skip to main |
skip to sidebar
My mother-in-law is in town visiting this week which just happened to fall during a scheduled OB visit. At the end of the visit, I ever so sweetly asked my OB if there was any medical reason she could think of why I might need a sonogram. I expected a no. Instead, she just smiled and, without missing a beat, she replied, "Of course! Grandma is here!" And with that, I got a 10+ minute, unscheduled sonogram for absolutely no reason at all, other than to admire my beautiful baby GIRL. Yes, I have no verified and re-verified that Joss is indeed a GIRL. No doubt about it. =) I am happy to report that she is perfect in every way! She has James' nose and feet, my forehead, and she was sleeping with her arms up over her head just like her Nonnie, Mommy, and brothers do! So precious!!!!!
Here is her profile with her Daddy's nose…
I turned this one on its side because I think that makes it a tad easier to make out her face. If you look carefully, you will see her right eye with her right arm and hand waving at the camera right next to her eye, her nose, mouth, cheek, chin and tummy. This picture is so clear I just wanted to pick her up and snuggle her!!!!
And now, ladies and gentlemen, if you are a bit conservative, you might want to look away for this next one. The image is so clear that I doubt Walmart would permit me to print it. There is no doubt about the fact that this baby is a GIRL. She's pretty much sitting on the camera. I'll apologize to her for this later, after her therapy.
I have fallen behind in blog world. I'm guilty as charged. I'm going to blame it on the pregnancy. In hopes of getting back into y'all's good graces, here is a whirlwind tour of November and all that we did. Enjoy!
Matthew had his last soccer game and received a participation trophy. His team ended up losing most of their games, but Matthew and the rest had a lot of fun and that's what matters. Matt turned out to be a pretty good soccer player, showing a lot of natural tendency toward the game. He loved it so much, he can't wait until the next season starts up!
We took the kids to a pumpkin patch/farm called Dewberry Farm. It's a pretty big deal around here, but I have to say – blasphemous though it may be – that Texas does not know how to do a pumpkin patch up right. Unfortunately, Cali has cornered the pumpkin patch market. Dewberry was the best we had to offer, so our family made a day of it and we actually had a good time. The boys rode some rides and posed (begrudgingly) for pictures. We saw pig races, raced through a corn maze and visited the petting zoo, too!
With a family of boys, we can hardly go a month without a significant injury or a trip to urgent care. Most of them involve Matthew, my loose cannon and accident-prone bundle of happiness. This time, Matthew and Scooby were playing and Scooby tripped Matt, knocking him into the edge of a door. His forehead swelled so quickly and so much we took him to urgent care to have him examined. Luckily, it was a superficial wound, but he sure had an ugly bump to show for his trouble.
Matthew and I traveled to DFW for my baby shower. My sister and sister-in-law through me a beautiful shower and my niece, Hannah, made me an amazing diaper cake with the cutest ladybug ribbon. (Jossilyn's room theme is ladybugs.) It was SOOOOOOOO amazing to once again be surrounded by such precious friends that I have missed to much over the past four years. I still have yet to send out my thank you notes, so if you were there and were wondering, please know that I am SO grateful and have a goal of getting those mailed before Christmas! Here are just a few snapshots from the shower.
While I was in DFW for my shower, Matt had some fun with Nonnie and Peepaw. I got a night out with some dear girlfriends, which was very refreshing… even if the strongest thing I consumed was Sprite. =)
Thanksgiving was a whole 'nother story. Admittedly, I'm just to tired to tell you the whole sordid tale, but suffice it to say, that was Scooby's last visit to DFW. We had only been at my parent's home for 1.3 minutes before Scooby knocked over an antique end table, sending it's contents, including a lamp, onto the floor. From there he progressed to bulldozing the elderly, trampling the very young, angering the livestock (read: family pets of all breeds), showering the carpet with "Scooby perfume" (read: pee), and creating strife between my sister and her neighbors. Add all that excitement to the grand finale of Matthew channeling the exorcist on Thanksgiving night and spewing all over my parents' house, which was quickly followed with an identical encore by Allie, added to a sick Great Grandpa and a dog fight, and you have our fun fun fun family Thanksgiving. What follows are the only pictures I managed to take… if that tells you anything.
December Preview…
James painted the nursery!!!!! I will post pictures as soon as I get the room finished. I can't wait!!!!
October has been a busy month in the Stevenson house! I can hardly believe so much time has gone by so quickly. Here is a quick overview to catch you up on what we've been up to. I found a cute little Halloween candy house (like a gingerbread house) made out of chocolate cookies and we made a family day out of decorating it. I made the "grass" out of coconut and food coloring. See how "Martha Stewart" I've become?!? (Without the felony record, though.) I'm not sure what percentage of icing and candy ended up on the house versus what ended up in our stomachs, but we had a blast creating the perfect scary candy house.
A couple weeks ago, James let me take a quick trip back to San Fran to visit my dear friends Laura and Melissa. James had taken a trip to Maui, Hawaii, in Sept. without me to visit his BFF, so it was only fair that I get to jet off somewhere, too. At least that's what my argument was. Yes, I know many of you are snickering right now. The irony of my trip is not lost on me, either. I spent the last 41 months screaming, crying and begging God to get me the heck out of California, and at the first opportunity, I go right back. What can I say? I'm a glutton for punishment… and a sucker for excellent Chinese food! It was also really cool to take the trip with reverse round-trip tickets. =)
While it was VERY good to see my dear friends and my FCC family (Fremont Community Church), I was also quickly reminded why I never quite fit in there. A perfect example… Melissa and I hit up Chinatown, San Fran, on Sunday afternoon and we get there via the BART (Bay Area rapid transit) train. I was 23 weeks pregnant and the train was full. Most seated were men because they were headed to the Oakland Raiders game. (Not a crowd you want to mess with. Raiders fans are not known for their compassion and good graces.) Not ONE person – male, female, or child – offered to give up their seat so I could sit down. So I spent the fist leg of the train ride, hanging on for dear life while my lopsided sense of balance (thanks to the pregnancy) tried to keep me upright. Melissa and I joked that it would have been poetic justice for me to have lost my lunch in somebody's lap. But then again, that might have gotten me shot. Sorry to all my Cali friends that I did not get to see… I was only there for 3 days. Next time, I will come for longer and get to see everybody!
Here is my dear friend, Laura, and me.
Here are Melissa, her adorable daughter, Haley, and me (minus lipstick – yes, it happens occasionally).
I was so excited to see baby Haley! She was only one week old when we moved back to TX. I felt cheated that I had "gone through" the entire pregnancy and delivery with Melissa and then didn't get to love on the baby very much. *Cue the tears.* Who couldn't love this face…
…or this hair! Short of shaving her bald, ain't nothing gonna make this girl's hair lay flat. Better invest in some hair bows, Haley. =)
Many of you have been bugging…uh…er…begging me to post tummy pictures. I have to say, I am not a fan of having my picture taken when pregnant. I know what I look like. I do not need to memorialize it on the internet for all to laugh at… uh… see. However, my dear hubby managed to take these two little gems that, I must admit, are not half bad. So, dear loyal readers, for your viewing pleasure, here is my growing midsection for all to enjoy. These were taken at 22 1/2 weeks and I'm just now 24 weeks, so they are pretty much what I look like right now. I have to say, I am not nearly as big with Jossilyn (so far) as I was with the boys. Thank heaven for small miracles.
