fresh snow, fresh year

4:00 and N is just now taking his first nap of the day. He can be so dependable and routine, but he then decides to throw in a day like today. I guess what matter most now is that it's a long one! (My fingers are crossed.)

We had our first winter storm today. It's hard to tell just how much snow since it's blowing around so much. At least a few inches. I'm really wishing we were back in St. Louis right now. They knew how to take care of winter weather. They would be out 36 hours or so before treating all the roads before anything ever happened. They would even do it if the chance of snow wasn't too great. Here it's horrible! It's almost like being in Arkansas! I'm hoping it just because they didn't expect this to really pan out and thought it would come as rain. The definitely have the capability to clear the road; they just weren't working on it.

Thanks to the snow, I think we are just going to stay holed up in our cozy house. I started the fire place when we got home, and have been enjoying keeping warm. It's too windy to take N out (plus, he needs his nap). B and Maggie are going to go play fetch with snowballs in a bit. I'm sure we'll try to get N out before it all melts. Dave and Kay (B's parents) gave N an inflatable little snow sled to pull him around in. It should be fun and make for some great pictures!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Christmas Aftermath

Christmas Eve:

Ready!. . . Set! . . . Tear! Let the opening begin!
Yawn. This unwrapping is a very tiring job. (But someone has to get all these gifts!)
Look! More gifts to unwrap! Maybe Mom will help make this happen a little faster!
Clothes! Yum! I love to chew on these things!

Christmas Day:
Check on some of these great new toys that are so much fun to play with!Is it my turn yet? I want to open this one!

Taking a break in Great-Grandpa S's rocker.

Ahhh, the beautiful sound of quietness. B headed back to work today, N is napping, the dog is outside, and I have a few moments to myself. Things are starting to return to normal around the house after a very busy few days. I'm still working on finding spots for a lot of the new things that we were blessed with, but I'm slowly seeing progress.

Christmas Eve was a day at home for us. We had N work on openning his gifts on and off all day. He's good at tearing the papers, but he's still not too speedy. My parents got to watch N open his presents from them thanks to the webcam. B and I exchanged our gifts after getting home from church and putting N to bed. It's was nice to spend a few minutes together without N crawling all over us or the t.v. on!

On Christmas day, we headed down to B's parents house after B was done preaching. We had a nice, big turkey dinner and opened gifts with them. N refused to nap the entire time there, which led to a very tired boy on the trip home.

Yesterday, we tried to get through some of the mess and made a little bit of progressed. It was nice to just sit down and watch a movie at the end of the day yesterday.

I'm considering a ban on all toys which make noise for N's birthday. He loves everything he got, but I'm already getting worn out with the repetitiveness of some toys. I think the policy might be that you can get him a noisy toy, but he'll only get to play with it at your house since that's where it'll stay!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas is coming . . .

Less than a week to go until Christmas and the K house is full of excitement:

• N's still getting over the cold that started over a week ago.


• We celebrated Christmas with the extended K family on Sunday. All three of us had fun and love the gifts we got!


• My car rolled over the 100,000 mile mark Sunday. (Think she'll last another 9 years?)


• We're all done with our Christmas shopping and have been for a few days! I'm still in the mood to wrap more gifts though.)


• Today is laundry day and there's tons of it! I should throw a laundry folding party; wanna come?


• I'm waiting on a call from a nurse to tell me what to do now that N's decided to start throwing up and leaving presents in his diapers which we won't discuss. (You'd think he'd want to get completely over the cold before coming down with something else!)

With the laundry, sick child, and aging car, I just don't know how to contain all of my excitement! How in the world can Christmas day's excitement top today? (Oh yeah, and there's bills to be paid!)

Major Milestone Marked

B, N, and I bundled up and loaded into the car last night for a routine trip to Wal-mart for diapers and baby food. (do they carry anything else anymore, I wouldn't know) Little did we know that it would be a night to remember. We unsuspectingly walked towards the store after situating N in the cart. Just as assumed, there was a friendly, older gentleman (I never have occasion to use the word gentleman, but it seems to fit) ready to greet us with a "hello" and a smile. Then it happened. He did more than smile and say "hello". He asked if the little guy would like a sticker. I stood in a shocked ponderment state. "He's too little for a sticker," I thought. On the other hand, this was a big deal! My little baby was offered his first (0f many I'm sure) Wal-mart smiley stickers! He wore it proudly. I can't seem to find the page in his baby book to keep his first Wal-mart sticker though. I'm sure it was a mistake, surely they know what a big deal that is, right?!?!? When's the last time you were offered a Wal-mart sticker?

Happy Birthday Lindsay!

Holiday Tips and News from N

Check out these two teeth! They are getting bigger and bigger. I don't seem to keep them hidden under my tongue all the time now. I can even catch the spoon with them as Mom is feeding me. (It drives her nut!) I've been working on fitting my entire fist in my mouth lately. Most of the time, 3 fingers is as many as I can coordinate getting in at once. If you came to visit me, you would see that I almost always have at least one in my mouth at all times.Mom doesn't want me telling you how to do this, but it's really fun to see her get frustrated as I try to make Christmas come early! First, ignore the 20 toys Mom set on the blanket for you to play with and roll towards the Christmas tree. Then, you have to stretch as far as you can, while on your belly of course, for one of the gifts with a pretty ribbon on it. (Ones without ribbons don't win you as many frustration points.)Next, bang on the present to flip it towards yourself. Make sure to get your mouth full of drool on it as it flips. (Also adds to Mom's frustration.)
Last, do as much damage to gift before Mom comes running. Make sure to flash Mom a huge smile when she is upset. (This usually makes her forget everything!) Most of all, have fun and repeat often!

Shhh, they're sleeping

Sleepyhead N would like to introduce you to his newest sleepyhead cousin, Will. Both are too tired to play right now, but just give them some time. I'm sure they'll be running in circles around us in no time at all!

Wait Over!

I got a call from Matt while on my way home from lunch with Brad.

William Aloysius was born on December 5th at 6:35am (eastern time, i assume).
He is a healthy 7 lbs. 4 oz. and 19 inches long. He is happily sleeping now.

Matt and Lindsay are both doing well. Both are just as tired as Will is. Matt promises there will be tons of pictures tomorrow.

Praise God for a healthy baby and safe delivery!

The Great Baby Wait

The current news: there's not really much to say. Lindsay's water broke at 3:30 this morning; therefore, they went into the hospital then rather than at 5:00 (central time). We haven't gotten any word about the c-section being done yet.

I'll keep you posted!

Picture Walk

Below are some of our pictures from the trip. They are in no particular order.

- The few hours of sunshine were quickly fading with the incoming clouds.
- A view up the slope that was closest to our place.
- A stroller and snow do not make a good combo. N and I had fun watching the skiers.
- Brad just couldn't help being a kid and playing with a huge icicle.
- The rest are a few of the nature pics I couldn't help taking. It was too pretty to not take a ton of photos. (Too bad the blue skies didn't stick around for all of them.)

Neither B or I went skiing. We did enjoy walking around the village we were staying in. Luckily no one had any major injuries. There were several sore kids, but they all did really well. I would go back at any time with any one who wants to go!

Home Sweet Home

We are happily returned for our hard working weekend of taking 23 youth to Keystone, CO. I'm exhausted from late nights and must go to bed. Will post pictures tomorrow and tell more. Must recommend CO in the winter to any and everyone one: gorgeous!

Innocent Conversation??? You decide.

A seemingly innocent Thanksgiving holiday conversation is wrecking havoc in my life.

My dad: "I can't believe N just sits there and plays without moving."
Myself: "It nice. I can sit him on a blanket with toys and go get something done without worrying about him. He is still sitting there in the exact same place when I come back. It's wonderful."

Later:
My dad: "I just can't believe how he just sits there!"
My mom: "Here, I'll show him how to get out of the sitting position." (picture her showing him)

Seems innocent. How much can the little guy pick up from being helped a time or two.

Apparently a ton!!!!!!!! He doesn't stay in one place for 2 minutes now. I sit him up on a blanket and in no time at all he's down and rolling across the floor. It's begun! He's into everything now! He loves to roll towards the Christmas tree and play with anything he can get his hands one. I'm a little worried that he could pull it over on himself. I have to watch him like a hawk. He's going to be playpen bound very soon!

He's also trying to figure out how to crawl. He's at the point where he gets partway up on his knees and ends up scooting backwards. He's found himself halfway under the couch numerous times. This morning he was up on all 4s and rocking back and forth; that should be the next step before figure out how to move forward. I think I'm right that he'll be crawling by Christmas!

Pictures Galore

N loved having Grandma get down on the floor and play with him. (I think Grandma loved it just as much!)
N got to ride the horse at the park and seemed to enjoy it.
The swing was the big winner at the park. He just laughed and smiled the entire time as he went back and forth. Thanksgiving dinner turned out well. B did a wonderful job getting the turkey ready and into the oven. Grandpa made sure to get in his playtime with N also. What a lucky little guy to have so much attention!Just a cute one that I couldn't resist putting in. N sure was tuckered out after so much football on Friday. He just couldn't take it any longer.
Christmas came early for N. Grandma and Grandpa let him open one of his presents from them early so they could see him play with it.
He absolutely loves playing with his new favorite toy. (Really, he hardly plays with anything else now.) He loves to make it sing to him and move across the floor. He also loves all the clicking noises the animals make when you move their limbs.

Holiday Recap

It's hard to believe that the long awaited Thanksgiving holiday has come and gone so quickly. B and I started our holiday week/weekend with an official Anniversary Celebration Day on Tuesday. (2 days early) We dropped the munchkin off for the day, and we were off! We saw Stranger Than Fiction (you seen it? thoughts?) with Will Ferrill. After that, we went down and wandered around the Old Market downtown. We then went to "the best Italian restaurant in O". (Not quite as impressive after living on The Hill in St. Louis)

Wednesday was day 1 with my parents. N had a great time playing with both his grandma and grandpa. B and Dad went for a run together, and seemed to really bond over the topic of running. We all went to a nearby park/lake in the afternoon. Maggie did some swimming, and N did some playground playing. He absolutely loved the swing!

Thursday was Turkey Day (and anniversary day) of course. It was a take it easy kind of day since everyone seemed to have some type of ailment or another.The meal was good though and enjoyed by everyone. Even N had baby food turkey, sweet potato, and applesauce.

Friday I made a huge mistake. I agreed to go shopping with Mom. If Mom has a specific thing she is shopping for it fine, but NEVER, and I mean NEVER, go aimless shopping with Mom! We were gone for hours!!!! We also began to put up the Christmas decorations. A 9 ft. tree is huge!!! (but beautiful)

Saturday was the sad day. Mom and Dad had to leave and head back home. It was hard to say good bye just as your getting use to having them around. I loved getting to see them and N interact with eachother. How cute! It's a long time before we see them again in March, but I'm already counting down!

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's been a good Thanksgiving at the K house. We've really enjoyed having my parents around for a visit. We took the day easy. Dad has a sore back, Mom has a migraine, N has a cold, and Maggie's hip is really bothering her. With all the medicine today required, it felt like a doctor's office or hospital around here.

There's a lot to be thankful for this year. B and I celebrate 4 years of marriage today. N becomes more and more of a blessing each and every day. We are so blessed to have the wonderful families we've been given. We love our new home here in O. Myself being a full-time mom and B's job at K of K, have both been a blessing also. I could go on and on, but I'm sure you get the picture. I hope that you feel just as blessed by God as we do.

It feels like I've been on a blogger vacation. I guess I have in a way. It gets boring to type several times a week and have no one comment on anything. Other than Mom's comment last week, it's been 3 weeks! Anyways, less frequent blogging will hopefully lead to more comments. We'll see.

N's still working on his tooth. It sure is taking its time. No crawling yet; hopefully by Christmas. Other than that the only news is how he's graciously blessed me with 3 dirty diapers before 9:30 this morning! How many can one child have in a day?

I am super excited about this week! Mom and Dad are coming for Thanksgiving! I think I've told everyone I know how excited I am to have them coming. If only they could come sooner and stay longer! We invited B's parents, but they seem to want to do their own thing. Guess it'll just be the 5 of us. What are your Thanksgiving plans?

Pearly Whites! (or White, for now)

It seems that N's sudden interest in oral hygeine came none to soon. He was smiling at me after his nap, and I noticed a white spot on his lower gums. It seems that N is cutting his first tooth! (I check a couple days ago, and nothing was there.) Lucky for B and I, his mood doesn't seem to be effected by the possible pain. I tried to get a picture of the white spot, but someone's tongue kept getting in the way. Needless to say, it's a very exciting and proud day for this Mom and Dad.
N was all dressed up and ready to cheer on his favorite teams on Saturday. I suppose we need to get him his own football.
All smiles this morning, but no luck spotting the tooth. I can't wait to see what his smile will look like with the tooth!
Sit me up and surround me with toys, and I'm a happy guy for a long time! Every toy is best when it fits in my mouth!

A cute picture of Camryn Grace (my neice) that Mom and Dad took of her at the Old Mill in North Little Rock on Sunday. She's adorable!

Pigskins and Bibles

It was a good weekend for the K house in regards to football. How is that football seems to take center stage each time I blog about the weekend? What has happened to me in the time I've known B? (I must really love this guy!) Anyways we had a two-win-weekend (meaning both Arkansas and Nebraska won)! I just checked the polls and Arkansas is ranked 5, 6, and 7 in 3 different polls. Not to shabby! Nebraska also made it back in the top 25 in the 3 polls. Yea for them.

In other news, B and I had some youth over tonight for the first time. We were each assigned 8 youth to mentor for a small group. We ended up with 5 of my girls and 4 of B's boys showing. I think that everyone had a good time. The boys of course gravitated directly towards the PS2, and you couldn't get a word into the 15 conversations the girls were holding at the same time. It was a lot of fun for both of us to have them over. It should become a regular Sunday night affair if things go well. It's a bit of a change for me to go from 2nd grade teacher mindset to high school mentor mindset. I'm sure things will get easier in time though.

Slow Down!

I think that it might have been a tough morning for B. His running partner, Maggie, might not be going on 5 mile runs with him 5 times a week anymore. She's been going really slow on the stairs at the house for a while now. Early this week, she was refusing to come up them and crying at the bottom. We knew something wasn't quite right. We ended up taking her to the vet this morning to have her hips x-rayed. It looks like she has the very, very beginning of hip dysplasia. It could be 6-8 years before it goes into full-blown hip dysplasia. In the mean time, she gets to take it a bit easier on the running, go swimming more for exercise, and take some meds to help with the pain on bad days. The vet said that we just have to kind of follow her cues. Some days she might be able to go for a 2 mile run, play fetch, go for a swim, and bound up the stairs without thinking twice. Other days, we might need to take her food and water to her on whatever floor she has decided to settle on. We'll just have to take one day at a time.

Happy Birthday Shaun!!!!

Dental Hygiene

It is an absolutely gorgeous day here in N. It's currently 75 and going to get a few degrees warmer. The sun is shining, and from where I sit, I can't see a cloud in the sky! (just don't ask me what the forcast is for Thursday on out - i don't want to talk about it)

Below are some pictures of N from this morning. Yesterday N and I went to go talk to B as he was getting ready for work. N wanted to grab everything on the bathroom counter ( i.e. the soap, the cup, my glasses). I decided he could play with my toothbrush. He loved it!!!!! When we went to Walmart last night, I strategically steered us down the toothpaste/brush aisle. I found a baby toothbrush and asked B if we could get it for N. He looked at me like I was nuts, but he gave in anyways. So, here are a couple of pictures of N having a great time with his toothbrush. No toothpaste, no teeth, but it's never to early.


I have spent the rest of my day, and the week so far, cleaning the house. I feel good about what I've gotten done, but it's so slow going with N constantly interrupting. It might take from now until Mom and Dad come in less than 2 weeks to get it all done. Good thing I got an early start on it!

Wrapping Paper and Moving Trucks

Another weekend has come and gone. We had a great weekend, spending lots of time together and getting a lot accomplished.

Friday we went and checked out a couple of malls in O that we hadn't been to yet. We both agreed that the 2 we usually go to and are closest to us are the best. (Lucky us!) I didn't get any more Christmas shopping done on Friday (other than a stocking stuffer for N). I'm stumped on what to get the people that I still need to shop for. I was able to get both B and Tori partially shopped for on Thursday though. Is it too early to get a tree and put it up????

Saturday, of course, completely revolved around football again. B's parents gave us their tickets for the Nebraska/Mizzou game. I had sort of been dreading going to a game in November. I've been in November before and it can be completely miserable cold. Luckily though it was in the 60s and sunny. The crowd was really into the game which made being there a lot of fun. We had a man sitting behind us that talked on his cell phone the entire time and kept commenting (at least 8 times) about how small the stadium appeared compared to Mile Hile in Denver. Shut up and watch the game!!!! Nebraska was able to win the game and we left happy! We also got to watch Arkansas beat South Carolina when we got home. It's so good to see Arkansas doing so well. Can't wait for next weekend when they get to trample Tennesee on ESPN2 and College Game Day is broadcasting for Fayetteville.

We both taught Sunday School and went to church on Sunday morning. After that, it was a day spent getting caught up around the house. We finished making applesauce, got the laundry done, grilled (it was another gorgeous day), and picked up around the house. I got to talk to my parents which is always great. (Thanks for calling!)

The most (possibly) exciting part of the weekend was the other phone call I got on Sunday night. I have been friends with Corrie since the summer before 5th grade, and we've stayed close no matter the number of miles between us. One of the best times for me was getting to live in St. Louis at the same time she did for 10 months while B and Eric were in seminary at the same time. We never thought we would end up in the same state or town again after high school. Anyways, back to the call. She called and asked me what the housing market was like in O. HUH?!?!?! Eric got a telephone call from a church in the area that is considering him as they look to call a new pastor. This was just first contact, and we have no idea where this will lead. Obviously I would love to have it lead into the call commitee at this church extending him an official call. It would be a far better answer than I could have ever dreamed to my prayer for a close friend here in O. Somehow I have to contain my excitement and pray that God's will be revealed to the church, call commitee, and the Hs. Please pray for all parties involved in this. (Also pray that I would not get to set on the idea of having the Hs here before anything really even happens.)

Alright, that's enough of a novel for now. I've got a house that needs cleaning, and N's not offering to get it done.

Lost

I'm lost. Today is my day of freedom! B left for work this morning with N in the backseat. I'm suppose to be making the most of the day that N heads to Mother's Day Out, but instead I'm lost. I usually have a million specific tasks that I want to cram in on my Thursdays. Wednesday is usually spent planning my Thursday. For some reason though, it didn't happen that way this week. So here I sit with only 5 hours and 10 minutes before needing to pick him up at 3. I'm sure there are errands to be run, but it's cold out (32 actually, but feels like 26) and i'm not in a money spending mood. (Strange feeling!) Other than a brief phone chat with Matt (thanks for calling brother), I've spent most of my time at the computer. Hmmm, what to do with myself. I guess I should just get in the car and see where I end up.

Happy Halloween!

SATUR and SUN days

The weekend seemed to fly by quite fast this time around. We did our best to make the most of it and the gorgeous weather we had. (70s) Saturday was our annual day to make homemade applesauce. We got lucky and got to peel, core, and slice most of the apples while N was sleeping. We still have the other half of the apples sitting on the counter waiting to be peeled, cored, sliced, and cooked. The first batch turned out well and the other should be the same. B always loves to eat the peels of the apples as we go.
N was more than happy for it to be football Saturday again! He loves to cheer on the Huskers and Razorbacks. He decided to support his highly ranked Razorbacks with a smile and his outfit this weekend! (Too bad we don't have ESPNU.) We did get to see the Husker game, but unfortunately it didn't turn out as well as the Razorback game. Ann and Don came over to wach the game with us. We'll have to evaluate the situation and decide if they are bad luck to have over during future Husker games. :)

Meet Jack Owen Latern! B, N, and I went to a pumpkin carving party at the Woodwards last night. Neither B nor I had ever carved a pumpkin before. Since B cleaned it out, and I got to do the carving, it was great! I don't know how I would have felt about the experience if the roles had been reversed! He's a happy guy (especially since he was a $2 leftover at Walmart yesterday) and more than thrilled to fulfill his pumpkin duty on Halloween.