Merry Christmas!

Henry James you have stolen our hearts. And a lot of mommy's sleep.

The Two Henrys

Henry Duman

meet Henry Denbrook

This little kid has a lot to live up to being named after this wonderful man. Miss and love you tons, Grandpa!

He's Here!

Just a quick post to say that Mr. Henry James decided to come 2 weeks early! Our little man (and yes he was actually little, no world record for length this time) joined our family Friday evening, December 2 at 9:00 just as the Ducks won the Pac 12 championship. It really was a little too much excitement for Jake. Henry was 19 inches and 6 pounds 10 ounces of pure adorableness.

We had a really smooth labor and delivery. I was at work almost all day on Friday thinking I was experiencing Braxton Hicks. Apparently I was unaware that Braxton Hicks do not intensify and get closer together...only real contractions do! I already had a 4:30 weekly appointment that afternoon so we kept the appointment. I had three contractions while in the waiting room, was quickly seen and then sent straight to the hospital where we had Henry four hours later.

We are all doing well and loving our sweet boy...although Housh still hasn't decided if he's a fan or not!
First Family Photo

More photos to come shortly!

Babymoon

A few weeks ago we decided to take advantage of being able to get away without a baby! We found an awesome deal that got us a great room at the Oregon Gardens, dinner (you can choose anything on the menu- Jake got filet mignon and I had shrimp penne pasta),a bottle of wine and breakfast all for $100. Seriously an amazing deal with amazing food.

This is Jake's best "I"m rich and fancy and drinking all of the wine" face.

And when you can't drink wine, you definitely order dessert.

Maternity Pics

These were taken at 33 weeks. We can't believe our baby will be here next month!

At 32 weeks...

You get really excited about cake. This cake was also very heavy and I was very fearful that in my ever so clumsy state, it would topple to the ground before anyone got to taste its wonderfulness. Thankfully this was not the case.

Our good friend Vanessa is due about four weeks after us. We're so excited to have such wonderful friends expecting at the same time as us.

Thanks to the incredible generosity of our friends and family, Henry's nursery is starting to come together. We grow more and more excited about meeting this little guy and can't wait to put him in all the adorable clothes that we have been receiving.

On a side note, one of my kinders informed me today that when I have the baby the doctors will "have to wipe him off cuz I have lots of blood and stuff in my body...and did you know babies come out naked, Mrs. Dembrud?" Oh, I love the things that that five years old say- even when they tell me I don't have a baby in my belly, just a fat stomach!

Practicing

Next up....swaddling the pumpkin.

We have heat!

And this is where I shall plant myself until the sun comes back out next summer...


Anyone else find it odd that we have an electric fireplace right in front of a real one?

Bigger and Bigger and Bigger

We're 7 months and sailing right along. The nursery is a disaster, the cat is already wanting more attention and I have been asked at least half a dozen times "Mrs. Denbrook, why are you STILL pregnant." Apparently I also have started to waddle a wee bit. Life is good and grand and wonderful.

5:30 AM

Call me a fool, but this kid looks pretty excited to be working before 6 am. Jake scored himself a sporadic part-time job that entails grading online tests from 5:30 am- 2 pm from the comfort of our home and with a certain black cat on his lap.

And here I am at 25 weeks. Pretty sure I have a big fella in there. I swear it's him who is hungry all the time, not me.

Fancy Schmancy

Jake's been working away on a new website for Accendo Images. It's now live and up and running and pretty dang sweet. Check it out!

www.accendoimages.com or click here.

We've got a Kicker!

Summer has flown by and not only am I nearing the end of summer vacation but also the end of my fifth month of pregnancy! We'll be 24 weeks on Friday and are feeling absolutely fantastic. Henry has started to be quite the kicker. Jake can now feel him moving around and today we both spent quite a bit of time staring and laughing at my belly as the kid rocked out to Jake's guitar. We are hoping and pleading that this little guy gets his father's aptitude for music instead of my inability to even clap on beat. Yesterday at our doctor's appointment the doctor commented on what a strong kicker the baby was for his size. This leads us to believe that Henry may also be inheriting his father's massive feet. Anyone wanting to contribute to our son's future shoe fund can contact us privately. :)
I really should think about buying some maternity clothes at this point...

In the words of Monica Gellar...

"I'm going to love you so much no woman will ever be good enough for you."

Our sweet Henry James.

And a not so exciting picture of me at 19 weeks 4 days. I can't believe we'll be half way on Friday. Let the nesting and shopping begin!

Our newest nephew!

We're in love with this sweet little guy and can't wait to find out tomorrow if we are giving him a girl or boy cousin.

Jake at his finest.

This look can mean only one thing; it's mosquito season in the Cascades. And for anyone wondering- "Family Safe" bug spray is also bug safe. I'm pretty sure I put our baby at more risk by the 88 bites I received than if I had doused myself with deet. Our faces, of course remained bite free and did so while looking amazingly attractive.

Zee Baby Bump

Here we are at 14 weeks.


And now at 17 weeks (just after dinner and feeling very uncomfortable).

Baby's First Jump

If there is one thing this baby is going to have to get used to, it's jumping.

(At the beach in Yachats celebrating our 4th wedding anniversary.)

We are in our second trimester and are feeling wonderful, which is a very nice change from the never ending nausea experienced during that delightful first trimester. I have gained exactly zero pounds which is not very exciting at all. We are trying to remedy that but my diet consists mostly of strawberries and string cheese, which apparently are not high caloric foods.

Our next doctor's appointment is July 26th and will include a ultrasound to find out what we're cooking. Can't wait!

A Return to the Blogging World

I've been doing a lot of this lately.


Mainly due to this.


We're due December 16th and are very much looking forward to this new adventure into babyland.

Avalanche Smavalanche

There once was a boy who had a dream. A dream to photograph Crater Lake during the winter, after fresh snow and with clear skies. Too much to ask for? Maybe. Perhaps. But luckily not.
The original plan was to drive up to the top and then snowshoe gracefully around part of the rim. Unfortunately there was a wee bit of an avalanche closing the road, so we instead got to snowshoe straight up to the rim. It was a really great reminder of just how out of shape we are.

Our view from the top made all of the sweating and whining well worth the effort.
Awww, so beautiful.

While Jake shot his heart out (that just doesn't sound right), I froze my hiney off. One might think the cold temps might inhibit our ability to pull off a jumping photo, but we're pretty professional when it comes to this obligation.

Because we are Jake and Jill

This last week has been our Spring Break- a time when most people tend to visit warmer climates, but alas because we are not like most people we opted for a very wintry SPRING break near Crater Lake.

Here's the charming little cabin we stayed at with our good friends Kris and Allison. There was no heat in the bathroom and barely enough room to turn around in the rest of the living space, but totally delightful and fun.

Our first adventure was snowshoeing at Diamond Lake. It turned out to be a bit blizzardy, and you couldn't quite see the lake. In fact there was so much snow, you could barely see the sign itself.

Here's our lunch break spot. There's nothing quite like sitting in the snow to eat your bagel sandwich. At this point we tried to imagine sitting on a nice warm beach. Kris almost makes it seem believable. Almost.

We even wrote Spring Break 11 in the "sand."

Next up...why an avalanche didn't stop us from getting up to Crater Lake.

Have Goggles Always Been Sexy?

My mom does not like the word sexy, so to her I apologize. She also does not like the word snot, for anyone keeping track.

Jake used to say that January and February were the absolute worst months of the year. He hated them with a deep dark passion. Kind of like how I hate when kids sneeze in my mouth. I was always a little offended by this hatred as both my birthday and our dating anniversary fall in February. I may have told him this many times, but it did little to alleviate his winter hatred. "What's there to look forward to?" he would whine.

Snowboarding, however, has taken away any and all feelings of angst towards our first two calendar months. Strap a board to his feet and a pair of sweet goggles to his noggin and all of a sudden life in the Denbrook home is much more manageable. Fresh powder of course helps as well. To be honest, snowboarding scares the bajeezes out of me and I am not good. Not even a little bit good. I am a professional snow plower but any sign of acceleration leaves me sweating and praying that I don't break my neck. But hey, at least I've got one hot pair of goggles.

Snow Day

Well thank goodness they canceled school today. It was definitely dicey outside. In fact, Jake feared for his own safety as he drove to get Starbucks this morning. Luckily, we have an AWD vehicle otherwise this treacherous weather may have gotten the best of him.

The Firm

Long before the germs of sticky handed five years olds took down both human members of our household there was a dream. A dream of flat, shapely abs. Our late twenties were in full gear and our 6 packs were a thing of the past (if ever present).

So what did we do? We did what any other reasonable adult would do. We moaned. We pouted. We talked of the past. And then we took our cheap selves down to the local Goodwill and picked up the first DVD we could find that seemed remotely related to exercise.

Cha-ching!


Oh Nancy Tucker, I do believe you and your southern accent are heaven sent. With phrases such as "now move your fanny lifters", "eww, that hurts," and Jake's favorite, "come on ladies, you can do this." We are bound to have the abs of our dreams in mere weeks.

Cats, Jello and lots of Meowing

I once heard a kindergarten teacher describe her day as "herding cats and nailing jello to the wall." Oh boy was that my day today! Now normally my Mondays are cheerful and delightful and full of little bodies following almost my every direction. Today I really do believe my kinders resembled cats more than children. The type of cats who meow really loudly and tempt you to toss them across the room. Not that they didn't say anything funny today...one child did ask if "that was lion fur on coat."

Gloveables

Are you dreading cleaning the bathroom, doing the dishes, or any other less than fun household chore? I am pleased to recommend Gloveables- "guarenteed to class up your day."

As you can see, while wearing my stylish gloveables, cleaning the toilet* has never been so much fun!
*Please excuse my rusty toilet brush.

Influence

Whenever possible we like use our positive influence to mold the little minds around us. I mean, we're teachers, right? I'm pretty sure we took some sort of oath in college about making the world a better place one precious child a time. Which is why we really had no choice, but to introduce this sweet little thing:


to this:


Yes, that is bacon on a maple bar. Whoop, whoop.

I think this is normal for Wyoming.

Have you ever watched TV in such a terrifying room?

Born Before 1990

I need your help. Usually whenever I get carded it's a happy day. Today not so much.

Cashier: Dear, can I please see your ID?

Me: (soft chuckle while celebrating that I look young today): Of course you may. Here you go.

Cashier: Oh my! (Clears her throat and quickly hands back my card without another word.)

So the question is...what caused the startled "Oh my!" Is my picture more horrifying than I once thought? Was she shocked that my vibrant youthful face was in actuality near the age of 30? Or perhaps does she have some deep seeded hatred towards the Denbrook name? I always had a nagging feeling that I should have kept my maiden name.

$5,000 Smackers

Thanks to anyone who voted for my school in the Pepsi Refresh grant. We placed in the top ten for December and will be receiving $5,000 for our positive behavior program. We are so excited to be able to promote and reward positive behaviors at our school.

Pepsi gives over 1 million dollars each month to different organizations. To vote for more worthy causes (and there are a ton to choose from!) go to: www.refresheverything.com or click here.

We hope everyone's new year is getting off to a great start. We, like a majillion other Americans, have decided to eat healthier. Jake's dessert tonight is carrots and peanutbutter. It's a wee bit difficult to try and trick your mind into thinking a hunk of carrot is a piece of chocolate, but we're giving it a shot.