The Bachmann Family News

Can't Stop The Giggles

2012-02-11T10:00:00.000-08:00

This boy just has the giggles! It was so funny. I wasn't doing anything but he just started giggling at himself! It was hilarious and so contageous! AJ and I just had to laugh with him! I kept wanting to give him something to laugh at since I was just holding the camera. You get a nice view of our mainfloor bathroom here but in an open floor plan house, the doorways are limited to hang a bouncer.

Enjoy the giggles! I hope it warms your heart this Valentine's Day!

Visiting Cousins!

2012-02-10T10:43:00.000-08:00

My family had our "make-up" Christmas last weekend. So everyone came into town and we weren't at mom and dad's house once! Everyone was at our house! Our church graciously let us use their Activity room to host a Catered dinner (by Dickey's BBQ) for my family. Everyone LOVED it! Even Mom, who we weren't sure if she'd be ok with not cooking for a family event but she even seemed more relaxed somehow.

We also all met on Saturday morning at Chick-Fil-A for breakfast so the kids could play on the playground and everyone could see Mom Mom (who moved back from Chicago last week) before our big dinner in the early evening! Sadly, we didn't get a big group shot at the dinner... not sure why. Maybe everyone was too busy eating all the amazing food and desserts people brought! The kids enjoyed a playground and a big space to run around in and a huge projector screen to watch movies on! It was a big hit!

Here are 2 pictures of Jack with a few of his cousins who came to visit that weekend!

TV Watcher

2012-02-09T10:38:00.000-08:00

Jack has had a little cough and a little drippy nose so to rest from him being fussy at all his typical toy routines... we've been watching 15minutes of cartoons on Sprout (PBS kids). He gets to stroke his big Lambo on his lap (a lamb pillow pet to match his Lambo Wubbanub), enjoy his pacifier (which is usually a bedtime only enjoyment, and snuggle into our big body pillow!

Of course he LOVES our remote so I had to take his picture practicing with it! I'm sure he'll be fighting Daddy for the remote in no time! But I think Jack just wants to put it in his mouth and doesn't care what he's watching too much!

Superbowl Sunday

2012-02-08T12:36:00.000-08:00

AJ was very much looking forward to his first Superbowl with his first son! I guess there is some sort of bonding that goes on, at least in AJ's mind there was! We were hoping the Giants would win and they did so it was a very exciting game to watch! It even came down to the end that we had to watch to see who won. It wasn't as obvious as past Superbowl's have been.

Jack was just excited to be able to watch all the bright colors on TV!

Visiting Southern Maryland

2012-01-31T12:42:00.000-08:00

Uncle Bob was out on travel for work so Jack and I went to go spend 3 days with Aunt Melissa and Camden! We had lots of fun just hanging around with the boys! It's so much fun to watch them interact now that they are older!

With Melissa being an amazing professional photographer... she of course took tons of great shots! I especially love the one where Jack is reaching for Camden's mohawk, because Jack loves playing with hair. You can tell by Camden's face, he wasn't a fan of the hair grabbing.

And every time I'd pull Jack's hands out of his mouth, he'd stick his toes in his mouth! Poor baby... he's got 2 teeth now! FINALLY! That boy has been drueling since he was 2 months old!

I love them all so it was so hard to choose! I know Melissa will bawk at the amount of pictures and how they aren't edited properly... but I couldn't not share them with you.

There arms and legs are crossed!

Camden finally had enough and got up to crawl away! HA!

They just look so out of it here... Jack was tired and Camden was just refreshed and slowly waking up. So funny!!!

Jack thought Camden's toes looked like a nice change to try out! No, he didn't get to suck on them...

Wrestle Mania

2012-01-25T13:00:00.000-08:00

Aunt Holly got Jack and knock-off pillow pet and blanket to go with his "Lambo" (a Wubbanub pacifier animal). So the blanket is in his crib and this large pillow lamb he just loves to play with! So we got him wrestling with it and we all couldn't stop laughing! I can't wait to show him this video when he's older!

Favorite Hoodie

2012-01-24T13:00:00.000-08:00

This is my favorite hoody that my mom got for Jack before he was born. It's from Gymboree and I LOVE the doggy on the front! The cordaroy pants that went with it had little doggies on navy blue but he's already out grown those things. So as he rolls into his 12 month clothes (even though he's only 7 months old), I wanted to document this cute hoody and my handsome boy!

Last of Christmas

2012-01-23T13:00:00.000-08:00

Before we cleaned things up for Christmas, we put on Jack's Christmas t-shirt his Nana got him and we took some pictures on the matching "My First Christmas" blanket he got as well. So I was the luckiest Mommy of all because I got my picture taken with a member of "Team Santa!"

Bath in the Sink

2012-01-22T16:50:00.000-08:00

Jack is getting much better at sitting up but we thought we give the traditional sink a try. All of us were washed in the kitchen sink so why not. I went out to buy one of those no slip mats to put in the sink to help him keep his balance a little better and it worked like a charm!

He loved having his own little space! His toys didn't go to far from him like in the tub, they always seem to be at the opposite end where he can't reach them. He kept trying to grab the water and put it in his mouth which of course got his face all wet. It didn't bother him, he kept on trying.

Definitely something we will always remember!

New Suit

2012-01-09T12:00:00.000-08:00

We went to Raleigh, NC for New Years and Aunt Jen got Jack the cutest monogramed jumper! It's a little big, as it is for spring/summer, but we couldn't wait to try it out! So Aunt Jen got out her camera and took a ton of cute pictures of Jack! His hazel eyes just pop and the jumper matches perfect with his blue bear he takes to bed.

It was SO hard to pick my favorites because they all look so cute of the faces that he makes! I will remember these always! THANK YOU, Jen!

Bath Time In Raleigh

2012-01-08T12:00:00.000-08:00

Look at this chubby boy! Sitting up on his own with the occasional slip backwards because of the slippery bottom. He just LOVES splashing!

Christmas Tree

2012-01-07T12:00:00.000-08:00

As I was wrapping AJ's presents, Jack decided to watch the shinny balls hanging on the tree. So I couldn't resist, I actually caught him reaching! I love these shots!

Hello Bear

2012-01-06T12:00:00.000-08:00

AJ likes to "baby-talk" to Jack ALLLLLL the time. I know he gets it from his family because ALL of them baby-talk to Jack. I'm sure Jack will have no idea what their voices actually sound like until he's like 5 when the amount of baby-talk will hopefully slow down.

So it's a little thing AJ has down since Jack was born is he says "hello Jack," in his regular man voice, and then responds for Jack, "hello Daddy," in a super low deep man voice. And AJ laughs at himself every time because he has no idea why he alwasy responds in a deeper voice as "jack." Anyway, it's one of those insider family jokes that's probably only funny to us, but you had to understand that to get this picture.

We were in Costco just looking around and getting free samples since we don't belong anymore and therefore can't buy anything, and we came across this big stuffed animal bear that I let Jack go feel and hug since he was fuzzy. AJ took a picture and now our caption to this picture, as Jack has a very questionable look on his face towards the bear, is "Hello bear," (in normal man voice), "hello Jack" (says the bear in a super low voice). It sounds so serious like they are in a stare down! HA!

Anyway, I'm sure no one gets this and it's one of those "you just had to be there" jokes but I thought the picture is funny either way. No, Jack did not get the bear to bring home. Althought I kind of wish we did now! HA!

Uncle Eric

2012-01-05T14:00:00.000-08:00

Eric, AJ's bestman, came to visit and got to meet Jack for the first time! It was great to go out to dinner to our favorite place, Big Fish Grille in Crofton too! They left Jack a gift for Christmas so we opened it and he loved the paper and I LOVED the outfits!

Eric and his new Fiance, Danielle, are getting married this May! We can't wait! Thank you guys for the gift for Jack!

Jack's First Christmas

2012-01-04T18:13:00.000-08:00

We decided not to get Jack any gifts this year since we knew Grandparents were going to get him plenty and we just wanted to remember the morning without lots of gifts he won't remember.

Our day started out at 7am when Jack woke up and AJ and I started a little breakfast and had Jack open his two gifts that friends had given us. He actually did rip up the paper and chew on it a little so that was fun! We got lots of pictures and a movie. Jack's "roomate" Dennis, who stays in our guest bedroom a few nights a week, got him the cutest Santa hat! It matched perfectly with his Christmas sleep sack!

We sang Happy Birthday to Baby Jesus and hung up the new ornament that Jack and AJ bought me for this year (a tradition that AJ began the year AJ proposed). Jack went down for a nap and we opened gifts to eachother. It was a wonderful Christmas as a fmaily of 3! Enjoy the pictures! It was one great morning to remember!

New Baby Baloga

2011-12-17T09:02:00.000-08:00

Our friends Chris and Marci Baloga had their first boy on December 8th at 2:43pm!! 8lbs 1oz and 21 inches long. We went to visit them 3 days later when they got home and couldn't believe how little he was. It's hard to imagine Jack was ever that little, because he's so big now.

Congrats new parents! Welcome to the club!

Boys Doing the Shopping

2011-12-16T08:59:00.000-08:00

Melissa and I were at Mom and Dad's for Holly's birthday on the 12th and had to run to Safeway, so we took the boys with us! Thankfully they fit in the carts because they are getting too big to just carry around. They look like they are riding in style!

Santa's Lap

2011-12-15T17:29:00.000-08:00

As this time of year tends to bring confusion and forgetfulness to most Americans on the real reason for the season... we want to make sure that we emphasize and encourage Jack in celebrating the birth of Jesus, our Risen Savior! We're still debating on some Christmas traditions to have so that there is no doubt in Jack's mind about Jesus's birthday. Any good ideas, please pass them on!

Despite that, we do plan to at least involve Santa Claus a little bit. Northrop Grumman puts on a Donuts with Santa every year and we get a chance to see where Daddy works, and where Mommy used to work and Grandpa used to work and Uncle Charles works! So we waited in the long line and discussed how to break it to Santa that we wanted him to take a pump of hand sanitizer before holding Jack. When we got to our turn, Santa was wearing gloves so we handed Jack over with comfort! :o)

In Mommy & Daddy's Bed Photoshoot

2011-12-14T16:42:00.000-08:00

Last Friday morning, I was tired from being up late watching a movie with AJ before we had to return it to redbox... so once Jack woke up from his nap I pulled him into bed with me and he just kept talking and cooing so I just had to take some pictures of him. I know... it's probably excessive but I thought you could see a little of his personality through these selected few!

Bath Time, Alone....

2011-12-13T16:36:00.000-08:00

Jack is getting better at sitting up on his own so we thought we'd try him out in his bathroom tub. He kept trying to touch his toes and lean back. It was funny! Almost all the pictures aren't too "modest" and I'm sure when he's older he'll appreciate me NOT posting them publicly... but this one is rated "G" so I thought I'd share his joy and excitment! It doesn't do bath time justice as he splashes and splashes!!

Hand-made Outfits!

2011-12-12T14:13:00.000-08:00

We were so lucky to have friends and family with the amazing talent to knit outfits for babies! It's perfect weather for them and he just looks so darn cute!

Thank you Amy Lieberman and Mom Mom Wise!!

Doorway Jumper

2011-12-11T17:27:00.000-08:00

Jack has FINALLY figured out that the doorway bouncer is the most fun thing in the world! For the last 2 months he would just sit there like a mope and not jump in it and after 5 minutes want to get out. But now... this boy goes to town!!! You should see him, I call it his River Dance show (for those of you who don't know River Dance is a famous irish stepping production... amazing in itself!). You can't help but laugh at his little feet jumping like springs in this thing!

Most of them turned out blurry because he's moving so fast! The best is when he jumps towards me (see second picture)! See the 2 videos too!

Bachmann Man!

2011-12-11T14:13:00.000-08:00

Well, Jack still fits into his coming home from the hospital outfit... yes, it was huge on him. But it was the first gift AJ gave me for Christmas last year when I was pregnant. AJ and I both have "Bachmann University" t-shirts to match and so AJ got Jack his own onesie that says "property of the Bachmann Family" on it.

I just went out to get some sweat pants that say "JB Record Breaker"! He's one in the making!

First Swing At The Park

2011-12-03T12:00:00.000-08:00

On a warm day last week I took Jack to the park behind the shopping center across from our community. There is a beautiful pond with lots of ducks and geese and a big playground park. I thought he might be too small for the infant swing but I thought I'd kill some awake time and take him up to try and get some exercise for me. He fit perfectly and giggled everytime the swing went back and I'd catch his toes with my hands! He really loved it! I only had my phone to take his picture but it captures his joy!

We can't wait to take Daddy back to the park and try it out again!

Bachmann Turkey Bowl!

2011-12-02T12:00:00.000-08:00

As Calvert Hall Tradition... AJ initiated a football game Thanksgiving morning for all the cousins to play. He has been training and playing with Jacob and Adam every chance he had for the past few months. So on a beautiful sunny morning, Uncle Bennett and Uncle AJ piled everyone into our car (Mary Clarie, Elle, Jacob, Adam, Charlotte, Jack, Jen, me, Bennett, and AJ... yes, one car) up to the Elementary school to play some football at 8:30am! Woohoo! It was just a little nippy but perfect football weather! Even Aunt Jen played! We missed the other half of the cousins but met up with them late for a big Thanksgiving feast in Severna Park!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and remembered all their blessings and how fortunate we all are to have such big and loving family!

Something From the Matrix?!

2011-12-01T12:00:00.000-08:00

Jack had his cardiac checkup appointment and he is doing fantastic! Praise the Lord! The Doctor told us to treat him like he is completly normal with nothing wrong! God is so good. Our son is one healthy boy and weighing in at 18lbs at 5 months old!

Get Your Toes!

2011-11-30T15:40:00.000-08:00

Jack's newest trick is grabbing his toes! He does it all the time! He does it on his changing table, he does it in his bed if he wakes up in the middle of the night to smile at mommy and touch his toes (sigh), he does it in his car seat and tries to do it in the air if you hold him up.

Daddy Dressed Me For Church

2011-11-30T13:38:00.000-08:00

I asked AJ to dress Jack for church, and I guess it was my fault for even having a "hand-me-down" camo outfit in his closet and the only pair of slippers in his sock bin.. but down came 2 very proud boys ready for church.... sigh.... needless to say this was the first and last time Jack was in camo, good thing it was too short for him anyway! He's going hunting for moose in his snowman slippers!

Out for Fun!

2011-11-29T13:36:00.000-08:00

On a beautiful day we took Jack out for our many walks on the weekends! He'si n his Christmas long johns.... at least, that's what they look like! We all happened to be in fall colors!

BIG BATH

2011-11-28T18:00:00.000-08:00

So we went a little overboard and instead of putting him in the bath tub in his bumbo seat, we thought for fun we'd try our own little "pool" time! So we went in our master tub and filled it up and wanted to see if he liked it. Well, he LOVED it! He splashed and kicked and "squak'd" while AJ took pictures.

When it was time to get soapy and wash his hair, AJ got in and held him while I scrubbed him up and then we dumped watered over his head and into his face! We want to get him used to it early so there is no screaming if water gets in his eyes! He held his breath the first time it got in his eyes but he "coo'd" it off and kept on splashing! I have a video to show later on too... super cute!

Last Sponge Bath

2011-11-28T13:26:00.000-08:00

I captured Jack's first bath time when we got home back in July and now at 5.5 months old, this boy has out grown his Puj tub! So into the big tub we shall go next! He loves to look at himself and watch me sing to him in the mirror during his whole sponge bath! I sing the entire time so I guess bath time is pretty fun in our house... AJ makes me sing to him while he's in the shower too now! ;o) HA!

New Toy

2011-11-27T13:26:00.000-08:00

I got Jack and Camden a new chew toy (sounds like it's for a dog... I know)! But it rotates and is easy to hold and great for chewing on any one of the numerous knobs! Jack loves it more and more every day! It matched his outfit this day so I thoguht I'd capture it's use!

Before Church

2011-11-13T09:00:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday at church I kept Jack in his sleeper because I figured he would sleep the whole time and not get out of his infant carrier in the service. Boy were we wrong. There were so many babies in the overflow room at church second service so Jack of course wanted to see what all the noise was about. So we had to take him out of his seat to hold him and every baby was dressed in a cute sunday church outfit except poor Jack who was still in his PJs!

So this Sunday I made sure to dress him up even though he might be napping the whole time. Well, AJ put on my favorite shirt of his and I dressed Jack in his puppy dog outfit and cordaroy pants to match so we had a picture time before we went out the door!

Fall Leaves

2011-11-12T09:00:00.000-08:00

God is so good! What colors and stunning crisp air that just refreshes our lungs and our soul to breathe in! This truely is my favorite time of year! I could take pictures every single day! I'm still wanting pictures of Jack and me but AJ is always holding him so of course I have to take the pictures!

We took a walk on a clear Saturday and got some pictures of the brightly colored leaves with my boy in his handsome blues!

Handsome Blues

2011-11-11T09:00:00.000-08:00

My son may not be a midshipman at the Naval Academy in his winter blues uniform, not yet anyway,... but his Grandma gave him this handsome quilted winter suit from Nordstrom! It's georgeous! And he's got plenty of room to grow in it as well! It's surprisingly hard to find a time to wear it but for a walk with Daddy in the baby bjorne was the perfect thing to cover his legs and arms in the Fall breeze!

Thank you, Mom!

Discovering His Hands!

2011-11-10T09:00:00.000-08:00

I have been waiting for this moment for so long! Everyone told me Jack would be just looking at his hands which helps with hand control and depth perception. I had yet to see Jack looking directly at his hands but thought it just wouldn't happen now that he's 4.5 months old!

But then... I caught him! The sun was beaming in on his changing table and my son found his hands!!!

Morning Back Home

2011-11-09T09:00:00.000-08:00

Jack and I had just got back from visiting Camden and Aunt Melissa for 2 nights and we were both so tired! But I had to unpack us and clean up for company coming that night, so I set Jack up to play on the guest bed with some toys. He was sqaulking and talking the whole time and I occasionally came to check on him and found him looking at his hands! I tried to catch him on camera but he caught me and looked right at the camera! Sigh... I did eventually catch him looking at his hands which I'll post later.

Here is my cute little boy who just bubbles over with smiles at the camera!

Daddy Time!

2011-11-08T09:30:00.000-08:00

Jack and I both look forward to AJ coming home in the evenings! I get a small break to cook or clean up from dinner while Jack gets to touch his Daddy's scruffy face! He's very into touching faces these days! Thankfully, I caught him making some cute faces himself!

Airplane

2011-11-07T09:30:00.000-08:00

Jack an evening at play, I decided Jack was big enough to sit on my feet and do a mini-airplane! He was loving it especially every time I did a "crunch" with my abs I would say "boo!" and he'd giggle! Needless to say I got a great ab workout and now make it part of our "play time" routine each day!

Happy Halloween!

2011-11-06T09:30:00.000-08:00

For this Halloween, AJ and I didn't feel right about trick or treating with Jack just to get candy that was obviously for us and not Jack, so we walked around briefly to find our neighbors and get them to take our picture and then headed back in the house. It was a cold and windy night, perfect for Halloween weather!
Jack was our sweet pea and we were his Farmers who are raising him!

Before AJ got home from work he begged me to pick up a pumpkin for pictures with Jack and I drove to 3 grocery stores and a produce stand on Halloween and NO ONE had pumpkins!! UH! So I dug up a plastic one from our long gone Halloween parties we used to have and got Jack picture! He's such a ham!

Boat Ride On The Lake

2011-10-24T18:00:00.000-07:00

This was Jack's first boat ride! But it's great because you can really see how perfectly glassy the water is on a Fall morning! Heavenly!

"He's Wearing Tan Shoes With Pink Shoe Laces..."

2011-10-24T13:00:00.000-07:00

Jack's Aunt Jen gave him this adorable Gymboree outfit with matching shoes! And before he grows out of it and it gets too cold, I had to dress him up for a lunch outting! I had to practically shoove his feet in these shoes! They were almost too tight. So here are some pictures with chubby legs!

First Taste of Cereal

2011-10-23T17:17:00.000-07:00

So Jack is officially 4 months old as of October 15th! He weighs 15.5lbs (75th Percentile) and is 26 inches long (90th percentile)! He is growing like a weed! But a handsome weed at that! So I was so excited to try solids with him, just to see his reaction. In NO WAY is this substituting for breast milk but I just thought it would be fun to try.
He didn't fuss too much but mainly I think he was fussing because he doesn't like sitting in the bumbo for long. I can't wait until he is just taking spoonfuls of this stuff!

Sleeping in Stripes!

2011-10-23T13:00:00.000-07:00

Old Navy has the cutest stripped one pieces. I just love them!! They are soft too! The navy and green stripped one is AJ's favorite!

Tacky Outfits

2011-10-22T13:00:00.000-07:00

When picking out clothes and telling people what to buy Jack, I always made sure to mention not to buy clothes with any sayings on them. Well, I happen to be at Walmart and found for $2 this out fit and the other one I showed him in that read "Born Awesome." I just couldn't resist the price.

So in all fun, here is Jack in another tacky saying outfit that I thought was funny with his arm over his head and the other hand on his hip like he's showing off!

The Lake House

2011-10-21T17:11:00.000-07:00

For vacation this year, our first one with Jack, we decided to go to Lake Anna, Virgina. For those of you who don't know where that is, it was the central location of the earthquake that occured in August. Every October we typically go to OBX but this year we stuck closer to home with only a 2 hr drive away.

We had our own beach front and 2 acres of land to play on and just beautiful trees to admire through the mist coming off the water gleaming in the morning sun! Breathtaking!

Here is cousin Elle, holding Jack's hand through his first bouncey chair experience.

Here we are going hiking, Jack fell asleep shortly after this moment...

Here are the 3 youngest cousins on my side of the family! From left to right, Charlotte (1.5 yrs old), Camden (5months old), and Jack (3.5 mths old).

My Father rented a pontoon boat for 2 days and we all enjoyed the ride!

This was the view of the backyard from the house. There is a huge fire pitt right next to the water and a beach front. Such privacy!

This is the view of the back of the house, from the water. 4,000 sqft!

AJ's classic sunrise picture, he takes one at every vacation place... this one is heavenly!

2 Daddies and their newest babies!

Cousins looking in on Jack's play time. Charlotte tried all week to get onto that play mat! I think she misses being the baby herself!

A Barrick Baby (Camden) and a Bachmann baby (Jack) practicing their "Top Gun" high-five!

Mary Claire was SO brave and got in the water the most out of everyone that week!

Hiking at Lake Anna State Park!

AJ's Father let us barrow his dinggy for the week! It was a huge hit for the kids! Uncle AJ was the favorite, as always!

The adults and their babies!

The Mom's and their new babies!

The boys and Holly came to join us for the weekend, so Jack had even more cousins to oogle him!

The Lake Anna Crew!

Jen, my sister-in-law, her oldest and youngest and baby Jack too!

Daddy got his baby bear to sleep on a walk in the woods!

Teething!

2011-10-18T10:00:00.000-07:00

Jack has been drooling a lot for the past 2 months! But just this past week, while we were on vacation he has started to grab and put things in his mouth! He isn't chomping down too hard yet but I'm sure that's coming soon!

I'm going to try and get more pictures of all he teethers he's enjoying but this one is like a foot and was just hanging in his mouth so I had to grab my phone and get a picture to send to AJ!

Look Jack Has Green Ears!

2011-10-17T10:00:00.000-07:00

During the day, I make sure AJ doesn't feel like he's missing out on anything. So here is one of the many pictures I sent as Jack was enjoying his playmat time! He just looked so cute and in the right position above the green leaves on the play mat!

Exersaucer Time

2011-10-16T10:00:00.000-07:00

Jack is now standing so much more so I decided to see how he'd do in the exersaucer. At first he just kind of looked around and didn't really grab or stand. But after a few trips in and out during the day, he is grabing things a lot more and figuring how how to hold his balance in the roomy seat.

He's not quite jumping yet but he'll get more practice in the doorway bouncey chair he'll have soon.

Mother or Momma or Mommy?!

2011-10-15T10:00:00.000-07:00

We have some cute little neices who live in Raleigh who always call their mom "Momma." It's so cute and so southern and their mother, Jen, has no idea where it came from, it's just what they started calling her.

My Mom on the other hand, called her Mom, "Mother" all growing up and to this day! Of course, it's a different generation where husbands and wives still called each other Mr. and Mrs. even at home!

Either way, Jack, will call me whatever he can manage to say first! I'll just be super excited when he begins talking so he can tell me what is going through his mind all the time. I know that boy is always thinking,... just like his Daddy!

Nana & Pop Visit

2011-10-14T08:00:00.000-07:00

Nana and Pop came to visit Jack to see how big he has grown since they last saw him. There was good food, lots of baby cues, lots of gasps, lots of "Al, do you see him?!!!", and "Al, look at him!" through all the giggles from the grandparents!

Here are some moments captured of Jack, 3.5 months old, the 4th grandchild, and the only one to carry on the Bachmann name!

A Blue Bumbo

2011-10-13T17:47:00.000-07:00

Not sure about you other Mommas out there but I'm all about second hand baby items! There are so many baby items that never even get used and if they are used it's a short time because babies grow up so fast! So looking on craigslist for a BLUE bumbo was surprisingly hard! There was purple, pink, green, yellow, but never blue!

Finally, I found one after months of searching. So Jack now gets to look like a handsome boy in his blue seat! My sister actually said you can put this in the bathtub too! We have a tray too for when the time comes. He's still getting used to sitting down so maybe more time in it will come. But for now, here are some shots of Daddy and his boy in his blue seat!

Latest Sewing Project

2011-10-02T20:00:00.000-07:00

For all of my baby showers I had recieved for Jack, I got lots of ribbon. It was wrapped around gifts, hanging onesies on the wall, or holding together diaper cakes! I also came across some light blue fleece I had in my fabric stash and thought of my sister-in-law who used to make those tabbed baby blankets! So that's what I did in 45 minutes today! I put Jack's initials and cut up all the ribbon into strips, sewed on a white backing and done! Now we have a second fun playmat for Jack with colors and different textures of ribbon for him to grab!

Super easy to make!!! I'm still working on getting better at sewing the letters so they don't look crooked. A stiff backing would do it, just was too lazy to bother this time around!

Hello Beautiful!

2011-10-02T13:00:00.000-07:00

After almost 6 years... I finally got a new computer of my very own!!! Now that I'm a stay at home mommy, I didn't have my work laptop any more and the desktop in the basement is 6 years old now and not as easy for me to be mobile with in the kitchen for recipes, music, or playing a DVD in the car for Jack (down the road). So I did all the research and kept my budget under $500 and voila! I got an HP ProBook 4530s! It's the best ever! It's built for their business elite and has bluetooth, finger print and face recognition for security (not why I bought it but a cool perk!), it has an HDMI connection which was important for AJ and I to plug into any TV and stream movies, pictures, TV from the internet. It has a webcam for skyping with all our family as often as possible, and it has a SD slot for my camera memory card so I just just pop it out of my camera and into the compy and my pictures are uploaded! Woohoo! It has great memory ram, space, processor speed and is a 64-bit machine to boot! Oh, and it has windows 7 operating system which I've been dying to play with! It's only 5lbs and is almost as wide as my foot! This makes it super mobile for me!

So say hello to the newest addition to the Bachmann household! This little lady and I are going places and making money in our future!

Skin Cancer

2011-10-01T13:00:00.000-07:00

Well, I have inheirited my Dad's fair skin and also the genertic trait to be more suseptable to skin cancer. At the ripe old age of 28, I had my first pre-cancerous leasion. It was about 1cm in diameter above my right eyebrow. So to have it removed and have any scar I guess having it by your eyebrow is the least conspicious place to have it.

AJ went with me and Jack to surgery last Wednesday and we were the ONLY people under the age of 60 there... no joke. The Doctor and all the staff kept saying how young I am to be a patient! Sigh... I had a procedure done called Moh's Surgery and it was very quick. However, for a 1cm leasion they made a 3inch long cut above and below my eyebrow. I was told it was so the skin for heal and look as cosmetically pleasing as possible. If he just stretch the skin closed from a circle cut, I would of had a pulled up eyebrow and a permanently "surprised" look on my face! Hehe. So I guess it's good... I just look like Frankinstien in the mean time.

It's supposed to heal quickly and the stiches are already dissolving but the skin is a little lumpy which I get to start silicone treatments for scaring and massage treatments around the area to reduce the lumpy skin. Fun... anyway... I guess this is the begining of a long life of looking out for these leasions. No more tanning casually... AJ said he would make me wear a turtle neck and a ski mask when we go to the pool each summer from now on... what a great guy! ;o)

It's very swollan here, also my nose never looks this big in pictures... hmmm.... it looks much better now, a week later. Either way, I'd appreciate your prayers for quick healing for me and all of the many other patients who undergo this surgery each and every day!

Play Time!

2011-09-30T17:44:00.000-07:00

Our days are pretty simple at home, just Jack and me... we wake up at 6am and he nurses for about 20-30mins and we play for an hour on his play mat, on the floor in his room with books, in his swing in the kitchen, sitting in his bumbo seat, or surfing on his tummy time mat (yes, I know it's pink... it was a gift from Jack's cousin Charlotte). Then exactly 1.5 hours after he wakes up... 7:30am, he gets sleepy eyes or gets a little fussy and I give him his Lambo (a little lamb attached to his pacifier) and I put him down in his crib where he happily rolls over and goes to sleep on his own! Love it!

We repeat this routine every 3-4 hours each day until 8-8:30pm where he goes to down sleep for the night and I wake him up for a last feeding at 9:30pm where he pretty much sleeps (eyes closed) through the feeding and wakes up again at 6am! Phew! It's actually a very full day! Each nap time is very precious from Jack and for me! I savor each 1.5-2hr nap times!!

He makes all sorts of noises now! I need to record his new noises each month so I remember how cute they are! I feel like his noises are so much cuter than any Gerber baby on TV! Anyway, here are some of the smiles from our days the last week.

Jack seriously looks likes he just caught a wave and is riding it in!! HA!

Bath Time!

2011-09-24T09:00:00.000-07:00

Jack just loves bath time now! He's almost getting too big for the bathroom sink in his Puj tub! I might have to move this Puj tube to the kitchen sink where it's deeper. I'm so excited for him to sit up and get in the big tub and play with all the bath toys he already has!

He just loves to be bundled up after his bath so I thought I'd take his picture while we had a little "tickle-the-naked-baby" time this morning! If some of his hands are blurry it's because he is kicking and waving his arms like crazy when he's on his changing table! It's so funny to watch!

Born Awesome!

2011-09-23T10:00:00.000-07:00

Ok, my baby is now over 3 months old! 16 weeks!! WOW! Look at the grin on this baby! I just loved this $2 clearence outfit from walmart! It says "Born Awesome!" That's our Jack!

The Couponer Is Back!

2011-09-22T11:36:00.000-07:00

Hello fellow grocery shoppers! I'm finally back on track couponing. It was kind of sparatic the past few months with only 40-60% of savings from coupons on each grocery receipt except for last week! Woohoo! I got $165 worth of groceries for $48!! How nice is that?! That's about 74% savings. The best was when the guy had to ring up the 12 yogurts I got seperately because I went over the 20 coupons limit in one transaction and the bill was $14 for 12 yogurts but after coupons I paid $2.30!! The girl behind me was like, where do you find coupons to do that?! HA!

Anyway, I thought I'd inspire those of you out there wondering on where to cut your expenses! Cutting your grocery bill is a great first step in savings!

Handsome And Preppy!

2011-09-18T09:00:00.000-07:00

I love this outfit that Aunt Holly got Jack! A light blue polo onesie! Thankfully I put him in it just in time before he out grows it! Phew! My chubby boy is growing like crazy!

Hello Ladies!!

My attempt at doing the "popped-collar" look!

Daddy Time!

2011-09-17T09:00:00.000-07:00

AJ has been working so hard the past 3 weeks and finally he is able to relax and enjoy some play time with Jack! I know Jack was happy to have someone other than Mommy to look at for a change!

Yes, the boys watching football... a sight I will have to get used to!

Roll Over!

2011-09-16T11:00:00.000-07:00

Ok, I know I'm the obnoxious mother cheering her baby on but you'll have to deal with it to get the full effect! At 14 weeks old, almost 3 months, he rolls over! Woohoo!

The Best Baby Cooing Sounds!

2011-09-15T09:00:00.000-07:00

Jack is now 3 months old but I finally am getting around to a video when he was 2.5 months old so you can hear and see his personality and his smiles! Enjoy!

Cousins!

2011-09-08T10:00:00.000-07:00

Well, just before the Hurricane last week, while AJ was stranded in Boston, Jack and I went to visit Aunt Melissa and Camden! Camden is exactly 6 weeks ahead of Jack. But look whos catching up now!??! Camden is still 2inches longer and a little heavier but Jack and his chubby cheeks are catching up!

August 26th

July 4th

Family & Fun!

2011-09-07T07:28:00.000-07:00

Jack has had quite a few visitors since he's been home! We've loved sharing our joy with so many! I wish I got pictures of everyone who came! I guess we'll have to have everyone over again for pictures with Jack!

Aunt Jen enjoying a cuddly little baby boy for a change from her 3 girls!

Uncle Bennett holding his youngest daughter, Charlotte (18 months) and Jack.

My Mother, Grandma, holding her 10th grandchild, Jack!

Here is AJ's Dad (aka Pop) getting a snuggle in before bed time.

Here is my sister Holly and her oldest, Jacob, who came over for a back-to-school dinner for her boys!

My Little Lion Heart!

2011-09-01T15:00:00.000-07:00

Jack is our little fighter! To make a very long story short... maybe I'll tell the long version some day... Jack was born with a heart murmor which was ultimately diagnosed as Pulminary Stenosis. We spent the first 2.5 weeks of Jack's life in Children's National Hospital in DC. The Lord was good to us and with people all over the world (yes, the world) praying for Jack, God stretched out His healing hand and gave us our baby boy back as normal can be! We will still have to go for cardiac check ups once in a while but the procedure he needed, fixed his little heart and he is a strong and healthy boy! He will still be able to run and play sports with the best of them!

Thank you everyone for your prayers! Jack is a testimoney and a witness to God's healing power and love for even the smallest of us... babies! Because of Jack's condition he caused a lot of people who are not usually pray-ers to get on their knees! Jack was serving a greater purpose with his heart condition and AJ and I are so thankful he is a missionary already!! What a blessing!!

I hope you check back often to see our our little boy is doing with a heart of a Lion!

Jack Can Sleep Anywhere!

2011-08-31T14:06:00.000-07:00

I know they say it's easy for the first baby to sleep everywhere because there is no other noise in the house! With a second baby trying to sleep with a little toddler running around, it's almost impossible for them NOT to be in their crib. So Jack and I are taking advantage of him being an only child, for now!
He can sleep anywhere! And he just looks so cute in all these places, I just had to take a picture! AJ loves to go wake him up no matter what time it is! He usually gets to wake him up for his dinner feeding at 6pm, his last night feeding at 10pm and his morning feeding at 6am. Lucky Daddy!

He sleeps in his vibrating newborn napper that came with his pack n play, but sadly he's pretty much outgrown it but I tuck his knees so he can still fit... for now!

He sleeps in one of his boppy's because he can chill on the sofa with me and it keeps him secure on his side and he looks great in blue!! I call it his blue inner tube!

He can sleep on his play blanket at the end of the sofa too!

He sleeps in Daddy's arms, of course!!

And of course, he gets to sleep in his crib a good portion of the time!

Tummy Sleep!

2011-08-21T11:00:00.000-07:00

Jack took his first nap on his tummy! Don't worry, I checked on him often. It started because he screamed on his back and I'd pick him up and his eyes would close and he'd be asleep and I'd put him down again on his back and he'd scream... so I figured, the position when I pick him up is on my chest and on his belly so I'll try and lay him on his belly and sure enough... he LOVED it! Instant sleep! But he hasn't napped like that since... maybe it was a one time thing. He is a side sleeper though. He only ends up on his back in the mornings after a long night sleep! So thankfully... no flat head!

Lots of Smiles & A Yawn!

2011-08-13T12:00:00.000-07:00

Jack's smiling a TON more and I finally got some on camera!

Aren't these the cutest little footed PJ's?! I just love the feet!!

8 Weeks Old!

2011-08-12T14:26:00.000-07:00

So we've done a lot in just one week! For Jack's 8 week birthday (Wednesday, 8/10), he slept his first 8 hours through the night! WOW! I was so stunned! Woohoo! He had been sleeping 6-6.5 hours for the past 2 weeks and then 2 nights of 7 hrs and then a whopping 8! It just happened so fast! It's amazing how effective scheduling his days have worked for us! What a blessing!! So the last 2 nights we've bounced between 7-8hrs so lets hope he keeps it up!!

I'll probably write more about our effective scheduling during our fabulous days together soon! I want all new moms to know that to give your baby the gift of sleep is the best thing for the entire family as God intended!!

4 Weeks Old!

8 Weeks Old!

Finished Nursery... Almost

2011-08-12T14:17:00.000-07:00

We finally got up the wall decals and such like 3 days before Jack was born! Just in time! I still have some empty picture frames to fill with new baby pictures of Jack and we still want to paint the "J" above his crib a dark brown to match the rest of his furniture. Other than that, his nursery is a joy to be in! I love looking around it every time we nurse! I love my rocker, swivel, recliner chair even more every time I sit in it!

Every time I read the bible verse on the wall, God reveals something more to me. We pray for everyone we can think of while we read our baby boy devotions out of a book a friend gave us!

Also, can you believe how full Jack's book case is already!? It was because my sister's threw me a shower and asked everyone to bring a baby book and lots of people even wrote little notes inside the books, and would you believe it... NO DUPLICATES! I plan to make it a habit for us to pray for the person who gave us the book each time we read it!

And of course, we have little matching hooks to hang his super cute little blue bath robe! (Which we haven't used yet, I've been using the hooded towels right now because they are easy, but the blue bathrobe just looks so cute because it's so little... so it's kind of part of the decor! HA!)

Thank you everyone for all the gifts you gave us to make this nursery possible!

7 Weeks Old!

2011-08-04T14:02:00.000-07:00

Yes, my baby boy is already 7 weeks old! Wow, it went fast but each day feels slow! He's made some incredible developments only since being home 1 month!

1 - He is now 11lbs! He was 7.2lbs when we left the hospital at 2.5 weeks old! Go breast milk, GO!
2 - He now sleeps 6-6.5hrs every night! Thank you, Jack! ~Love, Mommy
3 - He can hold his head up very well already!
4 - His legs are constantly moving and pushing and tucking under him during tummy time
5 - His eyes are a light grey still... I'm hoping for blue but if he gets his Daddy's dreamy hazel eyes, I won't be complaining!
6 - He is now smiling in response to me now, but I can't seem to recreate them consistantly yet
7 - He is now looking and batting at his hanging toys on his play mat!
8 - He does famously with his 3 hour feeding, wake time, and naptime routine all day long! Which makes mommy's day much more predictable on getting this done.
9 - He LOVES being outside! He looks all around during his 1hr long walk with mommy every morning and his 30 minute walk with daddy in the baby bijorne in the evening!
10 - He is starting to relax and enjoy the water more during his 2 baths a week, too!
11 - He passed his newborn hearing test with flying colors, so now when Jack cries, AJ says to him "Son, don't cry, I know you can hear me now so listen!"
12 - There is pretty much a song for every daily event,... we make them up for everything and amazingly, so does AJ... even more than I do!!
13 - Real Daddys can't resist a little baby talk to their sleeping babys they want to kiss and hold all the time!
14 - He still ikes his pacifier (thank you hospital...) but at least we now have a cute little lamb attatched to it to hold it in his mouth!! We call him "Lambo" (we mixed "Rambo" with "Lamby" to make it more masculin!)

There are so many things going on but those are some highlights I thought I'd share! Breast feeding is so fun and so much easier than I thought it would be! It's SOOOO much more convianient than pumping in the hospital (which I did for 2.5 weeks in the beginning!)

Enjoy the pictures! I have more coming of his nursery finished with pictures up and the decals too!

Phew... God Is Good!

2011-07-18T11:27:00.000-07:00

JACK CHRISTOPHER BACHMANN

Born June 15th at 1:19am

7lbs 13oz

20.5 inches

Well, wouldn't you know it, right after my last post (Sunday, June 12th) my water broke on Tuesday morning at 4am (June 14)!! There is a lot to tell but to sum up a very long story, that will probably trickle out as I have time to tell it (in between being a new mommy)...

Jack was born with a heart mumor which needed correction. He was diagnosed with Puminary Stenosis (wikipedia gives a great description of it that we used...) within 12 hours of his birth. So off he went to Children's National Hospital in DC that very same day and AJ and I were off to spend the next 17 days by his side with LOTS of crying, LOTS of praying, and LOTS of support and encouragment from friends and family. Jack was finally able to come home, totally fixed and would require yearly check ups for his heart probably for a good portion of his life, on Saturday, July 2nd! We finally got the joy of being new parents and bringing our son home from the hospital! I can't tell you what joy and tears were shed praising God for that moment we were told we could go home!

Jack is doing great and even gained over 1lb in the first week home! Good ole' breast milk, God's miracle, perfect nurtrition! We have more pictures coming,... LOTS! So stay tuned as I get in a routine and start blogging more so you can meet our little boy and learn to love him as much as we do!

To see Jack's first pictures at 3 weeks old, see my amazing little sisters blog! They are amazing!

Thank you to my little sister and my sister-in-law for their posts of making Jack's condition known to the world to have them pray for us. Our prayers were answered and God's powerful hand was witnessed in our son's life that we all will remember and praise The Lord forever!

5 More Days

2011-06-12T18:22:00.001-07:00

Well, we've made it to the home stretch! Only 5 days to go before my estimated due date of 40 weeks!!! The nursery is done (stay tuned for photos of it all completed), we have to put the car seat in the car and pack my overnight bag and we're off! I figured while I'm having contractions far apart and getting so excited I'll pack my bag to distract myself!

Please pray for us, that our new son would come in God's timing, healthy and with minimal complications to us, him and the hospital staff. Only God knows the arrival date of this one and AJ and I are strengthening our faith and prayer life during this incredible time! We can't wait for everyone to share in the joy we'll have!

Here are some pictures from his 35 week photoshoot to hold us all over!

Maternity Pictures

2011-06-02T06:25:00.001-07:00

So for our last trip before Baby B arrives... we headed down to Raleigh, NC for Memorial Day weekend! It was SOOO nice to be a guest for a change! I really wanted to enjoy some picnics or bbqs but was in NO shape to host on my feet. So THANK YOU to my brother and sister-in-law for hosting us all weekend and feeding us plenty!

My sister-in-law, Jen, has been doing amazing things with her yard-saling skills! She is always finding the best stuff! And if yard sales weren't enough, she has gotten into amazing thrift store finds! Check out the toys and cutestest dresses she finds for pennies on the dollar!!

So, not only did we eat great food (while keeping my swollan feet up...), we went to the pool! Baby B got his first swimming in! Hopefully, he's on the right track! I've got to start him early!

Here is a plug for the cutest, and newest neice to the Wise clan! Charlotte!! She was in a bumble bee suit with matching hat! LOVE IT!

Elle kept making sure that Baby B was still in my tummy and that he was having a good time. She tried playing with him and hugging him a lot in the pool. I think she's going to be teaching him how to swim before I do!

Jen also took the time out to take some maternity pictures of us before the baby comes! She did a tremendous job and we are SOOO thankful to have a bunch of photographer enthusiests in our family! Check out my little sisters amazing skills she's turned into a amazingly popular company, with her new born and my newest newphew, Camden!!

Jen, these turned out beautifully! Thank you so much. Now I feel like there is officially no more perks to being pregnant, the good pictures have been taken... NOW COME OUT BABY B, I'M READY!!!!

May Baby Shower

2011-06-02T06:13:00.001-07:00

So if one shower wasn't enough... our Sunday School Class Girls through me a baby shower! They went to every effort to make it so perfect too! They had a cake decorated for my theme, the food was hand made and fantastic (including those choclate dipped almonds!)! There were baby boy decorations and onesies and bibs! Even blue and white balloons everywhere! I was lavished with gifts, all the women mostly completed my registery!

I cried when I got home to AJ, out of pure joy for how these God-fearing woman just showered me with love in this time of change in our lives. We've been going to this church less than a year and already God has blessed us so much from the support and encouragement and great memories we share with our sunday school class. I look forward to see what more we can be involved in loving others in the group and outside the church as well,... we have such great models to follow! Thank you Ladies, your generousity, love, and all your time that was put into this for me, was not unappreciated! I can't wait for everyone to meet the new baby they all helped us prepare for!

March Baby Shower

2011-06-02T06:04:00.000-07:00

I know I'm a little late... but as I'm getting ready for Baby B's arrival, I'm nesting a little everywhere... including organizing the BEFORE baby pictures, because I know there will be lots of AFTER baby pictures!

My mom and sisters through this amazing shower for me over my birthday weekend! It was tremedous!! Friends and family all brought a baby book with something written inside to start our collection... would you believe that I didn't get ANY duplicate books?!?! Is that incredible or what!? All the food was perfectly prepared and the cake and favors were truely amazingly done to match my globe, world theme! I will never forget this, thank you ladies for everyone who helped out!

The Nursery Is Getting Smaller, While My Belly Gets Larger!

2011-04-19T19:20:00.000-07:00

We haven't put up any decorations yet except the mobile which we LOVE!! My theme is world globes so you'll see much more come through in decor later. I have 8 weeks left... plenty of time! Thanks to generous friends and family we've gotten almost EVERYTHING we need for Baby B to arrive! Only decor stuff (and a mattress) left to get!

The door hanging pillow was made by my creative and super athletic neice Elle. THANK YOU ELLIE BELLIE it matches perfect in his new room!
These are some of the globes on the mobile! Also trying some artist shots before baby comes!
The boxes don't match the decor so I've order 4 light blue ones that DO match, but you get the idea with these before I return them!

Our dresser/changing table! Beautiful and matches perfectly with the crib! AJ put it together relaly late one night and we LOVE it! THANK YOU MOM AND DAD!! You're SO generous and we LOVE having you in our thoughts as we change EVERY diaper on this beautiful peice of furniture!

Empty crib with no mattress or bumper... but it's coming... very, very soon!

Oh, and I'll finally put a 31.5 weeks preggo picture up since I've had some beggers...

AJ Goes to Australia

2011-04-19T19:16:00.001-07:00

So after the long flight to Hawaii in my first trimester... there was NO WAY I was going on a 5 hr flight to CA, then a 14 hr flight to Australia... So I stayed home and remodeled our basement! Finally decided on a color, replaced light fixtures and blew up and framed some of our favorite home photography to hang!

Oh, and AJ got to fly first class too! Hence his feet and personal TV!

I'm so mad I missed the first business trip he's taken without me!!!

Let's Go To Hawaii!

2011-04-19T19:03:00.000-07:00

In December, AJ got a surprise last minute business trip to Hawaii, so OF COURSE, we had to go! So 12 weeks preggo, I hopped in a bikini (last time for a while, I'm sure) and went to Honolulu, to snorkel, eat great food, relax on the beach and catch some beautiful sunsets from the pristine waters! We saw a luau, and explored all over Pearl Harbor during the Anniversary day too! AJ had never been to any of the islands so it was a great trip to say the least!

We visited the famous north shore to watch some wild surfing contest too!

We even had pinapple ice cream with pinapple chuncks, in a pinapple cup at a pinapple plantation! Pheww!

AJ got his picture taken with a Luau dancer!

We went snorkeling in the most beautiful filled in crater too!

We went snorkeling below... you can see the carved out natural crater that filled in!

This is the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbbor, very sobering tour, but a must see for all generations!

Waikiki Beach from our Hotel

Beach of our hotel

Catching Up from OBX Trip in 2010!

2011-04-19T18:49:00.001-07:00

Ok, so here is me catching up (mainly for my little sister who is so much better at this than me) a little since lots has changed in our lives the last few months!

In October, 2010 we went to OBX as has been tradition since we got married! We had a blast, not to mention the day we got back was when we found out we were expecting our first baby!!! God knew what he was doing with giving us a relaxing trip away at the beach, just enough to let that little egg nest perfectly!

The girls are wearing the matching jumpers I made them! Yup, I sewed them!!! My experimentation turned out pretty well!

My brother and sister are teasing us here since we ALWAYS have a kissing picture shot, so this time, we let them have one of their own!!!

Nursery & Crib!

2011-03-13T17:38:00.000-07:00

Ok we finally painted the nursery! We haven't put up chair rail so right now there is just a line between the paints. But you can imagine some nice white chair rail in there very soon!

We also got our new crib from our AJ's parents! Thank you so much! We can't wait to start filling the room with the rest of our baby items!

Baby on the Way!

2011-02-02T15:45:00.001-08:00

I know, I haven't blogged since Christmas... but for good reason. We're going to have a baby boy!!! That's right! After 5 amazing years of marriage, God has finally blessed us with a baby!

His due date is June 18, 2011, so I'm almost 21 weeks today. AJ has told everyone I'm the easiest pregnant woman because I've had little to NO side effects of pregnancy! Other than some neasea in the 1st trimeseter. I don't crave any weird foods or there is nothing I can't eat either. I haven't really been more tired than usual at all either. I do wish I was bigger though! When you find out your pregnant you want to see results and changes right away, but 9 months is a long wait to get as big as you will ever be!

AJ went to Australia 2 weeks back, he was only gone for a week and when he came home he was so excited to see my belly, but partly dissapointed that I hadn't quadrupled in size in a week! HA! He can't wait for me to get bigger... it's really funny! He loves rubbing my belly all the time! I know we are both looking forward to this blessing God has honored us with the new responcibility in our marriage!

I'll be posting some pictures of me soon but for now, here are some baby pictures over the last 5 months of pregnancy!

And NO... NO ONE should assume we're having an Albert the 4th! (Just wanted to clear that up...) The name will be a secret revealled when baby Bachmann arrives in June!

9 Weeks Old!

16 Weeks Old

20 Weeks Old

I'm High on Shutterfly!!!

2010-12-12T11:23:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! I just have to spread the holiday cheer about the holiday specials going on at my favorite online photo shop! They have a great selection of photo cards this year to spread the Christmas cheer with friends and family.

My husband and I have great news this year, We’re PREGNANT!! It will be our first baby and first Christmas as 2.5!! So we thought there is no better way to pass on our news then using a Shutterfly Christmas card! There are over 500 Holiday card options at Shutterfly (http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-photo-cards)! I’m still deciding on the final version but for this one I picked a Christmas card below that has a classic modern look with our red and green outfits on too! The quality image on the card looks tremendous and I know will always turn out exactly the way I see it on the screen. No guessing if it will look ok, which is great! We order our Christmas cards from Shutterfly EVERY year!

AJ and I have about 8 different Shutterfly photo books (http://www.shutterfly.com/photo-books) over the last 4.5 years of our marriage. We get one for EVERY vacation we take. They are a great product that we get to add caption to all the pages so we so we can remember the order and fun events and memories we created! And the whole family enjoys reading them without us having to tell the story over and over again!
The third product I have ordered from Shutterfly are their calendars (http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars). It’s perfect for my large extended family! There are 5 siblings, all are married and there are 9 grand children as a result and 2 on the way! So capturing the best family pictures into a yearly calendar makes all of my sisters and brothers smile every time they look at it! It’s perfect since we’re all kind of far away from each other.

Thank you shutterfly! You’ve made a lasting impression on our family life!

DC BBQ Fun!

2010-09-10T12:39:00.000-07:00

After watching food network and perfecting his ribs recipe, AJ just had to go to the National BBQ Battle in Washington, DC!

We took the metro, spoke to some contestants about their smokers and rib rubs and stood in a hot, long line for 30 free samples (again frugel Bachmann's of course) as our lunch!

Oh, AJ got to stand with a few pigs too!

Free Meal Once Again

2010-09-10T12:37:00.001-07:00

And the Bachmann's do the frugel move once again! We dress up like cows (2nd annual family thing... ) and get a WHOLE free meal, not just a sandwich but any full meal we want! We went on the way to work. Awesome!

YIKES It's Been a While...

2010-08-09T12:31:00.000-07:00

Sorry everyone... so busy and then getting the pictures from the camera to the computer, then to the blog... anyway, most recent thing I'd like to share! My new found spare time fun... saving a BOAT LOAD on groceries! Yes, that's right, I'm slow converting to a coupon krazy woman, thanks to the encouragement of my sister-in-law, JEN!

I actually did my first sucessful trip to Safeway doing the coupon thing! See picture...

I got $106.81 worth of stuff, but I only paid $36.31 for it! It was so much fun! This first time did take me A LOT of prep time in and out of the store. But now I know how it works at the store so I will have things more organized and set up better.

I'm going to try CVS tomorrow where I should barely pay anything at all for a lot of items!

Now it's a contest to see how much better I can get at this! What fun!

I encourage all of you to be good stewards of the money God's blessed you with! It's a great feeling!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AJ!!!!

2010-03-18T06:00:00.000-07:00

Happy 27th Birthday My Darling Husband!

You're just as young, even more wise, and 10x more handsome as the first day I barrowed your perfect solids lab exam Junior year!

I thank God every day I get to wake up with the "snuggle king!" You have been nothing short of an adventure since the day I met you! Always challenging, always giggling, always making sense of every situation you're in, and every situation I'm in... even when you weren't even there! God has really blessed you with success, happiness, a good job, a new car, a beautiful house, and much, much more! What is your secret to deserving so much of God's favor??!

I want you to know I'm praying for you every moment you cross my mind, that God would give you the patience in your every day life, the strength to endure the frustrations of this world (mainly traffic ;o), and the will to always do your best! Where ever you are, whatever you're doing, however you're feeling, God is with you and I'm thinking of you always!

I look forward to many more birthdays with you as I watch you get more gray hairs, pickup more words of wisdom, and expand your heart as God works in only His mysterious ways!

Have a great day my Love! Remember you have a loving Proverbs 31 woman behind you at all times!

Love,
Your Own Personal Cheerleader,
~cw girl

The Famous Cow

2010-02-26T07:03:00.000-08:00

We finally got out of the snow and decided to go to Chick-Fil-A since I had cooked for like 12 meals straight! The Cow happened to be out and about cheering people up who actually made it out of their homes.

As we were in line AJ kept saying "go get your picture taken,... go stand next to him!" I was so embarressed and just tried to laugh him off... and said "no, it's ok, save it for the kids." He kept pushing me over to him and I was so mad and embarressed but I couldn't stop laughing... so he thought I wouldn't be mad.... so finally AJ walks up to the cow and says, "Can she have her picture taken with you?" AH! He tricked me so now I HAD to stand next to this stupid teenage boy dressed up in a cow costume. I was so mad... but I smiled...

So to include him in the fun, here is a picture of him from the time we dressed up as cows ourselves to get a free meal! Doesn't he looked cute with a snout?!

Next time we're at Hershey park I will make sure to get AJ's picture with EVERY dressed up Candy bar I see!!!!

Football Play-Offs!

2010-01-27T12:58:00.001-08:00

The Ravens made it to the play offs! We were so excited for a long Saturday of football starting at 3pm and ending around 11pm! To celebrate and have an excuse to party, Melissa and Bob came up to visit.

The Ravens lost, but we still had fun watching funny things on YouTube, eating buffalo chicken dip and of course trying some drinks the boys experimented with. Thanks for coming up you guys!

New Years 2010!

2010-01-27T12:54:00.000-08:00

So we went to go visit Melissa and Bob in California, MD for New years fun! We watched the ball drop and enjoyed a delicious steak on Bob's new grill! The next day we got breakfast at Denny's and then Melissa gave us a personalized photoshoot! It was so cold but still fun! We're hoping to get some of our favroite out for Valentine's Day to all our friends and family since we missed doing Christmas or New Years cards.

See more of my little sisters amazing talent here. Thank you Miss!

The Wise Family Christmas

2010-01-27T12:27:00.000-08:00

Well, the Wise Christmas was at our house this year! That's right.... not any of the other bigger homes of my siblings, they all came to our townhome in Piney Orchard! So I had big plans, as AJ and I are such big planners and without kids, we had plenty of time to set up and plan the menu, decorate, etc.

First step was to shimmy the Christmas tree down the basement. Mainly we had to do this because our floors were being done but we kept it down there because that is our biggest open space to have 11 adults and 7 kids open LOTS of presents!

It was such a blessing this year to really fellowship with everyone in our family. We made it a 2 day ordeal with a girl movie night for Holly's birthday and a suprise (sort of) baby shower for Jen (due April 1st). We ate TONS of cookies as all of my sisters made at least 2 different types of big batches of cookies! I think when it was all done, we had about 15 different types of cookies to snack on all weekend!

Here are some pictures... notice, I'm in sweats and a t-shirt because all my sisters asked if they could come in sweats or yoga pants to relax while we spend hours of gift opening and a big meal. I said sure, so to make my guests comfortable I, the hostess, also wore comfy clothes... to my suprise they all showed up dressed up, not in dresses but definitely not in sweats. Oh well, at least I was super comfy!

Here is the second day, pizza was for dinner and smores at the fire pitt on the deck was for dessert! Here are 5 of the 7 nieces and newphews.
Here is the 12 seater (we now know it seats 14) table that AJ not only built, but set with our china for Christmas dinner. He was so proud!
Our kitchen clean and ready for LOTs of cooks and good food!

We had to deal with 14 boxes of hardwood sitting around our house because the installers couldn't finish the floor in time for our party. SO... I put a table cloth over the boxes and a centerpiece and it became the cookie table, appitizer table, and the kid table for them to eat dinner! You could never tell!

Here is our Wise Family Clan!Aunt Melissa gave the kids some disposable cameras, here is Mary Clarie taking our picture during gift opening!

Here are the only two couples left without kids in this family, during gift opening!

Here is some of the action!

As tradition, everyone picks a seat and gifts are sorted into piles. The kids did such a good job waiting for their piles to be complete!

The Bachmann Family Christmas

2010-01-27T12:13:00.000-08:00

This year, we spent Christmas Night at AJ's parents house. We were blessed with many gifts and sharing of family heirlooms, not to mention the feast for dinner! Our little neice, Alexa, got a new dog for Christmas and named him Sugar Cookie. So that was quite an event for all the kids to see the little puppy running around! Here are some pictures from the evening.

Here is Matt playing with "Sugar Cookie" in a pink t-shirt... hehe!

Here is Stephanie and Alexa. This is probably the best picture we have of Stephanie since her wedding. AJ tricked her into getting at least half her face. Good memories! ;o)
AJ, my handsome hubby, and his parents, the wonderful host and hostess!

Here is the happy Thuman Family, Joe, Angie, Kayla and Matt!

Here is a shot from the kitchen to the front of the house of me and AJ's Dad. AJ was trying out our new camera, that we actually returned.

Anyone Else Miss Getting Snow?

2010-01-05T05:27:00.000-08:00

This was truely amazing to get this much snow in Maryland in December too! Crazy! Thank you Lord for the blessing of slowing everyone down for the week before Christmas with 20" of snow!

AJ felt the need to completely bury me in the snow, so I relaxed and enjoyed a few snow flakes on my tounge!

Christmas #1 - Just Us

2010-01-03T14:06:00.000-08:00

Since we got new floors in the entire house, we decided to set a $40 limit on spending with eachother this year. There was no need to out spend each other when if we really needed or wanted something big we'd just go buy it any other time. So it forced us to be creative.

My big gift to AJ was ruined by the ACE Hardware people who decided to call our house and leave a voicemail about what exact items had arrived at their store for me... AH! Of course AJ listened to that voice mail first and ran upstairs giggling at me, since my gift was spoiled! If you don't know us, EVERYTHING is a compitition!! Especially Christmas gifts, and the tags on the gifts are probably the biggest competition yet! It has to be creative, funny, whitty, and have a double meaning or inside joke to us... AH! AJ prides himself in trying to out-do me every year. But this year I had the best tags, even if his gift was the best suprise (thanks, Ace Hardware).

I got AJ a log grabber (his 10" log poker that came with the fire pit has effective allow ALL of AJ's knuckle hair to be singed off during our many fire pitts in the fall and winter evenings). I also got him the small fire shoovel to easily get out the burned ash and logs from hours of burning. I got him 2 lighters since someone broke ours at the Halloween party... weird toy to play with... and I got him the movie "The Hangover" which was sadly not all it was hyped up to be. If you saw the previews that's about as funny as it gets.

AJ got me something I've been wanting my whole life, a beautiful real, nice, snow globe. I didn't want a tacky santa one or something but he had it engraved saying "Our Blessings" and it plays "What a wonderful world" and has a picture frame in it where we can always update it as we add family members! ;o) It was seriously a great gift and so thoughtful! We also got me a Chick-fil-A calender which I get every year because they are SOOOOOO funny and have a ton of coupons! Lastly, he got me our yearly tradition of a personalized tree ornament. We have one for every year we've been married. I love that almost all of our Christmas tree ornaments are personalized! It's a fun tradition we have this time of year! AJ always gets excited to pick it out on his own to suprise me too! It's his one time of year to shine and show his romantic, thoughtfulness to prove he's studied me all year and knew exactly what I'd love.

Here are some pictures from our quiet morning together!

Finally NEW Floors... almost

2010-01-03T13:58:00.000-08:00

We decided to get new floors before Christmas this year! We new we were going to get it done this Christmas time, since we did the kitchen last Christmas. But we weren't expecting to have it done with only 3 days until Christmas!!!!

Obviously, it didn't get finished. Still isn't finished... but new hardwood in the whole first floor, and new carpet for both flights of steps and the entire second floor! I can't wait for super soft squishy carpet when I get out of bed in the morning!

I'll show more when it's all done, but so far, one room down,.... 5 to go...

Our Yearly Donations...

2010-01-03T13:54:00.000-08:00

Every year, usually twice a year, we give donations. Not just to charities, and our regular church tithe, but all our unwanted clothes! After both of us growing up with Mother's who like to keep almost everything... we make sure to never let things get that way in our home.

So, if you haven't seen it or wore it or used it in a year and a half, most likely you don't need it and it's a waste of your space!

AJ wanted to take a picture of the pile that came out of his closet. But we didn't take one of the 6 bags of trash and 4 bags of clothes we weeded through that morning. 'Tis the season to start new!

GO RAVENS!

2010-01-03T13:46:00.000-08:00

So the Sunday before Thanksgiving, we had some friends with season tickets invite us for a day full of tailgating and viewing the Ravens play the Colts from great seats! I was the ONLY person not wearing purple or black or something... AJ got to barrow a jersey from his friend. Thankfully, I wasn't wearing the colors of the other team! ;o)

We've never tailgated before and it was SO much fun! The food was great and the game ws exciting until the very end, when Flaco blew it...

Either way it was a great time!

Late on getting this in...

2010-01-03T13:45:00.000-08:00

Here are some of the haloween treats I made!

Halloween - Bachmann Bash 2009

2009-11-15T13:26:00.000-08:00

AJ and I decided we were not going to have a Halloween party this year like we did last year because we had been traveling 3 out of the 4 weeks in October! But alas,... we had a bunch of friends encourage us to come, by saying "they're coming." So AJ and I in 48 hours pulled together a menu, costumes, and decorations to throw a 20 person Halloween party this year.

We were GI Joe and GI Jane (without a shaved head...). This is probably the last Halloween party we'll have because Lord willing, we'll be pregnant during that time next year! Woohoo!