more birthday.

just a few pictures of kaycee's family party last night.

a night of hurrah's as she is throwing up today.

poor girl.

i was hoping not to get this nasty stomach bug that is going around,

but...looks like it is here...i am assuming for a couple weeks...

until it makes its rounds. ;)



kaycee decided she wanted a poodle cake.

she doesn't even really like dogs. i don't know why she wanted

to make it, but she did. so we did. spent the morning baking her cake

decorating it. she loved it.

here's to a fun "last day of the year" reflecting on life

as i clean. and organize.

what are you doing today?

will you make it to midnight to bring in the New Year?

or will you find being snuggled in bed and sleeping might be a better fit for you? ;) i haven't decided yet...as i was up every hour thru the morning

with kaycee, i think the snuggles might be calling my name...

once 10 o'clock rolls around. we'll see.

another.birthday.

i remember very vividly the night that kaycee was born.

let me set the stage for you.

~matt had fallen off a barn roof, at work, when i was 8 months pregnant with her.

we had just gotton back from a youth retreat on sunday...we had been youth advisors at the time...it's now pretty early on monday morning, and matt lay on the living room floor in an astonishing amount of pain (which is highly unlike him) my mind raced as to what to do next.

i quickly called my mom.

her line was busy.

i called my mother in law and she came over to watch kaden.

i remember her peeling kaden off my leg crying and crying...as we had just been re-united with him, and now were leaving him again, in a hurried, unexplained way.

i will always remember feeling very calm and in control of the situation...

until he started going into shock when we pulled into the er entrance.

our drive there was pretty uneventful. lots of moaning and agony,

but he could always talk to me and answer my questions,

which i felt was reassuring.

the man who came to help us asked if he could walk in the doors...

i remember looking at him like, are you kidding me?

the best thing obviously in hind sight would have been to take a ride

in the ambulance...and not have him sitting at all...

maybe matt wasn't the only one not thinking clearly...hmmm.

regardless i went to park the car

and by the time i got back

he had had lots of prep work done, and was already getting tests done.

(once you fall over 15' you are considered a "trauma" victim and get pushed to the beginning of the line. yay.)

i remember talking with my parents on the phone, by matt's beside in the er.

i remember doctors and nurses paying extra close attention to me, as to expecting ME to go into labor any minute...

i remember talking with the chaplain...which did freak me out a bit.

it was at that point that my "calm nature" took more of a back seat, as

i envisioned our lives as we had hoped and planned for,

flashing before my eyes.

i remember bawling to a lot of people who came to be with me,

well...and on the phone too.

he was in the trauma unit for days.

and recovered for months at home, unable to go back to work

for 4 1/2 months.

it was a time of uncertainty for us.

people providing for us, as we obviously couldn't for ourselves.

it was a time where we felt the love of family and friends and church as

NEVER before. thank you. really.

God made his face perfectly clear and real to us over that time.

it's a time we will never, ever forget.

so. the stage is set. hard times, as matt is not used to "resting" at all.

Christmas was a bummer.

Kaden and Matt had both been sick, we ended up leaving my  family

Christmas dinner...and i was in tears.

it was starting to add up.

i was now overdue. surprise. surprise. :)

it's now dec. 30th, and one of my cousins was getting married on the 1st.

our out of town family, was "in" for the wedding, so my mom hosted

an evening meal. i remember sitting around the table chatting,

eating a ton...feeling totally fine.

we left around 9pm...and by then, i was feeling a little bit uneasy,

but that was normal

by this point...most nights were like this...

we got home around 9:30 pm, and i could barely get out of the car.

matt really didn't think much about it.

my labor with kaden hadn't been real "quick", so we called our

labor and delivery nurse friend nik to come over,

and matt asked her to pick up a movie on her way.

i remember being irritated at his request.

she asked to talk to me, and wondered if we had time to watch a movie.

i told her NO, and she was there in an instant.

i put kaden to bed and

we waited for my sister and husband to come to stay the night with him.

we made our way to the birthing center and arrived shortly after 10:30 pm.

matt and the midwife started filling the "pool" we had purchased for me to give birth in, while nik stayed with me, working thru my contractions with me.

turned out kaycee was born in the water at 11:54 pm.

there hadn't been enough time to get the birthing pool filled, so

she was born in the bath tub.

i remember there being talk about me just holding off a few minutes

so we could have a new years eve baby...i wasn't into it. :)

we were home shortly after 4 a.m.

and now we are celebrating that time that happened

6 years ago.

i can hardly believe it.

kaycee...

you are a gem.

patient. kind. soft spoken.
sensitive.

you like to color and write.

be crafty, with beads, paper, glue...anything.

play house and babies.
you love to do your own hair and pick out your own clothes.
you love "play" earrings and wonder when you can get your ears pierced.

we love you.

 

Christmas 2010

 

 

We had a great few days celebrating Christmas with our families.

Take a look...



 

 

Merry Christmas...

from our family to yours!



we got to practice...

having a baby in the house last night.

it was so much fun. got to "remember" what it feels like to have a hungry baby in the house at exactly the same time that i am feeding my family, and cutting their meat. ;) matt remembered what it felt like to hold a baby, when he was ready to eat. ;)

it was great fun to see the kids interact with rae~anne. they fought over her all night. she was never lacking for cuddles or attention, and she hardly made a peep...except when she was hungry or had a burp. ;)

thanks for trusting us with your little peanut.

matt and naomi.

we loved every minute of it.



our "new" for us. office.

this used to be the dining room~when my in-laws lived here.

it was hardwood floor, that had been stained around the oriental rug...that is no longer here...

the day i was going to work on staining the floor, i found out i was pregnant.

so...we got carpet. ;)

this used to be just walls...no shelving or closets.

this dream all came out of me wanting a "closet" on this first floor.

i had none, other than the new closet that was put in the first floor

bath, when we re-did that 2 years ago.

so...we disagreed on the layout a bit, but matt trumped me, and it's great.

i love it.

there were a few things that needed to happen, and other than that, i was pretty flexible.

so flexible that i was not able to go pick out the carpet with him, due to previous plans. eeekkk.

so he even did that himself.

not quite what i would have chosen, but it's totally working. yay.

 he made the desk out of old doors. can ya see them?

these doors lead out to my dining area, which is just a long narrow room

lined with window. notoriously both of these doors have been open,

but now i think we are keeping one closed, aghhh, just for

looks i think. ;)

 this little beauty of a corner cupboard came out of our friends house...

thanks james and donna.  i painted it, and keep lots of office supplies, school papers, etc. in here. it fits perfectly now, thanks to our superman construction guy. thanks matt ressler.

this is my most favorite closet in my whole house. the one the room was designed around. got all of my ideas out of magazines of course. this houses a small coat closet, and lots of shelving for me to get organized...scrapbooking, crafts, good news club "stuff" overflowing... you get the idea...

 so now we actually have some book shelves too. all those stored photo albums sitting up in the attic, amoungst other books now have a home. still

working on adding some decorating touches, but it's good for now.

 and just had to showcase this idea...i got from nate berkus the other day. ;)

using jewelry, beads and stuff to decorate...i don't know about you, but i wear a necklace for awhile, and then move on...so...here's a great way to "use" them.

 and i do love these cubbies...right out of a magazine too. still working on decorating these too, but hey...it's good for now.

our dream is to continue renovating thru the next few years. this will eventually be solely matt's work office, with an outside entrance off the dining area.  our old office is hoping to be part of a bigger kitchen in a few years.

won't that be so much fun?

see ya. mk.

the nativity story-if to happen today.

someone sent this to me the other day. i thought it was funny enough to post. you should pause my music to enjoy. ;)

Christmas Ball 2010.

Hmmm. well. matt and i had the opportunity to chaperone the Octorara Christmas Ball last night. what a riot. we hadn't really told too many people ahead of time, simply because we "knew" a decent amount of people who would be there, and didn't want to...hmmm..disappoint them that we were coming? we were quite proud of the kids we knew...they all looked great and were very respectful.

our evening started at the check-in when the other chaperones asked, "so who is your kid?" hugh. stop there. i am only 32, do i really look THAT old? (by that i mean old enough to have a 16 year old)...stop already. ;)

i can't say that the whole crowd was as respectful as i would have hoped. that is something that hasn't changed so much. there are still good kids, and there are still kids who are always going to push the limits...and be disrespectful in how they do that. but overall we heard it was a much different scene than the homecoming dance-which apparently was a bit out of hand.

i kept comparing it to the last christmas ball i was at, which was a mere 14 years ago. how the dress has changed. how the dancing has changed. how the music has changed. i kind of cringed when i think of what things might be like when my 7 year old is old enough to go. hmmm.

i think we are holding the d.j. hugely responsible for the inappopriate "moves" we saw, and were a little disppointed in the lack of accountabilty there. not sure how we are expecting our children to dance to songs that speak of getting naked, and using foul language, and implying other sexual acts. the kids danced well for the group dances, and quite honestly there were only 2 "true" slow songs...but the crowd depicted well, the new hook up culture...and when i say that, i mean, i felt like people were dancing with a lot of different people, rather than solely couples...which is not a bad thing...

what are my thoughts?

a) someone should have been at the door, sending the girls home who's dresses seriously did not cover their hineys...seriously. where are their parents. i am not kidding. this was only the case with 4 girls that i saw, but, hmmm, it didn't leave much for the mind to figure out.

b) hold the d.j. accountable...some of that music was a little too "not okay", if

we truely are expecting kids not to dance like they are on mtv. [but shout out to my nephew Judah...they did soldier boy...and i actually could have participated...if i was allowed. ;)]

c) we should have a flash mob of parents come to pick up their kids, at 9:45, 9:50 and 9:55pm. then we can talk about accoutability. and i don't mean sitting in the parking lot and waiting for your kid to come outside. i mean go INSIDE the gym, and get your kid.  ;) my kids are going to LOVE me.

thanks Sarah...we'll look for our free prom tickets to come.

ha.ha.

~and i am going to see if i can give you all a good laugh, and scan in a picture of matt and i at his last christmas ball...~
yep. here it is. this one made the yearbook. yippee.

first of all...i was just a freshman, and he was a senior. but...regardless, notice his arm is around my shoulder and NOT my waist. ;)

secondly. i think we got this dress for $7 or something because it was missing a button, much to my dismay,

but because my mom could sew, it was not a problem. ;)

thirdly. my poor matt. he should have just taken me out for dinner and skipped the dance al-together. i was HUGELY in the MINORITY at this dance. although it was 14 years ago, a lot of girls still wore spagetti strap dresses...especially the senior ones, i was competing with. ;)

fourthly. notice i was a little bit ummm. no makeup. no eyebrow plucking.

interesting.

and by the way, my sister was able to wear a short spagetti strap dress to her freshman Christmas ball. i don't know how that happens?

i am trying to get over it...the middle child i am, and all. ;)

i couldn't get this picture clear...i was taking a picture of a picture. but you get the idea. i was fully covered, wouldn't ya say? ;)
we would wait in huge lines to get our pictures taken.
at sat's dance, it seemed no one really cared. they would then get them via computer, and would be able to pick one of four backgrounds, when
they placed their order.
do you even remember ordering pics that you couldn't see before hand?
seems like a long time ago, doesn't it?