Showering babies, Zohntastic style

People amaze me. It’s definitely a testament to the depths of human compassion that makes a celebration like a baby shower possible. Last Saturday, we experienced love from family and friends, manifested all at once, hopes, and best wishes, dedicated to the yet born. Jenifer's sister Melissa (as well as the rest of our family members) did a great job of putting everything together, a lovely historic punch recipe from the hearts and creative minds of the Ross family. A gooey bake-a-thon from Chloe, Brooks, Molly and Emery. Gifts, decorations, well wishes and welcome advice from loved ones, some new, some from what seems like forever ago. Preconceptions I had held about what this "girly" celebration called a baby shower lasted about five minutes, and quickly was replaced by the comfort and encouragement that only those closest to you can provide. Thank you immeasurably to anyone and everyone who was involved. 


-Jeremy

P.S. On a personal note, it was suggested and I fully endorse the idea of a "man shower", scratch that, a dad~dude celebration of impending parenthood. I wonder what that might be like?

P.P.S. Photos to follow. We just discovered our memory card reader is broken.

Sappy love stuff

Hi everybody I'm Jeremy.

"Hi Jeremy."

Id like to welcome anyone reading this to my first BLOG POST woowoo! I was shamed into contributing to this discourse on our trials and tribulations by my miss Jen.

I have held off of participation because:

1. Jen is really good at writing.

and

2. I wasn't really sure what I could offer about us that she can't share in a far more eloquent, organized, and beautiful way.

Upon reflection I decided that befitting the holiday today I'd tell a little (or maybe alot) of my side of how we got here and maybe figure out where it leads.

Love.

Since this is about us, and it's Valentines day, I better start with that.

I know that when I met this quiet, seemingly shy (you guys have no idea) smart and oh so nice to look at person, it was like a napalm bomb. Not in a sexy way, although not in a not sexy way, its better to describe it like if all the beauty, adventure, schemes, and dreams I could of ever imagined in life were doubled, or quadrupled (what an awesome word) and then strapped onto an enormous solid fuel rocket and then if all of that was taped to a rollercoaster with wings.

And us with the matches.

Many of you have been a witness in some part to these proceedings or participated in them and I am glad for that. Without our friends, our family, or our silly beloved dogs I'm sure we never wouldv'e been able to hold it together. It has been Awesome.

And now........

First comes love

then comes marriage

then you wake up with a tattoo on your face under a table in a bar in Sri Lanka.

Babies! Babies? ieeeeees!

Whats a baby carriage?

How do you do this?

Over the top!

Two!

Two?

Two.

Holy crap! How in the world could things get better?

Sons,

two sons.

Love

Love Letter

To the man that stole my heart when I wasn't even looking...

The one who tells me I'm beautiful every day, rubs my back when I'm tired, and holds me when I cry...

The one who knows me better than I know myself, always lifts me up, and makes me forget my sorrows....

My partner in crime, my confidante, and my best friend...

You rock my world :)

Love,

The girl you fell in love with almost 7 years ago

Of ultrasounds and baby hearts...

As some of you may know, Jeremy and I received some interesting news last month. We are finally ready to share our story with the world...

On January 5th I had my 20 week ultrasound. Jeremy was out of town for work, so I decided to invite my sisters and my mom to tag along with me, hoping they could witness the epic boxing match in my belly :)

We were all excited as we walked back to the exam room. The ultrasound tech slathered my belly with that cold, sticky goo and went to town. Boy were they kicking! And yes, they were still boys (I was hoping for at least one girl) :)

Everything was going great...until the tech got to baby b's heart. She started talking with the specialist that was present, using all kinds of technical terms. I had

no idea what was going on, but had a feeling that it wasn't good. They spent a lot of time looking at his heart. Eventually I couldn't hold it in any longer and started crying. They finished shortly after and we were all invited into the specialist's office.

I don't remember much of what happened after that, just that I was crying, that I thought my baby was going to die, and that they thought he had something called Transposition of the Great Arteries. They also told me that if he did have this condition, we would have to deliver in Seattle or Spokane so he could immediately have open heart surgery to correct the issue. He wanted to see us in 4 weeks for another ultrasound before referring us to a cardiologist, just to get a better look at his heart. I relied mostly on my mom to repeat everything to me later, after I had calmed down a bit. I'm so glad she was there.

After our appointment, I had to call Jeremy and try to explain to him what was going on, though I didn't quite understand it myself. He wouldn't be home for another three weeks. I think the hardest part was knowing I had to wait to see him, hug him, and cry with him.

I'm not gonna lie, the past month has not been pretty. We have spent most of our time researching, crying, and praying our butts off. We prayed (and continue to pray) that God will heal our baby's heart so that he doesn't have to have his little body cut open (although now that we've had another ultrasound since then, it looks like this will have to happen), and that Jeremy and I will have the strength to deal with whatever gets thrown in our paths.

At first we were really scared, but the more we researched, the more we learned that his condition is very treatable, the operation has a 95-98% success rate, and as long as he gets through the surgery will be able to lead an active, "normal" life (what is normal anyway?). Don't get me wrong, it is going to be hard, but knowing that there are other kids and adults who have gone through this and live happy, healthy lives is very reassuring. Besides, if he is anything like us, he won't go down without a fight :)

So world, this is what we've been up to lately. If you are a friend or family member and are reading this, please don't be offended that we haven't told you or been hanging around much lately. We are just trying to figure out what is in store for us, and will be ready to venture out into the world again shortly :)

xoxo

Jen + Jeremy

(print below by LittleBeanPrints)

The Baby Mobile has arrived!

Thanks to Jeremy, the Baby Mobile has arrived!!!!

As soon as the doctor told us we were having twins, one of the first things we said to each other (besides "holy c$@*!") was "we need a bigger car." There was NO WAY the wonder twins and their entourage of equipment (car seats, double stroller, etc) would fit in our 2001 VW beetle. We have been searching the ends of the earth (ok maybe just the pacific northwest) for a decent car that would fit all of us comfortably ever since. A few days ago we found that vehicle...

Meet our new ride, a 2004 Saturn Vue with 50k miles. I see a lot of spit up and poopy diapers in this car's future...

A special thanks to my uncle Paul, who scoped this car out for us, as it was located in Idaho Falls. An even bigger thank you to my husband, who endured a 20 HOUR GREYHOUND RIDE (complete with vagabonds, a 5 hour layover in Butte Montana, and a 500 pound gentleman that decided to sleep in the aisle and FART on Jeremy the entire trip) to pick up our baby mobile. You truly are my hero <3

Now, what should we name this bad boy?

Greetings Earthlings....

Well hello friends and family, welcome to our new blog! Jeremy and I have been wanting to start a blog about the comings and goings of our life for a while now, and are finally getting around to it.

For those of you that don't know, here is what's been going on in our neck of the woods in the last 8 or 9 months:

In April, the landlords of the building we were renting for the salon/studio informed us they were moving back from Portland and wanted to use their space for their art studio again. In a matter of days, Jeremy also got a call from a friend offering him a contract job in welding that we couldn't refuse, so instead of relocating the business, we decided to close the salon so Jeremy could pursue welding.

The contract job Jeremy was doing ended in late July, and about a month later was offered a job in Walla Walla welding sculptures. It sounded right up his alley, so we packed our things and headed further into wine country.

The day after the move, I decided to take a pregnancy test. Those two lines appeared almost immediately! We were/are ecstatic and immediately began planning where the nursery would be in our new Walla Walla home.

The excitement of what was to come soon gave way to vomit. Lots of vomit. And exhaustion. I remember texting my friend Sara at that point "remind me never to get pregnant again." Little did we know there was a reason I was sooooo sick.

Fast forward to mid-November. Jeremy got laid off and soon we were headed back to the tri-cities (a blessing in disguise). Thank God for understanding landlords. Because we were waiting for health insurance to kick in from this job, we still had not been to the doctor. Fortunately I was able to get a job almost immediately in town and we would soon have health insurance as of Dec 1. We were so excited to see our baby via ultrasound! That month seemed to go on forever.

FINALLY, December 7th rolled around, the day of our ultrasound and first doctor visit. Boy were we in for a shock. Turns out, there was not one but TWO babies!!!! Later that day the doctor told me that was probably the reason I was so sick early on. Apparently making two babies at the same time is hard work on your body :)

So that sums up our crazy lives over the past few months. We plan to post our adventures as often as we can so stay tuned!

xoxo

Jen+Jeremy