Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Looking Forward to the Weekend!!

During this holiday time I am reminded of my school and college days when I counted down the days until we had some time off from school. Now, even having been out of school for quite some time, I still find myself looking forward to the holidays and the break we all get from everyday life to spend quality time with loved ones.

It's that time of year and Thanksgiving is almost here! I am really looking forward to it! Being able to spend time with family and eat lots of yummy food....who could ask for anything better?!! There are many of our family members who we haven't seen in quite a while...so it should be alot of fun. The holidays are always a very busy time, and this one is no exception. We have three Thanksgivings in one day! It will be a long, but very wonderful day! I can't wait!!

The excitement does not end there though. Friday, as I'm sure many of you know, is only the best shopping day of the entire year!! Scott will be working, but I am looking forward to taking the day to go shopping with Kaelyn and my parents. Saturday will be a relaxing day...one that I plan on taking to get up our Christmas tree and all the decorations. YEAH! :)

I'm sure the time will go by quickly, as do many other weekends...but I still look forward to this time and all the excitement we have planned!

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Sleeping Baby

When Kaelyn was just a newborn, like many babies, she used to fall asleep wherever she was....in her carseat, stroller, people's arms, the floor....it was so cute! As she got a little bit older though, she continued to be a GREAT sleeper, but preferred to be in her bed more than anywhere else. This is great as that's where we want her to sleep, but it did cause us to gradually lose opportunities to get pictures of our little angel sleeping....unless we snuck into her room. :)

Recently I have gotten a couple of pics of her sleeping in her highchair, but it had been a long while since she fell asleep in anyone's arms. That's why you could say we were a bit surprised when she fell asleep right in her Daddy's lap last night, while drinking her milk before bed. It was too cute...and you can tell Daddy thought it was the best!! Seeing how it had been a while since she last fell asleep anywhere but her highchair or bed...we thought this was a picture perfect moment. Sounds small....but it was so sweet to us!! Oh the little things that make us smile! :)







It got me wondering what other sleeping pictures we have of Kaelyn, and I found a few others taken over the past year that I thought I would share. It's so fun to look back and see how much she has changed.


3 days old


2 months old


3 months old


6 months old


8 months old


10 months old


12 months old

Friday, November 21, 2008

Making The Best of a Loonnngggg Week

I often go into the week with the expectation that it will go by fairly quickly. More times than not it usually does. However...this week seemed to drag on forever. Looking back I realize it's probably because Scott ended up having to work quite a few long days...which left Kaelyn and I home on our own most evenings. I'm so happy that he loves his job and is willing to work so hard for his family....we just miss him when he's gone that much. I'm sure glad this busy time is winding down and soon we will have our evenings together again.

Although a long week is behind us...we have a great weekend ahead. Scott does not work many weekends...so I'm happy to say that we'll be able to spend some quality time as a family!! There's always so much to do on weekends, but I'm sure we'll find time to relax and enjoy our family time together too!! Besides...no matter how busy we are, as long as we're together and get to see little smiles like the one in this picture....everything is PERFECT!! :)

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Kaelyn's Hugs & Kisses....

...are the best! Today I had a terrible headache....one I'm pretty sure has been brought on from weaning and the change in hormone levels. I was pretty miserable, and after taking something in hopes that it would help cease the pain, I decided to lay on the couch while she was playing on the floor. Typically I would take this time to play with her, but with my head pounding, it was much better for me to watch her while laying down for a little while. It was so cute though...as much as I expected her to continue playing with her toys...the instant she saw me lay down on the couch...it was almost as if she knew I wasn't feeling well because she came right over, stood by me and gave me one kiss after another while smiling from ear to ear. She was even giving hugs too!! She's such a sweetie. Now, if that doesn't make someone who doesn't feel well smile, I don't know what will?!? :) I can honestly say that this brightened my day and was the beginning of feeling better.

Monday, November 17, 2008

Plans Change....

Sometimes things don't go quite as planned. We had big plans to paint the family room ceiling this weekend. We want to get it all nice for when the time comes to put our house on the market. Who would have thought that it would be such a big job?!! Wow!! Poor Scott...he worked so hard to get it all done...what a trooper!

Early Saturday afternoon, he came home with the paint ready to get to work. The moment he began painting....the old paint started to peel off on his roller. This was not good! We both were very confused as to why this was happening. With a little research, we found that it was because he was using a latex paint on top of an oil based paint. The trick is to use an oil based primer first. So....long story short...Scott made his third trip back to Home Depot, got the primer, and finally got the ceiling painted. YEAH! It looks terrific and although we ran into some bumps in the road....we can happily look up and know that the job is done. What a good feeling!!

Other than that, our weekend was great! We decided to go back and visit my parents for a couple of days which was so nice and relaxing. We really need to do that more often. It was a lot of fun, and Kaelyn and I even stayed through this afternoon. Unfortunately time always goes by so quickly though, and after her nap we headed home to a house full of things to do.

It's the start to another week...and with Monday already behind us, I can definitely tell that it will be a fast one! Yeah for weekends! :)

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Getting the House Ready....

...to move! Many of you already know that with this new job Scott took this past August...we are looking to move so that he will not have such a long drive each day. We absolutely love everything about our house...but it makes no sense for us to stay here and have him travel 45 minutes each way. Thankfully there is no hurry...so the plan is to get our house ready (do some little things), and then put it on the market at some point in the not so distant future. Today we woke up and thought what better time to start.

Scott is at Home Depot with Kaelyn as we speak....getting the items necessary to paint the ceiling in our family room, reseal the bathtub upstairs and work on fixing our under cabinet lights in the kitchen. It's definitely going to be a busy day in the Gaskill household...but once it's all finished we'll be that much closer to being ready to move. Now all we need to do is start looking for houses....Northern Iowa here we come! :)

Friday, November 14, 2008

Our Little Climber

Even the little things that Kaelyn learns to do are big things to us! One thing I've learned over the past year, is that you never know when she's going to do something new...big or small. Knowing this, it's been an absolute necessity to have the camera (which is also a camcorder) by our side at all times! Thankfully, I did the other day...as Kaelyn began doing something she'd only attempted to do before....climbing!

Ever since Kaelyn became more mobile, we knew she would be a climber. She's always trying to get her knees up....or gets on her tippy toes trying trying to climb. Lately, she's been doing this with the box that we've been letting her play with from her birthday. Then...one day this week...she DID IT! :) I know it's not a big thing...but to me it was HUGE and I was proud of her. I quickly grabbed the camera and got pictures!









Then, today I noticed she was climbing on it again. I got to thinking how it would be fun to have video footage of this milestone as well. So, I grabbed the camera and began filming. I'm so glad I did! It will be something we all look back on and enjoy I'm sure!

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Our Eventful Day

We sure had an eventful day today! Fun, but busy. This afternoon we had Kaelyn's One year pictures taken. Since we hadn't gotten any professional family pictures taken since she was born...we also had a few taken at the same time. That meant Scott and I had to get ready as well. Thankfully my dad was kind enough to leave work a little early and watch Kaelyn while we got ready to go. He then kept an eye on her as we stayed after to pick out pictures as well. Keeping Kaelyn occupied helped to ensure that Scott was available to help me make decisions on which ones we would order. It took quite a while, but overall it went fairly smoothly. They had a new offer this time as well. With some of their packages, you get a CD with all the pictures.. This gives us unlimited rights to print and reproduce the pictures allowing us to do as we wish with them...print them off, put them online, etc. We obviously couldn't pass up this great deal!!

Here are a few of the many we had taken....


























After pictures it was well passed supper time. We came home, ate...and then left again for me to get my annual haircut. Okay, okay...not an annual haircut...but it's definitely one of very few that I get during the year. I was waiting to do it until after the pictures...and one hour after was enough for me! :) We headed to Great Clips and I got it cut. I like having my hair longer, but wanted it short for a change.






Me trying to take the pic of the back by myself :)

This was the end to our very busy day. It was fun...but has left us all tired and ready for bed early tonight!

Cousins

Today is our little nephew's 1st birthday!! Isn't he adorable??!!



Emry was born just 12 days after Kaelyn...so it's been fun having them so close in age! Living states away makes it hard for us to spend much time with them...but hopefully once they move closer, Kaelyn and Emry can get to know each other better...and will grow up being very close cousins! The few times we have been able to get them together...it's been SO fun to watch them interact and play with on another!! They are just too cute!

The first time we got them together was last Christmas. They were just newborns then (almost 2 months old). Even though they weren't able to interact much at this age....we made sure to get LOTS of pics of the two of them. It was definitely a Christmas that will be remembered always!







This past July was another opportunity that we had to get them together! They were 8 months old...so much more aware of each other and even able to play some. Although a shorter visit...again, we made sure to get LOTS and LOTS of pictures!




Kisses :)

The next time we will see them all is at Christmas time! I'm SO looking forward to that. It's only just over a month away. Isn't that crazy?? The kids are now one years old....so I know they will have even more fun with one another!! And of course...I look forward to taking lots more pictures over the holidays!! :) Stay tuned....

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Building Up Her Confidence

Kaelyn has been showing more and more confidence when it comes to standing on her own and walking lately. As I posted a while back, she's been taking a few steps at a time for a while now. It's neat to see her venturing out and trying new things like this. Lately I've been observing her as she gets ready to step out on her own. You can actually see the little wheels turning as if she's thinking to herself..."I know I can do this...one foot at a time". It's so cute. She slowly lets go of whatever it is she's holding onto...stands there for a few seconds and then steps out. Sometimes this results in another step, while others it brings her to the floor realizing she can crawl faster. I am noticing her desire to step out more and more and I've really enjoyed watching this developmental transition.


Video taken a while back, showing Kaelyn taking a couple of steps.

She's been showing a greater interest in standing on her own as well. Lately when we have on music she'll let go of whatever she's standing next to and will begin clapping her hands together, bobbing her head, and moving her knees. It's adorable. Isn't it neat how it's natural for us to just want to move to music...even as a baby?! We love to watch her do this. She's becoming such a big girl! Last night she even stood up from the floor which was the first time that had happened. She was sitting by Scott and all of a sudden got up on her feet and pushed up to a standing position. She stood there for the longest time as she watched the Wiggles on TV...then sat back down.

It's been such a pleasure being able to stay at home with her this first year! I've enjoyed every minute and love getting to see her do new things! I can't wait to see what the next year brings.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

It's Almost Christmas Time....

...and I can't wait!! It's my favorite time of year!! Most years this is the time when I begin Christmas shopping. This year is no different, however...I'm realizing that I don't necessarily have to go to the store to do it! I've been doing a lot of my shopping right here online! It's so easy and convenient! Planning long shopping sprees isn't very practical with a one year old...so to be able to do it from home has been wonderful!

Today I spent much of my time gathering a list of things for Kaelyn's Christmas list. Many of our parents and siblings have been asking what she would like or needs....so I browsed the web and created a list at WishList.com. It was a bit time consuming, but now that it's all said and done I'm glad I took the time to do it. It will be easy for our families to use her Christmas list right there on the site and even shop online if they wish.

Making Kaelyn's Christmas list and doing some shopping for a few family members is as far as I've gotten so far. I suppose that isn't too bad considering it's not even Thanksgiving yet though. It's nice to get a good start on things...soon we will be sending out Christmas cards, putting up the tree, listening to Christmas music! Scott already hung the lights up outside on the house...and with all the snow we've been getting it's definitely feeling like that time of year already!

Monday, November 10, 2008

A New Hobby

I don't know about you, but Scott and I sure enjoy using eBay. We not only find things to buy on there, both used and new, but also sell as well. I have always heard of people who make eBay a living practically...and now I can see how! It's so easy and a great way to make money and find great deals!! I think it's becoming one of my new hobbies. :)

Recently we've been utilizing their services a lot!! We have been purchasing great items and selling many of our own. With some of the money we've been making here and there, we finally decided it was time to look for a new camera since our old one's LCD screen got broken. After searching through different brands and their prices, we put in an offer on a Nikon Coolpix 8800 digital camera and won it!! I am SOOO excited. My dad has this camera and really likes the way it takes pictures. We got a great deal, and the camera is in mint condition! Hopefully it will arrive by the end of the week so we can try it out. Thankfully we were able to buy it before the holidays get here....as I know we'll be taking LOTS of pictures during that time.

We'll keep you posted on how we like it...

Friday, November 7, 2008

Our Growing Girl

It had been three months since we last took Kaelyn to one of her well-child checkups, so you could say we were pretty excited to take her to her 12 month check up this morning to see how much she had grown. That's the best part about it...is seeing how much weight she's gained and how much taller she is. Over the past month or so, we knew Kaelyn had grown....as our arms were getting more tired the longer we held her....however, we didn't know that she had gained over 3 1/2 lbs and almost 2 inches!! Wow!! She sure is growing!! :) She is now 20 1/2 lbs and just over 28 inches tall! Whenever we come home from a checkup I always enjoy taking a look at my own baby book to see how similar she is in size to what I was at her age. Today was no different...I came home and opened up the book. I was less than an inch taller than her and only a couple of oz heavier. :)

Also....Now that Kaelyn is at least 20 lbs and a year old we can officially, and legally, turn her carseat to face forward. Scott has been looking forward to this for quite some time now...as he likes to look at Kaelyn in the rear view mirror and be able to talk to her. Now he can do that more easily, as she'll be able to see him and talk back to him too. I think Kaelyn will enjoy car rides a lot more now. She'll be able to look forward and see the world in front of her. Before it hardly took two minutes before she was sleeping....i can't say I blame her....staring at the seat the whole time must be kind of boring. :) I guess this is just one more thing that signifies our little girl getting older and is "officially" 1!





Thursday, November 6, 2008

A Gift from Great Grandpa and Grammy

Tonight Kaelyn got to open up her birthday present from Great Grandpa and Great Grammy. It came in the mail...so when Scott got home from work and before Kaelyn went to bed....we let her open it up. She is becoming quite the pro at ripping off wrapping paper now. :) She knows that it's not only fun to play with, but that once she gets it all off there's something fun waiting for her inside. She enjoyed doing this with this gift as well....and loved the new clothes she received! They're so cute! Whenever she gets new clothes she gets a big smile on her face....I guess she's her Mama's girl ;) hehe











The Simplest Things in Life....

...Are SO much fun!! :) When Kaelyn was done opening all of her gifts at her birthday party, Scott and I decided to set aside one of the bigger boxes for her to play in. I remember as a child no matter how many other toys were around me...things like boxes were always the most fun! We weren't sure how she'd react to having something like this to play with, but thought it would be fun to try it out and see. Instantly Kaelyn found that it was fun to crawl inside and sit in there. She even has started to hide, and then pop out to play peek a book! It's so cute!



Recently I tipped the box over so she could crawl in more easily. On more than one occasion I have found her in there either laying down or playing with her toys. She always peeks out with the biggest smile on her face too. Isn't it funny how the simplest thing can bring hours of fun and joy?!? It's been fun watching her use it, and I even managed to capture a few pictures!