Wrapping up 2013

I haven't posted in forever... sorry. That's life for ya!

Since I posted last in September (yikes!), not much has happened that's been too exciting directly for us, but we've been going along. My little guy is now officially a 4-y/o, and thankfully along with that has come some reasoning. Boy was he tough for a while there. They say that the "terrible twos" are the worst, but with Preston it was definitely the Terrible Threes. Testing, testing, testing! His adjustment to preschool paralleled how he was doing at home, so it wasn't the easiest transition. Thankfully his teachers were in communication with us throughout the months, and we were able to work with him at home and school to get him on track. From what we've heard, he is a thousand times better at school now, which makes sense since he is the same at home. Back to his sweet, goofy self that we really missed for a little while there!

And Rose... My dad calls her "Little Miss Me Too," which about sums her up. She is a spitfire, this one. Already talking like crazy, and fiercely independent... unless she wants to do something that Preston is doing. It's so funny seeing the two of them together, and at times exhausting, but I'm confident to say that my kids are going to be very close as they grow up. Knowing that we're probably done at two, I'm happy that the two I have will be good friends.

Skip's back on track at work (thanks to what sounds like some butt-kicking to those responsible for the schedule...), which has been so much more manageable. Basically 5 days on, 8 days off. His work days fall over every other weekend, but at least it's been consistent. We had a few months where it was just killing us to be back and forth and running around so inconveniently. It's hard enough to be managing a family when one person is on a third shift, let alone a third shift that jumps around. That's basically the single most stress-inducing aspect of our lives, so if we can have his schedule be predictable, our lives are a whole lot more predictable.

Our Christmas was good, celebrating with Mannings on Sunday night, then we got to do the typical Preston Christmas Eve (hosted by Cederlunds this year), then Christmas morning with the Eckels. I am STOKED for my new hedge trimmer, lol. Gotta love getting older, when you get excited about gardening implements. Rose is now stocked with enough baby dolls to last her through toddlerhood. The same goes for Preston with cars and planes. Rumor has it my dad is looking to take him to EAA next summer...

We also welcomed a new niece into the family - London Marie Manning joins mom Erin, dad Tom (Skip's brother) and siblings Sawyer and Nova out in California :).

Famous last words, but it looks like we have a pretty quiet January/February coming up. Preston starts swimming lessons again, so that should be fun for him. I'm hoping to be able to reconnect with some people soon - I've been feeling very out-of-touch with pretty much everyone except my family lately. Crossing my fingers that it works out. This year went by so fast. While I'm so excited to see what 2014 brings, I wish it would slow down a little! Now I know what my mom meant when she said she "lost a few years" when her kids were little. I don't want to lose this time!

My baby isn't such a baby anymore!

It's really hard for me to believe that it was 4 years ago that we were expecting Preston. So much has changed in so many ways for us since that time, and we've learned a lot! And now he's off to school! I know it's just preschool, but it's still amazing to see him off doing something really just for him. He has been so excited about it, too. We lucked out with him starting a week later than the local schools, because all of his "back to school" gear was totally marked down at the store by the time we got there. Sunday we made trips to Target and Kohls to get his Lightning McQueen packback (yes, he switches the b and p), new sneakers and a couple of new outfits to start the year off right. (On a side note, Kohls was interesting. I had Rose on my back and Preston in the cart. Throughout the course of the shopping trip, Rose successfully pulled an entire stack of jeans off a shelf while I was picking up a shirt Preston had pulled down, and I cleaned up an entire baggie of spilled pretzels off the floor.)

I dropped Preston off at Curiosity Corner at 9 on Monday, and he couldn't have done better. He went right to his spot to sit down, and immediately started chatting with the little girl next to him. No tears, no clinging to my leg - just blew me a kiss from the doorway, and I was off. I was so proud of him. I saved the tears for the car. ;) We had a couple of pre-preschool meetings and sneek peeks last week to prepare both us and him, but it was still a little bittersweet dropping him off that first day.

Both kids have also finally outgrown their carseats (we milked that 32 lb, 32 inch limit on the darn infant seat for Rose as long as we could...), so they are both excited to be in new ones (well Rose got Preston's). Luckily our small breed of children allowed us to use the little seats far longer than we'd ever expect.

We had a long weekend up in Algoma over the Labor Day holiday, which was fun. The weather cooperated splendidly, so we were able to spend most of our time outside. Enjoyed a little day trip up to Door County as always, but actually spent most of our time in Algoma this time. Such a friendly and low-key little town.

Skip's had a screwy schedule the past few weeks (urgh Elmbrook...), so between that, Preston's school stuff, Knightwind starting back up, and Skip's new band rehearsals (this new group is AWESOME, by the way...), I've felt like my eyes have been on the calendar constantly, trying to keep on top of things even more obsessively than normal. It'll be nice to get back into a better routine next month, once things get going and Skip gets his better shifts back. I don't know, I've felt awfully out of the loop with everyone lately...

Music. And holy crap, we worked on the house!

If you know me, you know I love music. I'm not a fan of everything, but I do have pretty broad tastes. Due to my exposure to piano lessons starting at 5 years old, and my choice to play the tuba in 5th grade, I gained a healthy interest into the world of band and orchestra music. That interest followed me all through college, allowing me the opportunity to play in the Augustana Symphonic Band (and take formal tuba lessons for the first time in my life!). The Augie Band was one of the most influential experiences of my time in college, and is something I will cherish forever. Thanks Doc ;) And Rusty, Kathryn, Lindsay... and many others. Thanks to Augie, give me a Holsinger or Grainger piece and some earbuds and I'm set. I've taken that continued interest (and the substantial piece of brass currently in my basement) to the next phase in life playing in the Knightwind Ensemble, of which I've made a whole new set of band friends. I think my commitment to continue playing has allowed me to feel like I still have some "me" in me. Having little kids and a crazy schedule lends itself to losing some of what I think makes a person who they are - although those things also become part of that person. But I've managed to stick with (and will continue to stick with) my tuba playing, just to always have something to immerse "just me" into. Make sense? Maybe not, but to me it does.

Also, you know that I wasn't one to follow others too much when it came to what was "trendy" music growing up. Despite trying really hard to be, I've never been a Dave fan. Which inherently sucks, because all my friends love going to concerts, and I've felt like the odd one out. But I've had my opportunities to see in person the bands that I've loved, most recently it's been convenient to see them only a few miles from my house and for "free." Two of the few CDs that I actually bought as a teenager were Los Lonely Boys and Live. So, you can imagine how excited I was to hear that LLB was going to play at Zoo a la carte last year! I got to spend time with little family, eat food, and listen to some of my favorite music. Guess what? It happened again this year, with Ed Kowalczyk performing on the same stage as LLB last year. I swear, if Alice in Chains decides to come to the zoo next year, I'll be a happy girl. Although I think that might be a little rough for the elk and bears to listen to...

On another "note" (ha)... We worked on our house this weekend!! Preston and Rose had a wet, sandy, fun time down at Mannings and the RYC, while we had the above-mentioned date night on Friday, then cranked out some serious organization on Saturday. We FINALLY got Skip's clothes organized and his dresser moved from the guest room downstairs to our bedroom upstairs (just baaaarely fit up the staircase. We will be hurling it out of a window when we move out). After cleaning up the space where the dresser was, we were able to move Skip's amps and guitars into the guest room, where they will likely take up permanent residence, along with the afore-mentioned substantial piece of brass. I'm okay with that. It's a cleaner space, and makes them more easily accessible. We had talked about that sort of being a music/guest room anyways. In doing that move, the playroom was cleared of the amps, so I cleaned out a little spare dresser that we had in the guest room closet (of receiving blankets... tear :( ), and moved it into the playroom for more much-needed storage. We'll be giving lots of clothes to Purple Hearts in the next few weeks, as we realized a majority of what was in that closet was stuff just dropped there in the move, and has been ignored for the past 3 years. Haven't worn it, don't need it - giving it AWAY. I also deep-cleaned the upstairs bathroom that Preston pees all over (ah, the joys of potty-training a little boy), cleaned their bedroom and ours, and worked a little on sanding/finishing the banister at the top of the stairs. It felt so good getting some serious things done around the place. Now we can really focus on the last things upstairs that have been on hiatus (electric, a few pieces of trim, DECORATING).

Had a great dinner, as always, down at Mannings that night - gotta love al fresco dining with Lake Michigan as a backdrop. Then we had a nice day Sunday at home and entertaining Skip's new band buddies for dinner. All in all, a much-needed good and accomplished weekend. :)

And I got meds for the apparent sinus infection and cough I have been fighting for the past THREE weeks, so this IS a good day.

Picture post!

For something a little different...

We went for $2 drafts on Monday at Burke's.  Rose was clearly ready to go!

My little grape-smuggler, ready to go sailing with PopPop and Nana. 
Too bad this suit isn't Coast Guard approved :(

Love love love these curls!!

We're goofy.  But loving the back porch!

He really wanted to eat Preston. 
Good thing there was that thick glass...

My little stinker.

Blurry, but love that face.

Preston got to help build the United States of Legos.  He's
over on the far left... his building ended up being placed
somewhere around Kansas...

Cheese face!!

Update June 2013

Summer is in full swing these days in Manning household.  Which is good, because we can get out of our house!  Yeah, the house hasn't had anything really notable done to it renovation-wise since before Rose was born.  Skip and I took one weekend a few months ago to finish a few things, but for the most part, we're at a standstill.  Someday it will get done!

Skip and I were able to go down to Mexico for a vacation at the beginning of this month.  It was great.  Sarah and Andy were going down for Andy's best friend's wedding, and originally my parents were joining them so they could watch Elizabeth and Megan.  Well, Harrisons decided not to go, but my parents figured they'd still go anyways.  Upon hearing that, Skip, Michael and I all said that we were in as well.  The prospects of a kid-free vacation in paradise were pretty appealing (but stressful, too, thinking of leaving them).  Preston and Rose stayed with Skip's parents for a few days, then Cassandra and Rich took them, then back to Mannings.  We were SO grateful that the kids had safe, wonderful places to stay while we were gone.

The trip was great, aside from the fact that it rained from the moment we landed until about 2 days later.  Won't go back to Mexico in June.  Once the weather got better, we were able to enjoy the sun, with us all getting sufficiently sunkissed.  The resort itself was very nice, and the food was great, too.  Apart from a few dramatic moments brought on by the help of tequila, we all behaved ourselves and had just a great time.  We even got to go to the wedding, which was very special to be a part of. 

Oh, when we got home, I got to meet little Myhre Hacker, who is just beautiful.  I am so happy for Steph and Mike, and can't wait to get to know that little girl and watch her parents grow with her!

In home news, Preston has been staying down with my mom and dad Tuesdays-Thursdays to attend Tot Camp at Barlina House ("Nomna's school!" [i.e. "grandma"]).  He has loved it.  Even though we miss him while has been down there, it has given Skip and I some quality time a.)with just Rose, and b.)to have quiet and productive evenings at home.  I've gotten some good housework done over the past few weeks!  He'll have next week off, then start again in July for 4 weeks. 

Rose is great, and finally walking!  She took her time with that, and is still not completely steady on her feet, but she's definitely getting there.  We're glad for this newfound "uprightness" because she had some pretty serious issues with her GI system, and being upright has helped get things moving a lot better.  We also had her back to the CHW GI clinic a few weeks ago, and they were very thorough with her and gave us a lot of answers and solutions.  She'll continue to be monitored here and there, but for now we're just working on getting that little girl regulated, so to speak... Better now than when potty training time comes along.  Which was verified to us by the NP at the clinic.

Rose also has awesome hair.  I just can't get over it.  It's getting blonder and blonder by the day, and she tans like the 1/8th Italian that's in her.  The curls and "nappiness" of her hair is definitely new territory for me, though!  I really sometimes just have no idea what to do with it!

My job's good, Skip's job's good, same old same old hecticness managing opposite schedules.  But we do it, and that's that!  We've all been fighting off some yucky virus/pneumonia-type crap the past week, so I can't wait for that to get the heck out of our house.  We're looking forward to a few weekend trips here and there throughout the summer, but will largely be enjoying the Milwaukee/Racine/Crystal Lake area, as neither of us have much vacation time left since Mexico. 

I will post soon with some random pics from the last couple months!

The things he says

I need to get these things written down, lest I forget them. Preston says some incredible, hilarious, insightful things these days:

When leaving our visit with Sister Marge at the School Sisters of Notre Dame (a.k.a. the Mother Ship): "That was such a nice day.  There were 90 Sister Marges!"
Also during that visit, after chasing him down when he nearly followed Sr. Marge to the bathroom, to Marge: "You done going potty?"  In front of all the other nuns...

When eating various things for dinner: "This is the beeeessst chicken/pasta/meat ever!"

When I leave or drop him off at places: "Mommy, you'll come back for me?"
And subsequently, when I pick him up or come home: "Mommy!  You came back!"

When Rose cries: "Awe... it's okay baby girl.  It's okay..."
Also when Rose cries: "STOP. CRYING.!!"

"Oh. Hi Scotch." in the most suprised little voice.

When Rose falls over: "IIII gotcha, I gotcha!"

"Ooo... I tooted.  Heehee."

"I'm so strusstrated." (i.e. frustrated)

He also puts the wrong emPHAsis on the wrong sylLAbles sometimes, which is hilarious.  He says "yesterDAY" and "TEE vee" as examples.

Preston, what's your name? "Preston Charles Manning."
What's Daddy's name? "Skip Charles Edward Manning THE FORF!"
What's Mommy's name? "Ellen Doyle Manning."
What's Rose's name? "Rose Mommy Ellen Doyle."

A year goes by...

...so fast these days!  I can't believe our little Rose is 1 year old!  She has changed so much so quickly, I want this time to slow down.  The stats:

Weight: 19 lbs, 14 oz!! 50th percentile according to the WHO, 29th according to the CDC.  Weird discrepancies... but great either way!
Length: 28.5 inches, 28th percentile

We are thrilled that she has now consistently been on the charts for months.  She's been weaned from her high-concentrated diet for some time now, so she has obviously become able to self-regulate everything.  We couldn't be happier. (As a TMI side, she's been having consistent trouble with her little GI system, but we have some recommendations from the doctor that will hopefully regulate her a little better.)

Aside from the medical and statistical stuff, Rose is perfect.  She has this incredible head of curly-wispy strawberry blonde hair that I just can't get enough of.  Those curls obviously come from her daddy!  It's just about long enough these days to pull back into bows, so it's fun to shop for that stuff now! 

She has 6 teeth, 4 on top, 2 on the bottom.  It's looking like she's inherited the infamous "Preston gap" on the top, and it's adorable.  She has a cheesy smile that comes out, but only with the ones she's most comfortable with.  This little one has definitely inherited her momma's personality... so she won't be opening up to many new people any time soon.  Which I'm okay with.  She knows who she likes, and knows what she wants.  But she is such a sweetheart.  And I love her for every inch of her little personality!

She has started "talking," and is ALL girl!  I caught her the other day with a calculator holding it up to her ear like a phone, just jabbering away in her little low voice.  Wonder who she was talking to...  She's just started using a few little signs, but that's a work in progress.  "More" and "milk" are coming along.  She usually just prefers to bang her fists on the table and wiggle her little hands and feet when she wants something.

She's not quite walking yet (I'm convinced she's content to have Preston bring her everything), but she stands like a champ and cruises around pretty well.  Preston took his first steps just after his first birthday, so she's pretty much on par with him - no worries.

It warms my heart to see my two babies playing so well with each other these days, too.  Aside from the times when Preston thinks Rose is a burrito and tries to wrap her up in a blanket, they are two peas in a pod.  They share that tiny little room, so I'm glad they get along so well!

I can't wait until the weather warms up, because I'm excited to watch her begin to explore her outside world.  With the inquisitive personality she has, she is going to be so happy to find so many new things.  I still can't believe sometimes that I'm a mom of 2, and how much our lives have changed and grown in the past 7-8 years.  As stressful as we can have it sometimes, I wouldn't change it for the world. :)

Honest thoughts as we begin 2013

A new year.  Just what I need.  Seriously.

I had started out writing this entry on December 31st of 2012.  It began as a reiteration and an honest "confession" of sorts of the various things that were going on in my mind as I remembered 2012.  However, I ended up deleting all of that, which to be honest, was a lot of stress-inducing negativity.  I've decided that dwelling on things in the past that can't be changed is only going to make things harder and more stressful on me, so therefore this post is intended to focus on the positive outlook I am working so very hard to have for this upcoming year.  How's that for an introduction?

First and foremost, a recap of the last month-and-a-half, since I haven't written since November.  Basically, December was a little crazy.  We had some time off at the beginning, but then jumped right back into our typical weirdness.  I was able once again to attend the Advancing Ethical Research conference for PRIM&R in San Diego from the 3rd-6th.  An extra bonus this year: Mom and Sarah came with!  After almost missing my connecting flight at O'Hare from Milwaukee, I got on the plane (Mom and Sarah - already on the plane - biting their nails in hopes that I would make it!) and we were off.  The trip was really nice.  The weather was great, the company was wonderful, the conference.. well, it was a conference in a dark convention center in sunny Southern California.  We were able to enjoy some wonderful meals, got to see our cousin Megan and her boyfriend Scott, and generally just have a nice time away.  The hotel was awesome, too (Mom scored a corner room on the 20th floor, overlooking the city and the bay - complete with Concierge level access.  It was a nice treat!).  Preston, Rose and Skip all survived being home for 4 whole days together, which eased my mind. 

As soon as we got home, we were back to the grind, with Skip working two weekends in a row to make up for the time he was home while I was gone.  Managed into one of those Sundays was the baptism of Waysen Joseph-Nainoa Meshenky, our newest godchild.  We are so honored to be blessed with being his sponsors - it means so much to Skip and I that Munch and Alicia chose us to be such a special part of this little guy's life.  Also during one of those weekends I was able to get down to Chicago with the family, where we checked out the (obscenely crowded) Christkindlmarket and enjoy a dinner at the Parthenon.  I decided I pushed myself and the kids a little hard that weekend, though, because we were pretty exhausted afterwards... which eventually turned into a visit to Urgent Care with Preston - with a 103.6 fever.  My poor guy had a really nasty ear infection and just was a limp noodle - on came the antibiotics.  Awesome timing for Christmas, huh?

We had a small get-together for the End of the World on the 21st, then it was TubaChristmas up at Bayshore for me on the 22nd.  Mom and Dad came up to watch the kids so that we could go out for our anniversary.  6 years already!  We had a wonderful meal at Rumpus Room, then enjoyed ourselves at the Tym's Christmas party that night.  The kids and I were in CL for Christmas Eve with the Preston's, then met Skip up at his parents' for Christmas dinner.  We had a couple of great visits with family, but then Rose and I started crashing.  By Wednesday both of us were down for the count - her with an ear infection.  More antibiotics!  I managed to drag myself out of bed long enough to make it to work only on Friday, then basically came back home for another 2 days.  We enjoyed NYE with Sarah W. and her kiddos, then a nice day off.

We were both back at work for a couple days before going down to CL to celebrate our Eckel Christmas.  I have to say, it was one of the nicest visits we've had in a while.  I think everyone was happy, got some pretty nice gifts (a Coach wallet for me and a turkey fryer for Skip!), and most of all just good company.  We only stayed one night, for we wanted to be back up in Milwaukee for the 3rd Annual Hacker Pizza Party on Saturday.  Great times had by all, and some great news ;).

Which basically brings us to now.  The holiday planning had been really stressful on us all - from friends to family - and there were a lot of factors to it, at least from my perspective (I think that's why we all got so sick).  To combat some of that happening again, Skip and I have really begun to make a serious concerted effort to get some things straight in our lives - our health and our finances.  We have a potential trip to Mexico in the works for June that has lasered our focus onto getting into shape and saving money, a couple of things neither of us have been too good at lately.  So far we have already seemed to have made huge strides on both fronts, and I can't wait to see how we continue.  I have said that the only thing I want for my 31st birthday in April is to have my house finished, so that is our other focus.  Between those things, and our  "typical" routine, that's just about enough to fill our plates.  I hope we stay sane and have at least a little fun in the next 5 months...

Preston and Rose continue to be wonderful.  That about sums them up 98% of the time.  A few pics from our Christmas card: