Thankfulness

Ooooo, did someone say food?! mamma's little man now babbles away at just about everything; whether it's his friends visiting him at his "crib", or Mr. Potato head, he always has the most interesting conversations with. I quietly listen and am amazed at how much my Samuel has learned in these few 4 and a half months. Sam is constantly showing his independence by protesting sitting in his swing for more than 15 minutes, or wanting to be held 24/7. If he is not rolling around the house or kicking his legs frantically (peddling his imaginary tri-cycle) then he is fast asleep in my protective embrace. I am overjoyed by watching him learn new things and act in different ways, but when it's time to rest I find a calming peace with my babe in my arms. All that was noisy and active is now dreaming about the heavens and the beauty that awaits us all. I look down on the top of that fuzzy, chick down, hair of his and kiss him lightly so that I don't disturb him. I listen to his steady breaths, and feel his soft skin against mine, and wonder if there could be anything better than the miracle I made. I want to try and capture each moment of his progressive childhood and store the memories where they are not to be forgotten. I never knew that growing up to become an adult could be so wonderful. Joel and I have really made a nice home, out of an apartment, and are doing great with what we have. I am truly thankful for such a loving, supportive husband, a little man that melts my heart daily, and of course a loving family back on the home front of Kansas. Without the guidance and discipline of my family, MY family would not be where it is now.

Fall Fair

Before I get into how the Fall Fair went I want to share photos of the biggest most gorgeous rainbow I have ever seen. The camera we have doesn't do justice to the magical appearance that was displayed for me the other day. There were two HUGE rainbows reaching up to the heavens, and one was showing off not just the ROY G BIV colorswe all know once, but twice! All on one rainbow! What a treat.


Now onto the fall fair. It was a nice relaxing drive up to the West Allis fair grounds. The day was dreary and rain droplets were falling lightly on our skin, but no harm done. Our first stop was their mini pumpkin patch were I thought it was necessary to take a picture of their best pumpkins compared to my greatest pumpkin. Sad to say the other pumpkins fell in dead last in the competition.


We were really excited to see the worlds largest piggy bank...well maybe not but I took a picture anyway for Sam's sake.
Now something that I was excited about was the camel rides. It's not everyday that you walk along and see a camel, I was entertained by this guy for at least 5 minutes. I wanted to ride the camel with Sam but the people running the show said only children between the ages of 1-10 were allowed to ride. DRATS! Didn't they know I was trying to get some good pictures? Geesh. Disappointed we moved on to the next stop. The petting zoo is where Sam was mesmerized by the baby goats, zebra, and lamas.
After the over stimulating surrounding, Samuel decided he was cranky and wanted to start on back home. Joel and I agreed so we packed up, bought some fall harvest Indian corn stalks, gourds, and mini pumpkins. HAPPY FALL!

Time Flies

As the days get shorter it seems as though the time goes much faster. It has been over a week and I just posted another blog the other day...where does the time go? To keep my readers happy, I do try and have some updated pictures ready for you to view. I still have heard no definitive word on whether or not the Navy will choose to separate me from the military, and my hubby is anxiously awaiting interaction with the DeVry job placement woman. Whether or not Joel applies for jobs here in Chicago or Kansas City all depends on the news the Navy gives me; which I must say is not as easy as it sounds. "Hurry up and wait!" should be the Navy's motto rather than "Accelerate your life!". The only thing the Navy is accelerating is my inpatients in the whole matter. Now that I can no longer be wrapped up in myself, I have a family I need to consider, and the fact that the Navy doesn't care or take that into consideration can be extremely frustrating. At a drop of a dime they can tell me to pack my bags and be gone, then I'm left with throwing everything together probably living in a van down by the river! Enough of my sob story though.

The weather is now turning to fall and quickly following will be old man winter. When you step outside you can already see your breath in the air. This type of weather is one of my favorites because there is nothing better than some new sneakers, jeans, and your favorite hoodie sweatshirt! The only downfall is that it's time to retire my favorite flip flops and tanks. On the up side, I've never seen such prettier trees in the fall. All the yellows, reds, and oranges are so vibrant and beautiful. To celebrate the coming of fall we are going to attend the Wisconsin Fall State Fair, where they have camel rides, pony rides, pumpkin bowling, etc. We should at least take some nice pictures of the family! I'll be excited to share those once the weekend comes.

Fun with my Friends

My little man can now grasp objects placed in front of him and even to the sides of him. It is now a normal occurrence to check on Sam in his crib to find his many friends thrown about. Not only does Sam enjoy playing with his many crib time friends but he also enjoys snacking on them. Mmmmm....Mmmm...Goooood!
Perhaps Samuel would like the taste of his feet better if he could manage to pull them closer to his face. For the time being his footsies continue to mock him, dangling above, as he loves to have them constantly in the air.

I think I'll leave this a short post tonight, I'm alreay wiped out at 10:00. I will try and write a more productive post tomorrow.

Mr. Crabby Apple

This is what I look like when I'm not feeling well, am mad because I want to keep eating, when I'm very sleepy, or when I don't think that rolling onto my tummy is fun anymore!

HOORAY! HOORAY!

I was so excited last night for my little man...not only can he roll over from his back to tummy, he now knows how to go from back to tummy then back onto his back. Now he just rolls aimlessly around the living room like a wandering tumbleweed. He is also getting very strong because when he is on his tummy he can push himself clear up with his hands. This followed by a big grin and a look eager to hear approval from mommy and daddy. Oh I'm so excited! There really is nothing greater than seeing the being you created learn new tricks from month to month. Who knew that I would eventually, truly, understand a mother's love for her children. Wow, what an experience. Mom, I now know the love you have for me; and now that I can feel it for my child, it brings tears to my eyes knowing just how you feel for me. I'm so glad that you have become my most dearest friend!

Photos will be posted either tonight or on Saturday. Actually this Saturday is my hubbie's 23rd birthday and he isn't quite sure what he is wanting to do. Perhaps a breakfast outing to Wildberry Cafe.(Sorry about this I'm trying to do a link and I haven't quite figured it out yet. Ugh, stupid technology.This is one of our most favorite cafe to eat breakfast, and we have taken just about everyone who has come to visit us to eat there. Yum. Yum. Depending on what my birthday boy wants to do on his birthday maybe we'll have a jaunt down to the Lincoln Park Zoo. Sam will surely be captivated by the animals, not to mention the weather up here has been phenomenal! Toodles for now and I'll have pictures up hopefully by tonight.

Back to Tummy

Where to begin? I was planning on maintaining this blog during my less stressful work day, but apparently I don't have "sufficient security privileges" to download the needed software to transfer pictures from our camera to my desktop. That is a little irritating...So I guess I will type what I have to say for the day at work, then once I get home add the pictures I intended on using. For those of you that read Becca's blog I was jealous to find out that Normy rolled over before Sam. Sam hates tummy time, and some may think that I don't leave him on his tummy long enough; however, if I do not rescue my little man after 3-5 minutes of his tantrum he gets boogers and slobber all over his face. How you might ask - well when he starts to get really heated he proceeds to rub his face into the blankey laid out under him and blows through his nose. A lovely picture! For the longest time Sam choose to roll completely to his side on his right, and then found out he could do the same on his left. Then the other night while Joel and I were laying on the floor talking to him he finally kicked both feet over. Unfortunately his pop-it-bead arm was still in his way, but with a couple more strong kicks he finally accomplished what he has been trying to do for almost a month - rolled over - then he got extremely mad that he ended up on his tummy! Funny huh?

On a more frustrating note we are going to have to try and change our munchkin's sleep routine. For the past 5 days he has been waking up at 2:30 AM wanting an early snack. This just will not do. Most of the time he has had his final bottle around 8:00 PM and is sleeping no later than 8:45. I know I should try to keep him up longer but he gets mighty cranky, and mom is tired too! And at 2:30 AM his binkey or "NUK-NUK" just doesn't seem to do the trick for him. I have a sneaky suspicion that breaking him of this early morning snack will be hell for a good 5 days. Any tips for a smooth transition?

Wish us luck!

Photo Friendly

This past weekend seem to go by in a blur of activities. Now that I am fully back at work, I have come to love my "liberty" (Navy term for time off) more than I can possibly describe. After my day at work I rush home to strip off my commitment to get into civilian clothes ASAP! I then escape from my adult persona to relax in munchkin land, trying to find out which funny face or sounds make him laugh more. He seems to love his self image, so we spend countless minutes in the bathroom talking to the mirror. I just can't get enough of his smile, the way his eyes squint, or the endless amount of drool that slides off of his lips. Daddy makes him especially giggly by saying "You're just a little guy!" while mama bounces him closer to his daddy. Saturday was started off by baths all around and getting dressed for our family pictures at the mall. On the way I was giving him a bottle in the back seat so that his tum tum would be nice and full so we could be as happy as can be once we got there. Unfortunately, Sam fell fast asleep in the process. Rushing into the mall, to make it to our studio shoot on time, everyone was sporting smiles and excited to work with the photographer. Sam wasn't buying the ladies attempted funny sounds; so mama and daddy had to jump in to work our magic, while jumping out of the way so she could get the much deserved smiles we worked so hard to get. I thought that this was going to be a very smooth process until Mr. Crabby Apple came. Daddy jumped on top of that by offering the rest of the bottle while the lady switched backdrops. Uh-oh, I thought. I bet you can guess how happy Sam was when the bottle was then taken away from him, and how we expected him to be tickled pink to continue shooting more pictures...NO WAY JOSE!! We then proceeded to feed him the bottle for 10 minutes until I could distract him enough to get the remaining 7 shots. UGH, enough of that for one day!
Uncle Bill, Cousin Sarah and Caleb came to visit later that night so that they could see Sam's amazing rolling ability and to prove that he was the slobber king of the household. It was a nice visit talking about the all important nothings that make us happy. Sunday was all day finals between Joel and I, and am I sure happy those are over and done with. Then Monday morning was filled with deep cleaning followed by my cross-stitching to try and finish up Sam's Christmas stocking and daddy playing play station and working his fantasy baseball league. Woo hooo.

Mama and her little Jayhawk

Okay people, just give me a little time to try and figure all these blogging techniques and I'll have this looking professional in no time. I at least wanted to get a picture out there so I could see what it looked like. Until the upcoming week, I'm sorry to say that I will not be adding anymore blogs because of my treacherous finals. I'm sure my munchkin will have a lot of input on helping his mama get a good grade. We are having our pictures done tomorrow at Flash photography and are sooo excited!! I'll be sure to put some of them up on the blog spot. Until then have a happy weekend and we'll try to have a happy picture portrait waiting for you.

Blog Newbie

Hello all! Reading my cousin's wife's blog has inspired me to try and attempt this creative mix of writing and picture posting. I have switched departments in the clinic I work at which affords me some time to blog during the day. For those of you who do not get a chance to speak with Joel and I on a regular basis, this is a great way to keep up in the lives of the Kellen's. I will attempt to download some pictures of the Kellen clan later this evening. For now I must move on to my demanding job of medication compliance and verifying records; that seem to be bigger than the Bible itself. ;-)