Kevin Minnis

Haha, catchy title huh? Last week after shopping at our Ankeny Wal-mart we were driving up the parking lot to leave and I saw some green stuff on the road so I pulled up by it and had Kim get it. Sure enough it was a dollar. Wow, we thought this is cool Kim will be able to get a dewski. Well, we continued up the lane and we couldn’t believe it. We found another 4 dollars. haha. It was probably a funny thing to see us running around the parking lot picking up money. But, hey, I’m sure you’d do the same if you had the opportunity. Saturday night we went to Wal-mart again to get some food for when Kim’s brother came to town. While there Kim was pushing the shopping cart and on a “blind” intersection (most intersections are blind corners in Wal-mart) this man in his 60s comes powering down the aisle. Kim stopped to see if anyone was coming and he almost ran into her. He proceeded to stare Kim down and if he could shoot flames from his eyes she would have been toast. We were all saying something to the extent of “What’s your problem” to the guy. Needless to say we made it out alive. I really do hate shopping at Wal-mart. I always feel pissed off whenever I go there. I told Kim they should take your heart rate before and after visiting. I’m sure mine would indicate a heart attach coming on. Stupid cheap.

With this small fortune that we found at Wal-mart, we went to some garage sales with Kim’s parents this weekend. I managed to find a computer for a dollar. It’s not much of a computer but I thought I’d play around with it. Jayden was all excited he got to ride in Grandma’s Avalanche. We’d ask him if he wanted to ride in the car, but he’d shake his head and say in his little voice, “No.”

Baby number two is making Kim’s life miserable. It seems that it’s already started to drop some as Kim was feeling less then great over the weekend. Hopefully it stays in the oven at least another 2-4 weeks so it’s not born too early.

Oh yeah, and I still have a job and haven’t been “re-assigned”. Hopefully it’ll continue that way. We’ll all find out more after another meeting this morning.

Okay, so it’s been a month since you’ve last heard from me. Yeah, it’s been pretty busy. A lot of time has been spent chasing after Jayden. I’m not complaining though as it’s so nice to have him mobile now. He likes to help out with about anything if you let him. We put together his dresser that we got at IKEA a while back and he was right in there trying to help out. We (thanks Grandma Wagner for your help) repainted the “guest” room, which is now his, and moved his new twin bed into it. He had no problem transitioning into his twin bed and so far (knock on wood) hasn’t even fallen out of it. The first week that we moved him in he was busy trying to take all the stuffed animals from his old room to his new one.

Works been going good. I’ve been good and busy, but it’s been hard to concentrate and do the whole “work smarter, not harder” because of some events that might be happening next week. I had a whole bit written about it, but decided to not include it in fear of getting in trouble for it. So, you’ll have to wait till after next week to see what might or might not have happened.

We can now breath a sigh of relief. Jayden is now walking on his own…to a certain degree. He won’t get up from sitting without grabbing on to something, but once he’s standing up, he can walk on his own if he decides to. He’s done with physical therapy for now but will be getting some shoe inserts to see if we can correct his ankle from turning in. He had his 18 month doctor visit with the a different pediatrician on Wednesday. We’re glad we switched doctors for him. The new doc is much better and takes the time to listen and actually hears what we’re telling him. Jayden’s now starting to say a few more words: Car, meaow, truck, yuck (pronounced ggaayh and also refers to the trash can), Dada, Mamma (when mad), done and maybe a few more that I can’t remember.

Let’s see what else…oh yeah. Work’s been okay. I now have an appreciation of why corporations don’t perform. I can’t complain on my end, but it sucks that the only way management sees groups better interacting is to split up people between two groups to “make” everyone get along. Pretty stupid way of trying to increase productivity if you ask me. Oh well, I guess I have a job yet.

Baby number two is coming along nicely. Kim seems to be not as tired as she was first starting out. She usually makes it till 10 instead of the normal 9:00. haha.

Today Kim had an ultrasound for Baby #2. It was just as cool as it was with Jayden to see all the pieces and parts of Baby #2. I’m sure that all babies look the same when they’re inside. Take for example, picture 1 (Baby #2) and picture 2 (Jayden). They both look like aliens. At any rate, everything’s looking normal and we are quite pleased.

Another cool thing happened Sunday. Jayden finally took his own steps to and from Kim and me. We couldn’t be any more pleased.

Well, yeah. What can I say, welcome back. It’s been a while. Seems like not much has happened since my last writing. The new year has worn off and all that jazz. But, in reality there has been quite a bit that’s taken place. No, Jayden’s still not walking on his own, but he’s a lot closer. He’s walking around the ottoman with a 3-4 inch safety zone just in case he needs to grab hold of it. He does have an occasional sprint from one of us to the couch. He stands on top of the love seat with us by himself and thinks he’s big stuff. He likes to get into things…pots and pans and shoes.

Monday he had fever and woke up at least ever hour on the hour that night and then Tuesday night he was up even more. Needless-to-say, Kim and I appreciate a good night’s sleep and are happy that he’s better. We think part of it is because of some new teeth coming in.

Jayden’s saying a few words now. He has always liked saying, “Done” when he or someone else finishes something. He’s saying car some and after watching Saturday morning cartoons, does an occasional, “Arrggh,” in a pirate context. He shakes his head when he means yes and sometimes when he means no. We hope he keeps that up.

Baby #2 is coming along nicely. Kim filled me in yesterday that she’s now able to feel it move, so tonight I got to feel it kicking. Next Tuesday we get to go in for the first ultrasound. Wonder what it’s going to be…a boy or a girl? Hmmm. Oh the suspense.

Well, time to grab that sleep.