sorry

temporarily out of order:

Because

1-I have a newborn that eats at a 24 hour diner
2- We are getting ready to move. This weekend and surrounding days if you want to come help.
3-We have family in town and the blog has taken a back seat with my priorities.

Things are good, Amelia's going through her first growth spurt (as an oxygen-breathing baby). Conrad really loves Amelia. Josh is spackling, sanding and painting. Ali is filling in as needed.

Yum

We have had some excellent dinners brought to our home this past week! We have been living in the lap of luxury as far as dinners go. Josh thinks we should have lots of kids just so we get all these delicious dinners for a few nights. I told him I would think about it. :S

Tonight we celebrated Amelia's birthday with a birthday cake brought in by Emily B., isn't that a cute idea? She brought us a yummy dinner of Mostaccioli and brought along a yummy miniature cake! So, now that we've celebrated Amelia's birthday we can celebrate Josh's!!! His birthday (on the 19th) was sorely neglected this year. He did, however, get a new precious bundle of joy- even with a bow on her head.

Enjoy this video of Conrad eating the cake!

Chick Magnet

Look at these cute little girls! Josh is their favorite, can you tell? I think he's a little overwhelmed by all the estrogen!!! Every time we go outside these girls and other little kids love to play with him. I think Josh misses his nieces and nephews, so he has fun playing tag and whatever with them.
I don't blame these girls, I think Josh is pretty cute!

Happy belated

To Josh! I missed posting a blog to him, but I really wanted to at least mention that I love him and I hope we can celebrate your birthday sometime soon!
This is Conrad and Josh, just a glimpse at what a loving father he is! I love you Josh, I hope your birthday gets recognized like it should!

Pictures of Amelia, 6 days old

Casual Update

Life here at the Shepherds is going rather well! ...Now that I am through with engorgement and the nursing thing is pretty well established!
I am holding Conrad right now so this is going to be a quick post. He is pointing at all the colors guessing what they are.
Little Amelia is an angel, as long as I feed her and burp her! She is sleeping all the time, making funny noises, and pooping. Last night was the best night with her so far, she only woke up once (3:30 am) so I got some recuperating sleep last night!
I took pictures of her last night so I will post them as soon as I have the ambition to wait for Blogger.

I really wanted to thank all of you for your words of congratulations and beautiful-ness!

She IS beautiful! Josh and I are so proud of ourselves ;)

Our house is a mess because we are just loving this time of sitting and holding her and doing nothing... except Josh has been so good to entertain Conrad. Conrad is doing Ok. He had a fever the day we brought her home from the hospital, and since then has been a little grumpy. We don't know what he had, some viral thing again... so anyway my point was I don't know if he is grumpy because of lack of Mom time, or because he has been feeling a bit yucky.
We are REALLY looking forward to seeing Grandma and Grandpa (grammy and grampy) Shepherd. Scott and Cindy will be here Saturday, and I just can't wait to show off our beautiful little girl!

I'm Home!

Amelia and I came home today! Things are going really well. Amelia is such a good eater that I already am having to restrict my diet from things like beans and broccoli! I learned that lesson last night and this morning when Amelia cried in pain for a couple of hours after she ate. Other than that she has the same temperament as Conrad. She is for certain a better eater than Conrad! My milk has already come in (and with Conrad it wasn't until the 4th night in). So, I am very thankful for that! I guess this little girl has got to keep up her figure! This picture above is from when she was getting her bath. I have to document and get a picture of the length of her hair! My family gets so proud when babies have hair. I am just glad that the heartburn paid off. (you know the old wives tale, "if you have heartburn, your baby will have hair!")
Here we are in our normal citizen clothes, on our way home! Yay!

I feel great, actually. Even after deliverin a 9 lb'er. I will post more in the future, I just want to go sleep now!

Amelia Jane Shepherd

Ali is probably going to be mad that I have been doing all the posting on HER blog, but I couldn't resist!!

Amelia Jane Shepherd was born May 15th at 12:24 PM weighing in at a whopping 9 lbs 5 ozs and measuring 20 inches long. She is the most content little angel child and Ali really has enjoyed the one-on-one time she has had with her at the hospital! She, like her older brother, is very mellow and has no disposition for the whole "crying" thing. Conrad has yet to truly understand what this new baby means for him, but tomorrow he will get a taste when baby and mommy come home!!

Our New 9 lbs 5 oz Bundle of Joy

Ali asked that I grace her blog with my presence....or rather with our daughter's, so here she is!!!!

39 weeks

Here I am tonight! The night before the big day! I know these are cheesy, but I really wanted to take pictures. Since I can't be in Utah surrounded by family I thought I would take pictures so y'all could get a good look at me. Just so you know, I did get bigger this time around than I did with Conrad. I have more stretch marks to prove it!

So excited!
p.s. I asked Josh to post the pictures from the hospital tomorrow night when he gets home onto my blog. So, hopefully he is able to! I can't wait!

The Kangaroo Hop

We went to Penguin Park again today (Yes, I had enough ambition to do it), and Conrad is shown here copying a Kangaroo. We love this park! Poor guy fell off the picnic table bench though, flat on his back and head onto cobblestone rock, I hope he doesn't get/have a concussion. So far he's acting normal!

I hope you enjoy my sweet Mr. D!

Dr. Checkup Results

Another bummer. My post title should be "Bummer, part 2"... but it's not bad enough to be the official title. I can handle it.

They are keeping my scheduled induction for this Thursday (versus the highly hoped for Tuesday). So, in the meantime I am just going to have to be uncomfortable! But, at least I will get to go to bed and not stay up all night with a crying newborn just yet. A part of me is kind of glad that it's not until Thursday. I would regret having her induced too early if something bad did happen. A different part of me is nervous I'm going to have to have a c-section- the part where she could possibly be 9 1/2 lbs! We'll see!

The best Mother's Day ever!

Sorry, I didn't take pictures- I'm busy growing a 1 month old!

BUT, I really wanted to share with you my wonderful Mother's Day. It actually started yesterday, because Josh was soo excited to give me my gift, and I couldn't turn down the offer to have my gift a day early.

First, he arranged a little bouquet for me- all by himself. I really should take a picture of it. Perhaps I will, and I'll add the photo into this post later. I told him I've changed my mind about flowers, that I really do like them. So, I made a special request for flowers this year. And not your typical roses and baby's breath. I wanted something different than the traditional bouquet. I don't know what kind of flowers they are, perhaps daisies and lilies? (And some baby's breath!) It looks soo pretty!

Last year for Mother's Day I said that I didn't want anything. But, I told him that we needed a diaper pail or maybe how about a kitchenaid. I got a diaper pail, and I cried. So, this year I got the ...
KITCHENAID! Yipee! Now I can make my big batch of rolls without smelling the motor on my handmixer burning up!

I am going to stop there, because little baby girl is forcing me to sit sideways because she is pushing on my rib. I need to go lie down!

ETA: my flower picture!

AND, I failed to mention that Josh made me breakfast: waffles and eggs (for lunch after our 9 am church), and even the dinner: Chicken Enchiladas and Spanish Rice. He even did the dishes!!! Thanks, Josh! You are the greatest!

Good for him

Josh is mostly DONE with the school year!!! Yipeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He does have 1 more test, a week from this Monday, but it is just a pass/fail test, and he is not very worried about it. And then the next day he has a "patient interview" where he mock-interview's a patient and figures out what is wrong with them. Nothing big, he's done great with his previous ones. SO, he finally gets a break! Today he took a nap, and he just left to go hit a bucket of balls. He's decided he wants to get into golfing. That can be one of his "outs" for the next few years when he's crazy busy and needs to escape with something fun to do.
So, I say, "Good for you, Josh!"

Bummer...

Long story made short: I am 99% sure that I am not going to be induced this Monday.

Long story explained:
I got a phone call yesterday from the Dr.'s office to cancel my appointment for today. Ya know, the appointment with the substitute midwife because my Dr. is away on a service mission to Peru for this whole week. This midwife is also the same midwife that I started out with, but changed because she canceled on me 4 or 5 times, and so I would end up seeing Dr. Stacey Wilson. She is great. I am glad I changed. The midwife was really nice, too, but I just got tired of being canceled on!!! The reasons for her cancellations were because she was sick with the flu or other good reasons. But, still... argh.
The midwife I had made my appt. with for today had a good excuse, her mother is being taken off life support.
Yes, that is a very very very good excuse, but I am still going to complain!!! I am ready to have a baby and nobody at the office could at least check me today. And the other Dr. there would not schedule to induce me until next Thursday. Because:
You know those circular calendar's in each patient room that the Dr. looks at to figure out when baby is due? Well, they can be 1 day off. So, according to the one this other Dr. looked at I am due on May 22nd (not the 21st), with me being 39 weeks this next Thursday. Another Argh. On my chart Dr. Wilson (my regular Dr.) said to induce at 39 weeks. She didn't write down our conversation where she said it would be OK to induce me 2 days earlier than right at 39 weeks. (Which would have been this Monday). So, add 3 days to my prior expectation and also realize that the reason Monday would have been soo great was so that Josh could be home ALL next week to take care of Conrad while I healed and rested.
So, anyway, the other Dr. (Dr. Bohon) went ahead and kept the induction appointment for next Thursday (I guess the hospital fills up pretty fast) and I went ahead and made an appointment with Dr. Wilson for this Monday at 10 am for another check up. I am not expecting her to say, "Oh, let's just go over to the hospital and induce you now," because that will just be awful to expect that and not get it. I am seriously hoping she'll say, "Let's go ahead and schedule to induce you tomorrow, Tuesday, and we'll see you in the morning!"
That would be the 13th of May. Yes, the 13th! I have a smile on my face, because Conrad was born on the 13th, too. I told Josh, "We'll have a couple of unlucky kids!!!" That's the Condie superstitious-ness coming out. Right, Grandma Woodbury?!?! Josh thinks it would be cool because then he could remember their birthdays! :) He is so funny.
So, in the meantime, bring on labor. I'm ready.
Good news: I got my hair done today. Nothing big and dramatic. (Actually, it turned out a lot less dramatic than I hoped for.) But, the ends are trimmed and my hair has some blond in it again. So, hopefully the ugly postpartum phase won't be as bad!

Copy-cat, part 2

My sister Jeni took this quiz, and she came up with the same result! As I was taking the quiz, I was honestly trying not to think like Jeni, and like myself! Personally, I think it's freakin' cool we're the same. Jeni is da bomb.


You Are Pocahantas!

Free-spirited and wise. You have a strong passionate spirit that touches and changes all who know you. The wisdom and common sense that you have is really what guides you through life. Even so, you also have a very playful side that loves adventure and excitement.
Which Disney Princess Are You?

ETA: I just read the comments on her blog and found that a lot of other cool girls are like Pocahontas, too. Way to go Kim the girl and Kalynne. We should make up a cool Pocahontas club.

Copy-cat

So, 2 of my blogging buddies (that I know about) have linked this video to their blog. I wanted to show all my family members (and friends) that don't get to experience Missouri weather what we experienced last Friday. I mentioned in my previous post, Updates, about how the power line and a tree connected and made a reaction similar to lightning. This link will show you exactly what happened right outside our townhomes:

Crazy footage of "lightning" striking

Can you see why we about pee'd our pants?!?!?

p.s. no baby still!

Baby Shower by Mail!

If you haven't read my post below, it explains my baby shower by mail! This week I got all of these goodies in the mail from my beloved sis-in-law Kim-the-girl.

She even included 2 shower games! One was "What's in a Name?" where family members suggested names and I had to figure out who said what. I think I got 2 out of like 15 right. The other "game" consisted of family members predictions on when the baby will be born and how big she will be.
I received an adorable frog blanket (ribbons and tags included---so cute!), some clothes for when she is bigger (yipee!), thank-you notes (homemade and very creative!), and she even MADE hair bows! They are adorable! If you click on the above picture you can see the hairbows nice and big. (ETA: I'm sorry, it won't let you click on that picture to blow it up, I really don't know why. The below picture lets you blow it up, but this one will not. Hmm, anyone know why?)

She is very creative, she's thinking of making an etsy shop. I totally support you with that Kim! Also in the package my Aunt Lora and cousins Katie and Kelly (and Katie's daughters) sent me a way cute outfit, also for when she is older. I also got some $$$ to put towards --- a double stroller! At least, that's what they were planning, but since I already have one I am going to put it towards other semi-big things I need. For example, I bought a changing pad and cover with some of the money yesterday. That is something I needed! I am so lucky to have Kim the girl in my family to make sure I feel loved even though I am a thousand miles from home. Thank you so much.

Here I am standing in front of my baby shower by mail, modeling my bump.Thank you so much!

Updates

Don't worry, no baby girl here yet. Though the doctor says I'm dilated in between a 2 and a 3, 50% effaced. She also said she would induce me on Monday the 12th!!! That is in 8 days!!!! It's not totally official, though. BECAUSE: We didn't schedule it, my next Dr.'s appointment isn't until Friday, and my appt. is not even with my normal doctor (Dr. Wilson) because she is going on a service mission to Peru this week. How cool for her! So, we'll see.
I have been pretty much a couch potato lately. If I could, I would sleep away the next 8 days. That is the only time I am free from pain.

Our ward got split 2 weeks ago, Josh got a new calling last week, and I got a new calling today. It was about time for Josh (he hasn't had one yet since we've lived here), and for me it was like they're just keeping a hold on me!! It's ok, though, I am really excited about this new calling.
Josh is 1st Counselor in Young Men's. I think there are actually about 6 priests, too. As opposed to our other ward there were maybe 2. I am the assistant compassionate service person. I don't know too much about that, but I am so excited to be able to serve those in need. I will also get to attend grown-up meetings now! I have been substitute teaching in Senior primary though last week and this week, and have LOVED it. I have gotten to really study certain Book of Mormon stories that I wasn't familiar with before. I am sad that I won't get to keep doing that. It was good motivation for me to really study the scriptures. I am going to have to just go and buy a Primary manual and study each story on my own.

Conrad is starting to put words together. He says, "take a bath," "sit down," "Daddy bye bye," "blue truck." In the last couple of days he's started taking an interest in colors. I think it stemmed from me being tired of repeating back to him in the car whenever he'd see a truck or a semi-truck or a car whatever it was that he'd see. I have started saying, "that's a red car, or that's a blue truck," or whatever. I'm not sure that he's really catching onto the color concept, or just repeating what we're saying. Because he's often times wrong! Who knows, it's good practice! He is also pretty excited about all of the baby stuff around our house. Hopefully he will still be once she's here!!!

Conrad also went to nursery last week and this week for the first times! Last week he was GREAT! He loved it, and had a hard time leaving. Today he had a hard time, though. It was probably just because the nursery was a little chaotic, and daddy just dropped him off and left. He eventually was able to be left alone so Josh could go to Young Mens (unfortunately he missed Gospel Doctrine). And when I picked him up he was in the arms of one of the nursery teachers. I personally think he was a little short on sleep (he took an hour to fall asleep last night--- never is he like that), so he was a little cranky.

I got the most awesome package in the mail this week. I got a "baby shower by mail," from my sister in law Kim the girl. Holy cow. That made my month!!! She organized it and collected gifts and money. She also put together a couple of games. One was "guess when and how big," where my family members put in predictions. The biggest baby on the list was 7 lbs 11 oz., so I think that one wins. Good job Jeni! Ha ha, we'll see in 8 days!!! (Hopefully!) Another game was "The Name Game." There was an envelope with a bunch of girl names on slips that had been suggested by family members. I had to guess who said which name. Out of about 15 names I think I got 2 right! Ha ha. I took pictures and even recorded a video of me being all excited, but I am not on the right computer to upload those pictures right now (and I'm going to delete the video b/c it's super dorky). If you would like to catch a glance at what Kim the girl MADE for me, follow THIS LINK. I will post pictures, just not right now!

We also had a tornado hit pretty close to home this week. It was super scary. I'm not sure exactly where it hit, but it was in the town right next to us. About 1 mile away.
We woke up in the middle of the night on Friday at 2 am with the wind HOWLING and rain POUNDING and lightning CRASHING. There had been tornado warnings in effect earlier in the evening, but not for our location. I was scared stiff so I made Josh get Conrad and we went downstairs to our basement and hung out for half an hour listening in to our radio. Right outside our townhouses a tree branch hit a power line, and if you've never witnessed what happens with that it was like lightning striking right outside our window. We about pee'd our pants! It did it 3 times around 2 am, and we didn't know what it was. I was so scared to put my feet on the floor unless I was sitting on a rubber chair. Around 2:30 am we went back to bed (and fell asleep forever later). At 7 am the power came back on. But then the tree on the branch short circuited again and exploded like it had in the middle of the night. That was our alarm to get out of bed and go see what was going on. A ton of neighbors were outside, and that was when we figured out what that big "lightning" explosion was. It was a pretty scary deal. It was motivation for me to get emergency supplies put together. I haven't done it yet though!!!

Anyway, life around here has been a little bit harder with Josh gone every night this past week (except Friday and Saturday) but then when he is home he is studying for his last big tests this next week. I have become a highly-respectable couch potato. Conrad and I have spent a few days hanging out reading books, doing puzzles. He is soo good he will let me lay on the couch while he plays with his toys. He's let me do that a couple of times. I am grateful the Lord blessed me with such an angel boy and an all-forgiving husband at times like this when I am struggling to even get ready for the day. I am anxious to deliver this baby so I can heal and be normal again!!! I miss me!