Phew!

I can't even begin to express how needed today was. After having class all weekend last week I needed a day to do absolutely nothing. I'm sure I'll be in my pjs all day and I'm really okay with that.

School is going well...so far is isn't too overwhelming. My class that meets over three weekends this semester is probably the best class I've taken so far. I have to blog and use Twitter for it. That makes it quite easy to keep up with. There is quite a bit of reading for my YA Lit class, but so far I'm keeping up...hopefully it'll stay that way! I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel for this degree though. Just a year from now I'll be starting the process of student teaching and therefore the job hunt! I can't wait to get into my official career.

Work is going well, nothing too amazing going on these days. I'm also still doing Scentsy which I really enjoy. I don't know that I'll ever get so heavily involved in it that I'll attend conferences and what not, but I enjoy the product enough that I want to sell it still...pretty good in my opinion since I was over Avon by the time I started almost. Making $150-200 a month isn't too hard to do and it really helps us out with the grocery bill! Now if I could just find some more customers to have a party!

As for the most important part of life: Nathan is snoozing on my lap right now. He's still not in his crib for naps. We've also been having a lot of trouble getting him in his crib at night these days. Ever since we got back from Oklahoma he's had problems at night. We had to bring him back into bed with us just to function. I think it was a lovely combo of just getting back, starting solids, and the big one: teething. Nathan now has two new teeth! So cute..his bottom teeth have broken through and are now part of his adorable little smile.

It's amazing how quickly they change from 3-5 months. He's grabbing everything, almost ready to sit up on his own and just so much more aware that I just stare at him in disbelief sometimes. Before I know it he's going to be crawling...which reminds me, I really need to finish babyproofing this place. We need to buy gates still.

Alright, well hopefully it wont be another two weeks before I post again. I can't promise they'll be long posts but I hope to keep you updated with Nathan's milestones!

wow

Wow it's been a while! I have a feeling it'll be a bit until my next post as well. Classes start on Monday and I really think I've gotten in over my head. I know I can do it, but it's going to be stressful. Needless to say, I spent much of today just hanging out with Nathan. I'm a little worried I'm going to miss out on even more than I already do these next four months!

Nathan had his 4 month appointment a few weeks ago and is growing like crazy! He is in the 95% for height and weight and was given the all clear to start rice cereal. We've been eating rice cereal for almost a week now and today I started giving it to him twice a day. In other milestone news, he's getting his front two teeth in and is getting closer and closer to sitting up on his own. At church last Sunday he had it although I don't trust it quite yet, I was keeping my hands close by just in case he toppled over.

While he started rolling from front to back pretty early, he doesn't do it often and he's still working on getting from back to front. He rolls onto his side and sometimes almost gets there...he just needs to figure out how to push himself over that last little bit.

The doctor said that larger  babies sometimes take longer to roll over since they have more weight, so I'm trying not to worry. He's ahead a bit on the sitting, but behind on the rolling....hopefully he'll be fine though!

He also LOVES to jump and play with his feet. Over Christmas he discovered both of these things - he also found his voice and chatters away constantly. Where did my little baby go?

2009 in review..

January

2009 started out in Branson, MO. We had spent Christmas with Caleb's family and finished it off with New Years in Branson. We had fun but I was sick with a nasty nasty cold. We'd also just found out I was pregnant again (after our October miscarriage) a few weeks prior so I was on edge - as I would be for the majority of the winter and spring.

When we returned to Chicago we got some wonderful, amazing news...at our 8 week appointment we had a strong heartbeat! With our previous pregnancy we had a weak heartbeat at 6 weeks and nothing at 8...so this was awesome to hear!

I started my third semester at Dominican (for Library Science) and one night after class I had a message from my parents. Please Call.

Turned out that my grandfather had passed away. I wasn't extremely close to him, but it certainly wasn't news I wanted to hear...that's how January closed out..

February

The first week of February I found myself traveling to Oklahoma City for a week to be with my mom while she planned my grandfather's funeral and took care of everything that needed to be done.

Later in February we had a pregnancy scare. We had just had our 12 week ultrasound and everything was prefect when around 13 weeks I woke up with some bleeding. Thankfully it was nothing, but it through me for a loop. This pregnancy stuff is nerve-racking! Just when I had started to get comfortable...needless to say that experience kept me on edge for a while.

March

March brought hopes of spring weather, but nothing showed...not even rain, only snow :(

In late March, at 17 weeks pregnant I felt the baby move! It was an awesome feeling and was quite reassuring.

The final week we went to Colorado to be with my parents for Spring Break. It was great to see everyone and we even got to see my best friend Maggie and her son Vaughn for lunch one day!

April

April brought the anticipation of the "big" ultrasound. Boy or Girl??

BOY!!

April also brought some nervousness when it came to losing my job. Our school was doing cutbacks and we wouldn't find out officially who was leaving until late April.

Caleb and I were also attempting to find another apartment to move into that would have room for the baby. 

It was stressful because we had a deadline of when to tell our landlord we would be leaving, but we also didn't know for sure what was happening since if I did lose my job we'd have to move back to Oklahoma...we can't afford rent here in Chicago without my job. Either way, we knew it was God's plan...but I like to plan for things, so I really wanted to know!

May

May brought the news that I would be keeping my job next year as well as the anticipation of a new apartment.

June

June was BUSY. The first of the month was spent moving into our new place. After that, at work we were preparing for the end of the school year.

The second week of June, my cousin came out to visit us for a week.

After Megan left, all of our family came into to town for my baby shower. It was wonderful to see everyone. Having everyone here really made me realize how much I miss them. I can't wait to move back!

July

July brought the anticipation of baby. I couldn't believe I was only a month away! I was taking summer classes and we also weren't able to go to the lake in Oklahoma for our yearly trip because I was so pregnant but Caleb and I spent the month enjoying our last bit of time alone.

We went to the beach down the street and spent the 4th of July trying to see the fireworks at Navy Pier (they were hard to see this far north!)

Other than that I spent the month preparing the nursery and making sure we had everything.

August

The 15th of August was my best friend Sarah's wedding. I was supposed to be a bridesmaid but since I was 9 months pregnant and it was outside in the August heat, I instead just wore the wedding colors and was an "honorary" bridesmaid.

Ten days later came my due date...and with it,

Nathaniel Louis Stevenson!

I was induced because they were afraid he was too small. Turns out he wasn't, he was just right!

7lbs, 15oz - 20.5 inches long - 9:47pm

Most of our immediate family was able to come out and be with us for a few days so it was wonderful that everyone got to see him brand new!

September & October

These two months were spent mainly at home enjoying our little man!

Caleb celebrated his 28th birthday on Sept. 29th although I know he'd like to forget he's as close to 30 as he is!

My dad came to visit in mid-September since he wasn't able to come out for Nathan's birth and October brought my in-laws for another visit :)

November

I went back to work in November. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, but I still really wish I could stay home with him.

Caleb is now only working weekends and is a stay-at-home daddy...I am a bit jealous but also really glad we don't have to do daycare. It makes leaving the house in the morning easier.

Thanksgiving brought my family out from Colorado

December

We took two weeks (just got home yesterday, actually) at Christmas this year and spent the first week with Caleb's family in Oklahoma and the next with my family in Denver.

We have a TON of pictures of Nathan's first Christmas, but I haven't uploaded them yet, so keep watch for them!

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All in all this year turned out to be a very good one. It started a little rough, but in the end really became a year to remember. I can't believe Nathan is here and is real...everyday I sometimes just stare at him in disbelief.

We are so blessed!

Rocky Mountain High....Colorado! How I miss you!

Wow I miss Colorado! I would really like to get back here over the summer somehow. I'm off work, but I have to take classes this summer so I'm not sure we'll be able to make it out, especially since we're going to the lake in mid-July.

I will be coming out with Nathan (still not sure if Caleb will be coming) in mid-May for a few days for my sister's graduation. I'll have to take two of my 2-1/2 personal days that I have left. Meaning, I can't get sick from now until the end of the year! I am excited to come out in the middle of May, the weather should be pretty nice.

Right after Colorado we've got to make it to Oklahoma for Memorial Day weekend for Caleb's 10-year high school reunion. Amazing that we've been out of high school this long. I'll have been out for 7 years this May...I can't believe it, time flies!

Christmas went very well, Nathan was so cute...I have taken a TON of pictures (something I'm usually horrible at) and I can't wait to post them on facebook. I'll do a short picture post on here as well once I get them uploaded. It'll probably be after we get home. I don't think I'm able to get them on my parent's computers without our Kodak EasyShare program.

We're headed up to Cheyenne, WY for New Year's. My parents always go up to our family friend's house and it's been a few years since we've been able to get up there so I'm pretty excited about it. Plus, their oldest daughter is in from North Carolina with her almost 6 month old, so I can't wait to get Nathan and her together.

Right now my sister, cousin and I are watching "Say Yes to the Dress" on TLC. I can't wait until Katie and her boyfriend get engaged (should be happening VERY soon) so I can go with her to pick out her dress. So exciting!! Anyway, later today we're taking family portraits with everyone. It'll be nice to have so many new pictures (we have the ones we took of just us and Nathan also).

Well, off to spend some more family-time!

Skiatook and Christmas Carolling

Yesterday we headed up to Stillwater and spent a few hours eating lunch and driving around "showing" Nathan where we spent 4 years of our lives before heading up to Morris, OK for family portraits.

Caleb's sister Heather gave us a portrait session as well as a photo package as our Christmas present. I'm very grateful since portraits are one of those things you need once you have kids, but we aren't really in a place where we can afford them.

So after we got those taken - Nathan did really well, no screaming, just had a hard time getting him to smile after a while - we at dinner at Mazzio's and then headed up to Skiatook where Caleb's extended family live.

Next year we'll be up in this area just north of Tulsa the entire time since his parents are moving from a little town south east of OKC to Bartlesville which isn't too far from Skiatook. It'll make our drive from Chicago about two hours shorter.

Anyway, tonight is the annual Neighbors Family Carolling. It's pretty special event for us this year since we have Nathan. We go around to the same houses every year so any new additions get special attention. It'll be fun!

I'll make sure to take a lot of pictures tonight and tomorrow (we have the big family Christmas tomorrow on Christmas Eve) and I'll post them when we get back to Chicago. I don't think I can post them on a computer that doesn't have Kodak Easy Share on it already.

Have a wonderful Christmas!

Oklahoma

After 15 hours in the car we're finally in Oklahoma. We got in about 7pm last night after leaving around 4am. It didn't seem like we were in the car for 15 hours, but it was sure good to get here! Nathan was amazing. He hardly got fussy about being in the car at all. We did take an hour break at lunch so he had a little more time to stretch but he slept his normal naps and I fed him bottles as we went.

I did nurse him in Joplin when we stopped for gas, so we lost some time there as well. Overall it went very well though. I'll be interested to see how he does on the airplane.

On Tuesday we're heading up to Stillwater to eat lunch, see the stadium and just hang out. I miss that place! After Stillwater, we'll continue on up to Skiatook. Carolling is Wednesday night and we'll have the big family Christmas on Thursday and then Friday will just be a relaxing sleep-in day. Perhaps we'll go see a movie.

We fly into Colorado early Saturday (our flight is at 6:45 or so) and will be there until the end of the week. Then we fly back to Tulsa and drive home on the 2nd. It's a whirlwind, but it's good to see family!

The calm before the storm..

Life is about to get REALLY busy. In a little over a month I am going to not only be working full time, but my classes will pick back up with a vengeance. I will be taking two classes at Dominican which apply to my actual degree and then one class at a local community college that will apply to my teaching certification. My goal is to be finished with classes by this time next year. So spring semester next year is full of student teaching...meaning that the 2011-2012 school year will hopefully be my first as an actual school librarian!

I will only be going down to school once a week (Monday nights) for my YA Lit class. My other Dominican class is a weekend class. Three weekends during the semester...all day long. It is an elective called Libraries 2.0 and Social Networking. Should be interesting (and easy I hope!), plus I thought it would be better than two classes a week. Being out until 10pm twice a week is NOT my idea of fun.

The education class I'll be taking is "Exceptional Child" which deals with disabilities in the classroom. It's an internet class with some required observation hours. I'm hoping this will fit in okay and I will do okay in the three classes.

It's funny, when I don't really think about it, I don't feel like I'll be taking on that much. However, once I start to lay it all out and look at it, I start to get nervous. How am I going to do this? Working full time, three classes AND a baby at home? I'm sad because my free time will be gone. My biggest fear is that I'll be working so hard that I'll have a lot less time to just snuggle with Nathan and he'll be grown up before I know it. Am I going to miss out on his "babyhood" because I'm so busy?

Eh, anyway...break is coming up and I'm excited to see our families again. We leave Saturday the 19th and don't get back until after New Years. We'll be going to Oklahoma first, then Colorado. Not sure how Nathan will do with the sleeping arrangements, but right now he's so messed up anyway. Ever since his growth spurt over Thanksgiving, he's been a mess.

I've decided to stop getting excited anytime Nathan's sleep routine seems to even out. Every time he's seemed to come up with a pattern (down at a certain time and falling asleep by himself for a week, sleeping through the night for a few days, etc.) it always goes out the window for no real reason. We don't change his bedtime routine and yet something causes him to change completely...right after I've started to relax, thinking he's settling into something.

Right now I feel like we're dealing with a newborn again. He doesn't want to sleep anywhere but our arms (which might be because he's got a bit of a cold), he's definitely not sleeping through the night, and he hasn't fallen asleep on his own since the week before Thanksgiving. This, a month and a half after he started sleeping on his own, falling asleep by himself and even getting to a point (when I thought Babywise was working) were he only woke up once a night.

I give up. I'm going to stick with his same "routine" (9pm bath, book, song, etc.) and if he sleeps well...great! But I'm not going to get hopeful that it'll last.