Crazy Train

The last couple weeks are really what has kept us so busy. Two weekends ago, we went up to see my Grandma with Mom and Dad. We spent Saturday with her, and had a really nice visit. Then Sunday, we drove over to Cleveland for a relative's graduation party. Well, we had no sooner gotten home Sunday night, and we found out that Grandma had fallen and was in the hospital.
She ended up passing away on Tuesday morning. It was very surprising, but somehow easier than when Grandpa passed about three years ago. Grandma was ready to be with him, and I think that was comforting to me to know they were back together, just how she wanted.
Anyhow, I was sick all day Tuesday, so Thom had to stay home to take care of Eli for me. So I drove up Thursday night with Dad, Josh, and Jenny for the visitation and funeral on Friday. Eli stayed home Thursday night with Thom, and spent Friday at the neighbors playing while Thom worked. I came home with Josh and Jenny Friday evening.
Then we were working like crazy to do laundry and clean the house, because Thom and I were leaving for Vegas on Sunday morning. Mom and Dad stayed at our house with Eli, and Bunnell's came in the mornings to pick Eli up while Mom and Dad were at work. So it worked out really well. I actually did okay being so far away from him for 4 days, better than I thought I would. It was a good trip, we had a lot of fun, saw good shows, and actually won at the tables!
So, anyhow, that's a little bit of what's been keeping us so busy the past couple of weeks!

Baby, Baby

We had our big ultrasound a couple weeks ago. I love doing this for so many reasons. Obviously, you get to see the baby. And Thom comes with me - he doesn't usually come to appointments with me, as it's easier for him to stay home with Eli and me to come alone time (yeah, it's for an appointment, but I'm still alone!) But I also love how the tech points out all the baby's organs and body parts. And the baby was looking right at us when we started, which was neat. But the baby was very cooperative with the ultrasound, moving just enough so we could easily see everything. So we got a ton of pictures, including some cute ones of just feet, and the baby waving its fist at us, and in all kinds of positions.

Thom does know what the baby is, so I'm allowed to say that it's a boy! We're very excited, and even more excited that everything looks great and very healthy. I'm also happy that this baby does not move around quite as much as Eli so far. Eli always felt like he was auditioning for every part in Cirq Du Soleil, so this is a nice change for now.

Otherwise, as far as the pregnancy goes, I'm doing pretty well. I'm having trouble with my back, but have been seeing a chiropractor for a while now. I'm down to seeing her once every two weeks probably until the baby is born, and she thinks I'll probably need one or two more adjustments after the birth. My hips also feel a lot more sore this time also. I don't know if this is just because it's my second pregnancy or what, but I don't remember them feeling like this with Eli, at least not this soon. But I still wouldn't trade any of it - I do love being pregnant (just don't ask me if I still feel this way closer to November!)

It's Been a Long, Long While

Well, apparently, we've been really busy lately and updating took a backseat for a while. I'll try to break down the last several weeks into a couple shorter posts with some pictures.

Our trip to Hilton Head the end of May was really great. We had wonderful weather - I guess the two weeks before we got there were cold and rainy and miserable. So we got lucky and got in lots of good beach time. Eli had fun at the beach, but really would rather be swimming in the pool. So there were several trips from our post at the beach up to the pool.

We realized that this is the last year that one of us (Thom or me) could relax while the other is entertaining or watching Eli. Next year, there will be two little ones to entertain/chase/watch. So we tried to enjoy this while we could!

3 + 1 = 4

That's right, our family of three will soon become a family of 4!! I am about 14 weeks pregnant, due November 17 (on my Grandma Mehling's birthday, and two days before my 30th birthday!)

Of course, we're very excited, as is the rest of the family. I still think Josh's reaction was one of the best. We just kind of let it come out in conversation, and I don't think he really realized what was said right away, so we repeated the news, and he was very surprised.

And Thom was going to take me to Vegas for a surprise for my 30th birthday in November, but we changed plans and are going the end of June. We realized if we didn't go before the baby came, it would be a really long time before we could go!

So that's our latest family news. I had an ultrasound a couple weeks ago, and everything looked good. And I heard the heartbeat at my appointment last Wednesday. My fibroid that shared space with Eli when I was pregnant with him, is already up and growing with the new baby - in fact, it was twice as big as the baby at my ultrasound. The benefit to that is that I will probably have at least one extra ultrasound in addition to the 20 week ultrasound.

Speaking of ultrasounds, Thom says he doesn't want to know the sex of the baby this time. So don't be bugging me about what it is! It will completely be up to him if he wants other people to know (but that doesn't mean to fill his email inbox with pleas or to harass him when you see him!).

Anyhow, I will try to post more throughout the summer. We're leaving next weekend for Hilton Head, so I'm sure we'll have good pictures from the trip.

Here Comes Peter Cottontail

Here are some Easter pictures. . . finally! We got to see the Easter bunny twice - once at our gym, and he came to our neighborhood, too. We found out very quickly at the gym that Eli loves the Easter bunny. He immediately started waving to the bunny and saying "hop hop." We actually had quite a struggle getting him to leave the bunny alone so other kids could have their picture taken with the bunny. Those of you who saw our Christmas card know the terrified relationship Eli had with Santa, so loving the Easter bunny was a nice change!

We had a great Easter. Eli loved everything the Easter bunny brought him, and we especially love the new Backyardigans video he got, because we were getting tired of the other one we have. So there's a picture of him with his new video, which he insisted on taking to church with us. After dinner at Mom and Dad's, Eli was very happy to show his belly to Aunt Jenny so she could tickle him like crazy. And if she stopped, he would say (and sign) "more, more!" And he finished up the day with a ride in the golf cart with Thom and Uncle Josh.

All in all, the day was great, although next year I'll hope for warmer temperature!

Piano Men

As you can see, I haven't had a lot of extra free time lately, it seems. But I wanted to post about one of the best evenings of my life.

Last Tuesday we went to see Billy Joel and Elton John in concert!! It was absolutely amazing. Thom took me to see Elton John a couple years ago for my birthday, which was also amazing, but it was just incredible to see the two of them perform together. They started by performing 4 songs together, then Elton John played for an hour, then Billy Joel for an hour, then together again for another hour. It was non-stop for 3 hours and 20 minutes. My throat was pretty soar by the time we got home, I was screaming so much and sang throughout the entire concert.

My parents also went with my aunt and uncle and another couple. They ended up right behind Elton John, about 12 rows up. I'm going to try to get some of my aunt's pictures and I'll post them.

But if they will be anywhere near you, and you can get your hands on some tickets, go! It was worth every dollar, and I would go again in a hearbeat!

More Crazy

So in addition to our strange weather, a couple other crazy things have happened this week. First, I enrolled Eli in a 2 year old preschool program for next school year! There's a lot of crazy in this: first that he's going to be 2 this year, and second that it's actually time to think about preschool! I know a lot of kids start preschool at age 3, and that's when our church preschool starts. But since I stay home with Eli, I thought it would be a good idea for him to have a social and structured environment also. He loves going to the nursery at the gym now, so I hope he'll love this, too. He'll just go 2 days a week, and I'll have 4 free hours each day, which I think is important, also.
Okay, and here's the second bit of crazy this week: I saw Eli throw his foot on top of the front rail of his crib, over the side, and then he straddled the rail while holding on to the end of his crib!! What?! The other day he woke up from his nap in a great mood, and was very happily playing in there. I asked him if he wanted out, and he shook his head no. So Thom called, I got the phone, sat in the rocker in Eli's room, and was talking to him, when lo and behold Eli started his acrobatic tricks. I just about fell over. I did jump up and stand next to him (even in my shock, I wasn't ready to let him fall), and kind of wanted to see how far he could get. I couldn't believe he could do that, and definitely didn't want him to go all the way over. So the bed has one more notch we can lower it, and we'll see what happens after that. I'm hoping this was a one time (for now) freak thing that he did while he was playing, and that it won't happen again for a while. Because I am definitely not ready for him to be climbing out of his crib yet!!

Weird

Yesterday we had temperatures in the low to mid 50s, this morning there is snow on the ground with a high of 29. What is up with that?

Let it Snow!

The view from our back deck

This is the view down our street from our front step.

Lucy, Eli, and Thom enjoying the snow.

Look at all the snow in our front yard!

Sledding. . . without a sled. . . Eli's way

As you can see, we had our first "real" snow of the season this week. There's been no school this week, and many businesses were closed Wednesday. We had some snow come on Monday, then more on Tuesday, followed by ice Tuesday night into Wednesday, followed by more snow. I think we have about 8 inches total apparently. All the trees are covered in ice, and then some of the bigger branches have snow on top of that - so it really is beautiful to look at. The dog is a little nervous to walk around the yard; with a half inch of ice in between layers of snow, you kind of crunch and fall through the top layer of snow into the first layer.

Eli and I haven't been anywhere since Monday. Thom has been taking my car (with 4 wheel drive) into work, and I really haven't wanted to venture out in this mess anyhow. Besides, Wednesday our city was at a Level 3 Snow Emergency, which means we couldn't go anywhere even if we wanted to. But we've been playing outside, and going back and forth to the neighbor's house. They came over here Wednesday to make lunch, as we lost power for a while and we have a gas stove. Plus, our gas fireplace happened to be on when the power went out, so we had that going for us, too.

But tonight I get to leave the house for a group workout at the gym. I've started another 12 week fitness program, and am looking forward to tonight's workout - for many reasons (but mainly because I get to leave the house!)

The temperature is supposed to go above freezing on Sunday (a real heat wave!) so we'll see how long all the snow lasts. . .

Have a Big Day!

This is one of the things my Dad would shout to people on parade routes when he was campaigning for office - "Have a big day!" We really give him a hard time about it, I mean, isn't "happy 4th of July" good enough? But today really is a big day. I plan on staying home all day and watching ABC (I like Diane and Charlie) and all the inauguration excitement. I talked briefly about going with my brother, Josh, and his wife, Jenny, as my uncle has a house right on the hill, but none of us ended up going. Watching it from the warmth of my own home will do today. I like to say that I can always see him inaugurated again in 4 years! Anyhow, "have a big day" everyone, and enjoy watching!

Why?

Why is that little ones are able to climb up on the couch before they can safely be on the couch alone? Why?
I feel like there is a period every day where I am bound to the couch so Eli can endlessly climb up, stretch as far as possible over the back of the couch, try to reach the lamp, fall/slide off the couch, and then back up again. And sometimes we skip the middle events, and it's just up and down continuously.
You would think this would make him tired enough to stay asleep while I lay him down for a nap, right? Well, you're crazy! Because apparently it doesn't make him tired enough to stay asleep for the transfer to bed! Again, why??

Christmas Photos

Here are some photos from Christmas. I noticed when going through them that all the Christmas pictures have Eli in them, and there aren't really any of Thom or I. I guess that's what happens when you have a kid. Or maybe have a kid that's involved in Christmas - since I didn't really notice this last year as much, but 3 month olds don't really care too much about their presents and such.
Anyhow, these are some of Eli's favorite things he got from Santa and relatives. He spent most of Christmas Day going in and out of the wagon my parents got him. He even quickly realized there was a cup holder for his sippy cup. The wagon continues to be a hit, as it lives in our family room for a little longer.

Icy

Well, yesterday we were all surprised by some late afternoon ice. It was just raining, but I guess the ground was cold enough that the streets were soon covered in ice. It took me an hour and 20 minutes to get somewhere that should have taken about 10-15 minutes. Thom left work around 5 or so, and got stuck on the bridge from Indiana to Kentucky. Apparently, they closed the bridge due to ice, but didn't tell anyone! So he sat on the bridge entrance ramp for a couple hours, until he could get turned around. Once he got turned around, he headed towards Ohio, and came across that way into KY and home. 5 hours later, he was home. Thank goodness this happened yesterday, and not today on Christmas Eve! Here's to safer weather for everyone today and on Christmas.

Sorry

Hi again, everyone. Sorry it's been so long since I've posted anything. I have been really busy, plus Eli hasn't been napping very well, which adds up to not much getting done. But I promise to do better. What have you been doing, you ask? Well, mostly I've been really busy at the gym. I started at nutrition and fitness challenge at the end of September. I work out twice a week with the trainer and I usually go 4 other times and do cardio on my own. It's taken a lot of my time, but been totally worth it. I really needed to do it for myself: it gives me time to myself, and Eli time to play with other kids and get used to being in the nursery, plus I really needed to get in shape! But we had our final body comp and fitness test last week. I lost several inches all over, 20 pounds, and 7% body fat (which I was most happy about, since that means I converted a lot into muscle)! And I actually ran the entire mile of our fitness test (and I hate treadmills). So I was very proud of myself. I am going to do the program again when it starts mid-January, and until then I have hired a trainer and am still doing cardio on my own.
But we've also been busy with the normal holiday chaos. We put up our tree in the living room, instead of the family room this year to keep a certain little someone (Eli) out of it. It's worked out great, since I don't have to worry about him pulling off all the ornaments or unwrapping all of the presents.
Like I said, I promise to post more often again. I am done Christmas shopping and wrapping, so I really do have more time! Hope to hear from you all soon!

"What does Grandma's kitty say?"

"Sssss," apparently! This is Eli's latest trick. He spent some time last night at my parents house, and got to know their cat a little better. Their cat is very lovey and affectionate and wants to be petted - for about 10 seconds. Then she starts hissing (I'm pretty sure she must be bi-polar). So, I guess Eli was petting the cat, all was well, and then she started hissing at him. And he hissed right back. So now he knows that Grandma's kitty says "hiss" or "ssss" to him.

Birthday Party Pictures

Happy Birthday, Eli!

Here's a throw-back picture to the day Eli was born, and a picture to show how big he is now! What a difference a year makes, right? I feel very sentimental right now remembering how crazy and wonderful this day was one year ago. What an amazing year it's been!

We're leaving for Hilton Head in a couple hours. If I have extra time before we leave, I'll post birthday pictures - I still need to get them off the camera. Otherwise, we'll post when we get back!

State of Emergency

Yeah, we've been in a State of Emergency since Hurricane Ike came through here on Sunday. Can you believe it - Hurricane effects in KY? Sunday came with hurricane force winds, up to 80 mph pretty much all afternoon. We lost power right after the Bengals game started (although Thom says is was no big loss, since they played terribly). By early evening the wind had calmed down enough, and we were tired of sitting inside with nothing to do, so we went with our neighbors and walked through the neighborhood. I couldn't believe how much damage there is - people missing siding and roof shingles, lots of fallen trees, and misc stuff everywhere. We got pretty lucky, especially when our power came back on Sunday night. Our neighbors came over to cook, since we have a gas stove. But the area suffered the largest black out in history, and thousands are still without - including my parents, who have been staying with us. Schools have been out this week, and now restaurants and everyone else without power are having to throw out all their food. There was a gas shortage since so many stations were without power, but I guess that is getting better now. Eli and I ran an errand yesterday and it was strange to see so many huge, old trees just completely uprooted. Bizarre.
But on the upside - we are leaving for Hilton Head on Friday! Yeah! I think we could all use a vacation after this! I'll try to get pictures from Eli's birthday party posted before we go.

Barbershop

Well, after trimming Eli's hair myself twice, I decided he needed a real "big boy" haircut. So we took him to the barber Thom used to go to (before I started shaving his hair). He did really well and sat pretty still in Thom's lap. I thought it would be a lot more traumatic, but all was well.

Picture Book

Yummy. Here is a wonderful tomato, mozzarella, and basil salad we made with tomatoes and basil fresh from our yard. Worthy of another "yummy."
Okay, Eli's hair is getting really long on top. I recognize this. Some days it all stands up (I think depending on how much he was rolling around in bed), and other days it's kind of flat, and it tends to go forward, making it look longer than if it went to the side. However, I am having a really hard time with the fact that our baby needs a haircut. A haircut is for big kids, not babies. Right? Sigh. I do think it is about time to just take a little off the top. Just a little.
We recently opened a really cute Little People Noah's Ark set that Eli got for his baptism months ago. This is Noah hanging out of Eli's mouth. Poor Noah. Eli always manages to find Noah in the middle of a pile of toys, put Noah's feet in his mouth, and crawl around like this. I hope Noah doesn't mind getting his feet wet.
Look! Kari, Adam, and James (and their new dog) stopped by one day last week. It was really great to see them again, we haven't seen each other enough in the past year. But, anyhow, here are the boys playing. Since they are both very busy, it was quite a task to get them both in the same frame.


Some other notes of interest:
Eli is finally crawling. After what seemed like forever pulling himself army style, and rolling everywhere, he started actually crawling last week. My life has not been the same since. And here's a question for baby stores: Since many houses, such as ours, now have such an open floor plan, why is it so difficult to find extra wide baby gates? Are we alone in this search? We did find one (plus the extension), but had to order it online, and pay hefty shipping charges. What a pain - there are things other than shipping charges that I prefer to spend my money on.

Our kitty is finally almost back to her goofy normal self. As I previously posted, she wasn't doing so well for a while. Well, she's been off the 'roids for a while now and is running around some, and chasing bugs that end up inside, and I even saw her briefly chase the dog. She's still not jumping onto things, but is that really such a bad thing?