Yes, it has been too long

and I say every time that I miss posting for a while that I will try to post more often. But as we all know, life is busy!

Kemper is a little over 19 months now, and I can't get over how smart he is. We are probably a little biased being that he is our offspring, but seriously, he's a tiny little mimic machine. You say it, he says it. This has been more than amusing in some cases; how many 19 month olds do you know that "Raise the Roof" *woot woot*, or say "Alright, diggity"? (That may only be humorous to those of you who watch The Family Guy). It has also been a real whip on my potty mouth. I work in a receiving department, in a factory. I drop more than the occassional F* bomb, and I know how awful and unlady like it is, but at work, it's almost second nature. I've been doing very well at home, due to two words (that will remain unmentioned) being repeated by Kemper.

He loves hockey. I mean LOVES it. He loves reading daddies "Hockey News" magazines, and pointing out the "Goagies". If he sees the Toronto Maple Leaf symbol he says "Hotee" over and over until you acknowledge that "yes, it is hockey". He says "GOAL" and "YES!" and points at the TV when his favorite team, The Leafs score. It's actually quite a riot!

We will be slapping the blades on him next weekend for the first time at my works Christmas party. It should be interesting.

It's been so long that I have about 12 chapters to catch everyone up on; so I will do my best to post again before Christmas!!!

All That's In Between

It seems like time skips along quicker and quicker these days. I guess that's partly because Canadian summers are so short.

I apologize for the lack of updates. We've been busy.

Kemper is 16 months now. Everyday is something new and great. He says new words almost daily, and is more mobile that I thought a sixteen month old could be. He inquires about everything he sees by pointing and saying "uh?" When you tell him what it is, he does his darndest to repeat it back to you. He knows lots of names of people now and everyone is thrilled everytime they hear him say their names.

Kemper loves Loops at Gramma's. Papa loves sharing red slush puppies with him, and Pops let's him serve himself crackers. Everything he eat's gets followed by a "mmmmmmmmm", almost like it's the greatest thing he's ever tasted.

Our sitter is on holiday's for the next couple of weeks, so his Gramma has joyfully voluteered to keep him. He'll be spending 3 nights at Gramma's house, (first time for that length of visit without mommy and daddy) and then Gramma will take him back for another night. Nana and Papa have voluteered to give Gramma Friday off and take him for the day. And as of Friday at 2:30, I'm on holidays!

We're heading to some friends' place in Stratford that we haven't seen since thier wedding in August '03. A lot has changed since then. They have two girls now, and we've since gotten married and had Kemper. We're so looking forward to spending some time with them. We don't really have any other solid plans, but I'm sure we'll do some day trips here and there.

I'll let you know how many times I've called Gramma's house when his visit is over!

As We Celebrate

Canada's birthday, we enjoy some downtime at Kevin's family's cottage. Kemper's second visit, and most active one. We tried swimming and playing with the hose and just enjoyed the outdoors.

We've had success in the daycare department. She is wonderful. And Kemper loves her, and the kids that she cares for. Third times a charm I suppose. It certainly makes being back at work much easier.

Here are some pic's from the weekend, enjoy.

Head and shoulders.....

head, head, head!

This is one of the newest rhymes that we are learning. Kemper's definitly got the head part down! He pats his head repeatedly until near the end of the tune when he starts either pulling his ears or poking his nose. So smart, my little monkey!

I know I haven't posted much lately, but being back at work full time takes up a lot more time than I though. I'm not really sure what I was thinking; it's forty hours a week out of the house, that have to in someways (lunches, diaper bags, etc.) be prepared for. I've also been going through a heck of a time with day care lately. I've been through two providers in the two months that I've been back at work, and I've been two weeks without any at all. Well, when I say *any at all*, my mom has once again, saved my day. I really am lucky to live this close to my parents, and to have them do pretty much anything for us.... but that's another post all together.

Kemper has made so many changes lately. He walks. Like crazy. He's all over the place. He doesn't crawl much at all anymore. It's wonderful, and sad all at the same time. I mean, I'm so proud of my little man! You're walking! Look at you! But wait, you're walking away from mama.... *sighs* He's growing up so fast. He's learning so quickly. He loves playing "Itsy-Bitsy-Spider" (he doesn't the up the water spout part), and "Patt-a-Cake" (he pats and marks it with a B), and daddy's favorite- "SCORES!" when he will throw his arms in the air and then pat whoever's head is nearby (most recently he's been patting his own head!), while daddy says, "Waytagoboys, waytagoboys!"

Needless to say, Kevin and Kemper are making out quite well together while I'm working afternoons. I'm pretty sure that we're ready for me to go back to both day's and afternoons (I've been on afternoons for three weeks while trying to solve the daycare issues). We're excited to have family time in the evenings again, starting next week, when Kemper starts at his new babysitters! Yay! I met Gayle last year at a Wilton Cake Decorating course, but didn't know she was doing daycare until recently. We did some interviews in the past couple of weeks. Nothing really jumped out though. I think you should get a warm fuzzy feeling, and not fuzzy from the dirt on the floor fuzzy. (One of the places was disgusting and I wouldn't send my dog there. And he rolls in dirt.) When we went into Gayles today, I got that feeling. It was an internal sigh of relief. My heart has hurt lately with the thought of him not going to a daycare where it's wonderful, and fun, and sunny and great. So anywho, we will try for a couple of weeks, (she want's to make sure she can handle him with everyone else since he's the youngest) and see where it goes. I have a good feeling though. Keep your fingers crossed for us.

I have so much to say, but not much time these days, I will post again as soon as I get a chance!

Happy(?) Birthday Kemper

What a week.

I thought I was being a smarty pants by taking last Friday off to prepare for my boo's first Birthday. He and I would have all day to do the things we needed to do. Get stuff together, bake his cake, get in a little playing here and there and so on. Well, smart in taking Friday off. I also had to take Thursday off. When I took Kemper for his 1 year Birtday pictures on Wednesday, something didn't seem right. He seemed a little off, but everyone has their days, so we went on that. Wednesday at lunch time, I dropped him off at his sitters, and a few hours later Kevin picked him up. He played with his friend AJ for a bit on Wednesday and then Kevin took him home. Dinner time came, but didn't work out so well for Kevin. Kemper projectile vomitted everything he had eaten all day, all over Kevin. And then came the diareaha poops. Kev tried to get a hold of me at work, to no avail. Sunofa... When I got home at a quarter to eleven, all I could smell was puke and poop. My bathtub was filled with clothes, both Daddy's and Kemper's, and my men both looked worn right out. Thursday, filled with more puke and poop, and a red sore bum. My poor boo. Thursday night, spent in the ER, "This could last for 5-7 days...." Great, nothing else you can do for us? Thanksalot. Kemper and I returned on Friday to the ER. "He hasn't kept anything down for days...." Same doctor, same response. Thank you for wasting my time, I guess. By the time we left the ER I felt like ass. Probably not eating all day, quick fix, Drive Thru at McNasty's.

By 4:00 on Friday afternoon we started making phonecalls to postpone the Birthday party until next weekend.

Back to Work

....and the chaos that follows.

It's been an interesting past couple of weeks. I'm now back at work full time. My day starts around 4:30 am, when I get up to get ready for work. Sometimes I can hear the wee man in his room before I leave, so I get to give him some kisses before I leave at 5:30. I stayed at my parents the first week back, because Kevin was supposed to be in school. Teachers ended up going on strike, but I think I was just to lazy to move everything back to our house when we really didn't know when Kev would be back in school. Not yet anyway. Second week, my babysitter is on holidays, so between Nana and Gramma, Kemper has been spoiled all week. I have been cranky lately. Kevin has been cranky lately. I'm just tired. I feel like I'm not giving Kemper enough. I feel like he's not getting as much time as I wish I could give him. I'm not horribly upset about being back at work, cause the money is nice, but I wish it were part time. These hours are kickin' me in the bum right now. One of the guys that I work(ed) with got the axe on Tuesday. For me, this means no midnights until they hire someone to replace him. It also means a third week of early mornings next week. I like that we have dinner and bath time together, but I really do miss everything else....

On a *much* brighter note, the first steps were taken this week. He took his first step towards daddy on Tuesday morning, and took 6 from Mommy to Gramma on Tuesday night. He's doing well now, taking steps here and there. I'm a little sad, because he's not mama's little baby anymore, but on the other hand I am sooo proud of him. He looks so smart standing all on his own!

Well, it's about my bedtime, so I will do my best to keep a little more up to date now!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Kemper's First Day at Daycare..... and the Projectile Vomit

Not related, but both happened this week.

With my days as a stay at home mom quickly nearing an end, we figured we should get the wee man into daycare, so it's not complete craziness when I return to work. I often said while I was off on Mat leave that I didn't know how our mom's did it when they had to return to work after only a few short months with us. I think now I have figured it out. We didn't know that our mommies were leaving us, so it didn't matter quite as much. I've just gotten so used to being with Kemper every day, all day. Back in the day, you knew that soon you'd be back to work, and among the sleepless nights and poopy diapers, you'd be adding either part or full time employment into that mix. Now that Kemper is starting to make strange, and be clingy, ofcourse, it is time to leave him with someone he does not know. Not to mention, all of the children. He sees other kids pretty much only once a week now, when we go to our play group. I know that being surrounded by the other kids will be beneficial, but he's the smallest, and I'm secretly scared he'll get picked on. I know that our sitter wouldn't let that happen, but it's one of many scenerio's that I've made up in my head... and when I say many, I mean many.

His sitter said that he did not bad. He cried off and on all day, and made strange here and there.

As I walked up the stairs away from him, my heart hurt. I was just hoping that he didn't cry.... please don't cry. If he cried, I'd have to go back down and get him. Pick him up. Love him. He needs his mama. But he didn't. He was fine. As I got into my car I looked in the rearview mirror, Isaw his little mirror, his car seat, his blanket... I backed out of the driveway and headed towards the store. My heart hurt a little more. I thought, "I can't do this! I can't go back to work! I can't be away from him for more than eight HOURS a day! I'm quitting work! That's it!" But I went into my mom's store, and I started to work. I thought about him all day. I refrained from calling, because I knew if he was crying when I called, I would have to save him. When I finally bailed on the store 5 hours (yeah 5 hours) later, I couldn't get to the sitters quick enough. I didn't speed or anything, I have pretty much stopped speeding and driving like a moron since I've had Kemper. I was so excited to see him. And he was so excited to see me too! I couldn't stop hugging and kissing him for the rest of the night. I put him in his car seat, I'd kiss him.... I'd take him out of his car seat, I'd kiss-kiss-kiss him. I'd give him some dinner, and kiss him. I guess this is really no different than any other day, I just appreciated these kisses that much more.

That was our Wednesday.

Thursday, we hung out all day, and looked forward to Thursday night with daddy. Since before Christmas, before Hallowe'en I guess, Thursday nights have been daddy and Kemper nights. I go to the store for three hours and they get to have "Man Night". I enjoy this time out of the house alone, and I know that he's in good hands. When I got home, he came crawlin' whinin' towards me. I just thought this was the same reaction that he'd give me when I'd leave him, the "where did you go with out me?" reaction. It wasn't. He wasn't feeling well. He wanted his mama.

Kevin says to me, "He puked. A lot."
Me: "Was he crying again."
Kevin: "No, he was having a bottle on me. He just barfed. All over me."
Me: "Poor baby doesn't feel well."
Kevin after going to get his puked on shirt, "See?"
Me: "Gross, it stinks!"

He continued to play and then come back to see me. Play for a bit, where's my mama.... and then it came, and came and came. I have never seen that much of anything come out of a little person. It was everything that he had in him, and it was on me, and it was all over him. I picked him up and we went into the bathroom. I stripped off both of our puked covered clothes, and I put my jammies on and started running the bath water for him. He started shivering. He never shivers. What-the-friggin-heck? He was pastie. Pastie white. With black eyes. My God, one day in day care and he's friggin sick? Ofcourse, this was the first thing that both Kevin and I thought, and ofcourse said. All Thursday night he would fall asleep on me, and I would put him down and he would wake up.... vomitting. Babies shouldn't vomit! They should *spit up*, not carry on like a grown person who's drank too much. Sweet-Mother-of-Mercy. I didn't sleep too much Thursday night. We pulled our mattress into the living room floor, which is usually saved for Friday night movie nights. The whole purpose was so that Kemper could sleep in his play-pen which won't fit in our room. We wanted to be close to him to hear if he was being sick again. Not five minutes after I put him in there he was sleep-puking. What-the-hell. I put him in between Kevin and I. I had earlier talk Kevin that we should take him to the hospital. Kevin said it's probably just the flu. I didn't care. I didn't end up taking him in, but at 1:30 decided if he was sick anymore I was calling the ER to see if I should bring him in. He wasn't sick anymore. Thank God. It was awful. I know that he'll be sick again in the future at some point, but what I wouldn't give for it to be when he's 16 (wishful thinking) and he's drank a few beers. *sighs*

On a brighter note, he seems to be back to his old, and by old I mean young, self again.

Side Note: We really don't spend that much time in the bathroom, bath time just seems to be photo op time.

Daddy's First Over Nighter.... alone.

Went well. Very well.

I was able to leave in the afternoon, totally confident that my men would be alright. I can honestly say that I wasn't worried at all. I don't know if that makes me a bad mom, or makes Kevin a good dad. I think it's the latter.

Bon Jovi kicked some serious butt. If it wasn't "the" best it was definitly one of "the" best shows I've seen, but that's a different story, for a different blog.

This was the first time that I was away, by myself, for more that a few hours. It was great, and I had a wicked good time with Debbie and Sandra. It was when I first woke up in the morning that I really started missing them... all of them. Kemper, Kevin and Corson too. I didn't rush home though. I hung around with my ma-in-law for a few hours and didn't leave to come home until around 12:30. By the time I stopped at Walmart to make my weekly deposit, and made the journey home it was almost 3 O'clock. The first thing I see is my sweet little man's face, greeting me with a great big smile. My men had a great night and day without me. I'll tell you, it makes having to go back to work and do the midnight shift much easier when you know that everything will be okay.

I'm not overly excited about going back to work, but I've accepted it now. Only a little over a month left.....

Here's one of Kemper's newest tricks, I'm sure you'll get as much of a kick out of it as we did!

family

family
Originally uploaded by Kemper's Mommy.

This is one of the photo's we got taken for Christmas.

Busy Bee

Kemper is pretty good at letting us know when it's bed time now. We'll be hanging out in the livingroom playing, when suddenly he takes off frantically in the direction of the bathroom. I'm not sure if he thinks his daddy's in there or he has figured out the bath time routine, but if the door is closed, he sure lets me know. When I open the door it's straight to the tub (thank goodness it's not to the toilet), where he watches the water fill up. He dances back and forth in an excited manner! Bath time! Bath time! I'm so glad that he likes the big boy tub. We were a little worried when we made the transfer from the kitchen sink to the big tub. I only had to get in with him once, and he seemed okay after that. Now he would stay in there all night if he could! He loves splashing and carrying on, and just being in the water.
I know at some point, this love of baths will not be a love anymore, so we're enjoying the time when he does want to be clean and smell nice!

9 Months, and Where Have We Been?

Wow.... where exactly did the holiday's go? Well, they've been and gone and we have lots of new toys and clothes to prove it! Kemper was more than spoiled by everyone. Thanks everyone!

My lack of Blogging was 1st of all due to the video I was putting together for our parents for Christmas. It turned out awesome! Secondly, there was so much going on over the last month that I just didn't have time to sit down and chill at the computer!

In one month, so much has changed. As you can see in the first picture, Kemper has now graduated to the big tub. Not crazy about it at first, but soon enough was loving all the space to play around. The wee soldier cut three more teeth in 2 days. He stands up in his crib. He stands up at the furniture. He moves around the furniture. *sighs* I can hardly believe that he is 9 months old. He eats crackers, and grilled cheese, and vegetables.... and cheerios, and yogourt... wow. Everyday Kevin and I look at him and think, "Wow.... this little man used to eat 8 times a day, and in between eating, he'd sleep, and poop.... and that was it. Now he's crawling all over the house, he's got his own little personality, he dances.... "

What an incredible first 9 months.

We have a couple of bites for daycare. It sure is making my life a little easier. March is sneaking up quickly. Then we'll be in for a whole new world!

Thanks for stopping by!