let's change that picture...

one of my favorite things about Jack?

he doesn't care if my farts stink.

what could be better than that?

today john and i drove back from phoenix the looong way. we took a highway that looped around prescott rather than directly to it. it was a beautiful drive. so picturesque. so beautiful that we stopped on the side of the road, let jack scream for a bit, ate our In-N-Out and turned up iron and wine. it was blissful.
i still can't believe we get to live here.


on another note, i'm on the search for a dairy free/soy free pizza crust. i'm dying for pizza.

it's office night! speaking of...
i think i might have found dwight shrute's brother...

bath time and godparents

one thing i do not miss:

so thankful it turned into this:

i am so glad that part is over. for now. was i seriously that huge?

a few things that being a new mom has taught me...

1. having to be soy-free and dairy free is not easy. i repeat, NOT easy. but i found a website that has really helped: heart of cooking
i think it's allowed us to continue eating....and healthy too! she sends you a weeks worth of recipes all dairy, soy and gluten free. we are lovvving it.

2. middle of the night wakings are not the worst. though difficult at times, it is precious to feel that tiny little person next to me; cuddled and close. or as my husband says, "sleep is not as important as smiles, snickers, giggles and toe-chewing."

3. he will poop eventually. right?

4.being a mom is the best job ever.

5. that's all..for now.








jack and his godparents. such a great visit!


this is an awesome adventure.

spring

I love watching Jack grow! He is such a gem and full of smiles and giggles (especially for his dad.)

Way too early this morning Jack was awake, loving life and I just couldn't seem to keep my eyes open. A woman can only get up some many times in one night!

John's back was facing me, but I knew he could hear Jack's babble just as well as I could. :) Then, in the midst of my slumber I heard Jack say, "dada" I like to THINK that's what he said, (or John does mostly) but either way, John turned around and got up with Jack, delighted to hear what sounded just like "dada."

Two more hours of blissful sleep for me. Can you do that tomorrow, Jackboy?

Who thought Jack would have so much red hair?

tummy time often means spitting up all over my face time

i just love this kid.

rachel and richard came for a quick, but sweet unexpected visit!! they got to meet jack too!

we also got to see john's parents for a couple days

he is such a stud.

I should be napping...

but i can't. for a few reasons.

1. it is SNOWING like crazy outside! it is incredible!

2. LOST starts in a week and a half. feb 2. i can't wait. the anticipation is killing me.

3. jack is sleeping soundly next to me and suddenly i have a burst of energy.

Jack is growing like a weed. He weighed in at 14.3lbs on Wednesday and 25 inches long! The boy has been growing. He's still not a real regular pooper, so we're trying to get a handle on that. Who knew that I would be PRAYING my little guy would poop?

I'm thinking of trying out wordpress.com. Anyone tried it before?

I wish I could have seen what 3 months would do. My mom kept telling me that at 3 months life will begin to feel normal again. I wasn't sure if normal existed anymore. Now, three months into this mothering thing I have begun to see what she was talking about. For one, Jack has begun to smile and baby coo. It's been delightful! He's also started sleeping longer at night (10:30pm-5:00am! Full nights rest for me!) And I wasn't sure if that would EVER happen. But is has and boy is it great! At the same time I can hardly believe how fast it has gone. I already miss his real baby face.

In three short months our son has grown from this...

to THIS!





and during this time we three traveled to michigan to see john's family...
tried to catch up on some lost sleep...
met up with good friends for a couple of hours...
and spent Christmas with my family too...


overall, the months have flown and our little jack is such a joy.

speaking of...he is currently stirring and making all sorts of noises and movements. i think he's hungry.

...i'll leave with this one.

john absolutely HATES the flash.

Welcome to the world!

John "JACK" Stephen Dickerson Jr.
joined the world on October 29, 2009 at 8:17pm

Contractions started around 4:00am and continued for 16 hours.
He weighed 8 pounds 14 ounces and 21 inches long
We went through delivery without any pain medication, plenty of good, relaxing music and lots of warm showers.

It was truly magnificent.

Painful, yes, but worth every second the minute they handed him to us.

He is a gem and such a gift.
Praise God for a healthy and safe delivery!

Snow is falling in Prescott and it's a chilly 37 degrees outside.

I am loving it.

I can't help but pray that today would be a wonderful day for our little boy to come. Wouldn't it be great to be able to tell him he came on a freezing cold October day with snow flurries and cloudy skies? I sat in the waiting room at my doctors appointment and just watched the snow dance around like teeny tiny marshmallows.

Last night I woke up at about 3am and couldn't fall back asleep. I went to my usual "second bed" ie the lazy boy and tried to fall back asleep. I couldn't, however, because I heard rustling above me. Squeaking in fact. My eyes nearly shot out of my head. The scratches came and went, but all I could imagine was the movie An American Tail. Hundreds of families of mice in the space above me and I couldn't bring myself to want to kill them, I just didn't want them there. I could imagine them talking and planning on how they would investigate the house and eat all of our food. They were so cute.

Then, my dear John insists on us having a space heater. A Lasko. Which he loves. I mean, loves. He loves the remote, the oscillating feature, the automatic shut off, the whole bit. But I am still 9 months pregnant and that thing makes me wake up in sweats (or is that those hot flashes....I'm not quite sure.) Either way, I spent a lot of the night fiddling with the dear Lasko to shut it off. ....Then turn it on again.

Needless to say, when it was light outside I realized the squeaking wasn't hoards of mice families, but only a tree branch gently scraping against the window.

Oh well, tomorrow is another day and maybe it will bring with it a little boy.

Last Minute Purchase Before Jack Comes

Although I've had this CD for a few years, it takes on a whole new meaning listening to it as a soon-to-be mom.

These songs are precious and sung by one of my favorite artists. One song has been spinning in my head again and again...

"When you reach the proper age
I will teach you to read and you can turn the pages.
How to dress and tie your shoes
Your one plus ones, and your two times two's


And you'll teach me
Of hearts and dreams
And all the most important things
And all that i have lost along the way
And I can't wait

As you grow, I'll show you things
How to ride your bike and kick your legs out on the swings
To fold your hands and bow your head
How to say your prayers before you go to bed
And you'll teach me
Of hearts and dreams
And all the most important things
And all that I have lost along the way
And I can't wait...."

Fall keeps tricking me. It's like it can't make up it's mind. Do I stay or do I go? I guess I need to remember that we do live in Arizona.

Thankfully, I do believe it's finally cooling off for good. And Prescott falls are simply beautiful.

We went to a pumpkin patch a couple weeks ago...and it was hot. The lovely Arizona sun was adamant on showing it's face that day and what else can you do, but try to enjoy it?

Check out THAT pumpkin! I'm nearly as big as the ones on the ground!

Yesterday we had our 38 week appointment! How incredible to think he could be arriving any day now! The doc says I'm 2 cm and 75% effaced. Praise God!

Our little Jack is doing great and getting ready to make his way into this world. The only bummer is our doctor.

She's always been a nice lady. It's a typical wait-in-the-lobby-for-30-minutes and see-her-for-5 kind of scenario, but she's never been really sassy.

Until yesterday.

We took our birth plan to her, knowing it might not go as well as we hoped, but still hoping.
She proceeded to go through every single detail and respond to them with statements such as, "Well, that doesn't make sense." "Did your doula write this for you?" "Why would that even matter?" "Let me tell you why I don't like birth plans..." "I don't care what you do after the birth, that's the pediatricians job." and so on.
It was insane.
But we stood our ground. And prayed for grace because somewhere along the way she decided she did not like birth plans.

Not only was she reacting to simple requests (not demands, but requests) in a completely emotional way, but she was acting as if we hadn't paid her a nickle for her service. To top it off, she decided to try to "mix things up" when doing an exam and attempting to strip the membranes, after we had spent 20 minutes discussing how we wanted a natural delivery and onset of labor.

When she was finished with the exam John asked her, "Did you just strip the membranes?" In which she stuttered to reply, "Well, kind of, but I couldn't quite reach it. I find that a lot of girls get to their due date and nothing has happened, so I like to help it along a bit." Such a procedure was not one she asked permission to do, nor did I want it done.

We went to Subway after that and I got to finally eat a bag of Cheetos. That helped.

But thankfully, I'm not feeling any more contractions than normal. A friend of mine had her membranes stripped (without permission, by the same doctor) and she was in labor the next morning. Thankfully, God knows what's best for little Jack and he's not quite finished cooking yet...though I have to be honest when I say that I can't wait to meet him.

We're having a doula aid us through the labor and I couldn't be more thankful. She'll be there during the early stages at our home and through until the end. We're also doing a type of birthing called Hypnobirthing which I'm really looking forward to. It's all about techniques to aiding your body to relax and go deeper into relaxation as the birth progresses. We're praying for a healthy and safe delivery!
...hurry up, Jack! We can hardly wait!