Randomness...

I adore this face. My son.

No real rhyme or reason to these pictures, I just wanted Nikki to see them! Enjoy!

So not really any specific topic tonight! Busy day today, I worked this morning. Then went to lunch with a friend at Darryl's we chatted for 3 hours... how in the heck can time fly so fast sometimes?! Left there and went to pick up Kenedey and Daymian ended up coming home with us. We went back to Jessi's and hung out there while the kids played their little hearts out! Then came home around 9. I have been doing laundry and cleaning the kitchen.

I wanted to share these two pictures mostly so my mom could see them. My friend Ellen made this arrangement. Who knew she was so talented? I absolutely LOVE fall it's my favorite season and I just love the atmosphere of fall. I enjoy everything about it. The sound of football, the colors, the comfort foods, the smell of burning leaves, the crisp air, the orchards... etc. I have my table just filled with these few things. Would it be really stupid if I wanted all my decor to be fallish?! Yeah I cant think of how I would tie that in all year. Wouldn't that be ugly at Christmas, orange, yellow next to green and red? Anyway, thank you SO much Ellen for the GORGEOUS arrangement. It was so nice of you to be so nice to me :-)

Forcing myself...

Jacks home alone face!

CONCENTRATION!
Nikki, Jasons younger sister and her daughter Kaylyn, Kaylyn and Carson are about 3 months apart.
You know this dude!
Kaylyn (my niece) sliding down the slide

To do this blog tonight. It has been SUCH a busy day, so there is lots to blog about but im exhausted.

I worked all day then left there, headed over to Target picked up a birthday gift for a bday party we went to tonight. Drove all the way home to Onsted picked up the kiddos then headed back to Jackson and went to the "party" at Fun for All. We arrived there around 6:30. It was our first time there and I was actually impressed. I expected to be underwhelmed, but it turned out really neat/fun. The great part for me was that you can actually climb on all the toys with the kids. They are gigantic blow up jumpy things with huge slides and just all sorts of stuff. Yes, I did get my fat butt up on those things and actually it was a great workout! I figured why not, how the heck can I stay young and keep moving if I don't do this kind of thing with the kids. It was a blast! Carson wasn't a huge fan of the bigger toys, but they have a great area for the little ones all kinds of great toys for them. I took lots of pictures so here is your overload warning!

We didn't leave there until 9pm when they closed then Kenedey headed home to stay the night with Aunt Nikki and they are getting up in the am to take Daymian to his football game. Im sure they played until late tonight with his new toys he got for his bday! We also got to see my nephew Chase. We don't get to see him often enough. Seems like everytime I see Tammy (my other sister in law, Chases mom, he is with his dad). Him and Kenedey are 3 weeks and 3 days apart, so they used to be really close. It was cute because Chase came up to Ken and grabbed her and hugged the heck out of her. She of course had to act too cool but we all know she liked the attention from him. They are so grown up already.

kenedey & Chase

Aunt Tammy and
Carson he was scared!

Carson and I came over to Jessi's to stay the night. Jason and I both have to work in the morning so Jessi is going to watch Carson for us so I figured rather than driving all the way out here in the am it made more sense to come out here tonight.

Apparently Lauren was very upset because Kenedey wasn't come, but with some extra hugs she got over it quickly. Jack kept telling me to take his picture "like this" So I got some pretty cute ones!

Kenedey was so cute on our way into Jackson tonight. Carson took a little snooze on our way in so her and I had some much needed chat time. She told me lots about school. She LOVES her teacher. It really sounds like she is doing some neat things with the kids. She said they are decorating the entire 5th grade hall so it looks like jungle. She had a lot of pride in her voice about that. Her grades are really good so far. Her teacher let them choose where they sit now and who they sit next to (im thinking what the heck?) I almost think it was a lets see if you can be responsible kind of thing so I think thats a good way to teach them accountablity even with distractions! She is such a joy in my life. My little girl is growing into a gorgeous inside and out little lady and I am so proud of her. I love you Ken!

New jammies for Carson they look so big boyish

Just thought I would share.

I just got this in a email from Jen. Thought some of you might enjoy!

JUST A MOM? What an interesting story. I remember we were sometimes called "Domestic Engineers". I like these new titles better!! Sandy GoranA woman, renewing her driver's license at the County Clerk 's office wasasked by the woman recorder to state her occupation. She hesitated, uncertain how to classify herself. "What I mean is," explained the recorder, "do you have a job or are you just a......?" "Of course I have a job," snapped the woman. "I'm a Mom ." "We don't list ' Mom ' as an occupation, 'housewife' covers it," said the recorder emphatically. I forgot all about her story until one day I found myself in the same situation, this time at our own Town Hall. The Clerk was obviously a career woman, poised, efficient and possessed of a high sounding title like, "Official Interrogator" or "Town Registrar." "What is your occupation?" she probed. What made me say it? I do not know. T he words simply popped out. "I'm a Research Associate in the field of Child Development and Human Relations." The clerk paused, ball-point pen frozen in midair and looked up as though she had not heard right. I repeated the title slowly emphasizing the most significant words. Then I stared with wonder as my pronouncement was written, in bold, black ink on the official questionnaire. "Might I ask," said the clerk with new interest, "just what you do in your field?" Coolly, without any trace of fluster in my voice, I heard myself reply, "I have a continuing program of research, [what mother doesn't) in the laboratory and in the field, (normally I would have said indoors and out). I'm working for my Masters, (the whole darned family) and already have four credits (all daughters). Of course, the job is one of the most demanding in the humanities, (any mother care to disagree?) and I often work 14 hours a da y, (24 is more like it). But the job is more challenging than most run-of-the-mill careers and the rewards are more of a satisfaction rather than just money." There was an increasing note of respect in the clerk's voice as she completed the form, stood up and personally ushered me to the door. As I drove into our driveway, buoyed up by my glamorous new career, I was greeted by my lab assistants -- ages 13, 7, and 3. Upstairs I could hear our new experimental model, (a 6 month old baby) in the child development program, testing out a new vocal pattern. I felt I had scored a beat on bureaucracy! And I had gone on the official records as someone more distinguished and indispensable to mankind than "just another Mom ." Motherhood! What a glorious career! Especially when there's a title on the door. (Embedded image moved to file: pic24464.jpg) Does this make grandmothers "Senior Research associates in the field o f Child Development and Human Relations" and great grandmothers "Executive Senior Research Associates"? I think so!!! I also think it makes Aunts "Associate Research Assistants". (Embedded image moved to file: pic05705.jpg) Please send this to another Mom , Grandmother, Aunt, and other friends you know. May your troubles be less, your blessings be more and nothing but happiness come through your door!

Ill give it a try...

Well, there are a bunch of bloggers out there that I have stopped by their blogs and they do what some call "Thoughts for Thursdays". I was thinking about it today on my way home and my thoughts made me giggle all by myself in my car. So I thought to myself... yeah I should share that on my blog... So here goes.

I cannot believe I am sharing this out loud. Some of you sorry if this is repetitive and you've had to hear this story... hopefully you will laugh once again at MY expense!

So, when I was almost 9 months pregnant with Carson I was into Kohl's picking up a few last minute things I would need. I had finished my last day of work and I was being induced the next day. Well, I was walking around the girls section just checking out stuff for Kenedey and all the SUDDEN.... the baby moved in a particular way... Let's just say for reasons of not wanting to totally gross anyone out... that when the baby moved he must have been laying near/on whatever on my intestine! Well... when he moved it caused my bowel to "move" immediately! LOL ok im already laughing. :-) When my "bowels moved" and I had a mess when I crapped my pants! So here I am standing in the middle of Kohl's COMPLETELY MORTIFIED. Im all by myself.... WHAT DO I DO???? I decided that I would throw my large Vera Bradley bag over my backside and gently and S.L.O.W.L.Y. make my way over to the restroom. I am like OMG what do I do now... I cant go sit in the car... im a freaking mess. So I tell the lady at the return counter that I am 9 months pregnant and "my water just broke". It was the best I could do... i mean seriously how do you tell someone at Kohl's a complete stranger that you just crapped your pants and have no idea why?

It was awful!!! I asked her if she could close the bathroom down for a few minutes and she said no problem. I asked her to go to the maternity section and bring me a pair of pants and underware just so I could get myself "to the hospital". Keep in mind this poor girl thinks my water just broke! She brings me these things and I clean myself all up after about 9000 paper towels and 2 wipes I just happened to have in my purse for some unknown reason! I purchased my "new clothes" and I got the heck out of there as quick as possible and threw my old clothes in the trash!

So anyway... that's my crazy embarrassing moment of mommyhood story. Do you have a most embarrassing mommy story you can share? I have broken the ice for all of you, that was SERIOUSLY the most embarrassing moment of my life!!! Hope you enjoyed a laugh at my expense!

Not too bad

Well we went to check out the daycare... Carson and I went together this time. I worked this morning and then I came home and got Carson then we headed over to the daycare. To help ease him into it, I stayed with him and just observed, played, and chatted with the workers. I think he will adjust fine.

We played outside for about a half hour and then went inside and had snack with the kids. Jason made the comment when we talked about me taking him and me staying with him for the first time, that Carson wouldn't care weather or not I was there. Well... he was right. He just went right out and played with the other kids no problem at all. He had a blast. He played the entire time. He made a few friends, two of the names I could think of were, Maggie and Aiden. A lot more girls than boys in his class... I guess he will be the ladies man!

The only part I saw that will be tough for Carson is the transition from each activity. However, while it may be tough for him, I think it will be very good for him. For example, when it was time to go inside from playing outside, he started to have a meltdown because he wanted to stay outside. I realized that our little man thinks the world revolves around him! Not surprising! Having a big sister and a babysitter who cater to his every wimper/need will make anyone think the world is at your beckon call! After a very minor meltdown I picked him up and showed him to follow the other kids and walk inside. Once he figured out that's what he had to do he followed suit. I warned the "teachers" that I had some concerns about him getting used to the transitions for him just from activity to activity. She did say they usually get used to that very quickly. I think it will be a great lesson to learn for him.

I was very proud about him for a few things. I noticed when I was comparing him to other kids similar in age that he was noticably very smart and well adjusted. He preferred to play with the bigger kids (the preschoolers were outside with his class). He walked up to many of them and said his usual "HI" and he giggled with them. Him and Aiden rode bikes together and had their own little "conversation". They were making "vrooom" sounds with the bikes and kind of running into each other. He went on the slide where the preschoolers were and enjoyed that WAY more than the "baby slide"! He's a tough little guy. He slid down right on his butt over and over and just cracked up! I was also proud that he didn't walk around and hit or pinch or yell at anyone! No embarrassing temper tantrums either! Again, I really think this will be very good for him. He is certainly ready for this next step of "toddlerhood". It did also make me feel very fortunate that we have been able to keep him at home until this point. It sort of made me sad to see some of the real little ones at the daycare. They were well cared for, but I just feel like they need to be held a lot and snuggled until they are ready to be so busy (such as where Carson is right now) I know every kid is different and all do better or worse in different situations but again just made me realize how fortuate I felt that he has been home until now. He is just about 17 months old now. He seems more like a 2 year old just from his size and his motor skills are well intact! He still makes a mess when he eats, but its getting better all the time!

Next week he is going to go for 2 days and will stay with the sitter for 3 days, then the following week he will go 3 days and 2 days with Mandy and then the following week he will be there full time. It should work out perfectly. This way he has a chance to get used to the transition. He will go most days from about 7:20 am until around 4 when Jason gets out of work. This should be a good experince but intersting also... Ill keep you updated!

The place where important things come up missing

Well hello there again!

I have been absent from the blogging world for a whole week. No I didn't go on a great vacation! Just the usual, but busy. This just took a back seat. I've missed it!

Things are good around here. I will try to briefly catchup in a nutshell. Highlights from last week. Well, Carson (I think) lost our cell phone. (Thus the title) I am also missing an important folder and I couldn't find my glasses when I started this post... im blind so I had to go on a search for them... they are now found! Anyway... as you know by now, he LOVES to play with the phone. We have searched and searched more and more and cannot find the darn thing. Sooo... after nearly 2 weeks without a cell phone, we broke down and decided we needed a new one.

We were on a plan with Jason's mom (because of him working at the "family business" back last year. We just never got off the plan so we just kept the phone.) Well, we decided that it was time we just get our own plan and not have to have Kim worry about it and worry about getting $$ to her. Soooo... on Friday Jason came into my work acting all mad at me. I was like what's wrong. Finally he said, "do you like me?" I said, "um yeah I think so". Then he handed me my new pink cell phone... which HE will be paying for! Good times. New job making good money and he does this for me. It was SO nice of him! It's really a necessity that we have 2 phones so he got one for both of us. So for those of you who need my new digits here they are: 517-315-1115. Change it in your phone's memory! The other number the 517-795-4792 is no longer in exsistence. We still have our home phone and will be keeping that also.

On Thurs. night we babysat for Talan. We only got to have him for a short time because they already had a sitter lined up just needed someone for a short time. So we got to play with the little cutie. He is so sweet and is such a good baby. He seriously laughed about 10 times in the 45 mins he was here. Carson did great with him. I think he would like for him to play a little rougher but give it time! He will soon enough! I can't wait for those two to really play like boys do! Kenedey throughly enjoyed Talan. It made her miss her little brother who would sit on her lap and be sweet all the time... yeah not so much for Carson these days. He only sits on her when he wants to jump on her and beat her up! Meanie!! It was cute when we took Talan home because we put him in his infant seat and then put him and Carson in the wagon... ADORABLE!
(Carson giving Talan a ride on his "bike" sorry about the ketchup on his face he just finished dinner and he LOVES ketchup he wants it on everything!)

Speaking of Carson he has had a great week. I have to say that the temper tantrums have decreased a bit. I wouldn't say we are home free by any means, but his moods have gotten a little better. Not so much whining either.



(Carson says: Those daycare people dont know what they are in for Ha ha haaa)

So our babysitter is leaving for college on Oct. 15th so we have decided that Carson will go to daycare. I am actually very excited for him. I have had my eye on a place near 127 & US12 in the Somerset Center area. It's at a church called New Jerusalem Christian Fellowship church. It is a non denominational church and the daycare/preschool is located inside the church. I was EXTREMELY impressed with the place. I could go on and on with what I like about the place but I won't bore you. Let's just say it seems like it will be a great fit for him. Jason and I both think Carson is ready for this next step. He is such an extrovert and such a busy little person/personality I think he will adjust just fine. I think he is bored at home now. He brings me his shoes a couple of times a day to put them on because he associates that with leaving so I think he will like it that in the morning he will get to leave with us.

Kenedey is doing well. She had a little tough time this morning because she had to have her shot on Monday night and she was very nauseated this morning. Dr. Adams told me last time we talked about this nausea to give her some Mountain Dew. Imagine that a doctor telling you to give your kid Mountain Dew, especially in the morning... Go figure! But this did the trick. I think she gets low blood sugar and with the side effects it kind of magnifies it maybe... who knows... we are just glad it works. She had strep throat last week and had to stay home from school 2 days. Because she is immunosuppressed I thought it was important she was fully recovered before she went back and got plenty of rest. She has recovered well, basically back to perfect this week. She has to have her blood draw on Saturday, but she's getting good at that too.

When she gets her weekly injections she is always complaining and crying about how badly it burns when the medicine goes in... it seems to be right after. I talked to Dr. Adams about it at her last appt and she told me to get the MTX with preservative in it. We were getting the one w/o preservative in it. Well the pharmacy @ Rose City where I work was able to order it for Ken. Guess what! No burning at all. That makes it nice for Kenedey. We are up to her maintence dose now and she still seems to be responding well. This past week was her first full week without any PT and I don't think she has regressed or anything so I can see why they said she didn't need to come anymore. I wanted her to still go, but I guess if she can't build anymore skills then were doing good!

Well I think those are all the important updates! I'll keep you posted on how daycare goes. Him and I are going on Thursday together to "hang out" so he can check it out and then next week he will go two days, then 3 days the following week and then full time after that. Our sitter will stay with him for the opposite days while he eases into it. We are going to miss her SO bad. But I wish her the absolute best. I know she will miss Carson too! She has done so well with the little stinker! I couldn't have asked for a better situation with someone who has been so patient with him and helped us get him to this point. It was super important to us that he was home until he was ready to be out of home so im extremely thankful... there I go on another tangent! Ok really this is the end now!

Had an interesting converation....

with on of my patients at work today.

I know you are all probably sick of me "complaining" about my son! Please don't ever think that I think he is a bad kid, we are just seriously trying to get used to having a child who is not near as compliant as the first one!

So this patient today (can't use names you know... HIPPA Smippa rules). He was asking me how my son was doing. A lot of my patients have been there from the first days of my pregnancy with Carson, so they tend to keep tabs on us! Anyway, I shared with him how busy Carson is and how he keeps us on our toes. I told him that nearly every time he is told no he can't do something we get a tantrum. So here's where the interesting part starts. I said, ya know, I have always always been a huge advocate of being consistent with your kids, and also if we tell our kids no to something, generally speaking it is something we have thought about and No means NO. Without being too authoritative we pretty much stick to our guns. I swear to you, my son is not the way he is from lack of consistency or the fact that we don't say no enough.

So sticking with this conversation we had today. He said, Boys are entirely different and on top of that all kids are entirely different. Duh I know that, however... what I found so interesting that he said, is this... He said, Carson is just very persistent it sounds like, this is what will someday get him his PhD or his DO (wink wink mom & Raquel) or his college scholarship in athletics or whatever may be right for him. I have to say I agree. It really made me think that I need to be careful and nurture the areas of this child that are so persistent, however... my dilemma obviously is, I have yet to find the proper way to do this. He also said, Kari you watch over the next few months this behavior will change and then you'll be on to something else with him. So anyway, I just wanted to share what I felt was neat coming from a man who has raised 6 kids and all are successful happy functioning members of society and their families! I sure feel like I complain and feel discouraged with Carson so often, but really we enjoy SO much about him. My mom often compares his behavior to mine when I was small. Apparently I was very persistent. Dad, if you read this blog, feel free to leave me a comment. My mom told me to ask you about when you guys had to lock me in my room and sit in front of the door so I would stay in my room where I was supposed to be!

So, I'm on the quest for good books which I think maybe the area I should look at is somewhere in the strong willed child area. What I'm interested in is if any of you have read any good books you think might be helpful for us to take a look at. I'm wide open to suggestions to help channel his energy/persistence for lack of better terms! Right now the way it's going it just feels a little "messy" does that make sense? I want to get a grip on this can you tell?

On another note, Kenedey is sick with the creeping crud. Not fun. She is immunosupressed from the Methotrexate so she's a bit more susceptible to "germs/bugs" and now that the kids are back in school all the little critters are passing bugs around. Yuck. To make a long story short, she is pretty much stuck to the couch and slowing getting better. Thank God kids are so resilient(sp) to this stuff. Kathy brought her, her homework/classwork from school today (Thank you so much Kathy) so she buckled right down and got to work on that when she wasn't sleeping. I guess she slept about 4 hours today off and on. Rest is a good thing.

My next thing I'm working on with her is I'm going to be getting on her with reading and meeting marking period goals for reading. She is reading at a 6th grade level and we don't have a lot of books around home in her level. She's bad about starting a book and then getting bored with it and then ditching it for another. That makes it tough when you are supposed to take tests on the books for AR points. So I think maybe on Thurs. Kenedey and I will have a little visit with Kathy (aka Mrs. Bosse) at the library at school and make a list of books she wants to read to meet her 15 for the semester. Ill let you know how that goes!

Sorry, no fun pics to share today, its been a busy one for me and I didn't snap any new ones!

Busy weekend AS usual!

Kenedey and Carson tonight... Carson's eyes wouldn't open because of the flash... sorry! He is a little dirt ball yes, that is cheese all over his face from cheesey popcorn. And... yes, his shirt says; LOCK UP YOUR DAUGHTERS!

Something funny, Carson LOVES... let me repeat LOVES popcorn. I really don't like it at all. Even movie theater popcorn I don't eat. However, when I was pregnant for him, that's what I craved was popcorn. I ate a ton of it... probably more in those months that I EVER have and EVER will again! I wonder if a fetus has taste likes and dislikes. Is there a study on that?! And really if there is out there... how would you know... they can't tell you!

Well, not tons to share, but we stayed busy the entire weekend. Carson still wasn't feeling 100% and we were dealing with some diarrhea issues... Let's just say glad THAT'S over!

Friday night I just did some laundry and stuff around the house. I waited all weekend for Hutch to be home because I was going to go over and steal Talan so I could take some pictures of him and surprise his mommy and daddy. However, that didn't work out apparently that child is ALSO still sick. Poor guy. I WILL get him evenually. I want to make a banner for his mommy's blog for her... oops I think I just gave all my ideas away! Oh well! My camera has been on overtime all weekend!

Saturday we went to Tom and Debbie's pig roast. I throughly enjoyed myself after Carson got past the fussies. Thank You Jess for helping with him. He really adores my cousin and clings to her about as much as me. He will pretty much always go to her. He threw LOTS of fits while we were there. I am going to be doing some SERIOUS reading on small children and tantrums and that stuff, I feel like this is getting somewhat out of hand. My anxiety level this morning and all day today was pretty high. I should say Jason and mine both. Just so much whining from Carson, we are both working on him, lots to do.

Anyway.. back to the pig roast. I ran into a friend, Jessi who her daughter and Kenedey are the same age and she works at Foote, I knew her and then got to know her better when Carson was born because she was there when he was born. So we caught up. Ended up chatting with lots of people and it was so much fun. They had a bouncy thing for the kids, a bonfire... a shed FULL of rabbits (lots of them babies) Kenedey's dream place. She would LOVE to get a bunny... we will see about that!

Anyway... thats about it for now, here are some pics from the pig roast! Enjoy

No title today!

Couldn't think of a Title for this blog post tonight! Sorry! I guess my brain doesn't want to cooperate... probably wants a break after this week!

Well, yesterday took the kids to the doctor for their physical's. Carson's 15 month and Kenedey's 10 year. We were about 2 weeks behind on Carson's due to scheduling conflits. But, everything went well.

Ill start with Carson, he weighed in at 27 lbs. 11 oz. Yeah that's why my arm muscles have gotten strong mom!!! Dr. seemed to think he looked great. He screamed the entire time the doctor tried to examine him. Here again the child hates to be restrained. Oh well, we got done very quickly! The only concern I had to talk to the doctor about was how much milk should Carson be drinking at this age. Milk is not his favorite thing to drink. He said between 12 and 24 oz. per day. So that at least gives me a goal to be sure he gets to everyday. Carson would even prefer water over milk at times. But I will just keep offering it and nothing at certain times of the day. He also had his immunizations and so far so good. No reactions. I hate those darn things, but just feel like we have to do it. Im not even going there about that debate, but still hate that they put those foreign things in my child's body. Makes me a bit nervous.

Kenedey had a rather long visit. She decided to see the nurse practioner this time because Dr. VanSchoick (Dr. Tim) is a man and she is more comfortable at this age with a female doing her physical. Dr. Tim looked over everything with Sue and they ordered a back xray. She has had some changes on the "scoliometer". Honestly I didn't ask many questions because im not worried. I believe that her back is different because of her gait being off from limping on her right leg with her "bad knee". She limps worse when she's tired, but most of the time she does well. I think some of it at this point is just habit, not a contracture from the JRA. So we will do the xray and see how that comes out. They also talked to her about drinking milk and making sure she gets her calcium over the next 2 years before her growth plate closes so she can have strong bones. She is built very similar to my mom and my mom's bones aren't the strongest so we will make an honest effort to build very strong bones at this age! Of course Kenedey is serious about it! She did not get any immunizations. They talked about giving her the Varicella booster, but she had chicken pox the disease after she had the imm. the first does, so she is covered. They offered Gardisil and Hep A, both are choices and neither mandatory, so I declined. I get to hear about these both at work all often and I just don't think right now we want either. Nuff said!

Got some fun little pics taken tonight so here they are to share. We have a pretty busy weekend as usual. Ill update later!

16 months

He just learned to drink from a straw!


This mean all done. And in this pic, yes he is sitting in the recliner in his "big boy" seat. I had something I HAD to do in the living room and he needed a snack so I brought him out there! Not usually where he eats!

So I know that this is my 3rd post today, however... I have all these things on my mind and if I don't get them off it, I can't stop thinking about it. I think my blog has become an unload and then I can forget the things I want to remember... until I get them down here they keep repeating in my head... Weird...yes!

So here we are at 16 months ALREADY!
New things Carson is doing/saying etc:

• He has begun to learn animal sounds! His meow for kitty is particularly cute and his "roof" for dog is sweet! He has a "mean" rarr for lion/bear! He has started to copy daddy when daddy naps on the couch, dad makes this awful snoring noise when he sleeps... well now Carson copies him and makes a snoring sound and lays his head down to pretend to sleep.
• We have passed the high chair down to Talan. Mom had a hard time seeing it go, however.. I dont think Carson noticed. Im glad Talan has it... somehow that makes me feel better. He seems to enjoy sitting at the table with us in his "big boy" seat. Tonight though, he learned to spit. Thus... causing food to go everywhere. When he was told no, not to do that... yeah he did it more. Ignoring seemed to work best. Difficult for us not to laugh?... for sure! When he is done eating he does this "all done" sign language that we made up when he was small. Sometimes he will sit there for all of 30 seconds and give the sign for all done. He hates to be restrained but its a necessity most of the time if you want him to sit.
• He is down to 1 nap a day now. It can last anywhere from 2-3 hours usually around noon or 1. Goes to bed around 8:30pm and up around 7am. On the rare occasion when he's been super busy he will sneak in an early nap if terribly whiny.
• New favorite movie: Stuart Little... who knew real people and a mouse would be a fav over a cartoon type show. It IS a cute show at least! At the end when the credits roll, he dances!
• LOVES music, still dance often!
• Loves fruit and has gotten a little picky with food. Not too bad though, he really likes fruit snacks. I have to remind myself they are a SNACK and he can't have them often. Veggies... not so much. We keep offering them. Pancakes for breakfast LOVES THEM!
• He tucks his little arms in when you hold him close to you. Rarely does he let anyone hold him and lay his head on your shoulder, but when he does he tucks his arms under his chest. Very sweet.
• Anything you can stack or put into something he likes to play with. He got some Duplo Lego's to play with and he enjoys those alot. He's great at putting them together and taking them apart. He still loves his little people school bus that the Robertson's got him for his birthday, he dances to the song it sings and pushes it all over the house.
• He sits in his elmo chair in his room to watch Stuart and uses it like its a recliner! LOL
• Still a very messy eater. Needs a bath everyday after dinner. He is using utensils very well. Tonight he poked his watermelon several times to be sure it was on his fork properly!
• He loves touch and feel and pull flap books. Dog (which was his fav book) has been retired. He pulled most of the tails off and the furry touch parts had all be pulled out. The dogs tounge was no longer sticky and the part where the book was bound together yeah that was ripped apart... I have intentions to buy another book same one, and put it up for when he treats them nicer, since he enjoys those so much. Right now we keep reading Tails by the same author, its seen better days also but the animals still have hair and still most of the pull tabs so we will use that one until its fully demolished. We are moving over to just the board books and no more fragile anything. So we are currently reading and rereading and rereading Goodnight Moon, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and The very Lonely Firefly... would you like me to recite each of them? I can!
• He has this cute wave he does when we leave people and a loud obnoxious BYEEEE to go along with it! I adore it, but it is truly obnoxious. He says hello to nearly everyone when we go anywhere. He doesn't say a lot of words on command yet, still only a select few that are plain as day, but everyday it seems he is saying more... tee tu (thank you) teese (please), hi, bye, yes, no, de dadeedadee (Kenedey), Ma (anytime he wants something...mostly for someone else's food or drink... just ask Jessi... she had a drink and he wouldn't stop calling her MA because he wanted more drinks, oh and he says that really loud too! Mom, Dad, Maama (for Grandma Grace)... Thats all I can recall at the moment. Still a lot of uggg eeeggg... for what he wants, ill be glad when thats over.
• He crys when Kenedey and I leave in the morning. Melts my heart, but we have the BEST babysitter who just adores him and takes such good care of him, so I don't worry too much.... I think it's time for seperation anxiety. I must admit, Kenedey and I are close for who is his fav person to be with. It used to be daddy, but that has changed.
• He's a climber... He has climbed on top of the kitchen table. Tries to climb up the back of the chairs in the kitchen. I worry he will tip one of them over and crack his head... ugh.
  

Well... hopefully I have covered most of updates here! Lots this month!

Neat

Just thought id share this neat email I got today from my mom. I just think this is incredible. Can you imagine being there or what that surgeon must have felt? I have seen a documentary type show on a surgery like this. Very neat and all I can say is WOW.
A picture began circulating in November. It should be "The Picture of the Year," or perhaps, "Picture of the Decade." It won't be. In fact, unless you obtained a copy of the US paper which published it, you probably would never have seen it. The picture is that of a 21-week-old unborn baby named Samuel Alexander Armas, who is being operated on by surgeon named Joseph Bruner. The baby was diagnosed with spina bifida and would not survive if removed from his mother's womb.! Little Samuel's mother, Julie Armas, is an obstetrics nurse in Atlanta . & a mp;n bsp; She knew of Dr. Bruner's remarkable surgical procedure. Practicing at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville , he performs these special operations while the baby is still in the womb.


During the procedure, the doctor removes the uterus via C-section and makes a small incision to operate on the baby. As Dr. Bruner completed the surgery on Samuel, the little guy reached his tiny, but fully developed hand through the incision and firmly grasped the surgeon's finger. Dr. Bruner was reported as saying that when his finger was grasped, it was the most emotional moment of his life, and that for an instant during the procedure he was just frozen, totally immobile. The photograph captures this amazing event with perfect clarity. The editors titled the picture, "Hand of Hope." The text explaining the picture begins, "The tiny hand of 21-week-old fetus Samuel Alexander Armas emerges from the mother's uterus to grasp the finger of Dr. Joseph Bruner as if thanking the doctor for the gift of life." Little Samuel's mother said they "wept for days" when they saw the picture. She said, "The photo reminds us pregnancy isn't about disability or an illness, it's about a little person." Samuel was born in perfect health, the operation 100 percent successful Now see the actual picture, and it is awesome....incredible. And hey, pass it on.
The world needs to see this one!



There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle. Albert Einstein

pam

"be the change you want to see in the world" - gandhi

What a gorgeous day!

Well, all you Florida people who read my blog... Fall is in the air here in Michigan. It cooled off today and was super nice. The humidity has been so high lately that I enjoyed the coolness in the air. (yeah that sentence sounded gay)! LOL

NEway! Met Jessi at Kohl's after work tonight to spend our Kohl's cash that we both had from a purchase 2 weeks ago. I ended up getting some really cute frames that were buy 1 get 1 free. Very cute. I got this one (2 of these) and this one and this one. Good stuff.

Kenedey is doing great in her second week of school. She is such a good girl, im so proud of her, she is so responsible with her things and has been doing a great job with staying on her chores and making sure she has all her stuff for school. (whew... can you say run on sentence?) Mom would you believe the little piggy's room is clean and she dusted yesterday. Anyway.. she has done such a good job falling right back into the routine of school.

We went to visit my Gramma Grace tonight. As most of you know who are regular lurkers, she is near and dear to my heart, im very close to her. I have not been good about stopping over to see her. Just get so stinkin busy lately. But she looked really good tonight. (She's 88 for those of you who don't know). She goes back to Florida at the end of the month. I miss her when she leaves, but I know it's great for her to go there. She gets a huge kick out of Carson and his naughtyness (rather being all boy)! She just cracks up at the stuff he does. Yeah really funny Gramma!!! Everytime we go over there he plays with the exact sames things that he should not. The drink coasters, a metal rocking horse, prayer hands, a doiley(sp), the DVD player, and the cordless phone. Well tonight when we got there, she had found him an old cordless phone. She had it set out just for him for when he comes over, so he played with that. He decided he would throw it at Kenedey, not once but like 3 times before we took it away. Yeah nice little brother he is. He talks on the phone ALL. THE. TIME. But when you WANT him to... he wont. Go figure. We really need to get over to the farm more over the next few weeks before she goes. I invited her over for dinner on Thurs night. She said she doesn't want me to "work" to make dinner. But I really WANT to, she always takes care of everyone and still likes to cook for others, its the least I can do. Hopefully she will come. She wants to come see Kenedey's "new room". How cute that she is even still interested at 88. Aren't we so lucky to have her?

Just a random picture for you to see. This is Carson "picking" on Talan already... COME ON CARSON! ALREADY??? Save it... you have years of that to come. You two will likely be buddies like your sisters. See they even copy you! Silly girls :-)

Speaking of the Hutchinson kids... Everyone give a big warm welcome to Jen (their mom). She has started a blog! Welcome to the world of blogging Jen!!! I can't wait to read your posts!

Go visit their site: The Hutchinson's

One of those great laughs where you laugh so hard you cry!

Carson wearing Kenedey headband this morning!

Yeah that happened to me today!!! It was GREAT times!

Had a great time today. Jessi and I took the kids up to Jungle Java in Ann Arbor. I was SO impressed with the place. We took 5 kids with us, ours and then my nephew Daymian went also. If any of you who read this and have small children and are looking for something to do... this is a great place to check out. The kids had an absolute blast and us girls throughly enjoyed ourselves. The place is very clean and well kept. They also have a "java bar" that has all kinds of nutrious snacks for the kids and all sorts of coffee and smoothie drinks for moms and kids alike. It's tough to explain this if you haven't been somewhere like this before, but trust me it was a great time for all. They even have a great little dining area and then several rooms for parties and lounge areas for parents complete with nice leather furniture to relax in!







We left there and decided we should head over to Old Navy. They were having their Children's sale... at least 25% off most everything. Good deals to be found. I picked up a few things for Kenedey, not much other than some socks for Carson. He really doesn't need anything since we get so many great hand me downs from Jack and i've already picked up some stuff for him recently. Super cute stuff for Ken though.

So... the funny part. We took the red barron. (For those of you who don't know we have a 95 Ford Aerostar that I only drove because we wanted to all ride together.) I used to drive it, but I have a "nice" car now! LOL Well the van has a pretty loud sound when it runs now, she's getting old and she's overdue for a bath ! LOL So here we are me and Jess driving down I-94 with our van packed FULL of kids! We pass this semi and the kids are all moving their arm up and down trying to get the semi to honk its horn. By the way its very cute to see Lauren do this! LOL But the semi looks and us and I am just thinking to myself and laughing out loud... Here we are lookin like the "friggin' welfare wagon" Two chicks with WAY too many kids! Im sure the truckers were laughing more at how we must have looked than the cute kids! I couldn't even tell Jess what I was thinking because I was laughing SO hard at myself! Probably this is one of those you had to be there moments but gosh it was HILARIOUS! Imagine this red and dirty FULL of kids! LOL

I also stopped by Barnes and Noble to pick up a couple of books I wanted. I could live in that store. I just love the aura of that place... I instantly feel calm when I walk in the door for some strange reason. I even love the smell of the place. Everyone ive ever been to in any state they always smell the same... books and coffee... mmmmmm. I told Jessi I would just run in by myself really quick... yeah not so much... it took me way longer than it should have. I can't help it. The next time I have some "me" time... I think ill go there and just sit in an aisle and look at books. Ugh... I want to live there!