Amber Waves of Grain

It was exactly 9 years ago last night that Nathan asked me to be his girlfriend. It was a cold January night and we were sitting in his red Firebird in my parent's driveway. He loved that car and later traded it in for a wife & kids. :) I responded with a "Yes!" even though I was always so slow & cautious in my relationship with him. In honor of our girlfriend/boyfriend anniversary, this is a tribute to our dating period. Yes, that is past tense. Somehow when you have kids, dates are traded in for chasing children around the mall or for sleepless nights feeding babies. Anyway, we did date before all that happened. I think most of our first dates were spent at his brother's high school basketball games. We also spent a lot of time at his apartment with his 2 roomies (shout-out to Chuck !). They had lots and lots and lots of television channels.... more than I have ever seen.... and we watched a lot of movies. I think the movie Notting Hill was on about every n...

As you can tell, I'm having a hard time landing on a new background that I like. This is my 3rd one this week. Once I find one, I'll be adding my links back and so forth. Hang in there with me! :)

It's blogtastic! It's bloglicious! It's blogspacular!!!!!!!!!! That's what readers should be saying when they read the popular new blog, " Dapper Daddy ." The author is handsome, smart, fun, caring, loving, and talented. He is also an expert in a variety of subjects including: -How to make his wife chocolate milk (really, he makes the best) -Teaching a 3 year old not to pick his nose -Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream -Driving in snow -How to spoil and snuggle a baby girl -Reaching things that are up tall -The State Fair By the way, did I mention he was my husband? :) Don't delay! Check out Dapper Daddy today!

I have a deep, dark confession to make. This is big. Do you think you can handle the truth? Not many people know this about me. Ok, here it is. I have naturally wavy/curly hair. That's right, folks. My hair isn't straight. I've been using a flat iron for years. Now, my hair isn't 'good' curly. It's not the kind of curl that I could wear out in public. It's more of an unkept, 1989 perm- fuzzy sort of curly. Here I am on a normal day, after using a flat iron. For giggles (this is humbling, by the way), here I am if I let my hair air-dry like today: I'm going tomorrow night to get my hair chopped off. I really don't have time to blow dry it all anymore, plus it keeps being spit-up on by Kennedy when I burp her over my shoulder. My hair guy thinks I should get a body perm so that I can wear my hair curly and let it air dry. This is proof of how scary my hair looks when curly. So.... I'm just going to get it chopped off instead....

I'm playing around with my blog background. Bear with me while this site is under construction!

Just sharing a few pictures from today. I took a few since Kennedy is officially one month old now. By the way, Kennedy went for her checkup today. She is 8 lbs, 5 oz (she was 6lbs 3oz at birth) and doing well!

Note: Today's blog topic was brought to us by my friend, Mariah. If anyone has blog topic ideas, feel free to send them my way. I might just use them! Well... I heard that this year's Miss America was from the great state of INDIANA! Not just anyplace in Indiana, but from the small town of Seymour. That's right, Mariah.... I said SEYMOUR. That town is proud.... really proud. Here she is. After reading about her, I think I might have a chance of winning next year. I've been picking out everything I need. My platform will be to push having the State Fair year-round instead of just for 2 weeks. It's important and I'd be honored to represent such a cause. I also have my swimsuit picked out. Sure, it's a one-piece maternity suit because that's all I can fit into now. I don't think the judges would frown upon that, do you? For a prop, I would just carry Kennedy instead of sunglasses or the all-too-common beach ball. No high heels for me either. I have my c...

We returned last night from a weekend roadtrip to Michigan to visit Nathan's relatives and grandparents. We surprised his grandparents (they didn't know we were coming) and they loved meeting Kennedy for the first time. Along the road we saw a lot of deer, wild turkeys, and men ice-fishing which was fun. I'm the official 'scout' now for finding wildlife. Nathan went turkey hunting once and never saw a single turkey. But, every time we are on the road together I see a lot of them. I'm not sure what his problem is; they are everywhere, just waiting to be shot at. :) Can I just brag for a minute on how great my kids were on this trip?? Keegan (who is usually pretty high-needs on the road....) was wonderful. He even napped in the car. He was well-behaved, low-needs in the car, and just an awesome kid. And, he did so well despite not getting much sleep there at all. Kennedy traveled really well too and hardly made a peep. We really enjoyed the kids and I'm thank...

I heard some *sweet* news tonight. Apparently, the Indiana senate is seeking to make sugar cream pie the "official state pie". My first thought was, "There's such a thing as a state pie?". But, after thinking about it, what a fabulous idea. We should definitely have a state pie, and sugar cream might get my vote. I'd like to propose that we also adopt other official state foods as well. When I get on the senate, this will be what I push. State Deep Fried Food: Cheese State Ice Cream: Cake batter with chunks of cake mixed in (like at Cold Stone Creamery) State Junk Food: Homemade chex mix State Drink: Chocolate milk, yum! State Dessert: Buckeyes (aka peanut butter balls) State Breaded Poulty: Fried chicken State Cake: Chocolate with chocolate filling with chocolate buttercream icing State Cereal: Cinnamon Toast Crunch State Vegetable: Carrot Cake State Lard: Crunchies from Long John Silvers Do you have ideas for our official state foods? Feel free to comment!

2,4,6,8..... Who do we appreciate!??!?! I think this week can best be described in terms of numbers. Let's give it a whirl. (Approximate) "NUMBER OF........" -Diapers & pullups changed per day: 14 -Bottles made per day: 8 -Loads of laundry done so far today: 4 -Times I checked for the mailman on Monday before realizing it was MLK Day: 5 -Times I've picked Keegan's nose today so far: 2 -Hours I watch Keegan per day: 13-14 -Additional hours I'm up with Kennedy per day: 5-6 -Hours left for sleep: 5 -People who asked to hold Kennedy this week and then later told me they were sick: 3 -Days I missed a shower this week due to caring for the kids: 2 -Times per day I put Kennedy's pacifier back in her mouth: 50+ -Night time feedings: 3 -Non-maternity pants I can currently fit into: 2, including sweats -Spam emails so far today: 3 -Times I've said "Keegan, no whining!" this week: 100+, ,I bet! -Times I've changed Kennedy's clothes today due...

In honor of the upcoming inauguration, I found a paper that I wrote in 2nd grade (I was 7 years old). Our assignment was to write about what we would do as president. Here is mine, word for word. "November 6, 1984 If I was president I would say we get three days off at school. We would have less papers to do. We would eat candy each day for a treat. We would have more books to read. I would say flowers should grow in winter and time should go slower. " I don't know about you, but I really think I had something. Amber for President?? You decide!

I'm happy to report that after a week of being stuck at home (due to cold weather and not having a car available...) I was finally set free this weekend. On Saturday, we dropped Keegan off at my in-laws while Nathan & I took Kennedy to the mall downtown. Here's Kennedy all bundled in her carseat and ready to go. What we thought would be a quiet day at the mall turned into an event which I may need serious therapy for later. It was apparently the big Jam Fest .... Dance & Cheer competition downtown. Of course, the mall was shoulder to shoulder crowded with young, squealing cheerleaders. They were all wearing their curly ponytails with sparkly ribbons and had layer upon layer of glittery eyeshadow on (you know how I feel about glitter). It was about all I could take. Then, the fire alarm in the food court went off. Did I ever mention where the last place on earth I'd ever want to be was? Well, now we know... it would be a crowded food court full of squealing cheerlea...

I found a website today called " Lazy Bloggers Post ." (http://www.aussiebloggers.com.au/blogpost.html ) You choose various sentences from some drop down boxes and then it generates a blog post for you (sort of like Mad Libs). I haven't done anything this week. Literally. In fact, Nathan has had my car the last few days (the heater went out on his) so I really haven't left the house. Rather than bore you with stories about cleaning toilets or changing diapers, I think I'll give the lazy blogger a try. Here it goes. This is the blog post it came up with for me. I really put no thought into my selections (obviously). Good Gravy! I just woke up to the fact I have not updated this since Paris Hilton was in jail... You would not believe that my hands were chopped off and I was waiting for bionic ones. Dudes!.I am swamped with responding to fanmail, spending my husband's money, just generally being the life of the party to the locals, my day is passing in a blur fr...

Who's reading Amber Waves of Grain? Now is your chance to let me know. I've added a poll on the far right side of my blog which will be available until Jan 20th. Let's see just how many thousands of people are reading this blog!

Ok, so I have an habit of stripping down my baby and taking lots of pictures of her anytime Nathan & Keegan leave the house. Is that weird? I just love naked baby pictures and especially the close-ups. And, it's just much easier to do when Keegan isn't around to pull down my fancy fleece backdrop. Anyway, here are pictures from today. You probably think they all look the same but I'm a camera-happy mom so just bear with me. Kennedy is 18 days old here. Aren't baby yawns the cutest?

Hooty hoot! We all know that fads have to originate someplace, right? Well, I'd like world-wide credit for coming up with the fad of OWLS! You can find owl stuff anyplace now! I've even found it at Target & Walmart! I've had a thing for owls for a few years now. I have a vintage owl cookie jar along with some other vintage-looking owl treasures that I love. I also knew that if I ever had a little girl that I wanted to do her nursery in an owl theme if possible. Think 'cute owls' and not 'creepy, scary owls in the dark forest'. :) There was no such thing at the time; I was going to have to make the nursery decor myself. I think word got out to all the designers about my great owl idea. Around the same time I found out Kennedy's gender from the womb, I received the Pottery Barn Kids catalog. What do you know...... they had an OWL themed nursery! Perfect! Of course, I jumped right on it. Here's the bedding and plush owls from there: Since then, ther...

So, today I'm back to blogging about the kids. First, I want you all to know that Nathan went back to work this week so I'm adjusting to this 'new' life with 2 kids. I look back now and realize how easy it was to have one kid and I can't believe I ever complained about that! Each day I'm a little more brave when it comes to leaving the house. My big fear is Keegan racing off when I no longer have a hand to grab him, despite what I've been trying to teach him about staying with me. Yesterday I took the kids to the YMCA just to get Keegan out of the house to burn off some energy. It was a lot of work to get everyone ready and out the door. Keegan got to play with his friends while I sat with Kennedy in the lobby and socialized. When we were walking out to leave, Keegan took off two different times. Once he ran into a preschool classroom where a class was being taught. I had to go interupt the class to hunt him down in the classroom (yes, embarassing). T...

I thought about making a list of New Years resolutions. But, let's be realistic; I'm not actually going to do anything to make any of them happen. Instead, I've decided to come up with a list of STATE FAIR 2009 RESOLUTIONS!! Thanks to Sarah who reminded me that there are only 213 glorious days until this year's state fair (Aug 7-23). If you don't know me well, you should know that I LOVE the state fair (and county fairs for that matter). So, here's a list of deep-fried resolutions for this year's fair(s): 1. Make another guest appearance in the tractor parade (this will also give you internet stalkers a way to see me in person). 2. Get the deep fried cheese from the Wisconsin Cheddar booth but SHARE this time. I have no business finishing off that basket of deep fried lard and dairy all by myself. 3. Catch the donkey/mule shows. These are hilarious. The donkeys do the total opposite of what their masters command them. Sort of like a 3 year old but I won...

I have no red polo shirt on. No vest. No button. I don't even carry a walkie-talkie. But, for some reason I get stopped nearly every time I'm at the store by another customer who wants my help. The funny thing is that I'm clearly just a normal shopper. I have Keegan with me, a cart full of groceries, a handful of coupons, and I'm picking up Curious George fruit snacks from the floor that Keegan accidentally drops (I know... you're asking yourself, "Does she just throw them away, or does he eat them?" Well, it depends on the day.). My question is, what makes them stop ME for help? Why ME? I suppose the sad part is that I am always able to help them. I apparently shop at Meijer too much because when someone recently asked me where to find the graham cracker pie crusts, I was able to reply, "Aisle 12. In the very middle of the aisle, bottom shelf." So.... here's my 'invention' for stores out there like Meijer. How about a "Meijer...

Here is an attempt at sibling pictures from today. Keegan is going through a phase where he makes a goofy pose right as I'm taking the picture. And, well, Kennedy is just 11 days old so she's not exactly saying "Cheese". In other words, this wasn't easy so this was the best I could do today. Oh, and I promise that I still have plans to write about something other than the kids in upcoming blogs! :) So, bear with me!

Well, I'm up to two kids now and yet I still only have 2 arms. I was sure I'd grow another set of arms to deal with having an extra child, but still nothing. I haven't quite figured out how to leave the house with both kids yet either. Last night I attempted to do so and it took 45 minutes to get out the door by the time everyone ate, used the potty, ate more, put coats on, took coats off, used the potty again, cried, got in the carseat, cried, got out of the carseat, cried, got burped, got back in the carseat, and finally got loaded into the car. I had no idea. Anyway, here are some photos from this week. Keegan and Kennedy. I'm pretty sure this is a 'hug' and not a 'strangle'. I think. Her favorite place to lay is on Daddy's chest. Jan 1st. Happy New Year to Kennedy......... this is how she celebrated: Nathan goes back to work on Monday. I'm glad to get back into a routine but I'm a little intimidated too. I'll also try t...