Oh, how time flies...

Ok, so I know that it has been almost eight months since my last blog and most of you thought that I gave it up. On the contrary, it has been in the back of my mind the whole time but it just hasn't made it to the top of my priority list. Now that things have changed and I have more free time on my hands, (don't get excited, when I say free time, I mean an extra hour here and there...) I can devote some spare time to updating our loved ones more often.
Brad and I are completely different people than how I described in the last blog. Maya was only a couple days old and we were running on pure adrenaline and joy. Oh how naive we were. We had no idea how many petty arguments we would have, how many sleepless nights we would share, how many grudges we would hold against each other, and how many tears I would shed. But, we made it through the rough times stronger than ever, more in love than ever, and happier than ever.

Our happy little family sharing some love.

I am not even going to try to elaborate on everything since Maya's birth, so I decided to post a ton of pictures instead. We have enjoyed Mother's day, Father's day, visits from family, a visit to Pennsylvania, and most importantly, the development of Maya. It is hard to believe that she is almost eight months old! Soon enough we will be celebrating her first birthday and before we know it she will be old enough to talk back. Trust me, we make sure to relish in the now moments because they will end soon enough.
Maya is still trying to learn to crawl. As of now she just lays on her belly and kicks her legs as hard as she can. If she does get anywhere, it is usually backwards. She will get it soon enough. We actually think she may walk before she crawls. She is starting to learn to pull herself up on me when we are playing on the floor and she loves to stand up (with me holding her of course). She is also quite the chatterbox. I was lucky enough to enjoy her first word of mama. Of course, I have been training her with this since she was born. She can say ma-ma, ba-ba, blah blah, ooh, and aah. No da-da yet. I am working on it.

A happy little Maya at 6 months.

As far as Brad and myself we are doing great. I just finished up my schooling and now have a bachelors degree in Organizational Management. I am so proud of this accomplishment since I did it while pregnant, and finished up with a squirmy and moody baby on my lap. I graduated with a 3.49 GPA. To answer the question everyone seems to have, the next step for me is to continue what we are doing. We are priviledged enough that I am able to stay at home with Maya and avoid daycare. We have no regrets with this decision and I thank God everyday for allowing me to do so. Once Maya goes to school, I plan on entering the education field so that I can work the same general hours she will be in school.
I am also looking to join some local mommy-and-me groups to allow Maya to socialize and also allow mommy to do the same.
Brad is doing great at Colonial Country Club. He is doing so well, that there is a strong possibility that he will be transferred to his company's biggest country club they manage. Venus and Serena Williams are members. We are very excited and if all goes well, we will move in a year. Maya and I are very proud of him.
We are also celebrating our 1 year anniversary. If all goes well, my dad and Linda will be coming to stay with Maya while Brad and I go to Disneyworld together. Although I will be a nervous wreck and miss Maya severely, it will be nice to get to know my husband again (and get my first break away from baby duty in 8 months).
That is our life in a nutshell. Just happy and thankful. We hope you enjoy the pictures. I put some pics in from her newborn days to show just how much she has grown. Notice how much hair she had in the beginning and how little she has now...
I also put recent pictures of her grandparents. Maya's grandma Linda is missing. She was unable to make the trip down, but she gets to see Maya next week! I will make sure to have pictures of the two of them next update!
We love you all and wish you the very best in your lives. Until next time, adios!

Our little hula baby at 6 months.

Maya's first day home and only 2 days old.

Maya swimming in her clothing at 2 weeks old.

Pretty in pink at 1 month old.

Deep in thought at 2 months old.

All smiles at 3 months old.

Happy times at 6 months old.

Bath time with daddy at 6 months old.

Hugs to grandpa Ralph, 6 months.

Maya with Tutu Pattie, 6 months.

Smiles with Grandpa Dennis, 6 months.

Smiles with Grandma Sandi, 6 months.

Relaxing with Grandpa Zack, 6 months.

Family fun at the Tampa aquarium, 5 months.

Fun with stickers, 7 months.

First time in a high chair, 7 months.

Introducing....Maya Jamie Jenkins!

Greetings family and friends! As I am sure all of you know, the moment we have all been waiting for finally happened and Brad and I are now officially the happiest couple on earth. As you can imagine, I am pretty exhausted so this will be little talk, lots of photos.
As some of you know, I was scheduled to be induced Monday the 23rd since I had been 4 centimeters dialated with no labor in sight. Maya had plans of her own. On Wednesday night Brad and I went to a breastfeeding class hosted by Babys R Us and dinner. We made it home in time to catch Top Chef and as they were sending the losing chef packing, my water broke. I always pictured the TV births with a gush of water so I thought maybe I had an accident, but later realized it was the real deal. Brad had fallen asleep so I gently said, "Brad, I think my water broke." The only response I got was louder snoring. After repeating myself 3 more times with no response, I finally screamed at the top of my lungs, "My water broke and the baby is coming!!!" I have never seen a person jump up so fast in my life.
We arrive at the hospital around 1am and after confirming that it was indeed my water that broke, we were admitted. After 6 hours of just tiny contractions and no sign of them getting worse, I was put on pitocin (a medication that causes contractions) to speed things up a bit.

Still chipper since the contractions hadn't intensified yet.

I'm starting to feel something now...

Daddy getting rested before showtime.

Our last photo as a childless couple taken in between contractions.

THiI I'm smiling because the contraction finally ended...for now.

The pitocin finally kicked in full force around 6:30 pm. I had fully prepared myself for the pain and agony I was going to be facing and still decided to attempt an all natural birth. By 6:45 I decided to not get an epidural, but try the painkillers they offer. All this did was make me loopy and super high inbetween contractions. They did nothing to help me during them. By 7:30pm I was begging for an epidural. I am telling you, any of you moms out there that did it all natural, my hat goes off to you. You are truly a tough woman. That was the worst pain I had ever felt in my life and can say pushing was easier than the contractions.

Once the epidural kicked in, Brad and I took a nice nap. I was awakened at 9:10pm by the nurse to tell me I was 10 centimeters dialated and it was about time to push. I had no idea since I was numb from the waist down. By the time I was close to crowning, the epidural had COMPLETELY worn off and I was in agony again. My push time was 2 hours and 30 minutes. During this time I managed to yell at the doctors repeatedly for both physically hurting me and lying to me by saying "one more push." In the end after 23 hours of labor, Maya made her apperance into the world kicking and screaming. Brad says she came out with her eyes wide open and alert. She immediatley turned pink, which the doctor says is unusual.

Maya only 2 minutes old, getting weighed.

The happy and exhausted family.

Maya Jamie Jenkins made came into the world on February 19, 2009 at 11:52pm. She weighed 7lb 1 ounce and was 20.5 inches long. She has an amazing set of lungs on her and used them until she was in mommy's arms. Brad was an amazing husband and father throughout the entire process. He kept his cool and was a great support system. He watched the entire delivery while holding my right leg and cut the cord afterwards. Brad says he became the man he's supposed to be at that moment.

We had to stay in the hospital for 48 hours after the delivery and we were grateful for it. We had 3 meals a day, including a filet and lobster dinner provided to congratulate us. We also had nurses 24/7 to help us with any questions and the ever so tricky breastfeeding. Trust me, it is not as easy as it looks.

Daddy and Maya getting to know eachother.

A cranky Maya waiting to be fed.

Our friend Kirby visiting our new addition.

A happy Maya finally at home.

Relaxing before her appt for a blood test.

She definately has a lot of my mothers Asian features in her.

Sadie protecting her new master.

After we were discharged we had an appt to bring Maya back for a blood test to see her bilirubin level. This is a test to see if she is jaundiced. An hour after we got home from the test, we recieved a phone call saying her levels were high and we needed to admit her immediatly. Maya was in the hospital for 2 nights and 3 days for treatment of jaundice and dehydration. I was lucky enough to be able to stay with her the entire time and Brad was a trooper by traveling back and forth to tend to Sadie, work, and stay the nights with us. Her levels are finally back to normal and we were discharged yesterday late afternoon.

Brad had a smile a mile long once we were leaving the hospital and it hasn't left his face yet.

Maya in her little tanning bed.

Her treatment set up. We could only hold her to feed her. It was torture.

After they finally turned the lights off.

A elated daddy ready to take his daughter home for good!

So now, here we are, finally at home with our daughter, trying to find some normalcy. Thanks to adrenaline I am moving along fine with only about 8 hours sleep since last Thursday. All I have to do is look at her beautiful face, and we keep on moving. Thanks so much for all the prayers and kind thoughts we received from friends and family. It is so nice to know that Maya is surrounded by so much love. Here are a few more pictures of our little bug. Bare with me if it takes awhile to respond to calls and emails, since you can see I have my princess to watch over. Speaking of, I better go, it's lunch time for Maya. We love you all!

Ready to be dressed for the day.

We just love her big eyes. We aren't sure what color they are yet.

Swaddled and ready for anything. She has a Vikings blanket too!

I'm hungry again!

Relaxing in her boppy.

And now we wait...

Greetings friends and family! I hope this finds you all well. This will be our final post as a childless couple so bear with me if it takes awhile to get the next one out. I have a feeling I will be lucky to have the energy to even check my email. Life has treated us well this past year and this past month is no different. Brad was taking every Sunday off for awhile which allowed him to practice his golf swing by "stealing" golf here at the house. What I mean is, Brad waits until the sun is about to set and the golfers are done and he heads out to the course to sneak in a few holes on foot. I am his accomplice since he helped me inprove my putting average on a couple of these outings. Plus Sadie loves chasing after Brad's golf balls when he practices his drive. It's a win-win situation!

Me at 37 weeks.

With the baby clock winding down we have been on a mad run to finish our mile long "To Do Before Maya" list. Since Brad is going back to work basically immediatly after Maya's birth, it is vital we accomplish the list sooner than later. Yet, as you go down your list and start to mark things off, they only remind you of other things you need to get done and the list just continues to grow. Even though we had a ton of household chores, school projects, and personal duties to accomplish, our main goal was the nursery and we are proud to say it is finally done! Here are a few pictures of Maya's future hideout.

Gifts of love. The blanket on the left was made by Great-grandma Martha as well as the pink pillow. The blanket on the right was made by grandma Sandi. We know Maya will love them as much as Brad and I do.

Beautiful curtains made by grandma Linda. They are my favorite part of the room.

Maya's crib. I especially love her name on the wall and her awesome safari mobile. Thanks Melissa and Pete!

Sadie in her favorite spot of the nursery. Hopefully she will play the role of protector!

Some cute girlie stickers I put up and a shelf of cute knick knacks from Grandma Sandi. My rocker is usually here, but its temporarily in our room until Maya officially moves into the nursery.

Changing table, loaded supply basket, and diaper genie ready to go!

Maya's entertainment center filled with toys and books. Thanks Grandma Sandi, for giving us everything to fill it up with.

During my time of "nesting" in Maya's preperation I have also been busting my hump with school. My hard work paid off and I made the 2008 Dean's List! That had been my goal all along and I am elated to say I did it. Now if I can do it again with a baby on my hip I will really have a reason to be proud! Since my current class ends on the same day as my original due date I had to work extra hard to ensure all of my assignments were done early just in case. Luckily I have a great professor who was willing to work with me and I am now officially done with school for the time being.

Since our last post I have been going to my midwife on a weekly basis. Four weeks ago they discovered that I was already 3 centimeters dialated and Maya was on her way into the birth canal. Panic immediatly set in as all I could think about was our "To Do List". Pictures of the car seat still sitting in the garage, baby clothes still unwashed, and an unpacked hospital bag on our bedroom floor sent shivers up my spine. I immediatly got to work and was almost ready by the next week. At this point I was now 4 centimeters dialated and 80% effaced. Maya was also farther down the birth canal. (yet I already knew this since I now walk like there is a stick or foreign object lodged in unmentionable spots) It has now been three weeks and I am still at 4 centimeters. I cannot describe how uncomfortable it is to walk and function at this state, but I am hanging in there. I have had a couple breakdowns since then out of pure frustration and I swear she is never coming out. Brad has been simply amazing in this time and I know I could never do this without him. He comes home from his 14 hours shifts and will fix me dinner, make sure I have a drink, and always leaps out of his chair to help me up from the couch. Maya and I are two lucky ladies.

Well, last week at my appointment my midwife told me that if I do not deliver this week she will schedule me for an induction. That was music to my ears. So now that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, life has been a little brighter. We are hoping for Wednesday at the latest, but we know it is for sure next week. I won't be overdue by next week, but she explained that she couldn't in good conscience let me walk around this way for another week. Thank God for her! So now we sit on all day alert awaiting her arrival. If she is anything like her mommy and daddy, she is stubborn and will not come out until she is drugged.

Brad and I want to thank all of our family and close friends who have kept contact to check in on us and sent our Maya all the gifts she will grow to enjoy. We couldn't have done this without you and we love you all! Next post will be filled with pictures of our little princess, so stay tuned!

A girl or not a girl: That is the question...

It's only been two weeks since our last blog entry, yet this is probably going to be the most informative one since we announced our pregnancy and engagement. I know you are all sitting at the edge of your seats, biting away at your fingernails with anticipation, so I better get started! :)
First I want to start by saying that Brad and I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season filled with love, family, and laughter. We love you all and wish you all the best not only this time of year, but all year long. Our Christmas was a wonderful one. It was Brad's first day off since we returned from his brother's wedding so it was highly anticipated. The weather was warm in the low 80's and a tinge of humidity. Not exactly what you expect during late December, but we had a great day anyway. We woke up at our leisure, (I'm sure this is our last Christmas with that luxury) and got a pot of coffee started, the Christmas tune's playing, and the tree lights glowing.

Brad decided to take advantage of the golf course being closed to the public for the holiday and he played a free round of golf. He came back energized, sweaty, and in the best mood I have seen him in awhile.

With the baby quickly arriving, we decided to be sparing on gifts to each other so we ended up splurging on our fur covered baby, Sadie. Although Sadie got a lot of gifts, Brad and I got the better end of the deal. Brad got me the beautiful rocking chair and ottoman I had registered for and Brad got a BluRay player and "The Dark Knight" on bluray. We were both happy campers. Here are a few pictures of our Christmas. Brad might be a little sore at me for posting all these pics minus his shirt, but I warned him.

Santa's little helper. Yes, she was miserable so I took it right off after pictures.

Brad enjoying his annual tin of Christmas popcorn.

Sadie posing in front of the tree.

Brad checking out his new BluRay player.

Brad getting excited to see his stocking filled with Monster energy drinks.

My stash from my stocking. Brad is the best stocking stuffer!!

Sadie opening one of her gifts. It's her favorite part.

She can't decide what to play with first! Please excuse my bedhead hair. :(

After gifts, golf, coffee, family phone calls, and relaxing, we started on dinner. When I say "we" started on dinner, I actually mean I sat at the kitchen bar and watched Brad cook an amazing meal. How lucky am I? Back off ladies, he is all mine! Since we did the traditional dinner for Thanksgiving we decided to go with a different menu. Brad prepared a beautiful surf and turf consisting of 10oz. filet Mignon and hog snapper baked to perfection. He paired them with Gorgonzola mashed potatoes, broccoli and asparagus. It was fantastic!

Our yummy dinner prepared by Chef Brad.

Yummy!

I can't tell if I'm this big because of dinner or the bambino!

We ended the night watching Brad's new movie and passing out with grins on our faces. The next day, I anxiously awaited my dad's arrival. My dad and his wife Linda were scheduled to arrive the next day around 6 or 7pm. It wasn't until almost 9:30pm that they arrived. It turns out they missed a turn and almost ended up in Miami!! (sorry daddy, I had to throw it in here, but I love you!) No matter what time it was, I was elated to have them here. Brad came home shortly after and we all sat down for dinner and catchup chat. Unfortunately, even though I brought my camera with me the next day, I hardly took any pictures to document their visit. :(

The next day we had breakfast on our patio and watched the golfers play through as we planned our day.

We spent the afternoon shopping and checking out the HUGE Bass Pro Shop we have here. We then had lunch at Brad's country club, made a stop at Baby's R Us and headed home. Brad got off early that day to have dinner with us so we went to our favorite Chinese restaurant, P.F. Chang's and enjoyed our last night together.

My dad and his wife Linda at dinner.

The four of us sharing the best dessert ever! And yes, we are sitting outside in December.

Early the next morning they packed the car and left for their 10 hour drive back home. You know my daddy loves me to travel 23 hours in the car for a 24 hour visit. Even though it was such a short visit, I am so glad to have seen him. It was probably my hormones, but I spent most of that day crying my eyes out after they left. Brad thinks I am insane. :)

Now things are back to normal and we are patiently awaiting the arrival of our little one. Is it a boy or a girl? Dylan or Maya? The answer is..... hold on, Brad and I have one thing to announce and then we will announce the verdict. Sorry, but I have to make sure you people are actually reading these things from beginning to end.

There are numerous reasons for Brad and I keeping this information from you, but we decided it was time to get it out. Brad and I are married. We "eloped" in Las Vegas October 11, 2008 on our road trip to Florida. Aaaaah, that feels so good to get out! The main reason we kept it from everyone was that we did it for financial reasons. Although we were engaged long before this, we did it the way we did because we lost all of our insurance we had for the baby's birth. In Oregon we qualified for the state to cover all of our medical costs. We were declined in Florida. The only way Brad's company would cover us was if we got married, so that is what we did. I want to make this clear in case some loved ones are under the impression that we did this because we felt our child would be "happier" if we were married when he/she was born. That is NOT the case. We had no choice.

Another reason we didn't want to disclose our decision was the timing of it. Brad's brother was getting married in two months after we did and we did not want to take away from their upcoming plans. We also didn't really take our ceremony seriously. We knew our reasoning for doing it and that was it. I will not be taking his last name until we have a ceremony and nor will we exchange rings until then either. I haven't even ordered a legal copy of our marriage certificate and do not plan to until we do it our way. Ok, so that is that. And no, we are not letting our parents find out by reading a blog. We made sure to tell them first.

On to baby news!! Brad and I had our latest ultrasound on Tuesday. I have to say this visit was much better than the first two. The ultrasound technician was super friendly and explained everything to us in a nice way and answered all of our questions without making us feel stupid.

I have to say that these ultrasounds are amazing. We didn't do the 3-D ultrasound, yet we could still see so much detail. The first thing she told us was...yes, we are having a girl! We are certain of this too. She showed us some specific pictures to assure us. She has a head FULL of my curly hair, big eyes with Brad's long eyelashes, my lips, and a slim torso and long lean legs. I am hoping she is blessed with Brad's body shape since when I was young I was long and skinny. Now I am long and not so skinny, yet Brad still has this amazing athletic build. Brad has the ultrasound pictures in the car so I will have to post them on our next blog. I know I am being biased, but she is the most beautiful little girl I have ever laid my eyes on. Oh, and her name is Maya Jamie Jenkins. A lot of people have asked where we came up with this so here goes. Maya is the only girl name that we both loved and I thought of it as I was reading a Maya Angelou book that Odessa had sent me. (thanks Dess!) Jamie was the name that my mother wanted me to have as a middle name. She learned to speak English watching the "Million dollar man and the bionic woman". Her favorite character was Jamie Summers. My parents couldn't afford the fee to have Jamie added to my birth certificate so I am legally just Suki Little. So I am legally giving the name to our daughter for my mom. There you have it, Maya Jamie Jenkins.

Well, once we came back from the doctors we decided it was high time to put the furniture in the nursery. The room is not done yet, not even close, but at least it's put together. Last night after all the furniture was put in place we turned on some music, lit up the Twilight Turtle that Colleen and Matt sent Maya, turned off the lights and sat in the nursery and talked about Maya's future for about 2 hours. Such a great night! In case you are wondering, a twilight turtle is a stuffed turtle with lights and colors on the shell that light up and illuminate the ceiling. They are stars that form 8 different constellations in three different colors. An amazing gift! Thanks Colleen! Here are a few before and after pictures.

The room empty. There was a desk and office chair here.

A shot of the middle of the room.

We don't have a bedding set yet so don't be alarmed by the lack of a bumper on the crib.

My new rocker and mini ottoman! Don't worry, these curtains are not staying. Linda, my dad's wife who is an alterator, is making us curtains for the nursery! Thanks Linda!

Closeup of the crib with the blanket and monkey Grandma Sandi got Maya.

The changing table and rocker. We are installing shelving over the table for storage.

Well, that is all the news we have for now. We love all of you and are so happy to share the news of our lives with each of you. I will probably be doing only one more post before Maya's arrival. We are due in 7 weeks and I have an immense amount of school work to do before she gets here. Thanks again for all of the love most of you have sent our way as well as the gifts. They are greatly appreciated. Until next time, take care!