A Day in Our Life: 2011

Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow.....please??

I know I should be thankful that we're having some beautiful weather in December (at least warmer- thumbs down to the rain), but I am just having such a hard time getting into the Christmas spirit without the fluffy white stuff that should be on the ground! I need the inspiration so I can finish my Christmas shopping- can you believe Christmas is only 11 days away?! I realized how behind I have been in my holiday duties when we received our first Christmas cards in the mail around December 4th. So this past weekend I dressed Cailyn up in a dress I bought her in October to wear for Christmas- but one she will soon, I realize, outgrow.

Keeping her occupied during the photo shoot was not the problem- maintaining her attention to the camera was so hard! I had so much to compete with...I always thought I was more interesting than a box, but she begs to differ....

It's just so funny to see how she is so attentive to everything around her now, reaching out to touch and taste everything within reach. And if it's not in reach she props up on all fours and flings herself forward onto her chest with a big "grunt!"

All I want for Christmas is SNOW!

I used to blog in my "free time"...

Turns out I don't have much of that anymore. Since just before Thanksgiving, Cailyn has pretty much given up her 2 hour early evening snooze in favor of a 15-30 minute cat nap sometime between 5:00-7:00. That little nap gives me about enough time to get my jammies and clothes for the next day ready and maybe have a child-free snack or dinner. Don't get me wrong- she's been great about spending time in her exersaucer thingy, or playing on the carpet, or being toted around- but time just flies after getting home from work and the next thing I know it's time to prep everything for the next day!

On another note- I shall do my best to post Thanksgiving pics tonight sometime. We've just survived our first really crummy baby cold and it just dragged on, poor little girl.

See you for a more fun post later!

Thanksgiving Week(end)

I put the "end" in parentheses because it was definitely more like a WEEK than just a couple of days. I now know what people are talking about when the discussion arises about traveling with kids. It's a good thing we only have Cailyn right now- any extra kid would have to have been strapped to the roof of the car (I'm kidding of course- we would just strap Jerod to the roof of the car in the event we had no seats left).

We lolly-gagged our way to southwest Iowa on Wednesday, making a stop in Ames and taking Cailyn to the library for the first time while Jerod donated plasma. She even got her picture taken for the children's librarian's presentation. We were looking at a baby sign language book- she LOVES to see the little babies in the pictures- and the librarian asked if she could take a picture because it was perfect! After picking up Jerod we napped a bit in the car and jaunted out to Jordan Creek- which is already a crazy mess of people, then dropped by Jerod's Grandma Carole's on our way to his parents' place.

Grandma Carole and Cailyn rocking after a bottle.

"Caught red handed!" This is Jerod's cousin Lisa's little boy, Ethan. He was born a month or two before Cailyn and it was so funny to watch them interact and see another baby!

Don't worry she can stand her own ground and took to her own investigating of this other little person when they got to the blanket on the floor.

Grandma Deb and Cailyn, early in the AM, good thing she and Bret are early risers anyway.

We spent Thanksgiving Eve and Day with Jerod's parents and his mom's sisters before leaving to Sioux City, I couldn't miss my Black Friday shopping!! (We landed ourselves a steamvac for the carpets, which will come in super handy now that Cailyn is MOBILE- yes, she's inchworming her way around the living room already, stinker!)

Cheap entertainment-baby girl discovered wrapping paper and fell in love. She got really mad because we had to keep replacing the papers she was playing with so that she didn't swallow them.

Her first bath in a sink, she was sliding all over the place so we had to dunk a towel under water for her to sit on. Pay no attention to the bottles in the background, we grown ups needed to unwind after so much shopping and food!

There are 3 birthdays within a week of each other on my side of the family. My brother Gabe turned 10 on the 19th of November, I turned 25 (again) on the 24th, and my brother Matt was 14 on the 25th. (This is Matt)

One thing a baby is great for (besides being the light of your life) is snuggling and napping....

.....and what's especially great is that she's an equal opportunity nap snuggler :)

Happy late Thanksgiving, hope your Christmas season is bringing you good times with friends and family!

Lovin' Her some Toys

This little girl never ceases to amaze us with how smart she's becoming. It is so cool to watch her practice and learn how to do new things. A couple of weeks ago we bought a saucer for her because she had been in one of the twins' when we had dinner at the Burdorf house, and she seemed to like it a lot. That wasn't the case so much once we got one at home, she didn't really know what to do in it or how to play with the toys. So we just spent a little bit of time each day in it and she has slowly figured out a few of the toys- her favorites are the bendable leaf and the spinny flower (it makes noise). She can play in the saucer for almost 20 whole minutes by herself- which gives me time to get dinner ready or, yesterday, clip and organize coupons for groceries (future post to explain my attempt at saving money on groceries).

When she's having tummy time she has become quite interested in these soft blocks, one of them crinkles and one jingles with bells inside. It's so funny to watch her slowly reach both hands to the sides of a block and then quick grab it and pull it to her mouth- almost like catching a bug or something! What a big girl :)

This is just a fave of mine- since I'm the one who takes the pictures usually, I don't get to be in many of them with her, but I think this one turned out pretty good- not professional by any means, but I don't have a double chin and she's not scowling!

Congrats Hubs!

Yesterday was a big day for the Brown household as Jerod was (finally) offered the head baseball coach position at West Marshall. The decision has been long awaited by us and I couldn't be happier for or prouder of Jerod. Yay for you babe! We probably won't see you as much in May and June, but we'll make the sacrifice so you can do something you love.

Happy Late Halloween

I've been trying a new nighttime regimen after Cailyn goes to bed- it basically gives me no time to do anything, but lets me sleep in 15 minutes AND go to work with my hair down since it includes showering the night before. Anyway, that's why I'm just getting these pics on to the blog. My mom and siblings came out to State Center on Thursday night and stayed until Monday morning, they had Friday off and my mom had to be at a thing in Ames on Monday morning. We had fun, did a lot of shopping and driving. Cailyn was a hot commodity all weekend! All these pics are from Beggar's Night in State Center on Sunday. Enjoy!

Common sight over the weekend, Cailyn surrounded by all the kids. She was a good sport about all the attention.

She's a candy corn....just in case you couldn't figure it out :)

A Halloween treat brewing (cooling)......

Bony pretzel stick fingers!

Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting, 'nuf said.

It was a good weekend for some Grandma/Baby bonding, they had a great time together. She's the reason I know how to be good to Cailyn, thanks mom, love you.

Photography by Momma

Should I stake a claim on that name? Hmmmm....I would like to find a way to be able to stay home with my little girl- how many clients would I need to have to make it as an amateur photographer? I'm talking- I'll do a photo session for kiddos, that, let's face it, won't last probably more than 30-45 minutes, charge $50 for the session and a disc of all the images......I'm getting a little ahead of myself, but it's worth giving a thought to- even if it's just on the side for a little extra home improvement cash (turns out refacing your kitchen cabinets with new doors is cheaper than getting new cabinets- but still expensive).

Anyhoo- sick day today with baby girl. She was up all night, and I mean ALL NIGHT, sleeping in 15-25 minute intervals and then waking fussy because the poor thing has a cold and was all stuffed up. She wanted her pacifier but couldn't keep it in because her nose was all clogged and runny, she had a little cough going, too. At 4am I decided I would not be able to function at school with only about an hour and a half of sleep, so we rested up as best we could. She's doing better now and so I made her do another little photo session (I can't resist, she's just so sweet!)

Results speak for themselves:

New Camera = No need for professional photography??

We all know how expensive photography is nowadays, right? I can't begin to tell you how sick it makes me that we had to spend round abouts two grand on our wedding photography- it included a disc of 4x6 images- but seriously, $2000 for only a few hours of work?!

Anyway, I had been wanting a new camera since before finding out we were expecting, around this time last year. My camera was from college and while it was great for the almost 6 years I had it, it had endured more than it's fair share of abuse from bar hopping and crazy weddings. Well, this past Sunday I finally talked Jerod into going halvsies on a NICE camera- which happened to be on sale, also. I had been saving some of the gift cards we received as baby gifts, a couple savings bonds that my aunt and uncle had bought for me a looooooooong time ago and just found recently, and whatever cash I found laying around- I had saved up over $300 for the $650 camera and JB used his biolife account (plasma money- or his "money hole" as he likes to say) to pay for the rest.

Needless to say, I have taken hundreds of photos of Cailyn and we did a little in-home photo shoot with the fantastic natural light coming in our big living room windows. I won't share the BEST photo yet, but I will share some other candids.....so cute :)

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No longer a newborn (tear, sniff, sniff)

Our baby gal is officially not a newborn anymore- she hit the big 3 month mark yesterday, but she rang in the occasion with style ;)

I TOLD you those legwarmers were adorable, she looks like Rainbow Brite, yes?!

Miss Cailyn has begun to roll over more consistently from her tummy to her back, she tucks her legs up to her stomach and pushes up on her knees which makes her fall off balance and roll over- I caught her doing it at naptime.

We have heard her first giggles- though they are few and far between, but I believe we shall hear much more from her in the future.

She love love loves to "talk" and will just gab away when she has you all to herself- this is especially popular with her during a diaper change.

We learn more and more about her every day- words cannot express the love in our hearts for this object of perfection (at least in our eyes). Happy 3 months to you Bubbs!

Fabulous Fabulous Fall

Central Iowa had some blustery weather last week and I came home to a beautiful surprise in our front yard....leaves!

It's not the most gorgeous photo, but I was SO excited about each one of these colorful little treats!

Autumn is, hands-down, my absolute favorite season. It's football games and sweatshirt weather, hot cocoa mornings and barbeque nights, chili and cinnamon rolls, homecomings and harvests, and time spent with family and friends enjoying all of the above. Fall chills your toes, but it warms your heart. Enjoy yours :)

Sugar & Spice

Just a couple pics to share. Today I told Cailyn that I could take pictures of her all day, she makes me camera happy- who wouldn't be with a face like that?!

Tummy time! She is getting increasingly stronger in her neck and back and is always scooting herself right off the blanket.

That's Mr. Octopus she's mean muggin', she loves tubby time and will stare at him the whole time with those same big eyes.

Love, love, love these leggings on her chubby little kickers! I broke down and bought her some rainbow striped legwarmers last week. All I can say is....friggin' adorable.

Playing with her newest toy- the Bumbo chair. This picture is a little misleading, usually when she's sitting in it she has this confused/annoyed look on her face, but she was happy to play this morning!

She is so much more interactive now with her smiling, cooing, and playing. It's fun, but I just feel like she's too grown up already, we're trying to enjoy every minute of it.

I Need a Sugar Daddy....

Haha, when I was an education major at Iowa State I definitely thought, 'This school is FULL of engineers, surely I will marry one of them and be able to stay home with my kidlets and be a trophy wife.' EH! God had other plans and another amazing man in mind for me, someone who wouldn't let me be a lazy pile. (Not saying stay-at-home mom's are lazy, just saying if I were one- I would be) Anyway, so since I am not fortunate enough to stay home with my sweet little stink pot all day, I shall share how the first couple of weeks back to work have been.

The new school year brought several changes to the Early Childhood department of the Des Moines public schools- another new assessment tool, changes in administration- that means I have another new boss, and more checklists of stuff I have to do with my students. It's exhausting really. I am very grateful that I am employed somewhere and that they offer great health insurance for me and my family, but I do believe I would like to look for a new position that is closer to home. I drive almost an hour each way to go to/from work and after having Cailyn I just hate that I am so far away from her during the day.

So far my students are doing pretty well, they're just so young. I have one little gal who turned 3 TODAY! You can imagine the challenges that are encountered when trying to teach young 3's and then ranging all the way up to newly-turned 5's. We shall see how the rest of the year plays out- each group of students is so unique.

Jerod seems to be really loving the new schedule (except that he has to do recess duty this year, heehee) and the lengthened class periods. He says the new middle school gymnasium is really big, but I think he would prefer to be at one building instead of having to drive back and forth for class periods. I'm jealous of the extra sleep he gets each morning and the 1 minute drive he has to get home after work!

Here's to a new school year and funny kids that keep us going back for more :)

Moose turns 2 months!

"Who is Moose?" you may be asking. That is Jerod's pet name for Cailyn- long story short it's from an old Enterprise car rental commercial that he loved and they used to play almost non-stop during March madness. Now it has become a term of endearment for baby girl- I'm sure she'll come up with a name for her Daddy when she gets bigger and they'll have a special thing to share :)

She is 2 months old today and had another big weekend of firsts and new visitors. Her first Cyclone/Hawkeye rivalry game was this weekend- she sported her State gear on Friday and her Hawk gear on game day- I'm happy to say the Cyclones pulled out the win- Jerod says it's because the Hawkeye defense sucks, I say a win is a win! With the big game came friends from out of town and they just couldn't get enough of her :)

2 months old and so sweet- we get lots of smiles and she is always "talking". She has rolled from her tummy to her back twice (we think they may both have been accidents but we'll give her the benefit of the doubt) and is becoming a pro at pushing up onto her elbows and looking around. She's downing at least 4 oz a feeding, if not more, and loves to take naps and baths- we call them tubbies. She is a fan of all things soft and fuzzy and likes to watch college football with Daddy.

Her first West Marshall football game- a success, but we hope they turn down the speakers next time, the announcer was SO LOUD!! We also only stayed until half time, the Trojans were shutting out the other team by several touchdowns and it was bedtime anyway.

Sporting her Hawkeye tee and her new curly bow. This tee is supposed to be a 12 month size, but it must run a little small- however she is also a little big and wearing 3-6 mo clothes comfortably.

Playing with our friend Tori while we watched the rivalry game on TV Saturday- she's so sweet we just can't get enough of her :)

Labor Day Laziness

We hope everyone had a restful and enjoyable Labor Day weekend. It was nice to be able to spend an extra day with Cailyn before having to get back to the daily grind. We didn't do too much- took in the first Saturday of college football, tidied up our yard a bit, and enjoyed the beautiful weather.

A successful trip in the stroller! Success to us means only screaming for a couple of minutes and mostly just looking around at the trees and the sky- yay!

A quick pic before Jerod took on the long overdue task of mowing the lawn, you could have baled hay in our front yard!

Feeling the grass on her toes, Cailyn seems to LOVE being outside, she's so quiet and just takes it all in :)

Happy week to you all!

Road Trip!!

Okay, we only traveled a few hours, just to Sioux City, but those of you who have traveled with an infant know what I'm talking about- that's a long trip to make!

This trip was made to see my mom's mom, my Grandma Ann. She and her husband Ron made the trip out to Iowa from Ohio, so we thought while she was in town it would be nice to get Cailyn baptized- we were planning on getting that done soon anyway. We waited until after Jerod's fantasy football draft was over, on Friday night, before we left. My sister and her boyfriend, Will, made the trek with us (I was very grateful that she drove on Friday night so I could attempt to get some kind of sleep) and we got in to Sioux City around 2am....ugh.

Saturday was spent hanging out, eating, and Jerod and I even got to escape for a little shopping, just the two of us- it was nice, but I still missed my little baby. That evening we joined my Uncle Mike to celebrate his 50th birthday and were able to see many family members- little Miss Cailyn was pooped after such a long day! Sunday was the baptism and Jerod's family and mine gathered at Sacred Heart church to celebrate together. It was a really special ceremony with my dad doing the honors, and we just hope everyone knows how much it meant to us for you all to be there!

Grandma Jacque with our spoiled little chunky butt

Jerod's brother, Nick, and his dad, Bret, in the church hall before the baptism

Looking so pretty in her baptismal gown :) It's the one my mom made for me when I was baptized.

Our first family photo since the one in the hospital- I didn't post that one because I look like a whale.....seriously, I did. Happy to say that's not the case anymore ;)

Yay! One beautiful baptized baby.

My Grandma Mary had her smiling for a good few minutes, and this was the result. So. stinking. cute.

Drab to Fab: A Dresser Transformation

So part of being a working parent is having to pay for child care. Lucky for us, my sister, Amanda, needed somewhere to live while she continues taking classes at DMACC. The deal is she watches Cailyn for us 2 days a week and she can stay here rent free. This seems to have everyone coming out on top because we only have to pay for part-time child care and my sister gets to spend time with her new niece (although I'm pretty sure with grocery and utility costs included, my sister is getting the better end of the stick). So her room in the basement is done being constructed, painted, and carpeted and we were looking for new furniture to put in there. My mom happened to have a small dresser they weren't using at their place anymore- as she put it, "It needs some work, but it's functional."

I love a challenge, and I especially love free stuff so I asked her to have my dad haul it out when he had a chance (which thanks to his wonderful self was the next day). And so begins the transformation of a beat up, markered-on bureau....

I wish I had a taken a picture of the ugly gold/white handles that were originally features on these drawers- but here is my canvas. Each drawer and the dresser itself were sanded lightly, primed, and repainted with white spray paint. Also painted were some 8 foot lengths of pre-finished molding, but they were sprayed a nice turquoise-y color.

Do not think for one second that I spent time stenciling anything on these drawers- this was accomplished with wallpaper, my friends. It was so easy because the adhesive is already on the back- it's water activated. So after cutting each piece to my liking (a job my sister got to help with since this whole thing is for HER room) it was as simple as rolling up each piece lightly, dipping them in water for 10 seconds and smoothing onto each drawer front. If you ever try this and notice that it still looks bumpy even after you've gotten all the air bubbles out, have no fear- is just the adhesive, and it smooths itself out as it dries.

With the help of a miter saw (thanks Dad), I was able to make perfect 45 degree cuts to build frames for each drawer out of the molding. The new handles were about 2 bucks each at Menards.

The beautiful final product- I usually don't like to toot my own horn, but in this case: "HONK, HONK!"

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