Wallis in Wonderland

Take this job and love it

2009-07-09T16:41:00.003-05:00

For all of us that still have jobs (especially in the advertising industry!), I congratulate you. Here's a quick pat on the back to myself, too, although is it really in any of our hands to dictate if we keep our jobs? All we can do is, literally, be as billable as possible, which in effect means that we are charging someone good money for the services we provide. But the ad industry is very value-driven and sometimes it's hard to see that fact, particularly for some clients who want do do great work but on a minimum budget. It's not the specific services you provide, because any joe blow can photoshop. It's the value you give to that service, the thoughtfulness and quality of creativity behind those hours you're billing, and that's what I'm proud of.

I'm proud to be the provider in my family and I love that Ross and Isla don't care where the money comes from. I'm also extremely proud to have a husband who is willing to drive six hours every few weeks, or at least offer to, help out on the family farm. The 2,000 glorious acres that is my version of Tara. It's where I gain my strength. Sigh. We are the lucky ones.

The best things in life aren't things

2009-07-06T21:24:00.002-05:00

There are so many things you take for granted. Grandparents are definitely one (or two, for me!) of them. The things you learn from the special people around you tend to stay with you through a lifetime and I'm so thankful to have absorbed these lessons from my Grandma Hanna. Here are my top 5:

1. How to make the sourest thing in the world (rhubarb) so delectable!
2. How to always squeeze a hug from even the biggest "kid".
3. How to enjoy life no matter what's going on - depression, the 60s, in your 80's!
4. How to show others your love through actions.
5. The importance of family.

Now hush your mouth and find some time to write yours a letter, if you can. If anything, for all that they've done for you in your life...

Shave and a haircut

2009-07-06T20:42:00.007-05:00

Ross getting "blowed"

Beer holder man

Auntie Steph and Auntie Melissa with little ones

Grandpa and Isla

Grandma and Isla

It's been a while, so sorry! We've been up to a lot lately, or rather, in the last few weeks. We received a mega box of fine products from England, things that Ross misses and can't live without (Like his PG tea, Eclair candies for me, and wine gums!).

We were up in Iowa in mid-June, where we had a great time with my family, and Ross got a summer buzz cut (from my brother, Chris) who proceeded to use his freshly-buzzed head as a beer holder, then blew off the hair clippings with a leaf blower! Good times, good times...We sat in the hot tub and met my little niece, Little Miss Siena. Check out how much bigger Isla is than the little newborn. It's absolutely amazing that just 11 months ago, Isla was actually smaller than Siena - Siena was born 8lbs, 6oz and Isla was a straight 8oz. Just crazy...

This past weekend I wasn't too well, but we still played a game of Settlers of Catan and on Saturday we braved the flash heat/cold/rain waves and walked twenty feet to our lovely neighbor's party and surprisingly, we stayed out until well past midnight! Photos to follow soon! Watch this space!

Some good quotes for today:

2009-06-25T15:32:00.001-05:00

Take chances. Take a lot of them. Because honestly, no matter where you are, where you end up or who you end up with, it always ends up just the way it should be. Your mistakes make you who you are. You learn and grow with each choice you make. Everything is worth it. Say how you feel always. Be you and be ok with it.

I may still not know what I want to be when I grow up, but I do know that someday I want to live in a house filled with my books and travel souvenirs. And the walls that aren't covered in bookshelves will be covered with photos of my family and friends. When I leave that house, I will be going to a job I love and I'll return to a person I love. So that's the dream I'm working on...

"Design is 70% dealing with people, 3% the idea, 2% selling the idea, 2% the brief, 2% being pig headed, 1% printing, 3% eye for detail, .6% invoices, 2% coffee, .7% tracking, .1% warm glow, .6% panic, 1% 4am, .6% staring, .2% checking, 1% letting go, .8% keeping hold, .7% estimates, .3% checking, .4% proofs, .1% colour, .9% understanding, .4% marketing, 1% checking, .8% beach ball, .5% mice, .3% keynotes, .4% persuasion, .2% bragging, .5% smiling, 2% knowing when to stop."

Ross and Isla are coming home tonight. Couldn't be more ecstatic! And a bonus that mom and dad are coming too! It looks like it will be a fabulous weekend just hanging out in the sweltering KC heat. Can't wait for it to begin. [note to self: TAKE PHOTOS! You have two cameras now, USE THEM!!] grrr.

I was skyped

2009-06-24T16:14:00.002-05:00

...and I liked it! I invited my mom and Ross to be skypers and then I could see my baby through the long week that we'd be separated. I nearly cried this morning while talking to Paula about my first few days sans Isla. I miss both of them desperately. I love that you can take snapshots on it, here are a few!

It was so Nice to meet my Niece...

2009-06-24T14:24:00.005-05:00

Ok, now that the tea set is done, I can't, um, WAAAAIT until these two little ones are at a teaparty with me! [question: who is this party really for, anyway?] Isn't Siena a little sweetheart??!

Speaking of sweethearts, sigh. Ross and Isla have been up to the farm in NW Iowa this week to help haul some grain for my dad, and they were lucky enough to go hang out with Teresa and Siena today. It was a total bummer that on the hottest darn week of the year her air conditioner broke! Just pooped out! With a mom, newborn and two very high-maintenance dogs at home. Whew. And I'm moaning about being home alone for the last two days...

Which I actually haven't been home by myself much at all! I was finally able to get some movies deleted off of the DVR, like Thank You for Smoking. Hilariously hilarious movie, I tell you! It makes me realize how powerful choice is, but my personal favorite has always been willpower. They're both such strong words. I love the way 'choice' rolls off the tongue. And I love the connection will+power has. Literally, if you have the "will", you have the "power" within yourself to make of something what you wish. Hopefully. But this is for certin - without both, you could never live a full life. Make a choice, and follow through to the happy/bitter end. Just do it.

Otherwise, I've had a lot of invitations and plans to visit this week! Last night I went out to happy hour at Harry's with my AM, Hilary, since it was her last full day in the office, then my lovely neighbor cooked me dinner! Then I promptly collapsed to the thunderings of a storm. It was pretty blissful, minus the fact that I had no Ross to cuddle with...Tomorrow they'll be home!!

100 Things I Love...

2009-06-22T12:06:00.012-05:00

My husband of (nearly) four years! They say 82% of married couples make it to five years and 60% make it to 8 so here's to being almost halfway!

Isla - no way is she quite #2!

http://www.britsuperstore.com/ - they have EVERYTHING an expat like my hubby could ask for, except for Cuprofen...

Swimming - preferably in an ocean that's a few degrees below "bathwater" temp.

Grocery shopping - punctuated with a starbuck's bought with a gift card acquired though credit card points

The feeling of the gravity pushing on you just before take-off on a plane.

Finding an old pen that I love, and still works!

Packing for a trip.

Skipping stones.

Getting a rebate in the mail - and it being right!

Not having to drive home after a night out.

Laughing 'til my face hurts!

Trivia!!

Learning something new about the past of a family member, esp. when it's good!

The new TV seasons - Hell's Kitchen/ Kitchen Nightmares, Creature Comforts, The Tudors...

Grandma's rhubarb pie

Grandma's cherry pie

A favorite song being played by your favorite band...when they were reported to never ever play it again!

Singing, esp. to Isla

Being grammatically correct, the majority of the time.

Telling the truth when other people are too scared to do so.

Guernsey - Cobo bay and L'ancresse are gorgeous

Flowers! Read earlier post

Thunderstorms while falling asleep - not when they wake me up!

Getting an outfit juuuust right.

Getting to know myself better through the years...

Cleaning out my closet and finding "new" things

Buying books on Amazon and seeing the completed ones on my shelf.

Post-it notes

My camelbak water bottle, with bite spout

Being surrounded by pictures of Ross and Isla...

Gathering quotes

Writing in my journal

Dark chocolate kit-kats and Curly Wurly's

Being able to leverage my experience to help out.

Booking a trip

A nice cup of tea

My rocking chair

A balanced checkbook

A loving card in the mail

A clean, organized...anything

Pencils that aren't just-sharpened, I like them a little dull.

My iPod

Crunchy things! Like BURNT bacon, quesadillas, carrots, thin gingerbread cookies

Game night at Emily's

My family history
Being involved.
Pedicures
Basil pesto
Back tickles
Pearls
Good hair ties
Long hair
Lifting weights
Updating my resume
Pink nail polish
My iPhone and Ultimate Data Plan (text me!!)
Quilts
The smell of Isla's hair
Ross's eyes
Sign Language
The Greek Language!
The color of chocolate
The game of Flux
and Flashlight Tag!
Books "that bite and sting"
Guitar chord C
Yoga
Being pregnant
Jack Vettriano
Sauvignon blanc wine
Sand castles
Cottonwood trees
Pretty flowing dresses
Stripping furniture and refinishing!
Face masks
Hydrangeas and bougainvilleas
Dr. Morris, our pediatrician
Plucking my eyebrows (such a sense of accomplishment!)
NO air conditioning
Lots of storage space, but planned storage
HGTV
Making a great meal...
Pottery!!
Painting - walls, mostly
Riding horses
Shopping online
A good stroller
New undies
My front and back porches
Sand volleyball
Butterscotch pudding
Paleontology
Tubing down the Elkhorn River in July!
Balloon animals
Kind glances
saying, "remember when...!"
Being warm
Environmentally sound food, water, air...
Beautiful swimmers

Pottery fever

2009-06-21T21:11:00.005-05:00

I suppose I would be remiss if I didn't show some of my favorite pieces on here, if only to prove to my dear husband that the pottery classes have definitely paid off! I'm now the proud owner of three new baking dishes, made completely by my hand! I bought some throw-away pans you can get in the grocery store, and made my own pans in their likeness - the 9x9" and the muffin tin. Then I did a wavy pie dish, which looks so good with peach crisp, yummy!!

I'm a little teapot

2009-06-21T20:45:00.003-05:00

Or rather, I made one! In the basement of a nice lady here in Liberty, are hundreds of ceramic molds and while there picking out some glazes for our handbuilt/wheel pottery class, Jenni and I discovered I could make a sweet little tea set for Isla. Two months later, I'm finally done and my french-blue tea set is all done! Now, I probably won't let Isla play with it until she's, oh, 30, but it's gorgeous! And it only cost $15 to make the whole thing!

You can learn lots of things from the flowers

2009-06-19T13:36:00.003-05:00

I love that song from Alice in Wonderland. I've been obsessed with flowers lately, plucking blooms as soon as they pop open just so I can have them in the house where we all can enjoy them. I wasn't too happy the other night when I was taking in the glorious smell of the "Queen of Sweden" old English rose and looked down at the bloom to see teeny, tiny little red bugs on it. Just a few, but I'm afraid I inhaled that few. I sneezed right away, so all was well. Still yucky though!

Some flowers I'm throwing myself at are:

All of my different colors/ flavors of the old English rose rainbow I got from www.davidaustenroses.com - Queen of Sweden, A Shropshire Lad, Benjamin Britten, Cinco de Mayo, Alnwick rose...
Bouganvilleas! How beautiful are they arching over a seaward-facing terrace?? Oh, I can't wait to get myself to Greece!
Poppies! If Afghanistan wasn't so scary and the flowers weren't grown strictly for dubious opium, I'd gladly run through a field full of them, wicked witch or no!
Lilacs...glorious lilacs. Someone quickly point me in the direction of a botanist to hybridize these bushes to bloom season-round in the summer!
Hydrangeas - My old love. I love how you can change the color of these from year to year - blue, pink, purple, I think that's it...The only downside is that they're poisonous to children.

May you travel safely through the fields of flowers unscathed from the stings of bees, wasps and without little red bugs...We're off to meet my beautiful new niece, Siena (previously misspelled!).

The Wedding of the Year!

2009-06-18T17:40:00.006-05:00

And we were there, man, we were there! Carly and Eric got hitched just less than two weeks ago and through me losing our beloved camera, we were able to get a few snapped on Annie's camera. We've since lost the search for it, along with my wonderful blue Camelbak BPA-free water bottle (with bite spout!) and my imported-with-love face cream from Helen. Why have I been losing so many things lately? I blame mom-nesia... At least I've been blogging fairly regularly!

All tuckered out at the reception...

Sneaking peeks at our friend, Karen, the harpist...

Can I have lessons, momma??

Love was in the air...

And mischief!

She was so spry after spending a night in the clink...

The clink that was the scary crib the hotel let us use!

Not bailing you out, baby, it's time for bed :)

Baby Siena is here!!

2009-06-18T17:38:00.003-05:00

My little sister, Teresa, just had a baby! Siena Lee Schultz was born at 5:36pm on June 17th, and we are going up to Iowa this weekend to meet her! Isla doesn't know it yet, but she couldn't be more excited!!

Wish list

2009-06-17T16:17:00.002-05:00

Every few weeks, an unavoidable ratio crops up in my mind: it seems the "things we need/want" list just keeps growing, as the little one keeps growing. So, for posterity, I'm posting it as a reminder to myself!

1. Suction bowls - It would be remarkable to have borne a world-class frisbee champ, but I won't see the fruits of that for years...Plenty of time to work on this skill.

2. Bookends - there are too many books in Isla's room to speak of, or read. This definitely isn't a problem but it's becoming a little cumbersome to lean books against the wall with only a fragile lamp to hold them from a tumble onto my foot (or Isla's!).

3. Ballerina Jewelry box - you know, like the one we alllll had when we were little? Although Pottery Barn Kids now sells much-higher-class ones that I would love to have for Isla. Too bad if she gets one, she can't play with it until she's 20. Kind of like her new tea set :)

4. Zip 'n Go Blanket - Never stopped to realize that even though it's mid-June, it's still rainy season and even though the grass looks dry, it's never a good plan to go to the park in white clamdigger pants...

5. Baby gates - MUST HAVE. Will need to go to store soon. Risk of impending falls from fun stair-climbing imminent.

6. Jogging Stroller (Instep Swivel Wheel) - Now that I have some routes planned out on www.walkjogrun.com, I'd love to have one of these. www.Craigslist.com is a-calling.

The list is sure to grow longer, for now I just need to get my mom-nesia in check and my purchasing priorities!! Secret-admirer cash gifts or Amazon credit always welcome :)

A nickname

2009-06-11T12:56:00.002-05:00

Our daughter's name, we've found, has a definite propensity to gather the odd nickname now and then. The ones we love have been Izzy, Islie, Isles, and the quintessential literal phonetic - Iz-la. I was in the bathroom yesterday after work, washing my hands, when Isla army crawls in to see what's going on. Without a second thought, I say, "Well Hi, Lolly!"

I have always, ALWAYS loved history, especially family history and hearing about long-gone relatives and their friends and good times. And I've always wondered how one would acquire a nickname like Minnie, Millie, Kittie or Dolly. Most likely it's just a shortening of a name (i.e. millie short for camilla). I haven't ever heard of a Lolly though, aside from the candy lolly-pops. Maybe that's why I thought it - Isla is sweet and little, and can make my head ache from time to time (not from her sweetness, more volume-based!). I think that possibly, maybe I'm falling for that name, too. Little Isla, a.k.a. Lolly, Wallis :)

Bye bye!

2009-06-10T18:15:00.004-05:00

Daddy and baby playing with his early father's day "pressie", his first American soccer ball!

A new set of words to add to Isla's vocabulary - she says, "bye bye!" and waves when you say it to her. And she's developed a fixation on playing with the dog bowls - I don't understand why. There is no dog food inside, or water, it can't possibly be attractive. Now that she's mobile, both on hand/foot and via the walker, she'll get to those bowls however she can. But during the day, Ross has rigged an ingenious way to keep her in the living room - putting down a dog blanket that is virtually impassable through use of a walker. Even if you take the bowls away or block her off, though, she isn't bothered much by it. Necessity is the mother of invention. And I'm a mother of a very active, and thankfully, content baby.

Woka woka

2009-06-01T20:09:00.004-05:00

No, Isla isn't saying "walker" in babytalk yet, but she totally surprised us with "mama" yesterday! That's been a long time comin, kind of like when we waited and waited and watched and watched for Isla to roll over...the sit up...then crawl. And now she's got the army crawl down and she surprised me again for being so fast, so pardon the heightened mommy-talk!

Yesterday, Isla and I had a great time sitting out in the neighbor's driveway with little Megan, having a little play time. It's so interesting to see how babies this age interact, like they have their own little language and mannerisms, it's pretty neat to just be a part of.

$5 to go down the road?

2009-05-31T18:54:00.002-05:00

To get to the lake? And get ice cream? Sheesh. At least the lake was only ten minutes away so we could drive back to Target's Starbucks and get a mocha iced coffee instead. And for free, thanks to credit card point gift cards. Again, I have to say sheesh. I'll relent from ranting "I pay my taxes, why do I have to pay $5 per vehicle to see a county-run park/lake??!" Instead I'll chalk it up to Missouri's ridiculousness. Although Kentucky had some craziness too, like a law still on the books that bans people from walking around with an ice cream cone in your pocket (apparently that was a trick to steal horses! And in KY, of all places, stealing horses is a NO-NO).

The rest of the weekend's been spent hanging with the neighbors - how fabulous is it to go to a bonfire, get a little tipsy, put the baby to bed in her own crib and then walk home? You can't beat it. And I got a hair/bang cut and had some mysterious moles and skin tags removed. I just imagined the person sitting behind me at Carly and Eric's wedding and the mole on my shoulderblade winking at them, handing out compliments and feeding other guys pick up lines...not ideal.

Three days of work and then we'll be getting our dixie fix back in Kentucky, going down for the wedding of the year!

Is it in the stars??

2009-05-28T19:25:00.004-05:00

I can't begin to express how insanely busy work is, May is never this crazy, not in my last two years anyway! As I write this, I'm getting a nice neck and shoulder rub, thinking into the future. Or should I say, I've been thinking about going to this astrologist that two of my friends at work have gone to - Quan Tracy Cherry. Funny name, serious intuition, apparently. Is it worth $125 per hour, though? Now that the neck rub has stopped, I can't help thinking about what else that money could buy... a nice new set of bras and undies from VS, a trip to Kentucky there and back, and nearly a month's worth of cable. I think I'm going to go for it. Stay tuned if I really do it or not!

On an already-scheduled front, I'm excited to get back on the bike and go to book club next month. June 24th, I'm not backing out on myself this time! Some other things I have scheduled in the near future is a haircut (desperate for a bang-cut!!), a garage sale this weekend and getting Isla's tea set glazed and fired, along with my homemade pie pan and muffin "tin". Over and out.

At the Races and then some

2009-05-25T17:53:00.006-05:00

Happy Birthday, Megan!

Loving on my daddy...

The tuxedo t-shirt man and baby

Chilling watching Mean Girls

Bathtime before travel time

Rocking the walker!

It's been one week, one off for us lately. That's precisely why I love nice weather, everyone likes getting out to do things. Us, we've been out on the road to the Indy 500 in Indianapolis, IN - drove eight hours there on Saturday, and Ross and his buddies (Lee, Steven, Jeremy, Kyle, Mike, and Matt) started off our friend, Eric's, bachelor party then proceeded to stay out until 2:30am...and woke up to drive to the race tailgating at 6:30am, where we met my aunts and uncles - Jerry, Lindy, their friends and Steve and Mary. Ouch, I felt so blessed to have had 7 hours asleep (Mean Girls was on in the hotel and it was like a train wreck, I couldn't stop watching!). I was also glad that I didn't have to endure the treacherous trek to the race, about two miles or so, but at one point there were 15 grown men in the bed of a little Ford Ranger, bottoming out the entire way to the track...yikes. But all of them had chocolate brown/blue tuxedo t-shirts on. Needless to say, the sleeves didn't make the end of the race. Classic.

The race was great, Helio Castroneves won! He won the first year I went and did the "spiderman" on the fence in front of the brickyard fans. It was great, and he's a hilarious guy. But Isla and I didn't go into it because it was a) way hot and b) no place for an infant. So we stayed in my uncle Jerry's big RV, complete with DirecTV and air con! That's how I like to roll, baby! We left 2/3 of the way through the race and eight hours later, picked up the dogs and crashed. Ross said it best, he was 'shattered.'

Oh but the weekend wasn't over yet. We had a big birthday party to go to for Isla's little friend, Megan, and it was a good, nice, relaxing time. You can't beat a grill out and yummy cupcakes and getting to play with your friends new toys! I must say, though, that it was not an educated decision mommy made when she put white pants on Isla...

A four-day week coming up, then a doctor's appointment to get some ominous moles taken off before Carly and Eric's wedding next weekend. Yes, we are embarking yet again, but it'll be a three day week. And I'm thankful for that. And the rain today. I miss wearing pants and drinking a hot cup of tea...only some days.

You Can Tell...

2009-05-22T11:38:00.005-05:00

Maya Angelou said, "I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights. " I'd like to add one more to this list: RFP's.

That's ad lingo for "Request for Proposal", when clients pop up and say, "hmm I'd like to put my feelers out for new ideas and shake things up with my current agency". This, of course, is not a good thing to spring on agencies in our economic times. We are so lucky to still have our jobs! But even though it's work doing these RFP's, it's still not "billable" work. The more billable you are, perceptively, the more valuable you are. And I like to be valuable, doesn't everyone?

And being un-billable and stressed out can make some people very crabby. I like to tell myself that if I ever get in that position that I won't be so short with people. It's not the words, though, it's the looks. Of death. Like nothing else on this planet could possibly be more important. I ask myself, is this any way to live? If we are this stressed out, what do doctors go through, when lives are literally on the line?? Whew. I needed to let that out, thanks.

Needless to say, my weekends are work-free zones, learned that the hard way! C'mon, Memorial Day!

Valkyrie-ally bad movie

2009-05-19T22:37:00.002-05:00

Don't get me wrong, I love my movies. Which is why we cannot get a redbox movie and watch it before Isla goes to bed, hopefully around 8pm. She's been a sickly little thing today - soo cranky. And so was her daddy. I think we are all ready for a day off to relax a bit.

Back to Valkyrie. It reminded me a bit of the Gladiator storyline, in which a soldier/general dude is doing his duty for the Reich and gets damaged - especially mentally - in the beginning, then goes on a rampage to do "what's right", then dies before anything gets done about the turmoil his crew is in. Could've been a lot better. I'm a huge fan of thespians totally getting into their roles and being nearly unrecognizable. One thing I am NOT a fan of is the mixing of accents in historical true-story based films. There you had Tom Cruise with an American accent, the Adolf Hitler actor in a German-English dialect, then the rest of the actors were sporting British accents. Talk about a cluster. Tom Cruise wasn't "himself" in this film, not that I know him personally, but he is one actor that tends to act one way in films (Risky Business, Jerry Maguire, Top Gun, Cocktail, The Firm, etc. although he was excellent in The Last Samurai and Far & Away so I knoow he can pull of accents of some degree).

I hope I can get a good night's rest and that Friday comes quickly...

Beurre manié

2009-05-17T15:06:00.004-05:00

"I think i got the rocking thing down, ma!"

I love bananas but it's freaking cold!

Can you tell how mischievous I'll be someday??

Still draggin those legs and rolling eeeeverywhere...

I'm gonna go for it, momma!

Mmm...A tradition we've started (on weekends we're home!) is a Sunday Roast. Today we kind of went overboard. I've really been wanting leek and potato soup, and we got a beef roast yesterday, we we basically have the whole week cooked up for supper and lunches, yummy!

Complete with desserts. I did an apple crisp yesterday, then Ross taught me how to make raspberry creme brulees, with raspberry coulis (coo-lee :) Very exciting. Ooh, and for the soup, I personally made the beurre manie - which is flour and butter mushed together until it looks like bread crumbs. Always an education 'round ours!

The rest of the day we've spent sweeping, mopping, vacuuming, cleaning bathrooms and doing laundry. Then Isla and momma hung out on the front porch, eating frozen bananas and rocking in the chair. I enjoyed getting to clean a bit today - but it's been sooo nice having my little house husband for the last 5-6 weeks. He's back to work next Monday, quite reluctantly I must say.

Todd and Jenni got back home today, they went on a train tour to St. Louis, then to the zoo and all over the place. I just showed them the vid of the flood and they were freaked out, it's the highest they've seen in over five years!

2009-05-16T18:20:00.003-05:00

A little video of little Miss Isla, dancing girl...makes me think of the ABBA/Mamma Mia song, Thank You for the Music: "mother says I was a dancer before I could walk..." haha! Sooo cute!!

Naughty mommy!

2009-05-16T09:10:00.004-05:00

If you want to hear a naughty mommy story, here's one! Isla just hasn't been eating a full bottle at night before bed like she used to. So, night before last, I haphazardly left a nearly-full bottle out to become a bacterial breeding ground ALL NIGHT. That's not the bad part. Then last night I came upstairs with Isla to attempt to feed her a full bottle. But before feeding her, I read her a story, then reached for the bottle, which I thought had suddenly gone stone cold. So I came down with Isla and heated up the now-cold bottle. I started feeding her, without a single complaint from her, and two minutes later realized I may have heated up the yucky bottle, haha!! Not funny though. Ross wasn't nearly as freaked out as I was and threw out both bottles, and got me a new one. Of course, Isla didn't want to eat at that point, but I hoped that I had filled her full of summer vegetables, applesauce and a bit of apple yogurt to tide her over...and hoped she didn't wake up a few hours later with botulism poisoning or whatever could happen!

Needless to say, I will now always TRY to pick up my dirty dishes, especially from Isla's room!!

Naughty mommy....

Just to prove I'm not, here's a video of Isla swinging on Jenni's swing from the other week. Maybe it's naughty that she totally could've flipped out on her sweet little face, but I'll just chalk it up to her being cute and forget about 'what coulda happenend' :)

Flushed out-up

2009-05-16T09:00:00.005-05:00

Whew, dodged a bullet last night! Rob and Ann Marie, our wonderful neighbors, said they've never seen the creek so high...and Todd, Jenni and Tyler just left for St. Louis and missed it! I think they're lucky, because it was right up next to their backyard!

But we weren't that phased inside, as you can see, a toy monster vomited all over our living room floor.......So it begins!

Oh! And we went to Isla's 9-month check up yesterday afternoon, the "no-owwie" check-up, and she's 30.5" long/tall and 21.5 pounds! That's 95th and 90th percentile and I was most glad for her head starting to catch up, it was at 17" around, so almost 75th percentile, haha. So Isla can start having yogurt, string cheese and cottage cheese...although I've been experimenting with all of these in the last month. Naughty mommy?! hee hee hee.

The Water is Wide...

2009-05-15T18:55:00.006-05:00

I wouldn't want to cross over this crazy water! It's the first time our creek in the backyard has gotten thiiis close. I've always had nightmares of storms - tornadoes, specifically - and rising, raging rivers coming to sweep everything away and drowning me. That's never good! I truly believe that in my last life, I drowned in a river, most likely trying to crawl up the side of the muddy bank and never getting anywhere...I digress!

Isla and I went out for a walk in the backyard after the rain stopped, and it was a little disturbing to see raging water that close, hopefully it doesn't rise anymore tonight and we'll wake up to a babbling brook once more...

Swinging!

2009-05-13T19:58:00.003-05:00

We went over to our neighbor's house, Todd, Jenni and Tyler's, house to swing on their porch swing and watch "Slumdog Millionaire". It was a great time!! And it was a pretty good movie!

Poor little miss has a fever tonight, she cut two teeth a couple weeks ago so I'm sure one more is on the way. Which reminds me, I realllllly need to remember to brush her little babby teeth...

It finally hit 80 degrees in KC today, it was great. EXCEPT it's absolutely freezing in my office. Some people just like to be cold, evidently, and I am definitely not one of those people. I felt very silly walking down the street wearing a light sweater, then I got in my car and basked in the humidity. I turned on the iPod and away I went!

It's good to be home.

Shiny Happy People!

2009-05-11T20:50:00.004-05:00

Visiting Great Grandma Hanna on Mother's Day with Calista

Grandma givin' the love right back!

mmm...it's a girl cigar!

Auntie Teresa and Uncle Jeff opening a million presents!

On daddy's shoulders

It's been so beautiful outside...finally! So we've been all happy being outside I nearly broke down crying a week or so ago, I was so mad about being cold. It's hard to believe that anything would welcome winter if it didn't have to, but I suppose winter and being cold is just a part of life...but not for the next 6 months!! We've been outside constantly, watching daddy mow the lawn, hanging out with the neighbors and visiting family up in Iowa.

We have a very busy May and early June coming up, so we are really looking forward to having the next weekend "off". These photos are from a week and a half ago, when we went to the park for the first time, and Isla slid down the slide for the first time with momma and daddy! Then there's photos from Auntie Teresa's baby shower last weekend.

Some of you may have noticed we've taken off the "permissions" on our blog, mostly because it's gotten a bit cumbersome for some to sign in every. single. time. I can see how that would be frustrating, so this blog's for you!

Up on the cul de sac

2009-05-07T20:45:00.005-05:00

ROFL!

Isla loooves her blankie

...and running into things with her walker

She started off liking getting her haircut, by this pic she wasn't having it!

We heart KY

At the races!!

Watching Benjamin Button

Soon she'll really be sayin, "Gimme the keys, mama!"

...and driving, omigoodness!!

It's summer!! Gardens and trees are in bloom, the david austen roses are safely in the ground, and the spiders are out (can't all come up "roses", can it? haha)... Isla and daddy have been home together for the past month, which has been absolutely wonderful. For three of those weeks, uncle Jimmy came over from England and we were all getting together on the cul de sac and it's been soo missed!!

So the pics here are from all over - Kansas, Missouri, Kentucky and Iowa. In Kentucky, we got to go to the horse races (sunburns in April, yeah!), in Kansas we got to do some major shopping and Missouri we did a lot of relaxing at home (although I worked the entire time!). Iowa was a bit more somber because my dad had a heart attack while out in the planter, so we went up for five days to help out and make sure everything was ok. It turned out much better than it could have - 100% blockage and a severe case of atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) but after a triple bypass and three days in the hospital, pa was back home...and trying to climb back up in the tractor to plant soybeans! Men...

What I am most proud of in the last few months is the effort my momma, daddy and brother-in-law, Jeff, who have all quit smoking together. I know they can do it because they care so much about the people around them!

After a shaky week of allergies and baaaad poopy diapers, Ross and I are off to Iowa for my sissy, Teresa's, baby shower. I can't wait to see how big she is!! June 21st can't come soon enough for Little Miss Schultz to show up!!

With love from Cabo

2009-03-07T14:26:00.004-06:00

Isla loved the pool!

sleepy girl after a tiny taste of chocolate cake :)

daddy putting on the 12th slathering, at least!

first day in Cabo!

Mommy and Isla at the beach...

What a great time! And another thing that was a long time comin...with me great with child this time last year, we weren't able to go on a vacation so we tagged along with mom, dad, my sis Teresa and her hubby Jeff (and bun in the oven!), and my bro Chris and his wife, Melissa, and their kids, Trevor and Calista. Oh I wish we were still there! It was so wonderful to forget all about all of the recession bad news daily that we get here!

Enjoy the pics, hope to see you all soon! I'll have more, my camera battery died before they could all be loaded!

Long time comin!

2009-02-21T12:50:00.004-06:00

So sorry, guys! It's been waaaay too long!

Well Isla had a big cold and got a chest infection, then I got it, then Ross got it. Well, I guess that only accounts for about a week...so I'm out of excuses, really!

Here are photos from almost the last two months! Isla has grown almost 2 inches in this time and is nearly 19 pounds now! She's a big girl and is sleeping 10-hour nights, and laughing all of the time, and already has her own little passport!

We're going to Cabo San Lucas this coming Tuesday so be sure to check back and see our holiday pics!

Reduced to tears

2009-01-12T18:26:00.005-06:00

Isla rolling around

aww, cutie!!

Isla and her buddy, Rooney

Isla sitting up!!

Isla getting ready to smile big!

Isla loves to grab faces!

got him!! this big head is my daddy...

lounging about.

my daddy before he takes me to daycare

Mommy, Daddy and Islee!
Isla is five months old today - I was so happy and sad. She's growing up so fast and she won't be a tiny little baby anymore....

But that means she's rolling over, grabbing her feet and getting very, very excited when she sees us for the first time when we pick her up or see her after work! There is nothing in this world like being a momma. I wouldn't give it up for the entire world.

I'm so proud of my little girl, she'll be a whole year old in 7 months! Get ready for a party!!!!

More Christmas

2009-01-11T11:09:00.006-06:00

Isla at Christmas in Iowa, wearing Devan's hat. We took it and thought she's looking a bit too "rasta", I'm afraid!! Funny girl...

She sure is Grandma's Cutie! Thank goodness for waterproof bibs!

Calista got a little teacher's set and was giving little Isla a lesson. I think she's a great student, or at least looks like one! Let's hope!!

When we were home alone for a few days the week after Christmas because my office was closed, Isla and I had a lot of time to just hang out. She loves to sit in the sun, makes her "happy as Larry" as her daddy would say :)

Caught by surprise! She loves her little jumperoo.

Blogging while Ross watches a show about the Autobahn, I can't even think of the things that have been going on for the last week. Besides making a resolution to blog at least once per week, I have a few more:

1) read to Isla every night

2) change careers for Ross and/or go back to school

3) watch more indie films

4) reconnect with old friends

5) start a rose garden

6) learn something new (pottery classes start feb. 3rd!)

AND of course,

7) work out 2x/week

I hope I can handle those. Not too tough, I've knocked out two of those already! ...Maybe three, I just learned that the autobahn road is safer than any highway in the US, amazing. Good luck to everyone in your resolutions, too!

Roly Poly baby

2009-01-03T15:45:00.006-06:00

Drum-heroing it up. That's my neph. Trev singing (Eye of the Tiger in monotone, I think!), me on the drums, Ross on bass and my sis Teresa (and her bun in the oven) on gee-tar.

The picture of comfort!!

Isla holding her bottle, amazing how the little things getcha.

Isla and Daddy...smiling sweet girl...

Roly poly, she sure is!! And she doesn't even have the excuse of eating three or four christmas dinners, haha! Doc says she sure looks like she isn't missing any meals, like she'd let me! She's still up in the 95th percentile of weight and height - 16 lbs and 26.5" long. Shoot, I wish I could grow 5.5 inches taller in almost five months!

We all had a great Christmas...Isla and I were home from xmas eve until the 5th (tomorrow) and we had a grand old time going to the doc and falling on our butts pushing a Target cart up on the curb in front of the store! I had Isla locked into the cart and was rushing to get her up on the curb in front of a car outside of Target and totally fell on my butt. I'm sure the folks in the car were very nearly horrified, but all was well! Amazing how Isla didn't even wake up...Oh how I wish I could do a week on, a week off at work! Or go back to my three-day weekends. Maybe next year... There's been so much happening since we last posted, where do I start??

We all went up to Iowa on xmas eve and it was a wonderful christmas. Ross got to watch his UFC match on Saturday night and Doug, Steph, Devan, Jordan and Chris, Melissa, Trevor and Calista all came down to see it too. Mom and I made more doggie diapers - Jaeger loves to pee on things around the house, naughty doggie! What else did we do? Ross, dad and I got to play a lot of guitar hero - I LOVE the drums on that. Ross got a whole mess of tools, I got an iPod and Isla got a ton of fun toys, like a crawling Pooh bear. It says, 'follow me'!

Isla made a lot of progress too - grandpa Marv taught her to blow bubbles and she found her feet! AND she's getting used to holding the bottle all by herself. It's so neat, the little girl next door, Megan, is about three months older than Isla and has two teeth already. I can't wait until they can play together a little bit!

All in all, I think we're off to a pretty good start for Oh-nine. I'm hoping to get some roses ordered so I really have spring to look forward to!! Ahh...I'll garden and Ross will work on finishing the basement, that would be an excellent way to spend the early summer.

A Day in the Life

2008-12-21T14:25:00.004-06:00

One of my favorite Beatles songs! And lots more pictures to report from a few days back...

Two more days of work left and then a week and a half off with Isla and the husband! So excited.

Because Isla is changing so much everyday. She's on solid food a bit, rice cereal, and she's trying to roll over still. But from her back to her front. She's a funny little one! Here's some pics of her in a sweater from Gran Helen doing her rolly thing and laughing it up :) She's also learning to sit up, she can do it pretty steady but slowly sinks down to touch her toes, haha!

Oh! And there are some pics of Isla and daddy watching Mamma Mia! with mommy - GREAT movie!

Six of one, half dozen of the other

2008-12-16T21:44:00.006-06:00

It's CHRISTMASTIME!!! And Isla is just 4 months old, as of Friday. We all walked over to the neighbor's house and had a sweet little party, opened some gifts and had a lot of butterscotchy shots!

To be honest, it's been really hard keeping up with posting on here, work is just crazy! Then when we're home, we only have 3 hours with little miss, it's kind of hard. And I'm a naughty mommy and bring Isla to bed sometimes, just to spend some more time with her. I'm so glad she's bigger now so I'm not so worried to roll over on her!

Five more days of work and then I have a week and a half off - paid! No, not vacation, the whole agency gets off that long, I am so excited!! So, you know what you can expect that week...hopefully a lot of fun pics and posts!

But for now, enjoy some pics of Isla sitting up in her Bumbo chair and holding a bottle all by herself - this was tonight!! And there's a pic of the beautiful stocking Ross' gran sent her, completely hand-knitted with a little knitted santa man in the chimney, it's so beautiful!! And of course, she loves, loves LOVES her jumperoo (thanks auntie Melissa and Teresa!!). It's not a very good nap spot but it'll do!

Whatta weekend

2008-12-07T20:34:00.005-06:00

Grandma Carol and Grandpa Marvy came all the way down from NW Iowa to visit - and all in good fashion, they really helped us out! The AdFarm agency's christmas party was on Friday, so they came down Thursday night and babysat on Friday night. Isla went to bed at 8:30, amazing! And was a really good little girl. It helps that she likes her granny and gramps!

What else happened this weekend? Well, we all went out to Target and got a bunch of stocking stuffers, then to Home Depot for a lot of insulation, which grandpa helped Ross put up in the basement. We're close to finishing it, if only we could get some help with the ceiling drywall!

We got Isla a little baby Bumbo seat, which is a great makeshift highchair for right now. She had her first real meal of food on Saturday night (brown rice cereal) and slept that night for TWELVE hours. Not straight, she got up at 7pm, but then went back to bed til 9!

Last weekend we went up to Iowa and had a little shower to introduce little miss to our friends up there - and mom got to try on some of Isla's little presents, like a pink lion hat that grandma Carol gave her! And it snowed in Iowa that weekend, Isla was so excited to lean on the couch arm and look out the window!

We've really been playing with that hair of hers, there's so much of it. It's fun to put little barrettes in it, but it's fun to get a hat on and control it sometimes. Here're some great pics of Isla with her hat from Auntie Diane!!

Holy Turkey!

2008-12-02T09:58:00.003-06:00

It's been a long time since we've posted, but to be fair, I haven't been too near a computer. BUT I have been near the camera!! We have a whole new DVD to send to grandma Helen and grandpa Martin and a ton of pics, which you've probably already noticed.

Isla had a wonderful first thanksgiving. She cannot wait until next year when she can actually taste the actual meal. She got to see a soccer game before we went up there, and when we were there too! It was exciting. We had a tiny shower at the church, which was so great for Isla's momma to see her old friends - and for Isla to finally meet her wonderful Auntie Em!

21 June 09

2008-11-24T15:19:00.002-06:00

It's official! My little sissy is going to have a baby...for those of you who know my sis, I would've never, ever thought the day would come either! We are soo excited that Isla is going to have a little playmate to hang out with at holidays and everything, it's such a great time to be a part of this world! Congratulations, Teresa and Jeff...we love you so much!!

Flip over? Who does that?

2008-11-21T11:01:00.004-06:00

It's a battle but Isla just doesn't want to flip over. Maybe she will, maybe she won't. I suppose this is my first real challenge as a momma to get my kid to do something I want. I like to say we succeeded at getting her to sleep a full night, but did that really have anything to do with what I "made" her do? We simply feed her enough to make her happy, which, in turn, knocks her out. But that's her choice to sleep and stay asleep. Who am I foolin'?

She's not flipping, but she's doing some major push-ups, enjoy!

I give you gold and I get squat!

2008-11-17T19:21:00.002-06:00

Poor Isla, we take take take pics of her and she doesn't get to do much else except be blinded! Thanks to the red-eye detector, sometimes she doesn't get a good smile in. But tonight we did! It's amazing how she's grown into this exersaucer just in the last two days, isn't it!

Rhymes with Pleeb

2008-11-16T18:21:00.006-06:00

So there's a vegetable among us, commonly known as the rutabaga in the US but goes by a COMPLETELY different name in the land of Eng... and I know the name, just couldn't think of it today at the grocery store. Ross tried to help me, with tons of hints, like: It's what you call people from a certain country...nothing. And this went on. And on. He wouldn't tell me, it was kind of frustrating. Finally he ran out of helpful hints when he said, "it rhymes with pleeb." Boy that did it, haha. It's a SWEDE, dur. And it's fabulous if you mash up a swede with boiled carrots with butter and "suzy and percy". See what I'm getting at? Hopefully I can chronicle some of the crazy ways my wonderful hubband says things. He always keeps me on my toes. But I say things a funny way too. Like he can't stand it when I say, "warsh" instead of wash. Which, as it happens, I do on purpose now. Maybe that's why he does it...gotta love him. And our baby, who is sure to inherit some asinine habits too.

I took a pic of her hands today, they're amazing. Developmentally she's right on target and the neighbors let us borrow their exersaucer last night - their little boy, Tyler, is the cutest. Maybe someday I'll match him up with my little niece, Calista (she's on a previous post, feeding Isla). Then, last night, we were introduced to Guitar Hero. I'm not so bad as I thought I'd be.I smell a Thanksgiving show-down with my sis and Jeff!

Amazing Baby

2008-11-15T11:20:00.004-06:00

Now, I love my baby but all babies are amazing! I just read these amazing facts in Parents magazine:

1 - At birth, babies have the ability to swim

2 - Between birth and age 2, an infant will QUADRUPLE in size

3 - Within 45 hours of birth, a newborn knows her own mother by her smell - and a blindfolded mom can identify her own child from a host of other babies by scent alone!

4- Human babies are the only primates to smile at their parents

Wow, huh! Those are just a few - if ya wanna know more, get Amazing Baby from Amazon. I might...

BTW, I'm not able to upload photos at the moment but I will this weekend!

Fridays Off!

2008-11-14T18:15:00.003-06:00

So, before I left for maternity leave, I set it up so I could take every Friday off for the REST OF THE YEAR!! Yeah, baby. There's always a bit to do on a Friday but at least I'm home with my baby for a bit. She was good today - we went out to Target and about got blown away in the wind up here! Then we came in, had a cuppa tea and took some sweet pics. Enjoy!

Monkey head

2008-11-09T14:40:00.006-06:00

So funny! Ross was watching me burp Isla the other day and said the back of her head looked like a monkey, haha! And I agreed when I looked, it's so funny! I said that's ok as long as she doesn't have a monkey face. But she is becoming a chunky monkey, isn't she!? Here's a wink to everyone, we miss you all!

Oh, and for my momma, here's the curtains we found when H & M were here, aren't they great!

Another Baby!!

2008-11-07T13:49:00.003-06:00

CONGRATULATIONS to my little sis, who's going to have a baby in June 09! That means that this baby and Isla will be growing up playing together - christmases, turkey days, oh I can't wait!! I'll post pictures later when I get them from mom - I have to see the baby bump soon!!!

Frenchie

2008-11-04T19:28:00.002-06:00

Here's a photo of Isla looking like a "little Frenchie" as Ross would say, haha!

enjoy!

Lil vid

2008-11-03T20:28:00.003-06:00

Isla is back...or was she ever really gone from this site? Haha!

Enjoy a new video...we were pretty bored while daddy watched THREE HOURS of Monday night raw wrestling!!

Lotsa posts

2008-11-01T20:37:00.002-05:00

No more post-arexia!

Here are some photos my (sort of) Aunt Mary sent of when she was up in Laurens the other week (she's my cousin Angie and Danny's aunt, Garrett's mom, but I still call her Aunt Mary!). They turned out so good, I don't have enough photos of Isla and me together!!

Enjoy!!

Halloween!

2008-11-01T14:34:00.004-05:00

It's our first Halloween with Isla and the first one in our new house. We (or I, rather) were so excited that we didn't take Isla out, we wanted to see all the costumes and give out a bunch of candy. Isla was actually getting trained to take the bottle, which is also a big reason why we didn't go out. It's hard work!

Here are some pics of her in her little quasi-costume. It was very nearly too small for her, poor thing! So before we ended for the night and went out to bonfire with the neighbors, mommy and her took a pic together. Is that an orb we see in the photo? Who knows! Daddy took a photo right before this one and it flashed too but there wasn't anything on the door that time, but the second time there was...It was Halloween, after all...

Super baby!

2008-11-01T14:21:00.002-05:00

uhh...don't try this at home!! My mom just sent me this link to this dad (or some guy) swinging his baby around, hence Super Baby! It seems that "Everyone was Kung Fu Fighting" is playing in the background - in Spanish??

I hope it's not a real baby, it's kinda scary!!

It's been a while!

2008-10-30T22:57:00.010-05:00

Woah, long time no write...We've been busy little bees lately! Ross' mum and Martin were here for a few weeks, which was wonderful and then we went up to Iowa to help with harvest and to hang out. I got the chance to finish a quilt I made for Ross' gran who made us so many pretty little knitted things. I hope she loves it, it was my first real quilt experience even though technically it was "tied" and not quilted necessarily. Baby steps...

Speaking of baby steps, it's less than a week until I go back to work. It's been a long and a short three months. First, if you consider the state of the economy, it has been absolutely frightening to not be working during this whole credit crisis. I was afraid we'd need a bailout!! Unfortunately for us, since daddy Ross is a permanent resident, we could never take unemployment benefits because we are not allowed to be "a charge on the state" as long as he's here with us. Unless be became a citizen, which is not going to happen. We hope to give Isla as many opportunities as possible in the future and if Ross stays a British citizen, she could choose to be one someday and get to work in Canada, New Zealand, Australia or England someday without a visa. Or she could get dual-citizenship, which would be so cool!

Secondly, it's been so fast. I've enjoyed getting to know this new little person so much that I have no idea what we did with our lives before she was here. I feel like my life was a very lonely one in some ways but I am also very glad that Ross and I had nearly three whole years to share together before adding more to the family. It was so right. But it will be a hard, hard week next week when she goes to daycare all alone. There is some solace in knowing that Ross will literally be five minutes away as she'll be in the Citibank daycare center. And we met with her teachers today and I feel so much more comfortable taking her there. I'm excited to see everyone at work, it's been so long since I last saw them! Can't wait to catch up on all the goings-ons!!

My mom always said that life is a balance between holding on and letting go and I think she's so right. I'll pick my battles and let her go. It will be so good for her to get out and meet other kids and folks. She's just too wonderful not to share with the world. But I will miss her desperately.

Ross will go back to work on Nov. 10th so we have well over a week to get her used to the bottle. I think it's harder for me than it is for her because it is such a special experience. And I can't help but feel absolutely wonderful that she's in the 97th percentile for length (24.5 inches - that's 4.5 inches in less than three months!) and 95th percentile in weight (13lbs, up from 8 at birth!) but no worries, folks, she's not one of those obese kids, haha! That's some super boob juice, and I'll leave it at that.

Well I'm off to finish watching "A Hard Day's Night", probably one of the worst movies I've ever seen but I love the Beatles! And they're pretty goofy and cute too. If you're into modernizing them, see "Across the Universe", it's great, and I was even more excited about it when I remembered that our friend, Sellus, gave us that DVD for our baby shower. Apparently he knew just how boring daytime TV would be. But I didn't have to go through it so much with Tivo, yay!

Jeez, did I say I was getting off of here? Oh well, here's an extra long post for making up for almost a month of no word at all.

So for photos, there's one of Isla with a scaredy-face - we dropped off H & M at the airport and she was scared at the tunnel lights, just precious!

And there's some beautiful farmland on the way up I-29 near Nebraska and Denison, IA.

And one of Isla and her favorite cousin, Calista, who managed to feed her a bottle - she's such a good little helper!

Then Isla on her little red phone (that her great-great grandma Pearl would just love - she always wanted a red phone :)

And lastly, one taken just minutes ago of Isla and her daddy sleeping on the floor...laying in exactly the same position! They are so much alike it's uncanny. But she's momma's little girl too. I love her so much it hurts!

Daddy's big chair

2008-10-11T12:42:00.007-05:00

Sitting in Daddy's big chair is a major honor around our house. You get prime sight of the big tv and you can just spin around and run into the kitchen or bathroom if you need. And Isla, while she's taken over the rest of our lives, has also taken over the big chair. At least in these photos! What a happy little girl. Daddy's little girl, obviously!

A warning...

2008-10-11T11:59:00.008-05:00

Just a warning for anyone wanting to come visit - you might be put to work! Haha, but ooonly if you want to help out. All of it is men's work, like...painting the deck and the patio. Personally, I've never heard of painting a patio but heck, it sure looks nice. The next job will be finishing the basement, yay! Now that all of the indoor painting is done (I'll post those later when we're done decorating - funding has been cut for that since the little one arrived!), only the big things are left.

Such is life - or homeownership. I have to admit that it's much less boring owning a home than renting, and much more interesting! Like...buying curtains for the kitchen. We trekked all over the KC metro area to find just the right ones. And when we did find them, they didn't have enough of them. So it was off to Overland Park (KS). Where Helen and Martin had the pleasure of meeting the meanest people they've ever encountered. We won't be back to the OP, KS JC Penney's EVER.

Oh, and here's another photo of Isla on another walk. She loves her stroller, aww...

Birthday week!

2008-10-02T21:53:00.008-05:00

It's been a great week - full of birthdays (mine was Wed, Ross' is Saturday, 3-year anniversary is next Monday...and H & M are here!) and all kinds of fun...Here's a bunch of photos of going out to dinner, hanging out at the house and Isla in her new snowsuit! She's a bit small for it yet but come November, she'll be 3 months and this thing should last until almost spring, hopefully!

Trip to the Zoo

2008-10-02T11:05:00.007-05:00

Isla had her first trip to the zoo on Tuesday... and the disc in the video camera crapped out, so no fun videos, but there's some good photos of beforehand, with Grandma Helen and Isla!

The hippos were the coolest, because they know their names and when Ross yelled, "Hey Liberty and Labor Day!" they came right over thinking they were going to get a watermelon...when they didn't get anything, they went right back underwater... We only saw the Africa section, so we may have to go back before long, but hopefully Isla will be awake through it this time!

First Neighborhood Walk

2008-10-01T17:47:00.004-05:00

We went on our first walk! Not technically the fiiirst because that would be the zoo yesterday - I'll post those photos later, they're on the old camera...

We went all around the neighborhood and Isla was so excited and happy to be out - didn't fall asleep once. We love that she's getting a bit older and staying awake a bit longer during the day. Not quite rolling over yet and all that but it all comes in time, ay!?

More photos!

2008-09-28T18:24:00.006-05:00

Hey gang! More photos of Isla - these are from last weekend when daddy's team played again and when I was a really, really hungry girl. So hungry, in fact, that I thought daddy had the goods!

With Grandma and Martin arriving safely in the US, we're sure to get a lot of good shots off this week and next!

The beauty contest

2008-09-23T12:43:00.004-05:00

For those who may be thinkin', "She looks just like her daddy!", no worries because she won't look like a little boy or a big man someday! Why do I know this? haha, glad you asked! ...

So when Ross was little, his mum, Helen, wanted to enter him into a 'Beautiful Baby Contest' in Guernsey. When she went to enter him, the little boy section was closed, so she just put him into the little girl section instead - and he won!! Here's the photo she entered, how beautiful is he??!

There's always hope, haha!!

Why do we only let a few folks view this blog?

2008-09-21T18:37:00.003-05:00

Because this could easily be found as child porn by sickos out there! But to us, these photos are sooo adorable. Isla just loves to be with her daddy and daddy just loves to hang out in his big ole chair. And I love to take photos of them! These are from Saturday when we had a nice little movie marathon (courtesy of McDonald's Redbox, love it!!). We saw The Ruins (ok, ending coulda been better), What Happens in Vegas (ok, kinda slow at the end) and The Love Guru (ok too, lots of great one-liners).

Towards the end, it got a little warm in the house and it was a perfect time for Isla to let loose, she's getting so big and holding her head up so well, we've all come a long way.

County Fair time

2008-09-18T17:58:00.004-05:00

My mom, dad, sis and brother in law, Jeff went out to the Clay County Fair last week and had a ton of fun...without us:( oh well, we were there in spirit!!

Here's the winning Guernsey milk cow (aptly named after the island...or the island was named after the cow? hmm...the age old question...). Then my sis's head and my mom and Teresa on the tilt-o-whirl. Spinning does me no good anymore, but they loved it!

How fun!

Haircut

2008-09-16T17:21:00.002-05:00

As my middle school science teacher always said, "I didn't get a haircut, I got 'em all cut". Here it is, hope you recognize me next time you see me (jk!).

The best box

2008-09-16T16:28:00.005-05:00

This is the box that holds it all - the recipes and magical concoctions that I grew up with. Of course, there are so many more that are just in memory, like that hot toddy mom gave me (when I was what, eight?? hee!) and pistachio pudding. I only hope to give another little girl I'm so fond of such a treasure trove someday!

Speaking of little girls, wasn't my momma a cute little thing, too??!

Thirty things + one

2008-09-14T18:37:00.008-05:00

...That change when you have a baby...

Caught this article on www.babycenter.com, it's beautiful!

1. You finally stop to smell the roses, because your baby is in your arms.

2. Where you once believed you were fearless, you now find yourself afraid.

3. The sacrifices you thought you made to have a child no longer seem like sacrifices.

4. You respect your body ... finally.

5. You respect your parents and love them in a new way.

6. You find that your baby's pain feels much worse than your own.

7. You believe once again in the things you believed in as a child.

8. You lose touch with the people in your life whom you should have banished years ago.

9. Your heart breaks much more easily.

10. You think of someone else 234,836,178,976 times a day.

11. Every day is a surprise.

12. Bodily functions are no longer repulsive. In fact, they please you. (Hooray for poop!)

13. You look at your baby in the mirror instead of yourself.

14. You become a morning person.

15. Your love becomes limitless, a superhuman power.

And from our readers...

1. "You discover how much there is to say about one tooth." — Ashley's mom

2. "You finally realize that true joy doesn't come from material wealth." — Anonymous

3. "You now know where the sun comes from." — Charlotte

4. "You'd rather buy a plastic tricycle than those shoes that you've been dying to have." — Sophie's mom

5. "You realize that although sticky, lollipops have magical powers." — Roxanne

6. "You don't mind going to bed at 9 p.m. on Friday night." — Kellye

7. "Silence? What's that?" — Anonymous

8. "You realize that the 15 pounds you can't seem to get rid of are totally worth having." — Brenda

9. "You discover an inner strength you never thought you had." — Ronin and Brookie's mom

10. "You no longer rely on a clock — your baby now sets your schedule." — Thomas' mom

11. "You give parents with a screaming child an 'I-know-the-feeling' look instead of a 'Can't-they-shut-him-up?' one." — Jaidyn's mom

12. "Your dog — who used to be your 'baby' — becomes just a dog." — Kara

13. "You take the time for one more hug and kiss even if it means you'll be late." — Tracey

14. "You learn that taking a shower is a luxury." — Jayden's mom

15. "You realize that you can love a complete stranger." — Dezarae's mom

And I need to add my own! I'm excited to learn (and I'm sure some AdFarmers are glad to learn too!) that motherhood can actually make you (me!!) smarter... check out this article!

Also, I finally got my haircut in honor of Ross and my anniversary. It'll be three years when Helen and Martin are here so here's a vid of us celebrating! The haircut isn't in this video, but the new one is standard issue AdFarm, too, haha! I'll post some pictures soon if I can stand to put some makeup on during the day. I am proud to announce, though, that I've managed to take a shower every single day, yay me!!

Lotsa Anniversaries and Birthdays!

2008-09-12T21:12:00.006-05:00

This post is dedicated to my mom and dad - married 38 years ago today! Four kids and five grandkids later, here they are...amazing. And they're still devoted to calling their kids when they're in a tornado warning and going to all of the motocross races, to the county fair and doing all sorts of fun stuff together. We love you guys!!

And a huge 'happy bday' to my aunt Barbie - we can't wait to see you again soon!

(Isla is also one month old today, and David Beckham is in town just for it, whatta great end of the week it's been!)

Fun with mac

2008-09-11T13:53:00.003-05:00

Hey everyone! We're playing around with the new comp. today and did a video for everyone! It's so nice to say HI!! to everyone in between naps, diapers and all the fun we have here at home, we miss you all and can't wait to see you soon!

Spitting image

2008-09-11T11:13:00.007-05:00

Just getting our printer/scanner thing figured out and it takes pretty good scans, yay!! Here are some baby photos from Ross and me, so now ya know where Isla got all that hair from!!

The first photo is Isla, then me, then Ross. Don't be confused about the little pink blankie in Ross' pic - the hospital ran out of blue blankies, evidently! And proper baby clothes so they had him in a little paper nightie, haha!!

I can't believe these photos are from almost 26 years ago (Ross is just three days younger than me so his is that old too!)... It's amazing to see a tiny little mirror basically laying in your arms countless times per day. You just can't help but think about what they'll look like someday - and hope they don't get your bad habits (like picking my nails...). There's always hope :)

Happy Birthday, Islie!!

2008-09-10T18:05:00.006-05:00

In honor of Isla's one-month birthday on Friday, here's a video that my mom took the day she was born. She's so strong, she's been holding up her head since day one! Now she's 9.1 pounds and growing like a little weed (not a cockleburr, aunt Barbie! hee).

In about three weeks, Grandma Wallis is coming over from Guernsey (one of England's Channel Islands). We're pretty excited to open our house and share it with family again, it was so empty after everyone left last time that it will be wonderful to have a full house again!

Iowa = Idiots out wondering around...When Pushed

2008-09-07T19:29:00.023-05:00

Not quite, we sort of had a plan. But we didn't plan on the weather turning from 85 degrees in KC to lower than 60 up in NW Iowa! Poor Isla, she got a few sniffles while up there but she's A-ok now.

This past week we traveled the almost six hours up to Iowa to visit another side of the family - my brothers, sister and grandma Hanna. It was a great time, as always, and Isla made the trip a fabulous one. It was so refreshing to see some more family, it's getting hard to be so far away from everyone, but I suppose we're all spread out the way it is, you almost have to start your own "colony". At least there is the internet to keep in contact!

Here are a few pics from the weekend, courtesy of my wonderful niece, Calista, and my momma. There's my Grandma Hanna and Isla in the infamous "Swingtime Hammock"...funny story there! Mom and I went out to buy a swing for Isla and there were only a few options. One was pretty cheap-looking and then this hammock caught my eye. It said, "Gentle swinging motion..." but I failed to read further. So later we were home putting the swing together and were trying to find where the automatic swing button was. That's when I read the box further - "Gentle swinging motion...WHEN PUSHED." What a horrible, horrible children's product, tricking new parents/grandparents into buying these kind of products. They didn't have that tip in the what to expect book - Read all parts of the package before purchasing a product! At least she really seemed to like laying in it, and a huge thanks to little Calista who always volunteered to push/swing little Isla.

There are also pics of my mom, Calista and Isla, my brother with Isla and my sister-in-law, Steph, with Isla.

Got 'em!

2008-09-02T18:31:00.018-05:00

Here are some pics from "family time"! I'm so glad we were able to all be together again, it was a great time and we're so glad they were all able to come and enjoy themselves in Kansas City!

These pics were taken down on the Country Club Plaza, a beautiful little outdoor shopping place. Come to think of it, that's all KC really has is outdoor shopping places...Zona Rosa, the Legends, tons of strip malls...unless you go down to Johnson County, but anyway. Needless to say, we stuck to TJ Maxx and Costco a lot after this shopping trip! It's a good thing we rubbed the pig's nose (or picked it like Renee, my cousin did!) down there because we founds some great bargains (and finally a computer desk) that week!

Then there are some of my mom (Carol) and uncle Jerry, etc. eating some GREAT KC barbeque. Oklahoma Joes (you'd think the guy woulda named himself KC Joe?!) was yummy and well-worth the travel out to Olathe, Kansas...the one that's nearest was connected to a gas station and didn't look so appetizing! And of course, we went to the Cheesecake Factory and Ross had to introduce everyone to his favorite "pub", O'Dowd's and have everyone try "mary rose" sauce (mayo + ketchup + soma-other stuff). It's good, I promise, and I hate mayonnaise...

Oh! And if you're wondering about the "spider hunting", well a picture really is worth a thousand words in this case. Or screams. Hopefully I can get a pic from my aunt Barbie of the spider she found outside our house. Really, you've never seen anything so hideous in all your life. You can even see its eyeballs, I screamed a lot after meeting it in real life! And probably ticked off the neighbors.

Stay tuned for more to come!!

Nap time

2008-09-02T13:16:00.006-05:00

Isla and I took a well-deserved nap yesterday while Ross had some alone time with his Wii. What a great day yesterday was!! I got a new book, the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society about Guernsey (which is where the photo on our blog is from - breathtaking, isn't it!) during the German Occupation on their island. It's so good so far! In my next post, I'll be sure to put up some photos of the creepy German bunkers that litter the island. And the German Underground Hospital that they built there, it is the creepiest place I've ever been. You'll love it, I'm sure!

The rest of the week, we'll be up in Iowa to debut little Isla to the rest of my family - my brothers, sister and Grandma Margaret, among many others. I can't wait to see them - I haven't been fit to travel for over a month now and I miss them all so much! Watch for photos of this party too!!

Family time! And Isla is 3 weeks old!!

2008-08-31T17:35:00.010-05:00

So sorry for not blogging lately, but it's with good reason, I promise!! My lovely aunts on my mom's side came over/down to Kansas City, along with my mom, my cousin, Renee and my Grandma Pat. It was such a great time, just visiting, shopping, sharing meals together, kick starting the fire-pit...and spider hunting!! I don't have many pics at the moment, but I'm trusting the photography crew of my mom and Renee to get me some of the great photos they've been taking soon.

Isla's three weeks old today, we can't believe it! She nearly slept an entire night last night, probably because she gulped down a whole mess of breast milk and formula before she went to bed - I thought she'd never get full - but then I woke up at 6am after putting her down at midnight and nearly freaked out!

We think she's learning now, too, that if she cries we will come and mess around with her (feed, change, talk to her...) which is getting a little naughty of her! But she sure loves her daddy, I guess that's why she wants to be held so much...they are just too cute and identical for words, aren't they??!

More Isla and Rooney

2008-08-23T18:25:00.006-05:00

I think they're friends now! But that wet nose and tongue, I think, is still a strange sensation. Aren't they cute??

More fun!

2008-08-22T18:15:00.003-05:00

Ten days old and we're still havin' a good time, as you can see from these photos, haha. Eat, sleep, pee, eat, sleep, poo...go to Target, the doctor, Home Depot, Hy-Vee...all so much fun! Isla just loves her car seat - she falls asleep as soon as she's in it and stays that way until we get home. And we are so glad for that because my aunts, cousin, grandma and mom are coming into town on Monday afternoon and we have so much stuff planned!!

That and Ross and Isla have some great soccer games planned to watch together - here's a photo of little Isla while watching England play the Czech Republic. They lost but at least they had a ton of fun...then she fell asleep and was "flat out like a lizard drinkin'" as Ross would say :)

Where's her hair?

2008-08-19T18:24:00.007-05:00

Haha, we know how much hair Isla has, but let's think for a sec on what the dogs think of her..."Where's the rest of her hair??" is what they're probably thinking. And "Why does she get so much of mom and dad's attention?!"

It's got to be a little rough being a dog in a house when a new baby has just arrived, makes me think of Lady and the Tramp. I even sing the little lullaby song the mom in that movie sings!

These pics are of Rooney getting a good sniff of little Isla - I think he's gotten the job of Dirty Diaper Patrol because whenever she's wet or dirty, he just sniffs and sniffs at her so we know pretty quickly that she's got some work for us, haha!

And right now we have literally 3 of our family in diapers...We make the dogs wear little pee bands, which are kind of like wrapable diapers around their bellies and privates to keep them from wetting during the day. Jaeger is bad at marking things and Rooney just can't hold his bladder.

It's a great feeling watching your family grow and to see your life fill so full of love. From our family over the ocean and across the country, though, it gives us a chance to stop and realize how much we miss all of them. There's always something great to look forward to, though! My wonderful aunts - Lindy, Barbie, Diane and my cousin Renee, along with my Grandma and mom will be in Kansas City all next week to hang out and then go up to Iowa. I couldn't be more excited to see them!

One week later...

2008-08-18T14:04:00.010-05:00

Little Isla will be one week old tomorrow morning at 5:25...whatta whirlwind week! We just sent out the invite for folks to see/read the blog and just to help keep crazy people at bay, we chose to only let those we want see it...sorry for the bother! We'd hate for Isla to go get her first credit card and have her credit destroyed by some wacko or something, you never know right :)

It's so funny that you lose track of the people you hung out with so much, so I wanted to give a shout out to Matt and Tara for their little one on the way - 7 weeks to go!! Congrats to you both!!

No crazy news to report - Isla had a bit of jaundice when she left the hospital and was a glow-worm for a night because she had to sleep on a UV pad, but thankfully that's the only real hurdle health-wise so far, thank goodness.

We're breastfeeding too, so that has been a bit of a challenge in and of itself. Man, it feels so strange and hurts at first! I had no idea how much I would get a kick out of having a good "latch", haha!

Onto other news, maternity leave has been a great time to bond and get to know this little person. I'm really surprised that sleep hasn't been so bad...yet. And Ross will be taking two weeks vacation to bond with her too. It's not fair for some fathers to not get the special time with their babies, especially when the momma is breastfeeding. My favorite of Isla and my time is in the early morning hours, right when the sun comes up and I can see her little doe eyes in the sunshine again... I wouldn't trade those moments for the world, or all of the sleep in the world.

Hope you all enjoy more pictures - I just don't know what we'll do with all of that hair and hopefully we'll know what color her eyes will be soon - there's just soo much to look forward to! Some of you have seen some of these photos before, but there's a new one with Isla so mad, she loves clothes and doesn't mind at all when we change them. Diapers are different, she hates them, haha. Go figure!

Isla Caroline is HEEEERE!

2008-08-14T18:04:00.008-05:00

She's here, and we can't be more blessed or in awe of such an incredible gift! Born on Tuesday, Aug. 12th at 5:25am was an 8lb (or about half a stone for you Guerns!) beautiful baby girl. We named her Isla (pronounced EYE-LA) for where Ross came from and Caroline as a mix of my mom and Ross' mom's full names (Carol and Ann) with a twist.

I'm a bit sore, but it's mostly in my heart because we had no idea we could love anything in this world more than Ross or my family, but now there's a blood mix of all of the above and we're in awe of the whole thing.

On a superficial level, we have to say that we're in awe of the MODERN birthing process in general. Epidurals are an essential part of child birth, so sorry if some of you all don't agree. God invented it to be so it has to be great, right? Heck yeah! Oh, and with that, Liberty Hospital in Liberty, Missouri deserves a shout out for their amazing and attentive staff... check this out:

On Monday night at 10:30pm, we went to the hospital and I was at 3cm. I got the epidural within the half-hour, then I went to sleep for the next six hours. Yes, I slept through the entire remaining 7 cms to go! They woke me up at 5am and after waiting for the doc to show, I pushed for 19 minutes to bring little Isla into the world! Didn't feel a thing!! We had a wonderful nurse, Stephanie, who just went above and beyond for us even though she was six months pregnant herself, crazy lady!

Here are a few pics to whet your appetite for the barrage of photos to come - they're all on three or four different cameras. She has a ton of hair! Just minutes old, we had a moment of wide mouthed acclaim...then Daddy turned into a ball of mush. His attention to this little girl will be unprecedented, I have no doubt.

Thanks to you all for all of your flowers, gifts, cards, letters, phone calls...this little girl is definitely being born into this world with many, many blessings and we can't thank each of you enough...

Five things your partner should never say!

2008-08-09T19:12:00.002-05:00

There are a lot of things you just don't want to hear when you're in pain - my contractions are coming closer together now but we've been able to get a few movies in and a few laughs in here and there! I found these on my weekly email from babycenter.com and thought I'd share 'em:

• "Mooooo!"
• "Ouch — a paper cut. I wonder if this is what labor feels like."
• "Is that a watermelon under your shirt or are you just glad to see me?"
• "My father called again to ask about your cervix."
• "Is that your underwear or did a parachute land on your butt?"

Please keep wishing me luck that this little girl will show up soon - I am so uncomfortable at the moment and I'm sure I have no idea what sort of pain I'm in for, but I can't wait to swaddle and cuddle with little Miss!!

The Treat-a-Pult

2008-08-06T20:16:00.005-05:00

Ross loves this one computer game, Rome Total War. In it, you get to fight with catapults, "trebuchets" and use fun ancient war tactics. So for Christmas, my parents got him some building models - this one is the smaller of the two, a catapult (there's one that looks like a jumbo catapult that I've quickly learned is a trebuchet).

Well, needless to say, this contraption didn't stay a simple catapult for long. We bought some little doggie treats and now it's the "Treat-a-pult", haha. They love it! For those who haven't seen our new doggie, Rooney, yet, he's the skinny lanky one! Jaeger just loves him, the little old man. Keeps him young, I say! They love it - the treat flies and they go scurrying down the hall to the kitchen!!

Little Miss Wallis...

2008-08-04T13:16:00.003-05:00

Will soon have a name! We have just 11 days left before her scheduled debut appearance (August 15th) and we can't wait! I had a breakdown on Thursday which we then "had" to go out and spend $430 bucks on a bookshelf and just a ton of stuff. We're doin' it up right from the start, hopefully, and it might break the bank but kids'll do that anyway we suppose. Here are some pics of what we have so far...here you can see all the pics, not just snippets we've added here.

But back to baby-buying! Sheesh, the most expensive thing so far, not including the darn furniture, are baby bottles! Thank goodness we have a ton from the Kentucky shower, but we're trying our best to use glass or at least the BPA-free bottles. You can't be too safe, but you can be too paranoid so that's our biggest challenge. We aren't going crazy organic or anything yet, so far so good!

So we think we have Little Miss Wallis' room pretty much done. We need to get some wall art or something but I want to make sure that we get something she'll want to hang in her little girl's room someday too, like my Guardian Angel and a flower framed print I have up in hers right now. I've put together some legacy photos, too, like of my Grandma Margaret, me and Grandma Patricia in a shabby chic frame and then some photos of my mom when she was little - she was absolutely adorable, wasn't she!?

A Newborn's Conversation with God

2008-08-01T14:02:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago, my momma sent an email to me, called a Newborn's conversation with God. She always told me that before we come down here, we choose our parents, families, the situations we'll be born into and then go from there. With Little Miss Wallis coming anyday now, I'm sure there's no less uncertainty to her coming down to earth and bringing so many questions. There's so much beauty in blind faith... I love her sense of courage already! Here's what the email said:

A baby asked God, 'They tell me you are sending me to earth tomorrow, but how am I going to live there being so small and helpless?' God said, 'Your angel will be waiting for you and will take care of you.'

The child further inquired, 'But tell me, here in heaven I don't have to do anything but sing and smile to be happy.' God said, 'Your angel will sing for you and will also smile for you. And you will feel your angel's love and be very happy.'

Again the child asked, 'And how am I going to be able to understand when people talk to me if I don't know the language?' God said, 'Your angel will tell you the most beautiful and sweet words you will ever hear, and with much patience and care, your angel will teach you how to speak.'

'And what am I going to do when I want to talk to you?' God said, 'Your angel will place your hands together and will teach you how to pray.' 'Who will protect me?' God said, 'Your angel will defend you even if it means risking its life.'

'But I will always be sad because I will not see you anymore.' God said, 'Your angel will always talk to you about Me and will teach you the way to come back to Me, even though I will always be next to you.'

At that moment there was much peace in Heaven, but voices from Earth could be heard and the child hurriedly asked, 'God, if I am to leave now, please tell me my angel's name.' God said, 'You will simply call her, 'Mom.'

This post is dedicated to my mom, who I love so much.

Congrats Sheridyn and Jeremy!

2008-08-01T14:00:00.001-05:00

Sheridyn just came back from her dream wedding in Jamaica, so I wanted to post a huge CONGRATULATIONS to the Greenwalts and wish them all the happiness to come in the world!!

Christian the Lion

2008-07-30T15:04:00.001-05:00

Ok, as emotionally imbalanced as I am at 38 weeks, I probably shouldn't be watching tear-jerker you tube videos. But in my defense, I didn't think it would be that bad. Boy, was I wrong! Please, please, please watch this video of Christain the Lion and his owners, who went back to Africa to see him after they reintroduced him to the wild.

Watch it and if you can say you didn't want to just bawl, I don't know what to do with you! haha, it's so beautiful...a true affirmation of how strong the bonds of love and friendship really are.

Kentucky Waterfall

2008-07-30T10:13:00.002-05:00

I deem this shower the "Kentucky Waterfall" after the certain type of mullet named for the great state (others are the Mississippi Mudflap and the Tennessee Tophat, classics!). That and we had more than a shower, it was a lot of things rolled into one - a great baby-moon, a couple of great parties and some great hanging out time with old friends. It was just a waterfall of great times squished into a tiny 4th of July weekend, and of course, I bawled when we left!

The weekend started off with us arriving, staying up later than I had all through my pregnancy and then going to visit my great friends and family in Lexington - Audra and Catherine and Garrett.

The shower was on Saturday so the fun was just getting started! The games here were just awesome too - "drink the baby bottle the fastest" was won by my one and only and I don't think anyone really won the "guess the baby food" game, but there were some good ones and some BAD tasting ones! Those were my favorites. The food was great, thanks so much to Carly and Sarah for helping Manda, Catie, Courtney, Cara and Lee out!

Ross was happy because they got to brew some home brew on Saturday, too. And he got to enjoy the nectar of life, Kentucky bourbon, of course. I don't think he was too thrilled about the "fortune telling gift" that Trey gave us - that our daughter is a future romance novelist! Haha, we'll see...

We miss you all so much, we can't wait to see you again soon for "whetting" the baby's head. Did I spell that right? Haha!!

Shower? More like a flood!

2008-07-28T10:45:00.002-05:00

I've been to a few showers in my time, but never to one just for me (+ 1/2). I was pretty nervous and excited about what was in store for me on this day, which was a month ago almost exactly! Since I didn't have a blog at the time, I wanted to show what a great time we had that day...

There was a custom diaper cake (pic borrowed from Sarah's blog) - and a real cake - and peach crisp, fruit and daiquiries for the unpregnant folks! The girls from work threw it for me and it was so nice of them to bring so many goodies and share our joy for the new little one joining our lives soon!

And did they ever come out in force - the beloved boppy was given, which I am very excited about! And onesies, a little floor jungle, books, bibs, socks, even breast feeding pads! I'm sure I can't even begin to believe how handy all of these things will come to be to us.

But the best part had to be the games. The GAMES!! Pardon the cleavage shot, but I have to highlight this game - take notice the brown contents of this little diaper - it was a game to tell what kind of candy bar was melted in one. I got them all right, and even Melissa, who can't smell a thing, got them all right! I was so impressed. I've never seen anything like it.

We were so tired and my face was so sore from laughing so much, so I went home to take a nap while mom, dad and Ross went back to painting and assembling furniture. I love those days... we're such a bunch of lucky ducks.

Nesting anyone?

2008-07-28T10:45:00.001-05:00

It's official! I'm in the nesting phase, and now that I'm here, I can't find anything we need! I just feel so behind on getting the baby's room together, getting curtains up in the living room and keeping our hydrangeas alive. Thank the good Lord that Ross is there every step of the way, just nodding and being a good little house husband on the weekends. He's been so fabulous through it all, and just 2 weeks to go!

Since I didn't have a blog back when we were getting started building our little nest, I wanted to share some photos and mementos on here! Now, this is the nearly-completed room, minus our glider, A LOT of clutter, any wall decorations or lighting, our Amby baby bassinet and the crib bedding we got this past weekend...

It was not easy getting to this stage (although it was easier for me since I was put on couch arrest - no painting or heavy lifting for me!), so here are some pics of Ross, my mom and dad painting. You'll notice how Ross got the big roller and dad was "stuck" with the little roller. I think he liked it though, he is such a goofball!

Once the paint dried, it was furniture moving time! We had to go pick up the furniture before our shower at my good friend, Sarah's house (I'll post those pics next!), then put them all together. Can you see the sweat on this man? He's amazing! We were sooo lucky to get the furniture we wanted because it usually takes 2-3 months to receive after ordering because they have to be made at the factory! So we got the floor models which are just as good - and perfect for our new little angel comin'!

That's what we've done so far, it's been a wild 8 month ride and I can't wait for the little bumps to come (and go, sadly...). There are so many gifts and well wishes that our friends and family have sent our way, and I will post them all and try to keep up with everything - here's a teaser: you should just see the closet full of the cutest little girl clothes ever from Granny Helen and Gran Val!

Outta Sight

2008-07-28T10:44:00.003-05:00

I'm not sure if I'm getting a bit of the baby blues lately, but I've been really missing some amazing people that I haven't seen for years, and some that I saw not too long ago but I want to see again!

I'll start with the farthest away - Daga and Katja - we've been through so much together and it seems like just yesterday I dropped you off at the airport. What a summer and the last few years we've all had, too. I'm so glad we've kept in touch through the years and have been there for each other over the crazy spaces of oceans, continents and everything. And here we are, getting all grown up! I can't wait to see you girls again soon, come back to the US anytime!!

Then there's my BFF, Emily, too far away in Iowa! The last time I saw you was about a year ago, and that's way too long! Life happens, I know, but I thank the Lord that I've still been on your mind from time to time and we still have our crazy Christmas game nights! Brooke and Mindi, you guys are in there too. You are traveling fools and hard workers and I love you! Here's a shout out to Mindi, especially, celebrating her wedding to Ben!

And of course, I don't get to see my family a lot since they're 5-6 hours away, either in Iowa, Oregon, Guernsey, Kentucky and Tennessee. But when we do see eachother, it's a ton of fun and I plan on posting a lot about them in the next few months because I'm going to be sorely missing them and crying on their proverbial shoulders a lot for advice in the middle of the night! Here's to you, mom and dad, Teresa and Jeff (me and Teresa in the pic), Chris and Melissa, Doug and Steph, Renee, Missy, Aunt Diane and Uncle Tom, Aunt Barbie and Uncle Cal, Grandma Pat, Grandma Hanna, Aunt Lindy and Uncle Jerry, Angie and Jonny, Danny and Lindsay, Catherine and Garrett, Helen and Martin, Jamie, Zoe (just as good as family!!) and Gran Val!

Then there are our wonderful, fabulous friends in Kentucky. Lee and Manda, Jeremy and Sarah, Jason and Sara, Carly and Eric, Audra and Nathan...how can I ever thank you for that and for keeping close through the miles too? I'm sure looking forward to lots more weddings, babies and happy story sharing in the years to come!

And we can't forget our new friends in Kansas City! Melissa, Sheridyn, Sarah, Katie, Linda, Paula, all of you guys have made our time here so great!! I'll be posting pics of all of you later, hahaha!

Last but not least, my dear readers (all zero of you so far, I'm sure!), I hope you know that if I forgot you, my "mom-nesia" has kicked in but that doesn't mean I don't love you! I hope you always know that you may be outta sight but never out of mind!!

It already fits!

2008-07-28T10:44:00.002-05:00

Ross' grandma Val lives on the next island over from his mom, Martin and his brother, Jamie. It's called Alderney and it's just as cute as can be, and even smaller than Guernsey if you can believe it! Well, she was gifted with a special talent to do amazing things with yarn and her mind. She can see a little outfit in a shop for $100 and go home and recreate it with more love and care than any money can buy. This little outfit came in the mail a few weeks ago and I had to try it on.

Well, not literally! Come on...but the hat, the little cardigan and booties just took my breath away. How could a little person be so tiny? And how can this person possibly be on loan from Heaven to us?

It's a good feeling, and a wonderful feeling to know that no matter how you're feeling at the moment, someone 6 hours ahead of you and half the world away from you could be up late building you something that will be cherished forever. This little girl is going to need a huge hope chest for all of these memories!!

The first of many...

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I've been inspired by many friends doing this crazy blogging thing, so I think it only fitting to get into it and have my first post commemorate the many, many firsts to happen to our little growing family. Where do I start?
My first (and only!) marriage to my husband, Ross, is coming to our three-year anniversary. This is by far #1 in my book because he is the greatest thing to have happened to me, and without him, none of the other 'firsts' could be. We've lived in three states and only one country so far, thank goodness, and have finally landed somewhere we want to be for a while!

Our first baby is on the way, a little girl, who is yet un-named. This photo is me at around 7 months. This is also the first time I haven't been able to decide on a name for a little something in my life. Dogs are so much easier! She'll be here on or around August 15th and we couldn't be more tickled...pink! haha!! I'll post more later on names, the list just keeps getting longer.
We bought our first house a few months back, and the first flowers on our pink hydrangeas are popping up, as well as our pumpkins, tomatoes, herbs and peppers. Wow. We actually have a home and not a cement jungle apartment anymore!!

My first long-term full-time job, at AdFarm, is really taking off and we are doing better than we ever have! Oh! And Ross is technically an official Permanent US Resident (as opposed to the former Conditional Permanent US Resident) and can stay in the US for another 10 years, yay!! He also started working for Citibank five months ago - his first full-time American job, and he really likes it, which is definitely a plus.

Not only that, but this is also the jumping off point in our lives. We're determined to livenlove every minnituvit. With our family and the Lord intertwined, we are so very blessed with a great big, happy family spanning two continents and keeping together across a big wide ocean. How wonderful is it to call so many places "home"? Iowa, Guernsey, Missouri, Kentucky...we miss them all! It's always 5 o'clock somewhere besides where we are and you can't get much better than that.

And last, but not least, to my friends, and all of their firsts - and seconds and beyond - who may like to peak at this blog when they're not too busy. Thanks to each of you and your big and little ways of showing that you care.