Happy Halloween... and other stuff

It was Kayson's first Halloween today... whoohoo. ha. It actually was no big deal... he hated to be put in his costume - a scarecrow - cried, and just plain didn't like it, until I made a complete 'arse' out of myself to get him to smile! ha. Either way, he was pretty darn cute... and being in the costume for a total of 5 minutes was all he could handle. Poor thing.

Here are the steps:

Mad to be in the costume, then didn't really like the hat, then me dancing around to make him smile. It is a darn cute costume!

Today Ryan and his Dad headed over to Iowa City for the football game... another cold day - windy! Kayson and I stayed here. I had a photo shoot this morning, so Colleen watched Kayson for us. Miss Cali isn't so sure about sharing her toys with this little boy that came to hang out. All Colleen kept saying was 'that was interesting...' She said one would cry, then the other one would... I felt bad. After the freezing photo shoot, Colleen, Cali, Kayson & I went out for mexican. It was great food, great company... was just plain nice to hang out with the Kuhl girls.

Here's a picture of the cute bib that Great-Great Grandma Ann sent to us. He was happy to have that on! ha.

After lunch, Kayson took a great nap at home... I did some cleaning and laundry. Ryan & his Dad got home around 5:30... and we've just been doing this and that since. It was another win for the Hawks - ugly game, but a win. They seem to have ugly games from time to time!!! Still can't believe they are 9-0! Great to be a Hawk!

So... Happy Halloween to all you out there. I'm anxious to see all my friends' kids' costumes.

Better

I'm not going to lie, the past couple days have just been 'blah'. I've been down in the dumps, I've been crabby, I've been just not myself. I get this way from time to time, and I wonder why - is it something specific? Is it just the way things go? Do others go through this as well? I mean, I really should be on cloud 9 - I have everything I've ever wanted or needed. I'm a very blessed person, and am very lucky to have a wonderful husband, a remarkable son, a great family and amazing friends... what else do I need?! I suppose I just get worn out... or just need time to myself? I don't know... it's a tough one to figure out. Either way, I believe I'm out of the 'funk'... and feel better. Maybe cuz it's Friday!? Again, the more I analyze it, the more it confuses me as to why I would be 'down'. So... we'll move on!

Tomorrow is Halloween - Ryan will be at the Iowa FB game all day, so tonight we'll dress Kayson up in his costume. I'll take enough pictures for the block! I'll post tomorrow.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend... and isn't down in the dumps!

Movie & PJs

Ryan is travelling this week (through Wednesday), so Kayson and I were on our own tonight... I sometimes like to have him watch one of those Baby Einstien movies. Typically I sit him on the floor while he watches (and barely blinks!), while I run around and do a few things... Well, tonight, I decided to do it differently. We snuggled up with a blanket and watched the movie together. Boy it's a silly movie (for a 31 year old!), but he sat and we talked and clapped at the movie... it was precious - a wonderful Momma and son experience.

Here is a picture of his thermal pj's - his fat legs look SO cute in them!

10 Months

Kayson is 10 months old today - at 1:16 pm. Once again, I can't believe it. I feel that I just posted his "9 Month" post yesterday. I say this all the time, and feel it all the time - time literally flies by.


To be honest, not much has changed in the last month - except he just does all those things he was doing then MORE now. He claps all the time, does "SO Big" a lot (on command!), and scoots around on his tummy and his butt. He still won't get up on his knees... He absolutely loves watching Quincy play fetch, he gets all worked up - laughing, clapping, slapping his legs! Kayson is now saying "Dada", "Mama" quite a bit - even the teachers at daycare says he talks about "Dada" alot during the day. That should make Ryan feel good!


On a side note, we were suppose to have a busy day today. We were suppose to go to Clarion to take 'grandkid' pictures for my parents. Eden has been sick (Trish was certain it was H1N1), and I've been sick with this cough (or bark as I call it). So we decided to postpone - now I'm not sure when we will get the pictures done. I really hope we can squeeze it in in November sometime, cuz I think it's really important to get the grandkid picture for my parents. Makes me sad that we missed it today, especially since the weather is pretty nice. So instead, Ryan, Kayson and I will hang out at home... packing, playing, napping, eating... yes, eating. ha.

Not much

Not much to tell over the past couple days... I'm fighting a horrible cough. Last week I had the sinus infection, which was better by Wednesday, then Thursday morning I woke up with a stuffy nose and cough. Hmm... I wasn't sure what to think! Well yesterday was just as bad, and today is just plain worse. Yuk. The doctor did call in a prescription for me, so hopefully that will kick in soon. It's no fun being 'down'.

Ryan and I picked out our refrigerator and washer/dryer this morning for the new house. Now if we could only get motivated to pack and throw stuff away. I suppose I'll have to get motivated soon! Maybe when I feel better!

Here is a cute picture of Buster. All bundled up! Gotta love it!

Blah Blah Blah

• I'm tired today...
• I'm getting over a sinus infection, it's better, but the pills that I'm taking make me feel icky. My tummy rumbles all the time!
• My mind is racing about the move coming up and all of the things we need to do... Truck rental, pick out the appliances (fridge & washer/dryer), start packing (get more boxes first!), look into dining room tables, get organized at home before packing - is that even possible?! There's more to the list, but I won't bore you! I'm sure I'm getting ahead of myself on some things, but I guess that's how I am! I'm a planner.
• Kayson is so much fun... but growing too quickly. He now gives kisses - wet ones, but it's a start! And this morning he patted me on the back when I hugged him. How sweet.
• I think I'll go to bed...

Busy, Decisions Decisions... and then Bought!

We had a busy weekend to say the least!

We started the weekend off by being at home and just relaxing... of course, I can't really say I relaxed much (cuz I can't sit still), but we played hard with Kayson and enjoyed some time at home Saturday morning. Plus Mr. Kayson slept til 7:30 (12 hours), so that was great for Ryan and me! Saturday afternoon we met with our realtor to start looking at homes... I think we had about 12 on our list, and we ended up looking at about 7. That's a lot. We were both completely wiped out and overwhelmed when we got home... so much to think about - the yards, the garage, kitchen space, bedroom dimensions, and of course price! :) Saturday evening we narrowed it down to 3 of the homes...

Sunday morning I took some family pictures for our close friends Clay & Holly and their adorable, petite daughter Gillian. It was breezy, so we hurried along, but I got some great shots of them and "Gilly". After that, we did a quick lunch at home and then off to look at the 3 homes we had narrowed in on. We started with one that was on a culdasac. Going into it, I personally thought we were going to choose this one... it had a great yard, huge! But it was already painted, and it was painted a icky yellow color... we just weren't sure about it (weren't sure if we could look past that). So we moved on to the next home - it is EXACTLY like the one on the culdasac, but has a 3 car garage. The more we looked at this one, the more we fell in love with it. The yard was great - a lot bigger than we thought, and everything else we would be able to choose - flooring, paint, etc... We thought we can't go wrong with this one, and that's the one we chose! It was an exciting feeling! We filled out the paper work (offer to the builder), and we waited only about an hour... and after one counter, it was accepted and we have a new home!

Tonight we met with the realtor and builder to make some decisions on what goes in the home. Over the next week, we'll go and pick out the countertops, paint color and flooring. Then we just wait til November 20. We have lots of packing to do... gotta get some more boxes!

Here's a picture of the outside of the home. We love it!! I will do my best to keep pictures coming on the house! Lots of work to do in the next 4 weeks!

Tricks

Here are Kayson's new 'tricks'.

"SO BIG" & Clapping. What an amazing feeling to see your child do these fun new things. Every day Kayson amazes us by doing something new, or making a new face. I knew being a parent would be awesome, but it truly is the best thing that's ever happened to me (and Ryan). We are so proud! Enjoy!

SOLD

We sold the townhome this morning! It was a long night last night - we counter-offered several times, as well as the buyer counter-offering. I don't know if I thought it would just be smooth sailin' or what!?!? I felt like there was a lot of 'nickle & diming' going on. But maybe that's because of the end selling amount - we wished it would have been a little more. Either way, this morning we gave our acceptance (after one more counter). We close on November 20. Ryan is in Minnesota this week for work - so there's been a lot of phone calling going on over the past 24 hours... and to top it off, he's still not feeling well, actually sounds horrible. So I know messing with this wasn't what he wanted to do right now. BUT - the house is sold and we are thrilled. Now my head is spinning about all the things we need to do and of course LOOK FOR A HOUSE!


Will post more when there's more progress...

Sick

It's official - I'm sick now. I've been fighting what I thought was allergies for a couple weeks now... it honestly feels like allergies - itchy nose, sneezing, pressure in my nose/eyes... I finally gave up and went to the doctor --- sinus infection. Give me medicine! I have some now, so I sure hope that kicks in because I'm exhausted! As I type, I'm not really seeing straight simply because my eyes are watering and nose is running... what a sight to see! :)

Kayson is also fighting his cough that he gets about every 2 months. Wonderful! We've pulled out the nebulizer and have been doing that for a couple days now... let's hope we get that under control soon.

I'm off to bed soon... I simply can't take it anymore!! ha.

Health to all and no more colds around the Taylor house!!

Cold!

How cute is this?! It was COLD this morning when we woke up! I thought... let's put on Daddy's stocking cap!! It's too big (obviously), but it was too darn cute. Breakfast, Elmo & Daddy's hat.

Gotta bring a smile to anyone's face!

Weekend over

Sundays are typically productive, and good... however, that just means the weekend is over. Damn! We had a nice weekend... busy. Ryan and his Dad made the trip to Iowa City yesterday for the big Iowa/Michigan game. Great game, cold day/night! Kayson and I made a trip up to Clarion for the day... to help out Tricia and just be home again. By the way, that snow was crazy!! Too early for snow!! Mom is doing great - feeling better and doing more stuff on her own. Trish was having a hard time... but each day will get better. We had a nice time at home.

I let Ryan sleep in today... he didn't get home til after 1 am this morning, so I let him sleep. Isn't that nice of me!? Kayson and I played, then when it was time for his nap, I napped too. Wow what a lazy Sunday morning! This afternoon we had an Open House, so we did lunch out and some errands.

Laundry is done, so that would be my productive part of the day!

I haven't attached pictures in a while... so here are a few. Here's a couple to compare how much Kayson has changed. First picture is from April (he was about 4 months old). The second is a picture just from the other night... Amazing how fast he changes. And it's really funny to Ryan and I - look at that hair! Practically no hair at 4 months, except the back... and now he's got hair, and that alfalfa sprout that's out of control. We wet it down every morning now!!



Here's another cute picture. Aunt Martina & Uncle Blair picked this shirt up for him awhile ago - I figured he needed to wear it to daycare. :) Yep that's right - Lock up your Daughters! Too cute!!



Kayson is doing a lot of talking - I mean, A LOT! I'm really trying to remember to get some of it on video... I'll post when I can!

Good news

Some good news across the board regarding my family...
First - My Mom seems to be doing much better. She's had a couple good days in a row now, which is a huge step. Each time I've called she's seemed in happy spirits, etc. I know she's nervous about falling/tripping again, and worried about panic attacks, but we are definitely on the right road to being back to normal. We are all pleased...

Second - I haven't posted anything about this, because I wanted to wait. My sister, Tricia, had a partial hysterectomy this morning. Everything went well and we visited her tonight. She was doing well, and hopes to be released tomorrow. Being a nurse, she knows the procedures of things, and just how things work... but it still makes her antsy to get home to her girls. This procedure was a little risky, it wasn't just a regular hysterectomy - she had a tumor in her uterus, which made it a little more complicated. But according to the doctors, it was a success. We'll know more tomorrow about the size of the tumor and if Trish will need to be on hormone pills, etc. Either way, it is all over, and now the healing begins.

Kayson & Ryan are doing great... Kayson is a little 'class clown' as I call him. He's just plain funny... and such a blessing! I promise to post some pictures in a couple days... everyone should know how time just passes by - TOO QUICKLY!

Stats

Kayson's 9 month appointment was this morning. Here are his official stats:

Weight: 23 lbs 9 oz (90th)
Height: 29 3/4" (90th)

Both Ryan and I for sure thought Kayson weighed more, but either way - he's healthy and happy! We didn't get the flu shot b/c the clinic was all out of them... We'll try next week or the next to get that taken care of.

Time has passed...

It's already Saturday night... nearly 9:30 and I can barely keep my eyes open!

Over the past week, we've kept busy... never a dull moment around here, and lots of worrying going on. My mom is still struggling with her fall from nearly 3 weeks ago. She's just not herself... having a hard time relaxing, having some panic attacks, etc. I really do think it's because she needs to take it easy, and she just doesn't know how to do that. She's never been someone that just sits. I'm exactly like her. So this whole 'relaxing' thing is just not working for her. Ryan and I made the decision that we needed to make a trip to Clarion to visit... try to keep her busy and happy. It seemed to work. We went up to Clarion Friday night... she had had a really rough morning on Friday, but by the afternoon she seemed better. We got there around dinner time; had dinner, and just had a nice time. Today was good too - everyone came out to the farm: Trish & family, Jill & family... we were all there. It may have been chaos, but it was worth it, and definitely kept my mom 'busy' and happy. She loved having all her grandbabies there! I'm sure she's worn out, which is ok, hopefully that just means she'll sleep well and tomorrow will be a good day for her too.

We've had some more buyers come through the house... everyone tells me that it's a great sign, it's all good - but when buyers come through and don't offer, it honestly starts to seem like a waste of time. But, I'm sure it'll pay off soon!! We hope!

It's been a good couple days - we are all tired... and tomorrow is another busy day for us. Another house showing in the afternoon, and I'm taking senior pictures for 3 boys. Yes - 3. I'm nervous, but should be fun... hope they are a good group of kids! I'll hopefully be proud enough to post some pictures next week!