First Day of School!

Ok, even though technically we're homeschooling and Jason is not going to public school this year, he's enrolled in a day of enrichment classes where he has to wear a uniform shirt and backpack. He looked so cute and mature, I just had to take pictures.

Beth is taking dance and one class, too, so she also gets to wear a uniform shirt and backpack, very fun except that I have 10 minutes to change her and walk to a different building! We made it, and they had a great first day.

In dance, Beth was excited that they did many of the same ballet moves she learned last year. She was so proud that she "knew" things already. Tap, however, was a brand new experience and while she loves the clickety clack, she says it's much harder and going to take practice. They also both made a clay model of the state of Georgia in their "Jog through Georgia" class. And Jason's decided after one day of art (a first grade class for our kindergartner because the classes left were so few, very exciting, and as the lady registering us said, he's big enough to fit right in :) he wants to be a pilot AND an artist. He's drawn me pictures of houses, trees and planes every day this week! I'll scan it in and post them when we get the scanner hooked up, ahhh...the joys of moving.

Overall, I'm very pleased we got ourselves into this ministry. It was kind of a rushed decision based on time constraints but I have very high hopes after only one day. It's a huge program and the halls were bustling with activity all morning. For a mom on bedrest, it was almost too much but Adam was very cooperative (praise God) and the library room is very close to Jason and Beth's second class where I was able to just sit and read to him for 45 minutes. Oh, how we're going to treasure that one on one time each week! All in all, we're very excited to give them this exposure to a classroom setting and other authority figures while still maintaining control over most of their education. We're looking forward to a great adventure in schooling!

A California Girl at a Virginia Wedding

Andrew and I attended a wedding of one of his co-workers and long-time friend (they were actually roommates back in Pennsylvania before Andrew moved to California). The wedding was in Williamsburg, Virginia. We took the kids to their cousins in North, Carolina (where they had a fabulous weekend, thank you, Aunt Janice and Uncle John!) and set off for the wedding (and 24 hours by ourselves!) Anyway, I realized packing for the trip that I do not own any nice shoes. I have bad ankles, their weak and permanently swollen and ugly so I just don't buy nice shoes unless I have to. Well, I needed nice shoes for this wedding. Fortunately, thanks to hand-me-downs I had a very nice maternity dress. I just needed shoes. So, it's the day of the wedding, we have a 4 hour drive for a 4:00 wedding and I wanted to go shoe shopping :) Janice loaned me a pair that would work but they were a bit more heel than I'm used to, and I decided I should own a pair of basic nice black shoes! We went shopping en route and I found nothing. I decided to just wear Janice's shoes promising myself post-pregnancy to invest in a nice pair of shoes! But now we were running late. We quickly checked-in at the hotel, got ourselves dressed and back to the car. We made it barely in time to see the bride walk down the aisle but we made it, and the wedding proceeded nicely. But about halfway through the ceremony, I looked down and started laughing. I had to bite my cheek. I nudged Andrew, pointed at my feet and he started chuckling. Somehow we managed to keep our giggles muted but it was hard! So why were we laughing...

After all that hustle and bustle shopping, I wore my brown Rainbow flip-flops to the wedding! Andrew lovingly whispered in my ear, "I knew I could take the girl out of California but couldn't take the California out of the girl." I changed my shoes before the reception and the rest of the evening was beautiful although my flip-flops would have been more comfortable :)

Flashback: Happy Birthday to me!

Ok, I got pictures for this post and was going to write about my birthday adventure back in June (and I still will) when I realized, I'm writing this on my mom's birthday! Happy birthday, Mom! I'm sorry that I'm stuck at home and can't shop for the most wonderful present for you but then you deserve the sun, the moon and the stars and how could I do that :) Just know that we love you and look forward to seeing you soon! Have a great birthday weekend!




Here's my mom hanging out with her grandkids.





As for my birthday, I was supposed to get a surprise trip to Georgia but Andrew couldn't handle not telling me (he knew deep down I needed the comfort of knowing I was going to be escaping the craziness of being a single mom for 5 weeks while packing and moving and he was right!) so it wasn't a surprise. It was, however, the biggest blessing at the perfect time! One of the best parts was knowing my friends and family were ready to pay for the plane ticket to send me! They knew how important it was for me to see Andrew (and to escape). Turns out Andrew's company pays for a ticket for the spouse to house hunt, what a deal! The plane ride, sitting by myself reading and playing on board trivia (seriously addictive!) was a great birthday present! And dinner out with Andrew 3 nights in a row was pretty fabulous, too (I think I gained 5 pounds that week! It's hard to say no to dessert when the company's footing the bill!) And I got to see our house that we were one week away from closing on (good thing I liked it, in fact they had to drag me away because of Medieval Times reservations). It was a fabulous trip with the only bad part flying home alone leaving Andrew in Georgia for another week alone on my actual birthday. At least writing this now, the difficult parts are already becoming distant memories...

When I came down the escalator after my flight home, I was welcomed by the three most beautiful children in the world dressed in their Sunday best holding flowers and balloons that they had each picked out (Thank you Stephanie for putting that together). As soon as Adam saw me halfway down the escalator he starts yelling, "I have flower for you, mommy!" Ok, I don't cry much but how could you not! I'm rarely away from my kids for hours let alone 3 1/2 days! I cried, people stared and said awww...it was a Hallmark moment. I wish I had a picture of them standing and waiting there but I don't think I'll ever forget it anyway...Here's Beth and Jason waiting for my luggage so you can get an idea...

While I was gone, the kids had made a cake for me (thank you, Nana Roberta for your patience and assistance in making my wonderful cake). We took it to Casey's and had dinner and cake there on my actual birthday.














Then the next night was girl's night out (yes, I am spoiled by many people who love me :) It was so relaxing to just sit and talk and eat pizza and pizzookies with friends. Thank you! And their gift to me...a day at the spa!


I got a pregnancy massage and milk bath. It was amazing! I want to go again (and am already planning it, girls, for when I'm in California for Easter and not pregnant so I can enjoy the hot tubs, saunas, etc...) but the massage...wow, driving home I was so relaxed I started to wonder if I was a safe driver! I had entered a zone and hadn't returned to reality yet! Thanks Krista, for watching my kids so I could enjoy that (and then feeding us all dinner that night :) What more can I say, a birthday to remember for sure!

Pregnancy amusements

I get these weekly pregnancy updates and thought this excerpt was funny...

Fun baby shower games!
• Guess how many times she'll pee in the next ten minutes! - or throughout the night, I'm up to two visits minimum!
• When her belly button pops out, will the baby be done? - mine doesn't pop, just flattens but I know some of yours do!
• How many of us can fit in one pair of her panties? - I just bought a pack of bigger panties cuz mine were so uncomfortable :(
• Who can finish a half gallon of ice cream first? - or a box of cookies :)
• Guess where she left her keys! - this is an especially difficult problem for me since our house is still in unpacking status and we haven't found permanent places for anything, like where is my checkbook? Thank goodness for online bill pay!

I'd have to add to the list: who can burp the loudest (or who can burp the mommy, often Andrew's job in the evening), who can eat the most Tums at once, how soon after becoming stuffed super quick at a meal are we starving again! and how cold does the room have to be before she's comfortable (or how many blankets does her husband need to stay comfortable :)

laugh with me...Jocelyn

Flashback: Dunes Movie Night

During the summer, Newport Dunes has walk-up movie night. They play family movies on a somewhat big screen on the sand. It's mostly for the summer RV/campers but the public is invited for free. We saw Nemo there last year, and the kids loved it so we made a point to go this year. We even managed to find an acceptable movie night before Andrew left town. So back in May we saw Cars. We played in the sand and roasted marshmallows, and our friends, the Maurers, joined us. We were a bit disappointed that for some reason they used a smaller screen on the back of some building rather than the big blow-up screen they used last year. And it turned out to be a very late night (Cars is a super long movie!) and did I mention it got really cold! But we had a good time and would do it again!

Some other notes on the evening...

I told Beth she couldn't wear a dress but had to wear pants and a sweatshirt. I guess I didn't make it clear cuz she still wore a dress...Gotta love this girl's determination or is that style?

The preview movie on the DVD was the re-release of Peter Pan. This was currently one of Adam's favorite things! (He actually hasn't seen the movie, just the sing-along songs and the story-book but he loves Peter Pan!) He was in awe over watching Pan on the "big screen" and kept pointing and yelling, "Peter Pan" much to the amusement of those around us.

Like Father, like son

For Andrew's birthday I got him a 4x4 Rubik's Cube because he'd already completed my old 3x3 some time ago. He is super hard to buy for because he doesn't want me spending money on fun things just for the purpose of being silly or creative, and he doesn't need anything, or so he believes. But I keep trying and this year I bought him this Rubik's cube. I didn't know what to expect but this is what happened...I lost my husband for a month! He played with it almost every night (or at least if felt that way) and when I'd ask him about something the next day he'd look at me clueless and say, "did I have the Rubik's cube in my hand?" Yes, if it was in his hand, he would nod and say uh, huh, when I talked but he heard nothing! Result: he completed it. He was proud. And he was able to put it down!

Now my title, like father, like son...Jason got the Rubik's snake for his birthday (I highly recommend this toy as every child aged 3-103 that comes over picks it up and plays with it). He loved making it into letter shapes and zig-zags. And then he discovered from his cousins that there were more challenging shapes such as the ball. So without direction, he sat there one afternoon for over 30 minutes, tuned out the world, and figured out how to make the ball. He now can do it in about 1 minute. He is his father's son.

Jillian's 6 month ultrasound

This ultrasound was taken the day I got put on bedrest. The kids were with me because Andrew was out of town, it was a routine ultrasound, and I enjoy showing them the bones and heart and all the amazing things you can see. It was no longer fun when in a very serious tone, the tech told me to go upstairs and see my doctor immediately. Fortunately, I have amazing friends: One to get the kids and take them to lunch, one to watch them the rest of the afternoon while I sat in a hospital bed praying they would let me go home and not force me to stay there for the rest of the pregnancy (yes, this was a fear) and another friend to go to my house and sign paperwork with the movers who had been packing boxes all day. Thank you to all! And as upsetting as that day was, it was 6 weeks ago. I'm doing fine. Jill is kicking all the time (in other words, she's fine). I'm seeing a high risk obstetric doctor tomorrow. And we got a really good ultrasound picture out of that day :) Check out our adorable little girl (hope it's big enough to see, the bottom right corner profile is my favorite).

Random life moments while on bedrest...

First off, to clarify and update...I am on bedrest, and have been since July 1, at 24 weeks, for a short cervix. It could be a sign of preterm labor risks, an incompetent cervix, or just my body prepping early like it has before (I dilated with Beth and Adam at 31 weeks). But not knowing for sure, I'm playing it safe following doctor's orders (mostly) and sitting/laying around all day. It makes life challenging when I need to take care of 3 kids in a new house full of boxes but we're getting by. The kids are great. They even helped unpack their rooms so now they have plenty to keep them busy. And Jason has become such a servant, running for the phone and diapers, refilling my water, and pushing empty boxes down the stairs :) I'm very fortunate that their so tolerant and patient with our unique situation. I'm not saying they've been perfect. The discovery of packing peanuts while mom was napping upstairs with Adam, well, not one of our best moments but with daddy and a vacuum, it did get cleaned up eventually.

Fortunately, we've found an amazing church full of people with servant's hearts that have already begun to provide meals and come clean our house (this is a seriously humbling experience to let a stranger into your disaster of a home and watch them unpack and clean while you lay there and watch, wow!)
I do get out of the house to run errands (Target, the grocery store AND Trader Joe's! have carts for me to ride in, embarrassing but fun :) and to go to church. We go Wednesday nights and Sunday mornings. After Sunday services there's a potluck type lunch every week that has been great for getting to know people. And the kids love the cupcakes with blue icing two weeks in a row, yikes!

Considering it's August in Georgia, we can't really go out and play anyway! It's so muggy and hot. There are many times we've had to literally push Adam out the door as he's screaming, "no, hot, no!" We try to go out first thing in the morning for a little bit of run around time (that's the three kids in our front yard) but even that has been too much for Adam and Beth (Jason loves riding his scooter around the cul-de-sac even in the heat, it's such a freedom after living on such a busy street). We did venture out without daddy to the local library for storytime (indoor play!) It was really more of a play and dance time with a few too many young toddlers but it was better than sitting at home! Unfortunately, we couldn't check out any books. Did you know you need proof of residency to get a library card? Ok, I knew that, too, but my brain doesn't function on full power these days, and I was caught feeling pretty dumb standing there with books and videos the kids had carefully picked out and no way to take them out of the library! Oh well, we'll try again when that first utility bill arrives :)

And then there are the summer thunder storms...The kids love watching the sudden cloud bursts of torrential downpour complete with thunder and lightning that booms throughout the house and flickers the lights on and off. It's still fun because it's new, and it's not scary because it only lasts 15 minutes at the most! We'll see how we all feel about storms come winter.

...and that's the lives of the Skellys these days. I have lots of flashback posts to post so look out for California stories of June/July birthdays, the fourth, and just us enjoying summer.

We Made it!

Our sixth day of driving and we pulled into the driveway! It was such a relief to make it eventhough there was no fridge, the kitchen sink and dishwasher weren't connected, and there were boxes everywhere! Our furniture and boxes and boxes and boxes arrived the day before Andrew returned to California. In the short time he had, he managed to clear paths for us to get around and make the beds (by mistake I left the sheets in the dryer as I washed them the day the movers first arrived so there they were conveniently waiting in the dryer after their drive in the moving truck cross country :) It turns out that was enough. We were all so happy to be here and begin the next chapter in our lives after waiting weeks in transistion. The kids found their beds and ran in circles around the house. Beth even happily slept in her room all alone. We weren't sure if after a lifetime of sharing a room she'd be ok by herself. We should've known she was independent enough for the change. Now we just have to be sure she's ready to share a room again with Jill in a few years!
So good night...and come back and visit soon to hear all about this next chapter in our lives, our lives in Georgia!

Day Five - To Our New Home

We spent the night at a nice hotel in eastern Mississippi. As much as we wanted to press on, it was getting late and we wanted to be sure the kids, who had been asleep since Louisiana, got a chance to know they were in Mississippi before we crossed into Alabama. When we crossed the Mississippi River, we actually stopped on the bridge and tried to absorb the grandeur of it all (in the dark while the kids where asleep). Andrew doesn't ever remember actually crossing the river so he was pretty excited. We even considered staying in a hotel right there with a river view but I convinced him to press on as the kids have barely heard the name Mississippi. We'll stay there and spend time there when they know what they are seeing! So on we went...after a breakfast at McDonald's (yes, we ate at McDonald's for breakfast, and Beth now thinks breakfast burgers are the best thing ever! I have to make her some homemade egg sandwiches cuz she won't be eating there again for awhile if I can help it!) we drove on to Alabama.

So what does one do with three little kids driving all day you might ask? We eat snacks, watch dvd's, and color. We also hand out new toys (as bad as their food is they have pretty cool transformer toys at McDonald's right now that made Adam happy) and colored pipe cleaners. I read on a website that they make fun toys, and I then learned my sister Tara had heard the same thing and used them on the plane ride home from Africa with the girls. So to all out there who have to travel by air or land: colored pipe cleaners are fun and easy! Beyond that we napped. The kids were great travelers, and although they were eager to get there, there was very little complaining. I was really worried that Adam would refuse to get in his car seat at one point in the trip because, well, he's just like that. But he was never a problem. After a month of no daddy and moving around from our house to friends and cousins, I think he was just happy to be all together and headed to our new home. He was so content, I have to believe he understood what was going on...or maybe it was the complete access to paci and blankie, hmmm...