The experiment

I found out the hard way when I was nursing Nathan that he couldn't handle it when I'd drink caffeine. It took me a while to figure it out, but he would cry and pull up his legs and be in obvious discomfort when I'd have pop. It wasn't a huge deal and I stopped drinking caffeine while I nursed. I never noticed that chocolate caused him any discomfort or anything else for that matter.

When I had Claire, I wasn't drinking caffeine. It would give me a stomach ache so I cut it out of my diet completely. Well, later in my pregnancy with Jack I realized that I could drink caffeine with out it hurting my stomach if I had enough fiber in my diet - crazy I know. I'd have it now and then and it wouldn't be a big deal. Just before he was born and even more after, I had this mean craving for Mellow Yellow. I even bought a 12 pack and drank it - the whole thing. I came to realize that Jack was starting to have a hard time when I drank caffeine just as Nathan did. Darn it! I thought it was best to see what chocolate would do to him if anything. I bought a bag of mini Reese's peanut butter cups and went to town - no holds barred. Well, last night while Justin and Nathan were at the game, I got to deal with a VERY upset Jack for 2 1/2 hours. He screamed almost non stop. So my experiment showed that I won't be having Mellow Yellow OR chocolate for the next year.....A YEAR PEOPLE! (sigh) What you won't do for the ones that you love.

Speaking of the game, Nathan had a BLAST. If you are a reader of Tracy's blog, this will be a recap for you. Justin and Nathan sat with Tracy, Dawson, and Dawson's Grandpa who Nathan lovingly calls Papa Ken. Natey could hardly contain himself when he got home. He was so excited to tell me that 'all the guys' gave him fives. I asked who the guys were and he told me it was the basketball team. I couldn't understand why on earth the players would have given him five. I asked Justin and I guess the little kids line the floor and the players run around and give them five. How cute is that? Natey said "They kind of almost knocked me down." He sure didn't seem to mind. He has a love affair with a player named Lance Tolley. We don't know Lance Tolley (never just Lance), but Nathan heard his name on the loud speaker at a football game this year and has talked about him ever since. Anyway, they had a great time. Here are some pictures Tracy took with her cell phone. Cute!!

Looks like they had a good time to me. They are HUGE Bulldog fans which I think is awesome. The Bulldogs won by the way - GO DAWGS!!

I've been meaning to post these last two pictures. This is what Claire looked like on the ride home from Pierre at Christmas. She got a new Dora movie which was a HUGE hit. She seems to be enjoying herself.

Here is a picture of Natey in the 'way back'. He got a new Full House DVD that he can't get enough of. He also got the movie Cars from his Grandparents, so he was going between the two.

Ok - and this last one just because I think it's so cute.

Tomorrow night we'll be hanging out at the Ferber's. I'll have to make sure to take some pictures of Jack. I can't believe how big he's getting.

I hope you all have a happy and SAFE New Year's celebration!

Hurt feelings and an agreement

I hurt Nathan's feelings the other day and I still feel horrible about it. He's gotten over it but I can't seem to. Nathan has been very mouthy and just flat out annoying for a few weeks now. I'm sure it has everything to do with Jack and the fact that he (Nathan) and I haven't spent much time apart, but never the less, he's been a pain. I was on the phone with my mom and he was driving me crazy. I don't even remember what he was doing, but I told my mom something along the lines of '4 years old isn't my favorite age'. What I was saying was that this hasn't been my favorite age/stage that Nathan has been at. What Nathan heard me say was 'I don't like you'. He got these HUGE tears in his eyes, put his hands on his hips, looked me straight in the eye, and said "Well....I'm not going to be your kid anymore then". Oh yeah, he totally let me have it! It was horrible. It wasn't even worth me trying to explain what I was trying to say because I didn't think I could make it make sense to him. All I could do was apologize to him over and over which I did. I kept hugging him and kissing him trying to whisk away those therapy bills I knew I'd just wracked up. It was horrible!

I have a way of doing that kind of thing to people though. I've said it on here before and I know it's no secret. My brain will try like hell to tell my mouth to stay shut, but unfortunately, nine times out of ten, my mouth wins and I end up hurting someones feelings. I really don't mean to hurt peoples feelings, but it does happen sometimes. Like I said, he's over it - I'm just not.

On to 'the agreement'. I've come to realize that I'm not Super Mom and I do need help. Since Jack was born, I've pretty much been his sole provider. Well, I can't do that anymore and Justin has agreed to come to my rescue. Don't get me wrong, all I would have done is ask and at any time Justin would have been willing to help out, I just didn't ask. Now I've asked and this is what we'll be doing: Justin stays up later than I do each night. He doesn't seem to require as much sleep as I do. I've never understood that about him, but it's true. Anyway, he'll stay up with Jack and give him a bottle around 1am and then I'll get up with Jack any time after that. I usually go to bed about 10 and get 6-7 hours of sleep which is WONDERFUL. It's an agreement that we both can live with.

Last night Nathan went to a birthday party at the Community Center. They went swimming and he had fun. I did feel a little bad for him and I pray that I didn't pass this on to him, but as we were pulling up to the Community Center Nathan told me that he was nervous. I told him that there was nothing to be nervous about and that swimming was going to be a lot of fun. I didn't plan to leave him there, but he wanted to make sure that I planned on staying and watching him. I get nervous in crowds and in places where I convince myself that people might be looking at me and I hope that I haven't passed that on to him. I try like hell to be strong and not let him see me get nervous in such settings. I hope for him that he grows out of it. Anyway, he had fun. Tonight he and Justin are going to the basketball game. Nathan can hardy wait!

A great e-mail

Some of you know my friend Jennie. She sent me this e-mail that is great and I wanted to make sure that everyone sees it. It says that it should be up on your bathroom mirror so that it could be read every day. I agree.

1. There are at least two people in this world that you would die for.
2. At least 15 people in this world love you in some way.
3. The only reason anyone would ever hate you is because they want to be just like you.
4. A smile from you can bring happiness to anyone, even if they don't like you.
5. Every night, SOMEONE thinks about you before they go to sleep.
6. You mean the world to someone.
7. You are special and unique.
8. Someone that you don't even know exists loves you.
9. When you make the biggest mistake ever, something good comes from it.
10. When you think the world has turned its back on you take another look.
11. Always remember the compliments you received. Forget about the rude remarks.

That says it all really..........

Jack Allen

Here is my favorite picture of Jack so far. It was taken when he was 10 days old at Black's Studio in Ramona, SD. He was a bit yellow so they touched up his coloring and his eyes are the most beautiful blue. My scanner does the real photo no justice.

Jack Allen was named after an uncle on each side that passed unexpectedly. My Uncle Jack was driving and went in the ditch. They believe he had a massive heart attack and died while trying to push the car out of the ditch. Justin's Uncle Al died last year just before Thanksgiving doing something he loved doing most - hunting. He too had a massive heart attack.

Jack was a name we considered when we had Nathan. I liked it but Justin wasn't sold on it. I wasn't sure that I wanted to name this baby Jack for a few different reasons. I didn't want to give this baby a name that I'd considered for Nathan. To me those names were Natey's names, not someone else's. I also thought that Jack was too strong of a name for a baby. I still feel that way, but they aren't babies for long, so it isn't an issue.

My dad has never said anything about Jack's name so I don't know what he thinks about it. Doesn't matter, we're not changing it. Same with Uncle Al's widow, Lila. She's never given her feelings about it either. However, she came to the hospital when Jack was born and then to the house after we brought him home. She never did that with the other two children. Sometimes actions speak louder than words.

We got a Christmas card from Lila the other day. She spoke of how hard this past year has been for her and how lonely she was. It made me very sad. Of coarse I have no idea what she's going through, but pain is pain no matter what form it comes to you in and it always has one guarantee - it hurts.

A week from today (Thursday, not Wednesday...I started this last night) I'll be returning to work. You have no idea how much I don't want to. Don't get me wrong, I love what I do, I'm just not ready to be away from my kids. If I had the choice I'd stay home with them, but I don't have that choice. I expect the first few days to be hard, but once I get back into it I'll be fine I'm sure. I'm quite thankful that my children are at daycare for 12 hours a week and not 40+. I feel horrible for those parents who have no other choice. I enjoy knowing that Justin is home with them on the weekends and that he gets to say goodnight to them before they go to bed at night. Not all police officers have that luxury. I appreciate that he does.

Feeding geese Nathan Meyer style

Greetings to all! I hope you've all had a wonderful Christmas. Ours was lovely. Friday we made our way to Pierre to visit Justin's parents. I was nervous that the roads were going to be crappy, but they weren't bad at all. Nathan loves to go to Pierre because not only does he get to visit his grandparents, he knows that he'll get to feed the geese at the Capital as well. Saturday afternoon we made our way to the Capital and fed the geese - the highlight of Nathan's day no less. Forward to Saturday night - before bed, Nathan asked me to make him a peanut butter and jelly fold-over. After eating all but the crust he wanted to go upstairs (to where the kitchen is - and the garbage). I figured he wanted to throw the crust away, but he wouldn't tell me why he wanted to go upstairs. Finally he said he didn't want the crust and wanted to throw it away. I told him that would be fine. Forward to Sunday morning - I woke up and went to the kitchen where my mother-in-law was busy getting things ready for the day. She told me to look out on the deck. What I found was the picture above. Why on earth did Nathan put his sandwich out on the deck, I wondered? Finally Natey woke up and came to the kitchen. I pointed out to the deck and asked him why he put his crust out there. Come to find out, he put it out there in hopes that some geese would eat it. (giggle) He was sure that some of it was gone and that some lucky goose ate some of it. I thought that was very cute and had to take a picture of it.

Claire seemed to enjoy Christmas. Justin put this Santa hat on her which I thought was adorable. Who could say no to that smile? Santa got her a Dora doll which I was sure would be a hit, however, she could have cared less. Justin had to wake her up to open her Santa gifts (because Natey woke up before she did) which didn't help anything. She also got a Elmo/Cookie Monster vacuum that I was sure would be a hit - no such luck. She played with them more as the day went on, but they weren't the hits I'd expected.

Nathan is the proud new owner of a Dallas Cowboy's bike. I expected a better reaction from him as well, but didn't really get it. Come on children! Help your mother out! Anyway, he rode his bike around the kitchen table for hours and I'm not kidding when I say hours. He would ride for a bit then take a break. He told me that his bike has made his bottom sore. I told him that his bottom has to get used to being on the seat and then it won't bother him as much. He told me over and over today that riding his bike has been great exercise for him. I wonder if I should get my bike out and ride it around the table behind him? :)

Justin let Nathan choose something to buy me for Christmas. He picked it out all by himself. While Justin was telling me this, Natey went and got me a very pretty gift bag. Justin wanted me to know that Natey picked it all by himself. I was sure I was going to bawl when I opened the bag and here I sat in front of a room full of people. Are you interested in knowing what it was? He picked it out all by himself people. How adorable and sweet is that? Here it is!

There it is! It's all mine! He promised to ask me when he wants to play with it. He said that we could even play NASCAR together. How cute is that? It's cute!

Anywho - that's about all for today. I'm so tired I can't see straight. Jack will be up in an hour or so to eat, so I'm going to take a 'nap' before that happens. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.

I told them what 'T' I was

Yesterday Nathan had a very fun day at school. They had a Christmas party and got to watch a movie. They also got to have yummy snacks and juice. Every child was asked to bring a unisex gift with a value of $5-$6. Nathan's gift that he got was play-doh. He was pretty happy about it. He told me that Santa came to his class, but it wasn't a real Santa - just someone dressed up as Santa. I thought he must have been mistaken because he wasn't very excited about it at all. Then last night we met Tracy and the kids for supper at McDonald's and I asked Dawson about it. He was the exact same way and made sure that I knew it wasn't the real Santa. He wasn't any more excited about it than Nathan was. Very odd!

Natey told me that he told everyone at school what T he was. I had no idea what he was talking about. Well, here's the deal; I got him some new clothes when I was in Sioux Falls the other day and his shirts are now 5T. This is a HUGE deal to him for some reason - so that's the T he was talking about. I asked who he told at school and he said Kylie. Kylie is who his heart has told him to be shy around this year - last year it was McKenzie. I bet telling the girls that he's a 5T lands all the chicks. Nice! I asked him if Kylie seemed to care if he was a 5T and he said "No, not really". It makes me wonder what Kylie even said to him when he told her. My guess is that she didn't have a clue what he was talking about. Four year olds are funny little creatures.

He was hungry when he got done with school and wanted some yogurt. He chose strawberry kiwi which he normally likes. After eating a few bites he told me 'I actually don't like kiweed' and threw it away. Kiweed = funny.

The weather here in south eastern SD isn't nice today. It rained most of the night so we have a ton of ice on the roads today - actually shush from what I've heard. I'm glad that I went to Sioux Falls on Tuesday and not today like I'd planned on doing. That would have been a HUGE error on my part. Speaking of my shopping trip on Tuesday, I got a lot done. I'm not the kind of person to leave my kids at home so that I can shop, but due to the fact that I was shopping for them, I had no other choice. It was strange for me, but kind of nice. I could go in a store, get my stuff done, and get out - that's my kind of shopping. I'm not a huge fan of shopping in the first place, so the less time doing it the happier I am.

My AFLAC papers have finally made their way to the claims department - THANK GOD. What a mess! I would guess that I'd get their check by the end of next week or at the beginning of the next at the latest. I'm just glad that it's done and it's filed.

Well, I have a TON of laundry to do so I better jet. Tootles!

3 is enough!

Well, it's 4:30am and I can't sleep. I have a big day of shopping ahead of me which is reason alone to rest, but I can't. Jack woke up at 2 and I've been up since.

I think having 3 children has made me stupid. It's not really the 3 children as much as it is the lack of sleep that I've gotten. Here are two great examples as of late. I've been working hard on getting out our Christmas cards. My cousin in Florida got married this year and I don't remember her new last name. I know her husbands name is Justin (easy enough to remember), but their last name escapes me. So I wrote 'Katie and Justin' on the top line of the envelope and followed it with their address. I tried to call my mom, but she wasn't home. I thought I sat it aside far enough....DANG IT - I think it's Broadway. I think their last name is Broadway. Why didn't think come to me sooner? Anyway, on with the story. So I had the address and everything and all that was missing was their last name. Well, I'm pretty sure I sent it like that. I can't find it anywhere. Holly - you'll have to tell Kate this story so she doesn't think I'm a total dork - well, she might be on to something if she does.

As if that wasn't dumb enough, it gets better. Justin's cousin whom we're very fond of moved from Sturgis to Rapid City. I asked Justin to get her address for me so that I could send her a card. He had it as a text message on his phone and he wasn't around when I was finishing up with our cards. I wanted to make sure that I didn't run out of cards or letters, so I put our return address on the envelope and just put her name on the top line and (I thought) sat it aside. Well, that one must have gotten into the mix of everything too because I can't find that one either. Nice! So now there is a piece of mail for Mandy Greslin floating around in the postal world with out her address. Like a boomerang it will come right back to me. So smooth Ker! It's like I'm playing some sort of detective game with the post office - 'I'll give you partial information and since you have nothing else to do this time of year, Mr. Postal Worker, you find where I think it should go.' For crying out loud!

Now that I got that off my chest, I think I'll go lay back down. I'll let you bear my burden of me being retarded. Thanks! :)

I'm in a rut

I feel like I make the same things week after week for supper - probably because I do. I try new things often, but then go right back to making the same things. I don't know if it bothers the rest of my family as much as it bothers me, but I know for sure it drives me nuts. If you're reading this and willing to post - post your favorite meal time recipe.

Justin is gone hunting and all 3 kids are sleeping right now. How peaceful! The only thing I hear are my fingers on the keys with Keith Urban singing in the background. Wow! I'm tired, but Jack is stirring so I know it won't be long before he's awake.Nathan fights naps tooth and nail. I told him he could have quiet time on the couch today and this is the outcome. He got up at 6:30 this morning so I'm not too surprised that he gave in to the sandman. I put Peach down late, so hopefully they'll both have good naps.

Look at this picture of the kids. Claire doesn't have the balance to stay on Nathan by herself, but I was able to get the picture. When I saw them, Claire was trying to ride Nathan's legs - which obviously wasn't working out very well. Didn't stop them from laughing and carrying on, that's for sure.

Claire has a new love. Her name is......well, check it out for yourself.
Her name is Dora the Explorer. The best way to watch Dora is no less than a foot away from the TV. In this picture she was trying to get Dora to the Gooey Geyser I think. I like to turn it in and wait for Claire to notice that Dora is on. It's so cute! I believe she'll be getting a few Dora items for Christmas.

Speaking of Christmas, I'm going to Sioux Falls (or plan to) on Thursday to finish up my shopping. I can't find anything in Madison for Claire, so I really need the weather to hold up so I can get that done.

I guess I better go get some laundry done since Jack has gotten himself back to sleep. Have a great week!

Now THAT'S funny!

I'm not sure if you'll think this is as funny as I do, but I had to share it with you. I thought I was going to pee my pants when Nathan started to sing like this. He's actually saying figgy pudding which is good. Watch it for yourself......

http://s31.photobucket.com/albums/c367/ker911/?action=view&current=100_1578.flv

Holy cats - I just kept laughing and laughing at him. Of coarse the more I laughed the more he sang. He was quite eager for me to video him. Funny stuff I tell ya!

Today Justin and Nathan ran to Sioux Falls to pick up a few things while I stayed him with Jack and Claire. It would have been nice to get a nap in, but there was no chance of that. Claire was entertaining me which is always nice. If she had on yellow clothes she'd look like a yellow crayon.

Jack was unimpressed by Claire and just kept sleeping.

Yesterday I kept thinking how lucky I was that Jack was such a wonderful sleeper. He normally sleeps for about 4 1/2 to 5 hours at night before waking up to nurse. For a baby his age, breast or bottle fed, that's pretty good! All day long I kept thinking how great it was, but I didn't want to say it out loud and jinx it. Well, thinking it must have been enough to ruin it all. He didn't go to sleep for the night until 1:30 this morning and was up at 4. I know that 2 1/2 hours of sleep sounds like a lot (sarcasm), but it's not. I got back to sleep right around 6 and was up about 9ish. Oh my goodness! Natey was trying to talk to me this morning and I couldn't even comprehend what he was trying to say because I was so tired. It was awful. I hope for a better night tonight.

She's a monster!

Poor Claire is having a hard time adjusting to Jack - or at least that's my guess as to what's going on. She was always so mild mannered until the last couple of weeks. As I've said, her new favorite word is no and she's started hitting, pushing, and kicking. I'm not sure how to make her stop either - which is also a problem. I'm considering trying a time out of sorts, but I think she's too young to understand. I've swatted her butt and that seems to get her attention, but it doesn't make her not do it anymore. I mean, it makes her stop at the time, but she'll do it again soon after being told not to. I never had this with Nathan so I'm not real sure what to do about this.

Do you watch 'The View'? I didn't until Rosie O'Donnell joined as host this season. I used to lover her old talk show - hardly ever missed it. Now I tivo The View and usually only watch their Hot Topics segment. Rosie is very opinionated, but I really like her. I get sick of hearing them talk politics because I have little interest in the subject, but the 4 of them together entertain me. Today they were talking about toddlers having tantrums which is what made me think of The View.

Rosie has a blog that I go to every once in a while. She allows people to ask her questions and then she answers them and allows you to read the answers. Some people are SO mean to her. I would probably cry if people said such mean things about me. I don't know why people think it's ok to leave such nasty comments on her blog. People tell her how much she sucks on The View and are mean to her because she's gay - so on and so forth. I don't get it! If you don't like the show, turn to channel! As for her being gay - I could care less. Why should I care? I don't have a problem with gay people at all. I had a cousin (my mom's cousin actually) who was gay, had AIDS, and died. He died when I was a freshman in high school. I really liked him and was very sad when he died. It's not the life for me, but who am I to judge him, right? We're not supposed to judge people, correct? Who are we kidding though? I judge people all the time. I might not do it on purpose, but it's hard not to. Anyway, I feel bad that people are so mean to her when they have a choice to not pay attention to her. I don't get it I guess.

Changing the subject - you all remember the game Frogger, right? Well I found this today and am now addicted to it. http://www.froggyville.com/frogger.htm
It reminds me of my roller skating days. Every Friday night I'd go skating from about the 5th grade until I moved to South Dakota which was the summer before I was in the 8th grade. I LOVED it. I was good at it for one thing, skating - not frogger (although I was pretty good at that too), but it was a fun and safe place to be. We would skate from 7 until 10 and then do the 'late skate' until midnight. There weren't many people that stayed for the late skate, but most of my friends did - so it was always like a private party just for us. The memories are coming flooding back. Loved it!

He'll have what their having

In my title, 'he' refers to Jack while 'they' are Nathan and Claire. What are they having you might ask? Some sort of bug (sickness). Nathan and Claire have been battling this bug for a week or so. They seem to get better and then start to cough again or their noses start to run like a faucet. Jack started to get stuffy a couple of days ago. He doesn't cough, although I can't say that I've ever heard a newborn with a cough....

Anyway, last night I was beat so I went to bed just before 9 and was for sure sleeping by 9. Justin woke me up to feed Jack at 1:30am. Claire had been thrashing around in her crib, so after getting Jack fed I went up to check on her. I asked Justin if he'd given her any medication which he hadn't. So I went and did that in hopes that she'd settle down and get some sleep. No such luck. She was coughing so hard I was afraid she was going to throw up. I went to check on her and decided to bring her downstairs to drink some water. She coughed non stop for quite some time. I brought her down at 3:45am and took her back to bed at about 5:30am. I figured it would be just my luck (and about that time) that Jack would wake up and need to eat. I was defiantly getting tired at 5:30. Sure as heck, Jack woke up at 6 to eat. So I fed him and got him back to sleep. I finally went to sleep at about 7. I woke up at about 9:30 and asked Natey where Justin was. He said, "He's at work. He had court today." I felt as if I were having a conversation with an adult. It struck me a bit funny because it was so odd. Anywho, sick kids aren't much fun and that 's my point.

I've been waiting for my check from AFLAC to come. Today something came from them in the mail and I was so excited.....until I opened it. It said that my doctor needed to fill out what they are supposed to fill out for my claim to be processed. Well, my doctors office told me that it was filled out and faxed to AFLAC on November 22. So I called AFLAC to see what the deal was. They told me that they could track incoming faxes and wanted to know if I knew the fax number that it came from - 'Um, yeah, I have it here in my rolodex' - NO I don't know that number. Are you kidding me? So I had to call the clinic to see what the number was and then call AFLAC back. COME ON! Anyway, they never got the fax on the 22nd, so they faxed a new form to the office for me and I'm supposed to call tomorrow to make sure they got it this time. I guess in the grand scheme of things it's not a huge deal, but someone obviously was goofed up.

I have to go help Nathan write some 3's. TTFN!

Finally!

There is Natey's side of the gingerbread house. What the hell is wrong with this website? For the love of Pete!

Gingerbread house

Finally! This site leaves little to be desired most days. Ok, so here I am helping Dawson. (Beauty was SO not me yesterday - just an FYI.)

Here is Nathan having a turn.

Caymen, what are you going to do???

Oh, you're going to read the directions? Great!

Here is Claire finishing off my Mello Yellow.

Here are the boys decorating. They were still having fun at this point.

Dawson and his finished product. Looks good buddy!

Blogger has decided that I'm done posting pictures, however, I'm not. I'll post this and try again. I'm so glad you're not here to witness the bad words going through my mind.

Are you a lurker?

Last July when I started blogging, I never knew it'd become such a part of my life. When the kids did something funny, I used to run to my day planner and write it down so that I could remember it. Now I either write myself a quick e-mail so that I don't forget or blog if I have time.

Do you ever go on someone else's blog that you don't even know or don't know well and read it? I do. When I stared my blog I knew who Amber was because she's a friend of my friend Brandi. Then I realized that she's also a friend of my friend Jennie. She's also a friend of my friend Julie - who I meant through Brandi. I never really spoke to her much, but I'd seen her at different functions and always recognized her face. Now through blogging I consider her a friend - all because of a simple blog.

When I go to someone's blog that I don't know, I find myself thinking strange thoughts about them. I'm not going to name names of coarse, but I think - boy, that person is odd and a polar opposite of myself - or whatever. The funny thing is that not everyone can convey what they are trying to say when they write on a computer. This has happened to you, right? You'll get an e-mail from someone or maybe a text on your phone and think 'are they mad at me' or something of the sort because you aren't able to know the mood of the person when they are writing it. So when I'm lurking on someone else's blog I find myself thinking 'I wonder if this person is this odd in their normal every day life'. Know what I mean? I would guess that people might come across this and think that I've lost my lovin' mind. They might just be on to something though. :) I wonder how far off my thoughts are about the person is what I guess I'm trying to say.

Before I started my blog I'd usually get on the Internet and find myself going to Kelo, CNN, tvguide.com (to read interviews), keithurban.net (to see if he'd left me any love letters - giggle), and so on. Now when I get on the Internet I go to all the blog spots that I read which takes me MUCH longer than going to any of the above. Blogging - it's a strange yet comforting world for me.

So, today was odd if nothing else (well, technically yesterday I guess). Tracy and I planned to get together one last time before she had to go back to work. They got here not long after noon for our visit. Natey couldn't WAIT for Dawson to get here. It's all he talked about all morning long. When Tracy got here, she ran across the street to McDonald's to get lunch for all of us. While she was gone, Caymen had a HUGE melt down. She screamed her head off almost the entire time she was gone. Tracy wasn't gone for a long time, but when you have a baby who's so unhappy, it sure seemed like a while.

We ate our lunch and Natey was being very mouthy to Tracy. He had to apologize for talking to her the way he was - it was that bad. Jack was beyond fussy. I think he might be picking up what the kids had last week - not really what I need. Then Dawson and Natey started being little butts. They were being mean to each other and they were being mouthy to Tracy and I. The whole visit seemed to just be 'off' from the get go.

I thought it would be fun for the boys if they decorated a gingerbread house, so I had Justin buy me a fun kit I'd seen out at Pamida. Dawson wasn't really into the idea of it and Nathan could hardly wait for the decorating to begin. We waited for Claire to lay down, Jack to go back to sleep and for Caymen to be fed, nap, and not be fussy. Well, the time finally came for the decorating to commence.

Both boys drive Trac and I crazy with having to be first and having to be the winner. Both are equally as bad as the other when it comes to this. They both wanted to be the first to decorate, so I told Dawson that he could go first since he was a guest in our house. (I would post some pictures, but of coarse blogger doesn't like the way I've chosen to do this, so I'll have to do it in another post - damn thing!)

Anyway, Dawson tired of decorating before Nathan did and wanted Natey to be done so they could play. This adds fuel to Nathan's fire. If he knows that something is going to get under Dawson's skin, then by all means let keep doing it. He decorated for at least another 10 minutes - just keeping Dawson waiting - impatiently I might add. They were very much 4 year olds today - UGH!

So anyway, it came time for them to leave and by that time I wasn't feeling all too well. My back was hurting and I had yet another headache. Later in the evening Tracy called to tell me a Dawson funny and asked if I thought today was fun which I promptly answered no. She was glad to hear it and we talked about how the whole thing was just - off. I told her that while I was cooking supper, all I could think about was how shitty each of the kids were all the way down to Jack. It was just very strange. Maybe they'd all been together too much as of late - I don't know? I didn't even feel that I was able to get a good visit in with Trac. Strange I tell you!

Ok, so once again I'll post this and then post the pictures of the gingerbread house extravaganza.

I carried a watermelon

I know at least the women that read this will know EXACTLY where the title of this entry comes from. The other night I got up to feed Jack and Dirty Dancing was on. I love that show!

I had my own "I carried a watermelon" moment when I met Keith Urban. Here is the conversation that transpired between us. SHUT UP PEOPLE! (grin) It's called an obsession and it's better than crack cocaine (because crack is whack - right Miah?).

Keith: What's your name, baby? (Don't worry, he called everyone baby)
Me: Kerrie (he's now giving me a hug - little did he know that he was turning me into a stalker)
Me: Should we just go get married? (Keith laughs) My husband said it would be ok.
Keith: (still laughing) Well, you have a pretty generous husband then!

Other people in the room laughed as well, but after it was all said and done (and the more I thought about it) it was my 'I carried a watermelon' moment. I though 'he must think Justin is a real jackass for letting his wife marry someone' as if Keith even considered it for a minute. Yeah - I TOTALLY carried a watermelon on that one.

Pictures

Ok, here are some pictures. The first one is of Mickey coming from the ceiling in a hot air balloon at the end of the 'It's a small world' performance. That was pretty cool.

The next picture is of Woody from Toy Story. You can see the green army men around him. One of the army men was the one that fell down.

These next two are of Finding Nemo. I took them because I thought my sister would like to see them and know that I was in the middle of an anxiety attack due to "Bruce". I thought I was going to have to run for my life. I think Finding Nemo is one of the most scary shows on earth. I'm totally serious! When the shark comes, I pretty much have a panic attack.

This last one is of Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and Chip and Dale.

The traffic in Sioux Falls was beyond crazy. All I could think was how bad my mother-in-law would hate it. It took me about 45 minutes to get from Minnesota to the mall on 41st - if not longer. It was nuts! It was funny to watch the other drivers biting their nails. I had to run to the mall to pick up something at Old Navy and it was beyond nuts there. I've never seen the parking lot so packed - ever. They even had their security people directing traffic. I've never seen that either.

Can you believe that Jack is one month old today? How on earth did that happen? That FLEW by!

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY TO MY COUSIN HOLLY!!! She turned 25 yesterday. I hope you had a great day Hol! I wanted to say Happy Birthday yesterday, but we didn't get home until late and I never got to it. LOVE YOU!!!

Sing it if you know it - Vol. 2

Natey and I were on the couch on Friday when he told me that he learned a new song. It's call The Reindeer Hokey Pokey. It goes like this:
You put your antlers in
You put your antlers out
You put your antlers in and you shake them all about
You do the reindeer pokey and you turn yourself around
That's what it's all about *JINGLE*JINGLE*

(sing it if you know it)
You put your koobs in
You put your koobs out
(enter the sound of a screeching record) :)

I noticed him putting his foot in and out. I said "What are you saying? Put what in?" He looked at me and said "Koobs" like I should know exactly what he's talking about. It took me a second, but I quickly realized that it was supposed to be 'hooves'. I couldn't help but laugh at this one. I said "Oh honey, it's supposed to be hooves - put your HOOVES in." He looked at me and said "Oh, well I don't know how to say that" and continued singing "put your KOOBS in, put your KOOBS out"...... I'm telling you people, that is some funny stuff. I can hardly tell that story with out laughing so hard that I get tears.
Yesterday afternoon, Natey and I went to Disney on Ice. It was a good show, but very long. This is one of the ridiculous things they had for sale. Natey's a sucker for snow cones, so of coarse we had to have one. WHY on earth do they have to pile the ice so high like that? It made a HUGE mess. I had to try to eat the top because Natey was getting ice all over.Here is Natey with his Buzz Lightyear spinny thing. I doubt that's the technical name, but it works. I think he drove the man he was sitting next to CRAZY - but I didn't care. I just let him keep spinning away.

The talent of those skaters was amazing. Natey wondered how many people would fall and only one did. With as many people they had on the ice at one time, I'm surprised that more of them didn't. My pictures didn't turn out great, but here are a few that you can at least tell who or what they are: Ok, so blogger won't let me upload them for some reason. This site pisses me off sometimes! I'm going to post this one and try again.

Sing it if you know it

Natey and I have been dying to put up our tree. Today was finally the day to get it done. I've never actually put the tree together, but Justin had to work so I got the job done. I sure hope it's done correctly. Since Justin has done it every year that we've had it, we no longer own the instructions. However, it looks symmetrical so it must be right, right? I put Claire down for her nap and got Jack to sleep and Natey and I got busy on the tree. He wanted to help with everything, of coarse, so I told him that his main job was going to be putting on the balls. With every single layer, I heard "Is it time for the balls yet?" You can only hear that so many times before you want to jump off the highest point of your house. Any way, it wasn't long and Claire was awake. I tried to let her lay in her crib long enough for us to get done, but that clearly wasn't going to work. I went to get her and that's when the real chaos broke out. It was finally time for Nathan to do his part (do you hear the angles singing?). Nathan would put one on and Claire would take one off. I thought I was going to pull my hair out strand by strand. Both the kids are sick so they are short with each other. Claire's new favorite word is NO! and she's not afraid to use it liberally. Ok, so look at the tree closely. Can you see how ornament heavy the bottom is? I know it's kinda hard to tell on the picture, but there are probably twice the ornaments on the bottom that there are on top. I decided that after Nathan goes to bed tonight I'll even it out - which means that I don't need any more on the top. He had a good time decorating - kinda - well, he had a good time until Claire came to 'help'.

While Natey and I were decorating we were singing Christmas carols. Go ahead - sing it if you know it:
We wish you a Merry Christmas
We wish you a Merry Christmas
We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
Good tidings we bring to you and your kin
Good tidings for Christmas and a Happy New Year

(Join in) Oh bring us some piggy pudding
Oh bring us some piggy pudding
(enter the sound of a screeching record)

I stopped Nathan and told him that it was supposed to be figgy pudding. He told me how wrong I was because he learned this song in school and it says piggy pudding. "Ah" I said. "I didn't know that I guess". He said (as sure as the sun is yellow) "Yeah, I learned it in school" as he hung yet another ball at the bottom of the tree. It CRACKED me up! That's some funny stuff.

As I said before, Nathan and Claire are sick. This house hasn't been the most fun place on earth the past couple of days. Natey seemed to be getting a cold the day we went to see Santa and it's just gone down hill from there. Claire also started getting it that night. They have been cranky with us and each other. Claire wants to be held yet Jack needs to be fed and.....oy! (If you're eating, shut this and read it later.) Last night Natey and Peach were running around the house chasing each other when Claire stopped and threw up. Nathan can NOT handle stuff like this. He can't even stand it if Claire has a really bad dirty diaper. Anyway, I was trying to clean Claire up and noticed that Nathan was gagging. I told him to get a drink of water. He ran over to our Culligan drinking thing and drank right out of the spicket. I told him to take deep breaths which he did. Then...all of a sudden....he was done. He got sick too. Nathan started crying and I started laughing. Poor little guy. I guess with that weak of a stomach the chances of him becoming a doctor are slim.

I got our pictures back that we had taken of the kids. They turned out better than I thought they were going to. That was a nice surprise. Now I have to write a Christmas letter and get them in the mail. That should be easy enough with 3 kids right? Lordy!

Things I find amazing

I find it amazing that I have such great friends. I don't think I'm all that nice of a person yet I have somehow surrounded myself with amazing people in my life. How did that happen? Amazing! Do you ever sit and wonder if you were a different person, would you be friends with the person you are today? Follow me? If I were someone else looking into my life, I don't know that I'd want to be my friend. I find myself quite annoying actually. There are many qualities to my personality that I don't like in other people. Seems a bit hypocritical to me, but true.

I find my children amazing. Today after Justin took Natey to school I gave Claire some lunch and a sippy cup before she took her nap. She was finishing her milk when Keith Urban's song "Once in a lifetime" came on CMT. She started to dance and was trying her hardest to SING THE CHORUS. She's 19 months old! After all she went through her first year of life she can now do her version of the alphabet song, count to 5, say MANY words, and to me it's simply amazing.

I find it amazing that people don't want more from their lives - that they settle for what they have. Why do people do this? Some people think I'm mean because I expect too much out of Justin (their opinion - not mine). I think that's crap. I didn't marry Justin only because he asked - believe me. I married him because I knew he would be a great husband AND a great father. If I ever thought he wouldn't change a diaper or cook a meal then I wouldn't have married him. I knew he'd be willing to put 100% into our relationship and do the best that he could. I knew this before we were married - that way I didn't have to wonder after. Of coarse we still bicker and some days just don't get along - but that's life. We work through whatever the problem was and move on. Why settle? Aren't you worth the best?

I'm amazed that I haven't done a single illegal drug in my life. I didn't because I knew I'd be addicted to it - so I just didn't do it. Some days it would have been easier to have gone down that path, but working through your problems builds character. Of coarse I've done things that I'm not proud of, who hasn't? However, every single thing has made me who I am today and with the friends I have and the company I keep - it's obviously not all bad.

I'm amazed at the gift of life. One little sperm and one little egg creates a life - A LIFE. Each time I've had a child I get more blown away by this. I remember when I had Nathan and my dad was waiting in my recovery room for us to come out of surgery. He picked Nathan up and said "God sure knew what he was doing, didn't he Ker?" The answer is yes and to me it's simply amazing.

I'm amazed at acts of kindness. I love that it doesn't have to be something huge to make an impact. Tracy graces me with her kindness almost every single day. Something so simple as being kind to my children warms my heart. Today Jennie helped me out in a huge way. To her it was probably nothing - but for me it was great. Yesterday Amber invited me to a party. To her it was possibly just a nice thing to do - to me it was huge. This is what I'm talking about - heart warming kindness - amazing AND wonderful.

I'm amazed that people ask me for advise and really care what I have to say. I'm very amazed by this yet very honored at the same time.

I'm amazed that I still live in South Dakota. I was born in Texas and lived there for the most part until I was 13 years old. I swore that I would move back the second I graduated from high school. Then I decided to go to beauty school and after that I swore I was going back. Well, I'm 32 and that move was MANY years ago now and I have no plans of moving.

And last by not least, I'm amazed that people come here each day to read what is going on in my life. To know that people care about me and my family is simply a great gift. Thank you personally for caring.

*HO*HO*HO*

Tracy and I took the kids to see Santa today. We had a really good time. Claire, of coarse, had a meltdown, but other than that it was great. Dawson was VERY leary about seeing Santa. Tracy thought she'd coax him by telling him that Natey was going to talk to Santa. Dawson thought this was great! He thought for sure his best buddy would tell Santa what he wanted so that he didn't have to. Isn't that funny? I got a good laugh out of that one. Trac and I went and sold some stuff at Once Upon a Child and Tracy said that Dawson still didn't understand why we couldn't just tell Santa what he wanted. LOL!

We got to the mall and I expected a HUGE line. That's what I got 2 years ago when I took Nathan. It was just the opposite. There wasn't a line at all - AT ALL PEOPLE! Dawson was a bit freaked out and wanted Nathan to go first - so we did. Nathan was amazed because Santa knew that he was 4. Santa wasn't sure if Claire was 1 or 2, but the fact that he was even close made Nathan's day. Here are some pictures of our adventure.




As you can tell, Dawson finally took the plunge and talked to Santa. He did very well and we were all happy with him. He was also happy with himself. He started to act goofy and Santa looked at Tracy and said "He has a lot of energy, doesn't he?" It was kinda funny. Both boys were FULL of energy after talking to Santa. They were skipping, running, and hopping around the mall having a good old time.

Aren't those pictures great? Isn't it nice that you can watch Claire's meltdown? :) Tracy was the one that actually took the pictures. You did a great job Trac!

Last week at school Nathan wrote out his Christmas list. It had 2 things on there: a bike and some puzzles. He'd never said anything about a bike before that list was made out. I figured that someone at school must also want a bike, but he says no. Today he asked Santa for a blue bike. Justin and I are going to have to discuss this and see if that's what we should get him or not. It wasn't in the plan, but it might have to be now. Fantastic! (sigh)

Time - is there ever enough of it?

Time goes so quickly these days. Do you remember when you were little and time would drag by? Summer break from school lasted an eternity. Once Christmas came, it seemed to take forever until it was Christmas again. I'm sure you'd agree that the older you get the faster time goes. Then once you have children you hit warp speed. It's amazing. I can't believe that Tuesday marks a month that I've been off work. Monday marks a month left. Where does the time go?

The kids are doing well. Today Natey had his Christmas program at school. They sang 3 songs and were done. It takes more time to wait on them to set up than it does for them to sing their songs. I went WAY early so that we'd get a place to sit. He did very well.

Claire is doing well too. She stayed home with Jack and Justin and took a nap. It was very cold and we decided it was best just to keep Jack home. Claire LOVES to 'hold' Jack. She usually wants to do it while I'm feeding him. This weekend Justin's sister's family was here, so I'd obviously cover Jack and I up while I nursed him. Well, Claire would try to pull the blanket off almost every time I'd try to feed him. She'd say "Where's Jack" or "Hi Jack" and try to pull the blanket. YIKES!

I took this picture of Jack the other day. I think he looks so much like Nathan when he was a baby - just with a smaller head and dark hair. As you can see he's still quite yellow. I took him to the doctor on Thursday and they tested his bili again. He was at 10.5, so he's still ok. The whites of his eyes were still very yellow, so I wanted to make sure that he hadn't gone up.

Here is a picture of Nathan when he was close to Jack's age. Can you see the resemblance? I can.While I was in Sioux Falls, I did some running around. Tracy and I usually try to check with each other to see if the other needs something while the other is in Sioux Falls. Tracy wanted me to look for something for her at Once Upon a Child while I was running around. While I was there I looked at tandem strollers. I decided that getting one was a must after my experience at the court house with all 3 kids. I found one and bought it for $50. YEA ME! I also found what Tracy was looking for. GO TEAM! :)

I went to one of the supply stores to get some shampoo for the kids. Amber - I also bought some shampoo and conditioner that smells like Pumpkin Pie - YUM! It's not the most conditioning stuff I've ever used, but I love the smell of it. Anyway, I was writing out my check and the girl that was helping me said "OH - we've been waiting for you to come back." I would have loved to see the panic stricken look that must have come over my face. Waiting for me? Why were they waiting for me? I gave her my check which has a picture of me and Keith Urban on it. She said "We're wondering - is this your husband who happens to look like Keith Urban or is it actually Keith Urban?" I said "It's actually my boy friend who IS Keith Urban." Another girl walked by that was working and the one that was helping me waved my check in the air saying "She's finally back!" The other worker was so excited and asked the same question. I'm glad to know that it was only that and not something else.

My last stop was Wal-mart. I needed only a few things, but I always try to make that my last stop in case I get frozen items - which I did. When I pulled up I saw a fire engine arriving about the same time. Now you'd think people would come flooding out of the store, right? Wrong I guess. I kept wondering how great of an idea it was to take my baby into a place where firemen were coming and going from. I went into the food side and could see (and smell) that the fire had been at McDonald's. I was in a hurry, so I grabbed a cart and was on my way. It wasn't long before the fire alarm went off. It went off for a good minute or so before a man came over the loud speaker saying that he was sorry about the 'malfunction'. Uh, sir, the malfunction seemed to have taken place in McDonald's.....and I call that a fire.

Well, that's all for now. Justin just announced that Jack is hungry, so I better run. TTFN!