baby cards

Parks,
I just took down your collection of cards. It pained me a little to pile them together, but our living room looks much cleaner. Love you,
momma

Which brings me to the question of the day:
What did you do with all of your baby cards? (put them in a scrapbook, put them in a box, throw them away, etc?) Or what did you do with your wedding cards? I have a nice stack of them in our guest bedroom that needs a more permanent home. I never know what to do with birthday, anniversary, etc. cards. It is a shame to throw them away, but being a pack rat is not much better. Hmph.

James and I are in Kansas for the week and don't have internet access at my dad's house (hence the lack of blogposts). Tomorrow I am going to Springfield for one of James' high school friend's wedding and am picking up another groomsman's wife in Olathe for a 4 hour car ride (our husbands are already there for the bachelor party). I've never said a word to the other wife IRL even though we both attended each other's weddings. She seems nice enough from a lil' healthy facebook stalking (thank you for letting me know she went to Ecuador *note to self: good conversation topic*). Oh man, I never dreamed I would marry a MK from South America.

In other news, I got the newlyweds-to-be a cooler filled with beer as a wedding gift. It might be the most white trash present ever, but hopefully they'll actually use it. (Hey the cooler was on their registry and I bought it the same day I returned a fondue pot from our wedding that has been sitting in our closet for over a year. BTW, everyone always gripes about Target's return policies, but I've never had any trouble with it and actually love Target registries).

Love!!! and happiness!! and marriage!!! :)

baby sleep

dear parker,
you are taking a sweet nap on the couch next to me as i write this. i am amazed at how well you are sleeping already and hope it continues. after returning from wisconsin, dad and i decided to try and give you a 10pm bedtime (you were staying up until around midnight). even though mom is very much a laissez faire parent, she thought a bedtime would help you naturally get into a routine. it worked! for the past 5 nights you've fallen asleep between 10-10:15pm. 3 of the 5 nights you woke up at 6am (8 straight hours of sleep, baby!) and the other two you woke up at 4am to feed (6 hours, not bad) and then fell back asleep. i really hope this continues because i am getting used to 0-1 feedings during the night.

who knows if you are just a great sleeper or if anything i've done helped you develop good sleep patterns. i don't wake you up for feedings during the day or night unless absolutely necessary. one night during the first week of your life you slept from midnight-7am. when i woke up and realized you had not eaten for 7 hours, i thought "crap, maybe i should've set my alarm for 4am." then i concluded that you and i both needed sleep and it was healthy for us.

at the hospital you always wanted to sleep instead of eat (i.e. after you were circumcised, when you received an iv for extra blood work, etc.). long story, but it was then that i decided to let you eat and sleep whenever you want, at least for the first few months of your life. it is working well for us so i plan to continue our relaxing lifestyle until something changes. why waste time and energy tracking your sleep and wake times when i could be doing much more exciting things like blogging, ha.

anyway, it's friday. dad and i are barbecuing some brats and hamburgers tonight. can't wait. love you little guy!!!
love,
momma

p.s. this is your new favorite place to sleep: your arms reach co-sleeper (actually i think you still like sleeping next to me in our king size bed better, but we're putting you to sleep in the cosleeper to help you get ready for your crib).
this is your favorite place to nap while dad and i are hanging out in the living room: the boppy. coming in a close second, the swing.you've never slept in your actual crib yet so this picture is a little deceptive. however, you LOVE your miracle blanket. after mom got over her fear that she would stunt your growth by wrapping you up in the little straight jacket, she's put you in it nearly every night. thank you "happiest baby on the block" for emphasizing the beauty of a good swaddle.
hope everyone has a great weekend and gets lots of sleep!!! love!

prime outlets

even though james and i are blessed to have wonderful families, our in-laws are still in-laws. as much as i love james' family (even though they throw away my mothers day flowers and would rather watch the mentalist and ncis over american idol and the biggest loser season finale, what??), i will never feel as comfortable around them as i do with my family. recognizing this was an important step for both of us. enjoying in-law visits. the first few times i brought james to kansas, i scheduled too much to do and all of the small talk with people he barely knew exhausted him. so, to help him look forward to kansas trips, we make it a priority for him to have an afternoon all to himself. he takes the car with no schedule or to do list. usually he ends up going to a boyish movie and comes home rejuvenated and relaxed.

this past week in wisconsin, i finally discovered my escape from the in-laws: kenosha's prime outlets. ahhh this made my trip. from now on, i'm making it a priority to spend one afternoon shopping at the beautiful j.crew, banana, white/black, etc. outlets. hallelujah! oh and i did i mention that i just discovered a chipotle in wisconsin?!? my trips to the in-laws are forever changed for the better. i highly encourage everyone to find one activity they enjoy in their in-laws hometowns to give them something to look forward to on the road trips.

and what did i buy? this 3/4 sleeve blue sweater that i wore to lake michigan with parker. $23.this classy necklace from white house black market. $10.
comfy springy tank from j. crew. perfect for stroller walks. $8
and while we're on the topic of shopping, i found this summery dress that i wore for parker's one month family pics at wal-mart. $10!

love yall!!!

pictures from the cheese state

parker,
you had so much fun on your first trip to wisconsin. many people loved on you every day making you smile more and more. here you are in the chilly 55 degree weather.
meet your best friend, the carseat. i can't believe you were content to sit in this for 12 straight hours, twice! good job, bud!

meet your cousin's boyfriend, "ya boy skittlez." dad and i happened to park behind big skittlez at aunt kathy's card party. yes, skittlez is white.

meet your uncle paul and great-grandpa kehrli (92 years old). uncle paul IS matthew mcconaughey in "ghost of girlfriends past." some day you will understand.
meet the beautiful flowers you gave me for mothers day. thank you! too bad grandma kehrli is (apparently) allergic to lilies and grandpa kehrli threw them away the day after you gave them to me. no, i am not bitter even though the flowers grandpa kehrli gave grandma graced the dining room table all week, grrr...

grandma kehrli's flowers

lastly, meet your other best friend, the bottle. you were such a champ taking the pumped bottle all week.

love you!! we really did have a great trip. off to kansas in another week. muah!

facebook

parker,
dad and i just set up your facebook account. not sure how you will feel about this when you are older, but we are having fun with it right now. your grandmas love getting messages on there from you. tonight is our last night in wisconsin. i love my in-laws, but i am ready to be home and get back to our normal routine. i miss my tv shows, i miss my bed, and i miss being able to be naked whenever i want. hopefully no more hooter hider any time soon. love you!
~momma
p.s. here is a picture of you and your best-friend-to-be jack(son) inside your respective momma's tummies. feb. 2009 (you are 8 months along and jack is 3)
may 2009 (where did you go? jack is still cooking strong at 6 months. mom is pretty happy her face and body are shrinking back to normal proportions)

oh look! there you are, in all of your cross eyed glory!
love you!!

i was just thinking

(one year anniversary pic)
if there is one thing i've learned during the first few weeks of motherhood, it is that crossing things off of the to-do list rarely happens. one of my friends told me that when making a to do list, put "nurse" and "diaper" on the list 10 times between every other goal. nurse, diaper, nurse, diaper, nurse, diaper, nurse, diaper, laundry!, nurse, diaper, etc. it's vital not to beat yourself up for not getting everything or anything you intended to do throughout the day done. if the baby is happy, healthy, and fed, then count it a success. that is my excuse for deviating from the blog agenda (although thank you all for the excitement of upcoming entries). by the time i write about elizabeth edwards, everyone will have forgotten about her interview with oprah, oh well.

so random thoughts from tonight:

1. went golfing for the first time since i had parker. yay for golf season!

2. i've secretly wanted a set of new callaway irons for over 4 years. they are expensive, but i plan on using them my whole life, so it's a justified investment. the big bertha driver dramatically improved my game, so i'm hoping that new irons and a few hybrids help even more.

3. we just put gutters on our house, which were about the same price as a set of irons. i guess gutters were a more urgent need with all of the rain, but still.

4. when parker's ss card arrives in the mail, we're taking a chunk of money and setting up his college savings fund. somehow this trumps my desire for new irons as well.

5. james wants to put up a rod iron fence in our yard. this is where i draw the line. the fence serves no purpose other than keeping up with the neighbors who all have fences (we have no dog = no need for a fence). new irons > new fence, end of debate.

6. i hope parker thinks his parents are cool and will include mom in his boyish activities like golf, poker, watching football, etc.

7. today we enjoyed the sand and sunshine at lake michigan.

8. i am dreading driving 12 hours home on sunday even though the trip up here went surprisingly well (thank you car adapter that makes pumping on the road possible).

9. since i pumped nearly every bottle on our trip, i kept track of how much parker eats in 24 hours (32 ounces!). he is a growing boy!

10. i love thinking about nature vs. nuture in relation to child development and plan to read more about it.

11. it's easy to get cocky when you have an "easy" baby and think that something you did caused the infant to behave well. at the same time, it's hard to believe that our actions do not have any affect on our infants. for instance, sometimes i pridefully think that the reason that parker has not goten sick (yet) is because i nursed and exposed him to many people, environments, etc. early on. however, i know that there are many breastfed babies who get sick despite the transfer of antibodies, so i need to be thankful for parker's health and not give myself too much credit.

12. parker never had any trouble taking a bottle of pumped milk, formula, going back to the breast, using a pacifier, etc. again, i wonder if this is mere luck or if my actions somehow helped (like waiting two weeks to give him a pacifier, which i don't think was really necessary).

13. it's my mother-in-law's 50th birthday.

14. i went out to lunch with her and her 3 best friends and someone randomly brought up the cosleeping deaths in the milwaukee area. i wanted so badly to state my full opinion about cosleeping, but it didn't seem like the right place or day. i overheard two of the women sheepishly mutter to each other that they coslept with their infants, so the one thing i said is that i read one of the deaths was from alcohol abuse, and then the woman who brought the subject up said another death was from cosleeping while overdosing on drugs. why do people always fail to leave out these parts of the stories?

15. we are cosleeping with parker at my in-laws, and i'm pretty sure they know. not a word has been spoken about it although i'm waiting for it. we will see.

16. a new season of the bachelorette starts monday (yay jillian)!

16. i know one of the bachelors. an old friend from high school called today. i picked up because i thought she was going to tell me she got engaged, but instead she said, "you'll never guess who is one of the bachelors--caleb kuhl!" one random night of high school caleb and i stayed up talking to him until 3am at his parents' house in kc, but i haven't seen him since then, ha! not really that cool, but it's the closest i've come to knowing someone famous since lisa was on elimidate.

17. parker's been asleep for an hour and a half and if i want any sleep i should probably call it a night.

love!!

vacation

(the latest website with our wedding pics--http://www.butterflyreleasecompany.com/-- love the little butterflies flying all around james and me. actually the idea of releasing butterflies at a wedding is pretty cute).

we are having a wonderful time in wisconsin. the in-laws are elated to have parker here (james and i went on another date tonight!), parker got me some pretty roses, asiatic lillies, and gummi worms for mothers day, and the fam is playing lots and lots of cards.

i forgot my usb cord, so no new pictures, but hopefully some good blog entries this week. i still have a list of entries that i want to write, but somehow feeding, burping and changing parker is taking priority. posts on the hopeful upcoming agenda:

*labor story

*cheating/elizabeth edwards/divorce

*pediatrician vs. family doctor

*why the first month of motherhood (for me) was not as dramatic or difficult as people made it out to be

*another attack of mary kay

*recommended reading list for new mothers (actually i need some recommendations)

*first desire i've ever had to be a SAHM

and because i can't post without a picture or two, here are pictures from the day parker was born and another taken on his one month birthday.

bags under our eyes, needing to shave, etc.

ahhh much better!

love yall!!

the moro reflex

one of my favorite parts of each day is when parker gets startled and sticks his arms straight out like the picture above. it is absolutely precious. in "the happiest baby on the block," karp says that the moro reflex evolved to protect a falling infant by giving the mother a better chance of catching him. oh parker, you make me smile every day. love you!


off to pack for a week excursion to wisconsin. happy early mothers day! love!

1 month stats

don't have much time tonight, but parker had his 1 month visit on monday and the (new) doctor said he looks perfect! (minus a little diaper rash) a few vital statistics:

birth:
8 lbs 9 ounces (i thought he was going to be huge!)
19 inches

3 days old:
7 lbs 15 ounces (normal to lose weight the first few days doc said)
20 1/2 inches

1 month:
9 lbs 9 ounces
22 1/2 inches

good job, buddy! you gained a whole pound this month! and GREW 3 1/2 inches??? is that normal? possible answers: a. yes it is normal (unlikely) b. they measured you wrong at the hospital (my guess) c. babies "stretch out" their first few weeks of life.

tomorrow google will help solve the mystery. love yall (yay for sunshine, finally!!!)

wonderful weekend

parks,

saturday you went to your first wedding and were an absolute doll! you slept most of the time (what's new) and everyone loved holding you. there are about 15 u of a girls who are your biggest fans. it rained all day, which meant that everyone had to stay inside the winery instead of dance as planned, but we still had a great time. there wasn't an ideal spot for dad and i to change you, so we made do in the food prep room (the only other room in the building). you definitely peed all over a bag of bread (oops!), but luckily we threw it away before anyone saw your little present. love you oh so much!!!

~momma

hanging out with some of our favorite couples...

you slept right through dinner with all of the other presents!

dad hung out with the boys

and mom with the girls

you were loved on by your favorite women

we ate cake from the might caddo and osage camp tribes

did i mention the reception was at a winery?

love yall! happy tuesday! maybe the sun will actually come out today...

one year ago today...

some lovely ladies...

and some crazy boys...

got together to pray...
celebrate...

dance a little cupid shuffle...smash some cake...

and get on a plane to jamaica!!!!!

oh what a crazy, fabulous year. love you baby!!!!!

all smiles

parks,

on thursday dad and i witnessed your first real smile! we questioned whether it was a gas smile or not because it was a little too early for real smiles, but you've given us more and more smiles since then and WE LOVE IT! we love you! i give you a glimpse of parker's first smiles caught on camera...

regular face

smiling face!!!
smile #2!!off to a wedding in ozark, arkansas (wherever the heck that is). *prays parker does not cry or make a scene during the ceremony* happy saturday! love (and smiles!!)

kehrli Look-alike Meter

it's friday. equally like mom and dad?? boring! i think he looks more like me, especially in this picture. oh well.

happy weekend yall! love!