Good News!

I apologize in advance for the shortness of this post, but this Mama is EXHAUSTED and ready for bed!

Here goes...

Good News #1: Sean does NOT have a hernia! He's been a bit sore for a week and a half now. He had an ultrasound yesterday and found out no hernia. He is finishing some meds and we're hoping he starts feeling better soon!!! Me being the strict person I am wouldn't let him pick Keelyn up (of course, he tried to do it anyway).

Good News #2: Keelyn ate her first graham cracker at Holly's house today!!! Such a big girl! Holly sent me a pic... it's on my phone... I just haven't emailed it to myself to put on here... so you'll have to wait. She loved it though :)

Good News #3: It's Wednesday! Thank goodness. Not having worked a full week since early December is making this a very long week for me. I know, I know, I should stop complaining about this. Especially since I'm complaining about all of the make-up days we have now. But still. Ooofta... it's been one long week.

Good News #4: Keelyn is finally asleep! Her sleeping habits have been a bit wonky this week. Tonight was no exception. She fell asleep drinking her night bottle @ 7:15pm. Was awake by 7:50pm... and stayed away until 9:15pm. Yikes! I finally got her down for the night {shoot! I just jinxed myself. I hear her whimpering}. The past two nights she's been up chit-chatting away in her crib for a good half hour. Mama needs her sleep Keelyn. And so do you. Please remember that Mr. Sandman :)

Good News #5: I have some great new friends at work. A few years ago, four of my very, very good friends transferred away from Stowe, thus making it a bit lonely for me. This year has changed that. We have a wonderful new office manager, Adrian, and a fantastic Child Guidance therapist, Maggie, who are fellow bloggers (check 'em out on the side... my link thingy won't work right now). Maggie has a daughter Molly who was born, wait for it, the day before Keelyn! Yes folks, Mama's making friends, and hopefully Keelyn will be, too :).

Good News #6: I'm headed to bed :). I hope to drift into sleepyville soon... and I hope to stay there all night. I'm not placing bets on it though, because I'm still hearing some whimpers from a certain girl.

I promise I'll put some pictures of Keelyn on tomorrow for your viewing pleasure.

Happy 1/2 Birthday Keelyn!!!!

Exactly 6 months ago at this very moment, Sean and I welcome the most beautiful girl into the world. I can't even begin to describe the joys we've had since then.

Funny... she does this pose today, too. Some things will never change

Peaceful. Beautiful.

At 6 months, Keelyn:

~has 2 very sharp teeth

~can sit up

~has rolled over from tummy to back

~still sleeps a good 11 hours at night (thank you!!!)

~smiles from ear to ear when she sees her Daddy (and Mommy, too)

~is stubborn. Like Mommy. And Daddy.

~has toys that are beginning to take over... duhn duhn duhn... manland!

~is eating veggies AND fruit at lunch AND supper!

~has reached the everything into the mouth stage

~has the most adorable giggle

~is starting to grunt. All.the.time!

~is a chatty Cathy

~concentrates very hard when looking at the dogs

~melts my heart every.single.day

~has the world's proudest, happiest parents :)

To celebrate, we are *possibly* going out to eat.


And here she is... in all her 1/2 birthday glory!

Seriously, can she BE any cuter?!???!

All dressed up.



I am cute. And yes, I know it!

Stretched out and lovin' life! OH, and lovin' being dressed up, too!!!

There they are. Her beautiful baby blues.

Happy 1/2 Birthday Keelyn! We love you!

Love, Mommy & Daddy

First Pedi

Keelyn was one lucky girl on Tuesday (yes, I realize it's a few days later).

Holly treated Keelyn to her first pedicure ever.

Seriously, how cute are her little toes???????

I can't wait until she's old enough to go to the nail salon to get one with me :)

Are You Serious?

Well here it is, the 6th snow day for Des Moines Public Schools this year. And I just have to say, I wish I was at work!!!!!! Don't get me wrong people. I have thoroughly enjoyed the extra days I have gotten to spend with Keelyn lately, but I would much rather spend them with her... in June!!!!!

Anywhosers, the morning started bright and early here in Lynamland. Our alarms went off around 5:30am. We watched the morning news when lo and behold, it flashed on the screen Des Moines Public Schools closed today. Say what?!?! Are you serious? Yes. Serious as a heart attack. Why? The roads weren't all that bad. Power outages. That's why. There were some school with power outages. Great. Thanks a lot Mother Nature!

Right when I was ready to head back to sleep, I heard the cutest cooing and babbling from across the hall. Yep. Keelyn was up and at 'em at 6am. That meant Mama was up and at 'em. And Daddy, too. I got her changed and dressed for the day and this is what Sean did...

That's right folks. He scraped the deck. And the driveway. At 6:15am. You're welcome neighbors. Glad we could be your alarm clocks this morning.

Keelyn was still in a state of shock that Mommy and Daddy would be home with her once again, so she sat and watched the news.

Wait for it... wait for it...

Wahooo!!!!!!!!!

As you can see, Keelyn was THRILLED to be home with us. Too bad she doesn't know yet the joys of summer fun vs. stuck inside because of ice.

I Hate Ice

I hate ice.

Yes. I know. Hate is a strong word. But it fits.

I hate it in my pop. Why? It waters it down.

I hated it when I was pregnant. I didn't want to chew on ice chips. Sick.

You know where else I hate it?

Here...


and here...


and here...

How 'bout you?

Back at it...

Keelyn is back at it these days.

We finished up her eye drops on Monday and finished up her antibiotic on Tuesday. She has been one happy camper ever since.

Since then, she's been happy, smiling, playful, talkative, giggly, and oh.so.sweet. Just to name a few things :P.

We are hoping *knock on wood, knock on wood, knock on wood* that the next time she goes back to the doctor is on Feb. 11th for her 6 month well-check. Keep your fingers crossed, will ya?

Mama's Little Helper

Wouldn't you love to do laundry if you had this lil' cutie as your helper, too?

Good vs. Bad

We've had our share of good, if not great, things in the past few months, and of course, we've had our share of bad.



However, in the past two weeks (namely, today), it feels like we've had even more of both.

Let's start, shall we?



The good---Sean and Keelyn had a Daddy/Daughter day on Friday and bonded.

The bad---They bonded so much that she preferred him more than me today :( {OK, so that's not necessarily bad, but it was sad for me}


The good---Keelyn is continuing to gain weight.


The bad---I know this because we've been to the doctor 4 times in 13 days, and to be more specific, 3 times in the last 5 days.





The good---We have great health insurance.


The bad---I am having to use it way too often!!!





The good---Keelyn rolled over 2 times today from her tummy to her back!!!


The bad---Sean wasn't home to see it, and when I tried to get her to do it for the rest of the day, she wouldn't do it. Oh, and she cried each and every time she was on her tummy.






The good---I found out today that Keelyn's ear infection seems to be gone.

The bad---I found out today by having to take Keelyn back to Urgent Care.





The good---I found out something very important about Keelyn that will affect her for the rest of her life.


The bad---I found out that Keelyn is allergic to penicillin... and the way I found that out was the rash that was covering her back, tummy, chest, some of her arms, and her hairline.

The good---I didn't go a week between posts this time.

The bad---guess what? That one has no bad!!!

I Think Not

Does this look like a little girl

who is suffering from

an ear infection?

I think not.

Food for Thought

... or thoughts of food.

Seriously, this girl can't get enough these days! I'm not sure what my problem is.

This morning, it started with me stopping by Casey's for a refreshing diet A&W root beer, but my body took me straight to the bottles of water first. I grabbed two big bottles of water, but yes, I still got my pop.

Then, this afternoon, it was time for snack at school. I was super excited to see it was apples! I whipped out the ol' apple slicer (my poor kiddos can't eat an apple without them being sliced) and I ate a katrillion apple slices. Well, really, it was probably more like 8 to 12 of them, but it felt like a katrillion. They were soooo good! I couldn't get enough. In fact, I'm wishing I had some right now, but the apple slicer at school? Yeah... it's my one from home. Shoot. Mental note: get another apple slicer.

Do you think my body is trying to tell me that I should be eating healthier, similar to how I was eating last year at this time, due to that little bundle of joy that was housed in my belly?

Who knows! And in no, no, NO WAY am I even attempting to elude to the fact that that will be me again. No way. No how. Nada.

I'm just sayin'... this girl's body wants the healthy foods and water back.

Sooo... if that's what it wants, that's what I will attempt to give it. We'll see how that works out.

In other news, Keelyn spiked another fever again when she got up from her nap today. That's 3 days in a row where she's gotten a fever. Tuesday, if you recall, she was at 100.6 at the doctor's office around 2:30pm or so. Yesterday, while home with me, her temp got to 99.9 after her afternoon nap. Today's got to 101.1.

Back to Mercy Central Peds Clinic we go. She has an appointment at 7:15pm tonight. Boy do I LOVE that they have night appointments. But, this means no daycare tomorrow (will she ever get back on a schedule again?!?!), Sean is staying at school super late to get things ready (worst day EVER for him to be gone tomorrow... but is being wonderful by sticking to our every other day deal), and me? I'll be fighting a super sleepy baby at the doctor's office tonight.

I sure hope they can tell me something concrete, though I'm guessing they won't.

Oh. And back to food. Not me this time. Keelyn's. It seems that she is liking my homemade food (finally!) so tonight I whipped up some green beans for her, got the sweet potatoes from yesterday into baggies, and am contemplating my next step.

Apples? Pears?? More green beans??? I've never tried fruit yet, but could give it a shot. What do you think I should make next? Leave me a comment and I'll go with the majority!

My Growing Girl

Look at what Keelyn learned how to do...

Forget the rolling over... we've gone straight to sitting!! Sure, she doesn't get there by herself, and sure, she sits a bit like a dog (wonder where she's learning THAT from), and sure, she tips over quite a bit, but wooohooooo!!! My baby met another milestone!!

In other news, Keelyn had more goopy gunk in her eye (same as last week with the whole pink eye crud) so I took her to the doc today**. Apparently, she's got some type of virus that is causing her eye gunk (possibly a cold that settled in her eye), a rash around her mouth, and a low-grade fever.

What exactly does this mean? This means that Mama gets to stay home tomorrow!! Will I ever work a full week again? Not gonna lie... I am going to take full advantage of tomorrow and make some more tasty baby food, do some more baby shower planning, do a TON of disinfecting, and I'm sure I'll get in some cuddle time, too.

**While at the doctor's office, they weighed her. Chunky Tot, as her loving father likes to call her, is seriously that. She is now 18 lb. 5 oz. Last weekend she was 17 lb. 9.4 oz. This girl looooooves herself some food!

Weekend Wrap-Up

Well, we had another freakishly long weekend, thanks to Mother Nature... again. Though I enjoyed being able to do some laundry, start cleaning the junk guest room, whip up some more homemade baby food, and do a little vegging. Oh! and spend MUCH needed time with Keelyn, I will be soooooo happy to have a full week of school this week.

But back to the weekend.

Saturday, when the weather cleared up a bit, Keelyn and I packed up the buggy Mom Bomb and traveled west to Omaha. There, we met Mom and Dad at our fantastic hotel. But that's not all, folks. Oh no! We all headed to Omaha to meet up with Jenna, my cousin, and Keelyn's personal babyGap shopper :^). We hadn't seen her since last August! You know, an entire YEAR before Keelyn came around.

Mom and Dad got in some much-needed granddaughter spoiling time while we waited for Jenna to arrive.

Keelyn was more excited to see a picture of herself than fully participate in my picture. Silly girl :)

What better spot to sit than on Grandpa!

Within minutes, she was knock knock knocking on our door...

...and going STRAIGHT for Keelyn!!

And of course, Keelyn went straight for poor Jenna's finger! She does love to chew on darn near everything these days.




So, we hung out in the hotel room for awhile then headed out to the mall. Let me just say this. I sometimes gripe about Des Moines' roads after a snowfall, but Omaha had the worst.roads.ever! Seriously, they didn't even have the entire outer lane cleared. Horrible!




I digress. Back to the mall story. We walked around the mall for a bit on a hunt for boots. For me. I've been lusting over the thought of owning some boots, and I figured with Keelyn's personal shopper with me, I could do no wrong. I was right, too!


I Jenna found a great pair at Dick's Sporting Goods on a spectacular sale (her words, not mine!). And now, I am the proud owner of a pair of Emu's. I know, right?!?!! It's GREAT! Well, they will be... once I get some protectant spray for them. Don't want 'em going bad right away.

After the big buy, we walked around a bit then got hit up by one of those ultra annoying "wanna take a survey" people in the mall. I made the mistake of stopping, only because it was to watch a movie trailer and get paid to answer a few questions. The promise of 8-10 minutes turned into the longest 30 minutes of my life! As for the verdict? NEVER go see the movie "Get Him to the Greek" when it comes out. A big waste. At least it looked like it to me.

Mall shopping done, we headed back to the hotel for a little more hang out time, and a photo sesh.

Love. Do you feel it? I do.

We had some difficulties with a group pic. One of us was ready, one of us wasn't. I'll let you guess who wasn't quite ready...



...and again...

... until SUCCESS!!!

" I la la la LOVE my shopper, err, I mean cousin, Jenna!", says Keelyn.

Our First 3 Generation Picture

Wardrobe change! And back to her favorite... play time with Grandpa.

Sunday morning was more bonding time with the grandparents.

We also noticed that Keelyn had sucked on her hand so much that she left teeth marks on her hand. Poor girl :(

A yummy breakfast at the hotel followed, then we had to take Jenna back to her friends' house so she could get ready to fly back home to Denver.

Here's a view of what the roads looked like on the way home.

Not the whole way, though. See? There were some good parts, too.

And Jenna, here's the pic I promised you... the snow is to the bottom of the neighbors' mailbox. Can't wait to see you in July!!!!!!!!!

Tag Team said it best

Oy vey, here it is Thursday night and it's been nearly a week since my last post. Really folks, I have these great intentions and fun (at least to me) ideas for posts each day, but the hands on the clock move faster than I do.

Let's see... where did I leave off?

Saturday. Yes, Saturday. The start of our last weekend before heading back to work, and what happens? This happens.

Yep. Keelyn got pink eye :(. Poor baby. Plus, a nasty ol' cold. I knew it was pink eye the moment I saw it, but I did one of those "oh no, I'm over thinking things. Surely my child wouldn't have pink eye. No. No. It's just gunky from sleeping" kind of self-talks. By mid afternoon, I knew it was, so I woke her up from her nap, took her to the doc, and waited (and waited, and waited) for his confirmation.




Sunday was spent giving doses of eyedrops, suctioning out a cute little nose, and resting up for the week of work (or lack there of) ahead.





Monday meant back to school for us and back to Holly's for Keelyn. Though I didn't cry, it was hard leaving her. We'd gotten a chance to bond even more over break :(. But she was happy to be back with her boys (even though she was a sick, cranky pants for Holly).




Tuesday was THEE big day in our home. We're talkin' Orange Bowl here people!! And, being the wife of the year and mama of the year self nominee, I squeezed Keelyn into her gold onesie one more time for the Hawks big game. Sure enough. She brought the good luck one last time and the Hawks won!!!

Mommy & Keelyn cheering on the Hawks!

Wednesday was bath night for our little love bug, and with these frigid temps, I couldn't handle putting her in her tub by the freezing cold window. So, we've now transitioned to bath time in the bath tub, in the bigger bath tub :).

I think she likes it... what do you think?

and yes, I strategically placed the washcloth. I MUST teach my daughter modesty!

Now we're up to today. Blizzard #3 of the year. Another missed school day due to bad roads. As Tag Team so wisely said, "here's a shovel, can you dig it fool?"

The answer to this brilliant question? No. No I can't. Wanna know why? Because this hard-as-a-rock icy snow BROKE our shovel! I know, how could such a thing happen, right? Well, when you get 31 inches of snow in a 30 day time span, that's how. Poor Sean. He was out there working away this morning in these cold temps. I've said it before, but I'll say it again, my night in shining carhart gear.

And tomorrow? Much like today. No school... again! I've been having a commenting conversation via Facebook with several colleagues about how we will be going to school well into June. Seriously folks, we're looking at June 12th now, then add 2 more days for me due to a summer institute that I must attend. And they say teachers get 3 months off. I don't think so.

I'm just hoping for the roads to clear up by Saturday morning so Keelyn and I can make the trek to Omaha to see my cousin Jenna (and my parents, of course!).

Top 12 of 2009

Sorry all... I was going to do this post yesterday (with pictures) but... my laptop got a nasty virus so it's in the shop (aka Geek Squad). Oy vey, that's gonna cost me. Part of life these days I guess, right? No pics in this post now b/c I don't know where the darn cord is for the camera. Shoot. That's on the to-do list for today!

Anywhosers, wow! What a year 2009 was!!! Without further ado, here is Lynamland's Top 12 of 2009 (in monthly order, of course).

January~~~we heard Keelyn's heartbeat for the first time (a year ago tomorrow, to be exact)
February~~~we found out that we were having a girl!!!
March~~~I got my new Mom bomb :)
April~~~I had that nasty fall down some stairs due to an over-stimulated, very large 16-year-old Autistic kiddo at Special Olympics.
May~~~I graduated with my Masters degree!
June~~~Sean and I celebrated our 5th anniversary
July~~~ of COURSE... Keelyn was born! Life as we knew it changed FOR.EV.ER!
August~~~Sean went back to school :(... and I stayed home on the first day of school for the first time in 20+ years
September~~~Keelyn went to daycare at Holly's house, Mommy went back to work, Daddy kept on working, oh, and Keelyn met god (aka Kirk Ferentz)
October~~~Keelyn had her 2 month well check and got some shots.
November~~~we celebrated Thanksgiving with both sides of our families at our home
December~~~Keelyn's first Christmas, a real reason to be excited for Winter Break, and Sean got a new truck.

Yes, folks. There you have it. Our Top 12 of 2009. We hope that your 2009 was as great as ours, and we are SO looking forward to the even better things to come in 2010.

Happy New Year everyone!!!