Jessica Kelso

I want time to slow down. I started thinking about that this morning when I caught myself complaining about being back home from vacation. Laundry, dishes, cooking, errands. . . all of those things that I didn’t have to think about much last week. We had so much fun and it went by all too fast. I remember sitting on our balcony overlooking the ocean and wishing I could somehow make time just stand still. No matter how hard I tried though, it didn’t seem to happen. So I sat thinking about our next vacation, our next big event.

How sad is that? I want to start enjoying more of the mundane and I know the only way that can happen is if I make the decision to change. I want to stop seeing it as a chore to do laundry, cook dinner, change nasty diapers, and stop getting annoyed when Thrasher is trying to be in the middle of everything I do. I want to start involving him in all of these things and make them more fun for the both of us. I feel like I’m wasting all of this time away waiting for the next big thing and I’m missing all of the little amazing things that our life is consumed with.

I looked through pictures of the first week we had with Thrasher. I almost forgot he was ever a baby. We never got the teeny tiny baby phase with him seeing as how he came to us at 5 months old and he was already a big boy, but he was still a baby! These last 8 months have just flown by and I know the next 8 will too so I want more than anything to just soak it all in and enjoy it to the fullest.

After many months of saving up, I finally upgraded from my little point and shoot camera! I’m so excited for this new adventure in learning how to use a fancy camera. I got a Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi camera with 2 different lenses. I used it at the beach and did the best I could with the little I know, but plan on reading and watching a lot of videos on the basics of digital photography. I have absolutely no desire to ever become a professional photographer and take pictures of other people, I really just want to have good pictures of my family and it’s something I’ve always loved. Unfortunately, I can’t post pictures of Thrasher on here and he’s my main subject but I will hopefully have some other pictures I can post on here occasionally! My friend Rachel, who is an up and coming photographer was on vacation with us and helped me with learning some basics about photography. She also took a couple “maternity” type photos that I’m excited to see!

Speaking of maternity, I will be 26 weeks pregnant on Wednesday! Time is really flying by when I think about that. I remember when I found out I was pregnant, all I wanted was to get to 12 weeks and it felt like forever. . . and now I’m well over halfway to meeting little Nola. She is already so loved. My mom has 3 drawers in her dresser saved for all the clothes she’s started buying her. It’s ridiculous, and I love it! I’ve started daydreaming about what she’s going to look like. Will she have Kevin’s  curly hair or my straight hair? Will she be blonde or brunette? Blue, green, or brown eyes? Shy and quiet or loud and active? I can’t wait to find out and kiss her perfect little cheeks. A perfect mix of me and the person I love more than anything in this world, what could be better than that?

I love being pregnant. Let me say that again to convince myself, I love being pregnant!

Really, I do.

I find myself complaining about how hard it is to get up out of bed already (we have a low platform bed), and my booty going numb if I sit in the same spot longer than 20 minutes, and other things I probably shouldn’t mention on here, but then I feel our little girl moving all around and it makes the uncomfortable things seem so silly. I’ve really started to feel her a lot lately, which never fails to almost bring me to tears. Kevin was also able to feel her a couple of days ago. It’s the most amazing thing I’ve ever experienced and I’m so thankful God has given us this precious gift. As hard as I’m sure it’s about to get to keep up with a 1 year old along with being pregnant, I plan on enjoying every second of this journey. For whatever reason, this is where we are and I think it’s exactly where God put us. . . so I’m just gonna go with it!

Although I thought it would take MUCH longer, we have decided on a name! Her first name will be Nola. Middle name. . . still to be determined! It has no significant meaning. It actually stems from the name Finola and means “fair shoulder”. I love how feminine it is and although we have no idea what she’s going to look like yet, I picture the name perfectly with her. We really wanted something short, easy to say and spell, but still unique. So I think we achieved our goal! Her wardrobe is already beginning and I think I’m going to start working on some headbands and bows soon.

This is a pretty busy week, but in return I get to go on vacation next week so it makes it a little more fun. We’ve had to finish up everything to renew our foster parent license and since it’s due a couple days after we get back from the beach, I busted my butt to finish it all before we leave and was successful! Our re-licensing counselor comes on Thursday and I am so excited I will have everything ready to give her early! As long as we pass our sanitation inspection today (which I’m in no way worried) we should be good to go.  Funny how they give us a month to do our part and the system gets almost 4 months to do their part. Ahhh, the joys of fostering. I can’t wait to get away for a whole week. Everyone knows we’ll be gone so hopefully we won’t have many interruptions and definitely no appointments scheduled, which will be a rarity as of late. We have a 3 bedroom oceanfront condo on Redington Beach that we’re sharing with another couple and their 6 month old daughter.

1 whole week of sun, sand, and making Kevin taking care of us. Bliss

I hate that word. I hate thinking about that word. I don’t think I’m even ready to use the word, much less follow through with what the word means. Needless to say, the time has come. Thrasher has now reached the toddler phase and is testing his boundaries on a daily – or more like hourly – basis. I know it’s normal and part of the growing process but I also know I’m determined to not have bratty kids who get away with everything! This kid is smart. He’s figured out the child proof cabinet locks we recently installed, he knows how to unhook the baby gate, and just the other night he opened the door to the office. He has also decided recently that he likes to play more with his food than he does eat it. He feeds it to Milo, smashes it, and throws it all over the place. Recently, we even discovered him putting the food underneath the tray – all sneaky- and dropping it on the floor! And I’ve pretty much given up on him wearing a bib. . . that has been a battle not worth fighting. He thinks it’s hilarious to take it off.

He’s ONE! Is this normal? I didn’t expect a lot of this for at least another year or two!!

We already feel like we’ve over-used he word “no”. He repeated it back to me today along with shaking his head no. The other night he was being so obviously disrespectful, that we put him in his crib for a 1 minute time out. I try to ignore the little tempers that he throws when we tell him no, but sometimes the crying doesn’t stop! I have no idea if what we’re doing is right or wrong. . . it’s just what we think is best at the time. I want to be consistent and I feel like starting young is probably the best.

I definitely could use some good advice for discipline when it comes to a one year old, along with recommendations for books!

On a more positive note, he really is a GOOD kid. We get compliments all the time about what a good baby he is, so it makes me wonder at times if we’re just too hard on him. Before now, he has always tried to clap our hands with us but today he finally clapped his own hands for the first time. It was pretty stinkin’ cute. He’s a handful at times, but I wouldn’t trade him for the world. His belly laughs and big hugs can usually make everything okay!

I absolutely LOVED the photos our friend Cassie took at Thrasher’s birthday party and I wish I could post all of them (especially my favorites of him!) but I will just have to post some of the cute monster details! We had such a great time celebrating his birthday with all of our friends and family. . . and he had a blast!

Happy Birthday, sweet boy!