Wad's World

Dinosaurs Bit My Fingers Like Chicken Nuggets and Ice Cream

2012-01-26T12:11:00.000-06:00

Sometimes Tristyn remembers her dreams.
Sometimes she repeats my dreams.
This is a combo of both of our dreams.
I had the dream about the BusyTown game
And she had the dream about the dinosaur biting her fingers.
She's such a silly goose.

Sledding and Chin Wrestling

2012-01-17T13:58:00.000-06:00

This was a great 3 day weekend!
On Saturday Tristyn, Bones and I went sledding in Portage.
We had such a great time!
We went down the hill about 5 times and then Tristyn was cold.
Sounded good to me!
It's a good thing she only weighs 32 lbs.
She walked up the hill twice by herself
And I dragged her up the other three times.
We then came home and made snow angels and climbed up the plow mountains.
Of course it ended with hot chocolate, a movie and snuggling!
Here are a couple of pictures and videos from our snowy day...

Tristyn and Melissa walking back up the hill.

Getting ready to sled!

Climbing the plow mountain.

Loving the snow.

And here are the videos that wouldn't upload to facebook for some odd reason.
This first video is a selfie that I took while Tristyn and I went down the hill together.
Halfway through we ended up turning around and going down the hill backwards!

And this one was later that night when we were snuggling.

Actually we were having a chin wrestling contest.

We like to do this.

She always wins because her chin just digs into me and it tickles really bad!

She loves doing that to me and I HATE it!!

Priceless Moments

2011-12-16T11:49:00.001-06:00

I seriously don't think I've laughed so hard in my life.
Three year olds are just too funny.
Oh my child.

Miss Janice, Cameron and Tristyn.

She is quite the ham.

My up-side-down sheep.

Rudolph the Rednose Reindeer.

Tristyn flinging her bell and Cameron being very gentle.

Tristyn and Cameron.

Running to Mom after the show.

Santa Visit 2011

2011-12-12T10:55:00.000-06:00

Yesterday Tristyn and I went out to see Santa.
We decided to head to the Bass Pro Shop in Portage.
Free photo, crafts, games and coloring for the kids.
We went in line and the lady asked if we had a Santa pass.
Nope.
Went to get one and the next available time to see the big guy was 3:30!
It was noon!
Ugh.
We started checking out some fishing boats and the salesman asked
If we had seen Santa yet.
I told him that we couldn't stay there until 3:30 and we would probably come back.
He had a 1:30 pass in his drawer and gave it to us so we didn't have to wait!
That was so sweet of him.
Tristyn got to talk to Santa and she was really excited to ask him for the big castle.
She was a little upset because Santa was too chubby for her to sit on his lap!
Lame!
Here is the yearly photo of her and the big guy:

She looks so old.
And she needs a haircut.
Her Christmas program is on Thursday so be sure to come back and read
About her very first performance!
After Santa we stopped at Wendy's for a bite to eat.
Tristyn was being very silly and talkative.
Here's a video of her mad face and what she asked Santa for this year:

Shriner Circus!!!

2011-12-05T13:59:00.001-06:00

This Saturday Tristyn and I had a GREAT day
Wth Grandma, the Drolens and the Verpootens!
We all went to the Shriner Circus at the Hammond Civic Center.

Miles and Tristyn on another adventure!

This brought back a lot of memories for me.
I remember going to this circus with my dad when we were little.
I remember the boring dogs and the lame clowns.
I remember wanting to ride the elephants, but not really.

Tristyn and the elephants.

I remember wanting cotten candy and a glow sword, but never getting them!
But it's ok...I totally understand WHY I didn't get those things
Now that I'm a parent!

The show was great!
First, I was so impressed at the Grandmas with new knees.

Grandma, Tristyn, Rita Drolen and Miles Verpooten.

They climbed up those stairs like champs!
Tristyn was a little scared at first, but totally got into it.
He favorite part was the elephants and the pony ride.
My favorite part was actually a clown and his dog act!
It really was good and the dog was amazing!

Tristyn rode a pony by herself!

Miles and Tristyn are definitly dancers.
They love to have a good time.
Here is a video of the two of them dancing together.
I have no idea what Tristyn is doing at the end of this video.
Just imagine a fake hula-hoop around her or something!

And this video I just have to post so Miles can slap me in the future.
He is SOOOOO cute!
And we all love his dance moves.

Afterwards we all went out for dinner together.
Tristyn CRASHED and didn't eat a thing.
She apologized for crying at the restaurant on Sunday.
She said she had a headache. Poor kid.
You would have thought that she would have slept until noon the next day...
Good try...7 a.m. she was up and ready to roll.

Mom Goes To Preschool

2011-11-02T10:28:00.002-05:00

I was so lucky to be able to spend last Thursday with Tristyn and her class!
I was on Fall Break so I went to help out with her class Halloween party.
She has 10 kids in her class...3 boys and 7 girls.
It was such a big difference than teaching high school kids all day!
By noon I was ready for a NAP!
The kids were so sweet and had so much energy.
They ate so neatly at breakfast and lunch.
I had anxiety attacks with the cups of milk
But they did great!
So proud of Tristyn and all of her little friends.

Tristyn and her class praying before breakfast.

Pin the face on the pumpkin.

Sorting out goodies.

Taking a nap!

Face painting!

Eating cupcakes.

School Pictures

2011-10-19T12:34:00.001-05:00

Where has my baby gone?
Seriously...who is this big girl in these pictures?
She picked out her outfit all by herself.
Including the nail polish, hair bows and dress.

Below is her class picture.

Her teachers are Ms. Janice and Ms. Diane and they are the sweetest ladies ever.
Tristyn's little boyrfiend, Cameren is in the orange shirt.
The girl who bit Tristyn on the arm is standing next to her.

All I can say about these pictures is that they are so dang precious!

Busy Weekend!

2011-10-17T12:03:00.000-05:00

We had a busy and fun weekend!
On Friday we went to the library, Chick-fil-A and Wal-Mart.
We bought nail polish, chapstick and a Justin Bieber CD.
Where has my little girl gone?

On Saturday we headed to Grandma's house.
This is what we did in reverse order.

Pooped out from all the fresh air.

Junior firefighter.

Sliding down the fireman's pole.

Sparkey the fire dog!

Pretending to drive the fire truck.

Played soccer with Uncle Kevin.

Ran through the leaves in the best outfit ever!

Helped Grandma rake her backyard.

On Sunday we raked our own leaves and did laundry.
Tristyn ran around in her undies half the day because her pants got wet
From jumping in puddles.
She fell asleep on the couch at 6:15 p.m. and slept until 6:05 this morning.

She was a party animal.
And crashed hard last night!

3-Year-Old Vocabulary

2011-10-12T14:41:00.000-05:00

Tristyn has been saying some words lately
That have just blown me away.
At first...I can't believe she even knows the word.
Then...she knows what it means!
The other day we baked Halloween cookies.
I was taking one off of the pan a little too soon
And it got all mushy and fell apart.
Tristyn said, "Mommy you destroyed it!"
Excuse me?
"Destroy?"
What does destroy mean Tristyn?
It means you messed it up.
Of course it does.

The other night before bed we were getting ready to read
And she was all up on my pillow.
I told her to scootch over.
She told me that she wanted to lay BESIDE me.
Beside? Really?
What 3-year-old uses the word "beside?"

Grandma was over the other day.
The two of them were doing a pattern thing in a workbook.
At the end of the pattern was a question mark.
When Grandma pointed to that symbol
Tristyn said it was a MYSTERY.

Wow.
I guess all of those books are paying off.
I hope her future English teachers will be proud.
I hope these big words stay in her head!
And I hope she always continues to learn new words!

I Am Annoying

2011-10-06T08:41:00.000-05:00

The other night Tristyn and I were reading a book before bed.
In the book there was a bird
And of course I called it a "birdy teek a weet."
That is what she used to call them when she was little.
After I read it, Tristyn said, "Mommy don't say that."
"Say what?"
"Birdy teek a weet? Why?"
"Because...it's annoying."

My kid called me annoying!
I busted out laughing because she actually used the word "annoying" correctly.
And because I'm sure this will be the first of many, many, many times
When she calls me annoying.

Boogie Down Kiddos!

2011-09-26T11:24:00.001-05:00

Miles and Tristyn had way too much fun at the Homecoming tailgate party.
Here they are showing off their dance moves.
I think Miles gets his moves from his dad and Tristyn gets her moves from me!

2011-09-08T15:35:00.001-05:00

I cannot begin to express how PROUD I am of Tristyn!
Being the class superstar for the week is awesome!
And the reason for being the Superstar makes it even better.
This sheet is totally going in the keepsake box.

Summer 2011 in Review

2011-08-31T15:18:00.000-05:00

So, I thought I would just sum up the summer with some pictures.
Tristyn and I really enjoyed the past couple of months.
We were very active almost everyday.
The Hobart Librarians know us by name.
Tristyn read 54 summer reading books
And that's not counting the times we read the same book more than once!
Here's a brief rundown of what else we did...

Tristyn's 3rd birthday party at Wicker Park!
Jimmy Johns and princess balloons that flew away.
It was FREEZING that day. Craziness.

Most amazing Ariel cake made by Rita Drolen.

We went to West Beach with the cousins!

New boots, umbrella and raincoat and hat from Auntie Julie and Uncle Brian.

Tristyn learned how to wink!

Spent 4th of July at the Verpooten's house.
Soooo much fun.
Pool, boat, food, fireworks...could you ask for anything more?

The two of us went out to the Michigan City Zoo and the Lighthouse Mall.

She played Hide and Seek behind my wonderful weeds...aka poison ivy of death.

We caught a toad and named him....Toad Froggie.

He lived in our cooler on our deck for a week.

He ate bologna for lunch.

Then we let him go back to his family.

We had a campfire and made Smores.
Tristyn now asks to eat marshmellows for breakfast.

We went swimming in her pool.
It was 104 degrees out.
I had goosebumps.
Tristyn wanted hot chocolate when we came inside.

I went to Ball State for a week for Journalism Camp with 20 something kids.
Learned a lot...froze my butt off
But we now have a news website.
www.lakecentralnews.com

Celebrated Grandma's birthday with family!

She learned to swim at the Verpooten's house!
She was an expert by the time we got to Wisconsin.

Visited the zoo in Madison with Michelle, Colette and Simone.

Rode the Merry-go-round at the zoo with Coco.

And even got a new Build A Bear named Daisy.

We had an awesome summer together.

By the second week in August we were both ready to go back to school though.

She was ready to see her friends

And I was ready to get back to business.

Jiminy Cricket

2011-08-31T10:13:00.000-05:00

The other day there was a cricket on the chair outside.
Tristyn said, "Is that Jiminy Cricket Mommy? Does he know how to talk?"
"Why don't you go ask him?"
She walks over and says,
"Hey...you...can you talk?"
No response from Jiminy.
She says, "He doesn't have a hat or a gorilla (aka umbrella) like Jiminy..maybe it's not him."
I said, "Maybe you need to whistle at him."
So she does her little high pitched scream that she thinks is a whistle.
"Nope Mommy...he can't talk. I think he needs to read the directions."
"On how to talk?" I said.
"Yeah...cuz he doesn't know how yet."

Why Hello Blog World!

2011-08-30T15:36:00.000-05:00

WOW has it been a long time since I've blogged.

Sarah yelled at me and said I just need to do it!
There is just so much to write about and I have no idea where to start!
We have had such a great summer!
Tristyn has been saying the cutest things!
But I'm going to start with preschool.

Tristyn is now going to Caring Heart Open Arms in Hobart.
It's right around the corner and saves me a lot of driving time.
She calls it her school with the three T's on it.
Here's why...

Yes...it has three crosses on it.
She had a great first day.
She had to wear her Ariel dress of course.
She wasn't too thrilled about pictures that morning.
I think it was a shock having to get up at the crack of dawn.

When I picked her up I asked her how her day went.
"I kissed a boy on the playground Mommy!"
"Oh reeeally?!! On the cheek I hope?"
"Nooooo...on the LIPS!"
*me shaking my head and rubbing my temples*
"Why did you do that honey?"
"Because he was cute!"
*me sighing*
"What was his name?"
"I don't know."
*splendid*
"What about Miles? I thought you were going to marry him?"
"I'm going to marry both of them!"
*Ahhhh! She's only 3!!!*

Everyday after that when I pick her up and I ask her what she did she responds,
"I didn't kiss any boys today Mommy!!"

I am in some serious trouble when this girl becomes a teenager.

The Largest Love I've Ever Known

2011-05-27T10:06:00.000-05:00

I love this little girl soooo much.
She is my life.
I have no idea what I did before she existed.
I love her laugh.
I love her hugs.
I love her voice.
I love the way she chews.
I love her smell...good and bad!
I never thought I could love someone so much.

The other day before bed
She threw her arm around my neck and snuggled in really close.
I said, "I love you baby."
She said, "I'm not a baby...I'm Tristyn!"
I told her "baby" was like a nickname.
She said, "Ok...then I will call you sweetheart."

I love the way she opens the door for me and says,
"Here you go Your Magesty!"
I love the way she calls mosquitos...."gaweedos."
I love painting her nails.
I love getting her ready for bed.
I love reading books over and over and over again with her.
I love the way she makes up words to different songs.
I love the way she picks out absurd clothes to wear in the morning.
I love how she has to wear pink undies and throws a fit if they're not pink.
I love when she wears snow boots out in the rain.
I love putting on princess Boo-Boo Dan-Dans on fake boo boos.
I love how she wears her Ariel dress 3 out of the 5 days of the week.
I love making dinner together.
I love going to Jimmy Johms with her.
I love how kind she is to others...including animals.
I love when we go for walks and she smells the flowers and says, "Smells delicious!"
I love when she asks me to hold her.
I love when she randomly hugs me and tells me she loves me.
I love when she tells me that I'm her best buddy ever.
I love when she goes outside and finds the "banana moon."
I love when she pretends to take out her contacts...just like me.

I seriously never thought having a child would be this much fun.
I never thought I would have this much patience.
I never thought I would have this much energy.
I never thought she would grow up so quickly.
I love every minute
And want to continue loving every minute.

Our New Friend Harrold

2011-04-14T07:55:00.001-05:00

Our New Friend Harrold, a photo by WadyPhoto on Flickr.

Yesterday afternoon we went for a ride in Tristyn's Barbie car.
We found a caterpillar!
Tristyn screamed.
I picked him up and told her he was nice.
He became our friend and she named him Harrold.
We made him a little home.
We showed everyone in the neighborhood.
He ate dinner with us.
He took a bath with us.
He went to sleep with us.
This morning...Harrold ESCAPED!!!
Tristyn was crushed.
"He was my bestest buddy ever!"
"I want to keep him forever and ever!"
I told her he was playing hide and seek.
She was so depressed when we got to daycare.
Melissa better find Harrold while we're at school.
Or else I'm going to have a butterfly in my bedroom in a week or two!!

Jimmy Johns Addict

2011-04-04T13:59:00.000-05:00

Remember when a Jimmy Johns sandwich was bigger than Tristyn?

Remember when she would eat all of the veggies from my #12?

Now the kid can eat an entire half ALL BY HERSELF!

She is totally addicted to Jimmy Johns.

She can even order her #12 by herself.

She could probably eat the whole thing if I let her.

Last night I asked what she wanted to do when she grew up...

Her response...

"I want to work at Jimmy Johns!"

Potty Princess

2011-03-11T10:04:00.000-06:00

Tristyn is officially potty trained!
I could not be more proud of this girl!
It's like she just GOT it.
She had two little accidents at daycare last week
But Miss Cheryl found her pattern and has it down now.
Every time I pick her up she yells...no accidents Mommy!
She is still kind of little and can't get on the toilet by herself...
Even using the step stool.
So, I have to help her every time, but I'm sure she'll grow soon.
She has been wearing Sleeping Beauty pull-ups at night
And has woken up two times this week totally dry!
I bought her a Barbie for the bathtub because I was so proud of her.
We also went to McDonald's for ice cream one night to celebrate.
She is so proud of herself.
Amazing.
I knew she would get it.
And perfect timing too because I was out of diapers!
Good thing I didn't buy any more!

What Do You Do On A 5 Day Weekend With a 2 1/2 Year Old?

2011-02-07T14:52:00.000-06:00

These are in no particular order...
You might have heard that we got a little bit of snow in Northwest Indiana.
I would say we had a good 20 inches or more.
We had three snow days off from school.
By day 3 Tristyn and I were bored with each other.
But...here are some of the things we did! ...

Went to McDonald's Playland with Miles!

I have no idea why this keeps coming up sideways.

Go to Grandma's and have her make us ice cream sundaes!

Make Jell-O block towers at Grandma's house.

Go to Pipes and Pizza and listen to the big organ!

Wore silly outfits...sans pants.

Climbed big mountains in front of our house.

Can you see her at the top of the hill?

Oh yes...she is eating the snow.

Played Farkle with Bones and Aunt Barb.

Actually she was playing with her peg game.

And yes...she is in her Minnie Halloween costume.

Watched the snow fall and fall and fall.

That is the recycling bin under there.

Made messes.

She was trying to pick out a movie to watch.

She was very indecisive.

She fell off chairs!

Ha ha!

We played a lot of Mario Kart and Dr. Mario.

And fashioned off the diaper and boots look.

Overall it was a nice break from work.

I was ready to go back today.

Tristyn was NOT happy to wake up so early this morning.

Now we all have to get back on track.

At least this weekend is a 4 day weekend!

Santa and Snow Day!

2010-12-14T09:47:00.000-06:00

Tristyn with Santa!

Posing by the "Christmas Story" scene.

Coloring a picture for Santa.

Talk about a snowy weekend!

Sunday, Tristyn and I ventured out early to see Santa.

We went to the Highland Visitors Center.

She had a great time and didn't want to leave!

We looked at all of the "Christmas Story" displays

And she colored about 4 pictures and mailed them to Santa.

She was a little apprehensive about the big guy at first

And then he gave her a candy cane and she was fine.

He guessed that she wanted a doll for Christmas and she was excited!

The best part was sliding down the slide!

Loving her recorder!

Sorting through toys and playing.

A hamper is fun!

Yesterday we had a snow day!!!

The roads were crazy and thank goodness I didn't have to drive to work.

I never would have made it there.

Tristyn and I snuggled all morning!

We went through all of her toys in the living room.

We watched a lot of Little House on the Prairie.

Aunt Barb made meatloaf for dinner.

And I eventually ventured out to shovel.

Tirstyn is 2.5 Today!

2010-12-10T13:22:00.000-06:00

Yesterday Tristyn got out of the bathtub
And was prancing around the bathroom singing,
"I'm makey, I'm makey!"
Meaning...I'm naked. I'm naked.
Then she looks in the mirror and checks out her own butt!
She's 2.5!
She shouldn't be concerned with what her butt looks like!

Which brings me to another point.
Tristyn is 2 and a half today.
TWO AND A HALF!
That's half way to 5!
Time is going by WAY too fast for me.
Pretty soon she will be 20 and I will be 51.
Not funny.

The other day Tristyn was NOT listening.
I grabbed her by the shoulders and told her to look me in the eye.
I said, "Tristyn you have to listen to what Mommy says."
She looked at me and said,
"Mommy you have such pretty eyes!"
What do you say to that one?!

Last night Santa called and left Tristyn a message.
She listened to it and got all excited.
She told me that Santa was coming to her house
And he is going to huff and puff and blow her house down.
I think she's getting her stories mixed up.

The other night we also watched "The Izard of Boz."
AKA...The Wizard of Oz.
She really liked it!
She loved the witch and lions and tigers and bears...oh my!
She was a little afraid of the Wizard.

We are now binky free!
Potty training is another story for another day.
We'll get there.
One step at a time.

Kansas City Convention

2010-11-16T10:20:00.001-06:00

Well...we made it back from Kansas City in sort of one piece!
We left with 24 kids and came back with 23.
Don't worry...she's fine!

Overall we had a great time at the convention.
Over 6,000 journalism nerds in one place.
Awesome.

Instead of recapping everything that we did...
I'm going to post a link to my buddy Sarah's blog.
She wrote EVERYTHING down and posted pictures.
Her blog is at http://verpootens.blogspot.com.
Please check it out!

I have to say that I could not go on these trips with anyone else.
Sarah is the best travel partner.
Except for the snoring.
This was our 7th convention traveling with kids.
We are a great team and I love her dearly for dragging me to these things.
P.S. Thanks for letting me use your toothpaste bud!

Power of Prayer

2010-11-08T13:12:00.001-06:00

Sunday morning Tristyn and I were eating eggs in the dining room.
We heard a loud bang at the front door.
It sounded like someone threw a newspaper at it.
I don't get the newspaper.
Tristyn was scared.
We went to check it out.
I opened the door and there was a "burdie teek a weet" on the ground.
It was on its side and its leg was all crunched up into his body.
He was breathing really fast and not moving at all.
Tristyn was upset.
She wanted to get him a "boo boo dan dan."
I told her that we should pray for him.
And we did.

"Dear God,
Please help the little burdie teek a weet get better.
Help his little foot and let him fly away to be with his family.
Amen."

We went back to finish eating our eggs.
A little while later Tristyn wanted to check on the little guy.
We opened the door
And the bird was sitting up now!
She was so excited.
She thought he might be hungry and wanted to share her waffle with him.
I told her that birds ate worms and she said,
"Nooooooo Mommy! That's disgusting!"
I told her we should pray for him again so that he could fly away.

"Dear God,
Thank you for helping the burdie teek a weet sit up.
Now can you help him fly so that he can find his family?
Thanks and Amen."

This time Tristyn decided to get her step stool.
She plopped it in front of the door and watched the bird very carefully.
It sat there for a long time
And of course Tristyn had to get up and follow me somewhere.
When we finally came back to the door
The bird had flown away.
Tristyn was sooooo happy.
We prayed one more time.

"Dear God,
Thank you so much for watching over the little burdie.
You helped him get up and fly away.
Amen."

Excitement Of The Day

2010-11-04T13:01:00.000-05:00

12 years of teaching.
I have had one kid pass out in my class.
But today was THE day.
The day that a boy PUKED
Right inside my door.
Awesome.
I couldn't even go in there.
I was outside of the library when I heard the news
And I was gagging without even being near it.
I called for backup.
I made an executive decision.
Everyone...go to A lunch!
Yum.
The glorious cleaning ladies scrubbed the carpet.
They are so wonderful.
It was all cleaned up by the beginning of B lunch.
And to my delight, the gentelman was sitting back in my class.
Oh yes...he went to the nurse
Looked a little pale
But gutted it out and came back to class.
He said he felt better now.

Eating and Hic-burps

2010-11-03T08:33:00.001-05:00

Ok...so my kid won't eat.
When I ask her if she is hungry the answer is always "no."
I make dinner and she shakes her head.
The only time she will take a bite
Is when she is pretending to be a puppy.
*sigh*
Last night at 7:30 she did finally tell me that she was hungry!
I was so excited!
She ate some leftover chicken nuggets.

What if she keeps pretending to be a puppy forever?
What if she is that kid in class that barks and everyone laughs at?
She will grow out of this right?

She said the cutest thing the other day.
She had the hiccups about 4 times in one afternoon.
She called them "hic-burps."

Happy Halloween!

2010-11-01T14:31:00.001-05:00

Checking out the candy situation.

Trick-or-Treating at the neighbor's house.

My little Minnie Mouse.

We hope everyone had a good Halloween!

Tristyn had fun wearing her costume to church.

We then waited around ALL day to go trick-or-treating.

We carved her pumpkin and roasted the seeds.

Grandma came over and we went down the block together.

She got lots of candy and even a Beanie Baby and juice box!

She was so tired and fell asleep at 7:30 p.m.

She did NOT want to get up this morning.

She cried all the way to daycare asking me to take her back home.

Poor kid.

Too much candy and too much fun!

My Favorite Sayings

2010-10-15T09:33:00.001-05:00

There are a couple of things that Tristyn says
That I would like to write down so I don't forget.

The other day we were talking about Christmas.
I asked her what she wanted Santa to bring her.
She said, "A big, baby elephant and a giraffe with a loooong neck!"
I asked her if she was going to buy me a present.
She said, "Yes...socks."

For some reason when we make forts on the bed with pillows
She always thinks we are making a "birdie house."
Then she says, "Burdy teek a weet!"
It's the cutest thing and makes me laugh every time.

Yesterday she started taking pretend pictures.
She concentrates really hard to put the tips of her thumbs together
And her index fingers together in a diamond shape.
She then puts her hands up to her eye and says, "Say Cheese!"
When you say cheese she makes the clicking noise and says "Thank you!"
That's my girl!

I don't know if I ever wrote this down or not.
But in the summer Tristyn got addicted to Band-Aids.
But she doesn't call them Band-Aids.
She calls them "Boo Boo Dan Dans."
It cracks me up.

And my ultimate favorite saying is her impression of a rooster.
Usually a rooster says, "Cock-a doodle-doo!"
Not from my kid.
It's, "Cock-a...a-Dooooo!"

Big Girl Bed

2010-09-21T07:35:00.000-05:00

We finally changed Tristyn's crib into a big girl bed!

Mommy was a little sad about this, but she got over it.

We have to go to WalMart and pick up some princess sheets.

She did very well in it the first night.

I put her in it and of course she got right back out.

I told her that she had to go to sleep

And closed the door and left.

I didn't hear anything in the baby monitor.

I went up there to go to the bathroom around 2 a.m.

I peeked in her room and she was laying on the floor.

By the time I woke her up at 6 a.m.

She was in her bed

Surrounded by books, animals and pens.

With a little pen squiggle around her belly button.

I'm sure this change will take a while to get used to.

But she loves her new big girl bed!

What To Wear?

2010-09-08T08:38:00.001-05:00

This morning Tristyn did NOT want to get dressed.
She was not in the mood for clothes I guess.
Everything I picked out she threw on the floor.
I finally asked her what shirt she wanted to wear
And she picked out her kitty cat tank top.
I picked out some jean shorts to go with it
And she wanted nothing to do with them.
I told her that she HAD to wear pants to school.
After finally getting those on, we had the shoe debate.
She pointed and wanted her white shoes.
I thought she wanted her white sandles...no problem there.
Ohhh no.
She wanted her "pretty shoes."
The white, wedding like, high heeled play shoes.
No socks.
*sigh*
She wore them all the way to Miss Cheryl's house.
I told her she couldn't wear them in and she cried.
She wouldn't let me put her gym shoes on.
Ahhh...two year olds.
She's beginning to have a mind of her own.

Helping Mommy

2010-08-31T09:26:00.000-05:00

One day this summer I needed to do some yard work.
I needed to cut the grass, but Tristyn was up and around.
So, I decided to pull some weeds first.
I grabbed the one garden glove I could find
And started pulling weeds in the front yard.
Of course, Tristyn followed me outside like a little shadow.
After a while she ran into the house.
Melissa and Aunt Barb were inside and asked her what she was doing.
She said, "Helping Mommy!"
And ran outside with my oven mitts.
When she came back she asked me for help.
I put the oven mitts on her hands and she started pulling weeds.
She wanted to be just like Mommy.

Rolling Of The Eyes

2010-08-31T09:18:00.000-05:00

Last night me, Tristyn and my girlfriend Kris were hanging out.
Tristyn and Kris battle all the time.
In a fun way.
At one point Tristyn said, "No Kris!"
And I said, "Tristyn...you have to share with Kris."
At which Tristyn went dead silent
And ROLLED her EYES like a 17 year old!
We couldn't believe it.
It was hilarious!
I wish I had it on video.
I hope it doesn't become a habit.

First Day of School 2010

2010-08-25T10:59:00.001-05:00

Mommy and Tristyn are back in school already!
I can't believe I've been at Lake Central for 12 years.
I can't believe this is Tristyn's third year at Miss Cheryl's.
She loves it there, but wow is she having a hard time this week!
Going to bed early is a challenge.
Waking up early is a bigger challenge.
I guess we both need to readjust our body clocks again.

We have also started potty training!
She has been wearing big girl pull ups to school.
Amazingly she has been keeping them dry too!
I will keep you all posted on the progress.

I just found Tristyn's other first day of school pics.

I thought I would post them here to show how much she's grown!

First day of school 2009.

First day of school 2008.

First Haircut

2010-08-25T10:53:00.001-05:00

Tristyn got her first haircut on Aug. 2.
We went to Pigtails and Crewcuts in Crown Point.

She doesn't like the blow dryer.
But watching Caillou helped a lot!

She even got some pigtails at the end!

And a sucker for being good of course!

Overall, Mommy was sad to get her hair cut.
It was only a trim!
We cut off the mullet and trimmed her bangs.
She looks so much older now!

American Idol 2024

2010-05-28T07:27:00.000-05:00

The Sun

2010-04-22T09:32:00.000-05:00

"Mommy sun!"
"Yes...baby...that's the sun. What shape is it?"
"Circle."
"Good! The sun is hot."
"Sun is hot."
"It's far away."
"Faaa way. Where sun go?"
As it goes behind the tress as we drive to school.
"Are you playing peek a boo with the sun?"
"Ha ha ha...yeah.....there it is!"

She proceeded to tell Miss Cheryl all about the sun when we got to daycare.
She is so smart!

Birthday Party

2010-04-20T08:45:00.000-05:00

Jumpy jumpy!

Miles and his awesome cake!

Eating Piiiiizza!

My kid loves slides.

Can you tell?

This was at Jump Central in St. John.

Miles turned 3 and had his birthday party there!

We had a blast.

Tristyn jumped and ate pizza and cake.

Happy Birthday Miles!!

And thanks for inviting us to your party!

Conversation With Nug

2010-04-08T08:27:00.000-05:00

"Up high Mommy!"
"What's up high?"
"Trees."
"What else is up high?"
"Birdies."
"How about an airplane?"
"Yes."
"And the clouds?"
"Pretty."

Easter 2010

2010-04-06T12:04:00.000-05:00

Tristyn, Me, Kevin, Mom, Julie and Brian.

Tristyn and her Easter basket from Grandma.

Grandma and Tristyn eating some jelly beans.

We had a great Easter this year!
Tristyn and I went out to Mom's early Sunday morning.
We ate the traditional Slovenian breakfast and then headed to church.
Wow was it packed.
Good thing we got there when we did.
We came home and I ate a second breakfast and then
We all took a nap!
Aunt Jan came over around 3 p.m. and Talia even showed up.
We had a very nice dinner and then Julie and Brian came!
I gave Tristyn a little bath at Grandma's and then we headed home.
Overall it was a pretty laid back kind of day with lots of good food!

Stuck In The Crib

2010-03-31T14:30:00.000-05:00

Scary thing happened last night.
At 2 a.m. Tristyn was screaming!
She got stuck in her crib!
Her little foot went through the slats
And she couldn't get her leg out.
Poor thing.
She was so scared.
I was so scared!
She has a little red mark on her thigh.
She went back to bed almost immediately.
What a trooper.

What Are The Chances?

2010-03-15T12:11:00.000-05:00

I noticed that my back tire was a little low.
I gave it some air the other day and it was fine.
Friday night...flat as a pancake.
On Saturday Melissa helped me change it.
I drove to Mr. Tire and he found a nail in the tire.
$70 and I had a brand new tire.
Saturday night Ashlee picked up a friend.
She heard a hissing sound.
Sunday morning....flat as a pancake.
THE SAME TIRE!!!
Sunday afternoon I changed the tire AGAIN.
This time I found a razor blade in the tred.
Parked it outside of the auto shop this morning.
They patched it up and it's good as new.
Seriously?
The same exact tire?
Twice in two days?
Does God think I'm made of money?
Is He seriously playing a huge joke on me?

Miles Filled Weekend

2010-02-08T09:54:00.000-06:00

This weekend was filled with Mr. Miles!
On Saturday morning Tristyn and I went to the Verpooten's to play.
The kids had a great time with each other.
They play so nicely!
Miles is Tristyn's best buddy and couldn't get enough of him.

They played dress up.

And ran through the house.

We went to Tyler's Tender for lunch and watched the trains.

We even met up with Grandma!

On Sunday we went to Miles' grandma's house to watch the SuperBowl.

Their dinner consisted of Cheetos, pretzels and iced tea.

And then they ran some more.
Around and around and around and around.
Only one bloody incident when Tristyn bit her tongue.
She was fine and dandy in five minutes.

We got home around 8:30 and boy was Tristyn worn out!

So was I!

Little Nug did NOT want to get up this morning.

She held on to her blanket all the way to daycare.

Miles totally wore Tristyn out.

But we had a blast!!!

What Do You Do?

2010-01-27T09:56:00.001-06:00

What do you do
When an older woman comes to your door
And has no where to go?
Has slept in her car
For four nights.
Needs a place to stay.
Is willing to pay.

You take her in of course.
Tell her she can stay
Until she can find another place to lay.

At a time when chaos needs to be eliminated
I take on more.
Family and friends think I'm crazy.
And yell at me to say no.
But in the past couple of months
I have received so much.

God is telling me
It is my time to give back.
Something so simple
As offering a bed.

Aunt Barb is my new roommate for now.
She's not even MY aunt.
She's Tammy's aunt.
But she calls me her niece.
She sneaks Tristyn cookies.
She got ABC to come in on my TV.
She cleaned my entire kitchen.
And scrubbed out my fridge.
She loves ice tea.

Tristyn Update

2010-01-26T12:04:00.000-06:00

My little Nug isn't so little anymore.
She is getting so smart.
The other day she said to me...
"It's cold outside."
A whole sentence.

Yesterday we were watching Elmo
And she was counting with him.
"Two, Three, Four"
She doesn't like the number 1.
If you ask how old she is, she says,
"2!"
I told her that she was too young to be lying about her age.

She also loves to say the word "No" now.
I have no idea where she learned this one
But we are getting through it.

Yesterday she was on a reading kick.
She didn't want me to read to her.
She wanted to read by herself.
And she was flipping the pages and naming everything.
She's so smart.

Oprah and Rosie

2010-01-22T12:23:00.001-06:00

I couldn’t imagine my life under a microscope.
Having the world watch and comment on every move I made.
Every life decision regarding jobs, health, family, love…
I think it would be very daunting, stressful and give me lots of anxiety.

Going to the Oprah show on Thursday was a huge positive in my life.
Recently, life has been a little crazy
It has taken its toll on my soul.

Having KellyW fly in from D.C. meant more than anything.
I was so happy to have someone new over to my house.
To meet Tristyn for the first time.
Meet my friends.
Eat my food.
To just hang out on the couch and
To see where I live my life.
It was so good to have a new positive energy in my home.

On Thursday we woke up around 4:15 a.m.
Scared that the roads would be icy
We left early and got to the studio around 6:15 a.m.

The line wasn’t too bad and we didn’t have to wait outside for long.
They took our coats, cell phones, cameras, purses and checked them.
We gave them our reservation and signed a release form.
Then we sat up in the greenroom for an hour and a half.

Two audience members decided to be cheerleaders and pump up the crowd.
Kelly and I found them annoying.
We were trying to make new friends and we couldn’t even hear.
One cheerleader in particular gave me anxiety.
She ate soup in the greenroom.
She MADE people participate in her crowd wave.
She ran after a producer lady to talk to her.
When they called her group number to head to the studio
She ran and charged over people to be first in line.
She sat in the front row.
She got on stage.
She nodded her head when Oprah and Rosie said ANYTHING.
And she was in my line of sight the whole time.

Oprah came out in bare feet.
Then sat down to put on her beautiful high heels.
She wore a brown skirt and shirt.
Seconds before the show started
Her assistant was on stage with her
Lint rolling her boobs.
Right in front of everyone while Oprah just read her notecards.
It cracked me up.

Before we knew it, the show had started.
And out came Rosie!
She wore all black of course.
Her hair looked great and she looks like she lost a few pounds.

Rosie talked about everything so candidly.
Menopause, the radio show, her kids,
The new documentary, her breakup and her new love interest.
They showed clips from her early stand up days,
At home doing the radio show,
From the new documentary, A Family Is A Family Is A Family,
And clips from her blog videos.

I didn’t know how hard the discussion about the documentary
And Rosie’s break up from Kelli
Would hit me.
I haven’t even seen the movie yet.
I don’t think I can.

Since Tammy and I broke up
And she moved out
I haven’t really dealt with the emotional side of it.
Until yesterday.
I kind of lost it. (Sorry Kel)
Things Rosie said and things shown in the clip
Really hit home
And I’m still processing it all.

During a commercial break Rosie took a sip of water.
She almost fell off the chair because the glass had a silver straw in it.
Yes…silver.
Oprah said, “There’s no plastic in here!”

When the show was over Rosie took a picture with the blog winners.
She gave out some hugs.
And Oprah thanked the audience.
They were both very kind.

After the show we met up with our friend Arthur.He works at the John Hancock Tower
And got us passes to go up to the observatory.
First we ate lunch at the Cheesecake Factory
And holy cow…I had about 2 more meals with my leftovers.
We did a little shopping and then drove Arthur home.

Heading south on Lake Shore Drive
We passed all the museums and Soldiers Field.
I then dropped Kelly off at Midway so she could catch her flight home.It was kind of early and I’m sure she had to wait a long time.

I’m sorry I didn’t have the internet at my house Kel!
But I think you handled it well.
And at least channel 32 came in for American Idol.
*Phew!*

Don’t forget to look for us on Monday, Jan. 25 on the Oprah show.
We were sitting behind Rosie’s head in the balcony…front row…by the aisle.
Kelly wore red and I wore black and turquoise.

What Do You Do With A 1.5 Year Old In 2 Weeks?

2010-01-04T11:49:00.000-06:00

#1) Twirl around in circles until you get dizzy and fall.

#2) Play at her new table and chairs.

#3) Build a snowman on the back porch.

#4) Build a snowman in the front yard.

#5) Watch Snow White 30 times and Follow That Bird 2,176 times.

#6) Take snoozes in the car.

#7) Practice taking selfies for facebook.

#9) Go and visit Santa!

#10) Check out tons of Christmas trees.

#11) Try to stay up until midnight on New Year's Eve.

#12) Go through old toys to make room for the new.

#13) Play around with big buddy Miles.

#14) Visit cousins.

#15) Color

#16) Play with cans.

18 Month Check Up

2009-12-15T10:11:00.000-06:00

Tristyn went to the Doctor yesterday.
It was her 18 month check up!
She's so big.
She got to step on the big girl scale
And max out at a whopping 22 lbs.
She was terrified of the height measurement thing.
But we think she is about 30 inches tall.
She is growing and her weight is good.
She is also developing great mentally.
I answered YES to all of the Doctor's questions about
words
stacking
eating
drinking out of a sippy cup
walking
kicking
running
brushing her teeth

She got three shots in her little legs.
Screamed the whole time.
Two minutes later...fine.
She was very snuggly last night and sappy.
Poor kid.
No more shots until she goes to Kindergarten.
OMG Kindergarten!!!

Daily Grind

2009-12-10T09:58:00.000-06:00

Tristyn is 1.5 years old today!
Ugh...halfway to 3.
Wait...does that mean the terrible 2's will be over by then?

I was thinking on the way to work yesterday
About how my daily schedule works.
And if I get off by one minute
It throws my whole day off.
I thought I would share my daily routine with you
For all to enjoy!

5:15 a.m. - Alarm clock rings.
5:25 a.m. - Get up and make my bed.
5:28 a.m. - Hop in the shower.
5:38 a.m. - Get dressed and head upstairs.
5:40 a.m. - Yell, "Ash...it's 5: 40!" and turn on the coffee pot.
5:45 a.m. - Yell, "Ash...get up...it's 5:45!"
5:47 a.m. - Pour coffe and butter or cream chesse my bagel.
5:50 a.m. - Go to the garage and pull out the car.
5:55 a.m. - Make sure Ash is moving and dry my hair.
6:00 a.m. - Go in Tristyn's room and say, "Good morning pumpkin!"
6:01 a.m. - Give lots of kisses and get Tristyn dressed.
6:05 a.m. - Put Tristyn's coat on, give her a bite of bagel and head to car.
6:10 a.m. - Wait for Ashlee in the driveway.
6:12 a.m. - Pull out of driveway and head to Hobart High School
6:12-6:22 a.m. - Listen to loud rap music before dropping Ashlee off.
6:22 a.m. - Tell Tristyn to wake up and blow Ashlee kisses.
6:31 a.m. - Make Tristyn grab Miss Cheryl's newspaper.
6:35 a.m. - Tell Tristyn to have a good day and head out to Lake Central.
6:39 a.m. - Get on I-65 South.
6:41 a.m. - Pull onto US 30 East.
6:50 a.m. - Order an onion bagel toasted with plain cream cheese and a medium coffee with cream and sugar. (If $ allows or if I am anticipating a HARD day)
7:03 a.m. - Turn south on US 41.
7:08 a.m. - Fight cars getting into the high school parking lot.
7:13 a.m. - Run into the school.
7:15 a.m. - First hour bell rings.
7:40 a.m. - Check Farmville.
10:10 a.m. - Check Farmville.
11:00 a.m. - Eat lunch
1:25 p.m. - Check Farmville
1:55 p.m. - On White Days...get to car and beat the buses out of the parking lot.
2:09 p.m. - Bell rings...the day is done!
2:10-3:30 - Run around and get things done.
3:30-4 p.m. - Pick up Nug.
4:30-5:30 p.m. - Make and eat dinner.
5:30-6:30 p.m. - Play
6:30 p.m. - Give Tristyn a bath.
7 p.m. - Read Nug books and kiss good-night.
7:00-8:00 p.m. - Do random things around the house.
7:30-8:00 p.m. - Read and go to bed.

It looks crazy when you read it like that.
And yes...I do go to bed before 8 p.m.
That's what happens when you don't have TV!

Hanging Out With Tristyn

2009-11-30T09:22:00.000-06:00

Tristyn's new obsession...
The snowman sings and dances.
I had to pretend that the batteries wore out
To get her to stop playing it.

She has a mullet.

I don't know what I'm going to do about this.
Hopefully the sides start growing soon.

Her newest trick.
Standing up in her high chair when she's done.
As you can see...she wasn't into eating last night.
She probably ate too much at Grandma's this weekend.
Don't worry...she hasn't jumped out of the chair yet.

Gut.

Maybe this is why she wasn't eating last night.
She was full to the brim!

Just like the Thanksgiving day turkey...
It pops out when it's full.
Right after this picture...

She had a very nice diaper.

Tristyn's Vocabulary

2009-11-25T15:00:00.000-06:00

Tristyn is almost 1.5 years old.
I can't believe it.
She is talking more and more every single day.
I love it.
Here is a list of words that she can say.
But she totally understands more than she can say.

shoe
sock
eye
moo
quack
duck
piggy
cup
ball
Pepsi
I got it
that
yes
mommy
BJ
sis
Leslee
Ashlee
mamma
chip
fishy
I dropped it
I love you
red
blue
purple
see ya
bye
hi
broccoli
homer
hi ho
melmo...aka Elmo
apple

Oh I know she can say so much more
And I have it written down at home.
I will have to add to this list later.

Look Mom!!!

2009-11-05T07:54:00.000-06:00

After dinner Tristyn and I went up to her room to play.
I was on the floor and "pretended" to take a little nap.
And this is what I woke up to...

My big girl running back and forth from Ashlee's room
With a birthday crown on her head.

She decided it would be fun to check out ALL of her clothes.

Good thing she couldn't reach the top drawer.

She also threw all of her diapers around like it was a party.

She was so proud of herself!

She's saying here, "Look what I did Mom!"

After all of that destruction, she was pooped!

Sidenote: My big girl has pee peed on the potty twice in the past two days!

Choo Choos and Candy

2009-11-03T10:52:00.000-06:00

Monkey and Jack.

Checking out her candy.

Me as Jack Bauer from the show 24.

I love this picture.

Halloween was great this year!
Tristyn went as a monkey
And I was Jack Bauer...my hero and future husband.
Just kidding Mom.
Speaking of Mom...she was able to come Trick or Treating with us!

Tristyn walked all the way down the block by herself.
It was pretty chilly out so she rode back in the warm stroller.

Earlier in the day Grandma took us to Tyler's Tender.
It's a cute restaurant with a ton of trains!

Tristyn is in love with choo choos these days.
We had a great time this weekend!

Here are some pictures from Tyler's Tender.

Big girl controlling the trains.

Hot dogs and fries.

Riding the little choo coo.

Riding the BIG choo coo with Mommy.

Bloody Disaster

2009-09-04T12:11:00.001-05:00

Tristyn is a little drunken sailor.
She's walking a lot better now that she has good shoes.
But she still falls down
A LOT.

Yesterday we were at the library
And she fell down the stairs.
Mainly because she insists on going down like an adult...
One foot at a time.
She hit her head on the cement step
And got a little red bump on her left side of her forhead.

This past weekend she walked straight into the dining room chair.
A cut and a black and blue mark appeared
Minutes later.

Then the grand finale...
Yesterday...after the library...
We were playing outside.
Tristyn decided to walk to our neighbor's house
All by herself.
She was standing in her driveway playing with her cat
When all of a sudden
She fell on her face.
It was kind of graceful
And then turned into a Ninja roll.

Blood trickled down the side of her mouth.
Tears ran down her cheeks.
Her little mouth was in the shape of a square.
I freaked.
I couldn't see her top tooth.
Thought it was gone.
Turns out..it was just bloody and the gum is swollen.
She bit her lip and it's all puffy.
And she bit her tongue...huge sore there.

I got a wash cloth and wiped her up.
I let her suck on a pink princess ice pack from Grandma.
She stopped crying about 2 minutes later.
What a trooper.
My little wobbly girl.

After Dinner Friends

2009-08-25T10:27:00.001-05:00

Every night after dinner Tristyn and I go for a walk outside.
She LOVES the outside.
She holds my finger as we go four houses down to the left.
We have to stop by our neighbor's lampost to say hi to her friends.
Knome 1, Knome 2, Froggies, Knome 3 and Lady Bug.
She can point out their eyes, noses, fingers and their red hats.

Then we walk across the street.
BJ's friend Tommy has a FUN yard!
Mickey, Minnine, Donald, Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs are there!
Tristyn is learning to give hugs to Minnie
And loves to kiss her on the nose.
She can also point out her flowers and her bow.
She "high fives" Donald on his beak.
Last night she had a full 2 minute conversation with Mickey.

Then she picks out her rock.
Every time we visit she has to bring home a rock.
She carries it in her little hand, tries to lick it
And sets it on the wooden bench inside our front door.
We now have 6 rocks there.

Last night she climbed into her little yellow chair
Outside her little house
All by herself.
And hopped down out of it
All by herself.
She walked over to me and climbed up into my chair.
I asked if I could have a hug.
And I got my first REAL hug from my daughter.
Complete with a smile, head cocked to the side,
A little hand pat on my back and a squeel.
"Eeeeeee!"
God, I love her so much!

Back To School!

2009-08-21T10:42:00.000-05:00

On our way to Miss Cheryl's. She really WAS happy!

Trying to get a first day of school pic. She wasn't into it.

My first day of school pic for the year!

Ahhh...6:15 a.m. Gotta love it.

We are finally back into the school routine.
It's been an adjustment now that I have to drive Tristyn to daycare.
Last year Ashlee dropped her off before school.
I wake up at 5:15 and get myself ready.
Then I wake up Tristyn and Ashlee at 6 a.m.
I grab my coffee and Nug and I are out the door by 6:15.
In the car we listen to Pokerface and Right Round.
Tristyn arrives at Miss Cheryl's at 6:25
And then I'm off to Lake Central by 6:30.
So far I have been getting to school on time and I haven't been rushing.

Tristyn LOVES daycare.
Today was the first day that I heard her cry a little for me when I left.
But Miss Cheryl steered her to the toys right away and she stopped.
I have to say that Nug is POOPED by dinnertime.
She has been going to bed around 7:30 p.m. and sleeping like a rock.
All that walking and playing wears a kid out!

Busy Summer...Good Busy

2009-08-04T14:53:00.000-05:00

The summer is just flying by.
I have been living without TV and internet since May.
I have done pretty well without it.
I have read all the Twilight books
And spent quality time with Tristyn.
That right there is a great summer in itself.

Thanks to my friends for keeping me busy
And keeping my mind off other things.
Sarah and Miles and Dustin have played a huge part in our summer fun.
We went to the water park, Brookfield Zoo and McDonalds Playland.
The kids loved it!

Tristyn and I spent a couple of days in Wisconsin
Visiting my cousin Michelle and Simone and Colette!
They had a blast playing with Nug.
We went to a butterfly garden, the farmer's market and the zoo!
We also had ice cream, but it was too cold to swim in their pool.
Tristyn loved being woken up by the roosters every morning.

My friend Betty's wedding and bachelorette party was a blast!
I even wore a dress for the occasion.
Yes...a dress.
See flickr pictures for more details.

We have spent a lot of time with Grandma!
We celebrated her birthday and went to Pipes and Pizza.
They have a huge pipe organ with tons of different instruments.
It used to be a movie theater and they changed it to this pizza joint.
Really fun and Nug loved the music.

We have been to the beach a couple of times.
The last time we went it started raining.
Tristyn loves the sand and the seagulls.

She is also on her way to walking.
She can go across the living room floor between two people.
Still a little wobbly though.
She is very smart and loves to eat and read.

In The Midst Of Confusion...

2009-06-29T16:31:00.000-05:00

The past two weeks have been nuts.
I think in the past week I have been
In my own house for about a total of 17 hours.
That's just a guess.
But it seems like I haven't been home in forever.
In the middle of all the madness
This is what I have forgotten to blog about...

#1...HAPPY 13th BIRTHDAY Leslee!!!
Yup...that was on June 24th.
I cannot believe that she is 13 already.
A teenager.
God help me.

#2...HAPPY 9th BIRTHDAY B.J.!!
Yeah...his birthday is TODAY.
I remember when he was 3.
Before I know it he will be 21.

#3...HAPPY 30th BIRTHDAY Brian!!
That was on June 21st
The day my mom decided to head to the ER!

#4...I finally made it to Trader Joe's!
Sarah, Miles, Tristyn, Me, Kate and Abby
Headed to Orland to check out the infamous store.
The kids got a little cranky in there
And it was hard to read the labels
But I think I picked up some good buys.
Wine, mini ravioli, marinara sauce, chile spiced mango
Olive Oil popcorn and some seaweed snack mix for Ashlee.
Oh...and balloons for the kids.

#5...Tristyn's first dip in a real pool!
During the same trip to Trader Joe's
We hung out at Kate and Abby's hotel pool.
Miles was a maniac and loved it.
Tristyn was a little apprehensive, but ok.
She liked sitting on the step and just watching every move.

#6...RIP to the Workman family.
A family that cheered on the Hobart Team Spirits
With Leslee and BJ
Were killed in a tragic car accident on Friday morning.
All 5 family members gone in an instant.
The kids were 13, 8 and 1.
On their way to Florida
To Disney
To Grandma's so she could meet the baby for the first time.
Life is too short people.
Make the most of it.

#7...Have I told you I'm Amish now?
No cable.
No home phone.
No internet.
No air conditioning.
Does that make me Amish?
That the reason for the delays in blogs and flickrerers.
Trying to save some money.

#8...I am a traitor.
Today and tomorrow I am teaching
At a Yearbook workshop.
Shhh.
Don't tell my newspaper kids.

#9...Mom's doing much better.
She is out of the hospital.
Moving pretty decent.
And the bullet holes are looking good.

Can I go take a nap now?

Crazy Start To The Summer

2009-06-23T23:01:00.001-05:00

I am exhausted.
Tired.
Could sleep for a week if I could.

On Saturday we had Tristyn's 1st Birthday party.
At our house.
About 40 to 50 people.
The entire week before was used to clean and prepare.
I don't think my house has even been that clean.
It was a lot of work...inside and out.

The party was so much fun!
We had La Quesadilla cater it
And our friend Carl made the Elmo cake.
Tristyn had a blast!
She loved opening her presents and eating her cake.
Please click on the flickr box on the right to see all the photos.
Miss Sarah did most of the shooting and she was awesome!
Nug was on a sugar high from the frosting
And crashed around 10 p.m.
She's so cute.

On Sunday my mom, Julie, Brian, me and Nug went to the beach.
Tristyn's first trip to Lake Michigan.
She LOVED it of course.
Loved the water, the sand, the nap on the blanket, seagulls...

Then at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday night my mom calls
And says she's going to the ER.
Her stomach had been bothering her all day
And it was getting worse.
A little before midnight she said that it was her appendix
And needed surgery.
I went out to Munster and stayed the night with her.
Julie, Brian, Kevin and my aunt and uncle came Monday morning.
She went into surgery around noon.
Everything went well.
I ran home while she was in surgery
Took a shower, packed, packed Tristyn, etc.
Then went back to Mom's house.
Packed her some stuff, let Nug nap and ate something.
I went back to the hospital and finally saw Mom again around 5:30 p.m.
She looked so much better!

Nug and I spent the night at Grandma's house.
We went back to the hospital this morning and hung out.
Kevin came back and then I left to go take care of some things.
I dropped Tristyn off with Tammy and then went home and crashed.
I napped from 3 until 6.
Then back to Munster.
I brought Mom some ice cream and just hung out and watched TV.
We walked up and down the hallway.
The surgeon finally came in.
He is such a hunk.
Said she looked good and could go home tomorrow.

Now it's 11:17 p.m. and I should be in bed.
But I'm up eating potato chips and dip and putzing around online.
At least there is air conditioning here!

Hoepfully things will calm down a bit soon.
Wait.
Saturday...meeting in Indianapolis.
Sunday...pride parade in Chicago.
Monday and Tuesday...teaching a workshop at school.
Oh yeah...and tomorrow Leslee turns 13 and Monday BJ turns 9.
But they're in Tennessee with their dad.

Ok...now I need a nap for real.
I'm tired.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TRISTYN!!!!!

2009-06-10T09:56:00.001-05:00

Yes...that's right...
My little Nug is 1 today!!!!

Tristyn is 1 and Ashlee is getting her drivers license.
Wow. Craziness.

I cannot believe that it has been a year already.
Before I know it she will be walking across the stage getting her high school diploma
And then going off to college
And then getting married to Miles Verpooten
And then bringing my grandchildren to my house!
Ahhh!
Can you tell that I'm having a mini meltdown?
OK OK OK Sarah VP...I now understand what you were whining about last year!

Having Tristyn has been the best thing I have ever done in my life.
She brightens up my day...
Every single day.
I am so lucky and happy that she is so smart and happy.
I am so excited to watch her grow this year.
To learn so many new things.
To walk and talk and tell me all about her day.
To go to the beach, play outside, make friends and eat new things.
I can't wait for her to give me a hug on her own
And to really say "Mom" and mean it...not just babble like she does now.

I LOVE YOU Tristyn Grace!!!
Happy First Birthday!!!

Busy May...Finally June

2009-06-03T15:16:00.000-05:00

I've been so busy lately.
Sorry for the update delays.
I changed the color of the blog as requested by a reader.
Is it better? Let me know.

I went to Cleveland for a weekend.
I walked 6.2 miles for Team Stephanie.
It was awesome to see all of my friends again
And walk for a good cause.

Last weekend I shot my friends Kate and Josh's wedding.
I haven't done a wedding in a long time because of Tristyn.
Boy was I exhausted after that one!
It was one of the best weddings I have ever shot.
I was pretty proud of myself.

Ashlee had her first wrestling event last weekend.
I had to miss it because of the wedding.
The rest of the family went and Tristyn was clapping and dancing the whole time.
She is such a ham.

I think Leslee is finally done with soccer and basketball.
BJ will be ungrounded for life after he finishes all 106 undone pages of homework I found.

I planted flowers for the first time!
Five years in this house and I have finally planted flowers.
Thanks to Kevin, Julie and Brian for coming over to help me clean up my yard.
It looks awesome now and somewhat presentable.
Even my neighbor commented on how "clean" it looks.
I even made a fire pitt.

I can't believe that Tristyn is going to be 1 years old next week.
It's so crazy how fast time flies.
She has a mouth full of teeth coming in right now.
She's a little cranky, but nothing too stressfull.

Sorry this is short and choppy.
I'm just waiting for school to end.
There are so many changes going on around me.
My mind is whirling and even writing this blog doesn't help it.
Maybe one day it will spill out.

Lemon Blueberry Trifle Recipe

2009-05-09T13:46:00.000-05:00

I made this for a party at school and everyone loved it!
It's from a Pampered Chef cook book.
It really wasn't too hard to make.
It looks really pretty at first
But after you dig in...it's a mess.
I guess it all ends up in the same place anyway!
Here's the recipe...

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Chill time: 30 minutes

Stuff you need:
1 frozen prepared pound cake (16 oz)
2 lemons
1 1/2 cups milk
1 container (8 oz) sour cream
1 container (8 oz) frozen whipped topping, thawed, divided
2 packages (3.4 oz each) lemon instat pudding & pie filling
1 pint blueberries
1 square (1 oz) white chocolate for baking

How to put it together:
1) Cut pound cake into 1-inch cubes.
Place in large colander bowl.
Zest one lemon in a separate bowl and set aside.
Juice the same lemon.
Sprinkle lemon juice over pound cake cubes.
Toss gently.

2) In a bowl, combine milk, sour cream, half of the
whipped topping and reserved lemon zest.
Whisk until smooth.
Add pudding mix.
Whisk until mixture begins to thicken.

3) Set aside 10 blueberries for garnish.
To assemble trifle, place on-third of the cake cubes
into the bottom of the serving bowl.
Top with one-third of the blueberries.
Using a cheese grater, grate one fourth of the chocolate
over the blueberries.
Top with one-third of the pudding mixture, spreading evenly.
Repeat layers two more time.
Reserve remaining chocolate for garnish.

4) Take a sanwich baggie and fill with remaining whipped topping.
Close up the baggie and cut the tip off of one of the corners.
Pipe ten rosettes (or blobs) around the edge of serving bowl.
Score remaining lemon lengthwise.
Slice lemon into five 1/4 inch slices.
Cut each slice in half and place between rosettes.
Place one reserved blueberry on each rosette.
Grate remaining chocolate in center.
Refrigerate at least 30 minutes before serving.
Serves 10.

For you diet nerds out there:
Nutrients per serving:
Calories 340, Total Fat 14 g, Saturated Fat 10g,
Cholesterol 70 mg, Carbohydrate 46 g, Protein 4 g,
Sodium 380 mg, Fiber 1 g

27 Random Questions...Thanks Jill!

2009-05-03T17:34:00.000-05:00

1. When you looked at yourself in the mirror today, what was the first thing you thought?
I don't think I looked at myself in the mirror today!
2. How much cash do you have on you?
$20
3. What’s a word that rhymes with “DOOR?”
More
4. Favorite planet?
Pluto...but it's a dwarf planet now...not a real planet.
5. Who is the 4th person on your missed call list on your cell phone?
Sarah Verpooten
6. What is your favorite ring on your phone?
Womanizer
7. What shirt are you wearing?
My David Beckham jersey
8. Do you “label” yourself?
Yes...is crazy a label?
9. Name the brand of your shoes you’re currently wearing?
Adidas
10. Bright or Dark Room?
Bright...I can't stand the lighting in this house.
11. What do you think about the person who took this survey before you?
She's an ok girl...kinda cute...great laugh...lives too far away...lol!
13. What were you doing at midnight last night?
Watching the Blues Brothers in bed.
14. What did your last text message you received on your cell say?
i have a game tuesday 5 30 hillman (from Leslee)
15. Where is your nearest 7-11?
Heck I have no idea! I think there is one in Griffith.
16. What’s a word that you say a lot?
The
17.Who told you he/she loved you last?
BJ
18. Last furry thing you touched?
Tristyn's blanket when I put her down for a nap.
19. How many drugs have you done in the last three days?
Migraine Medicine yesterday morning.
20. How many rolls of film do you need developed?
I think I have 2 floating around from god knows when?
21. Favorite age you have been so far?
I liked 25...but I love 31 and 32 so far.
22. Your worst enemy?
Myself
23. What is your current desktop picture?
Tristyn with mashed potatoes all over her face.
24. What was the last thing you said to someone?
Good-bye...my mom was on the phone and she let me go to put Tristyn down for a nap.
25. If you had to choose between a million bucks or to be able to fly what would it be?
Million bucks. I think I could do more with that.
26. Do you like someone?
LIKE, like? ....Mayyybe! hee hee!
27. The last song you listened to?
The theme song to Seinfeld. Is that even really a song?

Ashlee's Prom

2009-05-03T17:13:00.001-05:00

Tristyn decided that she wanted some make-up too.

Billy and Ashlee.
No...not dating.
They fight like brother and sister.
Best buds.
Wrestling buds.

One day she'll get this on right.

Hello?
Where did my 16 year old go?
Nevermind that...
When the heck did she get so old??

Ashlee and Billy went to Hobart's prom on Friday night.
Ashlee looked BEAUTIFUL!
And Billy looked so handsome.
After the dance they went to Longhorn for dinner.
On Saturday they went up to Berwyn for Shimmer wrestling.
Yes...Women's Wrestling.
A two-day event.
Hey...it's a hobby and it's clean fun.

Auntie Julie and Uncle Brian Visit

2009-05-03T17:00:00.000-05:00

Yesterday Auntie Julie and Uncle Brian came over to play!
We had some pizza for lunch and then went outside to enjoy the sun.
We walked down to the park and around the block.

Fun on the swings.

Doing pull ups.

Bouncing on the bridge.

In the playhouse. Love the tongue!

Pooped out at 9 p.m. in the pack in play!

It was a busy day.
Thanks to Julie and Brian, I was able to cut the grass.
Little Nug loves playing with her Aunt and Uncle.
Come and visit again soon!!

How Time Flies

2009-04-22T17:22:00.000-05:00

20 years ago today.
Really?
20 years?
It's amazing how fast time moves.

I wonder what he'd be like today?
I wonder what he'd think of Tristyn...
Of me.
I miss him.

I'm sure he would love Kevin's passion for the Cubs.
He would love Brian's sense of humor.
He would love how beautiful Julie has become.
And Tristyn would probably already know how to catch a ball
And whistle through the space in her teeth.

Time heals all wounds.
But you never ever forget.

Easter and More

2009-04-20T20:21:00.000-05:00

Tristyn got this little chick from the Easter Bunny.
She is TOTALLY OBSESSED!!!
This afternoon she started dancing with him.

We had two Easters this year!
Last weekend Tristyn and I spent the weekend with my mom and Kev.
We had a great time and spent the night for 2 nights!
We all had breakfast and went to church together.
Julie and Brian came over for dinner and to play with Nug.

Yesterday we had Easter at home.
The kids were in Tennessee with their dad last weekend
So that's why we waited until yesterday to do our festivities.
Breakfast was awesome again and dinner was yummy!
We had to postpone the outdoor, in the dark egg hunt due to rain.
I will post pictures from that later on.

Kid Updates...
Ashlee has started wrestling school.
Yes...wrestling school.
Like...pro wrestling.
She's nuts.
But...she loves it and it's better than sex and drugs right?
She's going to prom with Billy and still working at Mickey D's.

Leslee is playing on the AAU basketball team.
She has tournaments everywhere and practice late on school nights.
Soccer has also begun.
She is an eating machine and growing like a weed.
I seriously think she is almost taller than me now.
She is a schedule freak and addicted to texting and Twilight.

BJ needs to clean his room.
I swear something died in there.
He got a haircut!
He's loving wrestling and actually went fishing with Bones yesterday.
They only caught one small fish, but he was happy.

Tristyn has a total of 4 teeth now.
She can say, "hi," "cat," "mamma," "sis," "BJ," "Les," and "binky."
She loves waving...even when she's still asleep.
Her favorite foods are greens, dumplings, bananas and pretty much anything.
She eats like a cow, but is still a little nugget.
She loves to walk along the couch and do pull ups in her playpen.
Elmo and Mickey Mouse are her friends.
Today she didn't want to leave daycare.

Billy is our adopted son...not really.
He's Ashlee's best friend that lives down the street.
He is single and looking.
Going to prom with Ash and the Shimmer after prom.
He's still plugging through Mickey D's with Ash.
He insists that Tristyn say, "Billy!"...but she won't.
Poor guy.

Me...I'm here.
School is truckin along.
I'm excited to go to Cleveland for the marathon.
It will be a fun road trip for Billy, Ash and Me.
And it will be good to see all my buds.

Almost 10 Months Old

2009-04-08T10:06:00.000-05:00

Here is a little Mommy and Tristyn interview.
Tristyn wasn't too talkative, but she's cute!
Sorry about the singing.

3 Teeth, Some Hair, Still a Nugget

2009-03-17T21:29:00.000-05:00

She looks like a kid!!!

Loves hanging outside watching the kids play.

I can't believe Tristyn is nine months old already.
She has been out in the world as long as she was in.
We went to the doctor yesterday for her checkup.
She is only 15 pounds 12 ounces.
She is tall and skinny though!
26.5 inches tall.
Her noggin is 42 centimeters.
She had to have her big toe pricked for an anemia test.
They even put a little Taz Band-Aid on it.
We then had to go to the hospital to get some more blood drawn
Because the other test was on the borderline.
Better to be safe than sorry.
I haven't heard back from them yet.

Some of Tristyn's favorites and stuff these days:
Song: Lady Gaga...Poker Face
TV Show: Mickey's Clubhouse and Sesame Street
Food: Pickles, Puffs, Baby Cheetos, Mashed Potatoes, there are so many!
Seriously...here are some of the crazy things she has eaten lately:
Lemon rice soup, hummus, corned beef, cabbage, mexican rice, turkey.
The kid loves trying new things and I don't think she's ever spit anything out.
Ever.
Book: Peek-A-Zoo and her Elmo Book
Word: Cat and clicking her tongue
Store: Anything...she loves shopping.

She is crawling like a champ.
She thinks she can run, but she has no sense of balance at all.
She loves the outdoors and going for walks with Leslee.
She has even gone to the park a couple of times.
Her hair is growing!
She has 2.5 teeth!
Oh yeah...and we played with bubbles today!

Ashlee's Big Day!

2009-03-08T15:30:00.001-05:00

Holy cow it has been a long time since I've had time to blog.
So much to talk about.
Let me break it all down.

Ashlee Turned 16!

Omg...kill me now.
Ashlee is 16.
Almost ready to drive.
Two years away from college.
Five years away from going to the club with us.
LOL!
She is such a hoot.
Becoming such a great young lady
With an awesome sense of humor and confidence.
I soooo enjoy this kid!

We just got back from celebrating her birthday.
We got some hotel rooms in Naperville, IL
And the kids swam and went to a club called Zero Gravity.
Now...a lot of people were worried about them going to this club.
There are a couple of things I have to say about this.

They went in a group of six.
Six very fun and well behaved girls...and Billy.
They know right from wrong.
They know how to have fun without doing stupid things.
I believe we have taught these kids well.
And we trust them.
Parents have to have a little trust now and then.
And sometimes they will make you proud.
They have to learn how to take care of themselves now
Or they will be screwed when they are on their own in college.

They had a great time!
They swam, got dressed up, ate pizza, danced, drank coffee
And stayed up until 6 a.m. and woke up at 7 to get breakfast.

Here are some pictures from the evening and there are more on flickr.

Birthday Cake

Car Ride There.

Billy, Ashlee, Antonia and Marissa.

Clockwise from Ashlee, Antonia, Becca, Billy, Marissa and Kiana

Leslee Got Braces!

2009-02-26T09:54:00.000-06:00

She will probably kill me for putting this picture on here!

The finished product.

Yesterday Leslee got braces!
She has been wanting and needing them for a long time.

The doctor said that she will only need to have them on for about a year and a half.

Braces are so worth it.

The awesome smile at the end is great.

No more candy and gum and sticky stuff for Les!

Explore

2009-02-20T19:32:00.000-06:00

It's a pretty calm Friday night here at home.
I ate some pizza and fed Nug some corn and apples
Or pears...I couldn't tell because I forgot to label the container.
After getting her ready for bed and having a little bottle
She is in full exploration mode.

She has a whole colorful mat full of toys and stuffed animals.
What does she choose to play with?
Tammy's slippers.
Then the computer cords.
And a pair of shorts that need to be put away.
She then crawled to her car seat and tried
Pulling the entire thing across the floor.
Then she found a plastic bag with frames in it.
That made a fun noise and crinkled.
She has now crawled to the shoe mat by the door and found her OWN shoe.
And she's eating it.
Banging it on the floor.
Playing with the shoe strings.
While sitting, propped up against the end table.

Now she found the handle to the drawer of the end table.
That could entertain her for a good half hour.
My phone just rang and she has the biggest smile on her face!
She always wants to know who I'm talking to.

Woah...she just took a tumble.
Almost summersault like.
Just a minor spill...no bumps or tears.
Istead of jumping up...I just yelled...TA-DAaaaa!
And she thought her tumble was the funniest thing.

She's a little kid.
She's not a baby anymore.
She is an exploring little person
Always on the go and
Learning new stuff all the time!

This is the time I was waiting for.
The time where she isn't sleeping and pooping all the time.
When she is on the move and ready to soak in everything around her.
I love how she is checking out that shoe all by herself.
Independent learning.
She's such a big girl.

God motherhood is so much fun.

Tristyn the Cat

2009-02-20T19:27:00.000-06:00

I heard Ashlee laughing really hard upstairs in the living room yesterday.
She called me up there to see Tristyn's new trick.
Mitzy, our cat, was crawling around with Tristyn.
Ashlee gave Mitzy a little piece of carrot from her Chinese food.
Tristyn watched and studied Mitzy as she ate the carrot.
Then Nug started pounding her fist on the floor.
She wanted some too!
So, Ashlee put a little carrot on the floor.
Tristyn crawled over and pushed it around with her fingers.
Then she looked at it
And licked it up off the floor just like the cat!
My daughter thinks she's a cat...great.

Test Baby...Nug's First Vacation At Auntie Julie and Uncle Brian's!

2009-02-20T10:16:00.000-06:00

Tristyn spent last weekend with Aunt Julie and Uncle Brian!
It was her first long vacation away from home.
She had a blast and was exhausted on Monday!
Here are some of the highlights from her trip.
Thanks for the photos Julie!

DJ Tristyn playing with a VCR cord and ear muffs.

She got kind of thirsty from playing so hard.

Uncle Brian saved bubble wrap for her to play with.

And he saved her a box! He showed her how to play with it.

She also played hide and seek!

All that playing made her hungry.

So Julie and Brian gave her Reddi Whip to eat for dinner.

And then they let her lick it off the floor.

Auntie Julie even gave her a bath in the kitchen sink!

She decided to pee through her diaper a couple of times.
So, Brian and Julie decided to dress her in big people clothes.

She loves Uncle Brian's alarm clock!

She had to text mom to say she was having a blast.

She loved playing with her Aunt and Uncle.

Auntie Julie even read her some books.

And after all that playing...it was time to take a nap with Uncle Brian.

Is Time Flying Or What?

2009-02-17T14:09:00.000-06:00

I can't believe Tristyn is 8 months old already.
She is doing so much!
In the collage above she is...
Trying to eat puffs out of a bowl by herself.
Sitting in a shopping cart and loving the grocery store!
Feeding herself a bottle while chilling on the floor watching Mickey.
Trying to crawl and stand!
Exploring the world and everything in it!

She went to the Doctor last week and got some shots.
Poor kid.
She got some cute Band-Aids though!
She is 26 1/8 inches long and tipping the scales at a whopping...
15 pounds.
She's such a little Nugget.

She also got her first tooth!
It was her bottom right one.
Yesterday we noticed that her bottom left tooth broke through!
She loves to chew and sing and eat baby cheetos.

She also had her first big vacation away from Mom.
Auntie Julie and Uncle Brian had her over from Friday night until Sunday.
She had a blast!
Hoepfully I can steal some of Julie's photos (whenever she posts them)
And write a blog about her fun weekend including
Boxes, bubble wrap, ear muffs, cool whip and a scary organ.

Wow was she tuckered out on Monday!
This picture above was how she fell asleep last night.
She was bouncing around on my bed while I was watching TV.
She had a burst of energy at around 9:30 p.m.
In mid-crawl over my arm she took a nose dive and fell asleep.
Just like that!
On my arm and underneath her is her hand and a stuffed animal!
I couldn't move her because she was so cute and cozy.
She slept like that all night and wouldn't get up at 5:30 a.m.
Here's a picture of her big yawn this morning.

My Little Sunshine

2009-01-30T10:14:00.000-06:00

What gets me through the day...

Time Out

2009-01-27T14:30:00.000-06:00

I need a little mental break.
Give me some time people.

Smiles For All

2009-01-24T14:51:00.000-06:00

This has to be my favorite video so far.
I hope it brings a lot of smiles to everyone out there.
I went to put my PJ's on and tossed Tristyn on the bed.
She bounced a little and thought it was hilarious!
I love her laugh.

Makeover Night!

2009-01-24T14:29:00.000-06:00

Tristyn and Rhonda.

Headbands are cool.

---+....love Tristyn

Can you tell a difference?+++++

Ahhh...me and moisterizer...whatever!

Filling in my wrinkles.

Sarah and Betty...the girlie girls.

The boys having tea.

My friends Kate had a makeover party.
Miles and Dustin hung out with us too.
Tristyn had fun with the headband and celery.
We also made up a new game.
Yoga Ball Wars.
You know it was all Dustin's idea.
You balance on the balls and see who can stay on the longest.
Here's a video of our rodeo.

Holy Icicles!

2009-01-20T19:15:00.000-06:00

Our patio table.

I'm so sick of snow.

It took me an hour to get to work this morning.

The side of the house.

It's akmost as tall as me!
Notice the Happy Birthday sign?
That's been up for like 2 years.

An even bigger one!

Tristyn thought they were yummy.

She'll eat anything.

It felt good on her teeth that are poking through.

Snow Days!

2009-01-18T21:53:00.000-06:00

We had two snow days on Thursday and Friday.
The temps were FREEZING!
On Friday my journalism buddy Sarah had a Wii party!
Tristyn and I braved the cold and had a great time!
Here is a video of Tristyn and Miles playing.
Miles finally got a haircut!
He looks so handsome.
Tristyn loved playing with all of his toys.

Family Picture Time!

2009-01-17T16:19:00.001-06:00

7 months old

Ashlee-15, Leslee-12, BJ-8 and Tristyn-7 months

She loves her toes!

The clan.

2 Moms.

Family photo night is always an adventure.
Figuring out what to wear.
Getting everyone ready.
Traveling to the mall.
Figuring out the poses.
Ugh.
Every picture turned out great!
It was even past Tristyn's bedtime and she still smiled.
Oh...and before we even started...she pooped.
Maybe that's why she's smiling.
Don't we look like a cute, happy, little family?

;)

Baby Food, Christmas Break and More!

2009-01-07T13:40:00.000-06:00

Guess what I did on Monday night?
You'll never guess.

I made my own baby food!
Yes, I was all domesticated and creative.
I figured it was time to start sending real food
With Tristyn for lunch.
I went to the store and picked up
Apples, pears, carrots, green beans, bananas and peas.
I cooked them according to the instruction manual that came with Tristyn
Whipped them up in our new Magic Bullet
And TA-DA!

I put the bananas in an ice cube tray to freeze.
I saved some old baby food containers and put the rest in those.
She LOVED the apples and the pears.
HATED the peas last night.
I tried them and they were pretty gross.
We did give her a tomato slice to nibble on
And she thought it was the funniest thing ever!
And...she ate pratically the entire thing.

She has two little bumps on the bottom of her gums.
Those teeth should be popping through any day now.
She can sit up like a champ now.
No crawling yet.
She can go backwards and get stuck under the couch though!
She is talking up a storm and growing some hair.

She LOVES her brother and sisters.
She sings all the way to school in the car with Ashlee.
Leslee loves playing in their room together and giving her clarinet concerts.
BJ loves to make her fly like Super Nug.
Tristyn was also very happy to go back to daycare after two weeks.
I think she missed the other kids and Miss Cheryl and Mike.
She was worn out on Monday night!

Christmas was awesome except for the part when the adults got sick.
Thank goodness none of the kids caught it.
Tristyn's favorite toy is the Polar Coaster from Grandma.
Ok...really...it's my favorite.
I love watching the balls go down the slide.
Nug loves the polar bear and how she sings.

I spent a great night on New Year's Eve with Leslee and Ashlee.
Leslee beat me at Wii bowling about 3 times and I was ticked.
Then we played Mario Party and I beat her.
At midnight all the kids went out and beat pots and pans and acted like fools.
Tristyn woke up with a big smile and partied a little bit and fell back to sleep.

I'm glad to be back at work.
It was a good two week break from things.
Finals are next week and then it's all down hill from there.
Spring Break, Journalism Banquet, Prom, Senior Banquet, Graduation
Crap...
Before I know it...Tristyn will be 1!

Mommy and Tristyn Interview

2008-12-14T11:46:00.000-06:00

Here's a little video of me and Tristyn.
After dinner we went downstairs to hang out on my bed.
I thought I would share this with everyone
To spread some smiles.
I love her little laugh at the end.
And I want to eat her toes!
I can't believe she is 6 months old.

And I can't believe that I have over 300 blog posts.
That is nuts.
But...I hope I'm keeping you all entertained!

Santa Claus!

2008-12-14T11:41:00.000-06:00

On Thursday we took BJ and Tristyn to see Santa!
He was visiting BJ's school for the evening.
They had free hot chocolate too!
Tristyn got all dressed up for the occasion.
Grammy Pammy even came out!
Tristyn loved Santa and his beard

And told him everything she wanted for Christmas.
After Santa we all piled in the truck and went to see Leslee's band concert.
They were pretty good for being in 6th grade!
Not too many squeeeeeks!

We Have A New Addition!

2008-12-14T11:34:00.000-06:00

Ashlee had a baby!
Just kidding.
She got a tortoise!
She has been wanting one for five years.
Ever since I met her she talked about getting a turtle.
After working at McDonald's and saving her money...
She bought her tortoise.
His name is Leo Franklin.
He is a Forrest Hingeback...whatever that means.
She has done so much research on this little guy!
Right now he is sitting in a tin pan next to the couch
Swimming in some water.
His little head is poking out a bit.
What a cute little guy.

Sort Of Tristyn Update

2008-12-05T14:03:00.000-06:00

Ok, ok...I officially suck at blogging!
I looked on Kelly's site and hung my head in shame
As I saw how long it's been since I have updated!!!
Sorry fans...I will try to be better!

So, this video above is from Tennessee.
Tristyn is about 4 1/2 months old at this time.
We were shopping and my favorite part
Is Ashlee and Billy at the end of the video.

Anyway...Tristyn will be A HALF...6 months on Wednesday!
A HALF!!!
I can't believe she's that old already.
Time really flies when you're having fun.

I plopped her on the scale the other day
And she was about 14.5 lbs.
Still a peanut.
She is still bald as can be with a couple of random hairs that stick up.

She loves to play on her mat and roll over.
Her new trick is sticking out her tongue and blowing spit at everyone.
She loves to fly when I say, "Super Nug!" and chew on her right fist.
Her favorite song is "I Love You" from Barney and "Shake It."

She loves Pepsi.
Not the drink...but the colors, the can, the cold!
She thinks she is smart enough to drink from an actual cup.

She LOVES taking baths with Mamma...loves it!
She loves when I brush her wanna be hair.

She loves school and they love her!
She loves the sound of a male's voice.
She cracks up when she farts!
Her favorite real people foods are corn and mashed potatoes.
She loves to trick Mommy in the morning by ending up on the other side of the crib.

She loves listening to Leslee's clarinet.
She loves watching TV and cooking with BJ.
She loves riding to school in the morning with Billy and Ashlee.
She sings the whole way!

I swear...I will have some new pictures and a video up by Wednesday.
One that actually shows her at 6 months old!!

St. Louis Convention

2008-11-23T18:29:00.000-06:00

Sarah, Miles and Me watching people on the slide at the City Museum.

Miles at the top of the arch.

Our little yearbook nerd.

Sarah and I took 15 students and Miles to St. Louis

For the Journalism Education Association national convention.

There were about 5,000 journalism nerds there.

It was awesome.

Miles was great on his first plane ride.

His only meltdown was on a cold walk to Union Station.

He had some chicken nuggets and was happy again.

Two of my newspaper kids won honorable mentions in the write-off contests.

One of Sarah's won a superior for design.

Sarah's yearbook from last year also took 9th place in Best of Show!

That's awesome since we never place!

Go Quiver!

Sarah and I took our Master Journalism Educator exam.

It was like 3 hours long.

Fun things we did...

The City Museum...awesome.

Went up in the Arch...very high.

Walked to Union Station...very cold.

Went to sessions...very few.

Ate... a lot.

Introduced to Tigger & Pooh...i love miles!

The end.

Road Trip!

2008-10-24T22:00:00.000-05:00

Ahhh...as I type,
Billy just splurted Tristyn's bottle all over the living room.
LOL.

We are all in Gatlinburg, Tennessee!
In the Smokey Mountains.
10 hours in a car
With Tammy, Melissa, Ashlee, Leslee, BJ, Tristyn and Billy.
God help me.

All the kids were pretty good on the ride down.
Even Tristyn.
She is such an easy going girl.
Today we slept in, ate a brunch, ate dinner out and shopped.
It was rainy, but fun.

People always say...
You're bringing the baby?
I can't believe you drove all that way with a 4-month-old.
Blah, blah, blah.
Hey...your world just can't stop because you had a baby.
Take her with!
Yes, it's extra work, but she's worth it.
She had the biggest smile today when we were shopping.
I'm lucky she's such a good girl.
And I'm glad I have so many extra hands to help!

Oh...and my advice to new moms...
Forget the diaper bag.
Get a backpack.
It is sooo much easier and convienient.

Soooooo Busy!

2008-10-19T16:01:00.000-05:00

Me, Tristyn and all her awesome LC babysitters!

My managing editor making faces at Tristyn.

Taking care of Nugget.

Sarah, Me and Tristyn at the State Journalism Convention.

Youngest Journalist Ever!

Holy moly have we been busy lately!
So busy that I haven't had time to blog.
I have been so stressed about our state journalism convention.
Sarah and I are in charge of the On-Site contests on Thursday night of the convention.
We totally revamped them this year and it was a ton of work.
We had a list of about 50 things to do up on my wall.
We finally accomplished the whole thing right before we left.
We took 32 students and Tristyn!
She was sooo good! So, were the high school kids.
The contests went fine.
The business meeting on Friday was great.
We introduced our license plate project
And everyone now thinks that we are rock stars.

What else have we been up to?
Leslee has had a couple of gymnastics meets.
She didn't win any ribbons, but hopes to improve for next year.
Ashlee and Billy are at Shimmer today.
That's the women's wrestling up in Berwyn, IL.
Tammy was lucky enough to drive them there...ha ha! Sucker!
BJ is proud to say that he has beaten the Tony Hawk skateboarding game on Playstation.
He also had a pretty good mid-term report.

Tristyn has her 4 month check up tomorrow.
I will keep everyone posted on her weight and stats.
She is getting so active!
And she's getting some meat on her bones!

Flooded Munster

2008-09-17T20:57:00.000-05:00

Rafting down White Oak Ave.

Bulldozer on Fairway Ave.

Channel 2 news in front of my mom's neighbor's house.

Water two houses down from Mom's.

Yesterday I went out to my Mom's house in Munster.
As I drove the back roads I kept running into road blocks.
I had a very scenic view of the Region.
As I drove down Ridge Road and looked north
My stomach began to drop.
I drove down Kraay and could see water.
I was able to pull into my Mom's driveway
Since the water stopped right BEFORE her house.
I ran into her house and immediatley went to the basement.
It was dry as a bone.
DRY.

This is a video of her street.
She was very lucky.
She called a little bit ago.
A house or garage exploded somewhere in town.
It shook the entire town and flames rose 8 stories.
But that is all hearsay for now.
I will have to watch the news.

We all went back to school today.
Mom doesn't go back to work until Monday.
She also got an order to not return to her house.
Keep praying.

Flood Images

2008-09-15T18:37:00.000-05:00

The Bait Shop in town.

Flooded Wisconsin Street. We think the bridge collapsed.

The Community Center.

Holy Floods!

2008-09-15T18:09:00.000-05:00

I think I should have built an ark.
It rained for approximatley 4 days straight.
On Saturday morning we had a foot of water in our basement.
NIPSCO came out and shut our power off.
We unplugged everything down there and re-plugged in our sump pump.
It finally turned back on and pumped out all of the water.
Thank God because the water was POURING in.
Melissa said she saw it seeping through the walls and under the stairs.
I couldn't look.
Melissa even got in a RubberMaid tub and floated around down there!
I had huge puddles in my backyard and back lot.
I would consider them small lakes.
Since the hot water heater is water logged...
The kids took showers outside.
Talk about making the best out of a crappy situation.
We're ok.

My mom on the other hand lives in Munster.
They were on Good Morning America.
The Little Calumet River burst at the seems.
My mom lives right down the road from it.
Last night they were told to evacuate.
Kevin went back to the house because he was too stressed.
The entire day she packed up her house.
Thank you to all the friends that helped to store her stuff.
The last time I heard from her
The state police were parked in front of her house.
The river was up to her driveway.
I hope my Dad is up there putting his bubble over her house.

We didn't have school today and are off again tomorrow.
All of the roads are flooded everywhere.
We tried to get to Hobart High School and couldn't!
This is a video of Lake George in Hobart.
My little puddle in the family room and basement
Seem like nothing compared to all of that mess.

First Week of School

2008-08-30T21:32:00.001-05:00

Ashlee, Tristyn, BJ and Leslee on their first day.

Me on my first day of school.

Me and Tammy on her first day.

The first week of school was a killer.
Last night I fell asleep on the couch at 9:30 p.m.
I woke up at 11:30 a.m.
I ate, went to the bathroom and went back to bed.
I woke up at 1 p.m. and I'm still tired.
Changing the morning routine is different.
I have to wake up super early to feed Tristyn and get her ready for school.
But it's all worth it when I wake her up and she just smiles at me!

School has been crazy.
Being in a new classroom is throwing both Sarah and I off.
Wayyyy off.
I can't find ANYTHING.
I keep forgetting my lines during lectures.
And the format of my room is taking a lot of getting used to.
There's nowhere to stand in my room.
My favorite place to lecture from is on top of the counter!
Sarah's room echos like no other
And you have to turn off the lights by cutting the fuses in the fuse box!
Someone cut a line during construction
So Sarah doesn't have a phone
And we both can't hear the announcements OR the bell in our rooms.
I'm sure we'll get used to it, but it's going to take time.
Other than the new room, my classes are awesome.
I have a photo class with 21 kids in it....heaven!
On Blue days I have Scout, Intro Journalism, Photo and Plan.
On White days I have Photo, Homeroom, Photo, Plan.
White days are my monkey days.
Those are days where even a monkey could do it!
This is the first year that Sarah and I both have students with special needs.
Sarah has a boy with downs syndrom in photo.
I have a boy with muscular dystophy in journalism.
That's what I love about teaching...always new challenges.

Ashlee started her sophomore year.
Good god I teach sophomores...how can she be a sophomore?
I'm old.
She is now on a block 8 schedule and adjusting to that.
She's still working at McDonald's and having a grand time with Billy.
No...Billy is NOT her boyfriend.
They are wrestling buddies.
Seriously...they watch women's wrestling together.
*me rolling my eyes*

Leslee started middle school.
Again...good god middle school.
God bless all the middle school teachers across the land.
I have no idea how they put up with those raging horomones
And puberty crazed kids.
Now...Leslee is the one if you ever met...will not talk to you.
She doesn't smile and comes off as mean or shy when you see her.
I swear...at home this girl does NOT shut up!
I think I heard every move she made on the first day of school.
She is joining gymnastics and started playing the clarinet for the band.
She is way too organized with her school stuff.
I think she gets that from me.
The girl even put her name on her little pencil erasers!
And she wants to eat Tristyn...literally.
The girl can't get enough of this baby.

BJ is the big man at George Earl.
My third grader.
The man with the mohawk.
His folders are already bent.
WHY can't this boy be neat? WHY?
I seriously haven't done his laundry since before Tristyn was born.
The rule is...if you want your laundry done...bring it downstairs.
Where is his laundry?
Spewed all over his bedroom floor.
I guess he'll come crying when he has to go to school comando!

Tammy is still teaching at Hobart.
She's not thrilled about it and still looking for an administrative job.
Keep your fingers crossed for her.

I feel like I've been so busy and tired lately!
I just haven't had a chance to sit down and blog.
And I have so much more to blog about!
And so many videos to share!
So bear with me and stay tuned.
I swear more is coming.

Caios or Big Family Love?

2008-08-30T20:53:00.000-05:00

Dinner time in our house is always fun.
We very rarely DON'T eat together as a family.
Only when there's a lot of running around to do
Like practices and school stuff.

If Tammy cooks...you're eating.
"We don't play anorexic in this house!"

Our table is made for 6.
Watch as we feed 14.
There's always room for more.

Some people think we're crazy
And ask how we do it.
You know that Bible story where Jesus feeds all the people
With the two fish and the couple loaves of bread?
It can be done.

Tattoo Additions

2008-08-18T21:10:00.000-05:00

Mamma added a T bubble.

Mommy added a T to her vine.

Close up of the T in the vine. It's after the purple flower with the little curl.

Last year Tammy and I got tattoos for our 30th birthday.
Tammy got a girl blowing bubbles and put the kid's initials in the bubbles.
I got a vine with rainbow flowers and the initials intertwined into it.
So, on Friday we went to add our T's for Tristyn.

Who Does She Look Like?

2008-08-16T21:35:00.000-05:00

My Aunt Jan noticed Tristyn's dimple in her chin
And sent me these pictures of my dad and grandfather.

They both had this trait!

So, does her donor.

Sarah swears she looks just like me.

My family says she looks nothing like me.

Sometimes I see my dad when I look at her.

I just think she looks like Tristyn.

She's beautiful and it doesn't matter who she looks like.

Fun at PayLow

2008-08-14T23:07:00.000-05:00

Tristyn was being so cute at the grocery store today!
Yes...I'm a nerd and brought the new camera with.
But look at the great footage I caught!
Don't you just want to squeeze her?!?!

Thank you to all of my blogger friends on flickr!
They all came together and sent me a gift card for a shower present.
They originally wanted to purchase our stroller and travel system
But we already had it!
So, we decided to use the gift card to get a video camera.
We've been using our little digital cameras for videos
And they were just not cutting it.
Now we can capture all of our crazy times in good quality.

Stay tuned because you know I'm going to be a video nut now!

Work Day At Lake Central

2008-08-14T00:04:00.000-05:00

Miles and Tristyn had a blast at school today!
Miss Sarah was working the yearbook booth at registration
And I was there for the first issue of the newspaper work day.

You would think that from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
I would get something done.
Nope!
We chatted with visitors,
Ate a hamburger,
Fed Miles marshmellows,
Slid across Miss Sarah's room in a wheelie chair,
Took videos and pictures of the cute kids
And got NOTHING done.

Oh well.
There's always tomorrow!

Sleeping Future Journalist

2008-08-14T00:01:00.000-05:00

Here's a video of my tired, little journalist.
This is what we do at school in the summer.
Nothing.
Just play with kids all day.

2 Month Tristyn Update

2008-08-13T23:12:00.000-05:00

Little Nug Nug at 2 months.

Me and sleeping Tristyn.

Sweetness...I love her so much!!!

She loves her New York onsie that Ashlee bought her!

Tristyn's Favorites At 2 Months:
Food: Stage 1 Applesauce and Rice Cereal
Drink: Milk
TV Show: Oprah
Book: When feeding, I read...so I'm reading Can't Wait to Get To Heaven outloud to her!
Song: Forever by Chris Brown
Stores: Wal-Mart, PayLow and Hollywood Video
Outfit: Her GAP pajamas and her brown and pink ice cream onsie
Activity: Sitting in the bouncy watching the trees.
New Words?: A little cooing here and there and laughing in her sleep!

Holy cow it's been a long time!
Our internet was out for a while so I've been MIA.
Sorry about that...I'm back now!
I have so much to blog about, but I'm going to break it up.

Tammy, Ashlee and I took Tristyn to the doctor yesterday.
She was such a good girl!
Here's her updated stats...
Weight: 8 lbs. 12 oz.
Height: 20.5 inches
Head: 35 cm

I had such an anxiety attack in the office.
When the nurse brings out that graph...
Her head is below the 5th percentile...
Her weight is in the blah, blah, blah....
Ahhh!
It's like she's 2 months old and taking a standardized tests!
I was so worried she was going to fail!
Tammy told me to knock it off, she's fine.
Ok.

We went to the Health Department for her shots
But they were out of one of them and the line was long
So, we'll go back next week to get those.

Overall, Tristyn is a peach!
She's on a great schedule.
5 a.m. - eat
5:30-9 a.m. - sleep
9 a.m. - 9:30 a.m. eat and watch Oprah
9:30 - 1 p.m. Play and watch the trees
1 p.m. - eat
2 p.m. - 4 p.m. Play
4 p.m. - eat
4:30 p.m. - Nap
7 p.m. - eat
8:30 p.m. - Get cranky
9:30 - Eat Cereal
10:30 - Bedtime

She is sleeping through the night.
I think I'm ready to let her sleep upstairs in her room.
So sad.
The only thing keeping me from putting her up there
Is my laziness to climb all the stairs at 5 a.m. to feed her!