Crazy Start To The Summer

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.

Auntie Julie and Uncle Brian Visit

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!!

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

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.

Family Picture Time!

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?

;)

Santa Claus!

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!

Sort Of Tristyn Update

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!!

Soooooo Busy!

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

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.

First Week of School

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?

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

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.

One Month Old Already!

I can't believe she is 1 month old already!
She's OLD!
I'm OLD!
Ahhhh!

Tristyn's Favorites At 1 Month:
Food: Milk and more milk
Drink: Milk and more milk
TV Show: Food Network Shows
Book: Now that she's awake more...I'm going to start reading to her.
Song: Forever by Chris Brown
Stores: Wal-Mart, PayLow and Hollywood Video
Outfit: She loves her moped pajamas and her green "smile" onsie.
Activity: Sitting in the bouncy seat watching Mom cook.
New Words?: Lots of grunting and laughing in her sleep.

She is now up and alert more frequently these days.
She can lay on her belly and lift her head up
And turn it to the other side.
She can stick out her tongue at Tammy.
She just opens her mouth for me...she knows I'm food woman.

She is only getting the hiccups once or twice a day now.
She has terrible gas in the evening and is a cranky pants.
She gets up about twice at night to eat
But chows down and goes right back to sleep.

Her hair is growing in the back.
She might have a mullet soon!

She loves her bouncy seat.
She sits in it when I take a shower and cook dinner.
She loves riding in the car.

I love her sneezes...especially when she can't get the third one out.
I wish I could video tape it because it's so CUTE!!
Her thighs seem to be getting chubbier
And her hands are getting plumper.

She loves to look around and stare
And listen to the birdies in the morning.
We also love to lay in my bed and talk before I get breakfast.

She has accomplished everything in the First Month chapter
In the "What To Expect In The First Year" book.
She's a genius, but then again...I'm her mom!

What Happened To The Other Kids?

BJ eating some chinese rice.

Leslee and Brayden eating some fries.

Ashlee giving Tristyn some candy during the parade.

Did you all forget that we still have 3 other kids in this house?
All this talk about Tristyn
I bet you all forgot about the other three active kiddos around here!
Here's an update on all of them!

Ashlee marched in the 4th of July parade with the ROTC group from school.
Can you believe she finished three weeks of drivers ed?
By next March she will be old enough to get her license.
God help us.
She has been working at McDonald's saving up money for her trip.
She is leaving tomorrow for three weeks to go to New York to visit her friend Ruby.
They met at boarding school and Ruby spent two weeks with us last year.
Now it's Ashlee's turn to go visit her!
Yesterday she also went to Shimmer with Billy, Marissa and Melissa.
Shimmer is women's wrestling...oye vey!
They had a great time and got home at midnight.

Leslee is working with her dad at the Cedar Lake fair this weekend.
He has a little gyro stand.
She gets paid and goes to Wal-Mart
And spends her money on Hannah Montana crap.
She is a wise spender though and knows how to find the deals.
Leslee also just finished up basketball camp.
She is also going to the Mighty Acorn camp in August for a week.
She went last year and had a blast.
We love it because it's a week long camp that costs us $25.
Woo hoo!

BJ is also working at the fair.
Working...aka...bug dad for money, run away and get food.
When he's home, we never see him.
He's out at Tommy's swimming, playing football or riding bikes.
He has had Zack sleep over and he has slept over at Tommy's a couple of times.
He's dirty and sunburned and looking like a real boy this summer!
His only plans are to attend summer school at the end of July.
Fun stuff.

Tammy starts a new job tomorrow.
She is interning at a charter school in Gary with our friend Tamika.
At least this will be some experience for her to put on a resume
And maybe even open some doors later on.
Last week she went to Purdue Cal and completed 2 credit hours.
She learned all this crazy stuff about science and made things!
This was the best because...
A) she only paid like $180 for this class.
B) she earned 2 credit hours
C) that gives her a Masters plus 30 credit hours status on the pay scale
D) it was only a week long
E) she had fun
F) she learned a lot of stuff that she probably can't use in her classroom
Tammy, Leslee and BJ are also going on a little suprise vacation at the end of July.
Since Ashlee went to California with us in March
She wanted to take the other two somewhere this summer.
It's a small road trip and I think they'll have fun.
I'm not going and I'm going to stay home with the baby.
So, come on over and party! Just kidding.

That's the update on the rest of the family.
We are busy, but not as busy as most summers.
We are balancing the fun and the work.
Our house is disorganized, but at least we are living life and happy.

Tristyn's First Parade

Keeping Warm with Momma!

Tammy, Tristyn and the Lizzard.

Peeking through the stroller to say hi.

Tristyn's first 4th of July parade!

Tonight we went to the Highland 4th of July parade.
My friend Sarah's mom lives along the parade route
And they invited us to join them on their lawn.
The 4th of July is my FAVORITE holiday.
I love the BBQs, the fireworks, the heat and the fun.
This was the chilliest parade I've been to in a while!
We took the kids inside when the sirens came through.
They were just a tad too loud for their little ears.
Mom caught a lot of fruity tootsie rolls for Momma.
In the end...it was a great night!
Chilly...but great!