Kite Flying

This has been a while, but I decided the pictures were too cute not to post. Mea enjoyed kite flying even though she only stayed interested for about 10 mins. Then it was on to the swing. Also, I have a little artist on my hands. Mea was so proud of her picture of a mermaid she let us take a picture. I am so impressed with her abilities. She loves to draw and write. She score in the 5 year old range for some of her writing skills in her pre-k screening. Pretty impressive. Now if only I could get those gross motor skills up. She inherited her mom's grace ;-)!

Mea Auck as John McCain

This is the picture I took of Mea that reminded me of a John McCain ad. Notice the far off look in her eye as if she is looking for someone to come in and swoop her from her nursing home room. I added the link to compare pics to to John's ad is on the bottom of the post, just in case you have forgotten the look. http://politicalchase.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/john-mccain-ad-422.jpg

Birthday

It was my birthday not that long ago. I am reminded of how lucky I am. I have a fantastic husband. I laugh and say that Jared is making me soft, but I really appreciate being babied at times. Mea is great. She is so much fun. Right now attitude streams out at times, she is funny and most of the time happy. I work hard at a job that I love. My extended family is wonderfully supportive. So, I am a blessed, old (my students think) lady!

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