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!