First down!

Thanks to the nasty stomach flu, our fourth annual KU/Chiefs football weekend took a beating this year and caused us to miss the Lawrence portion of our trip. (It wound up being the better of the two games to miss as the Jayhawks took a beating themselves, losing 14-48 to Oklahoma State University. Ouch.)

Fortunately, Brian and I made a swift recovery and felt up for the drive to Arrowhead on Nov. 21. We got to see the Chiefs win 31-13 against the Arizona Cardinals. The weather was lovely (especially for late November!), and we were able to celebrate the day with friends Ann and Jeremey, my brother-in-law Eric and his sweet girlfriend Valisha and my parents-in-law.

The day marked Westley's second trip to Missouri and his first NFL game. We ended our quick trip to Kansas City with dinner at Gates.


Westley with Mommy and Annie (who helped us score some great baby things during a fabulous April shower earlier this year)

Westley & Jeremey

Westley meets the KC Wolf, the Chiefs' goofy mascot. ("Look, Westley, big doggy!")

Family photo

Click to see additional photos from the day.

My heart is so very thankful ...

... for my son's tiny two bottom front teeth, adorable signs of his constant development. They each are larger than he was when I first learned last fall that he was growing inside my womb. He was no larger than a kernel. He has blossomed, and so has my love for him. I find myself daily mystified and humbled by the miracle of life I've witnessed through him.

... for the seemingly opposing strength and vulnerability that motherhood demands and instinctively coaxes from my core.

... for the plentiful examples of love and sacrifice my parents have shown me. As a young girl, I remember noticing my father's bloody knuckles after an afternoon spent under the hood of a family car. They looked sore and rather ugly. As a teen, I remember watching my mother run to the family car through the cold rain after paying for a tank of gas inside the station. My sisters and I waited for her, huddled in the warm vehicle. Mom, who worked magic budgeting for our one-income family of five, wore an outdated puffy blue coat. At the time, I remember feeling sorry for her about that. Now I better understand what Dad's raw knuckles and Mom's old wet coat represented and just how beautiful that made them.

... for Mom's wheelchair and nebulizer, the electric machine that administers the misty medication she breathes into her lungs every morning and evening. They are burdensome, annoying things, yes. But they are things that mean Mom's lungs miraculously continue to rise and fall, fueling her to celebrate with us glorious breaking dawns, unavoidable dirty diapers and everything else life lovingly and inexplicably throws our way.

... for the tearful conversations I've had recently with friends. That they confide in me when they find themselves in the valleys of life -- as well as on the mountaintops -- reflects to me the depth of our relationships and the trust they place in me as well as in our friendships.

... for the happy secrets my friends have recently shared with me. They make my blood race and my lips nearly tremble with the words I want to shout to the world. But they instead smile, and I continue to carry their news silently.

... for a husband whose love for me is so full and unabashed that the doctor who delivered our son this spring had to bark an order for him to coach my labor more quietly. His devotion to me and to our son is, quite simply, that intense. To see that fire in his eyes after nine years of marriage is an overwhelming gift.

... for the opportunity to fall asleep each night happy, content and feeling simultaneously very, very big and very, very small in this world.

Happy Thanksgiving with gratitude to the people and experiences that inspired this post and to those that will inspire my posts to come. May my eyes, heart and mind be open to the blessings and lessons you will bring to my life when our paths cross.

Look who's sitting!

Westley's half-birthday came recently, accompanied by a growing list of new experiences, including his first snow, first NFL game and (drumroll, please) the biggie: Westley's first time to pull himself into the standing position.

Yesterday, I spotted him curling his little fingers around the front rail of his crib and popping his little head over the rail to look at me down the hall. That little turkey! After falling backward, he did it a second time just in time for Daddy to see. After an ample cheering session, we realized Brian had a new chore for the evening: dropping the crib mattress down for safety's sake.

Westley's been all giggles, enjoys peek-a-boo and has had his first guitar lesson (look out, Jack Johnson!):


It's amazing to think that I've been a mommy for a half a year now. Time really does fly. My goodness.

Falling in love with reading

Earlier this week, I attended a free seminar on early childhood literacy at Heartspring. I learned so much about reading to young children of different ages, and it inspired me with ideas on how to further share my love of reading with Westley. I left with lots of reading suggestions, too, and a free copy of Dr. Seuss's "The Foot Book."

I've received so many ideas on good books for children that I've started a wish list on Amazon.com to keep track of them. I'm hoping that'll prove helpful for Santa this year and in the future.

Speaking of buying books, I'm intrigued by the website Thriftbooks.com, which I learned about recently from a friend. I have mixed feelings about buying books online because I believe that it's important to support bookstores, especially local ones. That's why I try to spread my book money around a bit, shopping regularly at everywhere from Borders (be sure to sign up to receive coupons via e-mail!) to Book-a-Holic and Watermark Books & Cafe (be sure to sign up for their e-mail newsletter!).

Watermark actually is where I bought Westley a charming new fall book, "Hooray for Fall!" by Kazuo Iwamura.











And my mother-in-law gave Westley a copy of this seasonal read: "Duck & Goose Find a Pumpkin" by Tad Hills. It's a board book that West really has been enjoying.










Brian and I have been listening to the audio book of David Sedaris' "Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk." It's a weird one. Enjoyable, but a little odd and gory.

Yay, tomatoes!

Brian winterized our lawn this weekend, a task that included ripping out the sad scraggly tomato plants in our vegetable garden.

Just as I was enjoying what I thought was my last tomato sandwich spotlighting one of our Summer 2010 homegrown garden tomatoes, he came to the back door asking for a bowl.

My heart and tastebuds are happy, in part because my hubby recently came to like -- and learn to make -- fried green tomatoes. The inspiration, in a photo I snapped at the Kansas State Fair in September:


Gotta love looking forward to a taste of summer in mid-November!

Holiday homemade

Westley and I spent a couple of hours with my mom this afternoon, and I helped her make this pretty Christmas wreath using a wire hangar and some thrift store ornaments. It was fun and a lot cheaper to make than it would've been to buy a look-alike we saw in the Pier 1 Imports catalogue. Anyone have any glass ornaments they don't want anymore? Let me know!

Snoderbee

I think our Dakota has fond memories of the day when he was our only little boy. We've been trying to make sure to give him lots of love and attention so he knows he still has a very special place in our hearts and in our home. That includes three-mile runs with Brian, walks with the whole crew and special treats.

It's tough to be the big brother.

Love you, Snoders!

My milestone man

As Westley's six-month mark approaches next week, my little boy is amassing a bunch of baby book entries:

Nov. 7: First tooth (front bottom) pops through (Thank God for Baby Orajel!) His second tooth came in this morning.

Nov. 9: Sat in his new highchair for the first time (I hope it really proves to be as versatile as it promises.)


Nov. 12*: Sat up completely on his own

I may be the most excited about that last one. I love to watch him roll, turn and scoot around on the floor. Brian and I cheer when he pulls himself up and sits and looks around, seemingly unaware of his momentous accomplishment. My baby-on-the-move has been getting on all fours and rocking, too. Up next: crawling?

* This also was the day Westley watched his first KU men's regular season basketball game on TV. Kansas defeated Longwood 113-75 in Allen Fieldhouse. We celebrated by watching the game with my parents.

Swaying with my sweetie

Fewer things make a better combination than a baby, a quilt and a hammock. (Well, there is chocolate and peanut butter ... )

This is the Classic Pooh quilt I made for Westley before he was born. It goes so well in his Pooh-themed nursery, and we've already spent so many hours snuggled up with it and playing on it. Here are Brian's beautiful photos from a recent chilly fall afternoon:


Speaking of Classic Pooh, the Pooh bear suit we bought at Target for Westley last winter when I was pregnant ended up being a great purchase. It's so warm, and he doesn't mind wearing it at all. Stinkin' cute!


Hi, Daddy!


See the wonderful bee detail on the quilting? Mom and I picked out that design, and a local professional quilter did a beautiful job with it for my Baby B.

P.S. Look at those eyes! OMG. I'm so in trouble when the disciplining phase starts ...

P.P.S. Look how big he already is compared to when we were snuggling in the hammock this summer!

A walk in the clouds

I started my weekend Friday by going on a walk with my two favorite guys. And my two favorite dogs.

Life is golden.

Westley's first Halloween

We started Westley's first Halloween in Stillwater, but made it back to Wichita in time for Brian and me to buy a red wagon, carve a 55-pound pumpkin and make the round to trick-or-treat at the homes of both sets of grandparents and West's great-grandma. (Yes, it was worth all of the work.) And my little pumpkin in a pumpkin sure created a lot of buzz. One little girl trick-or-treater that we saw in our neighborhood was head-over-heels for Westley. She asked her dad to take a picture of him and gave Westley her glow stick. So, so sweet.

The pumpkin was Brian's magnificent idea. We used one we picked during our trip to the pumpkin patch earlier in October. See the giant one?

Before:


After:


Trick-or-treat, Westley!





This above photo makes me laugh: Dad was on all fours barking at Westley to make him laugh. Hilarious!




See how Westley and Great-Grandma are holding hands? So sweet. What a treat.

Click to see a few additional photos.

O-k-l-a-h-o-m-a, Oklahoma, yeah!

Westley made his first trip to Oklahoma last weekend to visit Auntie M and Uncle Kurtis. We got to stay at their lovely new home, where Westley discovered an adorable baby in the mirror:


On Saturday, the boys got to play golf while the girls and Westley checked out downtown Stillwater. (I actually started my Christmas shopping and found several perfect things. Yay!)



Westley got lots of auntie snuggles:




He had the perfect outfit for the occasion:


That evening, we all went to dinner together at Palamino's and Orange Leaf. (Tropicana Quesadilla and pumpkin frozen yogurt: Yummy!) But not before getting ready and making sure our hair looked spiffy for our night out:



Good thing, too: Our dinner was interrupted briefly when Westley started flirting with the baby at the booth next door. This little guy certainly isn't afraid of little girls.

Bringing home a baby bumblebee

We continued our Halloween celebrations by bringing Westley to The Eagle's newsroom trick-or-treat last week. It was his first time to wear his baby bee costume. Cute as it was, it held a lot of significance, too. Brian and I called him Baby B. through my pregnancy. (Remember all of those months of blog posts labeled Baby B.?) One of his favorite baby toys right now, by the way, is a baby bee book.


The costume has a fun back story. I found it online for a ridiculous price of $40. But then I got excited when I found it half-price on eBay. After waiting two weeks for it to arrive and worrying about whether it would be here in time for Halloween, it finally arrived. But I was hot. It was listed as in perfect condition, but it had a busted zipper. Thanks to my Mama for saving the day. The night before The Eagle event, she whipped together some Velcro tabs with materials and supplies she had on hand. What a Queen Bee!


Look at these beautiful photos Brian took of our little honey bee. I mean, stop the presses. This kid is adorable.

Autumn at Botanica

One chilly evening last week, Brian and I decided to play hooky from chores, working out and other usual weeknight tasks. We carted Westley to Botanica to check out their mum display.

It was a meaningful outing: Brian and I had gone to the gardens this spring just a few weeks before Westley was born when the tulips were in bloom:

April 24, 2010

Oct. 26, 2010

Additional photos from our trip:









Click to see a few additional pictures.