Thanksgiving

This year we spend Thanksgiving in Del Norte with Merek's Great-Grandparents. Aunt Brenda, Uncle Randy, Kellen, and Scott were there too. The food was great and the company was even better!
The picture is old, but I like it. It's Merek with his Great-Grandpa.

Halloween

We spent Halloween in Parachute with Aunt Brenda. Merek when trick-or-treating with his (second) cousins Kellen, Quiana, and McKenna. They all got tons of candy!

Without Merek

I went for a week of training in November for my new job. That meant that I had to leave Merek for 5 days. Being dropped off at the airport was the hardest, I didn't know if I was going to make it through 5 days without him.

Luckily, once I was in California I stayed busy enough to not dwell on being away from him. In the end it was a nice little break for both of us.

He got to stay at grandma's house. Aunt Allison and Great-Grandma also helped out with him. He even got to go visit grandpa.

It was so beautiful in California I wanted to move there. But every time we started driving the traffic reminded me of why I could never live there.

Something New!!

Things are starting to head in the right directions! I just found out yestarday that I have a NEW JOB. This is very exciting to me, but I'm very nervous.
I will be a "Case Review Specialist." I will go to different NICUs around Colorado to collect information for the insurance company. Luckily it will only be NICUs because I don't know a darn thing about adults!
I know I'm going to miss working with the babies, but I hope to enjoy this even more. It's more of an 8-5, Monday-Friday job, instead of my current 12 hour shifts. It will be very different to work 5 days a week. But I will get to spend some time with Merek every day now, that is so exciting.
The hardest part will be my first week. I have to fly to California for 5 days of training, which means I will be away from Merek for 5 days. I have never been away from him for that long, but he will be with Grandma and Aunt Allison so he will be well cared for.

Wish me luck!!

Sign Language

Little Mr. Merek has started his sign language class! People have asked, "Is he deaf?" Not at all, but he does have very selective hearing.
This week was his second class, he absolutely loves it. He can be grumpy all day, but he does wonderful in class. He is usually one of the only kids running around, while most of the other children stay seated with their parents. But he still keeps his eyes glued to his teacher. He sometimes tries to imitate her and he loves to dance when she turns the music on.
I try my best to use our signs at home, but so far he hasn't signed a whole lot. He definitely can say, "all done" when he is done eating. It's not neccessarily the sign language we learned, but it works.

Stress.......

Life has been quite stressful.

Merek has been fussy for the last few days. I am sometimes thankful to go to work to get a break, but then shortly after feel guilty for feeling that way. It can be challenging to not have someone else to take over sometimes. I absolutely love Merek, and wouldn't want my life to be different, but some days are definitely hard.

Work has been interesting. I'm thinking that I'm ready for something different. I love working in the NICU, but would like to expand my horizon. I've looked into a few different options, but so far everything keeps falling through. I'm just not so sure where my career is heading. I've also considered going back to school to get my master's degree but that won't happen for a while.

Dating.........ya right!! The dating scene isn't quite what I had hoped it would be. But I'm not so sure it can get any worse.

Here's to hoping that things will get just a little bit easier!

10:35pm

Exactly one year ago Merek was born.
I still remember going to my doctor's appointment that morning. They talked about inducing me the next day, but Merek decided that he didn't want to wait. My water broke at the doctor's office. I drove myself to the hospital, trying to call everyone that I could. He worried me a few times during my labor and I ended up with a c-section. I wanted to hold him right after he was born but couldn't because my arm was numb from all the meds. Luckily my co-worker in the NICU brought him over for me to hold in the recovery room. He was absouletly perfect!
He was born on September 18, 2007 (Tuesday) at 10:35pm. He weighed 5 pounds 8 ounces and was 18 1/4 inches long.
My life definitely has not turned out how I would haved planned. It has turned out to be more wonderful than I could have ever imagined.

Merek's 1st Birthday Party

We celebrated Merek's 1st Birthday this last Saturday. It was a beautiful day! Lots of family and friends were able to join us for the celebration. Merek enjoyed eating his cake. Mommy got to open all of his presents since he fell asleep with grandma.

New Hair

Merek got his first real haircut before his 1st birthday party. He wiggled and squirmed so parts of it aren't perfect, but he looks so handsome. I can't believe how much older he looks with his hair shorter. He doesn't look like a baby anymore. But he will always be my baby!

Balloon Festival

The Balloon Festival was Labor Day weekend. Merek and I went two mornings and one evening to see the balloons. It was a little chilly in the mornings but we had lots of fun. We went to the Balloon-Glo with Lucas and Mariah. The boys had lots of fun together.

Swimming Lessons

Merek took 6 weeks of swimming lessons. The first week he wasn't quite sure. The middle four weeks he had a lot of fun. The last week or so he was teething again and was not a happy camper. He definitely can't swim by himself yet, but we had a lot of fun trying. Our next adventure is sign language class. We start in October.

And here it is!!

So here is a picture of my new refrigerator. I'm so thankful to have a wonderful, WORKING refrigerator.

New Refrigerator!

So....My refrigerator decided to die again. This is the third and final time! So I went and spent way to much money yesterday to buy a new one. Currently we are living out of the small deep freezer I have (thank goodness) and some coolers that I'm borrowing from a friend. Not exactly fun. But I will have an awesome refrigerator on Friday!!

Trip to the Aquarium

Merek went on his first trip to the Aquarium in Denver. We went with Brenda, Kellen, Cindy, Heather, Chris, Allison, & Steve. Merek liked to look at all the fish, but I think he will like it even more when he is older!