Visiting (with) Uncle Pat

Last week Uncle Pat came into town from school to visit while he was on Fall Break. It was so wonderful to see him! We got to spend some good quality time with him and with the rest of the family. On Friday night, we went to dinner with my Mom and Dad, Pat, and Petey at the Olive Garden. I love the Olive Garden. I even allowed myself to enjoy an Italian Margarita, and it was so yummy! On Saturday we went to Ma and Pa's house to visit with the rest of the family. We celebrated Ma, Pa, and 'Aunt' Mary Margaret's 70th Birthday's! They all turned 70 recently, and they have all been friends for over 50 years! It was really special to see them all together.
On Sunday night we had Grandma Cheryl, and Jon's Uncle Bill and Mike over for dinner. It was only the second time that Cecilia has met her Great Uncles, and she has gotten so big since she last met them when she was only a week old.


Cecilia has found her feet! It is so cute to watch her find her footies and pull on them. She hasn't figured out how to get her socks off yet, but give her another week and I'm sure that all of her socks will be missing.


Also worth mentioning: I did not put her in her swing like this, but she seems to migrate to this position every time. Thank goodness for the safety harness!

Visiting Uncle Pete

Last Wednesday the snow started. By the time it was finished on Thursday, we had about 18" on the ground. I was so glad to have the new windows to keep the cold outside where it belongs. Jon stayed home for a snow day on Thursday, and it was nice to have an extra family day.

Cecilia turned 3 months old on Thursday last week. I still can't believe that she has been here that long. Time is going so fast. She is getting so big and strong. She is talking all the time. She talks the most in the morning, and Jon and I call it her "talk show". Tune in for about an hour every morning starting at about 6:45 for CeKate's news.


On Friday we got packed up and headed to Sterling, CO to visit Uncle Pete at school. Grandma and Pops carpooled with us, and Ma and Pa met us there too.


Petey gave us a tour of his campus, we had dinner, and then Ma, Grandma, and Petey carved pumpkins in the student center.
It was Cecilia's first night at a hotel. She did pretty well. She wanted to check everything out, so she had a harder time going to sleep, but she slept well once she finally went down. In the morning she invited Pops on to her talk show.

After breakfast we headed to see where Uncle Pete works. It was fascinating. Petey works on a feed lot, just down the road from his school. The grain elevator is gigantic, and Petey did a great job explaining how everything works. He gave us the tour from start to finish as if we were the cows. It was really muddy from all of the snow melt, so that made the experience much more challenging and ummmm....... fragrant :)


Petey showed us how the grain elevator works from start to finish, and how the feed gets mixed in the big trucks to be the perfect blend of food for the cows. In Petey's words, "the grain elevator is DI".


We made it home just in time to get Cecilia ready for her first Halloween. She was cute as a pumpkin!

My favorite trick-or-treater this year was a little boy dressed as a pirate. After I gave him candy, he asked me, "Do you know where I live?" I thought, oh no, he is lost! I said "no..." He started to skip away and said loudly "ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRvada!" Get it- RRRRRR- like a pirate, so CUTE!!!

Uncle Nick and Megan stopped by to see Cecilia on Sunday. It was good to see them both.

Swing Success

Cecilia has not been a fan of the swing that we got her. I keep trying to put her in it, but she only lasts about five minuets before she wants out. I discovered a new swing while I was meeting with a client to show him an album that I had just finished for one of his brides. He and his wife just had twins in April and they were so content in there swings when Cecilia and I arrived. Cecilia fell asleep in my arms while we were all visiting and his twins moved out of their swings on to another activity. I was able to put Cecilia down in one of the swings, and she stayed asleep until we left, about 40 minuets! I was sold. I found the swing on Craigslist.com for only $60, originally $150. Cecilia loves it, and so do I! I think the biggest differences are that the seat is like a papasan chair, so it is very cozy for her, and it swings side to side as well as back and forth.

New Job

Cecilia is 12 weeks old today. I really can't believe it, where did the time go? People keep telling us that "next week" she will be 16. It is probably true, because in many ways I feel like we just came home from the hospital yesterday. She is getting so big, we figure around 11 pounds now. She is babbling all the time, and smiling so much. She is learning how to get things into her mouth with her hands, and pulling on the toys on her play mat. She is still napping primarily in the snugly, which is great, except that she is getting so big now that she is starting to hurt my back. I think that starting next Monday, I will have to force her to sleep in her crib, and soothe herself. This means that I will probably have to listen to her scream for several minutes, so I am trying to prepare myself mentally for this. Her schedule as become much more solid in the last week or so. Now if only she would start sleeping through the night.

Today marks the first day of my official job change. I'm now under the sole management of "Cecilia Kathryn, Infant". The monetary pay is terrible, but the experience and benefits are like no other job. I should also mention that my new boss expects me to work 24/7 and wear many different hats. I hope the bonuses are good ;)


Last Friday Cecilia's Great Grandma Katy, and Great Grandpa Jim came down from the North to visit before the head South for the winter. We all enjoyed our visit, and wish them a safe journey back to their sunny home.

The Beard Expiriment: Weeks 2- 3.5

2 Weeks

3.5 Weeks

It looks good. I'm not crazy about it, but I don't think that its bad either. Its a good experiment. We'll see how long it stays.

SAHM/SIWK

That's right. I'm officially going to be a SAHM (Stay At Home Mom), and we are no longer DINK's (Double Income No Kid's), we are SIWK (Single Income With Kid). I originally was going to go back to work, just two days per week, but we made the decision last week after I found out that I would have to go back to work for a minimum of four days per week. I couldn't handle leaving her for that many days. Not to mention the cost of childcare, and the expense of going to work. It is going to be a stretch, but we know that it is the best thing for our family for me to be home with Cecilia, and continue to build my business. Besides, who could resist this face for a boss.




Jace and his Mom came to visit Cecilia yesterday. He is such a sweetie. He brought Cecilia a new quilt that his grandma made for her. Cecilia was showing off, and she rolled over for the first time!

Check out the rolling baby.

Draft-less

Cecilia has slept for at least 7 to 8 hours the past three nights. I can't remember the last time that I've slept that long. It is amazing how refreshed I feel. We'll see if it lasts.

Last weekend Jon replaced the three big windows in our house. My dad came down on Saturday to help him, while Cecilia and I went up to spend the weekend with Grandma. We had a wonderful time relaxing. The windows look soooo great! The difference is amazing already. Not only do they look great, I can sit in my living room and not feel a draft. There is still some finish work to do, but my house is sealed up with beautiful new windows.