Shirley McCauley 1935-2012

"Often people's lives are compared to lights or sparks.  An analogy that speaks to the abruptness of life and death, but also the significance.  Now I love all my family and friends, and I do believe that everyone is unique, it just isn't always as noticeable to those that don't know a person well.  That being true, if Shirley McCauley were a light we rarely would have needed another to see.  You need not have met her many times for her to have a left memorable impression on you. She was an extrovert with so much youthful energy it was almost ridiculous, well, at least after around 10 or 11 am, especially if she'd been out at the casino all night before. It's worth knowing that, as much as it pains us to lose her, this was no less true of her to the very end.  Indeed, if the woman we are honoring today were a light, there would scarcely be a shadow at all, with the exception of maybe one person at a time for getting on the wrong side of her energy.  But even then, there could never be any permanence to such a shadow because my grandmother was a woman who was deeply sensitive and caring for others, and even if her anger ever got the best of her, she could never last long without being upset and coming to peace with the issue.  However, she did have a great memory, and if you really pissed her off, well, she'd love you just as much but you could be damn sure she'd remember what you did.  Good thing her grandchildren were all perfect then.  Honestly, we may as well be with how much her and my grandpa Larry have done for us.  I probably learned more about giving to others from my grandmother than anyone else in my life, because not only did she give us a great deal, but she also constantly reminded us to thank others involved in the gift, and not to flourish the things in front of those that were not so fortunate to have and grandmother that stuffed 100 dollars in their pockets just because they came over to mow the lawn.  And for those of you who don't know of this type of behavior, no, you could not turn down such offers.  I tried.  A lot.  But it was in these things that I was able to see just how much giving to those you care for can make a person happy.  Shirley was at her happiest whenever she was handing us money like it was a secret, taking us shopping for a new car, or bringing a ridiculously large bag of christmas presents over for each grandchild because she said it was much easier than wrapping them all.  And this remained true always, extending on to her great grandchildren as if there was no difference.  Speaking of great-grandchildren, you couldn't get a better example of her ridiculous levels of energy.  No one can make my son Keagan laugh as easily as she could.  Any question to the truth of that statement can be dismissed because it was easily the most difficult line to write.  I realize now that I could go on and on about my grandma because there are no shortage of great stories and things to say about her, but I think it might be best for those who will miss her the most to go over the memories at whatever pace suits them more comfortably.  So I will end with what, to me, is the most important truth.  As hard as it is to physically lose Shirley McCauley or any person that we love, we never truly lose them.  It isn't simply a matter of memory, although that is one aspect of it.  The people we love have a profound impact on our lives and who we are,
and the closer they are the more of what makes them transcends to us.  It is sad that she is gone, but in some ways it's no different than if she just weren't in the same place as me.  Just because we are not around someone, does not mean that they do not exist.  My grandparents are just as much a part of my life as they always have been and will be, I just no longer get some of their representations in person.  Regardless of what you believe, our memories and our personalities keep those we care about alive and with us, and Shirley believed this too. I was fortunate enough to have such a discussion with her recently, so as being here today is to honor her, it only seems right that you all accept the argument I have presented this time as true.  That all being said, we all deeply miss your light." Written by Alex Peterson

The big 1

Well folks, it's been awhile.  

Since it's been a little over a year since the day I met my little man, I decided now is as good a time as any to sit back and reflect on the past year. I have experienced many firsts this past year; ranging from K's first cold, to his first tooth, first crawl, first steps, first finger foods, first temper tantrum, first time falling asleep on the dog, first time crawling up the couch...etc, etc, etc. Saying that I've thoroughly enjoyed myself the past year is a bit of an understatement. And although I spent a decent amount of time second guessing myself, I feel like I have found a confident place in motherhood. 

This little baby of mine has grown into a beautiful, happy boy. (I will always call him my baby boy, regardless of his age.) It truly is amazing how much a kid learns in the first year of their life--going from completely dependent on parents to only being semi-dependent on them.  K is about as independent as can be.  Most of the time he refuses to be picked up and moved from one place to another. (And by refuse, I mean he arches his back, throws himself back and cries. How is it that my one year old already has a major attitude problem?)  I find it humorous that he is so particular on the kind of cup he drinks out of, that he eats absolutely anything (including clumps of dog hair, which I might add, really grosses me out) and that he seems hypnotized by anyone who has food in their hands.  

Despite his independence, K always likes to be held at the end of the night for his bedtime story. The hardest obstacle K and I have overcome this year was breaking the rock-before-bed habit. I heard many differing opinions on whether or not I should rock K to bed, but ultimately came to the conclusion that it was a habit that needed breaking. It was one of the hardest things I had to endure in my life--listening to him cry night after night--until he fell asleep.  After all those nights, he finally got the hang of it, making it another proud-mommy story.

Being a mom is the hardest job I've done in my life--but is also the most rewarding.  Luckily enough for me, I have a pretty laid back child who, for the most part, is easy watch.  He rarely cries, and is almost always happy.  (In fact, today I was told by a doctor I have never seen before that K is the happiest baby he had ever seen. I am not so delusional to think that this is the first time he had said that to a parent of a happy baby, but I know it had some truth to it, because K is happy mostly all the time) I feel extremely lucky that I have had the opportunity to stay home with him most of his first year of life. 

By this time next year, K will be full-fledged in his terrible twos.  Hopefully I will find time to write another blog before then :)

I guess it's time for an update

I suppose it has been awhile since I have written a blog and since a lot has changed since the last blog, I figured I better write one.

K-man is officially walking. He started taking a few steps when he was about 8 1/2 months old and then it was 4 steps at a time, then 8-10 and now..he is practically running all around the house. I am pretty impressed  with the pace that he seems to be learning things. The good news is that I don't really have much baby proofing to do since most of our stuff is up high anyway; although the little red light on the PS3 really catches his attention as well as the glowing power button on the xbox. For some reason, Alex really doesn't  like him playing with the electronics. :)

Alex has changed positions at work so now he will be going in pretty early and getting off around 1:30 in the afternoon. We will see how it goes, but I am hoping that it will make it easier for him to spend time with his little monkey man. It'll be nice to have time to do things as a family!

My little Caeden butt turns 1 year tomorrow.   :) I haven't really gotten to spend much time with him or his wonderful mommy this past year, but I am so happy that I have gotten to spend the time that I have with them.  It always makes my day. It always surprises me how fast time flies..it doesn't really seem like it's been a year since he was born! I am lucky that I get to spend part of the day tomorrow at his birthday party!!

Hmm..what else..

I guess there isn't much else going on.  I thought I had more news, but apparently I forgot whatever else I was going to write about.  :)

Happy Birthday Caeden James!! Love you!

So long Spring break!

Spring break is over and Alex goes back to work tomorrow. It's kind of a sad how fast time goes. Now we just have to wait until August to go on a vacation again. Our week and a half off together has been pretty eventful.  We were out and about every day except these past two..mostly because it has been kind of gloomy out.

I went on my first party bus with my sister-in-law for a friend's bachelorette party and I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised! It's really hard not to have fun when you are surrounded with people who feel like being crazy. The night didn't start off the best because I left my ID in Alex's wallet so I had to drive an hour extra to get it. Once we got to where everyone else was for the party bus it was a lot of fun. I have never gone into so many bars in one night. It's definitely not something I would do every weekend or very often at all. I probably won't do it again for awhile. I had a lot of fun with my sister-in-law.  It's one of the few times that I have actually gone out, and she was great company!

On on completely different note, K-man has officially started crawling. In the past week, he has learned how to go from being on his tummy to sitting and to crawling. It is so exciting to watch. He learned how to be in the crawling position for awhile now, but to actually see him crawl..it was exciting!

I think it will be nice to get back in the swing of things, but it's always sad to have to go back to regular life after having such a good time off. I will just have to deal with it I suppose until we have another vacation together!

Here's to blogging.

I have a blog. I have a blog, yet I find it increasingly more difficult to actually write one. I often find myself thinking about writing a blog and what I plan on writing about when I write one, and I get sidetracked. Shocking right? I'm not really the writing kind, I guess. I don't really think I am that good at it. I have random thoughts and find it hard to keep my writings from being so scattered that people will be able to understand them.

I've thought on many occasions about writing about a book I've read or a movie I've seen recently. For instance, if I were writing about a movie I've seen recently, I would write about how Mark Zuckerberg is an a-hole. (That's, of course, if he is anything at all like the way he was depicted in The Social Network) But that is boring. And it has been done before. And I am not a movie critic. (or a book critic for that matter)

Oftentimes I have all of these ideas for blogs, and I resort to writing about my life and how my little man is doing. I think that is what I will do today.

Not much has changed in the last couple of months, and at the same time a lot of things have changed. K-man is sitting on his own now and starting to crawl. He hasn't fully started crawling yet because he is not sure what to do once he is on all fours. He gets up and rocks back and forth and then he does little baby pushups or he sticks his butt clear up in the air. It is really entertaining to watch him. He scoots around on the floor (which is really easy to do because we have wood floors) and he gets stuck under the couch and entertainment center. That may have sounded a little worse than it really is, he doesn't really get stuck, more like his legs are under the couch and his butt can't fit under it so he kind of just lays there until I scoot him out. He is talking more too. He says mamamamamama (what I consider mama), dadadaddadada (dada) and a lot of other nonsense words that don't mean anything to me other than cute baby talk.

K-man has successfully gotten over his second cold. And has two teeth. Oh, and got baptized since the last time I wrote a blog! I guess a lot has happened after all.  :)

Wild Ride.

I absolutely love being a mom. It is by far the most challenging thing I have ever done in my life. It's also the most rewarding. My little boy is a little over 5 months now and he has changed so much.  I thoroughly enjoy watching him change--from being able to hold his head up, to being able to smile in reaction to people, to being able to roll all over the place.

K-man is more aware of his surroundings now and it is so fun to watch him. He laughs and smiles at the dogs and follows the cat with his eyes every time it moves.  He just got over his first cold, and is teething now too. It was extremely difficult to take care of him when he was sick because there wasn't much I could do for him and I felt awful about that. And now that he is teething, he has more crabby moments. I am pretty lucky to have such a happy baby though. He rarely whines or cries, so when he does cry because he isn't feeling well or because his teeth are preparing to come in, I have to remind myself that it's normal for babies to cry.

I am extremely lucky that Alex wants to spend all his extra time with us too. One of the most important things we can give K-man is stability and I am glad to know that he has that. Alex is such a wonderful father so far. I love watching them together.  Keagan smiles at him every single time he sees his dad, and he just laughs and laughs every time Alex makes a dumb noise or a silly face. I always knew he would be a good dad because he's been really good with kids in the past, but he has been better than I would have ever expected.

It's been a wild ride so far, but even in all its craziness, it has been the best time of my life.

Writers Block

Apparently I have had nothing insightful to say since my last blog, December 30, 2010. I always think of things I would like to write about in my blog, but when the time comes to put my thoughts out there, I can never organize them in a way that people reading would understand. ...  ...  Even now I struggle to come up with anything worthwhile to type.  I suppose it's a good thing I don't try to advertise on my blog. 


I have had a little bit of the winter madness, or whatever they are calling it now. There are a couple of reasons. The first is the snow...winter weather in general  It's all nice and dandy around Christmas time, but now that it's mid-January, it can melt already. There is nothing I can do outside with a baby when it is so dang cold outside. So this leaves us both cooped up in the house all day every day.  It's a sad, sad world when I actually look forward to going to work because that means I can get out of the house. Work is usually my only connection to the outside world. And most of the time I am okay with that, when I have other things to do such as taking going outside.


Another thing that has me in a funk is the sickness that seems to be lurking around my house. It seems like it keeps coming back. Alex is sick one week, then I have it. Last week Keagan had a runny nose, and this week he has a pretty bad cold. It really has me on edge. And I feel so bad for him. I can remember being sick when I was younger. I got croup a lot when I was younger and I remember feeling so miserable. Keagan doesn't have croup, luckily, but he does have a cough and he is pretty congested. It makes me feel bad when there is nothing I can really do to help..and the things I can do to help, like sticking the nose aspirator up his nose to suck out the snot, only make him more miserable. I worry he will get RSV or whooping cough, both of which can be deadly to a baby his age. So I broke down and took him to the doctor today just to make sure, and what did they tell me you ask? "He has a cold" Thank you, Doctor.  Although I felt a little silly making a trip to the doctor for a cold, I was relieved when that's what the doctor said.  (right now I feel like I am singing that song about the monkeys jumping on the bed.."Mama called the doctor and the doctor said..." Like I said, I've been having a hard time finding worthwhile things to write about)


...La-tee-dah...


So tonight I will watch a movie, eat some popcorn and attempt to get more than 3 hours of sleep. We shall see how that goes.