And another thing about Kansas ...

Its skies display the most beautiful sunrises and sunsets. Here's a sunrise from September:

Why Kansas?

My cousin Evan's wife Kennedy wrote a lovely post about living in Wyoming on her blog. I could not echo her sentiments more. Since imitation is the best form of flattery, I had to post my own Kansas version of what she said.

My family moved to Kansas when I was 12. Illinois residents at the time, my sisters and I cried at the kitchen table when Mom and Dad told us we were moving to Wichita ... and the tears weren't prompted only by the fact that we were leaving.

I attended college in Kansas with plans to move on to bigger and better places. I had internships in Missouri, North Carolina and Minnesota. After getting married and starting our first jobs in Kansas (after considering starting out as newlyweds in South Carolina or Oregon), Brian and I have tried to leave. (Big secret: We've each had job interviews for positions that would've moved us out of state. But, when push came to shove, the grass seemed greener here.)

Just like Kennedy wrote, I often have moments when I think to myself in partial disgust and embarrassment, "I live in Kansas." But, to quote her eloquent words, "sometimes when I think about living here, my heart is so full I can hardly stand it."

A few pictoral reasons why:

Brian & Westley, Assaria, July 2010

Lilly in a rural Kansas field, July 2009

South-Central Kansas field, May 2009

Toronto Lake, July 2008

LOL!

Until I saw it randomly featured on LinkWithin (the cool widget that shows thumbnail images from related blog posts under each of my blog posts), I had forgotten that I'd taken this photo of Meow Meow:

Silly kitty, July 2008

Look familiar?

Silly baby, September 2010

Little reads pack a big punch

Especially after taking a children's literature course for my English degree at KU, I've been a big fan of books for young adults. Lois Lowry and Madeleine L'Engle, two authors I studied in that class, are among my favorites. But I've never read more children's books than I have in the last six months or so. (Yes, I started to read to Westley before he was born. It was a magical bonding experience.) I should've known the pregnancy hormones would send me over the edge with some of the sweet, sweet storybooks we have. A few of my new favorite tearjerkers, with the excerpts that make me misty-eyed just typing them and photos that make the stories all the more meaningful:

"God Gave Us You" by Lisa Tawn Bergren, illustrated by Laura J. Bryant

'When we found out you were growing inside me, we were so happy! Even the angels were celebrating for us!'

'Because of me?' asked Little Cub.

'Yes, my darling child. Because God gave us you!'



Westley, at 20 weeks in utero

* * *

"Always" by Alison McGhee and Pascal Lemaitre

I am the keeper of the castle.

This castle ...

I will keep the castle safe.
Always.

Why, you ask?

... Because you live here.

"Doggy Dakota" & Westley, August 2010

* * *

"The Most Thankful Thing" by Lisa McCourt

'Just when I thought I couldn't be any happier, I held you for the first time. I felt your soft, sweet breath on my skin and your warm, tiny body against mine.

'And then I knew that nothing could ever be better, and that forevermore you would be my most thankful thing.'

'Forevermore, Mama?'

'Forevermore.'

Brian snapped this photo of Westley and me, napping together in the hospital after he was born.

So thankful for audio books

I'm more likely to spend my downtime sleeping or doing chores these days, and my reading time has dramatically fallen off. These are three classics, though, that I've enjoyed since Westley was born. I listened to audio books of them while driving and otherwise multitasking. It's been a great way to feed my literary appetite without ignoring my mommy duties.

Brian is on a kick of reading classics, so we've had fun enjoying the Hemingway and Fitzgerald novels together and then discussing literary themes of love, redemption and self-fulfillment. It sure classes up the joint compared to our sleep-deprived conversations about dirty diapers ...

What a headache, what a relief

October is one of my favorite months, and I feel like I've missed the first two weeks of it! That's because I've spent much of it in bed and sleeping on the couch while fighting a respiratory infection that gave way to a virus that left me with migraines and temperatures flirting with 102 degrees for four days. It's been an exhausting ordeal.

I'm so utterly grateful that Westley hasn't had more than a congested and runny nose and that Brian has been the helpful hubby and daddy that he is. He cared for me, Westley, the pups, the cat and the house. I am still in awe.

I felt remarkably better Tuesday, and its beautiful crisp morning left me in cheery spirits. I seemed to notice anew the bright blooming mums, red leaves and awesome autumn atmosphere. Fall is here! Yay!


I snapped this photo of my cutie pie in our garden yesterday after work. "See Westley? This is what fall feels like."

In related floral news, Westley picked his first flower last night! He and I were snuggling on the back deck, watching our chiminea burn, and I was letting him play with some herbs growing in a nearby pot. Then he grabbed the stem of an end-of-season begonia and yanked it out of the pot. A budding romantic in the making!

Football!

Brian and I are planning to take Westley to his first KU and Chiefs games later this fall. In the meantime, we've been rooting for our favorite teams at home.

Here are my boys during the first Saints game of the season. See their matching Drew Brees jerseys? We've been waiting months and months for this opportunity.


A tiny Drew Brees fan in his Exersaucer, one of his favorite places to hang out.

Speaking of Drew Brees, I surprised Brian with the book "Coming Back Stronger: Unleashing the Hidden Power of Adversity" last month when the Saints played Monday night football.

Brian says it's a good book (with a surprising number of grammatical errors) that talks about Brees' background, faith and inside sports experiences.

In other football news, we've been trying to explain to Westley that the Chiefs' 3-0 season is nothing to snooze about, but he hasn't been able to stay awake through a game yet this season:


I can't blame him. He comes by it naturally.