Today is Jack's 2 month birthday. Madness.

Crazy to think that we have pretty much officially pulled it all off, having a baby, moving, getting unpacked, getting everything done for the wedding and being there, and the most difficult time period of having a new baby.

I feel most accomplished in that I can get the grocery shopping done with both of them in under an hour!

I was finally able to get the video that I made for Kristin's rehearsal dinner uploaded. So here it is, I think it is my best yet.

I also was able to figure out how to upload the one that I did for Arnold's 50th birthday party (like a year ago). I would have had it up sooner but dumb YouTube doesn't allow videos over 10 minutes. Thankfully facebook Video does, so here is that video too.

Here are some pictures from the trip and wedding:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=53918&l=e395d&id=503538528

Here are some more pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=50865&l=69a42&id=503538528

We leave for STL tomorrow.

Our house was struck with a plague this past week, so hopefully we will all be healthy by then!

More updates and pictures after that.

Hooray, we officially have all of our boxes unpacked! Now this does by no means mean that everything has it's place and is organized, but at least we have no more boxes. Other than the blocking of our entire front entry way by the mound of them waiting to be picked up by the moving company, but they are empty so they don't count!

In other news, our computer is finally working somewhere other than the floor, thanks to Chris's technical genius, so I have finally been able to upload some pictures. Here is the link:


http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=48513&l=7eb81&id=503538528

Sorry for the delay in an update! We have been VERY busy and have a had a lot of things come up that we needed to take care of. Plus we just now have internet, that has been a headache in of itself.

Everything has gone well, we are here are fairly settled. Only a dozen or so more boxes left to unpack, but lots of organizing to do. We love our new house! It's great. It has an amazing view, is peaceful, and has an amazing back yard. Not to mention to squeaky floors, no leaky basements, doorknobs that work and have handles on them, a 2 car garage, our own bathroom with double sinks, a garbage disposal, and so much more!

We also love Atlanta. We are 10 minutes from EVERYTHING! Just about any restaurant or store you can imagine. The people are so friendly and nice, and we totally ran into Matt Redman in Target. I don't think life can get any better. So far the only down side is that we may be gaining weight here. We've had Chick-Fil-A like 5 time since last Saturday, and are still not sick of it yet. We've had Longhorn, and Krispy Kreme, and there are lots more to try, although now that I have my kitchen in functioning order those will be special treats.

So everything is going well, and I will try to post some more pictures soon. There also may be a special post coming about the AMAZINGNESS of our Whole Foods.

The house is packed and is en route to Atlanta. So are we! We're in NJ until Saturday morning when we head out for our two day trip to our new home.

We're all pretty excited to get there. Josh said good bye to his old room and is looking forward to his new one. Jack is doing great. His keeping a schedule is helping to make the transition a lot smoother!

I cannot post any pictures until we get our computer unpack, which probably will be at the earliest the end of next week, but after that I will post more.

Will keep you all updated, happy 4th of July to all!

More pictures:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=45187&l=9eb38&id=503538528

Everyone is doing well.

Movers come tomorrow. Crazy!

So, we've been getting a lot of questions about how everything went, and I am going to use this forum to give the details. If you are not comfortable reading some birth related terms, stop reading now.

Saturday I could tell things were feeling a little different, and told Chris we should probably see if his parents could come up a day early. They arrived and we headed to dinner. I started having contractions at regular intervals on the way to dinner, but thought I would see how things went. They kept up, about 7-8 minutes apart. On the way home they jumped to about 4 minutes apart, and started getting pretty dang intense. So when we got home we packed up and headed out. We checked in about 8 pm. They checked me shortly after arriving and I was about 4 cm. I originally has intended on trying to go natural, but admittedly the pain I was feeling at 4 cm was about what I had with Josh at 9cm. Between the intense pain, and my doctors recommendation to have it in, in case the c-section became necessary, I caved.

By the time they finally got the epidural in and checked me I was at 9 cm. The nurse told me she hadn't seen contractions this close and intense in any one other than someone who was induced and on pitocin. Very comforting while I was about to pass out from the pain. I felt relief from the contractions for about 10 minutes before I started feeling a lot of pressure from the need to push. Each contraction they have you push 3 times. I did that about 6 or 7 times and he was out. He came very quickly, and because of that I experienced some major tearing. It was amazing though, such a different experience than the c-section. He came out nice and reddish purple too, unlike Josh who was blue. After a couple dozen stitches they moved us to recovery.

He was born at 12:29am was 8 pounds even and 20 1/2 inches. Since he was born in the middle of the night we didn't disturb anyone, or have anyone come until the morning. It was a nice bonding time. Josh came up in the morning to see his baby brother, and was great. He cannot stop giving him kisses and hugs and wants to be by him all the time.

We are all recovering well. Jack is a great sleeper, and nights haven't been too rough so far. I'm sore, but nothing compared to recovering from the c-section. We are feeling incredibly blessed! Now we are wrapping up loose ends and preparing for the move. The moving truck comes on Wednesday, and we leave Connecticut on Thursday. If you want to see pictures, there is a link in the post below. I may try to upload some more pictures in the next couple of days, so check back. Thank you for all of your congratulations, support and prayer! We have felt it and are very thankful.

Pictures:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=45187&l=9eb38&id=503538528

We have a baby! Jacob Matthew Kelly was born June 22 at 12:29 a.m. He was 8 lbs even and 20 1/2 inches. Jack and I are both doing well. I was able to do a VBAC so that was a huge blessing! Josh absolutely adores his baby brother and does not want to leave his side. I'm amazed at how well he seems to be doing with the transition so far. We are all doing well, and go home tomorrow. We'll try to put more updates and pictures up soon!

The update is, there is no update. No baby, and no home sale. No progress.

On a funny note, here is a quote from Josh from the other night, which had us laughing pretty hard:

Chris: Josh, you're amazing.

Josh: Yeah, I am.

I went to the doctor this morning, and as of then, I am 50% effaced and 1 cm dilated. Between hearing that, and the amount of contractions I have been having, I would be surprised if I make it 2 more weeks.

We did a huge Target trip this weekend and got everything so we are completely ready for whenever he decides to show up. The sooner the better as far as I'm concerned, more recovery time before the move!

Well that is the update for all who are interested, I'll try to keep you all posted.

As previously mentioned, I am starting to incorporate some of my food passion into this blog. I was reading the Beth Moore blog and there was a post about fresh fruit tarts. Well it got me wanting a tart, so I had to make one. The only problem is, I have difficulty eating a dessert that does not involve chocolate some how, and I didn't want to buy 5 different kinds of fruit just to make one tart, so I took her recipe and created something to suit my needs.

Here is her recipe, it's the second one on the page, although you might be interested in the first too if fruit tarts sound good to you. I used her crust recipe, and the vanilla bean custard filling (which is amazing).

To make it my own, I took the tart shell and spread a thin layer of dark chocolate on the bottom, I then put the vanilla bean custard down, and then spread another thin layer of chocolate on top (I like chocolate and richness, but I found the two layers of chocolate distracted from the taste of the custard, next time I will cut it down to one layer on top, because it's prettier that way). I then placed some amazing organic raspberries they had on special from Whole Foods on top. I'm a fan of the raspberries, but strawberries, or oranges would be just as good. To help keep the raspberries fresh (because they go bad quickly) I took some raspberry preserves mixed with a little water and brushed a light layer on top. It helps to make it shiny too. I would also recommend refrigerating this, if it lasts long enough to need refrigeration.

Here are the results:

This last one sort of shows the layers. Normally they won't run into one another when cut, but since Josh and Chris were about to jump out of their seats in anticipation (and if I waited another half an hour my three year old would have been up until midnight) I didn't let the top layer of chocolate set before putting the raspberries on and cutting. You should do that. Unless you don't care about your layers and just want to eat it. Whatever works.

I have had a few people ask about this, so that is why I am posting this. Please do not in any take this as us asking for gifts! This is just to get the information out there to the people that are interested!

We do have a baby registry, and here is the link.

Or you could search Babies R' Us for Chris and Katie Kelly, and the location will be Connecticut still.

Just as an update though, if you plan on sending gifts, our last day in Connecticut will be July 2. After that, we will no longer be receiving mail here. If you want our new address, we have it, so feel free to ask. I'd post it on here, but I'm not sure I want everyone having access to my new address : )

Again, this is just for the people who have inquired, or are interested, please do not take this the wrong way!

C-Section date: June 23
Moving Truck arrives: July 2

It's a little stressful, but mostly good, and completely crazy. I cannot wait to be home!

So it's officially ours!

Chris had the opportunity to get the inspection done his last morning there, and that went incredibly smoothly. Our closing date is going to be on June 25. Crazy, and no we are not planning on being there for it : )

Here is a link to see pictures of it:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=40585&l=ed455&id=503538528

So we have a house, yeah! More updates and pictures coming soon!

So, I must admit that I have been a little distracted and have virtually forgotten about the fact that we are having a baby in about a little over a month. So for those who check this for our family updates, and have been wondering why I have failed to update on the pregnancy, I apologize. I literally forgot!

As of right now I am scheduled for a c-section June 23. Since I have a history of CPD (the baby's head being too large for my pelvis) they don't want me to go any further than that. To be honest, we really cannot afford to have the baby any later than that date anyways, so it kind of works out. If I go into labor before the scheduled c-section then they will let me try to have a VBAC. We're hoping that is the case, both for a sooner delivery date, and for ease in recovery. However if I stop progressing, or show any signs of fetal distress than on with a c-section it will be. Although I think having one of those needles put in your back is much easier when you are having contractions to distract you. All that to say, by June 23 we will have a new baby boy.

Hopefully that is a sufficient update for all on the pregnancy status!

Our house is on the market, and we are being run out of it several times a day. Just in case any of you are interested in seeing some of the updates and changes we have made since last year, here is a link with all updates that we have done:

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0JZM27lmxZOIg

So we are listing our house on the market this week! Yeah! Hopefully things will slow down a little after that. Chris leaves for ATL in a week and a half to get us a house. Madness.

In other news, my grandparents celebrated their 50th anniversary this weekend. It was kind of hard to not be there and celebrate with, and see all the family. My sister did a great job of giving me a sufficient play by play of the weekend action though.

Chris and I are incredibly blessed to have all 4 of our grandparents still with us, and even more fortunate to have such a legacy left by having all 4 of the couple having made it to the 50 year mark.

I think so many people have the naivete to think that it's just a generational thing to stay together that long. I don't care who you are, marriage takes work, and if it is (which in none of these is this the case) nothing more than determination and perseverance, having that for 50 years should be applauded!

All of that to say, I made a video for my grandparents for their anniversary party, and thought I would post the link here in case anyone wanted to view it:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=y1nSCZPvxqE