The Kohlmans

I was so excited when this came in the mail on Friday: For some reason this makes it feel more real than finishing classes or even graduation. Praxis test (for licensing) this Friday, then continuing the job hunt!

This week Brad's school threw a baby shower for us. We received lots and lots of clothes, books, toys, and other baby goods. We're so grateful to have this many people showering us with love and support... and gifts!

Today's my birthday. It's also Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and Inauguration Day. It was also an inservice day. I am worn out and enjoying a quiet evening at home with Jazzy. (Brad has a meeting at church tonight; I left before he got up, and he was gone before I got home. Oh well.) A few years ago I started the birthday tradition of posting random facts about myself. So... 27 years = 27 random facts 1. This is the first year of my life I haven't gotten extremely excited in the days (or weeks, or months) leading up to my birthday. I don't know if it was because it seems anticlimactic this year or if I'm just maturing or if it's because I'm looking forward to another birthday that's still a couple of months away. 2. I keep my straight pins in a pincushion organized by color. My mom laughed hysterically the first time she saw it. She just got me a magnetic pin holder for my birthday... she says it's so I can pick up any pins I drop easily, ...

I just saw this article on Jenn's blog , and I had to post it, mostly as a reminder to myself. This was written a while ago, but it so well sums up so many of the things I wish for my future as a mom. Am I Mom Enough?

Today marks 30 weeks into this pregnancy. I feel like I really shouldn't complain at this point. I mean, I made it 75% through without truly feeling pregnant (other than nausea or fatigue, but I'm thinking more of the physical body changes part of feeling pregnant) and this little guy is still safe and sound and growing on the inside... but I kind of want to complain sometimes. Just since going back to work after the break I've felt really pregnant, like my body has definitely changed. Obviously it has... but I wasn't quite this aware of those changes before. It's been hard to be back at work because of this feeling. I'm mostly just achy and tired and short of breath at weird times (the third trimester is like that, I hear). It seems like my "baby belly" has become less long and more round. Or maybe that's just me, with some wishful thinking about weight shifting instead of increasing... I've also decided that I'm pretty much done wit...

One of the projects I really wanted to get done over Christmas break was this rocking chair. It was about the only one I actually accomplished. It belonged to my grandma's grandma, Freni Zerger, which would make it a good century or so old. When my grandparents downsized, this was one of the special things we got to bring home. For a 100-year-old piece of furniture, this is amazingly comfortable, so I knew I didn't need another rocking chair or a glider for the nursery.  I just needed a new seat cover, preferably one that wasn't disintegrating burlap. This is the only before picture I could find. You can kind of see how one corner was torn. On New Year's Eve, we ventured into Wichita. I think most people must have been at work or resting up in preparation for their big parties, because every store we went to was pretty empty. I was expecting chaos but it was actually kind of calm for Wichita shopping. We knew we wanted gray fabric for the seat. At JoAnn (than...

I know I just posted three times yesterday, but I'm so excited to share what I made this morning! (Maybe my sort-of resolution to post more often is already coming true!) I started playing with Photoshop Elements yesterday evening when we got the new computer all set up. This is one of the things that I've put together so far - the only one that's actually finished. We chose a Bible verse and a quote for Baby K, and I'm working on those as well to print and frame for the nursery. They're a little more complicated than this alphabet one. I made the ABC's actually for Baby's name (you know, like M is for Megan), but I'm not going to share that one until he's here. :) Sorry. I totally stole the name idea from Pinterest . I really like this version, too, and am brainstorming what others I could make.

By the end of Christmas week, we were pretty tired, but not too tired to celebrate again. This time we were in Moundridge for Loganbill Christmas with my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. It was the first time our whole family has been together in years - but somehow we didn't manage to get any pictures of the whole crew, my one regret from the day. Don't worry - the garage is heated, so brunch was quite pleasant. It was nice to have the extra space to spread out. Even during the moments of mass chaos, it was nice to have everyone in the same place for a little while. I'm hoping it's not years before we're all together again... but I guess we'll see. (Make sure you don't miss Christmas on the Farm and Christmas Eve & Day posts below!)

We headed out to the farm the morning of the 26th. My whole family was there, which is always fun. For as long as I can remember, we've had cherry rolls for breakfast on Christmas. They are my favorite.   After breakfast we opened gifts. A couple years ago, my siblings decided to go with a grab bag gift exchange. It's a lot easier than buying gifts for everyone and it's fun. When we were little, my mom would buy end rolls of newsprint from The Newton Kansan and wrap our birthday gifts in them. She decorated the paper with her doodles. A few years ago she did it for a Christmas surprise... so I requested that she do a few again.  Apparently opening this gift required lots of focus... Brad had the idea. Daniel carried it out. We wrapped dad's gift (two gift cards) in a box that he had to unscrew to open. It was hilarious... especially when he pretended that the drill had died and he couldn't get the very last screw out.  Another hig...

We have now transitioned to our new computer, so I'm hoping I'll be posting a little more regularly now... no promises, though. On Christmas Eve we opened our presents from each other. Brad got me Photoshop Elements 10 and a manual to go along with it, but it wasn't a surprise, since he was so excited he told me about it over a month ago. I haven't edited any pictures yet (I was waiting on the new computer to load the software and upload Christmas pictures), but I just spent the last hour playing around with some text design for Baby K's room. I love it so far. I got him a spinning rod and reel and a t-shirt. The t-shirt is the periodic table of fishing lures. Brad wore it to school today; I was so proud. Really. I love this shirt! We also got Jazzy a squeaky bass which she promptly unsqueaked. She still loves it. In the evening we went to the Christmas Eve service at Grace Hill. It had been a while since I've been back for it; they had a beautiful s...