Our New House

The stress level in our house is slowly working to a boil. I have 7 weeks to go and in 4 we are moving to a new house. (Keep in mind last pregnancy I went 2 weeks early). Everyone is excited, especially Mea (Her rooms is great and already painted pink with butterflies). But, the plan, or lack of planning is starting to make us nervous. I hate asking for help, and that attitude is just not going to work this time around. So knowing that I will have to swallow my pride, I am sure that everything will work out.

Prego!

Last week This week Okay, so I realize that I am pregnant but looking at the pics this week I realized how pregnant I am looking. Here's a shot of last week compared to this week. Jaden is getting bigger!

New Mexico Trip

Fancy Nancy, Mea's favorite cow. Eating snow. Mea riding Dobber. She was really brave and hopped right on. Yummy...hot chocolate and "marshpillows". Family pic. Mea had just fallen off the sled so she was a bit grumpy. Charlie Brown snowman. The bull got him shortly after this picture. Snow angel. Sledding fun! We just got home from a fun/action packed trip to New Mexico. Everyone had a lot of fun and I think Jared really enjoyed being back home. Mea has decided that she is a princess cow girl. She was really brave and rode on a mule, pet "her" cows, and played in the snow. It was really nice to see everyone and relax.

Christmas at the Deckers

After a month of celebrating what I call "Christmas/Hanukkah" we finally had Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. First, I should explain "Christmas/Hanukkah"- as long as Mea was good every day, Santa left something in her stocking every night. I had never heard of such a thing, and I thought it was a lot like Hanukkah. One morning Mea was being especially naughty not wanting to get ready to go to day care and I told her by the count of three if she didn't start getting dressed Santa wasn't coming... "ONE... Mea, I'm not playing around... TWO... Mea don't make me do this! THREE... Fine Mea, Santa isn't coming." I few minutes later I went in to talk to her to tell her she could fix her problem (i.e. repent) and Santa could still come. She sobbed, "I'm neeever on the naughty list... " She is so funny sometimes. She always tries to be a good girl even if she struggles sometimes! Another day after seeing what Santa had brought her she exclaimed, "Santa REALLY knows me!" Christmas Eve Mea was at her dad's house and Santa visited her there. Sounds like she was a good girl because Santa brought her lots of presents. Mary and I spent the evening at Mary's parents house. We had a nice conversation as always. Christmas day was the best! Mea was so happy to see her three princess Barbies with sparkly dresses, a sparkly grey skirt and pink shirt with bow. She also got loose panties in her stocking. She got lots of toys and clothes from Mary and I. Mary is a great bargain shopper! I got Mea Play-dough. Mary got her a Magna-Doodle, a Fancy Nancy purse and pajamas. We played with toys in the morning and in the afternoon went to Mary's parents house. We made a beautiful gingerbread house.

We don't have any pictures, because I had to run to the store on Christmas Eve to get a disposable camera.

Mary is feeling better now with the pregnancy. The morning sickness has pretty much subsided, but now she is constantly uncomfortable no matter what position she is in. No fun! School is going well- she is a great teacher. It has been interesting to me to see the behind-the-scenes workings of an elementery school. Makes me grateful for good teachers and makes me wonder how to get rid of or fix the bad ones! (Sorry for getting opinionated!) The majority of Mary's blood flow has been to the baby in her belly. This means her brain has not been getting as much blood as necessary. This leds to some very entertaining ditzy moments! You have to watch that she doesn't wander off... Mea is doing well. She is really growing. She is a lot more slender than she used to be. She has a great sense of humor and loves to tease. Call her a tomato sometime and see what happens! I am very busy with work. I am speaking at a science meeting in San Diego on January 13th. It is really exciting to be speaking at a major scientific meeting less than two years into my PhD, but it is a little stressful at the same time. I have lots of work to do and I want to make sure I don't embarass myself. I am excited to go to New Mexico in January and see my family. I am looking forward to meeting my new sister-in-law and further explaining to her how to manage living with my brother! I can't wait to see the cows, I miss not being around them. Hope you all had a Merry Christmas and wish you all the best in the New Year! Jared Decker and family

Boy oh Boy!

We went for our ultrasound yesterday. It was very neat to see the healthy baby. The whole appointment he was curled into a ball. Knees to nose, feet above his head. With a little work they told us the news...It's a BOY! While I was excited and Jared was excited. Mea is going to take some time to completely warm up to the idea. She was a little sad, but after I told her she would be the only princess in the house, she perked up a little. I think she is happy to be a sister, and was excited to see the baby. A part of me was sad for her too, but then I got to thinking about the having one beautiful girl and one handsome boy at home. Finally the rational part of me kicked in and I have decided she's 3, she'll get over it. On the way to school, Mea asked me if next time I could have a girl....uggg...everyone is thinking that there may be a next time but me!!! Just kidding....kind-of!

Where has the time Gone???

After a month of not posting, I fell really bad and need to let everyone in on what is going on. Sorry for the long post and the many pictures. Most of the people who read this blog know at least some of what is going on, but I still fell the need to re-live the last month. For Mea: The month has been a lot of fun. She has enjoyed playing dress up on a regular basis (nightly). She love Halloween and was both Snow White and Ariel. Mea is very helpful and it has been amazing how much her personality has blossomed over the last month. My mouse is quite the trickster and loves to tease everyone. She is also repeating the phrases that I have been using since her birth and they are coming back to bite me. For instance, we were all in the living room. Mea was dressed up and I began laughing at her outfit. Her reply to me was "Mom, it is not a big deal...I'm fixing it." It was very funny. She has enjoyed going to the pumpkin patch 5 times. Mrs. McCoy decided she was her best customer. She also went to a cow show in KC, to see Grandma and Grandpa Decker. Mea is going to be a cow girl, I am nearly positive. She wanted to be right in the middle of the action.There was also a petting zoo there which was a fun. Other than that, the only other thing she talks about is her soon to be brother or sister. Well, for Mea the only option is sister. She has talked about throwing a boy away, giving to her Aunt Erin or dressing and treating it like a girl. We find out the sex Thursday, hopefully she will be okay with either, otherwise the dr. might hear about it. For Jared: The cow show was his highlight. Jared even got to show one of the cows, and did a lot of work getting them all ready. I think that he enjoyed working with the animals again. Jared also got to go camping with the boyscouts. He was stinky when he came home, but seemed to enjoy himself. A lot of his time is spent on the computer working on school/work stuff. Jared is excited about the baby and laughs at Mea's insistence that it is a girl. We will see! Masterpiece pumpkin. For Me: October was fun. I enjoyed the cow show...shocking I know. I even touched the cows without making a face, wore boots the whole weekend, and learned a lot about what makes a good cow good. Physically, I am feeling a lot better. Most of the morning sickness is gone, and I am just constantly dealing with heartburn. I'm not sure which is worse. I had a seizure scare earlier in October, but have made some decisions about what to do and am feeling pretty good about the situation. I have to laugh at the random ailments I deal with while pregnant! It makes me want to adopt any more babies, but I have not convinced Jared on this. **Look for an update after Thursday- hopefully we will have a baby update!

A movie

Princess Mea thinks she is a movie star, so we made another movie last night. This is the edited version. She jabbered to the computer for a good 5 mins. The first part is to Grandma Margie and papa...then wait for the last part. It is what Papa England sees from the stand at church every other Sunday. Our conversation after the movie ended "Mea, what does that sign mean?" Me to Mea "He'll know what it means" "What does it mean?" Me to Mea "It's a secret!"