Gotta Love 'Em

Josey looks me straight in my face and says, "Can I make fun of you to Daddy?"

I just started laughing at her and she gives me a look like "WHAT?" Oh you never know what you are going to get out of her mouth :)

I had to share this picture of my little dancer. She is obsessed with dress up clothes, dancing, and singing. We catch her stripped down to her underwear getting into her "princess" dresses. Keep in mind that this picture was taken when it was about 48 degrees outside...didn't bother her one bit. No, I don't regularly let her dance out in the cold weather half naked. She's just that quick to get outside before I can catch her. She is dancing around like a ballerina and singing to herself in this picture. It is just so precious to me to see how much she LOVES dancing and singing...kind of reminds me of someone else I know ;)

Me

Something has been bothering me for the last month or so. I have tried to kick it but it seems to be hanging on like a leech. Being naive isn't always a bad thing. I wish I was back in the day when I was naive about what it meant being a nurse walking into a room to take care of someone's family member. Since I started nursing, I just assumed that when I left my shift or parted ways with a patient and his/her family members that I was vanished from their memories. It has been in the last 4 months at work that I have truly come to realize that is far from the truth. I think I liked to believe that b/c it was easier for me. I've started to describe myself like a M&M. Hard shell on the outside but easily melts in the middle. I like to put on a hard front and seem like I'm tough, but have always struggled with wearing my heart on my sleeve and being very sentimental.

I know, where am I going with this. Well, the last 4 months of my job have been the hardest and made me realize what I want if I ever get terribly sick. I have stood by many families (more the last 4 months than I have in my whole 5 years of nursing) and held their hands, shared tears, laughs, stories, etc...while their family members are dying in the hospital. I have been their while many people take their breaths and depart this world. I am not a machine that can shut down and leave work at work. I think about people years later that I've taken care of: ones that have lived and ones that haven't.

I really have come to realize that people do remember their nurses that were in the room with either them or their family member. I have had a few patients that have done well that come back through the unit and give me a hug or say thanks for everything I did. I also have had family members return and tell us how much they appreciated our care and tell us how their family member is doing GREAT! I even recently had a family member return with a baby blanket for me b/c her mother was one of my last patients before I delivered and she didn't make it. She just wanted to tell me thank you for being their for her family and mother during that horrible time. Seriously?!?! You remember me from about 5 months ago??? Yes, I remembered the situation and could tell you details about it too. But, that's me, I remember things and people.

Being a nurse has made me look at life a totally different way than before. You appreciate family members more and realize that some day you will need their support. You appreciate every laugh (we have a lot on our unit b/c like everyone I work with says, "You need to laugh or you'll go nuts!" working on our unit). You appreciate the simple things in life and realize that the only thing that matters are the people, not things, in your life. You can NEVER say I love you too much.

So I am thankful for my beautiful family of four! I am grateful for my family and my Southern family I married into 4 years ago. I know I can depend on any of them for support. I am pretty easy to please, I take hugs whenever offered, laughing is one of my favorite past times, pictures mean the world to me b/c they can tell a story for years to come, and finally I LOVE being a nurse and caring for people. If I ever stop enjoying it, I need to retire. That's me.

This N That

It seems like I'm really busy b/c the time flies by but then I can't remember what was truly going on that kept me super occupied! I think it is a syndrome...you know: two children under the age 3 and husband gone during the week syndrome. I know a lot of my time lately has been spent on trying to figure out how this is all going to pan out when I head back to work. Going back gives me a lot of anxiety just b/c there are so many different things that have to be planned by then and pray it all goes smoothly.

Josey is definitely hitting her terrible 2's. She's got quite the attitude lately and the temper tantrums are usually short but daily. I try my best to remember a lot has changed in her world in the past two and a half months. New daycare, new brother, dad's gone a lot, etc.... It is killing her not being able to go outside anytime she wants to but we get out occasionally when Korbin is sleeping :)

Korbin is growing like crazy! I just got 3-6 month clothing out not too long ago and I think I have to look for some 6-9 month clothes now b/c he's getting so long! He about tears the feet out of the one piece outfits in the 3-6 month range. I think I'll be the shorty of the family ;) Most of the time Korbin isn't very photogenic so here's one that is pretty decent. This is at 8 weeks old!
Josey and Korbin laying on the floor. Josey always has to lay down by him for a little bit and love on him. Poor Korbin gets Josey's hair in his face quite often but he doesn't complain. He absolutely loves it when Josey talks to him and sits by him. Kicking & swinging his arms, Korbin will talk away to Josey. I need to add that the shark outfit makes Korbin look chunkier than he is in real life :)

Look out world! Here's the next Hannah Montana or Taylor Swift. Josey got this little microphone for her birthday and she loves it! It can record her voice and play it back, too. It plays melodies of numerous children's songs and Josey will try to sing to them. I love it! I reminds me of myself as a child.

Random picture of Josey...she was supposed to be watching her Mickey Mouse Clubhouse show while I showered. This was the beginning of the day from H#LL! I came up from ironing my capris which probably no joke took about 5 minutes tops and this is how I found Josey. Sugar & flour all over the kitchen floor & cabinets. I couldn't believe it! If she wasn't so cute, grrr!

Korbin is a huge snuggler. He loves super soft things and to top it off up next to/on top of his face. He rubs his little nose into the soft thing to fall asleep. Don't worry! I make sure it isn't affecting his breathing and he doesn't sleep like this at night. This picture is of Korbin peeking out while he is in the swing snuggling with his blanket & sheep/lamb blankie.

Sorry folks, I'm getting tired of typing and Korbin is starting to wake up from his nap so making this last one short. This picture is of Josey in the van with her sunglasses that lasted like 2 days before she broke them trying to fold them up. She picked them out at the Oshkosh store. Super cute!

Toddler Decorating

Josey has taken up decorating as her hobby! We had these star wall stickers and we only put up a third of them. I would peel off the stickers and hand them to Josey so she could place them where she wanted them on her wall. I obviously helped with the higher ones but she placed almost all of them. Every sticker I would give her, she'd say, "thank you." What a sweetheart! She was very proud of her creation so she stood by it when I took a picture :)

Our other decorating project for the day was coloring eggs! Amazingly, Josey did very well with the coloring: one hand red and the other blue ;) Here is the picture of her waiting patiently to make eggs.

Pointing out where the colors are on the table.

And of course, checking to see if the egg is done...forgot to use the little hanger that comes with the kit :)

We got this fancy kit that had glow in the dark paints and stickers to go with the colors. The stupid paint was dried up and the stickers wouldn't stick on the eggs. So much for super mom getting a fancy egg kit for my kiddo. We fell back on ol' reliable: a white crayon! Some eggs had simple designs on them, one with Josey's name, and another with Korbin's name.

Random photo: Korbin playing on his playmat. So he doesn't feel left out!

My silly girl! She loves to wear glasses and she has this pair in her toy box. She often puts them on and says, "Let me see." I'm not sure where she gets her sense of humor ;) LMAO!

First Trip

We took our first out of state trip this past weekend. My parents rode with us and were lifesavers keeping Josey occupied. I forgot about our portable DVD players but luckily my mom had her computer for the trip back. I bought Tangled and Josey loved it! We ventured to my sister's place in South Dakota for my nephew's 9th birthday. We had a great visit and according to my sister, we didn't drive them nuts. It is frustrating being the only parent at a new place with a toddler that knows I can't do much when I'm nursing Korbin. Plus, Josey is an explorer so she has to check out EVERYTHING! Brayton had his friends party on Friday night. We were going to try to stay out of the boys' way but Josey thought she was one of the boys. Amazingly, the 8 & 9 year old boys did wonderful with Josey. They didn't seem to mind a bit that she was hanging out with them and in the middle of things :) Josey even helped Brayton open his gifts. She fell in love with one of the boys at the party, Joey. Joey isn't pictured in this photo b/c he went inside for something but you can tell Josey is trying to turn and head up the stairs to find him. Joey said Josey was cool b/c she almost had his name. Brian and I are well aware we are going to have our hands full when she grows up if she is already this boy crazy! Super cute! My sister bought a little headband for Josey. She loved to put it on herself and wear it around. We were going to get some more headbands for her to play dress up with but the store was closed when we went to buy them. Oh well, maybe another time. I'm going to try to find her dress up clothes this summer at garage sales. Here is Josey posing with Brayton. This picture is a cool b/c of the reflection on the refrigerator. Josey absolutely loved playing with Taite and Brayton. She is a social butterfly!

My flower child :)

Which is which? Can you tell which one is Korbin & the one that is Josey? They are definitely siblings! Look at those cheekers! I grow healthy babies :)

First picture: Josey

Second picture: Korbin

Were you right????

It's A BOY!!!!

It all began Saturday evening right after supper. Amazingly, it progressed extremely fast and we were off to the hospital in no time. I could have delivered Saturday night before midnight but they decided to let me rest a bit before becoming a mom for the second time :) Obviously, I got an epidural so I was feeling pretty good at that time. With just 20 minutes of pushing, Brian and I found out we were the proud parents of a baby boy. With finding out that piece of information, it came down to the hardest question: what is his name? I've been having a hard time with picking the boy name out since everyone we told would make a comment about how they didn't like it and criticize our decision. So the week before I delivered...I came up with a second boy name that both Brian and I agreed on. The day we were discharged I thought up a combo I liked and asked Brian if he liked it too. So here we have Korbin Titus! Myles was our original middle name but since I couldn't decide between Korbin or Titus for the first name...we combined them and then he can decide when he gets older if he wants to be called Korbin or Titus :) This picture is the first time home! Josey made sure he had his hat. I stumbled upon this photo on my computer. Brian has been taking a ton of pictures with my ipod touch he bought me days before I delivered. This pictures is priceless. Josey LOVES her baby brother and helps a lot with him. Korbin gets a million kisses a day from Josey and often gets told, "It's okay baby" or "It's okay buddy." We are extremely happy with how much Josey loves her brother and has adjusted quite well. We're still explaining why Korbin doesn't want cookies or "sketty" (spaghettios). She's a hoot!

We practice safety at our household. Josey makes sure she has on her Elmo helmet before riding her cycle. She makes circles around our island in the kitchen :) The little three wheeler cycle has definitely traveled many miles in our household lately. Josey pretends she takes it through the carwash when she goes through the kitchen past the dishwasher. LOL She absolutely HATES the carwash but apparently it isn't too bad when you pretend.

Sharing. Josey seems to think that Korbin needs to have time with her babydolls. I had put Korbin in the swing and Josey came over with her two favorite babydolls. She was very careful when she placed them next to him. Korbin didn't seem to mind :) The naked babydoll does have clothes but for some reason, Josey refuses to keep it's clothes on. That babydoll is the only one that she keeps naked too.

Safety again...if the carseat isn't being used by Korbin, who better to use it then a babydoll?!?! We strapped her babydoll in the carseat and she pretended that she was a little mother ;) Melts my heart how loving she is and her imagination with her dolls. Disregard her mismatched clothes. It was a day at home lounging.

Our Alphalpha baby! Josey's hair is getting to be extremely long! This is what I came across the other night when Brian was giving Josey her bath. She was just giggling when he was styling her hair like this :) Never a dull moment here.

Sense of Humor

It amazes me how much personality a two year old can possess. Everyday we learn something new about Josey and she reveals to us what she is learning by observation and listening. So about her sense of humor...she's always been a little stitch but the other day was the most hilarious thing she has ever done/said. My mom and I had gone to the Mall of America to get new laptops (Microsoft Store was having a great deal on computers...and I needed one for my master's- PERFECT!). Anyway, when we were just getting headed back home, I offered to drive out of the cities. My mom asked why and I responded, "Your driving scares me." :) About 5 minutes later, Josey is in the backseat and we hear, "I scared! AAHHHH!" Then to top it off, when we made it into Mantorville (the town right by Kasson), Josey looked around and said, "Yay! Amy made it!" (Remember, Josey calls my mom Amy for an unknown reason) I about wet b/c the whole thing was not prompted by me at all. Josey had come up with this all by herself.

In a week, Josey will start at a home daycare suggested to us from a longtime friend of my family. The lady is the friend's mother-in-law who also watches his three kids. We met with her on the 14th to visit about details and see how Josey interacted with her. Let me tell you, Josey is still occasionally asking about "Debbie" and wanting to see her. I think this will be a perfect fit. Josey will be going three days a week which will be nice once the baby gets here and I can ease into the mothering of two children. Then the little pipsqueak will be attending roughly the beginning of June.

I am so excited about Josey meeting the baby. I think she's going to be the greatest big sister! A friend of mine had a baby about three weeks ago and we've seen her a couple of times so far. Josey is great with little baby Keira. The other day Josey sang Happy Birthday the baby (my belly) and then got really close to my belly and says, "Hi Toodles!" I call Josey, Toodles, and she thinks that's just a name to call anyone now :) Goofball!

Word of the Day

AWESOME! I'm not sure where Josey picked this word up from but she's used it many times today. The funniest was when we were at the check out at Sam's Club and the associate asked, "How are you guys doing today?" Without skipping a beat, Josey responds, "Awesome." The look on the workers face was priceless and then he said that was the best response he's gotten all day :) That'd be my toddler for you!

Another funny moment, we went out to eat for an early birthday celebration for Brian since I have to work tomorrow night. The waitress asked what we wanted to drink. Josey ordered her own water. Then to top it off, when she came to take our food order, Josey replied, "Corndog...Josey Kurner." (She can't seem to say her T's anymore so it is always Kurner) I laughed and told Josey that she didn't need to give her name to get her meal :) Oh how she seems to be growing up too quickly.

Ooh, before I forget, Josey and I went to visit a friend today that had a baby a week ago. I thought it would be the perfect test to see how Josey would react when I was holding a baby. At first, she didn't know what to think. Then within minutes of watching me, Josey held her arms out to hold baby Kiera. I helped Josey hold little Kiera on the couch and then she gave her a little shoulder hug and kissed her on her head. Josey also had to kiss baby Kiera before we left the house. I couldn't believe how sweet my little girl was being! She might be a wild child at times but she still has a soft heart like her Mommy :)

Happy Birthday Josey!

Hard to believe that just two years ago our lives changed forever by being blessed with a little girl! Little did we know what we were getting ourselves into :) We planned Josey's birthday party for the Saturday before her real birthday party. It got postponed! Friday night while we were eating supper, Josey kept complaining her belly hurt but we were thinking it was b/c she was hungry so we continued to get her to eat anything for supper. She calmed down and decided she wanted to "feed" her piggy (her porceline piggy bank). As she stood on the chair next to the table getting ready to feed her piggy, up came everything she ate that whole day. Poor peanut didn't know what was going on. Josey continued to throw up every 15-30 minutes until 3am. She was then able to sleep for 2 hours; yep, I said 2 hours. All of Saturday consisted of sitting on the couch watching different cartoons and cuddling. She wasn't much into eating anything but would at least drink water. We tried Pedialite & Powerade No Sugar but HAVE YOU TRIED THAT GARBAGE??? I finally tried it when she said she didn't like either one of them and quickly realized why. They were very syrupy tasting. By Saturday night, Josey was feeling much better. Back to doing her "Hotdog dance" and playing like crazy.

Sidebar, this picture has nothing to do with her birthday party but I couldn't resist b/c her hair is just now long enough to do two full pigtails. I love this look!
Sunday, we were able to have her party! I tried to come up with ideas to make it special for her. We did your normal decorating with streamers and balloons but I still wanted to do something original for her. I got it! I put random pictures from the two years on the refrigerator and then filled our digital frame's SD card with pictures of Josey's life. I can't tell you how many times I caught her with a table chair pushed up to the stand that had the digital frame on it "watching Josey." She felt pretty special :)

Here is Josey's Mickey Mouse cupcakes. I thought this might be a cool idea and how many other kids have these?!? Plus we had this glass cake holder given to us as a wedding gift so it worked out perfect. We had most of the theme Mickey Mouse but a few things were princess or pink/purple.

The birthday girl with her special cupcake with a jumbo Mickey candle on top. She didn't quite get the blowing out of the candle so she got a little help. Next year, I'm sure she'll have no problem getting the concept of blowing out the candles :)

I know you'll be surprised but Josey didn't have ANY problem ripping into her gifts! The only thing is we had to kind of help continue opening gifts b/c everyone she opened she wanted to play with right then.

Here's Josey testing out her "pouting" chair from her great aunt and uncle. It worked out perfect for her to watch TV in. We put on Open Season and that kept the kids occupied for a few minutes. In fact, I think a few of the adults were mesmerized by the cartoon movie. LOL

So for Josey's real birthday, we didn't have anything really planned. I did have pictures set up for in the morning but other than that...nothing. Pictures went as well as you could expect with a two year old. I'll post some of the pictures once I get them from the photographer. It was the same photographer I had do Josey's 1 year pictures. She did a great job and showed me a couple from the shoot so far. It amazes me how grown up Josey looks in the pictures. Wait and see and you'll understand what I'm talking about. Brian and I brainstormed for ideas as to what to do to make HER day special. How about swimming? Josey's response, "YEAH!" We headed to the Ramada in Rochester and we were the only ones in the pools! Let me rephrase that...Brian and Josey were the only ones in the pool. No way am I getting into a suit this pregnant! They had a blast and Brian learned how fearless Josey really is when it comes to water. She tried to jump into the big pool and hot tub all by herself. Both times, she was grabbed before she was able to accomplish what she had her mind set on doing.

We were working on her kicking her legs when Brian was holding her in the swimming position. She kind of got it :)

Coming down the kiddie slide!

Happy Birthday Baby Girl! We love you!