Hey everyone! :-) This is Jordan, I'm updating today for Nick. These are some pictures of our new house, enjoy!

Kitchen

Dining Room

Island thing that is really a penninsula

I helped!

Nick did most of it

From the Dining Room into the Kitchen

Daisy sitting at the table

Dining room Curtains

Clean side of the downstairs Livingroom

1st Floor Full Bath

"Foyer"

Tiny Half-bath

Going Upstairs

2nd Floor Bathroom

Looking at 2nd floor from the stairs

Looking into T.V. Room

T.V. Room

T.V. Room

Mac's Room (pre-furniture, post-paint)

Stairs to the 3rd Floor

Our Room!!!

hoo doggie

soooo lots of stuff going on right now. working full time, trying to figure out all of our insurance stuff, looking for a new pad, looking for a new job and trying to keep my increasingly hormonal wife happy. Were meeting with a real estate guy and a bank representative tonight to see what our options would be to buy/rent a apartment/townhouse/house in the next year or so. So lots to think abotu with all of that. Other than that things are pretty same. Il keep ya all updated.....probably

new year

Sooo havent updated in a while.
New Years Eve
Jordan and I went to Sandy cove with Matt ad Katie and her sister and brother in law and also another couple, Mike and Kristie who worked with us this last summer. Anyway we had fondue which was really good and then we basically just played games and talked all night. Ironically-or should i say sadly- enough 3 of the four dudes there all lived in their mother in laws houses. So ya that was kinda sad. Anyway though, we had a pretty awesome time.

Work
Work is going pretty good right now. I got a raise to 9 an hr and am full time now which is nice. Makes for a long week however especially this last one. One of our teachers was in Florida for her daughters wedding so I helped take over her class for this week. It was alot of fun of course but the class is made up of 3's and 4's and they were all ridiculously energetic and some of them were pretty stubborn so that definitely made it a long week. As of right now im looking for another, better paying, job so we can save as much as we can for when we move out. So far im having very little luck and I could use prayer for guidance with all of that.

School
Just got my grades back, got 2 A's and 2 B+'s. Im taking this semester off and will begin at Harford in the fall. Im in the middle of applying there and Jordan and I are trying to get all of our financial things worked out.

Baby
Jordan is doing awesome. The baby is supposed to be like 14 inches long now and you would have no problem believing it as jordan looks like she has a watermelon in her shirt. Im not sure if I wrote about it but a few weeks ago jordan woke up and Mac was all the way on one side of her belly and I started talking to the other side and he slowly moved over to where I was talking, so that was pretty cool. Also 2 days ago I felt him kick for the first time which was awesome, were both getting very excited.

Wii
Jordan was going to get me a Wii for christmas but she had trouble finding one so instead I got a coupon for a wii once we could find one. Well that search finally came to an end this last saturday when I camped outside of the local wal mart for 7 hrs and was the first of 45 people in line, only 3 of which got a wii. So i was pretty stoked to say the least. Jordan and I have been playing it nonstop since we got it and it is so much fun.

Super Bowl
For the super bowl this year Jordan and I are going to get together with 2 of the 3 couples we hung with for New Years and we are all going to go down to the trailer at the beach for that weekend. Jordan and I will be there from thursday til sunday and everyone else will hopefully be there from friday til sunday. We will have the wii down there and play that and play games and cards and go shopping and hang out and all that and so it should be a really good time.

Church
Jordan and I have started going to another church pastored by the fathers of one of the young girls that comes to our after school program at work. The church is a small congrgation, maybe 50 or so, and they meet in a school gym. It is a very on fire contemporary church and so far we are loving it. The pastor, Wade, and his wife, Dawn, came to our house for dinner not to long ago and they are both pretty awesome people. There both in there early 30's and appear to have alot in common with us. We have plans to do something with them later this week.

So anyway tomorrow night im headed back up to Sandy Cove for a guys night of poker and cigars. None of the guys im playing with know anything about poker so thatll be some easy money hopefully.
Other than that we have a doctors appointment on tuesday and we are currently looking at townhouses about 20 minutes from here with the hopes of moving in in mid to late february. We decided itd be easier to mvoe before the pregnancy for many reasons and also were both just getting ancey and need our own place again.

Anyway here are some pics before I go.


Heres Jordan testing out the new baby carrier thing we recieved. Yes that is a stuffed lion in it.


Heres Daisy and me spooning on the couch. Yes she seriously did this on her own, this is her new favorite way to take a nap, she curls up behind me, puts both paws over me and then proceeds to snore in my ear for an hour or so. And yes she really does snore, loudly, comparable to dad almost.




Heres daisy in bed with jordan, shes grown a bit since you all have last seen her. Her last appointment a few weeks ago she was 62 lbs.



And here are a few pics of Jordans exploding belly. Its getting huge and im so freaking excited. Which reminds me, we (jordan) finished our registry thingf ro baby stuff at target and there are some AMAZING Chicago Bears baby stuff on there (Cough Bri Cough Dad Cough) Just a thought






Well thats all I got, have a god one everyone.

im still alive

So it has been quite a long time since my last update. A lot has happened since then, let me tell ya. I don’t even know where to begin….
Well school is over. I finished my last final this last Thursday and I believe I did well in all of my classes. I know I got an A in speech class. My last speech was a persuasive speech on why Speech Class is a Dumb Class. It was pretty awesome. I think I got an A n my psych class although I may have got a B +. In Amercian women writers I BOMBED my final. I mean 2 pages of true/false and fill in the blank and I didn’t know a single one. Not a single freakin one. Some times people say they didn’t know anything but they really did know a few but I did NOT KNOW A SINGLE QUESTION!!!! Hahaha seriously it was ridiculous. We’ve had 7 grades in that class and im pretty Sure I got 5 A’s 1 D and 1 F. So I think I should definitely manage a B and maybe even a low A depending on how weighted the final test was. The last class I was in was Materials and Curriculum and I got a A in that too. So I’m done for a semester before I begin at Lancaster Bible, im in the middle of applying there right now and I need to sign up for all the scholarships I can.
Work is going well. We have a Christmas program today (actually in a few hrs) and I have to play the bongos in it for one song and kinda hip-hop dance, yes hip-hop dance, for one of the other songs. So thatll be fun but im kinda nervous. Itll be nice for it to be over. Starting in the new year I will start as full time so I will get free insurance. I work like 37 hrs a week right now but im not technically full time so I have to pay 100 a paycheck to insurance. So it’ll be nice to not have to pay that anymore.
Jordan and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary Friday night. Its not technically until the 27th but I decided to surprise her and take her out early. She had no idea I had anything planned so that made it kinda cool. We went to the Melting Pot, a fondue type restaurant where they make everything and prepare it at your table or whatever. It was really good. We had a cheese fondue with spinach artichoke cheese first. It came with bread chunks, assorted vegetables and apple chunks. That was really good. Then we both had a ceasar salad which were again excellent. Next was the main course. We had a platter of beef, pork, ravioli, shrimp, chicken and lobster tail. We also had literally 10 different dunking sauces as well as two breading materials. So you just decided what you wanted to eat and fondue it for a few minutes and then eat it. Everything was good except the lobster and the chicken. Last was a chocolate fondue. We chose the smore version so it was chocolate and marshmallow sauce with a graham cracker crust and then we had a platter of bananas, strawberries, cheesecake chunks, brownies, apples and rice krispies to dunk in it. Man that was awesome too, probably the best part of the meal. When we got to the restaurant the table had chocolates and balloons on it and half way through the meal I gave Jordan her present. It was a pair of cuddly pajama pants that she wanted and in the pocket was a necklace I bought her. Its really pretty and luckily she loved it a lot. After dinner we went to the mall for an hour before it closed and putzed around a bit. Then we went home.
Which reminds me, we just got a new car, pops old Buick. Its in amazing condition and runs like a beast. So that’s cool cause we will need one when we move up to Lancaster in May.
So I guess the only other real news is that we had our sonogram the other day and found out were having a boy. We got a bunch of great pictures of Mccarthy and so that was exciting. I told the nurse I needed one good pic of my son’s weiner to show to people and she got a great one. Everyone I have shown didn’t believe it was his weiner, but rather his foot or head or the umbilical cord or something. But I assure them that it is and that no he wont be a pornstar. It was all really cool to see, Mac kept playing with his feet and at one point hit himself in the head during the sonogram, proving that he def is my son. Anywho the nurse said that I was the most excited father she had ever seen during a sonogram and I explained I was just proud of my part-elephant son.
Jordan and I have started hanging out with a pastor and his wife of a church around here. There in there early 30’s and their daughter is in our after school program at the church. Anyway they are very cool and we have a lot in common and share a lot of the same interests and all that, so that is exciting. We went to their church today and Liked it a lot and will probably begin attending their regularly.
So this Thursday we leave for Illinois once again and I am very excited to be coming home. You guys will all freak when you see how big Jordans belly has gotten. She really has exploded over the past few weeks and is excited to see everyone as well. We finally have all of our Christmas shopping done and are excited to exchange gifts and such.
Anyway I think that’s all I got, so heres Jordan for an update on how she is feeling.
Hey all! Sorry it has been so long since I have had something to put on here. A lot has changed since the last time I wrote on here, so here’s what has changed  First off I’m still at the daycare working fulltime if not more these days. It is getting a little crazy because of Christmas but its still fun. Also earlier this year we had a little guy (Dominic) in my class that was getting pretty bad headaches and he ended up in the hospital and they did a cat scan and found cancer in his brain. This has been a huge ordeal for all of us because the cancer is very advanced and I believe what is called stage 3 cancer. I’m not positive on all the details but that is what I can remember. My great news about this is that he has come back to school this last week! He had surgery not to long ago to remove as much as they could and they did an amazing job. He has a scar on his head but all in all the kids are above and beyond excited for him to be back and so are we! He is doing well but he has a long road ahead of him so please be keeping him in your prayers.
As far as baby updates go…Mac is doing great  he’s a healthy 16 oz. big head in there, and he’s about ten inches from head to heal. We also found out his feel are 3.6 cm! They are huge feet for a little guy! Our sonogram was last Tuesday and wow was it awesome. It was so much fun to actually watch him move and play with his feet and hit himself in the face  He likes to move around a lot however it has not been easy to feel from the outside because he’s still pretty tiny but he’s getting there. I’m not getting sick anymore which has been a great blessing and I have a lot more energy than I have had is the last 4 months. I have no problem eating whatever I can get my hands on and my biggest obstacle these days is bending over and I know that its only the beginning and it won’t be long till Nick has to put my shoes on for me.
Last Wednesday as Nick said we had Wade and Dawn over for dinner. We had a great time talking about God and our churches and how we’re simply looking to worship God not all the other stupid stuff that has sadly become a part of church. We really hit it off with them and we are both looking forward to hanging out with them again soon!
And thankfully last Thursday was our last materials and curriculum class!!! We both passed (obviously) and we are both thankful it is over! I have already signed up for another class for the spring semester called the young child or something like that and it’s basically a psychology class about kids, as if I haven’t had enough classes about children…. We are also going to take a pottery class with my mom just for fun! I’m very excited to be creative 
This last Friday we went out for our anniversary and it was a great surprise! I know Nick has talked about where we went and what kind of stuff we got to eat (which was amazing, personally the chocolate was my favorite), however he did a stinky job in telling you all how wonderful he is and what a beautiful necklace he got me. I think it’s the sparkliest thing I have ever owned in my life, I love it! Trust me you will all get to see it soon  He also got me some great comfy pants because I threatened to steal his 

So anyway that’s about it for us, we will be in Illinois in about 5 days and cant wait to see yall and celebrate Christmas with everyone. Love you guys, have a great week!!

date night

so last night was pretty awesome. First off Jordan was feeling really well yesterday, no sickness, plenty of energy, all that, so that was good. We both worked full days at the center but she got off at 5 and went home. When I got home she met me at the door with my favorite backwoods smoke cigars and told me to go outside and relax for a bit. So I sat on the front porch and smoked a few and just thought for a while. Then Jordan called me inside and she had made one of my favorite meals, pulled pork with rice and bread and we went up to our room where we have our dinner table from our old apartment set up and ate a candlelit dinner with music playing. It was really relaxing and fun to be able to do that again. Anyway after the meal we went and played the game rummikub, which is one of my fav games. We played that for about an hour and then she took me into the living room and she had rented three gamecube multiplayer games from hollywood. So we played monkeyball and mario party 7 for an hour and a half or so. Then it was about 11 and she was pretty beat so we decided to go to bed. Anyway it was a very fun night, and it made me excited to have our own apartment again. So only 2 more days until we come home and we are both getting very excited to say the least.
Seeya all in a few days!!

new week

so Its tuesday and I am sitting in class, already wishing it was friday afternoon. I havent updated in a bit, so im just gonna start at the beginning of my weekend. On friday night jordan and I went to Sandy Cove to have a games night with Matt, Katie, Nate and Evey (nate was my boss at SC over the summer). Anyway it was alot of fun. We ate chinese food and played a board game I had never played before called quelf. For those of you who havent played it, let me tell you it is quite amazing, probably one of the funniest games ive ever played. So we did that for a few hours and then went back to Katie and Matts place for some chill out time. Katie went to bed and matt and jordan and I stayed up for another hour or so talking.
We stayed the night and the next morning we woke up and katie had made us pancakes and then we had to book it home for Daisy's vet appointment. Daisy now weighs 37 lbs (she only weighed 12 when we got her) so she is considerably bigger. She is alot calmer now as well and is learning things like to go to her cage at night when shes tired and to scratch the back door to be let out. So thats always nice. Anyway the rest of the day on Saturday we just hung out, nothing much exciting. Then that night I went to a bonfire with some friends and hung out there for a bit. Jordan wasn't feeling too hot so she stayed home and went to bed early.
The next day we went to church and then out to eat with friends from church at a place called DuClaw, it was alright, nothing amazing though. After lunch the girls went shopping and i went home and watched the bears game. Then after Jordan got back we decided to eat dinner and watch a movie as Julie was still shopping. So I went to the store and get some stuff for dinner and we ended up watching Meet The Robinsons, which is a pretty hilarious movie, I gotta say.
On Monday we had a field trip to the Aquarium with our kids from the center. All the kids had to have a parent with them so we didnt really have to watch anyone, we took Caroline as her mom couldnt get off work and it was a pretty fun day. We walked around for a few hrs and saw the dolphin show and such. Then ont he way home we stopped at friendlys and got some french fries and ice cream. Then when we got home I decided I wanted to put on some christmas music and do a puzzle, so thats what we ended up doing for the next couple hrs. Then we ate dinner and then we watched a movie and then jordan put the plugs in my ears (size 2, final ones) and I was pretty stoked about that.
Jordan is doing really well lately, usually sick like one day a week, and not nearly as bad as she was before. Had a doctors appointment and listened to the heartbeat and that was pretty awesome. It was a fast heartbeat, so the doctor said that meant it was maybe gonna be a girl and I told her that in the Lyons family, the guys all have ADHD so a fast heartbeat meant nothing.
Anyway shes starting to thicken out on the sides of her belly which again is another sign that it is a girl. Julie said when your pregnant with a girl your belly and sides all get bigger and you can tell from the back. However when your pregnant with a boy only your front gets bigger, not your sides and its hard to tell from the back. So thinking maybe gonna have a girl, but who knows.
Her appointment for when we find out the sex of the baby is December 11th.

So we head home in 4 days for thanksgiving and we are getting increasingly excited. It will be so nice to see my family and friends and get to be at my house for a few days.
Anywho i Have 2 tests this week and a paper I need to get started on thats due a week after break. So i need to get crack-a-lackin with all that crap.

have a good day guys, love ya all

TGIS

Soo the last few days have been some of the longest ive had in a while. the public schools around here all had school off thursday and friday and so we had a ton more kids at the center then we usually do. On Friday I had the afterschool kids from 7:30 in the morning til 5 at night!! It was a long day, we played war and chess and skip bo and actual war on the playground and all that good stuff. Dont get me wrong it was fun but just a long and tiring day. That brings me to my next point actually and Im adding a chess board to my christmas list. I want a wooden one with wooden pieces, not glass or plastic. It doesnt have to be anything fancy, but i played it a ton yesterday and got the bug.
Last night was my last time bowling. haha ya i know, your wondering how thats possible but I decided last night it wasnt something I wanted to do. The team I was on was made up of three of the quietest people ive ever met. Seriously when I was there for a two hour match, I would sit there and we wouldnt talk at all! Not a little bit or seldomly, NEVER! I would try and get them talking and they would just give me a one word answer and then be quiet again. So all in all it was ridiculously boring. Throw in the fact that I suck at Bowling and it made for a pretty cruddy night. So I decided I didnt want to spend 12 dollars a week to be ticked off you know? So I told them I was done, offered to give the ball back (they said no, keep it, maybe youll join again!) and left. I was stoked I got to keep the ball though, since it is pretty sweet. So anyway now on friday nights I think im gonna go to Sandy cove and hang with Katie and Matt hopefully.

Today were going to seusical the musical at 3 and then heading up to SC right after to watch some office and play ping pong and all that.

Tomorrow after church Im going to barnes and Nobles for a poetry reading by a few of the women in my American Woman Writers class, itll be fun plus il get extra credit so thats awesome! Then il probably just hang the rest of the day and relax.

This week in school I have a meeting with my AWW teacher to discuss my thesis paper ideas. Then I am giving my Informative speech in my speech class on camping which will be nice to be done with that.

Im so stoked about coming home for thanksgiving, im so excited to see my friends and family. It should be a great week. Also my buddy Ben Coston will be in Illinois with his girlfriend and he will be coming to our house that friday for a bonfire and I havent seen him in 2 years so thatll be alot of fun. Not to mention that we will have thanksgiving with my family which is always fun and also we are getting are christmas tree the day after which is a tradition I have yet to miss. So anyway ya Im a little stoked. Also I plan to eat at all my fav illinois restaurants including Mancinos, Cheezers, Green Gables, Avantis and hopefully even maybe Godfathers! Ahhh cant wait.