Musings from a Minister's Wife

A Hilarious Cole Story (R-rated--be warned)

2010-08-18T22:00:00.002-04:00

Cole was in the tub tonight playing. He had a cup he was using to scoop water. I was at the sink with my back to him.

C: Mom, look what I've got. I have Better Boobie Lotion. (As he's talking, he pours the water onto his nipples.)

K: What does that stuff do for you?

C: I don't know. Make your boobies better or sumpin'.

He's still got it. What's funny (or scary) is that he's getting to the age that he's starting to say those things because he anticipates that I'll laugh at them, not because he's naturally funny. Which he is that too.

The Alphabet, remixed

2010-04-29T11:29:00.002-04:00

Cole: ABCDEFGHIJK(emomeno)PQRXT(too)PWXYandZ. Now your ABC is here. Next time won't you sing with me?

Kate: Why are there two X's in the alphabet?

Cole: Because God wanted there to be two X's in the ABC's.

LOVE IT! Gilbert mentioned trying to correct him. I say, eventually he'll figure it out, and if I had corrected it, I couldn't have gotten this adorable response.

A More Positive 101

2010-04-04T17:20:00.004-04:00

I was thinking last night while lying in bed about how much I LOVE being a mom, so I thought I'd share the few reasons that I was thinking of at that moment:

1. Stepping over tiny Converse that have been sitting by my bedside table for the last week.

2. Pushing toy cars and pacifiers to the edge of my bedside table so I'll be able to see my alarm clock in the morning.

3. Climbing into bed and having to sweep crumbs out from Sunday morning's cereal spill before I can fall asleep. (This morning we had "Cocoa Fluffs.")

And one that I would have been thinking of if I'd heard it before this morning:
4. Cole singing I Will Call Upon the Lord this way: "The Lord limit, and bless (mumbling) rock, God's alvation be exhausted." I didn't even know he knew it. "We sing that at my school, Mom."

They're both pretty awesome kids. I am blessed, for sure. Being a mom is definitely on the short list of "Best Things I've Ever Done."

This is Cole showing Beau his new Bakugans. (Pronounced by Cole as "back-you-gun." Who knows the real pronunciation, but I've had lessons in Cole's method.) He actually studied the pictures in the manual and discovered all by himself that the pieces would fit together, and put it all together himself. But don't be fooled into thinking that in this picture he's sharing his "backugun." Just letting little brother look from a distance.

My 100th post

2010-03-08T20:33:00.002-05:00

What a lame, lame excuse for a 100th post. I was logging on, trying to decide the most appropriate title for this downer post, when I noticed that I'd posted 99 times. This would be number 100. It should be a celebration, I think. But instead, I'm opting for a vent session. I hope you're prepared for this one.

I. Am. Totally. Overwhelmed.
Shock of all shocks, I know.
My house is a train-wreck. A pig-sty. A disaster area. No joke. I'm not one of those people who says, "Whew. My house is a wreck," when it really isn't. This is a lame attempt at making those of us in the true pig-sties feel better. But it doesn't. It only makes us feel worse about ourselves.

I'm just going to be totally, up-front honest about things. My kitchen floor was swept for the first time yesterday since February 7th. Yes. I remember the exact date. I can't even begin to guess when it was mopped last. January, I'm sure. And it's obvious. Chocolate milk spots I didn't get to before they were almost dry. Chocolate icing splattered on the floor. Kool-aid in one place, spaghetti sauce in another. And when I swept yesterday, dust flew everywhere. I'm not joking.

The toilets have rings around them. The bathtub drains are yucky too. The mirrors have toothpaste splattered all over.

The living room was last vaccumed on February 14th, only because we had movie night with 7 boys, and the popcorn could not be overlooked. Trust me. If it could have been, it would have. I killed a spider the other night under the coffee table and just rolled the coffee table back into place on top of it.

And I've only mentioned the most traveled areas of the house.
It's ridiculous.

And I've been feeling okay about it all, trying to remind my
self of all those people who've said that when my boys are big, it won't matter how messy my house was when they were growing up. I've been hoping that's true.
But tonight, as I looked at Cole's too-long, dirty, sticky fingernails I asked myself, "Exactly what am I doing around here? My children aren't even properly groomed for Pete's sake."

They're dressed and fed (although judging from Beau's placement on the percentile chart these days, that is debateable too; and it's only true for Cole with thanks to McDonald's or Culver's or Moe's). That's about all I can say.

What am I doing well these days, you wonder?
1. Washing bottles
2. Pumping breastmilk
3. Smooching on boys

Okay, so now I'm at the point in the post that I realize how pathetic I sound. So I guess I'll put you people out of your misery. [In proofreading, I just realized another thing that I can say about my boys. They're HAPPY. I guess I should get over myself, huh?]

Just needed a vent session. Happy 100th post! Yay! (That's about all the celebration you people are going to get. What do you want from me? I'm exhausted.)

** And don't even think about sending me some feel-better comment if you see your counter top for more than two days consecutively, or if you saw your counter-top for more than two days consecutively when your children were young. (Smile)

Growing Up is Hard to Do

2010-01-31T21:21:00.002-05:00

Cole, crying: I don't want to be a big brother anymore. I want to be little!
Me: What do little brothers do that big brothers can't do?
C: Play with little toys.

Poor baby. After I brought him a rattle, swaddled him, carried him to his room like a baby, and fed him chocolate chip cookies (making sure to remind him that big brothers can eat cookies but little brothers can't) he felt better.

Comparisons

2009-12-12T21:56:00.008-05:00

I've been meaning to try this for a while, and since I've finally gotten my pictures updated on my computer, I thought I'd try it (even though I should totally be in bed right now). The names are below the pictures.

BEAU

COLE

BEAU

COLE

BEAU

COLE

BEAU

COLE

I've been thinking Beau looks a lot like Cole did, but now I'm sure he doesn't. They might pass as brothers, but they definitely have their own unique features.

And while I'm at it, something I've been doing lately to depress myself...

Pretty amazing, huh? My little guy's growing up. (Boo-hoo)

This Boy is Just Too Funny

2009-12-02T22:18:00.004-05:00

I could post a series of funny conversations with Cole at the end of every day. Really. Here are a few I've had lately.

On Thanksgiving, at the dinner table:
Cole: "Mom, what's that?"
Kate: "Peas."
C: "Peas like a river?"

I noticed Cole picking his nose, so I asked if he had a booger on his finger. When he told me he did, and I wasn't successful at finding a tissue, I told him that sometimes it's okay to just drop in on the ground (good parental advice, I know). He looked at me, wrinkled his nose, and said, "Can I just eat it?"

Today Cole asked me to carry him when we were leaving church. I carried him as long as I could until I got ready to get Beau ready to be carried out.
Cole: "When you're ready to carry me again, just let me know."

He went into Gilbert's office today and saw lots of gifts delivered by members for the Christmas for Everyone program.
C: What are those?
Gilbert: Those are gifts for kids.
C: Huh. Funny.

He loves to get wild when we're dressing him, especially if he's on the bed. It is MADDENING. It's one of those times when I really want to spank his bottom. Tonight I overheard, from Beau's room, him giving Gilbert a hard time tonight. Gilbert was begging him to calm down and get dressed.
K: "Cole, please let Daddy get you dressed."
C: "Mom, that's not dressed. That's clothes."
K: "Please let daddy get your clothes on."
C: "That's not clothes. That's p.j.'s."
(Gilbert snickers.)
C (to Daddy, quietly): "I did that all by myself."

My Funny Guy

2009-11-03T22:33:00.005-05:00

Thought I'd share a few stories about Cole that have cracked me up lately:

Story #1:
He and I were playing outside. He was riding around in his Power Wheels Jeep, so he invited me to ride with him.
Kate: I'm sorry, but Mom's too big to ride in the Jeep.
Cole: Okay, Giant!
(So maybe this one isn't SO funny, but it cracked me up.)

Story #2:
(Beware, Lee. This may contain too much information for you. And I'm singling you out because I think you may be the only male reader of my blog, other than Gilbert, and he's used to being provided with too much information. Just thought I'd warn you.)

I've been working VERY hard to shelter Cole from my "getting milk for Beau," if you know what I mean. I must say that it's VERY difficult. Every time I've pumped with him in the house, he's been exposed to a little more and a little more. Finally the other day, as I sat huddled in the closet, I felt the door open behind me, and this time he saw much more than I wanted him to.

Later that day we were outside playing with water guns, so, in an effort to save time and energy, I brought out a cup of water and a funnel for re-loading. While we were playing, a ladybug flew over and landed on Cole's chest. He took the funnel and tried to trap it on his chest. After looking down at the funnel for a second, his face lit up, he smiled, and he said, "Look, Mom. A boobie!"

Story #3:
I tried to draw a picture of Curious George for Cole a few weeks ago. Because of my lack of artistic talent, the only thing about the picture that looked like a monkey was the tail. But Cole said that monkeys don't have tails. We argued about this for a while, until we both let it go. Then today when Curious George came on (and I'd long forgotten about the tail argument), Cole said, "See, Mom. Look at him bottom. He doesn't have a tail." (Why is that, anyway? Why would Curious George not have a tail? Don't all monkeys have tails?!?)

Story #4:
We were eating lasagna for supper a few nights ago, and Cole kept dropping pieces onto his lap. So I jokingly said, "Should I get you a bib?" He got a look of panic on his face and said, "No. I don't want a bib." So I explained that I was kidding and that he's too big for a bib. About 10 minutes later I dropped a little lasagna onto my lap and, without a second's hesitation, Cole said, "Do you need a bib?" I think he's destined to have his daddy's wit. Great.

Story #5:
And speaking of Daddy's wit, tonight Gilbert invited Cole to pull his finger. After Gilbert provided him with the appropriate (or inappropriate) result, Cole scrunched his nose up and said, "You need to take a bath."

I'm loving his sense of humor these days. And to be honest, I'd love it if he ended up with his daddy's wit.

Where I Am Right Now

2009-10-06T18:57:00.002-04:00

Let me deliver this stream-of-conscious information to you with a caveat: I am not suffering from postpartum depression. I do not feel the desire to hurt myself or my baby. And I promise I'm not making light of situations that involve women who have or do feel this way. I guess this is my way of saying, "I understand how one can get there." But don't be worried about me after you read this post, please.

As I hope you all know (although it would be my fault if you didn't), our sweet Beau Asher has graced our lives with his presence. He has been with us for more than two weeks now. And he is such a joy and a blessing. Sweet, mostly mild-mannered, sleeps well, eats well, fun to be around.

However, I'm sharing with you where I am right now. I just went to the bathroom for the first time since 8 this morning. That's 11 hours ago. I'm starved, even though I just snacked not very long ago. So as I type, I'm taking breaks to scarf down leftovers. Lots of carbs. My right boob is hurting--again. But in a different spot this time. It's 7 p.m. To me this means two things: Cole's going to need a bath soon, and Beau's going to need lots, LOTS of TLC soon, because he's about to get very fussy for about 3 hours. And after Cole's bath, he's going to need to be put to bed. And I'm exhausted.

Did I have a nap today? No. I chose to go shopping for real shirts today instead of maternity clothes during my nap time. Nice to have the clothes; not nice to be sleep deprived. And Beau napped the entire time I shopped. Nice to have the ability to focus; not nice to be sleep deprived.

As I'm typing, Cole's piling a million CD's into my lap for some reason. And honestly, I'm trying to pretend he's not doing that. He's asking to listen to some annoying lady sing songs about him. "This song is for COLE, he's a special boy..." I just don't think I can handle that.

And bed time right now sounds great. But Biggest Loser is coming on in 50 minutes, and I really want to watch it. Looks like I'm making some choices today, huh?

I need to hear this is normal. I don't need to be scolded. I know I should nap when the baby's napping. I know Cole needs me to give him attention. (Now he's wadding up scraps of paper and chunking them at me while I search frantically for my happy place.) But honestly, I know I should have napped today, and to be frank, I think I'm doing pretty well not to yell at Cole for being himself--funny but with annoying tendencies.

So, that's where I am. I'm not really going crazy, but I need a break. I'd take a 24 hour break if it didn't mean I'd have to strap myself to a breast pump 8 times over the course of my break. So what I'm saying is that I'll go back to what I was doing 10 minutes ago. I'll get up from here, give Cole his bath, rush him to the bed in hopes that I haven't missed too much Biggest Loser, latch that baby on "to feed" (as Gilbert says) and hope that pep-talk I gave Beau about not being fussy tonight actually works. Because I guess this brief pause I allowed myself is all the break I'm going to be getting.

A funny (and crude) story...I guess I should get used to crude around here

2009-08-06T09:28:00.003-04:00

A conversation with Cole this morning (I love doing these):

(Cole stands in front of me in his underwear, and he pulls them down just enough to show me his bottom.)

C: Mom, smell my bottom. It's stinky.
K: I don't want to smell your stinky bottom.
C: No, smell my bottom.
K: I'm not gonna smell your bottom.
C: (dramatically) You hate me.
K: I don't hate you. You know I love you very much, but I'm not sure I love you enough to smell your stinky bottom.
C: It's not stinky!

Oh my. What does my future hold?

The Bus Ride

2009-08-04T15:47:00.002-04:00

Today I planned for Cole and myself to take the city bus to the library (two things we haven't done this summer, so I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone [yes, I should be ashamed that we haven't been to the library all summer]). Cole has been fascinated with school buses and city buses for as long as he could inquire about them, and our bus tour on a converted school bus with cows painted on the side at Fair Oaks Farms, an awesome, fun dairy farm between here and Chicago, sent him over the edge. He had to have another experience with a bus. It was just too much for him to do without.

So I got online and learned about riding the Lafayette CityBus system--how to get on the bus, how to pay, and which was the correct bus for us to ride if we wanted to go from the closest stop for us (the Meijer store) to the library. Then I got on the Weather Channel website and made sure that we wouldn't be walking to our bus stop in the rain. The forecast was storms in at 6 a.m., cloudy all day, and then storms again around 4 p.m. So we were all set. And this morning, as we discussed our plans, Cole was thrilled and I was nervous.

We made it to Meijer just as the bus was pulling in to the parking lot, so we jogged to the stop, climbed on, put our money in, and chose a seat that put Cole's little head below the windows. But this boy was as content as could be. He didn't want to move and he didn't want to sit in my lap so he could see the diggers working on State Road 26. "I fine," he said, after having to answer my million questions that would enable him to be "fine" in my book. Such a big guy. And he asked his own million questions along the way, about the lights, the red levers on the emergency windows, the pull-cords that let the driver know when we need to get off.

We were delivered safely to our stop, and we walked the rest of the way to the library. When he got there he walked right up to the librarian and inquired where he might find Arthur and Curious George, and he proceeded to pick out his books. Then we got comfy and read a book, then chose an Arthur video, then pottied, and then headed out for the maybe 4 block walk to the bus stop.

Just as we got there I saw a bus pass by and wondered if it was ours, running a little early, but I knew another would come before too long, so I didn't sweat it. As we crossed the street to the corner, I pointed out to Cole that the sky to the left of us was extremely dark. And before long, those dark clouds were rolling right over us. But still, I was remembering the Weather Channel and was not concerned. Even when the huge rain drops started falling, we stood by a tree to stay pretty dry, and I was still not worried... until the lightening and thunder started, and two buses passed us on the opposite side of the road. So I started to consider that maybe we should be boarding the bus on that side of the road. So we crossed over and stood under the overhang of the Journal and Courier's private employee entrance. Despite being asked about 4 times by the sweet employees to come inside, I knew that we would not see the bus approaching if we went inside. So we continued to wait, watching both sides of the road for a bus to come. And I asked Cole numerous times, "Should we call Daddy, or do you want to wait for the bus?" "Let's wait for the bus," he'd say, with drippy hair and chattering teeth. Until finally, after probably 20 minutes, I did see a bus coming from the opposite direction. So I did a jay-walk move, running across to the other side so the driver would stop for me (I learned that on one of the videos I watched last night--if you're not on the correct side of the road, they won't stop for you.) I waved him down, and we were safely headed back.

And as Cole shivered on the bus seat, he still refused to let me hold him in my lap. He was taking this like a man. And the thought I couldn't get out of my mind was this: Had I been experiencing this by myself, I would have been nervous and grumpy. But having Cole there to experience it with me made it more of an adventure. I knew we were safe and that we'd eventually get where we needed to be. And as often as I'm reminded that many things in my life become a little more complicated with a boy standing at my feet, some things become more enjoyable with that little guy there with me. So despite the rain and wet, it was a good trip. And before we were even halfway back he was already asking when we could ride again. I would say that meant it was all worth it.

Cole and his brother

2009-07-18T22:05:00.004-04:00

Every time I pass through Bowling Green, I itch to have pictures taken by Melissa DeVries. She does such a good job! So this time when I passed through (toward the end of June), I set up a time with her and had some done. I'd wanted a few good pictures of Cole and his baby brother before he actually came along, and that's just what I got!

I LOVE that Cole already likes to interact with Brother (although when he gets here he might feel differently for a while!) He cracks up when he's sitting or lying next to me and he feels him moving. He says, "Mom, Baby Brother wiggling?" He also says, "Mom, tell Baby Brother to watch me." So I have to pull up my shirt and make BB "watch" while Cole does something interesting like flop on his bottom on the couch, do a flip, or jump on the bed. The other day when the baby moved and Cole felt him, he said, "What's Baby Brother doing?" So I said, "He's probably practicing that flip you taught him the other day." Cole just grinned.

So I wanted Melissa to capture his excitement about his brother, even if he doesn't totally get what's going on. As you'll see, she did an awesome job.

I'm doing this to myself again?

2009-07-13T21:43:00.003-04:00

Maybe it's because I kind of liked seeing pictures of myself in the same position almost exactly three years later, or maybe I'm a glutton for punishment and low self-esteem, or maybe this time I'm thinking that I'm not going to look as rough in this current picture as I did in the last one, but I'm posting a "pregnant now" picture vs. a "pregnant then" picture again. Let's see if I feel any better about myself this time...

This is me today.

This was me on June 15, 2006, with a sweet Cole in my belly. (Maybe about 29 wks?) Right now I'm 31 weeks, somewhere between the above...

and this one on July 15, 2006. (About 33 weeks?)

So I don't look quite as tired today at 2:30 in the afternoon as I did at about 10 p.m. in the last picture I had Gilbert take. I do think I look a little more like a mom in today's picture. Hmmm. As much as I risk lowering my self-esteem by comparing this pregnancy to the last one (including weight gain by the dr. visit!), I do kind of like doing it. Am I nuts or what?

Beach Photos

2009-07-13T14:26:00.004-04:00

We just got back a few days ago from a week in Destin with my parents, my little sis, and my niece. We had lots of fun. Just wanted to share a few photos with you. (Some of you may have already seen many of these on fb.)

More funny conversations with Cole

2009-06-12T22:40:00.003-04:00

Conversation #1:
Gilbert's getting ready for work and Cole walks in while he's putting gel in his hair.
Cole: Daddy, what you doing?
Gilbert: Putting gel in my hair.
C: Why?
G: So I can pick up chicks.
Later, at the mall:
Kate: Cole, we need to go show Daddy your new glove and bat (Yeah, the real deal. I couldn't say no.)
C: No, Daddy's picking up chicks.

Conversation #2:
K: Cole, it's bed time.
C: No, I don't need to go to bed. I happy.

Conversation #3:
After finishing his bedtime story:
C: Mom, you lay down with me?
K: Not tonight. I'm going to go downstairs.
C: No. You tired. Let me see...(as he pokes his fingers into my mouth and pries my jaws open) Yeah. Your mouth is tired. Let me see... Eww! You got dirt in your mouth!
K: Uh-oh. What should I do? Brush my teeth?
C: No. Spit it out.
Then, after he schools me in the right way to spit dirt out into his hand:
C: I'll put it in the flowers tomorrow.

Love, love, loving this age. I need to be writing more down.

For Melissa

2009-05-25T16:34:00.003-04:00

Melissa M. called the other day and dogged me out for not having shared a belly picture. Okay, so she didn't "dog me out," but she did make a request. So here it is:

And, not to be too critical of myself, but yes, I am every bit as tired in this picture as I look. My picture dilemma has been that in the afternoon I usually go to the gym, so in the evenings (the best opportunity for photos) I either look like I just came from the gym, or I look like I just came from the shower and am ready for bed. On this rare night, I had gone smelly but more nicely dressed to the ball park, so I took advantage of the moment to give Melissa what she wanted. Maybe next time I get dressed up for something and Gilbert is around, I'll have him snap another, more becoming shot. (And I'm sure I'll thank Melissa later when I realize that I only took a few pictures of this pregnancy.)

You know, just for the fun of it (or to let you decide how much having a child has aged me), why not throw in a picture of me at exactly the same point in my pregnancy with Cole?

Yuck. I wouldn't say I'm glowing quite as much with this pregnancy as with the first. Why am I doing this to myself?!? Oh well. I must really love you guys (or at least Melissa.) Just when I thought I wasn't one of those moms on the Suave commercial that says, "x percent of moms say they've let themselves go since having children." I guess that's just part of it. =-)

By the way, in case you're not facebookers, it is another boy!

A Funny Conversation

2009-04-11T21:46:00.003-04:00

Inspired by Melanie's posted conversations heard around her house, I thought I'd share one with you all. (This is actually a conversation within a conversation. I hope you can follow):

Gilbert: I think I messed up. I gave Cole a bath while you were at the gym, and I think you already gave him one tonight.

Kate: No, I didn't.

Gilbert: Well, he told me he'd already had one. Plus, his gun (that shoots those little styrofoam disks) was laying by the tub.

Kate: He had that in the bathroom earlier while I was trying to (pardon my language) poop. Here's how that went:

Cole: Watch out Mommy! (as he points the gun at me and shoots)
Kate: Please do not shoot at Mommy. (I'm trying to poop.)
Cole: I not shooting at you!
Kate: Yes, you were. You pointed the gun, pulled the trigger, and hit me in
the chest.
Cole: I not shooting at you.
Kate: Please do not shoot Mommy.
Cole: But I not...
Kate: Just say, "Yes ma'am."
Cole: Yes ma'am. (Then under his breath) But I not shooting at you.

A Scolding

2009-03-28T19:11:00.005-04:00

Okay. So I've been "scolded through the grapevine" by my in-laws and others (ahem, Sandra) for not continuing to fulfill my original purpose for blogging--keeping you long-distance loved-ones updated on Cole. I realize that most of you care nothing about reading my ramblings but check the website in hopes of getting a glimpse at my cute boy. So I do have some pictures to post, and I thought many of you would like to see how our baby has quickly turned into a big boy.

We just returned a few days ago from a spring break trip to south Alabama to visit Gilbert's parents. We'd talked it up for a long time to him, promising that he could put to use the Superman fishing pole he'd gotten for Christmas, and he could not wait. Just a few days before we left he started asking when he would go fishing with his Paw-paw. It escalated from asking daily, to a few times daily, to several times a day. The night before we left, he was praying and he said, "Thank you for Paw-paw, thank you for fishing." As he said fishing, he did his little hand motions for reeling a fish in. He even told a lady in a Tennessee Zaxby's about fishing. He was beyond excited. To build his anticipation even more, he had his very own tackle box, complete with his very own rubber worms, waiting for him when he woke up on Monday morning. He hauled a worm around with him every second we were there, even to bed each night. And finally, he got to fish. Here are a few pictures from the week.

This picture isn't the easiest to see, but Gilbert took it on his phone because I, of course, left my camera in the van for this excursion. Cole "caught" this one with Gilbert's help. He was so very excited.

This was the second day on the boat, when I did remember my camera. We did not catch one single thing this day, but I did get some cute pictures anyway. Cole amused himself (and I think annoyed others) by constantly checking on the minnows we were using as bait. He got very brave and ended up spending most of the time waiting for someone to need a new minnow so he could use the net to pull out some fish, stick his hand into the net with the flopping little things, get a good grip on one, and take it over to the person who needed it.

He was also a very good car rider. We traveled the entire eleven hour trip home with only a two hour nap and two short stops.

We had a good time. The boys got a fishing fix, and I had time to read for enjoyment. Now it's back to the real world next week for a few more weeks of school, and then some summertime fun! I can't wait.

Kate's Top 3 Things

2009-03-04T21:23:00.004-05:00

Top 3 things I should have posted on my blog in the last month or so:

1. Cole has been totally paci free for the last few weeks. He's pretty much been an "only-when-sleeping" paci user for the majority of his life, but I have been ready for him to get rid of it. Especially before a new paci user enters the picture (refer to #3). He came home from daycare about 3 weeks or so ago with a note that said, "Cole's paci has disappeared. Could you please send another? P.S. He DID go to sleep without it." That was the extra nudge I needed to attempt to help him kick the habit. So that night we put him to bed without, and not a single tear was shed. He drifted right off to sleep, and has only simply inquired about it a handful of times since.

2. A cute Cole story, as told by Gilbert: Cole calls my bras "boobies." When he sees me getting undressed he says, "Mom, you gonna take your boobies off?" So the other day Gilbert and Cole went to the store. As they walked down an aisle, they had a straight shot of the lingerie section. Just as the bras come into sight, Cole, at the top of his lungs, and with great excitement, says, "BOOBIES!!!" Gilbert almost died. I can imagine. I would have loved to be there.

3. As referenced in #1, we are expecting a younger sibling for our sweet Cole in September. I'm sure that you've probably all heard that at this point, but there may be a few of you who aren't facebookers. This pregnancy, so far, has been a little different from the first. I am just as weepy as I was with Cole (maybe even a little more) but I am a good bit snippier than I was before. When I was carrying Cole, I was, I think, much kinder than when I wasn't pregnant. Not the case this time. I am a roller-coaster, completely. My only hope is that this means I'm having a girl and the extra estrogen isn't treating me (or those who come into close range) too well. I had my second dr. visit last week and when I told the dr. that I'd had some sickness, he asked if I had the same with my first pregnancy. When I told him no, he said, "You know what they say that means..." Then when we heard the heartbeat and it was 160, he said, "You know what they say that means..." I'm trying not to listen to all that; especially since Cole's heartbeat was usually in the 160 range. Although I must admit that I do have plans to check the Chinese conception chart when I get done here.

I'm sure those can't be the only important or interesting things that have happened in the last month, but, as usual, I think of a ton of ideas and when I finally get on to post, it all disappears from my brain. So I guess that will have to tide you over for a bit. I'll try to get back to you if another comes to me. But, as you've learned in the last 6 months or so, you probably shouldn't hold your breath.

It's Time

2009-01-28T11:44:00.002-05:00

Just because I'm trying to blog once a week, I'm going to bore you with some details of my day...
The exciting news (I guess) is that I'm off today because it's a snow day. We have about 5 inches. But on the negative side (which I'm disturbed to admit I can usually find), this means one day closer to June before school's out. Oh well. I guess a sanity day peppered into the spring semester is nice.
A perk of the day is that I have time to do some school work that I wasn't sure I'd ever have the chance to get started on, much less finish. Because I have a doctor's appointment today at 1:30, I had Gilbert take Cole to daycare (they just had a 2 hour delay) so I wouldn't have to find a sitter during nap time so I could go to my appointment. What that means, although I'm a little sad Cole doesn't get to play in the snow, is that I had time to work on my central office mandated assignment that I'd been refusing to do, and it's as done as it can be right now (although getting it done that quickly probably means I did it poorly. Oh well. At least I feel better about it, right?) Anyway, sorry to bore you. I just felt obligated to post. Hope your day is happy! (By the way, in proofreading this, I think I "sound" quite a bit like Ben Stein. Anyone else "hear" it?)

Slacker

2009-01-19T20:49:00.003-05:00

Okay, so I'm an awful slacker. Horrible. I feel so guilty for having abandoned my blog. Honestly, I'm not even checking others' blogs on a regular basis. I feel awful. I may have mentioned this before (although when would I because it's not like I've been updating this thing) but I've been gallivanting around with Facebook instead. I should do better. I actually had a walk down memory lane today, which caused me to consider my relationship with my blog, because I put a year's worth of pictures in Cole's photo albums today. (Those hadn't been updated since August 2007, his first birthday. I guess you could say that Facebook isn't my first love affair. My child's photo albums took the back seat to my blog.) Anyway, I found pictures that I'd published on my blog and realized that I need to get back on the blogging track. So I'm thinking I could at least commit to once a week blogging, right? I'm going to try. We'll see how it goes...

No Love Lost

2008-12-15T06:50:00.002-05:00

Wow. It's been a long time since I've posted anything; it's been that long since I've even checked for comments or looked at other people's blogs. I guess it is the season to be busy. But I want you all to know, I haven't lost any love for my blogging pals. I thought about you on Sunday morning at about 12:45 when I was cleaning up puke. And then I thought about you again at about 2 a.m. and again at about 3...

I was considering the fact that many of you who read my blog are moms or will be moms in the future. I was also thinking about all the blog posts I've read about sick babies or grandbabies. Honestly, I couldn't really relate. Until this weekend, I've only once had to clean up my own child's puke. But in the last 48 hours, I have truly become a real, honest-to-goodness mom. So many of you have reached this stage before me, even with children younger than mine. Just want you to know that now I'm a member of your club.

I have found myself to be grateful to be among you official mothers at this point in my career. Cole picked up on the concept of hitting the trash or toilet pretty easily as a two-year-old. I know that this would not be the case if he were much younger. Don't get me wrong. He rarely hit the can with the first heave of the spell (sorry for the graphics), but those that came after usually landed in the garbage can. I know that saved me a lot of mess. My three loads of laundry from this ordeal could have turned quickly to six or more.

More good news is that the only time he's felt bad in all of this is about 5-15 minutes before he gets sick again. Between those times (which has gotten to be every 3-5 hours), he feels fine: eating popsicles, drinking Sprite, watching Little Einsteins, and riding his bicycle in circles around the kitchen. But the trash can has lurched behind him wherever he's gone.

I'm writing, though, after sleeping almost the entire night in my own bed (I was in his floor the night before) uninterrupted. The only sheets changed were at 8:45, just after he'd fallen asleep. The next time he woke up was at 5 a.m., thirsty. So I'm hoping that he'll be in good shape today. Nurse Daddy will be on duty for the day. And another bit of good news, as if a boy on the road to recovery and joining your club isn't good enough: I was greeted by a two-hour school delay. How else would I get a chance to fill you in on my news?

Just when you thought...

2008-11-10T20:57:00.003-05:00

Just when you thought it didn't get any cuter than that hiney in those Halloween leggings...just when I thought I couldn't be prouder of my little guy than I am...just when I thought I had maxed out on my love for him, here comes a story like this one:
I fixed chili for dinner tonight (irrelevant, but you know me). Gilbert had taken Cole over to his seat and I brought over his bowl, as well as a hot dog that I'd cut up for him. Gilbert was fixing his own bowl while I got Cole situated. Cole started saying, "Mom, pray? Pray, Mom?" It took me a minute to figure out what he was saying, but when I saw his hands folded, I got the idea. I told him to hang on and when the three of us sat down, we'd pray. He agreed, but he kept sitting there with his hands folded, so I asked Gilbert to come over so we could go ahead and pray. I expected Gilbert to come over and lead the prayer as usual, but instead he asked Cole if he wanted to pray. Cole agreed. I thought he'd sit there without saying anything, but I was wrong. As soon as we bowed our heads, this is what we heard: "God, [jibberish] food, [jibberish] hot dog, [more jibberish]." Then he lifted his head and grinned. I couldn't believe it. It was the sweetest thing I think I've ever heard, and trust me, living with this child, I've heard lots of sweet things. But I think this tops it. It's like I told Gilbert--each day I can't imagine that I'll be more shocked at his big boy-hood than I was the day before, but somehow I am. It's amazing.

Finally!

2008-10-31T22:21:00.005-04:00

Okay. I'm finally ready to share pictures of the house. I took some before we officially moved in but never got around to posting them. Then it looked so much better when we started to fix things up, so I intended to take more, but then we moved the real stuff in, and it was a wreck (yes, I took pictures of that for you to see but my camera somehow deleted them. Seriously. I promise). But now the downstairs is cleaned up and I took some more yesterday. Take a look. Our dining room and kitchen. I chose this color and I love it. Some of you know the drama that preceded the choice, however. Our very cool living room; my personal favorite. That's a painting of my grandparents' house over the fireplace, which I love. Our bedroom's pretty cool too (we painted it red) but considering the fact that the bed is never, ever made, and it has a quilt on it now that totally clashes with the color, I'll spare you the picture.

And since it's Halloween and my husband bought me a cool new camera as an early birthday gift, I'll share some photos of Cole's costume. This is the first holiday we've had that he's been able to really get into, and he's had so much fun. I can't wait until Christmas time.
I had to get a shot of that cute booty in those (ahem) leggings I had him in. Before he broke into the candy
And after
What a fun night!

Tagged, I guess

2008-10-23T22:36:00.002-04:00

Well since I'm failing to post anything else productive these days...And because you don't even want to see pictures of the house in the condition it's in (yikes!)...I'll respond to being chosen by Carla to post in response to a tag of sorts. I think the rule is that you have to tag 10 other people, but I won't force anyone. Okay. Maybe I'll force a few of you. See the bottom of this post to find out if you're one of the lucky ones. Here goes...

1. Where is your cell phone? unknown
2. Where is your significant other? bed
3. Your hair color? brown
4. Your mother? precious
5. Your father? busy
6. Your favorite thing? boys
7. Your dream last night? forgotten
8. Your dream/goal? cleanliness
9. The room you're in? crowded
10. Your hobby? reading
11. Your fear? loss
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? content
13. Where were you last night? church
14. What you're not? tired
15. One of your wish-list items? maid
16. Where you grew up? Alabama
17. The last thing you did? Facebook
18. What are you wearing? glasses
19. Your TV? quiet
20. Your pet? nope
21. Your computer? adequate
22. Your mood? restless
23. Missing someone? girlfriends
24. Your car? Sienna
25. Something you're not wearing? earrings
26. Favorite store? Target
27. Your summer? nice
28. Love someone? yep
29. Your favorite color? purple
30. When is the last time you laughed? today
31. Last time you cried? recently

Okay. Forget it. I choose anyone who hasn't been chosen and thinks this would be fun to do. Enjoy!

Fog and Tunnels

2008-09-30T07:59:00.004-04:00

It's 8 a.m. on Tuesday and I'm sitting in my classroom with no students. This is strange, considering the fact that usually my room is busy with adolescent banter at 7:20 each weekday. The issue today is the fact that we're on a 2 hour fog delay and I didn't get the message until I walked in to the school at 6:53 and noticed the usual people here at that time weren't here. A fog delay, you ask? Yep. Ridiculous as it may sound, when you teach in the middle of a corn field, fog is truly a hazardous thing. As I drove to work this morning I considered the fact that if we weren't delayed, we should be. So here I am. I've finished grading one set of papers, entered them into the computer, and decided to blog before I get crackin' on the next set.

We're in the house. Not completely. The duplex still has plenty of stuff in it, but the house is livable and we're doing just that--living in it. It's great. I do have a few pictures taken to share, but considering the fact that I have this unexpected time to blog, I don't have them with me.

The most blog-able news for a time such as this is the fact that Cole is in a "big boy bed." I foolishly failed to realize that about 20 months ago when I marveled and whined at my "big boy" for the first time, it would only get worse. Every day I'm amazed at how big he is getting. I'm shocked at all he can do today that he couldn't do a week ago. I find myself asking, "Did he just say that? He really did that?" It's shocking. And now I'm wise enough to acknowledge that it's only going to be more shocking tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day...

His big boy bed is actually his crib, converted to a toddler bed, which in our case means that he still has three sides just like the crib, but the front side is gone. The first night (which was also the first night at the new place) I put him in, continued with our usual routine, give kisses and cuddles, and walked out, closing the door behind me. Almost immediately (just after I got down the hallway), I heard the door open, and out he comes. I take his hand, tell him it's bedtime, and try to drag him back. He's crying at this point, but I tell him I'm close and tuck him back in. The crying lasts about 10 seconds and that's it. I don't hear another peep until morning, when he runs down the hallway to me, gives me a hug, and says, "I sleep!" I think he was really proud of himself, and I was really proud too.

The next night goes smoothly. He stayed in bed and slept until about 2 a.m. when I found him standing at his closet door. I put him back in, stayed with him for a couple of minutes, and walked out. Piece of cake. Until, according to Gilbert, about 7:45 yesterday morning when he started whining. Gilbert went to get him and couldn't find him. He could hear him crying, but didn't see him. Turns out he had crawled under the bed and tried to come out on the back side, which was pushed against the wall. He was curled under there with his blankie, soaking wet from a leaky diaper, crying. Gilbert says he was a little traumatized. Understandably so. Gilbert: "Did you go in the tunnel?" (UNDER anything is a "tunnel") Cole, whining: "Yeah. Tunnel." Poor baby.

As far as I know, last night was fine. Oh. We did put a rail on the side of the bed in hopes that we would prevent any further tunnel experiences. He didn't wake up during the night. I'm not sure how his morning's been. I guess I could have been home to find out, if I'd anticipated that fog might allow me to sleep in just a little longer...

We're Hooooome!

2008-09-12T21:30:00.002-04:00

It's official. We are homeowners again. After looking, looking, looking, and waiting, waiting, waiting, we've closed on a great house. It's nice. Not a starter home anymore. A "my kids can grow up here" home. I love it. We finalized things this afternoon and spent the rest of the evening scrubbing someone else's germs off light switches, doorknobs, baseboards, etc. and preparing for some church friends to come over tomorrow afternoon to help us paint (even though we haven't decided on paint colors yet). Then Monday we'll have the carpets cleaned and appliances delivered. We'll spend the rest of this month, probably, continuing to paint and gradually moving things in. We are so excited! I'll post pictures when I get some made.

I Know, I Know

2008-09-08T19:31:00.006-04:00

Just wanted you all to see a performance of Cole's new favorite worship song. On the days we sing it at church, he sings it for the rest of the day.
>

How in the World?

2008-08-30T21:20:00.005-04:00

How did it happen that I blinked my eyes and my baby boy was celebrating his second birthday?!? I can't believe it! We've been celebrating for the last week, with Gilbert's parents here last weekend and my family here this weekend. I'm pretty sad the official celebration is over. I guess maybe because that means he's another year older. He's my "two-year-old" and not my "almost-two-year-old." It makes me sad. I'm having a much harder time with two than I did with one.

I was telling Cole just before I put him to bed that at this exact time two years ago, I was probably in the labor/delivery room pushing. Which reminded me of a book I love, On the Day You Were Born. I read it to him and cried the whole way through. Truth is, I'm still fighting tears at the thought.

Here are some pictures of the celebration over the last week, including last Saturday's "party" at Dog-n-Suds, tools from Gran and Pawpaw, and enjoying gifts with cousin Mamie at the park:

"And as they held you close they whispered into your open, curving ear, 'We are so glad you've come!'"

Yes, I am Among the Living

2008-08-19T21:31:00.003-04:00

I'm here, making my best attempt at treading water in this business we call teaching. Things are going well. Other than the fact that I have a handful of boys in one period who are doing their best to get under my skin, the days are bearable. I do find myself, however, thinking about how I'd love to be a counselor some days and not be in the classroom. Other days I like the classroom and am glad I'm there. I've been able, so far, to successfully leave school at school and not have stress about it at home. (I hesitate to even leave that sentence on there because I don't want to ruin my streak.) Today as I drove home and obsessed about those boys, I remembered that advice given by Beth Moore not so many weeks ago (and I'm paraphrasing, to some extent)..."If your job has grown stale, maybe you don't need a new job. Maybe you need a new business partner." And, "consider the fact that God knows more about your job than you do." So I prayed that he would show me the right way to handle these boys who have started things off on the wrong foot so very early in the year. By the time I got out of the van to come into the house, I felt better about it. Now if I can just remember that when I walk into the classroom tomorrow.

On a different note, Cole started daycare this week. I wish I had lots to report. I've been a little frustrated that I haven't been able to get the scoop from the teachers who keep him all day, but we can't drag it out of them. I do know that he didn't have a nap yesterday, but he did have one today. That's the most we've been able to get out of them. I'm trying my best not to be the unbearable new mom that I was when Cole attended Gatorland, but I do wish I could find out how his days are. On the positive side, though, it really isn't logical for me to pick him up in the afternoon (it takes almost an hour from my school to daycare to home), so I don't feel bad about not picking him up because I won't be missing out on making it home with the daily scoop.

He's the same happy boy though, so things must not be so bad. Gilbert said that when he pulled into the driveway this afternoon and told Cole that I was home, Cole said, "Mom's home! YES!"

In Good Shape

2008-08-12T17:40:00.001-04:00

Home; first day behind me; no scars, scrapes, bruises to speak of; cute little boy cuddled up in my lap. This is the life.

New beginnings--again

2008-08-07T15:55:00.002-04:00

Three new things I thought you might like to know:

1. My job is starting next week. I have a new faculty orientation tomorrow, I work Monday, and the kids come Tuesday. I compared my feelings today to preparing for a wedding. You think for a long time at the beginning of the engagement about what you want to do, and make some preparations for those things. Then, if you're engaged for a whole stinkin' year like we were, you wait for a long time, knowing that you're going to be bombarded with stuff to do the week of the wedding. That's how I feel. I've been laying low, trying to rack my brain for effective things to do, but now I'm at the bombarded stage. It's a little scary, but I'm not to the point of tears yet, which is a good (and surprising) thing.

2. We're about to be homeowners again. We found a house on foreclosure that we love, and God worked in the situation to make it better timing for us than we'd originally thought. We almost turned down the bank's counter offer because we thought it would happen too soon for us to get our new finances in order, but after we told the realtor we were going to turn it down, it became possible for us to close later, after I started getting paid. (Does this make any sense? I'm trying to spare you the typical long, drawn-out Kate version. Are you confused anyway?)

3. I've become a member of Facebook. I thought it was a bad idea, my sister convinced me otherwise, and now I find myself thinking, "What in the world made me think that I'll have time to do this? Is this going to mean the demise of my blog? (I'll work hard for this not to happen.) Am I too old-fogey to be this hip? Am I too old-fogey to figure out all this stuff?"

Just thought you might like to know what's new!

One of those melt-your-heart moments

2008-08-01T08:31:00.002-04:00

My boy. I am SO PROUD of him! May I brag for a minute? He is so sweet and polite. He is really very good at pleases and thank-you's. Thank-you's especially. About a quarter of the time he has to be told that a thank-you is appropriate. The rest of the time, he does it on his own. It's not perfectly clear, but it's said in his own precious way, and everyone understands what he means.

Today we were in the middle of our usual morning routine. Gilbert had come downstairs for breakfast and turned on SportsCenter. Cole and I quickly followed. As we sat and ate our oatmeal, we watched along with Gilbert (an Encore of the Cubs sweep!). When Gilbert finished seeing what he was interested in, he changed the channel to Disney, where one of our favorite shows was on--Bunnytown. As the two of us watched for a few minutes, Gilbert cleaned up his dishes and started to make his way upstairs. When he was probably halfway up my sweet boy yelled, "Daddy?" When Gilbert responded he then said, "Thank you. Bunnies." Like he realized how thankful he was to be watching it and just had to show his gratitude. Talk about your heart melting. I'm talking puddle-status.

Good News

2008-07-29T12:42:00.002-04:00

Well, two quarters, one dime, one nickel, and one penny later, the CD player has been salvaged. I think the guys at the audio place I called got a small kick out of my story, but they were willing to attempt to shake the coins out, so I took it in today. They warned me that often this maneuver would end the life of the system completely, but I was willing to give it a try. He told me he'd only charge me $10 to check it out, and if it didn't work out, a new audio system would be no more than $200. (I told Gilbert that would be my Christmas request.) But, thank goodness, we didn't have to worry to that degree. Wait. Let me rephrase that. I wouldn't have to worry to that degree. Thirty minutes after dropping it off, it was ready to go. He said it wasn't as easy as shaking the thing and the change falling out, but whatever they did, it works! Hooray! Just thought you'd like to know.

Take me out to the ballgame...

2008-07-26T13:48:00.011-04:00

Take me out with the crowd...

Buy me some peanuts...

And Cracker Jacks (or cotton candy)...

I don't care if I never get back...

Let me root, root, root for the Cubbies...

If they don't win it's a shame...

For it's one, two, three strikes, you're out...

at the old ballgame!

I'm Married to a Man in His 30's!

2008-07-23T13:42:00.003-04:00

Gilbert is 30 years old today! It seems sort of crazy, but I think I've been harassing him about this day for the past year, so it doesn't seem as crazy as it did a year ago. However, that means it's my turn to be harassed, because I'm not too far from reaching the official "30's around the corner" point myself. I personally think he's glad to have finally arrived at this point, because I think he's been hesitant for as long as he's been looking to be a pulpit minister to tell people he's in his twenties. Thirty just seems to have so much more...hmmm...clout behind it than 29 does.

Anyway, my mom has always been good about making an issue of monumental birthdays. For example, she thinks turning 25 merits an extra special gift. I guess some of that rubbed off on me, because even though we were pretty broke last month, I really wanted to do something special for Gilbert's monumental day. I mean, you only turn thirty once, and these big birthdays only come every decade or so. So when I found out Coldplay was going to be in Chicago, I couldn't stand it. I whipped out the credit card (which is normally only used for major, critical things--doesn't this qualify?) and bought tickets. That was in the first half of June. And here's the really exciting part--I mean, I'm shocked. I kept them a secret until yesterday afternoon, when I went to see him at the office, had him open the tickets, and said, "It's tonight. We're leaving right now."

I had lined up a "slumber party" for Cole with his good pals the Andersons (Thanks, guys!), cooked up a story about something we were doing last night so Gilbert wouldn't make plans, and the surprise was on. It was so exciting, and he had absolutely no clue what I was up to.

Let me just make myself clear. I absolutely, totally STINK at surprises. I either can't stand the wait and have to tell, or I can't make decisions on my own, so I have to ask for input. But I did this totally without Gilbert's help! Woo-hoo! I did get a help from Mandy to work out some details, and I got the elder's permission to kidnap Gilbert from the office early, but I am really so proud of myself. (By the way, I decided I was going to post a factual, objective account of Gilbert's birthday celebration, but I couldn't help myself. I had to pat myself on the back. Sorry.)

I hope he understands, though, that he shouldn't expect anything else like this at least until his 40th. And even then I may still be worn out. I mean really. My energy's gone.

**By the way, the concert was GREAT! If you've ever seen Chris Martin perform on t.v., let me just tell you, he has every bit as much energy live in concert. We had a really, really great and memorable time.

What an Awful Mommy

2008-07-20T16:55:00.004-04:00

Just look at my poor baby's face.

I put him on the bed to watch cartoons so I could take a shower before we left for a wedding. I knew I should have checked on him. I thought about checking on him. I called out to ask if he was okay, but I never actually, physically opened the shower curtain to lay eyes on him. When I finished and finally opened the curtain, he had Gilbert's razor in his hand. He was smiling. Not mischievously. Just smiling like he was glad to see me. It wasn't until I started the, "Oh, my goodness! Are you okay? We don't play with Daddy's razor!" that he even considered something might be up. I checked him over for blood. I checked hands, and then I noticed a small spot of red on his cheek. I calmly told him we were going to go clean up his boo-boo. It wasn't until I started cleaning that I realized how long it was and that he had a little nick also on his lip. Then the tears started. Not his. Mine. He said, "Sad, Mommy? You okay? You okay?" Then he started kissing me. The more tears I cried, the more he kissed. He nuzzled his face against mine while I washed his cut. It was the sweetest thing.

I needed my blogging family to tell me stories of ridiculous parent blunders that resulted in injuries so I didn't feel so bad. I for sure didn't want to drag him to that wedding so I could tell over and over the story about how I took a shower while my two year old played with a razor. But I did. And I don't think anybody scowled at me like I thought they would. A few even shared stories of their own mistakes. So I guess I'm over it. Until next time I look at that sweet, marred face. Which will be, like, in the next 10 seconds.

Mischief

2008-07-16T13:55:00.007-04:00

I just want you to know that this boy has taken at least twenty cents worth of change and stuck it in the CD player of my van! Oh, I was so thrilled to finally have a CD player. I've never had a vehicle that had one, and how short lived it was. I know this is nothing like having a gallon of paint poured in my kitchen floor, but I'm sure this is just the beginning. It's going to be a long road until the light at the end of the two-tunnel. And rumor has it, three's not a whole lot better.

And like I said...twenty-five minutes after completing this post, I'm here to tell you about a new shenanigan. Check out these pictures...

Can you tell what he's done when he woke up from his nap? Take a closer look...

I came in to get him up, and I get the cutest, "Hi!" I figured he was up to something. Then he picked up his stripped-off diaper and waved it at me. Like I said, it's gonna be a long road...

More Pictures from Gran's

2008-07-09T21:01:00.004-04:00

I can't tell...do you think he's had fun?

A Week in the Land of Crawfish and Family

2008-07-07T19:16:00.010-04:00

I wanted to put together a little photo-journal of how we spent our last week. We took our first double-digits trip with Cole to Louisiana to visit Gilbert's family. Actually, with the exception of Italy, it was our first double-digits trip since we've been married. By double-digits I'm referring to 12 hours. We were nervous and had the idea of stopping to stay somewhere overnight if we needed to, but we made it the whole way without stopping for more than about 45 minutes. And that was only once!

We left at about noon, eastern time, on Tuesday and got there at a few minutes before midnight, central time. With the exception of Cole waking up an hour before arriving at our destination in tears, saying, "Mommy! Hold! Hold!" everything went extremely smoothly. Let me just show you what fun we had...

Happy as a clam in the car. This is almost six hours into the trip and we hadn't stopped one time. We hadn't even busted out the DVD player yet! Check out that "car-seat hair."

Gilbert's also happy as a clam, drumming on the steering wheel to the tune of a little Coldplay.

Wednesday night we had fried catfish, compliments of Gilbert's cousin Ronny, who is a great fish fryer. Cole loved it.

Cole "playing" Playstation with another of Gilbert's cousins, Ty.

Napping on the way to Gilbert's dad's parents (we stayed an hour and a half from there at his mom's parents) on the 4th. And yes, that's a cell phone on one ear and blankie on the other.

Having fun with the water hose.

Cooling off even more in the ice chest.

Getting ready for a boat ride on the lake with Daddy and Paw-paw

"Wheee!"

Waving to fellow boaters.

Four generations of Kerrigan men (plus Mike's mom)

Being spoiled with pure sugar lemonade straight from the can in honor of being in the presence of grandparents and great-grandparents

Ready to hit the road for more spoiling with grandparents. Cole went home with Gilbert's parents to south Alabama.

And I think they're having fun...

The only thing missing from the trip? Zio Randy.

And here's the greeting Gilbert and I got when we re-entered the Hoosier state:

Welcome home!

Thank You!

2008-06-27T13:13:00.002-04:00

I just want to thank you again for the prayers you've offered on behalf of my job search. They worked! I got a surprise call from a principal on Wednesday about a job I didn't know about. It was posted as "Communications," so I didn't pay it much mind. The principal had seen my application online and decided to call me about coming in to interview the next day. I didn't post anything about it, frankly because I was sick of posting about this subject, but I'm glad to tell you that I got a call from him today saying that they want me for the job! I still have to do a second interview with the personnel dept. at central office, but he says it is rare for someone not to make it from the principal's recommendation to actual employment. This is an eighth grade position that will require me to teach mostly writing and to work with the eighth grade English teacher in splitting up grammar and vocabulary duties, which is almost exactly what I was doing at Drakes Creek just before we moved. I'll also be working with another teacher as a speech coach there. I am relieved and so grateful for the way you have helped me to petition God to move in this situation. I am so blessed by you all!

An Assortment of Cole-isms

2008-06-25T21:15:00.009-04:00

I know you're ready for it--a post that has nothing to do with my job search. As thankful as I am that you're interested (and I wouldn't blame you if you weren't interested anymore), I'm sick of talking about it. So, I thought I'd lighten the mood by sharing with you just how funny my child is these days.

The boy loves "buggies." He loves to look at them, watch them crawl on his hands, carry them to the toilet to flush them, and use his legs to make tunnels for them. When he does this he says, "Tunnel!" In this picture he's discovered bees.

Yes, he's still a paci boy, and I'm not fighting it. He'll only be a baby for a little longer. Maybe I'll start battling that at two, but we've still got two more months until then (sniff, sniff) and I'm going to let him be a baby until then. The last few nights he's wanted to wash his paci before bedtime so that it will squeak when he sucks on it. If it isn't squeaking, he's not satisfied.

This boy loves to play ball. He loves every part of it--the throwing ("Mom, catch!"), the batting ("Hey, batter, batter...swing!"), the running ("Running!"), and the watching. When he sees baseball on t.v., no matter who's playing, he says, "Cubs!" If you ask, "Cole. Who plays baseball?" He'll first say, "Daddy," then "Cubs!"

He prefers his green beans straight out of the can these days. (I know, my mom and others of you are cringing. "He'll cut his hands!") This is the way he likes them though. Cracks me up. Tonight he dumped the juice all down his shirt.

You just can't help but love this boy!

A Quick Response

2008-06-23T23:10:00.002-04:00

The school that I interviewed with today has a board meeting tomorrow, so I found out quickly (as in less three hours after the interview concluded) that I didn't get the job. I just keep thinking that if I'm going to be turned down for a job, this is the way I prefer. Month-long waiting, I've discovered, it not my method of choice. So, another one down, and I'm moving ahead. It feels good to know that God's in control.

Another prospect

2008-06-20T20:27:00.002-04:00

Just thought you'd like to know, I have another interview on Monday. This is a seventh grade position, which I haven't wanted to do, but I've decided that God may want me to stick with middle school, and I should give him the chance to show me that. Also, I'm working on a Beth Moore study, Jesus, the One and Only, and just yesterday she said (in reference to our need for God to be involved in our jobs, no matter how "secular" they may seem), "Beloved, if your job has grown stale, you may not need a new occupation. You may need a new Partner." My work in the middle school setting had definitely gotten stale just before we moved. So maybe I just need a new outlook! We'll see how this interview goes...

Bummer

2008-06-16T17:13:00.002-04:00

Just as I was about to create a post that requested your prayers again as I waited to hear about my most recent interview, I got a phone call from the principal that I interviewed with. It's a "no" for this job too. I'm more disappointed about this one than the other, which I predicted. I really would love to council, but I guess I ought to remind myself of my rationale when the other job didn't work out--it just isn't the one I'm supposed to have. I trust that God is going to present me with the right one, but it's hard when I leave an interview thinking that I'd love to do that job.

What makes it even more difficult, if I'm going to be totally honest, is that we're pretty broke. Okay, so we're not at poverty level or anything, and we're not starving, but being sure that in a couple of months things will be much easier sure would ease our minds. Can I request prayers again? Thank you guys again for checking on me and for being willing to pray for this search. As always, I'll keep you posted.

Maybe some sad news (updated)

2008-06-08T18:14:00.004-04:00

I'm home right now, even though church is going on. We spent the long weekend in Alabama at my high school reunion (I had tons of fun. I'll post about that in the next day or two...), so we decided it might be nice for Cole to rest at home instead of get back in the car as soon as we got home. (I read something recently about how ashamed we should be of skipping church on Sunday to "rest" for the upcoming week. I guess I feel a little ashamed, but not ashamed enough not to broadcast it for all the internet world to see.)

Anyway, I got online to see about any new school postings I might have missed since Wednesday. The counseling position that I interviewed for is not posted anymore. Last time this happened I got a call the next day telling me I didn't get the job, so I'm a little panicky. There's no one for me to call for reassurance (or the horrible truth) since everyone else is at church. I'm freaking out just a little. I'd like to know if I have valid reason to worry. Really. I can handle the truth. I just don't like sitting here not knowing... Any help/advice/encouragement?

UPDATE: I remained calm until Mindy got home. When I called her for her input, she got online to check it out with me. Her findings: It's still on there. My realization: When I applied for it, they removed it from the list of possible openings for me. Whew! Maybe I need to read Beth Moore's worry post again.

The Scoop, so far

2008-06-04T13:34:00.002-04:00

Thank you, thank you, thank you for your prayers and words of encouragement today. My interview went well. I left with no feelings of how successful or unsuccessful it was, but it was a nice, comfortable interview. (Or conversation, as Mindy pointed out in a comment, and it actually did feel like a conversation.) The principal was very easy to talk to, and it turned out that he was able to get a small committee together, so I don't think I'll have to do another interview later. For that reason, I'm glad I chose to wear my tried-and-true interview outfit, even if the hose had a few too many snags. Gilbert said he didn't think that would make or break an interview, but I personally think it could. Anyway, they hope to have the position filled by the middle of the month, and there are still interviews to be done in the next few days, so I'll let you all know when I hear the official word. Thanks again for being interested. I know that when there are healthy babies, happy adoptions, migraine headaches, and other important things to be prayed for in the blog world, a job interview isn't critical, but I'm grateful that you and God don't mind being "troubled" with "smaller things." Love you all.

Rallying the Troops

2008-06-02T21:37:00.002-04:00

Okay, I'm rallying the troops once again for prayer assistance, please. I'll try to give the short version of this story, although we all know too well how successful I am at that feat...

I'd heard about a middle school counseling position that was posted internally for the last few weeks. (Maybe I've told you all this. Although I'm not good at "short versions," I am very good at repeating stories when it's unnecessary.) Anyway, a friend of mine called the principal a few weeks ago to tell him about me. He told her that the post would be open to those of us on the outside at the beginning of this month, so if he would call me, it would be after the beginning of the month. So today I checked, and no post. I've been sitting, waiting, and watching the number of open positions go from 14 to 8 to 3, knowing that someone out there is getting hired for a teaching job, but it isn't me.

Not 10 minutes after expressing my frustration to Gilbert, the phone rings. Today, the 2nd of June. The first possible day that this job could be open to people not in the system. It was the principal of this school, asking if I could meet for an interview! So now I have these nervous thoughts going through my head. Am I ready to be a counselor? What if he asks about my weaknesses? Do I make up a generic one? Do I tell him the worst weakness I have? Am I going to be a disappointment after all these people at church have built me up? Oooh. It's hard to fight worry, but I'm trying. (Beth Moore's giving me a hand with this through her post yesterday.) And I know there's nothing I can do but be myself, trust God to put me where he knows I ought to be, and pray. So would you help me? Thank you for always being willing to petition God for me.

I'm meeting with the principal on Wednesday morning at 9 and if all goes well, I'll meet with the committee later. I'll let you know how this one goes!

(NOT the short version. I know.)

Hello, Two

2008-05-26T20:52:00.005-04:00

Although we may not quite be chronologically greeting this second year, we are definitely greeting it mentally, socially, and developmentally. Let me just give you some "for examples"...

Oh the days of, "I can do it myself": Cole no longer needs help putting shoes on, getting from point A to point B, opening and closing doors, or even successfully singing about wise and foolish men or little Christian lights. Please do not try to participate in these activities. He is quite big enough to do them on his own.

My, how our relationships have changed: Sometimes Cole is in the mood for friends. Sometimes he is not. He will make it very clear to you if he is not in the friend kind of mood by holding up one finger and sternly blurting out the word, "NO!" If he finds that you must be reminded of his mood, he will do so, sometimes over and over and over.

Mom doesn't always know best: The days of believing this falsity are long gone. Sometimes her warnings can be heeded. Often times, they need not receive attention.

Which parent will give me the answer I'm looking for? How, may I ask, at this stage in life does my little half-pint know that if Mom doesn't respond favorably to what he's doing, checking with Dad may be a brilliant strategy? Luckily he hasn't come to the realization that the best approach to this method is to ask Dad only when he doesn't know what Mom's original response was.

My, what a large vocabulary we have! Everyday Cole has more new words on his list of things to say. Not only can he repeat what Mom says at the drive through window ("milk, chips, thank you"), he can also forecast weather ("sunny, rain, windy"), identify body parts ("tummy, fingers, hair"), discuss matters of hygiene ("shampoo, brush, jam" [as in toe-jam, which is an important daily task]), discuss what he sees in the car ("motorcycle, digger, mailman, window"), and use his words to request attention ("Mom, wook [look]!" "My daddy! Ewww!")

While this hint of two is definitely challenging us, we're loving it just the same as 6 months, 12 months, and 15 months. Check with us again later, though, and we may be singing a slightly different tune. I can definitely understand why it is so often said that two is the first glimpse at what kids are like as teenagers.

Lovin' Phil Joel

2008-05-24T22:12:00.003-04:00

Last night Gilbert and I had the chance to go to a Christian coffee house in town and see Phil Joel perform. To tell the truth, I really didn't care to go. I mean, I don't have anything against Phil Joel. We have a CD of his that I'm crazy about (and now, with my fancy new CD-playin' van, I can actually listen to it), but I almost sent Gilbert on his own. Most of my lack of enthusiasm was due to the fact that I didn't want to hunt down a babysitter. Okay. That was the entire reason I didn't want to go. But I sucked it up, asked a sweet family at church for a favor (which I hate to do), and they were glad to keep him. So off we went to see Phil Joel, and I am so glad we did.

I would say that I appreciate music. I like it, I enjoy it, but I don't love it in the same way that some people do. I understand that there is great power in music; that it has the ability to speak directly to a person and meet you where you are, but it isn't a hobby of mine. I'm not a music connoisseur, if you will. This, however, was my kind of concert. Not the get up and yell kind of concert but the sit, listen, and soak-it-up kind of concert. The entire building only legally held about 250 people, and I wouldn't guess there were even half that many there. We sat in the perfect spot, close enough to the stage to feel the intimacy of the place. To be honest, and at the risk of sounding ridiculous, it was a strange sort of emotional experience for a music-liker such as myself. Each song was so heart-felt, personal, and easy to relate to. I guess that's one of the great things about Christian music, but being in that type of setting made me feel so connected to each line that was sung.

Anyway, my point is that not only did last night make me appreciate music a little more, it made me appreciate Phil Joel a little more too. He was funny, personal, and down-to-earth. I even grew to appreciate his hair in the hour that we spent with him. We begrudgingly left at ten because we promised the Tilleys we'd pick up Cole by ten, but we didn't want to. I had to scold Gilbert this morning for imagining what songs we'd missed after we left, and we both woke up with Entertaining Angels stuck in our heads. It was quite a night.

An Update

2008-05-20T21:47:00.003-04:00

Well, I didn't get the English position that I interviewed for, but my prayer the whole time has been that God will give me the perfect place to be, so I'm just thankful to know that this isn't the perfect place for me.

The better news is that the word at the rumor mill is that there are two counseling positions in the county system that will be open. Neither are posted to the public yet, but I have spoken to a couple of my teacher friends from church about the middle school counseling position and they are going to put in a good word for me there. (Both are connected to the principal in some way.) I'm keeping my eyes peeled constantly for the new openings so I can pounce on them, but I haven't seen them yet.

What has been so great is all the people at church who are helping with my search. I get random phone calls and emails at various times from people saying, "Hey. I just heard about a position at such-and-such." Or people walk up to me at church and say, "I heard that this place has someone retiring." I have had lots of people offer to drop my name into the ears of the powers-that-be at schools all over the place, even to the point of badgering the principals they work with. I can't believe how willing people are to help me out. Just another reason I know that we are truly loved around here. And the feeling's mutual.

A Trip to The Windy City

2008-05-15T12:56:00.007-04:00

Okay. I know it's been a while since I've posted anything, but I haven't been able to come up with anything interesting enough to devote an entire post to. I do, however, feel bad for those of you who check on me, anticipating something new, and find those same old corny pictures of me in my vehicles. So I'll let you know about something we've done recently that you might find a little interesting.

Gilbert and I went last Friday to Chicago for a Cubs game. We'd purchased tickets in April with intentions of the three of us going, but as time got close enough for us to get the weather forecast, we realized that it was going to be in the mid-fifties that day, with Chicago wind and a chance of showers, so we decided to leave Cole here. I agreed to this only with a promise from Gilbert that we'd go back again later in the season when the weather is warmer. Our sweet friends the Andersons kept Cole. (Mandy should get most of the credit. She had him for 12 hours that day and also lugged him to the doctor with her own three boys. When the two who were waiting for their exam stripped down to their undies, Cole was determined to do the same. Sweet Mandy let him get mostly naked too and run around the exam room in just his diaper. She knows exactly how to make him happy!)

Gilbert and I had a good time at the game. We got to see a win, and the trip to Chicago is a piece of cake--just about two hours. Gilbert's dad says that's how he realized how very far north we are. When you get about halfway up Indiana, the interstate signs start providing guidance for a journey to Chicago. Now that's NORTH! This is the best thing about our move, according to Gilbert. This season he's quadrupling the number of Cubs games he was able to attend in the past seasons, and he's doubling the number he gets to watch on t.v. (He sees almost all of them. That's like one game every day! I, personally, am thrilled about this.)

While we're on the subject, the Fed-Ex guy just rang the doorbell with our tickets for the July game we'll be going to. We've been enough times to figure out the areas of shade and rain protection, and I hope I chose tickets correctly. I don't want Cole missing out next time. And next time, I WILL take my camera, and there WILL be pictures to share. (I'm hoping for one of Cole being held by one of the players. Yeah. I guess I shouldn't hold my breath.)

Talk about an Upgrade

2008-04-28T21:40:00.004-04:00

I knew I'd be in trouble for waiting this late to fill you in, but I waited anyway. It's been one crazy day.

So here you go. This was me for the last few years...

Don't I look sad? I was especially sad all those times when I sat in this car on the side of the road, waiting for someone to come and rescue me.

But today, I have something to be happy about. I've gotten a major upgrade! Check me out!

Don't I look so much happier?

Okay, maybe it wasn't worth the suspense, but I wanted to have pictures to share, and I couldn't resist teasing you. What? Were you thinking I was pregnant or something?

Saturday we went van shopping. I, like Valerie, never wanted to be a van-momma. I've always tried to figure out how we could have 4 kids and a comfy car. (Maybe I'm thinking hard now about the four kids.) I used to be seriously stressed thinking about having to resort to a van one day. And now, here I am, with my ONE child and driving a van. I'm liking it though. It's a 2005 Toyota Sienna. By far the nicest thing I've ever driven. And this, for the record, is only the second car I've ever owned. The ol' escort has fared me well, but I was definitely ready to move on.

Just a Tease...

2008-04-26T21:03:00.003-04:00

Oooh. You may hate me for this, but I just wanted to tell you that I've got a good, exciting post coming to you on Monday. I'm dying to tell you now, but it will be SO much more exciting for me to post if I can provide you with some visual aides. So you'll have to wait until then to find out. (And remember on Monday that if you don't think it was worth the suspense, think of me and just know that for me, it was SO worth it.)

The Interview

2008-04-21T13:41:00.003-04:00

The interview's done and I'm glad, although if they liked me I'll have to come in for a second one. That's the first time I've had to do that, so I'm not used to it working that way.

During the interview and the car ride home I felt good about it. I'd been reminded to be myself, "smile like you do," and I'd be fine. So I was feeling good about it...until I got home and had time to process everything. I'm totally over-analyzing the whole thing and making myself a nervous wreck. I think it may be the beginning of next week or so before I hear anything, but now I'm not feeling good about it anymore. I've analyzed it to the point that if I don't get it, I'll have figured out exactly what killed it for me. Am I nuts? Thanks for the prayers and encouragement. I'll keep you updated.

Tagged

2008-04-20T21:28:00.003-04:00

I've been tagged!

Here's how this one works...
1. The rules are posted at the beginning.
2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
3. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and ask them to read your blog.

What I was doing 10 years ago:
Getting ready to graduate from high school, getting ready to move to Middle Tennessee, dating the WRONG guy.

Five things on my to do list for today:
1. Go to church
2. Nap
3. Spend time with my boys
4. Think about my interview tomorrow
5. Clean up the kitchen (didn't happen)

Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
Travel, buy nice things for people who can't buy nice things for themselves, donate, save, have lots of babies

Three of my bad habits:
1. Caring too much about what others think
2. Eating when I'm bored
3. Not keeping in touch like I should

Five places I have lived:
1. Bridgeport, Alabama
2. Murfreesboro, Tennessee
3. Bowling Green, Kentucky
4. Lafayette, Indiana
5. ?? I've been working my way up the country. I guess Michigan's next. (Don't
worry though, Mom.) ??

Five jobs I have had:
1. Accountant's assistant at an electric cooperative
2. Afterschool care worker
3. Sprint salesperson
4. Bank teller
5. Middle school teacher

Five People I Want to Know More About:
1. Teresa K.
2. Sister Jess
3. Jeanne
4. The Burtons
5. Gilbert

It's Done!

2008-04-19T09:14:00.002-04:00

The house in Bowling Green is officially sold. I've been in denial for a while about it actually being sold, because I didn't want to get my hopes up in case something fell through. But the ink is on the dotted line and we have a nice check that will wait in the bank for the purchase of our new home, hopefully before too long. Thanks for thinking of us and sending your well-wishes on a successful few days in Bowling Green.

Next on the list of things to do: Gilbert has informed me that a new vehicle is in my future. I've actually seen him shopping online a time or two, which means he must be serious. As much as I've said all my life that I won't be a van-mom, regardless of how large my family is, I'm starting to like the idea of not having to stoop into a car or strain to reach up into an SUV to put a baby in a car seat. On top of that, when we get with family, we won't have to drive separate vehicles because we can't fit everyone, and there will be plenty of room for long trips. All of these things have helped me get over the "I will never drive a van" state of mind. So we're van shopping. I think I might be a little embarrassed, but I'm getting over it.

Also, I'd like to put in for another prayer request, since you've all been so willing to help pray for other things. I have a job interview on Monday morning. It's at a high school here in town, and they have both an opening for a counselor (which I would love) and an English teacher (which I would not mind having either). I'm praying that God will put me in the perfect place.

Thanks for loving us and for keeping up with what's going on in our lives. We love you all.

The Good News and the Bad News

2008-04-10T14:04:00.002-04:00

Normally I like to start with the bad news first, so I can end on a good note, but today I'm going to start with the good news.

Good news: We are coming very close to selling our house in Bowling Green. Some of you, Todd Gibbs, may think of this as the bad news, because it means that we're severing our last material tie to Kentucky. But considering the financial strain that awaits us if we don't sell it, Gilbert and I consider this good news. This has been about a month in the making, but I haven't taken the opportunity to write about it yet, which is a good thing, because it allows me to write to you about a much more edge-of-your-seat story today, after you take into consideration the bad news.

Bad news (which, thanks to our realtor, Mark Miller, might not be so terrible in the long run): #1-We went to Italy knowing that our inspection would take place while we were gone, but certain that all would go well and we would pass inspection. Little did we know that our patio was slowing sliding down a hill. Really, it sounds worse than it is, which I enjoy, because I like to imagine that you're gasping right now. We knew that the patio was cracked and that it had pulled away from the house a little (it had separated from the siding just below the back door), but we thought that was just because it was brand new when we bought it and things had settled some. No. The hill that the left of our house teeters on is causing the patio to scoot away from the house. Nice. So we're spending more than we hoped on getting the patio ripped up and re-done. At least I think that's what's happening. At this point, I don't care now it's done, as long as it's done.
#2-Mark called today while we were having lunch. I could tell by the way Gilbert was talking that it might not be good. When I gave him the third-degree after he got off the phone, the news was this: We have termites. Good grief. The good-news aspect of this bad news is that we have been diligent enough to remember each year to get the exterminators out to check for these little critters. How, you ask, in this case, is it possible that we have these new tenants in our home? Good question. I wish I had an answer, but I don't. But I'm certain that we've had annual inspections every year since we first moved in, so we're sure that the cost of evicting these creatures will be covered by the pest-control company. Until I get home and I can find every receipt for inspection from 2003-2006. Anyone picked up on the problem yet? Yep. Last year was 2007. I can't find the receipt. But I remember vaguely not wanting the inspector to ring the door bell because Cole was napping. So surely he came. After a little searching and a little panicking, I find the check register that shows that they had been paid. Whew! In the meantime, Mark is making phone calls and checking on all this for us, but I'm too anxious to wait and hear it from him. I must research myself. When he does call back, however, everything seems to be fine. The company will make a trip to the house and work on getting things cleaned up.

Thank goodness for Mark Miller. He has been awesome in all this, especially since our need to work long-distance has made it hard for us to do many of these things ourselves. When I got off the phone with him this afternoon, he said, "See you next week" (which is when we're set to come to Bowling Green for closing). Again, whew. I'll be glad when it's all done. But don't be sad, Bowling Green friends. It just means that when we come down, we'll follow the example of those cute little termites and find homes not ours to invade.

My Good-Looking Boy

2008-03-30T21:28:00.004-04:00

I have a couple of pictures of Cole I want to share. Nothing exciting to write about, but regardless of whether or not that saying is true about pictures being worth a thousand words, many of you would rather get a peek of Cole over reading my ramblings any day.

This was his Easter get-up. Look at that slicked-up hair. And I convinced him to wear the tie by telling him he'd look like daddy...

Watching Dave Matthews online with Daddy after a bath. Couldn't you just squeeze that little bottom?

And look at that sweet face.

We're Back

2008-03-22T21:41:00.007-04:00

Well, we're back home and although we would have been content with having a few more days, Cole is definitely a sight for sore eyes. I think he was ready to see us. Even though Mom and Emily kept him very busy while they were here (trips to the mall, the art museum, and the zoo, to name a few), they said that he definitely noticed our not being there. We were able to video conference with him three or four times while we were gone, but there were days that we were too busy to catch him. On top of that, the time change complicated things too. I think our being gone temporarily traumatized him, because he was not himself this morning. Every time I left his sight he cried for me. We even had breakfast out with the girls before they left this morning and he refused to sit in the high chair. He wanted me to hold him. It is definitely nice to be loved and missed, but I thought we were looking at a very long and exhausting day. After a nap, though, he was back to his normal self, for the most part.

So it's back to the real world, which is usually very hard for me when I return from being away from home. We'll see how this coming week goes. Thanks for thinking of us as we traveled. Here are a few more pictures of the last day of our trip. We spent Thursday in Florence.

The view from our hotel room was gorgeous.

This living statue was very believable.

Awesome architecture

Time Flies!

2008-03-19T19:06:00.010-04:00

Tomorrow is our last real day in Italy! I can't believe it. We thought it would go by fast, and we were right. Gilbert's already asking for another trip. I have thought often this week that I'm thankful for having little expectation and knowledge of what specifically to see and do, because if we had made a list of "must sees" and "must do's," we might have been disappointed this week. Let me clarify: We have had a great time and have seen some really beautiful places. But we didn't come knowing specific buildings we wanted to see. We knew that we wanted to see Venice. I wanted to be able to see some of the beautiful landscapes of Italy. We were excited to have the chance to experience Florence. But as far as knowing that we wanted to see famous buildings or artwork, we didn't. I think that this fact has kept us from feeling too pressured to cram in sight-seeing. For this reason, we've been able to enjoy the sights, to relax, and to enjoy being with each other (Gilbert's parents, his grandmother, and of course his brother are with the two of us).

We have had so much fun. Yesterday we took a train to Venice and spent the day there. We walked what felt like every inch of that place. We even covered the tiny streets that are only the width of two people. We did some shopping and had a great time. It was colder than we expected, but it didn't rain like we thought it would, so we were willing to take the cool winds. Here are a few pictures from Venice.

This baby was sitting in the area of Venice where the pigeons are not in short supply (Piazza San Marco Square, I believe it's called). His mom got some bread crumbs and dumped them all around him. The pigeons swarmed him and he had the best time. It was fun watching him.

We took this picture while waiting on the train back to Prato. After a really long day, we were all quite delirious at this point. According to Randy, this is a "Kate sandwich with Kerrigan bread." I said I wanted it to be close up. Not exactly what I had in mind.

We spent most of today in a gorgeous little town called Lucca.

We finished the day by going to the church here in Prato. We had a small service that was in Italian and some English. We spent the time singing songs in Italian that we Americans knew well. Both times that I've had the opportunity to worship with fellow believers in other countries, singing with them really tugs at my heart strings. I love to know that while we struggle so much to communicate, we can find unity in singing praises to our God. I find this to be such an incredible feeling.

Tomorrow we'll be heading to Florence for one last venture. We'll spend the night there and catch our flight back home early on Friday morning. I'm sure I'll have more pictures to share when we return home. Please remember us when you pray as we continue to travel.

A Taste of Italy

2008-03-17T08:42:00.008-04:00

Good grief. I didn't realize it had been close to a month since I've posted anything, and I didn't even remind you that our trip to Italy was getting closer. I had a few phone calls on the day of our trip and everyone said, "Oh! You're leaving today?"

So here we are. It's been interesting already. We were dropped off at the airport in Indianapolis and as soon as I got to the ticket desk I got the third degree about my legal name. Many of you probably remember my anticipating this issue back in November. So I had to have completely new tickets issued from the airport. Luckily the lady at the desk was willing to work nicely with us. She even tried to call Italy to let them know of the change, but they were closed, so she warned us that we might have a little trouble along the way. I just had visions of missing planes while trying to make them understand my situation. But I made it. Not without telling my story, but I'm here all the same.

The travel was also interesting in that our flight to London was in the middle of the night. We left our house on Saturday afternoon and didn't have a good opportunity to take my shoes and socks off again until about seven on Sunday night, which was almost midnight here. It was really nice to get showered and change clothes.

So far we've eaten at a cool Italian restaurant, toured the local "centro" (what reminds me of a downtown square), had breakfast at a local bakery (macchiato is NOT the same here as at Starbucks), shopped at the weekly market, and we just finished a delicious meal of Eggplant Parmesan that was lovingly prepared by my brother-in-law. We're having a good time. I'll try to update again sometime soon. We're taking a train to Venice in the morning, so I should have more photos to share, but I'll show you the few I've got so far.

Dinner on Sunday night, still in the same clothes as I got dressed in on Saturday and not having lain down since Friday night. We're looking a little rough.

Some cool scenery

Monday Market

A hunky Italian I noticed on the street--check out the pants and cool hat

"Children are a gift..."

2008-02-29T20:55:00.002-05:00

We just returned from dinner at a young widower's home. He has two young adult boys, but he just couldn't get over Cole. He even apologized for not being able to take his eyes off of him. I think he had the best time just being around Cole.

When he wasn't watching Cole, he was talking about his wife. It was clear how much he missed her. Then when I put the two topics of the night together, I realize to what degree this proves what the psalmist was talking about in chapter 127: "Children are a blessing and a gift from the Lord." This man needs some bright spots in his days. I'm sure his children and his Christian family bring him joy, but what joy he had in being able to spend time with a child tonight!

All this brings me to a conclusion. As often as I thank God for the gift of Cole, I have no idea what a true gift and blessing he is. As often as I try to think of things to do for people who are lonely or hurting, for the last 18 months I have been sitting on a gold mine. This sweet boy who brings such joy to me has the ability to bring joy to people when I have no idea what to do to brighten their lives. Why am I not putting this gift to use?

So I'm going to challenge myself and I'd love if you mommies and daddies who are reading would join me: I'm going to use this wonderful gift that God has blessed me with less selfishly. There are so many people who would love to spend some time with a child, and so often I am keeping him to myself! So each week I'm going to try to identify someone who may be lonely or sad or just missing having little ones around and let Cole bring some joy to his/her life. What a nice way to use this precious gift God has given me.

Maybe you're already doing this, but if you're not, will you? Maybe you can't do it once a week. Maybe you can only try for once every couple of weeks or once a month, but in some way, share the gift of your children with others. They're too precious not to.

We Love the Millers

2008-02-26T10:08:00.004-05:00

Please help us pray for Matt Miller and his family. Matt is having lots of trouble with his kidneys, and his parents are struggling with the fact that their "baby" (not so little) is sick. Please lift them up in prayer. They are such a wonderful family and have been such good friends since we moved to Bowling Green.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2008-02-14T12:58:00.004-05:00

Valentine's Day has always been one of my favorite holidays, and it's never had anything to do with boys. I rarely had a boyfriend on Valentine's Day, which never really bothered me. Even now, Gilbert and I don't get each other gifts for the big day. We started this tradition of no gifts when we were only dating. I think it may be true that we've never given each other gifts for Valentine's.

I'm not sure why I like this holiday. Maybe it's because I have an excuse to buy candy. Having Cole, though, makes it even more fun for me. Now I have an excuse to make and give valentines without looking like a lunatic. (Why would a grown woman want to make and give valentines?) Anyway, we've been celebrating for the last two weeks. I thought I'd give you a peak at how we've been celebrating.

We used fingerpaints to make valentines for the elderly at church, as well as valentines for our grandparents. Cole also decorated sugar cookies and made a valentine to go into a care package for Auntie Em. (The boys also made a valentine for their sweet friend, Miss Mandy, who's celebrating the day by having surgery. Yuck! We sure love you, Mandy!)

Cole has gotten a good variety of Valentine's Day gifts himself, including stickers from Auntie Em, markers from Gran and Grandpa, and "Many Kisses Elmo" from Nana and Grandpoppa. More than a month ago he got my favorite gift from Nana and Em. I'll let you guess which one of the photos shows off this one.

I thought I'd better get a picture of the t-shirt as proof that at one time I actually was the only Valentine he needed.

Hope you have a fun day!

And, In Honor of this Holiday

2008-02-14T12:40:00.000-05:00

I thought I'd include a telling picture of my sweet husband and Cole's sweet daddy. I think this tells the story of going above and beyond the call of duty.

Back to the Great White North

2008-02-03T21:19:00.001-05:00

Well, we did make it to Bowling Green on Thursday night. We made it in at about 9 o'clock, central time and didn't see a single flake on the way. Friday morning Gilbert reported 8 inches or so in Lafayette, so I guess leaving early was a good move.

Although only one of my three major weekend engagements worked out as planned (my play date had something come up and Melissa's boys were still being quarantined), it ended up being a great time. The Gibbs' daughter went to the play with me (My "kids" were fabulous, by the way; I was SO proud) and I was able to make some visits that I didn't think I would have time to make. We saw several people at the church office on Friday (we went for a visit with Auntie Sandra); then we had the chance to see the Fowlkes, the Millers, the Loftons, and half of the Hartfords on Saturday. I also had a visit with my friend Laura at Barnes and Noble and a quick chat with Margo J. in the Staples parking lot. Then, of course, church today allowed us to see just about everyone else, although it never affords the chance to visit for nearly long enough.

After lunch we trekked back into "The Great White North," and I mean this quite literally. Cole was gracious enough to grant us permission to travel all the way through with no stopping! He slept until Indiana and was satisfied after that with a couple of interesting toys, one package of fruit snacks, a canister of pineapple puffs, a roll of smarties, two crackers, a game of watching Mom turn the interior "ites" on and off several times, and some foot tickling from the front seat. We were greeted in Lafayette by about 6 inches of snow and really cold wind. Then we made it inside just before the rain started--much different from the gorgeous weekend weather in Bowling Green. I did learn this weekend, however, that I shouldn't complain. Many of you would trade weather with me for just one good snow day.

A Trip to Bowling Green...Maybe

2008-01-31T11:51:00.001-05:00

Back before we moved I made plans to go back to Bowling Green around this time, specifically to see two of my former students in The Diary of Anne Frank at the Public Theatre of Kentucky. About three weeks ago I decided this coming weekend would be the best time, and it's the last weekend of the play, so I didn't really have a later choice, if I wanted to see the play. So I called the Gibbs and booked the reservations for my lodging, then called PTK and reserved tickets, and I was all set.

Last night my friend Mandy said, "So, Kate. What are you going to do about your trip this weekend with the bad weather we have coming?" This was the first I'd heard of it. Apparently, we are in for the largest amount of snow since mid-December, and it's coming tonight. Some of you are aware that this mid-December snow was what kept us trapped IN Bowling Green and OUT of Lafayette just before Christmas. Maybe I should just rule out traveling during winter altogether from now on.

So I got some perspectives from friends, checked the internet when I got home, and decided I had a couple of choices. I could either check on getting tickets for the Sunday performance of the play and just take a day trip (maybe leave Gilbert in charge of Cole?!?) or I could try to leave tonight. Problem is, the snow's going to start this afternoon and I have a 2:30 appointment with my doctor.

So I guess I'll be doing what I do WORST--winging it. Cole and I are packed. The bag's by the door. We'll either be jetting out as soon as my appointment is finished and trying to make it to Kentucky before we get hit with the big stuff, or we'll be living out of our packed suitcase at home for the next couple of days.

Wow. My life is never dull.

A New Look

2008-01-26T21:22:00.000-05:00

I don't want to interrupt the comments directed to my previous post (if you haven't read it yet, please do. I'm still welcoming comments), but I wanted to let you know about my new haircut. I have had the same style since a week or so after my wedding. I just always go back every 6-8 weeks and when she says, "What are we doing today?" I say, "Just a trim." I'd gotten to the point that I wanted something different, but I couldn't imagine what I wanted, and she refused to just put me in the chair and be creative, so I've stuck with the same thing for the last 5 1/2 years. I thought getting a new hairstylist would be a good chance for a change.

On Thursday I called a big salon in town and when the receptionist answered I said, "This may sound crazy, but I'm new in town, I don't have a stylist, and I need a new style. Is there someone there who is good enough to look at the shape of my face, decide what would look good, and just do it?" So she hooked me up with a girl who did an excellent job. I was THRILLED. I think I smiled all the way home. My comment to her before I got out of the chair was, "This look is too cool for me."

Then I encountered a problem: Last night I washed and dried it, and it did NOT look the same. I was so very disappointed. To be honest, I reverted back to my teenage years and had a meltdown. Gilbert made it downstairs just in time to witness it. I was so embarrassed at myself (I even made him promise not to tell anybody, and here I am telling it), but here's my defense: I tend to get my hopes up about things, and I don't do very well with disappointment. I was so excited about my hair and then it looked as though my too-cool hair was lost. Then, my sweet husband came to the rescue. He went to Wal-Mart and bought me a flat-iron. When I washed again today, I used the flat-iron and was able to mostly reconstruct the look I had left the salon with. I really like it. I think I lost some of the "cool" in the transition, but I salvaged most of the overall look. (By the way, last night made me realize that Gilbert needs to have a daughter one day. He handled the whole situation so well!)

So now that I've built it up, I'll reveal the look.
Here's a before: (it's more than a year old, but again, my style hasn't changed)

And the after:

Can you tell a difference?

Dare to Discipline

2008-01-24T20:53:00.000-05:00

So I come downstairs tonight after making it home from a visit with the Andersons. I have an armload of laundry as I make my way through the obstacle course that is my living room floor, catching glimpses of the dirty high-chairs in my kitchen. Gilbert's on the computer and this is his statement to me: "Kate, you're slacking on your blog these days." So, here I am, with clinched teeth, creating a new post.

Knox-sitting is going well. I've reached the end of week three and the boys have become like brothers in every sense of the word. In the last two weeks, Cole has chosen to take Tuesday and Thursday as his feisty days. Knox has taken Wednesday. Today I decided that I might like them to take the same day every once in a while so they'll start taking up for themselves. Today, Cole, believe or not, was "mean and rotten to the core," as my Mom used to say. I think he waited for Knox to start playing nicely on his own so he could come over and ruin it. Poor Knox would just look at him. I secretly hoped Knox would deck him a time or two, just to give him a taste of his own medicine.

To tell the truth, since they started behaving this way, I have really, really struggled with how to handle it. I guess I'm still struggling, but after talking to some ladies who have dealt with boys of their own, I'm coming to terms with the idea that I must remember that they are boys and they are almost 17 months old. Just because they are behaving this way now doesn't necessarily mean that they will behave the same way as adults. I should also not feel the need to nip every single occurrence in the bud or fight every battle for them. So sometimes when they look at me for intersession, I just say, "You're gonna have to handle this one on your own." As long as no one is getting injured, I think it might be wise to let a few slide and teach them to stick up for themselves as well as they can. Bad idea? Got a better one? Your feedback is welcome, especially from you who have dealt with boys.

Cole is completely unresponsive to time-out these days. It used to make an impact. Not anymore. He used to sit in the corner, face the wall, and cry. Now he gets up, comes over to me, and calls my name as if to say nonchalantly, "Hey Mom. You forgot me in that corner over there, but don't worry. It's no big deal." So I've been putting him in my lap and sitting with him in the corner. When I do that, he puts that chin up and peeks at me and grins like I've just made up a new game, so I stare up at the ceiling and pin his arms to his sides, hoping at least for a whine of discomfort. Does this make me evil? Today we tried this after he hit Knox. When time was up, I turned him around, gave him a brief talking-to, told him to say sorry and hug his "opponent" (he does this eagerly every time, as if that's his favorite part). And, seriously, as soon as he released Knox from the hug, he smacked him in the head. I think time-out will be much easier when I can lock him in the basement without food or water for a couple of days. But seriously, when I can put him in his room to think about his behavior, I hope it will improve. Until then, is time-out worthless? Is it acceptable for me just sternly say NO every once in a while? I mean, if I used time-out for every incident, there would be a spot worn in the floor after a week. I will also say that I did spank once this week and was completely riddled with guilt and felt the need to beg for his forgiveness afterward. Is that what parents mean when they say, "This will hurt me more than it hurts you?" Keeping in mind that every kid, every parent, and every situation is different, I say again: ideas and feedback welcomed.

So seriously, things are going okay. Some bumpy spots, some definite eye-opening experiences for me (and probably for both boys) but overall, all's well. Thanks for letting me vent, and thanks in advance for your ideas.

Oh. Thought I'd share a picture of Cole's attempt at a hiding place when he has something Knox might want. As you can see, the hiding isn't usually a success.

Stranded Again!

2008-01-14T12:05:00.001-05:00

And now for another episode of "The Misadventures of Miss Kate."

So I'm taking Gilbert to the airport yesterday to catch a flight so he can go hunting with his dad in South Alabama. We decided to take my car because it gets better gas mileage and it had a full tank. I drop Gilbert off, get about 3 miles down I-465 (in Indianapolis, for those of you who aren't familiar) and I suddenly start decelerating. I try to pick up speed again, but with no luck. With nowhere to pull off, I quickly exit, hoping momentum will keep me going until I can get to a good pulling off spot. However, momentum doesn't get you far when the exit is a circular uphill ramp. I find myself halfway up the ramp on the side of the road.

I call Gilbert for advice on what to do. He gives the numbers of a couple of knowledgeable and level-headed people in Lafayette (it's about 60 miles away). I try Bill Bell first. He's the one who helped us out when my car gave us trouble on the way up in October, if you're familiar with that story. Of course, he jumps in the car and comes to my rescue. Luckily, most of my wait-time is still in some daylight (it's about 5:40). In the meantime, I call my friend Rachel to chat (I'd been trying to find a good time to call her), try to catch Melissa to check on her, and call to check on Cole. (Praise God he was with the Tilleys and not in the cold car with me!) By 6:35 I'm in a warm car with Bill and he's on the phone with Triple A, requesting a tow. By 8:30 the car's on the truck and we're heading back to Lafayette.

With a restroom stop and a stop at my house to get Gilbert's vehicle, it's a little after ten when I make it to Cole. He's trying to be asleep, but the commotion hinders him. By 10:45 we're home, cuddling in the rocking chair, and thanking God that Gilbert was at the airport and Cole was safe and warm in Lafayette when the car broke down, that we finally made it home together, that we were able to safely crawl into our own warm beds that night, and that we have such great people to help take care of us.

What a night! And, what a morning--Cole was up and at 'em by 6:45.

Check Out My Boys

2008-01-09T22:11:00.000-05:00

You gotta see my two handsome men. Gilbert's got a cute video on his blog, entitled Daddy and Cole. I guess they were waiting for church to start tonight while I was at CPR class. You gotta love this, and if it doesn't make you want to smooch Cole's cheeks, something's wrong with you.

My New Endeavor and My New Girls

2008-01-07T19:35:00.000-05:00

Thought you all might like to see pictures of how I'll be keeping myself occupied for the coming months:

Knox is a friend of Cole's from church who was born the day after Cole. His babysitter will be our babysitter when she recovers from some surgeries. Until then, I'll be keeping Knox during the week. Today was the first day, and it went really well. The boys got along great, although I had to find duplicates of every toy so they could have their own. They mimicked each other's every movement and had a really good time. Their nap times overlapped a little, which I wasn't expecting, so I got some me-time for about an hour, and then after lunch Gilbert was gracious enough to bite the bullet and come home (despite the possibility of entering chaos) to give me some grown-up time. We had a great day, but I am completely exhausted. And to think that the rest of this week I'll be going to a CPR class for three hours every night after keeping two boys all day. I just think I'm exhausted now.

Part of my exhaustion, however, is my own fault. Several (almost twenty) of the ladies from church went out last night after service for dessert and a movie. We stayed at Applebee's for two hours and then went to the 10 o'clock movie. I decided that I wanted to see P.S. I Love You, so I emailed the ladies I had addresses for, told them to invite whomever might be interested, and it took off from there. I couldn't believe the number of women willing to go out so late at night. I didn't consider the fact that going so late means freedom from responsibility and the guilt of leaving husbands with those daunting tasks that wear us out, because the kids are in bed.

It has been so long (probably since high school) since I've been able to go out with a large group of girls and not once think, "Why am I here? I shouldn't have come." I know this sounds awful, but it's true. Most of this is probably due to my own insecurities and timid nature, but I still feel this way. And I feel confident that I can write about these feelings honestly, knowing that lots of my girlfriends are reading, especially those in Bowling Green, because I know you know what I mean. Notice the word large in the first sentence. That is the operative word. I've been out plenty of times with one or two girls and had a great time. It's that large group that I usually regret going out with. I hope I'm making sense. Anyway, I didn't once feel this way last night. So I got in bed at 1 a.m. and wanted to express my thanks for such a great time. All I knew that would suffice was, "Thank you, God. Thank you." I just kept repeating it over and over. It was quite an overwhelming feeling. What a great and fun group of ladies God has so graciously placed me in the midst of. (The movie was great, by the way, and I didn't get harassed too badly for being the preacher's wife who took a bunch of ladies to see Denny Duquette's backside.)

On a totally different and random note--I also wanted to share a picture of Cole's leftover-spaghetti breakfast the other morning. He picked it out of the fridge and didn't want to trade it for anything. I decided this was not a battle worth fighting. And look what a good time he had! Breakfast is never this much fun.

I'm Still Here

2008-01-04T22:52:00.001-05:00

I'm feeling guilty that I haven't posted anything in a while, so I thought I'd try to come up with something, but there's nothing really new or exciting going on.

Cole's given us a glimpse of the terrible two's the last couple of weeks. It doesn't take much to make him upset, and "no" is his favorite word again. (He did that for a while six months or so ago, but it became scarce for a while. Now it's back. Also back is a flailing hand that accompanies this word. I'm hoping one day he'll understand me when I say, "Be sweet to Mommy. She loves you too much for you to hit her.")

His other favorite thing is dessert. Cookies are on his mind all the time. He'll grab my hand, pull me to standing, reach for me to hold him, then point me toward the kitchen where he'll point to wherever the leftover Christmas goodies are. After venting to my friend Rachel the other day as I opened a package of cookies for him, I remembered that his obsession is mine too, that I am the parent, and that I have control over the situation. So I got out a garbage bag and dumped everything except a few things I designated to Gilbert. When I closed up the bag, Cole wrapped his arms around it and threw his body against it. I wanted to do the same. So I guess if I have to have a new year's resolution, Cole and I are sharing this one.

I've also been working lately on job applications. My licensure is in limbo right now as they're waiting for me to complete a CPR class that is scheduled for next week. I'm just working on applications at a comfortable pace while I have plenty of time to get them in. (I'm hoping for a job in the fall, but I may have a new endeavor in the next week. Stay tuned for more details.)

So, I am still here, and things are still going well. Just thought you might be curious.

Happy Birthday, Zio Randy!

2007-12-28T10:48:00.000-05:00

This is from Cole to his Uncle Randy in Italy.

Christmas Fun

2007-12-25T17:17:00.000-05:00

(Wanted to share a special photo just for Nana. Check out the biscuit. Talk about tradition...)

Traditions

2007-12-24T21:29:00.000-05:00

This time of year always makes me do a lot of thinking about traditions. I'm sure I'm not the only person who can say this. I've found, however, that having a child of my own makes it even more so. What traditions have my parents passed on to me? Which of these am I interested in passing on to my own family?

Foremost on my mind this year, however, is the issue of beginning traditions. Since Gilbert began this new job recently, he wanted to try to avoid taking vacation days so early. Because of this, we finagled things around and had our family visits early this year, so we're here, in Indiana, on Christmas Eve, just the three of us. I'm pretty excited about it, but I realized a couple of days ago that this means there will be no one to cook a Christmas meal for me! That means I am responsible for this aspect of the holiday!

So, as I thought about this daunting task and about family traditions, I decided that maybe our family tradition can be that we go to a restaurant for Christmas dinner. The more thought I put into this, though, the more I realized that this tradition would make me look lazy, and the thought of that makes me crazy, so I decided against starting this tradition. Then I thought that our tradition could be that we have something non-traditional for Christmas dinner. After much contemplation, I've decided to cook breakfast for Christmas dinner. The good news is that at this point, there is no one to be concerned with but Gilbert and myself, and since Gilbert's good with it, the plan stands--at least for this year.

Another tradition I thought about was preparing for Santa. I realize that Cole doesn't understand the whole Santa thing yet, but I decided that now's as good a time as any to begin this tradition. I've been thinking about this one for a few weeks, and had decided that baking cookies together to put out for Santa would be a fun tradition to start, and since Cole loves to help in the kitchen (yes, already), I thought we could bake sugar cookies and decorate them together.

We had dinner on Saturday night at our friend Mindy's house, and upon leaving she presented us with "some goodies." Much to my excitement (and without Mindy having any idea about my plan), the "goodies" were sugar cookie mix, a cookie cutter, a tub of butter cream icing, four tubes of writing icing, and a great hand-painted star plate. Perfect! This convinced me further that I should make an attempt to begin what I hope will be a tradition in our family as long as my children will continue it.

The following pictures show the result of our work:

THANKS, MINDY!!!

When I think about the traditions that my family has always had, I realize that most of them were probably not started on purpose. They're just something we always did so they became traditions. I think this makes them even more special. However, I want to make sure that there are things that Cole will be able to look back on and say, "We always did that at Christmas time." I guess I want to be sure that he has warm feelings about his childhood Christmases like I have about mine.

Merry Christmas! I pray that you all will be blessed in the coming days just as I have been--with family, with friends (old and new), and with special traditions of your own.

Dashing Through the Snow...

2007-12-17T17:33:00.000-05:00

This afternoon we all bundled up, pulled the sled out of the back of the car, and hit the slopes! I wanted to share a couple of pictures, as promised.

My camera wouldn't cooperate in order to get the picture of Cole just after the sled tipped and he landed on his face in the snow. It would have been a pitiful picture anyway (he was very sad), but I was trying to capture the moment! I guess it's better to show the grins instead. He laughed every time we pulled him in that sled. What a great gift!

(Am I going overboard with the Christmas carol titles? They just seem so appropriate!)

Stranded!

2007-12-16T21:42:00.000-05:00

You haven't heard from me in a while, because Cole and I left Wednesday morning for a seven hour trip to Alabama to visit my family. We had our Christmas get-together and the first of Mamie's birthday parties. (Her birthday is the day after Christmas.) We had lots of fun. Jess, Em, and I spent Thursday in Chattanooga while my mom took the day off work and stayed home with the two cousins. I think it's fair to say that all four of us grown girls had a great day and that the babies enjoyed each other too, as these pictures prove:

(I promise they have matching pj's on accident, although we did make an effort to have them wear them at the same time. We don't usually dress them alike. Will they gripe about these pictures later?)

Cole got several great Christmas gifts, but my favorite was a nice, wooden sled from his Nana. He and Mamie were having a great time on it, even inside with no snow, so I couldn't wait to get back to Indiana and use it outside with real, honest-to-goodness snow.

(If you're wondering, Cole decided at the dinner table he needed to shed his shirt and later tried to shed his pants and diaper. Who knows what's going on with this boy...)

Ironically and much to my disappointment, it was this snow that I was longing for that kept us from making it back to Indiana as planned. Gilbert called when we were almost to Bowling Green and said, "If you're coming, you'd better come right now. They're calling for 12 inches in Indianapolis." Since Cole was ready for a break from the car and for lunch, and since driving in perfect weather with a one-year-old is stressful enough, I decided we'd better sit tight in Bowling Green until the road conditions were safer. I was, as many of you know, based upon the tears you know I ridiculously shed over this decision, sad not to be able to be in Indiana with Gilbert and the snow as planned.

However, things turned out fine. As we are blessed with great friends in Kentucky, we invited ourselves to the Gibbs to spend the night and went to church with more dear friends today. (Cole got plenty of kisses--he honestly did have a few lipstick spots on his face by the time we left--and they got their Cole fix for a little while.)

When we finished the lunch that Dana and Megan treated us to, I called Gilbert to check on the weather, and he told me that he thought we could try to make it. I suggested he call someone knowledgeable for a second opinion, and with that I got the green light to head on back. Since Cole had fallen asleep in the car on the way back to the Gibbs, I left him in the car, grabbed our things very quickly, and headed back north**. With much, much prayer, we are safely home. Another piece of good news is that the snow is still around (I'm sure it will take a while for almost 9 inches to melt.) I'll post pictures of Cole in his cool new coat, hat, gloves and sled soon.

**Thanks, Todd, Dana, Megan, and Andrew for the hospitality. Sorry to leave in such a hurry. I hope you understand. If I left anything, let me know, and we'll figure out what to do with it. Also, thanks, Valerie, for letting me invite myself to your house this afternoon. Can I get a rain-(or snow-)check?

________________________________________________

On a related note, I wanted to share a cute Cole story. He slept from Bowling Green to just inside Indiana, where we stopped for gas, a diaper change, and a stretch break, but when we got back in the car, it was the LAST place he wanted to be, and he made sure I knew it. I was doing everything I could to make him happy but also to ensure our safety. I got to the point, though, that I had to just ignore him until I came up with a new idea. By the time we got to Indianapolis he had come up with his own plan for occupying his time. This is what I heard from the back seat: "Momma?" "Yes, baby." Then he'd speak to me in his own, special language. (If you've spent any time with Cole you know what I'm talking about.) I came up with some answer to his question like, "Yes, we're getting closer." Then as soon as I'd finish talking, "Momma?" "Yes, Cole." Then more jibberish. He continued with his questions, and I continued with more random answers. "It won't be long... We're getting closer...Yes, Daddy is waiting on us...Yes, we can call Nana when we get there." This went on long enough for him to ask 10 or 12 questions, one right after the other. It was too cute. The more I think about it, the more I think he was probably just saying, "Momma? Are we there yet?"

A New Member Joins the Ranks

2007-12-08T21:11:00.000-05:00

My sister, Jessica, has made her first post. Check out her blog via my links and see my adorable niece, Mamie. She's just four months younger than Cole and is too cute!

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

2007-12-05T09:03:00.000-05:00

Today was a monumental event: our first big snow in Indiana. Well, maybe real Hoosiers don't call this a big snow, but to most Alabamians, Middle Tennesseans, and Southern Kentuckians, this is a good, big snow, and that's all I've ever been.

I had asked Santa to bring Cole a snow suit and some rubber boots for Christmas, but with a snow like this, he had to make an early delivery. I thought I'd share some of the photos:

It took forever just to get Cole suited up. I dressed him in a pair of p.j.'s, a sweatsuit, two pair of socks, the snow suit, a pair of gloves, a pair of galoshes, and a coat. I started to doubt it was even worth it. This was the end result of all the dressing:

He actually couldn't even walk across the room to the door without falling. Then he couldn't get back up. This remind anyone of anything? (Hint: You'll shoot your eye out, kid!)

Finally, we made it outside. Even though I spent most of the time either dragging him or carrying him because he couldn't walk in snow this deep, we had fun. I considered teaching him to make a snow angel, but I thought laying him flat on his back might freak him out. I think we'll save the real snow activities for next time.

Post Script: I heard this morning on the Today Show that it was in the 50's in Nashville. Funny to come across this information when I had just been wondering, as I looked out at the snow, what the weather was like in our old neighborhoods.

My Boy (or Pride, part II)

2007-12-02T20:50:00.000-05:00

Cole is always cute, but today he was especially cute, so I thought I'd share the stories of the day. Let me start my saying that I realize probably all of these cute things have been done by every regular church-going child. (This is not to imply that if your child hasn't done these things, he/she needs to spend more time in church. I simply mean that I realize my child is not a prodigy but a normal child, and I don't expect you parents out there to be amused by Cole's actions. However, I hope you will be.)

First of all, I wanted to go to early service today, which causes a major time crunch, so I yanked Cole out of bed as soon as I had myself ready and got him dressed. (He was awake when I got to him, so don't think I awakened him from a deep sleep by "yanking" him.) As I was dressing him, I was singing a Christmas song that my sisters and I heard Mitch Miller sing frequently as children. "Who's got a beard that's long and white? Santa's got a beard that's long and white. Who comes around on a special night? Santa comes around on a special night. Beard that's white, special night...Must be Santa, must be Santa, must be Santa, Santa Claus." There are many verses to this song. I was singing as many as I could remember. After singing for a while, Cole looked at me, put his finger over his lips, and said, "Shhh." It was hilarious, but I obeyed.

Cole has taken an interest in the singing at church. He has started to sing along. It hasn't gotten especially loud yet, but it's still cute. I love to hear him sing, and he often moves his hands with the song leader as well. It almost brought me to tears today. I think the level of pride I felt today in hearing him sing is second only to the moment he was born. It was a great feeling.

After the singing subsided, one of our elders got up to give communion thoughts. Cole then turned around to the people behind us (we were in probably the third or fourth pew), put his little finger over his mouth again, and shushed the people behind us. The elder then lead a prayer, and when it was over he closed with an "Amen." In case he hadn't closed the prayer well enough, Cole echoed, " 'men."

When a video was incorporated into the sermon, Cole craned his neck to watch. He crawled into the lap of the lady next to us who was helping me barricade him in and watched intently with the sweetest little angel face.

Then tonight, as we waited for church to begin, we went into the auditorium where our children were practicing for a play. They were singing a song that required arm movements. Cole watched for a while, and then imitated, as exactly as a one-year-old could, each movement they made. Again, I was so proud.

That's my boy. I know there will be a time when his embarrassing actions outnumber the actions that make me proud, but for now, let me revel in this moment.

Pride and Italy

2007-11-29T13:50:00.000-05:00

Four of the things I am most proud of in life are these: my faith; my choice of husband; birthing such a wonderful, beautiful child; and this:

After all the trouble I've been through in the last week, I feel like I birthed this thing too. So I guess it's official. I walked into the BMV yesterday and all 10-15 of the clerks started smiling. "It's Mary Katherine," they said. Then one added, "Paris-Kerrigan." The lady taking my picture had the nerve to say, "That's a long name," as I placed my signature on my license. I tried hard not to give her a dirty look. But she is right. It is a long name. I've decided to simply add an "M" to the signature I'm used to: "M. Kate P. Kerrigan." The full name is long enough that by the time I get to the end of Katherine, it starts to look like a long squiggly line. The perfectionist in me hates that. I want to clearly see each letter or I'm not satisfied.

Thanks for your support in the midst of my crusade.

On to Italy...Several of you have inquired about our trip. I'll tell you what I know. My brother-in-law, Randy, is currently in Prado, Italy (oops, PraTo) with the AIM program (Adventures in Missions). He completed a semester of classes in Texas related to missions and bible, and at the end of the "semester" he was sent with a team to Italy to, as far as I can understand, be an apprentice to a missionary there. He's been there since May.

Gilbert's mom, dad, and grandmother decided to plan a trip to visit, and his mom very graciously offered to purchase us tickets as well! We are very excited. We thought we might need to go seperately, as Gilbert's mom was planning to go during her spring break, but mine was not on the same week. However, when Gilbert accepted the job here, it freed up my schedule considerably. If I have the opportunity to interview for any jobs that will begin before then, I plan to be up-front about our trip and make sure that potential employers would be willing to give me this week off.

We were concerned about taking Cole. My way of looking at things has been this: this is a once in a lifetime trip for me, but hopefully not for him. On top of that, he won't appreciate it and traveling with a 19-month-old may be a little difficult, especially when the travel itself will take almost 24 hours and being there will mean a time change to adjust to (I don't know what the time change is, exactly, but I'm sure it's enough to shake up a baby's schedule). Because of all these concerns, and because my mom's spring break is the exact same week, my mom (and maybe Auntie Em) will come to Indiana and spend the week at our place with Cole.

As far as what we're doing while we're there, I'm not totally sure. I think Randy is planning some things for us to do. We are flying into Florence, and I'm pretty sure we'll do some sight-seeing in the bigger cities. I think my biggest interest is having the chance to see some of the country-side. That's all I know, for now. I can keep filling in more details as I learn them! Thanks for your interest!

(Am I driving you guys crazy with these novel-length posts? I'll try to work on this, but I told you, I can't give the simplified version of any story.)

The Plot Thickens

2007-11-28T12:29:00.000-05:00

It's Wednesday. D-Day. Thought you all might like an update on the name-change fiasco.

Last night, as a last-ditch effort to prevent myself from purchasing a new passport, I called Expedia, the T.S.A, and USAirways about the fact that my passport name and ticket name do not exactly match. I was just hanging on to the hope that maybe, just maybe, they would tell me that it isn't a very big deal. Expedia agreed to put a notation on my ticket that states that Mary Katherine Paris-Kerrigan and Katherine Paris Kerrigan are the same person. The gentleman there also gave me the numbers for T.S.A and USAirways.

Calling T.S.A. got me nowhere, as everything was automated. USAirways worked out better, though. After I successfully got the man there to understand my situation (at least I think he did), he said that having my driver's license with my picture and my passport with my picture meant that he could "assure [me] that [I] will not have any problems with [my] flight." I made him repeat that statement about three or four times. Seriously. In the back of my mind, though, I keep thinking that he has no business telling me that, because he has no idea what type of passport/ticket/name Nazis I will encounter at the airport on that fateful day in March. I'm choosing to think of it this way: with the name on my license that matches my ticket, I can at least make it to our first stop in Philadelphia. If problems arise there before I can get to the next stop in London, I'll call my dear friend Ashley's sister and spend the week in Philadelphia. What a fun vacation!

Now, back to today's events. I went to the DMV (or BMV is what it's called here) feeling confident. I have to take a written test to get an Indiana license, and I had studied like the nerd that I am, so I was feeling good about things. The clerk today reacted the same way as the clerk from last Wednesday. "The names don't match. Is this person the same as this person?" I explained my story yet another time. Evidently, the two letters that the social security office had given me as proof that I had done what the BMV required me to do didn't match each other. One said, "This is to prove that Katherine Paris Kerrigan has applied..." The other said "Mary Katherine Paris-Kerrigan, blah, blah, blah..." After much discussion, I was informed that I had to return once again to the social security office and have them give me another letter, then perhaps wait 24 more hours and return again to the BMV. I almost cried right there.

Then the discussion centered on my proof of residency. I had taken our electric bill as proof of my address. It says, "Gilbert M. Kerrigan and Kate P. Kerrigan." Will Big Brother accept this, the clerks wondered. Surely he'll know that Kate P. Kerrigan is the same as Mary Katherine Paris-Kerrigan (which has been my thought about the entire fiasco: surely they know that Katherine Paris Kerrigan and Mary Katherine Paris-Kerrigan are the same person!) On the verge of yelling I said, "There is not an single piece of paper that exists as proof that Mary Katherine Paris-Kerrigan is a resident of Indiana. I have only been Mary Katherine Paris-Kerrigan for two days. If you tell me that I must have proof that has that name on it, I won't be able to do it." They finally decided that my electric bill would probably suffice. When I realized that the clerks were only doing their jobs, I calmed down and headed to the social security office one more time.

Wait. Let me pause here to fill you in on the fact that Cole was with a lady from church for a couple of hours so I could go and take my driver's test. So, on top of everything else, I was crunched for time. I wanted to pick Cole up in time to bring him home for his 11:30 nap.

Meanwhile, back at the social security office, my number was 72. I came in as #58 was being called. One entire issue of Better Homes and Gardens later (I even read some articles), my number was called. I explained my situation and the clerk asked what branch of the BMV I had been to. I was then told that the BMV is not supposed to send people to the s.s. office for this reason. Evidently it had been done often enough that the social security office was tired of it, because she made a copy of my paperwork to pass on to her supervisor so he could call the BMV. She corrected my papers and told me that I could go back today to sort things out at the BMV without waiting 24 hours, but by the time I finished there, it was time to pick up Cole.

So, this is where things stand now. I'm taking Cole to stay with the secretaries at church this afternoon at three. (It's a good thing he's so cute. They haven't started to complain about how distracting it is for him to be there. Well, at least not yet.) I'll then make another attempt at getting my license. I'll keep you updated. At this point, the worst that could happen is that I could fail my driver's test.

What a MESS!

2007-11-26T21:30:00.000-05:00

By my title, you might guess that I'm talking about my house or my child or something of this sort. Oh, I wish it were a mess like that. Let me just fill you all in on the past week of my life. It all started five years ago... Try to keep up with all this:

I was born Mary Katherine Paris. Beautiful name, huh? I've never really liked Mary by itself. Until I was in sixth grade, I was known as Mary Kate. (I was born before the Olsen twins were thought of, by the way, so no jokes, please.) Then I became too cool to have a double name, so I started going by just Kate. A few people very close to me still call me Mary Kate, like aunts and uncles, cousins, my best friends' parents. The only person who calls me this NOT from my childhood is my father-in-law, and he's sweet enough to call me whatever he wants to. He could call me dork if he wanted to, and I'd still be proud.

Back to the subject. On the other hand, I have always really loved my maiden name. I just think it's pretty cool. So, five years ago, when I became a Kerrigan, I wanted to mix things up a little and drop Mary, make Katherine my first name, Paris my middle name, and Kerrigan my last name. My mom had done the same thing when she got married. I had no idea that this would cause such problems...

When we first married, I went to the social security office and became Katherine Paris Kerrigan, no problem. Then I went to the DMV and discovered that I was not allowed to do that with my driver's license without legally having my name changed, so I became Mary K. Paris-Kerrigan (hyphenated). Fine. The only problems this has caused so far is when my students ask me what my middle name is (I go through the entire spiel, in very Kate-like fashion, because I can't simplify any story) and when I went to vote in the last presidential election. I stood in the A-L line forever (for the "K"), just to learn that I should be in the M-Z line (for the "P"). I would call this a small hassle, but not a very big deal, until last week.

I went to the DMV to have my driver's license changed. When I pulled out all my information, the clerk just stared at it all. "None of this has the same name. Which is correct?" So I go through it all--the birth name, married name, social security name, driver's license name, and so on and so forth. Evidently, it doesn't work that way anymore. Both DMV and Social Security office must have the same information. I was referred to social security to sort things out before I came back to the DMV office. I was irritated, but not overwhelmed--yet.

Today I went to the social security office. Unless I want to legally become Katherine Paris Kerrigan, I will be Mary Katherine Paris-Kerrigan. So I am. The up-side is that I really like Mary Katherine, because it's pretty and because my dad and granddaddy named me this family name. But I have a whole new last name, as far as I'm concerned. Evidently, this is as far as a lot of people are concerned.

It occurred to me that my passport says Katherine Paris Kerrigan, and I'm going to Italy in March. So I make a trip to the post office after Gilbert purchases plane tickets for Mary Katherine Paris-Kerrigan. The news, in a nut-shell? Looks like I'm paying for a new passport.

I left the post office, called Gilbert, and said, "I'm going somewhere quiet to be by myself." I thought I was going to scream. I was completely overwhelmed. After Barnes and Noble, a caramel macchiato, and an hour of reading a grammar book, I was feeling a little more calm.

I'm going to see what happens with the DMV on Wednesday. I wonder how much mess I will uncover there. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

I'm Dreaming of a White Thanksgiving...

2007-11-23T16:29:00.000-05:00

Wanted to share with you all some pictures of our snowy Turkey-day:

Okay, so maybe you wouldn't call it an official "White Thanksgiving," but it did snow throughout the day. I realize you can't actually see the snow in these pictures (this was the hardest snow we had all day), and you all farther South could probably send a few of your own and tell me that you had snow too, and you'd have just as good a case as I have with this evidence, but really. It was snowing. I promise.

We shared the day, happily, with my little sis Emily, who came to represent my family for me as my parents weren't able to make it because of my dad's test on Wednesday. She'll be staying with us for almost a whole week. We are excited to have her. Cole is especially excited and is loving playing with his "Auntie Em."

We shared dinner with new friends from church who invited us and some other friends over. It was nice to be in a busy house instead of in our own rather empty house with no table. It made me truly thankful for some things I don't usually have in the front of my mind on Thanksgiving. In addition to the usual things I consider--family (like sweet Em), shelter, food, and health--I was also thanking God for new friendships and the bond we have as Christians, even when we have only known each other for a short time. How grateful I am to have these new friends, and how lonely I would be to have just moved to this new place if a new church family hadn't come with the package! They are a great comfort to all three of us.

I hope each of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving as well, regardless of the fact that you may not have been able to play in the snow like we did!

Update

2007-11-21T13:35:00.000-05:00

My dad is getting ready to leave the hospital now. Everything went well. They found that the artery they were concerned about doesn't have need for immediate attention, so they're sending him home. Thanks so much for the prayers. They worked!

Prayer Request

2007-11-19T21:05:00.000-05:00

I've got a prayer that I'd like to request. I got a call from my dad tonight. He's scheduled to have an arteriogram performed on Wednesday morning. This will be the third heart procedure he's had performed. He's had two heart-attacks, both before the age of 50, so this type of procedure, while it is performed frequently without any problem, is not taken lightly by my family. Please keep him in your prayers.

I will be praying that you all will have a happy and blessed Thanksgiving this week. Thank you all so much for your willingness to remember my dad as you celebrate the holiday.

Not for Weenies

2007-11-15T22:23:00.000-05:00

Okay. Cue the Bud Light music: "Real American Heroes..." Here's to you, stay at home moms. It's getting the best of me. I feel that my problem is that I'm not used to being home with a little one, and only a little one (no grown-ups). Another problem might be that last time I was in this position I had a fourteen week old. Now I have a fourteen month old. He's a teeny bit more active now than he used to be.

I mean, I love my boy. I don't have to tell you all that, but he's wearing me out. And to those who say that stay at home moms should be responsible for all the housework and should be able to get dinner ready every night, poo on them. By the time Gilbert gets home--wait, by the time lunch time rolls around, the house is wrecked. If I tried to clean it up throughout the day, it would do no good. My best option is to wait until 8, when Cole's in bed, and clean it up then, just like I did when I was working everyday.

Now, since Sandra P. has requested pictures, I thought I'd give you a little slide show of a typical day, just for the sake of humor:

Here's Cole checking out the cabinets. We now have locks on this one.

Helping with the laundry...

Making a Cheerio trail in case he needs a snack later...

Tired of hearing "no" too much... (It is hard being a baby.)

Assisting with meals...

Finally playing with real toys.

But at the end of the day, I've gotta ask...

Who wouldn't LOVE to do what I do with this sweet boy every day?

Origin of a Tag

2007-11-13T21:54:00.000-05:00

Because of the short amount of time I've been a blogger (or maybe because I'm not loved), I've never been tagged before. But I have been around the block long enough to know what tagging is, so I'm taking the initiative to start one myself.

The idea to do this is a combination of my desire to start an email questionnaire about being a mommy and my desire to share funny stories about my little mischieveous boy. So, I'm adapting a tag I've seen floating around...Who doesn't like to tell cute stories about their kids? Here are the rules:

1) Each player starts with five random facts/habits/stories about their child(ren).
2) People who are tagged need to write a post on their own blog (about their five things) and post these rules.
3) At the end of your blog, you need to choose a few people to get tagged and list their names.
4) Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

My Sweet Cole:
1. Cole loves to tickle. He says, "tickle, tickle, tickle" in his own, cute way as he wiggles his fingers. In the last week he's tickled an elder's wife's bare foot and the cable guy while he was working on our computer. Hilarious.

2. His favorite word is "please." (What a mannerly boy.) He signs the word and says either "pea" or "bea." Anytime he wants anything, this is what he does. Lately he finds what he wants and says, "This. Pea."

3. When he sees any type of live animal (I don't mean as opposed to dead. I mean as opposed to in a book), he says, "WHOA! WHOA!"

4. During church on Sunday, we went to first service when they don't have a staffed nursery. I was so pleased at how he was behaving, overall. At one point, though, he laid down in the floor very still. He put his hand up and started playing with the bottom of the pew in front of us. When the lady in front of me turned around and smiled, I remembered that the pew has a gap between the seat and back. He was poking her in the bottom.

5. Since our move, he's been into EVERYTHING. Sometimes he drives me nuts. To make matters worse, our cabinets have no handles, so we can't easily put child locks on them. Although we've put anything harmful out of his reach, he can and does unload all the cabinets whenever he has a chance. Yesterday I heard him banging around in the kitchen. When I checked on him, he had completely unloaded one of the cabinets and had put himself totally inside. Of course, my camera batteries were dead, and by the time I replaced them, he had slithered out.

*Bonus fact! (I just thought of this one, the day after making this post, and I couldn't leave it off.) If the computer "falls asleep," Cole goes over and pushes a key to make it "wake up" so he can see his picture on the wallpaper. After he sees the picture, he walks away and goes on about his business.

Okay. Now your turn. I tag Melissa, Terri, and Ashley.

Shopping, part II

2007-11-12T20:47:00.000-05:00

I did something today that I have never done in all my many (ha!) years as a grown-up. I've done it many times, especially as a teen, but never as a grown-up. I went on a true, honest-to-goodness shopping spree with my own (not my mother's) money.

My dear friends and co-workers at Drakes Creek sent me away with a $200 American Express gift card. When I got it, I thought of the bills I could pay with it. My thought process went something like this: "Okay, we can probably have the electricity turned on or pay a few phone bills with this. That will really help us out money-wise when we get there." But when I told Gilbert about this gift, his response was not the same. "Kate, you should take that and buy yourself some new clothes." Wow. How generous of him. I hadn't thought of this. The reason that I was so impressed with his response was because every time he comes into some extra money, I automatically view it as our money. When he suggests that he buy some hunting equipment or musical device with his newly acquired wealth, I remind him of all the practical things we can buy with it. So I was shocked and guilted (unintentionally) when he reacted to my funds in the way he did.

I pondered his proposal for a long time (I think it's been almost three weeks) until I stood long enough in my closet at a loss for something warm, stylish, and un-hole-y (by this I do not mean unholy, a.k.a. trashy) that I couldn't take it anymore. I would go shopping.

I wanted to be stylish. I see all these ladies who look so well-put-together, and I wish I could be more like that. I wanted to walk into the store, find a mannequin with something cool on, and buy that outfit. I didn't want to buy what I normally like or purchase. I wanted to be different.

I started and finished my spree at Kohl's. Because today is the day to observe Veteran's Day, I was able to take advantage of great sales. My concern was that I would get there, not be in the mood to shop, get frustrated that I wasn't fitting into the sizes I thought I should, and go home empty-handed. Here's the proof that this didn't happen: I got there at 8:20; I left at 10:30. I left happily at 10:30. It was great. I was completely exhilarated. I normally hate shopping, but I never knew it could be so fun. I think what made it so fun is the fact that I didn't have to come home and enter large numbers into the check register and then, consequently, fight the desire to make returns. It's a great feeling.

After leaving Kohl's, I spent the birthday money my mother-in-law gave me and bought a new pair of tennis shoes. I came home with two pairs of shoes, two pairs of pants, five shirts, two necklaces and two pairs of earrings. What a great day.

I have so much more from my spree that I want to share, like the fact that I talked the sales clerk into giving me an extra 25% off one shirt because it had a hole that I was willing to stitch up, but I'll move on. I gave Gilbert a fashion show tonight just before I started working on this. One outfit he called an "un-Kate-like outfit"--the exact look I was going for. Mission accomplished.

Shopping

2007-11-08T11:29:00.000-05:00

I thought it might be interesting to you all if I begin to comment on some of the things I'm experiencing here in Indiana beyond my new home, so I've decided to post the first (probably of many) in which I tell you about what it's like here. Today I'll give you the perspective of what I'm experiencing here from the consumer point-of-view (in other words, my shopping experiences).

[I would like to note here that I just re-read the above paragraph and realized that it sounds like I'm planning to write about some foreign land, like the North Pole or Africa or as some pioneer would write about an uninhabited part of the country she's never been.]

I'm pleased to announce that from our duplex I can look out Cole's bedroom window and see Wal-Mart's Tire and Lube Express. Some of you cringe upon hearing this information. The truth is, our neighborhood is rather quiet, and the flood lights of Wal-Mart do, just like the store, run 24 hours a day, but we've put Cole's curtains up, so we're good to go. Another reason that you might cringe is simply at the idea of Wal-Mart. If you're at all like me, any mention of a grocery store makes you cower, but being at home these days makes me itch for an outing, so I don't mind the idea of Wal-Mart here--yet, anyway.

I do have some new shopping experiences that I'd like to report. I have had the opportunity to enter my first Super Target. As much as I enjoy Target, it didn't quite love this experience like I thought I would. I guess the fact that I had a baby with a diaper so dirty that he wouldn't sit down and diapers in the car didn't help the situation. In addition to this, I was looking for things that could either fit into the regular, normal area of the store or in the grocery section. For this reason, I found myself wandering up and down each aisle, sometimes more than a couple of times, hoping I would find what I needed (in this case, cleaning supplies), and hoping that Cole wouldn't flip out of the buggy. Despite my frustration, however, I'm sure that I will grow to love Target once again, and perhaps the super version even more than the regular one.

Another unique store I've found is Payless. And I don't mean the shoe store. This is a grocery store. Based upon what I can gather, Payless is Kroger. It's just that when Kroger bought it out, no one wanted to part with the name, so they continued to call it Payless, but they stock everything Kroger stocks, including Kroger brands. Their slogan is, "Right store, right price." Sound familiar? What's most humorous is the fact that the signs that mark each aisle look to have stickers that say "Payless" over the "Kroger" stickers.

Finally, I'll tell you about another I've never heard of that I encountered today. No funny story for this one. There's a store here called Meijer. It is pronounced like the last name of a boy I knew growing up, Josh Meyers, except without the s at the end. To me, it's exactly like a Super Walmart, but it seems to be a little more upscale than Wal-Mart. It's nice. They even have real Carter's baby clothes, and they also have real sales. Cole and I stayed there for probably an hour or more, just wandering around. While there I bought a third baby gate to replace the first for the bottom of the stairs (this one has a door so we won't have to hike our legs over anymore--an interesting feat when you're holding a sleeping boy), some quiet church activities (for Cole to use while Daddy's preaching--not for myself), and child-locks for our toilet. (This, I'm afraid, is another, more entertaining post; perhaps my next. I'm still mulling this one around in my head and trying to take pictures to add to the entertainment value.)

Considering the fact that this is the largest city I've ever lived in (and I do realize that my take on Super Target makes me sound like I actually did grow up in Bridgeport, Alabama), there are many more shopping experiences to be had. This weekend, Gilbert and I are planning on trying out the mall.

Feedback, Please

2007-11-05T15:24:00.000-05:00

Okay. I've glanced back at some of my blogs, and I need some feedback. Am I too negative? Maybe I'm a negative person. I think that I feel that the most interesting stories are the ones where something semi-chaotic has happened. Am I bringing you all down? Should I try harder to be more upbeat? I don't want someone that I don't know to stumble upon my blog and think, "Wow. What a negative person!" Am I coming across that way? Comments, please. Love you all. Kate

A Boo-Boo

2007-11-05T14:47:00.000-05:00

Take a look at this beautiful candle holder that was given to us by someone in recognition of our wedding. To be totally honest, it has been in our attic, but it was re-discovered throughout the course of the move. What I would like you to take a close look at is the detail that was given in order to ensure that the candles would stay in place. See those sharp, spiky pieces poking out? This perfect, well thought-out decoration was the cause of this...

This is Cole's first real, bloody boo-boo. You see, the candle holder was in this box of random kitchen things that were given to us as wedding gifts. I sorted and sifted through that box before I gave it to Cole to play with. I even took out a couple of knives, just like any good mother would. I seem to have overlooked the candle holder, however. After Cole had played in this box for approximately 30 seconds, he started to cry out in pain. When I looked him over, I noticed a little blood on one foot, but at that point he had stopped crying and had gone on his merry way. The blood appeared to have come from a little scratch. No big deal. Then a few minutes later we went upstairs for a diaper change. It was at this point that I noticed his other foot. He had two gashes, still bleeding! THIS is where the blood had come from. I'm sure the gashes wouldn't have looked very deep to any normal bystander, but to me, a mother gazing upon her child's first boo-boo, I thought he needed stitches. I contemplated taking him to the ER, but decided against it.

Needless to say, he's healing nicely. He acts as if this event never happened--no limping, no wincing when I put his shoes on, no whining as I washed the cuts. I guess it all goes to show a few things: moving can be dangerous, looks can be deceiving, and first boo-boos generally aren't something to fret about.

**P.S. If you are the one who purchased this candle holder for us, we do thank you. It really is beautiful and your kindness in thinking of us as we married was greatly appreciated. I do, however, want you to know that this item is now safely in its new home--the garbage can.

A few more

2007-11-02T23:30:00.000-04:00

Okay, so I've had my first successful picture posting, and I'm hooked. I have a few more I want to show off. These are from a small going-away party the Gibbs had for us about a few weeks ago. I thought they were good.

My little James Dean

2007-11-02T23:17:00.000-04:00

These are from Halloween (Obviously. I wouldn't dress my child up like James Dean for no reason.)

We're here!

2007-11-02T22:06:00.000-04:00

My hands reek of bleach. The smell is actually stuck in my nose. I spent most of my time today scrubbing something. All this to prepare for unpacking the things that I just packed in the last week. Not seven days ago, Gilbert and I spent the day "buckling down" in an attempt to get things put into boxes, and now it's time to "buckle down" again so that we can take these same things out of boxes. Strange? Ironic? Daunting? Yes. Necessary for my sanity? Yes again.

Cole and I decided to deviate just a little from our original plan. I was to finish work on Wednesday, spend Thursday packing, cleaning, etc, and get in the car Friday morning and head to Lafayette. But after sleeping on the floor for three nights and watching my poor boy's face light up just to talk to his daddy on the phone, I decided it was time to head on up.

I stayed up until almost midnight on Wednesday cleaning. Then Thursday morning my great friend Melissa completely cleared her schedule for the day at a moment's notice and without thinking twice and came over to help me. My request was that she come and watch Cole while I worked. Instead, she occupied her two boys as well as mine, rolled up her sleeves, and did some scrubbing, boxing, and moving too. When she walked in my door I was on the verge of tears. Two hours later, my car was packed (with only room left for a little 24 lb. body to fit), my house was empty, my tears were no longer, my sanity had returned, and I was thanking God for such a wonderful friend. I only hope that I can be the same type of friend.

Four hours later Cole and I were back with Daddy and sitting, happily and safely (although staring at those darn boxes again), in Lafayette--our new home.

Our duplex is not quite as cool as I remember it being when we first looked at it. How did we miss the dirt, the grime, the marked-up walls before? The last time I moved into a place where someone I didn't know had lived, I was too stricken with love and the excitement of being married to think about the fact that some stranger had cooked in this place, had eaten in this place, had showered in this place, had peed in this place. Gross. Today, I was not too google-eyed to face reality. I was just totally grossed out at the thought of Cole bathing in someone else's tub and rolling around on the floor where strange, maybe even dirty people had walked. So I rolled up my sleeves and I scrubbed. As badly as I wanted to be unpacking boxes, I got out the Clorox Clean-up with BLEACH, and I de-germed. It felt great. I now have two germ-free tubs and three germ-free sinks and toilets. It's a relief. I have never loved bleach so much in my life.Tomorrow's task? Cleaning the bathroom floors and emptying boxes in the kitchen. I'm actually looking forward to it.

Change

2007-10-30T08:11:00.000-04:00

I'm hoping that writing this post will be a therapeutic process for me. I'm also hoping that I won't start crying as I type, because I feel like I could at any minute, and at any minute I will be in the company of 32 fourteen-year-olds.

My house is empty. Well, except for a pack-and-play for my baby to sleep on, an air mattress that hasn't had air in it since 2 a.m. (Yes, it seeped out while I was sleeping, or trying to sleep), a table and chairs, a booster seat, and a junky old recliner that I told Gilbert he better not even think about hauling to Lafayette.

Cole knows something is up. He cried the whole time I put up his bed and blew up mine. He didn't want to sit on, lay on, or go near my mattress. He got so angry with me last night for telling him not to open the toilet seat (a request that I have to make often) that he squeezed my legs as tight as his little arms could and then proceeded to bite my leg. After swatting his bottom AND putting him in time-out, which I'm sure is a mommy no-no, I felt terribly guilty. My mom brought things to light after I called her for one of those good old "mom pep-talks." She said, "Kate, his world is changing, too. He knows things aren't the same, and he may act out for a while until things feel more normal." Wow! What a big impact this move is making on my one-year-old's life. That makes me feel guilty again.

This morning as I got him ready for school, he pitched a huge fit when I tried to get him dressed and got mad when we finished brushing his teeth. This is strange because he normally hates brushing his teeth. I distracted him by letting him turn off the light switches. This always brings a smile. I took him in to daycare and handed him off. He usually cries a little when I drop him off, but today he looked at me just before he started crying and said, "Ma-ma?" It almost broke my heart.

This brings me to the condition I am in this morning. I have seriously contemplated calling for a sub tomorrow, my last day of work, so I won't have to drop him off again. I guess daycare, though, is normalcy, and that's exactly what he needs right now.

I have been totally fine with turning my own world upside-down, but when I see that this move is affecting Cole, it makes me incredibly sad. He is so resilient, though. He always has been. I know that in no time, he'll be back to himself. Gotta love that boy.

Chocolate Saves the Day

2007-10-27T21:55:00.000-04:00

Here's a piece of info. about me that you may not know. I seem to work best under pressure. That's a fancy way of saying that I like to procrastinate. It's two days until the big moving day, and today was our first and only official packing day. It was exhausting.

I have packed a little here and there, out of necessity, but never full-fledged, "all I'm going to do today is pack" packing. We sent Cole to play with his friends Jack and Reese. We never could have gotten so much done if it hadn't been for that. I spent almost the entire day in the kitchen. Gilbert was wise to spend almost the entire day out of the kitchen. Having so much to do makes me completely grumpy.

The best part of the day was when I pulled a set of bowls off the top shelf that hadn't been touched in a while, and I found chocolate in them! One was a small package of Hershey's Kisses that said, "Happy Valentine's Day!" on the package. I don't remember these from this past Valentine's Day, although that's been eight months ago. What I'm getting at is that they've probably been there a year and eight months. The other was a box of three fancy chocolates--like the Whitman's kind. There was a sticker on the bottom that said, "Merry Christmas, Mrs. Kerrigan! From: Kaitlyn G." Kaitlyn G. was a student of mine more than two years ago.

Now I know what you're all wondering. "How was that the most exciting part of the day?" I'll tell you how. Because I sat down on the floor with my back against the cabinets that I should have been unloading and I ate those chocolates. They were a little hard and discolored, but they were, perhaps, the best chocolates I have ever eaten. I enjoyed them thoroughly.

Following my rendezvous with the chocolates, my day improved. I felt much better, and packing proceeded as it should have. I even allowed Gilbert to join me in the kitchen after that without danger of having his head bitten off.

Questions

2007-10-22T20:04:00.000-04:00

I told my students today that I'm moving. I wanted to do it a while back, but my principal told me to hold off. I couldn't believe he'd tell me to do that. I really wanted them to know. But the longer I waited, the more I decided to put it off. I had this fear that they would refuse to do anything I asked them to from that point on. Gilbert said I was giving them too much credit, to assume that these sweet, innocent eighth graders would think that way. Yeah. Right.

Some were shocked. Some seemed disappointed. Some were glad, I'm sure. They couldn't believe I hadn't told them yet. The room was filled with questions, most being asked at the same time. How long had I known? Have the other teachers known? Why Indiana? Why now? Will you teach? Do you have a job? You're moving to Indiana, and you don't even have a job? What will happen to us? Who will be here when you leave? Will the substitute be mean? Can we have a party on your last day here? Can we throw away our grammar books? Will there still be write-ups after you leave? Will we have to do on-demand writing when you're gone? By sixth period, I could predict what they were going to ask.

At the end of the day I asked myself a few questions. Should I have told them in September when I wanted to? Was my principal actually right in his advice? Probably so. But, was Gilbert right? Had I given them too much credit? I guess the next eight days will tell.