Here we come 2013!

Well it has been a LONG time since I have updated the blog!! Life has been so crazy that I can't keep up! So let's see...what has happened since the last post? Here are some pictures from throughout 2012 of our family.

From left to right/top to bottom: Me and Jonas when he was about 6 months or so, Jonas riding Mike's shoulders in the park (he loves being up there!), Jonas lookin sharp for church, Jonas showing off his pumpkin on Halloween, me and Mike on the beach in Alabama, daddy holding Jonas after a tiring walk around the park, and us looking at the Christmas lights in Alabama.

 

Let's see this summer Mike lost his job at Chase bank. Long story short he didn't smile enough...whatever. So he then got a job working in the lumber department at Home Depot and is still there and enjoying it tons! He now works in multiple departments and loves the work and enjoys the people there too (which is more than he can say about any of his other jobs here in IL). Mike also is reconsidering his education. Not whether or not to pursue it, but where and what kind of degree to pursue. Being here at the U of I has been a real eye opener for the both of us. We didn't realize how good our lives were at BYU-I until we left. The schools themselves are complete polar opposites of each other. I guess I could say that we miss the safety of "The Bubble" that we lived in. Though we enjoy being out in the world and not completely surrounded by members, it's still nice to be in a place where you know your standards won't be questioned or anything. Along with that, finishing his undergrad here makes other things like putting food on the table and a roof over our heads a little difficult. Mike is a non-traditional student. A university like this one is not meant for non-traditional undergrads, not to mention the cost!! Mike has also taken some of the classes required for food science degrees and he has realized that there are a lot of things that go into food science that he isn't quite interested in doing (like all the chemistry...he has recently discovered is dislike for the subject...) So we've been doing a lot of thinking and praying to decide what we should do. Mike has re-applied to BYU-I and BYU. We are in the final stages of the application process and hope to hear back soon as to where he gets in (I'm feeling pretty confident he'll get into both :) ). So it is a pretty likely possibility that we will be moving back out west again, though we don't know exactly where just yet. There are a lot of things to take into consideration once we get the news. So suffice it to say Mike has dropped out of the U of I and will be continuing his degree at either BYU-I or BYU.

So on to myself I guess. I am hoping to finish up my Bachelor's. I am going to wait until Mike gets settled into a school (whichever it may be) and then figure out online or actual classes (depending on where we end up). I am also currently seeking employment right now so that we can save up enough money to make the move out west. I have a few leads so we'll see how they play out in the next week or so. The extra source of income will help a lot, even though I do not want to spend any time away from my baby. But it is something that is quite necessary at this point so I;m gonna have to buck up and do it. I spend most of my time playing with Jonas and feeding Jonas. And when I say feed I mean FEED! He eats like crazy!! But we'll get to him in a moment. I'm hoping to start some new sewing projects soon and make some fun toys and gifts for all my friends that are expecting. :) But basically I am a stay at home mommy and I love every minute of it! :)

So the moment you all have been waiting for....(drum roll please)....the Jonas update.

 I mean let's be honest, he is way more interesting than we are. Jonas turned a year old on October 21st. Mike's parents came for his birthday from Virginia. We had a fun weekend! We went to Springfield to go to the zoo, but they were having a Halloween carnival thingy and all the animals were put away...and there was no way of knowing that until we got there...so that was a bummer. So we found a cool pumpkin patch that was on the way home that we stopped at and picked out a few pumpkins. Jonas loved riding around in the little wagon along side the pumpkins. The next day after church we packed up a picnic lunch and went to the park for a birthday picnic. After we ate lunch, we went for a walk around the park and Jonas played in the grass and had a grand old time. Once it started getting dark we headed home and opened presents and ate cake. All in all Jonas had a pretty fun first birthday!

So moving on, Jonas is a walking fool. He walks all over the place and has this sense of independence these days. He has to do everything by himself. He doesn't want any help, but if he somehow gets in a pickle and needs help he isn't afraid to let you know! (If you know what I mean...) He still only has his two bottom front teeth so eating can be a challenge, but he acts like he has all his teeth and can eat anything he wants. Jonas has started dancing recently too. Whenever music comes on the radio or the tv he bounces a little and sways from side to side. It is actually quite humorous, but every time I try to take a video of him dancing he stops and looks at the camera with a look on his face like, "What are you doing mom?"

I cannot believe how much has changed in our life since last year. How much each of us has changed and grown and developed. Obviously the physical growth of Jonas and the way he becomes more and more aware everyday. His growth and development amazes me! Mike and I have learned a lot this last year too. There were some things we had to learn by moving 1,500 miles away! But if we were given the opportunity we would do it all over again...probably :P We have had such an amazing year and we can't wait to see the adventures that lie ahead in 2013!!

Above: Christmas 2011 Right: Christmas 2012
The change and growth is just amazing!

The Aquarium and So Much More

Wow! It has been a long time since I have blogged! So let me catch you up on all the happenings here in Illinois.

Mike's parents came for a visit on Memorial Day weekend. We went to the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. Jonas loved the fish and all the fun shows. I think his favorite was the penguin show. They were so cute and Jonas couldn't take his eyes off of them. They also had a jellyfish exhibit. I think that was my favorite exhibit we saw. The aquatic show with the dolphins and beluga whales was pretty fun too. :) After our day in the city we went out to Island Lake, IL where Mike was born and raised and visited their old neighborhood. One of their old neighbors was out watering flowers so we stopped and they all talked and got reacquainted. Then we went out to dinner at an old family favorite restaurant Village Squire. We also played Monopoly and Mike would like to claim his victory. Monopoly is his favorite board game and he enjoyed playing with a slightly larger group. It was a fun weekend we had together.        

Well let's see here....Mike quit is job at Walmart back in April and is now a bank teller at Chase Bank. It is a much less stressful job (at least in a different way), better pay, better hours, closer to home...need I go on? Mike finished up his first semester here at UIUC. It was a little tougher than what he is used to. But is moving on better prepared for his future here at UIUC.

Jonas is growing up so fast!! He is almost eight months old. He now has a great interest in toys, actually anything he can get his hands on! He loves the TV remote. He makes a lot of noise too. He babbles and tries to tell you what is on his mind all the time! He has finally discovered the power of rolling. He rolls across the floor whenever you set him down. And even worse when you are changing his diaper...yeah, what a mess. We took him to the doctor a while ago. He is in the 20 something percentile in height, 50 something percentile in weight and like 87th percentile in head circumference. He has a big head!! Just like his daddy! At the appointment when the doctor said that about his head size Mike says, "I wonder where he gets that from?" The doctor looked at each of us then back at Mike and said, "Yeah!" and laughed a little. For those of you who don't know, Mike has a bigger than average size head to say the least. :p Jonas eats solid foods now too. He loves vegetables. He eats the fruit but, doesn't like it as much as the veggies.

Me...well I don't really think there is anything to report. I'm just a stay at home mom with a pretty normal daily routine. Mike and I teach the 5 year olds at church. They are rascals, but we love them and their spirits and spending Sunday afternoons with them. So I spend a lot of time at home with Jonas and working on our lessons. I do enjoy the time Jonas and I spend together, but I do get a little lonely for my husband's company and it will only get worse once he starts up school again. But such is the life of student's wife.

Well that is all the happenings I can think of to report...the Lord is great and the blessings we have received in our little family are so great that words cannot express the gratitude we feel. Love to all and have faith. The Lord knows our trails and will help if we but ask.

Springy

The weather the past few days has been unseasonably warm here. So I felt the urge to change the look of the blog. I love spring time and the bright colors and sunshine :)

Speaking of sunshine, my little sunbeam is growing so fast!!! He smiles every time Mike and I look at him and he giggles all the time now! He is so big already wearing size 6 mos at only 4 mos old! we've been practicing sitting and he's done pretty well. I can't believe how fast he is growing! He was SO little, and now he is so big! He is such a strong little boy and wants what he wants when he wants it. He has quite the personality. It seems like he is walking a thin line of happy and sad. It seems like one minute he's all happy, smiley, giggly Jonas and the next he's screaming his head off. He is so funny and so cute I just love him so much!!!

Mike is loving school! Except for his Chemistry class...he is struggling a little with chem and some of the concepts, but a sister in our ward has offered her skills as a chem tutor, so she might be getting a phone call soon... Mike got promoted at Walmart to Deli!!! He is making 50 cents more there than as a cashier. When we were opening new checking accounts at Chase Bank, the personal banker said they were hiring part time tellers. Mike filled out an application online and got a phone call and has an interview tomorrow afternoon. We don't know what we are going to do if they offer him the job, but keeping our options open is a good thing right? So we'll see how it goes and maybe have to make a really tough decision...

Me, well I'm just trying to adjust to our new life here in Champaign. I finally finished filling out the Medicaid application so hopefully we can get that all in order soon so we can finally get Jonas to the Dr. I've been trying to find some time to do some sewing on my new sewing machine I got for Christmas. Mike and I were called as the CTR 5 primary teachers at church. We teach the little 5 year old's Sunday School class. Last week was our first lesson and Mike had to work. I had fun and it will definitely be easier with two of us.

Life is good for the Moran Family. We love and miss you all! :)

Happy in Champaign

Our little family

Christmas 2011

Well it has been too long! This is honestly the first chance I have had to sit down and actually update our blog basically since Jonas was born. Our lives are so crazy and busy now it is ridiculous!! Being a mom is tough, but I love every minute of it! Jonas makes getting out of bed in the morning a little easier. (But not so easy in the middle of the night...) He is doing so much better with sleeping and eating. He sleeps until about 5:30 in the morning now and then must be fed every 3 hours there after. He eats 5 ounces or so every three hours, so as you can imagine he is gaining weight like there is no tomorrow! (Plus the fact that he is on 22 calorie formula probably doesn't help) I would venture to say that he probably in the ball park of 14 lbs. (We haven't been to the doctor since we have moved)

Speaking of moving, for those of you who don't know, we have moved out to Champaign, IL for Mike's school. He loves the school and his classes. Although only one class from BYU-I transferred. But what his counselor said was to gather syllabus's (syllabi?) from the classes he took at BYU-I and she can set up a meeting with the dean and maybe they can get some of those classes transferred.
It is a really old campus so all the buildings are old brick and really neat to look at and walk through. But it is very different from BYU-I! I took Jonas to campus one day with Mike in his stroller...we looked really out of place!! Not too many married undergrads with children here... We love our new ward as well. They are so friendly and we are starting to make a few friends as well. But most of the other married students are post-grad students...

Mike was able to transfer to the Walmart here in Champaign. Though the process took much to long. To make a long story short, the Walmart in Utah screwed everything up and they basically had to start all over with the transfer process, but they finally got everything all straightened out and Mike started work on Saturday. He is working as a cashier part-time. But there is a chance that they will move him over to close deli. Which would mean being paid $9.15/hr rather than the $8.65/hr he's making as a cashier. Plus he could work a closing shift into his school schedule better than the cashier job. But nothing is set in stone, but we are hopeful.

Reece moved out here with us too. It is really nice to have him around to help out with Jonas! He just applied at Pizza Hut as a delivery driver so hopefully they hire him and he can start making money to contribute to the community pot! :p

Life in Illinois has been pretty good so far. The weather is unseasonably warm. I'm told the winters here are a lot like the winters in Rexburg, but you couldn't prove it! It was in the 60s today and has been in the 50s for almost a week...I'm starting to believe in this whole global warming thing... :p I am just grateful that we are all safe and happy and healthy. Just remember that yes there are things in life that get us down, but there are so many more things in life to be grateful for and things that make us happy! :)

Blessings From on High

Jonas is home. We brought him home on November 17, 2011. He is such a sweet little boy! We love having him home and being together as a family. Although we do miss our sleep! He is very adamant about eating every three to four hours. He also gets mega fussy at night (~11 pm-5 am) for unknown reasons...but we wouldn't change anything. We are so grateful to have been given this sweet baby and to be his parents. It is hard to express the feelings we have about Jonas. It is very humbling to think that the Lord has entrusted this sweet, sweet spirit to us, that we have been given this stewardship. What an amazing feeling! We love Jonas so much and are so thankful that he is safe and healthy and finally home. 

  Jonas Isaiah Moran

Born October 21, 2011

I want to take a minute to express my gratitude to the Lord and share my testimony of prayer and the power of the priesthood. While Jonas was in the NICU, there were so many people praying for him. He was in both my morning and night prayers. I know that the Lord hears and answers our prayers because Jonas is strong and healthy and at home now. Jonas was also given a priesthood blessing while in the hospital. Mike gave the sweetest, most touching blessing. The spirit was so strong and I knew that Jonas was in the Lord's hands. We went back the next morning after Jonas received this priesthood blessing and all chest tubes, wires, and the ventilator were gone. He was no longer hooked up to all those machines. I know that this great leap was because of the blessing he received the previous night and the power of the priesthood that his father and grandfather hold. Jonas was also blessed in church this last Sunday. Mike gave a very sweet and beautiful blessing again. I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is true and that the Priesthood is real and is God's hand here on the earth. I am so grateful for all those righteous, worthy priesthood holders in my life and their influence on me and my family. I am also grateful for prayer. That we are able to speak to and with our Heavenly Father. I am also grateful that He listens to our concerns and answers our prayers. 

I have felt so blessed and loved in the last month. to be given this amazing opportunity of being a mother. To have family here with me and to feel of their love and support daily. To have had the prayers in my heart answered and to have this beautiful, healthy baby boy in my life and finally to have him home with us. I know that the Lord is looking after me and the Holy Ghost is always there to comfort me and guide me to do all I need to. There really are no words to describe the love I have felt from both my heavenly and earthly families.

Jonas Isaiah Moran

To update everyone that doesn't already know, our little boy Jonas Isaiah was born on October 21, 2011. He weighs 5 pounds 12 ounces and is 18 3/4" long. He was born 6 weeks early via emergency C-Section. He is in the NICU and is so little, but doing better than the doctors anticipated.

So here is the story of how we got where we are now. We had a routine Doctor's visit on Wednesday. They did an ultrasound and discovered fluid outside of his lungs. The doctor was concerned so he sent us to the hospital so the neonatologists could take a look. They were also concerned and gave me steroid shots to help baby's lungs develop faster so that if need be to deliver early, he wouldn't have any other lung problems. I came back on Thursday for the second shot of steroids and they made another appointment for Friday to take a second look at the little boy's lungs. We came back to the hospital on Friday not anticipating to be having a baby that day. They measured the amount of fluid around his lungs and discovered that there was more than on Wednesday. The doctors all spoke together and decided that it was best to deliver him. It was decided that his lungs wouldn't get the chance to develop fully if he went to full term. So they walked us across the hall and started prepping me for an emergency C-Section to deliver him and get the fluid off his lungs.

He has what they call Congenital Chylothorax. Which basically means that he has this limphatic fluid in his chest. They have drained off a good amount and are still getting a little, but it is less and less each day. He had an X-Ray this morning and they said there was still a little fluid in there, but that it was getting better. We go down and see him everyday. He is still on a ventilator and has chest tubes in his sides, so we can't hold him yet, but we get to see him and hold his little hands and rub his little head and tickle his little feet. It is really  hard to see him hooked up to all those machines and not be able to hold him, but I know that he is in good hands and getting better everyday, but it is still hard for us.

The hardest part is that I am going home from the hospital tomorrow and my baby Jonas isn't coming with me...that is the hardest part of all of this. We hadn't planned on having him so soon first off, and now that he is here I can't even hold my baby and take care of him and take him home with me. Faith. Faith is what I need right now. Faith and comfort. I have faith that he will just as fine when I'm not in the hospital as he is when I've been here. It's just that I won't be able to just walk down the hall and see him whenever I want to.

This is really all that we know now and we will update as soon as we know more and we will hopefully get some pictures of him up soon to announce him to the world. :)  

Third trimester, big baby, and sewing

So I was just reading the baby ticker thing and it says the baby is 4.75 pounds....HA!! He is much bigger than that! He is probably weighing in at more than 5 pounds at this point...he is a big baby to say the least.

Anyways, the update on our little family. Mike is doing good. He loves working in produce! He is so cute! He comes home from work and tells me all about all the fruits and vegetables that he stocked that day and about all the nasty things that he throws away. He really enjoys his job. He hasn't enjoyed any of the jobs he has had since we have been married. So his enjoyment makes me really happy. :)

Baby is doing great. He is growing extremely well and is way above average in size and weight. He moves a lot, keeping me up at night when I'm trying to sleep and sometimes even waking me up in the middle of the night. We have another doctor's appointment on Wednesday morning. We will get to see him again and see how big he has gotten since the last visit two weeks ago.

I am hanging in there. If you have never been pregnant then you have no idea of the pain and discomfort you feel in the third trimester. My back is ALWAYS aching and nothing brings relief. Even the back rubs from my wonderful loving husband bring only a few minutes of relief. I wake up in the middle of the night because my back hurts and I have a hard time getting back to sleep. I wake up in the morning with more pain than when I went to sleep. And that is just the beginning. I have been feeling a few contractions, nothing major and nothing serious, just little cramp-like contractions that are perfectly normal at this stage of pregnancy. And of course not to mention the digestive problems. For all those who have been here, know what I am talking about. For those of you who have no idea what I am talking about...you will learn in time. But to be honest all these things that my body has to go through are completely worth the prize at the end. I cannot wait for our little baby boy to be here and in my arms! It is totally worth it!! :)

Well, Reece will be here the last weekend in October! We are so excited for him to be here. There is a pretty good chance that Mike can get him a job at the same Walmart that he works at. This would be helpful for Reece to be able to work and they could even car pool and stuff too. So this is good news. :) Aunt Elaine is cleaning out the room Reece will be staying in as I type.

Mike got his first paycheck today!! Do you know what that means? I can finally buy fabric and sew some sweet stuff for the baby!! :) A cute car seat cover and cute little blanket! I am so excited to sew!! I haven't sewn anything since school...and I love sewing! I just love sewing and creating cute things, and especially for my little baby! :)