iPhone!

I am so addicted to my new phone!

Last week, Jack and I cruised down the aisles of Jordan Creek, while Daddy signed us up for new phones. We had a blast! We climbed through tunnels, snacked on a very messy M&M cookie, and played the 'don't walk over to that lady, she doesn't know who you are!' game about a hundred times. We also rented one o the little push around cars. Holy cow Jack loved it! He rested his arms and chilled!

Hours later I was the proud new owner of a cute, white, smart iPhone!

I typed in my iTunes account info, and in seconds all of my songs and info was already there! So amazing :)

In fact, I'm writing this post from it! Who knew Blogger had an app?

"Theres an app for that!"

I love you, new phone, and all the cute pictures you take of my three-days-shy of a one-year-old! :)

Three Tree Family!

I'll be the first to admit it... I'm obsessed with Christmas.

As soon as I flip the calendar to October, my brain starts racing towards Christmas trees, sparkling lights, and the smell of cinnamon Yankee candles filling the air.

Last year, we spend the holidays snuggling our newest addition to our family from the comfort of our little apartment. My focus was definitely NOT on Christmas decor. In fact, it probably was the only year I didn't add something to my collection of snowmen, Santas, and garland.

This year is the first Christmas in our new house. All kinds of nooks-and-crannies I've never decorated before. Score! I knew we'd do it up big this year...but I didn't realize we'd end up with three, count them, three trees. Whew!

The first tree...
A tall, skinny tree to accent our living room. It's tucked right in the corner of our living room, right next to the fireplace and window facing the backyard. Small, petite, and subtle.

Tree number two...
I wanted to start a family tradition of picking out a real Christmas tree to decorate. And, we have a big window in the front of our house that is screaming for a Christmas tree to be in front of it.

Off we went...to Howell Tree Farm in Cumming, Iowa. Rows and rows of perfect little Christmas pine trees. It was simple: pick a tree, take the tag, write your name on it, and they cut it down for you! It wasn't long before we found the one. A tall, fat, green pine tree soon to become our family Christmas tree...the very first real one we've ever had.

Oh, we ran into Santa, too!

It was a great little family adventure.

Until...

We got the tree home.

First, the tree stand holder was too small. Uh-oh. It was the BIGGEST tree stand at Menard's. I finally found a bigger tree stand...

...we untied the string holding the tree together...

...and...

IT WAS HUGE! Massive. Gigantic. Literally, the tree takes up half of our little den/office room. Oh man.

Two hours later, a vacuum bag filled, and thousands of dead pine needles picked up, we had our tree!

I'd like to call it big and beautiful :)

The third tree:
A cute little whimsical tree on my new table for the entryway. Simple and cute!


PS - As I type this blog, my little man is wandering all over our house with a shiny, gold, glittery ornament singing "la ba ba mama na la ba". I'm sure he's going to share my love for Christmas...and I think his babbling is his version of jingle bells? =)

Good People

The world really is filled with good people.

I am attempting to finish last-minute plans for our big project in science this week and next.

I should be writing my grad paper since I have conferences tomorrow night and it's due Wednesday.

What am I doing instead? Stalling. Blogging about good people. I don't know why, but I'm inspired.

Today, I was watching Ellen. A cute little family of four -- a son in high school and a special needs daughter; two teachers as parents. All kinds of things they could complain about -- but did they? No. They started up a pantry for kids who don't have dinner when they get home from school. They adopted a teenager who wouldn't have anywhere to go otherwise.

Adorable.

Absolutely, utterly, unexplanably adorable. Is that a word? I'm making it one.

I am now watching Hoarders. Clearly, I watch too much tv. This is definitely not the usual...

While moving out hundreds, count that thousands of boxes, one of the 1-800-got-junk guys that helps clean out houses broke this poor little lady's vase. She was so upset. They made her move on and forced her to keep cleaning through the tears. The got junk guy came back after leaving to surprise her with a new vase filled with dozens of flowers.

Again, adorable.

Thank goodness for our world filled with good people...

{My students joke about my positivity. Today, one student said "Mrs. Krieger, of course you'd say your glass is half full, but even if you had an empty glass, you'd probably say it's soon to have something in it!" He made my day.}

Do something good.

Inspire someone.

Be the next guest on Ellen's "do something nice for someone" segment.

Walking...

Everyone with kids told us "wait until he's walking"...and I thought how can it be any different? Oh, it's different alright!

Go, Jack, Go!

Here's to finding cupboard locking devices -- recommendations, anyone?!
Here's to Jack actually getting use out of his cute, stylish shoes.
Here's to less wear spots in Jack's baby Gap jeans.
Here's to more bruises on his little cheeks when he catches his fall on his face.
And, here's to our baby growing into a toddler more and more each day.

I love you, Jack, and all of our little adventures together!

Accomplished...

A walking 11-month-old.
Freshly cleaned carpets.

Sweatpants, movies, and wine with friends.
Sparkling windows cleaned inside and out.
Dinner and two pitchers of margaritas with friends.

This weekend was about feeling accomplished.

It's been a crazy busy couple of weeks, and this weekend I was hoping for some time to catch up on my supermom duties --- tasks that even the best Mr. Mom wouldn't think of, nonetheless accomplish. So, I scrubbed every. single. window. of our house on the inside and the outside -- making sure to get every ounce of dirt off. I finished every load of laundry. And, I shampooed the carpet. It was nice to have time to take care of some of these not-so-often done tasks.

Spur-of-the-moment plans filled our weekend with friends -- my ideal way to make plans. Last minute. If we plan it in advance, you better believe I'll find a way out of it :). Plan it last minute, and I'm there! I don't know why...and I know that's weird. But, it's me!

As I was running around our house dusting off air vents and vacuuming out bugs out of light fixtures, I glanced down and saw Jack walking around the living room! No Eric, no walker, and no Mommy holding his hands -- just an 11-month-old on a mini-mission. It was adorable. Crazy adorable.

Today it hit me -- we're parents. I glanced down while getting ready for the day and saw the wipes case I bought before Jack was even here. {The best $2 we spent on him, since we still use it today!} I realized that for almost a year I've been in charge of this little guy...he's all ours. We're parents. And, not new parents, but veteran parents with an almost-toddler walking around our house.

Isn't it crazy how much can change in a year?

I'm thankful for weekends of accomplishment.

I am loving watching my little walk around for the first time.

I am needing ideas for downsizing a not-so-much-needed diaper bag?!?!?!

I love our cozy, perfect house.

I love having my new camera to snap the cutest little pictures of Jack.

I'm glad it's almost Christmas...early, I know.

A one-sock, no pants, happy little Jack

Cupboards? Yes, please. And, I'll take out all of mom's stuff one by one.

Here he comes...

Hi-ya! Kung fu baby

There he goes!

Jack's First Halloween

An adorable little chicken costume, neighborhood full of little kids, Jack's first little pair of mittens, and a bowl full of candy describe our first Halloween as a family.

Most people know that I absolutely hate Halloween. I never understood the point...and I just don't like costumes. Or, people in costumes. Or, people who wear slutty-almost-no costumes. Or, handing out candy to teenagers who shouldn't be trick-or-treating. I could keep going...

Halloween with a little guy, however, makes it kind of enjoyable. While we sat on our freezing porch with our bowl full of the last-on-the-shelf candy bars, we got to watch an adorable fleece chicken crawl around our little block. {We were so busy with everything else that we didn't even realize we'd be home in time for "Beggars Night", so Eric rushed to the store last minute} Why in DSM do they call it beggar's night, anyway?

It was nice to chat with our neighbors.

It was fun to watch our little boys together.

It was fun playing with my camera.

It was nice to be home.

Jack aka Chicken --- all ready for costume day at daycare!

It was cold! Cute little mittens!

A few of Jack's future buddies :)

Who opened the barn doors? A cow and a chicken on the loose...

Happy Halloween, everyone!

Oh, and today is Jack's 11 month birthday. One more month and our little baby Jack is ONE! Wow...

Pumpkin Farm!

We found this cute little pumpkin farm in the heart of Urbandale. It was perfect. We picked out pumpkins for all three of us, snuggled in hay bales, and people watched. Oh, and I took over a hundred pictures :) Our first family tradition.

He loved standing up to this thing!

Hey, what's in here?

Pumpkins, pumpkins everywhere!!

Thank you, Kleenex

It has been a snot-filled, kleenex-as-our-best-friend, snuggly kind of week in the Krieger household.

Crud.

That's what I call it. On Sunday night, our little sleep-through-the-nighter was up two or three times just screaming. I snuggled, cuddled, and dreamed about my sub plans for Monday. Sure enough, I stayed home to snuggle with my boogs. At noon, a sick daddy also came home sick from work. Sick babes. Sick hubby. Sick mom.

Crud.

The worst part? It's gone on ALL week! As soon as one of us feels better, then one of us gets sicker! Finally, today we decided to take Jack to the doctor. We were blaming most of his symptoms on - the I don't know - eight teeth he's working on. Nope. Ear infections.

Dear Baby Medicine:

Make my big man feel better. We're ready to watch him walk all over again. We're read for our happy-go-lucky dude who will peruse around the house aimlessly for hours humming and cooing. Please continue to convince him that the cutesy, pink, bubble gum flavored goo is yummy and delicious. Please, please help us to become our happy, healthy family once again.

I know, that's a big line-up. But, baby medicine, I believe in you.

Sincerely,
Mommy

PS - YOU HAVE to check out the NEW Kleenex -- Cool Touch. AAAAAAmaazing. Cool to the touch on a snotty, runny nose. Perfection, pure perfection.

My dream came true...

...not the knight-in-shining-armor dream or anything, but, one of my 'dreams' did come true today.

Before Eric and I even decided on what house we would build and where, there was one thing I was sure of: I would have a cute metal sign hanging from my wreath hook on my brick red front door. No matter which neighborhood we passed through, I always saw these adorable flip-flop, flower, or welcome signs that were made of painted metal. I never knew where to find them or how much they would cost, but, I was sure I'd have one.

I dreamed about having one of these signs.

Sad. I know. =)

Fast forward seven months later...

Eric and I stopped by Valley Junction - which used to be so close to our old apartment in WDM and now is 20+ minutes away - to look for halloween costume ideas. My secret plan was to drag Eric into Wicker and the Works, a small-town crafty decor store that I found out awhile ago carries massive amounts of these to-die-for metal signs. Well, it worked. After six blocks of walking, searching, and finally stopping into some random "Paris" themed store (that smelled more like goodwill than french anything) to ask for directions, we found it!

In we went...

I was like a kid in a candy store. Quirky home decor; crafty, yet clever. Classy, but definitely not cookie-cutter. Oh man I should have never searched for this place! We walked through some of the coolest house decor I've ever seen without noticing any cutesy metal signs. I was disheartened. All that searching and for nothing!? Sure enough, tucked in the back corner was a metal sign explosion! I picked out my very first 'Screenings by Peri Woltjer' and we were off! Success!

Take a look at my dream come true...




I see many more of these in my future. Eric, here's my Christmas, Birthday, Valentine's, and Anniversary wish list for years to come =)

Motherhood...

318 days.

'Motherhood' before actually becoming a mom seemed scary, overwhelming, and unexplainably out of my reach. Now, 47 days until my little is one, and I'm feeling more and more like a mother.

I love being a mom. I love being Jack's mom.

Tonight, for the first time in many, many months, Jack was screaming - wide awake in his crib around 10:00. I, often missing my little boogie dude late at night since his bedtime is 7 pm, was excited. Snuggles and kisses for mommy and Jack. I wiggled and pulled out the dusty corduroy rocking chair in Jack's nursery, grabbed our very favorite chamois baby blanket, and sank in with my not-so-tiny 10-month-old for a good old-fashioned snuggle. Everything flashed back into my memory: burp rags, nursing covers, tiny diapers, terrible late-at-night tv shows, and nursery rhymes. Just a rock in the ol' rocking chair brought me back to the first days of becoming a mom. I can remember those first days like it was just yesterday...

318 days later and I'm still so much in love with being a mom. I love when I smile at Jack he smiles right back -- with a grin that seems to be ear to ear. I love having something to look forward to every single day. From his first little winces as he wakes up in the morning to his grunt-and-scoot he does after he spots me in the corner of his eye when I walk in the door of daycare. I love stripping Jack down to just his diaper so he can devour an entire meal of rotini noodles, turkey spaghetti, and peas all by himself. And, I love sitting down in a pile of toys on the living room floor and grabbing a book to read with Jack {who, by the way, is really into turning pages already! =)}

I still love folding Jack's little clothes. I want to hug and kiss every genius that went into designing the scents of Johnson's baby wash and lotion. I still have a "Jack cupboard", except instead of just bottles and Gerber puffs, it's filled with plates with separate compartments, raisins, and sippy cup upon sippy cup.

Every little sigh, every little laugh-out-loud squeal, and even every cry make me love being Jack's mom even more. Every day brings us closer to Jack's first birthday. It's crazy and surreal to think Eric and I have survived and succeeded for almost one whole year as parents. Now, it seems effortless, simple. As if we've done this our whole lives...

I am beyond thankful for my little man.
Motherhood has indefinitely changed my life in more ways than I could ever imagine.
I love you, Jackson Charles Krieger, and I always will.

Love,
Mom