Cederquist Family

725 Pounds

2010-10-15T22:20:00.004-05:00

We are nuts, yes, I am aware of it. My neighbors told me they were glad we are normal, because the last owners of this house sure weren't. Well.... I kinda laughed a little and said we try to be normal. This week has proved otherwise. On my birthday - Wednesday - we bundled up nice and warm because it was 39 degrees and headed out to meet Kurt, Jennie and the girls at the orchard. We were there for a total of 3 hours.

The girls ran around eating apples and tossing them around and getting dirty while we picked 20 bushels for the church, which is roughly 900 pounds in less than an hour! They were nice and large. Then we picked windfalls for ourselves for an hour and a half and loaded up in the truck and came home. We weighed them to fill my curiosity. 725 pounds was the result. I told my grandma, who has canned all her life, and she rolled with laughter and wondered what we would do with them all. Yesterday and today we canned apples. Our kitchen is a great canning kitchen with the island. We had up to 5 people at once and it wasn't really crowded. It helped that we used a camp stove on the back porch to can 2 water baths at once - as you can kinda see in the picture of our final product.

We ended up splitting 161 quarts of sauce, 22 pints of apple butter and of juice left over from steaming the apples - probably about 8 gallons. I still have about 100 pounds of apples to dry, make pies and put in the freezer - if I keep at it, I will be done before I know it!

End In Sight?

2010-10-11T21:48:00.003-05:00

I commented to a friend a week or so ago that I wanted to stay in this house until the day that I die. She said, "Oh that's so awesome that you love your house so much!" I replied with, "Oh, no, I never want to go through all the work of moving!" Don't interpret this as me not loving our new house because I do but I'm not sure if there is ever going to be an end in sight of both unpacking and the mile long To Do List. I am adding work faster than I am getting things crossed off. I am under the firm belief that the prior owners treated this place like they would a rental. I don't think a lone hammer was lifted in the name of this house since the the contractor sighed in relief that his job was finished. A small portion of repairs have included the following events - death defying vaulted ceiling fan removal, repair and re-installation; a hole in the wall named "Baby Beluga" by the lovely almost 2 year old; 600,000 nail holes filled, (patiently awaiting paint); jetted tub on/off switch repair; leaky sink and shower returned to fully operational status... and the list goes on. You'd be here until tomorrow reading both my "done" and "to do," so I will spare you that mess.

The good news is this: we love craigslist. We have been running around getting things that are posted on the "free" section and giving a little TLC and making them like new again. Items ranging from a lawnmower ($10 fix), to a garage door opener that was "too noisy," to a trampoline, and a few other pricey items that had nothing wrong with them! Thank you wasteful Boise citizens. Keep posting your discarded items and we will keep checking for things we need. I love your wasteful ways combined with my superhuman husband's mad skills to fix almost anything - all but our broken air conditioner I suppose, but hey, a guy can't fix everything.

Speaking of my Superman, last drill his unit was officially notified of deployment. Feb 2012. Do you think that 17 months is enough of a notice? A little overboard, but I guess its nice of them to tell us as soon as they find out so we can do all we can to prepare and do lots of family time stuff. We are not "sorry" so please don't be sorry for us, we are looking forward to the deployment as a great opportunity for Kevin to further his career and I'm doing my best to keep a positive attitude.

"Our House"

2010-09-07T14:42:00.015-05:00

I guess its September already. I can hardly believe it means summer is winding down to the end. It also means we have been back from Alabama for 5 months now. I can't believe its taken us this long to find "our home" but thankfully we have found it. We are currently scheduled to close in 2 weeks and 2 days, but who's counting? Our fingers are crossed that it will not change. It needs a bit of work, the owners left in a hurry, with about 1500 nail holes in the walls, hair in the tub, and just general grime everywhere that is probably from the house not being lived in for a while. Anyone who loves us and will be in our area in a few weeks is invited to help with the cleaning/move in party! Here is a little peak at the place. The yard looks way better, this picture was taken in the end of winter I'm guessing. Also imagine the place sans the last owner's clutter. We are on a corner lot, and we love that it means you don't see the garage doors when looking at the house front. We have 4 bedrooms, and 3.5 baths. We are definitely looking forward to a real master bed/bath. I'll even have a jetted tub. If you saw what Picerne calls a master bath in Alabama, you'll know why I'm excited. If you didn't have the pleasure of seeing that fabulous place, think Geo Metro in both size and quality. You know, I think there is actually more room in a Geo. We are also looking forward to the back yard and a designated craft room for me!

Ode To Kevin

2010-08-12T16:28:00.012-05:00

I wont write a poem or sing a song, but I wanted to draw attention to what an amazing man I'm married to. He wouldnt toot his own horn here, so i'll do it. He has already RL progressed, as of a few weeks ago,(no longer has to fly with an instructor as a copilot) so I decided this was a perfect time to focus ya'll into his hard work in all it took to accomplish this!

It all started in Dec 2007. I was at drill in Pocatello, and he was drilling in Boise that particular weekend. He sent a text that went something like this:

Him: Wouldn't it be cool to be a Blackhawk pilot?

Me: Yeah, that'd be sweet

Him: You'd let me?

Me: You'd have to have a degree, you know, be an officer?

Him: Nope, I could be a warrent officer [no degree needed] Would you let me do that?

Me: Of course, that'd be really neat. Why wouldn't I "let" you?

Two months later, we find ourselves with the townhouse rented, and relocating to the Boise area. We quit our jobs, quit school, and said goodbye to friends. We had no idea if it would even work out, but move we did. I wondered more often than once if we were crazy. Don't doubt my faith in Kevin's abilities, it was just pretty unsettling to have no idea if they would accept him or not! Like always, Kevin was quickly known for his super powers. People would see my name tape at drill and ask, "are you the one that scored so high on the aviation test?" Oh, nope, that would be my husband ;). In the mean time, he got his private airplane pilot license too.

Kevin's 1st airplane solo. may 2008

In June 2008, the phone rang with the good news. Be ready for December the man said. The chance we had taken payed out, and Kevin was clearly walking on air. Despite the high number of applicants who didn't make the cut, Kevin was placed high on the list that did. I would say he blew them away. He would dispute it, but he is just being modest. Well, we didn't make it to December. We got a call on a Friday late September informing us we would need to be leaving by the following Tuesday to make it in time for Kevin to start WOCS (warrent officer candidate school). Apparently, someone else who was going to go then, had to get some minor surgery, and Kevin was shoved into his place. We didn't mind.

Kevin Graduating WOC School Nov 2008

Schooling began 4 days after we drove through those Fort Rucker gates and lasted over a 20 month period. Enduring weeks away from home, starvation, mock pow camps, LOTS of dedication to studying, PT, a week long ferocious map- making project in our living room, a little bit of time to play, and of course, learning to be a quite above average pilot.

Kevin in the pilot seat as we watched from the tower on family day. June 2009

He officially graduated the Army Aviation School of Excellence UH-60 course (Blackhawk) April 29th, 2010. He is so smart that he was an honor grad, without spending as much time as most in the books, not a shock to anyone, but still I'm still proud, none-the-less. He worked so hard, and he deserves every ounce of reward. He is such a great husband, father, pilot, person. Chloe and I love him very much, and the sacrifices he makes for us. We are very blessed to have him in our lives.

Kevin's flight school graduation. (Look how much

Chloe has grown from his WOCS grad to here :))

He continues to impress the people in his unit. He always seems to know the answers to their questions, I believe its come to the point where some are doing their best to "stump" him. I think they'll have to keep trying - my hubby is such a smarty pants!

What does 13.1+6.2+ (40x0.5)+0.93+24.8+6.2 equal ???

2010-08-03T10:13:00.008-05:00

It equals a lot of sore muscles, that's what.

Upon moving back to Idaho, I was promptly talked into a half marathon (13.1 miles). I was super nervous, and I KNEW mom would leave me in the dust. Luckily, about 1/4 mile into it, I happened upon my cousin Emily, and we ran the whole thing together. Honestly, it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, just a mind over matter thing. The longest I'd run up to that point was 10 miles, so naturally, I was most concerned about the last 3. I had a blast, but found I have no desire to do a full marathon. Mom did end up leaving me in the dust. My goal was 1. to finish 2. Not walk 3. Have under 10 minute miles. I actually had just under 9 minute miles, taking me under 2 hours! I placed 15th out of 83 in my division. I was really surprised I did so well.

The next race I did was a 10k in Bonners for the Kootanie River Run. I was just shy of 3rd place in my division, but it was a fun run nonetheless.

And, the craziest thing I've done to date, was letting mom talk Emily and me into a 40 mile 2 person relay in Idaho Falls. It wouldn't have been so bad, if it was flat, but no, it was anything but flat. We each did 20 miles, alternating out every 5. Mom was on a different team. Here is Emily giving me water as I am on mile 19 while mom is headed back on mile 21. Joe was our driver, and he was awesome.

These last 3 races were just "training" for the competition I was in on Saturday. In January, my good friend Brenna talked me into doing a triathlon in Burly. Which was totally crazy because I wasn't a "trained" swimmer, I didn't even have a bike, or any knowledge of how a triathlon works. And, the week before, Brenna informed me she wouldn't be able to make it to Burly as planned.

I was really nervous, I barely slept on Friday night. Here I am about to go get into the water. I was also wondering if I was crazy because about 95% of the people had wet suits. The water was actually really warm, so I was glad I didn't have to peel a wet suit off to get on my bike. I was in wave 6, which means I started 50 minutes after the 1st wave, with one going each 10 minutes. It really boosted my self esteem to pass people with "5" on their swim caps! It took me 20 minutes to do the 1.5K (.93 miles) swim, thanks to the Snake River current :). I was not fond of the dirty water making seeing impossible, so I mostly did the breast stroke.

Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures on the bike, they just missed me after coming back from breakfast. The biking part was SO much fun. It was a blast to blow by people at 25 miles an hour! My average speed was 20.2, taking me 1 hour 13 minutes to finish the 24.8 miles. The running after wans't too bad for me to "get my running legs back" as everyone says, I just had stomach cramps/side ache for almost all of the 6.2 miles. Here's me running faster for the finish line, it was all down hill, so that was the easiest part of the whole run. My time was just under an hour, total triathlon time was 2 hours 39 minutes. I was thinking it would take me over 3.5 hours or something crazy! I had a blast, and it was really great to have Kevin, Chloe, Dad, Joe, and Alexis and Elise there to cheer mom and me on!

I ended up 9th in my division, and surprisingly, I can actually walk today. I have a few sore muscles, like in between my shoulder blades and my hamstrings. I'll be back to normal in a few days and I will begin training for swim team! I am so excited for that. The guy who runs the swim team in Caldwell was helping me train for the tri and thinks I can be competitive as a swimmer, so that is my next adventure. So, since starting training in January, I started out about 157 and a high body fat %. As of now, I weigh 141 and I am down to 16%! I have never been this lean, or worked so hard on something, might sound lame, but I'm kinda proud of my hard work.

35 Things About Loosing 35+ Pounds

2010-05-15T16:12:00.000-05:00

Here is my story:

I have always felt I was over weight. Even when I was in grade school, which is absurd, because I wasn't. The only times I felt I wasn't fat was my freshman year during cross country and also when I was pregnant. I wasn't "fat" in high school, really. I have always been active, but I did start to gain for various reasons in 11th grade and after (we wont get into that detail of why here). My heaviest was 176 at the end of 2006, based on this "before" picture, I quite possibly could have been heavier. I have taken hold of my eating habits with a determination to be healthier and to feel better about myself.

By early 2008, when I found out I was pregnant, I weighed in at 157. So, in a year and a half, I had lost 18 pounds, just so I could start again after 9 months. We wont talk about how much I gained during pregnancy, but, by Chloe's 1st birthday, I was down to 147! Already 10 pounds lighter than I was before I was pregnant! I had a few hiccups and plateaus after that, but, now, I can proudly say, I have lost more than 35 pounds in less than 4 years! And, I currently have 18% body fat. I'm most proud of this, as I know I will begin to put on muscle weight this summer, and hope to watch this number go down, even though the scale may go up.

Here are a few things I've learned:

I like food.
Losing weight slow is much easier and healthier than a quick drop. No one really wants to hear that. I know I wanted the weight off now. It took me almost 4 years. (cut me some slack, I had a baby in there too).
I don't think there is a "weight-loss secret." Everyone asks "how'd ya do it?" Simple, eating right and exercise.
I am my own worst critic. My husband is my biggest fan and his compliments make a HUGE difference in motivation.
I don't know what to say when someone says I look good because they have noticed I've lost weight. I guess a simple "thanks" is enough?
Running is increasingly manageable with 35 less pounds dragging me down, but I notice a difference with each 10.
You don't have to exercise to lose weight but it helps one lose faster and makes you feel better.
This is the 1st time I truly wanted to lose weight for myself. Think of all the reasons you ever wanted to lose weight... Put yourself 1st.
One pound of pure human fat is 2.13 cups. To lose 35 pounds, I am roughly 60 cups of fat smaller, that's almost 4 gallons. (figure you are only losing 80% fat when you lose weight do to less blood volume, excess fluids, etc...)
Seeing a replica of what human fat looks like is gross and strangely motivating. Google it.
When I feel good about myself, I lose weight.
Losing weight helps me to feel good about myself. It is a lovely cycle.
Eating a spoon (or spoons) full of peanut butter with some chocolate chips every day is not going to kill my progress.
I enjoy food so much more when I eat until I feel content rather than stuffed.
Dessert isn't bad, but consistently over-indulging is, and the scale will reflect it.
People have pretty odd ideas about how to lose weight and are shocked when my answer is simply: "portion control and exercise that I enjoy"
I thought walking was for people who couldn't run ( i.e. too overweight or old or broken) and wouldn't help me to lose any wight or increase my fitness. To my delight, walking 5 days a week/4-6 miles while pushing a stroller for 6 months helped drop from 163 to 150 lbs.
Having a walking/running buddy helps in too many ways to list. (this post is long enough already)
I enjoy running so much more than I ever did, even than in cross country in high school. I get runner's envy. If I see someone out running, I act like a 4 year old wondering why I can't be out running. This happens on day's I've already run.
Your husband may ask you from the other room what all the excitement is about when you're doing your "skinny jean victory dance" the 1st time you squeeze into the skinny jeans AND get them done up.
Catching my husband staring at me from across the room because he thinks I look amazing = motivation.
I don't feel great about myself everyday. And that's going to continue to be something I work on
It is a fantastic feeling when you get your 1st non-husband compliment in a pair of skinny jeans because they actually look good now.
Every woman I know bears at least one insecurity about her body. Even the ones with a body to envy.
What I see in the mirror is not the same body I see in pictures. I have to work to condition my mind to accurately see whats in my reflection, rather than a woman larger than I am. I think many women have this mental body image distortion. Why is it that we can't see ourselves for how beautiful everyone else sees us as? Darn, we are hard on ourselves.
There is nothing comparable to when you realize your skinny jeans have now become your "fat" jeans and thus you need to go shopping to buy a size you can't ever remember fitting into.
Signing up and paying for a triathlon has helped me to stay motivated. No longer am I working on a "lb goal." I am working towards a fitness level and I am so excited to cross that finish line in Burly in July after swimming 1.5k, biking 25 miles, followed with a run of 6.2 miles. I don't care how long it takes me, I am just going to do whatever it takes to finish.
I enjoy motivating other women to work on their health and fitness.
It hurts to hear women talk negatively about their bodies, and I realize I used to be bad about it too.
When I'm feeling down about a "trouble spot" or the size of my thighs or whatever it may be I remind myself of what my body does for me. I can run, swim, ride a bike, carry Chloe around, do every day things, etc. And that is wonderful and helps me to overcome my self-consciousness.
Being on a 100% strict diet doesn't work. I will binge at the thought. In fact, typing this it just sent me to the pantry to eat. While a 100% diet doesn't work, a 90% strict diet, however, does. Eating naughty 10% of the time? I can handle that.
Seeing people for the 1st time since I was heavier feels great - they give out lots of compliments. I looked at this "before" picture and can see why I've gotten so many lately, I was heavier than I ever realized.
Calories in the food your 1 year old feeds you don't count.
I wish I could help others feel the way I do, but if the only difference I make is on my self and my own daughter, I would do it 100 times over. (hopefully I never have to though, I'm keepin' it off!)
New workout clothes make me excited to get out. If you are lacking in the motivation department, go shopping for workout stuff that is flattering, and you'll find yourself itching to use them!

Wow, long post. If you've made it this far, wow. I'll have better after picture soon. I have a 1/2 marathon on sat, and i'll share some post run sweaty ones.

Alabama running group: me, brenna, emilee, challis, kaite, christina, and baby girls. Missing is Kristen and kids, Heather, and Megan and baby.

Easter Egg Hunt

2010-04-04T21:33:00.003-05:00

We did our own egg hunt this year, because we went to the one in Ozark and it was worse than adults at walmart the day after Thanksgiving, that, and they let the kids loose before the actual start time. Here is the documentation of all the fun we had.

I Gave Birth to a Cat

2010-03-21T20:25:00.006-05:00

Apparently, my child is not human, she is actually a large kitty. Our good friends, Paul and Stephanie watched her yesterday for us to go to a church meeting, this was what she learned while there, and I guess it is tough work getting through, she is grunting the whole time.

Not only does she wiggle her way through things, she also likes to climb things. She was playing outside last week and I checked on her, as I do every few minutes, and she was half way up the fence. I ran inside and grabbed the camera, but she was on her way back down. Her left foot was up level with where her right foot still is, and she was standing straight up. I was surprised at 14 months she could get up that far. I suppose in another month or two, she could get all the way up.

She also climbs other things, benches, chairs, couches, stools, bathtubs, beds, tables... I'm in for it. Luckly, she has yet to use up any of her 9 lives.

Uh, Oh, 3 Months Late....

2010-03-14T22:10:00.002-05:00

Well, not that kind of late. I never posted pictures of Chloe's birthday so here they are. I made her a fondant cake, and it was really fun, like adult yummy play-doh, just a LOT of work. But fun.

Here we are singing "happy birthday" to her! She of course, tired to grab the flame. "Her" cake was the top layer of a 3 layer cake, my 1st ever attempt at such a thing. I know, setting myself a high standard from now on. I actually used round Pyrex storage bowls, as I don't have enough cake pans to make it work.

It is easiest to just take bites out of it, so lady like.

Here, in the end, is a photo of the mess she made... kinda disappointing, Chloe. You should have made a HUGE mess. Oh well, Happy 1st Birthday, 73 days late. Yes, I actually counted.

Pictures

2010-03-08T21:46:00.006-06:00

Chloe has a love aiffair with the park. If we ever drive by one, or run, she screams at me to let her out and play. She is an adrenaline junkie, she loves the going alone down the HUGE big kid slides.

We had snow. Yes, it was in February, (kinda old news) but here are a few pictures. It hadn't snowed like this since 1993, according to locals. Chloe loved it. Good thing too.

We fight every time I open the refrigerator. She usually grabs hot sauce and runs off with it. Sometimes she takes bites out of veggies, and I don't realize it until I go to use them. This time, she is just thirsty.

"Trunky"

2010-02-21T23:13:00.002-06:00

Kevin says we are "trunky" and informed me on our ride to church today, "In eight days, I can officially say, next month I graduate and we'll be headed home." He is so antsy. We both are. We've met some awesome people who will be life-long friends, but we are ready for Chloe to get to know her family and get settled.

February has been super busy. This coming Sat, Kevin and I are doing the photography at Brandon and Kim's wedding, so we hope that goes well! There are no do overs for those (picture wise that is).

It's 11:30pm and i'm too lazy to put up some pictures right now.

January

2010-01-30T09:15:00.005-06:00

Kevin started the black hawk course, finally, on January 4th. It is a 15-16 week course, with the best of conditions, his graduation date is April 28th. We will be headed back to Idaho as soon as we can .

Everyone has been asking how the couches are after a few months. They arent wearing as well as I had hoped, but I did some research and I guess I should have done a mid color, like green, before going to brown, instead of dying straight from light gray to brown. I may need to re-do them in 6 months or so, but they still look better than they did, and so I suppose that makes it worth it.

I have begun training for 2 triathlons coming up this summer and I have 6 months to get ready. This picture is from the Burly "Spudman" last year. The triathlons are in Burly the end of July and Emmet the 1st Saturday of August. I have never done one, but thanks to my good friend here in Alabama and veteran tri-athlete, Brenna, I should be whipped into shape in no time! I even ran over 17 miles this week, 13 of them I pushed Chloe in a jogger. And yes, I am bragging, since it was by choice, not by force, which is something new for me. And... I EVEN ENJOYED IT! I have never liked running. I've always wanted to like it though, and for some reason I am loving it. I am even disappointed if I don't get to go out for a run. Today is a rest day, and I'm itching to hit the pavement.

Isn't this just gross? It is a pound of human fat replica. I just want to gag, but it is strangely motivating isn't it?

Orlando - Day 3

2010-01-05T07:36:00.003-06:00

Our final day in Disney World was jam packed with people. I think #1 it was a Saturday #2 it was the first Saturday of most people's Christmas break #3 Magic kingdom was open until 1am to everyone. I would say those three factors were against us. It probably wouldn't have been so bad if we didn't have strollers. It's not easy to squeeze strollers between people, especially when they are just sitting and watching parades! It was still really fun, and we saw a few shows and rode a ride or two. Honestly, I have no idea what the fascination is with the ride "it's a small world" its kinda weird, ok, really weird. Lots of dancing dolls dressed up in international attire. We didn't take as many pictures this day. These are from the "Winnie the Pooh" ride which was really cute.

Orlando - Day 2

2009-12-30T16:06:00.004-06:00

We started out heading straight to Disney's Hollywood Studio. We spent most of the morning there. We had breakfast at a cute dinner with Jo Jo's Circus characters. Again, Chloe just wanted away from the big weird things whenever they came by to say hi. Porter did great and was a lot more curious than Chloe.

Pictures - left to right, top to bottom:

1. Chloe trying to get a way from the lion at breakfast

2. Porter showing his "Buddha belly"

3. This is on the safarri at Animal Kingdom. Chloe looked like this on every ride we took her on

4. Porter trying to get away from the lion at breakfast

5. Laser Family

6. Mickey Mouse in the show "Fantasmic." It was incredible

. Fire, smoke, vidoe projection onto misting water ect... very cool. A definite must see.

7. Very fun ride dubbed "tower of terror." It was our 1st ride at Disney.

8. Cederquist Family

We hurried over to Animal Kingdom for a roller coaster, parade and safari. We had just enough time to get back for Fantasmic in Hollywood Studio. Chloe was totally exhausted by the end of the day. She did get one small nap that day, thanks to Steph

anie - who was amazing the whole trip. We wouldn't have been able to do any of it with out her. She watched the kids while we were on a few rides and essen

tially she planned everything.

Orlando

2009-12-28T23:17:00.005-06:00

December was a fun-packed month for us. Between a quick trip to Disney World, Chloe's birthday, and Christmas, we have been kept busy! I guess the best thing is to put up some pictures for you to see:

Day One in Orlando was spent with a birthday breakfast for Chloe with Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy. She did NOT like Minnie, which is ironic since her "lovey" or "baby" is a Minnie Mouse who comes everywhere with us. After breakfast, we went to Sea World. COOLEST. KILLER WHALE. SHOW. EVER. Well, it is the only one I've ever seen anyway, and it was definitely worth watching. We were in the "Splash Zone" and luckely Steph is always prepared and had ponchos. Too bad it rained a lot of the day, but it was still pretty amazing to pet manta rays and dolphins.

Paul and Stephanie were wonderfully nice to volunteer to watch Chloe so Kevin and I could make it to the temple while in Orlando. Unfortunately, the last session started at 7:30 we were just a minute too late. The GPS had given us an inaccurate distance and we didn't make it on time. The temple is beautiful. We were disappointed to be turned away, though the spirit on the grounds was strong and still gave us a spiritual boost.

There you have day 1. Check back soon for the rest of the December fun in the sun... er... rain.

I Go A-Walking

2009-12-03T09:04:00.002-06:00

She mostly has to be bribed, but she will do a few steps on her own, but crawling is still easier for her.

Dyeing Experience

2009-11-03T10:39:00.007-06:00

Dear old person couches: You were ugly gray, and slightly embarrassing. You were worn and torn. You were old when you joined our family, you've been moved 5 times with us since my mom paid $100 at a yard sale for you. You have served us well... Here's to you.

OK, that out of the way, on to the good stuff. Katie Foot gave me the idea of dyeing my couches to give them some new life. Here is the messy process. Housing shouldn't be able to charge, I checked and there are no rules about getting leather dye spots on carport cement. Please excuse their blurry-ness, oh, and the holes in my work clothes.
Now that they are completed, they strut their stuff, kinda like someone who gets a new boob job, they stand out a little better. Thanks Katie, never would have thought I could do something like this. They are definitely reincarnated from ugly, yucky, old to something, well, nicer. Are you holding your breath for the final product? Drum roll please!

And

here

you

are

TA - DA!

My first Vinyl Sign

2009-10-17T11:55:00.005-05:00

I've been doing a TON of crafting lately.... my house has suffered and dinner hasn't been too thought out, but hey, Creativity IS Messy. A friend's birthday was yesterday and I decided since they haven't been married long, (a week) that they would appreciate some home decor.

Kevin's sister, Michel, owns a company called Paper Posies, you can check it out at www.paperposies.com. She does scrapbooking/crafting kits. Anyway, she has weekly challenges with prizes and such. This week it was to create a fall/Halloween decor item using items from a kit. This was my take on the challenge.

TuTu Tutorial

2009-10-14T09:51:00.010-05:00

Do I have a key board stutter? Naw, its a tutorial of a TUTU! This is my 1st ever tutorial... so if it seems novice, well, it is =) I made this as part of Chloe's Minnie Mouse Halloween cosutme, so I figured it's so easy, why not share? oh, and the pumkin onsie is not part of her costume, just what she happened to be wearing yesterday.

Materials:

1-6 yards of Tulle. I used 1 yard of pink and 1/2 yard of white. It all depends on how full you want the tutu, and the size of the child.
1 adult headband, the stlye that is like a pony tail elastic. I used the kind that is for sports because it is wider.
Pair of scissors or roll cutter and mat

Figure out how long you want the tutu to hang down on the child. Double it and add 1/4" for thin tulle, 1/2" for thicker tulle. I simply cut mine in half length wise. If you are doing for an older child, you will want to have them longer.
Cut into strips to desired thickness. I did approx 2". My white tulle was much heavier, so to do it over, I would have cut the white in thinner strips, but it still turned out great. I used my mat lines and just used my roller. It was fast and easy, probably about 5 min or so. I tried scissors 1st, and that would have taken me forever!

3. Tie pieces one at a time with a knot in the middle around the head band. You can size to a smaller child by folding it the head band over itself an inch or two, and hand sewing it in place. That is what I did for Chloe's tiny waist. Add as many pieces, pushed as close together or as far apart as you'd like to get your desired fullness.

And, you are finished! It's that easy.

All Laughed Out : Anti-Depression Video

2009-10-03T22:52:00.004-05:00

enough said.

A Foolish Woman

2009-09-26T12:54:00.001-05:00

Who: Me, waiting in line minding my own business

What: 11 Items in my cart

Where: 20 Item or Less Self Checkout: Commissary Case Lot Sale

So, I'm innocently standing in line, my 11 items in my cart. A woman walks up behind me. I think to myself, I wont be rude and interrupt her phone call, but when the next self checkout comes open, I'll wave her around me... she is after all, very pregnant and only has one gallon of milk, while I've got 11 items. Yes, there are 4 different self checkouts, but that is the polite thing to do. So, not even two seconds after I think this, she says loudly, to me, more than the person on the other end of her phone call, "You know what I hate? I hate it when people go to the self check out when they know they have more than 10 items (hello? it's 20 or less) and they just stand there and know I'm behind them with only one thing!" So, I've decide not to reward bad behavior and I say to my friend Steph, who is already checking out, (loud enough for the rude prego to hear, of course) "Well, I was going to let this lady with one item go ahead of me but since I heard her talking rudely about me on her cell I'm going to just go ahead and she can wait."

Honestly, that was rude of me, but it is sometimes gratifying to not let someone walk all over oneself. I suppose I could have let her go 1st. What would you have done?

Is There an Etsy Anonymous?

2009-09-24T14:03:00.001-05:00

....cause if there is I probably should go to the meetings! I have become an addict in like 3 days flat, completely dumping Craigslist. It probably misses my daily visits! I opened a Etsy.com shop a few days ago. My shop name is "gonegirly" and I've got a whole 2 things in it so far! Check them out (I'm shameless, I know.)

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=31419908

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=31389600

The onsies I am selling in a craft fair on Oct 3rd and I thought I would try to sell them to a local aviation supply place - Wings. I talked to the lady who would be in charge of buying, and she wants to take a few in on consignment to see how they do, but yet doesn't want me to sell them anywhere else! Am I ridiculous to think that is ridiculous? I thought a vendor/creators got paid booocoo bucks to have an exclusive on a product, yet she want to keep it that way without even buying any from me! So, I am going to try the Aviation Museum here on post, they have a lot more "female traffic" than Wings does, and there is a graduation there every week with people from all over the country, well probably world with all the forgin nationals here at flight school. And since it is something to do, when people come visit, they are usually taken to the museum, not a flight school student supply place. So... keep your fingers crossed for me!

Destin, Florida

2009-09-21T09:08:00.004-05:00

We went to Destin when my mom came down for a visit. It was raining most of the day, so we went to the nations largest designer outlets to wait out the rain... yes, of course we got stuff =). Kevin has been asking every day if it's cold out yet so he can wear his new leather jacket, silly boy. That evening was nice though, so we watched the waves come in until it got dark. Chloe enjoyed the water just as much as grandma did. More pictures from that weekend to come.

Gearing up for Craft Fair

2009-09-18T13:44:00.005-05:00

Kevin has been nagging, well, encouraging sounds nicer... so he has been encouraging me to sell the stuff I make. So, when Elizabeth Nixon asked me to do a booth with her at the craft fair in Ozark, I said yes and headed off to buy too many $$$ in supplies.

I decided on two things, child/baby Bath Blankets and homemade appliqué onsies. I though being so close to Ft Rucker, that onsies with helicopters in ACU print would be quite a hit... I hope. I am also doing girl ones in pink ACU, and a variety of other things too, such as flowers, hearts, monkeys, trucks and I'm thinking of doing dog tags too. Any ideas on what would be cute? I can really make just about anything. The only problem is that I keep going back and forth on price.... I hope it is just worth while for my time!

Ready, set, go...

2009-09-06T20:51:00.003-05:00

She's learning to move forward now. Whether this is good or bad remains to be seen. I guess it's time to start childproofing everything...

Anything for food I guess...

The Announcement Guy

2009-09-03T23:06:00.003-05:00

With a great big push from some friends, (and wife's encouraging words) Kevin has decided to try his hand at starting a business. He is now "The Announcement Guy," creating custom picture invitations, announcements, professional photo editing (digital enhancements) and the like. He has been doing my cousin Tana's senior portraits and they look amazing! We had some friends over last week and they were working on their "Save the Date" card for their wedding. So, Kevin spiced it upquite a bit, and a few days later: Email established, portfolio pulling together, water mark made, web page ideas being tossed around, 1 confirmed returning client, 4 potential clients and more to come! We are just sticking our toes in to get a feel for this. Kevin will be going on hold between Primary Flight Training and Black Hawk Training for a few months with only PT to go to, so this should be something to keep him busy and entertained/productive! So, if you know anyone with a new baby, getting married or ? that needs his "services" let us know! His e-mail address is theannouncementguy@gmail.com. And, here is some of his "work"

Family Day

2009-08-17T21:17:00.011-05:00

Family Day was in June. It was our 1st time to see Kevin fly. He did awesome. It was so hot out that day, you can tell by how flushed Chloe's cheeks are. This was her 1st time wearing ear plugs too, she didn't even seem to notice they were there.

Baby Sign Language

2009-08-07T08:54:00.003-05:00

We have been working on teaching Chloe sign language. She has been doing the bath sign for a while but that has been it so far. Yesterday, I was giving her a breakfast of baby food granola and about half way through her normal amount she clamped her mouth shut and very deliberately did the sign for milk. She refused to take another bit so I asked if she wanted milk and she smiled. How could I then refuse to nurse her? So later, it was nap time and she really (note the serious emphasis) did not want to take it. I usually only nurse her post nap, but she started screaming while doing her sign for milk. I thought this was supposed to be a blessing to understand the baby.... not help them get whatever they want sooner!

Don't Hold Your Breath...

2009-08-02T20:46:00.009-05:00

Yes, yes, I know it has been a LONG time since I posted an update... so don't hold your breath while reading this, it's long winded.

In June Chloe and I headed out to Idaho to see Joseph off for his mission to Sacramento and for 2 family reunions. They were amazing... Thanks to all who had a hand in putting them together. The Zimmerman reunion was in a awesome house on Garfield bay with our own private dock, need I say more? I guess I do, since I have more to say. Dad took his boat and tried to kill us all pulling a tube behind. We had great food and good company. Our Dillin reunion took place in the most beautiful area on earth, North-North Idaho, where my cell phone thinks it's Canada. We had some laughs and crazy-good food (i.e. a whole pig cooked over a fire in the ground stuffed with a prime rib and a turkey). And a shout out to my mom and dad for putting up with us and wrangling up a pack 'n' play and everything else amazing you guys did for us.

Would you believe me if I told you this is farmer Bob? J/K. Well he is my grandpa and he is a farmer and his name is Bob. Isn't he so cute in his straw hat and overalls?

It was also really nice to see all of Kevin's North-Idaho family too. I really appreciate the effort each of them made to come and spend some time with the sis-in-law and niece.

We spent 3 weeks total in Idaho. The last week mostly consisted of shopping all day everyday for Joe's mission. Who knew it would be so much work? (and might I add money?) I'm ready to go a while without shopping! Kevin sure missed us though. Before I left I made sure to make extra when cooking and pop it in the freezer. Kevin had a good 4 or 5 meals that would be good for a dinner and a few lunches. All he had to do was put them in the oven. Would you be surprised when I opened the freezer upon returning home and not one had been used? He says he forgot, I wonder if secretly he really doesn't like my cooking...

Chloe was pretty much held for 3 weeks straight and despite that set back, it only took 2 weeks for life to get back to normal here. FINALLY she is back to sleeping through the night and will play alone on the floor longer than 10 seconds at a time. She is rolling all over the place and is wiggling on her tummy forward. She is sitting up well and is making many new sounds. Starting yesterday she has been saying the t and c/k sounds. Her new word sounds like "ticole" and along with dadadadadadada dadadadadadadadadad, she says it every five seconds (can you say mama for crying out loud?). Now don't get the wrong idea here, I'm not one of those mom's who says her 2 month old is saying complex sentences, it just happens to sound like a word, lol. She is however, starting to use sign language, which from everything I've read about it says they will start anywhere from 6-8 months if you're consistent with them. SO she's about average being just over 7 months now. She only is signing bath so far ( I think her other signing like, eat, milk and all done have just been accidents so far) and I think baths about her favorite thing on the planet! In fact, her baths are so much fun, there was even a carrot that insisted on joining her tonight. OK, now i need to breath, and let you breath, maybe I'll post again sometime soon. If anyone actually got this far.....

If you plant a salsa garden, it will grow.

2009-06-14T18:19:00.004-05:00

So, I've planted my garden, in swimming pools. I've planted everything I need to make salsa as well as lettuce and carrots. I've got lots growing, prob too much, everything might be a little close together, but it's my first garden, so I'm bound to make some mistakes.

Today I found that my hanging tomato plant has one little baby tomato! So, I had to take a picture of it too. I also have a few peppers growing as well.

Chloe: A Hick with a Mo Hawk

2009-06-07T21:03:00.005-05:00

Ok, she's not a hick nor does she have a mo hawk.... I guess you could say it's more like a, well, high and tight. See exhibit 1:

What can you do when you're arms don't even reach to the top of you head? Now the hick part: this is what she wore to church today and Kevin informed me that she was a hick wearing it. Not what she was wearing was hick-ish, but that she infact was a hick herself. All the women at church gushed over her. THEY loved it. I think it's adorable. That's more important I suppose...

On a more serious note, check out something I think is pretty neat that Kevin did:

Rednecks are from Alabama

2009-05-24T15:55:00.005-05:00

Since moving to Alabama, we've seen some weird things. Like 10 teenagers in bathing suits on the back of a FLAT BED truck with inner tubes going 60 down the highway.....I think skin and road don't mix well, but I guess that was just how I was raised! But what I spotted yesterday topped them all I think. On our way back from the Atlanta Temple yesterday, (which was really nice) I saw this at a gas station as we were pulling out and I made Stephanie back up so Kevin could get proof to show you all. It had been raining pretty hard, so I feel bad for the guy, his arms were probably pretty sore.

WHAT THE HECK ARE WE HERE FOR ANYWAY???

2009-05-03T22:50:00.002-05:00

We got here in September 08 for cryin' out loud.... 7-8 months later: Kevin finally started flight school. What has he been doing you say? Well, first, warrent officer school.... three month wait..... leadership school.... two week wait.... survival/pow school.... one month wait.... and here we are. He started into areo-med this last Wednesday where he learns all about the physiological things of flying, then in about two weeks from now or so he'll actually get to start flying, (actually flying - can you believe it?) trainer helicopter.... drum roll please...... the BELL 206!

An Updateroonie of the Idaho Trip

2009-04-26T16:08:00.004-05:00

I'll try not to let this get too long... I know nobody reads them if they are too long! So, as most of you guys know, we took a much needed trip to Idaho. One weekish was spent in Boise with my parents and Skip and Elaine. Both of the "southern sets" of grandparents were excited to meet us at the airport at 11 pm on Tuesday the 7th.

Kurt and Jennies new baby Ivy (1 1/2 weeks old) with Chloe (almost 4 months). It was really nice to meet her. Isn't she beautiful?

Claire and me in the Flowers up above Frank and Sonja's. Claire is sure a chatty Cathy and has really changed a lot in the past year.

And here she is crying. She got REALLY sad when I tried to have her pose alone for a pretty picture... So we only ended up with two crying ones instead of a cutsie pose.

Elaine planned an awesome surprise Luau for Skips 60th. Way to go Elaine. You really pulled it off!

We enjoyed Easter and my parents with Amy and Diana joining us on their way back from a wedding in Logan. Then, we headed over to Skip and Elaine's for Easter dinner two. I swear all we did for the two weeks was EAT!!! 9 pm rolled around and we took off to Moscow. Arriving at 2 am at Michele and Jesse's, completely exhausted, left us to get up at 7:30 to visit with Leo and Cina. Then up to Bonners with a quick stop in Post Falls to see Charlie and the gang.

Check back later for week two in Idaho!

Learning to Laugh

2009-04-04T22:42:00.003-05:00

Chloe has been trying valiantly to learn to laugh with us. They are usually "ah-ha" or something similar. I was sitting at the computer doing some e-mails and happened to catch this on my phone. Last night, she was smiling at Keri and burped, causing Keri to chuckle which in turn caused Kevin and me to laugh, then Chloe busted out a full belly laugh. Hopefully, it wasn't a one time thing, since she did not do it at all today. But, here you go.

Richard Simmons Would Be Proud

2009-03-24T12:29:00.003-05:00

So, Chloe may kill her Aunt Keri in about 14 years or so, and say something along the lines of "I thought you were born in the 80's, not me..." but we thought the little pants were cute. They are supposed to be newborn size, but we couldn't resist since they match this little onsie. Only thing missing to complete the ensemble would be a head band!

Prophet Said to Plant a Garden...

2009-03-17T16:46:00.003-05:00

So that's what we did!

Well, we got our seeds started that are for transplant. I found out that the growing season is so long here most veggies have two growing seasons! I do have to plant them in buckets though, as we live in military housing. I'm doing a "salsa" garden complete with onion, tomato, peppers and cilantro.

Also I'm doing lettuces, cauliflower and carrots, though I've heard it's hard to keep the rabbits and squirrels out of those. And the best part is I used about $15-20 in supplies, and I usually spend about that much in one week in produce!

Our Little Swimmer

2009-03-09T16:58:00.003-05:00

Last week, a friend of mine, Stephanie, who's got a 4 month old, convinced me it would be a good idea to take the babies to the pool. SO, Chloe got to wear her cute little swim suit and test out the waters.

She was OK with the water. It wasn't really that warm because it is a pool used mainly for lap swimming, as it is in the gym. But she LOVES the warm water in the shower. She doesn't even mind if it splashes her face. Once we got out, it was pretty cold, so we Keri and I dressed her in the sauna. She loved that, and the two Asian women that were in there thought that "he" was so cute. :) Maybe they were saying she, and we couldn't hear it through the accent because Keri corrected them and it still sounded like they were saying he...

Snow in ALABAMA???? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

2009-03-01T17:04:00.004-06:00

Well, I woke up this morning getting ready for church and happened to peer out the window, and we were getting snow flurries! It hasn't snowed here in over 17 years. Of course, it must be because Keri came her to get away from it for a winter and it decided to follow her. This is Chloe's first snow. I didn't think she'd see any til she was two. Not that she will remember this anyway. The crazy part is that we had 70's yesterday. This is in our back yard. It just flurried for a while, but we had a storm yesterday and everything is still wet, so it just melted.

People at church were crying today, especially ones from Idaho/Utah area because it reminded them so much of home... I just told Kevin if it sticks or the roads get icy I'm not going anywhere because while I can drive in it, no one else here can.

Kevin starts SERE tomorrow. 21 day survival/pow camp. No contact. Which will suck, but it'll be nice to have Keri here while he's gone. Just pray he doesn't get any snow while he's trying his best to evade the enemy out in the Alabama jungle. And as you can see, I cut off like 14 inches of my hair this week. I feel like my head is very light on my shoulders!

Lil' Thumb Sucker Video

2009-02-22T21:16:00.007-06:00

Well, Chloe is sure fun, except when she's up all night. :) She is so funny trying to find her thumb, but she's getting better at it all the time. She is smiling alot more too.

Kevin starts SERE next Monday. It is a zero contact w/ the outside world for 3 full weeks. Our neighbor, who is from our unit in Idaho just came back with bruises, but he "couldn't talk about it" or how he got them. He was fit to begin with but still lost 15 lbs...

Chloe Can Talk

2009-02-15T21:37:00.006-06:00

Well, not really of course... but she seems to have found her "voice." I got this new baby gym out for her two weeks ago and she became vocal about it. She didn't really hit it with her hand at first, though now she hits the toys like crazy and moves her head from one side to the other instead of just staring to the right. She usually kicks her feet too like she's about to run away. I'll have to post a new video soon. I was surprised to see how different she was just two weeks ago!

Chloe was really cute tonight. Kevin was cutting the video down shorter and she was laying right close on the floor. When she heard herself make noises in the video, she made noises back. She finally found someone who speaks her language! She's also found her hand, including that little thumb that she loves to suck away at. But she tends to try moving her head to her hand and often times she just ends up teasing herself when her hand moves just too far out of reach.

Dirty Chloe, Visitors, Alligators at Panama City Beach, and One Month Old

2009-02-01T19:59:00.014-06:00

Whew, the title sums it up: Kevin has been learning all about editing pictures and reading a lot of photography books. Here is one he did yesterday of Chloe and he named it "Dirty Chloe" and it reminds us of some Anne Geddies things a little bit, since it looks like a plant is coming out of her head!

Well, January was really crazy. With a new born and all, we had family galore. I already posted about my parents. But Kevin's mom and little sis AAmy were here for 10 days and we had lots of fun. We took walks and LOTS of pictures. We took a day trip to Panama City to a National Park that sits on the Gulf of Mexico. It was awesome. We even went to alligator lake, but they were all hiding that day. It was not really warm, but we still had fun... AMY (Kevin's sis) EVEN SWAM!

Kevin's dad and Elaine, his great uncle and aunt, and Rachael (my cousin) and her husband along with Diana, Amy and Keri were all here for Chloe's blessing which was really nice. We HAD to go to the aviation museum again, of course. And this is a picture of Skip and Kevin in front of the helicopter that Kevin is here to learn to fly.

Blessing Day

2009-01-25T16:56:00.004-06:00

Kevin blessed Chloe at church today. Her dress was homemade and just about everyone had a part in it: me (of course), my mom, Diana, Amy J, Keri, and Chloe's great-great aunt Marylin. I think that will seem special to Chloe.

We definitely had a full house today for dinner, totalling 21, and it was nice to have family here. Reminds me of home when there are 10 different conversations going at once.

Papa N Granma Birda Visit

2009-01-21T17:17:00.003-06:00

The end of December my mom and dad came to visit, and it's taken me a while to get around to posting some pictures, seeing how its been about 3 weeks now.

They came in on the Tuesday after Chloe was born and stayed until Sunday morning. We had fun driving around showing off our new home. We went to different attractions here on post including the PX, commissary, the lake and the aviation museum. The stay seemed short once it was over, but it was nice for them to change plans and come early, just like Chloe did.

2 Weeks Old

2009-01-09T11:17:00.004-06:00

Chloe is thriving like a "bad weed" according to Gama Birda (as Claire calls her). She had her two week appointment and everything is going well. She has gained 10 1/2 oz since leaving the hospital, weighing in at 7 lbs 9.5 oz. She still doesn't fit in newborn clothes though, but that's just a matter of time. For now we are rolling up everything so she is not completely swimming in all her outfits.

She is a really good baby. She usually goes 3-4 hours at night between feedings so that means she is usually only waking up 2 times between bedtime and morning, which is really nice, especially since Kevin has to get up at 5:15.

Bath Time!

2008-12-29T20:06:00.002-06:00

I got Kevin some new camera equipment for Christmas. We are enjoying experimenting with it and our new subject. This is a shot of Chloe's first sponge bath at home. She absolutely loved every minute of it. I hope that means when we can give her tub baths she likes em just as much. I know I'm biased, but isn't she just adorable?

Our Christmas Baby

2008-12-24T21:25:00.002-06:00

It all started at 4 am, actually, it all started about 9 months ago. But this chapter of the story started at 4 am when Amy's water broke. Yes, I was out cold, and then suddenly, I was wide awake, especially when the contractions started about 10 minutes later, and never let up. We packed and made it out the door to the hospital. The hospital staff was great, we got checked in and started the waiting game. Amy was dilated to about 3 cm when we arrived at around 6:30 am, and finally hit 10 by about 2:45-3:00 pm. Thankfully Amy decided an epidural was a good idea about 20 minutes after we got to the hospital. Her contractions were so strong and so close that she never got a break, neither did my hands. I left when they administered the epidural to get some stuff from the car, and when I came back, Amy was all smiles.

It came time to push around 3:00 or so, and Amy did great. So did Chloe. Delivery was pretty fast once she started pushing, and we were blessed with a wonderful Christmas gift. The best one I've ever gotten anyway.
After her initial check out and clean up we got to hold her. It was one of the most beautiful things I've ever experienced in this world. She is so precious. Her little chin quivers when she cries and makes her little voice shake. It's so cute. When she came out at 3:41 pm, she weighed 7 lbs 5 ounces, and was 20 1/4 inches long. All about average. We'll get a video posted once we get the chance, but in the mean time, I want to get back to spending time with mom and baby. This is for sure the best Christmas ever.

A Little Update

2008-12-20T11:41:00.008-06:00

Well, it sure has been a complete turn around here with Kevin's job. Before, he was gone 24/7. Now, he gets up for PT at 5:20 to be there by 5:45. He is home by 7:15 and he showers and we have breakfast together. He then has a 9 am formation and is usually released for the rest of the day after 10 or 15 minutes. A few times he has had to stay until 10:30 or so, but that's not very often. We have been enjoying all the time we get to spend together. In his off time we go shopping, to the movies, read books together and have been getting ready for the baby. We have also been playing a little Super Mario Cart, which is fun, but I am really bad at it.

Kevin got the bike going. He rode it yesterday. He just needs some cosmetic work really now, besides a mirror and front turn signals. Its been warm out. We have been seeing pictures of home with tons of snow... we are usually in the 70s everyday. Its weird using the ac a week from Christmas. Today it is 77.

My tummy has been getting bigger. Strangers tell me all the time I look like I'm ready to pop. I feel like it! 37 weeks down, hopefully not too many left to go. The doc said the longest he will let me go will be 41 weeks and 6 days. Hopefully it isn't that long!

Kevin came home yesterday with his arms overloaded with vinyl for me. He stopped at a sign company and they gave him all these "scraps" for $5! One man's trash is a scrapbooking woman's treasure! I asked him why he didn't wait to give it to me on Christmas, and he said he was just way too excited to wait. He was as pleased with himself as I was with him! He loves to make me happy. I think I will make some new decals for his motorcycle since he repainted it last year it's been without.

'Tis The Season

2008-12-17T09:27:00.004-06:00

We FINALLY got our Christmas Tree on Monday. We had to borrow a truck for it and drive into Enterprise to get it and let me tell you, waiting so long leaves pretty slim pickens around here. Its not like you can just trudge into the mtns and pick one out. But, we ended up with a 6' fir and it only cost us $10! How I love Lowes. Kevin and I spent our FHE decorating with the fire DVD on our TV and Christmas music. It smells lovely in here now.

Yard Sales In December

2008-12-13T17:29:00.002-06:00

So... here at Ft Rucker, the housing company allows yard sales the first sat of every month. I wasn't sure how many there would actually be in December, but I talked Kevin into going with me. While most around here start about 6 am, or earlier, (we are at a military instillation right?)but we didn't manage to make it out of the house until around 8, which was as early as I could drag Kevin out of bed. I don't think he'll ever say "no" to going with me again.

Since we only brought one car and Kevin's motorcycle with us, we have been toying with the idea of buying a scooter/moped for Keri to use when she gets here in January to help out with the baby. Well, we pulled up to one yard sale and saw a bike sitting out, and I jokingly said, "oh, its for sale, lets buy it for Keri!" Kevin replied with a "right..." It turns out it was for sale, a 2004 Kawasaki 250 Ninja, and they guy only wanted $300! It needed some work, but Kevin figures to make it "perfect" which it wont need to be, we could put $500 into it, and it books from $1200-$2500! And the cool part is that it only has a little over 2k miles on it. So far, Kevin has put in $49 for a new battery and he has been cleaning the carbs today, and it is up and running. Hope Keri enjoys the bike while she's here! And I don't think I will ever let Kevin complain about going to yard sales ever again! I'll post some finished project pics when he gets done.

Kevin's An Officer Now...

2008-11-21T17:05:00.003-06:00

Today Kevin finally graduated WOC school and swore in to the Warrant Officer Corp this morning. I thought it was neat that I was able to pin his WO1 rank on.

Here was his first time getting saluted, rather than saluting someone else because they were an officer. Unfortunately, the guy in front of him walked right in the way at the same time, so I missed the picture!

Isn't he a handsome officer? It is so nice to have him home. He gets to be home for the rest of our time here except for a short 3 week school. YAY!

Educational E-mails with REAL backing

2008-11-15T14:18:00.004-06:00

I just want to thank all of you for your educational emails over the past year. Thanks to you:

I no longer open a public bathroom door without using a paper towel.
I can't use the remote in a hotel room because I don't know what the last person was doing while flipping through the adult movie channels.
I can't sit down on the hotel bedspread because I can only imagine what has happened on it since it was last washed.
I can't enjoy lemon slices in my tea or on my seafood anymore because lemon peels have been found to contain all kinds of nasty germs including feces, and cause tooth decay.
I have trouble shaking hands with someone who has been driving because the number one pass-time while driving alone is picking your nose
Eating a Little Debbie sends me on a guilt trip because I can only imagine how many gallons of trans fats I have consumed over the years.
I can't touch any woman's purse for fear she has placed it on the floor of a public bathroom. Yuck!
I must send my special thanks to whoever sent me the one about poop in the glue on envelopes because I now have to use a wet sponge with every envelope that needs sealing. I no longer have any savings because I gave it to a sick girl (Penny Brown) who is about to die in the hospital for the 1,387,258th time.
I no longer have any money at all, but that will change once I receive the $15,000 that Bill Gates/Microsoft and AOL are sending me for participating in their special e-mail program.
I no longer worry about my soul because I have 363,214 angels looking out for me
I no longer eat KFC because their chickens are actually horrible mutant freaks with no eyes or feathers.
I no longer use cancer-causing deodorants even though I smell like a pregnant water buffalo on a hot day.
Thanks to you, I have learned that my prayers only get answered if I forward an email to seven of my friends and make a wish within five minutes.
Because of your concern I no longer drink Coca Cola because it can remove toilet stains.
I no longer can buy gasoline without taking someone along to watch the car so a serial killer won't crawl in my back seat when I'm pumping gas.
I no longer drink Pepsi or Dr Pepper since the people who make these products are atheists who refuse to put 'Under God' on their cans.
I no longer use Saran wrap in the microwave because it causes cancer. And thanks for letting me know I can't boil a cup of water in the microwave anymore because it will blow up in my face...disfiguring me for life.
I no longer check the coin return on pay phones because I could be pricked with a needle infected with AIDS.
I no longer go to shopping malls because someone will drug me with a perfume sample and rob me.
I no longer receive packages from UPS or FedEx since they are actually Al Qaeda in disguise. I no longer shop at Target since they are French and don't support our American troops or the Salvation Army.
I no longer buy expensive cookies from Neiman Marcus since I now have their recipe.
Thanks to you, I can't use anyone's toilet but mine because a big brown African spider is lurking under the seat to cause me instant death when it bites my butt.
And thanks to your great advice, I can't ever pick up $5.00 dropped in the parking lot because it probably was placed there by a sex molester waiting underneath my car to grab my leg.
I can no longer drive my car because I can't buy gas from certain gas companies!

Milk Cures Crying

2008-11-08T11:43:00.006-06:00

Milk is a new cure for crying... when it comes to onions that is. I discovered it on my own last night as I was cutting up a huge lot of them. I decided I was going to dehydrate some to make cooking easier/quicker/cleaner. So, 10 HUGE onions, one hour of chopping into 20+ cups, a sharp knife, 3 glasses of milk, no tears, 9 hours in the dehydrator and making the neighborhood smell like an onion field only yielded me about 4 cups of dehydrated onion. Yay!
You would think that I would have ended up with more final product when I started out with huge bowl of chopped. I guess onion is more water than onion. (So to make the milk thing work, when you start to feel the sting coming on, just gulp milk and you'll be good to soldier on!)
Oh, and a few relatives have complained they can't comment without having an account, so I changed my preferences so you can comment and choose "anonymous" so let the comments roll on in family members.

Another Bitter-Sweet Sunday

2008-11-02T14:29:00.000-06:00

Well, Kevin will move in to "Senior Status" on Friday, meaning he'll have more privileges and he finally got to use his phone for 30 min last night. Not much really, but hey, that's better than nothing, that's for sure. Here we are outside our ward building in Ozark this morning. Doesn't he look great? I guess i'm really starting to have a pregnant tummy now.

Wedding Memories

2008-10-31T17:00:00.000-05:00

So... I've been putting off scrapbooking our wedding for two years now. I still can't believe that it has been two years already, but that is beside the point here. I have been putting it off for later because I am not the greatest scrapbooker there is, but I enjoy it. And, our wedding, for obvious reasons, is very important to both of us and I wanted it done right. Well, I finally decided this week that it was now or never. With that being said - here is my first completed wedding page. The colors are actually the same, not sure why they turned out so different in the pic, the one on the right is true color.

"Get Your Punkin On"

2008-10-29T22:21:00.001-05:00

Well, here is my Halloween "costume." Tonight was the church Fall Festival and trunk o' treat. I have never had my tummy rubbed or touched so much in my life before tonight. And by little kiddies i don't even know... I even had one child do a head bang against my pumpkin gut and i don't even know who he is either! It was weird. That little girl sure is making my me have a bigger belly huh?

The Fun Week with Family and Friends

2008-10-27T09:34:00.002-05:00

Monday i finished a blanket for the baby. I'm not sure that i actually did it right even, but oh well, i suppose if it stayes together it should keep her nice and warm. I also made some bibs too. My book says I'll need at least 12 of them! Gesh.

I headed out to Rachael Dillin Duncan's house on wed, she lives about 2 hours away and stayed with her wed and Thurs night. We had a blast shopping and catching up, we hadn't seen each other in over 2 1/2 years. I helped her make and put up a wall vinyl. It kinda looks crooked in the pic, but its not.

On Friday, I drove the rest of the way to Atlanta, GA and met up with Pam Hartman Thompson and her newlywed husband Bob. They are so cute together. We had fun eating out and going to the movies. Which, The Express, BTW is a very good movie. On Sat, we dilly dallied around a little then made it over the the temple. It was really nice. Then I headed the 4-4 1/2 hours home from Atlanta.

About 7 or so, Rebeca and her daughter Ashley came over from Florida to spend the night because her husband is in the same class as Kevin in WOCS and she can see him at church, but staying over saves them from getting up at 5 am. We went to the Extreme Bowling here on post. That was fun, only my tummy could only take two games, so then Ashley bowled in my place, and managed to get bowling balls stuck in the gutter. I have never seen this happen. They would go so slow that the bar would come down and stop them in the gutter and they would just stay there, so by the time we were done, all 5 of our balls were hanging out in the gutter!

Of course on Sunday, I got to see Kevin, which is what it feels like I live for right now. He got to see the video of the 4-d ultrasound. It was awesome. We are half way over with this junk, 3 Sundays left, and the last one he has an all day pass. YAY! I meant to take the camera, but i forgot. Next week i hope to let you guys see how great he looks, minus being tired.

4-D Ulatrasound Finally Here!

2008-10-21T17:21:00.001-05:00

This was so much fun! I would definitely recommend it to everyone that is having a baby. I was a little apprehensive, i mean, we aren't supposed to know what she looks like till she's born right? But still, its way cool.

Here she is sucking on the knuckle of her thumb. Her hands were by her face the whole time, except of course we looked at her feet and her hands went straight there, and then back to her face again when we went to look there too.

You can see her eye open here. The placenta is kind of covering the left side of her face somewhat. I looked at my baby picture and it is the same nose! But i think her lips are more like Kevin's.

What amazing technology we have in our time!

This is one of my favorites because the technician was pushing on my stomach to make her move around a little, and she got a big frowny face and scrunched her nose and this is the picture she was able to get from it.

Her eye open again... almost kind a creepy.. but it's still cool. They gave me a VHS of the actual movement she did and I'm going to get it transferred to a DVD so i can put that up too.

And here is my baby picture... what do you think? Is daughter like mother?

Kevins Crazy School Upadate

2008-10-20T09:28:00.001-05:00

This is straight from his letters:

"Our mornings are usually crazy. Wake up is 5:25 now. No earlier or later. It's considered cheating if you do. And we have to make our beds, set up our rooms for inspection, (by the measurements) brush teeth and shave and be down in formation by 5:37 usually. Then PT, but after it gets crazy. We usually come up at 7:10-7:12. Have to shower, put on clean ACUs (and put on all patches and rank) and clean the barracks for common area inspection, i.e. dry showers and sinks, polish drinking fountains and such, and be back down to formation by about 7:30 or so. Then chow and classes all day. And then it gets pretty crazy again at night."

The letter from this week:

" We took our first exam. I got a 90%, which was pretty good for the class average. We had leadership reassignments to day. Unfortunately I am now Candidate Platoon Seargent. Not too big of a deal really, just have to stand out in front of the formation and eat last."

"I volunteered to call cadence while marching once the other day. Now I'm one of the favorites, sort of. At least one of the few who can do it. Unfortunately I've killed my voice so i can't really call it now anyway"

I think overall he is doing very well, given the type of environment the guys in charge are creating for all wocs. PT sounds kinda ruff for all the guys and classes are kinda boring, but its almost 3 of the 7 weeks over. The hardest thing it seems is they have ridiculous time constraints that they expect them to get things done in, and it would be impossible for anyone to do. Next week he goes to the field. He should get phone privileges this week or next week, which I am very much looking forward to, as you all can imagine. I'll try my best to keep you updated.

Updated Picture Wall

2008-10-16T18:41:00.000-05:00

Now, I normally wouldn't be blogging about so many little mundane things as I have been, but since Kevin's gone and I'm all alone, this is the only way to share the things I do with someone I care about, and it also makes it seem more worthwhile too, I'm not sure why...

Updated Picture Wall

The Latest Project

2008-10-15T21:32:00.000-05:00

I found a cool directions to make a hooded baby towel, and I added flannel on the outside. this was the my first experience with binding, and I like how it looks.

and no Michelle, i didn't get a new machine, i found a thing for $8 that sits behind the machine that is for holding the spool

Addresses and Tuesday Night Creativeness

2008-10-14T20:59:00.001-05:00

Per Skips Request:

Kevin & Amy Cederquist
24 Dunn Drive
Fort Rucker, AL 36362

Melissa Cederquist
PO Box 571
Kenai, AK 99611

Here is the latest of my projects, a wedding present for a friend:

And a "Hooter Hider" (i.e. nursing cover up) for my friend Jessica:

What do you think?

Life is Bitter-Sweet

2008-10-12T15:00:00.000-05:00

Well, today I got to head to church an hour early and spend 45 min pre-sacrament meeting, sacrament meeting and Sunday school with Kevin. Then say good bye again. It was wonderful and awful at the same time, when I knew we only had a short time together. But it was definitely better than not seeing him, that's for sure. As he put it today, only five more Sundays, and the last two he'll have passes, so really he thinks of it as only 3 more Sundays.

He told me about his training and it is so by the book. They have a standard operating procedures manual, and they have to follow it or they get demerits. They aren't told how to do it right first, they have to figure it out on their own, or they are demerited. After 25 demerits, they have to write an essay. He said that he likes that public profanity gets you automatically 25 so he can go around telling people to cut out the cussing and they will listen, unlike any other part of the military him and I have both been involved in. But this is ridiculous, his shirts have to be folded in a 7"x7 " square, his bed has to be 2" away from the wall and folded exactly right. His locker has to be a certain measurement from his bed and the wall and at night his door has to be open exactly 2". Everyday there is a 3x5 card that is outside his room that has to have the date in correct form and a few other things on it. the margin on the left side has to be two inches. He got his room one demerit because he put Oct 07 instead of Oct 7. I think this would drive me nuts! This is like movie stuff that you don't really ever think actually happens. They aren't even allowed to put their rank and name tapes on their uniform the night before or have their watches wake them up early to get prepared for the day, which lasts from 4:30 to lights out at 10:45. At that time he finally has a few min to read his scriptures by flashlight, which would get him a lot of demerits and say his prayers. So he's only getting about 5.5 hours a night. I'm glad it's him and not me that's for sure.

I Love my Cricut

2008-10-09T22:04:00.000-05:00

This is my first attempt at using vinyl with my cricut cutter. It actually took me all evening really to figure it out, but next time I think it won't take so long. I'm planning on putting up family pictures over it, just don't have them up yet as I just finished making this tonight, I guess I'm just to excited to share my work.... I'll re post when i get the pictures up.

I'm Pregnant

2008-10-06T16:43:00.000-05:00

What is wrong with me? This morning I watched a Sarah Pailin speech and got more choked up over that than I did when Kevin left. These emotional highs and lows caused by this little girl of mine can be mind boggling.

Well... he's gone

2008-10-05T13:34:00.001-05:00

Well, here is the last image of Kevin before he undergoes his transformation to a warrant officer. I snapped this picture then dropped him off at his warrant officer candidate school (WOCS) in-processing on Wednesday and tried my best not to cry, which was amazing only a few tears slipped out seeing how I am all emotionally pregnant and stuff. He has had his phone the past few days, but he hasn't been allowed to use it, so of course he has called me everyday - if not twice a day.

Tomorrow the real training starts and his in-processing will be done. His phone will be locked away for good and he has his first PT test tomorrow, and he told me last night that he might name our daughter during it so he can think of her to help him do his best possible... I told him (sarcastically) I'm sure he wouldn't try to name her Chloe, which he has been trying to do ever since before I got pregnant. And just so everyone knows, I am now leaning towards that name too ;). I think I've done well staying busy the past few days, lets just see if it's something I can keep up for the next 7 weeks. But good news is that I will get to see him and sit with him every Sunday during church in Ozark.

Also, on a side note, the tire problem turned out to be a small deal compared to what came later that day when we were in the middle-of-no-where Kentucky. We were driving along listening to our audio book and then all of the sudden all these lights and buzzers went off on the dashboard and when we pulled over we discovered that our lower radiator hose was blown off and we had six gallons of coolant everywhere but where it belonged. We had to wait 3 hours on the side of the freeway for a man to come and patch us up. So when we planned on getting to our hotel by 8 pm that night, we didn't check in until after midnight.

U-Haul

2008-09-26T09:06:00.000-05:00

We are sitting in our hotel room in Illinois at 9 am waiting for U-haul to come and change a tire on our car dolly. I'm so glad we got up at 7 to get an early start today. Who knows how long we'll have to wait for them to come. When we went out this morning, the tire was missing a huge section of tread all the way down to the radial.

This picture only really shows about half of the damage too.

We probably could have made it to the nearest u-haul dealer, but why chance it? It looks like its ready to blow at any second. Its a real blessing it didn't last night when we were driving all over the place on a detour through the middle of St. Louis looking for the right way to go. Between Kevin relying on the GPS and me relying on signs and the atlas, finally we found our way and made it to the hotel right outside St. Louis across the Illinois/Missouri boarder.

On a funny note, last night when we were fueling up, the pump we were using would shut off at $100. So Kevin put our card back in and it shut off at the second $100. He decided he would completely fill it up, and put the card back in a third time, however, it kicked off at 5 cents! It was hilarious. So we have $200.05 in the gas tank. (and on a sad note, it only gets 6.5 mpg...)

MOVING!!!

2008-09-20T13:58:00.000-05:00

We got a call Friday morning saying we have to be in Alabama in less than one week for Kevin's flight school to start. We weren't supposed to go until November, but here we are, frantically gathering all of our stuff and tying off loose ends and we'll be out of here and on our way by Tuesday... hopefully.

Baby... Girl???

2008-08-28T11:46:00.000-05:00

We had our 3rd ultra sound yesterday. It was so cool. This time "she" did not move around so much as last time, unfortunately. So we now "think" our baby is a girl instead of an it. She was kind of jackknifed in there and breech... her head and feet were at my belly button, so it made it hard to tell if the "external plumbing," (as Kevin calls it) was there or just hidden around a corner. So it would have been nice to have her move around a bit instead of being difficult. The tech did say that she didn't see any evidence of a boy though. Since the heart was also hidden and the tech couldn't get the measurements she needed on it, we get to go back for a 4th ultra sound and maybe we will be able to be more sure. I already bought a really cute little sleeper though, and mom bought her a pink one... so hopefully we wont be needing to take them back. ;)

In this video you can see her head on the left side with her arm reaching up with her hand near her eyes or so. You can also see her little body and her ribs. Towards the end you can even see her heart beating in her chest!

Everything we could see looked good to the doctor. She weighs about 13.5 oz and is right on track for all her measurements so far. Maybe soon we'll go get some 3-D pictures, but I'm still not exactly sure how I feel about those things.

Zimmerman Family Reunion

2008-08-08T14:33:00.000-05:00

Well, I'm just getting around to posting some stuff from the family reunion. We had a blast of course, always love family reunions. We flew up to Moscow on Wednesday the 23rd of July and stayed with Michele and Jesse, and then flew the rest of the way to Bonners the next morning. The flight was good, though kind of rough on the southern portion. Amy got a little sick, but luckily didn't have to puke. Flying sure beats driving, so much faster, and a heck of a lot more fun.

Friday we didn't do a whole lot, I took a few people flying in the morning. We basically just enjoyed relaxing. We had dinner out at Twin Rivers with the Zimmerman family, it was good to see everyone, met a few of the new in-laws that I haven't really met before. Then the next morning I took Brannen flying, he got a little sick, but it's all good. Then we went back out to Twin Rivers and started our 5 hour float trip. That was awesome. It was fun tying all the rafts together and eating until we couldn't eat anymore, then waiting for two minutes, and finding something else to eat. I can't believe how much food we had. I suppose the whole lot of us could have gotten lost and easily survived for 2 weeks on the junk food we had.

The river was fairly cold, but a lot of people went swimming anyway, and of course, there was jumping off the bridge. Roberta decided at one point to get in her daily swim, and so jumped out to swim along the raft, naturally she couldn't keep up, so she got up on the shore and decided to run to catch up, that would have worked, except she got back in the water too soon. Eventually we had to drop anchor and wait for her, not that we complained, who's in a hurry anyway?

After getting back to Twin again, we had another HUGE dinner, which is convenient because everyone was already full from the float. Nevertheless we all stuffed ourselves some more. When I took a few more people flying that night I'm suprised we even got off the ground (just kidding). Then, after dinner, we headed back up to the Winn's for a bonfire and more junk food. What fun.

Finally on Sunday Amy and I mostly hung out with the Cederquist family. Charlie and Adrianna came up with Jimmy's kids (Jimmy wasn't there) and Michele and Jesse came up with the boys. We had fun eating fish they cought in Alaska when they were up there a few weeks before, and we got to go watch the new little colt Melissa's horse, Wakina, just gave birth to on the 23rd. I took Jesse flying that afternoon, the air was really rough, and at one point while Jesse was flying, we hit some super bad turbulence and I smacked the crap out of my shin. It hurt like nothing else. Oh well.

It was so much fun being able to see everyone. The flight back on monday we pretty smooth, we stopped in St. Maries and got gas, (cheapest on the trip at $4.95) and then again in Mccall for lunch. Finally the last leg of the trip back to Nampa, which was tough because it was so hot up there that we had to circle around just to get enough altitude to get over the mountains. Hopefully we can plan another trip up north before we head to Alabama in November.

I posted a slide show of pictures from the trip, I hope it works for you. Let me know if you see any pictures of you/your kids/other family members, that you might want copies of and I'll e-mail them to you. We have a ton more that we took, so let me know what you want, I'll see if we got a picture of it.

2nd Ultrasound

2008-07-06T19:14:00.000-05:00

This one was so much more fun that the last ultrasound. Melissa came, and it was a joy to have her there as well. The reason it was so much more fun: last time it sat like a bump on a log, this time the little thing was bouncing around like crazy! It was kicking and the cutest was it had its fingers in its mouth most of the time. The tech told us that it is not often she sees a fetus sucking its fingers at this early stage, and hopefully for us it means it'll be a good baby as it is already learning to pacify itself. It even kinda waved (OK, i know not on purpose) and it was cool to be able to see all five fingers spread apart. Also, it go the hiccups during toward the end and that was cool to see too.

Sorry this isn't so clear... on the screen it was much more defined. The tech pointed out the black spot on its stomach and said that now the baby is swallowing amniotic fluids. Then a second later it took a huge gulp and we could see it swallow! It was exciting. Still 7 more weeks before we know what "it" is. But we are way excited because the office will give us a DVD of the whole ultrasound... perhaps that means I can figure out how to post it here for everyone to see! I was checking out the different wives tales on if its a boy or a girl... and i came across a study that found that a woman's premonition of the baby's sex is 71% of the time true... so we'll see if I'm right or not when i say i think its a boy.

Alabama

2008-06-26T11:03:00.000-05:00

Well, we just found out today that Kevin will start warrant officer school on Oct 19th. So, that means we'll be moving before the baby is due.... but at least now we know when we're going. And this is the beach that we'll be headed to on the weekends! This is an areal of Panama City Beach off the coast of Florida, only about an hour drive from where we'll be stationed. Doesn't it just look awesome?

Flying!

2008-06-21T20:29:00.000-05:00

Well, this is my first entry into the blog. So it will probably be short, and relatively uninteresting, but hey, at least I'm doing it. Things in this Cederquist abode are quiet, except for when Amy has to make a mad dash for an appropriate puke safe place. She hates morning sickness, but I know deep inside it makes her happy because it means she's pregnant. Yes, she has the glow.

I've been flying a lot, have over 30 hours now, already did my "big" cross country flight. Flew to Twin Falls, then to Baker City and back. It was great fun. The picture is actually of my first solo. Jesse took it when they were down here. I did instrument hood flying with "foggles" today, it was pretty easy, and then I spent almost 2 hours practicing short and soft field take offs and landings. I passed my FAA knowledge exam earlier this week, got a 90, and I'm planning to take my practical on the 3rd of July, if I'm ready. We want to be able to fly up to the Zimmerman Family Reunion the end of July, but because we have AT the 12th - 24th, I won't have time to take the exam after AT starts. Wish me luck.

Morning Sickness?? I think It needs an official Re-Naming, How about ALL DAY SICKNESS??

2008-06-09T10:55:00.000-05:00

When I went to the doc she asked me if I was peeing more, and I'm not really sure why that was important. Now I think she would be more interested in whether or not I've been vomiting every other day, or too dizzy to stand, or at the mention of food or it's smell would make my stomach flip, but then again, I'm not the doctor here. Maybe Maggie can give me some insight?

People at work ask me everyday how I'm doing. It usually goes something like this, "Bad." "Better than yesterday." Or the one that seems to get different reactions out of everyone, "Well, I haven't thrown up yet today, so pretty good." What stinks about all this morning sickness is that while it feels like the flu, it is much worse in the fact that with the flu, the worst case scenario it would last a few days. Now with this morning sickness, it could be done in a week, two months or last until January, which so many people fell the need to tell me that theirs "lasted the whole nine months." Is this supposed to make me feel better?

p.s. i think blogs are more interesting if they have pictures, but i don't think you would want to see my latest vomit of licorice and peanuts!

I LOVE Craigslist...(and my husband)

2008-06-07T22:14:00.000-05:00

Kevin bought me the most amazing gift today. It's my dream camera, a digital SLR, this one happens to be the same camera I used at John and Amber's wedding a few weeks ago. Kevin got me an awesome deal off craigslist, which i recommend to everyone for anything. Now, i can take awesome pictures for my forthcoming blogs! I'll for sure be keeping everyone updated on where our life is taking us. And hopefully better detailed ones of the baby than seen below. And I especially want to show off the beautiful white Florida beaches in the gulf where we hope to be spending many relaxing weekends.

The First Picture!

2008-06-06T20:14:00.000-05:00

We, the baby and me, not Kevin of course, got an ultra sound on wed, and no, it's not a boy, (but i guess it could be!), those are legs everyone! Our new due date is January 10Th. We'll be taking bets on how early or late this arrival will be. We'll have another one in 4 weeks from now to show off. Maybe we need to start a brag book for grandparents. Mom(s) say us having this baby is like dangling a carrot in their faces, as we tell em they'll be getting a new grand-baby, but we're moving it to Alabama with us! Oh well, it'll be a great excuse to see the Gulf of Mexico right?