Almost a year....

For Christmas I decided that I would compile some of our pictures (mostly of Kyle) from the last year, make them into a video with music (using photostory3), and give them to the grandparents and great grandparents as gifts. Great idea, right? I had no idea!
I worked on it for over an hour last night and then the program froze. Had I saved it? No. Was I irritated? You betcha (hats off to you, Mrs. Palin). I was determined after that not only to get started on it, but to finish it. I got it all put together and most of the music added to it before I went to bed at midnight. This morning I finished it up, saved it as a movie, and watched it for editing purposes. I was... amazed. It turned out better than I could have ever imagined. I was in tears watching it, remembering the last year. Kyle is such a blessing to us, but sometimes when you get caught in the day to day monotony you forget how much things have changed.
Looking at the pictures of him as a newborn moved me beyond words. My God, he was so tiny and so helpless. And so beautiful. I remember what it felt like to be handed this tiny little bundle all the while knowing that he was the most important thing I have done so far in my life. It is a strange thing to know that another person is depending on you entirely. I know that he has his Daddy and all of that, but the moment they handed him to me, he was all mine. I remember thinking that he was the most complete thing I had ever done. Don't get me wrong, I finish things and do projects and what not, but he was amazing. Every finger, every toe, even his little nose. I kept thinking, "I made that!" If anyone can look at a newborn baby and not believe in God (or any higher power depending on religion) I am shocked. A baby is such a miracle, such a divine creation, that they are awe inspiring.
Watching the video put to music was also a very moving part of the experience. The music that I picked seemed to follow the pictures to a T, saying all the right things at the right moments. Since the video is all pictures it was important to me to have the music speak for the pictures, to have them convey a specific emotion. It did all of that and more.
Anyhow, the video is done, tears of remembrance have been shed, and i am in the process of burning them onto DVDs. While I hope that the persons on the receiving end of these gifts will cherish them as we do, I honestly do not care if they look at them once and then throw them away. I am glad that I made it for me. I am glad that I made it for Kyle. I plan on making one every year to commemorate the previous year of his life. That way, when he is all grown up and only comes to see his mom once a year because he is busy, i will have something to watch while I sit on the couch and admire it! He is growing up so fast!

Bottles, Bottles, oh, no more bottles!

It is official. No more bottles. No more washing bottles for a half an hour a day. More computer time.... well, maybe not. Yesterday I packed up all of Kyle's bottles, double bagged them in grocery bags, and put them in a box. To that box I added the parts and pieces of his bouncer.
Yes, I have given up one of the only things that will keep him in one place for any length of time. There were two very prominent flaws with the bouncer, potentially three.
1) Kyle has outgrown it by weight. I suppose that we did get a good 6 months of use out of it, so that is like $10 a month....not too bad, but still..... why do they have to outgrow stuff so quickly?
2) Not only has he outgrown it by weight, but he has also grown weary of it. It used to keep him entertained for hours- literally. I dont know if it is the fact that he can walk now, that he used it too much for too long, or that he just doesnt want to be confined anymore. So much for putting him in it to take a shower. I guess now my shower time will be when he naps, which leaves me two choices- morning nap or afternoon nap. Wow. That is OK though. I just always used the naptime for 'me' time and would shower whenever there was a show on that would keep him occupied. It is OK though.
3) The bouncer is big. It takes up a lot of room. We knew that when we bought it and it was worth every peaceful minute it provided. Once we removed it from the living room for a few days and put it outside it was blaringly obvious that we wanted the floor space back. We are keeping it for the next baby, but honestly, I dont know if we will use it or not. I guess it just depends. If the next one is like Kyle it will be nice to have because he really loved to bounce in it. We will see.
Kyle is doing really well with all of the changes. He takes the sippy cup no problem now, so that is a relief. I worried that since we went cold turkey on the bottles he might not be getting enough liquids. Check that off my list of worries. Check. He doesnt care that the bouncer is not here anymore. Children....sheesh. He has not had any adverse reactions to the whole milk. Granted, most of the time, he still gets some of the Next Step formula mixed in, but even if it is straight milk he is good with it. No abnormal digestive issues, no rashes, no unusual fussyness. That makes me happy, especially since so many kids seem to have issues with milk these days. Even more so since Levi had issues with milk.
Other than that we have been spending a ton of time outside. It is sooooo nice that Kyle can walk now and I can put him down and not have to carry him. He is really enjoying the freedom and is so interested in exploring everything. I am actually amazed at how well he is doing. He can do slight uphill and downhill now and rarely trips. Grass is a challenge because every single step feels different, but he doesnt like falling in the grass so he tries really really hard not to with success most of the time. It is pretty amazing. I am so proud of my little man!

First Time Blogger

Ok, so I am officially not a blog virgin anymore. Wow. Ok, that was not as cool as I expected :)
If you are reading this you probably know me and are simply fascinated with what is going on in my life. If that is not the case, you are just curious, which is cool too. I am not going to act as if I am deep or excessively contemplative just to get you interested. I will more than likely write about daily things that are not that interesting to anyone but me. Feel free to read and comment anyway. I will try to make it interesting, but I will not lie or sugar coat things to gain approval. Scared yet? LOL