view on the inside

parents request

spring is almost over...summer is here!!

life has been unbelievable this spring. from moving out of Priscilla and Craigs -

this involved a living arrangment with a family where i was mom to a 15 year old. I would take her to school everyday, help her with homework, pick her up sometimes, grocery shop, you know the rundown. in exchange i was able to live with the family rent free as well as for free food. amazing opportunity that challenged me a ton, gave me wonderful experience in the whole teenager years, and gave Kajsa and I a chance to have a little more room.

we stayed there for 2 months and then it became very apparent that i am not cut out for being single mom of an 8 month old and 15 year old. that living arrangement came to an end quickly and God provided an even more wonderful living arrangment with our friends Josh and Deneen. they have a lovely home where Kajsa and I have a very nice room (bed is amazing!!!!!!!!!!) and a bathroom. the perks...the view (picture to come shortly), they LOVE kajsa, and great friends to live with. a much better situation all around for Kajsa and I. the church family helped this move happen in only 2 days. thanks God. also Priscilla and Craig were so instrumental and unbelievably helpful. Priscilla helped me pack, watched Kajsa, found me a storage unit, and at the last minute came through with the key to the storage unit...that is a story to be told in person ;-)

to -

running the boston marathon on April 20th...Kajsa's 9 month birthday!!!! Dimo and I ran together through mile 17 and then we met at the finish line. mom and dad flew out to watch kajsa and were wonderful help. also...they took Kajsa the night before the marathon, my first night without kajsa. i think i was so excited about the marathon, it overtook the sadness and anxiety from being away from her. (mom and dad were about 500 yards away in the same hotel!)

i've included some random pictures of the last several months. i love you all. thanks for your help, support, love, encouragement, and thoughts. it really does take a neighborhood and family to raise a kid!!!!!!!

Aunt Priscilla giving Kajsa a bath!

packing up Kajsa's first room!

first time in a pool! she loved it even though her face is not showing it!

Easter in Indianna. Dress compliments of Paula and Gabby ;-)

Boston...day before the race at the finish. Kajsa was out ;-)

Kajsa's first hotel stay!

6 months of joy!

7 months of joy!

8 months of JOY!

9 months of JOY...even in a storage unit. Her chair...due to moving again is now in storage ;-( we both miss it!

i found my camera cord!!!!!!!!!!!!!

unfortunately i lost my camera cord in the move.
i have lots to post to catch everyone up on the latest in our lives.

until then, i will post some fun pictures and videos.

this is kajsa in her johnny jumper at about 8 months.

enjoy...i know i do ;-)

the kid

one of the first days of solid food. oh the joy!!!

Kajsa and Jackson. (jackson is 9 months old and a great playmate for kajsa)

they are both huge now. i think this was taken in january.

well...i truly believe you know you are a parent when your life begins to revolve completely around your kids. or kid in my case. one day you realize that all day long you have done nothing but think about, prepare, and take care of that precious little one. my days are filled with taking care of two other families precious munchkins. i love it. i feel so privilaged to not only be with my precious baby all day, but also to take care of and spend time with these other kids. mine is a life truly blessed.

today was one of those days where i realized at 10pm, i was finally having a conversation with an adult. i am sure many a mom can relate ;-)

i also realized that my thoughts are on kajsa most days. i wanted to share with you what she is up to. here are some more updates. enjoy!

i discovered videos...can you tell!!!! they are so easy to upload. i will be posting more for sure ;-)

too much

so...kajsa is feeling much better. she is doing new things every day and some are too cute.

hope this makes you laugh as much as it does me.

lightening speed

the past 2 months have gone by extremely fast. much like a lightening bolt appears and then disappears again. i am sorry for not updating family and friends on what is happening in our lives.

Kajsa will be 8 months old next week. Hard to believe. She is still not crawling, but is babbling a ton and eating lots of solids. We just tried carrots today for the first time. she likes em ;-) so far the only thing she does not like is green beans. i love grean beans...i hope she comes around. favorites are peaches, pears, and sweet potatoes.

Kajsa and I moved 3 weeks ago to Lonetree, CO. i am living with another single mom and her 15 year old daughter. I take the daughter to school, grocery shop, help out around the house, and play mom during the week while her mom is in atlanta for work. Julie, the mother, comes every weekend and then i get a break ;-) The living situation is awesome. I receive free room and board and food. It is wonderful. I will have to post pictures of Kajsa's new room...the closet - window included!

I have made the decision to quit Starbucks completely. My last day is Monday March 16th. I am very excited to be a nanny full-time for 2 different wonderful families. I have been nanny part-time for 3 months now and absolutely love it!!!! It is a great new chapter in our lives.

I also made the decision in January this year to run the Boston Marathon. I qualified in Oct. of 2007 and then became pregnant 2 weeks later. So...my time is still good for the 2009 Boston and I am in. I have a great friend, Dimitri, who has been helping me out training andwill help me get to Boston with Kajsa. Mom and Dad are meeting us there and will watch Kajsa during the race. I am soooooooooooooo excited. To accomplish a much wanted and worked for goal, to see Boston for the first time, and to share this special experience with those i love.

I think that is the skinny for now. I finally have a laptop for the time being...so watch out. Updates could become more frequent ;-)

Miss you all!!
Much love.
- Melissa and Kajsa

growing chair

6 months and growing...

1 month old

2 months old

3 months old

4 months old

5 months old

6 months old

thanks Dom and Megan for this idea. all parents should do this. it is amazing to see how she has changed against the backdrop of the chair i have fed her in since day 2! i can't wait for the next 6 months.

6 MONTHS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

yes...that is a lot of exclamation points. it is so hard to believe Kajsa is 6 months old. here are some random pictures from the past 6 months.

no way am i going to open my eyes

day 3

mom's 27th birthday

all white, and after 3 months of wearing...still all white.
first airplane ride, went back for IWU homecoming
4 month pictures (thanks Britni)
bring it on 2009!