Friday Night with Fresh Prince

Ok, so really it was like 15 minutes with the Fresh Prince, but who's counting. I didn't expect to find myself jamming a camera in Will Smith's face on Friday night, but I'll take it! Will and Sony Pictures came to town for the red carpet premier of his new movie "Seven Pounds" and decided to donate a slew of turkeys and a bunch of food to my work. SO....we were invited to the festivities, which meant Tim, Dude and I got to stand in the "VIP" area and take pictures of the man. He really does love his fans. He spent at least 45 minutes taking pictures with everyone who wanted one.

Of course, my boss, who had to ask us who Ben Affleck was when he came to our warehouse, got to accept the check from Mr. Smith, shake his hand and do whatever else he could fit in while being 2 inches from him. Oh well. I'll accept my role as the food bank paparazzi any ole' day. Dude however, could have cared less about the star appearances but LOVED the big speakers and flashing lights.

An Update on Our Cyclops

We've received many concerned phone calls about the state of the dude's "silly eye" (that's what we called it so he would think it was funny rather than horrifying when he looked in the mirror). Visit #1 to the Dr. told us that it was NOT an infection, but rather an allergic reaction in one of his eyes. The benadryl did nothing and the eye got scarier and scarier throughout the day on Friday. To the point where it was completely swelled shut and people were looking at me like I was a child abuser.

A little Internet research on Saturday morning (gotta love that WebMD) told us that it probably WAS an infection and without immediate antibiotics, it could spread to the eyeball and cause permanent damage. We marched our fannies right back to the DR. (a new one this time) and she confirmed that it was as we thought. 12 hours after the first dose of drugs the eye went down 75% and dude's energy level skyrocketed. And Mom and Dad were able to relax and smile big big smiles to have our little man back. Although the cyclops was kind of endearing.

Lessons learned...

#1. Don't assume that your Dr.,despite their white coat and friendly demeanor, knows what he/she is talking about.

#2. Cut your kid's finger nails more than once every 2 weeks so they can't cut their eye, welcoming an infection to occur in the first place.

These pictures are pre-cyclops at the single most funnest hour of the dude's life. We signed up for a "gymnastics" class where he has free reign over a huge gym full of child friendly, cushy, obstacles. He didn't stop laughing for 45 minutes straight and fell in LOVE with the huge pit of Styrofoam blocks (see below photo). He would take running leaps and fall head first. We can't WAIT to go again this week. And the next. And the next.

Mmmmm.....now that I'm thinking about it, maybe that pit of foam had something to do with the massive eye infection......

You Should See the Other Kid

No, we didn't throw a baseball at his face. And no, he didn't throw a baseball at his own face, although that's more probable. We wish we knew what has caused this half face full of awfulness, but we don't. And the doctor doesn't quite know either. His eyes watered for a couple days and BOOM. This started happening yesterday, but only half this bad. This morning was very traumatic when the dude woke up and couldn't see out of one eye. It didn't make for happy times, but as soon as he got used to his state of half blindness, he's been his chipper self.

Has anyone else seen anything like this????? We have him on Motrin and Benadryl and try not to look at him straight on. It's enough to make me burst into tears.

The Awesomest Week Ever

Dude has been flying high lately. The weather has allowed for tons of outside time, which is our favorite place to be. Lots of trips to different parks, running through leaves (the new house offers more raking opportunities than anyone could possibly want) and walks around the neighborhood (translates into dude pushing the stroller with his head down and grunting the whole way). This past weekend topped off all the glee that Fall has brought with it. Nana & Papa came to town on Thursday night...that's where the F-U-N began.

It's safe to say that Nana & Papa had just as much fun as dude did. They didn't stop smiling or laughing the 3 days they graced us with their presence. How could they not? Our little man is pretty dang cute and full of darling surprises. We visited the Children's Museum, a neighborhood Halloween get together, party at Oma & Opa J's house, romping around in dude's cowboy boots, breakfast at Panera, hanging at the park, hiking in the mountains, throwing balls around every inch of the house, wrestling with Papa, reading with Nana etc. etc. etc. This mile high mom was pretty sad when Sunday afternoon came around. We didn't want to see our blissful weekend end:(

A Pretty Cool Anniversary

It's not often that I get all sappy on this blog, but a mininal amount of sap is called for on this occasion.

One year ago, we stood before a judge and were officially deemed a family. A tall bald man draped in black looked at us, smiled and, despite the fact that my fingerprints were unreadable by the FBI, he told us that we didn't look like criminals and wished us a very happy life with our son. Mom V was there to share in the 4 minute life changing experience with us. Dude was too young to take in any of the details, but we won't ever forget it. Not that we needed a judge to tell us that we were a family, but it was sure nice to make it all legal.

I'm grateful for a lot in my charmed life...never did I think that I'd be thankful for my lack of fertility. But I am. So grateful. Our little man is the epitome of what we've always dreamed of in a kid. And I wasn't gifted with stretch marks as a result. Lots of hidden pluses in the adoption world! God has given us a sense of incredible peace with the way our family came to be. He opened our eyes to the miracle of adopting one of his children who so desperately needed us. The beauty is that we needed him just as much.

We love you little Duder. And we love that God has put a little bit of each of us in you. We can't wait to see what you teach us in the years to come! Happy Adoption Day. (Next year we'll work on all looking at the camera for our family picture).

Goats, Leaves, Pumpkins & More

I love Fall. The sound of leaves on the pavement, brisk air, pumpkins, bloody vampires & skeletons lurching on neighbors front porches....the whole halloween part freaks me out a bit, but Fall is where it's at. The weather last weekend was picture perfect, so we took advantage. Enjoy!

Catchin' Up on Video Blurbs

These videos of cuteness were starting to stack up and the requests from grandparents for more "live action" were mounting, so here's a slew of dude coverage wrapped into one.

Happy, Happy, Happy.

We're a happy bunch these days. Happy. It's the new favorite word around our house. Dude says it all day long and always follows it with a cheesy smile. This brings immense joy to us as his parents. Remind me of this joy when he learns the word "no."

Let me share some reasons why we're happy...

#1. Our friends Brett & Megan had a healthy, beautiful baby girl Madison this week.

#2. Our friends Bry & Rach just welcomed long awaited twin boys into the world! Charles & Lewis are both about 5 pounds, breathing on their own and are just perfect.

#3. Our dude's second favorite word is "peeese" followed with rubbing of the chest (sign language for please). The first time he did this, I about drove off the road out of pure glee.

#4. Our house is now complete with window treatments, a shower door, shelving and all the small details that make it feel like home.

#5. Our neighbors continue to give us free donuts from their donut shop.

#6. Soon, we'll have nephew number 3 born into our world (in Toronto).

I'll stop there. That's enough happy for now:)

My Romantic Night with Wessums

For those of you who know me and also know our friend Wessums, you know that the two of us are about as similar as McCain & Obama (I'm currently watching their rivoting debate). Although we play much nicer & do actually like each other 97.6% of the time.

My hubby had to work Thursday, Friday, Saturday & Sunday nights last weekend (yes, it's a fact and I did my very best to smile with loving wifely support each and every night), so I needed some companionship. Wessum's much better half was coaching a varsity volleyball game on Friday night, so I spent a memorable night with Wes and all the children. We hopped in their green Pilot (we have one too), listened to the children laugh and chatter, dealt with a minor set back (see video), cheered on the volleyball team, who won in 3 matches, and called it a night. We did speak some words to each other, maybe even laughed a few times. I definitely see another date in our future.

...And just for the record, if Wessums and I were running mates for President of the US of A, Wessums would be the clear choice. He'd be the first Commander in Chief whose wardrobe consists soley of mesh shorts and not necessarily dirty, but not super clean t-shirts. But boy would he run a heck of a tight elephant ship!

Flashback to my Girls Weekend

Reunion of our "Chicago Met" clan in Chi-town

This post is slightly out of order, but who's counting. The weekend before the big fat move, I spent a long weekend in Chicago without child. My loving, generous and selfless husband encouraged me to take some "me" time and didn't throw any guilt at me in the process. He's a much bigger spouse than I:)

The tykes of the girls lovin' their posing session

During my heavenly weekend I got to spend time with some of very favorite women and their tykes & met up with my Amy from Texas and kicked it downtown Chicago overnight (we had a F-U-N night with our Chicago Met college buds, shopped till we dropped at H&M & were spoiled at our hotel with gifts from my wonderful mom-in-law). I got some QT in with my "prego with twins & on bed rest for the past few months" friend Rach, met my bud Caryn's new duo (more twins), & spent a night with my irresistibly cute nephew "D" and my parents.

Every mom (and dad) deserves weekends like this one. Just maybe not one week before you move:)

We're big posers and tend to giggle like schoolgirls when united.

Tim's childhood best friend's pride & joy Emmers says "Tim" & ends with an awesome nose pick