The End of 2008

Christmas was a blast! We had all our family here from Texas and my brother and Amber stayed at our house, they are easy occupants b/c they don't wake up till 10 or so and then are out the door, easy enough for me!

Kaden had good times with all the fam and racked in the presents over the few days of break.

(making Santa cookies w/ Granny couple days before Christmas)

We started with Christmas Eve with my mom. We went to church and haven't had Kaden in the sanctuary since he was a little baby, and for good reasons. He did pretty well when we were all singing but when it came time to just listen, all he kept saying was..."I go mom, I ready to go mom, I go" It was pretty funny, but also a little embarrassing. We kept him occupied with suckers, coloring and playing with the candlestick. Once we got to the end of the service and we started singing Silent Night, the candles were lit and he kept wanting to just blow them out like it was his birthday cake, and he did. Brett and I lit our candles throughout the whole song back and forth, but it was cute.

We headed to moms for a yummy dinner and then started in on the presents. Kaden had a blast and we just got to hang out and relax. He got a tent from my mom along with a Mickey Mouse bean bag chair, clothes, puzzles, and who knows what else and then my sister got him a Lightning McQueen trike that makes all sorts of noise, he was really excited about that. Uncle Brett and Aunt Amber also got him a Diego trike and Kaden REALLY wanted to open that box, but I think we're good with one trike! He loves his Lightning McQueen rain boots though, thanks!

Christmas morning we let Kaden walk downstairs and see what Santa brought him, and he got really confused when I said, "look he brought you this stuff", as soon as I said it, he started looking around for Santa. It was funny. He opened his stuff from us, cowboy boots, Elmo flashlight, little toys, and Brett opened up his gift from me, cowboy boots as well.

His first pair of cowboy boots, he and Kaden's first pair together!! We got ready and headed to my gram and pop's house and did TONS of more opening there. His big present was his basketball goal from my dad. He was SOOOO excited about it. He started playing immediately and he literally didn't miss a shot for like 7-8 straight times. Everyone was impressed, including myself. He was pumped!











(playing with Jace's guitar) (Papa rockin out with Jace and Kaden)

We opened up all the rest and we were just nestled in presents, wrapping paper and boxes, it was tons of fun. Everyone made out pretty well and the day was fun.

(Papa playing cards with the great-grandkids...so cute!)

My cousins husband, who played soccer in h.s and college a little, bet everyone, not sure how it started, but bet that he could kick a 40 yard field goal.(he can kick like no other) Now mind you, he hasn't worked out, kicked, played soccer, anything for a good 5-6 years, probably. So he kept saying he could do it, and we put him to the test. We headed to Lawrence High's field, he literally stretched for like 2 mins, had a semi-flat football, softball cleats on, and a couple practice kicks, and by our surprise, kicked a 40 yard field goal!!! We were all impressed!

We ate to much, played lots of games, went back and forth from our house to grams, boys played poker(and Steph), won and lost money, watched movies, shopped at the Legends, got good deals, and had SOOO much fun with our family.

It was sad to see everyone go, and get back to "normal" but always fun to get together. I think we are all pretty blessed to have everyone able to visit, have a great time and finish 2008 that way.
We are off to some friends house for the Insight Bowl watch party, then play games and have fun ringing in the New Year.

Thank you everyone for being a part of our lives and I wish everyone a safe and happy New Year!!

Christmas has already started!

Well last wed. was our first of many "Christmas's". We had our annual party at Coach Self's house for our bball family. It is always fun and the kids do a little exchange as well. So Kaden was excited about that, Evan Manning was his secret Santa and Kaden had Lauren Self. He didn't care, he just loves opening gifts!

Next was Barb and Larry getting into town on Friday for our Ballard Christmas. Everyone was coming to our house and I made this great dinner, cleaned the house meticulously and was all ready. So that morning, Kaden woke up with a rash all over, and every time he gets one, he has strep....sure enough later that morning Dr. apt. confirmed strep!!YUCK. So he cant go back to daycare, cant' go to MaryBeth's daycare in the afternoon and I'm supposed to be cleaning and cooking!!!YIKES! Thanks to my best friend, my sister, she took over like it was her job! She luckily had the day off and took him right after his Dr. apt and watched him all day.

He started his meds, and we were ready for everyone to be there. Well Katie called and no go on her family coming over b/c of Kaden's strep and Bailey and Kale were still getting over their sickness, poor babies, sickling's everywhere. So I felt horrible we wouldn't be able to do the "Christmas" all together, but we went ahead and opened gifts with Barb and Larry and ate dinner and all that. I was soo excited as well b/c Brett MADE me open my gift from him, which I couldn't figure out what it was all wrapped up. I told him I didn't have his yet and I wanted to open together, but he really insisted. So I opened up all the boxes and he had gotten me the ENTIRE Willow Tree Nativity Scene!!! I'm soooo excited. I finally figured out the Nativity Scene I wanted and I started telling people that way I could collect over the years, well low and behold, he must of caught wind and he got it ALL for me! I was soooo surprised and sooo happy.

Kaden had a great Christmas w/ the Ballards too. He got a whole set of Tools, Thomas the Train Lego's, books, a stick pony from Brett's grandad, some Hutch shirts, and he was happy. We had lots of fun and now all he wants is to open all the other ones under the tree. He doesn't get this day by day Christmas thing!

So around 1:30AM Kaden woke up crying and I went into his bedroom to pat him back to sleep, as I open the door and get my first whiff, I knew he was crying for another reason. I turned on the light and there he was face down laying in throw up all over. So I called Brett in and we had to get him, the bed, clothes, and us all cleaned up. Fun times. After that was all done, he laid right back down and was out, poor baby.

So 30 mins later, my brother and his wife roll into town and they are staying at our house this week, so I greeted them, at least I was just up, and got them settled and back to bed I went.

Sat. morning arrived, Brett had to leave semi-early to get up to the office, we got around, pretty low key since he was just sick and just played with new toys and stuff till Brett and Amber woke up. He was excited to see them. We got ready for the game and my friend from High School and his wife came to our house to meet us and go to the game. We headed to lunch at Quintons and it was packed, but I really wanted their soup, so we got our food and were trying to eat quickly b/c we needed to get to the game, and all of a sudden Kaden started puking EVERYWHERE. I don't know what he was throwing up b/c all he had was some applesauce. So we clean all that up, I have it on my shirt, I had to take that off and take his 2nd layered shirt off, and its like 9 degrees outside, we put our jackets on and without eating but 2 bites of my soup, we left and mom took Kaden home. The rest of us headed to the game and had a great time, but I just felt bad for my poor baby. When we got home he was watching Dora, go figure, and just laying on the couch. He's been pretty upbeat the rest of the weekend but all he's had is crackers, toast and water, oh and a little Gatorade. Man, this sick stuff stinks!

Brett left with the team Sunday morning so we really haven't seen him much and they are in AZ w/ 60 degree weather and we are in 6 degrees! Not fair! The rest of us headed to Weavers to see SANTA!! We prepped Kaden for it and he was all excited and when we got their cousin Kale and Bailey were first in line, so we were set.....well until Santa came out. He grabbed onto my leg and was TERRIFIED!!! It was kinda funny. I calmed him down and we watched Kale sit on his lap and tell him what he wanted. Then we went to the back of the line with my other cousin and sister and were ready for round 2! As we got up there, he kept saying no, but would say ok if I went with him. So it's our turn....we walk up to Santa, and he was a good one, and Kaden is still not wanting to do this, he was clawed into my arm and we went up and talked to him for a sec and then squatted down to take a picture, kinda. Santa gave him a little candy cane and I told him to say thank you, and Kaden's response was "tank you tanta, tank you!" in this scared little pitiful voice. It was so cute though, b/c he kept saying it, and the told him he wanted Dora! So we walked two steps away and he turned smiled and looked at me and said "Momma, I saw tanta!" It was funny. He's to darn cute!

So he hasn't gotten sick, knock on wood, since sat. and his bland diet is staying bland for a little while. I am working today, Monday , and Tues, and then off for the rest of the week, I'm sooo excited! All my family is continuing to roll into town, cooking, baking and all of the above is going on and its so much fun. I'm ready for Brett to be home, he'll get back at like 4AM on Christmas Eve, so then he'll get like 2 days with us, YEAH!!

That's' about it for now, I still have to post pictures of my rooms I finished and I'll post later about our Christmas cookie baking we are doing tonight! Kaden is going to have so much fun with sprinkles!

Tagged

So I got tagged again, by my sister-in-law.
So here are the "8 things you've always wondered about me!"

8 Favorite Restaurants:
1. Cheesecake Factory
2. Olive Garden
3. Cavino's
4. Chick-fil-A
5. Rosa's
6. Fazoli's
7. Jersey Mike's
8. Quinton's

8 Things that Happened Today:
1. Woke up and Kaden was in a FANTASTIC mood...so it makes it a GREAT start to the day.(well just going to look at him standing in his crib arms out saying momma or dadda is always a great start!)
2. Drove to work on the snowyish roads, hopefully it doesn't get bad today like it's supposed to.
**The rest of these things happened yesterday b/c its only 8:32am right now......
3. Worked on peoples acct's at the gym and ones that are behind on payments.
4. Took Kaden to daycare to make up for my sick day on Monday(normally Wed's are my 1/2 days)
5. Picked Kaden up from daycare and went home to play eat "nack" and watch some Dora.
6. Mom and Steph came over and Steph helped me tape out Kadens room for my next paint project. He got a new coat of paint in his room the other day, but now it's on to stage 2.
7. Went to Coach Self's house for our bball family Christmas party, watched the kids open up their secret Santa gifts, Kaden loves his whoopie cushion, football, jayhawk key chain, and ball popper...thank you Manning's!
8. Ate and "stole" gifts during our adult "Dirty Santa" exchange, it always makes me laugh so much, lots of fun!

8 Things I look forward to:
1. For our next children (whenever we are blessed to have them)
2. To watch Kaden grow each and every day, he amazes me with his knowledge and wittiness already at 21 mths old.
3. Christmas, love this time of year and to spend it with all our families.
4. Basketball Season, we've been so spoiled, it'll be interesting this year, lots of fun though.
5. To go see my new little "nephew" Julian w/ Kaden in January.(oh and Lacy too!-get use to it)
6. Vacation, when and where, I don't know, but I look forward to that each year!(Hopefully Australia some day!)
7. Getting a fence put up in our back yard and a deck!
8. The possibility of going back to school for interior design!

8 Things I'm scared of:
1. Death- I know it's inevitable, and it's part of the circle of life, but I guess I'm more scared of others I LOVE with ALL MY HEART being in pain and not being with them anymore, also scared of those same ones dying b/c of the pain I'll be in.
2. Snakes-freak me out
3. Being somewhere I'm not familiar and HAVING to find my destination with no directions.
4. Scary noises in our house when Brett's gone.
5. Not knowing if we'll have the blessed family we hope and wish for!
6. For Kaden to not REALLY know how much he's loved
7. That I've offended or hurt someone unintentionally
8. When Cooper and Jack are no longer with us, even though I get annoyed with them often, I love them so much!

8 Things I wish for:
1. For Brett and I both to be the happiest couple there ever was!
2. For our family to always be close, literally and figuratively
3. For Brett to get a better car since he has to drive mine now, I'd LOVE a Tahoe or Denali too!
4. For my parents to be happy with where they are in life and in whatever they do
5. For my sister to find "that person" and to be a mommy some day! I cant wait to be an aunt to my side of the family too!
6. For all the children in the world to never feel pain...sickness(even a cold), abuse, anything..
7. For Brett to get his DREAM job
8. To be the BEST Mom I can be

8 Things I watch on TV:
1. Grey's Anatomy
2. Desperate Housewives
3. John and Kate plus 8
4. Extreme Makeover- Home Edition
5. College Basketball
6. The Hills
7. A Lot of Cartoons-we're REALLY into Dora now
8. TLC, HGTV

There you go!
I would like to tag Kristi Keefer, Julie Carr, Lacy Carver and Katie Hammerschmidt, we'll see who actually does it though!!

I'll post again soon for the rooms I finally have done and show picts!

Fabulous

My cousin Taylor tagged my blog as a "fabulous" and I'm supposed to write 5 things I'm addicted to in life, so here they are...

1). Kaden Lee: Pretty obvious and pretty simple to have an addiction to my baby boy!! I LOVE Kaden soooo much it hurts sometime. It's a different love than my love for my husband and the rest of my family. People always told me that you cant understand this love until you actually go through it, and now I do! I LOVE being with him and when I'm not I always wonder what he's doing, if he's ok and then can't wait to go pick him up. I LOVE when he yells for me and wants me to pick him up and "love on" him. I'm addicted to him saying out of the blue..." I wuv you mommy!" He's soo sweet, he'll even fall down if you do just so you don't feel bad or embarrassed, come on now, that's pretty sweet. I just love my child so much.

2)My Husband:Wow, well what an amazing person to be "addicted" to. Brett is definitely my everything. He is such a sweet, kind, and positive person all the time. Despite our differences, we complement each other so well and it works out perfectly. How did I get so lucky to meet a great guy, fall in love, and get to be with him the rest of my life. I can't imagine life without Brett and just like I said about Kaden, when I'm not with him, I'm always wondering how he is doing, what he's up to, and when I get to see him next. I'm pretty sure obsessed and "addicted" are pretty strong words for this, but I do know that my husband is my world! 3) My Family: Yes I'm addicted to my family. There is nothing better than everyone involved. My parents are both great people! I couldn't have better ones than them. I HATE the way things are right now and despite the circumstance that we all went through about 7 years ago, we choose to live one way or another and we are all choosing to live happy. My dad, is further away now, but I learned so much growing up from him. He is a great dad and tries his hardest at everything. My mom is awesome!! She helps me with sooo much. Having her and my sister around all the time is a blessing and I wouldn't want it any other way. The day I don't live close to home is going to be really hard. My mom can withstand just about anything and is the most caring person around. My sister, is my best friend. She is one I can and do go to about everything. I love having her so close. My brother, who is now further away, is a very determined and strong minded person. He and I have a different bond than the others b/c we grew up longer together as adults. He is also my best friend and one I can count on. My sister-in law Amber, feels more like my sister since she's been a part of our family since she was in like 9th or 10th grade. I love the person she is and how much fun we have together. She can always be my shopping buddy. I couldn't have better in-laws either. Brett's parents and sister have welcomed me with open arms since we first got together and they are great. Since we have distance with his parents too, the time they do come to see us, we treasure. I love my other sister-in-law, Katie just like a sister too. We get along so well and have fun time together. I can go on and on about my grandparents, cousins, & aunts/uncles but it is all the same! I love my "family time"!

4) Shopping:Ok sadly but yes! I LOVE TO SHOP!! It makes me feel so much better. It doesn't matter what I'm shopping for, it can even be grocery's and I love to find the deals. It's not often that I buy stuff regular price, especially for Kaden, but I love a good sale!!! My favorite, addictions, are shoes, purses, jackets, and interior design type of stuff. I love pictures, picture frames, decorative pieces, etc. I love to shop!

5)Email/Blogs: Yes this is sad to, but I'm addicted to checking my email and checking up on people's blogs. I love to hear from people I don't hear from on an everyday basis so I must check my email to see if someone wrote me. I get so excited to see what's going on in others lives, and the best thing currently is the blog world on peakin' into that! So make sure you are updating your blogs and emailing me when you can. I LOVE it.

That's' about it for my addictions. I don't know if it's really true "addictions" in my life, but they are certainly IMPORTANT things that make me who I am and make me happy.

PS-Oh, and swim lesson 2 and 3 went about the same for Kaden, we had to miss #4 b/c he was to sick but we go again Friday and Monday. I'll post more picts soon. I'm sure he'll start to like it one of these days!!!

Here we go!

First things first...My best friend Lacy had her sweet little(kinda) boy Julian Travis Curry yesterday morning. He weighed 8 lbs. 6oz and was 21 inches long!!! Here he is and the proud parents. Congrats lacy!

I get to go visit her and Julian in January with Kaden and I really cant wait now. Everyone is doing fine and she is recovering from her c-section.

Ok, so lets see....whats been going on......well we had Cooper Keefer's 1st bday party last weekend.....

So much fun and he's doing GREAT! He goes back in for scheduled surgery in April and we'll go from there, but you wouldn't know anything is wrong with this kid if you didn't know his story, he's just adorable!

KU bball is in full effect and we are having fun going to the games. Kaden and I sit next to Coach Keller's wife and daughter, Kenzie, which is Kaden's little girlfriend, so it makes games fun. For the most part he does really well and gets into the games. He loves yelling "defense" and holding his hands up for free throws. It's pretty cute.

Oh, Thanksgiving went well. We had my granny in town with us, we at lots of food there and then had a team Thanksgiving at Coach Self's that night, so more food!! Then we did the whole 4am shopping the day after, yeah my 82 yr. old granny went with me and my mom, it was a lot of fun!! I have like 2 more things to get and then I'm done with my shopping, so I'm pretty proud. I cant wait b/c all my family from Texas is coming up this year and we always have a blast. My brother and Amber are staying at the "Ballard Bed & Breakfast", so it'll be a wake-up call for them getting up early with a 21mth old!!! Good times, I'm really excited though.

The only other new thing was that Kaden started swim lessons for the first time yesterday!! He did great. He was sooo excited about going in, we had to wait on the side for a while until it was his turn, and he was anxious to get in. Once Ms. Claudine got him and held him for a bit and showed him some toys, the rope, ect. he was ok. As soon as she turned him around to get him all the way wet, he freaked out. He pretty much screamed the whole rest of the lesson, which thank goodness they are only 15 or so minutes long. I understand why now, but she's AWESOME! They did 3 things repetitive the whole time. She made him "swim" to the side and grab on, float on his back, and swim to her from just inches away. He really did great though. It was funny b/c she talks really sweet and quiet to them and you don't think they are listening, but he really was b/c he would be screaming and then when she said "now go to the wall" he would stop b/c he knew he was going under before he got up and to the wall, and he then he would start the crying again. Once he got out he was sooo excited. He kept saying "I whimming in the waten" He was pretty proud of himself and so was I. We go 4 days in a row the first time and then see how often he needs/wants to go. So I'll let you know how today and then next days go soon.

That's about it for now. We are thinking of going downtown to see the Christmas parade with Santa, may be a little cold, gotta go check. Then we are off to the game at 1 and then swimming at 5:45. Then we get to watch the Hammerschmidt kids, cousins, for the night. Busy day.

Take care everyone!

sorry, another quick one!

Sorry, once again I'll update soon, but I have to tell everyone that my best friend, Lacy, is having her baby boy, Julian, tomorrow morning. She is going in about 2 1/2 weeks early due to being diabetic and high risk her whole pregnancy and having him c-section in the morning. I couldn't be happier for her and I can't WAIT to see and meet him soon. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers, she's gonna be an AWESOME mommy! Good luck Lace!

Quick Post

I just had to share this quick video from last night (sorry about the quality). I'll update my blog soon, but this was to cute. Kaden just decided even though its like in the 30's here, he wanted his shirt off!

Take care!