October 2011

I can't believe that the entire month of October is over! Where did time go? It is crazy to think that I was in Ohio for all but the last couple of days of it too.
Here is a list of the things that have happened:

• Shannon (ok it was the last weekend of Sept), Karleia, Ken and Jessica's birthdays!
• Lots and lots of visits to the Cleveland VA hospital to visit my grandpa. This consisted of spending time in the room visiting my grandparents, driving up in the middle of the night, spending the night, having family get togethers and lots of time at the fish tank with Connor. 
• Connor feeding my grandpa cheeze-its and even force feeding him one when he bent down to tell him bye. He even would kiss him on the checks and rub the sides of his cheeks.
• Watching my grandpa have a break down and cry when he realized and talked about the fact that he wouldn't be around to watch Connor grow up.
• Finding out that my grandpa passed away on Fri, 10-14 around 8 at night. My family was all at the hospital but i made the personal choice not to go, I had time to say my final goodbyes and I didn't want to see him in those last moments suffering.
• Of course the long days of the funeral and calling hours. The calling hours were good because there were so many people that came to show respect to him and my grandma.  The actual funeral was hard to get through.
• Seeing my sweet, loving husband for the first time after being apart for 3 whole weeks (this includes seeing how happy my sweet son was to be with his daddy again. The smile that grew wider and wider as he saw him walk up the steps towards him).
• A Massillon Tiger football game, well, one that didn't make it to the pregame. It ended up storming and we took the kids home. I was able to enjoy the first half that started late but the warm ups Connor saw he loved.
• Visits to my Grandma Kerstetter's house.
• Trunk or Treating with my siblings at my family's ward. (of course this means making Connor's Mr Potato head costume)
• Driving to LaGrange KY to watch Adam graduate from basic training and fire arm training for Probation and Parole officers.

and here are all the pics to go with the above :)

just like daddy working on his laptop

hanging out with joe after he broke his arm

making eggs with jess

reunited :)

football game

getting popcorn at the game

putting air in the tire w grandpa

helping grandpa

As you can see the month was very, very busy!! It was a sad month but also good to see and spend so much time with family. My grandpa's passing was made easier by the Plan of Salvation and the loving, comfort of the Holy Ghost and our Heavenly Father.  Needless to say, I am so grateful to be back home!

Hard times ahead...

My grandpa has been in the hospital now for the last two weeks. Two nights ago I got a phone call in the middle of the night that my mom thought he wasn't going to make it through the night. She had my dad take all the kids out in the middle of the night so that they could say goodbye. Luckily, he pulled through and is still with us. I had a huge break down in the middle of the night knowing that I am so far away and I want to see him.Thankfully, Adam and I are headed down Friday after he gets off work. Its hard because he has no vacation, sick or personal time built up and wont until Oct. We'll get in after 1 am. I feel bad for Adam because then he has to turn around and drive back Sun alone, but I am very glad that he will get to see my grandpa also. I am just going to stay with my parents until he gets back from training. It is going to be so hard and difficult to be away from him for 5 weeks. It breaks my heart that he and Connor wont be together. Hopefully, there are going to be nightly skype and phone calls. 

I am looking forward to the time that I get to spend with my family and my grandparents. The time I get to be with grandpa before he passes on and the last memories I get to make. I am so grateful for the gospel in my life and for the plan of salvation, the hope and knowledge that I, my family, and most importantly my grandma will be able to be with him for eternity. It makes me happy that my grandpa will get to be free of pain, and suffering. Also he will be amazing helping the work move along in the Spirit world and that is so important, I am sure he is looking forward to seeing his loved ones that have already passed on- especially my Aunt Wanda.

Stay at Home Mom

I have always wanted to be able to stay home with my kids.  Growing up this is how I would always just imagine my life when I had a family. When we first had Connor I was in my last semester for my Bachelor's degree, luckily all I had was an on-line religion class and my internship which also doubled as my job, I was gone roughly 27 hours a week.  That was hard, taking care of a newborn, nursing and being gone half the time. Once I graduated I had to work for the next year while Adam was finishing his degree. It wasn't too bad bc our schedules worked so that Connor rarely  needed a babysitter, which was a huge comfort knowing he was with Adam instead of a stranger (this only worked bc Adam was willing to work the 3-7am shift and take a ton of on-line classes).
When we moved to Ohio this past April, Adam and I both had the privilege of staying with Connor (and enjoying family time) but once it was clear it was harder to get a job, Adam started working full time as a security officer for Deibold.  During this time I was able to be with Connor still, we debated whether or not I should transfer my LSW and try to get a job. It would have been nice because I would have made good money but it wasn't the right choice.
A month ago we moved to Paducah, Ky and I am more than in love with being home all day with my sweet boy.  Even though I have been able to stay home the last 4 months, this is the first time that we have been living on our own and that it is just Connor and I.  I am so blessed that Adam and supportive of me not working, actually he doesn't want it any other way.  We thought about how much money we could make if I found a job here (it would basically double our annual salary) but it is still not even close to being worth it.

Here are some of my favorite things about being a stay at home mom: being there when Connor wakes up, coloring together, reading books, story time at the library, going on walks, playing at the park, hot wheel cars, teaching him how to make different sounds, dancing around the kitchen while we clean, singing songs together, being the one that gets to potty train him, baking together, watching him get excited to help me unload the dishes, watching movies and kids shows together, bath time, and so much more. Enjoy the pictures :)

Loves playing in his room

"Come get me Mommy!"

Every time I say "Cheese" he looks at me like that is a camera, not cheese

Color time

Climbing up all by himself

How did he get so BIG?

Rocking daddy's sun glasses

LOVE this pic

Picnic on the living room floor

Helping mommy clean the table

Ha this is how his shirt was when he woke up, so funny!

We spent a good 30 mins putting his stuffed animals in and out of the crib

Sidewalk chalk- learning about fall

New hair cut

Yummy!

Mom, please stop singing!

Yum! Cupcake batter

Learning about letters and reading from the show "Word World"

Happy boy!

PS- I don't even mind all of the "chores" that I have to do. I enjoy cleaning the house while Adam is at work. Laundry is so much easier now that we have our own washer and dryer! Plus I like cooking :)