Long (but fun!) Weekend

I took work off on Friday since we didn't anticipate having a babysitter available, and Skip couldn't get off work Thursday night. I had made myself an eye Dr. appointment since I knew I was off, and would take advantage of not having to take other time off work, and just planned on bringing Preston with me. Well, we ended up having Molly available last minute for the morning, so I dropped him off at her place while I went to the doctor. My eyes have been tired after sitting at a computer and reading as much as I do for work, so I wanted to get them checked out. Reassuringly, it turns out I have 20/20 vision, both near and far and in both eyes. The doctor wrote a prescription for mild reading/computer glasses, though, so I've joined the 4-Eye club... at least while I'm at work! Hopefully this will help make my head and eyes feel better after long hours on the computer.

(On a side note, it was really weird, because my left eye picked up more of the dilating solution, so my pupils were really uneven for a few hours. It looked really weird, like I had some brain injury or something!)

After I was done with my eye stuff, I picked up Preston, then went home and we had lunch. We took a little walk after lunch with Scotch, then packed up the car and hit the road to Crystal Lake (it actually worked out better with having to take the day off work, since we could get down to CL sooner). We stopped for a quick visit at MCC to see Papa, then got to my mom and dad's house. I had planned on going to the football game that night, but timing (and people coming with me) didn't quite work out, so we just went for sushi then came home and had a fire. Oh, Preston was a champ at the restaurant (as always), enjoying his first tofu, along with avocado and tons of sticky rice. I felt a little bad with the mess we left for our server, but Preston had fun feeding himself!

Saturday morning we got up, and actually visited with Skip for a little while... He had driven down to CL after his shift was done (so, at like 4 am), so he was down in CL by 6ish. He stayed awake until we got up, then went to sleep for the day. This would be our life of odd schedules... Mom and I went to the gym while Papa and Preston hung out. I actually RAN at the gym! Amazing, huh? Haha... After we got home, I got ready, ran a couple errands, then Cunninghams picked me up to go to Liz's shower. The shower was very nice, and it was great to visit with everyone.

After the shower, I came home and got ready for my 10-year h.s. reunion. It turned out that a bunch of my family was in town, so mom and dad's was kind of a madhouse for a little while, since my friends stopped by before the reunion, and all the family was there. But it was fun. We walked over to Dole Mansion, since it's so close, where the reunion was being held. As reunions go, I assume, it was sufficiently awkward, yet fun enough. There were actually quite a few people there, and I had a couple of decent conversations with people I haven't seen in a while. There were also a few other folks I talked to that reminded me why I don't miss that part of my life, and I suppose that was also to be expected. I was disappointed in the bar and food selection that was there, though, considering how much money we paid for the night-- sparse appetizers and only Old Style Light for beer (seriously). I suppose I shouldn't complain too much since I'm glad I didn't have to plan the event, but somebody missed the ball on the cost vs. food/drink ratio. Definitely NOT worth $50 each.

Skip and I reached our limit of reminiscence, so we went home. MichaelEckel drove us to downtown CL to meet up with the girls and Liz's bachelorette party. We ended the evening with stops at Duke's, Labemi's (eew), and Finn McCools. A little dancing on the bar and a 2am Taco Bell run rounded out the night...

We got up on Sunday, had a leisurely hungover morning, then hit the road. On the way home we stopped at our friend's Roger and Kathy's for a quick visit, then came home. Considering the fact I didn't go to bed until 2am the night before, I was asleep by 9pm. Yes!

Babies Don't Keep

Just a poem for the day, maybe to explain why my house might be a mess sometimes, or why I haven't gotten around to other responsibilities. If you don't have babies yet, trust me, you'll appreciate this someday. If you do, you'll probably cry...

Mother, O Mother, come shake out your cloth,

Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,

Hang out the washing, make up the bed,

Sew on a button and butter the bread.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?

She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I've grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue,

Lullabye, rockabye, lullabye loo.

Dishes are waiting and bills are past due

Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo

The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew

And out in the yard there's a hullabaloo

But I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo

Look! Aren't his eyes the most wonderful hue?

Lullabye, rockaby lullabye loo.

The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow

But children grow up as I've learned to my sorrow.

So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep!

I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.

- Ruth Hulbert Hamilton

Update 8/23 Part 2

The rest of the past week was uneventful, and Preston got to spend some quality time with our temporary babysitter Molly. She has been so helpful with us while Cassandra is recovering from shoulder surgery.

Friday night we went over to Adriane and Lawrence's house for a going-away party, as they are moving to Ohio in September. We are going to miss our new friends!! :(

The weekend was really nice, and it was great to be around town for once. We all got up at our usual time on Saturday morning, as Skip was on-call for Meda-Care for most of the day. Preston and I ate breakfast, then went out and ran some errands. We picked up our pictures from Sears, then came back up to North Avenue in Wauwatosa. I always drive past the shops/stores in East 'Tosa, and have always wanted to stop and see what they were about, so this was the day. We stopped in a neat consignment store, which I will definitely go back to. Really nice brands of clothes, for really low prices. I may even have to "consign" some of my old stuff that I don't wear anymore. Then we walked to a lighting store, then to a kitchen store... I didn't realize that the kitchen store is a "full-service remodeler and showroom," not a retail store like I was hoping it was. Well, I walked in, and of course got talking with a guy who worked there. He was showing me around, which I really didn't want him to do since I was just browsing, especially since we don't have the funds at the moment to actually DO anything yet. Eventually he asked me what my budget was, and when I gave him a rough estimate (which I don't even know if it's realistic or not), he stopped just short of laughing at me. He basically told me that I couldn't afford anything that they offer, and that I should have told him that when I first walked in, since it would've wasted both our times if he wrote up a proposal I couldn't afford (which I was not asking him to do). Um, yeah, time to leave this store! I guess we will be doing our own work on our kitchen when the time comes!

So, I dropped Preston off at home to nap after that, while I went back out to get Scotch's pet food. Discovered a natural, locally-made dog food for him that I'm excited to try! When I got home, Skip went to work for real, and Preston and I just had a nice evening at home, after a quick trip to the grocery store. I made a delicious (yet time-consuming) seafood paella, while Preston decided he no longer likes pureed baby food. I was mad dashing all over the kitchen between my cooking and finding all kinds of things for the boy to eat. He went to bed pretty early, so I just watched a movie then went to bed.

Sunday we woke up, and Preston and I went to church while Skip did some business with Damien and Nikolai. The band has been undergoing some changes lately, so they've been working together figuring out what to do. After church, Preston napped, and I actually got the chance to sit outside and get some sun! It was wonderful! When Preston woke up, we all piled into the Mazda and headed to the county grounds to get the dogs out for exercise. Yes, dogS. We've been dogsitting for our little buddy Coop, Scotch's friend from the dog park. Anyways, Skip brought his golf driver to hit some balls in the field, while we walked along with him. After the park, we hit up Aldi, then came home. However, on the way home, as we were driving past Long Wong's, we saw a delicious sign that said "Bloody Mary's," so we walked up there to have some! It's nice with no smoking allowed in any bars/restaurants in Wisconsin, since they really are all over the place up here, and are actually fun to sit at during the day-- even with kids. The culture up here is a bit different than the Chicago area when it comes to that.

Can you see the dog through the backyard forest?

Stylin' at the dog park...

We pretty much just hung around for the rest of the evening, and Preston had another bought of "Sunday night meltdown," this one the worst yet. He just didn't want to sleep, and was really hungry. I ended up laying in bed with him for a while and giving him a bottle while he calmed down. He finally went down, and by that point, so did I! Skip bottled his beer, then we called it a night. It was a very nice weekend!

Update 8/23 Part 1

I realized I haven't updated in a while, so I figured this is due. Let's see, where to begin...

Our little family finally got a chance to meet our nephew/cousin Sawyer Morgan Manning! And of course we got to visit with Tom and Erin as well. They came into town on th 13th, so we went down to the Yacht Club on Friday night after work. We had a really nice dinner down there with the whole family. It was so great to have everyone together, especially the two little guys. We had the chance to visit outside on the patio after dinner, but a storm rolled in so we headed home after a little while.

We got up Saturday morning and I went to the gym and ran some errands before getting ready for Sarah's bachelorette party. When I got back, we got Preston packed and got all ready, then Skip dropped me off at Sarah's before taking Preston down to Racine (he and the band had a show that night, so Nana and Grandpa were on "Preston duty"). Jes, Shay, Sarah, Amanda, Allison and I putzed around the house and got it ready for the party, then everyone started arriving. We drank and ate at the house for a few hours before hopping in our limo to start the festivities.

All in all, I think the evening was a success, and that'll be all the details I'll give! It was a bachelorette party after all, so some things need to stay sort of secret!

Sunday Skip and I slept in a little bit, since Preston was away, and then got ready and went down to Racine. The plan had been to go sailing, but the conditions weren't quite right for a day out on the boat with babies... I have to be honest, thank God! I was pretty darn nervous! So, we ended up going to the Racine Zoo instead. It turned into a beautiful day, though, so we had fun. We vegged at Mannings for the rest of the day (I actually fell asleep on the couch for an hour or so, I was pretty exhausted), then had dinner out on the patio. We got some wonderful pictures of the babies, and they played so well together. Preston needs to bulk up a bit, though, because he always seems to be the one that the bigger babies climb all over!

Monday morning rolled around, after a very long night with Preston. He tends to have his "Sunday night meltdown" every week, but he decided he didn't even really want to sleep through the night at all. We didn't know if it was overload from the weekend, or popping a tooth, but it was a rough night. So I ended up calling in for work that day, nearly out of pure exhaustion (plus my stomach was upset, I think from the food the day before). We were all able to catch up on some rest, then work a bit on getting the house ready for visitors that night. Tom, Erin, Sawyer and the Harris's came over for dinner, and we had a great visit. Skip was a master at the grill, and the weather was nice enough for us to be able to sit outside (without getting too eaten alive by skeeters). Skip left the visit a little early to go see Stone Temple Pilots at The Rave, so I stuck at the house while our visitors stayed for a bit longer. We all said our goodbyes, but look forward to spending Christmas (or some time soon after) out in California in a few months!

9 months!

Can you believe Preston is 9 months old already?! Holy cow. Actually, he's more like 9 1/2 months at this point, but I'm a slacker in updating!

He had his Dr. appointment last week, and he weighs 15 lbs 1 oz, and is 26.5 inches long. That puts his weight in the .18%, his length in the 8%, and his big fat head in the 23%. :) Like always, the doctor isn't worried, since his growth has been on the same curve all along. He got a couple of shots, so he slept really well that night and the next day. We got the go-ahead on pretty much any type of food (that's cut small enough or soft enough), except of course for a couple things that need to wait a few more months, so he's been enjoying eggs for breakfast now!

This is his latest "trick"... Mommy and Daddy need face and clothes shields at mealtimes!

Productive weekend at HOME

Loved it. Nothing on the calendar for the WHOLE weekend. I was so excited!

I left work on Friday to meet my mom in Lake Geneva to swap Preston (they had him overnight). We had a nice visit over a glass of wine, while Preston finished about 1/2 of a hamburger. I've never seen such a tiny little thing eat so much! Preston and I did a little shopping down in LG before heading home, and then crashed once we got home. He had reached his limit of Maurices... :)

On Saturday, Preston, the little angel, decided to let Mommy sleep until 8 am!! I woke up in a little bit of a start, though, because I couldn't believe what time it was when I looked at the clock. I was expecting 6:30 or 7 like it usually is when he stops amusing himself enough in his crib and decides he wants out. So I went in there, and he was happy as a clam just waking up. We got up and had a leisurely breakfast, then went with Sarah to see her wedding dress fitting. She's going to be a beautiful bride!

After we got home, Preston laid down for a little nap while I went out to the backyard. I had to empty the damn ponds again, since we didn't think to poke holes or empty the tubs from the last time, so they had filled with rainwater. Urgh. So I emptied them. By that point, Skip had woken up (he worked 'til 3am, so he slept in), so he came out and we got the first pond tub out. The previous owners of our house had really jimmied that damn thing in the ground, and surrounded it with fieldstone, so it was a haul, but we got it out. I moved the bridge as well. So, now there's a big 3 ft x 4 ft gaping pit in our backyard that needs to be filled... but that's going to have to wait for another weekend. As long as the dog doesn't start digging in the mud...

Preston had gotten up by that point, so we had some lunch, then got to work on the ceiling fan in the living room. One of the arms had randomly broken off a few weeks ago, so we had to get a new one (which was desperately needed for circulation, since only one of the 5 windows in the front of the house is not caulked shut... urgh... another project for another day-- why did the old people caulk windows shut? Seriously.). Anyways, the old one came down, and the new one took a while to put up. FYI, ceiling fans are a b!tch to put up. Especially when your ceiling is 85-year-0ld plaster, not drywall. But it's up. Haha, hopefully it STAYS up!

By that point, it was time for me to start my dinner prep. I made pork rib tips in salsa verde, so it took some time. Preston had gone back down for his afternoon nap, so I had plenty of concentration on the food. It took a couple hours, but I haven't had the opportunity to cook like that in a while, so I was having fun (and not even cursing my evil kitchen!). Dinner turned out delicious. Skip went back to work at 7, and P and I had a leisurely evening at home.

Sunday we all slept in again (!), and then Preston and I got up and went to church. He really is such a great kid at church, and loves the music. He got the hiccups at one point, though, and made everyone around us laugh when the hiccups would echo... it was pretty cute :). We came home and got Skip moving, then had lunch before going to get some family pictures. Preston was a champ at Sears and the mall while we were out. We have realized over the past 9 months that we are seriously blessed with such a happy, well-adjusted baby. His smiles, laughs, "words", "crawling", finally-growing hair, big baby blues and everything else about him just light up our lives. We are so lucky!


Anyways, we met the rest of my family for dinner on the south side since my mom and dad were up to fly out of MKE the next morning (to San Diego, to celebrate their 35th anniversary! What an example!). We had a very warm, humid meal on the patio at El Fuego, but it was good. We were really ready to punch out by the end, though, so we headed home. What a great weekend, and I look forward to the next one, when we get to meet our nephew Sawyer (and of course see Tom and Erin), and celebrate Sarah's bachelorette party and Skip's band's show. Back to the business of summer!

Not crawling, Waving, and Bobbling

Just a few recent videos I've taken of Preston:

First is his method of getting around for now...

Second is him waving at Mommy!

Last, but certainly not least, is his infamous "Bobble Head":