Elephunk....

*can you tell I couldn't think of a title for this Random Thoughts post?

*the kids are growing at a scarily rapid pace. 

*Caleb is doing/discovering new things every. single. day.

*that kid is furniture walking, walking behind his little school bus, feeding himself....

*how can we freeze time??

*I thought the milestones of the first child flew by, the second is at warp speed.

*I'm tired. always.

*I'm one of those blessed people that has a baby that's been sleeping through the night most of his little life.

*I'm still tired.

*Caleb turns one this month....in 10 days... 

*now I'm tired AND I want to cry

*how do we freeze time again??

*Someone told me the other day that they, "liked my style"

*I have style. news to me.

*but I'll tell you what people, ever since she told me this?? I've been stepping up my game. 

*compliments from people you barely know can motivate the crap out of you!

*poor Zach, he compliments me all the time and I'm all, "meh".

*must work on that.

*Walmart clearance section has been this girls BFF these last few days.

*3 Pairs of pants and 2 shirts for  about $30. BOOYA!

*yup, I just wrote booya. in caps no less.

*I bought a chambray shirt, which is pretty much a fancy way of saying a jean shirt. 

*I never thought I'd be that girl into "trends".

*apparently I am

*Zach is on his last day of a 19-days-with-no-day-off stretch

*Urology was supposed to be better hours-wise then other specialties he was looking at, but residency is residency. they don't discriminate with who they lavish crappy hours upon.

*why do I set myself up for failure and try to predict the future?!

*it helps to have friends who are in the same boat and "get it". It brings me strange comfort to know my friend Lisa is also in the middle of a no-days-off stretch with her husband, although she's one up on me. He's on a 20 day stretch. fun.

*leaning on the Lord and friends who get it, now that's how I make it through!

*and, you know, that whole keeping joyful business. ;)

the end.

Joy

So I've been seeing it all over the blog-world/Pinterest that people have a "word" for their year. Like 'purpose' or 'faith'. I thought it was lame until I noticed that I had a "word" and didn't even realize it. So I guess I'm joining the ranks of the lame.

In my (rare) crafty sessions I would use it in embroidery, use it in a random framed art thingy I made or write it on my chalkboard and it hit me (as I was discussing this word phenomenon with my friend Amy ) it was my "word". My word I feel like God has given me. 

* JOY * 

And yes, I'm going to be so bold as to say it's a word that God has given to me. I keep seeing it in verses I'm reading, hearing it in music I'm listening to.... everywhere. I feel like He is beating me over the head with it (in a good way!). Because, well, sometimes you just have to have it thrown in your face in order to finally get it.

Because when you have a husband that works a lot, when you're stuck in a house because you only have one car, when you don't have family around to help with kids, and on and on, "happiness" is fleeting. But joy?? 

Joy can be in you, in your heart, in the midst of all of that. 

And I'm trying people. Really trying (and failing... a lot), but I figure I have all year to get it right ;)

I have 'Choose Joy' written on my chalkboard and when Zach is texting me that he'll be late (again), or Aubrey happened to dump a bowl full of popcorn kernels all over my bedroom floor, or I've been stuck in the house for days on end?! I hear it in my mind or look up and see that dang chalkboard.

Why I wrote choose joy I'm not quite sure, but it is just that isn't it? We can choose to be joyful in the midst of any rough spot, happy or not. And I've been trying to remind myself of that lately.

And like I said, I'm trying. 

I'm a work in progress. 

Fall...

A few weeks back we went away for the night for Zach's thirtieth birthday. We decided to head in search of Fall and boy did we ever find it in Tennessee! We took a drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway in the Smokey Mountains and it. was. gorgeous. 

Take your breath away gorgeous. 

I don't know if it was the fact that we hadn't seen a mountain in over a year or what, but we were SO excited to see them. Coming from B.C. in Canada, mountains were taken for granted and I can honestly say that both Zach and I have grown a new appreciation for them!

And the trees....OH the trees! So Fallish and wonderful! 

I got some great shots of the kids too...

I mean, how cute are they?! LOVE these two :) 

Zach was super sweet and stopped at every rest stop I asked him to (and a bunch of places in between) and I got some fabulous pictures of the scenery.

What a good man.

We're already planning a trip back to the Smokey Mountains this Christmas so that we can see some snow! Poor Aubrey is just dying to build fort and make a snow angel. All we hear from her is, "I sure miss snow... but we live in Georgia and we don't get snow anymore" on a huff.

It's worth the 5 hour drive just to make her happy (although the car ride will inevitably make her grumpy!).

Surprise!!

BAAM! 

you just never know when i'm gonna pop up on this ol' blog :)

here I am on another friday night by my lonesome and i actually got the kids to bed at a decent time.

so here i sit with a coffee (because i woulda been asleep the minute those kiddos were if i didn't, it was THAT kinda day) and i thought i should whip up a blog post.

i actually got crafty today, aubrey and i made a fabric scrap christmas light garland...thingy-majig.

it turned out super cute and if i wasn't so tired/lazy right now, i'd upload the pictures and show them.

but i am (tired and lazy), so hot air balloon pictures from a week back it is!

i'll let the garland pictures come in my next surprise post ;)

we've been seeing this one hot air balloon flying around on the weekends and on our way home one night, we happened to finally see it close to our house (in gorgeous late evening lighting i might add! best. time. of. day. period.). zach being the fabulous fella he is, let me grab my camera from home and drove me back out to capture it. 

seriously, there is something SO breathtaking about a hot air balloon isn't there?!

my new official goal is to get to a festival and get pictures of dozens of them flying at once.

oooo and at night too! wouldn't that be glorious?!?

as we were driving back to the spot where the balloon was, we saw that it was landing and my heart sank. what are the odds that zach actually drove me back to get my camera and i missed it in flight?! but  i got out to take a few shots of it grounded anyway. after they unloaded some people, i noticed that they were taking off again. heavenly!! was all i could think....

don't you agree??

and this last one might be my favorite shot of the bunch. the moon was so bright in the sky, but it was still fully daylight. i could not have timed this whole thing better if i planned!

blissful :)

"Never Gonna Craft Again"...

*my sister said i should change my blog title to that. i think she miiiighta been hinting at something, but astrid tends to be subtle with these things, so who knows....

*this post is kind of like a diamond.... it was created under of pressure....not because it's going to be some sort of gem. a gem it will certainly not be. i don't have a gem of a post in me. 

*my hundreds of fans (okay, 3) have been pestering me to write something. but what do you write when you can't think of anything to say?!?

*thus the perfect makings for a random thoughts post. i'm a random kinda gal, so this works out just fine for me.

*i've been a sad sad creature in the crafting/photography department as of late.

*we just had our friends ryan, meg and little asher here for a visit and not one picture was taken (except the terribly crappy phone camera variety).

*we had a fabulous visit with them, but they got a good dose of what it was like to have a husband in residency. zach was supposed to be home friday night, and all day saturday and sunday....NOPE. he was home for some of saturday and then all of sunday. oh well. what can you do?? these things can't be helped.

*on sunday zach told me, "sooooo, i probably wont see you guys until next sunday... this week's going to be crazy" ah yes, nothing like a comment like that to get you pumped for the week.

*on a happier note, i was baptized a few weeks back! 

*one of the most fabulous things was aubrey was there to see it. zach told me she yelled out, "that's my mama!' when she saw me get in the baptismal tank. TOO PRECIOUS!

*we didn't get to go to church this past sunday and i was watching our church on tv (yup, it's one of those mega churches) and they showed my baptism on tv! 

*this makes me all kinds of pumped! i was really hoping/praying it would be televised so maybe a non-believer would be able to see it and a seed would be planted in their hearts :) 

*caleb is sick. 

*having a sick 6 month old who already got an 'F' in sleeping is not fun. 

*what's worse than an F?? F-'?? he gets that. 

*my new favorite show is Go On. seriously, it's soooo good!

*oh matthew perry, so funny.

*not going to lie, i love me some breaking amish as well.... although the latest episode had the feel of jersey shore... might not make the cut anymore. oh the rogue amish getting into trouble.

*it's still hot here. seriously. october 16th and hot. everyone sick of me whining yet?! 

*i'm sick of having to still be whining about the weather.... cuz it's still hot....on october 16th. ugh.

*i think i'm going to ride this wave and go get crafty now. 

wish me luck....

My Days....

have been filled with these two jokers :) 

And I'm lovin' it! They are just two of the most precious people EVER!

I mean, look at this face?!

Caleb has been given the, very appropriate, nickname "Perfect Baby". This kid is no fuss... at. all. EVER.

He's the most go with the flow baby... except for today, but I'm going to pretend that his day full of crying just didn't happen. 

It's kinda like Olympic judging, eliminate the highest and lowest score.

So moving on....

Aubrey's so in love with him (still and we're past the 'novelty' stage) and it's almost to the point of painful. Fo reals. 

She and Caleb had well baby visits on the same day(thus the dueling band aid picture). She got her 4 year shots and he his 2 month ones--- and she felt it was her mission to "help" him even more that day.

This kid puts the "mother" in "smother"....

the "S" on "mother"....

she's all up in his business.

But I'll take her obsessive, possessive love of him over a kid who is jealous ANY day.

And in unrelated news.... It's hot in Georgia. 

Hide in your house hot.

Walk to the mailbox and break out into a sweat, hot.

Will I ever get used to this?!?

Oh hi there. 

*insert elaborate turn to a camera with cheesy grin* 

I'm Jen.

You might remember me from such blog posts as

"Aubrey's 4th Birthday" and "One Month And Charleston"....

I know, I know... It's been a while. But guess what?? I'm not going to give some lame excuse.

Seriously. I'm not because I don't need one.

That's right. I'm owning my blog hiatus. In fact, I didn't just take a blog break. I kinda took an Internet break... really a computer break.

*insert a pat on my own back*

I didn't mean to, just kinda did and I feel fabulous :)

Anyhoop, I'm back and will hopefully be posting regularly again. 

You're welcome.

One Month and Charleston....

Blog title of the year right?! Man I'm amazing. I bet you all missed my amazingness (and my snazzy blog titles) while I was MIA... sorry world, didn't mean to deprive you of my awesomeness for so long. 

Apparently I'm not one of those bloggers who pops out a baby and blogs from the hospital. 

Speaking of baby.... 

Caleb--one month old!

isn't he the most beautiful thing EVER?!? Well, one of two of the most beautiful things (that Aubrey is pretty freaking amazing). Seriously, this child is in the running for Best Baby of the Century. No jokes, he's sleeping through the night people.... through. the. night. 

I'm under no illusions that this will continue, but I am hoping and praying it will! Last night he slept from 9:30pm until 7:15am.

seriously. ser. i. ous. ly! Aubrey didn't sleep through the night until she was almost 15 months old. It's amazing how much calmer a mom I can be this time around! 

The above shot is from his one month mini-shoot, he's two months old tomorrow....where did time go?? And my little moose is weighing in at 13lbs 11oz! He's getting his chub on and we're loving it.

I'll post more pictures of Caleb and Aubrey next time (that one was the only one I had edited on my desktop--Thanks PicMonkey website!), but for now I will leave you with random shots that I took this last trip to Charleston. We headed there while Zach's mom was visiting and I'm happy to say that the beauty, charm and gorgeousness that is Charleston has not worn off and was not a hyped-up-first-time-there-so-I-was-in-a-daze type of love... my love for that city is real people and it will not die! Enjoy.... 

Good TImes....

This little girl is testing my patience these days.... Seriously.

She's perfect as can be with Caleb, but in every other area of life? Glass. Cage. Of. Emotion.

All tears, all the time.

I suppose a lot has happened in the last little bit to cause her to feel overwhelmed, but a lot has happened in the last little bit to make me feel overwhelmed too. 

Bad combo.

Ahh to have multiple females in one house.

I can't stress it enough, I have two GOOD kids.

Caleb is a dream baby and Aubrey is so good, but when the emotions come a-knockin' ....

trouble.

And let me tell ya, I've gots me some emotions as well.

I'm trying to keep calm and not overreact, but when you have a baby that is going through a growth spurt and decided that last was an ALL NIGHT eat-a-thon (with no sleep... for either of us)... and the next day your {almost} 4 year old decides to be a drama queen about her Quiet Time... you can lose it pretty quickly.

And I did, but I calmed down (and won the battle after an hour of trying, she's quietly watching a movie in her room!! Victory!) and prayed really hard for patience...and for Zach to get home at a decent time (a girl can dream right?!).

So I just have to keep trying to figure this '2 kids' thing out... or more so, figure out an overly emotional 4 year old mixed with a postpartum mama. 

Good times.

Random Thoughts....

*Aubrey calls Caleb "my baby"! Love. It.

*Post-partum body's are awesome.

*that was sarcastic.

*Why is it that the minute you have the baby, all forgiveness for your body goes out the window and you want all the weight off NOW ?!

*Caleb is a breeze of a baby... only thing is this kid is gassy... like really gassy.
*I have never witnessed a child with more violent hiccups than Caleb. They're make-him-throw-up violent.
*I've rediscovered the joys of gripe water for babies!
*Seriously, this stuff is amazing--be gone hiccups!!
*I'm currently feeling worse than I did the day after I gave birth.
*Awesome.
*Zach's on vacation and I'm SO NOT READY for him to go back.
*Oh Monday, how I loath you.
*I'm missing my parents.
*they were such a help around the house and with Aubrey, it was so hard to see them go.
*Did I mention I hate Monday?
*I do... hate Monday April 2nd, that is.
*I've taken WAY less pictures with Caleb than I wanted to. Whoops. I need to get my photog on.
*I'm currently editing some pictures of him so hopefully I'll get those up tonight... wish me luck!

Hear Ye, Hear Ye!!

He's here.... 

That's right, HE! Whoda thunk... not me...or Zach.

Girl. That's all we thought.

It was once he was born and we found out he was, in fact, ALL boy, that I realized how much I thought it was a girl.

Totally thought girl. 

Weird how we convince ourselves of one way or another.

I guess I should share the name... 

That would be nice, huh?! 

Caleb Nicholas Zachariah

and he's a moose...

8lbs 15oz

and yes, that's pretty much 9 pounds.

Took me until the next day to put 2 and 2 together on that one. I blame the labor.

And speaking of labor... that could be a whole other post on it's own and, no, I won't go into the gruesome details. 

BUT his birth was a bit touch and go near the end and the words "extremely low hear rate" and "Emergency C-Section" were hollered out into the intercom and let me tell you, if that doesn't make you want to push that sucker out, like, RIGHT NOW?!? I don't know what will. 

Point is, Caleb is healthy and fabulous and he smells Amaze-balls! 

Bahahaha balls... boy. 

Sorry, I have a Urologist for a husband and I never really was one to be classy to begin with.

And this beautiful girl is beside herself excited to have a baby brother. 

Zero jealousy and ALL love from her!

And Zach... Oh Zach, he's absolutely BURSTING with pride for his (not-so) little boy!

In all the hub-bub of you know, giving birth'n'all, the doctors and nurses... and med students... and residents.... (yes I gave birth at a university hospital and I had quite the small village watching me do it, AWESOME) people were just excited he was out and all I hear is Zach holler out above Caleb's fabulous cry and ALL that noise (there was A LOT of it) 

"IT'S A BOYYYY!!!" and everyone burst out laughing!

Best part?! Zach has absolutely NO recollection of saying it!

Love. Him.

We are all SO thankful for this healthy baby boy that God has blessed us with and we're all doing good! 

I'll post some pictures that I took once they're out of my camera-SD-card-purgatory... feeling a bit lazy and perfectly content with my mom doing everything for me right now! 

My Parents Are In Town....

...thus the lack of posting! I've been basking in naps and laziness these last few days and it's been fabulous. I feel more rested and my shower is sparkling ;)

Gotta love having a clean-freak for a mom in town and I have no shame, yes please, scrub my shower!

Aubrey is in her glory with Opa and Oma around, they have all the patience in the world for her... something Mamma was running out of.

We're (not so) patiently waiting for baby to make it's appearance....

I'm due on Monday (the 12th), but I'm already feeling 2 weeks over due!

Ahh the joys of the second pregnancy ;)

I'll try and post more, but I can't promise anything...

Napping is very important these days.

I do it like it's my job..... 

that and eat. Two, VERY important jobs.

Random Pictures... And Thoughts

Why do I do this to myself?!? Why do I look at pictures of myself not pregnant when I am almost 39 weeks?? It's just mean to do! But aren't we cute?! I think so... and so happy to be at the New Hampshire coast... fabulous :)

I. Love. The. Atlantic. Ocean. 

There, I said it. 

Aubrey got a cough/runny nose the beginning of this week and this was my mantra when I was around her...

Bahahaha 

This was actually Zach's Valentine's gift. I'm so romantic right?! 

He loved it and that's what matters.

It's a quote from Barney on How I Met Your Mother. 

When I heard it I KNEW it was perfect for Zach to put in his office. It's him in a nutshell... being a resident does not let you take "sick days" well, ever. Seriously, I'm sure some of your doctors you go and see are more sick than you are.

You want me to be joking, but sadly, I'm not.

The ever fabulous Amy whipped up the quote on her Photoshop for me (not to mention all the new blog headers I've been sporting these past few months...pays to have a friend who is experimenting with such things!). I used this canvas I had spray painted previously, stuck on some burlap, threw on some mini clothespins and I had me a funky picture frame, voila! 

And this... this is a much hated sight for someone who sews! An almost empty thread spool when you're in the middle of a project.

Insert weeping and gnashing of teeth.

I was on a roll with my baby blanket, the faux chenille one I found a tutorial for, and I ran. out. of. thread. 

AWFUL.

So the blanket was set aside (with an angry huff) because I knew it would be days before I'd have the car to get more thread. 

I actually got out last night and got more thread AND went to the mall and got a shirt for my dinner out tonight. 

So I can start work on this blanket today again AND go to the dinner tonight not sporting a toga ;)

In the mean time I actually started working on my quilt (yes, the quilt I got fabric for waaaaay back when we first moved to Georgia in June--shame on me)! I got the whole top of the quilt sewn together and bought the muslin for the backing last night too, so I might actually get both the quilt and blanket done before this baby comes.... dreams are cheap ;)

And look at little Aubrey! Pretending to make a mini quilt with my left over charm pack I decided to not use on my quilt. She was chattering away about how she was going to piece it together...too cute!

 Like I said earlier, my Big Night Out (dinner with Zach's work....and yes, that's a big night out because I get to talk with adults, not listen to constant 3 year old chatter) is tonight and I actually have something to wear :) So I'll try and remember to take a belly picture when I'm dressed up too, but my memory is a little wonky so forgive me if I forget.

Now I must go and take this 39 week body and try and paint my toenails.... assuming I can find my feet.... and actually reach them....

Wish me luck!

Weekend Fun, No Money--Mo Prablems, And No-Name....

*We had a great weekend! Zach had to work, but got off "early" both days so we actually got to see him and spend time together! YAY!!

*Most importantly, he vacuumed for me. Thus, my love for him has grown.

*Yesterday Zach texted me "Happy 11 years together!!" Only he would remember the date that we became 'official'! Man he has a freaky memory.

*We celebrated by having a big family nap....mmmm this preggo loves her a nap (normally I HATE naps).

*We are officially poor.

*Okay, so maybe poor is an extreme word... Okay, I know it is too extreme of a word.

*Some days it depresses me and other days I see it as a challenge to make the most of what we have. 

*I'm praying that the whole feeling-it's-a-fun-challenge-thing becomes my feeling about it all the time.

*We're blessed with fabulous people in our lives. Dear friends sent us a gift card for groceries with a verse attached randomly in the mail, SUCH a huge help! So thankful for them and the blessing they are in our lives (this is not the first time they've done something like this for us)! Not to mention Zach's mom randomly blessing us yesterday too (she does this all. the. time. too---love her!)...

*Makes me feel foolish for ever doubting that God will provide for us. Yup, foolish.

*I always cut Zach's hair for him. He decided that Saturday was haircut day.... did I mention that I'm 38 weeks pregnant? My belly miiiight have gotten in the way... a lot. Good times.

*The other day in the car Aubrey asked me when the baby was coming and I told her that only God knew. It was silent for a while and then suddenly I heard her whisper, "um God? when is this baby coming?". hahaha LOVE this kid!

*I started making this faux chenille blanket for the baby from a tutorial on Made and it's the most non-instant-gratificational project I've ever worked on. Just row after row of plain stitches. I really love the look of the finished project so today is the day I'm going to make a huge dent in this project. Assuming my 90 year old back cooperates.

*Zach and I are still working on baby names.... seriously, why is this so hard?!? Grrrrrr 

*Oh No-Name Klaassen, please don't show up until we have a name for you....

*We have a dinner with Zach's work this Friday and I officially have nothing to wear. Awesome. My belly is so ginormous, it's outgrown the few fancy-ish maternity things I own. Fabulous. 

*The good thing is we have someone to watch Aubrey that night and I'm so excited to go out with grown ups(most importantly, Zach!), get dolled up and take this belly for a spin! Maybe not so much "dolled up" though, I might just be the one in a classy pair of sweatpants....

*Oh!! and my chalkboard was featured on I Heart Nap Time too!!! YAY!! Check me out!

And Now, From Left Field....

*I'm officially 37 weeks and 2 days along.

*Zach and I only really started discussing names for this baby for the first time last night.

*Pretty sure this kid is going to rock "Baby Boy/Girl Klaassen" on it's birth certificate if we can't get our acts together.

*Naming a baby is a big deal/daunting task. They have this name for the rest of their lives... unless they're Phoebe from Friends and change it to Princess Consuela Banana-Hammock.

*Am I the only one who feels like they've conquered the world when they fit every last dish from dinner into the rubix cube they call a dishwasher?!?

*Pretty sure Zach looked at me funny last night when I hollered out "I AM VICTORIOUS!!" when I was done (true story).

*Zach is smart.

*Like really smart.

*Like, how did I end up with someone so scholarly when I HATED school, smart.

*We just got a copy of the Medical textbook that he wrote a chapter in (on Urology). No joke, a freaking chapter in a textbook.

*I had a project featured on a blog the other day.... does that put me on par with his brilliance?!? 

*Let's all pretend the answer to that question is a resounding "yes"...

*Aubrey is disturbingly in love with my belly. Even trying to get her friends to kiss and cuddle it. *awkward*

*She's SO excited for this baby and shouts it from the rooftops every time someone points out my belly...which now is all. the. time. 

*I think I might be the last person these days who doesn't know the gender of their baby before they give birth... or so everyone tells me with a bewildered look on their face, followed by the comment "how do you buy for the baby?!?" 

*It's called gender neutral colors people and a baby only really needs diapers and a sleeper. Not their ENTIRE wardrobe until they are 3 years of age.

*Zach's going to present again at the National Urological conference in Atlanta in May (see SMART)

*I was looking at the hotels that were sponsored by the conference and the hospital is going to get for him.... I'm. So. There. 

*All of the hours that Zach puts in paper writing and researching (which are A LOT) pay off eventually 

*At least that's what I tell myself when he's holed up in his office on a writing rampage....

Weekend Getaway.....

 This weekend was our little getaway to the Ritz and to be honest, we had decided last minute that Aubrey and I wouldn't go. From the looks of the website and what people said, we figured it would be too much money for us to tag along(even with the free accommodations) and maybe not that kid friendly.

So we didn't go on Friday night with Zach, but on Saturday early morning Zach called and said we should come up anyway. 

He missed us (awwwww) and he had the afternoon free (conference ended at noon that day) so we should just drive the hour and a bit and stay the night.

We did and I'm SO glad!

Aubrey was so excited to have that extra time with Zach, she couldn't stop chattering my ear off about it in the car on the way up :) 

It was so beautiful there and would you believe that it was actually cold?!?

The hotel is on Lake Oconee and the surroundings were gorgeous.

The view from the hotel from down by the lake...

Where Zach did his 5 presentations....yup, you heard right, FIVE presentations. Overachieve much?!?

Our room....

Our view!!...

I've officially never stayed in a room with a bathroom this big!

Shazaam...

36 weeks :)

Yay for robes!

Am I the only one who love/hates these mirrors?!

So scary, yet soooo good!

And SHAZAAM again...

Really lovin' the robes!

(and Aubrey peeking in the background)

It was a great night away and I am really hoping that this conference is at this hotel again next year!!