Amber Waves of Grain

My brother, Jeff, loves Transformers. So, I made a onesie for his new baby, Braden, using a Transformer iron-on (thanks for the idea, Sarah). I just wanted to share a picture of Braden in it! This will also help me win that 'favorite aunt' position I've been working on. Here he is. Half baby, half robot....... more than meets the eye! Isn't he adorable?

Thanks for all of my ' fans ' who have been asking about my eye. It is much better, but not 100%. Last night it got sealed shut again during the night (thanks, Nathan, for getting up to feed Kennedy when I couldn't open my eye!). And, by evening I have a hard time keeping my left eye open at all. Nathan calls me a pirate. Arrrrrr . So..... due to my pink eye , I missed a party Friday night, my friend's baby shower on Saturday, and church on Sunday. I just couldn't go to those things knowing that I'd be passing around pink eye. On the other hand, for some reason I thought it was OK to do something with the family and contaminate perfect strangers in another county. Hence, our trip over the weekend to Brown County. It was a beautiful , sunny day. I mention sunny because part of having pink eye is that it makes you very sensitive to bright light. It felt like a cross between having my eyes dilated and someone throwing sand in my eyes. I didn't want to stay hom...

Last night we tried giving Kennedy some rice cereal for the first time. Here she is in her chair about to have some. I don't think she really got much in her mouth but we'll keep trying. Today was her 4 month doc appointment. She weighed 12 lbs, 5 oz and was 24" long ! That's the 25 percentile so I'm happy! While we were at the pediatrician, I had him look at my eye. It seems that today I've developed pink eye and I'm " highly contagious ." Looks like I'll be staying in this weekend... and hope the kids don't get it. It's the swollen eye on the right below. Cute, huh? (PS Aren't I brave showing a close up of all my pores?) :) Arrrrr... I'm a pirate! We did manage to go to the park today for a little bit. Here's Keegan enjoying himself. And, on another random note.... I love that our tulips are all up. I love tulips. Marguerite , if you're reading this.... my baby blossoms haven't come up. I'm wo...

Our precious baby Kennedy turns 4 months old today! I don't know where the time has gone. I absolutely adore her. Kennedy is doing so well. She is easy-going, happy, a good eater, playful, and content. She has been a relatively 'easy' baby which is exactly what I needed. We can take her just about anywhere. She also has a very special love for Nathan; I love to watch her watching her daddy! Her eyes follow him everywhere with great delight. Her new thing now too is screeching. It's a happy screech and can get quiet loud at times. She also loves to laugh. I tickle under her armpits or behind her neck and she laughs outloud which is so fun and cute! Keegan is adjusting pretty well. He loves to be a big brother and I often find him reading books to her or putting toys in her lap. He gets really excited if she smiles at him. He also protects her when they're at the YMCA and so forth. I hear him telling kids not to touch her when she's in her carseat. Wha...

I have a secret I want to share. I'm coming out of the closet.... about my closet. I've somehow let my wardrobe go. Really.....really go. Over the weekend I decided to go through my closet. These are just a few of the scary things you would have heard me say while going through clothes: -"I think someone told me I looked like a nun in this once." -"This is so big and stretchy that I was able to wear it my whole pregnancy !" (obviously not a flattering shirt now that I'm not pregnant!) -"I'm not a peasant . Why do I have this old peasant skirt?" -" Really ? What was I thinking with this?" -"Would anyone under the age of 40 wear this?" -"Add some tennis shoes to this skirt and I'm an apostolic." -"Wow. I had this before Nathan and I were dating." (9+ years ago) -"Is this men's or women's ?" -"This is about 4 sizes too big for me." -"This is about 4 sizes ...

Just a quick blog post to wish JASON a very happy birthday! Jason is Nathan's brother. He's the one in the middle (Nathan, Jason, Kyle). HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JASON!!! (PS I doubt he reads my blog so his wife will have to tell him that he got a birthday shout out). :)

We welcomed my new nephew into this world yesterday (4.16.09). His name is Braden Wesley and he was 7 lbs 14 oz. I'm pretty sure I'm his favorite aunt already. :) I can't wait to spoil him!! (oh, wait, I already am!). :) Welcome, baby Braden!!!

HAPPY TAX DAY from our newest little deduction!!!

Happy Birthday, Margaret!!!!!! Margaret is my sister in law (married to Nathan's brother, Jason). That's her above with Kennedy. She is kind, smart, friendly, and is also the official baby holder at family functions. She doesn't eat chocolate (*gasp*) but we let her into the family anyway; that made it a close vote. :) Happy birthday!!!!!!!

Hello, blog readers. I love it when I find surprises on my porch. There's a small table right next to my front door for all of you to leave me fan mail and so forth. Feel free to use it. :) On Saturday I was happy to see a surprise on my little table. Thanks, Sarah! Sarah is good about leaving me fun things. She left a bag of Limited Edition Coconut Cream Hershey Kisses . They are a regular kiss but filled with coconut cream. Now, I'm not going to lie to you... I'm not a big coconut person. I like coconut flavoring (think Pina Coladas), but not flaky coconut. I was a little hesitant but knew my blog readers were counting on me for my input on this limited edition food. I took one for the team. They were actually pretty good! The texture of the coconut didn't bother me a bit and the flavor was good. I think we have a winner, especially for those of you who really do appreciate coconut. The other Limited Edition food I've bought is a box of Limited E...

Easter Checklist. Egg hunt at Grandma's House with cousins. Check Trying on ridiculous bunny ears. Check. Easter basket filled with sugar and useless toys. Check. Eggs dyed. Feet dyed blue too. Check. Whatever you do to celebrate Resurrection Sunday, I hope you enjoy! We will go to church tomorrow and then have my family over for dinner. He is risen!

A dear friend of ours named Alan took his own life last weekend. This week has been a blur of emotions, ranging from shock to sorrow to hurt to anger. And now, I'm grateful that he is in heaven. Nathan wrote a wonderful tribute to Alan which you can read here: Link . I first met Alan and his then fiance, Dara, at church about 3 years ago when they first visited. They were friendly and I was anxious to know them better. Dara is a gifted musician and fun-spirited. Alan was creative, kind, compassionate, and loyal. They joined our Life Group (a small group of us from church who meet in people's homes) and we loved having them there. Alan was very open and honest. He had lived through a lot of trials in his life and became a Christian. He knew what it meant to accept God's love and grace. I like to remember Alan for how he taught some ballroom dance steps at a church Valentine's Day function; Alan was a talented dancer. He also planned their wedding reception a...

For those of you who care the slightest bit about our fence project..... here is the update you've been waiting for. I know this has kept you up at night. The plumbers estimated that it would cost us about $1800 to fix the broken sewage line. We were just about to have a bake sale or sell one of our children when God provided another way. Soon after the sewage line was broken, we went to dinner at someone's house from church. We told them about the sewage line and the man (with a background in plumbing) said he could help fix it with some simple materials from the hardware store. We are so thankful for this man (Barney!) who came and helped Nathan fix the line. We only had to pay for some materials and then for Roto Rooters to come clean out the line. Hooray! I think the best part was watching Nathan down in the hole shoveling out around the broken line. Two retired couples were standing above the hole just watching him. Then one of them went in and used the rest...

My friend, Tabitha , introduced me to buying tutus for our little baby girls. Her daughter, Ella, has a really cute ballerina-looking one. I'm not so girly so I wanted one a little more edgy and funky for Kennedy; I picked ones with vibrant colors. I bought one on Etsy.com and it arrived yesterday. I haven't done an official photo shoot with her in it yet, but I took some quick snapshots to compare which shirts/accessories I liked best with it. It came with an optional bow and flower and so forth. I also tried it with a jean jacket to be a little more edgy but I don't think it worked so well. I also needed to try some without a shirt under it since she's so young. Anyway, here are some pics of her new tutu! Can't wait to take some good pictures of her in it and share! In a onesie, no bow or flower: With onesie, bow & flower too: I love cute little baby bottoms. I had her wear leggins too. Trying it with a jean jacket. Not quite the look I was going for. Maybe ...

Nathan was able to make some more progress on the fence yesterday. The sun was shining and his dad came over to help. A man came and cut down a tall, narrow tree in the yard. The guy scaled it in no time with a pair of cool cleats. I think Nathan could have done that. :) Then Nathan and his dad got some of the posts up. Today it's rained and stormed all day so no progress. But, we did have a friend from church come look at the sewage line and is helping Nathan to get it fixed without going through an expensive plumber. The neighbors have agreed to try it so we're excited about that. Here are some pictures from yesterday. This is Nathan on the tree. Kidding. This is some random, brave man that we hired to cut it down. Timber!!!!!!!!!!! The guy used the chainsaw to cut the tree all around him..... waaayyyy up high. Nathan got these 5 posts in the ground with some help from his dad.

We're building a privacy fence in our backyard. Well, what I mean by " we " is really " Nathan ". Nathan is building the fence on his own as opposed to hiring it out. I simply assist by feeding the help and cleaning up the mud that's tracked in. The project started yesterday, despite the cold and wind. He rented an auger and began making giant holes in the backyard for the posts. Perfect timing for next weekend's Easter egg hunt. The kids will never think to look 3 feet underground! ( We can also bury dead bodies now with this machine if you have any to get rid off. There is a small fee.) He did run into a small snag when he ran into the neighbor's sewage line and it broke. Now we have to wait for repairs to work on the back property line holes. We did not expect the neighbor's lines to be on our property. So, when the neighbors flush their toilet it comes through this 'open' line in our backyard. Some would call it a crappy situati...

Keegan wanted to help me blog again today so I told him we'd do another interview. Here is what we talked about today (Barbara Walters would be impressed). His answers in blue are word-for-word. Amber : Keegan, tell me a joke. Keegan : How the monster cross the road?- He go on the other side. (laughs) A: What do you want to be when you grow up? K: I want to be a giant A: What do giants do? K: Fee, Fi, Fo, Fum. How do giants cross the road? He go to the other side (laughs) A: Who is your best friend? K: Sam. No, little Sam. (from the YMCA) A: What do you think of President Obama's economic stimulus package ? K: I don't know. A: What do monsters do? K: Eat. A: What do they eat? K: Pancakes. A: What does Daddy do for work? K: Go on the 'puters (computers). A: What does Mommy look like? K: A mom. A: What is Easter? K: Easter eggs. Candy. A: Anything about Jesus? K: Umm. I don't know. A: What did God make? K: He make our house. Umm. Chairs. He makes movies. He makes ...