Christmas was wonderful! 

We (Karsen and I) woke up around 8, Jan watched him so that I could shower and get ready for the day. 

Matt and I had been in the kitchen late on Christmas Eve. I made the potato salad and dressing and he made the pecan and cherry pies. yum. 

I made it to bed around 2 on Christmas Eve. So back to Christmas. After I was ready to go I got back into the kitchen. Then my parents came over and we opened presents. Matt and I got a Wii. It is soooooo much fun. We all got lots of other presents and it was nice. Karsen got more toys than any sweet boy needs. There are many still in the packages. 

I had my mother help me out in the kitchen. I needed to make a lot of stuff. I started with the homemade mac and cheese. It was good at Thanksgiving, but AMAZING at Christmas. It was all gone before 6 that evening and it was a 13 x 9 pan. I also made a broccoli rice casserole, it didn't turn out well, but thats ok. I warmed up the ham and turkey, dressing, and rolls. So we had ham and turkey, mac and cheese, broccoli rice casserole, potato salad, dressing, deviled eggs, and rolls. I made everything from scratch, except for the ham and turkey and the rolls. 

It was a wonderful  meal. And a wonderful day with my family!! I really enjoyed myself. The next day I went shopping with my parents, Joe, and Tanya. Matt and I ran some errands and then he came home and installed Jan's new garage door opener. Then Matt and I went on a date. It was nice to have some alone time with my baby. I love that man so much. I have spent today playing on the Wii, taking care of the boy, and then getting myself ready for the day. Matt and I are going to run some more errands and stuff later today. 

I am so blessed. I love my family so much. 

Hello!

I have been waiting to post this blog for about a week, after I took my last final last week. I knew all of my grades except for that one. I left the final feeling confident that I had done well and was finished with college. As I awaited the posting of my grades I began to doubt my success, my professor had mentioned that a lot of people had written the term paper incorrectly, yada yada yada. I began to worry that I was one of those people and that I would not be done with college because of Human Genetics. He posted the exams scores and I got about the average. Now I was just worrying about my final grade. 

I had been anxiously awaiting the posting of my grades. I logged on after I had fed Karsen lunch and was just playing on the internet. The Genetics grade was posted. I PASSED! I got a B-, which is much better than I had expected to get, sadly. I am officially done with college! The last 4 1/2 years of my life have finally come to an end. I will get my degree mailed to me in a few weeks, my $30,000 piece of paper. 

Yay!

Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, and best wishes from my family to yours!

I feel another kind of accomplishment. Not everyone has a college degree. Not everyone has a healthy baby boy. I am 22 years old and have both. I am so incredibly blessed. I have a sweet, healthy baby boy, a wonderful man by my side, the best family any one could ever ask for, and now on my list of accomplishments, I have a college degree. I just can't believe that its true, I am a college graduate. And I am a mommy!!!! Two great accomplishments. 

I had a few minutes before class and I figured I would write a post. Today has been a good day thus far. It is the final day of class for my college career. I have one final today and the other 5 are spread out over the next 2 weeks. It feels so good to know that this chapter of the book of my life is finally coming to a close. It has been one of the greatest chapters in my life. I have come a lot farther and grown up a lot more than I ever imagined. At the same time, I do not feel ready to have "adulthood" thrust upon me. 

I would also like to say that my mom does not have a brain tumor and is going to undergo some tests on Monday to determine where these headaches are coming from. I wish there was something  I could do for my mommy, alas, there is not. I sit here waiting for my final polisci lecture to begin and hopefully end rather quickly and am so pleased with where life has taken me. I feel like taking a moment to reflect.  4 1/2 years ago I started my college career at Texas Tech and I still consider myself a Red Raider. I loved that school so much and it is where I met the love of my life and we became parents to the most wonderful boy in the world. Now I live in Houston and am receiving my degree from UofH, definitely not my school of choice, but a degree is a degree. 

Enough feeling nostalgic. I read something on a message board today that made me laugh and I called Matt to share. After the debacle that is the tie breaker in the big 12 (football) and the whining of Mack Brown (UT) to get his team ranked above Tech, someone hired a plane to fly a banner that is oh so appropriate. It read, "Hey Mack, Quit Whining, You Knew the Rules". I had a nice laugh with that. 

Go Tech!

What a day, what a day!

Where, oh where, do I begin?

It was a long, hard, busy, day. But it was wonderful :o). 

Here is the breakdown. 

We (Karsen and I) woke up at 7:30, thank you son. I jumped in the shower, fixed my hair, and make-up, got dressed, came downstairs, and I fixed Karsen some milk and breakfast. Then I got into the kitchen and started cooking! First I started to eggs, I wanted to get them boiled and out of the way. Then I cut the broccoli and steamed it. Then I made the cheese sauce and set it aside. Karsen decided he didn't want to play by himself any longer so I brought him in the kitchen in his walker. I then got the corn bread in the oven so I could get it baked. I then started cutting up the vegetables for the cornbread dressing. I cooked the veggies and made the stock for the cornbread. Once the cornbread was done baking I let it cool down and I made the green bean casserole and sat it aside. Next I finished with the corn bread dressing. I then cuddled with Karsen and made his lunch. Matt got home and helped me to clean up a bit. Matt started working on his banana pudding and decided we needed to have some macaroni and cheese so I went to the store to get the stuff to make it. I got everything I needed and Matt finished up his banana pudding and I made the home made macaroni and cheese. Then I left to go get the ham and turkey from Honey Baked Ham. Needless to say, I didn't realize I would be standing in line and I was wearing some boots. I stood in line for about an hour. My feet were KILLING me. I got home and got back in the kitchen. Wait, I made the mac and cheese when I got home. Jan got home a little after me and we visited for a bit. Then I got everything in the oven and ready to go and I left Matt with a few directions for the cooking and I left to get my parents. I drove across town and picked them up, then drove back. Then we got everything ready and ate. My, oh my, it was a wonderful meal!! Everyone loved all of my food. yummmm. Matt's banana pudding was GREAT too!! yummmm. After more visiting, I drove them all home and drove back. I got home and Matt helped me do dishes and clean up. He did a GREAT job of cleaning the house, oh how I love that man of mine. 

Now I am writing this and Matt and I are watching tv. I am going to hit the hay and get some sleep. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Christmas Video

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

i really need some prayers. i just found out that there are a lot of problems with my graduation application (for some reason they dont contact you when there is a problem) because i emailed an advisor. i want to break down and cry. i feel like it will disappoint everyone (including myself) if i dont graduate and i also dont know how i will pay for next semester, i got less financial aid b/c this is supposed to be my last semester and i dont have any money to pay for classes next spring. i just really need prayers to not be so stressed and to take whatever happens.

i want to cry right about now. 

Ugh

Today was just one of those days that you want to spend in bed. I woke up around 4 am not feeling too well. I decided not to go to class because of how I was feeling that I would spend the day studying for my test on Thursday in Human Genetics. When Matt was ready to take over for me at 10, I went to get us something to eat because I was really hungry, and I got home around 10:30, ate and went back to lay down. I was planning on sleeping for only a little while, like an hour, then I was planning on getting down to business. Around 11:30 (about 20 minutes after I fell asleep) Matt comes into the room and says, "You have to see this, come on...." over and over until I get out of bed. I had a really bad headache, stomach ache, and my eyes were feeling really puffy at this point, but I get out of bed to discover what on earth the commotion was. I walk over to Karsen and he does not have on a diaper. And yes, exactly what you are thinking, he had pooped. I told Matt to clean it up and went back upstairs and got back in bed. He follows me and tells me he needs me to bathe him so that he can clean up the mess he made. I reluctantly do so. I gave him a bath, he had poop on his hands, feet, and bottom. yuck, yuck, yuck. While I was bathing him, Matt brought in two little (not really little) poops that he had thrown out of his pack and play. We were both thankful that he had his pacifier in his mouth and did not eat any of it. 

So now I go back upstairs and lay back down and slept way too long. I woke up around 12:45 and started studying. I was reading my teachers notes and doing my own enrichment research on the disorders. It was overall a good day (minus to poop incident). 

On another note. I made a wonderful Shepherd's Pie on Sunday  night. I had never made one before and wanted to try my hand at it. I asked my mom how she made hers, and Nicole and I had discussed how she makes hers. So I came up with my own recipe. It was fantastic! Yesterday I made some chicken tortilla soup, it is very tasty. I calculated the calories and stuff on it (b/c I am on a diet) and it has less than 100 calories per bowl. Which is GREAT. lol. 

I guess thats it for now, Karsen's dinner is in the oven and I am going to play little big planet. 

Have a great day!

Day After Halloween

Today is the first of November, the start of "Dia de los Muertos", or the "Day of the Dead". A Spanish celebration that I find to be fascinating. But this is not an educational blog, but an entertainment one, so I am not going to get into the details, if you are interested in finding out what it is (because you do not know) I would suggest "googling" it. "Googling" is one of my favorite words...yes that is a word, just look in the dictionary (ed. after 2006) or click here if you dont believe me. 

Onto the Halloween festivities. I do not personally have a problem with the day, although I am hesitant to call it a holiday because generally with holidays you get the day off and we all know that the federal employees would jump to take off any holiday they could, but I still got mail yesterday. I also don't think of it as a celebration of evil, I have heard many stories about the origin of Halloween, and many of them differ. But once again, this is not an educational blog, but an entertainment one so I will not get into the nitty gritty details. Karsen was dressed up as a skeleton, the cutest one ever.

I also felt the need to add a picture of Karsen and his Daddy, just because they are my two favorite people in the world. 

And yes, the mustache is real. I know, I have a real man. :o)

Daddy (Matt), Mommy (Me) and Baby (Karsen), had McDonalds for lunch, Karsen got his first Happy Meal, 4 chicken McNuggets, apple slices, and apple juice. Karsen really liked the nuggets, not so much the apples (which he usually loves) because they had a strange taste, so I didn't make him eat them. He did like the apple juice, it was his first juice box. Then we ran some errands and when we arrived at Petsmart, Karsen was the star of the show in his costume. He likes to watch the dogs in the play room and all of the employees loved him. My sweet, sweet man. Then he and I went to Kroger, just to show him off (and we needed a few groceries) then onto Texas Land and Cattle for dinner. Everyone at the restaurant smiled at Karsen, he is a charmer.

Then we came home and there was a family walking down the street trick or treating and I told them to come to the front door. So with all of the candy I bought, I was able to give away one HUGE handful.

Oh what a wonderful day! 

Now to prepare myself to watch the TTU vs. UT game. Fingers crossed for TTU, Matt and I predict that the winner of this game will be the national champion. 

Go Red Raiders! BBQ some Bevo! 

I have a feeling that this is going to be a good week..

...because i get to spend it with the two people who i love, love, love!

karsen and i went to the park yesterday. he loved it! he was so happy to be playing free. he really likes the slides. i would let him walk up the slide, then flip him around and let him slide down. he is so sweet, he was "talking" and laughing and having a blast. i am going to post all of the pictures to his website because i cannot post them all on here. next time we go, i am hoping that his daddy will go to so that one of us can take pictures while the other plays with him. doing both is fairly impossible. 

here are a few pictures:

matt has a test on thursday, and so do i. i also have a test on friday and then more next week, along with assignments and all of that school stuff. 

I have finished up with the first round of exams and am preparing for the next. I have been suffering from a toothache the last few days. It finally let up today. I am going to try and finish my social psychology paper this weekend...If Karsen allows that. 

His little leg is better, the redness is no more. It was replaced with a slight bruise and has now almost completely vanished. My sweet, sweet boy. 

Matt is finishing the pond in the back yard, I just wish he would come in and let me take a nap. I am a tired mommy. Oh well...

Tests, Papers, and More Tests and Papers

The last few weeks have been nothing other than these things. Test, paper, test, paper. I had a test this morning, a paper due on Thursday, a quiz on Thursday, a test on Friday, and then an assignment due next Thursday, a test next Friday, another paper the following week...and so on and so on. I will say that I am enjoying my human genetics class that I was hesitant to add. I have learned a LOT of information. 

Why does my poli sci teacher cuss so much? In the 35 minutes of class so far I have counted over 15 f* bombs. No joke. 

My parents and brother and Tanya are coming over tomorrow for lunch. I am looking forward to seeing them, it has been probably since July. I may have to take Karsen into a doctor's appointment because his leg is getting irritated and red where they gave him one of his shots a week and a half ago. I am worried...just being a worry-wart mommy. So I may have to make my parents wait til three to come over instead of one. 

I had something else that I wanted to say, the reason for the blog, but it has left my mind. Perhaps it will come back and I will add it. 

I will continue to pray for Mike (Matt's older brother), as anyone who reads my blog should. I hope that if he has to have surgery, it goes better than the last time. 

Have a good day!

Hello

Hello

I am bored and wanted to write a blog instead of doing the many things I need to for school. Procrastination is not usually something I do, but lately, I do nothing but it. I had a really stressful week with family things and now everything is better, for the most part. I have the best family and friends any one could ask for! =o) I have a test in human genetics this week, a paper due in research methods and an APA quiz in that class, and a article review due in social psychology. booo to school. lol. i made a wonderful lasagna tonight...mmmmmmm. and although matt and i are starting our diet on monday, i am making enchiladas on wednesday for my daddy, he and my mother and brother are coming over to visit and i promised my dad that i would make him enchiladas the next time i saw him. i love my daddy and my mommy :o) 

did i mention that when i left to go grocery shopping yesterday matt took the opportunity to shave his face and have a mustache? yeah. i dont like it. lol. but i loooove him. here are some pictures of my love and i :o)

Hair Cut

So I decided today that it was time for a haircut. I was not planning on going short, just maybe an inch or two off and I wasn't going to re-do my highlights. Boy was I wrong. I got to the hair place and decided I wanted to touch up my highlights, so I did, and I also chopped off about 5 inches of my hair. Its short, choppy, and layered. I like it a lot. Matt likes it too. I really like how the color came out, it looks really good. The hair lady cut it with a razor to take off some of my thick mane, which is great. I really really like it. Let me know what you think!

Here are some pictures (forgive the lack of makeup):

Hello There

Hello,

Just writing a blog to say that all is well over here. We are getting our lives back together and all that good stuff. School started up again this week for Matt and myself, although Matt's chemistry class was cancelled today and his physics class has been "suspended indefinitely". 

Karsen is at the age that a flu shot is recommended, I am not sure what to do. I know that the flu can be deadly for anyone who gets it, and even more so for babies. So any suggestions?

I made some fantastic spaghetti sauce the other day. I am good at what I do in the kitchen. Mmmmmm. 

I guess that is it for now. Wish me (and Matt) luck on our upcoming exams. 

-Ramona

Finally

I want to start this blog by saying YAY! Our family is part of a very fortunate few who have power. 

Now in response to one of the comments left on my "political blog". Jan, I understand that McCain/Palin will not be able to get rid of the separation of Church and state because Congress would veto any bill regarding that. I also know that our nation was "found under God" and I am all for a Christian nation. I am all for the separation of Church and state not to protect the state but to protect the Church from being ran by government officials. We do not want the president of the United States to make decisions in the Church, just as we do not want the Pope making decisions for the country. I know that we are a "Christian nation" and yes that may change in the next few decades because of the people in this country not wanting to be affiliated with the Christian Church because they are Buddhist, Hindu, Agnostic, Jehovah's Witness, Atheist, or other religions there are -- which are growing in population daily. It would be so much easier to discuss the other things (and this) in person because I fail to capture all of my thoughts when I am typing because I am typing to fast and I think that you may have gotten the wrong impression of where I stand on some of the topics. It is also hard to convey emotion on the internet...so maybe one day we can discuss these things.

Now onto other important things (by that I do not mean that responding to you, Jan, was unimportant). I am sure that you have read Matt's blog about post-Ike, if not there is a link to it on the top of my blog. 

It was a really hard few days for me personally. I was hot, and grumpy, and bored to my wits end. I did not know how many more games of dominoes it would be before I snapped. I am a truly lucky lady to have the man that I have. He forgave me for snapping at him and did whatever he could to make me happy (ie. driving around for about 2 hours...then we came home and had power). I just love my Matthew so much, he is a wonderful boyfriend and an even better father to our son. 

Sunday night we went to Los Cucos and ordered Karsen his first "real" meal. The first time he ever had restaurant food. He sure loves chicken quesadillas. Monday morning we had Burger King and he ate all of my hashbrowns (not really all, but most). 

I had to throw away a lot of food. Probably around $500-600 dollars worth...if not more. Very sad to me.

Yesterday, We went to the mall and I got 2 new pairs of jeans, a new shirt (that Matt picked out and really likes), a few shirts for Karsen and a new brassiere for myself. We forgot to get the Crocs I was supposed to get for Matt, so we went to Academy to see if they had them their and they didn't, but they did have a pair of Dr. Martens that he really liked, but not in his size. So the shoe guy called the Academy on 290 (after checking their stock on the computer) and had them save Matt's size for him. So I went in the store (Karsen was napping in the back seat) and got them for Matt. They are really nice shoes. More grown up than other shoes he owns and they look really nice on him. He is one hott guy. I sure do LOVE my Matthew and my Karsen. 

I also wanted to tell the world that I made breakfast this morning...pancakes, sausage, and eggs. Karsen liked the eggs and the pancakes, not so much the sausage.

Karsen will be publishing  blog and some pictures soon. When he gets some time. 

Political Blog

Something to get my mind off of Ike.

Two things that you do not want to write about on a blog that is viewable to the whole world unless you want people to make snap judgements about you by something you wrote online: politics and religion. I am going to dedicate this one blog to the former and one to the latter at a later date. 

I first want to say that I am politically moderate and feel that the Leader of the Free World, also known as the President of the United States of America, needs to be elected based on policy not party. I believe in voting for who I think is better qualified to carry out what I think needs to be done and not who the majority of liberals or conservatives feels is qualified. I also want to say that this blog needs to be "taken with a grain of salt", I am just putting my thoughts out there. Lastly, I am not voting for Barrack Obama or John McCain. At this point in the election I do not feel that either is ready to lead our country and thankfully I have the right to decide whether or not I vote, thank goodness for my freedoms, other countries force their citizens to vote and some decide who the person is going to vote for. 

Warning: This blog is very anti-McCain/Palin

Anyway, on to what I came to write about. I am incredibly disgusted with the McCain/Palin race. When McCain became the front runner in the Republican Party and soon following the "presumptive" nominee and onto becoming the "official" nominee I was never truly impressed. Then Barrack Obama went the same course, front runner, "presumptive" and "official" nominee, my plan was to wait for the debates and interview etc to decide who I would, if either, support. When Barrack Obama chose Joe Biden as his running mate I felt, and even said to Matt and my Dad, that Barrack had handed the election to John McCain. Then John McCain announces his. And great, he picked a female running mate, showing that a woman can help to lead the free world. My problem is the woman that he picked. A little known governor of Alaska, a very right winged, conservative, anti-everything, feminist Sarah Palin. Why did he not picked a more qualified and known woman like Kay Bailey Hutchinson? I don't know. This made the election a fairly level, slightly sloping downward to McCain playing field. I really think it is great that McCain picked a female running mate, but not that woman. 

The McCain/Palin campaign seems to more anti-Barrack than actual policy. I really do not think that I have seen a single McCain ad that is about his policies, instead they are all basically saying that Barrack is the devil and we do not need him to be president! All of the ads I have seen have truly featured Barrack. I think that it is great that the Obama campaign is for change, and he is showing that he means it by running a clean campaign. He rebuts the comments of the McCain campaign but is not launching an attack campaign against the McCain/Palin party. 

The McCain ad that put me over the edge is the one featuring Barrack's statement, "You can put lipstick on a pig, but its still a pig". The McCain/Palin camp choose to take that as a stab at Palin, but its not. It is an old saying that Bush, McCain, and Palin have all used in the past. On David Letterman Barrack explained what he meant by that statement. As Barrack has said numerous times in his campaign, electing McCain will be just like Bush for another 4-8 years. His lipstick statement is his way of saying that. McCain/Palin is the same as Bush/Cheney, regardless of who really are the P/VP. 

Now onto policies that bother me. 

Separation of Church and State. This was brought up on the View, not that I watch the show, but I saw clips from today's interview with McCain. I believe that this separation is one of the key elements that keeps the United States separate from countries that dictate peoples beliefs in higher power. McCain was questioned about Palin's beliefs. She is very much anti-everything but Christianity. I will proudly say that I am a Christian, but I am not going to force my beliefs on other people as Palin might try to do with her extreme faith. Having someone with her feelings leading the country can truly lead to alienation of people with other faiths, whether they be Hindu, Agnostic, Athiest...etc. I am all for a Christian leader, but not one who could potentially force their beliefs on the will of the people, which is something that people who do have extreme beliefs tend to do.

Economy. McCain says that there is nothing wrong with our economy. What?!?! Any person with the cognitive ability to comprehend statistics can see that it is not. The unemployment rate in the United States has increased to 6.1%, that is more than 50% higher than it was 5 years ago. This is not a sign of a good economy. One reason for this: tax breaks to companies who send their work overseas leads to less American based companies. Another reason: illegal immigrants cannot complain b/c they are illegal and they will work for practically nothing...just to send the money back home.

Abortion. This is a very touchy subject for me. I believe that life begins at conception, but I also believe in a woman's right to choose--in certain circumstances. I think that pregnancies as a result of incest and rape do not need to be continued if the woman does not want it to. Also in cases that the life of both mother and baby will be threatened do not need to be continued if the mother does not want to. I do not think that it abortion should be an option as a form of "birth control" Palin is very much, anti-abortion in any/all cases. No thank you McCain/Palin.

I realize that this blog is extremely long and I thank you for reading it.

War.  I am a supporter of the troops, not a supporter of the war. If the war was taken back to Afghanistan then I would be a supporter of the war. Fundamentally the war is not taking place in the place that it is against. Afghanistan caused 9/11 not Iraq. This is an issue that I agree with McCain, not Barrack on. I think that immediate withdrawal of the troops would be a HORRIBLE idea. It needs to be done in a slow manner and a base needs to stay over there for a specified amount of time. A surge of troops is not a good idea, but neither is a reverse-surge. 

Health Care. Health insurance is controlled by the big money lobbyist. This makes insurance nearly impossible for members of the lower to lower middle class to afford. I think that socialized medicine is the answer, but that obviously cannot happen overnight, but can be a goal to work towards. McCain will not get rid of the lobbyists b/c they "own" him. 

Sex Eduction. This is a BIG issue for me. I believe that abstinence only education is a horrible idea and a contributing factor to the increase of teen pregnancy. I believe that sex should be saved for marriage, but I obviously didn't follow that, so at least waiting to have sex with someone who you love is important. Telling students that sex is a bad thing that you shouldn't do casts such a negative light on it. Sex is not bad, its how we all got here and how we (if we chose to) will make more people. If it were so bad Adam and Eve wouldn't have done it. Students are going to have sex regardless of having their parents, teachers, pastors, etc telling them not to, not all students will, possibly not even a majority of students. But for the students who do choose to have sex, they need to be educated in order to make a responsible decision about their partners, STD's, and about protection. These are things that teens need to know about that adults don't want to discuss because they fear that they think it is okay to have sex.  Not informing teenagers about sex obviously doesn't make them not do it. Look at the teen pregnancy rates -- at a 15 year high. 

Enough about the election. I am going to end this blog and get ready for the rain. Thanks for reading. 

Hurricane Ike

I am a little scared about the impending hurricane. I know that we will be alright, but I am a little more worried because of my angel. I want him to be safe and taken care of. Matt is trying to fix the power generator so that we will have fans and be able to save all of the food in the refrigerator and stuff like that. I think that we are going to go up to Kroger in a little while and stock up on some canned goods and non-perishables, just in case. 

School has been cancelled for both Matt and I. I was on my way to class this morning and decided to just go back home and when I got home I was watching the news and class was cancelled. yay. We were talking about how if we had known that class was going to be cancelled today, we would have headed out of town for the weekend, but its too late now. We are not going to go get stuck in traffic. No thank you. 

I guess we will see how we fair through the storm. Keep us, and everyone else in this area, in your thoughts and prayers.

i thought i knew

these are some thoughts i have had for a few days. i didnt want to add them on to the other blog b/c there is no correlation.

to my karsen:

i thought i knew what love was when i found out you were growing inside of me

i thought i knew what love was the first time i heard your heartbeat

i thought i knew what love was the first time i saw you in my belly

and i really thought i knew what love was the first time i felt you kick

then when i could see you move, i really thought i knew

it wasnt until the day we brought you into this world that i really knew what love is

the first time i heard you take your first breath, and let out your first cry

the first time i saw your precious face, the first time i kissed your head. 

those moments were when i realized what love is

love is every moment i get to spend with you

when you couldnt roll over, couldnt crawl, couldnt feed yourself, those moments are what made life worth living

then you started to roll over, crawl, feed yourself. you grew up right in front of my eyes and i knew what love was

watching you take your first steps, playing with your toys, and sleeping so sweetly in your bed.

that is love to me

holding you in my arms, feeling complete, and so happy. 

that is love. the peace you give me, the light you bring in my life

you showed me what it means to love someone unconditionally

and you showed me what it is like to feel that love from someone

i know that you love me and

i love you karsen david, now, yesterday, and always

i plan on writing that in his baby book for him to read when he is a lot older. i wrote it on here so that i could have it written down somewhere.

i am so thankful to have karsen and matt. i love the two of them more than i ever thought was possible. i truly am blessed to have the two of them as my family. 

and of course i love our extended family, my mommy and daddy, jan, joe, nicole. all of them. 

stressed?

where do i begin? this has definitely been a stressful two weeks. 

my schedule on monday/wednesday is:

8am: wake up, feed karsen breakfast

10am: karsen's naptime

noon: feed karsen lunch

1pm: matt comes home from chemistry

2pm: karsen's 2nd nap, clean house, do homework

5:15pm: matt leaves for calculus

6pm: karsen's dinner

6:30pm: karsen's bath time

7pm: karsen's milk/play/cuddle time

8pm: karsen's bedtime

8:15pm: matt comes home, make matt's dinner

9pm: clean house, do homework

11pm: go to bed

tuesday/thursday:

8am: wake up, get karsen's milk/cereal bar

8:30am: shower, get ready for school

9am: get karsen dressed

10am: drive to school

11am: human genetics

1pm: political science

2:30pm: social psychology

4pm: drive home

5pm: matt leaves, jump back into being a mommy

6pm: karsen's dinner

7pm: karsen's milk

8pm: karsen's bedtime

9pm: matt comes home, make dinner, do homework, housework

12am: bedtime

i am so busy and have no time for me. i dont know how i am going to make it through the next 4 months. but if i do, i will be a college graduate.

now onto discussing my human genetics class. 

it is definitely the one class i don't mind going to. i really, really enjoy the subject of genetics. i am so fascinated by how one single gene can have drastic effects on life. i had my first class on thursday, the tuesday class was cancelled b/c the professor was in chicago. my professor, dr. snider, is an older man, very knowledgeable. he has his Ph.D from Harvard. he talks a mile a minute, but once you figure out what he is talking about he is easy to follow. he covered a lot of information on thursday, 6 pages in his lecture notebook (which is all shorthand) and then i wrote about 4 pages of notes. i know that if  i had a lot of time to get my degree in something other than psychology, it would be biology w/ a focus in genetics. kinda like what i was doing at tech. if i was planning on going to grad school it would either be for human genetics, and i would study sex-linked characteristics, or it would be forensic psychology. two completely different subjects that i am so incredibly fascinated with. the human genetics class on thursday was a very informative one that i learned a LOT in. he was discussing PKU which is a disease that has been discussed in many of my psychology and biology classes that no one ever explained, they just all said it was a horrible disease. now i know why it is so bad and feel like a really intelligent person now b/c i can draw bridges between psychological effects of pku and biological effects of it. oh i love genetics. i am such a nerd. 

i just wish that i had more help with karsen. matt has really stepped up to the plate and does a wonderful job with karsen on t/th when i am in class. its just the m/w that i need help with. oh well. i guess i have to get over it. 

no title?

so far this weekend was nice. we still have sunday and stuff can go wrong or be great, so i am not saying it is over yet. friday we went to view our pictures at the photographers, they came out sooo good, i am excited to decide which ones we are going to get. i made some home made bean dip for matt, he really liked it a lot. i made chili dogs for dinner. yum. yesterday karsen and i got up around 8. matt got up around 10 and i made breakfast. we ate the breakfast tacos all day long, they were sooooo good. for dinner i had a salad and some sausage that we got from raider red meats on our trip to NM. matt just had the sausage, he didnt want the salad. 

we had a wasp problem, we killed 4 wasps in 2 days that were in the house. it was scary. 

we spent all day yesterday watching football. i like football, but it was a little much for me. lol.

karsen had a really bad diaper rash when we woke up this morning and i feel so terrible. he never cries during his diaper change, but both times i have changed his diaper today he has cried. i dont like his little bottom to be all red and hurting. my sweet, sweet angel. 

i guess i will close for now. 

i still hate the university of houston

today has been one of the hardest days i have been through in a long time. the blog i posted earlier explains why. i did leave out one reason why i hate uofh, this is not the reason why i am writing the blog, but i feel its significance should not be ignored. when i transferred here, my degree that i was pursuing was declared a bachelor of science in psychology, when i went to apply for graduation, it was a bachelor of arts in psychology. i do not want a BA and i have taken the courses towards a BS. so back in may/june i filed a general petition to change this to what it is supposed to be. the uofh website said that the issue should be resolved within a month. here i am almost three months later and it still has not been fixed. 

when i got home from school, after a nightmare drive home in horrible traffic, i checked my email. i had emailed an advisor in the biology department attempting to solve my problems, and she replied. what it comes down to is that the rules are the rules. it says on the website, in an obscure and easily overlooked location, that 6 of the 9 advanced hours have to be taken here at uofh. so in the end i have to take 3 more hours of biology...boooooo. so i found a class that is before my political science class on t/th to take. its human genetics, not that i am interested in ANOTHER semester of genetics (this will be the 3rd so i should be an expert), the only other two classes offered were no-go's. one was evolutionary biology (another class i had already taken at tech), but the professor taught part of my genetics class here at uofh and was a terrible, terrible professor. the other was neuroscience with a professor whose name i could not pronounce, and i felt that for a subject about the brain i would need to have a professor whose name i could pronounce in order to understand the class. so, as long as uofh doesnt throw anymore boomerangs at me, i will still be graduating in december. hopefully i can handle the earlier class and being away from karsen for 7 hours without having a complete breakdown. oh, and hopefully i pass the class. the others will be easy.

today has really been horrendous, from the problems with uofh to the traffic i faced on my drive home. i just want to curl up in the fetal position, cry, sleep, and be left alone. but i am a mommy, so doing those things is impossible. it was about 20 minutes until karsen's bedtime when the best thing that happened today happened. he was sitting on my lap cuddling and i just realized that matt and i created the most wonderful baby boy in the world. i have known this for quite sometime, but it just really dawned on me at that time and made me smile (the first thing all day). i just cannot express how much i love my son. i realize that i need to make myself realize (redundant, i know) that he is what i am doing all of this for. i am finishing my degree so that i can make a better future for him. he is my most precious gift. when he was sitting on my lap, cuddling with mommy, i could just feel how content he was and i was. it seemed that, just for a split second, everything was going to be okay and all was right with the world. its amazing the power of love from a baby is, just everything it makes a mommy realize. everything i do is for that little boy, every decision i make. i laid him down to bed and he went right to sleep. i dont know how i am going to handle adding 2 more hours away from him to my schedule, as i can barely handle it now and its only 5 hours, but hopefully we will make it. i just wish that i didnt have to drive the truck. 

I HATE the University of Houston!!!!!!!!

As many of you know I have had a lot of problems with UofH since I transferred in the fall of 2007. The list seems to get longer and longer as time goes by. The first thing that went wrong was that it's not Texas Tech. That is the most obvious one. Then there is the multitude of problems I face whenever I try to take care of my financial aid (which has still not been taken care of this fall, thank you UH). Then there is the problem of no one communication between financial aid and student financial's, where they advise me to take out the emergency enrollment loan when I don't have to, or so I am told by financial aid. There goes $85. Thank you UH. Then there is the first one I discovered this week. My political science (shame on me for being in my last semester and taking a freshman course) professor is a jack ass (sorry for the language). I guess his humor is funny to an 18 year old fresh out of high school. But for someone who has been out of high school for a few years, his crass humor and use of bad language really irritate me. Not to mention the fact that he doesn't have a printer friendly version of the syllabus availible, just the one that has a black background and purple writing, lots of (stupid) graphics and many other flaws. So it is damn (once again, sorry for the language) near impossible to get a hard copy of it, unless you want to edit all of his crap. 

I was going to let this all go and be done with it, after all this is supposed to be my last semester of college. But today I go to the biology advising office to fill out the paper work for my minor, shame on me for putting this off, I know, I know. I go there thinking I have everything done for my minor, which according to what they have posted online, I have already completed. I get the form and fill it out and it says on the bottom that at least 6 of the advanced biology hours (6 advanced are all that the minor requires) must be done on campus. WTF? Why on earth is that not on the website? I was counting on hours from Tech to count as my advanced biology. This has me irate. I am so incredibly angry, upset, and frustrated. Not to mention I have a monthly visitor that is making all of my emotions extreme.

The point of this blog is that if I cannot get the advising department to work with me (which knowing this school....) I will be forced to take one biology class in the spring to get my stupid degree. 

I just really, really, really hate this school. There are not words that can describe the animosity I feel towards it.  Please, please pray for me that I can get through this and that the biology department to see the problem that they caused me and correct this so that I can graduate in December. 

Oh What a Day!

Today is a day that will not be soon forgotten. I will start of by saying that I love Karsen with all of my heart and there is absolutely nothing in this world that could even put a dent in that love. 

Today he thought that it was a good idea to take off his own diaper and poop on the floor. He made a huge mess and I was the lucky parent who got to clean this up. I am really thinking that we will be getting his potty chair sooner than I had originally planned. I really think that this is a sign that he is ready to begin the introduction to Mister Potty. 

Even though I was forced to clean up his poop, I still love him with every bit of my being. There is nothing in this world that compares to the love I feel for that sweet child of mine.

Matt also fixed the back door today, I couldn't open it and he bruised his hand while trying to. The people who built the door frame did not do a very good job. 

We went to Target this evening and spent Karsen's birthday gift card from Aunt Nicole. He got an Elmo guitar and really likes it. 

School starts tomorrow. I am nervous/scared/excited about this semester. It is so strange to think that this is my last semester of college! It is sooooo exciting! I am also looking forward to getting my alternative certification done to teach. I think it is going to be a lot of fun :o) 

Well I guess I am going to get to bed! Love to you all!

xoxo

Forgot to mention...

I meant to mention this in the other blog. Karsen was entered in a photo contest and we would really like to win. If you would like to vote, please let me know and I will give you in the information in an email.

Once again

xoxo

First Blog

This is my first blog to write for myself, as I am responsible for keeping up with Karsen's blog. We just got back from a wonderful trip to New Mexico. Being there makes me realize that I could not be satisfied in life with living in a mediocre town in the middle of nowhere. We will eventually get some land, but will probably always live in the city. It was a really nice visit though. Karsen really enjoys riding on a golf cart, it puts him right to sleep. He was really good on the drive there and on the ride home. 

School starts on Monday for Matt and I. I am taking my very LAST 15 hours of college classes! woo-hoo! Three of my classes are online and I go to campus for two of them. Tuesdays and Thursdays will be hectic days for us. I will be in class from 1:00 to 4:30, drive across town in traffic, and then Matt will head off to class that starts at 6:30. Busy, busy days for us. Little Mister Karsen will not be to pleased with Mommy being gone since we have spent every day together all summer. 

I love my sweet baby boy. He is my whole world. It is so amazing the love that a Mother feels for and from her child. Being his Mother is by far the greatest achievement in my life. I can just talk about that angel all day and night until I am blue in the face. 

I hope that you will continue to read this and comment for me to know that you are. 

Wish us luck as we start this semester of school!

xoxo