Have a happy and safe New Years!

Time for some updates!

Ryan finished putting the six cabinets in the laundry room. We had a minor setback but they are all up now. Yay! That more than tripled our storage capacity for that room which will be a good selling point for whenever we do decide to sell our house (which isn't anytime soon). I'll post a picture soon - just after the battery for my camera charges.

The insurance guy came out and looked at my car. He's suggesting to State Farm to replace the whole stereo. Another yay! I'll either get the same stereo or an upgrade if they can't get the same one through their ordering program.

Kaden is still growing as fast as ever. He's starting to wear some 3 - 6 month clothes. He's 3 months old tomorrow, but it still makes me feel that my baby is growing up so fast. Kaden can blow raspberries and is working on sitting up on his own. He's still a little shaky but can at least lift his head very well when lying on his stomach.

New Years Eve! I'm so totally excited for this New Years Eve since it will be only the second time to spend the evening with Ryan. He was in the academy the second year we were dating and was working the other times. Those years I got my New Year's kiss but it was always 4 hours early. This year I am grateful not only that he got to spend both Christmas and New Years with Kaden, but also with me.

I hope that everyone has a safe and happy New Years. Drink in moderation and get home safe!

Independence Day

We have Cox digital cable which has it's own version of TV guide (it shows you what's on and what's coming up). I'm creating a new label post called "TV Guide" based on the description it had for Independence Day:

"Earthlings vs. evil aliens in 15 mile-wide ships"

It just makes that movie sound completely silly instead of the box office hit it really was when it was released in theaters.

Merry Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. We got to spend Christmas Eve with Ryan's family and Christmas afternoon/evening with my family.

My younger sister Amanda was able to make it in from Arkansas to spend Christmas evening and the day after Christmas with us.

Kaden was able to open some presents at our house Christmas morning.

The day after Christmas was in the 60's! Amanda and I took advantage of that and took Kaden on his first (no carseat, just stroller) walk around the neighborhood.

And finally, my least favorite part of Christmas. I went out to my car to bring Kaden over to my parent's house on Friday to find the following "present" in my car. Merry freakin Christmas to me! And the idiots who broke into my car thankfully left the garage door opener on the passenger seat. Only my stereo was stolen, but the jerks also went across the street and broke into the sheriff's car (busted out the driver side window) and also into his wife's car. The good thing about being married to a police officer is that Ryan was able to call in the police report on my car. I'm thankful that I have insurance which will "hopefully" pay for everything to be replaced and installed. We'll see what happens - they'll come out next week to inspect it. More on that as it develops.

It's almost Christmas!

Well I'm on the mend. I finally decided to go to the doctor to get some antibiotics. Sinus infection. Really fun. Even more so since Ryan is catching the same thing too. So we're both downing some antibiotics so we're healthy for Kaden's first Christmas.

After my last post, Ryan urged me to try to get some sleep. I got another hour or so before I had to get up and get ready for work. He came upstairs to wake me up and said to come downstairs to see the "changes" he made while I slept. He decided to rearrange the furniture. Our family room is more open and it's a better use of space. There's a ton of extra room in front of the TV now, which will come in handy when Kaden is crawling around on the floor or playing with toys.

We're going to try to do all our Christmas shopping today. I know it will be a mad house but it's better to do it now than Christmas Eve. Wish us luck.

The thing about being sick ...

I've had a nasty sinus infection since Monday. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday I had no voice. Does anyone remember what I do for a living? I teach classes to faculty and staff at a college. Teaching. As in talking. I already had to cancel classes on Tuesday because I had no voice. I did go to the doctor Thursday and got started on antibiotics. The bad thing about being sick is I woke up at 3:30 coughing and I'm still not back to sleep at 4:00. At least my husband works fourth shift (9 pm to 7 am) and he woke up to take care of me. Sigh. Here's hoping I'll get to sleep soon!

Oh what a night!

It's almost 12:30 a.m. on Sunday night. I'm having one of those moments where it feels like the planets have aligned and the heavens are smiling down upon me. (And with my post-partum stress, I needed a day like this!) I've had a very productive day and I'm proud of myself for everything that I've gotten done, especially in the last 5 hours:

• Get Kaden up and ready to spend the day with Aunt Lori and Uncle Brian
• Work the graduation ceremony at WSU (6 hours!)
• Return home to have a wonderful husband air up my tire
• Kiss hubby goodbye as he goes to work (just a tradition as he leaves)
• Cook dinner for myself
• Do 4 loads of laundry (folding, hanging up stuff and putting everything away)
• Pay bills and balance checkbook
• Do 2 loads of dishes in the dishwasher and handwash 8 bottles
• Feed/burp/rock/sing to Kaden
• Pack Kaden's bag for tomorrow to go to the sitter

I know that might not seem like very much to some people, but it's been a great evening and I feel good about myself. I also went through my closet and folded up some of my maternity clothes that I received on loan from my friend Suzanne. It feels nice to know those clothes are making their way out of my closet.

I also worked up the courage to try on some of my pre-pregnancy jeans. My American Eagle size 14 jeans didn't fit. I hoped they would but it just means that my hips haven't gone back to their pre-baby size. Not wanted to be discouraged again I took a deep breath and tried on my Gap size 12 jeans. They fit! I was so surprised and so happy that they fit. I now have 4 pairs of jeans that I can wear.

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree!

Say Uncle!

Here's a picture from last Sunday when uncle Maurice came in town on a business trip. Of course Kaden threw up on his shoulder. :o)

Merry Christmas, from Hal

I came home from work Wednesday evening to see our trash dumpster (or whatever you call it) at the end of our driveway with something sticking out of the lid.  I took Kaden inside and went back to the curb to drag the trash can back into the garage.  The white thing sticking out of the lid was actually an envelope.  It was a card from our trashman Hal wishing us a Merry Christmas.  Now this wasn't a "Merry Christmas, from Waste Management" type card.  It was a card that our trashman probably purchased for everyone on his route.  Did I mention that it was hand written?  It touched me and Ryan that there are still people out there that go above and beyond their job duties.

2 month check-up

Ryan took Kaden to his 2 month check-up on Wednesday. Kaden weighed 14.6 pounds (91% percentile) and measured 23 inches tall. He also had to get his first round of shots. Poor thing, he got two shots - one in each leg! Ryan said Kaden fussed a little bit and was better after a pacifier and being held by daddy.

I've been going through Kaden's clothes and have pulled all the newborn clothes out of his dresser. Some of the 0-3 month clothes don't fit either. Today we also had to put Kaden in size 2 diapers. My little monkey is growing up.

Kaden is starting to follow things when they move. He's starting to babble more - we had a great conversation this morning.

Kaden: Bwah, bwah bwah.
Me: You don't say!
Kaden: Ahh, ahh, ahh.
Me: Really?
Kaden: Ohhh, ahhh, blah.
Me: Tell me more!

He's smiling and cooing and it's so darn cute! Both Lori and my mom have said that he's grown so much since they saw him last.

I've Been Tagged

My sister Lori tagged me a little while ago, so I figured it's time to stop putting it off.  First, the tagging game's rules:

• Link to the person who tagged you.
  
• Post the rules on your blog.
  
• Write 6 random things about yourself.
  
• Tag 6-ish people at the end of your post.
  
• Let each person know he/she has been tagged.
  
• Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

Six random things about me:

1. I don't like professional/college sports. Both my sisters and brothers-in-law went to KU.  They, along with my dad, enjoy watching KU basketball and other games on TV.    I just can't get into it.  I don't see the point of watching sports or getting all excited about it.  (I also think it's stupid that professional people earn millions of dollars for something they can do well.)  I'm glad my husband shares my point of view on this.

2. I love math, logic problems and sudoku.  There was one time in high school (maybe earlier, I don't remember exactly when) that our teacher gave us a logic problem to do.  We were only assigned to do one side of the paper but I did the logic problem on the other side of the paper for fun.

3. My husband and I met at WSU during a rock climbing class.  I'm so glad that I decided to "treat" myself to an extra curricular college course.  We kept seeing each other on campus and around Wichita.  I would always hint to him that if he wanted to go climbing again that he should give me a call.  He finally asked for my number and the rest is history.

4. I used to be very warm and now I'm very cold.  When I was little, I wasn't able to help my mom make bread because my warm hands would make the dough stick to my fingers.  Now I'm freezing.  I usually have an extra blanket on my bed for when I go to sleep.  There are some days that Ryan says I'm just like a furnace and I'm too hot to snuggle.  Then again, after a long, cold night's work he really appreciates the warm bed when he gets home.

5. I love tomatoes but hate tomato juice.  I could eat tomatoes at almost every meal.  I've also been spoiled with home-grown tomatoes for most of my life.  I'm not quite sure why, but the taste of plain tomato juice is just gross to me.  I'm quite fond of tomato juice and beer though.

6. I hate the sound that untied shoe laces make when you walk.  It's not something that I have to compulsively go tie some stranger's shoe when I hear the noise, but it's still annoying.

In the spirit of Kennedy's response to my sister tagging her, tag yourself and let me know!

2 Months Old!

My little baby is two months old today. Today also marked my full time return to the work force. Since I am now working full time, Kaden has to go to the babysitter twice a week. It was so hard dropping him off this morning. I almost cried - I had the wavering chin and the whimper going as I walked back to my car and told myself to be strong. I did text Ryan an unhappy face :( and he just reassured me that we (Kaden and I) would be fine.

I had an epiphany about three weeks after Kaden was born. When I was pregnant with him, that was the safest he would ever be. I could protect him from everything. Today was just another day that I had to trust someone else to take care of my baby. Even though I'm still a new parent, each day I start to further appreciate all the emotions that my parents have gone through taking care of me and my siblings. I never truly understood the depth of just how much my parents loved me until I became a parent myself.