Baby Kern in 4D & Video!

With only 81 days remaining we’re glad to finally be in the home stretch of this pregnancy – but we’re even more excited to share our some of the amazing images and videos from the 4D ultrasound we got to experience today. Just prior to the ultrasound I got to endure one of the most exciting tests during pregnancy – the dreaded glucose test. Though we thought the baby would be more active with a sugar rush – it actually had quite the opposite effect on him. He was rather calm in comparison to what I’ve been use to – I’ve experienced many days & nights with a little one who must be thinking he’s going to be a black belt in karate, perhaps a soccer player, or heck he might just be football player at the rate he’s been kicking. But during the ultrasound he seemed very comfortable resting. He was caught sucking his thumb a number of times. The joke is that he didnt’ want his picture taken. We all could do nothing but laugh because even Hope was saying how he better get ready because “Mommy is going to want to take a lot of pictures”. Little does he know his Mother is like the paparazzi with taking pictures!

The experience was certainly priceless! I’ve uploaded all of our 4D ultrasound photos to Baby Kern’s set in flickr for you all to enjoy. And you might want to check out the videos I’ve quickly put together for you all to view online. There are several videos which are just a few seconds each of Baby Kern moving around, sucking his thumb, and relaxing. After getting a glimpse of the baby today Jason and I both discussed how much he seems to resemble Hope when she was a newborn. (Don’t believe me? Check out a picture of her when she was just a day old.)

And if you’re wondering about Hope – she’s certainly excited now. She asks several times a day how much longer until he’s born, how big he is now, and seems to constantly be wondering what he’s doing. I’m convinced she’s going to be a great big sister and will be a huge help with the baby.

Anyhow, enjoy the photos & videos!

I’m on my way to Savannah!

This weekend I finally received the best news I’ve had in a while, I’ve been accepted into Savannah College of Art & Design.

As most of you know, I currently have three associates degrees from Valencia, and though I could tell you all over again, “Why I chose a two year college” versus just pursuing my Bachelor’s immediately – I think we all realize just how important higher education is towards career advancement. If I had to do this all over again, I certainly would still have attended Valencia, which is clearly the best college I’ve attended (and I’ve attended quite a few being in the military). Valencia has instilled in my education what is most important – and that’s learning. If you haven’t learned one thing about me, it’s that I live to learn. I really do feel as strongly as the quote by Ghandi, “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” But I’ve begun to discover that though what you know, do, and learn are vital – a degree does hold a lot value in many careers.

I’ve decided to transfer to Savannah due to their reputation and the fact that their online program will allow me to complete my education much more rapidly than I have been able to at UCF. Unfortunately most traditional programs such as the one I was in at UCF only allow students to take courses during set time periods, which definitely wasn’t conducive to my work schedule – especially now that the baby is on the way. Now this certainly was a tough decision, the cost of attending Savannah certainly isn’t cheap. Luckily there are scholarships available that will aid me in my journey towards continuing my education. After completing extensive research and learning about the reputation of Savannah’s eLearning programs, we’ve decided that despite the cost, this is the best decision to further my education. This will certainly not only benefit my education, but will enhance my professional career where I’m currently in the process of spearheading alternative delivery of various online courses in Valencia’s graphics program. I’m certain I’ll learn a lot about not just interactive design but also online learning, which can only help strengthen our courses at Valencia.

For those of you concerned with the thoughts of me moving to Savannah, really, I’m not moving – I’ll be enrolled in their eLearning program which will allow me to take courses completely online.

Another update + help name the baby!

For those of you wondering how the baby’s been doing – great is an understatement. Despite getting more sick and being pretty fatigued the last month, I must keep reminding myself that being sick and tired is a “good” sign. I went in today for a routine visit – all I could do was proudly smile as the baby decided to kick the moment the doctor put the doppler down to check the heartbeat. The doctor claimed that’s the hardest he’s been kicked in a while. Well, I certainly can attest to the fact that baby Kern is definitely a kicker. He’s been very active the last few weeks, so much so that you can see him kick at times just by watching my belly. I’m sure it won’t be long and I’ll really feel like E.T.’s growing inside. And if you’re wondering where the pictures are at, sorry, none to show this time – but you can expect to see 3D pictures at the end of the month!

Help name the baby!
As the days grow closer to the baby’s arrival, we’re definitely beginning to make one of the toughest decisions – naming the baby! A few months ago Jason and Hope began looking at girl names and now we’re learning that boy names are just so much more challenging to come up with. But we do have a few ideas, and we’re leaning towards a few of our favorites but we’re still eager to stumble upon the perfect name in the upcoming months. A handful of you were generous enough to offer some suggestions back in May, to include some fun names that relate to design or typography. Though it’s tough to ignore that our last name “Kern” is a pretty well known term in typography – we’re not so sure we want to torture the poor kid thinking he has to be a designer when he grows up, though I’m still interested (and enjoying) seeing all of these ideas!

So feel free to send some name ideas our way, however, we are keeping in mind these few things when brainstorming names:

• We obviously would love a name that would go well with Hope. I have yet to find the perfect name for a boy that does just that.
• Initials are important too. We’d prefer for it not to spell anything that might end up resulting in jokes. It should be obvious, but as much as we might like some names, we’re totally against having all three initials “k”.
• It has to go well with “Kern”.

You can expect that the name will be the one thing we probably won’t share until the baby is born. Honestly, though we’re leaning towards a couple of names – we’d rather be 100% decided before sharing this decision. With Hope we didn’t make this final decision until a few hours before I went to the hospital on the night I had her.

Remember, it’s Kern not corn
Again we love to be humored, and our friend Shanna sure did just that this week during her visit to Orlando. If you’ve got a bit of a southern twang you might just think our name is “corn”, eh? Shanna reminded us that we could name the baby: Pop Kern, Kettle Kern, or even Jimmy Crack Kern. Despite being in tears laughing…the baby will definitely NOT be named any of the above. But again, we love the humor!

We think you all might just have better ideas than we do – so humor or excite us with your name ideas!

Appreciating the little things…

Between keeping busy this summer and having a few setbacks in the last month, I’m reminded just how fortunate I am. It’s easy to take for granted some of the best things life brings, but during challenging times I always find myself reflecting on the little things that have made my life special. During tough times, it sure is hard to feel bad for too long when I’m blessed with Hope and now another little one on the way. With thoughts of a new baby on the way, it’s hard to believe it’s been that long since Hope was itty bitty.

And that’s when I realized just how fast time is passing. Hope is now becoming more independent and continues to pretend some amazing imaginative things as she plays around the house. I recently began sifting through a ton of Hope’s artwork that she’s created in the last year and couldn’t help but smile at how imaginative she is. We sat here for quite a while discussing what she’s drawn in the pictures I’ve scanned – and she just had so many little stories to tell with each and every picture. So if you’ve got some time I encourage you to take a few minutes to take a peek at some of her creations from this last year. These are just a few – I have a ton more to scan so it looks like Hope’s art collection is growing.

Anyhow, we hope you enjoy her latest creations…and may this remind you to “appreciate the little things”.