To Grandmother's house we go....

Oliver gets to take his first plane ride. We are headed home to WA on Saturday morning. I cannot wait to be home. I haven't been home since April for my baby shower. Way to long. Of course after this trip, I think my next will be in September for my nephew's 5th birthday. I wish I could go home more often. But with the little one, and more to come some day, I just can't travel across the country that easily anymore.

I am hoping for an uneventful flight, but I am just not sure what to expect completely. I hope Oliver does ok. He is normally a pretty content boy, but 10 hours in airports might make a baby a little cranky. I know it makes a mommy cranky. Well, it made me cranky before I was a mommy, so I am sure it will make me more cranky!

On another note. Oliver is already outgrowing his car seat (Max 22 lbs, 29 inches-he is passing the inch mark rapidly), so we had to go searching for a convertible car seat. It holds up to 65lbs and is able to be rear-facing up to 35. But, because the current car seat barely fit in my car without the front passenger kissing the dashboard, we needed to get a new vehicle. So, I have entered the ranks of mini-van mom. We traded in my Mazda3 for a Chrysler Town & Country. It is fully loaded, but used. We just could not afford nor justify spending $30k on a new one. I totally love it. Everyone we talked to who has a van swear by them. Of course I am not 22 anymore (shush, don't tell anyone), I am not so concerned with how it makes me look. I was searching for comfort, room, and ease of use. When we have more kids, we will need it anyway.

It is a burnt orange color, almost red-orange. It has leather seats with seat warmers. DVD system. Navigation system (which isn't really that cool, but it might get me home in a pinch if I am lost), and CD changer. Stow'n'go seats which are really cool if we want to transport large items, we can fold down all the seats-even the third row. Flat. So Nice!!

Oliver is growing lots as I mentioned above. He got a jumperoo for Christmas from his Grandpa, and he loves it. I also love it, because it is making his legs stronger and he is getting used to putting weight on them. That will help with walking and standing soon. He is almost 6 months old at the end of January and he is just such a big boy. His hair is almost all grown in and is just so cute. Still looks a lot like his daddy, but I am shining through a little. At least I like to think so!

I will post a few pics for your viewing pleasure!!

Olivers first cereal. He loved it and has been doing great with it since. We started at 5 months.

Aunt Deanna was able to come visit for Christmas. This is Oliver all dressed up in his church outfit.



I wanna open this one...Oliver's first Christmas was great. He sure made it more fun for us!




Christmas 2009 Family pictures. Santa was great!





Thanksgiving 2009 with Daddy!

Next up....My birthday! Yay!!

2000: A Decade in Review

After reading Brooke's post about a decade in review, I want to review my decade too. So here goes...

2000: I was working at McDonald's during this time. Quit in March. Went to a Certified Nursing Assistant Class and so my nursing career began. My first job as a CNA was in a nursing home, which quickly was replaced by Kennewick General. In Fall, I took a class to become an EMT.

2001: Left KGH, moved to Spokane. This only lasted 3 months and I was back home. I worked for my Dad as an electrician until late June when I got mono. I am still not sure how I got it, but I did. I spent the next 7 weeks in bed, literally. Then in Sept, started back at KGH as a CNA. I had been there for one week and I remember hearing the news of 9/11 on the patients tv's. I was working nights. I called my mom at 7am and told her, she thought I was kidding. I wasn't.

Also finished my AA degree this year.

2002: I was still going to school, taking pre-requisite classes for nursing. I also joined the fire department and became a volunteer fire-fighter. I loved it. This is the year I started running. I ran my first 26.2 mile marathon in October. It was in Victoria Canada. Very pretty.

2003: Accepted into the nursing program and started in the Fall. Still working at KGH as a CNA, but once nursing school started, switched to working as secretary for better hours. Also started picking up hours in the ER.

2004: 2nd 26.2 mile marathon in the spring. Whidbey Island. Very hilly, but beautiful. Nursing school very demanding and time consuming. Not much time for anything else. Still volunteering at the fire dept when I can!
I moved out of my parents house in March and moved in with a friend from work. Also got my doggie Charlie. He was a mini-dachshund. So adorable!

2005: What a great year. Graduated nursing school. Moved to Portland, Oregon. Welcomed my first nephew Grason into this world. What a cutie patootie!! I started work as an RN in a community hospital in Hillsboro, OR in the Critical care unit. Tried to continue on for my Bachelor's, taking online classes, but that proved to be too difficult. Trying to learn an advanced skill in a new field and try taking online classes didn't mix. I figure I will try again later.
Meanwhile, Shaun joins US ARMY after being a high school science teacher for last few years.

2006: I start learning photography. Continued nursing in Portland. Ran my 3rd 26.2 mile marathon, this time in Portland, OR. Best route out of the 3, in my opinion. I guess not a lot happened this year. Welcomed 1st niece, Kaitlyn.
Shaun was in Washington DC at Walter Reed for most of this year, and transferred to Fort Detrick in Frederick, MD in December.

2007: This year my (our) life changed forever. I will have to break this year down by the month.
January: Decide to break my lease, quit my job, and try my hand at travel nursing. I wanted to go so many places I didn't care where I started. My first job ended up being Hagerstown, MD.
February: Arrive 6th. Join match.com 8th. Get first email from husband 14th.
March: Meet in person 3rd. Spend 14 hours together for our first date exploring Baltimore/Hagerstown area and all it has to offer. Fly to NYC for the very first time ever. Explore NYC by myself for 3 days (LOVED IT). Go to NC with Shaun and meet his friends. Shaun moves in by St. Patrick's Day
April: Work, dates with Shaun
May: Fly to WA with Shaun to meet the family. Drive my car back across the country.
June: work, dates with Shaun
July: Engaged to Shaun, 2nd Nephew Beckett joined us.
Aug: Fly home, pick out dress. Move from Hagerstown to Columbia, MD. Take new nursing assignment.
Sept-Nov: work
Dec: Buy a condo. Get a puppy. Get new job in ER at Howard Cty Hosp.

2008: Got married in May, Honeymooned in the Poconos. The puppy we got in December turned out to not be a good fit for our family and she went on to live in a new home. Loving my job in the ER, except working nights at this time. Found out in Nov, we were expecting our first child! Switched from nights to days in December. Shaun turned 30. 3rd Nephew Kyler was born just 6 days after our wedding.

2009: I turned 30 in January. Shaun and my family threw a big surprise party. I loved it. Flew home again in April for Baby Shower. Oliver is born in July after weeks of mall walking trying to get him to come earlier. He is growing so big and learning so much! He loved Christmas and I am sure will love it more next year.

2010: I hope this year brings some great things. We hope to expand our family at some point this year. When we do, that will bring more things to look forward to, including selling the condo and moving to Fort Detrick. Don't wanna buy in MD again, since in 2012, we look forward to moving back the Tri-Cities to be closer to my family.

Hope you all Have a Happy New year. A few resolutions for me: continue on my weight-loss journey. I have lost all baby weight and even down a few more lbs. I hope to be down another 40-50 before Oliver's first birthday. I also want to start exercising more regularly. We have a gym membership, so I really just need to go. Last, I want to try harder keeping up on my blog. I am not sure if I have any readers left, but I will keep writing and maybe someone will peek in and take a look!