Catch up especially for those East Coasters:)

hello hello...So, it has been quite a while since I blogged but life is just plain busy!!! I wanted to put up some pictures especially for my brother and sister-in-law since I KNOW they are just as busy as we are with thier little bundle of joy, CONNOR, and probably don't see them on facebook like the rest of my fam/friends.

Owen is doing AmAzIng. I don't think I could ask for a better baby through ALL of this craziness going on. He has began sleeping through the night from like 8 pm to 6 or 7 a.m. which is amazing (so why am I still so tired?! :) ) They past few days have been a little rough b/c he caught a cold and wakes himself up coughing, but for the most part, he falls back to sleep...Even though he is coughing and stuffed up, he is still smiley and happy for the most part :) He started day care last week, and is doing great there! He already has a girlfriend, according to Ms. Kate (my friend Katie is his teacher at the school :) :) ) Owen gets set up next to this beautiful baby girl in his class about his age, and they just coo and smile at each other :) He is a flirt already! I have stopped breastfeeding, and Owen transitioned to formula great, and loves his cereal...as you can see in the pictures, he is getting chunky finally! He is rolling from his stomach to back, and gets so close to rolling from his back to stomach, but just gets pissed off :) He wants to stand all the time, I have a feeling he is going to start crawling and walking early by the way he is acting right now! He talks ALLL the time, and screams happy squeals that just make you laugh out loud...and when you can make him belly laugh, it just melts your heart!!!!!! He is just awesome, I could go on and on and on...he is just my light in my life right now :)

Work is work for the both of us. Ryan is still working long hours, sometimes staying up until midnight...I try to go to bed early and get to work as early as I can, so I can get back to Owen as soon as I can. I am picking up some hours a couple Saturdays a month at the Noblesville nursing home that my grandmother lives in, so every morning I get there, I go get my grandma and she spend the day with me in the therapy gym:) :) She loves it, and it makes me happy to get to spend time with her. She motivates my patients, and even gets a little fiesty with them if they give me a hard time :) hahaha!!!

Unfortunately, nothing really to report on our house. We lowered the price dramatically after the first of the year, and we get consistent showings each week, BUT still no bites or offers...THIS is our biggest stressor. I drive myself crazy getting my hopes up with each call that we have a showing, then they get crushed b/c the buyer is not interested. Now that Owen is getting older, I am getting more worried how he is going to adapt to our current living situation. I try not to think about it, but my mind just races all the time with all these worries...And poor Guinness, he is basically just ignored and that makes me feel even more guilty. Sometimes I second guess myself, and ask myself if we made the right decision to move back home. I know in the long run, this is the best decision though, and all these challenges we are facing will make us appreciate it when we finally do sell and we finally do get to live in our own house again with a big backyard for Guinness :) :) (not that he even uses it...haha, lazy guy, but you know what I mean :) :) ) Keep in touch and email me or call and let me know how you all are doing too!

MIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My sweet, sweet angel baby before getting photos with SANTA! (3 months now!)

sleeping baby with Santa at the ELKS in Noblesville.

Me with my love :) at the ELKS with Santa

Getting so big! Helping his daddy work. He LOVES sitting at the table with us at dinner, he gets mad if we don't let him!

My cutie pie at the McDonough family photo shoot during Thanksgiving break!

GG with her two newest great-grandchildren on Thanksgiving

Connor and Owen's first Thanksgiving, and they got to spend it together! :)

Four generations of MCKEE men :) on Thanksgiving

McDonough family photo shoot with my BFF Lydia

Cousins together! so cute!

My favorite picture by far that Lydia took! My two "sons" together! classic, and love it.

Ryan and I got to go to the COLTS game back in November, 3rd row seats, amazing!

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So sorry I have been MIA for quite some time, on my blog and in life in general, but life has been BEYOND crazy. I got the flu this week (fun stuff) so I actually have time to blog now since I still feel kinda weak, and decided not to do anything today :) We have kinda settled down in a routine, something Ryan and I desperately needed. When we first moved back home, we were taking turns going from my parents' house to Ryan's parents' house, and sometimes even my sister's house....and it was getting tough and just exhausted moving things back and forth (especially with a baby and anxious dog!). So we decided to just stay put at one location, and just visit the others from time to time. Ryan's parents have so graciously allowed us to set up house in their home, and we are very grateful especially for Ryan setting up his very much needed "home office" in their basement...something that was very stressful for him to not have. So now that we have settled down in one location, things have calmed down a bit.

Ryan's job is going well. He is working super hard, and LONG hours, most of the time not coming to bed until midnight, then getting up at 5 a.m. to start all over again. I on the other hand, go to bed when Owen goes to bed, which is around 9pm, and get up with him at 5a.m...on a good night...the past few nights he has reverted back to crying and hungry at like 2 or 3 am (really fun when you are sick)...then he smiles or laughs, and all that frustration melts away :) but I am still tired :) haha.

I have started working MWF at a nursing home in Greenwood, so I am commuting about a hour (45 minutes on a good day)...but that is where we want to buy once we sell our house, so it should work out in the long run. My sister-in-law, Sarah, is watching Owen on those days, and doing such a great job. His face just lights up when she walks in the room, and she does a really good job with him. Beginning in mid-Jan, Owen will begin at my friend Amanda's playschool, and his teacher will be another friend of mine, Kate...so I am relieved he will be in such good hands.

My brother and sister-in-law came to visit over Thanksgiving from NYC, and we finally got to meet CONNOR, my new nephew. He is such a cutie pie. It was fun to have our whole family together, and for Connor and Owen to meet. My friend Lydia took pictures of my whole family, and they turned out really well. Hopefully you all got your Christmas cards from us! :)

Owen is absolutely amazing. I am in love. I struggle at work, because some days I have to work late, and it kills me because I just want to get home to him!!!! He is developing such a fun, sweet little personality. He loves to sit at the table with us for dinner each night, and he is laughing and giggling, and babbling away all the time. He loves to go look at the Christmas Tree, and he is grabbing at things and holding his head up really well. He is just so much fun, and just makes us all so happy :)

Not much news on our house. We had a few showings this past couple weeks, but with the holidays, it hasn't been too busy. We will most likely be considering lowering the price to get some more action...this is the biggest stressor in our lives right now. I just want the DARN thing to sell so we can start our new life here in Indy but I don't want to get screwed over either. I feel like Ryan and I are in total survival mode, just trying to get through each day until our new life can begin. But I feel very grateful for all the help we are getting, I KNOW this whole situation could be ten times worse, so forgive me for my complaining...I keep telling myself we will look back on this time in our lives and LAUGH, and appreciate all the time we are getting with our families, and the fact that our families are getting to see Owen at this wonderful age, and see him change and grow :) :)

I remember PRAYING every night in our Rogers Park apartment in Chicago that we would make it back home to Indiana to be close to family and to raise our family here...so my prayers were answered, we just got a few rough patches to get through :) Happy Holidays to you all, and I hope to see you all soon!!!!!!!! with love, Kaitlin

One more week of maternity leave :(

Hello all! I never thought I would be so lazy with my bloggin', I guess that is what motherhood does to you!! :) And I don't have any new pictures of Owen, can you believe it!!! I need to be better with that, never thought I would say that either! He is getting so BIG! His little face is filling out and he is getting chunks on him :) :) and of course, getting taller! My favorite thing is he SMILES all the time, talks & giggles, and looks at me right in the eye when he does it; it just melts my heart every time! The past three nights, Owen has given his mommy the best gift of all...7-8 hours of SLEEP!!!!! He has been sleeping from about 9 p.m. to 4-5 a.m. without getting up or needing to feed...I know I might have just jinx it by telling you all, but oh well! It is especially nice because I have been super sick the past three days...it started out as just a cold, but I know it is a sinus infection now...I went today and got a Neti Pot, something Dr. Oz :) said could be used to clear up the sinuses...I am trying to avoid antibotics because I am breastfeeding and don't want to give that to Owen. I tried the Neti Pot this morning with help from my mom, and it really felt good, and flushed out all that gross stuff from my nose. I am just going to try and take it easy today and see if it helps...if not, off to the Dr. I will go. The worst part of being sick is I can't kiss and cuddle on Owen as much as I want, especially being my last week of maternity leave :( :( But luckily he has his daddy, aunts, and grandparents that have been doing a lot of that for me :)

Even not feeling well, I have been trying to go to my Stroller Fit class at least twice a week, it is nice b/c my sister, Erin, and I get to spend that time together and then usually go eat or run errands together after class, so I have been spending more time with Macy and Cole as well :) something I am grateful about, even with our crazy life now, at least I am getting to spend more time with family and friends.

My other "son", Guinness, had a rough week last week...I noticed he was chewing on himself, and he chewed a patch of hair off his backside, and it got infected! :( SO off to the vet we went, and the vet said that it most likely started from the dry grass here in IN, but our current stressful situation is also taking a toll on him, so the vet said he probably kept chewing b/c he is anxious. So he is on some medication that seems to be working...poor guy!

Nothing really new on the house except we had more showings...but no offers yet :( we lowered the price slightly, so we are hoping that brings in more buyers....but who knows! We went up there this past weekend, always nice to be home. Our house has been on the market now for 7 weeks...but it feels like forever.

Ryan's job is going well, he has been traveling and having overnight stays A LOT, but it is b/c he is still getting use to the new position and trying to meet and greet all his new clients, so hopefully it will calm down a little soon. I start my new job next Wednesday, and will be working MWF, I am anxious about getting back into work, my brain literally feels like mush, but hopefully I will get into a new routine quickly and everything will come back to me! Well, that is basically what has been going on, kinda therapeutic typing it out...Hope everything is going well with you all, and I am excited for the holidays to see everyone again, and the best part, FINALLY meet my nephew, Connor :) :)

Happy Halloween!!!!!!!

Lydia caught Owen smiling in his lobster costume!

Owen in a pot :)

best costume of the night...my friend Josh dressed up as my good friend LEIGH MARCUM, hahaha, classic!

Ryan and I as CHEFS with our little Lobster

Pumpkin Pie with a side of OWEN :) :) at Amanda's Halloween Party

Some of the moms at the party with thier babies!

Owen with his cousins Cole and Macy on Halloween...now all we need is Connor, and it would be complete!!! :)

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This past weekend was super busy for our family. Ry's parents watch Owen for us so we were able to go out to eat with some friends on Friday, then back to thier house to play some games. I definitely had trouble with the game, it involved a lot of thinking, and my poor mommy brain would not process very well, so I basically sucked at it, but it was still fun! Saturday my friend Amanda put on an amazing Halloween party that was kid-friendly and so much fun! She did such a great job with it, and it was nice to hang out with my friends and the babies! Owen did so that past Thursday and Friday night, he slept from like 11 to 5 without waking up...so I thought I would be in the clear Saturday night to have a few drinks...OF COURSE, he decides to get up at 2 a.m., then was super fussy the rest of the night, so I definitely learned my lesson and I am going to hold off on drinking for a while, it was a ROUGH night!!!!!!!!!!! (luckily, he is gotten back into a better routine now.) On Sunday, we dressed up again and went door to door trick or treating with Erin, Doug, Cole, and Macy. I joined StrollerFit, a fitness group where they incorporate your stroller and baby into the workout, Erin has been a member since Cole was a baby...I am excited to get back into shape, and hope to run the mini marathon in May and then the Chicago Marathon next October...big goals...:)

Anyways, It was a fun, but tiring weekend...looking forward to getting back into a little routine this week, and hopefully for Owen sleeping through the night more consistently!!!

New Job for me!

Well, I had a few interviews last week, and I accepted a part-time OT position in Greenwood at a long-term care facility. I cleaned out my desk this past Monday at my old job, and said my good-byes...I definitely started crying, I am really going to miss working there. But this new job seems to have really great people as well, and the supervisor was really laidback, so I have a feeling it is going to be just as fun. Ryan and I plan on moving to Greenwood once our house sells, but for now, I will be making the hour commute three times a week...but once we are moved in, I will only have a short commute, so it is worth it long-term. Luckily, Sarah, my sister-in-law, will be taking care of Owen until we can find some daycare and get use to the new schedule. It makes me feel better to be leaving him with family initially. I start November 17th...so three more weeks with my little man :) :) He is getting so big, I look at his newborn pictures and he looks so different already!

I buried the St. Joseph statue this past Saturday in our front yard right by the "for sale" sign, and we had three showings this week, more than we had the past month!!!!...so we will see...We just got to keep praying that the house sells fast and we can start to get settled in IN. :) :)

My BFFs photography BLOG!!!

As most of you know, my best friend, Lydia, has started her own photography business. Below is her new blog with all the pricing and updates on her work. She is pretty amazing, so I just wanted to share it in case you all are in need of a great photographer or know of someone in need, especially with the holidays coming up and families coming into town! She is shooting my whole family around this Thanksgiving when my brother, sister-in-law, and new nephew CONNOR :) come into town...super excited for that! check it out!!!!

http://www.lydialeephotography.com/

birth announcement in Noblesville Daily Times

Owen's birth announcement in Noblesville Daily Times...click link below!

http://www.ndt24-7.com/main.asp?SectionID=9&SubSectionID=27&ArticleID=13437