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.

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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 :)

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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 :)

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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!

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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.

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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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Chunky Monkey

Life has certainly been amazing since Cailyn arrived- and who can believe her sweet little self has been on this earth for a whole month?! She has changed so much in these short few weeks and I find myself forgetting what she looked like when she was a newborn. For this reason, I secretly love to see her face when she gets REALLY mad because it scrunches all up just like it did in the hospital when she cried.

She is getting so chubby and is more alert every day- and is becoming a pro at holding her head up! Some things have changed in her habits, too. She no longer sleeps in her car seat- she bunks with us, more specifically by me and I get squished in the middle between her and Jerod. When we put her down in her pack n' play she wakes up after about 5 minutes, and to us it's just not worth the fight- she sleeps through the night when she sleeps with us and that's all that matters to us......if anyone disagrees they are welcome to be awake with her when she wakes up in the middle of the night :)

Here's our lady at 1 month!

She reminds me of a little kitten in this picture, you know when they can barely walk and they're all wobbly? :)

Trying to nap a bit at the Jolley Softball Tourney last weekend- we were unsuccessful, by the way- but that meant a good long car nap on the way home

Happy 1 month to Cailyn! I told Jerod I'm going to sing her that every month until she turns 1 year old :) I love these crocheted head bands with the little clips you can change on them and am currently learning how to make them myself as they are too expensive to buy from other people! How cute is she?!

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