Hjertager Family

Update

2010-02-02T20:17:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was such a crazy day. After 4 Albertson's trips and 3 phone calls I finally had completed my shopping. I get really anxious and frustrated at this couponing process. The information varies from store to store and checker to checker even. That being said we were able to get quite a bit of food and about 1/3 we are giving away to a food bank. Here is what I got.

40 boxes instant oatmeal
22 boxes granola bars
7 boxes cereal
3 tubs of oats
2 jars of syrup
4 jars of mayo
2 jars of Ragu
2 containers of Breyers Ice Cream (not pictured)
Total: $30

Thank you Jesus!!!

Today Ivy, Ben and I stayed home and had our friends Christina (Aurrora) and her daughter Katy over for a playdate. It was awesome. Ivy and Katy play very well even though they are about 18 months apart (Katy is 5). Ben took 2 great naps and Christina and I chatted all day. It was such a great time. After they left and Ben was up from his nap and fed, we headed out to the Apple store AGAIN (trip 5 in 2 weeks) and picked up my fixed computer. :)

After we returned home and while Ivy was still finishing dinner Ben was happy to be in his high chair learning how to pick up and put puffies to his mouth. :) They are both such wonderful children. Thank you Jesus for blessing our family with Ivy and Ben.

Now I have tons of computer stuff to catch up on. Have a great night everyone.

2010-01-29T21:00:00.000-08:00

I am very new to this couponing thing. I did however want to share some pictures from the last 2 days. Here is what is in the pictures…

34 tubs of Huggies wipes
23 mini first aid kits
5 cottonelle tubs (42 ct) of flushable wipes
5 cottonelle refills (84 ct) flushable wipes
2 kinds of hair rubber bands
2 boxes of Special K
2 boxes of Special K Granola
1 – 4 pack of reveal lightbulbs

I spent a total of $25

Christmas Pictures 2009

2010-01-08T11:37:00.000-08:00

Here are our pictures from this last Christmas. Thought you would like to see them. :)

Wow 6 months has past

2009-12-16T21:34:00.000-08:00

I am very sorry I haven't blogged much. Life with 2 kids and no sleep has been quite the adjustment. I used to be so connected to my computer...now when I try to go near it someone cries. (even if they were both fast asleep. somehow they know)

Here is all the cousins together at Thanksgiving.

Here is Ben eating his sock

Here is Ben with Grandma Robin

Here is Ben, Ivy, Greg, Aunt Gail and Grandma Robin putting together our first gingerbread house

Here are some pictures from our Christmas card shoot. FYI, due to finances though we won't be sending a card this year.

Yes we did have our son.

2009-07-07T21:14:00.001-07:00

I know I haven't posted and I am sorry...life with 2 children has been crazy. Yes we did have our son, Ben Archer Hjertager on May 30th at 3:46pm. He was 9.1 lbs and 21 inches long. He looks just like his father. Here are some pictures. Ben is the first two and Greg is the last one.

Ivy is doing very well with her new brother. She has been distracted a little though. Grandma Dorothy stayed with us for the first week and Ivy got all the grandma attention she could. Then at the end of June she turned 3 and we had a big party. She finally got the "Castle Cake" she has been talking about for 5 months. :)

Here is a video of him this week. It's not terribly action packed...but he does talk a little.

Update on the dog bite

2009-04-20T21:10:00.001-07:00

Today we went to the plastic surgeon to see how Ivy's stitches were healing. The doctor was very pleased with how they looked. She said they would fall out on their own in time, that the area would feel a little hard for a while and that once it was all healed it would be very red for about 18 months. We are extremely thankful that our little girl is doing so well. She has even asked to pet the doggies we have seen this week. It seems that she isn't emotionally scared which is wonderful. Thank you all for your prayers this week.

Tonight Ivy and I were at Babies R Us and the picture lady asked if we wanted a free picture...she was bored. We said yes. We tried to hide the stitches as best we could by positioning. Thought you would like to see her.

Easter Weekend

2009-04-13T15:29:00.000-07:00

Wow I haven't blogged in a very long time. I will try to bring you all up to speed.

Yes, I am still pregnant with a son. Pregnancy is a very hard time for me. I am just one of those girls who is pretty much sick from day one to the end. He is due May 28th, 2009 so we are close to getting to meet him though. Very excited.

This last weekend was Easter weekend. We attended the 6pm Good Friday service at our church Mars Hill.

Saturday morning we went to the Woodland Park Zoo to their Annual Bunny Hop. Steve, Jess, PJ and CJ Mulkey and Jessica's sister Christina met us there. Ivy and PJ hunted for eggs, Ivy rode on the Carousel with Greg and then we went and looked at some animals.

Saturday evening Ivy went to Sam and Dorothy's house to spend the night and get some grandparents time.

Sunday morning we met them at church for Easter service at 11:15am. After church we went home to pick up some food and quickly headed over to Sam and Dorothy's for Easter dinner. This year it was quite a small crowd. Just them, Aunt Pat, Uncle Corey and us...

After dinner Ivy and the dog Hershey went into the kitchen together at the same time while "PA" was cleaning up after dinner. No one is sure what happened cause PA had his back turned and the rest of us were in the living room...Ivy was bit by the dog. The CT came by normal and she did not lose any parts, ie. eye or ear. She has multiple scratches around her left temple and ear and one large wound that had to have stitches. We did have a plastic surgeon come and do the stitches though so hopefully the scare will be minimal.

We Praise the Lord that he was with her yesterday and that the incident could have been so much worse.

We ask for prayers against attack from the enemy, that we wouldn't dwell in would-have, could-have, should-have thoughts. We ask for prayers that Ivy would heal both physically and emotionally from this situation. We also ask for prayers for my parents as it was their dog and they not only got rid of her but also feel terrible. Please pray that the Lord would get the utmost glory from this situation. The scripture I keep remembering is 1Thes. 5:18 Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

It's a.....

2009-01-21T09:00:00.000-08:00

BOY!!!!

I am sorry I should have sent this a couple weeks ago but my family was sick, then sick again and I really haven't been on the computer much. Here is a picture of our son. They are kinda blurring cause he was moving so much during the ultrasound. He is doing well (as far as I can tell). Love to move from 8:30pm-10pm every night.

If you are wondering yes we will be having a baby shower for him. Two of my good friends Kathryn Harleman and Janice Covi will be co-hosting it. What a blessing it is to have amazing friends, especially in a world where you look around and there is so much heartbrake, turmoil and chaos. We haven't picked a date yet but it will be in March or April. I have registered at www.babiesrus.com again this time.

Hope everyone is doing well and recovering from the holidays :)

Oh my goodness will it ever stop snowing?

2008-12-21T14:10:00.000-08:00

Last night it snowed again and we got another 5-6 inches probably. We still had snow from the last storm too...and it is snowing again now. :) Here are some pictures I took today.

As you can see our old snowman was covered...so we made a new one.

Ivy LOVES to eat snow. It's pretty much all she wants to do.

We borrowed a little sled from our neighbor...she didn't like it. I guess we try again next year. :)

Here she is cuddling with daddy on the couch. She was giving "nose kissies" in the one where they are facing each other. The one with her eyes all squinty...Greg said "close your eyes Ivy".

Out in the snow

2008-12-18T13:52:00.001-08:00

Today we went out and played in the snow for about 30 minutes. The snow was very powdery so we couldn't really make a snowman...but we made a very little one. He is about 12 inches tall :)

Enjoy the pictures!!!

Snow

2008-12-17T18:26:00.000-08:00

We will go outside tomorrow and play in the snow some more...but tonight while Greg was taking out the garbage, Ivy went to play for just a few minutes. Here are 2 pictures of that. I will post more from tomorrow too. :)

Microsoft Holiday Bash 2008

2008-12-07T11:59:00.000-08:00

Last night Greg and I went to the Microsoft Holiday Bash. We both had a very good time. There were 2 different buildings with lots of different rooms and the buildings were connected by a covered walkway.

At one point I mentioned to Greg that dill pickles sounded good. He went at talked to a server to talked to the manager. He explained to the manager he had a pregnant wife who was looking for pickles. They didn't have any but the manager was so sweet and actually went to the store and got some. They were perfect.

All around the place there were these glowing balls that change colors. Greg decided to dance with them to the music. This is what it looked like. One picture is with flash and the other is what it really looked like in the dark.

Oops forgot Halloween

2008-12-07T11:26:00.000-08:00

I just realized when I sync'd my camera that I forgot to post the halloween pics of Ivy. We went trick or treating at Microsoft. This entailed walking from office to office getting candy from bowls that people had put out for the kids. It didn't take Ivy long to get the hang of things. Soon she was bounding down the halls, going from chair to chair like a ping pong ball. Sometimes the employees were in their office working and we had to stop and remind her to say trick or treat. :)

We also have some picture of her "cooking" with my apron on and learning to lick the inside of an oreo cookie.

Enjoy...

Update

2008-12-06T13:55:00.000-08:00

I am now 15 weeks pregnant and things seem to be getting better. I have more good days then bad and am not taking sleeping aids or nauseous meds anymore. I am hoping for some of the more annoying first trimester traits to go away soon. :)

This last week we put up our very first family Christmas tree. It was fun. We drank hot chocolate or coffee, ate cinnamon pull-aparts and listened to Bing Crosby's Christmas cd all morning. Here are some pictures of the day.

They were tired after it was all done.

12 Weeks

2008-11-13T20:54:00.000-08:00

Earlier this week Greg and I got to hear the heartbeat of the baby. Things sound good so far, loud and strong. :) Thank you all for your continued prayers. Now it's 2 more months and then we can find out what the sex of the baby is.

Take care,

10 weeks

2008-10-30T11:16:00.000-07:00

Today I am 10 weeks. Things are doing ok. I am sick with this child like I was with Ivy, but I guess that is good news. Just a quick update to let you know what's going on.

Great News

2008-10-10T10:21:00.001-07:00

As many of you know we lost a child to miscarriage a few months ago. It is still sad but we just have to remember that this world is God's. He is the creator of all and we need to trust that He has a plan for everything and knows best.

The great news is the I am 7 weeks pregnant with a new child and things look to be doing well. We had an early ultrasound yesterday and we saw that the heart was beating well. 120 beats per second.

Thank you all for your prayers and we ask that you continue to pray for this child. As well as against the enemy who would like to attack us with fears of death.

Ivy's Wish List

2008-09-27T15:53:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to give you guys a heads up...I put a link on the right side of the screen under "Websites" that is Ivy's Amazon Wish List. We are coming into the holiday season and people always ask me what she wants. Of course she can always use, clothes, tights and socks but those are not on it. :)

Take care

Today

2008-09-12T17:35:00.000-07:00

Ivy and I ran some errands today and she "HAD" to wear her rain boots...so she did. The dressing herself phase has begun I think. :)

Later we washed the car and Ivy was such a good helper. She did however get quite wet and covered in bubbles. And of course had to play with the bubbles and water on the ground too. I did however have to explain you don't get to clean the concrete and then the car. :)

Fun Outings

2008-08-28T13:18:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago or so Ivy and had have had lots of fun with family. We went to the Seattle Children's Museum with Grandma Dorothy, Kya, Aliyah, Jessica, PJ Nancy(Dorothy's friend) and Sammy her grandson.

We also went to the fair with some friends.

Ivy eating with a big fork at the restaurant for dinner. She was so proud of herself.

Good and Bad week

2008-07-30T23:21:00.000-07:00

In the last week we went to the zoo with all the cousins and the Microsoft Company Picnic.

Here is a pic of the kids as the zoo.

Here are some great pictures of the MS Picnic....

Ivy's first airbrush tattoo. It is a green gecko.

Ivy's first face painting...

Playing with bubbles

Her flower balloon

And best of all her first pony ride...

She was so excited when "Toro" started to move. Check out her face :)

The good and bad news is that on Saturday we found out for sure that I was pregnant. The sad thing is that on Monday I started bleeding and I lost the baby. I was 6 weeks along. :(

Edmonds Beach

2008-07-14T22:40:00.000-07:00

Today Ivy and I went to Edmonds Beach. Thought you guys might like to see some pictures.

Happy Birthday Ivy and 4th of July

2008-07-10T21:03:00.000-07:00

On June 28th we celebrated Ivy's 2nd birthday. Her actually birthday is the 29th but Saturday's are better for parties because of church. The party started at 11am and ended around 2pm. We had lunch, time with friends in the pool, strawberry shortcake for dessert and presents. In the 3 hours Greg managed to take 616 pictures and the battery died on our camera before the party even ended. Needless to say he likes the 3 pictures per second. :) It was alot of pictures to sort threw though. I am still not done but I thought you guys would like to see some of the cute ones.

4th of July
Sam, Dorothy, Pat, Robin, Gail, Corey, Adrienne, Me, Greg, Steve, Jess and all 4 of the cousins went to the Bothell 4th of July Parade. I think all the kids had a great time and got overly stimulated. :)

Ivy and Daddy

Ivy and PJ up high to see the parade

Ivy, PJ and Aliyah all on shoulders :) (PJ looks like he is going to jump off Jessica's shoulders to get to the truck)

Ivy Clapping

PJ Clapping

Just resting on daddy :)

Ivy's first "boyfriend"

2008-07-10T16:28:00.000-07:00

Ivy and our friends son Austin seem to play together quite well. We would even go as far as to say he is her first "boyfriend". Of course we as parents laugh, joke and dream about the possibility that they will get married some day. What a story that would be to say they were in love from the age of 1. :) Until the next boy comes along I guess.

They hug, he shares his goldfish, apples, any snack really...but he doesn't share "her portion" with anyone else. Grrr to the other kids. :)

Here are some pictures of the two of them.

Here they are walking together and he is again sharing food with her at the zoo.

Greg back from China

2008-06-26T21:41:00.001-07:00

Greg is back from China. His trip was good and uneventful as far as the earthquakes and bomb threats. Praise God.

Saturday we are having Ivy's 2nd birthday party and later that evening we are going out to Benihana's for my 31st birthday. I know, one week early but it was the only time we could get a baby sitter. :)

I will post pictures from her birthday next week.

Oh and some sad news...the panda that you see in the picture with Greg, died in the earthquake :( She was 9 years old and her name was Mao Mao.

China

2008-06-16T22:52:00.000-07:00

Well...Greg is back in China again. He left on Friday and will return home on Saturday June 21st. This time it is more stressful as the area that he is going is the same that had the earthquakes, after-shocks and flooding. So far he says things are good and look about the same so he doesn't feel unsafe which is great. We just pray for a safe return home and hopefully not another trip for a while. :)

Holding her first baby

2008-05-20T14:20:00.000-07:00

Ameris Rayne Rood was born on May 13th. This is the fourth child of our friend's the Rood's. We went to visit them on the 15th to bring cookies and Ivy got to play with her friend Alexandra who is 2 months younger and hold Ameris who was 2 days old at the time. It was very sweet. :)

The Zoo

2008-05-16T13:54:00.001-07:00

Ivy, PJ, Jess and I went to the zoo this morning. We had a great time with the kids. PJ was asleep in the car on the way home...and Ivy was asleep within minutes of laying in her crib. It was about 80 degrees and we left at about 1pm. Which is probably good cause around 2-3 is when it gets it's hottest here.

The last thing we saw was a free roaming Peacock. We parked the strollers about 3 feet away and watched the kids with faces of awe. Mouths open even :) Then the peacock charged towards us and the kids...I really shouldn't put the brakes on the stroller. (All is good he didn't charge far it just scared me) :)

Thought you might enjoy some pictures...

P.S. Aren't you excited I am blogging again? Our new camera is awesome so look forward to seeing more blogs from me often. :)

Pretending

2008-05-15T09:25:00.000-07:00

Ivy has started pretending this month. She gets a towel and wipes her bears nose or she hugs and kisses us, grabs her purse and phone and tell us she is going to work. :)

I took a picture of her yesterday and it looks like her hair is finally getting some curl in it. When I put it up in pigtails it doesn't just stick straight out.

(The sad thing of this picture is that her favorite movie "Cinderella" is broken. Can't figure out why it won't play. We have been trying to distract her with Ice Age 2 for now.)

Wow it's been a long time

2008-05-12T09:37:00.000-07:00

I am so sorry to everyone that I haven't blogged about Ivy and our family. I have quite a few excuses but I won't bore you with them. :)

Ok.....let's see....what have we done in the last few months?

Life was pretty crazy since November cause Ivy kept getting sick. We are all well now so spring is looking good. Ivy, PJ, Jessica and I went to the zoo. It was great fun. Sam and Dorothy Mulkey gave us a zoo membership, we look forward to using it all year. :)

Easter was fun. We have all the cousins together at Sam and Dorothy's house. The egg hunting didn't go over well but I still think it was fun. Here are some pictures of the day.

Greg went to China for a week for work (he will be going again probably in June). Here are some pictures of that trip. He went to a Panda reserve which are the cutest pictures I have ever seen. He brought Ivy back a stuffed Panda and we a hand painted scroll with two pandas on it.

A few weeks ago we went garage sale-ing and found Ivy her first rocking horse. It is very cute. She did have her first bandaid needing accident while we were out though. We took a picture to capture the occasion :)

I hope that you all are doing well. Please feel free to comment as I enjoy reading about what is going on with your life too.

Hello All

2008-01-23T15:37:00.000-08:00

From Thanksgiving through the holidays our family has been sick, and sick and then sick some more. Yuck!!! Looks like we are all on the mend so I thought I would give you a little update.

The Holidays were alot of fun with all the cousins together. Ivy is copying everything we say. (both good and bad) :) She is very good at saying her "Peas" and Ankuu"s. She likes to walk around and talk about her family members. She lists them and makes up new names for them. Right now Kya and Aliyah have become Kaliyah. And my favorite is Nonie and "Popup". She likes to look at their pictures in her book.

Here is a picture of her taking Greg and "Uncle" Rob for a walk down the hallway and back. We have learned we really need wider hallways. :)

Here is a picture of "PA" holding Ivy and Aliyah.

I really love comments so if there is anything you would like to know, have questions about or whatever, please leave a comment and I will respond. (It reminds me to blog more often)

Take Care

Wow it has been a month

2007-12-20T17:28:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it has been a month since I posted last. It has been crazy for sure. Thanksgiving was good but we all got sick from a virus afterwards. :( Greg then flew down to California and helped load the moving truck for Steve and Jess. He and Corey then helped drive them up....since they are moving back to Washington. It is great to have them home. PJ is growing so much and it is fun to see Ivy and him play. They are the same size :) They play well and every so often just give each other hugs.

Clinton threw our friend Andrea a surprise party for her birthday. We went out to Karaoke. Greg was up singing and it was so great, I was laughing and crying. He is so animated. :)

We went to Molbok's and had a friend take our Christmas card pictures on Dec. 15th. Ivy wouldn't seem to smile but you can still see how big she is getting.

I think I forgot to post Ivy's Halloween picture we had taken...

Ivy was sporting the Mars Hill shirt of our friend Kathy. I think she has some time to grow into it.

Tomorrow we are having Grandma Robin and Great Aunt Gail over with Steve, Jess and PJ Mulkey to have a little early family Christmas party. On Christmas morning we are going over to PA and Grandma Dorothy's house to celebrate with the rest of the family and have traditional Christmas morning breakfast. We will probably go home for Ivy's nap then come back to Christmas dinner.

We hope that you all are doing well and have a wonderful holiday season.

1 Peter 1:3-5
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

Ivy and dad

2007-11-22T12:53:00.000-08:00

Here is a picture of Ivy and Greg playing video games together. Greg gave Ivy her own controller while he was playing.:)

Cuteness

2007-11-12T21:50:00.000-08:00

I took some pictures of Ivy with her Trogdor shirt from her "Uncle Los". In the first one she is signing Please for something. :) In the 2nd one she is talking.

Halloween and Updates

2007-11-11T20:24:00.000-08:00

I know I haven't updated in a while so I needed to get you all up to date. Halloween was great. Ivy was a Lady Bug. She went with Dorothy and Corey's family to Kya's school to go trick or treating while Greg and I took a night away at the Salish Lodge. He is now officially done with his crunch on the project Mass Effect. He has worked so vary hard that we both needed some relaxing time away...it was wonderful. Ivy and the girls had a great time at the school as well. Here are some pics of her in her costume before we took her to Dorothy.

Her hair is finally getting longer where it doesn't always stand straight up in the back but I needed to take a picture so you could see the resemblance to her ducky.

Her are her first pony tails that I made for her.

Playing

2007-09-24T20:43:00.000-07:00

At Aliyah and Kya's birthday I took a picture of Ivy with her Great Grandparents. She is so happy to see them. I am so glad when they come into town when she can see them as they live in Arizona and don't get to see her very often except via this blog.

Here are some pictures of her playing in a new outfit. She would climb onto her chair and sit and read a book. It was so cute.

More playing...

Here she is on daddy's shoulders for the first time.

Dad is home

2007-09-14T20:19:00.000-07:00

As many of you know Greg has been working crazy hours lately. He usually is getting home after midnight now. Some nights I can stay up, but most I am asleep. Today his boss sent out a mail that said everyone needed to leave by 5pm and go spend some time with their families. I was so excited. He was home for a real dinner and I even made dessert.

Here are some pictures of him and ivy playing on the computer. Greg was showing her this website which Ivy and I play on often. www.starfall.com

Training for Roller Coasters

2007-09-12T10:31:00.001-07:00

Our new fun game is to drive on the freeway going 60+ and roll all the windows down. The wind blowing in our faces and hair everywhere. (I have much more hair then Ivy so this isn't the fun part) I say....Weeeeeee, Then Ivy puts her hands in the air and says Weeeeeee. She waves her arms around, blinks alot cause of the wind and smiles from ear to ear. I wish I had a video I could share but remember I am driving and that would be unsafe. :)

Update

2007-09-11T14:51:00.000-07:00

Due to finances we will not be going to Bora Bora next year. :( But, we are thinking about going to Kauai....Has anyone ever gone? If so, I would love to talk to you about your trip. What did you like, where did you stay, what didn't you like....

On another note: Natasha Dulcinea Covi was born yesterday at 4:02am. She is 7lbs and 19.5 inches long. What a cutie. :) Here are some pictures of Ivy and I meeting her at the hospital.

What will they be scared of?

2007-09-07T15:31:00.000-07:00

Each child is different and at different times in their life they are scared of different things....

Ivy is not scared of the vacuum cleaner but scared of the electric screwdriver. She is also not scared of the lawn mower, as she sat happily and played for over an hour yesterday while I mowed the front and most of the back yard. But, I put on gardening gloves to move a few rocks and she had a melt down. Big alligator tears and all.

She always seems to amaze me at what she likes and doesn't like from day to day. :)

Ravioli

2007-09-07T00:18:00.000-07:00

Here are some cute pictures of today's lunch :)

Labor Day

2007-09-07T00:06:00.000-07:00

Greg is now working 7 days a week, 12+ hours each day. His drive to work is about 45 minutes each way so needless to say he is out of the house 14+ hours a day. Ivy still sleeps from 8pm till 8am. This being said Greg gets up and feeds her her morning bottle then walks out the door for work. It is the only time they get to see each other each day. This will last until October.

On Labor Day Greg took the day off so we spent it as a family. Most of the day was normal routine stuff but the last 3 hours we just played in the living room upstairs. She got all the daddy time she needed. She decided it was her new game to hold his finger and walk him around the house.

Down the hall

Back down the hall

In the dining room

In the kitchen

And it starts all over again.

It was the cutest thing I have ever seen. She really isn't interested in holding my finger for long. It is definitely a special father-daughter game she made up.

Later that evening after she was changed into her jammies and ready for bed...she had to play some more...

We went to the Fair

2007-09-07T00:01:00.000-07:00

I didn't take many picture but Ivy, Janice and Alexander went to the fair last week. Jance is due with their 2nd child on September 12th....walking at the fair didn't induce labor. :(

Anyways here are 2 picture of Ivy petting a horse. She wasn't scared at all. The horse was VERY tall. When he would raise his head, Ivy still wanted to pet him but it would have been right at his mouth. Horrible pictures of the horse getting spooked and bitting off Ivy's hand ran through my mind....so needless to say we waited till he lowered his head again. :)

Clarification

2007-08-28T18:17:00.000-07:00

I have had many family members ask me who "Uncle Los" is. Carlos is a good friend of ours who lives in Florida. We met him on the internet quite a few years ago and have become good friends. He has adopted Ivy as his niece. He is a wonderful guy and we sure do wish he would move out to Seattle.....(hint hint Carlos)

Here is a picture of him on the Star Wars website (he is in the picture on the bottom of the post on the right. He is the bald guy in the back row of the group picture.) http://www.starwars.com/community/news/family/news20070828.html

Hope this helps for those family members who were confused. :)

Our little R2-D2

2007-08-19T09:26:00.000-07:00

Ivy's Uncle Los sent her this outfit for her birthday. Is she not just the cutest little R2-D2 you have ever seen? (Look at the little chunky thighs :)

Is it ok to taste your lightsaber?

Forget the toys, she just likes to climb inside the box and then outside again.

Bora Bora

2007-08-07T21:30:00.001-07:00

As some of you may have noticed to the right there is a new website link. I have created a blog with some pictures from our trip to Bora Bora in 2005. We will be going again in August of 2008. Hard to believe considering our trip was such an adventure. :)

Wow she is amazing

2007-07-22T09:29:00.000-07:00

Ivy is a year and we are so excited at how happy of a baby she is. She has sure turned into a toddler for sure. Yesterday she pulled all of her toys out of her box and climbed into the box. It was so cute. She is walking, trying to run, talking and signing. We continue to teach her sign so that she can communicate with us those words she can not say yet.

Last night she spent her first night away. She stayed at Grandma and Grandpa Mulkey's house. Apparently she did very well and slept good all night. It was weird to not have her at home but we are excited that she did so well. She will be staying the whole weekend with them the last weekend in August while Greg and I attend PAX. Greg will be speaking on multiple panels and then when the weekend is over we have the annual "After PAX Taco's" at our home. Usually that brings 15-20 people excited for the World Famous Greg Tacos. We figure it is best for her to get used to staying there so for now, every Saturday night she will be sleeping at their home.

Today we have church at 5pm at Mars Hill where she will move up to the toddler room for child care because she is walking so well now. It is so amazing to watch her grow. We are excited for the possibility of another child in years to come.

Speaking of that many people are asking us about our "plan".... We will be going back to BoraBora in August of 2008. There, or just after we will be trying for a little brother or sister for Ivy. If I get pregnant as fast as before this means that in May of 2009 we should have another little one. (God willing of course)

For those of you who are out of town and many who are out of the country we hope that you enjoy this blog where you can watch her grow from afar.

May God bless your families,
Stephanie

What a crazy week!!!

2007-07-09T13:31:00.000-07:00

Well we have had a crazy week for sure. Ivy turned 1 on June 29th and I turned 30 on July 6th. We celebrated both our birthdays at St. Edward Park on June 30th. It was a gorgeous day and we all had a great time. Ivy's god-parents Steve and Jessica Mulkey were in town for a week. It was great cause we all got to spend time with them and their son PJ who is 6 months younger then Ivy. They live in California so we don't get to see them much. We really enjoyed our time with all of them and for Ivy and PJ to get to know each other a little. Since they are cousins and all. :)

This week was also the 4th of July. Ivy had a hard time getting to sleep in a strange place but once she did....she didn't have any problem sleeping through the fireworks. Praise God!!!

Here are some pictures from her birthday...

Here is Ivy and PJ playing on a blanket under an umbrella.

Here is the best family picture we could seem to come up with :(

Here is the picture of the family women and children
(not sure why we didn't do a mens picture)

Here is when the long awaited cake experience began....

Ohhhh there it goes on the ground :)

"All Done" she says in sign language

Sorry it took me so long to get the pictures up but I had about 650 to go through. I hope you all enjoy the pictures....and I hope this week isn't so crazy :)

Friends

2007-06-27T14:46:00.000-07:00

Ivy, Aliyah and Kya have been seeing alot of each other lately. Ivy and Aliyah love to play together. It is so cute. Even though they are 3 months apart Aliyah is slightly larger then Ivy. I hear that children their age don't really play with other kids....not these 2. They follow each other around and play with toys together.

Here is a picture of Aliyah enjoying the wind from our ionizer.

It's hard to get them to all stay in the same place at the same time. :)

Biter Biscuits

2007-06-19T11:25:00.000-07:00

Ivy was able to try biter biscuits for the first time yesterday....She loved them as you can see. The picture does not do the experience justice. She had it in her hair, ears, on her face, all over her cloths and on the floor. It too two trips to the sink to rinse our the wash cloth when cleaning her up. Really she should have just had a bath but we were walking out the door 5 minutes later. :)

Update

2007-06-10T21:15:00.000-07:00

This week Ivy started signing "All Done" and she started clapping. She will clap if you say "Clap" or if you say "Good Girl". Oh what a heart warming sight it is.

First Dentist Apt and EXCITING NEWS!!

2007-06-04T13:31:00.001-07:00

Today Ivy had her first dentist apt. She now has 2 top and 2 bottom teeth. One of the top teeth came in first so it is more grown in then the other. We aren't sure if she chipped it or it was just sharp from the get go. It was so painful to nurse that we had the dentist grind it down a bit on the chipped side. It isn't as straight as it was but it isn't permanent.

Oh and for those of you who haven't heard yet......

Ivy has taken her first steps. On her 11th month birthday she took her first steps. She isn't all that interested in walking as her primary form of transportation yet but I predict that when you see her at her birthday she will be walking well. :)

Fun in the Sun

2007-05-21T09:07:00.000-07:00

Ivy and I had some friends over the other day for a play date. It was warm so we set the sprinkler up in the back yard. It was new to all the kids so it wasn't a big hit yet....but I assume that next time everyone will be running through at full speed. Here are some of the pictures I took of Ivy while she was sitting, watching the fun.

Sometime I krinkle my nose when I smile :)

Oh look food.....

Ok how do I get this open?

Case or Food?

Case

I wonder if these come in different flavors?

Mother's Day

2007-05-17T11:32:00.000-07:00

Here are 2 pictures of Ivy and Aliyah playing on Mother's Day.

(Ivy may become a hair dresser) or a drummer we aren't sure yet :)

Daddy and me

2007-05-09T15:11:00.000-07:00

Here is just a picture of Greg and Ivy sitting in the big chair.

I took Ivy to the doctors for just a weight and measurement check this week. She is 16lbs 8.5 oz. and is 26.5 inches long. This puts her in the 5% for weight and the 10% for height. But is this really a surprise with the women in my family. We are all shorter then 5' 6".

She is now standing by herself. I predict she will be walking well by her birthday party in June. (not sure if that is exciting or scarey)

Daddy are you in here?

2007-04-30T07:54:00.000-07:00

Ivy has to stand on her tippy toes to look inside our master bathtub. Greg says it is the cutest thing cause all you can see from the other side is her little fingers and her eyes trying to see over the edge.

2007-04-30T07:50:00.000-07:00

First we learned to stand....

Now we learn to play Guitar Hero :)

Hee Hee....I am watching daddy play on the big screen.

St. Patrick's Day

2007-04-17T09:21:00.000-07:00

I know that St. Patrick's Day was last month but I thought I would post a picture from that night. We went to our friend's the Covi's home with Richard Harleman and James and Kathy Harleman. It was a fun night. Janice served Guinness Stew and Guinness Bread and Xander (2 yrs old) and Ivy played.

Tights are too big

2007-04-14T13:13:00.000-07:00

This morning I went to put Ivy in a dress but I realized that her tights were in the wash. Those tights are size 0-6 months so I thought she could move up to the 6-18 month size since she is 9.5 months now. Here are 2 pictures to show how large they are. I don't think she will be wearing them until she is well over a year. :)

Mind you tights stretch, and these are right out of the package, not streched at all. Can you imagine how long they would be if I stretched them?

Update

2007-04-12T17:29:00.000-07:00

Many things have happened since I last posted. Ivy is now saying Baby and Bee. That makes 3 words and they are start with B. Not sure why :)

Easter was last Sunday. Her cousin PJ gave her an Easter dress and Grandma Dorothy also gave her an Easter dress.....I couldn't decide which one for her to wear cause they were both so cute so she wore one for half the day and the other for the other half. We are very thankful for the gifts that she received :)

Here are her 2 dresses...

Here she is standing with her pushing cart. She will be running and pushing so soon.

Pictures

2007-04-05T16:27:00.000-07:00

Here she is getting into trouble.

Here she is playing with the cat.

Here she is playing with dad. But it sure is hard to see when he puts his cap on her head. :)

New tricks

2007-03-29T09:23:00.000-07:00

Well Ivy is now beginning to "Cruise". This means walk from one piece of furniture to the next, holding on the whole time. Yesterday she let go for 2-3 secords and just stood there. It was quite shocking to both me and Janet, who had come over to visit.

She practiced saying Bye Bye for a few days and has stopped now. She will wave of course if you say it. I think she is trying to hide her abilty to talk from Greg. :) She of course doesn't preform on command, so Greg has yet to hear her say it.

Greg is currently working swing shift and is now working 6 days a week. Starting in April he will be working 7 days a week and probably 18+ hour days. His project at work ships (hopefully) on May 8th. Please pray that Ivy and I will have strength and good spirits while he is working hard to provide for us. Please pray that the Lord will give Greg the strength to complete this task without getting burnt out or mentally drained.

I would like to thank you all for your prayers in advance.

We always look forward to your comments as well.

Ivy's First Words

2007-03-22T08:30:00.000-07:00

Ivy's first words come with a hand motion too. As of yesterday March 21st she is waving and saying......Bye Bye.

My new dress

2007-03-19T16:59:00.000-07:00

Today I am going to a party so I get to wear my new dress. I don't even mind the hat too much.

I do like to crinkle my nose when I smile as you can see.

Here I am watching myself wave to see exactly what my hand is doing. :)

The newest cousin comes to town.

2007-03-12T11:47:00.000-07:00

PJ was born on December 23rd in California. He and his mother Jessica flew up this week so we could all see him. Here are some of the pictures of the day.

From left to right it is... PJ, Kya (3 yrs old), Ivy and Aliyah (5 mo. old) These are all the grandchildren. 3 born in 2006.

Here is a picture of all 3 mothers with their babies and Kya is sitting on Auntie Stephanie's feet :)

Here is a picture of Grandma Robin and her first two grandchildren born 6 months apart.

She did it

2007-03-05T18:56:00.000-08:00

Ivy has officially pulled herself up to her feet by herself. She isn't so graceful on getting down yet but give her 2 days and she will figure it out.

We are looking forward to meeting and spending time with PJ this week. He is flying into town on Wednesday and we get to see him Thursday. We are excited about seeing Antie Jess but are sad that Uncle Steve isn't able to come too. (If you don't know who they are click the Mulkey Family link to the right and you can meet the newest member of our family.

Waving & Prickles

2007-02-26T12:53:00.000-08:00

Ivy has figured out how to wave. We don't think she does it at people as a sign of hello or goodbye, YET. She has just figured out how to move your hand and arm that way.

This is Ivy's exersaucer. She sits in a daily. As you can see the toys that aren't attached get shoved all around her middle when she is done with them. Right now she has 2 blocks and a stuffed animal named "Prickles". Usually they will fall out the leg holes eventually. The hedgehog tends to stay though. Not enough room for him. But atleast he is soft.

She is funny. When you put "Prickles" on her head she squints her eyes, opens her mouth and moves her head from side to side until he falls off. Then if he falls in front of her where she can get him, she pushes him towards her tummy and laughs. Then we start all over. :)

Update

2007-02-24T19:12:00.000-08:00

On February 11th Ivy started crawling. Since then she of course has gotten better and better. (and Faster and Faster) As of today she is now crawling, transferring from crawling to sitting, transferring from sitting to crawling and pulling herself up to her knees. Wow I can't believe how quickly the transformation can happen.

Hope you all are doing well!!!

Look I have 2 whole teeth

2007-02-22T15:16:00.000-08:00

I also like to splash in the tub, as you can see from the water on my face.

Special Play Area

2007-02-16T22:36:00.000-08:00

When mom is mopping the floors Ivy gets a special play area. :)

Happy Valentine's Day

2007-02-14T09:43:00.000-08:00

Crawling

2007-02-12T08:03:00.000-08:00

Mark your calendars everyone cause yesterday was the day. 2-11-2007 was the day that Ivy started crawling. Now she most definately has not mastered the art yet but she is a movin. She crawls in 3 different ways.

1. Like at catapillar. She gets on her knees, then makes her legs straight so she looks like a mountain, then usually falls on her face.

2. She pulls herself forward on the carpet. Almost like the military crawl.

3. She is trying to crawls on her knees like the traditional version of crawling.....she has one pesky leg that isn't coroporating. She should master that leg soon.

Hope you all are doing well. :)

Update

2007-02-09T08:58:00.000-08:00

She rolls everywhere......

She rocks in place......
But she isn't crawling yet. She does seem to push herself backwards though. :)

Bouncer

2007-02-06T09:52:00.000-08:00

Today I put Ivy in her bouncer for the first time. She sure is wobbly on those legs of hers. :) But she does like it. She has explored all the hooks and straps, feeding tray and of course her ability to spin around in all directions. By exploring I mean tasteing and touching of course.

This was the best picture I could take as each time I snap the shot she turned at the last second.

Party

2007-02-06T09:28:00.000-08:00

On Saturday night we had a "Hello" and "Goodbye" party for The Peterson's. John (Jack) Clinton Peterson was born 5 weeks early to many peoples surprise. This was the first time we could all get together to see him. Oh my goodness what a cutie.
Tomorrow morning early Clinton Peterson will head back to South Korea. He is in the army helping to defend our country. We thank both him and all the military personnel who work hard and diligently in protecting our country.
This is a picture of Ivy, Elliot and Gabe who were all playing together.

Weekend Snow Trip

2007-01-25T13:52:00.000-08:00

Last weekend Ivy, Greg and I went to the mountains. We stayed in a condo with a few other couples. Greg was one of the Seed team members who won the condo in a Skiforall competition last season. http://www.skiforall.org/ as many of you know I do not like snow. I don't like driving in it or being in it. Everyone was very proud of me as I am trying to conquer that fear. :)

This is a picture of our family standing next to a snowdrift just outside the garage of the building. I think it is 2.5 Greg's high. (Greg isn't sure he is comfortable with the idea of being a form of measurement) :)

This is a picture of Ivy in a baby toboggan. A nice gentleman at the condo let us use them for a little bit. It was very hard to pull her in it because your feet would fall a good 12-18 inches down when walking. So trying to run was challenging. Ivy didn't mind though.

This is a picture of Ivy buried in the snow. I couldn't help it....she was so cute.

I look forward to taking her up next year or maybe even later this season. Hopefully she will love the snow as much as Greg does. We are going to try to teach her to snowboard when she is 4 or 5.

Learning new things

2007-01-16T10:27:00.000-08:00

It is snowing again today.....

so we thought we would teach her how to use a keyboard. :)

6 months apt

2007-01-15T12:46:00.000-08:00

Today I took Ivy to her 6 month doctors apt. She is actually 6.5 months but we are a couple weeks behind on our schedule. She is officially 14lbs 15oz. and 25 inches long. That makes her a little small but if she keeps to her pattern she will be about my height. 5.5. She is doing well and the doctor has no worries.

The big news is.....Her first 2 bottom teeth are breaking through. They are not fully in but you can see the tips of the teeth through the skin.

She enjoys talking for hours. So much even that she wakes up at 2 am and can talk until 4 when she eats.

We hope that you all are doing well. I look forward to reading your comments. I hope this blog is helpful for you to enjoy watching Ivy grow as we get to.

Attached is a picture of her getting ready to eat in her high chair for the first time. So far she has had rice cereal, oatmeal cereal, peas, carrots and green beans. I think next we will try sweet potatoes.

I like Carrots

2007-01-10T18:19:00.000-08:00

Apparently so far Ivy is a fan of carrots more then peas. :)

She also enjoys holding on to her socks.

My First Tattoo Shop

2007-01-08T08:28:00.000-08:00

Greg, Ivy and I went to Lucky Devil (www.luckydeviltattooparlor.com) yesterday to talk to Greg's tattoo artist, Rev. Eric Eye. Greg has 3 tattoos on his back. He is going to turn them into a full back piece by adding more work. We went to the shop to look at the sketch and discuss our time frame and game plan. Here is a picture of Ivy at the shop.

Just a heads up to everyone that she is almost on the move. She has been getting on her knees and rocking for the last 3 days. I am sure that crawling is just around the corner.

Doggie

2007-01-06T17:34:00.000-08:00

What a happy girl with her new doggie. :)

Thanksgiving and Christmas

2007-01-02T10:08:00.001-08:00

For Thanksgiving Greg and I went to California for a memorial service for his grandmother and we went to see my brother and sister in law since we were in town. It was an interesting trip for sure. Ivy was able to see bunnies and horses for the first time, we went to the beach for the first time and unfortunately we had a family outing to the emergency room for me in the middle of the night. (I was sick with a terrible virus) All is better now and I am glad to be home.

Christmas was good. Quiet, which was nice compared to our Thanksgiving adventure. Ivy received a Sing and Go Choo Choo which we have spent lots of time playing with.

She is now able to sit up for 15-20 minutes usually. That is as long as a cat doesn't walk by. Then it's usually falling over and trying to get the cat. She isn't crawling yet but she will be soon. She can roll over, coo, talk, giggle, and sit up. She has learned how to move around the room using her skills of wiggling and rolling over.

Some of her best laughter is when Greg throws her in the air or "chews" on her tummy. We could listen to that happy sound 24 hours a day.

Here are two pictures of us at our formal event that we throw at our home each year. We call it the "Hoity Toity" party. This year was our 6th year. We started it for our group of friends we have known for years but only get to see maybe a few times a year if that.