Bedhead

Made you smile!

My mom informed me that I am a blog slacker. So, I thought I'd say happy winter to everyone.

(Infer from this picture: we are busy, life is good, it is freezing cold here, Madi is still cute. Thanks for saving me from having to ramble a lot.)

Just for fun

Just thought I'd show off the cutie.

Black Friday

I'm too tired to stay up and post. So, if you wonder why I am tired, check out this link:

http://www.ktvb.com/video/index.html?nvid=308406

I'll actually write later. (I did save my $500)

Solid Foods!

It's been a couple of weeks now that Madi has been eating solids, but I finally got these pictures on the computer and thought I should share. It may not be the most interesting post, but I know there are some of you out there that just want to see pictures, no matter what the excuse.


I think this is a pretty good response.


Rice cereal connoisseur. Doesn't that look like the face of a critic!

This fall, acorn squash was on sale at WinCo so I bought several, cooked, squashed and froze them for Madi. But lately, I've been wanting squash so I pull it out of the freezer and help myself. I think I've eaten about half of what I had frozen for Madi so I decided I ought to start sharing it with her too. So, since the time of these pictures we've added yummy winter squash and despite dad's discouragement, Madi loves it.

The last couple of days she's even gotten to have dinner at the same time as Kevin and I and she likes to sit at (or on) the table and watch us eat while she gets fed too. She's such a good sport.

Hey Penny Pinchers!

Check out the new site feed on the bottom of the right column - Common Sense With Money. It's a site with frequently updated deals and coupons. Thanks to Mel for the link! (And future savings!)

An addition: here is one place to find online coupons: http://www.thegrocerygame.com

Addendum:
Hold off on wasting your time with this post until I learn more. Feel free to do some research yourself, but for now, I;m not going to guarantee anything. The problem I have run into is that the coupons and deals are not local and stores here won't honor them. So, please help by adding your research, but don't blame me for getting you sucked in.

I'm proud to be a stalker, you should be too

I'm happy to admit that I am a sucker for blogs. I could waste so much time "keeping in touch" via blogs. But, the truth is, we aren't really keeping in touch. It is a one way conversation. Well, there are comments, but that is another one way conversation. It may be in response to my previous conversation piece, but I can't respond to you. Oh, what a funny world we live in. Yes, I see the err or my ways and the ridiculouness of it all, but I still love it.

I have been so pleasantly surprised to find out some of the people that follow my blog. What started out as a location to put pictures of Madi so that her grandparents could see her, has become a little larger. Please, be proud to stalk us. I'm not even offended if you just look here to see Madi and have no intention of ever commenting or [cringe] talking to us. I'd love to know who my (poor) audience is. For example, I got an email from my cousin and found that she had been on the blog. Come to find out my mom gave her the address. That's awesome! I also know that Kevin gives the address to some of his friends that I have never met... reveal yourselves :o) I am so curious who reads this. Oh, and a side note to those friends of Kevins, especially you who are here in Boise - let's hang out, please. I still don't know many people here and could really go for some social interaction. :o) Call us, email us, post a comment, whatever.

And while we are on a related topic, I apologize for all my mindless rambling...it's just what I do. Ask Kevin. He'll testify. My friend Andrea said it the best. Her blog description is, "because my thoughts must be released." It's true. I may explode otherwise. Also, it makes me feel like someone is interested, I like to flatter myself.

Anyway, if you are a reader, become a follower. Then, I also know who I need tell about our blog. I found out the other day that a close friend of mine didn't know we had a blog and I realized there are probably several people that would be interested in virtual stalking. I am terrible at keeping in touch, this is kind of the only effort I make, so I ought to at least do this right. I miss real people, but at least I have virtual friends :o)

Please excuse all the terrible humor, and the stuff that looks like it was intended to be humor. I know I'm not funny. The reality is, I'm just curious who keeps up with our page. Post a comment if you don't know how or don't want to be a follower.

Best Costume!

Tonight was the ward Trunk or Treat and because we are on the activities committee I thought we should show support and dress up. One of my wonderful sisters in law offered for us to borrow one of hers for Madi, and I have a great classic that I figured I would wear. So, I decided to go through the Halloween boxes to find something for Kevin. Well, I didn't find anything for Kevin right away, but I put a bunch of things on Madi (that's where the Devil picture came from.) Because I was having so much fun I put all kinds of thing on her, even things that didn't fit. That was the begining of my scheming. I put an adult size Raggedy Ann wig on her and she looked SO cute. (Like a red hear cabbage patch doll.) So them I kept digging and found a Raggedy Andy wig. BINGO! I rummaged up some clothes that we already had and we became the Raggedy Family. We ended up getting awarded best costume at the Trunk or Treat (just because we have the cutest baby!)

And, a side story... Shout out to the AMAZING MAMA of mine who made this Raggedy Ann costume I am wearing. When she was in high school she made this costume for a work party (circa 1978) . Since that time, my brother wore it in high school, I wore it in high school and then when I left for college I stole it. I have worn it every Halloween since 2003. Ghetto, I know. But at least I get dressed up, I bet that's better than most of you! So that's the fun of this costume. Oh, and just to reward you for this extra credit reading that you did, here is another cute picture of Madi. I just can't get enough.

Happy Halloween!

This is only funny because she is such a good baby.
Maybe I'll try to make up an angel costume later.
I think I've been having too much fun going through the boxes in the attic :o) Clearly, I found the Halloween Accessories box.

It's been a while

So, what have we been up to?

Not much, but let me make a short story long...

Unfortunately, when I have an obsession there is no time for anything else. Latest obsession, yes I confess... I read all the Twilight books. I just finished the last one today. My friend brought it over for me to borrow on Thursday night. 2 days, 3 nights and a neglected family later, I'm done. I really enjoyed the reading, but I didn't like that I spent so much time reading it. When I read I have to read consecutively or I forget what is going on. If I read and then I watch a tv show, all of a sudden both plots flow together and I have to reread the last chapter. Anyway, obsessions like that are not healthy for me. It was fun, but I shouldn't have sold my soul to the books. Definately a fun story, and if I ever get to where I can read a little, set it down and walk away, I would love another series.

Gratefully, I did have some distractions.

The best one was that my mom visited! While she was here she took on the project of teaching me how to can fruit. We canned some beautiful peaches and the most delicious applesauce. (Side note: Mom can you send me those pictures to post on my blog? :o) I'm sure everyone is dying to see a peach.
That was actually REALLY fun. I don't think I'll ever have the motivation to do it on my own, but it was great project and I feel like a better woman having had the experience.

For those of you who are wondering about cost effectiveness of canning, what we learned is that applesauce is only worth it if you wait until late Sept or October to get apples when they are cheaper...then you save money as compared to the grocery store. (Even though we probably didn't save money, I'm still counting it as worthwhile because it tastes SOOO much better then the store stuff.) As for the peaches, as long as you don't factor in time (you have to consider it a fun hobby, not a job purely motivated by $$) it was totally worth it. The peaches taste so much better and it costs about the same to can a quart as to buy a pint. BUT, if your time is money you're better off at work and then buying the peaches from the store.

Oh, but those of you who have no self control...this may not be for you. I've decided to kind of pace myself so that I have peaches all through the year. Without restraint half of all that work would already be consumed :o) Yummmm...
And half of the applesauce wouldn't have ever made it into jars.

Big thanks to Momma for her sportsmanship and dedication. MVP for sure.

All that freshness and estrogen got me inspired, so then I tried my skills at homemade salsa. The first batch was delicious, the second I still need to fix. (When making salsa, don't forget garlic and salt or it will taste like, well, it won't taste.)

In addition to my domesticated skills, Madi has been working on a few skills too.

She's been practicing her big smiles... and her super pouty face



She's officially found her fingers...

and I can't get them out of her mouth for a single picture.

Beyond that, I went to a Lia Sophia party that was super fun. I'm not a big jewelery person, but it sure was fun to put it on and pretend I was that sassy.

Oh, and one last thing. MADI ROLLED OVER TODAY. Poor Kevin didn't see it because he was Home Teaching, but I'm sure she'll do it again soon enough. Cool thing, it wasn't even a roll over out of hatred of being on her tummy, it was just her playing and then all off a sudden she found herself on her stomach. It was actually pretty funny to watch the process and then see the confusion when she was turned over and I hadn't touched her.

Cute baby!

Mommy and Madi

This was a couple of weeks ago, but I thought some of you would appreciate it (namely my mother :o)

We just snapped this before church.

I love this girl!

MK Update

So I just thought I should let you know, I am NOT going to sell Mary Kay. Nothing against Mary Kay, I like their products, but I think it would be a little false for me to sell makeup and promote buying a lot of makeup when I wouldn't do it myself. (I've had the same eyeliner since high school! I'm sure that isn't sanitary.)

For now I think I'll stick with the thrill of my life - home, Kevin and Madison. I need to get all that under control and then MAYBE I can consider income opportunities.

Mary Kay anyone?

Hello to the few and faithful! Thanks for visiting our blog.

I have a question today and would really appreciate feedback. If you only have 30 seconds, I don't mind bulleted lists or incomplete sentences, I just need some thoughts.

I am considering becoming and Independent Consultant for Mary Kay and want to know your makeup preferences and purchansing prefernces. I am wondering of you readers, who uses Mary Kay and why. And if you don't what is your reasoning (cost, accessability, brand preference, etc) Also, do you already have a Consultant or can I be yours :o) ? If you have friends or family (or yourself) that have sold Mary Kay and you'd like to tell me their experience, I'd appreciate that too.

I think my biggest goal in possibly selling is to prevent the Letting Go syndrome. If I were selling Mary Kay it would be in my job description to look nice. Right now I have the tendency to wear pjs all day and never wear any makeup, so I want some motivation to look decent. I feel frumpy and need more than just a self discipline boost. I also think it would be really good for my psyche to meet new people and help them feel beautiful and motivated. I also just love the idea of seeing and talking with adults on a regular basis and hopefully can make some friends in the process. Of course, the income would also be helpful, especially when Kevin is back in school and we have no income, But for right now, my goals are mental health centered. I know I can't and won't be the pushy sales type, so I'm not planning on big profits.
(Oh, and I just learned that they have a satisfaction garantee on all their products, and I know I can stand behind something with a garantee. I have a few of their products that I really love, so I am excited to experiment with some others knowing I can return things I don't like.)

Any opinions? Please feel free to be completely honest. I won't be offended by "Kristen, I hate your stinking guts and with the way you look I'd never buy makeup from you." Those are the kinds of things I need to know. Right now I feel kind of excited about this and need some bubble bursting or ideas of how to be successful.

If you want to just post a comment on here, great. Otherwise, I'd love to get an email (kristenskeen@gmail.com) with your thoughts. I really appreciate this. Thanks!

Burley Idaho

On Friday Kevin, Madi and I got to take a day trip to Burley, Idaho to see our dear friends the Mellings who were visiting Burley from New York.

We spent the early afternoon at the Fair watching the locals show steeds (not cattle, not cows, not beef, I learned). It was actually really fun. I love seeing the activities that others have participated in. I am such a pavement girl, but given the chance I bet I would have been pretty into this livestock, 4H, FFA stuff. So cool.

Then we went to John's parents' house to visit and let the babes get some sleep. These pictures are from when cute little Janelle crawled over to visit her new friend Madi who was just waking up from a cat nap on the floor. Janelle is almost 9 months old and the daughter of my childhood best friend. We became friends when our families both happened to move to Washington from California. We have been close ever since. Although we are very far apart now, we hope our lives will bring us closer together and our girls can be friends like we have been. Mellings, we love you guys! Hope to see you again while the girls are little.

Do the Olympics count?

Addictions are bad. If I am addicted to the Olympics does that count?

Early to bed, early to rise. But I can't when the Olympics run till 2 in the morning.

The proud will be cast down. But I am proud. Proud of our athletes and proud of how cool it is that the whole world can come together for something.

I love the Olympics, but I must admit I am anxious for them to be over so I can get to bed again.

I think your mower's sexy!

Happy 3 year anniversary Kevin!

This picture is from a few months ago while Kevin was still working at the Baseball fields. I was amazed at this mower - 16 feet of shear mowing power...makes me wanna growl! Rrrarrr!

I love this girl!

Madi is such an awesome baby! I'm so glad she likes tummy time.

Happy Baby!

Madi has been smiling in her sleep since the day she was born, but she is becoming a lot more intentional now. This morning she and Dad were playing and we finally caught a smile on camera. We LOVE this baby!

Potholes!

Every summer my family joins up with our dear friends, the McDonalds to go to our traditional camping spot. We camp on the beach of Potholes reservoir for 3 days and get in as much R&R and S (skiing) as possible. I personally, am not a huge skier, but love the family time and will definitely take my turns behind the boat. (Proof may come later, the picture is on my Mom's camera.)
Part of this 16 year tradition is that every year there is something new added. Until last year, the best addition was a biffy, but last year Brett and Sommer brought the first of the next generation. This year, Madi was the new addition.
Here is Auntie Jenni with Madi observing the beautiful sunset.

Grama got Mosquito nets for Madi so that the squiters didn't get her while she slept. Amazingly, she slept great while we were camping. This picture is in the morning when the sun woke Kevin and I up, but she kept sleeping for another hour.

The tent village at sunrise.

Here's the Skeen crew Saturday afternoon. We were missing Andrew and Rachel, but glad Brian was able to join us Friday night and Saturday.

Overall we had a blast. There was a pretty wild storm on Friday and then some winds that ruined the water Saturday, but we really enjoyed the sun and the quality time together.

Props to our loving Mothers who make this all possible and our Fathers who make great sacrifices to leave work behind for the long weekend. We love family! We love Potholes!

Catchin' some Zzzs

Someone was tired, and apparently it wasn't Madi!

Don't mind the blog

I was trying to play around with it and messed it all up. I'll be back to fix it. For now, just turn off the aesthetic portion of your brain!

Hey Look...photo recap

I'm here sitting at my father in laws computer and I'm going to steal some pictures that he's taken to fill you in on a couple events immediately before Madi... Here we go!

Here's the bunch of us that Graduated in April - Kevin, me, Rachel (Andrew's wife) and Jenni. Wahoo for all of us! But, we are very sad to no longer be together in Provo.

Okay, I don't want you all to see how cute we are on workdays, but here is a picture of round one of the move (Yes, I am the round one, too). After graduation, Kevin's Dad took a trailer load of stuff to Boise. We thought it was pretty impressive how loaded the trailer was... little did we know what was to come.

Here is what was to come. Please don't judge quantity, we have realized we have too much JUNK and not enough quality stuff, so now that we suffered through moving it all I am finally going through it all and getting rid of LOTS. (Sorry to all those who helped us move it, and a huge thank you for your patience!)

Well, there are some other fun pics on this computer, but I'll save them for another time. Thanks for visiting!

Job update.

Well, just so you all know, we have been living here in Boise now for almost a month. I have been washing windows with a friend for the past two weeks or so. As some of you know, I got an offer from Wal-mart for a full time position and an offer for Albertson's in their float pool. I ended up taking the pharmacy technician at Albertson's and have done quite a bit of training. I just need to do 24 hours in the store pharmacy and then I can start working in the float pool. I am pretty excited and it seems like it will be a lot of fun. Just thought I would update you guys.

Question for you Bloggers who know what you are doing

So, clearly I am new at this and need to take some time to learn all the tricks, but I am impatient and need to stop this work avoidance. If anyone can spare me the research that would be great, and then maybe I'll spend my time cleaning the kitchen instead of wasting away the day online. Here's the question...we'll start out with one that I think should be easy:

Does anyone know how to change the "Posted by..." I've seen how to change those words, but I want to know how to change the name so that we can distinguish if it was Kevin or Kristen that posted it. Generally I don't mind taking credit for what Kevin has posted, but as a reader I like to know who did what.

If anyone can tell me how, I won't give you a reward, but you can be satisfied knowing that I am going to clean the kitchen right now because I am counting on you, my faithful friends. Well, okay, maybe I won't get the whole kitchen clean so you can't take all the credit. But, it will be at least 15 minutes of work cleaner. (If anyone has any tips on how to keep a construction zone clean that would be helpful too. It seems like things are always dusty and it's hard to be motivated to clean because even immediately after you clean it still looks dirty.)

Check her out!

Yeah, she really is THIS cute!

Ice Cream for her two month birthday?

No Dad! Kevin sure has fun teasing his baby. He thought she might appreciate some homemade ice cream. Well, she probably would have, but mom wouldn't appreciate it. I guess this is the beginning of mom says no, so go ask dad.

I am a slacker. I have the cutest baby on earth and I should be posting constantly, but I am just too distracted. Maybe I am just selfish, I'd rather just stare at her all day and I can't make time to allow you to join in on the stare.

But, here are some of the latest pictures (yesterday).

Madi is 2 months old today and doing great. She is growing beautifully and it is just such a thrill to see all the changes.

Oh, but now she is screaming...I'll be back with those pictures.

Posing

Just a few more pictures of our little sweetheart that I thought people might enjoy seeing. I am just trying to keep people updated. These last few pictures are ones that I wanted to add because Kristen can't get internet access so I am adding them while I am on campus. Isn't she adorable though.

All tuckered out.

This is daddy daughter bonding time. Mom would feed her and Dad would burp her. Unfortunately, she always falls asleep while getting burped so they end up hanging out together for like three to four hours, or until the next feeding. Dad has gotten smarter since then though because he has grandma burp Madi or he sets her down to sleep on her own.

BYU...

Just thought it was cute and thought I should get her rooting for a good team from the beginning...well, not always a good team, but at least they try.

Active girl...

Boy how we love playing with her. Madison is so much fun and is getting more and more interactive as we go. She still loves to move her hands and feet all over the place. The doctor said that she grabbed his finger as he was helping her out so ever since the birth she has loved her hands up in the air. Must be a thrill seeker like dad.

This is our little sweetheart before we took her to church. We thought she looked really cute with her dress and headband. She is staying awake more often and just loving everyday of life. We think she is sleeping pretty well through the night too.

Madi and Mommy's first fieldtrip

Madi and I went on a fieldtrip to the mall...she was a wonderful sport and we had a great time. She slept the whole time and I even succeeded in buying the things I needed (and a couple things I didn't need, but bought for her).

Everything is going really well. We're getting the nursing thing down and adjusting well to the new family of three. Kevin sleeps with earplugs in at night so that he can get some sleep and I get my real sleep in during the early morning when Madi sleeps for longer stretches. We've had a few great nights where she has slept from 10 to 3, but those are only on the nights when we torture her by keeping her awake from 7 to 10.

Nights have also gotten a lot better since my mom came into town. Now instead of getting up to feed her and then taking another hour to change her and get her back to sleep, I feed her and then hand her off for the burping and changing and lulling back to sleep. Supposedly she is getting better about going back to sleep too...according to mom.

Well, my minutes are up for internet time :o) Maybe I'll just post another picture off my phone.

We apologize for no updates or posts. We don't have access to the internet at home, so the rare occasions that we get online are usually either while at work or in class so we only have a few minute to take care of the essentials.

Our 30 second update is this...

We've decided to name our baby girl Madison Naomi Miller (explanation of significance forthcoming). She'll go by Madison or Madi...or whatever. She is growing and changing everyday and more alert as well.

Mom and Madison are doing great! Grandma Skeen just came into town yesterday so now Mom is catching up on some sleep and having a grand time.

We love you all and wish we could be with you. We can't wait for Madi to meet all of you, our favorite people. (And I mean that, there are only a select few who know this blog exists)

Quick Family Pic

Once she made her grand entrance (or exit depending on your vantage point) one of our wonderful nurses snapped this photo for us.

Precious...is that the right word?

Minutes after she was born the doctors put the arith... arithro... arithromiacin stuff in her eyes and passed her up to me. This isn't the most flattering picture of her, but we sure think it will be great blackmail.

She's here!

Our sweet baby girl was born Thursday morning at 4:18. She weighed 7 pounds and 8 ounces and measured 19 inches long. This is a picture taken on day two here at the hospital. I am doing well and we are loving getting to know our little girl. Her name is still undetermined, but we are working on it.