Chasing The "Roots"

Happy 6 Months Liam!

2010-09-27T11:11:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe that Liam is 6 months already. Time sure is flying by. He is almost ready to crawl. He gets on all fours and moves his legs until he does his nose dive to the carpet. I would think it will only be a matter of weeks before he is full force getting into everything. I guess I need to start thinking about baby proofing the house. I think Jaiden is liking him more and more now that he is getting mobile. This will probably last until he starts getting into her things :) then she probably won't like him so much anymore :) I really am going to try harder to keep this thing updated. Until next time.........

3 Months Already

2010-07-07T12:35:00.000-07:00

I am a slacker at posting and right now I cannot find my camera cord but I snapped a picture of Liam to post with my phone. I cannot believe he is 3 months already. He is growing so fast. He is a whopping 15 pounds already. He rolled over for the first time last night. Being a stay at home mom is great. Although I think he is going to be a mama's boy because of it. :) He loves to be held!

He loves to be outside. Here he is in his stroller just chillin.

The Wubbanub

2010-05-03T20:39:00.000-07:00

I absolutely love the wubbanub. I was bored last week and searching amazon and came across this.

This is the wubbanub. Liam loves his passy and I am glad he does or he would be eating every 10 minutes! He constantly wants to be sucking on something. Jaiden never took a passy but was very content all the time unless it was feeding time. The passy is sewn into the monkeys mouth and by the way you can get other animals and other passy brands. But you know how newborns cant keep a passy in very good they suck and it shoots across their body and lands on the floor etc. Well this stays put. He can spit it out whenever he doesn't want it and then it is there when he does. This has really came in handy at night. And when they get a little older they can feel for the monkey in their crib at night and know that it is the passy. A little easier for them to find. Here he is using his wubbanub today. I think it is adorable :)

So Much For Tummy Time

2010-04-29T18:08:00.001-07:00

So they say your supposed to have tummy time with your baby to strengthen them. Let's just say Liam is not gonna be early at holding his head up... :) Get's him every time.

A Little Jealousy?

2010-04-16T13:45:00.000-07:00

So apparently Macy really enjoys the boppy too. She is always on this thing and it makes me so mad. I am thinking that we are going to throw away her doggy bed and buy her a matching boppy. And we thought Jaiden was the one that was going to be jealous of the baby but Macy has been something else since we brought him home. She is actually really good with him but she is a nervous nelly if she doesnt know where he is at.

Liam Reeve Root

2010-04-06T19:52:00.000-07:00

I am finally getting around to posting that Liam has finally arrived. He was born March 27, at 4:47 p.m. He weighed 8lbs 8ozs and 21 1/2 inches long. Jaiden is really enjoying having a little brother. She loves feeding him and tonight changed his diaper for the first time by herself. At first I thought I was crazy starting the whole baby thing over again after 6 years but now that he is here and Jaiden loves helping it is kind of nice having her old enough to be able to help out. Here he is minutes after he was born.

His face was a little bruised when he came out but now he is perfect in every way. He is a wonderful baby. Here he is saying good morning yesterday. He was having a hard time waking up :) Still yawning.

I am hoping that I will be updating this blog a little better now that he is here. He has his 2 week checkup on Friday and I am anxious to see what he will weigh in at. He loves to eat!

Pedicure Anyone

2010-03-03T17:49:00.000-08:00

Since I can no longer paint my toenails (without cutting off my breathing) I decided to let Jaiden give it a try. She didn't do too bad and she even made little puppy paw prints on my big toenails :) It seemed to take her a long time but she really enjoyed doing it. She called it Jaiden's pedicures.

3rd Times A Charm!

2010-02-16T18:44:00.000-08:00

FINALLY! They are pierced... She has chickened out 2 other times and I just figured she would never get them done. Last weekend she wanted some stick on earrings so we went to wal-mart to try to find some. We couldn't find any and ended up getting nail stickers and were going to use them as earrings and I told her no one would know the difference. She threw a little fit and said they would fall off and not stick. I told her that all stick on earrings fall off the only way to have earrings stay on all the time is to get them pierced. Then she wanted a DS game and Eric told her that if she gets her ears pierced then he would buy her the game. She thought about it on the way to Evansville and when we got to the mall she said she was gonna do it. Yeah we heard that before... But when we went into Claire's she hopped right in the chair and put her hair behind her ears and was all smiles and ready to go. She picked her earrings and they marked her ears and she was good to go. At this point I think I was more nervous for her than she was. When they did it her eyes got as big as baseballs and she looked like she was going to cry but then at the same time realized that she did it and it was over so no tears were shed :) Then she says okay let's go get my game... All in all it was a great weekend!

A Little Update

2010-02-15T20:27:00.000-08:00

Since it has been forever since I have blogged I thought I would give a little update. We found out in November that we are having a boy. We are all super excited for him to get here. Jaiden wasn't real excited at first about a brother but when I told her now she won't have to share her toys she perked right up and decided a brother wouldn't be too bad. I only have 7 1/2 more weeks left. This pregnancy has just flown by for me.

And finally, we sold our house in Iowa. We closed last Friday the 12th and being homeless has never felt better :) So now we are house hunting. We had a house found but it sold before we closed on our house. Looking is usually fun for us but since Eric is only home on weekends it is hard to get that into our schedule. And with the baby due in 7 1/2 weeks it is kind of stressing us out and we are afraid we are going to jump into something we don't really want just to get a house bought and moved into. Oh well eventually we will find something.

Other than that not much else is going on. Eric is working in Kankakee throughout the week until the end of April so me and Jaiden are couch buddies every evening. Good thing American Idol is on twice a week :) I am really going to try to keep this blog updated a little better. I have really been slacking but when you spend the days at work and the evening vegged on the couch not too much happens... :)

Where Has The Time Gone?

2009-10-01T18:34:00.001-07:00

So I have really been a slacker when it comes to blogging since we moved back to IL. It seems like we are always on the go. Jaiden started Kindergarten this year and she loves it! Jaiden was getting up all on her own and in a great mood every morning. She was upset the first few weekends we had because she didnt get to go to school. My dad kind of joked and said "do you think this will last for the next 13 years?" Let's just say now it is hard to get her up in the mornings but she still loves school once she gets up and going.

Our house in Iowa still hasn't sold and it is really getting old paying for a house that you don't even live in. We are so ready for it to sell.

Most of you probably already know, but we found out that we are expecting and due April 12th.

I know it is a little late at posting this but I have not had energy to do anything. As soon as we get home from running, I just want to go to sleep. Here is a picture of the little one.

Jaiden is so excited to be a big sister. She doesnt care if she gets a brother or a sister just as long as she gets to pick out the baby clothes to buy. She is a shopaholic!

Hopefully, I will be able to keep this blog going again. I really do enjoy posting and sharing with everyone :)

Another New Addition

2009-07-28T19:44:00.000-07:00

Congrats to my brother Mark and sis-in-law Ashley. They had a baby girl Saturday July 25th.

Adalyn Marlee was born at 12:35 p.m. and weighed 6lbs 11 oz.

Jaiden is pretty excited to get 2 new cousins just 15 days apart. All are doing well.

Introducing Mr. Gavin

2009-07-11T06:35:00.000-07:00

I want to introduce our new nephew to the blog world....Gavin Thomas Root. He was born yesterday July 10 weighing 7 lbs 8oz and 20 inches long. He is such a handsome little man. Congrats Kendall and Tonya!!!!!!

Here is Jaiden holding her first boy cousin...She thought he was pretty neat.

It's Been A While

2009-06-21T12:24:00.000-07:00

I know it has been a while since I have blogged but really I don't have much going on. Jaiden is with Eric in Newton and so it is just me and the cat. Still trying to sell the house. Had an open house yesterday and today so hopefully someone is interested from that. I have been packing and cleaning and that is about it.

While I am sitting here waiting for people to show up, I captured Bat eating again. I have posted before that Bat is a pretty lazy cat. He usually lays down to eat but today, he was laying down and pawing his food out of his bowl onto the floor and then eating it. You would think that this would be more work? He has been keeping me pretty entertained!

It's Official

2009-06-08T18:18:00.001-07:00

I know most of you have heard by now but we are moving back home. Our house officially went on the market today. Here is the link to our house listing.

http://www.iahomesforsale.com/listingdetail.asp?Listing=3288

So for everyone from Cedar Rapids area that reads my blog, tell all.... :)

Eric and Jaiden moved back June 1 so we are all hoping the house sells quick so I can move too!

Jaiden's Graduation

2009-06-01T18:48:00.001-07:00

I know I am a little behind, but last Friday Jaiden graduated preschool. We were all so excited about it.
I think the cake was her favorite part.

Fun In The Sun

2009-05-22T20:15:00.000-07:00

Well kinda... We drained our hot tub a couple of weekends ago to do some cleaning on it and Jaiden thought she was hot stuff posing in the empty tub. We don't really use it in the winter because 1) It is way to cold to go outside to get in the hot tub let alone get out of it and in the cold again when your done. 2) We really don't want to have to get our snowsuits on to shovel our way to the hot tub and then get our swimsuits on to get in it :) We do enjoy it from about May-Sept/Oct.

Sesame Street Live

2009-05-20T20:14:00.000-07:00

Last week we went to Sesame Street Live. Jaiden loved it. I thought maybe she would have been a little old for it but she really did enjoy it. I think she liked it because it was something "new" for her. It is just weird that I grew up watching Sesame Street and didn't even think that she really didn't know what it was. When I told her about it she was "fake excited" and then said "mommy I really only know who Elmo is" and kind of turned her nose up. But we ended up going and she had a blast. (and I did too! :)

Our neighbors went with us and here is Jaiden and her buddy Austin

Our Newest Addition

2009-05-20T19:49:00.000-07:00

Well, I said it would be a long time before we did this, but....... we got another dog. This time a lot smaller dog and only 1. We got a wiener dog. Her name is Macy and she is black and tan. She is soooooo in the puppy stage. I really hate that part of getting a new puppy. But I just keep telling myself that she will outgrow it. Hopefully! Her and the cat get along great. It is so much fun watching them play. Her is a few pics of her.

Happy Mothers Day!

2009-05-10T08:58:00.000-07:00

Happy mother's day to all! Jaiden gave me a lovely flower (not sure what it is, Krista maybe you can help me out with this one :) in a pot that she decorated at school. I love it and she was so excited to give it to me. She also made a card for me but I forgot to take a picture with her and the card but here is the beautiful mother's day present I got.

Wake Up Call...

2009-05-09T05:08:00.000-07:00

So it is Saturday morning at 7 am and I am blogging. Why you might ask? Well my husband called me at 6:17 this morning. I know I have mentioned before that he is an early bird on the weekends. We were out of coffee this morning so he went to Wal-Mart to get some and took my small list of the usual- coffee, toilet paper, laundry detergent, etc. He called 4 times in 20 minutes asking what kinds of stuff we bought and then was wheeling and dealing with me on the phone about prices and the more for your money thing. At 6:17 in the morning I really don't care about anything so not real sure what I told him to get. So I am anxious to see what he brings home. Oh well it saves me a trip to the dreadful Wal-Mart on a Saturday :) Oh and make that 5 calls now. He called again while I was typing this. I wonder if that was his way of getting me out of bed early so we can get stuff done around the house today. Or I wonder if he wanted to get away by himself to get me a mothers day present? Nah, we know it's too soon to buy a mothers day present. He is a last minute shopper and mother's day is still a whole day away :)

What Are Commercials Teaching???

2009-04-29T20:16:00.000-07:00

How to shake their butt! While we watch American Idol Jaiden always dances so she was already in dance mode and paying attention to commercials. So tonight the commercial for Burger King came on playing "I like square butts" so now Jaiden knows how to shake it.

Just Because...

2009-04-20T10:38:00.000-07:00

Posting this picture just because I like it :)

She was being goofy yesterday and I got a quick shot in. She usually chickens out and gets embarrassed for the camera when she is being silly.

We Finally Did It!

2009-04-18T20:43:00.000-07:00

Finally, Eric let me get Jaiden's haircut. He was the only one holding this up. Me and Jaiden both have been wanting to get her hair cut for at least a year now. She loves it! She really liked getting it done. She was grinning from ear to ear the whole time and there were a few times she let out a squeal. It is going to be so much easier to take care of.

Before:

During:

Ta-Da :

Here is her being silly and holding up her 9 inches that was cut off.

We are sending it to Locks of Love Monday.

Lazy Cat

2009-04-18T20:38:00.000-07:00

So Bat is getting really lazy but this is a bit ridiculous. He now lays down to eat. He starts by eating all crouched down like a normal cat but after a few bites he sighs and flops over.\

My New Do

2009-04-18T20:34:00.001-07:00

I have been wanting to get a cute new style for a while now but I cannot find anyone around here to do that. It seems like every time I go somewhere they never get it right. So I visited Jackie Judy at Bodystyles and she did a wonderful job. I love it! You can't see it in the picture but I also got some red lo-lites.

Better Late Than Never

2009-04-18T20:15:00.000-07:00

I am a little late at posting Easter but it seems like the weekends we go home to Newton it takes me all week to catch up on everything. Here are a few pictures of Jaiden hunting the eggs.

Jaiden and Reagan comparing buckets of eggs. Reagan wasn't really into hunting the eggs this year. When we said ready set go, Jaiden took off and started filling up. Reagan said she was to tired :) Kevin started helping her out and then she started picking some up. She was too cute!

This hunt was at Grandma and Grandpa Root's house. Uncle Kendall had to help her out a little here. The Easter Bunny hid them a little better here since she didn't have any competition :)

Our Morning Routine

2009-04-07T20:15:00.000-07:00

Me and Bat have a routine every morning. We/he wakes up to my alarm clock and then gets me up and we head to the kitchen to start the coffee. Then he waits outside the bathroom door while I shower,leaned up against it until I open the door and he "falls" in. Then while I am walking from bathroom to closet to Jaiden's room trying to wake her up, he hides under my bed and attacks my feet as I walk.

He's not so sneaky anymore. This is him waiting to make his move.

Then while I am getting ready in the bathroom his new favorite spot is in the tub watching me.

He has pretty much turned into a fat, lazy, laid back cat, which I LOVE!

The Easter Bunny Came!

2009-04-07T20:07:00.000-07:00

Since we always go back to Newton for the holidays, we always celebrate it here the weekend before. That way she gets the feel of having the holiday at her own house. So the Easter bunny came Sunday morning. She got 6 new pet shops, bubbles, sidewalk chalk, Hannah Montana ball, tons of candy and some Easter pencils, erasers, and stickers. She didn't want her picture taken with her basket all put together so I took a picture of the basket without her :)

The Hunt

2009-04-07T19:45:00.000-07:00

Saturday Eric started his softball playing. Since it was only about 40 degrees out,me and Jaiden decided to stay home and go to an Easter egg hunt. I really do hate Easter egg hunts because there is always that bully kid that gets tons of eggs and leaves a bunch of other kids bawling cause they have none. We didn't have anything else to do so we decided to give it a try. I tried to tell Jaiden that she would probably only get one egg because there were going to be so many other kids there. I thought she is 5 maybe she can handle it going in knowing that she will only get one. Well I was wrong. She got 3 eggs and when she came back to me, the sniffles started. She began crying softly and I told her that I was so proud that she got 3 eggs. It took the car ride home and when we got home she was much better. Needless to say we probably won't go to a hunt again.

Before the hunt started

There were probably 4 times the kids that are in this picture just in the 5 and 6 year old group. I honestly do not know if Jaiden is in this picture but it was the only one I got of them in action :)

And this one was taken after we got home and she had enough time to get in a good mood and show off her 3 eggs.

Idol-holic

2009-03-31T19:40:00.000-07:00

Jaiden is soooooo into American Idol. It is crazy. Well last week she was obsessed with Adam. For those of you who don't really watch idol, Adam is a rocker with black painted nails, eye make-up, the whole nine yards. Well last week Adam came out with his hair all slicked, in a suit, no make-up or painted nails. Jaiden took one look at him and says "OH MY, I am gonna marry him." So he sings and they give out the number to call and she says " mom, did you get his number? I want to call him and ask him to marry me." So, tonight we watch Idol again, and Adam gets up there to sing. Again he didn't really have the rocker gear on and Jaiden says "he is hot! I am still gonna marry him." Let's just say that Eric is not liking the type Jaiden is picking out :) I think we are gonna be in trouble when she gets older :)

More Visitors

2009-03-31T18:44:00.000-07:00

This past weekend Eric's mom and sister came up for a visit.

(By the way Eric is the one who took this picture and chopped his mom's head)

It always seems like the weekends go so much faster when we have visitors. They got a taste of the Iowa winter while they were here. I think we got about 6 inches of snow on Saturday, but the good thing was that by Monday it was completely gone.

While we were in the check out line at one of the many stores we visited this weekend :) Jaiden looked at me and whispered "mom there is money on the ground, can I pick it up"? She says "mom it's 5 dollars, I could buy a pet shop with that". I told her to pick it up and ask the couple in front of us if it was theirs. Of course she wouldn't do it, so I picked it up and asked them if it was theirs. They looked in their pockets and said they didn't know and the man handed the 5 dollars back to Jaiden. That made her day. We headed to Target and she got her pet shop.

Tara just signed up to sell Mary Kay and she has to do 30 facials in 30 days. So all 3 of us (yes even Eric) helped her out :)

While Tara was trying her stuff out on me we let Jaiden play in some of her own make-up. We let her do it all herself.

What do you think, a future Mary Kay consultant??

Lazy Days

2009-03-31T18:18:00.000-07:00

The weekend Eric got his wisdom teeth out we stayed in all weekend. It was kind of nice. We got a lot done around the house and caught up on some sleep.

Jaiden and Bat took a 3 hour nap that day. I could not believe he didn't move the entire time. While they were napping me and Eric rearranged our basement. It seems like we had just had everything thrown down there without any order to it. So Eric had to re-run the cable and we arranged the furniture a little better.

Here is the finished product

Now we just have to figure out what to do with the rest of the basement space.

Who's The Easter Bunny??

2009-03-30T17:58:00.000-07:00

A couple of weekends ago we went to see the Easter Bunny. Jaiden was all pumped about it... until we got there. I don't really know what she was expecting but as soon as we got there she says "that's not the Easter Bunny, someone is just in a costume". I ignored her and we got right in, she sat on his lap got her picture taken, and got to pick an egg. We left and later that afternoon she kept asking who was that Easter Bunny. I just told her that it was one of his helpers, just like Santa has helpers too. She didn't believe me at all.. she looks at me and says the Easter Bunny is not real. I told her he was and she argued back and forth with me. Then the neighbor girl came over and they were doing pixos and Jaiden was telling her about the Easter Bunny and that he was not real. The little girl says oh yes he is how else do you think we get a present at Easter? I thought oh great my kid is going to be the kid that all the parents cannot stand because she will be spoiling it for the rest them. So I went in there to break up their little conversation and when I walked in they both at the exact same time asks "is the Easter Bunny real?" Of course I said yes. Then the neighbor girl says Jaiden he has helpers just like Santa does. Jaiden believed her and hasn't said anything about it since. So why did she not believe her own momma when I was trying to tell her the exact same thing??

St Patty's Day Cat

2009-03-30T17:49:00.001-07:00

On St. Patrick's day I forgot to dress Jaiden in green. Oops! I get Jaiden up in the mornings and either get her dressed or lay her clothes out for dress herself and then Eric takes her to preschool. On the way to school they both realized that she wasn't wearing green and Jaiden was very mad at her mommy. Eric came to the rescue and stopped at the gas station and got her a green candy necklace and some green candy to take to her class. They had a little party at school and all got a shamrock painted on their faces so when I picked her up I got the ear full! Then we get home and she decided that Bat (the cat) needed some green on so we found some green ponytail holders and put them in his ears.

Needless to say they didn't stay in long. As soon as Jaiden put him down one quick shake of the head and the flew off.

Last Weekend

2009-03-20T14:54:00.000-07:00

So I am a little behind on blogging but time just seems to get away from me. Last weekend my family came up to see us. We had so much fun! Jaiden loved having her cousin Reagan to play with. I think their favorite thing to do was give papa a spa treatment. They did his hair and make-up and even put a little jewelry on him...

Doesn't he look so relaxed here?

Then on Saturday all the girls went to David's Bridal to pick out flower girl dresses and for me and Krista to get fitted for our bridesmaid dresses for Kent and Jessica's wedding. Jaiden and Reagan really enjoyed trying on the dresses and being princess's.

And they loved making faces and watching themselves in the big mirrors

Jaiden and the bride

Then that evening we went to Applebee's for supper. The service was awful but we all had a good time.

Me, Krista, and Jessica made breakfast casserole and french toast casserole that night for breakfast in the morning. Eric thought he needed to get a picture of me actually cooking :) HA HA he is so funny!
Everyone left Sunday around 11 and it was such a beautiful day outside that we were itching to get something done. So we fixed some landscape in our backyard that the dogs had tore up.

Before:

After:

Now It's My Turn...

2009-03-20T14:38:00.000-07:00

to take care of Eric that is. He got his wisdom teeth cut out this afternoon so I guess since he took care of me when I had surgery on my foot, I owe it to him to wait on him hand and foot this weekend :) He is doing pretty good so far, the only thing he is complaining about is being bored. Let's just say that after this weekend I might be wanting to go back to work on Monday!

Sometimes Men Do Listen

2009-03-06T15:14:00.001-08:00

So a few years ago me and Eric got on the topic of wedding rings. He asked me that if we ever had enough money to spend around our 10 year or 15 year etc. anniversary would I want a new (bigger) diamond wedding set. I told him that I don't think I would cause it wouldn't mean the same to me as my wedding ring does now. My wedding set is gold now and gold was I think still the majority of wedding sets when we got married 8 years ago. I did tell him however that now I wish I had a platinum or white gold... something "silver" color since now it is "in" and every other piece of jewelry I own is silver. I had just kind of said I wonder if they could make my set silver and that was the end of the conversation. Well my wonderful hubby surprised me this anniversary and had my wedding set dipped. It isn't back from the jewelers yet but I am so excited to get it. It will be white gold. I will post a picture when I get it back. When I opened my card and read what he had done I couldn't believe it. I said "I can't believe you remembered" and he said "I can listen when I want too". Hmmmm I will have to remember that :)

Happy Anniversary!

2009-03-03T05:00:00.001-08:00

Today me and Eric have been married 8 years. I cannot believe it has been that long already. It has been a great 8 years and here's to many more!

I would also like to wish my mom and dad a Happy 36th (I think) Anniversary. We have a ways to catch up with them :)

I Can't Believe It

2009-03-01T14:34:00.000-08:00

I can't believe I pre-registered my baby up for Kindergarten Friday. (sniff,sniff) It made it seem so real how old she really is. She is terrified of doctors but we talked about it this weekend and she is ready to go to the doctor and the dentist for her physical. I haven't told her about the shots she has to get yet but that will can wait until the time comes. She is very excited to be in Kindergarten. It was cute to hear her and the neighbor girl talk this weekend. The neighbor girl is 2 years older than Jaiden and she was telling Jaiden that they can play together before school and maybe even at lunch and that she would introduce her to her friends. It was just too cute!

1st Time Missing The Dogs

2009-02-23T16:18:00.001-08:00

Tonight as I was cooking supper and dropped the whole pan of hamburger on the floor as I was draining the grease, I missed the dogs. They would have had ate it up in a matter of seconds and tonight the cat just stared at it and at me while I had to clean it up. Oh well cleaning up a few messes once in a while still beats having 2 dobermans in the house :)

On a side note- at least the pan missed my foot :)

Here's another funny...

2009-02-19T10:34:00.000-08:00

Jaiden is in love with american idol just about as much as I am. She gets a dress on and dances and pretends to sing while the contestants are. She was very anxious for Hollywood week to get over and them start singing on the "real stage". Tuesday night it was Ricky Braddy's turn and they were doing the "interview" thing that they do and she couldn't stand it anymore, so she says " Come on Ricky Bobby, get this show on the road, I've heard enough already". :) We were laughing so hard that she called him Ricky Bobby. I think she has watched or heard Talladega Nights too many times. Anytime we see the wonder bread store she asks if we think Ricky Bobby's house looks like that. She is obsessed!

Like Mother Like Daughter

2009-02-17T19:36:00.000-08:00

So today I got to work parked the Tahoe and walked in. Then it was time to leave and I went out started the truck and put it in reverse and it died. I tried starting it and it just turned over but wouldn't start. I thought great what now. For those who don't know me and Eric work at the same place but drive separate. So I walked back into work to get Eric so he could figure it out. He came out and got in the Tahoe and tried starting it and he just gave me this look. He was very nice about it and said "Steph vehicles usually run better with gas" :) Yes I ran out of gas and didn't even realize it. Oops! So I took Eric's car and went to get gas and it runs great!

Jaiden had a moment today too. During our driving back and forth from work to get gas and back to work again for some reason she brought up playing with plastic bags. Just out of the blue she asked me " Why can't little kids play with bags and put them on their heads?" I told her that they would suffocate and of course she asked what that meant so I told her that they would stop breathing and then again she asks what would happen and I said they would die. So she sits there and soaks it in and then says "I am never going to put a plastic bag on my foot again cause I do not want my foot to fall off" ?? Sometimes I wonder :)

Gourmet Chef?

2009-02-08T12:08:00.000-08:00

Jaiden loves to help me cook. Last night she got her gear on and we baked some valentine cupcakes. Cupcakes are her favorite!

Here she is in her gear that she got for Christmas

Here she is in action

And of course you have to try it out before you let anyone else eat it :)

Icing them

And the finished product. Well the first dozen. She doesn't have enough patience to bake and let the rest of them cool.

And they are delicious- She gives them a thumbs up!

Why?

2009-01-31T20:38:00.000-08:00

Why oh why does my child decide to get up at 6 am on the only day that I can sleep in?? She even went to bed at 10:30 last night. During the week she goes to bed at about 8:30 and is a bear when I try to wake her up in the mornings. She must have the same "disease" as Eric. He sets his alarm on the weekends to get up early so he feels like his weekends are longer. Why? I love my sleep! To me that is what the weekend is all about :)

Our Weekend

2009-01-21T18:17:00.000-08:00

We had a blast this weekend with Chris, Jess, and Claire. They got here Friday evening and we got the guitar hero battle going. Saturday me, Jess and the girls went shopping at the outlet mall in Williamsburg and then came back to Cedar Rapids to do some more while the guys went to the casino in Iowa City. It worked out pretty good. They guys won a little playing blackjack and me and Jess spent the little that they won shopping :) While we were out Jessica bought the guitar hero rock band and since we were all pretty exhausted from shopping and gambling all day we decided to try it out. We were up until 2 am every night playing. It was so much fun! So if anyone that is getting tired of the regular guitar hero world tour I recommend getting the rock band. It is awesome! And while the guys were hogging the guitars Jess taught me how to crochet. I was very excited to learn how. I have started my first blanket for one of Jaiden's baby dolls. It is going okay but you can definitely tell it is my first blanket. I am pretty sure they aren't supposed to fan out as you go up :) but hopefully with practice I will get better.

One of the days they were here it got up to 27 so we let the girls go play in the snow for a little bit. Jaiden loved having someone to play with and I think Claire really enjoyed the snow. She kept plopping down in it and just laughed.

Jaiden acting silly-

Claire enjoying sitting in the snow-

The girls were a little grouchy at the end of shopping so that is when we decided we would head back to Cedar Rapids. If your a mom you know the feeling of getting the bags, the strollers, the grouchy kids, and yourself all in the car as it is freezing and blowing outside, that when you get in shut your door you take a deep breath and sigh as letting it out composing yourself for the ride home. Since Williamsburg is about 50 miles, we were hoping the girls would nap on the way home since we had more shopping to do when we got back, but of course they didn't. We pull in the mall parking lot and get out to get the girls out and Jessica is laughing so hard. So I take a peek at what she is laughing at and here it is-

That is Claire's boot hanging out of the Tahoe. She kicked it off as Jess was shutting the door. The roads were pretty crappy on the way home so I was driving kind of slow and I kept thinking why do these people keep staring at me. I know I am going slower but gee wiz. Well now I know. We drove this way for the whole 50 miles home :)

Then they had to cut their visit a little short. Early Monday morning Jess got a call that her grandma from Florida had an aneurysm and it didn't sound good. They found a flight out of Chicago that got them there that evening. So pray for Jess and her family that they make it through this difficult time.

Brrrrrr.....

2009-01-15T05:07:00.000-08:00

WOW! Is it cold out. This morning it is a whopping -24 degrees and with wind chill it is -51 outside. You know it's cold when your walking into work and one, your nose freezes shut and two, you get an instant ice cream headache just from breathing in the air. On days like this I really appreciate the hat and gloves mom got me for Christmas.

This Weekend

2009-01-14T19:46:00.000-08:00

Jess- Do not read the previous post :)

Chris, Jess, and Claire are supposed to come up and see us this weekend. Hopefully they still want to come to the icebox. We love having visitors. If they are having doubts maybe I can bribe Chris with my homemade biscuits and gravy and bribe Jess with a little shopping. If it warms up a little in the next couple days maybe Claire can bring her snowsuit and the girls can play in the snow. We always have a good time when they come visit. They girls play so well together while me and Jess get "caught up" and the guys always get their fill of their "guy gossip" you know cars, tools, etc.

Hopefully we will see them Friday afternoon!

The Snow Doubled!

2009-01-14T19:29:00.000-08:00

Check out the picture I posted a couple of days ago of the snow. When we woke up this morning it had doubled. I took the same picture to compare.

My usual 20 minute drive to work took 45 minutes this morning. What sucks is we can't even play in it since the actual temperature below zero. Way too cold!

You can kind of tell in the background of this picture but all this snow made our hot tub cover collapse. Looks like we are going to have to invest in a new one this spring.

Got Milk?

2009-01-10T10:26:00.000-08:00

She says she needed a "quick swig" Luckily the jug was almost empty :)

Holy Snow!

2009-01-10T10:20:00.001-08:00

About 6 last night it started snowing.... again. But when it started we could see grass. All the snow was melted from before except for all the big piles that the snow plow piles up at the end of the roads and parking lots. This is what we woke up to this morning...

They were calling for 1-4 inches but we got 8. This is the biggest snow fall so far!

Nickname's

2009-01-08T12:18:00.000-08:00

For some reason I always use nickname's for peoples names. Like I call Jaiden- Jage, Jagers ? I call my niece Reagan- Reaggie etc. I know they are made up names but again for some reason I do this. Well the cat's name is Bat. A few of the names I call him are Batty Bat, Kit Kat, and the one that just got me in trouble is batsters. Well Jaiden also likes to call the cat the names that I call him and the other night she was going through the house trying to catch the cat and saying "Come here little batsterd". Now everyone reading this say that out loud. Yep sounded just like the word. I know she was not meaning to say it so I said lets not call him batsters anymore. She asked why and I told her that I didn't think he liked being called that. She went with it. Now I just wonder how many stories she has told about the cat or how many people (at her pre-school) have asked what the cat's name is and she says "batsterd: :)

Busy! Busy!

2009-01-06T13:43:00.000-08:00

I know it has been a while since I have posted but with the traveling and the holidays I haven't had time to even sit in front of the computer or get any of the pictures off the camera. Hoping everyone had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I hope to post some Christmas pictures this week and catch up on everyone's blog.

Dedicated DS Player!

2008-12-21T17:23:00.000-08:00

She is one dedicated DS player.

Couldn't even put it down to go to the bathroom :)

Santa Came!

2008-12-21T09:53:00.001-08:00

Since we are in Newton every year for Christmas, Santa usually comes the weekend before to our house in Iowa. He came this morning and Jaiden didn't even know he was coming. It took her a little while to realize that there were presents for her under the tree. She got a Nintendo DS, DS accessories and games, Hannah Montana guitar, some ponyville stuff, and a cup cake maker. She was so excited about everything. I love this age at Christmas, they are so much fun. This was a good day for Santa to come since it is -7 temperature outside with a wind chill of -36. We are not going anywhere today and she sure is enjoying her DS.

Playing In The Snow

2008-12-21T09:44:00.000-08:00

Friday night we had to shovel the drive again and it was actually in the 20's outside so Jaiden got to play in the snow for the first time this year. We have had snow for a couple weeks but it had been way too cold to play in it. Her and the neighbor girl had a blast. Eric buried them in the big snow pile at the end of the drive.

Our Newest Obsession

2008-12-16T19:02:00.001-08:00

We are so addicted to this game. It is so much fun!

Birthday Pictures

2008-12-15T20:10:00.000-08:00

Here are a few from the Hannah Montana party

Uncle Kent with his 2 favorite girls

Here present and balloons she woke up to Sunday morning

and Sunday afternoon we went to see Bolt in 3D (that's what the glasses are about)

We asked her what her favorite part about her birthday was and she said everything- this was the best birthday ever :)

Happy Birthday Jaiden!

2008-12-14T18:24:00.001-08:00

My baby girl turned 5 today. I cannot believe she is that old already. Time sure does fly. We had a Hannah Montana birthday party when we were home for Thanksgiving with all the family and friends and today we had our own little party for her. She woke up to balloons and her birthday present from us. Then we took her to see Bolt in 3D and ate at Ruby Tuesday's afterwards. We wanted to go to a place that would sing to her for her birthday but apparently not to many restaurants do that anymore, but she still got her ice cream :)

Pictures to follow tomorrow. For some reason I cannot get any pictures to upload.

Santa Again

2008-12-13T21:15:00.000-08:00

Today Santa came to Yellowbook. Every year the employees can sign their kids up to see Santa and get a gift. Last year was the first year she would sit on his lap and this year when she sat on his lap she kind of froze up. She has two full pages of stuff she is going to send Santa and every commercial and catalog she is constantly saying "I want that for Christmas" and today when the big guy asked her the question the only thing she could come up with was a paint set. A paint set? She has been going on and on about wanting a Nintendo DS this year and she says a paint set. Then me and Jaiden went with our friends Brandy and Madison to look at Christmas decorations and to eat lunch while the guys went to Des Moines, while we were there saw Santa again. So here we are chance number 2 to tell him what she wants and again says a paint set. When we were leaving I said to her "I thought you were going to tell him you wanted a DS" so then she says " It doesn't matter cause he is a fake one anyway" I asked her how she knew that and she said "cause the real one is still at Yellowbook" and had this look on her face like DUH! So today she got a Pucci Puppy. It is a princess puppy with a carrier, leash, brush and a treat. I think were Santa'd out for this year. She is just ready for him to come to her house. :)

Here she is so patiently waiting in line.

And this is the Pucci Puppy.

The Tooth Fairy Came

2008-12-13T21:00:00.000-08:00

She was so excited to reach under her pillow the next morning. She was so tired though. She didn't even get up she kept her eyes closed and reached under and this was the reaction I got.

And this one she raised her arm still hadn't opened her eyes and said "Yesssss"!

The Tooth Fairy Is Coming Tonight!

2008-12-11T20:10:00.000-08:00

Jaiden lost her first tooth tonight. It has been just "hanging" there for a week or so and she finally got up enough nerve to pull it out. Eric did the whole fishing story and got it super loose and then she moved it and it fell out. She is so excited. She wants the tooth fairy to bring her quarters. Thank goodness for the change holder in the car. At 10 o'clock I was outside digging for 12 quarters. Jackpot! Whew, neither one of us was willing to get out in the 7 degree snowing weather to go to the gas station to get quarters.

In the picture above the tooth is in the baggie. That way it wouldn't get lost under her pillow.

Banned From Target!

2008-12-09T18:21:00.000-08:00

No just kidding we aren't banned from target but let me tell you our experience on Sunday. Eric dropped me and Jaiden off at Target on Sunday to get some Christmas shopping done while he went and got his hair cut. We walked in and the security thing beeped at us. I didn't think anything because we were walking in and a lot of those things never work right and go off all the time. So we do our shopping, pay, and wait around for a few minutes for Eric to get back to pick us up. We start to walk out and the thing beeps. So the "rent a cop" came up to us to check our bags to make sure we didn't steal anything and asks for our receipt. He was looking at everything and says "huh, wonder what made that go off. You didn't buy anything that would make it go off". He says "go ahead and go" and Jaiden was a little ahead of me and when she walked through with nothing in her hand, the thing beeped again. I stopped and said "Jaiden get back here". I was thinking to myself OMG she knows better than to put anything in her pocket without paying for it first. The security guy (who had to have only been pushing 20) kind of looked at me like he didn't really know what to do. I looked in Jaiden's pocket, and nothing. Then he caught this tag in her coat that apparently had set it off.
So here is the story of her coat. I bought her a coat last winter on clearance at old navy for this winter. I has been hanging in the closet since and when it got cold a couple of months ago I pulled it out and she has worn it everyday since. There is a tag in the coat that says remove before washing. I am the kind of person that waits until I wash it to remove it. I never think about it actually get the scissors out to cut it off when we are leaving or when we get home. Apparently those tags are the security feature that they deactivate when you buy it. Little did I know they reactivate their self after so long. So this is why we were "beeped" at Target.

Breakfast With Santa

2008-12-06T21:09:00.000-08:00

Today was a busy day. We woke up at 5:30 a.m. got ready and went to Kohl's to do some Christmas shopping. Then we headed to the mall for breakfast with Santa. Jaiden got to look in a glass ball and if she could see herself she was on the "nice" list. Whew! She was there :) She then got to pick out of Santa's bag and she picked out a little stuffed bear.

Then we headed to Boone, IA which is about 2 1/2 hours away to ride the Polar Express. Jaiden has been obsessed the the Polar Express movie for a couple years. It was really pretty neat. The kids wore their jammies, took an hour train ride to the North Pole, they read them the polar express book, sang Christmas Carols, we were served hot cocoa and cookies, and each kid got a bell off Santa's sleigh. It was just like the movie. She was so excited!

Then we drove back to Cedar Rapids, and did more Christmas shopping and grocery shopping and got home at 9 p.m. Needless to say it took Jaiden about 10 seconds to fall asleep tonight and it took Eric about 20 seconds :) I think we all had a blast today. Tomorrow we are going to have a little R & R.

O' Christmas Tree

2008-12-06T20:44:00.000-08:00

Friday night after work we went to get our Christmas tree. This is the first year we have got a real tree. It was so very cold picking one out. Jaiden got to pick between a couple that Eric picked out first.

Jaiden is really enjoying the Christmas spirit this year and having a lot of fun with it.

Here is the almost finished product. Of course I had to move around a few ornaments after she went to bed since they were all on the bottom branches :)

Special Delivery

2008-12-02T18:36:00.000-08:00

I came home Wednesday from work and I had a package on my porch. When I opened it, it was the purse I have been wanting. A giraffe print. It was from my good friend Jessica. I absolutely love it. Of course it had to make the blog :)

Thanks Jess- I love it!

So Long..... Farwell

2008-11-23T17:39:00.000-08:00

This is Diamond and Missy our Dobie's. Diamond is 3 and Missy is 1 and a half. Again, for those of you who don't know I am not a real animal lover. I don't hate them but I hate the hair, muddy footprints, slobber, and I could go on but I won't. Anyway, we just do not have time for inside dogs. They are in their crates probably all but 2 hours a day and we realized that is no way for a dog to live so we gave them up for adoption yesterday. We took them to a Doberman rescue home. Eric was kind of attached to Diamond and didn't really want to get rid of him but then he realized that he would be better off too. When we met the "foster parent" she literally buckled them both in seat belts in her back seat. Then we went on to talk about things and "signed our rights away" and she said she lives in a huge 2 story house on four acres that are fenced in and they can run and play with other Dobie's. And they have their own bedroom in her house. Wow!They are way better off than here :) Anyway we received and email from her today that they are adjusting well. I think that made Eric feel a little better about the whole deal.

By the way, this picture above is the only time ever that they had laid down and weren't wrestling around. Let's just say that they were hyper dogs. And that is one more thing I have not missed.

Missing Bat

2008-11-20T17:08:00.001-08:00

Bat (the cat) went to visit Grandma and Grandpa this week. We are missing the cuddling.

Actually he went there to get fixed and declawed. It was much cheaper in Newton than around here. He rode back with Uncle Kendall when he left Monday. Grandma Peggy said he is doing fine after his "procedure" :) We found out that he is 6 months old. We weren't sure since he was a stray when we got him.

Goodbye Boot!

2008-11-20T16:45:00.001-08:00

Woo-hoo finally today I got rid of my walking boot and can finally start driving again. I haven't driven since Oct 15. That is a really really long time. I just got back from my "test drive" and passed with flying colors :) I can move my toe down perfectly but still cannot lift it up. So now I have to go to 4 weeks of physical therapy. Hopefully that will get it strengthened back up. He said I should have had more movement than what I do. Let's all hope that it works!

Last Weekend

2008-11-20T16:32:00.000-08:00

Last weekend Eric's brother and his girlfriend came up to see us. We did some shopping and tons of eating and went to the Buckcherry concert. I would post some pictures but of course I forgot my camera and I forgot the directions to the concert. Needless to say Eric wasn't very happy with me on the ride there :) Luckily he has GPS on his phone and we made it there okay.
The concert was extremely loud. They had Saving Able, Avenged Sevenfold, Buckcherry, and Shinedown. It was nice to get out and about with other adults. At this place you kind of just sat where you could find a spot and of course we get a spot that the kid (who didn't even look 21) next to us was drunker than I have ever seen anyone and by the end of the night he was puking everywhere and the guy behind us caught his hand on fire. It was a pretty interesting night.

Just A Little Catch Up

2008-11-15T06:45:00.001-08:00

I have been out of blog mode for a couple weeks but here is a little catch up. I got my stitches out a little over a week ago, still in the boot for another week, then hopefully I can drive. I think Eric is getting tired of being my chauffeur. I am supposed to exercise it 200 times 3x's a day. What a pain in the butt. I still cannot move my toe on my own so I guess we will see what the doc says Thursday.

Jaiden was sick all last weekend with a high fever. We went to the doctor and ended up she has a UTI. Poor thing. So she is finishing up her round of antibiotics. She had to miss a Halloween party at her friends house and she was pretty upset about that but I got her a Hannah Montana diary so she was over that pretty quick. She is feeling better now so hopefully we can keep out of the doctors offices for a while.

This weekend Eric's brother and girlfriend came up so we actually have people to talk to. Today we are going to the Buck Cherry concert in Waterloo. I cannot wait. I am sooo excited. I am hoping to get some pictures tonight so I can post them. Jaiden is spending the night at a friends house for the very first time tonight. (actually it is just our next door neighbors so if she chickens out we will be home late and she can come home) She is pretty excited about that.

That is about all that has happened in the last couple weeks- not real exciting but just to let you all know I am still out here :)

Happy Birthday!

2008-11-09T08:48:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Amber!

Hope you have a good one and I will see you in a couple of weeks!

Rock Star!

2008-11-01T19:42:00.000-07:00

Little Miss Hannah Montana!

Jaiden really enjoyed trick or treating this year. She got sooooo much candy. Hope everyone had a good Halloween!

Favorite Underwear?

2008-10-28T17:11:00.000-07:00

I usually lay out clothes for Jaiden in the morning but she usually picks out something different. Well today when we got home from school she yelled to me from the bathroom "Mommy I have 2 pair of underwear on" I started laughing and she said "you picked out princess ones but the Hannah Montana ones are my favorite". Too funny!

My Foot Now

2008-10-28T17:02:00.000-07:00

Here is what my foot looked like Monday at my appt.

It didn't take a real good picture. My feet are not the prettiest anyway but this picture it is REALLY not pretty. The incision is 2-3 inches long. Not as bad as I thought it would be. Eric made a funny when the doctor was telling us (before surgery) he wasn't sure how bad the scarring would be or how big the incision would be, he said "well there goes your modeling contract" :) I thought that was pretty good. My next appt is the 6th and I think the stitches come out but not for sure, so I will post again after they come out. By the way, I had to take all polish off before surgery and they put the red polish on my toe to make sure they were working on the correct foot. I usually don't let my polish get that bad. :)

I've Been Tagged

2008-10-27T17:30:00.000-07:00

The rules go like this:
1. Post the rules on your blog.
2. Write 6 random things about yourself.
3. Tag 6 people at the end of your post(or as many as you want)
4. If you are tagged, do it and pass the tag along.
5. Enjoy

1. I LOVE to have my hair brushed, played with, etc. (Jaiden and I play beauty shop a lot)

2. I have always said I would like to have 3 kids but with Jaiden turning 5 in December, I still don't feel ready for #2 yet. Huh?

3. If we had a chance to move closer to Newton, we would do it in a heartbeat. You don't realize how much you miss the little things until you move 6 hours away.

4. I start thinking and planning out what to buy for Christmas in August.

5. Anytime I make or order something with meat in it, I pick it out and do not eat it. examples- chicken Alfredo, I don't eat the chicken, spaghetti- I don't eat the hamburger, etc. But if I have a hamburger or chicken breast I can eat the meat? Weird I know.

6. My favorite TV show is CSI- I love the weekends spike has the marathons :)

I like Aubrey's idea from Just Me & My Boys. I am not going to tag anyone (your welcome Amber) I just want whoever reads to drop in and say hi.

You Have Got To Be Kidding Me!

2008-10-26T17:51:00.000-07:00

This is our view this evening-

First snowfall in Cedar Rapids, Iowa- October 26th. CRAZY!

I am not ready for this weather.

I Can't Believe My Eyes!

2008-10-26T16:18:00.000-07:00

I have been on the couch since Thursday and the house is spotless. Eric has kept the kitchen clean, the whole house (including the basement) has been vacuumed twice, he has Jaiden trained to pick up after herself- bedroom, toy room, and take her plates to the sink after eating, and today I watched Eric take the vacuum along the corners, ceiling, and baseboards getting the spiderwebs. I couldn't believe my eyes. I asked him to get me the camera so I could take his picture to put it on my blog and he gave me the most evil look and said "I don't think so". Wonder what he is so grouchy about :) No really he hasn't even complained once!

Tomorrow at 8 am is my follow-up with the doctor for my foot. We have the camera ready to take a pic of what it looks like. I have no idea the size of the incision or how many stitches there are. I know, I know, now you are on the edge of your seat and can't wait until tomorrow :)

Thanks For The Pretty's

2008-10-24T10:25:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to tell everyone thanks for the calls, texts, emails, balloons, candy, flowers and fruit. They really do brighten up a room and make me feel a little better :)It has officially been 24 hours since I have been helpless. Eric has done a wonderful job cooking, cleaning, laundry, and helping me up and down to the bathroom and getting up in the middle of the night with me. He has done more in the last few days helping than he has the 7 1/2 years we have been married :) (now he has shown me that he can do it so I hope he is not expecting to stop when I get better). Here are some pics of the stuff I have got.

This is from my mom and dad and brothers wishing they could be here with me :) Now I hope I can keep it alive.

These balloons are from Eric's New Media Team at Yellowbook. In the bag was 10 full size candy bars :) They are the "coolest" ;)

And this is from Chris, Jessica, and Claire Collins. This is from Edible Arrangements. This is one of the coolest places I have seen. I love fruit!

Thanks Again Everyone!

My New Tread

2008-10-24T10:21:00.000-07:00

This is my new boot that I will be wearing for the next 3-4 weeks. It is not very comfortable and it makes my foot sweat worse than it already does. Isn't it pretty? I am sure it will go well with my work clothes :)

OUCH!

2008-10-24T05:33:00.000-07:00

Well I do not recommend this surgery to anyone! It was all fine and dandy until the numbness wore off about 8 last night. It was not a good night. I had to break down and take my pain meds. I have never taken pain meds before. They really are not affecting me at all. It seems like they are wearing off before it is time to take my next dose and then when I can take the next dose it takes an hour or so to kick in. I am not having fun at all. Although I do have a beautiful planter that my mom sent me and a bunch of balloons with a bunch of candy bars from Eric's team at work. Don't worry I will be posting pictures of both of these when I can get Eric to take a picture for me.

The surgery went well. It took about an hour in the OR and then about an hour in recovery. The doctor said that everything went back together perfectly. He was worried that the tendon would be stretched too far and have to put a piece of cadaver in my foot but luckily, it all went good and no cadaver in my foot :)

Some Bad News!

2008-10-20T16:40:00.000-07:00

Well, I went to the foot doctor today thinking that they could re-open my wound and fix the tendon and they couldn't. So I am scheduled for surgery on Thursday morning. YUCK! I am not excited at all. The doctor said that the tendon is like a "rubber band" and since the tendon is in two, it went further up me foot and further down my toe and now he cannot just re-open the cut already there and fix it, he has to make a new incision (the opposite way) to re-attach it. So I am on the couch for 4 straight days. Again something I am not excited about. I should be able to go back to work on Monday. I have an appt and he will decide to release me or not then. So if anyone has any ideas what a person could do while laying on the couch for 4 days, let me know :)

When It Rains It Pours!

2008-10-18T19:30:00.000-07:00

Well if you read my post before, this week Jaiden was sick Monday afternoon through Wednesday. I used most all of the personal time I had at work to stay home with her. She had high fever and puking. I made an appt for her to see the doctor Wednesday but we never made it. Reason being, I cut a tendon on the top of my foot that controls the movement in my big toe.

Wednesday recap- I got up at 4:30 a.m to get to work as early as I could because I could only work until 11 a.m. because Eric HAD to go in to work. He had managers from other offices there and an interviewee coming in. So I was up early (and I am not a morning person) to get some hours in because I didn't have enough hours to take. If you take unpaid time off you will get written up at work. Came home and after a couple hours Jaiden was feeling fine. I was a little irritated because again I am at home taking what little sick time I have when she probably could have gone to daycare. So I thought while I was home I would make a good supper (for once). I ended up baking a ham all afternoon, making cheesy potatoes, sweet potato casserole, corn, and even baked an Oreo cake for dessert. Well I took the ham out of the oven put it on a platter to cut and carried the casserole dish to pour out the juices and when putting the glass casserole dish back on the counter it broke. It fell right on top on my foot and sliced it open. Eric is not home yet and I am bleeding everywhere. I soaked 4 washcloths. I yelled for Jaiden to bring me my phone and more towels. I told her not to come in the kitchen because there was glass and blood everywhere. Of course she had to look. She did really well, she just kept saying ouch really slow and staring at it. I called Eric and he was still about 20 minutes away. I hobbled to the bathroom and because I think ahead, shaved the bottom portion of my leg because I knew my pant leg would be pulled up and well let's just say it had been a while since I had shaved. While doing that I realized that I could not move my big toe. I though great, knowing I was in for more than just stitches. So I get to the ER and wait and wait. They try to get a hold of a foot doctor and wouldn't you know it, they were all in Des Moines for conferences. So they went ahead and stitched it up and made me an appt for Monday with the foot doc. I am not real excited about this. On Monday, 5 days after the cut healing, they are going to have to take out my stitches and re-open my wound to fix the tendon. So really I have to re-live the experience from Wednesday night. Anyway, after getting home at 1 a.m from the ER I went to bed and had to get up and go to work in the morning because as you read above- I used all my personal time staying home with Jaiden. Below is a picture of my cut after they cleaned it out and waiting for someone to come in to give me stitches. I am so glad Eric thought to take a picture of it.

Jaiden spent the whole evening with us because the neighbors were not home when we left and we do not know (or trust) anyone else to watch her. She was wide eyed and watched the whole thing. She was perfect. When they asked what happened I told them I dropped a casserole dish on it and she pipes in and says "yep no more casseroles in our house", then when they said they would stitch it up she looked and me with big eyes and says "mom, you know there going to use a needle to put stitches in". I am just glad that the weekend is here and I can catch up on my rest. Eric has been wonderful and has cooked and cleaned since it happened. Jaiden thinks from now on I need to wear shoes in the kitchen when I cook and told me I should cook with paper plates from now on too :)

Disney Playhouse Live

2008-10-14T07:23:00.000-07:00

Finally time to post pictures of Disney. I think Jaiden had a good time although her favorite part was the snacks. She had popcorn, nachos and a pop and she wanted more. We had to cut her off.

Sick Day

2008-10-14T06:35:00.001-07:00

I hate it when kids are sick. I picked Jaiden up from daycare at 1:30 yesterday afternoon and she has been sleeping ever since. She says the only thing that hurts is her head. She always says her head hurts when she has a fever and then when she gets a high fever she pukes. So I have no idea what is wrong with her. It is 8:30 a.m. now (and still sleeping) and she had gotten up about 7 times for about 10 minutes each to puke or poop and then says she is tired and going back to bed. Even when she is sick she is a sharp thinker. Since she has had fever I have been trying to keep Tylenol in her. I gave her a dose in one of the 10 minutes "breaks" that she was up and she went to the living room. I walked in and she was laying with her head hanging over the couch upside down and whining that her head hurt so bad. I told her to sit up because laying like that is making it hurt worse. She sat up and looked at me and said how else am I supposed to get the medicine to my head. She went on to inform me that when she takes her medicine it goes to her belly and her belly does not hurt it is her head that hurts and laying like that would make the medicine go to her head :)

Maybe since I am home with her today I can get caught up on housework and get some Disney Live posted.

Popcorn

2008-10-09T19:47:00.000-07:00

We have popcorn probably 3-4 times a week for our evening snack. The whole family loves it, even the cat. When he smells the popcorn popping he comes running. This is the only food that he begs for. I have to make him a pile of his own or he attacks us while we eat it. Tonight he was sound asleep with Jaiden and I popped some and here he came running for his share.

Jaiden's Baby

2008-10-07T18:22:00.000-07:00

Yet another reason why I love this cat. Jaiden can do anything to him and he doesn't care. Here she is treating him like her baby. She put a diaper on him and dressed him up.

Ooops!

2008-10-06T17:51:00.000-07:00

Ooops! Forgot about watering the cat :) This is how the cat tells us he needs water.

For those of you who know me know that I am not a real animal lover. I like animals but they really do get on my nerves. But for some reason I am really getting attached to this little guy.

Band-Aids

2008-10-06T17:23:00.001-07:00

I think every kid goes through the band-aid stage, so it is just natural reaction that when Jaiden says she needs a band-aid I just get her one and don't ask what happened or where she needs it. The other day she said she needed one so I gave her one and a few minutes later I went to check in on her and this is what I found.

I asked her why she had a band-aid on her nose and her words exactly were " The inside of my nose really hurts and the band-aid wouldn't fit inside" she said this did make it feel better. I am sure it did :)

1 Week From Friday

2008-10-02T18:49:00.001-07:00

Next Friday Oct 10 Disney Playhouse Live is coming to Cedar Rapids and we are going. I haven't told Jaiden yet because I want to keep my sanity but she is going to be sooooo excited when we go. She is at the age where when you tell her we are going to do something she likes to know how many minutes until we get to do it and I don't feel like telling her a week's worth of minutes until time. I will probably tell her Thursday evening. This will be her first time to see something like this and I can't wait for her reaction. Jaiden's friend Madison and her mom and dad are going so she will have someone to share the "little kid" excitement with while they watch.

Insane!

2008-09-23T16:07:00.001-07:00

Iowa is stupid in a lot of ways but this one reason right here is one of stupidest. You are looking at a $397 license plate renewal for one year. Yes 1 year! They go by the year of your vehicle and what it cost brand new and somehow figure it up. Now if you have a 9 year old vehicle or older, or any year of truck it is just a $35/year rate. How does that make sense? The cost does go down a little every year but I asked how much it would cost next year and they said only $305. Only! Whatever! We drive a 2004 Tahoe and a 2003 Maxima and paid total $611 to drive them this year. Isn't that insane? Keep in mind we are from Illinois where it is $78/year for whatever you drive. (or it was when we moved away almost 2 years ago) Let me know what you think of this.

Kids Do The Funniest Things

2008-09-18T15:53:00.002-07:00

Since we got the new cat, Jaiden has been in heaven. She has played and played with him. Sometimes he goes and hides (I can't imagine why) from her and she gets so mad when she cannot find him. So tonight she decided to lock him in her room. After I realized what she was doing, I told her she cannot lock him in her room cause if he has to go potty he will poop in her room. She said "that's disgusting" and let him out. I went to check on her later and this is what I found.

She made a sign that means "no cats allowed" and hung it on her door. I thought this was so cute. I couldn't quit laughing. I asked her why she did this and she said "there's not going to be any poop in my room".

Back From Vegas

2008-09-18T15:53:00.001-07:00

Were back! It was so nice to get away. Even though we didn't win a thing we had a lot of fun!

We stayed at Treasure Island

Here are a few snapshots

Me and Jess went to M&M World- It was pretty cool.

And now back to the "real world"

Before Vegas

2008-09-18T15:53:00.000-07:00

The day we left for Vegas we spent some time with Jaiden. Eric helped his dad move a car he has setting in the yard and when they moved it they found tons of snails. That is right up Jaiden's alley. She loved it.

She played with them for hours. She even put them in a container to take home with her but luckily she forgot about them by the time we left. Then she collected pine cones. She thought that was cool but didnt keep her attention for long.

What she really liked doing is playing with Grandmas cat. It is a stray that came to their house when Jaiden was there last and it stayed around. It ended up coming home with us to Iowa.

Me not being an animal lover even fell in love with it. His name is Bat. He has been wonderful so far. Hopefully he keeps it up.

Garage Sale

2008-09-07T17:51:00.001-07:00

As I mentioned in my previous post, I had a garage sale Saturday which was kind of a flop. I forgot about advertising it and when I remembered it was too late. I put up a few signs on roads that leads to my house but it really was a matter of drive by traffic. Anyway, Jaiden had agreed to sell some of her toys that were baby-ish and she was okay with that. In between collecting "corn-nuts" she was pulling stickers off her toys that she did not want to sell and I did not realize this until someone asked how much for one of her toys. Jaiden looked at the lady gave her an evil look and yelled "it's not for sale" and stomped off. WOW! I think I was standing there with my mouth wide open. I apologized to the lady and told her how much it was. For some reason she didn't buy it. Huh? Wonder why? As a matter of fact she didn't buy anything, she just left.

Corn Nuts?????

2008-09-07T17:36:00.001-07:00

For all those who know Jaiden, know that she has always been scared of any kind of insect (she would scream at the top of her lungs if there was a fly around her) until this summer. She has collected roley poly's, ants, caterpillars, etc. all summer long and keeps them in a plastic container until they die, then she "let's them go" . Well Saturday I had a garage sale and she was outside playing all morning long. She said she was collecting corn nuts. I thought to myself what kind of bug is she calling a corn nut but let her continue collecting. Later she said she needed a container for all the corn nuts she collected. I then asked her what a corn nut was and she brought me a handful of rabbit poop. Yes, POOP! I screamed for her to put them down and go wash her hands really really good. She acted like it was no big deal and went in and washed up. I am afraid my little prissy princess is turning into a little tom-boy.

Count Down To Vegas!

2008-09-04T20:00:00.000-07:00

We are leaving for Vegas 1 week from today! We are going with Chris and Jessica Collins and we are so excited. It is going to be so much fun! Hopefully we come back with more $$ than we leave with :) We haven't taken a vacation since we went to Florida with Chris and Jessica the summer of 2006 so we are due for one. Eric has been working non-stop since we moved here a year and a half ago so he is definitely ready for a break. Wish us luck!

WOO-HOO!!!!!

2008-09-02T18:07:00.000-07:00

If anyone around the Newton area heard screams of joy on Sunday, don't worry it was probably just my mother. My little brother Kent got engaged and that means mom can start counting down until he moves out of the house. HA HA! (Kent, you know we just like giving you a hard time) The whole family is so excited! We all love Jessica and we are all so glad she said YES! :)

Love Note

2008-08-22T21:10:00.001-07:00

You know how some husbands (usually not mine) leave little love notes around the house, most of the time they say "love you", "your beautiful" stuff like that. Well tonight when I got home from work I found a little note from my hubby. He left it on the TV stand and here is what it said:

Isn't he quite the romantic?

Our Weekend

2008-08-17T18:28:00.000-07:00

This weekend the Lindemann family came up to see us in Cedar Rapids. Me and Amber have been friends since high school and it was a bit devastating for the both of us when I moved last year. We talked on the phone (average of 10 times a day) and/or saw each other everyday when I lived in Newton. It took some adjusting too when I moved to not have those midnight Wal-Mart trips just because the other didn't want to go by themselves, or the "hey come over and check this out I need your opinion on where this should go" and especially all the sitting at each others house and "venting" when we needed it. Hopefully one of these days we will get to move back closer to home.

Me and Amber went shopping on Saturday and much to our surprise the men kept the kids :)

I am so glad that Eric remembered to take pictures while we were gone.

They played with moon sand.(not sure where RJ was but again the men were watching the kids)

and sidewalk chalk

and the slip n slide

and later that evening we went swimming at their hotel. I forgot my camera but I am sure Amber will be posting some of those pictures on her blog. Thanks again Lindemann's for coming up to see us :)

Gals From Effingham

2008-08-15T23:08:00.000-07:00

For those of you who don't know, Eric has worked for YellowBook for 7 years. He started in 2001 as a telephone sales rep and in 2003 was promoted to a District Sales Manager and in 2007 he was asked to start a new sales team selling internet products. However this did include moving to Cedar Rapids, IA. 6 hours from home. It was a big adjustment for us all. I think the biggest one of all though was not being able to drop Jaiden off at Grandma's whenever. I think we have all adjusted well. Anyway, they have quarterly manager meetings and all of his gals (managers from Effingham) come up for a week and we usually have them over one night that they are here. They are so much fun!

Only this time my friend Jessica got to come along. She was promoted to a manager position a few months ago. Yeah!

Thanks for the great evening girls!