The 3 a.m. feed.

More missing months in photos.

2011-12-11T17:19:00.007-05:00

In no particular order... As I've mentioned, the layout for blogger isn't exactly ideal for people uploading many pictures at a time.

This year Owey was an octopus for Halloween. His favorite color is orange. He is the first to spot an octopus in a movie or TV show and he often blames thing on an imaginary octopus. It was crafted by my dear friend Emily. I think this will be the last year I will get to pick his costume for him.
The deer hang out in our backyard (and front yard) a lot. They even come up on the back porch.

For the third year in a row, a group of us got together for the latest Twilight movie. I'm the most die hard of the bunch, but they humor me. We have a good time no matter what. I think this was the best yet. Thanks Nat and Sharpsky.

<3 Nat.

The full effect of the octopus costume.

Rewind to summer! His hair was ridiculously curly this summer, and I adored it. He's pretty much posing in this picture.

Owen and great grandma ruth!

Eliot, Owey's bestie.

My little rotten turkey.

The streamers from the ceiling at the Pittsburgh childrens museum.

Painting <3

My mom and Owey on the top floor of the children's museum. The "swimming pool" floor.

Jude and O.

Giant lite bright.

Colors.

In his "scarecrow" shirt.

My guys.

Goof ball.

<3 my loves.

Shiloh, VA's offspring #2

Born to be a mother.

Baby. I want another one.

Owey and his cousins on the back porch.

Cousin Honor.

Some new photos of the house.

2011-06-04T07:57:00.002-04:00

Computer/den area.

Living room to dining room.

Living room to other areas.

Living/entry.

Kitchen/dining.

Kitchen.

Den, where we spend most of our time.

We've just done the bathroom, so updated pictures to follow. And I still need to take pictures of the upstairs.

It's been years, I know.

2011-05-29T07:30:00.005-04:00

Since my last blog post, things have been more crazy than ever. Ever as in, the infinite sense.

Since we got an offer for the house on Owen's birthday, things have magically fallen into place. I remember saying to Natalie, "things have to work out eventually, right?" Eventually finally came.

On February 24, we closed on the apartment and the Bird House. The apartment was no longer ours, and instead we now own something so perfect for us, it makes us all so happy.

The closing was a very hard day. I worked the night before, went home, shortly after went to the first closing, went and bought appliances, had lunch, slept for one hour and then went to the second closing. It was a loooong day. On top of that, we still didn't have everything packed, and we had so much to do. I can't remember ever being so exhausted.

On February 26, Owen spent the day with Mamaw, and Mommy and Daddy hired some movers and took up residence in the Bird House. We bought a new washer and dryer, refrigerator, and furniture and TV for the finished basement. Oh, a king-sized sleigh bed. Favorite. Thing. Ever.

It's been three months, and I'm surprised to say we are not completely unpacked. We have done little improvements all over the place. A new faucet. Took down some hideous shelves and repainted. Put in a new mailbox to replace the ancient one. We have discovered a leaky pipe connecting the two bathroom sinks that we are dealing with this week. The mortgage payment every month makes my heart race. But... we love it here.

There is so much green and color surrounding us. In the winter we had four deer that regularly showed up to be fed. Next winter I will give them names. Whoever lived here before us had several green thumbs, there are so many flowers and plants and GREEN. Owen has a crab-shaped sandbox on the patio. The cats sit at the sliding glass door and watch the birds and chipmunks and dream of being outside cats.

We have a two car garage, which is one of my favorite things. Since I bought my new car, I'd like to take as good care of it as possible, so it can be Owen's first car ;). One project I'd like to take on maybe this summer or fall is electric garage door openers. Who doesn't have those? Us.

Down the street, (and I should point out that it is a dead-end street that is very safe to walk on, and probably about a half a mile long), there is a Head Start, where I hope Owen will spend his first official year of school. Behind the school is a playground designed for very little people, so it has become Owen's favorite place ever. He wakes up from his nap asking for "Park?"

We had some unhappy times in the apartment. Clint was laid off for two really long stretches of time. That caused financial issues I hope to never experience again. However, no matter how difficult that time period was... our son was born while we lived there, and I will cherish memories of him taking his first steps down that loooooong hallway, among others. Without having lived in that apartment, we wouldn't be able to be where we are now, which is perfect.

I'm on PTO for a few days, so pictures will follow. But for now, the kid is up.

Where have two years gone?

2011-01-18T14:45:00.006-05:00

These pictures are out of order. I wish Blogger would have a better system for uploading pictures, I would seriously post more often if it wasn't such a hassle to upload five pictures at a time.

Daddy and Owey the day of his party. How cute is this kid? Owen's new BFF, Eliot.

Nat and El

Two years old. In the tub.

Lily Dilly in profile.

Me and the monkey. Love him.

Owen got to take a special trip to Chuck E. Cheese for his birthday. Here he is driving a car with Mr. Stuart Little.

He really likes bath toys.

Pointing out his teeth.

Rotten, like his dad.

So fun!

Thanks for showing me what to do, Daddy!

Apparently he loves Cheetos.

Running up and down the hall with Bruiser.

Owey just had his two year doctor's appointment today. He's about 26lbs, 34 inches tall. Long and lean. All his weight is in his cheeks. He doesn't say many words, about 25ish, but he understands MANY. He can point to all his body parts, many many animals, can follow simple commands, and respond by nodding or shaking his head. He's smart. He actually sat patiently while Dr. M examined him and only got upset when he had to look in his mouth (and said, "Oh, does he suck his thumb?") By the way, still LOVING the new pediatrician. So glad we switched. AND! His lead levels are completely back to normal.

I would blog more, but the monkey has just woken up from his nap! Stay tuned for more exciting news!

Christmas with the Amies

2011-01-18T14:08:00.005-05:00

Some new friends. His train stool.

First glimpse of the train on Christmas morning. Big hit.

"Choo choo!"

Some new books.

I really like wrapping presents.

Tree

Owen had just as much fun decorating the tree.

He really liked the strands of beads.

And the glittery bulbs. He only broke one and pulled the hooks out of five or six... :/

Lights... I love this picture. It sums up his awe of all things Christmas.

Decorating.

Helping Daddy with the bulbs.

Decorating Frank.

House stuff.

2010-12-03T22:38:00.004-05:00

So, I don't want to get too excited yet, but promising things are happening with the house.

About three weeks ago, my realtor called me out of the blue (we hadn't had anyone look at the apartment for at least a month). He wanted to let me know he wasn't giving up and eventually we would get our apartment sold. In that same phone conversation, he mentioned a house he just listed for someone that he thought we might like. He said it was extremely well cared for, reasonably priced, the right size for us and had a large lot.

I told him that I didn't want to look at any more houses until we had someone interested in our apartment, because we have technically lost two houses. The first in Warwood, where we had the contract, the close date, the inspection, appraisal, etc. I had even bought some new curtains. Then our buyer backed out. The second was not so involved. We made the offer, she accepted, and then changed her mind because she wasn't comfortable with the contingencies.

So, by complete coincidence, my realtor called again a few days later saying someone wanted to look at our apartment on Sunday. We said fine, if someone was looking at ours, we would look at a few as well. (We have looked at maybe 25 houses by now...)

Long story short, the first house we looked at that day, the house he had told me about, is, in a word, perfect. As soon as we got out of the car, Clint loved it, which is rather aggressive for Clint, as he is the mild mannered and reserved one of the two of us. It's a newer house, (built in 1969, which is about 50-60 years newer than houses I typically like) it's in North Park, where we have lived before (renting when we first got married), three bedrooms, two bathrooms, rec room/play room, remodled kitchen, two car garage, covered back porch, adjacent lot included in the purchase, beautiful refinished hardwood floors, lots of closet space, it's on a flat cul de sac with only two other houses, it has a large driveway, perfect for a basketball hoop in a few years... I think Clint was ready to sign that day. Of course, we were reserved, waiting to find out about our apartment.

Apparently, the couple looking at our apartment really liked what they saw, had spoken with the co-op president, and wanted to come back with their contractor to price a new kitchen. We were thrilled. It had been so long since anyone was interested, and this happens right out of the blue. So, they planned to come look at it again on Black Friday. The requested parking information, and the bylaws of the co-op association. They told my realtor they would get back to him soon. My realtor is convinced they are extremely serious. Which made me feel comfortable with the following.

Last Sunday, anticipating this couple making an offer on our house, and us wanting to make an offer on the North Park house, we drafted a contract to be submitted once we had an offer on the apartment. We wanted to be prepared, and catching us through the week can be tricky. Tuesday my realtor told me that someone had looked at the same house on Sunday and then were planning to go back Tuesday afternoon. We agreed we didn't want to take any risks, and were willing to lose the front end money over losing the house to someone else, this close to getting an offer on our apartment. I told my realtor to submit our offer, and then held my breath. The next day, he told me our offer was accepted. No counter offer or anything. He agreed to our terms, no questions asked. We have a close date at the end of January. I'm meeting with the bank people on Tuesday, have received preapproval and been provided a good faith estimate. Everything looks great.

Of course, we are still going crazy over whether or not these people are going to make an offer on our apartment. I think at this point, we will accept any offer within reason, as long as it covers our expenses of getting the new house (realtor fees, down payment, etc.). Like I said, my realtor is very confident, and he knows the seller pretty well. He said that if we needed to extend the close date, he feels confident that the seller would be comfortable with that. He feels the couple interested in our apartment is just taking their time (you mean people don't rush through buying a house?) and reviewing the bylaws and all that. My realtor said someone else contacted him about the apartment, someone moving to the area mid December (which is already very close).

We are still nervous as hell, but this all feels right. The house is literally perfect for us. The finance end of it looks good. I'm not going to worry yet.

Here's a couple of pictures from the realtor's website. Everyone cross your fingers and keep us in your prayers. We deserve a break!

The missing months, in pictures.

2010-11-27T13:14:00.008-05:00

Polar bear vest.
Bubbles.

The Wares + bubbles.

Hiding behind Daddy.

My sister in law, Tricia.

Foot.

Watching the big kids play.

Brave.

The last warm day.

Big yawn.

Reading by himself in his room.

Giggle pants.

Hide and Seek with Daddy.

That's my phone charger.

Tickling the ivories.

I see you, Mama.

My favorite picture of him, ever.

He wanted his privacy.

Still my baby.

First Trick or Treat.

Jean jacket and my mom's siding.

Owen's girlfriend, Charlie.

The hubs.

Owey in the tub.

Good morning.

Pittsburgh Zoo

2010-09-01T14:07:00.005-04:00

We finally made it to the Pittsburgh Zoo yesterday and it was a great success. The zoo is clean and beautiful, and it wasn't even that big a deal that it was 90+ degrees. I think I want to go back in a couple of weeks with my mom, since Daddy is going back to work next week. YEA!

The sea lions were awesome. We liked listening to them bark. The baby sea lion came to check out the baby Owen. He actually got more from the animals this time. He was pointing at them and yelling. He "got it."

The kangaroos there were slightly less entertaining than the Kangaroo Senior Portraits at Oglebay, but still cool.

Elephants. There is a baby hiding under one of the bigger ones. It was so cute. They were throwing dirt on themselves to cool off because it was so hot. This silverback gorilla (behind the dude in the orange shirt) was just hanging out staring back at the people staring at him. It was pretty awesome, although the gorilla looks ticked.After an outfit change because it was so hot, we had a carousel ride and decided to head home.

It was necessary to stop at Sarris Chocolate Factory on the way home for a milkshake. Owen finally figured out how to use a straw, and he loved Mama's chocolate and banana shake.

The highlight of the trip, was very obviously the polar bear. We were walking under a glass tunnel looking at the sharks, when we realized we were now under the polar bear exhibit. Clint and I were quietly praying that the polar bear, Owen's favorite thing in the world, would make an appearance in the water. After only a couple minutes, he jumped down in the water and started swimming above us. It was so amazing. Owen immediately recognized what it was and started yelling at him and pointing. I managed to get a pretty decent video. This was a few minutes after he came down into the water. Owen is yelling at him and talking almost the entire time. And if you will notice, he's also holding HIS polar bear. I am pretty sure he loved it.

And the trip was all the more awesome because we went up in my new car! :) Last week, I ended up getting a 2010 graphite-colored 4-door Civic. It had 21 miles on it when I bought it. Now it has 350. I love it love it love it.

Great success!

2010-08-23T23:04:00.004-04:00

Clint got the job in Washington!! It's for http://www.ferro.com/ and he is super thrilled. He had the interview not this past Friday, but the Friday before. They told him they were doing interviews through Wednesday. They called him on Thursday and offered him the job!!! For the same schedule (m-f 8-5) and MORE money than he was making at Touchstone. Things are finally coming together! We are so excited!

And I get to get a new car soon, yeah!!!

Only one person looked at the house this week, but that's OK. We are going to take our time looking for a house (in a better price range!). And, if it takes a while for someone to buy our house, that will give us more time and options. There isn't a whole lot on the market right now.

But of course, as the trend with us has been lately, with the highs, there are also the lows. Last weekend I had a pretty sore throat. It kind of went away through the week, but I felt tired and sluggish all week. Wednesday, Owen had a 102 fever when he woke up. Clint gave him some Motrin to bring it down. It got higher. I called the doctor around 12:30, they got us in at 2:00pm (love the pediatricians). He has Hand, Foot and Mouth. If you don't know what that is, it's basically a children's virus that causes blisters to form in the throat, on the hands and feet, in addition to a steep fever and irritability. The virus has been running rampant recently in the Ohio Valley. The ped said a few weeks ago, probably 25 kids a day came in with it. The fever has passed. He still has some irritability, but his appetite has increased, so he must be feeling better.

SO... Sunday night at work, I'm trying to put it out of my mind that my sore throat has come back. Amy, my fellow supervisor tells me that Strep Throat is going around. I put it out of my head. Around 11:45pm, I start to ache. The whole night, I had been freezing. It's always cold in there anyway, but I mean freezing with a shirt and sweater on, with a small space heater pointing directly at me and FREEZING. I feel like I'm starting to check out. It was hard to focus, the aching was getting worse and I was starting to worry. I ended up going home around 1am, because I just wanted to lay down and sleep.

All night long, I tossed and turned, alternating between being so cold that I was shaking and sweating so much that my clothes were wet. My arms hurt. My legs hurt. My hips hurt. My shoulders hurt. My head was thumping. I felt like I was dying. Several times in the night I contemplated going to the emergency room, but settled for going to Med Express when they opened at 9am. The doctor initially thought I had Strep, but it ended up being negative. He says that I likely have a variation of the Hand Foot and Mouth virus. He gave me a really strong antibiotic and said I shouldn't be contagious in about 24 hours. I can't wait until I feel better, this is freaking miserable. I don't think I've ever felt worse.

And of course, my little monkey picks today to want to start kissing me unprovoked, when I can't kiss him. He was relentless though, and would not settle for my cheeks, so I had to tuck my lips into my mouth and let him give me a big smacker.

It's been such a shitty day. Thank God this happened before Clint went back to work, otherwise I would have needed some help today. Clint is so amazing in situations like this, taking care of Owen all by himself. He is such an amazing daddy.

Currently, it's 11:20pm, and I've been up for four hours. That's the longest stretch I have been awake and out of bed today. The chills/sweats is still annoyingly a major issue. I have taken two showers today and I think I will need to change my shirt before bed. Boo to being a sweaty disaster.

I have to start feeling better soon! I'm having Aunt Karen over for dinner on Wednesday!!! I'm making a delicious pork loin, couscous and steamed broccoli. Yum.

Some new little things, to distract us from the heavy stuff.

2010-08-17T19:14:00.004-04:00

Some recent pictures:

Owey doesn't know what to do... He doesn't like to get his hands dirty.

First time with shaved ice... Don't let that face fool you, he loved it. He sad because I'm taking pictures, not feeding him.

Down at the waterfront.S.S. Volunteer.

In the park in Warwood. I played in this park as a first and second grader.Runnin'Thirsty at the Warwood Pool.

Last weekend, Owey got to have a hot date with his future wife Lily. Their time was spent snuggling on Virginia's lap, having a meal and dancing.

Actually, Lily did NOT want Owen sharing her mama's lap, they both scrambled to get their fair share of raisins, goldfish and a banana. The dancing part was all Lily.

Also, Clint and I made a deal that when he got a job, I could get a car. I wasn't exatly planning on a new car, more like a 3ish year old CRV. However, I went and test drove a brand spanking new Civic today and Mama Like. The payment would be the same for a brand new Civic as a 3-4 year old CRV. I need to figure out what I want.

The brand new Civic is very very very nice. But a CRV would have more space for Owen +1 in the back seat. Since we have no immediate plans to buy a house now, and since Clint is going to be working again, we really need to do this soon. Unless I want to be stuck at home, all day, every day. (no.)

I took a big walk with Owen today. I haven't walked in awhile, so it was good to go. Then after we walked for a half hour, we took a break to play on the mega-playground in downtown Wheeling. Owey liked.

Owen's bedtime! Peace out!

Ups and downs.

2010-08-17T00:13:00.003-04:00

So, when one thing is going well in my life, something else will most certainly start to crap out.

As everyone knows, some dude made an offer on our apartment about a month ago. A week after that we put an offer on a house that we pretty much love. I get the mortgage set up... I set up the inspection. Pay for the appraisal. Drop a pretty penny on the earnest money for the house.

We found out today that the guy buying the apartment can't get his financing in order and cannot buy the apartment. Fortunately we set up a contingency clause in case something like this happened. I'm not going to be stuck with two mortgages or anything like that, but this still 100% sucks.

This means, the apartment goes back on the market. I have to get it ready to show again. We pray with all our hearts that we get another offer in time to close on the house by September 24 (or that we get a new buyer and the sellers on the house will give us an extension on the close...) OR, we totally lose the house.

I'm devestated by this. We got attached to that house, the neighborhood, the school district, the local park, the local pool, the walking trail, the pinkish pit bull in the yard next door, (I like to call her Pinky). The "dream" is gone.

I'm praying. I'm praying that if this is NOT our house, that the person who does eventually buy our apartment will do so at a time when OUR REAL HOUSE is on the market, at an affordable price, in a great location. It's just hard to accept that there is nothing I can do about it.

It felt like it was all too good to be true, because it was. Everything went so smoothly on my end. The offer and counter offer happened within hours of each other and we ended up settling way under what I thought we would be paying. The mortgage got set up without a hitch. The inspection was pretty decent. I'm counting on my faith and patience to take us through this. It could always be worse.

The good news... Clint finally got a job offer at a mental health facility in St. Clairsville, OH. He has accepted for now. Last friday he had two interviews, one at this job and another at a company in Washington, PA (about 30 minutes away) that would be almost his EXACT job from Touchstone, same salaray, same hours, everything. Perfect. He said the interview went very well, and they even said that if he wasn't selected for the job he was interviewed for, there was another position he could be considered for. Cross your fingers.

Maybe the reason this isn't working out is because Clint might get the job in Wash, PA and Warwood would be a little too far to drive every day. Maybe Elm Grove or Bethlehem would be a better fit for us. My friend Terry said to me today, "Just wait to see what God has in store for you."

So, the future is again uncertain. I'm just thankful the immediate future contains an employed husband. And extremely happy that Rpatz and Kstew were finally photographed kissing, in real life, in public, for real. THAT made my day.

And, I'm also very intrigued by Google Analytics. I can check to see who is actually looking at my blog. Meguro, Japan, Pelotas, Brazil, Bogota, Colombia, Brno, Czech Republic... I don't know who you are, but thanks for visiting! My blog has been visited by 16 countries and 21 states. I don't know who in Blairsville or Carnegie, PA is looking at the blog with such regularity. But I know those 20-some visits a month in Morgantown are from Virginia! And Mt. Vernon, IA is Krista K. So thanks friends, and loyal strangers! Identify yourselves and say hello!

More house pictures!

2010-08-04T14:20:00.004-04:00

We went today for the inspection, which did not show anything major, so it looks like this is really happening! It should be official September 24~~!!

After the inspection, I snapped a bunch of pictures and measured all the windows so I can start buying window coverings!!! Upstairs hallway. Excuse the creepy guy to the right who didn't get out of the picture in time.Third bedroom, likely to be used as a spare bedroom/office area until the second and final baby shows up in a couple of years.

Staircase heading down.

Owen's room facing the back of the house.

Our bedroom.

Our bedroom door.

Living room to foyer <3

Kitchen into dining room.

Kitchen.

Foyer into the other rooms.

Entrance to bathroom.

Dining room to kitchen.

Bathroom.

Pictures

2010-07-29T23:28:00.002-04:00

A couple people have requested pictures. I haven't taken any myself yet, (but it's me, you know there will be tons once we move in), but these are the pictures from the realtor's website.

Living room. I wish they had picked a more neutral color for the carpet, but it's brand new, so I can live with it... The brand new kitchen. No room for a dishwasher, but it's all good. There is an apple tree right outside the kitchen window.

French doors in the living room that lead to the foyer.

Finished third floor, perfect for a playroom! I'm sure when Owen is 13, he's going to want to move up here full time. The three bedrooms on the second floor all have this carpet and paint color as well.

Dining room, leading to back yard. There is also a pass-through to the kitchen.

That's it! I will take a ton of pictures come September 25!!!!!!

Update!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-07-28T15:12:00.001-04:00

He only countered by $1,000!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We got it!

The house I had a dream about.

2010-07-28T13:35:00.004-04:00

So, I think I already mentioned that we listed our apartment with a realtor. We figured it was time to get serious, start trying to make things happen.

We were a little unsure of what we were going to do if the house sold. Do we buy a new house? Do we try to save money and rent? We even tossed around the idea of moving out of the area. But, since I have such a good job, we figured staying in Wheeling and being close to our families was the best bet for us.

We figured it would be wise to start looking at houses as well. When the time came that our house sold, we would have to decide quickly what the plan would be. If we did end up buying a house, I wanted to know what all was on the market, so we would be prepared and be familiar with all the houses in our price range.

Last week, we had looked at one house in Bethlehem that was decent, but overpriced and needed a little work. I told our realtor, Bob, (who I love), that I wanted to see a few more houses later in the week. I gave him a list and he said we could look at two that Friday, one in Warwood and one in St. Clairsville. Meanwhile, we have had probably 3 or 4 groups come through our house, which even though that's a small number, I was surprised we had even that many. Someone came to look at it last Wednesday.

Thursday night, I had a dream that we bought the first house we planned to look at the next day. I had looked at SO many houses on all of the real estate websites in the past few weeks. This particular house didn't really interest me, except that it was in our price range and had the right number of bedrooms in a decent neighborhood. So, I was surprised it made an appearance in my subconscious.

Friday morning, a lot of stuff happened. We went to look at the house I had a dream about. It was built in 1920, it's pretty big, and it has been recently been flipped. Everything in the house is new. New kitchen, new bathroom, new paint, new carpet, new windows, new furnace, new air conditioner, new water heater. There are a couple of drawbacks. There is not a single appliance in the house. While the majority of the house has either a caramel color carpeting or ceramic tile, the living room has bright blue carpet... The most important thing was that Clint and I both really liked it. We have looked at 8 houses total now, and that was the first time where we were completely on the same page.

Moving along, we go to look at a second house in St. Clairsville that was built in 1995. On paper, it should have been the better house, but we kept thinking about the first house in Warwood. We started talking hypothetically about the profit we will make from the sale of our house to be the down payment on a new house. (Not new of course, but new for us...) Our realtor, after having spent at least an hour with us, comes out of nowhere and says, "Well, that's something we will need to think about, because you have an offer." WHAT? The house had only been on the market for 23 days. We were thinking it would take at least six months to sell. I was talking about what it would be like to spend another winter in this apartment, and the freaking house gets an offer after Twenty. Three. Days.

He low-balled us, of course, but we countered back, and the next morning he accepted our counter. We are moving out of this house on September 24. (If all goes as planned, and please pray that it does.)

So... now what?

We tell Bob we want to look at more houses. We looked at three more on Monday and hated every single one of them. They were overpriced, they were old and outdated, they were remodeled poorly... they were... weird....

Meanwhile, in conversation, we start referring to the house in Warwood as "The House." We went to look at it again. And again with my mom and our handy man.

This morning, on the third visit, we take our handy man and tell him everything we want to change. Get everyone's opinion.

We made an offer.

Now, we are waiting. We fully expect them to counter. How much will they counter? Will they accept our terms? Will they cover our closing costs? Let's hope. The whole process makes me giddy and nauseous all at the same time. I'm not sleeping... like at all...

Please keep us in your prayers and cross your fingers for us. I'm hoping to hear back from the seller this evening.

We really want this:

This pretty much made my week.

2010-07-20T01:36:00.003-04:00

Over a breakfast of muffins and fruit this morning, Owey decides he is going to hide behind his plate. We play along. He giggles for a solid 15 minutes. You can hear him giggling behind the plate. It was an awesome mommy-moment.

Mother of three, for three days only.

2010-07-10T14:18:00.008-04:00

We finally planned a trip to Columbus that involved bringing additional children with us home to Wheeling. We went up on Tuesday and brought Andrew and Allie back home with us for three nights.

They were jam-packed days, and not everything went according to plan, but we still had an awesome time.

Early morning piano shenanigans.

Three hot kids on a chair.

Approximately 10 minutes after arriving back in Wheeling, our power goes out as I am making grilled cheese sandwiches for all the kids. I think it's important to note that it was exactly 96 degrees that day. The kids were uncomfortable. We went and rented a movie, and by the time we came home, the power was back on and we enjoyed a dinner of chicken enchiladas.

What I did not realize, was that something happened to the refrigerator during the power outage. The light was still on, the freezer was still cold, but by Thursday morning, the fridge was getting less cold than it should have been. I was thinking it may have had something to do with the excessive heat.

So, Thursday we packed up Andrew and Allie (Grandma stayed with Owen at our house) and went to Sandcastle. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures while at Sandcastle, because my phone was stored in a locker while we ran around the waterpark.

We first hit up the wave pool (always a favorite). The kids weren't sure what to expect, but once the waves started churning, and the kids started getting bounced around, we knew they were having an awesome time. Then Clint and I both got a double innertube to go down the Blue Tubalooba with each of the kids, the most awesome water slide in the history of water slides. After going down it once the kids immediate screamed, "Let's do that again!!!!!" The lazy river was not quite as big a hit, so we went back to the wave pool before lunch.

After lunch, Allie and I went to the kids' pool, which even as an adult, was awesome. I can't wait until Owen gets a little bigger so he can enjoy that. After the little pool, we tried to see if Allie could go down some slides in a single tube. Thankfully she was tall enough, so we each went down two more slides side by side. She was having a blast. Meanwhile, Andrew and Clint were going down the terrifying really tall slides. We met back up to go in the wave pool one more time before heading home.

We left Sandcastle at 5:30, and didn't reach the Fort Pitt Tunnel until 6:45... It's approximately 10 miles, maybe less. There was so much traffic. It was disastrous. The kids were exhausted and both took a nap in the car, but woke up before we even left Pittsburgh.

Below is Allie passed out in the car on the way home from Sandcastle.

When we got home, my mom says, "Kara, I don't think your fridge is keeping things cold..." The refrigerator that I bought 2.5 years ago when we first moved into our apartment is now ruined. Friday morning brought stress and refrigerator estimates. One company told me it would cost between $200-400 to fix it. Another company was going to charge me $80 just to come look at it, and they couldn't come look at it until the 20th (I called on the 9th)...

New refrigerator it is! I got a pretty sweet deal on a Whirpool brand (bottom freezer) refrigerator that was half off!!!! It was a good day to buy a fridge.

The rest of Friday was spent at the park, Andrew and Clint hitting up Cabela's, and Allie, Owen and me going shopping at Target where Allie got some cute new outfits and I got some new sunglasses to replace the ones broken at Sandcastle. (I cannot be without sunglasses on sunny days.)

Owey was also a fan of the shades.

Owey and his best friend (substitute polar bear), Andrew.

If the polar bear is not near, and Andrew is, Owey is happy! I have an almost identical shot of these two from our trip to the Columbus zoo.

The night in Columbus consisted of Bananagrams with my gutter-brained husband, Scott and Cristie, and two defunct dictionaries that couldn't keep up with my vocabulary. Thank God for Scott's iPhone. Good times, friends.

I just want to say how adorable Allie is with all her little dresses. I have known this little lady since she was nine days old, and in the past five years, I don't remember ever seeing her wear anything other than dresses (except for pajamas). Cristie says it doesn't happen too often.

Allie is very good at making Owey giggle.

Especially when she acts like she is biting his hands. The expression on Owen's face is his deliriously happy face.

And Allie can fly!

Action shot of Allie~!

Bubbles! Allie was blowing bubbles and Owey was chasing them.

Down the tubes.

Saturday morning, the entire Kimmins fam had breakfast in the Amie abode. I don't do it very often, but when there is a special occasion, I love to cook up a big breakfast. Cristie always prepares a huge breakfast for us the last day of our visits to Columbus, so I thought it only fair I return the favor. It was awesome having them all over! I'm looking forward to having a house with more livable areas so that I can do more entertaining (without having people climb three flights of stairs)... I'm pretty sure Owey was very sad to see his friends leave, and I'm sure he is looking forward to another visit soon.

Back to the fridge drama. Because it was considered an "emergency fridge," they did not give me a time window on when the fridge was going to be delivered, only that it would be Saturday. Clint went and got a few breakfast essentials this morning, and more ice. I had everything from the fridge within a cooler and a huge freezer bag.

I figured it would be delivered midday. Nope.

At 4:00pm, I called Lowes to find out where the fridge was. They took my number and told me they would call me back. At 6:00pm, with no word from Lowes, I called back. This new girl I talked to contacted the driver while on the phone with me, only to find out that they were "backed up" but it would definitely be today. I was upset. By this point, all the ice had melted from everywhere, and everything in the cooler and freezer bag was ruined. I told them I had kids in my house and needed to be able to have essential food items. I had planned on going shopping as soon as the fridge was delivered to replace everything that was ruined. Luckily, I stored all of our meat from the freezer with our upstairs neighbor, who was very accommodating, even though she is vegan!!! I relayed this to the girl on the phone, who promptly transferred me to a manager.

I'm kind of surprised at this. I wasn't really angry, I just wanted to know when the damn fridge was going to be delivered. I am not one to hold back a complaint at places like restaurants and retail stores. I worked as a waitress and a sales associate before. I know the deal. Customer's are paying you for a service, and if that service is not delivered as expected, the customer should benefit. But in this case, I wasn't even that mad when on the phone. Clint said it sounded like I was going to cry, but I think I was just really tired. This phone call resulted in the darling manager from Lowes leaving $15o dollars at the customer service desk for me to replace my groceries. I'm still ticked that I had to replace a 2.5 year old fridge, but that was a huge help, especially with Clint being laid off and all that. Thanks Ashley the manager!

The fridge was finally in place in my kitchen at 8:15pm.

After the crazy week I have had, I made some plans with my dear Natalie for sushi and secret-spilling. The sweet-potato rolls were sweet-ass. After sushi-fest, I hightailed it to the grocery store to replace all my perishables, courtesy of Lowes.

Tonight, the house is quiet after three days of being a family of five. While I know our family will likely only ever be a family of four, having Andrew and Allie with us made me look forward to giving Owen a sibling in a few years. He was clearly sad when he woke up from his nap and realized that the big kids were not there anymore.

Kids are awesome. One of Clint's highlights from the week: Listening to Andrew and Allie giggle while watching "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs." It was infectious. Love it.

Some recent videos

2010-06-25T16:02:00.002-04:00

Columbus Revisited

2010-06-25T15:29:00.005-04:00

With Clint still out of work, we have a lot of time on our hands. We decided to go visit our friends in Columbus. I think I should stop calling them friends. They are more like family.

I knew Owen liked trains, but now it is clear that he LOVES them. Well, I know what SOMEONE is getting from Santa Claus this year!

Cristie making Owey giggle.

Owey hard at work on the Kimmins' computer.

Ah, is this what it would look like if we had a girl next. Ah, swoon.

Funny girl.

Abbie on the grass.

Abbie and Owey

Clint, Andrew and Owey. Scott, Clint and Andrew all went golfing on Wednesday. They had a great time, but it was probably 1,000 degrees out and they all came back with sunburn.

Owey liked to show the girls how good he is at closing doors.

Adam on the slide. The entire time we were there, Adam only called Owen "Baby Owey." It was pretty much adorable.

Allie taking Owen down the slide.

Owen kept taking Abbie's stroller, so she had to run away with it :)

More train-playing.
Being in Columbus did something to me this trip, and I don't mean make me nauseous when Owen started throwing up in the middle of the night due to strawberry overload during the day. Of course I am from Columbus, spent the majority of my childhood there. I don't know if it's desperation talking, but Clint's job search in the Ohio Valley is getting ridiculously depressing. He has applied to so many jobs, soo sooooo many jobs, and hasn't gotten any interviews. I don't know what the problem is.

On the way home from Columbus, Clint and I started talking about what it would be like to live there. I'm familiar with it already, we have FAMILY there who would make the transition so much easier in so many ways, a booming job market for Clint, so many more housing possibilities...

I have an excellent job that I have no plans of leaving. If we lived in Columbus, I could come back to Wheeling on a Friday afternoon, work my weekend, stay at my mom's and go back to Columbus Monday morning. I could take Owen with me two weekends a month, and leave him in Columbus with Clint two weekends a month. That way, Clint wouldn't be overwhelmed with Owen for three days straight, and my mom would still get to see Owen frequently. I'm really happy with my work schedule, and I think that my commuting for the weekends wouldn't be that difficult. If Clint can get a decent-paying job in Columbus, I think we should try to make it work.

First things first, we have not put the house on the market yet because we figured our next step would be buying a house in this area. If we MAY move out of the area, that won't work. So, either way, we need to sell this house so we can keep our options open. We need to be able to be in a position to move rather quickly (3 months or less) and we may not be able to do that while owning this house. So, a realtor is coming to our apartment on Tuesday.

We have explored so many options. I don't know what the right one is. It's really hard to figure it out. The idea of moving to an area where Clint can find decent work, being close to people we know and love, and being within easy travel distance to our family... seems like a good idea. We shall see.

And - HUGE congratulations to Mrs. Laura Jackson Roberts and family on the birth of new baby Benjamin Michael!!!!

Summer Lovin'

2010-06-25T15:06:00.003-04:00

Look at Owen's new trick!
He can get from the living room at the other end of the apartment to standing on the dining room table in under 30 seconds! This kid is keeping me on my toes.

Wheeling Park play date with Owey, Kara and Eliot! Followed up by lunch at Greco's with Natalie and Eliot!

The haircut 2.0! Owen's hair got long enough to start pulling out again, so we had to get it cut again. This time, we had all the hair taken off, so there is no threat of pulling for a little. Uncle Chad's girlfriend actually cut it!

Owen is wearing his "Big Kahuna" t-shirt, courtesy of Aunt Karen and Uncle Herb's recent trip to Hawaii!

So far, we are enjoying summer as much as possible! We have been going to the pool when it gets too hot, playing at the park and visiting friends. I could do without the humidity, but I'll live.

Random thoughts

2010-06-02T12:30:00.004-04:00

Summer has gone from non-existent to horribly persistent in a matter of days. I hate when the air is heavy and hot, makes me feel sticky, and the only solution is a pool.
I love swimming. I think Owey is going to love it as well. We were at a barbecue for Memorial Day, and he took it upon himself to climb into the kiddie pool. With his shoes on.
Clint is thinking about taking coal-mining classes. Yes the job market is that bad. He has had a couple of mental health positions he's been interested in, but they pay next to nothing. Is it worth it?
I have been looking for houses online. At first it's exciting, but then it just gets depressing.
In order for us to buy a house, things need to happen in this order: Clint needs to get a job, we need to get a realtor, we need to sell this house, and find the house we want to buy. Ugh. Can we fast forward to the last step?
I really really really want to buy a house in Woodsdale, but I don't think it's going to happen.
My darling Natalie K. has been making me many mix CDs, and they help me get through long nights of QC at work. Natalie, you continue to improve my life every week. I love our 15 minutes on Sundays.
YOU, (yes you) should be listening to Emily Haines (with or without the Soft Skeleton and other various accompaniments). Crowd Surf off a Cliff and Bottom of the World are two of my new favorite songs.
Owen will now willingly wear sandals, sunglasses and/or a hat. He has a little baseball-like hat, and it's slightly too big, so I turn it to the side and he looks like a little gangster.
My darling Laura's bun is nearly cooked. We must have one more night out for crab legs before you become a mother of two.
I recently reconnected (through Facebook!) with a little girl I used to babysit all through college. I started watching her when she was 5 or 6, I think. She is now nearly 15. Wow. The first time I watched her, she made me stay on a swing by her garage while she rode her bike up the street, making sure to keep in contact via walkie-talkie. I have so many good memories of that little lady. I hope we get together soon.
I really really really want a new car. I refuse to make a new mix CD until I can make one for MY car, and I'm getting impatient.
Owen has started running. It's more like a fast, exaggerated waddle, but it's adorable.
My good friend Annie from high school is visiting while her husband is doing some training in the military. It's so good to see friends from your past, who after all the time are in the exact same place in their lives as you are. So good to see you and little Alex!
Clint and I watched the entire first two seasons of True Blood in two weeks. It's scandalous. There is a lot of cussing, effing, biting and killing. Good stuff.
Owen still doesn't say many words, but he talks all the time in little baby-talk sentences. He uses a lot of inflection and various different sounds. I'm convinced one day he is just going to start talking in sentences. He says, "dada, mama (very rarely), hi, kitty, yeah, mmmmm (when he likes something to eat), what's that, uh oh," and he makes exaggerated kissing sounds when he kisses things. He also kisses everything that he loves. I also saw him hugging a little Shrek doll today.
Yesterday, my mama turned 64!!!! Happy Birthday Jude.

Ok, my little list turned into a long list.

The House

2010-05-26T23:18:00.009-04:00

For Sale: 1800-sq. ft. Victorian Co-Op Apartment. 2 bedrooms. 1 bath. River View. You know you want it.

Most rooms recently painted. Crown moulding throughout. Baby toys scattered throughout not included. Unless you want to clean them up twice a day.

Living room.

Bedroom. Currently used as nursery... obviously.

View.

Kitchen. Appliances included. To the right, butler's pantry and dining room. Through the door in the center is a laundry room that was originally the "servant's quarters."

Inner Stairwell. 3rd floor.

Front entry and hallway to dining room. Notice the hardwood floors throughout.
Husband doing dishes in the kitchen not included. Sorry, he comes with me.

Dining room. Cat not included.

Where the magic happens. Room proven to increase fertility. Fantastic river view and built-ins.

Said built-ins.

If anyone knows anyone looking to buy something like this, give me a holler!

The end of an era. The curls.

2010-05-04T13:39:00.005-04:00

So, for some reason, Owen started pulling his hair out on the right side of his head. I have no idea why. Just started twisting his finger in his curls as he sucked his thumb, and then pulled out what he had twisted. It was just confusing at first. Through last week I started getting worried, as we would find him with clumps of hair in his hands. In exactly a week, this is what he had done to himself:

I started to freak out, thinking he has Trichotillomania, where people feel compelled to pull all their hair out. It's a type of compulsive disorder. It can present as early as one. His pediatrician said to only let them know if he reacts like he's in pain or if he is fussy all day. He seems fine otherwise. So, with a heavy heart... we decided to get his hair cut, ugh.

We figured, if his hair was short enough, there wouldn't be anything to pull out. If you know me, you know how attached I was to these curls.

I think Owey was pretty attached to them as well. He didn't like the poor girl cutting his hair. He did pretty well though, didn't squirm too much. I sobbed through the whole thing. I sobbed when I sat in the drivers seat of our car to leave, and I turned around to look at him, and he's rubbing his hands all over his head as if to say, "Where did my hair go??" Clint had to drive. Owen and I were crying too hard.

The only remedy was vanilla soft serve.

And a trip to the playground.

He's still adorable.

But I miss the curls :( I kept them all in a baggy for his baby book. There is no way I would have cut it if he hadn't pulled out half of his hair. He had the right side of a mohawk down.

Stay tuned for more exciting updates.

Eating broccoli like a champ!

2010-04-26T23:32:00.001-04:00

2010-04-26T22:57:00.004-04:00

The following pictures are totally out of order, and it's more complicated than you think to rearrange pictures in Blogger once you upload them. So... here they are... out of order, bear with me.

At the Columbus Zoo, all of the kids and Clint. From left, Owey, Clint, Abbie, Andrew, Allie and Adam (wedged between the l and the t!)

Allie, Adam, Andrew and Owey in the Asian part of the Columbus Zoo.

This little man took a thirty minute nap on the way to the zoo, and lasted almost the whole day without a nap. Needless to say, Clint and I bet on how long it would take him to fall asleep once we were in the car. He fell asleep exactly four minutes out.

Allie was teaching Owey how to write with a pen. We keep noticing Owen favoring his left hand for things. Do we have a little South Paw on our hands?

Andrew became Owen's new favorite person. Andrew, always the wonderful big brother, was happy to oblige.

The Amie fam.

Me and Abbie walking to Adam's soccer game! Andrew, me, Abbie, Allie and Owen at Adam's soccer game!

The Kimmins fam at the Columbus Zoo. Too bad Scott had to work!!

My little happy man. I think he's thrilled with himself because he just went #2 for the second time that day. The kid never poops, but he poops twice in a very public area... It was tricky.

Helpful kids.

Abbie feeding Owey pancakes for the first time.

As usual, we had a fantastic time visiting our friends in Columbus. We planned it so we went up on a Tuesday afternoon (Owen napped in the car on the way). We got to go to Adam's soccer game and grill with Cristie and the gang. Owen did not like the group bath, but still managed to sleep a full 12 hours in a pack-n-play. Great success! The next morning we got up, had a big breakfast, packed a picnic lunch and went to the Columbus Zoo! The zoo was great! My favorite part was seeing monkey families. There were two new baby monkeys being held by their mommies with the daddies looking over their shoulders.

All the kids had a good time! I don't know if Owen got a lot of out of the animals, but he sure enjoyed pushing his stroller around! Aside from the fact that he barely napped all day, we were pretty thrilled with how he behaved. Toward the end he got a little stubborn and grumpy, but it worked out.

We are looking forward to visiting Columbus again soon to see the Kimmins gang again!

I love this kid.

2010-03-30T16:54:00.003-04:00

When he gets up from his naps, he always looks like a little cherub. Today, it was especially warm in his room during his nap, so he got a little warm. When he gets a little warm, the hair gets a little curlier than usual. I love it, personally.

We say, "allllllll done!" and he's starting to get the hang of it as well. It's pretty much adorable.

How to Disappear Completely.

2010-03-25T22:52:00.002-04:00

So... Things are kind of rough these days.

It seems like one good thing happens, and then three bad things happen directly afterward. For example, we got a handy man for a very reasonable price, who (together with Clint's assistance) finished the hallway and removed the sink and replaced the wall in the laundry room. Clint has been sanding window frames and hopes to do a lot of painting done next week. House renovations in preparation to put it on the market = good stuff.

So, then comes some bad stuff. Last Thursday, I had a dentist appointment. For a very long time, I have known that I have TMJ (Temporomandibular Joint Disorder). If you are unfamiliar, basically, it's a misalignment of the joints in my jaw. It causes a lot of different symptoms, but MINE include: headaches, clicking (to the point where I have had a meal with someone and they ask, 'what is that noise?' 'yeah, it's my jaw clicking.'), sometimes dizziness, and the worst of all - clenching. I clench my jaw all the time. I will wake up in the morning and my jaw will be clenched. I will be sitting at my desk and realize I have been clenching my jaw for who knows how long. I catch myself doing it all day. Well, for the past few weeks, I thought I might have had a cavity, because when I would drink something cold, or have something sweet, like a big old glass of Riesling... I would have some sensitivity in my lower left set of teeth. I expressed this to my dental hygienist, and she pointed it out to the dentist. He examined. I'm laying in the reclined chair, mouth wide open when I hear, "Oh, you have a crack in one of your lower left teeth... Here's another one on the other side!" So, apparently, I have been clenching my jaw hard enough and long enough that I have started cracking my teeth.

So, I am scheduled to have my teeth molded next week so that I can have a splint made to wear at night so I don't clench my teeth when I'm sleeping. This is of course, conveniently not covered by my dental insurance. Another option is to get braces. Believe me, I don't exactly dig the idea of having braces as an adult, but if it will prevent me cracking all my teeth and reducing the crazy headaches caused by all of this, I will consider. The option I will not even consider is surgery. The idea of having part of my jaw bones scraped off, and then having my jaw wired shut for weeks so it may heal does NOT sound like an excellent time.

So, that's that.

The next thing, which is both a good and bad thing at the same time, is that I sold my VW bug to a coworker. This is good because I no longer have a car payment and our monthly gas budget will be reduced. But it's bad because I no longer have a car, and I loved that car. Honestly, it was a little ridiculous having a toddler and a tiny two-door car, whose trunk did not even accommodate his stroller... With Clint being laid off right now, we sincerely do not need two cars. I walk to work. We are home together through the week. We very rarely drive separately anymore. Clint and I made a deal that when he gets a new job or we sell the house, whichever comes first, I can get a new car. I am pretty much decided on a Honda or a Nissan. I really want a CRV or a Rogue, but I would also take an Element, Murano or maybe even a Versa. Those are my possibilities.

And, very sadly, my great Aunt Katie died on Monday. She was 91. She was one of my late grandmother's many siblings, only one of which are still with us, my great Aunt Helen. Aunt Katie's funeral was today. Despite the fact that it was a very sad occasion, a lot of my family from out of town got to meet Owen at the viewing last night. He was actually very brave while there, not his usual timid self. He was walking around the entire first floor, and even grabbing random people's legs! He must have known he was among family.

Oh, and Clint found out he is making little more than half of what he made in unemployment the last time he was laid off! So, I am going to have to be creative with our budget until he goes back to work. Please pray that he finds a new job and that we are able to sell our house. This is wearing me down. I feel like I need a vacation from my life. I should start entering contests to have an all expense paid vacation to somewhere beautiful and stress free. Just for a week. Wonder what my odds would be... My mom thinks I'm pretty lucky.

Random good things this week:
Seeing dearly loved family that I don't get to see nearly enough.
Owen saying "Mama" completely unprovoked to get my attention.
Natalie.
New Moon on DVD, obviously.

The Park, part two.

2010-03-16T20:42:00.004-04:00

We made a play date at the park today. Me, my mom, and the bug, and we invited Erin and Alexander along. It was slightly colder than last time, so we had to bundle up. Owen played his usual - the timid kid for the majority of the time we are some place, warming up around the time we are getting ready to leave...

The boys.
Managed to get a great picture of Alexander!

Tunnels.

Finally warming up.

Owey and Mamaw.

Me and my monkey.

We had to be out of the house while Daddy and our new super hero handy man fixed the wall in the laundry room. Next project on Thursday - the HALLWAY.

A day at the (Wheeling) park!

2010-03-11T17:34:00.008-05:00

First of all, this might be the cutest thing I've ever seen. Owen keeps trying to rest his head on Frankie.
Today, we decided we should go out for lunch and take Owen to the park, because the weather has been in the mid sixties and sunny! There are still heaps of snow all over the place, but it's melting, slowly but surely.

We were pretty sure he would be in a good mood after we found him like this:

Owen can be kind of timid. If we are in a store somewhere, he will ride in a cart patiently, or he will want carried. Even though he has walked for several months, he is very shy about it in public. He will just stand in one place and look around until he gets nervous and starts tugging on his clothes and then starts crying.

We were afraid the park would be the same way. We were wrong! At first, he didn't want us to set him down, but after a quick trip down the big kids' slide with Daddy, he was a little more comfortable. We walked over the little kids' swings, and put him in. He was only nervous about it for a minute, and then he was all. over. it. He loved it! He squealed, he giggled, he smiled. He adored the swings.

A little nervous, with his big blue eyes...

Starting to enjoy this...

Wow, this thing goes fast!

Okay, I love it.

I don't want to ever get off this thing.

Then we let him go down the little kids' slide by himself. Loved it. Wasn't even nervous. First time down, smiling all the way.

We were extremely excited to see that he wanted to walk around and explore things. At first he stood still for a few minutes... then took a few tentative steps... then he was basically running around the playground. He also walked through the grass by himself. In true boy fashion, he headed straight for the mud and walked through as many puddles as he could find. When we picked him up to leave, he actually cried and tried to get back down. I think I have a little outdoorsman.

Is it okay to walk around in my awesome shoes?

Puddles!
Daddy, keeping Owen away from the mud.

And thanks to "Billy's Mom" for taking a family picture!

This sums up the day for me, pretty much...

And, I'm in love. Clint somehow ruined his cell phone charger, so he went to Verizon to buy a new phone. He hadn't bought one in over three years. I just got a new one last February (my beloved red Blackberry). But, the dude at the cell phone place said we were both eligible for a new phone. Since we already had the "smart phone" package, Clint decided he would finally cave and get a Blackberry. There was a deal where you could get two Blackberrys for $250 with a $200 mail in rebate!!!! So, I am the proud owner of a new 8530 Blackberry Curve. It's so fast. It takes awesome pictures (all the above were taken with my phone.) It's sleek. It's easy. I love it. And Clint is so fascinated with it, we barely spoke last night, he was playing with his phone! He doesn't know how he ever lived without it. I think I have made a lifelong commitment to the Blackberry brand.

Me: It's lavender, which is probably the last color I would ever buy, but I think it's pretty.

Clint: I think it's more of a jasmine color.

(Me and Laura stare at Clint like he has two heads.)

And thanks Laura, Shawn and Andy for having us over last night! We had a blast! And thanks for burning The Hurt Locker for us!

Weird.

2010-03-04T22:14:00.005-05:00

I had a dream last night that I met Stephen King and his wife, and Stephen King's number one fan told me he loved me...?

Maybe because I want to read Pet Sematary because Natalie said it's awesome? Or maybe not.

Clint's first week at home has been pretty good. He sanded a bunch of window sills to get ready to repaint. Unfortunately, I had 3 meetings for work this week and spent a bunch of time away from the house. I also had a very, very important date with Mrs. Laura Jackson Roberts. There were crab legs. And stellar conversation. And Riesling. Only for me, she's got a baby cooking.

This week has been improved by good friends, good mix CDs, losing 2.5lbs and my little monkey.

His new favorite "playtime" activity is chasing me around the house. If you have been to our apartment, you know there is a mile-long hallway. I will get his attention, run up the hallway and hide in one of the rooms. He literally cackles. He laughs so hard. When he finds me, I say "boo!" and run to another room. He will laugh about this for 20+ minutes. He laughed even harder when I hid behind the arm of the couch and he snuck up on me.

Owen has started repeating things I say to him. All done, good job, thank you... It's hardly recognizable as real words, but I know what he's saying :)

Good stuff.

Layoff 2.0.

2010-02-26T17:03:00.003-05:00

So, stupid me for thinking that things were going great...

Today, (Friday) Clint comes home around 11:30am. He looks upset. As soon as I see him I know there is only one reason he would be upset to be home at 11:30am on a Friday. He got laid off again. He was only back for five months.

This isn't fair.

He said he isn't going to wait around for his employer to hire him back like he did last time. He's going to start searching for a new job right away. He is also going to take this time to do some work on the apartment we have been wanting to do. The wall in the laundry room, finishing the wall in the hallway, painting, etc. Our goal is to get this place on the market by the end of March.

Around the same time we are losing our insurance. I'm going to pick up insurance for Owen, but we are going to risk it and not have insurance for ourselves.

Ugh.

All in a day's work.

2010-02-24T23:47:00.002-05:00

So I'm worried about sleep. I guess it started last night, when Owen woke up around midnight, before I had gone to bed, but after I had taken two Tylenol PMs (they are necessary when switching a sleep schedule every week and weekend). Fortunately, this time wasn't as bad as the last time, and the Darling Downstairs Neighbors did not call.

I don't know how I retained my sanity with a newborn. Lack of sleep really does something to your noggin. He woke up earlier than he had been the past few days, so I felt sluggish all morning. Still, I did two loads of laundry, changed two diapers, made four kinds of muffins and prepared two meals before 1pm. After that, my motivation died down.

Owen was really funny today. It's amazing how fast he picks up on things. I was just saying how he learned to say, "all done!" when he is done getting changed. Well, I noticed that he has started saying "all done!" when he WANTS to be done with something. Getting changed, eating, sitting in the tub... The other day, I was in the kitchen making dinner, and Clint walks out and says, "Our kid is so smart." I had to agree. We are your typical proud parents.

He's also a creature of habit. He will inevitably go for the ONE THING in the room that I don't want him to mess with. Today, it was the lamp on the end table. I have removed basically everything from the living room except for furniture and toys. But the lamps have to stay, and they were the object of his interest today. He kept wedging himself between the table and the wall and trying to pull the lamp off. It was frustrating. I had to push the table against the wall so he couldn't get behind it and put the lamp at the far corner. Having a small child does not jive with my organizational anal retentiveness. The lamps are staying though. I will NOT resort to using overhead light, lol. I despise overhead light!!

Since we stopped giving him a bottle, our new bedtime routine consists of tickle-time, bath time, lotion and pajamas, a kiss from Daddy, and then reading and snuggle time with Mama. We have a little stack of books on a stool next to the rocking chair, including "Goodnight Moon," (Goodnight Stars, Goodnight Air, Goodnight Noises everywhere), "Guess How Much I Love You," (I love you as I high as I can reach), and a couple of other various bedtime books. Recently, I added this Baby Einstein's "Windows to Color" book into the mix. That was a mistake. We have had the book for a while, and he's always liked it, but now... geez... Ever since I gave him that option, he pushes all the other books away. He will only relax and let me read this color book. It's really neat though. It has a classic painting, with a little window looking through to the next page, displaying objects in the most dominant color for the painting. For example, on one page, there is a Georgia O'Keefe flower that is mostly red. On the opposite page, there is a heart cut-out and the words, "hot, rich, exciting." Then you turn the page, and it says, "RED!" and has a rose, a fire truck and some other red things. He adores this book. I always point out all the pictures and tell him what they are, and tell him the name of the painter and picture. I am pretty sure he understands "blueberries, Owey loves blueberries" better than "Edgar Degas, 'Dancers Coming Upstairs'." But tonight, when we were on the yellow page, I pointed out the ducklings, and said, "Owey look at the duckies! Do you see the duckies?" and he actually said, "Duckies!"

I think one of these nights I'm going to experiment and just show him a collection of Georgia O'Keefe paintings that I have.

While I was making muffins today, I wanted to keep Owen busy in the dining room, so I opened the lid of the piano and showed him that when you press the keys, a noise comes out. So I got to listen to music while making muffins. I'm going to try to get this on video.

I love being a mom.

AND. The Wellness Bridge is having a contest of sorts (I think to get everyone out of their winter weight loss funk). We renewed our gym memberships, and I paid for two months of the Wellness Bridge. I have to keep a record of what I eat, get my exercise in, and set a goal for the next eight weeks. I set a goal of 8lbs. I think I can lose 8lbs in 8 weeks. Good luck to me.

I will let you down, I will make you hurt.

2010-02-23T12:28:00.004-05:00

Emily and Krista were in town a few months ago. We went out to dinner at Olive Garden, and Emily took this picture of Owey. I love it, he's so cute. He's got a dirty little face, but he was so tired he had to snuggle that puppy. Whenever he's tired, he puts his face down on something soft and sucks his thumb.

The monkey seems to be developing his mind rather quickly these days. I think his size is pretty similar to where he was a month ago, but he's doing things that surprise me every day.

He gives me five.
He says "all done!" when he is done being changed.
The other day I caught him swiping his hands together like he was cleaning them off after touching something dirty.
If he doesn't want to eat something on his highchair tray, he will hide it under his sippy cup, or grab it and stick down in the seat beside him.
If he wants me to hold something, he grabs my hand and turns it over and puts whatever it is in my hand.
He stacks blocks like a champion.
He treats everything like a telephone when he sees me talking on my cell. He holds remotes up to his ears and says, "hi daddy." The video below is from when he first started doing this - his phone skills are much more sophisticated now.

Having a baby is the hardest work I've ever done, but it is also the most rewarding and adventurous experience in the world. Thumbs up for having kids.

Your Ex Lover is Dead

2010-02-14T07:29:00.001-05:00

I freaking love this song.

God that was strange to see you again
Introduced by a friend of a friend
Smiled and said 'yes I think we've met before'
In that instant it started to pour,
Captured a taxi despite all the rain
We drove in silence across Pont Champlain
And all of the time you thought I was sad
I was trying to remember your name...

This scar is a fleck on my porcelain skin
Tried to reach deep but you couldn't get in
Now you're outside me
You see all the beauty
Repent all your sin

It's nothing but time and a face that you lose
I chose to feel it and you couldn't choose
I'll write you a postcard
I'll send you the news
From a house down the road from real love...

Live through this, and you won't look back...
Live through this, and you won't look back...
Live through this, and you won't look back...

There's one thing I want to say, so I'll be brave
You were what I wanted
I gave what I gave
I'm not sorry I met you
I'm not sorry it's over
I'm not sorry there's nothing to save
I'm not sorry there's nothing to save...

RIP

2010-02-12T08:32:00.002-05:00

I saw a movie montage yesterday with a clip of a Heath Ledger movie. I heart Heath Ledger. So sad he is gone.

Last night, I had a crazy dream, where I witnessed someone get killed rather brutally (yikes) and then I was walking around all suspicious like, and didn't tell anyone what I saw. Today I sort of have a guilty conscience for no reason.

Then later in the dream, I was getting very intimate with Heath Ledger, who showed up out of nowhere. It was dreamy and sad all at the same time. I kept telling him all the movies I love that he made, making sure not to mention the obvious ones. I said "Monster's Ball" and "The Four Feathers" (which isn't a great movie, but Heath Ledger was good.)

I always think about what would happen if I met someone famous that I really liked. For example, if I met Kristen Stewart, I would tell her that I loved her in "Into the Wild" and "The Safety of Objects." I wouldn't say, "I love 'Twilight'" because while I am one of those, I will not openly admit to strangers that I am one of those.

Speaking of movies... I accidentally saw "Nine Lives" because it was on TV while I was flipping through channels. I highly recommend it. I especially loved the part with Robin Wright Penn and the part with Holly Hunter. Fortunately, it can be viewed on YouTube. The part with Robin Wright Penn is clips 4, 5, and 6. It's a series of vignettes that each last about 10-15 minutes. Awesome.

Good and Bad

2010-02-11T11:34:00.003-05:00

So, a lot has been going on around here. I need to sort my brain out, I feel kind of scrambled.

First off, we got a new pediatrician. We got the pediatrician I tried to get before the kid was even born. He wasn't taking patients but when I called last week, desperate to switch, they let me. The lady on the phone was really nice, and got him an appointment the next day. From the minute I met the new ped, I instantly felt better. He was more professional, he was more talkative, he explained things better, he presented new ideas and treatment ideas, it was awesome. Everything about it, the doctor, the nurses, the receptionists, the offices, the PAs and NPs, everyone and everything was better. I'm so glad we switched.

So, the new doc, Dr. M., suggested Owen get a blood test to rule out a couple of rare diseases that might be contributing to his weird poop problem. Those were clear. However, Dr. M. also tested his lead levels, which are elevated. The first thing he asked when he called (personally, not a nurse, extra points for doc) was if we lived in an old house or a new house. So, the kid is inhaling lead dust from the building. He said he doesn't even have to be eating paint or anything to elevate his levels. He also said that the lead levels are NOT high enough to be causing any symptoms or contributing to his poop problem, but he wants to keep an eye on it.

This leads to the other thing. We need to move, pronto. We have been throwing the idea around for a few months anyway. Living in this building with a baby is hard, and everyone can say "I told you so." It's hard. It's especially hard now that he's walking and attempting to open doors and stuff like that. It completely sucks to live on the third floor and cart a baby up and down the stairs. We really like living here, it's so convenient and the place has SO much character and history. It's so spacious and huge and I love how I have it decorated, but if there is a chance that living here may affect my child's health, we are going to have to bounce.

Clint's job is to finish the wall and fix a little thing in the laundry room, and then I'm going to hire a cleaning company to come in and clean this place better than I ever could. Then we are going to get a realtor in here and start getting serious. Then, when we finally sell, we are going to go back to renting (a whole house, with a yard and three bedrooms in case #2 shows up while there), and the goal is to be completely debt free (except for car payments and student loans) before we buy "the house."

So, on the cusp of this big decision, something happened last night that is making the transition SO much easier. Everyone is fully aware of my distaste for Darling Downstairs Neighbor. This woman has been a thorn in my side since we moved in here two plus years ago. I have always been nice to her, I've never done anything that can be considered mean or rude to her. Still, every conversation I have ever had, she manages to say something rude or inconsiderate to me, whether it's telling me that Clint walks too loud, or we shouldn't get Owen up so early on Sunday mornings (for church!) because they can hear us getting him up. The woman has absolutely no tact, or consideration or sympathy, WHATSOEVER.

So last night, because Owen is still going through his poop problem, he is having major trouble sleeping. And, unlike every other night of his life, he is not sleeping through the night as regularly. When he wakes up, we either need to change a poopy diaper, give him some water, or something little like that - but mainly, he just wants cuddled. And, Clint and I are both happy to oblige. However, he will not fall asleep on us. As soon as he's drowsy enough, we go to put him in his crib and he starts screaming again.

Now, there are a lot of different schools of thought on parenting in this situation. Generally, we are not a fan of the "cry it out method," but there comes a point sometimes where you have to let them cry. All of his needs were met, his diaper was clean, he wasn't thirsty, he didn't have a fever, he just wanted held. We held him for 30 minutes and tried to put him back. He cried for a solid 15 minutes after that. If we didn't live in an apartment, I would have let him cry, because the ONLY reason he was crying was because he didn't want in his crib. However, after the 15 minutes, I went in and got him again. I know this was a mistake, but I was trying to have a little consideration for our neighbors. Of course, now he assumes that anytime he cries, we are going to come in and get him, so he may as well scream until we do. I rocked him for another 30 minutes (and by now it's 2:30 am and he has been awake for two hours almost. He's very drowsy, and I go to put him in his bed. He starts crying again, obviously. And after FIVE minutes, Darling Downstairs Neighbor calls me. She asks to make sure everything is OK with Owen because they can hear him crying. I explained that he has been sick and he's having trouble sleeping. She said, "Well, I just wanted to let you know that both of your downstairs neighbors are awake now." WTF? I said, I'm sorry you're awake, but I can't keep going in there and getting him out, I have to let him cry or else he won't stop crying. I'm sure if we would have given him a few more minutes he would have gone to sleep, because whenever he is up, he's never up for more than 2 hours. She reiterated that they are both awake. ??? I said, "I'm sorry, but you don't know what it's like to have a sick child," (they have no kids). She got defensive and I got defensive right back. Honestly, what was the point of her calling? I know it wasn't because she was concerned for Owen. I apologized for them being awake, but I'm not going to make excuses because he is sick and sometimes babies cry!!! AND SOMETIMES THEY CRY AT 2AM!!!!!

The final straw was when she REITERATED AGAIN they were both awake. I said goodnight and hung up. I was so upset that I started crying. Clint went in and got Owen and we are trying to figure out what to do. We decide to bring the pack and play into our bedroom (to let Darling Downstairs Neighbors get back to sleep of course) and put him in there. Of course he starts screaming more. So, we decided to break the Cardinal Rule. We brought him into bed with us. We NEVER do this. And we don't plan to ever do it again. But Owen calmed down, finally. He snuggled up to me for about ten minutes, and then draped himself over Clint for about ten minutes, and was nice and relaxed, so we put him in the pack and play, he cried for about two minutes and passed out.

I fell asleep shortly after, but Clint laid awake fuming about the neighbors until 4am. He wanted to call them back and have words. If you know my husband, you know that's awfully out of character for him. He hardly ever raises his voice or gets mad enough to want to hash stuff out. But he didn't call them back. And sure enough, the kid woke up with Clint's alarm at 7:00 and stood in the pack and play staring at Mommy and Daddy. I pray he takes decent naps today. And of course I'm more motivated than ever to move.

When you live in an apartment, you give up certain freedoms. Most people also have some level of decency and tact. I'm fuming mad, still.

Ok, good stuff. We KILLED on our tax return this year, having a baby is awesome! :) We are paying off some more stuff (the debt just keeps dwindling!!), Clint's having some work done on his car, and we are STILL going to save a big chunk of change. We did have one frivolous purchase, which we have been dying to make for about a year - a new TV! 32inch, flat screen HD LCD, hot damn! It's awesome! And, I don't even feel guilty, because we got it on a super sale at Sam's Club (I heart Sam's).

And Miss Chicken is finally getting declawed on Tuesday. She has scratched her last wall and swatted at Owen for the last time.

AND, I bought 12 tubes of Burts Bees on EBay for $20 (a total steal).

And I had a date with Laura Jackson Roberts last night for crab legs and Reisling (for me, none for her, she's got a bun in the oven). It was so wonderful going out and chatting for hours while the men took care of the boys, and I'm very sorry to hear about the massive leaking in your dining room today. Good luck with that.

Ugh, I want to fast forward to whenever we live in another place, and the summer, where all this snow has disappeared.

I heart apples

2010-02-04T20:56:00.001-05:00

Owen loves apples so much, he even ate the stem when Mama wasn't looking.

Thumb Suckers

2010-02-04T20:52:00.003-05:00

If you spend any time with my kid, you know that he is a big fan of the thumb. He sucks his left thumb. Mama sucked the right thumb. And this picture also features the ribbon, which was rubbed against the nose. Very integral part of the thumb sucking.

I think he looks like me.

An apple a day DOES NOT keep the doctor away, apparently.

2010-02-01T20:20:00.004-05:00

So things are pretty crappy around here. And I mean that literally.

It all started last weekend, when Clint took Owen to MedExpress because he had a high fever. 102.5 to be exact. That's not SO high, but too high for us to be comfortable. They said he had an ear infection in his left ear. They gave him a three-day antibiotic. On the third day of the antibiotic he started developing cold symptoms, coughing, sneezing and some congestion. We thought, well, the antibiotic is still in his system, let's give it a couple of days to work it's way out.

Stop reading here if you don't want to hear about poop.

Come Friday, most of his cold symptoms are gone, but now we have new awesome symptoms. Poop. Poop.... all day. Now don't get me wrong, I don't mind changing a poopy diaper once or twice a day. It reminds me that everything is working right. But the little one started going six and seven times a day, which is SO unlike him it's not funny. And you mothers know, when a baby is pooping that much, that little caboose gets IRRITATED. His little butt got so red that we were scared to clean him up. Also, every time he goes, he strains so hard that his little face gets red, and he grunts, and then he cries. Something was not right.

So, we took him to the emergency room Sunday morning. They did a chest and abdominal X-ray to make sure he didn't have pneumonia or any obstruction in his bowels. They said his intestines were full of stool. They prescribed a cream for his irritated bum and said to push fluids.

FYI, this kid HATES all medical personnel. The whole day kind of took it out of him. He fell asleep Sunday night in his high chair halfway through his sweet potato.

Owen and Daddy in the emergency room.

So, today, Monday, he's still pooping nonstop. I call his regular pediatrician, and she says to give him a laxative and check back with her NEXT WEDNESDAY. I might be getting a new pediatrician soon... All day long he wanted to be held. He didn't play. He didn't walk around and break stuff. He pooped, cried and wanted held.

So, keep my little monkey in your prayers. His little red bum needs to feel better.

AND! On top of all of this, I am probably sicker than I have been in years. I started feeling sick on Wednesday. I figured I picked up whatever bug my little bug had. I still went to my wellness meeting (and for the record, I have lost 25lbs... thank you very much) and then the gym, which I regretted. My lungs were burning. Thursday I felt a little worse. Friday, I felt like I was going to die. My chest was congested, and I was blowing my nose every 10 minutes. I said, I can't stay up all night and work while feeling this way. I called off of work and went to MedExpress the minute Clint got home from work that afternoon. They said it's probably the beginning of bronchitis. They gave me an antibiotic, these little pearl things to swallow that are supposed to relieve coughing, and an inhaler!!! I have never used an inhaler in my life. Saturday, I went to the grocery store even though I was still feeling crappy. After the grocery store, I felt like I was going to die again. I can hear the congestion in my chest when I breath. So, I didn't go to work again. (I'm pretty sure this is the first time in my life that I have called off two days in a row.) By Sunday, I'm thinking, why am I not feeling better? Is the antibiotic not working? And then we spent a big chunk of time in the emergency room for Owen. So I called off AGAIN. Fortunately, I work with very understanding people, so I appreciate all of your help. So today, the day of poop and crying, I'm still sick as a dog, having trouble breathing, and through an entire box of tissues. I called the doctors back and they have given me a stronger antibiotic. Pray that this one works. I NEED to feel better soon. This has been the most miserable weekend of my life.

When Owen fell and busted his lip this morning, I looked towards the heavens and said, "You're joking, right?"

The ONLY good side of all of this was that I got to spend a little extra time with the husband, and we got through the previous season of Lost. So excited for the premiere TOMORROW!!

Ink

2010-02-01T20:14:00.003-05:00

Clint tells me he is getting a tattoo. Maybe in the spring. He's not sure what he wants to get, something to do with Owen, he says.

Although I'm quite certain I would never get a tattoo, I still like to think about what I would get. Maybe something by Kurt Halsey, who I love SO much. Maybe the little bug in the bottom right square.

I have this print. I LOVE this one. Maybe these birds.

I have this print too. It doesn't bother me that they don't have noses.

This one below is new. Maybe these birds. If not a bird, then maybe a ladybug. You know how I am about ladybugs.

In case you don't get it, check out http://www.kurthalsey.com/. He's pretty much awesome.

Sadie Sad Eyes

2010-01-26T15:07:00.004-05:00

When my parents got divorced, my mom and I got a puppy. We got her through a friend who rode horses at the Oglebay stables. She had these big distrustful eyes, always leery of strangers. When she was excited she would run through the house, weaving in and out of rooms, burning off energy. I taught her how to sit, sit up pretty and lay down. She had a hound-dog howl. She kept my mom company while I went off to school and started my own life. Whenever she got off her leash, she would bolt through the neighborhood at full speed. She really thought she was a lap dog. When she was happy it looked like she smiled. And now she's gone.

Sadie Mae

1995-2010

Kicking around memory lane.

2010-01-26T12:13:00.005-05:00

So, I was going through a box of pictures and found a few of Little Kara.

I'm pretty sure my mom had a thing for the pigtails.

And in the picture below, it's kind of scary how eerily similar I look compared to how I look now (except for the fact that I'm like...5 and miniature).

And below, something completely different. This is a picture of my parents a month after I was born. My mom will be mad at me for posting this picture... she will probably say she doesn't have any make-up on and looks too pale. I don't care, I think she looks beautiful and carefree.

Anyone who knows me well, knows that I have an extreme disrespect for my father. I pretty much hate him. I'm not saying I hate my dad because he never bought me a new car, or grounded me or didn't let me pursue the career I wanted. I do not have a relationship with my father AT ALL because he took a total disinterest in my life. I have not seen him since I was 13, and have only spoken to him a handful of times since then. I don't know where he is, and the older I get, the more I realize that I don't care. It was his choice to disassociate himself from me. He would probably say it's because of his relationship with my mom. I don't care. That doesn't have anything to do with me. And because of this, I can never forgive him. He will likely never ask for my forgiveness, seeing as how he would actually have to contact me to do so. Part of me questioned whether or not to even make something like this public (to the handful of people that read my blog regularly), with the threat that my half sister could inform my father of my thoughts on the subject.

Still don't care, I have never let my feelings on this matter be a secret to anyone.

Clint and I were discussing him the other night. Clint asked me if I thought my dad would like him, meeting him as my spouse. The question kind of stunned me, I guess because since I have been a child, literally, I never seeked his approval for anything. He does not represent a "parent" to me. I have had some male role models in my life since, and thank God I chose to marry a GOOD man. When I think of the milestones in my life that my father has chosen to miss - high school - high school graduation - college selection - college gradution - meeting boyfriends - meeting THE ONE - my wedding - the birth of my child - it makes me sick to think about missing those things in MY child's life.

It has really got me thinking. What kind of person can you be if you don't have a relationship with your child? All these thoughts running through my head lately, makes me realize how grateful I am to have a good husband. I know that Clint would never walk away from our child, regardless of his relationship with me. Makes me love him all the more.

There is nothing more precious in this life than our children. It's heartbreaking to think that not everyone in this world acts accordingly.

Ok, that's my two cents on the subject.

A touch of love.

2010-01-25T21:18:00.003-05:00

I had a perfect parent moment the other day.

Owen and I were sitting in the window seat. He was helping me open the (junk) mail, while I open the real stuff. He is a big fan of paper products and ripping them up and all that.

On this particular day, his hair was in all kinds of disarray. He was taking the mail so seriously, with his crazy curls, I just had to laugh at him. Then, I crouched down in front of him and said, "Owen, I love you." And he looked at me very seriously for a moment, and then leaned toward me and kissed me.

Then I cried. He's such a cool kid and I love him to pieces.

One year. Already?

2010-01-13T21:28:00.003-05:00

Owen had his one-year doctor's appointment today. He weighs 21lbs and 10oz. He is 31 inches long. His ears are healthy. He's hitting all his milestones. He's getting to be a big boy.
It seems like just yesterday I was getting a first glimpse of what he would look like...

Three days old.Almost a year old.Enjoying cake on his birthday.

This is going to be a hard week. First off, he's getting a ton of new teeth. I can't even say for sure how many he has right now. At least eight... But, he's getting molars on the top and bottom, which the doctor said makes his ears feel like they have to pop. We thought he was swiping at his ears because his hair tickles them!

Also, it's time to stop the bottle. The doctor gave me the option of slowing it down gradually or quitting cold turkey. I chose to quit cold turkey. So the last bottle he will ever had was this morning. Single tear... Apparently, I should have been weaning him off the bottle for the past couple of months. Bad mommy! So now, he's just supposed to eat "meals" and a bedtime snack. He's actually pretty good about eating. Tonight he had a little bit of what we were having. I'm going to continue pushing fruits and veggies, and I have to still push the regular milk. He just does not like it! The doctor said after a couple of months he should get used to it. So... hopefully we don't have a hungry baby waking up in the middle of the night. Cross your fingers.

The Little Things - There's Nothing Bigger.

2010-01-13T13:34:00.007-05:00

Favorite things about my son's first year of life:

His left thumb is almost always wrinkled up like a raisin, because of how frequently said thumb is inserted in the mouth.

His eyes are so very blue.

He's a good eater.

He likes to swim already.

His curls are turning into tiny ringlets. I think of him as always having a lot of hair, but even looking back at his 8 and 9 month pictures, his hair is ridiculously long now. He has little wings on the side.

He's such a good sleeper. I know how thankful I should be about this. He has slept about 12 hours every night since he was 3 months old. I attribute this to the thumb and his bedtime routine.

He always smells like Neutrogena Rainbath. I bought a ton of that Johnsons Bedtime Bath and all that stuff. They used Rainbath on him in the hospital, and he smelled SO good, that I went and bought an enormous bottle at Sam's Club when he was a month old. It's still 25% full. The Johnsons Bedtime Bath is still in the linen closet.

Since he has been born, he's only been really sick one time. When he was seven weeks old. I had to spend the night in the hospital with him. Longest night ever. When I think about all the things that can go wrong for children, I thank God that I have a healthy child.

He hits all his milestones. He has teeth. He talks. He plays. He walks. He bangs stuff together. He's perfect.

Watching him walk is like seeing a little tiny drunk zombie. It's priceless.

When he's sleepy, he likes to curl up on something fuzzy and soft, like his polar bear. Or his back-up polar bear that he got for his birthday in case anything ever happens to the original. (that's the polar bear under him...)

He's so ticklish. Making him giggle from tickling, it reminds me how happy I am to have him. His giggle is infectious.
It appears as if his favorite food is meatloaf of all things. He also really likes pears, noodles, carrots, broccoli, graham crackers and gnocchi.

When we read to him, he follows along and "reads" too.
His favorite show, (really the only show he pays much attention to) is Little Einsteins. I know all of the songs. They get stuck in my head at work at 3am. I love how he raises his arms when Rocket blasts off. He loves it.
He just learned how to give kisses. It's more of an open-mouth head-butt to the face, but... he's learning. And he gives kisses away on demand, so.
He flirts with random women. He still has stranger anxiety, but if he doesn't get too worried, he is all smiles and shy glances. Already a ladie's man. He's going to give the girls some trouble. (Especially that Lily Dilly)...

Some days he looks like Clint, some days he looks like me. He's the perfect hybrid.

His learning to walk has been a crazy adventure.

It's been an awesome year.

The Whole Year In

2010-01-13T13:23:00.005-05:00

The kid turned a year old yesterday. All day long I was thinking about what I was doing at that time a year ago. When we got up yesterday, I was thinking about when they started the Pitocin drip. Lot of good that did. I had the drip all day, and dilated a whole fingertip. So, around 2pm, that day... a whole year ago... they decided to give me the epidural and see if that would help things along. The epidural was craziness. Since, people have asked me what it felt like getting the epidural, and I describe it as a corkscrew on your spine. As the needle goes in, it taps all the nerves along your spinal cord. It was nauseating. Once I had the epidural, I told the anesthesiologist that it felt like I was hanging upside down. After the epidural kicked in, I was feeling pretty good.

Still, the kid was happy as a clam up in the belly. He wasn't moving. So, around 5pm, she said, "well, we can take out your epidural, get you something to eat, and do the pitocin again in the morning, or you can have a c-section." At that point, I had been up since 8am the previous morning, having not been able to sleep at all in the hospital, with all the fetal moniters on my belly and my blood pressure being taken every 15 minutes. Ambien didn't even work. I didn't sleep a wink. I had been having really painful contractions all night, and still no dilation. I was done with it. We had been attempting the induced labor for 24 hours and nothing worked. So I said, "Do the whole thing again tomorrow, no thanks. Let's do the c-section."

So it was a little less than an hour later, that I got this:

He was born at 5:59pm, weighing 8lbs, 9oz, 19.5 inches long. He is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. And now he is a whole year old.

Photo-tastic

2009-10-09T18:05:00.005-04:00

So, my dear friend Laura Jackson Roberts came over to my house today and worked miracles. She took all these fantastic photos with a very huge Nikon. In addition to the subject matter being pretty adorable, I think Laura takes a pretty good picture. Thanks so much friend!! Thanks for coming over for lunch, too! I had a great time with you and Andy.

The one below might be my favorite. I love his expression.

Her camera magically made my house look clean and nice.

That's Andy, Laura's 3-year old, who is also adorable.

He looks like he's up to no good.

Check out my 7 teeth!

Where did you get those blue eyes, boy?

Aw, I love him. Thanks again for the pictures, Laura!

My little man.

2009-10-06T11:09:00.007-04:00

He's making some serious progress. He can pull himself up to standing at the coffee table and at the ottoman. Most days now when we get him out of bed he is standing in his crib. He's also starting to crawl like a champion. It also appears as if he is trying to stand from a crawling position. It's like he is crawling and then he tries to push straight up on all fours. Not quite there yet.

Some cute little things.

This video could be a lot shorter, but I don't have any way of editing it!

He has his 9-month doctor's appointment tomorrow. I can't wait to see how much he weighs.

30 things I love about my husband on his 30th birthday.

2009-10-04T08:01:00.003-04:00

1. First and foremost, he is the most incredible father to our son. I could not have dreamed up a better father for my child.

2. The first night we met, he approached me after my shift as a waitress at the Alpha. It was late at night, I had on no makeup, and I probably smelled like restaurant kitchen and he still wanted my number.

3. He asked me to dance to a slow song playing on iTunes right before we had our first kiss. (swoon)…. FYI, the song was “I was just thinking” by Teitur.

4. Our first Valentines Day together, he sent both me AND my mother flowers.

5. On October 9, 2005, after ten months of dating, he took me on a walk to a gazebo filled with flowers and asked me to dance again. He got down on one knee and presented me with the most beautiful diamond ring I had ever seen in my life.

6. Earlier that day, he asked my mother’s permission to propose to me.

7. On our wedding day, December 16, 2006, exactly two years after our first date, he had a full arm cast and didn’t complain about it except to say that he needed help buttoning his tux pants.

8. He got that broken arm two weeks before our wedding while playing basketball with kids at a children’s home.

9. He has shared many of his firsts with me, a couple of which include his first live NFL game, his first time on a plane and his first time seeing the ocean. (And he was spoiled, because the first time he saw the ocean, we were in the Caribbean, and now the Atlantic or Pacific will never be as exciting!)

10. Whenever I feel ugly, he tells me that I’m beautiful.

11. When we first moved in together the summer of 2005, I told him that if I was going to spend time in the kitchen preparing a meal for us, he was going to spend time in the kitchen after the meal doing dishes. After almost five years, he still does the dishes every night.

12. When I work on the weekends and have to sleep through the day, when I get home in the mornings, he always makes the bed for me.

13. When I was pregnant, he rubbed my feet whenever I asked him to.

14. The first couple of months after Owen was born, Clint got up in the middle of the night with me for every feeding and diaper change.

15. I haven’t changed the cats’ litter box in years, because he has taken on that glorious task.

16. I recently finished reading “The Road” by Cormac McCarthy. I had Clint start it as soon as I was finished, and he read the whole book in less than three days, only reading in the evenings. He loved the book for the same reason I did, because he imagined the boy in the story as our son, and he had to finish the book as quickly as possible to make sure that the boy survived. (Side note – excellent book by the way).

17. He looks the other way when I buy another pair of shoes.

18. On our first date, we were sitting on my couch in my dorm room watching Vanilla Sky, and he was examining my big red watch (that my Aunt Karen gave me for a birthday one year, I loved that watch) and he kind of sighed/laughed and said, “You’re cool.” I knew I had him then.

19. He is committed to everything he does. His family. His job. His Pittsburgh Steelers.

20. After too many years, we are involved in a church together, which has been more rewarding and fulfilling than I imagined it would. We love everyone at our church and have made some fantastic friends through it. (Especially my play date ladies!) With my new schedule, unfortunately I don’t get to go as often as I would like, but Clint takes Owen almost every Sunday, and that makes me very happy.

21. Whether he likes it or not, everything I cook for him, he eats. He tells me that he likes everything, but fortunately for him I can tell when he’s lying so I know not to cook that again. The best is when I cook something that he loves.

22. He always knows when I need a new bottle of water.

23. When it was just the two of us, we could sit and watch movies or a television marathon all day and not be bored. Adding Owen to the mix complicated that a little bit. Owen does get bored.

24. He always takes the trash out.

25. He lets me sit on the computer and read all my celebrity gossip websites, even though we both know it is a total waste of time.

26. He isn’t jealous of my slight obsession with Edward Cullen.

27. When we go to Dave and Busters, he always gives me extra tokens off of his game card.

28. He wears polar bear pajama pants.

29. He always lets me steal one (or three) of his french fries.

30. I love him because of the way he loves me.

Happy Birthday Hugga Bugga! I love you for these 30 reasons and for 30 thousand others.

It's been a long time.

2009-09-22T14:25:00.004-04:00

So, the most exciting thing, is that Clint is back to work. He was called back on September 1st and has been working a few weeks now. I'm so relieved. The only downside is that our insurance ran out on August 31, and instead of just continuing once he got called back to work, he had to open a new plan that will not be active until October 1. So we don't have insurance this month, and Owen has been battling a little cold. I'm praying that it doesn't turn into a big cold. We only have 9 more days until we are insured again!

And the kid is 8 months old! I can't believe he's 8 months old. I have given up on taking pictures with the bear, because he will barely sit still long enough to take a picture. I manage to get him every once in a while. Some big milestones this past couple of months include standing (with support), he rolls over extremely well, he can get up all fours and scoot around (not exactly crawling yet, but very close), he makes a lot more noise, he says dada, mama, hi and sometimes he says no. He is very close to pulling himself up in his crib and against the coffee table. He also apparently loves fruit. If I have an apple or nectarine or something, he will actually pull himself up my body to get to the fruit. If I set it down beside or behind me, he will crane his neck around trying to find the fruit.

This was the first time he had the fruit. I was eating a nectarine while getting him ready for his bath. I was holding him and taking a bite of my nectarine, and he leans in his head and starts biting the nectarine at the same time. It was so cute.

This was the apple. I'm trying to get him to eat cut up bananas in his high chair, but he apparently only wants what I'm eating.

The other big news is that I went to Iowa this past weekend. I left really early in the morning on Friday and had a flight out of Pittsburgh. I had a decent sized layover in Detroit, where I had some fantastic lobster bisque. There is a hallway in the detroit airport where the walls are backlit and the colors change according to the music. It's really neat. I arrived in Iowa to be picked up by Christopher, MJ and Nicole. We all hung out at Krista and Emily's apartment for a while. Then I got checked in to the sweetest hotel I have ever stayed at! The Coralville, Iowa Marriot Conference Center is SUCH a nice hotel. I got to have a king sized bed all to myself, flat screen TV, and all the toiletries were from Bath and Body works! The rehearsal went very well, and the dinner was awesome. I ended up reading "A Marriage" by Michael Blumenthal.

Afterwards we all went back to the Herbert Hoover Presidential (Sweet Ass) Suite. I drank a lot of wine and local beer. It was good times. Below is a picture of me and Krista. I'm in love with my pumpkin orange sweater. It was a great night. The next day, I spent most of the day by myself. I didn't really do much except hang out in the hotel room and relax. Had a good lunch in the hotel restaurant, and all of the staff everywhere was so nice. I like Iowa.

The wedding went off without a hitch. I almost cried during my reading, and I definitely cried a lot when they said their vows. Luckily I came prepared with tissues. The reception was at a golf club called the Brown Deer. There were awesome appetizers, open bar, great music. I sat with Nicole, MJ, Jessica, and Krista's cousins. I loved the whole pumpkin and wasabi colored theme. All the little napkins and seating cards and match books and stuff were so cute.

Everyone went back to the room to party a little more, but I was so tired and full from 'racing MJ' and taking advantage of the open bar the last hour of the reception. I went back to the room and took a shower, then got most of my stuff packed up and passed out.

Most of the way home was spent reading "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy. Another Rich recommendation. One of these days I will read another book that has not been referred to me. The book was incredible. Tragic. Heartbreaking. Hopeless. An actual EXPERIENCE for a parent. All in all, a good read. I kept crying during the difficult parts and the people sitting next to me on my flights probably thought I was mentally unstable.

When I got home, I was so happy to see my little boy. I missed him so much it was insane. I brought home Wellsburg DiCarlos on the way home from the airport. Yum. I ate kind of poorly over the weekend, but I'm back on track now.

The Wellness Bridge has been fantastic. In one month I lost 11lbs and 12.5 inches from all over my body. Last week alone, I lost almost five pounds. Woohoo!

Some little videos. In both, please excuse my horrible sounding voice. There aren't any excuses...

H20 troubles

2009-08-26T21:07:00.004-04:00

So, the water is out again. There is a massive waterline break in downtown Wheeling, AGAIN, that happened around noon yesterday. So, we haven't had water for almost 30 hours. This wouldn't be that big a deal, except it is a big deal. We have a baby here, who needs water in order to EAT. We have dishes in the kitchen that need washed. I can't cook. I can't wash vegetables. We have been giving Owen baths with jugs of water that we bought at the grocery store. And... we have one bathroom... and THIS SUCKS.

Erin was kind enough to host a play date today, where I washed baby bottles and filled up extra gallons of water. It was fun hanging out Laura and Erin, Andy and Alexander!

Then I took Owen shopping with me so I could buy new shoes for Iowa. He did not nap. He hadn't slept at all since he woke up from his mid-morning nap at 11am.

The good news is - I have been back on the Wellness Bridge for one week, and I have lost three pounds and 3.75 total inches. YES. Great success.

We had to get out for dinner, where Owen was awesome. He sat at the high chair and ate puffs and flirted with the waitresses, wearing his chick magnet bib. He was super pleasant all through dinner.

Driving home, we hear a loud pop and then I'm swerving in my little red bug. Tire blowout. We had to call Clint's brother to come and get me and Owen so I could get home and put him to bed, then Clint had to call a tow truck to come and take the car to the only tire place open in the Ohio Valley after 6pm. So, $140 and 30 minutes of screaming baby later, we are all home, wanting a shower, washing our hands with jugs of water, in a kitchen full of dirty dishes. I just pray that it's fixed by Friday, because if I have to go without water most of the week at home, I think I might gouge my eyes out if I have to go all weekend without water and air at work. FML.

I literally almost cried when Clint just told me he couldn't find my corkscrew.

But hey, 3lbs. Well-behaved baby in the restaurant. Found the corkscrew. Little things to celebrate...

It's been awhile.

2009-08-13T20:51:00.007-04:00

So, it's been a long time since I have updated the blog. I apologize to my faithful reader(s). There have been things going on, but I just haven't felt compelled lately, I don't know why.

Things are no better on Clint's job front, and we are losing our insurance at the end of the month, so that's that.

Owen has been making major strides lately. He says "DaDa" consistently. In fact, we slept in the same room with him last night for the first time in months, and the first thing he said this morning, -- and for several minutes after that -- was Dada. This was earlier this week. The video gets pretty good around the 45 second mark.

He has four teeth now. Top and bottom two. The top two are kind of far apart, and it looks so freaking cute, I can't stand it. They aren't far down enough yet to see unless he smiles really big. I'm sure they will get closer together as other teeth come in, but it looks so funny and cute now, I love it. I want to take him to get professional pictures done soon. Maybe I can twist Laura Jackson Roberts' arm into taking a few artsy ones for me for a small fee.... ?

He also has started standing. I think he is a little late in this development. His buddy Alexander has been standing for months, I think. However, he finally has it, and now he never wants to sit. He will also stand against something by holding on to it. And yes, that's my blue bowl that I made that he is gripping. Everything must come off the coffee table now.

He also loves to roll now. Clint always puts him on his play mat, which I object to now, because it restricts his rolling. But him on a big blanket on the carpet and away he rolls. This means we need to do some serious baby-proofing now that he is on the move. I had him on a blanket on the center of the rug, and when I left the room, he was under his swing. He made good time. I wasn't gone for more than a minute...

Nothing is too exciting for me. I got new glasses. They have zebra print on the inside of them, but I won't hold that against them.

New favorite music - Bon Iver. I love For Emma and Skinny Love. Just over a month before I head to Iowa for the BIG DAY!! So excited! Still reading Cormac McCarthy - The Road. Slow moving, not because the book is slow moving. I am slow moving.

Also somewhat exciting, I'm joining the Wellness Bridge again. I got my old coach back, who I love. I have my first meeting next Wednesday. YES.

ALSO - we went to Columbus to visit Scott and Cristie again yesterday and we figured that Owen was old enough to stay overnight somewhere. Well... although the visit was great, I don't think we will have him spending the night anywhere else for a good long time. They have four (beautiful) kids, who all love Owen, and they are so attentive and interested in him, and they love to play with him, which is so adorable and fun to watch. However, sometime around early evening, after a day of high stimulation and one twenty minute nap, taken completely against his will, he had just had enough. He started crying and didn't stop until he was asleep (about an hour later...) He cried all through his sink bath, all through his getting dressed, took a short break to have his bottle and then I had to let him cry himself to sleep, because he just did not stop crying!! Then, we about had a heart attack when he woke up around 2:30, we were terrified he was going to be up for hours, but it turns out that he had peed out of his diaper somehow (I really need to buy those overnight diapers), and his whole leg was wet. So we got him out, changed his clothes and then put him back to bed, and he went to sleep. Thank God. Then this morning, he reached the end of his fuse right after breakfast, and in an event to calm him down, and give the Kimmins' some peace and quiet, we high-tailed it out of Columbus and Owen was dead asleep in the car after 15 minutes and slept until we were crossing the bridge into Wheeling. UGH. Otherwise we had such a fun time. Clint played with the kids all day, and Cristie and I played with the babies. This morning and all day today I was so exhausted. Clint actually drove home from Columbus (gasp!) and I fell asleep in the car! And I promise, I only had a little bit of Jack Daniels last night! It was just a long fun-filled day.

And today, Steeler (pre)season begins, so if no one hears from Clint until January, that's why...

Big news

2009-07-23T22:04:00.002-04:00

Whenever Owen is particularly "chatty," Clint and I always try to say little words a lot that he may be able to pick up, like "hi," "dada," and "mama." He has been in the foulest mood today. He isn't napping like he should, fussy all the time, and gets bored with everything after five minutes. Today it felt like Clint and I were just taking turns dealing with his crabbiness. It's those teeth.

But. When I was getting dinner ready, Clint was changing a particularly poopy diaper and I heard them talking over the moniter. Clint called me into the room, and Owen was chatting away. So we start saying "Hi Dada," and then gave him a chance to respond. He was looking at us intently and we said it again, and then he totally repeated us! Me and Clint were so excited, we started jumping up and down, and we hugged and kissed, and Owen got scared and started making his pout face. So I got real close to him and said it's OK! And then we tried to get him to say it again - and HE DID. He said "Hi Dada," three times. It was so awesome. After that, he must have gotten shy, because he mouthed the words and smiled but didn't make any noise. <3

Then, during the bath, I decided to reward him by putting some new bath toys in the tub that squirt water. That scared him so much that he started crying, reached for me, and held onto my tank top strap for dear life.

You can't win them all, I guess.

The aftermath of the meeting...

2009-07-23T17:21:00.003-04:00

So, the much dreaded co-op meeting wasn't all that bad, for me at least. Back story - our building is next to the Marsh Wheeling Stogie building, which in Wheeling's Hay Day was a pretty significant business. And this apartment building was pretty fancy living. Now I feel like I am in a sinking ship. The building rents a parking lot between our building and the Stogie building. Beyond the parking lot is another lot that was the grave site of a torn-down building. When we moved in, the lot was filled with bricks and cinder blocks and dirt. It was gross. Fast forward. Now, our upstairs neighbors, the children's book writers, have turned the brick-filled lot into an enormous garden. I will have to take a picture of it. It's huge. They actually had 5-foot stalks of corn growing in it last year. It is literally amazing what this man has done with a space that used to be filled with bricks.

That's how I feel about it. That's not how everyone feels about it. You know why? Because he uses the building's water to help the garden grow...

Last night in the meeting, I thought I had warped into a first grade classroom with a bunch of kids yelling at each other. We discussed the issues we had all been dreading, and then before the president could adjourn, one of the guys on the South side of the building decided to point his finger at the garden growers and flip his shit. I just sat with my pen and paper, noting the key points as any good secretary would do, bouncing my knee repeatedly until the steam stopped blowing out of his ears... Then the neighbors directly below us, who have graced my blog several times for all of their lovely complaints about Clint walking too loud, and getting the baby out of bed for church on Sunday morning... and breathing. They think that the garden people are rude because they have approached other members of the co-op association to get their opinions on the garden, bashing the downstairs neighbors in the process. I tried to stay out of it as much as possible, until the lady who lives below us starts, "I think it's downright rude of you to corral all the other neighbors and badmouth us, and now you guys don't speak to us, and the Amies are upset with us..." Please, Allison. Like the problems I have with you are about the garden... Maybe if you didn't find something to antagonize us about, every. single. time. we. speak.

Anyway. Clint was furious, but he missed the best of it, because he left around 8pm to take Owen off my mom's hands and put him to bed. I had to stay, unfortunately, because I'm the secretary, and the official shareholder, because our mortgage is in my name. The only major financial decision we made was for everyone to front the first half of our property taxes by August 25, so all the money we have in reserve can be put toward our gas bill in the winter. It was either that or hike up our monthly assessment fees, and I would much rather front the money right now, then half to pay more every month for the taxes AND end up short for the gas bill and have another special assessment. So the window issue was pretty much a non-issue. However, Clint and I have decided, that after basically freezing last winter, and in attempt to regulate the heat in our bedroom and living room, that we are going to look into replacing the five windows in our bedroom. Our upstairs neighbors have found a window company that charges the same price, regardless of the size of the window, which is a HUGE deal. The meeting started at 6:30, and I did not get home til 9:45... Ugh. The meeting was probably over by 9, but I stayed to be social because everyone had brought food, and I had some fantastic hummus. I've decided I'm a fan of hummus.

<>

So the windows need to be done before winter, on top of buying a new car seat, replacing our sink that won't stop dripping, having Clint's car tuned up, having Chicken declawed so she doesn't decide to use her claws the next time she takes a swipe at Owen (and so she can stop scratching our hardwood floors...) Oh, and the fact that Clint is still indefinitely laid off... So we have decided that I'm going to go to Iowa alone. It's not going to save a ton of money, but at least $450. And, Clint doesn't HAVE to go . I have to go (and of course I wouldn't miss it for the world, KAK). Clint can stay home and be with Owen, that way my mom doesn't have to keep him for three solid days. I'm sad that I will be traveling alone, but I've flown by myself before. I've dealt with unknown airports during layovers. The only thing I'm not looking forward to is staying in the hotel alone. I'm going to take my laptop, so I can keep myself busy. Note to friends: the weekend of September 18, I expect a lot of text support :) and facebook chats. I will also need to decide which book will be my travel companion. Which reminds me... I still need to buy a new dress.

Speaking of Mr. Owen Michael Amie.... he is being a major fuss-pants today and the past few days. He is getting his top two teeth, and could not be in a more crabby mood. He has completely redefined his nap schedule in the past few days. He keeps putting his hands in his mouth and then whining. Drool city. And the spitting up. Lord. I'm going to stop wearing v-neck shirts, because inevitably, if I do, he will throw up down the inside of my shirt. It's awesome. Really.

And, I'm very nervous about who is going to get voted of So You Think You Can Dance. I'm still rooting for Evan, but Melissa was just beautiful last night. My two favorite routines continue to be Randi and Evan dancing to Koop Island Blues (the butt!) and Jeanine and Jason dancing to If it Kills Me. In another life I want to be a dancer. :) Certainly not in this one.

Alright. Me time over.

"Come on man, I'll be your Doug."

2009-07-22T09:35:00.003-04:00

We went to see the Hangover, and I could not stop laughing. It was seriously one of the funniest movies I have seen in a long time. Clint and I went out on our fourth date since we had Owen. We are almost keeping up with the once a month agreement. We have figured out a pretty good system for dates. We get him all ready for bed, then my mom comes over. We do his bath, lotion, and then feed him. Once he's asleep, we hurry and finish getting ready, and then leave. My mom basically babysits the baby moniter. It's a tough job. I sort of wish we could go have a dinner date or something, but for now, I'm happy to go out after he falls asleep, it just makes for some late nights.

We left after he fell asleep and went to get some ice cream. We still had time to kill, so we went to the bookstore and I bought "The Road," by Cormac McCarthy. I've only read about ten pages, but I can't wait to get back to it. I have a feeling it's going to be a hard read for me. Since I have become a mother, I get very affected if anything happens to a child in a movie or book or something.

Tonight is the dreaded co-op meeting where we are going to make decisions regarding the windows, the decks, the gas bill, etc. I am so afraid they are going to decide to replace all the windows in the apartment, which we simply cannot afford to do. I hope that our vote counts. Ideally, we vote for everyone to replace the windows of their choosing. In that case, I would love to replace all the windows in our bedroom and maybe our living room (8 windows total). Anything beyond that, I am going to have to oppose. We are just ticked, because we wanted to do the bathroom this fall, and now we are going to have to wait until Spring to do it. Which means there is no chance we will be moving until next Spring at the earliest.

The other downside to this, is that in an effort to save money, Clint may not come to Iowa with me in September. It's not going to be a big expensive trip, but it does equal two round trip plane tickets, two nights in the Marriot in Coralville, IA, car rental and meals and stuff like that. Besides the hotel costs, it would be half as expensive for Clint to come with me. It just doesn't sit right with me. I don't mind, but I would prefer not to travel alone. It makes the layovers quite a bit longer.

I don't quite understand why there are absolutely no direct flights from Pittsburgh to Cedar Rapids, but it looks like, depending on what flight I end up booking, I'm either going to have a layover in Chicago where I have never been, or again in Detroit or Minneapolis (both cities I have seen only from the inside of the airport.)

The last time I was in Minneapolis, I was sick as a dog, had a piece of pizza from Sbarro, let some guy have my copy of "The Painted Veil" that I had just finished reading, then put in the ipod and zoned out. When the guy saw that I was reading The Painted Veil, he said, "Oh MY GOD. I can't believe you're reading that," then he dug around in his bag and pulled out the copy of the DVD. I told him that I had seen the movie before reading the book, and ended up being disappointed in the book. The movie is more optimistic (and beautiful). Also the last time I flew to Iowa I was just a teensy bit pregnant. I found out the week after I came home.

I'll go alone if I have to, but I would much rather Clint come with me. If I go by myself, I will probably just take a couple of books and my computer and spend a lot of time in the hotel. And, Krista's friends will probably question whether I actually have a spouse.

It's also going to depend if Clint is working. Still no word from his work, other than we may lose our insurance. I checked with my HR person, and I could pick up insurance where I work, but I know it would be so expensive. I did Clint's resume and cover letter. We found a few places to send it to, and I applied a couple of places online for him. Cross your fingers.

I saw a commercial for Literacy.org, where kids were seeing all these road signs and stuff from books (Never Never Land, 25 miles). It was such a neat idea. I'm a big fan of kids reading.

Speaking of, I'm going to read.

So tired. Felt compelled to blog.

2009-07-18T08:30:00.003-04:00

Brunch yesterday was awesome, made a couple new friends. Lots of babies and breakfast. Awesome.

Crazy night at work. I felt like I was there for about three hours instead of 12. Now my neck hurts and my eyes are starting to twitch, so it's about time to go to sleep. Coming up on 25 hours of being awake. I did have a brief nap yesterday afternoon where I dreamed that I was back at Bethany, trying to get another degree, but I couldn't get to my classes, because I couldn't get my schedule, because it was in my Bethany email only, for which I did not have the password. I think this stems from Clint and I having an argument about whether or not we may lose our insurance and it's seriously time for him to find a new job.

I'm just going to come out and say it. The picture of Johnny Depp in his costume and makeup for the Mad Hatter in the new Alice in Wonderland movie -- scares the shit out of me. I'm just being honest.

I still have Jason Mraz "If It Kills Me" and "Everything" by Lifehouse stuck in my head. I hum a lot these days.

And I'm still not done reading (the 150-page) "The Dying Animal." I feel like a failure. I have been reading it for the same amount of days that it took me to read the first three books of the Twilight Saga.......

Six-Month Photo Shoot with my cool kid.

2009-07-17T15:39:00.004-04:00

Smiling at Daddy
Much bigger than the bear, now. Shy boy.

Owey and Daddy

My perfect little angel.

I get a kick out of myself.

Even out of focus, the picture is fantastic.

Owen and Daddy in the hallway. Note the partially removed wallpaper on the right side and the snowman against the window seat that has been there since Christmas. (What month is it?)

My boy.

My adorable Charlie Harper frog shirt and bug shorts.

The best six months of my life.

Thinking.

2009-07-16T15:42:00.006-04:00

Things I love this week:

*Corn on the cob. It is summer to me.

*Kurt Halsey (as always). http://www.kurthalsey.com/ I adore him. Especially these things:

Go to his store and buy his prints. I do not mind that they do not have noses. I also think the firefly necklace is fantastic.

*New Music. Mainly, "If It Kills Me (Casa Nova Sessions)" By Jason Mraz. I find myself listening to it on repeat. I miss being able to use my iPod at work. I can't anymore, cause I kind of am responsible for answering the phone. Other songs I love right now: "Born Into a Light," Ryan Adams, "Good Woman," Cat Power, "Eyes on Fire," Blue Foundation, "So Impossible," Dashboard Confessional, "Love Story," Taylor Swift, "Turning Blue," the Swallows, "Never Think," Robert Pattinson, " and "Everything" Lifehouse.

*So You Think You Can Dance. I can't help it. I'm sucked in. I love Evan, he's so awesome. I do not like the new couples, but I thought the dance by Jason and Jeanine (see above reference to Jason Mraz...) was MAD SCANDALOUS. I love it.

I'm also very surprised about something. I posted a picture of my favorite piece of work I ever did in pottery, my Emerson torso. I put "Thou Art to Me a Delicious Torment" on my scandalous torso. I did some research on the quote... and was surprised to find out more about it. Check it: http://www.emersoncentral.com/friendship.htm (specifically where it says, "Dear Friend.")

We went swimming again today, and Owen loved it! It was so cute! He actually kept kicking his legs and waving his arms. I kept spinning him around in a circle, and he was holding on to my halter straps for dear life, but he kept a little smile on his face as if to say, "I think I like this, but I'm not quite sure." I love that kid.

I also love this picture, because I think he looks like his mama. And, Clint and I were smart this time and wore sunscreen. Good times.

Tomorrow, I'm attending a breakfast hosted by Erin, mother to Owen's BFF. I must make banana nut bread now.

Six-month Appointment

2009-07-09T11:59:00.005-04:00

So, Owey had his six-month appointment today. All in all, it went really well. He weighs 17lbs, 5.1oz and is 25.5 inches long. I thought he weighed more, because it feels like he weighs a ton as we lug him up three flights of stairs.

The questions the nurses asked were a little different this time - more developmental stuff. They didn't ask exactly how much he eats or sleeps. They asked if he rolls (yes, but only if he starts out on his back. He can roll from back to front, and then to back again, but not if he starts out on his belly.) They asked if he tries to stand (no. Yet, he kicks his legs all over the place, and pushes his legs down in his stationary bouncer, but does not attempt to put his legs down if you are holding him up). They asked if he shows anxiety around strangers, and I said sometimes, and then explained the pout face. Other times, he smiles at everybody. Maybe he is a really good judge of character? Is it a bad sign that he makes the pout face when he sees his pediatrician? I don't know.

The doctor came in and listened to his heartbeat and checked his ears, eyes, belly and boy parts. He was all smiles, until she busted out the needles. It's so heartbreaking to see your baby get shots! He's smiling one second, and then they are stabbing a needle into his leg and he just instantly starts crying and screaming. Crying big tears. Ugh. I cried too. Once it was over, he curled up on Clint's shoulder and started sucking his thumb.

She said we could start moving up with baby food too. He can now have Stage 2 foods - including meat! Wow! Also, we have been feeding him solid food twice a day, and now she said we can move up to three or four times a day. The amount of his bottles should not change, just increase the solid food. I don't know how we would manage four times a day, between his bottles and naps, if we fed him four times, all he would be doing is sleeping and eating? He usually wakes up around 7am. I figured out that we could feed him at 9am, before his mid-morning nap, then again around 12, before his big mid-day nap, and then around 7pm as usual before his bedtime routine. She said we could also start putting those little Gerber puffs or cheerios on his high chair tray and let him pick them up and put them in his mouth. She also said that giving a baby juice is basically like giving them a pepsi. She said we could start putting water or very diluted juice in a sippy cup, so he can start getting out of the habit of having a bottle, so by the time he is a year old he can stop the bottle.

So, of course, I ran to the grocery store and bought all different new kinds of foods - mixed veggies, fruit combos - and little jars of what sounds like Thanksgiving dinner. Just kidding. But there are chicken and apples, turkey and sweet potatoes, and chicken and mixed veggies. I also bought two different kinds of puffs (sweet potatoes and peaches) and sippy cups. I fed him some mixed veggies for lunch and put a puff in his mouth. He did the same thing he did when he tried bananas for the first time. Made a disgusted face, and let it drool out of his mouth. Then when it was out of his mouth, he did kind of a little shimmy, like he had just done a shot. I tasted it, and it tastes just little cereal. I think he does that with sweet things. Real peaches didn't have that effect on him, but bananas and the peach puffs...

Oh, and this sucks. He's 25.5. inches long. By the time he's 27.5 inches long (about another month) we have to buy a new car seat. I didn't think we would have to buy another one until he was a year old. Alas, we have to spend $150 on another car seat that can be rear-facing or front-facing. This sucks for several reasons, money obviously, and also, we love his car seat and stroller set. It was a gift from Katie and her mom for my baby shower. The new car seat will stay in the car and will not be compatible with the stroller. Clint likes to take Owen for a walk with the car seat hooked into the stroller, because Owen falls asleep on the walk and always takes the best naps in his car seat. But if we take him for a walk in the stroller and he falls asleep, we will have to wake him up to get him out. (Something else that wouldn't be a problem if we didn't live in a 3rd floor walk-up.

Either way, she said he's growing well and looks great. She said the top two teeth will probably be coming in this weekend or early next week. I figured as much. He's been drool-tastic and a little more cranky than usual. But, he's still in bed by 8:30pm most nights and sleeps until 7 every morning (give or take 15 minutes). He still sucks his thumb to self-soothe. We can lay him down awake and he will fall asleep if he is tired. He started sleeping on his side too, which is the most adorable thing.

I think about how long he has been alive, and what a different little person he is going to be in another six months. I can't get over it. He's the coolest.

I'm going to wait a few more days before I do his six-month photo shoot. I have to decide on an outfit :). I also decided that once he can sit up on his own completely, and once the drooling from the top two teeth subsides a little, I'm going to take him for professional pictures. So much fun!

I'm in this kind of mood.

2009-07-04T15:13:00.003-04:00

I do love a survey - but this isn't your typical survey, and I promise not to subject my (few) readers with another one anytime soon... :)

1. What kind of SOAP is in your bathtub right now? Well, several kinds. Most notably - Neutrogena Rainbath, which is what we bathe Owen in - in his baby tub, and sometimes I steal some too. And, I just picked up a new moisturizing body wash by Nivea that is scented with Rose Oil and Almond extract and the smell of it makes me dizzy...

2. Do you have any watermelon in your refrigerator? No, but I have oranges, nectarines, apples and bananas!

3. What would you change about your living room? New windows, the french doors and window frames need painted, and we need to paint the spot on the ceiling where our upstairs neighbors radiator leaked last winter...

4. Are the dishes in your dishwasher clean or dirty? I think they are dirty, but Clint emptied it yesterday, so there probably isn't much in there....

5. What is in your fridge? Lots of bottles of water - Naked Mango - eggs - cheese - veggies - my homemade dip - pork chops thawing - a huge bag of broccoli florets - lots of stuff...

6. White or wheat bread? We go back and forth.

7. What is on top of your refrigerator? Dust.

8. What color or design is on your shower curtain? It's linen with burgandy and brown flowers sewn onto it. I get many compliments on it...

9. How many plants are in your home? One big fake one.

10. Is your bed made right now? Well, that's not fair. I just got out of it... So.... no.

11. Comet or Soft Scrub? Green Works

12. Is your closet organized? Hahah..... riiiiiight. My closet floor is a mess of strewn shirts and crocs.

13. Can you describe your flashlight? It's a wind-up one that I got as a gift.

14. Do you drink out of glass or plastic most of the time at home? It's a toss-up, whatever isn't in the dishwasher.

15. Do you have iced tea made in a pitcher right now? Gross. No. I hate tea.

16. If you have a garage, is it cluttered? No. We have a parking lot. It can also be called an ice skating rink in the winter.

17. Curtains or blinds? Both, and yet still not enough. Our bedroom faces the off-ramp into downtown Wheeling. I'm afraid to be undressed in there with the lights on for fear I'm giving the drivers a free show...

18. How many pillows do you sleep with? Two. Sometimes a third between my knees, pregnancy habit that carried over.

19. Do you sleep with any lights on at night? No.

20. How often do you vacuum? If by "you" do you mean Clint? One of us does it every few days. We have two white cats!

21. Standard toothbrush or electric? Standard.

22. What color is your toothbrush? Green and white. That reminds me, I need a new toothbrush.

23. Do you have a welcome mat on your front porch? Yes, it's tan with brown flowers.

24. What is in your oven right now? Racks. Pork chops will be in there soon.

25. Is there anything under your bed? Slippers and I think a random water bottle. Cat hair.

26. Chore you hate doing the most? I don't discriminate, I hate them all...

27. What retro items are in your home? If by retro you mean really old - a lot. We live in a 100-year old building...

28. Do you have a separate room that you use as an office? No. My desk is in my bedroom.

29. How many mirrors are in your home? Only 3, but there are two leaning against the wall in my closet.

30. Do you have any hidden emergency money around your home? No. We have a "coin cup" that is actually the "cup" from my raku tea set that I made, which kind of ticks me off, yet it is still in there...

31. What color are your walls? Two rooms and the hallway are Carmel, our bedroom is called Jade Bath, the dining room is a light yellow (soon to be repainted) and the kitchen and bathroom (walls) are white.

32. Do you keep any kind of protection weapons in your home? No. This is Wheeling.

33. What does your home smell like right now? I can't smell anything worth identifying.

34. Favorite candle scent? Gardenia, mmmmmmmm..... or Lilac.

35. What kind of pickles (if any) are in your refrigerator right now? Claussen kosher pickles, I think...

36. What color is your favorite Bible? I only have one and it is tan.

37. Ever been on your roof? Yikes, no.

38. Do you own a stereo? Yes.

39. How many TVs do you have? Two.

40. How many house phones? We both just have cell phones...

41. Do you have a housekeeper? No, but I think I am going to hire one to get the house super clean before we show it to try to sell.

42. What style do you decorate in? I don't know. It's kind of homey but still classy at the same time.

43. Do you like solid colors in furniture or prints? Our couch is striped, but our chairs are all solid.

44. Is there a smoke detector in your home? No (shame.......)

45. In case of fire, what are the items in your house which you’d grab if you only could make one quick trip? Baby. Cats if possible. Nothing else matters.

Woohoo. That was fun.

Good Week

2009-07-03T08:37:00.006-04:00

I'm coming to the end of another week off, and it's been a good week. I got to see a wonderful friend, I got to visit with my mom, I got to enjoy some movies and books and I got to spend quality time with my husband and little boy.

Krista K. came to visit on Wednesday. We fed Owen some pears and then fed ourselves. I made buffalo chicken dip, and cut up a bunch of veggies and made some dip. I asked her what she wanted to do, and she said she wanted to watch Benjamin Button. I of course did not object. I cried (like always) at the part where he becomes a little boy, and she has to take care of him. Krista really liked it - but I hope she watches it again, because we were paying too much attention to Owey. I love Krista because we can spend six months not hanging out, and then when we finally do get together, it's like no time has passed. I can tell her ANYTHING, and she does not judge or make opinions, she only offers honest, unbiased reactions. She is a wonderful friend.

Sometime this week, I feel like I had some kind of awakening. I find myself feeling the way I used to about literature and film and art.... Maybe, the way I felt before I got married, found a serious job or had a baby. When I had time... Something about me wants to write again, or to throw clay on a wheel again. (God, I miss pottery.) I'm reminded of my favorite piece of art I ever made. The assignment was to create a female torso (my senior year of college I think), with some kind of text and texture on it. Because of my love for all things scandalous, I found an Emerson quote ("thou art to me a delicious torment") that was perfect and made this:

The hands were SO hard to make. I loved this project, but this, by far, remains the coolest thing I ever created:

But I have been reading a lot lately, I'm rereading A Widow for One Year, and I want to start/finish Love in a Time of Cholera, Unaccustomed Earth and a bunch of others. I've also been referred a few titles that sound appealing. I also read a new book by a friend who has yet to be published, but I have tremendous faith that he will.

Unfortunately, the only creative thing I have actually done myself this week has been cooking, which everyone knows I adore. The other night I made a dijon chicken salad with broccoli and tomatoes. It was an Ina Garten recipe - fantastic! So great I took a picture!

Progress on the house is going.... slow. Clint has taken down a small portion of the wallpaper in the hallway and I'm trying to decide on paint colors. We might have to hold off doing the bathroom, because one of our neighbors told me that the Co-op association may vote to replace several windows in all of the apartments, which will cost us a couple thousand dollars... Sigh... But this I can appreciate more than paying $1400 to repoint the bricks on the north side of the building, which does not affect me one little bit.

When Krista was here, she took a picture of me and Owen. It's not often that I post pictures of myself - but I didn't think I looked too hideous in this one :)

And why is it that almost every new shirt I have is either chocolate brown or white?

That is the end of the story.

2009-06-30T21:16:00.000-04:00

"There was a little boy who didn't know if he wanted to be born. His mommy didn't know if she wanted him to be born, either. This is because they lived in a cabin in the woods, on an island, in a lake - and there was no one else around. And, in the cabin, there was a door in the floor. The little boy was afraid of what was under the door in the floor, and the mommy was afraid, too. Once, long ago, other children had come to visit the cabin, for Christmas, but the children had opened the door in the floor and they had disappeared down the hole, under the cabin, and all their presents had disappeared, too. Once the mommy had tried to look for the children, but when she opened the door in the floor, she heard such an awful sound that her hair turned completely white, like the hair of a ghost. And she smelled such a terrible smell that her skin became as wrinkled as a raisin. It took a whole year for the mommy's skin to be smooth again, and for her hair not to be white. And, when she'd opened the door in the floor, the mommy had also seen some horrible things that she never wanted to see again, like a snake that could make itself so small that it could sneak through the crack between the door and the floor - even when the door was closed - and then it could make itself so big again that it could carry the cabin on its back, as if the snake were a giant snail and the cabin were its shell. The other things under the door in the floor are so horrible that you can only imagine them. And so the mommy wondered if she wanted to have a little boy in a cabin in the woods, on an island, in a lake - and with no one else around - but especially because of everything that might be under the door in the floor. Then she though: Why not? I'll just tell him not to open the door in the floor!Well, that's easy for a mommy to say, but what about the little boy? He still didn't know if he wanted to be born into a world where there was a door in the floor, and no one else around. Yet there was also some beautiful things in the woods, and on the island, and in the lake.'Why not take a chance?' the little boy thought. And so he was born, and he was very happy. His mommy was happy again, too, although she told the little boy at least once every day, 'Don't you ever, not ever - never, never, never - open the door in the floor.' But of course he was only a little boy. If you were that boy, wouldnt you want to open that door in the floor?"

A visit with the Mrs. (Owen's future Mrs... that is)

2009-06-25T20:46:00.003-04:00

My mom came with Owen and me down to Morgantown today to visit Virginia and Lily!! She is nearly four weeks old, and looks exactly like her mommy. It was only the second time I have driven to Morgantown and it wasn't that traumatic. I think Owen liked being in Lily's presence. He was extremely pleasant, laughing and smiling all day!

On the way back from Morgantown, I had the bright idea to go shopping at the outlet malls, because I have been dying to go for the past month, and it was only about 10 minutes out of our way. I bought four new pairs of crocs. (One pair was for Clint!) and some stuff at Old Navy... and a pair of sandals from Bass for my mom's birthday. It was too hot to stay long. The only relief was a peach and banana smoothie and air conditioning the entire ride. Owen was a major fussy pants. He cried from Washington to Wheeling... Almost a solid 20 minutes. Fantastic.

And... my. skin. hurts.

Swimming!

2009-06-25T20:37:00.002-04:00

Clint and I LOVE being in water. We prefer the Caribbean Ocean, but Wheeling Park public pool will do fine. :) I have been itching to take Owen swimming, because he loves splashing and I had a feeling he would like being in a pool just as much as we do.

So, I got him a sun hat, a surf shirt and a pair of trunks. The swim diapers have little Nemos on them. I tried to get him a baby floatation device, but I couldn't find the right one. I swear I had "baby floatation device" on the grocery list for two shopping trips.

When we got him to the pool in his little outfit, all lathered up in SPF 50, he was a little unsure about the water. It was warm enough (the pool is slightly heated) and it was a super hot day, but he was still a little confused. He did not like when you dipped him in and then held him up out of the water. Once we started holding him under the water (to about his upper arms or shoulders) he was perfectly happy. He even did his little splashing. It was adorable. I can't wait to take him again. Maybe Erin and Zaney will go with us~!!! (Hint hint Erin....)

I had an SPF 30 malfunction.... The fancy spray kind that I bought last summer no longer sprays. I put the SPF 50 on my face only, and now I have a fantastic line across my forehead where I did not put sunscreen. Everything on my body, except my face, is a nice tomato shade... I hurt. It's awesome. I'm retarded.

Owey was awesome.

Father's Day!

2009-06-25T20:30:00.004-04:00

Here's a picture of my guys on Father's Day! This year, all Clint wanted for Father's Day was new shorts. So I bought him camo cargo shorts and some new khaki shorts (and of course a few shirts to go with them.)

Typically in the past, Father's Day has been a black day that for the past 14 years I purposefully avoided celebrating. But now, my baby's daddy (lol), my dear husband deserves to be celebrated.

Unfortunately - Aside from giving him his presents, I only saw him for a few hours, because I had to work the night before. I had every intention of only taking a nap before his family reunion scheduled to begin at noon that day. He tried to wake me up at 11am, and I think I may have growled at him. So... I missed the reunion this year. He took Owen, and said they had a good time.

Clint said it was a good Father's Day. Considering this was his first real one, with nothing to compare it to- I think I should try to improve next year...

Torn.

2009-06-24T17:54:00.005-04:00

So, Clint and I feel like we are at a crossroads. For those of you who don't know, Clint and I bought our apartment in January 2008 through a private sale for a VERY reasonable price. Our mortgage is very reasonable, and the co-op association fees are also reasonable - about what we would pay to rent a comparable apartment somewhere in this town. We love this apartment - it's huge for one thing. It's 1800-square feet, kitchen, laundry, dining room, living room, two beds, one bath... We made some minor cosmetic changes when we moved in, with the plan to live here five years or less, and make some other renovations along the way.

A few things we didn't anticipate moving in: When we bought it, we thought it would take a while for us to get pregnant, but I ended up getting pregnant that April and our son was born a couple of weeks after our year anniversary with the apartment. While I was pregnant, we tore old carpet out of the second bedroom and repainted the walls and window frames. The hardwood floors in that room need to be refinished. We just have a big area rug in there right now.

Another thing we didn't think would happen: Clint getting laid off two months after I had Owen. Yes, in the beginning it was only partial, two weeks on, two weeks off, but he hasn't worked for the past month and his employer told his team that if they didn't hear from the company, assume the lay off continues. This. scares. the. shit. out. of. me.

By some brilliant stroke of chance, or God's glorious graces, at the same time Clint gets laid off indefinitely, I get a fantastic promotion. I get to spend more time at home, and I get to make more money. My increase in wages somewhat compensates for what he is losing. (If he was still working two weeks at a time, we would be about even...) He makes unemployment, but it's only half of what he usually brings home. If he went back to work tomorrow (or anytime soon!) we would actually be getting somewhere financially.

Unfortunately, it's the idea that he might not get called back to work that keeps us up at night. He's not going to look for a different job yet, because with the state of the economy, it's very unlikely that he could get a job making the same amount of money. And, as long as he is getting unemployment, along with other millions of Americans right now..., things are, for lack of a better word, OK. He also doesn't want to get involved with a different job, only for his company to call him back. He's very loyal to the company.

But we are worried that something is going to come and we are going to be stuck. Because we live in a co-op, we shoulder our share of the financial responsibilities of our building. We own 65 shares of 765. Only a couple months after we moved in, we found out we had to shell out $1400 to repoint the bricks on the North side of the building. Now the people in our building are talking about redoing the back decks, and replacing all the front windows.... Geez.

It's not just a matter of coming up with these extra assessments for things for the building. Several of the people in our building are downright rude and mean. They didn't want us to live here when we had our interview. We had cats, we were young, they didn't think we could afford it... We probably have better jobs than they do - or at least, better jobs than they had when they were our age. Clint and I are responsible - old for our age. We pay our bills, we keep a nice home, we work, we don't have loud parties, we go to church, we are always nice to everyone - so what are these people's problems? When we tell our friends some of the things our neighbors have said to us, they think we are joking. I don't know if it's because everyone that lives here is at least 20 years older than us, or what - but it really makes this decision easier.

Also, we live on the third floor and there are no elevators and lugging the kid up and down the stairs is something of a trial. I hear that kids always get bigger and not smaller, so it doesn't look like that situation is going to change.

So, we have decided, with all of Clint's new time, that we should be fixing things we have been putting off or planning on doing "someday," with the intention of trying to sell. The economy is poor right now, but it's a good time to buy, and this is, aside from the special assessments, an affordable, convenient, spacious place to live. Because we bought it through a friend, we actually paid around 25% less than the apartment was appraised for, so if it's still valued the same, even if we put money into it, we stand to make at least a little profit. With that profit, we intend to pay off our cars, other little bills we have (small credit cards, all of my hospital bills from the baby, etc.) and get our monthly expenses down as low as we can. I think this means, the smartest thing for us to do would be to go back to renting. Live modestly for a while, build our savings back up, and then find a house - an actual house - that we want to buy. If Clint goes back to work in the meantime, than that's fantastic. But we want to plan for the negative. We wouldn't be opposed to going back to where we used to rent, in North Park. We had a pool for God's sakes! And 1.5 bathrooms!~ Of course, the things we have acquired in the past year and a half, mainly - 1 child - I don't think all of our stuff would fit in there again. We have more than enough STUFF. Ideally, we could rent a house for around what we pay to live here or less.

So, on the agenda, is tearing down the wallpaper in the hallway that has been painted over (several times), refinishing the hardwood floors in the dining room and Owen's room, sanding and repainting all of the window frames, repainting all the crown and most of the rooms, and -- the bathroom. Everyone who has been to our home knows what a thorn in my side this is. We have a bathroom that could be awesome, if it were original. Alas, it was probably remodeled in the forties. We have pink and blue tile on the floor, pink tile on the walls, pepto bismal pink tub, toilet and sink (that has started to drip uncontrollably). Bring on the change. I would like to do a classy 20's style black and white theme - maybe insert a glass block wall on the far end of the tub (instead of having an l-shaped curtain rod, like many Victorians...

First we are going to do everything we can on our own, and then find someone to do our bathroom. Anybody know anybody?

We don't know if this is the right thing to do. We are trying to be practical and safe - and this seems like the best option.

In other, more upbeat news -- Clint and I took Owen to the pool for the first time today. I slathered him up in SPF 50 and had a malfunction with our SPF 30. So Clint and I are nice and crispy. Owen was completely protected. We are pretty sure he liked the water. At first, he was a little unsure, but then by the end, he wasn't fussing or objecting in anyway. I think he's a water baby.

Ok, I need to go be a wife. I need to make meatloaf.

A day in the country.

2009-06-19T09:15:00.005-04:00

We went to Columbus yesterday to visit our friends Scott and Cristie and family. Scott is my mom's good friend's son who is about 9 years older than me, who I have known my entire life. His wife of nearly 11 years is Cristie, mom extraordinaire. They have four children: Andrew (10), Allie (7), Adam (4) and Abbie (nearly 2). They have a fantastic family and Clint and I really love spending time with them all! Scott is a pharmacist and Cristie is a stay at home super mom. All of their kids are always well behaved and polite. Andrew adores Clint. If I can be anywhere near as good a mom as Cristie, I will feel like a success.

Abbie and Allie, beautiful girls.

Owen and his curly hair, it was so humid.

This might be my favorite picture from his entire life, so far.

Owey and Pony

Allie swinging.

Cristie giving Owen his first sink bath. It was so hot, she stuck him in there to cool him. He barely napped at all, poor little bubba.

The cornhole twins. "Should we hug?" Ha! Clint said, "Thank God I didn't wear my camo cargo shorts. We would have matched."

Abbie.

Me pushing Adam on the swing. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of Andrew this trip. Part of him is to the left.

Abbie adored Owey. She might give Lily Dilly a run for her money. Owen was surprised and confused about Abbie's public displays of affection all day, especially the many full on kisses on the lips!! Maybe she just wanted his bumbo seat...

It was an awesome trip. Clint and Scott want to go golfing sometime, so maybe we will see them again soon. We usually spend the night when we go up, but this time was too spur of the moment, and I was worried Owen was still a little too young to make that long a trip from home.

I got stung by something, and now have a little bite on my middle finger of all places.

On the way home, we passed silos, and Clint said:

"What's in those?"

"Corn," I said.

"That's it?"

"Well, in one there is corn, and then in the smaller ones is oil and butter. Then the popcorn comes out that top part."

"Then they bag it up and send it to movie theatres?"

"That's right."

"Shut up."

I love the hubs. Good times.

5 months already?

2009-06-19T09:04:00.003-04:00

So, the pictures might start getting a little out of focus. He doesn't want to sit still very often.

On June 12, Owen turned five months old. He doesn't have another doctor's appointment till July 9, so I don't know how much he weighs. The milestones passed in this month have been many... First two teeth, rolling over from back to front, and then a few days later from front to back... He eats a lot of new foods. Peas continue to be the favorite, followed closely by squash. He seems to really like applesauce, but not bananas. I thought today might be the first day he went to a swimming pool, but it is raining. Of course. He still sleeps about 11 hours a night, and takes usually 2-3 naps a day. Two little and one big or two big. He can sit on his own for a few seconds, and if he's holding on to something, like the side of his baby tub, but not enough to play by himself sitting up yet. We still do his bedtime routine everynight. Babies dig routine.

The picture location might have to change if he's going to be a scootin' fool. I adore this little outfit he's wearing. It's from BabyGap and it's so soft I would like to have pajamas that match! There are too many buttons, as is the case with all baby one-pieces.

Wow. Five months, in a minute, he's going to be 18.

Below is his 5-week shot. Wow.

So many things.

2009-06-16T10:20:00.004-04:00

Introducing Lily Kay Dillaman (Owen's future Mrs.) :)

Born June 2, 8lbs, 5oz - 21.5 inches long! Who would have thought Virginia would give birth to a linebacker? I'm so happy for you friend, and I'm glad to hear everything is going well. Can't wait to see you again!!

Owen can sit up for a hot minute before tumbling to the side. I think this will be the next milestone. He is also starting to get the idea of his bouncy/standing thing... seat. He puts his legs down and pushes off -- building up leg strength. Also, he doesn't want to ever lay back and be fed with a bottle. He tries to sit up whenever I lay him back. When he does lay back he tries to hold the bottle himself. He already has two teeth, and his current favorite foods are peas (mainly), squash and applesauce. He doesn't so much like bananas. Speaking of bananas, my new favorite thing is making banana nut bread with chocolate chips in it. Yum.

Clint will be mad that I posted a picture of him wearing his polar bear pants - but I just had to. They were watching TV. I love this picture :)

I did not do a single thing last week - except for read the Twilight Saga. Yes, I got sucked in. I scoffed at it, initially. Then it grabbed ahold of me by the throat and wouldn't let go until I had real all the books. I read a book a day, except for the last one, but HEY, it was 750 pages!!!! The addiction was so bad that I even read Midnight Sun, the alternate version shown from Edward's perspective instead of Bella's (available on Stephanie Meyer's website). Luckily, that is all over, now. Now it's just a matter of holding my breath until all four movies have been made and released.

Work has been pretty good. Friday night we were so busy that I felt like I was working for about 3 hours instead of 12. We had an unbelievable amount of work, and too few staff members. When I left work at 8am, we didn't have a single processor or proofreader. Only two people that I called for help answered the phone, out of about 6. But the rest of the weekend wasn't so busy. I think I could have slept all day Monday. I love having all week off. Clint and I want to go to Columbus soon. My mom and I are planning to go outlet shopping in Washington. All things that would have been reserved for weekends.

I spoke with my BFF Krista the other day -- I'm so excited for September! I'm looking up poems and whatnot, I promise. Why can't you guys live somewhere cool - maybe oceanside... This is the second time I will be going to Iowa in less than two years, and that is two times more than I ever thought I would be in Iowa in my entire life. :)

Clint is still partially laid off, but right now, it's for the third week in a row. I'm starting to worry.

I have a million things to do today.

This is the happiest thing I have ever witnessed, and I get to see it everyday. Clint is bouncing Owey on the bed and giving him kisses. I love being a mommy.

June 2, 2009.

2009-06-03T18:12:00.002-04:00

Lily Kay Dillaman was born!!!!!

I can't wait to see you tomorrow!!!!

And, we were watching Revolutionary Road, when Owen rolled over for the first time. He rolled from back to front. We were really surprised!! We rolled him back over, and he did it again!!! The hard part is that he gets stuck on his belly, because he hasn't yet figured out how to roll from front to back.

And, he now has both of his bottom teeth! The other one came in just a couple of days after the first one!

He is also expanding his food horizons! He has now tasted sweet potatoes, squash, green beans, peas, carrots and bananas. Usually I mix everything together with cereal and formula, but he had eaten all of his peas, (a huge hit with him), and I thought I would give him some banana just to try it, and he would take a bite, and then do a whole body shake, like he had just done a shot of some harsh liquor. It was hilarious. For the record, he does like it mixed with cereal and formula....

Tons to do.

Big Day!!

2009-06-02T08:43:00.002-04:00

Lily Kay is being born today!!!!!!! Good luck my dear friend, Virginia!! See you on Thursday!!!!! I can't wait to meet Lily Dilly!!!!!!

Big things.

2009-05-25T22:26:00.007-04:00

May 24, first tooth.

May 25, sat up by himself for a good 30 seconds.

Wow. He's only four and a half months old, and he has a tooth. It's still mostly under the gum, but I can feel it, and if he opens his mouth wide enough you can see the little top of it sticking up. He had been drooling and slobbering and sticking EVERYTHING in his mouth for a few weeks now, and boom. Yesterday morning, I stuck my finger in his mouth, and there it was. My mom said I got my first tooth when I was five and a half months old, and I was under the impression that was early. He had been so crabby last week, totally skipping naps, crying way more than he usually does. One day I even gave him a tiny bit of baby tylenol, because he seemed so uncomfortable. Even his teething rings didn't seem to help. He would chew on them for a few minutes and then just continue to whine. But now that the tooth has shown up, he seems much happier.

He also is so smiley these days, it makes me laugh! He loves having his cheeks kissed loudly. His armpits and neck are extremely ticklish, and he discovered a new favorite thing:

I can't wait to put him in a swimming pool. Before I do that, I need to get him a sun hat to match his crab swim trunks and surf shirt (!), I need to get swimming diapers and baby sunblock.

He is also getting really good at sitting up. He was holding on to my fingers sitting up today and I let go and he didn't topple over. He actually sat up for about 30 seconds. The trouble is he leans forward to get to his feet. In the tub as you can see, he will sit and splash for as long as we let him.

We have also started eating solid foods. His doctor said two weeks of one serving of cereal, and then two weeks of two servings of cereal and then start introducing solids, starting with yellow and orange veggies and then green veggies. I kind of broke the rules. After a few days of plain cereal, he never seemed really interested. After consulting with mom-extraordinaire, Cristie Kimmins, I decided to start mixing veggies in with the cereal, and that, he adores. So far, he loves sweet potatoes and squash, and he isn't sure about carrots or green beans. I'm going to try peas next. I'm going to hold off on fruit for as long as possible, because I heard that once they start fruit, they don't want veggies anymore... He's such a good eater! I thought he was big for his age, but after his 4-month appointment, I guess he is only average size. His BFF Alexander was born 4 days before him, is long and skinny and outweighs Owen by a pound and a half!

Squishy face!

My little blondie.

And, I got a promotion. After two years of being a legal proofreader and document processor, I got promoted to a supervisor. It's not what I thought I would be doing - because it's actually midnights, but it's on the weekend. I work Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 8pm to 8am. I trained this past weekend and will start on my own next Friday. I am off Monday at 8am and don't have to be back to work until Friday at 8pm. Clint does his bedtime routine for three nights, and I take a couple naps throughout the day on Saturday and Sunday. My mom will watch him only on Mondays, from 8-5, Clint will take him and bring him back, so I can sleep.

I'm ecstatic. As soon as Clint gets back to work full time, things are going to be so fantastic.

Owen's future girlfriend, Lily Dilly, future daughter of Virginia, is being super stubborn and won't turn head down. If she doesn't flip around, Virginia's going to have a c-section on Tuesday, June 2. I'm thinking and praying for you guys! I can't wait to come see you and baby Lily, even if I have major anxiety about driving in Morgantown!!

And Clint and I have decided that Jon and Kate are totally getting divorced.

Ok, Clint is tired, and wants to go to bed, so it's lights out.

Goodnight!

Happy Mother's Day.

2009-05-10T18:00:00.006-04:00

Technically, this is my second Mother's Day. I found out I was pregnant on May 9, 2008. I had been having faintly positive tests for a few days, but I had false positives before and I didn't want to be devastated again. I took about four different kinds of tests, including the fancy digital ones, on May 8, 2008, and had the pregnancy confirmed on May 9 by blood test. Two days before Mother's Day. Clint got me Benjamin Button on DVD, and of course I sobbed like a little girl again. I love the story. It's one of my new favorites.

Owen had his 4-month check-up on Thursday. He weighs 15lbs, 1oz. and is 25 inches long. He's awesome in every way, and the only thing I said no to on his development questions was that he hasn't rolled over yet. I think he is going to be the type of baby to roll from back to front first. He swings his legs all over the place, and scoots himself around that way.

We took his 4-month photo shoot today:
This is how it started, with him sitting up against the pillow next to the bear.

Then, he started bucking his legs, scooting down....

And scooting further down....

Apparently, he didn't want to sit up just then. Because this is how he ended up...

Still adorable.

Mother's day consisted of waking up late, going to later service at church with my husband and mom - and Owen of course - to see Owey's best friend Alexander get baptized. Then we came back to our apartment, made some pizza and watched Benjamin Button. Then I talked to one of my favorite mothers - Cristie Kimmins! I can't wait to bring Owen to come and visit your brood sometime in June.

Here's Owen with my mother:

And Owen with his mother.

Happy Mother's Day!!

The Baptism, the Blackout and the big noises.

2009-05-03T17:13:00.006-04:00

The baptism went pretty well! He was dressed in adorable little button down shirt and khaki pants, just like daddy. Those in attendance were us, of course, Clint's parents, my mom, Virginia, the godmommy, Chad, the godfather, and Clint's brother and sister. First of all, it was a beautiful day. I was so busy, that we only managed to get one picture, and it was accidentally in black and white, which is fine. We have a lot of memories!

During the baptism, all of our friends and family were standing around us, and sadly, as soon as the minister Margie took him so they could put the water on his head, he started crying! I think it was just because he was being held differently than usual, but he let out his typical, open mouth for five minutes building up a cry before he actually makes any noise! As soon as she handed him back to me though, he was fine, and I walked him up and down the aisle so everyone could see him. It was great.

He also got some wonderful little gifts, including some gift cards, several books, and Virginia gave him his first book of stories from the bible! What a good godmommy. Her baby is due in less than one month! I can't wait to go to her house and make some meals and do some laundry for her when Lily is like a week old.

After church, everyone came to our apartment and I made a huge breakfast for everyone. Bought flavored breads, english muffins, potatoes, breakfast meats, eggs with cheddar and dill, and strawberries. It was a success. Owen slept from 9:30 am to 1pm and missed the whole thing, but it was still wonderful!

At around 5pm that day, I was walking down the hall, and the light in the hallway went out, and I thought the bulb must have burnt out. Then I realized the electricity was out in the entire building. Our upstairs and downstairs neighbors were all calling each other. When I looked out the window, I saw the powerlines laying across the highway, and up the street a little, a tree was on the sidewalk and had pulled down the power lines. What a mess. AEP was immediately on the scene, doing their thing, but it was still 5am before we had power again. It was so hot in our apartment that day, it was about 85 degrees that day, and we didn't have any fans on. We had to go out to dinner and do a little shopping just to get out of the house. We got home around 8:30 and decided to light every candle in the house and do his bedtime routine. The entire time, from when we started his bedtime routine until I laid him down in his crib, he never made a sound. He looked at the candles, he was probably confused why there was no light or noise, and he remained completely silent. I was worried that he would cry in the middle of the night and I wouldn't hear him because the monitors didn't work (it occurs to me now that we could have put batteries in them...) but of course he slept until morning.

The day after the baptism, I took the day off and my mom and I spent the majority of the afternoon at my great Aunt Helen's. She wasn't able to come to the baptism and she can't manage the stairs at our apartment. She gets a real kick out of Owen.

Owen was really cute that day. We all sat outside for a little while, but it was so warm that we eventually went inside, and I laid him down on a blanket on the floor in her living room and he sucked his thumb and fell asleep. He slept for like two hours while we ate hot sausage sandwiches, looked through all my coupons and talked. It was a good day.

Speaking of coupons, I saved nearly $40 in coupons grocery shopping yesterday, thank you.

Clint says since we have been together, he has had more free meals out at restaurants than in his entire life. Something always happens to me at restaurants. One time I had a ladybug in my drink. I had a steak that ended up being mostly unedible because most of it was just fat. Today, we decided to go out to breakfast at Eat and Park after church, because we had to go to Target anyway. While there, Owen got a little fussy, so I figured he needed to eat. I asked the waitress to bring me some hot water so I could warm his bottle. She brought out a tupperware container full of steamy hot water, which was perfect to heat the bottle in. Unfortunately, as she was setting the container down, it fell out of her hands, and the scalding hot water spilled all over my breakfast and my legs. I was holding Owen, and I was so scared that it had gotten on him, but he was dry all over, Thank God. So, yet another free meal for the Amies...

Owen continues to grow rapidly. He's laughing more now, making little happy shrieks all the time while playing, he can sit supported extremely well, and I mean by holding two fingers or by just resting my hand on his back or belly and him leaning into it a little bit. He is also making noise like he just realized he could talk. He yells and babbles and coos, and he also fake coughs. I know he's faking, because he will make this cough sound and then continue making noise and stick his tongue out. Little faker. It's adorable.

Here's a little video I took on my phone.

He also has seemed very interested in food when Clint and I are eating. He stares at us and makes little noises. So, today, (he's almost 4 months old) we put him in his high chair and tried to feed him some very runny organic rice cereal. I also bought him some bananas for next week. He was pretty confused, but after a couple tries he started opening his mouth a little as I put the spoon to his mouth. He kind of just rolled the cereal around in his mouth and sort of let it drool out of his mouth. It's a start.

So, big things possibly in the works. More to come.

Photo Shoot

2009-04-25T19:30:00.003-04:00

We decided to snap some shots of Owey-bug today. It was kind of warm in our apartment, so we let him go pants-less. The ottoman is the perfect size for the boy. Like the stool at the end of Michael and Jan's bed (from the Office!).

He smiles so much now. Today I had him sitting in front of me, and I kept saying "Are you a little flirt?" And every time I said it, he turned his face down and smiled shyly, So CUTE!

These were taken right after he had a 4-hour nap. He is always most pleasant right after he wakes up. A new development: if we notice that he is really tired and ready for a nap, we can lay him down awake, and he will turn his head to the side, start sucking his thumb and fall asleep within about 5 minutes. No crying, no feeding, no rocking. I think I have a little angel baby.

This last picture reminds me of how he looks when he's getting ready to giggle. So far, the things that make him giggle are tickling his arm-pits, his inner legs, his feet and his neck, while simultaneously making a tsst-tsst-tsst sound.

I heart you.

Owen is getting baptised tomorrow! More people than I thought are attending! I was touched to hear so many people wanted to come, considering it started out kind of a quiet event. Then my aunt said she wanted to come, and we decided to have a brunch at my mom's house afterwards, and then people started telling us they wanted to come! We also didn't invite too many people, because we are lunatics and go to church at 8:30 in the morning!!

Sadly, I found out today my aunt couldn't make it from North Carolina, which made me pretty sad. She's my Godmother, and I didn't think she would miss it! Also, I'm incredibly eager for her to meet my little boy. My mom and I talked about possibly taking a weekend and going for a visit sometime this summer.

That would also be something of a test run for a HUGE trip we are planning in September! We are going to Iowa to see Krista and Emily, and a plane would just be a bad idea (think of all the checked luggage!!) So, 11 hours one way in a car with a baby! We shall see...

I went to Sam's with my mom today to get some breakfast type things for the brunch tomorrow, which is now somehow at my house. On the menu: strawberries, assorted breakfast breads (strawberry, blueberry and chocolate), breakfast meats and potatoes, and I'm going to whip up some scrambled eggs with dill and cheese. I wish I liked eggs, alas, I will not eat them. I just make them. I'm not exactly sure how many people are coming, but maybe 7-8. It's suddenly become a to-do. I'm glad I'm taking Monday off from work.

In other work news, there was something of an opportunity recently, that I still have mixed feelings about. We are getting a new client at our site, and they have been doing interviews and testing for the past couple of weeks for anyone on our client who was interested in transferring. Of course I was interested if it meant that I could get a day-shift, so I could spend the evening at home with my family, have dinner together every night instead of just two nights a week, start Owen's bedtime routine when he gets tired and not when we have to, at 9pm when I get home from work... However, of all the things that transpired, currently and in the past with new clients, Clint and I just decided that it wasn't the right move for me. I think I had a good shot at a day shift, because I am a dual operator (processor and proofreader), and I have been there nearly two years. There are only a few people that had been there longer than me that would have wanted a day shift (which they also deserve, of course). Still, I hope that I have shown that I am dedicated to my current account, and hopefully at some point in the future I might be able to get a day-shift position. It's not the hardest thing now, but when he's a little older, I would love to get back to a "normal" working shift. It makes your entire life different. So, I am sad in a way, but I think it's for the best.

By the way, as much as I thought I would hate it, The Wrestler was a fantastic movie. Of course I had trouble with the dad-issues in it... but Mickey Rourke was fantastic. I'm sorry to say I think he deserved that Oscar over Sean Penn's Harvey Milk. (and I do love me some Sean Penn.) When I think of Mickey Rourke circa 9 1/2 Weeks and then see him in a movie like this, first of all, he has completely changed himself as a person, but he WAS his character. I tried to ignore all the stupid wrestling in it... but the story was really powerful, and I was totally impressed with Mickey Rourke. And of course, Darren Aronofsky, hello!

And Benjamin Button comes out on DVD soon! I want it for Mother's Day :). I think Mother's Day will always be a little extra special for me, because last year, I found out I was pregnant a couple days before Mother's Day! Clint got me a present :)

OK, a lot to do still, enjoy the pictures.