Life

Today while I was at work I stepped outside to make a couple of phone calls that I didn't feel comfortable making at work, some things you just don't want people to overhear, like trying to get a new job. So I stepped outside to call Steve to find about the two job offers he got today, and he accepted one of them! Yay! He interviewed at Renown today and they told him they would give him a call back within the next three weeks, he got two different calls about two hours later- two job offers the same day! He accepted the better one- an internship with a two year contract. I don't remember all of the details but the gist of it is that he works in almost every unit of the hospital for about 4 or 5 weeks and at the end goes back to the first one he worked at and stays there for the remainder of the year, and then for the second year he works in whichever one he wants. He will also get to be on some committees which means better positioning to get into better jobs. I might not have all of that correct- but it's how I understood it from Steve explaining it to me in his very disjointed don't give all the information at once kind of way. So yay! A JOB! Did I mention he graduated on Saturday? Yep- done with school and has a job, he starts on January 24th!
Oh, I am so relieved, we I was really starting to get worried about if he was going to get a job, most of his other classmates from nursing school already had jobs so I was getting kind of panicky because I've had big plans for the next year that all depend on him getting a job. You see, I have been the main breadwinner the whole time he has been in school, and frankly, I am so tired of it. It is so hard to be a mom and to be a working mom at that. The hardest part is probably the guilt- but that is a whole 'nother post on its own. So yeah, getting to spend about 3 1/2 to 4 hours a day with my son has been tough. I love him so much and he is just the most incredible little boy, of course I am a little biased (what mom isn't), but my son is just so cool and fun and exhausting. After working and driving all over town everyday, by the time I get home with him I am tired, and I still have to make dinner and play with him and it gets very stressful because once I am home with Simon he wants my undivided attention so sometimes we don't even eat dinner until 8 because I am doing things like spending time with him instead of making dinner for him. So back to my original point... I have been the breadwinner for all this time (4 years) and I am tired of doing it. I am ready to stay home and be a full-time mom, to play with my son all day long, to be able to teach him things, to want to pull my hair out because he is driving me crazy all day long instead of for just 4 hours a day, to be there for my family mentally and physically and emotionally, because lately I haven't been.
So if you caught the little comment up there about me trying to get a job, you might be wondering why I am talking about wanting to stay home and getting a new job in the same post. Well, that is because, frankly, I am a little scared of being a stay-at-home mom. So one of my co-workers told me about this home decor store that is opening soon in Reno and it's only open one day a week, Thursday, and the store gets set up every week on Wednesday. They are planning on opening in January, but it's looking more like it is going to be in February. Perfect! I love decorating, I love accessories, and I still want to work a little bit, and two set days a week would be awesome. Just for the sanity mostly, not for the money. I just want to feel like I am doing something else, that I am contributing to something, and I want to have time around other adults still (I am in nursery at church so I don't even get a lot of adult interaction at church). And it also gives me a break from the stresses of being a stay-at-home mom, it gives Cindy time to spend with her grandson every week still, and gives him a chance to play with other kids. So about a month ago I interviewed for a position at this store, and it went really well, and the guy called me back this morning about it. I am going to meet with him again this Saturday. Pretty sure I have a job, he just wants to make sure we both know what it is going to be like. I am so excited! This all works perfectly. It coincides so well with when Steve will be starting his job and be bringing a REAL paycheck! My anniversary with my work is Dec 15, so after that I get 2 weeks paid vacation to take sometime in the next year. I am planning on using it in early January so Steve and I can FINALLY go on a trip to somewhere cool. We have always planned on Malta, but we realized it is winter there- in the 60s, but if I am flying to the Mediterranean I want to swim in it, and you can't really go swimming there when it is cool outside. So we are thinking its going to be something different, but I don't want to talk to much about that because whenever we do it never happens, and I am sure our families are both thinking something along the lines of "Oh, that Steve and Kari, they keep talking about traveling the world, but who are they kidding? They make all these plans, they buy plane tickets, but they're never going to go anywhere." But this time we are, and it's going to be for two weeks, and it's going to be awesome!
So yeah, today has been the best day I have had in a while, I came back in from those two phone calls (with Steve and the new job guy) and I had the biggest smile on my face, a smile I never have on my face while I am at work, and one of my coworkers knew something was up and since he is the one that first told me about the new job opportunity I told him what was going on, and it just felt so good to be able to say that all these plans that Steve and I have been making for a while now are finally becoming a reality. I just can't wait! Less than three weeks to Christmas, and then about two weeks after that is our 4th anniversary, our vacation, and our plans to start trying for another baby while on said vacation. Life is good, and I can't wait!

Megaman

Simon was Megaman for Halloween, he looked really cool, got lots of candy, and I did an awesome job on his costume! Cindy helped sew the underwear looking part after I cut and pinned it from a pair of shorts, Steve made the blaster, and I did the rest. All parts included (clothes, blaster, helmet, everything) we spend about $20 on it. A large portion of that was the helmet we got for a steal from ToysRus for $8 with elbow and knee pads, and it's Wolverine so he can use it when he gets a bike someday!
I have tried three times now to post pictures and it won't work, blogger keeps telling me it is a "bad request" :( I think it is a good request, everyone wants to see a cute Megaman right? So after adding them one at a time it worked! Enjoy! and a couple more nights I will put up a few faves from his boat/ocean themed 2nd birthday, but in the meantime you can see them all on facebook.

Funny Steve

Steve has been working really hard lately. Last night he only got 2 hours of sleep because he was finishing a paper. In his delirious state this is what he sent to his teacher as he e-mailed her his paper- and by teacher I mean professor, who is a doctor, and who goes by Stephanie not Steph if they were on a first-name basis, which they aren't...

Steph,
I hope this paper is the most amazing paper you've ever read, ever. Be inspired, and impressed. Thanks!
Steve



Can you believe that!! I couldn't believe it when he showed me, and I don't think he could believe he would send that to his professor either.

Like Peter Design

I really want to win this amazing owl necklace. So I am posting about it so I can get an extra entry and win a giveaway, I really want it... and this girl has a blog, a cool new place in Virginia, and a cute etsy shop, so check her out!

it's almost winter

Today is a cold, overcast day, and on days like today, I just want to stay in my jammies, drink hot cocoa, and read a good book. Instead, I slept in, made me and Simon breakfast, dropped Steve off at the doctor to get LASIK done on his eyes, came home took a really long shower, got dressed, went back 2 hours later to pick up Steve, watched most of his procedure because two hours later he was still waiting, stopped at McDonalds, came home, put Simon down for a nap, ate, put Steve to bed, sat downstairs on the computer while I listened to Simon playing with his toys instead of napping, waited for him to start crying for me before I got him out of his bed (is that awful), made sure Steve was still breathing enough, got Simon out of bed, came downstairs, had him eat some of my leftover nuggets and pumpkin pie thing (awful I know!), turned on the tv, got back on the computer, checked to make sure Steve was still breathing enough, got back on computer, let Simon watch the baseball game, check on Steve again, and here I am still on the computer. I should really start thinking about dinner... It is almost 6.

So yesterday Simon started doing this thing where he will look at me with his tilted down make a mean face at me, and then look up and smile huge and start laughing, it is so adorable, I am going to have to try to get a video. Another he has started to do is to tell me to go away. If he doesn't want me around or I am bugging him, he will push me away and say "Go away!" It makes me kinda sad, but at the same time it is really hilarious because he is asserting himself so well and telling me what he wants (or doesn't want).

The past couple of weeks Simon has really been starting to favor Steve, I guess I always knew this was coming, but it is still hard for me. He is almost two and he has always been my little buddy. He always wanted me when he was tired, or hungry, or hurt, but now he "want Daddy, want Daddy!" most of the time and he doesn't want me anymore. If he wants Steve and Steve is holding him and I come over, he pushes my face away with his hands and says "go away!" So sad. It breaks my heart. I need a new baby, one that has to have me to survive.
Another thing Simon does lately that I find cute (I find everything he does is cute) is he will tell me if there is a mess- he points at whatever it is and says mess, mess. In fact he is doing it right now. We got a new tv stand that has sliding doors that we can hide junk behind when company comes, and one of the shelves is Simon toys and the rest is video game systems- yes plural- ur tv stand must have room for a ps2, xbox, xbox 360, wii, computer, cable box, router, and soon a ps3 (steve gets one for graduation) bu anyways, in this we have totes that hold the controllers and games for each system and he grabbed one of them and it started to tip and he started to yell mess, mess, and managed to get it back onto the shelf without dropping it or anything in it.
I am starting to wonder why I am typing of this play by play of my day. I think it is because I am bored with Steve being in bed and Simon yelling at me to go away everytime I try to play with him. This makes me worrry about what it will be like when I am a stay-at-home mom. Am I going to truly enjoy like I think I will? Will Simon hate being with me all the time? Will I go insane without interaction with people all day? Will I be a good mom and do all the fun things I plan on doing with him every day? Am I going to get depressed because it is going to be cold and wintery outside? Am I going to feel like taking Simon on walks in the wagon he got from his Grammy and Grampy? (we are going to give it to him for either his bday or christmas- it is currently still in steves parents garage) Will I survive and be happy? Will I do as good of a job keeping Simon on a good schedule like his Vovo does? Will we do arts and craft projects together? Will he still take naps? (oh please, oh please keep taking naps, please don't stop at 2 like your cousin Bryant did) Will I be good at feeding him balanced meals and snacks? I'm good at planning them...Will I discipline him enough, too much? Will I be a good stay-at-home mom? I think I have been a really good working mom... so many things to worry about, but in the meantime, I am going to put down the computer, publish this post, play with my son, make dinner, and do my best to make sure that I won't become the crappy mom I worry about becoming and just enjoy my weekend with my son. and stop him before he throws all of my sewing supplies onto the floor, what is the point of a baby gate if your son can climb around on the steps? he just goes up the first step- out through the gap, onto my sewing machine table, and up and around to the next step, oh gotta go for sure, he found nail clippers and is trying to cut his nails!

??

I just wanted to make a quick post, but now we are going to bed. We have been super busy like always, just trying to keep caught up with work, school, and taking care of our family and our home. Steve and I have been having a lot of fun the last few nights playing the newest Halo game. I love that we can still play video games together because that is how our friendship started that eventually grew into a relationship. I have been trying to cook a lot more lately to help ease the load Steve has with work, work, internship, and school. I recently made chile rellenos which were delicious, and last night I made avocado egg rolls similar to ones at BJ's Brewery or at Cheesecake factory- they were AMAZING! and the dipping sauce, oh my goodness, could totally eat that by itself. Well the computer just informed that there are 16 minutes remaining on the battery, and the cord is upstairs, and its after 2 am and I work in the morning, so I really should go to bed. Other things keeping me busy- getting ready for Simon's 2nd b-day, only a month away! less than that! planning decorations, menu, presents, etc. and also getting ready for Halloween. He is going to be Megaman- so cute! So far we have spent $4 on his costume- we bought the clothes-pants, shirt, and shorts at Kohls I had two $10 coupons that I got out of the newspaper, and only had to spend $10 to use them, so that was about $1 over we went on that, and then spent two dollars at the dollar store buying a helmet to recover, a pair of gloves, and an LED pushlight to use for his blaster.

new background and post below

I am trying to change my background and its not showing on my computer except for about 1/4 inch on the left side. can you guys see the background? It should have a swirly thing and a cute little owl. I love owls!! I got owl flip flops for my b-day, and my friend Christy got me my first Life is Good shirt with a little owl on it. LOVE IT!
So background? Yes? no? half of it?

blog

I have a blog! That's nothing new, but the fact that I am posting is kind of a big deal. We have been super busy. I went to Vegas for a week (July 19-23) for work to help decorate a new store we are opening down there and have been home for two weeks now?? Not even sure, but my clothes are still in my suitcase from that trip. We hung out with friends from church the next day. Sunday went to see Amy talk at church, went to a friends babyshower, and then I had an awesome birthday party up at Tahoe two days after I came back, got some terrific awesome presents from Steve's family! Went back to work had a birthday dinner with Steve the day of (july 27th) and went out to Sushi for the first time since before I was pregnant with Simon. Went to Club Tahoe the next weekend, had work all week long.

And now here we are, its Friday night, Steve and Simon have both been asleep for two hours, I am posting pictures on Facebook, and updating my blog. I really should be cleaning because my parents are going to be here on Tuesday and my house is a wreck. It really isn't that bad, I basically just need to load the washer, pick up Simon's toys (Again), and do laundry (wash the dirty and actually fold and put away the clean stuff instead of leaving it in totes at the foot of our bed). But here I am, in blogland, because I never have time on the computer because Steve is always using it to study and do homework, and I could use the computer hooked up to the tv but that is hard because the fonts don't really blow up really well and it really hurts my eyes, not really good for typing up stuff but good for reading because I can enlarge the text. But anyways, I am majorly rambling!
So the past 3 weeks have been incredibly hectic, and the ones before that were too, though I can't tell you much of what happened except I switched days off at work at the beginning of July because my sister was driving through town with her husband and two kids so I took them up to Lake Tahoe to go swimming and play in the dirt, but most of you already know that because you are friends with Leslie too, and besides the only people that really read this blog are my sisters and my mom, and me hoping there are comments!

Anyways, rambling again. Needless to say, we have been really busy. People ask me when Steve will be home on any night and I always say I have no idea, could be 6, could be midnight. How sad is it that I don't even know my husband's schedule and when he will be home at night. This semester has just been so ridiculous and I am so glad that in less than a week it will be over!

I have posted some picture albums on my blog of 4th of July, Lake Tahoe with Steve's family, and I am about to post Virginia City with my dad when he was here with us for a few days, and in a couple days my mom and dad will both be here!! Yay! and after me and Steve make it through this coming week and survive through his finals we are going to Glacier National Park! I think, Steve is having second thoughts now just because I want to cut one day out of camping... But we will get all worked out, I just have to get him to realize it will still be worth it and a lot of fun, and we should bring Simon with us. So, now that you are done reading my frazzled disjointed blog about our hectic, superbusy lives go to facebook and check out my albums from our latest mini-adventures and funness!

updates

So there has been a lot going on lately, but at the same time, not a whole lot, that's life I guess!

Simon is growing up so fast these days. He just started calling our daycare lady by her name he says "Cawol", so cute, but sadly she only gets to hear him do it for 3 days because we are switching to Steve's mom next Monday. I am a little nervous for this, not because it's his mom (she is an awesome lady and will do a terrific job and help a TON with his development) but because of the driving every day. On I-80 and 395 every day and through the spaghetti bowl, both ways in traffic- SCARY! I CAN NOT be late for work, so that makes it even more nerve wracking, one wreck ahead of me on the road and I am screwed. And did I mention they are road construction on 395 right now, ugh, orange construction cones- the State Flower of Nevada.
Simon is so stinking cute I can never get over it. He said "see ya later" on Wednesday. And says all kinds of stuff that never ceases to amaze me. Right now we are working on learning the parts of the face. When he is in the mood to do it with me, he knows nose, mouth, and eyes. And we are working on chin, cheeks, and ears.

Last week I went to a jewelry party at my friend Christy's house, it was fun, I bought some really cute jewelry, Steve was asleep when I got home and so I think he forgot all about the party. He never did ask how much I spent, so that is a good thing he forgot about it. But I bought the jewelry out of my personal allowance account anyways. This necklace is my favorite of my purchases, he just made me very happy, and giggly. I bought him!

We went to Elko after I got home from work the day after and hung out with our friends Zach and Kristen and their 5 kids. We had tons of fun there hanging out with them, Simon especially, he grew up a lot over the weekend, and became much more independent and less reliant on us for stuff like holding hands while walking down steps. He doesn't need me anymore, would rather just do it by himself like a big boy! While there Steve got to be a cowboy and help herd and load a couple of bulls into a trailer, then went up to Twin Falls to take them to the butcher, Kristen and I stayed home with the kids and had a lot of fun, went to the park, and hung out. It was what I imagine being a stay at home mom will be like as long as I have other stay at home mom friends to help keep me sane!

I have been cooking a lot this week. It has been pretty fun, we eat dinner kind of late but that is OK. Steve grills the meet and I try to find new creative side dishes. This week I made mango salsa, "best ever green beans and potatoes", green beans and potatoes with bacon, and that's all I can remember. But a couple of weeks ago I made a cabbage salad with cucumbers and carrots and a vinaigrette type dressing. I love to try out new recipes and think of different ways to make the same old stuff. Amy came over the night we had the best ever veggies and the manog salsa, and she it was the best dinner she had in a long time, that made me feel good. Once again another thing to look forward to- one day being home and actually able to get dinner on the table before 8 o'clock. Tomorrow I am going to make stuffed bell peppers!

So while in Elko, Simon was playing on the kids bikes and tricycles a ton, so I decided I want to buy him so I was perusing Amazon earlier and came upon this beauty. Definitely not for Simon, but for future Lucy maybe. It really makes me think of my friend Arielle though, and since tomorrow (today by the time most people read this) is her birthday, I am posting it in her honor. I sent it to her on facebook today and told her she should get for her daughter. They make it in red too, for boys, but it is just so much cuter in pink! Isn't it adorable?

In other news, Steve and I are both speaking at church on Sunday. Steve's topic is healing the sick, and my topic is personal revelation. Both perfect for each of us, Steve with the nursing thing, and me because I have been praying alot lately about the whole daycare thing, it has been a very difficult decision to make but very necessary. I still feel kind of nervous about it, but we got to a point where it became necessary to switch, and with Steve's mom opening hers up at this same time, we had to switch to her. I am very nervous about all the driving, and I'm wondering if that is why I am getting the nervous feeling, but it worries me even more because I am going against the feeling and answers I have been getting to my prayers. My most recen desire is for Steve and I to figure out a way that I can be a stay-at-home mom. With switching Simon to his 3rd daycare provider in just a year and a half, it has made me realize that I don't want someone else to have to raise my son, I should be doing it. I had a good talk with Kristen about this while we were in Elko and I feel very strongly about figuring out some way to make this happen, but I also get the feeling like it is something we need to wait a few months to let happen, it's not quite the right time for it yet. But soon, soon I hope! I gotta go to bed, I am supposed to be studying for my talk, but I hadn't posted in a while, and wanted to do some updating!

feathers

Tonight, Steve and I got to go out on date and see a movie! Steve's mom watched Simon for us, and while at the house she and Mike heard something dripping, so they located the source, behind the fridge, and pulled out the fridge and there was a little puddle of water, and in this puddle of water was feathers, nasty bunch of feathers. I was freaking out because I thought that somehow there was a dead bird behind our fridge, but upon closer inspection with the flashlight, we discovered it was an old nasty feather duster from a previous renter. It was pretty gross, but at least it wasn't a dead bird! I was trying to figure how a bird could even get back there and had decided it must have been the previous renters pet and somehow it got back there and died... anyways. We went to see The Prince of Persia, I really liked it and so did Steve. My only complaint was the cheesy music everytime there was a possibility that there might be a kiss, but like 80% of the time that didn't even happen so it was just really annoying.
And for those wondering about The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus. Really really weird and strange like I thought it would be. I didn't really like it, but Steve really liked and "thought it was creative and fun."
It was very nice to go see a movie. I think we will be going to a lot this summer because there are a few coming up that we want to see. Some on my personal list of movies worth seeing in the theater this summer (and this a big deal because mostly we rent movies b/c we have unlimited Blockbuster rentals every month): Avatar: The Last Airbender, Robin Hood, Twilight: Eclipse, I guess those are the main ones. But that is a lot for us. There are a few more that I am excited to rent.
happy blogging! can you believe all these posts I've had this week!?

Grits

I had a couple of really good ideas in my mind for some things I wanted to blog about, but I forgot what they were, and we were without internet for a few days, but are up and running again thanks to Steve's Uncle Mike! Anyways, Saturday I got to hang out with my cousin Michael for a couple of hours because he was in town for a state track meet. He was up from Vegas, and it was snowing when he had to run. I'm sure that was not very much fun for him, but I enjoyed chatting with him before he goes off to the Air Force Academy, I haven't seen him for 3 years, and that was only for a couple of minutes. But for breakfast that morning Simon and I had grits. Does anybody know how to make grits taste good? I tried adding sugar, and strawberries, and butter, but it just wasn't doing the job for me. Was I just not adding enough?
Oh and in other news, I have stooped to all new low in girlyness. I read my first Nicholas Sparks novel, I had seen a few of the movies based on his books but never actually read one. So yesterday I read Dear John. I started on it at work and read the first two hours while I was the greeter and read for 30 more minutes during my breaks, and decided to finish it up at bedtime. I stayed up until 2:17 reading. So much for that becoming a morning person thing. Maybe next week. But I really enjoyed the book, and I am such a sucker I cried my eyes out the whole last half. There is no way I could have read that in front of anyone, it would have been incredibly embarrassing, there were tears streaming down my face. Luckily, not even Steve saw me because he was asleep, but I am sure he heard me sobbing and sniffling.
Anyways, time to get Simon ready for bed so Steve and I can finally watch the movie we rented last week, I'm not too excited for it, but Steve has been wanting it so I rented it for him. We are going to watch the Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus. It has Heath Ledger in it and a bunch of other stars. It looks weird to me, but we will see how it is... Love you all lots!

mornings

I have decided I need to become a morning person. Maybe I will do it next week.

I've realized that it is much easier to get stuff done when Simon is asleep, but if I wait til he goes to bed at night, I am too tired and don't feel like doing anything but vegging out. But if I wake up say an hour earlier in the morning, I can do dishes and make lunches and whatnot before he even wakes up. I still get as much sleep, but I get more accomplished around the house. It only took me a year and a half to figure this out... Now if I can just get motivated enough to actually do it, I am such a night owl, and have always hated mornings, so this is going to be very difficult for me. I am thinking that if I get my balcony all comfy and decorated like I want to, maybe I can sit out there in the morning for a few minutes eating some fruit for breakfast and just have a few minutes to enjoy being outside. It is an idyllic scene in my mind, the hard part is just implementing it. For someone who loves nature and being outside, I really hate it when the sun comes peeping through the curtains in the mornings and I can hear the birds singing outside. It makes me angry, like they are spoiling my sleep, when in reality I should be like Cinderella when she wakes up in the morning, so happy to hear the little birds singing, and then they can help me make my bed and do all my chores and life will be just like a little fairy tale, that is in until the wicked stepsisters arrive in the scene, the stepsisters being reality.
I can't wait until the day comes when I can be a stay-at-home mom and can focus on the things that really matter in life- my family. I enjoy my job, but it isn't meaningful and I feel it is just something that I do so our family can survive, but I feel like we aren't always thriving. Don't get me wrong, we are doing pretty dang good considering our (and by our I mean Steve's) hectic schedules, but I just know that it isn't as good as it can be, and I can't wait until the day when I can really focus on nurturing my family the way they deserve to be nurtured. Although when that is happening, if things go according to plan, our family will be one member bigger when it does happen. And no, I am not pregnant, and won't be this year, no worries there. Anyone else notice how everyone and their sister is pregnant right now!? I would say everyone and their mom, but I think it would be really weird to be pregnant at the same time as your mom- too weird- so I said sister instead.
Anyways, that was quite the interesting ramble. I hope you enjoyed it, totally unedited, from my mind right onto the keyboard... So yeah, I need to become a morning person, wish me luck- next Monday I will start, and if you run into me and I am grouchy, I apologize, I really hate mornings and it normally takes me a good hour or two at work before I am ready to talk to people.
On a blog-related note, check out this article from Reader's Digest.

Oh and by the way, I can wait to see the new Twilight movie next month!!

fabric and internship!

this pink one reminds me of Arielle
perfect for me and steve!

I can't remember who all of these are, but I like them! I just decided I am going to make a facebook album of fabric I like!

Michael Miller patterns below!

this would make a cute apron for baking in!

cute for backing on a boys quilt!

another cute apron one!

i love owls, love love love them!

I have decided that some day I would really like to sew. I actually have a sewing machine down in our basement that Steve brought home for me. His client is getting rid of some of her stuff, so we are inheriting some cool stuff from her including some cool cookbooks, and now this sewing machine built into a table. So I have decided that some day I am going to sew and will start a cute fabric collection similar to my cute scrapbooking paper collection. I was looking on fabric.com and finding some cute fabric patterns/designers that I really like, so I have decided to blog about it and post some pictures of some of the ones I REALLY like, and can just dream of making the cutest quilts out of. I may just be a quilter in the future (not sure about clothes unless I have a daughter then I will make dresses maybe), quilts and aprons- I am addicted to aprons- not sure I will make much else, but those two things for sure!

So far (from my 30 minutes of searching) Michael Miller is a favorite, Moda, and Robert Kaufman are on the top of my list. I love cute retro modern patterns!

sorry all the pictures on the top, I still can't figure out blogger, I guess I need to put pictures in first and then do my typing, because I can't even cut and paste these words to put them at the top. GRRR! Anyways, I am sure not too many of you care about fabric so I am going to stop posting pictures of a million different patterns. I am so excited to one day have a little bit of time to learn how to sew. Oh and something that deserves its own post, but I am out of time to do that...

STEVE GOT THE POSITION AT THE VA HOSPITAL!! He just got accepted as an intern at the hospital for their Valor Program. It is a paid internship, 200 hours, and he acts as a nurse from the start, and they told him that they want him when he is done with school! He already has a job and he doesn't even graduate until December!! I am so excited, and this is such a blessing for our family. It is definitely going to come with a lot of trials and stress because it adds 20 hours a week to Steve's already very busy school schedule and 8 hours at his other job, but we have to keep telling ourselves it will be worth it. Like my friend Tiffani told me the other day- we need to ask God for a stronger back not lighter burdens. This will be tough for us and very stressful, so I am definitely going to have to pick up a lot more of the work and make sure I take care of my family and husband especially during this stressful but crucial stage of our life. Congrats to Steve on his hardwork and good grades that made it possible for him to get this internship, oh and did I mention it's a paid internship!! This is so awesome for him, he really wants to work at the VA and take care of our Vets and he also wants to work with seniors which will be great in our area, we have a lot of homeless vets who end up in the va hospital needing care, and Steve is just the guy for the job. He is also on the Student Nursing board as the Community Outreach Director. He has been taking care of the Ronald McDonald house once a month, and has recently expanded the program and volunteer work to cook meals for people staying at the Veterans Guest home. He is an awesome man that husband of mine!

Vaccinations/autism

I am really starting to realize that I am a HUGE believer in childhood vaccinations. I mentioned a few posts ago that a large part of it is Simon and the Rotavirus. While doing some personal research on vaccinations and autism I came across this article that I read back in January at my sisters house. It is from Wired magazine, and is a very interesting, informative article. I believe in getting your child vaccinated, I believe in the Rotavirus vaccine, I wish I had known about it a year and a half ago, and I do not believe that autism and vaccinations are related. If anyone can come up with some good scientific research to the contrary, I would love to read it. I am thinking that in the future this is a cause I would really like to get more involved with and would like to be able to spread the word about vaccinations and stop some of the damaging hype/hysteria about autism and vaccines caused by paranoid people who just haven't done research and are basing their opinions on what other paranoid people think instead of scientific research and data. That's my short rant for tonight. To be continued some other time...
If there are any readers who do believe the autism/vaccine link, I would really be curious to know what kind of evidence or information you base your belief on, seriously, this isn't just an attempt to bash, I am very curious to know why people believe what they do. If it's just because Jenny McCarthy said so, or because so-and-so thinks so because their kid got a shot and then started acting weird, or if there is more to it than that.

There are two new posts below so read them both!

my free time

Sorry for new posts in a long time, I have been spending most of my free time either playing with Simon (he is so incredibly fun and the most beautiful boy ever) or painting! I have been painting a lot and loving it. I did one for Simon's room (see it below) a series of three abstracts, then I started one for a coworker but decided I like it and am keeping it for myself, and now a series of two or three huge abstracts for our living room wall (2 or 3 depending on how big they look on our wall and if I run out of inspiration after just 2). The one for Simon's room I used 2 different size cars, a monster truck with nice tread on the tires and matchbox car with tread on the tires (surprisingly hard to find, most of them have flat wheels). I dipped the wheels in paint and drove them all over the boards. This one took for freaking ever because the type of paint I was using took a long time to dry and the tires had to be redipped almost constantly. But it was fun to do, I like the way they turned out, and I like how they look on Simon's wall.
I have also been on a home decorating kick as of late thanks to our recent cable acquisition and a few HGTV shows for free OnDemand. I bought some new bright +-orange throw pillows, and orange picture frame and orange flowers to put in the cool red vase I got from my sister Heather for Christmas two year ago, and an area rug that is brown with green leaves. The living room canvas I have started on is a mostly red textured background and I am going to put a green leafy pattern on it, the next canvas will probably be blue, and the third one... I'm not sure yet...but all have leafy patterns on them.

Talk to you soon! or not, I might just be having too much fun in the real world to spend my time online.
Updates on Simon: I hate my pediatrician, Simon is a tiny boy but I think he has awesome mechanical skills, he is a terrific climber, is incredibly affectionate and cuddly, is a total night owl (he's awake right now playing in the living room) and just is so much fun. He throws balls back and forth, plays fetch (like a dog he picks up the ball puts it in his mouth and carries it to us, we didn't teach him to do it, I think maybe he learned from Eliza-liz), he says UH-oh,dada, mama (sometimes) ouch, bird, ball, boo, hot, no (but only repeats it doesn't use it on his own.. yet), and other words I can't think of right now. Oh and did I say he is a good climber? Really good. like time to bolt furniture down to the ground, climbs on top of everything, can get on the couch even though it's taller than him (he lifts one lg up above his head puts it on the couch and then shimmies himself up onto the couch, it is amazing because he is so short. Anyways, I really need to get him to bed and he is hitting a 3 inch bell around the floor with his stick horse and it is really loud and starting to get annoying...

Love you all!

this one also has a car on it, but simon ripped it off the painting right before we hung them up and so I had to glue it back on after we took the pictures.

sick, sick, sick

Simon was sick again. We are pretty sure it was Rotavirus again. Same symptoms. I stayed home with him Thursday because he had vomiting and diarrhea. Friday morning I woke up and threw up the previous nights dinner and also had vomiting and diarrhea all day long. Saturday we all slept in until noon. Woke up, I was feeling mostly better, just needed to eat, and Simon was doing better until about 4 when the diarrhea started up again. Sunday he has been good. It was not fun at all and Simon puked all over the new area rug I had just bought for our living room and so now it smells like vomit, so we are going to have to get it cleaned. Bummer. We are all doing better, mostly, Simon hasn't had much of an appetite today, but hasn't been puking and his BM are starting to firm up.
I really wish we had gotten the rotavirus vaccine when he was born, it would have saved us a lot of grief and worry and money. I didn't even realize there was a rotavirus vaccine until I was at my sisters back in January and read an article about it in a magazine that they had. I was pretty bitter because Simon's miserable and almost deathly experience with it back on Halloween night oculd hav prevented with a simple vaccine. Luckily we didn't have to take him to the hospital this time, just kept filling him up with Pedialyte and tried our hardest to keep it under control and keep enough fluids in him that we didn't have to go to the hopsital. Oh and it helps that with each time a kid gets it their immunity builds up a little more each time, so maybe by the time he is 5 he won't be symptomatic anymore. Let's hope.
Anyways, I really wish we had known about this vaccine when Simon was born and that he had gotten vaccinated for it. The AAP recommends it and there is a lot of helpful info about it on the CDC website. If you are wary about vaccines, don't be afraid of this one, there is also a link to the scientific research study on the vaccine that should ease any vaccine-related fears you may have for this one in particular. Our next kid is definitely getting the Rotavirus vaccine.
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/rotavirus/default.htm

simon and his tractor

My parents got Simon this John Deere tractor for his birthday. Sadly, my dad was working and sick on Simon's birthday, but the next day we drove my mom down to where he was working and had lunch together and Simon got to open his birthday present with his Grammy and Grampy. Here he is playing with it less than a week after his birthday. He still loves it! At the end he starts playing with his ball popper, another birthday present, from Auntie Mel and Uncle Jared.

Simon's first birthday

On November 7th, Simon turned one! We had his party at Steve's parents house (THANK YOU!!) My Mom and I made the cake, but mostly my mom (THANK YOU!!) Steve made the gift bags, I didn't have a good picture of them but you can see them somewhere below. The theme we ended up picking out was a Dr. Seuss theme. So we had green deviled eggs, ham subs, goldfish crackers, pink lemonade, Simon had a Thing bib, and lots of Suess colors and a guestbook for everyone to sign that was "Oh the Places You'll Go", people signed in the front and back cover and wrote a little note to Simon. I thought it was a lot of fun, there were kids there which made it feel more like a party, and the food was pretty yummy. The decorations didn't turn out quite like I wanted, I found lots of good ideas online months in advance, but time still got the best of me and I didn't get everything looking the way I wanted. Oh well, we still had lots of fun!
The pictures are in reverse order.

All of the kids that came

Time for presents, he looked so excited, I LOVE this picture!!

Simon finishing up his cupcake

Simon's cupcake my mom made and decorated for him

Cake with the fish from The Cat in the Hat

My mom molded the fish out of orange candy melts and made all the little scales! The fish is in the fish bowl and my mom made all the fondant and we dyed it and cut out different shapes and stuff to decorate it.

Presents and guestbook table

Green eggs! So cute, I got the idea online and Cindy made them!

Food!

Steve working on the gift bags, a combined idea by both of us, the Cat in the Hat's hat!!

The cake was multi-colored inside kinda like the way the cover of "Oh the Places You'll Go" looks. We took white cake mix and dyed it all different colors.

My mom mixing all the colors

She's so cute! and did an amazing job on the cake!!

This is all the updating for now. Blogger is being really slow and annoying, stay posted for more and don't miss my superlate one below about Halloween!