Life As We Know It

2010-01-16T07:54:00.000-08:00

2009-08-27T10:35:00.000-07:00

New Blog!

Hi there everyone :) This is Annie. I have a new blog now...haven't updated this one in so long cause I've been distracted by my new one. I am focusing on ONE blog, so head on over and update your bookmarks/links.

www.mama-dweeb.blogspot.com

Thank you and God bless!

2008-10-29T19:01:00.000-07:00

Below is a video for everyone. This is a video of Lizzie in the bathtub. I don't know why but she thought the shower needed cleaning...and then she got a pleasant surprise! LOL

I hope everyone is doing well! We find out what we are having in 2 weeks - hooray!!

And in other preggo news, I have switched from my dr to a midwife in Topeka. I can't see myself being comfortable giving birth in the same hospital that I had a C-Section in. Plus, I want to be very far away from interventions like Pit and Epidurals.

Enjoy the video!
Annie

2008-10-08T19:42:00.000-07:00

Hello from Kansas! Been awhile since I posted, but I have so much more energy now thanks to the wonderful 2nd trimester so I can update everyone!

Pregnancy: Not much to say here. I am starting to show already (yay!) Haven't felt any movements yet. I am really looking forward to feeling some really great kicks this time. Lizzie was always breech, so all I felt was little taps in my very lower abs. I want to feel some twirling and kicking this time. (Call me crazy, but I do!)

Lizzie: Wow, this girl knows how to worry me and make me the proudest mamma at the same time. I started to be worried because she isn't saying as many words as I was told she should be. But she is right on target for her own development, not slow or anything :)

She can say:

Dada (this also mean's daddy's tractor)

Mama

Yeah-yeah (this means nurse)

Na-Na (means cookie or snack. Her grandpa taught her to say it...why that word I don't know)

Do - Dog

Ba- bath or Book

Hi! (my favorite!!)

She can sign:

Please

Thank you

eat

love

sing a song

She is starting to wean, with my encouragement. She currently nurses to go to sleep, wake up, take a nap, and 1 snack in the morning and one in the evening. If the day was particularly stressful she might add a session but that is the normal amount. She is now down to 1 nursing at night (3am) and I am really trying to sing or cuddle her back to sleep to wean her off this one. My goal is to be up in the middle of the night with only 1 nursling when the new baby comes - not 2 :) It is so cute though at 3 am when she starts asking with a crying and shaky voice, "Yeah yeah? Yeah Yeah?" she will continue to ask until she realizes I am resolved and it won't happen. Then when she calms down I sing to her and cuddle her. Her favorite lullaby right now is "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot."

Eating habits - what a roller coaster ride. She worried me for awhile cause she didn't like to eat very much solids. Now she is eating a lot more. She doesn't like the texture of meat though, unless it is teeny bites she can't see really. But her favorites are all nutritious so I'm not too worried anymore. She LOVES: peanut butter & Jelly, scrambled eggs w/cheese and toast, mac & cheese, cottage cheese, fruit, applesauce, cereal and frozen yogurt. She was eating so much ice cream with daddy I decided to switch to frozen yogurt to keep it a little healthier :)

Other Life: I am watching a 10 month old baby for a friend in the church. The baby's name is Sheridan. Her mom is in school and working. I watch her 4 days a week, 8-9 hours a day. It isn't so bad! The only difficult time is nap time on the days they both aren't tired at the same time. This is pretty rare though (praise the Lord!) It's great for Lizzie to have someone to play with - but I can tell she wishes the baby could do more (or was lighter so she could pick her up like a baby doll! LOL)

Now for the pictures! What a long post - phew!

Lizzie's favorite toy is daddy's tractor - or the Da Da. He has taught her which gears to turn to turn it on and when you put her on the seat, she touches them in the correct order! I tried to get a pic of her smiling on it, but she is so focused. It's like it is her job to be on it!

We were eating Corn on the cob the other night and Lizzie kept asking for her daddy's corn. I didn't think she would know what to do with it, so we gave it to her....

...And away she went! It shocked me how quickly she picked up how to eat it, I had to get a picture!

Finally, a picture of Lizzie's beautiful smile! She was having so much fun on the hammock with her daddy.

This is Lizzie with Sheridan, the baby I watch. Lizzie has a bad habit of sitting on Sheridan's lap. Sheridan just smiles about it, not caring on bit. I wish this was a better picture....

Thank you and God bless!

2008-09-14T14:30:00.000-07:00

Finally a sunny day!

It has been cold and rainy for so long, I am so excited to see the sun!

The sun is "shining" in my physical life too so to speak. I finally have enough energy to pick up around the house, play with Lizzie and make Josh some edible meals! This is such an answer to prayer. Life was miserable when I didn't have any energy. Lizzie loves the energetic mamma too. She is eating a LOT more solids (all 3 meals and quite a few healthy snacks in between - if you don't count the ice cream daddy gives her after dinner LOL)

She is also sleeping so much better. I don't know if this is due to: her daddy being home and playing with her more at night, me feeding her more solids and playing more with her, or her just growing up more. Whatever the reason I am so glad!! Friday night she slept in her own bed for 6 hours! And yesterday I laid her down in her own bed for a nap and she fell asleep on her own! This is a first for her - usually she nurses to sleep. My little girl is growing up and I am so proud!

15 month check up stats!

32 1/4 inches tall
26 pounds 2 ounces

healthy girl!!

Now for a few pictures! God bless you!

Applesauce EVERYWHERE! She had so much fun :)

Lizzie put our new kittie (Babs) in her stroller and pushed her around. But as soon as Babs saw Rufus, the fun was over! But not for Lizzie - she LOVED it! I was just lucky to get this pic!

Lizzie posing with Rufus. He is so good with her. She will go up to him and hit his face and back and he will sit there thinking "oh she loves me! She really loves me!" What a loveable mutt.

2008-08-26T14:07:00.000-07:00

Hooray! So much to be happy for!

Josh is back safely from Georgia! We all missed him terribly and are so relieved to have him back. Lizzie really missed her "da da" and that stands for his tractor too! Whenever we went on our walks, she would point at it and say very emphatically "da da! da da!" And I would let her play on it, but since I don't know how to turn it on, let alone drive the thing, that is as far as she got until he came home.

Also, Josh said I could tell everyone....

I am pregnant! I am due April 1st, 09! He really wanted me to wait until I started the 2nd trimester but I just couldn't wait. We are all very excited!

There is one thing I covet your prayers for. I have Bell's Palsy and I really need the Lord's strength to accomplish things throughout the day. Bell's Palsy is a temporary paralysis of one side of the face due to the 7th Cranial nerve become swollen and cutting off communication from the brain to the face. So my left side of my face can't smile, blink or taste food. This also leaves me feeling even more tired than normal because my body is trying to recover. So not only am I tired from the first trimester I am wiped from this palsy. (anyone that has had Mono knows how tired I am!!) Needless to say the house is gross and Lizzie gets restless. The dr. said I should see some signs of improvement in 2 weeks, and I should be fully recovered in 2-6 months.

It is times like this I praise the Lord that she is still breastfeeding! When I am laying in bed dead tired, she crawls in with me and cuddles and nurses. So I am able to rest and recover without worrying what my toddler is getting into, and at the same time feel the love and warmth of my cuddly daughter.

I do start to worry about whether Lizzie will be nursing a lot when the new baby is here, but a lot changes in children between the ages of 15 mos and 22 months. I know that if I continue to trust the Lord and do my best he will give me the wisdom and strength to continue on!
Lizzie seems to be doing very well so I must not be doing too much wrong! LOL She has never been on antibiotics (praise the Lord!) and she is so brave and curious about the world around her. When we go on our walks down our driveway she will take of running and when she falls down, she just gets right back up without another thought (and this is on a gravel driveway, you should see her poor knees!)

that's all for now, but i will update with more later!

2008-08-10T18:41:00.000-07:00

ok, this computer isn't letting me post pics on blogger easily, so this is this only one I could get to upload successfully. I have more to share and will when I have time. This is the most recent pic of Lizzie - taken about 2 weeks ago.

Hello everyone! Wow it has been FOREVER since I last posted. I blame it all on living out in the middle of nowhere without access to the internet. But I have stolen a moment while Josh is watching Lizzie here at his office to update all my friends.

I miss you all! I wish I had the internet at home (we will in about 1 month!) so I could update more frequently. Lizzie is 14 months old! She is growing and changing in so many ways. I'll post some pics at the bottom. And now for the bullets (saves me and you time LOL)

Lizzie is eating so much more now! She drinks a lot more from a sippy cup. She eats lots of snacks and 3 meals with me. This is a very large improvement from her exclusive breastfeeding. She started eating more during the day about 2 months ago and has just kept it up. So this is the start of the weaning process, but we are still pretty far away from complete weaning.

Unfortunately, her sleeping is not doing well since we moved. Everything is different and she still wakes a few times at night. She is teeting molars on all 4 sides, so this is not helping her in any way! Poor darling.....and VBS was this week, so she is all kinds of stressed out.

She has started to talk a little! Her words: Mama, Dada (which was her first official word, she said it and pointed at him and laughed) Baba (sippy cup) Dadadadada (Grandad, she says this as she points to his picture) She signs "eat" for nursing, "more" for everything she wants LOL and puts her hands on her head or shakes her hands if she wants to sing. and her gibberish - oh it cracks me up! She will get all excited about something and just go off and I can't understand a word.

I love our new house! I had about 2 weeks of it just being Josh, Lizzie and I. My sister is 20 and lives with us to save money while in college. She is moving out again in June. My dad is sleeping on our couch for one more week (this will make 2 total) while his car is repaired. God is good! He has given us the grace to live with my family and we will be blessed for this short period of stress.

We have goats! Yes, Josh bought 3 female boar (meat) goats. Charolotte, Emily and Anne. I named them after the Bronte sisters - 18th century novelists. They are sweeties!

Lizzie is growing up! But she is and always will be my little baby girl. I have run into a few people telling me their opinions on how to raise Lizzie and what I am doing wrong. Isn't that the best thing to tell a mommy? Those seeds of doubt sprout fruit very quickly and I shed some tears, but praise the Lord for his grace. Josh has been so encouraging and I know now that my loving her and doing what I feel is best for her will help her grow into a very strong girl that loves Jesus. I didn't realize that other moms can be some of the most opinionated people on the planet. I believe that as sisters in Christ we need to be encouraging eachother.

So I say to all my fellow mommies that I miss so much - if you are working outside the home you are doing what you can to provide for your child and setting a great example. If you are staying home, you are doing the same thing. Both are exhausting and both can be thankless at times and seem more stressful than it is worth. I pray that God blesses each of you moms reading this with a wonderful night's rest and His blessed peace that trancends all understanding - letting you know you are doing a great job with his child!

2008-06-04T09:23:00.001-07:00

1 year old!

One year ago today I was wondering if the baby would ever be born! Then one year ago tomorrow I gave birth to Lizzie Leona at 9:30 in the morning by a C-Section.

We have gone from me reading all the textbooks and "knowing it all" to knowing I know nothing! She's always been a very strong, healthy, big girl! She has brought delight to everyone around her. Even though she is growing more independent every day, she still prefers to sleep next to mommy, snuggling and nursing!

Here are a few pics of her growing up!

Brand new! My angel!

2 months old. She only liked the pacifier for those 2 months, wouldn't take it anymore after that :)

4 months - growing so fast!

5 months - already sitting up all by herself!

6 months - my joy!

9 months and almost walking on her own.

Here she is today! My beaming toddler! I can't wait to see what else life has in store for us!

I LOVE YOU LIZZIE LEONA!

2008-05-18T17:09:00.000-07:00

I'm DONE!

Now for some graduation pics for you all to enjoy!

blowing my classes a kiss goodbye - they won't be missed I promise you.

Lizzie was very active during the ceremony. But just as they were closing with prayer (MCC ceremony!) she fell asleep in grandad's arms.

I am so thankful for my artistic Sister in Law. Look at that gorgeous fruit tower!

The cake was so yummy! The bottom one was strawberry and the top was chocolate.

She wasn't even looking at me that stinker! I love this silly girl though so much!

We weighed her a couple days ago, and she is 25.2 pounds. Even though she eats like no solids (all breastmilk) and is walking around like the energetic toddler she is, she has still retained her gorgeous and lovable fat rolls. She'll be 1 year old on the 5th! I am so excited about her party. I'll totally be posting pics and stories.

God bless you all! I miss you Mindy, Holly, Lyn and Amber! (And your kids and hubbies too I guess, but you gals are close to my heart)

~Annie

2008-05-10T06:11:00.000-07:00

According to Mercy Regional Hospital, the appendix has "no known function," s0 Josh asked them to take it out just for fun.

Actually, he was complaining about stomach pains that wouldn't go away for the past week and a CT scan on Friday showed a very inflamed appendix. So at 10:45 Friday night Josh had an appendectomy. He was able to walk around less than 24 hours after surgery, so all went very well! He is still feeling a bit sore, and he has some gorgeous bruises, but God is healing him very quickly and well.

I pray God blesses all you mothers with a great mother's day!!

~Annie

2008-05-07T19:22:00.000-07:00

Today I had so much fun with Lizzie! She is starting to walk more than she is crawling and whenever she does, I can't help but smile so big from the inside out! My breath stops momentarily as I am just amazed. My little baby, the chubby girl I used to be so scared I would break (watch the head!) is now toddling around. She loves playing chase, helping with laundry, playing in material as I cut fabric to sew, and reading books. She knows the sign for eat and even uses it when she is hungry.

And today she had another first! She can stand up without any help, or holding onto anything! This is just one more step to her growing into a sweet little independent girl. I'm so proud...now if she could just eat solids without gagging so much lol

Today I just loved being at home, being a mother. We did a LOT of laundry and changed the sheets on the bed. When she saw me getting ready to make the bed, she walked right over and asked to be put on the bed. She loves the feeling of the clean sheets floating down on her. Watching her grin and hearing her giggle as a puff of air brushed her face was priceless!

Then later on she went out onto the back porch and started to push the screen door open. I didn't realize she could do this So we went outside and played on the trampoline! Here are some pics of the fun we had!

She turned 11 months old on the 5th! I have taken a picture on this chair every single month. Last month she wouldn't sit still so the pic is of her standing beside it. Today, she wouldn't sit still again (wonder why? lol) but I was able to catch her sitting on the arm. You better believe I took her off the chair immediately after...she almost fell backwards!
And do you see the item in her hand? It is an empty eyeliner. She is attached to any item shaped like a pen or pencil. This is the safest one we have let her play with. There are no sharp ends and one end actually has a very soft point.

God bless everyone! I'll update with more pics of the house when I get them! Josh and Ray are putting grout on the tiles yay!! The cabinets are in, but we still need countertops and appliances. SO CLOSE TO MOVE IN!

2008-05-04T19:39:00.001-07:00

This is going to be a very exciting week!

On Saturday, (5/10) I will be walking with MCC in their graduation! Then, I'll get to show off my new house to family during my party! I'm so excited. Tonight Josh and his dad worked on laying tile in the bathroom and entry way. We also picked out a toilet and Josh has already installed just about all the cabinets! Thanks to the guys that were paintballing, Josh had some extra help carrying in the cabinets on Saturday.

We still have an apt for rent, and I hope that we get busy showing it this week and hopefully it will get rented in August.

I am also watching my 6 yr old nephew Zach after kindergarten every day. Lizzie loves playing with her cousin. The other day he and I were playing Star Wars with legos and we kept making gun noises, and Lizzie came over mimicking the noises! It was so cute!

Now that the weather is getting nicer, we have been spending more time outside and Lizzie LOVES it! She loves going to the park and swinging on the swings, playing on grandad's trampoline, walking on the bridge over MeMa's pond and being pushed in her stroller in the park. I can't believe she is 11 months old! WOW!! Soon she will be eating cake and ice cream, and let me tell you I am having so much fun planning her party!

I can't wait to show you all pics of the new house! They are coming soon - so keep checking back!!

2008-04-24T14:24:00.000-07:00

Lizzie Lou is walking EVERYWHERE now! I was just eating a waffle in the kitchen while she was standing and holding onto the dishwasher. Then, she let go and walked clear across the kitchen without stopping! Needless to say the waffle was ignored while I started clapping and praising her! She would still rather crawl, but she can walk without any help now!

She is 10 1/2 months....wow, so close to 1 year.....I have a baby that is almost 1 year old? Doesn't seem possible sometimes :-)

Other Lizzie news: She points to things and babbles, its so cute! She loves the cat and dog, and will pat them (not pet, pat - like you do to a drum LOL) She is learning how to throw fits too - oh I love it when she throws her head back and cries her heart out....fun times. And her newest favorite toy is pens or pencils. If she has one and you take it away from her she will get so upset! She hasn't poked herself too bad yet, so we'll see. I don't let her walk with them, only crawl.

God bless!
Annie

I can't get a picture of her walking towards me...this is the best I could do so far! Don't you just love the hands? LOL
And this is a pic of her walking towards me. Notice the look of complete concentration!

2008-04-09T18:00:00.001-07:00

All in a Day's Work for Lizzie Lou

Yesterday Lizzie decided "girls just want to have fun" and she had a lot of it. These are all from yesterday. A different family member helped her to make a seperate mess. Enjoy the following pics and I have a blog to follow!
Here she is with MeMa, emptying out Grandad's sock drawer. She was not satisfied until it was completely empty. As soon as I put some socks back in, she pulled them right out again!

I was out of the room and asked Daddy to watch her. He decided to give her a cheap toy - a fresh new roll of toilet paper! When I came back, she was busy unrolling it. I have to admit that I placed the paper on her head, but the mess was all her and daddy. After she was done with this mess, I just gathered it up and put it on the back of the toilet for his own future use.

I saved the best for last!! Lizzie has a facination with feeding herself. So I stripped her down to her diaper, gave her a bowl of pureed peaches and waited for the fun to begin! She had so much fun!

Now for the updates! She still only takes 2 or 3 steps before sitting down and crawling everywhere. She loves to wave hi and bye bye! She also waves when she says goodnight to MeMa and Grandad, it's so cute. She is finally getting her top teeth. Her top left tooth is through and the right one is getting there. She has broadened her list of favorite foods to include lemons, funny girl. I had one on my tea glass and gave it to her as a joke and she ended up loving it.

Till later!
Annie

2008-04-05T14:16:00.000-07:00

Lizzie is 10 months old today

I can't believe it! She is doing so much! She took her first steps last night at Friday night dinner! Everyone saw her and was clapping and cheering, what a great moment. Lizzie looked around with a huge grin. Then, Mike Marino looked around and asked "why is everyone cheering?" lol poor guy missed the big moment! Oh well, we love him anyways!

If I am singing in the car, she will sing along in a singing type voice. She says "Da" when she sees the dog. And if I ask her "where is the ceiling fan?" she tips her head way back, looks at the ceiling and points up. Angel will bark whenever Evie and Ray get home at night and when she does Lizzie will get so excited, kicking and laughing! And she also knows the sign language for eat. She puts her hands to her mouth over and over when she is hungry. She is growing up so fast. I love interacting with her, she is so much fun!

God bless you all! Lizzie is wanting my attention, so I'll post more later!

~Annie

2008-03-23T14:13:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter!

Now for some fun pics. I will blog later :-)

Woops! I learned what happens when you try to take a naked picture with a full bladder.....
Trying to stand up on a trampoline
"Helping" Daddy with his coffee on Easter

The view I see everyday

So big and pretty in her Easter dress! 9 1/2 months - wow!

L-R Lizzie, cousins Ashlyn and Mycah on Mycah's 2 yr bday party

2008-03-13T20:02:00.000-07:00

Lizzie's 9 month Appointment!

All my worries were in vain. Lizzie Lou is very healthy! She is pushing around a walking toy, cruising on furniture, dumping out kitchen cabinets and dancing to music! The Doctor said her eating habits are normal for her age. She is growing so independent that she wants finger foods, but only having 2 teeth, what she can actually eat is limited. I have also been reading that she gets 100 percent nutrition from Breastmilk still and eating foods right now is just to experience new textures. So now I just offer her food throughout the day and don't stress if she rejects it.

Stats:
22 lbs 12 ounces
29 inches tall
Loves to read her Elmo book "SO BIG"
Still loves to shop at Target.

No joke! Today when we went she was grinning ear to ear as she realized where we were walking into.

Josh has 6 out of 23 cabinets built! Not long till we move in......

now enjoy this latest pic. This is how you can find her most days, and this is the safest place for her now when I have to do something where I can't be focused on her (like pay bills).

2008-03-08T09:10:00.001-08:00

Thank you Josh for that amazing compliment! I have been so blessed to have such a hardworking, funny and dedicated husband. Like I said earlier, I'm so glad that I am married to you for the rest of my life!

Now, on to updates about Lizzie Lou. Lizzie's middle name is really Leona, but it's so fun to say Lizzie Lou, so that is one of her many nicknames. Others include Ellie (from her uncle) and Pickle (from her daddy).

Lizzie is cruising around furniture with confidence now. And thanks to her grandparents she is learning how to climb up and down the staircase too. She still only has the 2 bottom teeth, and I have no indication of when anymore will appear. And the one thing that bothers me the most is her eating habits. She would rather breastfeed than eat anything else. This is still OK for her cause I know that she gets all her nutrition from breastmilk, but a part of me wishes that when I sat her down she would eat her babyfood. She will eat the occassional cracker, banana or pickle and self-feed that way, but if I try to feed her spoonfuls of oatmeal or carrots she will spit it out and swat the spoon away. My main worry hear is: Does this mean she will be a picky eater when she gets older? Maybe when she gets more teeth and can handle a spoon correctly she'll eat a wider variety of foods.

Josh just left to work on the cabinets for our house. He thinks that in about 1-2 weeks all our cabinets should be finished and ready to install! We are doing rustic hickory cabinets, I can't wait to see them. The walls are painted - and there is no way anyone can be in a sad mood at our house. The walls are all so cheery and colorful. After listening to people's advice, I had fun picking out the colors for the walls and steered very clear of anything beige. Living Room, Kitchen and Hall are light green, bathroom is blue, Lizzie's bedroom is a fun purple and our bedroom is a dark maroon. Pictures will be posted, I'm not good at describing.......

Lizzie's 9 month appt is Tuesday. I'll post stats as soon as I get them.

2008-03-02T11:10:00.001-08:00

The weather is wonderful, although slightly dreary, and it is nice to know that spring is around the corner. The house is painted, the cabinets are being built, and my daughter is doing an extremely good job of melting my heart.

I'm very happy, and I want to say thanks to my wife for being such a wonderful wife and an incredible mother. I couldn't ask for better.

2008-02-28T07:22:00.000-08:00

I usually don't know what to tell family to get me for gifts, so I finally found something I want. This is pretty cool, handy and inexpensive compared to a whole lot of other items like it. http://www.newertech.com/products/ato2.php

That's it. Thanks.

2008-02-08T19:04:00.000-08:00

Grumpy Gus or Crabby Patty.....

However you want to label it, Lizzie is definitely it! Her bottom right tooth is fully here and visible! And now I can feel the one next to it making its way up. The worst times for us is when she is sleepy. She is so difficult to console and it frustrates me and when she finally falls asleep, I am ready to collapse from exhaustion myself! For example, when I try to nurse her, she starts to nurse, but then she jerks away, arches her back and lets out a combination cry and whine. I am very thankful that she isn't a screamer, I don't know if my nerves could handle it.

Yes, I try to give her teething tablets, but sometimes I can't find them and then I am really regretting that....

Right now she is clawing at my pant leg and crying very pitifully. Poor gal, I wish I could make it all better....and how much longer does this last? For the next 2 years?? Goodie..........

On a happy note, if she is clamoring for attention, usually I can let her hold my two fingers and walk with her around the house, smiling all the way. Her other favorite game is peek-a-boo, and her laughter makes me so happy! And she is crawling everywhere and getting into everything...what a joy she is!

2008-01-12T16:17:00.000-08:00

Just a couple pics to make you laugh!

They explain themselves in a way. She just LOVES glasses of ice water. Must feel good on her gums....

Read the post below for Lizzie updates.

Annie

2008-01-04T17:34:00.001-08:00

The two most important people in my life!

Josh is such a wonderful father to Lizzie. She gets so excited in the morning when she wakes up and sees him. She giggles and pulls his hair. This ironically helps Josh wake up in a really good mood. Then he usually gives me a 5 minute break for me to have the bed all to myself in peace while he changes her diaper. I treasure these 5 minutes, oh the majesty of it!

Christmas - this year it can be summed up in one word : exhausting. I loved spending time with my family and they all adored seeing Lizzie. But I wanted to collapse after all 6 of my family Christmas's. Lizzie held up better than I did, of course, I was taking care of her :0) Yes, we went to Riley, Manhattan, Hutchinson, Topeka and Randolph for Christmas. In the future we will try and work out a way to combine a few of these for my sanity.....

LIZZIE:
Lizzie is astounding me with her development. She can move around the room by rolling or now her new thing, pivoting. She gets up on her hands and feet, pivots and sits back down. This frustrates her, however, because she doesn't get where she wants to go that way. She also loves getting into stuff now! Some of her favorite things to do are dump toys out of baskets or get into the diaper bag. And yesterday for the first time, she opened a bottom drawer and pulled out the contents! Yes, as of today I must be ever so much more watcheful of her.

Oh, and lets not forget her endearing screams. If she is not getting what she deems adequate attention, she will let me know with a loud and shrill scream. Thankfully, this is not a common occurrence.

I promise to post photos of our house soon. God bless you all!

2007-12-19T15:08:00.001-08:00

We have electricity! We are so happy we can barely contain it!

I took that picture yesterday, and it sums up exactly how happy I am to have our electricity back. I was driving home Sunday night and the first thing I saw from the windows was the glow of the Christmas tree! Oh boy I was ecstatic! I went through and flushed all the toilets and turned on all the lights. Praise the Lord! And here we thought it would take another week.

In other news, Lizzie Leona is getting even closer to crawling. She will lunge for toys from a sitting position, getting almost on her feet or knees. And she can roll across the room, but she'd rather be sitting. If I leave her on her tummy/back for too long she fusses for me to help her sit back up again.

And I passed my class! I can now officially graduate college. This biology class was a lot tougher than I thought it was going to be. So now I can start paying back my student loans by staying home with Lizzie. College sure is an expensive back up plan...

2007-12-14T13:07:00.000-08:00

Praise the Lord that we are living with my in laws! It turns out that Riley County is one of the hardest hit from this ice storm. Even though it will still be another week at least before we have power, I couldn't ask for a more blessed place to be! My mother & father in law have a gas fireplace in every bedroom, so we are staying very warm at night. There is a gas stove so we can eat warm food. They have plenty of candles and flashlights, and even a lantern, so we have a bit of light too! Only things we are going without is actual light, electricity and running water. But we have family and friends that have been more than welcoming to us, allowing us the usage of thier bathrooms and showers .

If Josh and I were on our own right now, we would probably be sleeping at someone else's house....not only would we not have heat, we would be bored out of our minds!

I would put pictures up, but I don't have access to a computer with the ability to get pics off my camera yet. But I will as soon as I can.
Let me paint a mental picture for you:
The trees lining our driveway are so overburdened with ice they sag completely to the ground and when you drive under them it sounds like a million icey claws scraping the paint off the top of your car. Up and down the dirt road where we live almost all the large trees are either sagging to the ground or have already lost giant portions of upper limbs, and their parts are strewn about the side of the road. The evergreens are so depressed from all the snow and ice that their tops are drooping to the middle.

The really exciting part of this storm is hearing all the stories. People can be so inventive with their resources when they are forced to. Our children's pastor laughed out loud with joy as she recalled the other day as her and her mother brought out their cast iron skillet and warmed up leftover meat and potatoes right in their fireplace! Friends and neighbors have been coming together in very loving and supportive ways.

Lizzie has been doing so well with all this. She has been waking up more frequently at night, probably because she isn't used to the pitch blackness (I usually have a night light on) or the extreme silence (we sleep in the basement and usually there are the sounds of heaters and such). But I am so thankful that she is breastfed! She hasn't missed a meal and feeding her is extremely easy - no heating up a bottle for her. And I am also relieved that she sleeps with us. Now, when she wakes at night from this frightening experience, she rolls into me, nurses a bit and falls directly back asleep. I don't know what I would do if she woke up screaming and wouldn't stop.....how stressful....

Currently, I am at my brother in law's house greedily using his internet and washing my clothes. Darling Josh has been more than elated to bust out his chainsaw and clear people's yards and driveways. Him and his brother bought a log splitter for their tractor last night and when I called Josh to check on him, he sounded like a little girl who got to meet Hannah Montanna - "Oh honey! It's awesome! Worth every penny, you have no idea!"

God bless you all! Please say a prayer for all those crews trying to get electricity back on. As soon as they get a line fixed, some ice on a tree shorts out another line down the row....its like 2 steps forward 1 step back....and they've been working so hard.

2007-11-26T17:09:00.000-08:00

Christmas Time is Here!!
Thanksgiving was a lot of fun - Josh's parents hosted and there were 35 people there total with 17 of them being under the age of 12. Josh had fun, and he still wants 8 children! (Yes, Josh is down to wanting only 8 kids). In other josh news, he is almost dead set on raising goats. How many kids does he want? (sorry, bad joke, but I had to say it)

House news: The ceilings are all up! YAY! Now Josh has to finish putting up the walls, then he can start mudding and sanding and mudding and painting and doing cabinets and floors and we are soo close! Praise the Lord!

Today I did Christmas cards! Lizzie took a long nap and I had so much fun with Christmas tunes on writing out those cards. And this year I did a newsletter, so I hope all my friends enjoy reading them!

Lizzie has started rolling in her sleep - now I have even more to be worried about. She rolled onto her tummy, how frightening. Luckily, she is sleeping with us so when she does roll into a position she can't move from she just kicks me and I wake up to rescue her! :-) Other Lizzie news, she is starting to try and move around, but its more rolling and scooting. Crawling is around the corner, but I can sure wait.

Pictures!

I took these pictures today. A lady gave us the outfit and she looked so darned Christmasy-cute I had to take some photos. These are all at the beautifully decorated Log home.

This is about half of the kids that were at our house for Thanksgiving. Phew! This is Lizzie with her 20 month old cousin Mycah. Mycah loves Lizzie to pieces!
And finally, Josh played guitar hero with the children. They loved him so much. He also made them hot chocolate, which they requested each night.

God bless you!
Annie

2007-11-21T12:20:00.001-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Finally! Time for Christmas music, and FOOD!! I finally got down to my pre-pregnancy weight, and now the holidays are here. And I love holiday food more than anything, so it's gonna be hard to be good.

Well, today I am working at my hubbie's cabinet shop filling in for the sick secretary. Lizzie is currently sleeping (when else can I type a blog?), Josh is playing Christmas music, it's snowing outside and food is on its way. Can life get any better than this? I am very surprised at how easily Lizzie is letting me work today. Sure, she has her moments when she wants held and/or nursed, but I just clock out and take care of her. Most of the time though, she has played with her toys. Oh, her favorite game today was when she was sitting in her stroller and she'd drop her toy, bend over to see where it fell and I'd pick it back up for her.

She's growing so big!

What are your thanksgiving plans? I pray that God keeps you safe if you are traveling and sane if you are hosting!

My in-laws are hosting (like they do every year) for about 30 people. I'm glad we are still living there, because I can be more help this way (late at night and early in the morning). The first batch of family arrived last night - cousin John and his 6 kids - at midnight. More should be arriving tomorrow sometime. Then we are eating our meal Saturday!

I have to vent a little bit now. My mom and dad are divorced. I didn't mind that so much when my dad lived in Wisconsin, but he has moved back to Kansas and now him and my mom are 15 minutes away from each other. So holidays are even more stressful now. For example, this Sunday we are eating the meal with dad and then going to my mom's for dessert. Christmas will be seperate too. Why can't we all just get along and do holidays together? It's enough to make me say "Sorry Charlie! It's all or nothing. If you can't get along, Josh, Lizzie and I are having our own holiday without you!" But we live 15 minutes away from them, so its hard to say such harsh words, ya know?

Thanks for letting me vent. My family isn't that stressful, just at times......

God bless you all! Enjoy the binge eating!!

2007-11-12T07:40:00.000-08:00

YAY FOR PICTURES!! Oh you can't imagine how long I have waited to get some recent pictures up for all of you. Well, I'll blog a bit and then its on to the good stuff.

Lizzie is my cuddle bug! If she is fussy, I pick her up and she nuzzles my neck. Oh I love it so much :-) She is having more independant play time now. I can lay her on the floor on her back, and she'll play with her feet or roll around and play with her toys. What she really likes is peek-a-boo! Oh she will start giggling and laughing for that!

I am so blessed to be at my church surrounded by such amazing people! Lynette has been such an amazing friend, watching Lizzie on Tuesdays while I go to class. She totally has the better end of the deal though - she gets to hang out with a fun and cute baby while I sit through lectures of seed-bearing plants! And I have really enjoyed getting to know Jenny. I can go to her house and just talk and talk! Its great to have a friend with so much to talk about with.

OH! I have to brag about Josh real quick. I went into Angel 95 this morning for about 30 minutes to do the news, and he watched Lizzie down in the van. When I came back, he started bugging me with "I have a surprise for you!" and wouldn't tell me. Now, I am not a patient person, so this just tortured me. Finally, 15 minutes later, he gave me a tiny envelope that had a love note in it! And in the back seat was the happiest bouquet of flowers - all colorful and bright! He had gone into the florist while he waited on me this morning! I have been so blessed with such a thoughtful, loving, funny and romantic husband!

ok, picture time!

This is Lizzie's 5 month picture. I take on each month, and each month she gets more into it!
This is Lindsey with Jamie and Lizzie on Halloween.

Here is a better pic of her costume. I made her halo and wings (almost) all by myself! My mother in law helped sew some of the wings, but I did 90% of the work, I am so proud.
Our house! Oh it is sooo close to being done! Josh still has drywall and cabinetry, but it should be done by January - how awesome!
How can I not have fun staying at home with such a happy baby? Now, I think she has Josh's eyes, my nose, and I don't know whose smile. I can't tell that yet, I think the smiles change once teeth appear.

God bless you!
Annie

2007-11-02T18:26:00.001-07:00

If Lizzie could talk, she'd say "Mommy my gums hurt!" Yes, she is teething. I am about 75% sure that's what this is. I can't really see any teeth, but then again, I don't know what to look or feel for. But she is fussing a lot more than normal, gumming on my shoulder, nursing way more than normal and is starting to drool a little bit. Thankfully, baby Orajel helps and she still gives me smiles once in awhile, so I know she's not suffering too bad.

She is growing up so fast!

She's also moving from cooing to babbling. I was so excited when I heard her say "na-na-na" for the first time. I actually turned around in the car to make sure it was Lizzie speaking.

She's also sitting up on her own (ok, she falls sometimes still, but I just put a pillow behind her and watch her closely). She loves playing with her toys! It's so funny to watch her concentrate so hard on her blocks.

For Halloween she was an angel, and I promise to post pictures as soon as I can get them off my camera! YAY! She was so adorable.

God bless you all! Lizzie is fussing, it's late and she probably wants to go home. (We are still at Angel 95, so I'd better get goin')

2007-10-28T18:15:00.001-07:00

Lizzie Leona is making me so proud! She's almost 20 pounds now and 27 inches tall! We are going to have to get another car seat soon. Being her mommy has taught me so much about God's love for us and its really brought my hubbie and I closer - not farther - apart. Now, we are more honest with each other, because we are both determined and committed to having a Christian family and we absolutly refuse to allow children to pull us apart. So the honesty has helped resolve a lot of problems that otherwise might have been an emotional wedge.

Being a mommy has also taught me to trust in God more than all that book learnin' I can become obsessed with. Part of the reason I went to college was because I LOVE learning. But the more books I read about parenting, the more confused and scared I become. Will I psychologically harm Lizzie if she sleeps with us? When do I stop night time feedings? When do I start solids? Should I homeschool? Lizzie NEVER cries - I don't let her. The minute she starts getting fussy I change her diaper, calm her down or nurse her. This includes at night. Am I hurting her self-soothing skills by not letting her cry?

All these thoughts and more run through my head all the time. Then it hits me. I need to pray more, and read God's word. If I do that, he will guide me. As long as my heart is in the right place and I make the best decisions possible, he will not steer me wrong. In other words, the closer I bond with Lizzie, and especially with God, the more in tuned to her needs I will become and then I'll make choices that will be beneficial to her.

I thank God for educational resources, I just need to make sure I don't base my parenting technique on what they say I should do.

2007-09-23T17:04:00.000-07:00

I'm Back!
And it feels so great! I even have a few current pics to upload for everyone! Now that Lizzie is almost 4 months old (she'll be 4 months on Oct 5th) she is eating less often and is able to go with me to work at the Christian radio station. We will be on the air 3 nights a week - it will feel so amazing to be doing what I love - DJing and keeping the music current. Listen for me from 6-9pm M/W/Fridays.
Also, I graduate from K-State and Manhattan Christian College this December! I am taking biology right now and when that is done, I am soooo totally done with school. I'll have 2 degrees - and I'll use them as I am a stay at home mom LOL

Lizzie stats:
She is growing (like all babies do) SO FAST! At her 3 month apt she was 17 1/2 lbs and 26 inches long. By now she feels heavier, so she has to be at least 19 pounds, and I don't know her height, but she's big.
She laughs when she is tickled and it's one of my fav things to do with her. Her little baby giggle just melts my heart, I love her so much!
What else is she doing...hmmm... oh yea - she's doing that baby flip thing where she will lean back and look at everything upside down. On her tummy, not much to say there, she still gets too frustrated that she can't move and ends up just fussing and burying her head in the blanket. But on the bed she can almost roll from her back to her tummy. And she's just about able to sit up by herself now. WOW!
Are solids around the corner? I don't know....I'll find out at her next appointment. I'm in no rush for that. She is breastfeeding just fine and it works out pretty great for both of us.

Our house!
It's almost done (been saying that for awhile now) My mom's house has taken Josh away from it all and that's been frustrating. But he is working on it tonight. Plumbing and electrical are almost done, soon we will be sheetrocking it. We bought a washer/dryer at a garage sale for $170! Let's pray they work

I can't wait to move into our home. Not only will it be ours (as opposed to living with his parents right now) But it will be closer to town. Right now we live 1 hour from town and driving 2 hours everyday has been too darned expensive for us.

God bless you all! Enjoy these pics. They were taken last saturday at a friend's son's 1st bday! Isn't she just ADORABLE?
Annie

2007-07-14T13:47:00.000-07:00

What a fat baby!

We went in for her one month checkup - and wow! She is up to 12pounds and 23 inches long. She's getting sooo chubby! I couldn't be happier, I've always wanted a fat baby :-)

She's doing pretty good sleeping through the night too! (Praise the Lord!) She goes to bed around between 9 and 11pm, then wakes up around 2 or 3, then sleeps till 6 or 7 am. I think I can handle that and classes, but only with the Lord's help.

Today Lizzie and I had an adventure! We went to Varney's to buy textbooks. There were sooo many books I couldn't carry them and the baby to the register, so I had to ask for help. Then, the total was more than I had ever spent on books - $636!!! What??? Ugh, so I had fun paying for them. Then, I lugged baby, diaper bag, and 2 extremely heavy bags of books out to my car. I have never been happier to reach a car in my life. Lets hope I learn something from these classes!

Josh owns 2 properties in Manhattan that we are trying to find renters for, and since Josh is busy building our dream home, I offered to be the gal to show it to prospective tenants. Only problem is that I am getting really irritated when I go out of my way to make it to the house only to get stood up by whoever wanted to see it. If I didn't have a baby, it wouldn't be so inconvenient and only mildly irritating. But come on people! If you can't make it, please call me 1 hour before so it saves me time and energy. One person stood me up and Lizzie was dying of hunger, so I was really stressed out by that.

In all other news - life is great! I'll gets pics to you when I figure out how to get them from our camera to the computer.

LOVE YOU ALL!

annie and lizzie

2007-06-12T18:32:00.000-07:00

I wish I had more pictures, but these should work for now. I hope.

The drive to the hospital. How pretty. Ok, this was actually a sunset I found and thought it looked nice. Annie took the picture. She used to work in a photo gallery, so she is GOOOOD.

Mommy and her new bundle of joy!
It's a nice picture of mommy and daddy, but Lizzie decided to opt out on this picture.
First grand baby's are always the most exciting!

"We have four others, but none of those grand children were as cute as this one." At least, I think that this is what they were thinking.
"Phew Mema! Was that you or me?"
Her mom makes the same face at most of my jokes.

Oh wait, its just the mean nurse with the cold hands.

"Who's that Ashlyn? That's right, it's your new cousin."

Awww, kiss the baby

Then hug the baby.
Hehehehe. This is why my wife is the photographer and not me. Hehehe. Nice picture honey.

Here is a picture with me in it. I'm pretending to know what I'm doing. "Yup. the wall is indeed plumb. Way to go person that made the wall."

And that smile is one of the reasons I married her. And look, there's a baby, cringing.

Ohhh, look how comfy she looks with her head all flopped down and unnatural like. Must be fun. Oh well, it's only a 40 minute drive home. Fun.

Let's try the head on the other side. Nope, just as uncomfortable. Oh well, we are home now . Oh boy Oh boy Oh boy. (we fixed the seat so it doesn't do that to her anymore.)

Ahh, at the front door, ready to see what her new temporary home is like.

"OH BOY OH BOY OH BOY IT'S, IT'S, IT'S, I HAVE NO IDEA, I BETTER LICK IT. WOW, I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO THINK, I'M A DOG!!!" Angel.... *sigh* what a dog.
She'll have to grow into this outfit. But she's as cute as a button anyway.

This is my sweet pea. I never knew I could love someone that I had never met before as much as I do her.

2007-06-07T07:23:00.000-07:00

I feel really bad, for several reasons.

1) This thing rarely gets updated
2) My wife had to have surgery done because of me... well party because of me
3) I have no pictures to post right now... I have pictures, just not on my computer. (sorry)
4) My baby has my water craft sized feet.

Baby Elizabeth Leona Shultz was born on6-5-7, weighed in at 8lbs 15oz & was stretched to 20in long.

Annie is able to get up and around. But she got tired of me making it sound like she was jumping out of bed and reaching down to the floor and picking things up. She is actually NOT doing that well, although, for having her tummy cut open and all of her innerds pulled out and then put back in she is doing fantastic. Especially compared to if it had been me in her shoes (I would have the whole world knowing just how horrible it was and how tough the road to recovery is...). So I am very proud of her and how she is handling everything.

Elizabeth is cute, especially when she toots, and she toots a lot. (She takes after her daddy)

More later.

-josh

2007-05-07T10:13:00.000-07:00

Baby is due in 2 weeks - and I am praying that God brings her here sooner :-)

Hello everyone! This is Annie. It feels so nice to have access to the internet for a little while! I have a lot to update you on, so here I go.

Let's start at the begining. Thanks to our wonderful, amazing, SUPER church friends we were able to get all boxed up and moved out of our trailer on Sunday April 29th. It was exhausting and I couldn't have done it without them. We had to move out cause we sold the trailer (Praise the Lord!)

On Monday April 30, Josh moved in with his brother and I moved way over to Randolph to live with Josh's parents. We can't live together cause his bro lives extra close to work and the place he is building our house at. And his brother has a wife and 4 kids so his house is too crowded for me to comfortably stay (we'd have to share a tiny bedroom with a double bed, whereas now I have this huge room, private bath and a king size bed to myself)

Then, Wed I went to my Dr appt, and doc took one look at my feet and said the two worst words EVER - "Bed Rest." I couldn't do anything until today - not even go to work. So I lounged around his parent's house reading books, doing SuDoKu, and watched a TON of TV. She was concerned about the swelling of my ankles, saying it could be impending preeclampsia and she wanted me to rest in order to prevent it. I have another appt today to see if I can work again. Good news - my ankles are no longer swollen! Yay!

Oh, and I don't look it, but I feel HUGE. I want this baby to be here.

Josh came to Randolph to visit me, and I was sooooo happy. I missed him so much, especially the cuddling. Anyways, it rained, A LOT. It rained so much that we couldn't leave the log home - thier creek ran over the banks and we were flooded into the house until last night when Josh and his dad fixed it with gravel. It was frustrating having to miss church.

So right now I am here at Josh's office supposedly working on my 2 papers that are due this week. But I took a break to update you my friends. The semester is (thankfully) over, I just have to write these last 2 papers then I am officially DONE with my classes!! My last day at work is this Saturday - sweet :-) I don't like it there cause its so stressfull and my life has enough stress without this.

Oh, in other news, (very sad news) my grandfather passed away this weekend. The funeral is this Thursday 4 hours away. He died of internal bleeding that was a side effect of his cancer. Even though we were pretty close (he gave me away at my wedding) I knew this was coming and he isn't suffering from cancer anymore. But I really don't want to go to the funeral. People say, "he'd want you there, he loved you." But the funeral is for the living not the dead - plus, he's with Jesus, I doubt he cares who is at this funeral. One of the reasons I don't want to go is that it takes 4 hours to get there, so I'd be away from my Doula and Doctor for at least 12 hours straight. That kinda freaks me out this late into the pregnancy. I am 38 weeks along....not that I would go into labor this Thursday, but the slight what if makes me nervous.

Thank you for reading this rambling. God bless you all!!

2007-04-19T06:19:00.000-07:00

Well, it's really sad the last time we updated this, sorry for any of those who try and read it and we dissapoint, day after day after day. I'll get on Annie about that and make sure she does better! *whip crack*

We are starting to feel some pressure, Annie is going to have her baby in 5 weeks, I hope. She thinks tomorrow would be fun. I think tomorrow would suck because I only have footing done for the shed at this point.

We have moved very little stuff from our trailer, which we are moving out of May 1st. *yikes* So that is another stress, that is my fault though, too many mornings of sleeping in and not packing. But, Annie has an inside box boy at Varney's bookstore and she is going to be getting a bazillion boxes for free. (I think she flirted with him.) So that will be helpful. The only problem is, we now get to be creative as far as where we are going to be putting the boxes. Sort of filled up the storage unit. We sort of ran out of space in the 54' trailer at work, with work stuff, so there isn't any room in there now. Looks like another storage unit for us. Woohoo!

Annie will be moving to my parents to stay until I get the house done, which at this rate will definately be AFTER the baby is born *sad*

I will be moving in with my brother and his 4 kids, bringing along Angel (of darkness - thnx to pastor pat for that one.) and my cat Frenzy - the ball of razors.

I really need to get back to work, so talk/type later, just wanted to put up a SMALL update.

Josh

2007-03-08T07:23:00.000-08:00

This is our Bichon Angel. Josh had some free time and did her hair. After my sister saw the awful torture poor Angel had to endure, she saw the onzie below and just had to buy it!

Annie's turn!

God has been teaching me so much about trusting him and giving him control. Every day, I look at my life and it doesn't seem to be what I wanted it to be because I am not able to control every little aspect. (Like money, for example) I'm not unhappy, I love my life - but every time I try to control something I seem to fail at it and I end up praying and I hear God saying, "When will you just let me do it?" Steven Curtis Chapman has a song that goes, "God is God and I am not." So true! So this week I have been spending more time in the word/prayer than I have been bent over the checkbook or planning out my life. You know what I have found? More peace and fun in life! I love God so much, he is always so faithful!

School is absurdly easy (thank the Lord) and I have been working a lot less (hence the money issues). This is the first time in my life that I have more free time than I know what to do with - so why is our house not spic'n'span? Cause I'm used to disciplining myself when I have way-too-much going on in life and I have just gotten lazy. Maybe I'll feel better about myself if I actually live in a spotless house for more than 2 days.....emotions are my favorite thing - lol - you never know what you're going to get!!

I will say this about my pregnancy - if all my pregnancies are this easy, I don't know how I can say no to "as many kids as God blesses us with" as Josh so lovingly puts it. There are times when I don't even feel pregnant - just large... hehehehe

God bless you all!!!

2007-02-26T10:26:00.000-08:00

I wish to call this: "The crazy rambling of an innocent man"
or maybe its the innocent ramblings of a crazy man... I haven't decided yet.

Well, Annie and I went to Target to register for some baby stuff. It was fun, but half way through the exercise, we realized the futility we were bringing on ourselves. Basically there was no real direction that we were trying to go, with what we were beeping. So, half an hour of reading about what you need for a newborn and what to expect and why this is better than that, but not as good as this other thing that teaches your child French while giving them a bath and you a pedicure. (that wasn't a real item, just in case you were about to go Google it.)

Anyway, we think we have most of what we will need figured out, and so we are ready for it to be completely wrong and our baby will hate all of it, and since most of it is a pinkish hue, our baby will also be a boy. Which I think would be absolutely hilarious. Not that I care either way, but the humor in that alone will make me a very very VERY happy person.

Annie is using four pillows to sleep now. I get to help tuck the one behind her back in and it helps me to feel important. She is so cute too. =) Sadly though, I have had a persistent cough now for quite some time and it wakes her up at night and makes me feel bad for waking her.

My truck broke down quite nicely out in the middle of nowhere. And then started on fire. Or at least started smoking heavily before I unplugged the battery cable. I have horrible luck out there with fires. I have never had a fire in a vehicle in my life, until I tried doing work on the property. Very weird.

There isn't much time left to try and build this shed/house thing, and I have had several (and I am very gracious for them) offers from the church to come out and help me get things done on it. I just have to get my ducks in a row before it will do any good to have someone help, otherwise there will be two people standing around with their hands in their pockets instead of just one.

I was out trying to figure out where to put the drive way in for the shed today. There are these really cool vines (the locals call them "Wild Roses") with 1/2" thorns of death and clothing rippage that are all over the place. I had to walk through way more of them than I wanted to today to try and put flags up for the bulldozer man to come and push a path for the gravel truck to come dump stone for the drive. Anyway, I thought I would sum this experience up with one word: "ouchy".

I think that the title is not correct as it, this is definitely more like: "the innocent ramblings of a crazy man" than anything else.

Oh, and the cat, Christy, has round worms. But she still meowes incessantly, so I always have that to look forward to every morning when I come in. Oh, and she has begun to invade my desk top area with her stretching and cleaning as well. So that is fun as well. She is still a really great cat even if she is somewhat annoying at times... all times.

have a nice day

-josh

2007-01-28T13:11:00.000-08:00

YAY FOR PREGNANT PIC! This was taken on Sunday Jan 28th. I am 23 weeks pregnant, so just under 6 months. You can see why I need to go shopping for Maternity clothes. Wow!
This close-up is just to remind myself that just because my belly, butt and thighs are growing doesn't mean I look like that ALL OVER. It's a good picture, and I can look at it when I am feeling really fat and ugly. (Don't you hate those days?)

Finally! I have pictures to post!

These are pictures of Josh's parent's log home. We were married here, but the inside was not quite finished. This is the inside, where everyone hangs out. You can see the kitchen, living room and the upstairs where 3 more bedrooms are located.

They hope to make this a bed & breakfast someday, I love going there and hangin out with family!

Isn't their house awsome? That buffalo participates in all our get-togethers. At Christmas he was wearing a Santa hat!

Thanks for looking! It's so nice to finally get pictures on my blog.

Laters!

2007-01-25T18:54:00.000-08:00

ANNIE'S TURN TO BLOG!! HOORAY!

I'm feeling better now. It doesn't hurt quite so much when I walk or when I turn over in bed. I need to go shopping for maternity clothes.... the rubber-band trick isn't quite working anymore.

I'm in a journalism class that is sheer torture! I despise going and don't want to be forced to partake in any of the assignments. This is not an exagerration, which is truely sad. But the good news: I have decided to stay in school for 2 more years and get a B.S. in Elementary Education! what?? yup - 3 bachelor's degrees in 7 years. Some people can get a doctorate in this amount of time, but I had no clue what I wanted to until this semester, which is teach children. Josh and I are in prayer every night about this. I wish I could be a stay at home mom, I really do! But kids cost money....know what I mean? And I know that God doesn't love stay at home moms more than working moms (thank goodness!)

So, if I am going to find a job, I want it to be one that I love more than I hate. And one that doesn't stay the same, I feel like I make a difference, and has the opprotunity for advancement in pay. Teaching! Plus, the classes for this degree sound really fun (as opposed to those horrendous journalism classes I completed)

Now the real prayer will be for excellent child care. I am petrified about putting my darling(s) in anyone else's charge. God will provide, thats what prayer is for!

Josh is going to be travelling to New Jersey this Sunday, and I'll be all alone until Wed afternoon....oh sadness. I haven't been away from him for this long and I know I'll cry (stupid pregnancy hormones, might as well let it out!)

Till later friends!

2007-01-22T17:52:00.000-08:00

I should be working right now instead of blogging. =)

Well, I called Pott. County zoning and they pretty much told me I'm an idiot. I said, "Oh yeah? Tell me something I don't already know!"

Ok. They really said that you can't move a single wide trailer older than 5 years onto a lot less than 40 acres (you know, a 1/4 mile x 1/4 mile). Sooooo, instead of buying a double wide and moving it onto the land or a newer single wide, Annie thought we might build a shed that we could finish out and live in while we build our house. I thought that was a pretty good idea, and so we sat down and figured it out a little bit, and she said she would finish up the floor plan for us later tonight, get an estimate on material costs, do the paper work for getting the building permit, call public works to see what kind of septic we need to put in, get propane, find water and drill a well, figure out where the driveway is going to be at, figure out how to build a bridge over the run off area and a few other misc. items like that. But she wants to build it with the idea being that after we build our house, we convert our house/shed into a shed and park her Harley in it.

On the baby front: Annie talks about being able to feel the baby kick, so thats kind of weird for her so far. But I think it's pretty neat. I can’t wait till I get to feel it with her.

Baby stuff along the lines of the new House/shed we are trying to make sure we don't leave anything important out of the design that we will regret later because of the new baby. I know that when she is born things will change drastically, so we are trying really hard not to miss any important design points along those lines. Maybe later I can post a floor plan of what we are thinking and that way if something is missing or should be changed we can be warned ahead of time.

CATWORLD

The cat that came to work with me is doing really well. She took a big stinky, runny, petulant, nasty poo on my nice 10 key calculator for me. I threw that away. But my brother got a pretty good laugh out of the whole deal.

Cristy (The Cat) is starting to fill out a little already, her back legs don’t look nearly as emaciated as they did when we found her and she is meowing pretty much constantly. Her tongue sticks out some times, so I wonder if she isn’t a little… slow…. I have an uneasy feeling that her meowing is due to pregnancy. *yay* Kittens for everyone!

Oh! And the best part about Cristy is how good she smells. I can honestly say, and I can’t stress this point enough, I have never EVER smelled a cats fart that is even 1/10 the amount of stink that this cat can produce. It just about makes my eyes water. I had to open the window to the office the other night. My goodness it was powerful.

Business is still going good. It’s kind of weird though. I have never had prayers answered so literally and directly as this. Tasha (the office manager) and I prayed that we could get some long owed money paid back to us and that business would pick up. This prayer was two weeks ago. So two weeks ago we booked most of February. Last week we booked the rest of February. Between the last two weeks we have only two outstanding debts still owed, all of the others were either paid in full or at least had payments made on. So that prayer was answered in excess to what I expected. We also prayed that we would be able to get more work done than we have been able to in the past, and since then it hasn’t been a problem. We crammed too much work into last week and even had a person gone on vacation and we were actually a little ahead of schedule by Friday. Like I said, I have never experienced prayer working in that sort of direct in your face way.

Ramble, ramble, ramble. Talk/type Later!

-josh

2007-01-18T20:12:00.000-08:00

There is no need for alarm.

We decided tonight, Thursday 1/18/07, to move. We will no longer be living in Walnut Grove Trailer Park by the end of March. Where we are moving to, we don't know yet, but hopefully when we get there, there will be internet access so I can update everyone on how pregnant Annie is.

She is moderately pregnant at this point and is closing in on being mostly pregnant. *yay*

As far as the moving thing goes, we have a very short time to get a whole lot of important things figured out, but we aren’t moving far, just to our land. The bit about not knowing where we are going yet is in regards to the actual placement of the trailer.

We have had some meowing from under our home as of late. This has happened before. Several years ago I had some cats fighting under my trailer and it freaked me out because things were bumping the bottom of the house and it was weird... Anyway, the meowing has been pretty frequent and so today at lunch I decided to find out where the cat was at and how it was getting under the house. It turns out that 'Cristy' the Calico Cat has been residing under our trailer for a few days and managed to sneak in and out of under the trailer via a 2 inch wide slot in the skirting. Basically the cat was squeezing through the plastic skirting on the bottom of our trailer and it must have been pretty uncomfortable, but when I felt along her back tonight as I gave her some water, I could see that there wasn't much there to hold her back from going through a miniscule opening like that save for her hip bones, and the skin and fur that enveloped them. She’s in pretty rough shape.

I feel really sorry for 'Cristy' (I made the mistake of allowing Annie to name 'it') and am not really sure what to do with her. She is a very friendly cat, but I would be to if I was in her situation and she has some pretty neat spots on her body and a pink nose. (Annie noticed that fact. I wonder if it has to do with the color pink?)
Anyone need a cat? or a dog? or a dog and a cat? and some fish?

Just kidding, don't want to get rid of any one of them except the fish... they aren’t fun to move and so it would be nice to just get rid of them to someone who isn't going to move soon and can enjoy them and take better care of them than I.

Anyway, Annie and I have to figure out where we are going to move our trailer to on our paint ball course (the land on Vineyard Rd.) and then get the ball rolling on electricity, gas, drilling a well for water (exceptional water out there, I am stoked) and of course, figuring out what to do with the waste problem... It's really sandy soil, so I don't think I can put in a lagoon w/o putting in a clay bottom, but since the soil is so sandy and I have a pretty decent grade to the land I think that a septic tank and lateral fields might be in our future but I don't know yet because I don't know much when it comes to those kind of things.

This will be nice because now I can get up, walk across the lawn and start working on the house I'm supposed to start building on this spring. Rather than drive to the building site, forget some important document or tool and have to drive back to the trailer, get it and then drive back and then realize that I forgot something else, and you get the picture. Having our trailer out there will be very nice.

OK. I have to hit the sack and get up early for talking to people about putting a mobile home on zoned waste agriculture land. Oh yeah, add that to the list of things that have to happen, get a hold of someone that knows how to move a trailer. *sigh*

-josh

p.s. I didn't proof read this, so I apologize for the horrible way I tell stories and such, I'm really awful, so if you have any questions about my ramblings please feel free to ask Annie.

2007-01-12T15:31:00.000-08:00

Well, it turns out that the first picture where I thought I had everything labeled correctly was actually completely wrong. It isn't a sonogram at all, it's actually a picture that one of the Mars rovers took while it was stuck in the sand dune. I guess it got really bored in that long stint of being trapped in the same location and just came up with creative things to do with it's free time. Like make sonogram like pictures of the microscopic life that lives on the grains of sand on Mars. Odd huh? Those crazy rovers and their creativity... sheesh.

Anyway, the winner of the guess what the picture really is contest is: *drum roll*

Brad

I think also, that if you want to take a super close look at these pictures, you can click on them and they will go to a new screen and bring up the life size photo. In real time even, which is super handy.

I think I am done blogging for, oh, ever. I'm not very good at it and I can't seem to write a whole sentence that doesn't have some sort of misleading conent. Shame on me. So it is now officially up to Annie to go back to her duties of updating this page, and at the same time, be honest about what is going on and stuff.

-josh

p.s. It was fun while it lasted.

2007-01-11T08:16:00.000-08:00

Sonogram Pictures of:

Cute Baby Lizzie

I was assured by the specialist that this sonogram is correct. I have looked and looked at it and just can't make heads or tails of what I am looking at, but thought that I could go ahead and put it out there and let everyone else try and decipher this... She sure is cute though, where ever she is at...

-josh

_________________________________________________

I couldn't get around to posting the rest of the pictures till now.

please enjoy the rest of the sonograms.

Thats my baby girl =)
This picture here is the first sonogram that we had done months ago. Back when she was in her "bean" state. I think she still looks pretty cute then to.

EEEK!! Hey, alien looking or not, she's still my little girl.

This is just a picture to show her bones (I think, but I'm not a doctor).

This picture here is the one that showed us that Lizzie is not a boy. If you look in the exact middle of the picture there, that's her butt. I can see already that she is going to be the person making copies of her derriere at the office and posting it on the board. tsk tsk (she gets it from her mom.)

-josh

2007-01-08T11:42:00.000-08:00

We are having a baby girl!
Elizabeth Leona Shultz

God bless you all,
Annie & Josh

2007-01-05T18:49:00.000-08:00

*tap* *tap* *tap*
"Uhhum."

"Uhh, is this thing on?"

Honestly, the only thing that I can think to write about is church. More specifically church game night. More specifically yet, a game called Scattagories. The most more specific piece of being specific would be the Scategories church game night moment where we had to think of "things you would shout" that started with the letter 'p' and the instant where Annie used her incredible timing of actually SHOUTING the phrase "Piss off!" where there was utter silence. I mean, I don't understand how she did it. There was honestly a void of sound for an instant and then a high pitched gleeful outpouring of her beautifully and diplomatically worded answer, (imagine a slow motion image of Rocky being punched and the spittle, blood and sweat flying off of the grimacing face and then a super deep pitched phrased very slowly saying, UUUuuuuuhhhmmPFFFfffff) "PISSSssssss OFFFFfffffff". That was like what that moment was like. Easily the best part of the whole moment was how Judy Weyrauch went, "Oh My" and put her hand up kind of below her neck in that shocked look. Then of course there was my flailing of limbs and exasperated shocked look that I like to give when there is an awkward moment and I want to exasperate it some more. Then time sped back up to normal and the night went on swimmingly. It was a very fun night, although, I'm not sure if we will be invited back. Well, at least maybe Annie might not be invited back.

Teasing dear, I love you. (I'm going to pay dearly for this later, but its VERY much worth it.)

Ok. Baby Time. Please stay seated.

Well, when Annie told me her password to get into this and change the blog, she said that I had to do an update on the baby.

1) Its a... We go in on Monday, January 9th to find out whether I'm going to be a dad or a mom. Yay!

2) Annie (and the baby) are in something like the 20th week I think. I'm about as reliable a source on this particular subject as I would be on the proper way to figure the consumption rate for rocket fuel per ft lb of thrust to the weight of a Saturn V rocket.

3) Annie has been going thru some changes. Mostly her pregnancy brain. I'm lucky if she remembers to take out the trash, walk the dog, pay the bills, do the grocery shopping, clean the floors, clean the cobwebs, clean the dishes, wash the clothes and empty the cat box. Just kidding. She has just told me that she is having a slightly tougher time at work multi tasking. She's still really good at her job though.

4)Annie has gone shopping for some new outfits, and I like her new clothes (the way they go together really well) better than her old outfits. I'm not saying that the old outfits were bad, these are just some really snappy outfits.

5)She has been sleeping more lately, and complaining. Sleep, complain, sleep some more, complain. Uhg. I guess I deserve this though, I was mean to a kid in highschool once, so this is my pennance. She has been doing the pillow between the legs and sleeping on her side thing. I think she needs a different pillow because she just complains about the one she is using now. Also, sleeping on her side has helped to aleviate her snoring. She used to keep me up at night, oh man, if I wasn't asleep before her, it was a real life nightmare trying to get a wink of sleep. If I sound like a mean person, I am, I am mostly jaded by the fact that I only get about an hour of sleep at night, the rest of the time I am trying to put things over my head to drown out the saw mill next to me. (this is probably the most sarcastic thing I have ever written. Please believe me, I love my wife, and she doesn't snore, usually.)

6)Annie is starting show a bit, its pretty cool. She looks cute. Soon she will be walking into door jambs and asking me to put her shoes on for her. =)

As for things in my life besides my wife and her ailments, work has been pretty slow but its looking like it will pick back up.

My new bank is giving me some AWESOME new loans. I was using a different bank and they really messed me up financially with some loans I took out to buy a second rental property. But since that dark time with them Annie and I have switched to Intrust and they are truly amazing. They refinanced all of loans that I had and gave me better rates, figured out some ways to save even more money and did it all in a very timely manner. Very happy with Intrust.

Thats about it. Except I received a chainsaw for Christmas. Talk about cool. So tomorrow morning I am going to go try and cut some trees down and hopefully not any parts off of my self. Like my foot, or hand, or head...

THIS IS ANNIE: I PROMISE to post as soon as I can what the baby is. Love you all!!
oh, and Josh is hilarious isn't he?

2006-12-20T07:28:00.000-08:00

Just a quick update for everyone....I'm at work and don't have long to write this :-)

Finals went as good as they could - I passed Spanish 4! I got a 65% and a 63 is an F....so this means I will NEVER have to take Spanish again! HOORAY!!!

The week after finals was not all rest and relaxation however.....I got really sick. Monday I was very weak, no energy and couldn't eat anything. I tried to eat and couldn't keep it down. All night I was going to the bathroom, it was terrible. Tuesday was a bit better, no nausea! But still kinda weak and tired. Today I had a stuffy nose and other cold symptoms, plus I can't hear out of my right ear! Ugh...... when will I get a break?

I've been working everyday here at the Real Estate office. I sure hope I don't get people sick.

That's it for now, I'll update more later.

2006-12-12T07:14:00.000-08:00

Long time no post! No time to post.... with school wrapping up, I have been deep in my books, and when I get burned out on them I try to catch up on our poor house - dishes, laundry and all. This is finals week and I can't wait for it to be over! Spanish 4 is one of the hardest classes I have EVER taken at K-State. I'm honestly afraid that if I get a terrible grade on the final, I might fail the class.....I am trying to figure it out mathmatically, but I don't know if I am doing it correctly. Oh well - Josh told me just to study as hard as I could and do my best, and we'll see what happens after that.

I got a new office manager at the real estate office (thankfully). My previous boss was 3 months older than me and acted 2 years younger. She came to work one day with a hangover, would text her friends during work, among other non-professional actions. So they fired her and hired another lady - her name is Suzanne and she seems to be a breath of fresh air! I'm just praying that after she learns the job, we can work really well together :-)

I want a digital camera! I want to post pictures for everyone....grr.... lol I have a teeny bit more belly now, I can feel it whether or not everyone else can see it I dunno. I feel bloated/fat even though I know very well what it is. My Dr's office scheduled all my appointments until the end of the pregnancy already....and almost all of them are during my advertising writing class! I called them and asked them to do some switching, and the receptionist said she'd try, but the office is really booked and this might be the only time I can get in....I'd hate to miss over half of the classes - good reason or not. We'll see what turns out.

I'm on the worship team at church, and boy do I miss Mindy! It was my first time without her this past Sunday, and I felt so off the whole time. I am an alto, but I have a really hard time hitting the alto notes dead-on without someone else to match with. Joyce is in the monitor, but it's not the same.....oh well, practice makes perfect, so hopefully I'll get better at this! I had a dream last night that Amy Grant went to our church and she was my Sunday School teacher. She agreed to give me voice lessons....that's just what I need too LOL Voice lessons from Amy Grant!! :-D

Back to cleaning and homework! This was a nice distraction, I'm glad I finally found time to update :-)
God bless you all!

2006-11-29T07:53:00.000-08:00

Back into the swing of things!
Thanksgiving was kinda tiring...we went to three thanksgivings and catching up on homework just didn't happen.

But we did get to tell my grandpa about the pregnancy, and he was much more supportive than I thought he would be :-) Oh I was so relieved....I thought he was going to start pressuring me about how I'm going to finish school, but it feels great to know he has faith in me to finish just fine!

My mom was (again) commenting on my weight. (whenever the pregnancy is brought up she has to say that I'm going to "blow up like all the other Cukjati's) Anyway, she was like "Annie, not only are you gaining weight in your belly, I see it in your butt, and your hips.." Thats when I cut her off and laughed and said "I know you mean well, but it kinda stinks when people comment on my weight like that." grrr... I know I'm not that big, but she sure isn't helping any.

My sister Bethany might be living with my husband and I over her Christmas break! That should be fun. She's a freshman at K-State and it'll be nice to have another pair of hands for some of the chores.... plus - she's an excellent cook! yay!

2006-11-20T08:18:00.000-08:00

I am so excited about finally getting a break soon from school and work. Josh and I have both been working like mad ants this past week and it is taking its toll. The house is not pleasant and my energy level at work today is minimal.
Josh has been working hard going to work around 6:30 am and staying till 9 or 10pm. He's helping his dad get the log cabin ready for family at thanksgiving.

And like I thought, working all weekend at work and school and traveling to Topeka for family thanksgiving meal, sure made me feel exhausted and kinda sick this morning. I am really hoping that I get plenty of rest over this break so I can finish the semester strong!

On a happier note, Sunday at church was a good day! I was so excited to see Amber again! It was a tiny bit bittersweet though....Mindy and Chris recieved the Distinguished Service award and among her friends there was not a dry eye! I tried not to tear up, but couldn't help it....We have 2 Sundays left with them, and I don't even want to think about how much they will be missed. And Corey and Holly (RozenbLoom! LOL) And John is going to Iraq.....oh next January will be such a sad month.......

But God bless all of them, and protect them. Praise the Lord for Blogger! I won't loose touch with them because of it!

2006-11-16T07:02:00.000-08:00

I feel more stressed out about school than I feel pregnant.
But, life is going well overall. Sure, I've gained 10 pounds (that I really didn't want to!) but that is the only pregnancy symptom I have right now. Thankfully, the exhaustion has diminished enough for me to actually accomplish things rather than let them sit idly by. This is really an answer to prayer! I have soooo much homework right now. Not to mention the 2 "work weekends" I have to spend at K-State, with my class. I'm sorry, I shouldn't complain, but weekends are my time, and my professor took it away. I think I"m going to go pout for a second.....

Other news: The boa constrictor is gone! Our friend Seth took it. Our living room has 2 love seats, so we might actually invite people over, now that they have a place to sit!

Amber and Ben are coming to Manhattan this weekend, and I am so excited! I miss Amber so much....plus, I want to hear more about thier house.

I went shopping for new clothes - ones that were not extremely tight. Now I am cute and comfy....I just won't tell people the size.......

OH! Names!
I am really hoping for a little girl, but here are our ideas.
Girl: Elizabeth Leona
Boy: Joseph Lloyd

I really want a little Lizzie, but Joey will probably be a hearthrob too....

God bless you all on this FREEZING thursday!

2006-11-03T18:44:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone! I was interviewed by a reporter in the Collegian for an article about kids at weddings. I put the link here - it's really fun. I liked finally being the one being interviewd instead of the interviewer.

I'll post more later, but enjoy the article!

Children's activities make receptions more enjoyable for all - News

2006-11-01T18:29:00.000-08:00

In one week, a lot sure has changed!

Josh and I told just about everyone about the pregnancy. Everyone has taken it pretty well. I really wasn't excited about being pregnant - still in school, don't want to deal with the physical side effects just yet - but after talking to lots of people, I am starting to catch the happiness a bit.

I will try my best not to turn this blog into a venting tool, where all I write about is how pregnancy is making me feel. But, I have to admit, it's gonna get written.

I am tired all the time! But thankfully, the "fatigue" should ease up and my energy should return in about 2 weeks! YAY!! I really need my energy back, cause I have a lot to do in school and work yet.

Oh! I was soooo totally excited the other day when Josh stayed up almost all night drawing up the plans for our house he is going to build! He probably won't start actually building it until next summer, but seeing his ideas on paper made me just think about how lucky I truely am. I can't believe that someday I will have a house of my very own! WOW!! Growing up, I didn't live in a real house until 6th grade! Now, I am really hoping that my kids will know house living more than trailer living. The house should be done in 5 years, and I am going to bathe that in prayers!

I really want a digital camera for Christmas....for when the baby comes mainly, but I also want to take pictures and post them on here when fun stuff happens so I can update ya'll, especially Amber and Mindy - I miss ya Amber! (I don't miss Mindy & fam yet, but I will)

Ok, long enough post. I will try to keep this updates more than once a week

God bless,
Annie

2006-10-26T14:11:00.000-07:00

Life has been going in shifts: from busy to slow, energetic to flat-dead exhausted, sick to well.

Today, I am tired, busy, and a tad sick to my stomach. Otherwise, all is well
I am really looking forward to next semester! I will be taking 15 hours, and only 1 or 2 classes will have a load of homework. Currently, 3 of my 4 classes have a TON of homework, so it should be a nice change. Then, in the fall, I will only be taking BIOLOGY! After that is completed, I can graduate!!

Oh I am really looking forward to being a college graduate, and with 2 bachelor's no less. Maybe then I can actually keep up on the laundry and vacuming. I won't have a full-time job, (don't want one..next year I want a baby and be a stay-at-home mom) so maybe then I can be every bit the wife that my hubbie deserves. I've been too busy lately to help him out at all with the house or money....poor guy...
Here is why my husband is more than I deserve:

He cooks all the meals (fixed eggs/waffels and gave me breakfast in bed today)
He does all the dishes
Does all the bills
Encourages me when I am down
Encourages me to clean, without being pushy or mean
Understands when I am being moody

I just thank God everymorning that I actually found someone like him! He's wonderful!

And if anyone knows someone that wants a boa constrictor, we have one for sale. Here is a picture of it, he's really nice!

2006-10-18T09:43:00.000-07:00

Ok, funny story time again!

I went grocery shopping with my dear husband last night. I asked him to write out the grocery list.
Here is what I found:

The entire list was typed in Excel. Organized by section of the store it is found in. (Dairy, Cereal Isle) Then, alphabetized within thier said categories. Not only this, but it gets better! He then put collumns, where he wrote quantity, and even what the food item was for! I wish I could upload this document for everyone to see, it really is a riot! He is so funny sometimes

2006-10-14T08:15:00.001-07:00

YAY! I Have Blogger now! I joined so that anyone can post comments. This will be a great way for me to also keep in touch with people (Like Mindy, Chris & Baby Luke) when they leave. Oh, I am going to cry...better change the subject.

Today The K-State Wildcats play the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Our church has a concession stand to raise money for missions, and my hubbie and I are going to help out. It is one of the biggest games of the year, and we are shortstaffed. Should prove to be an interesting (and exhausting) game.

For magazine writing class, we were told to experience something for the first time and write a story about what happened. Some chose to ride with a policeman, others to ride with an EMT. I chose something more hands on! I spent the evening and entire night with my dear friends Chris & Mindy and 4 month old Baby Luke! He was tired and angry most of the evening due mainly to a lot more traveling than he is used to. So I got to hear my fair share of screaming!

But the funniest part is this:

For me to fully "experience" mothering a baby, I agreed to wake up in the middle of the night with Mindy, change his diaper, and let her feed him. I expected him to be awake around 3 or 4. At 2:57AM I heard this awful wail.I woke up, and as I did, it stopped. Oh dear, I thought. I missed him waking up! Better get outta bed and at least watch her feed him. So as I go to see Mindy, everyone is still in bed. I am still half asleep, so I say"Good Morning." in a whisper. Mindy then tells me sweetly that it was her cat crying, not the baby! LOL I was so embarrassed! How did I mistake it?

The paper is going to be so funny and educational. I was so excited for this opportunity. OH! And Baby Luke slept from 11:00pm-6:30am! Lucky me

OH! And maybe for Christmas I'll get a digital camera, so I can publish pictures! We shall see....