Mad City Three

hello all!! We are home from the hospital today having just welcomed Imagen Vada Elam into the world!! She was born at 1:57pm on the 9th day of November weighing in at 8lbs 3oz and measuring 19 in long. The all-natur-al delivery, lasting a whopping 13 minutes caught both jaythan and I by such surprise we were lucky to get settled in our birthing suite before bringing her into the world! We cannot wait for each one of you to meet her and bless her in your own special way.
i’ll post pics as soon as we get them uploaded

We took advantage of the warm-ish weather and drove up to this little train station in the Dells so that Noah (who is in LOVE with choo choo trains) could ride in an actual locomotor.
suffice it to say, Noah was a little shell shocked by the actual choo choo of the train, it was loud with real steam and blasting whistles and it just about scared the crap out of him. Check out some of our other picks from the trip!

We’ve been to a barrage of birthday parties in the past couple of months, including my own, ringing in the big #2 with all of our special friends (although I am slightly above that… ringing in the big 2-8!!) I was lucky enough to wake up and open presents with my adoring husband and then travel to Friendship, WI where I was pleasantly surprised by my girls as they plied me with cake and gifts:)
Noah is the baby of the group and so his b-day this Sunday will close our birthday season… This is just one of our more cherished memories. I actually lost the invite to this party and so, being the level headed and completely sane pregnant woman I am, I made Jaythan drive around Madison until we found it. He did! How can I not love that man!

All right so i know my posts are getting few and far between, acting more like the annual Christmas up-date then the daily activities guide i had hoped it would be, but life is just crazy and flying by so fast! There is sooo much to fill you in on but first I have to share….

WE’RE PREGNANT! We’re expecting our little girl early in November and couldn’t be happier!

I can imagine no better birth-control than seeing 10 toddlers trounce their way through campus. I’m not kidding, if I would have seen me 2 years ago with all those babies, i would have gone running! but today, today we conquer the fountain! (and feed the ducks, share some ice-cream, have some snack, take a couple bathroom breaks, play some baseball, and oh yeah…enjoy each-other! Click here to see our other exploits!

It occurred to me after we moved in that this move was by far the trickiest to orchestrate than any other we’ve done. I’m not talking about packing and unpacking, I’m talking about packing, wrapping, lifting, cleaning, and BABY PROOFING! with a toddler in tow. It was crazy trying to figure out in any given space, how much trouble noah could find, so i did what any resourceful, amazing, brilliant mother would do… I invited all my friends over to help find weaknesses! Check out our first elam play-date!

WE HAVE OFFICIALLY MOVED! We spent our first saturday here surrounded by boxes, clutter, and craziness, watching a fox chase the dozens of birds flitting around our backyard and it was so blissfully wonderful, I don’t remember a time i’ve been more happy! Never mind that we can’t find clean undies or matching socks. We are a family and we’ve just found our home.

Ok so i’ve missed a few in between… Jaythan and I didn’t get the x-mas cards out, we all got phenomena, lost our luggage, drove all over this great nation meeting and greeting those we hold dear (and throwing in a few new ones) went to a wedding, partied and played with family, found solace in GA and at the end of the day, this is the only picture I could find!!

so…. HAPPY NEW YEAR FAMILY!!! May 08′ be filled with new experiences, new challenges, and a whole lotta fun!

Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right. ~Oprah Winfrey!

Yep you read that right! I am a 9-5, up and at-em, working woman, (well maybe not the “up and at-em” as I need some quiet time in the AM or the 9-5 as that is a really long day:) but the working part’s right!

I’ve been recruited to head up the rights and causes wing of a store here in Madison called “The Happy Bambino” They are a local children’s retail store that dabbles in teaching, classes, music appreciation, ect. They have a lactation consultant on hand, promote healthy natural happy moms, and I’m simply in love with their mantra of “combining resource, retail, and community” Noah and I have been long time advocates of this little community. It’s been such a rewarding experience already! So many new moms need help and guidance when they first bring their baby’s home and they get that hope from this store. Its like no other I’ve ever been to and I feel really lucky to be a part of this team and to see were this new experience will lead…

Noah and i have started a whole new tumbling class at a place specially geared for little people called… yep you guessed it, “the little gym.” We sing, we dance, we climb, and roll! it’s fantastic! Check out some of our mastered skills!