To Nana's house we go!

December 26th we traveled to Nana's house for Chrismtas on Daddy's side of the family :)

The morning started out pretty iffy because all of the snow we ended up getting, and I was pretty nervous about driving Bent mountain to get to Copper hill, but I was pretty determined because I wanted to go haha. Damon ended up meeting me at Cave spring kroger because I didn't feel comfy driving up the mountain, it ended up being just wet, but hey.. better safe then sorry, right?

Sarah was making breakfast when we got there (which was delish btw) Waffles,sausage balls,caserole mmmm it was all so yummy. Props to Sarah.

Aiden finally got to meet his cousin Liam! Patrick's cousin Tory had a little boy back in June and we had yet to get together, but the boys finally got to meet. It was so cute watching Liam study Aiden and trying to hold his hand, I can't get over how stinkin adorable Liam is, those big blue eyes are just so precious. He looks alot like Tory, who is gorgeous.. so I see why he's so darn cute.

Aiden also got to meet Taylor, Randy and Matthew, and we got to see Uncle Zach again :)

Nana got Aiden a SWEET bundle me, its a sheepskins lining/cover for the car seat that keeps him super snuggly and warm during the winter, I love that woman.

He also got some really neat books, adorable outfits, Car seat clip ons and some moo-laa. Goooo aiden

I love spending time with Patrick's family, the only thing that would have made the day better would be if Pat would have been there to share it with us... Merry Christmas.

Aiden had fun, look at that big gummy smile! :)

aaaand then he passed out on Uncle Zach

this pretty much sums us up

Liam's gonna protect Aiden

The group. :)

JohnPatrick,

   We missed you this holiday season, but you know that. I can't wait for you to see the videos I've been putting together, youll get a kick out of some of them.. Nana's new house is really nice, we'll have to go spend time with her when your in so ya can see it.. She loves Aiden to death, I love how your family has taken me in like their own.. Like I already said.. the only thing that it could get better would be to have you by my side....but soon enough my love, We'll be waking up beside eachother..can't wait.

   xoxo,

KelseyRae.

Aiden's 1st Christmas! 12/25/10

CHRISTmas. enough said.

I love the holiday fesitivities and love to decorate, and wear green and red and be all sorts of cheery...but I just didn't feel cheery this year, It might have something to with this deployment...ok, It does.. I want more than anything for Patrick to be home and safe and out of harms way..and to be happy, and with his family... 

...but God and Aiden kept my head up. They always do :)

MORNING

We started out the day at home, I got woken up my lovely boy wanting to eat.. I walked up stairs to my VERY patient 4 year old nephew. He knew how many presents Santa had left under the tree but he waiting for my sister and I to get the babies fed haha. We all sat around our fireplace and opended gifts with one another, I loved Noah's face when he got his Xbox, he can't read.. but boy can he recognize a game system haha, It was also Kendall's 1st Christmas :)

MID-DAY

We always go to my Grandma's house and meet with all of my family and eat yummy breafkast my grandparents make. Eggs, bacon, country ham, biscuits.. mmmm :) I went in my sweats this year. Go me.

We swapped gifts here and had alot of fun :) Kendall, Aiden and Noah got some great gifts as well of the rest of us. Im thankful for our family, we may be crazy, but hey- at least we have a good time haha.

AFTERNOON

Came home and unloaded cars,showered,cleaned... did I say breathing in here? No? oh.. must be because we never slow down and relax until 11pm haha

EVENING

Aunt Cheri's house for dinner! Once again, more delicious food..thats when the snow started. Snow snow and more snow, we got snowed in at my aunts house and had a sleepover haha, My aunt volunteered to stay up with Aiden so I could get some sleep... but even if I hear a peep out of him im up.. even if someone else gets up and feeds him, I can't sleep unless he is. 

Aiden had a good day for being moved around so much, but then again he doesn't get fussy unless he's crazy hungry. Merry Christmas!

I got my Christmas present in October, thanks honey.. its the best one I've ever gotten.

baaaah she's gorgeous

Aidenbug got a light up rattle :)

Noahy got clothes...this was his reaction hahaha

Familia <3

My love,

   I missed you. I miss you, I always miss you. Im sad that you weren't home, but I hate that you had to be where you are, I'd much rather you enjoy the hawaii air then running around in Afghan-land. Id actually rather have ya by my side where ya belong.. but anywhere but there. I hope you were able to get some rest, and your feeling better and ya could enjoy your Christmas day some. I saw the pictures of Santa on the 2/3 site, hopefully ya got a visit from him ;) I can't wait to talk to ya again..and see your gorgeous face.

Loveyou xoxo

    Kelsey



Snowmen,reindeer and candycanes, OH MY!

Aiden has his first "Cookie night at the Collies" :)

Sometimes its hard to take Aiden out this little, especially later in the evening because Im trying to keep him on some sort of schedule, he usually gets a bath around 6-7 and then a bottle and stays up for a couple of hours, then his bedtime bottle- and I put him down for the night.. (Thank you to all of my girlfriends for being so supportive of this!)  :) I bathed and fed him before we went and ended up having a fabulous time, and came home just in time for Bed :)

Ya know how a close friend ends up becoming 2nd family? and so does there family? and so on..

The Collies aren't a 2nd family to me anymore.. they are family, and to me there is no better combo, then having friends and family in one :)

Anyhoo, we decorated cookies galore. I think Rach and I ended up eating half the frosting before Sarah and Amy even made it back to the house, I blame Kathy really... if her homemade treats weren't so delish...then maybe I could have spared a couple ;)

If I can remember, we had bells,holly,candles,angels,stars,reindeer,candycanes, snowmen...

Ill be quiet and just post some pictures of our treats :)

Kathy's homemade frosting :)

We made Daddy a special cookie ;)

two of my favorites :)

Sarah and Amy witht their masterpiece cookies

Yeah, we pretttttty much took up the entire bar.



All in all I say it was a success. Just ask my scale, It tells the truth ;)

Hey babe!,

    I wish you could've come too, If I could figure out a way to send you these without them growing some sort of fungi from sitting in a box for 6 weeks, ya know I would. Maybe we can have our own decorating party when ya get home... we can just make Tropical shapes instead of Christmas ones haha. I may be terrible at cooking, but at least I can bake! Aiden and I miss you  more than ya know, Come home soon love. I miss you way too much.

   Love you bunches.

 Kels



Meal # 1...........

.......was an epic fail.

crap, Pats going to hand me the divorce papers the second he gets off the plane.

>sigh<

OHHHH WELL! (on the meal failure, not the divorce...sorry ladies. He's miiine ohh mine)  ;)

Meal # 1 - Shrimp and Crab alfredo.

5 Lessons learned :

    1.Noodles turn to mush if not stirred,strained,heated properly. (I should have realized this when Patrick first tried to cook me spaghetti for Valentines dinner one year...sorry babe, I love you!)

    2.Pay CLOSE attention to what type of shrimp your buying. Don't buy whatever I did, it won't saute and it will taste like seafood dirt.

    3.If you're not making the alfredo from scratch, make SURE you have purchased enough of the canned kind.

    4.Brocoli isn't supposed to crunch when it's in pasta....

    5.Not all crabmeat tastes the same..who knew there are like 6 different kinds? Stupid crabs.

Look Ma! I can cook!

 Shrimp!

Helping Mommies cook :)

The gorgeous centerpiece :)

The final product.

My sister and I had a blast trying to make this dish. She was trying to teach me how to go about balancing differernt parts of prepping the meal while cooking others. Too bad the entire thing gave you the worst after taste haha. I Learned a couple of lessons that will hopefully help meal # 2 become a success!

Babe,

  Geez, Im sorry I suck. I promise it will get better! I still have 5 more months to learn haha, that, or we may be eating ramon noodles and grilled cheese the first couple months you get home haha. All else fails, I can't really screw up TV dinners! :)  I miiiiiiiiiisssss you bunches and I can't wait for that first kiss!

Love you mean it xoxo

    -Kels



God is my strength.

The LORD is my strength and my shield;
    my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped.
    Therefore my heart rejoices,
    and I praise Him with my song-Psalm 28:7

I dont know how I could have physically,mentally or emotionally made it through the past couple of days without Christ. I had a teacher, Mrs. Stratton, in high school that used to tell me God put his strongest trees in the storm, that way when all the rain,winds and thunder was over.. the strongest trees would be standing strong. I tend to play that over and over and over in my head when times get tough. Thank you Mrs.Stratton!

A couple of days ago I watched my 7 week old son have a seizure. I can honestly say it was the scariest moment of my entire life. I was home alone, studying for finals & he had his arms up, and was grunting, so I went to pick him up and his arms and legs were jerking.. and his eyes were to the side.. and I knew it was a seizure, If I didn't have the medical expierence and education I do, im not sure I would've known.. but I def. would have known something was wrong. My first though was don't let him aspirate, my 2nd was where is my phone, my 3rd was stop holding your breath bc if you pass out.. you can't help him.

   (let me clarify, I wanted my phone to call 911... not just to check my facebook haha)

The paramedics showed up pretty quick, & I was surprised to see a guy I went to high school with...major Kudos to Josh for keeping me calm, your great at your job. Its def. your calling! By the time paramedics got there he was textbook postictal. (well, Im not sure about infants...) but he was lethargic, clammy, pale...

He started to pink up when he got to the ED... All I can say about the ED staff at Roanoke memorial is that they are amazing.. The nurses and doctors were great at keeping me calm, and the care he recieved was absolutely outstanding.

...I debated on sending a red cross message to Patrick, on one hand- Aiden is his son, he needed to know (and I knew he'd be pretty mad if I didnt) and on the other- I had a pretty good idea of how it would effect him, Did I really want to do that to him when he has no control of the situation? Ultimately it was my decesion to make,and I went ahead with the process. He called early the next morning and I got to talk to him for a while.. It broke my heart to hear him sad, but we talked a couple more times over the course of the next couple days and he eventually took my word that Aiden had a clean bill of health and he sounded so much better after that, we actually were joking around with eachother :)

I don't think I slept more than 3 hours the entire time he was in the hospital, I couldn't take my eyes off of him in fear something would happen....my teeny tiny boy was sick, and I could do nothing, talk about feeling helpless....Over the next couple days, he had bloodwork,an EEG, MRI, antibiotics and antivirals. On first glance of the MRI it looked as if he had an enlarged blood vessel and they said that they weren't sure what caused the seizure, but on further review they declared it an "old bleed, probably d/t birth trauma" and they were pretty sure thats what caused the seizure, but there was no way to be sure.. but they were confident it should be an isolated event.

.."it should be an isolated event" thats the best sentence I've heard in a long time.

Aiden Patrick was a champ through the entire hospital stay, He def. has his Daddy's bravery and strength. 

Thank you to EVERYONE for the support, prayers, & encouragement.. It really helped keep my head up!

Props to Sarah for staying the night and trying to force me to sleep, bringing me pineapples, and doing my hair and makeup when she was running late for work ;)

I love those cheeks.

Sweet little Aidenbug

             It takes a couple seconds to get to the smiles, but its worth the watch :) this was during his EEG

Dear Husband,

   Mike Corrado's song, On my watch tonight's lyrics say "You take care of the love and Ill take care of the hate" Thats exatly what we have to do. Ill take care of our little man; and you keep your head up and stay strong over there. I know you wouldve been here with us if you could, but I pray that we will never face that situation of Aiden being in the hospital again. I pride myself on being a strong person.. but that was flirting with my breaking point. You would have been so so proud of him, once again- I was worse than he was haha. He kept his cool though ;) Ya know, flirting with nurses..being a stud. He's more like you than we thought ;) I love you so very much and I can't wait for the next 6 months to flyyyyyyyy by.

Lovealways,

    Your Wife.



Guess what? :D

WE ARE 10% DOWN ON THIS DEPLOYMENT!!!!

ok, so that might seem like a very small milestone, but its double digits! and it feels SO good.

Can I just say that God is great? Ive had a bleh week trying to fight the deployment blues, and I came across this during a bible study the other day, and I just gave it to God and felt so much better :)

"Behold, God is my salvation;
I will trust, and will not be afraid;
for the Lord God is my strength and my song,
and he has become my salvation.” Isaiah 12:1-2

.....Its been an alright week, Just trying to wrap up my classes and concentrate on my baby boy for a couple weeks before I have to get back to work. Im semi-excited about going back as weird as that sounds, I'm just ready to be fully into a routine... oh yea, and get a paycheck

Im slowly but surely getting Aiden settled into one, he's eating about every 3 hours, and last night he slept 11-5!!!! Thats the most he's ever slept in his sweet little precious life :D
but I might add that I however; did not sleep 11-5. I checked to make sure he was breathing, ohhh at least 4 times haha. I had a facebook status a couple weeks back that said, "whoever made the phrase, sleeping like a baby, should come hang out with Aiden and I for a night" haha Patrick could sleep anywhere, and could function on very little sleep after he joined the Marine Corps and I never understood how.. well babe, I know we have two different jobs, but props to you; I finally understand the lack of sleep, I think I could sleep standing up these days.

On a brighter note, We went and surprised Nana this week! :)
Sarah knew we were coming, but she "forgot" to mention it to her,the look on her face was priceless, it made the hour drive well worth while. Not to mention she's an amazing woman, and heck.. I just like to sit around and talk with her. We were "supposed" to be packing up her house because she's moving soon-but Sarah, Nana and I spent most of our time looking through old pictures that Nana had... Sarah with chicken pox (or should I say Evan..) Damon rocking a sweet sweet mullet...Patrick & Zach in matching rompers..It was hilarious, oh and can I mention that Patrick and Aiden's baby pictures are umm.. Identical?
.... mommys carry their babies for 9 months and they come out looking like their daddys... sheesh.

(special kudos to Sarah for her amazing will power in not smothering Aiden with her germs, even though her cold/crud is from the wood stove, some people do not have such will power... muah!)

I had my 6 week PP appt. this week, and im cleared, wooo :) Its time to get fit, (hahahaha)

28lbs. down! 20 to go!

-CONGRATS TO ARIN LOONEY ON HER ENGAGEMENT, IM SO HAPPY FOR YOU!!!!!!!!
and im so happy and honored to stand up with you on your big day! your going to make a beautiful bride!

Auntie Brit got ahold of Aiden.....

Patrick's baby picture

aaaand I just had throw this in there, ahhh he's adorable haha.

(curtosy of Sarah/nana)

Dear husband,
  I love how much Aiden looks like you..everytime I look at him I know your with us, it makes me a little sad somedays.... but I know that were kicking deployment butt and were SO close to being a month down, and Ill be seeing your sweet face before I know it. I hope you get mail soon, I hate that it takes forever.. but you should get your Christmas boxes in time for christmas, even though ya got your camera before you left,  ya still might find a couple surprises..were moving on up the housing list! were 284 now.. so your slowly coming out of the dog house on that one ;) Hope your staying warm love. I miss you and I love you more than youll ever know.
 Xoxo,
    Wife.



December December December :)

ahhh December is here :) Deeeecember is here, fa la la la laaa december is here :)

Ok, im done with that haha. I can officially say pat left last month! aka were making progress on this deloyment :) He called last night, I was asleep in the recliner and I could feel my phone ringing & it took everything I had to answer haha, If you know me pretty well, you know Im not much for mornings, and it takes me like 10 mintues to actually figure out whats going on.. but when I hear his voice Im instantly awake :) He said he hasn't recieved mail yet... when he does he might be a tad overwhelmed haha, but im so thankful that he has the support he does :) I finished another box yesterday, so its on its way as well!

-Not much is going on lately, Just trying to wrap up the end of the semester, cramming for exams and finishing things I should have done along time ago (I was busy having a baby, don't judge me) ;)

-Rachel and I took Noah to the christmas parade, it was freeeezing but he had alot of fun. There were some pretty neat floats this year... and  we got to see my little cousin Rebecca twirl, I never thought baton was interesting, but she makes it pretty awesome. The girl is gorgeous, she has the best legs, shes like 5'8 and shes smart. Sorry Cheri and George, but you will be beating the boys off of her quite soon. :)

Box # 4 On its way love!

Rebecca :)

Uncle Aj came to visit! Im prettty sure he threatned to tell Aiden

all of his daddy's stories. (this scares me) 

aaaaand Aiden's weekly photo. He was less than thrilled

that I was taking pictures while was naked, wet and cold haha im a bad mom :)

Pat,

  I loveee you and I miss you :) but im super glad I got to talk to you last night, you have no clue how happy I get when I see those 5 numbers on my screen, You have plenty of mail on its way hopefully ya get some of that today and you can take advantage of the warming items. I'll be seeing your face real soon, keep your head up! Aiden & I <3 you!

   xoxo Kelsey