Baby its cold outside! :)

I hope I just made you sing the tune in your head, that is what I was going for! :) I do like that Christmas/winter song a lot, however if you listen to the words, the guy is quite the pushy gentlemen... poor girl is just trying to go home, there were many things she was concerned about if she stayed with the guy, what people would say.... but I digress, the song is not the point of this post! :)

The past few days here in Wisconsin have been terribly cold... and not the casual 'oh it is pretty cold out there' elevator conversation, more like it is so cold you should not go outside! Yikes! All this talk about this polar vortex that was displaced... this is crazy weather scientist talk, which I know nothing about! :) So I just wanted to share that yes it was super terrible cold out, but unfortunately I still needed to get to work so I sadly have to take my cute little baby out in the scary cold! I bundled him good and we went from warm house to warm car and back in seconds, so we were very safe! :)  Here are some pictures of him. Note: I have a cute knit hat that I put him in all the time when we leave the house, but knit hats are full of holes and I didn't want that bitter cold air to get him, so what do I do? double up hats one that Gaga got him (super cute but too big yet) with the knit hat inside! Wa-la a super duper hat, that is super duper cute too! :) He even smiled a lot when I put it on, but he pretty much smiles all the time! :) love this little guy!

flash was off so you couldn't really see the cute hats, but I love this one with his big beautiful brown eyes, he was smiling seconds before this pic... there is a little smile left there!

He is like AAHH momma, no bright flash!

Squinting cause not flash it too dark and flash is too bright... what can a person do?!? :) He is so cute, and he had a warm head for sure! :)

My Birthday Thankfulness!

Well today is my birthday, YAY! :) I find birthdays weird... some people make a really big deal of them, and some don't. I guess I usually fall on the side of not making a big deal of them. I am feeling different lately, not that I need to have a big party all the time or anything, but I am happy to be here on this earth another year (I am young not in real danger of death, but bad things do happen...)! None the less, I am very happy, thankful, and pleased with my 29 years! I can honestly say I would not change a thing!

Lately I have been feeling so blessed and thankful, it is probably due to the addition of William to our family. Believe me when I say that the ease in which I conceived, carried, and delivered, as well as his first few weeks are not lived and remembered without great thankfulness and feelings of being blessed and fortunate. I am very aware of the many various struggles that many couples face in all stages of becoming parents, and I am so very thankful for my two wonderful, beautiful, healthy children! I am in awe of the wonders that my life has become, and I enjoy marveling in it, and taking it all in.

Sometimes when it is a famous person's birthday, people ask what you have done in your life in comparison. For example it was just LeBron James's 29th birthday (yeah he is 8 days older than me!), people were saying 'LeBron is 29 today, what have you done with your life?' Well I feel people should not sell themselves short, and I definitely do not! I am very very proud of all I have accomplished in my 29 years! Happily married (most days! :) ), two beautiful children, wonderful supportive loving extended family, a home, food on the table, warmth in my home, clean water to drink, I earned my PhD, and I have a career that I enjoy... I am blessed in so many ways, and I recognize that I might not be famous with amazing athletic talent, but I worked for what I have and I am actively making my wonderful life what is important to me.

Some might say I am 'lucky' and I don't like that, the only thing that is truly lucky for me is being born to my wonderful parents, that was truly lucky and I had no impact in that decision. The rest of my life if referred to as lucky, bothers me. I prefer to think of the 'luck' in my life like my brother says, 'luck is when opportunity meets preparation'. So for this last year of my 20s I want to finish this wonderful decade off with a bang, and continue to go out and get the things I want in life. I will make this year great, and I know it will prove to be another wonderful year in the life of Kala! :) Then we will have to wait and see what the 30s bring, I have so much life left (I hope it is healthy and long) it is an exciting future to imagine! :)

Newborn preview photos.

We had our photos taken by McManigal Photography! They are so wonderful! We have Amy do our photos, and we love them, we started to go by Amy when Evelyn was born so we wanted to continue with William, and we are not disappointed! :) they turned out pretty darn good and these are just the sneak peeks! Stay tuned for more in the future!

I will be getting a canvas of this one to go with our other family photos! :) 

Happy New Year!

Well 2013 is now history, and what a history it is for me!  Some people really make a big deal of leaving the old year and starting fresh a new year, I kind of do that on a daily if not situation by situation basis. Rarely do I find things end perfectly on the end of the year... so it is hard (my overly logical way of thinking!) for me to go with the whole new year resolution or going head strong into new things! Every minute of everyday is new to me, so I am always thinking and hoping for the best, today in the new year and tomorrow and in the middle of June, it is no matter to me! I am an eternal optimist, I even make quite a few people mad with my extreme optimism! :) Oh well, my positive attitude makes me smile and happy and that is what matters most in life, happiness!  So reflecting back on 2013, it was a great year for me, in spite of loosing my dear grandmother (I love her and miss her dearly), things were good. I successfully defended my dissertation and earned my PhD (that is a big deal!) and I also successfully brought a new life into the world! YAY! I would say that is a good year! I can't complain life is good, and 2014 will be great because I will make it great!

To all of you, I wish you the happiest of new years! I truly wish you all the best, but in reality you should go out and make it the best, because we make many of our own outcomes in life what they are, so make them great and your 2014 will be great too! :)  HAPPY NEW YEAR!!