Shedd and a naughty boy

Its 8:30pm and definitely bedtime, and Liam does NOT want to go to bed. Does NOT. He just screams and screams and screams. This has only been happening since our return from our vacation. He also does the same thing from about 2:30am - 5:00 Am. So you can sense our *complete and utter* exhaustion. We can go in there and try to console him, but the second we leave the screaming begins again. I hate hearing him scream, but there really isn't any choice rather than to let him cry it out. Otherwise he'll just stay up with us until all hours of the night, and he can't do that. Trust me, we've tried umpteenth number of consolation techniques......and those haven't worked. I hope this is just a phase and he grows out of it.

As far as our aquarium visit, Liam was a very very good boy at Shedd today - we had a great visit with Mollyface and her friend Ani. His favorite part was the coral reef and shark areas.....he loved looking at the fishies :)

The naughty part of this post actually took place this afternoon. I was sitting at the computer, watching him play out of the corner of my eye. He creeps over to the hallway, near where the cat food and water is located. He's just kind of sitting, contemplating what to do next in his baby life....and the little stinker slowly turned his head and glanced over his shoulder to see if I was watching him (which I was) and then took off STRAIGHT to the cat food area and full speed. Cracking up the whole time KNOWING full well he's not supposed to go over there. What a stinker. But oh so cute :)

I'm headed to CHA tomorrow - and we've got another showing in the AM. Then we're headed to IN to bid adios to Pat's parents! Have a great weekend!

*whew*

We did make it home safe and sound on Sunday evening - after a slight detour to drop Pat's 1st cousin once removed's girlfriend in Oak Park. Its been difficult to get back to normal.....trying to learn how to be a mom without any help during the day is hard!!! Not to say that Pat doesn't help - he does TREMENDOUSLY, but during business hours I have to pretend he's not around even if he is so he can get work done. That's the tough part.

Its making its way though - and today we actually have a clean house :) That's because we had our 2nd showing this afternoon. It went well, but who knows where it will go. I get so excited over just a showing....and a showing is a long long way from a selling :) know what I mean? I try to not get my hopes up, but its kind of hard not to.

Speaking of hopes being up and then crushed.....I went this morning to take a class at the CHA 2008 Summer show (that is the Craft & Hobby Association - for you non-scrap peeps) and after I drove in rush hour traffic out to Rosemont and parked for $11 I discovered I wasn't even registered for the class. DOH! I was upset for a mili-second, and then I realized I probably should have checked with the big dogs first....and I didn't. So my bad. I did register for the show though, so I won't have to worry about that when I go back on Saturday.

I got a zap of creative goodness though - seeing all the people there with all the scrappy stuff in tow. Made me want to create something and be all creative and stuff! All my real life scrapbook goodness has been in storage for over a year now.....I hope we can sell our place so we can buy a new joint and I can actually have that stuff close by!! I need more creative outlets!!

Oh, summer tip of the day. Put sliced cucumber in a glass pitcher and stick it in your fridge full of water. It makes for a muy refreshing drink....and looks pretty :) Add a twist of lime for extra flavor! (thanks to Kelly for reminding me of that!).

K, off to bed. Molly, her friend, Liam and I are headed to Shedd tomorrow morning! Yippie! One of my favorite places on earth :)

Last Leg

We had a great time at Cedar Point, and we are now chillin' in Cleveland, OH, on the last leg of our whirlwind Tour of the Midwest! The O'Brien Family Reunion is in full force, and we had a great time last night....Liam and I meeting everyone for the first time, and Pat catching up with old family members. It was actually really nice! Not that I expected it to not be, but sometimes meeting extended family members can be a bit overwhelming! I think it helped that I've cyber "met" some of the members online, which makes remembering names a bit easier :)

The facility is really nice - we're at a Crown Plaza. The rooms are very pretty, we got a Stellar deal on room rates, AND the pool is AWESOME! Nice and big, with lots of seating round the stamped concrete surround. When you walk in the pool room, its warm, and the chlorine does not sting your eyeballs, which is always a good sign. Moe did a great job planning and picking the joint, so mucho kudos to her.

I did imbibe a little too much last night on Vodka Tonics.....but I felt pretty good last night (as in NOT drunkasaurus rex) so I didn't think I'd have a headache in the AM, but I did. And I kept on vurping Cheeze Its too because that was the last thing I munched on before crashing. Eww. I don't think I'll be eating those again anytime soon. However, now at 11:00Am, I'm feeling refreshed and good and ready for another day of fun activities. Not quite right now though, because Mr. Liam is sleeping :)

OK, so now whilst Liam is in sleepy land, I'm going to sort through the zillion photos I've taken. Hopefully I'll make some progress.

Happy 4th of July!

Hope everyone had a fantastic Fourth of July! Happy Birthday America :) We had a great time at the Reunion. Liam didn't do too well at first, lots of people, lots of people in his face, and he's not particularly a big fan of that. He did take a nap on me for a while, and then woke up at about 10 PM, just in time for us to go catch the fireworks! We went to Bridge View Park which was near our hotel. Aside from the swarms of Mosquitos, it was a lovely, if not a bit chilly evening. But OH so clear!! We could see the fireworks from St. Ignace, Mackinac Island, Mackinaw City AND a little bit even from Cheboygan and Charlevoix (though they were tiny in the distance).

I didn't bring my big beefy tripod, and ended up purchasing a flimsy one from Wal-Mart (which I'm going to take back because it sucks my butt). It did the trick though, and I captured a couple cool shots.




Yesterday was another beautiful day, and slightly warmer. My cousins' wedding was BEAUTIFUL! The ceremony was on a chartered boat (the same ones that take you to Mackinac Island) and took place right under the Mackinac Bridge. Then we just ran about in the Straits for a while - took a quick jaunt by the Island, and even ran circles around a GIANT freighter! Those are some big boats, I tell ya! The reception was great too. Liam and Daddy had a great time dancing. I can't believe that little bean stayed up until 11:00!!! He wasn't too crabby either. It was fun!

I don't have photos from that yet - still sittin' on my camera in the car.

We're hangin' out with the family for the rest of the day after we check out, and then headed to Saginaw for a few more days before hitting Cedar Point on Thursday and the O'Brien Family weekend of Fun! Not sure when I'll be able to jump on again, but rest assured I'll share mucho photos when I do :) Ciao!

We're here!

We made it to St. Ignace! Liam and Pat are wrestling around on the bed next to me laughing....I'm pretty sure Liam is ridiculously happy to be out of the car! It was 6 hours yesterday, and another 3 today. He was a very good traveler though, and I'm thankful for that! I'm trying to be mad at Pat since he's pretty much being a Big Giant Jerkasaurus Rex, but seeing the two of them play together pretty much makes my heart a big pile of goo. I'll try to be hard here for a few minutes longer, but I don't know how long I can hold out.

Today commemorates Liam and Pat's first trip across Big Mac! She's such a beautiful bridge...I can't believe it was Pat's first time across. Who is from Michigan and hasn't been across? Pat O'Brien, apparently.

On the drive up here I remembered how much I love this area. Nothing but trees as far as the eye can see....rolling hills of green against the beautiful blue sky....dotted with smooshy white clouds. Pretty much the essence of peace and beauty for me. For Pat....not so much. To him, it represents....um......nothingness. And hillbillies. And Beef Jerky.

So now we're just waiting for the rest of my family to get here, then we'll head out to the Mayer Family Reunion at my cousin Todd's home. Until later....

Happy Friday :)

Little honey bear is sleeping soundly right now.....while the rest of us are preparing for a trip to the Museum of Science and Industry. I think its a pretty darn cool museum...perfect for us Nerdy types. They have a fantastic model train display, which is the main reason we're going because Pat Sr. likes model trains. In fact, they have a really cool G size (Garden.....pretty big) in their back yard. I'd like for Pat to have one someday too, but it will have to wait until we have a basement.

We don't have much planned for Mom & Dad O'Brien's trip this week. They said they just wanted to relax and spend time with Liam, and we've been doing pretty much that since they got here Wednesday night :)

Oh, and please say a little prayer for Karli girl. She's in surgery right now as we speak to reconstruct her ACL. I'm sure she'll come out good as new, but its still surgery and scary nonetheless.

Good Morning!

Its me! Up at the ass crack of dawn again.

When Liam got up in the middle of the night tonight - I decided to let him Cry It Out. I'm just so sick of getting up between 1 - 3 AM, know what I mean? So, he started rousing at about 3:30, crying at about 3:50. I kind of did a modified Ferber method.....just going in a couple minutes longer than the previous visit, and in about 20 minutes he was sleeping again. Boy can that kid wail. I felt pretty bad especially when he started choking cuz he was crying so hard......and got myself so worked up that I can't go back to sleep. *sigh* I hate not being able to go back to sleep. I'm TIRED people - why can't I sleep!?!??!

Hiatus

You know, I figured with this stay at home Mom stuff I would be blessed with oodles and oodles of time to find the end of the internets and in general play all day.

HAHAHHAHAHAHAA

not so much.

I'm having a great time, truth be told, it just has reduced my computer time quite a bit, and I haven't figured out how to balance it just yet. I'll figure it out eventually, so I don't anticipate another month long absence.

So much has happened! Liam has become a LIGHTENING fast crawler....and yes, he's taken his first steps!!! A week before his 9 month birthday. Sniff. I don't think I was emotionally ready for that LOL. Here's the video proof!



We have his 9 month check up today, so I will post stats after we get home from the doctor.

Liam and I have also been enjoying many mommy meet ups through meetup.com - going to the beach, farmers markets, zoos, playgrounds and peoples houses! Its difficult sometimes, and I get frustrated with having to take the bus everywhere, but for the most part its been pretty fun. Liam is getting less and less shy, and starting to enjoy hanging out with other kiddos. I've also joined a photography meetup; my first meeting with them was at 4:15AM on Saturday to catch the sunrise on the lake. It was pretty amazing!





More photos on flickr at Sunrise Photo Set

Other news - we've put our condo on the market as of today, I think. Everyone cross their fingers and we'll see how she goes!!!!

Moe watching Michael and Seamus

They're an active couple of boys, aren't they??

Funny Pic O' the Day!

I find this photo hilarious. Over half of my photos when I shoot without a flash are like this - and I have a tendancy to delete them, because they're not "good". But I really love this, I think simply because it epitomizes Liam's stage right now. He's doing a lot of climbing and grabbing. AND a lot of falling. This is just my little man fallin' on his butt right as I take the photo....notice he still managed to keep grabbing onto the play thing though.


So I had an impromptu trip to Saginaw, from Monday to Thursday. The rouse was to watch Karli play in her last softball games, but she was all banged up and unable to play. I'm pretty sure she f'd her knee in the A, but I don't think she's had an MRI to confirm/deny these suspicions. It was a great trip anyway. It was nice in general just hangin' out with the fam. Dad, Liam and I even went to the Saginaw Children's Zoo on a cool, Wednesday morning.

Here's Liam checkin' out a moo-cow :)

The cool part was that I finally mustered up the courage to try train travel, and rode the friendly rails with Amtrak. It was cheaper than driving (not by much, cuz I got the expensive tickets, but it can be as cheap as $60 round trip to Flint!!). It was actually a great experience, even though we were quite delayed on the way in, and doubly so on the way back. But Liam was fantastic - very minimal fussing, he mostly was content to either sit on me, the chair, the floor and stand or play. He also liked looking out the windows and banging on them whilst laughing at the trees. Totally cute! Really, it was nice to have 6+ hours to devote to him - no phone, computer, tv....just me and the little man.

He actually made my heart *almost* explode a couple of times, when he would just sit on my lap and play, and then all the sudden just look at me and smile, then snuggle his little head on my chest for a second before returning to play. *sigh* I suppose that's what montherhood is all about, right?

Now I'm home just long enough to unpack, repack and head out to Indiana tomorrow to hang out with Pat's family! Should be fun :) Happy Memorial Day Weekend!!!!

Weekend Fun

Friday night was a party all night kinda night for us - we played a game of chess (it was my turn to choose) and then watched a documentary about the City of Chicago from the beginning 'til 1871 (the year of the fire). It was actually pretty damn awesome. I know, not a very exciting night to most folks, but I love having nights like that with my man. *sigh* Even if he did fall asleep half way though :)

Yesterday Pat and I went to the Lion House for a dinner function at The Lincoln Park Zoo. VERY cool :) The food was awesome, and the conversation was fantastic - and it was just sooooo cool to have conversation interrupted by Lions roaring right next to you. Really neat-o burrito.

The babysitter we had last night was also fantastic - it feels good to start building a network of people I can trust to care for Liam when we want to go out and about. So far, we have two - and I'd like to add two more to the mix......we're still wading through applications and such on SitterCity.com - but I know we'll find some more good people there.

Today, we went to the Nature Museum using a Passport from the Chicago Public Library. Basically, you check out this passport and you don't have to pay general admission! They have it for zoo's, museums, Shedd, any Chicagoland public attraction. I can't wait to use it more often! You can only check them out for 7 days, but really, to save $30 on admission is totally worth it!!!

Anywho - the Museum was kind of lame-o, but we did manage to have a good time and get a few good photos :)

Here's Liam exploring a fish tank filled with - well, bubbles.



Little man with Daddy on the slide:

Awww - Liam's just soooo cute :) Even if he can't really crawl yet through the tubes!


Liam and Daddy waiting to exit the butterfly haven. Daddy doesn't really like bugs. Even if they are pretty.

Ooohhh - pretty bugs.

Other big news - Liam is a crawler! I can't believe it - he's sooo cute about it too. When he tries to think about it and crawl, his little legs get all jumbled up.....but, when he drops a toy and it rolls away, BAM - he's after it like lightening!! Without even thinkin' about it. I can't believe how much he's growing (I know, cliche, right?). He's also still quite the standin' up pro too - even lets go and stands on his own for a couple of seconds. And pulling up is a piece of cake now. Baby stuff :) We really need to baby proof now.....here's some video I *tried* to catch of him doing it....he'll go a good couple feet now!



Liam and I are going to visit Mema & Papa and the rest of the family tomorrow for a couple of days. The whole plan was to go watch Karli's last softball games of the season, but turns out she sprained her knee, and who knows if she'll actually be playing. It will work out well though, because we won't see them again until July.......so the train fare will be worth it either way! I hope the ride goes smoothly! It can't be worse than driving alone with him.......:) I hope!

Good Morning!

We've had a few days full of milestones lately for our little man. Not crawling quite yet - but he is soooo sooooo close! He has been a climbing machine!! Pulling up on everything and anything he can get his little grubby paws on :) Primarily, after getting home from daycare, he's been using Mommy and Daddy as his own personal mountains :) He just grabs and crawls and climbs all over us - quite adorable actually.


Also in the mobility department, he's also figured out how to get into the sitting position all by himself! He did it yesterday for the first time, and then this morning when I went in he was sitting up, smiling and just waiting for me. *sigh* he's so sweet! I went to get my camera, and when I came back in - I walked in to this:


I was impressed with the sitting - doubly so with the pulling up to standing :) Good thing we lowered the crib mattress a few days ago! I can't believe how much he's grown!!!

As you can see - his hair is also quite short. Mommy got a little over exuberant with the clippers again. Well, actually, Pat tried to cut it, but took a big chunk out of the side of his head - so I just evened it out. All over. Eh. It will grow back.

We also moved into the meat department of solid food yesterday. I made turkey and chicken.....although while it was cooling on the countertop I came to find a certain little small cat snacking on the chicken. *sigh* So, turkey was the only thing I was able to puree. Liam tried it yesterday and did NOT like it. At all. I don't blame him. Turkey is kind of gross all plain by itself. And pureed.

On the healing front - my nose is feeling pretty good. Slowly but surely weaning off the vicodin :) It still feels like a nasty boogery-scabby mess up there, but nothing I can do to fix it right now. No blowing. No picking. No nose spray. No nothing. Just putting up with it. Doctor's appointment is Thursday, so hopefully I'll have some more relief by then.

K - bed-y-bye time for Karin. Have a fabulous evening!

Happy Mother's Day!

Wanted to take a couple pics of my little man and me today.....these are the best of the bunch :) I realize today is supposed to be a day to give thanks and show appreciation to the mother, but for me, I just want to thank and give appreciation for those who MADE me a mother :) Namely, Pat and Liam. I'm just so thankful and grateful for where I am right now - its an amazing feeling!

Oh, and I'm incredibly grateful for the other mother's in my life, friends, family, my mom and mother-in-law, and grandma - you've all given me a great template to follow :)

So what did I want for Mother's day? Not much - just an all day Jammie Day and breakfast (yummy pancakes, dyed pink even!). I did want to go to the zoo, but its super craptastic out, so we'll have to wait another day for that. The rest of today will probably be spent watching the Indiana Jones Trilogy, which I've never seen in completion (we're on Temple of Doom right now). Its been an amazing day - I can't wait for many mother's day's left to come :)

Doh! My Dose.....

that is Dose rhymes with nose.....as in my dose is all stubbed up.........

I had my surgery on Wednesday and all went pretty well - officially called a septoplasty and turbinate reduction. The staff of Northwestern Memorial was amazing, as were the facilities. Everything was all nice and new....private pre-op rooms, private recovery rooms....it was just about as enjoyable as a surgical experience could be.

I went in at about 8:30AM - surgery was around 10:00AM - and we were home sometime around 2:30 ish. General anesthetic, but I didn't get all woozy after because they gave me a "Barf B Gone" patch. Basically a little patch to put behind my ear so I didn't get nauseous after the anesthetic wore off. Worked like a charm! They did still give me a barf bag for the way home, just in case. It was pretty funny looking. Resembled a blue horse / elephant condom. Weird right? But you probably have a good visual of what it looked like :)

Wednesday I spent pretty much the rest of the day doing nothing - Pat took care of me and the boy, I was hopped up on vicodin. The pain did suck, but it was manageable. Mostly the pain was in my teeth, and around my sinus area. I also had a lot of bleeding through my nose, but not much swelling or bruising or anything. I just had to have a gauze pad rolled up and taped under my nose to catch the blood - then I changed the gauze every hour or so. I spent most of the time on the couch, not completely reclined - cuddled up with a kitty or two on me. Funny how they know just when you need some love :)


Thursday I felt better, I was a little more mobile, but still had the gauze....I even wore it on Friday too, even though it was more for mucus than blood. Friday I felt well enough where Pat and I took in a movie - we saw Iron Man (great movie - definitely see!).

I felt yet even better today, so much so that Pat left for the day to go help a friend attach his mast to his sail boat, so Liam and I were on our own today (well, at least until about 3PM when our friend Kelly came to visit). It was tough caring for Liam by myself, because I'm not supposed to lift anything heavier than a milk jug for two weeks. And yes, Liam is about 3 milk jugs (the little chunk a monk!). I'm not supposed to do any strenuous activity, or drink through straws either.....all of those restrictions are in place to help prevent my nose from bleeding again, I suppose.

We survived though - I did pick him up a couple of times, as gently as possible....the only tough time I had was when the pain started getting bad again, and I didn't want to take a pill and knock myself out as I was the only responsible person there! I took the pill anyway, and fought through the sleepiness, at least until I was able to put him down for a nap.

Now, my most recent pill is beginning to kick in, so I will bid adieu :) Hopefully next time I write I will be breathing more freely!!!!

It's Official

I am officially car-less. I turned in the vehicle, my keys, my telephone and my computer today. That really made this all seem so, well, final.....even though its been a couple of days since I was let go. I ordered my Chicago City Pass last night, so hopefully I'll get that soon. In the meantime, I'll just be using the disposable cards we have to use public transportation.

Of course, all this really isn't that big of a deal, because Pat still has his vehicle....and the majority of couples in the city have one car (if they have a car at all). Its just kind of a big deal for me since most of the transportation in my life has been by car.....driving......my four wheel office. I actually liked driving hours on end. Now, its time to get used to a new way of living.

I guess I should start by breaking down the transportation system here. There is the CTA (Chicago Transit Authority) and they operate the buses and trains (the "EL" - colored lines - red, blue, orange, etc) in the City of Chicago. Then there is PACE (not sure what that stands for) which operates buses in the suburbs, and The Metra, which is the commuter trains from the suburbs as well....there are many different lines that go from Milwaukee to Joliet, and a zillion stops in between.

I started off on this new foot by taking public transportation today from the office. Deerfield, IL is about 20 miles north of where we live. Driving it takes about 30-40 minutes or so door to door (closer to an hour now that the Eden's is all F'd in the A). I took the Metra from Deerfield to Edgebrook, walked a block, then took the 84 Peterson bus all the way home. It was super easy, took only about an hour total, and cost about $5.00 - not too shabby.

The relative ease of it all actually had me thinking that I might come to enjoy this.......but I should probably wait to make that assessment until I travel with a wee little one a time or two. One of the things I really enjoyed was being able to really look at the city. I mean, REALLY look - the style of homes, the streets, the people. It was pretty cool. Especially the people part. I think I heard at least 5 different languages on my way home. I LOVE that about the city. One of the big reasons why I would like to stay here for a while - I think its great to expose Liam to that kind of mix instead of being in a super suburb where its all super white bread (not that there's anything wrong with white bread.....its just so...well, bland). It was especially nice because everyone appeared to be happy and social and in a good mood....it was a beautiful day outside, no doubt that was the reason.

So, I will be reliant on public transportation here for a while anyway. If we were to get another vehicle, it would most likely be only if I went back to work somewhere not accessible by the vast network of buses and trains here, or if we moved out into the 'burbs....and all that is up in the air right now.

And, as a wise friend once said "Sometimes the unknown is much greater than the known". Indeed.

Stash Sale :)

Here's what I have advertised over at TheBabyWearer :)

I really tried to find the RS/MT love, but alas, I am a wrap girl, and am loving the two that I’m keeping for my stash. Feel free to make me an offer on prices, I’m still pretty new to the sale/trade gig so I don’t have a great feel for good pricing, but I tried my best to price the items fairly :) Also, try my on for trades….I’m really right now just into wraps – looking for a fun, colorful shorter GSW, (4.6 or shorter)……maybe an extra long strap MT, masculine or gender neutral colors…..or maybe perhaps an Ergo :) Try me out :)

TaylorMade Wine Duponi Silk Ring Sling – Size M. Purchased from a sweet mama in January, tried it on for about 5 minutes, and that’s it. Beautiful color, really soft and broken in – no snags or damage that I can find. Original seller mentioned that the bottom rail had frayed and was fixed, but I can’t find it LOL - $40

Enchanted Snuggle MT – Detroit Lions – Extra Long Straps 92 inches)! Purchased from same sweet mama, super soft and cuddly, padded top straps, very supportive, but the size just doesn’t work for us. Great MT for any daddy, lions fan, or if you don’t like the Lion’s you can just use it for a “I don’t care if this one gets too dirty because its hella durable” spare MT - $35

BBO Calaveras/Zebra – 2^nd owner, purchased in January. LOVE this pattern, fun and funky – always get lots of compliments on it, and used it quite frequently. Washed a couple of times. I just really need extra long straps to make it work perfectly, so I don’t reach for it as much as I should! Its hard to see, but the Alexander Henry Calaveras fabric has gold shimmer throughout – it really is gorgeous - $70

EllaRoo Kristen Size M – Just over 4.6 meters (without the fringe) – I’m the original owner. This was my first wrap after graduating from a Moby LOL :) Loved her – wore her constantly, just really don’t need so many choices, and I reach for others first. She’s freshly washed, but definitely broken in and nice and soft. No damage/snags to note, other than the EllaRoo tag is hanging by one side - $55

Last but not least, fabulous colorgrown Didymos Lars Size 8 – it was sold to me as a size 7 – but actually measures 5.7 meters. Purchased from original owner locally in Chicago – great condition! I wore it only once for a walk around the town, and it’s really just too long for me! The color is more beige-y than sage-y (if that makes any sense, LOL!) Comes with original brochure and DVD - $150

I will happily accept all types of Paypal! Prices include Priority shipping with insurance to anywhere in the US, but definitely willing to ship international if you cover the extra postage. We have a smoke free home, and two fabulous furry kitties - I do my best to keep the carriers completely clean, but don’t be surprised if you find a stray hair or two :) Please note that I do measure my wraps and look them over, but I’m not the most anal retentive person in the world so if I’m off by a centimeter or two or if I miss a very small flaw, please accept my sincerest apologies! Cheers!

New Beginnings......

I've written this post in my head a thousand times over the past couple of days. Its hard to know where to start, what to write, what to cover. Complicated and simple I guess.

Here's the short and simple version. I lost my job on Wednesday.

And the long version. I had just gone to get a manicure and pedicure at Lunch time on Wednesday. Just a little treat to make myself feel pretty. Indeed, it worked. I picked a pretty different color for me. Kind of a translucent blue with purpley-pink shimmers. Really pretty - even Pat liked it :)

On the drive home I got a call from our HR manager. In so many words, he said my position had been eliminated due to recession planning. Basically, our company is freaking out because the economy is crap, pricing is crap, we're not selling much of anything, and we're not making as much money as we would like to. Honestly, I have no doubt we're still making money. All these cuts in spending and personell will ensure that, and I suppose thats good business sense. I knew that in the event something like this happened to our company, that my job would be at high risk of being cut, because its pretty much non-essential to the business. It does create value, it does provide a important service....but when it comes down to it promotion costs money, and doesn't directly contribute to the bottom line.

And, I had a feeling that this was coming when I caught word that another co-worker, in a similar promotion based position was being let go. I figured it would be a matter of time.

A matter of time is now.

So, I was caught off guard - I was upset - sad - betrayed - blah blah blah. I even cried for a bit on Wednesday day night (after too much wine, mind you). I even cried because Jason Grilli was traded to the Rockies.....(I vaguely recall babbling between drunken cries "But, what if Grilli misses working in Detroit? What if he misses his work buddies?" sob sob - that GOODness he's gone, really, he was a terrible relief pitcher......but it was pretty funny I was upset about it). But now, I really felt good about the whole thing. Yes, its sucky, but really we are in the best possible position to be in if this were to happen. I'm just going to put the following benefits / options in list form, just because that's how they seem to be coming out in my mind.....

1. I got a pretty darn good severance package. I can't talk about the details (I signed something saying I wouldn't - along with saying I wouldn't sue the company) but lets just say I feel adequately compensated.
2. Overall, we're in really great financial health. We've got substantial savings, and our only debt is a small balance of my college loan, and our mortgage. That is a great place to be.
   
3. We had contemplated me staying home with Liam for some time, we most likely can flourish on one salary with lots of adjustment in our spending of course - but that would be a great situation.
4. Maybe we want to make more babies :) Soon :)
   
5. Of course, if I want to find another full-time career related job I have no doubts with my qualifications, experience and dazzling personality that I would be able to find a great job with out much problem, even in this economy.
6. Maybe this will be an opportunity for me to work part time at something I really enjoy doing.....like retail, or some kind of fun direct sales gig. Not necessarily for the money, but for the social aspect and to get me out of the house.
7. We're still not quite sure if we're going to try to sell our place to look for a new house yet.....but now that we're going to be stopping daycare, it opens up our options a bit. Oh yeah, that's another thing. I was soooo sad to tell Josefina that we wouldn't be brining Liam after the next two weeks. We're continuing for two weeks just because when we signed our daycare agreement, we said we would do so - and it just seems like the right thing to do. I just know how much she loves Liam, and I don't want to put her under any financial hardship either....I'm thinking maybe I can help her find another little one to care for.
8. After next week, I won't have a car.....and I have to get a new phone. As long as we're in the city, its not that big of a deal. Public transportation is ample, and we won't need to buy another car. If we move to the 'burbs though - that might be a different story.

So, thats pretty much it. I'm in a really good place right now. Calm. Excited. Ready for a new begining. When Pat and I busted open a bottle of sparkling wine on Wednesday night, we toasted to a "New Chapter". New beginnings. I like the sound of that! I'm so thankful to have such a wonderful and supporting husband......having a partner like him makes going through something like this a million times more bearable. I LOVE YOU PAT - no matter what decision we make, I know we will be just fine. Everything will work out - for the best!

Lego my Legos

I had the wonderful opportunity to reminisce and act like a child this weekend. Whilst we were visiting our family, my nephew Michael invited me to come downstairs and help him find a Lego guy that had gone inexplicably missing.....a Lego Luke Skywalker. Not being one to turn down an opportunity to help a child, I followed down the steps and began searching through the multiple boxes of Legos intertwined with a slew of miscellaneous other toys in search of this little guy.

As I was searching through the boxes, an old familiar sound danced around my ears. The sound of my hand sweeping through an immense mound of resin toys, pushing them out of the way in hopes that I could find "The Piece" I was looking for. Except rarely does one actually ever find the one piece. But along the way, as in many days gone by, I found many other interesting things....Lego pants, light sabers, body-less heads, hats, hair, arms......teeny tiny pieces of toys that are always buried along the edges of the boxes. I wonder why that is? Some derivative of Newton's Laws of Gravity?? Newtonian Laws of Legos....yes, I like the way that sounds....

We did not find Luke. But, I did pick out every Lego Person and body part I had come across, and decided to make them my collective Lego Army. Even after assembling the troops, I continued to search through those boxes. This time to help build a Lego house. Once again, I was greeted by the sound of Legos gently clinking together as I pushed through in search of "skinny" pieces to build the walls.

That sound is so familiar to me - and it was so surprisingly comforting. I can't even begin to tell you how many countless hours my brothers and I spent hovering over the giant Lego box.....searching, building and creating.....fighting over hard to find pieces (like the "waterbed" ones - or the cool Lego people)....making a huge mess and always losing pieces in the process....or following the wordless directions trying to build a cool new kit, before it was lost in the mass, never to be built step by step again.

Even as a young adult, my parents (oh, I mean, ahem. Santa) put mini-kits in our stocking, and I always loved opening it up and building it early Christmas morn'! I still have the last couple, which were a front end loader and a knight and ferocious dragon (the Medieval kits were always a favorite with me). I had them proudly displayed above my monitor in my office. To this day I don't think there is any character more cute than a Lego person. I actually enjoy watching Michael play Lego Star Wars (and hopefully Lego Indiana Jones in the future) on Wii because the little guys are sooo darn adorable!

Its not surprising to me now, when my nephew Austin gets a new set of Legos, to see my brother Kyle rush over to "Help" him build the new set. I know what he's really doing :) Reminiscing. And I can't wait until Liam gets a bit older so we can do the same!

7 months and countin'....

I can always tell when its been a while since I've blogged, and not just by the absence of posts (yes, I realize that's obvious), but rather when Pat tells me its been a while. I find it rather cute. Yes, he lives with me, but I kind of like that he reads the blog anyway :) Makes me feel loved!

The 24th marked Liam's 7th month on earth. Man, he's growing growing growing!!! Now in 12 month old clothing....seems to be losing some of his chub and stretching out a bit.....but I still love zerberting that little belly! His new favorite pastime is sitting up and playing, but he certainly does not enjoy staying stationary - although he doesn't yet know how to crawl/scoot/move, which causes him some inner angst. He tries his hardest though! Writhing about on the floor, moving often into "downward facing dog". He almost knows that he can move about by rolling.....but he hasn't quite connected those dots yet. We really need to baby proof....but probably won't until he's totally mobile.

Liam is also enjoying the nice weather. Josefina takes him to the park daily (weather permitting) and he's getting some sun. Even with SPF 50 his nose and cheeks get a bit rosy. I think he likes playing in the dirt, because Josefina always changes his outfit after they get home. I find that adorable....I can't wait until we get to make mudpies! I'm so excited to have a little boy!

Right now, Pat and I are kid sitting in Indiana......Kristen surprised Mike with a trip to MI for his 40th birthday. They stayed in the RenCen and went to a Tiger's game. Tig's lost, but I'm sure they had a good time. We'll find out sometime soon when they get home. The kids were/are good for us too, which is always nice. We didn't have to knock any sense into anyone :) LOL! Not that we anticipated any issues, they are good kids....but you never know what will happen when the parents aren't around, you know?

Lets see, what else. Oh, we contacted a realtor about putting our house on the market. Haven't made the decision yet though.....we'll have to sell for a little less than we had hoped, but more than what we paid for, so we should be OK. We can't decide where we want to move to though....which is another issue. Just need something bigger. 3 bedrooms. Hopefully a single family home.....but not sure if that's feasible to still stay in the City. *sigh* sometimes I wish I had mad cash and could afford the $750,000 single family homes around us. It would be nice to stay in the area we live now....but that's not going to happen.

I'm feeling pretty good, and getting busy with work, which is also very good......

That's all for now. Now I'm off to hunt for a Lego Luke Skywalker...........wish us luck!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Here's to 50 more :)

Huzzah!!

We had a fabulous night last night!!! We were actually able to keep a surprise from my mom, and presented her with her birthday present, a trip to see Wicked and stay one night in a swanky hotel downtown :) She was pretty impressed, especially since it was all my Dad's idea. He's so cute sometimes. Anywho - the girls all loved it - not sure if I can say the same for the guys......but still a must see in my book. Here's the crew on the way out of the Oriental Theatre:


Then today was a pretty huge day because we got new countertops finally!!! I was kind of nervous that the color I picked wouldn't go well with the floor and the cabinets, but it looks INCREDIBLE!! The people did a great job, and I will be sure to recomend them to all my friends :) We ended up going through Costco, and I'm so glad we did. Great experience! Here's what it looks like (sans faucet - the plumber is on his way to hook up that and the garbage disposal).


The only bad thing is that Pat had something come up for work, so instead of shopping on the Mag Mile with my family I stayed home with the contractors, but worse things could happen.....

Keith and Heidi are on their way over as well tonight, so it will be a full house. Funny story about that - Keith bought tickets to what he thought was the Tigers / White Sox game at Comerica Park - last Saturday. But they were actually for tomorrow, Here, in Chicago. It works out OK because everyone will be here for my Mom's actual 50th birthday, but it looks like its going to be a giant suck fest as far as weather......the forcast is 40 and snowy/rainy. Poop-ola. I was able to snag my company's tickets last minute though - so if nothing else we can hang out in The Stadium Club and stay warm. Hey man, we can't let the tickets go to waste if our customers don't want them!

K - time to go pick up the boy....who, by the way has two front teeth now!!! They are so cute :) I haven't been able to take a pic yet, but trust me when I say they are the cutest teeth you've ever seen. And I'm not at all biased. Here's a couple photos of him anyway....sitting up like a big boy and chillin' in his sweet shades. *sigh* what a doll :)

Liam Update - 6 months 2 weeks

The doctors visit at the end of March went pretty well.....I was concerned more for me than I was for him. It was the first visit with shots....WITHOUT Pat to do the holding :) I held up OK, and he stopped crying pretty quickly. Liam's growing well - but more slowly. He's no longer at the tippy top of the charts in height and weight. His six month stats were:

Weight - 18 pounds 3 oz (75th percentile)
Height - 27 1/2 inches (90th percentile)
Head - 17 1/2 inches (50 - 75th percentile)

He's noticibly stretching out as of late, with less baby chub to fill him out, so he seems pretty skinny :) I suppose that means he's had a growth spurt, at least in the height department. He's growing out of the 9 month clothes we have, and racing into the 12 month old size.

Foods are going well - he's tried carrots, avacado, green beans, sweet peas, butternut squash, sweet potato, oatmeal, rice, pears and apples. I've got bananas, mangos and yellow squash on deck ready to go, but we've gotta wait a couple days in between new introductions. Carrots are pretty fun for him to eat, because it makes him poop orange. Not sure why I find that amusing, but there are stranger things, eh?

The most significant developmental achievement is sitting up! He's getting pretty darn good at it, not so much of a weeble wobble now anymore (although he does still do the occasional face plant). Liam much prefers sitting down and playing as opposed to tummy time. Go figure - he HATES being on his belly. He rocks back and forth too, which is cute...and making his legs stronger! He is really trying to pull himself up to stand, but we don't have much furniture for him to practice, so its just in his crib and changing table.

He also loves to laugh - he cracks up when other people laugh at him, and he likes to bang on things too. OH, and he also knows how to splash in the bathtub now as well - should make for lots of soakin' wet times :) He also laughs out loud and squeals whenever the cats come close by to him....he loves them!!! They come close to check him out, even give him a snuggle or two, but I'm pretty sure they don't love Liam yanking on fur & ears. He's learning though, and so are they. And they seem to have somewhat of an understanding as Liam is learning :)

For the most part, he's sleeping through the night more often than not, and generally has a pretty happy, sweet, smiley disposition. These statements are completely null and void during times of sickness and teething though :)

No more doctor visits (and no more shots! Hooray!) until 9 months....so, until then.....

A new day

I didn't get nauseated from the meds this morning, so that's a good thing. I seem to be a bit more clear headed, which is also nice.

Went to Target with Mom & Liam.....my slippers were shot so I had to buy a new pair.....and $60 worth of other stuff I didn't really need :) Target has a way of doing that to you! Anywho - I bought a new pair of BUNNY SLIPPERS!!! I've never owned a pair, and I must say, they make me smile when I look at them. Really, Target didn't have a whole lot of slipper selection right now (seeing as how we're entering flip flop weather....hopefully soon) so, it was either the bunnies or sock monkeys. And frankly, sock monkeys freak me out. So really, it was fate. I was meant to have bunny slippers. They even have a cute heart shaped nose and a foo foo tail on the back.

Liam appears to be in much better spirits today. He's currently sleeping with Grandma on the couch. They seem to enjoy their afternoon nap together.....there really isn't anything much sweeter than a sleeping baby on your chest (unless of course, its the ONLY place he sleeps....then it can get kind of tiresome). Its nice to see him laughing and playing, and not constantly cranky.

That's about all for now. I should have a fun update after this weekend. Mom is turning the big 5-0 on Saturday :) Dad, Karli & I think Kyle and Austin are coming down tomorrow, Pat comes home tomorrow night, and I even think Keith and Heidi will be here for the day on Saturday.

Interesting times.....

I've been on Meds now for depression for, oh, about three months. Started on zoloft, changed to wellbutrin in the hopes that my sex drive would come back......it did, but so did a whole slew of obsessive/compuslive thoughts, and I was soooo irritable and crabby - and really couldn't focus or concentrate for beans. So, we just switched again to lexapro. I'm crossing my fingers that this works! I just want to be a normal, functioning human being again!!!

Pat has been traveling a ton this past month, and last week without him was HOR-RI-BLE. I was pretty sure that Liam was teething like a mo-fo, and he started to get sick too. Double Whammy. I think I was already PO'd because Pat was gone, then irritable because of the meds, cranky because of all the medical procedures I've had done, and ON TOP of all that, Liam did NOT want to sleep. At all. Until 4AM. Oh, and he was screaming. And he didn't want to let me sit down. Wow - that was incredible. I lost it at around 3AM, just put him in his bed, screamed into a pillow, banged my head against the fridge (gently, but you get the point) and let him cry. Then he started throwing up because he was crying so hard about 30 minutes later....but thankfully I was calmed down enough to take care of him more patiently and lovingly. He feel asleep shortly after.

All I have to say is thank the SWEET LORD for wraps and slings, because if I didn't have those I know I wouldn't have lasted as long as I did!

Anyway, I recovered......but vowed to never EVER ever be alone with him again. EVER. Of course, it was just the emotion of the day after, but I arranged for my mom to come visit while Pat was away on his next trip (he left this morning). I was so happy she was here.

Liam is still sick, so mom and I took him to the doctor today to make sure he didn't have an ear infection or pneumonia or anything horrible. He just slept pretty shit-ily last night, and didn't really want anything to do with his bottle today. Lucky for us, he's A-OK...just a cold, and DEFINITELY some teeth coming in (hooray!) You can even start to see them sprouting now :)

So we leave the doctor and go to the grocery store to pick up some stuff. All the sudden, Liam starts SCREAMING and I see blood in the corners of his mouth. ACK! I flipped out!!! It wasn't gushing mind you, but it wasn't a little bit of blood either. I have no idea what happened. My mom thought a tooth broke through, or maybe he scratched his mouth or something......so we left our full grocery cart in the isle and go to the car, and by time we get him in the car seat the bleeding stopped. I still called the doc, and they're like, well.....if its gushing, take him to the ER, if its not, you can come in after hours in about three hours......We didn't have to go back though - he was his ol' perky happy self shortly thereafter. I still have no idea what happened.....

Definitely freaked me out though. I don't know what I would have done if my mom weren't here......I don't have a whole heck of a lot of confidence in my patience or parenting skills right now.....I know that it will come back eventually as the intensity of these events fade, but I just feel like I can't do much right at the moment!

*sigh* It feels good to get that all out. Well, out to some venue other than my therapist :) actually, I think that's a good sign in of itself. When I'm feeling really down and out, I rarely feel like blogging. So, the fact that I am blogging means I'm feeling better already!

More health news...

I'm really starting to get my health affairs in order, and have officially made appointments with the Dermatologist, Ear Nose and Throat guy, and Allergist. 2 out of 3 are now done, and 2 out of 2 had me experiencing a whole lot more than I expected at an initial visit.

The dermatologist scooped a couple moles off of me - on my belly and on my ear. The one on my ear was pretty darn painful. Not the actual cutting out of the mole, but the injection of the anesthetic. OWIE ZOWIE! I didn't pass out though - the medical assistant was a pretty cool guy and kept me talking through the whole thing.

And, well, you can read about my ENT debacle in the previous post.

So, I'm assuming there won't be any surprises at the Allergist - I've done the testing before, so it will be lots of poking and prodding....but nothing that should make me pass out.

Its good to have it all out of the way. Individually, they aren't big health issues, but it certainly does add up and take a toll.

I PASSED OUT!!!!

I'm not a wuss. I swear. Its not my fault......Its the Vagal Response - basically stimulating certain nerves or blood vessels causes my blood pressure to plummet and me to pass out. Not too fun - but after my first episode (I was donating blood in high school) I learned out to read how my body reacts as to avoid passing out cold and donkin' my head on something. So at least I know its coming and I can sit or lay down :) It also happened when I got a shot for my teeth surgery (I thought the anesthetic was just working quickly), when I got the wisdom teeth stitches out, various times giving blood samples, get IV's......and apparently when exposed to large implements of torture.

Items such as this.......

You can't see the scale, but the long, evil, pokey thing is about 12 inches long. HUGE. It looks like a needle, but its actually a fiber optic telescope. I had an appointment with the ENT specialist today, and he squirted some lidocane/ephedrine mix up my nose. Tasted HEINOUS. And he's like "Oh, this won't hurt at all". Then proceeded to shove 8 out of the 12 inches up INTO MY BRAIN. It didn't hurt, really, but the whole tickling my brain thing was weird. It might have just been my throat, but I swear it was my brain.

After he took the Torturous Tool of Doom out of the 2nd nostril - I started feeling a little woozy. I let him know, and he promptly laid me back in the chair, and then doused my head, neck, chest and arms with a cold, sopping wet cloth. Made my shirt pretty wet, but definitely brought be back pretty quick. He thought I was out for a couple seconds, and I may have been...I felt all the blood rush out of my head - and I couldn't respond to him when he was talking "Stay with me, stay with me!" but I still could see and hear everything.

He also made me feel better by saying it wasn't an uncommon response :) And, while he rarely talks surgery during the initial visit of a patient, my case was pretty severe......

So, the good news is that I'm recovered just fine, the bad news is he confirmed I could really, really benefit from surgery. The doctor in Mexico told me the same thing, I just didn't want to do it down there (although it probably would have been cheaper). I also brought the doc my CT scans that I had done in Mexico (check them out at an older post HERE) - I've got a severely deviated septum, and enlarged turbinates. So, I'll get the septum straightened and the turbinates reduced, and maybe, just maybe I'll be able to breathe like a normal person again. Its been so long since I've been able to breathe well, I really can't remember life being any other way.

What a year

Happy Anniversary to us!!! Its hard to believe a year has passed, and what an amazing year it has been. We celebrated early with a trip to Fogo de Chao, and had a lovely lunch with a nice bottle of wine and yummy special anniversary cake. That restaurant is significant because A) we had our wedding dinner there, and B) because its the place he first told me "Everything is better with you". Awwww - how romantic was that?!?! Its kind of nice to have "our restaurant" :)

Thank you Patrick, for the most amazing year of my life - here's to many more amazing years, full of laughter, happiness and perseverance through the times that aren't so rosy. I love you.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

from the O'Brien Family :o)

Liam update

I haven't had an official Liam update in a while, so I suppose its about time.

*sigh* he's getting big! I just saw a 6 week old on Friday, and it just made him look so big comparatively. But I suppose that's what's supposed to happen. He's approaching his 6 month birthday on Easter Sunday, and will have his check up the Friday after - so we'll have stats and such then. For now, here's a little run down of how he's been doing:

• Daycare is going very well. He's happy to see her on Monday, and Josefina absolutely adores him. It makes me feel good to be at work when he's in such good hands.
• He's been sleeping pretty well lately - naps were always an issue, but he's been on *kind of* a schedule. He'll eat, play for a couple of hours, then take about an hour, hour 1/2 nap. I think he takes three or four per day? Ish? He's also had a couple of nights where he's slept pretty much all the way through - about 8:00pm til 5:00am or so - which is awesome! Nothing of any consistency yet, but its getting there.
• His new thing is making raspberries with his little tongue. Its so cute! He slobbers everywhere :) He also loves being an indian (feather not dot) when Pat or I move our fingers in front of his mouth (hard to explain, do you know what I mean? I have a video - I'll upload it later.).....lots of new noises for this little guy!
  
• No teeth yet, but definitely lots of chewing on fingers, and tons of drool (as mentioned before)
• He's beginning to sit up OK - only a couple of seconds here and there, but we're practicing lots.
• He doesn't hate being on his tummy nearly as much, probably because he can flip whenever he wants. Not from back to tummy quite yet, but almost. I'm sure it will happen soon.
• Liam has become very observant of so many things - a very curious little boy! Which makes it nearly impossible for him to nap when we're out and about, but so cool to watch him just observe and soak it all in. He's been paying particular attention to the tags of his toys. Not sure why, but he loves to look at them and touch them.
• One of his favorite subjects of attention is the kitties. He really seems to like them! Every time they come into a room and he sees them, he always gets a big smile and squeals. Its pretty hilarious. He also loves to grab them as they walk by, and he's got quite a grip (much to their dismay).
  
• Definitely loving touching, feeling and discovering new textures - his favorite is crinkly soft fabric books (especially the one's by Priddy Books - we have four of them! Big Rex, Fluffy Chick, Squishy Turtle and Snowy Bear).
• He can easily pick up toys, and pass them back and forth between his hands and of course, shove them in his mouth.
• Ahhhh - tosies. His favorite toy is definitely his tosies! He found them about two months ago, but has just recently begun to put them in his mouth. Its pretty funny :) His tosies are so precious :)
• Solid food is going well - Rice cereal of course. He tried, but didn't like peaches too much (he always made a sour face and tried to spit them out). He liked peas, but they made him pretty farty, so we discontinued those. Sweet potatoes seem to be a favorite. I also made butternut squash and apples to try, but we haven't tried those yet.
• And last but certainly not least, he's developed a bit of stranger anxiety. Or "Mom & Dad are Gone" anxiety. We haven't had many babysitters, so he just doesn't have much exposure to being left with other people. I've been trying to take him once a week to a playgroup to get acquainted with other moms, and expose Liam to other babies....not sure if that's helping or not. Last week, I put him down in front of another baby, and he just started crying and crying!! But after about 20 minutes or so he was fine, and interacting a bit with others.
  

So, that's about it for now. He's a pretty happy, healthy growing boy. Lots of giggles and smiles, just how Daddy and I like it! I'll leave you with a photo from today - he's such an adorable little boy!

Chicago River Photos...

Here's a few from today! It was also Liam's first subway / El ride :) See the whole set at FLICKR

River Green....

We had a fabulous morning, and my two boys are both beat so they are taking naps as we speak :)

We met our pals Ben and Keren at the train station, and headed downtown to see the Greening of the Chicago River. Yes, I've got lots of pics, but those will come later. After freezing our bunz off for a while, we started heading to Dick's Last Resort, and after a few zillion phone calls, met up with our other buddies Gina, Jason & Audrey.

Lunch with green beers was fab, and then we headed home. Pat, Liam and I took the train. Or at least started to. We got one stop up and then the train stopped. No one was sure why. So we got off, and apparently, some guy stole a purse, then jumped UNDER the train and started running!!!! I thought that crap only happened in movies! We figured it would be awhile before they started back up, so we just walked a bit north and then caught a cab.

So now, its nice and quiet, and I'll have time to edit some of our photos, and hopefully post a few tonight. Until then - CHEERS! And happy St. Patrick's Day weekend!

Quick shout out :)

Liam and I volunteered to be models for Gypsy Mama Wraps (for a local photographer), and we had the photo shoot Saturday, along with lots of other Mama's and kiddos. It was pretty fun! Got to meet some new people, and of course, getting out of the house is always cool. Oh yeah, did I mention we got a free wrap too?? :)

Please go to the photographer's blog for some sneak peaks: Stephenie Dame Photography Blog. There is a photo of Liam that just makes me melt......

Liam is GROWING way too fast

Yes, he's been a pill whilst sleeping lately, but it doesn't change the fact that while he IS sleeping, he's ridiculously adorable. I always go in to check on him before I go to bed, and I caress his little soft cheek, tell him I love him and then blow a kiss. He's growing so quickly, pretty soon he won't want to be swaddled anymore, and I won't have my very own baby burrito. So here's a quick snap of him sleeping before I woke him up from a nap (with trusty Hugo the Hippo by his side).


Also, more growing boy news: He scooted a bit yesterday. It was kind of a half army crawl....nothing huge, but the first time he's propelled himself nonetheless. *sigh* we really need to baby proof. We also (and by we, I mean Pat) put together his high chair that we've had in storage. We got it as a gift right when he was born. Its so pretty :) But still a bit big for him, especially since he can't really sit up yet. He really is enjoying eating though!!!! Almost as much as I have enjoyed making his baby food. Yes, I actually made our own baby food! Its been kind of fun, and pretty easy to do! So far, sweet potatoes, apples and squash (the squash smelled like POO!). He's also tried peas and peaches, but I bought those from Gerber :) Peas make him really farty. I have a class I'm taking right before easter to learn a bit more.....its definitely cheaper than buying commercial, that's for sure - but really, its just fun and makes me feel like I'm providing something good for him :)

OK - a few photos of my boy in his too big, big boy high chair :)

Sleep, Countertops and Pot pies

:::::::::::: SLEEP OR LACK THEREOF ::::::::::::

I don't know what Liam's deal is. He tricked us into sleepy bliss by sleeping all the way through the night for like, four nights in a row, and then decided to make up for it by waking up every two hours each night for the past week. I am *exhausted* especially now since Pat is in Madison for a few days, so I get night duty all to myself. I have no idea why he's waking up and so cranky. Hopefully its just a phase and he goes back to either only once a night or nonce a night. I've been living on coffee to keep me awake during the day.....and I'd rather not get addicted, know what I mean???

:::::::::::: COUNTERTOPS ::::::::::::

After calling Costco's countertop program three times, we finally got a contractor to not only call back, but come over and do a quote for us. WHOO HOOO!!! I have a feeling we're going to go with Granite (over Corian or Zodiaq - both Dupont manufactured surfaces). It was certainly fun picking out colors and such :) Now, if we can just get our bonuses sometime soon, we'll be able to actually buy them!

Here's a couple of pics I took of the samples. The 1st row is Corian, 2nd row is Zodiaq and the wheel is Granite. Lots of great options!




:::::::::::: YUMMY ::::::::::::

And now, a random word about Pot Pies. I love them. Always have - especially the super cheap banquet ones you can get for $0.49. But they are oh so bad for you. Anyway, I bought a Marie Callender's chicken pot pie this week, just because I had a craving for one, and I made it in the microwave. I know, it seems weird right? Half the deliciousness of a pot pie comes from the tender flaky crust.......but the 11 minutes in the microwave vs. 65 minutes in the oven won out. Dude - seriously - Microwave food cooking technology has greatly improved in recent years. The pot pie was AWESOME!!! You cook it right in the box, and it has some super futuristic cooking doohicky inside that makes the crust all perfect and yummy and fabulous and delicious. It was SOOO good - and totally hit the spot! If they didn't have like 100 grams of fat in them, I would probably buy more and eat one every week.

Social Peeps!

The past couple of weeks have been a whirlwind as far as our social life goes. Really, the past year we haven't made any inroads as to making new friends and such. We would occasionally go out or have people over, but for the most part we just kept to ourselves. Which isn't a bad thing, really. I think part of us wanted it that way, since we spent so much time apart....we just used the opportunity to "soak each other up", if you will.

That's definitely all changed recently.

I think my depressive state was partly caused by not having really any good friends in this area, and I kept lamenting and longing for my family and my BFF's far far away. By the suggestion of an online buddy, I checked out Meetup.com to see if I could find any groups to join. (Have I mentioned this before?? Not sure....but I'll keep going anyway). Anyway, I've meet some really cool peeps from that group, and actually we had a playdate last week for us and Liam with some really great people - Gina, Jason & their daughter Audrey (who Liam thinks is super cute :) ). Gina and I really clicked, so it was really cool to spend some more time with her.

OK Ok - let me just break down our social calender for the past couple of weeks:
Tuesday 2/19: Girls night at cute little bar from meetup.com
Friday 2/22: Amber and Will came over for dinner, and played scrabble (my new favorite pastime, in person and on Facebook). Amber kicked all our butts to high heaven.
Saturday 2/23: Baby proofing class through meetup.com - We met a cool couple from Muskegon (thanks to Liam's U of M bunting!). Pat also met up with his old college roomate Ben, who lives just about a mile away from us!! They got in touch through Facebook. Who knew how resourceful that silly website would be!
Sunday 2/24: Jason, Gina & Audrey come over for a play date that lasted a few hours! It was very cool!
Thursday 2/28: Gina and I head out for dinner at Fronterra Grill and a girls night downtown at a little boutique bar called NV Penthouse.
Friday 2/29: Meetup.com day at the Museum of Science & Industry (we actually didn't meet anyone there, because we were late, but it was fun trapsing around the museum with Pat and Liam anyway)
Saturday 3/1: Not a particularly social day with other peeps, but we did take ourselves to have Lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings. Liam's first trip there! I tell ya, the smoking ban in Illinois has made it possible to take our little man everywhere!
Sunday 3/2: It was STINKIN' beautiful outside, so we took the opportunity to take Liam for a walk and met up with Ben and his wife (who's name is Keren....but pronounced Karin...how cool is that??!) for lunch/dinner at The Little Mexican Cafe.

*whew* We've been busy! And, let me say, it has made a world of difference in my attitude. Am I still tired - yes. Still a bit depressed - yes. But it almost feels like Chicago is my home now. I'm building a network of friends, getting into a groove with work, and generally enjoying myself more.

For your viewing pleasure :)

My little boy is getting so big!!!! Here's a summary of his February activities :)

Depression Update

In general, I've been feeling better, but not 100%. I finally made an appointment with an actual Psychaitrist to help manage my dosage.....I had the appoinment and we actually decided to change medicines. So, I went from Zoloft back to Wellbutrin. Its worked well for me in the past, so we'll see how she goes this time around. I started taking it, and its made me a bit nauseous, but it seems that those side effects always rear thier heads the first week or two.

I also had a physical last week too - I really liked the doctor. Very thourough and unpretentious. It took like, two hours, because I've really neglected my health for the past couple of years, focusing instead on pregnancy and keeping the baby healthy :) We went through it all - medical history, allergies, skin issues, depression/anxiety, nasal issues, etc. So, now I must make appointments for an ENT specialist, Dermatologist and Allergist to get everything else undercontrol. I started taking allergy pills, spray and nasal strips again, in hopes that it improves my sleep a little bit. I'm kind of bummed, because it means I'll be pill popping again (probably 4 or 5 per day) but if it gets be back on track health wise, I suppose its worth it. Each of those issues alone really aren't serious, but when you add them all up, it seems like I'm an unhealthy wreak. Which really isn't the case, but my health does need to improve.