Wamego and Manhattan

Today we had the best weather we've had all year! It was sunny and 23 degrees! Nathan and I met up with JM and Jill at 10am this morning and headed out to Wamego, Kansas. Wamego is Jill's hometown and it's just under 2 hours from KC. It has a population of 4500 people but doesn't feel like a small town or have a village feel (Port Stanley). It was very clean and spacious.

First we headed to Jill's parents house. Jill's mom is a quilter and showed me what she's been working on and some of her upcoming inspirations, and Jill's Dad grilled us an amazing BBQ lunch. We stuffed ourselves on delicious food. Jill's mom even offered to hold Allison so we could enjoy our meal! Jill's son Jordan, his wife Audra, and their son, Collin, joined us for lunch as well. I thought it would feel like we were intruding but Jill's family was very welcoming and we had a great lunch.

After lunch, JM and Jill took us around Wamego and we stopped at the Colombian Theater. It's a small theater that hosts local talent and amazing art work. When the (recent) owner bought the theater, he cleaned out the attic - only to find large oil paintings that were once a part of the World's Fair. He had them redone, and they now hang in the theatre.

 

 

 Next to the theatre was the Oz Museum (www.ozmuseum.com) we didn't go in, but I'd read about it online before I'd even heard of Wamego!

After the theatre we visited a local part that had a small heritage village. JM said that the 4th of July parade in Wamego is epic so we may have to make a trip back this summer!

 

 After our walk, we headed to Manhattan, Kansas, a town about 15 miles away that is the home of Kansas State (K-State) university. It feels a lot like Guelph (it's also known as an Aggie-School) and has a strong College-town feel.

We stopped for Cox BBQ in Manhattan and it was delicious, especially after our long hike. I've never been a big BBQ fan but I've really enjoyed trying the different styles of BBQ and how the same dish can taste totally different at different restaurants.

We didn't get home until nearly midnight but we had a great day trip and it was a great way to end Nathan's vacation.

Duplo

Nathan arrived home at midnight last night so we caught up a little on the car ride home before crashing into bed.

I made a hair appointment for this morning - it's been 4 months since I was last able to get to the salon! At least I have long hair so it's not as noticeable. At this appointment I decided to go bold and and dyed my hair a reddish/copper color. It fades so fast but the initial color was a bit of a shock. I dyed it this color about 7 years ago and really liked it so I thought I'd try something new to get out of this winter funk!

After I got home, Nathan and I decided to run some errands together. After groceries, we hit up a thrift store close to home where we saw someone dropping off a shopping bag full of duplo! Nathan was so excited but (like most thift stores) the item had to be held for 24 hours to be priced before they would sell it to us. The cashier said he would take our names and call us when they came up with a price, but I think he felt generous when he saw us with Allison because he changed his mind and just told us to take it! He's seen me drop off a lot of clothes and housewares before so maybe that helped to.

When we got home we bleached the set and let Allison play with it. I was surprised how much she loved the blocks!

Hair Days

I finished the final touches on my spring cleaning so I had free time during Allison's naps. I wanted to try out a new hair style that I found on my favorite hair website but it said I needed a bun maker for the style. I looked online and in store for the Hot Bunz but they cost about $10. I remembered my friend Ashley telling me how she made her own, and after a quick online tutorial I was ready to get started.

Nathan had an old pair of socks that he was throwing out because there were holes in the toes and luckily they were close to the color of my hair so I cut off the toe, rolled the sock down, stitched the loss edge down and presto- my own bun maker!

The hair style I chose is a twisted bun - I love having a few "wet hairstyles" (hairstyles that work best when your hair is wet to start) in my arsenal because sometimes I need to wash my hair but don't have time to dry and straighten/curl my hair. This was my first attempt and the style only took about 5 minutes.

Cutie

Allison and I have been enjoying our quiet time together while Nathan is gone. Even though Nathan is gone all day normally, it still felt different knowing he wouldn't be home after work.

We met up with a few moms at church today and had our weekly Mom Group. We started working through a Give Them Grace workbook and video series. It's really interesting and even though we all have small children that aren't quite at the target age for the series, it's good to get a head start.

Allison's teeth are taking their time coming in. Her top left tooth is ahead of the right so she'll likely have one chomper in before the other. She doesn't seem to be in much pain but every now and them I can tell she's really bothered. I give her some pain medicine (half the regular dose) but I feel nervous giving it to her- even though it helps her settle.

Clean

Poor Allison. I pulled her out of a warm bed at 4am and put her in a cold car so that we could all head out to the Kansas City Airport.

Nathan's flight to Salt Lake City left at 6am so it made for a really early morning. The roads were clear and calm and I'm glad I didn't have to fight traffic or snowy weather.

Allison slept for a few hours when we got home and since it was shaping up to be a gorgeous day I decided to open all the windows and start my spring cleaning.

We've been so lucky to rent a furnished house and to have been able to borrow all of Allison's baby things and I want to make sure that I take the best care of all of those things. Today I wiped down all the furniture, the baseboards, windows, doors, and floors. It was a big job but the sunshine and fresh air made it enjoyable. After I was finished, I brought the jumper out onto the front porch. I washed the porch and chatted with passing neighbors until the setting sun lowered the temperature.

That Girl We Love

I  woke Allison up out of a very deep sleep (and the first time I eve went to get her and found her asleep on her stomach) so that we could all drive to the airport at 4:30am.

Nathan is traveling to Salt Lake City to visit a great friend and have some party, video game, stay up late, goofball time. Allison went back to bed for an hour (when we got home at 6:00am) and now we're sitting her trying to decide what to do with this 23 degree weather that's predicted for today!

9/11

Today was Nathan's second day (of a 9 day) vacation and after church we decided we wanted to do some exploring since the weather was sunny and warm.

Nathan found the Indian Creek Trail and we decided to walk a small portion of it. It started a few blocks from our house and we bundled Allison in the stroller and walked for 45 minutes. I couldn't believe how busy the parks/trails were! It seemed like everyone had the same idea we did!

On my shopping adventure this week, I was driving home when I saw a sign for a KC 9/11 memorial. I was intrigued because I didn't think about KC having something like that.

I suggested to Nathan that we head over a check it out. It's a small garden-style memorial but it has a piece of one the towers (it wasn't labelled), a list of those who died in the attacks, and a timeline of the morning.

Our Wornall gospel community group has a section each time we meet where one person shares a little bit about their upbringing and how they see themselves, ie. their struggles and goals. It is a way to get to know people quickly. A few weeks ago, we heard from our host, Katie and she was talking about teen years and said how she was really affected by 9/11. It was a tiny part of her story but it really stuck with me. I know I'm not American and I don't know anyone who died that day, but I remember people crying at my high school, watching the tiny monitors screwed down to metal cart in the cafeteria.

I understood it was sad and terrifying but I feel like I can't comprehend the American mentality regarding the lasting effects of the attack.

 

 

Today, reading the plaques and talking with Nathan, I feel like I understand a very small part of depth of the pain of a country who mourned together. I reacted strongly when I read that the first FDNY casualty was when a fireman was hit by a falling person - and not by the building collapse, fire, etc. The chaos alone is unsettling to think of.

Nathan went to the 9/11 memorial site in New York and he said that it was overwhelming to see. Even though it was a somber outing, I really enjoyed it and felt like I learned a lot.

Day Date

I've spent the last 2 days driving all over Kansas City (and surrounding areas) looking for Frozen themed items for my nieces birthday- and everything is sold out! Walmart, Target, Party City, The Disney Store and every department store at the local mall! It's insane- no one has anything! Even most online stores (including Amazon are sold out!)

I've been dragging Allison with me to all the stores and she's done really well - even though it meant sitting in her car seat for 4 hours!

This morning Nathan had a pastor leader meeting at the church and when he got home around 10, we bundled Allison up again and headed out to check a few more stores. We couldn't find anything but most stores let us know that they'd be rolling out a big promotion with new product when the movie comes out next week.

Even though we didn't buy anything (except a couple of Happy Meals) we had a good afternoon together. I can't remember the last time Nathan and I spent time together without a deadline.

At 6pm we headed over to John Mark and Jill's house (pastor and his wife) where they treated us to Chinese food. It was amazing and such a treat. We always get spoiled when we go there. They treat us to dinner and then sent us home with the leftovers!

We haven't spent much 'couple time' with JM and Jill since Allison came along, which is sad because we always have so much fun together and we get along so well. It was great to sit and catch up and laugh and share a meal. We're already planning the next mini road trip!

 The weather is starting to warm up and while Nathan was showing Allison the green grass outside, she began to lick the cold window. She loved it - so I snuck outside to take a few pictures!

Play Mat

This week started out pretty rough. Allison is getting her top two teeth and she was a nightmare on Monday and Tuesday. She was in pain, not sleeping well, and taking it out on me. She's normally such a happy baby and it really bothered me to see her so upset.

I don't know why but seeing teeth come in makes me nauseated. Her gums and upper lip are swollen and she's been drooling like a puppy.

Thankfully, the pain seemed to subside by Wednesday and by Thursday, she was back to her old self. 

Since Allison was feeling better, I decided to finish up a project that I've been working at for the last 2 weeks. I made Allison this rainbow activity mat. It was a great way to practice different sewing techniques on a bunch of different fabrics. I used mostly scraps that I already had, but I bought all of the add-ons (the buckles, zippers, etc).

Allison is still too young to play with the notions but she's started to become aware of the zippers on my coat, or the string of my sweatshirt so I thought this might be a way to get her to stop pulling on my clothes and maybe enjoy tummy time. Allison is fine on her stomach, she can lift her head, but she still hates it - and now that she can roll, each time I put her on her stomach- she just rolls back!

Maybe this will keep her entertained long enough to stay on her stomach- which will hopefully lead to crawling (but I think we're still a long way off of that!)

The picture of the left is the back of the quilt (it's a black and white paisley design) but when I was quilting each wedge and I was flipping it back and forth, I caught the rainbow peeking through. 

Babysitting

First, here are some outtakes from Allison's 10 month pictures. She was doing great standing but after 5 minutes she got bored and wanted to sit and play with her dress (I think she was confused as to why she wasn't in pajamas).

I did the pictures myself and trying to set the camera and flash up, hold her hand, and press the remote was a little tricky but she seemed genuinely happy to be posing so that helped me. 

Last night Nathan and I went a few streets over to babysit for a fellow resident. We met their family on Superbowl Sunday and when an event for the wife's job came up, they asked if we wouldn't mind watching Max for a few hours. I was really nervous because I'm not much of a kid person and I haven't done much babysitting. I think I feel like I'm not a kid person because I'm not playful and I don't think of myself as fun so I think they won't like me.

When we arrived, the couple answered the door in black tie! They looked fantastic! They showed us around and gave us some quick instructions before heading downtown. Max is the same age as Allison but he's mobile and likes to pull himself up on everything! He was really sweet and loved to snuggle. Nathan and I decided to each take a baby and I was in charge of Max. After I fed him dinner we played on the floor for a little bit until he crawled into my lap, put his head on my shoulder and fell asleep!

He really liked to be held (his parents warned me that he doesn't sleep well in his crib) but I managed to get him alseep in his crib for 3 hours before he woke up and needed some hugs. Allison has never been a cuddly baby. She's always pushed me away and even when she's tired, she prefers to self soothe/sleep on her own). I know it's a good thing because it gives me so much freedom, but last night, I had no complaints that that little man wanted me to hold him. It was wonderful!

I always thought I'd want twins but tonight I learned that would be trouble! When Max would cry out, Allison would wake up and vice versa. All in all it was an easy, quiet night and I'm glad the couple was able to enjoy an evening out knowing their boy was in good hands.

Ten Months