Birthday Bash

It started as a joke. The dietitan putting peas on her son's birthday cake. I couldn't resist. I made an eggless pumpkin cake for him, which was surprisingly good. Green peas went so nicely with the orange.
Kellen has been having tons of fun with all his new toys. (Thanks everybody!) Ian took care of Kellen today while I was at work, and he also noticed how well he plays by himself with new toys. The best reaction he gave was from his new hockey stick from Uncle Tim and Auntie Sarina. He nearly injuired a few kids wildly swinging it around in his excitement.
An evening at our place wouldn't be complete without some table tennis. I love this picture of the fans enjoying the game between the grandpas.

Pumping Iron

Now that Kellen is a year old, its time to start his training. Gotta get him ready to be a world class athlete. Not bad, he benched 90 lbs his first lift ever.

Kellen's First Year

Tomorrow Kellen will be 1! Wow! Hope you enjoy this little project I did for him...

Mr. Incredible

For those who voiced interest in these pictures, hope you haven't given up on me. Finally, I got the new blogger to let me post some pictures! I was about ready to switch to something else.

Who do you think is trying harder?

Kellen & I are enjoying our day at home together. It has been hard on him, but he is adjusting quickly. The sitter said he seemed really settled yesterday. He wasn't so clingy and he played well on his own finally. Perhaps it is harder on mom??? I'm certainly not Mrs.Incredible. Guess I might as well learn now that I can't do it all...having a clean house, being a good mom, work outside the home, and have the time for myself I'd like. I don't go to spinning class if I worked that day, which is a necessary decision, but a sad one. I dont' know when I'll ever get to scrapbook now. But, I try not to worry about it. I am enjoying my work immensely again and am thankful I have such a fulfilling job. And of course, I love my time with the boy...who I should go play with now, since he has tried to eat styrofoam out of the garbage and is currently trying to pull cords out of the computer!

He is not listening to my "no" about climbing the stairs by himself

We're Still Smiling!

Kellen & I headed out the door at 8am. He was super happy, until I put him in his sitter's arms. So I remembered some good advice (thanks Charla and Jen), smiled, gave him a kiss, walked confidently out the door, and trusted that he would be fine in minutes. I later learned he did settle right down and had lots of fun. The 3 year-old, Elise, told me that Kellen loves her!

I picked him up at noon and took him home. Yes, we kind of got to cheat today. Ian is home for the week since its too cold to work. I was able to nurse him and put him down for a nap before I went back to work. So, for this week it should be a breeze. Now, it's next week I get to worry about... Hopefully, he will be more settled in his new environment by then and he'll nap okay.

I really enjoyed being back at work (other than a few brief moments of wondering how Kellen was). I'm looking foward to getting some programs going that I've been planning in my head over the last year. Wow, I'm a working mom now!

Time, Habits, and Prayers

I've been thinking about time. It's a funny thing, how it flies by so quickly. I've been thinking of all the things I'd planned to do during my mat leave. I now have 5 days, well, 4.5 days left. I can't believe Kellen will be a year old soon. More than ever I see how precious each day is. So, I play with Kellen a little more, and leave the floor dirty and the clothes unwashed. I give him just a few more kisses every day. It all sounds so trite, to write about time flying by, but it is so real to me lately.

I am trying to prepare for going back to work, while at the same time pretending its not really happening. I have been trying to get Kellen to go to sleep unaided in his crib, since his new caregiver likely won't have time to bounce him to sleep. It's been working somewhat better. I still seem to have to be in the room until he will finally quit crying and go to sleep. I think he may do a lot of crying next week before his naps. Hopefully the change in habits at home will help. A very wise friend (Sarah) once told me not to worry, that little ones change habits quite quickly. I am holding on to the hope that Kellen will form new habits quickly at his caregivers without too much anxiety for either of us. I also think about trying to make new habits myself, to help things go smoother. I have a few meals ready to go in the freezer. Hopefully, I can turn this into a habit. Cook on the weekends or in the evening, so when Kellen and I get home, it can just be play time. I also hope that the new habit of getting up earlier will be made easily! Since Kellen has changed a long standing habit and now falls asleep in his crib, surely the other habits will also come.

I have found a new caregiver for Kellen. I was going to take him to a new daycare run by 2 young girls. I just didn't feel that good about it for some reason. So, when I heard about a mom who just decided to stay at home was looking for kids to sit, I inquired. I'm glad I did. She has a 3 yr old girl and a boy just older than Kellen (I'm sure they'll get into lots of trouble together). She won't be taking anymore kids for awhile. Hopefully with the extra attention this arrangement will give Kellen, he'll settle in okay.

So, I'm sure you see i have some anxiety. Please pray for me and Kellen next Wednesday morning!