Ouch.

      Yesterday morning, I woke up with a headache and a sore breast and popped some Advil.  Didn't think much of it.  Hopped in the car about an hour later with Haven and drove to the eye doctor to pick up some contacts.  Went in, grabbed the contacts, got back in the car.  

Here's where the trouble started.... 

       As I was driving home I felt like my headache was coming back, felt really cold (even though it was 75° out), and then I started feeling woozy.  I had to really concentrate on the road to get home.  I called Luke and told him he needed to come home asap.  The second I got home I threw on some sweatpants, a hoodie, and socks and hopped under the covers.  I was freezing by this point, shaking pretty badly, and had body aches all over.  Luke came home and took Haven to his parents so I could writhe in pain without a baby trying to grab my attention.  I threw up twice before I took my temperature which registered at 103.1.  At this point I thought, "Hmmmm, maybe the doctor wouldn't be such a bad idea?!"  I couldn't get ahold of Luke so I called my bff Ashlee and asked her to take me to the walk-in clinic. 


       After dealing with an annoyed looking receptionist, we waited for about 10 minutes before they called my name.  I told them all my symptoms, they weighed me (yuck), and took my temp.  I tried to get it across that I was in quite a bit of pain by this point.  When the doctor finally came in I think he realized how bad I was feeling, because he was being very sympathetic.  He looked me over, and sure enough, he told me I had mastitis.  A painful infection that breastfeeding mothers get.  (Now I know I am getting that disgusted look from some of you thinking Haven is too old for that.  Well you'll be happy to hear the doctor thinks I got it from weaning so drastically!)  So the doc gave me an anti-nausea shot, let me take a short nap in the office (that's service!), and sent a prescription for some antibiotics over to the pharmacy.  Ash and I went and picked up the prescription and some ice cream and then she dropped me off at home.  The good friend award definitely goes to Ashlee!


        I woke up not feeling the best this morning, but am definitely on the mend now.  I even exercised today.  I'll be back to normal by tomorrow I think.  Thanks to everybody that called and texted me yesterday.  Hopefully the TLC from L will keep on comin. ;) 

We Care for Kelly

       On Saturday we headed over to Omaha in the early afternoon to attend the "We Care for Kelly" benefit that was held for my mom, Kelly Channell Maigaard.  It was a special event that was put together by her good friend Mary Sutera Becker whom she met in high school.  My mom is dealing with a rare cancer called Leiomyosarcoma, aka "The Purple Dragon."  4 in a million people get this kind of cancer.  It is extremely uncommon and therefore a lot of doctors aren't sure how to treat it.  

      The benefit was fabulous.  As we walked in we were able to purchase dinner, as well as purple ribbons, raffle tickets, and suckers.  There were also various items to bid on in a silent auction, including an amazing painting of my Papa done by our good friend, Ben Schuh, and also a guitar donated by the guitarist from Styx and signed by the entire band.  Nuts, huh?! 

Painting of Papa, done by Ben Schuh

      We all ate dinner and talked while some raffle prizes were given away.  As the night went on, more and more people showed up.  If I had to guess I would say over 200 people.  It turned into a huge party and everybody had a blast.  Mary put together a very touching slideshow with pictures of my mom, our family, and a special tribute to my Papa that got the tears flowing.  Later in the night a band called "Monsters in the Basement" started playing, and continued on until most everybody went home.  (Or so I was told.  I had to leave at 9:30 to put Haven to bed.  Sigh.  One of the perks of motherhood.)

      The outpouring of love was absolutely overwhelming.  I couldn't believe all of the amazing people that turned out, many traveling from out of state.  It was a complete success.  Thank you everybody for caring so much about my mom!

All the girls, Chloe, Mom, Chels, Haven, Me.

Great pic of my Grammy and Mom.

The "We Care for Kelly" benefit. Before most guests arrived.

Proud Parents

In case y'all didn't know, Luke and I are big racquetball nerds.  We didn't start playing until the end of high school/beginning of college.  But once we started you couldn't stop us.  We played for Iowa State's racquetball club, traveled throughout the Midwest going to different tournaments, and actually competed at Intercollegiates in Tempe, AZ a couple years in a row.  We even befriended a few of the pros.  Two of them had a crush on me.  True story.

Here are some of my old racquetball pics...

Me serving, while Luke and I played doubles at the Iowa Games.

Me at the Iowa Games.  We won.

Luke and my first ever mixed A/B doubles game.  We didn't win.

So, all that to say, you can imagine how happy we were when THIS happened...

Let's go, Haven!  Clap-Clap-ClapClapClap!

To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.

Today my heart is broken for my friend.  I received an email that said my friend Dave's dad passed away from cancer last night around 7:45pm.  Only three weeks ago did they even find out he had cancer.  They gave him two weeks to two months to live.  Dave and his fiancée Jill were supposed to get married in June and moved the wedding up to April 17th to ensure Dave's dad could be there.  All I can say is, thank you Jesus that he was able to make it to the wedding, because now, 5 days later he is gone.  Dave said that his dad's last good day was the day of the wedding.  He asked his dad the next day if he enjoyed the wedding, and he replied, "absolutely."  Dave also mentioned that his dad lived long enough to ask him how he enjoyed married life. Life's little blessings.  Things we would normally take for granted.  


My Papa passed away on September 4th of last year.  Wow, almost 8 months ago.  It makes me want to say, Oh life, how can you be so cruel?  I wasn't ready for him to go.  And I am sure that Dave wasn't ready to lose his dad at this young age.  (He had just turned 50 earlier this month.) God has a plan.  That is my comfort.  God has a plan.  He knows what He is doing.  And also, we have to be happy that there is no more pain for Dave's dad and my Papa.  


Thank you Jesus for comforting us in these times of great emotional pain.  You give us the strength to get through it all.  To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.


Love, CK

20 months

      Today is my Havey Baby's 20 month birthday.  Time has really flown.  She has gone from being my little tiny baby to a toddler who can walk and talk and is actually pretty independent.

Here is my baby 20 months ago today:

And here she is now:

Love you Haven.  You are my world.

Wedding Bells

Today was one of those beautiful days I'll remember for years to come.  It started out very early.  My bride needed to be at the church by 9am, so we needed to start her hair by 7am.  (I like to give myself PLENTY of time.  Nothing worse than feeling rushed.)  I decided for my own sake that I would drop Havey off with her grandma.  So I took her to my mom's in her pj's at 6:30am.  I got home and Jill and Dave showed up not too long after.  I got right to work and about an hour and a half later we had the final result...

Doesn't she look beautiful?!

It was a really beautiful day.  A little chilly, but the sun was shining and it was very nice.  And I couldn't be happier for Dave and Jill.  It was a long time coming and one of the greatest love stories you'll ever hear.

So sweet. :)

New Bedroom Set!!

I'm so excited!  After a couple years with really cheap bedroom furniture, we finally got some good stuff! Every time I sat down in our old IKEA bed the boards would fall out the bottom.  (Ok, is that saying something about the bed or me?!  Hopefully the bed...)  And also, one of the drawers in our chest of drawers refused to stay on the rails.  Annoying to say the least.  So now it's time for the big reveal!!

Here is the old furniture (stolen from the IKEA website, since I wasn't smart enough to take a picture before it was disassembled.):  

And here is the new, fabulous furniture!

Haven loving the new bed.

Haven still on the bed in the mirror.

And here is Haven throwing a fit right before naptime.

(Had to throw that in there.)

Now I need to get off of here and enjoy that delicious new furniture smell.

Love, CK

Welcome sunshine, please stay awhile.

Today, even though Haven is sporting a little cold (or maybe allergies?), we ventured out to the park.  How could we not with those 80 degree temps?!  I figured a little sunshine would do her good anyway.  We had on our sunglasses, shorts, t-shirts, and sandals and off we went. Here are some pics to chronicle the event..

On the jungle gym.

Sitting with Mommy on the baseball field.

Done for the day, walking to the car.

Let's Get this Party Started

Let's get to know each other.  I'm Courtney, but my husband Luke (L) calls me CK (my initials before I got married) and we have a beautiful daughter, Haven (sweetie).  I'd like to take this chance to explain what I want this blog to be about.  I am going to be as open and honest as I feel I can be.  I think that makes for the best reading.  I am going to talk about my everyday worries and woes when it comes to being a mommy.  Also the questions I face when it comes to the tough decisions, like immunizations.  
But I don't want it to be all serious.  I fully intend on geeking out and talking about
my love for Twilight, but I'll try to keep that to a minimum since I know you all aren't
as crazy as I am; my struggles with spending too much money, will probably come up; maybe
once in a while I'll talk about what I'm cooking for dinner that night;  and I'm sure every
so often I'll give a movie review as going to movies is one of my favorite pasttimes.  And be prepared for some
pictures as well.


I love writing and journaling, so this way maybe somebody else can enjoy it besides myself.  I went from being a young college student to married with a child so quickly that it is interesting to see the transition I have had to make.  I am still a fun, young woman but with different priorities and goals.


Hope you have fun on this journey with me.


Love, CK

Sweetie, L, and CK earlier this year in Maui