Introducing...

Introducing Eli Andrew Dougherty:

Born on his due date, December 28, weighing 7 lbs. 5 oz.

I've been a little busy with newborn things, so I will post details later. We are so thrilled to have this little angel come into our family that I at least had to tell you that he's here!

Who does that??

Joseph has been working in the oral surgery clinic at the dental school over the Christmas break. He called me at about 3:00 this afternoon and I got all excited thinking that he would be coming home early. No, that wasn't the case. He was calling to inform me that he had just had his wisdom teeth pulled. Excuse me? Say what?? Apparently, things had been really slow that afternoon, and the faculty on hand just casually asked if there were any students that needed to have any teeth pulled. One of Joseph's fellow classmates spoke up and said, "Well, yeah, Joe here has two wisdom teeth that need to come out." The oral surgeon looked at Joseph's x-rays, and right then it was decided that he would be the next patient.

Needless to say, I was pretty shocked when he called to tell me the news, and then he was confused as to why I wasn't thrilled about it. The only thing I could think was, Who in their right mind volunteers to have their wisdom teeth pulled out on a whim? He kept saying, "But Angela, it was free!" Yeah, I realize it was free, but I could go into labor any second here! The last thing I need is to have my water break while he's changing the gauze in his mouth from oral surgery!

He insists he's fine. I'm not so sure. It took me a while to recover from my own wisdom teeth extractions, but since he didn't have an IV or anything, just a few shots, he says it'll heal quickly. I guess I should trust him since he deals with this kind of stuff all the time. Let's hope!! If I wasn't so worried about going into labor right now, I'd think this whole thing was absolutely hilarious!

Here is my husband eating ice cream and putting ice on his cheeks. I almost feel sorry for him...

I can't like it

Jake is a funny kid. He thinks don't, won't, and can't all mean the same thing, so he simply says can't for everything. Lately, he's been telling us everything that he likes and doesn't (or can't) like. Unfortunately, one of those things that he "can't" like is going to the bathroom on the potty! I know I told you that I'd spare the potty talk, but I just can't (haha) anymore. We might as well all just admit that my life revolves around talking, thinking, and, yes, even dreaming about these bodily functions, and how to get my son to stop telling me that he "can't" like it.


Here's the deal: Jake is going to be three in March. And he has literally zero interest in going to the bathroom. We've tried the rewards system, treats, two different potties (including the one above that makes awesome car noises) pull-ups, and even threatening. There was one point where he went pretty consistently on the potty, and we would always give him a treat and lots of praise, but then he decided he was over it. He stopped wanting to go, and now every time I ask him if he wants to sit on the potty he says, in his sweet little innocent voice, "I can't go potty, mommy, I can't like it." No, Jake, you WON'T go potty. I know perfecty well that you can, you've done it plenty of times before.

So, mothers (or fathers, or grandmothers, or nanny, or whoever the heck did the potty training in the house), how did you do it?? What were the signs he/she was ready? Am I just making things worse by talking to him about it all the time? I need some help, because right now I just can't like this.

What I'm thankful for

We just got back from a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday in Michigan. My aunt Merilee hosted 25 of us in her beautiful home. I always love being with all my family, especially over Thanksgiving when my gratitude for them seems to increase tenfold. My camera was almost out of batteries over the whole break, but I was able to capture a little photo shoot with Jake and his cousin Isaac:

But my dad captured what was going on behind the scenes:

This was just a short example of what they were doing for a good 5 minutes. CHEESE! CHEESE! I'm grateful that Abby and I have boys that love each other and know how to take such great pictures together!

A timely winter story

I was asked to share this story with our church yesterday as a "caution" to all those who will be driving during this winter season. It got me thinking about how I had personally not documented it yet, and I realized that I needed to while the story was still fairly fresh in my mind. And so, readers, I issue this WARNING: This is a long story, and many of you have already heard it. In fact, it's really meant to be more for my own personal journaling than anything else, so I wanted to document all the details that I could remember. Don't say I didn't warn you.

This story takes place in Michigan while I was 8-months pregnant with Jake. There was a big snow storm coming in, and knowing that I had to make the 30 minute drive to pick up my husband from work and then drive an extra 20 minutes home, my boss let me leave early before things got too bad outside. I left with what I thought was plenty of time to "beat the storm." However, by the time I had driven onto the freeway, the sun had gone down, and the snow and ice was really coming on strong. To make matters worse, I had failed to take into consideration that in this kind of weather, a drive that would have normally taken me 30 minutes would now take at least an hour. Count that as mistake #1.

As I was driving on the freeway through this terrible storm, my windshield started to get the "perma-ice" on it, and I could hardly see a thing. I was being as careful as I could in our little green Chevy Malibu, when all of the sudden right in front of me a big mini-van spun out of control and almost hit me before it landed in the ditch. It was at that moment that I realized that no matter how careful I was being on the road, I couldn't control other cars, and that was putting me in very real danger. I said many silent prayers on my way to pick up Joseph, while the snow and ice just kept coming.

By now it was pitch black outside, except for all the white snow falling from the sky. I still could hardly see out of my windshield, and it was in this condition that I made mistake #2. You see, there were two ways to get to Joseph's work. One was to take the main road, the other was to take a back road that was usually faster. At this time, I was more paranoid about other cars on the road spinning out of control and hitting me than anything else, and I figured, hey, I'm in Michigan, we're used to snow-storms like this, no doubt this backroad will be plowed and I won't have to deal with so many other cars. So, in the moment of decision, I took the backroad.

As soon as I turned onto that road, I knew it was a huge mistake. There was literally a foot and a half of snow on the road, and the only way to get through it was to follow some tracks that had been made by another car that had gone before me. I couldn't turn around because I knew my little malibu wouldn't make it going through so much snow without getting stuck. The only way to go was forward. I thought that as long as I stayed within the bounds of the two tracks and I kept moving, I could eventually make it to Joseph.

The snow continued to come down hard, and I was moving along fine, albeit slowly. All of the sudden, there was a break in the tracks and my car got stuck in the now 2-feet deep snow. My pregnancy hormones started to kick into high gear and I called Joseph in hysterics. He calmly walked me through how to rock the car so I could get some traction on the tires and start moving again. After a few failed attempts, I finally got going, and I knew that if I could just somehow keep moving then I would be fine.

After traveling at 2 mph for about ten minutes minutes, the inevitable happened: I saw two red brake lights in front of me. As I reached the stopped car, I saw what had happened. A huge SUV had apparently started to go down this road, decided it wasn't a good idea, and tried to turn around. However, even this 4-wheel-drive monster of a car was no match for this snowstorm, and it had gotten stuck sideways in the road, blocking both sides of traffic.

And that was it. I was officially 100% stuck. There was no way around it. I couldn't go back, and I couldn't go forward. Now I REALLY started to panic. Luckily, we had AAA Roadside Assistance, so I quickly gave them a call, explained my situation, and they said that they would send a tow truck ASAP to get me out of there. Phew!

But wait, the story doesn't end there! They said it would take about an hour or so to send someone out, and I, being 8-months pregnant, was desperate to find a toilet. Luckily (and this is really where the grace of God kicked in) my car had gotten stuck in front of a house who had a man outside that was snowblowing his driveway. In my state of panic, I ran up to this man and asked if I could use his bathroom. He kind of gave me a funny look, but seeing that I was hugely pregnant, he kindly obliged. He said that his wife was inside and would show me to the bathroom.

After using their bathroom, I came out and in all of my panic and worry over what was happening to me, I just started sobbing. Obviously a little shocked, the wife asked me if I was ok. I just explained to her what was happening - about how I had gotten stuck, and I didn't know how I was going to make it to my husband, and how AAA said they weren't going to be there for a whole hour, and how this storm showed absolutely no signs up letting up. After hearing my (literal) sob story, she showed great compassion and fed me some of her family's leftover dinner and let me wait in her home while AAA came to get my car.

I waited and waited. The hour dragged on. The storm was getting worse and worse. Finally, I received a phone call from AAA. "Umm...ma'am I'm sorry to tell you this, but the street that your car is on has been deemed 'impassable,' which means that we can't send our tow trucks down that road. The road plows have stopped plowing, and there is just no way that we can get to you."

And that was that. My fate was sealed. There was no hope from here. I called Joseph to tell him that there was no way that I could get to him. Luckily, a guy from his football team lived across the street from where he worked, so he was able to walk over and stay the night at a friend's house. I, on the other hand, was completely at a loss. What should I do? Should I sleep in my car? I didn't have any blankets, water, food, or anything in there, but I didn't dare ask this stranger's family to let me stay in their home overnight. And honestly, who knew how long I would be stuck there? Even when the storm passed, it left a mighty pile of snow in it's wake that my little car just couldn't pass through. I would be stuck until the plows got to my road, and I had no way of knowing when that would be.

Sensing my distress (I've never been one to hide it well) the kind woman offered to let me stay there overnight. I was terribly embarrassed, but to be honest, incredibly grateful for her offer. She had already been my saving grace, but in that moment she was literally an angel to me. By now it was about 9:00, and I thought that maybe a good night's sleep would clear my head a little and maybe we could work out a solution in the morning.

Of course, all schools were cancelled the next day, and the snow plows came around 3:00 in the afternoon. With the help of his friend's truck, Joseph was finally able to get to me and help me get our car out of the snow. We successfully managed to drive home, and I had never been more grateful for the comfort of our shabby little apartment.

Sometimes when I think about this story, I find myself pondering the "what-ifs." What if I hadn't stopped in front of this house? What if I had been just a half-mile farther up the road and there were literally no homes in sight? What if I wasn't pregnant, but instead had an infant with me? What if this man hadn't let me use his bathroom? It just keeps going and going. Luckily, what could have been a nightmare turned into just a...well, bad dream. I knew at the time that it would be a good story to tell in the weeks, months, and years down the road, but right then I was just grateful to be with Joseph in the safety of our own home. I was also grateful that I didn't go into early labor. But more than anything, I was so incredibly grateful for the kindness of a stranger and his family, and it reminded that even in this sometimes rotten world that we live in, people are good, and the Lord will answer our prayers through those wonderful people.

Holy heartburn!! (and a rare picture)

Oh. my. gosh. I think I'm dying. I can hardly breathe anymore and my back is killing me, but I think it's the heartburn that's really going to do me in during this pregnancy. I don't remember it being this bad with Jake. Maybe I just have a bad memory...or maybe I'm just more of a wuss these days. Actually, I think that I am just carrying "in" more, and this baby must be squishing all of my insides!!

This has been going on for a while, and my midwife told me to take 20 mg of Pepcid AC twice a day. So, I followed the doctor's orders and went and bought some, but it really only worked for about 3 hours before I was starting to really feel it again. I decided to talk to my midwife again and see if there was anything else she could do for me. She went ahead and gave me a prescription, which I filled, came home, and compared it to the Pepcid AC I already had. Turns out she just prescribed me the generic brand of Pepcid AC!!! It's the SAME THING. 20 mg and all!!! What the heck??

On a happier note, I decided that I should redact the statement that I will never have pictures taken of me to document my pregnancy. I've just had that urge!! So, for all of you who have been asking, here ya go:

33 weeks

I can't hear you!

Lately, Jake has been pulling what my sister-in-law affectionately coined "the ear-muffs": when he has done something wrong and he knows you're going to say something about it, he simply puts his hands over his ears and pretends like he can't hear you. He also does it when he just doesn't like what you're saying to him.

For example, yesterday morning I was getting ready for the day when all of the sudden Jake came running into the bathroom and stood in front of me with his hands over his ears. Knowing this means that he has done something he knows he's not supposed to do, I went around the house looking for the disaster. What I found was no disaster at all, just a half eaten apple on the table that he had gotten out of the fridge and started eating. The funny thing about this is that I really don't scold him for doing that, I usually just say something like, "Jake, next time ask mommy if you want an apple." But he knows...

Another example is when we tell him that he can't have dessert until he eats his dinner first. It's like he thinks that if he can't hear that we said something, then it was never said at all! Nice try buddy!!!

This picture was taken at the same time as the "ear-muff" picture...I just love this kid!

Trunk-or-treaticus

On Saturday morning we had our church Halloween trunk-or-treat party, and our family came dressed as Harry Potter, Hermione, and Dobby the house-elf! I had so much fun making these costumes, and even more fun wearing them to the party!

This is one of those pictures where I was laughing at the camera. But Jake just looked so cute I couldn't not put it in!
Jake was playing with his buddies the whole time, and I tried to get a picture of all of them together but this is as close as I could get.

The "balloon pit" was one of Jake's favorite activities.

Jake refused to wear his socks or a jacket (or his elf-ears for that matter) for the trunk-or-treating part of the activity. Luckily, the weather was unusually warm, but I still felt like a deadbeat mom letting my son walk around outside in a pillowcase!!

We all came home loaded with lots of candy and good memories. Happy Halloween everyone!

Sicko

Yuck. I knew that there was a terrible bug going around here lately (Jake even had it about two weeks ago) but I had been lucky enough to have escaped its path thus far. That is, until yesterday. Holy cow! This thing was BAD! I woke up at 2 am on Sunday morning with my stomach just churning. I thought it was something I ate because I had gorged myself on pizza the night before (there seems to be a recurring pizza theme here lately...) In my mind's eye I could see that last piece of cheese pizza just laughing at me as I lay in bed about to hurl. From that moment on, I couldn't keep a single thing in my stomach all day long, not even sips of water or ice chips. To make matters worse, during all of this stomach upheaval, I started having pretty bad braxton-hicks contractions. That evening it got to the point where I was just throwing up bile, and Joseph made me call my doctor to see if there was anything I should do. They said they wanted me to go into the hospital to make sure everything was OK with the baby and get some fluids in me through an IV.

When we got to the hospital they monitored the baby (everything was fine) and put me on an IV and expected me to stay for just a few short hours. However, after they took my blood and some other fluid samples, apparently I was worse off then they originally thought. That's when my 2-3 hour stay turned into an overnight with ten bags of fluids put into me! I thought I might end up swimming out of the hospital by the time I checked out! But really, I felt SO much better when I left. The anti-nausea medicine was amazing, and I was just more tired than anything else.

So today I've just been resting and laying low all day. The worst is definitely over. The doctor at the hospital said that this virus that has been going around has been hitting pregnant women especially hard because it causes you to deplete anything in your stomach, and then you can't eat, which then makes pregnant women even more nauseous, and makes you throw up even more, and it's just a cyclical effect. Thank goodness for friends that just knock on your door at 8:30 am and take your child so you can sleep all morning (you're a lifesaver Jess) and for a wonderful husband who comes home during lunch to take care of you (love you Joseph) and even for a 2 1/2 year old who is more than willing to watch movies all afternoon so you can rest some more. Hopefully by tomorrow this will all be a thing of the past!

A late birthday present

I can finally check this one off my bucket list! For my birthday back in August, my AMAZING husband bought us tickets to see The Lion King in Chicago this past weekend (I know, right? He's the best!) We stayed with my ever-so-gracious aunt and uncle who live outside Chicago and they even watched Jake for us while we spent the afternoon in Chi-town. Their girls, who are my youngest cousins, loved all over Jake, and he couldn't have been happier. In fact, when we came home for the evening, all he did was tell me that he was picking raspberries with my aunt. Not even a hello. I took that as a good sign.

The play itself was incredible. Of course, me being me, I forgot our camera, but these are a few pics of what we saw:

I didn't know what to expect, but the set and props really blew me away. In reality, the play itself is almost exactly like the movie, same script and everything. In fact, it was so similar that Joseph had a hard time because he wanted all the characters to have the exact same voice inflection as they do in the movie. Sorry, babe, it's called artistic license...at least I think it is.

After we got home, my aunt and uncle treated us to real Chicago style deep dish pizza at Giordano's. And yes, it really is as good as it looks! And, no, I didn't feel guilty at all because, after all, I am pregnant!

The rest of the weekend was spent watching movies, playing games, and talking and laughing until the wee hours of the morning with my aunt and uncle. A good time was had by all!! Thanks again, Galen and Janet, for everything, we had a blast!

And the awkwardness continues

Joseph has now jumped on the awkward train with me (braces and a growing belly are not a good combination) and has gotten braces of his own! He had braces when he was a teenager, but lost his retainer so now he has to get them again. We've known for a while that he was going to get them, but I think he secretly hoped that the day would never come. Well, it finally did, and I love that my husband and I can be in this somewhat bothersome stage together. We can share in each other's misery.

When Jake saw Joseph's braces he just stared at them then finally said, "Take that off." Joseph told him that they won't come off, to which Jake replied, "Yes, get scissors."

I still think Joseph is very handsome, but both of us are anxious for this awkwardness to be over. When it's all done we'll both have smiles fit for a dentist and his family. So cheers to that!

You need to get a job...

A friend's recent post on Facebook reminded me of this story, so I thought I'd share:

Over the summer we had our nieces visit us from Texas. We took a trip to the mall one day, and passed by Build-A-Bear. Five-year-old Madalyn looked at Joseph and started begging him to buy her one. Joseph told her that he wasn't going to buy one because he didn't have any money. Then, using her 5-year-old logic, she asked, "Why not? You have a job." He proceeded to tell her that he doesn't have a job because he's still in school. Then she looked up and him and incredulously exclaimed, "What?! You mean you're a grown man and you're still in school?? You need to get a job. That way you can have money."

Madalyn, I hear ya, girl!! I'm sure that to a 5-year-old, the prospect of a man who is still in school at the age of 27 is absolutely mind-boggling. Heck, it's mind-boggling to me as well! But I often think of the fact that even though Joseph has been in school for what seems like forever and we're poor and living off student loans, we are happy! Sure, we can't buy the latest and greatest in every gadget and we still share our laundry room with the guy downstairs, and nearly everything that we own are hand-me-downs that we've had to make due with, but we love where we're at right now. We have made some of the best friends here in Iowa City and we've made so many amazing memories with our family. Even though it will be wonderful when Joseph is done and gets a job, we feel so blessed.

Here is a picture of our nieces and Jake. We love them so much and loved seeing them over the summer. And, Madalyn, maybe when Joseph is finally done with school (after well over 20 years), we'll take you to Build-a-Bear. Just maybe. :)

Twinsies

Today Joseph and Jake wore matching Hawkeye suits to church. They were quite the pair!! Joseph, being an identical twin, is used to dressing the same as someone else, but Jake has never had that opportunity. Joseph used to tell me stories about how his Dad would insist that his boys wear the same thing until they were in 2nd grade (when Joseph says they figured out what was going on), and I completely understand why! For some reason, what is handsome on just one becomes extraordinarily adorable on two.

Those are a couple of good-looking boys!!

I spoke too soon

So, remember how I said that Jake was doing better with his toddler bed now that the novelty of being able to get in and out has worn off? Turns out, the novelty never did wear off. Apparently, since he wasn't able to get in and out of his bedroom at will, he figured he would just stay in bed. Well, that all changed when he learned how to open the child-proof doorknob! What?? Are you kidding me? Safety 1st, I have a little bone to pick with you...

Now that he's figured out how to open his doors again, naptime and bedtime have been a nightmare!! He just saunters out whenever he feels like it for a "drink" or just mostly to let me know that he is not, in fact, going to take a nap, and I can't make him, so there. Just a month ago I thought to myself as I put my wonderful, blissful, content toddler to sleep, "this is just too easy." I'm paying for it big time now. With interest. Three days in a row it's just been a battle of wills. And, as my own mother will attest to, I'm no push-over when it comes to a battle of wills. Apparently, neither is Jake. He has been fighting me tooth and nail during naptime especially. So, instead of getting things done (or, let's just be honest, taking a much needed nap myself) I spend two hours taking him back into his room over and over and over again. This super-nanny technique is becoming my go-to method for how to deal with this crazy stage, but I'm open to suggestions.

I know the kid is exhausted. So exhausted, in fact, that the other day while we were having one of our epic "battle of wills," I noticed it had been quiet for about half an hour so I decided to see what the heck was going on. This is what I found:

Yep, he fell asleep while on the floor playing with his firetruck. Exhausted. And he had a stinky diaper. Great.

This whole situation has been a nightmare (no pun intended). Joseph and I have both been wondering where our sweet, easy-going, good-natured child has gone, and when, OH WHEN, will he return??? I think I've finally met my match....

It's not water

Jake has been saying some pretty funny things lately, so I thought I should start documenting them. With that being said, and without further ado, I present to you Jake's first "ism." I'm sure there will be many more to come!!

When were eating dinner together the other night, Jake asked me for some more "yar-yar" (water). As I poured him his glass of water, I said, "Jake, it's not pronounced 'yar-yar' it's 'wa-ter'."

He caught me pretty off guard when he responded in perfect English, "Mommy, it's not 'wa-ter' it's yar-yar!!"

This is now one of his favorite things to say to me, but he continues to ask for "yar-yar!"

My little boy is all grown up

I can't believe how much Jake has grown in this past month. First of all, he has officially made the transition into a toddler bed! It's been...well...let's just say it's gotten better. At first he was so enthralled with the newfound freedom that he was waking up at 6:00 am and just wandering around the house. Eventually he started going to the fridge, grabbing something to eat, then turning on the tv. Of course, this was all before the crack of dawn while Joseph and I were still sleeping! We would wake up and find Jake plopped in front of the tv eating an apple and watching cartoons. He's a lot better now that the novelty has worn off a little bit. (It may also have something to do with the child-proof doorknob that we ended up putting on his bedroom door. We figured that was safer than having a two-year-old wandering around the house while we were still dead to the world.)

Second, he's off his pacifier!! I know, I can't believe it either. I thought it was going to be a huge, scary, and extraordinarily difficult ordeal, but in all reality, he didn't seem to care that much at all. In fact, I'm pretty sure I was way more stressed about it than he ever was. Funny how that works, huh. It all happened one night when he wouldn't stop leaving his room (before the child-proof doorknob was on it) and we told him that if he got out of his room one more time that he would lose the pacifier. Of course, he did. So, being the consistent parents that we are, we took it away and he cried for about five minutes then fell asleep, no problem! Then I was going to give it back to him the next day, but he never asked for it again! And that was it! No more pacifier! AMAZING!

Finally, and this may be the biggest one yet for me, he's been successful on the toilet not once, not twice, not even three, but FOUR TIMES this past week! I'll spare you all of the potty talk, but let's just say that I'm feeling cautiously optimistic that we're going to get him potty trained before this baby comes. Wish me luck, and if you have any advice on the topic, please feel free to share, because I need all the help I can get!!

I know that the reason most of you read this blog is for the pictures, so here are a few that I took of Jake playing with his trains recently. I wish I had gotten a video because he was talking to himself the whole time saying things like, "The trains on the tracks...Thomas is on the tracks...Toby is on the tracks...Percy is on the tracks. The trains on the tracks..." He's just talking up a storm. I love to watch him grow!!

All good things must come to an end

It's that time of year again. Joseph left me this morning for school. I'm a dental widow once more. *Sigh...* We have loved having him home this summer, most likely for the last long summer vacation ever. In an effort to go out with a bang, we went with a few friends to the Lake of the Ozarks last week. We had an absolute blast! Except for the part where Jake decided he's done sleeping...but that's a story for another day.

When we got there it was unbelievably hot. I mean, I thought that Iowa had terrible heat and humidity, but it's got nothing on Osage, MO! First thing we did when we got there was strip the boys down.

Then us ladies assigned the men to go outside and grill our dinner. You can tell they were thrilled with this prospect...

We cooled off by taking a nice pontoon ride and swimming in the lake!

Please forgive my whiteness...it's really a lost cause.

Although I didn't get pictures of it, there was also lots of card playing while stuffing ourselves with junk food, swimming in the pool, and chilling on the deck while watching the beautiful sunsets. The trip was full of good eating, good friends, and good times all around. Thanks, Abarcas, for letting us tag along with you on your vacay!! We had an awesome time!

Yummy!

Sometimes the best part of eating at a fast food restaurant is the ketchup:Can you tell he's a picky eater?

Let the awkwardness begin

Oh boy. Here we are. You ladies who have been pregnant know exactly what I'm talking about. I've officially entered that totally awkward phase where you don't look pregnant, just bigger. My pants are starting to get too tight, but maternity pants are still way too big to be in the picture. Dressing will be impossible for the next few weeks. The next step is to take down all the mirrors in my house because I just end up trying to suck in that ever-growing midsection, of course, in vain.

I remember being in this phase FOREVER with Jake. I almost cried the day that someone asked me where the maternity section in Old Navy was. Her boyfriend said something like, "How would she know? She doesn't work here," and the girl responded, "Yeah, but look at her, she's pregnant, she would know!" Literally, it was one of the happiest days of my life to know that total strangers could tell that I really was pregnant! Second only to the day Jake was born and I wasn't pregnant anymore! Haha, just kidding.

Does anyone out there have any suggestions on how to get through this totally blah stage with grace and style? I mean, I know it's not like I had a ton of that before I got pregnant, but now all I want to wear is sweatpants and a t-shirt! Yuck!

Jake has something to tell you

Go ahead Jake, say it!

It's a boy!! Jake gets a brother, and we're all very excited!! Also, we're grateful that we don't have to buy all new stuff!

So, here he is, making his blog debut:

We can't wait for this little fella to join our family. We already love him so much. Two boys...oh boy!!

New baby, new smile, new house!

Things just won't settle down over here in the Dougherty household. We have been busy, busy, busy!

First of all, things are going well with the pregnancy. I've had a couple OB appointments that have gone well thus far, and we scheduled our appointment for next Friday to have another ultrasound to tell us the gender. We're beyond excited!! Woohoo!

Second, I got invisalign braces! They're not exactly invisible, as you can still basically see brackets on my teeth, but it's only for about 5 1/2 more months so I just smile a big 'ole smile and bear it! :) We got an unbelievable deal on them through the university, and we just couldn't pass up the opportunity. They're scheduled to come off at the exact time that the baby comes, so we'll see which one ends up coming first.

Third, we're moving! Again, we're getting an unbelievable rent on a three-bedroom home that we just couldn't pass up, so we're moving this Friday into a new (to us) place here in Iowa City. It's a little closer to the school, has a backyard with a deck, and most importantly, has three bedrooms! This is also a shameless plug for any of you who will be in town on Friday to come help us out if you find yourself bored to death and wondering if there is anything for you to do. Why, yes, there is! This is going to be our first house that we'll live in. No more apartments! Yay! (Did I also mention it has three bedrooms? Eek!) I promise to post pictures of our new place when we get all settled in!

Between all this excitement, Joseph's family has come into town for a reunion of sorts, so we've been spending time with them over the past week, which has been wonderful. I can't seem to find my camera right now, so I'll post pictures later, but we have really enjoyed being with his family.

Whew! Where has the summer gone? Joseph and I are hoping to get a couple of days where we can just lay around and enjoy the lazy days of summer before he goes back to school. I don't know if that will happen! At least we've been able to spend some great time with family and each other.

Stop the train!

On the trip out west Jake's movie of choice was Polar Express. He gets pretty animated while he watches it, as evidenced in the video clip. The part that he's watching is where the kid needs to stop the train to let another child on. This kid is hilarious!

Whew...what a drive!

We're back from our vacation! Although, to be honest, now I feel like I need a vacation to relax from our vacation! Pretty much, our last week and a half can be summed up by one word: driving! We drove and drove and then drove some more. Luckily, my son was a dream and we had lots of movies for him to watch.

Before we started all the driving, my family came to Iowa on their way out to Utah. We were planning on caravanning (sp?), but had a few car troubles that we needed to fix first, so we ended meeting up with them later in Denver. We crammed everyone into our little apartment, which was no small feat!

My mom and Jake made a fort then read stories in it! Jake was in seventh heaven.

When we got our car taken care of, we drove all day and met the rest of my family in Denver. We stayed in Denver overnight, then drove to Utah and got there late Friday night. On Saturday, we hit up the Stadium of Fire at the BYU football stadium and saw Carrie Underwood live in concert! It was AMAZING! We went with one of my best friends from college and her husband, as well as my brother and some of his friends.On our way out, some lady stopped one of my brother's friends and asked him if he wanted to go to a party. He obviously was a little wary at first, but when she said it was an after party with all the producers and performers of the show, and then he gave her tickets for all of us to get in, we didn't hesitate!! Apparently this lady's husband was part of putting together the show, but she didn't want to go so she just handed them to us! I know what you're all wondering, so let me just tell you that Carrie Underwood wasn't there...much to our dismay. But everyone else was, and we got free food and dancing! Although, mostly we just hit up the free food and left. I know, we're getting lame in our old age... But we did feel very VIPish.

The next week was spent driving to different parts of Utah seeing Dougherty, Dunford, and Witt family relatives. Jake especially loved being with his cousin Isaac. They liked to play air hockey together, and they were both surprisingly good! We also spent some time in southern Utah seeing some of the amazing national parks down there.
I think Jake liked riding the buses around the parks more than anything. Every time a bus would come, his face lit up and he would start yelling, "BUS!! BUS!!" You can imagine his misery if that bus was not the one we wanted to take at the time and it left without us on it...Luckily, his tears stopped immediately as soon as we stepped on the right bus. Also, I should note that Jake has started picking his nose whenever we take pictures. Please say this is just a phase...After all this excitement, we drove back to Iowa and arrived a few days ago. Whew! We're back, and I need a break!! But we had a great time and loved being able to see lots of people that we rarely get to visit with.

No, THIS is exhaustion.

Just got back from camp yesterday. Slept 14 hours and woke up still tired. Fell asleep during sunday school today (sorry Tawnya). Everything went well...I think... It's sort of a blur. Good news is I'm alive. I'm going to take a nap. Goodnight.

The REAL reason for my exhaustion

Don't get me wrong, girls camp has been incredibly exhausting, but it really gets compounded when you're 12 weeks pregnant! It looks like the cats out of the bag here in Iowa City, so I thought I'd officially make the announcement to all you faithful readers that I am in fact pregnant, and we are very excited!

Joseph, Jake and I all went in for the first ultrasound yesterday. It's always a surreal experience to hear the heartbeat and then see that little tiny fetus inside you. Jake was terrified when we first walked in, but that was normal. He's pretty wary of doctors in general. The technician said things looked good, but we won't know for sure until blood work comes back.

Other than the fact that I am tired all the time, I am feeling wonderful! During the first trimester with Jake I threw up at least once a day, usually more, but this time I haven't thrown up at all. In fact, I vividly remember thinking that I would never get pregnant again after Jake because it was so miserable. Whoops... But really, this time it's a breeze. It really is a gift from above, because I don't know how in the world I could plan Girls Camp if I was as sick as I was with Jake.

The official due date is Dec. 28, so we could have a Christmas baby on our hands! Although, I'm not keeping my fingers crossed since Jake was 5 days late. Hopefully it will come sometime over that break, though, so I can have a husband for at least a few days to help out.

So, there you have it! I'm going to be the mother of two. I've already had a few anxiety attacks over that prospect, but I'm getting used to the idea.

(Note: Don't expect pregnancy pictures from me. I do not care to relive how huge I get during this whole process...Also, along that same note, please, if I ever ask how I look, lie and tell me I look great, haha!)

Exhaustion

I'm sorry for the lack of pictures lately. I'm just gonna be straight up honest: I'm too exhausted to take any. Life has been insane recently. Part of it has to do with this new toddler bed nonsense. Joseph and I had been getting 5 am wake up calls from Jake...which led us to put his crib back up, much to Jake's dismay. However, most of the exhaustion has to do with the planning and getting all the details together for Girls Camp (which I am in charge of again this year).

I literally have spent hundreds of hours this past month alone working on different things, trying to get them together. You'd think that after doing this once already and having more of a staff to help you would make things a little less hectic, but there's always so much to do, most of which I couldn't forsee. Writing firesides, devotionals, getting crafts ready, making gifts, writing and responding to ten million emails every day, phone calls, picking up and dropping off orders, meetings, organizing service projects, the list just goes on and on and on. But with all this hard work, I'm really starting to get excited. This year I've really felt guided and I know that the theme this year, "Daughter of a King," is really what the girls need to experience.

Jake has been surprisingly patient with all my planning. Maybe it has to do with the fact that because I've been a little preoccupied, I've let him watch Polar Express more times in the past week than I care to admit. Well, either way, girls camp starts in a week, so it will be over soon and I can go back to being a real person again. Until then, wish me luck!

Toddler bed shinanigans

Joseph and I recently discussed the idea of Jake moving into a toddler bed now that he's two. We figured the transition would be easier if we just converted the crib that he already has into a bed by taking off the rail. When we woke up yesterday, we decided that it would be the day to test our theory! We let Jake help us change his crib into a "big boy bed" and he was so excited!

We decided to do a trial run of the "new" bed during nap time. It was less than successful. Jake had no problems wanting to be in his bed, but as soon as we left the room we could hear him get out and start to play with the toys in his bedroom! After about an hour of trying to get him to stay in his crib, Joseph decided to just put the rail back up. Apparently Jake was too excited to fall asleep and his toys were just a little too tempting...

Not to be deterred, last night we tried again. And he did it! He fell asleep, no problems at all. Joseph and I were just beaming with the idea of our baby sleeping in a toddler bed. We were such proud parents! We kept exchanging little smiles throughout the evening that seemed to say, "We did it right!"

And then, before we finally went to bed, we walked into Jake's room to check on him. I started laughing out loud. There was Jake, laying on the floor!! And not only was he on the floor, but his bed was covered with books and balls. No wonder he was on the floor, there was no room for him on his bed with all the junk he had gotten while Joseph and I were under the impression that he was sound asleep. We're not sure if he fell off his bed or if, really, he had chosen to sleep there instead because his bed was too covered. Either way, we're starting to rethink this toddler bed thing!

Sweet dreams

Jake woke up last night around 9:00 whining. When Joseph went in there to see what was going on (since this is a fairly rare occurance) he found Jake sitting up in his crib mumbling, "Baseball?"

Joseph gave him his baseball.

"Bat?"

Joseph gave him his bat.

"Basketball?"

Joseph gave him his basketball.

"Football?"

Joseph gave him his football.

It wasn't until he had all his balls with him in his crib that finally rolled over and fell back asleep. You can't see it in the picture, but his hat is also in the crib with him, he must have rolled on top of it. He's 100% boy!!

No more no's!!

Oh boy...Jake has hit the "no" stage with a vengeance! Everything, no matter what I say, is automatically responded to with an emphatic no. Even if it's something that he actually really wants. For example, yesterday we had a little conversation that went like this:

"Jake, would you like a popsicle?"
"No! (slight pause) Opicle? Yes!"
"Jake, you said no, you don't want a popsicle."
"OPICLE!! OPICLE!!"
"Ok, what do you say?"
"Pwease!"
And this, of course, is where I hand him the popsicle that he told me he didn't want.

Oh my gosh!! I think I'm going to scream! You always hear about this infamous stage, but I had no idea how frustrating it really is. I've heard that giving kids more choices can ease the intensity of this stage, but I feel like I give Jake choices all the time. And, usually, he answers no to all of those wonderful choices. And so, I am posing this question to all you experienced mothers (or fathers) in the blogosphere: What in the WORLD do I do??? How long does this last? HELP!!

He must have gotten that from me...

We had an interesting Sunday yesterday. The size of our ward at church has been cut in half due to all the people graduating or moving for the summer, so they decided to combine the two nurseries. A seemingly innocent enough idea...well, they hadn't anticipated (and neither had we for that matter) the DISASTER that would come from one Jake Dougherty.

You see, they decided to combine the two nurseries into the other nursury room, so Jake was a little thrown off. He was pretty hesitant at first, but we figured he would be ok. After all, he had all of his friends in there, as well as his usual nursery leaders, it was just a different room. So Joseph and I turned to leave, and as soon as we did, Jake started bawling. Instantly. It was like the first day of nursery all over again. I couldn't believe it! We figured he would be ok eventually, and once he saw we were gone and how much fun everyone else was having, we thought he would forget all about us and just join in. Oh boy, were we wrong.

Well, Jake's sobs started off some other kids' sobs. Soon there were three or four toddlers just screaming, which of course made all of the other kids just crazy too. It was a madhouse in there! They tried to include Jake, but he was having none of it. Eventually, he was crying so hard that he threw up!! In nursery!! Apparently it was at that moment that they decided maybe it wasn't such a good idea to combine, and they separated the younger kids from the older ones. Jake went back into his old nursery room and his tears stopped instantly.

At first, I couldn't believe it when they told me that he cried so hard that he threw up. What kind of kid does that?? But then I recalled my very earliest memory. Yes, folks, my very first memory is, in fact, of me crying so hard that I threw up. Why was I crying so hard? Because my dad wouldn't give me dessert. I must have been three years old, and I vividly remember thinking, "If he would just give me some dessert I wouldn't cry like this!" Apparently, Jake has that very same streak of stubbornness in him. I can just imagine him thinking, "If they just took me to the other room I wouldn't cry like this!"

As I was growing up, my parents were known to say, "I hope you have a kid just like you someday!" This was, of course, in reference to my incredibly stubborn attitude. Well, mom and dad, it looks like I do...but I sure do love him.

I am woman, hear me roar!!

I just realized that I forgot to post about this. I can't believe I forgot, as you can tell from the pictures, it was a monumental moment in my life. That's right, folks, I (along with three other amazing women) jump started a car without any help from a man!

We were just leaving a church activity when one of the girls there realized her car wouldn't start. Well, have no fear! I sauntered over to the trunk of our SUV and pulled out our handy-dandy emergency kit, which contained a pair of jumper cables. Once we pulled them out, there was a lot of discussion of what we should actually do with them. I'm pretty sure the conversation went something like this (I'm not sure who said what, these were just all the comments that were thrown out):

"Alright, what now?"
"Um, I think you're supposed to connect the two cars together somehow. By the batteries."
"Yeah, negative to negative, positive to positive." (this was my comment :))
"Wait, are you sure it's not positive to negative?"
"Well...no, but I'm pretty sure..."
"Hold on, aren't you supposed to ground one of them or something?"
"Maybe...what do you think?"
"Just do negative to negative, positive to positive!"
"That better be right because if you do it wrong then the cars will explode!"
"Where do you put these things??"
"Someone turn off the cars first!!"



As you can see, we figured it out.
Here's hoping that it's going to start!It works!!!!!And nothing exploded, either. Well done ladies!

The farmer in the Wisconsin Dells

I thought about the title of this post for a long time. It's so clever, right? Haha, thanks for humoring me!

If you can't tell from the oh-so-lame title, we just got back from the Wisconsin Dells! Joseph had a little two day break from school, so we took advantage and headed up to the land of the cheeseheads. They call Wisconsin Dells "America's best kept secret" and it did not disappoint! I couldn't believe how many waterparks there were. Just at our resort we went to 4 in two days! And we didn't even get to go to any of the outdoor ones! Unfortunately, I didn't take too many pictures because we were just having too much fun to stop and get the camera out!!

We started the trip on Thursday morning, and let me just tell you that I have never seen so many farms in my life. You can imagine just farmland straight from Iowa to Wisconsin, but it was beautiful! (I had to add this little bit so you could understand where the "farmer" part of the title of the post came from. Wow, that just gets lamer and lamer the more I have to explain it...)

Once we got to our room we were ready to go SWIMMING (or "wewin" and Jake would call it). He was pretty cautious at first, but after about an hour he was ready to play in all the water!

When Jake wasn't swimming, he wanted to play in the arcade room, where Joseph and I decided to give him a few plays. He loved it!
Also there with us were our friends the Whiteheads with their two boys. The three of them had a blast together, especially on this ladder in one of the bedrooms!

So, yeah, those are about the only pictures that I got, but we really did have a blast!! We definitely want to go back sometime before we leave Iowa!