby than pregnant. Plus, my muffin top is rounding out and starting to look more like a belly!!!

Good day today=)

Happy (belated) birthday mom!

Not that I forgot my moms' birthday, I just forgot to post about it yesterday! So, heres to you mom. You are the best mother and grandmother anyone could wish for. We love you!!!!

park/zoo trip this past weekend

Some pictures from this past weekend....







Mike and I are almost never in a picture together unless another adult is with us to take it....Jacob has been quite interested in using the camera lately, so we let him have a go at it. I think he did fairly well!





Just hanging around



Jacob found a random little boy (who desperately needed a hair cut) at the pond, and they instantly became friends. Don't you wish it could be that easy as an adult!




stretching after a long walk around the park!



After the park, we headed to the local zoo....not nearly as nice as the one in town, but it'll do! I don't like taking pictures of animals, because I never do anything with them once I take them. So we don't have to many pictures from our zoo trip. Jacob's favorite part of the whole day was riding the train (and seeing the HUGE rattle snake...of course)
we could almost touch the giraffe!!




Mommy and her boy on the zoo train




Daddy and his boy on the zoo train



On a side note, my sister in law was supposed to find out if she was having a boy or girl today (she is 5 months pregnant), but the ultrasound tech was not in....so, it looks like Friday is the big day....maybe my doctor will sneak me in for an ultrasound too on Friday (since I already have an appointment). Wouldn't that be neat! Maybe they won't notice if I casually walk in to the U/S room and lay on the table....

prayers for Kate

I know that this is technically a blog for Jacob, and intended to be something he can look back on and read, but I just had to post this in hopes more prayers would be sent up for this precious family.....
I know that I do not have a lot of 'followers' to my blog, but if the few of you that do visit would take the time to read the following passage and pray I would very much apprecoate it. It is from a nurse that I used to work with in the NICU. She is a sweetheart and her and her husband had twins in December. One of the twins (the girl...Kate) came down with spinal meningitis. She barely survived, but by the grace of God is doing much better and should be going home soon. On Friday, however, they recieved some devastating news about little Kates' brain function. If you wish to follow their story, Lindsay has a caring bridge page set up and updates it regularly.

caringbridge.org
caring bridge site name: katecohenwitmer (no spaces)


SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 01, 2009 07:48 PM, CST
Thank you everyone for the continued prayers, support, thoughts, etc. We are pleading for everyone to continue the prayers and ask everyone you know to pray for Kate's brain. Our family received devastating news Friday about the MRI. Kate's brain has holes on every lobe, not just on the right side. According to the neurologist's experience, infants with cases like this do not typically learn to walk, talk, sit up, etc. WE ARE NOT GIVING UP ON OUR PRECIOUS KATE OR OUR AMAZING GOD!! That being said, we are going to take every opportunity to give her each and every bit of loveand energy that we can to help her. We are taking every opportunity to love and snuggle her and show her that we are here. We know in our hearts that if God wanted her with Him in heaven, He would have taken her on that Sunday. However, He left her here with us on earth, to love, cherish, and help us learn to love "differently" than we have ever known. We know that there is a reason that she is here with us, and although we don't understand it at this point, we are taking it day by day and loving her more and more. We know in our hearts that she knows we are here with her. We pray that she will continue to bless as many people as she can. This situation with her brain is not one that can heal itself..it' is going to have to be God's hand. We are not giving up on our miracle, and we are asking you to not give up either. We are going to need lots of help in these coming weeks, months, years, and are going to have to learn to ask for it. Eric and I have never been ones to ask for help, but this situation has humbled us and will continue to humble us. We may be calling on you, our friends and family, for a few favors every now and then, and thank you all in advance for the time and effort that will be spent! Our little Kate is so beautiful and precious! I am going to try to upload a new picture of her beautiful face. She is still eating her bottles, and breathing room air. Her brainstem is still perfectly intact and undamaged, so she should be able to eat. Speaking of eating, Eric and I spent yesterday and last night with Cohen at home, and he LOVES to eat! He is getting so big! He is also so precious...starting to play with his own voice all the time! He is doing very well and we are ready to be home with him, Kate, and our doggies. The infectious disease specialist wants Kate to be on antibiotics for 28 days since her last spinal tap had a low glucose level. So her last day will be next Saturday, then we will stay 48 hours and do another lumbar puncture to make sure there is no more bacteria. Then the plan is to take her home and start our new journey. We are willing to do everything we can to help her in any way we can, and our parents have been there and will be there every step of the way. Eric, Kate, Cohen, and I want to THANK OUR PARENTS, FAMILY AND FRIENDS FROM THE BOTTOM OF OUR HEARTS for everything you have done for us. We would not be able to do this without you all, especially our parents! We hope that we are all continuing to pray at 6am, 9am,12pm,3pm, 6pm ,9pm. We are trying to remember as well! We are going to try to continue updating as we have, and thank you all for being on our journey with us. Once again, PLEASE DON"T STOP PRAYING FOR A MIRACLE. Lindsay, Eric, Kate, and Cohen

I think about this family daily and pray for them constantly. I hope you will do the same...