Ziggy the Zebra visit

Here's a post from Pregnancy.org bulletin board :) Our board mascot came to visit us!!!!

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First things first....Emily, nice try covering for Ziggy. He told me all about it. He wasn't hidden in your clean laundry.....he was in Zebra REHAB!! Decided he liked the drinky drink a little to much and checked himself in. Its OK now Em, everything is open and honest here, and we don't think any different of him now, do we???

Anywhoozers - Liam, Honeybuns and I really enjoyed our time with Zig man.....and lets just say, I don't think his stint in rehab helped him all that much......I mean, he was hangin' out with the Irish/Mexican folk for a while!


Lookie what we got!!! I'm soooo excited!



Liam, um....not so much. "NO MOM!!! Not the box. NOT THE BOOOOoOOooOOOOOX!"



First thing Zig-man lays down for me when he gets out of the box is this...."Lady, you gotta help a Zebra fix his hair! This 'do is WACK!"



So, I take him to get his hair did. Looks much better, and he says he feels so refreshed!



"Alright, alright...this dude seems pretty cool. Has good taste in colors...."



"Hey Ma! Did you hear this guy? He says he's been all over. Even to Montana!? MONTANA!!! Can you believe this guy!?"



Yes my dear friends, sometimes my son is a bit dramatic. He loves Ziggy. Then he hates him. Then he loves him again. Its like a tortured artist. "Enough of this silly Zebra!! I wash my hands of you!! BE GONE!"



Liam and the Zigster watching Sesame Street on the Spiderman couch...."Yeah, watch this segment Ziggy! This Elmo guy CRACKS me up!"



Has anyone seen a little boy with a red Zebra?? I can't find them ANYWHERE!! No trace of them at all....hmmmm....maybe they are plotting against me.



There they are! "Peek-A-Boo!" Liam actually covered his eyes this time. Usually, its one hand over his eye, the other one on an ear, or on the top of his head....you get the idea :)



"Zebra? What Zebra? I don't see no stinkin' Zebra here."



Ziggy helps Liam get ready for bed by reading "Tails" together. Ziggy says "Hey!! I've got a tail too!" while Liam sips on some warm milk.



Ziggy, Hugo the Hippo and Liam are all pretty sleepy after a long day of livin' it up.



The next morning (this morning) we all wake up and get ready for what is usually the biggest game of the season....Michigan vs. Ohio State. Sad to say, this year has been a horrific one for Michigan Football....the worst in 129 seasons to be exact. Which was reason enough to break out the booze and for Ziggy to fall off the wagon. It's going to be a long one. Besides...its tough to be a University of Michigan fan when you're all RED!!! And yes, our TV is gigundic. Definitely a Honeybuns purchase...his last before Liam was born LOL :)


Hooray! There is hope!!! "WHOOO HOOO!! Michigan Scored!!"


Halftime of the UM/OSU game....While hope was still alive and before we were crushed to oblivion. Ziggy doesn't quite belong, he's the only one without Michigan Cool Pants :)


After the football game debacle, we headed out to see some sights. "WHOA! Chicago is AWESOME!!!!!!"



"Hmmm....should I go for a refreshing dip in Lake Michigan??"



Crusin' on Lakeshore Drive



Ziggy sitting patiently in traffic {AGAIN} after visiting Piggy Toes trying to find Liam some shoes for his freakishly chubby fat feet. To no avail I might add. Well, we couldn't find a pair that was less than $60....which is just ridiculous.



Mmmmm.....Is Ziggy thinkin' what I'm thinkin?? I think he is :) STILL off the wagon :)




Daddy, Liam and Ziggy walking to the condo after an afternoon in the city. No garages or driveways for these city folks! By the way, this really bites on a COLD day!!! Today was a warm 30-ish with a chilly lake breeze.



Adios Chicago!! We had an AWESOME visit - Safe travels Ziggy as he's off to see Liane and Alyssa!!!

A Tribute to Uncle Dan - from my Tia Monica

I was sent this from my Tia Monica today - I thought it was beautiful so I figured I would share. We lost Uncle Dan unexpectedly yesterday morning.....

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A Tribute to my brother Dennis.

It happen to soon, it wasn’t a good time, I wasn’t ready. It just doesn’t seem real. I feel like I am in a fog and so alone. They say it will pass, but I really don’t know. To lose such a wonderful brother.

And yes God I understand it is your will, you have a plan that we can’t even imagine yet. But you also have given us tears to cry, a head that hurts so bad because we miss our big brother, Our arms that are now empty for that one brother who filled a special place. Our hearts hurt so bad we don’t know what to do.

The one who always reminded us what being a family is, the one that always brought the yesteryears of Christmas every year. Nutcrackers and lots of presents! The ugliest tree he could find…he was a true Charlie Brown because when he was done decorating it, the trees true beauty
shined. And how about his never ending collection of Christmas music.

Do you remember?

Do you remember the one who could party with his friends and family, Party like its 1999. Lord we are grateful to have know a brother who has touch hundreds and hundreds in his life. Not everyone could do that but Dennis did it with ease and no effort. His generosity was his trademark and it was real, not just to show others how generous he was because I know of many more times his generosity was anonymous. It was as sincere as his heart.

I can’t seem to forget that I should have called my brother more often. I told him that next year we would start going to the football games with him again. Sorry to say I was too busy this year. How could any of us know that this would be our last opportunity? I loved the way he always dogged my MSU Team and I love teasing him about MI. It was all in love and fun. He even called me after the big game this year and told me that he would listen for five minutes of me bragging and then I have to leave him alone. That’s because State won MI. Now I wish it would have been the other way around.

And even though I am not ready to say goodbye, I am so grateful Lord that you sent this Angel to touch our lives. That I had the opportunity to call him brother, but more important that I had the opportunity to call him my friend. You all know what I am talking about because he had
a way of making each one of us feel as if we were the most important. And I want you to look at me now when I say, each of you are the most important. I am grateful for the friends Danny & Mary brought into our lives because we probably would not have know each other or crossed
paths.

And so Lord, I do trust you. You have called your son to go home. I put my faith in your hand to care for him and to take him to the holy kingdom. And don’t get mad at Dad, David, Gabe and Danny if they stop on the way to have a beer. Its all good. Its all in love.

We shall meet again my brother and I will cherish what you have given me and the family for eternity.

Your Little Black Girl
Mona

My kid is adorable

No, seriously. He is. Way more adorable than most children :)

His big gig right now is dancing. Well, its less like dancing and more like bouncy-type squats. It looks like he's working hard core his glutes and quads. Anyway, I was getting all "awww - he's so adorable and loves my singing" because in the AM when I go to wake him up, he started dancing in his crib to my songs. Rise & Shine and You Are My Sunshine - a couple of really snappy tunes.

Then, yesterday I was printing out recipes for Momfia recipe exchange.....and I look over to a cute little boy really breakin' it down. TOTALLY dancin' his little heart out. Except there was no music. Just the slow rythmic sound of the inkjet printer. Yes, Liam was dancing to the printer noises. *sigh* I guess that doesn't say much for my singing does it?

Seriously folks - note pad time!

I really need to carry around a note pad with me. Or maybe get an iPhone and blog on the go :) I have so many great ideas - so many different feelings and experiences that I want to share throughout the course of any given day....but by time I get a chance to sit and decompress and blog - the moment has passed and exhaustion sets in and then there is nothing to share.

For example.....had a great time in St. Louis! Have some fab photos to share.....but they're not uploaded quite yet so that will have to wait. Monday we spent in Forest Park and at the zoo....yesterday was spent on an Architectural walking tour and at the Arch. Beautiful weather, and a beautiful city!

During the walking tour we also spent some time at the old courthouse, where the Dred Scott Trial was held, and, during Liam's nap time I was able to watch Iron Jawed Angels in its entirety. Between a slave suing for his freedom, a woman's right to vote, and all the election coverage...suffice it to say it was a pretty intense day emotionally for me. I felt so grateful for those people who have fought for my right to cast a vote, and to be able to cast that vote for a Black man....and for that man to be our next leader......

Wow. Was I ever proud. I'm not gonna lie, tears were shed. During the movie....during McCain's concession speech......this morning reading USA Today.......I'm so proud to be an American. God Bless the USA.

WOW! How long has it been?

Since I've posted some layouts?? A long time I gather....since I can't find any in my archives newer than JANUARY!! Egads.

:::::::::::::::BINKY:::::::::::::::
credits HERE

:::::::::::::::LINCOLN PARK ZOO:::::::::::::::
credits HERE

:::::::::::::::WINGS:::::::::::::::
credits HERE

:::::::::::::::SWEET:::::::::::::::
credits HERE

:::::::::::::::KYLE AT WHITES:::::::::::::::
Shocking, I know - a layout that doesn't feature Liam. credits HERE

Yes, Virginia, nice & honest people DO exist!

Last week during our Thursday run, Pat and I came across a seemingly discarded baby carrier. It looked like it had been out all night - dirty, wet, and dejected :) OK, I know carriers don't have feelings, but this one was an Ergo...the same carrier that Liam and I favor now over our wraps. I decided if it was still there after our run, I would pick it up, wash it, and try to return it to its owner.

So I did....but I didn't get a chance to post a "found" ad on Craigslist or post flyers because we were in a scurry to get things set to go to Indiana this weekend. But luckily, a friend who I had mentioned the missing carrier to saw a flyer this weekend and called to leave the number. So I called the family and a very grateful mama and baby got their Ergo back this afternoon. Made me feel good and all warm and fuzzy inside! Hooray for doing the right thing, and for helping fellow humans :)

Orchards a go go

We're visiting Indiana this weekend hanging out with Shannon, Patricia and Michael whilst their parents are off in West Virginia white water rafting somewhere.....we spent last night keeping our Friday Game Night tradition alive with Clue, and we also taught the kids how to play Yahtzee. It was pretty fun!

Soooo......today we had the bright idea of going to an orchard / pumpkin patch because Pat and I really, really wanted some apple cinnamon donuts. On a Saturday. So we loaded up the car.....took the scenic route through Gary.....and 45 minutes later we ended up at a wonderful little orchard with a MILLION of our closest friends. Three giant parking lots. All full with cars from Wisonsin, Illinois and Indiana. Craziness I tell you. Craziness.

Shannon and I fought our way through the crowds to get some cider and donuts - and we didn't even bother to go to the kiddie farm or hay ride because everything cost a gazillion dollars. Liam was kind of sort of cranky because I think he's coming down with something....either another molar or a cold or something. Anywho - I'll be damned if I was going to drive all that way and not get a few photos.




It was a beautiful day, and the drive back was much quicker (we took a different way). There was also no major fights between kids. And, the donuts were pretty delicious - so all and all it was a good day :)

*sigh* Do I REALLY want to do this??

Just one question. How on earth am I ever going to be a *real* photographer if I can't even photograph my own child?

*sigh*

I purchased an umbrella and light stand to help my indoor light (or lack there of) plight. Helps tremendously, but the only way to really learn how to use it is to, well, use it. Pat refuses to be my subject. So my only other option is Liam. I guess I really underestimated how helpful it is to have another set of hands. (click for a larger image)

You get the picture. Right?

:::::::::::::::::::::: OTHER NEWS ::::::::::::::::::::::

Our dear neighbor Kelly is happily on her way to Denver (SOOO PROUD OF YOU KEL!). We're going to miss her somethin' fierce. Her tenants don't move in until the 26th, so until then I have a nice big empty space to use as a pseudo studio :)

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Baby shoot went well this morning.....I used my manual focus lens so I had a lot of shots that were blurry, but some that are pretty good I think. AND, the cute naked baby peed all over my blankets :) LOL - I'm sure it won't be the last time! Also took some photos of baby girl Serene today - got a few shots of her and Liam (he finally slowed down because he was kind of tired and ready for a nap). It will take me a bit to process them all....but I will share I promise!

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And lastly, I am going to be trading my photography skills for a friend's graphic design skills. This is for my logo design / brand. We've got an initial meeting on Friday....once again, the Momfia saves the day. Amazing women in that group, I tell ya!! Camri - I can't WAIT to work with you!!!

K. That is all. I'm officially sick of being on the computer, so I'm signing off for a while. Ciao.

Playgroup super stars

OK, there are no super stars of our playgroup....but since I didn't bust out the ol' camera until everyone was on their way out, I only caught a couple few cherubic faces.

Sleeping Josie. Or is it Nico? Crap. I can't tell.

Sweet O.

Pretty Mya!

Super smiley Maddy

Ellie-Roo. Her molars kind of hurt right now.
And the real Super Star...Lil' Man Liam :)

Momfia Playgroup

If I'm not making much sense while writing this, its because I'm half watching the mentalist and half paying attention to this.....

I hosted our weekly playgroup today, and I must say it went well!! I had the same anxiety feeling that I had before I hosted the recipe exchange......but I took about an hour long shower and I felt much better :) We stayed inside even though it was a nice day because our neighbor was moving out. I figured it would be better to forgo the fresh air to keep our babies from getting squished :)

I made yummy yummy peanut butter-oatmeal-chocolate cookies, had a little fruit and veggie tray and we were good to go. I have some photos to share, but will upload them a little later.

On the business front, things are up and running so to speak. I'm in the process of logo and website design, hoping to get those done in the next we or so. I've got four shoots lined up in the next two weeks.....hope to get some good shots :)

World's BEST pumpkin joke!

I'm pretty sure I've posted this before, but it never fails to make me laugh :) LOL even!!

Q: What do you get when you divide the diameter of a jack-o-lantern by it's circumference?

A: Pumpkin "Pi"

Young @ Heart

Going to the movies is expensive. $15 a ticket, plus at least $20 for refreshments....tack on another $40 for a babysitter...that's approaching $90 for a movie that isn't guaranteed to be good. Quite a gamble, I'd say. For that reason, we've stopped going to the theatre and signed up for Netflix quite a while ago.

A great decision....except we see just as many bad movies as we do good, really. Semi-Pro anyone?? Recently though, as a result of Pat's The Ultimate Trailer Show obsession, I heard about a particularly interesting movie.

Young @ Heart

You've probably seen a promo for this movie, too, I would bet. well, it is "Indie" and a documentary, so maybe you haven't. Regardless if you have or have not.....go out and rent it. NOW. But, I warn you, do not drink 1/2 bottle of red wine before / or during viewing. Cranks up the cry factor 10 fold I think. It is everything the critics acclaimed and more. Beautiful story. Beautiful people. LOVED it.

So now I'm in a very contemplative state though - especially regarding my grandparents. I was very fortunate to know all of my grandparents, 3 out of 4 into adulthood (my grandma Mayer passed away in....'86 I think?). Now, only Grandma Medel is still alive and kickin' - and living with my parents. And she's beautiful. And fiesty. Here she is trying to wrangle a 9 month old Liam back in July.....I think Grandma Dora only has about 20 inches on him :)



So what is my point here. Well, there isn't one really. Except I love my Grandma :) And I totally think old people are adorable. They have this wisdom which comes with their incredible life experience.....and I think that rocks. If you are lucky enough, sit down and talk to them. About anything really. I was lucky enough to get my grandpa Mayer on video talking about his experience as an Army Medic in WWII....although my ex-husband still has the tape somewhere (grrr....). And Grandma Medel talking about her father and run ins with Banditos in Mexico. They all have a story to tell, as long as you'll listen.

Oh, and they are also wrinkly and have big ears, which is also cute. Have you hugged an octogenarian today?

Are the Germies gone yet??

The O'Brien household isn't quite germ free yet, but at least we're not getting any worse. Seriously, I feel like we should put yellow caution tape over our door so no one comes in and gets infected. I've been cleaning everything like mad with disinfecting wipes, sucking down a lot of tea and vitamin C, and sucking Liam's nose out on the hour practically. (Which, by the way, he HATES! Not that I blame him....last time someone sucked crap out of my nose I damn near passed out.) He's eating and playing more normally though, which is good.

Yesterday was a pretty fun day - I spent the afternoon with Adrian and Serene checking out houses in North Mayfair. Liam was supposed to come with, but he was CRANKY x 10 from being sick, so I left him home with Daddy. We saw six houses - one that was awesome and I wanted to buy RIGHT NOW, one that was pretty good, two that were OK but needed lots of work and two that were one step away from being haunted crack houses. It really was great to see the neighborhood and reassuring that *when* (see, I'm bringing good karma too me...its *when* and not *if*) our condo sells we'll be able to buy a real live house.

The other great thing that happened yesterday is that I finished my business plan!! I still have a few details to tighten up (i.e. numbers that aren't necessarily real but that I pulled out of my ass) but the tough part is DONE!!! WHOOO HOOO!!! After its officially all cleaned up, then I can get started on the fun stuff (i.e. website development, business cards and advertising!). I'm on a roll, so I'll polish it up today :) HOORAY!

Thank goodnes....

Still feeling a bit under the weather. Liam is feeling well though.....but now Pat is sick, which is sometimes more difficult to deal with than a one year old.

But, in the darkness - a ray of light - a beacon of sunshine

Adrian :)

She came over today and brought a big vat of soup. Wonderful, delicious, real chicken soup. It was AMAZING and sure beat the pants off the crap in a can that I was going to eat. She said I had to load up on limes for the vitamin C - which I did - a trick picked up in Mexico....all consomme must be garnished with fresh squeezed lime. AND jalapeno to knock that cold / flu out. Well....I did put the slices in. And I did eat one slice. Well, OK, 1/2 slice. Alright alright a teeny tiny piece of slice...and it did clear me up. But I'm way too wussified to eat a lot of that stuff. I also threw in fresh crisped tortilla strips and cilantro to boot.

Seriously made my night. More people need to do more nice things in the world like this....then we would have Whirld Peas. Karma will get you back girl...hopefully with thousands and thousands of dollars :) Until then, just accept my eternal gratitude and love :)

Playgroup-O-Rama

Today we had a lovely playgroup at Kate, Josie & Nico's home in Wicker Park. Good times - good peeps - and wonderful chocolate chip cookies. It would have been perfect, had it not been for Liam's SUPREMO whiney-ness. Seriously - it was annoying. He is totally a mamma's boy, that I will not dispute. And honestly, most times its kind of cute. I definitely don't mind being the center of his world. But today he could not be more than one foot away from me without crying / whining / whimpering. If I did sneak away for a second while he was distracted by a toy, he would turn, look for me and start CRY-ING. My playgroup mamas know by now to just pick him up and to go look for me, because there is nothing else he wants. I mean, come ON - am I not allowed to go away for two seconds to get a cup of coffee?? ReallY??? It is EXHAUSTING dealing with that sometimes.

Especially since the playgroup is supposed to be a time for him to interact and be social, not to mention a time for me to hang out with super cool chicks. But noisy situations, lots of people, just isn't his gig. He didn't want to share his goldfish, didn't want to be touched by any of the other kids, didn't want to share any toys....NOTHING. He was fine if I took him away from the group to play quietly.......Maybe he's just anti-social??? Any ideas??? HELP!!!

what's good for the goose

Soooo - whatever nastiness Liam had for his stomach virus / diarrhea-ness apparently was lovingly transported to me. Last night, I had some serious, uh, bathroom issues - complete with waking up a couple times during the night and having chills and such. I didn't feel much better this morning, but managed to shower and go to church without yakking all over the place. Actually, there hasn't been much barfage at all despite the consistent urge to do so. I finally ate some chicken noodle soup at about 4:00pm, the first meal of the day for me. I feel slightly more human....only slightly.

:::::::::::: HOME SELLING ISSUES :::::::::::

I know its a shitty market - I think we all know that. But still, it doesn't make it hurt any less that no one wants to buy our home! I love my home.....so it seems like someone else should love it too. And since they don't, by association they don't like me either. I know its a far stretch to make that association (nor should it really matter) - but that's how I feel sometimes. We've been on the market now for about 90 days-ish (not absurd at all in the molasses market). On the bright side, our realtor, the Great Adrian, is doing a bang up job getting us out there, and we've had quite a bit of traffic with people coming to look through. If only the right people out there would find us - the world would be right.

Adrian and I are going to start looking at properties to help narrow down our future home search. In addition to bringing house selling karma, I would like to have a better idea how far our money will go and where the best neighborhoods to search are. I held off doing it because I didn't know when / if our place would sell. But now, I'm certain our home WILL sell, so to maintain that positive vibe we're going to move forward. Make sense? If not - its not all that surprising since I haven't eaten much today.

:::::::::::: MOMENT OF ZEN :::::::::::

My son is cute. That is all.

FINALLY wired back up

After about a billion hours....our wireless internet is finally back up. THank the SWEET lord! I was about to go bonkers.

And, just as I was looking forward to spending a nice evening out with my mom-friends.....Liam started yakking and ralphing all over God's Green earth. *sigh* poor little man! We had to stop and buy a $25 T shirt for him (and Pat too, after Liam puked all over him) because I didn't have a spare outfit in the diaper bag. I *literally* just took it out of the bag this morning....and got distracted so I never replaced it. Isn't that always the case??

Well, for now, Liam has stopped erupting, so hopefully he'll make it through the night. Keep your fingers crossed!

Happy Birthday Liam!!!

HOOORAY! Liam is ONE!

Instead of making a loving, memorable post about the antics of his first year on earth....I am being angry and upset at our internet provider. Who fixed our internet connection but now our wireless is all f'd in the a. UGH. I WISH I COULD JUST FIX IT!!!!!!!!!!!

Maybe I'll be less angry later.....we'll have to wait and see.

Its late....

My back hurts. My feet hurt. and I'm tired. Alas, here I am, wide awake, trying to finish the last minute details for Liam's party. I would have been running around about 100 times less had I just decided to buy a birthday cake instead of make one myself. But nooooOOoooOOooo....Kim just had to make delicious carrot cake for our recipe exchange that I just HAD to have again....so that's what I spent the majority of my time doing today. It is delicious though, even if the decorating job does look a bit ghetto. Whatev, it still beats the Great Birthday Disaster of 2007.

Now, I'm working on the picture / video Montage. I wasn't even going to do one (I mean, I wanted to, but then talked myself out of it), but then after visiting a friend and watching her wedding montage thingy, I got all emotional and figured it would probably be a good idea to do something of the sort. so I am. And its taking F-O-R-E-V-E-R!!! It better turn out bad ass or I'm going to be PISSED!

Regardless - it looks like it will be a beautiful day tomorrow, so it should be a good time :) Can't wait for Liam to open some presents!!!

One of my playgroup chickies, Ireen, dropped off a much awaited birthday outfit today (its made by her, and another awesome mama, Kate). I SOOOooOOOooo totally appreciated her coming over - of course, it was nice to see her, but man, it just stinks big stinky butt not having a car somethings. Anywho, the outfit is for Liam to wear at the par-tay tomorrow. I can't tell you what it is, you'll have to wait and see the photos. But, I can tell you - it is AWESOME and SOOO adorable, you might just explode from the cuteness. I also gave her the wedding album I've been working on for a good chunk of my time the past few weeks. My very first piece of commissioned work! It came out so lovely...I was proud of myself! I learned quite a bit, and can't wait to work on more. AND - I earned 1/2 of the money I need to go toward an external flash for my camera!!! ooHHhOOohHHH - Investment money :)

*side note* The video is still compiling. WOW - Liam has grown so much this year!! Sniff sniff...I'm getting so nostalgic!! *end side note*

That's about it for now....I'm sure I'll have oodles of photos to post after tomorrow evening :)

VIVA Mexico!!

Today is the 16th of September, Mexico's Independence Day! To all my Mexican friends and family, I say

VIVA MEXICO!

It was not just two years ago when I was drunk in Metepec's Zocalo, ending the night in a multicultural celebration at an Englishwoman's home. I was crying and bawling by the end of that night wondering how on Earth Bush had turned the tables and made the world hate America (or rather, him). That's why you shouldn't drink and discuss world politics. Also, it was the very last time I had a cigarette and rode in an Old School VW bug. AND, the very last time I wore a giant sombrero. I lost it that night.... I purchased it in said Zocalo and left it at said Englishwoman's. It said "Viva Mexico Cabrones".

Now....I celebrate with my family...my sweet husband and darling son...quietly while drinking a glass of wine. There will be no offical Gritos here....but rest assured Mexico will always be in my heart :)

Liam and I are famous!

A while ago you may remember that Liam and I were models in a photo shoot in exchange for a beautiful Gypsy Mama wraps.....Loved it so much I bought another one :)

Well, they're in the process of renovating the site, and our model photos are up!!!

Come check us out!
Isjoha Baby Bali Stretch

Fortuna Baby Bali Stretch

It kind of makes me a bit reminiscent. He looks so itty bitty there! I think it was around March? So he was about 6 months old....we don't use our wraps too much anymore. I would always turn to them if I was going to be carrying him for a long period of time, which doesn't happen much these days since Liam is all crazy runnin' about! And man, is that kid HEAVY! He much prefers hanging out in the stroller, or I have an Ergo that I use for quick trips on and off the bus. I think the last time I wrapped was 4th of July weekend? We were on a boat, so a stroller just wasn't going to cut it.

Aaahhh, but the wraps....so beautiful and snuggly! I have the Fortuna (and a Bali Baby Breeze Lalita) and they are such nice wraps. I've used it for Serene (Adrians daughter) a couple of times recently and its so nice to have a warm baby strapped to your chest :)

Great Night, Good Day!

Last night, I got over my fear of hosting a party in our condo by having our Bi-monthly Momfia Mom's Night Out at our joint last night.....it went smashingly!!! I was so nervous throughout the day - I even gave myself a stomachache.....but geez, it was nothing to worry about. I think there is always some inherent fear for me - being accepted, being wanted, being "a cool kid", being good enough....sometimes I let that fear get the best of me, but alas, I did OK.


It was a recipe exchange, so everyone brought a dish, so we ate very, very well, and I only had to supply wine. I didn't even really mind that our place was so tiny. The 9 of us fit just well :) And, Pat and I will eat like kings for the next few days :)

I got to bed at around 1AM, but Liam slept in until 8AM this morning!!! Really, he was quite pleasant all stinkin' day! Not that he's not a happy baby normally......he is, but lately he's been kind of a pissant. I think he's getting his 1st molars in.....but I digress.

Today, he was just the happiest, sweetest, snuggliest kid :) Just made me happy to be his mama. Everything he did totally made me laugh....we played pat-a-cake, peek-a-boo, and I taught him how to bite a piece of an apple. He's not very good at biting pieces of food off yet. He pretty much shoves all his food in his mouth at once...chewing optional. This isn't a very good method of eating for a mother that has SEVERE choking paranoia. I realize he will get better at this skill eventually, but until then, I guess I'll be paranoid.

When I put him to bed this evening, he was all snuggly wuggly in my arms. We won't have very much time left bottle feeding. I think we're supposed to cut that out around one year. Truth be told I can't wait. I'm pretty sick of washing bottles and worrying about BPA.

I'm coming to grips with the fact that he'll be one. A friend said "Babies are a great way to start out as humans, but growing up is pretty cool too". I completely agree - every new skill Liam shows off makes me the proudest happiest mom in the world.....and I can't wait to see what he has in store for us next!

Liam Breakin' it Down

Liam really does crack me up! As much as I lament over him growing up and getting bigger, its soooo cool when he picks up a new skill! His latest and greatest.....dancing and clapping! He really only dances to Rock N Roll though - the other genres he could take or leave :) Ahhh, already showing his daddy's pickiness!

Haircuts and turning 1

Every day I look at little man Liam and just marvel at how much he's grown. He's not my baby anymore :( He's a big boy!!! He got a haircut today, and of course, I cut it too short so he looks even MORE grown up....I can't believe he's turning one in a couple short weeks!!!!

Here's the before shot from yesterday....check out his new kicks Daddy bought him on his way home from a business trip!!!:

"Awww mom - my hair is too long and scraggly. Daddy says I look like a hippie."


And the after shot this afternoon.....*sigh* so grown up - high and tight!!! Also, Liam has been doing this thing lately that is way too cute for his own good. He sticks his tongue out while he's concentrating on something.....the crazy thing is, Pat does it too! As does his brother and his kids. Crazy, eh?

Happy Birthday!

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Batman wants to wish a VERY superhero-ish birthday to an amazing chick. Happy 16th Shannon!

Status.....

Soooo........big changes in my body lately. Well, not visible changes, but changes nonetheless. I stopped taking birth control a couple of weeks ago, and more recently stopped taking my anti-depressant Lexapro (no worries peeps, my doctors are all aware of what's going on!). These changes I've made to begin "Cleansing my Vessel" so to speak. Pat and I would like to add another bundle o' joy at some point in the not to distant future, so the meds had to go.

Now, I've always blamed the Lexapro for a post-pregnancy weight gain and for the inability to loose said poundage....so I just assumed when I stopped taking it the weight would go away. No such luck. Even with running 3 times a week, there's no budge. *sigh* That was disappointing. So, I've decided to add additional work outs on the off days (with the help of O'Donnell Training in Michigan) to boost my fat burning power. I really need to bump up the veggie intake too, but that's a life long battle that's not going to be won any time soon.

anyway, I have noticed much more definition in my calves, which I haven't seen in a while, so even though the scale isn't going down, its promising progress....

Labor Day Weekend

We had a blast in Indiana! We saw one of Shannon's cross country meets (my first one, very exciting), played bags, listened to music, played lots of MarioKart on Wii, drank some beers, had some seriously fantastic meals and of course, took oodles and oodles of photos!! Check them out at Flickr when you get a chance :) I even took family photos of the "Indiana O'Briens", but I haven't uploaded those. They came out sooo nice :) I was pretty proud of myself!

I discovered I really do like dirty martinis, especially with blue cheese stuffed olives. YUMM-O!!

Here's a cute family pic before we got eaten by mosquitos:


In this pic, Liam was doing one of his new tricks....giving "Pretty Eyes" - he makes this silly little mouth and then bats his eyes over-exaggeratedly :) Its really cute!


Thanks O'Briens for having us over :) We had a fab-u time!

Egads. My feet!

I ran this morning without Patrick, since he was busy driving to the nowherelands of Wisconsin at the ass crack of dawn. Since Liam decided to get up early like his daddy (5:30AM) and NOT go back to bed, I figured I should make use of that time and run. It wasn't tooooo horrible (always say that word like in spanish - i.e. horrrr-eee-bley) even though I did have to push the stroller the whole time.

Then, I decided it was a good idea to walk 3 miles home from playgroup today in the blazing sun. Liam took a nap, which was great, but I was sweating my balls off and my feet and legs are now KILLING me from over use. I threw myself and Liam in the shower because A) he was covered in dirt from playgroup and b) I was covered in a film of my own filth from walking forever....and lets face it, its just easier to hose the kid down in the shower while I'm in there with.

Side note: We've named our playgroup "The Momfia" instead of "Tuesday Playgroup". It kind of has a nice ring to it, doesn't it? The other option was "Momtourage", but for some reason that didn't stick.

Anyway, now, I'm tired, hot and whiny and I think I'm going to take a nap while Liam is sleeping. At least I'm no longer sticky and tasting my own sweat. I really get whiny when Pat goes away for a couple days. Not sure if its because I miss him sooooo much, or if its because I just miss all the work he does around this joint soooo much :) Either way, I wish he was here!!!

One quick post.

Its 11:30pm, and I'm getting home late for the second time in two weeks. Last week, I didn't get home until after 1:00AM. Eeks!

Yeah, my mommy group rocks!!!

They happened upon me by pure accident, when one of the members asked me to join ..through meetup.com because I was in the area. I was so happy to join up, although I couldn't attend for a few weeks due to work....but when I finally made it to a playgroup I was sooooo happy I did!!! The women are amazing...simply amazing. Great moms. Great kids. and uber fun playgroups. And no, I'm not just saying that because I've had two beers and a mead.

We've officially added two mom's nights a month in addition to our normal Tuesday 12 - 3 playgroup. And these mom's are sooo cool. They drink. They swear. and in general, they just rock my socks. They are my kind of peeps. And it feels sooooo good to finally connect with a group of people.

So yes, I might be slightly buzzed, but en vino veritas.....and this, for real, is the truth!

Beautiful Day!!!

WOW! What a gorgeous Sunday it was! About mid-seventies and sunny, with a slight breeze off the lake. Ahhhh - so refreshing! And how did we spend this fabulous day, you ask? Well, we started with a 5K run in Lincoln Park for the local PBS station, WTTW. It was a fun run, and we could take the stroller with us, so it was a great time for the whole family. Cousin Adrian and Serene joined us for the 3K walk too - double the fun!

The Sesame Street Characters, Arthur, SuperWhy amongst other peeps were out in full force too. Of course, seeing those characters meant waiting in line for quite a while, and since Liam doesn't know the difference yet, we skipped the meet and greet part. BUT - we did have AWESOME run times! 32 minutes for me, 28 for Pat. Pat was convinced it wasn't a true 5K, but I just like to think we did AWESOMELY!!!

After getting home and clean, we met up with friends Ben and Keren for a picnic in the park! Seriously - doing nothing but relaxing on a blanket in the grass while overlooking the lake and Ben grilling us delicious food was quite possibly the most perfect way to spend the afternoon. LOVELY! I didn't even take any pictures, that's how relaxing it was! And, after we got back home Liam and I took about a three hour nap. Heaven I tell you - HEAVEN!

Now, we're getting geared up for the week. Mommy group stuff tomorrow at the beach, and of course, on Tuesday...along with some other job hunt/start up stuff.

Oh, and my BABY is ELEVEN MONTHS OLD!!!! HE's almost one! ACK! How did that happen?!?

Have a great Monday tomorrow!

hahahaha.....

this is funny if you have a couple minutes to spare...

Busy busy bee!

I've been very busy since my last post! We took a trip to MI, saw my cousin Dennis tie the knot, and then spent the rest of the weekend having a very nice visit with one of Pat's old college roomates and his family in Plymouth. It was REALLY fun - they have a lil' man a week younger than Liam, so it was really cool to see them play and interact. I'm pretty sure Matt taught Liam how to wave, so we're pretty in debt to them :) It was just a nice weekend - great food, great conversation, and very relaxing! We went to the local park, and to a spray park too!



After visiting Karli at nerd camp, I stayed behind with my family while Pat went on to Clarksville, MO for the week. Our visit was fantastic (which is more than I can say for Pat's business trip....who wants to spend a week in St. Louis? LOL) and I had a great opportunity to practice lots of photography skilz...Karli's Senior Photos and some musical pics of Kyle at a bar. Karli's photos took about 5 hours total to take - about 10 gazillion different locations and four different outfits. I went to a Great Lakes Loons game with Karli and her friends, and reminisced while perusing through old high school uniforms that the school was selling. I did pick up a couple cheerleading uniforms and pom pom outfits to add to my Halloween collection...not like I could actually fit into them, but you never know.

Here are a couple of the photos (with added Textures I was playing around with).




Oh, I also starred in my first cable commercial :) If you live in the greater Saginaw area and see a spot for Hamilton Street Pub, look for me "Cheers"-ing a couple other people in the beginning of the commercial. I was excited to make the final cut :) It was pretty fun to be a part of that.

I also ran with my mom, and on two occasions ran three miles at 11:00 miles, which is like world record pace for me. Pat and I have a race on Sunday for WTTW (the Chicago PBS station) so we'll see how that pace keeps up.

Liam and I took the train home to Chicago last Friday, and he was Mr. Social Butterfly! We must have walked up and down our train car 10 times, and each time he was smiling and waving at everyone....at one point he was called the "Official Button Inspector" because he was check out everyone's recline button as he was passing each seat. He did so well, until he misstepped at the end, bonked his head and bit his lip. Damn teeth. He bled pretty well... I knew he was OK, but nothing makes you feel like a horrible mother when you hear people say "OH my GOD he's bleeeeding". Yes, I know. He's bleeding. Thanks for pointing that out.

Since our return we've been trying to get things in order - we had an Open House on Saturday (one person came) and another Open House today, this time for Brokers.....today went well, Saturday, not so much. But, such is the market, and we'll keep plugging along with guarded hopes. And, Adrian made cookies and that is never a bad thing. Also, open houses and showings give us an excuse to really clean the house well, so even if we don't sell the house at least its clean and shiney and I don't have to feel bad if my kid eats a cheerio off of it.

The rest of the spare time has been spent editing, uploading and playing with photos. Lots and lots of photos. I think after it was all said and done I took over 800 pictures last week, almost all in manual (whoo hooo for me!). I definitely didn't do great, there was still a lot of correction of exposure to be done, but I had to do it to learn.

See the fruits of my labor at my flickr account: Karin's FLICKR

Soooo, that's it. Now, we're dealing with a semi-sick child. He's had a runny nose for about a week or so. Took him to the dock today and no ear infection or anything, so its just a waiting game to see if it will clear up or not. We'll give it another week or so. Keep your fingers crossed!

Simply a great day

There are always going to be times in our lives when we have "one of those days". You know, the ones in which every single thing that can go wrong, does. Today, I had the opposite. It was a great day. One in which everything that could go right, did :)

Not anything earth shattering, mind you, but simply a fantastic day. We started off at Foster Beach with our Meetup.com mommy group. Pat dropped us off (always a bonus to not have to take the bus!) and the weather was perfect. Not too hot, not too humid, but warm enough to find the water refreshing (which by the way, wasn't too cold....just right!). The spot on the beach the organizer picked out was prime, and Liam and I had a great time playing and walking home.

This afternoon, I was able to schedule an early dinner with a dear friend which I love getting together with, and we're not able to work it out often enough. Her daughter, a couple weeks younger than Liam, and Liam were SOOO good during dinner. No outbursts, no crying - lots of enjoyable baby babble and smiles :) Dinner was delicious & conversation was great. It was so nice to connect with a friend.

That's it. Nothing extreme, it was just nice. Well, Liam did pee all over me....that wasn't so nice, but at least Pat was right there to see it and it gave him a good laugh. Liam has a tendency to stand up during his diaper changes because its impossible for him to sit still for any period of time. Since I was standing right there telling Pat about my fabulous dinner while he was changing Liam's diaper, I just let Liam stand up so Pat could finish getting his new diaper and clothes ready. That's when Liam let it loose. All over my shirt and pants. About 5 gallons (or so it seemed). And he laughed. Probably because Pat was laughing at me.

Eh. If that's the worst part of my day, I'd say the day was pretty darn good!

Enough Wordle-ness :)

***********************CONGRATS TO MY PRIMOS!***********************

I forgot that I didn't mention the newest member of the Medel family - Elijah James Medel! He was born Saturday morning to my cousins Will & Amber here in Chicago. I can't wait to meet him :) Mom, baby and Dad are all doing well - we wish them the very best in the transition to parenthood and a speedy recovery for Amber!

************LIAM NEWS************

He's really on the go! He's very good at walking, and pretty much prefers it to crawling. Although if he falls, then he usually will crawl from there on out. The following photo is a pretty good depiction of how he is right now....not often in one place and always a blur. That's his cousin Serene behind him. I tried to get photos of the two of them because they are soooo cute together. But Liam wasn't cooperating.



He's also learned to shake his head no (even though he doesn't know what it means) and say "Woooow". At least I think its wow. Pat thinks its more of a "awuh".

Liam also is such a great eater / feeder. He almost hates eating purees now...he's more of a finger food guy. Lots of veggies, cheese and cut up meats. Its pretty cool for us too. Although he makes a big mess, its nice to be able to eat dinner all together since neither of us has to actually put the food in his mouth.

And, as much as we try to put up gates, blockades and babyproof the house, the little dude has such a radar for ALL things he's not supposed to get into. *Sigh* Definitely keeps us on our toes!

************KARIN NEWS************

As much as I've been enjoying my stint as a SAHM (stay at home mom, for you non-savvy peeps), I've been continuing the job search....keeping my finger on the pulse, if you will. I'm still meeting with the outplacement people, getting all my ducks in a row. Scanning online job ads and the newspaper. Really, there isn't all that much available right now that perks my interest. I did apply for a position with a large engineering firm downtown, but I'm not sure where that will lead. It can't hurt to continue to interview and such, right?

I'm still contemplating doing the photography part time too, but I'm a long way from that step. I've been practicing and practicing, reading and learning some more - we'll see where that will lead.

In the meantime, we're still doing OK moneywise. We started a new, super stringent budget to help us both keep a better tab on our money, and I think that will go well. We also *finally* opened up a 529 savings account for Liam. Never too soon to start saving for college!

OK OK one more.....

Here's the last one. I swear :)

Wordle - Part Deaux

OK, so I broke down my blog in various time frames so I could see the transgression of my life pictorially through Wordle. I did have to tweak the words a bit. Apparently I say "Just" "really" "like" and "get" a lot, so I took those out of the text. Anywho - its really fun to play with.....you should definitely try it out!

I started my blog in 2004. This is the first word cloud of my life until around April 2005, when Troy and I split.


Then, this is my life from May 2005 - January 2007, pretty much when I was preparing for and living in Mexico:


Here is February 2007 - August 2007. Life back in the US, but Pre-Liam :)



And finally, a word cloud that I would say pretty accurately depicts my life now. I {heart} it!!! Makes me super happy. I really want to make a T-shirt out of this. I have iron-on transfers.....I just have to find a T-shirt to use. Hmmmmm.....

Wordle is AMAZING!!!

If you haven't checked it out yet, you really should. WORDLE. Enter a bunch of text and press GO and you have a really cool output :) Here is our lives summed up from March 08 - present:



Here is our friend Keren's Thesis:


Can you tell she's an astrophysicist??

I'm going to work on one that is a summary of my ENTIRE blog....should be interesting, no?