Devon Skyllingstad Kinne


Me! Birth - 1999
I was born Devon Taylor Skyllingstad on November 3, 1980 in Louisville, KY. My mother was a graduate student at the University of Louisville and my father worked as an industrial designer. I attended preschool at the Yavnah Adar Day School. My brother, Brett, was born when I was three years old.We moved to Dayton, Ohio when I was five years old.

My mother got a new job teaching at Sinclair Community College. My sister Lauren was born when I was almost six years old. I attended Southpark Preschool and then Harmon Elementary. I enjoyed Brownies, soccer, and gymnastics. We moved to Cincinnati, Ohio when I was 9 years old because my father was working at Clarion Corporation of America.

I attended Glendale Elementary School. My sister Brooke was born when I was 11 years old. I was very involved playing soccer. I joined a select soccer team, Club Ohio, when I was in seventh grade. I attended Princeton Junior High School for seventh and eighth grade. I was a cheerleader for Princeton both years, as well as running track and playing soccer. I attended Ursuline Academy for high school.

I played soccer for UA, as well as field hockey and threw discus and shot putt for UA track. Some of my good friends in high school were Amy Dowling, Katrina Ewing, Emily Hunt, Julianne Oester, and Becky Tull. I met my husband Jeff Kinne, who was a year ahead of me in school and went to St.Xavier. We started dating on September 6, 1997 and got engaged on February 1,2002.


1999-June 2003
I graduated from UA and decided to go to Xavier University and major in Computer Scienceand minor in Mathematics and Women's and Minorities studies.

(june 2003) I just graduated summa cum laude - University Scholar, and received my Bachelor of Science. I am now a graduate student with Jeff at the University of Wisconsin - Madison focusing on Computer Science. Jeff and I got married on June 28, 2003 at St. Gabriel Catholic Church in Glendale,Ohio. Here is Devon and Jeff wedding page! I changed my name to Devon Skyllingstad Kinne, with Skyllingstad being my middle name, so I am now Devon Kinne!.


Sept.-Oct. 2003
Right now, I am taking two classes: Introduction to the Theory of Computation and Introduction to Graphics. I am also the TA for CS 310, Problem Solving Using Computers. I'm really enjoying teaching, so that is what I want to continue doing. Jeff and I like Madison - there are pretty parks that we like to go to. Last weekend we drove up to Devils Lake and hiked on a nice 3 mile path up a big hill and by the lake. It was a lot of fun to break up a day filled with homework. We're really busy right now, but we're having a good time being married. We're looking forward to my family coming to visit next weekend, October 25th.

Thanksgiving!
Jeff and I just celebrated our first Thanksgiving as a married couple. It was a little sad, because we miss our families, but it was fun to cook dinner all for ourselves, and start our new traditions. One really fun (and yummy) tradition was to make two pies, one pumpkin for Jeff, and one Derby Pie for me. Since we are going to be having two pies, we decided to make one on Sunday, so we got to have yummy pumpkin pie on Sunday through Thanksgiving, and just when that ran out, we had Derby Pie! Since we were going to eat both of the pies sometime, we reasoned that we might as well enjoy it for longer instead of having two pies at the same time. We did enjoy it.

We also continued my family tradition by seeing a movie on Thanksgiving - we saw Love,Actually - of course, I've been looking forward to it since I haven't seen a good romantic comedy for a while in the theatre, and it had Colin Firth :) - and Hugh Grant, who we both find really funny. It was a good movie - suprisingly a lot of nudity, but it was still excellent. We had the songs in our heads for the next couple of days, always a good sign. We talked to Mike, who was maybe going to see it with Molly, his new girlfriend (yeah!) - at least, I think I can call her that. We can't wait to meet her, she sounds really nice.
We also talked to everybody, my family and Jeff's also. My family was all at my house, both Grandparents and my Aunt Chris. Everyone in Jeff's family was at Grandma and Grandpa Kinne's. We are both looking forward to going home and relaxing during Christmas break, and seeing anyone. Overall, it was a nice Thanksgiving, and a wonderful break. We're both kind of stressed now, me working on my big Graphics project (I'm always doing that, it seems) and Jeff working on OS and Theory. But, only two more weeks of class! Yeah!!!!


December
Well, it seems as though I only update this once a month. Oh well. I don't even know if anyone reads it. If anyone does, let me know !!! Well, we are currently in Cincinnati for Christmas break. It was really good to finish up school this semester. The last week was not fun, but we made it through. I had a big graphics project, like I seemingly had the entire semester, and then I had to study for the final. Jeff had a theory homework, in which he stayed up all night to finish. He also had his OS project - DOSI, we like to call it. He did a nice presentations. Go Jeff!

When we left Madison, it was cold and windy - brrr. We went to Milwaukee to visit our old pal Michael. He is a dating machine :) Just kidding, mike. We visited with him and his family in Port Washington. We actually saw Mr. Matera. We couldn't believe it. We gave Mrs. Matera an intellivision, and it seems like we may have unleashed a monster. We got to go to Michael's favorite Italian restaurant in Sheboygan, which we had been hearing a lot about. We got pizza, it was good. I liked the pizza ala verdure - vegetable pizza. Mike liked the house special - pizza ala Michael. We also went to a fun middle Eastern restaurant in Milwaukee with Mike and Mike Mcgary. He is a nice fellow. The food was pretty good, I had a gyro. yumm. After our visit in Milwaukee, we drove to Cleveland. We didn't have ANY Chicago traffic - we went through Downtown and took the Express. It was wonderful.

Cleveland was good - it was nice to see Grandma Rosie and Grandpa Hank. They are doing good. We had about 4 inches of snow there, and then it got really warm, almost 50, and it rained on the way home. Then, we stopped and visited in Columbus with Kevin and Angie. That was fun, it is nice to see them. Lastly, we made our way to Cincinnati. So, we stayed in 5 places in 1 week. That is crazy. Our car is packed to the gills. It was nice seeing both of our families. It was really nice to see the girls, Olivia, Noelle, and Gabriella. They are all sweet, and Olivia was so excited to see us - it make me happy.

So, we have been lounging around now for about a week. Jeff has been working a little for Sherman, I have been doing not much. Nice and relaxing.

We got to see some of our friends, which was fun. I watched the Bengals- Browns game with Erin and Ryan, and then Jeff came with us all out to eat at Arthur's, and then we went to Graeters. Erin got a brick of chocolate in her cone - it was ridiculously large. I had a nice time hanging out with them, catching up and stuff. Too bad the Bengals had to play horribly. Arthurs was good, but smoky.

The next night we got to hang out with Owen and Job... errr, Ann Helen and Ryan. We like hanging out with them, they are a lot of fun. We went to PFChang's, Buca di Beppos, and after being told that there was 45 min. wait at both of those places, we ended up at Don Pablos. There, Ryan couldn't conquer the Conquistador. oh well. Then, we went bowling at Stones. We bowled for skill, and then for speed. Our scores were not much better when we were simply bowling for skill than when we were just hurling the ball for speed. I got 18.59 mph, which is a high for me. :) We also got to see Elizabeth End, Ann's roommate. We didn't get to talk to her for long, but I learned that her and Ann are big Colin Firth fans. It is always nice to find other people that share that love with me.

Today we are going to see the nieces! Yeah! Then, we get to hang out with Debbie, one of Jeff's two favorite sisters. His other favorite sister is Michelle. Well, I'm off to make Jeff some lunch so we can go hang out with the kiddies! Ciao!
January
Well, this past month has been wonderful for me. I'm really happy right now in my life. I made the decision to switch careers - starting this summer I am going to work towards my teaching certification in math/Computer Science. I haven't decided which, if not both. The benefit to math is that _everywhere_ needs math teachers, where as many states, including Ohio, don't even offer certification in computer science. I'll be at Edgewood College, a Dominican Catholic college in Madison. It is like XU, small and really friendly. Plus, it is cheaper than UW. I'm really looking forward to it. The good/bad news is that because of this switch, we are going to be moving _again_ this summer. Since Edgewood is only about a mile away from UW, we're going to be trying to find a place closer for various reasons. So, we'll be leaving our great apartment in Middleton, which I love (both the apartment and Middleton). I hate moving, but it will be nice to be so much closer.
Besides that, things are going really well. It is really cold here, it was -10 this morning while we were going to school, and that was not even counting the wind chill. The high today was 0...brrr. We have some exciting things going on in our lives right now. If you want to know, you'll have to send me an email to find out. Trust me, it would be worth your time :) Well, Jeff and I are going to watch a movie now, so Ta Ta for now!
February
Well, it seems like Debbie Kinne is the only one who reads this. Thanks Debbie! We are going through some interesting changes in our life right now. I must say, I really like being married. Although Jeff and I dated for almost 6 years, we have really grown a lot closer since we've been married. Jeff is probably the sweetest guy that I know, and every day he does things for me. We had a pretty good Valentine's Day. Jeff surprised me with a dozen roses - white, pink, and red. This means a bunch of things: red, pink and white together are supposed to represent the Holy Trinity, red means love, passion and respect, white means purity, and pink means perfect happiness, joy and grace. I think those pretty much sum up a lot of our relationship. I was really surprised by this - Jeff has not really ever bought me flowers before, but he got me a dozen roses for my birthday, and then this. Apparently, he said I had been asking for flowers for V-day, but I didn't remember that. :) He also got me a box of chocolate which he lovingly shared with me. It was really sweet because it was all a complete surprise. I had even told him before that "I'd be angry if he got me roses for Valentine's Day since they are so expensive", but he got some beautiful ones that were not overpriced like normal ones. Plus we had a nice dinner at home - I've still been exhausted, so this was a great Valentines day.

On Saturday night, we went over to our friend Margaret Richey's apartment. She had a little Valentine's day party, and made really yummy pumpkin swirl cheesecake and caramel brownies. Yumm. It was fun to get out and hang out with her.
Besides that, this has been a pretty good semester. I haven't been stressed out too much, my courseload has been really easy up till right now, and the courses are a lot better for me. So that is good. I think we are going to go to Cincinnati for our spring break - it will be a nice break to see our families since we aren't traveling this summer. Well, I need to go back to work so I'll talk to you later!
Feb 24
I had a nice interesting talk with Rob Hyland today. Apparently, him and our spanish partner, Luis Llorens, have finally finished our software engineering project from Spring, 2001. Yeah. They are currently in negotiations with Microsoft for marketing it. I'm sure people would pay top dollar for an online Xavier Clue game.
Rob and I also had an interesting chat (IM) about some other things. If you care to know what, and I bet that you would find it really interesting and exciting, email me and let me know. Is anyone out there?
March 8
We are leaving for Cincinnati in 4 days. I am super excited to see everyone. Hopefully, we get to see a lot of our family while we are there.
Jeff and I decided that we should have a celebration in the fall, since I have finally decided my new career. The big event is planned for Sept. 29. We're going to be really busy with our big event come fall. Its going to be huge! We would love it if as many people could come around that time and celebrate with us. That would be stellar. For more information about the wild and exciting big celebration that we are planning for Sept. 29, email me. Really, it is going to be huge - unlike anything celebration we've ever had before.
Jeff and I were thinking about what to do about websites come summer, when I will not have a wisconsin website anymore. Our current idea is to have a website at: http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~jkinne/ That would have links to my new website, and his current website. The addresses would be something like this: for me, http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~jkinne/devon/

and for jeff, http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~jkinne/jeff/
What do you think? If you would like us to sponsor you for a webpage, let us know.

My lenten resolution is not going as well as they have in the past. I just wasn't really into it this year like I have been in the past. Maybe because it didn't involve food for once, but rather something that I had to actively _do_ each day. Humm.. Off to go home now, whoo hoo!
April 6
Well, the big news is out. I am 15 weeks pregnant. Our little baby is due on Sept. 29, which coincidently is Steve Large's and Olivia Kinne's birthday. We are really really excited and couldn't wait to tell people. I've had a good pregnancy so far - gained just the right amount of weight, didn't have any morning sickness, although some night time queasiness is very common with me. My allergies are worse, but que sera sera. My body isn't noticibly pregnant to the outside world, but it is to us. We just scheduled our 20 week ultrasound for May 10, and we are really excited to see the baby then.
Since the baby is coming, and I am switching to Edgewood, we decided it was in our best interest to move closer to down town. It is more expensive closer to down town, which stinks, but it will be nice only being 1 mile from work, and it will come in really handy with passing the baby off between us. We are seeing a house for rent tonight - it sounds perfect so we're keeping our fingers crossed. I would love to live in a house by ourselves, and since we don't want to buy just yet, this would be the perfect solution.
We are officially going to be in Cincinnati almost more in May then in Madison. We are going to Cincy for Debbie's, Jeff's sister, wedding to Steve Jackson. We'll be there April 29-May 2 for that. Then we are coming back from May 14-May 23 to visit. Then we are coming back May 28- June 1 for Rob Hyland's and Susan Liess's wedding. We are super excited to see a lot of XU people for that, plus to share in their special day.
Currently we're planning on what to eat on Easter. It will be just us, and we both have a lot of work to do. I'll be super glad when this semester is over!
May 13
The biggest news in our life right now is that our baby is a BOY! We had our 20 week ultrasound this week. The baby looks absolutely healthy, everything is measuring right on, and he was kicking up a storm. His head was pressing right against my bladder the whole time! He has started kicking a lot more, and I have noticed it a lot more. The other night, he kicked me for about 30 minutes straight, hard kicks that actually moved the notebook resting on my belly. My belly is getting bigger and bigger, and I discovered today that my drawstring waist shorts, which I thought would last throughout the pregnancy since they have a drawstring waist, are almost too small. Our little boy is getting big! We are so blessed and just keep praying every day that our little boy will continue growing strong and healthy.
The other exciting thing that is going on is that we are moving. We have rented a 2 bedroom house really close to Edgewood and UW. The house is cute, and the owners are pretty nice. They let us paint the room for our baby, which was really exciting for me, as I've always had a dream to paint a room and haven't been able to since we've lived in apartments the last 4 years. We painted his room a really pale yellow and put a border up. The wall is yellow below the border and white above the border. The border is pale blue, pale green, pale yellow and pale purple with different animals on it. We bought little wooden shapes of a boat, the sun, the moon, and stars to hang on the wall, I painted them light green, blue and yellow.
So, that is what is dominating our life already - our baby boy :) We're going to Cincinnati this week to visit family, and then we'll be back again for Rob and Susan's wedding, and my baby shower that Angie and Shannon are throwing for me Memorial Day weekend.
August 7
Well, it has been almost 3 months since I have written anything...oops. Since I am not attending UW anymore, I thought they would shut this website down, but they haven't. So, combined with that, and the fact that two people within the last 3 days have told me they have looked at it, I decided to write a little update. I am not sure if I am going to continue to do this, or switch back to my Xavier webpage: http://www.cs.xu.edu/~devon which I know I have forever. I'll post an update if I do move there.
So, a lot has happened this summer. When we were in Cincinnati back in May, I had a wonderful baby shower thrown by Angie and Shannon. It was a lot of fun seeing everyone, especially some of my friends I hadn't seen lately, like Emily Hunt, Amy Dowling, and Stacey Fowee. We got a lot of things, almost everything that we will need for our little boy. We also went to Rob and Susan's wedding, which was a blast. We saw tons of people there, and it was really a nice event. So yay for Susan, Rob and Andrew (their little boy).
When we got back to WI, we started taking our Bradley classes for childbirth. We are both really interested in going completely natural with this birth, and as Bradley really focuses on having the husband coach the woman and be involved, that sounded like a good class. Just like the NFP, we take what we want out of each class, so it works. The class is 12 weeks long, so it will end when I am 36 weeks, which sounded like it was so long away that first week in June, but now we only have 4 classes left. I am 32.5 weeks along in the pregnancy so far! We like that there are so many classes, because it keeps all the important things we need to focus on to go natural, like relaxation, on the fore-front of our minds. So, we are happy there.
I took three summer classes this summer at Edgewood. Two were good, one was not. Oh well, can't win them all. I am signed up for 4 classes in the fall, but after discussing it with Jeff, I think I am going to just take 3. I really don't want to bite off more than I can chew, and the class I am going to drop is offered in the summer, and has a practicum, so I think it might be wise. And if it turns out I end up feeling like I could have taken classes, well, that will be more time for me to spend with our newborn baby, which is really exciting and good since I won't be getting really any maternity leave (no maternity leave when you are a student) :)
I have to thank Joy and Eric Skaug. We went over there last night with some other Theory people that Jeff knows and had dinner and played a board game. It was a lot of fun. Joy and Eric made the baby a little lap quilt, it is beautiful and meant a lot to me, since i really cherish handmade things. I was really excited about that. So, Thanks Joy and Eric! We will use this quilt all the time.
We've picked out the name for our little boy, but it is a secret...Ask us and maybe we'll tell you, it just depends on the day :) I put some new pictures up of the baby's room (just one wall though) if you want to see it. It is under the pictures link on the left side of the screen.
Well, today is the first day that Jeff and I are both officially off from school this summer, so I think we are going to go disc golfing (although I'm just going to walk while he plays), and maybe to a movie! My mom and Brooke are coming up next weekend for a short little visit, so it will be exciting for them to see our house, my big belly, and to feel the baby moving around. We have a really active little boy so far! Ta ta for now!
September 12
Well, our little baby is due in 16 days, so we are really excited. The baby could come any day so we are getting anxious as well. We just want to have our little boy here with us, safe and sound. I'm feeling pretty good, although I have been having contractions on and off for a couple of days. They are not consistent though.
School has started for both Jeff and I. I'm only taking 3 classes, so right now I am pretty bored because I don't have a lot to do, but I am sure I'll be very thankful when the baby comes that I have some free time. Jeff found out that he will probably be okay in terms of the qual, so that is good and makes him a little less stressed.
Our families are both doing well, we are looking forward to seeing them when they come up in October to see the baby, and also Thanksgiving. We are going to Cincinnati for Thanksgiving this year, due in part to having the baby, and I also have Wednesday off of Thanksgiving this year. Well, next time I write, Jeff and I will probably be parents of a healthy baby boy!
September 25
Well, I know that I said the next time I would write, we would be parents. I was wrong. It is Sept. 25, I am due in 4 days, and Andrew has decided he hasn't wanted to be born yet. I had a weird dream last night that I had a really easy, pain free labor, and the dr's wanted to put him back in and make me do it again because it wasn't supposed to be that easy. I wonder what that means. I'm feeling okay, I had been having extreme back and hip pain, but it has gotten a little better the last day or so. Hopefully it stays better until he is born. We are _SO_ anxious for him to be born now. Our dr says that he thinks that the baby will not be too late, but I am not too sure about that. I mean, really, no one knows or can predict, not even drs. We have our appointment this week on Thursday, when I will officially be overdue, and I guess we will make another appointment the following week that hopefully we won't make it to.
Today is Margaret's birthday, so she is coming over and I am making eggplant parmesan (it is supposed to be a labor inducer :) I think her and Jeff might play some Nintendo or we might all play some board games. Jeff has his volleyball game that he is going to today, it may be the last one he can play in for a while. We learned that my family is definitly coming up the weekend of the 15th of October, and Jeff's family is coming up the 22nd of October, so we are going to have a busy month there, with a newborn baby who hopefully is born in September, or at the very least the first week of October. My dr won't let me go beyond 42 weeks, which puts me at Oct.13. Yikes. That is halfway through the month.
So, you can tell what is on our minds now...basically nothing but the baby. Hope you weren't too bored by this, but oh well if you were.
December 5
Well, it has been 2 months since I have written last. OOPS! As you can probably tell, I've been busy with the new person in my life, Andrew James. He was born on October 2, 2004, which means he was only 3 days late. He was born at 5:52 pm. He weighed in at 8 lbs, 13 oz and 20 inches long. My dr was guessing Andrew would weigh between 7-8 lbs, so we were surprised when he was almost 9 lbs. He has continued to be a big baby. Currently, at 2 months, he is 14 lbs, and about 24.5 inches long! Yikes! He is currently wearing his 3-6 month clothes, and has already outgrown some of those.

Andrew is pretty much the perfect baby. We are so blessed by God to have such a safe and healthy baby. He has been sleeping through the night for almost 4 weeks now. The last week or so, he has been sleeping between 8-9 hours each night. He is a really smiley, cheerful baby who is very alert and loves looking around and seeing things. He really only cries when he is hungry, tired, or has a dirty diaper. I don't know how we got so lucky. He smiles a lot and has started talking a lot as well - baby cooing, that is. He has a Winnie the Pooh Playmat that he lays on and just loves talking and hitting the different toys that are suspended on that. If we didn't have that, I don't know what we would do, because he'll lay on that for a good hour, in utter happiness.

His newest thing is that he is really starting to be able to move his hands and grab things and realize what he is grabbing. It is quite fun to see how excited he gets when he moves his hand and grabs something, and intently stares at what he is grabbing.

So, besides Andrew, what is going on in my life. My classes this semester are really easy. I hardly have any work for them at all. I don't imagine they will all be like that, but so far, of the 7 classes I've taken, they have all been pretty easy and not much work. I'm taking 4 classes next semester, the only one I'm worried about is the Real Analysis math class. Hopefully that will go well. I was worried about missing a week of class when Andrew was born but the frustrating thing is, there are definitly people in all of my classes who have missed more just from not coming to class than I did when I GAVE BIRTH! oh well...

Jeff continues to be the best husband in the world. He is wonderful with Andrew and so loving and supportive of me. He is an awesome dad, which makes me love him even more. He is taking the qualifying exam in CS next semester, so I hope I can support him and do some things for him while he prepares for that stressful event

Besides that, not much has gone on. We went to Cincinnati for Thanksgiving, which was nice because all of the family who hadn't met Andrew was really excited to meet him. Andrew did really well flying also. Olivia was especially excited to meet her first cousin. We are driving to Cincinnati in about 2 weeks to spend a long time there for Christmas break. Andrew is getting baptised on Jan.2 as well, so all are welcome for that. It's at Assumption Church in Mt. Healthy. I'm nervous about our drive, since it is 8 hours and Andrew has never been on a long drive, but we'll be fine, I'm sure.
December 13
Some fun things that have been going on up here...My friend and former college roommate, Erin Steinbrunner, is getting married next December 23. She asked me to be a bridesmaid, which I was so excited about and honored to be asked. I've never been in a wedding before (beside my own :) and am so excited to be a part of Erin's and Ryan's wedding.

Today, Andrew was sitting on his play mat, smiling and cooing like normal. I was sitting next to him, talking to him and playing. Jeff came up and said something in this weird British accent that he has, and Andrew started bawling and screaming crying. It was so sudden that it was funny. I don't know what did it and what made him cry, but it was right when Jeff started talking to him in that weird accent, so of course I blamed him and told him he can never use that accent again :)
January 29
Well, once again I have been slack on writing in my blog. Such is life. Things are going well here. We had a great trip to Cincinnati and Cleveland over the Christmas break. We got to see a lot of people, and Andrew got to meet the rest of his family that he had not met before. He did a really great job on the car ride there, sleeping his long nap of 3 hours, and then taking another two naps, so he was only really awake for about 3 hours total. One thing we realized is that he doesn't really like to drive at night when he is awake. That was the only time that he was really fussy, at the end when it was dark. We're thinking he might get scared because he can't see us but is moving. On the car trip back, he was a little more fussy but still a great baby. While we were in Cincinnati, he was baptized at Church of the Assumption in Mt. Healthy (Jeff's parents parish). Debbie, Jeff's sister, and Mike Matera were the godparents. We had Deacon Rick Reder perform the ceremony, and he did a really nice job. Andrew behaved really well and didn't really fuss at all.
Now that we are back home, things are pretty busy. I'm in class full time, as is Jeff, and I have two night classes this semester (for the first half). I don't really like night classes, but that is how it works when we arrange our schedule so one of us is home with Andrew all the time. Jeff has been studying a lot for the qual, which he takes on Monday, so pray for him that he passes. He has been working really hard studying and I am proud of him. He is also teaching one of his TA classes this semester instead of just TA'ing it, which is another thing that I am proud of him. He does a really nice job in my opinion.
Andrew is doing really well. He is getting more hair, but still not a lot. He is the king of drool, as he is really drooling a lot and probably goes through 3 bibs a day. We're not sure if he is beginning to teethe or not, because he likes to chew on EVERYTHING and not really suck things anymore. I don't see any teeth coming in though. He is getting really vocal and likes to shreek, which is fun to wake up to in the morning. Yes, Andrew is our human alarm clock, as he wakes up every morning right around 7. At least, he goes to bed around 8:30-9, so that is a nice chunk of time after he is in bed for me to get some work done. He has not rolled over yet, but likes to roll from his back to his side and hang out there. He also has been working with Jeff on crawling :) Jeff will put his hands behind his feet, and Andrew will push off and creep forward. He's gone a couple of feet forward doing that. Andrew is also really starting to sit up a little better, with less support from our hands holding his back. He is such a sweet baby and Jeff and I praise God every day for giving us this wonderous child.
February 13
The most exciting point of the week is definitly the fact that.... ANDREW ROLLED OVER!!! He's been rolling from side to side on his back for quite some time now, but hadn't shown any interest on rolling to his stomach. On Thursday night, we were playing on the ground, and he rolled over! I was so excited and started clapping and shouting, and he started laughing and smiling and looking at me like I was crazy. Then, yesterday, Jeff and Andrew were participating in a class for expectant fathers to 'learn' about being dads (Jeff and Andrew were the props, with Jeff showing how to care for Andrew). Jeff said Andrew rolled over two more times, and is getting a lot better at really pushing himself up on his hands once he is over. Last night, Andrew just kept rolling and rolling. It seems like he really enjoys this new trick. So, if you are not a new parent, you are probably bored sitting here reading a paragraph about rolling over, but it was really exciting for us.

The other really exciting piece of news has definitly been .... Jeff passed his qualifying exam. That is huge, exciting news. That means now that he is officially in the PhD program and can really start progressing along. His goal is to take the prelim next spring, which is another scary thing we have to look forward to. That is basically him being in front of a panel of professors who drill him about basically anything they want to in his area. But, for right now we are celebrating him passing this incredibly stressful test.

We're also interviewing a few babysitters with hope to find one or two who can watch Andrew about once a month. We've decided that it will be good for us and for him if Jeff and I take some time each month to focus on being a married couple and not just parents. Plus, it will help Andrew out by not always being with mommy and daddy. Both sitters we've met so far have been great, which is a relief. We are also starting up a babysitting co-op type deal with another few families who have babies Andrew's age, so once a month they will watch Andrew for us to go out, and once a month we'll watch their kids. We're excited about doing that as well, because Andrew is starting to like to look at other babies a lot.

Well, tomorrow is Valentine's Day, and I'm not sure that Jeff has anything planned. I got him a box of candy which he has already devoured, a movie, and some other little things. Last year he really outdid himself, but we'll see about this year!