Pig snouts, leiderhosens and Buddies (long...)

Last week seemed like one of the longest weeks ever, though the days went by pretty fast I guess.  I had been getting sick as of Sunday evening, after having been down in Racine all day Saturday (baby shower for Julie and shrimp boil at the Yacht Club).  Sunday we had a nice family day, as Skip was recovering from working 28 hours at Meda-Care since Friday night.  We decided we were officially done with sleeping downstairs in our doorless room, because with our schedules so different, we are perpetually tiptoeing around the house when the other is sleeping.  So we moved the bed upstairs (well, actually just the mattress at that point).  I ended up sleeping Sunday night down on the couch, though, because we hadn't gotten around to moving Preston's bed upstairs-- and I'm not comfortable being on a separate floor from him yet. 

Anyways, I went to work on Monday, and had to be there at 7:15 for a 7:30 meeting clear over in Froedtert west.  Whoever schedules meetings that early in the morning is nuts.  Well, the meeting got done, and I officially was in a fog.  My head was killing me, so I decided to go home.  I got home, and passed out until like noon.  I don't even really recall what the rest of the day entailed, except that we went back down to Racine for dinner at Mannings.  Preston was a champ eating.  Of course.  Oh yeah, when we got home Skip and I put the rest of the bed together upstairs.  Glad to have the bed up there, but going up and down and working on it totally wore me out again. 

I called in again for Tuesday, since I was really still feeling crappy.  My treasure-child let me sleep until 8:30, and then I got up with him to feed him breakfast.  Long about 10:30, he seemed tired again, so I just thought I'd put him back in bed.  Well, he ended up falling back asleep, which allowed me to sleep again until almost noon.  He must've known I wasn't feeling well!

The rest of the week went by okay, and even Mannings got a chance to watch Preston on Friday while Skip slept and I was at work.  Friday evening consisted of putting together birthday party invitations and going to bed by 10 (Skip worked).

Saturday I got up and went total errand-crazy with Preston.  First Skip got going out to golf for a bachelor party... after only 3 hours of sleep.  Poor guy!  The bank and post office were first, then I swung by a local church rummage sale to find some things for P (almost went into a funeral, though, not realizing the sale was on the other end of the church building... oops!).  After the sale we stopped at Viet Hoa, a big asian grocery store in the city.  I love that place (despite the fact I just read they have some of the highest instances of health violations in the city.  Meh, I'll still shop there and take my 20 oz bottle of sesame oil for $2 as opposed to paying $4 for 8 oz in the regular grocery store).  A very nice young hispanic guy even carried all my groceries out to the car for me, since Preston was sound asleep in my sling.   Then we went to the regular grocery store for the rest of our stuff.  When we got home, it was about the time Skip was getting done with golf, so I caught up with him for a little while before he actually went back to bed (apparently all he had eaten was the pickles and olives from his multiple Bloody Marys... so his eyes looked like two pissholes in the snow...).

I putzed around the house, showered, then my mom and dad and Michael got there.  We visited, and Dad and MCE helped move a few things around the house.  Then off to the Bavarian Inn for Oktoberfest.  My good friend Roger from Knightwind also plays in a group called Alte Kameraden, and they were playing at the 'fest.  Skip and I had gone last year, so I was happy this year that I could partake a little more in the festivities (i.e. drink lots of German beer).  We had rollbraten, brats, pretzel buns, and Dad even got a whole pig head.  It was so disgustingly delicious to pick at!  We listened to the music, drank, danced a little, then hit the road when it got pretty chilly.  We just had a great time.  Everyone came back to the house for a little while, then Skip and I stayed up and he ordered Fiesta Garibaldi at like 9.  FYI, don't eat queso fundido after eating a pigs head and drinking too much beer.  Your stomach will not feel good the next day.

Sunday we went over and had breakfast at the hotel with my mom and dad, then went to church.  After church we headed to the zoo for the annual Down Syndrome Association of Wisconsin DS Awareness Walk (not technically the Buddy Walk anymore, but still...).  It was a beautiful day to be outside and participate in such a great event, in honor of our "Queen" Elizabeth. 

After the walk we went over and had an early dinner at Harrisons, before getting home so Skip could go to band.  Yup, I fell asleep on the couch at 8. :) 

Trying to win a new baby carrier...

I want to win one of these, so I'm blogging for it!  We have to give our other borrowed Ergo back to Cassandra as soon as her shoulder is healed, so we're on the lookout for another one.  Here's to trying to win a contest!

We have a crawler!

And a cruiser...

And a sweet little goof at bedtime...

House

Just a "little" list I made up today.

Ziemer Wedding Weekend

Woof. What a weekend! But what a WONDERFUL weekend!

Friday I attempted to work throughout the day, but let's just say that did not happen. I was so excited I totally couldn't stay focused! I left work by 3:30, then busted my butt home to get going to the rehearsal. Dad had dropped Sarah (H) off at the house to ride down with us, since Andy (H) wasn't off work until later. It turned out that the grill for the dinner wasn't working, so Andy (Z) rented an Enterprise truck to bring his big grill down. Skip ended up just riding down with Andy (Z), so that he could get set up at the lake for dinner.

Sarah (H) and I headed down to Villa Terrace, where we met the rest of the wedding party to rehearse. Pastor Ziemer did such a nice job welcoming everyone, and saying that this was really the start to the whole celebration. It really got all of us excited, I think! After the rehearsal Sarah (H) and I went on a bit of a wild-goose chase to find some ice, which we eventually did. We met everyone down at McKinley Marina to have dinner and visit. The dinner was great, and Skip was happy since his grilling, hummus and specially-brewed beers went over quite well. We may have to market the Ball & Chain Pale Ale, Now It's Time to Dance, and Awesome Alimony Ale... We left dinner with a very tired little baby, so it was definitely time to be home. I put Preston down in his crib, expecting him to wake up so I could change his clothes. Nope. He slept the whole night in his overalls and even his shoes (I totally forgot to take them off!).

I could've slept in a little on Saturday morning, but that didn't happen-- I was too excited! I got up and got Preston's stuff ready, then showered and got myself ready. Skip and Preston dropped me off at the Iron Horse to meet the girls to go to the salon. Our salon visit was a great start to the morning, with a few mimosas, bagels, great hairdos and makeup jobs. We got back to the hotel, visited for a little while, then got ready. (Skip had dropped Preston off out in Waukesha so that Aunt Nancy and Uncle Jim and Cate and Becky could watch him and Megan and Elizabeth for the night). Our little "bowling shoe" bus came to pick us up and bring us to Villa Terrace. I felt oddly emotional the whole morning, and I think it was because I've known Sarah since we were both little girls, and she has always been the type to dream about her wedding day-- and here it was. And on top of that, everything was going perfectly and Sarah was so happy. It really was a little emotional!

We helped Sarah get ready at Villa Terrace while the photography started and everything was getting set up downstairs. It was great that the wedding was able to be held outside as planned. The wedding really went off beautifully. The overlook where the ceremony was held has a gorgeous view of the lake and gardens below, and with the monarchs and sailboats, it really was extremely picturesque. My sister did a great job singing, and everyone kept their cool (in terms of tears...). None of us bridesmaids even tripped or fell with our super-tall heels on. We stuck around for some pictures, then boarded the bowling shoe for the fun.

Aside from a quick stop in the 3rd Ward, the wedding party pretty much hung on the bus, drinking plenty of beer and champagne, while Sarah and Andy got their pictures taken. We arrived to Lakefront in plenty of time to get the party started. Dinner was great, drinks were great, and the speeches were great-- especially Al's, which assured there was not a dry eye in the place. I mean, "Sarah's tear ducts are directly connected to her heart" ?? Really? Who's not going to cry at that?! After all was said, dancing and more pictures rounded out the night (and I hear there was a little river-dunking in there, too, as well as my sis spewing technicolor out their car window on the way home... oops!). Skip and I got a cab home, I took all the bobby pins out of my hair, then totally passed out... on the livingroom floor, before making it into bed...

Sunday morning I got up and headed out to the Courtyard to retrieve my child. Nance, Jim, Cate and Becky did a wonderful job watching my little guy, and it sounds like they all had some fun. I had lunch with my mom and dad and Preston, then got Mollie out of the house for Harrison's open house. I had meant to take the dogs to the dog park, but by the time I got home and Preston fell asleep for his nap, it was my naptime, too. Preston slept from 3 until well after 5, when I decided it was time for him to wake up and to get Mollie back to Waukesha. After we got home, Skip was done with work and band practice, so we had dinner then watched a movie. The newlyweds stopped by to check some stuff out on our computer, then the night was done.

What a great, yet exhausting weekend, but one that I will remember for a long time! Congrats, good friends!

Labor Day weekend

Nothing too exciting happened this weekend, but it was good nonetheless. I was able to get off work at 3:00 on Friday, which is always a nice favor of my boss on holiday weekends. It allowed me to get a good workout in at the gym (running again!), and then get home to see my boys for a little while before Skip went to work. He was Mr. Work-a-ton this weekend, so the few times I saw him we were like two shits in the wind... Anyways, I got home and started getting ready to go out to dinner while Skip fed Preston his (first) dinner. Kathryn was swinging through Milwaukee on her way up to West Bend with her friend Kathy, so Preston and I were able to meet up with them for dinner at P.F. Changs. We had a really nice visit, and Preston was a champ at the restaurant (as always!). He was a little whiney, since I think he's got the combination of a tooth coming through plus a little cold, but overall he was great. He had his (second) dinner of mushrooms, broccoli and chicken at the restaurant. The child can eat, my lord! It was also so great to visit with my good friend and roommate :)

We came home after dinner and I got Preston down, only to end up bringing him in with me later on at night for a little while. He definitely didn't sleep well this weekend. When Skip got home from work, I looked down at Preston and I totally had to do a double-take to make sure the boy was breathing, he was sleeping so hard. I put him back in his own bed, then went back to sleep myself.

Saturday we ran some errands in the morning and early afternoon, then waited for Skip to be done being on-call at Meda-Care so we could go over to Sarah and Andy's to visit. We hung out over there for a little while, then went with all the Cunninghams to Botanas to celebrate Shay and Sarah's birthday. We had a really good time at the restaurant, and had fun singing to Sarah and Shay while they got whipped cream smudged on their noses. It was pretty funny :). We got home and went to bed, and once again my poor little guy was not sleeping well. He was up about 4 times...ugh... with me and Skip (sort of) taking turns getting him calmed down, before he just ended up in with us around 5:30. I was pretty exhausted when he decided around 7 that he wanted to be up for good.

I just lounged and played with Preston in the morning until he went down for his nap, at which time I did, too. Just a short "recharging." Preston and Skip got up around the same time, then I went out for a little walk to clear my head before getting ready for Quinny and Kim's wedding. Skip stayed home with Cranky McCrankster, then had to work at 7, so I flew solo to this wedding. Sarah came over and watched Preston when Skip had to leave for work, so that was a huge help. The wedding was beautiful, and the reception/dinner was really fun. It's always great to catch up with the Meda-Care folk. I left after dinner, then came home and helped Sarah brainstorm the pocket square project she decided to take on. After a couple big glasses of wine, we decided to postpone the project until the next day...

Monday was another low-key day, with a trip to JoAnn Fabrics and Macy's with Sarah, then back to her place to finish the pocket squares. My mom said everyone planning a wedding always has to have a last-minute project, which makes it official (ours was stuffing ornament boxes...). We managed to get the squares done while P-man took a nice nap on "Uncle" Andy and "Aunt" Sarah's bed. We told Andy he should be jealous because another man was sleeping in his bed ;). Preston and I went home, had dinner, then ran down to Sinai and Meda-Care to see Skip and drop off time cards.

I look forward to this week and weekend for a couple of reasons: #1, obviously, is Sarah and Andy's wedding and all related festivities. I'm über pumped. #2 is that I actually get to see my husband for more than 3 minutes at a time (awake). His work schedule was bordering on insane this past weekend through tomorrow, so I look forward to him having some time off. I'm sure he does, too! It will really be nice to get some awesome family and friends time in over the next week!

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!