{rudy}

This is what happens when we leave daddy home alone......

{bustamove}

Here is the videographer's video of Kolbe bustin' a move. :)  This never gets old!

{fullHEART}

Have you every just smiled to yourself and thought, "What did I do to deserve this great life?"  I don't know if it's this beautiful fall weather or the relief that it's almost the weekend, but I can't help but reflect on my blessings......So I thought tonight would be a good time to do a "Quick 5" of the things that I'm lovin' right now.

1.  Mark and I remind each other all the time how great our kids are.  Gosh I love them!  They are so close in age and keep us so busy, but it's so worth it!  They have great personalities.  They both sleep through the night and neither one of them have a "fussy time".  Kolbe is talking much more now and Jameson is trying to get a word in, too. :)

2.  I know I'm biased and I know this sounds cheesey, but Mark is the best husband....dad.... friend.... counselor.... etc. EVER!  He keeps me grounded, works so hard, gets the kids dressed every morning and doesn't hesitate to change a diaper or wipe up (or rub in - be honest...you do it, too!) some baby puke.  He's always calm, always positive and always does things with great love.  Tomorrow we're going on a date.  A real one.  Babysitter. Dinner. Movie. check.check.check.  LOVE!

3.  Kolbe is SO HILARIOUS!  He has now danced his little heart out at two wedding receptions.  This is a new move.  He's too cool for school. :)

4.  Last weekend we went back to McCook for my MOST FAVORITE weekend of the year.  Seriously.  Better than Christmas {maybe}.  Heritage Days brings back such great memories.  The weather was almost as perfect as the company.  Friday night I got to see some friends from high school that I hadn't seen in way too long.  I feel blessed to still be in touch with them and love that we can still laugh and talk like we did years ago.  Kolbe loved the parade and Jameson got wore out from all the excitement. :)

4.  We love living back in the Midwest.  We love that we are just a short car ride away from both of our families.  The memories we are creating are priceless.  It warms my heart when I think of how many people love us and our kids.  

5.  I'm lovin' watching this girl grow and change.  Every morning she gives me the biggest smile and it melts my heart.  I love being a mom.  I love that it's the most challenging job I've ever had.  These kiddos make me want to be a better person.  

My house is a mess and I'm buried at work, but my heart is FULL.  I'm blessed.  I'm grateful God has given me another day to enjoy these blessings.  Note to self....Add "Count My Blessings Daily" to the "To-Do" list! :)

{lil miss}

Jameson is cooing and laughing.  It's so precious so we thought we'd share. :)

{busta move}

Kolbe had SO MUCH FUN at Tom and Michelle's reception.  He danced his little heart out.  I had no doubt he would.  But I had no idea that it would be this priceless.  I will never forget this as long as I live.  I love this kid!

Here is a short video of his moves.....I'll post the longer video when we get it from the videographer.

{things are changin}

We've somewhat adjusted to me going back to work.  I miss the kids, but I love my job.  I love the kids daycare provider and they love her, too.  And I'm going to love my first paycheck almost as much.  {Whole lotta love going on!}  Dave Ramsey....can you hear me?  We're paying off that debt and not looking back!

Kolbe and Jameson on their first day of daycare. 

So funny!

This is Kolbe's new smile. :)

The kids are growing like crazy and learning new things everyday.  Just tonight Kolbe was saying, "Ah cute!" while scrunching up his face in an ornery grin.  They are so fun, but so much work.  I feel like we run from 5:00 in the morning until 11:00 at night but it is oh. so. worth. it.  They make me laugh harder than I ever have.  Seriously the funniest kids I know.  So much personality!

Tonight Kolbe pottied on his potty chair.  {Thanks Grandma Edith!} He was so proud of himself that he didn't want to get off....ever.  I'm hoping we will only have to buy diapers for one little munchkin soon!

    

2 months old!

Some days we think Jameson looks like Grandma Margaret, some days Kolbe, and other days she just looks like Jameson. :)

The wedding party.

Last weekend we helped Tom and Michelle celebrate their wedding.  So beautiful!  Jim was feeling good and looks so great.  It's hard to believe he has cancer.  Please, keep him in your prayers as he continues his treatments.

Beautiful Aunt Michelle and Lil Princess Jameson :)

My parents won the "married people dance".  44 years and still going strong!

Cute little favors from the rehearsal dinner....
courtesy of pinterest...made by me!

Saturday was also Mark's 29th birthday.  He likes to remind me that he'll never catch up with me.  Thanks babe. :)  More important to him than his birthday {or his brother's wedding} was the first Notre Dame game.  Lord help us....football season has begun!

Jameson in her Notre Dame cheerleading outfit....don't worry, we have a Husker one, too.

At Jameson's baptism with her godparents, Uncle Tom and Aunt Michelle.

Here is a shot of the cute curtains my sisters had made for Jameson's nursery.  They're perfect. :) 

I hope you're all doing well.  I'd love to hear from you....and if you're ever in Omaha, please come visit!  We miss our Arizona friends, but are blessed to be close to our Midwest friends and family.  Much love!


I'll leave you with this little stinker.......

That was the skirt I wore to school that day.  This kid cracks us up daily!

{jameson clare}

On my due date, Tuesday, June 12th, I headed to the doctor.  Because there was no progress, they scheduled my induction for the next Tuesday.  I came home, discouraged because I did not want to be induced again....it wasn't a great experience with Kolbe and I ended up having to have a c-section....something I REALLY didn't want to do again!  Mark had a softball game that night, so when he came home from work, we played catch in the back yard and joked that it would be funny if I went into labor while we were doing that.  We went to the game and I chased Kolbe during the entire game.  He just wanted to run and wasn't interested in sitting still.  I went to bed that night and woke up around midnight to go to the bathroom and then went back to bed.  I continued to wake up with the urge to pee about every 30 minutes for the next few hours until I realized I was having contractions.  I never had any with Kolbe until they induced me, and these didn't feel that strong, so it took me awhile to figure out what was going on. :)  I woke Mark up around 2:30 am and he thought maybe I should try to go back to sleep, but I was too excited and nervous, so I did some laundry, packed a few more things for the hospital, and picked up the house.  At 3:00 am I called Kelsie to let her know I was having contractions.  She was going to be in the delivery room with us, but lives 6 hours away, so at 3:30 am she loaded up her kids and started her drive to Bellevue.  I called the nurse at the hospital to see if she thought I should come in.  I thought my contractions were only about 30 seconds long but they were consistantly 4-5 minutes apart.  She said to wait until the contractions were longer, so I continued to clean, pack, and pace.  Mark, Kolbe and I went to Village Inn for breakfast and to pass the time.  Kelsie and the kids got here mid morning and Mark went into work because things weren't progressing.  We hung out and tried to nap and the contractions continued all day.  My mother-in-law said she drank a Dr. Pepper right before she went into labor with her oldest, so we headed to Sonic happy hour and got the kids hopped up on sugar and Kels and I enjoyed some vanilla Dr. Pepper and cheesesticks.  (We're such health nuts!)  By this time, the contractions were pretty strong, but I wanted to wait until Mark got home from work to go to the hospital.  Kels and I drove around until Mark was home from work and as soon as I stepped in the door, Mark was ready to head to the hospital.  I thought maybe my water had broke in the night and I just wanted them to check to make sure....I fully expected them to send me home, so I didn't take any bags with me.  We got checked in and went into a Triage room.  To make this already long story a little shorter, the believed my water had broke and I was dilated to 4 centimeters.  We called our parents so they could start heading this way.  Mark's parents were coming to stay with Kolbe, but our friend Lisa stayed with him until they could get there.  Thanks Lisa! :)  My dad was at a farm sale but my mom said they'd hop in the car as soon as he got home.  I got my own room around 9:30 and was more than ready for my epidural.  Once I got that, things started progressing faster and I was feeling much better.  They came to the conclusion that I actually had 2 bags of water.  They believed that the first one was small which is why I couldn't really tell if it had broke or not.  After doing that, I had dilated to an 8, it was the middle of the night, and my parents got to the hospital.  My dad went to the hotel (they almost couldn't find a room because of the College World Series) and my mom joined the party in my room. :)  By 6:30 am on Thursday morning, I was fully dilated.  They said I could either push, or let the baby work her way down.  The nurse advised me to choose the second option and said I would be able to rest up to be ready to push.  The upped my epidural a little and I rested.  At 8:22, they checked me again and said it was time to push.  I pushed through 3 contractions and at 8:40 am on Thursday, June 14th, we welcomed Jameson Clare Jarding.  We named her after Mark's dad, James, and her middle name is after Saint Clare.  She was born with tons of dark brown hair and captured our hearts in an instant.  She weighed 7 pounds, 12 ounces and was 20 3/4 inches long.  The most memorable thing for me was seeing Mark and Kelsie's emotions.  Their faces were priceless.  Afterwards, Mark said that it was the most spiritual experience he's ever had.  The birthing experience was awesome.  I was so happy that I could do a VBAC.  The recovery has been much easier and it's helpful that I can lift Kolbe....and we've started going on walks this week, too.  Kolbe is adjusting well.  He's only scratched her once and pulled her hair twice.  Not too bad! :)  Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers.  We feel beyond blessed. 
Just a few pics.....I'll post more pictures soon and get back on track updating this blog.  :)

This is probably my favorite picture.  Gives love at first sight a whole new meaning!



 Going home.....

 A close up....She looks a lot like Daddy and Grandma Margaret.

 Aunt Kelsie and Becca

 Grandma Margaret and Grandpa Jim

 Papa and Nanny



{just a few things to cross off}

I just love tackling a good project or two on a Saturday while Mark and Kolbe hang out. :)  

Just a simple (and cheap) little project for Baby J's headbands and bows.  So far we only have one.....
I'm sure this will be full in no time!  (Especially
since I know how to make the flowers now!)

I love this dresser!  Baby J's Godparents bought it for us.  

It's just perfect!  Thanks Tom and Michelle!  

The shoes on the shelf were Mark's, 

and the clothes hanging were my mom's.  

I just love decorating with things that have meaning.  

 This is the same crib we used for Kolbe.  

Inside is all the stuff we're taking to the hospital. (Just for you, Jess!)

The only thing missing here are the curtains.  My sisters are having 

them made for us.  Think pink, green, yellow, and orange flowers 

with some brown in there.  They are going to be long and sort 

of "frame" the crib.  Totally going to pull the room together!  

Thanks Jen and Kels!

This was something that I really thought would be special in the nursery.  

I got a baby picture of each of our parents and us.  It turned out so cute.  

All of the frames (except one $2 Goodwill purchase) were ones I had

but wasn't using.  All I bought was the spray paint.  I love a cheap project!

The Jarding Side                                              The Cappel Side

I'm so proud to say that the only things I have purchased for the nursery were the $2 frame from Goodwill and a $4 can of spray paint.  Everything else I had around the house.  The only thing left to buy is a curtain rod, but I think we can splurge on that....Dave Ramsey would be so proud!  :)  

I still need to hang the name frame....which is done and SUPER CUTE...but since the name is a *secret* you'll have to wait. :) 

And while I did some projects, so did these two sweeties. :) 

I love that Kolbe wants to do everything Mark does.  

This wreath was a project my soon to be sister-in-law, Michelle, and I did last weekend when they came to visit.  The "J" is the same color as my chair and flower pots outside.  Really completes the porch....and again....cheap and easy to do!  My kind of project!

Such a big helper!!! :) 

Thanks for checking in!  T minus 10 days until the due date.  A few people have said they think she'll come early.  Lord I hope so!  Stay tuned.......

{updated list}

Topanga's To Do List

Get Kolbe to Sleep Through the Night

Finish Craft/Guest Room

Shelf

Organize Closet

Make Memory Box for Each Family Member

Cupboard Chalkboard

Laundry Room

            Paint and Hang Shelves

            Buy Rug

            Gather Organizing Bins

Kolbe’s Baby Book

Kolbe's 1 Year Shutterfly Book

Picture Organization

            Prints

            Electronic

Recipe Binder

Garage Organization

Mother Teresa Subway Art

Growth Chart

Learn How To Make Reusable Stencil on Silhouette

Nursery

            Wall Décor

                 Baby Pictures

                 You Are My Sunshine

                  Name Frame

              Curtains

              Gather our Baby Items to Decorate Dresser
              Bow Holder from Oatmeal Container

Run Another Half Marathon (May 2013)

Upstairs Bookshelf

Bed Skirt on Master Bed

Kolbe’s Room

Hang Letters

IKEA Spice Rack Bookshelves

Master Bedroom Closet

Toy Storage in Living Room

Wreath for Front Door

Paint the table to go next to the rocking chair
Child proof the bathroom drawers so Kolbe stops making a huge mess in my bathroom
Decorate School Office

{nesting}

We had a great weekend!  I cleaned the house on Friday because I had a massage on Saturday and didn't want to ruin it by cleaning the house. :)  So we started the weekend with a clean house, Mark got to go golfing, I had a massage and we met some friends at the Stormchasers game last night.  Even though the game got rained out, it was nice to see the Rowe's.  Today was a pretty relaxing end to a great weekend. :)  I'm almost 37 weeks pregnant and feeling it.  Mark made the comment that Kolbe might be the only person in the world that walks slower than me.  Isn't he hilarious??? ;)  We took a tour of the hospital last week and got preregistered....now we're just waiting on Baby J. :)  

Like I mentioned before....lots of nesting going on here.  I love a finished project. :)  Here are some of our latest.

Mark finished the sandbox and Kolbe is loving it.  Now we just need to get him to stop throwing sand.  He has been in timeout a few times already.... I think he'll learn pretty fast. :) 

Daddy likes the sandbox, too. :)

Supervising and relaxing after all of his hard work!

Can you tell he loves it?  Mark is so fancy he added a bench.  :)

We also got a little pool for the backyard.  Kolbe's favorite thing to do in the water?? Golf.   So silly!

One of my finished projects.  That chair was $9 at Goodwill.  Much to Mark's dismay, I moved it here all the way from Arizona.  Then painted and distressed it.  My mom picked out the flowers.  She's a pro. :) 

Front Porch...I still need a wreath for the front door. I've got some things in mind.....add it to the list!

I made this with my Silhouette....AKA best Christmas present ever!  No surface is safe now that I know how to use it.....There will be vinyl on everything! 

Sneak peak of the nursery.  Here's just one of the things going in there.  I made this, too.  Isn't that machine awesome??

Just a few more things I'd like to do before the baby gets here:

• Paint the table to go next to the rocking chair
• Move the furniture to make room for the new dresser
• Curtains for the Nursery
• Finish last wall hanging for Nursery....hang everything on the walls.
• Child proof the bathroom drawers so Kolbe stops making a huge mess in my bathroom
• Pack a hospital bag

Here's to another productive week.  The nursery is getting so close to being done.  I'll share when it is.  Mark's whole family is coming down for Memorial Day Weekend.  We're going to see how much fun stuff we can cram in one weekend.....zoo, pool. shopping, and whatever else. :)  Have a great week everyone!