side note...

that was NOT dog poo..although it looks like it!  There is a gate blocking the dogs from Archer's room that has been up (and never down) since he was born!

For mature eyes only...

Archer HATES to poop!!!  In fact, will go days without pooping..and holds it in!!!  I think the transition from breastmilk poos to solid poos horrified him..the result is a battle to get the kid to let it out...WEIRD, I know!

Anyways, he was in his room tonight while Colin and I were cooking dinner when we looked in and found this.. (thankfully we found it before he did...if you know what I mean).

baby boy...

Archer is awesome..and crawling, and laughing, and playing, and simply a JOY to be around!  Colin went away once for the weekend a few months ago and came home, scooped Archer up and said "this is joy, this is what life is about."  It was a moment that sank in for me, and made perfect sense.  Different things make different people happy and feel satisfied, but for the two of us nothing makes more sense than loving each other and being joyous parents to Archer (and whoever decides to follow him).

SO....two weeks of work down for mama (dad and Archie too).  I worked four days last week, and four days this past week-and now I am off for the weekend, back for Mon, Tues, and Fri, and then I will be switching over to nights!  HORRAY!  Archer has adjusted easily I think--he is home with his super cool dad all day!  The boys come to see me at work for lunch everyday-which also makes it easier!!!!  I am beyond thankful for Colin!!!!! Nothing like an understanding, supportive husband who makes sure the house is always clean, cooks dinner, and washes the dishes/tidies the kitchen at the end of the day!!!

Archer, oh Archer, apparently kids are like wine--finer with age.  I think we love him more daily...seriously.  Just when you think there is no way I could love this kid anymore, you wake up the next morning and see his awesome smile...and love him even more!!!  It is times like that that I wonder how people can ignore the fact that surely there must be something greater than just us humans wandering around...I'm not sure how people can take credit for the greatest that little babies are!!!  You could call it chance..but Archer is way better than "chance" in our book!

I have so much more to write, but this is my first moment of absolute silence in quite sometime, so I think I am going to snuggle up with a book!!!

Love to all.

The Kimbles

first time in the pool...

Short but sweet...

This update is long overdue, and going to be pretty short (working mama is TIRED). 

Sooo...I started work today!  I shed more tears than one could think possible in anticipation of how horrible it would be to leave my little guy!  However, I woke up at 6am today and started getting ready with a bit of excitement flowing through me.  Archer, OF COURSE, slept in on the morning I had to be up...and then I had a good hour and a half with him before he and Colin dropped me off at work (8am).  A whole group of orientees sat around in a room  and the CEO of the hospital dropped in, wanted everyone to introduce themselves and say a little something, and it was suddenly my turn.  Not only do I pretty much despise speaking in a room full of people, I was also a new mom away from her baby for the first time...and of course I had to mention him!  Sure enough, the tears began to flow..ops!  Needless to say, the group let out a  big "ahhhhh" and suddenly after 4 hours of boring lectures, it was 12pm (LUNCH TIME...for me and for Archer!)  

I spent 30 minutes nursing Archer in the parking lot, and downing a ham sandwich Colin had kindly made for me.  I then went back for another 4 hours of lecturing and the work day was over!!!  My boys were there to get me and Archer was HUNGRY!  Home to feed Archie and spend some quality time together.  Colin did say he thought Archer missed me, and even said when he woke up from his nap he was very curious as to where I was, so Colin shoved food down his throat to distract him! 

Colin is AMAZING!!!  He understood that I would spend almost every second obsessing over Archer while he made an amazing dinner and cleaned up the house!  Before long it was bath time and a very serious hard-time getting to bed for the little guy (I won't even pretend like it bothered me to sneak back in for another hold, cuddle, rock, or nurse--whatever he seemed to want).  By 9pm Archie was defeated and fell asleep!  Onto to studying for boards and waiting for him to wake up for me (which once again, I won't even try to pretend it will bother me). 

Tues-Thurs the same schedule, boards Monday, work Tues-Fri, then 3 shifts from 7am-7pm, and I will be ON NIGHTS, where I will stay for a year (three times/week) until my contract is up, then it is PART-TIME for this mama!!!

I love my boys and miss them terribly all day-but what a wonderful profession to be in!

OH HOW COULD I FORGET!!!  Archer is crawling!!!  Almost always to dangerous things he should not be allowed to touch...but for now it is motivation!!!  He seems much happier, and very proud of himself.  It seems as though Archer is always smiling and laughing, and what an amazing thing that does to the hearts of his parents to see him so truly and genuinely happy-what a blessing that child is!!!  Daily we are reminded about the pureness and simpleness in life...I am beyond in love!

OK, that was much longer than it should have been!!!  

love the kimbles!

Bike and Big Boy Seat!

As promised!!!  

So much!!!

So much has happened since I last blogged..where to begin really?!?!

Archer and I had a trip planned to Iowa for 6 days mid March.  The night before the flight (I was so nervous about how he would handle the airplane/so many people being around/the change in schedule) Archer would not go to sleep...was SCREAMING!  I went in to pick him up around 10:30pm (we were set to leave our house at 3:30am) and he was warm.  I took his temp and it was 100.5...GO FIGURE-the night before we leave!  The next early morning my little guy had two bottom teeth!  They poked through, but seem to be in a standstill-they are still not completely in so I imagine they continue to bother him as gnaws on everything in sight!

Our flights were awesome, and Archer was a CHAMP!  He would sleep the entire time on the plane, play on the layover, and then sleep again on the next flight---what a sweetie!  

Our trip was wonderful!  It was so good to see my side of the family-and they are all so wonderful!  Everyone drove to my moms house on Saturday for a big get together which was so kind of them all to do!  I had an awesome time hanging out with everyone-and we are so thankful for such a wonderful trip!!!  (Colin missed us badly!)

While we were gone Colin lost his job.  Long story short...it was for the better!  I got hired last weekend for a position I had been watching at a hospital here in town where I will work 3 nights/week from 7pm-7am (self-scheduling thank goodness) and so it will make the transition so much easier on all of us if Colin is home with Archer!  I'm not sure how long Colin will stay home with Archer, but def. for a month or two while we get accustomed to me working. The nice thing about it is I will miss out on bedtime 3 times/week but that is really all.  I will be home around the time Archie wakes up, and then I will sleep for 5 hours or so while Colin and Archer play/nap.  I will also still be able to nurse Archer when need be which is such a relief for me!

In Archer news...let's see...he sits great, it would take a lot of force to knock him down-he has; however, started to lean forward while sitting so he ends up on his tummy and then scoots around-basically he crawls with one leg!  He gets to where he wants to go though so it keeps him happy.  Two nights ago he got up on all fours and rocked back and forth and suddenly it hit me...it wont be long!!!  He has started eating solids more readily and LOVES teething biscuits!  He also really likes to feed himself, go generally when we are nearing the end of his dinner we will strip him down and give him his bowl and spoon.  It creates quite the mess, but that is what bath time is for!  

Oh yes, we also are getting Archer's "big boy" car seat in the mail tomorrow!  We have been waiting for so long and finally there was a wonderful sale that we couldn't resist!  We will see what he thinks about it and I will be sure to post pictures!

Archer has also been sleeping "through the night" more so now than ever before.  The other night he went to bed around 7pm and woke up at 6am.  I am not thrilled at all about the new 6am wakeup call, but I will take what I can get!  

Colin and I have been on a vigorous search for a tandem bike!  We both have too many bikes already in our garage and we have a baby trailer and also a baby seat for the bike, but have always thought he was too young.  Last summer (during the end of my pregnancy...and really throughout the entire thing) the best form of exercise I could get was biking...WE MISS HAVING LONG BIKE RIDES TOGETHER!  So...we were at the park the other evening when a couple our age with a son six days older than Archer pulled up on their tandem bike with their baby boy in his car seat in the bike trailer!  WE HAD NO IDEA THAT WAS POSSIBLE!  It makes perfect sense though!  Then there was a lady there with a bike seat so we put Archer in and took him for a spin to see what he would think...he LOVED it!!!  HORRAY!!!  The Kimbles can FINALLY be a biking family again!  I will let you know how it goes when we get set-up and post pictures of that also!

WHEW!  I start work on April 20th!  One week of daytime orientation/classes from 8am-4pm, then two weeks of day time orientation on the unit (3 shifts/week from 7am-7pm) then I will complete my orientation at night.  I am soooo not ready to leave Archer and not ready to work at all, but I am thankful that I have a great degree in a field that offers so much flexibility (pay is not bad either) and that Archer will be home with Colin for awhile.  

Alright, I need to get in the shower before the little guy wakes up from his nap!

P.s. Archer has been a bundle of personality lately and very, very attentive to mommy (he watches everything I do while I am not holding him)! Colin thinks we need to fix that, but I ADORE it and remind Colin that soon he will have the little man to himself all day...he needs to be his mommies boy for now!!!!