Bun in the Oven

So obviously I have not been busy blogging, but I have been busy doing something else.....In July we will be expecting our third child. The news was pretty unexpected...which may be surprising since I work in a family planning clinic. Bottom line...I guess I do not practice what I preach. Regardless, we are so excited and I look forward to keeping you updated on my pregnancy(hopefully).

feeling inspired

So they other night i rented Julie and Julia. Of course i rented it while BJ was at work. Anyways, i love to bake, but lack in the cooking department. So after watching this movie i have to decided to get my hands on "mastering the art of French cooking" by Julia Child, and challenge myself to be a better cook. i love cookbooks and in fact they are my favorite books to buy. so if anyone comes across a copy of this book and its reasonably priced please let me know.

So Hayden has been a little stinker, and BJ and i are not sure what to do about his behavior. i find myself getting way stressed over how he acts. I'm sure we are to blame!! So today i broke down and bought some Love and Logic parenting books. I'm sure his behavior is normal, but i would like to learn how to handle the situations better.

Ella is crawling now, so watch out world!! She is a very happy baby, and loves to be near her big brother. Hayden can really get her laughing.

BJ has passed his instructor coordinator test!!! i have never seen him study so hard, and it all paid off. He and two of his buddies are starting a home improvement rotation. 1 day a month they will take turns working on each other's homes. Not sure what project we are going to finish but i can't wait to find out.

Last but not least, we finally took some pics of our new dog Maggie, this was my favorite one.

Merry Christmas/Happy New Year

So it's been a while. Let's catch you up.

Hayden: never stops, loves Christmas as much as his mommy. Prays daily for Heavenly Father to bless the North Pole and Jesus. He got "lots of toys" for Christmas, handy manny repair bench, soccer ball, digital camera etc. Loves preschool and cannot Wait to go back to school. He has been begging us to go back to gymnastics, so we are looking into putting hm in karate. He also got a new dog Maggie a 13month old Yellow Lab who is the best dog ever.

Ella: has recovered from a fractured femur. She is sitting up on her own, and is trying to crawl. She is 7mo old and weighs about 20 lbs. She loves her food, she has taken a liking to rice puffs, and crackers.

BJ: Works hard, and still enjoys his job very much. Just yesterday he got to help fight a fire and that is all he can talk about Right now. He and Hayden engage in the Stapp family tradition of Sunday night smack down, so for about 15 min on Sunday night they wrestle each other.

Nicole: Back to work at the Health dept, working as a Women' s Health NP, love it. Work part time 3 days one week, 2 the next, pays well, and gets me out of the house for a little while.

Let me catch everyone up to speed. We went to Utah for the month of September, and managed to drive home in one day. He also turned 3 on the 13th of October. Hayden started preschool and is loving it. He and i are in charge of handing out the book order forms and ordering the books. He helped me staple the forms together. He has done awesome with potty training and is officially done with diapers.

Ella continues to amaze us. She is rolling all over the place, she can somewhat st up on her own for at least a few seconds. She is such a good baby! She is gong to be one tough girl too, she can withstand anything she is subjected to by her brother. The funny thing is he is the only one who can really get her laughing.

BJ has been busy finishing our basement, we are almost done! The carpet was lad down a couple of weeks ago and he is now working on placing cabinets with a small sink for entertaining. He has also been very busy hunting and earlier this week he brought home his first deer of the season!! Bring on the venison.

i am officially done with my certification. i took my state boards Oct 29th and was so happy to pass. So now i am a Women's Health Nurse Practitioner. i Will Begin my new job in a couple of weeks. i Will be back at the Health Department working again in Family Planning and STD. i am looking forward to starting this new chapter n my life. i Will be working part time, so that i can still spend a lot of time with Hayden and Ella!

p.s. if you are wondering why i and using the letter i incorrectly it is because the i key on our computer doesn't work so i have to copy and paste each time i use it.

Are we done with the diapers yet?

Well life doesn't slow down. We still continue to be extremely busy with work, kids and home repairs. In all of this craziness we still find time to enjoy family time together. A couple of weeks ago we took the kids over to Michigan Adventure in Muskegon, Hayden had a blast and we will go again for sure. We also went to Grand Haven and played on the beach.

Hayden has been in big boy under ware for 3 days now with no accidents, so we are looking forward to cutting our diaper budget in half. This is awesome news to us, because we were worried he would not be potty trained before he started preschool. On that note, Hayden will start preschool in October due to our much needed and deserved family vacation we will be taking this month to Utah. He is so excited for preschool. We had an open house the other night and he met his teacher, we found his locker and met some new friends. I can't believe he is going to school!!

Ella continues to amaze us. She is so strong, she loves to stand, while I hold her, while she sits in her car seat she lifts her head and shoulders forward. She is also very vocal talking all the time and laughing. She is interacting more with us and with her toys, she reaches for toys that are hanging in front of her. She has the most beautiful big blue eyes you can't help but stare at her. And her chunky thighs are simply delicious. We got her ears pierced this past month, she did so well only cried for one second.

I'm Done

So the past 12 weeks have been very busy in this household. Lets see it started off by beginning the last semester of my graduate program just 4 days before Ella was born. Then going back to clinical at 6 wks, and now I'm done. I have successfully completed my MSN and now need to sit for certification, once done I will be a Women's Health Nurse Practitioner. Hopefully I will sit for my test in September. As for now I am enjoying my time with my family and loving that I am done.

Hayden has had so much fun lately. The new splash pad opened up in Oxford so we do spend some time there. We also have a beach in the sub where we love to hang out. At the grand opening of the splash pad Hayden got to sit in the U of M life flight helicopter, he loved Every minute of it. He is getting ready for preschool and will start when we return home from Utah. He has had many experiences on the potty, but not ready to commit to it just yet.

Ella is getting bigger everyday. She loves to smile laugh and make talking noises. We had her in our neighbors pool the other day and she loved it, in fact she loved it so much she feel asleep while floating. She is very strong and able to hold her head up very well. She is such a good baby!!!

BJ is busy with work, and becoming a scuba instructor. We are planning a little weekend get away to Michigan adventures amusement/water park. Hayden is going to love it. This will be our first family vacation in a long time. To celebrate my accomplishment, BJ took me to the Melting Pot for an awesome dinner, we had a great time.

Hayden's busy summer

Hayden too had a great visit from Omi and aunt nettie, and uncle Josh. They spent many days at the beach, he also took a trip to the Detroit Science Center, Jeepers, and jus this past weekend we went to the 4H fair. He is such a busy big boy and enjoys playing outside and in the water. He has gotten used to his little sister but on occasion wishes her to go back. Just last night he asked if she could go back in my tummy. He also has told BJ and I that Jesus is in his tummy. We have to get better about writing down all the funny things he says. Just this morning he told me he was a dog as he ate the bag of kix cereal he dumped on the floor.