What a gloomy day

So. I do believe it's been 2 months since I've posted. Shame on me. Well, I'm here now. That's all that matters right? 

Thanksgiving is tomorrow. I have to say that I'm not sure how I'm feeling about the holidays this year. We're in Reno...about as far away from our family as we can get. Not really, but it sure feels like it sometimes. Thanksgiving and Christmas definitely won't be the same. 

We're going to our pastor's house tomorrow to eat some food and be with friends. I'm looking forward to it even if it's not family. I'm making desserts of course. Seems to be all that I know to contribute. My yummy charlie brown layered dessert...and then some caramel chocolate cookies recipe that I got out of Parenting magazine. Hopefully, they both turn out ok. Mitch also volunteered himself to bring a ham since he's a stinker that doesn't like turkey. Funny, huh? 

I just can't wrap my mind around the fact that we're almost down to the last month of this year. 2009 is right around the stinkin corner. Holy cow. Which means we're a few months away from our year anniversary of being Reno-ites....Renonians....Nevadans, there we go. Definitely doesn't feel like we've been here that long. But, then again, it does. Weird. I was about to say that we're loving living here and that we really like Reno so far....but, then I remembered that December and January is coming up....the snow months. I'll probably end up a little less pleased with this town by then. Not a cold weather girl. I like the fall and I like the beginning of winter...but then I'm done and I'm ready for spring. It seems like fall just kinda zoomed by us and we just went straight to the cold. I guess we had a few days of some pretty weather here and there. But, nothing like Missouri! 

Oh well. Tis life I suppose. 

In other news, I just finished reading a book that has changed my view of and my relationship with Jesus. The Shack is an unbelievable piece of work and will change your life as well if you let it. I loved it so much and cried a few times while reading. I just got so wrapped up into the portrayal of the Trinity. It was just beautiful. Go to your library, check it out, and read it. I promise, you won't regret it. Even if you don't like the book, it will leave you thinking. 

Now, I'm onto a completely different type of book...Twilight. Yeah, yeah. I know. I figured I might as well see what all the hype is about. I'll let ya know. 

Kasen is doing just splendidly. He's talking a lot. He'll say "oh sorry" and "i want more". Of course, in his own little jabbering ways which very few can understand. But, he's getting there. We've started time outs with him where he has to sit in a corner because he's into hitting for some reason. Yesterday, in the walmart checkout line, he straight up slapped this 5 yr old girl in the face for no reason at all. When seconds before, they were playing and being friendly with each other. I was so appalled....and I'm sure it's just the first embarrassment of many he has yet to cause us. 

Well, that's all I'm gonna post for now. Maybe, I'll update again in a few days. Who knows. 

I'll leave you with this lovely little shot of my precious boy. 

lovely huh?

i guess someone peed in his cheerios. 

I finally did it!!

I got my tattoo that I've been talking about and wanting forever. I finally stopped procrastinating and got up the courage I needed. My main motivation was that I wanted it done in time to heal before we left for our trip on Sunday. So yeah, I just sucked it up, made the appointment....and I'm so glad I did!! 

All day long I kept telling myself how horrible it was gonna be and did research on how bad the pain is for wrist tattoos. I psyched myself up for the worst on purpose. I think I had to pee 3 or 4 times within 30 minutes of the appointment. 

Surprisingly enough, it was not as bad as I expected at all! Sure, it hurt. It's a needle scraping across your skin. But, mine only took about 20 minutes, and halfway through it wasn't hurting nearly as much as it did the first 5 minutes or so. The worst part was when he was filling the outline in around the middle of my wrist, where the veins are. That was when I actually flinched a little bit and tensed up. The rest of the time, I was just talking to mitch and the tattoo artist about different things trying to keep my mind off of it. 

In the end, I'm so happy I went through with it and was able to last the whole time and didn't come out with half of a tattoo. I'm very proud of myself, the girl with the lowest pain tolerance ever. But, ya know, I figure after giving birth to a 9 lb baby with no epidural, everything else kinda fails in comparison!! Ha! 

I'm already trying to think of what I want next. I didn't believe people at all when they said tattoos were addicting....I was like yeah right!! There's no way I'd wanna go through that again! but yeah, the minute he was done, I already wanted another one. 

Oh yeah, it's Hebrew for the word "hope".  There are 3 different Hebrew words for hope.  The one I picked means "confidence, security".  A little daily reminder to myself that my hope comes from Jesus, no matter what the circumstances around us are. He is my HOPE. 

Jammin Away

My kid loves music. Well it's not like he has the choice not to, of course! Anytime something with a good beat comes on TV or the radio, he goes to town movin back and forth, spinning in circles, stompin his feet. It's so cute! I could watch him all day! 

He already has a favorite CD to listen to. the soundtrack to Hairspray. Oh yes, he's my son. I can't deny him! It's so great! He has a couple of favorite songs on there but for the most part, he loves it all. Whenever we're in the car and he's not in the mood to be in his car seat, we just turn that on and his mood completely changes. 

Here is a video I tried to get when he was rockin out the other day. His dancing was fading just a little bit but I managed to get a couple good moves out of him. 

In My Arms by Plumb

I love this song, I love these lyrics, I love my little man who is 15 months old as of yesterday!!!

Your baby blues, so full of wonder

your curlicues, your contagious smile

And as I watch you start to grow up

All I can do is hold you tight, knowing

Clouds will rage and storms will race in

but you will be safe in my arms

Rains will pour down

waves will crash all around

But you will be safe in my arms

Story books are full of fairy tales

of kings and queens and the bluest skies

My heart is torn just in knowing

you'll someday see the truth for lies 

when the....

Clouds will rage and storms will race in

but you will be safe in my arms

Rains will pour down

waves will crash all around

but you will be safe in my arms

Castles, they may crumble

dreams may not come true

But you are never all alone

cuz I will always love you

always love you

Clouds will rage and storms will race in

but you will be safe in my arms

Rains will pour down

waves will crash all around

but you will be safe in my arms.

So ready for fall

I am. I love summer as much as the next person. Summer means my birthday, trips to the beach, having a nice tan, and lots of other lovely things. But, there's just something about fall and the weather that it brings that put me in a good mood. It's so beautiful. Well, at least in Missouri it was. I guess we'll see how the fall weather measures up here in the west coast. It better not stay in the 90's! 

Along with arrival of fall comes our big trip to Oklahoma and Missouri. We will be leaving Reno Sep. 28 to drive to Sacramento (2 1/2 hours) to fly out from there because it was way cheaper even when you add in gas to get there.....and fly in to Okc when we get to stay with Tyler and Nicole! Just for one night, but still, we get to see our long lost friends whose first names are our middle names!! yay!! From there, we will going to Durant to spend a few days with Mitch's family. I don't think they have seen Kasen since sometime in January. Then, on the 2nd, we're making the trek to Missouri...stopping to see my bestest friend on the way!! So, that in itself is really exciting! Chris and Jessica's wedding is on the 4th so we will be in Warrensburg for a couple of days getting ready for that and doing the whole wedding deal. Mitch is best man and Kasen is ring bearer! They're gonna be so adorable in their matching tuxes!! My mom will be coming to the wedding on Saturday and we'll ride back to Salem with her that night after the wedding festivities are finished. We'll have 3 days in Salem with my family and then have to hitch a ride to St. Louis (2 1/2 hours) to fly out early, early Wednesday morning the 8th. 

Phew......some vacation huh? Tons of driving and running around trying to squeeze in seeing as many people as we can. But, I suppose when you live this far away from the ones you love, you take any chance you're given! 

The bottle situation is actually going great. We're down to just having one every day and that's a little before bedtime. He doesn't actually fall asleep right after it. He gets a bottle at around 8:30 or so and then it's bathtime, brush the teeth, let him run around for a little bit to get some energy out....then off to bed. It's been working pretty well and he's usually exhausted enough that he falls asleep in his crib pretty easily. Naptime has been a lot better too. I've pushed it back to after lunch, between 12 and 1. And he's usually ready for it by then so if he does cry, it's only for about 5-10 minutes. So, all that's good. We'll see what happens when it's time to take that last one away. 

I'm so ready to stop buying formula!!!!

The song that I'm listening to over and over these days is on the newest Hillsong album, This is Our God. It's called Desert Song. Holy cow. I love it and I can't wait to talk Mitch into letting me sing it for worship once we get moved in to our new building (10 more days until the first service in there!!)

I was trying to put the video in this post but I can't figure it out so I will just include the link I guess. Her story is incredible.....

The Desert Song

Oh, that darn bottle!!

Ok. This is going to be me venting. 

After leaving Kasen screaming bloody murder in his crib for over an hour until he finally fell asleep for naptime....I need it. 

Unfortunately, our son is addicted to his bottle when it comes to sleeping. Those are the only 2 bottles he has these days, thank goodness at least, one for naptime and one for bedtime. Yeah, well, this week, after talking to our doctor, we decided that it's way past time to get rid of these last 2 bottles. 

What we found out is that Kasen doesn't know how to sleep without one. I can't believe I let us fall into this habit. Does this make me a bad mom? Who knows.

It's not that he doesn't like sippy cups. He'll drink water, juice, and lately soy milk oout of any of his sippy cups just fine. But, I guess it's just the comfort of the bottle.... 

Today I just tried to stay firm and didn't give him a bottle for his naptime. He had milk in his sippy cup earlier, had breakfast and some of mine as well. I knew he wasn't hungry. 30 minutes of screaming ensued and then i went in there and got him to sit with me in the rocking chair. We rocked for a while and he seemed a lot calmer and like he was so close to going to dreamland. However, once I put him in his crib.......yeah. All over again. 

So I left the room, and went and took a shower because I couldn't stand hearing the cries. I called my mom and Mitch and triple checked that I'm doing the right thing. I HATE hearing him scream/cry. Mitch just told me that I can't give in....yeah, a lot easier for him to say when he's not here! 

Finally, at 12:15......after being in his room since 11....he wore himself out and fell asleep. I went in there to check and he was laying on his back sprawled out...both of his legs hanging outside the crib. That made me laugh a little...which I needed. 

Man...I don't know how I'm gonna handle this taking the bottle away. But I know it's for his own good. He has 8 teeth for goodness sake....I don't want him sucking on a bottle anymore! I've been doing a lot of research to try to get tips but all I can find is tips on how to transition and how to get them to enjoy their sippy cup. Well, that's not our problem. Our problem is sleeping. So yeah, gonna do some more research I guess. 

It's times like these where I almost wish he had started using a pacifier way back when.....if only. 

Should Be Sleepin

But, I'm not. I got tired of tossing and turning for over an hour without getting any closer to falling asleep. So, I came in here and decided to write a little bit. Maybe this will make me tired. Hopefully. It's after midnight and we have church in the morning. I have to be there at 8. No later. Or I'm in trouble with the worship pastor....don't want that. 

I seriously cannot believe that it is August. Where has summer gone? I feel like it's completely passed us by without even stopping to say hello! Well, the good part about it being August is that Hope Community (our church) should be in it's new HOME by the end of this month. YAY! Finally, no more setting up and tearing down week after week. We will have our own building with classrooms and a nice worship space with an actual stage. Mitch and I are both really excited! It's been really weird for us to go from the churches we were at....to leading worship in a college lecture room. We know God is going to do AWESOME things with Hope and we're just really really pumped to be able to be a part of it...from the ground up. We get to see God draw people to our church and lead them in worship....some of them, maybe even for their very first time! How incredible is that?? 

Kasen.....well, to put it simply...he's a brat. Haha. Don't worry, I still love him like crazy and wouldn't trade him for anything. But, like Mitch realized the other day (because he's not at home with him as much as I am) "he's really got an attitude"! If anything is not going his way, if a toy he;s wanting is stuck somewhere, he gets in trouble for getting stuff out of the kitchen drawers, or he gets his butt smacked for eating the dog food....he will scream and kick and swing his arms, fall down on the floor and flail his body all over the place. He really is quite the drama king. I'm not even exaggerating. I keep thinking "Man, my poor parents, this is what they had to put up with" cuz I know it's all from me. 

I'm hoping it's just a phase and he's hit the terrible two's a little early. We'll keep our fingers crossed. 

In the past couple of days, he's started saying some new words. He will come up to one of us and hand us a toy he has and say "here you go". Of course, it doesn't come out all perfect like that. But, it's so darn close, I almost cried because of how sweet it was! I don't know where he got it even! I guess whenever I'm playing with him and I hand him different things, that's what I say. I don't even realize. This has made us wanna start working with him a lot more and telling him what things are. I haven't done a good job of that at all. 

If you ask him where his belly button is, he lifts his shirt up and points it out with a big ol' smile. He is OBSESSED with his belly button. When Mitch has his shirt off, Kasen would always grab at his belly button, so Mitch showed him where his own was at....ever since then, he's always got his finger on it! So silly! Another silly thing he does is when he lets out a toot every once in a while. Whenever he would do it, one of us would look at him and say "You tooted, Kasen!" and he would just laugh! Now, he'll just look at us after he lets one rip, has a huge grin on his face and says "to-to"!! Haha! It's hard not to laugh around this kid, I'm tellin ya. 

In other news, our church softball team finished 1st place in our division. We'll be playing our first playoff game next Sunday, so that's pretty exciting! I have to say, I'm a little impressed with myself because I was not expecting to be any good at all! I didn't play any sports in high school and everybody knew I was the most unathletic, uncoordinated person ever! But, lo and behold, I guess softball is my thing! I'm not too bad! I usually play 2nd base and I've gotten a few outs this season. I love batting though! It's my favorite part.....but not the running you have to do afterwards. One time, I made it all the way to 3rd on my hit.....man, I about collapsed right there on the base. Isn't that sad??

All this bike-riding I do every day, and I'm still so out of shape!! GEEZ!!

My wonderful husband got us tickets to the Paramore concert this past Monday. NO ONE comes to Reno, and they actually started their tour off here! Pretty sweet. I have to say that the show was absolutely phenomenal. Hayley was even better than I expected. Her vocals were more beautiful and strong than they are even on a studio-recorded CD! She was amazing!! I'm so glad I finally got to go to a concert of theirs after being a fan for so long! I will definitely try to go to one again whenever I have the chance! Even if I do walk away dreaming about having a voice that's even HALF as freakin awesome as hers. Oh well. 

Ok. It's almost 1 so maybe I can try this sleeping thing again. Hopefully it won't be another month or so before I post again. I'm kinda suckin at this whole blogging thing.....oops. 

I'll work on it. 

Peace out.