tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60772891385458838062024-03-14T02:35:58.262-04:00Langley Family JourneyMarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15590134191547203861noreply@blogger.comBlogger73125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077289138545883806.post-28960316407926792122012-07-02T01:10:00.002-04:002012-07-02T01:10:55.007-04:00Layla's Tisht- Prayer of Bathing<span style="color: #111111; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; line-height: 22px;">Children are the building blocks for every church! </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; line-height: 22px;">In the Coptic Orthodox faith, children are considered pure and holy beings who become full church members when baptized. According to our faith, eight days after a childs birth a ritual blessing called Salawat al-tisht (the Bathing Prayer) is preformed. It's a set prayers of Thanksgiving to God for the safe delivery of a baby and occurs on the eighth day irregardless of whether the baby is a boy or girl. The prayer occurs in the home of the parents with a normal baby bath tub and warm water. The prayer follows the standard, Lord's prayer, thanksgiving prayer, psalm 51, raising of incense (as in Matins). The priest 'washes' the baby in the bath and hands the child back to his/her mother/father. Prayer concludes with the Lord's Prayer. The blessing commemorates Jesus' presentation in the Temple when he was 8 days old. The Tisht is not the baptism or a replacement for the baptism but is considered a confirmation of the childs Christian identity.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #111111; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif;"><span style="line-height: 22px;">We did Layla's Tisht on Mothers Day, Sunday May 13th, </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Father Angelous praying and blessing the water.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Todd reading the Gospel.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Gido reading scripture. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Father Angelous washing Layla in the blessed water.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Mommy drying Layla!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Layla after the bathing, just relaxing. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Jonah getting a closer look. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Mary getting some Layla time!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> Emad, Mary and Marina admiring Layla!<span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> Picture with Abouna and Manal.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The whole Shenouda Clan!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> I LOVE this pic of Abouna and Layla! Notice Layla is smiling!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #111111; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, 'Palatino Linotype', Palatino, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22px;">Stay tuned, Layla will receive the Holy Sacrament of Baptism on July 29th!</span>Marianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15590134191547203861noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077289138545883806.post-62678157515580291832012-06-29T01:05:00.000-04:002012-06-30T00:01:23.478-04:00Layla Marie LangleyTo say that April 25th began like any normal day is a complete understatement! I woke up at 4am with excruciating back pain. I couldn't get comfortable to save my life; I tried wedging pillows in every possible position, sitting, standing and finally at one point I was pacing the upstairs hallway between Stella and Jonah's bedroom. I knew I had a physical therapy appointment at 10am and so I just tried to convince myself that if I could make it until then, my physical therapist, Chrissy, would help alleviate some of the pain. <br />
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Needless to say it was 10am, I was at my physical therapy appointment and Chrissy couldn’t help me. In fact, she couldn't touch me without me screaming. She said "Marian, I am afraid that you might be experiencing back labor, have you called your OB?" I am not sure why I didn't think of this at 4am as I had experienced a lot of back labor with Stella. I will assume that the horrific painful experience was repressed from my memory! So I walked to my car and paged my OB, Dr. Wood.<br />
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Once I finally reached Dr. Wood, he told me to head to Maternity Triage at the hospital and that he would be down to see me (since his office is in the same building as the hospital). But first I had to head home, meet Todd and grab my hospital bag. Now that I look back on it, I am not sure how I even drove home. Yikes! I seriously shouldn't have been behind the wheel! Maybe it was the adrenaline but somehow I got home safely. I grabbed my hospital bag, my pillow and the camera bag and we were off. While in the car on the way to the hospital we called our family and filled them in on what was going on. <br />
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When we finally arrived the hospital around noon, we registered and headed up to the Maternity Triage where I was hooked up to the fetal heart monitor as well as a contraction monitor. I was having some contractions but not in regular intervals; but they were pretty big contractions nonetheless. At this point I was 60% effaced and only dilated 1cm (not in active labor by any measure). However since I was having contractions and quite uncomfortable, Dr. Wood didn’t want to send me home so he ordered IV fluids. If I was even a little bit dehydrated (as I was 2 weeks prior and admitted for a night), then getting me rehydrated could eliminate or even reduce the contractions…………… but NO SUCH LUCK! <br />
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Finally at around 3pm, Dr. Wood came down from his office (between seeing patients) and he decided to pull the trigger and to go ahead and do the c-section. Unfortunately, there was a c-section already scheduled at 3:30 so we would have to wait until about 5pm before we could even get into the OR. Thankfully Teta was already off duty by this time and was able to come over from the main hospital to the Barry Womans Health Pavilion (this is where Labor & Delivery is located). She was able to stay with me while Todd ran to the car to grab the camera and more importantly get food for Todd from the doctor’s lounge as he hadn't eaten all day. Funny story: on the way to the hospital Todd said to me “you realize they are probably going to send you home today…” Well apparently little Miss Layla had a different plan...<br />
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At 4:30 or so we headed back to pre-op. There they were able to start giving me meds thru my IV and get me preped for my c-section. My sister Sarah had arrived by then and was intregal in helping me make arrangements for Stella and Jonah etc. <br />
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Todd got all decked out in his scrubs, I was rolled back to the OR and it was SHOW TIME...<br />
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and at 5:23 Layla Marie Langley graced us with her presence! She weighed 6lbs 4oz and was19.5 inches long.<br />
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Holding my baby girl for the first time!<br />
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The benefits of having your mom as a physician at the hospital you are delivering at...she got to be in the OR with us! </div>
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"Hi there, I'm Layla!"</div>
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Dr. Wood- the BEST OB ever!<br />
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Here's Layla after her first bath and assessment. <br />
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Coming into the world is tiring and can make you very hungry! Nom, nom, nom....<br />
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Once I was back in post-op, Stella and Jonah were able to come back and see their sister for the first time. Stella loved her and couldn't wait to hold her and Jonah was simply clueless as to what was going on. Gido, Nana, Papi, Mikey and Sophie also were able to come back to post op (they took turns because only 2 were permitted back at a time) and visit and meet Layla for the first time.<br />
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Although Layla's arrival wasn't on May 1st as we had initially planned, I couldn't have imagined it any other way! I'm not even sure how to describe my delivery. It was fun and laid back- probably 2 words that are never used to describe childbirth. In post-op, Dr. Wood said that in all of his years as an OB he had never experienced such a delivery. Teta was texting in the OR and showing all of her friends (nurses and delivery staff) pictures of her other 3 grandchildren from her phone and Facebook. She was even comparing Stella and Jonah's baby pics to Layla trying to determine who Layla looked more like. I even tried to convince Dr. Wood to give me a tummy tuck while he already had me on the table but that was a no go. Apparently, I'm not the first or the last to make that request! It was an all-around memorable moment that I will never forget and I feel so blessed. <br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Welcome to the world Layla Marie Langley!</span>Marianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15590134191547203861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077289138545883806.post-32650744857542489042012-05-21T20:18:00.002-04:002012-05-21T20:18:48.393-04:00Easter 2012<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Easter weekend began with Good Friday service at our church. Good Friday brings so many emotions to light. It's a time to reflect how much Jesus sacrificed for us and it always in turn makes me realize how much I need to constantly should strengthen my relationship with Him. I felt a lot more emotional during the Good Friday service. It was probably a mixture of being pregnant and extremely hormonal and realizing that this was the first holiday that Pope Shenouda III was not going to be a part of. </div>
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During the Good Friday service our church recreates many of the same events that occurred at that time. The deacons carry a cross in a procession both inside and outside of the church. </div>
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Stella, Jonah and Sophia participated in the procession. </div>
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Procession around the outside of the church.</div>
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Easter midnight service is on Easter Eve and church is dismissed at midnight. During the service the lights in the church are dimmed and the Resurrection is recreated. </div>
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This year Todd and Jonah wore argyle vests and they both looked very handsome!</div>
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Jonah took Communion with Gido during the liturgy. He is definitely Gido's buddy and loves him! Can you see the resemblance (they are essentially twins)?<br />
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As with every feast/holiday, we head to Teta & Gido's house for a HUGE food feast! What can I say, Teta is a pretty phenomenal cook and well we can never get enough grape leaves.<br />
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Teta and her babies!</div>
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Daddy and his babies!</div>
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Gido and his little miracles!</div>
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Teta & Gido with their grandchildren.</div>
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Todd wanted to join in on the love too!</div>
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Sophia, Teta & Gido!</div>
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Stella, Teta & Gido</div>
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The next morning the kids woke up to find that the Easter bunny had left them goodies! Since Coptic Easter and American Easter did not coincide this year Stella had a soccer tournament the weekend of Coptic Easter (that's why she has her soccer uniform on in the pics below). Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate and Stella only played half of 1 game and remainder of the entire soccer tournament was rained out.<br />
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This year just like every year, the kids got so many baskets and loot it was impossible to keep track of who got what! Between grandparents and great grandparents, there are baskets and candy to last the entire year through. This year the Easter Bunny tried to promote hygiene and education. That's right, the Easter Bunny brought fun new tooth brushes, soap, books, games and sidewalk chalk and NO CANDY!<br />
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Stella and Jonah find their Easter goody bags from the Bunny!</div>
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Jonah found his Easter eggs!</div>
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OMG, look at how exciting Easter eggs are!</div>
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Later that morning, Jonah hung back with mommy while Stella and Todd headed down to Cincinnati to her soccer tournament (not yet knowing that it would be rained out). Look at these big brown eyes! Can you get enough???...<br />
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Happy Easter! We are feeling very blessed knowing that Baby Layla could make her appearance at any time and will be joining our family!Marianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15590134191547203861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077289138545883806.post-69385053132726624122012-05-21T17:23:00.004-04:002012-05-21T17:23:36.708-04:00Happy Valentines Day from The Langley's<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: red;">Who needs roses or chocolate for Valentines Day when you've got these 2 sweeties to come home to! Valentines Day was pretty low key as I had to stay home with 2 sick kids; both Stella and Jonah had strep throat. Stella was so disappointed that she had to miss her Valentines Day party at school but understood that she was contagious. She and Jonah relaxed most of the day in their pj's and watched Disney together. </span><br />
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<span style="color: red;">Valentines Day is not a huge production at the Langley house. This year each of the kids got a little bit of candy and a sock monkey from us and we spent the day like any other day. For Valentines Day dinner I we had a heart shaped pizza from Papa Murphy's (the kids got a kick out of it). </span><br />
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<span style="color: red;">I attempted to make heart shaped brownies and failed miserably......</span><br />
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<span style="color: red;">Of course since I was pregnant during Valentines Day and thus a lot more hormonal, it was a great time to reflect how much love I have to share with these 2 little love bugs and how much I would love sharing it with 1 more (baby Layla)!</span><br />
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<span style="color: red;">Happy Valentines Day!</span>Marianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15590134191547203861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077289138545883806.post-31565713503866759002012-05-21T17:02:00.000-04:002012-05-21T17:02:21.188-04:00Coptic Orthodox Christmas 2012<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
While Christmas had come and gone, we still had to celebrate Coptic Christmas on January 7th. In traditional fashion we went to church on the eve of January 7th (Jan 6th) to attend the Christmas service</div>
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We got all dressed up for the occasion and headed to church around 9pm. Jonah wore a suit for the first time ever and he looked quite adorable, I must say. This was also the first year that Stella and Sophie did not wear the same dress. I suppose as they get older they each have an opinion about their clothes and this year decided to dress differently.<br />
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After the liturgy, around 11pm or so, in typical fashion we headed to Teta & Gido's house for the feast! Yes we eat a feast at midnight in celebration of our Lord's birth. Once we get to Teta & Gido's house it's hard to keep everyone in their church clothes. Everyone wants to change into their pj's or comfy clothes so getting pics of everyone dressed up can be challenging to say the least.<br />
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Gido and his twin- what can I say but these 2 absolutely adore each other! It's comical because many of their looks and mannerisms are identical.<br />
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Well with Christmas and Coptic Christmas in the books there is so much more to look forward to in 2012!<br />
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<br />Marianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15590134191547203861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077289138545883806.post-23670638975488092052012-04-23T16:59:00.001-04:002012-07-02T00:27:09.942-04:00Christmas 2011<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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OMG- it's nearly May and I am just now blogging about Christmas. Where has the time gone? Let's see, we found out we were pregnant in the fall, the holidays were a whirlwind as always and then the past few months we've been trying to wrap our heads around the fact that we will soon have 3 kids. </div>
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First we had our Church Christmas Party. The kids LOVED it. They sang songs (hence the jingle-bell in Jonah's hand) and got to see Santa. Stella had a basketball game this day so she couldn't stay for all of the festivities.</div>
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We decided to put our tree up the weekend before Thanksgiving because we would be traveling the week of Thanksgiving to Orlando (see our <a href="http://marianslangley.blogspot.com/2012/01/disney_16.html">2011 Thanksgiving</a> blog entry).<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our Tree!</td></tr>
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I wanted to make this holiday season different from most. In addition to Stella's Lego Advent calendar we tried to do as many crafts and baking projects as possible.<br />
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First craft was building our first gingerbread house. I had never built one before and found a pretty neat kit at Toy's R Us, so I figured we'd give it a shot. Let's just say that this task required A LOT of patience! You had to assemble sections of the house and let it dry before continuing to the next section. Try explaining that to an eager 8 year old that only wants to get the house together as quickly as possible so that she can decorate it with candy (the fun part of course). It took some time but Stella loved every minute of it!<br />
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Then one evening Sarah and Sophie came over to make cookies for Mikey as a surprise. Sophie made homemade snickerdoodle cookies and they were yummy!<br />
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Then it was time for Stella and I to make Granny's infamous sugar cookies. We called Nana and got the recipe and had so much fun cutting out shapes and icing them! Stella and I had a blast making these while Jonah frequented the kitchen to keep tasting the yummy cookies.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First batch!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Icing the cookies.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jonah was our cookie taster.<br />
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Our final project was making our "Cookies for Santa" gifts. We made these for friends and family and they were a hit! Stella loved measuring and layering the ingredients. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Measuring the ingredients.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our jars before ribbon and tags!</td></tr>
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We found out the sex of Baby Langley #3 just a few days before Christmas so we decided to reveal the sex of the baby Christmas Eve with our family. The cake read "We are having a..." Mamoose cut into the cake and well what do you know, it was <b><span style="color: magenta;">PINK!</span></b><b style="color: #ea9999;"> </b>We're having a <span style="color: magenta;"><b>GIRL!</b></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It was PINK!</td></tr>
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In standard Christmas tradition, we had Christmas Eve at Mamoose & Papaw's house and well with so so many kids this year it's not much of a surprise that chaos can ensue! Yes this year there 2 more little ones; Gabriel and Lucy (Todd's sister had twins in June of 2011).</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jonah loves books!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jonah wanted to open everything.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stella and Sophie opening their gifts</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The kids went to town opening their presents</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jonah attempting to open the girls presents.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jenny showing Lucy her present.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I love my Scotty.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stella and her Gab-ster Fish.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Momoose sitting in her rocker!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-f5mqwE3Up8k/T5WupoN6A1I/AAAAAAAABX4/ry0XKAIMVm4/s1600/DSC_0449.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-f5mqwE3Up8k/T5WupoN6A1I/AAAAAAAABX4/ry0XKAIMVm4/s320/DSC_0449.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">and Papaw in his recliner.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stella is pooped from opening so many presents!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jonah assisting in the clean up effort.</td></tr>
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Would any evening be complete without a little Ryan planking? </div>
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We loaded up the kids and all of their loot and headed home. We had to get home in time for the elves to deliver our Christmas pj's. Yes every year, they ring our doorbell and leave our Christmas pj's at the front door. After we put our Christmas pj's on we put our cookies and milk for Santa and some carrots for the reindeer's. <span style="color: #cc0000;"><b>Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!</b></span><br />
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The next morning the kids came down the stairs to find what Santa had left them...</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Heading down the steps!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oh my look at all of those presents!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jonah wanted to help everyone open- even Stella!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Santa must have loved his cookies and milk!</td></tr>
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Here the kids are wearing their pj's from the elves and enjoying some of the little goodies that were in their stockings!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Q4i_MkmQFG8/T5Wy8Tygc_I/AAAAAAAABY4/ZeIxoTQLb0s/s1600/DSC_0466.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Q4i_MkmQFG8/T5Wy8Tygc_I/AAAAAAAABY4/ZeIxoTQLb0s/s320/DSC_0466.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">JP loved his Disney Cars camera.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BJmgfQgG9fs/T5WzNiKNQkI/AAAAAAAABZI/NJXLT-mdMy0/s1600/DSC_0470.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BJmgfQgG9fs/T5WzNiKNQkI/AAAAAAAABZI/NJXLT-mdMy0/s320/DSC_0470.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stella loved her video rocker.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">SLAM DUNK!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My favorite Soccer Mom!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-abLR4I0sB6w/T5WzivzNWMI/AAAAAAAABZg/8v17SLhV0pQ/s1600/DSC_0478.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-abLR4I0sB6w/T5WzivzNWMI/AAAAAAAABZg/8v17SLhV0pQ/s320/DSC_0478.JPG" width="214" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stella got a new laptop!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">and new skate shoes. </td></tr>
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After the presents were opened and we cleaned up, it was time for our traditional Christmas Day Family Breakfast. We had Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls and let the kids enjoy some time playing with their new toys before we loaded up the car and made our way to Nana & Papi's then to Teta & Gido's house. </div>
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Before leaving the house Jonah thought it would be a great idea to jump on a pile of Christmas shirt boxes that we had stacked by the door to take out to the recycling bin. Hence the "war wound" scar on his face that will appear in every Christmas Day pic!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="214" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/407027_2933291014045_1314121590_3253238_1326950175_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Hi, my name is trouble!"</td></tr>
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How cute are these 2 Langley boys? Jonah LOVES Uncle Scotty and calls him "cot."<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption">Jonah and Uncle Scotty!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="267" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/389389_2933296294177_1314121590_3253250_2002731758_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stella, Gabriel and Jonah.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="223" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/407597_2933297734213_1314121590_3253254_849489409_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stella & the twins; Gabriel & Lucy.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Who invited this guy?</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nana opening her Nana necklace from the kids.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nana & Papi's Christmas present!</td></tr>
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Who knew that opening presents could be so tiring....Time for a quick nap before we head to Teta & Gido's house!<br />
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The final stop of the day was to Teta & Gido's house! Stella was so excited to go see Teta. She said "Teta always buys us too much!" Try explaining to a 8 year old that Christmas is not about presents but remembering the reason for the season. Although, Stella was correct, Teta went overboard yet again this year and even had a stocking for Baby Langley. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sophia and her American Girl!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9UhKrDRX9ME/T5W8c5d-UnI/AAAAAAAABaQ/GSBrDofUKvo/s1600/DSC_0491.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9UhKrDRX9ME/T5W8c5d-UnI/AAAAAAAABaQ/GSBrDofUKvo/s320/DSC_0491.JPG" width="214" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Teta & Gido's pride & joy!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QovJfuN4dnw/T5W8v1RfXTI/AAAAAAAABao/ulv2pD3IR4E/s1600/DSC_0513.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QovJfuN4dnw/T5W8v1RfXTI/AAAAAAAABao/ulv2pD3IR4E/s320/DSC_0513.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stella loved her OSU shirt from Gigi!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KTW28-R1pJs/T5W82t9dfhI/AAAAAAAABaw/iIH-YiPfj2k/s1600/DSC_0514.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KTW28-R1pJs/T5W82t9dfhI/AAAAAAAABaw/iIH-YiPfj2k/s320/DSC_0514.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">and watch...</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kPZaCMX_lrE/T5W8-JIufuI/AAAAAAAABa4/z-J2tcQyyFM/s1600/DSC_0519.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kPZaCMX_lrE/T5W8-JIufuI/AAAAAAAABa4/z-J2tcQyyFM/s320/DSC_0519.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My silly girl!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eCXhFpG08Og/T5W9D-d69uI/AAAAAAAABbA/AEhd9DO3nXc/s1600/DSC_0521.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eCXhFpG08Og/T5W9D-d69uI/AAAAAAAABbA/AEhd9DO3nXc/s320/DSC_0521.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jonah loved his Spongebob Mr. Potato head.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EbL9-tHq6d4/T5W9KOggKBI/AAAAAAAABbI/Wg3rq-ndIEg/s1600/DSC_0532.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EbL9-tHq6d4/T5W9KOggKBI/AAAAAAAABbI/Wg3rq-ndIEg/s320/DSC_0532.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'm not sue who invited this silly girl!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5rIJ6Clb6HU/T5W9ScQR4CI/AAAAAAAABbQ/Su0mKED9B08/s1600/DSC_0535.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5rIJ6Clb6HU/T5W9ScQR4CI/AAAAAAAABbQ/Su0mKED9B08/s320/DSC_0535.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">MINE!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QcAGA08AMNc/T5W9YW4m4CI/AAAAAAAABbY/oB5aU-zYge4/s1600/DSC_0543.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QcAGA08AMNc/T5W9YW4m4CI/AAAAAAAABbY/oB5aU-zYge4/s320/DSC_0543.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mikey LOVED his Steamboat Mickey!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-N1Pe5ChP-oA/T5W9ecfvJYI/AAAAAAAABbg/Ot77F8Fvx9M/s1600/DSC_0544.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-N1Pe5ChP-oA/T5W9ecfvJYI/AAAAAAAABbg/Ot77F8Fvx9M/s320/DSC_0544.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Teaching JP to play the guitar </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Couldn't you just eat him up!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pPthvVu1M-I/T5XBEIKm8yI/AAAAAAAABbw/lOiKXoIkGKI/s1600/DSC_0539.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pPthvVu1M-I/T5XBEIKm8yI/AAAAAAAABbw/lOiKXoIkGKI/s320/DSC_0539.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Mommy help me open my toys!"</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-M85ui9h8mtk/T5XBMS0t9lI/AAAAAAAABb4/_jiuFN_ggRQ/s1600/DSC_0540.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-M85ui9h8mtk/T5XBMS0t9lI/AAAAAAAABb4/_jiuFN_ggRQ/s320/DSC_0540.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wow a remote controlled car!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UYmjNNQyYtg/T5XBSZRrwNI/AAAAAAAABcA/Ua_DGEgq9Xw/s1600/DSC_0548.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UYmjNNQyYtg/T5XBSZRrwNI/AAAAAAAABcA/Ua_DGEgq9Xw/s320/DSC_0548.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stella giving JP a ride on his new plasma car. </td></tr>
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Wow- although Christmas was jam packed with many activities, celebrations and get together's it was so much fun. We look forward to many more holiday celebrations and to think that there will be 1 more Langley joining us in 2012. We are so so BLESSED!<br />
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<br /></div>Marianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15590134191547203861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077289138545883806.post-6571521574627137742011-11-30T19:30:00.000-05:002012-07-02T00:26:42.449-04:00Disney 2011<div style="margin-top: 0; text-align: center; width: 425px;">
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<span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">I know I am haven't blogged in many many months and I am very far behind, but I suppose that it's better late than never! Right?</span></div>
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We went to Disney over Thanksgiving with the whole fam! My dad's 70th Birthday was in early December. Instead of hosting a big party we thought we would keep it low key and take the entire family to Disney for a week to spend quality time together and to celebrate this momentous and joyous occasion. </div>
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To be honest, I was initially very hesitant at first to travel for an entire week to the Disney parks with a 14 month old but I did my best to keep Jonah on schedule as much as possible and it worked out great.I packed all of his favorite(s); his favorite blanket, baby foods, snacks, sippy cups and more. I wanted him to feel at home even when he wasn't. I also tried to keep him on his schedule (as much as possible). For example, he typically naps 2 times a day and while at the parks I would strap him into his stroller, recline his seat back, pull down his shade for privacy and keep him moving and before you knew it he was out like a light. The rest of the family went to shows and rides while he slept and I typically found a bench to park my pregnant butt on or an air conditioned shop to browse. It also helped that we stayed in a private home (5 bedroom, 5 bath home) and not at a hotel and we had the ability to use our kitchen, come and go when we pleased and just took it easy on days we wanted to. </div>
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Stella had a blast! The last time she was at Disney she was only 5 and this time I could tell that she loved it and enjoyed it so much more. She was taller this time and could ride all of the rides and I am positive it will be a trip that she will forever remember!<br />
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It was a extremely joyous occasion....not only did we celebrate dad's 70th Birthday but Thanksgiving too and it allowed us to remember what we cherish and what we are thankful for as well. </div>
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Here's to more trips to Disney and more fun family vacations! I have uploaded our Disney pictures below...</div>
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<a href="http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0QZOGTFu5as3Og&eid=115">Click here to view these pictures larger</a><img border="0" height="1" src="https://os.shutterfly.com/b/ss/sflyshareprod/1/H.15/111?pageName=sharekey&c1=pictures&c2=blogger" style="background: #ffffff; border: none; box-shadow: none; padding: 0;" width="1" /></div>
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<object align="middle" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab" height="425" id="Slideshow" name="Slideshow" style="clear: left; float: left;" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.shutterfly.com/flashapps/flashslideshow/Slideshow.swf" />
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<embed id="Slideshow" width="425" height="425" name="Slideshow" align="middle" quality="high" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" flashvars="configurl=http%3A%2F%2Fws.shutterfly.com%2Fshare%2Fexternal_slideshow_config%3Fsid%3D0QZOGTFu5as3Og" pluginspage="http://www.adobe.com/go/getflashplayer" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" bgcolor="#869ca7" src="http://www.shutterfly.com/flashapps/flashslideshow/Slideshow.swf"></embed></object></div>Marianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15590134191547203861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077289138545883806.post-8001658150722171002011-11-09T10:56:00.000-05:002011-11-09T10:56:36.416-05:00YES we're having baby #3<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I know I have been terrible about blogging lately but I've had a lot on my plate to say the least! Well let's see after Jonah's First Birthday Extravaganza I received some news.....I AM PREGNANT! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">hmmmm....where do I even begin...let's see...well I went to the OB for my yearly visit and boy was it a visit that I will forever remember. When I heard the news that I was pregnant I was flooded with so many emotions. First and foremost I was shocked, then I was numb, then I began to cry and then I was elated and to be quite honest for several days I was on an emotional roller coaster and I simply did not know what to do or think. Was this for real? Really? After all of the infertility treatments that I had to endure over the years to even have a family and resulted in our 2 little miracles, Stella & Jonah. How was this possible? How could this happen (I know exactly how it happened), but how was this possible without the help of modern medicine as we used in the past.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So utter and complete shock is the best way to describe the emotions that we were feeling when we heard the news! We waited several days for the blood work confirmation before we shared the news with our families. And when we broke the news to Stella that she was going to be a big sister again, she was so excited. Her only request was that this baby too be a boy! What can I say, she adores her baby brother.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Whats so ironic is that several months ago I was taking Stella somewhere and I was driving Todd's car (a Nissan Rogue) and Stella was sitting in the back seat and said "mommy if we ever have another baby we will need a bigger car." To which, I replied "Stella we're not having anymore babies" and she responded to me "mommy you don't know that because God only knows that. Teta always says that God has a plan for all of us." I didn't think much of that exchange at the time but thought it was cute that she wanted another sibling and could somewhat comprehend that in our faith only God knows what is ultimate plan is for us. When I think back to that conversation now, I get goosebumps! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Introducing Baby Langley (12 weeks old in this pic)...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VQB2eA99Xdc/TrqZJeuHk5I/AAAAAAAABRc/P6_PGjUjtzk/s1600/299498_2535214301243_1280133259_33091081_9290911_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VQB2eA99Xdc/TrqZJeuHk5I/AAAAAAAABRc/P6_PGjUjtzk/s640/299498_2535214301243_1280133259_33091081_9290911_n.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br />
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With that said....Baby Langley #3 is due on May 7th, 2012. We are utterly excited and delighted to meet this new Langley and to grow our family by 2 more feet!Marianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15590134191547203861noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077289138545883806.post-66969672448216827412011-10-19T21:54:00.000-04:002011-10-19T21:54:10.118-04:00Jonah's First Birthday<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #351c75;">Although Jonah's Birthday party was nearly 1 month ago I haven't found a free moment until now to look through the 200+ photos that were taken at his party! Of course I had my party planning hat on many months before the party. Initially, all I knew is that I wanted to do a whale themed party, then the next thing you knew it snowballed into whale EVERYTHING! I was on a mission to try to implement whales into everything possible.I figured that I only have a short period of time before Jonah has a say, to carry out the whale theme so I better make the most of it! </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;">My friend, Tracy, from Lexis designed Jonah's invite and she did a phenomenal job (she's also the one that designed Jonah's birth announcement)! All I told her was that I wanted a whale themed invitation and that incorporated a specific saying and Jonah's picture and this is what she came up with. She is an amazing designer and if you ever need an invite or card created she's definitely the gal for the job (see her shop on <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/SnickerDoodle777">Etsy</a>). </span></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aGEYrIMhcFk/Tp9ktKTAVuI/AAAAAAAABMM/ZRRT4qI6sBw/s1600/Jonah+Bday+Invite+1+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: white; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aGEYrIMhcFk/Tp9ktKTAVuI/AAAAAAAABMM/ZRRT4qI6sBw/s640/Jonah+Bday+Invite+1+%25282%2529.jpg" width="456" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;"><br />
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</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;">So after the invitation was designed and created I continued to plan, plan, plan! I got on every website from ETSY to Zazzle and tried to get as many whale ideas as possible....</span></span></div><br />
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</span></span></div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-B8wHSahoLGA/Tp9oGJyOw9I/AAAAAAAABQ8/HTF652eykio/s1600/DSC_0245.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-B8wHSahoLGA/Tp9oGJyOw9I/AAAAAAAABQ8/HTF652eykio/s320/DSC_0245.JPG" width="320" /></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;"> </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;">I ordered this personalized birthday banner from Etsy!</span></span><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;">I also got some great ideas from Etsy...including this 12 month photo timeline. It was a lot of fun to make and brought back a lot of memories looking through the pictures to find pictures from every month of Jonah's first year! Oh and the blue buckets on the table were what the kids used to collect their pinata loot.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MJb-K1vxIn4/Tp9lyLMtjXI/AAAAAAAABMU/DhSKCQ5Hn9Q/s1600/DSC_0018.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: white; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;"><img border="0" height="428" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MJb-K1vxIn4/Tp9lyLMtjXI/AAAAAAAABMU/DhSKCQ5Hn9Q/s640/DSC_0018.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;"><br />
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</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;">I also got the idea for these centerpiece ideas from Etsy. Let's just say that I was a good loyal Michael's and Hobby Lobby customer this past month. </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BBG4Vl9pVQo/Tp9x95y5fnI/AAAAAAAABRU/WOPhUn_IFwU/s1600/centerpiece+collage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: white; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;"><img border="0" height="243" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BBG4Vl9pVQo/Tp9x95y5fnI/AAAAAAAABRU/WOPhUn_IFwU/s400/centerpiece+collage.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;">Of course in keeping with the whale theme, we had to have a whale cake of course. I ordered Jonah's cake from <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ashleys-Pastry-Shop/254245362437">Ashley's Pastry Shop</a> in Oakwood. Over the years, Ashley's has made some of the most beautiful cakes for some of our momentous occasions, including graduations, showers, birthdays and our wedding. They are definitely my go to bakery for any special occasion! </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;">Jonah's desert table was filled with anything and everything imaginable. Of course there was cake, but there was also whale cookies compliments of Ashley's of course (ugh I can't tell you how hard it was to find a whale cookie cutter), cake pops, and blue candy galore! I bought any and all blue candy that I could get my hands on...</span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;">Here are some of the adorable whale cookies and Jonah's smash cupcake...it was so cute too!</span></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;">Cake pops, blue gum balls, pixie sticks, m&m's ....</span></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-N5UQUjSPn5g/Tp9mVqed3_I/AAAAAAAABNc/gV3QzMw7z2c/s1600/DSC_0031.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-N5UQUjSPn5g/Tp9mVqed3_I/AAAAAAAABNc/gV3QzMw7z2c/s320/DSC_0031.JPG" width="214" /></span></span></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eIR_xEYn1wc/Tp9mcIE_lGI/AAAAAAAABNs/Qq08SiO_vZY/s1600/DSC_0033.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eIR_xEYn1wc/Tp9mcIE_lGI/AAAAAAAABNs/Qq08SiO_vZY/s320/DSC_0033.JPG" width="214" /></span></span></a></div><br />
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</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;">This was the picture on top of Jonah's whale cookie display...</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;"> I found these adorable blue buckets for the drink table at The Christmas Tree Shop (another one of my favorite shops). I love going there because you never know what you're gonna find when you go in there. I had a tub of Capri-Suns (for the kiddo's), a tub of bottled water and a tub of soda and the tiny tub in front was the ice bucket. It's also the same bucket that we used for Jonah's first year pics.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;">Momma and her baby boy!</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;"><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;">Teta and Jonah!</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;">The kids table was bumping...they had crayons and water color paints to keep them occupied.....</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;">oh and did I mention that Uncle Mikey was face painting too.... He was a hit at the party. The kids enjoyed getting their faces painted.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;"> <a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LsM-9R8zZvU/Tp9m-SmXFOI/AAAAAAAABOs/MIuNi_NR8Ks/s1600/DSC_0077.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LsM-9R8zZvU/Tp9m-SmXFOI/AAAAAAAABOs/MIuNi_NR8Ks/s320/DSC_0077.JPG" width="320" /></a>Stella got a whale painted on her face!</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;">oh and Stella also wore her personalized whale shirt (thank you Etsy, again!)....</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;">Jonah and his buddy Ryker had a blast playing together at the party.</span></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-W41FihmRmzg/Tp9nGdz0yLI/AAAAAAAABO8/2YhmEBItGj0/s1600/DSC_0083.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: white; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-W41FihmRmzg/Tp9nGdz0yLI/AAAAAAAABO8/2YhmEBItGj0/s320/DSC_0083.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #351c75;"> Notice Jonah's personalized whale shirt (yup another Etsy purchase)...</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ophwRXI5hSs/Tp9nOFIKtnI/AAAAAAAABPM/jpJNG_GLYSE/s1600/DSC_0086.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: white; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ophwRXI5hSs/Tp9nOFIKtnI/AAAAAAAABPM/jpJNG_GLYSE/s320/DSC_0086.JPG" width="214" /></span></a></div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;">And it was finally time to sing and have birthday cake! </span></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4hfHlIEUeq0/Tp9nSQamsQI/AAAAAAAABPU/poCL1jLYhJM/s1600/DSC_0101.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: white; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4hfHlIEUeq0/Tp9nSQamsQI/AAAAAAAABPU/poCL1jLYhJM/s320/DSC_0101.JPG" width="214" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;">Jonah loved being sung too and sitting near his cake. I was afraid at one point that he would dive right into it!</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;">Time to get Jonah NAKED and let him at his smash cake! We stripped Jonah down to his diaper and put him in his high chair and he was ready to go. At first he put a finger or two in the icing. He just didn't know what to do....</span></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9pyPsbg6L1c/Tp9nZa_SM-I/AAAAAAAABPk/4lb7lpn5vW0/s1600/DSC_0113.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: white; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9pyPsbg6L1c/Tp9nZa_SM-I/AAAAAAAABPk/4lb7lpn5vW0/s400/DSC_0113.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;"> <a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pdM7e4s6s-k/Tp9ngazmRFI/AAAAAAAABP0/3qBsF2ryEfs/s1600/DSC_0117.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pdM7e4s6s-k/Tp9ngazmRFI/AAAAAAAABP0/3qBsF2ryEfs/s320/DSC_0117.JPG" width="214" /></a>Until he finally got some of the icing in his mouth...</span></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CJWveBpBJzU/Tp9nkHsU8kI/AAAAAAAABP8/zZHzGft1Q9I/s1600/DSC_0122.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CJWveBpBJzU/Tp9nkHsU8kI/AAAAAAAABP8/zZHzGft1Q9I/s320/DSC_0122.JPG" width="214" /></span></span></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;">And he got more and more into his cake....He absolutely loved it and by the end he had icing in his hair, his ear and God knows where else. </span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;">Finally it was time to tear into the whale pinata! It was actually it was a pull string pinata and the kids loved it. We lined them up youngest to oldest and passed out their favor buckets too collect their loot in. </span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;">Up first was the birthday boy of course. Jonah very much liked pulling the string!</span></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LKPRFbiVNL8/Tp9ntSaLnjI/AAAAAAAABQM/Oj6awAiWFck/s1600/DSC_0143.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: white; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LKPRFbiVNL8/Tp9ntSaLnjI/AAAAAAAABQM/Oj6awAiWFck/s320/DSC_0143.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zqMl7HqJOpg/Tp9nx0tEPyI/AAAAAAAABQU/Qil2idcuxqU/s1600/DSC_0146.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: white; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zqMl7HqJOpg/Tp9nx0tEPyI/AAAAAAAABQU/Qil2idcuxqU/s320/DSC_0146.JPG" width="214" /></span></a></div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;">Time for presents.... Jonah got very spoiled and received a lot of great presents. </span></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IrMw0iGsVro/Tp9n1qQ8W0I/AAAAAAAABQc/NA8i61vA4D0/s1600/DSC_0220.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: white; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IrMw0iGsVro/Tp9n1qQ8W0I/AAAAAAAABQc/NA8i61vA4D0/s320/DSC_0220.JPG" width="214" /><span></span></span></a></div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;">Initially, Jonah didn't know what to do with the wrapping paper but when we began to tear off a corner or two he got the hang of it really quick...</span></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QbxmIJ440LI/Tp9n5omG2cI/AAAAAAAABQk/U1frOaRFYcc/s1600/DSC_0224.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: white; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QbxmIJ440LI/Tp9n5omG2cI/AAAAAAAABQk/U1frOaRFYcc/s320/DSC_0224.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;">Here is Jonah riding on one of the 6 ride on toys her received!</span></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LGQ5v-Lotww/Tp9oCK1nB9I/AAAAAAAABQ0/t33y875Ejdo/s1600/DSC_0236.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: white; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LGQ5v-Lotww/Tp9oCK1nB9I/AAAAAAAABQ0/t33y875Ejdo/s320/DSC_0236.JPG" width="214" /></span></a></div><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;">And Jonah riding on the blue whale his sister Stella bought him!</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iTnHQcbGW70/Tp9oJvSLj2I/AAAAAAAABRE/LSYtcppxvug/s1600/DSC_0250.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: white; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iTnHQcbGW70/Tp9oJvSLj2I/AAAAAAAABRE/LSYtcppxvug/s320/DSC_0250.JPG" width="214" /></span></a><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;">I had a blast planning Jonah's First Birthday Party and well it was a lot of fun! Jonah definitely had a great time. It's impossible to believe that Jonah is one already! </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #351c75;">We are so blessed to be surrounded by so many wonderful friends and family to share with us these very special and momentous occasions and we look for many more wonderful celebrations to come!</span>Marianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15590134191547203861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077289138545883806.post-534094399804936762011-09-17T21:42:00.003-04:002011-09-18T11:19:46.764-04:00Jonah is ONE!<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-large;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">HAPPY</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"> </span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-large;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange;">1st </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: lime;">BIRTHDAY</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange;"> </span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-large;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">JONAH!</span></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-large;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Well its official, Jonah is one years old today! Where has the time gone? Impossible to fathom that it was just 1 year ago that Jonah made his grand enterance into this world (see<a href="http://marianslangley.blogspot.com/2010/10/d-day.html"> D-Day post</a>). September 17th was just like any other day except that night when I went to bed because I wasn't feeling 100%. I had a pain on my left side and chaulked it up to pulling a muscle climbing into bed. The imense pain I awoke to on Saturday September 18th around 3:30 am, clued me in that this was no ordinary pain. And so it was off to the hospital we went...roughly 3 hours later at 6:23 am Jonah graced us with his presence (and boy did he make his presence known). So here we are 1 year later and my little man no longer looks like this: </span><span id="goog_554826133"></span><span id="goog_554826134"></span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-n4usb0P5u9Q/TnVUEuRpHYI/AAAAAAAABLY/wX73yCfrA20/s1600/%257Bec4891f3-3596-4771-9a72-c71e42f04aa7%257D_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="285" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-n4usb0P5u9Q/TnVUEuRpHYI/AAAAAAAABLY/wX73yCfrA20/s400/%257Bec4891f3-3596-4771-9a72-c71e42f04aa7%257D_2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">but now looks like this:</span><br />
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<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The past month as been full of many many happenings.... Jonah tried lots of new foods...banana's, chicken nuggets, hamburger, apple juice, shredded cheese, spaghetti, diced pears and diced peaches to just name a few. Oh and most importantly whole milk! Yes we've officially been free of baby formula for 2 weeks now. Once the formula canister ran out it was time to get some milk from a plastic jug! WOW can't tell you how nice it is to spend $3 for 1 gallon of milk versus $25 for a can of formula. </span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Jonah is much much more mobile these days. He can take anywhere from 5-10 steps without holding on to anything. He's also getting much much faster. He cruises around the furniture at lightening fast speed. He still stumbles and wobbles quite a bit...looks more like someone who has indulged in a few too </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">many beers but it's still quite cute nonetheless. </span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Jonah is also much more curious and intuitive these days. Don't get me wrong, he still loves to stand on everything he can get his hands on (that must be a boy thing) but he also likes to look over and discover what this button or knob will do. He also loves to mimic what you say. Stella and I were singing some top 40 hit lyrics that goes like this "la-la-la" and Jonah decided to sing along and he too chimed in and began singing "la-la-la." </span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
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</span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Jonah and Stella's bond continues to grow each and every day! She simply adores him and he adores her. If she leaves the room, he yells "tella, tella, tella!" Jonah loves to walk to Stella and if she is lying on the floor, he will crawl all over her and play tackle her. It's an unique and amazing sibling bond that can never be replicated. Jonah has also added a few more words to his vocabulary this past month... "te-ta" and "sis" and if he wants something he will point at it and speak gibberish.</span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
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</span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">My little man has grown way too fast! This past year has gone by in a flash. I can hardly believe that our 7lb miracle is now a 25+lb monkey!</span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Happy Birthday Jonah! Mommy, Daddy & Stella love you very much and wish you many more blessed birthdays! </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Jonah's one year photos contained in this blog post were taken by Katie Allietta at <a href="http://littlecapturedmoments.com/">Little Captured Moments Photography!</a></span>Marianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15590134191547203861noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077289138545883806.post-1827565243070947792011-08-17T23:33:00.001-04:002011-08-18T08:51:09.430-04:00Jonah- month 11<div style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><div style="text-align: left;"><img alt="" aria-busy="false" aria-describedby="fbPhotoTheaterCaption" class="spotlight" height="300px" src="http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/267324_2300148824753_1280133259_32854179_8039684_n.jpg" width="400px" /></div></div>OH MY GOD- I can hardly believe that Jonah is 11 months old and just 1 month away from being 1 years old! I'm already in party planning mode....check out next months blog to see Jonah's First Birthday Party. I assure you it will be a "Whale of a Time!"<br />
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Ok back to the task at hand...so Jonah crossed a lot of milestones this month! First and foremost he his much more mobile and on the move! He is cruising around the furniture and just about to walk. He's taken a few steps without holding onto anything (of course it happened while I was at work and I missed it). <br />
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Jonah is very much still very much in discovery mode. He's constantly on little missions and I am always amazed as to what he finds. Whether its little speckles of paper on the carpet, a magazine from under the couch, a toy that went missing months ago or even the dog toys from the dog bin. He especially loves the laundry basket as you can see from his picture. Frankly, he doesn't care if there is clothes in it because he will pull out every piece of folded clothing so that he can hop in. <br />
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Jonah has also mastered going up the stairs. We have a gate at the top of the stairs but the way our staircase is built it's impossible to put a gate at the bottom of the stairs so we are forced to always try to distract him from going up. <br />
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Jonah is teething like crazy. He's been fussy, feverish and booger-ish for the past few weeks and what do you know, there are 2 new little adorable shinny white teeth in his mouth for a total of 6 now. Thus Advil, Tylenol and Ora-gel have been a staple at our house as of late.<br />
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My little man is growing up so fast! It's hard to believe that last year at this time I was on bed rest with just one month to go until Jonah would make his entrance into the world. I remember it like it was yesterday, that's why its so hard to believe that he is nearly 1 years old! My last day at work was August 16th, 2010. I was at maximum capacity, my back hurt, my sciatica was out of control and I was sweating like a pig. I wasn't sure I could even get any bigger and whats worse was I was so swollen and it was so so HOT out so it felt unbearable. Was it worth it? Absolutely! Look at my little miracle...<br />
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I am constantly amazed by how fast Jonah is growing. Not only is he growing in size (by the way, he's 25+ pounds now) but how fast he's learning and how much he actually comprehends. Of course he's into everything, but I've noticed that if I say "Jonah, no no no" he will mimic it back to me and it sounds like "na, na, na!" When I get him out of bed in the morning he waves at his crib as if to say "bye-bye crib, I'm outta here!" When Stella is not in the room or he can't see her, he yells "tella, tella." It's also amazing to see how similar he is to Stella too when she was a baby. For example now that he's cruising around the furniture, when he has to poop, he hides behind the couch or our brown leather chair (I can't say I blame him because who doesn't want or need a little privacy while going #2). It's truly amazing to see a child's cognitive skills and motor skills develop. <br />
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Jonah made his first trip to Kings Island this past month. He made several trips in my belly last summer while I was pregnant. He did great! We kept him hydrated and he enjoyed riding in his stroller and took it all in. Todd and I took turns staying with him while one of us rode on the rides with Stella. It was a great family outing and we look forward to many more trips the remainder of this season. Kings Island is only 20 minutes from the house and has so much to do for all ages. Their kiddies section is called Planet Snoopy and Stella and Jonah love it.<br />
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While we were at Kings Island we noticed that all of the KI staff and characters were in pink. It's all part of the Susan G. Komen search for the cure. Since Todd's grandmother, Mamoose, recently won her battle with breast cancer, we thought it would be great for the kids to get their picture taken with this very special Snoopy! We love you Mamoose!<br />
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Jonah loves to be outside. Whether it's on the swing or just hanging outside on the deck with us. Although the past few weeks have been so so HOT and unbearable with the heat index well into the 100's, the past week has been just perfect. We've been enjoying our evenings outside and the kids love it. On this night Jonah insisted on helping mommy with a little gardening so he held onto his little rake. <br />
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Jonah has officially stopped taking his night tine rice cereal bottle. Believe me it wasn't my choice! One day he just stopped taking it. I tried for several days and he would just push it away. I suppose his taste buds are finally developing and he's decided he doesn't like the taste of it (I can't say that I am surprised because it smells awful). He is still eating stage 2 baby food (four jars a day; 2 for lunch and 2 for dinner) and only takes 3 formula bottles a day. This past month he's tried a lot more table food. He loves his baby yogurt, ice cream, mac & cheese, Oreo cookies, Ritz crackers, orzo, hamburger, cheese and chicken. He loves to try new foods and I love to watch his expressions and his excitement. I will be so very excited once we finish this last can of formula to go out and buy him a gallon of milk!<br />
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This past month we used our very first babysitter EVER! When I say babysitter, I mean someone that is not immediate family. We are very blessed to have our families love so close to us and they have always watched the kids for us when we've needed help. But this past month, my cousin Linda got married and well all of our family was attending the wedding so Leah (who might as well me my sister's adopted Asian sister) volunteered to watch Jo-Jo for us. She and Jonah did great and as you can see from the photo below, they had a great time together!<br />
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This past month, we got our first ever visit from our new niece and nephew, Lucy and Gabriel (they were born on June 25th and are almost 4 weeks old in this pic). Stella is a great big cousin and loves to hold them. This is our first pic of all 4 grand babies in 1 picture together. What you don't see is that I am actually sitting on the floor right under Jonah spotting him and making sure that he doesn't reach over and poke one of the babies- Tyler did a fantastic job in making sure I didn't appear in the pic.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Jonah does great when we are at church. Typically one of us will sit in church with Stella and the other sits in the baby room (sound proof room that looks into the church) with Jonah. In this picture Jonah (aka mini Shenouda) is with his friend Father Angelous. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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Just this past weekend Jonah had a play date with his new BFF and buddy, Ryker. Ryker is 8 weeks younger than Jonah and they got along great. It's so fun to watch kids at this age interact with each other. They shared everything from pacifiers, sippy cups and Cheerios with each other. Now I just need to convince Lauren (Ryker's momma) to move to Springboro so that the boys will be in school together. I can only begin to imagine the mischief and trouble that these two would get into, I mean look at those "innocent" faces!<br />
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How could you possibly resist these little heart-breakers?<br />
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We had a very busy month and the official count down has begun and we get ready for Jonah's first birthday! It's so hard to believe that it's nearly been 1 year and that my little baby boy is becoming a little man and growing so up so fast. We love him so much and he's blessed our family!Marianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15590134191547203861noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077289138545883806.post-35415687898138215292011-07-18T23:58:00.001-04:002011-07-19T00:17:31.853-04:00Jonah- month 10WOW! 10 months really!?! Somebody pinch me and wake me up...it's been a whirlwind of 10 months! Not only did we make it through the past 10 months, we also survived protein & soy allergies, 4 ear infections, pneumonia, removing the kids from daycare and placing them into home care, teething (4 times), ear tubes, traveling for the first time with both kids (on a plane, in a rental car and in a cramped hotel room for 5 days) and it's only just beginning. It is truly impossible to fathom that Jonah is now at his 10 month milestone. It only seems like yesterday that I was pregnant, hating the summer because I was so hot and swollen and getting ready for his arrival. <br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">When I look at Jonah now, I don't see that little baby but instead I see a little boy (aka my little man). His smile and laugh are contagious, he's always so happy and he loves to babble! Imagine that, a Shenouda that likes to talk! He says everything from "ma-ma", "da-da", "ba-ba", "da" (thats usually for our dog Buckeye) and he also says "tella" (I'm pretty sure that's his way of saying Stella). Speaking of Stella, she just adores him and nothing melts my heart more than seeing Stella kiss and love on him. I assumed that it would be a challenge having to kids that were so far apart in age but I can't tell you how much I love it. Stella is like his little mother to Jonah, Whether she's playing with him, snuggling with him, soothing/comforting him, or just reading a book to him...I can see a bond between the two of them that is absolutely AMAZING! It's hard to think back to before he was born. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div>LOTS has changed this past month...Jonah is now up to 4 jars a day and only taking a bottle 3 times a day. He's also eating a lot more table food too and it's so fun watching him try new things. We've also graduated from those expensive Gerber puffs to Cheerios. Can you believe that an entire box of Cheerios costs the same as one little container as those Gerber puffs? Jonah is also learning to master the the sippy cup at meal time instead of a bottle. As you can see, any and all kinds of food excite this child. It seems like all he ever does is eat! In fact, when your feeding him, if you don't shovel the food into his mouth fast enough, he will scream and yell at you (as if to say "HURRY UP, I'm hungry!). <br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">On this night we were having stir-fry and Jonah got to try white rice. I'm not sure much of it actually got into his mouth. I found it in his hair, his ears, up his nose and even in his diaper! All that mattered is that he loved it and he was able to eat some of it. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Jonah is very much into a "discovery" phase. He just doesn't pick up a toy and put it straight into his mouth. He holds it and looks at it (as if to say "hmmmm...what does this thing do?). He's also discovering all the different things that his toys can do and the sounds that they make; whether its pushing a button or shaking a toy to see if it makes noise, he's very much intrigued by anything and everything and will even pull himself up to get to something. </div><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Jonah standing in his toy bucket!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Jonah is such a happy baby and as I mentioned in previous posts, he LOVES the swing (the outdoor swing). On this evening, Todd had to take Jonah with him to Stella's soccer practice and there was a swing at the playground there that he could enjoy!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Jonah will be surrounded by a million toys and if he sees a phone or a remote he will go for it. He's even smart enough to know that he needs to point it at the tv! It's simply amazing to see what he likes to get into. Something as simple as a magazine or sheet of paper can keep him occupied (that's if he's not putting it into his mouth). </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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Jonah is also a lot more mobile these days and is getting so so fast. He's mastered crawling to the point that he even speed crawls. I will blink my eyes and he will be in the kitchen standing at the dishwasher or even sitting at the dog bowl with a mouth full of dog food. We've nearly baby proofed the entire first floor; we've covered all the outlets, tucked away all of the cords but there is still so much to do. Just today I was telling Todd that we need to tether the flat screen down and baby proof the remainder of the house. <br />
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Because of Jonah and his speed, we've now begun blockading him in the family room. We will position the pack-n-play, swing, and tub of toys around the couch to trap him into the family room. Nevertheless, the little rascal always finds a way to sneak out. In the picture below, Jonah is trying to wedge himself between the pack-n-play and the couch to make his escape and of course he has a mischievous smile on his face.</div><div style="border: currentColor;"><br />
</div><div style="border: currentColor;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zQ6DSWKWMtM/TiTj6tYm_oI/AAAAAAAABKk/wZ8waAvhnwg/s1600/ready+or+not.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="204" m$="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zQ6DSWKWMtM/TiTj6tYm_oI/AAAAAAAABKk/wZ8waAvhnwg/s640/ready+or+not.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="border: currentColor;"><br />
</div><div style="border: currentColor;">Jonah pulls himself up and can walk all around the furniture. He will even get gutsy and will let go. I have a sinking feeling that he will be walking soon; then I will be forced to really baby proof the rest of the house! How am I going to keep him away from our stairs!?! Just the other day I went out and bought a Leap Frog activity table because he's simply outgrown his excersaucer. In fact, the last time we put him in the excersaucer he was jumping so hard that a spring broke out of it. He loves his activity table and will walk all around it and push all of the buttons and playing all of the little things on it. </div><div style="border: currentColor;"><br />
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Sissy and Mikey watched Jonah one evening while Todd and Stella were at soccer so I could run some quick errands....and of course Jonah had a great time. Uncle Mikey played with Jonah on the piano and he even changed a diaper. I'm not sure Mikey ever changed Sophia's diaper; I'm pretty sure he really loves that little boy!<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-n9y4LYj7-WE/TiTjzhfIbRI/AAAAAAAABKY/QK7wiBBJTjc/s1600/piano.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="326" m$="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-n9y4LYj7-WE/TiTjzhfIbRI/AAAAAAAABKY/QK7wiBBJTjc/s640/piano.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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</div>Finally, I am happy to report that we went through the painful, tiring and heart wrenching process of "Ferberizing" Jonah. After my pediatrician had a "coming to Jesus" moment with me, I realized that we were allowing Jonah to dictate our sleep habits (or lack thereof) and it was time to start sleeping through the night! What is Ferberizing and who is Ferber? Dr. Richard Ferber, is a physician and director of pediatric sleep disorders at Children's Hospital in Boston, who's methods and variations are often referred to as "crying it out." Needless to say, I was forced to put my big girl pants on and let Jonah cry it out, even if it meant letting him cry of hours. The Ferber method requires that you put the baby in their cribs wide awake so as to teach the baby to learn to put themselves to sleep. You are allowed to go in every 10-15 minutes to talk to the child to reassure them that they have not been abandoned (I would say "Jonah, mommy loves you but it's time for nite-nite and you need to go to sleep.), but you cannot hold, kiss or hug the child. I used to rock or put Jonah to sleep then gently put him in his crib at night. But then he would wake up in the middle of the night and realize that we weren't in there with him and begin to cry! I have to be honest, at first I didn't think that the Ferber method would work...in fact I doubted my ability in allowing myself to let him cry himself to sleep but I am happy to report that within 5 nights Jonah was sleeping through the night. The Ferber method suggests a bedtime routine; our routine begins at 7pm each night and consists of giving Jonah a bath, getting him dressed for bed, drinking a rice cereal concoction (still makes me gag when I'm making it) and going to bed. Once we've said "nite-nite" to everyone and we're in Jonah's room we say our prayers put the music on (Jonah has a Homedics baby soother in his room that plays classical music all night) and I put him in his crib with his beloved pacifier. If I wasn't a believer before I am absolutely a believer now and kinda depressed when I think back to the 9 plus months of no sleep we've previously had and thinking I should have done this sooner! Thank you Dr. Eberhart for the "coming to Jesus" and reassuring me that no child has every died crying themselves to sleep. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Boy have these past 10 months flown by and as we begin to approach Jonah's 1 year milestone, I've already found myself in party planning mode. Jonah has changed our family dynamic and has truly blessed our family and our lives over these past 10 months. Each day I get so excited to see what new things he's discovered and watching his personality develop. Nothing makes me happier than watching the Stella and Jonah play together... Life just doesn't get much better than this!</div>Marianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15590134191547203861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077289138545883806.post-56716576858418499722011-07-09T23:55:00.000-04:002011-07-09T23:55:41.359-04:00America the Beautiful!<span style="color: red; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: large;">O beautiful for spacious skies...</span><br />
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Wow our holiday weekend was jam packed with activities, celebrations, cook-outs, parades and lots of fun with family and friends! And of course, no 4th of July celebration is complete without proudly displaying our American flag. This Independence Day celebration ....</span> <br />
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<span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Here is mommy's little "fire-cracker" all pooped out from day 1 of our 5 day holiday long weekend.</span> </span><br />
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">On Friday July 1st Stella and Sophia's daycare, Kid R Kids, had a 4th of July Parade. Parents were welcome to attend and of course, I was there with camera on hand. How cute are these little patriots?</span><br />
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">On Saturday July 2nd we attended the 10th Annual Settlers Walk Bike Parade. Each year, our community (Settlers Walk) holds a bike parade and everyone is encouraged to attend and to decorate their bikes and strollers. There are 2 routes on the parade, a 1 mile and 1/2 mile route. Each route is lead by either a City of Springboro fire truck or a police car. Stella and Todd did the long route and boy did they have fun!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stella and her decorated bike!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stella and her soccer buddies at the front of the parade.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And they're off......</td></tr>
</tbody></table> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><span style="background-color: white;"> <span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Jonah enjoyed the parade from the comfort of his stroller...sipping on some H2O!</span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stella riding through the parade. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here comes daddy!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="color: #351c75;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">After the bike parade, the homeowners association hosts a cook out with a DJ, games, prizes and lots of activities for the day! We enjoyed the cookout after the bike parade and hung out at the pool for several hours that day.</span> </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Enjoying a red, white and blue popsicle!</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">This was Jonah's first time up at the pool for the season. Stella and Todd had been at the pool several times already this summer but 4th of July weekend was Jonah's first visit. Needless to say he loved it and loves splashing and of course trying to drink the pool water!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Daddy and his 2 little fish!</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Jonah has always loved the water and usually fusses when we take him out of the bath tub at night so it was no surprise that he absolutely loved the pool too. Because my baby is blonde and has fair skin a rash shirt, sunscreen and 50spf hat were all an absolute necessity on this 90+ degree day!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fun in the pool!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Rq_sozEc-cA/ThkJHrNTiYI/AAAAAAAABI4/3r7929SVQJ0/s1600/DSC_0593.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320px" m$="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Rq_sozEc-cA/ThkJHrNTiYI/AAAAAAAABI4/3r7929SVQJ0/s320/DSC_0593.JPG" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"I'm into everything and like to discover new things!"</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-V9pUNxv_aFI/ThkJNxrfw3I/AAAAAAAABI8/NkVfS8GgKW4/s1600/DSC_0598.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214px" m$="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-V9pUNxv_aFI/ThkJNxrfw3I/AAAAAAAABI8/NkVfS8GgKW4/s320/DSC_0598.JPG" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Enjoying Cheerios at the pool!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-h4yWqRSAjB8/ThkJSNdty4I/AAAAAAAABJA/l7vsTXHF0Jk/s1600/DSC_0601.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214px" m$="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-h4yWqRSAjB8/ThkJSNdty4I/AAAAAAAABJA/l7vsTXHF0Jk/s320/DSC_0601.JPG" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Aren't I adorable?"</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Both Stella and Jonah had so so so so much fun at the pool and both of them acclimate really well when we are out and about. When Jonah gets tired so long as he has a pacifier and a place to crash (like a stroller or mommy's lap) then he is content. We spent several hours at the pool hanging out with friends and neighbors and it was a lot of fun for both the adults and the kids!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wBR6BwvZScI/ThkJWlJD09I/AAAAAAAABJE/zP4juNJiEnw/s1600/DSC_0606.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320px" m$="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wBR6BwvZScI/ThkJWlJD09I/AAAAAAAABJE/zP4juNJiEnw/s320/DSC_0606.JPG" width="214px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's tiring being so cute!</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">No holiday weekend would be complete without a trip to Lake Shawnee! Todd's grandparents have a cottage on the lake and it's a great place for the Langley Clan to congregate and have fun playing in the water, playing with the sand on the beach, riding the jet skis or simply relaxing and watching the boats go by. Lake Shawnee is a private lake located in Jamestown approximately 30 minutes from our home. Because this was our first visit to the lake for the 2011 summer season we headed out a few hours earlier than usual to help get the cottage and the grounds cleaned up. As a young child, Todd spent his summers at Lake Shawnee and he forged so many memories there. It's wonderful that now the next generation can now begin creating their own memories there too. Stella's favorite things to do at the lake are fishing, making sand castles on the beach, jumping off of the dock into the lake and of course swimming with her cousins in the lake. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-R5-ppiiN_dk/ThkJls9z4gI/AAAAAAAABJQ/ABgGvHHSi14/s1600/DSC_0609.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214px" m$="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-R5-ppiiN_dk/ThkJls9z4gI/AAAAAAAABJQ/ABgGvHHSi14/s320/DSC_0609.JPG" width="320px" /></a></div><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Daddy and Jonah chilling under the sun tent.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-D9q7q3hQWIE/ThkJwLDj9SI/AAAAAAAABJY/DGZ_yXZnuWs/s1600/DSC_0611.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214px" m$="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-D9q7q3hQWIE/ThkJwLDj9SI/AAAAAAAABJY/DGZ_yXZnuWs/s320/DSC_0611.JPG" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stella and Uncle Scotty on the jet ski.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stella and daddy on the jet ski.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Todd sporting Grandad's bald eagle hat circa 1980's.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jonah enjoying the lake.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jonah with Nana in the golf cart.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stella and Todd playing on the tubes in the lake!</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">No 4th of July weekend would be complete without a cookout and some fireworks of course. On Monday July 4th we went to a cookout at friends house and made it home in time to watch the fireworks in our backyard from our back deck. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Although the 5 day holiday weekend was jam packed with activities and festivities it was a lot of fun and well worth it. A great time was had by all and we created yet more memories that will last us a lifetime. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Georgia;">God Bless America!</span>Marianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15590134191547203861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077289138545883806.post-80727725020394463682011-07-04T22:28:00.000-04:002011-07-04T22:28:20.932-04:00Summer Fun!Stella recently received caterpillars from Gigi (Mikey's mom) and before long we had butterflies! Yes, normally I a buga-phob and I am the one that will stand on a chair if I see a spider or scream for Todd to come kill it but amazingly enough receiving a UPS package full of little caterpillars didn't freak me out!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_UsiTUgtKME/TgaaT3wck1I/AAAAAAAABGk/-mswGWDXvlM/s1600/DSC_0543.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" i$="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_UsiTUgtKME/TgaaT3wck1I/AAAAAAAABGk/-mswGWDXvlM/s320/DSC_0543.JPG" width="214" /></a></div><div style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So we come home from work one day and there is a UPS package at our front door filled with 2 containers of caterpillars. We weren't permitted to open the containers as they contained all of the food and nutrients that the caterpillars needed to form their chrysalis. We waited and waited and waited and waited and 2 weeks later once the caterpillars had morphed into their chrysalis they were now ready to be transported into the netting. We placed the sugar water at the bottom of the netting and everyday had to spray the chrysalis with room temperature water from a spray bottle. Then nearly 1 week later, we were able to see the butterfly emerge from the chrysalis. </div><div style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Not only was this a fun project to do with Stella it was also very educational and she had so much fun doing it. Every morning before she left for school and every day when she got home from school she would check on their progress and report what she found. </div><div style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Once the butterflies emerged, Stella began naming them all. I am not quite sure how she kept track of who was who because they all looked alike to me! We had 12 butterflies in all and they were very very pretty.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div>It was a warm Saturday morning and it was the day we were going to release our butterflies into the world. We took the netted butterfly house outside on to our back deck and we began to release them one by one back into nature. It was such a glorious "circle of life" moment and lots of fun at that! Todd unzipped the top of the butterfly house and one by one most of the butterflies began to fly out. We had to coax a few of them out but within a matter of minutes they were all out and free to fly off.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This was a very fun project to do with Stella. She enjoyed it so much and we look forward to doing more and learning lots along the way!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div>Marianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15590134191547203861noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077289138545883806.post-78957703456854146822011-06-21T22:14:00.003-04:002011-06-22T09:22:50.168-04:00Jonah- month 9Hard to believe that Jonah is 9 months old now! We just had his nine month check up yesterday and he weighs 24 pounds 2 ounces (80th percentile) and he's 28 inches long (50th percentile). I am happy to say that Jonah has been very very healthy this past month. Not a single ear infection since getting ear tubes last month. It's a miracle surgery and in our case very necessary. Other than being chunky and healthy, lots has changed since last month.....<br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wksbRKBB2OM/TgExL1wtmpI/AAAAAAAABGg/sWC3ICWzfks/s1600/crawling+collage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="96px" i$="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wksbRKBB2OM/TgExL1wtmpI/AAAAAAAABGg/sWC3ICWzfks/s640/crawling+collage.jpg" width="640px" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">First and foremost, Jonah is now mobile. Yes, one day he went from rocking on all fours to taking off across the room. He's into EVERYTHING and if you don't keep a close eye on him you will find him sitting in the middle of the kitchen at the dishwasher trying to mess with the dirty dishes or at the dog bowl trying to eat Buckeye's dog food. Needless to say, the entire first floor of our house has been Jonah-proofed (aka baby-proofed). We've covered every outlet, tied up any hid any cords, locked lower cabinets, gated off the top of the stairs.....once he's vertically mobile we will have to address all of the doors, locks, toilets and strapping down some of the bigger items. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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</div><div class="" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">Jonah is growing fast and eating non-stop. In fact, if he's not playing, sleeping or on a discovery mission (i.e. getting into everything) Jonah is eating. He is still on Gerber Gentle Plus formula but we are now on stage 2 foods, cereal and snacks. Jonah's favorite foods include: sweet potatoes and chicken (pre-mixed), squash, tutti-fruiti (tropical fruit mixture), mango's, strawberry bananas, some granola cinnamon and raisin concoction made by Gerber. He also loves the veggie puffs. They look like cheesy puffs minus the processed cheese. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oPqsAVoJfxY/TgEt8xM94dI/AAAAAAAABF4/CMZLkJ05yGc/s1600/DSC_0682.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SRy8xww7sZ0/TgEtWi4BsmI/AAAAAAAABFo/WR-hcrqIiEo/s1600/DSC_0571.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320px" i$="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SRy8xww7sZ0/TgEtWi4BsmI/AAAAAAAABFo/WR-hcrqIiEo/s320/DSC_0571.JPG" width="214px" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">Jonah is so big that he is outgrown his pumpkin seat and is now in his rear facing big boy car seat. He loves it. The only down fall is if he falls asleep in the car and we go somewhere he wakes up once we take him out of the seat. </div><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Because Jonah is crawling he is finding new and exciting place to play. When we took his new big boy car seat out of the box, he and Stella played in the box for several hours. He loves "discovering" and finding new things on his own. It's amazing how something so simple as a box can keep him busy for hours on end.</div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-j0Pb9qKlkIA/TgEtxpspaFI/AAAAAAAABF0/k6V0ePUzKUY/s1600/DSC_0671.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320px" i$="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-j0Pb9qKlkIA/TgEtxpspaFI/AAAAAAAABF0/k6V0ePUzKUY/s320/DSC_0671.JPG" width="214px" /></a></div> Jonah also likes to play with the laundry basket. Each week he gets more curious and adventurous with the laundry basket, so much so that this week he pulled out EVERY piece of folded clothes that was in the basket so he could climb in (notice the clothing piled on the floor in the background). He sat in the basket for about an hour and simply loved it as you can see from the expression on his face! I mean, who needs fancy toys when a large empty box and a laundry basket will keep him busy for hours on end. <br />
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After playing with the laundry basket for sometime, Jonah figured out how to tip it over so he could crawl out.....and he's off!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320px" i$="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oPqsAVoJfxY/TgEt8xM94dI/AAAAAAAABF4/CMZLkJ05yGc/s320/DSC_0682.JPG" width="214px" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Jonah also recently discovered how to pull himself up! Yes everything from the ottoman, the side of the couch or even the side of his toy bin, he's pulling himself up and each day his balance is getting better. I walked into his room this morning and he was standing at his crib chewing on the railing (I'm thankful that Todd lowered his mattress when he began sitting up several months ago). I'm sure before his 10 month blog he will be walking. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">On this day it was 92 degrees out and so I stripped Jonah down to his diaper and he played all evening in his bouncer naked! Check out my chuncky monkey!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> <img alt="" aria-busy="false" aria-describedby="fbPhotoTheaterCaption" class="spotlight" height="300px" src="http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/255188_2101065767801_1280133259_32616383_5562899_n.jpg" width="400px" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">On nice days (that is days when its NOT raining or that aren't nearly 90+ degrees out) we try to get outside and play as much as possible. On this day we played outside on our swing set and even enjoyed popsicle's. This was Jonah's first popsicle. He loved it although I only let him have a few licks because I didn't want him to get an upset stomach. Needless to say, Jonah LOVED the popsicle!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Seven years ago, for Stella's first birthday, Teta and Gido bought Stella a Rainbow swing set/play system. It's pretty awesome, I must admit and 7 years later Stella still loves it and now Jonah enjoys it too! Jonah loves sitting in the bucket swing and being pushed. In fact when the swing slows down he fusses until you push him a bit higher. Stella certainly loves being a big sister and loves playing with Jonah especially on the swing. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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Jonah has learned so much this month that we wanted to document it and capture it on video....ENJOY!<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dz-3ywGjkmQiUGuXh3HAZIFWsnw8mMBkUpkFUe_WR3baoWjDG9EleQBATznNMR8Mtv_E_rSsx0MZJlKHfpX2A' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I'm learning to use the camera we bought before Jonah was born. I am not an artist by any means but I am beginning to experiment and use other functions and setting on the camera other than auto. Here are a few shots that I took. </div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Jonah was drooling quite a bit this month! I am happy to report that in early June he cut his top 2 teeth (at the same time). It was pretty predictable really. One morning he woke up congested and snotty and a tad fussy and later that evening when he was laying on his back and I was changing him, there were these 2 beautiful little white teeth looking at me! Auntie Sissy is dying to feed him a steak and my moms famous grape leaves! </div><br />
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Its so hard to believe that my little man is already 9 months old. His first birthday will be here before you know it (which reminds me, I must get my party planning hat on and start making arrangements and preparing). It's amazing to see Jonah's personality begin to develop. He's learning and discovering something new everyday whether its clapping his hands, waving goodbye, calling Buckeye our dog "da" or signing "more" when he wants more food. I cant tell you how blessed I am to be the mother of 2 pretty spectacular kids and being able to live and share each of these moments with them!Marianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15590134191547203861noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077289138545883806.post-5479709810686706512011-06-04T13:46:00.000-04:002011-06-04T13:46:26.749-04:00Stella's 8th Birthday!It's so hard to fathom that 8 years ago today, we were at Miami Valley Hospital and Stella was born! I remember it like it was yesterday. I went into the hospital in the evening of June 3rd (I was being induced and my doctor wanted me there the night before). 18 hours later Stella Marie Langley was delivered by emergency c-section. At 6:11pm Stella entered the world and graced us all with her presence! She was 6lbs 4oz and 21.5 inches long. She was just perfect and absolutely beautiful. She had a head full of brown soft hair and big bluesh/grey eyes. She was the first grandchild on both sides and the first great granddaughter. She was and still is our little miracle.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gxFcahf6jds/TepX9vTs6QI/AAAAAAAABFc/G_JVut52-34/s1600/stella+birthday+collage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="329px" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gxFcahf6jds/TepX9vTs6QI/AAAAAAAABFc/G_JVut52-34/s640/stella+birthday+collage.jpg" t8="true" width="640px" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Today she has blossomed into a beautiful young lady. She's a young vibrant and active <strike>2nd grader,</strike> ops I mean 3rd grader. She loves to play soccer, basketball, toss the football with her dad, go swimming, ride her bike or scooter, play video games/wii and climb on her swing set. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">This past Tuesday, Todd and I took a birthday treat to her 2nd grade class at school. Since her birthday falls on a Saturday and the last day of school was on Thursday, we went on a Tuesday. It was Todd's first time visiting her class and Stella was so excited that her daddy was there. Since there are so many kids now a days with food allergies, we opted for popsicles for her birthday treat. Not to mention that it was 90+ degrees out on that day so popsicles were a great choice. Todd sat at Stella's desk and all of the kids huddled around. Amazing that he was able to get up from that little desk chair. </div><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stella's class enjoying popsicles!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stella showing us around her classroom.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stella and her 2nd grade teacher Mrs. Schmitt</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stella's 2nd grade class</td></tr>
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</div>Early on during the school year, a family at Five Points Elementary School donated this historic flag to be put on display at Stella's school. Her school collected donations to have it properly framed and preserved and asked the students to give the names of family members that had served our country. Stella submitted the names of both of her great grandfathers, Phipps Langley and Clyde Marshall. I was able to find their names amongst the hundreds of stars on the wall. What a great honor for Stella and her great grandfathers to be a part of her school history!<br />
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Finally, before the day was over Stella's class got to make one final visit to the computer lab. It's hard to believe that nowadays kids take typing class in the 2nd grade. Both Todd and I didn't take typing until we were in high school and even then it wasn't even on a pc. I suppose its the sign of the times and well, we are just old!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stella in the computer lab on typing pal</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Even Daddy got to come along too</td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ac6m0GPx26Y/TepVvwkmdrI/AAAAAAAABD8/vdlyOJl2ME8/s1600/DSC_0318.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214px" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ac6m0GPx26Y/TepVvwkmdrI/AAAAAAAABD8/vdlyOJl2ME8/s320/DSC_0318.JPG" t8="true" width="320px" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div>This year Stella decided she wanted to have a soccer themed birthday party and since her soccer season had just finished up earlier this week she wanted to have her soccer team over. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xW1-prELt0o/TepV__AGjyI/AAAAAAAABEE/W1tpfgZln8I/s1600/DSC_0459.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214px" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xW1-prELt0o/TepV__AGjyI/AAAAAAAABEE/W1tpfgZln8I/s320/DSC_0459.JPG" t8="true" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NMx0pkf-3Os/TepWGm3VqQI/AAAAAAAABEI/jFYXJeRnBss/s1600/DSC_0461.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214px" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NMx0pkf-3Os/TepWGm3VqQI/AAAAAAAABEI/jFYXJeRnBss/s320/DSC_0461.JPG" t8="true" width="320px" /></a>Stella found this cute birthday frame at one of her new favorite stores in the mall, Justice. She thought it would be fun for all of her friends to sign it when they arrived and we would print out a group picture of the girls at the party to put in it. What a great way to remember your 8th birthday!</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RzH0geQh3cE/TepWMc5EtjI/AAAAAAAABEM/JlPGxqRWA0M/s1600/DSC_0473.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214px" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RzH0geQh3cE/TepWMc5EtjI/AAAAAAAABEM/JlPGxqRWA0M/s320/DSC_0473.JPG" t8="true" width="320px" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">After everyone had arrived, it was time to eat! Stella opted to have pizza rather than cook out. Thankfully the weather was nice so that nearly the entire party took place outside in the backyard. </div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DRtoQFjmbtE/TepWQG911oI/AAAAAAAABEQ/S5trfcb6sNY/s1600/DSC_0466.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214px" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DRtoQFjmbtE/TepWQG911oI/AAAAAAAABEQ/S5trfcb6sNY/s320/DSC_0466.JPG" t8="true" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The girls eating pizza!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>My parents (Teta & Gido) and my sisters family came over to help us out with Stella's party. With Todd and I tending to the birthday girl and 9 of her friends, we needed someone to watch Jonah and manage Buckeye (our dog). They helped us out tremendously. Sarah and Teta took turns handling Jonah. However neither of them really wanted to share him (if you can imagine that). Todd and Mikey played outside with the girls. Poor Mikey took a lot of abuse from those girls. So glad it was him and not me! :)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Auntie Sissy and her Jojo</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6c3kRvpKc9w/TepWXLvU9VI/AAAAAAAABEY/1aX7dGEAdRE/s1600/DSC_0472.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214px" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6c3kRvpKc9w/TepWXLvU9VI/AAAAAAAABEY/1aX7dGEAdRE/s320/DSC_0472.JPG" t8="true" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Uncle Mikey, how did you manage to get Jonah away from Teta and Auntie Sissy?</td></tr>
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The girls played everything from football, soccer, monkey in the middle, corn hole and a little bit of acrobatics on the swing set! <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stella and her friend Reagan with the same soccer outfit from Justice.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--lqKiGo-xjo/TepWmsPoc7I/AAAAAAAABEk/Z7ohPyZzvYM/s1600/DSC_0479.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214px" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--lqKiGo-xjo/TepWmsPoc7I/AAAAAAAABEk/Z7ohPyZzvYM/s320/DSC_0479.JPG" t8="true" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Todd and Gido keeping an eye on the girls outside. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-21sBcqMF6YY/TepWqgSz9TI/AAAAAAAABEo/Wutl1hrLXDo/s1600/DSC_0480.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214px" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-21sBcqMF6YY/TepWqgSz9TI/AAAAAAAABEo/Wutl1hrLXDo/s320/DSC_0480.JPG" t8="true" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Teta feeding Jonah while I tend to the girls and the party.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Earlier this year, we got Todd a cookie cake for his birthday and it was so delicious. At that time, Stella said "Mommy, I want a cookie cake for my birthday too." Ask and you shall receive!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-C0sZK715r_4/TepWw5B3E1I/AAAAAAAABEs/TXzstkfX2rU/s1600/DSC_0483.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214px" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-C0sZK715r_4/TepWw5B3E1I/AAAAAAAABEs/TXzstkfX2rU/s320/DSC_0483.JPG" t8="true" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yummy cookie cake- great idea Stella!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cblPVno3izQ/TepW0iOMBKI/AAAAAAAABEw/ytHTrkPX7Ew/s1600/DSC_0485.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214px" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cblPVno3izQ/TepW0iOMBKI/AAAAAAAABEw/ytHTrkPX7Ew/s320/DSC_0485.JPG" t8="true" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Happy 8th Birthday Stella!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UYIKY3BloZk/TepW2okcTGI/AAAAAAAABE0/LkaEdV64yg8/s1600/DSC_0488-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="280px" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UYIKY3BloZk/TepW2okcTGI/AAAAAAAABE0/LkaEdV64yg8/s320/DSC_0488-1.jpg" t8="true" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hard to believe my baby girl is 8!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Todd set up cornhole in the backyard and the girls had a lot of fun. Even Teta got in on the action and she has quite an arm! Mike said "I want Teta on my team." Who knew Teta had knack for cornhole!?!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xD4TT9nt7uM/TepW8eivjxI/AAAAAAAABE4/bquZf-lumrk/s1600/DSC_0494.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214px" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xD4TT9nt7uM/TepW8eivjxI/AAAAAAAABE4/bquZf-lumrk/s320/DSC_0494.JPG" t8="true" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cornhole!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wSfOgxPS-JM/TepW-_hukZI/AAAAAAAABE8/veZsSlb9T_A/s1600/DSC_0495.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320px" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wSfOgxPS-JM/TepW-_hukZI/AAAAAAAABE8/veZsSlb9T_A/s320/DSC_0495.JPG" t8="true" width="311px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Teta & Stella</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6iRZFSn9aBE/TepX36rtJEI/AAAAAAAABFY/KVf7CGgeeiE/s1600/DSC_0534.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320px" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6iRZFSn9aBE/TepX36rtJEI/AAAAAAAABFY/KVf7CGgeeiE/s320/DSC_0534.JPG" t8="true" width="318px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Auntie Sissy managed to wrangle Jonah away from Teta!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eFxf9yhumrM/TepXF7Ae61I/AAAAAAAABFA/6Ai1B9yZGAA/s1600/DSC_0499.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214px" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eFxf9yhumrM/TepXF7Ae61I/AAAAAAAABFA/6Ai1B9yZGAA/s320/DSC_0499.JPG" t8="true" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Uncle Mike playing with the girls.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Later on we had an ice cream sundae bar! It was a great snack to have after the girls had played so hard and were worn out. Stella choose all the toppings: colored sprinkles, chocolate chips, M&M's, marshmallows and hot fudge. The ice cream flavors included: chocolate, strawberry and chocolate chip. It was so fun and so yummy!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-o5uJp7dSqDw/TepXZqiIglI/AAAAAAAABFE/S3oEH_unjpc/s1600/DSC_0460.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320px" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-o5uJp7dSqDw/TepXZqiIglI/AAAAAAAABFE/S3oEH_unjpc/s320/DSC_0460.JPG" t8="true" width="214px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the toppings!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-snzEPWEdlkU/TepXdViABuI/AAAAAAAABFI/ax4oR7vWOuo/s1600/DSC_0501.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240px" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-snzEPWEdlkU/TepXdViABuI/AAAAAAAABFI/ax4oR7vWOuo/s320/DSC_0501.JPG" t8="true" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">yummy ice cream!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pqn9m5A-M4M/TepXh3gmUmI/AAAAAAAABFM/qTdV6JyyJ54/s1600/DSC_0502.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214px" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pqn9m5A-M4M/TepXh3gmUmI/AAAAAAAABFM/qTdV6JyyJ54/s320/DSC_0502.JPG" t8="true" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">adding their toppings...</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-F3hiv0-MJys/TepXka0KPuI/AAAAAAAABFQ/aH1UaGlCDzs/s1600/DSC_0510.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="297px" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-F3hiv0-MJys/TepXka0KPuI/AAAAAAAABFQ/aH1UaGlCDzs/s320/DSC_0510.JPG" t8="true" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sophia picked out Squinkies for Stella's present. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>This is the group picture of the girls that Stella wants to frame in the picture frame the girls signed.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KKcYzTaWDNA/TepiIwtqaCI/AAAAAAAABFg/eD9SQ0Iz-zk/s1600/DSC_0523.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214px" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KKcYzTaWDNA/TepiIwtqaCI/AAAAAAAABFg/eD9SQ0Iz-zk/s320/DSC_0523.JPG" t8="true" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Soccer team plus cousin Sophia!<br />
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Jonah had just woken up from his nap and he got in on the group shot too! <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-o4EgNdXGBhk/TepXouOeFSI/AAAAAAAABFU/SZD7QoOTsHc/s1600/DSC_0531.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="244px" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-o4EgNdXGBhk/TepXouOeFSI/AAAAAAAABFU/SZD7QoOTsHc/s320/DSC_0531.JPG" t8="true" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">No picture is complete without Jonah!</td></tr>
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">It's very hard to believe that my baby girls is 8 years old already! Where does the time go? She is simply getting way too big too fast. We wish her many many more blessed birthdays and we look forward to continuing to watch her grow into a beautiful young lady!</div>Marianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15590134191547203861noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077289138545883806.post-48859034215238836102011-05-18T10:05:00.000-04:002011-05-18T10:05:55.530-04:00Jonah - month 8<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></div><br />
It's almost impossible to believe that Jonah is 8 months old already! It seems like just yesterday that I was pregnant and preparing for his arrival.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/225546_2057138908751_1252959314_32437809_7096413_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" aria-busy="false" aria-describedby="fbPhotoTheaterCaption" border="0" class="spotlight" height="320px" src="http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/225546_2057138908751_1252959314_32437809_7096413_n.jpg" width="240px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Drugged up and getting ready to head into surgery.</td></tr>
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Amazingly, Jonah remained very healthy this month. We were not battling any ear infections or even pneumonia like we did last month. In fact just yesterday, Jonah had surgery to have tubes put in his ears. He did great! Dr. Adam, his ENT, said that there was a lot of thick fluid in his ears that he had to suction out and that it was a breeding ground for infection. Additionally, he said that it is very likely that now his hearing will improve several decibels. I am so glad that we did it! Stella had tubes as a baby as well because she battled 9 ear infections within an 11 month period. Needless to say, she hasn't had a single ear infection since and as far as I'm concerned it's the best thing we did. Here's to hoping that Jonah has the same relief and outcome as well.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Jonah still hasn't quite mastered crawling. He gets on all fours and just rocks back and forth and even moves backwards. He loves to roll around on the floor and if your not paying close attention you'll look up and he will have rolled all the way across the room. He loves his toys and of course he still loves to go after the remote and my cell phone. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">During Jonah's bout of pneumonia last month his blood showed that he was anemic. He is now taking iron drops. They smell foul and I can only imagine how horrible they taste as well. The first time I gave them to him I just put them directly in his mouth and well that didn't go over so well. Not only did he give me a mean and dirty look, he essentially spit it all out and all over me. Since then, I now put the drops in his rice and banana cocktail that he gets each night before bed. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Daddy & Jonah napping- their favorite past time!</td></tr>
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Jonah is trying new foods daily. He is now eating stage 2 jars and likes just about everything except the beef and chicken varieties. I can't say that I blame him because if they taste anything like they smell well, then that's just gross! So if I am ever forced to feed him a beef or chicken variety I mask the taste by blending it with one of his favorites like sweet potatoes or apples sauce. I still loves his little puffs which are made by Gerber and are essentially little puffed snacks that dissolve as soon as they hit the saliva. Every once in a while he will hold his own bottle but he still mainly depends on one of us to do it. I broke out the sippy cup a few weeks ago and we've been working on getting him used to the sippy cup and how to drink out of it. </div><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Teta and her babies on her birthday!</td></tr>
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Jonah is getting bigger everyday. He weighs 21 pounds and 13 ounces. He's now wearing 18-24 months clothes and is eating me out of house and home. He would eat every hour on the hour if I let him. His hair is blond like Stella's but its begun to get curly in the back. I LOVE THE CURLS! It is really quite funny because it is straight and soft in the front and course and curly in the back. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My Curly-Q!</td></tr>
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Probably the biggest change for Jonah this month was his daycare provider. Since Stella was 12 weeks old she has been going to Kids R Kids Daycare which is conveniently located right at the entrance of our neighborhood (it doesn't get much more convenient than that). We liked it because not only was it close to home but we loved the staff too and we had the ability to log onto the computer while we were at work and look at the kids because they have camera's in all of the rooms. However now that we have 2 kids, Kids R Kids was <em><strong>considerably</strong></em> more. Stella only goes after school but Jonah was in the infant room full time and it was quite costly. Thus, earlier this year Todd and I struggled with what to do about our daycare options!?! Do we continue to pay <strong> LOTS</strong> (almost the cost of 1 year of college) each year in daycare expenses and remain at Kids R Kids and then in turn let the kids pay for their own college or do we shop around and find a home care provider at a fraction of the cost and save that money and pay for their college educations (like both sets of our parents did for us). Since we were accustomed to the quality of care and education that we've received over the past 7+ years at Kids R Kids, I knew that the process of finding a home care provider would be difficult. We asked around and interviewed several candidates including folks that even lived so close by, they could be considered walking distance. Although, we had a long wish list our primary requirements were the following: low child to adult ratio (state of Ohio requires 5:1 with infants), location (close to home or work), care takers education/degree's/certification(s), someone that reported their income (because who knows, I might want to run for public office one day!) and most of all someone that both the kids and us would like and be comfortable with. After meeting several candidates, we opted to go with a lady named Ginger that watched my niece Sophia for 3+ years. The good news is that the kids LOVE her! Because she is located in our school district, Stella takes the bus to her home everyday after school. By the time we pick her up she's had a snack and finished most of her homework. What Stella loves the most is being able to spend time with Jonah (something she wasn't able to do at Kids R Kids). Additionally, she lives 1 street over from Gido & Teta (my parents) and because my dad (Gido) often used to pick up Sophia from there he is familiar with the location and Ginger and able to help up out when we are in a bind or time crunch. Finally, Jonah loves it so much there that sometimes when we pick him up and it's time to leave, he will fuss and cry. Nothing gives me more comfort then knowing that the kids love Ginger and love being at her home. What a relief we found a great person to watch the kids and we are now able to save a ton of money each month for the kids college and do as our parents did for us (pay it forward) and provide the kids with a college education.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pooped after a long, fun day at Gingers!</td></tr>
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The summer is quickly approaching and we can't wait for the weather to improve and have tons of fun with the kids. We're excited to take the kids to Kings Island, the pool and the lake this year. It should be a whole new dynamic with Jonah in the mix now. We've also got some fun trips planned and several friends/family weddings quickly approaching; it will be a fun and busy summer for sure! It's amazing how fast time flies and that Jonah 1st birthday will be here before you know it!Marianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15590134191547203861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077289138545883806.post-18998327982341258142011-05-05T23:07:00.000-04:002011-05-05T23:07:58.705-04:00Sarah Graduates!I cannot begin to tell you how proud I am of my little sister, Sarah! This past weekend (4/30/2011) she graduated from Kettering College of Medical Arts with a Bachelors of Science in Human Biology. She has been looking forward to her graduation for quite some time now and believe me it was long overdue! <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Graduate!</td></tr>
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The festivities began at <a href="http://www.laubergedayton.com/">L'Auberge</a>, a French restaurant in Kettering. The regular crew (aka Teta, Gido, The Langley's and the McGowans) were present of course as were 2 of Sarah's friends, Leah Moon and Sarah Skrobot. Additionally, Tunt Sue, my moms sister flew in for the celebration. It was nice to see her as we hadn't seen her since Christmas. The food was delicious and the company wasn't so bad either. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gido and his little buddy Jonah!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mommy's little man!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The entire crew-part 1</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The crew- part 2</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sarah & Sophie</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Leah and her 2 biggest fans</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sisters!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Uncle Mikey's foolishness = happy Jonah!</td></tr>
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After dinner, we headed to the Dayton Convention Center for Sarah's graduation. There were only 282 graduates so the ceremony wasn't too terribly long. The kids did great because they were occupied and armed with books and video games. Leah even came prepared and brought each of the girls a fruit snack. They loved it and devoured it in a matter of seconds! It's not hard to see or figure out why the girls just adore Leah.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sissy and 2 munchkins!</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6jZxaBPUpm0/Tb9QOW0CIxI/AAAAAAAABCA/II7kZtk2SQA/s1600/DSC_0992-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="204" j8="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6jZxaBPUpm0/Tb9QOW0CIxI/AAAAAAAABCA/II7kZtk2SQA/s320/DSC_0992-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>I decided to take some photos while we were waiting for the graduation to begin! <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Skrobot, Leah & Stella</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Uncle Toddy and Sophie</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">No celebration is complete without these 2 little trouble makers!</td></tr>
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The ceremony begins and we have the best seats in the house. Since we had Jonah's stroller with us and we couldn't sit up in the stands we had floor seats and were seated just a few yards from the stage and from where Sarah was sitting.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">YAY, Sarah receives her degree!</td></tr>
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There it is in print (see below) Sarah Shenouda McGowan receives her Bachelor of Science in Human Biology and she even graduates Cum Laude (an incredibly awesome and honorary distinction)! <br />
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Funny story: Stella didn't know what cum laude, sumaa cum laude or magna cum laude meant and about half way through the ceremony Stella asks Todd "Daddy, why does everyone have the same last name?" It was so funny! Later when Todd explained to her what each of the distinctions meant she assured her that she would graduate too one day with one of those distinctions.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">a page from the ceremony program</td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-p8qLgFA-lDU/Tb9Q6x3zqyI/AAAAAAAABCk/fdnxK8wz_vo/s1600/DSC_0002-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="236" j8="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-p8qLgFA-lDU/Tb9Q6x3zqyI/AAAAAAAABCk/fdnxK8wz_vo/s320/DSC_0002-1.jpg" width="320" /></a>Teta and 2 of her munchkins!</div><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jonah and his Godparents!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Teta and Gido with the Graduate!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gigi & Breanna attended too!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sophie is so proud of her mommy!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cool caricature card that Gigi had made for Sarah.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Whole fam!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Notice that Jonah is in his pj's below. He did so well for his first Graduation ceremony and slept thru about half (as did the rest of us). :)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jonah and Daddy!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--FUDnsWpb6w/Tb9YCfLwGJI/AAAAAAAABDQ/jkz7rHErf50/s1600/DSC_1012-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" j8="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--FUDnsWpb6w/Tb9YCfLwGJI/AAAAAAAABDQ/jkz7rHErf50/s320/DSC_1012-1.jpg" width="237" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Teta and her baby!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div align="left">And just like that we are celebrating yet another family milestone. Sarah is beyond excited to receive her degree and to begin the next chapter of her life. She's worked really hard to get where she's at and to do so with honors while managing a household, working, a wife and a fantastic mother is no easy feat! I cannot begin to express how excited and proud I am of her. Anything my sister puts her mind to she not only accomplishes but conquers! Cheer Sarah, we love you! xoxoxo</div>Marianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15590134191547203861noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077289138545883806.post-47590275684589889472011-04-26T23:11:00.000-04:002011-04-26T23:11:00.740-04:00Easter 2011<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><em>I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.</em> John 11:25-26</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Easter is a pretty big deal around here! Sure we enjoy all of the Easter chocolate, Easter baskets and even anxiously await the arrival of the Easter bunny...but Easter is 55 days in the making for the Orthodox religion. It begins with 1 week of preparation, 40 days of Lent and 1 week of Holy Passion week (the week between Palm Sunday and Easter). </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">This past weekend, like every Easter, was jam packed with church activities and family festivities......</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Friday we attended Good Friday Services at our church. It was both very moving and emotional. During the Crucifixion re-enactment I became very emotional just remembering the sacrifices He made for us. Stella saw me tearing up, she hugged me and said "mommy, I know you're sad because Jesus died, but it's ok because he goes to heaven." It's living these moments and seeing them through the eyes of your children that make it all worthwhile!</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">After the Good Friday services, it's tradition to go to Teta and Gido's house to devour fool (fava beans) and falafel sandwiches. We had such a great time and were in good company! My cousin Emad, his wife Mary and their daughters Marina and Olivia were in town from Lima for the weekend and were staying at my parents house and were there too and we had a wonderful evening with them. We even were able to Skype with some family in Egypt (Emad's parents) and they were able to see Jonah how big Jonah had grown.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Emad and Jonah</td></tr>
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Due to all of the rain, Stella's Saturday soccer game was canceled. I can't say that I was too upset about that because <strike>we</strike> I had so much to do before we got the kids dressed and out the door for the Resurrection Liturgy that evening (8pm-12am). I was able to tackle a ton of projects around the house that I have been putting off for months because we've been so busy and I haven't found a single Saturday to set time aside to do them. I am happy to report that the office has been cleaned/organized, taxes and important paperwork that was piling up are now filed, organized the kids closets (removed small and out of season clothes), pictures are framed and hung, laundry is put away, kitchen cabinets and pantry are purged and organized, dog is bathed and Easter baskets were assembled. Yes I completed ALL of these tasks over the course of an entire Saturday afternoon and it felt great to scratch all of these long over due tasks off of my to-do list! It feels so good being productive! </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">On Saturday afternoon, I had a little photo shoot with the kids. I bought Easter bunny ears for each of them and we had a ton of fun snapping some shots. Although Todd was not all to happy that I put bunny ears on his son, I figured that there no better time to do so then when he is small, innocent and cute. Right? I must admit, I think I have the cutest little bunnies in town! </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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We also found time to color Easter eggs on Saturday afternoon. Stella and I had a blast doing this together (the boys were watching the OSU spring game together while we were coloring eggs). As you can see Stella made a "Jonah's 1st Easter"egg, a OSU egg for her daddy and she even took the time to make a "poop on Michigan" egg (Todd was so proud of this work of art). Stella loves to do craft projects and coloring Easter eggs was right up her alley!<br />
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After I completed all of these projects I mandated "nap time" for the ENTIRE family since we would be up so late for the Easter/Resurrection Liturgy and dinner at Teta & Gido's. After our naps, Nana and Papi stopped by to visit and give the kids their Easter baskets. We had a great time and as you can see Jonah and Stella loved their gifts and enjoyed their visit. Jonah especially loved playing with the tissue paper and tried several times to put it in his mouth. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jonah enjoys the tissue paper</td></tr>
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The Liturgy at church was wonderful and the Resurrection re-enactment was moving. The liturgy ended around midnight but the evening was far from over! We headed over to Teta & Gido's for a feast! It was so so fun and delicious. In typical Teta fashion, she cooked way too much food, had chocolate bunnies at everyone place setting and baskets for the kids. I over indulged as usual but the food was way too good to pass up. What can I say except that my mom is the best cook ever. I need to shadow her sometime in the kitchen and learn her recipes so that I can learn to replicate them and pass them down to the kids one day. Again we were in great company and amazingly enough although we were up until about 2:30 am, the kids did great! <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jonah sleeping at church!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Long lost twin!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">3 Grandkids!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gido & Teta with Jojo!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Auntie Sissy and her Jojo!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Epic Shenouda family feast dinner at roughly 1:30 am!</td></tr>
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Sunday morning we slept in because we were up so late the previous night! We awoke to find that the Easter Bunny had stopped at the house and left the kids baskets. This year the Easter Bunny out did himself and increased the loot! Stella received very little candy since she recently had a palette expander put in her mouth and can't eat much candy or any gum; its amazing how the Easter Bunny is cognizant of these things! :) Instead this year he brought her 2 Nintendo DS games, some Squinkies and a new lunch box and messenger bag. Jonah got a Fisher Price Turtle toy with shaped pieces that fit in his shell and a grocery cart/high chair cover for when we are out and about. </div><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At the top of the stairs waiting to come down!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jonah and his basket from the Easter bunny!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stella and her basket!</td></tr>
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After the kids took inventory of their loot and settled down it was time to head to church for the Egg Hunt and Easter morning activities. Todd took Stella and our niece Sophia and I stayed home with Jonah because he was a tad fussy. Nothing like being out in public with a fussy child, right? The girls had a blast and were very appreciative that Todd took them. A few hours later they returned home with more candy and loot. Needless to say that my kitchen counter looks like the Easter Bunny exploded. The kids received no less then 5 baskets each from family and friends and every year it seems to exponentially get bigger and they receive more and more...I will be forced to sort thru them shortly. <br />
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Finally Sunday evening was upon us and it was back to Teta & Gido's house for dinner; YUM. It doesn't take a whole lot of convincing or coercion to get us to go over to their house for dinner because my mom is a fabulous cook and usually has a HUGE selection of choices to please the masses. What can I say except that when it comes to cooking feast's, Teta NEVER disappoints! Mike's mom and sister, Gigi and Breanna, joined us for dinner too. They too brought the kids baskets too and we enjoyed a delightful evening and dinner with them. They hadn't seen Jonah yet so they were very pleased to meet him. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Teta makes a HUGE spread!</td></tr>
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And just like that the weekend was over! In a blink of an eye Friday, Saturday and Sunday were over and now we're preparing to return to school and work and to return to the daily grind. This past weekend although it was jam packed and I found myself tired at times it was still so so FUN! We celebrated the Resurrection of our Lord, ate way too much and created everlasting memories with family that we will cherish forever. This is definitely how life should be lived!Marianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15590134191547203861noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077289138545883806.post-40703785140414104332011-04-22T01:48:00.001-04:002011-04-22T21:05:29.411-04:00Palm Sunday 2011<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Hosanna in the highest, this is the King of Israel, blessed is He who comes in the Name, of the Lord of Hosts.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div>Palm Sunday is beginning of my favorite time of year in our church. Not only does it commemorate Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem as a King riding on a donkey, it also is the beginning of one of the holiest and most spiritual weeks in the Coptic Orthodox faith. Some of my fondest memories growing up were spent in church during Holy Week attending Pascha. <br />
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<div style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The biblical story of Palm Sunday is recorded in all four of the Gospels (Matthew 21:1-11; Mark 11:1-10; Luke 19:28-38; and John 12:12-18).<strong> </strong>All four gospels record this event in the same place in the story about Jesus, indicating that the four gospel authors agree on the location of this story at this moment in the life of Jesus.</div><div style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Five days before the Passover, Jesus came from Bethany to Jerusalem. Having sent two of His disciples to bring Him a colt of a donkey, Jesus sat upon it and entered the city.People had gathered in Jerusalem for the Passover and were looking for Jesus, both because of His great works and teaching and because they had heard of the miracle of the resurrection of Lazarus. When they heard that Christ was entering the city, they went out to meet Him with palm branches, laying their garments on the ground before Him, and shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he that comes in the Name of the Lord, the King of Israel!” </div><br />
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</div>This year was Jonah's first Palm Sunday. It was just a normal Sunday at church for Jonah except he was so so mesmerized by the palm. As you can see from the pictures he didn't want to let go of the palm. He thoroughly enjoyed playing with it and even tried to put it in his mouth several times!<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Not only do I love that my kids are being raised in the Orthdox faith (as my sister an I were) but they are doing so surrounded by family! I've blogged numerous times about losing all of my grandparents at a very young age but even when they were still alive they lived in Egypt and seldom visited. So it brings joy to my heart to see my kids not only being raised in the church and growing in the faith surrounded by their parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Would any holiday be complete without these 2 trouble makers!?! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Take the time this week to reflect on what Jesus sacrificed for each of us! Be humble and marvel in His great mysteries and remind yourself daily that because of what He did and we are here today! </div>Marianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15590134191547203861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077289138545883806.post-75543599905997191822011-04-18T23:23:00.000-04:002011-04-18T23:23:10.248-04:00Jonah - month 7<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ETYgar6Fizs/TazzgnbVprI/AAAAAAAAA_s/_Cdhag7sokE/s1600/DSC_0854-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" r6="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ETYgar6Fizs/TazzgnbVprI/AAAAAAAAA_s/_Cdhag7sokE/s400/DSC_0854-1.jpg" width="266" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">It's so hard to believe that Jonah is already 7 months old. When I look at him now, I am not sure that I even see a little baby anymore. He's constantly changing, and crossing a new milestone each day but now when I look at him I see a toddler, a little man and "mamma's little boy!"</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Jonah had many many firsts this month... He had is first bout with pneumonia, first hospital stay since birth and first ride in an ambulance! Thank God that he has since recovered from his pneumonia but he gave us all quite a scare this past month.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Jonah is a busy body these days. He is into EVERYTHING and if its in his line of sight he will go after it no matter if it's little or small. He loves to sit on the floor and play with all his toys he also likes to sit on the floor and reach for just about anything even if its not one of his toys. Just yesterday he was surrounded by at least 20 of his toys yet he wanted the remote (typical man, I suppose)! And when I moved the remote out of his sight the next thing I know he was reaching for my blackberry. Just like a kid on Christmas that is more mesmerized by the boxes that the toys came in than the actual toys, Jonah always finds something that is NOT one of his toys to go after. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Jonah hasn't quite mastered crawling yet but he can "scootch" or roll across the floor to get from point A to point B. Even when he is on his belly he will rock back and forth and somehow manages to push himself towards the object he desires. We've had to baby proof the house and all of the outlets have since been covered and anything that could be considered within his reach has been removed or put away. Todd even had to lower Jonah's his crib this weekend as we were fearful that he was way too close to being able to pull himself up and fall out of the crib. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Although Jonah's appetite hasn't completely returned 100% since his battle with pneumonia, he's eating a little bit more and more everyday. Jonah's still only eating stage 1 fruits and veggies and last weekend we introduced sweet potato puffs. The puffs are little star shaped pieces of cereal that when you put them in your mouth and they come in contact with saliva they essentially dissolve. It's an excellent way to get toddlers used to food other than jarred baby food and getting them accustomed to chewing (or I should say gumming) their food.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Since Ohio weather is very unpredictable we haven't been able to take as many walks as I would have liked. When we get home in the evening and it's still warm we try to take in a quick walk, if not we at least try to soak up some Vitamin D and take in some fresh air and swing out back. Jonah absolutely loves the swing and even cries now when you take him out of it. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I can't believe it's already been another month! Moreover, I can't believe how quickly Jonah is growing and how much he is changing!</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div>Marianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15590134191547203861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077289138545883806.post-66981690329572873002011-04-08T22:03:00.000-04:002011-04-18T22:04:24.328-04:00Granny's 94th Birthday and Jonah gets pneumonia!We celebrated Granny's 94th Birthday on Sunday April 3rd at Marion's Pizza with the Langley clan. We had a great time visiting with family we hadn't seen in some time and of course we enjoyed some delicious Marion's Pizza and birthday cake too. <br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Jonah hadn't really been feeling well since Friday but we chalked it up to him teething because he was drooling, fussy, with a little runny nose and feverish. Who knew that a visit to Marion's Pizza for Granny's 94th Birthday would land us at Children's Hospital hospitalized for pneumonia!?! </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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</div><div class="" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-B1iyWSmXqmA/TazdVqmjOOI/AAAAAAAAA_k/88mx4X9uDR0/s1600/DSC_0823.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" r6="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-B1iyWSmXqmA/TazdVqmjOOI/AAAAAAAAA_k/88mx4X9uDR0/s320/DSC_0823.JPG" width="214" /></a>While I was at Granny's party at Marion's Pizza I noticed that Jonah was huffing and puffing, chattering his teeth and his lips were beginning to turn blue. I called his pediatrician from the Marion's Pizza parking lot (the one that was on call) and he could hear Jonah panting through the phone. He told me to rush him up the street to the Children's Urgent Care in Springboro. I didn't want to cause a scene at Granny's party or upset anyone so I just said I was leaving under the premise that Jonah was feeling feverish. I know I rushed out and really didn't get to say goodbye to everyone and it probably seemed kind of rude but I was in a panic and need to get Jonah to Urgent Care quickly. I have since reached out to Todd's family and explained what happened and have received many sweet and touching notes from them! </div><div class="" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">Once I arrived at the Urgent Care, they took me straight back to a triage room because they could hear that Jonah was struggling to breath and they took his vitals and hooked him up to oxygen etc. Jonah's eyes began to roll to the back of his head from the high fever and his high heart rate and the nurse tried to calm me by saying that it was normal for kids to have seizures when their fever gets too high. I was in a panic so I called Todd (who was on his way to taking Stella to her soccer game) and my mom and they both met me at the Urgent Care immediately. When they hooked Jonah up to the EKG they found that he's heart rate was 225 and the normal for his age and size is in the 140-150 range so they thought that he might have SVT (Supra ventricular tachycardia) so they tried several methods to "shock" him out of it. First they tried to gag him by sticking the q-tip thingy in his throat (kinda like when they test you for strep) and that didn't work. Then they filled a tub up with ice water and dunked him in that and that didn't work. So then as last resort they put in an iv because they were afraid that they would have to inject him with a drug that would bring down his heart rate. At this point we were told that a transport team from Children's Medical Center was headed our way and we were headed to Children's via ambulance. Thankfully Dr. Badcock (whom I used to babysit his children more than 25 years ago) was the ER doc on call. It's so incredibly comforting to have a familiar face during times of uncertainty and he reassured us in telling us that it’s not uncommon for kids heart rates to increase when their temps do but that 225 was slightly higher then what they liked to see so they were going to do another EKG to rule out SVT and Chest x-ray and have the pediatric cardiologist and radiologist read them. They also drew blood and found that his white blood cells were elevated. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zRCRRa_L3_A/Tazdg0z3wCI/AAAAAAAAA_o/OuPZQaYNpJs/s1600/DSC_0831.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" r6="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zRCRRa_L3_A/Tazdg0z3wCI/AAAAAAAAA_o/OuPZQaYNpJs/s320/DSC_0831.JPG" width="214" /></a></div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I cannot say enough great things about the staff at Children's Hospital! They were absolutely wonderful and kept us informed every step of the way and did everything to make our visit as comfortable as possible. We were also lucky that Julie (our sister-in-law) that works at Children's also happened to be working on the day we were there. She came in several times during her shift to check on Jonah and visit with us. Scott, brought us lunch on that day and he was able to visit with us over his lunch break. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I stayed the night at the hospital with Jonah because there was only 1 couch/bed in his room. Stella stayed the night with my parents and they took her to school the next day. Unfortunately Todd was continually running between the hospital and home to bring us the necessities and to deal with Buckeye (our dog).</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Thankfully nearly 36 hours later, we were discharged and sent home. It was determined that Jonah had right upper lobe pneumonia and was anemic. We had to follow up with his pediatrician 48 hours after being discharged. Additionally we have a consultation with a pediatric cardiologist in early May to determine what caused Jonah's heartbeat to get so high...</div> <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Little man's IV</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jonah rocking the hospital gown.</td></tr>
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Those 36 hours in the hospital seemed like the longest 36 hours of my life! I hated feeling so helpless and not being able to "fix" what was wrong or make Jonah feel better. I can honestly say that there is no worse feeling in the world as a parent when your child looks at you and there is NOTHING you can do to make everything all better. I found myself more than ever clinging on to my faith and begging God to watch over his child and protect him. I prayed at every chance I got and felt so blessed knowing that we had friends and family praying for him worldwide. Our priest, Father Angelous, reminded me that Jonah was a blessing and miracle child and that as such God was watching over him. It's during trying times in our life that we need to be reminded that He has a reason for everything that happens to us and that this illness/incident was part of his plan all along. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Todd and I took turns the remainder of the week, staying home with Jonah (we each burned a lot of vacation time I wasn't going to leave my baby). Moreover, I learned a lot from this entire experience. I learned that I should always trust my gut and that 9 times out of 10 a mothers intuition is always right. When I say that I mean, I knew all weekend that something didn't seem completely right with Jonah. You could say that I am sometimes a bit of a hypochondriac when it comes to the kids (I guess that could be seen as a good thing or a bad thing) but I remember late Saturday night looking up Jonah's symptoms on Web MD and telling Todd that I thought maybe Jonah had pneumonia but I kept convincing myself that surely he couldn't have pneumonia</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I feel bad that we were not able to visit more with our family who had come together for Granny's 94th Birthday, but as unpredictable as kids can be so can illness!</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div>Marianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15590134191547203861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077289138545883806.post-6596335434096846082011-04-06T07:50:00.003-04:002011-04-10T16:00:58.726-04:00In Memory of Phipps Langley...<div>On April 6, 2010 this earth lost a decorated war hero (WWII vet), son, brother, friend, husband, father, grand father and great grand father. Todd's 91 year old grandfather, Phipps Langley past away on April 6, 2010. We found out we were having a baby boy on April 5, 2010 and on April 6, 2010 Grandad passed away. We found it fitting to name our son after Grandad and so Jonah's full name is Jonah Phipps Shenouda Langley. And in true Phipps Langley fashion, Jonah has the cutest dimple chin like Grandad, Papi (Todd's dad) and Todd!<br />
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<img alt="" border="0" height="213" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5459080486090691490" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IQCNCYRlpNc/S8KMx1Wz06I/AAAAAAAAAd0/xH4rvCE2jbU/s640/68.jpg" style="display: block; height: 213px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 320px;" width="320" /><br />
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Grandad was such a wonderful person and touched every life that he ever came into contact with. He loved life to its fullest and was always excited to be in your presence. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zTebgrTU3RU/TZxaBWhSb_I/AAAAAAAAA_E/g_64k4TSQuk/s1600/5a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" r6="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zTebgrTU3RU/TZxaBWhSb_I/AAAAAAAAA_E/g_64k4TSQuk/s320/5a.jpg" width="231" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Very handsome Army man!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EmxbUWWC8Gg/TZxaCiZYtVI/AAAAAAAAA_I/pY_TAiN7O8s/s1600/30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" r6="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EmxbUWWC8Gg/TZxaCiZYtVI/AAAAAAAAA_I/pY_TAiN7O8s/s320/30.jpg" width="212" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I've always said that this photo should be captioned "rough day on Wall Street!"</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ax2q9jyZJfY/TZxaOEAIo0I/AAAAAAAAA_M/Xepbla40vFo/s1600/53a.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" r6="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Ax2q9jyZJfY/TZxaOEAIo0I/AAAAAAAAA_M/Xepbla40vFo/s320/53a.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Stella loved riding in the golf cart at the lake with Grandad!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Z2BhRNt-g7s/TZxaOjFdAVI/AAAAAAAAA_Q/iKew0Gj-OtE/s1600/69.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" r6="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Z2BhRNt-g7s/TZxaOjFdAVI/AAAAAAAAA_Q/iKew0Gj-OtE/s320/69.jpg" width="230" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Granny & Grandad- a true love story- married over 60 years!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5Oqs8bXxOIY/TZxaU8yGgVI/AAAAAAAAA_U/xX1qYn6cz7s/s1600/47b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" r6="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5Oqs8bXxOIY/TZxaU8yGgVI/AAAAAAAAA_U/xX1qYn6cz7s/s320/47b.jpg" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">At our wedding in 1999; I hope Todd and I can make it 60+ years too!</div><br />
I've always said that Grandad was more than "Todd's grandfather" to me. From the first time I met him he treated me as if I was one of his own grandchildren and was always so loving and generous! Since I lost my grandparents at such a young age it was so nice to feel like I actually still had a grandfather.<br />
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So one year later, although Grandad has been sorely missed, we remember all of the wonderful things about him all of the lives he touched and simply- celebrate his life! <br />
We love you Grandad!</div>Marianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15590134191547203861noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077289138545883806.post-34394114316236009202011-04-05T20:14:00.002-04:002011-04-06T08:06:22.982-04:001 year ago today!One year ago today (April 5, 2010), I underwent an emergency ultrasound because I was experiencing abdominal pain and some contractions early on in the pregnancy and we discovered that we were having a BOY (see blog post entitled <a href="http://marianslangley.blogspot.com/2010/04/its-boy.html">It's a BOY</a>!). Although, the blog entry is dates April 26th (if you notice the date on the ultrasound it's dated 04/05/2010). Here is the ultrasound pic: <br />
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<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VlTkL_g4PTc/S9XGugqdhQI/AAAAAAAAAeM/jATUQfLeNlo/s1600/its+a+boy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" r6="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VlTkL_g4PTc/S9XGugqdhQI/AAAAAAAAAeM/jATUQfLeNlo/s320/its+a+boy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
and here he is now!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/206263_1965064847863_1280133259_32431645_1604627_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" aria-busy="true" aria-describedby="fbPhotoTheaterCaption" border="0" class="spotlight" height="400" src="http://a4.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/206263_1965064847863_1280133259_32431645_1604627_n.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div align="left"></div>Marianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15590134191547203861noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6077289138545883806.post-87269465079968903402011-03-22T22:02:00.000-04:002011-03-22T22:02:14.021-04:00Jonah - Month 6<div style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><strong><span style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: blue;">Happy</span> <span style="color: red;">Half </span><span style="color: lime;">Birthday </span></span></strong><strong><span style="background-color: white; color: #0b5394;"><span style="color: orange;">Jonah!</span></span></strong></span></div><br />
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</div></div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ka85IzIP2hs/TYk6YQM0pmI/AAAAAAAAA9c/omzL-Q6hECY/s1600/DSC_0792-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" r6="true" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ka85IzIP2hs/TYk6YQM0pmI/AAAAAAAAA9c/omzL-Q6hECY/s640/DSC_0792-1.jpg" width="427" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Oh my! Where has the time gone?...</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I can hardly believe Jonah is 6 months old. I know that I say that each and every month but I truly can't believe that he is 1/2 way to being a 1 year old! So many things changed this month....</div></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;">At Jonah's 6 month vaccination visit he weighed 19lbs 12 oz (16lbs 15oz at 4 month visit) and was 27 inches long (25 inches long at 4 month visit). Overall, he grew nearly 3lbs and 2 inches in just 2 months! He's in the 90th percentile for weight and 75th percentile for height. My little Chunky Monkey is now wearing 9-12 month clothing depending on the brand. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: left;">The biggest change in the last month is that Jonah can now sit up by himself and without the assistance of the Bumbo seat. Frankly, his legs are beginning to get to fat and chunky and tend get squished in the Bumbo seat. The first couple of days of him sitting by himself he was wobbly and a bit unsteady. He face planted a few times and even fell back until he got his balance in check. Stella said "mommy Jojo is like Humpty Dumpty." </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Not only does Jonah love to play and splash in the tub (see above photo), he now loves playing and splashing in the pool. He started "Baby and Me" swim lessons earlier this month and loves to play and splash in the pool. The few times we've gone, Todd has gone into the pool with him. Mommy is not ready to be in a swim suit quite yet.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-0gqhLpOQCNU/TYk7KX6EycI/AAAAAAAAA94/1j_jNzSKfJg/s1600/DSC_0784-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" r6="true" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-0gqhLpOQCNU/TYk7KX6EycI/AAAAAAAAA94/1j_jNzSKfJg/s400/DSC_0784-1.jpg" width="267" /></a><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-NIw9k0rZ0r4/TYk6796ltOI/AAAAAAAAA9w/oubqVMMiBUM/s1600/DSC_0786-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" r6="true" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-NIw9k0rZ0r4/TYk6796ltOI/AAAAAAAAA9w/oubqVMMiBUM/s400/DSC_0786-1.jpg" width="267" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;">We've also brought out a lot of Jonah's toys too. Kind of like most kids at Christmas, Jonah was initially interested in the boxes and the packaging that most of the toys came in but once he realized that many of the toys made noise and lit up, it became a whole new ball game. Not only did his balance improve this month but so did his grasp. He can hold on to stuff really well and of course his first instinct is to put EVERYTHING in his mouth. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-jph1EtJDxHU/TYk6ud_eUMI/AAAAAAAAA9s/emLhIg03COM/s1600/DSC_0787-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" r6="true" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-jph1EtJDxHU/TYk6ud_eUMI/AAAAAAAAA9s/emLhIg03COM/s400/DSC_0787-1.jpg" width="267" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;">Jonah has also expanded his vocabulary too quite a bit this past month. He is a non-stop "chatty cathy"; he is constantly babbling and as of late some of his favorite phrases are "da da da", "ba ba ba" and "ga ga ga." He's only said "ma ma" a handful of times and none of his babbles as yet are intentional (as to signify a specific person or object like his bottle). </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;">Jonah is now very much aware of his surroundings and sometimes fusses a little when I drop him off at daycare. If you look at him and smile, he will smile back at you unless of course you are Dr. Eberhart (at Jonah's 6 month visit he refused to smile at Dr. Eberhart but would smile at all the nurses- typical ladies man). He even chuckles and giggles now if you tickle him or make funny faces or noises at him. It is really quite adorable and hysterical if I do say so myself. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;">Sadly, Jonah is also beginning to exhibit small signs of stranger anxiety. He is becoming very observant and apparently beginning to decipher people he knows and doesn't. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;">Exciting news- Jonah is officially now off of the expensive hypoallergenic formula, <span style="background-color: white;">Nutramigen</span>. He is now on the Gerber Gentle Plus formula. I can't say that I miss paying $33 for a 19oz formula can. Now I pay $19.99 (or $14.99 whenever I have a Gerber $5 off coupon) for a 24oz can. He's taken to the new formula quite well. With the exception of some nasty gas the first few days, he's 100% acclimated to it. Oh and did I mention that it also smells so much better than the expensive stuff. Jonah's also expanded <span style="background-color: white;">his pallet.</span> He's now eating 1 fruit as well as 1 vegetable per day and some of his favorites flavors so far are pears, applesauce, bananas, sweet potatoes and carrots. Squash, green beans and sweet peas are his least favorite choices but all growing kids need their green veggies...</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">What I have missed over the past 6 months is 6 straight hours of sleep. Unlike Stella, Jonah is NOT a great sleeper. Though he loves to sleep on his belly like she did, he doesn't sleep for more than 5-6 hours. He loves to snuggle for sure; I am of the belief that he deliberately will fuss just so we will bring him into our bed. </div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">I cannot believe that Jonah is finally 6 months old and he has crossed so many milestones over the past 6 months . I look forward to many many more and even celebrating his 1st Birthday in the near future. </div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-ULv_N2e8f6U/TYk7PR0T53I/AAAAAAAAA98/cyGQm-wZytI/s1600/DSC_0682-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" r6="true" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-ULv_N2e8f6U/TYk7PR0T53I/AAAAAAAAA98/cyGQm-wZytI/s400/DSC_0682-1.jpg" width="267" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Marianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15590134191547203861noreply@blogger.com2