One year old

I really can't believe how fast time has gone and I know I sound cliche but there's really no other way to say it. Parenthood does that. You suddenly find yourself saying all these cheesy and ridiculous things you never thought you would say. And don't even get me started on the singing and dancing required to cheer up a sick one-year-old.

She's pretty much over her cold, but you can still see a little snot leaking out in the picture. Priceless. We're doing a big party in Colorado this weekend and we already had a little party when my mom was here, so tonight it will be just me, Adam, Violet, and Elmo.

Hope you all have safe holiday travels! Love you girls!

We're official!

Well, it's official...we've got our tickets to Colorado! I found a really good deal...almost a fluke really. It was God that I even saw it, because it won't be there long I don't think. So anyway, we're super excited for fun, friends, snowboarding, and girl time (well, Nathan's not as excited about girl time as I am:).

Before & After...

The Living Room...

The Dining Room...

Our Bedroom...

So these are the main areas that we painted and did work to. I'll send the rest of the pics of the house via Kodak email.

Hope to have you all over sometime so you can see it in person.

Shutterfly sale

I haven't tried this yet, but a friend just sent me a code to get up to 50% off and free shipping at Shutterfly through the end of today. The discount code is: SECRET3.

And I just ordered our Christmas cards through a different service ... darn.

:)

Yay for 4am shopping!

I also did the 4am craziness on Black Friday, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Nathan was on baby duty while I did lots of shopping and got some pretty good deals. I may try some online shopping for the remaining items though.

We have also gotten quite a bit of snow over the past couple weeks. It's pretty much useless to me now that I don't hope for a snow day every time there is a little flake in the sky. But it is pretty, and snow in small amounts if fine I suppose.

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. Ours was nice, although Katie got her first full-blown cold that day, and proceeded to snot all down the front of her pretty new dress. Oh well. She's doing better, but now I've got a full-blown sinus infection. So kind of her to share. I hope to feel better by tomorrow, because taking care of a baby while sick is so not fun! Ok well, it's nice to hear from everyone and see that we're all sharing in holiday cheer and spending:)

For all the online shoppers...

I was introduced to a website by Joe Caswell and apparently it usually has the best prices for electronics. Plus there's no tax cause it's based in a state that does not have sales tax. Anyway, if you're looking for the latest and greatest in electronics this holiday season, check out www.newegg.com. And to boot they have free shipping.
As for me, I'm one of those crazy people who get up at 4am and do all my shopping on black Friday. This year was no different - what a blast!

As far as the snow goes... we unexpectedly got about 2-3 inches the weekend before thanksgiving. I was very shocked when I walked outside at 6am to go to work. Not so much a fun surprise at that time of day.

Well... happy shopping to you all.

Sleigh bells ring...

Just wanted to weigh in fast with our weather report out in Cali. The temperatures are really falling out here, too. I think we got all the way down into the upper 60s yesterday. I even had to wear a sweater.

However, on the flip side, you will all be laughing at me when I shiver myself to death in Colorado in a few months. Can't wait!

Oh, and I ditto the whole shopping online thing. Last year, I was as big as a Christmas tree myself, so we did all of our shopping online. I am fully intending to do the same this year. I found quite a few great deals on www.etsy.com -- they have all handmade things, so they're all one of a kind. And a lot of the sellers feature free shipping for the holidays.

If anyone else has any great sites to pass along, I'd love to see them. I'm always looking for a deal. :)

motherhood and Christmas Shopping

We also got a little snow today. It is freezing and disgusting outside. And we are starting to get Christmas gifts figured out for our children. Let me just say that I have not really gone Christmas shopping in a store since Seth was born. It's all online these days. And for those of you newer moms this Christmas season, I will pass on a website that I have used lots in the past for Christmas gifts. Babycenter.com has some more unique and educational toys. I'm sure you girls have already heard of it. but I did get a coupon code in my email today for free shipping today and tomorrow in case any of you are interested. Just go to www.babycenter.com and use the coupon code "FREESHIP!" =) Happy Christmas shopping in your pjs and the warmth of your own house!

snow?? let it stop!

Jamie, I commend your enthusiasm about the snow you are missing. We, however, are not excited about the snow we recceived this last weekend. Something about slippery parking lots, Christmas shopping, and carrying a car seat does not enthuse me. I'm seriously considering holiday shopping online! Our dogs however, could not be happier about the snow. the added benefit for Nobu is that his allergies are officially over so he won't be chewing on his paws anymore. The dogs will chase each other through the snow for hours if we let them. they play a game similar to 'hide and seek' but they don't hide... they just freeze and pretend the other one can't see them until...WHAM they run directly after one another and collide, sprawling themselves all through the snow.
well, i got my AFLAC claims and so can now plan our travels to Colorado. Chris and i will be there early (sunday prior) so Chris and Peter can work together. We will have Megumi with us too. i'm looking forward to seeing you all!

Snow Report

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!!

Right now I'm sitting in Chattanooga, GA wishing I was at home to see the snow fall. We haven't had any this year -- that I've seen -- and I'm missing it right now! PLUS -- I'm missing you. I had a dream last night that you were all down the street from me, and it took me forever to get together with you all. Angie -- your hug in my dream was so real, I can't wait to get one for real. :)

I just wanted to give you an update on the slopes to get you excited about our trip. I know it is still far away and we have Christmas coming, but if you want to send any money towards the trip - let me know! They will let us make a payment anytime. Our final payment is actually due Jan 10. I think I told you the 15th - which will also be ok. Anyhoo...back to the snow report: Breckenridge has received 9" in the last 48 and Keystone has gotten 7". And just think - we haven't even gotten into the snowy season here yet. To see pictures check out this site: www.snow.com.

I hope you all had a wonderful and filling Thanksgiving! I can't wait to see you all soon.

Love you lots!

Happy Turkey Day!

thoughts

Hey there! Liz, I just wanted to say that I'm so glad Katie's surgery went so well and that she seems to be recovering comfortably. I'm also so sorry about your grandpa and my thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. You really did have a rough week. Everything is good here. I'm getting settled into life with 3 kids under the age of 3. The biggest challenge is that Seth and Lilah love to antagonize each other and just torture one another and I simply don't have time to referee right now. And they usually choose the times when i'm nursing to need something or attack each other. =) Isaac is doing well. He's big and healthy. My biggest challenge with him is that he has an insatiable appetite. The kid is constantly starving! I'm making plenty of milk. But he just wants to nurse like every hour! I don't have time for that either. =) But we've been blessed with family helping out this last week and friends here in Columbus are bringing us meals until the middle of December. They're also calling me like daily to see if I need them to pick anything for me at the store, etc. What a blessing! The labor and delivery went well. They started me on the pitocin and after a couple hours, the contractions were diminishing as the pitocin increased. So I asked for my edidural and had them break my water and we had the baby within 2 hours. I pushed for like 10 minutes and Isaac was strong and healthy and I only had a 1st degree tear. yay! This is significantly better than the 3rd degree tear I had with Seth. =) Isaac has been a little jaundice and has been a bit finicky with breast feeding. But we're getting it figured out. So, that's it for us at this point. thanks for all your thoughts and prayers this past week. Love you girls!

Katie's Surgery

Thought I'd give a quick update on Katie's progress, and say thanks to everyone for praying for her. Katie's surgery went very well. The surgeon even made the decision during surgery that we didn't have to stay in the hospital overnight because he felt the probability of having any bleeding problems was very low. Yay! She was pretty out of it Wed night and still on Thurs as well, which was actually good, so she was less active and less likely to irritate the area. She hates her arm braces, and we only make her wear them to sleep now, as she really doesn't touch the incision sites. We just have to modify what we're doing for a couple weeks....no rough play, no belly time for a little while, no leaving her alone except when sleeping (this one is tough on mommy), etc, but we're coping well. Katie doesn't even seem to be in any pain, and only has a tiny bit of swelling. We took her off the tylenol with codeine today, and she's doing really well without it at all so soon (not even regular tylenol). We super proud of out little tropper. I added an album to her website for the surgery, and included a "before" pic, and will update with "afters" once the stitches are gone.

In other news, everything also went well with the wake and funeral for my grandpa. It was a really long and tough week for my family, but we got through it. Because Katie did so well, we were able to make it to a little bit of the wake, and to the funeral on Friday. It all went well, and thankfully, my grandma was really with it and did really well for everything (she has Parkinson's which has caused pretty bad dementia). So we all survived the week and appreciate the everyone's thoughts and prayers.

New House...

First of all... Liz so sorry to hear about your grandfather and your unsettling week ahead. We'll be praying for you, your family and Katie.

And to Josh & Julie - congrats on your latest addition - what a cutie he is.

Now for an update from PA - we are officially home owners. We settled on our house October 27th and spent that week doing some minor repairs, drywall touch ups and painting. We got everything done that we wanted to and moved in on November 1st. I think you all got the email I sent of the moving day.

Everything is great and we are definitely enjoying our new house. I'll be emailing you all pics very soon, but for now, here's a little taste to wet your appetite.

In other news - I'm starting a new job this week. I'm going to be working for a friend at at market stand in Delaware. It will be Fridays and Saturdays only, but they will be long days. I'm planning on working Mon-Thurs at Millcreek (our family business) through the end of this year, but plan on making a change soon after that. I haven't found anything to take its place yet, but I've been looking around and keeping my eyes and ears peeled for a good opportunity.

Rough week

First of all, congrats Julie! Issac is adorable and we can't wait to see more pics. And good luck settling in. You're a brave woman...3 kids ages 3 and under:)

So this is shaping up to be a pretty rough week for us, and it's only Tuesday morning. On Saturday (ok, technically last week, but close enough), Katie pulled a Humpty Dumpty on me. Yes, she had a great fall, from the changing table to the floor. It is true what they tell you, it only takes a second. She fell head-first on the floor, which is thankfully newly carpeted with a decently thick pile. She is ok. We had half of the Waterford emergency personnel in my family room, and she's fine. Who knew that when you call 911, and they tell you she's probably fine, but will send someone out to look if you'd like, that if you say yes, you end up with an entire street full of emergency vehicles, and 6 firemen/paramedics? I did not know, but I know now. We were all very shaken up, but Katie was her normal self after a bottle...alert, nosy, flirting with firemen (what girl wouldn't?), anxious to play. Thank God.

Then last night my grandfather passed away, unexpectedly, but not unexpectedly, if that makes sense. My cousin, who has been staying with him due to health problems, came home and found him passed out on the bathroom floor and not breathing. They obviously performed lifesaving techniques and took him to the hospital, but he didn't want life support or anything like that, so he passed away. He wasn't doing well lately, so it wasn't a shock. But at the same time, it was a bit of a shock because no one thought it was that imminent. Fortunately, Katie and I went down to visit him and my grandma last week, so I do feel like I got to see him, and he got to see Katie again. So the wake is scheduled for Wed and Thurs, and the funeral for Fri.

Also, Katie's surgery is tomorrow for her hemangioma. I've been thinking about it as little as possible lately, but I can't get away from it now. I'm more nervous and scared than I thought I'd be. It's just upsetting to know she'll be in a lot of pain afterward. We've decided to take off two, the one on the neck and one on her clavicle (we're leaving the one on her abdomen because I don't want the scar there, and I also don't want to inhibit her motorically more than necessary). The hospital will keep us overnight, so I'm hoping she'll be discharged Thurs morning, but you never know with that stuff. We're believing for a surgery with no complications, no bleeding problems, and a quick and easy recovery. I'm just hoping Katie is back to her normal self soon. So please keep us in prayer for these things this week. It's going to be a long week and I can't wait until it's over.

update

Hey ladies,
Everything is going good here at our house. Megumi continues to change every day, sleep during the day, and likes to be wide awake at night! At her 2 week doctor appointment, she had gained all her weight back and grew a whole inch. She likes to pee when we change her diaper, and poo as soon as i get her pants back on. Yesterday I went through 3 diapers in 3 minutes, geesh! This week we made the very emotional decision to switch to formula. I nursed Meg for 2 full weeks, and as she was growing, i couldn't produce enough milk to keep her from screaming all night long. She would nurse for over an hour and still be hungry... but by then i was empty! So, after a week of sleepless nights filled with a screaming, unhappy baby... we switched to formula. And now, i have a happy, content little girl with a full belly! Here's a picture of the world's most beautiful baby! Oh, and with the birth of Meg, I think i forgot to update you all on the biopsy results of the breast tumor... the cells are A-typical but non-cancerous. I have a follow up with the surgeon in January, and expect to have another ultrasound then to see if and how is has changed. ok, on with the pictures!

update

Hey girls, I'm gettings bored of checking the blog and there being no new posts. So I guess I will post something. There's not a whole lot happening here. But I did have a my doctor appointment today. I'm 37 weeks now and am scheduled to be induced at 8am on Monday (the 17th). As of now, I am dilated 2-3 cm and am 50% effaced. My fundal height is measuring 41 weeks. That makes me a little nervous. I'm hoping this one isn't too big for me to deliver vaginally. I'll keep you girls posted as we get to the time next week. =)

no baby

more stretch marks, an insanely itchy belly, a few sleepless nights, and still no baby! Tomorrow i'm 41 weeks, and will have an ultrasound and non-stress test. still not dilated at all as of tuesday.

Some pics

So when we were in Ohio last month, we had Sarah Newman take some family pictures. I just got the disc this week and wanted to post a few. The rest are at Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/kaylind/sets/72157608120191441/), in case you want to see them.


I was incredibly impressed with all her creative ideas and I love all the expressions of Violet that she caught. She also managed to get pictures of my dad smiling, which means she must be magic.



I know it's early, but these pictures have me excited to make our Christmas cards this year!

Love you girls -- hope you have great weekends!

4 Months!

Hi girls!

Only 4 more months until we meet in Frisco! I am getting very excited. Nick and I went up to the mountians two weekends ago, and found the house we are staying in. The pictures on our Wiki site show it perfectly. We are within walking distance from the free shuttle that can take you to Breckenridge, Copper, Dillion or Keystone. (Anyone up for some night skiing? Keystone is your place!) We are getting so excited!!!

I do have an offer for you all - if you would like to make another 25% payment over this next month, I can send that up to them. Nick and I were talking and realized with all this finiancial talk in the media, it is going to be benefical for us to begin to slowly set aside some money. :) Let me know if you want to do that... I'm keeping track of what each of us sends for the house.

Let's see... nothing else is going on in our lives. I've been on Fall Break last week and this, which has been wonderful. I have been working on our scrapbook this week and it is coming together nicely. I need more pictures from you all. If you could send me, or direct me to, a picture or two from each event since this summer.

I love reading about all that is happening in your lives! I love you lots and can't wait to see you.

Pictures of our trip to Beaver Creek (about 60 miles beyond Frisco)