Jenna Meets Santa 2010

Well we took Jenna to meet Santa. We've been looking at her picture with Santa from last year to try to prep her for meeting him again. On Saturday we were at the mall trying to get some shopping done and we spent a few minutes watching the other kids sit with Santa. Luckily while we were watching all the kids that went were very happy. Jenna was nervous at first but the minute she saw Santa hand a child a candy cane she was game. I swear this kid will do anything for a candy. So anyways, the line was crazy long so we headed over to another shopping center where we had other errands. We stopped by to check out Santa and there was only one family ahead of us. Jenna did awesome! Not only did she smile, she even had some fun with Santa after her picture was taken. She didn't want to leave. She wanted to hug and kiss Santa, and actually did hug and kiss the photographer (a friend of our friend Brian). Anyways, I'm going to post the pictures, although one is a picture of a picture so if you could see it in person it does look better. But you'll get the idea.

Ummmm.....yeah...this is exactly what I love most about this kid!!

Thanksgiving 2010

We spent Thanksgiving day up in Shaver. Pat's aunt and uncle have a cabin up there and Pat's side always spends Thanksgiving up there. We alternate years with my family and his and so this year we got to join them. The day started a little rough, with Pat having a cold, but as soon as we got there, we had a blast. It was Jenna's first time in the snow and she LOVED every second of it. We ended our day back at my dad's house where we had some yummy dessert. We went home full and tired.

Pat, his mom Shelly, sister Renae, Amanda (his brother's girlfriend), his brother Tyler, and his dad Tom

Jenna being a goof in her Papa's boots.

This year we are especially thankful. Two short months ago I didn't know if we would be celebrating the holidays (at least publicly) this year. We were thinking that November and December would be full of chemo treatments and not family gatherings. As we drove home from Shaver we talked about how grateful we are. We are grateful for what we went through. As much as it scared us and stressed us out, and as much tears as we shed, we wouldn't change it for anything. We talked about how we hope we never forget all that we experienced. What we went through forever changed our marriage and gave us a new perspective on life. It's easy to slip back into my old ways and my old way of thinking, and I often have to remind myself that things could be much, much worse. We are so thankful for the wonderful support system we have. Parents, grandparents, siblings, extended family members, amazing friends, a wonderfully supportive church, a great daycare that cares so much for our sweet girl, wonderful co-workers and employers....the list could go on. They say life is full of peaks and valleys. The view from the valley can be just as spectacular as the peak. To anyone reading this Thank you from the bottom of my very grateful heart.

2 years and Yellow Day

November 24th was Jenna's 2nd birthday. How is that possible? Our baby is gone and we have this little girl now. Pat and I both worked that day so Jenna had to go to daycare. Since her birthday was on the wednesday before Thanksgiving, her class got to have a big feast. It also happened to be yellow day, which is Jenna's favorite color, so she ended up having a great day at school. We baked cupcakes (with yellow frosting) so Jenna could celebrate with her classmates. I had to get some pictures of her that morning because she was too cute in her yellow shirt and skinny jeans.

That evening, Pats parents and sister came over to celebrate with us. We had yummy food, followed by cupcakes. Jenna was so excited when we sang to her. She loved every second of the attention. She blew out her candle and signed more, so we of course re-lit the candle and sang again.

She's a sweet-aholic just like mommy and daddy!

So excited with her new book.


So, at 2 years old Jenna is:

• around 30 pounds, and 35.5 inches tall
• wearing 2T clothing
• wearing size 8 shoes
• getting thicker and longer hair, but still refusing any and all clips or bows
• skipping, jumping, dancing, and doing perfect sommersaults
• daytime potty trained, and waking up dry about 90% of the time
• still riding rear-facing in her carseat
• speaking in 3-5 word sentences, and repeating nearly everything we say (gotta watch it now)
• saying "no" and "mine" to everything, which absolutely makes me nuts!
• Surprisingly, not throwing any temper tantrums
• still using a binky in the car and when she's tired. I know, I know, it's time to ditch it
• Obsessed with Barney, Mickey, Minnie, and Elmo
• happiest when she's playing with her babydoll "Apple." She's such a good little mommy
• still definitely Daddy's girl
• such a funny, curious, joyful little girl, with two lucky parents that love her immensely.

Jenna's Birthday Dinner

We had a birthday dinner for Jenna this past Saturday night. My parents couldn't be here on her actual birthday to celebrate with us, and Pat's parents couldn't be here Saturday night, so she ended up getting two celebrations. I think she kinda liked having two nights dedicated to herself, and to eating cake and presents.

In addition to my mom, dad, and Janice, we had Nonnie and Aunt Pam (or Pom as Jenna says), and our good friends Abby and Brian. The theme for the evening was Minnie Mouse because Jenna absolutely loves Mickey and Minnie. We kept it super simple and had Mexican food (on paper Minnie plates), followed by chocolate cake and vanilla ice cream. Jenna did a great job. She was sweet and friendly, and very much enoyed being in the spotlight. She tore into her presents, and actually seemed equally excited by clothes and toys. She loved it when we all sang happy birthday and she blew out her candles like a pro (i.e. no spitting as she blew). She then played with her toys for the rest of the evening. She has been playing with them all day...I think she's pretty excited to have some new things. Here's our pictures from our very fun night.

The yummy cake

the birthday girl

The party-goers (not the best pic)

New clothes

Loving our singing!

happy girl

new table and chairs from mommy and daddy

Her new high chair for her baby

So these two pictures have nothing to do with Jenna's birthday party but I am too excited not to share. We got our tree up on black friday. Seriously, this is a first for me. Usually the tree doesn't go up until the secondish week of December. Last year, our tree went up and then we never even put any ornaments on it. This year, I am determined that I will enjoy the month of December. Most of our shopping is done, and now our house is decorated. We are all set to have a fun December.

The mantle looks prettier in real life. The lights are better in person and the other stuff seems sparklier in person than in this picture. I'm waiting for our stockings to arrive and that will be the final touch.

The BEST news!!!!

Really, in the grand scheme of life, I suppose it's dramatic to say this is the BEST news, but it's pretty awesome...we have a potty-using toddler!! Jenna has shown an interest in using the potty for the last month or so. I kind of thought it was too early but also tried to encourage her as best I could. She has very sensitive skin and breaks out super easy, and reacts to nearly all types of diapers. We use these super sensitive organic ones, which are almost twice the price of your standard pamper. Even with that she is quite prone to diaper rash, so I was super excited at the thought of soft, natural cotton underwear against her skin.

Last Wednesday (11-10) when I picked Jenna up from school, her teachers mentioned to me that they thought Jenna would do very well with potty training. She was staying dry between diaper changes and was already going on the potty. They said she had been spending the last week watching all the other kids in her class who are potty trained/training, and was wanting to sit on the potty herself. They said she might be too young, but they wanted to at least try since she seemed so excited about it. And so on Friday (11-12) we brought in lot's of pairs of training underwear and lot's of extra pants. I promised myself I wouldn't get too excited or hopeful. I called on my lunch beak to check her progress. 4 pee accidents, 0 pee successes, 2 poop successes, 0 poop accidents. hmmmm...too early to tell. When I picked her up that afternoon, they told me she still had no poop accidents, had 1 more pee accident, and 1 pee success. They encouraged me to pursue it over the weekend.

I decided to spend the entire weekend at the house. Jenna would wear panties all day, and pull-ups at nap and bedtime. Saturday morning included 3 full pee accidents, and 1 half pee accident (half in her underwear, then ran herself to the potty, and got the other half in the potty). However, she pooped like 3 times that morning in the potty. Saturday afternoon and evening included only 1 pee accident, and multiple successes. Sunday was awesome. All day and evening, Jenna only had one accident! I couldn't believe it. We were nearly constantly reminding her to tell us if she had to go and not to go in her panties. It worked.

Monday morning I dressed her in her panties and packed a ton of spare clothes and back to daycare we went. Her teachers all clapped and danced and cheered for her. When I picked her up they told me she only had one accident all day, and it was when she was outside playing. Tuesday went the same and so did Wednesday. Thursday and Friday she had NO accidents. Saturday and Sunday also were accident free. We are continuing with the pull-ups for bedtime and naptime, although this morning is the only morning she woke up with it being a bit wet. Her teachers said that it is always dry after her naps too. We are so excited for our big girl, we just can't believe it. The funniest thing is tonight, the 3 of us were in our room putting laundry away, and after a few minutes Jenna disappeared. We heard her fumbling around a few minutes later and found her in her bathroom, in the dark, going potty. Apparently she didn't feel the need to ask for our help.

brown day

On November 1st, Jenna got to move up to the next class at her daycare. She is now in Room 2 which is for 2-3 year olds. She has been adjusting really well and I think she is having a blast in this older class. On the first day we were given a calendar of events which explained what they would be focusing on each day. Since it's November, most of the activities are centered around Thanksgiving, which I think is awesome. Each month they also focus on two colors and this month the colors are brown and yellow. So today was brown day, and they asked that all the kids wear something brown. Looking through Jenna's closet, I couldn't really find anything with any significant amount of brown. So I went over to Old Navy yesterday and grabbed this little brown ruffle shirt for $6. I was super excited this morning because as I was in my own closet getting dressed, I told Jenna that we had to go get her dressed but that she had to wear brown. She disappeared into her closet and returned with the brown shirt. Possibly a coincidence, but I'm thinking she has learned the color brown. Anyways, I gave her the option of jeans or a jean skirt, and she quite happily chose the skirt. I then gave her the option of tights or leggings, and she was so excited to choose tights. We paired it with her super cute brown boots, and I think we had a cute little outfit. Of course, I made her take a few pictures.
The lighting is weird but her tights are pink, brown, orange, and cream stripes. Honestly, when else can you get away with horizontal stripes on your legs??

Total cheesy, fake smile.

I didn't tell her to put her hands in her pockets, but I thought it was super cute when she did.

The complete outfit.

the surgery

Pat's surgery was scheduled for Friday September 3rd super early in the morning. They called us Thursday night and changed the arrival time to 10 am. This made it really nice for us because we were able to spend some time with Jenna and take her to daycare before the hospital. Pat especially appreciated this as he knew it would be many weeks before he could hold her again.

We checked in and they got Pat all prepped, poor guy got poked 3 times before his IV finally worked. Once he was ready, they allowed his parents, Tom and Shelly, and my mom to come back. The whole group was a bundle of nerves. They moved us to another holding area and on our way over we ran into Nonnie. We came to a point on our walk through the hospital that we had to split up. They couldn't allow the whole group back and so my family and Pat's had to head to the waiting room. It was an emotional 'see you later' that was said. I bit my lip and willed myself to keep it together. Pat didn't need me to be a wreck. Once we were in the holding area, the anesthesiologist and the surgeon came by. Once again, seeing and talking with Dr. Cunningham helped ease my fears. Within 5 minutes they came to get Pat and so it was time for me to leave. I really don't remember what we said to each other...just that it was overwhelmingly difficult to walk away as they wheeled my husband back to surgery. As soon as I rounded the corner the tears started flowing.

Surgery was supposed to take about two hours. They gave us a number and in the waiting room was a large TV screen that listed all the patient numbers and their status. It reminded me of an airport where you check the screen for your flight information. So we sat and stared at the screen. Shelly and my mom carried on conversation, nonnie chimed in occasionally, and Tom read the paper. Our close friend Abby arrived shortly after and sat with us. Shelly's sister came and sat as well. My friend Erica stopped by with a jamba juice that I couldn't drink. And then our close friend Brian arrived. The group of us sat and waited. Brian, Abby and my mom talked and laughed, and eventually got me to relax and join their conversation. About 2 hours later, Dr Cunningham appeared in the doorway and motioned for me to join him in the hall.

He told me that the spleen was in fact, huge but that surgery went well. I pressed for more at which point he politely cut me off and gently reminded me what I already knew. We would have to wait for the pathology results which wouldn't be ready until Monday at the earliest. He also informed that a portion of Pat's spleen was being sent out for special studies. Pat had to stay in recovery for about 90 minutes and then a room would be available. Pat's parents left to take care of a few things and my Nonnie left. Abby, Brian, and my mom stayed with me until I could see Pat, which I was so grateful for. The three of them take me as I am. They know my impatience, they accept my moods, and they knew exactly what I needed at every moment throughout this whole experience.