Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Christmas is one holiday I love to decorate for, and now I have a house to decorate, but few decorations! For the past few years Kevin and I haven't gotten a tree, I just spun lights on my fake tree here in the house and hung stockings. Now we have a family, so I went out and got us a tree, just a little one for my little family, but I got to decorate it with all my ornaments from childhood and wedding. I had fun putting everything together, although it only took 30 minutes from start to finish. But Kaeden helped... The tree is super cute, and the cat is leaving it alone, although he stares at the lights from the chair next to it. Our stockings are up, and I found Kaeden the cutest one with penguins on it. All I'm truly missing is some snow - it just never feels like a real Christmas without snow. Any how, here is what our Christmas looks like... We also had Kaeden blessed this last Sunday. Kevin got all spiffied up and Kaeden had the cutest church clothes, and I snuck in my flip cam. I know cameras are not allowed, but I wanted to keep it for posterity, and didn't have time to write it all down so it's the next best thing. I'm sure He'll understand :-) I'll admit I sat in the back hiding behind Kevin because I do fear a kharmic retribution, but it was worth it. I'm so luck to have such good friends in the church to help us out with this special moment.

Latest Love...

I have a new love in my life - RedBox! It is the greatest invention for those of us who love movies but hate the prices. It is a low-budget wonder! For only a dollar I can catch up on all the movies I have missed. I love to go to the theater, but Kevin isn't into it so much and I'm just lazy about going down to Blockbuster. Then when my brother came down to bring baby furniture he introduced me to RedBox, and I've found my heaven. In fact, I think I've found the heaven of my ward as well, as I have run into several ward members in line at the local Box. If you haven't tried it yet, I encourage you to, it's the best!

Back to School

I feel like I've stepped into a lost episode of "Welcome Back Kotter" (hilarious show by the way!). Yesterday was my first day back to school, and everyone was so excited to see me. The teachers were singing and dancing that they didn't have to help keep my kids under control, and the students were yelling and screaming, well, cuz that's what they do! :-) Not really, but they were on their best behavior and working hard all day yesterday. Today however...apparently the honeymoon period is over already...sigh...

Apparently my kids went through 4 substitutes while I was gone. Bothers me only because then my directions and lesson plans got lost in the shuffle, and NONE of the grading got done. I kid you not, my stack of papers to be graded was atleast 6 inches high! I know substitutes generally don't like to do much, but honestly, if you're taking a position for more than a day or two, grading is part and parcel! The kids are really concerned about their grades, which I'm trying to quickly figure out with all these assignments to grade - but don't worry, I'm not buried in work. I threw out everything except the last 2 weeks - I'll have that graded in a few days and back to the kids. The substitutes should have done their jobs and graded, I can't possible do all that work, so it's triage time. We're starting a new chapter next week, so I'm not looking back and doing my best to count down to Christmas Break! (only 11 school days!)

Kevins' playing Mr. Mom with Kaeden, and he's so happy when I get home cuz apparently I have a Momma's boy, he's fussy for Kevin and great for me. I'm so lucky to have a husband home with him during the day, not having to pay an arm and a leg for daycare. We're having him blessed in church this Sunday, and I have the cutest little outfit for Kaeden to wear - I'm excited. Our good friend Scott Thorne is performing the blessing, with a few other gentlemen who have really reached out to us since we've been in the Ward. Plus, I finally get to get Kevin in a suit! He looks so good all dressed up and now he has a place to go :-)

Hooray for Turkey Day!

There's nothing I love more than a whole day dedicated to food. And good food at that. Nothing beats a well cooked turkey with all the trimmings. This year it was just me and my little family, but it was a bit crazy trying to cook and take care of the baby, too. Kaeden doesn't like to be alone in his little pillow - if you are sitting next to him on the couch he's fabulous, but if you get up to leave he starts to fuss. I'd feel better about carrying him around if his little bobble head were a little stronger, so I usually end up sitting next to him on the couch. Getting much done can be a little crazy.

We did manage to dress Kaeden up for his first Thanksgiving, though.

Our turkey day had just our favorites - a smaller turkey, stuffing, gravy, rolls and mashed potatoes. My parents bought me a deluxe potato masher so we had real taters this holiday! Kevin was quite pleased (he's not a fan of the potato pearls we usually have) and he actually was in charge of most of it, so I can't claim more than boiling and serving them. Desert consisted of Boston Creme Pie and Cherry Cheesecake. The pie is cuz that's all they had at Walmart (all out of pumpkin) and the cheesecake is my mom's recipie, and my favorite. Kevin doesn't like the goo that goes around the cherries, hence the pie. All in all, it was a quiet day, but a full one!

Everyday life is a routine, Kevin is up with Kaeden around 6, I follow them around 8, and we spend the day revolving around feedings and diaper changes until 9 at night when we all go to bed. Kaeden already has a schedule at night, 12, 2, 4 respectively. Kevin and I trade off getting up and feeding, but all this is about to change.

I get to go back to work this week...sigh...

Kevin gets to play Mr. Mom while I head back to my students and clean up the mess left by multiple substitutes. I'm dreading what I'll find. I've stopped by my room once already and was appalled at what I saw - papers stacked for grading, desks all over - and I've heard from other teachers that it's been a rough go for the kids with the several subs they've had. But, I've got Christmas Break to look forward to as a reprieve! I hate to leave Kaeden, but I'm itching to get my hands on that messy room and get it back under control!

Hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving as much as we did!

3 Week Update

I can't believe 3 weeks has gone by already. My little man is already beginning to outgrow some of his newborn clothes - craziness! He's such a cutie though. He's started to stay awake for several hours in the afternoons, and he's trying to hold his head up, look around. I'm trying to coax a true smile out of him, but so far no success. However, I have been using my flip cam, recording little tidbits, and here's his 3 week progress report... :-)

Trying Out a Movie

When my parents came to see Kaeden, they brought me a little present - a flip camera. It looks like a still picture camera, but it takes little videos a couple seconds long, which you can then save to your computer or send via email. I've had a blast filming all sorts of stuff, and now I'm gonna try to add it to my blog.

As a test run, you get to see what my dad does on his 'hunting' trips. Before my brother Taury headed off to Army boot camp, he and Dad went out into the mountains, but spent most of their time filming. This is their version of those 'Messin with Sasquatch' commercials...

Happy Halloween

Even without a whole lot of sleep, parenthood is so much fun! My little boy is so precious, I have to share more of him with everyone. My parents have come to town to visit for a week, and it's been so nice to have someone else do the cooking and cleaning :-)



They love being grandparents, and the great grandparents (my grandparents) have come down for the weekend, so we've had a full house for the holidays. It's been great carving pumpkins, eating Grandma Greats' famous spaghetti sauce, and taking tons of pictures.




Kaeden is such a good baby - he's spoiling us as parents. He sleeps most of the day and night away, only waking up for a bottle or new diaper. He's just barely starting to stay awake for an hour or two in the afternoons, but he makes it easy for the time being. Kevin and I swap the night shift - I get the 2 am and 7 am feed and change while Kevin gets the 4 am feeding. I'm going to miss him when he goes to work graveyards :-)





We also had a great little Halloween. Grandma and Grandpa Great (Lesch, my grandparents) dressed up when they came to the house, so we had to get a great shot of them with Kaeden dressed as a pumpkin. We then went to the Trunk or Treat at my church and Kaeden got himself a little basket full of candy for Halloween. He also slept through the whole thing, but Grandpa (my dad) had a great time snapping pics of him all night long.



It's been a great week, I'm sad to see the family go - I'll also miss them doing all the cooking and cleaning. My little family is so cute now, I'm so glad I could have such and angel to add to the next generation :-)