Believe it or not......

I made these CUTE shoes for Keira!!!!!

Okay, I had some help from Jessica, but I did a lot of it myself! :o)

Us

We have been doing wonderful! My Mom came last week and stayed with us for about four days and helped us paint the dining room and kitchen. It was wonderful! She is very motivating and helps us get stuff done. We decided to go wild and try a new paint color. I would love to be creative and good with colors and stuff, but unfortunately I'm not. I was thinking we should go with a lighter color but Chris thought a darker brown would look better. And I must say, it looks pretty good!

We still have to do some touch-ups.

We're also going to paint the cabinets probably whitish and then the counter. We're not going to be able to remodel it like we would like for a long time so we might as well try to make it as good as it can get.

Chris is doing wonderful! It's official- he's now permanently full time! And he loves it! Everyone he works with is super nice and he really enjoys what he does. They haven't had many busy days or nights so it's been great! The working two days, off four is awesome and it seems like he's always home! He is great with Keira and loves her more and more everyday!

I'm doing terrific! I love maternity leave and am so sad to have to go back. BUT I have some excellent news! Next week I'm interviewing for a job with Centura Regional Float Pool. I would choose at least three hospitals to work in either the ER or ICU, wherever there was a need. Because float pools pay much better, I would only need to work three days in two weeks. I can schedule myself and only have to work one weekend day a month so I we can work it out with our schedules and I never have to miss church. I only have to work one big holiday a year and can take a vacation whenever I want. And I think I can do days. I know, it sounds too good to be true. The bad: no benefits, but that's why Chris went full time; I have to learn many different computer systems and I don't think any of them are as good as the ones I'm used to; I will be working in several different hospitals and it will be hard for me to meet people and get to know my coworkers since I may not be working with them very often. And those are the big downfalls I'm thinking of now. I have wanted to work at one of the hospitals I would be working at since I graduated from nursing school and for whatever reason I turned down the job. This same hospital is building a new hospital about three miles from my home and will be moving there in 2011 which will be perfect. For some reason I'm a little nervous about it. I'm not sure why. I have a good job now, and this is a little riskier. There may be slow times during the year where I might not get the hours I need. Chris made a good point. I'm always saying how I love change and tease him for wanting to stay in the same house for the rest of our life. He reminded me that I always say how I love change but then am hesitant or nervous about it when it comes. Although really, for now, it's just an interview. So I'm trying not to get my hopes up too much. So wish me luck! :o)

It's been snowing like crazy here! Pretty much non-stop since two nights ago! It's been great! I don't remember ever getting so much snow in October!

Two Months

Our beautiful little girl is now two months old (and five days). The time is just flying by! She had a doctor's appointment on Monday and it went great! She was 10 pounds, 12 ounces and was 22 1/2 inches long which is in the 50th percentile, up from 10 and then 25%. I guess her head is still a little small (but her brain certainly isn't ;-) .)The poor girl also had three shots and did pretty well. Although that evening she had about two hours of pretty inconsolable fussiness. I realized how lucky we are that she is generally a happy baby and doesn't have colic or anything. She really is soooo good! She rarely cries, mostly when she's hungry and today she cried pretty hard because she got cold after her bath. She is still super good whenever we go anywhere. She smiles and even laughs occasionally, which is just the sweetest and most wonderful thing I have ever seen! And I have a lifetime more to enjoy! She likes to grab my hair and hold onto my shirt and occasionally reaches purposefully for her pacifier or a toy. She definitely knows how to put her hand in her mouth and does that if she's hungry or just wants to suck. We've caught her sucking her thumb a couple of times also. She's turning her head to look at things and tracking.

Keira had her first bottle about a week and a half ago. Some people had suggested we try it out and make sure she takes them okay since I have to go back to work in two and a half weeks. :-( She did awesome! She took it like a champ! And she even nursed perfectly afterwards! I have to admit, I was a tini bit sad watching Chris give her the bottle. I don't really know why, except that now I'm not the only one who can give her food. It is such a blessing for me to nurse her and so amazing what our bodies can do! She's had two other bottles since and has done great with them as well! And I must say, it's kind of nice having a little more freedom and not being the only one who can feed her.

In the past week, nights have been wonderful! One night she lasted six and a half hours without eating and the next night it was six hours. And then last night she lasted EIGHT HOURS!!!! I couldn't believe it! Unfortunately I stayed up late so I didn't get the full effect, but it was wonderful never-the-less. Maybe we have some more longer nights in store! Don't worry, I certainly don't expect those eight hourerers, but six sure is nice! :o) She is usually so good when I put her down. I don't have to rock her to sleep or anything. If she becomes fussy I just pop in the paci and she's great!

She's my little best friend and I love her more than words can describe!!!

Let the Good Times Roll

I have to admit, these past few days I've been a total slacker but have had a blast! We have been company free since Wednesday and I've been making the most of the time. On Thursday I went to a mom's group at church, which was really fun and I met some new moms. It's so much fun being a mom! I have to admit, I was a tini bit jealous. The four other girls there were stay at home moms. I only have four more weeks. :-( Later I met with a good friend from college for Cold Stone ice cream. Yummmm!

On Friday I went to the Denver Zoo with Jessica, Cameron, and Sydney. It was soooo much fun! Everything is way more fun when you have kids, even if she slept through the whole thing and isn't old enough to get anything out of it. Later that evening one of my best friends and old roomie came over and we made dinner just like the good 'ol days!

On Saturday Chris watched Keira (although she slept) while my sister and I went biking. It was fabulous! It was my first bike ride since the dreadful pregnant one on July 16th. It was soooo much better than the last, although we bit off a little more than we could chew, 38 miles, and were getting a bit tired on our uphill way home. But it was a beautiful day and great company! (I also went running this week for the first time in about 11 weeks. Two miles was a bit harder than I remember and I only did it a minute faster than my eight months pregnant runs. Whew!)

Then Laurie watched Keira and Chris and I went on our first date in over two months, a motorcycle ride to Krispy Kreme! Melt in your mouth deliciousness!

AND THE BEST PART OF ALL IS COMING HOME TO MY BEAUTIFUL BUNDLE OF JOY!!!

Keira's Blessing

Today was a very special day, it was Keira's blessing.

Chris' Uncle Craig flew here from California to do it.

His Grandma and cousin Danielle and her cute daughter Addie also came from California.

It's ironic, one of Danielle's best friends from college, Melissa, lives about a mile from me so we go to the same church and have become great friends also.

Keira's extremely handsome Daddy held the microphone.

Nate Miller, John Ray, Brian Kelly, and Earl Hess also participated. It was such a beautiful blessing! And what a wonderful day!!! Keira was sooooo good and looked looked as cute as can be!

Grandma, Keira, and I. Keira had been wonderful and very patient the whole time at church, but as soon as we got home she was starving!

Keira's giving me a dirty look for taking all kinds of pictures rather than feeding her. Poor girl.

Danielle had prayed it would snow while they were here, since it doesn't snow much in southern California. Her prayer was answered, it's been freezing cold and we had our first snow of the year! I think she'll be more careful what she prays for. ;-)

Keira all bundled up

Laptop

Hello from my birthday gift, a laptop! I've wanted one for as long as I can remember! And last night Chris got me one for my birthday! Mom, I don't want to hear anything about how I often get my birthday gifts early! ;-) Chris got an awesome deal on it and thought I could use it while I was staying home. I love it!

Family Life

This weekend was the first time I had been alone in six weeks. It was kind of weird. Sharon (Chris' Mom) had been here for the past month and left on Saturday. Her husband Don was here for the last week of her stay. Don did so much work on the house! He patched all kinds of holes mostly in the kitchen and dining room which we are going to paint this month.

The main project the guys worked on was our stairways. As you may know, we've had quite the drop off in our living room to the stairs. Not very safe for a baby once she becomes mobile. Now the railing is up between the stairs and the living room and it looks awesome! They did an amazing job!

Two tired men and the finished product after a long day's work.

They also did most of the railings for the stairs. We still need to put in the balusters, do some patching, and stain everything. Now our home will be much safer and kid and adult friendly....

Right in time for our next round of company. We'll pick Chris' Grandma up from the airport on Thursday night. His cousin is coming on Friday and his aunt and uncle on Saturday. We're so excited to have them all here! And the special occasion you may wonder, Keira is getting blessed! Here's a sneak preview of her in her beautiful dress!