Things are going great in chez Beadnell. Lilah is 9 weeks old and is getting bigger and more fun with each passing day. She smiles alot now and coos happily when Mark & I tickle her. McKenna is really great with Lilah and gives her kisses and hugs when she cries, I have to say though, McKenna has become more work ten Lilah lately. She is in her terrible twos now and is as obstinant and cranky as a child can possibly be. She no longer takes naps and she gets into everything you tell her not to. She also has a ton of little sayings know that help get her point across "Don't touch that," "I said no mommy," "Are you mocking me?" etc.
She thinks she's the boss.....well she is the boss, but don't tell her that.
The girls both have colds (Lilahs first) so we have been stuck indoors and staying near home the past few days and I am starting to go a bit stir crazy, but other than that I'd say we have been pretty lucky lately. No unexpected stuff has happen to ruin our little role we have going on. Hopefully I will be able to blog again soon!
Until then,
Jaime

Hi again all.....it seems I was a bit mistaken 2 blogs ago when I said McKenna perfected the alphabet. It seems the letter L is not her only hang up. Upon more careful examination of her verbiage it has been determined there may be another bit of the alphabet that confuses her....don't believe me....well, take a look for yourself.
*****Below is a written re-inactment of McKennas alphabet song, you may sing along if you desire*****
A B C D E F G H I J K I DON'T WANT TO PEE Q R S T U V W X Y AND Z NOW I KNOW MY A B C'S NEXT TIME WON'T YOU SING WITH ME.

Until next time,
Jaime

It's been one month since Lilah has joined our household and I am proud to announce that even through my lack of sleep, inadequate diet, and lack of contact with the outside world, I have not mistakenly blown up the house, accidentally shipped my children to Adu Dhabi or begun drooling and crying incessantly. That's right, I have thus far survived.
I think Lilah is sleeping better through the night now, but as with most things at this point in my sleep deprived life, I could be wrong....maybe I am just getting use to being in hyper drive 24/7. When I do sleep, my dreams are so vivid I could swear they are real....(if they ARE real, please let my dancing cloned pig Leroy know he missed ballet lessons if you see him), and none of my dreams ever seem to get an appropriate ending as they are disturbed by a beautiful little cry that sends me careening straight back into reality.
I really shouldn't complain anymore though because I do have an exceptionally beautiful new baby girl in addition to my already perfect little posse. She is growing so fast that I am almost ready to retire some of her newborn attire and she is already out of the newborn diapers and sailing through the next size up like she won't be wearing those long either. Today I took her to the aquarium with McKenna and Grandpa Rich for the first time and last week we went to the zoo. She seemed completely disinterested both times, but was a bit more interested at the aquarium (I think she could see the colors at the tropical exhibit) every time we passed a bright fish her eyes would get really huge. McKenna was great at the aquarium too....she is really into Nemo so naturally that tank was her favorite. It's not as hard as I thought it would be taking both girls places to visit. As long as I keep in perpetual motion, Lilah remains calm and as long as I keep McKenna constantly busy tantrums don't ensue. The only place I am utterly petrified to take both girls at this point is the grocery store so naturally that won't be happening for my large shopping visits for quite some time. Between McKenna pulling things off shelves and Lilah screaming every time the cart stopped I do believe I would leave the store bald and with a few more nervous ticks then I already have. Well, I suppose that's all for now. Both of my beans are asleep and I have a moment to relax before hyper-drive kicks in again (or I am asleep having a wonderful dream about sleeping babies...in which case PLEASE don't wake me)
Until next time,
Jaime

Hi Everyone!
Things have been moving along swimmingly in the Beadnell House. I am getting use to the lack of sleep although it is getting a little bit better every week. I have somehow been able to get Lilah on the every three hour meal schedule which has helped quite a bit in the slumber arena. She is officially two weeks old and getting smarter and more beautiful every day. We took her in for her first official check up at 11 days old and (you better sit down for this) she weighed in at 9lbs 1 oz! No typo, really....she almost gained a full pound just 11 days after birth (she weighed 8lbs 4 oz when she was born). And her height, weight and head size are all in proportion right now at 75% percentile each. What can I say, Mark & I breed perfection. Two perfect children, two lucky parents! <-Maybe I should go into the animal breeding business next, if this kind of luck carries over into different animal species as well I could be raising derby winners and best in show with no work at all.... :) Of course, that would only happen if Mark would let me buy a couple of dogs and horses to test out my theory hmmmm I let you know how that one develops.

I have some great news about bean #1 too. McKenna is now an alphabet aficinado. She has been reciting the alphabet like a champ the past few days and only gets caught up on the letter "L" which has always given her some trouble. She is such a great big sister and is so loving towards Lilah that I am finding the bigget problem in the home front is getting some Lilah time to myself. McKennas new favorite thing is laaying in the crib and pretend sleeping with Lilah. She gives her the biggest wetest smooches you have ever seen and bear hugs so big I have to ask her to be more gentle because I am afraid they may be too much for little Lilah. I am so happy that this last week has been an easy transition for McKenna, being that it was her first week staying home with mommy and Lilah and not attending daycare. I thought things would be bumpy at first, but she seems to be enjoying the time home and loves to fawn over her new sister. Well, Lilah is beginning to get grumpy at me and I hear McKenna stirring from her nap on the monitor so I had better be off.
Until next time,
Jaime

Wednesday 23rd-6:28 PM, Start regular contractions

• Thursday 24th-4:30 AM, Contractions are 6-8 minutes apart and steady, called hospital because Jaime thought she'd like to go in, they said to wait until they are 3-5 minutes apart and steady.
• 5:00 PM, At Jaime's last regularly scheduled OBGYN appointment Dr Welcome says she's 2-1/2 cm & strips the membranes to try to speed along the birth.
• Friday 25th-12:35 AM, Called hospital and told them we were on the way, contractions 4-6 minutes apart and stronger.
• 1:00 AM, Checked into Triage at Providence Hospital. Still 2-1/2 cm & 5-7 minutes apart. They say we aren't in active labor yet and to go for a walk for an hour around the hospital and come back to reevaluate.
• 3:05 AM, Almost 3 cm, still 5-7 minutes apart. The baby's heartbeat is a little irregular during contractions and they admit us for closer monitoring.
• 5:05 AM, Dr Wong says he wants to induce labor because of the irregular heart patterns and will give Jaime some pitocin and break her water soon. He says good to go for an epidural whenever it's wanted
• 5:35 AM, Started pitocin
• 6:00 AM, Dr Wong said Jaime is 4-1/2 cm. Contractions are now 2-4 minutes. Epidural has been ordered as was an internal heart monitor for the baby.
• 6:25 AM, the anesthesiologist came to administer the epidural
• 7:07 AM, Epi seems to have worked on the first try (unlike w/ McKenna)
• 7:10 AM, Dr Welcome stops by to say hello on her way past
• 7:20 AM, Catheter installed, 5 cm
• 9:00 AM, the water broke all by itself (some of it). 6 cm, 90% effaced. Stopped pitocin for awhile.
• 9:15 AM, Dr Anderson came in and ruptered some more of the water sack, inserted a monitor tube to more accurately track and monitor the contractions with the baby's heart beat. Said they were watching for possible premature placenta seperation or an umbilical cord obstruction. Nothing to worry about yet.
• 11:10 AM, 6-1/2-7 cm, not alot of change. Contractions are spaced farther apart now. Started pitocen up again.
• 12:15 PM, Strong urge to push. 9 cm, 100% effaced
• 12:25 PM, "Run Doctor Run" Jaime says to the nurse who just told her the doctor was on the way so they could start the delivery.
• 12:30 PM, The baby is upside down, (still head down but the incorrect way). Dr Anderson is successful in turning the baby to the correct position the during some of the next contractions.
• 12:36 PM, It's a head, fully stocked with long black hair. The umbilical cord is wrapped loosely around the baby's head as well as on arm is coming out with the head (Almost like she's waving to us) The doctor is able to slip the cord off with no problems.
• 12:38 PM, Welcome to the world Lilah Delaney Beadnell! 8 lbs 4 ounces, 19" long, 13-1/2" head. Lots of tests and the typical new stuff ensues, Scores 9's in her APGAR.
• 5:05 PM, We all are able to sleep, and/or rest for about 2 hours together. This little family unit (minus one) is Very Tired!
  
  Can't wait to see McKenna and introduce her to her beautiful new baby sister :)
• 
  More to come and pictures too after we get home and settled in, keep checking back! You might try LIGHTTHIEF.NET for some immediate pictures!

So we only have a week left until our little dumpling is born and let me tell you...IT IS NOT SOON ENOUGH! The best thing about being pregnant is the birth when you are NOT pregnant anymore. <-For those of you women who do not have children and are thinking about it....don't let anyone tell you different!

We are getting ready at a crazy pace in this house, but the problem is that we have sooo many projects going on at once that nothing is quite there yet. I made a quilt and 2 baby size decorator pillows for the baby and we just re-did the man room lotr wall and touched up all the living room paint and manroom paint on the walls. We still are working on the nursery (which Mark has about 3/4 of the way finished) as well as about 100 other projects. I am pretty sure Mark and I were out of our minds when we decided to take on all of these tasks. At least McKenna's room is complete and even has an awesome Wizard of Oz Mural up in it, courtesy of Karen & Shawn at Christmas time (thanks guys) and we have all of the baby clothes, swings, etc for the new arrival cleaned and ready to go when she arrives. McKenna is gearing up for becoming a big sister and is already very loving to the baby she calls "Dubbum" in my tummy, I can't wait to see how things go when the house has a teensy baby in it again, along with our little headstrong toddler who has proudly entered into her terrible twos and is doing a smashing job letting everyone know who is boss. I have to say that it can be a little embarrassing in the stores when a tantrum hits, but even those fits of rage are worn so well on McKenna that I can't help but love them :) I hope we can catch alot of them on camera so I can play them for her friends in her highschool years haha!

Well, I guess that's it for now. I hope everyone had a great Christmas, and New Year Celebration.
Until next time when I am hopefully 15lbs lighter,
Jaime

Hello,
We are EXTREMELY busy lately! In true Nellnell style we have about 500 house projects going at once. Ahhh, where to begin right?! Tomorrow Mark and his brother, Shawn, are going to Kent to pick up the new pellet stove we special ordered to replace our out of date,no longer working one. While they install it, Shawn's wife Karen and I are going to try and put a dent in painting McKenna's soon to be new bedroom. Later in the afternoon, I hope to go outside and sand down some of the bed frame I am working on while Mark works on installation of the pellet stove, replacing a headlight in the car, fixing the drip in man room-bathroom sink etc. etc. And it doesn't end there! :)
It's exhilarating to know that someday there will be an end in sight, I am pretty sure it won't happen until our new bundle of love arrives in January. Next week marks my 25Th week of pregnancy which is the first week of my third trimester! Yippee! And to all those concerned, I am using low to no VOC paints in a well ventilated area so it is safe (and I don't want to hear about it from you) I picked out paint colors today at Lowe's for the nursery which we are remodeling right after McKenna's room is complete. The colors are called slate (an organic green/grey) and paradise nut (a grayish mauve-pink) it should look pretty spectacular with the white crown up.
I am so ready to have everything wrapped up and be able to sit down and watch a TV show or read a book again, but I have a feeling it will be years and years before that happens. <- To be honest I will probably be too tired come January to want either of those things anyways. Well, tootaloo for now. Thank you for listening to a very pregnant, very tired, lady with a back-ache blabber on.
Until next time,
Jaime

"Applesauce Awesome"

So we've been very busy the last few months. Well, sometimes very busy and other times not really feeling like doing anything that involved thinking or moving.
We had a great Christmas this year. Spent Christmas Eve at our house with Jaime's family and Christmas afternoon with my family up in Marysville. Along with the many wonderful gifts we exchanged we had lots of laughs and smiles to go with them.
Unfortunately, after Christmas the Beadnell household didn't fair very well for a month or so. McKenna, Jaime and I all ended up going going to the emergency room at seperate times throughout the end of December and January for different illnesses. Jaime was first with a stomach flu that didn't stop for 6 or 7 hours. She ended up getting an IV to supplement all of the fluids she had lost and to help her get back on track. I caught the same thing a few days later and also got a few bags of fluids via IV in the ER. We took McKenna into Children's Hospital ER with a really bad case of Croup. It's very scary watching your baby gasp for breath and not really being able to do anything about it. I don't think there was a day in January when one of the 3 of us weren't home sick with something. We all have sniffles and coughs still.
Jaime's dad Rich hasn't had a good run of luck either. He drives a dump truck for a demolition company and as he was preparing the back of the truck for dumping of his load, the back gate popped open and about 150 pounds of of concrete fell directly on his right foot and smashed pretty much every bone in it. He stayed at Harborview's trauma center for a few weeks and then he came to stay with us until they figure out how much of his foot they are going to have to amputate. All things considered, it could of been much worse. His spirits seem to be good and he is getting great care from Jaime who changes the dressings and has been taking time off of work to take him to most of his appointments and such. Pictures of his foot can be found HERE, but beware if you have a meek stomach.
On happier notes, McKenna is growing up faster each and every day. She grew quite a bit since her last doctor's visit at 12 months and went from the 45th percentile for height to the 96th percentile for height. She is still in the midrange for her weight. McKenna has about a 30 word vocabulary now and knows many parts of her body and points to things and says what they are regularly. One of her favorite things to do when we are out and about is to look people right in the eye and yell, "HIIIII!", and wait for a response. If she doesn't get a response back, she usually scrunches up her face and trys again until she does.
We also updated our master bedroom by ripping off all of the sheetrock on the exterior walls, reinsulating, resheetrocking, painting and putting up crown molding and base board. Jeff was so kind to help me with a lot of it, as a friend from work Connor stopped by to help with some of the crown as well. Props go out to my peeps! :)
We have a new addition to our home as well. Jaime got a new kitten for Valentine's Day. Its a grey/white/black/brown tabby like cat with tiger like stripes. We're still trying to figure out his name, although Jaime seems to like Nubbins. Monster and Coda seem to be getting used to him, Coda more than Monster so far.
Well, that's about all for now. Hopefully we'll be updating a bit more than we have in the last few months. Please check out our website for updated pictures of McKenna. Drop us a line if you feel so inclined! Love you...

So Monday is a big day for us in casa de Beadnell. I have officially thrown in the towel and disbanded the NellNell Daycare and am joining the masses of human robots in a regular working environment. My good friend from junior HS, Casey Schoepflin, will be resuming my daily motherly duties with my little angel while I slave away at the computer 9 hours a day. I am happy that someone I love and trust so much will be taking care of McKenna during the day, but also very sad that I won't be with her all of the time anymore. McKenna is growing so quickly I am afraid I will be missing out on everything with her. It should actually be interesting the first week to see how we manage without each other, I have only been away from her for one full day before so I don't quite know yet what I should expect. Last week she started saying "pity' (for pretty, and "duck" to add to her ever growing vocabulary. And she is starting to follow in her daddies footsteps and is trying to scale every piece of furniture in the house. I do believe he will make a rock climber of her yet.
We are almost completely ready for Christmas to be here and put up lights inside this past week. I have also finished wrapping all of the Christmas gifts finally (with nary a paper cut) so things are starting to feel much less hectic. I can't wait to see McKenna's face at Christmas time and hope she is more interested in unwrapping gifts then she was on her birthday.
Until then,
Jaime

Jaime took McKenna to see Santa in the mall yesterday and the picture to the right is the outcome. It has to be one of the best Santa pictures ever :)
The votes for our first annual "Name the Turkey We're Going to Eat for Thanksgiving" goes to Quentin Tarenturkey. With honorable mentions going to Gandalf the Gravy and Lucille Butterball. Check in next year for a chance to cast your vote!
We've been pretty busy lately getting ready for the Holidays and such. Jaime has got most of her Christmas shopping done.
We're closing down the daycare and Jaime is going back to work for more hours. She'll work from about 10-7 M-Th and from 5-8 on F. Our friend Casey is going to watch McKenna so hopefully everything will work out alright. Casey's little girl Jade is a little younger than McKenna so they'll have a lot of fun together.

Well, until next time...

It's official! McKenna is 1 year old!!!!! What a wonderful year it has been and my, it has gone by fast. Mark I and could not be more proud or happy to be the parents of McKenna. It seems like everyday she is learning something new and it is just as exciting to watch as I am sure it is for her to accomplish it. Below is a recap of the past year so you may share in the crowning glory that is McKenna's first year.

November 2nd, 2005 was McKenna's due date
....16 hours of Labor later and.....
November 3rd at 3:00pm she was born (she didn't want to show up to the party too early)
November 4th was her first car ride (The slowest Mark has ever driven)
November 9th-First time grocery shopping (my little bargain hunter)
November 24th -Thanksgiving (Grandpa Rich won McKenna when we bet her in poker)
December 18th-First (non-gas related) smile
December 22nd - Grandpa Rich babysat for the first time
January 2nd - Aunt Dani babysat
January 3rd - 2 months old, McKenna's doctor gives her an A++ (not that I am bragging)
January 10th - Jaimes first day back to work
January 26th - McKenna's first laugh
February 9th - McKenna gets sick for the first time (from daycare)
February 28th - McKenna gets sick again (from daycare) coincidently this is also McKenna's last day in daycare
February 28th - Kristen Zackrone babysits McKenna for the first time
March 1st - Jaime starts working nights at Plywood Supply so she can spend days with McKenna
April 1st - McKenna eats solid food (rice cereal) for the first time
April 5th - McKenna's first attempt at crawling (she scoots)
April 8th - McKenna eats canned baby food for the first time (mango) and LOVES it!
April 14th - McKenna's best buddy Ada is born today
April 23rd - 1st trip to Aquarium with me, Mark & KD
April 27th - Shakes a rattle, pats ground if she can't reach a toy to get your attention
May 9th - McKenna eats cherios for the first time
May 13th - First trip to the zoo with Me, Mark, Jeni, Brian, & Grandpa Rich
May 15th - First tooth pops through
May 18th - Real crawling starts
May 22nd - First picnic (went to Bothell Landing with Mark & I)
May 27th - McKenna's first time eating out (Tony Romas) for uncle Shawns birthday
June 3rd - McKenna sits straight up for the first time & uses a sippy cup
June 9th - McKenna pulls herself up to standing position
June 18th - She gives kisses for the first time
July 17th - Start watching Mckenna's friend Ada during the day
August 8th - She says "Ada" and has been saying mama & dada for about 2 months now
August 10th - Top tooth pops through and she learns to crouch
August 24th - McKenna walks! (see our home page )
September 2nd - First Fair with Grandma Joy, me & Mark (Evergreen State)
September 20th - First plane ride! She screamed her head off.
October 15th - begins to say "whadat?" and points to things
October 28th - McKenna's costume party
October 29th - McKenna says "hi"
November 3rd - McKenna turns 1!!!!!!

Thank you to everyone who has babysat or just come over to visit this year!! BIG huge thanks to Marks mom Joy who has been there at the drop of a hat to take on any extra task that needs to get done. This has been a wonderful, exciting & exhasting year. Looking forward to the next.
Jaime

Wow, has time quickly passed us by. McKenna is nearing 1 year old (November 3rd) and to celebrate we had a Birthday/Halloween costume party for her on Saturday. All in all about 30-40 people showed up mostly with costumes. If they didn't wear one, we made them put something on out of a grab bag of dress up stuff. McKenna didn't know what to think of everyone at first, some costumes startled her and some she was fascinated with, but eventually she was McKenna as usual and walking around with everybody making new friends. She received so many wonderful clothes and toys that we had to expand her toy box to 3 bins (instead of 1-1/2), and I don't think we'll have to buy any more clothes until she's 2 years old! :)
Thank you everyone who participated for your generosity and caring. There will be lots of pictures posted very soon on our nellnell site so check back often.


I hope this message finds you and yours well.
Keep in touch!
~Mark

Well, we finally went on our trip to Fargo North Dakota to see my friend Chasitie Bekkerus get married. The wedding was in a really beautiful lutheran church with stained glass windows and pipe organs...the whole 9. Chasities daughters Hannah & Gracie were the flower girls for the wedding and both of them fell asleep up at the wedding altar during the service. It was pretty cute! Everyone will be glad to know also that I did not trip down the aisle, not even on the practice runs which is quite an accomplishment for me. The actual trip to Fargo itself was mostly to get prepared for the wedding and so we didn't do much sight seeing while we were there. I did get to see the ramada Inn that was in the movie Fargo, that was about it until we went to Minnesota. After the wedding we went to a small town called Roger (I think) in Minnesota were a tornado touched down in a newer housing development, it was pretty sad to see all of the houses ripped to shreds and it made me really sad not only for those people but for the people who lost so much in Hurricane Katrina, I just can't imagine that what I saw in Roger is probably a million times worse in New Orleans. Very sad.

We also went to the Mall of America the night before we left to come home...I don't know what I thought I was going to see there, but for some reason I thought it was going to be....I don't know, maybe more fun or something. It could have just been the crowds of people and the 45 minute lines for the restaurants that got me down, but I don't think I would go there again. I guess I had wanted to see it for so long that I was disappointed when I saw it was just a mall with some rides in the middle. Overall, the company was the best part of the trip. It was wonderful to see Chasitie again, and great to finally meet her girls and husband Matt. I also enjoyed finally meeting her grandparents who are just as amazing as Chasitie told me they were. I think that it will be a few years before we take another plane ride with McKenna as she screamed for about an hour on the way to Fargo, so we will have alot of time to plan our next vacation. To all my dear friends who are reading this, do not get married unless it is in Washington state for the next year or so :)
Love you all,
Jaime

It's Wed morning right now and like last blog McKenna is still sleeping and Ada is quietly drifting to sleep in the bouncy chair. We have been super busy lately and have seldom had time to even sit down. Mark started installing the bamboo floor my dad bought for our Christmas gift in 05. The bathroom that he is installing it in looks pretty smashing. I feel like I could put some pins up and go bowling in there! :) You wouldn't know it's Marks first time installing hardwoods either, it's perfect!
Another fun thing that has happened is that McKenna has her 4th tooth growing finally! She officially has two top and two bottom teeth and is proudly munching and biting on everything in sight. She's getting a little bit better with her kisses and actually attempts not to use her teeth, but likes to utilize her new food disposal units everywhere else. She's officially grown through another stage of clothing as well which makes me so sad. I can't believe how fast everything is being outgrown! Soon I will have to yield to the inevitable and actually go shopping for her (I guess there is a plus to everything :)
She's in for another first next month which Mark and I are gearing up for....Her first airplane ride! Actually, I am not looking forward to bringing her on a plane. As much as I would like to imagine McKenna is able to sit still for 3-1/2 hours, I know that thought is much like the dream of winning the lottery, impossible. We are taking a trip to Fargo (yes as in North Dakota) to take part in my best friend Chasities wedding. Should be interesting to say the least. I am a little weary of people in Fargo I am not sure why, maybe because Steve Bushemi played such a creepy role in the movie Fargo, but you can be sure I will be on my toes the entire trip and if any of Chasities wedding party want to hold McKenna they will have to pass a complete FBI profile, DNA and warrant search.
That's all folks!
Until next write,
Jaime