Happy Halloween!

Graham as a lobster Halloween 2009.

It is crazy to think back. He was only barely able to sit on Halloween last year.

It feels like so long ago, but at the same time it feels just like yesterday.

Pictures of Halloween 2010 will be later this week.

Have a wonderful Halloween!

Suit Up!

Graham in a suit makes me thinking Barney from "How I met your Mother." 

Suit up! The milk in my sippy cup is legendary!

Sisters and Over-Analysis

Just the other day there was a nytimes article on how having a sister makes you happier.

I agree.

I pretend like I can control my life sometimes. I start talking about how I’m going to get pregnant in month x. I start talking about my boy / girls twins (that I don’t really want, but if I’m given them, I’ll deal) that a psychic told my mom that I was going to have. I’m sure if a psychic said it, it’ll probably happen*.

I know I really can’t control my life.

But I like to talk like I can.

So in my controlled version of life, my next baby is going to be a boy and following by a girl. Then snip, snip (and John looks at me uncomfortably).

I want to have a boy next because I want Graham to have a boy to play with. There was only boy in my family, and you should feel sorry for him. One boy and four girls does not equal fun for the boy.

But if sisters make people happier, and I want my children to be happy, maybe in my controlled view of life, I should go boy, girl, girl. Except if goes boy, girl, it’ll be much harder to convince John that number three is worth the lack of sleep.

The moral of this story is: Good thing I don’t get to decide.

And read the article. Sisters make you happier. Call your sister and let her know that you appreciate her.

*I don’t really believe what the psychic said. But I do have a recurring nightmare that my next pregnancy will end up with twin boys.

Ooh La la... Shutterfly

I love Shutterfly.

I use them for everything photo related. Making photobooks. Making photo presents. Making calendars. Making holiday cards.

The holiday cards have some really sweet designs.

I'm going to do something like the one above because we are doing beach pictures for our holiday card this year, and I know it works on this card because the example shows it that way. I also like that the design above comes in a 5x7 card. I like that size better than the long skinny ones.

I also like this card, but I think the family is odd. They decided to show one daughter's face but not the other two. Just odd. But still a cute design. Maybe if I use this design I'll do two pictures of John and I, and then one of Graham's back. That would really irritate people.

I like the simplicity in this one. Plus the family is really cute. Maybe if I put my family on this one... we would suddenly be this cute. :)

*Yes, by writing this post, I am receiving free Christmas cards. It is a win-win. I'm all about saving money, and the post isn't even a lie, I do all my photo orders on shutterfly, and think it is a great website!

** You can do it too, go here.

Back To It

I went back to work full-time.

It has been 1.5 weeks. It has been going okay. I'm really excited about getting paid more (next Friday is my first new paycheck). I was planning on going back full-time in January, so this extra money between now and then hasn't really been budgeted for.

I really ought to do the responsible thing and pay down our rental property's mortgage... but I'm thinking I deserve some fun things first.

Like a fancy camera. I'm still working on John on that one... he is worried (rightfully so) that this will be something I'm interested in for a month, and then I'll lose interest (I swear I've never done that before...).

The whole working more has really cut into my blogging time.

Happiness Project

My favorite kind of toy.

FREE to me ones. 

Toys given to me from friends as their kids grow out of them.

Food Bank Thing

I won't each generic peanut butter.

I actually won't eat peanut butter except for Skippy and Jiffy.

I'm pretty sure it is a food bank thing. As a kid, my family would sometimes get food from the food bank. You would always get gross generic peanut butter.

Now I won't eat it.

I was at my dad's house last weekend, and had to go buy my name-brand peanut butter. I couldn't eat his generic gross peanut butter.

I think I need to donate some good peanut butter to my local food bank the next time it is BOGO.

Love 2

Love

Graham, 1.5 years old.

Sleep

Graham slept really well this past weekend.

I always have anxiety about changing his schedule, but I am trying really hard to be more flexible.

Over the weekend, we had Graham stay up quite a bit later than his bedtime every night (all times in eastern time, even though we were in central, because he doesn't know the difference) -- 8pm, at least 9pm, and finally 8:30pm. Those bedtimes don't seem that late, but for Graham, who always goes down around 7pm, they are much later than normal.

He slept fine even though we put him down later, but the most amazing thing is, he actually slept later!! He woke up at his normal time (6am), and I saw him standing in his pack-n-play, so I picked him up and put him in bed with John and I, and he actually fell back asleep on Friday and Saturday mornings. Until 8am both days! Which is completely unheard of in this house. On Sunday morning, he didn't wake up until 7am. 

We were out and about every afternoon for his nap time. But that also worked out fine. He fell asleep when he was basically supposed to and slept for about 1.5 hours (compared to 2-3 normally). 

Happiness Project

Beautiful weather for a outdoor fall wedding.

A beautiful location.

Welcoming a new sister who will participate in pure silliness with the rest of us.

Flying

We flew with Graham (in arms) again this weekend. This time we flew on Allegiant Air direct from Orlando to Des Moines.

On the way to Des Moines, I asked if the flight was very full, and if not, could we get a row of three with an empty seat. So we had a seat for Graham, but we checked his car seat. It was okay. We had a bag full of toys/dvds/books/goldfish. Each thing gave us about 20 minutes of peace before he was ready for something else. It was a lot of work to keep him entertained. Really just exhausting for both John and I. It was really nice to have the extra seat though .... I don't know how we would have managed without it.

On the way back to Orlando, I once again asked if the flight was full, and asked for a row of three with an empty seat. This time I also asked if we could bring our car seat on board with us. She checked if it was TSA approved, and it was, so we were able to. Our flight was delayed about 1.5 hours -- half of the time at the gate and half of the time on ground. The amazing thing is, even with the delay, we didn't need the bag of tricks at all! Graham mostly just acted like he does in the car. What a difference bringing the car seat on board made! He slept for the majority of the flight, and when he was awake he was pretty happy.

John and I agree that we are done flying with Graham as a lap child. We have one more trip booked with Graham as a lap child, but after that we'll just buy him a seat. It is just so much easier to have him in the car seat. Fortunately the next flight is a really short one -- only 1.5 hours. So it shouldn't be too difficult to deal with him on our laps for that length of time.

Weekend Recap

This past weekend, we traveled back to Iowa for Rick's wedding.

• I have a new sister-in-law! In our family, where girl's rule, it is very exciting to welcome another sister. 
• Graham gained two new cousins. Having more kids around will make our holidays that much more fun.
• At dinner on Friday night, Graham puked all over me. Like completely all over me, at least 3 waves of major puke. I sacrificed my shirt, and had to change into Kelsey's pajamas (I couldn't bear to throw away my jeans). It was so completely disgusting. After getting cleaned up, Graham ate all of his mac and cheese. I wish someone took a photo of me before I changed, so I could prove to everyone how major it was. 
• For the second time in my life (all in 2010) I went to Lisa's Pub in Perry with my dad. 
• My sisters and I are the party at weddings. We will dance the night away. 
• I love dancing at weddings. I hate dancing at bars/clubs. At weddings no one grabs you in inappropriate ways. At weddings the floor isn't sticky.
• Springbrook is a beautiful place to hold a fall wedding (pictures later this week). 
• Kaci is an awesome wedding officiator. 
• It didn't snow (unlike last year's early October trip home).
• Kinsey owes me $5. At the wedding reception, she guaranteed to me that she will get up with Graham on Sunday morning. Sunday morning arrived, and she had a headache.

Happy Wedding Day

Today my brother, Rick, is marrying Stephanie!

Congrats to Rick and Stephanie!!

*and thanks for giving us an excuse to visit home. :)

Life. Always Unpredictable.

It is crazy when work is going just fine...

and then...

something completely unexpected comes up and turns everything upside down.

In this case it is stressful, it shocked me on Wednesday, and I am currently processing.

Slide Fun

Happiness Project

My house is finally freshly painted.

We (and by we, I mean we finally hired and paid someone) accomplished one of our many desired to-dos on our home improvement list.

Now on to the next .... master bath, new roof, built-ins or a playroom?

The Weekend

This weekend has been so nice!

Other than the fact that Graham is screaming in his crib right now because he doesn't want to nap... but that is what it is. He got a fever on Thursday night (around 102), and it finally broke this morning. So Graham has been BABIED all weekend. Now I think he thinks mom napped with me on Friday, dad did yesterday, I should be able to get them to nap with me today. And it is true, he can. He just needs to cry another 15 minutes, and I'll give in. Fingers crossed that he loses steam before I lose my willpower.

We had our Christmas card photos taken yesterday. We did beach pictures. I'm very excited to see them! She said in 5 days, so maybe I'll get to see them as early as Wednesday!!! Graham still had his fever, so he wasn't normal happy-go-lucky Graham, but I'm pretty sure she got a couple where he was smiling. It will be really cool to have beach pictures since the majority of our Christmas cards go to the Midwest. It'll be a very unique card up there.

Last night I had a girl's night out to celebrate my birthday. It was so much fun! I feel so blessed to have so many great friends here in Jacksonville. I don't have any pictures, but a couple of the girls had a group shot taken at dinner, so hopefully I will eventually have a picture of the party.

The weather has been amazing this weekend! The fall and spring are just fantastic here. That is why we live here I guess, for these beautiful days (and the absence of snow)! We walked up to the playground in our neighborhood this morning, and it was just perfect.

I think Graham finally let sleep come. At least he has given up on the screaming match for now... :)

I'm an Actuary

So sometimes I forget how math minded I am.

The other day I was talking to a friend about the new Starbucks reward program. Basically you get every 15th drink free.

Up until Friday, I had the 10% off card, that got you 10% off all your purchases, but they have since discontinued it and replaced it with this new reward program.

The new reward would work out to be about 6.7% off if you always get the same drink regardless of price.

But not me, I won't always get the same drink. On my 15th drink, I will be getting that super expensive venti latte with an extra shot please.

The friend had not thought about maximizing the free drink while that was the first thing I thought of when I learned of the new program.

I'm a geek.

Disney Pictures

 John, Graham and Mickey at Chef Mickeys

 Graham likes Minnie

Mickey wearing a different outfit. Graham still likes him.

Graham demonstrating how to use a spoon. 

He has whiskers!

Actuary Mom

Hi!

I'm Kassie.

I'm married to John.

We have two mostly wonderful children - Maxwell and Frances.

I work as an actuary (hence the blog name) during the day.

I love wine. I love food. My hobby is photography. I'm always looking to learn more and spend more on that very expensive hobby. I'm originally from Iowa, and I have some major Iowa pride. For now, we live in Florida, and for the most part we really love almost year long summer -- except for in the actual summer months.

I mostly just blog about my children and our day to day boring lives.

Follow @actuary_mom

Zoo Pictures

 Graham feeding the giraffes. The first time with photo evidence.

 Kareen and her beautiful baby boy, Anderson.

 The lorikeets.

 The whole group.

Happy Birthday John

I'm so happy I married the man who...

finds it amusing to torture Graham by making him try on Eeyore costumes...

And finds photos like this funny.

Happy Birthday John!

Happiness Project

Food and Wine at Epcot.

Wine.

Food.

All on a date night set up by my husband.

Fun Weekend

This past weekend, to celebrate my birthday John, Graham and I went to Disney World.

The highlights (in list form of course):

• Graham puked at Chef Mickeys and Sweet Tomatoes. He likes to stuff his mouth full of food, which causes him to gag, and that leads to puking. What fun. He needs more attentive parents.
• Chef Mickeys had really good breakfast food. Much better than expected. It was really nice except for the pile of puke underneath Graham's highchair.
• John hired a babysitter for Friday night, so we could go to Food and Wine at Epcot solo. It was pretty amazing that John actually took care of it himself (this is the guy who is completely unaware of what days Miss Sherrie is closed). Food and Wine is my favorite thing at WDW. We walked around the world twice. It was a great way to spend my birthday. I proudly wore my "its my birthday pin" and was constantly wished a happy birthday. 
• The Sweet Tomatoes we ate at was much nicer than the Sweet Tomatoes we have here (yes that deserves a highlight, I love me some Sweet Tomatoes).
• Graham loved, loved the characters. He gave them kisses, felt their whiskers, blew them kisses, and his faced oozed with excitement when he saw them (check back for pictures later this week).  
• Graham won't fall asleep while we are in a hotel room with him. So we leave the room after we put him down and give him his 15 minutes to pass out. I went in after 15 minutes on Saturday night to find him sitting underneath the pack-n-play mattress. I picked him up and put him on his belly, and he just passed out. He must have been sleeping while sitting in that position. 
• Graham had a ton of fun playing on the playgrounds at the parks.  I know we can (and do) get that for free at our local parks, but whatever, these are Disney themed and someone else dries them from the dew moisture in the morning. :)
• Graham will eat some veggies. He likes what they serve at Cracker Barrel -- butter and salt with a side of vegetable. I guess I just need to work on my seasoning at home. 

Graham at 17 Months

He loves to read.

He no longer likes veggies.

Graham can say: ball, bird, mom, dad, uh-oh, up, maybe car, more (mo) Sherrie says he says "Ri" for a baby at daycare, Sherrie also says he says "help" but it sounds a lot like what I call him saying "up".

Graham naps like a champ. He has been taking one 3 hour nap at home and days he is at Sherries he'll usually nap for 2-2.5 hours.

He still sleeps well at night -- 7:15pm to 6:20am.

He is learning his body parts. He knows: head, eyes, teeth, tongue, nose, ears and toes.

He understands me when I tell him to go get a new book. He has favorites.

Graham can identify his little people dog.

He is more interested in TV. I use it to make dinner in the evenings. Everyone is happier.

He likes to go into rooms and shut the door. It is hysterical (to him).

Graham knows when I ask him if he wants to go for a walk that he should go get into his stroller.

He blows kisses.

Graham gives his daycare friends kisses and hugs.

He doesn't cry as much when I hold another baby.

Graham will play patty cake. When I start playing he often goes and gets his book that has a page with patty cake in it. 

He still gets super excited when he hears the garage door open when John gets home.

Graham loves his milk.

He will help pick up.

Graham picks up anything unusual on the ground and hands it to me.

He likes the giraffes at the zoo.

I think he has 13 or 14 teeth.

Graham Loves Reading

He wants to hear at least 20 books a day. 

I should be happy.

I am mostly happy.

But sometimes when it is the 5th time I've read "baby faces" or "wheels" in an hour, I get a little tired of it.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today is my 30th birthday!!

In honor of that, I have made a list of 30 things I want do to in my thirties:

1. Have more babies.
2. Have positive equity in our homes.
3. Figure out where I want my career to go.
4. Make #3 happen.
5. Establish holiday traditions for my little family.
6. Eat very little fried food (I originally wrote none, but I don't think that is doable).
7. Stop nagging.
8. Travel to a new continent (that means Asia, South America or Australia).
9. Figure out a way to do annual vacations without kids.
10. Get professional photos once a year (real professional, not just the Sears variety).
11. Become a better cook.
12. Wear sunscreen...everyday
13. Exercise at least 3 times a week (I'm trying to be realistic here, and yes, a brisk walk counts).
14. Eat veggies two times a day.
15. Stop offering unsolicited advice.
16. Don't argue just to argue.
17. Have more patience for relationships with my family members.
18. If something is going to take less than a minute, just do it.
19. Don't concern myself with assigning blame.
20. Stay the same or decrease in size.
21. Travel home at least twice a year.
22. Know that life isn't always fair, and remember that before I get angry.
23. Update the master bathroom (we've been talking about since we moved in, but with no action other than to take down the wallpaper -- now it isn't even painted!)
24. Keep on having sex.
25. Don't become one of those parents who think their kids are the most gifted (fastest or cutest) children in the entire world (except while talking to their grandparents).
26. Help John figure out what he wants from his career and support him to make it happen.
27. Don't enter my forties with the same haircut I'm entering my thirties with.
28. Convince John we need to go on an amazing 10th anniversary vacation (March 2013).
29. Support Southwest Airlines if they keep Des Moines as a city with the Southwest / Airtran merger (yes this isn't a great goal, but come on, please keep Des Moines)
30. Read one book a month (I used to read a ton, but since Graham was born, my reading has really slowed down, I need to make an effort to read more).