I Hate STUPID People...

I've always said this, but this morning, I met a whole new breed of idiot! This person (I don't know who they were) really ticked me off with their stupidity. Let me set the scene for you:

My husband & I were driving to work together this morning as his car (as of yesterday) has a problem with the radiator. We had dropped our son at daycare in Uniontown. Then we traveled the 1-1/2 miles over to pick up the main highway. This particular highway is a 65MPH road. The entire trip from Uniontown to Fort Scott is about 20 miles. Once we got out on the highway I got up to the speed limit & set the cruise. As we're approaching about the 1/2 way point in this trip, we're closing in on a gold colored car. Eventually, we're getting close enough that I tap the brake to cancel the cruise & let it coast down on its own. By this time, we're down to about 50MPH, but can't pass due to on-coming traffic & various no passing zones. We're cruising along behind this vehicle, we he/she randomly & periodically starts hitting their brakes. We were NEVER closer than about 1/2 a car length from them even in the midst of this stupidity. Eventually, with all the braking, we are running about 45MPH. We come up to a spot that is OK to pass in & we were clear of traffic, so I decided that if they weren't going to go the speed limit, I was going to pass when I had the chance. I turn on the blinker & move over, what does this idiot decide to do? They speed up to at least the speed limit or more so that you couldn't get around them. I decided that was fine, if they were going to drive the speed limit, I don't have a problem with that and I came back in behind them. Well, wouldn't you know it, as soon as I get back over behind them, they immediately start hitting the brakes again & dropping their speed way back down. This goes on for another couple of miles before I once again have the opportunity to pass them. They tried the same stupid stunt yet again, but I just accelerated (about 7 MPH over the speed limit) & came back in. Once I was back in, I resumed the cruise, it coasted back down & we made the remainder of the trip going the speed limit just like normal. This car did get right up on my ass for a while, but eventually backed off.

I guess my problem with the whole thing is, what kind of idiot does that kind of stupid stunt in a car traveling at those kind of speeds? What kind of stupid do you have to be to even remotely think this is an acceptable "game" to pay in a vehicle? If you don't want passed, drive the damn speed limit. If you choose not to, don't get pissed & act all childish when someone decides to pass you. There are enough senseless accidents on the road everyday without that kind of stupidity.

I travel the same route every morning & afternoon at the same time every day & this is the first time I've ever ran into this particular breed of idiot. I'm definitely hoping I don't run across them again anytime soon.

Sorry everyone, I just had to vent. If you took the time to read, thanks for letting me vent. Carry on now.

Fall Festival...

It's once again that time of year. On Saturday, October 1, 2011 we took Dakota out to our local Relay for Life/The Sharing Bucket Fall Festival. It is a pretty inexpensive, nearby, family fun event that raises money for a great cause. We took him out to it last year, but last year he was still too little to do very much. We thought he would enjoy it much more this year.

Dakota & I left home that morning and stopped in town to pick dad up from his Saturday job at the livestock market, so that he could go along with us. We got dad & headed out of town (not far, it's only about 5 miles out). We got there and purchased our tickets (50¢ a ticket - every event ranges from 1-5 tickets). We thought he would dive right into the festivities, but we were wrong.

We started off with the petting zoo. They had (2) bunnies, (2) calves, (3) goats & (1) pony. Dakota didn't want anything to do with any of them.

We decided we would try that again later and headed over to the loop. At the loop we came across the duck pond (standard pick a duck - win a prize). We couldn't even get him to pick up a duck, so James picked his first duck for him. He won a box of crayons.

 

We decided to walk around a little bit and let him get more awake & aware of what all was going on. This method actually worked. By the time we'd made one complete lap, he was ready to get into the swing of things.

We ended up back at the duck pond, where we picked three more ducks (that became our favorite game); he ended up with a coloring book, a box of crayons, a bottle of bubbles & a Halloween Flashing Safety Light.

Next, James & Dakota rode the wagon ride. Dakota seemed to like that.

 

 

Then we did four little kids games (didn't matter how well they did, they got to pick a prize when they were done). We had ring toss, witches brew, blinko & ghost toss. Dakota seemed to enjoy all of these. For his efforts he received a Halloween stamp & a bag of Skittles.

 

Next, James & Dakota decided they needed to buy some trail mix, so we bought two bags of that to take home with us. Then we moved back to the petting zoo. This time Dakota would at least get up close to the cages & look at the animals, but he still wouldn't pet any of them.

 

We decided we'd just about seen it all, so we moved on out to the pumpkin patch (no a real patch, they just set several hundred pumpkins out in an open field). We took a few pictures, then James & Dakota set out to pick our four pumpkins we paid for.

Needless to say, it took us a little while to get Dakota interested, but we all ended up having a pretty good time. I'm sure we'll hit it again next year, as it's become an annual event for our family.

I'm Back...

I'm back. Ok, well honestly, I didn't actually go anywhere, I just haven't had any free time. No, that isn't just an excuse, I really haven't.

For the past 13 weeks, I've been covering for a co-worker that was off on medical leave having both knees replaced. HOORAY for her! BOO for me!!! To be honest, it shouldn't have been nearly as bad as it was. When she first went off on medical leave, another co-worker & I were splitting her job between us. It was working perfectly. We were still able to do our individual jobs & then between us cover hers too. Then a couple weeks into this system, the one sharing the extra job with me got fired for refusing to sign the non-disclosure agreement. Since then, I've had my job and the co-workers job. It has been CRAZY! I managed to get everything done, but not without 10-16 hours of overtime a week.

Needless to say, my son HATED that. I'm always there to tuck him in & put him to bed, and there were times that I couldn't be home in time for that over the past 13 weeks. I would get to work around 6:30 am - leave at 3:30 pm (no lunch break), drive 30 minutes to get Dakota from daycare, drive another 15 minutes back home, fix supper, eat quickly, leave & drive 15 minutes back to work, work another 2-4 hours then drive the 15 minutes back home.

 I don't mind filling in for someone else when necessary, but 13 weeks is a long time to have your schedule completely screwed up. I always felt like I had no time for myself. Maybe it's a little selfish of me, but the co-worker returned to work today, and I'm so glad to see her & know that I'm back to my normal routine/schedule.

Things can now, HOPEFULLY, return to normal.

I Suck At This...

I haven't blogged since August. I really suck at staying current on this kind of thing. I just don't feel like I have the time to mess with it. I follow along with the events taking place in all of my friends' lives, but don't feel like I have time to stay current on my own. I guess now is as good a time as any to get caught up; even though I'm at work (currently have nothing to do).

Dakota is growing like a weed. He is so much fun & he is such a pleasant little guy. You can't help but smile when you're around him. He just jabbers all the time these days. You can make out a few things, the rest you just agree with. He is 18 months old now, and he is pretty independent. He likes to do things himself, but he is very affectionate. He willingly gives hugs & kisses, and loves to cuddle. I'm afraid that will change someday, but I sincerely hope it doesn't.

Christmas was a lot of fun this year. Dakota actually participated and had a blast with all the decorations (loved pulling ornaments off the tree). He ripped into all his packages, and then helped everyone else with theirs too. We had a blast this year!!!

As for me, I'm hoping I get all cleared up before long, because I'm tired of this crap. Beginning December 1st, I started with a light cough. It developed into a more chesty, barking cough. I was wheezing some with it, and was having trouble sleeping. I actually went to the doctor (anyone who knows me knows that other than when I was pregnant & was seeing the OB, I haven't been to a doctor since my senior year of high school) on December 8th, she gave me a new inhaler in case I had any trouble breathing and started me on the z-pack. I took all my medicine, but it wasn't getting any better. I went back to the doctor on December 16th, she decided that she thought my asthma that had been dormant for the past 12 years was flaring back up causing all my problems. She gave me a breathing treatment in office, a steroid shot, a different inhaler, an amoxicillin antibiotic, a daytime cough prescription & a nighttime cough syrup with codeine. I took all of those and they ended just after Christmas. I still have the cough, because now I'm having sinus drainage that is in the chest area also. I've kind of got my voice back, but it is still pretty rough sounding. I'm just hoping to get completely past it and get back to normal, because all this stuff sucks.

Then Saturday evening I messed up my lower back, but luckily, my work has a chiropractor that comes in 2 days a week; every Tuesday & Thursday, so I got to see him a little bit ago, and he fixed that problem. I still have a little bit of pain from it being out, but I can stand straight & walk easily now, so that is one good thing lately.

I just feel like I'm falling apart these days. I'm sure it will get better eventually, I just wish it didn't all have to hit at the same time.

Well, I guess I've complained enough for now. I'm going to go hit the medicine cabinet and get a pain reliever and then at least one of my problems will be solved. Here's hoping the new year gets off to a better start than the last one ended with.

Change Is A Good Thing...

At least for us it is.

James has worked nights for the past 7-8 years. That wasn't so bad when it was just him & I, but once Dakota came along it seemed like we hardly ever saw each other. I would get home with Dakota around 4pm, James would be asleep right up until time for him to go to work, so he spent very little time with Dakota. We very seldom ever ate supper together. We literally seemed like two individual people whose lives occasionally crossed paths.

Around the middle of June, Carlisle (James' employer) switched him to a day shift. Needless to say, after working so many years of straight nights, James had a very difficult time transitioning over to a day schedule. He had the most trouble getting into a new sleep pattern/routine. He kept telling me, "I don't know if I can do this, this is about to kill me."

Now, here we are almost 2 months later, and not only is he "alive", but he loves it. We have fallen into a very comfortable routine that is great for a change. I get home with Dakota a little before 4pm. Since James works a 10 hour shift, he works until 5pm and gets home a little before 6pm. He plays with Dakota while I fix supper. Now we eat supper as a "family" & we love it. After supper I clean up the kitchen while James' starts Dakota's bath. When I'm done I go in to assist with the bath. We've never had the opportunity to spend this much time together as a family before, but we're loving it!!!

It just feels great to know that I now have help, that we get to eat as a family, we can actually plan and go places together. Plus with this new schedule James is off most Fridays, so Dakota stays home with him on Friday. They both seem to enjoy their extra time together, and its obviously a good bonding experience for them.

So, change may not always be easy, but it is usually a good thing!!!

I've had Enough...

I've about reached my limit, quite simply I've just had enough. I'm ready for something to go right and dare I say it, just work as it should for a change.

We've been having trouble with my car, it just isn't running right. In the last week we've changed the spark plugs and wires. We had the catalytic converters (my car has four) checked to see if they were plugged (they weren't). We put a new fuel filter on (that was plugged). They tripped the check engine light to go off thinking that the fuel filter had to of been the problem. The very next day (wouldn't you know it) the check engine light comes back on.

My husband knows a little, but it is over his head. My father-in-law knows quite a bit about vehicles, but it is over his head too. Since I'm the one that is always hauling Dakota around, I don't want to be stranded along the side of the road somewhere in 100 degree weather. I've finally gave in and called the Ford dealership and I have an appointment for 3:00 pm today. I just hope they can figure out what the problem is without it costing me a fortune.

I just hate going to the main dealership like that though. One, it always costs a lot, usually more in labor than any parts that they would put on it. Two, they always want me to tell them what I think the problem is or what it is doing. Let's face it, I know next to nothing about cars. In my world it either works or there's something wrong with it. When I try to describe something to them they usually look at me like "and I'm supposed to figure this out when you know nothing about it". I just hate this experience, because I feel so stupid trying to relay to them what it is doing. I usually end up telling them to just take it for a drive, you can't miss it. I just may have to do that again this time.

Here's to getting it fixed without breaking the bank, so that we can roll on with things the way they usually are. Plus, we're supposed to be coming back to Schuyler the weekend after Labor Day, and I don't feel comfortable taking it that far the way its running at the moment. I want to come back up home, because its the last trip of the year for us, but if I can't get it fixed, we'll have to cancel, and I really don't want to do that.

Send me some good luck God, Plleeeaaaassssseeeee!

Any Ideas/Suggestions...

Alright, I'll admit it (in case you didn't already know), I'm kind of a blog stalker. I follow what you all post, but quite frankly haven't had anything to write about or the time to do it even if I did have something. Thus the reason that it has been almost a full two months since my last post. I may get better at this one day, but oh well, on to what I need help with.

I'm looking for any ideas from you BTDT moms as to meal suggestions/planning for a 13 month old. I don't know at this point if he is just a picky eater or if it has something to do with the texture/consistency of certain foods that is the problem, but it is really hard to get him to eat. Things he eats really well are:

• Grilled Cheese
• Bread & Butter/Biscuits
• Chicken Nuggets
• Mashed/Baked Potato
• Pancakes
• Pudding/Yogurt
• Cheese Pizza Rolls
• Applesauce
  

I would love to get him to eat other things, and I DO keep offering/trying other foods, he just isn't going for any of them at this time. You can't get him to eat any type of vegetables or pasta. Other than nuggets, he won't eat any type of meat either.

I've tried meatloaf, hamburgers, fish, spaghetti, macaroni & cheese, sliced ham, hot dogs, bacon and so on; all a no go.

I still can't get him to eat his veggies, but we may be getting a little closer on that front. Before he would not even try them, then he would play with them (squeeze them between his fingers), now he will put one piece in his mouth, chew it a little, then spit it back out. No actual eating, but closer now than we were before.

So, is this normal for this age that they latch on to a few particular items and won't do anything else? Can you break them of it or does it have to be in their own time? Some of this could be due to teeth. The 1 year molar area has been swollen for quite a while now, but hasn't broken on thru yet. In your experience, did your children not eat as well during that time?

I'm just looking for any ideas/suggestions, I'm open to anything if it gets him eating better than he is right now, so any ideas/tips would be greatly appreciated!!!

The Planning Has Begun...

That's right, we're in full scale planning mode for Dakota's first birthday. Well, in all actuality, I have been for a little while now, just haven't had time to update my blog about it. So, not that probably any of you really care, but if you're bored & need something to occupy a few minutes of your day, here goes.

The date is set, well a couple dates actually.

First we are having the main birthday party for all family & friends on Saturday, June 26th. We chose this date, because all of my family will be here from NE Missouri as of this coming Saturday, and they will be staying until June 28th, but then they have to go back home. I finally set this date down as a firm date, because everyone was informing me of their plans, but I'm tired of trying to please everyone. I finally told them, "this is when we're having it, if you can make it great, if not that's fine too". I wasn't trying to be rude, but there is no way you're ever going to please everyone, and I'm not willing to change everything around because it doesn't fit in with 1-2 peoples plans. That evening we'll have a big cake, ice cream, punch & other snack food.

Then on his actual birthday, Tuesday, June 29th, we are sending treats (cupcakes & punch) in to his daycare for all the kids, so that they can help him celebrate his first big day. That evening, we'll have a private birthday party (cake & ice cream), just Mommy, Daddy & Dakota.

The theme is "Finding Nemo". We decided even though Dakota doesn't know or care about this movie yet, that it is definitely a cute, fun adventure film that is sure to be well known among the other daycare children (plus I love this movie & my vote should count for something).

We have all the requirements either already bought, or will be by this weekend. We have tablecloths, plates, napkins, cups, utensils. We're gathering all the supplies to make individual treat/favor boxes for all the daycare kids.

I've designed his birthday invitations & as soon as I get 1 of his new pictures (should be happening tomorrow), I can get that put on it as well, then they are ready to print and mail out. Is it lame/cheap that I made my own? I do have a job as a graphic artist, so it looks professional I think. (Here is what it looks like, without his actual picture, you decide).


We just had his 1-year pictures done by my cousin Jeania Klick. She is the same one that took his 8-month pictures (the cowboy pictures). I'm supposed to have those by the end of the week, except for the single image that I requested for the birthday invitation. I'm anxious to see them. We took him to the park & let him play in the sand. He loved that. Then for the rest of them, we went back to her place. We took some with him & the balloons, then we let him destroy a cake. Oh my, did we enjoy that. There was no simple cleaning, we just had to give him a bath. I can hardly wait to see how they turn out!!!

We're looking forward to the family visiting. Also, the middle of next week we're scheduled to have new family pictures taken, that will be nice too, as we haven't had one since Dakota was 1-month old.

Well, that is about it for now. I promise I'll try to update sooner in the future. We'll definitely post an update after the birthday parties.

Until then!

Time For An Update...

Alright, let's face it, I'm not very good at keeping my blog up-to-date. I promise, I'll work on that, but let's be honest, it may not get any better. I thought it was more than past time that I write an update to catch up the happenings of the Conner's, so here goes.

Since it's been over a month since I've posted anything, we'll try to hit the highlights.

• Dakota is on the verge of walking. He edges all around as long as he has something to hang on to. He will walk clear across the room if he is pushing one of his toys (especially his toy tractor from Grandma & Grandpa Ketchum). He has taken a few "free standing" steps, but after about 3-4 he will drop to the floor and crawl the rest of the way.

• We're getting pretty independent. We like to feed our self. We can get pretty messy with it, but that's what baths are for right???

• Dakota now has 7 teeth, and we're trying to get 2-3 more in. Luckily, he isn't a fussy guy with any of his teeth so far, we'll hope that continues.

• We also love to set & play with our toys. We recently bought him a set of the ABC wooden blocks, and he loves to topple towers and bang them together.

• About 2-3 weeks ago, Dakota started running a fever on a Friday evening. Since he wasn't fussy or cranky, I thought it was maybe tied to teething. We treated the fever (101.7 at the highest point). When the medicine would wear off, we would spike back up again. This cycle continued until about mid-morning on Sunday. Sunday afternoon he was back to normal (or so we thought). Monday he was fine, had a cough, but it sounded normal. Tuesday morning I dropped him at daycare in the same shape as Monday; however, when I got him Tuesday evening, they said he'd been fussy all day (not like him at all) and I noticed he sounded pretty raspy/wheezy. His pediatrician is not in the office on Wednesday's and since it was almost 4 pm on a Tuesday, I figured I'd have to wait until Thursday to get him looked at. As it happens, I called in to setup an appointment, and was asked if I could be there at 4:15 pm. I said I might be a few minutes late, but we'll be there. We got there 4 minutes late. We got in to see the doctor and he agreed that Dakota did sound very raspy in the lower part of the lungs. He ordered us some more Albuterol for the nebulizer, as well as a 2-view chest x-ray and an RSV test. He really didn't think it was RSV, but he wanted to rule it out before putting him on a steroid. We did the x-rays & the RSV test, then went back home. I received a call from the doctor on Wednesday morning (before going to his other duty), and he said the RSV test was negative, but he was going to hold off from giving him anything else until the x-rays had been read. He said to call back in that afternoon & talk to his on-call doctor and they would give me the results. I called in that afternoon and left a recording on the on-call's answering machine. They finally returned my call at 4:58 pm. The x-rays showed that he had viral pneumonia. The on-call told me to go to the pharmacy and pick up the script of Zithromax that they had called in. We gave him the "loading dose" that evening. Then the next morning, I get another phone call from his doctor and he said he saw what the on-call had put him on, and that he wanted us to discontinue using it. He said the antibiotic would only help with a bacterial pneumonia, not the viral that Dakota had. He said to go back to the pharmacy and pick up the new script that he had called in for a steroid to put him on instead. We did that and everything seemed to be going well, but the next weekend we ran a fever just like the last one. I called his doctor on Monday and asked if it was normal for the fever to spike back up again. He said not generally, so he was afraid that it had re-presented itself as the bacterial pneumonia instead. So, back to the hospital for more chest x-rays. Luckily, this fever seemed to be due to teething, the chest x-rays showed that both the virus that caused the pneumonia & the pneumonia itself were gone!!!

• We celebrated our first official Mother's Day (I was pregnant for the last one, but didn't actually have a child yet at that one). I received a card from James, a card from Dakota, a dozen yellow roses from James & Dakota. I also got a "hand-print plaque" from Dakota courtesy of his daycare. We went to church together that Sunday, then made the rounds. We took James' mom a balloon, a card, a photo t-shirt & a dozen yellow roses. We then gave James' grandmothers each a plant & card. We gave my grandma a plant & card. We also sent money up home via Western Union, so that my sister could get my mom & my grandma that is in NE Missouri something as well. That was a busy weekend, but we had a great time.

• As for upcoming events. The first weekend in June is the Fort Scott Good Ol' Days celebration. It is a celebration/festival that the town puts on featuring entertainment, live re-enactments regarding the civil war that takes place at the fully-restored civil war fort. They have rides for the children, as well as a street fair that stretches for 4 blocks where vendors setup booths to sell their goods. They also have a main "featured event" to try to draw the crowds in; two years ago was the "Budweiser Horses", last year was "Dock Dogs", this year is "The All-American Lumberjack Show". It is usually a good time, so we're looking forward to it.

• Then the 2nd weekend in June we're having Dakota's 1-year pictures taken, so that they're ready a little ahead of time.

• The 3rd weekend my family is coming down from the 19th - 28th, so we'll visit and cook-out a lot. I've also got us scheduled to have a huge family picture taken as well as new individual family unit photos taken.

• We're ending the month of June with Dakota's 1st birthday. We're very excited, yet at the same time can't believe its been almost a year already.

Well, that's about it for us. We'll try to make the next update sooner rather than later!!!

My Best Friend...

Since I'm not that great at coming up with ideas to blog about, I've turned to the help of a "topic generator" when I don't have anything of my own to write about. That being advised, this is the first spin of the "topic generator".

Most people meet their best friends when they first start school. Right??? Well, I met my best friend my freshman year of high school.

I don't know if you all remember this or not, but the second half of our freshman year (1994-1995) we ended up with a student teacher (Wendy Carter) in our English course. Carter came up with a special assignment for us. We did the mandatory groaning and complaining, but she assured us it would be fun. That assignment was that we each had to write a pen-pal letter to an English teacher/class in a different state. I honestly don't know if very many people ever received a reply to the original pen-pal letters that were sent out, but that's how I met my best friend, I was one of the letters that actually received a reply.

Since we were dealing with the actual mail service, the letters took a while to send/receive. It had been a while since our letters were sent out, but upon arriving home from school one day, I had a letter addressed to me from someone in California. California??? I didn't know anyone in California. This could only be one thing!!!

Sure enough, I opened the letter, and read about a complete stranger. We continued to write back and forth all through high school. I could tell her anything, and she could tell me anything. For two people that had never met, that lived completely different lives, we had so much in common.

We lost touch for a while when we'd both went away to college, but in 2005 I was able to reconnect with her using Classmates.com. Those first few days we had so much to say and ask to/about one another. It was like our own private little class reunion. Since that time, we've still kept in touch. Instead of waiting on the postal service (which we do occasionally), we now use email & facebook to keep in touch. We've talked on the phone once, and we're hoping to finally meet one of these days, but whether that happens or not, she is and always will be my best friend.

Now that you know the history of my best friend, maybe I should introduce you to her:

Her name is Rebecca Jo (Henline) Tierney.
She was born March 18, 1980.
Her parents are Richard & Jenniefer.
She is an only child.


(This is a picture of Rebecca with her high school sweetheart Ryan).

When we first met she lived in Huntington Beach, California.

(Pretty, but way too congested for my comfort).

Once we had reconnected, I learned that Rebecca had married her high school sweetheart Ryan Tierney in Kihei, Maui on September 27, 2003.

(Truly a beautiful picture).

On February 28, 2007 Ryan and Rebecca were blessed with a beautiful baby girl that they named Delainey Rose.


(Isn't she just precious).

Ryan and Rebecca decided they wanted a better place to raise their only daughter in, so they began looking and researching areas. Just this past year, they relocated from California to Noblesville, Indiana.


(She's much closer now, so I will meet her one day).

They bought a house, and they're now settled in.


(I love this house, it's beautiful).

After settling in, they (by way of the local animal shelter) got Delainey a "sister".


This is Sheba.
(Isn't she cute).

Oh, I did forget to mention that Rebecca's a RN. Other than that, you now know my best friend. I'm so lucky to have her, and one day we will finally meet. Until that time, I'll continue to bug her via email and facebook!!!

What's Your Opinion...

Alright Ladies, I'm calling on your BTDT (been there - done that) knowledge. I'm early yet, but I'm trying to get everything planned out ahead of time, and I really don't know which way to go, so I'm going to the experts (in case you were wondering, that's YOU)!!!

Dakota's first birthday is June 29th, which falls on a Tuesday this year. This is why I'm needing your opinions. I have three options:

• Celebrate his birthday on Tuesday, June 29th.
• Celebrate his birthday on Saturday, June 26th (the Saturday before).
• Celebrate his birthday on Saturday, July 3rd (the Saturday after).

So, now that you know my options, what would you do?

Most of the family that would be invited is within one hour's drive from us. However, my family (from Schuyler) is planning on being here for his first birthday if at all possible. Even though I think it would be fun to be together over the 4th, I know a lot of people travel or have their own private parties around that time. Plus, my dad has a fire phobia, he just knows that if he isn't home to keep an eye on things that someone is going to burn the house down, so he never wants to be away from home over the 4th. If we have it on the actual day, a Tuesday evening may be hard to get everyone together, as everyone's schedule is different. I'm really thinking that the Saturday before offers the best alternative.

At the same time that I think a party the Saturday before would be best, I'm also thinking that I don't want to ignore his actual day. If you did do the party the Saturday before, would you follow it up with a private (mom, dad & the birthday boy only) party?

As you can see, I need some help. What's your ideas???

Getting Back In The Swing Of Things...

Well, we're trying to anyway. It always seems to take me a few days to get back into the swing of things after a long trip like that. I love the time spent away, and visiting with friends and family, but at the same time, its great to get back home and settle back into the normal routine of my daily life.

Dakota & I left for my parents place in Downing last Thursday morning. We arrived around 4-5 pm, after making several stops along the way, such as: Russell Stover Candy Factory in Boonville where Dakota picked out some candy & had a bowl of strawberry ice cream. We had so much fun seeing everyone again. All of my family loved getting to spend so much time with him, and of course, he loved all the attention he was getting.

Friday we all went to Kirksville, we did some shopping. Lucky for me, my little man is a great shopper. I can spend over an hour in Wal-Mart, and he'll never throw a fit. However, shopping always seems to take a while, because he's a FLIRT!!! He'll set in the cart and smile or babble, and then almost every elderly woman and almost every female cashier that passes by will come up and talk to him, pat him, or just look at him; and boy does he eat it up. Thus slowing down my shopping, but I've learned to live with it (I think this was the case with almost every female cashier in Hy-Vee on Friday).

Then as a treat, I took the whole family out to eat at Ponderosa for lunch. Dakota loved the buffet; he had diced ham, noodles, cottage cheese, mashed potatoes & gravy, lemon pudding & ice cream. I don't think I've ever got him to eat that well at one setting.

Saturday was more visiting and playing. We went across the road to my brother & sister-in-law's house and Dakota played on my nephew's swing set. He loved it!!! We pushed him in the child swing for a little bit, and then we switched over to the slide. (A couple of pictures of him enjoying his time outdoors - may not be the best quality as I took them with my cell phone).



After watching him enjoy swinging and sliding so much, we've decided that we're going to buy him a swing set for his first birthday in June!!!

On Sunday we all went to church and then came home to eat a wonderful dinner. We visited and played some more. Then on Monday morning, we left to return back home to Kansas. After another long trip, we arrived back home around 4-5 pm. Dakota missed seeing Daddy, so he came right in to wake him up and play with him.

So, now we're home and things are pretty much back to normal. The next time we see my family should be when they come to Kansas for Dakota's first birthday at the end of June.

Well, that catches you up on the Conner current events (if you were interested). Until next time, you all take care!!!

Packing For Travel...

Well, as of this afternoon I'm going to have to start packing for our Easter trip. Why is that when it was just my husband & I we could throw everything in a bag in a matter of minutes & have everything we needed; now that we have a child it seems like I have to pack up half the house, and even then I'm not sure I have everything; is it just me that feels this way?

Packing aside, we're very excited for our upcoming trip. We thought at first that my husband would come along, so it was going to be for the weekend only. However, he has to work and can't get off, so it's just going to be Dakota & I. I was going to make the trip by myself, but my husband doesn't like me going that far with Dakota by myself. Not that I couldn't make it, but its a long way and anything could happen. So, we found a perfect solution, and it allows for a longer visit. My dad (step-dad, but we just call him dad) is going to come down to Kansas on Wednesday, spend the night at my house, then we're going to say goodbye to daddy and head back to Schuyler. Therefore, with the current plan, we should arrive sometime Thursday afternoon, and we'll leave sometime Monday morning.

We'll enjoy spending time with the family and visiting with everyone again. We were up for a few days in January for my uncle's funeral, but that didn't allow much time for visiting. We'll miss daddy of course, but we'll make it a point to talk to him on the phone everyday. We're ready for a short vacation.

Here's to a short work week and a great vacation.

If I see you, I'll say hi.

I'm Behind, So Let's Catch Up...

I haven't been on here to post in ages (I've followed everybody else on their blogs, but nothing really exciting in my life to write about), so I thought it was more than past time that I finally get in gear and catch my blog up with the current events in the world of the Conner's.

Our whole world revolves around Dakota, so if you're reading this, you're along for the ride, because he's the only thing I have to talk about. If you're interested, here goes:

We are just almost nine months old now, and oh the things we've accomplished & learned along the way.

• We now have four teeth: two middle bottom & two middle top. We're trying to get more, but those are the only ones that have actually made it through.

• We are mobile!!! That's right, we crawled backwards for a long time, but we finally mastered moving forwards. Now that we know how, we're always on the move (and boy are we fast)!!!
  

• Within the past few weeks, we've started pulling up on objects. We've now mastered that, we will even push to a stand in the middle of the floor without having anything to hang onto. We stand there for a little bit, then plop to the floor, only to stand up and try it again. We're not walking yet, unless you hang on to him, but I'm thinking that won't be too far off.

So, needless to say, we've entered into the world of bumps & bruises as we traverse the learning curve.

We had pictures taken a couple of weeks ago, and I thought they turned out so well. We were mainly going for the cowboy theme/look, but did take a couple of Easter shots as well. Here they are for your viewing pleasure, what do you think?









We've also decided to visit my family in Schuyler County for Easter, so we're looking forward to making the trip back up that way and visiting with everyone again.

Well, that's about it for us, thanks for reading (if you still are)!

What A Busy Week...

The title says it all, I feel like this week has just been packed with things to do, and quite frankly, I'm ready for this week to be over!

This "week" started for me on Thursday, January 14th; approximately 3:15 pm, I got a phone call from my family in NE Missouri telling me that my Uncle Bill (56 years old) had just passed away. It was a shock of course, but I handle stuff like that well, so I just started making the necessary plans.

I worked all day on Friday, January 15th. I told them while I was there that I would need Monday & Tuesday off so that I could travel back to NE Missouri to attend my uncle's funeral, and unless something changed, I would be back to work on Wednesday.

That evening, we got everything packed & loaded, and then went to bed so that we could leave for Missouri sometime Saturday morning. As luck would have it, I came down with a "thankfully short" stomach flu Friday night/Saturday morning. I felt awful when I got up on Saturday, but we made the plans, and headed out anyway. My husband drove the whole way, and I rode in the back with Dakota. By about 12-2, I felt like my normal self (like I said, thankfully short). We arrived in Kirksville around 5 pm. We met my family over there to do some shopping, then we all met back at their house in Downing. We spent the rest of the evening visiting and playing "pass the baby".

Sunday morning, we all got up and went to church. After church, we all went out to my uncle's house where we all had a family dinner with the food everyone had brought/donated. Then we all left my uncle's house to return to my parents house, so that we could change our clothes. After we changed our clothes, we headed to Memphis to the Payne Funeral Chapel to attend what was supposed to be a 2-hour visitation. Anyone that was there (like Trenton & Erin) knows that this turned out to be much longer than that. Uncle Bill was very well liked. Our 2-hour visitation turned into a 4-hour visitation (needed that long to run everyone thru) (funeral directors estimated between 800 & 1000 people came thru). There was a line clear thru the funeral home when the family got there. They moved the family to the front of the line, then we started greeting/visiting & moving people thru. Needless to say, this turned into a very long evening. We finally got home between 10:30 & 11 pm.

Monday morning we got up, had breakfast, got dressed and left for the funeral home once again. Uncle Bill's funeral started at 11 am, once again, there was a huge turn-out (funeral directors estimated between 500 & 600). When the service was done, we all loaded up in our vehicles to begin the procession back to the Downing Cemetery. Anyone up that way knows that it was kind of chilly those days, and needless to say, the family was a little torqued, because there was a mix-up when we got there. Yes they had the hole dug, but we had no vault, no tent, no chairs. Come to find out, the vault company is responsible for the tent & chairs, and the vault company wrote down the wrong day. Therefore, we stood outside while the preacher made is graveside sermon. When it was all done, we loaded back up and returned to Memphis (again), where they had a family dinner waiting for us at the funeral home. We ate, visited, divided plants/flowers, took pictures of some of the family that was present & together for a change. Then we all left to head back to Downing again; one, to go back to the cemetery (the vault people finally got there so that they could get him buried), two, then we went to my parents house for the rest of the evening.

Tuesday morning we got packed up so that we could head back to Kansas. Needless to say, we didn't get started as early as we would of liked due to the fog & slick roads. We eventually left around 12:45 pm. We made the long trip back home, and finally made it home about 7:15 pm. It was an uncomfortable ride this time as Dakota was cutting his first tooth, so he wasn't a real happy camper this go round. We got home, got everything unloaded, got James sent off to work, got Dakota feed & in bed. Then I crashed. I was exhausted.

Like I said, it's been a long week, and I'm ready for it to be done. Here's to things looking up & things slowing down for a while!!!

Not As Easy As I Thought...

So, I had this great idea. Picture this with me if you will:

We're going to place the miniature wooden rocking chair in front of the fully decorated Christmas tree. Then we'll take the tallest present and stand up behind the chair. On the other side of the chair we'll put "Snowflake Jake" (Home & Garden Snowman). Now sitting in the chair a cute little boy dressed in his very own Santa suit.

Now that would make a cute picture, don't you think???

Well, I've since learned it may have been a good idea, but it's not as easy as it sounds for the following reasons:

1) Santa didn't want to sit up in the chair.


2) Santa was very interested in trying to eat "Jake", and with everything else going on around him.


3) Santa gives some strange faces. I had a very hard time getting him to even attempt to smile.


4) Finally you just get fed up with the whole idea and you're happy with any shot that can even remotely be called decent. That being said, these were the best shots of the bunch.



So, this was a learning experience. Definitely not as easy as I thought, but we still ended up with some decent pictures. Maybe next year will go a little smoother. Here's hoping!!!

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town...

Well, I guess to be accurate, Santa Claus already came to town. My mother-in-law is very good friends with a man that plays Santa Claus each year. He used to migrate to New York every year to play the role of Santa Claus in some of the department stores up there, but the last few years he's been staying local instead. He really looks the part, and it's all him (no padding, no fake beard).

On Thursday, December 3, 2009 my mother-in-law got it set up for him to come to their hometown (Centerville, Kansas) to play Santa Claus for the town. She insisted that my husband & I bring Dakota up (about 45 minutes away), because it's his first Christmas, so he just had to see Santa Claus.

We made the trip, and I was fully expecting for it not to go well. The way their town does it, is they serve a supper at the town hall first, then they have door prize drawings, then Santa Claus arrives courtesy of the fire department. We got there early, but Dakota was very fussy. Mostly due to the fact that this fell in the middle of his nap time. I tried to settle him down, but it was so loud in the building, and there was just so much going on, that it just wasn't going to be possible.

Long story short, Santa finally arrived, and my son went from fussing/crying to openly staring at this complete stranger. He was absolutely captivated from the moment "Santa" entered the building. He followed his every movement. When Santa finally took his seat to begin meeting the children, he grabbed Dakota first. This is when I really expected a crying fit, but to my utter amazement, he went right to him. He sat on his lap for quite some time while Santa visited with some of the adults standing around.

Here is a picture of our first visit to Santa Claus.


So, our first visit was a success. We can only hope that his attitude doesn't change and that this type of experience always goes so smoothly.

Blogging Catch-Up...

Well, I thought it was time that I get back on here. I've been following along with all of your lives, but just haven't had the time to write about my own.

My little guy is growing so fast. We had a very nice Thanksgiving. We made the journey from Southeast Kansas to Northeast Missouri. That's right, I finally made it back up "home". We left Kansas about 11:30 Wednesday morning and arrived in Downing about 6-6:30 that evening. For the most part, we had a pretty good trip. We stopped around Sedalia to feed Dakota and refill the gas tank. Then we stopped again at Columbia to top both Dakota & the tank off again. We stopped at Macon because Dakota was tired of riding and wanted out of his seat, then we continued on. Overall, he didn't do too bad. He's a pretty good traveler. He spent most of the time asleep, but it worked out.

Thursday we had the typical Thanksgiving feast; followed by that typical over-fed, drowsy, miserable feeling. We did an early Christmas with my family, as it was the last time we would all be together for a while (we won't be back up until next year sometime & my sister Kayla flew out of Kansas City on Black Friday to join her husband in Honduras). My little Dakota was very much the center of attention. He enjoyed showing off & bonding with everyone. His Aunt Tracy bought him a Precious Planet Rainforest/Safari jumper, and he LOVES it!!!! He spent the majority of the weekend jumping and laughing.

The only downside in my opinion was my little man had some nasal congestion before we made the trip up, which his doctor said sounded like allergies, and to start him on 1/2 tsp of Zyrtec daily. So, we did that, but by Wednesday night/Thursday morning he had developed a cough that definitely wasn't allergies, that was sounding down deeper in the lung area. I didn't want to wait until we could get back home to see his doctor, so on Friday, we ended up going to Lancaster to see Beverly Oliver. She put him on Amoxicillian & Albuterol Nebulizer Breathing Treatments for the next 10 days. He's definitely getting a little better, and the breathing treatments are keeping everything broke up. Hopefully, at the end of the cycle we'll be all better. I called yesterday to update his doctor, and he said he would follow-up with him at the end of the cycle, so I guess we'll have to wait and see.

I too had a few problems. I normally have no trouble with sinus/allergies; however, the first night up there, I was very congested, so I saw the doctor too. I'm also on Amoxicillian, but mine is much better already.

We also switched my little man from his Graco SnugRide Infant Car Seat to a brand spanking new (and expensive I might add) Britax Boulevard Convertible Car Seat. I have to say, I believe that he very much prefers the new big boy seat opposed to the before mentioned infant seat. At first I was a little concerned about what I was getting since I had never seen one in person. I bought this seat online, and was hoping it was well worth the money they were asking for it. Once I saw it though, it is a very nice, comfy car seat.

We came back home on Sunday. It was great to see everyone again, but it was also great to get back home! Now that we're back home, I need to get everything put up, I need to clean & rearrange the living room, and when I'm done with that, put up all the Christmas stuff.

Busy, busy, busy.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Here's to a Merry Christmas!!!

My How Time Flies...

I guess that old saying "time flies when you're having fun" really is true. As of today, we've added yet another year to the marriage category. Yep, that's right, today's our anniversary. We've been married for 7 years now.

It's amazing the little details you can still remember about a specific occasion, but certain other details or facts you can't remember if your life depended on it. I still remember that we didn't want a big fuss, we wanted something simple. Therefore, we decided not to give anyone much notice. We told his parents the weekend before the ceremony. We were at their house visiting, they said "so, what are you doing next weekend?" James said, "I don't know about you, but we're getting married." You'd have thought we'd dropped a major bomb, as there was complete silence. My group was happy for us, but couldn't make the trip down to join us.

We proceeded on with the week. We planned a very simple ceremony: pastor, bride, groom, witnesses; and that's it. However, then we got that old lecture of: "it's rude not to invite the family", so they ended up telling grandparents and everyone else. Therefore, our wedding of the planned 5 people turned into a wedding of about 50 people. Looking back on it, I guess that was alright. One thing did go as expected, I told everyone we were NOT dressing up, and we didn't! We wore jeans & dress shirts (men) & sweaters (women) as it was raining that day. Not exactly what I wanted, but it still turned out alright.

We've had 7 great years so far (married), we've actually been together for 9 years. I have to say, that this year, with the addition of our son - Dakota to our family, we both agree that this year has been the best one so far. That being said, here's to many more to come!!!

Happy Anniversary, Honey! I love you!!!

The Long Road To Recovery...

Well, what a year it's been for our family! Exactly one year ago today (October 7, 2008), my sister Tracy Ketchum (then 17 - now 18) was in a near-fatal car accident East of Lancaster. It had rained really hard that morning, and on her way to school, she ended up hydroplaning and going sideways down the road. She eventually ended up losing control of the car and it rolled a couple of times before coming to rest up on its side in a pretty deep drainage ditch. We later found out that several people had drove past the scene without even knowing that she was there, so it's very hard to tell exactly how long she would have been there if a truck driver from Glenwood Elevator hadn't seen the accident and immediately called it in to dispatch. My sister, Carrie Orr (who drives the headstart bus) came upon the scene of the accident, so she called one of her co-workers to bring her car and come and get the headstart children and the bus and take them on into the Glenwood center while leaving her car at the scene so that she could stay there until they got Tracy out of the car. Well, unfortunately, extraction took a while. Tracy was driving a Buick Century, and the doors automatically lock after reaching a certain speed, so as a result, all the doors were locked with the windows up. The fire department still had not managed to get into the vehicle by the time the Schuyler County ambulance arrived on the scene, so Michelle Fry (EMT) took it upon herself to bust out the windshield and enter the vehicle that way.

So, after finally getting in the vehicle, they stabilized her and finally extracted her from the car. They had to open and stabilize her airway, and they knew by her symptoms that she had sustained a severe head injury and that due to the position she was in that she was deprived of oxygen to the brain for an unknown amount of time. Before you ask, yes she was wearing her seat belt, but it was the model that came out of the door, and while it kept her from flying forward, it offered absolutely no support from side to side. So, the ambulance departed for Kirksville, where my mom was already at work (she drives one of the OATS buses), so she met Tracy at the hospital. Almost immediately upon arriving at Kirksville, the staff there decided that she needed more help than they could provide, so they decided to transfer her to University Hospital in Columbia. Due to her condition, they requested life-flight, but due to the continuing bad weather (rain & fog), they were unable to fly. So, they ended up transferring her via the trauma ambulance instead. In the meantime, my sister (Carrie) and my step-dad arrived at Kirksville to get mom and they all departed for Columbia.

However during all this, they had forgot to call me and tell me what was going on. The way that I found out was I received a text from my cousin while I was at work that read "Grandma just told me about Tracy, when you know how she is let me know". I was like what the heck is going on, so I called my sister (Carrie) and said what's going on, I just got a strange text, at which point they filled me in and said that it's bad and that they would get back with me when they knew more.

When they arrived at Columbia, as you can imagine, it was to a host of one doctor after another. They met her entire team: neurology, trauma, respiratory, etc. Of course, in a situation such as this, they never want to give you much hope. They informed them that it was a severe head injury (the same type you would see as a result of shaken baby syndrome), and that they didn't know if she would make it. However, that if she did live, she would most likely be a vegetable for the rest of her life. So, after getting this update, and knowing just how bad it was, I left for Columbia almost immediately of getting home. I arrived in Columbia at about 9:30 that evening. Upon getting there, they immediately let me in to see her, of course she wasn't aware of anything as she was in a full-blown coma in the ICU. (These pictures were taken on October 8th).



I stayed there the rest of that week and weekend, but then had to return to work. My parents and sister (Carrie) stayed there pretty much the entire time. When I was up, we rented hotel rooms for the extra people. My parents were able to get into the local Ronald McDonald house just down the street, so that saved them some on expenses. I came back every weekend while she was in ICU, and there were many ups & downs during that time. She had a lot of posturing (typical in head injuries). They put a trach in as it would be easier for them to suction therefore drastically reducing the risk of pneumonia. Late one night we got the cardiology team called in because her heart-rate jumped to 210 bpm, and they said they needed to get it down or it could cause her to have a heart attack. They wanted permission to try an IV drug, so we gave consent. They said if it didn't work by morning that they wanted to stop her heart & restart it by shocking it back to a normal rhythm. Luckily, she came out of it with just the medicine, so we didn't have to resort to that.

The coma lasted for 3-1/2 weeks. During that time the team from Rusk Rehabilitation started coming over to the hospital to work with her to try to build up her muscle strength and control. Before she was out of the coma, Rusk's team decided to transfer her to their facility. They were afraid that they were losing too much ground waiting around on the hospital. So, we transferred to Rusk, and they started working with her everyday. Upon entering rehab, she couldn't use the right side of her body very much at all. They had to re-teach her a lot of things: walking, talking, eating, etc. However, about one week before Christmas she had made enough progress that she had finally got to come home. I was traveling back & forth every other weekend until I found out around Thanksgiving that I was pregnant, then the travel became a little too much for me.



She was thrilled to be home. They started her on physical therapy at the Scotland County Hospital three days a week. In January, there was a tutor that came to the house to home-school her, and she was still able to go ahead and graduate with the rest of her class in May 2009.


As of now, a year later, she still attends physical therapy three days a week. She still has difficulty with her right wrist/hand as well as a significant limp when walking on her right leg. Her speech is a little slow and slurred, but if you take the time to listen, you can understand her just fine. She also had trouble with her right eye, but other than being a little sluggish, it has come back almost 100%.



In September she enrolled at North Central (in Trenton) for a couple of their online courses. Her doctor didn't want her on campus, and didn't want her taking more than 6 credit hours. So, she is still at home, and taking college reading & sociology this semester. She's had a long road to recovery, but I couldn't be happier for her. She's worked very hard to get where she is today. She's not 100% yet, she may never be, but considering what the alternative could have been, we're very pleased with her progress!!!