Engineering The Pann's

2 years and 2 months

2010-07-13T16:15:00.004-05:00

Lucy is now 2 years old, here's her latest loves, hates, and sayings:

Things she loves: coloring, barney the big purple dino, playing on swings, books, singing, craisens, hot dogs

Hates: bedtime, is scared of motorcycles

Sayings: "I don't like this ..." "Mama, your this" "I nummy this?" "I need help" and she sings A LOT! Current favorite songs are Muffin Man, Grandpa's Farm, and Happy Cake - her version of happy birthday.

Simon at 2 months. We're still figuring this guy out but so far he is just a joy.

He's a good sleeper (7hrs at night), he's pretty smiley, he has ticklish toes, he likes to look out the window, he likes naked time, and he's HUGE!

Overall he's a great, easy baby and we're a lucky family to have him

Sum up 4 months...

2009-12-10T09:41:00.002-06:00

How can you sum up 4 months in one blog post? I guess I'll give it a try...

August Highlights: We had more bike rides, found out baby #2 is on the way (!!) did a ton of picking and canning, basement shelves are getting pretty full with great summer fruit. Erin accepts a new job

September: Erin starts new job, Lucy spends 3 days a week with grandma, have a great holiday get-away with friends in the dells, another bike ride, trip to a knitting convention, more canning, tomatoes, peppers, pickles and more

October: Bike ride (Erin chickens out because of cold and rain, Tim does 50 miles), apple picking, bridal showers, and ending the month with a trip to MN to see friends and family, Tim's 32nd birthday and a great concert. Lucy was Glinda for trick-or-treat but still no win in the costume contest boooo.

November: Pretty slow month actually, kinda nice for a change. We have been busy cleaning the house to get it on the market which turned out to be a huge project. Thanksgiving was great, got to see the Pann's and the Wolfgrams.

December (so far): House is on the market, priced well so hopefully it will sell and we can find something nice in our price range, not quite ready for a forever home but something a little bigger to fit our stuff and our kids! We had a great time at a family wedding, wish we could see more of family. Lucy is talking a mile a minute (although most of you wouldn't know it, she gets pretty shy) favorite phrases include Mama Coat, Dada Coat, Lucy Coat, No No No, and No More Monkey's ( as in no more monkey's jumping on the bed).

I think that's all for now, I'll have to add some new pics a little later

Wallet Lost And Found

2009-08-17T13:52:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago I was shopping in the 3rd ward with a friend and our girls and somewhere between a furniture store, clothing store, and lunch My wallet fell out of my shorts. Darn those cute shorts with pockets that are on a diagonal and allows stuff to fall out easily.

Anyways, I retraced my steps and couldn't find anything. I was a little surprised because it is a nice side of town in the middle of the day and I really hadn't gone that far. I left my name and number at 2 stores when I had been and just hoped for the best. When I hadn't heard from those stores by the end of the day I figured it was game over, wallet gone. I called my credit cards and even though there had been no activity I put all the cards on hold. I waited over the weekend holding on to any last hope but by monday I was ready to give up. I canceled all the cards and requested new ones. I began to think about the cool new wallet I would get. I went to the dmv and got a new drivers license.

Tuesday I went to get my mail in the afternoon as I always do, and it felt like there was something in the mailbox. I reached in and pulled out MY WALLET! I couldn't believe it, I stood on the front porch in shock for a few minutes and then proceeded to open it up and stare at all the cards and $50 cash that was all still there. There was no note or anything, I'm assuming it was just a kind stranger who brought my wallet back home. I am very grateful to this person and will be looking for an opportunity to pay it forward.

Whoever Returned My Wallet:

Thank you so much! I love that wallet, it has a lot of sentimental value to me and I really appreciate the time you took in returning it to me. If I had been home when you dropped it off I would have hugged you and most likely sent you home with some baked/canned goods. This means a lot more to me than just a returned wallet, it lifts my spirits to know there are wonderful, honest, and helpful people, like you, out in the world ever day and I hope I can return the favor many times over.

Thank You

Erin

2009-07-29T09:53:00.002-05:00

I just pulled an amazing amount of stuff out of my couch. I am pretty good about grabbing stuff that falls between the cushions but I was cleaning my knitting area and realized I had a bunch of straight needles missing. My first thought was that the dog was hoarding them and planning a late night attack in revenge for the new round of obedience classes we just started but then I thought maybe I'll check the couch one more time.

I cleaned all the surface sand (sand?!?!?) and then decided to reach my hand down where the top and bottom meet and I was shocked by how much stuff I found:

4 straight needles, 1 set of double points (still in the package), my library card, a pen, bottle cap, 1 tub toy, Tim's watch, 2gb sd card still attached to the card reader (haven't seen that in a while so I have already bought a new one) and a couple granola bar wrappers.

I don't know what is scarier, that all that junk was in there, or that I didn't know half of it was missing!

Strawberry Picking

2009-07-28T09:54:00.006-05:00

A few friends and I were looking for something to do and decided that strawberry picking sounded like the best idea. We found a small pick-your-own farm in Mequon and we got in on the last day of picking. Knowing it was the end of the season we weren't expecting too much but we were pleasantly surprised when we checked out to find we had nearly 40lb's of berries.

We decided to do some canning with my new books and equipment and if you have ever wondered what 40 lb's of berries will get you, here is the answer:

16 pints of strawberry jam

10 quarts of strawberry rhubarb pie filling

7 pints of strawberry margarita sundae/cake topping

7 pints of strawberry maple syrup

7 quarts of strawberry lemonade concentrate

Whooooooo, that's a lot!

June Happenings

2009-07-15T08:47:00.008-05:00

June was the busiest month we've had in a long time. We started the month with our 2nd annual Foy family vacation. This time we went to Minocqua and even though it was cold and rainy we had a good time. We took bike rides, boat rides, went fishing, cooked great food, watched movies, read books, took walks, and laughed a lot.

The next weekend we went up to Eau Claire for the wedding of friends. Again, we had a great time! Lucy had so much fun dancing at the wedding and playing in the pool at the hotel

After the wedding we drove up to Minneapolis to visit more friends and family and then settled in for the long drive home. After 3 weeks of fun we were pretty tired out, missed our dog, and ready to sleep in our own beds!

We finished off the month with the first of our group bike rides. We had 13 riders and had a beautiful day to get on the bikes. I pulled Lucy for the first 15 miles and just as I was tiring out Tim appeared and was able to pull her the rest of the way - which included one big hill. Lucy was lucky her dad came along or she might have been pushing herself up the hill. Tim and one other rider are not pictured here, they had already taken off on the 45 mile option.

Lucy's 1st Birthday!

2009-05-04T22:11:00.005-05:00

Lucy had a great first birthday!

March 28th came very quickly this year. I was looking back and thinking of all the great things that have happened to us at the end of march in years past. Tim and I have met in Feb of 2003 and after 4 dates I left for Europe for a month. Tim picked me up at the airport on March 21st 2003 and we have been together ever since. Just over one year later, March 23rd 2004, Tim proposed. Now we have a great reminder of just how many blessings we have been given with Lucy's birthday on March 28th 2008.

We planned a small party with immediate family and a few friends. We chose a spring flowers theme, although the weather didn't really cooperate. We had a beautiful flower cake, fun flower headbands for all the kids to wear (although I don't know that anyone enjoyed it). The kids had a great time playing and showing off their walking skills. Lucy got some beautiful new clothes and as soon as the weather cooperates she'll be able to wear them. Lucy did pretty well although it was a long day and she only got one nap in. She started to melt down a bit but just then mom swooped in with some cake and things turned right around. Just as all the kids were getting close to their breaking point the weather took a turn for the worse and we decided to call it a day. We had a wonderful time and can't wait to celebrate this day for many years to come!

Catching Up

2009-05-03T21:30:00.003-05:00

It's really been a while since I updated this blog. My computer died, I had a "loaner" from Tim's work for a while but then someone needed it, and now finally I have a brand new mac! Much thanks to our great accountant and uncle sam for making this happen!

I'm adjusting rather well to the new mac and hopefully I will be able to update more often with lots of pics.

Speaking of new pics ... since my last post I bought a new camera. Nikon D60 and I'm really loving it. I've taken 1 camera class and am looking forward to taking one or two more. My head is still spinning with words like aperture, shutter speed, f-stop, and ISO. I'm slowly catching on and getting some great pics. With the new computer comes photoshop elements and although that program has quite a steep learning curve I'm looking forward to learning a lot there too. I've found some great resources online and if I only had a little time I could really be dangerous!

Ok, now onto the crafting stuff! I've been doing very little knitting lately although I did finally finish a sweater for myself after 3 tries, ok, it still needs the buttons but that is really close to done. I'm using the leftover yarn from that project to make a little dress for Lucy, should be cute. I've been doing a good deal of sewing lately. It's a really fun craft and you get a much quicker result than with knitting. Of course that is assuming that you do it right and don't have to re-cut it and re-sew it. I will admit there are days that I spend more time ripping incorrect seams than sewing, but I'm really having a great time and will hopefully get some good experience behind me soon. I got a great lesson in pattern reading from my mother-in-law who is a great seamstress herself. Lucy has had many beautiful outfits from her. Hopefully it will be warm enough to wear some summer outfits soon!

Alright, that's enough for now. I'll post later about Lucy and her first birthday!

10 Months

2009-02-02T16:51:00.003-06:00

Whoo, another month gone! Where is all this time going? I'm going to need to start thinking about a birthday party soon, crazy!

This month has really been a lot of fun. Lucy is interacting with her world so much more every day. Her new favorite hobbies include emptying things (kleenex boxes, laundry baskets, drawers), talking over people if they aren't paying attention to her, giving kisses and hugs, and "playing" with the dog. She likes to hand things to the dog, he love to take them because she doesn't just hand him dog toys, she pretty much gives him anything and since someone is handing it to him he has to take it right? She has finally started saying ma ma ma which I have really been looking forward to. I'm not sure she really associates the words with the people (mama and dada) but it seems like sometimes she gets it right! She is also standing on her own more and more, I think she will be walking pretty soon. She continues to be a super sleeper, 11hrs at night and then 2hr nap twice a day, we know how lucky we are!!!!!

Things she dislikes, getting changed and dressed. We now keep all sorts of toys/items by the changing pad to try and bribe her into keeping quiet and calm during a change. We still haven't found any food she doesn't like or won't eat, she remains a great eater. She does like to taste things if she doesn't recognize them, she will stick out her tongue and lick whatever is on the spoon once or twice and then she'll let me put it in her mouth. She also really likes to feed herself, sometime she will spit out whatever she put in her mouth just so that she can put it in herself.

Tim and I have been keeping pretty busy as well. I have now finished 7 of my carseat coats (including Lucy's) and I'm looking forward to some new projects on the sewing machine. I'm also working on a knit sweater for myself. I'll have to update with pics when/if I ever get them done! Tim is still very busy at work, I keep asking when the slow in the economy and construction will hit him and he can stop working 12 hour days, but it seems Tim is recession proof. The construction project that are still going out there need his expertise. Oh well, better to have a busy job than no job.

To look for next month - lots of pics, I got a new camera

9 Months

2009-01-06T12:15:00.005-06:00

Another month gone, I'm going to have to start thinking about a first birthday party pretty soon! This month has brought us yet more changes and growth. At the dr this month she weighed 21.1lb's (90th percentile) and was 28.25 inches (80th percentile). We had lots of fun with all the now this month, she's pretty cute in her snow suit, but then, when isn't she cute?

She has started doing a lot of talking, she has been making sounds from the beginning but one day this month she opened her mouth and out came "DA DA DA" it's hard to describe how it's different than babbeling, but it just is. This seems like the beginning of real talking. She still thinks it's incredibly funny when I get her to say mama but we'll keep working on that.

She got tons of new toys for christmas and is really liking the rattles, toys that make noise, her walk behind hippo, and new blocks.

Here is a video we took of her eating where she shows off all her new tricks including clapping, the DaDaDa's and big goofy whole face smiles (showing off all 4 of her teeth!), putting her hands behind her head, and playing with the dog.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7scK-ADekg

Christmas

2009-01-06T11:26:00.003-06:00

We had a lovely Christmas this year. Lucy was a champ through all the car rides, missed naps, new faces (well, new to her!) and long nights. We started a week before Christmas at Tim's Grandpa's house for the Pann family Christmas, then Christmas Eve at Aunt Diane's with the Wolfgram family, then back home to sleep (uncle danny was supervising) while Tim and I sang midnight mass, we got home about 2am and Lucy decided to start the day at 5am!!!!! That was a bit of an early morning but you know kids and their presents. Tim and I had to head to church to sing again Christmas Day, and then we all met up again at my parents house at 2pm with the Foy family. A few days later we did the extended Foy family and finally rounded it out with a trip to the farm to see Aunt Jen, Uncle Tom and Paige, and of course all the other creatures (human and animal) who live at the farm! Lucy (and her parents) were given many wonderful gifts and hopefully we will have room for all of them in the house! It was truly a blessing to be with all our family and friends on christmas again this year.

Lucy with Great Grandpa Pann, Kelsey and Hannah

Lucy wrapped up for Christmas, and on the way home from the Pann Christmas with new toys!

Broccoli Cheese Chicken Nuggets

2008-12-28T22:08:00.003-06:00

So, I've been busy

In addition to christmas and Lucy hitting 9 months (which I will write about later I promise) I have been doing more cooking for the little munchkin! I've really had a lot of fun thinking up dishes for her. The pot roast has been a big hit and I'm excited to keep cooking for her. I have been doing a few crockpot recipes since it cooks the food without me hovering around watching it, and it makes everything mushy, not something grown-ups always look for in their food, but it works wonders for the little ones who don't have enough teeth to chew! I got a new crockpot for christmas so any readers should expect to see more crockpot recipes here. Here are 2 recipes I have made that the little one is currently enjoying. One thing you should know about my recipes, I hardly ever measure ingredients, I cook enough to have a good idea of how much one cup, one teaspoon or 1/2 tablespoon look like, and honestly, I don't want to have to wash measuring cups and spoons, I hate washing dishes. Therefore, all the amounts you see listed in my recipes are approximate and can be modified to suit your style of cooking.

Chicken, Apple, Rice: (this one is super simple)
Ingredients:
3 boneless skinless chx breast
3 apples
1 Cup Rice (I use long grain brown rice)
1 cup water/chicken stock (chicken stock will give more flavor, but increases sodium)
1 tsp sage (optional or try another spice to suit you/baby)

Peel, core, and slice apples, add all ingredients into crockpot, cook on low 6-8 hrs. When finished, shred chicken and mash the apples. Serve warm, try adding some cheese!

Broccoli, Cheese, Chicken Nuggets
recipe modified from this site: http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/babyfingerfood.htm
20 oz package frozen broccoli
2 Cups shredded cheddar cheese
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 Cup sweet potato puree **
1 Cup rice baby rice cereal
1 tsp garlic powder (optional, or try another spice to fit your baby!)

Steam broccoli and chop into small pieces, cook chicken and shred into small pieces (I boil mine, it's quick). In a large bowl combine broccoli, chicken, garlic powder, and cheese, mix well. Add rice cereal and sweet potato puree until mixture is "sticky". I had to add a little water as well since my puree was pretty thick. Place parchment paper on a cookie tray and form nuggets with about one teaspoon of the mash. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes flip and bake 5 minutes more.
**can use any veggie or fruit puree, or 3 large eggs, or 5 egg yolks - but make sure your baby is ready for eggs, check out this article about babies and eggs http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/eggs.htm
Yield: 50 nuggets (give or take the 5-10 nuggets my family ate before I could count them!)

Pardon my bad kitchen lighting in these pics, but I think you get the idea...

OK, that's all for now, goodnight!

Lucy's first pot roast

2008-12-10T16:29:00.002-06:00

ok, so this isn't that exciting, but I made her a pot roast and I'm very proud of it.

I got a 3lb roast with good marbeling, added carrots, onions, celery, and 2 cups of beef broth. I threw it all in the crock pot and let it cook all day. Tim was quite disappointed that he didn't get to eat any of it, but I'm sure he'll get over it. I love that it is easy, simple, and healthy, no added salt, sugar or any of that bad stuff, just good honest food. When it was finished I packed it up into a bunch of glass canning jars and froze them for meals in the coming weeks. Lucy seemed to like it, it took a bit of adjusting since a few of the foods were new (including beef) and of course the texture of meat is a lot different than the purees she's been eating. She has been doing really well with feeding herself the past few weeks so I'm hoping the puree stage may be drawing to a close. Next up...chicken!

8 months!

2008-12-01T08:54:00.005-06:00

I feel like I say the same thing every time, but I can't believe it's been 8 months! This month was huge for her development. She went from a baby who had a few tricks like rolling over and eating off a spoon to crawling, standing up, pushing tv trays across the room like a walk behind toy, and eating everything in sight! Here are the big updates from the past month:

Crawling! She crawls EVERYWHERE! Mom is having a hard time keeping the house clean enough and everything off the floor. She's got a goofy little crawl, she uses her left foot to push and slides on her right knee, it's pretty funny looking, but it works for her.

Standing! It was a huge shock the first time I walked in her room after nap and saw her standing in her crib. She was very proud of herself and had a huge smile on her face. It was pretty tough at first because she didn't know how to get down and would scream until someone came and got her. Fortunately she figured it out after a week and can now play in her crib for a bit longer and even put herself back to sleep! Outside of the crib, she will stand on anything she can reach. She loves to stand by the furniture, toys, laundry baskets and anything else within reach.

Climbing! She loves to climb! She will go up and over anything in the house. I think mom is by far her favorite jungle gym, but she also likes to climb up and over rubbermaid boxes or any cardboard box. Chairs are also very fun to climb in and out of.

Talking! She is certainly making more noise. She loves to pick up her toys and sing to them, but when mom comes over and tries to get a "ma ma ma" she just laughs. Little Stinker...

Eating! She loves to eat! Tim and I sometimes wonder if she has an off button, she just never stops! I can probably count on one hand the number of times she has turned away solid food, it just doesn't happen with this little girl. She's now eating an extended menu including blueberries, plums, turkey, chicken, Cheerios's, carrots, green beans, and in the next few weeks we'll be adding beef, many more fruits and even yogurt!

Likes and Dislikes:

Likes: Dog Toys, Laundry Baskets, Activity Table, Cheerios's, Shoes, Sippy Cup, Jumper

Dislikes: The Car Seat, Diaper Changes, Clothing Changes, Being Held Down For Pictures

"Enjoying" a day out with best friend Josie!
Licking her bowl, like a true Pann (maybe next time she'll lick the inside)!
First Guitar Lesson

7 Months!

2008-11-03T09:44:00.005-06:00

I can't believe how fast time is flying. Lucy is so active these days and really experiencing so many more things, it's so fun to watch. In the past month she has experimented with so many different foods and the list is constantly expanding. Her favorites so far seem to be apples, pears, oatmeal, and zucchini. She is loving her mesh feeder, I put some apple slices or pear slices in it and she will eat nearly half the fruit! Half an apple or pear at 7 months! My favorite is seeing her "two fisting it" with the mesh feeder in one hand and the sippy cup in the other. It's pretty funny. Lucy now needs to touch and feel everything that mom or dad are doing. If mom has keys, baby needs keys, if mom has cell phone, baby needs cell phone, if mom has yarn, baby needs yarn. We have started adding a Lucy version of many items in our house, Lucy's key's, Lucy's yarn (don't worry, I don't leave the room when she's playing with it) and many other things.

The biggest change is that she is now mobile! She crawls! Of course, it's only backwards at this point, but it's still pretty fun to watch. She is now able to reach for toys and then get back into a sitting position to inspect that toy and sometimes sing it a little song. I'm really ready for her to crawl forward since I'm getting a bit tired of picking her up out of the corners and out from under the toys/chairs she has backed herself into. It won't be long now, but boy does she get frustrated when those legs just don't do what she wants! She has also started pulling herself up onto some of the furniture and toys, we are really lucky not to need a lot of babyproofing, but are going to have to keep the house a lot cleaner if we want to keep the baby out of trouble.

Although Halloween was after her 7 month birthday, we had our neighborhood trick-or-treat on the 25th. Lucy got to dress up in her goldfish costume and we went to say hi to a few neighbors. She tolerated the costume rather well and we were very proud of her. Here are a couple pics, check out the photo gallery link on the upper left to see more!

This is Lucy's "but mom, I needed the comcorder case, rings, blocks, business card, yarn, and bib" picture

Bountiful Harvest

2008-10-14T09:12:00.002-05:00

We spent some time this weekend cleaning out the garden this weekend and I'm glad to say, we did pretty good this year! We have always had problems with planting tons and stuff, watching it grow, but then getting very lazy when it comes harvesting and cooking our goods. This year we really wanted to be better, so we decided to plant a mirepoix which is french term and the basis for so many dishes Tim and I like to cook. Mirepoix is a mix of 2 parts onion, one part celery, and one part carrot. For italian food (such a tomato sauce) you add garlic and pancetta to the mix and it's called a soffrito. We had some volunteer lettuce which I was really excited about, but it went to seed before we got to eat it, oh well. We also had volunteer tomatillos, we planted them in our garden about 4 years ago and they have come back every year with a vengeance! This year I haven't even used one. Our green beans fizzeled and we only got 3-4 beans total, that was a bummer because we are pretty good at eating those.

Ok, on to the good stuff! We got one huge clump of celery, we got onions but they never got very big, I think next year I'll start them from plant instead of seed. We got an entire bucket of carrots although they don't grow very well in our soil so they are a bit mis-shapen. Hugo certainly loved them. We got plenty of tomatoes and garlic and a couple green peppers too.

On the fruit side, we finally got some blueberries this year! We had 2 of our three plants berry this year and had TONS of blueberries! Most of them got eaten before we could make anything, but they were still good. Our raspberry vines also did very well this year. We got some of the largest berries I have ever seen. One plant is producing fruit again right now! Yum!!!

Here's some pics!

Solid Food!

2008-10-07T08:57:00.002-05:00

I am having so much fun with solid food! Oh, and Lucy likes it too.
I've been making all of her food so far except for baby cereal, but I have found a recipe for that, maybe some day...

I've been working with a friend, we hit the farmers market then steam, puree, then into ice cube trays. So far Lucy has tried green beans, butternut squash, carrots, apples, and zucchini. I'm sure this won't come as much a surprise, but she loves it all! I'm totally hooked on a website www.wholesomebabyfood.com they have so much great info, I'm on there everyday. It's just so fun, I have a hard time waiting for 3-5 days to start another food.

Next up will be sweet potatoes, peaches, peas, plums, summer squash, acorn squash, and then a combination of these!

She's 6 months old

2008-10-01T11:46:00.005-05:00

I can't believe it! It's been half a year already. And this month had so many firsts! Her growth has finally started to slow down although she is still a big healthy girl. She has been in the 90th percentile for weight and the 95th for height for as long as she's been around, but at her last check-up she was in the 90th for height and 80th for weight. Her doc even said she could tell she was slimming down (umm, whatever) maybe she only has 2 chins where she had 3 before! She's getting pretty mobile these days too. She rolls both ways now and likes to scoot backwards and gets really frustrated that she can't go forward, it won't be long before she takes off! She started solid foods about a week and a half ago. She loves her oatmeal and has tolerated the green beans and carrots mom has fed her. The new sippy cup is a mystery, fun to chew on but every once in a while this weird liquid comes out and runs down her chin (water). Hopefully she's catch on soon. Speaking of chewing, she's got two teeth! Check my most below on the horrible Wednesday we had to get all the info on that fun. She also took her first bike ride. She's find with her helmet, but when she got in the burley trailer with the helmet she couldn't' see much and screamed. When we got to a bike path where no vehicles were allowed we took the helmet off and let her ride without it and she had a great time. Hopefully next summer she'll be a bit taller and be able to see out a bit better. I have uploaded all her pics from this month, click on the Photo Gallery link on the left to check them out. I'm also including a couple little videos (and I mean little, they are only about 5 seconds each).

Hope you enjoy!

The video is done!

2008-09-28T20:30:00.002-05:00

After quite a few weeks, 2 video editing software packages, one computer meltdown, and $100 later, the video of Joey's homecoming from Iraq is done!

Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snaBkwhMzBk

The Wednesday Which Will Live In Infamy

2008-09-19T16:53:00.004-05:00

What a day it was...

Lucy woke up at about 5am, ate, went back to sleep but woke up about 6:30, not too bad, but mom has been getting used to the 8am wake-up time, oh well. Shortly after wake-up time, Lucy gets fussy. I don't mean winey, "I'm unhappy" fussy time, I mean "screaming, crying nothing will make me feel better" fussy time. I decide to look in her mouth to see if we can find a cause for my normally happy baby to behave like this and find some gums that are very red and a tooth that is ready to break through. I realize that it is going to be a long day, but little did I know, this was only the beginning.

A while later, Lucy is (briefly) occupied with a toy, I decide to give my Hugo a little love. As I'm petting himI feel these little bumps. I had noticed them a few days earlier but just assumed they were dirt. Now that it is has been 3 days an they still haven't fallen off (after a good brushing too) I'm starting to get a little concerned. They look like poppy seeds, and after a call to the vet I find out it's "flea dirt". Flea dirt is a nice term for flea poo. My dog has fleas. EW, EW, EW! I take a quick look around the room and think about what the dog has been near or sat on and I am horrified. Of course as I want to go and start cleaning my entire house, the baby starts screaming again. She will not let me put her down! About 2:30 I couldn't take it anymore, I packed up the little lady and took her to grandma's house (she was due over there at 6pm anyways). When I got back, the cleaning began in full force.
1. Dog gets bath
2. Living room rug goes outside (thank goodness we took out the carpet)
3. Everything that comes in contact with the rug goes in wash (dog toys, baby toys, baby floor mats)
4. Dogs kennel goes outside, cushion goes in the wash
5. Bed linens go into the wash - Tim let Hugo sleep in our bed Monday night since we were gone all weekend (ewwww, ewwww, ewwww, I still feel a little queasy thinking about this one)
5. Hardwood floors gets swept and swiffered
6. Rug gets vac'd
7. Chairs and couch get vac'd

Day 2 of living with fleas: Baby is in a much better mood, the tooth has broken the surface and she is back to normal, for mom, the cleaning continues.
1. Dog gets another frontline treatment (he had one 3 weeks ago so I'm not really sure how any of this happened), and actual feas are spotted. His "flea dirt" is much much less
2. Baby gets bath
3. House continues to get vac'd daily for the next 3 weeks

By day 3 (friday) dog is showing less symptoms, I believe we have turned the corner with the flea situation although it will have to be watched. It's pretty tough to keep the two of them apart, they really love each other, here's some pics to prove it!

New Front Porch!

2008-09-04T21:04:00.004-05:00

After a great deal of work this weekend with friends and family, we have a new front porch! I would like to take credit for the design but it was tons of hard work by Tim, Uncle Butch, my Dad and brother Jim, and then a whole slew of friends on Monday (thank you Jeff, Brandon, and Dave) that really made it exceptional. All that is left to do is some paint and stain once the boards are dry enough.

Before pics:

After pics:

Finished some knitting projects!

2008-09-04T20:06:00.004-05:00

I finished 2 more knitting projects this week, a bonnet for Lucy and a shawl to go with my bridesmaid dress for Heather's wedding. Both projects went pretty smoothly and I'm really happy with how they turned out! Not the best pic of me and I plan on taking it down after I get a pic with the bridesmaid dress it was meant to go with.

5 months

2008-08-30T21:20:00.004-05:00

It's still hard to believe that it's been 5 months since the little gal joined us. It's so hard to remember life before she was here, although on the rare occasion that Tim and I get out alone, it's weird to think we have to go home to our baby. She is so much fun at this stage, rolling over, smiling, laughing (although she only laughs for Daddy and the dog), just a joy to be with. Here are some of the new pics!

Lucy's First Vacation

2008-08-30T20:54:00.004-05:00

To celebrate my brother's safe return from Iraq, we went on vacation! Joey had mentioned a few times while he was away that all he wanted to do was go fishing, test out his new boat and hang out with his dog, so we rented a cabin on a lake near the dells for a week. The cabin was great, 3 bedrooms, right on the lake, firepit, and much more. Lucy did really well, she loved having the dogs and so many people around to entertain her. We caught a bunch of fish (not me though) although none were keepers, we make smores (all those were keepers) and just spent time together which is what we really wanted after all. We made a trip to see Lake Delton and downtown dells which was a bit nostalgic for me. We came home well rested and ready to tackle some projects! More on that later

Joey's Home

2008-08-28T20:43:00.006-05:00

After a year of serving our country in Iraq, my brother is home safe. First, I want to thank all the people who have sent positive thoughts and prayers our way they helped everyone through this experience more than you can know.

We had a great reunion on Saturday. It went down like this...

We arrived in Madison at the Marine Corps Depot next to the Dane County Airport. We parked and headed in, saw the Gov. as he was headed in (I meant to thank him for the baby card he sent last week, it went like this...Congrats on the baby, don't forget the shots). There were tons of families there, we saw some friends, and then shortly after that we saw the plane taxi around the corner. Huge cheers erupted from the crowd. After a few minutes the doors opened and the guys started filing out. I was actually able to pick Joey out when he walked out of plane which was pretty cool.
The guys all lined up and after everyone was off the plane they were dismissed. Joey saw us right away and headed straight over. We all cried and hugged and it was amazing. He grabbed his niece and gave her a big squeeze. We listened to a few speakers then finally got out of there. We all headed back to my parents house and had a great family dinner, the first in a long time. As one of the speakers at the event said, it was the best night's sleep anyone has had in a year.
Just tonight, I finally decided to retire my "Joey Bracelet" Here's a pic of that...

We got a great video of the whole thing, when I get some time and get it edited down a bit (you really don't need to see 150 guys walking off a plane do you?) I'll get that one here too!

So Many Updates!

2008-08-28T20:40:00.002-05:00

Just a warning that there will be tons of updates in the next day or two! We had so much happening in such a short period of time! In one week we had the return of Uncle Joey from Iraq, Lucy's first vacation, and turning 5 months old! And a whole bunch of knitting projects finished up too! I'll get everything going soon!

Where to start...

2008-08-03T21:49:00.004-05:00

Well, I figure I'll just jump right in ok?

Busy weekend, My friend Daniel from Germany (via his new home in Switzerland) came to visit and we got a bunch of fun Milwaukee stuff done. We took the little one down to the beach. Is it wierd that I've lived in Milwaukee my entire life and when it's warm out, it doesn't occur to me to go to the beach? Daniel seemed to think so, but my other Mke friends agreed, it's weird to go to the lake. Regardless of the wierd-ness, we went. Lucy of course slept through the whole thing, but we had a nice time, the weather was GORGEOUS! All this was followed by dinner with friends (minus the LO who was hanging out at grandma and grandpa's), a great weekend! Here's a shot of daddy doing all the hard work trekking across the sand.

First Post!

2008-07-08T14:24:00.000-05:00

Look at me, I'm a blogger!