March 30

Tomorrow is surgery day.  I've been packing, cleaning, and smothering Jake with extra love and kisses for days in preparation for tomorrow.

My mother in law wrote a blog about it that made me just cry - Lollie's Blog

We have to be at the hospital at 5:45 in the morning and his surgery should start at 7, so by 9 I hope to be able to finally breathe again.

I wanted to write something meaningful and fantastic today (I know - that would be a nice change from the usual blah of this blog), but I guess I'm just tapped.

I know he'll be fine, but I really just need it to be here and be over with.

Please say a prayer for Jake and I look forward to the joyous blog that all is right in my world and my little boy is on the road to recovery!

March 29

Jake is just such a silly and cute kid - I know that I have said that and you all are tired of hearing it, but too bad!

Seriously, today he was chasing the dogs barking at them! How cute is that?!

I took a video, but I don't know when I'll have time to upload it so you'll just have to wait to enjoy the cuteness.

March 28

Recently, one of my cousins lost her husband in a tragic accident and my heart just breaks for her and her kids.  I can't imagine my life without Jess, without a father for Jake, without a partner.  Losing my Mom has been hard, but we knew it would happen some day and we were given time to get adjusted to the idea of it and to say goodbye.  They weren't afforded that luxury, but have to cope with the loss none the less.

I pray for her and her family, that they are able find peace with it.  I'm not close to this side of our family, but it still makes me hurt for them and wish there was something that could be done to ease their pain.

Please take a moment to pray for the 11 lives lost in Kentucky early Friday morning.

After hearing about this accident I was forced to take a step back and put what is going on in my world into some perspective.  Jake is having surgery on Wednesday, which is scary, but he's an amazing and otherwise healthy kid and I know he will be just fine.  I will NOT cheat myself out of enjoying every minute with him and Jess because I am worried about something I can't control.    

Lesson of the day: Enjoy the moments.

March 27

Today was what I would call a MARATHON of visiting.

We arrived in Victoria at 8 on Friday night and were back on the road at about 8 tonight!

We missed people - namely my bro, but we did the best we could fitting everyone in.

Also, Jake and I went to Baby Cousin Nathan's Baptism, at which I learned 2 valuable lessons:

1) Always check what lens is on the camera you take because you probably won't be able to go back out to the car to get the RIGHT lens!

2)A toddler and a big almost empty church = lots of running up and down EVERY aisle - keeping Mom from getting ANY good shots - especially with the added lens handicap. (not to mention embarrassing me beyond believe - my only saving grace was that it kept him from screaming hysterically the whole time.)

Jake and his newest girlfriend!

Jake has started just falling over randomly and laying on the floor - ANYWHERE!

March 26

We're heading to Victoria today and we'll be home tomorrow night - it'll be a quick trip, but we are looking forward to Cousin Nathan's baptism and seeing as many people as we can cram into 24 hours.

I snapped a few pics while I was loading the car.  Jake is getting so independent! I have to keep a constant eye on him, but he will play in the front yard by himself and stay out of trouble - it is fantastic!

March 25

THE ROOF... THE ROOF... THE ROOF IS FINALLY ON!!


I have to admit - after a few hours of the banging I couldn't stand it anymore and had to leave the house, but I am SO very glad our roof is finished!  They even fixed a few issues with the siding and only charged us the cost of the materials... what a miracle that was!


When I got home for lunch it was already dark, but we were very excited and so we pulled out the flashlights and gazed at our new beautiful roof... :)


Before (ignore all the crap in the yard - we were decorating for Christmas):





After:

March 24

Today we were supposed to have a new roof!  But it RAINED... argh!


At least that means I didn't have to get up at the crack of dawn with the roofers.


To be honest - I couldn't care less about the roof, but poor Jess has been stressing over this thing for like a year now.  He managed to get over half of the materials GIVEN to us by vendors and roofers.  He's been collecting parts for it over the last year and storing them in the garage, so we are all going to be happy when all of that stuff is out of our garage.  However, my lovely roof obsessed hubby is going to ecstatic when our fancy new dimensional shingle roof in Weatherwood is on our house!  (See dear, I do listen when you talk about the roof!)


So stay tuned for pics of our new roof - as soon as it is on... whenever that is. :)

March 23

With Jake's big surgery quickly approaching I have been obsessively trying to prepare - I know it is silly, but preparing is the way I deal with things.  

The more prepared I feel the better I cope.  So, I went out and bought some comfy play sets for Jake that are 1 piece (so that if his incision is uncomfortable there won't be any clothes pressing on it) and I had been wanting to get a Doctor set to play with and I found a brand new set at a resale shop.

He gets really upset when his dr listens to his heart and looks in his ears and stuff, so I figured maybe if we did it in play it would upset him less.  It might not, but I'm willing to try anything!


Also, on Sunday we are going to do a tour of the hospital where he is having surgery.  The hospital breaks up the kids into age groups and then I think does a tour to ease the kids into the idea in a non threatening way. 


I'm breaking out some of his new toys from his bday (I've been holding onto them to cycle them in throughout the next few months) along with some things he already loves and packing them to go with us in case he is in the mood to play with something.  I wish he had some kind of comfort item, I've been thinking about giving him Jess' old cell phone to take into surgery with him, but I don't know.


So his surgery is a week from today, first thing in the morning and I definitely need everyone out there in the blog world to pray for my little boy...  he's a real trooper and this will probably be harder on Jess and I than it is on him, or at least that is what I hope.


This picture is from when he got his very first infection and we discovered the reflux:

March 22

I am trying to get up earlier and go to bed earlier in a effort to have more productive time with Jake.  I need to clean the house, but more importantly I want to spend my days teaching Jake about life...

Today I was up and at em at earlier than normal and we were able to run over to Jess' work and go to the grocery store before I had to take him to the sitters!  Small steps, but I've got to start somewhere... Plus there is the added benefit of getting to see my husband in the daylight during the week. :)

So each day I'm trying to do more creative play and I hope to spend more time at the park now that it is getting pretty out!

March 21

Sunday... Funday...

Ok maybe not.

We slept LATE... grabbed lunch and then on to work for Momma.

I've been obsessively searching blogs for some creative inspiration... I just haven't been feeling like much lately, but I've got some great ideas now brewing in my head!

I'll let you all in on some of my projects as soon as I get started on them...  

March 20

Yesterday we were in shorts - today WINTER WEAR!

Happy First Day of SPRING!

I decided a while back that I wanted to do more "family" stuff on the weekends since it is our family time.  It is really easy to let ourselves get busy with house work and running errands on Sat, but I trying just to let that stuff go and really enjoy our time as a whole family since it is so rare these days.

We got up and the rain was clearing off and so we decided to go to the San Antonio Zoo!  I had brought it up at poker night the night before and our neighbor thought her kiddos would have a blast and so we caravanned to San Antonio and had an exhausted, but fantastic afternoon at the Zoo.

It was 5 kids to 3 adults, we almost lost them a few times, but all in all they are great kids that know to watch out for each other in a busy place and we were able to keep everyone together.

Here are the 4 Mitchell kids (the youngest is hiding behind the statue)




Daddy and Jake looking at the flamingos!




Jake did not really want to be in his wagon...





He loved the FISH




This was my favorite animal of the day!




Look closely - there's a lion back there!





The boys wanted to get closer to the animals...




Slave labor.




Us with a couple of sneaky girls!





The Mitchell's




FUN DAY!  But man were we tired!

March 19

I had GREAT BIG ASPIRATIONS today...

which kinda fell flat.

Well, not entirely so...  I decided I was going to do a photo shoot of Jake in a bunch of the cute clothes he has but doesn't wear regularly. So I set up for the photo shoot in his room - hung a sheet off the wall and set up lights and then started taking some test shots of the boy.

I took about 20 shots of him in his jammies and something just wasn't working for me - the lighting wasn't right, the boy was a little fussy....




So I decided to change him into a cuter outfit, move the lights around and still something wasn't working...




Cute, but still not right...

After a little nap I decided we would take this show on the road - packed up all the outfits and piled the wagon full and headed down to the park...

Here is where I discovered that the idea of changing the clothes of a toddler in the park - not gunna happen.

So, we took pictures in the outfit he was already wearing and let him play...







He's all boy... likes getting dirty!






 My little flirty boy...

March 18

Hmmm...  It's one of those days that nothing really spectacular happened...  Of course, Jake is always spectacular, but that isn't really news.

:)

Happy Thursday!

March 17

HAPPY ST PATRICK'S DAY!


This afternoon on my way out the door to work I took a few minutes to snap some pics of my handsome little man.








He's growing up TOO fast!

March 16

BLAH! There is so much that I need to do and I have no time to do it.  The little time I do have all I want to do is play with Jake or sleep.  I need a change...

March 15

Monday is always a catch up day for us.  My work week starts on Sunday, but I guess because Jess is still off on Sunday it is never a typical day and so on Mondays I am usually just exhausted.  Today was fun though because Jake and I got to have lunch with Lollie and Great Aunt Nancy - of course Jake is going through a super attached phase so it took a while for him to warm up, but it was a nice change to our typical lazy Mondays.

March 14

After a speedy car trip home from Victoria we made it home!  JUST in time for me to go to work!

I don't care for this time change at all, but it will grow on me soon enough...

March 13

Today was a very terrible and long day spent trying to help Jess' Dad pack up his house...

Honestly, there was too much DRAMA to even get into on here, but one thing is for sure - I would have been LOST without Kristi today.  We were at least able to laugh and try to make it fun and when everything really hit the fan we were in it together!

Jake, on the other hand, had a wonderful day of visiting with family!  Before I dropped him off with Lollie we went and hung out with his new baby Cousin Nathan and he was a super kiddo that was nothing but sweet to the baby!






Who is totally cute!

Momma and Nathan

March 12

Today we had an appt to meet with Jake's urologist to go over the tests that he has has done in the last couple of months.

You are probably wondering why Jake even has a urologist - well when he was about 6 months old he woke up in the middle of the night running a super high fever, but didn't have any other symptoms.  After several hours in an after hours clinic on a Sunday we discovered he had a bladder infection - not something a little boy that age would get so they referred him to a urologist.

After a few tests his Dr. was able to tell us that he has Grade 4 Reflux on the left side - which basically means the urine travels from back to the bladder from the ureter on that side, it wasn't the worst it could be and kids typically out grow this so we decided to wait and see.  In the past 6 months he has had 2 additional infections and a series of other tests.  We figured he would need to be circumcised and we were totally prepared to do that (apparently there indeed IS a medical reason to circumcise a baby boy), but that isn't quite the info we got.

They did another ultrasound and then we met with the Dr, who told us that Jacob's little kidneys have already been damaged by the reflux and that he needs major surgery to repair the reflux before any more damage is done to the kidneys.

So, in around a month Jake will have a surgery and have to stay in the hospital at least overnight.

I'm trying not to be panicked, but it's tough not to be.  Of course I know he will be fine, he's a tough little boy and they do these all the time - in fact my cousin Kimberly had the same procedure done when she was in Jr. High or so, but this is my baby and I'm scared for him.

March 11

We're leaving for Victoria tomorrow - we were going to go first thing in the morning, but we have an appt with Jacob's urologist (FINALLY) so we'll be leaving later in the day.  In the mean time I have a TON of laundry to do... 

March 10

So I am admitting that I am writing this one a few days late...  and I have a very good reason for doing so.  March 10th is my husband's birthday (as I said in my previous blog) and I went all out for it...


I decorated...

I cooked him a roast...





I baked him cupcakes and made taquitos (not pictured because they weren't very pretty to take a photo of)





and he pretty much forgot to really thank me.  Our lives are a tiny bit complicated, with me working nights and him on days, and then you add in Jacob and we get careless sometimes - so while I understood WHY he didn't seem to appreciate the fact that I stayed up in the middle of the week until 4 AM to make his day special I was still pretty pissed.  Luckily, I am blessed with a husband who typically gets why I am mad at him and once he figured it out apologized profusely, so he is no longer in the dog house!

Anyways - HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESS! I love you even when you make me mad... even when we barely see each other during the week and you forget to tell me important stuff.  I love you because you are amazing - as a husband and especially as a father.  

March 9

Jake hasn't been sleeping through the night lately, which is really wearing me out.  Last night he work up about 2, I got him back to sleep and back in his bed and by the time I was comfortable in my bed he started up again.  So I start kicking Jess - HIS TURN!  He grumbles and starts to consider getting out of bed, then I start praying and sure enough he starts to settle.

Thank you Lord!

Jess rolls over and goes back to sleep and I sat quietly listening to my sleeping baby breathe.  WHEW!

When I get home from work tonight I am to spend the rest of it getting ready to celebrate the birth of an AMAZING man - my hubbs!  We both have to work, but I always make him breakfast and dinner on his birthday so tomorrow will be no exception!  He does most of the cooking in our house, so it gives him a day off and (I hope) reminds him of how much I adore him.

I'm praying in advance that my munchkin will make it through the night, either way I made him an appt tomorrow just to make sure his ears are clear and the only thing giving him trouble are those pesky molars.

March 8

After the night we had last night today was kind of a wasted day, both Jake and I were exhausted all day.  The good thing is he took a really good nap and was in a fantastic mood when I dropped him off at the sitter.

I love it when he cracks himself up - it is so freaking adorable!

March 7

We bought a DYSON!!!  Before you google them and see how expensive they are you should know that we got a great deal on EBAY - I love EBAY.

Jake had a rough night last night, waking up every 3 hours (which he never does) and the 3rd or 4th time I was up with him I was starting to get really frustrated and Jess walks in and goes, "Remember, we bought a dyson today..."

SERIOUSLY?!

Anyways, new rule, no matter how bad I feel from my allergies I will not take a Benedryl because it never fails to insure that Jake will want to stay up all night.

March 6

Today was put in the new doors day!!!!  It's kind of like a holiday and the Kinnison household...  unfortunately, it is like a holiday gone wrong.

About a year ago (possibly longer) Jess bought brand new doors for the whole house, but they still needed the holes drilled for knobs and hinges and everything so they have been sitting in our garage for the last year. Considering this year is the YEAR OF ORGANIZATION, Jess roped Jason into helping and was going to put the doors in today.

Door #1 - Jacob's room - Jess decided to start on his own and was almost done when Jason and Drew arrived to help - they hang the door and it is PERFECT! Looks amazing, swings perfect... Amazing.

Door #2 - Guest Room - 3 men, all with lots of woodworking knowledge, somehow manage to screw this one up beyond comprehension.  I'll have to post a picture, it's too hard to describe without a picture.

Door #3 - Guest Bathroom - they just gave up on this one halfway through...

So, we have one door done, many to go...  but we did have lots of laughs over them. :)

Oh but while the guys were working I was able to do more cleaning/organizing...  maybe by the end of the year the house will look better....

March 5

We've gone country!  

Jess recently decided that he wants to start dressing more like a country boy - for his birthday (which is coming up and I vow to remember) he wants a cowboy hat and boots.  

I'm serious...  he's even been talking about buying Wranglers to wear!

So, today we went to Sheplers and he got a hat and somehow he talked me into BOOTS?!  I am the proud new owner of a pair of real cowboy boots and I kinda love them.  Well, they are just my style - high heals, pointy toe, but cowboy boots none the less.  I need to take a picture of them and post it.  

Before you know it I'll be strutting around in wranglers with a huge belt buckle...  ok maybe not.

March 4

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMANDA!

I suck as a friend - I am always forgetting peoples birthdays.  Actually, I may remember at some point during that day or before that day, but I never can call in the moment that I remember and then I forget again!  ARGH!  I promise people - I love you and I'm sorry I suck so much at this, but I'm working on it.  So today, in honor of forgetting to call Amanda on her birthday I am dedicating my blog to her.

Here is one a few years ago at Ren Fest (oh how I can't WAIT for this year!)




Amanda and I at her bachelorette party



Amanda and Baby Jake

March 3

Today is a BEA-U-TIFUL day!   Which is perfect because yesterday I decided to get up as early as I could and take Jake for a walk/jog this morning.  It went ok - I actually did jog a bit, which was exhausting, but I've got to start somewhere. :)

Hopefully I'll soon be able to carve out some time at the gym.

March 2

Jake was a grump today!  He is cutting those molars and is not happy about it at all.  Finally, I got us both dressed and went to see Jess at work.  That seemed to improve his mood at least a little, so I didn't take a totally grumpy kid to the sitters.  He did scream and cry when I left him, which he has just recently started doing.

Jess was able to put him to bed without me, which is kind of sad for me, but exciting for our family because that means we will soon be able to have dinner together as a family and when I go back to work Jess will put the boy to bed.

Jess is such an amazing Dad, I can't wait to watch their relationship grow.

March 1

Hello March,  how are you?

We in the Kinnison household are SO ready for Spring.  Jake is so mobile now that I am really looking forward to getting out and about with him.  I am thinking about joining a new mom's group, I just don't really care for mine.  I haven't been to a ton of events because every time I do go it is just SO awkward - it's like being a new kid at school and all you want to do is make a connection with one person, but everyone else is already friends and they don't seem interested in making a new friend.

So I ran into an old friend and someone who was with her told me about a Mom's group that she is in and gave me her email address.  I think I'll email her this week and maybe Jake and I could make some new friends!

February 28

ORGANIZATION - how I love thee...  unfortunately I am somewhat lacking in the execution of my passion.  I am however always working to improve that!

If you have ever been to my house you have probably noticed the GIANT pile of mail sitting on the counter. This pile has been my arch nemesis for years now, I go through all of the mail and clean it off and then life happens and the mail gets ignored and our lovely pile reappears.  Recently the pile has started to bug Jess - Wahoo!  Yippeee!!!  Why would the fact that something bothers my hubby make me so happy you ask?  Simple, then he helps me DEAL WITH IT!

So Jess started going through the mail on his own - I could have kissed him!  Well, I think I probably did.  Anyways, so we spent the weekend going through the mail and then on today I was able to utilize a shelf I pulled out of my next door neighbors trash (I'll try to take a pic of it later), to organize all the bills and papers and what not. Then, I used our label maker to label all of the drawers!  YAY!!

After that satisfying organization moment Jess and I decided to make this year the "YEAR OF ORGANIZATION" - it's a lofty dream, but with Jake around it seems like we need more method to the madness.

February 27

Today we slept late... and it was so nice!  Even Jake snuggled in and let us sleep a little longer. :)

This afternoon we took Jake to the park in our neighborhood.  It was super busy, which is perfect because Jake is a total people watcher!  He just gets mesmerized when kids are playing nearby - it is really fun to watch him watch everything!

February 26

I love my husband...

We are trying to focus a little more on us now that Jake is bigger - so we had a date night tonight.  Dinner and a movie...  There is certainly something to be said about a quiet dinner and a lovely evening out with the hubbs.  It was just so much fun, but by about 10 PM we were both so tired - we really are getting older.

I made Jess take a picture of Jake and I before date night. :)

February 24 & 25

February 24

CRAP!  I missed a day! This is the problem with posting after the days have passed - my imperfections show!  I skipped the 24th - it's like that Wed never existed.... oh well...  onto the next day...



February 25
It's FRIDAY! Ok so really it is Thurs, but it is my Friday and I could not be happier!

The best news of the day is that I have had a pretty good month at work.  Not that you would expect anything less, but over the last few months my performance was lacking some of the enthusiasm that I had when I started out.  The reasons for that are pretty good, but it was time to stop making excuses for things and so I turned it all around in the month of February!

So WHEW!!  Now it is time to bring on the weekend...