We've got boys in the family?

I have some time (and am surprisingly motivated to do this) so I wanted to add some updates about the family (particularly the children) since I have been M.I.A. for so long from Vox.

Mack and Brody

As most of you know, we have two new nephews.  Mack was born on the 13th of May (Sarah and Chris) and Brody on the 16th of May (Beth and Luke).  Both of them are wonderful and Gina and I are ecstatic.  Brody (6lbs 11oz) is a peanut and Mack (8lb 11oz) is a truck.

An item of note with Brody is that Beth and Luke have carried on the date significance tradition we have going with Gina's side of the family.  Some of you know this already but for those that don't try to comprehend the odds of all this happening.  I use to think Gina was the link but now I am thinking it may be Amy.  It's crazy.

~ I was born on the same day (July 18th) as Ed (Gina's uncle / Amy's father)

~ Gina was born on the same day that Ed passed away (February 1)

~ Gina and I share Ed and Mary Jo's wedding anniversary (July 26)

~ Sarah and Chris share Grandma and Grandpa S's wedding anniversary (June 28th)

~ Natalie was born on Gina and Amy's Grandpa S's birthday (May 31)

~ Macie was born on Gina and Amy's Grandma S's birthday (February 7)

~ Chloe (Beth and Luke's daughter) was born on Amy's birthday (January 19)

~ Brody was born on Joe's birthday (May 16)

Natalie

Here are some quick notes on Natalie from recent events:

~ On Wednesday, she completed her first year of pre-school.  She loves school, which we are very happy about.

~ She's a human highlight reel at this point in her life.  So much of what she says is hilarious.  

For example:

     ~ "My foot is sprinkling" (when referring to her foot falling asleep)

     ~ "We don't eat crabs because they do this" (as she pinches both thumbs and pointer fingers together)...however we didn't tell her that there are ways to deal with the claws.

     ~ "I already have a castle...it's in my playroom" (in reference to hearing Molly tell a random story about how cool it would be to own a castle as she was explaining what any good castle needs to have).

Macie

~ On March 23, we had a lump removed from the side of Macie head that had been there since just after she was born.  It was lima bean shaped, though not quite as big as one.  None of the doctor's were to worried about it but we had it taken out, in part, because they believed it would continue to grow as she did.  It was hard seeing her put under but everything went well.  We had the lump biopsied and it came back as a benign cyst which is obviously good news.

~ Her speech has taken off lately.  It's been fun to see (and hear I suppose).  However, she still has some work as you will see by the next story.  Last night, on the way home from picking them up from daycare I told the girls we were going to go make dinner for Beth, Luke, Chloe and Brody.  I then said to Mace, "can you say Bro-dee?"  Her response was "Rory."  That caught me off guard.  I composed myself and tried it again, "No, Broooo-deee."  To which she once again responded, "Rory."  At first it was a little weird but by the end of the night we were asking her to say it just because it was kinda cute.  She clearly needs some work on the "b" sound but we'll probably let her say Rory as long as she wants.

A video I am not proud of

I blame Gina and Molly for this.  At least they changed the lyrics for the girls to "oh hot ham, this is my jam."

Miscellaneous Items

~ Unfortunately, while waiting for Macie to return from surgery on the 23rd my mom informed me that my godmother Diane had had a heart attack the night before and passed away.  I was so sad.  She was an incredible person and had been one of my mom's best friends since early in high school.  She was also friends with my dad before my parents met and was one of the main reasons they were introduced.  So, I owe a lot to her on a couple of different fronts.  She will be greatly missed, especially by my mom's side of the family which had adopted her in as one of their own.  Another thing, which I just love, is that my mom received a letter from Diane on the 24th.  Sometime on the 22nd Diane had put a letter in the mailbox that basically told my mom what a great friend she has been to her over the years.  How cool is that for my mom to always have as a keepsake?

~ We tried to refinance, it didn't go well.  Our house appraised $80k less then we paid for it three years ago.  Grrrr.

~ Check out this book, it's fantastic.  If you're willing to read a non-threatening book about religion that will make you think a little bit but will also keep you laughing from cover to cover, you'll love it.

Walking for Causes

In the last two weeks we've done two walks: 

~ On the 10th, we did the Race for the Cure in honor of JoAnn, who has now been cancer free for over three years!  Attendees: Molly, Jackie, Gina, Natalie, Macie, JoAnn, Theresa, Meghan and myself.

~ On the 16th, we did the Celiac Walk for Natalie.  Well, we sort of did.  We raised a bunch of money, got there early and checked out all of the booths they had.  We very much enjoyed ourselves and learned a lot.  In the end we decided not to walk with two children who were not 100% healthy with outside temps in the upper 30s and winds that could blow over an ox.  We did go to the Mall of America, however, and enjoyed ourselves at Nickelodeon Universe.  Attendees: Morgan, Molly, Gina, Natalie, Macie, Rick, Al, Jeanine, Amy, Joe and myself.

On the path to Wiilightenment

Amy/Joe

It almost goes without saying but we had a great time at Amy and Joe's wedding a couple of weeks ago.  Amy was beautiful and everything went as close to plan as you could have ever hoped for. I know I speak for Gina and Molly when I say that we were all honored to be a part of the big day.  It was so much fun seeing two of our favorite people take the plunge.  It was also great to see the out-of-town family as well.

While we were waiting between pictures before the wedding started, Gina asked Tisha if she'd take a few pictures of us.  They turned out really well so I decided to share.  I'm including one of the pictures of Gina and I and one of Gina, Mo and myself.  Thanks to Tish for taking these for us.





Wii

Yes, the rumors are true.  We now own a Wii. 

The day I bought the Wii (at the downtown Target store) I was walking back with my buddy Matt who was carrying a big box of diapers with him and he said something along the lines of "well it's easy to see what points in life we are at isn't it." 

While there is some truth in the statement I suppose, I clarified with him that we may not be in the full fledged diaper mode anymore but it's not quite as it looks.  At this point, we need to sell things we currently own, recycling our worth, so that we can apply it to other items that we may want to own instead.  In this case, it was my birthday money that I had hung onto, some award money that I received from work and by selling our PS2 to Beno and Heidi.

Right now we are on hold to buy anything else until I sell the BowFlex.  Supposedly I have a buyer though who is working on coming up with the money for it.  Once it sells we will be getting Wii Fit, Super Mario Kart and a couple of additional accessories.

Nattie

The girl is crazy.  I mean that in a good way.  I'm blown away every day by how much she is growing up.  This week she was able to say the days of the week and counted to twenty for Gina's aunt Bev.  She also loves tracing her name and writing letters/numbers.

Last night I asked her what day comes before and/or after certain days of the week and she had some trouble with that.  Gina said some of her first graders struggle with it still so I was asking a little much of her.  My bad.  She is always eager to learn though so I plan to challenge her (in healthy ways hopefully) whenever possible.

Another thing with her is that she is so loving still.  I hope that never changes.  Whether it be cuddling with us or someone visiting, giving Casey hugs (which he only welcomes about half of the time) or holding lamby, a different stuffed animal or one of her babies...she is so sweet and gentle.  Maybe being motherly just goes along with being the oldest grandchild on either side, I don't know.

Mace

A lot has changed with Macie in the last couple of months.

For one, she's talking.  She's not annunciating a whole lot very well yet but she has about a dozen words she will say with some regularity and there are others spoken here and there as well.  For example, she just decided to point out the window and say tree out of nowhere Saturday night as we were driving to watch my parents bowl / see my cousin K8 and her boyfriend Mark.  My favorite is when she says up please.  It's adorable.

We also decided to take the plunge and convert her to a big girl bed over the weekend.  I was not sure if she was ready for it but both Gina and Mo thought she was.  I must say, she has made the conversion with ease and I was definitely wrong.  Whether she is sleeping or in a time out, she stays in her bed until we come and get her.  Hopefully that trend continues.



More around the house

I gave up on the yard.  I’m not too proud to admit it.  With all four lots around our house being sodless, it has allowed the weeds to definitely dominate my battle with them.  Our friends Nick and Carrie have someone they use to spray and/or fertilize five times a year for them and we decided to sign up for the last two applications of the year through the same place.  While it’s not very green of us, I can say that our yard looks so much better.  It will probably be one of those necessary evils that we'll learn to accept until the sod issue fixes itself.

We also had gutters put on our house.  That and the shelves in the garage were the 2008 projects we wanted to complete.  We didn’t put them on one area of the house that we should have (I’m scheduling that to be done as we speak) but everything looks very nice.  They were able to match the color of our siding with the downspouts and if you weren’t looking for them you probably wouldn’t even notice they were there (which is a good thing in this case).

Our only major item on the 2009 agenda for the house will be putting in a patio.  I’d like to have that done before school ends so Gina and the girls can enjoy the back yard over the summer.  I may also add a work bench in the garage now that we know we can fit one there after all.

Gina, Molly and I have been having a good time together as well.  While both Gina and I were comfortable with the decision to have Molly move in, I don't think either of us ever expected it to be going this well.  She's absolutely become part of our family.  What makes it even better is that I'm comfortable saying that we'd all make the same decision again about having her move in if we had a chance to do it over.

I've also very much embraced that our house will forever be dominated by women (Casey only counts on some levels).  If we decide to have a third child, it will undoubtedly be a girl as well.  At this point, it would make more sense that way anyways.  And, you know what, I'm just fine with all of it.

Going green?

Gina’s been on a green kick the last couple of months (sans spraying/fertilizing the yard which was mainly my decision).  We’ve been forced to buy more organic foods because of Natalie but she has also converted to the reusable bags and has diligently focused more on our recycling efforts.  Good work G.

Nick/Carrie

Recently, everyone in our house has been spending a lot of time with our neighbors Nick and Carrie (see above) who live just across the street. 

We’ve been blessed with a wonderful neighborhood and we’ve made a number of friends that I believe we will stay connected with regardless of how long we/they remain living around here.  Some of them we wish we could see more but lives are busy and finding time is not as simple as it would seem, especially when it becomes a ghost town outside as the weather gets colder.

But, it’s been different with Nick and Carrie.

I was talking to Mess about it last week and he called them the new version of him and Ann to us.  In a lot of ways, he is right.  It’s nice when you can have people living near you that you’re able to spend time with when it doesn’t feel like work to get together or be around…and finding that is not very easy.  We had that with Matt and Ann in the townhouse and finally have it again here.  Needless to say, they are great people and we are having a lot of fun.

Pumpkin Patch

A couple of weekends ago we went with the Otters to a pumpkin patch near them.  It was a blast.  At first I though the $8 admission was a bit steep but after seeing all that there was to do I decided that I had no problem with the price.  The girls loved it and we were only able to see about half of what was available before it was time to go because the girls were hungry / needed naps.  We also bought a pumpkin for each of the girls (that we still need to crave).  Halloween should be a lot of fun and one of us will make sure to post a picture of the girls in their costumes shortly there after.

Baby Otter

We recently found out that we will be an aunt/uncle again in May and are very excited.  Congrats to Sarah and Chris!

Sickness

I’ve been under the weather in some capacity or another for at least the last month or so.  It’s been weird for me since I generally tend to stay pretty healthy.  The same thing happened last year at this time and it turned out to be mono. 

The craziest night for me so far was after Joe and Amy’s rehearsal dinner when one of my ears registered a 104 degree temperature.  Currently, I am having some sinus issues.  If it’s not one thing it’s another.  Hopefully it will all clear up soon.  I have a feeling once the sinuses clear up I should be on the path to good health.  As a whole, I have definitely been feeling better the last ten days or so.

Election

It’s taken me quite a while to figure it out but I’ve finally decided on who I will be voting for next week for president.  As you can see by this link, no candidate represents me very well.  I wish I was more confident in my decision, but I at least feel comfortable on some levels with the choice.

Mosephina

Molly and Gina have started making jewelry.  Nothing big, just something fun that they are both enjoying doing.  Molly has been doing it for a while but Gina just started up recently. 

To try and help out I put together a spreadsheet for them to figure some of their expenses and put a simple starting site for them to use on our homepage.

Twilight

I started listening to Twilight recently based on Carrie’s suggestion.  Her and I were talking about books/TV/movies recently and we determined that we have similar tastes (much like Amy and I do).  She has definitely enjoyed reading the series and thought I might like it as well.

I also figured it was good timing with the movie coming out next month. 

Other then the fact that it’s clearly directed at a teenage female audience (which I’ve noticed more and more since a comment that Amy made) I am definitely enjoying the story.  Hopefully that continues as I progress through the book.

Matt and Morgan

Matt and Morgan finally found a house after a very exhausting search.  Trying to find the right place, they looked at between 90-100 homes.  The one they bought is about a mile or two from where they had hoped to be but it is still in a great spot in St. Louis Park all things considered.  I will see it tomorrow and I am very excited about that.  From what I know, and in talking to them and my parents, I already feel that they made a good decision.



World Series

I did pretty well predicting the playoffs this year other then the Cubbies, but my Rays in six prediction does not look very good right now.  Philly has definitely been the better team and I expect them to win tonight or, at a minimum, take one of the two games in Tampa to win the series.

Some finality (on a handful of fronts)

Mixed Bag

Welcome to another episode of one of my mixed bag blog entries.  Seeing as I am so hot/cold when it comes to blogging I've accepted this method as a way to catch up instead of thinking about all the entries I haven't done and in turn digging a deeper hole to get out of then I can recover from. 

I also went back through my past entries and tagged all blogs like this one with "mixed bag" so that they are easily accessible (mainly for my sake). 

As usual, there's been a decent amount of updates to get everyone caught up on.

Daycare

After much deliberation, we have decided on our daycare provider for the fall.  We are very excited to have Amber taking the kids and it's a relief for the decision to finally be made.

Nattie/Macie

Seeing our girls play together is quite a site.  One minute, they can't get enough of each other.  Just moments later, one is screaming (generally Macie) for the other one to leave them alone. 

Looks like it's going to be a classic love/hate sibling relationship. 

In all seriousness though, they get along pretty well.  They have their own secret communication system and can still make eachother smile and laugh in ways that no one else can.  There's definitely moments, but we've been blessed with kids that like eachother (for the most part) so far.

Nattie

Celiac update
It's been six months since Natalie was diagnosed with Celiac.  It's hard to believe. 

It's standard practice to have blood drawn at this point to compare the results to what they were initially.  A couple of weeks ago, Morgan came over to stay with Macie so Gina could bring Nattie to Children's for the bloodwork to be done.  You'd be amazed at how much blood is actually needed to do all the tests they needed to do.

As a whole, the results were good.  Her three celiac panel numbers moved as expected (the tTG numbers went up and the Gliadin IgA and IgG numbers both came down quite a bit).

Her iron was low still though so we will need to supplement with a multivitamin to see if that helps.
The only real concern the doctor had was with her thyroid levels, which were in the inactive range.  We will be talking to our primary doctor soon to determine if we should go see an endocrinologist.  The good news is that since January, Natalie has grown a little over two inches so it may just be that her body is still adjusting to things and everything is alright.

We were also told that we could start introducing regular milk back into her diet.  She had been on soy since all this happened because dairy is hard to break down so it was just going to be one less thing for her stomach to deal with.  As long as she doesn't begin bloating again or have loose stools, we can make the switch permanent.

Pre-school in the fall
Natalie starts pre-school in the fall.  Two days a week for a couple of hours each day.  She's definitely ready and I think she is going to love it.

Pushing our buttons
As a three year old should, Nattie is very good at pushing our buttons.  Most of the time she is a sweetheart, but she also is trying to figure out how far she can push us with increased freqency these days.  Unfortunately for her, it's usually not as far as she'd like.  It's different now a days (i.e. on a whole different level).  She's doing things like saying no to us, getting out of bed when she is suppose to be falling asleep, etc.

The lifetime of cat and mouse games are definitely underway.

Question and answer
If you plan to hang out with Natalie for any length of time, be ready for a barrage of questions.  It's incredible how many things she can ask about in a day.  Most of the time it's great because she's learning by asking, but after the eighteenth time she has asked the same question over the course of a week it can get old too.  It can also get hard when she is asking about things you know she already knows the answer to. 

We've even had to implement "it's not question time" on occasion.

Macie

Walking
It's nothing new, but Macie took her sweet little time to start walking.  And as usual, she's gotten real good real fast when she decided to start doing it.  Since the video on Gina's blog, she has improved significantly. 
Some nights, her sole purpose in life is just to make circle after circle around our living room couch.  She rarely crawls now and never scoots.  She's a walking machine these days.

Talking
Macie also talks your ear off.  It's just that only a small percentage of what she says is decipherable.  Words we can definitely understand are mama, dada, dog, all done, thank you and natalie (sort of).  Most of what she says is still jibberish.  There are times though that she can use her sounds in a certain ways (and by pointing) where we can basically understand what she is trying to say.

She still is a very moody child and I think part of that is because she can't tell us what she wants to very easily.  Hopefully (cross your fingers) this will change when she's able to use her words more effectively.  I know it's a slippery slope but I'm personally up for that challenge if the change evens out her mood a bit.

Stair master
Last week Gina spent a day working with Macie on the stairs.  That's all it took.  She completely gets needing to slide down on her tummy when she is on them and wants to be climbing up and down them all day long. 

We are a ways from removing our gate yet, but we are definitely making progress towards that.

Gina

Next time you see Gina, ask about her current Deadliest Catch / Flipping Out addiction.

A handful, literally

It's hard to believe that Gina and I have been married five years already (as of the 26th).  It's been five wonderful years but it sure has gone quick.

Molly

Molly recently decided to make Gina an inspirational scrapbook to help her get through the days where she is struggling with motivation.  It turned out incredible.  It has a bunch of quotes in it and pictures of G with the four of us.  Mo kept it fairly simple, which in this case really adds to the impact of what she was trying to do.  Here is a sample page so you can see what I mean.

Casey

Casey got his teeth cleaned and some bloodwork done last week.  The total bill was a lot, but it included many different things.  He's six now and while some dogs never need it, it was definitely time for him.  His teeth look great and his breath is so much better.  They did a number of other things as well, including testing his poo, some bloodwork, etc.  All the labwork for those items came back looking great.
The one issue they found was a mass inside of his mouth.  They aren't all that worried about it but a portion of the bill was to send it off to a different lab to make sure that it's not anything serious.  We decided we'd rather pay the expense to know for sure.  The results of the biopsy will be back in another week or two.  Hopefully everything is alright with our little guy.

26

A mess of books
I never picked Prince Caspian back up.  Hopefully I will be motivated again sometime in the future.  Nor did I finish No Country for Old Men.  It was intense (which I liked) but was a little off topic of what I want to be reading at this time.  I also started The Golden Compass but it was too slow for me right now so I returned it to the library.

What I have read recently is Clive Cussler's Mediterranean Caper.  It's by no means a classic but I was definitely entertained with Dirk Pitt and his adventures.  I will likely us the series as fill in books when I need a break from what else I am reading. 

Next it's on to Digital Fortress (by Dan Brown), which I have checked out from the library already.  When I finish that I will read The Watchmen.  Carrie was kind enough to lend it to me.  Just based on her giddiness alone, I am excited to start reading it.  As a former comic book collecter, I can defintely see myself liking it.
From there, we'll see.  I haven't made any firm decisions yet.

Wisdom teeth decision
After much debate (internally mostly) and some good advice, I've decided to have all four wisdom teeth pulled.  I've got the referral from my dentist to have it done and all I need to do now is call the dentist office that will be doing it.  I hope to make the call to setup the appointment early next week sometime.  I'm not excited about this at all.

Rory

July 18
For Molly and I's birthday, we made the decision to go to see The Dark Knight on opening night at the MN Zoo IMAX theatre.  Some of the group (Amy, Joe, Lucas, Carrie, Jon, Heather) attended with us which was really nice.  The movie was significant on a number of fronts, especially because of Rory of course.  He was the one person I knew for certain I would have seen the movie with.  Having him not be there with me (physically at least) was hard to accept.

Fortunately, I was able to enjoy the movie still.  It would have been hard not to as it was one of the best movies I've ever seen.  Heath Ledger was even better then advertised (which is saying a lot) and all the rest of the main characters all did an admirable job as well.  To say the least, the movie was wildly entertaining and Rory would have loved it.

Afterwords, most of the attendees were able to come over to our place (as well as Matt & Morgan).  Molly, being the goof she is, bought me a baseball cup-cake (see pic to understand).

The humor in it all is that my birthday is not a big deal to me (which I've documented before) and Molly loves hers (as most people do).

I have enjoyed my birthday more in the recent past though, mainly because I'm able to watch Molly enjoy hers so much.  I want the day to be all about Mo.  Going forward though, Molly has stated that her mission is to make mine a big deal for me. 

Sounds like one of those "when an irresistible force meets an immovable object" situations for future birthdays.  Molly's cake won this year (in my defense she caught me off guard with it) but I now have over 300 days to scheme for July 18, 2009.  Stay tuned for round two next year.

On a side note, I went to IMDB.com to look at quotes/trivia/etc. about The Dark Knight this week to see if there was anything else worth mentioning here about the show.  I wasn't looking for anything in particular but what I found absolutely blew me away.  As we all know, films have working titles for a while before they are officially named to help out with filming locations, etc.  What do you think The Dark Knight's working title was?  I'll let the picture speak for itself.

Top Five Records

I had always planned to change my fantasy football team name this year but I was having a hard time coming up with a name.  All I knew is that I wanted it to reference music (partially for Rory).  I love the movie High Fidelity and in the past I have used Championship Vinyl (the name of Rob's store in the film) for various online games.  I liked the idea of referencing the movie still but I wanted to use something different.  I decided on Top Five Records (Rob's record label).  I even decided to design my own logo for it.

From ashes to ashes
Last week, we spread Rory's ashes in Paul and Karen's back yard (as Rory has asked them to do).  They chose to do it on the trail in between the trees and weeds that Rory and I had worn down between our yards over the years.  I love that trail and I was honored that they chose that spot to do it.  Paul said that it made sense to do it there because many of his happiest moments were spent going back and forth between our houses. 

The gathering was small and there was no formal ceremony of any sort, but it did feel significant at the same time.  It was something that needed to be done and I can personally say that I feel better now that we have released him, in a sense.  Paul and Karen kept some ashes as did Gina and I.  Everything else was left on the trail that night.

Matt and Morgan

Matt and Morgan moved back on the 11th of July.  It was bittersweet for them as they are definitely going to miss Chicago. 

I can already tell you though that it's been so nice seeing them more often now that they are here. 

Matt's transferring his job in Chicago to MN and is starting law school in a couple of weeks.  Morgan recently got a teaching job for the fall.  Things have fallen into place for the most part from that perspective.

Finding a home has not been as simple.  They are looking primarily in Edina (near 50th and France) and SW Minneapolis without much luck. 

Hopefully, they will be able to find something soon.

Mo vs Mo

Two people I interact with very frequently in my life are nicknamed Mo. But, Molly was Mo to me before Morgan was. Now that Morgan is in MN too, this is going to get interesting.

Kate M / Scott

Gina and I were able to get together with Kate M. recently, which was so nice considering it had been far to long since we had seen her. She's just as wonderful as she has always been.

I was also able to hang out with my buddy (and roommate for two years in Fargo) Scott. He is back in MN for the summer and will be returning in a couple of weeks to Kuwait (for the third year now) for the school year to teach.

Fane / Noah / Baby Pops / Baby Gully

A rash of babies have invaded our lives recently (which is always a good thing). 

Our friends Haylee (one of Gina's roommates in college and our friend Taylor's younger sister) and Jerry had a son named Fane in June.  He was unfortunately born a couple of months premature. He's doing great though and Haylee has done a nice job of keeping us all up to date on how things are going through Fane's caring bridge site.

Our good friends Matt and Leah also had their first child (Noah) on the 16th.  He came a couple of weeks early but hasn't had any issues.  Things are going well and they couldn't be happier.

We are also anxiously awaiting the arrival of Jeff and Megan's baby boy any day now.  That's right, you heard me say boy.  Earlier in the week Jeff had said it was OK to share the news.  I'm sure some of you have heard this already too.  We are so excited for them.

And a new baby for Bob and Elena next year..talk about cool!

Snork's Dinner

On July 12, my grandpa held his annual dinner for the family at Cherokee Sirloin Room that him and my grandma always had for us each year in June.  This year, we did it on grandma's birthday and most of us attended a mass together (which mentioned her) before we went to dinner.  It was a nice night and as part of it the family gave my grandpa a scrapbook in which everyone made their own page with grandma (pictures, stories about her, etc.).  My aunt Mary did all the coordinating and helped anyone who needed it.  It turned out really well.  It was hard for him to look at initially but you could tell that he very much appreciated it.

Otters everywhere

We went to the zoo last Friday with the Otters (the van came in very handy for that).  No, not those otters (though we did see three different otter exhibits as we made our way around the zoo).  The Sarah, Chris and Hailey variety.  They stayed with us Thursday - Saturday and we very much enjoyed having them around.  

Here's family pictures of each of us that we got during the zoo trip.

Russia's Grizzly Coast

If you get a chance, get to the zoo and check out their new exhibit that opened up last month.  It's fantastic.  The whole area (though a little short) is very well done. 

My favorite are the grizzly's.  There are three of them and they are very playful.  Every time I have been there they have been in the water wrestling just a couple of feet away from you.  Last week, I watched one of the bears go right up to the glass (no more then a foot away) and casually look at one of the kids sitting there watching him squarely in the eye for a couple of seconds.  It was pretty neat.  Here's a picture of one of the bears that Gina took one of the times she was there with the girls this summer.

2008 MLB Trade Deadline

As weird as it is to say, I'm happy that the Twins have not made any moves this week just because they are knee deep in the race for the AL Central crown.  I've loved watching them this year but they are not true contenders in '08.  I just don't want them to give up something now that would be useful in the future when they can be a bigger factor in the next couple of years.  The only way I'd be for a move is if they traded Livan Hernandez to open up a starting spot for Liriano or if they made a trade to acquire a power hitting third basemen (more for the future then for this year) who is fairly young with a reasonable track record.  Unfortunately, a third basemen like that does not exist (unless Garrett Atkins were to become available again) so there is nothing for them to do this year. 

There is a lot to be excited about with them though.  You can see how this team should be good next year and how they could be really good in 2010.  All they really need to do is shore up the left side of the infield.
I'm very excited for the future of this team.

As for the Red Sox, boy did they give up a lot for Jason Bay but I think it was the right move on their part considering the health of their clubhouse, etc.  I am a big fan of Bay and had hoped they would let Manny walk at the end of the year and make a play for him instead.  As for Manny, he deserves a lot of thanks for what he did for the team over the years but it was definitely time for everyone to move on.

#4
I personally would welcome Mr. Favre to the Vikes.  Much of my dislike for him in the past has been because of the team he played for, not because of him. 

A chip off the old block

"In your eye"

When I got up this morning (at about 4:30) to deal with Nattie, I noticed that my head was not happy.  Not only did I have a migraine, but I had the kind that shoots across your forehead and simultaneously throbs in your eye even if you aren't moving your head.  At about 4:45 I took some Excedrin (which usually does the trick for me). 

Not today.  At 5:45 my head was still pounding / eye still throbbing. 

Thankfully, by 6:15 it was subsiding and by the time I got to work I was feeling alright.  The verdict is still out, however, if it is going to try and attack again today.  Pieces of it are definitely still lingering.

Walking the line

Macie continues to show her "everything is going to be on my time" attitude.  Last night, Gina and I watched her hold her balance standing up, crouch down part way, stand back up (without touching anything with her hands) and then take about six steps to me with ease. 

Yet, she still has no intentions of walking anywhere right now.  We can't even get her to walk back and forth between us very often anymore, even though she absolutely loves it when we clap for her afterwords.

Like mother / like daughter

Yesterday morning:
Natalie ends up in bed with up at some point and when I wake up to my alarm clock she is laying perpendicular to us (i.e. Gina and I are both on my side of the bed and Gina's knee is her pillow). 
Just before I leave I decide to pick Nattie up and put her head on Gina's pillow in a nomal sleeping position. 
After I do that (without outright waking either Gina or Nattie up), both of them simultaneously did the following:

~ turn their heads slightly to the left

~ pull up on the covers

~ try to snuggle into the pillow and get comfortable

~ realize that they aren’t comfortable

~ roll over onto their right side

~ snuggle in

~ fall back asleep

         

You'd have thought it was choreographed.  It was impossible not to laugh.

Prince Caspian / No Country for Old Men

I'm half way through Prince Caspian and if the book doesn't get going here soon, I can understand why it didn't do that well at the box office.  It's easily the most boring book of the four I've read in the Cronicles so far.  These books aren't action packed either so that's saying something.

Seeing as I needed a pick me up, I began reading No Country for Old Men this morning.  It caught my attention by the end of the first page and when it was time to get off the bus something happened to me for the first time in quite a while...I didn't want to put the book down.

Gluten-Free Grocery Shopping Guide

After no longer wanting to deal with referring to 29 different homemade lists and 44 different websites...along with always scrambling to figure out what is and is not gluten-free at grocery stores / in kitchen cabinets / at gas stations / etc., we finally broke down and bought a gluten-free grocery guide last night.  I have high expectations for it since Gluten Free Mall had sixteen reviews for it, all sixteen of which are five stars.

What's the point of the frog suit again?

Couch rearrangement

When Matt and Morgan were home for Christmas, Matt decided that our living room needed a make over.  At first I was very reluctant to let him move things around but as he talked about different ideas it began to interest me more.  I have to say, the change has grown on me.  It's not easy to see the girls when they are in the living room if you are in the kitchen but other than that it's a definite upgrade.

Nattie update

Whatever "normal" has become for us, I feel like our lives are moving towards it these days...which is a good thing.  A big part of that is Natalie's progression over the last couple of months.  Since we went gluten free, on January 21, she has done so much better.  It's definitely still hard to be 100% gluten free but we are doing well and Nattie is back to her old self.  She's also began to grow again and her budda belly (from all the bloating) has begun to shrink, both of which are fantastic to see.

On a different note, I'm still blown away by how smart two (almost three) year olds are.  She generally does something to amaze me every night.  One of her recent revelations was figuring out that she could turn on the light in her room (she can't reach yet) by grabbing a book and using it to flip the switch.  She doesn't have a trick yet to turn it off though (Sscratch that, I just saw her do it this morning for the first time.  See what I mean...).

Also, on 3/6 Natalie had her first hair cut (by Molly).  All we did was trim up the ends but it added a lot of bounce and curl back into her hair.  We even got the first couple cuts on film.

Macie update

All and all, things are going pretty well with Macie too. 

That doesn't mean she's a joy to be around though.  The girl has far more attitude then Nattie ever displayed at her age.  In fact, I have even joked over the last couple of months that if we end up having just two kids it's going to be because Macie is such a handful.  In reality, I'd never blame her for that but some days I probably could.

I have to cut her some slack though because her eczema has flared up on and off, she's seems to be cutting teeth constantly and she's in the frustrating stage of being able to pull herself up onto things but is still unable to walk yet. 

She has only three moods: extremely happy, extremely upset and blah.  Most of what we are dealing with should eventually pass.  Her temper though...I don't think that's going away anytime soon.  She's a hot head and she will likely remain one.  Many a battle with her lie ahead for Gina and I.

In the last week or so we have began to see a lighter side of her however.  She has been much happier and we've had a lot of fun playing with her.  Cross your fingers, we'd like this Macie to stick around a while.  When she is being sweet she absolutely melts your heart.

She finally began crawling.  If she needs to get somewhere quickly she still scoots though.  Frequently she does both when making a single trip somewhere.  It's worth the price of admission just to watch her manuver around the house.

That darn laugh

Matt / Morgan

Matt and Morgan move home in July.  I know they are going to miss Chicago but I am really starting to get excited for them to be nearby after being away now for six years.

Minivan

We did it, we gave in and got a minivan.  It's just too dang convenient considering our current family situation.  Gina's still struggling with the idea that she drives a minivan but I am definitely a fan of it.  If it only got better gas mileage...

We bought a silver 2006 Dodge Grand Caravan.  My parents purchased our Ion from us.

I'll leave any more discussion on this topic for Gina.  She probably has more to say about it then I do.

Home value

Fun fact: Our house has lost so much value since we bought it in April '06 that when I recently inquired about refinancing I was told I couldn't because our loan amount was greater then the house is currently worth. 

How much has it dropped?  $60k.  Good golly!  It's not a huge deal since everyone else is in the same boat and we are planning to be here a long time but it's still worth noting none the less.

Super Mario Brothers 3

Over the past couple of weeks, some of Molly and I's free time has been devoted to defeating Super Mario 3.  Last Sunday, we finally accomplished our goal.  Koopa's Castle was not easy to beat but I happened to catch him on an off day or something and I was able to get the job done.  Molly and I teamed together well.  With the exception of board 8.1, which we both stunk at, we complemented each other pretty well.

My favorite part of playing was when we would use a frog suit when it seemed least likely to help us.  Molly and I would laugh during the whole turn.  Really, what's the point of that thing?  It's even a hassle to use in the water.

I had beaten it once before (with Rory long ago) but this was Mo's first victorious experience.  Yeah Mo!  It was a lot of fun and we have now moved onto Super Mario World, which I have not played much of at all before now.  It's a good game and I look forward to defeating it someday as well.

A little bit of this, a little bit of that

In what has become tradition now, I have no chance to keep up with what's going on in my life on a daily basis so I am summarizing it (over the course of four or five working sessions since this weekend) in one big post that touches on many different items over the last month or so.  Enjoy.

Ms. Macie

Well, it's been an interesting six weeks with MJ.  As you may know from a past post, Macie developed a significant rash the day before Halloween.  After a series of visits to the doctors, this is what we have learned:
A full set of allergy tests were done, revealing that she only had one minor allergy (1 out of a possible 5 in significance) to pet dander.  Everything else came back clean.  Obviously this is not good since we have a dog, but the results showed that it clearly was not the cause of the rash at least.  Though it definitely could be an irritant to it.

We were really expecting the allergy test to give us the news we were looking for.  The rash was moving down her body (covered a good chunk of her) and itched.  Even after the rash left her face it continued to stay bright red around her cheeks and mouth as well.

The next step was to make an appointment with a dermatologist.  The one we were suggested to see didn't have an opening until 2/11/08.  Not cool.

This trip was important because if the dermatologist did not have any answers for us it was going to start to get a bit scarier trying to identify the other possible causes for Macie's condition.

After informing Macie's doctor about this he pulled some strings and got us in on 12/3 (at a differnet place).  The appointment revealed a few things. 

First of all, Macie had a moderate to severe case of atopic dermatitis (i.e. eczema).  Serious cases of eczema can significantly affect a person's life.  While this is not good news, it was still better news then it could have been.

She also was diagnosed with impetigo on her face.

The next step was to discuss treatment options.  They gave us a handful of different creams and the doctor subscribed an ointment for the inpetigo.  However, they asked us if we'd like to participant in a study currently being done on children just like Macie. 

It was determined that ~46% of her body covered in eczema.  At least 35% was needed to participant in the study.

It would take a series of five visits over the next four weeks and would test a corticosteroid that is only approved for children ages one and up by the FDA currently.  The study is for children three to twelve months old (hoping to prove to the FDA that they should change the range it's approved for).  The doctor said the corticosteroid being tested is fantastic and would help her immediately.  However, If we decided against the study there were other steriods we could try with her as well.

After some soul searching (since the testing was a study and would involve multiple blood draws) we decided to do it. 

We would have done it for free, but surprisingly they are paying us (fairly well I might add) to participate.

On Wednesday, 12/5, we showed up at 8am with Macie and a painfully long blood draw session occurred that confirmed she was eligible.  They study states that parents cannot be in the room while the bloodwork is being done (something I questioned and they allowed me to stay for the initial try).  While there are still much harder things to deal with, I can tell you that it tries you as a parent when you see the doctors attempting to take blood from your child's head.  Unfortunately Macie's veins collapse (it's nothing serious to worry about) when suction via a needle is applied to them, making it difficult to get any significant amount of blood from her.  After a handful of attempts, they got just enough blood to complete the tests (though much less then they had hoped for).

After the bloodwork, we were given the medication, with a diary and specific information about how/when/where to apply it to her.

Here's the good news, since we've been applying both sets of medication (along with nightly baths, approved lotions, etc.) she'd done a complete 180.  Her body looks good and she's no longer itching much either.  She's even happy.  We missed the "real" Macie, as her condition had put her in a perpetual state of unhappiness.

We'll see how the next few weeks go, but as of now things are definitely on the up and up.  It's been a serious stresser on the family the last month or so and it's wonderful to finially see some positive progress.

The butt scoot

Gina and I have accepted that Macie is not going to crawl.  Instead, she's decided to scoot on her butt.  She can make it around the room scooting without much problem (though, carpet is easier for her to maneuver on then hardwood).  It's pretty funny to watch her do it.  I am going to have to film it sometime and post it in a blog entry.

Super Under Roos

For whatever reason, Nattie has decided to "get it" as she has now gone over a full week without a single accident in her underwear (other then sleep times, which we still use a diaper for). Gina and I are not sure why she made the transition all of a sudden (before this she'd generally be in a diaper and use the potty chair when she felt like it) but we are lovin' it.

Jack Johnson

Interesting story.  Gina and I were listening to Jack Johnson's "On and On" (specifically the song "Taylor") Sunday when Natalie asked me if we were about to start watching "Natalie" (which is her first six months DVD I made).  I didn't draw the connection right away, but Gina did.  Natalie heard Jack Johnson. 

His "Better Together" is the first track on her DVD.  It didn't matter that the song was different, she associated his voice with her DVD.  I must say I am quite impressed with that.

Friday garbage

When you move next, ask what day the garbage man comes.  If it's Friday and you still move into the place, you've been warned that it's a miserable day to deal with garbage.  Sure, on the surface it sounds great to empty the trash just before the weekend, but in the fine print it's easy to miss that any week there is a holiday your garbage is not picked up until the following Monday.  Why do they do double duty on Mondays and not Fridays?  Why not Saturday at least?  It makes no sense.

Mr. Clean, Mr. Clean

I've been using them for a couple of years now, but I've decided to finally come out and make the statement that I believe the magic eraser is one of the greatest inventions of the last decade.  It even works on walls that are not white!  Thank you Mr. Clean.

Seven horses of pure power

Don't get me wrong, I honestly do not mind shoveling when the driveway beckons me to it.  I spend so little time outside in the winter that it's nice to enjoy the crisp air, etc.  I can usually clear everything in under an hour. 

What I don't like is that we live on a corner lot and Mr. Snowplow destroys our driveway every time he plows.  Generally speaking, after the plow is done with us our driveway has a pile of snow at least 2+ feet high and 3+ feet wide.  And, it's the wet/heavy stuff.  You can spend an hour shoveling it and it doesn't even look like you did anything.  Neadless to say, when the plows come around at 5am (like they did last week), we needed a way to get our cars out of the driveway before 9am.  So, we brokedown and bought a snowblower over the weekend.  To better understand how we financed the purchase, please reference Macie's section above. 

20/20 visions and murals with metaphors

Gina had her six month checkup this week.  She continues to have 20/20ish vision in both eyes.  Eye surgery is quite simply amazing.

An additional 274 square feet

While the eight month project downstairs is still not competed, we are definitely nearing the finish line.  By 1/1, the project (and all sub-projects associated with it) should be finished.  I'm looking forward to having my free time (as minimal as it is) back again.  I'm sure my dad would say the same thing as well.

Crash and burn, baby!

Stewie (the name of our computer's hard drive), decided to crash and delete all files in the Documents and Settings folder on the C: drive.  This is not the first time he's played tricks on us.  While we didn't lose a ton of stuff because we also use an external hard drive for storage, we are now without a couple of weeks of pictures and my work on the Macie DVD was not backed up anywhere else.  So, besides deciding to buy a new hard drive and needing to format the drive, re-install progams, etc. I will also need to start over on that project as well.  The timing could have been better, as I'm fully emerged with working on the basement and Gina needed the computer to do her homework for school (along with report cards for her kids).  I currently have a makeshift version of the computer working and will re-visit the topic more specifically next month.

You're 25% there already?

Speaking of her masters, Gina just finished one of her four semesters.  Hopefully, it continues to go fast (for the sake of all of us affected by it).

Guitar Hero III

I finally received clearance to send back my defective guitar to RedOctane around Thanksgiving.  I sent it back on 11/26.  However, it was just received on 12/10 and they say that there is a three week turnaround to ship a guitar back to me. 

Maybe I'll be able to play again by mid-January.

1 of 268,000

Yep, I just got my letter last night.

We tried, we failed

Our attempt to keep up on three different TV shows this year (House, Boston Legal and Grey's Anatomy) did not turn out as we had hoped.  We never even started Grey's and only got two episodes into the other two before we realized there was no chance for us to keep up with them.  We have not seen an episode of any of these shows now for a couple of months.  So goes the life of a parent.

Name those fish

Even though I had hoped our fish would not make it (I know, that's horrible), I have finally accepted they are going to be with us for a while.  We purchased them in January.  I suggested getting them, I think I needed something to help me feel like we were ready for Macie.  I regret that.  It was almost like I was nesting.  Initially, there were three but one did not make it.  I would never purposely kill them (though I did joke with Gina about flushing them down the toilet). 

Which leads me to our current situation.  If we are going to own fish, we should name them.  The names are TBD.

A mouse in the house

I got a panicked call from Gina while I was on the bus yesterday because a mouse was in the house.  I'm pretty sure I know when it got in.  When we use the nail gun downstairs, we leave the compressor outside because it's so loud.  To do so, a small opening in the patio door is needed. 

My guess is that it is the only one who came in but I set some traps last night to find out. 

The crazy part of the story is how Gina found it.  She had returned home early from her eye appointment and wanted to take a bath before she went to pick up the girls.  She saw some black specs in the tub so she started the water to wash them away.  After the water was started, the mouse came up through the drain into the tub (which creeped Gina out and rightfully so). 

However, both my dad and I reaffirmed to her that the mouse did not get into the house via the drain.  I think that helped her deal with it a bit as I am sure the fact that we just watched Ratatouille wasn't helping matters.
After a call to my dad, she was able to trap the mouse in a container and bring it outside.

I am the greatest

Inspired to discuss this topic by Guitar Hero III (and Messer), I wanted to make the following statement:
In my personal opinion, you are looking at a picture of the greatest living guitarst on the planet.  If you want proof, feel free to ask me about it.  Better yet, ask Rory.

Fogo de Chao

For our work Chistmas celebration last week, we were taken to Fogo de Chao.  It's a Brazilian resturant in downtown Minneapolis. 

It was one of the best meals I have ever had and I strongly recommend it.  For $24.50 (the lunch price), it's a steal. 

Here's the premise:

When you buy a meal, you are given unlimited access to their extensive salad bar.  You are also given a coaster (one side red / one side green).  Meanwhile, at least a dozen staff members are walking around with fifteen different cuts/types of meat (filet mignon, top sirloin, bottom sirloin, pork chops, chicken drummies, lamb, etc.).  When your coaster is flipped green, the staff members will stop at your chair and ask if you'd like a piece.  In a matter of three minutes, you can have five different types in front of you.  When you want to stop, just flip the coaster back to red.  When you're ready for more, flip it back over.

One time, I flipped my coaster to green and turned down the first couple of meat offered to me.  Shortly after that, one of the chefs came out to talk to me and ask if I'd like him to make one specific option that had not been offered to me recently.  How cool is that!  I asked him for the parmesan pork (which was fantastic).
After a very good molten cake for dessert, I did not eat again for over 24 hours. 

I wasn't hungry.

Bambi's a what?

I'm so far behind again that I am just going to stick to some observations I've had the last week, again from more of a high level perspective.


Bambi's a what?

I just found out this week that Bambi (the Walt Disney version) is a boy.  I was floored.  I've always been a Disney fan so it's not like I'm one of those "guys" who shouldn't have known this.
The things you learn later in life.

Grandma K

For whatever reason, maybe because it's approaching the holiday season, I've really been missing my grandma lately.  I'm assuming that Thanksgiving and Christmas are going to be awfully hard for many of us this year.

On the up and up

Both girls lungs have been deemed healthy and neither need to use the nebulizer at the moment.  However, it's ready and waiting for the next attack on either of them.  If it happens to Natalie again, it's pretty much been determined that she will be put on some sort of preventative medication for the winter.
The girls recieved their flu shots yesterday as well.  We are all vaccinated now.

MJ's rash

Macie's rash is still pretty bad and we are now onto the next stages of diagnosis because she has had a fairly severe case for a couple of weeks now.  I will be setting up a dermatologist appointment this week for December and Gina will be taking her in for some bloodwork at Children's tonight so that she can be tested for a wide array of food allergies.

The following allergies will be tested for:

Eggs (white/yolk), fish (cod), cow's milk, two types of mold, dust mites, wheat, cockroach, soybean, peanut, cat and dog dander, apple, banana, carrot, cheese, grape, orange, pea, pear, tomato and cacao (chocolate).
My money is on tomato (as it's the only thing that's new for sure in the last couple of weeks) and I pray it's not a peanut allergy.

Say it ain't so

Sickness finally struck the last healthy member of the house.  Gina's been fighting something the last week.  Nothing too serious, but she's been bedridden from headaches (regular/sinus) and tiredness a couple of nights from it.  Hopefully the worst has past.

Curse you GE!

If it's not one thing, it's another.  Monday night, Gina and I noticed a small puddle of water in ther corner of the new bedroom downstairs.  It turns out the metal portion of the cold water connector between the washer and the faucet has corroded to the point that it was slowly dripping water from the small hole to the floor in the laundry room. 

The washer and dryer appear to be a perfect match for one another it seems.

The good news is that we pushed the carpeting date back to this upcoming Saturday instead of last weekend.  Had we stuck to the original plan, it would have been a nightmarish first couple of days of carpet for us.

Mono be gone

Without a blood test even being needed, I've been deemed monoless.  All and all, outside of a miserable 14 day stretch I got off pretty easy.

Guitar Hero III

I'm still enjoying the game when I get a chance to play. I am onto medium now and I did record a 100% completion percentage on the easy version of Slow Ride which was fun (and stressful) to do.

I unfortunately need to send the guitar back though, for exchange, as it has a rattling issue. I should be without it for about a month.

Money be gone

My buddy Matt at work has spent $4,000 in the last week on a 50" Sony LCD HDTV, a 8GB iPod Nano and brand new Dell computer.  Not a bad week's haul, especially considering he's pretty stingy.  But, they have been saving for the TV for about four years and their last computer was purchased around the Y2K days so it was time. 

I'm definitely happy for them (and hope to take advantage of the TV here and there in the future).