Naptime is prime mommy time.

I want to write.

Everyday I think about it.

Kai goes down for a nap, and I think to myself about what I might want to do with the small amount of free time I have in front of me. I should write. I have the time... but I also have so many other things I want to do. What should I decide? Catch up on my reading?? I haven't watched Ellen in forever, let alone any of my other shows. Should I finish that hat I had started crocheting? 

So many options..

But than I see the kitchen. All in disarray from cooking Ryan's dinner before he left for work. Dishes piled on the counters and in  the sink, garbage full, floor needing a good clean. I glance at the couch with the pile of clean laundry I tossed onto it when Kai started to get to fussy that needs folding, or the basket next to it of clothes still needing to be washed. The dog snoring on the floor below the table reminds me how desperately I need to vacuum before Kai wakes up and starts crawling around becoming a mini baby lint roller. 

Among a million other household chores screaming my name I can feel a decision being made. Priorities are aligning as the pull of enticement draws me in. That's it.. its decided for me, no longer do I wonder what will get done first. 

My eyes close & I take a deep breath..

& join my son for a nap. 

Time to play a little catch-up

So over the last year or so my blog posts have been sparse, if even at all. 

With the pregnancy & school, and then moving to Spokane, having the baby, and then moving back home.. 
I have just had no time to devote to my writing. 

Which sucks, cause I really love writing here. 

I love this community and all of the wonderful people I have met within it. 

Whats happened since I last wrote?

Well you heard me right before, we have moved back to the Seattle area. We still have our place in Spokane, but things were just getting to hectic with the house, & with the baby and I found out its going to take a little extra work to graduate since I've been out of school for so long. Plus we were really unhappy being away from family. So we came to the conclusion that the move was a little premature & after a little shuffling around we have moved back in with Anthony & Melissa like we had when I FIRST started this blog. 

It's amazing how things can come back around, huh?

So now that things are starting to settle down, the holidays are in full swing, & little man is old enough to be self entertained for short periods of time,
 I've started to end up with a little me time. :)

So my goal this month, is to jump back in whenever I get the chance. I'm not making promises on any literary ingeniousness or anything like that... but at least some minimum participation. :)

Bare with me.. things might get a little bumpy.

And just for fun, a few pictures of my handsome little nugget... he's getting so big!!

Rain rain.. get out of my living room.

So I woke up the other day & got Kai ready for the day like I always do. I sat down in the living room in our favorite chair & began feeding him, playing on my phone & enjoying the quiet sound of the rain outside as Kai slowly woke the rest of the way up. It was turning out to be a very calm day. The Seattle-like weather was really making me miss my family, & I was just thinking about calling them when I noticed a noise...

What is that noise?

It was coming from the corner next to our chair, around where I have Kai's car seat stored. Since little man was eating, I couldn't really lean to see what was going on, & was just going to worry about it later. But with the silence in the room, whatever was making that noise just got louder..
& louder..
& LOUDER.

What the hell is that noise?!

Now this is the first full day of Ryan's work week, so he is already over in Sumner. (Back on the Seattle side of the mountains) So I can't ask him to look into the mysterious sound, & the longer I sit there...

Louder..
...& Louder..

OH. MY. GAWD.
I'mGoingToRipMyHairOut.

So in a moment of insanity, I took little man off the boob & set him on the couch to search for the incessant sound. In the moment it took Kai to realize what had happened & begin to scream for his breakfast back, I found the source of the ridiculous noise. 

A small hole in my ceiling from an old plant hanger hook was slowly dripping water down into the middle of Kai's car seat. I wasn't to upset at first.. that was until I realized that the bucket lid that the car seat was sitting on, was FULL of water! The car seat was SITTING in at least an inch of water that had leaked in from the rainstorm we were having... if not more!

-___-

Seriously?

With Kai screaming & big alligator tears rolling down his cheeks I made the decision to deal with it in a few minutes. It had leaked this long, whats a few more minutes? But as I started to make my way back over to pick Kai up, I noticed somethings else...

Something much, MUCH worse. 

Directly above our favorite chair, hanging from my ceiling right above my wailing son...
 was a GIANT, car seat sized WATER BUBBLE forming behind the drywall in the ceiling!

"Oh My GAWD! Kai!!" 
I threw the ottoman that was between me & the chair out of the way, & grabbed the entire sofa seat he was laying on & pulled it half way across my living room before picking Kai up.

As I stared at the looming bubble of doom precariously drooping down in my living room
 I did the only thing a wife at the end of her rope can think of. I called my husband.

 In the end, he told me to go downstairs & get his dad, who is living with us until we can be fully integrated into Spokane life. I hurried downstairs with Kai in tow & Ryan on Facetime. We get my father-in-law upstairs & show him the damage, but with his bad eyesight (& having left his glasses downstairs) he can't really see the giant bubble on my newly white painted ceiling. 
So even after I said,
 "Be careful dad, it's full of water... 
I wouldn't touch it or anything, it's prob going to pop." 
What do you think he did?

"Where? right here?" 
He asks... as he reaches up above his head, & unintentionally sticks his finger through the bubble, consequently dumping over a gallon of water all over his face, & onto my floor. 

>.<

You have GOT to be kidding me.

So after mopping up as much water as possible, & placing pots under BOTH now dripping holes I  quickly started calling around to different roofing contractors in the area. when I finally found one that was willing to come out same day, I was confident things would be fixed soon.. but frustrated because I knew it would come at a cost.

Oh, how right I was.

The contractor that showed up was very nice & sat with me for quite awhile talking over the things that needed to be done. In the end, he informed me that a simple repair was not in my foreseeable future. No, as he put it, 
"Your roof his basically reached the end of its life cycle, & is barely holding on."

*Uugh.* Now I have a headache.

Pretty much, even a small patch could in the end cause more damage since my roof is so far gone. At this point, the whole roof just has to be replaced. I told the guy that had actually been in the plans for this summer, we just hadn't gotten around to it yet. Generously, he gave me a rough estimate on how much square footage my roof is, & some pointers & tips on self installation like where to get good materials & some things to look out for. 

I guess I know how Ryan's next paycheck is going to be spent.


What was your first home/apt/car big fix? 
Tell me about it! 
Help me feel less alone in my misery...

Don't forget to check out
my photo blog Pocket Memories

Currently...

Right now, I'm so desperate to talk to people again that my cabin-fever-crazy has me typing one-handed while little man is firmly attached to my left Ta-Ta 
enjoying some good ol' mommy's milk for dinner.

I figured I'm going to TRY to post a few times a week... 
to try to get back up on this blog again. 
An easy way to get back in the groove? Join a few good Link-Ups!

My blogging gal-pal Lindsey co-hosts a pretty good link-up where they give 5 subjects for you to use in telling what it is that is going on "currently" for you in those areas...

Kai seems content for the next few minutes, I guess I can give it a shot:

Watching - My TV is permanently tuned to switching between 
The Cooking Channel, Food Network, & HGTV. I. Am. OBSESSED.

 Listening - Dinosaur Train. It keeps his attention long enough for me to get a few chores done before the next feeding time. That beginning song is quite catchy...



 Writing -  Lists. Tons & tons of LISTS. Chores, grocery lists,things I need to do around the house, Things I want to do to the house, Honey-do lists, recipe lists, things we need, bills. Lots of lists.

Loving -   Kit-Kats straight from the fridge, A/C & Ice water. I know that sounds strange, but it's been along time since I've had to endure this much of Spokane's very hot weather.. & after living most of my life in the Seattle area, this 100 degree weather is ALOT to bare. 

 Creating -  A home. Slowly, bit by bit.. this place is coming together. <3

That was this week. Here are next week's themes: 

smelling, wishing, loving, pouring, talking

Smile, Laugh, & Enjoy your day!

Don't forget to check out
my photo blog Pocket Memories

It's so hard to catch up...

Everyday I open my laptop.

Everyday I say "Today's the day I get caught up."

Caught up on writing.
Caught up on reading.
Caught up on organizing.

But then the baby cries cause his music turned off, or the laundry needs doing, the dishes are dirty, the baby needs changed, the dog is shedding & needs a bath, now I need to vacuum, the baby needs to be fed, dinner needs to be made, switch the laundry, do I ever get a shower? Dog needs fed, so does the cat, baby's bath time, I still need that shower, baby needs to eat again, sweep & mop, fold the laundry and put it away, straighten the house, baby is finally asleep... Did I eat today??

Yea. 

So by the time I HAVE time for myself... I fall asleep.

I give props to all you mommy bloggers that keep a constant blog flow... I have NO idea how you do it. 

Because I. am. EXHAUSTED.

-___-

Don't forget to check out
my photo blog Pocket Memories

Kai's photoshoot

We got the pictures back from our Newborn / 1 Month photoshoot with

Jeni Woodman Photography

We are so in LOVE with how they turned out!!

Jeni was amazing, coming to the house & working with us to get these done on our time...

...more like on Kai's time. :)

Here are our favorites from the shoot!

 

Don't forget to check out
my photo blog Pocket Memories

He's here! He's Finally here!!

Our little bundle of joy has finally arrived!

Meet our handsome baby boy Kai Nicolas Russell! 

He was born on April 28th, 2013 at 5:57 am.
He was 6 lbs 4 oz, & 19.5 inches long.

And he, is AMAZING.

Ryan & I have NEVER been happier.

The labor & birth was really great, the support I had was phenomenal:

Ofcourse, the two were there through the whole thing...  
Love you Dani & Gibbs!

<3 My momma never left my side. <3

My whole family came to visit.

^ ^ I really REALLY wanted that pudding... it had been almost 24 hours since I had eaten.

Caydence was SO excited to meet her new cousin!

v v Look at these happy Grandmas v v 

My Momma & both my sisters.

^ ^ She was very happy pushing Uncle RyRy around. ^ ^

Even Niecie was there to help us welcome Kai into the world!
(She was so dang cute...)

"Nini?"
"Yes, Punkin?"
"Whatcha Doin?"
"Having a baby."
"Oh. Okay.... Nini?"
"Yes Punkin?"
"Baby Kai?"
"Yup, Baby Kai is comin."
"Okay. Baby Kai is comin... Nini?"
"Yea Punkin?"
"You okay?"
"I'm perfect sweetie, thanks for checkin on me."
"Okay...Nini?"
"Yes punkin?"
"Love you."
"Love you too punkin."

& this was his first meeting with Gus... his new bestfriend. <3 


I loved every minute of it.
I AM loving every minute of it.

& I can't wait for more minutes. :)

Don't forget to check out
my photo blog Pocket Memories