2 months old and a new (to me) car!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hello, Santa?!?! I know I'm only 2 months old, but...

Thumbs up!

mommy & Jakey all dressed up for Gavin's Baptism last Sunday!

and Jakey was Kung Fu fighting!

This week was one of the most emotional weeks of my life. I went back to work on Wednesday and I was a wreck. I feel like I cried non-stop from Wednesday morning through Thursday night. It was awful. Thinking about my little punky at home with the nanny when I should be home with him just killed me. Also, I came back to a ton of work and an early deadline, and jumped right back into a full-time work schedule...so it was not an easy few days. Friday was better but only because it was Friday and I had the weekend to look forward to (when I could spend all my time with Jakey). I am told it will get easier. Not too sure about that but I guess we'll just have to wait and see. I keep telling myself "this too shall pass..."

My crying continued as the best part of my weekend unfolded tonight...except this time, they were happy tears. I make dinner for Joe and my parents and my Nana every Sunday, and tonight my parents came over a little earlier than usual. I just thought they were eager to see Mr. Jake (which was part of it, I suppose!) My dad handed me what I thought was a deck of cards and told me to look at it. My hands were wet and I was trying to chop celery so I wasn't really interested in the cards at the moment. He insisted that I open it so I finally dried my hands and opened the box to find tissue paper with...a car key inside!!! I immediately knew what it was and the waterworks started.

A little background: I had always expressed interest in buying my mom's current car off of her when she got a new car (not thinking that she would be getting a new car any time soon...or that we could really afford it, for that matter!) We can't afford much these days but my car (as most of you know) has seen better days. I call it my "putt putt" or "the piece" as in piece of you-know-what. It is a Toyota Rav4 from the late 90s with "eleventy billion" miles on it, chipping paint, 1 roof rack instead of 2 (I had a minor incident with a garage door), bald tires, dashboard lights that stay on constantly, two doors (not conducive to a carseat!), no room for a stroller, something wrong with it every couple of months, etc. etc. It is not a smooth or reliable ride. And although I LOVE Toyotas and they definitely take a lickin' and keep on tickin', I did NOT feel safe driving Jake around in this car. But I didn't really think there was much that we could do about it since car payments are not feasible in our tight budget.

So...when I saw my mom's car key I just lost it. I was informed that this was my Christmas present (a month early because they had just bought her a new car yesterday and obviously couldn't hide it from me!) They brought me out to the driveway and I saw the most beautiful car ever with a big red bow on it. My dad was trying to explain all of the features to me and I was barely able to listen because I was in shock...I am the owner of a Lexus SUV?!?!? Are you F-ing kidding me?!??!? It is a 2001 and it was my dad's car before it was my mom's car so it has quite a few miles on it but to me, it is the most perfect vehicle I have ever seen! I feel like I hit the lottery! It is soooooooo comfortable, is in fabulous condition, and the best part is that I feel completely safe driving around with my baby in the car (as my mom said "Jakey needs a safer car!") My parents are amazing! This is the best Christmas gift I have ever received and words cannot express how grateful I am. This is quite the upgrade. From "the piece" to a Lexus. I still can't believe it. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU mom & dad!!! Joe and Jakey and I thank you. From the bottom of our hearts.

Oh, and in case you're wondering, my mom's new car is a much newer version of her "old" car! She loves her some Lexus :) We now have matching cars and will both be able to fit all of our garage sale finds into our respective automobiles. Gotta love that!

So needless to say, this horrible week did have a happy ending! Hopefully this happiness will carry me through my work week...

my little (smiley) punky!

Jake is getting bigger and cuter every day and his expressions are so entertaining! It is so fun to see his personality take shape! Jake has earned several nicknames since his first day at the Balice Palace, including (but not limited to): Jakey, Bud, Buddy, Mr. Cranky Pants, Mr. Poopy Pants, Dude, Mr., Mr. Jake, and my personal fave - Punky! Punky is a cross between "Pumpkin" and "Monkey" and also a nod to his punked out hairdo :)

Jake is 7 weeks today, and within the last week has been giving us some real smiles that (we think) are not motivated by gas! I caught a few of them with my camera and then Phil (Geoff's dad) caught some good ones with his camera (the 3 close-ups at the end were taken by Phil)! Phil & Carol stopped by yesterday to meet Jake and took a bunch of pictures of us (Christmas cards, here we come!) He has a way better camera (and is a way better photographer than we are!) so it was nice to get some better quality shots of Jake, and of our little family! They are very excited to become grandparents to Baby Kyra - Jackie is due in February so they only have a few more months to wait!

My friend Jenny is coming up on 37 weeks already, so her little "Bean" will be here soon! In honor of all of my pregnant friends I am listing the top 5 things I love about NOT being pregnant anymore (besides getting to be a mommy of course!):

5) no more overactive bladder! ("and I DON'T have to go right now!")

4) caffeine - it's so nice to hang out with you again Arnold (Palmer)!

3) alcohol (tall vodka tonic with extra limes, anyone? cheers!)

2) sleeping on my stomach again (pure heaven!)

1) CAESAR SALAD!!! (Hail Caesar!)

What are your top 5 things about being pregnant or no longer being pregnant?!? Comment and let me know!

Jake and I are looking forward to visiting Joe tomorrow at work and introducing his office to Baby Balice! I am trying to enjoy my last week at home with Jakey, but it is bittersweet. I start work next Wednesday, and although I am happy to get back to adult-land, I will be missing my little Punky like crazy and it will be VERY hard to leave him...

Jake's 1st Halloween!

Jakey & mommy!

Happy 1st Halloween Jake!

my boss Jim (dressed as pregnant me!) and me (as a vampire)

Baby Gavin and me

Lizzie's Baby Alyssa (as a bee)!

Bad Girl (as a baker) and Gavin (as a pumpkin)!

all 3 babies!

Rich, Jim & Kyle dressed as pregnant Jen, me & Lizzie!

did we really look like this when we were pregnant?!?

the pregnant "girls" with our babies!

Jake, Gavin & Alyssa with their mommies!

adorable twins Kyra & Dylan with their dad Erik & mom Janice

Dylan (as a lion!) and Janice

Kyra (as a monkey!) and Erik

Kyra, Dylan & Jake

Jake the skeleton :)

our front yard on Halloween!

the cutest baby ever!

more yard pics - isn't our graveyard awesome?!?

mommy & Jake ready to go trick-or-treating at the neighbors!

yes, Jake even had skeleton pajamas to finish off the evening!

Our Halloween festivities started on Friday, when I took Jake to my work for the annual office Halloween costume photo! Jake was all dressed up in his skeleton onesie (and skull & cross bones hat!) and I decided to be a vampire. Unfortunately, my fangs fell off before we could take pictures, so I just look pale & bloody...oh well. When I arrived at work my boss and two of my male coworkers were dressed up as pregnant versions of Lizzie, Jen and I! They had even coordinated with our husbands (thanks, Joe!) to get our actual maternity tops to wear! They wore make up and even painted their toenails - pretty hilarious! Gotta love my office! It was so cute to finally see all 3 office babies together (Alyssa is 4 1/2 months, Gavin is a little over 3 months and Jake is 6 weeks!) The babies looked adorable in their costumes and seemed to have fun being passed around to everyone in the office who needed a baby fix!

On Saturday our friends Erik & Janice stopped by with their 8-month-old twins Kyra & Dylan to show us their costumes! It was so cute to take pictures of them with Jake! I really think there is nothing cuter than babies dressed up for Halloween!!! After they left, Joe and I put the finishing touches on our graveyard while Jake took a nap in his swing...decorating the yard for Halloween took a lot longer (many more weekends!) this year since we had to take care of Jake while we were doing it! Didn't the yard turn out very scary though?!? We had a guy knock on our door on Friday night just to tell us how cool our graveyard was!

When it started to get dark, we took Jake to our favorite neighbors houses to trick-or-treat (but it was mostly to show off his costume!) Then we came home and waited for the trick-or-treaters! We had more kids than last year (around 60 or so) and even though Joe wasn't jumping out of the coffin this year, we still had fun handing out candy to the kids!

So sad Halloween is over but looking forward to next year when Jake will be walking and our yard will be better than ever! I did not hit up the after Halloween sales this year so I will just have to get more graveyard stuff at garage sales over the year...

my reunion & more Jakey!

2 reasons I know that I'm old: 1) I went to my 10 year high school reunion on Saturday and 2) I left my high school reunion at 10:30pm to go home to my baby!

The reunion was fun, but it was weird to see everyone from high school! Most people I hadn't seen in 10 years, and it was strange to see them all in one place! I went with my friends Kelly and Tami (and we had such a great time catching up!), and Joe stayed home to baby-sit Jake. Jake and daddy had fun without me but I couldn't wait to get home to my boys!

On Friday, Joe's Godmother Geary-Ellen (who is like another Grandma to Jakey!) and her daughter Elizabeth came down to visit Jake and me (mostly Jake!) They are so good with him, and it was good for me to get a break from baby duty! They held him and fed him for me so I could relax for a change :) Jake was so cute falling asleep on Geary's shoulder - he looked so peaceful and comfortable! If only she could be here at night when he is fussy!

Friday night we had some more visitors - our friends Tom & Renee. Renee is due in mid-December with their first baby (a girl!) and Joe and I were giving them tips on what to bring to the hospital, and what to buy for the baby...so weird that people are now asking us for baby advice!

My friend Jenny is now 35 weeks pregnant (due December 1st!), and Renee is also due in December...Jackie is due in February, my friend Shaunna is due in April, and I know another Shauna due in May! 2009 and 2010 sure have been baby boom years (at least for me and my friends!) At one point I hope we can get most of the babies together for a group picture...how adorable would that be?!?!?

Jake was able to socialize with his friend Gavin again today and they are just so cute sitting next to each other! Poor Gavin was hungry and cranky at first, but soon fell asleep on my shoulder (so cute!) while Bad Girl got to spend time with Jake!

We are very excited for Halloween and can't wait to take pictures of Jake all dressed up...

1 MONTH OLD!

Jake is officially 1 month old today! Yay - we survived his first month! :) He had his check up today and he now weighs 10 lbs., 1 oz. and is 22 1/2 inches long (1 1/2 inches longer than he was at birth)...we have a big boy!!!

play mat & more visitors!

Jake has been enjoying his play mat lately (thanks Zac & Shaunna!)...he likes to look at the animals and has even tried to grab for the low one! We also do "tummy time" on the play mat which he can stand for about 5-10 minutes before he gets cranky!

Jake got to meet cousin Sally last week as well as my friend Idie (of course I have to document everyone that meets him!) Jake also continues to receive presents in the mail (2 more came today!) He is one popular baby :)

He has been sleeping really well at night (usually for a 5 hour and then 3-4 hour stretch!) but is a Mr. Cranky Pants sometimes during the day and usually at night before he goes to sleep...we are going to attempt to start getting him on a routine and see how that goes...wish us luck!

I am not alone!

While reading this very entertaining blog "Tales from Labor & Delivery" (not sure why she stopped blogging after 2/14/08 but her old posts are hilarious and worth the read!) I came across this entry of a birth story that is very similar to mine (mine was minus the jerky husband part of course) and so I just had to share:

http://itsababynotbrainsurgery.blogspot.com/2007/09/not-all-emergencies-end-up-in-er.html

I guess it makes me feel better that there are other women who have had to "labor" doggiestyle with a nurse's hand up their hoohaw...