The Family Burns!

Long time....

2011-06-01T20:08:00.000-04:00

Holy long time no post!!

I normally would blog during nap time or after Kylar was in bed. But instead of doing that, I would read blogs in reader. Or skip blogs in reader is more like it! So I decided to unsubscribe to almost all of the blogs!! No offense to anyone, but it was sucking up all my "computer time". And to be honest, it was a little ridiculous to have 1000+ unread blog posts! So, I simplified it! When I logged in during nap time, I had 23 unread blog posts! So much easier!!

So, here's to having a fresh start with blogging!

Wish me luck!

Attack of the crazy birds!!

2011-02-11T15:15:00.000-05:00

Kylar and I left the house today fighting hundreds of birds! And our only weapon was the mighty umbrella!!
Nasty birds!!

Signature due....a photo shoot!

2011-01-21T11:02:00.000-05:00

14 months!!! What!?!?!?!

2010-12-30T23:16:00.000-05:00

First of, I have been a super slacker when it comes to blogging!!! I will TRY and get better at this! Try is the key word!

Kylar B is 14 months today!! Can you believe it?? I sure cannot!!

Here is what is new with the little girl!!
Kylar got a new pediatrician. We were just not happy with her original doctor. He was very concerned about her size and was trying to get me to wean her before she was even a year. So that was the icing on top of the cake. We decided to switch to a pediatrician that shares more of our beliefs. Such as extended breast feeding and a doctor who doesn't rely on antibiotics. I think we needed a more "crunchy" doctor, for lack of better terms. My mom had suggested a while ago to look into finding a holistic doctor. And after a little research, we found one. And we are very happy with her.

Size-
At her last appointment, which was her year check up, Kylar was in the less then 3% for height and weight and less than 5% for head. She is a peanut! And her doctor is not the least bit worried. She can tell Kylar is healthy, just petite! Hopefully she will stay that way. She probably weighs about 17-18lbs now. She is just little. Nothing wrong with that!! Someone has to be the little one!! It just means she will be the one thrown up in the air if she decides she wants to be a cheerleader!
She is in a size 3 or 4 shoe. Depends on the shoe really. And clothes, she is in anything from 9 month up to 18month (usually caused by her fluffy butt).She wears cloth diapers, but when she is in disposable diapers, she is in a 3 (barely).

Food-
Kylar is still nursing 3x a day (morning, mid day, and before bed). She also eats 3 meals a day, plus a snack. And she usually has 2 sippy cups of milk and water through out the day! She is a piggy!! She eats pretty much anything. She loves fruit, pasta, goldfish, hotdogs, oatmeal and anything as long as you put ketchup, bbq sauce or pasta sauce on it. Her favorite might be Pizza Fridays though! She will eat anything on pizza!

Sleep-
Little girl likes her sleep!! She sleeps from 9:30-9:30. And naps from 1:30-3. Like clockwork. But, she is flexible if I ask her nicely to be! If we are out, she will usually be okay til about 2-2:30ish. Then she gets crabby. Our nap routine is she nurses, gets a story and rocks, then she goes in her crib and either goes right to bed or plays then falls asleep. After nap, she is super crabby and needs to hold on to pink bear and snuggle on the couch for a bit. I wonder where she gets that from???
Night time routine is just as simple. She gets a bath, lotion, and vitamins. Then she nurses, gets her teeth brushed and gets a story. Then her Daddy and her rock and say a prayer. Then we both give her kisses and lay her down. Lately she has been listening to the prettiest lullaby c.d. by Jewel (Thanks Grammie and Bumpy)!

Milestones-
Kylar started walking at the beginning of the month. And then all of a sudden she walks like a pro!! No need for assistance or anything!! Not even arms our to keep her balance!! She is started to attempt to run! Silly girl.
She recognizes most of her toys by name, even brand new toys. And she says yeah, mama, dada, cat, lola, up and hi. She waves hi and bye. Blows kisses. Nods yes and no and understands what they mean. She can sign milk, more, all done, please and just recently learned thank you.

Activities-
Kylar is still in gym class and goes to story time. Both are on winter break right now though, but will start up again next week. We are also going to take Mommy and Me yoga class with Benjamin and his Mommy!
She loves to play with dolls and already has a love for the Disney Princesses!! She is starting to get into her crafty side, like her Mommy!! She colors with markers and will try crayons soon too. One of her favorite things to play with right now are her magnets! Santa brought her some magnets and she loves to take them on and off the fridge!

And for your viewing pleasure!

A star upon our tree

2010-11-08T23:24:00.000-05:00

In September, Randy and I have been talking about expanding our little family. We had decided, there was no time like the present. And much to our surprise, our trying to conceive journey was a lot shorter than expected. We found out we were pregnant the end of October. This was supposed to be a happy and exciting time. Filled with telling Kylar what it would be like to be a big sister. Telling our families and friends. Preparing for the arrival of a new little one.

Our excitement was cut short just a few weeks into the pregnancy. On Friday, Nov 5th, I miscarried what would have been are second child. I went in for regular blood work and my doctor called with the results. I could tell by the tone of her voice it was not good. My HCG level was not doubling like it should. She felt the pregnancy would not last. She wanted to re-test that following week to double check, but said it didn't look good. That next morning is when we lost the baby.

We have gone through a lot of emotions the past few days. We were mad, sad, confused, hurt. You name it. We do not understand why we got pregnant just to have that little baby taken away from us. Why was this happening? What did we do? What could I have done to prevent it? And since the baby was not "technically" a baby, would would happen? Would the baby go to heaven? When we go there, will we know the baby? Will the baby know us? Or is the baby just gone?

After a lot of heart breaking conversations, we have come to a bit of a peace about it. I know in my heart this little baby would have been a boy. I just had a feeling. We believe that he was taken from us because he was either going to have something wrong and would suffer or b/c God has greater plans for him. We know that he is in a place where he will not suffer or feel any pain. We know that is he taken care of. And we believe that he is in heaven. And that we will one day meet our little boy. We also know that Kylar will always have her little brother watching over her. Our little angel baby is going something greater than he could have done here on Earth. And knowing that, we were able to come to peace with the loss of our baby.

While, we want to grieve and continue on, we also do not to forget our baby that was taken too soon. We will tell Kylar and any future children we have about their brother in heaven. And we will let them know that he is always there watching over us. We decided that to honor our lost family member, we are going to get an ornament for our Christmas tree. Randy said we should get blue since I feel he was a boy. He also suggested something simple, like a star. So we will be looking for a blue star ornament to remember our baby. He will forever be a star upon our tree.

A year in the making!!

2010-11-03T17:30:00.000-04:00

I cannot believe our little chinchilla is a whole year old!! She is such a sweet little girl!!

We celebrated her birthday with a party in Chicago and a party in Louisville. And on her actual birthday, just the 3 of us spent the day together!

We decided to go up to Hubers. We left pretty early to head up there. Kylar loved it!! There were little goats roaming around!! She loved them. She laughed hysterically whenever they came by her.

Then we went on a wagon ride around the farm, played on the swing set and rode a little tractor. We ended up having lunch at the restaurant they have up there. It was so good!! We had ham, fried chicken, green beans, corn, mashed potatoes, chicken and dumblings and rolls with apple butter! It was so good! Kylar even ate her fair share!!

Before we headed out we picked out a pumpkin to carve later that night. Then made the drive back home. And Kylar fell asleep in the car (Thank goodness, b/c she missed her morning nap).

We opened presents and Kylar played and I made dinner. One of Kylar's favorite things to eat is pancakes! She loves them! So we had pancakes and bananas for dinner! She was in 1 year old food heaven!

After dinner we carved the pumpkin then continued on with our regular nightly routine! It was a great day! A perfect way to celebrate the first year of Kylar's life!!! All night long I kept telling Randy how much fun I had and thanking him for such a great day! It was amazing!

Pictures from all her birthday festivities are on shutterfly.

11 MONTHS!!

2010-09-30T23:56:00.000-04:00

That means in only 1 month Kylar B. will be 1 year old!! This is crazy to me!!!

Baby girl is getting big. She walks around the house with her push toys! She will not walk by herself yet. But when she uses those toys, boy she sure knows what she is doing!! She can fly through the house!! Crazy girl!!

Here is what is going on in her world:
She eats 3 meals a day, 1 snack and nurses 4-6times a day. Depends on her mood!
She loves stories and book!
She likes art projects.
Every animal is Lola! Wowa! Wowa!!
Loves to give kissers.
Takes either two 30 minute naps or 1 hr long nap.
She is soooo close to walking.

She loves to play peek-a-boo and "I'm gonna get you!" but instead of running away, she crawls towards me laughing.
She has 5 teeth!! And 1 about to poke through!

She is just a bundle of energy and joy! She gets so excited and scurries to the door as soon as she hears her Daddy pull in the drive way.

As much as it makes me sad to see her grow up, I cannot wait to see what the next stage in her life brings.

The longest 45 minutes!

2010-09-22T14:05:00.000-04:00

The past week, my sweet baby girl has been replaced with this!

She has been attacked by the horrible Tooth Monster!! Why do babies need to get attacked by the Tooth Monster in order to meet these people?

But anyway. The past week, the only way Kylar will nap is if she is in my arms! Talk about going back to bad....bad....BAD habits!! So after 3 days, I finally decided she is going to have to figure this whole sleep thing out again. Last night, we let her cry in her crib for 15 minutes, then she was out. Today for her nap was a whole other story!!

She was in her room crying for 10 minutes. I almost went in there. Then figured last night took about 15. I better wait...
10 turned to 15. Still crying....
Turned to 20. Still crying....
Turned to 25. Still crying....
Turned to 30. Quiet with sporadic screaming for a few minutes.
Turned to 40. More quietly whining.
Turned to 45....
SILENCE!!!!

She finally fell asleep!! Poor sweet little girl!! Hopefully these 4 teeth will come in soon! I know she hates this more than me!
I love you, Kylar B. But please, PLEASE learn to go to sleep on your own again!!! Remember...

You used to be such a good sleeper!

10 Months!!!

2010-08-31T22:49:00.000-04:00

I cannot believe this little baby is now 10 months old!! Wow the time has flown!!

She is a big bundle of energy now!

Here is what is going on in her 10 month old life!
-Weighs 16lbs and is 27 inches long!! She is an itty bitty!
-She has 2 pearly white teeth
-She LOVES to snort and show off her gummy smile!!
-She likes a dash of hot sauce with her dinner!
-She crawls, pulls up and can walk with assistance, nothing solo yet.
-Words she can say: Hi, Mama, Dada, Lola
-She recognizes both dogs, by name.
-She waves at anyone that walks by.
-She gives hugs and kissers. And will imitate kissy noises!
-She loves her baths and water in general.
-She enjoys play dates with her friends and gym class.
-If you ask her to share, she will give you whatever toy she has in her hand. Then waits for you to share back.
-Words she recognizes: Book, her name and nicknames (Ky-Ky, Chinchilla), hi, bye, come here, uppie, cheerios, I am sure there are more, but those are the main ones.

She is just goofy and sweet. She makes us laugh and smile every day. Her latest bit of silliness is when we sign "milk" she laughs hysterically and will crawl frantically to get to the "milk makers"! She LOVES Wiley's bed and insists on stealing it from him and doing face plants into it. This is an all day every day occurrence!!

She seems to learn something new everyday. I cannot wait to see what the next 2 months bring! She is such a good sweet baby. We are very lucky to have gotten such a sweetheart.

Looking for!!

2010-08-25T20:04:00.002-04:00

An antique wood high chair!!
If anyone sees one at a yard sale or antique store, please let me know!
Thanks!

Amazingly Green

2010-08-22T00:07:00.000-04:00

Ever since I have known Randy, he has talked about "going green". We have done a few things through the years to greenify our lives. We have gotten rid of most paper kitchen products, chemicals, we recycle like no other, and we re-use as much as we can. We have even been starting to buy more local foods.

Since this little bitty came along, we have tried even harder to eliminate our carbon foot print as much as possible. We make our own wipes, cloth diaper and try to feed her as much local organic food as we can. We do occasionally buy jarred organic baby food (mainly when we are going to be out for dinner or traveling), but I primarily make it all or feed her what we are eating. And I will be re-purposing all her used jars soon.

Our next stop on "Project Go-Green" is to start a compost pile. The hardest part about starting this, is getting over our cheapness and buying a bin. Once we suck it up, we will be ready to go. We have to do it soon. Considering fall is approaching and we can use the leaves to start our pile. And we already have a small compost bin for the kitchen to throw fruit, veggies and egg shells in. Once that gets full, we will need a place to put it.

But, the main reason I decided to write about going green is because today, Randy was like a kid in a candy shop in the local store, Amazingly Green Planet. This week, Amazingly Green ran an ad on LivingSocial. Which is very similar to Groupon. The special was for $12 you get $30 worth of merchandise. Normally, when I buy extra stuff, I like to run it past Randy. Not this time!! I wanted to buy this and surprise him that night. He was very excited! We had to run a few errands this morning, so we decided to add a trip to Amazingly Green Planet onto the agenda. We got there and Randy was looking at EVERYTHING!! Composters, cleaning products, kitchen products, skin products, toys, diapers, candles, incense, you name it!! He kept having me look at stuff. I had to keep reminding him that this was for HIM. In the end, he decided on some reusable bags for his lunches (Guitars and penguins :) Him and Kylar have a special thing for penguins!) and the kitchen compost thing I mentioned above. I just wish I would have bought more than one special!! Randy could have spend all our money there! He was so cute!! Seeing him so excited made me fall in love with him a little more.

Kylar and her Daddy bonding over penguins (hence the penguin baggie)!

WW-Look what I found in Mommy's diaper bag!!

2010-08-18T17:27:00.000-04:00

Team 409!!

2010-08-18T17:09:00.000-04:00

Last week, my friend Amy was in town for work from Atlanta. We decided to meet for dinner Friday night. Well, actually her work decided for us! Friday was their "free night" with not a lot of stuff scheduled. So, we figured it would be a perfect time to meet and have dinner!

Amy is just as sweet in person as she is online. Kylar loved her!!

Amy was staying downtown, so Randy was able to meet us after he got off work. We went to The Pub on 4th Street!

We were sad Amy was only going to be around for a short time!! We hope she has to come back to Louisville soon!!

Thanks for the visit, Amy!!! It was so nice to finally "meet" you!! We hope you come back soon!!

Farmer's Market!!

2010-08-03T22:59:00.001-04:00

For the past couple weeks we have been going to the St. Matthew's Farmer's Market. Despite the hot weather, we have really enjoyed it.

We do not really get much while we are there. Mainly peaches and green tomatoes. The peaches are soooo good. The juice just explodes in your mouth when you take a bite!! Yum!

This week we decided to get some flowers for the house. They had the biggest, prettiest sunflowers. And what I thought were cattails, were actually a purple majesty. I think Kylar liked the flowers too.

They have a local musician playing at the market as well. Randy kept making comments about the songs. So he and Kylar decided to check him out a little closer.

His name is Justin Lewis. He played a lot of cover songs, but he also has a few of his own.

Kylar was mesmerized by him. She couldn't stop staring!!

They liked him so much, they decided to give him a little tip!

It was a great day at the Farmer's Market! We have been enjoying fresh peaches and baked green tomatoes all week!! And some beautiful flowers on the kitchen table!!

Wordless Wednesday!!-Lazy Eater!!

2010-07-28T17:04:00.000-04:00

Sorry- Adding some words. We did not try soon enough to have her hold her own bottle, now she refuses to do so! Silly girl. Oh well, she takes her sippy cup just fine!

Wordless Wednesday!!

2010-07-21T15:41:00.000-04:00

Pablo Picasso, eat your heart out!!

2010-07-14T23:29:00.000-04:00

I am not the most talented person when it comes to crafts, but I do my best and I really enjoy it. And I cannot wait for the day that I can sit down and make crafts with Kylar. So, of course I decided to try something a little early.

I subscribe to a website called Productive Parenting. They send me an email every day with an activity to do with Kylar based on her age. One day last week the email said to get some washable paint and let her paint on the sidewalk. I thought that was a fun idea, but I decided to change it up a bit b/c I wanted a reminder of her painting!

We bought some washable paint and went to work!

She was a little unsure at first!

But then she literally dove right in!

Admiring her masterpiece!!

Oh!! So Pretty!!

But it needs a little something!!

She was finally satisfied with the work of art!!

Such a proud little artist!

And this is why we used a disposable diaper!!

I am one proud Mommy!! I have a little crafting buddy!!

Daddy is proud too!!

And where is this work of art you ask?? Hanging proudly on the kitchen wall!!

Wordless Wednesday!!

2010-07-14T20:06:00.000-04:00

Brush ah, Brush ah, Brush ah!!

2010-07-12T11:51:00.000-04:00

What happens when you get one of these?? Look closely.....

You have to start using these....

And let me tell you, it is NOT very easy!!

Maybe Daddy should give it a try!!

Nah! I want to do it by MYSELF!

Wordless Wednesday!!

2010-07-06T22:31:00.000-04:00

Wordless Wednesday!- Beets, round 2!

2010-06-23T22:10:00.000-04:00

Ready, Set, GO!!!

2010-06-17T22:35:00.000-04:00

We officially have a crawler on our hands! Kylar has been working up to a crawl for a long time coming! She has the strength, she just has never had the will and determination! She would scoot on her belly and pull herself with her arms for a few feet, but not swift like a cat! Until today!! Kylar took off like a bat out of hell after, no other than, Wiley's tail!!! Poor guy!! Those poor dogs don't stand a chance!!

Wordless Wednesday- Day at the pool!

2010-06-16T22:03:00.000-04:00

Top Dog! Dollar Dog!

2010-06-16T21:24:00.000-04:00

We just realized we never posted about how Kylar did with her first year of Derby Day horse betting!! So, here it is!

Of course she did not have the money yet to place her own bets, so we made a deal with her. She had to pick the horses and we would pay for her bets and she would get whatever winnings she got. She didn't even have to pay us back the cost of her original bets. Lucky girl!! So we stayed up a little late the Friday before Derby picking out all our picks for the following day.

We headed over to Bill and Evelyn's for a small Derby get together! Kylar was, of course, dressed to impressed!!

We placed all our bets for the day. Kylar had a fairly good day. She even picked a horse that won her $15! On one pick!! All in all, she came out with $35!!

We decided to take her winning to the bank and open up Dollar Dog account for her. She got a certificate, pencil, coin collection folder and even a stuffed Dollar Dog!!

Little girl certainly came out ahead on Derby Day!!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-06-10T00:45:00.000-04:00

5 question Friday!

2010-06-03T22:33:00.000-04:00

Don't forget to link back to Five Crooked Halos if you want to participate in 5 question Friday!

1. If you could go back to college would you change your major? Or, if you were to go to college right now...what major would you choose?

Considering I regret going to school.... I would go back in time and not go to college. But, to answer the question, I guess I would have gotten a degree in some sort of child development program.

2. What do you love most about your home?

I love the people and animals in it. Cheesy....I know. But I am not a big fan of our house.

3. What types of books do you like to read (if you like to read at all)?

I like to read cheesy romantic comedy books. Like beach reads. I also like to read biographies. Although I have not read one in a while. I read a few on Marilyn Monroe and one on Cary Grant. I should start that up again.

4. What is the grossest thing you've ever eaten?

I do not even know what it was, but it was this nasty sauce that we used to make chicken. It was some sort of Asian sauce. It was horrible. It had a licorice taste or something. I don't remember. There were these little round seeds of nastiness. It was so nasty we threw it away. Ugh!! Just thinking of it makes me want to gag!! I wish I new what it was so I know to NEVER buy it again. :BARF:

5. If you HAD to be a character on a TV show, whom would you be?

Winnie Cooper!! I loved The Wonder Years. I loved Kevin! And I thought Winnie was so pretty. I wish I was jumping up and down on Kevin's bed when he was sick and seeing him in his tighty whities! I wish I got my first kiss from Kevin in the woods! I wish I went to a make out party with Kevin!! I wish Kevin climbed through my window and told me he loved me! I loved Kevin Arnold!

WW-Get me out of here!!

2010-06-02T15:47:00.000-04:00

5QF

2010-05-28T09:42:00.000-04:00

1. Is there something you've always wanted to try but just can't muster up the courage to actually do yet?

I would love to snorkel. It is not that I cannot muster up the courage. It was one of the things I originally wanted to do on our honeymoon. But, I found out I was pregnant. So we decided against that.

I think it would be fun to sky dive, but I think I would pee myself! I will leave the skydiving up to Collin!

2. If you had $100 handed to you in cash without your significant other knowing about it, what would you spend it on?

Considering his birthday and father's day are coming up, I would probably get the rest of his gift taken care of. There are a few more things I decided I want to get him. So, I would use that. Then whatever is left over would probably go towards something for Kylar.

3. What was your favorite piece of playground equipment as a child?

I always liked the swings. I loved swinging.

4. Do you prefer a sweet or hearty breakfast?

Lately we have been having Kashi granola bars. And I just switched to raisin bread. But I love pancakes, waffles, french toast, eggs, etc. I LOVE breaskfast food. I just don't like the getting up early to have it. So, I guess, I like hearty breakfast better.

5. Are you a Neat Freak or a Messy Bessy?

Messy Bessy trying to convert to a neater person.

I am getting better. The clutter just seems to never go away no matter how hard we try!! :sigh:

Wordless Wednesday-Late!

2010-05-26T23:45:00.000-04:00

Wordless Wednesday-Here fishy fishy! (Aquarium trip)

2010-05-19T17:36:00.000-04:00

She was taking it all in and checking out all the animals!! She liked the penguins the best!!

And just because!!

5QF

2010-05-13T22:54:00.000-04:00

Don't forget to link back to Five Crooked Halos if you want to participate in 5 question Friday!

1. Take your pick...date night, girls night out, or night out alone?

Date night. Hands down. We have not had a date night in a long time. And by date night, I mean just Randy and I. Not that I mind. I like taking Kylar with us. It will be easier when she is one when I am not nursing anymore.

2. Can you touch your nose with your tongue?

Nope. But it gets high enough to where I get saliva all over my upper lip. Yuck.

Randy cannot do it either.

3. What is your favorite flower and why?

I love Daisies. Gerber to be exact. But I also love the small white daisies! So pretty. I had gerbers in my wedding bouquet. I do not have a specific reason other than so pretty and so simple.

4. If you could go back in time, what advice would you give yourself?

Go with your gut and don't second guess that filling. The only things that I can honestly say I wish I could change are things that my gut told me to do something else.

I had a gut wrenching feeling to not go to college the night before I left. Yeah. Should have listened to that one.

Horses!!! I also 2nd guess my horse bet! Or don't bet high enough when I have that "feeling". Umm....Hello?!?!?! Mine That Bird????

5. If you won the lottery, what is the very first thing you would do?

Depends on how much. If it was enough to pay off a good chunk of debt, I would do that. Then go from there. Here are a few of the things I would do with an unlimited amount of lottery money"

-Pay off debt

-buy new cars

-Buy a new house

-go on vacation

-Travel!

If it was just a small amount, enough to have fun with:

-Get a kick butt playhouse for baby girl

-Bed set! A new comforter, sheets, accessories, the works!!

-Tickets to a Vikings/Bears game and a few other sports events for Randy to go to.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-05-12T14:42:00.000-04:00

Lemonade face!! After a couple tastes she liked it!

Wordless Wednesday- The original kids

2010-05-05T11:02:00.000-04:00

Talk Derby to Me!!!

2010-05-03T17:21:00.000-04:00

Saturday was the 136th Kentucky Derby!! And of course, Kylar's 1st Derby!! We had to make it big and memorable for us her! We placed some bets and Kylar got dressed up in her very own Derby hat!!

This:

Turned to this in a matter of hours!!

And here is the photo-op

6 months!!

2010-05-03T16:23:00.000-04:00

Kylar is officially 6 months old. Here is what is going on in her life!!!

* 13.9 lbs, 24 1/4 inches (10th percentile)
* Still sleeps through the night (9:30-7ish eats then sleeps til 9:30)
* Loves her jumperoo
* Takes swim lessons
* Nurses 4-5x a day and eats yogurt in the morning and oatmeal, fruit and veggies in the evening
* Sits up all by herself. And if she can reach something she will pull herself up to sit.
* She talks up a storm
* Loves animals
* Loves to get stories read to her.
* She uses her cuteness!! She knows she is cute and turns it on and off depending on what she wants!! haha!
* close to crawling. She can get all around her crib!!!

There is a ton more that she loves to do, but that is what stands out the most. She is such a sweetie!! Here Daddy and I love her very much!!

5QF

2010-04-30T13:47:00.000-04:00

Don't forget to link back to Five Crooked Halos if you want to participate in 5 question Friday!

1. If you could, would you go back to high school?
Part of me says yes so I could relive some things and change others. But mostly I say no. I think that everything happens for a reason and everything that happened led me to where I am now. If I did 1 thing differently in high school, would I have ended up in Kentucky, married to Randy with a beautiful baby girl?? I would never want to risk that to change one thing from my past.

2. If a genie appeared and granted you two wishes, what would they be? (And, no saying "more wishes".)
1- To slow down time.
2- A huge furnished house with no mortgage :)

3. What kids show do you secretly like?
I like Curious George. But that doesn't count b/c I have liked Curious George since I was a kid. But I am going with it anyway. Ask me again in 3 years and I will probably say something that Kylar will make me watch!!

4. What is your beverage of choice?
Lately, La Croix grapfruit water. Yummy!!!
And I love gin and lemonade in the summer. But also won't pass on an ice cold beer on a hot summer day.

5. What is something that you would change about yourself (or are working to change in yourself)?
Time management!! We are always late!! And I always seem to run out of time during the day! ALWAYS!!!

Wordless Wednesday- Daddy Daughter time!

2010-04-28T14:03:00.000-04:00

5 question Friday!

2010-04-23T08:00:00.001-04:00

Don't forget to link back to Five Crooked Halos if you want to participate in 5 question Friday!

1. What was the first car you owned?

My first car was a Chevy Cavalier. I have no clue what year it was.

2. What song are you embarrassed to know the lyrics to?

Hmmmm.....I guess maybe Barbi girl.

I'm a Barbie girl.

In a Barbie world.

Life in plastic. it's fantastic.

You can brush my hair.

Undress me everywhere,

Imagination. life is your creation!

Come on Barbie lets go party.

Ahh ha ha yeah.

Come on Barbie lets go party

oh ah oh ah

3. Have you ever had stitches?

In my gums when I got my wisdom teeth removed.

And in my "unmentionables" after I had Kylar.

4. What was your first job?

Besides babysitting, my first job was Papa Johns. I made pizza, answered phones, took orders and even hung door hangers.

5. Who is your favorite Sesame Street character?

Ernie!!! I liked him, And when he sung about his rubber duckie!!

Wordless Wednesday!!

2010-04-21T00:08:00.000-04:00

The Pokey Little Puppy!

2010-04-20T13:42:00.000-04:00

On Saturday Randy, Kylar, Mom and I met up with Katie and her boys at the Lake County Museum and went to the Golden Book Exhibit. It was so much fun.

The first area you walk through is a small gallery of some of the art work from the original books. A lot of the books I have not even heard of. It was really neat. I really like the way the old cartoon artwork looks. I like that it is hand made. Not all these computer graphics that have taken over! I unfortunately did not take any pics of the art. I should have. There was this one that had a baby with blonde hair and blue eyes. I think the baby looked like Kylar :)

After the art work, you come to this large open area. There were little "areas" dedicated to a bunch of different books.

There was a large puppy from The Pokey Little Puppy!! You could push a button and he would say part of the story. Kylar loved him. She just stared at him when he talked.

There was a dump truck you can slide down. I guess the book is called, "The happy man and his dump truck." At least that is what the wall said above the truck!

The next area we went to was "The Red Lemon" They had bean bags covered in lemons and you had to find the red lemon. It was a lot harder than it sounds. There was a lot of bean bags!! And while in there, Joey stole a little snuggle time with Kylar!!

Where was Josh, you ask???
He was a little preoccupied!!

While he played with the "choo choos", we made our way to the next room! It was an "Exploratory" room. It had nothing to do with the Golden Books, but it was still fun.

Next we went to a chalkboard room for the book, "The coloring Kittens". I don't know why I didn't get a picture, but, Joey wrote his name on the chalk board. And I wrote Kylar's name. Then I wrote "loves" between their names. It said, "Kylar loves Joey". Joey smiled. Then I added arrows to switch it to say, "Joey loves Kylar." Joey smiled, said yes, and ran away!!! Haha!! I love those little boys!!

And where was Josh???

Finally we were able to get Josh away from the trains. He played with the puppy for about....2.7 seconds!!

Then, the boys headed back to......

THE TRAINS!!! haha.

While they did that, we tried to get a picture of Kylar in the "I can Fly" area. That did not happen! This is what he got instead!

Then Kylar decided to join the boys at the train table!

It was a great day. Kylar got to spend some time with her Grammie and Katie, Josh and Joey!! It was a lot of fun!!

5 question Friday!

2010-04-16T08:00:00.001-04:00

Don't forget to link back to Five Crooked Halos if you want to participate in 5 question Friday!

1. What words do you use on your blog/online that you don't use in real life?

I will use abbreviations online that I would not use in person. Primarily "lol". But for the most part, I type exactly how I would say it.

2. Do you still write checks?

Only a few. Mainly to the student loan place that cannot properly figure out how to take automatic payments!!

3. Who was your favorite President and why?

I liked learning about the Civil War, so I am going to go with Abe Lincoln. No specific reason other than I found it interesting in school.

4. Are you a yeller?

I try not to be, but sometimes I have to yell to be heard. And sometimes, says Randy, I yell when he does something I REALLY, REALLY don't like!

5. Have you ever dumpster dived?

Literally....no.

But I have been junking. We used to with my dad when we were younger. I don't know if we ever got anything. And I know people have definitely been junking at my parents house.

I think I need to take Randy and Kylar for a trip junking!! I seriously doubt Randy has ever been junking. lol.

Easter!! Picture heavy

2010-04-15T12:52:00.000-04:00

I mentioned that we colored eggs for Easter. But what I did not mention was the Easter Bunny came and hid the eggs for Kylar and her Daddy to find!! Can you believe Randy doesn't remember ever doing an egg hunt!! That made me a little sad bc I have years of Easter Egg hunts that I remember. I even poured out my soul and told Randy that every year the 3 of us would be looking for eggs, always inside, and I would ALWAYS pout and give up b/c Marin and Collin would find all the eggs! It was so unfair! They had to cheat!

But anyways! So, Randy and Kylar shared their first ever egg hunts together!! I, of course, got inventory from the Easter Bunny so I knew where the eggs were!! Wouldn't want to lose one and find a spoiled egg a few months later!! But before we did that, we had to see what the Easter bunny brought in our baskets!!

After our egg hunt, we went over to Mimi and B.B's for Easter lunch. We brought dessert!!

There are a ton more pictures that I will be adding to shutterfly later today. The link is on the right if you need it.

5 question Friday!

2010-04-09T08:00:00.002-04:00

Don't forget to link back to Five Crooked Halos if you want to participate in 5 question Friday!

1. Who would you want to play you in a movie of your life?

Just since my sister in law said this at Easter, I am going to say Kate Hudson. We were talking about favorite movies and one of mine is How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. And Mandy said that I remind her of Kate Hudson. I thought she meant just in that movie b/c I have been told that a few times. I guess I have some ~~annoying~~ charming and quirky habits!

But, no, she said in general. So, I am sticking to what she said:

Kate Hudson.

2. Did you ever go to summer camp?

I worked at a summer camp, but I never went to camp myself. We did do small camp type things through the park district. Like sports camp, arts and crafts, bowling etc.

Speaking of....

When we were in bowling league, I got my finger stuck in a bowling ball!!! I was putting my fingers in and out of all the holes and all of a sudden it got stuck!!!! I tried pulling it out. That didn't work. I remember freaking out and running down to the lane Marin was at. I guess for some reason I though she could help. I mean, she is my older sister! Of course SHE would have the answer!

{You would think I learned my lesson when she tricked me into jumping off the bed and almost breaking my tail bone!!!}

But no, she did not have the answer, but she got the answer for me. We went up to the front to ask for help. They brought me to the kitchen and soaked my hand AND THE BOWLING BALL in the sink!!! Well, it worked. And I still get made fun of about this! And I am sure I just gave Marin and Collin a good laugh as they get to re-live that moment!

Ok, back on track!

3. What sends you running and screaming in the other direction?

See #2 on this 5QF

4. What is something you do that drives your spouse nuts?

Ugh!!! Can you believe he just said, "Wow!! How do I pick just one!?!"

Nothing!! I am perfect in his eyes!!!

But, I guess he would say.....

I criticize his driving! But it is really not criticizing. All I do is tell him I am getting anxiety. Like when he speeds up to like 70mph when the speed limit is 55 and there is a car going 55 not too far ahead of us!! Ugh!!! Makes my blood boil!

You do not know what everyone else is going to do. That person may have faulty brake lights and actually braking but we can't tell. Then it is too late to react and BAM!! Collision city!!!

5. What is currently your favorite song?

Train-Hey, Soul Sister is a top song of mine right now.

And right after that would be

Imma be by the Blackeyed Peas. I love all their songs though!!

1 year Anniversary plus egg decorating!

2010-04-07T16:10:00.000-04:00

Sunday was mine and Randy's 1 year anniversary. It happened to fall on Easter Sunday. So we decided to go out to dinner to celebrate the night before. We went to this place called North End Cafe. I had curry chicken and Randy had chicken enchiladas. It was pretty good. Not sure if we will go back to that place again, but it was a nice change from eating in every night.
And when we got home, Kylar had her dinner of peas!! Little girl likes peas! I am not a fan, so she got that nasty taste from her daddy!!

Unfortunately, our leftover cake from the wedding was nasty, freezer burnt and disgusting. But before we even tasted it, I decided to get somewhat of a replica made from the bakery! So, we still got to have yummy cake to celebrate our marriage!

Since we went out to dinner, we were a little late on our normal night time routine. So, unfortunately, Kylar did not get to decorate eggs with us. But, we made sure to get some pictures to show her.

I wonder what will happen to these colored eggs???

Wordless Wednesday- Playing with Daddy!

2010-04-07T15:27:00.000-04:00

5 question Friday!

2010-04-02T20:54:00.000-04:00

Don't forget to link back to Five Crooked Halos if you want to participate in 5 question Friday!

1. Do you sing out loud in the car when you're driving?

Absolutely!!! Especially when I am on the phone with Randy. I also like to dance to it! When I was pregnant, I LOVED to dance to Boom Boom Pow by the Black Eyed Peas! I love that song.

2. What would you never be caught doing?

Squatting to pee outside!! I cannot stand when people do that!! Ugh! Wait til you get to a toilet! You would not EVER see me doing that!! I would rather pee myself!!

3. Will you go #2 in a public restroom?

Well, I would definitely NOT squat outside, so yeah. If I am not home, and HAVE to go, sure. But I prefer to go at home!!

4. Have you ever broken a bone?

Nope! I bruised my tailbone though. When I was like 4 and it still bothers me! UGH!

5. Do you prefer cooking or baking?

Cooking. By far! Randy says b/c I don't like to measure. I also do not like having to get all sorts of crap out to bake with, then have to put it away! When I cook, I will just throw it in whatever I am making. Easy cleanup!

Challenge complete!!

2010-04-01T12:33:00.000-04:00

We successfully completed our challenge to not go out to eat all month long!! That is 31 days of cooking meals and eating in! And let me just say, it was not that bad. We planned our meals for the week and we stuck to it!

Here is how we ended our month!

Monday- Wraps with leftover enchilada meat and roasted balsamic asparagus
Tuesday- Tamales and salad
Wednesday- Buffalo-Ranch chicken sandwiches, mac and cheese and cucumber tomato salad.

Our new challenge is to not eat any fast food!! We figured we went a month without it. It cannot be that hard! Randy said last night, as long as we do not have it "just once" we will be fine. B/c once we have it once, it will become a habit again. And, he is probably right.

So, after a month of eating in, what has changed??
-We saved a lot of money.
-Ate better
-Lost a little weight
-Spent more time at home
-Kylar starting eating dinner with us

Our goal after all this:
Only go out to eat once a month (Not including family birthdays out).

Wordless Wednesday- Lions and Tigers and Elephants! Oh My!

2010-03-31T10:05:00.000-04:00

He was napping in the sun! Most be nice!!

This guy fell asleep, on video! His head swayed then....OUT!

The daddy was playing with the baby!

Mommy Baby Class!!

2010-03-26T15:57:00.000-04:00

We had our first ever baby gym class today! It was a lot of fun! And Kylar liked it too!! It was just Kylar and one other little girl. The class is very new, so the instructor is not charging until he gets 4 kids enrolled!! So that was super good news!
Back to the class! I was a little nervous b/c Kylar is normally napping at this time, so I was not sure how she would do. But she behaved like such a big girl. It was very new to her. We have never done any classes or story times or anything yet. So she was a little bashful at first, but she got over that fast.

We started class off with some circle time exercises. We sang songs and stretched. Then we danced a little. We danced and "Popped" to Pop Goes the Weasel. But it was not the version of the song that I remember growing up. This one did not have a mulberry bush??!!?? After that, we did some tummy time. Then it was "free time". We were told to take our baby and explore and play. There were slides, trampolines, balance beams, balls, mats, EVERYTHING!! And we of course had to try everything. Especially the trampoline, which Kylar loved!!!

Then the instructor said it was time for a ride! So, in she went intp the sled and she got a ride around the gym!

Next we got to roll on this big tube thing! Forward, back, forward, back! Well, the computer is being screwbally!! So, we only have forward pics! Hopefully I can get the others uploaded later!

Then, we played in the balls. Yucky I know!! But I sanitized her afterward!!

Then, we ended class with a few more songs and a story! It was so much fun and we cannot wait to go back next week!!

I won a giveaway!! I won a giveaway!!

2010-03-26T15:34:00.000-04:00

I won a giveaway from Katie at Cleared for Takeoff. She tried out beige nail polish and she loved it, so she decided to give some away! And who was the lucky winner?? That is right, yours truly! I have not tried it out yet. But here it is.

Thanks Katie!! I cannot wait to paint my nails this weekend!

5QF

2010-03-26T08:18:00.001-04:00

Don't forget to link back to Five Crooked Halos if you want to participate in 5 question Friday!

1. Did you pass your driver's test on the first try?

I did not even have to take the driver's test. I got a good enough grade in driver's ed to get a waiver and my birthday wasn't called for a driving test. So, I lucked out.

2. What is your most embarrassing moment?

Ugh!! I cannot believe I am about to tell this on the internet....oh well!! Most people that read this already have heard about this. So....here is goes!

We went to a haunted house with some friends. It was at Waverly Hills, which was on old TB hospital here in Louisville that is haunted. So, they use that as the theme of their haunted house, there are dead patients, nurses, etc. As we were going through the haunted house, I was holding Randy's hand. I turned around at one point to say something to him. And.....IT WAS NOT HIM!!!!!! It was some dead zombie nurse or something!! I screamed and ran......and peed myself! Yeah, that totally sucked!

3. What TV show would you like to be on- Oprah, Biggest Loser, or What Not to Wear?

Definitely What Not to Wear!! I would love a new wardrobe!! If someone wants to nominate me, they are more than welcome! I would not be offended at all.

4. Would you ever get plastic surgery and what kind?

If it was free, I would get some lipo, or a tummy tuck to get rid of some of this post baby mushiness. But, I would never pay for something like that.

5. What are your favorite jeans to wear?

I do not have a favorite pair of jeans. None of my jeans seem to fit me too well right now. They are either too big or too small. I cannot find a good fitting pair of jeans for the life of me!!! It is really beginning to become a thorn in my side.

Wordless Wednesday!!-Best Buds!

2010-03-24T16:29:00.000-04:00

Kylar loved playing the Paul, Abbey and her buddy Wes!!

The Challenge-Coming to an end!

2010-03-23T15:48:00.001-04:00

A little over a week left in our challenge. And no cheating on either part. Whoohoo for us!!

We have tried 2 new recipes just in the past week. We had Honey Lime enchiladas. And let me just say....YUMMY!!! They were so good. Next time I need to get a spicier enchilada sauce. We just used Kroger brand, but I am sure if I look, I can find something with more of a kick. And the left over meat was really good in a wrap. I am even making it again this weekend when my parents come into town.
And last night we had this sausage and pasta dish that was on a Johnsonville coupon. It was sausage, onion, tomato, broccoli tossed with pasta. It was good. But I think it needed a little more of a kick to it. The sausage was spicy, but that is it. Maybe next time I will saute the onions and garlic with some crusted red pepper flakes or something.

The rest of the week looks like this:
Tuesday-Steak
Wednesday- Breakfast for dinner
Thursday- chicken, probably buffalo flavored.
Friday- Pizza
Saturday- Burgers, real burgers, not the frozen turkey burgers we normally eat.
Sunday-Enchiladas

And for Daisy who asked last week:
Saturday for lunch we had chicken. On Sunday we had sandwiches, pretzels and a cheese stick.
This weekend lunch will be sub sandwiches, made by my dad. He makes really good subs. And Sunday, I am not sure. I will let my parents decide.

Not sure what we will be having Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday. Any ideas of how to end our month of dining in?? And ya know, know that I think of it. We might as well plan dinner for Thursday too. Since we know we are having pizza Friday and Saturday we are going out to eat for our anniversary.

Speaking of....anyone have any ideas for where we should go to dinner on Saturday?

Kylar and the green goo!

2010-03-22T23:44:00.000-04:00

We gave Kylar green beans for the first time tonight and caught it on tape. Considering how often I had green beans while pregnant, I am a little surprised by her reaction!

Ignore my cackle of a laugh! lol.

5 question Friday!

2010-03-19T12:06:00.001-04:00

Link up to Five Crooked Halos if you want to add your own 5QF.

1. Have you ever had a celeb sighting?

I saw Jon Cusack at a poster shop in Chicago.

A few of people at a pre-Derby party, including, the Kardashians, Greenlee (from All my Children), Bachelor Bob, a few sports people.

And when I worked at Target, Penny from Dirty Dancing was in my check out lane. I kept looking at her like I knew her from somewhere. And she said she played Penny on Dirty Dancing. lol. I guess she gets the sideways looks a lot.

2. What temperature do you keep your house?

I would like to keep it at 68 in the winter and 74 in the summer, but 68 is a little cold for Randy and Kylar. So, 69 with a heater in Kylar's room.

3. Do you notice dust at other peoples homes?

No....dust is invisible! :)

4. What's the worst job you ever had?

Probably the grocery store or David's bridal. I carried dresses back and forth all day. And I was "on call".

"Hey....teenager with a life....be on call every Saturday and Sunday at the butt crack of dawn so we can call you last minute and say you need to come in to work!"

No thanks!

The grocery store sucked for many reasons. Mainly b/c I just wanted a break from working. I just quit my 3 jobs not long before, but someone kept ~~nagging~~ encouraging me to get a job! :) (Cough, Cough MOM!!!!)

5. What is your most sentimental possession?

Hmmm.....I guess my engagement ring tied with my computer for all the pictures I have on there.

We have randoms, wedding pics, pics of Kylar, engagement pics....a ton of pics. And b/c of the invention of the digital camera, I never print pictures. I have finished scrapbooks, with no pics. Such a waste! :(

My engagement ring bc it was made just for me from Randy. My first ring kept breaking. It broke like 3 times. Then finally I said I did not want it anymore. I was fine with just getting my wedding band when we get married. But Randy wasn't having it. He took the center stone out of my original ring. And he found a ring he liked, had the center stone taken out and replaced it with my original stone. Such a nice surprise, I got to keep the original stone he gave me when he proposed but on a better, more sturdy ring. Love it!

Them Doggies!!!

2010-03-18T00:00:00.000-04:00

Ignore the mess-The whole bathroom is currently in the living room!! :(

Wordless Wednesday-St. Patty's Photoshoot

2010-03-17T09:46:00.000-04:00

Preparing for the photoshoot!

Here we go....

"What?? You said smile??"

Finally a smile!

"Mommy!! I smiled for you!! Now leave me alone to play please!!"

Challenge- Half way point and home renovations!

2010-03-16T14:56:00.000-04:00

We are officially half way done with our challenge.
And ya know, it seems like it is getting easier!! Meals at home have been better than ever. We are adding new twists onto old favorites. Trying new things here and there.

We stuck to last weeks meals to a "t", except Sunday. Randy was renovating the bathroom til pretty late. We ended up having grilled cheese sandwiches! We only have a few meals planned out so far this week. I am trying to switch grocery shopping from Mondays to Thursday, so I need to plan meals all the way up to next Wednesday. But here is what we have so far:
Monday- BBQ chicken with roasted potato and garlic green beans
Tuesday- Bunless sloppy joes, rice, and brussel sprouts
Wednesday- Corned beef and baked cabbage (Thanks for the idea, AJ :)
Thursday- probably just left overs
Friday- Pizza Friday

We are having friends over Saturday, so we are going to try a new recipe I have seen all over "blog world". Honey Lime enchiladas!! I have seen it on 4 different blogs just this week, so it has to be yummy, right?

Onto the home renovations.
Randy has been wanting to re-do the spare bathroom since he first bought the house. And finally, we are tackling that project. Since it is Randy's project, I will let him tell the story. But, we will definitely not be getting to that until Sunday. I will say, it looks amazing already!! I cannot wait to see the finished room!! Pictures and Randy's story to come!!!

5QF

2010-03-12T11:31:00.000-05:00

If you want to participate in 5 Question Friday, link back to Five Crooked Halos.

1. How much time do you spend on the computer a day?

On and off while Kylar is awake, usually to email my mom back.

Then during nap times, I read all the blogs I have book-marked. I would say maybe 2-3 hours a day-on and off.

2. Will you pay for your children's college or raise them to pay for their own way?

We are still undecided about this. I paid for mine with student loans. Which we are still paying. And Randy's parents paid for his. It sucks paying back the loans, but, I don't think we will pay the full tuition. What I would prefer to do, is set up an account and put X amount of dollars in there for their own use. Whether it be a down payment, a wedding, college or a car, etc, etc. But, we will be talking about this soon, considering we do not have an account set up for Kylar yet :/

3. Have you ever been in a car accident?

Two minor accidents. Of course when I was young and dumb. I rear ended someone (just a little fender bender). Then I was rear ended. Karma apparently!

4. What is your favorite book?

I couldn't even tell you....I used to read a lot. I need to get back on that. But I like cheesy beach reads. Like the shopaholic books and other cheesy romances. When I was younger, I like Little Women and The Secret Garden. Which reminds me....I need to find that book from Mom and Dad's.

5. Do you make your bed everyday?

I have been making a major effort to try and do this every morning. I have been pretty good about it lately. Hopefully it will last.

Wordless Wednesday!!-Daddy Daughter Day!

2010-03-10T10:32:00.000-05:00

This is how the day goes when Mommy isn't there!!

Time for a little more stimulation-Tummytime!!

Then.....came......

X-Box! At least it was just basketball....I think????

First walk of spring!

2010-03-08T13:28:00.000-05:00

We went for a walk yesterday since it was almost 60 out!!
Kylar decided to go incognito!

We walked to the start of the neighborhood. And we saw him

And his shy friend.

Then Lola got tired, so she went in the stroller with Kylar.

Then we headed back, but Wiley was listening to his friends bark!

It was a nice walk on a beautiful day!

P.S- Marin-I was wearing that sweatshirt b/c I thought it was going to be a little chilly!!!

Challenge-8 days down!

2010-03-08T12:42:00.000-05:00

Our challenge has been great so far!! We have both already lost a little bit of weight! I believe Randy is 5lbs lighter and I am 3-4, depending on the day. Which happens to be 5 lbs less than my pre pregnancy weight! Crazy how when you are eating out all the time, you do not realize how many extra calories you are consuming. And I have really enjoyed cooking every night.

Let's see if I can remember what we had all week!
Monday- Salmon
Tuesday- Meatloaf with veggies.
Wednesday- Sausage with tomatoes, onions, and cabbage.
Thursday- Shrimp and veggies
Friday- Low carb Pizza
Saturday- Low carb Pizza again (I forgot to take the tuna steaks out of the freezer....oops)
Sunday- Tuna steaks with Wasabi and soy sauce, veggies and rice
Tonight- We will be having Swedish meatballs and veggies.

The only time I have been tempted to pick something up while I was out was Thursday! Only because I locked myself out of the house and I was dying of thirst! lol. It took everything out of me not to swing through the drive thru and get a drink on our way to Shay's house. But, I was able to resist!

Our plan of each picking 3 meals a week has been working out pretty well.
This week our picks are:
Randy-
Burritos
Steak
Chicken breast

Mallorey-
Meatballs
turkey burgers
homemade boneless (non breaded) wings. Really just chicken breast chucked and sauteed with wing sauce!! lol.

I am trying to get Randy to be a little more adventurous with his meal picking. I am encouraging him to pick something from a cookbook we have or look online. But when he says stuff like chicken, maybe I will just have to find a yummy new side dish to try.

Well. I think we are off to a good start so far. I need to go to the store at some point this week. I cannot wait til Kylar is a little bigger and can sit in the cart (obviously with a cute little cart cover to keep her entertained and keep germs away).
I will update with this weeks progress next week!

Proud Papa

2010-03-06T14:28:00.000-05:00

Mal has been trying to get me to blog as of late, and she's right, I should. I feel bad enough that I didn't finish blogging in December about the events that unfolded when Kylar was born! But to my credit, I was aggressively seeking a new job in that same month and put a ton of effort into it. Turns out all of that effort paid off when I landed a new job with Humana at the end of January. Since being there for over a month now, I really enjoy what I'm doing but I'm also feeling the effects of being a "salaried" employee. There are times when, if I can't get things finished at work before I leave for the day, I have to bring my work home and finish it up. Of course, I was aware of this going into my new career, but I vowed never be that workaholic Dad you see in the movies and on TV. I usually come home around 6pm, and sometimes still have unfinished work to do. When this happens it makes it hard to sit down and commit time to doing it, especially considering the following schedule: 1) Give Kylar a bottle around 6:30; 2) Sit down at the dinner table and eat between 6:45-7:15; 3) Give Kylar a bath at 8:00; 4) Kylar goes to bed around 8:30 or 9:00. This essentially means that I don't have much time to spend with Kylar or Mal during the week. But while there sometimes isn't enough hours in the day, as I always say, I make it a point to capitalize on the weekends by trying to spend as much quality time with them as possible. You should see me on Fridays on the ride home from work. I'm filled with so much excitement knowing I can devote the rest of the evening and the entire weekend to being with them. On Saturdays and Sundays, Mal even lets me put sports on tv :-) The bottom line is that I have a job that I enjoy doing right now and a family that I dearly love spending every minute with. Kylar's smile and Mal's friendship makes it all worthwhile.

For the second consecutive weekend, Mal has gone out to do some things, and has put me in charge of watching over Kylar while she's gone. This has built my confidence and made me feel so proud as a father and a husband. Knowing that Mal trusts me with her while she is gone gives me a great feeling inside. Plus it feels good to know that I can be a father on my own and spend quality daddy-daughter time with Kylar. After experiencing this, I know now how Mal feels on a daily basis. Time really does fly though. In a two hour span, I played with Kylar and some of her toys, read her a book, watched her on her playmat, put her in her jump-a-roo and snuggled with her. Those two hours went by faster than when I'm working on databases or reports at work! I don't think I looked up at the clock one time while I was interacting with her. The cutest thing for me as a Dad is when she will yawn several times while I'm holding her but refuses to close her eyes. Then, within a matter of seconds, she falls asleep sitting up in my lap Haha! Maybe I should become a stay-at-home-Dad.....Nah, I'll leave that part to Mal.

5 question Friday!

2010-03-05T08:00:00.002-05:00

Don't forget to link up to Five Crooked Halos if you want to participate in 5QF!

1. What's your guilty pleasure?

Hmmm.....I have to ask my husband..... He says "high school tv shows". Hahaha! Like Degrassi, 90210 (old and new), One Tree Hill (the re-runs, not this new crap), Secret Life etc.

I guess he is right.

But I would say.....

Mcdonalds French Fries with no salt!! YUM!! I might just be saying that bc I know I will not have any for a long LONG time. But still. They are so yummy!!

2. What is your favorite TV series?

Grey's Anatomy! I even got Randy hooked! I am not supposed to watch the new episodes without him. Like this week!! He had to work from home! BLAH!

3. Can you speak any foreign languages?

I used to be able to speak Spanish very well. I took 4 years of Spanish in high school. I really enjoyed it! Looking back....maybe I should have studied that in college! Maybe I would have done better! haha!

But, lack of use has kind of ruined that. When we were in Cancun, I could speak enough of it to have simple conversations. That is one of the best things about Latinos! They are willing to help with conversation if you are willing to talk to them in THEIR native tongue.

4. How many pairs of shoes do you own?

We just threw a ton away.... Let me go count!!

1 pair of slippers

and I will soon be buying a few pairs of flip flops and a pair of cute sandals, but that is besides the point.

5. What's your favorite kind of M&M's...peanut, almond, straight up regular, etc.?

Lately it was the Dark Chocolate. But my favorite would be peanut, then almond.

Wordless Wednesday!!- I wanna go back!!

2010-03-03T14:54:00.000-05:00

4 months old!!

2010-03-02T13:15:00.000-05:00

Jeez! Can you believe Kylar is 4 months old!!?? She is growing like a weed and getting very active!
We had her 4 month check-up today. She is 12lbs 11 oz! And 23 1/4 inches long. Which is pretty right on to our measurements last night! She is consistently in the 45th percentile.

We are not starting on solids just yet. The DR. said we can start anytime if we want, but he sees no need since she is satisfied from nursing. But he said after 6 months, we have to introduce solids. He also wants us to start giving her a few ounces of water a day so she gets fluoride. Does anyone know if a Brita filter allows fluoride through??

She was a trooper during her shots. She cried, but then as soon as I picked her up, she started talking, well yelling, or maybe talking in a harsh tone. She was NOT happy and she was letting the nurse know how she felt about that!! Sweet little thing!! Here she is checking out the 4 little boys (brothers) playing in the waiting area, while their mom was in the back with the baby....a boy!!! 5 boys!!!! Yikes!

Aside from the check up, Kylar will be starting swim lessons in April. We are very excited!! We need to be prepared for trips to see Shay-Shay and her pool over the summer!! :)

March 1st means cooking in!

2010-03-01T11:25:00.000-05:00

Today is the first day of our challenge to eat in all month long. We are very excited about it. Since we are eating in, Randy also wanted to incorporate "low carb" into our meals. I am only going semi low carb. We didn't research to see if it is safe for nursing, so I will stick with the gestational diabetes carb guidelines. But, I am going to have to learn what kinds of foods Randy wants for his lunches! I didn't make his lunch last night bc I don't know what he wants/needs. So we are supposed to go over "ideas" for his lunches tonight.

But anyway. Back to the dinners.
We decided to stick with basic meals that I already know how to cook for the first week. After this week, "the plan" is each of us picks a new recipe to try for the week. We each pick 3 meals and we have homemade pizza every Friday (need to find something to make this low carb!!). Luckily, everything we picked out meat wise, we have in the freezer already! Thanks to Sam's Club and buying
in bulk :) Does anyone know what that green box is one the bottom??

If anyone has any yummy, low carb, meal ideas, I would love to hear them. The spicier the better for Randy!

Wish us luck! Our first meal is Teriyaki salmon with spinach and asparagus! Yum! I wonder if Randy knows the sauce has carbs?? Shhh.....He picked it and it is already marinating! Neither of us thought of that! Oh well!

5 question Friday!

2010-02-26T16:12:00.000-05:00

1. Do you sing karaoke? If so, what is your go to song?

It has been a long time since I have done karaoke!!! But way back in the day (as in when I still lived in Mundelein) I used to karaoke with Regina and the only song I really liked to sing was Like A Prayer by Madonna. Other than that, I was not a big fan of displaying my horrible singing voice for people to hear!!

2. What is your favorite coffee drink?

Just plain coffee with creamer. Lately it has been Vanilla Carmel. But, since Randy is going low carb, we will not be using that. It will be whatever "sugar substitute" he picks out and skim milk. BORING!!!

3. If you could choose your own name, what would it be?

I like my name. I have no problems with it.

I think it has a nice ring to it:

Mallorey Anne

4. Were you ever bullied?

I have been made fun of here and there, but never "bullied".

Although, I guess if I look back....

Considering I am the middle child and Marin and Collin used to gang up on me. And leave me out. And they got WHATEVER they wanted....I guess I could say I was bullied by them :)

5. How often do you eat fast food?

Far too often! That is why Randy and I are doing our challenge starting Match 1st!

Wordless Wednesday!!-2 month difference!

2010-02-24T10:20:00.000-05:00

December 09

February 10

5 question Friday!

2010-02-19T13:29:00.000-05:00

If you want to participate in Five Question Friday, make sure to link back to Five Crooked Halos.

1. Have you ever hit an animal with your vehicle?

A real animal no....Bugs, a million!!

Randy and I saw a squirrel get hit and I started crying!! I cannot remember if I was still pregnant or not, but it made me so said.

Then Randy said, "It's okay. His friends will come help him." WHAT?? I am 27, not 7! Goofy! Gotta love him for trying!

2. When you see a string on your clothes do you pull it off or cut if off?

I usually use nail clippers bc they are usually the closest cutting object I can find.

3. Did you have your own room or share a room when you were young?

Ugh! We shared a room! Marin and I didn't even like each other until we were no longer sharing a room. I hope none of my future children will have to share a room.

4. Would you rather wear the same thing for the rest of your life or eat the same thing for the rest of your life?

Ugh!! I plead the 5th! But, since I am a stay at home mom, I think I will say wear the same thing. Especially if I can wear jeans and an Old Navy shirt with a tee underneath. Roll the jeans up to capris in the summer and take one of shirts off and I would be set!

5. What was your favorite TV show as a child?

If I have to pick one, the first that popped into my head....

Big Challenge for the Burns' Household!!!

2010-02-19T12:34:00.000-05:00

I was reading one of the 20 something blogs I have bookmarked. And there was a guest post on one of the blogs by Mama Thompson. She mentioned something about a challenge of not eating out for a whole month. So, of course, I clicked the link and read about the conclusion of her challenge. Then I clicked on another link and read about the start of her challenge.

I got really excited and send Randy a text asking him to call me. Now, looking back, that probably wasn't such a good idea considering I am home without a car and he may have thought it was an emergency. But nothing I can do about that now. He called a couple minutes later. I had a feeling he would be on board, but I still wanted to ask. I asked if he wanted to do a "challenge" with me. He said with a little uncertainty in his voice, "Sure.....What's the challenge?"

See!! That is one of the reasons I love him so much!! He agreed without even knowing what the challenge was!!

THEN! When I told him what the challenge was, he got really excited and said, "Starting when? March 1st??" Might as well. Then my database loving husband said something about making the menu for the month on the computer. And his grocery shopping hating wife said something about buying a months worth of meat and freezing it. Then he said it would be great to cut my grocery shopping time down, all I would have to get would be perishables! We were both completely on board and excited. He even asked what the blogger said about her experience, so I read it to him. He was even more excited!

So starting March 1st, we are not eating out. No carry out. No fast food. No restaurants! Not even Buffalo Wild Wings on Thursdays for Randy. No ifs, ands, or buts about it!!!

I am exciting about this b/c that means I will be forced to cook. Don't get me wrong, I love to cook, but sometimes it is just easier to go out! I cannot wait to plan our meals!

Wish us luck!
And to the people we got out to eat with a lot (Mainly Nick and Shay): Sorry! But you can come over to dinner instead if you want!

Wordless Wednesday- She sleeps, I work!!

2010-02-17T14:35:00.000-05:00

I started on this:

While she did this:

And she likes to eat these:

And we end with this:

5QF

2010-02-12T11:14:00.000-05:00

1. What is the one thing your love does for you that you can't live without?

I cannot pick just one! There are so many things about him I cannot live without. But, since I have to pick one, I think I would have to say I can't live without him being my best friend. There are times when the husband part doesn't matter as much as the best friend part. We are going to spend the rest of our lives together. That is a long time. We will change and fall in love with each other over and over. But we will always be best friends; and that (along with him being a great husband and dad) is one of my favorite things about him.

2. When did you know your love was "the one"?

This makes me laugh! I knew I was "in trouble" when I flew to Texas to get the Explorer from Collin (my brother). Randy and I had only been dating for a few weeks. And I talked Collin's ears off about Randy the whole time I was there. And as I was driving from Texas to Louisville, I talked to Randy almost the whole time! I knew I was smitten at that point. And I knew he was "the one" when I realized I was not scared to let him know that. I moved in a few weeks later. So a time line....

We met April 14th. Started slowly moving in in May. Fully moved in in June.

3. Does your love have a special ringtone on your cell?

Nope. We both just use boring plain ringtones. We used to have our wedding song, but we got new phones and we don't have the song on there anymore. But, it says, "Hubster" when he calls :)

4. What are you attracted to most in your special someone?

Physically? His eyes! He has nice blue eyes. I love his eyes. Oh. And his smile! He has a fake smile and a real smile. And his real smile is so nice. He is such a handsome man!! :)

Non physical......His humor. His is pretty funny most of the time. Especially when he will suddenly break out in some goofy dance to whatever is on the radio. lol. And you gotta love his, "You can't see me" dance! Haha. He cracks me up.

5. Did you know when/where he/she was going to pop the big question?

Yeah. I didn't know EXACTLY when. But I knew it was coming. We had just gotten back to Louisville from him meeting my family for the first time. And while we were in Chicago, he asked my dad if he could marry me! Talk about a crazy first meeting!

For the full story, go HERE

If you want to participate in 5 question Friday, please link back to Five Crooked Halos with this clicky button!

This CAN'T be the same baby???!!!????

2010-02-10T23:45:00.000-05:00

11/4/2009

2/10/2010

Wordless Wednesday!!- My Valentine!!!

2010-02-10T14:20:00.000-05:00

In light of Valentine's Day....My love :)

As requested: Ghost story

2010-02-05T16:47:00.000-05:00

This is just going to be a quick story. But I figured, since I was asked, I would tell.
Let me tell you the grandparents first:
Grama- Dad's mom (living)
Grampa- Dad's dad (passed away when I was really young)
Gram- Mom's mom (passed away when I was in high school)
Grandad- Mom's dad (living)

I got a text message from my friend Katie after her and her mom left my baby shower (which was held at my parent's house). She asked if there was a lady staying at their house. I told her no and asked why. She said her mom saw an older lady while we were eating brunch. Her mom just assumed it was my other grandmother (she knew what my Grama looks like, but she never met my Gram). She thought it was strange that this lady just came down the stairs, looked into the living room but didn't join the group. But she just thought maybe she was napping or something. She didn't think anything of it until she asked Katie about it and Katie said my Gram had died a few years ago. I asked what the person looked like, and it sounded like a good enough description that matched my Gram.

That following week, Katie asked me to send some pictures of my Gram to see if it really was my Gram that her mom saw. I found a few pictures online that were of a few different stages in her life. She said the lady looked more like the younger pictures, but it did look like the same woman.

But if you think about it....If you die, would you want to look like you did when you died, or how you would like to be remembered?
I personally would like to believe that we "end up" the way we are best remembered. Soldiers killed would be in their formal dress uniforms. Grandparents would be the way they were best remembered. Etc.

But anyway. That is the story. Not much too it. I thought it was very interesting. And I liked that my Gram made an appearance at her first GREAT- Granddaughter's shower! :)

Five Question Friday

2010-02-05T10:44:00.000-05:00

1. What are you most afraid of?
Right now, I would say not doing a good enough job raising Kylar. But, I don't think I should start worrying about that until she is a teenager when Karma kicks in from my behavior :)

2. Do you use a flat iron or curling iron?
I hardly do my hair. When I do, it depends on how much time I have. The last time I curled my hair it was about a 90 minute ordeal. So, usually, it is flat iron.

3. Hands-free or phone to the ear?
Phone to the ear. I hardly drive, so it is not much of an issue. But mainly I do not use hands-free bc the ear buds really hurt my ears!! I have not found any ear buds that do not hurt my ears.

4. Do you have a matching bedroom set?
Our bedroom is ridiculous! That is one of our goals for the spring. BUT, we want to do the living room first. To answer the question, no. We do not. We have a tan quilt and 3 sets of sheets (brown with white, green and blue). But we do not have a matching set.

5. Do you believe in the paranormal?
Considering my friend's mom saw my dead Gram at my baby shower, yeah. I do.
I have never experienced anything myself. But I have heard a lot of stories from people that have experienced it.

I think it is also true though that you have to believe they can really happen. And I think kids experience it more b/c they do not have all the doubt that adults have and they still believe!

Wordless Wednesday- Where is the baby??

2010-02-03T16:49:00.000-05:00

5 question Friday!

2010-01-29T13:38:00.001-05:00

1. Would you ever vacation alone?

No. I would get bored. If I was the person I am today but without a husband and baby, I might. But I would want someone to go out to dinner with, shop with, lay out by the pool with and whatever else we wanted to do.

2. Do you go the speed limit?

In the Camry no. In the Explorer yes. But I have definitely cut that down to rarely since we have Kylar. Randy on the other hand!!! He needs to work on that! He drives fast when he should drive slow and he drives slow when he should go fast.

3. Why did you start blogging/following blogs?

Mainly b/c we live so far away from my family. It is a way for them to read what is going on in our lives without being a daily part of it.

I got hooked on reading blogs when I was on the bump while I was pregnant. The main blog was about this little one pound baby. It broke my heart, but I couldn't stop reading about her. Here is the blog. Kayleigh's Story

My new blogging obsession is crafts! I have so many crafting blogs bookmarked it is not even funny. There are 20+ links!

4. Where do you shop for yourself?

I have not done much clothes shopping for myself since Kylar was born. But for the most part, when I do, it is Old Navy. I get to kill 3 birds with one stone. I can get clothes for the whole family there. Besides, have you seen some of their clearance prices??

5. What was the song that you danced your first dance with your spouse to at your wedding...or...what song would you like your first dance to be to?

We danced to 3 Doors Down's Your Arms Feel Like Home.

If that doesn't count....Wordless!

2010-01-27T00:07:00.001-05:00

Wordless Wednesday!!-Does this count?

2010-01-27T00:02:00.000-05:00

When one door closes, look for that open window!!

2010-01-26T17:23:00.003-05:00

Randy finished his last day at Citi on Thursday. This was very exciting for not only him, but for Kylar and me as well. Not only does this new job mean a better opportunity for Randy and a job that will make him happier, it also means he gets to be around for more of the evening with us! Therefore, no dinners late at night! We will be normal 6:30 diners! Thank goodness!!

To start off the long weekend, I decided to cave and let Randy bring home Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner. I am not a huge fan, but Randy loves them. So, after he left Citi for the last time, he headed straight to the restaurant to get carry out. And we had wings while we watched the typical Thursday night shows. Then ended the night with a champagne toast to celebrate the new start!

We pretty much lounged around Friday and did a whole lot of not a lot. Then Saturday we went to El Caporal for a group dinner to celebrate. Along with family, a few friends came out to celebrate as well. Not much better than a tasty margarita and some Mexican food!! YUM!!

We didn't bring the camera, but here are a few pics from Nick and Shay.

A year in review!

2010-01-21T11:08:00.000-05:00

We are now a couple weeks into the NEW YEAR and we are expecting this year to be an even better year than last year. Although, 2009 is going to be a hard year to beat!!
But before we get too far into the new year, here is a recap of 2009:

January:
-Rang in the New Year with Nick and Shay
- Seasonal lay off
-Bridal Shower in Chicago
-Ice Storm that pretty much shut the city down
-Started remodeling the kitchen

February-
-Bachelor/Bachelorette Parties in Chicago
-Valentine's Day dinner at Irish Rover (Yum)
-Went brunette
-Finished kitchen

March

-Bridal shower in Louisville

-St. Patty's Day dinner at Irish Rover

-More remodeling (Laminate through the house)

-Wedding planning

-Found out we were pregnant

April

-Wedding!!

-Cancun

-Back to work

-Told family we were pregnant

-Thunder over Louisville

-Clean up from ice storm FINALLY started!

May

-O.A.R. Concert

-Derby

-Yard sale

June

-Randy's 29th

-Went to Chicago

-Found out we had a stubborn baby (see here)

-Picked names

-Found out we were having a girl

July

-4th of July at Jon and Mandy's

-Started working on Kylar's room

-Diagnosed with gestational diabetes

Wow....boring month!!

August

-Went to see Marin and Justin's first place together.

Wow....even more boring of a month

September

-Baby Shower in Chicago

-Football started

-Finished Kylar's room

-Swollen feet

I am starting to see a trend of doing less and less each month!

October

-Baby Shower in Louisville

-Turned 27

-Kylar was born

-Kylar was admitted into the NICU

November

-Kylar was discharged from the NICU

-Kylar's 1st Thanksgiving

-Went shopping for the first time with a baby

-Christmas tree shopping

Decemeber-

-Mom and Collin came out

-Drove to Chicago with Wiley, Lola, and Kylar all in the Camry

-1st Christmas

-Bears kicked the Vikings butt!!

-New Year's Eve!!

I am not sure anything can beat 2009, but 2010 is definitely off to a great start! I guess you will just have to come back next year to see!!

Wordless....Whoops!

2010-01-21T09:20:00.000-05:00

I was going to try and do "Wordless Wednesday" every Wednesday. As you can see, that did not happen yesterday. There were some issues uploading what I wanted to use. But stay tuned! If I don't post it before, it will definitely be on next week's WW.

We bathed the dishes!!

2010-01-16T14:14:00.000-05:00

A few week ago, I was doing my wifely duties trying to cook dinner for my husband. Then all of a sudden, the sink started to back up. There was no warning. No slow drainage. No odd items going down the drain. But, for some reason, the sink decided to rebel.
We tried just about everything. We plunged. We "Drano"ed. We took apart pipes. We used a plumbing snake or whatever. We put pipes together and took them apart a few more times. We tried more plunging. And more Drano. But nothing!!! Still a clogged sink!!

Well, in order to cook and eat, you need to use dishes. But, what happens when you do not have a sink do wash you dishes in?
That's easy....

You give your dishes a bath!!!

Now don't think I made Randy do all the dishes alone. He volunteered after I did the first bunch. After what you see on the towel, we decided it was better/easy to run the dishwasher and take buckets full of water outside.

All in all, we decided that giving a baby a bath is much better than giving the dishes a bath. As you can see.....

This picture was just too cute to not share again!!

Wordless Wednesday!!

2010-01-13T09:22:00.000-05:00

2 months!!!! What?!?!

2009-12-31T12:04:00.000-05:00

I guess I am interrupting Randy's series of posts about Kylar's birth. But oh well. He was taking too long to finish it! :)

The past 2 months have flown by! Kylar seems like a completely different baby!! And she looks like a completely different baby as well!!
As you can see...

10/30

12/30

Her neck is strong, she is "dealing" with tummy time, sleeps through the night and she even smiles!!

A little blurry, it's from my phone.

Randy and I have done a lot of changing and growing the last few months as well. We went from a 2 person 2 dog family, to a 3 person 2 dog family. We went from husband and wife to mommy and daddy, while still trying to remain husband and wife. And that has been our biggest challenge. It is hard to make time for us when we are so consumed with our beautiful baby girl. But we are both confident that we will be back to going on dates and having "normal" meals together. We were able to pack Kylar up and head to the movies Thanksgiving weekend though. We went to see Old Dogs. We typically do not see movies like this in the theater, but it was the shortest movie being shown. She did great. She slept the whole time. I am not sure we will be able to do that again since she is more alert, but the one time we did, it was a very nice treat. We are also able to go out to eat with her and she behaves great.....usually!!

Nothing else too different going on. We are trying to get a better night-time routine down, but it is hard. Right now she goes to bed at 1ish. Our goal is between 9 and 11. The past few nights have been rough, she is just NOT ready for bed. But I am confident that we will be able to make it work. We have gotten though all the other obstacles!! But, if anyone has any tips, we are more than willing to try them!!

Here is one last pic of our little lady! I am adding more pictures to shutterfly, so check them out!

Not the best pic, but check out those neck muscles!!

Kylar's Birth- Off to a Rough Start

2009-12-09T18:00:00.001-05:00

Around 7am (10/31/09), roughly 4 hours after I had returned to Mal in our new room awaiting the arrival of our newborn baby so we could finally be together as a family, just the three of us for the first time, we awoke in shocking fashion. Mal woke me as she sat up in bed and yelled "Randy, where's Kylar?!" I told her I didn't know trying to stay calm thinking if she isn't with us, I'm sure it's all for a good reason and only precautionary. Mal immediately picked up the phone and paged the nurse's station to which they responded that our nurse was supposed to inform us that Kylar was admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Mal immediately began to cry and I tried to stay calm but my nerves shot through the roof. There was no way to hold back my feelings this time. I mean who the hell moves your baby to a unit like that hours after they are born and not tell the sleeping parents?!?!?!?!

We rushed over to the NICU, located right down the hall from our room, and demanded we see Kylar right away. Mal was still in her hospital gown and I was half asleep, hoping this was all a bad dream, when we were brought to Kylar who was sleeping, encased in a clear box that had two small holes on the front, and wires and sensors attached to her small body. It was probably the saddest thing Mallorey and I had ever seen. And it was so hard to believe why things like this seem to always happen to us. Nothing seems to ever go as smoothly as we planned it. We expressed our disgust to the doctor on duty, Dr. Forbes, as soon as we could. And rightfully so. They had to hear what a piss-poor job they did at informing us the way they did. The doctor apologized multiple times and assured us what was done was solely for precautionary reasons. Apparently after I had left the nursery from Kylar's bath, she was recognized as having a hard time breathing on her own and called our pediatrician's office who then ordered her to be placed in the NICU. They were treating her for either possible bronchitis or pneumonia. But they had no explanation as to why we were never told. The doctor said they were willing to do whatever necessary to make things right. I looked down at Kylar and said as straight as I could "You can make sure that our baby daughter will be alright." Mal and I broke down in tears as they let us each slide a hand into the transparent box, me touching her leg and Mal rubbing her head. If it were up to us, none of this would have ever happened. And with that, another nurse came over to us and advised us there is nothing that can be done about what has happened, but rather to focus on moving forward with Kylar's care. As frustrated as we were, she was right. Despite the fact Dr. Forbes told us Kylar would likely be kept in the NICU for 7-10 days, our daughter was what was most important right now.

Being apart from our newborn daughter, with her in the NICU and us in our hospital room, was probably the hardest thing Mal and I have ever had to deal with. The thought of Kylar alone would make me cry whenever I thought about her and what she might be going through at that moment. Mal did her best to breast-pump in the room so Kylar would still get her needed nourishment, while I fielded the phone calls and informed our family and friends that they were more than welcome to visit us later, but there was also a possibility they would not be able to see her that day.

Eventually we were allowed to go back to the NICU and see Kylar as often as we wanted. But when visitors came, we could only take one person back at a time. It made it even more difficult because we were made to literally "scrub in" and wash up from our finger tips to our elbows. But I completely understand the logic behind that. Newborns are vulnerable to all kinds of germs and so everyone had to stay as sanitized as possible. As the day wore on, our family and friends helped to cheer us up, but our thoughts were still with Kylar. Once our family and friends decided to give us some time alone, Mal and I found ourselves going to the NICU to see Kylar about ever 15 minutes. We simply wanted to be with our baby girl. And if nothing else, so she would know we were there for her.

Later that night, Kylar was eventually upgraded because of her improved breathing, and she was let out of her isolate box, and we were allowed to hold her. It was a small step in reality, but to us it was a huge emotional bonding moment. Seeing her all hooked up to strange machines while we held her was heartbreaking. But tears of joy streamed down our face as we held our baby. We knew for the very first time we were really taking care of her. And Mal was also encouraged to breast feed her inside the NICU as well. Things seemed to improve over the next few hours, as grueling as they were, and Kylar was moved to an isolation room which was part of the NICU and eventually taken out of her isolate box and moved to a hospital-grade crib. So after 17 hours since she was first admitted to the NICU, we started to see `a glimmer of hope and one step closer to going home together.

To be Continued...

Kylar's Birth- The Beginning

2009-12-08T23:48:00.000-05:00

I can honestly say I'm a proud Papa now, but I should have written this blog sooner than this. Shame on me. But I will play the "busy card" and use that as my excuse haha. For anyone who doesn't know, Kylar Marin Burns was born October 30, 2009. The following is my version of the long journey to Kylar's birth

It was Thursday, October 29 and I had been off from work the entire day preparing for the long week ahead considering Mallorey and I would have a new addition to our family soon enough. That morning started out just like any other but the back of my mind continuously swirled thoughts of what to expect later that night. Even though Arby's was technically the last meal that we had together before our daughter was born, I must say our version of the "Last Supper" together was roughly a week before at El Caporal for Mexican food. As always, it was simply delicious and, as usual, we got stuffed to the brim! And all things considered, the Arby's wasn't that bad either.

As "Game Time" (8pm) drew closer and closer, the more anxious I got. I specifically remember my nerves jumping all around my body like I was ready to run a marathon about 3 hours beforehand. I don't think there is any foolproof advice I could give any other Dads-to-be out there. What I mean by that statement is that there isn't anything you can do to calm yourself for what will unfold at the hospital or what might happen. Just try to make the best of your anxious moments and go-with-the-flow. But most importantly, be there for the one you love.

There was a sad moment that occurred, however, just before we left the house for the last time as a child-less married couple. The hospital bags were packed and everything was in tow, but Mal had yet to say her goodbyes to our dogs Wiley and Lola. They had no idea that their worlds were about to be turned upside down when we would eventually come home with a newborn. Mal felt so awful that she sobbed as she hugged them, and told them we would be back home soon. I made sure that I didn't rush her and in a matter of minutes we were off to the hospital.

Checking in and registering was a breeze. We got to the delivery room and Mal slipped into her hospital gown that she would dawn for the next few days. The nurse on duty administered the initial checkup and the first few I.V.'s and so our stay at the hospital had officially begun. A few hours later, while Mal and I watched tv and talked, her parents made a quick visit as they drove down from the suburbs of Chicago to see their first grandchild. Since they were staying at our place, I left Mal for a few minutes so they could follow me to the house. In the past few months, we had enjoyed so many visits with Mal's obstetrician, I stopped off and picked up some Halloween style mini Reese cups as a small gift. When I came back to the delivery room at the hospital, Mal was right where I left her, sitting up in the bed and all hooked up to the surrounding machines. We snapped a few more photos of the two of us to add to the sequence of our experience, then we talked some more and even played a travel card game that we had picked up earlier that day. We insisted to each other that we simply weren't tired but when 2am rolled around we found ourselves stating the opposite. The nurse had been increasing the dosage of pitocin on Mal every 30 minutes since we had been there, but even by 4am she hardly had any pain. That's when I decided to lay down on the pull out chair they had provided in the room to get a little bit of sleep since I knew the next day would prove to be long enough.

About 3 1/2 hours later, around 7:30am, the doctor walks in the room in full scrubs and carrying a thin needle that measured about what seemed to be 2 feet long. I was still half asleep when she walked in, of course, so I was thinking to myself "what is that you have in your hand and where are you going to put it???!!!" Moments later Mal's water was intentionally broken and labor was underway. During the three hours I was asleep, Mal said she experienced some pain in what were very small contractions that the pitocin had caused. But after her water was broken, the next few hours were not only painful for Mal, but for me as well. The nurses had conveniently left on a computer screen that recorded her contractions as they happened. I sat next to Mal in a chair next to her bed and held her hand and stroked her hair as the contractions took their toll. Every few minutes she would clinch her eyes, bury her head in her pillow, squeeze my hand extremely hard and let out a moan as if someone were bending her fingers backwards one by one. It was frustrating to me knowing there was nothing more I could do for her other than what I was already doing. The nurse gave her some medicine that took the edge off her pain and even caused her some drowsiness which allowed her to doze off and sleep for about 20-30 minutes at a time. But eventually the medicine was no match for the size and tension of the contractions. So we were convinced that now, at almost 12pm, it was finally time for the epidural. I was made to leave as the anesthesiologist entered the room. Apparently it was their hospital policy that no visitors, husbands included, are allowed in the room when the epidural is administered. So I took the opportunity to grab a quick lunch at Chick-fil-a. It was a great meal but it felt even better to get some fresh air and take a break from the four walls of the hospital.

Keep in mind the pain Mal was experiencing at the time I was made to leave. When I returned about 45 minutes later, I opened the room door and the next thing I heard before I even saw her face was "HI BABY!". Mal looked just peachy and was sitting up with a big smile on her face. It made me feel 110% better that she was not in pain anymore. And it blew me away that I would look at the computer screen and see contractions three times the size what they were before I left and she was feeling no pain whatsoever. It also made me feel good to know that Mal actually had the chance to get some much needed sleep so she could power up for the delivery.

While Mal slept, I sat by her side and played around on our laptop. It was around 9pm that most of the action started to happen. Mal's doctor had anticipated nothing would happen until about 7pm but her dilation was not that far along yet. But some how, some way, she became dilated faster as time elapsed. Both of our parents and my sister and brother-in-law had all come to visit and were waiting for the big moment. Unfortunately, for them, they had no way of knowing how long it would take for Mal to get 10 cm dilated and 100% effaced, ready to have Kylar. So on that note, around 10pm my sister and brother-in-law headed home. I felt sorry for them because about a half hour later Mal had reached the point she needed to be and finally Kylar was ready to be born. The nurse asked which three visitors would be in the room for the delivery and it turned out that Mal's mom would be alongside us.

By 10:30, Mal was pushing her hardest to match the pressure of the contractions which would ultimately push Kylar out. The funny part in all of this was when I had to do an enactment of the umbilical cord cutting with the nurse. I wanted to make sure there was absolutely no way I was going to hurt Kylar. I mean were talking about cutting flesh with a pair of scissors here! I couldn't believe how good Mal did during the labor process and the nurses couldn't believe how much hair Kylar had on her head even before she popped out!

At 11:14pm, on Friday October 30th, when Kylar finally entered this world, she had a delayed reaction not quite knowing what to think and then came the screams and the cries. And she wasn't the only one crying. Mal and I both had tears of joy in our eyes. As purple as she was, Kylar was still the most beautiful thing I had ever seen and the moment was almost indescribable. The whole experience was simply amazing.

The doctor immediately laid Kylar on Mal's belly for the initial bonding moment and then I was allowed to cut the cord. It all happened so fast. From there Kylar was shifted to a cleaning table where she was given a vitamin k shot in her leg and drops placed in her eyes. The delivery team was great because they encouraged me to take multiple pictures while they were doing their jobs. Kylar weighed in at 6lbs and 14oz. and measured 18 3/4 inches. After all that was finished, and they patched up Mal, the next part made me proud to be a daddy for the first time. They swaddled Kylar in a blanket and put a hat on her head to ensure she would remain warm. And that's when I was allowed to hold my baby daughter for the first time and again, tears of joy. Kylar was passed on to Mal in what they call "The Golden Hour" for mother-baby bonding and nursing. It was during this time that Mal's sister Marin and her boyfriend Justin walked in the delivery room as a huge surprise. Mal had no idea they too had driven down from Chicago to see us. Pictures and videos of Kylar ran wild for the next hour and we were exhausted beyond belief.

When our family departed the hospital and the three of us were moved to the Mommy-Baby Unit for postpartum care, Mal was on bed-rest for a little while, so I took the opportunity of following the nurse down to the baby nursery where Kylar would be given her first bath and have her footprints taken. On this floor, your ears would feel as if you would go deaf from all of the newborns crying away. But video taping Kylar's first bath was well worth taking the ear pounding noise. She looked so cute despite the fact she was screaming just as loud as the other babies, but what do you expect? I mean how would you feel if you were suddenly in a strange place not knowing what you were looking at, cold, and not to mention, having this strange liquid being rinsed all over your body from head to toe. It didn't take too long for the attending nurse to finish her up, and she told me that Kylar had some extra amniotic fluid left in her lungs and she was simply crying it out as normal. She said within about 30 minutes or so they would have her ready to bring up to the room. This was not the case. And so began our nightmare. Only we were awake when it started.

To Be Continued...

October 15, 2009 - Mal's 27th Birthday!

2009-10-17T20:34:00.001-04:00

"I'm fine with just stuffed shells" she said with a wave of her hand as if it doesn't matter. That is what Mal has traditionally had every October 15th for her birthday dinner. And for the 2nd year in a row she has wanted nothing but stuffed shells and nothing more...presents included. For anyone who knows what goes down on my usual birthday knows it typically involves a family and friends get together for a Louisville Bats baseball game with drinks and good times that follow at Browning's located less than a block from the ballpark. So when Mal tells me all she wants for her birthday is stuffed shells I always get an awful feeling in my stomach because in no way do I think that is fair to her. So, seeing as how I had already gotten her a pink laptop over the summer as her early surprise birthday gift, I didn't let her go empty handed last year on HER day and I was not about to let it happen this time.

My gifts to her this year included a scrapbook organizer and stock card paper. I purchased these the day before her birthday right before I picked her up from work to go to our doctor's appointment for a checkup on Kylar. When she hopped in the car I showed her more than a half dozen books I picked up for Ky at Half Priced Books and told her she wasn't allowed to look in the back of the car (it's hard to believe Kylar will be her in less than 3 weeks!). I'm sure Mal knew I was going to pick her up something scrapbook-related from Michael's for her birthday, seeing as how I already had two 40% off coupons in my wallet coupled with the fact she had told me these were things she wanted just days before. BUT...what she was not expecting was me to pick up cards for her later that night. AND I took a long break at work on her birthday and scurried to the store to pick her up a vase of 3 roses and a slice of Hershey's chocolate pie. When I showed up at her office with both of those in my hands, the expression on her face was simply amazing! If that is the only look I saw on her face for the rest of our days together it would not bother me one bit. It was definitely one of the biggest surprises of the day for her and I know for certain she had no clue that I was going to show up with flowers and a treat for her on her special day.

Later that night, I left her to her own devices as I concocted pumpkin bread, which was another request, before getting to the famous stuffed shells. I must say I was never a huge fan of flavored breads like banana nut and things of that nature, but once I licked the batter mix off of the spatula my taste buds were jumping with excitement and my tongue was left watering for more! Oh...yeah...Mal liked it too :)

While the bread was baking for nearly an hour it was time to move on to the traditional stuffed shells for "Mal Mal". Now, last year I followed a recipe from FoodNetwork.com that was called turkey and artichoke stuffed shells. But this year was a little different as Mal specifically said she wanted the same stuffed shells she had had so many years of her 27-year-old life. This recipe called for your ordinary everyday ground beef and Italian sausage browned and mixed with pasta sauce that was poured over shells stuffed with ricotta cheese in a Pyrex dish. Sounds pretty basic right? Believe me, once you add that extra baked top layer of mozzarella cheese you'll be saying "Mmmmmmm" over and over again. Right Mal? Hehe

But before we dug into this nose rattling birthday dinner, I let Mal open her birthday gifts and cards from our family and friends. I let her open mine last because I knew I would get a particular reaction. What reaction do you ask? She got teary eyed over the mushy card because I'm cheesy like that.

Everyone's thoughts and gifts, not to mention that her birthday wishes were posted all over Facebook and her phone would not stop ringing the entire day, meant that she had a wonderful birthday. And that's what matters most. All of a sudden I don't feel so selfish anymore.

Happy Birthday Mal! Love you!

Women - Part 1: This Has to be Told, Part 2: Nocturnal Ky Ky

2009-10-01T01:41:00.000-04:00

Part 1: This Has to be Told

First of all, the order of events described here occurred before 8am this morning so details may not be as clear as I'd like them to be. Working 2nd shift has had this affect on me. Especially without any morning coffee beforehand to kick start my brain functions. Anyways, Mallorey and I woke up to start the day this morning just like any other day. Laying in bed, letting the alarm sound off about 50,000 times before we actually decide we had better get up and start moving otherwise she will be later (than normal) to work. I like to get up early with her and stay up because I can get things done around the house and focus on my online class for Oracle training as well. Mallorey normally hops in the shower while I set out her lunch which is usually prepared the night before and concoct the morning's coffee.

Afterwards, she meets me in the kitchen as we put together a sausage biscuit for each of our breakfasts. This, by the way, was a quicker than McDonald's drive-thru, it felt like, and is definitely a cheaper route. If you too are finding yourself scrambling out the door to make it to work on time but still want the satisfaction of a hot and light meal for breakfast without the hassle of waisting time or money at a fast food place, you might want to try this out. Simply pop a biscuit in the oven for about 15 minutes before you hit the shower in the morning, put a Jimmy Dean fully cooked sausage patty in the microwave for about 45 seconds after you get dressed, put the two together and before you know it: BAM you are on your way to the time clock! Now back to the story at hand...

For those of you who don't know, or were not aware, Mal has had to test her blood nearly 4 times a day since being diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes several weeks ago. Her testing times are normally as soon as she wakes up and then roughly 2-3 hours after every large meal. The blood tester device itself is actually very compact and is kept in a small black zip pouch about the size of your hand which holds the test strips, the needle, the electronic blood sugar level reader and her log book for keeping track of it all. On any given workday, Mal ALWAYS leaves the house with the following in her hands: purple water mug, blue lunch bag, breakfast, her purse (which also contains her blood testing kit) and, of course, the car keys. Today was no different than any other. Or so we thought.

While finishing up my online training course for the day, around 11:30am, just under 4 hours before Mal left for work, she gives me a call on my cell phone.

"Do you know where my blood tester is?" She asked.
"The last I saw of it," I replied, "was last night when I put it in your purse."
"Well it's not here. I don't have it." she countered.
I assured her it was NOT at home by saying, "I'm standing in the kitchen right now and I don't see it anywhere."
You could almost see her head curiously tilt to the side through the phone when she asked me, "Can you check the 'fridge please?"
I hesitated, laughed, and checked. No sign of it. "Nope not there," I said with a chuckle.
"Wait a minute, hang on just a second," she said. She placed me on hold and the elevator music began to play in my ear.
"Maybe she had found it, or found something that closely resembled it" I was thinking to myself as I eagerly awaited her to return to our conversation.
In the meantime, I turned to our pantry and opened the door thinking, "nah, it couldn't possibly...."
The elevator music over the phone fell silent. "Okay, I'm back" She said quickly.
"You'll never guess what I have in my hand!" I said with a smirk.
"What?! Did you find it???" She asked in desperation.
"Yeah. I sure did and you'll never guess where I found it."
"Where?"
Laughing hysterically at this point, I said, "In the pantry!!!"

Mal couldn't believe what she had done. Something that had become so routine throughout the week. Something that had never really slipped her mind until now had REALLY, I mean REALLY slipped her mind. And come to find out, she later went on to say how she didn't remember opening the pantry door and if she did, she wasn't looking for anything in particular. I knew pregnant women are forgetful, but I had no clue they could be so unconsciously random! Love you Mal :)

Part 2: Nocturnal Ky Ky

A couple of days ago, Mal had been complaining that she thought Kylar had not been moving around enough. This type of non-action had happened before by our baby daughter, but not so late into the pregnancy. Mal really started to get worried at work saying she could feel small movements but not much jabbing of the arms and legs that she had gotten so used to as of late. While I was at work one day this week, a co-worker, who is currently pregnant and has 2 other children, told me that that can happen during the latter stages of pregnancy. She said it usually occurs because the baby does not have much "wiggle room" inside the mother's womb because they are almost full-term. I advised Mal of what I had learned but it still did not seem to calm her nerves about the entire situation. She knew that Kylar has been very stubborn to this point, but was neglecting to give her the benefit of the doubt. And I don't blame her. Even my co-worker said that if you aren't sure of what's going on and you're really scared, you should probably go to the hospital to have everything checked out.

Well, being the laid back person that I am, I disregarded the advice of my co-worker and kept trying to reassure Mal that everything with Kylar is normal and there is nothing to worry about. I still haven't figured out how to make that line work with her. In fact, she has every right to worry. I mean after all she is the one who is feeling every punch, kick and flip that Kylar makes. So if something doesn't seem normal to Mal, I probably should not try to convince her otherwise.

We sat on the couch and watched some television after work that night and I would lightly place my hand on Mal's belly waiting for a reaction by Kylar. While my hand never jumped off her belly like it had done plenty of times before, I kept my cool and didn't think anything of it. Later that night, after we had crawled into bed, I knew there had to be something I could do to reassure all of us that everything was, is and will be just fine. Besides, Kylar usually always moves around for us at night. Maybe she has the moon and the sun mixed up? I don't know what it is. But that is simply the way her little body operates at this point in time. So, after turning off the lights, I snuggled next to Mal, reached across her and placed my right hand on her belly and slowly moved it up and down and in a light circular motion. Next I firmed up the rubbing motion and started to talk to my baby girl. "Kylar...what are you doing in there? Are you going to move for daddy? You going to move for me?" Those were the only words I could come up with without making it sound like I was having a conversation with our dogs Wiley and Lola. The words felt weird. They felt silly. I even wondered if Mal was taking me seriously. But regardless of what we thought of those words, someone certainly heard me. And she responded with a triple kick to my palm.

It's amazing how a gloomy afternoon can ultimately change to an exciting night with a few childish words and a little loving tenderness. Needless to say, our family rested easy after that.