Update

Hi girls! Just a quick update on life in Steph's world:

The countdown is upon us - 47 days until the wedding. AH! Things were coming together pretty smoothly until last week. Shawn's Grandma has been suffering with cancer for a while, but doing really well. She seemed fine until one day she just couldn't get out of bed. After that, things progressed pretty quickly. In two weeks, she went from being almost normal, to being bed-ridden and unconscious. So, we went to Chickasha to visit - thinking it would be just a little birthday party (Grandpa turned 86) but it ended up that she passed away about 12 hours after we arrived. No one was really thinking she would go that quickly. Shawn is extremely close to his grandparents so he's taking this pretty hard. He hasn't let too much out yet, but I know it's coming. We are leaving to go back to Chickasha tonight for the funeral tomorrow morning. It's really hard for us to focus on anything wedding-oriented right now, but there is still so much to do. SO, that being said - any prayers are much appreciated. I think this weekend will be good - I have two showers to get me back in wedding mode.

Most of you know Jacqueline is getting married in New Hampshire in a less than three weeks as well, and her father passed away in late April. Well, she ended up in the hospital late last week with appendicitis (sp?) and had her appendix out. 3 weeks before her wedding!

Ok, so other than that, I am SOOOO excited to see all you guys and to have a great time at the wedding. Just so you know - you're all invited to the rehearsal dinner on Friday night at 6:30. I'll get you more info as it comes in. Oh, and make sure to reserve hotel rooms ASAP so we can see if we need to block more. All that info is on the website : www.rohdeandcobb.weddings.com

As for your stories about bad gifts...I can't think of any, but yours made me laugh so hard in my quiet little office, that I almost had to leave.

Julie - I am going to try to make it to Lilah's dedication on Sunday - Shawn said he wanted to come as well, so we'll try to be there! I can't wait to see you!

As for everyone else - I miss you dearly! I love you, too! Keep writing - even though I don't write a lot, I still check it everyday to see what's going on with you guys! Love you!

big underpants

Hey girls! I don't have much to say. Other than having a baby, there's not anything new happening in my life. Lilah is good and pretty much just sleeps and eats all the time. She seems to be hungriest at night. I'm very tired. Oh, so very tired. Seth is good. He doesn't care at all about the new baby. He pretty much just thinks she's a nuisance. The only real interaction he tends to have with her is when she is in her bouncy seat. Seth is not allowed to play in the bouncy seat anymore. So anytime Lilah is in it, he squats down in front of her and hits her on the head and says, "no, no, no." He doesn't seem to understand why she's allowed to sit in the bouncy seat and he's not. He's very confused. Seth has also hit a new stage of terror. He is becoming a horribly unpleasant child. I feel bad saying it, but I rarely enjoy my son these days. I love him more than life itself, but I don't really enjoy his company these days. He is barrelling into the terrible twos and it's driving me crazy. Temper tantrums, whining all the time, rebellion and defiance. We have started spanking a little bit for certain things that Seth knows are wrong. He promptly responds by hitting us back and telling us "no, no, no." He does the same thing anytime we touch the oven or the dog bowl or anything else that he is not allowed to touch. Needless to say, I'm not completely sure spanking is going to be our most effective method of punishment. Although timeouts are equally ineffective as we have to hold Seth on our laps for timeouts because he's too young to understand sitting on a chair and he really does just love to cuddle. Anyways, enough of all that. I'm just praying Seth is going through a normal phase and that he hasn't actually been possessed by a demon. In response to Jen's post about wierd gifts... Josh gave me a pair of giant granny panties and a box of Raisinettes for my birthday 2 years ago. I still don't get it... but I just smiled and said thank you because he clearly thought it was hilarious. Well, I'd better go. Josh and I are having a date night tonight because his mom has Seth. Yippee! Love you girls!
By the way, Kim, if you do fly in for Steph's bridal shower, Lilah is being dedicated at church the next day (Oct. 1) and her baby shower is going to be after church that day around like 2pm just in case you can hang around in Tulsa that day. Just thought you'd want to know. Steph, you'll be getting an invite this week sometime.

You can say that again

Normally I would succumb to that old cliché, “It’s the thought that counts”. But what exactly was the thought there? Strange…very strange. But at least it wasn’t an embarrassing gift – unless you and Chris have abnormally oily hair or something… which I’ve never noticed, so I think we can rule that idea out.
Still, even that isn’t as embarrassing as having YOUR OWN MOTHER hand you a gift bag with a bottle of KY Jelly inside. Oh, there were other things inside, too…boring, mundane things like lip gloss and hand lotion.
I won’t even go into the conversation that surrounded that little exchange. Let’s just say I try not to think about it…ever.

To be honest, things have been a bit tumultuous with us lately. Between this whole issue of getting pregnant (or not getting pregnant, I should say) and our job stresses, other family issues, and now our ever-present houseguests, Adam and I were both feeling a little claustrophobic. But life being as it is, we hadn’t really gotten to talk lately…so things escalated over the weekend. Let me just say it all started with my ordering the wrong kind of pizza. Yeah, I know – it is the same as my attempting to murder his best friend.
Luckily, we were able to work it out before things got too ugly. Of course, having this be my not-so-favorite time of the month doesn’t help my emotional stability. At all. But I am blessed with a husband who enjoys working out our issues. We both can get pretty emotional…and, well, bitchy. It seems that the weaknesses we see in ourselves are the things we have issues with in each other. So, on that note, I have been looking for some good books on communication in marriage – anyone have any suggestions?

I’m so glad you posted, Jen. I’m bored at work and trying to stay motivated to make it until 5:00. Not that I really have any other choice…well, besides self-inflicted stapler wounds – which would probably get me excused from work…but also checked into a mental hospital.

Love you and miss you all so much! (Julie, I've been thinking of you! I'll try to give you call sometime soon! Steph, I'm a horrible person and haven't been to the post office yet. But I promise I will go today or tomorrow...or the next day.)

odd gifts

So yesterday Chris and I are at our nephew's (Landon) birthday party. He's 3 now. My sister-in-law gave Chris and I our birthday gifts as they are coming up soon. It was a box with a card. I'm not even going to mention how the card was made out just to Chirs, because indeed his birthday this year is much more special than mine (he'll be 30!) so i'll let that slide. But I will mention to you what was inside the box... Shampoo and Conditioner. I'll just let you sit on that for a minute... ... ... SHAMPOO AND CONDITIONER!!!! Chris (straightfaced) says, "oh, shampoo...". At this point, we're both thinking there may be something else inside the boxes of shampoo and conditioner as many people reuse boxes, right?! But no, there's shampoo and conditioner bottles in the boxes. And my sister-in-law says "sorry, it's practical!"
OK, so Chris and I stuff our gift in my purse so no one else will make a strange/rude comment (or indeed say exactly what's on our mind). When we leave the party and settle in the car, we both look at each other and just bust out laughing. We laugh most of the 2 hour drive home. Who buys someone shampoo for their joint birthday gift!?
To top things off, the shampoo is stinky!!!
So, this brings up a discussion i think we should have some fun with... what's the strangest gift you've ever gotten? And while you're writing that post, go ahead and fill us in on what else is up with your life!

Nothing New - well let's see...

Ok... So like I said, nothing new here. I don't even know why I'm blogging cause I really don't know what to write.
I'm currently at my mom's house cause I had to help her with an invitation. Well, let me tell you, I love when my mom wants me to come over on Saturdays... You see, Saturday is my laundry day and today happens to be 2 weeks worth of laundry day cause last weekend Joe & Ryan (Aaron's brother) were in town and I had to entertain them on Saturday so the laundry did not get done. Ok, back to my point. While doing laundry at my house, it takes me all day to get 4-5 loads done, but when I come to my mother's house, I get so much more done in less time. She has a magnificent dryer that spits the loads out in under 45 minutes. Just one of the perks of owning a brand new house I guess. So yea... All that to say I love to do laundry at my mom's. The little things in life.
Ok... So a little more about last weekend with the boys. One of these days I'm going to invite all of you girls down for a weekend and see how Aaron likes it. I'm tired of only having boys to visit. Last weekend was suppose to be a weekend with boys AND girls, but the girls bailed on me and once again I was stuck with the boys... Help! Somehow, I did have fun. Not sure how that happened. But I was also ready for them to leave. It's hard being the only girl cause you end up being the only one conscious of the fact that the house is getting dirty. On another note... It is hard to have anyone here over the weekends cause it invades on Aaron and I's time to be together. When you have a husband that works almost every night of the week, you begin to cherish the weekend time that you get to spend together and despise anyone that would try and infringe on that time. Ok... So it's not that bad, unless of course it happends weekend after weekend and then all of a sudden you are without time together at all.
So is anyone else looking forward to Steph's wedding? I'm so excited.
I guess Julie is in the hospital today birthing the first of the Sapphire's next generation... How exciting... Can't wait to see pictures.
Umm... Guess that's about it. Just one more thing... I know I don't write that often, but I do check it almost everyday. I love to see what is going on in your lives and I'm so glad I have friends like you all. Can't wait to see you in November!

Promotion

Hey gals. I was reading the blog yesterday wishing i had something to write about and realized i forgot to tell you about my promotion! My new position of Funding Manager started on Monday the 4th. It's a glorified title if you ask me... i didn't even get a manager's parking spot, but I'm ok with that :) It's a salary position which is a big blessing for Chris and I. Nice to know i can go to the dentist and not loose 2 hours of pay, ya know?
So other than that, I guess Chris and I are going through some other changes right now too... we had our last small group gathering at our home a week ago. This fall we are joining a young married small group and won't be leading at all. I've also joined the women's ministry and will be an apprentice leader for a table group. Chris has joined the set up team for sunday mornings. And starting at Christmas time, I hope to have the choir on a schedule at 6 weeks between performances!
My parents are in some sort of arguement with my oldest step brother's family. please pray for that situation. Meanwhile, they are considering more and more to move closer to us so I've been busy scoping out homes :)
oh, and I have recently started a blog for Chris and I. I basically put the same info on it as i do here, but if you ever want to check it out, i do have some cute pictures on it... chrisandjenakers@blogspot.com
I'm anxious to hear about our first second generation Sapphire, Julie!!

baby update

Hey girls! Just wanted to fill you in on the latest with baby #2. I had a doctors appointment yesterday and everything looks good. My doctor thinks I'm getting pretty big and I'm full-term now, so he has decided to induce me on Saturday, September 9th. He also did something at my appointment that has a good chance of inducing labor naturally. So I really could go at any time. Anyways, that's the update. Hope you all are doing well. We'll keep you posted when the baby arrives. Love you all! =)