A Beautiful Day to Run a Marathon

Okay! Okay! A half marathon! Alright! Alright! A 5K......and I walked! But Drew DID run the half marathon this morning! And Kami and I walked the 5K for the 7th Annual OKC Memorial Marathon. We got up bright and early....we actually woke Kamden up for a change! Hahaha!

Anyway, it was a LOT of fun! It was so neat and emotional to see how many people came out! What was most touching for me was to see those people who had names pinned on their shirts of the people who they were running for and remembering today. Those who lost their lives in a senseless act of terrisom on a beautiful April morning 12 years ago.

So, Drew ran the half marathon in *we think* about 2 hours. Kamden and I finished the 5K Walk in about an hour! It was so funny, toward the end of the walk, we had the finishline in view and Kami started to get fussy. So, I was saying to her "Look, Kami! I can see the finish! We're almost done! We're almost done!" And with the saddest look on her face and her best pout, she looks at me and says, "A-Duh!" LOL! So funny! What a trooper! When we began the race, there were tons of people on the sidelines, of course, and because I had a stroller we were the last people to enter the course. And as we crossed the finish line there was one lady who yelled, "Yeah! Go Babies!" I thought that was pretty funny! I was laughing!

Anyway, here's some pictures of our morning!

Little Rock

So, we decided this weekend to take a trip to Little Rock to visit some very good friends of ours that we met while stationed in Germany! We had such a great time! And we miss Joseph & Kathy so much! So, it was nice to chat, laugh, play some poker, watch The Office and just be around some really good people!

A 5 hour car ride, and Kamden did GREAT!
Although, sometimes she didn't......
Kami loved to play in the fountain at the Clinton Presidential Library in downtown Little Rock!
Our friends!
Calling it a night....look at those tired eyes! We totally threw her off her bedtime schedule this weekend, but what a trooper!

A New Discovery

Kamden discovered something new a couple weeks ago! If you keep pulling at this cool white paper, it'll keep rolling and rolling and rolling.....

Now when she's being extra quiet in the house while I'm making dinner or washing dishes, I know where to look!

How Big is Kami?

SO BIG! This is Kami's newest trick! It's so funny! I also think she's got a new word. Besides Dada and the occasional Mama, I think she's saying "Done"; because everytime she's sitting in her high chair and her food is all gone, I ask her, "Kami, are you all done?" and everytime she replies "D-uh". Everytime! I can't believe how big she is getting! Almost 10 month old! Where has the time gone???

Sesame Street Live!

You'll never knooooow who you'll meet! You'll never know who you'll meet on Sesame Street! Here's some pictures of the day of Sesame Street Live concert (LOL, Kami's first concert!). Grandma Feth come into town that weekend, and we only had two tickets so Drew and Grandma Feth took Kami to SSL, while mommy took some time for herself and went and saw a movie! I think everyone had so much fun!

This is the T-Shirt I made for Kami to wear to SSL! Cookie Monster's biggest little fan!
Grandma Feth and Kami at the show!
Disco Bert! No pigeons here, Auntie Rachel! ;^)

Bad Batch

{Origional Posting Date: Friday, May 27, 2005}

OK, So. Every once in a while I'll get a itchin' to do some bakin'. Tonight, was one of these occassions. Drew and I are driving to Memphis tomorrow to meet up with his little brother, Dave and I thought it would be nice to bring some nice homemade peanutbutter cookies for the trip and to bring to Dave.

I'm mixing this and adding that, a dash of this and a dollop of what else? Peanut Butter. Voila! The masterpiece is ready to be baked in the oven. But first, the batter must pass the Jessica Taste Test.

"Hmmmm? Drew, come taste this. Does this taste right to you?" (Uh oh, never ever do I have to recruit my husband on things that are sweet)

"Hmmmm - it tastes like something else is overpowering it", Drew says.

"I think you're right. It's just not Peanut Buttery enough. Do you think I should just throw it away? It really doesn't taste right. Maybe I will bake one batch and see how it comes out."
The obligitory twenty minutes roll by (in the meantime, I check myspace. Yeah! Ali just told me a little of her html secrets - let's try it out). *BeepBeepBeepBeep* Timer goes off.

It tastes like - well, much like it did when it was batter. Now it's just warm and slightly crispy. I shake my head and bring the rest to Drew to taste. What could be wrong with these cookies? I look over the recipe - I didn't forget anything. Then something catches my eye on the Skippy jar. "Sell by February 03". *wrinkles nose* "Eeeeew!" Cross my heart, I never knew Peanut Butter could go bad. Well, at least the garbage disposal enjoyed it!

Have a happy weekend everyone! Cookies or not, we'll still enjoy ours!

Unconventional Hippie of the Year

{Origional Posting Date: Monday, June 26, 2006}

OK, if there were an actual Hippie of the year Award, I think it would most definetly go to my brother-in-law, Dave. I have to laugh every time I talk to him. And he's, oh, so fun to have debates with, since he is a self proclaimed "hippie"/"environmentalist", who, *ahem* not only flys airplanes, but he's in training to fly JETS (fuel burning) for the AIR FORCE (war fighting). AHAHAHA!!! See??? Just the though of it is making me laugh right now!!! Anyway, he bought this car [very ugly, might I add] that he's converted over to be powered by Veg. Oil. You guys have got to check out his blog!!! It's under "VegWagen" on the sidebar!

A Baby Story

{Origional Posting Date: Friday, July 21, 2006}

OK, so I'll admit it, I'm a TLC (that's channel 183 on my TV) addict. I love watching home improvement shows (very inspirational for the nesting phase of pregnancy, by the way......Drew always knew when I watched one of those shows during the day while he was working because when he got home, something would be painted, reorganized, moved around, or put up on the wall) like Trading Spaces and Clean Sweep. Also among the shows I love to watch are Bringing Home Baby and A Baby Story (although I did go through a small phase during the end of my pregnancy when I just couldn't bring myself to watch it....it freaked me out too much!) and while I labored in my hospital room, I wondered why I hadn't written them and invited them along with my labor.

So, in my best effort and at the request of a friend (here you go, Alicia!) this is my Baby Story (and if you ever get Drew's version of this story, it's much more funny than mine):

At almost exactly 40 weeks, I had a doctors appointment on Thursday, June 29th. So, with my sister Mindy we made our way to the base hospital where the OB clinic was. That morning I was to meet another one of the three OB/GYN's docs (here, the way it works is you are seen by a nurse practitioner up until the last month of your prengancy when you are seen weekly by one of the OB/GYN's, then depending on who's on call the night you deliver, that is the OB who will be in attending while a resident on rotation, who you will meet the night/day of your delivery will be the one to deliver or catch or whatever they do down there!) here on base. My belly measuring too small for 40 weeks, the Dr. was concerned about the growth of Kami, and wanted to schedule an Ultrasound for 3PM that afternoon. That would be perfect timing for Mindy and I to do some Commissary shopping and then go pick up Drew, who couldn't make it to the Dr.'s appointment because of a lunch meeting with some guys he'll be working with in OKC. I was also dialated to 1cm at the doctors office, just enough for the doctor to strip some membranes (I believe my words when he did this procedure was, "HOLY CRAP!" and my eyes bulged from my sockets). So, after leaving the doctors office and feeling totaly funky, Mindy and I made our way to the Commissary. On our way home, we were stopped at a red right turn arrow. Apparently the guy behind me didn't see me stop because the next thing I know I hear and feel this incrediable *whack* from behind. A little in shock to do this myself, Mindy talked with the guy who hit us, as well as the police officer who arrived at the scene shortly after (more damage was done to his car than mine). After getting all the information we needed and after the police filed his report, we swiftly left for home (Mindy driving) to drop off the grocery's and pick up Drew (by this time it was about 2:30PM).

At the Ultasound, as I entered the room, I notified the Ultrasound Tech that I had just been in a fender bender accident about an hour ago and would he mind checking to make sure Kami's okay. He got this look of shock in his eyes and quickly escorted me back upstairs to the OB/GYN clinic to see if the doctor wanted to examine me before he did the US. We were told then that we needed to proceed immediatly to St. Elizabeth's Hospital (they don't deliver on base here anymore, and instead have a contract with one of the local hospitals here in town) for evaluation and monitoring. When asked if I was injured in the accident, I replied every time, "No, just this really bad back ache - but I'm not sure if that's from the accident or from walking around the commissary and being 9 months pregnant". At St. E's I as hooked up to a monitor for about 4 hours (which in the meantime, I did finally recieve my Ultrasound). The nurse pointed out that it looked like I was having some small contractions, but I didn't feel them. Weird. I soon noticed my back pains now going in spasims. When I said this, Mindy went and stood by the little monitor noticed that when I had a back spasim, the monitor detected a contraction. AHA!! THAT'S what a contraction feels like to me! Interesting!

So, after no improvement I was sent home from the hospital. By this time it was 10PM. After taking a bath, I layed down in bed to get some sleep. My back hurt too much, and I was too squirmy, I decided to go downstairs on the couch for a while. Back was still hurting. Whoever said that you should try and sleep through contractions during the early stages of labor, I swear has never been in labor! The back pains soon began to become more frequent and at about 12AM, I threw up. That's when I went to get Drew, who, still sleeping assured me I was fine. Unsatisfied, I then went to wake up Mindy. After hours of back pains, baths, trying to rest, throwing up and telling Mindy and Drew that I think my water just broke (nope, just peeing my pants!), I finally convinced them that we needed to go to the hospital. Even if they turned me away later, I wanted to get an IV to get some water in me (especially since it came to the point where I couldn't keep water down).

Arriving at the hospital at around 3 or 4AM, I was surprised to hear that I had now dialated to 4cm's! Just enough for them to keep me there! Yeah! Not dialated enough yet for an epidural, the nurse gave me some pain medication through the IV, which let me rest and also apparently say some wacky things and ask off the wall questions (refer to Drew's version of the story on this one, I don't remember what I said). Finally at about 7AM, I was ready enough for an epidural, which Mindy, Drew and myself now sing praises to - we could all get some rest now!). After than, it was pretty much smooth sailing from there. Then about 3:30PM, I was ready to push! With a room full of medical staff (the attending doctor, the resident, two nurses, and a medical student who by the look on his face as I began to push was the first time he'd ever seen a live birth, and Drew and Mindy I was good to go! Hmmm, so THAT is what the urge to push feels like! After nearly an hour of pushing, I asked the doctor (who by the way, just happened to be the same doctor who I saw the day before!) how many more times I was going to have to push; to which he replyed, "Oh, somewhere probaby between 5 to 20 more times." "5 TO 20 MORE TIMES??" I thought, "Nuts to that!". Kami was out in 3! ;^)

So, all in all, it was a good experience. Not one I'm ready to do again tomorrow (epidural or not, labor is labor and labor is hard work!), but one I'd do again!

Photo Shoot

I tried to take some pictures of Kamden one day!

This was the only smile I got!

But this is how she really felt about my photo shoot!

Sunday Book

Here's a book that I completed while in Utah. I got the idea from my mom, who keeps a small photo album of pictures of Jesus, Joseph Smith and the prophet in her scriptures, so when she has grandchildren at church with her, she pulls out her album so that they will have something to look at! Anyway, here's what I came up with. The album is an accordian album from Chatterbox!

Jesus once was a little child.../...a little child like me!

I can learn to pray/and study the scriptures/Just as Jesus did!

I can follow Jesus' example by being baptized when I am 8 years old/I can show my love to my family and friends just as Jesus taught.

I can listen to Jesus' teachings/and by letting my light shine, be a good example to my family and friends.

As the righteous Nephites of old, I can see Jesus Christ again/and live wtih Him and my family and friends forever and ever!

A Trip To Grandma's House!

We went to Utah to visit Kami's Grandma & Grandpa in Salt Lake City and had a lot of fun! Here's some pictures of our visit!

Here are my three teeth! Count'em! 1-2-3!

Kami, cousin Vanessa & Aunt Nancy! Vanessa kept saying to her mom "I want her on my lap!" Kami had other plans!

Kami was a big help when it came time to do the dishes! Grandma appreciated all her help!

Seeing Double!

Kami LOVES to look at herself in the mirror! So, one day I decided to get the mirror that belongs on top of her dresser out of a box in her closet and prop it up against the wall. She spent a pretty long time looking at herself in this mirror! It was fun to watch!

"One of a Kind"

This was just a random photo shoot I did one afternoon. Kamden was just getting over a cold, so she's got a little bit of a runny nose. But, I chased her around taking pictures of her while she roamed the house and played with her toys. I even stuck a silly little bow on her head at one point. As you can see, she gave me attitude for that! Anyway, my journaling isn't much, random pictures, random thoughts I guess!

"Merry Christmas"

Here is Kamden's first Christmas! We spent it with her Aunite Mindy, Uncle Billy and cousins Alishia, Carl and Emily in Tampa, FL! We had such a great time and and so greatful to my sister for hosting us for such a long time! We had fun! We miss you tons and tons! As you can see, just about everything Kamden got her little hands on went immediatly into her mouth!

"Today Was Pure Joy"

While I was back in Utah last week, I had the opportunity to work on some of my scrapbook pages that have been sitting around! I have reorganized my scrapbook stuff so that all my paper and embellishments are now in "kits", so everything that I need to coordinate a page (paper, stickers, ribbon, etc.) are all together! It has made a world of difference! Now all I do is take pictures and then match it to one of my kits! Or I'll take a picture to specfically match a kit!

ANYWAY!! Here's a picture of me, Kamden, my sister Rachel and her daughter Charlotte way back in November, I think! It has yet to be journaled, but the bulk of it is done! The first page I scraplifted off from the cover of this month's Simple Scrapbook Magazine.

A BEAUTIFUL Day at the Park!!

Okay, so these photos were taken probably a month or so ago. Right around when things started warming up a little bit here! But, I thought I'd post them because...I like them and it's my blog and I can do what I want! As you can see from my hair, it may have been warm outside, but it was pretty windy! This is very typical of Oklahoma City!!

It's Official!

We've had a "heads up" for about a week, but today Drew got his official orders to our next assignment. I know I've said in the past that if I was a bettin' folk, my money would be on Washington DC. Well, let's just say it's a good thing I'm not a bettin' folk! Because we're not even going close to Washington DC!! It came as kind of a shock when Drew first told me, but I've been on the internet endlessly this week finding out anything and everything I can about where we're headed, and I'm really getting excited! So, come summer time, it'll be time to pack up our bags, get on an airplane and fly over the big pond! This time, the 'other' big pond! We're headed to Osan Air Base in South Korea! We'll let you know more details as the time gets closer!

Just checking in!

Not a lot to talk about right now here on the blog! I'm just checking in and letting everyone know that I'm still here. I've got some more cute park pictures to post of Kamden and her daddy! I'll be in SLC for a little while this month. I'll try and check in again while there. Right now, I'm listening to Kami "talk" to herself in bed. I'm trying to resist nursing her to sleep, which makes for very hard evenings. I'll write more soon!

Talented

OK, so if you look to the right of my blog you'll see all of my links to favorite websites/blogs. I just wanted you to notice I've added a couple new blog sites! Take a look at them! Rebekka Erickson is a super nice designer from Austraila that I took classes from back in Illinois while she was there! And Elsie Flannigan, I've never had the privilage of meeting, but I LOVE looking at her stuff! She is uber talented - I especially like the way she uses lots and lots and lots of color on her scrapbook pages! Anyway, enjoy!

The key to a beautiful, healthy smile is....

....good habits, of course! Every night, just before bed one of Kami's favorite things to do is to take a bath! Lately, as we get ready for bathtime (ususally right after dinner, because I let her get a little expiremental with her food), I'll set her down in the bathroom as I draw her tubby, this is soon followed by a shreek of excitement and pulling herself up on the tub to watch mommy fill her bath. Well, today I thought I'd test just how dedicated to her bathtime she really is. So, after dinner I sat her in the kitchen while I cleaned off the countless peas, carrots and cheeros that missed her mouth. After putting the high chair back in the dining room and without moving Kamden, who was still entertaining herself with a cup in the kitchen, I went into her bathroom, turned on the water and called "Kamden, sweetie! Bathtime! Come here, babe!" And then I waited. Then all of the sudden, who did I see round the corner from the kitchen and b-line is as fast as she could to the sound of running bathwater? Why, my little fish of a dauthter, of course! And who wouldn't come running (or speed-crawling) to bathtime in our house! It's full of excitement with all the toy-chewing, splashing and bubble-blowing (I keep her bubbles by the tub)?? But, we do take care of business here! Along with the washing, we usually do a really good cleaning job on the earings and of course, we have to take care of that toothie (and actually there's another one cutting through....yep, back to short naps and restless nights!)!!! So, I got Kamden a toddler toothbrush to "chew" on while she's in the bath, just so she gets used to that bristly thing in her mouth! Yay! What fun!