It's Picture Time!

Colton is growing SO FAST, I feel like I need to take photos every single day just to make sure I don't miss anything! So here are a couple photos from the past week:

This is Colton in the recliner with our cat, Lola. He loves her and LOVES to pet her!

This happens to be the same day as the pictures of him with the cat (can you tell by the outfit?) We were all playing on the deck and having a fun time!

This one is one of my favorites. I love his eyes.

And here Colton is playing with his giraffe from Auntie Meggie!

Goal for this next week: be in photos with Colton. Seriously ya'll. I have so many photos of Colton, and quite a few with Brad in them, but not very often am I in them. So next week I will begin taking photos of Colton and I together. Who cares if my hair is a mess and I am still in my jammies. I am spending time with my precious son and that is what matters the most... that is what we would like to remember. Not my perfectly made up face and straightened hair.

We'll see if I accomplish that. I am likely to be a slacker. :)

Appendicitis

It is Wednesday, and I am posting. I thought about waiting until tomorrow so that I could be "on track" for my thoughtful thursdays, but I have time now. And things to write about. And so here we are.

Colton had his first sleep-over the other day. With a girl. This will be the only sleep-over with a girl, btw.

Here is how it all went down.

Friday. Brad had a pretty bad stomach ache... we kept thinking "what did you eat that could have given you this." But nothing came to mind. He pushed it aside and did all normal things for him - went to work, went on a long run, played with the baby, etc.

Saturday. Bad stomach ache turned into increasing pain in lower right abdomen. (we later found out the name of this spot -McBurney's point). Still.. no extra thoughts about it. Just taking it easy around the house. Until about 7:00 when we started googling, and realized he had all the exact symptoms of appendicitis. Ugh. No way. So, with a little bit of talking, the decision was made. If in fact it was appendicitis, he could not wait until Sunday morning to go to the hospital. (Or Monday, like he originally wanted to). Brad decided to drive himself. What. A. Ridiculous. Idea. But I could not not NOT talk him out of it. ("we don't even know what it is. it could be nothing. we dont want to take the baby to the hospital. etc. etc. etc. just let me go") Ugh. I gave in. Luckily it turned out okay but I had a bad feeling about it the whole time.

Sunday. 1am. hadn't slept (should have gone to the hospital) dr.s decide to do immediate surgery to remove Brads appendix. So I call my good friend and wake Colton up to take to her house to sleep the rest of the night. (Her adorable baby girl is only 3 wks younger than Colton.. so they usually have tons of fun playing together!) Make it to the hospital as they are about to wheel Brad to surgery. He looks like he is in lots of pain by this point, but still his composure remains, with a few grimaces. He's so tough.

330am. The Surgeon comes to see me and explains about the surgery, how well Brad took it, etc. Nothing that sticks out in my mind, I just wanted to see Brad. He did say though, that when he went to meet Brad and was told the size of his appendix, he did not think that Brad could be the patient they were talking about. He assumed Brad had accompanied the patient, because usually someone with that size of appendix is practically incoherent with pain. But not my husband. My husband drove himself. Yes. He better not have been practically incoherent with pain.

The recovery went pretty well. I love the funny loopy things people say when they are coming off of anaesthesia. Brad's best one this time:

B: "did they get it?"

J: "get it?"

B: "yea. did they get it out?"

J: "oh, yes, it is gone. don't worry"

B: "good. we sure showed that appendix"

hahahahaha. I cracked up. Seriously ya'll. this was the comedic relief my tired worried self needed.

anyway. here we are. he spent until monday around noon in recovery and then he was released, getting 2 weeks of leave time from the drs. But remember how he drove himself to the hospital? Because he's so tough? Well it is now Wednesday and he is back at work today. My husband apparently doesn't know how to "take it easy" and "recover". He did, however, spend all day yesterday and Monday afternoon like this:

"Jessica... I'm hungry" .... "Jessica... I'm thirsty" .... "Jessica... I'm cold" .... "Jessica... I need a shoulder rub" .... "Jessica... I want to play Wii" .... "Jessica... I want to watch TV"

Turns out, he knows how to "take it easy" when it involves getting me to do everything for me. But honestly.. I didn't mind. I kept thinking about how thankful I am that we live in 2011 instead of 1711, before this surgery existed. When people just died if their appendix attacked them.

So here we are. If you want to pray for us... pray that Brad knows his limitations. I don't want him pushing himself too hard and hurting himself.

Maybe I will still do a Thoughtful Thursday tomorrow. We will see. :)

Thoughtful Thursday

I love Thursdays. I am not exactly sure why. Maybe it's because I consider Friday the official start of the weekend, and so Thurdsay is the lead-off. Or maybe it is because we have lunch & play dates with some good friends most Thursdays. I don't really know why, but either way I would argue that Thursday is the best day of the week. And so Thursdays will be my blog days. Thoughtful Thursday. I suppose it will be a random conglomeration of Thoughts.

{one} My husband just got a new motorcycle helmet. It is very pretty and a size Medium. Unfortunately, when I tried it on, it gave me a huge headache. Apparently my head is a size Large. Ugh.

{two} We FINALLY bought bedroom furniture. We have been using "college furniture" for forever now and have been browsing bedroom sets for years. Well we decided to take the plunge and buy some pretty new furniture. It took us awhile to decide what we wanted for sure but we did it. We ordered two dressers from Havertys, one long one with a mirror and a tall chest. And then we ordered a custom upholstered bed and ottoman. It is beautiful. There are no pictures of it on the Bassett website because it is custom but be assured as soon as we get it I will be putting pictures up! :)

{three} It has been raining here for about 5 days. Ugh.

Okay I don't have anything going on and so I am just trying to find things to write about. Maybe next Thursday I will be better at this! :)

A Half Birthday

I love holidays. I love anything that makes an ordinary day extraordinary. I love traditions. I love the excitement that comes along with knowing what is to come, the expectations of the day. Yes, I find any reason to celebrate anything and I cling to it. And I (want to) go all out with lots of food and gifts and candy and decorations. My darling husband, however, is quite the opposite. Holidays are just another day to him. I do not know if he has always been like this. Actually, I expect he hasn't. His mother and sister have told me stories of him on Christmas being super excited for his plethora of presents and Christmas morning (his mom, I think, is secretly like me.. I have heard the stories of how she went all out for Christmas and over-spoiled them.. I call it over-loving though!) I have often wondered and asked what has changed in him that makes him NOT so holiday crazed. He tells me it is because he is an adult and not a child anymore, but I think that is a sad excuse. I know many adults who loves holidays as much as I do. Secretly I wonder if it has anything to do with the many holidays he has missed because of the army, either being in training or Iraq or Afghanistan. I do not know, but I imagine that it is easier to handle when you don't think of the day being special. Either way, when he is home, it is hard for us to decide how to handle these different holidays. I want to go holiday crazy, he wants to a small simple celebration. Most of the time, he will give in on big holidays and I will give in on small ones (the ones he doesnt even consider celebration-worthy!)

This being said, Colton has now turned 6 months. A half of a year. Thus: A half birthday celebration!! I wanted to invite all his baby friends over and have cake and ice cream. Brad reminded me that babies do not eat cake or ice cream. (Seriously. He's so logical.) And so: plan nixed. I will definitely be over-celebrating his first birthday but I suppose his half-birthday is not over-celebration worthy. And so we settled on a present and me repeatedly singing "happy half-birthday to you" all day. It was super fun for me, although Colton could care less about presents. He is happy with whatever toy/book/piece of paper we put in front of him.

Yes, six months. Can you believe it? My baby is HALF of a year? I think this every month but I think this one moreso. He is no longer a teensy tinesy infant, cuddling and sleeping in my arms all day. I love those days. I miss those days. But I love these days too. He is so FUN now. He is sitting up really well... he can sit up tripod style all day and for a few minutes at a time without using his hands. Which is very fun because now I can sit across from him on the floor and interact better, as opposed to having him sit on my lap while he played with toys. Also, every single thing makes him laugh. I can't get over it. I make a fool out of myself on a daily basis because anything out of the ordinary gets a huge laugh. He is super tickelish, as well. His belly, his neck, his lower back, the bottom of his feet, his ribs, etc. It is so cute. Also (have I already mentioned this in an earlier post?) he loves the animals. Whenever the dog or the cat walk near, his attention is immediately diverted to them. If they get close enough to touch he reaches out and pets them. It is adorable and surprisingly he hasn't pulled either of their hair yet. Lola (our cat) is more patient with him and she will set there while he plays with her fur, running his fingers through it. I love it. The dog (Miley) is not so patient and just wants to lick him all the time. Which Colton loves and I hate. (Seriously! Gross!) Oh well.

these photos are of Colton sitting up tripod style. He's so cute don't you think!!

We went to KS a couple weeks ago to visit family and friends. Colton did so

well. I assumed he would have a little bit of stranger anxiety but seriously.. he doesnt. Which is good, I do not want him to be nervous around loved ones, but I did want him to have a tiny bit of hesitation. Oh well, I suppose he is very friendly and will make friends fast :)

My dad has a blog, I think ya'll should check it out. He has an adorable video on there of my mom feeding Colton. Here it is: thegreeningoftopeka.blogspot.com

these photos are of Colton and I at the St Patricks Day parade while we were in Topeka, KS!

Well.. I suppose that is all. How is your weather doing? Mine is rainy. A wonderful tea and nap kind of day :)

An Update? Well, okay.

Am I bad at blogging? The jury is still out on that .... but the answer is looking like: yes. I am trying to change it though. We will see. Most times, I feel as if my life is not exciting enough to write anything. But I know that I will enjoy reading these posts later on, seeing what was going on in my life, what Colton was doing, etc. and so I will definitely be trying *ahem, trying* to be better. Here we go.

New Things for Colton:

-Colton loves to sit... he cannot sit up on his own yet but if he is on our lap sitting we can let go of him for awhile and he sits quite nicely. And he LOVES it if there's a toy in his lap. It's so fun, we really enjoy it! :)

-Rolling over: eehh... well he can. and he does, occassionally. But I am still not sure if he does it and then thinks "WOAH. what happened!" or if he thinks "i wanna roll. here we go!" My guess, the first option. He has rolled both ways.. hopefully he learns that it is him doing it and not us!

-WEATHER!!! WOW! Growing up in the midwest, the weather in february & march was occassionally good but usually not. It was not uncommon for it to snow over spring break, or for it to be 80. The highs here have been in the upper 60s, 70s, and (twice!) the 80s for the past several weeks. It has been amazing. And as I am trying to become a runner (HA. TRYING.) it has been so nice! I can't wait for it to get to the 80s and stick we can head to the beach for a day trip! Best part of NC, by far! It will be so fun to introduce Colton to the sand and the waves and see how he interacts with it all! I can't wait!!!

-Laughing at the pets. He LOVES them and every time the cat or the dog walks by him he cracks up. He will stop eating, which is big because he loves to eat, and just stare and laugh at the cat playing with a stick. Or crack up at the dog chasing the cat. It is so fun and he gets so much joy out of them! I love it and can't wait for him to really interact with them. He really enjoys petting Lola, the cat, and she just purrs and purrs. It's so sweet.

-Napping. One day, i thought "lets try to nap in the crib. Maybe you will nap longer" as opposed to the swing, and sure enough. He slept for two hours. And now he sleeps from 9-11 every morning and I get so much done around the house! The first day Brad came home and asked me what I had done with Colton all day because the house was so clean. HAHA. It is amazing what I can get done in 2 hours a day. The house becomes almost immaculate, dinner gets started, and I get to shower. Afternoon naps are not quite so long, about two more one hour naps and then a couple 20 minute ones. I can handle that though. I love this morning napping thing.

-Play dates- Colton has really enjoyed having play dates lately. He loves to look at other babies, reach out and touch them, feel their hands, steal their toys. LOL. He is so cute and I love it.

New things for me:

-Colton and I are going to KS soon. I can't wait to see everyone!

-I think that's it. My life is not too exciting!

Keep me updated on your lives, please!

Lots of love!

Brad & Jessica: A Love Story Picture Montage

In honor of Valentine's Day, here is a picture montage showing "our story". I hope you enjoy!

Brad and I when we first started dating. Weren't we just so adorable? I was 21 and Brad was 24 (I think), in December 2007!

We were so in love right from the start!

This is us at a military ball.. Sorry the picture quality is bad, I forgot my camera so this was taken on my phone! LOL.

BRAD PROPOSED in September of 2009! What a beautiful ring huh? :)

And we got married! It was a super small wedding planned in about a week! But it was beautiful and I wouldn't trade our small private ceremony for anything (Although I did get the big fairy tale wedding after the deployment!)

My parents took some couple photos of us together before Brad deployed. Isn't this beautiful?

One of the saddest days of my whole life.. the day I said goodbye to my husband knowing I wouldn't see him for a year. :(

this is Brad in Iraq. I lived for pictures of him, but got very few.

REDEPLOYMENT CEREMONY! BEST. DAY. EVER.

can you feel the excitement in our faces? Amanda was just there for moral support for me :) Her husband came home about a week later!

Shortly after Brad came home... I GOT PREGNANT! So here we are at the MPCCC02-10 military banquet, while I was 6 months pregnant.

And here we are with our beautiful baby at Christmas this year.

What a whirlwind! We have been together for a little over 3 years now and some days I can't believe that it has only been 3 years, I can't imagine my life with anyone else. Brad and I fit together perfectly and I am so in love with him, even more so now that we have a baby. I didn't think it would be possible to love him more.

MUSHY MUSHY!

Bloggity-Bloggity-Blog

My dear friend Kelley over at Daily Sips gave me an award. I don't really understand it but here it is:

and now I get to post 10 things about me that you may or may not know. I am not sure how all of this will go but here we go!

1. I have a brother, who has a Canadian wife. But we like her anyways. :) I have a sister, who is probably my best friend, and has made me believe that every girl needs a sister. And I have a sister-in-law who is probably the smartest person you will ever meet (and she's in Med School right now!) but you wouldn't know that she's a genius just talking to her.

2. I have two pets. One pomeranian (named Miley) and one cat (named Lola). Miley was a present from Brad while we were dating because he kept leaving me for months at a time all the time. Seriously.. she got me through the deployment. I treated her like a baby. I think her life has gone d0wnhill since we have had a baby :) and then there's Lola. When Brad and I moved to Missouri about a year ago, January of 2010, I was so lonely! It was the first time I didn't live even close to my family, it took me awhile to make friends there, and I wasn't going to get a job since we would only be there for 5 months.. so we got a cat. I was lonely. I was vulnerable. and I blame my husband for knowing I didn't really want a cat but going along with it (because he wanted a cat and never thought I would give in). Now.. she drives me nuts. I am definitely not a cat person. She is the only cat we will ever own.. whether that is 2 years of 20 years. Sigh.

3. I really wish I was an artistic person. If I could just infuse some artsy-ness into my DNA, I definitely would. I can be crafty (not as much as my mom!) but I can, but artsy.. its just not there. I think if I were artsy, I would try to do photography. I took a photography class in high school and for some reason I did not get the hang of it. I think maybe I didn't pay enough attention.. maybe photography can be a learned skill? But Brad won't buy me an uber expensive DSLR camera just for me to figure out if it could be a hobby of mine. I have to KNOW i will like it and use it, which I don't know. I have no idea whether or not it will "click" with me.

4. I watch Rachael Ray .. like every day that I can. And usually, whatever she makes I really want to eat for dinner. Today she is making waffle sandwiches with ham and cheese and now I have a fierce craving for waffles. Ugh Rachael Ray. Why do you do this to me. A couple weeks ago she made Shepherd's Pie with Tater Tots instead of mashed potatoes and I thought "MMMM THAT SOUNDS AMAZING" so I printed the recipe and tried it this past weekend. Well, my husband (who likes everything) couldn't even eat it and we ended up throwing it all away. It was horrible and I can't figure out why ... I followed the directions exactly. Do you think I should call RR and ask her? :)

5. I look forward to bed time. Colton's bed time is 8:00 lately (he has changed it.. it used to be 9:30 but he keeps trying to go to bed earlier and earlier and it's back to 8.. although I am sure he would be okay if it were 730 silly baby!)... some days I can't wait until 8, because I know thats 12 hours of not worrying about him.. no crying.. no feeding.. nothing. But sometimes I dread 8 because I know thats no cuddling, no laughing, no smiles. It depends on the day, how I feel, and Colton's mood that day. Does that make me a bad mom?

6. I have an addiction to strollers. This is a confession. And it's weird. I have two strollers... a jogging stroller Baby Trend Expedition and a regular stroller the Britax Vigour and I love them both. We got the jogging from my parents as a baby shower gift and I love it. Since it is so huge when folded and took the whole trunk of our Jeep Compass we bought the Britax one.. which is so nice and sleek, and I love that the seat can face me or the world. But now I am trying to convince Brad that I need a super lightweight travel stroller.. and I think the one I want is the Baby Jogger City Mini or the Bumbleride Flite. I really can't decide. I have spent HOURS looking at different strollers on the internet and I totally check out other people's strollers when out walking outside or the mall or the zoo or anywhere! It's weird!!! There are certain brands that I get a little excited when I see. Like the Bugaboo. Or phil & teds. Or StrollAir. or MicraLite. I could go on. My husband tells me I have "strolleritis" and the only cure is to just go cold turkey. But really.. I don't want to. Honestly I want to have another baby so I can have a double stroller. And I think I was the Bumbleride Indie Twin. It's beautiful. Somebody please cure me.

7. My husband and I are both craigslist addicts. I can't even tell you how much money we have saved by purchasing things off craigslist. I know that someday we will need to become "adults" and have more adult furniture, but until we are out of the army it is hard for us to want to spend tons on furniture that we will be moving every 2 or 3 years. Furniture doesn't last through very many moves, and we never know how much or how little we will need in our next large or tiny house. Let me make a list of things we have bought off Craigslist: our kitchen table (which was a steal.. its a crate & barrell table with 2 chairs in great condition for only 100! and we just purchased 4 more chairs!) our TV stand, Colton's baby swing and vibratey chair, the Bumbo, Brads road bike and rollers for it, the jumperoo, etc. Sometimes I want to count what we would have spent on buying everything new instead of used but I haven't.. although if I did I am sure it would be enough to take us on a vacation! (And I want it to!)

8. I once accidentally pulled the fire alarm at a children's science museum when I was in 1st grade. There were these things that you put your ear up to and push a button and listen.. well along that wall was the fire alarm. (Bad planning, science museum!) So I pushed a button and put my ear up to it... and all the sudden all the kids were being evacuated. I was SO EMBARRASSED. My teacher was livid... until I cried. And I didn't even want to tell my parents when I got home because I couldn't believe it had happened. I eventually did, because I felt so guilty I couldn't sleep. Whew, glad thats off my chest! :)

9. I am scared of squash. Weird, right? I want to cook with squash. I like things made with squash, but I have no idea. Same with some of those other vegetables: pumpkin, asparagus, etc. I really want someone to come over and teach me "this is how you cut it, peel it, this is the part you use, etc."

10. This was really hard. But, for my last one I think I will say.... I miss living near my family more than you know but wouldn't trade this military lifestyle for anything. I am so proud of my husband, so proud to be an army wife, so proud of the sacrifices my husband has made and is making for our country, and yes it sucks when he leaves but I can handle it.. and do.. and will. With (hopefully) little complaining :)

WELLP. That's my 10 things. Here are the people I am tagging:

Megan over at Lost Thoughts

Valerie over at Denim & Lace

Laura over at The Smarts

I think that's it! Happy Tuesday ya'll!