School Days

What a week it's been... I am so glad it's Friday. This time last week I was getting ready for my quick trip to Topeka to celebrate my best friend's 30th birthday! It went very well, and very fast. I think in the 30 hours I was away from Keaton and Casey, I have never wanted to be two places more in my life. But I made it through, and cried only happy tears. Hard to believe that was almost a week ago now!

I survived my first week of Environmental Biology. My professor is a very nice older man, probably in his 60s, who is very open-minded and encourages us to challenge the things he says in class (and happens to have a very thick accent, which makes listening and taking notes a little more challenging!). He wants to learn from us as we learn from him, which I respect a lot. It is nice to have someone who is will to teach and learn in return instead of professors like I've had in the past who think it's their way or the highway. I feel like I'm going to learn a lot in this class, and it's interesting and very applicable because there are topics related to it almost every night on the news. (Not that I watch the news that much anymore... it can be so depressing! But now I'm a little more interested thanks to the class.)

I am only the second oldest in the class- I was a little nervous about being the only one that wasn't right out of high school. Luckily a guy I met on the way into class the first night is right there with me. He and I agreed to work together if we have projects and things throughout the semester. We already found out about a paper and presentation we have to give, but if I understand it correctly, we won't have to give ours until almost the end of the semester because of the topic we chose. (We got very lucky on that one, because I chose the topic, only to find out later that groups will give their presentations when the topic comes up in class discussion- ours is slated for the end of the semester, in late November. Woo hoo!)

Mr. K is awake now, so I guess it's time for me to go. I'll try to update again soon!

-Ash

Before I forget...

Last night after Keaton got out of the bathtub and we got his pajamas on, he was walking out of our bedroom and very loudly passed gas. Then he turned around to Casey and I and said, "Big toots!" LOL... I couldn't believe my ears! He is such a little boy...

The last two days he's been waking up at 4:15 in the morning. No bueno. I have given him something to drink, a little bit of Advil, and put him in bed with me... he ended up sleeping almost 2.5 more hours each day. He also talks in his sleep now. He is so much like his Daddy.

Speaking of, Keaton's waking up from his nap now, so I should go. I'm headed back to Topeka this weekend- solo- and look forward to celebrating my best friend's 30th birthday Saturday night. Then I'm back home Sunday evening and start school Monday. Am I ready for this?? I'm sure I'll let you know next week. :)

-Ash

I'm a student again...!!!

I'm officially enrolled in Biology 1110. Holy crap, what am I doing!?!?

Class starts NEXT MONDAY and I am freaking out. But kind of excited. But mostly freaking out.

My class is every Monday and Wednesday night from 4-6:20, and the best part is that it is only 10 minutes away from my house, so Casey got permission to get off work early and be home to watch Keaton. Yippee!! I sincerely hope I can do this... I don't want to be pessimistic before the class even starts, but... BIOLOGY. OHMYGOODNESS.

Here goes nothing. I knew I just had to jump right in and do it, and I'm having such a productive day today that I thought... DO IT. Just do it.

Alrighty... I guess Mr. K is not going to nap this afternoon, even after waking up at 4:15 and then again at 5ish this morning, and taking a fairly short nap around 10. Maybe we'll go outside and enjoy the nice weather.

Biology. OHMYGOODNESS.

-Ash

Little man, growing up

Upside: Keaton has been in a very pleasant, happy mood today, and woke up after 6 (second day in a row! Woo hoo!) Downside: After two rather long attempts, he is still not taking a nap for me. He's been up for over 6 hours now. I think he has finally settled down (he isn't standing up in his crib, or singing, or throwing things out on the floor) but he's still awake. I really hope for at least a 2 hour nap from him since he's waited so long. (Maybe I can actually clean the bathrooms!!)

He just ate some steak and corn casserole with me for lunch. He is almost refusing to drink water now, and seems to only want "moke" all the time. (I guess it could be a lot worse, right?) He said "I wan jello" while sitting at the table- in a regular chair, mind you. He doesn't seem to want to sit in his high chair anymore... think it's time for a booster. Yesterday at lunch, he shocked me by refusing to drink from his sippy cup, and would only drink out of a glass, without a straw. I still haven't gotten him to drink from a straw at all, I guess maybe we will skip that for now and work on the cup by itself. I have to hold it for him, but he does a good job drinking and not spilling it out the sides. He sure is growing up fast.

Tomorrow, he will be 18 months old. A year and a half. That is insane. He is talking even more than ever, and likes to point to just about everything he sees and tell me what it is. Books are a lot more fun now- he can point to everything in Goodnight Moon when I read about it. He especially likes the bowl of mush...lol. (I think he just likes saying "Mush".

Words, words, and more words:

1. Milk- "moke"
2. Grapes- "bakes"
3. Strawberries- "Staw-ah-ees"
4. bubbles
5. chalk- "cock"... I'm really working on that CH part with him!
6. clock- same as above...lol
7. color- "kee-ya"
8. watch
9. phone
10. sunshine- "suh-sine"
11. heart
12. star
13. remote- "mote"
14. Jello sounds a lot more like jello now!
15. bear- "bee-ahh"
16. tree- "tee"
17. flower- "Fow-ah"
18. Purple sounds a whole lot like purple. I also think it's his favorite color, because he will pick out the purple crayons in the box of 100+. Maybe if we have another kid they will like blue and red. ;)
19. yellow- "yah-yo"
20. George (as in Curious George)- "Joh-J"
21. Cat is "Ca" or "Meow meow"
22. Duck
23. cracker- "caca"... lol... I will not tell him what that means in Spanish...
24. Nutrigrain Bar- "Bah"... it sounds like he has a Bostonian accent
25. "Scoot"- when he wants to scoot off of a chair or the bed
26. book
27. night night- "nigh nigh"
28. booty- "Bye-ey"
29. Neighbors names; Scott "Cott", Mike, Nina, Barbi "Bye bi", Tyler "Ty-lah", Nolan "No" or "Nos", Emily "Emmy", Robin "Rahbi"
30. Bambi- "Maym-bi", which he now wants to watch 5 times a day!
31. Grandma- "Gahmah"
32. Grandpa- "Papa"
33. cloud- "cowd"
34. airplane- "bay-payne" lol... you have to see what he's looking at to translate that one
35. door- "doh" 
36. shoe

There are a lot more, but I think those are the most common these days. He is absolutely, completely blowing my mind.

He's finally asleep- time to go clean something!

-Ash

Anxiety... Enemy #1

Oh, anxiety, how you plague me. I just started really looking into going back to school... again, only a few weeks before school STARTS, but I digress... and my anxiety is on the rise. I think it's the thought of really going back and leaving Keaton with someone that makes me nervous. Or maybe it's actually getting something completed that has me on edge, I don't know for sure. Either way, this little voice in my head keeps telling me to give up, but I can't listen. I've listened to that voice more than enough and have nothing much (academically) to show for it.

One thing at a time. First, I have to figure out if the college still has me in the system, or if I've been gone too long and have to reapply. It's only been 2 years... but that seems like forever ago! Last time I was there, I was 7 months pregnant and waddling up and down the hallway to my Photoshop class. Now, I can't even remember what my username/password combination was to sign in and see what classes I have taken. Mom Brain? I think so. I hope so. But I honestly sat here for 2 minutes trying to remember the semesters I was even IN college last. 2008? 2009? Did I go from Spring to Fall? Sadly, I can't remember. (Maybe I blogged about it... hmmm.....)

Anyway, I am really trying not to listen to that annoying little voice in my head, and actually push through and get this started. I know this is the hardest part. But those "What Ifs" Shel Silverstein talked about are crawling inside my head and making me second guess everything.

-Ash

The Future

Well, we are not moving to Ohio anytime soon. Things just didn't add up for Casey to take the job in Toledo, so we are staying put. I think the situation turned out for the better for us, as we have plenty to do with our own house before we start worrying about another one. In the next few weeks we are going to try to tackle some of the things we haven't yet, and I think in the long run it will be best for us so we can sell it in better condition than we got it, eventually. It's the smart thing to do.

For me, at least, all this talk about possibly moving made me realize that I need to get my booty back in gear and try to go back to school soon. I need to get at least a few classes under my belt again. It would be good to dust off the cobwebs and relearn some things about my camera, too. Hopefully in the next week or two, I will be able to set up a meeting with an advisor and figure out what classes I still need to get a degree or certificate. (Of course I kick myself now, as classes start again soon, and I am just now seriously thinking about this... but then we didn't know we were NOT moving until yesterday.)

Thinking about school for me also makes me realize that we should probably get Keaton into some type of school-like environment... which is probably something else I should have thought of previously. How does that sneak up so fast? I guess it's easier since I stay at home with him and I am not concerned about going to work, etc., because then he would've needed a place to stay during the time I'm not home. Hopefully we're not too late in the game and we'll be able to get him started somewhere, even if it's just for a few days each week.

Lots going on in the future. For now, Mr. K is waking up from his 2+ hour nap now, so off I go. More later!

-Ash

Cooling off

It has finally cooled off in Chicagoland. I think the high the rest of the week into next week is supposed to be in the mid to low 80s, which sounds like perfect summer weather to me. This has been a weird season, mainly because it was cooler and wet in the beginning, and now it is just too bloomin' hot. I remember long winter days when we were stuck in the house, and now I will think of the long summer days when we're stuck because it's too hot to go outside. Poor Keaton just wants to play with his bubbles. (All the time.) I dread winter, but I wouldn't mind if Fall made an appearance sooner than later, as long as it stuck around for awhile.

That makes me think of Halloween... I would normally have already thought about it in more detail, but this year is a little off. If Casey gets/accepts the job in Ohio, we will be moving by October 1st, which means we would be in a totally different place for Halloween. I guess I don't want to think too much about that right now, because there is nothing I can do about it... just wait and find out what's going on. I hate being in limbo... I feel less motivated than normal. (That's almost scary!)

Now it's time for Keaton's Words of the Week:

1. Scott (Cot)
2. Mike
3. Robin (Rah-Bi)
4. Milk (Moke)... I think he's been saying this for a few weeks now, but not sure if I mentioned it before.
5. Jello sounds more like "Jel-Do" now and less like... dildo. LOL...
6. Please (Pees)
7. Thank You (Tah Kah)
8. Sorry (Sah-he)
9. Block
10. Phone (Fon)
11. Money (I guess you can't learn that one too early, right?)
12. Bambi (mam-ee)

I know there has to be more. Really, he tries to repeat everything, so I should try to write this down when Casey and I are having a conversation, or when I'm on the phone, if that were possible. Earlier this week, I asked him to sing a song. I love asking him this because he gets his 'song voice' and starts singing inaudible things, but occasionally you'll hear "Melmo" or "Mama" or "Dada". It is too cute! And somewhere thrown in there are letters- E and I seem to be his favorites. When I ask him to sing the ABCs, it normally sounds like, "B... I... E... C... O..." or some combination of things. Love that kid... he is hilarious.

Speaking of him, he's taking a good nap right now, and we are supposed to meet my friend Kelley at the park at noon. Not sure how that is going to happen at this point, but I would rather have him sleep since he was wide awake at 5:15 this morning! I guess it worked out well, because we had to take Casey in to work since he hit a deer on the way in yesterday morning. His car is getting fixed, and insurance is paying for a rental, so I guess this was our first and last morning taking him in.

Little man is up now... gotta go!

-Ash