Things Went Well

Our talk with the Realtor went very well the other day. It's weird to think that we're actually on our way to listing our house and looking for a new one. Although overwhelming, it's very exciting too! We love Minnesota, but we're true Iowans at heart. :)

We discussed our home and the things we may want to think about doing before listing it (thankfully there isn't much at all which was a relief), as well as price, etc. Now Scott and I are just anxious to start looking at homes so that we can try to work this out so we sell and buy at the same time. That's the tricky part! I know God will work it all out and everything will go smoothly, it's just a matter of not knowing that is hard sometimes. That's when Faith comes in though, and we've learned that God's plan is the very best for us so I know everything will go wonderfully! :)

I am so glad it's Friday, that means Scott will be home with us for the weekend, as well as my brother who is coming to visit until Monday! We always enjoy his visits....I know Kaelyn does too. She loves her Uncle Jake!

If I don't get back to writing before next week...I hope everyone has a blessed weekend and finds some time to relax!

And The Process Begins...

Well, today is a pretty big day for us. We have a Realtor coming to look at our place to let us know if she thinks it's ready to list and if there's anything we should do before listing it. We're a bit nervous, as we've never had to sell a home before, only buy one. I watch HGTV a lot, but even that hasn't prepared me for this yet...haha! I'm sure everything will go fine, but we're just a little overwhelmed with having to sell a house and find one to buy all at the same time. It's nice that we're not being pressured by Scott's job to move right away, that helps to relieve some of the stress. They want us to move closer to his job, but whenever the timing is right. That's helped us out a lot which is so nice! It's so great to have such an understanding employer...he's very blessed to be where he is and work with the people he works with!

I suppose I better stop procrastinating and get to work. I need to get some cleaning done before she comes this afternoon. With Kaelyn running around, cleaning is not an easy task....it could easily take me until the time she gets here. :)

I just wanted to keep everyone updated on the house search.....Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Finding Ways to Save Money

Before having Kaelyn, I wasn't aware of how expensive having a little one can be. Between diapers, toys and other "Mommy and Baby Must-haves"...it can get quite expensive. I'm sure every parents knows this and is figuring it out as their children get older. It's eye opening, and has really caused me to search for ways to save money (especially with the economy the way it is these days). Through coupons, consignment shopping, and even finding websites with great deals...I have been able to save us quite a bit of money. Everything helps, right?!

I like to pass along things I come across when possible, as I'm sure there are more parents out there than just me who like to save money when they can. I know I've mentioned the consignment sales we love, as well as the coupon savings we utilize, but I recently came across a great site with outstanding deals for Moms and Babies that I couldn't not share. Mama's Daily Deal is the name of the site, and daily (or until the item sells out) they offer one item for sale! I'm not talking a little sale...I'm talking BIG deals! For instance, today I headed over there and found a brand name stroller for 55.00 (one that was originally 139.00)!

It wasn't only the discounts I was impressed with though. Diapers are SO expensive, so whenever I have the chance to save money on them I take it. This site makes that possible too for all us mom's who spend hundreds of dollars on diapers a year. Everyday they give away one free bag of diapers to someone on their list of e-mail subscribers. Having a chance to win a bag of diapers for free definitely caught my attention! As an e-mail subscriber you can also receive information on discounts and contests for Moms and Babies which I have found useful so far as well.

Anyways...I just wanted to pass this site along, as I know many parents (especially new ones) might appreciate it as much as I have!

A Week Away

Once again I have not been the best about updating. Kaelyn and I were visiting my parents last week while Scott was gone for work and had a great time! I found myself relaxing much of the time and getting much of what I needed to, done...especially on my blog. Sorry about that...I guess we all need times once in a while just to be lazy...haha. :)

Anyways...As Kaelyn gets older she is adding more and more words to her vocabulary. We always say that she learns a word a day, and that really is no exaggeration. Each day it seems she is saying something new. One of her most recent words is "bubble". While spending some time at my parents house last week Kaelyn got to do some really fun things! For instance, she was thrilled when Grammy got out her bubble blower. She had never played with bubbles so this was an exciting and new experience for her. She enjoyed watching them float in the air, as well as chase after them and try to catch them. It was so cute to watch her! After seeing how much she enjoyed this, I definitely think we'll have to get ourselves a bubble blower as well....especially this summer when it's nicer outside...she will have a lot of fun with something like that.

Other than that her new favorite thing to say is "hi mom" and "hi dad". It's really neat to see her putting together words and it's so helpful to us too. We find it's much easier to know what she is needing when she can communicate it to us in a way we can understand.

We're now home from our fun week away and I suppose I better get unpacking and doing some laundry. Hope everyone has a wonderful night!

It's been a while....

I haven't been the best about blogging lately. Between getting things together to get our taxes done and now getting the house ready for our Realtor to come look at and see if it's ready to list on the market....we've been pretty busy. I did want to take a moment though and update everyone. Last week I found that Kaelyn showed an immense interest in coloring and using a pen on paper. We had fun doing this many times throughout the week. It's neat to see her learning new things...each is such a vital stage in her development. :)

Kaelyn has also been talking like crazy...as usual...however, she recently learned that animal sounds are pretty fun to say and make. She knows several...but her favorites are making bear, bird, kitty, and monkey sounds. Anyone with kids knows how hard it can be to catch something on video. It seems they're doing something one minute, but the next when the camera is on they absolutely won't. We had been trying for quite some time to get some of her animal sounds on video, and finally got that chance!! It has been pretty fun to listen to her little voice and the new things she has been saying. Her new favorites are "shaw" and "pup" (aka....straw and cup ;)).

Anyone who knows Kaelyn, or who has seen pictures of her for that matter, knows that she doesn't have a whole lot of hair yet. Although, it has grown quite a bit from the time she was first born. In fact.....it has gotten so long that we got what is as close to pigtails as we have had up until this point and got some pictures of it. They stick straight up and were so cute. haha :) We loved it. Kaelyn enjoyed looking in the mirror and staring at them too.

Our weekend was wonderful! Scott had taken me out for Valentine's Day last weekend to the Olive Garden, so this weekend we just had the chance to spend time together as a family here at home. Friday night we went out to eat with my parents and spent some time with them which was fun too. :) Tonight and Tomorrow we finish laundry and get Scott packed up to go on his business trip this week. He gets to go golfing which he's very excited about. Kaelyn and I will be visiting my parents for some of that time, as it's always nice to have company and some help when Scott has to be gone. It should be a good week! :)

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Valentine's weekend and I will try to be better about updating over the coming weeks!

Then and Now

I can't believe how fast babies grow!! About every three months or so, Scott and I find ourselves going through Kaelyn's closet and dresser, putting away clothes that she's grown out of already. She now has 5 big tubs full of clothes that don't fit her anymore....some of which she only had the chance to wear a few times. Recently we were putting away some of her things again, and I happened to come across a dress that I had worn when I was Kaelyn's age. My Grandma Sankey had made my twin brother and I outfits with our initials on them. Once we had children, my mom gave them to us to have. I have had it hanging in Kaelyn's closet for quite some time, waiting for the day when she could fit in it so I could get pictures. That time has come (and almost gone) and I almost completely forgot about it. I'm SO glad I happened to come across it, because it is obviously the only time Kaelyn will fit in it and for me to get pictures. It may sound a little silly, but I thought it would be fun! :)

We put it on her Sunday afternoon and took lots of pictures. She loves being in dresses, so she was super excited (as you can see in some of the pictures). :) Obviously she didn't understand the reason for getting all dressed up, but one day when she's older I hope to get some of these printed and give them to her. It's a special thing that I am sure she'll appreciate. I enjoyed seeing an outfit that was worn 25 years ago by me (which if you hadn't guessed already, that's me around 13 1/2 months up in the right corner), on our little girl. It was pretty special. :)

I'm a Big Girl Now

Every new thing Kaelyn does is pretty exciting for us. It seems with everything she learns, she becomes more independent. It's kind of bitter sweet...our little girl is literally growing right before our eyes! For about a month now I've been debating when to introduce her to a "big girl" cup. She's been drinking out of a sippy cup since she was 5 months old....and I knew it was about time that we made the transition...at least slowly anyways. I have to admit I was a bit apprehensive thinking it was going to be more work than it was worth as far as the mess was concerned. I finally decided to do it yesterday though, as I've learned that messes are a part of learning and a part of being a parent. To my surprise she did great!! I thought it would take her a while to understand how far to tip it and what not....but she did fantastic! I was so proud of her, and you could tell she was proud of herself too. She spilled a little, but nothing compared to what I expected. It went great. She still drinks from a sippy cup, but slowly we are transitioning her to her big girl cup (the John Deere one Uncle Jake gave her is her favorite!). She's also started to use a spoon every once in a while and has gotten quite good at it. Picking the food up with her fingers is obviously still easier, not to mention way more fun :)...but with time the spoon will be fun for her too I'm sure.

Other than that, Kaelyn has a new word of the day, "stop", which has been fun to hear her say too. When we saw her Doctor on Tuesday she was amazed with Kaelyn's vocabulary at 15 months of age and the fact that she can say nearly 30 words. She enjoyed observing and having fun little conversations with her. I'm not quite sure if I can pin point exactly what has caused her to be such a talker...but ever since she was really little her communication skills were evident. She first learned to motion for the things she wanted, then to sign (which I think helped with her language development some), and finally we have come to the point where she can use words to let us know what she needs or wants. I think her love of reading and for books has also helped to enhance her vocabulary tremendously.

She has also become very fond of our piano. She is now constantly saying "up" whenever she's near it so that we can set her up on the bench. She likes to press all the keys and play us songs. She gets so excited and you can see how she feels like such a big girl doing it. I enjoy seeing her sit there....she's so tiny next to that big piano. :)

Well...I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend. We have been relaxing and spending time at home for the most part which is great! It's nice to bum around once in a while. :)

Growing Like a Weed

Tuesday was Kaelyn's 15 month Drs Appointment and everything went great! I always enjoy hearing how much she's grown...that's the best part! It's also fun to see where she is developmentally and what the Dr has to say about everything too. Her progress report was fantastic....she grew almost 2 inches and gained about 1 1/2 pounds since we were there last for her 1 year appointment. She's walking around and talking all the time which was something the Dr liked hearing as well. She's a healthy little girl who is right where she needs to be developmentally, and is growing like a weed....we are truly blessed! As the Dr said goodbye, she said she'd be seeing us at Kaelyn's 18 month appointment, then after that we just meet with her once a year. That was completely fine with me, however caught me a little off guard, as it's weird to think that she is already that old. Wow!

In other news...As many probably know, Kevin Costner was in Leland, IA recently. To my surprise, he is in a band and actually sings a song about this little town. Being a town, minutes from where I grew up, as well as one in which Scott works frequently.....we were pretty excited about the ordeal and the interview we saw of him on the news.



Someone that Scott works with, sent him this clip. It's pretty neat, especially for Scott as Kevin was wearing one of the FC caps that Scott's coworker gave to him at the concert. For those who don't know, Farmer's Cooperative is where Scott works as an Agronomy Sales Specialist, so that was fun to see. Isn't it funny how the little things in a small town are such a big deal. We all thought it was pretty special to have such a big star right there in northern Iowa.

You Know You're a Parent When....

As I'm sure was the same with many of you last night, Scott and I were sitting in our living room watching the Super Bowl. I have to admit, football is typically something I could take or leave, but when a game is as close as this one was....I find it to be quite interesting, even if I don't have a "favorite" team I'm cheering for. Scott on the other hand has always loved football. He played in high school, college, and ever since has always enjoyed watching it on TV when he has the time. So, needless to say...the Super Bowl is a big deal for him and he was hoping for a big win for the Cardinals! He was his typical football watching energetic self until 8:00pm, when Kaelyn went to bed. Her bedroom wall is shared with that of our family room where we were watching the game....so Scott knew that he now had to cheer in silence. If I had known this was going to be such an entertaining and amusing thing to witness, I would have definitely had my camera ready. However, I was too late. As the game neared the end, anyone who watched it knows that it was a close one. Scott was on the edge of his seat the whole time. When the Cardinals made their last touch down, he was sure they had won the game, as did I. He immediately hopped off the couch, throwing his arms in the air and silently yelling "YEAH!!" as he did his victory dance. You may have had to be there to appreciate the humor as he did this, but it was HILARIOUS! We laughed as we joked how "You know you're a parent when you have to do a silent celebration as you jump up and down during the Super Bowl because your baby is sleeping". :) Parenting has changed our life and in only positive ways. It's so wonderful and fun!

Today I had another moment like this, when I wish I had the camera by my side. As I sat on the computer checking my email Kaelyn was playing with her toys and running all over the place as usual. I peeked over the screen to check on her, and found her walking around the family room with her pants around her little ankles. :) I realized that they were a bit long, and each time she had stood up from the ground they got caught under her feet and were slowly being pulled down. :) It was pretty funny and cute...she and I both laughed and laughed about it. I didn't have the camera by my side right away, but did grab it in time to get a picture of her standing in front of the TV dancing....it was like she didn't even realize or care that they were off....hehe.

I often tell Scott it would be nice to have a camera with us in every room so that we're always sure to capture these fun moments. I guess these two instances have caused me to be more aware of where the camera is at all times and to make sure that it's within arms reach. :)

Kaelyn is 15 Months Old....

....and what a joy she has been in our lives!! She's an absolute blessing and we simply adore her. I can't believe that she is already 15 months old...walking around, talking and developing such a fun and outgoing little personality. We feel so blessed to have her as our daughter...how lucky we are!! She had quite the eventful day today too....

It began with church, which she loves because this is the time she gets to see all her friends in the nursery. She enjoys walking up to all of them saying "baby", regardless if they're younger or older than her. :) It's too cute for words. After church she had a visit from Aunt Kim who she wanted to show ALL of her toys in the playroom. We ate lunch at the Pizza Ranch with my parents and Kaelyn had a blast running around the mall with them while we went to the movie, Taken (very good movie by the way!!!). My mom and I also had the chance to catch some great deals at a local consignment store which carries racks and racks of baby clothes, and shelves of toys. I think Kaelyn is pretty well set for clothes...at least through Spring time. Isn't it crazy how quickly they grow out of things?!? That's why we find consignment shopping to be the best option....and it's so much fun!! I can't wait for the huge sale in April up in the cities!! Anyone who's never heard of the Just Between Friends Consignment Sale for baby clothes should check it out!! It goes on all over the United States and is wonderful for parents with children of all ages.

It was an eventful day and we all had a wonderful time getting to see family. It was nice to have a movie date with my hubby too. :) I am so thankful for the family we have living so close to us. It's great to see them often and to have babysitters who love our little girl as much as we do. :)