Remotely Relevant Ramblings

Pee Wee Parenting

2010-11-01T21:02:00.000-07:00

One of the most amusing sibling dynamics is seeing your older child help shape, teach and instruct your younger one. Or something like that. Some Casen-isms for you.

While negotiating toys, snacks, etc. in the car on the way back from FW:
- "You get what you get, and you don't throw a fit."
- "Keaton, you have got to stop throwing down every toy I hand you."

On the way home from school today while passing Keaton's favorite sight - trains:
- "Keaton, we see that train everyday. Stop getting so excited about it."

Keeping up with the Kids

2010-05-13T18:46:00.000-07:00

I remember doing a blog post when Casen was first starting to talk to document some of his first words, so I want to do the same for Keaton as he starts attempting some forms of communication beyond pointing and grunting (although that is still a significant portion of communication).

Mama
Dada
Hi
Bye ("Da" while waving)
Uh Oh ("Uh Uh")
Diaper ("Ba-pa")
Eye
Uh Huh
No No ("Na na")
Cheese ("Chz")
Woof Woof
Casen ("Sss Sen")
Bubba
Banana ("Nana")
All done ("Da da" while waving both hands)
Ball ("Da")
Night night ("Da da")
Dog ("Da da")
Duck ("Da"...anyone seeing a pattern here?)

Some of Casen's favorite things these days:
Spiderman
Scooby Doo
Practicing his songs for the end-of-year program ("Who's the King of the Jungle?")
T-ball
His new bike
Continuing to ask "why?" about everything on the face of the earth
School (the fact that it is almost over for the year is NOT his favorite)

Recipe Recommendations

2010-04-02T20:09:00.000-07:00

If any of you are needing some new recipes to try, here are a few we've had lately that have been a hit (and you can rest assured that if I can pull it off, so can you).

First up, Food Network:

Melissa D'Arabian's Lemony Shrimp Scampi Pasta. Scott declared this one birthday/anniversary-meal worthy.

Rachael Ray's Pork Chops with Golden Apple Sauce

Lately, one of my favorite recipe sources has been Real Simple magazine. If you don't subscribe, you're still in luck because the recipes are online:

Easy Donuts

Cheesy Baked Pasta with Spinach and Artichokes This one is SUPER easy and fast.

Beef and Sweet Potato Turnovers (sounds strange but tastes good and sneaks in some good veggies). I used crescent rolls instead of puff pastry on this one, and they worked well. May try puff pastry next time just to compare.

I also love me some Pioneer Woman recipes:

Ginger Steak Salad. I had never made a steak salad, nor had I ever made my own salad dressing, but I was really happy that I gave it a try because this was great.

Crash Hot Potatoes

Tomato and Eggplant Pizza. Another first for me was making my own pizza crust, and again, very glad I gave it a shot. This pizza was SO good. I made a Canadian bacon pizza with this dough too, but it just paled in comparison to the yumminess of this tomato/eggplant one.

I love getting new recipes, especially ones I can pull off quickly, easily and cheaply, so please feel free to share your favorites too!

March 2010 It Lists

2010-03-22T19:25:00.000-07:00

After a weekend of (watching Scott) attempting to bring our winter lawn back to life, I feel a strange compulsion to revive my neglected blog tonight. It must just be spring in the air. Couldn't possibly be anything related to wanting to procrastinate grading.

Instead of catching up from the events of the last four months, I'm just going to jump back in where we are now, and on top of that I'm not even going to be original. I'm going to steal a format from Jenny. It Lists!

Scott's It List -- yard work, yard work with Casen & Keaton "helping," getting rid of his Conan O'Brien hair (just yesterday), running, riding a bike with the boys in the trailer, and mixing up yummy coffee drinks.

Wendy's It List -- grading, procrastinating grading, attempting to move beyond casseroles and sandwiches in her cooking repertoire, reading an actual book for the first time in months (The Kite Runner), optimistically hoping to find time for more reading, and continuing her addiction to Red Vines.

Casen's It List -- Wii baseball, Berenstain Bear books, practicing t-ball in the backyard, pointing out Keaton's every move, asking "Why did you say....?" after EVERYTHING his mother says, choosing his own clothes, and drawing pictures that occasionally are identifiable as actual (stick) people.

Keaton's It List -- eating Nilla Wafers, saying no-no (with strong emphasis, pronounced "nuh-nuh" and always accompanied by a finger wag), climbing on anything he can find, insisting on doing everything Casen does, thwarting any and all efforts to get him to stay in a highchair longer than 2 minutes, waving hi and bye whenever possible, and charming people with his smile.

Casen's Valentine

2010-02-15T08:28:00.000-08:00

A Love Story

My parents sent Casen a Valentine's card and included a rather large chocolate-covered marshmallow heart. I gave it to him Valentine's morning and let him eat some, but I told him we'd save the rest for later. After dinner last night I told him he could have a couple more bites. As he opened the wrapper he said "Helllooo, marshmallow. Did you miss me?"

This morning, I was in the playroom with Keaton, and he was sitting looking at a book in the living room, and he said "Mommy, do you hear my marshmallow singing? It's saying 'Casen, come and eat me...I'm so tasty...You'll think I'm tasty...please come and eat me...' Don't you hear it singing, Mommy?"

Three-Year-Old Theology

2009-12-10T13:26:00.000-08:00

A couple of gems from Casen today...

This morning, while getting ready and watching our daily dose of PBS Kids:

Casen: Yea! Super Why is on, so that means Dinosaur Train is next!
Scott: How do you know?
Casen Because Dinosaur Train always comes after Super Why. That's just the way God made it.

(Why, no, I have no idea where he got that phrase. I'm sure I've never used that as a pat answer to some of his questions.)

This afternoon while playing with his Veggie Tales nativity, he graced one of the wise men with Woody's cowboy hat. His explanation? "Since the wise men brought presents for baby Jesus, God gave them a cowboy hat." Naturally!

Keaton's First Birthday

2009-11-14T19:55:00.000-08:00

In honor of 12 months on Nov. 12, 12 things I love about our youngest...

- His smile. I dare anyone to see it and not smile back.
- Lately, he has started singing with me when I'm rocking him to sleep. Kind of a moan/hum, but melts me.
- His speedy crawl
- The pairs of teeth marks on the side of the crib. Only on the inside, not the top, since he has no top teeth.
- Big, open-mouth kisses on the cheek
- His admiration and interest in everything Casen-related
- On the other hand, his assertion of annoyance when Casen gets too interested in him, expressed as a shrill "Enh!"
- His love of bananas and bread. Any attempt to eat another food is immediately abandoned if either of those two are within sight.
- Big, blue eyes
- Love of bath time
- His hoarse, 80-year-old smoker voice
- And of course, his unwavering commitment to keeping his thumb in his mouth at all times.

Keaton's birthday was small-scale because a.) he's a second child and b.) he has been sick for three days and we had to cancel the friends who were coming in concern for their own health. Still, Da Don and Gammy Sue were in attendance, cupcakes were eaten, presents were opened, and our one-year-old was celebrated.

For the full album of cake and presents pics, visit http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2091862&id=54604329&l=4429a716a1.

Summer Summary

2009-09-13T19:59:00.000-07:00

After a nearly two-month blogging backlog, I'm going to do an overview of our summer fun and then jump right into the beginning of fall!

In June, we (Casen) took a few swim lessons at my parents house (just a representative pool pic, I didn't actually get any during swim lessons),

went to a Ranger game,

celebrated Grandpa Bud's 90th birthday (Scott's grandpa),

and went with my extended family to Red River, stomach-bug infested though it was.

In July, we celebrated the 4th,

dressed like cows to get free food at Chick Fil A,

spent four days with our family of four in three different places (Scott and Wendy in Chicago, Casen in North Richland Hills with my parents and Keaton in Abilene with Gammy Sue),

and went to a Ranger game with friends (side note: why is Keaton yellow?).

And in August we slowed down considerably! But, we still had fun

A Start of September post is coming soon. Try to contain your excitement!

Brother bonding

2009-07-23T20:21:00.000-07:00

What? Forced posed photography is bonding!

OK, one glimpse at slightly more real life. Note Casen's determined, intent look and Keaton's slightly panicked look.

Summer Snapshots

2009-07-23T20:00:00.000-07:00

Cowboy evening in Red River

Kid-free fun in Chi-town

Keaton loves eating from this self-feeder thing. This was peaches, I think. The next night was a huge mess with some avacado, but he loved it.

Snow cone silliness (We're not going to discuss where else this lovely blue color showed up a couple days later.)

Trash Talk

2009-06-20T08:57:00.000-07:00

Scott and Casen were so excited to see each other after a week apart that they have spent the morning trash talking...

Scott: I'm going to dunk you like a basketball.

Casen: I'm going to squirt juice on you.

Scott: I'm going to smack you like a baseball.

Casen: I'm going to put a piece of paper on you.

Scott: I'm going to spread you like peanut butter.

Casen: I'm going to put you in the computer so we can look at you.

Scott: I'm going to ring you like a doorbell.

Casen: I'm going to walk you outside.

Scott: I'm going to slice you like cheese.

Casen: I'm going to put cheese that you don't like in your tummy. And you'll eat it all.

I think Casen picked up on the general idea pretty quick!

2009-06-08T09:07:00.000-07:00

My dad sent me this photo, noting that my grandmother (far right) was in a similar place in life to me -- 28 years old with an almost 3-year-old and a baby. The little boy is my dad and she is holding my aunt Peggy. (Uncle Tim didn't come for a few more years.)

My grandfather is on the far left. He died of a heart attack about 7 or 8 years after this photo was taken, leaving my grandmother with three kids (ages 2, 8 and 10) to raise alone.

In between them are my grandfather's parents, and (I'm guessing) his grandmother.

Photographic highlights of the past six weeks

2009-06-03T21:16:00.000-07:00

Just a cute shot of our 3-year-old

Scott and Casen on the field at a t-ball game

The thumb sucker

Casen and classmates performing at Young Children's World end-of-year program

Just general cuteness in the highchair

Keaton is a big fan of hanging out in the backyard.

They both are, actually!

Drawer dropping and smelly stomachs

2009-05-31T20:26:00.000-07:00

So often, I think of things to blog about -- a funny thing Casen says, a family event that I should document or a great photo to share. But, as you can see, in the last month and a half, none of those made it from my mind to the keyboard. Now I find myself wondering how to catch up and procrastinating blogging at all because of it. I've posted most of our recent pictures on Facebook, so I haven't felt motivated to post them here too (sorry, Julie and Lisa, my non-Facebook friends). I finally decided though that if nothing else, I do want to be able to come back to this blog later and remember some things about this time in our lives, especially with Casen and Keaton, because it's so easy to forget the little things about each phase of their lives.

That said, a few tidbits about each of these two.

CASEN
A bad combination – new undies and shorts that are slightly too big – led to Casen dropping his drawers no less than four times at church this past Sunday. Had to show off his new Incredibles underwear. Awesome. Of course, as you know if you read my Facebook status a couple months ago, the fact that he did actually have underwear on under his shorts is an accomplishment.

Casen LOVES playing Wii. He is all about the boxing and baseball on Wii Sports, and there are several Wii Fit games he likes too -- Rhythm Boxing, Step, and lots of the balance games (including a "game" called Lotus Focus where you just sit and meditate. What? Why does he like that?). Sometimes I'm pretty impressed with how hard he works at these games. He's dedicated.

This semester has included some real-life sports for Casen as well. Since January, he has done weekly gymnastics class, which he has enjoyed. I think it provided some needed help with coordination as well! And, for six weeks in April and May, Casen was on a 3- and 4-year-old T-ball (actually called Wee-Ball) team. That was some fun times and great entertainment. Both of those sports have wrapped up though, and this summer our schedule is much more open.

We also have daily games of CandyLand and Memory (we have Dora version of them). It's actually pretty fun that he is old enough to play games with us. Cuts down on the amount of time I have to spend playing with Buzz Lightyear toys with him. :)

Some recent Casen quotables from the past few days (about the limit of my memory):
- "Why are daddies better than women?" Yeah, you better believe there was some discussion to follow.
- C: "Where are we eating today?" Me: "Nowhere. At home." C: "No, that's not one of the deals. Let's go to Sharky's." (I think he was combining two phrases I say to him fairly often -- "That's not part of the deal." and "That's not one of your options."
- Overheard as he played in the bathroom with one of his little animals: "Hey, Monkey, why do you have a medicine cup on your head?" (He later came out, and I asked him the same question. I was told it was a helmet for the monkey to go on a rocket ship ride.)
- "Something is smelly. I think it's your belly." No clue about that one. I sniffed, and my belly seemed fine to me. :)

KEATON
If you've ever been around Keaton you know that the number one thing in his life (and in his mouth) is his thumb. Yes, speech path friends, I will undoubtedly be calling you later in life to address the effects of this particular pastime.

He is doing really well with baby food, although he might be the messiest baby food eater ever, thanks to his need to cram his thumb into his mouth during or immediately after EVERY SINGLE BITE. Without exception. I need a baby straitjacket.

Speaking of baby food, this go 'round we are doing mostly homemade baby food, which I did not even attempt with Casen. My wonderful Aunt Peggy sent me a Beaba Babycook as a present when Keaton was born, and thanks to it, I have embraced the homemade baby food idea. So far, I have used it to steam and puree squash, zucchini, pears, peaches, green beans, peas and bananas. This week, I'm going to try apples and plums. I love that I can spend an hour or two making up a few batches, freeze individual portions and be stocked up for a week or two. The Beaba is pricey, but I think it would definitely save money in the long run if it enables you to make your own baby food on a regular basis.

Keaton rolls all over the place and scooches (sp?) forward on his tummy a little bit too. I think he will crawl sooner than Casen did; he looks like he is just dying to get going.

He is the baby who puts everything in his mouth. Gotta keep my floors a little cleaner!

He loves to bounce and jump, and he is beginning what is likely a lifelong infatuation with his big brother.

We are still working on sleeping all night. He usually wakes up once or twice during his 11-hour sleep, but he goes to sleep on his own (all he needs is his thumb) and takes 2 or 3 naps, usually totaling 3 hours, so we're definitely ahead of Casen's sleeping habits at this age.

WORK
I'm facilitating three sections of online classes right now, and the grading is unbelieveable. I'm never caught up and likely won't be until the bitter end. Which is why I'm going to wrap up and get back to grading now. (This post has been four days in the making. Seriously.)

Next up: some photos (possibly in less than four days). Sorry if you've already seen them on Facebook!

Matching Mouths

2009-04-17T20:26:00.000-07:00

As he gets older, I really do think that Keaton is starting to get his own look, not quite as much like Casen. The expressions must be genetic though...

Easter

2009-04-13T21:20:00.000-07:00

The Kilmer family's track record with Easter is not stellar. Two years ago, when Casen was 15 months old, he was sick and teething on Easter. Last year, Scott was sick. This year, Scott was sick again. Great! The boys and I braved church on our own, even through a two-hour service with no kids worship. (Hey, it had been just the three of us for a couple weeks already, why not one more church service?)

We overslept a bit, so what with getting dressed to the nines and exploring Easter Bunny goodies in the basket, we were running a little late, so no pictures before church. Afterward we made a brief effort out in our yard, but it was short lived. Here's the closest we got to both of them smiling at the camera:

You may not be able to tell unless you click on it, but Casen is smiling while Keaton is sticking his tongue out.

For lunch, we joined the extended family of some of our sweet friends. Lunch was out on a little farm south of town and it was great fun. Casen and Keaton even got (more) Easter presents there and Casen got to hunt eggs. Of course, I left both the camera and the fruit salad I had made for the lunch sitting on the kitchen table, so had to settle for some blurry camera phone pics:

Would have been more fun with Scott, but we were thankful to have friends to celebrate with and a great church time.

Catching up from February to Easter

2009-04-13T18:53:00.000-07:00

Since my last posting back in February...

- Casen has ditched diapers and pull-ups, and is doing a great job, even wearing underwear at night. Yea for that!

- Scott spent 12 days in South America visiting ACU's study abroad program to do some marketing films for them. He visited Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil. He came home last week tired and sick, and we were pretty exhausted ourselves (at least I was!), so we are still trying to all get back to normal!

While Scott was gone I broke up the long week and a half by spending a few days in FW with my parents and got to see some friends as well.

- Right before Scott headed out of the country, Casen started T-ball. He is having fun, and, I must admit, it is entertaining to watch 3- and 4-year-olds trying to figure out the game. If you know Casen, you can just imagine how well he does at focusing on this type of thing.

- Keaton is 5 months now, and has started some rice cereal, working on sitting up a little bit and not doing so hot with the sleeping thing. Also, he has gotten a little spoiled by me not going in to work and has turned into quite a mama's boy -- not so happy anytime I am not around. Gonna have to work on that!

Here are some pics to catch you up!

No occasion, just a funny moment.

Fingers flying on the piano at my parents' house.

At the Rangers' game. Had more fun than this pic suggests (see next pic).

Hanging out with the Rangers' mascot.

Here is one of the many photos from Casen's first t-ball game. For the extended album and some caption commentary, visit
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2076858&id=54604329&l=98737c020a

And, here's a Keaton picture just to even it out.

Casen Style

2009-04-12T19:14:00.000-07:00

In the last few months Casen has started to have some opinions about what he wears. Here are a few of the style statements he has made recently.

I need to get a picture of his favorite shorts (some basketball shorts that are really getting too small for him) that he says help him "fight better."

Keaton pics

2009-02-03T19:54:00.000-08:00

Keaton is a pretty happy baby and smiles a lot, especially when someone is talking to him, so I wanted to post some pics of his sweet smile.

We also tried out the Bumbo seat this week. He's a little young for it, but he does OK in small doses.

And, it's even handy for Casen to sit in while watching TV.

A little brotherly love.

I'm sorry, I know you must be tired of these comparison pictures, but I just found these and couldn't resist.

KEATON

And, CASEN

Three Cheers for the Purple and White

2009-01-29T19:09:00.000-08:00

Today was the final day of my seven and a half years of employment by ACU. Seven and a half years is pretty impressive for a first job out of school, right? I don't think it's the last time I'll work for ACU. I anticipate being there in some capacity again at some point in my life. But for now, it's a significant moment to not work for our dear Christian college.

(In addition, considering that my jobs at ACU were all related to writing, it/they deserve a more polished, eloquent post than what I'm about to write. I'm tired and it's late.)

Wendy @ ACU By The Numbers
4 different positions
5 different supervisors
3 computers
2 different cell phones
6 titles
1 Centennial
22 issues of ACU Today
8 Homecomings
22 commencement scripts
3 visits from the president of a developing nation
1 office makeover
8 conferences (Estimate. I may be forgetting a couple.)
1 master's degree
13 graduate classes taken
4 undergraduate classes taught
8 grad classes facilitated

Quantities I can't count:
- purple t-shirts
- morning meetings
- lunch meetings
- committees
- late nights
- treks from Vanderpool to the Ad Building or Zellner or the Campus Center
- goals and assessments charted
- student workers
- employee email newsletters compiled
- departmental/area name changes

I've grown through the experience I gained in these roles, been inspired by the people with whom I've worked, and have been genuinely blessed by these last 11.5 years as a student and employee.

*I should mention that I am weaning myself from ACU very gradually! I went from full time to half time three years ago, and I am still planning to do freelance writing and editing for ACU when possible. I also still facilitate an online class, but I'm technically employed by an outside company for that (ACU contracts with another company to administer online classes).*

Catching up

2009-01-18T12:49:00.000-08:00

I guess better late than never on Christmas and birthday updates on the 'ol blog! After the holidays and having two weeks of Scott being at home or us being with family members and having so much help with the boys, I had to re-adjust to taking of the two of them by myself during the week days when we got back home to our regular schedule! I'm just now getting back into the groove.

Keaton is a sweet baby and so much fun these days with lots of smiles and baby talk. He certainly enjoyed being with all of his grandparents and great aunts and uncles and cousins over Christmas and being held during nearly all waking hours! And now we're hoping someday he'll re-adjust to having to be put down in a bed for naps -- but it hasn't happened yet! The time is already going by quickly, so I'm trying to remember to enjoy each stage.

Casen is his usual entertaining self. One of his latest expressions that cracks me up is "Oh, bother." I believe he got that one from Winnie the Pooh. We've been impressed with his relative helpfulness with things related to Keaton. He loves to put his paci back in when it falls out, he often will talk or sing to him to entertain him, and I can usually count on him to go get diapers or other things from Keaton's room when I need them. Of course, a few days ago I asked him to bring me the wipes that were sitting nearby, and he responded "I'm sorry, but I am eating a snack right now, and I am holding Buzz Lightyear with my other hand." Certainly wouldn't want to interrupt those important tasks! We play a game with him sometimes called The Question Game (his name for it), where we take turns asking each other about favorite things. Occasionally we play this before bedtime, and the questions he comes up with tend to relate to items visible from his bed, thus bringing Scott and me to decide on our favorite lamp, favorite wall, favorite door, etc. When we played it once with my family, I think it was my brother Landon who was asked "What is your favorite carrot?". Hmmm.

Potty training is not really happening quite as I'd envisioned (for one thing, I'd envisioned it happening BEFORE bringing Keaton into the world), and Casen just really does not care at all. Just no interest in stopping his fun during the day to go sit on the toilet. Any mothers of boys who have had some luck with this feel free to fill me in on your tips!

Casen started a gymnastics class this month, which he is really enjoying, and watching him there is pretty entertaining. We'll have to get some pics of that sometime soon.

And speaking of pics, here are a few from the events of the last month or so.

Casen and I had fun making gingerbread cookies. Here's one that he decorated himself.

The first time for a little matchy-matchy outfits -- couldn't resist doing some matching Christmas PJs, even if 3 might be a smidge old for the onesie, zip up, footie PJs!

Casen checking out the scooter Santa brought him.

Blowing out the candles at his 3-year-old Lightning McQueen birthday party.

And, the latest in our look-alike files...

Can you tell which one is Casen and which one is Keaton?

Comparison

2008-12-21T19:51:00.000-08:00

Can you tell these two are related?

Casen at approx. 5-6 weeks...

Keaton...

2008-12-21T19:32:00.000-08:00

I was tagged by Jamie, and I've been meaning to do it for awhile. Thanks for tagging me -- I needed the motivation to rejoin the blogging world!

8 Favorite Restaurants:
1. Simply Fondue
2. Cheesecake Factory
3. Pizza House (Clyde)
4. Lola's (Buffalo Gap)
5. P.F. Chang
6. Posada's
7. The Beehive
8. Perini Ranch

8 Things that Happened Today:
1. I was late to church.
2. I took a nap.
3. I changed 9 diapers.
4. I ate leftover pizza.
5. I drank hot chocolate.
6. I listened to Christmas music.
7. I played with the Veggie Tales nativity set.
8. I wrapped a Christmas present (bringing the total under the tree up to four).

8 Things I Look Forward To:
1. Casen on Christmas morning.
2. Looking at Christmas lights.
3. Keaton sleeping through the night.
4. Going on a date with Scott.
5. Eating at good restaurants in DFW and OKC.
6. Casen's third birthday (ooh, might ought to start planning that)
7. Snow (?)
8. Seeing amily at Christmas

8 Things I'm Scared Of:
1. Getting in over my head with work commitments
2. Making bad parenting decisions
3. Missing opportunities
4. Being so wrapped up in motherhood that I lose my identity
5. Being self-absorbed
6. Losing ANYONE I love
7. Severe pain or serious illness
8. Not realizing my potential
(Sorry to borrow some of those from you, Jamie!)

8 Things I Wish For:
1. To live in a clean house
2. To travel
3. Casen and Keaton to have pure hearts and love Jesus
4. Health for family and friends
5. A balanced life
6. Peace
7. Perspective
8. To lose the baby weight

8 Things I Watch on TV:
1. Biggest Loser
2. The Office
3. 30 Rock
4. Grey's Anatomy
5. Desperate Housewives
6. What Not to Wear
7. SuperNanny
8. The Soup

8 People I TAG:
1. Alisa
2. Kristi
3. Summer F.
4. Andi
5. Julie
6. Deb
7. Lisa
8. Scott (ha)

Finally, a post-pregnancy post

2008-11-17T11:06:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I thought we would never make it here! And now, just five days after giving birth, being pregnant feels so long ago.

For the few readers who might not have heard the story of the last few days, a (somewhat) brief recap:

I started having contractions pretty regularly Tuesday evening, and was headed to the hospital about 11 p.m. The first few hours there, my contractions were coming fast and strong but I still wasn't making a lot of progress labor-wise. After two hours, I had barely made it far enough along to be admitted to the hospital and given an epidural. At that point, we started the process of paperwork, bloodwork, IV, etc., which took about an hour. And then suddenly discovered that somehow, in that hour, I had progressed so quickly that I was now too far along to get an epidural (or any pain meds for that matter)! How did that happen?? The saving grace was how quickly it went from there. Within about 15 minutes of the bad news, I started pushing, and 30 minutes later, Keaton arrived safely (about 3 a.m.).

Later that morning, Keaton was in the room with my mom and me, and a nurse came to check on us. She noticed that Keaton's breathing was pretty fast, which I could see too. She gave it a few more minutes and then decided to take him back to the nursery to test his respiration to see if it was as fast as it looked. It was more than twice as many breaths-per-minute as normal, so she called our pediatrician who ordered several tests. When the results came back a couple of hours later, they indicated bacterial pneumonia, and he was immediately moved the NICU. That afternoon was tough, seeing our hours-old baby hooked up to monitors for breathing, heart rate, oxygen absorption and respiration, an oxygen "hood" over his head, and not being able to hold him, feed him or show him off to our friends and family, not to mention our uncertainty of how serious the situation was. He started on antibiotics immediately to treat the pneumonia, and we just had to hope it responded favorably. Thankfully, as early as that evening we could see some improvement (as could the doctors and nurses), and since that time he continued improving quickly.

On Thursday, they were able to start feeding him through a feeding tube, and later with a bottle, and by Friday I was able to feed him myself. He was weaned from the oxygen on Friday as well, and on Saturday, they took off all the monitors, leaving him free from wires, except the IV tube. He is still in the hospital, primarily so that he can receive a full seven-day course of antibiotics by IV, but, as far as we can tell, he is back to normal, and we are so thankful.

Right now, we are juggling trying to be with him at the hospital (I came home Friday night) as much as possible and still keep up with Casen at home! It's a challenge, but it's temporary -- Keaton will be able to come home Wednesday afternoon, and we are so excited.

Here are a few photos of the little guy.

3-2-1

2008-11-10T06:41:00.000-08:00

The countdown to Keaton's arrival is three days. Unless he makes his appearance on his own sooner, I'll be induced Thursday morning. In the meantime, I'm really trying to not be impatient and focus on enjoying the last few days as a mom of one (and on maternity leave, so a mom of one without work to do at night and naps!).

So, in honor of three days, here is a 3-2-1 countdown of recent events:

3 -- times Casen got to wear his Halloween costume and collect obscene amounts of candy (Trunk or Treat at church, Costume Parade at school, trick-or-treating in our neighborhood)

2 -- people who participated in Mommy & Casen Fun Day last week

Feeding the ducks

Casen took this pic of the giraffes as we were feeding them

Checking out the butterflies

And of course, what fun day is complete without a burger at McDonald's for lunch?

1 -- day past my due date. But only three days to go. I can make it (repeat to self, over and over).

2008-10-21T08:40:00.000-07:00

Parental Humor
I'm telling you, Casen is on a roll lately with the one-liners. This jewel came a couple weeks ago, and I am just now remembering to document it. One night he said "Dadgumit" about something and Scott told him he shouldn't use that word. (Personally, I'm not sure there's anything too wrong with dadgumit, but I do admit that words that sound perfectly fine coming out of an adult mouth, sound really different when your two-year-old says them! But anyway...). The next morning, Casen blindsides me with this pressing question (after apparently pondering this serious issue all night) "Is it OK to say Mommy-gumit?"

Possibly, these things are only funny to me, but bear with me -- if nothing else, I want to have a record of the little things that will probably slip my mind years (or days) from now. That way I can tease him and embarrass him later on in life.

Pregnancy Happenings
The main that's happening is just making progress toward the due date. 19 days and counting. Maybe someday I will be bold enough to post a photo of my expansive self here in the last stages of pregnancy, but so far I haven't even been bold enough to let anyone take one, much less post it! So don't get your hopes up.

Still need to do a few last minute things to prepare, but we are actually getting close to being ready for Keaton's arrival. Sooner than 19 days would be fine with me!

Purple/white Highlights
I'm excited about ACU Homecoming this weekend -- seeing friends and a visit from my parents, carnival, parade, game, etc. Casen has recently become a huge fan of Willie the Wildcat, so I'm sure seeing him at the carnival or the game will be the event of the weekend for him. And ACU has a great (nationally-ranked) football team this year, so that makes the games even more fun.

Playset Help
Last weekend we had a visit from Scott's dad, who had given us a really nice backyard playset for Casen's 2nd birthday (yes, that was back in January and we are just now getting it set up). After a weekend of work on the part of Scott and his dad, Casen is the proud new owner of this beauty.

The weather is great right now, so this is actually a pretty good time of year to get started playing on it. As you can imagine, Casen had lots of fun "helping" build it and trying it out once it was complete.

Pumpkins (Hopefully)
We've been trying for several days now to find time to drive out to the pumpkin patch to pick one out and of course, take the requisite pictures of Casen in the sea of orange vegetation. We're trying again today, so maybe those photos will be coming soon!

Police/Halloween
Also coming soon, Casen in his Halloween gear next week -- he's going to be a policeman, and yes, his costume does have built in muscles and a tag that says "Officer Awesome". Be prepared.

P.S. Can anyone think of a title for this post? I'm just blank.

The ABCs of discipline

2008-10-10T13:17:00.000-07:00

In the category of Keeping a Straight Face While Disciplining...

Standing on the couch and turning the light off and on repeatedly (after being told to stop) led Casen to a timeout today. After the two minutes, we were doing a our usual debrief. We discussed why he was in timeout and were wrapping up with "And what should you do next time?". I waited for his obligatory "Obey Mommy," but instead received a completely straight-faced response of "Next time...won't you sing with me?"

Look for his stand-up act to start touring next year, just as soon as he gets potty trained.

Fun with friends

2008-09-26T12:16:00.000-07:00

The Kilmers had a fun time this week with our friends the Kisers visiting. Julie and I have been friends since about the age that Casen and Ryan are now! That makes it both fun and a little unbelieveable to think that now our own kids are friends (well, you know, in the kind of forced friendship that 2.5-year-olds have).

This is the boys watching Cars.

Diverting their eyes from the screen long enough to look at and smile for the camera might have involved a food-oriented-bribe. Maybe.

Casen Quotable

2008-09-15T19:08:00.000-07:00

Subtitle: Being put in your place by a toddler.

It had been a pretty long five hours driving home from Oklahoma today. The last hour especially had involved a lot of us telling Casen that no, weren't going to listen to the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse CD anymore and we were sorry that he had dropped his Turner screwdriver toy for the five hundredth time but this time we couldn't reach it. And, no, screaming and crying was not going to get him what he wanted. We were about to drive through Taco Bell, and I was asking (repeatedly) whether he wanted a taco, burrito or nachos. My two-year-old then looked at me and said "I can't listen to your voice anymore."

Um, so, you want nachos?

Yearbook Yourself

2008-09-12T06:43:00.000-07:00

If you haven't already, go to www.yearbookyourself.com and have some fun! (And please post it on your blog, so we can laugh at, I mean with, you.)

Commentary

2008-08-22T12:18:00.000-07:00

Do many of you use Google Reader (or some other feed) to keep up with blogs? I started using it a couple months ago, and I love knowing when all the blogs I keep up with are updated without having to visit each one. But I've realized lately that it has definitely decreased my comments on other people's blogs! Because I can read the whole post, but I can't comment directly from Google Reader, I just don't normally bother to go to the actual blog site and add the comment that I'm thinking in my head! But I know that half the fun of blogging is reading comments from your friends, so I am going to make an effort to take the 1.5 seconds to click over to blogs and comment! If you are feeling the same way, join me in my new resolution!

Photo Post

2008-08-20T19:10:00.000-07:00

A visit to the mini-water-park in nearby Eastland.

Owen, Boone and Casen -- two of Casen's best friends and closest friends in age. All three of these boys were born within four months of each other.

And, after three hours in the pool, this was the ride home.

A little finger painting fun.

Painting with flair.

Practicing for an upcoming modeling shoot, maybe?

Day 15

2008-07-25T14:42:00.000-07:00

Yes, as we mark Day 15, life without pacifiers is, well, leaving something to be desired (pacifiers for Casen, sanity for me). It's been two weeks, and everyday is an adventure. Will there be screaming/crying fits before naptime and bedtime? Will they last longer than his actual nap? Will he cry so hard that he chokes/coughs up a lung? Who can tell. No, in truth, he does well most nights. Naps are still a challenge. This too shall pass though, right? Someday, I will be glad I did this, right? RIGHT???

We are finally back in town after what was intended to be a weekend trip to my parents' house in NRH, but ended up being a 6-day trip, mostly spent in Oklahoma with Scott's dad in the hospital. He is continuing to have kidney problems, and had to have some unexpected surgery, but he is doing well and should be released in the next couple days. We stayed there Sunday through Thursday, and with Scott's mom working, and Scott up at the hospital with his dad each day, Casen and I had to create our own fun, which we were able to do thanks to friends in the area. We went to story time at the library and ate lunch with one of my college roomies, Alisa, and Michael, and the next day we joined them for a very hot and sweaty adventure at the OKC zoo. Casen ended up with a bruise/knot on his forehead that I was afraid would result in someone calling CPS on me, but still he had a great time. We'll just try to avoid headfirst dives out of strollers (while STANDING, not sitting, in the stroller) next time. I would post a picture of the poor kid's head covered by the massive bruise, but seriously, you'd question my fitness as a parent.

In happier news, Scott has a new job, which we are both so excited about. Starting Aug. 1, he will be the Web Project Manager for ACU. He is sad to leave AutoGas, but we know ACU is a great place to work, and he is thrilled about the new opportunity. We probably won't run into each other much on campus since I'm only in the office a few hours a week, but it'll be fun to both be involved with our alma mater, and he is going to be working with great people.

I took some camera phone pics that I'm not sure how to get off of my camera and on to the computer, but maybe I'll figure that out and add them in soon.

Placeholder Post

2008-07-10T07:20:00.000-07:00

I just want to note that I do plan to recap our Fourth of July fun, but my sweet friend Andi was the designated photographer that day, and she promptly left town for a week shortly after the Fourth. As soon as she returns and shares her pics, I'll add them here.

In the meantime, here are a few of the random things our 2.5-year-old shares with us:

- "I scare myself!" (My guess is he got this from some episode of Veggie Tales.)

- "I am a spider!" (With hands and fingers outstretched to put them in your hair.)

- His love for "the green bear next door." Boz is a favorite show in our house, and yesterday while we were driving, Casen commented that he would like to hug Boz. Me: "Well, Boz is not real. He's just a cartoon. So, we can't really hug him. But you could pretend to hug him." Casen: [Hugging noises -- "MMMM..."] and "I love you, Boz!" I'm telling you, Scott and I sure don't get those kind of unsolicited professions of devotion!

- The Giant's House. This is what Casen has dubbed the larger of the two barns in our backyard. As soon as we moved in, he informed us that a giant lives in that barn. He doesn't seem to concerned about it though, so I guess it's not a particularly scary giant.

- Name ideas for the baby. Several months ago when we asked him what we should name the baby, he quickly responded with "Baby Moses." So, that's been our nickname ever since. We've asked him a couple times since then as well, and his ideas have been Casen (I pointed out that we already have a Casen, and he said "We need lots of Casens." Ego, anyone?) and Elizabeth (which is my middle name, but I'm pretty sure he was thinking of a friend at school. Apparently he hasn't quite established gender naming distinctions yet).

I feel like I'm only hitting the tip of the iceberg of random things he says -- he is really entertaining at this age, that's for sure.

Advice?

I'm faced with the pacifier dilemma! Casen's paci use is limited to his bed, but he sure is dependent on it to fall asleep. He requires two -- one in mouth, one in hand. I've been planning to do the SuperNanny "Paci Fairy" withdrawal method, and I've even already purchased a replacement/reward -- a really cute stuffed animal/blankie/pillow (Zoobie). I had pretty much decided this weekend was the weekend. But, of course, I'm now having second thoughts. Anyone want to offer their experiences or thoughts here?

Reasons to wean:
- Baby coming, may be using pacis during the day, thus causing Casen to want to use them at non-bed times
- Baby coming, we may not want to mess with the agony of the removal once we have a newborn as well
- Oral/tooth problems? Not sure if this is a concern if it's only used at night or not. Monica, are you reading this? :)
- Night waking! Tired of going in his room in the night to fish around the bed to find a paci for him.

Reasons to postpone:
- I've heard some kids switch to thumbsucking if you take away the paci, presenting an even tougher dilemma.
- Will he stop napping or nap less? Will it take him hours to fall asleep?
- If we wait til he's a little older, he might give it up on his own, and we could avoid the current trauma.
- Is it really that big of a deal for him to have a comfort item at night at this age?
- Am I doing it for the wrong reasons -- because I'm embarrassed about it, because his friends his age have already given theirs up, etc.?

Sigh.

Lemur Link

2008-07-07T12:06:00.000-07:00

Hey, ACU-alum blog readers -- if you haven't already, check out the new ACU Today magazine blog. Currently my boss is blogging about his trip to Madagascar where there will be a re-created commencement ceremony for the 24 Malagasy Presidential Scholars. (Thus the lemur reference -- he assures us there will be lemur photos included on the blog at some point.)

Relocating, Red River, Radiology

2008-07-02T19:52:00.000-07:00

So much to udpate when you slack off on the blog for a month! I'll attempt to go chronologically and will probably test Blogger's photo capacity.

New House
We are unpacked (just don't look in the closets) and feeling pretty settled in. We love it! Here are a few pics:

Here is the view from the front door, looking into the living room. I could have sworn I took a picture from the opposite direction, which would show it better, but now I can't find it.

But I did find this one, which my dad took right as we were gathering everything to load the car on our way out of town.

It doesn't look huge in this photo, but the kitchen is pretty roomy, and I'm loving the bar area and tile countertops.

Dining room (we have plans to change the wallpaper someday, but it might have to wait a few weeks)

Casen using his new playroom, which we are LOVING. He is so much more willing to play on his own.

The adult half of the new playroom!

Our bedroom, which still needs a little more decorating

Yet another view of the master bedroom.

The best part -- the amazing storage in our bedroom!

Casen's room is yet to be decorated, and the guest room is pretty basic, so I don't have any pics of those. Bathrooms are nice too, but nothing blog-photo-worthy.

Red River
Less than two weeks after the move, we headed to New Mexico with my parents. The trip involved a rented mini-van, a lot of bathroom breaks for the pregnant lady, and a lot of DVDs in the car for Casen. Once we got there we spent our time cooking, eating, lounging, eating, feeding local ducks and chipmunks, and spending quality time with extended family members that we don't see often. Could not ask for better weather -- it would hit the low 70s for a couple hours in the afternoon, but was cool and crisp in the mornings and evenings.

Scott had never eaten at The Big Texan in Amarillo, so we made a dinner stop there on our way.

Casen adapted to the relaxed pace...well, for the couple seconds it took to snap this picture at least.

A view from outside our cabin.

Scott and I rented a "scoot-car" for a little while. You rent by the hour, but really, there's not enough road in Red River to drive on for an hour.

Not really sure Casen was supposed to ride in this, but we couldn't resist.

Two of Casen's third cousins, Gabby and Kylie, who took Casen on as their personal charge for most of the time we were there!

Hanging out on the porch with Pa (let's count this as my belly pic for this trimester too).

Just a cute pic to end with.

Baby News
About 12 hours after we got home from New Mexico, we had my 20-week sonogram and found out that...dramatic pause...I'm about to be outnumbered 3 to 1! As I have suspected all along, Baby Kilmer #2 is Baby Boy Kilmer #2. In addition, they moved my due date to Nov. 9, which I found exciting as well.

Within the four days after returning from RR, we had the sonogram, some friends from OKC stay for a night, Scott's mom in town for two nights, and a baby shower (for Katie and baby Tucker) at our house! Now, I think we are ready to get back to a slightly more normal pace of life!

A Couple More Pics...

2008-06-03T19:58:00.001-07:00

Halfway to our House

2008-06-01T08:30:00.000-07:00

Well, we are more than halfway through our homeless wanderings. We're enjoying some relaxing time at my parents' house, but we're so ready to get into our own house and back to Abilene! (I still have a week here at my parent's house though, so any blog friends in the FW area, give me a call or email if you want to hang out this week!)

Casen is really being a trouper. He occasionally mentions wanting to go to "our house" or "Mommy's house" but, especially now that we are with GrandJan and Pa, he is pretty content and adjusting to being away from home and schedule. Because he's getting a little big for the pack n play and because we're going to be transitioning to a regular bed in the new house anyway, his sleeping arrangement while we've been traveling is sleeping on a nap mat inside a little tent! He thinks it's pretty fun. And he sleeps pretty well, except for one thing -- wake up time. He has been waking up at 6:30 (sometimes earlier) every day for the last two and a half weeks. His normal wake up time has always been about 7:15 or 7:30, and you can tell that he is just not getting enough sleep. Several days a week he falls asleep at 9 or 10 in the morning and even if he makes it to lunch, he crashes earlier than his usual nap time (and sometimes sleeps longer). I think part of it is just all the craziness of life right now -- this started right about the time when our house became a chaotic mess of boxes and packing, and since then, of course, everything has been a little out of the ordinary for him. But I can't figure out how to help the poor kid (ok, and me too -- not really a fan of being up at 6:30 every day myself). We've tried blocking the windows, putting him to bed later, putting him to bed earlier, you name it. No such luck. If you have ideas, please share!

OK, after that brief complaint, let me brag on Casen just a bit. We went to a Ranger game Friday night, and Casen did great! We hadn't taken him to one since he was about 6 months old, so I didn't know exactly what to expect. I was figuring since the game started at 7 and he normally goes to bed at 8, that if we made it through 4 or 5 innings, that would be pretty good. But, I'm telling you, we were there til the bitter end, and Casen had a blast and was really not much trouble at all (well, as two-year-olds go anyway). We were lucky that we had some empty seats around us and that my parents were there to help and we had friends there (Julie, Charles and Ryan) so he had a buddy his age to play with. He's been asking ever since, "Where are the Rangers?" and saying "I wanna go to Rangers".

We've loved being at my parents' pool every day, and this week will be even more fun now that my parents are finished with school and can hang out with us.

Ranger game pic with Pa and Uncle Landon

Enjoying the pool with his friend Owen

Skills

2008-05-11T20:15:00.000-07:00

Tagged by Jamie. Obligating me to actually put thought into a post instead of the mindless photos and life updates. :)

What FIVE skills or hobbies would you learn if you had unlimited time, money and tools?

1.) Cooking. I really think I would enjoy getting to be really good at cooking. I'd love being able to do a big meal for guests easily and be able to come up with fabulous entrees every night. Not that I can't cook at all, but I'm pretty middle of the pack -- I can throw together an edible meal, but I definitely don't have mastery of the kitchen.

2.) Music. I'm not even particular about what kind -- singing, playing an instrument, etc. -- but I'd love to have some talent in this area. At least Scott can carry a tune -- we're hoping Casen got that gene. Despite 6.5 years of playing clarinet, the talent was just never there (nor the dedication, nor the discipline, you get the idea).

3.) Running. I'm jealous of people who really enjoy running. It seems so idyllic -- time with your thoughts (or your iPod), enjoying the outdoors, getting fit. I've tried it and tried to enjoy it, but, man, it is nothing but a beating for me -- the whole five minutes I last before collapsing in a gasping heap.

4.) Public Speaking. Just typing it makes me break out in a sweat.

5.) Cosmetology. Not on other people necessarily (although, hey, why not?), I'm thinking mostly selfishly here. Carmandy, Nick Arrojo, I need you! I have no clue what to do with make up beyond lip gloss, mineral make-up powder and some mascara! And if I could ever make my hair look anything like it did when I got it cut, it would be miraculous.

I'm tagging Andi -- just to add to her list of things she needs to blog about -- and Katie.

Photo Update

2008-05-11T19:57:00.000-07:00

Some sandbox fun

Cheesy smiles with Chloe

Practicing for a fashion show?

Yeah, he likes wearing my shoes that much!

He may actually be better at walking in heels than I am.

May-hem

2008-04-29T12:44:00.000-07:00

That's my word for this month. By mid-June we might be able to take a deep breath!

Two weeks ago, we got a contract on our house...

...and yesterday, we signed a contract on a new house.

It's an older house, but considerably larger and very updated. Good neighborhood, near a great elementary school, has a large backyard and porch. It was one of those houses where we both felt, as soon as we walked through it, that it was the one.

We close on our house May 23, and the buyers are moving in that day. Just to make things more interesting though, the house we are buying isn't available until June 9. So, couple weeks there of nowhere to live! What we will probably do is store all our stuff and take a little two-week trip to visit my parents (or at least Casen and I will). So, first on the May list -- packing & moving!

This will also be a busy time at work. I have a few jobs related to Commencement, plus May will be the start of deadline time for ACU Today.

Next week we'll be in FW for a couple days -- Scott has a tradeshow, and we will be celebrating his birthday and my mom's.

Also, our Huddle kids are graduating this month (sniff, sniff)! So, we'll be tearing up all through Senior Sunday at church in a couple weeks, and going to watch some of them walk across the stage and having our last few Wednesday night Huddles. In case I haven't mentioned it before I CANNOT BELIEVE that four years have already gone by.

So, there's the highlights of our next several weeks! Should be exciting!

The Debut of No. 2

2008-04-17T11:27:00.001-07:00

Scheduled to make a live appearance on Nov. 15!

Looks like we might have a thumb-sucker on our hands this time.

Retreat at HEB camp

2008-04-07T12:34:00.000-07:00

We spent this past weekend at the HEB foundation camp on our church retreat. These camps are amazing. Churches get to use them for free -- the only cost is whatever food you need to bring. It's such a nice facility -- really, the only way I'm interested in "camping"!

Highland goes there twice a year, and I think this was Scott and my fourth time to go. Last time we went, Casen was 10 months old. Let's just say, taking a 2-year-old there is a whole different experience. What I always loved about these retreats was the relaxation -- they are very unbusy, unscheduled, up to you to choose your activities or just hang out. Relaxing, however, is not a word that can be used to describe this time. Fun, yes, but pretty exhausting. In between making sure Casen didn't jump into the river, jump off a large rock, roll down a steep hill or get hit by the rope swing, we squeezed in some good food, socializing with friends and hanging out with our Huddle kids. Sleep, we didn't so much squeeze in (being a cabin with 6 kids under the age of 6 will do that to you).

At the retreat, Casen discovered that he can eat an apple by himself (as in, without being cut up into pieces). I would say, conservatively, he ate parts of about 10 apples over the course of a day and a half.

Casen and his friend Owen had a good game of horseshoes going.

Owen has an impressive wind up.

Casen & Scott borrowed a pole and went fishing but didn't really last long enough to catch anything.

After a short night of sleep and a long morning of play, poor kid didn't even make it to lunch!

Our fun and fabulous Huddle group (at least, the portion of them that went this weekend)! Love these guys! (Credit note: I stole this pic from Kara's blog, cause mine was kind of grainy.)

Two things I can't believe I didn't get any pictures of: Casen playing with friends/cabin mates Boz, Boone, Jaden & Jaxon; and our brief family canoe trip. Maybe next time.

Happy Easter

2008-03-23T13:48:00.001-07:00

(Scott would have joined us in wishing you Happy Easter, but he is down with a stomach bug.)

Body guards and best friends

2008-03-11T10:24:00.000-07:00

For only the second time in his life, I went out of town without Casen, and this time it was sans Scott as well.

This last weekend I had a little getaway with two of my best friends, Julie and Natalie. Because Julie just moved to a very snazzy apartment in uptown Dallas, we decided to crash there (after politely asking her husband and toddler to find other lodging for the weekend) for the two days of fun. Lots of shopping, tv and movies, eating and talking. I haven't lived in the same town as Natalie in nearly 11 years, and I haven't lived in the same town as Julie for nearly 7 years, but without fail, when we get together, we barely miss a beat. We can talk for hours and pick right up where we left off! I love that! Case in point -- Saturday morning. Despite our best attempts to sleep late, we were all wide awake by 8:30, so we sat on the couch in our PJs. Next thing we knew it was 11:30, and we figured we should get dressed and go do something!

Of course, if you know Julie, you know that funny, random things always happen when you are with her, and this time was no exception. We ate at Chuy's Friday night, which meant an hour wait. In our normal lives, an hour wait at 7:30 would have been a deal breaker, but since we were kid-free, we happily paid our dues to eat yummy Mexican food. While we were waiting, I happened to be looking at the door and saw Jessica Simpson walking in. I didn't want to make a big deal, but I tried to look and see if Natalie saw her too, which I knew she did when she started pinching me. (Julie had her back to the door, so she was oblivious.) Somehow, JS managed to bypass the hour wait. We had pretty much forgotten about it, but when we were seated, we ended up right next to their table (she was with her parents, her dog (yes, in a RESTAURANT) and a few others, apparently). We got a kick out of texting our husbands to let them know of our celeb sighting and Julie used her camera phone to document the situation. But despite her subtle camera phone photography, within seconds, Jessica's bodyguard was an inch from Julie's face threatening to take the phone away from her and acting disgusted that anyone would try to photograph her during a meal! After we got over the initial wide-eyed shock of the reprimand, we contemplated whether a second attempt at a picture or autograph would result in a body check or a taser gun! (Natalie and I assured Julie we would come bail her out of jail if necessary.)

So, blog readers, the moral of the story is that a cell phone camera is way too obvious -- try a microscopic camera implanted in a menu or in your drinking glass if you want to get away with taking a picture of Jessica Simpson in a public place.

By the Numbers

2008-02-16T19:38:00.000-08:00

More than a month without a post! To make it up to you, a few statistics from my life in the month since my last post:

6 -- the estimated times I actually made it out of bed for the 6 a.m. workout class. Need to aim to double that this month! Especially because...

A few thousand -- estimated calories I packed in during the Super Bowl party with our Lifeteam.

5 -- swigs of Pepto the day after the Super Bowl.

2 -- in-theater movies I have seen. That has to be a post-Casen record. I saw 27 Dresses and Juno and enjoyed both.

20 -- the approximate number of times each day Casen says each of these two things: "What's at dere?" (What's that there?) or "Mommy doo-in?" (What's Mommy doing?)

14 -- Sing Song acts I judged. No, you didn't read that wrong; my musically challenged self was a judge at Friday night's show. But I judged originality, so it didn't require me to be able to carry a tune. The acts were great this year.

3 -- recipes I have tried from the this month's Kraft Food & Family magazine (Chicken Pot Pie, Nacho Skillet, Shepherd's Pie -- Nacho Skillet was so-so, other two were great)

2 -- sinus infections and subsequent rounds of antibiotics.

30 -- minutes we waited at IHOP on Feb. 12 in hopes of getting in on the free pancakes (despite being the first ones on the wait list) before giving up and going to Chili's (no pancakes there).

0 -- dollars spent to attend Casen's first "concert." See post on the Wilkinsons' blog for details and pics.

24 -- a conservative estimate of the number of skee balls Casen unsuccessfully attempted to get up into the points area at his first Chuck E. Cheese experience.

1 -- bruise on Casen's forehead from the skee ball he removed from the skee ball game area and hurled against another game (causing an immediate and painful rebound effect)

4 -- Casen pics for your enjoyment below...

Can't really think what caption is needed here -- Casen in a frog towel?

The brief moment during a zoo trip in which all three kids held hands (Ethan, Chloe, Casen)

Valentine's shirt

Not much question where Casen gets his facial expressions

Workin' 9-5 (only not 9-5)

2008-01-13T18:59:00.000-08:00

It's been awhile since I have posted anything about my work life (or anything other than Casen life), so I thought I'd give an update and a plug.

Good news -- I'm down to two jobs instead of three! For a few months, I was working in three different jobs for ACU -- teaching a journalism class, teaching (facilitating) a conflict resolution class, and my usual writer/editor job. But, I am simplifying, and I'm now back to two. This semester, I'm just doing the conflict resolution class and, of course, the writing/editing. So, I do my 20 hours/week for Creative Services, plus a few hours a week facilitating. That is busy, with Casen only in day care 12 hours/week, but it's much more doable than when I was teaching two classes.

The conflict resolution program is a great fit for me. It's an online degree program, so I don't actually go to a classroom and teach. I'm called a "facilitator" and the course content (assignments, videos, lectures, projects, etc.) is prepared by a professor, but I am the one who interacts with the students -- I answer questions, remind them of due dates, assign them to groups, monitor their discussions, grade their assignments, etc. You might not think you could learn to negotiate and mediate online, but you'd be surprised! I have loved being involved with the program again. When I did the certificate program as a student (this was before it was online though), I loved the classes, and I've always told people that I think they should be required for everyone! Apparently, some are starting to agree, because now all ACU Online programs incorporate some conflict resolution classes! That leads me to the plug: ACU Online now offers 16 programs (some bachelor's completion programs for nontraditional students, plus several master's programs -- including the one in conflict resolution), so if you are thinking about going back to school, check into it! You can do it from wherever you live, at your own schedule.

This semester I'm teaching Mediation, and the class starts tomorrow. Should be fun. In my writing/editing job, we're putting the final edits on ACU Today, so all you ACU alums, look for it in the mail in a couple weeks.

I am pretty blessed to have two jobs that I enjoy and that are flexible enough to allow me to spend the majority of the week with Casen.

Look-alike Meter, Elmo Cupcake Eater

2008-01-07T19:02:00.001-08:00

I did this a month or so ago, and it said Casen looked equally like me and Scott, which I thought was boring, so I didn't post it. But I tried again with a pic from his b-day party, and got this result, which I liked better!

Speaking of the 2-year-old party, it was a rockin' Elmo time. Honestly, it went pretty well, considering it involved large amounts of sugar and multiple two-year-olds and other toddler types. I was completely prepared that Casen might throw a tantrum (or more than one), refuse to open presents or refuse to share presents with other guests once opened. I was pleasantly surprised that he did not do any of those things. And, because the cake (or, collection of cupcakes) was purchased rather than home-baked, and Elmo party accessories are not exactly in short supply, this was a pretty easy party to put together. Here are a few pics from the big event.

The snacks included cookies (for Cookie Monster), goldfish (for Dorothy -- she is Elmo's fish, if you are not aware), and, of course, mini pizzas (for Pizza Elmo, naturally).

Casen was great at blowing out the two candles -- he had it taken care of after about one syllable of "Happy Birthday to You."

No need to get the hands dirty.

But if you do happen to get a little bit on your fingers, well, you know what to do.

Lauren and Chloe were essential to the smooth present-opening experience.

And, just to bring us full circle in this post, here is the photo on which the look-alike-meter was based.

P.S. I refer you to Mauri's blog for a recap of the non-Sesame-Street-related fun time Scott and I had on New Year's Eve.

Out of Order

2007-12-27T19:36:00.000-08:00

I'm breaking all the rules today -- this questionnaire obviously is meant to be done before Christmas, but I just now found it on Christina C.'s blog, and it looked too fun to pass up. So, based on my previously mentioned (see previous entry) longing for Christmas to not be over, I'm going to do it anyway.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?
Wrapping paper! I love wrapping gifts. It's so calming and soothing. I do use bags though, just sparingly.

2. Real tree or Artificial?
Fake. Real is too much trouble and too allergen-laden. I will say though, this year just about put me over the edge with our tree's very time consuming assembly, plus putting on the lights, most of which were broken. So, as of yesterday when they became heavily discounted, we are the owners of a new pre-lit tree (early b-day present from my parents!).

3. When do you put up the tree?

Ideally, the day or weekend after Thanksgiving. Gotta get as much enjoyment out of it as possible before Christmas.

4. When do you take the tree down?
Usually the week or so after Christmas. To me, it's just kind of a reminder that Christmas is over!

5. Do you like egg nog?
Nope.

6. Favorite gift received as a child?
Hmmm. I remember being really excited about a "jam box" (it was purple too).

7. Do you have a nativity scene?
Does Casen's Veggie Tales nativity scene count?

8. Hardest person to buy for?
Maybe my dad. All he wants, generally, is obscure books about Christianity, but he has pretty much every book in that category.

9. Easiest person to buy for?
Well, this year, it was Casen. You couldn't go wrong with anything related to Sesame Street, Boz the Bear, Veggie Tales, cars, trucks, Little People, etc.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards?
Mail. Preferably with a photo.

11.Worst Christmas gift you ever received?
I'm pretty sure my father-in-law will never read this blog, but just to be safe, I'm pleading the fifth on this one. :)

12. Favorite Christmas Movie?
It's A Wonderful Life.

13. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?
I'd say probably so.

14. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?
Cherry Cordial Hershey Kisses. But there are a lot of close seconds, and they are the reason I will not fit very well into my clothes for the next couple months.

15. Clear lights or colored on the tree?
Clear.

16. Favorite Christmas song?
I love so many Christmas songs, I really can't pick one.

17. Travel at Christmas or stay home?
Travel.

18. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer?
Yep.

19. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?
When we were little, my brother and I opened one on Christmas Eve, just because we couldn't wait. Now we do all on the morning.

20. Most annoying thing about this time of year?
Traffic/parking.

21. Favorite ornament theme or color?
I'm not sure. Our tree is a little hodge podge. But that's OK. Someday we'll do a more classy tree.

22. Favorite food for Christmas dinner?
Dressing/stuffing. My grandmother's recipe.

23. What do you want for Christmas this year?
N/A

24. If you could spend Christmas anywhere, where would you choose to spend the holiday?
Somewhere with snow!

25. With whom do you most enjoy spending Christmas?
My two boys, of course!

Wrapping up the presents and the post-holiday blues

2007-12-27T18:49:00.000-08:00

Casen's Top Five Christmas Gifts:

1.) Singing Pizza Elmo -- "Yummy, Yummy, that's a pizza pie..." That song won't get old at all. (Thanks, Uncle Landon) How do you know when a kid really loves a toy? The batteries were run down by the morning after Christmas.

2.) Tickle Me Cookie Monster (Thanks, GrandJan and Pa)

3.) Elmo video camera (Thanks, Gammy Sue) Do you see a pattern here?

4.) Little Tykes work/tool bench (Thanks, GrandJan and Pa)

5.) Guitar (Thanks, Da Don)

It seems kind of juvenile, but by dinner on Christmas day, I already felt the letdown of knowing it was over. I already miss the Christmas songs, the lights and the general sense of anticipation. But we had a great time, saw nearly every relative we have plus several friends, and I am enjoying still being off work and relaxing a little. Hope all of you had a great holiday too.

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-25T20:54:00.000-08:00

Here's hoping you got the Veggie Tales stickers you wanted in your stocking too!

Thanksgiving and beyond

2007-11-27T18:59:00.000-08:00

I am so easily lost in minor inconveniences and selfish wants. I'm in such need of the perspective that comes from being thankful for the blessings that overwhelm my life. So, even six days after Thanksgiving, I want to put it writing (and even categories).

The Obvious
I have a husband who is incredibly hard working, loving, committed, and a great father; a nearly-two-year-old who is healthy, funny, entertaining and constantly learning; and considerably more physical blessings than I need or deserve.

The Family
Scott's parents and mine love being grandparents and are a great support system. Our church family – Lifeteam, class, Huddle and so many more – exemplifies Christian community.

The Mundane
Really, I owe so much to whoever is responsible for DVR, Clorox Anywhere Spray, MacBook Pro laptop, comfortable shoes, strollers, diapers and pull ups, Special K bars, Coke Zero, Static Guard...need I continue?

The Jobs
I know that it is not everyone who has three (yes, THREE) jobs that are challenging, fulfilling and flexible enough to allow me to be at home with Casen three out of five weekdays. A true blessing. (Despite what I have said if you have asked me about my job(s) lately.)

The Amigos
Whether they are work and church friends here in Abilene, BFFs from childhood and high school, or college roommates and classmates, my friends are absolutely the best. No contest.

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." James 1:17

----------------------
(You like the dotted line to denote the transition to more shallow topics? Bulleted shallowness even. That's laziness for you.)

• We missed TWO snow days in Abilene. Please, please let those not be the only snow days of the winter.

• Scott's dad is in the hospital again, so please continue to pray for his healing.

• I have not decorated for Christmas yet, which is very unlike me. I can't find time! But I really can't wait to have my house Christmas-ed. Maybe if I did that instead of writing this blog entry...

...which leads me to...

A note about my blogging: I know, I am within two days of it having been a full month since my last post. I'd like to promise to do better, but it's just not going to happen right now. It's an incredibly busy time in all areas of life. So, it'll take a pretty cute picture of Casen with Santa or something to warrant another post in the next couple weeks. I know, it'll be hard for you to survive.

Pumpkins and Trunk or Treat

2007-10-29T12:51:00.000-07:00

Why am I the only one in my family with an immune system?

2007-10-19T11:17:00.000-07:00

It's Friday, and we are finally emerging from a week of scary illnesses!

On Monday, Casen woke up from his nap feeling hot, so I took his temperature, and it was 100.7, which I didn't find too alarming. I gave him some Tylenol and tried to get him to go back to sleep. No luck with that, but while I was holding him he started to kind of zone out, and his eyes rolled partially back in his head. I realized pretty quickly that he was having a febrile (fever-induced) seizure, because he had one of these about 9 months ago. I kept moving him around and trying to see if I could get a response, which I couldn't, so I tried to stay calm (ha!) and remember that these are usually harmless.

I called Scott and told him come home. He suggested putting Casen in a cool bath to bring his fever down. As I sat him in bathtub, having to hold him in a sitting position and splash water on him, because he wasn't able to sit on his own, I thought "What am I doing? This is not normal. I've got to get him to a doctor." So, I dried him off, threw on a diaper and put him in the car. As I put him in, he was still limp and unresponsive, and now his arms and legs were twitching. At some point on the way there, he came out of the seizure, but for the next hour and a half while we were at the doctor, he wouldn't talk at all. He would just look at me or cry when I asked him questions. He grunted a lot as well and couldn't seem to stop squirming around uncomfortably. Very, very odd. However, on the way home he finally said something -- bye bye -- and after a little nap, he was talking normally. The Dr. had checked him over of course, and despite the temporary speech issue, said that all his neurological responses were fine and that the fever was probably caused by a virus. We just bascially had to keep him on tylenol for a day or two to keep the fever down. Still, all in all, a scary day.

But why stop there? Within hours of getting home from taking Casen to the doctor, Scott started feeling sick. I figured he was just tired and worn out from our afternoon, but in the morning when his fever was 103, I figured maybe not. Another trip to the Dr.'s office and we discovered he had pneumonia!

Fortunately for me, my mom was able to take a couple family sick days and come help me with the house full of sick people, and as of today, I'm declaring everyone pretty much well, just in time for a weekend of Homecoming fun.

Whew!

Past and Present

2007-10-14T15:02:00.000-07:00

Kristi tagged me for this one, and it looks kind of fun. Plus, I obviously have nothing else to blog about anyway, or I would have done it by now!

10 years ago I: was 18, a freshman journalism major at ACU, rooming with Julie in Nelson Hall, and a member of the Freshman Action Council, which is where I met Scott.

5 years ago I: had been married to Scott for a year, we had bought our first (and current) house, I was the media relations coordinator at ACU, and I was about to start taking classes toward a master's degree in communication

3 years ago I: was the director of public relations, I was taking classes toward a certificate in conflict resolution and a master's in communication, and Scott was changing jobs from Wolfepak to Autogas

1 year ago I: had a 10-month old, had just started teaching a class in the Journalism and Mass Communication Department (Creating Media Messages), and had been doing my part-time writer/editor job for 4 or 5 months

Yesterday I: cleaned house, played with Casen, worked at our yard sale (we had a yard sale with about 10 other families at Jenny's house), went to the grocery store, ate at Square's BBQ and then played Cranium Pop 5 with the Meeks, caught up on TV shows (Grey's & Friday Night Lights), went to bed

Today I: went to to church, went to class potluck, took a short nap, went to an open house, 90cooked dinner and soon will be going to watch some Alias with Jenny and Leslie

5 snacks I enjoy: 1) Strawberry Special K bars 2) chocolate chip granola bars 3) popcorn 4) dry cereal 5) Casen's Mott's fruit snacks

5 things I would do with $1 million: 1) give to church/charities/ACU 2) pay off student loans 3) buy a house 4) save for college/retirement 5) go on a trip

5 places I would love to run away to: 1) El Dorado Royale (our honeymoon resort!) 2) New York City 3) Hawaii 4) Turkey (I was just reading an article on cheap travel, and looking at these really cheap beach bungalows in Turkey) 5) a dude ranch (not a roughing-it kind of ranch, I'm thinking of the more posh kind)

5 TV Shows I like: Office, Desperate Housewives, Friday Night Lights, The Biggest Loser, Back to You

5 things I hate doing: taking out the trash, putting up clean clothes (I enjoy folding them but not putting them up), changing dirty diapers, killing or disposing of bugs of any kind, mopping the floors

5 biggest joys of the moment: 1) Casen's newest saying -- "I did it!" 2) the date night I had with Scott this past week 3) the chocolate chip cookies that are in the oven right now 4) seeing friends and family next weekend at Homecoming 5) a successful garage sale (hung out with friends, made some money, decluttered the house -- can't beat that)

People I Tag: Natalie & Suzie (NEW to the blogging world, so they need a tag)

Another sampling of Casen words

2007-10-03T12:54:00.000-07:00

Bippo (pillow)
Ish-uh (It's a...)
Ah-pane (airplane)
Eye-no (dino)
Deen (green)
Poon (spoon)
Tah-shoo (thank you)
Wo-wurt (yogurt)
Shash (trash)
Possy (paci)
Wan (one)
Sosh (socks)

Also, it seems like everything is plural. Even if there is only one car, he calls it cars. One bird is still called birds. You get the idea. Also he's started adding "It's a..." to the beginng of things, and the article is there in all cases, like "Ish uh wawa!" (It's a water!) or "Ish uh Daddy!" (It's a Daddy!)

This whole language process is so entertaining.

Eight

2007-09-13T20:02:00.000-07:00

I really have to do this since Wade and Christina both tagged me for it! Here you go -- eight random bits of info about me:

1.) I am the person for whom the sampler platter was invented. I LOVE having just a little taste of a lot of different things. I wish they did sampler platters with entrees, not just appetizers. I love restaurants where you get to share entrees or eat family style (like PF Changs). If I have something salty, I need to follow it with something sweet. (Have to have some kind of sweet after every meal). And beyond that, if I have something rich or chocolatey, I like to have something light and fruity after it. Not really any wonder why I have a few extra pounds hanging around!

2.) I'm very sensitive to noises at night. Sometimes the clock ticking on the wall across the room bothers me. There is a little metal tag on our electicity meter, outside the house but near our bedroom window, and the wind often blows it so that it clanks against the meter, and this drives me crazy at night. On the other hand, I have to have a little bit of light, not total darkness.

3.) I have a narrator in my head. Along the lines of the movie Stranger than Fiction, if you've seen that. Almost all of my life, without intending to, I imagine whatever I'm doing in third-person, like a book being written in my mind. It's not a very exciting book, mind you, but still. Promise you won't send me to a psych ward. I will say, I don't think I do this as much as I used to.

4.) I'm unable to turn off my editing brain. I am aware of and annoyed by misplaced apostrophes (the most common issue by far), missing or extraneous commas, words that are misused, etc., on published material and signs. Note that last part. Don't be afraid that I am picking on grammatical errors in your email or your blog. Honest. I may notice, but it doesn't annoy me. Only in professional, public, printed settings. I even make those mistakes myself sometimes, and it doesn't bother me in an informal communication.

5.) You know how some people have a second toe that is longer than their big toe? I have that but only on one foot.

6.) This doesn't really go here because it's not news to anyone, but I have horrible allergies. I just wanted to include it because it's all I can think about right now in the middle of allergy season. When I was tested for allergies (many years ago), I was allergic to everything they tested me for except cats. Weird. That was just inhalants. I'm too scared to be tested for food allergies, because I just know I'll be allergic to something I really like.

7.) Scott and I started dating on April Fools Day (1998). So far, I'm pretty sure he's not just playing a joke on me. Or if he is, it's a really elaborate one.

8.) I'm related to Johnny Cash. Somehow, distantly. I think my great-great-grandmother and his grandmother are sisters or something pretty far back like that. It's my only claim to fame.

I will now tag Melody, because I haven't seen her do any lists like this yet, and Katie, because she needs to update her blog.

Rock Star

2007-09-12T20:13:00.001-07:00

We had a GATA rock star-themed rush last night, and I decided Casen needed to join in the fun. I think we're going to have to bust out a faux-hawk more often!

Salty or Sweet?

2007-09-12T19:58:00.000-07:00

Are you a salty food person or a sweet food person? It's probably not news to any of you that I am fully entrenched on the sweet side! In case you need to get a sugar high from a blog today, here are a few of my faves...

Desserts:
Chocolate Chip Cookies -- this is a staple. There is no reason not to keep a roll of Pillsbury cookie dough in your fridge at all times. Chocolate chip cookies, soft and warm out of the oven, can fix any problem. Truly.

Black Tie Mousse Cake at Olive Garden -- Cheesecake, with a generous amount of chocolate swirled in, and chocolate chips on the outside crust. What else can you say?

Candy:
Junior Mints/Yorks
Twizzlers
Milky Way
Sour Skittles
Hot Tamales
Riesens
(Note: This list is not exhaustive)

Snacks:
Strawberry Special K Bars -- I am beyond addicted to these. I go through a couple boxes a week. They are the perfect food -- breakfast, snack, dessert, whatever. The only exception to this was during my pregnancy. It wasn't really an aversion, I just lost my craving for them during those nine months. It returned quickly though!

Flat Earth Apple Cinnamon Chips -- These are a new addiction for me. I had to start buying them in the individual serving packages so I could have some portion control. They are baked chips with a half serving of fruit in every ounce. Can't beat that!

OK, your turn to weigh in -- salty or sweet?

Inside the mind of a 20-month-old

2007-09-02T18:28:00.000-07:00

"MMMM. That stuff my parents try to feed me is for the birds. What I need is a little foot."

"Man, I crack myself up."

"If one is good, two must be better."

"The only thing worse than a huge mosquito bite on your eye is your mom trying to take a picture of it."

Keeping up for Kendra

2007-08-19T19:28:00.000-07:00

What would I do without my favorite former youth intern Kendra to keep me accountable to blog updating? :) I have been a slacker lately, but seriously, I just want to be realistic about the fact that most of the time, my life isn't quite interesting enough to warrant a blog entry!

I will solicit your prayers for Scott's dad, who has been in the hospital three times this month. He is at home for the moment, and so we are praying for continued healing in that area. It's hard to explain what's wrong because I really don't understand it myself, but it is related to his Crohn's disease and it involves him not being able to absorb nutrients and electrolytes. Scott has had to go to OKC for several days to be with him, and at one point Casen and I met up with him in FW in case he needed to go back to OKC, but now we are all in Abilene for now, which is nice.

I am trying to have a positive attitude about the class I am teaching this fall at ACU. It is more than twice the size of my previous classes, so I'm not looking forward to the amount of grading that accompanies that. But once I get to meet all the sweet little freshman (and a few sweet sophomores and juniors), and enlighten them on the fascinating topics of Media Issues, I'm sure it will all be worth it. Maybe. :)

We had a so-fun couple days last weekend, with our friends the Brewingtons and Goolsbys visiting from Dallas. I've been counting on Andi blogging about it since she has all the pics! So, Andi, get on the ball, so I can link to your post! The basic outline of the weekend included breakfast at McKay's, shopping at the farmer's market, bbq at Joe Allen's, laying around at a pool while Casen napped inside (thanks, Barnards!), grilling steaks/cooking our farmer's market veggies, church, and japanese food at Fuji! Wow, way too much of that fun involved food. Yikes. But really, a great weekend.

Casen started last week in a new class at his day care (still just two days a week 9-3) -- he is no longer in the nursery class. When I realized that meant napping on a little nap mat instead of in a crib, I was pretty sure this would not work out at all, but of course, it did, and he napped just fine on the mat, even on his first day. Who knew he could do that?

I've been bad at picture taking this summer for some reason. I'll try to round up a few to post soon though.

Lexicon

2007-07-31T09:09:00.000-07:00

A few more entries from Casen's Guide to Language and Pronunciation:

wha-sey -- horsey
my -- more
done -- phone
down -- down or up
doh -- go or cow or throw
mmmm -- the sound a cow makes
ee-oh - the sound a cat makes
eww -- ear
da done -- all done
da Don -- Grandpa Don
shoo -- shoo or shoe or Gammy Sue
shooey -- trash or anything messy, smelly or yucky
ohm -- home
yummy -- a request for a particular food that he wants at that moment
bit-a-bit-a-bee -- no clue what this means, but he says it a lot
daw-bee -- same as above

Good Times

2007-07-25T11:57:00.001-07:00

Fun things I have done lately:

Went to Fort Worth
Initially planned to go for my 10 year high school reunion, ended up not forking out the big bucks for the event, but did get to hang out with high school friends anyway, which was fabulous.

Took a super-quick trip to the beach
Scott was working out of San Antonio/New Braunfels area, so Casen and I tagged along, met up with my parents, and then while he worked, we jaunted down to Corpus Christi to visit my mom's aunt, uncle and cousins. We were literally there for less than 24 hours, but it was nice to introduce them to Casen and we snuck in an hour or so at the beach (and some yummy seafood). The beach excursion was cloudy, cool and in the evening, so not ideal beach conditions, but Casen still LOVED it, making me really wish for more than an hour-long beach vacation. Maybe next summer.

Exercised
I know. Try not to fall out of your chair. Props to my friends at church who started Forever Fit. I have been doing it for the last month or so, and enjoying it. I am much more consistent about exercising if I do it with friends, so this has been great because lots of friends from our class at church are involved. Plus, being outdoors, I feel like I am actually getting a little tiny bit of a tan (or at least a little bit less pale) at the same time.

Read the final Harry Potter book
So good. As with all the books, I just can't get much done until I've read the whole thing. I was sad when I finished it, knowing there will be no more. I know that if you have not read HP, you are probably mocking me at this point, but I'm pretty sure everyone who has read them is with me on this.

Saw a matinee of the Harry Potter movie
It's amazing how a 2-hour getaway to the movie theater with a friend is such a treat once you have kids!

There you have it! Good times these days.

Red River, Roseola and Rain

2007-07-01T19:37:00.001-07:00

Casen and I got back from a little jaunt to Red River, New Mexico. We rode and stayed with my parents and met up with lots of relatives on my dad's side of the family at the Red River Family Encampment, where we have a family reunion every summer.

Thanks to the portable DVD player and having three adults to entertain and hand out food, the drive with Casen wasn't as bad I thought! Only downside -- after a year and a half of Casen being pretty good about not watching too much TV, he is now officially addicted to Elmo (or Elmee, as he says it) and asks for him multiple times each day.

Loved seeing the extended family and enjoyed the cooler weather and amazing scenery in NM. Too bad Casen was sick most of the time we were there! I'm pretty sure it was roseola -- a fairly high fever for a couple days and a rash that spread to his whole body. It was tough because he would seem better for a while, but then the fever would come back. Poor kid. Then even after we came home and he had seemed completely healed, he had a brief relapse that included vomiting in the car. But, now I think it's safe to say he is healthy.

Being up there made the weather here even harder to take! So much rain so we haven't been able to do much outside lately, and on the days without as much rain, it's just SO muggy and hot that you still don't want to go outside. And have I mentioned the mosquitos??? Don't get me started. Don't EVEN get me started.*

Still, we do get out in the kiddie pool on occasion...

...and there's always the mall play area. Which seemed to be the rainy day solution for everyone in Abilene with a child under four when we were there Friday.

* Are Scott and I the only ones who still watch SNL? I think we might be. I'm hoping someone is getting my reference earlier.

Bye Bye Brodie

2007-06-11T11:52:00.000-07:00

This last week we said a reluctant good-bye (more reluctance for some of us than others) to our first dog. I can't believe I'm confessing this to the entire blogging world and risking raising the ire of dog-lovers everywhere, but here goes: We took Brodie to the Abilene Animal Shelter last week. By we, I mean Scott, but I gave my permission (for which he's been waiting for some time now). Hear me out on our story before you call PETA.

We adopted Brodie from a shelter five and a half years ago (October of 2001). He was a tiny, 7-week-old, adorable little black and brown puppy of questionable breeding! He actually looked like he might be part Rottweiler at first, but as he grew he looked more like a German Shepherd mix of some kind. When we adopted him, we lived in a rent house, and envisioned him being an inside dog, at least part of the time, but it didn't quite work out as planned. We spent about 9 months trying to house train him, with little success. Admittedly, it was hard because we both worked all day, so the housetraining could only go on in the evenings. We also took him to obedience school when he was old enough. Did you know it is possible to fail obedience school? We didn't either, but at the end of the course, instead of receiving a yellow certificate of completion, Brodie got a blue piece of paper that entitled us to a discount if we wanted to try again!

When we moved to our own home nearly a year later, we decided the housetraining-challenged dog would have to be an outside dog! For a couple years, we still went for walks (mostly being dragged by our now-55 pound dog), played with him outside for a little while most days, bought him toys, boarded him when we went out of town, and generally were decent dog owners. But as our lives got busier and Casen came along, our time with Brodie dwindled, and it was not a great life he was living out in our small backyard. If you've been around us for any amount of time in the past couple years, Scott has probably tried to pawn him off on you! We never did have any takers...

So, that brings us to the past few weeks/months. Casen is at the age where he wants to be outside ALL the time, and we really need a backyard that he can play in. Brodie, although usually friendly, has had moments of snapping and snarling at kids in the neighborhood (while on a leash, of course), and is generally just too big and hyper to be around a toddler. So, the issue had come to a point of making a decision. I made a deal with Scott that if I could put out ads everywhere I could think of (newspaper classifieds, Craig's List, ACU classifieds, etc.) for a couple weeks, if we hadn't found a place for him, I'd let Scott take him to the shelter. Weeks passed, no response, and so last week off he went.

Of course a few days after taking him, I did get an email response to one of the ads! I told them he might still be at the shelter, and I'm still holding out hope that that person (or anyone else) did get to adopt him from the shelter!

All that to say, I'm sad Brodie didn't work out for us. On the other hand, I am glad that he's not living a bored, lonely, cooped up life anymore either, and I am looking forward to Casen having a safe outdoor space to play (once we clean it up a bit!).

In memory of Brodie, a few pics for those of you who didn't get to meet him in his early days of puppy cuteness!

UPDATE: Thanks to my friend, Katie, who did what I was too scared to do and called the animal shelter to ask about his fate, we now know that he was adopted! Yea!

Baby Babble

2007-06-04T07:32:00.000-07:00

Forgive me another Casen post.
I wanted to write down the words that Casen is saying currently. He's not a major talker just yet, but his vocabulary is definitely picking up speed lately.

Words used frequently:
Uh oh
Uh huh (with strong emphasis on the second syllable)
No
Dada
Mama
Outside (pronounced "ah si" or just "si")
Ice (yes, this is random, but my kid loves to suck on ice and asks for it all the time)
Eye
Shooey (pronounced "oo-ee" and always accompanied by a hand waving in front of the face)
What's that? (at least, we think that's what "ah sat" means, when accompanied by pointing)

Words used occasionally:
Please ("psss")
Shoe (occasionally confused with shooey)
Milk ("ma")
Drink ("di")
Cat
Thank you (this one is a little bit of a stretch. it generally sounds like "ah-oo")
Diaper ("di-pah")

Words he has said in the past:
Hi
Bye
Quack (really, just more of a "ck" sound when asked what sound the duck makes)
Socks

Well, I feel better now. It seemed like he was a little slow in starting to say any words (3 months ago, I think all he said was dada and hi), but looking at them all written down, I'm feeling better about his language skills.

Pomp and Circumstance

2007-05-15T14:12:00.000-07:00

[No, your eyes are not decieving you. The Blog Slacker has in fact posted three times today!]

This post is dedicated to someone who a.) doesn't read my blog and b.) usually doesn't get much space in the content of my blog. No, it's not Brodie. It's my brother, Landon!

I'm proud to tell you that Landon graduated with his Master of Professional Accounting degree from University of Texas at Arlington Sunday night. Scott and I, my parents, and my aunt and uncle got to see the event, while my other aunt and uncle were kind enough to watch Casen. Landon has been such a great college student, finishing his undergrad in under four years, despite transferring three times, and finishing his master's degree while working full-time most of the time.

He is employed beginning in June at Whitley Penn as a tax accountant, and I'm so excited for him.

My parents have not sent me the pics from graduation yet, so for now, we'll post this one, but I'll put the grad ones in asap.

The belated Mother's Day post

2007-05-15T13:55:00.000-07:00

I love being Casen's mom. Figure in the lack of sleep, dirty diapers, lack of personal time/life, heartache and worry, and then throw away your balance sheet, because it can't hold a candle to the smiles, giggles, hugs, snuggles, babbling, dreaming of the future, seeing my husband as a father, stroller rides, playtimes, milestones, and just generally joyful times with that sweet little guy.

OK, that sound you hear is the beeping of my sentimental quota alarm, so I'll throw in a few pics from the last 16 months of motherhood and wrap up.

Cinco De Scotto

2007-05-11T11:44:00.000-07:00

The fourth annual Cinco de Scotto celebration (a Cinco de Mayo-themed party to celebrate Scott's May 5 birthday) took place the Saturday before last (I'm such a prompt blogger), and it was muy bueno. We had planned to have it at a park, but for the second year in a row, Abilene weather had other plans. We've also discovered, at the last few parties we've had, that our 1350 sq. ft. house just isn't made for gatherings of 20+ people. So, we avoided the pitfalls of the 30-mile-an-hour winds and the cramped living room, thanks to our generous and hospitable friends, the Meeks, who hosted at their house instead.

The birthday boy and Casen, who probably thought it was his birthday, what with the pinata fun and his first experience with a lollipop.

Scott, part of the Wilkinson family, and the Goffs.

Jenny and Katie (Don't either of you try to pretend that you weren't super excited about having your picture taken and posted on my blog.)

Scott D., Melody, Deb and Adriane

Owen, showing off his toned abs

Casen and Ethan, discussing who will be the designated driver

Pinata fun

Lucy, Ethan, Chloe and Summer

In other news, I'm glad to be done with my class for the semester (well, except for that pesky grading part), looking forward to an upcoming weekend trip to San Antonio, and excited about the new school Casen will be going to starting in June.

Fun Games, by Casen K.

2007-04-23T19:16:00.000-07:00

How to Have Fun with Laundry

Part I in a series of "How To" presentations by Casen K.*

This exercise is designed for those times when your mom is just not giving you the 100 percent of her attention that you know you deserve. Don't let laundry get the best of you.

1.) Choose a time when your mom is feeling the need to be especially productive and has set out to fold laundry on the bed.

2.) Stand by the bed and whine, hands extended up toward the bed, until you get picked up and placed on the bed. If necessary, use the repeated "mom-EEEE? mom-EEEEE?" whine.

3.) Once you have secured a location on the bed, begin to pick up the laundry your mom is trying to fold and toss it onto the floor. Socks work especially well because you can throw handfuls at a time.

4.) As she begins picking up her clean clothes off the dirty, un-vaccuumed floor, make your way toward one edge of the bed and attempt to jump, crawl or scoot off the edge. Go back and forth from one side to the other, so she will be constantly moving around the perimeter to prevent you from falling.

5.) When you tire of that game, revert to throwing clothes off the bed. But this time, kick it up a notch by choosing to toss the clothes she has already neatly folded and sorted into piles. If you like, put some of them on your head for comic effect before throwing them off the bed.

6.) Relax and enjoy when your mom realizes the error of her ways and abandons her fruitless task in favor of going to get you a snack or taking you outside to play.

*Brought to you by the You Can Do It Too (YCDIT) Network, producers of the bestselling "INSERTING A TWIG INTO A STREET SIGN POST," by Ethan F.

Pictures galore

2007-04-14T19:53:00.000-07:00

Stolen off my friend Andi's blog, some photos of us and the Brewingtons doing some exciting bowling in Irving last weekend:

Easter was fun, hanging out with my fam (my parents and brother, pictured below, as well as my aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.). Easter pics -- always a must with children, it seems -- didn't turn out so hot this year. Chalk it up to crankiness due to teething (yes, that's right, finally!), cold weather, and the desire to throw eggs rather than place them nicely in a basket.

But, never fear, I do have some GREAT photos to show off! A guy I used to work with, Paul Bryan, has started doing photography full-time, and he took some shots of Casen that we really love:

If you are just really trying to kill time at work and want to see all the pics from the shoot, here they are.

Don't you love the sense of relief when something you've worried about finally passes without any of the disasters you imagined? The PR class I'm teaching this semester is in charge of planning the blessing event for graduating seniors in the department. Event planning isn't really my strong suit, and this being my first year to teach, I was a little stressed about it all going well. Other than gale-force winds (it was outdoors), the event went smoothly, and I don't think I was a total embarrassment to the department. Such a relief to be done with it!

Lunch and the aftermath (or afterbath)

2007-04-02T14:41:00.000-07:00

"I have conquered the Chef Boyardee Ravioli!"

"What? Why would I need a bath?"

Amazing Graze

2007-03-31T20:02:00.000-07:00

We just returned from our first trip sans Casen, and it was a success! Scott and I had a great time in Chicago. Granted, I was in a conference most of the day (Scott worked from the hotel room), but we still fit in time for eating at some fun restaurants and shopping and just relaxing.

In addition to the fabulous Chicago deep dish pizza (we ate it twice -- at Giordano's and at Pizzeria Due), we stumbled onto a really fun, unique place called Graze (hence the title of the post). They had bunches of small portion entrees, and they encouraged you to order 2 or 3 of them. This is exactly my kind of restaurant, because I love having "just a little taste" of a variety of foods! I hate having to pick. The dishes were pretty gourmet and unique. Honestly, the whole setting was so sophisticated, we felt way too uncool to be eating there. Anyway, the dessert was especially amazing -- cheesecake ravioli. Creamy cheesecake in some kind of pastry ravioli, with blueberry sauce and strawberry ice cream. The presentation was beautiful too. So, we took a picture of it. Yes, that's right, we went on our first trip without Casen and all the pictures we have to show for it are of food. That can't speak well of our priorities.

Casen and his Gammy (Scott's mom) enjoyed a quiet few days here in Abilene. She reports it was much easier than she thought -- he didn't get too fussy until the last day, and he slept and ate and played great for her.

We got home Friday night, but thanks to rain delays, we didn't get there til after Casen had gone to bed. However, I did get to say hi to Casen when he woke up crying at 2:45 a.m. Here's a tip for anyone else who is gone for several days and gets home after their child has gone to bed. If he cries in the night, just let him cry himself back to sleep, no matter how badly you want to go see him. Because if you do, he will be so excited to see you that he will stay up for THREE HOURS before going back to sleep. Yep, 2:45-5:45 a.m. Not exactly the plan I had for reuniting with him, but nonetheless, I am glad to be back with him. Sleepy, but glad.

Mind Mush, Milestones

2007-02-24T19:29:00.000-08:00

I keep thinking that I should post about something other than Casen. But I can't think of anything. How sad. Becoming a parent really does turn your mind into mush. Does it ever come back?

So, back to Casen. He's started walking now. We've had the feeling for a couple weeks now that some milestone was coming -- either walking or his first tooth. And at 14 months, both were pretty overdue! But walking it is. Do you think they make baby dentures?

And, of course, here are pictures.

Casen with his new BFF Chloe, who is also his crazy-face-twin. They are hilarious. You can't tell really well in this pic (it was taken with a cell phone camera), but they do the exact same "crazy face" on cue.

Valentine's pic -- his shirt says "Hunk of Burnin' Love" and cost $3. Thanks Wal-Mart!

February 4

2007-02-04T18:25:00.000-08:00

General family update:
We survived the ice storm, a couple rounds of snow, and a weekend of both Casen and I having the stomach flu. Let's hear it for togetherness in the house! Oh, and did I mention the time when his fever spiked so suddenly that he had febrile seizures? Um, yes, SCARY. But supposedly harmless, other than to my blood pressure. This past weekend we visited my parents and saw friends in the metroplex. Casen has, in a period of just a couple weeks, officially entered toddler mode. Tantrums, throwing food, refusing to lay down for diaper changes, all the fun stuff. New adventures, good times. Although, to clarify, he is not actually toddling just yet. Still pretty content to crawl and cruise.

Just for fun, a get-to-know you thing, courtesy of Julie's blog (she said no one else had to do it, and apparently the reverse psychology worked):
1. I’ve come to realize that my ex-(boyfriend) --- was kind of weird.
2. I am listening to --- clothes tumbling in the dryer.
3. I talk --- too fast when I'm speaking in public.
4. I love --- friends who you just feel completely comfortable around.
5. My best friends --- don't see me often enough. Ha!
6. I lost --- my wedding ring (If I haven't already told you the sob story, short version is that it fell off my finger somewhere on the ACU campus a few months ago).
7. I hate it when people --- are intentionally inflammatory.
8. Love is --- sometimes hard.
9. Marriage is --- definitely one of the best things I've done.
10. Somewhere, someone is thinking --- What does inflammatory mean?
11. I’ll always be --- absent-minded.
12. I have a crush on --- Matthew McConaughey
13. The last time I cried was because --- I can't remember. Not much of a crier, although a little more so since becoming a parent.
14. My cell phone --- is always either dead or missing, which greatly annoys my husband.
15. When I wake up in the morning --- I try to use my mental powers to will Casen to go back to sleep. So far, my mental powers have been inadequate.
16. Before I go to sleep at night --- I get a glass of water
17. Right now I am thinking about --- the fact that I should be working.
18. Babies are --- more fun than I realized.
19. I get on MySpace --- to reconnect with old friends and stay in touch with Huddle kids.
20. Today I --- drove (OK, rode) from North Richland Hills to Abilene, went to church, went to the grocery store, made a dessert pizza, went to a Super Bowl party, left the party early to put Casen to bed, sat down to do some work, and ended up here.
21. Tonight I will --- clean up the house a little bit. Maybe.
22. Tomorrow I will --- go to the grocery store again, mail a present to some friends who just had a baby, buy a birthday present for one of Casen's friends, play with Casen, do some editing work, grade papers and prepare for class on Tuesday.

Photos of one of my attempts to get Casen some veggies (these pictures were taken before he started throwing them at me):

"Um, is this what I ordered?"

"Excuse me, waiter? I think I need you to bring me something else."

Other pics:

Loves to push around his Lightning McQueen car

"If you get any closer with that camera, I will bean you with my Elmo toy."

Standing in a mixing bowl while playing at the Learning Table really adds to the experience.

Happy Birthday -- a week and a half ago

2007-01-11T08:28:00.000-08:00

Just in case there was any doubt about my title as Worst Blogging Mother Ever, I waited til about 10 days after Casen's first birthday to get around to doing a blog about it. I know, I know, you've all been on pins and needles, I'm sure.

We had a lot of fun celebrating with family and a few friends. Scott was adamant that I, his home-ec impaired wife, needed to make rather than buy a cake. We compromised (OK, mostly I gave in) and I made (with a mix of course) cupcakes and decorated them myself (actually, with some help from Scott, my mom and his mom). Casen didn't dive headfirst into the cupcake like you sometimes envision for a first birthday. He just kind of sedately picked off pieces of icing and ate them like it was his normal everyday meal. He did get a little messy eventually, but suffice it to say, it didn't make for the most exciting birthday video ever. Still, he did enjoy opening and playing with presents, and we were able to get him to hold up one finger to demonstrate his age. And he didn't have any major meltdowns (except when he fell and hit his head on the coffee table, and I think that's a justified meltdown), so we're calling it a success!

What a year it's been! Who knew that it could be so fun and tiring and exciting and overwhelming and miraculous! Can't imagine life without him.

In honor of his first year, a few random tidbits about Casen Matthew...

Nicknames: Case Baby, Basket Case, Stinky, Crazy Face, CMK
Stats: 18 lbs, 8 oz. and 28.75 in.
Sleeping habits: has been regularly sleeping through the night for a few weeks now (knock on wood)
Eating habits: enjoys deli meats, cheese, bananas, french fries, bread of any kind, freeze dried kernals of corn, cheerios of all varieties, cupcake icing, rice, yogurt, juice and occasional jars of baby food
Close friends (of the non-adult variety): Ryan, Owen, Owen (yes, two friends named Owen), Lauren, Christopher Paul, Boone, Ansley, Jackson
Gets around by: crawling, pushing his Lightning McQueen car, cruising, or walking while holding on to Mom or Dad's hands

Happy First Birthday, Casen!

Christmas 2006

2006-12-25T20:30:00.000-08:00

You saw it first here, folks. Casen does a mean John Travolta impression. Christmas was big fun, with the LeapFrog Learning Table shown here being only one of many presents for Casen that we will now have to find room for back home. I love Christmas and I'm so excited about having a kid around to enjoy it too!

It's been so nice to relax for several days -- not having to do work as soon as Casen's in bed every night, and being able to just hang out during his naps instead of trying to squeeze in another half hour of work. Of course, being with the built-in-babysitters, AKA grandparents, is another bonus.

It's also a great time of year when you hear people who normally aren't, thinking and even singing about Christ. I know I've probably missed out on so many opportunities that presents to have great discussions. But at least, I always hope that it makes people think a little more than usual about the spiritual implications of the season. I've been trying to make that a prayer focus -- praying for people to be open to those times when their mind wanders down a spiritually focused path.

I'm sure that there will be more photos to come once we get ours on the computer but here's another one from my parents' camera. Hope your holidays have been happy so far!

Snow Day

2006-11-30T10:48:00.000-08:00

Three holidays in one post

2006-11-28T09:08:00.000-08:00

By now, I probably don't even have to apologize for taking so long to update my blog -- surely you're used to it at this point! A month later, here I am finally getting around to posting the Halloween shark pics.

Moving on to the next holiday, Thanksgiving was a fun time in Oklahoma with Scott's family, who loved getting to spend a week with Casen. We also did Christmas with them while we were there, and all three of us, but especially Casen, were totally spoiled. Did some fun after-Thanksgiving shopping too. The weekend before Thanksgiving, we stopped to hang out with my parents for my dad's birthday and we also hung out with friends in Dallas and ate fabulous food at Grand Lux. I'm not gonna lie though, nine days was a long time to be gone with an almost-11-month old. Especially one who doesn't sleep well even in his own bed, much less in a pack n play in a strange house.

Have I mentioned before that Casen doesn't sleep well???? I'd like to tell you it's gotten better since our return, but, you probably know better. God is not Santa Clause, but if he were, all I would ask for this year for Christmas is a full night of sleep.

On the other hand, during the day, Casen is a pretty fun kid! A pretty fun kid who is about to be a year old. Better start thinking about that party...so much pressure!

I have a lot of work going on right now. Interesting that I always blog when I'm swamped with work. Avoidance, anyone?

So excited about the start of the Christmas season. Bring on the Christmas music, festive lights and cold weather! Speaking of which, any tips on a baby-proof Christmas tree? That's going to be an interesting challenge...

Pumpkin Patch

2006-11-01T19:04:00.000-08:00

News & Notes:
- Casen now has ear tubes. He recovered quickly from the procedure. He's also recovered from the bronchitis and we're not having to do the breathing treatments much any more.
- Since getting tubes, he's been sleeping better. That is, he's mostly sleeping through the night. On the other hand, he's now waking up at the crack of dawn. Still, you take what you can get.
- Casen was a shark for Halloween. Will post pics of that soon, because if I do say so myself, he was a pretty cute shark. Had fun hanging out with his girlfriend Ansley, who was a ladybug.
- Need to get rid of the leftover Halloween candy or I will be the size of a shark.
- LOVE the cool/cold weather. I haven't made chili yet, but it's going to happen soon.

Here are a few pumpkin patch pics. Went to a super cute pumpkin patch -- photo ops, pumpkins and gourds for sale, yummy goodies like pumpkin bread, cookies, cider, homemade apple butter, all kinds of stuff.

Blogging and reunions

2006-10-17T07:53:00.000-07:00

I'm shamelessly stealing this topic from Allison's blog. So, go check out what she had to say about this too (and the comments). Totally guilty -- I read so many blogs of people who have no idea that I am reading them (who am I kidding -- they may not even remember who I am!).

I loved getting to spend time with college friends at our five year reunion this past weekend. As I was thinking about it ahead of time, I had a conversation with my mom about blogging, specifically how the blogging phenomenon will affect reunions. Yeah, I know, surely there are more pressing world issues to discuss than this. Sorry.

One thing for sure: Reading blogs of old college friends prior to going to a reunion does add a new dimension to the experience. My initial expectation was a negative one. I figured, what will we have to catch up about? Thanks to blogs, I already know the names of their kids, where they live, what they do for a living and how they feel about Grey's Anatomy.

On the other hand, I somehow felt closer to people whose blogs I read (especially those who know I read their blog and who read mine as well -- feels much less stalkerish that way). The awkwardness of trying to re-discover your relationship with someone was lessened. Plus, we got to skip some of the basic fill-me-in conversations and ask about specific things happening in each others' lives.

Even better, I can think of several people I really did not hang out with a lot in college who I couldn't wait to see at Homecoming because thanks to blogs, we keep in touch and are closer than we were before. Weird.

So, thanks to the blogging world for making it easier to keep in touch with friends. And discuss pressing world issues. But you'll have to read someone else's blog for that.

Bits and Pieces

2006-10-03T12:09:00.000-07:00

Why do my photos not show up? I post them and they show up fine, and then the next time I check the page, they're gone. Is it better in Blogger Beta? Am I just technically inept? Maybe it'll work this time.

I'm getting excited about Homecoming and seeing friends (especially from the class of 2001!). Even when you live in Abilene and are on campus pretty regularly, you still look foward to Homecoming. Then the campus in a way becomes more like the way you remember it -- seeing your college friends everywhere, lots of activity.

Casen is 9 months old, an age that I'm finding more fun than I expected. He's babbling a lot and loves to play. Generally pretty happy. Did I mention that he's sleeping better? Finally! He's still not crawling, which is actually kind of nice -- I'm not having to chase him around and we still haven't had to childproof everything.

Parenting issue of the week: Casen is really not into trying finger foods. We've tried bits of bananas, Gerber fruit puffs, small bits of soft pasta, and his general MO is to gag a couple times and then throw up violently. Do we just need to lay off for awhile? How long? For awhile he was eating the fruit puffs pretty well, but then even that made him gag/vomit the other day. He does love to suck on a soft french fry though. That's my boy -- loves the fried, greasy, fast food already.

I checked out two just-for-fun books from the library three weeks ago. The due date was Friday, and I still haven't had time to read them. I'm planning to re-check them out and make it my goal -- to find some time to do recreational reading. I keep them out in the living room to remind me. I wonder how many times I can keep re-checking them out.

I've seen maybe two or three movies in the past nine months, so I'm hardly the person to turn to for cinematic advice, but I do highly recommend the one we saw a few weeks ago. Little Miss Sunshine. Hilarious, in an eccentric kind of way. Seriously, you need to watch it.

Sleep. Who needs it?

2006-08-29T08:52:00.000-07:00

Apparently I have decided it is optional. Casen's been trying to convince me of that for 8 months now, and I just committed to all kinds of new things that will eat up my time, so I must be getting the message.

As of the past few days, I'm now a social club sponsor at ACU and teaching a class in the JMC department. We'll see how that goes! Meanwhile, if you hear of any way to add more hours to the day, then I might be able to reconsider my lack of sleep. Although, I'm sure Casen would have other plans anyway.

Also, Casen started a Mother's Day Out program today -- 9-3 every Tuesday/Thursday. I didn't expect to, but I did cry on the way home from dropping him off. Silly. It's just the first time I'd left him with strangers!

For Julie

2006-08-20T21:03:00.000-07:00

Casen Matthew Kilmer

Ryan Thomas Kiser

Were these guys destined to be friends or what?

(These pics were taken at different ages -- Casen is about a month old, I think, in his pic, and Ryan is about 4 months old in his pic.)

Community Part 2

2006-07-30T21:00:00.000-07:00

Scott and I have also been blessed to have a faithful community in our Sunday morning class, Families Built on the Rock. We have been in this class for about four years now, through many classroom changes, evolving membership, Bunko games, more babies born than can be counted, lots of fun Christmas parties, much prayer, a few tears and even a couple out of town trips together.

We floated around to a few different class groups our first year of marriage, but when we finally got involved with this class (and found a Lifeteam at about that same time), we really found our place at Highland and in spiritual community.

One thing I especially appreciate is that our class has managed to maintain a balance of young couples without children and young families with children. Anecdotally, I know that in many churches these two groups often end up in separate classes. For us, however, it's been a great blessing. For the first 3.5 years in this class, we've been on the non-child side, learning from and walking beside couples who modeled Godly parenting. Now that we have Casen, we are just thankful to have some non-kid friends we can pass Casen off to when we get tired of holding him during church! Ha! Just kidding. Seriously, although it presents challenges, I love the mix we have in our class of slightly different life stages. We all grow from being with each other, and we are stretched in positive ways by looking out for the needs of people slightly different from us, rather than remaining insulated.

We also have great leadership. Our class leaders and teachers are incredible people, and we have never doubted their genuine interest in all of us as friends, not just students in a class. They consistently challenge us in our marriages, our friendships with each other, our spiritual disciplines and parenting.

Writing these two blogs reminds me of what I have to be thankful for. God has been gracious to allow us to be a part of these relationships with other believers!

Large churches and community

2006-07-23T19:50:00.000-07:00

First, pics of Casen and a brief update -- he's sitting up on his own, thinking about the idea of crawling, eating fruits and veggies, grabbing at anything within reach, sticking his tongue out at us, really fun to be around most of the time, napping sporadically and still not sleeping through the night. Those are the highlights.

Now, my deep thoughts for the day (week? month?).

I have a theory about involvement in "mega" churches (say 1,000 people or more). Satisfaction in a large church is directly related to involvement with a small group community within the church.

In my experience, those who complain about the problems of a larger church ("No one knows my name," "I just don't feel plugged in," "I've been a member for ___ years and people still ask if I'm a visitor," "I just don't feel a sense of community," "No one invites me to lunch after church," etc.) tend to be those who, despite attending faithfully on Sunday morning, have yet to get involved with a small group -- a Lifeteam, accountability group, or a even Bible class that has signifcant outside activities and fellowship. I really believe that makes or breaks your experience with a large church. In a 1,000+ member church, there are benefits -- programming, diversity, service opportunities, talent pool, ministries, etc. Of course, there are drawbacks. But I sense that most of those weaknesses are mitigated when members are deeply involved in a tightly-knit small group.

Having said that, Scott and I are lucky to have that community in two different ways at Highland, and I believe that's why I rarely have any complaints about my mega church experience.

Commnity # 1 -- Lifeteam
A little more than four years ago, Scott and I had been out school nearly a year, were newly married and were looking to find a small group. After turning in a card indicating that desire, we were notified of a Lifeteam mixer of sorts. All members looking for a new Lifeteam (some new members, some just members whose previous Lifeteam had disintegrated) came together in an informal get-to-know-each-other kind of setting. After introducing ourselves and telling what we were looking for in a small group (e.g., prayer, fellowship, Bible study, service), we were essentially left to our own devices to mix and mingle and apparently just see if anything happened. If this is starting to sound like a social club or sorority rush, you're getting the idea. Scott and I left feeling awkward and certain we had wasted an hour and a half. But the next day, someone we had never met until that mixer called us and invited us to be in the new Lifeteam they were starting. We figured it was worth a shot, and four years later, here we are. We knew no one in the group prior to that mixer, and we now count them as some of our closest friends.

There is a lot I lI love the diversity of ages and life stages within the group. I love the mix of personalities that, like a family, sometimes clash but always love each other anyway. I love the great food we have when we gather and even more so the great fellowship, prayer, encouragement and support. I love the parties -- the girls-only parties we've given to our female high school graduates and our annual Super Bowl parties. I love the fact that all three of the people whom we've relied on to be Casen's regular care-takers while I work are from our Lifeteam. And it's hard not to remember the tragic circumstances that some of the families within our group have gone through, where we cried together, prayed together, made emergency arrangements together, sat in hospital waiting rooms together, and, of course, brought food together .

In a very real sense, this group is as much or more our "church" as the full assembly at Highland Church of Christ, and is certainly a vital way that we experience the love of Christ here on earth.

Part 2, about the other small group community we've been blessed by, to come soon...

B-Ball, BBQ, and Blogging

2006-06-20T20:21:00.001-07:00

With apologies to my many, many friends who are avid Mavs fans, I just can't get into it. I have watched almost all of the Mavs playoff games this season (including tonight's game, which at the moment is looking like it might be the last). And I haven't yet been able to see the purpose in watching the first three quarters. The scores are so close that all the excitement boils down to the final moments, and until then, I just don't see the point. Other than the fun of having Melody, Adriane and Deb over at our house to hang out, of course.

I like living in Abilene. There. I said it. And published it on my blog, so it's official. After planning most of my life to live in a more metropolitan area, I think I might be a convert to this West Texas wonderland that is A-town. Home of my alma mater, the 10-minute rush hour, affordable housing, almost anywhere you work being close enough to come home for lunch, Highland Church of Christ, yummy steaks and BBQ, friendly people, and gorgeous sunsets, I admit that this is not too shabby of a hometown. If we could just do something about the year-round heat.

As seen in one of the pics, Casen attended his first Ranger game Saturday. He was a trooper for a couple innings but being that it was a couple decibels too loud, a couple hundred degrees too hot, and a couple hours past his bedtime, we had to bug out about halfway through. Maybe we'll have better luck next time. His swimming experience at my parents' pool, on the other hand, was a success.

Again, I'm blogging when I should be working. Not that I'm going to start working once I'm done here. Now it's the fourth quarter and actually worth watching.

Bumbo and bonds of marriage

2006-05-09T14:00:00.000-07:00

Casen is taking one of his too infrequent naps, and what am I doing? Cleaning? Folding laundry? Writing my ACU Today articles that are due this week? Nah. I'm watching Oprah and blogging. Let's hear it for procrastination!

As pictured here, our newest baby gadget, the Bumbo seat, is a big hit so far. It cracks me up seeing him in it. He looks way too old. He's still supposed to be a tiny baby!

On Oprah, Lance Armstrong's first wife is talking about their marriage and how she lost her sense of self in the relationship. A lot of what she's saying is something that I think engaged and seriously dating couples really need to hear -- that it's incredibly easy and dangerous to focus all your attention on the event of the wedding, rather than the lifetime of marriage. She said something to the effect that when you start to find your identity in anything other than through God, you're going to be in trouble. I love hearing that. So true. The only thing that made me sad is that when she was talking about losing her identity, Oprah said "That's why I've never gotten married. Because I don't want to be anyone other than myself." (Or something close to that.) I think that's incredibly sad that she doesn't think there is an alternative -- you have to lose yourself to be married. Obviously, sacrifice and selflessness are a part of marriage and a part of living as a disciple of Christ. But I don't think you have to give up the gifts and the uniqueness that God created within you. Yet another paradox to ponder! Two becoming one, but not losing anyone!

Speaking of marriage, my own other half turned 27 last week. Happy Birthday! I love you! Now, let's see how long it takes him to notice this message, being that he admittedly doesn't actually read my blog. Not that I blame him. I'd have to write a little more consistently before I can fault anyone for not gravitating here to hang on my every word! (Thanks to all three of you who do, though!)

Sleeping, watching Alias and working from home

2006-04-21T07:20:00.000-07:00

I'm so bad at this. Blogging, I mean. I want to be a superstar writer who has something fascinating and incisive to say every day, but let's be honest, most days I can barely find time to take a shower, much less shower my faithful blog readers with insight. So, instead, I'm just going to babble about semi-related topics and maybe every now and then something brilliant will drip out (don't hold your breath). Topics for today: sleeping, Alias and working from home.

Nearly four months of motherhood under my belt, and I feel like I'm starting to adjust. I'm used to being constantly distracted by thoughts of what Casen is doing when I'm somewhere else (like at work). I've figured out that one way of bouncing that will almost always get him to stop crying. I can maneuver the stroller and car seat, and I mostly remember to bring extra outfits in the diaper bag. I've adapted to the daily 3 hour rotation of eating, playing, sleeping. Except the sleeping part. Because Casen doesn't really do it much. At least not for long periods. In general, if I can get him to take two 45 minute naps a day, that's quite an accomplishment. And although for awhile he was doing 5-6 hour stretches at night, for the last week he's been up at least every 3 hours at night. I think the lack of sleep is catching up with him. Last night, the poor kid basically slept off and on from 5 p.m. until 8 a.m. this morning. Note the off and on part -- it's not like Scott and I got any great amount of continuous shut eye. But hopefully it helped Casen catch up a little. I've discovered that during the day, I'm fine with the lack of sleep that I got the night(s) before. It doesn't noticably affect me. But during the night, it's another story. Ask Scott. When I have to get up for the 5th time during the night, I'm just a really bitter person, and I act like the world is about to end.

Alias. Started watching it last night, but decided to sleep while the baby was sleeping (the advice all new moms are given repeatedly), so I didn't finish it. So far, seems interesting. Still waiting for the return of Vaughn. Two people who are reading this who need to get into Alias: Melody and Adriane. Get with it. It's a cool show.

As of June 1, I will officially work from home (and I'll only work 20 hours/week). I'm psyched to be able to focus on two of my favorite work-related activities -- writing and editing, and I'm thankful to be able to be home with Casen, even if I will be distracted by work during part of the time. Now, if he can just get that napping thing down, I'll be set. Otherwise, I'm going to end up doing all my work at night and on weekends.

What's that? You said you wanted me to post another photo of the cutest baby ever? Ok, if you insist. This was taken on Easter -- I don't always dress him in smocked blouses that look like they're from the 1950s.

New Arrival

2006-01-03T21:22:00.000-08:00

Yes, here he is -- the newest member of the family and the first baby born in the New Year in our city (12:25 a.m. Jan. 1)!

Look for more details, just as soon as we figure out how to juggle this bizarre schedule that seemingly includes plenty of sleep for Casen and none for the rest of us!

Happy Hollandaise (Sauce)

2005-12-13T14:25:00.000-08:00

Those are the words my husband sings whenever the song "Happy Holidays" comes on TV or the radio. That's just the result of an odd part of his brain that generates off the wall phrases at regular intervals, usually with little to no filtering.

But unless you've been living in a well-insulated cave recently, you've likely heard various reports about the "Happy Holidays" greeting, and the movement among some Christians to protest stores who use it in place of "Merry Christmas" (or in other ways choose to use a more generic term than Christmas to describe this time of year and its accoutrements).

Personally, I think the passion and energy directed at this particular issue is misplaced for Christians. I struggle to see the eternal significance of an obviously secular organization using a more generic, secular term instead of a term specific to one particular religion.

As Christians, we'd like for all to celebrate and honor the birth of Christ out of love and respect for Him, I'm guessing. But is convincing retailers to use the word Christmas in their marketing really the best way to advance that cause? Will people who are currently uninterested in the Christ part of the season suddenly drop their armloads of packages, spit out their hot cider and fall on their knees in worship because the word "Christmas," rather than "holiday," is used in a store circular?

Does Christ call us to demand implementation of our religious practices in the public culture?

Or would it be more appropriate to be less concerned about the terminology of businesses -- all of which, we well know, exist to make money, not promote causes or celebrate holy days -- and more concerned about our own living out of the celebration of Christ at this time of year (and all times of the year)? Wouldn't it be more profitable, in a kingdom sense, to focus on setting an example by the way we live -- perhaps by not being caught up in the selfish, materialistic aspects of the season and instead finding ways to honor Christ and remember his incarnation in our own lives?

Are seekers and non-Christians attracted to the cause of Christ when we send out messages demanding that our religion be the only one celebrated, even secularly? Are they influenced to be more like Christ when we try to force the outward acts and symbols of our religion on them without first addressing issues of the heart?

It's easy to be drawn in to defend what appears to be an attack on our faith. But if there aren't enough people in the world living out the true meaning of Christmas for retailers to acknowledge it, let's start addressing the real illness instead of merely the symptom.