The Sand Castle

Beautiful Day

2007-10-24T07:39:00.001-05:00

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Yesterday was a beautiful day. Caitlin had a tea party picnic outside with her stuffed animals. I love this fall weather.

I haven't written much in awhile, so I'll update what we've been up to. Rian and I went to NYC last month for a few days while Caitlin spent the week with Grandpa and Grandma in Callaway. We have a fantastic time in the big city, saw some broadway shows and ate some fantastic food. Caitlin had an equally great time with Grandpa and Grandma. Rian and I have also been to Dallas to a couple Cowboys games. They are having a great year, which is more than I can say for my Huskers, but that's a WHOLE other blog!!

Caitlin is growing like a weed. She is very, very tall. I definiately think she got her daddy's height. She is very talkative and very busy all the time! It's go, go, go with her. She loves her sports and her dolls. I guess she's very well rounded! She's also kind of a stinker, but that's a whole other story too. We're still working on the potty training again. I thought we had it, but I guess not.

That's all for now, I'll try to keep this updated. Off to make some breakfast....

Ok, so here I am again....

2007-08-20T22:31:00.000-05:00

So I haven't done a very good job of keeping this updated. I can't guarantee that I'm going to do a better job now, but I'm certainly going to try. If anyone is reading this (is anyone???) then you should get on me if you don't see me post in awhile.

Caitlin is 2 1/2. Where does the time go? She talks like crazy. It amazes me the things that she knows. This morning after she got up she was flipping her hair out of her eyes and she finally turned to me and said, "Mama, I REALLY need a hair cut." Ok, I guess my kid needs a haircut! LOL I didn't even know that she really knew what a haircut was. She's only had her hair trimmed once before. I was trying to grow out her bangs so they were all one length, but I guess if she wants her hair cut, maybe we should do it. Anyways, she's smart and funny and she's a master manipulator. More on that tomorrow... for now it's bedtime.

Caitlin's getting smart!!!

2006-08-31T09:41:00.000-05:00

Caitlin's bedtime is at 8:00 at the latest. We try to stick to this pretty close or she doesn't get enough sleep at night. Last night we did our regular ritual, pajamas, milk, diaper change, book reading, kiss mommy and daddy and then night, night for Caitlin! After we said goodnight to her she started doing the 'milk' sign. So.. we decided maybe we better give her some, even though she just had a whole cup. She drank most of the milk and we said goodnight again. Rian started to put her in her crib when she did the 'change' sign. Hmmmm.... we decided we'd better check. She was a tiny bit wet, so we changed her and put her back in her crib. Then she started hollering 'Elmo', 'Elmo', 'Elmo'!! We decided she was trying to delay bedtime any way that she could think of. We ended up giving her Elmo and put her to bed. We could hear her talking to Elmo for a good 30 minutes before she finally dozed off. She's getting smart, trying to figure out how to put off going to bed.

Visit my dropshots site for new pictures if you haven't been there for awhile. www.dropshots.com/ajsand. Email me if you don't know the password.

New Things

2006-07-31T08:56:00.000-05:00

Caitlin is growing like a weed. When Sarah and Joshua came over this week Sarah said she thought she had grown a bunch since they saw her the week before. I even had to buy her new sandals because her other ones were starting to get tight. I thought they might last to the end of the summer, but I guess we didn't quite make it. It's fun to buy new stuff anyway!!

She is doing lots of new things. She MUST blow on her food before she eats it, whether it's hot or cold. I guess better safe than sorry. She has to do things herself. If she needs help she signs 'help' but her help sign looks more like 'raise the roof' than the real help sign. Oh well, she'll get it. She loves to play outside (when it's not 100 degrees!). Yesterday we made her slide into a water slide. That was fun times!! Here are some videos:

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The fires around Chadron have been devastating. I just can't believe how powerful wildfires are. Thank goodness they saved the town of Chadron. I can't imagine how I would've felt if the town would've burned. It came so close!! My thoughts and prayers go out to those who lost their houses and their property. If you haven't seen pictures you can go to www.chadrad.com and see some incredible pictures of the devastating fires.

We're still here

2006-07-15T09:46:00.000-05:00

I decided I'd better write something here since I gave the link to this blog in my Christmas letter. Who knows, someone might actually be reading it! We've been busy lately. House stuff, business stuff, Caitlin stuff. It seems we always have something going on. Caitlin's growing like a weed. She's talking more and she knows quite a few signs. We need to get our sign language book out and learn some more, because she's catching up to us!! Her favorite signs right now are 'more' and 'please'. Unfortunately we don't always know what she wants 'more' of 'please'. :-)

We've been dealing with a stupid raccoon that gets in our yard and tears down our bird feeders spreading seed all over the ground and gobbling it up. Biscuit and Bagel chase it out of the yard sometimes, but a lot of times it gets in and destroys the bird feeders before B&B even notice it's there. Very annoying!!! If you have any suggestions on how to get rid of the raccoon (without killing it, I don't want PETA after me or anything) I'd be happy to hear it!

Check out my dropshots site for recent pictures of Caitlin. www.dropshots.com/ajsand. I'll try to get some posted here soon, but right now, Caitlin is calling.

Caitlin loves shoes

2006-06-01T08:23:00.000-05:00

Like mommy like daughter. Caitlin loves shoes. For the past 2 mornings, right after she's gotten up she's went and got her new sandals. She holds them up for me and lifts her foot and grunts. I'm surprised that she'll even take them off for naps because as soon as she's awake, she wants them on again! Silly girl. Here is a picture of her with her sandals on:

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Yesterday we went to Cabela's because Rian was looking for a new pair of binoculars. Caitlin LOVED the animals there. She'd point and growl at all the animals. She especially liked the lions and the elephants. Of course they're all stuffed and they don't move, so it's easy for her to see them. And they don't smell either!!

Roseola

2006-05-26T08:37:00.000-05:00

Caitlin has roseola which is a skin rash characterized by a high fever and then appearance of a rash. She had the fever on Monday and Tuesday, which I chalked up to her 15 month vaccinations. She started getting the rash on Wednesday and by Thursday afternoon she was covered with it. You can tell she doesn't feel well. She's very crabby and doesn't want to do anything but be held and rocked. Poor baby. :(

She weighed 21 lbs and was 30 inches long at her 15 month appointment. So other than the roseola, she's doing very well.

When she was sick she was sitting on Daddy's lap helping him. She kept pointing at the computer saying 'pretty'.

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What does Caitlin say?

2006-05-22T09:52:00.000-05:00

A few days ago I was working with Caitlin on her animal sounds. I asked her what a lion says and she said "roar". I asked her what a doggy says and she said "woof, woof". I asked her what a kitty cat says and she said "mow, mow". Then Rian piped up and said, "what does Caitlin say?" Caitlin said, "Uh-Oh". It was very funny!! She does say 'uh-oh' quite a bit.

She got a set of golf clubs and a lawn mower last week. She really enjoys playing outside with them. Here are some pictures:

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We have been really busy getting our house in order, so I haven't posted much on here. I promise I'll try to do better!!

Hummingbirds!!

2006-04-27T15:29:00.000-05:00

I just saw my first hummer of the season, and I don't mean the car! If you've never sat and watched hummingbirds before, then you can't possibly understand my obsession with them. They are amazing little birds and so fun to watch. I was afraid that we might not attract them this season. We used to see them all the time at the other house. Rian joked that we needed to leave them a note to let them know that we moved! I check www.hummingbirds.net every spring to watch their migration so I know when to expect them. I've been waiting for the past 2 weeks to see one on my feeder. Today was the day!! I'm off to give them fresh nectar!!

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Blue Jays, Blue Jays everywhere!

2006-04-22T19:20:00.000-05:00

Our backyard is FULL of bluejays. At any one time there has been 10-15 blue jays on the ground around our feeder, on the feeder, and on the birdbath in our backyard. There are also tons of them in the trees. We had a lot of bluebirds at the other house, but here the bluejays are just thick!! I need to try to get a picture but it's hard because they fly away as soon as I go outside.

I guess she's tired....

2006-04-20T09:43:00.000-05:00

Caitlin went and got her blanky and curled up on the kitchen floor. I guess she was tired...

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Doggie Drama

2006-04-13T09:06:00.000-05:00

Well we had some drama around here last night. Biscuit was acting like she didn't feel good and she would yelp if you touched her head. She wouldn't eat and was just laying around acting kind of lethargic. Rian picked her up and started holding her and she was breathing really shallow and quickly. We decided to call Dr. Bradley and he said we needed to bring her in. We loaded up in the car and headed out. When we got there Dr. Bradley checked her over and he said her lip was really swollen and her lymph glands were starting to swell and her muzzle was very tender. He suspected a sting by a wasp or a hornet. Dr. Bradley got to looking closer and found she was stung on her muzzle by her nose. There was even blood. You could tell it was really hurting her. They gave her two shots to stop the reaction and we brought her home. She was zonked!! This morning she seems to be back to her old self, thank goodness!!

Caitlin is doing good.. growing like a weed!! She likes to say 'uh-oh' and she even tries to say Biscuit, but it comes out more like 'Bi-it'. It's much easier for her to sign 'dog'. We've been taking music classes on Tuesday mornings. She was really shy the first two classes, but she's finally starting to warm up. Her favorite part is when they get out the rhythm sticks. She really likes banging with those. She's not very happy when we have to put them away. She has also discovered the fun of throwing things into the toilet. We have to be really careful to keep the bathroom doors closed now. Little stinker!!

We had some pictures taken at Sears last week. She wasn't super cooperative, but here are a couple of them:

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Well, that's all for now. I need to get going.

We're still here!

2006-03-29T09:32:00.000-06:00

Wow, it's been forever since I've posted. We've been so crazy busy getting into our new house that I just haven't had time to update. It's been quite an adjustment for Caitlin. She went from consistently sleeping through the night to being up several times a night. I think she just doesn't know where she is. I'm hoping that she will adjust soon! We are slowly getting boxes unpacked and put away. Here are a few pictures I took this morning:

Rian's desk area:

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Looking from the kitchen through the breakfast area/Rian's desk area into the living room:

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Living room:

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Living room looking at formal living room door and door to the entryway:

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Looking upstairs from the living room:

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Formal living room (sorry it's so dark):

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Dining room:

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Kitchen:

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Deck and backyard:

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Entry/Stairs upstairs:

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Caitlin's Birthday

2006-03-01T22:07:00.000-06:00

Well, it's been a week since Caitlin's first birthday. She had a really big weekend. We have been so busy that this has been my first chance to post some pictures and videos. I also just got a new computer, so I've been transferring files and uploading pictures so I could post pictures. Here you go...

The weather was incredible over the weekend. Caitlin enjoyed walking in the yard with Grandpa and Grandma Neth and Uncle Michael. Grandma asked me why she kept patting her leg. I said because that's the sign for Dog!! Grandma - you need to work on your sign language!!

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Pictures from her party:

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I love this one where Zach is playing with her presents and she is playing with the ribbon! (Aunt Stacey - do you have any more of that ribbon?!?) HA! :-)

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Here's the cake:

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After getting a few pictures I decided I needed to get a video clip so I could post it here of her enjoying her cake. Just as the camera started rolling, we had a melt down:

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She recovered from the meltdown and we all had sandwiches and snacks and then some of us went out to see our new house. We left Zach and Caitlin at the house with Grandpa and Grandma Neth and Marilyn and Gregg. Here was the result:

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And here's Zach and Caitlin in Caitlin's wagon from Grandpa Sand and LaLa:

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She had a wonderful birthday party!! I can't believe she is already one. What a big girl she is!!

Caitlin's Big Day

2006-02-23T09:37:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was Caitlin's first birthday! She had a very big day. We spent the morning at Googols of Fun with some kids from her playgroup. She had a ton of fun. Here are some pictures:

She loved playing on the mats with the foam blocks:

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Crawling thru the tube:

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Trying to climb into the slide tube:

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Driving the car:

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Isn't she the cutest 1 year old:

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All tired out at home sleeping in the dog bed:

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Her new kitchen:

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Tomrrow's the big day

2006-02-21T21:35:00.000-06:00

Caitlin will be 1!! I can't hardly believe it. This year has gone by so fast. Our baby girl is going to be a whole year old! She amazes me every day. She is walking quite a bit now. She has been taking a few steps here and there for about a month or so, but now she is taking 7-8 steps at a time and the other night she even walked all the way across the kitchen. I was shocked!! She didn't know I was watching her. She always seems to do better when she thinks we aren't watching. We are going to try to go to Googols of Fun in the morning. Other than that, we don't have a whole lot planned for tomorrow. Saturday we are having a small party for her. We have boxes of stuff packed all over our house, so we will have a bigger party once our new house is done.

She also got 2 more teeth this morning. Her top 2 teeth both broke through the gumline this morning. I knew once one came in the others would be right behind them!

Potato Chip Treat

2006-02-13T07:57:00.000-06:00

Caitlin's new favorite thing to do is to play in the pantry. She loves to take the cans and jars off the bottom shelf and then put them back on there again. She'll spend 30 minutes playing in the pantry, laughing and talking. This morning she was able to get one of the chip clips off a bag of chips and she dumped the chips on the floor. Biscuit and Bagel were sure happy to have a yummy potato chip snack at 7:45 in the morning!! Here she is on Saturday trying to drink a Squirt upside down.

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Another Page

2006-02-12T11:57:00.000-06:00

Here's another page I just finished:

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My New Digital Scrapbook Page

2006-02-12T09:39:00.000-06:00

I'm really having fun with digital scrapbooking. My computer has a really hard time running the program, so it takes me a long time to finish a page, but here is my latest one:

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Rian is getting a new computer, so I am getting his laptop and once I can use it, it will be easier to use Paint Shop Pro. I also need to get a color printer so I can print my pages. They are so fun to make and a lot less messy than regular scrapbook pages. (As I sit here and type this my kitchen table is covered in paper scrapbooking supplies!) I'm planning to do my digital pages in 8x8 format and my paper pages in 12x12.

"Hiiiiiiiii"

2006-02-07T09:51:00.000-06:00

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Caitlin Update

2006-02-06T10:40:00.000-06:00

Caitlin seems to be doing better. She is coughing less but still seems to be quite congested. Rian has now come down with whatever she had. Not surprising, considering she likes to stick her germy fingers in our mouths to feel our teeth! I'm just glad she isn't coughing so much anymore.

Biscuit and Bagel went to the groomer last week and they both lost the amount of weight that the vet wanted them to lose. WooHoo!! Good news for them, they won't have to eat diet food.

I'm starting to try to get organized to pack and move. Last week I organized some drawers and cleaned out the kitchen pantry. I also organized some stuff in our office, but it now looks messier than it did before! This week I need to work down there some more and I also plan to try to clean out Caitlin's closet. I need to get some of her clothes put away and organized. We'll see how that goes...

Caitlin is sick

2006-02-03T21:47:00.000-06:00

Poor baby Caitlin is sick. I took her to the Dr. this morning and they sent us to the hospital to have her tested for RSV. She was up in the night coughing and it was scary because she was wheezing like she couldn't breathe. Luckily her RSV test came back negative, however, she is still sick and doesn't feel good. We were supposed to go to Iowa this weekend to see family, but now we are staying home so Caitlin can get better and so she doesn't get anyone else sick. Hopefully she'll finally be able to sleep good tonight and maybe she'll feel better tomorrow. RSV is really going around here. I sure hope she doesn't end up with it.

Here are some new pictures of our house:

Steps on the main staircase. They will be stained and a rug runner will go up the middle:

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Kitchen Pantry. It is HUGE and one of my favorite things about the house:

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Master bath shower:

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The top 3 controls control each of the heads (main, rain, and handsprayer) and the bottom controller controls the temperature (to the degree!) of the water:

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Library:

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These are the support columns that are in the hall between the entry and the great room:

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It's Official!

2006-01-31T12:17:00.000-06:00

Mark it in the baby book -- Caitlin has a tooth! Well, about 1/4 of a tooth maybe. It is through the skin and you can see it! After months and months of teething struggles, her bottom right tooth is in. Woo Hoo!!

She walks like a drunken sailor, but climbs like a monkey!

2006-01-29T12:20:00.000-06:00

That's what Rian said about Caitlin. So very true. She can take a few steps, but she's not very steady. However, she is quite the climber. Here's what we caught her doing the other night:

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She was pretty proud of herself. We had to find a way to block her from getting to the cords behind the TV, so we put her rocking chair there. It didn't take long for her to figure out how to climb on it. Last night she climbed into her toy box. She had some trouble when she decided she wanted out.

She has also become quite fond of the dog bed. This morning she got her stuffed dog from her room and brought it out and got in the dog bed with it. Maybe she thought the doggy needed a nap:

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The Milk Sign

2006-01-27T13:02:00.000-06:00

Caitlin has been using the milk sign for quite awhile now. It was her first sign and for awhile, 'milk' meant everything. We just had to take it in context. Well, now she knows a few more signs, so milk means milk. This morning she came over to me and started signing, so I got her some milk in her sippy cup. She took a drink and kept signing milk at me. Then she started using 2 hands to sign milk. I kept saying, "you have milk, is there something else you want?" Then she started to get crabby. I finally figured out that 'milk' meant milk in a bottle! She didn't want her sippy cup, she wanted a bottle. Silly me.

Here are some pictures from yesterday:

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Little Climber

2006-01-23T10:42:00.000-06:00

Apparently we have a little climber on our hands. A couple weeks ago I caught Caitlin putting my Harry Potter books on the floor so she could use them as a step to get to stuff on the end table that she wasn't supposed to have. She stepped off before I was able to get a very good picture.

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She has now found a bigger and better step:

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Can you say "trouble"?

Caitlin's Teeth

2006-01-20T10:39:00.000-06:00

Well, for those of you who are interested in the saga surrounding Caitlin's teeth, here's an update for you. A couple weeks ago I showed the bumps in her mouth to Dr. Murphy. She said they weren't normal and she'd never seen anything like it. She thinks that her canines might be trying to come in, but are stuck under her bottom middle teeth and can't come in, so they are sort've sticking out the front of the gums. They're just huge, white bumps. She recommended I call our dentist and see if there was anything we should do, or if we should just wait. She didn't think anything could be done until something comes in. So.. I called Dr. Brittingham (our dentist) and he said he didn't think anything could be done until something comes in (so they can see where things are at) and that we could either wait, or call the pediatric dentist. I decided to wait a couple weeks and see what happened. So that brings us to today. Yesterday was a really bad day. Caitlin was super crabby and I could tell her teeth were really hurting. I decided if she didn't have a tooth in one week, I would call the pediatric dentist. Well, this morning I can feel part of her top, right tooth poking through the gum!! So, it appears she'll get her top teeth first, which doesn't really help the situation with her poor bottom teeth. Poor baby. :( I guess we'll wait and see what happens with her top teeth and then go from there.

Where does the time go?

2006-01-19T10:08:00.000-06:00

Today is Sebastian's 1st birthday. Sebastian is the son of our friends, Bob and Kelli. Sebastian and Caitlin are good friends. I really can't believe it's been a year since he was born. In just a little over a month, Caitlin will be 1. Where does the time go? I was looking through some pictures on my dropshots site of her when she was a little tiny baby. I can barely even remember her being so small! They grow up so fast. Here are some recent pictures:

Lounging in the dog bed:

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She's a very busy girl!:

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Patty Cake:

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looking cute in her skirt from Aunt Marilyn and sweater from Uncle Rich and Aunt Stacey:

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No Mom, I'm not climing on the chair:

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Mom's Harry Potter books make a really great step:

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Here are some recent pictures of our house. It is supposed to be done March 15th:

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Sand Family Christmas Pictures

2006-01-06T08:39:00.000-06:00

Here are some pictures from our Christmas with the Sand Family:

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Pictures of our New House

2006-01-06T08:38:00.000-06:00

Imagine our surprise when we went out to our house yesterday to see countertops!! Very exciting. We only got one picture so far, they were still working on them. They were also doing the ceiling in the formal living room. It is really cool!! Here are some pictures:

The detail on our cabinets:

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Countertop:

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Ceiling in formal living room:

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Dining room:

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Master bedroom looking at the bathroom door and the 2 closet doors. The shelves on the floor go in the closets:

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The Deck:

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Looking from the great room to the upstairs (don't worry, there will eventually be a railing!):

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Caitlin loves her horse

2006-01-04T12:19:00.000-06:00

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Caitlin's First Christmas

2005-12-30T11:40:00.000-06:00

Caitlin was rather un-interested in the whole opening presents at Christmas, but she had a good time nonetheless. Here are some pictures of our trip to Nebraska.

Here she is at Aunt Peggy and Uncle Allens on the toboggan with Ashley and Benjamin.
In case you are worried that she doesn't have her coat on, it was 50 degrees and she was plenty warm! All was well with the toboggan until Uncle Allen moved it, then we had two crying babies, Caitlin and Benjamin.

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Her Christmas Eve dress and hat:

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Checking out the horse with Benjamin:

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Grandpa, I don't know about this horse thing:

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Future Jockey's:

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Feet on the ground. Great Aunt Marilyn made the Christmas bibs for the babies:

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I think I'm done with Christmas:

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What'd you get Benjamin?:

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Ashley likes her new Tri-State Cousin Club blanket:

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Benjamin's blanket:

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Caitlin's blanket:

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Throwing her weeble wobbles:

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Great-Grandpa and Ashley:

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Cindy's Funny!:

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All pooped out:

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Playing with Ashley:

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Taste-testing Great Aunt Christi's telescope lenses:

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Pretty Christmas Tree:

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Christmas morning in her jammies:

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Hmm.. that's not Biscuit or Bagel:

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She found Nemo!:

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How's this for a wind up? She learned something at the Royals games:

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Don't let go Grandpa:

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Tired out again:

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Old Fashioned toys are the best:

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Can I help you with your legos, Uncle Michael?

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Good helper!:

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Playing Ball

2005-12-18T14:01:00.000-06:00

Caitlin's new favorite game is playing ball. She likes to play with anyone (or any dog) who will play with her. Sometimes she just plays 'fetch' with herself. Here she is playing ball with Daddy across the coffee table:

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We got about 3 inches of snow yesterday and today. It is very pretty.

All our Christmas presents are bought and wrapped. Can't wait for Christmas to arrive!!

Finally getting teeth!

2005-12-11T10:33:00.000-06:00

Caitlin's teeth are finally starting to come in. Now if they could just break the skin! It looks like she'll get the bottom 4 teeth at about the same time. She has 4 large bumps on her gums and they are really white! It looks really painful, but she doesn't seem to be too bothered by them. She rubs on them a lot, but has still been sleeping through the night and is eating ok. I'm guessing she'll at least have a few for Christmas. :-)

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!

2005-12-07T16:22:00.000-06:00

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First signs!

2005-12-06T09:59:00.000-06:00

Caitlin can sign milk now! We are so excited! She did it for the first time Sunday night. She did it again a couple times yesterday and she did it this morning. We are so glad she is finally picking it up. Now if she can just remember to do it instead of fussing. She's not real consistent yet, but she has definiately done it a few times! :-)

Storytime with Daddy

2005-12-06T09:56:00.000-06:00

Caitlin loves to read stories with her Daddy. Here are some pictures I took yesterday:

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Caitlin and Santa

2005-12-06T09:38:00.000-06:00

Caitlin got to see Santa twice over the weekend. Once was in Kansas City at the Crestwood Christmas. Here she is with Santa and Grandpa Sand.

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She wasn't scared, but she was bundled up so tight that she couldn't even move.

She also got to see Santa at the mall. We had her picture taken with him. She didn't seem to be scared. She was such a trooper with all the Christmas shopping. She did great.

We also got to see one of Santa's Reindeer:

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Here are some other pictures from our weekend:

Long day of shopping for Michael:

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Showing Grandpa how to use the computer:

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In front of Grandpa Sand and LaLa's tree:

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Caitlin's 9 Month Check

2005-11-23T21:42:00.000-06:00

Caitlin had her 9 month well-baby check up today. She weighed 18 lbs 1 ounce and was 26 3/4 inches long. She's just below average on both height and weight which is pretty much where she has been since she was born, so she is right on target with her growth curve. We are supposed to start introducing her to more table foods. Yesterday she tried cheese and she thinks cheese is very yummy!! Tonight she tried hamburger. I think she thought it was ok. She liked the cheese a lot better.

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Dr. Murphy gave us some different medicine for her cheeks. Hopefully it will work better. She also gave us some Clarinex, hopefully that will take care of her stuffy nose once and for all!!

I spoke too soon when I said I wasn't going out on Black Friday. Now I am. Some deals are just too good to pass up I guess. I'm going to try to get 3 LCD TV's from Best Buy. We will use them as the security monitors for our new house. A deal is a deal, even if I have to get up at 4:30 to get it!!

That's all for now. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

Doggie Diets

2005-11-22T23:52:00.000-06:00

Biscuit and Bagel went to the groomer today to get their Thanksgiving baths and haircuts. When I got there to pick them up, they told me that Dr. Bradley wanted to talk to me for a minute. Uh Oh. A parent - vet conference. Can't be good. Apparently Biscuit threw up after she got there this morning. No big deal I said, she gets car sick almost everytime we take her there. Dr. Bradley said he figured that was what had happened, but they wanted to make sure that she hadn't been feeling ill. The other thing he wanted to talk to me about was Bagel's weight. "BAGEL's weight? Bagel's the little dog" I said. "Yes, Bagel". The 6 (almost 7) pound dog. "She's overweight" he said. Biscuit's a little overweight too, but he was mostly concerned about Bagel because she is so little and it puts so much extra strain on her joints. So, my dogs are on diets. Let me tell you, they are not too happy either!! Biscuit only gets 3/4 cup of food per day and Bagel gets 1/4 cup per day. I'm guessing they've been eating twice that. Dr. Bradley even gave me a special measuring cup to measure it out! He said we'd see where they're at next month. If they haven't lost, they have to go on diet food. Biscuit HATES the diet food. I guess Caitlin better stop feeding them puffs and teething biscuits.

Caitlin's New Hat

2005-11-22T13:03:00.000-06:00

Grandpa Sand and LaLa brought Caitlin a new winter hat on Sunday. She really likes it. She was really funny, she kept her head as still as she possibly could while she had it on. It's like she couldn't quite figure out what was on her head. Here is a picture:

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Our house is getting closer to being done. I was out there today and they were finishing up sanding the drywall. It won't be long and we'll have cabinets! We are working on paint colors and finalizing the flooring and furniture. I can't believe we're getting so close to being finished. That also means we have to put our current house on the market. I really dread that, but it has to be done. We have some major cleaning and organizing to do!! Too bad this is the absolute worst time of the year to try to sell a house. Oh well.

I have very few Christmas presents bought. It's time to get busy. About a month left, I'm running out of time. You won't catch me in the stores on black Friday. I made that mistake last year. You better believe I won't do that again.

Caitlin is 9 months old today. Unbelievable. She goes to the Dr. tomorrow for her check-up and her shots. I'm anxious to see how much she weighs. She is so fast at crawling now. We call her the 'Flash'. You can't turn your back on her for a second!

"Can't we just get her paper?"

2005-11-18T11:24:00.000-06:00

This is what Rian said when I was talking to him about Christmas presents for Caitlin. Before you think he's cheap and heartless, let me give you a little more background.

I was sitting in the kitchen on my laptop searching toy sites for the perfect Christmas gift for Caitlin. I was sending Rian link after link of cool toys (including an expensive plastic playhouse that she's probably too young for but was REALLY awesome!)and we just couldn't figure out what would be the best. Then he says, "can't we just get her wrapping paper, that's what she really likes". I look over in the living room to see her involved in her favorite activity, ripping up magazines and catalogs while her toys sit in the toy box. I realized he was right. Anything we get her will be fine. She'll like the wrapping paper best anyway.

'Puff Doggy'

2005-11-15T12:39:00.000-06:00

Caitlin sometimes feeds her puffs to Biscuit and Biscuit loves them. This morning Caitlin was in her high chair eating puffs and Biscuit scooted the chair over to her so she could beg for puffs. I think Caitlin only gave her one. :-)

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Mommy's Little Helper

2005-11-08T22:40:00.000-06:00

Today I was cutting noodles and Caitlin decided to help me. Can you see what a good helper she is?

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We went to the park today with Caitlin's playgroup. It was a beautiful day. We had a lot of fun. I have a feeling there aren't too many nice days like today left.

Not quite.. but getting there

2005-11-03T17:08:00.000-06:00

This is what Caitlin is signing for more.

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Right now she is just kind of waving, but she's starting to get it. Our teacher said that babies start with approximations for signs, so this must be her approximation. She'll figure it out. :-)

The water dish

2005-11-03T15:02:00.000-06:00

Caitlin is obsessed with the dogs water dish. She has bathed herself in it more than a few times. I moved it to the laundry room so that it would be harder for her to get to. Well, she knows it's there now and she races for it every chance she gets. Well today I put the gate up. She can still go around through the kitchen to get to it, but she hasn't quite figured that out yet. So here she is.. longing for the water dish. She stood here at the gate just staring at it for about 10 minutes.

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Caitlin's Halloween

2005-11-02T22:22:00.000-06:00

Caitlin wasn't real interested in dressing up for halloween. She tolerated her chicken outfit for awhile, but got pretty hot. It's also really hard to crawl when you have big, fat, orange chicken legs. Here she is:

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Sign language classes are going really well. Mommy and Daddy are learning a lot! Caitlin hasn't picked up any yet, but she is very interested in what we are doing. I'm sure she'll catch on soon. She waved bye-bye to Kelli and Sebastian tonight.

JussPress is down for the weekend

2005-10-21T12:06:00.000-05:00

For those of you who might be wondering what happened to my videos and pictures, JussPress is down for maintenance for the weekend and will be back up early next week. :-)

Caitlin is boy crazy!

2005-10-19T23:06:00.000-05:00

Caitlin and Sebastian got together tonight to play. Here was the result:

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Caitlin is really good at crawling now. She is everywhere. Tonight she had so much fund at childcare at the gym, she didn't even care when I came back in to pick her up. She just wanted to get into all the toys and play with all the kids.

I took her to the Dr. on Monday to get some new cream for her eczema. It just won't clear up. Dr. Murphy gave us so prescription cream that should clear it up. Then we can go get new pictures taken!!

Look out Biscuit, here she comes!

2005-10-13T15:21:00.000-05:00

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House Pictures

2005-10-13T14:21:00.000-05:00

Front of the house:

Back of the house:

Entry looking into the great room:

View from the picture window in the great room:

Deck and patio area:

Crawling

2005-10-13T14:17:00.000-05:00

Here's some video of Caitlin crawling. She's kind of slow and awkward because she has a bottle of gas drops in her hand.

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"Oh Crap!!"

2005-10-12T13:30:00.000-05:00

Those were my exact words this morning when all of a sudden Caitlin took off crawling after Biscuit while she was playing fetch with her ball. All of a sudden I realized that she was no longer figuring out how to crawl, she KNEW how to crawl and she was doing it!! You would THINK that I would've been prepared for this, but I wasn't. I guess I was somewhat prepared, but not enough. She's already been in my big plant 4 or 5 times now. I think it's going to have to get moved somewhere else. She is just fascinated with it. She's also fascinated with the receivers underneath the TV. She also follows the dogs around. They have no idea what they're in for!

Crawling 101

2005-10-09T22:54:00.000-05:00

Grandpa Marvin and Great Aunt Marilyn tried to give Caitlin crawling lessons yesterday while the rest of us were at the Husker game. I've seen the video and I'm not sure they were very successful! :) Today Rian said she did crawl 3 steps before falling on her belly and just reaching for what she wanted. I'm not sure why I'm encouraging her and wanting her to learn to crawl so badly. As soon as she's cruising all over the place I'm sure I'll want to go back to the days when she didn't know how to crawl! Here is the video:

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It was a tough loss for the Huskers yesterday. It was a very exciting game to be at, that is for sure! They sure played with a lot of determination and a lot of heart. It's an exciting time to be a Husker fan. Let's hope they play well in Waco next Saturday. Baylor is no longer the whipping post of the Big XII.

The Packers finally got their first win of the season today. Brett Favre had a great day! I hope it's only the beginning...

Moving... YUCK!

2005-10-04T12:38:00.000-05:00

Suddenly a few days ago we realized that we only have a few months before our house will be done and we will be ready to move. That means we need to get our current house ready to put on the market. UGH. This means major cleaning, organizing and packing. We started yesterday. Have I mentioned how much I hate moving? At least we will be in our new house for a VERY long time! We already have 9 boxes packed and we have loads of trash. Trash is good.. the more we throw away, the less there is to move!! I hate moving. The only good thing about moving is that you get rid of all the crap you don't need anymore. We have a lot of crap we need to get rid of! I'm even thinking of having a yard sale so someone else can buy my crap. The rest will get thrown away!

Have you tried those Mr. Clean magic erasers? They are magic. I swear they will take any scuff off the wall. I'm sold.

Today is Caitlin's first day in cloth diapers. So far so good. I am really liking them! Here she is:

Colds... YUCK!

2005-09-30T12:18:00.000-05:00

Rian and Caitlin both have bad colds. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before I get one. Rian has a terrible sore throat. I don't know if Caitlin has a sore throat or not. I would guess so. She is sniffly and sneezy. Poor baby. I think she is getting a bit better though. Today she seemed to be a bit less congested. I think the medicine is helping.

Caitlin says 'mama' a lot now. She doesn't associate it with me though. She says it when she wants something. Everything is 'mama'. I want that toy that's out of my reach.. 'mama', I want to be picked up... 'mama', I want to pet Biscuit...'mama'. It's funny!

We're trying to teach her to fall asleep on her own at night. We've been putting her to bed in her crib when she gets tired. If she cries, we go in there every five minutes and rub her back and tell her it's bedtime. She's usually out in 10 minutes. Last night she was playing on the floor and she got tired, so she just laid down and went to sleep. I was shocked! I picked her up and put her in her crib and she fussed for just a minute and went right to sleep. Apparently it's working. She slept from 7:45 until 8:15 this morning!

The weather is starting to get cooler. It is so nice.

My dryer is beeping.. better go fold clothes. Maybe I'll write more later.

Caitlin's big weekend

2005-09-28T12:17:00.000-05:00

Caitlin had a big weekend last weekend. We went to Nebraska for a family reunion. It was so fun to see everyone. I'm not sure Caitlin found it quite so fun. She seems to be going through a big bout of stranger anxiety. She wasn't very fond of being around so many people. I read in a book that stranger anxiety is a sign of healthy development, but it was pretty tough for her. Here are some pictures:

This morning Caitlin didn't want to play with her toys in the living room while I was putting dishes away, she wanted to play in the kitchen with the pots and pans. Who needs toys?

I'm thinking of trying some cloth diapers. They are so cute and I think they would be very easy to use and they would save on all the trash from the disposables. I'm probably going to order 6 Fuzzi Bunz diapers and see what I think.

She Found her Consonants!!!

2005-09-21T19:37:00.000-05:00

Caitlin is finally using consonants when she babbles! Today she said, "mamamama and bababababa". I was so excited! Daddy was at the chiropractor when she did it and I was so afraid she wouldn't do it when he got home, but she did. She's been quite the babble monster today.

Here's some video of her today. This was before she started using consonants.

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The Word "No"

2005-09-21T14:35:00.000-05:00

Caitlin is puzzled by the word 'no'. I haven't had to say it to her much, so she doesn't understand what it means. I'm sure she will very soon. She thinks it's HILARIOUS to blow raspeberries while she's eating baby food. We thought it was pretty funny too... for awhile anyway. The first few times we laughed, then we tried not responding at all, now we have to say 'no'. I think laughing at her the first few times she did it was a huge parenting mistake. :) We've learned our lesson. A few times of having your clothes spattered with sweet potatoes or peaches will make a person learn pretty darn quick! Now that she's getting closer to crawling I'm sure the word 'no' will be coming out of our mouths much more often. We need to start babyproofing. I'm sure we only have a few more weeks before she really figures it out. Right now she just gets on her hands and knees and rocks.

We searched the Lawrence parks this morning for a baby swing. We didn't have any luck. :( Caitlin LOVES to swing. Looks like she'll have to enjoy her trips to see Aunt Marilyn in order to swing. Since we didn't find a swing, we decided to go do some shopping. She had a great time looking at baby clothes at JC Penney and Old Navy. We got some cute fall clothes for her.

Growing and Learning

2005-09-19T10:56:00.000-05:00

Caitlin will be 7 months old this week. It's so hard to believe!! She is just growing so fast! She is also learning a lot of stuff. We are working with her to add some consanants to her vocabulary. So far all she really says is "ahhh" and "hiiiii". We are ready to hear a mama or a dada! :) She is also figuring out how crawling works, but she's still a ways from doing it right. She goes from a sitting position into a crawling position, but then she falls down on her tummy and gets stuck. Then she gets mad! It won't be long and she'll figure out that she needs to stay up on her hands and knees in order to actually get somewhere. We were at Aunt Marilyn's this weekend and she has a baby tree swing outside. Boy did Caitlin like that. I think she will like to go on the roller coasters with her Daddy. That is good, then Mommy won't have to go!! I got an email from my cousin Cindy (Hi Cindy!) and she said that her daughter, Ashley, has had a case of the 'fake coughs'. Hmmm.. Caitlin has those too. I wonder where they picked those up? *coughcough* I'm sick, pay attention to me! They're so darn cute!

We still have lots of hummingbirds around here. Caitlin loves to watch them when they come up to the door. She sits in her high chair and watches them sit on the feeder on the door. They are really fun to watch.

Grandpa and LaLa came to visit yesterday. Caitlin had a good time seeing them. I think she will be worn out today from seeing 2 sets of grandparents this weekend. We went out to our new house yesterday to check it out. The heating units are all installed and so are the 3 hot water heaters (3!)! All the bathrooms have bathtubs too. They are really making some progress! They also cleared the path down to the lake, but it was muddy so we weren't able to walk down there. We are looking foward to doing that sometime this week.

That's all for now.. the fake coughs are calling me. HA! :)

New Pictures of Caitlin

2005-09-16T14:43:00.000-05:00

I haven't posted any pictures for awhile, so I thought maybe I'd better get on that. Caitlin still doesn't have any teeth, and she's still not crawling yet. I think that is a good thing!! She rarely falls over now when she's sitting up. She will go from a sitting position onto her tummy, and then she gets kinda frustrated and mad when she can't get back into a sitting position. I think we're going to have to invite Sebastian over so she can watch him for awhile and learn how to do that. :) We moved her to a different car seat and she seems to like it a lot. She sits up higher and doesn't lay down quite as much. Hopefully it will be comfy for her long trips up to Nebraska!

She almost ALWAYS has her fingers in her mouth:

Laker baby:

Cheerleader baby:

The Zoo

2005-09-06T21:32:00.000-05:00

We took Caitlin to the zoo yesterday and she had a lot of fun. She really enjoyed looking at the animals. They had a baby giraffe that was 1 day old. It was really neat to see the mama and the baby. Here is Caitlin and I with the baby giraffe:

29... FOR REAL!

2005-09-02T12:22:00.000-05:00

29. Really, that's how old I am. This year. For one year, I can say I'm 29 and truly mean it. What a fun year this will be! Caitlin is getting older and she is lots of fun. It seems she is doing something new and cute every day.

On a more somber note, the devastation in the gulf region is getting worse by the day. I don't think I should be allowed to watch it on TV or read about it on the internet, is is just so upsetting and I feel so helpless. We did set up a fundraising campaign for the Red Cross through Online Financial Aid Services. We will match any donation given by our employees through 9/15. I hope we get a lot of donations so we can help out. It's the least we can do. I'm going to try to go give blood next week if I can find a place to do it. I hope our government steps up soon and get more help to the people who have been affected by this terrible disaster. The people in this region have been in my thoughts and prayers.

Update on Rian

2005-08-27T15:47:00.000-05:00

I thought I'd write an update on Rian's teeth and his headaches. His surgery was on August 16th and he is still having quite a bit of pain. He also has quite a big gap between his front 2 teeth (which was supposed to happen). As they turn the key in the appliance in the top of his mouth, the space gets wider. Eventually his braces will move the teeth around until the gap is gone and his teeth are straight. It has been alot for him to go through, but hopefully this will fix his bite so it is easier for him to eat. He is really getting tired of eating soft and liquid foods all the time. He has resorted to eating some baby foods, which Caitlin thinks is really funny. When she sees him eating out of the jars, she fusses for him to give her a bite.

He had injections in the back of his head last week for his headaches. So far they haven't helped much. We go back and see the Dr. on the 1st, so we'll see what he says.

Dog toys and Baby toys

2005-08-23T18:44:00.000-05:00

Our dogs are doing really good at leaving Caitlin's toys alone. I don't know how they know what toys are Caitlin's and what toys are theirs, but they do really well. I always said I wondered if it would be the same way with Caitlin. There's no way she can know what is hers and what belongs to the dogs. Well... tonight I was in the kitchen doing dishes and Rian was working at his computer when I heard him yell, "oh no get it out, get it out of her mouth!". I came running into the living room to find Caitlin chewing on a rawhide bone! YUCK! I guess we are going to have to be very careful now that she is more mobile!

6 months

2005-08-22T20:00:00.000-05:00

Caitlin's 6 month well baby check-up was today. She weighed 15 lbs 11 ounces and was 26 inches long. She is happy and healthy and there wasn't really much to report to the Dr. We do have to get a new carseat because she is right at the limit for length. In the next few weeks she will outgrow the 26" limit for length.

Our House 8/17

2005-08-19T10:23:00.000-05:00

Almost all the stone and brick is up and they're working to get the front door on.

Sitting all by myself!

2005-08-17T17:17:00.000-05:00

Caitlin is now sitting all by herself and she loves to sit and play with her toys! She is pretty steady now and can sit for long periods as long as the dogs don't knock her over or if she tries to reach for a toy that's out of her reach. She is also teething like crazy! Notice the drool in the picture. :)

Caitlin 7/31/05

2005-08-03T11:52:00.000-05:00

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Caitlin talking to Biscuit

2005-08-03T11:46:00.000-05:00

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Green Beans are YUMMMMMYYYY and Messy!!!

2005-07-26T11:36:00.000-05:00

We tried a new veggie last night, green beans! I think she likes them better than sweet potatoes. She even got to eat them in her new high chair. Last night she was really scooting along the floor like she was trying to crawl. I really don't think it will be long and she will be crawling. She kept scooting off the playmat to try to get at the dogs and then she would get upset when she discovered she was so far off her playmat. It was cute. At Rian's Dr. appointment yesterday we put her on the scale and she weighed 14 lbs 15 ounces with her clothes and her diaper on. She is getting so big! That's almost 2 pounds she's gained in the past month. Yikes!!

Caitlin and I both have colds. :( I think mine is worse than Caitlin's. I hope we can get rid of them soon. We just have runny, stuffed up noses and we've been sneezing a bit too.

I think our heat wave is finally supposed to let up today. It has been miserably hot. Hopefully we will get a lot of rain this afternoon.

Rian goes to the neurologist today to check out his headaches. We think they are tension headaches, but Dr. Murphy wants him to see a specialist, just in case.

Caitlin Loves Biscuit and Bagel

2005-07-24T21:26:00.000-05:00

Here are some pictures I took tonight of Caitlin with the dogs. Bagel was not too sure about being hugged by Caitlin. Unfortunately sometimes she grabs their fur and hangs on for dear life and they aren't too fond of that. Caitlin sure loves to "talk" to them.

Caitlin is 5 months old!

2005-07-23T17:10:00.000-05:00

It is amazing how fast time flies sometimes. I can hardly believe that Caitlin is already 5 months old. She is growing so fast! She is now eating rice cereal and sweet potatoes. Next week I think we are going to try green beans. She sure loves her veggies! (So far anyway!) She even mimics her dad when he waves at her. She rolls over and over and over and over again. I'm sure it won't be long and she'll be saying her first words and crawling. She already scoots along the floor, so I know it won't be much longer.

It's been 100 degrees here the past couple days with heat indexes over 105 degrees. It is absolutely miserable. Even the dogs don't want to go outside. I can't wait until this heatwave is over. Bring on fall, I am ready!! I want to be able to take Caitlin for more walks and enjoy the outside. Right now it is just too yucky outside. Thank goodness for air conditioning.

Biscuit and Bagel met Lucy last night. Lucy is a 7 month old black lab that belongs to some friends of ours. We weren't sure how they were going to get along, but they did really well. Lucy really wanted to play with them, but B&B were a little intimated by her size. By the end of the night they were pretty used to each other and they had a good time. It's too bad it was so hot, they would've had a great time chasing each other in the back yard.

That's all that's happening here for now.

Progress on our House

2005-07-18T16:36:00.000-05:00

Here are pictures of the progress on our house. They are working to get the right kind of stone for the front and as soon as they have found the right kind they will get working on it. We are working on cabinets and countertops right now. Soon we will be picking out flooring.

Talking to the Dogs

2005-07-09T19:13:00.000-05:00

Caitlin loves to talk to the dogs. She LOVES to watch them eat and while they eat she babbles and screeches and screeches and screeches and screeches. :) It's so funny to watch. She sits down by them in her bumbo chair, or she watches them from her exersaucer. The dogs just look at her like she's crazy! It's funny that she's just now noticing the dogs more and more. She giggles when they come up and lick her. They run when she tries to grab them by the fur. Soon enough she'll be able to chase them, I'm sure they'll LOVE that!

Barbara Walters and "The View" vs. Breastfeeding

2005-07-01T11:55:00.000-05:00

If you haven't heard, Barbara Walters and the other ladies on "The View" have recently been very vocal about their views on breastfeeding and particularly women breastfeeding in public. Shame on you Barbara! She recently said that she was very "uncomfortable" at the site of a woman breastfeeding near her on an airplane. If you were uncomfortable, why were you looking? I'm sure the mother was covered up! It is fairly easy to breastfeed in public without exposing yourself to the world. A public "nurse - in" was actually organized to protest the comments made by Ms. Walters and the other members of the view. It's a shame that these ladies would be so vocal about their lack of support for breastfeeding. The AAP actually recommends that a baby be breastfed for their first year of life. Does this make me anti-formula feeding? No not in the least! I do support a mother's right to choose how they feed their baby, and if that means breastmilk, then that means that a baby's gotta eat, no matter where they might happen to be at the time. Unfortumately society has deemed that the breast is a sexual object, not an object intended for feeding babies. I hope that women who choose to breastfeed (no matter how long they do it) will be comfortable with their decision and not feel shamed by society.

Caitlin's Predicament

2005-06-30T22:00:00.000-05:00

Caitlin had herself in quite a predicament when she woke up this morning. She had rolled over onto her tummy and couldn't get herself back over! Now mind you.. she can roll both directions, but once she rolls one way, it seems she can't quite get the energy to roll the other way before she just gets mad and screams. I had to laugh, it was kinda funny. She sure was ticked off that she was on her tummy. :)

First Bites

2005-06-28T21:38:00.000-05:00

Caitlin had her first bites of rice cereal tonight. She didn't quite know what to think of it. Mostly she just wanted to chew on the spoon!!

Let me help mommy...

4 months

2005-06-28T21:33:00.000-05:00

Wow, how time flies. Caitlin is now 4 months old. She weighs 12 lbs 14 ounces and is 25 inches long. She giggles and coos and LOVES to stick out her tongue. She also loves to 'talk' to the dogs. They give her kisses and she babbles at them. It's very cute. She has also rolled over from her tummy to her back, and over the weekend she rolled over from her back to her tummy for the first time and Grandpa and Grandma Neth's.

Biscuit and the Squirrel

2005-05-17T21:29:00.000-05:00

Today there was a squirrel in the yard that was dumping birdseed out of the birdfeeder onto the ground and then he was eating it up. Boy.. did that make Biscuit MAD! She wanted the squirrel out of her yard. Everytime the squirrel would start to eat up the seed, Biscuit would chase after it. This got to be quite a game between Biscuit and the squirrel. The squirrel would 'sneak' into the yard. It was funny to watch it creep into the yard on its belly. When Biscuit thought the squirrel had too much yard time, she would go tearing off the deck to chase it away. Biscuit would then hang out next to the fence and by the feeder for awhile to make sure it didn't come back. On her way back to the deck, Biscuit would turn around and check the feeder several times to make sure the squirrel hadn't creeped its way back into the yard. This went on for over an hour. It was so funny to watch! Finally, Biscuit figured out if she stayed at the fence for awhile, maybe the squirrel would try to enter the yard while she was still there. Sure enough. The dumb squirrel tried to sneak into the yard just a few feet away from where Biscuit was at the fence. When Biscuit took off after it, boy did she scare the crap out of it. We haven't seen it since! :) Our feeders are safe. We certainly don't need one of those fancy squirrel-proof birdfeeders. All we need to do is let Biscuit loose. :)

My First Mother's Day

2005-05-08T22:27:00.000-05:00

Today was my first Mother's Day and the first time Caitlin slept all night (from 9 pm to 7 am). What a great present!! We had breakfast at Perkins with Grandpa and Grandma and Uncle Michael. Caitlin got me a card and some flowers. :) Here she is in her cute little mother's day dress:

Haven't written for awhile

2005-05-03T07:11:00.000-05:00

I haven't written much for awhile. It's hard to find the time somedays. Our house is still just the foundation. They hope to have the framers out there today or tomorrow. They have been busy and just haven't gotten to us yet. We hope to see some progress very soon. We traded our SUV for a hybrid. We really like it so far. It gets a lot better gas mileage than our other one. Caitlin is growing like a weed, of course. She is almost in 3-6 month clothes, I just can't believe it.

2 Months Today

2005-04-22T13:01:00.000-05:00

Where does the time go? Caitlin is 2 months old today. I just can't believe it. She is getting to be such a good baby. She is sleeping better at night and isn't quite as fussy as she used to be. She smiles and coos and sticks her tongue out at her Daddy. :) She likes rides in the car, her playmat and her swing. She loves cuddling with Mommy in the chair and bouncing on Daddy's lap. She loves her puppies too, and they love licking the drool off her face. :)

At her Dr.'s appointment on Wednesday she weighed 10 lbs 4 ounces and was 22 inches long, which is all in the 50th percentile. She got her shots on Wednesday too, which she wasn't fond of at all. It was super hard for Mommy and Daddy to watch. I've never seen her so mad before. We know it is for the best though! She doesn't have to go back to the Dr. until she's 4 months, so hopefully she'll stay healthy until then.

She is such a blessing, we love her more and more everyday.

It's the little things

2005-04-13T10:44:00.000-05:00

Yesterday Caitlin was swinging in her swing and Rian was kneeling beside her talking to her. Everytime the swing got close to Rian's head, Caitlin would smile the biggest smile. It just melted Daddy's heart (Mommy's too!) It's those little things that make it worth all the sleepless nights. :)

Our Big Weekend

2005-04-13T10:06:00.000-05:00

What a big weekend we had last weekend! It was Caitlin's first big car trip up to see Grandma and Grandpa and all her family. She did so good in the car, I was very proud of her. On Saturday, Leah Beckenhauer had a shower for us. We had a great time! Caitlin got lots of nice gifts and there were a lot of friends and family there. The best part was that her 2 baby cousins, Benjamin and Ashley got to be there. My friend Kristi (who was the maid of honor in my wedding) was also there with her baby, Carly, who is 5 days older than Caitlin. It was so much fun to have all the babies together. I think the Grandma's and the Grandpa's were beaming! We also had Caitlin baptised on Sunday. She did so good at the Baptism too. Here are some pictures of our big weekend:

The Happiest Baby on the Block

2005-04-07T09:13:00.000-05:00

If you have a baby, you need to get this book! Caitlin was kind of a fussy baby and not a good sleeper at all. My Dr. even said that she was a bit colicky. In Parents magazine this month there was an article about helping your baby sleep, written by the author of The Happiest Baby on the Block. Hmm.. I thought, I need to get this book. So, yesterday I went to the bookstore and picked up a copy. I read as much as I could yesterday and applied some of the principles in the book to Caitlin. Wow.. she was a whole different baby yesterday! Happy, content, and a lot less fussy! Don't get me wrong, she cried yesterday, but it wasn't the fussy, non-content cries that she usually has. And last night.. she slept from 9:45 to 1:45, got up and ate, went back to sleep at 2:30 and slept until 6:30!! She did wake at 3:30, but I got up and noticed she'd come un-swaddled a bit. So, I swaddled her back up and put her pacifier in her mouth and she went right back to sleep. I feel like I got an entire night's sleep!! She is so happy this morning. She's in her swing looking at the fishies and smiling and cooing. Thank you Dr. Harvey Karp for writing this book!!

Sleep when the baby sleeps

2005-04-06T19:56:00.000-05:00

This is probably the advice I got most often before Caitlin was born. Rian snapped this picture tonight to prove that sometimes I do actually take this advice!

6 weeks

2005-04-06T13:14:00.000-05:00

I can't believe Caitlin is 6 weeks old. She is growing so fast. She has already outgrown the newborn diapers and is wearing size 1. She is also filling out her 0-3 month clothes. It won't be long and she'll be in 3-6 month clothes. I'm sure she weighs 10 lbs now. She is a little porky pig!

Spring has definiately sprung. I have such a love/hate relationship with spring because of my allergies. The sniffling and sneezing has already begun for me. Oh well, I still enjoy hearing the birds chirp and seeing the flowers bloom. The hummingbirds should be here soon, and we love watching the hummingbirds. The dogs are loving being outside right now. It is just the perfect temperature for them. They'd be outside all day long if I'd let them!

Caitlin's playmat

2005-04-04T11:25:00.000-05:00

Caitlin is becoming a lot more alert and playful. She LOVES to play on her playmat. She tries really hard to hit the animals. She also likes looking at herself in the mirror. It's so fun to watch her smile when she animals move. I can't believe how fast she is growing.

She's starting to sleep a little bit better. She sleeps from about 11 to 2 am and then wakes up to eat and sleeps 3 more hours before she's up to eat again. I think she's falling into a bit of schedule. I'm hoping that she starts to sleep longer periods at a time very soon!

Time Flies

2005-03-24T07:36:00.000-06:00

I can't believe Caitlin is a month old. We had her 1 month well baby check-up yesterday with Dr. Murphy and she has grown soooo much! She now weighs 8 lbs 9 ounces and is 21 inches long. She is fitting into her clothes so much better and now even puts my arm to sleep when I'm holding her sometimes. I can't believe it has already been a month.

She smiled at me and at her daddy for the first time on Monday the 21st. We counted this as her first 'real' smiles. Meaning they weren't smiles in her sleep or smiles from pooping or gas. :)

The basement walls are up

2005-03-13T11:00:00.000-06:00

Caitlin's First Bath

2005-03-09T10:20:00.000-06:00

Caitlin had her first bath on Monday. I figured it would be somewhat traumatic for her, but she loved it!

Welcome Caitlin Marie!

2005-03-07T11:43:00.000-06:00

Caitlin Marie Sand was born on February 22nd at 6:30 pm. She weighed 7 lbs 7 ounces and was 19.5 inches long. I was in labor for quite a long time, but it was well worth it! She is a precious little baby and we love her to death. Even the dogs are fond of her. :)

Here is her birth story:

Well, it all started when my dog, Biscuit, had a potty accident in the bed at midnight on Monday night (early Tue). She does that when she gets UTI's. So.. I was up cleaning it up and I decided to get on the internet before I went back to bed. I got to messaging Lisa and I joked that maybe this incident was enough to put me into labor! Well, shortly after logging off of here, I didn't feel very well. I went to the bathroom and thought I was having stomach cramps. I decided to sit down on the couch for awhile to see if it would go away. At 1:00 a.m. it was getting worse and I decided I was having contractions. I told Rian and he got all excited and thought it was time to go to the hospital. He was so funny. At about 3:00 am the contractions were pretty strong and about 5-7 minutes apart so I called L&D to see if they wanted me to come in. They told me since I was a first time mom, to call my Dr. and find out what she wanted me to do. My Dr. wasn't on call, so I got the on call Dr. She told me to wait 2 more hours for the contractions to get stronger. She asked me if I was able to talk through them and I said NO WAY and she told me to try to wait a couple more hours anyway. So, I did. About 4:45 I told Rian I couldn't wait any longer. Contractions were 3-5 minutes apart and very painful. We went to the hospital at 5:00. The nurse who was getting us all set up was warning me that I would get sent home if I hadn't progressed (I don't think they believed me that I was in labor!) and I said.. Oh, I'm not getting sent home, I am definiately in labor! She checked me and I was 3 cm. She called my Dr. and they admitted me. I labored for awhile without medication, but at about 8 am or so I asked for some stadol to take the edge off. I was able to get to 6 cm and then the nurse checked me again and when she reached in, my water broke! It gushed all over her. We got a good laugh over that one! She warned me that my contractions were now going to get a lot stronger. Boy was she right! I couldn't stand it anymore and I was so tired, so I got an epidural. Wow... talk abut heaven. I was so happy I went ahead and did it, it made things so much easier. However, apparently that slowed me down. They gave me some pitocin and I started progressing a little faster. Mostly I just laid there and rested and visited with all my visitors until about 4:30 when they checked me and said I was ready to go. They called in my Dr. and she asked if I felt the urge to push. I said no. She said, good, I have an emergency C-section to assist with, then I'll be back and you can push! The nurse said that was probably a good thing anyway, that way I wouldn't have to push so long. She said that extra time would give the baby time to work her way down on her own, even though she was already right there ready to go! So, at 5:30 my Dr. came in and said, Ok, lets have this baby! I pushed for an hour and Caitlin Marie was born at 6:30 pm. What a long day it was! It was so amazing though. I had the mirror so I could see everything that was happening and I was so glad I did. My Dr. and the nurses were fabulous. Rian did a get job of encouraging me to push. My Mom and my SIL were in there too and they were lots of help too. The only bad thing was that I got a 3rd degree tear, so I am pretty sore now. Caitlin didn't have a touch of jaundice and she hardly lost any weight before we left the hospital. The Dr. said she is doing just great. She had some latch problems because she didn't like to keep her tongue down, but we are working on it. Now.. if I could just get some sleep.

She had her first Dr.'s appointment last week and she had only lost 5 ounces. She is doing just great! She lost her umbilical cord last night (3/7/05). I can't believe she is already almost 2 weeks old!

Usually I Like the Previews

2005-02-10T11:43:00.000-06:00

Of movies that is. But this is one I'm not sure I'm liking too well. I think I'm getting a preview of what it's like to be a sleep deprived mother of a newborn baby. I am exhausted. I just can't sleep at night because I'm so uncomfortable. It's gotten worse the past couple days. Apparently my body is preparing me for being awake in the night with the baby or something. If it's not the horrible pain in my pelvis, it's having to go to the bathroom (or at least feeling like it!). And all that has gotten worse since the baby has dropped even more. I hate to complain, because I'm so excited about this baby, but I am DONE with pregnancy. I was telling my Dr. about these shooting pains I'm feeling down by my cervix and she says that's the baby's head or fingers rubbing against it. OUCH! That hurts. Unless you're trying to speed things up to get out, "don't do that!" There is supposed to be 15 days left until my due date. I hope I don't make it that far! Rian is betting on a Valentine's baby. I'll take whatever date, as long as it comes before the 25th. My Dr. is out of town on the 20th-21st, so I'd like to exclude those days if possible. I'm betting this baby is not willing work around my schedule. Please little baby.. please come out and see us, we're ready for you!!

Nesting maybe?

2005-02-03T19:41:00.000-06:00

Let's face it, I'm not the cleanest, neatest person in the world, and neither is Rian. Which is either a match made in heaven, or a recipe for disaster. Sometimes it's a disaster, but most of the time our house isn't too bad. I'm not bad at keeping things clean (in case you're thinking we live like pigs or something), I'm just not very good at being organized. Strange considering my zodiac sign is Virgo and we're supposed to be perfectionists! Anyway, I've been waiting for that nesting urge to set in. I need it, big time! I think I had a little bit of it today. I vacuumed the house, and not just the carpets. I even vacuumed the furniture! And it didn't stop there. I cleaned the carpets too with the steam cleaner. I wanted to do more cleaning and dusting, but since I just dusted a few days ago, it wasn't too bad. Besides, I was tired. I'm hoping this is the beginning of a week or more of nesting urges. Trust me, I need them. How come husband's don't get nesting urges? Supposedly they have other "sympathy pains". Hmmm...

We're making progress...

2005-02-03T00:18:00.000-06:00

I had my 37 Week Dr.'s appointment today and it was good. Our Dr. was telling us about how it is common for first time mom's to go past their due date, so she said not to be concerned if I wasn't dialated yet or effacing. We were happily surprised to find out that I am already 1cm dialted and 80% effaced. Yeah! Like my Dr. said, 10% of the work is done. :) She said the baby weighs probably just under 6 lbs, so that is good. Not too big, not too small. I can't believe there's only about 3 weeks left. It's so exciting. I'm trying to enjoy these last few weeks, but it is kind of hard. I'm ready to meet her.

There's more progress on our house too. They've dug out more rock and they're getting ready to put the gravel down in the places that need it. I hope the nice weather holds out so that they can keep moving on it.

Biscuit's Boyfriend

2005-01-30T17:46:00.000-06:00

My dog has a boyfriend. No, it's not another dog. It's a bear. A stuffed bear that we have named BB. BB stands for Biscuit's Boyfriend. She has had him since October and she is completely smitten. Actually, Rian's Dad and step-mom bought BB for the baby, but Biscuit instantly fell in love with him and I'm not sure she will ever let the baby have him. He has been sitting on the back of our couch since October. Biscuit doesn't want anyone to move him or touch him but her. She's never rough with him and doesn't want to play with him like her other stuffed toys, she just wants to kiss (lick) him and love him. It's the craziest thing I've ever seen. Today I decided to put BB in the baby's room. Biscuit hadn't really paid much attention to him for a few days, and she was outside, so I decided she wouldn't notice if I took him in the baby's room. WRONG! Oh, she noticed. And she was upset when she noticed he wasn't on the back of the couch anymore. The funniest thing was that she knew exactly where to find him. She went running into the nursery and immediately saw BB sitting in the baby's cradle. Boy, was she upset and she wanted him OUT! I didn't want her rocking the cradle with her paws, so I had to take BB out of the cradle and bring him back out in the living room to sit on the back of the couch. Biscuit has had an eagle eye on him ever since. I think that BB is now a permanent fixture in our living room. It's definiately true love.

Got Rock?

2005-01-28T15:11:00.000-06:00

We do! Check out the progress on our house:

There is tons (almost literally) of rock to be dug out for our new house. It is crazy!

Progress on our house

2005-01-26T15:18:00.000-06:00

There was some progress on our house yesterday. They are clearing off the brush and the trees. Here is a picture:

The strange powers of American Idol

2005-01-26T12:47:00.000-06:00

I love the first few episodes of American Idol. You know, the ones where people who think they can sing get up in front of the judges and belt out 'I Will Survive' or some other crazy song. This show makes me laugh out loud. It's funny. I can't believe these people don't have friends or family who are willing to save them from the humiliation. I guess it wouldn't be good TV if it weren't for these people getting up and trying to find fame and fortune!

Anyway, last night I was watching the show and when I got up the pain in my pelvis was gone. I felt like dancing! I laced up my tennis shoes and told Rian I was going to walk on the treadmill because suddenly my pain was gone and I was walking like a normal human being again. He said, "are you sure you want to risk it? You've had non-stop pain for 2 weeks and now you're going to risk the one time you don't have pain?" Hmm.. he was right. I needed to get some stuff done! So, I cleaned the guest bath and hung the rest of the pictures in the baby's room. It was so nice to feel somewhat normal again. I still had some pressure, but it was more like achiness or soreness rather than the pain I had been feeling for weeks. Was it the wonder of American Idol that took away my pain? I doubt it. But maybe the laughing out loud helped a bit. Listening to some of those people 'sing' was painful enough.