Our first year was a rather eventful one....

Well, Steve and I celebrated our 1st year this past weekend.  I have to admit that it seemed like kind of a long year but not because of our marriage, just because of everything that has happened.  it just doesn't seem like that much stuff should have happened in a year, ya know??  first, i moved to a new state (not just city), changed jobs and inherited 4 step kids.  then we adopted 2 more pets (our sugar gliders which didn't make it of course).  then we found out we were pregnant...so then we had the fun of the pregnancy.  then we finally sold my house in indy and also bought a house here which meant another move.  then i had zander....all that well before our 1st anniversary.  steve and i often joke that if we can get through as much as we did in our first year, then we will be good to go!  so we'll see!  

so to celebrate, we actually got a sitter...zander's first sitter that is.  my good friend and co-worker, tasha came to stay with zander while steve and i went out to dinner at fleming's.  we had an awesome dinner and then even went to a movie.  it was a bit weird not being with zander but then again, it was nice and i knew that tasha would do a great job with him.  it also helps that we have these awesome cell phones...texting is soo much easier than calling and doesn't seem so OCD!  HA!  

one of my other friends and co-workers (colleen) suggested that i should leave zander a few times before i go back to work.  before saturday nite, the only other time i had left him was when i went to the doctor's office and that was only for an hour and he was with steve.  so i think her advice was good and i probably need to do it a few more times too. i go back to work july 20 and it will definitely be hard!  another co-worker (kristina) is going to watch him for me for the first month or so until my other sitter can take him in august.  he will only have to go to a sitter like 2 days a week too which is nice.  

well i guess that's the update for now....i dont really have any pics to post so i guess you just get the update! :) 

Strawberry Festival

Steve had to work today and I didnt feel like staying home.  so i packed Zander up and we headed to troy ohio which is only about 1/2 hour away and went to the strawberry festival.  i love festivals so this was the first for the season!  of course, i mainly go for the food, but its still fun people watching.  i have to say that its much more fun going with someone else besides just a newborn!  ha!!  he's not all that conversational.  :)   and parking when taking into consideration that you have a newborn in a stroller is interesting too.  i was so hot by the time we got to the food, that i wasn't that hungry!  it was still fun though...tried strawberry salsa for the first time and even bought some!  so that was my sunday and just fyi, i didn't skip church...we went last night so steve could go too!  

I guess I didn't meet my goal...

i said in the last post that i would try to post another update before baby fields was here, but i guess i didn't hit that goal.  looks like i'm averaging about one post per 6 months and of course, there is much more going on in our lives than that!!  

so let me start by saying that Zander Allen Fields is here and is healthy and growing!  i'm sure most of you know that by now and probably have seen a ton of pics already.  he actually came a bit early (only about a week) but everything worked out great.  i had a c-section on april 15 which was about 6 days before i was already scheduled for one.  my blood pressure started to get a bit elevated for some reason, so my doctor decided to go ahead and do the c-section since he was already past the 38 week mark.  i was actually very glad because my back was hurting so bad from sciatica pain, i just wanted to get on with it and move on to the next pain...recovering from a c-section.  my doctor is a very good doctor and the whole c-section recovery wasn't bad at all.  we had zander on a wednesday and went home on saturday and i have pretty much been out of the house at least for a short trip somewhere every day since.  i really dont enjoy staying home all day!!  zander is precious...even when he doesn't sleep very long at night or screams his head off.  all in all, he is a very good baby and i am already dreading going back to work in about 6 weeks.  its amazing how God creates such beautiful creatures...sometimes i just sit and stare at him.  we are definitely blessed even though there are lots of adjustments happening! 

in other non baby news....my house in indy finally sold.  it wasn't the smoothest sale but its finished!  there was quite a bit of drama and since i was about 9 months pregnant trying to deal with it on top of buy a house here in ohio, i didn't handle it very well.  thankfully, my dad was able to take it over and handled all the drama and the closing etc!  the same people ended up buying it but not before they found a ton of issues with both upstairs bathrooms and ended up getting more money out of us to fix the issues.  oh well...like i said, its finished!   and we were able to buy a house here too.  looking back now, it was all rather crazy.  we got possession of our house here in march and then moved in the first weekend in april and then i had zander april 15.  and...there are still boxes in our garage....and there probably will be for a bit!  guess they aren't going anywhere and will still be waiting on us.  i love our new house and i LOVE the area...we are sooo much closer to "stuff" and closer to my parents and my brother and his family. 

that's also some interesting news.  jarrad and misty have sold there house in indy and are moving back towards home.  jarrad took a job with edward jones in marion and they have just bought a house in greentown.  in some ways, its good cuz when i go to see my parents, jarrad and misty and the girls are only about 10 minutes away.  its also very weird to think that neither one of us live in indy anymore!!  pretty sad actually...and it will make it harder for me to get back to indy too.  its very strange to think about how many of my friends and family used to live in indy and now how few do.  i definitely miss that city!

well i think that is probably about the extent of my updates for now.  its almost 11 pm so i probably should try to feed my child again and then head to bed.  its interesting how much things change when you have a little one depending on you 24/7.  i go back to work in july, so i plan on enjoying the next 6 weeks to the fullest!!!  and we'll see about another post before then.  HA!!  

I'm a SLACKER!

I know, I know...I said that I was going to be good about blogging.  Somehow, it just slips away from me.  I think facebook has taken away a little of my motivation and not to make excuses, but we have been having some internet problems.  But all that aside, I'm finally updating this lovely blog of ours.  So let's see what kind of news I can fill you in on. 

In late August or early September, I discovered that I was pregnant.  That was a bit of a surprise.  So after Steve and I got over the initial shock, we became pretty excited.  So three months later, I am now at 21 weeks and we just found out last week that we are having a boy.  I had a little bit of morning sickness or blahness throughout the day in the beginning, but now I just have heart burn and nasty swelling in my feet and ankles.  I had to take my wedding ring off quite a while ago, so I think I am swelling more than the average preggo chic, but my doctor is not concerned.  Our due date is April 27 and I feel like that is sooo far away.  So hopefully the next few months go by rather quickly.  

Steve and I were able to go to a few OSU football games this fall which is always a thrill...probably more for him than me but I enjoy going!  We even ventured to Chicago one weekend with EJ, Deanna (his girlfriend) and Marissa to watch the OSU/Northwestern game.  Needless to say, I think Steve is pretty excited about having another boy to bring up watching OSU football!

  

Probably the next exciting happening of the fall was the birth of my second adorable niece, Josie Claire Odle.  She was born on Nov. 24 right before Thanksgiving and is just soo cute.  Jenna is doing very well being a big sis on top of just being Jenna.  She definitely makes us all laugh!

Misty had a c-section and seems to be doing very well.  Kinda makes me think of requesting a c-section....just something to think about!  Its very fun to see the Odle family grow and I alway enjoy spending time with them!

The other big news for the Field's fam is that on Thanksgiving day, I signed a contract to sell my house!  Talk about something to be thankful about!  Its kind of an atypical deal because the people don't want to close until Feb or March, but they are living in the house now and paying me rent until we do close on it.  It seems to be all working out very well..they are also paying utilities and we have already done the inspection and all that jazz, so we should be could to go in Feb or March.  Its actually perfect timing for us with the new baby and all coming sometime around April.  Of course, I'm still going to take a hit on my house, but in this market, I'm still very thankful that its going to sell!!  

And that leads me to the next tidbit..since my house will be sold and Steve's kids aren't living with us anymore, we aren't really tied to Wash. CH (the town we live in) which is good news for me!!  Its kind of off the beaten path and the house we are renting is great for a rental, but I'm not thrilled about staying in it with a baby etc.  So Steve and I are in the process of looking at our options for moving closer to where we work and hopefully a bit closer to Indy.  We have lots to consider and decide on, but its exciting for me...probably a bit scary for Steve since he has lived here for a while. So you can keep our decision making in your prayers!  

That's pretty much the update of our fall....I will try my hardest to update this again before baby Fields is here!   :)

A weekend of goodbyes...

This weekend after I got off of work on Friday nite, I drove to Louisville to see Kara Dawn one last time before she leaves for China.  Julie was also visiting her, so it worked out great that I could see both of them.  We had a very fun, but short time together.  Its always fun to reminiscence of our college days.  Then after I left Louisville, I drove to Lawrenceburg, IN to see my good friend Carin one last time before she moves to Eugene, OR.  My friends Stacie and Carin are both moving out there to do a church plant with our church.  Its a great opportunity for them, but of course, it stinks that they have to move so far away.  Its kind of funny that this is also the summer that I moved out of Indy.  I never really thought I would leave Indy and the summer that I do, 3 of my closest friends are also leaving the town.  So I guess if I still lived there, it would probably be even weirder!  Its also kind of interesting to see how many of my friends have left not only the city, but the state over the years...first was Regi, then Julie, then Marc and Dara, then Kara, then Jan, then Mary, and now Stacie and Carin and eventually Lee and also Jeff and Laura.   Crazy uh?  Guess I had to follow the trend...

Steve, Austin and I went to Jarrad and Misty's "lake house" last weekend.  We got there Friday afternoon and then my parents also came up on Saturday afternoon.  They bought the place last year but I still hadn't made it up there to see it.  It was a great, relaxing weekend and was also kind of a birthday celebration for Jarrad and I.  I loved being able to spend 2 straight days with Jenna.  She is at a really fun stage right now and she pretty much melts my heart when she says my name and asks for me when she gets up from her naps!  They have a golf cart that they use to get around the camp ground and there is also a dairy farm down the street.  So one of Jenna's favorite things to do is take the golf cart to see the cows.  Its so cute cuz she's always looking for "Bessie."  Its amazing how much more clearly she is talking and its soo fun. I may be biased, but I think she's going to be a pretty smart cookie!  :)  There are more pictures in the slide show below and you can also see them at my picture website:  http://gallery.me.com/shayna43#gallery

Almost settled....

So Steve and I have been married a little over a month which means that I am almost done with my third week of work too.  Needless to say, there is still soo much to do at the house.  Its getting there but I would be less stressed if it was going a bit faster.  I think I am down to only a couple of boxes, but there are still piles of stuff everywhere and there are no pictures on the walls yet.  Steve is very encouraging and always seems to see the positive side of our progress but I'm not so optimistic.  Probably because its mostly my junk....grrr!  Oh well...eventually the house will be situated the way I want it (except for the kids' rooms of course...that will never happen)  :)

As far as work goes...let's just say that its busy all of the time.  I do like it though..anyone who knows me knows that I would rather stay busy and man do we do that.  The first Monday that I worked, we filled over 800 prescriptions which is almost double what I did at my old store.  But there are more pharmacists and more techs so it doesn't really seem all that stressful which is great.  I really like the other pharmacists that I work with too..and the techs are good techs!

I'm definitely starting to feel the newness of things wear off which means that I am missing people (friends and family) a lot already which is kind of odd since we were just in Indy last weekend.  I know that it will get better but right now its kind of hard since I don't know anyone and a lot of the time, Steve has to go to bed before I get home from work.  We are still trying to work out our schedules and when we have days off together it rocks... the other days are kind of weird!  

That's the update for now...I will post some pics of the house, but not till I have it situated a bit more...I guess I can be a bit of a perfectionist uh?  :)