Introduction to our family and our lives!

I used to be really good about blogging, especially on my MySpace page, but with my still relatively new mommy status I find that my arms are usually never empty enough to be able to find the time to type. So, you'll probably find me posting a lot when I actually have downtime at work...which can be hit or miss depending on the day. Anyway, I find it theraputic and I like to share and I thought that it would be as good of a time as any to pick it up again especially with it being a new year and all. Start fresh and new, right? :)

So, my name is Shannon. I'm 23 years old and currently reside in the suburbs of bustling and urban Seattle, WA. I've been a resident Washingtonian all my life and my roots are strong. I'm not going anywhere! I'm married to my soulmate, Aaron, since October 26, 2008. We have had a very crazy journey over the last 5 years that we have been together, and as unfortunate as some of our experiences have been they truly have only made us stronger and more mature. I'm very grateful for everything we have gone through. We both share a strong desire for Jesus Christ in our lives and we are members of a very wonderful and welcoming church which is like our second home. Our faith in God has truly helped us stay on course and follow our true hearts.

Together, Aaron and I are blessed beyond any measure to have our wonderful son, Jayden Ezra, who was born on December 8, 2007. He's now a very busy and curious 13 month old boy and he brightens up our world immensely. I've always loved children, and I had an idea of what it would be like to love a child through my interactions with my nieces and nephews, but it only strengthened and deepened from the moment I first saw my son both in utero and in my arms. It's a love that grows like a wildfire...more and more every day. I revel in every little milestone he hits. Current one is expanding his vocabulary and the amount of teeth he has to bite things with! Ha! He can now say "Mama", "cat", "bye bye" (and then proceeds to "wave" with his entire arm), and "baby". I've had to teach him the latter of those a lot lately as Jayden gears up to step into his "Big Brother" role in the spring. I'll ask him where "his baby" is and he typically proceeds to stab me in the belly button, but then returns for a very loving and slobbery kiss for "his baby". Too precious.

That brings me to the next member of the family... our currently incubating son, Jaxson Robert. I'm 28 weeks pregnant as of today, and he's set to join our family around April 10, 2009. Yes, if you do the math you'll know our kids will be 16 months apart. It wasn't planned that way and there were plenty of "Oh Crap!" moments when we found out (we were on not one, but TWO forms of birth control) but now I wouldn't see it any other way. It's a complete blessing in disguise. God had a different plan for us than we did and I'm so glad that Jax is a part of it. I'm hoping he makes his debut a little sooner so that I can go back to breathing normally and not waddling like a duck, but I'll allow him as much time as he needs to cook. :) We are trying for a natural birthing experience through HypnoBabies. I usually fall asleep in the middle of my nightly hypnosis routine, but it is helping me to stay very calm and view pregnancy and birth positively and without any fear. I had an 18 hour labor with Jayden, and as a first-timer I was proud of my ability to handle 13 hours of my birthing experience without any medical interventions. Anyway, this whole pregnancy I just knew we were having a boy, and secretly I was hoping for a little brother for Jayden, plus we already have everything we need for a little boy...which is great considering how bad the economy is right now.

We are very excited to be the proud parents of two little boys and cannot wait to see the two of them together and to see how our family continues to grow.

As for our jobs... Aaron currently works as an account manager for a WAN (wide area network) provider in Seattle. The status of his job is a little shaky right now considering it's a small, family-run business that just laid off 25% of its workers. Luckily, since they now only have 2 AM's and Aaron is the best one they've got, he does have SOME job security. We still aren't taking any chances though, and I'm sure he's out looking for some greener pastures... and some that will bring in more green for us.

I've been at my company for almost 2.5 years now. I work for a major, non-profit, healthcare company in the area. I started out as an operator (which made me feel like a robot), then went on to be a receptionist, and now (since August 2008) I'm an administrative assistant for one of the Vice Presidents of the IT department as well as an admin for all his direct reports. Yes, now the lack of downtime makes sense, right?? To be honest, it's not all that bad. My boss is very relaxed and down to earth. He's seriously one of the greatest guys to work for and I'm very lucky for that...and I've got great job security to boot! Eventually when we can afford it, which I'm sure will be many years down the road, we'd like to have me stay at home with the kids, but for now it's still financially more sound for us to both be working. Lucky for me my son LOVES daycare, so he doesn't seem to mind. I wish my wallet could sympathize...

Hobbies: Well, I LOVE to scrapbook when I have the time and I take lots of pictures of our family. I'm a novice cook, thanks to all the Food Network I watch, but rarely get the time to experiment. Aaron likes to play video games and watch sports (mainly football), and we try to squeeze in some movie nights occasionally. Most of our weekends are spent just relaxing at home or spending time with our family. Sundays are church days for us as I do a fair amount of volunteering there as well.

So, that's pretty much who we are in a nutshell. Thanks for taking the time to stop by and check us out! Come back for regular updates on our progress. I'll be posting a lot especially about the boys. I'll have Jaxson updates every 2 weeks or so since I practically live at the doctor's office now. :)

Cheers and God Bless!