Caskey Family

Cameron's 1st Birthday

2012-01-16T15:15:00.002-09:00

I can't believe my little boy is One years old already! How time flies! Here are a few pictures of him eating his first ever birthday cake!

Christmas 2011

2012-01-16T14:59:00.003-09:00

Well the Christmas season is over but wanted to share with you a little about our holiday season. We went to Breakfast with Santa a couple weeks before Christmas with Genia and Dawn's girls. We also made gingerbread houses with them and baked cookies. We spent time with my friend Mary and her girls. We had a quiet Christmas eve, then went to the candlelight service at Clover Pass Community Church. On Christmas day we got up and the girls opened their stocking and then we ate breakfast while waiting for Grandma and Grandpa. Then the girls enthusiastically opened their gifts. Emilee's favorite being a giant T-Rex stuffed animal that was as big as her (its what she asked santa for). Piper's favorite was a ragdoll named appropriately Piper (honest it was labeled Piper goes to Ireland).

Quick update

2011-06-12T08:27:00.000-08:00

Grandma came to Visit.

2011-02-12T20:36:00.001-09:00

Well my mom came to visit and we all very much enjoyed her time with us. She fell in love with Cameron and the girls just ate up the grandma attention! It was a great visit but was hard to see her go back to Anchorage. Hopefully we will see her again soon.

Cameron is here!!

2011-01-21T12:54:00.004-09:00

So on January 12th, 2011 Cameron Robert Caskey made his debut at 10:26 pm. He weighed in at 8 lbs 3 oz and 19 1/2 inches long. He is a healthy baby boy and so far has been a pretty easy baby. He is an incredible sleeper and eater and only time he really screams is when getting diaper changed (he hates that). I had a couple instances where I had false labor earlier in the month so was really hesitant to go into hospital even when they got to about 2-3 minutes apart. We got there on Wednesday the 12th at 3:45 pm and I hadn't changed in dilation or ephasing from earlier that day at my appointment. So I was a little discouraged. They had me get up and walk for an hour then the doctor got there and she checked me and I had ephased quite a bit in that hour and gone from a 4 to a 5 so they said ok we are having a baby today and yay they didn't send me home this time!!! in the next couple of hours the contractions got extremely intense and I begged for an interthecal (which I totally regret getting cuz of complications it caused) and after I got that they checked me again and I was an 8 and fully ephased. The doctor at that time broke my waters and this was around 9:30-9:45. At 10:10 I asked them to check me again and the nurse is like um don't push I am getting the doctor. Luckily the doctor was in the hospital and gets there and I push for 6 minutes and out comes baby Cameron!!! Wow I was shocked both the girls were hour and a half of pushing so I was expecting to push a long time again. He looked so tiny so I didn't believe them when they weighed him in at 8 lbs 3 ozs but he is just short and stocky. His head is much smaller than the girls' was so I think that was why it was easier to push him out. All in all it was a good labor.

almost immediately I got a horrible headache (that I am still fighting though its better than it was) that was determined to be a spinal headache caused by a hole in the spinal fluid sac that occured when I got the interthecal. They had a hard time putting it in because of my Scoliosis and had to insert the needle 3 times to get it. On friday they tried to do a blood patch which is where they take blood from my arm and put it in my spine where the interthecal was administered. The idea is that it will cause a blood clot there and stop the leak of spinal fluid which was causing the headaches. Unfortunately it didn't work as it was supposed to, again they think this is because of my scoliosis. I have told Lee that if we are to ever get pregnant again (we are not planning on it) he is to not allow me to get an interthecal ever again!!! The headache is slowly dissipating and I can go longer and longer between pain meds every day.

I am so thankful for this blessing that has been added to our lives. Cameron really makes our family complete. I worried about taking care of a boy but I couldn't be happier with him.
:)

Name

2010-10-23T15:45:00.003-08:00

And we finally have a name!!! Cameron Robert Caskey. One less thing to stress about!

Baby names

2010-10-16T21:46:00.001-08:00

Hey its time for a name poll!!! Click here to go to my baby name poll! Thanks for helping us decide!

ITS A BOY!!!!!!

2010-08-27T18:25:00.003-08:00

Its a boy!

Baby Caskey #3

2010-06-02T18:00:00.003-08:00

pretty foliage

2010-05-15T14:27:00.001-08:00

2010-05-14T22:18:00.000-08:00

2010-05-14T22:15:00.000-08:00

lake cont.

2010-05-14T22:14:00.000-08:00

fun at the lake

2010-05-14T22:12:00.000-08:00

Beach Day

2010-05-14T20:17:00.000-08:00

We had a great day at beach day today for Emilee's Preschool class. It was gorgeous out! Emilee had fun and even touched a sea cucumber.

Finally got the tree up!!!

2009-12-23T17:39:00.004-09:00

First day of school.

2009-08-31T14:21:00.005-08:00

Emilee started school at Houghtling this morning and had a blast. She cried when I picked her up!!! Had no trouble being dropped off. She was so excited when we got up this morning and couldn't wait to get there. :)

Summer!!!

2009-08-06T18:30:00.002-08:00

It has been a beautiful couple of weeks here in Ketchikan. The temperature has been ranging from the 70's to the mid to late 80's. We have gotten alot of use out of that turtle Sandbox turned wading pool. Emilee has a nice little tan and both of them escaped burns of any kind!!!

Emilee 3rd Bday

2009-04-14T11:15:00.004-08:00

Well Emilee had a great 3rd Birthday Party. And the following Monday she started preschool at Houghtling. She loves preschool and thinks that the Bus is SOOOO much fun!!!

Where has the time gone!

2009-02-25T21:28:00.006-09:00

Hi all I just realized I haven't posted in a couple of months. Life here has been fairly uneventful, just busy with the kids. My mom came up for Christmas and we enjoyed her visit very much. Then in January we went to visit my Dad in Montana. While in Montana we had pictures taken of the girls and their cousin Shelby. Here are a few pictures of the kids. Seems like the time has flown by lately. I can hardly believe that in just a little over a month I will have a 3 year old.

New house we are renting.

2008-11-26T17:22:00.003-09:00

Master bedroom. (bigger than it looks)

Living room

Laundry room

Awesome Kitchen

Another view of living room

We are moving in around the 1st of December and it has a great yard. I am very excited to be in a house rather than an apartment!!!

Photo shoot

2008-11-14T08:38:00.004-09:00

A friend of mine is training to become a photographer and decided to practice on Emilee and Piper and I got some really cute pictures out of it.

Piper

2008-10-04T17:30:00.003-08:00

Dr. who delivered Piper

First bath

Big sister

So sleepy

Why did you make me come out mom and dad?

8 pounds 1.5 ounces

Hi there

Proud daddy

Proud mommy

Piper Louise Caskey

2008-09-12T16:17:00.007-08:00

Piper Louise Caskey

Piper Louise Caskey was born on September 11th, 2008, at 12:20 in the morning so just after midnight. She weighed in at 8 pounds 1.5 ounces and 20 3/4 inches long. They started the pitocin around 9 pm on the 9th. Luckily I had an epidural. Due to the first epidural stopping working they redid the epidural right before the pushing stage. She was born a perfectly healthy little girl. The Echo she had after birth showed nothing wrong with her heart or at least nothing that won't correct itself in a few days. There was one abnormal thing but they said that was common to find and it nearly always corrected itself in a couple of days. She is a beautiful little girl who has her big sister all excited. Emilee can't understand why she can't pick Piper up and all that, or why she can't climb in bassinet with Piper. LOL. We will be returning to Ketchikan the morning of the 19th. Thank you all for your prayers. Piper's health is such an answer to prayer!!

PS I attached a website to the title of this blog where you can see more pics of Piper.

Induction and baby

2008-09-02T13:01:00.000-08:00

Hey there. I had my second appointment down here in Seattle and it looks like they will be inducing me on September 9th. They will do an amniocentesis and as long as the lungs are developed and there is a bed available they will start my induction on the 9th. I am already dilated to a 1 so things should move along just fine. I can hardly wait to meet this little girl. They told me a little about what may be going on directly after delivery. They will have a NICU Pediatrician at the delivery in case there is any issue with the heart. Then they will do the echo in the NICU most likely. And then if there is an issue with the heart the baby will be transferred over to children's hospital. Then depending on whether I end up needing a C-section or not will determine how soon I can go be with her over at children's. I am hoping and praying that they won't find anything wrong and the baby can stay with me.

Well that is what is going on at the moment.

Jennifer

Update on Baby and Pregnancy

2008-08-27T09:09:00.002-08:00

I had my appointment here in Seattle. They couldn't get a clear view of the vessels in and around the heart so they could not confirm or rule out the extra vessel diagnosis so they will have to wait till the baby is born to do an echo on the baby and find out what is going on. It looks like as long as things are progressing well enough they will induce me sometime the week of the 8th. If not then they will do the induction the week of the 15th. Thank you all for praying for me and the baby. Those that know me well know that I tend to be a huge worry wart and stress out easily. I have felt much more peace over this whole thing than I thought I would. I totally feel all your prayers.

Baby's Heart

2008-08-21T19:03:00.000-08:00

Hey all. I have an update from my visit to the dr's here in Anchorage. They did a very thorough ultrasound and found that the baby has an extra artery in her heart. So they are sending me to Seattle now to have the baby. I leave on Sunday at noon and get in to Seattle around 5 Seattle time. I have an appointment on Tuesday at Children's Hospital at 9:30 for a fetal echo and another ultrasound. Then in the afternoon will have an appointment at UW Medical Center with a perinatologist there. At this point they do not know how serious an issue this is. It may just be a weird extra artery that causes no problems or it may be something that needs surgery to correct.
Well I will let you know more after Tuesday!

In Anchorage

2008-08-16T17:24:00.004-08:00

Well I arrived safe in Anchorage on Tuesday. The flight was interesting and turned out to be extremely long and tiring. Emilee did great, I didn't do so well, lol. In Petersburg they realized something was not quite right with the plane so they had to fly a mechanic in from Juneau on a float plane to fix our plane. SOOOO 5 1/2 hours later we were on our way making a 5 1/2 hour plane trip into an 11 hour trip. It would not have been so bad had it not been for the fact that I am in my 8th month of pregnancy and dealing with edema. By the time we took off from Petersburg I was in tears from how swollen my legs and feet were. Because of the size of the Petersburg terminal and how many ppl were waiting in there to board the plane they would not let us off the plane. I tried walking up and down the aisle but that didn't help much and my ankles were so swollen I had to walk on my toes cuz I could not bend them. And since the plane was pretty full I could not just turn in my seat and put them up. :( My seat mate was really sweet and was very helpful. Emilee did awesome sitting in her car seat for so long, she only had about 3 breakdowns and those were over pretty quickly, she only slept a total of maybe 30 minutes the whole time on plane.
We are now in Wasilla with my mom and will have my first appointment on Monday. Found out I have to pay the Co-Pay up front which they told me is going to be between 100 and 200 dollars. I freaked about that but it will work out. Next week we are going to go to the Alaska State Fair and that should be alot of fun. I would like to take Emilee to the Zoo while we are here as well but we will see how that turns out. Emilee is having an overnight sleepover at her cousins on Monday as well. (scary for me)
I will update again after my appointment on Monday.

Pregnancy Update

2008-06-25T15:08:00.001-08:00

Well I am 27 weeks pregnant and Piper is an active little girl so far. I found out at my last appointment that I am once again being sent out of town to have the baby. This time I am going to go to Anchorage rather than Seattle to have baby Piper. I am still rather confused as to why I can not have the baby here in Ketchikan, but it will be nice to have my Mom there for the birth. I will be leaving for Anchorage on August 12th, at 9:46 am. My first appointment in Anchorage will be on the 19th, but wanted to go a bit early to spend some more time with my Mom. I will be staying with her till she starts school then I will be staying with my sister Jody. Jody lives near the hospital where I will be giving birth. Because of my insurance I will be having the baby at Alaska Regional rather than Providence. I was hoping to go to Providence since they have an awesome maternity ward and my sister works there, but my insurance will not cover Providence Hospital. I talked to the doctor's office where I will be seen in Anchorage and they said that that is no problem that they will do deliveries at either hospital so that is good, seeing as they are the only Perinatologists in Anchorage. I went to go look at ticket prices yesterday and looked at seat maps and saw how full the flights were so we decided to go ahead and purchase the flights now rather than later. So Emilee and I have one way tickets to Anchorage for August 12th. We don't know a return date yet so will have to wait to get the return tickets.

I am looking forward to going but at the same time am really apprehensive about it. It is going to be a 5 1/2 hour flight with 3 stops and I will be 34 weeks pregnant and traveling with a 2 year old. I really wish that the hospital here was better equipped and I could have the baby here, but that is not the case so am going to once again be away from home for a couple of months.

It has been a frustrating and very stressful time for me as everything was up in the air there for a while and I was so sure I would be ok with having the delivery here this time. It was a great disappointment when I found out I had to leave again. Things haven't gone the way I would have liked or planned, but I think it will be alright. The pastor's wife here is helping me find someone with whom Emilee can stay while I am in labor and delivery. Not knowing when my sister is going to be at work and since I want my mom in the room with me I wanted a backup plan for Emilee. So Pastor Debbie is looking into that for me and I will meet whoever agrees to help out that way when I get there and get Emilee acquainted with them prior to me going into the hospital so it isn't too much of a shock for her.

Well that is it for now!

Ultrasound Pics

2008-05-02T17:00:00.002-08:00

Her Face!

Her feet!

Her legs!

Her profile and heart!

Oh so tired. Quite the Yawn.

It is another Girl!

2008-05-02T15:00:00.003-08:00

We just got back from our ultrasound and it looks like we are having another girl! Pictures to follow soon as we get them scanned.

!!!Emilee is 2!!!

2008-04-09T16:42:00.004-08:00

Emilee had a great second birthday party!

She Loved the Cupcakes!

Got so many cool new toys

Enjoyed opening her presents

Played with her Aunt Laura

Played in the playhouse

And had a marvelous time in all.

Junior's First picture.

2008-03-22T10:38:00.002-08:00

Here is a picture of Junior laying oh his or her side facing away from us. :) This was taken at 12 weeks along.

New Table and Chairs

2008-03-13T16:17:00.003-08:00

I found Emilee a set of Little Tykes Table and Chairs. I had been looking for some and got them for a good price. It looks like the picture. She loves it and has been sitting at it coloring for the past half hour. :)

Eggs go Splatt

2008-02-18T16:36:00.002-09:00

Well Emilee and I went shopping today and after constantly being told "Do not grab that!" she grabbed the carton of eggs from the cart while I was getting something off the shelf and what do I hear? SPLATTTTT!!! She dumped the eggs all over the floor. Needless to say I was slightly miffed and went and found a cone to keep ppl from slipping. After I got the cone I found an employee and let them know there was a mess on aisle 6. I tried to pay for broken eggs but they told me not to worry about it that it happens all the time. So that was our eventful shopping experience today! :)

Baby Update

2008-02-17T16:37:00.003-09:00

Well I am in the 9th week of my pregnancy and after the doctor gave me some meds I am feeling much better and am getting my strength back. Emilee is so cute she will come up to me and lift up my shirt and kiss the baby. I am walking 3-4 times a week and hopefully that will get me in shape enough that I can have the baby here in town and not have to go south again. We will find out in May probably what we are having, I am no good at waiting lol.

Baby number 2!

2008-01-29T06:48:00.001-09:00

Yes Caren I borrowed the image from you. I found out a few weeks ago that I am pregnant again. I had my first ultrasound and appointment yesterday and everything looked great. I am a little over 6 weeks pregnant and they gave me a due date of September 21st. I couldn't believe how fast my tummy has already pooched out this time. The ultrasound only showed one baby so that is good.

Emilee's Photo Shoot

2008-01-07T09:12:00.001-09:00

Emilee and her cousin Shelby had a photo shoot while I was in Anchorage/Wasilla.
She did so wonderful I was very proud of her. She was sick yet in the pictures you can't tell that she was sick.

2007-12-23T15:22:00.000-09:00

We had a beautiful few days of snow this past week.

Emilee had a blast playing in the snow. It was her first time in the snow and it was fun to watch her.

I helped her make her first ever snow angel. She thought that was cool. I moved her arms a bit and then she just started doing it by her self. :)

Beauty and the Beast

2007-11-18T14:49:00.000-09:00

For the past couple of months I have been pretty busy rehearsing for Beauty and the Beast. I was in the ensemble and played a villager and also played the role of a fork. I really enjoyed myself and made some great new friends in the process. I am pleased to say that the show turned out to be just as spectacular as I had hoped it would.
I hope that those of you that went to the performances enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed performing in it.
Here are just a few pictures of me in my various costumes.

Barbie Movie

2007-10-13T09:16:00.000-08:00

Emilee loves Barbie movies and is intently watching Barbe in the Princess and the Pauper here.

Here she figured out I was taking her picture and had to pose for the camera!

And back to the movie.

Goofyness

2007-09-05T20:10:00.001-08:00

Emilee was being a goof and I just had to take pics of it.

She put those pants on her head all by herself! And was so proud of it.

More pretty pictures

2007-08-19T19:10:00.001-08:00

I have been seeing more and more beauty in nature lately and have been having to take more nature pictures. Here are some flowers out back of my apartment.

Pics

2007-08-15T14:11:00.000-08:00

I posted some new pictures on my flicker page.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7627870@N06/?saved=1

Nice weather

2007-08-06T14:25:00.001-08:00

I saw this Huckleberry bush in my backyard and thought it was really pretty with the branches all laden out with berries. So I had to take a picture of it.

We had some really nice weather here this last week. This is the view from my front window. I love the way the sun makes the mountains in the background look all misty.

Mischief in the making

2007-07-21T08:11:00.001-08:00

A couple of weeks ago Emilee discovered chocolate chip Chips Ahoy Cookies. I like to munch on them and evidently I had left a package of them where she could reach. Well needless to say she had fun. It was so funny to see her face when she saw that she had been caught. She pushed the bag of cookies away from her and tried to give me a look of complete innocence. Didn't work her face was covered in chocolate!

Emilee Pics

2007-06-09T19:10:00.000-08:00

Just some pics of Miss Emilee to share with you all!

Caskey family update

2007-06-05T15:50:00.001-08:00

Well Emilee is growing up faster than I can imagine. Everyday she learns something new, usually something she isn't supposed to do. :) She can operate the television and VCR at 14 months of age. And no she doesn't watch much television at all but she can turn both on and push play and switch TV input mode between VCR, Play station, and DVD. One of Emilee's favorite things to play with is the giant stuffed rabbit that Uncle Matt got her for her birthday. She loves to just hug it to death. She will also lie down with it as a pillow. Cute to see. I don't allow it in her crib for that reason, lol.

Lee is working two jobs this summer, his regular job at KPU during the week and on weekends he is doing jeep tours for Alaska Travel Adventures. He really enjoys the jeep tours and this is his 6th summer working there.

I am playing softball for the Assembly's team. I play catcher and right field. It is a lot of fun and I am getting into shape. My next game is on June 8th at 6:20 for anyone who wants to come watch. I believe we are on field one, out at North Point Higgins.

Easter

2007-04-11T20:06:00.000-08:00

While we didn't do anything special for Easter, we all dressed up and went to church as a family. Emilee got a new dress, I wore a dress I got for Christmas but had not gotten a chance to wear, and lee wore his red dress shirt that I got him for Christmas. After church we went home and it was a normal lazy Sunday. I thought about bringing Emilee out to Ward Lake for the egg hunt but she was tired not having had her morning nap. Next year we will do the whole egg hunt and have a blast. This picture was taken right after we got home from church and you can totally tell how tired she was from her expression.
:0) Jennifer

Birthday pics part 2

2007-04-09T16:59:00.000-08:00

Emilee's First Birthday Party

2007-04-09T16:10:00.000-08:00

Well Emilee seemed to have a great time at her birthday party. It was fun and quite a few people were able to make it. Emilee wasn't sure at first what to make of her cake but once she realized it was for eating she stuffed it into her mouth doing a great job of getting it all over herself, I had to give her a quick bath afterwards. Then we opened presents (I opened them and Emilee and Meadow played with them soon as they were open), it was fun watching them play. I think the toy that was the greatest hit was the ball popper that Lee and I got for her. It kept several of the girls entertained for a good half hour if not longer. In the back room we had legos and crayons while a blues clues video was going on. several of the older kids had a blast playing with the legos. After presents we visited for a while and for those who could stay we made a spaghetti dinner. We got home at close to nine oclock and I gave Emilee a bath and put her to bed. Only Emilee for some reason was not interested in sleeping and screamed and screamed. I rocked her in my rocking chair for a while and tried putting her to sleep again only soon as I put her down it was scream city again. Finally at about midnight she fell asleep and slept until 4 am where I went in gave her a hug and put her back down and thankfully she fell back to sleep, getting up for the last time at 8:30. I think that she just got over stimulated. She had a great day though and that is what is important.

Emilee's Birthday

2007-04-03T20:15:00.000-08:00

Well today was miss Emilee's first birthday. It is hard to believe it has been a year already. I sang her happy birthday when she got up this morning and she laughed at me. I don't usually sing to her when I get her up and she thought that was cool. Then we spent the day like normal and she watched a blue's clues video.

After Lee got home we went out to eat with my dad and his wife down at Bar Harbor Restaurant. It has been a very long time since I had been there and it was real nice. We all ordered some form of halibut. Emilee ate my broccoli. I brought a couple of her toys along and she played happily while we all ate.

We are having a birthday party for her on Saturday the 7th at 4 o'clock, out at Lee's dad's house. It should be fun. Some kids her age and a bit older are coming and it should make for a fun filled afternoon. We are waiting till then to give her her presents.

It is completely amazing to me that she is one years old. I alternate between wow where did the time go and seems like forever.

:0) Jennifer

Caskey Update

2007-04-01T15:45:00.000-08:00

Well Emilee and I have been sick again. It turns out that the both of us have ear infections and I have bronchitis as well. We are both now on antibiotics and are starting to feel better. Emilee isn't running such a high fever as she has been and has been much more alert and active. Poor girl was so out of it Friday and I was hurting so bad (my skin hurts when I get a fever) that Lee ended up bringing us into ER Friday night. Four hours later we left with antibiotics for both of us and a cough syrup for me. This is the first ear infection for Emilee and hopefully the last for a long while. It took the ER a while to get Emilee's fever down and they were real busy so tests took a bit longer than normal. When we went in Emilee's fever was 103.2 and it was too soon to give her more medicine since I had given her some at home a few hours before. At 9 they gave her some Tylenol and almost an hour later it was at 103.3 so they gave her some Ibuprofen as well that finally combined with a wet washcloth brought it down to where she felt relatively cool to the touch and she was alert. When we went in she was really groggy and only wanted to be held. Pretty much let them do what ever they wanted to her. (NOT normal for her she hates being held and she dislikes being poked and prodded) When we left she was back to her normal self and was squirming to get down and actually grinned for the ER Nurses. It was so good to see my baby feeling better.
Emilee is doing so much better now and is much more active and is into mischief again. While I love having her be cuddly I would much rather her be healthy and happy.

Terra Nova

2007-03-10T16:25:00.000-09:00

Last night Lee and I went to see the play Terra Nova. I was very impressed with how well they pulled of such a difficult play. The cast consisted of 5 main characters and 2 sub characters. The amount of lines they had to have memorized and the emotional charge they provided throughout the play was extraordinary.
The play started at 7:30 and we didn't get out of there till 10:00. When the play got over I was astonished to see what time it was for it didn't feel like I had been sitting there for 2 1/2 hours. It held both mine and Lee's attention throughout the play.
At first I was a little confused in the play for they kept changing from England to the Antarctic. I then realized that the parts portrayed in England were Captain Scott's flashbacks and memories. Once I realized that I totally got into the play. They portrayed the emotions and tensions so well that I found myself laughing with the characters and crying with the characters. Especially when Edgar "Taffy" Evans dies, oh that had tears running down my cheeks. Had to remind myself that it was only a play. Yes it was based on fact but it was a play none the less. Will Bousley portrayed the character of Taffy so well. I truly felt Taffy's pain as he lost it.
The picture here is a flashback of Captain Scott and his wife Kathleen.

Play Date

2007-02-18T20:45:00.000-09:00

A couple of weeks ago Sarah Bird and her son Beniah came over for a "play date." I am not sure that Emilee is ready for play dates now. Sarah and I had a great time visiting but poor Beniah had to fend off an over eager play date. Emilee was so excited that she kept grabbing him and making him cry. Then she obviously has an issue with sharing. This came about when we let Beniah use Emilee's red car walker. Emilee was like no that is mine and pushed him. That is something I believe her and I are going to have to work on.

It was cute to see them interact when Emilee was not being too assertive. That little girl is so unlike me it is scary. Where I even as a small child was very shy (still am), she is extremely outgoing and is quite forceful in getting the attention she wants. Perhaps she takes more after Lee in that respect. Those of you who knew him as a young child any thoughts? I hope that she continues to be outgoing and assertive as she grows up. They are wonderful qualities to have and they will serve her well in the future.

Her first birthday is quickly approaching and I am excited to see what her second year with us is going to bring. She has been such a blessing in our lives and has brought our family unit closer together. I can hardly remember life without her and can hardly wait to see what the future brings. I believe we are going to have her party on the first of April and haven't decided yet whether to have it at my place or at Lee's dads place.

:0) Jennifer

2/05/07

2007-02-05T21:30:00.000-09:00

Well I have to say that the movie "The Holiday" is an absolute must see. I don't know when I have enjoyed a film so much. I told Lee when I got back that as soon as it comes out on video I am buying it. :) It is incredibly funny and at the same time sweet. The character that Kate Winslet plays is a sweet charming woman. She brings out the best in those around her but she doesn't realize it. Both Kate and Cameron's characters when the movie started didn't realize their own worth and really looked down on themselves but by the end of the movie they had realized that they were something special. It was a great storyline and a marvelously inspirational film. Well needless to say I enjoyed it.

Jennifer :0)

2/3/07

2007-02-03T16:29:00.000-09:00

Emilee is 10 months old today! She is learning new things all the time. So far she has 3 words to her vocabulary and can say Dada, Mama, and Kitty. She absolutely loves the cats, though they are not to fond of her. She chases them all over and sometimes is lucky enough to catch one of them she then promptly grabs hold with both hands full of fur and tries to pull them on her lap. She so wants to be cuddly with them but she needs to learn not to pull on their fur. They would let her pet them and be cuddly if she didn't pull on them. :) They are very good with her and have never scratched her to be mean. Kayton has scratched her twice, once because her hand was moving along the edge of the couch and it caught his eye and he batted at it like a toy (I don't think he intended to scratch her just bat at her). And once when she startled him by pouncing on him (he is a scaredy cat and it was a flight instinct). Neither time did he draw blood just a little scratch. He has been much more patient with her than I thought he would be.

Today I went scrap booking at the church for about 4 hours. It was good to get back to my scrapbook. I haven't gotten to work on in since October. I enjoy getting together with the ladies at church and scrap booking together, we bounce ideas off each other and I can see different techniques that often inspire me to try something that I wouldn't have thought to do otherwise. Plus its nice to socialize with adult women. I got 5 pages done today and felt like I accomplished something. That is a good feeling.

Tomorrow after church Lee is going over to my dad's for Superbowl Sunday and Pam and I are going to go see The Holiday with Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet. It is a romantic comedy and looks like it will be loads of fun. It is about two women who are burnt out on love, one lives in England and one in L.A., they decide to switch places with each other and low and behold they find the last thing they were looking for "love".

Jennifer :0)

1/31/07

2007-01-31T13:24:00.000-09:00

Well the month of January is coming to a close and I am relieved to say that Emilee is all better and quite healthy again. It is hard for me to believe that in just 3 short days she will be 10 months old. In some aspects it feels like she has always been part of my life and in other aspects it feels like it was only yesterday that I found out I was pregnant with her. She is such a blessing and never ceases to amaze me.

I finished our tax returns the other day and I was amazed at how much we get this year. I had to triple check it to make sure that the information I put in was all correct. It is a blessing in disguise. I will be able to pay off my credit card debt and get a new car seat for Emilee for when she grows out of her rear facing one. With some left over to put in savings. I can't tell you how relieved it will make me when I can say I have no credit card debt and I don't have to worry about making that payment every month.

Jennifer :0)

1/22/07

2007-01-22T20:05:00.000-09:00

At 8:15 this morning I called the doctor's office back and they had me bring her in at 8:45. Dr. Johnson didn't seem to think it was anything to worry about that she just has a virus and that it will work its course. He listened to her bowels and said that they sounded pretty upset and not to expect her diarrhea to get better for several more days.

At her last appointment 2 1/2 weeks ago she weighed in at 16 pounds 3 ounces, today she weighs 16 pounds even. In that period of time she should have gained at least half a pound if not more, instead she has lost 3 ounces (probably more since she gained some before she got sick). I guess that is to be expected when you are expelling more than you are bringing in. The doctor didn't seem overly concerned about her weight loss, though I certainly am. She was already slightly underweight.

The thing I am struggling the most with her lately is getting her to eat. Before she was sick I had finally gotten her appetite to that of what a normal 9 month old should be. Now it has regressed further than it was before. In this last week I am lucky to get 24 ounces of formula down her and 4 ounces of baby food. Today all she would take was 6 ounces of baby food and maybe 20 ounces of formula. That is not enough for her even if she didn't have the diarrhea. I really hope that her appetite comes back soon. The doctor said that when the diarrhea goes away she will probably want to eat everything in sight. I hope that is soon before she looses more weight.

Well after we got home I put her down for her nap and she slept for about an hour, during this time the mail came and my new diaper bag that I ordered finally came in. It looks small and compact but it holds so much more than my old one did. It is really cool, has all these pockets for organizing and is a backpack so will be easier to tote. My old one was seriously falling apart, the plastic lining on my old one was all coming out and the inside was nasty.

After Emilee woke up from her nap we played and then watched some WOW Christian Music Videos. Emilee especially like the vegie tales one, about cheeseburgers. My favorites were the Entertaining Angels by Newsboys and God so Loved by Jaci Valasquez. When that was over she went down for her afternoon nap around 3 or so. She slept until almost 5 so that was a great nap for her. When she got up her daddy came home and spent some time with her while I cooked dinner. After which we watched Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. All in all we had a pretty good day.

Emilee amazes me she has remained such a happy baby throughout this whole thing. You can see in her eyes how miserable she is, but she doesn't let it keep her from having fun. I wish I could be more like that.

Jennifer :O)

1/20/07

2007-01-20T17:58:00.000-09:00

Well Emilee's runny nose is no longer clear but a yellowy green, indicating that it may not be a viral infection after all, but a bacterial infection. If it is still green on Monday I plan to call the doctor's office back up and ask them to look at her. Poor girl, not only is she sick but her loose bowels have given her the worst yeast infection ever. It is so raw. The doctor had me buy monistat 7 and use the cream on her every day and it is slowly getting better, but she screams when I wipe her, it makes me want to cry right along with her.

Well I am going to the movies tonight with my Dad's wife, Pam. We are going to see Eragon, I saw it last Tuesday, but I need to get out of the house, so I am going to see it again. I enjoyed it so it will be fun.

It doesn't appear that I am going to get to go to church tomorrow so I really hope that Pastor Terry is having the sermon recorded. With Emilee being sick I can't put her in nursery and she is so disruptive during the service that if I kept her up with me I wouldn't get anything out of the service. :) I usually have her with me during song service and then bring her down to nursery. She just doesn't like to be confined, but she enjoys the music.

Well I better go get ready to go to movies. Will keep updates on how miss Emilee is feeling.

Jennifer :O)

1/19/07

2007-01-19T11:08:00.000-09:00

It has been a few days since I posted. Here is what has been happening in our family. Wednesday morning Emilee woke up with a runny nose. It was clear so was hoping it was just from her teething, but as the day wore on it became obvious that she was sick. The runny nose got worse and her bowels got very loose. In a 24 hour period she had 10 runny diapers. EWE!!!

Yesterday, Thursday, she started running a fever so called the doctors office and they said that it was a viral infection that was making its way through the town. :( They told me to go pick up Enfalyte (Infant version of pedialyte), they said Wal-mart carried it. So I went to Wal-mart, they do not carry it, least our store doesn't. So I proceeded to check every grocery store in town and no one carries it. I called the doctor's office back and was told to stop by and they would give me 3 bottles of it. So I stopped by there about 12:45, got the 3 bottles and came home. Guess what!!! She won't drink the stuff. She is totally not interested. Tried using a baby dropper but she just spit it out. Sigh.

Well, this morning I got her out of bed and low and behold no fever! She still has runny diapers and a runny nose, but I think she is over the worst of it. Only now I have diarrhea, lol so it will be another few days of being housebound. Hopefully I get to go to church cause I want to hear the rest of the sermon series that Pastor Terry is preaching. He is preaching a series about birthing our dreams or bringing our destiny into fruition.

Jennifer :O)

1/16/07

2007-01-16T09:55:00.000-09:00

Well it has been 9 1/2 months since Emilee Elaine Caskey was born into our lives and it has been an awesome 9 1/2 months. It is still quite amazing to me that I have been blessed with such a beautiful well behaved little girl, whom I love to no ends and I know loves me in return.

I remember all throughout my pregnancy I couldn't wait to be a mama, and could hardly stand the suspense of waiting for her to be born. Then when I went in to labor on March 31st 2006 I panicked and told my mom I am not ready for this. Can't she just stay in longer! I had all these what ifs running through my brain. "What if I am a horrible mom?" "What if she has a club foot like I did?" "What if..." "What if..." and so on. My mom went on to assure me that it would all be fine and that all new moms go through this that she certainly did. And you know what she was right, I thank God daily for my little miracle.

Emilee is a good happy baby, who likes to play and make her mom and dad smile. She has this grin that transforms her whole face, it is like not just her mouth smiles but her whole entire face smiles! She loves being the center of attention and will make sure that she has your full attention at all times. She is a little ham!

Parenthood has been good for both Lee and I. Lee is happiest it seems when he is playing with his daughter and loves to hold her on his lap while they listen to music or watch a movie on his computer. His face lights up when she calls him Dada, and when she sees him after he gets home from work she squeels and gets all excited. She gives slobbery kisses and will pull your face to hers and slobber all over you. She currently has 5 teeth and is working on one more.

Well I will update you more later, she just woke up from her morning nap.

:O) Jennifer Caskey