I took Jacob to Mom's this morning because Mel has an Dr appointment. She is going to pick him up afterwards. Mom called this morning and asked if I could be there early cause she has to take Kenzie to school. When I got there Kenzie was holding a cloth over her eye. Her left eye was very swollen and red. She said it was like that when she woke up this morning and told me it was very itchy. Mom decided to have her stay home from school and take her to her house. Jacob looked out the door and said "Tree" and then started talking about other things outside and pointing. I put him in mom's car and gave him a kiss and hug goodbye. Jared stopped at my work on his way to Ohio to say goodbye. We were very busy at the time so I only had time to walk outside with him and say goodbye. I sure am going to miss him. He should be getting back late tomorrow. Towards the end of my day at work it started to rain really hard. You couldn't even see out the window and it was blowing. There were tornado warnings out. By the time I left it was only sprinkeling. There was a puddle around my whole car about 3-4" deep. There was a little less water on the passenger side so I crawled through that way. Melissa said she got the bathroom ready with toys to sit in should a tornado come. On our way home we stopped at Salvation army. The lady asked if Jacob had gotten a haircut and asked him when Mommy and Daddy were going to start working on a sister - I said, not yet. They think Jacob is the best baby and can't wait til we have more. I got Jacob a magna doodle and a glow worm for under $2 for both, they are like new. Jacob is determined to use the wrong side of the pen to write on it and every time I try and turn it around he turns it right back. I stopped and got a capiccino and it hit the spot on this cool, rainy day. As soon as we pulled in the driveway at home Jacob said "Da Da". I told him that Daddy was in Ohio and would be back tomorrow. We played chase around the living room and he was laughing really hard. When I was holding him I said, "Can I have a kiss?", he turned his head, puckered his lips and leaned over to give me a kiss. This is the first time I've gotten a puckered kiss, usually I get slobbered. I got out Jacob's two favorite books, he saw me and came running over. I held him asleep in my lap while watching the video of his birthday party.

Kimmy

Jacob had a Doctor's appointment this monring. Jared met me at my work at 9:3o and we went over to Mel's to pick him up. It was raining outside when we got to her house. At the doctors (actually he saw an assistant) they said he was 55% for weight and 90% for height. He was doing very good on the charts they said. He weighed 22lbs 8.8 oz. He was 31 inches long and his head is 19 inches. He was very good for his exam and liked the snake around the lady's neck. She said his name was Nake. One day a little boy said to her, "Oh, You have a nake". So every since that has been his name. She check out the red blotchy spots by his shoulders and thought it was exema. She told us to use unsented baby wash and gave us some soap and cream. Jacob had to have 2 vaccinations, one in each arm and a poke in the finger for a hemaglobin check. I held him in my lap as they poked him. He did very good for the first shot and didn't even cry. The second one she warned stings - he did cry a little for that but then stopped. The poke in the finger he did great for too. When we left I got him a sucker that we shared in the car. He smiled big after every suck. After work on our way home we drove through a bad storm that was very hard to see while driving. It didn't last long. After we all had our dinner I gave Jacob a bowl of yogurt and a spoon to feed himselft with. He needed some help as I'd guide his hand toward his mouth. He stuck his hand in the bowl and then rubbed it in his hair. It's a good thing he gets a bath tonight. He was playing with his new toys tonight. He was pushing his tractor and catipillar all over. He giggled as we chased him around the couch.
Kimmy

Monday, May 29, 2006

This morning Jacob slept in til ~8am. Jared and I stayed in bed until he woke up. Aunt Kat and Uncle Eric left shortly after we got up this morning. Grandma and Grandpa Russell stayed and went over to the mall with us to watch Jacob play in the play area. Jacob loved Grandpa's beard and was laughing when he'd make funny noises. At the play area Jacob went around to the different things. There was another little boy there also. He was 20 months old and there with his Grandma. Jacob really enjoyed crawling in the tunnel wheels of the car and having Daddy chase him from one side to the other. Jared said he thinks he was having more fun than Jacob - but I don't know Jacob was really laughing hard. We said our goodbye's to Jared's parents and then they headed on their way back to Indiana. Bruce called and asked if we wanted to come over for dinner and let Jacob play in the pool with Hailey and Max. We all three took a nap and then left for their place. We stopped at my Mom's house to drop off the tables and chairs we used for Jacob's party. Hailey was sleeping when we got to Mel's house. Jacob went into her room and crawled on her bed to wake her up but got distracted by the fun on crawling up and down off the bed. Melissa and I dressed the boy's in matching outfits - they looked so cute. Jacob did not want to keep the hat on unless I distracted him and he forgot he had it on. After dinner we went for a walk around the block. We put the boy's in the double jeep stroller and Hailey in the single umbrella jeep stroller. We walked to 7 eleven for slurpies. When we were walking around the other side of the block Hailey looked at all the toys in her back yard and held her hand out saying, "I want to go there, - I want to go there". She didn't know that that was her yard but it looked like lots of fun. We got the kids in there suits and Bruce turned the sprinkler on. Hailey ran into the sprinkler and Jacob followed. As soon as the water hit him he turned around and ran the other way smiling. He went back to it again. I put him in the pool with Max. At first he didn't want to stay in but after a little while he loved it, splashing and playing with the toys. We all went up to the Rehab to visit Grandma. We wanted to see her and show he the boys in their matching outfits. It was so nice to see her up sitting in her chair.

Kimmy

Sunday, May 28, 2006

Kate woke us up alot during the night with her short, sharp barks. It was annoying and we decided that tonight she is going to have to sleep in the barn. Every time she'd hear someone move in the other room she'd bark. Jacob had oatmeal for breakfast and got to try cocoa pebbles. We got ready for church - today's one service so it starts at 10am instead of 10:45. It was a rainy this morning but by the time church was out it was hot and sunny. When we got home I gave Jacob something for lunch. I tried to give him his fruit, which he usually loves, but he was so tired he didn't want it. Jared and I cleaned him up and took him in for him late morning nap. Jared made me some coffee and I typed on the computer while everyone else watched the race. After Jacob got up from his nap we took him outside for a ride in the wagon. I went inside to get his pool that he got from Nana at his birthday party. At first he didn't want to stay in it. But once we got splashing and sat him in it with the duck he had fun. It was really hot outside so we went back inside and turned the air on. I read Jacob his two favorite books, Old Black Fly (which we got at Copper Harbor last year) and How Does a Dinasaur Clean his Room, on the couch next to Jared. Jacob and I tickeled Jared's knee. While Jacob was taking his evening nap the six of us played Train - a dominos game. It was 7:30 and Jacob had been sleeping for 2 1/2 hours so Jared and I went in to wake him up. He was happy to see us. We made some dinner and Jacob a little cake after. He didn't like it much better than yesterday. He did eat a couple bites of cake and got blue frosting all over. Jared and I worked on cleaning up the kitchen. Jared handed Jacob a spatula from the dishwasher and he walked around with it for awhile. Well, I'm very tired and ready for bed - Good night. Kimmy

Jacob's Birthday Party

Jared's parents, Jared, Jacob and I went out to Dunkin Donuts this morning. We got Jacob a donut again today, another chocolate frosted. After that, we went over to the Midland farmers market. Lela picked us up some flowers that she thought would look nice in our flower garden. Jacob was really tired so we worked on keeping him awake in the car on the way home so he'd sleep in his crib. After laying him down for him morning nap we tried to burn a DVD of pictures of Jacob from 0 - 12 months to play at the party. The DVD burner wasn't working. Jared went to the store to get some video tapes while I worked on boiling some eggs. I kept checking on the computer to see if the DVD was loading. It didn't work so I tried to put together a whole new DVD which took a couple of hours and ended up not working either. It was very frustrating. We ended up just putting in his DVD from 0 - 10 months and called it good. Jacob woke up and had some mac-n-cheese for lunch. Jared and I worked on making sloppy joe's for dinner. Aunt Kat and Uncle Eric arrived around 3pm. They handed Lela a pink gift bag with pink tissue paper. Inside was a blue and white bib saying "Thank heaven for little boys". They had an ultrasound and found out they were having a baby boy. So Jacob will have a little boy buddy to play with. Yeh!!! Jacob opened his birthday gift from them. They got him a Leap frog catipillar that lights up and had letters A-Z on its legs and does all sorts of things when you push them. Jacob can pull the string to make it go but he'd rather push it like his trucks. We watched the video of Kat's ultrasound. It was really neat to see. Eric pointed out many features on the baby. It was about 4:30 when we lay Jacob down for a nap. I wanted him to be rested for his party. Aunt Missy, Uncle Bruce, Haily, and Max were the first to arrive, then Nana, Great Grandpa, Papa, Aunt Vikki, Kenzie, followed by Great Aunt Vikki and Uncle Terry. Shortly after that Aunt Debbie pulled in honking her horn, with Aunt Milda, Amanda, and Matthew. The house seemed really full - packed shall I say. Jacob was still sleeping, but when Dad went to bless the food I heard him crying. I went in his room, changed him and brought him out to see all the people here to celebrate his 1 year birthday. He came out with a big smile on his face at all the people. Dad prayed and we ate. Amanda played Happy Birthday on the piano. Matthew got him amigo stuck in the mudd so the guys went out to rescue him. We walked around the place and the kids went into the chicken coop to catch the chickens. I held Jacob in my lap and we lite his birthday cake. He really wanted to grab that candle. We sang Happy Birthday to him and he loved it. I blew out him candle cause he doesn't quit have that blowing thing down yet. We cut a piece of cake and put him in his highchair. He was not interested in the cake at all. He would stick his hands in it and rub his eyes but he did not want to eat the cake. Jared and I scooped cake and ice cream for everyone while Jacob played with the blow horn. He was pulling it apart piece by piece. He loved the balloons by his highchair. He got frosting all over one of them. After we got him cleaned up and everyone was done with desert we started to open the gifts. Jacob was more interested in holding the cards and walking around than ripping the gifts open. He loved the trator he got. He spent alot of time pushing it all over the house. Jared and I got him a soccer ball which I think right now Jared likes more than him. Kenzie had a raffle with some flowers she made and names on popsickle sticks. She sang Happy birthday to Jacob in sign language. Jacob loved her singing to him especially at one part where she said "Cha Cha Cha" and moved her hands up and down. At about 9:30 after some had left Jacob looked exausted. He went over and lay in Daddy's lap and I though he was going to be out. He had sticky cake in his hair so I decided to give him a bath before bed. Hailey was still here and Mel and I have been wanting to give them a bath together. It was so cute to us Mommy's to see our kids in the tub together. We wanted to get some good pictures so we were singing and being goffy to get them both to look at us. It was alot of fun even if we got our feet wet a little.

Kimmy

May 26, 2006 Jacobs First Birthday

After his nap it was time for lunch. We went to McDonalds so Jacob could play in the kids room. He tried fries for the first time and liked them. Daddy took him through the tunnels and he looked at me from the top and smiled. He and Daddy went down the slide. Afterwards we went to see Grandma at the rehab. She looked so much better than the last time I saw her, which was right before her surgery. She gets up to walk with help and a walker. She was very happy to see Jacob on his birthday since she is going to be unable to attend his party. We closed the door to her room so he could walk around. Jacob was having fun crawling up and down on the cot in her room. We had a very nice time there and really enjoyed seeing Grandma. On our way home we stopped for ice cream cones from McDonalds. I shared mine with Jacob. It was time for dinner when we got home. At ~9:30pm Jared's parents arrived. We watched Jacob walk around outside and looked at the flowers. We went inside and Jacob opened his presents from Grandma and Grandpa Russell. He got a bright red Radio Flyer wagon which Jared put together right away. Jacob crawled through the box like a tunnel. Once the wagon was together we put Jacob in and Jared pulled him around the house. When he stopped pulling Jacob would move his body to try and get the wagon to move. The other present was a beautiful quilt made by Grandma Russell. It has Sunbonet Sue and Suspender Sam on it and their doing different things like holding a horse wipp, fishing, holding a balloon and several other poses. I think Jacob reconized it because of his wall hanging in his bedroom of the same characters. He kept walking over it or sitting on it and he pointed to different things on it. He hung out their til it was time for bed.

Kimmy

Jacobs First Birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This morning when Jacob woke up, Jared and I went into his bedroom blowing the horn and singing happy birthday. He sat in his crib and smiled looking up at us. Jared picked him up with a big Happy Birthday. I video taped of course. The house was all decorated and you should have saw him look around at the streamers on the ceiling. He looked all over from one streamer to the next. I gave him the horn to hold. He would hold it out for Daddy to blow and then he wanted me to blow it. I gave him a piece of the streamer to hang on to. So he had a horn in one hand, streamer in the other and he wasn't going to let go of either. I made him eggs for breakfast which he didn't really like, so I fixed him his oatmeal and fruit. We got him a couple of presents to open today so we put them on the floor and waited to see what he would do. He went back and forth touching both presents but did not tear them. I started a tear and he ripped that piece off. He stood up and walked around with it so proud of the piece of paper in his hand. I helped him start a couple of piece and he ripped them the rest of the way. He stood up with a piece in each hand and walked over to look out the window. I helped him and opened them up the rest of the way. He got a mega blocks truch with Bob the builder and a hammer that lights up and makes funny noises. He played with them while Jared and I got some things ready for tomorrow. We went into town and got donuts, muffin, coffee and pop. I went in and got Jacob him own donut. It was his first time eating a donut - I got him a chocolate frosted like Daddy gets. He loved it. Every time I'd give him a bite he'd stick his hand out right away for another. He ate half and then I put it away. I think he would have eaten the whole thing but I didn't want him to get sick. We went to meijer for a few things and then we went over to the mall to let Jacob play in their Dow Chemical play area. He had so much fun. He was all over the place. At one time Jared left and I said, "where's Daddy". He looked all around for Daddy and then Daddy came back. There was a little boy only about a week younger than Jacob there. Were back at home now and Jacob's taking a nap.

Jacob's favorite word to say right now is "Tree". He likes to look at them and says it so clear. When we got home from work Jacob was a "Daddy's boy". He didn't want him to set him down. Jared took him outside while I packed up his bottles. We won't need them anymore because today is my last day pumping milk. I'll still nurse him but we will be weening him off that too. My little boy is growing up. We are doing some cleaning and I'm going to shampoo the carpet. Jared read Jacob a Dr. Seus book and then he took him into his room and they played together. I read Jacob the Dr. Seus book too (Green Eggs and Ham). He sat there and listened to the whole book. Jared gave him a bath and got him in his pj's while I was cleaning. I nursed him before bed and then I lay him in his crib. I wrapped his presents and Jared suprised me and folded the laundry. The we got out the decorations for Jacob's birthday. Jared hung the streamers and I decorated the table. We had fun. At 12am Jared when in Jacob's room and took his picture - he is now 1 year old.
Kimmy

It was very cold this morning. Jacob looked out the window this morning and said, "Tree, Tree". Jared had to scrape windows before work. Put a winter hat on Jacob and he did not like it much at all. My dentists office called my work to remind me of my appointment tomorrow. I said ok, but did not want to go at all. A few ladies, including the dentist, bring their pet to my work. I asked Jared when he called at lunch if he would go instead of me. He hasn't been in a long time and I keep trying to get him to make an appointment. He was busy with work tomorrow so he couldn't anyway. Its such a busy week I decided to call and change it. I made the appointment 6 months ago and had forgotten to tell my boss I needed it off. It was back when I was working part time. Since I have already requested a busy Friday off for Jacob's birthday I did not want to ask some more time off. I also have to leave on Tuesday (another busy day after the holliday) to take Jacob to his 12 month check-up. When I called I got a lady I know well from work. She offered me a different time tomorrow but that wouldn't help me out. Then she said, "we had a cancelation for 1:00 do you want to come right over". I didn't want to, but I could see they weren't going to let me off easy. My boss was gone running errands so Teressa said it was ok it I left for a little bit. The dental hygenist was very nice. I had never had her before and I liked her. I talked to my dentist and she told me that along with feeding her cat prescription diet, she was also feeding a mouse. She turned the lights on to see a mouse eating from the cats bowl. Did a little shopping for groceries and called to order the cake for the party. Jared was weed wacking when we got home. He had his ear plugs rapped over his neck and Jacob wanted them. I took Jacob in to eat dinner and I also got things ready for tomorrow. Then we went outside so Jacob could run around in the grass with his bare feet. He walked over to look at the goats/sheep and even pet Clarence's nose. We walked all over the yard and played chase. Jacob learned how to walk up a hill and walked down it one. He was much better at going up. He took a couple face dives coming down. The mosquitos were out so when they started to bother us we went in. Jacob now knows where to look for his belly button when you ask him. I looks but I usually have to help him see it.

Kimmy

Jacob loves sitting forward in the carseat. This morning, at work, I got a phone call from my sister Melissa. She said that my Grandma had fallen and cracked her hip bone and it was going to require surgery. I started praying for her right away. She was at the hospital when it happened going to have blood tests. They are worried about doing the surgery because she is on chemo and radiation for the cancer. Jared got out of work early and went over to the hospital to visit her. My Dad got there right after he did. He then went home to work on yard work. I went to the hospital after I got out of work at 6pm. I stayed til shortly after 7pm. I heard the doctor talking about how riskey it would be to do the surgery because of the cancer in her lungs. That got us praying even more. I love my Grandma so much and I pray for her every day. I walked as they wheeled my her bed to the Pre-Op room. I said my, "See you later", and then went to pickup Jacob. Ran into my Aunt Jody by the elevator on floor 1. I took her to floor 2 and showed her where Grandma was. When I was leaving Melissa's Jacob pointed at the tree and said "tee" over and over. He likes to touch the leaves on the trees. Jacob fell asleep when we got close to home. Jared got Jacob's lunch ready for tomorrow and the dishes done when we got home. I was changing Jacob into his pj's out in the living room and I took off his diaper and let him run around naked just for a moment. Jared said, "Kimmy - look at Jacob". He was peeing on the carpet. I quickly lifted him up and set him on the hard floor while he finished. Jared was laughing so hard - it was very funny. Jacob thought so too. He now like to run it a tight circle til he gets dizzy and falls down. I just got a call from Mom saying Grandma's surgery was over and it went very well. I got to talk to Grandma and she sounded great. That makes me so happy!!

Kimmy

Sunday, May 21, 2006

Jacob road in his new carseat sitting forward facing today. He seemed to enjoy being able to look at us. Towards the end of the ride, we looked at him and he had both arms behind his head and he was sleeping.
After our donuts, muffin, pop, and capiccino we stopped at a few garage sales. Then we went home and gave Jacob his lunch. We had to be at Mom's at 1:00 to drop of Jacob and then be to my work at 1:30. We got dressed in our team shirts. We were the Star Belly Sneaches. This year's theme is Children's stories; Mother Goose, Dr.Seuss, Hans Christian Anderson, the Brothers Grim, and Classics. There were 14 tough to solve clues. Jared was our team captain. The first clue had us looking at an some Inn in Frankenmuth with a painting of a church on the wall in their lobby. We needed to figure out which Inn it was and count the steps up to the church and x that number by 6. We were running all over trying to find this painting. Jared ran a long way from one Inn to another while we drove in Matt's Hummer. He said he was very tired after running all that way. These clues helped us fill out a map leading us to a statue of Little Bo Peep. We had 3 hours to find all the clues and get to the end of the map - its a little hard to explain but we had a lot of fun. Afterward they took us to dinner at the Black Forest Brew Haus. We won prizes for Second best team name. We got to pick from a table of children books, DVD's and gift certificates. Jared chose Dr Seus - Green Eggs and Ham and I chose The Best of Mother Goose. We got back to Mom's at ~7:30. Jacob had lots of fun. Mom said Dad was giving him a horsey ride and Dad said "Do you want to take our picture". Jacob really loved it. Papa took him to play outside and watched him with Kenzie while my mom took Grandma and Grandpa their dinner. Jacob sat on my Dad's lap for about 25 minutes just wanting to be held. We got out Kenzie's tunnel for him to crawl through. He crawled back and forth. Dad and Jared played pingpong - and out of about 10 games Jared won one.

Kimmy

On the way to work this morning Jacob and I were almost in an accident on the highway. Some guy in a big truck decided to turn around in the authorized vehicle only section. It was very busy and he came to a quick stop with his truch halfway in the fast lane. I had to stop and I thought the vehicles flying behind us were going to hit us. My heart beating hard. It's very scary, especially when you have your baby in the back seat. When we got to Mel's she showed me a huge bruise on her leg and some other bruises on her legs. When I asked her what happened, she said it was just from scratching her leg. She said she was going to go and see her Dr. today. Then at work, around 10am, I got a call from Mel saying she was not feeling well and that she was going to go to the ER. She had a fever, her legs were shakey, and her heart was racing. She said, Mom might have to take her if she couldn't get ahold of Bruce at work. Joni (my boss) said I could leave if I needed to. I told Melissa to let me know. She called a little later and Bruce was taking her to the ER. Mom was going to watch Jacob and Hailey and they would take Max since he doesn't drink from a bottle to well. I waited to hear from them what the doctor said. I finally got a call near the end of the day. Her bloodwork came back normal except her platelets were off. Not sure on the details. They still weren't back when I got to her house. I offered to stay with Hailey til they got back so my Mom could go with my Dad to their motorcycle outing. At around 6:30pm they called that they were on their way home. Hailey, Jacob, and I had fun playing. When we got home we checked on the animals. Jacob just wanted to go by the chickens. He walked through the barn over to the horses, goats, and sheep. We checked out our garden and we don't think all the corn is going to make it - we may have to plant a couple more rows. Jared brought Jacob's pj's out to the living room to get him dressed and ready for bed. He had the "num, num's" get him and Jacob loved it. He was laughing so hard. He crawled over to Trumans bed and lay next to him still laughing really hard.

Kimmy

Won One for the Little Guy

Jared here, This is part two in the Ethernet Saga.

Apparently I've a nack for writing emails to large corporations and getting responses rather quickly... SoI recieved the most recent DSL modem from Centurytel today and plugged it in to the old ethernet slot and of course it didn't work. Plugged it into the new ethernet card I bought and voila it worked great...so I thought I'd call Centurytel and let them know that their tech service stinks like a pile of horse manuer on a hot summers day. Well the tech service was less than interested in my saga as I tried to explain it all...they've all the notes on it and they always seem like I'm speaking greek. So I mentioned getting reimbursed for the ethernet card, and of course he gave me a phone number to call and said goodbye... quite interesting. So I called up good old customer service... got an address to ship the bad modem back too and then I put in my request of getting reimbursed for the ethernet card I bought due to there DSL modem frying mine. Well after repeating myself a couple of times and getting put on hold...needless to say that if the tech help couldn't fix the problem, their customer service didn't understand either. So after being on hold for a while my request was denied... I hung up... even though she wasnt done talking, I was.... needless to say I wasn't a happy camper. So I began to craft a letter... Not only did I begin to craft my letter but I replied to the customer service survey's I had gotten sometime back and forgot to fill out...there were at least 4 as each time you talk to tech service you get a new one. I did give them some excellence in speed of answering the phone but poors for just about everything else.

So I was crafting this letter and I went to the Centurytel website to find some email addresses... Lets just say I sent my letter first to the customer service VP... yup I found a lot of good email addresses with just a little indepth clicking here and there. So then I sent it to the reginal manager as well as the reginal customer service rep and just about anyone else I coudl find that was associated with Customer service as well as responsible for the state of MI. I'll paste my letter in now....

The netopia DSL modem supplied by Centurytel failed, when it failed it also fried my Ethernet on my computer. The tech center was no help at all...look it up. I called several times and each time they had no idea what to do other than issue some commands and send another DSL modem. I bought a 21.19$ Ethernet card and installed it myself and managed to get service with one of the new DSL modems supplied by Centurytel. All I'm looking for is to be reimbursed for the 21.19$ for the Ethernet card... I don't think that's too much to ask. The calls have been answered quickly but the service those calls provided were in the negatives...absolutely no help. There are plenty of companies offering DSL service... it's time to set yourselves apart from the rest and make a difference. I'm certainly not happy with the service, tech or customer, or the fact that the modem supplied by centurytel took out a component on my computer that is less than 1 year old. I went online at work and found more help than your tech service provided... I have a degree in Biology, I'm about as tech savvy as a penguin on roller-skates and I was able to trouble shoot a bad integrated ethernet.

Please, I'm just asking for Centurytel to do the right thing, when you hit a baseball through your neighbors window you go and pay for the window...you don't have to buy them a new house, just pay for the window. That's all I'm asking centurytel to do. I'll send a copy of the receipt when I hear back from you. ... your customer service rep was less than helpful... I wish I'd of gotten her name. Are you folks really serious about losing a DSL customer for 21.19$...hence my reason for Centurytel not knowing what the words Customer Service are all about.

Thanks for your time Jared Russell

So that was my letter... I've gotten great response in the past with letters. I got a free pair of Jeans from JC Penny's because they were rude to Kimmy when she tried to return a pair of my jeans as I got the wrong size, and wouldn't take them back...

Well about 5 minutes after I sent out my barage of emails to Centurytel folks I got this response... now mind you Customer Service said they couldn't reimburse me for my Ethernet Card... And seemed surprised I would even ask for such a thing. I was more than willing to send them the reciept ect... ok...below is what came back 5 minutes or less of my email campaign.

Dear Mr. Russell,

Thank you for your recent email. I sincerely apologize for any inconvenience that you may have experienced.

In response to your request, CenturyTel has issued a one time credit in the amount of $21.19 to your current May 16th billing statement . Please accept this credit as reimbursement for the damaged Ethernet Card that was replaced due to the allegedly faulty modem.

Mr. Russell, thank you for taking time to bring this important matter to our attention. I can assure you that CenturyTel does value our customer service relationship with you as well as your business.

If there is anything further that I may do to personally assist you, please feel free to email me directly.

Thank you for choosing CenturyTel as your telecommunications provider.

Sincerely,
Lynda McMahan
Quality Assurance

Like I said, won one for the little guy... Ok so she used the words allegedly faulty... it is faulty and when I send the modem back you better bet your bippy that they'll be a few letters inside with it. Just maybe I'll send it to the president /CEO...that address has got to be there somewhere....

Jared

I got to sleep in some this morning. I got up when Jared left for work. I went outside and checked on the animals. Went around the yard looking at the flowers and garden. It was a little after 7am when I went back inside. It was nice not having to wake Jacob up in the morning. He was so happy to see me. I picked him up and took him out to the chair so I could hold him. We sat together and talked. Of course I don't really know what he's saying, but I didn't let him know that. He'd talk and raise his tone as if he were really excited about what he was telling me. I told him about his birthday party and about all the friends and family coming to see him. And I told him how glad I was to be able to spend a day home with him. I made him pancakes for breakfast and had one myself. We played and watched Baby Einstein. He kept going to look out the window. Its cold and rainy outside. We bundled up and went out anyway. Jared called and I was very happy to hear from him. The phone started to beap cause the batery was dying so we said goodbye. While Jacob was taking his morning nap I did laundry and cleaned up the house. I have alot of catching up to do in the house. Jacob slept for 3 hours and I got alot done. I wanted him to wake up so bad that as soon as I heard a peep I went in. For lunch I made him dino bites. While I was feeding him I set the bowl on my knee - not a good idea. I moved my knee a little and down went the bowl. What a mess - the dogs helped me clean it up. We needed diapers a some groceries so Jacob and I went into town. Jared meet us at Walmart after he got out of work. By the time we got home Jacob was ready for his afternoon nap. He was very sleepy. Jared and I went out to water and check on the animals. When Jacob woke up I got his dinner ready. The past week he's been wanting to eat while watching Baby Einstein. He does not like to eat unless thats in then he cleans his plate. Even if he can only hear it from across the room in the kitchen.
We were all on the floor playing and he was acting really funny. He would run around in a tight circle - getting himself dizzy. Then he'd hand onto the couch before doing it again. He did the same thing a little while later in the crawling position.

Kimmy

LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON

Bruce and Mel brought Jacob to my work after I got out. It was raining out but felt warm. Jared and I met at Salvation army on the way home. I was going to try and find a sterio for my work. When we got home I got out of my work clothes and got Jacob's boots on. We went outside. Jacob was bending over to pick up some rocks. We walked over to look at the garden. There is corn, peas, onions, and lettuce coming up. It fun to watch them grow each day. Jacob wanted to walk through the mudd puddle, so we let him. Then he decided it was fun to run back and forth through it and he ended up sitting down and splashing in it. It was funny and boy was he muddy - head to toe. We took him straight to the tub. After splashing in the tub, I dried him off and let him walk around the house in he "birthday suit".

Kimmy

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

When we got home this evening, Jared suprised us by having BBQ chicken on the grill. It smelled great. I made potatoes and pees too. Jared had to make a quick run to the store for some more gas for the grill. Jacob and I stayed and walked around outside. First Jacob walked over to the chickens, then to the cat, and back to the chickens, then into the barn. He's sit in the grass and break it off, then look up and smile. The sky got really dark and I knew it was going to rain, so we went inside. When Jared got home we had dinner and watched American Idol.

Kimmy

Monday, May 15, 2006

At Mel's this morning, Jacob said "Cha" for champ(their dog). After work when I open the door and he saw me, he was so excited. He came crawling over to me and climbed up. I picked him up and he gave me a really long hug. He looked at me, smiled and hugged me again. When we got home Jared had the lawn mowed and the yard looked nice. It was really long from all the rain and needed a cut. Jacob had so much fun playing with his stacking cups in the tub tonight. When it was time for bed I lay him in his crib and he cuddled on top of hes blankey next to his bear. He looked up at me and smiled. I touched his face and said good-night.

Kimmy

MOTHER'S DAY Sunday, May 14

Shortly after we woke up this morning we heard Jacob talking in his crib. We decided to get ready and go to the early morning service so that we could go over to Mom's and suprise her by making pizza for everyone. We made 4 large pizza's and of course we all like our pizza's different, including the one without cheese for my Dad. Jared went to the store to get some pop. By the time they got home from church all the pizza's were ready to put in the oven and the place was cleaned up so my Mom could just relax and enjoy lunch. The lady in the church nursury today said we weren't getting Jacob back, she was keeping him. After lunch, Vikki, Rody, and Kenzie left to go over to Rody's mom's. While Mom, Mel, and I went over to Grandma's to visit for a while. The kid's stay back with the Dad's because they can't be around my Grandma. Hailey was exposed to hand, foot, and mouth disease at church last week and the Dr says they need to stay away from Grandma for a couple weeks because of her health with chemo and radiation. We had a very nice visit - my Grandma got a DVD player. When we got back Jared was on the floor playing with Jacob. On our way home we stopped at meijer for a few things. At home we took care of the animals. Jacob kept pointing at Daddy and then over to the tractor, saying "teekter". Jared took him for a ride. Tonight he kept walking around the house holding him blue elephant. It was cute.

Kimmy

Saturday, May 13, 2006

Jared and I got up this morning and hurried outside so we could move the horses into a new paddock before Jacob woke up. Celeste is “in heat” so her and Sammy were "glued" to each other. We walked Celeste and Nutmeg over and then I went back for Sammy while Jared got them some water. The grass is really long in that paddock. Usually when we put them into a new paddock they run around for a while. Not today, I let Celeste go and she immediately put her head down and started eating the grass. When we went back inside, Jacob was still sleeping. He woke up soon and we went in to get him up. We are going to take clothes to Salvation army today to donate. I took inventory of the items while Jared fed Jacob breakfast and got him dressed. There were over 220 items to count. We packed the car full, got ready, and went into town. We went out for muffin, donuts, coffee, and pop as usual on the weekend. We drove by Jared’s old K9 apartment and showed Jacob where Daddy used to live. We dropped off the bags of clothes at Salvation army and went inside to look around. The ladies were happy to see Jacob. We also stopped at TSC to pick up chicken food. I gave Jacob some cheese as a snack in the store. He loves kraft cheese slices. He said, “seese, seese” for some more cheese. While Jacob took him am nap, Jared and I went outside to do some yard work. I worked on the flower gardens and Jared worked on repairing the electric fence. Then I went over and cleaned out the chicken fenced in area. There was a lot of hay and “chicken dodo” to pick up. Jared pointed out all the sand on Celeste’s butt and back. She had been rolling on the sand hill. We noticed Sammy itching himself back and forth on a tree. It started to rain harder so we went inside. When Jacob woke up he was very cuddly and just wanted to sit on my lap. Which I loved! I love how cuddly he his when he wakes up. He smiled over at Daddy across the room. We decided to go out for lunch at Fazolies for Mother’s Day. Yesterday Jared had a gardenia plant sent to my work with a note from Jacob for Mother's Day. It was very special to me. On the way to Fazolies, Jacob pointed at something out the window, though I’m not sure what he was pointing at. Jacob had a sip of Daddy’s pop and did not like it at all. He did like my turkey sub. We went to walk around the mall afterwards. There was a new play area for kids so we took Jacob in. It was things like a TV, bed, car, grapes, toothbrush made out of really soft plastic. And the carpet was really padded. His favorite was the TV he could crawl into. He took a couple of face dives to get out but quickly learned after showing him how to back out. He cried when we left. I called Melissa and told her about it and were are going to meet there later and let Hailey and Jacob play together. So after Jacob’s pm nap and dinner we went back to the mall. They had so much fun. Jacob loves Hailey and wants to do what she does. He is a very brave little boy and was walking all over the play area from one thing to the next. He would get knocked over and then get right back up. He kept walking up to things and laying his head on them. One little boy walked up, hugged him, and kissed his cheek. Jacob walked up to a lady, grabbed her knee and helped himself up. She told me she had a 3 yr old and missed him at Jacob’s age. They kids played for almost an hour and Jacob was now very tired. He wanted to be held. Hailey played a little longer and then we put them in their strollers. I got to hold Max for a while, He is such a happy boy. He does not like to ride in the stroller. When we got home I nursed Jacob and then he wanted down to played a little more. We had cheerios and then it was time to go night night. We lay Jacob in him crib and turned out the lights.

Kimmy