Catching Up...

Here are some photos from Halloween... I wanted to post them before November was over... Just so you know Matthew is doing great sleeping in his bed after the bed rail arrived that I had to order. He sleeps great ... thank goodness :)

Picture slideshow created with Smilebox

Big Boy Bed Day 2

Yep...I am starting to think this whole switching Matthew to a big boy bed was not such a good idea. Nap time today was a nightmare as he did not want to stay in the bed, he finally fell asleep after an hour of fighting, screaming and spankings. I am sure anyone walking past our house thought I was torturing the poor boy. Tonight he stayed in his bed fine when it came to nighttime but he kept falling off the bed so just now at 11:15 we made a bed on the floor with quilts so he and I could both try to sleep. I also just ordered a rail to go on the crib so that should be here by Wednesday. Hopefully the railing will help! I will keep you updated...Good Night!

Matthew's Big Boy Bed

So we are the parents that had our two year old still sleeping in his crib. The pediatrician told us to switch Matthew to a regular bed once he turned 1 1/2 which I thought was too early...and up until a few months ago I still wasn't sure. I mean he wasn't trying to climb out of it or anything...he was perfectly content in his crib and so were we...it kept him in one specific spot without him being able to go anywhere. We decided it was time to give all that up and remove the crib bar and make it into his big boy bed this week since I am off and can monitor him more closely plus he was trying to put his leg over the bar and trying to climb out a few weeks ago. Day 1 and Matthew is having to adjust. He says he doesn't like his bed. It took an 1 hour for him to fall asleep during nap time and he kept getting up and crying, he had every book, stuffed animal and even shoes in the bed with him. Tonight it took him an hour and a half to finally fall asleep. He is super crooked at the moment and I'll have to go in there soon and straighten him out so he doesn't fall off but he is finally sleeping. I am hoping and praying this become easier this week! I am sure I'll blog again this week...after all I am off all week for Thanksgiving Break!!! Yay!! I am very excited about this :) it would be even better if David had some days off too but alas someone has to work :(

Pumpkin Festival Photos

This year we finally made it out to Hunsader Pumpkin Festival which is in Sarasota... it was a great day to be outside and we had lots of fun! Hopefully we will be able to do this again next year!

Personalize your own free picture slideshow

Fall Photos

Okay so I slacked and I have forgotten to post photos so I will be posting some today and I need to get my mom's camera and download the rest of photos she took when we took Mattie to the Fall Festival at her church... so those may not be uploaded until Monday when I see her again! These are photos we took from our afternoon at Busch Gardens on one of our long weekends together! Enjoy!!

Make a photo album

Conversations with my 2 year old....

Well it has been a very busy weekend! We went to mom's church for their Fall Festival and Mattie was dressed as his favorite TV show Dino Dan! I think he looked adorable...hopefully tomorrow I can post photos of him and Jonathan in their costumes. But that is not the reason am writing... Matthew is talking so much and sometimes he comes up with, he constantly has me smiling! Today after pumping gas we were sitting at the stoplight and witnesses a small accident. He saw the truck just ram into this young woman's car. Of course he asked his favorite question "Mama what's that noise" I proceeded to explain that the truck hit the car where he responded with "is so sad...truck hit car...is okay no worries I fix car no problem!" He kept repeating that a few times. I tried to get it on camera but it was hard since I was driving.

Mattie and JJ are both under the weather with their allergies so I decided not to take them trick or treating. Instead we stayed home. I put JJ to sleep and decided to watch It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown. Trying to expand my child's knowledge of movies to something else other than Cars and Thomas the Train I proceeded to explain that mommy has watched this movie before and that it's a classic to which he started smiling and then with a look of realization that he had no clue what I was talking about he asks...what's a classic?...David started smirking and of course then we started laughing!

That's our boy always keeping us entertained and on our toes! Hopefully I will post photos tomorrow once David uploads them to my computer!

Until next time....

Last Weekend...

Last weekend David had off which was fantastic since he doesn't get many weekends off! It was even better since I didn't have school on Friday and he took that day off as well, so needless to say we had a great family weekend. The weather was great (for Florida) We went to Busch Gardens on Friday afternoon just for a few hours to see the animals. Matthew really wanted to see the elephants! So he had a great time just walking around with daddy looking at all the animals. On Saturday we finally went to the pumpkin festival at Hunsader Farms. It was the perfect day to go since the weather was just cool enough. It was fun.. Matthew got to ride a pony, which he was super scared to go even though David was standing right next to him... he finally warmed up to it. Some things that happened while we were there... we almost lost our very expensive brand new camera. Yep, we left it right on the ground in its bag where we ate lunch. Thank God it was still there... I mean we didn't realize we didn't have it for a bit of time! There was a circus at this festival which was good but boy was it hot. Of course this was the time that JJ was supposed to eat but I forgot to put the bottle liners in the diaper bag. Good thing he was in a happy mood and held off eating until we got to the car where I had another "normal" bottle. So it was a very eventful day!

I just wanted to catch you up before I posted photos... which will come probably on Friday when I am not so tired. Right now I am heading to bed! So good night!

What?!

I know you are shocked I am blogging again! Twice in a week...I did say I was going to try to blog more often... Not actually writing much though just posting some photos from our mini break this past September at the beach with Heather and the kids! Jonathan is 3 months old in these photos!

Personalize your own scrapbook design

Holy Cow..

Wow I didn't realize it has been this long since I have blogged... so let me catch you up a bit!
Let's start with the youngest...

Jonathan is now 4 months old! Wow time sure does fly! He is now eating cereal and seems to be sleeping a bit longer at night. He loves to laugh and speaks (in his own language of course) very loudly! :) I think he is a very good baby! Depending on JJ's mood David would agree on the good baby part although if JJ is fussy he will completely disagree!

Matthew is a very energetic 2 year old...he LOVES to talk! He will talk about absolutely anything and everything. His favorite shows at the moment are Thomas the Train, Dino Dan, Kipper, and the Cars movie. He knows the dinosaur names from the show Dino Dan which is amazing to me and David and of course we pray for all of those things plus family members every night. He loves to be read to every night and has a pile of books that are his nightly favorites! Mom teaches him tons of stuff while he is with her during the day. He really is like a sponge soaking it all in!

David is still working at Verizon...

Me, work is good. Kindergarten is an everyday adventure! The kids this year are pretty good so this year looks like it will be pretty good!

And Sadie well she is Sadie... still our crazy yet lovable blonde dog!

So I have caught you up a bit... hopefully I can keep up the blogging, even if I just post a picture I will try to post something!

Until later!

Update...

So it has been a month and some days since my last post... it has definitely been super busy around here, but let me catch you up with what has been going on around here... since Jonathan's arrival things were busy in our house. Dad and mom arrived and dad definitely got busy with different projects around the house. He installed a much needed closet light in my linen closet,tiled a beautiful back splash in my kitchen and fixed the base board that David attempted to fix himself a year ago. We also had a patio installed which looks amazing, all we have to do now is get some furniture for the outside to truly enjoy it (oh and if it can get a few degrees cooler that would be even better!) One more thing... we also took a very short road trip to Connecticut to visit with our friends Pete, Melissa and Terissa! I know its crazy...who in their right mind would have all this busyness and travel weeks after having a baby... me that's who! It was super busy but all so worth it!

Life has definitely changed and for the better, although its taking some getting used to. Yes life is hectic, and there is a bigger lack of sleep for everyone but we have been given the opportunity to be parents once again and that is a true blessing. Matthew's life has definitely changed because of this tantrums have started appearing (yuck!). I have noticed however that if we keep super busy he has a great day. It's hard though because I can't really take him places like I want to with Jonathan being so little it makes it a bit harder, so we try to get creative here at home.. doing different crafts or playing with his favorite...bubbles!

Jonathan has gotten bigger and is more alert now... he starting to smile alot more and coos when he is on the swing. Ah.. he finally likes to sit on the swing and the bouncer. He used to cry as soon as we put him on it but now he lasts a bit longer... enough time for me to either put a load of laundry and fold... or empty dishwasher and cook! I am hoping he starts liking it more so my house can get back in some type of organized order! We shall see... Thanks to my mom who usually comes over and gets is back in shape in a matter of seconds... we love when she comes over!

Well that is all for now... hopefully later on tonight I can download some photos of the patio and the kitchen (and of the kids) and post them as well.

Jonathan James is Here!

It has been a week since Jonathan (JJ) has arrived and what a wonderful blessing and addition to our family he is! Yes we had forgotten the sleepless nights, countless diaper changes and the fussiness of it all but it is all worth it. Thank goodness we have had some wonderful help from our parents! My mom watched Matthew while we were at the hospital and stayed with us the first week home! Then mom and dad came down and are staying with us for the next two weeks. It has been a lot of help and we are so grateful to have such wonderful parents! ( We have even kept dad super busy with tons of projects!)

The delivery this time was a lot better than the first time. It went really quick. My contractions began at around 6am on Saturday morning and we headed out of the house at around 7 am. Got to the hospital and checked in at 8:30 and at 11:45am Jonathan made his entrance into the world. I was rather amazed at how fast it really was. He weighed 8lbs and was 20.25 inches long. He did lose some weight while at the hospital so we left and he was 7lbs. The first visit to the pediatrician was great... he did gain a few ounces so she has him coming back this week again to check his weight and make sure he is gaining weight properly.

Matthew is doing better than I expected as far as the baby goes... he isn't completely ignoring him and he has his moments of wanting to help. He will not kiss or touch the baby but he does call JJ his baby. His behavior however has gone haywire... I think to get attention he is acting out more than usual. He has thrown some tantrums and has crying fits. To me the hardest part is making sure that he receives enough attention from both me and David. I think so far we are doing a good job of it and I want to keep that up.

Well that's the update so far... I will continue blogging as I get a chance... here are some photos of Jonathan and Matthew too!

Customize a picture slideshow

June 2nd, June 3rd.. still no Jonathan

Well the due date has come and gone... another day has gone by and still Jonathan has not arrived. He must really like being in mommy's warm belly because he is not budging so far. We have been scheduled for a induction on Wednesday. That is the earliest that they can get me in! I am really praying that he will come tonight or this weekend. So that is what is happening in our little world... I will keep you updated when Jonathan makes his debut into our world!

Matthew's 2nd Birthday

Here are photos of Mathew's second birthday!

Personalize your own scrapbook design

Jonathan Update

Went to the doctor today for the beginning of my weekly appointments until Jonathan arrives on June 2nd (or so they say!) The doctor says he is measuring great. He should be around 7 lbs or so... He also said I may be 1 to 2 cm dialated... but we shall see next week. We are not fully prepared... the house looks like a hurricane has gone through it.. we are still in the process of moving Matthew to his new big boy room and getting ready for David's and Matthew's birthday party this Saturday. I guess I should get my bag ready just in case Jonathan decides to make his appearance a bit earlier than June 2nd... we will keep you updated!

Easter and Spring Break!

What a great break this was... I can't believe we are back at work... Here are some photos of the things we did during our break!

Personalize your own digital scrapbooking design

BUM...

So almost every Sunday morning we see these wonderful hot air balloons in our neighborhood... today they were in our front yard and moved to our back yard. Well I got Matthew out of bed because he like his nerdy parents love looking at them... well he is learning how to say balloon but he still cannot do the letter Ll so instead of balloon we get bum... here is a short video of him talking about the balloon!

Personalize your own thank you

Jonathan James Update

Went to the doctor today to check on Jonathan James. Everything is going great. Blood pressure and sugar levels were fantastic! The only thing that the doctor saw was that I haven't gained any weight... well I have gained weight just not as much as expected. I only gained 1lb this whole month and a total of 12 lbs this whole pregnancy so far. She was not overly concerned but she kind of was. She said I should be gaining more so to eat more protein bars and stuff like that. Jonathan however is fine, his heartbeat is strong and he moves all the time. While she was checking for his heartbeat he was doing flip flops in my belly. We could see him moving while she listened to the heart. It was neat. She wants to see me back in 3 weeks so I can finally be on track with my visits.

In other news... David finally got his iPhone and ordered our iPads!

Matthew

So Matthew has developed his own little personality. His language skills are improving although David still tries to decode what he is saying... Mommy usually has an easier time figuring out what he is saying. Our little boy loves to play with cars which he calls "beep beep go", balls, cookies, Sadie "good girl" and "ite" which to him means write or "art" which means draw with crayons.

It is pretty amazing the things he is now saying and how is putting short sentences together even if they are not properly put together they are still sentences! He now realizes when he is doing something wrong or when Sadie is doing something she shouldn't... like the other day... Friday I was cleaning and we happened to be in the master bedroom where in the floor there was a box of Sadie's toys, well there was a plastic ball, a tennis ball and another chew toy. Matthew got both of the balls out of the box. He kept one for himself and gave the tennis ball to Sadie. We went back to the living area to get ready for dinner. I was in the kitchen while they played with the balls.. when all of a sudden I hear Matthew start frantically saying "Mama, good girl, no, ball" He kept repeating this over and over. Well I was making grilled cheese and I did not want to burn them so I just kept telling him I know good girl has the ball... well he kept getting frantic and the pitch of his voice higher... when I finally went to the living room I realized what the commotion was all about. Sadie had destroyed the ball and Matthew was simply letting me know... After I cleaned up Matthew just looked at me and said... "good girl bad mama" which I responded "yes she is!".

Another one of his great achievements is saying "m me" which means excuse me every time he burps! Hey he has better manners than my students at school!

One of the things I absolutely love is when we ask where the baby is he goes to my belly and points and when we ask him to say hi to JJ he will get really close and say "hi JJ" and most of the time give the belly a kiss... too sweet!

But of all the wonderful things that our son does I am still amazed at this particular thing... he has learned the words ucky and P -ew... He loves to say the word P - ew after he passes gas! Yes! My son is definitely a BOY... he will even push until he passes gas just so he can giggle and say P -ew... Amazingly enough his favorite time to do this, is during bath time... I will let you guess why!

Well that's the update of Matthew... I hope to have photos up soon! He sure is getting big!

Decisions...

A couple of days ago our wonderful home day care provider Joanna let me know that next year she will not be able to have her home day care. Her and her husband have been praying about it and since she has no sub when something happens to her own family its just too hard, plus she is planning on homeschooling her little girl and her husband plans to open his own business... needless to say I was supportive of her situation but at the same time I knew I was going to freak out and start stressing...which I did as soon as I got home.
So now what do we do? Yes that is the ultimate question. I searched the web looking for a possible new home daycare and nothing affordable is out there... plus I really hate that this could possibly be Matthew's 3rd caregiver... and he is not even 2 yet! SO the question remains what to do? Should I stay home from work? (which would be great if I didn't have to work, I would love to be at home with my kiddos)... but the likelihood of that is not looking so great... I may have to find something to do even though my options are limited. I could take care of kids here but do I really want to do that?! This is something that although is now at the top of my stress level list we can do nothing at the moment but pray... So help us pray to see what God wants us to do.

In the mean time Matthew is doing great.. talking a whole lot more. He still doesn't realize that there is a baby coming... although he has started to today to talk to mommy's belly and say hi JJ. We tried to video it but we will try to get a better one.

Jonathan is well still a cookin' in my belly. He moves a whole lot... more than Matthew did at this stage. He moves non-stop it is really hard to get any sleep. I am hoping that he is active now and super calm when he is born! We shall see...

Other than that... David and I are eagerly awaiting the iPad 2...although I was the only one that was supposed to get one... after all it is a Christmas/birthday/Valentine's gift... David has decided not to get his new golf clubs in order to get one as well... he says it's for "work" but we know better!!


Keep us in your prayers!

Baby Deffenbaugh #2

Well we finally have a name for our new little bundle of joy... or should I say David finally made up his mind. After countless names and meanings we are happy to announce that on June 2nd (hopefully if he is on time...) we will be welcoming into the world.....
Jonathan James Deffenbaugh.


I have been so tired by the end of my school days that I feel like I am so far behind in getting things ready. Like the guest room at the moment looks like a hurricane has gone through it various times... there is such a mess there but it somehow needs to get cleaned and things put away since that will be Matthew's new room. We have to paint in there before we even start... good thing we have the paint here so as soon as I get all that stuff out we can start painting and setting up! I just need a good dose of strength and a few days off from school... I may get the strength but not sure of the days off... we have a long weekend on March 18th... so I am hoping the days go fast!

Matthew is doing well although he is in the stage of tantrums and definitely testing his boundaries. I am sure it will get a bit worse once Jonathan arrives but I hope it is not as bad... yikes! I will keep you updated!

Christmas...

Well what an interesting Christmas break I had or should I say we had... Let's see... it all started my last week of school. I should of known something was going to happen when I only had 7 kids at one point in the classroom when I usually have 17. So when 10 of them are out sick I should of known I was bound to catch their lovely germs.. and boy did I. The last day of school I headed straight home and David had to pick Matthew up from daycare. I literally slept until 6:30 and woke up only because I knew David had to get back to work. The next few days are somewhat of a blur... I had a fever on and off, severe sinus congestion and a cough that just would not quit. I slept as much as I could since David had to work and I had Matthew here at home. I started feeling somewhat better after Christmas day.
Of course the fun just doesn't end there.. While visiting our good friends Pete and Melissa, David somehow threw his back out. It was very interesting to all of a sudden see him on the floor. He had to miss a few days of work and go to the doctor for meds he was in so much pain and he could barely walk. SO I was trying to get better from what I had, David threw his back out and of course Matthew had to join in the mix by also getting a bit of a sinus congestion and fever for the 3 days David was home. It was very interesting having our whole household down for the count.

Although we are all better now (thank you GOD!) needless to say my two weeks of vacation where definitely not what I expected. All the great things I had planned on doing; like cleaning the shelves in the garage to make room for my school items in the guest room, emptying the guest room to get it ready for Matthew's room, cleaning my house did not get done at all. They are still goals I must accomplish before baby number 2 arrives but still I was so looking forward to getting somewhat ahead during the holidays. Oh well, God knows best... I know we will get it done eventually!

In other news we find out what we are having on January 19th... very exciting. We have begun the search for baby names. I think we may know what we will name the baby if its a girl... but we are still in search of a boy name. We have some ideas but I nothing set in stone. We will let you know what the big news are come the 19th...

Back at school has been interesting... of course my belly is a bit bigger than when I left 2 weeks ago so the kids are constantly staring and wanting to hug just to feel the belly. They are funny kids. One of my girls told me today " wow Mrs. D your belly sure is getting big... but at least you are not getting fat..." One of my very blunt boys was looking at the wedding photo I have on my desk and he said " Boy Mrs. D... you sure do look different in that photo than you do now.." I asked him what he meant by that and he said "well you have a big belly now and you don't look that skinny..." I know they do great things for my self esteem! Crazy kids... I am sure they will have more to say as the weeks go on. I will keep you updated.

Here are some photos from Christmas...

Customize your own scrapbook