Festive Weekend

This weekend we celebrated "Papa" Tim's birthday on Friday and took Kierstyn on Saturday to go see Santa for the first time! She is a little leary of men with facial hair, so we weren't sure how she'd react (it was also lunch and nap time). She did great and loved Santa :)

Happy birthday Tim! Hope you enjoyed your "pimped out ride" cake! You know I love my FIL when I spent hours making him a replica of his beloved "copper penny" haha :)

Here was the inspiration.....and it now has a NASTY black cap, ha!

5 Months Old!

Kierstyn is 5 months old today! Her cousin Carter is 7 months old today. These babies are growin' like weeds and can't wait to play with each other next month :)

4 months old

Happy 4 months, little lady! You are now starting to make lots of noises and "talk" to us...sometimes loudly, and standing up when someone holds you. Can't wait to see what this next month holds!!!

Kierstyn's First Halloween

For Halloween, Kierstyn went trick-or-treating for the first time in Crown Point. We went over to Adam's cousin Brooke's house so that Kierstyn could go get some candy (for her mama & dada!) with their baby Gaby. I think that makes Gaby her cousin too...maybe second cousin?! We had a fun time going out and seeing a few of Adam's old neighbors (Brooke, Stanko and Gaby moved a few streets away from Adam's old house). Nana and Papa got Kierstyn an early Christmas present for her to use - a John Deere wagon. It worked great and neither of the girlies cried once! It was a bit chilly, but it was very memorable. We are already looking forward to next year!

Happy Halloween 2009!

Yesterday was 5 years!

Yesterday, October 23rd was our 5th Anniversary! I can hardly believe the time has gone by so fast. We are planning a nice dinner out tonight, but I still wanted to do something special for Adam on our actual anniversary. I made him a wonderful fancy dinner, including a white tablecloth and candles, and surprised him by having the nana and papa pick up Kierstyn so we could have an evening just to the two of us. We even got to watch our wedding video while eating cake. It was such a nice evening! I love you Adam, you are such a WONDERFUL husband...I couldn't ask for anyone better!

"And he takes his tractor another round..."

Another season down! The garden has been plowed and I can't wait until next year...when I can get back in the garden...and keep it weeded properly! Couldn't do too much this spring due to my pregnant belly! Thanks Adam, for your efforts this year :)

Happy Birthday Mom

Last Saturday was my mom's birthday so Jeanne and I decided to throw her a little surprise shindig. I told her I was making cookies the night before when she called me, but I was actually baking her a german chocolate cake, her favorite!

She was surprised and we had a great evening! Jeanne gave her a bunch of cute little presents, one was actually something for Kierstyn to stay at her grammy & poppy's house...yep, another fun sled! Poppy will definately be giving sled rides behind one of those restored tractors!

Kierstyn's Favorite Activity

3 Months Old!

Yes, again I am late with posting Keek's picture! Here is one of her at 3 months. She just laughed for real a couple nights ago (5 times in a row!) and rolled over onto her side, but not all the way to her stomach yet. She doesn't like tummy time, give her a few minutes and she starts screaming! Oh well, maybe by next month :)

Baby it's cold.....INSIDE :)

Thought we'd post some pics and a video to show Adam's fun new activity to spend time with his daughter. I came home from work one night and Adam was pulling Kierstyn around in this sled, inside the house. He loves this, and CANNOT wait until it's snowy outside to put this to the real test! I thought he was crazy but if she is crying and you put her in here...instant peace and quiet! Don't overlook Adam's motorized sound effects and the "snow banks" custom made by the pillows shoved under the fuzzy rug! This one goes out to Cousin Carter :) PS, yes, Soph got a ride too...haha!

I have a new job!

It's Official! I'm now a full time stay at home mom for this cozy little bundle of preciousness! Yesterday was my last day of work - and today I was home with Keeks and Adam too (his last day of vacation). We got to enjoy each other today and I ended up even making a pot of chili and a big batch of homemade peanut butter cookies! I'm soo looking forward to staying home and watching this little girl grow up with me at her side :)

Busy Weekend

My parents came over a couple weekends ago and the guys went to a tractor show in Southern Indiana. My mom and I spent the day canning tomatoes and chili sauce. We got 7 quarts of tomatoes and 12 1/2 pints of chili sauce. This is a "McKown Family Recipe" that I was very anxious to make for the first time. It turned out ok. A little too spicy for me but Adam said "that's it!". I'm going to give it another try and tweak the measurements my own way :)



Suprisingly enough, even after a good night of sleep, Kierstyn slept the entire day and just woke up to eat, so we were able to get a lot done. Well, didn't can too many tomatoes because they were CHERRY tomatoes, which took a heck of a lot of time to can, but hey, we got the job done.

I made stuffed shells, bread, and veggies for dinner, even an angel food cake that looked so yummy, but we were all so tired after dinner that we didn't even touch the cake!








Take a look at that pan, what a disaster (it was too small and the cake overflowed in the oven). It was such a mess that I decided to throw the pan away instead of cleaning it. Now that makes doing the dishes fun!

Who's the baby?!

We decided to set up the play center for Kiki, so that she had something new to look at. We don't use it much yet since she only lasts about 5 minutes then cries, but Sophie sure thought it was quite swell! We had to give her the boot and tell her it was for sister only :)

2 Months Old

This is Kierstyn's 2 month snap. Our internet has been down for a few days so this is delayed, but I wanted to get it posted anyways! She got 4 vaccinations the next day and only cried for a minute...good baby!

Cutie Patootie!

I snapped this picture with our camcorder and thought I'd share since it's just so cute! This was before she actually smiled on purpose, but we'll pretend that she was smiling for real!

My Newest Bargain!

I have been searching craigslist for almost a year for a cool king size bed. When my parents got their Temprapedic, they offered us their old king. Of course I said YES - who wouldn't want more room? Especially when you're big and preggo :) I found a black pencil post bed last fall on craigslist that I loved, but the lowest post was $400 and the lady wouldn't budge. Well, a few weeks ago my mom found another pencil post bed, looked the same as the last, but this one was only $85! It was a drive, but thank goodness for a dad that was free :) It was an hour and 45 min drive one way, but it was sure worth the trip. This one was white, but if you know the Harvey girls at all, you know black paint is their solution to any piece of furniture! A few coats of paint and this baby was good to go. Still trying to decide what new to put over the bed, but that will come with some more thought. Thanks , mom, for finding the bargain...I love it!

BEFORE...


AFTER...

Happy 30th Birthday Amy!

1 Month Old!

Kierstyn is one month old today! My oh my how the first month has flown by! PS check out the perfectly coordinating mary jane socks! (thanks to Aunt Robin and Uncle Scott!) It's true what they say about forgeting labor pains. One month ago today I swore that I'd never forget what I went through to get this little baby here - but thinking back now - I guess it doesn't seem like it was that bad! NEVER thought I'd say that!!!

Kierstyn's Arrival

She's HERE!!

Our Little Miracle

Here is Kierstyn's first picture! We had a 3-D ultrasound done last week and it was AWESOME!

Our Cat Sophie

This is our first baby...Sophie! Adam knew I wanted a kitten so bad, and pretty much said that he didn't think he wanted an animal (guess that's how you are when you never grew up with a pet of your own! -- actually, he did have a puppy for a few weeks when he was really young, but played too rough with it and they had to give it away!). Driving back from his parents house one night he made the mistake of telling me that he saw a sign for free kittens. That was it for me. We went the next day, and there was only ONE left. It was little Soph. She wouldn't come out from underneath the porch, and after about 45 minutes Adam told me, sorry, we'll have to pass since we can't get her out. I was devistated! The owners had left their house about 15 minutes prior and we saw a note from someone named Jared. Don't know why we remember his name, but it's part of the story :) Jared left his name and number for them to call if the cat came out - guess Sophie wouldn't come out for them either! We left a note too, saying please don't call Jared, we live close by and we can come pick her up right away if she comes out. Well, we got a call about an hour later - they wanted us to come pick her up! Yay! It sounds cheesy, but I can't imagine not having her! She's our baby - and Adam loves her just as much now too :)

A place to call home

Well, after 2 months of silence, I'm jumping back into blog world. I guess that's what happens when you are working full time and have lots to do on the weekends! I wanted to post pics of where Adam and I call home!

This was our first home in Crown Point that we bought in September 2004, about a month before we got married. We searched long and hard for something affordable and in good condition...."this is it!" as Adam proudly stated the first time we looked at it! It was a little smaller than I wanted (only due to no storage space) but it was a wonderful starter home. All we did was paint and put new flooring in the kitchen and bathroom. After 3 years we were itchin' to move out to the country:


This is our new home in Wheatfield that we purchased in September 2007. Most people think it's "IN THE BOONIES" but that really depends where you are coming from! We absolutely love it out here and wouldn't move back to the crowded city for anything. Yes, it's not as convenient for good shopping, but it is worth the drive. All we hear is birds chirping and the quiet hum of tractors - Adam's dream come true! We still have a lot of "extras" that we would like to do with the house, but that comes with time and money! Thank you Lord for a wonderful place to live with the economy going as it is!

This is where it all began

I wanted my blog to be in order so I thought I'd start with a wedding page. Adam and I got married on October 23, 2004 after dating 11 months and a 5 month engagement. No need to stretch it out, right? Our first date was on the 4th of July, 2003 and we remember it well. Adam picked me up in "big red" (his lifted truck - I'm sure he'll have me post pics of it later!) and we went to see a movie of my choosing. I chose Legally Blonde 2, and Adam was such a gentelman he had no objections :) We then went to the Lake of the Four Seasons to watch fireworks. Didn't get a kiss, but I did get 70 mosquito bites - all calf down (I was wearing capri's and sandals). Ahhh, the momories! But it was well worth it - I don't think we missed another weekend date again. He was a keeper :) Our wedding was beautiful, no glitches whatsoever. For our honeymoon, we went to Marco Island, FL. 5 days later and we were back home to start our happily ever after!

Finally Created!

Well everyone, here it is, after about a year of everyone asking when I would EVER get around to making a blog! Took me long enough to do the initial set up so you'll have to wait for at least next weekend to see the updates to start getting posted. Oh, the anticipation!