Wow, a whole month!

I can't believe I haven't updated in a whole month!  I suppose I just haven't felt like writing much, but I guess I should give some updates...

So let's start with my birthday weekend.  I had a bunch of people up to go watch the Cubs/Brewers game on that Friday, then worked on organizing the basement on Saturday.  My mom and dad were so helpful in working on getting things in order down there.  We've needed to get down there since we moved, because it was basically a "dumping ground" for the movers (the garage was, too... that's our next job).  I got some shelving units and we cleaned up down there, and it looks so much better.  There's also now room to move some of the crap out of the garage and down to the basement.  Saturday night we went out to an awesome dinner at a place in Bay View called Riviera Maya.  The food was SO good, and so were the drinks.  What a great birthday dinner, and great birthday weekend in general!  We had brunch down in Racine on Sunday, too.

For Easter weekend, Dwyers came up on Friday evening for a little visit.  It was funny seeing Delanee, who is only 10 months older than Preston, yet she is about a foot taller.  They played so well together, and I had such a great visit with Melissa and Chris.  We stayed around town since Skip worked Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights, so Sunday we went down to Racine for Brunch with the Easter Bunny at the Yacht Club.  Preston was a little weirded out by the bunny, but we at least got a couple of pictures.  That was pretty much all we did for the weekend.

I've started playing softball on Monday nights, which has been fun.  However, I'm WAY rusty and it's been an adjustment getting my body used to playing again!  My hands have been pretty sore lately, but it's been worth it to get out and play.  I've missed it!

The last weekend of April was Phase II of the yard.  You'll remember back in October we did Phase I, so now we needed to fill the holes left by the pond, smooth everything out, and get grass planted.  Which we did.  However, I had gone out to dinner at Joey Buona's the night before, so was pretty damn hungover from the $5 unlimited wine.  I was not the most productive yard-worker, so I was glad everyone else was!  Dad and Mom and Harrisons were a huge help, and we were able to get everything done by the early afternoon.  We went to dinner over towards Mom and Dad's hotel that evening, then I completely crashed by 9 that night.  We went to a memorial service on Sunday for my friend Roger's father who had passed...

Last week was a short one, as I took off Thursday afternoon and all day Friday originally to go up to Wisconsin Dells for a nursing conference Skip planned to attend.  However, we decided last minute that we would save some money and stick around home instead for sort of a "staycation."  I'm so glad we did.  Thursday we did a brewery tour at Lakefront after I was done with work, then celebrated Cinco de Mayo at Las Palmas.  Sadly, we got the news on Friday morning that Skip's Grandma Cerow passed away early that morning.  She had been in and out of the hospital for a few weeks, so we knew it was coming, but it was still very sad.  Skip debated about going out there for the funeral, but ultimately we decided he would stay home.  We were happy, though, that we had gotten the chance to get out there in March to spend time with her while she was still alive. 

We went to lunch on Friday with Sarah Weseloh and the kiddos, then to the zoo, then came home so Preston could take a much-needed nap (after I picked up my bike from getting tuned-up.  Now I can ride it to work!).  We had a gift card to a sushi place in Waukesha, so we used that for dinner.  It was so delicious!  I'm mildly obsessed with sushi, so it was a treat.  Saturday we hung around the house until we got on the road to Illinois.  We swung through Lake Geneva to stretch our legs and get some ice cream, then took a roundabout way to Woodstock.  Pat was in town for a visit, so Nancy and Jim had everybody over for dinner and to celebrate Mother's Day.  We had such a great time visiting everyone down there, and Preston had an especially good time hanging with all the girls (he's the only boy of 7 great-grandkids on the Preston side... poor guy!).

Not surprisingly, the boys slept until 10:15 on Sunday, so I rode my bike solo to church, while they slept (I seriously wish I had it in me to sleep that late, but I just can't do it anymore).  When I got home, we hung around then went down to the Milwaukee Public Market to peruse.  While most of the stuff there, albeit fresh, is pretty expensive, the St. Paul Fish Company stall has a lobster dinner for $12.95, so we got one of those to snack on.  With some lobster, a few freshly-shucked oysters and $3 beers, we had a great afternoon! 

Preston has his 18-month dr. visit today, so I will update more on him later!

In the meantime, some pictures:



Going somewhere??



Just hanging out in the car seat.



I love broccoli!

 


New cheese face :)



Meeting the Easter Bunny




Not so sure... (although I wasn't either, as this is the scariest bunny costume EVER) 



Looking for eggs!



Got some!!



Mmm... eggs!



So happy to eat!

  

Dreams 4/5

I was home (but it was Mom and Dad's house), and we were noticing that things kept changing around when we would leave the house, leading us to believe that someone was breaking in, or worse, living in our basement.  I had noticed some weird movement in the cracks of the floorboards (it was a dream-- my mom and dad don't have cracks in their floorboards!), so I asked one of the Cederlund girls who were there to go down there and walk through that area so I could see exactly where someone would be if they were moving around down there.  Haha, sacrifice the 10-year-old, I guess!  Then all of a sudden, I was at the top of the stairs with all of my Preston cousins and Shay, trying to figure things out, when we noticed a man coming through one of the basement windows.  Everyone bolted upstairs except for me and Shay, and I had something in my hand that I chucked at the guy, hitting him right in the forehead.  Then he was coming in through another window, and had a gun pointed at Shay.  I screamed, then all of a sudden he was behind me, lifting the back of my shirt up with his gun.  I thought for a second, then swung around and elbowed him right in the gut!

Then I woke up, only to realize I had (in real life) just elbowed the snot out Skip's forehead.  It was hard enough to wake him up yelling "Ow!", and you know how hard it is to wake Skip up.  I felt really bad...

Went East to visit relatives, both present and in the beyond...

Skip and I had talked about trying to get out to see his grandma and grandpa Cerow sooner rather than later (they are pushing 90 and not in the greatest health).  Well, I was talking to my mom and she said that she and my dad had a road trip in the works to go out to Buffalo and Seneca Falls to visit where my dad's family had lived, so we decided to combine the trips and go together.

Saturday the 26th, Preston and I got up and finished packing while we waited for Skip to get home from work.  He got home, showered, then we stopped first in Sturtevant to drop Scotch off at the Meshenkys.  We are extremely grateful that they offered to watch him for the week, especially considering I have been blogging and Facebooking about how evil Scotch has been lately.  We dropped him off, then went to CL to meet my parents.  We were "officially" on the road by about 12:30.  We planned to make it to Toledo that night, which we did by about 6.  Mom had brought steaks which we cooked up for dinner, then a little swim and bedtime.

On Sunday we got up and headed to Cleveland to visit the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and museum, which was a special request of Skip's.  It was actually a really cool museum, and the building itself was a work of art, right on the shore of Lake Erie.  Preston was really good throughout the museum as well-- you can tell there's music running through that boy's blood!

The museum.  Pretty cool.

Our little family.





The boys at the R&R HOF museum

We left the museum and made it to Buffalo that afternoon.  Dad had his heart set on the Buffalo Brew Pub for dinner, after having eaten there a few times in years past.  Apparently we had eaten there as a family after a couple of the funerals out there, but I don't remember that... Anyways, the meal was great, and we got to taste Yuengling beer for the first time, which was cool (not to mention the home-brewed beers of the pub itself).  The Buffalo wings were pretty darn awesome, and the Beef on Weck was waaay salty, but good beef.  Preston had ketchup for dinner...

Monday we had a leisurely morning, then got on the road for a few stops in Buffalo.  We visited my dad's great aunt and uncle's home where he used to spend time as a kid, then drove past the convent that his other great aunt used to live at.  We have some affectionate funny stories from that convent.  What is it with our family and knowing so many nuns?!  We also went to visit the cemetery where all those old relatives are buried, which was sufficiently morbid, but neat to see where they all are.  Anyways, we had lunch at Jacobi's, a really good little Italian place we had eaten at for the various visits in the past, and it was really good.  Great pizza, ravioli, and wings of course.  We got back on the road, and stopped through Seneca Falls to see my great grandparents' old house.  My dad said it hadn't changed in the almost 30 years since he last saw it.  Pretty cool.

Preston looking for headstones



Sister Mary Thomas, my dad's aunt (she was one of my favorites when I was little)



Skip: "Are we done at the cemetery yet?"

We got to Syracuse that evening, and all needed a little detox from the Buffalonian food we had been eating, so we found a Chinese-Japanese buffet restaurant in town.  Sounds gross, but it was $9.99 for all you can eat Chinese and sushi-- can't complain about that! Oh, and $.99 beers, so that was pretty perfect. 

Tuesday was "Visit the Cerows" Day, so Skip, Preston and I drove up to Watertown while my mom and dad stayed back at the hotel.  We had a wonderful visit with Grandma Alice and Grandpa Bob, along with Skip's uncle John and aunt Ellie.  They are really all the sweetest people, albeit very quiet and conservative.  It was nice to have Preston to keep the mood light!  After a couple of hours, though, Preston started to run a fever (we had seen this coming with a cough for the past day...), so we needed to head out.  It was sad to leave the family, because we really aren't sure if we will get out there again to visit Grandma and Grandpa, but I know they loved the visit.  And I was glad that they got to meet Preston (and me!).  It really was special.  Not going to lie that it made me miss my grandparents who Preston never got to meet... :(



John, Ellie, Skip, Grandpa, Grandma, and a very tired little boy





John, Ellie, Grandma and Preston




Preston and his Great Grandpa (he was ready for a nap...and some tylenol)



Preston with his Great Grandma and Great Grandpa



Preston with John and Ellie

 We got back down to Syracuse in time to relax a little while before dinner, then met Skip's uncle Ron, aunt Beth and cousin Adam out for (again) Japanese.  We had such a great time out with them, they are wonderful folks (I have kept in touch with them a little more over the years since we have met them a few times).  However, as we were ending our meal, I was horsing around with Preston when all of a sudden he started throwing up... literally all over the place (i.e. my leg, Mom's shoes, the floor...).  He was totally fine before and after, but we think it was his way of getting all of the congestion up from his coughing.  Poor baby.  We got him all cleaned up, and still managed to close the place down-- we stayed 'til almost 10pm.  It was very fun, and wonderful to get a chance to catch up with the family.





Preston with Ron, Beth and Adam



Goofing with Ron



The whole group

Wednesday was just a driving day, broken up by another little baby-puking stint in Cleveland... poor guy.  This time was all over his car seat, though, so thank God we were staying at hotels that had laundry facilities!  (All Residence Inns... my mom got a bajillion Marriott points this week!).  We got Armenian food for takeout, and it was really good, since we were pretty much rich-fooded out.



We got back to Crystal Lake on Thursday, then packed our car to go get Scotch.  Meshenkys said he was really great all week, and that he was a test for them to see if the kids could handle a dog.  Hey, I say if anyone can pass having Scotch for a week, they can handle anything!  We got back up to MKE by about 5:30, and just vegged.  It really was a great road trip and I'm glad we got to visit with the family (both alive and dead...).  I hope we get a chance in the relatively near future to get out there again!



6 Years Ago

Sarah was due to have her baby, so Mom, Dad and Michael were in town awaiting the arrival.  Sarah had gone into labor the night before, so she and Andy headed to the hospital (I think we went over there, too, but I can't remember exactly), only to be told to go back home because she wasn't that far along.  She was also told to go eat spicy food to help things along, so we all went over to La Estacion for dinner.  Apparently that worked, because we got a call early the next morning that Sarah and Andy were heading back to the hospital.

Michael had stayed at my apartment that night, so we got in the car and met the family over at the hospital.  Sarah had progressed well, but wasn't really "there" yet, so they decided to give her an epidural for the pain.  The doctors assured us that it would most likely slow down her labor, so Mom, Dad, Michael and I went back to Sarah and Andy's apartment to have lunch (reubens, since it was the day after St. Patrick's Day), and would wait for the call to come back.

Well, it turns out that the epidural had the opposite effect than expected, because Sarah dilated to something around 8 within about a 1/2 hour.  We all frantically and excitedly packed up the reubens, then jumped in the van to go back to the hospital (I specifically remember my mom passing all kinds of cars on the way, and I told her "Mom!  This isn't a 2-lane road!"  She promptly replied, "It is now!").  We got to the hospital and everyone was getting ready to go.  The nurses tried to shoo me out of the room, saying only my mom and Andy could stay, to which Sarah said "She stays, too!"  Don't mess with a lady in labor!

After that point, everything just went fast.  I remember standing in the back of the room taking pictures, feeling very excited to be watching such a miracle.  At one point, however, the doctor realized that the baby's umbilical cord was wrapped around it's neck (we didn't know she was a girl yet), so she really encouraged Sarah to push hard to get the baby out (things had already gone so fast that the doctor didn't even have time to fully prepare herself to "catch," saying "well, I guess I've done this before without a chair..." Reassuring...).  That's when I remember my mom reaching over to me and lightly pushing the camera down.  It only took two pushes to get the baby out, at which point we heard "It's a girl!"  Momentarily, it was really really exciting!  However, not long after that, you could see the looks on people's faces.  The doctor laid Elizabeth on Sarah's tummy, and Sarah said, "what's wrong with her face?"  That's when more and more people started to come into the room, and Mom and I were pushed farther and farther back into the corner of the room.  None of us were sure of what exactly was happening, except that it wasn't normal.  You could tell the doctor and nurses knew what was up.  There were just so many people in that tiny room, tending to this tiny little baby.  But by that point, we all knew, too.  Nobody said anything, but we all just knew.  This little baby has Down Syndrome.  My mom and I were squeezing eachother's hands, and tears started flowing, because it was such a shock, but at the same time there were 5 bajillion other emotions going through everyone's heads.  I remember getting the "go ahead" to go over to the warmer and see her, and... sigh.  She was so traumatized from her fast birth that she just looked so swollen.  And huge!  Remember, Elizabeth was almost 9 lbs, with a FULL head of dark brown hair, so looking at her for the first time elicited a reaction I just never expected to have.  I stood there looking down at this baby thinking, "we will love her no matter what," trying to eek out a reassuring smile to Sarah out of the tears that were flowing down my cheeks.

It was then that we knew Sarah wasn't okay.  She had just delivered her placenta, and when I looked over at her, she was gray.  Purely colorless.  I knew the "smile" she gave back at me was not right.  I stepped back over towards my mom, and we just stood there, watching.  There was so much commotion.  I think the doctor said something like, "let's just head over to surgery to get a better look at things."  I don't even remember what was going on, except that within probably 3 minutes, my mom and I were the only people in the room.  The only THINGS in the room.  They had wheeled out Sarah in her bed, Elizabeth in the warmer, and all the nurses, doctor, and Andy were gone.  We literally were standing there in the middle of an empty room. 

We managed to leave the room, and I specifically remember each of us standing on either side of the doorway, just collecting our individual thoughts.  After a few minutes, we walked down to the waiting room where Michael and Dad were waiting.  I've never seen them jump up so fast.  They knew by our faces that something wasn't right, so we tried as best we could to explain that a.) It's a girl!... and b.) they had taken Sarah to surgery because she was losing a lot of blood.  We all huddled together, and then my mom said, "and the baby probably has Down Syndrome."  We all cried.  Together. I don't think I've ever felt closer to my family than I did in that one moment.

After we collected ourselves, we went over towards the nursery.  Really, Elizabeth was completely healthy and fine.  And again, huge.  They put her directly under the window so we could see her, and there was this moppy-headed, long, chubby newborn (next to the most petite, blond little newborn I've seen).  But she was just alone.  They wouldn't let any of us hold her, touch her, be close to her... and we had no idea what was going on with Sarah.  We started making phone calls to family, and after some time (2 1/2 hours), we think the nurses were starting to be more sympathetic to the situation, because they were almost going to let one of us in to hold Elizabeth and bond with her, as is so important with brand new babies.  It was then that Sarah was wheeled back into the area.  We literally had gotten NO updates on what had been going on, so we were thrilled (for lack of a better word) to see her.

Well, it turns out, Sarah tore so badly with Elizabeth coming out so fast that she lost 3 liters of blood (almost half of what is in an adult body at one time).  Hence the gray color...  The doctor knew she needed more light to be able to fix her, but didn't expect to see such a dire situation when she got her into the operating room.  The only reason Andy had been in there with them in the first place is because the doctor only expected to do a few stitches and be done.  Apparently she said to Andy: "Do you guys pray?"  to which Andy replied yes, and she said, "You may want to begin praying."  God.  The implications of that must have been so much for Andy to handle.  I remember him saying that he thought he was going to lose everything that day.  Sarah, Elizabeth, everything.

The next few days were marked with more tears, questions, blood transfusions, worries about Sarah as she recovered...  And family.  I've never seen my extended family jump into action like I did that day.  By the end of the first day, Nancy, Jim, Emily, Allison, Amy, Grandma P., Grandpa E., Mary and Mike and Nancy Harrison were there.  So much support.  Allison handled me, while Emily and Amy helped Sarah.  It was a true test of love.

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6 years ago.  I can't believe it's been six years since our lives all changed.  I thought I would lose my sister and my best friend that day.  But I didn't, and not only did I not lose my sister, but we all gained an angel in our lives.  Elizabeth has taught us love, strength, patience, tolerance... but most of all she's just been another addition to the family.  Just another crazy egg in the carton!  And she was darn good practice for me and Skip to learn how to raise a baby.  She was Skip's favorite napping partner for a few years there :).

We all have events and things that happen in our lives that mark transitions, sometimes abrupt, and I think a lot of us mark that day as a life-altering day in our memories.  We've learned in a matter of hours that life is precious, and not to take things for granted.  I wish a wonderful 6th birthday to our Queen Elizabeth Grace, and a lifetime of happiness for her and all those who meet her.  To my sister, I love you, and am so proud of how you have grown as a mother, wife, sister, daughter and friend over the past 6 years.

ABCs

I haven't had much to blog about lately (I will after the weekend!), so I thought I would post this "ABCs of Ellen" that I found from another website:

A. Age
28 (almost 29!)

B. Bed size
Queen.  Someday we will get a king since Skip is pretty much too big for a queen.

C. Chore you dislike
I absolutely hate washing dishes.  I think it's my mom and dad's fault for making us do it so often as kids... :).  In all seriousness, though, I am very dropsy, and with the sink we have now I have broken a heck of a lot of dishes lately.  So, I hate washing dishes because soon I'm going to have to buy a whole new set!

D. Dogs
Evil Red Dog.  Although he's not so evil lately.  He even let us cut his crack-addict nails the other day without too much of a fight.

E. Essential start to your day
Back and neck cracking.  And a quick check on Preston if he's not awake yet.

F. Favorite color
Red or green.  Or purple.  I love wearing purple because it brings out my eyes.

G. Gold or silver
Silver.

H. Height
5'2"

I. Instruments you play(ed)
Tuba and piano.  I wish we could get a full upright, but it would be nearly impossible to get into our house with all the stairs and small hallways.

J. Job title
Professional Internet Surfer.  Oh, I'm sorry.  I mean Research Compliance Coordinator.

K. Kids
Preston Charles.  My tiny goofy angel.

L. Live
Milwaukee, WI

M. Mom’s name
Mary Ellen

N. Nicknames
I've never really had many nicknames, which is why my parents picked my name in the first place.  I've had a few people call me E or El, or Elly Belly if it's my parents... meanies...

O. Overnight hospital stays
Just when I had Preston.

P. Pet peeves
Most of my pet peeves have to do with driving, like slow drivers, or people in Milwaukee who pass you on the right on city streets.  I will drive right down the middle of the lane to piss them off. :)

Q. Quote from a movie
"What's the difference? Have you ever seen a bat?!  They're hideous!  Lifeless beady eyes, clawed feet huge grotesque wings, even fangs!  Bleublubulbulleehbulh!  They give you rabies, you know."

R. Righty or lefty
Righty.  Although I can bunt lefty.  Thanks Dad. :)

S. Siblings
Sarah, 30
Michael, 26
(Andy, 31)
(Tom, 26)
(Erin, 33)

T. Time you wake up
Depends.  If I have to take Preston to the babysitter on weekdays, then it's about 6:20.  Regular work days around 6:40, weekends are dictated by the boy.  Anywhere between 6:30 and 9:30.  He's a good sleeper. :)

U. Underwear
Uh... TMI for this blog.

V. Vegetables you don’t like
Brussel sprouts are really about it.  If you know me, I pretty much eat anything.

W.What makes you run late
Skip. ;)  Or just my general "early means 2 minutes before something starts" mentality.  Oh, I suppose that reminds me of a nickname Perk (softball coach) gave me in high school: Pocahantas.  As in pokey.

I got this far and realized there was no X, Y, or Z, so I'll make those up:

X. Had any x-rays
Yes, when I got in my car accident, and a few for chiropractic reasons.

Y. Yearly traditions
Going up north with the family, Brewers/Cubs games for my birthday, Christmas Eve at Grandma Preston's.

Z. Um.... Um.... Nope.  Can't think of anything for this one!

Babywearing

The reason for this post is two-fold: 1: To inform my loyal (5) blog readers about babywearing, and 2: to try and win a new carrier from Heavenly Hold!

First off, what is babywearing?  It's basically using a carrier attached to your body to carry your baby sin manos (without hands :)).  I don't really know how I got into it, but I knew even before we had Preston that I wanted to have him close to me, and what better way to do it than having him "strapped on"?  I first registered for a Hotsling (who now are unfortunately no-longer being made), which I received from a coworker (actually, it was her used one, but in the babywearing world, it is commonplace and very accepted to pass your carriers on to other moms when you're done using yours).  Anyways, it was just great when Preston was a teeny weeny.  I was able to take him into stores and do things around the house, all the while having him close to me.  I took advantage of it as much as I could since I knew I would be going back to work soon...

Anyways, as he got bigger, I did some more research into various carriers, after realizing the Infantino Front-2-Back Rider we had was not the most ergonomic carrier for either me/Skip or Preston.  There is some argument in the babywearing world as to why "crotch-dangler" style carriers are not ideal, but I say that to wear anything is better than not at all.  So I don't get into the arguments, but do things more for my own comfort.  Infantino has improved their carriers lately, though, offering a lot more options...

Anyways, after researching, I found what is called a Mei Tai, which is an asian-style carrier with a thick body and long straps.  It's a very versatile carrier that can be worn on the front or back. I totally love the Beanslings that I have, but they too have unfortunately gone out of business.  Here's a place that still sells them, just to get an idea of what I have: http://www.marsupial-mamas.com/categories/Mei-Tais/Beanslings/.  I still use this as my go-to carrier, since it is extremely supportive for me and Preston... though the straps are a little wide for my frame.  I still love it, though, especially the pattern!

After some more research, I decided I wanted to try a wrap, which has been a learning experience.  I got the front carries down okay, but the back carries (which is only now really the only comfortable way to carry him for longer than 20 mins or so) have not been my friend.  He's too squirmy now to hold still long enough to get him tied on, so I usually just use the mei tai.  Looks like I'll have to wait for another little "squishy" before I can really learn again how to use the wrap!  This is the one I have, though: http://www.gypsymama.com/shop/proddetail.php?prod=orion. It's very airy and light, and the color is really pretty.

Soft-structured carriers are another kind that we have, first using an Ergo borrowed from Cassandra, then getting an Action Baby Carrier.  That's pretty much the one we both (even Skip) use the most these days, because it's the quickest.  It's especially great for mall trips when I don't want to lug the damn stroller around.

Anyways, that's my babywearing story.  I have since acquired 3 other pouch slings like the Hotsling, oh, and a ring sling as well.  That has been my pal these days since it's more supportive for both Preston and I, and just as quick as the pouches.  Here's an example of a ring sling: http://www.heavenlyhold.com/category_14/Ring-Slings.htm.

I'll tell...

Who am I kidding?  Barely anyone reads this blog, so I'll just answer for Lindsay (who already knows the answer) and Amy.  Melissa, I think you're out there too! :)

1.) I broke my finger playing "crack the whip" on my first day of 4th grade.
Nope.  It did get pulled out of the socket at some point in elementary school playing that game, but I don't remember exactly when.  I do remember I was holding Shay's hand...

2.) My first job, besides the CL Park District, was to shovel horse poo and haul hay bales at a farm in Union.
Nope.  I'm proud of myself for coming up with this random thought, though!

3.) I'm pregnant.
No way.  I think a bunch of people would kill me if I announced it this way!  Stay tuned towards the end of summer, though. ;)

4.) I have a birth mark on my tummy next to my belly button.
Ding ding ding!  It's pretty faded, thanks to age and a belly-expanding, skin-ruining pregnancy, but it's there!

5.) One of my favorite foods is grasshoppers dipped in chocolate.
Never had 'em.  But I'd like to try someday!  I've been obsessed with Bizarre Foods lately, so edible buggies were on my mind.

Truth and Lies

You know, Amy, I don't read any other blogs so I don't know who I would tag!  But I'll do it anyways!

I am going to list 5 things about me, 4 of which are NOT true.  Can you guess which one IS?

1.) I broke my finger playing "crack the whip" on my first day of 4th grade.
2.) My first job, besides the CL Park District, was to shovel horse poo and haul hay bales at a farm in Union.
3.) I'm pregnant.
4.) I have a birth mark on my tummy next to my belly button.
5.) One of my favorite foods is grashoppers dipped in chocolate.

Hola world

Not a whole lot going on these days, but a few points worth mentioning. 

First off, I wish you all could have seen my shadow last night when I was coming out of band.  I was backlit, and had my tuba on my back, and my shadow on the ground seriously looked like a Racing Sausage.  Big, unidentifiable mass on top, with skinny arms and legs poking out the sides and bottom.  I get a lot of comments when I carry my tuba, and usually just go with them (a little annoyed...), but even this was pretty funny.

Preston got his first hair cut a few weeks ago.  He was a serious champ.  We found a really fun little place in the 'Tosa village that specializes in kids haircuts (Whimzikids).  It was a little pricey, but worth it for the first haircut of my little boy's life. 

Hmm.  I'm just so handsome!

On the weekend of January 29th, we headed down to Illinois.  Skip and I dropped Preston off at my mom and dad's, then took Metra down to the city to meet friends for Lindsay's 29th Golden Birthday party.  We had a great time catching up with everyone!  Afterwards, we met just about all of the Prestons at the Parthenon for dinner.  We had our own room for 25 of us, and had a great time.  We took the train home, too, which was fun as well. 

Me and Lindsay

All the Augie girls

Preston working on his spoon skills at the Parthenon.  He's getting really good!

I felt a little bad the next day, because as a (way late) Christmas present for Skip, I took the Jeep to Turtle Wax to have it totally cleaned out.  Well, apparently there was so much dog hair that it was a complete challenge for the guys there, and we didn't get on the road until almost 3 o'clock (after dropping the Jeep off at 10am...).  However, the guys did a great job and the car looks like a totally new car!  On our way back to Milwaukee, we swung through Racine to have dinner with Mannings for Charlie's birthday.  We had a great meal of sushi and hibachi at Shogun, then visited for a bit before heading home.

Oh, there was a blizzard last Wednesday.  Did anyone else hear about it?  ;) Here are some of the pictures I took:

Preston and his doggie watching Daddy outside

Even my tall dog was covered.  He had a hard time peeing...

My car was high-centered in the driveway.  Without me even having to do anything!

We got the Jeep out.  Then our nice neighbors towed the Mazda when it got stuck at the end of the driveway in all that mess.  Wish I would've gotten a picture!



Preston was happy to hang out in a 5-foot-tall snowbank.  Mommy, not so happy to see her baby in a 5-foot-tall snowbank...

This lovely little "growth" popped up out of the snow like a little stalagmite from the ice melting off our roof.  A little phallic, don't you agree? ;)



We got to spend some time with Weseloh's on the 5th for Lilly's 4th birthday.  Preston had fun playing with all the kiddos, and it was great as always to visit with Sarah, Mark and their families.  I can't believe Lilly is 4-- she was a teeny baby when we moved into our old place on 64th St!

As far as upcoming plans, we're hanging out with Harrisons this weekend, and maybe getting some time with Ziemers and Hackers as well.  I can't say enough how great it has been to think, "hey what am I up to this weekend?" and be able to say "I don't know yet!"  I kind of like a little bit of empty-calendar spontaneity!

Ah, the temper comes out...

I think my dear little son has inherited the Eckel temper... God help us all!  Actually, it's not that bad, but he has been showing his frustrated side a little more these days.  When he gets really mad, he swats-- usually at my face, which really hurts sometimes.  I've done okay in redirecting him to "be gentle to Mommy," and sometimes I'll think he's going in for the swat when he'll instead sweetly stroke my face.  Okay, I LOVE that.

Other times, he is a back-archer.  That usually comes out when I'm trying to put him in his car seat, but only in the house.  So, I'll usually these days just put him in his seat IN the car, which he gets excited about.  [Yes, my teenie weenie still is in his "bucket" infant seat (at least in my car-- we've got a regular car seat for the Jeep)-- but both still rear-facing.  I think he's over 20 lbs now, but the infant seat is only rear-facing, and the new seat can't go forward-facing until 22 lbs.  So he's relegated to staring out the back winshield for another couple weeks.]

Another fun little development has been the biting.  Usually that's just to get my attention.  Sometimes when we're sitting on the couch, he'll come up to me or Skip and go to bite us on the knee or toe, which is fun. Not.  Last night, I was wearing a really thick sweatshirt and he got my arm.  It doesn't really hurt, but it sure is a way to get attention...

None of these little quirks are common, though, so he really still mostly is my sweet little goof.  His more endearing new developments are that he can now climb the stairs, say "pickle," eat with a fork, and climb the TV stand.  I officially have a toddler!