Catching Up....

Wow, I've been a blog slacker for the month of May! It is actually a little past 11 p.m., and I'm sitting at work-willing the clock to move a little faster to the glorious end of my shift at midnight. I will post some recent pictures soon but for now, here's a little catching up on us....
ABBY: Most days with her are so, so fun. She talks in these full-blown sentences and comprehends things that shocks me. Some of her fun sayings...
1. She will call Jason... "Jason." I'm sure she's heard it from me but at least twice a day we'll hear, "Jason, where are you?" or "Jason, what are you doing?" It makes me giggle but he gives her the "I'm Daddy" talk.
2. Again, more mimicing....when she drops something or something doesn't go her way...we hear "Ah, Man!" or "Gosh!" Not really a fan of "Gosh!" but the "Ah Man!" one makes us chuckle.
3. I was in TJMaxx looking for bedding for her new twin bed. They had a twin bed set up with all the works....sheets, comforter, quilt, pillows, etc. It was like a shabby chic kind of decor-nothing kiddy about it. But she saw it and went (verbatim), "My bed! My favorite bed! I love it!" Quite a girly moment with exclamations in her voice and the hands on her cheeks.
She is also really into trying out the manipulating thing. She'll come up to one of us and give us lots of hugs and kisses and smiles...then go "Watch TB (TV) Mommy?" Most of the time, she'll get a no and the poochy lip comes out immediately. Then she'll try it on Jason thinking she'll get a different answer this time. We've had many talks that Mommy and Daddy are on the same page.
Also the kid has an amazing memory. We could go somewhere, do something, talk about an event, and days/weeks later she brings it up like the conversation just happened. And PTL, the kid is completely potty-trained (except for sleeping).
JASON: My hard-working husband. He's doing great with his sales job with BG. And I've been putting him to work lately-getting ready for the baby. We worked hard on Monday (Memorial Day) taking apart the "office" (our 3rd bedroom) and setting it up as Abby's big sister room-twin bed and all. I had planned on her staying in her room, but the way the hallway is set up, getting her new dresser in the original room would be a lot of work...so we now have the other room as her big sister room. We're not 100% ready yet but she'll go in there and do this excited sigh and say, "My room! My bed!" (very cute). Anyway-back to Jason. He's been doing WW on his own and has lost about 12 pounds. So proud of him....I don't have to get after him at all about writing down his points, measuring stuff out-he's totally on top of it. He's definitely taken advantage of the Subway footlongs for $5. He'll eat 1/2 and bring home the other half for me to take for lunch when I'm working. Jason also decided to not play softball with our church this summer. With me working two evenings a week, and a new baby coming, he wanted to take a break and spend more time at home.

JENN: Well, me and the baby have a little less than 8 weeks to go before he enters the world. I'm scheduled to have a c-section on July 21st. Yes, I'm choosing to have another c-section for several reasons... I recovered quite well from my c-section with Abby; somehow abdominal surgery doesn't scare me as much as natural delivery; we're probably done after this so why mess up both places; the whole major risk of uterine rupture with VBACs; etc, etc. This pregnancy has been different than with Abigail. I felt like a big ol' marshmallow when I was pregnant with her....just big and fluffy all over. With him, I haven't really changed at all except I look like I have a big basketball under my shirt. I have strangers coming up to me in the supermarket and telling me I'm having a boy just by the way I'm carrying him. Lately, he's been sticking his butt out which is to the upper left of my stomach. It almost lurches me forward and feels like the skin is going to break open and his butt is going to break through. A litle uncomfortable but better than Abby's feet in my left ribs last time I did this. I'm still working 24 hours a week...I'm hoping to go up until the Friday before he comes. But we'll see what happens....if he comes early-I don't think I'd be too surprised. He's quite a mover and shaker in there.

FUNNY STORY: A couple of weekends ago, I found this great deal on craigslist for an Ikea dresser with matching nightstand for Abby's room. So I convinced Jason I was saving up big bucks (which I was) and we headed off to New Haven to pick it up. A girl from Yale was graduating from their law school and this was exactly what I wanted for Abby's room. Well, we decided to take Gpa/Gma Chiodo's 10+ year old minivan to pick it up. (They leave it here while they are down in Florida). Jason's parents are in Israel visiting Jen...so we load Abby up in the far back of the van with the middle row of seats gone. On the way there, she was like "Where are you?!?" "I can't see you!" But she did great. We get the dresser loaded up and one side of the doors to the van won't close. So we do the Chiodo thing and bungee cord the door to the van and take off home very slowly. We had to load Abby up first cause we couldn't get her in after the dresser was loaded. Then we pulled a smart one and when we loaded the dresser, we had all the drawers (8 of them) facing the back of the van. So, here we go, like the Beverly Hillbillies, driving down the highway, one side of the van open, Abby in the very back strapped into her carseat, and any acceleration or deceleration made all 8 drawers fly out of the dresser and head right towards Abby. They stayed in the dresser slots but flew out and then closed based on Jason's driving. So our dear daughter was saying "Windy!" "Whoa! (dresser drawers)" "Where are you??!" on the way home. Then she chilled out and decided all she really cared about was "French Fries! French Fries!" We talked and reassured her plenty on the way home and she was really content to just kicking at the dresser drawers and letting the wind blow those curls. I told Jason, most kids would be screaming in terror at this very odd situation, but it was just a fun adventure for her. We had a good laugh about it when we got home. Those Chiodos!
Okay-I've typed enough I think. Are you still reading?!? I will post pictures soon, I promise. Love, Jenn

Easter Pictures

Here's a few pictures of Abby in her cute sailor outfit for Easter. After church, we went to Jason's parents house and had dinner and an Easter egg hunt. Abigail, Miriam, and Anabel all loved it. So much so that we hid them again and had an encore egg hunt.

Abby's First Haircut

Yes, yes, the kid is 2 1/2 years old and never had a haircut! How the heck do you cut a big red curly afro? Her hair is actually pretty long...like halfway down her back. But regardless of its length, it just gets curlier. But I had noticed it was getting a little on the crazy side, even when fixed. By "fixed" I mean you have to wet it completely, brush it, and then put some mousse in it....looks great, especially if Jason does it. It's his hair so he's awesome at fixing it.
Okay-all this to say-I took her to this cute kiddy place called "SnipSnaps". They had toys and a train table for them to play with while you waited. The little boy ahead of her was hysterical. Crying and screaming bloody murder. Abby's eyes were huge watching him. But when it came to her turn, she got to sit in the yellow taxi and did wonderful. She was very serious the whole time and didn't move a muscle. And after a trim and some shaping, the frizzies are much better.

Go Fly a Kite

Last week I bought a cheap kite for Abby. She was so excited about it and wanted to fly it immediately! I told her we needed Daddy in order to fly it (cause, lordy, I haven't flown a kite in ages!). So when Jason got home we went to the elementary school nearby and had a ball. The $1 kite actually worked quite well, and Abby LOVED chasing after it. Good thing she was preoccupied with that and not paying attention to the fact that her mom and dad didn't have a clue what they were doing. We managed to get it up in the air a few times really well. Oh, how she giggled! And Jason and I had quite a few laughs too. Mostly at us but also seeing how excited she was. I have a feeling we'll be doing this a lot on these windy spring days.

Six Years Ago...

Yesterday was our 6th wedding anniversary. I know I'm going to blink one day and we'll be hitting the 10 year mark, then the 20, etc. It really does go by fast! I have to say that Jason is the best thing that ever happened to me in my life. It's so nice to look at your life and push aside all the retarded decisions I've made, bad relationships I've gotten myself into, and tough moments that I've had, and know that I actually did something right. He is my something right.
Last night we went out for dinner at the Outback (thanks Jeff for the giftcard) and we were talking about us getting together, our relationship, our life now, etc. We got to the part about "bones we had with each other" (you know-those little irritating moments). I had three for him...very small ones...like how he's a zombie in the morning and I feel like I have a big kid and a little kid to get ready. (By the way, he totally agreed with all three). When it was his turn, he sat there and said, "Are you kidding me? I don't have any bones about you!" And he seriously didn't. I pointed out a few of my very obvious flaws to him to help get him started, but he just didn't have any. I think that's the nicest thing anyone (hasn't) said about me!
In the movie Juno, the girl Juno was talking to her dad about her love troubles. And this was her dad's reply which I think sums it all up:

In my opinion, the best thing you can do is find a
person who loves you for exactly what you are. Good
mood, bad mood, ugly, pretty, handsome, what have you,
the right person will still think the sun shines out
your ass. That's the kind of person that's worth
sticking with.

So we had a simple date last night...dinner at the Outback and a rare movie at the theater. (Vantage Point....very exciting movie). We stopped at a photo booth and took our picture. Very cheesy I know but that's just who we are.

A Three Spanker Day

A note from Abby....
Today I got three spankings. All for very good reasons of course. Somedays I'm an angel and don't get in trouble at all. I think I just store up all my mischief and have it all explode in one day. Today when Daddy got home, Mom said, "Honey, it's been one of those days."
Let's see...the day started off good. I got up at 5:45 a.m. which I thought was pretty darn close to this 6 # that mom and dad keep trying to tell me about. Dad took me down for breakfast since mom worked last night and was very tired. After breakfast, I got to watch Monkey George and Clifford. I even went peepee in the potty. Then mom and I took a short drive and for some reason I decided to pee a big one in my carseat even though I had big girl panties on. Mom wasn't too happy about that, but she kept her cool.
After I got cleaned up, Mom made me my favorite-mac 'n cheese for lunch. The phone rang and while mom was chatting, I decided to grab lots of handfuls of dirt from mom's plant and throw it everywhere by the front door and living room. I got a very stern "ABIGAIL ELIZABETH", lots of "BIG NO NO's" and a spanking. Mom was definitely not too happy about that. Then when Mom asked me to pick up my markers (cause I had just thrown them all over the floor), I yelled back at her. Got another spanking when I didn't shape up and have an attitude adjustment.
But then, whew, I got a good little nap in and woke up much better. Had a snack, put together lots of puzzles, read books with Mom, watched the rain outside, and played and played some more. After awhile, I asked Mommy to make me some "ha chaca" (hot chocolate). She made me some and even put marshmallows in it (yummy!). Mommy sat with me and helped me have a few sips like a big girl. But I accidentally spilled most of it all over the dining table. Mommy was nice about it-even when she was on her hands and knees cause it was dripping on the rug through the divider crack in the table. She just reminded me that I have to be more careful next time.
Then Daddy got home and Mommy had this yummy meal of smoked sausage with red beans and rice. We sat down, prayed, and then I decided to be a (what do they call it?)"toot" again. I thought I should give Daddy a taste of what I've put Mom through today. I had what they called a temper tantrum...you know- throwing lettuce, not eating my dinner, spitting my milk out. Daddy gave me a spanking then after I threw lettuce not once, but twice. So off I went to get a bath. After my bath, I decided I didn't want to go to bed hungry so I happily came downstairs and ate the yummy dinner that my mom made for me. It was delicious...don't know what I was thinking earlier. Then I had some playtime with Daddy before I headed off to bed. So there you have it...a glimpse of my growing pains. Maybe tomorrow I'll be an angel again for Mom. I think she had it a little rough today.

The "Man Child"

Don't have a scanner so here's a picture of the ultrasound picture. We're halfway there and had our big anatomy scan yesterday. He's still a boy....had to check again just to make sure. Every piece of him looks perfect. He's sucking his thumb in case you can't tell....