Flashback Friday: Nate

Good morning, Kitschies!!  This is my first Flashback Friday in a LONG time and the first time linking up with Lauren from Heya, Sparky!  My dear Tia has turned over the reins to Ms Lauren's most capable hands.  Check out Lauren's blog if you have a moment - good stuff!!

So...without further delay...

I've been a bad Mom.  Really.  No, not like I-beat-my-kid kind of bad mom, just a busy blogger who's been posting pics of my pretty fingers and my yummy recipes and NOT my beautiful little boy.  Today it's all about Mr Nate.

I have a question for you.  How do you go from this:

to this:

In what seems like the blink of an eye?

Nathaniel Edward made us a family on Sunday, July 16, 2006, after 17+ hours of labor.  Once he joined us, our lives were never the same and we're so thankful for that!  He was greeted home by his Grandma and Beba a few days after he was born.

Then Nate turned one and OMGosh he LOVED his cake!

This is what a 1-year-old sugar coma looks like!  That pic is one of my ultimate favorite pics of Nate, and it probably always will be.  He was so purple - I was afraid he'd be stained that way, but he washed up just fine.

This is Beba (my Dad) at the park for Nate's first birthday party.  Also one of my favorite pics!  Nate couldn't say Grandpa and my mom was pushing my Dad's belly like the Pillsbury Doughboy and saying Beeeebaaaa...Nate picked it up and and now, instead of Grandpa, it's Beba.

This may not be a good pic of Nate (he was hot and tired), but it's a good one of my Mom.  She doesn't allow pictures very often but if it's with one of her grandsons, she usually allows the exception.  Nate loves to ride around with Grandma in her power chair!  And if she's using her cane...watch out!  It's not usually hers for long.

Oh, look at those little blond curls!!  This is Nate at *almost* 2.  I miss his curly hair and chubby pink cheeks.

3rd birthday = Big Wheels!!  He still rides his Big Wheels (even though half the time he just picks it up or drags it behind him), but now his little brother has his eye on it.  LOL  And Wendi was right: 3 was MUCH worse than 2.

Where has my little baby gone?!  Nate was a horrible 3-year-old and we started to see the light at the end of the terrible toddler age after he turned 4.  Grandma and Beba got Nate a T-ball set for his 4th birthday.  We went to the park with Nate's cousins for a little baseball action.  That boy loves to swing a bat!  Or a stick.  Or anything he can get his hands on.

And now look at him!  He's 5 and he's so super handsome and such a great kid.  Super smart, constantly on the go.  AND he starts Kindergarten in just over a week!  How is that even possible?!  I'm so excited for him and a little sad for me because that means he's not my baby anymore.  He'll always be my little boy, but he's no longer my baby.  *tear*

We love you Natey, very, very much!  Happy belated birthday, big boy!!!

So, there ya go.  That's how you go from being a cute little blob of a baby to being a big, bad 5-year-old in a blink of an eye!

Flashback Friday: Two Years (& 1 Day) Ago

Happy Friday, Kitschies!!  I had my first official day back at work on Thursday and let me tell you...it lasted FOREVER!  Why, oh why, can't I be full of money and not have to worry about working?  Imagine all the things I could get done!  Anyway...Thursday wasn't just a day back to work.  It was also Mason's 2nd birthday.  I can not believe he's already 2 and it makes me sad to think that I no longer have a baby in the house.  Walk with me as I reflect on my life, starting 2 years (& 1 day) ago.

To start off with...this was me at 38 weeks.  I felt gigantic.  And hot (not hawt).  And miserable.  I was ready to have this kid!

Then, the Tuesday after this pic was taken, two years ago, on June 2, 2009, I went in to labor with my second little boy, Mason.  Of course it was a boy...that's all the hubs' family is allowed to have!  I was so ready to have this kid.  And I was NOT going to wait til his due date (June 5th).  I remember waking up that Tuesday morning VERY upset that I hadn't had him overnight.  I'll spare you the gory details, but about 4 hours after labor started, out popped my beautiful little boy.

That's my baby boy...and a very, very tired me.  Thanks to the stoopid anesthesiologist, that very tired me didn't get any of the good stuff epidural.  But, me strong like bull and had a rather uneventful labor and delivery.  And, just like "they" say, once Mason was put in my arms, all that terror of labor disappeared.

Mr Mason was a great baby.  Not hardly fussy.  Slept very well.  No troubles at all.  We really were blessed.  If you click that pic to make it bigger, you can see his cowlick in the front.  That's his unicorn horn...he just doesn't know it yet!

Now for the rest of the pics...

Little fuzzy head Mason - about 6 months old.  It took him so long to really grow hair...and now he has a LOT of it!

My two favorite pics from his first birthday.  That top one looks like he's upset, but he was super excited to have that big chunk of cake to himself.  I can't believe this was a year ago already!

18 months old and two chipped front teeth!  Oh, the joys of raising an active toddler.  Do you see all that hair?!

Mother's Day 2011.  Mason didn't quite know what to do at first, but once he got in to it, he was like a little cute pig in mud.

And his birthday.  He was so excited to get his little cupcake.  I made cupcakes for his daycare class, too, which I'm sure the teachers really appreciated.  LOL

Happy 2nd birthday, Mr Bug.  I can't wait to see what you're going to grow up like.

Thanks for strolling down Memory Lane with me!  Check out Christopher & Tia for other great Friday Flashbacks!

Flashback Friday: Little Luna

Good afternoon, Kitschies!  It's Friday!!  It's been a pretty uneventful day here at the clinic and it's been nice.  Thing 2's butt is getting much better.  I'm feeling almost back to 100%.  Things are getting back on track.

It's been a while since I've participated in Christopher & Tia: Flashback Friday and I've had these two pics on my flashdrive for a LONG time, so it's time I linked up and shared them with you.  Yes, you.

Once upon a time, the hubs and I, when we were still dating, had 3 cats.  They were all *his* cats.  I loved them all, but they weren't mine.  We, unfortunately, lost one of the kittehs kind of suddenly and we were both pretty upset.  Don't worry...this post gets better.  Well, it just so happened that one of the hubs' co-workers had a cat that had just had a litter of 9 itty bitty little kittehs.  So, we went to visit them, just for fun.  I was sitting in the room with them all bouncing around and playing with anything that would move when all of a sudden, the hubs told me I could pick one!  I was so excited.

This is little Luna (Spanish for moon).  She was so little and cute and mine.  She hung out with me and she was my buddy.  She has the cutest little brown spot in the center of her little pink nose and a big white patch on her back.

Miss Luna will be 7 this year on July 7th.  7 must be her lucky number!  She fit in nicely with the other two kittehs.  She isn't really a lap cat, but I don't mind because she's always cuddled nearby.

Check out Christopher & Tia for other great flashbacks!  You've got to *at least* check out Tia's post - The Life of a Lovey.  She takes the best pics and her little boy is ADORABLE!

Flashback Friday: March 30

Happy Friday, Kitschies!!  I hope you made it through your week relatively unscathed.  It was another busy week at the clinic.  And now I'm home with Nate because he's a sneezing, whining, boogery pile of goo.  Joy!  He's eating lunch and I'm taking a moment to do my flashback post.  I'll be eating soon, too, but I have to wait for my artichoke to finish cooking (which will be another 30 minutes).

March 30th.  That date holds special meaning to me.  Twice.  Well, kinda three times, but we won't talk about that.  We'll talk about the good things that happened on (or very close to) March 30th.

First up is March 30, 2002.  On that date, I met the hubs for our first "date".  We had been talking emailing for quite a while and finally decided to meet.  How'd we first "meet"?  Through match.com.  Seriously.  And this is the picture he had on his profile (only in black and white):

Nice, right?  LOL  I figured he had a sense of humor if he used that as a profile pic, so I responded.  We traded lots and lots of very long emails before we ever decided to meet.

Anyway...our first date was awesome, though not your typical first date.  We met at Alameda Open Spaces and went for a long walk.  We talked and talked and walked and walked.  And then...when we got back to our cars...my stoopid ex-boyfriend was there.

Long story short, the hubs got him to leave (he protected me, but not in a physical kind of way, you can see he looks kinda threatening with that light saber - LMAO) and we went on our way.  We stopped by my house so I could change shoes (my Docs gave me a wicked blister) and then we went to McDonald's (how romantic?) for ice cream and then went out to the mesa to look over the city.  It doesn't sound like much, but it was really nice.

I kept him around.  Actually, we were together pretty much 100% of the time after that first date.  He kinda moved in and didn't leave - until I had to leave that house rather suddenly, but that's another story.  A year goes by and things are awesome.

Then...on March 29, 2003, he proposed!  Of course I said yes!  And do you know what's extra awesome about that?  He asked my Dad's permission first.  He scored extra brownie points with that one! 

To top off the end of March that year, my first day at the clinic was March 30, 2003!  As of 2 days ago, I've been with Southwest Integrative Health Center for 8 years.  8. years.  I can't believe it's been that long!  I love the docs I work with - they're great docs AND they're good people.  So, between the two of them (the hubs and the clinic), they're my longest running relationships and I hope they stay that way.

This is a pic of the hubs and the boys on top of a dormant volcano on the outskirts of Albuquerque.  The hubs is a great Dad and a good husband.  I love them so, so much!

One more pic for good measure.  This is the hubs and me at a friend's wedding a couple years ago.

I love you, hubs!  I'm so glad I found you and I hope we have many more anniversaries of our first date to come! 

Flashback Friday: I Used to Go Out

TGIF!!  This week kinda just flew by.  Don't know why because it wasn't any different than any other week.  Went to work.  Did stuffs with the boys and the hubs.  Watch the regular TV shows.  All the usual stuff.  And now that probably means that the weekend is going to fly by, too.  On the docket this weekend is a birthday party for my co-worker's son (his *first* birthday), start painting the sideboard (we started this project when we moved in to our house 4 <or is it 5?> years ago!), do laundry, make a menu for the week, various chores.  *sigh*  Not enough hours in the day.  Oh, and don't forget that we LOSE an hour between Saturday night and Sunday morning.  Woo.

ANYway...I'm participating in Christopher & Tia: Flashback Friday today.

I went digging through a very large box of miscellaneous pictures a couple weeks ago in search of a specific picture and I ran across this little beauty.  This wasn't what I was looking for, but I like it, so I'm sharing it with you today.

From left to right are me (pre kids!), my good friend Amoie, Robyn and Irene.  I met these lovely ladies at the first job I had when I moved to Albuquerque in 1999.  I worked with Amoie (Annie) at the front desk; Robyn was transcriptionist extraordinaire and Irene was the super awesome office manager.  Every once in a while we would all get together at St James Tea Room for tea and crumpets.  OK, maybe not crumpets, but I do remember them having awesome snacks (including some delish clotted cream - sounds gross, but tastes good - you'll just have to trust me on this).  Apparently, it was the *thing* to borrow one of their hats while having tea.  I'm not exactly sure when this picture was taken, but I'm pretty sure that it was before I got married, so I'm gonna say it was 2003...maybe 2004?  I stopped working with these girls some time in 2002, but I've kept in close contact with Amoie and still "talk" with Robyn and Irene on Facebook.  Ah, the power of Facebook.

So, girls...when are we gonna do it again?  This lady is in serious need of some girl time!

Flashback Friday: Mr Nate

Good morning, Kitschies!  It's pretty hectic here at the office but I need a little break.  I need to just escape for a few minutes.  And while I can't actually leave the clinic and I'm in plain view of the docs as they leave the exam rooms, my break will be in bits and pieces, but it'll be a break nonetheless.

I'm linking up with Christopher & Tia: Flashback Friday today.  I wish I had made time to really prepare a post for today, but sometimes the last thing I want to do when I get home and get the boys down is plop down in front of the computer.  Anyway...I managed to grab a couple pics to share with you today.

This...is my little boy, Nate, just around his first birthday (July 2007).  Awww...my little baby chub, blonde little boy.  At this age, Nate was a little cookie cutter cut-out of my husband.  He still is, really, but it's *really* noticeable at this age.  Now, 3 1/2 years later, Mr Nate is still cute, he's just not my little baby.  Where did my sweet, adorable little boy go?

Here he is!  Flash forward to December 2010.  He's still blonde, though not quite as white blonde.  He's still cute, just not that adorable I-want-to-pinch-your-chubby-baby-cheeks cute.  However, the sweetness has somehow left him.  Oh, he has his moments, but they're fewer and farther between.  I know it's a phase (at least I hope it is), but between you and me, I wanna string him up by his feet sometimes.  *sigh*  The joys of little boys.

Don't forget to check out Christopher & Tia: Flashback Friday for other great posts!

Flashback Friday: circa 2004

 Happy Friday evening, Kitschies!  We survived yet another work week.  It was super busy at work for me today - I didn't even get to read the majority of the blogs I usually read.  I was contemplating skipping a post today and then I came across *this*.

A while back...a LONG while back...I found an old disposable camera in my car.  You know how long ago I took it out of the car?  Let's see...I got a new car August 2009.  So, that old disposable camera has been floating around the house since then.  It didn't have any exposures left, but we could never seem to remember to take it to the store with us, so it continued to float.  The kids really liked playing with it, so it's not like it was a complete piece of clutter.  Well, one day last week, the hubs decided he was going to take the mystery camera to be developed.  I had no idea what could be on that film.  I knew it wouldn't be anything bad, but still, I had no idea.  The hubs picked up the pictures today.  Mystery solved!

The pictures were of an office Christmas party way back in 2004!  That means I'd only been working for the clinic for less than 2 years.  The hubs and I had been married just about 6 months.  We had no kids.  Wow.  Was there really a time when we didn't have kids?  Anyway.  There were the usual pictures of people scattered here and there.  And there were quite a few where we have no clue what it was.  Most of the pictures are pretty discolored because, like I said, this camera was in my car from December 2004 until August 2009!  That's a lot of hot, hot days and a lot of very colds nights.  I'm surprised the pictures came out at all.  But, out of the whole roll, we got a good one of me and the hubs.  I think it's kinda cool that there's some discoloration around the edges - it's like an added effect.  I think I look pretty much the same.  The hubs, however, has a lot less hair on his head (not because he's bald but because he buzzes it down) and he has lost a good amount of weight.  I thought he looked good then...I think he looks good now.

I'm linking up with Christopher and Tia: Flashback Friday.  Join me over yonder - there's some good flashbacks to be had!  *Especially* hers - I cried when I read it.  Tia does the bestest posts!

Have a great weekend!  It's almost time for alone time with the hubs.  You know what that means, right?  It means we sit on the couch, snuggled under a blanket, watching various TV shows we've DVR'd throughout the week.  Yep.  We're old folks.  LOL

Flashback Friday

Happy Day After Turkey Day!  I was not one of the crazy people who went to whatever store at 3 in the morning.  I value my sleep and getting up before the crack of dawn is not my idea of a good time.  Not to mention the low as about 13* last night!  Brrrrrrrr!  I rolled my lazy butt out of bed about 7:30 - not near as late as I wanted, but when the hubs has to go in to work and the boys are up, there's no choice. 

Anyway...I'm linking up with Christopher and Tia: Flashback Friday again.  Since yesterday was Thanksgiving, I thought I'd share Nate's first Thanksgiving.

This is Thanksgiving 2006.  Nate is 4 months old.  Yeah, he was a big boy - even then.  It's amazing how much he's changed in 4 years.  Kinda makes me sad.

And here is the cute little (big) boy relaxing on a fur rug.  OMGosh I can't get over how chubby chunky his little face was.  I just want to gobble him up.  Get it?  GOBBLE him up?  *ah*  I crack myself up. 

Flashback Friday

This is the first time I'm participating in Christopher And Tia: Flashback Friday.  I've seen so many bloggers participate and I've enjoyed seeing their pictures, I thought it's about high time I joined in the fun.  I don't have many "flashback" type pictures.  When I'm home at Christmas, I promise to go through my family's photo albums and scan in some pics to bring back with me. 

This is me, my cousins Ross and Matthew and my sister.  I would have to say this picture was taken about 1982 or 83 (which would make me 6 or 7) at my aunt and uncle's house for Easter. 

Wow!  Looking at this picture, it makes me really see how much my younger son, Mason, looks like me and my sister.  Gotta love the colors of that chair!  Funny thing is...we have a paper lantern like the one there AND it's about the same colors as that chair.  It's true what they say about styles coming back every 20ish years. 

I've linked up to Flashback Friday - go check out the other participants!