Jasper.

This weekend was great. My Mommy came into town from Coeur d'Alene and it is ALWAYS so nice to have her around. It made both Stu and I want to move to CdA to be closer to them. Kaden was absolutely in LOVE with his "Momma E". He followed her around and wanted her approval for everything he did. It was so great.

We ended the weekend by getting a puppy! :) He is a 14-week-old black lab mix from the Humane Society and he is so sweet. I had been adamant that we couldn't get a dog yet. We were both starting school, another baby on the way, we just didn't have enough time or love for a puppy right now. But then he did the unthinkable and showed me a picture of a sweet little 14-week old puppy with a blue bandanna around his neck. I melted. I caved.

We jumped in the car with my Mom and my cousin Flower (who had also fallen in love with him by just his picture) and headed down to the Humane Society. It took us less than ten minutes to locate him and then before I knew it, we were signing adoption papers and picking out a collar and leash.

We named his Jasper and brought him home and then Stu and I set off in search of a doggy bed and supplies for him. He got to go play with my Uncle Doug's dogs (Woodie and Ozzy) and then we all went home. He has been so great so far with potty training and getting used to his new place in our family and we have been happy to have him. Kaden and Jasper play for much longer than Kaden used to play by himself and last night he didn't go potty in his "kennel" (our mud room) at all! So that's great!

Stu and I both grew up with black labs so it is a nice tradition to pass down to our son. :)

Jasper playing with the other dogs at Marcia's house.

Taking a little snooze.

We start school today and as I type this, Stu is sitting in his Sociology class (hopefully taking lots of notes! :)) I have math after work tonight in a double session (on Tuesdays) so I won't be home until after 7, which sucks, but hopefully the next 4 months will fly by and then we will be that much closer to our degrees when the new addition to our family makes his or her arrival this summer.

Christmas 2009 Update.

I have just been a bad blogger since I got home. What a shame. I keep forgetting I even have one. How's THAT for being otherwise prioritized? Haha. I used to LIVE on this blog.

Anyway, so we've been pretty busy the past few weeks getting our house organized more and unpacking the mounds of boxes I didn't even know we had (and tossing a great majority of it).

Christmas was fun. My little Kaden boy delighted in opening his cool gifts and partaking in the magic of Santa. His favorite part that was Santa actually ate the cookies and milk we left out for him! He was amazed. :)

We also went sledding with friends up in Idaho City and made time for Christmas lights and of course some Christmas movies.

The rest of the week I had off, Stu and I got into the routine of organizing/unpacking in the morning then after lunch Kaden would go down for nap and we would cuddle up on the couch (and recline of course! hehe) and watch Man v. Food, Anthony Bourdain, and the Discovery Channel to pass the nap time.

Now I am back at work and we are trying to get our house ready for both my Mommy's upcoming visit (no fog this time!!! I mean it!) and starting school in less than two weeks. My evenings get drastically shorter once school starts (as does my lunch, heh) so I want to have as much done and ready to go as possible.

We found out how unorganized we still are when this weekend Kaden came down with a pretty gnarly fever and we couldn't find any of the 3 or 4 thermometers were had. So I had to make a run to the store for a new (super cool 8-second) thermometer and Children's Tylenol to soothe my poor sick baby. Luckily, thanks to his super immune system, after two doses of Tylenol and a good deal of lounging in from of the TV all day, he was back to his happy, mischievous self the next morning. Thank God.

Stu is adjusting well to being back home. Though he did have his first twinges of reverse homesickness last night, saying, "I miss it there sometimes." I had talked to him about this phenomenon while he was still over there, to which he replied, "No way, I hate this f**king place. I won't miss anything about it." Told ya! :) But otherwise he is starting to get bored of being home all the time with Kaden and seems eager/anxious to start school.

I have been pretty good. I feel pretty "normal", though I definitely have a belly now that wasn't there before. I'm not feeling nearly as sick as often and only certain smells trigger it for me now. Which is way better than everything making me ill. Everyone keeps asking, but I still don't have a good due-date yet. I'll let you know when I know. :)