Rockin' Around...

This is our first year that we have gotten to be in a house for Christmas. So, the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving, O and I went to Hobby Lobby to pick out a few decorations and Christmas tree. We found this cute welcome sign with Santa for $6. A pretty good bargain to me!



O really liked this snowman that we found. Luckily, Hobby Lobby was running most of their Christmas decorations for 50% off. I also think that this snowman is very cute, especially looking so cozy by our fireplace. They also had some Santas and elves like this, but I thought we'd start with just one and see how it looked, and of course, how the hubby liked it. I really liked a lot of the decorations, but figured I should only buy a few things this year - it would be a fun tradition to go pick out a few new things each year together, or go after Christmas shopping and get them at an even better bargain!



We had already decided as a family that we would get an artificial tree as we didn't want to have to deal with a real one, though I did like having a real one when we grew up (but didn't like picking up the pine needles each year!) There were about 4 trees that were pretty enough and in our price range. I tried to take pics to send to the hubby, but he couldn't tell the differences. I told him that one had pinecones and berries (O's favorite), one had just pinecones, the other two were "basic" but one was slightly wider than the other. (all were prelit) As you can see, we got O's!




It was hard to pick out ornaments a lot this year - we just went for a basic theme of red and gold this year. I wanted red/blue/silver, but then I thought I would have a patriotic tree! Need to find all the ornaments that we received as gifts and packed away until we had a tree. Next year we will have more special ornaments on our tree!

KY visitors

Last weekend, my brother, sister-in-law, niece and nephew came out to visit us for the first time. It was really nice getting to show them where we live and share our experiences with them.

Took them a little longer than expected to get here that Friday, but they made it safely and that is all that matters. O loved getting to see everyone, especially his cousins. It was even nice enough that we took the kids to the park one day so they weren't just cooped up inside together.

My 30th birthday was on Sunday which was a good day. I was able to sleep in, we played some cards, took the kids to the park and went out to eat at Cheddars.

Overall, it was a great weekend getting to have family out here. I hope that they had as good of a time and hope that their kiddos got back on their normal sleeping schedule back at home!

Halloween

So, last night was Halloween and it was our first time being in our new house, and thus a neighborhood, for Halloween. Trick or Treating is from 6-8pm here. So we were outside taking a few pictures before things got started. So here is me and my little dragon.





Some people had a hard time telling exactly what O. was because from the front, it is hard to tell if he is a dragon or dinosaur, crocodile, or frog? So we told O. that he had a tail and we had to show it off. At least with the wings I think it is more obvious that we are a dragon. At least it was a warmer costume too!




Finally I asked him to show us his dragon face before we got started. At first he just looked at me funny and didn't know what I was asking him to do. But finally this is what I got. Isn't he a sweetie!

It appears that here, we don't go up and ring the doorbell or knock on the door. People either sit on their porhc or in the driveway with candy, so if you want as well, some people (like us as we were with O.) put a bowl of candy out on the porch.

We did really well with saying "trick or treat" and "thank you" at the beginning. But as time went on, he found out we were just getting more and more candy and began to lose his manners, with us reminding him to say "thank you". At about the last 5 houses, after he got candy, he'd say "more candy" and people would give him more - this was a little embarassing. Between houses I kept saying, "you only get one piece from each bowl". The last couple were ok.

Hopefully next year will be even better!

All Around Updates

O....

O. has been doing really good with his potty training! He is still wearing pull-ups at night. We're also doing great with our big boy bed. I have gotten up and found him sitting on the potty sometimes, but that is the only reason he can get up until morning. This morning we decided to wake Mommy by turning on the light and proceeded to say that it was still dark outsided - yes it is please let me sleep for 10 more minutes - instead we read a book in Mommy's bed together - I think that was even better!

Eating has been a back-and-forth battle. Sometimes we eat like we haven't eaten all day. Other times, he doesn't want to touch things. We have taken drastice measures that involve taking away snacks! Heaven forbid!! :) He always wants a snack the second we get home from school. So, I haven't taken that snack away totally - it just has to be fruit if he wants something before supper.




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Weight...

In the last two weeks I have managed to lose 2 lbs. I guess that is better than nothing though! Won't be playing racquetball for awhile, so going to have to focus on walking and WiiFit! I can say my eating hasn't been the best. I have decided to try to cut back on pop right now with the eventual goal of giving it up (except once in awhile). I'll keep you updated on that as I don't know what I will do without my Diet Dr. Pepper!

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B...

Finally got to play golf for the first time last weekend as a work outing. He seemed to have had a lot of fun and he even won the longest drive (340 yards, I think). He is playing darts still and was excited about qualifying for a tournament on a Sunday in November. He then found out he has to work that Sunday with it being a holiday week, so he is disappointed.

Family and Weight Update

So my little baby turned three on Sept. 19th. I can't believe how big he is. He has been doing really well in his big boy bed. We haven't really fell out since that fisrt weekend in the bed, we only get out of bed to go potty or to get Mommy (either to get me because he is scared or because it is time to get up).

On his birthday, we went to the grocery store and he picked out a cake flavor he wanted - strawberry. So then I bought the ingredients to make cream cheese frosting as well. We opened presents on the webcam with Auntie April and my parents. O was very excited by his bowling set and train set. He wasn't as enthused about the clothes, but he did actually try to put them on a bit later (and putting pajama pants over jeans is no easy task!) We watched our Husker football game (which brought us down a little bit) and then went to Chuck E Cheese for supper, just the three of us.

Brandon and I finally went on our first date since we have lived in KY on Friday. A student of mine has a 12 year-old daughter who wants to babysit and we brought him over to their house on Wednesday so they could meet and see how it went. Since it went well, she watched him on Friday (with Mom's supervision at their house!). Brandon and I were celebrating our 7 year anniversary (on the 21st) and we went to Outback for supper and then to shoot some darts. I haven't been to a bar in a long time and really wish that there was a smoking ban here too! I actually beat the hubby at a few games of 501 (although he had to double-out, I didn't). All in all, I good night.

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Weight update:

Unfortunately, no new weight loss to report. The good news, there is no weight gain to report. My racquetball partners have been out for different reasons lately and I'm honestly too lazy to go over to the rec center to get on a treadmill. Need to get back at this full force, hopefully get to play rball today!

Weight Update

As a lot of you know, I have always wanted to lose this weight, but just haven't been able to. After everything that happened last month, I made a goal of trying to lose as much weight as possible before getting pregnant again. In the last month, I have lost 10 lbs which I am very excited about. My goal was to lose 30 lbs before Christmas, so I only have 20 lbs to go and and bit more than 3 months left.

Here is a pic update from 8/26


Now that the semester is in full swing and my RPT materials are turned in (today!) I have less excuses on the working out side. I am playing racquetball twice a week with two different opponents, meaning I get to play 4 times a week (assuming they don't cancel or we don't have meetings). In a little bit, I would like to start lifting weights again, but it has been so long and haven't done it at NKU before, so I need to find someone to show me how to use the equipment - I hate feeling like a dork!

I'll post another pic around the end of the month but try to update about every two weeks on my weight progress. I figure if I'm accountable to anyone that reads this blog, it will make it a bit harder to cheat and fail. So keep me accountable and give me motivation, ok?

Fall is beginning

I can't say that I have been horribly disappointed with the mild weather that we have been having. I have never been one that really enjoyed the hot weather - I feel I should only sweat when I'm actually working doing something!

Husker football kicked off last night, and from what I heard, we looked pretty good! Nothing quite like college football to make you feel like the cooler weather is coming...I can just imagine being at the stadium where I have to wear my sweatshirt and that is just about right. Rooting for my team with my hubby sitting next to me...doesn't get much better than that. However, having my little O. sitting on my lap watching football on tv gets pretty darn close to beating being at the game!

Last night was a tough one as O. was getting sick last night. He didn't want to sleep on the couch with me, so I was in and out of his room most of the night, every hour or two. We had spent yesterday at the furniture store getting him his new bed. We inteneded to just get a headboard and a twin mattress, we ended up with this:



It was a pretty good deal that we couldn't pass up. Also, since his room isn't huge, this will definitely work well for his room. Want to also get him a new dresser in the near future, we'll see when we may be able to afford it!

He has been doing real well with his potty training. Hoping that after we get him in his new bed and tell him he can get up to go potty, he may be able to TRY to wear big boy pants at night too! His bed will be delivered this weekend. I can't believe that time has gone by this fast with him. I can only hope that God will bless this family with another one in the near future. If it isn't in the plan, I'll be happy with the great little family I have.

First days of classes

This semester I am teaching different classes: One section of STA 205 - general education class but also an intro level stat class for a lot of majors like nursing, psychology, and criminal justice. I've taught this class a lot so I'm not really concerned about the content and the first day of class went really well - lots of students were really thinking about what I said and answered question thoughtfully. This is my only female-dominated class (I believe about 80% female - 30 girls, 6 guys give or take one)

I have two sections of my new prep for the fall - STA 213 - second course in statistics aimed at business majors. I have about 60 students in these two sections and have about 15 familar faces, which is nice. Only had one 50 minute class period with them so far, so hard to tell how it will go. I will be expecting more of them, and should be!! (These classes are about 75% male)

I have one section of STA 250 - which is the introductory stat class but is calculus based - so aimed at mathematics, statistics, and computer science majors primarily. Students asked a few questions the first day and I have already had one of these students come by my office and asking questions on the suggested problems! I always think once probability/counting rules are done, this class is down hill from there! It's exciting that we had to open a second section of this class (someone else teaches it at the same time I do) as we have over 50 students in this class. Hopefully we can recruit some stat majors (as it is brand new this year) from this group! (This class is about 70% male)

My first week of classes happened to coincide with B having to go in an hour early all week and he has yet to get off an hour early. Luckily, we haven't been grumpy toward each other this week (yet?) but we're both pretty worn out.

I'm always much happier after this first week - generally my classes are stable at this point (no more suddenly new students and no more checking to see if they have the prerequisites for the class) and everyone knows where they are going. Nothing quite like students parking in our lots and a couple officers directing traffic in the round-a-bout (isn't its point to not have to have someone directing traffic? maybe it's just me :) )

I always dress up for teaching for at least the first week - need to separate myself somehow! Though I have been beginning to notice that I have way too many lower cut shirts - maybe I've noticed this more now that I'm in a lot of male dominated classes? Coincidence? Maybe they'll at least pay attention! Hah!

The Summer Ends....

I can't believe how quickly this summer has went by. I really enjoyed getting to spend a lot of time with my family in Nebraska and the cooler weather that we have been having in Kentucky lately.

O has been doing really well with his potty training. This week was the first week that we tried big boy underwear all of the time during the day, and he went all week at daycare without wetting at all! He had a couple of accidents at home, but I have been shocked that he has been doing so well. Once he gets a bigger boy bed, then we may see how things go with whether or not we'll try big boy underwear at night. I know that will probably take longer. I can't believe that he is going to be three in less than a month!!

I had my follow-up appointment after my D&C yesterday. When I got there, I was a little upset as they didn't have me on their schedule - are you kidding me? but they managed to squeeze me in a half hour later. I had really been doing pretty good until I got to the office. Seeing all of these rather pregnant women was getting to me a little bit, but the nurse that called my name was the one that was there when I found out the baby had no heartbeat and she asked me how I was doing - that was the first time I had cried about this (except in B's presence) in about a week. My blood pressure was a little high for me (120/78) and I had lost 8 lbs in the last two weeks (which was ok'd by the doctor - she knew I was trying to lose some weight too). Appears I should be ok to try again when we're ready - so that is good news.

Can't believe that classes start on Monday! Looking forward to it some - I went into this profession for the teaching so I'm ready to get back to it. I have my reappointment materials due in mid-September though (for the following year). It is so hard to "sell myself" to people that don't me that well. I really don't like bragging on myself too so that makes this hard - all self promotion. "look at how good I am at this" and "look at how much my students like me"... not fun!

Enjoying my last homework grading - , class planning - , test preparing - free weekend. It will be Christmas before I know it!

Coping and Moving On

Considering what I have gone through in the past week or so, I think I am doing relatively well. I can't help but wonder "why me" and this is what I am having the hardest time dealing with. I know that so many women go through what I am going through and all, I'm not special in that by any means. How many women have to go through all the complications with one birth that barely enabled me to have a chance of conceiving again and then take the first child that I conceive after that point? Now, I'm sure that some of you are thinking "atleast you already have one child" are wondering what I am so whiney about. I have always wanted two kids, that's it. I don't want O to be an only child and at this point in my life, I'm ready for the second one. How many couples out their get divorced? should they never be able to get married again since they already had one spouse? I think not! Ah, rant over.

Ironically in this month's parents magazine that I received the day after my D&C, there is an article on "second time infertility" - is this supposed to be some kind of sign to me?

I have my follow-up appointment next Friday to make sure that everything is healing as it should be. The doctor seems to think that we can start trying again as soon as we want - phycially maybe, emotionally may take some more time for us.

I've been really trying to get back into my routine as the beginning of the semester is quickly approaching and I really should be "over it" soon. (At least as it is seen by most people - i.e. no more breaking down and crying in front of non-family about it). Getting back to work is nice, but I will be even better once I can start working out again - need to lose some more of this darn tummy of mine! So you all better watch out - a smokin' hot mama will be coming your way soon!!

A tough week

This past week has probably been the worst week of my life. I had my first prenatal appointment. Now I am one that doesn't believe I am pregnant until I get to either see and/or hear my baby. The doctor and I were discussing who would deliver the baby since she is moving in September, and what day we would have it on (March 1) since I would get to have a scheduled c-section. They then do an ultrasound to see how many babies are in there and to listen to the heartbeat. Good news - only 1 baby. Seeing it just made my heart melt. But I could tell something was wrong with the way the doctor was searching for something. I asked what was wrong and she said she couldn't locate a heartbeat - my heart just sunk and I was in denial.

She wanted me to go to the hospital to get a second opinion with higher level ultrasound technology. Three hours later, the worst was confirmed - the baby was dead.

Then we had to decide what we were going to do - I had no signs of a miscarriage. I could either wait to see if nature ran its course or have a D & C performed to remove the fetus. After discussion a lot with my family, especially my Aunt Robyn who is a nurse, I was advised to go ahead with the D & C so that I would be under a controlled environment.

I went in yesterday and had the surgery performed. Although I was totally out for the procedure, the idea of my baby being taken out of me is very hard to deal with. Shouldn't have too long of a physical recovery, don't know if I will ever fully recover emotionally.

Nebraska Trip - Part III

While I was back in Nebraska, even though it wasn't a holiday season, I had lots of plans. I got to spend a lot of time with my immediate family - we got to play some cards, go out to eat, have a tea party, etc. It was a lot of fun getting to see my niece and nephew and how much they have grown. My brother also had his birthday while I was back and of course, we had to let him win a few games ;)

I also got to see a few of my aunts and cousins spread throughout the week, and even happened to get to see my Uncle Wayne since he happened to be in town.

I got to spend some time with my in-laws, and a most of O's great grandparents. O really loved getting to see his Uncle Austin, and definitely missed getting to see him the second time we were out.

I got to spend lots of time with my great friend, April. She is moving at the end of July to Minnesota, so it is going to be more work for us to get to see each other, but I am sure we will manage.

I also got to have lunch with an old friend from high school - it was a lot of fun catching up!

But one of my favorite parts of my trip was getting a pedicure with my Mom and April, without O! I really missed getting those and may have to find a place here to get my toes done!

Nebraska Trip - Part II

One of the more eventful part of my trip happened in my first 4 hours of being there. I had told my parents the week before that I was pregnant and due around March 8th, but I hadn't told my brother and sis-in-law yet.

I decided to "tell" my brother by sending him a picture of my positive pregnancy test shortly after he arrived. Once he finally got the picture, his first response was "yes". We both sort of looked confused at each other. And then asked, "so what do you think?" He then asked "is that yours" - which of course I responded "yes" and showed my sis-in-law. Then he gave me a shocker and told me that was where they had been today and found out sis-in-law is due March 15th! He then told me that he thought I had gotten ahold of their test - which is where the confusion came from.

As if we couldn't get the first two close enough...

Nebraska Trip - Part I

The most eventful part of my Nebraska trip was getting my first speeding ticket in Northern Illinois.

73 in a 55...construction zone...mandatory court appearance...$375 minimum fine - judge decides. I didn't see that darn reduced speed sign...there weren't even any cones or anything yet.

Luckily, the judge saw it my way and reduced it to a regular speeding ticket...$75 fine. Much better, but still I got my first ticket :(

O behaved relatively well in the court room. I can now tell him he first appeared in court when he was 2!

Summer Update

I am done teaching for the summer!! Woo hoo! All but 3 of my 46 students received a C or higher in the class. One stopped coming to class and then magically showed and thought they could pass the final - that wasn't happening. Another constantly had excuses for why is wasn't in class, but since he had taken it before, he would be fine. Don't students get that if you have to RETAKE the class, you don't get it and should be coming and putting more effort in. The last tried really hard and did real well on the homework, just couldn't pull off exams.

On July 2nd, O had an opthomology appointment at Cincinnati's Children's Hospital. After pinning him on my lap, they did a quick exam and they finally saw his eye turn in. Then they had to dialate his eyes - which takes effect after 30 minutes. Then we came back in, pinned him in my lap again while the doctor determined the prescription for glasses. Since I don't have glasses, this was a bit hard for me - but the doctor tried to show me what O was seeing, then I felt worse for having not gotten O in sooner! The doctor also said that there are no guarantees, but wearing the glasses all the time right now may correct his eyes so that he may not need glasses for "the rest of his life." We have a follow up appointment in mid-October so that they can see how the glasses are working, if they aren't, it may mean surgery. The on Friday, I took O to pick out frames and order the glasses. Now, if you have never tried to force glasses on an almost 3 year-old, I hope you never have to. Go on this journey with me....

So, you are in the store with a little boy that doesn't want glasses, but you know you need to get them TODAY. You try on glasses yourself so that he may want to try them on too. But, that doesn't work. You sit him on top of the counter so that he can watch in the mirror as he tries on frames. No dice. So what is a parent to do? You grab two pairs of glasses and take him to the floor. You pin one arm under each of your legs while you put glasses on him, while of course he is kicking and screaming and trying to take them off. First pair, no go. the second time you pin him down and put the glasses on, he stops his crying and fussing and wants to see himself in the mirror! SUCCESS!! Finally, he picks out a pair of frames himself and puts them on, all by himself - these are it. Now, to start the fight to take them off so that we can get them...

Even after this fun couple of days, O still wanted to cuddle with me, go on walks and everything! At least he is this forgiving - if only we all could be!

In-Laws Visit

Having my husband's family in town was a lot of fun. They arrived late on Friday night. When O and I came downstairs in the morning, grandma, grandpa and uncle (14 years old) were there. O came around the stairs the opposite way into the kitchen and then saw gpa sitting on the recliner. O was definitely shy at first, but warmed up pretty quickly, especially once we got our breakfast. At dinner on Saturday night was the first time that O said "uncle Austin" - I guess he doesn't want to say things that don't make sense at the time as we had been trying to get him to say it before. That gives me more hope that we'll get more names down when we are back in NE in July.

B, gma, gpa, and uncle went to King's Island on Monday while O was at daycare and I was working...hard of course... they seemed to have fun and I hope to go one day - just didn't think it would be much fun with such a little one and how cranky he, and the rest of us, would be by the end of the day.

Gma, gpa, and uncle did some sightseeing while we were working on Tuesday and then O stayed home with them on Wednesday. On Thursday morning, I was trying to get O to give hugs bye since they were leaving early, but he cried and said "no bye" - breaks your heart, doesn't it? He acted pretty good yesterday. When I picked him up at daycare he said "grandma??" and I told him that they had gone bye-bye. He sadly said "bye-bye?" and I told him yes. He then said "ok". We'll see what happens today when I pick him up!

Has summer begun?

I have really been enjoying my lazy few weeks here. Been coming into work a few days and getting some things done, sometimes playing around and chatting with coworkers.

I have enjoyed getting to stay home with O a few days and get to take him shopping when we feel like it and getting more cleaning done.

I have enjoyed getting addicted to playing Bejeweled in the past week.

But now the reality of starting to teach again on Monday has set in. Five crazy weeks are approaching me. While teaching for 4 hours a day and having 2 hours of office hours and having to do all the planning attached to it, I also get to put a poster presentation together and get up-to-date on statistical education research. Both of these things I have to have accomplished in the next 4 weeks!

When the summer session of teaching is over, I will wonder where it all went. But I am looking forward to it since it will mean it is that much closer to me going back to Nebraska for a visit!

My mother's day weekend + Monday

So, this weekend we thought we would be smart and go out to eat on Saturday night for Mother's day instead of fighting the crowds on Sunday, especially with O. We decided to leave the house around 5 and go to Cheddars, about 15 minutes away. As we pull in, expecting to be one of just a few families that are there, we see there is a line waiting to be told how long they will have to wait! Jeesh...did everyone have this plan of ours - no actually. We just didn't factor in that it was graduation at NKU and a high school's prom that night!

Once we finally get seated, O wants to sit in the booth with Mommy - okay, we will give it a try. He did pretty well. We ordered an appetizer, two sodas (O got his first taste finally), O a cheeseburger and fries kiddy meal, B got a steak and shrimp dinner, and I got a Club sandwich with a baked potato as I was saving room for my dessert - a freshly baked-in-a-skillet cookie (had to preorder) topped with icecream and homemade fudge sauce with whipped cream and a cherry. B was kind enought to take O to the car so that, for once, I could eat in peace! When all was said and done, our final bill...... $39.15. Wow! I'm coming back

B and O got Mommy some very pretty flowers and permission to choose myself another gift as I always want strange things. Would like to get myself a few personal training sessions at NKU, but they aren't "taking any new clients". Just my luck.

I got to sleep in on Sunday which was sooo nice. B picked up Penn Station for lunch for me and then we had burgers and cheesy potatoes for supper. Pretty nice day.

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Monday was an interesting morning. I put O is some new clothes that I had bought and he asked me to carry him down the stairs, which I do many times. As we were getting ready to leave he told me his pants hurt. Thought maybe the unwashed fabric was getting to him so I put on a pair of jeans instead. He is still crying and saying his pants hurt. I figured it would wear off, so out we went - Mommy having to carry him. When we get to daycare and I put him down he takes one step and sort of collapses. We don't see a swollen ankle or anything. But 10 minutes later he takes about 4 steps and does the same thing. At this point he doesn't even want to put any weight on that leg. So, off to the doctor.

When we pull up to the doctor's office I ask him if he wants to be carried or walk - carried. When I put him down in the office in a chair and then check in, I turn around to find him up and playing..."limping" a little. By the time we see the doctor, we are pretty good though she gave me a referral to get x-rays if I thought it was necessary. But then she also saw what we saw...O's eye going off in one direction. She gave me a referral to an opthamologist (sure I butchered that) - an MD eye doctor to have him checked out for a suspect lazy eye. Ok, now I am nervous. Couldn't get in until July 2nd! So we'll see how that goes.

What a morning...

The morning started off with me not really wanting to get out of bed and B staying home sick - afraid he has gotten the flu and I don't want him near me then! O also did not want to get out of bed. Amazing, we made it out the door by a little after 7 this morning. Generally takes us 25 minutes to get to daycare, so I should have no problem getting to my 8am class, right? That is unless there was a wreck on the ON RAMP to the interstate!!! Traffic is horribly backed up on the highway getting to east bound. I moved about 0.5 mile in 7 minutes. I couldn't do this. So even though I am new to the area, I jump on the westbound interstate hoping that I can soon turn around. I had to go about 4 miles to get off on another exit, but I wasn't chancing the u-turn after my mom rear-ended someone trying to do just that. As I am heading back now east bound, I can see that I made the right decision. I could still see the same semi-truck waiting to get onto the east bound interstate that was a ways ahead of me in line. Now, I should make it to daycare by 7:45. Everything is going smoothly, I will be okay. Are you kidding me? Just my luck, now my gas light has turned on. Still have atleast 10 miles to daycare. Going to have to trust that my light is right and I have an entire gallon of gas left. I am saying a little prayer in my head the whole way to the gas station next to O's daycare. I put about 4 gallons of gas in the car, run to O's daycare and have to leave him a little upset as I don't usually just drop off and run, but had to. Made it to school at about 7:53, ran to my office, got my stuff to teach, got my Diet Dr. Pepper and made it to class at 7:58!

Could have been worse!!

Old and New

We have been in our house for a little over a month now. Still have some boxes that are needing to be unpacked. It is just hard to unpack boxes of stuff that you haven't needed in the last month...what do I really need out of those boxes? There are quite a few decorations to put out, but I don't want to do that until I know all the stuff I want in a particular room, you know?

O is talking more and more and surprises us with new words every day. Last night we finally got his snake toy out of the box and he knew it was a snake, and that it hisses. When did he learn that? The cutest was when I was eating a piece of oreo cheesecake. He was on my lap and we were all talking about our days. Daddy said that he had a long day. At the same time, O and I said "i'm sorry daddy." It was adorable.

We are hoping to start potty-training O soon. We bought some Diego pull-ups and he seems to be interested in wearing them soon. He likes to go into the bathroom and help me out, but if I try to put him on his potty chair, he gets upset and won't even sit! Don't know - I don't want to push him too soon, but he is 30 months old and is a big boy in so many other ways.

Tonight we are having a friend over for dinner for a change, that should be nice. I hope O is his sweet self while we have our guest. We'll see!

Ah, Mondays

Well, the morning started out with me being sore in places I didn't know existed. More strange was that I can't tell you why I hurt, cleaning the old aparment must use some interesting positions to make me sore. At school, I was being bombarded with questions from students on the upcoming homework assignment. I begin to wonder if students even look at the homework more than a day before it is due.

So, since I was sore, decided not to play racquetball. Thought about going to Mickey D's on the way home, but thought I should be good. Got home about 6:30 and garage door wouldn't open via the opener. Now, I was frustrated as i sometimes didn't work all that well. So, I brought O in the front door whose pathway was covered with the hose. Luckily O didn't trip. We came in and I went to get O some juice and the fridge light didn't come on. Hmmm... I begin to look around and we have no power...no one in the neighborhood had power (they were putting in street lamps at the pool, I guess, when something happened). So, I begin to look up the number to the electric company to then realize that my phone is blinking low battery and of course since there was no power, I couldn't exactly charge it.

Now it was time for supper, so back out the door I went to get O supper. We went to Fazoli's. At least that was nice. Got back home about 8:15 to find the power back on. YEAH!! Put O to bed and now I am about ready for bed.

Apartment and House

So this weekend, I went over to our apartment to get some of the cleaning done. I got both bedrooms and bathrooms taken care of so I could shut off those rooms. I ran the self-cleaning cycle on the oven while I was there. So I should only have about 3-4 hours left of stuff to do. Ironically, I was going around the rooms and pulling out the child-safety plugs out of the sockets. While pulling one out, part of the plastic hit my finger pretty hard and took out a chunk of skin and made me bleed. Child-safety my ass!

B went and bought a grill and lawn mower this weekend. They are being delivered today so I am hoping that we can grill out (for the first time in about 4 years) this weekend! We had to order different blinds for the non-master bedrooms as the rollerblinds were too wide (and we did follow their instructions, so we did get our money back on these). Hopefully those will be here this weekend but we will still be waiting on the special order ones until about easter.

Really want to do my balance ball, but I refuse to do that until I have blinds in my living room!

new things

After gma and gpa's visit, O has been having a tough time. On Thursday, once we got downstairs, it was "grandma" and then when we got home, it was "is grandma here?" On Sunday, when daddy was taking O outside to play, it was "papa?" He has also been very clingy when I drop him off at daycare, even today.

Our little family went out to Lowes yesterday to look at some things that we will need/want in the near future - a grill, lawnmower, a hose, decos, etc. Got to wait for this month's credit card bill to close first...still waiting on that tax refund to help us out some, ya know?

B got up a couple of blinds this weekend - the one in the master bathroom made me happy as I got to take my first soaker tub bath last night. This is definitely the first tub that has made me feel a little "smaller."

We watched a little comedy central last night - there was blue collar, ralphie may and larry the cable guy roast on. I haven't laughed like that in a long time!

Gma and Gpa's Visit

Grandma and Grandpa (Weyer) came to visit for a few days. B and I had been trying to get O to say "grandma" or "grandpa" for a long time, but he had never done it. However, about as soon as the walked in the door he could say it, but grandpa came out more like grandma, so he started calling him "papa" as requested (I believe this is what his cousin, K, calls grandpa). That is just like O - doesn't seem to do anything until there is a purpose for it, and until it is perfect.

We took them out for their anniversary on Sunday - to Texas Roadhouse. It was probably one of the most peaceful meals I have had out with O in a long time. We played a lot of cards and papa took O outside for awhile...about every day. O and I took wanted my parents to come to Steak and Shake while they were here...one of our favorites. However, this time around, when O was offered a bite of shake his response was "eww". Are we sure he is my son?

There were a few fun moments since we don't have blinds up and the fact that papa "broke" the monitor (stopped working under his supervision). They also had some fun times with the ice dispensor shooting ice out at them when they thought it was done.

All went well until they left. O reacted pretty hard to them being gone. Don't know how long it will take for him to realize it. He came downstairs this morning saying "grandma" and looking for her. He had a real tough time with me leaving daycare...it was hard to get him to let go of me. We'll see how it all goes.

The economy

Don't kid yourself. The deep recession of 2008-09 is really a depression.
Then to witness business guests clapping at the close of the NY Stock Exchange at the podium every single day is like statisticians clapping for nonsignificant results on hypotheisis tests!

reference

Tis Life

I am really looking forward to this weekend for so many reasons-
1. NKU is on sping break next week.
2. My parents are coming out for a visit
3. We will offically be moved into our new house.

Looking forward to being in a bigger place where Owen can do more without getting into trouble (as easily). However, this will be a change for us as we have gotten use to our morning routine. Now that the rooms are on the second floor, going to have to work something else out.

Hoping that once we get settled we can start potty-training O. He has been showing an interest for about the last month, but we didn't want to start this until after the move - maybe after the first few nights we will take down his crib rail so that he will sort of be in a "big boy" bed. He has definitely outgrown the idea of a crib, but he does not like change at all, so the move will be hard enough for him at first.

Having my parents out will be nice to have some family to talk to in person for a change. Really wish it could be for longer, but it is better then nothing. Saddened that I won't probably be out to NE myself until after the 4th of July...not sure exactly when yet. B's parents are coming out in early June and then I teach until the 4th...so I may have to wait until after that...

Homeowner

B and I are officially homeowners as of today at about 4:15pm. Got the keys to the house...with a list of things that we have to do - all the utilities, get a mailbox, homeowners association, etc.

We're going to my having movers do the bulk of the moving for us...lookin forward to lettins some other people do that for a change.

Going to get my taxes done tomorrow - looking forward to getting to claim that new $8000 tax credit for buying our house :)

House Issues

Well, we were supposed to close on our house last night...the paperwork hadn't gone through yet so we weren't "cleared" to close yet. Had some last minute paperwork that this company needed from me...verification of deposit (to make sure we actually have the money for our down payment) and we didn't have one after the "ernest money" had cleared (the money we had to put down when we signed the contract). Then we needed to put initials by all of these things on the contract. I think I finally have everything they want...but since it wasn't going to be done today either we also had to make an addendum to the contract to change our closing date to be by the 25th now instead.

FUN FUN FUN

House Stuff

Last night, my hubby and I bought our fridge for our house. It is a stainless steel Maytag french door fridge. We had actually gotten close to walking out at hhgregg and going back to Best Buy as this fridge was a little pricey, Best Buy didn't even have this one in the store either. But then a guy came over to help us and we found out that they have deal with our builder and we could get it at commercial price, about $150 less than the most reduced sticker price, plus they had 12 months no interest which definitely helps.

We are set up to close on the house on Thursday. Don't think we will be moving in until early March though. We are looking at actually hiring movers this time instead of trying to find people and all that jazz. We found one place that is $74 an hour for 3 guys plus a $60 trip charge. Since I don't think it should take much longer than 4-5 hours, this realy isn't too bad of a price!

Honesty is the best policy?

We get our electric/gas bill from the same place. The first few months I didn't think anything about the fact that it said that we had no gas usage - just figured we weren't using the furnace and maybe the water heater is electric, you know? Well, looking more closely at our last bill, it still said we had not be using any gas...and on our furnace, it says "gas furnace", so of course we had been using it. So I called the company and they have now sent someone out to look at the meter that they think is broken. So now, with my luck we will get backcharged for the last few months. My mom works for a gas company, and I asked her about it. She said that they would calculate an average usage for the time frame and probably give me a bill for about 70% of it since I let them know about it. She also told me even if I wouldn't have said something, it would have caught up with us eventually! So I guess I did the right thing?

Shopping

On Saturday, I did something amazing...I got out of the house by MYSELF :) I finally got to use my New York and Company giftcard from Christmas. I also had a coupon that was save $30 on your purchase of $75, My original total came up to $93ish and I had gotten a pair of denim capris and three nicer shirts. After my $30 off, it came up to $60.13 - which I also got $15 City Cash for every $30 I spent...so I just came in with two of these to use in a couple of weeks. Then after my $25 gift card I spent about $38 (with tax).


Then I went to Old Navy since I had a 40% of coupon for a single item for myself which is what the picture is... and I am wearing it today since it is supposed to get close to 60...we can pretend it is Spring. I got it for about $14.

Finally, went to Once Upon a Child and got O a few spring/summer tops...got 3 for about $13...not too bad :)

Pictures of my sweet cheeks

Christmas in KY


Christmas at Grandmas

New Homebuyers stimulus

Well, B and I are new homebuyers and we were going to take the 2008 tax credit of $7500 that works as an interest free loan that you back back over 15 years ($500 a year). However, I have heard things in the news that Obama is looking at revamping this bill so that it doesn't have to paid back for homes purchased by the end of this year. Now, it sounded to me like this was going to possibly be retroactive back to a certain date (which has some people upset if they don't meet that cut-off point). Again, this is what I have heard (and read a bit). Anyone know more about this? That would be awesome if we didn't have to pay it back :)

Oldy but a goody

"Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht frist and lsat ltteer is at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed ervey lteter by it slef but the wrod as a wlohe"

Aenr't we all a liltte srtgane?

Say what?

Now, I am not one who buys those magazines or papers that are at the checkout line in a store, but I heard something sad about it... does it really make sense to cut President Obama out of a picture to make room for a picture of Jessica Simpson "losing a weight battle?" First, I don't think that J.S. should ever cover up the President, but more importantly, the people that are giving J.S. a hard time about gaining a few pounds are probably ugly, fat people who will never get close to looking like that! I would die to look like that right now :)

Stat Blog

If you want to, you can check out my stat blog

Random statistics things I come across...

Refrigerator

We have started looking at fridges here the last couple of days since we know we will need one. So here is what I am thinking, but please put your two cents in before I do something stupid!

I like the french door model - the fridge is on top, and opens like a side by side but there is just one big area fridge (i.e - not two separated) and then there is a pull out freezer on the bottom that has two big compartments and a couple pull out racks on top. B primarily just wants to ensure that we have an ice/water thing on the outside, and they do make these that way, too. Any opinions about this type of fridge?

Finally, our other appliances are black...so do we need to go with black or wood stainless still look okay?

Looking for opinions here! Feel free to tell me what you like/don't like about yours :)

Random thoughts....

1. Why do people think that it is sufficient to clear off only the front windshield of their car and leave the rest covered in snow and ice? (I was behind one of these people yesterday)

2. Why do people think that just because there is snow on the ground that they can take up 2-3 parking spots and not park so that others can park as well?

3. Why is it that as soon as you get your child all bundled up, they suddenly have to go to the bathroom, but they didn't have to three minutes ago?

4. Why do people eat icecream and pizza while the watch "The Biggest Loser?"

5. Why is there handicapped parking at Sonic?

6. Why is abbreviation a long word?

7. Why can my son make me smile at the strangest thing when I have had a crappy day?

8. Why do I smile even as I write this?


Sometimes we don't know why things happen or why people can do what they do. All we know is that we may not be able to control others' actions, but we need to realize that we can control our reactions to them - and that is what is important!

Another snow/ice day

We are ALL stuck at home today. It started with knowing that O's daycare would be closed...then making me hope that classes were cancelled as I didn't know what I would do if they weren't. At about 11:15 last night they decided to cancel all day classes...then a bit earlier today decided to cancel night classes tonight. B's work called the day off this morning as well. There was maybe an additional inch or two of snow, but about half an inch of ice was on top of everything...then about another 2 or 3 inches of snow came down this morning, so I guess we have an ice sandwich.

Now I get to play catch up in my classes...I have time built in for stuff like this, but what it takes away is extra time to work through more examples and slow things down a bit...so it is still unfortunate for them.

So far there are around 60,000 customers in the tri-state area without power, we're lucky we aren't one of them. Had a couple of weird things happen though - the tv looked like B had paused it, but it just froze up. So I unplugged for a minute or so and we atleast have cable, no DVR right or on demand right now, but better than nothing. Then B got a phone call from ?? as it said incoming call from phone number: 000-000-0000??? Sure this weather is playing tricks on us all.

Hopefully, back to work tomorrow.

My first official snow day..

here in Kentucky anyways. It seems as though the cancel school a little bit more easily, thought how would I know- did I leave the house today?? Heck no - why would I take O out in this if I don't have to. However, I had signed up for an alert that calls you about things happening at school, like cancellations- Finally got it at about 6:50 this morning - about when I would have had to leave!!! Good thing I just got on the internet instead - thank goodness we got a computer this weekend!

Though I have always hated snow on days I need to be somewhere, it was kind of nice to get an unscheduled day at home with my sweet cheeks :) We had a pretty good day - made cookies, watched "The Cat in the Hat", colored, and read books. He's getting smarter and cuter (if that is even possible) every day.

With as much I enjoyed being home with my guy today, I really don't want another snow day tomorrow (we're supposed to get a few more inches of snow with sleet on top tonight) as I am already behind in that one class...I can make up today easily!

Computer Part?

Well, we finally got a new computer at Best Buy this weekend. It is a HP. Best Buy had a pretty good deal on it plus they had 18 months no interest on purchases of $499 and up. We also got a nice wireless printer/scanner/copier $75 off since we purchased a lap top. Now just going to get the old one all cleared off so I can give it back for them to deal with!

We bought a house!!!

We have officially contracted to buy a house. Still got to get to get the details ironed out - i.e. we might qualify for 100% financing for Rural Development which would not require mortgage insurance. So ironically, we we have to put our 3.5% down, we will actually be paying about $30 more a month then if we qualify for this and put 0% down!!

It is a new house built by Arlinghaus Builders. It is a 2-story with 4 bedrooms. Nice master bedroom and bath, unfinished but walkout basement with a deck and a nice backyard. It is on a cul-de-sac and already has some landscaping done. Our closing date is February 20th.

Houses

We have narrowed things down to 5 houses - 3 are in the "tops" though. Here are the pros/cons of our top 5:

Bottom 2:
House 1: Brandon doesn't like that it has a formal living room away from everything and that it doesn't have the best hardware and light fixtures. However, nice big kitchen, very close to my work.

House 2: It is only 3 bedrooms (when you put it in comparison with the others that all have 4), is a foreclosure, bad tax rate, not the greatest school district. However, it is on a corner lot, two bedrooms are upstairs in a loft making the house seem a bit bigger than it is.

Top 3:
House 1 - a little pricier, not as big non-master bedrooms. However, brand new, nice backyard with a deck, best school district, good tax rate

House 2 - not as big of a backyard, corner lot close to a busier street, small breakfast bay. However, does have a formal dining room, lowest price for a 4-bedroom, only one with a finished basement, nice cherry cabinets in kitchen

House 3 - steep driveway, worst tax rate, a foreclosure. However, probably our favorite actual house on the inside. Huge master, big open main floor.

We're hoping to put in an offer on one of these this week :)

Computers Suck

We have been having some issues with our computer for a while now. We must have gotten some sort of virus that the virus protection software given to me by my alma mater didn't seem to get rid of. I took it to the IT guys here at my university...the virus is so good that it has enabled the Task Manager that people use to look up the issues involved. Our only hope is to reformat the entire thing which wipes out everything! I have saved all my files that I need onto a flash drive and am working on downloading the drivers for this computer. I don't know if my copy of Windows XP will work since it wasn't for this computer.... :( We'll see what happens.

Now looking at Dell for a new computer...I am going to need one soon anyway. My old university may just get a computer back that has nothing on it :) They can reload all the needed programs anyways....

Beginning of the Semester

Well, the semester began on Monday. Right now I teach on MW from 3:25-4:40 and on TR from 8-9:15, 10:50-12:05 amd 12:15-1:30. So I have late MW and early TR, talk about throwing my schedule out of whack. When I taught on Tuesday the sun wasn't even up yet. Poor Owen didn't want to get out of bed either!

I have about 140 students right now. Some of the classes were more talkative on the first day than others, but most students are scared of statistics so it takes awhile to warm up, if they ever actually do. I'll be energetic enough for all of us!

Still waiting to get my evaluations back from last semester...wouldn't it make sense for me to have them before this semester begins so that I can make some suggested changes if I like any of them? Nah - that would make sense. I have a couple of ratings on ratemyprofessors.com - they are all positive, thank goodness. One says that I am entertaining to watch...what does that mean?

Well, back to work I go...

Houses....again

We went house hunting in a different area last night. I liked the area a bit better - much quicker to the interstate, quite a bit less taxes (9.64 per 1000 vs 13.40) and nicer schools (from what I have heard anyway). Wasn't as blown away with as many houses though. There were 3 that we liked out there. Our realtor had us meet with some very reputable builders to show us a couple of the homes out there. She told them where we were looking to spend and one of the houses (the one we liked) was $20,000 above that. She thinks that means that they believe that they might go down on the price. Of the "lived-in" houses that we saw, there were two we liked, one more than the other. The one we really liked was priced decently (about where we would really like our max to be) has 4 bedrooms, finished basement, pretty kitchen with cherry cabinets, wood floors, an island, a pantry, but it has a really small breakfast area. Good thing it has a formal dining (and formal living) room. It is on a corner lot, but not the biggest backyard. The other one was more of an "ok" house, but ok enough to work. It also has 4 bedrooms, a big kitchen and breakfast area, but no finished basement.

We're going to look some more tomorrow, so hopefully Owen will lay down for an early nap. It will be the first time we have him with us while we are looking. His opinion matter though!!

Poor Daddy though-his only day off for awhile and we are looking at houses. But hey, at least we are getting out of the house!

I'll report again later.

Brandon, Darts, and Come on

I am excited that Brandon met some people to play darts with when he went to the bar the other night. They even had some steel tips darts that he could use so that people could see how he throws. Looks like he is going to be on a team that starts in February on Monday nights. That will work out okay since I will be lucky to be home with Owen by 6:15 on Mondays - it can be our night.

Now, last night's BCS Game was a very poor representation of both teams. I guess the one that sucked the least won? Come on Oklahoma - you were so much better than what you showed last night!

House Hunting

Brandon and I went and looked at 6 houses yesterday - 2 were crossed off rather quickly. One of them had some pretty bad water damage in the kitchen that they were trying to cover up with a rug. The other had some pretty poor craftsmanship in certain areas. There were 3 that we both liked, some more than others. One is a bit cheaper than the rest but was built by a builder with a questionable reputation. Has a nice sized yard, finished basement, nice kitchen... Another is a brand-new home with 4 bedrooms (a huge master with 2 walk-in closets and whirpool tub) a wood-floor in the kitchen, a formal and informal dining and living rooms, a wetbar in the basement! The last was gorgeous - nice backyard. huge master bedroom, beautiful kitchen. Concering is that it is a foreclosure and had some stuff ripped out - no oven, microwave, some light fixtures taken,... but still beautiful.

We are going to look at some more houses in a different area on Friday and then more again on Sunday.

Otherwise we have been pretty boring. Brandon went to a bar with a dart league to get introduced to some people last night. Haven't gotten a chance to talk to him about how it went yet.

Brandon went to the doctor yesterday and they are going to run some blood work, to do an endurance test, and then wear a heart monitor for a couple of weeks. He was told to give up a lot of caffeine, quit smoking (he was given a prescription for Chantix) and that his blood pressure was a bit high - that his weight may be the biggest issue with this.

I am working on notes for the beginning of the semester on Monday. I am also trying to adjust back to Eastern time as I have an 8am class on Tuesdays and Thursdays and I am lucky to crawl out of bed by 7:30 lately...got to work on that!

Back in the saddle

Owen and I ended up coming back on Sunday. Things looked pretty busy for all the family that day so it just made sense to come back a day early and get settled back before going back to school on Tuesday.

So far, so good for Owen - he slept well last night with minimal fighting and ate okay last night considering we just got done with a bit over 12 hour total time trip.

It was really great getting to go back and see everyone. I began to cry a bit on Saturday when I said goodbye to Keira and Aden - though I will miss their parents a lot too! I think it was harder since I know I won't be back until either May or July depending on how my teaching schedule for summer is...that is, how much I am prepared for it.

Our little family has a lot of resolutions this year...Brandon has a few: quit smoking, drink a lot less pop, eat better, and to play more with Owen. I have a few typical ones - lose some weight (30 lbs by end of May), save more money. I want to cut back on my soda too! We haven't let Owen have soda yet so we think we should cut back a lot too so that we aren't being too hypocritical. We just don't want him to be as addicted to it as we are. I also want to start working out more, which will be hard to do, but I will just have to make time. A friend and I are going to play racquetball 2 mornings a week as our afternoons are booked on different days. Finally, I want to stress less about the mess of my house and live in the moment with my husband and son.

Going to work on getting everything I brought home with me put away today as well as grocery shopping. Back to school tomorrow...

Christmas Vacation

Sitting here at my Mom's house watching the Husker game while Owen naps. We are currently ahead, so we will see if it stays that way.

I have been in Nebraska since December 26th and am supposed to head back on the 5th. I have really enjoyed being here, but am missing being with the hubby back home. This is a nice vacation, but there are other things I wish I could get done too.

We looked at the one house last week - it was really nice, it just didn't feel right to me. We may be able to afford it now, I just don't think we could afford the upkeep of such a nice house. It did have a very small backyard too!!

Owen wasn't really into opening his gifts at the grandmas' houses. He did back in KY, but that was his first set of presents. I haven't let him play with many yet so that we can get them back home.

About to lose my battery and on gma's laptop...so I'll be back...eventually.