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.