One Little Word

I recently ran across a blog where the author encouraged everyone "to choose one word (or let it choose you) that has the potential to make an impact on your life" and let this word guide your choices throughout the year rather than make a bunch of resolutions you forget about in a few weeks. I loved this idea and my word for 2010 is change.

This year I'd like to make some major changes in a number of areas of my life (physically and mentally) and look forward to seeing what the new year will bring as I focus on change. What's your word going to be?

(To read the post that inspired this tanget click on the highlighted words in the first sentence)

Holiday Season 2009

A wonderful and exhausting holiday season is once again over :( With all of our family and friends in town, the holiday engagements can become overwhelming but I wouldn't trade it for anything. We are very blessed to be surrounded by so many wonderful people and cherish every moment. We love having four work parties, cookie exchanges, and five Christmases!! Well I should probably clarify that and say that I enjoy all this holiday hoopla, Kenn may have a different view -- but he's not blogging, so too bad for him! ;) I also wanted to thank everyone again for the wonderful presents and fun holiday letters/cards. I know that many have opted to do an online Christmas card to be green and save money, but I'm just not ready to jump on that bandwagon yet. I love plastering my walls with my friends and family and hearing about everyone's year. Hopefully you all had a wonderful holiday season too and have a Happy (and safe) New Years!

Formal Family Pics

We recently had Nikki Hoover take our yearly family pics and it was a great experience. Koen hadn't napped so he was a bit grumpy and he was distracted by all the planes flying overhead (as you can see by all the pics where he's pointing to the sky) but we ended up with some great pictures. A few of my favorites are below and for those of you that want to see all the pics you can sit through the slideshow ;)

BSU vs U of I Rivalry

It's that time of year again -- the BSU vs U of I football game rivalry! Poor Koen is going to end up with a split personality since Kenn insists that he wear Bronco gear and I insist on some Vandal attire. We compromised on a Bronco shirt and Vandal sweatshirt. Unfortunately for Kenn, that meant that when I took pictures of our darling on game day -- it's the Vandal colors that show! :) In the interest of being fair I also added a picture of Koen last September sporting the orange and blue. Wasn't he a cute little peanut?

Hardin Fall Family Pictures

The Hardin family hasn't had a family picture in decades so we all went to the river and had an informal photo shoot. It was a hoot as the kids did their own thing and the adults tried frantically to work around them! The results aren't half bad for a bunch of amateurs...

October 09

This month we enjoyed more visits to the park, playing in the leaves, BSU games (Kenn only of course as I am a VANDAL fan --- GO VANDALS) and Halloween. On Halloween Kenn went to the BSU game and Koen and I went to a party at my friend Laura's. Laura's son Cooper is 6 weeks older than Koen so they are a good pair. There were a ton of kids and fun games but most were for older kids so Koen entertained himself by crawling around stealing candy from everyone's abandoned bags! ;) To bad...so sad...You snooze...you lose!

And the biggest event of the month -- KOEN IS FINALLY WALKING!

Pumpkin Carving

Kenn and I watched Sean and Megan Woodworth while Mike and Jerri went out to celebrate Jerri's birthday last night. Happy Birthday Jerri!! We ended up with a crazy pumpkin (Megan) and a happy vampire (Sean), some carefully squeezed pumpkin juice that only Kenn would try (Megan's project) and a LOT of pumpkin seeds (Sean's project). The pumpkin carving was followed by a leaf hunt for the biggest leaf in the NorthEnd and lots of giggles during Madegascar 2. It was a fun and eventful evening in the usually quiet Hardin household...

Sept 09

Koen has at last become brave enough to try to walk and will occasionally take a few hesitant steps. He finally discovered that being upright is much faster than crawling and loves to push around anything that moves...his walker, toy piano, the highchair, etc....to get to where he wants to go. He's very proud of himself and laughs the whole time -- it's great to watch :)

Growing more teeth (he's up to 7) has been a bit rough this go round and Koen's recently started grinding his teeth which is driving everyone CRAZY!!! Anyone have any advice on how to stop it??

Koen's favorite fall activity is walking down to the park to climb on the play equipment and eat the bark. I fell into the classic mom mistake and made a big deal out of saying "no" when he started eating bark and now it's a game. He loves it when he's told "no" and it just eggs him on - as you can see in the pics below....

August 09

This month passed in a whirlwind! We've been incredibly busy since we moved into our house doing little things to make it "ours"...painting, ripping out walls and doors, installing closet organizers, putting up a fence, discovering hardwood under the kitchen linoleum, etc, etc. All very exhausting, but fun!

We've also found time to enjoy living in this wonderful location and have enjoyed long walks to explore the neighborhood, meeting the neighbors (and their dogs), visiting my sister Jill (who lives only a few blocks away) and taking advantage of the proximity to the Greenbelt and lots of parks! But my favorite part of it all is sitting on the front porch in the evening and watching Koen's face light up as he calls out to every car, bike, dog or squirrel that wanders by.

Koen is now crawling like a speed-demon and walking around furniture, but he has yet to take his first unassisted step. He's such a cautious little man :). He makes up for his lack of motor skills by being a chatterbox - he never stops talking (wonder who he got that from?). Right now his favorite things to do are to dance, play with very loud and obnoxious toys (thanks everyone for the birthday presents!) and chase the cats and dogs. He's got five teeth and puts them to good use as he eats all the time! He still doesn't like bananas, and olives aren't a favorite, but he'll eat everything else you put in front of him. And if he's not eating, he's begging food from anyone else who is eating. I don't know where it's all going though because he's still a little guy. He was in the 20th percentile for heighth/weight at his one year check up but he's got a big noggin (90th percentile).

I went back to work at the end of August with mixed emotions. I was excited to be back to doing what I love, but it meant giving up precious time with Koen after a summer of enjoying being home him. I am greatly reassured that Koen is in good hands with his grandmas and I count my blessings he's surrounded by love every day. Every day with him is a joy and it's going so fast...

July 09

We had a busy but rewarding month! We finally found a house and are in the process of moving in. It's 2223 Ellis Boise, Idaho 83702 for anyone who wants to visit...

At the beginning of the month, our good friends the Dihn's visited from Portland and we had a bbq to celebrate. Things have sure changed since a few years ago when a friend bbq meant throwing hay-bales and consuming copious amounts of alcohol while playing games and telling stories of the good old days in high school. Now it's all about keeping babies happy and older children out of mischief while drinking a whole lot less alcohol...the story telling hasn't changed though!

Koen's third tooth finally broke through the upper gums so he's a snaggle tooth now. This month he's been very busy swimming, helping his Aunt Jill with her pedicures and rocking a mowhawk while his hair tries to figure out what it wants to do when it grows up....

Koen is 1!!

Koen turned 1 on July 3rd and we celebrated with a family party in the park. Thank you to everyone who came and made it a memorable experience!!

May and June 2009

The last few months have been CRAZY!! We sold our house and packed everything into Storage Cubbies and then crammed ourselves into my mom's house while we househunt. We thought it'd be a quick process as it's supposed to be a "buyer's market", but no such luck. We've put in five offers and somethings gone wrong with all of them -- either we were outbid or the house turned out to have something wrong with it so we had to withdraw our bid. But we're still optimistic that the perfect house is out there waiting for us :) Keep your fingers crossed that a house comes along soon!

Koen's changed a ton in the last few months -- he's now crawling everywhere and pulling himself up on furniture. He loves to swim, go for walks, play in the dishwasher and wreak havoc by getting into everything he's not supposed to. We think he now says "dog" (but it sounds like "dot") and he signs "more" and "eat". His favorite song is "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" and his favorite toys are balls and blocks. Koen loves being in the water but hates being in the grass. He's a good eater and will eat almost anything but bananas...they are GROSS! Cheerios are his favorite food and he loves to share them with anyone who's willing to eat one from his grubby and slimy little hand. Koen is LOVING being at Nana's house where he is the prince of the castle! It's going to be a rude awakening when we move out and he won't have her attention 24/7!!

Milestones the last few months: first move, first time swimming, learning to crawl and pull up on furniture, first word approximation "dog", and learning to sign "eat".

April 09

Koen turned 9 months old April 3rd and at his check-up he weighed 18 lbs, 6 ounces and was 27 1/4 inches long (20th %ile). While we were at the doctors office, Dr. Lee also discovered double ear infections which was a surprise to me because Koen hadn't been fussing or anything! The little monkey's got quite the pain tolerance. Now that he's on antibiotics and on the mend, he's sleeping about 9 hours a night and finally napping well during the day. Yipee -- it only took 9 months for him to start sleeping! :)

Hmm....what else happened this month? This month I left my little man for the first time when I traveled to CDA for 2 days for a work conference. I was afraid he'd cry all the time because he missed me and I'd be sad all the time missing him - but we both did fine! :) Koen's also cut his 3rd tooth and is signing "more". As an SLP, it's especially fun to see his first attempts at communication! Kenn's convinced that Koen says "Hi dad" when he gets him up in the morning, but he's the only one whose heard it so I'm thinking it might just be wishful thinking! :)

Firsts this month: first sign ("more") and first ear infections

March 2009

Hooray for Spring break! I worked two days at the hospital, but the rest of the time was spent getting the house ready for sale and enjoying Mommy-n-Me time with Koen. I feel like I never get enough time just playing with him so it was wonderful to have a few days off work just to play! Kenn spent a lot of time this month doing projects around the house and the biggest was tiling the bathroom floors. It was a lot of work, but it looks wonderful. He's quite the handyman! While Kenn was working on the floors the bathroom was out of comission so Koen got to take baths in the kitchen. He was so adorable squished in the sink :)

What's Koen been up to? Well, he's very busy learning how to crawl and growing teeth. He's got two little nubs poking out of his bottom gums and loves sticking his tongue in and out of his mouth to scratch it on them. He looks like a little frog searching for flies! His new favorite activity is screetching at the top of his lungs and then smiling around to make sure no one missed his performance. He's also decided that the cats tail is a fascinating toy and lunges for it everytime she ventures nearby. Luckily, Fatty hasn't been too bothered the few times he's actually managed to grab hold - she just sniffs at him, pulls her tail out of his grubby hands and saunters away. It's fun to watch Koen interact with the animals - they are very tolerant of his drooly kisses and energetic pats. Who needs siblings when you've got four furry friends to entertain you?!

Firsts this month: First two lower teeth break through and first attempts at crawling

February 2009

Koen is sitting up without assistance now and starting to creep around on his tummy. It's pretty silly looking really - he digs his head into the carpet, sticks his butt in the air and then gives a big push with his legs to try and move. Hopefully this will not quickly lead to crawling as I'm not quite ready to babyproof the house and have to deal with the thought of chasing him around. Right now our system is working great - I put him down and he's still there when I come back! Guess that won't last forever...

This month Kenn did some big game surveys for Avimor in a helicopter and loved it. I've just been busy playing mom and working. We're also busy with all the little odd jobs that need to be done around the house before we put it on the market. Anyone wanna buy a house?! :)

January 2009

This month, Koen had his 6 month check up and he was 15 lbs 8 oz and 26 inches long (less than the 25th percentile for both). He's doing well in PT (the flat spot's almost gone) and is beginning to sit up without support. No teeth yet, but he's drooling a lot and has intermittent bouts of grumpiness where he rubs his gums and whines -so I think teeth are on their way!

Other events this month: our trip to Chicago (see post below)was the biggest event this month. We also enjoyed a few birthday celebrations - first my Grandma Jerri turned 80 and we went to Brick 29 in Nampa to celebrate. I'm not usually a big breakfast eater, but, wow - what a feast! If you haven't been there yet, you should give it a try; it's well worth the drive to Nampa!!! We also celebrated our niece Emily's 7th birthday and Koen's favorite part of the party was the balloons. The month ended with Kenn's backcountry skiing trip in the Pioneer Mountains with his friend Jade.

Firsts this month: first plane ride, first trip back east, and first attempts at sitting up without support.

Tag

I recently checked my friend Amy's blog and realized that I've been "tagged". Apparently, there is an epidemic of Blog-Tag going around in which bloggers are sharing a few things about themselves, and then tagging five or so other bloggers to be "it." So, here are some things you may not have known about me:

1. I (like Amy) research everything. I like to feel like the decisions I make are informed, so if I can, I research whatever I'm going to do/buy before the fact. This may drive some people crazy (especially those who are more spontaneous and like to throw caution to the wind - like my sweet husband), but what can I say, it's just who I am!

2. I love to get things on sale. Those who buy things full price may call me cheap but those other bargain hunters out there will call me financially savvy and smart :) I love the thrill of getting a great deal on something because it means that I've saved enough money to buy two things instead of just one!

3. I am addicted to reality TV. I know, I know..too much TV rots your brain..but I just can't help it! I'm addicted to watching others make fools of themselves on live tv. My favorites are the really horrible MTV shows in which people humiliate themselves to win the heart of some loser. Watching their train-wreck of a life both horrifies and amuses me - what are these people thinking? And what would their grandma say?

4. People seem to think I'm a great housekeeper just because the house is clean when I know guests are coming over. Little do they know that this is the only time it's clean... I am a horrible housekeeper and am just not really motivated to change. I do like things picked up, so there is usually not much clutter around, but I HATE to actually clean. I have managed to perfect the art of ignoring the dust on the tables and overlooking the scattering of pet hair on the floor. Oh, I wish we were rich enough to hire a cleaning lady...

5. I have decided to become more green/natural this year and I'm starting by making my own baby food. I decided to try this for a number of reasons: to save money, I can make sure I know what is going into Koen's food and I'm doing my small part to save the environment because there will be less glass/plastic baby food containers out there. It's been really fun and easy so far. Next I'm going to branch out into making my own green cleaning products. I've been told that it's really easy to do, affordable, and that they're very effective! I'll let you know how it goes...

Now, "Tag - You're it!" --
Val Berg http://patandvalberg.blogspot.com/
Jennifer Hilty-Jones http://hiltysprouts.blogspot.com/
Laura Bettis http://clydeharry.blogspot.com/
Deena Starkel http://starkels.blogspot.com/
Tammie Morin http://chaosmom4.blogspot.com/

Chicago

We just got back from a 5-day trip to Highwood, Illinois (just outside of Chicago) visiting Kenn's mom's family. We stayed in Kathy's childhood home and were lucky enough to be visited by almost all of the Chicago Ronzani's. The weather was mild for winter in Chicago (20ish degrees, very little wind and no snow storms) so we were able to do some exploring. Kenn and I took the train into Chicago to visit Millenium Park and the Field Museum and met up with his cousin Dominic for dinner downtown. I even talked Kenn into a quick trip the the outlet mall :) Koen traveled like a champ on the plane and loved being spoiled rotten by all the aunties! It was a great vacation and hopefully it won't be another two years before we can go back...