tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80079012277734686762024-03-12T21:37:08.118-07:00Ramblings of a Yammer QueenKathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16109514861735932690noreply@blogger.comBlogger72125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007901227773468676.post-14438422587953781492011-08-18T11:33:00.001-07:002011-09-04T18:57:20.722-07:00Bye Bye Blogger!I've had it with trying to edit pictures on this site so I've moved to Wordpress. My blog address is <a href="http://hiskathy.wordpress.com/">http://hiskathy.wordpress.com</a>. You'll find it much easier to navigate and much more frequently updated because as you've noticed, I've been so annoyed with this one I haven't updated in a LONG time. I'm updating the summer stuff on wordpress so check it out!
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<br />Kathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16109514861735932690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007901227773468676.post-31063706292303629112011-04-30T18:01:00.000-07:002011-05-01T12:19:21.960-07:00AprilI just realized it's been a long time since I updated ye ol' blog. I think the main reason is there hasn't been a whole lot to talk about. My parents came for a visit at the end of March and that was a nice time. The weather was kinda crappy so it was just all the inspiration we needed to just hang out at home and play with Jason and play Wii. <img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601824808781919986" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mj7QbZ2WJKo/Tb2t-91qtvI/AAAAAAAAAms/4RYCGc9c288/s400/mounts2.jpg" /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601824802446330498" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WG3zNurcLWM/Tb2t-mPJSoI/AAAAAAAAAmk/9crQummUStU/s400/mounts1.jpg" /><br />Jason's new favorite toy - Pampers box with a rope tied to it....it's the simple things...<br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601824805172426402" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Rpkb6qa9oRg/Tb2t-wZGNqI/AAAAAAAAAm0/WqBgzNIW06E/s400/mounts3.jpg" />Most of April I have spent trying to be healthier. You may have noticed my new badge on the right of the blog that has my weight loss. I've just today (April 30th) finished the Couch to 5K program. I'm running for 30 minutes straight and can finish my 5K distance in about 40 minutes. Next week I'll be working on running the whole 5K distance and not counting my warm up walk in there. Hopefully I'll be fully prepared to run my first race on May 7th. It will be a 5K in support of Girls on the Run, which promotes self esteem in young girls through physical activity. I mostly liked that the race was a week after I was planning on being done with C25K and that it was for running, walking, and pushing a stroller. Jason has been my constant training buddy and I have only done one run at the beginning of my training without him so it was only fitting that he would go along for the ride. I'm kind of nervous and excited about it. I am a bit worried about the fact that the race starts at 8:30am and I have to work until 11:30pm the night before. I may have to take something before bed to help me sleep. I have also signed up to do a marathon distance in May. It's through <a href="http://joggermommarathon.com/">http://joggermommarathon.com/</a> and it's a virtual marathon where I will log the miles I run throughout the month of May and hopefully end up with at least 26.2 miles by May 31st. Then they do a drawing for prizes out of the people who reach that goal. Since as of now I'm running about 9 miles a week, I should be able to do it. It will help keep me running after my 5K and help me reach my weight goal by my birthday (I got about 10lbs to go). I've also been doing Zumba on Mondays (which is a blast) and I'm trying to fit some strength training in there too. I rode my bike to a couple Bible study classes and Dan and I have rode our bikes to choir rehearsal a few times so Wednesday has that going for it. I still need to work on my eating a bit because I still love me some chocolate but giving up Easter candy for Lent really helped me in April (the 50% off sales after Easter, not so much....oh well).<br /><br /><br /><br /><div><br /><br /><div><br /><br /><div>[try as I might, I can't get rid of this stupid space...Blogger drives me nuts sometimes]<br /><br /><div><br /><br /><div><br /><br /><div><br /><br /><div><br /><br /><div><br /><br /><div>Jason hasn't changed a whole lot in the past month. He still loves walking around the neighborhood and saying hi to the doggies. He's got a mouthful of teeth and I think he's finally getting his canines in so he's been a bit fussy. I'm starting to wean him and I've stopped pumping so I'm only nursing him first thing in the morning and at bedtime. We've been giving him cow's milk at dinner and he seems to be tolarating it ok. We've tried whole milk but he had some diarrhea from that so we're doing half whole/half 1% and that seems to help. Maybe the whole milk was too fatty. We'll ask the pedi next week. Jason's starting to show some signs of the terrible twos. If he doesn't get what he wants he won't hesitate to throw himself on the ground screaming. So far I've been handling it by walking away at home and putting him in the shopping cart/stroller in stores. I try to give him some freedom to walk around the stores because he likes to walk around but when he starts taking off and not listening to me I have to restrain him. Ah, life with a toddler. Overall, he's a pretty good kid though.<br /><br />Here he is reading his latest "Grandma Book" (my mom has made a couple of those Hallmark recordable books and he just loves them)</div><br /><br /><br /><br /><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601826049702320034" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-H3Vy5elYx1M/Tb2vHMoJV6I/AAAAAAAAAm8/t4rhv8ekhfE/s400/DSC01380.JPG" /><br /></div><br /><br /><br /><div>Since he's getting to be such a big boy we've graduated him to a booster seat. He's a bit too relaxed here waiting to dye eggs</div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601826054543402322" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-W6Y2Qn7ar3A/Tb2vHeqWZVI/AAAAAAAAAnE/eXNse52TfbU/s400/DSC01381.JPG" /> Here's Mr. Goofypants with a roll of duct tape on one ankle and a roll of masking tape on the other....he's just walking around like that. He does the same things with his stacking rings.<br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601826070527539138" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UiYS4emU2wQ/Tb2vIaNQ98I/AAAAAAAAAnc/rBdTfn_W59o/s400/DSC01405.JPG" /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div>We had a lot of fun with our friends, the Chastains, at Easter. They are like our second family and have invited us for family dinners on Thanksgiving and Easter since our families live so far away. Jason got to take part in the Easter egg hunt. Their 11-year-old son, Eric, helped Jason find eggs and put them in his basket. It was really cute and I was totally kicking myself for forgetting my camera. I decided to do another Easter egg hunt when we got home but Jason hit his head on our birdbath and that sucked all the fun out of it. So much for that video *sigh*</div><br /><br /><br /><br /><div>We did get some cute pictures of us all in our Easter finery though:</div><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601827240996221810" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FmypWG29RvM/Tb2wMiivs3I/AAAAAAAAAnk/bBW_71rZ0wU/s400/DSC01397.JPG" /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5601826058861381442" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lLqD0bQwG1A/Tb2vHuv1h0I/AAAAAAAAAnM/1WO80dZdJfU/s400/DSC01390.JPG" /> </div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Kathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16109514861735932690noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007901227773468676.post-76657651114580281852011-03-19T14:33:00.001-07:002011-03-24T11:45:40.956-07:00Spring is coming!Sorry it's been so long since I've updated! I had a hard time typing with that stupid cast on so now that it's off, I'll update!<br /><br /> At the end of February, Dan's parents came for a short visit. We had fun hanging out and we went to Exploration Place (kinda like a children's museum). Jason didn't get much out of the Megalodon exhibit but thought the Kinex exhibit was cool and had fun in the tot's area. I also chased him through the children's castle area but was worried whenever he came near the metal spiral staircase. <img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5587717748446009538" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0oKlIKR2vwc/TYuPr-1FGMI/AAAAAAAAAl8/BwM5-xO2-fM/s400/DSC01297.JPG" /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5587717758850269666" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JBoStD-0zqQ/TYuPsllpgeI/AAAAAAAAAmM/hFTOEoNYP88/s400/DSC01306.JPG" /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5587717752911750274" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iTyg1QrBxF0/TYuPsPdy5II/AAAAAAAAAmE/QSyBNdgwHnM/s400/DSC01303.JPG" />At church, they joined us for Sunday school (which I just happend to be teaching Ruth - funny lesson to teach to your mother-in-law) and they joined us in the choir and singing the communion hymns. We also had a lot of fun playing with bubbles in the living room.<br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5587717166391517154" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-04ujmy0HU_k/TYuPKGgeX-I/AAAAAAAAAlk/GcwR36mJowo/s400/DSC01275.JPG" /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5587717381201175618" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lUgquYojWCw/TYuPWmvFpEI/AAAAAAAAAls/tWGRRf8ejao/s400/DSC01277.JPG" />They brought one of Dan's old robes from when he was 2 and it looked like a smoking jacket, so I gave Jason his bubble pipe.<br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5587717387249535410" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CFqicgtsLkM/TYuPW9RISbI/AAAAAAAAAl0/mptv2PJTozw/s400/DSC01292.JPG" /><br /><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div>A couple weeks before I got my cast off I started the Couch to 5K plan. I thought it would be a good goal to run a 5K before I turned 30. Since I also want to lose weight, I figured this was a good way to accomplish both. The weather was just starting to get nice which helped motivate me to go outside (plus Jason really likes going outside). We got a new jogging stroller because our old stroller didn't work well and wasn't for jogging anyway. I love the new stroller! It sucked running with the cast because I would get hot and not really be able to do anything about it (plus I really didn't want to sweat too much in the cast - fortunately it wasn't too hot outside yet). Now that the cast is off, it's a bit easier. I just finished week 3 where I would run 3 minutes straight twice and 90 seconds straight twice. Next week I start running 5 minutes straight and a lot less walking. Overall, I'm actually enjoying it! I never thought I would get into running but it's an easy way to get a good workout plus Bonnie gets a good workout and Jason gets some fresh air. I'm already fitting back into some of my old jeans so it's a win-win all around! This is the cute shirt Jason wore on St. Patrick's Day:</div><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5587718032396750594" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vtTpR0LOtXk/TYuP8goNjwI/AAAAAAAAAmU/6xcWF2NyfXA/s400/DSC01336.JPG" /><br /><div>I also got a new bike and a trailer for Jason. My new bike is awesome! I haven't had a new bike since I was 5 so it was fun picking it out (sticker-shock and all). We picked it up on Wednesday and rode our bikes to church. Since we only live about a mile from church it only took 10 minutes. I never realized how much uphill there is on the way though. I guess you never notice hills in the car but on a bike - oh boy! It's a whole different set of muscles to work so my legs are really getting a good workout. I'm planning on biking to bible study on Wednesday mornings too - we'll see how that goes (I have a hard time getting there on time in the car so we'll see). It will just be another fun thing I can do with Dan since he likes to ride his bike but I've never been much of a bike rider. The trailer we got seats two as well so we can use it when we have two kiddos to pull along too. Jason seems to be ok with it - he just doesn't like wearing his helmet and spends most of the ride messing with it. Oh well, he'll get used to it!<img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5587718040769836978" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XcUnxUztlD0/TYuP8_0gt7I/AAAAAAAAAmc/NPF9IypjRxI/s400/DSC01343.JPG" /></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Kathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16109514861735932690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007901227773468676.post-28942917488603989732011-01-27T15:50:00.001-08:002011-01-27T16:24:06.515-08:00Snow and Oh No!Oh January. I hate winter, but it is a bit easier to handle when you wake up to this crazy hair every morning:<br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5567018726242842210" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/TUIGCUOm9mI/AAAAAAAAAkg/2yNB0mQDLh4/s400/DSC01190.JPG" /><br />At least he cleans up nice (even though his shirt won't stay tucked in)<br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5567018724393074818" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/TUIGCNVlwII/AAAAAAAAAkY/3eWV6Hk-ACQ/s400/DSC01183.JPG" />Jason's new trick: Show me your belly!<br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5567021322984008274" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/TUIIZd18qlI/AAAAAAAAAlQ/RLqysJuSQrs/s400/DSC01227.JPG" /><br />He also love popping around the house with this:<br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5567021303365791858" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/TUIIYUwmcHI/AAAAAAAAAk4/YjyxALKWSkQ/s400/DSC01214.JPG" /><br />We got our first big snowfall a couple weeks ago so we got Jason all bundled up<br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5567018736076388434" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/TUIGC43G-FI/AAAAAAAAAko/gzpXdOxROjE/s400/DSC01197.JPG" /><br />and he got to check it out. I don't know if he knew what to think about it<br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5567018739621387650" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/TUIGDGETXYI/AAAAAAAAAkw/clWW5NG1PN8/s400/DSC01202.JPG" /><br />He loved sledding<br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5567021308323856130" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/TUIIYnOsfwI/AAAAAAAAAlA/qmmoIY8xNBg/s400/DSC01221.JPG" /><br />Of course I had to pull him since we don't have hills...<br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5567021313083980370" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/TUIIY49mOlI/AAAAAAAAAlI/T3L6XlvKN7o/s400/DSC01222.JPG" /><br /><br />On a surprisingly unrealated note, I started having wrist pain last week. Yesterday, I went to the orthopedist to see what to do about it and he decides that I have some ligament damage (from what, I don't know) and I'll need to wear a cast for SIX WEEKS. This is going to suck...<br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5567021331537330626" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/TUIIZ9tOAcI/AAAAAAAAAlY/nWjsadOul1M/s400/DSC01234.JPG" />Kathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16109514861735932690noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007901227773468676.post-61082997974937037172011-01-06T16:14:00.000-08:002011-01-06T16:41:10.878-08:00Christmas 2010Jason's second Christmas was a pretty laid-back one. Largely due to the fact that I had to work. We already saw our families the past couple months so there was no big pressure to see them at Christmas. Although Dan's parents did make the trip as part of their "tour" to see everyone else, so that was nice. Jason gave me his gift to me on Christmas Eve night - he slept all the way until Christmas morning and didn't wake up once. I love sleep so it was a great gift! Then we all got up and had breakfast. At the end of breakfast my parents called and we got on Skype and opened our presents from them "in front" of them. Skype Christmas's are great - togetherness without travel! They got Jason and Dan Colts slippers so that was cute! <img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 259px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559234500642242690" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/TSZeUwHggII/AAAAAAAAAjE/2aj-TvMVYaA/s400/colts.jpg" />Jason didn't quite know what to do as far as gift unwrapping. He pulled and ripped on some paper but overall I did it for him. He now has enough toys to entertain a small army of toddlers. <div>I may have to split them in groups and cycle them around, but that sounds like a lot of work right now so I'm putting it off and piling it up in the toybox. <img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559235359979705266" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/TSZfGxZhk7I/AAAAAAAAAj8/Gypr8C_f2tI/s400/DSC01162.JPG" /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559235353843957874" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/TSZfGaipgHI/AAAAAAAAAj0/Ozc9ioY8i8A/s400/DSC01151.JPG" /></div><div>Cute puppy back pack...baby leash...who's keeping track?!</div><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559235366923279186" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/TSZfHLRAG1I/AAAAAAAAAkE/Z_8Dvu9xgUE/s400/DSC01161.JPG" />Dan's parents came on Monday evening and left on Wednesday morning. We had a nice visit with them. Jason got more gifts and Dan and I got our butts kicked in Raquetball by Dan's dad. I'm glad we did it though, I need to be more active and it was a lot of fun even though I'm terrified of the ball and have been known to shreik. We also tried (like last year) to get some interesting low light Christmas pictures with varying success. <div><div><div><div><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559235352060155874" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/TSZfGT5W1-I/AAAAAAAAAjs/R9dKv-hFkBY/s400/DSC01149.JPG" /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559234535162580162" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/TSZeWwtzDMI/AAAAAAAAAjk/omAM1P3hHwg/s400/DSC01147.JPG" /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559234522392334914" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/TSZeWBJIkkI/AAAAAAAAAjU/J_jaCOkjXwI/s400/DSC01141.JPG" /></div><div> </div><div>This picture cracks me up: Dan was trying to get Jason to smile but Jason decided it would be more fun to play with the camera. Let's consider this "Jason's first picture"</div><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559234529135801474" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/TSZeWaQ5tII/AAAAAAAAAjc/apJIO4g2wu0/s400/DSC01137.JPG" /></div></div></div></div></div></div><br /><p>Jason loves being outside even when it's cold. We just bundle him up really good and he's happy as can be!</p><p><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559235377681927906" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/TSZfHzWEDuI/AAAAAAAAAkM/DUlbxZUiq7E/s400/DSC01173.JPG" /></p><p><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5559234512075099458" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/TSZeVatUDUI/AAAAAAAAAjM/8TUK6bUDLyM/s400/DSC01132.JPG" /></p>Kathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16109514861735932690noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007901227773468676.post-35248847368415660802010-12-24T10:33:00.000-08:002010-12-24T10:51:31.758-08:00Christmas and one year pics<div>Here's Jason's visit with Santa. He was not a fan!</div><br /><a href="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs611.ash2/156382_489694789617_512324617_5391382_3187577_n.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 547px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 720px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs611.ash2/156382_489694789617_512324617_5391382_3187577_n.jpg" /></a><br /><div><div><div>Earlier this month we went to Portrait Innovations to get family Christmas pictures and Jason's one year pictures. Here are some of the highlights:</div><br /><div></div><a href="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs473.ash2/74684_487819849617_512324617_5365879_4914002_n.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 478px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 720px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs473.ash2/74684_487819849617_512324617_5365879_4914002_n.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs1358.snc4/163029_487819814617_512324617_5365878_1768700_n.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 478px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 720px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs1358.snc4/163029_487819814617_512324617_5365878_1768700_n.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 720px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 478px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs1215.snc4/156719_487819689617_512324617_5365873_4057358_n.jpg" /><a href="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs716.snc4/63653_487819784617_512324617_5365877_3570866_n.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 478px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 720px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs716.snc4/63653_487819784617_512324617_5365877_3570866_n.jpg" /></a><br /><div><div><div></div><a href="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs802.snc4/68260_487819754617_512324617_5365876_6811578_n.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 478px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 720px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs802.snc4/68260_487819754617_512324617_5365876_6811578_n.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs376.ash2/65476_487819649617_512324617_5365872_4002481_n.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 478px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 720px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs376.ash2/65476_487819649617_512324617_5365872_4002481_n.jpg" /></a><br /><div><br /><div></div><a href="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs1190.snc4/154261_487819609617_512324617_5365871_2201678_n.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 478px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 720px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs1190.snc4/154261_487819609617_512324617_5365871_2201678_n.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div><br /><div></div><br /><a href="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs122.ash2/39425_487819499617_512324617_5365868_4248078_n.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 478px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 720px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs122.ash2/39425_487819499617_512324617_5365868_4248078_n.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs012.snc4/33983_487819574617_512324617_5365870_3276795_n.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 720px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 478px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs012.snc4/33983_487819574617_512324617_5365870_3276795_n.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div><br /><div></div><a href="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs122.ash2/39425_487819499617_512324617_5365868_4248078_n.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 478px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 720px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs122.ash2/39425_487819499617_512324617_5365868_4248078_n.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div><br /></div><a href="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs1120.snc4/148229_487819399617_512324617_5365866_6181733_n.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 478px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 720px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs1120.snc4/148229_487819399617_512324617_5365866_6181733_n.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs737.ash1/163013_487819354617_512324617_5365865_2066567_n.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 478px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 720px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs737.ash1/163013_487819354617_512324617_5365865_2066567_n.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div><br /><a href="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs617.ash2/156930_487819309617_512324617_5365864_3328669_n.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 478px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 720px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs617.ash2/156930_487819309617_512324617_5365864_3328669_n.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs714.snc4/63406_487819219617_512324617_5365861_6533885_n.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 478px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 720px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs714.snc4/63406_487819219617_512324617_5365861_6533885_n.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs695.snc4/63533_487819164617_512324617_5365859_5606578_n.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 478px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 720px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs695.snc4/63533_487819164617_512324617_5365859_5606578_n.jpg" /></a> <div><br /><a href="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs589.ash2/154138_487819074617_512324617_5365857_3986912_n.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 478px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 720px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs589.ash2/154138_487819074617_512324617_5365857_3986912_n.jpg" /></a></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Kathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16109514861735932690noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007901227773468676.post-85325136607407657442010-12-22T17:16:00.000-08:002010-12-23T08:48:25.871-08:00ThanksgivingI know it's long overdue but here's how our Thanksgiving went. On Wednesday we drove up to Olathe to stay the night with Abby and Terry in preparation for our early train ride on Thursday. Abby served spaghetti that night....she may have regretted it since that's one of Jason's favorites (probably due to the mess he can make). <img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5553914975447553362" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/TRN4PohGFVI/AAAAAAAAAho/CLMtGuKAMQk/s400/DSC01089.JPG" /> We boarded the train at around 8am in Kansas City and arrived in Galesburg, IL around noon. It was a pretty nice trip. Jason and I slept for a couple hours, we had some snacks, and were able to walk around and hang out in the lounge car a bit. We also met a nice deaf couple with a baby about a month younger than Jason. It was pretty interesting trying to communicate with them. I remembered some signs from my Baby Signs book but mostly I tried to make it easier for her to read my lips. Overall, I prefer taking a train to flying. We could bring all the luggage we needed and didn't have to go through security which took a lot of the hassels out of our usual travels. Too bad the train doesn't go to Muncie! <img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5553915109418004930" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/TRN4XbmI8cI/AAAAAAAAAhw/L5BgJxi0Bvo/s400/DSC01095.JPG" />When we arrived in Galesburg we were picked up by Dan's parents who had a minivan. It wasn't too much trouble putting Jason's carseat in the minivan but it's always a process getting it in just right. It was really cold in Illinois too, which was something to get used to. Fortunately we all had our cold weather gear. After getting settled into the hotel we drove over to Great Grandma and Grandpa Coffman's house for Thanksgiving. There were 28 people there that day! It was quite the housefull! Jason had a fun time trying to steal food from the snack table (which was a coffee table - right at his height and full of "chokables"). Fortunately he was never out of sight with all those people around. On Friday they had the bonfire/weiney roast. We rode a parade wagon attached to a tractor out to the bonfire site and it was REALLY COLD. Jason was screaming his head off either because he was cold, tired, or hated being bundled up. Either way as soon as the tractor started moving he was asleep for the next hour or so. <img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5553915418223181650" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/TRN4pZ_B_1I/AAAAAAAAAh4/tuowwBFc8So/s400/DSC01096.JPG" />We roasted giant marshmallows for s'mores and hotdogs and basically gathered around the fire for warmth. <img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 494px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 327px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs589.ash2/154150_1546597378963_1055895403_31211764_8023303_n.jpg" /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 466px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 304px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs606.ash2/155810_1546599579018_1055895403_31211775_456130_n.jpg" />When Jason finally woke up he only lasted a few minutes before he got too cold and sick of not being able to walk around (the ground was too uneven and he kept falling down). Jason his Aunt Sarah and I went back to Grandma's house to warm up and let Jason run around with Sarah's iPod (he was happy to listen to music again). I put Jason down for a nap and his Grandpa watched him while Dan and I went to "the store".<img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 456px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 275px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash2/hs608.ash2/156059_1546586498691_1055895403_31211703_8279585_n.jpg" /> Great Grandpa Coffman likes to buy things at auctions and he keeps these things in a house near their own that is not fit to be lived in but works for keeping massive amounts of stuff. It's kind of like an episode of "Horders" but if we find anything we want we can have it. We got a cast iron skillet and a few toys and books for Jason. We also picked out a huge chalkboard that Dan's parents are going to bring to us at Christmas. Then it was over to Aunt Gail's house for dinner. They had a piano that Jason liked to play. <img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5553915548399808386" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/TRN4w-7jr4I/AAAAAAAAAiA/4KPjgVpQFVU/s400/DSC01098.JPG" />He started to get fussy near the end of the night so everyone around the table played a game of "Jason says" where we all did what he did. He found it very confusing. <div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5553915651872267394" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/TRN43AZUHII/AAAAAAAAAiI/yPxMqzarAo4/s400/DSC01103.JPG" /></div><div>Here's the whole group at Aunt Gail's.</div><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5553918855168760402" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/TRN7xdmtmlI/AAAAAAAAAiQ/xhJniMW9JRw/s400/IMG_4701.JPG" /></div><div>On Satuday we hung out and left on our train at around 5pm. The trip wasn't as interesting since it was dark most of the time but we did have dinner on the train which was an experience. The coach was kind of warm so we spent a fair amount of time in the lounge car. By the time we got back to Abby's house it was around midnight and we were all pretty tired. We drove back to Wichita on Sunday after lunch so we would be home in time to go to Hanging of the Greens at church. It was a really great Thanksgiving!</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Kathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16109514861735932690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007901227773468676.post-49749720557695159782010-10-30T18:27:00.000-07:002010-11-04T22:58:35.615-07:00Halloween and Happy Birthday!I can't believe it's been a year already. This time last year I was huge, contracty, uncomfortable and so anxious to meet my baby. I didn't put too much thought into my Halloween costume last year because I wasn't sure what I would be doing, but it was kind of cute anyway. <div><div><div><div><div><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535938972363049282" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/TNObKinwyUI/AAAAAAAAAhQ/_6ftEC52sMM/s400/PA310160.JPG" /></div><div>Amazing what a difference a year makes, huh?</div><div> </div></div><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535937676952115282" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/TNOZ_I1umFI/AAAAAAAAAgo/gxM7OXULP-I/s400/DSC00921.JPG" /></div><div>Now that we have a cute baby to dress up, we wanted to do a fun family theme. We were planning on going to a halloween party so it was totally justified. We decided to do a Super theme and it turned out really good.<br /></div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535937202481167602" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/TNOZjhTCfPI/AAAAAAAAAgg/0k9aUAClNM4/s400/DSC00966.JPG" />Jason and I also went to the Halloween party at My Gym (our baby gym). I dressed up too, and was the only parent who did but who cares, I looked fabulous! <img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535938175338976770" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/TNOacJealgI/AAAAAAAAAg4/Czje2FnZsvw/s400/DSC00952.JPG" /></div><div>Since our family doesn't live in town we decided to roll Jason's birthday into the halloween party because we didn't want to put too much effort into a party for someone who won't even remember it. I made some cute cupcakes for him and he loved them! I do wish I got him a "First Birthday" onsie or something but I didn't want to buy something that he'd only wear once. I'll have to schedule his one year photos soon because those are definitely ones we'll get.</div><div>Here are some pictures of Jason enjoying his cupcake:</div><div align="center">Before:</div><div> </div><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535938622384302514" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/TNOa2K2U6bI/AAAAAAAAAhA/1J2XgugMsF4/s400/DSC00967.JPG" /></div><div align="center">After a few frosting licks he shoved the whole thing in his mouth:</div><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535938762683689586" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/TNOa-VgTqnI/AAAAAAAAAhI/IHEza9rSe00/s400/DSC00971.JPG" /></div><div align="center">Yeah, I think he liked it!</div><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535937860461541730" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/TNOaJ0dyOWI/AAAAAAAAAgw/sCEIWoJvKmU/s400/DSC00975.JPG" /></div></div></div></div>Kathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16109514861735932690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007901227773468676.post-82650704275514047632010-10-30T18:04:00.000-07:002010-11-04T22:41:45.648-07:00October Indiana TripAfter finding out that a few of our college friends were planning on going to Purdue's Homecoming game, we decided that we would attend too. I called my mom and we decided to make an extended visit out of it. We flew up to Indy on Wednesday Oct 13th. I really pray for the day that there will be a direct flight from Wichita to Indianapolis because we always have to go through another airport - usually O'Hare because it makes the most sense. We were delayed for a couple hours out of O'Hare which was a struggle with an 11-month-old, but we found an empty gate for him to crawl around in. We arrived in Indy around 6pm or so then drove to my parents house in a rental car. We rented a carseat along with the car so we wouldn't have to bring ours. It was a decent seat but as always it was a struggle to get it into the car right. At this point, Jason had had it with traveling and it was throwing quite the fit. Nothing like a little extra stress! I just had Dan sit in the back seat with Jason to help calm him down and he was asleep pretty soon after. We got to my parent's house by nearly 8pm and they thankfully held dinner for us. We were all pretty tired and hungry. When we planned this trip my parents thought it would be nice to make a family gathering out of it and we planned on getting together with my dad's folks since they hadn't met Jason yet. My mom's parents decided that they were feeling pretty good and wanted to go up to Indiana/Ohio to visit family and since we were in town they coordinated it to be there when we were. My brother also thought that would be a good time to visit so he was there as well. It was great to see everyone! Jason found Shadow's toys immediately. <img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535932697794807442" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/TNOVdUCHhpI/AAAAAAAAAfg/s2PEtBwMfsM/s400/DSC00809.JPG" /> <div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535933498937048626" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/TNOWL8hT_jI/AAAAAAAAAf4/2XsYXkikyx8/s400/IMG_0915.JPG" />On Thursday everyone was there and we had a kind of "Thanksgiving in October" event. We also celebrated Jason's and my dad's birthday at that time too. Jason loved playing with all of his new toys and my parent's dog and cat, not to meantion all the family giving him attention. <img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535933372660702626" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/TNOWEmGr3aI/AAAAAAAAAfw/2rw3wPzNP1U/s400/IMG_0931.JPG" /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535934097574189858" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/TNOWuynh2yI/AAAAAAAAAgI/XT0Ks_tZBBU/s400/IMG_0903.JPG" /></div><div>After lunch and more visiting with family on Friday, we drove up to Lafayette. We stayed at a hotel in town Friday night so we could get to campus as early as possible on Saturday morning for tailgating. We were able to make it by just after 9am which was pretty good for us! They had some awesome food and games and it was nice seeing everyone and introducing them to Jason. It was pretty cold first thing in the morning (like 40 degrees) but by the time 11am rolled around and the game started it was about 70 degrees and sunny. Jason took a little nap before the game which allowed us to eat lunch and he stayed asleep through most of the game with a few times of cruising on the bleachers behind us. He was very good during the game and Purdue won which made it all the better! <img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535933713738441794" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/TNOWYct9JEI/AAAAAAAAAgA/bM1uV-6o9uc/s400/DSC00847.JPG" /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535933083311448162" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/TNOVzwMcoGI/AAAAAAAAAfo/kuk7cxBBo5Q/s400/DSC00843.JPG" /></div><div>After the game we drove down to Mike and Tammy's house in Brownsburg, IN. They were having an after-game party and we stayed the night with them so we could put the baby to bed and hang out as long as possible. Jason was a bit fussy after putting him to bed but Dan went up with him so I could hang out a bit longer (yay!). </div><div>After breakfast on Sunday we drove back to my parent's house and spent the rest of the day with them and my brother. We were all in our Colts outfits and watched football, hung out and Jimmy and I went through some of our old stuff in my parents storage "garage". Unfortunatly, some of the stuff was destroyed by mice but the important stuff was in plastic containers so those survived and some of the stuff washed up ok. The Colts were the primetime game and they won so a good time was had by all! We left on Monday afternoon and our plane rides back were uneventful. I'm so glad Jason is a good traveler and the trip was a really good one!<img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535934407720782002" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/TNOXA2APSLI/AAAAAAAAAgQ/6mbwnZhvCu4/s400/IMG_0950.JPG" /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5535934584963339522" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/TNOXLKSKFQI/AAAAAAAAAgY/ocXGOw0Ps-k/s400/DSC00866.JPG" /></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Kathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16109514861735932690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007901227773468676.post-25022580017258717332010-09-22T10:16:00.001-07:002010-09-22T10:31:35.045-07:00Chasin' JasonSorry for taking so long to update! My mastitis cleared up in a couple days so that was a relief. I have a lot of updates and stories so here we go. On August 28th weekend we went up to KC to visit Abby and Terry. They also watched Jason on Saturday night so Dan and I could go out to dinner for our 6th anniversary. It was nice to dress up and have a grown up meal out. We had a really nice visit and even had a good swim in the community pool.<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/TJo7L3nGsYI/AAAAAAAAAfY/Ks-O0m1i2PA/s1600/DSC00731.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519789368388530562" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/TJo7L3nGsYI/AAAAAAAAAfY/Ks-O0m1i2PA/s400/DSC00731.JPG" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/TJo7BAp4C3I/AAAAAAAAAfQ/hsXgAQAz5UM/s1600/DSC00735.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519789181837511538" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/TJo7BAp4C3I/AAAAAAAAAfQ/hsXgAQAz5UM/s400/DSC00735.JPG" /></a><br />On September 4th we took Jason out to have his first haircut! He did so good and is now even cuter than ever.</div><div align="center">Before:<br /></div><div align="center"> <img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519788926414281218" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/TJo6yJIO2gI/AAAAAAAAAfA/GY61p6P9-OY/s400/DSC00746.JPG" /><br />After:<br /><br /><div align="center"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519788829631861938" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/TJo6sglgVLI/AAAAAAAAAe4/7vrzK0rGNFg/s400/DSC00749.JPG" /><br />Lately, Jason has been fighting his morning nap. I imagine he'll be fading that out eventually in favor of a longer nap in the early afternoon. This picture is funny because one Saturday when he was fighting his nap I said "fine, then you can help me sort laundry". He was playing in the pile and then would drop off to sleep....wake up and play....drop off. Too cute<br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519789036460886322" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/TJo64jFYyTI/AAAAAAAAAfI/Pwc2i9cVlPs/s400/DSC00745.JPG" />Now that he's quite mobile with the crawling and pulling up and cruising on just about everything I find myself "chasin' Jason" most of the day. He's some pictures of what the little stinker can get into.<br /></div><div align="center">"reading" the newspaper - we've since decided it was best to keep our pile of newspaper out of reach<br /><div> <img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519788712548242578" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/TJo6lsamFJI/AAAAAAAAAew/V072Ti-TEII/s400/DSC00752.JPG" />I swear, if you leave this kid alone for too long he'll crawl into the bathroom and unravel the toilet paper - he loves to do that<br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519788514188044914" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/TJo6aJd1qnI/AAAAAAAAAeo/K6lqx1aWT2Y/s400/DSC00761.JPG" />One day I thought it would be safe to leave him to play in his room while I went to the bathroom. Appearently he can reach the Kleenex box....<br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519788387039750162" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/TJo6SvzUqBI/AAAAAAAAAeg/-ecE_slPljU/s400/DSC00779.JPG" /><br /><div> On September 20th we got a nice little day-visit from Grandma Bender and Great-Grandma Coffman. We went out to get Jason some new shoes and just generally hung out and played.<br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519788258499685378" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/TJo6LQ8-7AI/AAAAAAAAAeY/ZIcjG9VofOI/s400/DSC00782.JPG" /></div></div></div></div><br />Ok, I think we're all caught up now!Kathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16109514861735932690noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007901227773468676.post-60136200521170449712010-09-07T20:11:00.000-07:002010-09-07T20:25:05.609-07:00Boo....bsyes, my boobs get a big "boo" this week. I have mastitis in my right one and it sucks big time. I guess I should be glad that I have had 10 months of trouble-free breastfeeding but that's doing little to make me feel better now. I woke up Sunday morning with a rather painful boob which I chalked up to engorgement since Jason didn't really nurse very well from that one the night before. I figured I would nurse him on that one first thing and all would be better - it wasn't. It remained hard and sore and I thought "ok, I have a clogged duct, we're just going to have to work on that". I also had kind of all over body pain; the muscles in my legs hurt so bad during church I had to rub them and I was all antsy. I decided to ask my beloved message board what they thought and they thought mastitis so that kind of bummed me out but I had to admit they sounded right all except for one thing - I didn't have a fever. As the day progressed I felt worse and worse and despite frequent nursing my boob got more and more "angry" and by the time I went to bed that night I had a pretty bad case of the chills. I didn't take my temp but I took some tylenol and eventually was able to get to sleep. By Monday I was no better and was running a fever all morning. By noonish I realized I would not be able to work in this condition. I hate calling in sick to work, especially on a weekend or holiday because I know it's difficult to find someone to replace me. When I called in I was asked if I was going to get some antibiotics or anything. Oddly enough, the thought hadn't occured to me but it sounded like a good idea so I called my doctor. Of course, since it was Labor Day, they were closed and I only had about an hour to get to the immediate care clinic before they closed. I didn't want Jason to go to the clinic so I left him home with Dan and drove my sick self to the clinic. Since it was about to close, there were very few people there and I was able to get right in, get my antibiotic prescription and a lot of sympathy and be on my way. I spent the rest of the day kind of hanging out with Jason, taking naps and trying to do as little as possible. I am now fever-free but my boob is still very "angry". I really hope the antibiotics, warm compresses and frequent nursing do the trick because if this turns into an absess, "boo" will not be a big enough word.Kathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16109514861735932690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007901227773468676.post-57115259937477783672010-08-12T14:50:00.000-07:002010-08-22T11:50:58.003-07:009 months!Jason just had his 9 month check and here are his stats:<br />weight: 20 lbs 6 oz - 43%<br />Height: 30 in - 91%<br />Head Circumference: 18.25 in - 77%<br />He's back to being really tall, but I'm not surprised because he is pretty tall! He got a clean bill of health and did so good when they drew his blood for a hemoglobin. They should have the results back from that tomorrow, but I'm not worried. He eats a well-balanced diet. Speaking of that, I thought it would be fun to put down here a "day in the life"<br />Usually around 8am: Jason wakes up, I take off the sleepsack, change his diaper and bring him back into bed with me for sleeping, cuddling and nursing.<br />9:30am: we get up, I have breakfast and he poops pretty much as soon as I put him down on the floor to play<br />10:30-11am: baby breakfast time - I usually give him either a full tub of stage 2 fruit or a container of yogurt with 1/4 cup of oatmeal<br />11am: bath and more nursing, usually to sleep for his morning nap<br />11:30 until hopefully 12:30: Jason's morning nap - otherwise known as "when I finally get to take a shower"<br />12:30 - Jason wakes up and plays while I fix my lunch. While I eat lunch I generally have him in his exersaucer where he eats a snack of puffs and I'll share my banana with him if I'm having one<br />1:00-1:30 - we play! throw balls for the dog, knock down block towers, whatever<br />1:30-2ish - more nursing and sometimes he goes down for another nap<br />2:30 - I get ready for work and leave him with Dan if I'm working that day<br />3pm - baby lunch time - usually a jar of second foods meat and veggie combo <div>After lunch is when I can usually run most of my errands or in this case, update my blog ;-)</div><div>5pm - more breastmilk and sometimes a half tub of fruit</div><div>7pm - our dinner time followed by jason's dinner time<br />then we go for a walk and come back to play</div><div>9pm - more milk and starting to get sleepy</div><div>10pm - get ready for bed and usually fall asleep on our bed and we transfer him to his bed</div><br /><div>Lately he's been waking up in the middle of the night (3-4:30 am or so) wanting to be cuddled and nursed and it's wearing me out. I think we're going to have to start sleep training so I'll let you know how that all goes.</div><br /><div>He's got about 7 teeth now and is working on the 8th one. I think the top teeth are causing him more pain coming in than the bottom teeth did so I think some of his wakefulness at night might be due to the teething. He's been crawling and cruising like a champ and I bet in a month or so he'll be making progess towards walking.</div><div>In order to keep him contained when we need to do stuff, we've been putting him in his play pen. Here he is reading (eating) his favorite book "Books are for reading not eating" - it has teething corners on it, very cute!</div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/THFw1veFT-I/AAAAAAAAAeI/D6i2JuyFML0/s1600/DSC00688.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5508307887828848610" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/THFw1veFT-I/AAAAAAAAAeI/D6i2JuyFML0/s320/DSC00688.JPG" /></a> Such a little cutie<br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/THFwoT_qO4I/AAAAAAAAAeA/bL0AfGtXQE4/s1600/DSC00684.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5508307657115188098" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/THFwoT_qO4I/AAAAAAAAAeA/bL0AfGtXQE4/s320/DSC00684.JPG" /></a> He loves his kitty<br /><br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/THFwdIxSdNI/AAAAAAAAAd4/nNxW0JnUzoA/s1600/DSC00679.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5508307465123558610" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/THFwdIxSdNI/AAAAAAAAAd4/nNxW0JnUzoA/s320/DSC00679.JPG" /></a>Gotta keep all those new teeth clean!<br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/THFwORu63QI/AAAAAAAAAdw/VsF60q7TeWY/s1600/DSC00669.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5508307209831505154" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/THFwORu63QI/AAAAAAAAAdw/VsF60q7TeWY/s320/DSC00669.JPG" /></a></div></div></div>Kathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16109514861735932690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007901227773468676.post-74001290769305343952010-07-10T17:05:00.000-07:002010-07-23T22:28:06.284-07:008 months<div>Well, I guess it's official...this is a once a month blog. I'm not too surprised since I both have little to talk about and little time to write. The biggest thing around here is Jason started crawling. He did his first meaningful creep forward for Dan on Father's Day which I thought was a great gift. He can take off pretty good now and sometimes gets up to his knees but is still having trouble going forward from that position. Now that he's on the move we really have to step up our babyproofing efforts. We always had a baby gate at the top of the stairs but now we have to start installing latches on cabinets and such. We keep a good eye on him for the most part but I'm sure he's going to start getting too fast for us and we can't keep an eye on him all the time so we have to save him from himself. I decided it was wise to get the carpet cleaned too since his onsies were a bit too telling of how dirty our carpet was :P He loves playing in the dog's water bowls. At least he doesn't get as wet with this one.</div><div> </div><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497338279580067714" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/TEp4CgSG54I/AAAAAAAAAdI/PczIH21jYjQ/s320/DSC00620.JPG" /></div><div>I put him in here, be he seemed pretty happy!</div> <img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497339077035909442" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/TEp4w7CZYUI/AAAAAAAAAdg/83GthPYJB3w/s320/DSC00663.JPG" />He just looks too cute with all these flowers, huh?<br /><div> <img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497338867463211314" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/TEp4kuUXyTI/AAAAAAAAAdY/490gw0hSglk/s320/DSC00649.JPG" />He loves to crawl in the grass but he keeps putting it in his mouth even though he doesn't like the taste<br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497338478088815442" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/TEp4ODySA1I/AAAAAAAAAdQ/OSkAIR9zjUM/s320/DSC00632.JPG" />I don't know if you can see all the water on him...he loves his pool and splashes up a storm when he's not eating his ducky<br /><div> <img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5497339228878377586" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/TEp45wsdknI/AAAAAAAAAdo/CxcFiXKRCk4/s320/DSC00666.JPG" />We also started him on puffs and cheerios in addition to his full complement of purees. The puffs melt pretty quick so they don't bother him (or me) as much as the cheerios. It's all a learning, and gagging, experience. He's getting about 4 "meals" of breastmilk and 3 meals of "solids". I've just been following the Gerber feeding schedules they have online and Jason's hunger and fullness cues. He's still growing like a weed and seems healthy so I think we're doing alright.<br /><br /><div><div><div>In other news, I've tried to upload videos on here without much luck so I don't know if the files are too big or what. When I figure it out I'll get some videos up.</div></div></div></div></div>Kathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16109514861735932690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007901227773468676.post-3988131626952447712010-06-12T14:45:00.000-07:002010-06-14T09:58:41.071-07:00Exciting start to JuneAs you can see I have given my blog a makeover. No, that doesn't mean I'll update more often (haha) but at least it looks a bit different. I guess Blogger has a new design template so after trying out a lot of backgrounds that reminded me of elementry school pictures (remember the lazer lights?), I have settled on this one. <div><div><div><div><div><br /></div><div>Jason turned 7 months old on 6/2 and he celebrated this milestone by growing not one but two bottom teeth. He tends to "chew" on my knuckles and I felt a little something and noticed that he had a little tooth in there. The next day I noticed it was a bit wider than I would expect and sure enough there were two teeth in there. He was a real champ with them too. If not for the increased drool (and he drools a lot anyway so it's hard to tell when it's increased) and the whole knuckle chewing thing you'd never know he was getting teeth. I hope they all come in this uneventfully.</div><div></div><div>We have been planning a trip to Florida for the first weekend in June since February. My grandpa turned 80 this year and as a gift to him we wanted to get as much of the family together as possible. It was decided that my aunt and uncle's beach house on Pensacola Beach would be the ideal location. They got us reservations in a nice resort and we would spend most of the time at their house. Of course as soon as things were planned things went wrong: First a lot of the other family couldn't make it so that was a bummer, but my parents, grandparents, aunt, uncle and cousin (obviously) were going to be there for us to see. Plus this would be Jason's first trip to a beach so we were looking forward to it. Then, as you are all aware, there was that whole oil spill catastrophe. It had been staying off of Pensacola but was scheduled to arrive - you guessed it - when we were. But the worst thing was about 4 days before we were scheduled to leave, Dan got really sick. He was having high fevers and general not feeling well and after spending all Wednesday in bed and going to the doctor on Thursday we realized he was not going to be able to make the trip to Florida first thing on Friday morning. I have never been more stressed in my life. I was totally torn between being a good wife and staying home with Dan (which quite frankly was difficult for me take good care of him while trying to keep Jason away so he didn't get sick) or being a good daughter/granddaughter/neice/cousin (plus the whole really wanting to see everyone thing). I didn't want to leave Dan when he was feeling so sick so I called his sister, Abby, who lives in Kansas City to see if she could come down to take care of him. Being the angel that she is, she moved some things around and even missed a performance on Saturday to come down and take care of her brother. I just love her, she's too awesome. </div><div><br /></div><div>After getting Dan taken care of I had to tackle the next thing - traveling alone with Jason. At least we've been on a plane with him before - Abby's wedding - so we knew he traveled well. Since I had a room to myself at the resort, I had 2 queen beds so instead of bringing Jason's portable crib I decided to make a "pillow crib" out of the other bed. I still had to bring Jason's carseat though so that meant I had 2 checked bags - the carseat and hook-on chair for his highchair in one and all of our stuff in the other. I brought Jason in the Baby Bjorn, filled his diaper bag with all our carry-on stuff and hooked that to the smaller bag and dragged that stuff behind us as we walked into the airport. We must have been quite a sight! Jason did really well on the flight to Atlanta and we were able to find our connecting flight gate dispite my complete lack of direction (I guess when I have to I can figure out where I'm going). When we got to Pensacola it suddenly dawned on me that I hadn't told my aunt and uncle that Dan wasn't going to be with us. So my uncle was a bit surprised to see me alone with my caravan. Jason's carseat fit well in their SUV and it was only a mild pain in the ass to install it. Once I arrived at the beach house I was so glad I came. It was so nice to see everyone. I hadn't seen my grandparents or my aunt, uncle, and cousin since my wedding and I really missed them. It was also great for them all to meet Jason and he had a lot of fun with them too. We mostly just hung out and visited on Friday but my mom, Jason and I went down to the beach for a few minutes to check out the water (check for tarballs). The water seemed pretty clear so I put Jason down by the end of the tide so the water could come up on his feet...well, a bigger wave than that came up and got him to just above the knees and he was NOT HAPPY. After fussing for a couple minutes he fell fast asleep on my shoulder so I think it was more than the water scaring him - he was tired.</div><div>Here's the awesome beach house:</div><div></div><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482671910070214866" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/TBZdDcO_YNI/AAAAAAAAAck/gbNEQ2l95CA/s320/DSC00515.JPG" /></div><div>With Grandma Mounts</div><div></div><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482671471138103506" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/TBZcp5Fa4NI/AAAAAAAAAcc/raiOJRG5zl4/s320/DSC00493.JPG" /></div><div>With Great-Grandma Shoot</div></div><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482672436787987378" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/TBZdiGaSw7I/AAAAAAAAAc0/z1riMmmSZGQ/s320/DSC00541.JPG" /></div><div>With Great-Grandpa Shoot:</div><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482668180453383410" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/TBZZqWVC3PI/AAAAAAAAAcU/xmW9EMMGO8g/s320/DSC00487.JPG" /><br /><div>The resort we were staying in had a "dolphin cruise" as part of the cost of the room so my mom, Jason and I boarded the boat at 9:30am for the 2 hour cruise. The water was nice and calm (good news to me since I'm prone to seasickness) but the sad thing was there were no dolphins. I don't know if they were running away from the oil or what. I guess it wasn't a total bust though, it was a nice boat ride and Jason even got to "drive" the boat. <img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482672144867602066" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/TBZdRG7DLpI/AAAAAAAAAcs/IGpYs22AHpg/s320/DSC00537.JPG" />My uncle took a walk on the beach that morning and said there were little tarballs on his feet which was really heartbreaking, I wanted to spend more time in the water and let Jason experience it when he didn't need a nap. By the time we ate lunch however, any beach plans we would have had would have been interrupted by the MONSOON that occured next. There was a huge storm and lightening even hit my cousin's balcony and messed up some of the cool electronics in the house. Lightening also hit a nearby power pole as well, knocking out the power to the house. Fortunately they had a generator so we still had airconditioning and use of the DVD player so we just chit-chated, played with the baby and watched a movie.</div><br /><div>I think the storm knocked the oil back a bit because on Sunday it wasn't too bad at all. After we checked out of the resort, we swam in the pool - first big pool experience for Jason. He didn't know quite what to think at first but soon he was splashing and having a good time and eventually zonked out on his great-grandma. We got back to the beach house and after dinner headed down to the beach again. I gave Jason another chance with the water, this time being more careful about the size of the waves but he didn't seem a big fan of it so he settled down on the beach with grandma and played with some sand (making sure he didn't eat any due to the oil situation). There were a few nickle-sized tarballs here and there but it wasn't enough to detour us. I got about waist-deep in the water since the waves were still pretty intense and I didn't want to get too wet or slightly oil-covered accidently. I gave Jason a good bath afterwards and took a shower myself just in case there was oil we didn't see. The oil spill just makes me sick, it really does. I'm glad it didn't spoil our vacation though. Next, my mom gets a call from Orbitz that our flight out of Pensacola that night (we were both flying thorough Chicago) was going to be delayed for 2 hours - basically meaning we would both miss our connecting flights. I had to work Vacation Bible School on Monday morning plus I was scheduled to work that night so this was very bad news. After scrambling around, I got the last seat on a flight through Houston that night so it actually worked out pretty well since this would mean shorter flights. My mom was stuck until Monday but it allowed her to spend some more time with her family so it wasn't a horrible situation. Our flights back home went well too (although the Houston airport is a real hole) and we got back safely. Dan's fevers let up by Saturday and he was in pretty good spirits by the time we got home. I think he really missed us - I know we missed him. I sure was relieved he was well taken care of; I don't think I would have been able to leave otherwise.</div><br /><div>On Monday we started VBS. My friend who was going to work pee-wee rec with me backed out the last minute without telling me, which kind of annoyed me but they had a great teenager to help me (for 2 of the days anyway due to her migranes) so it wasn't a total loss. Jason had a good time in the nursery with a teenager of his own to play with. Pee-wee rec is pretty easy - I basically have one group of 2-3 year olds and two groups of 4-5 year olds and since they're too young to do organized sports I basically keep an eye on them as they play on the playground for 20 minutes. I also got a good hour break right at Jason's snack/nap time so I could nurse him to sleep and cuddle a bit. When it rained on Wednesday and I couldn't take the kids to the playground I had to get creative on what to do inside but I survived. I haven't decided if I'll do VBS again next year or not. I'll just see how I feel at the time. I'm sure they'd understand if I didn't want to do it due to all the trouble I had with co-teachers and whatnot. The kids seemed happy enough so that was good. Here's Jason sitting next to one of the rocket props.</div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5482672844340351938" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/TBZd50qWU8I/AAAAAAAAAc8/B1iHg--p3Ak/s320/DSC00572.JPG" /><br /><div>Sorry that got so long but like the post said - there's a lot to talk about!</div></div></div></div></div>Kathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16109514861735932690noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007901227773468676.post-42723313585131766102010-05-26T13:01:00.000-07:002010-05-26T13:35:40.665-07:006 months6 month stats:<br /><div><div><div>Weight: 16 lbs 14 oz - 32%</div><div>Height: 26.5" - 46%</div><div>Head Circumference: 17.25'' - 47%</div><div>For fun here's a comparison of me, Jason, and Dan at 6 months:<img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 122px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475676756137386498" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/S_2C_5JuogI/AAAAAAAAAb0/obT71hDaZsg/s320/babies.png" /></div><div>(remember Dan was 2 months premature so he might look a big younger than the other two) Jason does look cute in his red overalls though </div><div>He's growing just right. The 46% on height makes more sense than the 78% at the 4 month check-up. Jason's eating a fair amount of baby food now. He's getting half a container of fruit with 2 T of either oatmeal or barley cereal for lunch and half a container of veggies and 2 T of rice cereal for dinner. Eventually I'm going to have to give him more food. I've been producing less milk when I pump at work which is making me think that he's been eating less at night. It's hard to say for sure since Jason is so much better than the pump at getting the milk. I've probably only got about another month or two of freezer stash left so he might have to get a bottle of formula when I'm at work since I'm only pumping 2 bottles and he's getting 3 - or maybe he'll take one less bottle....this stuff is hard, I'm not really sure what to do. I wish my breasts had a meter on them so I would know how much milk he takes in, it's the only downside to breastfeeding that I can see. I love doing it and totally plan on continuing for the whole year, maybe more. By that point it would mostly be comfort nursing so we'll just see how things are when we get there.</div><div><br /></div><div>Jason is sitting really well now. I can be pretty confident that he won't fall over so I can sit in front of him and play with him more instead of behind him in case he falls back. We've been working on crawling but he hasn't quite figured out how to move his knees under himself. He can kind of creep in a circle or maybe a bit backwards or forwards but not really going anywhere yet. He loves jumping still and the Johnny Jump-up has proven to be a good investment. We (well, Grandma) also got him a pool this past weekend and he loves to splash in it. I fear bathtime will never be the same again. It's getting to be a pretty wet business for me!</div></div><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475678391880811154" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/S_2EfGxWgpI/AAAAAAAAAcM/9GPVZeYVoEk/s320/DSC00426.JPG" /></div><div>Grandma Bender came for a visit this past weekend and they had fun hanging out while Dan and I went to see Daughtry and Lifehouse at the Arena. It was a great show and having Jason with his grandma took the stress of leaving him with someone else away.</div><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475677930971514226" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/S_2EERwAxXI/AAAAAAAAAb8/PfiAox2pq-E/s320/DSC00467.JPG" /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475678204455084882" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/S_2EUMjk41I/AAAAAAAAAcE/dRvzFktYLnM/s320/DSC00477.JPG" />Jason is such a happy baby. He smiles and laughs quite a lot and is just such a joy.</div></div>Kathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16109514861735932690noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007901227773468676.post-66900077679812009232010-05-07T20:11:00.000-07:002010-05-08T19:14:16.427-07:00Lions and tigers and bears....OH MY!....I did not just do that ::hangs head in shame:: <div><br /></div><div>anywho, We took Jason to his first trip to the zoo on April 30th. My work had their annual family outing and for once I didn't have to work so I could enjoy. We got free rein of the zoo but since I work at a really big hosptial so there were still tons of people there but no more than the usual zoo crowd. We also got a free dinner out of the deal, which was nice. I've never been to the zoo in the evening before. I usually go in the summer during the hottest part of the day and basically watch animals sleeping in the shade. It was a beautiful day when we were there, probably upper 60s and the animals were awake and interractive! It was really cool. We got some good pictures and really had a nice time. I hope the hospital does this every year so Jason can eventually remember the experience.<br /></div><div>Just being a mommy-lion</div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5469086456131081874" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/S-YZJ8eX1pI/AAAAAAAAAbk/fAnbjzBDIdY/s320/DSC00418.JPG" /> It's good parenting to let a tiger hold your baby, right?<br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5469087013555046194" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/S-YZqZCmhzI/AAAAAAAAAbs/mtHKCgmGEEA/s320/DSC00414.JPG" /><br />How cool is this peacock?!<br /><br /><div><br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/S-YYu9lvgHI/AAAAAAAAAbU/_9jfCVv1dMI/s1600/DSC00412.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5469085992573960306" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/S-YYu9lvgHI/AAAAAAAAAbU/_9jfCVv1dMI/s320/DSC00412.JPG" /></a> Riding the lizard...in a non-euphamism sense...<br /><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/S-YYh4gRUwI/AAAAAAAAAbM/682tqY8xGtE/s1600/DSC00410.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5469085767870534402" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/S-YYh4gRUwI/AAAAAAAAAbM/682tqY8xGtE/s320/DSC00410.JPG" /></a> </div></div></div>Kathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16109514861735932690noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007901227773468676.post-73962712772668180582010-04-26T23:36:00.000-07:002010-04-27T00:40:43.472-07:00Fun weekends in AprilNo posts then two in a row - Crazy!<br /><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div>We had some fun weekends here in April so I thought I would recap in pictures:</div><div> </div><div>On April 11th we went over to our friends Krissy and Nicole's house. Krissy has a son named Matthew who is a year and a half so Jason had a lot of fun playing with his toys</div><div>nananananananana.....BATMAN!</div><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464704121124412402" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/S9aHceY72_I/AAAAAAAAAaE/8hCef_yY6ro/s320/DSC00320.JPG" />here's a super-cute rocking horse Jason did pretty well with playing on<br /><br /><div></div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464704316106482434" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/S9aHn0wSIwI/AAAAAAAAAaM/n50AMoem9Gw/s320/DSC00325.JPG" /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464704537048586194" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/S9aH0r0_F9I/AAAAAAAAAaU/KfVzkdBsitc/s320/DSC00326.JPG" />He loved this water toy and got us both soaked<br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464704781860002322" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/S9aIC70k2hI/AAAAAAAAAac/7aohC9oR-24/s320/DSC00334.JPG" />Here's Matthew and Jason on his first wagon ride<img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464704976353383970" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/S9aIOQXaViI/AAAAAAAAAak/Ym1nw7FrVd4/s320/DSC00340.JPG" /></div></div></div></div></div>Then on April 16th we embarked on our first big trip. We flew up to Chicago and drove down to Valparaiso, IN for Abby's wedding. Jason did really well on the plane. I nursed him on take off and landing so hopefully his ears wouldn't bother him. He slept most of the way up to Chicago. We rented a car with a carseat from Hertz. The carseat was pretty cheap and Jason didn't like it very much. Plus I had a hard time getting the angle right and when he would fall asleep his head would fall forward. We made due though. The wedding was at a beautiful bed and breakfast and our family and the groom's family pretty much took the place over. It made for a real family feeling. The wedding was lovely and although a bit on the cool side, the weather was nice. Jason was very good during it, although with it being outside it was a little more forgiving. They had a great photographer and I'm still going through all the pictures. She got some really cute shots of Jason (oh yeah, and the bride and groom...) We got to visit with everyone and Jason got to meet his Great-Grandpas. My parents even drove up to visit us on Sunday and it was nice to see them. Jason did well on the trip back too. He got a bit bored on the plane ride back so we had to entertain him with cups and whatnot so he wouldn't be too fussy. Life sure is more complicated with a baby, but it's totally worth it!<img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464717679021343634" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/S9aTxpfdQ5I/AAAAAAAAAa0/dzGX6e3nxv8/s320/DSC00380.JPG" /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 214px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464718038921923474" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/S9aUGmOcS5I/AAAAAAAAAbE/XNHE_f3rENw/s320/60.jpg" /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464717560553704466" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/S9aTqwKkjBI/AAAAAAAAAas/KpRLapF4W1M/s320/DSC00364.JPG" /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464717846227127218" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/S9aT7YYbC7I/AAAAAAAAAa8/Cy4DpADDvWo/s320/DSC00400.JPG" /></div></div></div>Kathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16109514861735932690noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007901227773468676.post-51074133026483833892010-04-12T20:52:00.000-07:002010-04-26T23:36:52.057-07:005 months!Top of the mornin' to ya!<br /><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464700538358148098" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/S9aEL7i5LAI/AAAAAAAAAZk/b8UWiqUj9gU/s320/DSC00281.JPG" />I am such a bad blogger! Sorry about not posting. I've had plenty of cute things to share but finding time to share them is another thing. I recommend friending me on Facebook if you haven't already so you can see the updated pictures with more regularity. It only takes a couple minutes to upload pictures there as opposed to this stupid thing (for some reason it inserts the pictures at the beginning of the post and I have to move it to where I want it to go so it takes forever). <img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464700204064209346" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/S9aD4eNAecI/AAAAAAAAAZc/gLETp6265Xc/s320/DSC00280.JPG" /> <div><div><div><div>Jason is 5 months old now. He's about 15lbs or so and he's getting so tall (not sure how tall because it's hard to measure him...I guess you'll have to wait until his 6 month well-baby appointment). He did great with the cereal so we started him on veggies. He's had about every flavor they make: sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, peas, and green beans. I think I'm going to get a baby food grinder soon so he can try different stuff - and what we're having for dinner. He's still eating in his Bumbo chair with the tray so I'm glad we have that. He's not sitting steady enough yet to eat in the highchair but we've bought some straps and hopefully can figure out how to put them on so he can use the highchair. He sure is a messy eater! We didn't notice it as much with the cereal but now that he's eating veggies we pretty much have to strip him down to his diaper. Good thing the weather has warmed up just in time! </div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464701141104223570" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/S9aEvA8wZVI/AAAAAAAAAZ8/GhtbJ1BVgws/s320/DSC00341.JPG" />He's starting to tolerate tummy time a bit better now and we can get him to do at least 10 minute stretches, sometimes more. I think he gets frustrated that he can't move around...I know he really wants to chase Bonnie around. He loves to watch her play and we even have him laughing at her on video. Just the cutest sound ever! He's also very close to being able to sit by himself. He can do it for a few seconds then he either folds forward or falls to one side. <img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464700944019409218" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/S9aEjiwEyUI/AAAAAAAAAZ0/_klw_ej97mU/s320/DSC00303.JPG" /> <div>It helps to hold onto a ball or something and of course that makes Bonnie excited. He's still a super-great baby. He's been sleeping pretty well. He usually nurses to sleep around midnight (mommy works second shift, what can you do?) and doesn't wake up until 8:30 at which point I change his diaper, take off his sleep sack and bring him into bed with me for morning nursing and cuddle time (and falling back to sleep). We usually get up at 10 or so after he nurses for breakfast. The Exersaucer is his favorite toy. He has all those toys to play with plus he can really jump around a lot in there which is always fun. <img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5464700750781144466" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/S9aEYS4e3ZI/AAAAAAAAAZs/Ig7P2Q8oiZw/s320/DSC00292.JPG" /></div></div></div></div></div>Kathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16109514861735932690noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007901227773468676.post-77521500145825261842010-03-09T16:53:00.000-08:002010-03-09T17:33:49.251-08:004 months old!It's hard to believe it's been 4 months! Jason has changed so much. He's playing with toys pretty regularly now, growing like a weed and really starting to grab onto stuff (yeah, watch your hair!). <div><div><div>When I cleaned the house a couple weeks ago I decided to occupy Jason by putting him in front of the fishtank. Appearently, I really enjoyed this when I was a baby. Jason seemed to too, so that was nice.<img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5446807418674452098" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/S5byfSYNloI/AAAAAAAAAY8/loAjLaCM5Ho/s320/DSC00221.JPG" /></div><div>We had his 4 month doctors appointment last week and here are his stats:</div><div>Weight: 14lbs 2 oz (32%)</div><div>Height: 25.75 inches (78%)</div><div>Head circumference: 16.75 (56%)</div><div>looks like he's a tall one....a tall Bender! Who'd a thunk it?</div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5446808033582696706" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/S5bzDFFwyQI/AAAAAAAAAZM/E_M8O9vX-R0/s320/DSC00252.JPG" />We had a nice visit with Dan's parents at the end of February. We decided to get his 3 month pictures taken. We were a bit late since he was going to turn 4 months in a couple days but what can you do? <div>Here's the link to the pictures:</div><div><a href="https://www.smilesbywire.com/home.asp?AC=LTPP0120109627JCP">https://www.smilesbywire.com/home.asp?AC=LTPP0120109627JCP</a></div><div>just put my name in as cathy bender with a "c"...morons spelled my name wrong. They're morons because I spelled it out for them and they appearently think a "K" is spelled with a "c" or something. Anyway, there are some pretty good shots there. I was a bit disappointed that he didn't smile, but I think he was pretty overwelmed. Good thing we have plenty of good smiley pictures of our own. </div><br /><div>The big thing around here is we started Jason on rice cereal last night! He took to it pretty well. He's still figuring the whole thing out but since we mixed it with breastmilk at least the taste wasn't too foreign. He was in a good mood most of the night and slept well so overall it seems to be a good thing.</div><div>it looks like he's smiling through the goo here:</div><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5446807764614075458" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/S5byzbGpVEI/AAAAAAAAAZE/NymmnJebQ18/s320/DSC00259.JPG" /></div><div>He kept grabbing the bowl like "hurry up mommy, you don't have to wait for the food to actually stay in my mouth, bring on the food!"</div></div><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5446808412300653778" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/S5bzZH7KNNI/AAAAAAAAAZU/6esX08UiQwM/s320/DSC00263.JPG" /></div></div>here's the video of the whole thing (bear with it, like the baptism one, it's a bit messed up for the first few seconds but it gets right)<br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyK5n64LiIObORlDGrpYO2CZaYm-3g0CZd6v_OcRTaT9ltHeTVpfHbqm6dEsVi4KnRph0CnII_MP-mWo-duEA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe>Kathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16109514861735932690noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007901227773468676.post-44252564358226343962010-02-18T16:12:00.001-08:002010-02-18T16:43:30.175-08:00Playing with toys<div>Hi all! Jason is playing with toys pretty regularly now. It's so cute and nice because he's able to entertain himself a bit better. We've also been able to get a lot more cute smiley pictures:</div><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439741561431184546" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/S33YIQ8I1KI/AAAAAAAAAYU/wPWpn0XpXVA/s320/DSC00170.JPG" /> <img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439741819092501218" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/S33YXQzYguI/AAAAAAAAAYc/1L5cQ5x3lnw/s320/DSC00181.JPG" /><br /><div><br />he loves his moose<br /><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439742082706654530" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/S33Ymm15RUI/AAAAAAAAAYk/2eoIzjwYDTI/s320/DSC00185.JPG" /></div><div> </div><div><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyEVh0Ea5KOHtxzxpLJgveT-M1cW9a-XMXcs8LC-PwB3HTCzXJ_mgCTT0ydJyH7SWLP5qa_uPgfL13jB9hWtw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div> </div><div>We bought him an exersaucer...he doesn't know quite what to think about it, but he's still a bit small for it. I think he'll have fun with this<br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwAMis9QebVQ09f2d5h4cbpoXmsR2OekLSq6cUM2xFLowadLR6lZLrx-Lz4SSRSsIluyI55UINIJc8oKiPV9g' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439742466471310066" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/S33Y88ehMvI/AAAAAAAAAYs/i_mR1cZEzhE/s320/DSC00186.JPG" />the little face I can't get enough of:<br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439742819836490434" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/S33ZRg3V8sI/AAAAAAAAAY0/MhtCTouwbxQ/s320/DSC00204.JPG" /></div></div>Kathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16109514861735932690noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007901227773468676.post-65761457768582838282010-02-11T10:36:00.001-08:002010-02-11T10:45:57.282-08:00Would have been one year old...Today is the one year anniversary of the EDD of my first pregnancy. If things had gone differently I would have a one year old now. It seems odd that I would think about that because it was about a year ago that we concieved Jason - the light of my life and the sweetest baby ever. I am so thankful to God for the blessing that is my wonderful son, yet I'm still sad today. I'm wearing my remembrance necklace I bought soon after I miscarried. I wore it from the miscarriage until the EDD then again on the anniversary of the miscarriage (July 24th). I've just been thinking a lot last night and this morning. Last night we were singing our Palm Sunday/Good Friday songs. I've never really been saddened by Christ's death. I knew it was God's plan and that he would be raised from the dead 3 days later so knowing the happy ending it was hard for me to be too upset. One of the songs we're singing is from Mary's perspective. We sang it a few years ago and so many people cried, but I didn't. Now that I have a son, I was SOBBING. It had to be so hard to see your son die like that...I don't know if I can fit enough tissues in my folder to get me through Palm Sunday this year. Of course I was already sad because Jason was SCREAMING before choir rehearsal last night. I hadn't heard him like that since he got his shots and it really scared me. My friend Krissy suggested it was gas and after some Mylicon and bouncing and patting he felt better. I couldn't imagine dealing with that all the time. I am so grateful that Jason is usually such a calm, happy baby. Sorry for the bummer post. I guess cute pictures and milestones aren't all that's on my mind.Kathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16109514861735932690noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007901227773468676.post-8057904228783097242010-02-09T12:13:00.000-08:002010-02-09T12:51:56.898-08:00Baby Bjorn walk and Johnny Jump-upGood head control affords a baby new experiences. On Friday we took Jason for a walk in his Baby Bjorn. When we've tried to put him in it in the past he's cried the whole time, but thankfully this time was different. I was kind of cold outside so we put him in his bear bunting (just like the NB one he got from G&G Bender, only we got a 3-6 months version). He fell asleep pretty much as soon as we put him in the carrier. He looked like a doll with his cute baby arm and legs sticking out. Overall, it worked much better than the stroller on our uneven sidewalks. I had to walk kind of like I was pregnant again...I might have to adjust some straps and just get used to using it in general.<br /><div><br /><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436343225998156530" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/S3HFXG64ovI/AAAAAAAAAXs/vZZ2hc1mEJ4/s320/DSC00152.JPG" />sleepy bear<br /></div><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436343473442459602" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/S3HFlguND9I/AAAAAAAAAX0/odxB_R61HgQ/s320/DSC00154.JPG" /></div><div>Last night we tried out the Johnny Jump-up. He's still too small for it but he seemed to enjpy it anyway. I'm sure it will work better when he can get centered in the basket so one leg isn't lower, leading to spinning. Bonnie was pretty sure we just got her a "dangling baby" toy and Jason kept trying to eat the straps. A good time was had by all!</div><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436345418050741042" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/S3HHWs88ozI/AAAAAAAAAX8/1u2RFhi5RXQ/s320/DSC00160.JPG" /></div><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5436345648392747938" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/S3HHkHCwu6I/AAAAAAAAAYE/lguYS_-thzc/s320/DSC00161.JPG" /></div><div> </div><div> </div></div><br /><p><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwKS5gzhDggFRhlTvJhN5OnRLxtPoJZXURHvufvfzlBAoyOJtJc8WpeC5J-T_nUBKxDwYvMoSPRPZzU0dOSFQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></p><p>I was also able to load the video of Jason's baptism on the previous post</p>Kathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16109514861735932690noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007901227773468676.post-33680058745952437752010-02-04T17:26:00.000-08:002010-02-09T11:58:48.925-08:00Jason's baptismJason was baptized last Sunday. He did really well. Here's the video if you're interested<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxM8_IdOT_CgViv9WZ16lRh6YoskryP2LNfDaGpVR0BXnCi9hEswP6dpdL20a0KiBgn90Kq6XM26XJ73iwMVw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br /><br /><div><div><div></div><div>I hate how fat I look but that's how I look...maybe it can be motivation or something. But of course it's not about me, it's about him.</div><br /><div>Here are some more pics of my little angel:<img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5434568042301518082" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/S2t210UScQI/AAAAAAAAAXU/2fRBVuGbtnk/s320/DSC00143.JPG" /></div><div>He's starting to hate tummy time less and less as he's getting better control of his head and upper body. He can also roll over from his tummy to his back!</div><div></div><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5434569106266725378" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/S2t3zv5XHAI/AAAAAAAAAXc/lkhVqjZ6qBM/s320/DSC00146.JPG" /></div><div>This picture cracks me up...he's starting to bring toys to his mouth and Dan caught a great face.</div><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5434569388930559794" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/S2t4EM5q7zI/AAAAAAAAAXk/hDt3XPag5Uw/s320/DSC00148.JPG" /></div></div></div>Kathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16109514861735932690noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007901227773468676.post-22530989934380042372010-01-23T20:24:00.000-08:002010-01-25T10:51:04.655-08:002 month appt and back to workSorry, I've been a bad blogger once again!<br /><div><div>I totally meant to update the blog on Jason's 2 month appt stats but I forgot...here they are:<br />Weight: 11lbs 12oz</div><div>Height: 25.75in</div><div>He also got his first shots. He was in a pretty good mood the whole appointment, even smiling a few times...then he got his shots. I had given him a low dose of tylenol before his appointment in the hopes of dulling the pain but he still screamed at the top of his lungs. I don't know if any mom can hear their baby scream like that and not cry...I know I cried! I held him and did what I could think of to soothe him and the thing that came to mind first was nursing him so when the nurses left, I sat down and nursed him and finally was able to calm him down. Then the nurse popped her head in and was like "you can feel free to nurse him and take your time"...yeah, I was planning on it! He was a bit drowsy and cranky the rest of the day and I gave him another dose of tylenol later on that night for pain and he seemed to have a low fever. Overall, we're no worse for wear and he's protected against a whole bunch of stuff, so go immunizations!</div><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5430751274837896914" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/S13ngtg2btI/AAAAAAAAAXM/p1Xto0KVwaY/s320/DSC00079.JPG" />We also made our first long car trip - 3 hours to KC and back in the fog. Dan's sister, Abby, was going wedding dress shopping on the weekend of 1/16 and it was going to be quite an opportunity for family to get together. Of course, her mom came down but also her grandmother, aunt and her sisters-in-law. This meant that Jason could meet his Great-Grandma Coffman, his Great-Aunt Gail, his Aunt Sarah (and Uncle Matt), and get to see his Aunt Abby again. It was quite a house-full! It was a nice visit, Abby picked out a beautiful dress and Jason was well behaved (of course) and hopefully didn't steal too much attention from his aunt ;-)<br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5430751040940903154" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/S13nTGLdivI/AAAAAAAAAXE/QC7LaN6YIbI/s320/DSC00123.JPG" /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5430750711633359682" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/S13m_7abM0I/AAAAAAAAAW0/aFur81T8DZk/s320/DSC00096.JPG" /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5430750864309693058" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/S13nI0LTKoI/AAAAAAAAAW8/2Zub0VY5dTA/s320/DSC00122.JPG" /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5430750533247062834" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/S13m1i30UzI/AAAAAAAAAWs/voT3OHMuRzU/s320/DSC00094.JPG" />On 1/18 I returned to work :-( I have been freezing my breastmilk for the past month and a half so I had a pretty good stash that Dan could defrost to feed to Jason while I was gone and I had the lovely task of pumping at work. Fortunately, my first day was busy enough so time went fast but slow enough that I could pump a couple times without trouble. Dan did pretty good with Jason despite some fussy times. Once he gets a hang of feeding him things will go smoother - although I think Jason will suffer from boob-withdrawl regardless. It's kind of nice to be back at work part time. I get to spend lots of time with my baby but I can get away a couple times a week and every other weekend and be Kathy again instead of "Jason's mom". I was also happy to discover that I hadn't lost too much of my speed and skill over the 11 weeks I was away. It makes me appreciate the time I spend with Dan and Jason more too.</div>Kathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16109514861735932690noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8007901227773468676.post-43802381340346038212010-01-07T09:44:00.000-08:002010-01-07T10:12:12.752-08:00Christmas 2009We had a great Christmas this year. It was so fantastic having a baby this year, even though he had no idea what was going on. My parents and brother came down from Dec 23rd until the 27th. They got down just ahead of the storm that gave us a White Christmas. Not a whole lot of snow but enough to cover the ground and it was icey so all the more reason to stay inside, hang out and play Wii and cuddle the baby. This was the first time Jason got to meet his Uncle Jimmy so that was nice. I hope my parents got some better pictures, I sort of forgot to download them from their camera before they left but here are a few:<br /><br /><div><div><div><div><div></div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424056946197923042" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/S0YfDf-eBOI/AAAAAAAAAV0/R48tAmzfgn0/s320/PC230325.JPG" /> <img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 235px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424057204084113106" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/S0YfSgrU_tI/AAAAAAAAAV8/08oCO5Vqt7Y/s320/Christmas+tree.jpg" />We also got ourselves a new camera for our big Christmas present. Hopefully this will lead to better pictures taken by me (it has the stabilization feature for my shakey hands) and more videos. I'll have to figure out how to convert them to smaller file sizes (I've seen Dan do it but I don't know how he did it) so I can put them in the blog. Jason is smiling a lot now and we've even been able to catch some on camera....he's so flipping cute! <img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424057786633847906" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/S0Yf0a2AhGI/AAAAAAAAAWE/-Hsq1gmqRxw/s320/DSC00033.JPG" />We had Monday the 28th to reset the house and Dan's parents came down on the 29th. His sister Abby came with them for the day and had to go back home to work on the move. We had a second Christmas so Jason was able to get more use out of his Christmas outfit. Between both grandparents and all the Aunts and Uncles, Jason made out like a bandit. <img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424060018936051074" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/S0Yh2W0U9YI/AAAAAAAAAWM/WlQEYpo3qmc/s320/IMG_3422.JPG" /> <img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424060315394973106" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/S0YiHnNpHbI/AAAAAAAAAWU/cbKY-Xpdy7s/s320/IMG_3456.JPG" />For New Years we did the "(Great) Grandma Bender New Years Celebration". We played games all night then rang in the new year wearing stilly hats, throwing around an unopened bag of confetti (it's cleaner that way) and had plenty of noise makers and streamers. It was a good time!<br /></div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424061106387924434" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/S0Yi1p5DtdI/AAAAAAAAAWc/JYw-Qnn0Snk/s320/DSC00056.JPG" /><br />So I will let Jason wish you a Happy 2010!</div><br /><div><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 246px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424061767475052674" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_W-uNrILaAuQ/S0YjcIogwII/AAAAAAAAAWk/0nRoW9-4SF4/s320/2010.jpg" /></div></div></div>Kathyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16109514861735932690noreply@blogger.com1