Career day(s)

I have been fortunate to have several opportunities recently to visit Wichita classrooms to speak about my journalism career. On Wednesday, I spoke to a Wichita State University editing class about online journalism. I'll be able to do the same Monday at Friends University.


On Tuesday, I visited a couple of Kindergarten classes at Spaght Multimedia Magnet Elementary School, where my friend Courtney teaches. The school was having a Reading is Fundamental Day and had invited local professionals to read a book, share their love of reading and talk a little bit about their jobs.

In the hospitality room, they had an impressive selection of books ...


... and snacks!


I was able to select a book to read to the students. I picked "Mommy, Carry Me Please" by Jane Cabrera. One of her illustrations ...



... reminded me of a photo I had recent taken of Westley:


I showed the kiddos the photo on my phone. It served to be a great ice-breaker. I snapped the photo at the Donut Whole a couple of weeks ago. Brian, West, Janice and I had gone there for some post-run carb refueling after our Fight for Air Climb race. I have a photo from last summer of tiny baby Westley in the lion's mouth. I'll have to find that one for comparison's sake.

I love my hammock

Years ago, Brian gave me this hammock. It was unexpected, romantic and thoughtful. And it has become one of my favorite places to escape, even if just for 15 minutes or for a blissful hour, like I did on Westley's 11-month birthday Monday. I had the day off and, among other things, spent it getting a massage and cuddling with my cutie. Heaven. Indeed, the view from the hammock is inspiring and peaceful:



I had to look back at how much Westley has grown since we cuddled here in July when I was on maternity leave and again on a lovely November day.

It really is too bad ...

... that my son isn't absolutely adorable.

He's 11 months old!

My sweet baby Westley James really isn't a baby at all these days. He turned 11 months old on Monday, and we'll be celebrating his first birthday in just a few weeks. In fact, I ordered some special invitations for his party and can't wait to get them so I can turn around and send them out to some of my little guy's biggest fans.

Two weeks ago today, Westley took his first unassisted steps. Brian and I had arrived home from the Fight for Air Climb. I was inside trying to coax some soy hot dog coins (a new favorite!) into our son. Brian went outside to mow the grass. He came in for a break and to grab a drink and was chatting with me briefly. That's when we both saw out of the corner of our eyes a blond curly head zip from the recliner to the couch in the living room. We were speechless, then immediately celebratory. Now Westley shows off his new talent all time. I must capture a video of this adorable milestone!

Westley also blew Mommy and Daddy a kiss first the first time, another little move that melted my heart. He hasn't been inclined to repeat that one as often, though.


On the food front, West can't decide whether he prefers hand-feeding himself little bites or being spoon-fed baby puree. So most meals now include both options, and we just keep our fingers crossed that our skinny little guy will chow down. Some days we have success. And that makes us very, very happy.

We've also introduced the sippy cup with marginal success. He's figured out where the liquid comes out and can hold it correctly but can't quite tip it back on his own. Bottom's up, little one! Something fun to work on in the coming weeks.


Westley is quite vocal and loves to babble, blow raspberries and make elephant sounds (Elephant kisses!). He can make "mama" and "dada" sounds, but we're not counting them as first words yet because we think it's more experimentation than recognition.

Westley is in between sizes. He wears 12-month footed jammies and some 9- and even 6-month-sized tees and onesies. That makes the morning routine a little interesting. We regularly keep a paper bag in his room just for all of the things he outgrows!

Another sign that Westley is growing up -- and one that's more difficult for me to be happy about -- is that he has begun to exhibit separation anxiety. When I drop him off at daycare and it's time for me to leave, he fusses a little and crawls toward the door. Boo. I had a dental appointment yesterday near his daycare and was tempted to stop by for a quick hug and kiss. But I decided that would disrupt his day (especially considering it was lunchtime) and inject confusion. I instead treated myself to a papaya-mango meal replacement smoothie at Smoothie King and headed back to work.

On Facebook recently, I put out a call for potential sitters and have people coming out of the woodwork to volunteer. Can you blame 'em? Being PAID to hang around this handsome little charmer?! The mother of a high school junior who came by this week to spend some time with Westley in advance of watching him for an evening later this month said her daughter had such a great time they should pay us. I think I've found the perfect college savings plan!

Here comes Peter Cottontail

I spent a couple of hours earlier this week running some Easter errands: I found a cute basket and picked out Westley's first chocolate bunny at Cero's Candy, a local chocolatier in downtown Wichita. I put out the few Easter decorations we own and have the religious holiday and all that it means on my mind, hence the new blog header you'll see above.

As always, I wanted to commemorate the last month's header by posting it here one final time:

We survived the Fight for Air Climb!

We did it! We climbed 828 stairs and ran 1.14 flat miles for the American Lung Association's Fight for Air Climb race at Intrust Bank Arena on Saturday! We did it to honor Mom. At the race, there was a dedication wall of sorts where you could write why you were climbing. My answer?

Because my mom has COPD and continues to fight for a life that continues to take her breath away.

In the kitchen at Mom and Dad's, there's a plaque hanging in the kitchen that says life isn't about how many breaths you take, but about the moments that take your breath away. I'd like to think that lung disease has made that a very good lesson and reminder for all of us.

I transformed my race T on Friday night, turning it into a boatneck tank and adding a red heart on which I wrote, "I climb for my Mom."

Sincere thanks to all of you who have donated or pledged to our fundraising efforts. Our total pledges and donations add up to $485!

My mother-in-law Janice joined us Saturday so she could watch Westley and cheer for us while we ran.

Another fun element was that my friend Lindsey ran the race, too. Here we are yesterday ...


... and here we last April, both about eight months pregnant. We had babies five days apart in May 2010.


Click to see a couple of additional photos from the event.

Story time with Helen

On International Children's Book Day last weekend, Westley and I met up with his little friend Helen for a story time dedicated to books that have won the Caldecott, including "Officer Buckle and Gloria" by Peggy Rathmann (my favorite of this morning's reads).

I think the kiddos were more interested in binkies ... and each other!




I continue to be impressed with the story times at Barnes and Noble. (We went to our first there last month with my sisters and nephew.)

After the stories, the littlest attendees get to have a snack and do a craft. Westley sampled a rice krispy treat colored ... on the paper, the stage, Mommy's khakis. What fun! Thank goodness for washable crayons. And now we have some sweet refrigerator art, another sign that our baby is growing into a little boy.


Click to see more photos from the event.

Pure joy

Brian's parents gave Westley this baby swing for Christmas, but we waited until April 1st to hang it from our backyard tree and give it a try. He loved it!

A sweet afternoon

My quest to find the best carrot cake in the city of Wichita continued last week, when I met Mom for a mid-afternoon chai and dessert. I had some comp time at work, so she and I hooked up at Copper Oven Cafe & Bakery after her biweekly physical therapy. We both felt like we'd earned the treat!

I decided the carrot cake was the best I've tasted yet on my tour. It was incredibly moist with an impressive quantity of carrots, coconut and pineapple. There were no nuts in the cake, a disappointment. But there were nuts sprinkled on the icing, which lent a pretty presentation. The icing itself was creamy and sweet without being cloyingly so. YUM!

The cozy restaurant is a favorite of ours. I sought solace there with friends (and had their carrot cake before) when Mom was in the hospital three years ago and I needed an escape. And Mom and her good friend Faith used to eat there together. Last week's visit was Mom's first time back since Faith passed away. We talked about living life with no regret, forgiving yourself and making the best out of life. We realized one of the reasons we were able to have such a nice in-person visit was because it was one of our first without Westley since he was born. I love spending time with him and Mom together. But it was good to have a chance to concentrate on our conversation and our time together.

I picked Westley up from his sitter after we made one more stop: Hancock Fabrics to shop for jewelry-making supplies, another recently new hobby of mine. (I've made four bracelets in the past week. It's so much fun and much cheaper than buying them.)

I was thinking about how much I loved the quality time with my mom as I picked Westley up from daycare. I made it a point to hug him that much tighter and pray that he feels as loved by his mama as I do by mine.

Loving the library

Recently, I've introduced Westley to one of my favorite childhood places: the library.

The Wichita Public Library doesn't offer many programs for the littlest book-lovers, especially if you're trying to accommodate a working mama's schedule. But last Friday, I had a comp day at work, so I started my day by taking West to Nursery Rhyme Time (music, rhymes and stories for kiddos two and younger). Of the books they read, my favorite was "Jump!" by Scott M. Fischer.

"Well, I'm a bug. I'm a bug.
I'm a snug little bug,
and I'm sleeping on a jug.
Until I see a frog, and I ...
JUMP!”

The story was interactive, and all the kids jumped when they heard "JUMP!" Westley was giggled and bouncing around and really getting into it.

They also read the two books at left. They were both cute, especially "City Animals" by Simms Taback. I also liked the "Max Loves Sunflowers" book because it seems a good read for a Kansas kiddo.

Westley does so good at story times! He really is interested in the stories and especially in the other kids around him. He observes and definitely is taking mental notes on how the older kids act and play. He's in such a hurry to grow up. Not too fast, my little one!

Signs of spring

Our flowers are beginning to cheer up our yard, further proof that the earth is waking from its winter slumber.


Meet Gnorme, our garden gnome. We adopted him at the Wichita Garden Show earlier this month.

My brave little one

Tuesday was a big day for our little family. After a string of ear infections in the past few months, including a double ear infection most recently, Westley had tubes put in his ears. Lots of people assured me that it wouldn't be a big deal, it was fairly routine and that he would feel so much better with them. But try telling a mom not to worry when her 17-pound, 10-month-old son is in a hospital gown and being taken away by a medical team for surgery. Fortunately, it was a short procedure and he was back in my arms within about 10 minutes. Westley was so sweet and playful and didn't fuss at all when we met with the nurse, doctor and anesthesiologist. Afterward, he snuggled in our arms and took a bottle and was just a little angel.

It was a long day. He wasn't allowed to eat or drink anything after 2:30 a.m. the morning of the procedure, so I set my alarm for 2. After a couple hours of sleep, I got up to feed him a bottle. We both went back to bed. I was up again before long, though, getting everyone ready for the drive all the way across town to the clinic. We had to check in at 6:30 a.m. By noon, Brian was packed up and on the road for a work trip. With some help from family and friends (and a lot of grace), Westley and I got through the day just fine.

He is regaining his appetite and is his chatty sweet self. Whew. What a relief.

Thank you, everyone, for your prayers and support.

We got a kick at how well Westley's tiny hospital gown (the smallest size they have available) matched the hoodie I wore to the surgery center. It was a tiny little thing that lifted my spirits.

New birth

At church Sunday, the sermon was focused on the concept of new birth. The pastor talked about Nicodemus, spiritual birth and infant birth. We had the honor of having some of our items, including two photos of our beautiful Westley James, as part of an altar vignette:

The photo at far left is from his first photo shoot in the hospital. The photo on the right is one of my sonogram photos taken midway through my pregnancy. There's also the baby Bible we bring to church with us most weeks for him to look at during the service, a Tiger rattle from his Classic Pooh-themed nursery and a pair of green and yellow crocheted booties, which my maternal grandfather's sister made and gave to my mom when I was born. The blue baby blanket is one of his treasures, too.

As with many services, we spent part of that one in the cry room. It's a peaceful space and a place we can worship together as a family without worrying about interrupting the peace in the sanctuary:

St. Patty's with the family

On Saturday, 10 of us got together at Mom and Dad's for a corned beef dinner and a St. Patrick's Day party. There was lots of green, delicious food (I intend to post a couple of recipes soon) and Monopoly Deal, our newest favorite card game.






Mom cooked 16 pounds of corned beef using some new spices Brian bought her at Penzeys Spices during a recent work trip to Kansas City.





Click to see additional photos from the party.

Hungry for books

I took Westley to his first story time earlier this month, and we hit another on Saturday. I found out that Barnes and Noble has a terrific lineup of children's story times. They read several books and then have a related craft, followed by a snack. For free! Score!

We invited Auntie M, who was in town last weekend, and Auntie Jen and cousin Kaden to join us for a "Very Hungry Caterpillar" story time. The little boys were more than a little distracted, but the five of us had a blast.



Click to see more photos from our afternoon.