DaBabs

Rachel's 3 Year Update

2012-01-18T20:01:00.004-06:00

I missed posting this last year....so here's a comparison between her 2 year check up and 3 year check up:

2 Years Old / 3 Years Old
32 1/4 lbs / 40 lbs
35 inches / 38 1/2 inches

She's about 95% for weight/75% for height. Which is right about where she's been since she was born.

We're now starting a sticker chart to try and reward non-tantrum behavior. I thought they were called the terrible 2s, not the 3s??

But a really cool development is that Rachel can kinda, sorta read. She likes to do "letters" which consists of her picking a word and typing it out on the computer. She definitely recognizes words when you read to her too. We read about 3-5 books every day. Right now we're on the second round of the children's Bible I got her for Christmas. We both love the Old Testament stories.

Which brings me to another point - all the stories are about signs and plagues, etc. If they wrote a modern day Bible, would they put all the modern tragedies in this context? Hmm. Food for thought.

Anyhow, Rachel is a chatter box and loves to make up stories. But her favorite game is making you food. She loves to make pretend cookies, cakes, etc. She has a kitchen set and pretend food that gets a lot of use. Who knows? Maybe she'll be a chef. I encourage her to help in the kitchen since I was always so intimidated by it when I was her age - and now!! My mom was such a good cook, I really felt I had no right to even try. Plus it kind of stresses me out. How do you time all those side dishes with the entree?

So that's the three year update. Rachel's hair is pretty long now, but you would never know it because it's so curly. And she has the best laugh I've ever heard. :)

Happy 2012 Y'All

2012-01-01T19:25:00.002-06:00

So, so, so glad 2011 is behind us. I missed my mom and dad terribly over the holidays. My mother-in-law came for Thanksgiving, but for Christmas we just decided to stay here. We originally didn't have any plans on Christmas Eve, but our neighbors invited us over and it was really nice. Her grandpa reminded me so much of my dad, it was eerie.

It was fun doing the Santa thing with Rachel. She was excited to leave cookies and carrots for the reindeer and her favorite gift from Santa was one thing in her stocking that cost a $1 - kiddie nail polish! It's pink and smells like strawberries. She didn't get the concept the first time and tried to put it on herself - on her lips! She loved opening her gifts and was so excited by each one.

We skyped with my brothers and sisters on Christmas Eve and I'm glad we did that. I was really missing them all. I actually haven't spent Christmas with them for a couple years now. Rachel was sick last year, but in some ways, it was kind of a good thing because it made it easier to stay home this year.

Christmas Day we had my friend Cora over and her family. Cora and I had become quite close and I'm so sad that she's moving back to NY. Her husband didn't have a job the whole time he was here and he finally got two job offers in one week - both in NY. So back they go. So sad to see her go - work is always better when you have good friends to talk to.

We did the oplaki - which is a Polish tradition using a wafer like substance. You pass it around the table and wish each person health, happiness and prosperity. The kids didn't get it at first, but they eventually caught on. I served kluski soup (Polish) , which Johnny loved. He said it was the best ever! ;) We also ate prime rib - a tribute to Fr. Paul who used to give it to us every year at Christmas. We then did the rice pudding tradition (whoever finds the almond gets a year of good luck). That one didn't turn out so well so I'll have to try a different recipe next year. Cora got the almond.

Last night we hung out with our neighbors again and that was fun. I'm glad we met them - they're our closest friends here and we always have fun with them. Rachel and Lydia are the same age and call each other best friends. They're cute together, tend to be little troublemakers sometimes.

So that's the latest update. Hoping 2012 is a good one. I'm thinking about concentrating on making myself look and feel good this year... 35 is mid-30s and I'm definitely starting to look/feel it!

All about Aunts

2011-10-30T11:03:00.002-05:00

So I had a whirlwind trip into Omaha yesterday to celebrate my Aunt Lorraine's 85th birthday. She is my Godmother too and my mom and her were really close. I always loved her - she is an inspiration to me. When I was little, I wanted to be an artist like her. As we've grown older, I discovered we shared the same politics and love some of the same books. Plus, she's always dressed so elegantly. My siblings tell me her and her ex-husband were like characters straight out of Mad Men in the 1960s. Fun, always dressed to the nines and totally cultured.

We had a nice lunch at Biaggi's and I did really, really well until the goodbye part. It was really hard to see my two aunts without my mom. I was so used to the three of them over the years and when I hugged my mom's best friend, Chloe, I just kind of lost it. Of course, it doesn't help that I woke up at 4 to catch this flight and I'm catching a cold!

After the lunch, Barb, Dave, Chris and I headed to the house so I could check it out. It was nice to see it all dolled up for sale. My siblings think it doesn't feel like our parents house, but I'm sorry, it still does. I don't think I'll ever stop thinking of it as "my home."

Barb had a bag of things for me to take home. My mom had been organizing our papers for years and it's filled with all the cards I made for them over the years. Programs of musicals I was in. News clippings about dean's list. Basically, my childhood, but in paper form.

But speaking of aunts, there is one very dear aunt I did not get to see in my quick trip. But I found a paper I wrote about her sometime in elementary school. Here it is:

The person I admire is my Aunt Jean. She is a very special person whom I have always loved. I like her good example. She is a very holy person and is a wonderful listener.

I often talk to her about problems and she understands. She helped me grow very much. Her understanding and dear example helped me bite my lip when I was angry. Her values have always been wonderful.

She helps many people and she helps the poor. She gives us money every Christmas. This year, she didn't get a Christmas bonus, but she gave us McDonald's gift certificates.

She is everybody's favorite aunt and I hope to be a favorite aunt just like her, following her good examples.

In case you're wondering, I got an A+ for this essay. The teacher wrote: This is a beautiful paper, Becky! You are lucky to have such a wonderful aunt!

That I am. I have wonderful aunts. I'm very lucky to have had them, all of them, in my life.

Pumpkin time!

2011-10-16T13:14:00.017-05:00

Lots of pumpkins here.

Hanging out in the corn bin. I'm a Nebraskan and I've never seen this before!

Rachel and Daddy in the hay maze. Sponsored by Alamo Toyota. No kidding.

Cut ups in the cut outs.

Rachel with Daddy and Mommy.

Two of a kind.

Beautiful girl.

Rachel update

2011-10-16T08:48:00.003-05:00

Yesterday we took our first family pictures! I know, three years later, right? Well, we've been busy.

Anyhow, we went out to Gruene (pronounced like Green), Texas which pretty much looks like what you think a small 1900s town in Texas would look like. It's really cute and we got some great pictures. One of Rachel, in particular, stands out. I wish I had it now - but we brought the purple butterfly/fairy wings my friend Kay gave her and she is sitting on the ground looking up and looks, literally, like a little angel. So adorable. I can't wait for people to see it.

In other Rachel news, she recognizes a lot of letters now. Her teacher is so clever at school because she has all the kids learn the first letter of their name -"R" for Rachel - and now she recognizes several letters because of the kids with different first names - "T" for Tristan/ "P" for Peyton, etc. It's so cool to see her recognize letters and try to "read" books now. We also have flashcards the school gives us with different phrases they learn in school and I try and use those sometimes. I'll be so sad when she leaves this classroom, but her teacher told me the next one is really good too and not to worry. I believe her because she's not exactly modest. She knows she's a great teacher and that's ok. ;)

Rachel is also learning Spanish words and numbers which is weird for me. Weird because I really don't know Spanish. I know, I know, I moved to San Antonio. I had been here, literally once, before I accepted the job, did you know that? I moved on a leap of faith (and Jonathan had never even been!). Anyhow, I learned French in school, although we had a brief Spanish period in, I think, sixth grade. So I know just about as much as Rachel does now. Which freaks me out. She'll probably be bilingual. Well, at least I'll have a translator. People sprinkle Spanish phrases in everyday conversation here all the time and I'm such a Midwesterner. I stick out like a sore thumb with my pronunciations!

She also has - knock on wood - been sleeping through the night for about the last 2-3 weeks. This is amazing to me. I feel like a different person since my sleep isn't interrupted all the time now. I'm not sure why. Her pull up is definitely less damp than it used to be, so I'm wondering if she was waking up when she went potty in her pull up. I don't know. Some people are telling me to move her off pull ups at night, but I'm just not ready for that. I'd like to enjoy my sleep for a little while please!

Today we're thinking of going to the pumpkin patch since we haven't gotten our pumpkins yet. I need to decorate the house, but with all this construction, I'm just not feeling up to it. Everything is dusty and that makes me not want to put anything out there to get filthy. But I'll get around to it - Rachel loves helping me now and I'm sure she'll love decorating too.

My first apartments

2011-10-13T20:45:00.003-05:00

Yes, I still read The Chicago Tribune every day. A couple days ago an item caught my eye. It was about some landlords upset about something in Evanston. Which got me thinking about my first apartment in the Chicago area, which was in Evanston. I found it shortly after I got my first job out of school and I was so proud of myself for finding this "quaint" apartment on my own.

It was located on a pretty quiet street, tucked back from the main road. There was a coffee shop around the corner, an El stop about a block away and a sushi and fancy french restaurant across from the coffee shop. I was pretty far from Northwestern so most of the people in my neighborhood were post grads like me or actual families who could afford the turn of the century homes. I used to love walking around the neighborhood and peering into the homes to see the perfectly decorated interior. I used to wonder - would I have a home someday? Would someone be peering into my house?

My apartment was in a home, apparently built in 1905 (according to my recent research). I think the house was split into three apartments. I had the "attic" one bedroom. It was small. It was so small that the ceiling sloped in the bathroom and I had to crouch with a hand held nozzle to take my shower. The kitchen was a like a minature version of one. At one point, squirrels took up housing with me on the other side of my bedroom door so I got to hear them rustling through the actual "attic" part of the house all night long. When I called my landlord about it, he told me to leave them alone - after all, they deserve to live. Um, ok, buddy. The other apartments were much nicer. They had original built ins and cool features. I had a sloped bathroom and mice in my wall pantry. Awesome.

Needless to say, I didn't last all that long in there. But it was my first place and I even had my own little garage to park my car in. I have such fond memories despite all the crazy experiences. I got to decorate my first place entirely in the style I wanted.

My next apartment, in Chicago, was also a great place in a "quaint" sort of way. It too had mice. It had bars on the windows and at one point, the great flood of the early 00s ran through my basement apartment and caused the wood floors to rot and warp. The landlord never fixed those, or the peeling paint on the ceiling. But I still loved that place. I repainted it, cleaned the blinds and made it as homey as I could. It was a studio and my bed was up against a brick wall. I sprung for HBO and used to invite my girlfriends over to watch the latest episodes of Sex and the City or to have a Oscar viewing party. My friends still talk about that place.

You know, they were both dumps, but they were mine. Sort of. And now I'm a landlord. How strange.

Parade Time

2011-10-01T09:18:00.005-05:00

Yesterday, Rachel's school had a culture parade. What is that, you ask? Well, the classrooms picked a country and learned all about it this week. Friday was the culmination where they came out and demonstrated what they've learned to parents and grandparents.

Some of the kids seemed pretty shocked by the crowds and there was definitely some stage fright and crying. Rachel was pretty surprised to see me - I wasn't sure I was going to make it but it was 3:30 on a Friday and luckily I was able to make it. I was so glad I did, I'd feel so sad for her if she hadn't seen someone she loved in the crowd. :(

Which country did Rachel have? Mexico! It got the most claps, obviously, but her teacher also did a really good job of orchestrating a class demonstration. I love Rachel's teacher. I'll be so sad when she moves up to the pre-school class.

Mexico is the importer of silver, cotton and coffee. No other "imports" were mentioned. ;)

Lessons from my daughter

2011-09-30T06:41:00.002-05:00

Mondays are big days for us. Rachel not only has dance lessons at school, we take her to swim class with her best friend Lydia. (Lydia is our neighbor's daughter and Rachel and Lydia see each other probably every other day now).

Well, after class, I took Rachel to the changing area. I don't know why I was in a hurry, but I was. I was trying to not only take Rachel's swimsuit off, but the two swim diapers underneath (even though she is potty trained, they insist every kid under 4 wears two. I found out later why - but that's for another story!). Well, it was really hard to get all three items off at once. Rachel looked at me and said, "One at a time, mommy, one at a time." Ah! My not yet three year old girl has to remind me of this lesson as I'm trying, in vain, to be supermom taking all off at once.

Then as I tried to cram her little wet foot into her swim shoe, she looked at me and said, "be patient mommy, be patient."

My little Buddha.

Trader Joe's How I Love Thee

2011-08-19T07:36:00.002-05:00

One of the greatest things for us in Barrington was that Trader Joe's was in the next suburb over. We grew to love, and rely on, their frozen dinner and desserts. Not so impressed with the fresh food/meat/dairy, but the frozen stuff was amazing. We still had to go to Jewel, or "The Jewels" as true Chicagoans called it, for other items, but we loved the variety and options.

My first week here I went to the local grocery story, HEB. HEB is similar to pretty much any other grocery store but the weird thing about them is that they cater to their neighborhood. So some stores here ofter more Mexican food, some offer more Jewish food (yes, believe it or not there is a contingent of Jewish folks here), etc. The one by our apartment apparently catered to the dregs of society. I stopped going to that one after that visit! The one out by our house is a HEB Plus and it's huge. It's nice, but huge. A trip there isn't quick. We also have a Super Target across the street and sometimes shop there. But that's pretty much it - HEB and Super Target. I think there are a couple Whole Foods here, but they're all the way in Alamo Heights which is about 30-40 minutes away.

But then yesterday came the news that TJ's is targeting San Antonio!!! Thank the LORD! But then I heard they're looking at Alamo Heights too. :( I'm thinking of flooding Trader Joe's headquarters with requests to come out by us - I will pay to shop there folks it's that good. So come on TJ's, give a loyal fan some love!

Return to Sender

2011-08-08T19:56:00.002-05:00

After many weeks in storage, the things I inherited from Mom and Dad finally arrived at our house. There were some big boxes, and of course, one huge crate that held the Grandfather clock. I started to go through some of the items and got sad all over again. It doesn't help that everything smells like their house. Looks like their house. Yet it's in MY house now and it doesn't feel like I'm playing dress up with grown up things anymore now that I have THEIR stuff too.

All these boxes reminded me of the phrase return to sender. It actually kind of reminded me of a break-up. There's my high school photo. The Polish glasses I gave Mom one year for Christmas. The pictures of Rachel. The Polish pottery she lovingly collected for years.

Except it's not a break up I asked for. And it's not a break up they asked for.

I guess if you could think deeply about it, it is sort of a break up. A break up from being a kid. I remember admitting at my bridal or baby shower, can't remember which one, that while I was X age, I still felt like I was 9 years old inside. Mom laughed and laughed - she said I couldn't stay 9 forever.

You're right, Mom. I guess I can't.

The Great Estate Sale

2011-07-31T16:36:00.002-05:00

What do you do with 40 plus years of...stuff?? We had contacted a few estate sale companies when I was still in town after mom's funeral. A couple came out to meet with my siblings and we learned two things -

We weren't really "worth" their time since we didn't have a ton of antiques (One guy actually wanted me to "pitch" him on our stuff - which was awkward)

We wouldn't make much since they would take most of the profit...I know, you're thinking, heartless, but we also have a 40 year old house we have to sell that frankly, needs some updates before it can be sold and if we do sell some items, that can help us out

So we decided to hold a sale ourselves. For two months, my siblings have been going through boxes and determining who should get what, what would go to the sale and what would go to the two dumpsters they rented. (By the way, they filled both dumpsters!). They also removed the living room carpet and found some beautiful hardwood we'll have to sand.

I came back this weekend to help with the sale. It was incredibly exhausting - both mentally and physically. We all felt bad that people were going through the house - BUT - we think it was a good thing in some respects because we got a ton of compliments and when they found out it was for sale, some folks began to be even more interested.

But you know what? I liked the sale. I didn't think I would - but it felt so good, cathartic even, to know that these items were going to some cool people. The college girls who took the aprons for their first apartment. The young couple - USAA members (yay!) and the wife who was an oncology nurse who took the couch, Dave's dining room set and two sets of chairs. A young couple with three kids who took mom's entire bedroom set - including the curtains. And of course - our awesome family members who took the things that were really fun and some with meaning. Cousin Tim getting the Andersen Fire Equipment sign. Aunt Rosemary getting the stool her Dad had made and mine refinished. Cousin Amy getting the fire truck music box/decanter (!) and cousin Mindy getting the "B" for her yard.

There were funny and weird ones too - one guy came in with hoop earrings. He picked up mom's 60 wig and "Is the Pope Catholic" book. Hmm. Another older man came in, went though the whole house and left with a $.25 screwdriver - we saw his truck was piled with a lot of other stuff.

Of course, not everyone was cool. Some jerks came in and some people made rude comments (I sure hope you didn't know the people who owned this house!). I was also distressed by some of the older people who came in. I kept thinking - please don't buy anything - save your kids from this!

But overall, it was a lot of work but I think it was worth it. We made enough to fix up the floors and probably some paint. We didn't get rid of everything, but made a really great dent and don't have as much to haul out now.

But it was sad too. That's probably the last time I'll ever be in that house. After 34 years, I went through each room and just said goodbye and thanks. It was a great house to grow up in and I have so many great memories. I've lived in four houses - this one, Wauconda, Barrington and San Antonio. Each house had something special about it. But it's just a house. And that was just stuff. We still have family and friends and that's the most important thing.

Mommy Do It

2011-06-30T06:47:00.002-05:00

I've never met a kid so obsessed with their mom than my Rachel.

When she was 7/8 months old, it wasn't separation anxiety for her parents - it was mommy anxiety. And since then, it's continued.

We'll get out of the car, Johnny, me and Rachel, and he'll go to unbuckle her seat belt. "No! Mommy Do It!" She'll demand.

Or she'll cry in the middle of the night and have to be put back to bed - which since I came back from Omaha - has been every. single. night. (except twice). Johnny will head up the stairs - "NO! I want Mommy!" So even though he's trying to help me sleep, nope, Rachel won't have it. A tired mommy is a good mommy to her I guess.

Only mommy is allowed to bathe her, put her to sleep, help her with the potty, etc.

I keep wondering if her obsession will tail off about 12/13 when she goes through the whole "my mom is ridiculously old fashioned" stage. Who knows.

Her obsession with me is a big reason why we switched schools. Every morning was traumatic. She'd lay down and flail herself on the floor when I'd get ready to leave. I told the teachers there that "Hey, if I was your mom, wouldn't you be upset too?" They didn't seem to get I was joking.

Maybe I'm not - maybe I am really that great.

Ha ha ha ha ha

What's next

2011-06-27T06:04:00.003-05:00

My friend Kevin just completed his first triathlon this weekend to raise money for cancer. Which got me thinking - maybe that's something I could do.

Nothing makes you feel more hopeless than being told there is nothing you can do. Maybe raising money for colon cancer research so another family will have more time with their loved one will make me feel like I was able to do a little something.

There has been a colon cancer 5/ 10k here in SA for the last 2 years in March called Get Your Rear in Gear. If I start now, I could take my time to train and raise money by March to race.

What do you think?

The Reality Sets In

2011-06-22T19:56:00.002-05:00

This is about the time I start getting forgetful.

I go to call mom out of habit and then realize what happened.

I save her last answering machine message not really believing she's gone. Thinking this is all some sort of movie or something and I can talk to her later about how silly it was that I kept her message.

I get mad at myself for all the little things I should have done or said. I get mad that my mom won't get to see Rachel grow up. That to Rachel, Grandma is probably always going to be in Heaven.

I wonder what I'll do when Rachel turns 13 and starts challenging me on something and I won't have my mom to call and say - what did you do about me?

No one is around to remember my stories. If I wonder about that trip to South Dakota we took- just me, mom and dad, no one will know what I'm talking about.

The only good solace I have is that I actually had a conversation with my mom over Easter about whether or not I was a good enough daughter.

Sometimes I feel like I failed her. I wasn't as patient as I should have been or called her enough. I chose to live far away and that must have hurt her - although I never intended to do that. I just wanted to experience the world outside of Nebraska.

She laughed and said "Don't be silly! You were a great daughter!"

That's the only thing I can think about when I start getting mad at myself for not spending more time with her in the hospital. For not outright quitting my job and moving back.

I sometimes thought I'd do something dramatic if one of my parents died.

I didn't.

I wonder if I'm supposed to? What is life about anyway?

San Antonio, I hardly know ye

2011-06-12T21:28:00.002-05:00

I really don't know this city. After a year, you'd think I'd feel like I know this city pretty well, but I don't. People kept asking me if I like living here when I was back in Omaha and I honestly didn't know what to say. I mean, the commute and weather is great, but I've barely scratched the surface in really knowing this city.

I was thinking back to my first year in Chicago and I can't really remember if I felt the same way. I was sort of in a crazy state of mind back then though, I had this boss that was exactly like the main character in Devil Wears Prada (seriously, I read the book and started hyperventilating), so I can't remember if I felt so disconnected. I probably did because I don't think I made my really good Chicago friends until after I'd been there a year.

I remember I joined the local alumnae chapter of my sorority and started to feel a bit more connected when I did that. But I'm really not interested in doing that this time. It's not like I was really into the sorority in college and I'm certainly not now - 12 years out. I remember going to some college alumni events too - and I'm not sure that's what I'm looking for either.

I tried this mom club my neighbor belongs to and some of the women were really cool, but a couple were just so awful. Truly judgmental and you could tell they were judging me for being one of the working moms. Don't need that.

Frankly, what I'd really love to do is get back into acting, but I'm not really sure how I'd find the time, or the support, to do that. I sort of look back at that time in my life with a glow. I wasn't like the best actress ever, but I remember this really great feeling of working with these people who were all sort of misfits like me. We used to go to Village Inn or Perkins after play practice and have these really deep conversations about life. We all just had this belief that so much was ahead of us. And it was. I guess I'm interested in recapturing some of that feeling again.

Dreams

2011-06-11T10:21:00.005-05:00

I keep having dreams about mom. In Omaha, they were so vivid, I think I was even talking in my sleep and reaching out into the air (which is rare for me, that's not something I do).

My dream last night was more of a nightmare. I had a remote control for mom's car (her old car - the white Cadillac). She was in it, coming down Grover street and I started messing with the controls, causing her to crash into our neighbor's house.

I told Johnny and he said it's all about guilt. All I know is that I woke up absolutely exhausted.

I don't remember having dreams like this after Dad died. In fact, I very rarely had dreams about him. I wonder if it's because of all the guilt I feel for not being there sooner and the fact that you're just tied to your mom differently?

I keep wishing this was all a dream. I keep wanting to call her - and when I came home, I listened to an old message on our answering machine. Everything just happened so fast, I don't think I've quite processed everything yet.

My mom's obituary

2011-06-02T12:15:00.000-05:00

Rosalie Begley

Begley, Rosalie
Feb 12, 1936 - May 28, 2011
Preceded in death by husband, Donald J. Begley; parents, Walter and Sophie Burzynski; brother, Fr. John Kent Burzynski, OFM; sisters, Gloria Daugherty, Rita Ballantine. Survived by sons, David D. Begley, Stephen P. Begley and wife Lisa Worthington; daughters and sons-in-law, Barbara E. and Howard Gilman, Christine J. and Kevin Shouse, Rebecca A. and Jonathan Hirsch; grandchildren, John P., Mary D., Grace A. Begley, David, Byron, Aaron Gilman, Erik, Alex Shouse, Rachel Rosalie Hirsch; sisters, Lorraine B. Phillips, and Jane (Bernard) Langan; numerous nieces and nephews.

Family will receive friends Tuesday 2-4pm, with Catholic Daughters Rosary at 3:30pm at West Center Chapel. VISITATION resumes after 5:30pm at Mary Our Queen Catholic Church with WAKE SERVICE at 6:30pm. MASS of CHRISTIAN BURIAL Wednesday 10am, Mary Our Queen Catholic Church. Interment, Calvary. In lieu of flowers, family suggests memorials to Mary Our Queen Educational Trust, Creighton Prep, Marian High School, or Masses.

HEAFEY-HEAFEY-HOFFMANN
DWORAK-CUTLER
WEST CENTER CHAPEL
78th & West Center 402-391-3900
www.heafeyheafey.com

What I wrote for my mom's program

2011-06-01T08:14:00.001-05:00

It’s appropriate that our Mother passed away during the month of May. May is traditionally dedicated to recognizing Mary, the mother of Jesus, and really, Our Mother as well. Pope John Paul II, “that nice little Polish boy” as our Mom liked to say, was adored by our Mom and encouraged a devotion to Mary. He was beatified on May 1, 2011. God’s connections are everywhere.

Mom passed away at age 75 -- the same age as our Dad when he passed. She died on May 28, he died on Feb. 18. When Chris received Mom’s hospital bed at her home, the man delivering it was an older gentleman named Arch. He hadn’t delivered a bed in five years, but for some reason, was called to help out that day. We believe it was Dad, coming to help Mom home.

Our Mom was one-of-a-kind -- a “great lady,” as many people have told us. She was truly a gentle woman, with a quiet light and an amazing sense of humor and strength. She was a daughter (RoShe to her family), sister, cousin, wife, sister-in-law, mother, aunt, friend, grandma, neighbor, and parishioner. She was a part-time secretary in the early years of Andersen Fire Equipment Company (which was the Begley family business), Cub Scout den mother, Brownie Girl Scout leader, Marian Mom, cheerleader at our events, Eucharistic Minister of Holy Communion, bridge player, solitaire and Sudoku lover, occasional golfer, devotee to Eucharistic Adoration, and worldwide traveler. When Dad died, she mourned, but picked up the pieces and continued with her active social and spiritual life. Her strength amazed us all.

In short, she was our world. The person we called eagerly to tell our good news to; or the only person who understood why we were upset about something. There is a reason why people turn into giddy children, wave and mouth “Hi, Mom!” when they see a camera. Moms are everything to us. They comfort us when we’re sad or hurt, encourage us and love us unconditionally.

She never pushed any of us into being something we weren’t. She encouraged and nurtured each of our talents. And while we joke that each of us was Mom’s favorite, we were all her favorite in our own way.

Our parents are now united in Heaven. And while we are sad to lose her, knowing that we have two angels watching over us, and our children, comforts us. We will draw from the strength our Mother possessed to get us through this, because as she would say, “It is what it is.” Moving on and continuing to be the good people she raised is the best tribute we could ever hope to give her.

My mom

2011-05-30T07:34:00.004-05:00

My Mommy passed away at home at 1:02 Saturday morning, May 28. It was very peaceful and we were there with her. (I suspected Mom would die at night because honestly she was a total night owl her whole life. She used to make scrambled egg sandwiches or rearrange furniture in the middle of the night because she couldn't sleep! Our Dad, appropriately, passed away at 5:30 p.m., which was the end of the workday for him).

I had slept briefly from about 11 - 11:30 and woke up just as her breathing had changed. My sister and brother had gone to lay down - Steve was never able to, so he came back in the room and my sister Chris woke up as did Barb. So we were somehow summoned awake perhaps and were able to be with her in her last moments.

Earlier in the day, we had our opportunity to really say goodbye to Mom after the priest came and we had the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick. After the sacrament, each of us thanked Mom for being so wonderful to all of us and some shared favorite memories. Her sisters were with us as well.

I, of course, shared how happy I was that my daughter is named after her. Sometimes Rachel can be so stubborn and it reminds me so much of my Mom - in a good way of course. So I know that she lives on in Rachel. I also talked about how proud and amazed I was by her ability to keep going - and thrive - after Dad died. She had told me once that some widows she knew over the years just gave up after their spouse died. She was determined not to be like that.

When Mom died, I recalled something she once told Johnny after Dad died. This house was so special to her. A lot of happy memories were created here and after he died, a lot of people were encouraging her to sell this big house. But at first, my Mom resisted. In fact, she even told Johnny that she'd have to be carried out!! Of course, she did start rethinking that and planning for a move at some point to a smaller place, but I couldn't help chuckling a bit. Because in the end, stubborn Roshe got her wish.

In Omaha with my Mommy

2011-05-27T20:25:00.001-05:00

So, a lot has happened since I last blogged.

My mom and mother-in-law came to our house for Easter. It was a really lovely visit. My favorite part was teaching Rachel how to dye eggs with her Grandma and Bubbe.

But something was wrong with Mom. She took longer than usual to get up the stairs and her breathing was ragged. It honestly sounded like congestive heart failure. Her back was hurting her really bad too and I wanted to take her to Urgent Care, but she said no, she'd go to a Dr when she got home.

So she did. And was promptly put into the hospital for three weeks. During that time, we found out her colon cancer had returned. And it had spread. All across her body, including her lungs.

She is now home and receiving hospice care. I'm here too. And while she only opened her eyes for a minute or two while I was here, I kept hoping, praying, that she knew it was me. That her little Bonus Baby Becky was home and it was ok. It was ok to let go and be with Dad.

It's been awhile....long, long while!

2011-04-10T09:15:00.004-05:00

I realize I haven't updated this blog in awhile. But Rachel doesn't go to bed now until 9:30 or 10 most nights and by the time I get her to sleep, I'm beat and not up for updating the blog. I'm so tired when I'm reading with her, she demands that I "keep my eyes on." (This is after reading multiple stories and then making up multiple princess stories. Any guess who runs our household?)

This weekend is the start of Fiesta, which is a big city-wide sanctioned party. On Friday night we went to the Alamo Heights festival (this is an area of town that reminds me a lot of Barrington - old, expensive homes, hip downtown village area). Typical beer garden/bad food/rock band to the right, crazy kid things to the left (including a giant plastic ball that was like a Hamster ball that a kid could get in and walk in - bizarre). It was a little chaotic, so I don't think we'll be visiting that event next year.

Yesterday we spent most of the day looking for a new car. I'd like a crossover, but I'm still in the investigation stage. We also took Rachel to soccer, which she likes. The coach is really good - he knows exactly how to corral those crazy toddlers.

We've been busy with the house these last few months - I still have to tackle my office, which I'm so not looking forward to. I had it so well organized in Barrington that trying to reorganize it here is daunting. I'm tempted to just throw everything out! I did organize Rachel's play area and it looks so much better. I even put a wall sticker of Curious George and it looks really cute.

As for potty training, Rachel is doing ok. She is scared of public toilets and that has led to some accidents, but we just got this portable potty thing and she loves that. So now it seems like we'll be able to be out and about more since she likes using that. She still has accidents though, she has a hard time knowing sometimes that she has to pee before the pee is going down her leg. "I have to go to the bathroom - um, yes I see that." At home we have the clever ploy of setting the timer and that makes racing to the bathroom every hour or so a game. But if she's tired, it's not a fun game.

She is just talking up a storm, it's amazing. She constantly asks questions and wants to know what everything is. She was sick on Thursday, so we toured a new daycare/school nearby. I'm still not sure how I feel about the school she goes to now. Drop off is still torture and that makes mornings so tough on me.

I'm sure I have more to update, but sounds like princess is up so I better go. I'll try to update this more often. Sorry it took so long!

Adventures in Potty Training Part Deux

2011-01-09T09:49:00.001-06:00

I got a call from Rachel's teacher on Thursday letting me know that she was ready to join her "cohorts" in "potty training bootcamp." She had already started following them into the bathroom for the regular potty intervals and had used the potty quite a bit in the last couple weeks. Plus, she's staying dry longer and longer and had begun to tell them (and us) when she needed to potty.

So on Friday I sent her in with big girl underwear. I don't know why this made me sad. But she still sleeps in a crib, so I guess she isn't totally a big girl yet. ;) She is wearing pull ups during playground and nap time though since she doesn't have complete control yet.

We've been sticking with the regular potty intervals here in this weekend, but she did have one accident yesterday. However, she was even good about going in the public restroom at the restaurant we were at last night.

So hopefully we're on our way to being diaper free soon! (Although that transition to a big girl bed might be awhile. The thought of trying to keep her in a bed all night tires me out just thinking about it!).

One step forward, six steps back

2010-11-16T06:27:00.002-06:00

Ugh. Sometimes I feel like I'm taking one step forward and six steps back at work. I think I'm finally in a good groove - people are starting to know me, things are clicking and then whack.

Just a little reality check. I have to be honest - being the new kid really sucks. You're in a constant state of having to prove yourself and it just gets so...tiring.

It's hard to think back 7 years ago and try to remember if this how it was last time. I'm sure it was, but again, hard to remember.

I wish I had more friends here to talk with. I think that was the difference last time, I at least had some friends to rely on to cheer me through it. I was also younger and probably didn't know any better!

I know part of the issue is my own mind. I take scenarios and play them out in my head and it just makes things worse.

Oh well. I'm taking a half day for Rachel's birthday tomorrow and a full day off Thursday so I can spend time with my mom, so maybe that break will be good for me.

So, what have you been up to?

2010-11-11T22:01:00.002-06:00

Oh, you know, just the usual here...we're just adjusting. To the new house. A new routine. A new commute. But Rachel and the kitties are doing much better in a house of their own. I think I heard Addy meow twice the entire time we were in the apartment. She hid out under the bed most of the time. For 5 months! But now she's busy exploring, meowing, looking for pats, etc. Bella is back to her old self too, although she adjusted better to the apartment than Addy did.

We still have boxes and things to put away. It's still sort of overwhelming. I suppose it'll get done at some point. It's hard not to want everything done and put away NOW. I did order blinds and curtains, so I'll be excited when those things come in because I think the house will feel more homey. The thought of Christmas on top of all this house stuff just makes me want to cry. I suspect my Christmas gifts will be very uninspired this year, so my apologies in advance!

I'm feeling more like I'm into a groove with work - and now I'm starting to, finally, reach out to some other folks in the department that I don't work with to try and get to know them. There are some cool people in this department. We had a Halloween party and we had a bit of a karaoke thing and they were all surprised I could sing. I keep forgetting these are all new co-workers who really don't know anything about me! As I told one of them, I just want everyone to love me already! ;)

I still feel sometimes I'm on some sort of vacation though. I don't feel connected to San Antonio yet. It's still weird to me that we live here. This weekend I was driving along thinking, why did we move here again? It's a nice place, but just not feeling connected to it yet. Hopefully that will change.

Rachel's big birthday - 2 - is next week. We decided not to have a party. The house isn't really ready for that and I don't think she really needs one. We'll just have a little one with Johnny, me, Rachel and mom (Grandma). I'm planning on bringing cupcakes to her class on her birthday though. We got her a play kitchen, play ice cream and a playmobile jumbo jet thing (she loves airplanes).

Can you believe it's been 2 years already??

Moving in

2010-10-19T06:55:00.002-05:00

Moving always seems like a cool thing to do...until you see all the boxes!

It's so interesting trying to rearrange our furniture from our old house in this new house. Places where we had walls are now windows, so obviously furniture can't go there. So it's kind of a delicate balance of, well, technically this piece was in the kitchen, but I guess we'll put it in the dining room for now....

We have too much stuff. And the amount of spices...we have 5 peppers. Seriously, 5 peppers. I guess we couldn't find them all the time so just kept buying replacements. Most of our spices are way too old too. I saw some from my first apartment! So yeah, I think it's time to de-spice. I'm looking at adding a couple shelves that are triple deckered and you can see the spices and also adding an in-drawer option.

I think I'll just start putting stuff away and then declutter room by room once we're more settled. Not having a basement sure makes things tougher - we have some storage, but it's not like we had at our old house, so this is just good motivation to clear out.

After spending 5 months with rented furniture and realizing we can survive without all our "stuff" you really learn what you really need and what you don't. I was unpacking some things yesterday and was thinking, "really? do we really need this??!" We just didn't have time to declutter before the move since I had only 3 weeks to get down here. I did a little, my clothes for example, but nothing too hard core. Guess I have my after work/weekend activities planned for awhile!

The movers did break a couple things. Gas from the lawnmower leaked on some of Jonathan's clothes, so not sure what we'll do about that. And some things feel "missing" so we just have to really go through everything and make sure it's all there.

I only took today off, so this will be a loooonnng process. You're all welcome to fly down and join me. :)

It's really ours

2010-10-17T09:18:00.004-05:00

Well, we closed on our new house, Friday (10/15/2010). It's so strange knowing this house that we watched "grow up" is now actually ours. We were saying that it kind of felt anti-climatic in a way since we watched it being built each week. But I really enjoyed that process though. It's neat to see the house take shape. It just doesn't feel real when it's done!

On Saturday, we had the Direct TV guy come by (can't miss those Bears games so had to go satellite). Jonathan and a plumber also installed a water softener (you really need it down here) and our new fridge and washer and dryer were installed. I had received over $2000 in Home Depot gift certificates from my last job (they used to give you those as a reward rather than say, actually paying you a decent salary or real bonus!) so we only paid $300 for all those appliances!! So thanks, former company. Since we didn't have to pay much, we splurged and got the new LG steam washer and dryer. I hate ironing so I hope this cuts down on that work. And we have a stainless steel fridge! I am just in awe. I think it'll be tough to clean, but when it's clean it will look so pretty.

The movers come on Monday and the equipment set up folks come on Tuesday (they had to hire a different company for the exercise equipment). I also have a blind/drapery woman coming on Tuesday and I'm looking forward to that.

Not sure when we'll actually "move in," I hope later this week. I know it's going to take some time to put things away though, but I'll work really hard on our bedrooms, bathrooms and kitchen so that hopefully we can spend the night in the house this week.

Updated house pictures

2010-10-06T21:48:00.010-05:00

Houdini

2010-10-03T20:39:00.004-05:00

So Rachel jumped out of her crib not once...but twice on Saturday night! The first time we didn't even hear anything until she had come out of her room and was crying in the kitchen.

The second time we did hear a boom and then some crying.

So, we moved the mattress to the floor within the crib. It's harder for me to put her in that low, but at least she can't get out! (We think).

She's been having a tough few weeks. She has a sinus infection and I think some allergy issues. She has this awful cough that just won't go away. We're trying everything. I just keep praying that tonight is the night it subsides.

In other news, we finally took the big wheel Bubbe bought for Rachel outside last night (I suspect Johnny did not want to track in dirt, but hey, it's a rental and we've finally given up on caring). She loved riding it around. She can't reach the pedals yet, but man what great exercise for her. Tonight we were out there for an hour. And of course, being a toddler, she had to stop a few times and roll around on the ground. The dirty, dirty concrete ground. There were rings of dirt in the bathtub tonight!

We took Rachel to see her first musical, Curious George Live! on Saturday. She really enjoyed it. She did very well too. Only got antsy after the intermission (I think she thought it was time to go). Boy did the stereotypes abound in this one. But hey, it was still fun. I kept thinking about how all those folks travel from city to city like that. It would be fun, and lonely, at the same time.

We checked out the house twice this weekend and so much has been done. The landscaping is in, the back porch is stained, there are stairs going down to the backyard, the carpet is in, the wood floors are in...really all that is left are the appliances. Two weeks. Wow. Finally!

When we were at the house today, a woman pulled up and asked if I was going to live in that house. I told her yes, in two weeks, and she said, oh, because we're thinking of buying the house next door. But the best part? She has a 19 month old girl! Wouldn't that be awesome to have a little playmate right next door? It would be like Becky and Andy part II. But in San Antonio and with two kids of the same gender. Hmm. Ok, so not quite. But it would be so great that I'm trying not to get my hopes up...it's just that I have so many fond memories of having a best friend across the street and all the crazy adventures we'd get ourselves into. I just keep hoping Rachel has the same thing.

So here's one house dilemma I'm facing and would appreciate input. Rachel's room is supposed to be upstairs. Our room is on the first floor. Part of the reason why we really liked it is so that we don't hear her all the time. But then the bad part is that we don't hear her. What do you think? Should we move her room downstairs or keep it upstairs? One issue with that is that Johnny's gym is supposed to be downstairs, which minimizes noise. It will be quite noisy if it's upstairs. Thoughts? Advice? Can we do this??

Weekly house visit

2010-09-25T17:21:00.002-05:00

So we check out our house every week to see the progress and report back to the salesman and the builder if something isn't right.

Last week, we discovered that the plumbing upstairs doesn't match the bathroom lights. We had ordered the cheaper version - the silver, not the brushed kind. But they installed brushed plumbing so we basically get the upgraded brushed lights they're going to install for free! That's not a bad mistake to make. ;)

On our visit this week, we discovered that they painted above the fireplace and in our tv nook. It's the same color we had our dining room painted, so I guess it will be ok? We also discovered that apparently the back splash we ordered has some color to it. We were shown a more neutral tile so that was a surprise. So was the front door. We had picked a solid wood door and instead the door has glass - not sure if we'll be able to change that since I did look at the contract last night and it looks like we missed ensuring that was in. So unless the designer can find notes that tell which one we were supposed to get, we might be stuck with that door. It's not the end of the world, but just annoying to know that so many "personal" changes we asked for aren't being implemented. It's like, why build a house if you can't dictate? ;)

But the biggest issue of all is the front driveway. I finally tried to pull up in it and I can't! My car can't get over that little hump so we'll definitely have to do something about that.

Rachel loves going to see her new house each week. She can tell when we're on the road to it too - she says "Rachel's house."

It's officially fall, but we're on vacation!

2010-09-25T11:07:00.002-05:00

It's so weird to know that the crisp fall air has hit all our friends and family and we are still wearing shorts!! There is a bit of a "vacation" vibe to your life when you live in a warm climate. Maybe that kind of lends itself to the temporary feeling we have? (Well, it's more likely the rented furniture and apartment...)

I was just thinking about how last fall we took Rachel to a pumpkin patch - it won't be the same this year when we take her to one around here, but that's ok. We have lots of friends and family to visit in cooler climates to get our fall/winter fix!

What a difference a week makes

2010-09-17T21:59:00.002-05:00

Well, feeling much better this week. Had some good talks with bosses and co-workers and things are looking up. I just need to keep that in mind when things hit a rough patch.

We locked in our mortgage this week - 4.25%!! Isn't that crazy?? When we close on this house we're going to try to refinance our Barrington home if we can.

This weekend I'm looking forward to seeing our house again and also checking out the closest Catholic Church. I was not impressed with their website, so we'll see. The church I was going to near our apartment actually had a much more sophisticated website and parish programs, but it's just going to be too far from our new house.

Rachel turned 22 months today - so I'll have to post an update on her soon. I'm looking forward to her 2nd birthday so I don't have to tell people she's XX months anymore!

Pity party of one

2010-09-09T21:14:00.002-05:00

Here I am again. Pity party of one time. I should probably just step away from the keyboard, but I kept feeling like maybe if I spilled my guts I'd feel better.

When I told my boss at my last job I was quitting, he said, stick it out. Those first two years you're going to think you were crazy for doing it. But give yourself a chance. Take advantage of everything and enjoy the experience. I keep having to remind myself of those words. Like every day.

Some days are easier than others. But some days it's honestly just so damn difficult. A new job. New people. New rules. A new city to learn. And in some respects, a new industry to learn too. I didn't really think about media relations for four years and now I'm back doing it - and having to remake new reporter contacts and bone up on a side of the insurance business I don't know as well. There is only so much change a person can take and I feel like I'm over my limit sometimes.

No wonder Rachel struggled so much our first couple of months. When you become an adult, you just learn to swallow all that inside and put on a brave face.

Some days I'm braver than others. Some days people are nice. Some days they aren't. And I just keep thinking - did we make a big mistake?

A-Choo!

2010-09-08T20:52:00.002-05:00

Today I purposely had someone stick me with allergic agents in an attempt to finally, after 33 years, find out what I'm allergic to (at least, what I'm allergic to in TX).

It turns out that my allergies are basically a year-round thing here since the peak season for each one of these usually cross each other. :(

I'm allergic to:

Mountain cedar
Timothy Grass
Short Ragweed
Common Sagebrush
and two kinds of molds - alternaria tenuis and pullularia pullulans

The good news is that I'm not allergic to:

cats
dogs
or cockroaches. EWWW!

So now that I know, I'm going to start immunotherapy which is designed to build up your tolerance to these allergans so you'll eventually, hopefully, no longer need medication to suppress the symptoms. It's a 3-5 year commitment!! Crazy - but I think it's worth it.

In the meantime, I have to do this nasal rinse twice a day, take a pill AND do a nose spray. Geez!! All this to prevent taking days off work.

Labor Day weekend

2010-09-06T20:52:00.007-05:00

We did a ton this weekend, let's see:

Saturday morning, Rachel and I went to the park. Johnny met us there for a bit and headed out on his long run. He ended up running 30 miles because he got lost and I had my phone on mute! Oops. That evening, we went to the pool, Funtastic playland (an indoor playground) and out for pizza. It was a fun day.

Sunday we went to visit the house for our weekly visit. Tile and counter tops have been laid. We checked out the neighbors house too and it's pretty nice, but we think our house has a better use of space. That evening we attended a co-workers annual BBQ bash and it was crazy - he has a pool and he hired lifeguards. There was an inflatable bouncy house, an inflatable slip n' slide and a van from a company called "games 2 u" that offered wii, rock band and a bunch of other video games. The party was catered too. Probably about 100 people there and my co-worker estimated about 250 would pass through before the night was over. It was insane, I've never seen anything like it. Rachel hated the crowds (and she missed her nap), so she wasn't her cute, lovable self which was too bad since she was meeting so many of my co-workers at once.
Today we went to the Parade of Homes. Not sure what I thought about it. Didn't really get a ton of ideas since the price point is so high and the style too modern. But it was interesting. I met a friend for yogurt lately at the Quarry Market (which is awesome) and we had fun catching up and just being girls again - not moms. ;) Rachel didn't nap today either, so we did the park and tucked her early (8 p.m. - usually she goes to sleep at 8:30). Let's hope she has a long night of sleep because I'm tired from my weekend off!!

Good news about the photo album situation at our Barrington house - the realtor opened the box and it was urology notes from college (the husband is a dr). So phew - unless he thinks those notes are really sacred, then I'd feel bad, but it's doubtful.

The Perils of Being a Landlord

2010-09-03T21:02:00.002-05:00

The hot water heater in our Barrington home broke. We don't know how long it's been leaking water in the basement - but it only leaked in the unfinished/storage part.

The really bad news? Our renters had moved their stuff in - but aren't living in there yet so some of their stuff was in that flooded part. Their realtor discovered this water mess today (she only decided to check because of heavy rains in the area recently) and immediately called Johnny who immediately called a plumber. The plumber came out and replaced our water heater and began airing out the area.

The realtor tonight said she only saw two or three things that may have been damaged - one, a pack n'play, can be aired out fine. The other box was marked "comforter" which should be fine - but sadly, another box is marked "photo albums." We are freaking out tonight because we feel so bad. The realtor didn't get a chance to open up the box to check out the damage, so we're praying it was minimal. This is a family with three kids - one is 18, one is 3 and one is 1, so I'm sure they have a lot of precious moments in there.

This whole incident reminded me of why I stopped storing photos in the basement. :(

5 Years Later: A Diary of Working on the Ground Post-Katrina

2010-08-23T18:31:00.002-05:00

This Sunday will mark five years since Hurricane Katrina struck land. In mid-September, 2005, I was deployed along with one of my co-workers to work with the news media covering the story of Katrina. Below is the diary I sent to family and friends while my experience was unfolding.

Day 1 - I've arrived! Yesterday the plane ride in was filled with Red Cross workers, nurses, insurance people, etc. There was a strange anticipation in the air. People were almost excited to get here. Anxious...peering out the windows to look for the damage. But Baton Rouge was barely touched. It's like a different world - just an hour away! That's like a regular commute in Chicago!

We drove into Metairie today and saw the first real damage from Katrina. We were the first insurance company to set up a temp. office there, but when we visited it wasn't too crowded. Life seems to be getting back to normal. "Open cardboard" signs are on buildings (or people are literally holding them up to try and get you to come in, but seriously, would you want to eat their food?) and traffic lights are on again. We met some Allstate claims people at the mobile response unit (MRU) there and then found out that again - we're the first insurance co to get into New Orleans. So, we got the directions of where the MRU is at there and started to head in. On our way in, we saw more severe damage. Roofs blown off, shingles off, trees uprooted, a storage unit with the side gone, but all the contents eerily intact inside. An office building with very few intact windows left, signs missing on hotels and buildings, etc.

And then we waited. And we waited. For 2 hours to clear a checkpoint to get into the city - but once we got in. Wow. Trees everywhere. Cars just sitting in lines on overpasses with no one in them. Boats tied up to overpasses with ropes. Debris. Garbage. Tons of garbage. Then we saw the Superdome and started to head down to the MRU which is on Canal St. (which is near the French Quarter) at the Harrah's Casino, so we drove down to Canal to get there. When you look around, everything is covered in a filmy light mud dust. You can see the water line on the sides of buildings and cars that were abandoned and flooded out. Tarps on fancy hotels are torn, curtains are poking through broken windows. People were starting to clean out some businesses...but mostly we just see the military and police officers. The MRU in NO is only processing claims for those first responders now (police, EMS, firefighters)...and who knows for how long as the mayor said today he's going to evacuate the city again because of Rita.

How do I explain how it looks? It literally looks like a bomb hit the city. A total war zone. And your lungs feel it too - there is something in the air. I couldn't smell it, but you could feel it.

Tomorrow our plan is to meet the Allstate caravan with all the claims people and head into the city with them so maybe we won't have to wait as long. We'll be at the MRU all day because all the NO news media are camped right down the street so we have to be there in case they come by.

We are staying in Baton Rouge at the Embassy Suites. It is filled with evacuees. Families, dogs, cats, kids in their school uniforms heading off to school, older people with their oxygen tanks. It's sort of a strange little city. We already know the security guards really well. Things aren't bad here - except for long waits. Because the city has so many evacuees, dinner can take hours.

Well, that's my update for today. I can't figure out how to log into my computer in my room, so I'm using a computer in the lobby. I'll try to update everyone again tomorrow...until then, say some prayers that Rita turns another direction!

______________________________________________________

Day 2 and 3

Yesterday, Shaundra and I drove to the MRU in New Orleans on Canal Street. We checked out the TV trucks up the street for the news people staying at those hotels– Kay and Sarah both ABC and AP were there (yea!)- with our security guard in tow (if you were a woman down there they followed you everywhere). We went to lunch at the military food station and got hot food as opposed to cold food since we were with the first responders. Hmm. Prejudice arises even in times of tragedy, good to know! I did talk to a CNN crew that were eating – I told them that I thought we were the only insurance company in downtown NO, but apparently that wasn't very interesting to them. Well, hey, at least I tried.

Saw some very interesting sites that day – like a parade of people who looked like ants – marching out of Saks with box after box to put it into a truck. A group of four people wearing flip flops and tank tops that looked like total tourists just visiting like any another day! And of course, the strangest site of all - Dennis Quaid. Dennis was there with a doctor from the International Children's Hospital. He was there to pass out hand sanitizer and medical supplies. We of course were overjoyed to see him at our MRU and of course – were even happier when he said, "I don't see ALFAC here!" Of course, we would have preferred he had said State Farm, but hey, give the guy a break. We were lucky –very lucky PR wise - as he talked to the NO Chief of Police right in front of our MRU and two local TV stations filmed it. Shaundra and I also happened to see a Times-Picayune reporter wandering around earlier too and invited him over– so boy did he luck out being in the right place at the right time.

We attended the mayor's press conference – yes this was the one with the governor (Blanco), Thad Allen from the gov and that general who told reporters that day that they were asking stupid questions! (I don't think he's been media trained). It didn't dawn on us until after we arrived that we were sort of like chickens in a wolves den with our Allstate shirts! But obviously, they weren't very interested in us at that point, thank goodness.

We got a call during the conference and had to leave suddenly. Apparently, some people pretending to be Salvation Army volunteers were taking information down from NO police the day before right next to our MRU. They said it was to give the officers money. And yes, about 200 police gathered near our MRU were about to find out that it was all a horrible scam. So we left. In a caravan. With our security guards- I kid you not – blazing their guns. It was so bizarre. But hey, they're from South Dakota – I'm sure this was the most exciting thing that has ever happened to them!

Today, we traveled to New Orleans and discovered the MRU had left without telling us! Yeah, we were a bit upset. So we took some pictures and while we were doing that we noticed that the power was on in downtown New Orleans (yea! –but sort of eerie to see- in some stores it looked like the owner just left briefly – like he/she locked it to go on a break). We also noticed a Geico adjuster on the street marking a car! We then drove out and on up to Metairie. From there, we headed to the MRU in Slidell. At first, damage didn't look bad. After all, street lights were working, the Home Depot lot was packed (both Travelers and State Farm was there). We met some of our folks that were set up in the parking lot and visited with the MRU manager who asked us if we'd like to see the damage. Well, of course. So we went with a woman who is from Slidell and is now a contract claims employee.

So imagine going from that to turning down a street – to see utter devastation. Piles of wood and brick. Houses ripped off their foundation and on the other side of the street. Trees – huge very old trees – splitting a house down the middle.

And then we went back the lake. Have you seen those pictures of the bridge that is missing some sections? We were right by it. And we saw devastated area after the next. Orange X's on pieces of wood or what was left of a house to indicate if the house had been inspected and how many bodies had been found. Thankfully, most were 0, but yes, there were a couple numbers on some. Some people had spray-painted "looters will be shot," or –"We are alive" – with their names and new location painted. Boats were totally in random places and some had "boat will be bulldozed if not claimed" painted on them. One boat said, "sorry about your boat, but it saved five lives."

We also saw huge beautiful sailboats smashed into houses and boat seats in the middle of rubble. We stopped the car at one point and got out on what I thought was a driveway. No, it wasn't. We were standing in someone's house. Looking at their blender, their dishes and their "Sweatin to the Oldies 3" videotape. We saw broken golf clubs; cars flipped upside down, plenty of wood poles and back porches with no houses in front of them.

The woman who was our tour guide knew the town inside out. And sometimes, we'd turn down a street she hadn't been on yet and she was overwhelmed. She grew up in Slidell – knows a lot of people and each house, each restaurant, each corner to turn was a memory of what used to be. All she has now is her job with us and her daughter's Bible – as it was the only thing, the only thing, they found that was salvageable. She lost, literally, everything.

By the end of the tour, we didn't really have much to say. What do you say after seeing that? Because even when you see it on TV, it's just not the same as when you're there – walking around it and smelling that odd sulfur/sludgy smell. Our tour guide pointed out a lot of things to us – a huge open view of the canal that used to be blocked by house after house after house – all gone. In some areas – there is nothing left, not even rubble. She also pointed out how brown the trees are – I guess at winds that high, trees get 'wind whip' and turn brown.

But there were some good sites too - a postal worker trying to deliver mail. Several Allstate cars with ladders strapped to the top (yea!), which meant they were adjusters and were out inspecting damaged areas before they would be bulldozed. And the overall vibe at this MRU was so positive. And thank goodness it was. It was like we had the right mix of people there at the right time and place to deal with one of the most devastated areas.

And now I feel like I've just worked 24 hours straight for two weeks – and it's only been two days. Can I go home yet?

__________________________________________

Day 4- Or..getting the heck out of Dodge.

Hurricane Rita is now fast approaching the area, so we changed our flights to leave tomorrow. Shaundra leaves at 11, and I leave at 3:40. I got the very last seat on my new flight!

Even though Baton Rouge doesn't expect a direct or even as much of a hit as places like Lafayette, schools here are still mostly closed tomorrow and there are really long lines at gas stations. We've also received instructions in our hotel room on what to do this weekend – stay away from windows, don't expect power for a couple days and of course – don't expect room service!

Because rooms are at a premium here, we've negotiated to have a couple people from our trade organization – Insurance Information Institute – stay here next week while we have a week 'off' from Katrina. We are instead sending people down to Texas to deal with Rita now. So I spent part of the day working out those details.

We also had drinks with a Times Picayune reporter and discovered the meaning of "picayune" which has perplexed Shaundra since she arrived. Apparently, picayune literally means small and insignificant in Spanish. Many years ago, it was also a term for a coin that was used here – picayune – that was about a quarter of a quarter, so really inexpensive right? Well, one paper became known as the picayune since it was sold for that amount. The name was retained when the paper merged with three others. So there you have it – the origin of the Times Picayune!

The reporter is a former investigative news reporter and covered insurance many years ago when there was a huge insurance commissioner scandal in the state so now he's back to covering the industry full time. He is a New Orleans resident – or should I say, was, as his wife does not want to move back now. He told us about the lack of urgency before Katrina – the residents didn't really realize it was a threat until Saturday – and the storm hit about 48 hours later. In fact, he didn't evacuate until Sunday and most people were still questioning whether they should have on Monday…until they realized that flooding had begun.

We were able to give him some interesting story ideas he can work on next week. His biggest challenge is that his deadline is at 4:30 everyday so that the paper can be printed in Alabama and shipped back down. This really limits his article word count and some stories that would have taken him one day to write in his normal job now can take him three or four days. He also has to deal with a really crippled communication service, even here. For example, we've had really spotty cell phone service, so I apologize if anyone was trying to reach me here and couldn't. It really makes you think how important a landline is in an emergency situation – so all of you that only have a cell phone, keep that in mind!

And of course, I've learned a lot about my own line of business that I didn't even really think about much myself. For example, it's just so important to educate yourself and ask questions and not even just about insurance stuff - but regarding insurance, know what your insurance policies cover and don't cover. Everything is such a shock and surprise to everyone here and I keep wondering – does no one ask questions? For example, many homes here were also underinsured for homeowners insurance, just like many houses across the country (rising building costs, people have put more money in home improvements but haven't updated their coverage). And I know this stuff isn't as interesting as like celebrity gossip, but when you see what complacency does, it just moves you to try and get others to understand why this is so important. . The reporter we talked to was a bit more educated than most people– because he covered insurance for a while. But for every person like him – there are 9 out of 10 who don't know or don't care. So please, read! Learn! Ask questions!

There is a saying down here – let's not let the city that care forgot, forget to care…I just hope that people don't forget and become complacent again. Because I've seen firsthand now what a lack of preparation and care can do to entire state and I know I for one, won't ever forget and maybe you all won't now either.

________________________________________________

Day 5

Do you know that scene in the movie Independence Day when the aliens are destroying D.C. and the Air Force One barely gets out as everything is being destroyed by fire?

Well, that is the best way I can describe what I went through today to get home!

This morning, Shaundra took one of the rental cars to get gassed up – except she couldn't find a single station nearby that still had gas. That was our first sign that things were starting to get a little weird. Then the rain started. I dropped Shaundra off at the airport at about 9:30 (we found a gas station that still had a couple pumps open along the way). I went back to the hotel and started cleaning out the rental cars – but there was this weird stickiness in the air. The best way I could describe it was that it was like a rainforest. It was definitely tropical. When I got back inside, Shaundra called me. She advised me to try and get to the airport as soon as I could as flights were being cancelled. This was at about 10:30. So, I packed up and tried to get a cab out. No luck. Finally, the hotel shuttle driver said he'd take me at about 12:45.

In the meantime, I was watching coverage on the local TV and watching outside. Things were deteriorating rapidly – clouds were moving really fast across the sky, rain would come down at a slant for awhile and then stop, and then I got the final straw. Shoved under my door around noon was a piece of paper and a GLOW STICK. The paper advised me to fill the bathtub with water, stay inside my room all of Saturday and stay away from the glass atrium. It suggested using the glow stick to see inside the room.

Okay, I was not about to stick around and enjoy that fun experience. I waited and waited and waited – watched while they boarded up the windows and guest after guest walked back in with piles of food and water. And then finally, the shuttle driver took me to the airport at 1:15. As we traveled, he told me little stories and history of places we passed and also told me the origin of the word, Baton Rouge. Apparently, native tribes had camped in the area and had put their game on tall poles, which of course, made them red. So they started to call this area Baton Rouge – French for "red stick."

What he also told me was that this was his last venture out, as he had to finish getting the hotel ready and put away the vehicle to avoid any damage.

Yeah, that was a bit of a panic. How was I going to get back to the hotel if my flight was cancelled? Would a cab driver really be available considering the problems I had trying to get one from the hotel?

Once I arrived at the hotel, I was a bit shocked to see the amount of flights cancelled. Only about five were still supposed to go out – including mine. As the hours ticked by, each one was cancelled until only two flights were left – mine and the one from Dallas.

I kept calling work and my co-worker Bill told me that tornadoes had been spotted in Baton Rouge. It was starting to get a bit desperate. We plotted ways to get me out – could I stick the storm out by myself in my powerless hotel? Should I drive the rental car up to Chicago? Or would I be stuck sleeping at an airport filled with windows??

At about 3:15, they announced the two planes had been "diverted" to Jackson and may not land in Baton Rouge, but to hang tight for more information.

At 3:30, the flight from Dallas was cancelled. Disappointed people filed out to go get their luggage. We were all sure Chicago would be cancelled too and people were frantically trying to find a hotel (impossible) or other flight options (also impossible). And then, out of the sky, came our flight!! The terminal erupted in cheers as it pulled up to the gate. And we got on. And boy, did that pilot book it on that tarmac. He was able to "negotiate" with the air traffic controllers a higher altitude, so actually, the flight was relatively smooth. And everyone was extremely jovial the rest of the flight.

So, that my friends and family, is the closest I ever want to be to a Hurricane!!

The Elusive Sleep Fairy Part Gazillion

2010-08-21T08:51:00.002-05:00

Well, here we are again. Sleep training. This like the what...I don't, 80th gazillion time we've had to "sleep train" Rachel.

The trip to Barrington really messed her up. It makes me want to never travel again. Seriously. This whole week back she would not go to sleep for a very long time (sometimes 2 hours) and it required me patting her back almost the whole time. Then she'd wake up multiple times during the night too and I'd go to her just to get her to sleep because we had to work the next day.

So last night we went back to sleep training. We put her down in her crib and she cried for oh, about an hour and a half before finally going to sleep. She woke up once around 4 and cried for an hour and then when back to sleep. She needs to learn to sleep on her own again because we're all very grumpy in this household right now.

Of course, she woke up all happy and talkative but with brand new bruises on her forehead (oh, did I mention she now bangs her head on things? So now she's banging her head on the crib while crying too). We were worried the daycare would like report us or something, but she actually does the same there and they told us that this is actually not unusual behavior for a toddler. (Ah, how did we get so lucky??)

It could be developmental too though - she now talks in full sentences all the time - "That's mommy's bagel," "Oh, daddy's shoes." But I'm sure a lot of it has to do with routine. She's just a routine type of gal and when anything messes it up - watch out!!

What's so hard is that I know of absolutely no one who has this problem or had this problem. I have plenty of family and friends who have had or have kids and no one, and I mean no one has dealt with this. It is so lonely, isolating and frustrating. I finally got an appointment with a pediatrician for Sept 1 so maybe she'll lend some insight. The last ones sure didn't - they said her crying herself to sleep every night was just her "routine." Seriously? That's the best you can give me??

What is even more annoying is that we'll have to do this in a month when we move to our new house. So we'll get to start this process again all over. And the part that sucks about that is that we won't even have a basement to escape to! The house is only 2 floors so I sure hope it's insulated well or maybe we'll just have to spend a lot of time on our back porch.

Get a move on

2010-08-15T12:13:00.005-05:00

Well, we're back from packing/loading up our house in Barrington and let me tell you...I NEVER want to move again. You'd think someone like me, who's moved over 10 times in her life, would have it down but having a toddler and a full house thrown in the mix is totally different. Plus, we're moving to another state so that complicates things. It was tiring and stressful and I'm glad that at least my mom was there to help since Johnny ended up working all week.

The movers actually packed our stuff for us and those guys busted a move and never took breaks! They packed and loaded our house in three days, so technically, we could have come back Thursday. Which would have been good for Rachie - she didn't do so well with the hotel stays. She's still not feeling well (has been fighting a cough for awhile) and I think the change of staying in her old room, then going to two different hotels were too much for her. When we got back Saturday night she woke up screaming twice, but last night she only woke up once. So let's pray for a full night of sleep tonight!

We came back to a completely trashed apartment. The maintenance guys had been here last week to fix our air conditioning because black mold was growing on the ceiling next to the vents and the humidity factor was totally off in our apartment (sometimes a bag of cereal would go stale in 3 days). There was a thin layer of dust on everything and vents were off the walls and just laying on the floor. The property manager came by and apologized and promised she would get to the bottom of this first thing Monday morning. (We also learned there is a water problem in an apartment right by ours that probably led to this. Gee, thanks for checking on us sooner!). But having to clean all day and do laundry yesterday was no fun when I just wanted to rest. Rachel isn't the only one feeling well. :(

So this post has just become a major downer, but I guess that was sort of the feeling of the trip. We were sad to see our house all packed up and say goodbye to some of the neighbors who stopped by. To cheer ourselves up, we went to go see our new house and it's coming along nicely.

Photos of our house - in progress

2010-08-04T20:57:00.005-05:00

We met with our builder yesterday. Very nice guy who talked about the company's dedication to customer satisfaction about three different times. So I'm guessing that's important to them. ;)

We walked around the house and he explained how well insulated our house will be. Jonathan got his requests in for cable so he won't be running wire through walls in this house and we were able to request a change to our fireplace. He had started it as a stone fireplace, but I want a more traditional one, so they're going back to correct it.

We also picked Rachel's room - it has Eastern exposure, I hope that's ok? It was one of two rooms that had a walk in closet and being a fellow girl, walk in closets are VERY important! ;) He also promised to make the clothing racks lower so Rachel can reach her own clothes and said he'd build some shelves into her closet too.

It was really exciting to walk around the house again and talk to the guy actually in charge. He promised that if we see anything we want changed to let him know right away so he can change it. Very cool!

The day before we met with the interior designer and picked out our granite, tile, wood floor and carpet. We also saw the light fixtures chosen and picked out the front door. Some choices were the same from what the original designer picked out when the house didn't have a buyer yet, but some we picked on our own. In one case, I even picked out an accent tile for the bathroom and I think the designer was a bit surprised by my eye.

We are going to have a couple rooms painted (kitchen and living room/study will be yellow, I know, we're so predictable) and the dining room will have a blueish/greenish color below the chair rail. The rest of the house will have a bit of an off white paint which looks good with everything. Once we move in I may contemplate painting the media room a dark color and Rachel's room a Tiffany blue.

Did you know it costs more to have them install a round toilet instead of an elongated one? Yeah, totally weird.

The good news is that we came in under budget with all our customized selections. The bad news? We may go over budget if we decide to add a wood front step to the stairs. Ah, homebuilding!

Adventures in Pottytraining

2010-08-01T08:54:00.002-05:00

July 31, 2010 is a day that will live in infamy.

No, no peace treaties were signed, no diseases cured.

July 31 is the day Rachel went pee in her new potty! Hooray!!

We had just bought a pink Baby Bjorn potty from Babies R Us yesterday. I had received the "Royal Flush" potty from my friend Erin when Rachel was born, but didn't bring it down with us thinking we'd be in a house well before she needed to be trained. Oops. So, we've been reading potty books, watching the free potty DVD from Pull Ups and have talked about it. She's even brought it up in church (!) - "poo poo in the potty!" Um, thanks, Rachel.

Yesterday, she dragged the potty into the middle of the family room and sat on it. We were busy doing other things because for a half hour before, we tried to sit on it in the bathroom and tell her what to do. At this point, we thought she was playing. She was asking for a wipe and we were thinking, ok, whatever.

Walked over there a few minutes later and there was pee! Hooray! Rachel learned to pee in her potty!

This morning, she was telling me she had to poop, so I took her diaper off and again, same routine. Lots of playing. She closed the door on me and when she opened it - poop! On the floor. Wah, wah, wah...Oh well. It's a work in progress. At least it was in the bathroom!

And the winner is...

2010-07-26T19:45:00.003-05:00

Well, you all aren't going to believe this, but we ended up putting in an offer on a completely different house!

We were so close to closing the deal on a house in Stonewall Estates when Johnny said we should go back once more to the new David Weekley homes being built in Rogers Ranch. We've just loved that community, but figured we weren't going to find what we wanted. When we first visited the model, probably over a month ago, the price was way out of our range and they were talking about November.

What a difference a month makes. Now that the house is moving along (and the date is now mid-October), the builder is looking for a buyer. If they don't have a buyer when the house is finished, they end up paying a lot more money. We just happened to walk in at the right time - and by right time - I mean we still have time to pick out a lot of things in the house!

This house has almost everything we've been looking for - and some things we weren't even looking for:

5 bedrooms/4.5 baths (one room for us, one for Rachel, one for guest, one as an office and one as an exercise room)
A media room and game room/children's retreat and storage!! (Sounds fancy - but keep in mind that media room/game room is really an upstairs basement for TX folks)
A covered porch that will have a fireplace, grill, sink and outdoor fridge (!)
Wood floors in living and dining room (the living room is technically a study, but we're going to use it as a living room)
Big open ceiling in family room
An overall design we really like - crown molding, great fireplace mantle, etc.

Of course, the hardest part will be keeping the costs down as we pick out what we want!

The community has a Jr. Olympic pool, a kiddie pool, it's own swim team, a playground, a tennis court, and a basketball court. Justin, the man who recruited me for this job, actually lives in the same community believe it or not.

We made an offer today and it was accepted. Having not closed yet, we're a little nervous telling people...so cross your fingers for us! We're really excited!!

Uh oh, we've got a third or fourth contender in the running...

2010-07-24T13:51:00.002-05:00

So we checked out a new area called Stonewall Estates today. It's across the highway from the famous Dominion subdivision where all the famous and rich people in San Antonio live.

At first, I was dead set against it. Why bring more choices into the mix, right?

But there are actually a lot of advantages to this neighborhood:

It's right off of I-10 which is the major highway (but by right off, I mean, close enough that you can't hear it but still very convenient). Right now both houses we're looking at requires the 1604 highway AND I-10, so just going right onto I-10 and cutting out that extra highway is very appealing.
Resale value. With the neighborhood off of I-10, great resale value.
Close to shopping - La Cantera and The Rim.
I took it back to my work the other night and it took me 15 minutes.

There is some construction on I-10 going on right now, but given this isn't Illinois, I expect it will actually be done soon (crooked deals extends beyond politics in this state!).

The first house is on the main road to the subdivision, but it's further back. It has a basement (!), yeah, the first we've seen here, but it's really only two stories - the upper living area and the basement. But there was a ton of storage in the basement, a game room, a media room and a workout room. I liked the tile upstairs, but did not care so much for the granite in the kitchen. The kitchen did have a nice window seat though and the house is on a greenbelt which means it overlooks a wooded area that will never be built on. The dining room is right off the front door, which I'm not crazy about and there is only a study - no living room. The asking price is a little high though, so we'd have to do some serious negotiation if they really want to move this house fast.

The second house we looked at is on a cul-de-sac and is about a block from the pool/playground. It's very open and airy when you walk in and the kitchen is huge. I loved the granite in that kitchen and the master bath even had granite. The master bedroom is downstairs and the upstairs has four bedrooms. There is a study on the first floor which technically could be big enough to be a living room. There is a game room and media room, but with only 4 bedrooms, we might not have enough space for a work out room for Jonathan. The price is much better though and we think we'd be able to negotiate in wood floors for the rooms that don't have carpet yet.

So there you have it. I thought we'd have a decision made this weekend and now everything is all topsy-turvy again!

A Tale of Two Houses

2010-07-23T21:21:00.005-05:00

Well, we've been looking for houses for probably a good two months now. Now that we have renters, we have more freedom to be serious in our shopping and let me tell you...it's not easy.

I feel like my life is an episode of House Hunters on HGTV. Have you seen that show? A couple chooses between three houses. None of them are ever perfect - there is always at least one flaw talked about at each house - but in the end the couple picks a house (it's always fun to guess which one) and the show checks in with them two months, four months or six months later to see how they're doing and find out what kind of improvements they've made to the house.

Well, we're currently between two houses and an additional subdivision with a mythical house we haven't yet seen. None of these houses are perfect and we've done our list of pros and cons. We've actually put in an offer in a house in Helotes (1st picture), but the price is a little high and we're not jumping on the counter offer yet. Let em sweat a little is Johnny's philosophy. But if they don't come down enough, we have a Plan B house in Rogers Ranch (2nd picture) which is nice, but would need kitchen and bathroom updates.

And then there is a new subdivision going up off of 1-10 and across the highway from the famous Dominion subdivision where all the famous and rich people live. This new subdivision has houses that will just be coming onto the market if we're willing to wait a bit.

The biggest issue we've discovered is that new houses here don't have living rooms. The big thing is just a family room and a game room upstairs. Some places even have media rooms, which is a dedicated media room. Oh, and none of these new houses have mailboxes. You have to get your mail from a central location. And did I mention there are no basements? And because some of these houses are in hill country - there are stairs sometimes in the garage? Yeah, totally different than Chicago!

I guess I thought it would be easy this time around to find a house. We know not to buy one on a major street, we don't want a 1-story, etc., but it's still not easy. It's like house dating. Houses aren't perfect and you have to figure out which flaws you're willing to overlook!

I can't hear you

2010-07-17T09:32:00.002-05:00

Subtitle: My first trip to the San Antonio ER

Tuesday night I had a pain in my right ear. It made it very hard to sleep. The next morning it was worse, so I went to the health clinic on site at my work. The nurse said my ear looked red and I had a temperature, so she told me to go to a dr for antibiotics.

There's a clinic in the same parking lot as Rachel's school, so I headed on over there. The dr said I had an ear infection and he gave me drops.

Wednesday night and Thursday night I was in agony. The days at work were ok because I would just try to plow through work, but at night there is no way to escape your pain. I was popping advil every 4 hours!

Thursday night around 3 I woke up. The right side of my face, by my ear had puffed up. This is not normal I thought. It stayed puffy, so I went back to the clinic. The dr declared that the drops weren't getting to my ears so he put a cotton wick in there.

Despite this, the pain got worse and my face remained swelled. I had had enough. So, I went to the ER.

They did a CAT scan and discovered my parotid gland was infected. So they gave me a heavy dose of antibiotics and sent me on my way. I told Jonathan I had an infection in my parotid gland and he said, "doesn't the devil wear those?" ha ha.

I still hurt, but at least it's good to know I've been diagnosed correctly!

Just call me Mrs. Roper

2010-07-15T21:16:00.002-05:00

We're landlords!

I was feeling so down on Monday night. Like pity-party-of-one down. It's hard to be excited about our new city when we're not really connected to it...if I was young and single, an apartment complex would probably be fine. But for someone in her almost mid-30s (yikes!) with a hubby and a toddler...not so much.

Then we got a call late Monday night. One of our showings was a Dr and his wife who had just moved to the area. They want to rent the house and (cross your fingers here) may buy at the end of the lease.

Checked them out via credit report - signed the lease and we're good to go! They move in mid-August. Which means...we have to get up north to pack up the house and probably put the stuff in storage since we don't have a house down here yet.

Now it'll be a mad dash weekend to look for the house of dreams (or almost dreams) at a reasonable price. One thing this housing market bust taught us is to not stretch your mortgage too much...you may not get it back!

Rachel - 19 month update

2010-07-10T06:47:00.003-05:00

In many ways, Rachel is still a baby. When other kids see her, they call her a baby. Her face definitely still has baby like features. She still wears a diaper and I still zip her into a sleep sack at night when I lay her down in her crib. And she still cries herself to sleep. Every. Single. Night. (Ugh).

But other times I look at her and think, "Where's my baby??" She seems so tall to me and with her mop of curly hair, toddles around with her own thoughts and direction in mind. Sometimes she'll take my hand, sometimes she doesn't. But she knows where she wants to go and what she wants to do and will sometimes tell you. She likes to sing a lot and one of her favorites right now is "No more monkeys jumping on the bed!" She'll tell Bella our cat, "No, Bella!" when she does something wrong.

She's asking more and more to try the potty. I have a little potty top I put on our potty and I put her on there, but nothing is happening yet. That's ok. I didn't want to push her into anything. The fact that she asks, and sometimes tells us when she's gone in her diaper, amazes me.

Yesterday she insisted on wearing her outdoor, bright orange, bucket sun hat. All day. At school. Apparently she would not take it off. It clashed slightly with the red and white striped Elmo shirt she insisted on wearing. But that's Rachel now. Ms. Independent with her own wants and desires.

I love each new word she'll repeat back to us. There are so many now, we can't even keep track. She is starting to learn her colors and amazingly...she recognizes her name!! Not all the time, but most of the time, I can write out her name, point to it and she'll say, "Rachel."

She adores swimming and is probably a little too brave for a kid her age - we have to really watch her because sometimes she'll try to jump in to the deeper end so she can go swimming too.

Rachel drinks out of a cup sometimes and will try and use little forks and spoons. She'll even tell you want she wants to eat, but luckily we don't always cater to her requests for "nuggets, nuggets" or "pizza, pizza."

Rachel has a lot of fans. People stop us all the time to meet her or tell us how cute she is. Which is nice, but frankly, a little disconcerting!

She likes to help mom and dad with errands - sweeping, putting trash away. She is learning her manners too, but sometimes puts the words in opposite order. Before I'll say "Thank you," she'll say, "Welcome mommy, welcome." But hey, how many 19 month year-olds do you know that are that polite?

Rachel is becoming more and more like a little girl and it feels like this transition has taken over since we moved down here! But maybe it would have been the same had we stayed in Barrington. Who knows. I'm just glad she's adjusting better and enjoying exploring what each new day brings.

Fun weekend

2010-07-07T07:01:00.002-05:00

We had a great time exploring San Antonio this weekend.

On Friday night I joined my co-workers for a drink at a place called The Flying Saucer. Apparently if you drink 200 some drinks on the menu within a year you can get a plate with your name on it. I'm not that ambitious. But it was a fun outing and gave me a chance to get to know some of my co-workers better. (One thing I found out is that you're not supposed to wear shirts from your company while drinking - reminds me of the rule of not drinking with your sorority letters on).

Saturday, we checked out a model home in one of the areas we're looking at - Rogers Ranch. This particular home won't be ready until September. At first we were thinking that that would be too late, but given the lack of progress in interest in our home - both on the buy and rent side (yes, we put it up for rent too), that might actually work for us. :( Gorgeous home that is energy efficient too which would save a lot of money on our bills. I loved that the washer and dryer was upstairs and that they had a built in mudroom off the basement (with ready made hooks and shoe racks). Ah, model homes make me yearn for new construction...

On Sunday, July 4, we attended a children's parade in a place called Woodlawn Lake Park. The parade wasn't quite what I thought it would be, but it was cute. Rachie was terrified of the H.E. Buddy - a giant grocery sack from the local grocery store chain - H.E.B. She screamed when the kid inside it tried to shake her hand! Poor baby.

We swam that afternoon and also went to a great outdoor shopping place called La Cantera.

We had awesome BBQ that night from dinner from a well known place called Rudy's. Jonathan and I tried to see fireworks from our apartment porch that night, but we didn't have a view at all. In fact, we couldn't even hear anything! So different from growing up in Omaha when I'd hear them going off late into the night in our neighborhood.

On Monday we applied for our TX driver's licenses. I was thankful we didn't have to take any tests except vision. Rachel was very good, but she didn't have long to wait. I think the whole thing took us a half hour! Dramatically different from the last time we went to renew when it took us two hours in Illinois. You don't receive your license right away though - they actually do background checks before they will send your license. I swear, TX is like a different country.

Later that day we went to Sea World. Rachel liked watching the dolphins and penguins (the penguins were indoors - don't worry). She kept saying 'penguin! penguin!' There was a fun little park inside too and she loved playing on it. She loves the park these days. In fact, we stopped in one subdivision we were looking at Saturday just so she could play in that park.

Overall, it was a fun and jam packed weekend and I'm still recovering!

Ugh, I forgot how tough this is

2010-06-23T20:51:00.002-05:00

Starting a new job. There are good days and bad days, but over all, starts and fits of excitement and frustration. I don't quite have a "role" yet since my role was newly created. So obviously a great chance to make it what I want, right? Oh yea, there are other people to deal with (people who've been at this company for like 20 years and like things a certain way). And that always complicates things.

I feel a lot of pressure this time too. Maybe because we moved here for MY job and the AVP spoke so highly of me...I was like this rock star before I got here and now that I'm here I feel like I'm supposed to be achieving all these great things every day and just being this perfect person.

But I'm not. I hate how self conscious and unconfident I feel right now.

I just want to fast forward 5 years to a place where I know my role, I know people in the company and I've led great projects. Where is that Delorean when I need it??

Rachel's 18 Month Update

2010-06-12T16:16:00.008-05:00

Here are her stats:

Height - 32 1/2 inches - 75%
Head - 47 1/2 - 80%
Weight - 29 pounds, 94%

She's in 2T clothes now and is getting smarter everyday. The other day the trash can was empty and there wasn't a bag in it yet, but Rachel wanted to throw something away so she went and got a bag to put in there!

She remembers things now like where we live, where the pool is, and remembers details about places we've been before. For example, there is a park we like to frequent and a train goes past there. She took us over to the tracks to see the "choo-choo" when we went back.

She can tell when she's hungry "eat, Rachel, eat," when she wants "more," (and she'll do the sign language sign with it) and will tell you if she wants "milk/milky," "water" or a cup to drink it in. (And she likes to say "cracker," "cereal" or "chicken" when she's hungry).

Rachel still loves Curious George and Caillou (haven't found a station that has him on here yet but we have a Caillou book) and Elmo.

She understands simple directions well (Rachel, go get your shoes) and loves to pet her kitties while saying "nice..." (we tell her that so she'll pet them gently. Sometimes work, sometimes doesn't).

The only thing we haven't been able to get her to do is go to sleep. She still cries herself to sleep every night and resists naps with us. It makes us sad.

She's finally adjusting well to Texas and her daycare (she'll just wave and say bye bye to me in the mornings now) and it's so fun to see her loving learning how to swim.

Settling In

2010-06-06T09:46:00.002-05:00

Well, it's been a crazy three weeks. The job is going well and my co-workers are very nice. As for exploring our new home -the first weekend we drove around and looked at different neighborhoods to see what we liked/didn't like.

Loved Alamo Heights, but the houses are tiny and very expensive. The school district is tops though and that's why people pay insane amounts of money to live in cottages there. Reminds me a lot of Northbrook or Wilmette in Illinois.
Stone Oak is out. Great area, but the traffic is a nightmare.
Bulverde Village is way too far. However, I was loving the opportunity to be able to sing the theme song to Mr. Belvedere over and over again.
Rogers Ranch, which is where my boss and his boss (the gentleman who recruited me - Justin) live is awesome. So far, that's a front runner.

Last weekend, I headed out for a long planned girls weekend in Savannah, GA. I'll have to post pictures at another time because I didn't bring my camera and am relying on my friends to post their photos. Beautiful town - the trees have this gorgeous Spanish moss dripping down which gives a very spooky effect. We of course did a ghost tour and checked out the Mercer Williams house (site of the famous Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil book and movie). While I was enjoying the old South (including food at Paula Deen's restaurant), Bubbe came to town and played with Rachie. They had a great time and even went to some place that's laid out like a safari tour. I guess Rachel loved the zebras but did not like the ostrich/emu character.

Yesterday, Johnny, Rachel and I enjoyed a pool party at our apartment complex and checked out the Riverwalk for dinner last night. Johnny finally got to see the Riverwalk - guess they couldn't figure it out last weekend - and really liked it. So that made me feel good.

It's hard not to get a little overwhelmed with homesickness. We get WGN on cable here and it makes me sad. Everyone keeps telling me I'll love San Antonio - but I think it'll take time. Just like it took time to love Chicago. But that was 11 years ago, so it's hard to remember! I think I'll feel better once we sell our house and find a real home here.

Now it's a lot of trial and error. Trying restaurants. Trying neighborhoods. Even trying salons. I went and got my eyebrows threaded and I don't think I'm going back there. It hurt more than it's ever hurt for me before (usually I wax, but the medication I'm on right now makes my face really sensitive so threading is the only option) and it was really expensive, so I think I'll keep searching. That will probably be the theme for this year, "searching..."

We've arrived!

2010-05-16T15:20:00.008-05:00

New apartment...Rachel in her new booster seat.

I couldn't resist...Whataburger, a decade long obsession of mine that stems from our spring break drive to South Padre Island, Texas in 1999.

Mama, where's the basement and Pee Wee's bike?

Rachel on the Riverwalk enjoying the boats and ducks.

Another shot of our apartment.

It's been a long four days...from Wednesday until last night it was just me and Rachie and let me emphasize how much respect I have for single moms. How DO you do it?? Wow.

Recap of our first week in San Antonio:

Rachel did really well on the plane and several fellow moms (and a couple dads) were very helpful.
We stayed in the Embassy Suites in San Antonio on Wednesday night and I, foolishly, thought she'd be ok in the pack n' play. Nope. Night 1 of her sleeping with me. We did do a little shopping that night at Target for some staples.
Thursday we signed the lease and entered our new apartment. It's really nice! Brand new and we're the first ones to live in it. We even have a garage. That afternoon our cable and furniture arrived (I'm renting furniture and even things like cooking supplies because I didn't want to buy all that stuff since we have it already in our other home). We went to the grocery store too and they score points for giving balloons to kids. (H.E.B. is the main grocery store in town- let me correct that - they are basically the only game in town!). Set up the Pack n'Play I bought from Target. Night 2 of Rachel sleeping with me as she literally jumped out of the Pack n'Play!
Friday we went to Rachel's new school. The building is huge. It contains a ton of classrooms. I feel comfortable with the curriculum since it's similar to her last school, however, they have their own ways of doing things too. For example, the kids are learning to drink from a cup and brush their own teeth. I noticed there is quite a bit of Mexican food on the menu too! (No organic type stuff at this facility I guess). The schedule is a little different, but we'll get used to it I'm sure. We had a wicked thunderstorm and we only were able to check out the school that morning. It stopped raining in the afternoon, so we headed to Babies R Us to pick up some more things for Rachel that she'll need at her new school and...a big girl bed. (A toddler bed). I began to put it together and then realized there are definitely some things you need a guy for (I totally lacked the physical strength to put the plastic side rails on...ugh). Night 3 of Rachel sleeping with me. Starting to get a permanent headache since I'm not sleeping much this way.
Saturday, Justin, the executive who recruited me to this new company, came over and put together the final pieces for the toddler bed. Isn't that nice?? His son, Conner, was a big help too. That afternoon Rachel and I did some exploring and went down to the Alamo and Riverwalk. Johnny, Bella and Addy arrived at 12:30 a.m.! They did the drive in 18 straight hours! Rachel and I talked and talked and talked about her big girl bed. I pointed out the fairies. I kissed Monker good night. We looked up at the canopy and marvelled at how pretty it is. I told her that if she was tired, it was ok to lay down and I would rub her back until she fell asleep. I sang a bit, rubbed her back, tucked her in and viola! Rachel slept in her big girl bed until....1 a.m. She must have heard Johnny arrive. :( Night 4 of Rachel sleeping with me for a bit. Addy is still clutching to the bottom of our bed as I type this.
Today, we returned some things at Target, did more grocery shopping and Rachel is now napping in her bed. Let's pray she is able to sleep in there all night tonight. Oh, and we bought a potty seat too since she seems interested in checking out how that all works. Our little girl is growing up!

Some initial observations on San Antonio...

Johnny noticed an abundance of restaurants right off the highway. Sadly, I think San Antonio is one of the "fattest" cities. :(
I am petrified of some of the highways here. They should really call them sky ways as they are extremely high up into the sky and loop around everywhere - crazy.
The storms here, I think I mentioned earlier, are totally crazy. They are vicious! I've never seen anything like it.
They have turnarounds in various spots on the highway too so you don't have to go off the highway and turn around that way.
Yes, there are Texas flags all over the place. So funny.

More observations to come, I'm sure. Tomorrow is my first day at my new job - however- I have to undergo a four day orientation. Word on the street is that one of the days we get our own deployment papers and even eat meals ready to eat so we can better understand what it's like to be in the military (the company I work for services the military and their families).

Leaving. On a jet plane. Don't know when I'll be back again.

2010-05-12T06:26:00.002-05:00

This song has been running through my head since 5 a.m.!

So. This is it. Rachel and I head out today and Johnny will follow with the cats soon.

We did find a place to live - and I even rented some furniture and supplies. I got a rental car too since my car is being shipped.

I've packed up my stuff for Johnny's car and this morning I have just a few final things to pack for the plane.

I'm a little terrified of flying alone with Rachel and hope someone takes pity on me if it becomes difficult.

Gulp.

Here we go!

So long, farewell co-workers

2010-05-07T11:16:00.003-05:00

Last night I had drinks with my now former co-workers. The guy who used to work for me, Frank, planned the evening and it was a blast. It felt more like a roast in some ways - he had pictures of me up on the wall from over the years and asked people to provide favorite memories or embarrassing stories of me. I had an incredible time. I even gave a halfway decent speech - at least what I remember of it! ;)

A lot of people showed up - maybe about 25 or so throughout the evening - and people who used to work at the company even came by. I felt so blessed. It's sad that it came to me leaving to realize how many people really liked and cared about me at the company. Oh well. Like I said in my speech, we need to keep in touch because you never know who you may run into again!

Fortunately, I only teared up once. A co-worker/friend, Jon, gave me a big bear hug and I don't know, it just kind of set me off. Jon is one of those guys who always believed in me and kept me going even in my darkest days at the company when I felt so unappreciated and bad things kept happening to me (I don't know if I want to get into this on my blog, but let's just say that some of the things they did to me are completely against what the company says they believe in - dignity and respect of employees). To have him say that I'm making the right decision and this is a good move for me felt so...I don't know, final, and I guess at that moment I realized I'm really doing this thing and we won't be hanging out all the time anymore. Some of these folks became almost like family to me.

Leaving the company was really not a hard decision for me. It was leaving the people at the company that was the tough part.

However, as Frank said in his toast to me, I won't say goodbye, let's just say "see you later."

Oh. My. God. We're leaving in less than a week!

2010-05-06T10:22:00.002-05:00

And we don't have a place to live yet!! AACCKK!! I suppose we could stay in a hotel for a few days, although I doubt people near us will enjoy the sound of Rachel's crying to sleep ritual.

I still have so much to do. Why am I typing this? I don't know!! AAACCKK!! What the heck am I doing? Am I nuts??

The Crying Game

2010-05-05T07:36:00.003-05:00

Rachel cries. A lot. Especially at night. For maybe even a year now, she cries herself to sleep every single night. I've asked the pediatrician about this multiple times and they said that's just her habit. They didn't think 5-10 minutes of crying before bed, every single night, was a big deal.

But she doesn't only cry then. She also cries out once a night for about 30 seconds or 1 minute. I don't know if those are nightmares or what. But it's pretty regular - there has only been a few nights since she started doing this a few months ago that has she not done this.

But last night was the worst. She started crying at 12:55 and basically didn't stop until 4 a.m. I tried rocking her. I put her down and then stayed by the crib until I thought she was asleep. But as soon as I closed the door, she started crying.

I brought her into our room, but she just thought that meant it was playtime and started exploring the bed, sheets, and telling me stories.

Johnny tried rocking her too - no luck. We don't know what was wrong. I think her nose is stuffed up and we do have the humidifier going, but I really don't know what to do. She certainly won't agree to a nasal spray. Does she have a cold or allergies? I do know that she breathes from her mouth all the time now. So maybe it's allergies. But isn't she a little young to develop those?

I thought once we had sleep trained her, all her sleeping problems would go away. Sigh.

A, my name is Amelia, turns 1!

2010-05-03T16:36:00.008-05:00

Amelia turned 1 on Saturday! Here's a few pictures of her over the past year...

The first time we met Amelia which was when she was just a couple weeks old:

Here's some pictures of Amelia and Rachel having their first "playdate" back in February when she was 9 months old:

The birthday girl enjoying her cake and one of her party goers - "no-nap" Rachie:

The Royal Flush

2010-05-02T09:09:00.002-05:00

So this morning, Rachel started to take her diaper off. So I asked her, "do you need to go to the potty?" She said, "yeah," so I took her over to the potty and sat her on it. (Yes, I was completely unprepared for this moment and put her on the big potty since I didn't even think she was close!). She sat on it for a bit and we determined nothing was happening, so we came downstairs for breakfast.

After breakfast though, she had a dirty diaper! I said, let's go change your diaper and SHE WALKED INTO THE BATHROOM!

I had to tell her, "Rachel, we'll have to change your diaper first. Usually you go on the potty before you have to go."

Gulp. One of my friends had given us the "royal potty" as a gift awhile back. It plays music when you tinkle. :) So I set that up and put in the upstairs bathroom, but I guess we're going to need a couple more of those for each bathroom. I really didn't think she was ready and not even sure how to handle potty training. Plus, I figured we wouldn't even try until we move because I had heard a long time ago that moving disrupts the process. But hey, if she's interested, I'm not going to stop her!

Any advice??

Big life changes happen to me in 2s or 3s

2010-04-30T20:26:00.002-05:00

So when I started my first job out of school in 1999, I moved to a city where I knew no one (well, I had one friend from school who lived in the Chicago area, but she was still in grad school in Wisconsin) and I started my first job. So my first apartment in a city I didn't know and a first job.

Then in 2002/2003 I got engaged, bought my first home and I started a new job.

In 2008, my daddy passed away unexpectedly and I found myself pregnant just a couple weeks later.

And now, I'm not only starting a new job, I'm once again moving to a new city! Once again, I only know one person in the city, but this time it's not just me moving, it's me, my husband and my almost 1 and 1/2 year old daughter.

Phew...I guess I'm not destined for one big life change at a time, huh?

Rachel's 17 month update

2010-04-29T15:21:00.007-05:00

Each month is more and more fun with little Rachie, our little person. When I sneeze, she says, "bless you." Last night she kept telling daddy she wanted to go in the "tunnel." And when we showed her the statue I got Johnny for our anniversary that features a dad and a daughter, she pointed at it and said, "dada and achie" (I think r's are hard for her to say).

I love how she says, "yeah" or "okay" to questions too. She's such a cute little person, we're just completely smitten with our little doll.

When opportunity knocks, do you take it?

2010-04-23T10:13:00.003-05:00

I quit my job yesterday. Don't worry, I had another one lined up. But it's still surreal. Why? Because I'm going to work for a competitor, so while I officially have two weeks, my company asked me to leave shortly after I gave notice. I don't blame them, but it was still weird waking up this morning and reminding myself that I wasn't fired! I had about two hours yesterday to make calls, send e-mails and put my paper files in boxes. I had taken most of my photographs home the day before just in case, so I only walked out with a few personal things.

Walking down that hallway after 7 years was strange. Would I ever walk these halls again? Who knows. But it also felt good to be open and tell people where I'm going. Everyone's excitement bolstered my excitement because I'm not just switching jobs. We're moving. We're leaving the state actually, so all of this requires quite a leap of faith. Will we be happy in another state? Will I like the job?

Johnny is able to work remotely, so we're getting our house ready to sell. That's hard. Johnny keeps reminding me it's just a house - but it's ours. We bought this house expecting to be here for 30 years. We've put our personality into it and we brought our baby home to this house. We have great neighbors and a nice little community. I pray we find the same, or even better, where we're going.

Right before I accepted this job, I heard some comment on the radio. I guess the U.S. Navy had an ad campaign that said if your life was a book, would anyone want to read it? Well, would they? When opportunity knocks, do you take it or are you reluctant because of your fear?

One of my favorite movies is called Defending Your Life, starring Albert Brooks and Meryl Streep. The plot goes like this - Albert Brooks' character dies suddenly. He finds himself in a sort of pit stop before Heaven. He has to literally defend his life and his life choices. If he "fails" he's sent back to Earth so he can live a new life and learn the life lessons he's supposed to. If he passes, he's on to Heaven. While there, he meets and falls in love with Meryl Streep's character. But fear paralyzes him and he isn't willing to move forward with the relationship. At the end, we see both characters heading off in their respective cars. His heading to Earth to live a new life and hopefully conquer his fears so he can eventually get into Heaven, hers is heading to Heaven. He sees her. And he bounds across traffic to try and get to her. The powers that be believe his courage is enough to move him on so they let him move forward to Heaven with Meryl.

The day I accepted the job, I posted this quote from the movie on my Facebook wall:
"Fear is like a giant fog. It sits on your brain and blocks everything -- real feelings, true happiness, real joy. They can't get through that fog. But if you lift it, and buddy, you're in for the ride of your life," Bob Diamond - Defending Your Life.

I'm ready.

Recent pictures of Rachel at school

2010-04-20T16:11:00.022-05:00

Odd things seen at O'Hare

2010-04-19T21:05:00.004-05:00

O'Hare in Chicago is a huge airport. Every type of person you would possibly see appears to fly through this airport (which I think is the second busiest in the country behind Atlanta). So you're going to see some weird things.

Most of the time these days I'm so busy with Rachel I don't notice, but this weekend I was solo because I flew up to St. Paul to meet Sarah's little boy, Miles, who is turning 1. So I had plenty of time to observe...

A man in the security line wearing a classy shirt that said "I have crabs" (advertising some crab shack restaurant place),
A group of confused Amish men standing in line at Quiznos, and
A woman almost choking to death on peanuts in the gate area. (This totally freaked me out. I was just sitting there reading and all of a sudden she's choking and someone gave her the Heimlich maneuver and she ended up being ok. I just froze! I've never been in a situation like that before and I was totally useless! I felt like such a disappointment. What was even scarier about it was that she totally looked like my mom and then her husband showed up and he totally reminded me of my dad. Freaky. Poor guy missed the whole thing and felt so bad he spent the rest of the time thanking each person in the gate area).

Anyhow, so after that eventful trip to St. Paul, things were totally smooth sailing on the way back. It was great to finally meet Miles (what an adorable peanut, you just want to cuddle him all day) and see Nora after like 3 years (a bright and beautiful little girl) and get to really talk to Sarah for the first time in like forever. Her and her husband, Matthew, were incredible gracious hosts and I loved staying in their new home which was built in 1915 and has a Frank Lloyd Wright feel. I also got to catch up with my friend Megan too (we did brunch on Sunday morning). Good visit overall and I'm so glad I made it up there. (And at a decent time of year for once, my last visit was in January - ugh!).

Rachel's 16 month update

2010-04-16T20:39:00.002-05:00

Well, this month has just been crazy, but tomorrow Rachel will be 17 months, so you'll have to rely on the Easter pictures to demonstrate Rachel at 16 months. :)

I've said it before, but it's truly amazing how fast Rachel is learning these days and how much she understands. I'll ask her a question like, "Do you want to get in the bath now?" and she'll say, "okay." Or, "Do you want to go downstairs?" "Yea!" she'll say.

Speaking of words, here's a list of words Rachel can say:

Jacket
Monker (the name of her stuffed monkey)
Buggy
Bye Bye (She'll say bye bye in the car)
Night night
Mama
Dada
Uh oh
Yellow
Yea
Okay
Brown
Elmo
Baby
Water
Car (She'll say "Mama in the car?" Tonight she said, "Mama in the big car")
Bella
Doggy
Bananna
Cracker
Up
Bubble
No
Tickle
Nose
Eye
Whoa
Mouth
Ear
Out
Shoe
Belly button
Socks
Color
More
Cup
School
Dean (Her buddy at school)
Hat
Apple

Easter in the Big O

2010-04-06T21:27:00.011-05:00

Above: Coloring with Grandma; Receiving 1 of 2 Easter baskets; Barb's clan; The cousins minus 3 (Rachel representing the girls!)

Rachel's first Easter egg hunt...she caught on quickly!

Scenes from winter....

2010-03-27T15:53:00.008-05:00

Now that it's starting to feel more like spring (well some days), here are some shots from the "end" of winter.

15 Month Update

2010-03-14T14:52:00.006-05:00

Well, she'll be 16 months in a couple days (and on St. Patrick's day no less!), so I figured I better post this update soon!

Rachel had her 15 month appointment in mid-February. Here are the stats:

Weight - 24 (which is in the 80%)
Height 32 inches (which is in the 90-95%)
Head is 46 1/2 (Which is in the 76%)

Now that she's almost sort of mastered the walking thing, she likes to run and she loves going outside. I'll post a picture of her in my next random picture update that will show her forlornly looking out the door holding her snowsuit. She can even say "out" for outside and will bring you her jacket, mittens and hat when the mood strikes.

Rachel knows a few more words now...although I think we're the only ones who understand what she means. (Nanna for banana and bellabootin for bellybutton). She likes to point to her bellybutton now and laugh.

She's such a happy little girl that the teachers at school adore her. Of course, she still has problems going to sleep with us and still cries, but this past week she stopped crying during the morning hand off for school. (She used to cry hysterically when I would hand her to Jonathan so he could take her to school. Now we just say, time to go to school, Rachel, and she'll walk to the garage door on her own).

She follows other directions too. For example, we'll tell her it's time to go up for bath/bed and she'll follow us to the stairs. If you want her to give something to dada or mamma, we'll tell her to go give it to one or the other and she will.

I think a lot of her frustration now is in choices. She wants to be given the choice to do things, so I'm trying to keep that in mind when it comes to dressing her for the day and giving her a couple options. She will even point to the outfit she wants to wear! What a fashionista.

She continues to love to read and I had her help me pick out some books at the library last week. Additionally, she's usually (knock on wood) very well behaved at restaurants and even church. For now. I know the terrible twos may put us into some interesting territory!

It's been amazing watching her comprehension develop. I'm still in awe of this cute little person who's entered our lives. Johnny and I were talking this morning about the things she first did that really amazed us. Things you wouldn't expect. For him, it was when she purposefully sat down on a step. For me, it was the first time she reached for her sippy because she knew she was thirsty and took a drink. Having a child is like watching a miracle develop before your eyes. We are very blessed.

One Flew Over the Crib Rail...

2010-02-25T16:28:00.002-06:00

Rachel decided she didn't want to stay in her crib the other night (Monday the 22nd). So she catapulted herself over the rail and onto the floor. I heard the "boom!" and opened the door in time to see her somersaulting and standing up and walking around, kind of dazed, in her sleep sack.

What was she thinking?? Of course I freaked out and called the doctor. They said if she wasn't throwing up or experiencing seizures, she was fine. I think Dad was watching out for her...

So, we removed the bottom spring thing on her crib and put the mattress on the floor. I now need a step stool to put her in the crib, but at least the rails are just a bit taller than her.

We found out yesterday that her new thing is to crawl up on her classroom's housekeeping table and dance around. Oh, and our little Queen Bee likes to take her shoes off and once Rachel has done that...all the kids follow suit.

Everyone kept telling me "girls are so easy when they're young!" Liars! ;)

Is my daughter the Queen Bee?

2010-02-22T14:23:00.006-06:00

Whenever I go to pick Rachel up at school, she's the center of attention. In fact, the other night, all the kids were surrounding her on the rug when I arrived. And then when she walked to me, they ALL FOLLOWED.

And then when we drop her off, the kids come running to her - "Rachel! Rachel!" and hug and kiss her.

In true Queen Bee fashion, Rachel doesn't appear impressed by all this attention. Which, I think, makes the kids want to impress her more. Is my daughter the "popular girl?" :)

New territory

2010-02-16T06:26:00.001-06:00

So yesterday Rachel participated in a birthday party for a little girl in her class. The family rented some sort of ball pit thing and brought in an activity for the kids (making their own Elmo gift bag). She got all these gifts too - a coloring book, an Abby Caddaby figure, Sesame Street book and crayons. They had cupcakes too.

Last week for Valentine's Day, she got some candy and envelopes, but one parent actually MADE a personal coloring book and gave the kids crayons.

These kids are two and under. Are we really starting the competition this early???!

Rachel's 14 1/2 Month Update

2010-02-05T20:32:00.007-06:00

Getting Rachel to stay still for one of these pictures is quite the challenge as you can tell by these photos!

The biggest change from 13 to 14 months is that Rachel walks everywhere now. She hardly ever crawls anymore. It's so fun to watch her walk, she still does this sort of "Frankenstein" stiff like walk. It's so cute. Other updates:

New words include monker (her stuffed monkey which is her lovey and she carries with her everywhere), duck, bowl (she just said that tonight as we were reading Goodnight Moon, okay (everything is ok! ok!), bird, (She's been saying momma, dadda, and Bella for awhile. All cats, and sometimes other animals are BELL-AA. She sounds like a little Italian baby).
She can wash her own hands and often tries to wash herself for bath time. Speaking of baths, they are challenging too most nights. She just does not want to sit in a bath for 10-15 minutes. We've been doing 5 minute speed baths. Any ideas on what to do? (We have plenty of bath toys).
She'll let us know when she's done eating now. She starts to take off her bib and she starts to throw her food on the floor. Good thing we left that tarp under her high chair after her birthday!
She growls and "talks" like Froggie from The Little Rascals. I wish we could get that on video, it's really funny to hear.
She has figured out door handles and can open doors now. (She's loved closing them for awhile!)

The move to the toddler room at school was really great for her. Her skills have increased incredibly this last month. She really loves being there and we have a hard time getting her to go home because she's having so much fun. She has little friends now and the little girls come up and hug her when she arrives for the day. It's getting easier and easier to drop her off in the morning now. She used to cling to Johnny's leg, but now she can't wait to get her coat off so she can play with her friends. Her teacher says she is doing really well following along with the other kids and is loving art. Unbelievable, it's pretty easy to get her down for a nap there too I guess. She just walks over to her little cot and goes to sleep! So why does she scream when I put her down? Sigh.

When is it time to go?

2010-01-25T21:20:00.003-06:00

Timing is an art. If you're not ready, you might regret leaving. If you're SOO ready, it can be tough leaving too because you're bitter at that point.

I had dinner with a friend of mine last week. She recently started a new job and was about three months in. It sounds like it wasn't a good move for her and she was cautioning that the grass isn't always greener.

But when IS the right time to leave?

I know, I know, I know...

2010-01-17T21:39:00.002-06:00

It's been a loooongg time since I've blogged.

I've been a bit busy. On the 31st, we had a couple friends over with their kids for pizza and beer...it was a lot of fun and we all had a great time. But then, the next day, Rachel got really, really sick. It started with a fever and sluggishness...and then led to vomiting and breathing/coughing issues. We took her to an emergency place and discovered she had an ear, eye and respiratory infection. Eek!

When we took her to the Dr during the week, they told us we had to give her these breathing treatments with a nebulizer. At first, they didn't seem to help too much and we had to call the Dr because her lips were turning blue! Then it finally kicked in and she was doing better. But it was such a scary five or six days. She was so lethargic, she'd just lay on me and watch cartoons. It was so sad.

She's much better now and only has to do the breathing treatments for another week or so. Just as she was getting better, I got violently ill though.

So...I've just been finally getting back into the swing of things. I still have to post pictures from Christmas and I never did my 2009 wrap up this year. Oh well.

In other news, we had a great visit today with my college friend Erin and her two amazing daughters. Last week, I also enjoyed the movie Up in the Air with my friend Kathy. (Great movie...it was so fun to see Omaha in so much of the film too). Oh, and I read the entire Twilight series on my new Kindle. And like a big dork, I read the draft of Midnight Sun and Stephanie Meyer's Web site. And yes, I totally giggled when I saw a Robert Pattison movie preview before Up in the Air! Ah, I'm in lust with a teenage vampire! Speaking of books, I also just finished The Lovely Bones yesterday. Disturbing, but many parts were really comforting too. I really enjoy reading books about Heaven now.

Oh and today Rachel is 14 months! I'll post her update and photo this week. She is walking like crazy and is moving up to the toddler room on Tuesday. Yikes! My little baby is...a little girl! Eek!

Video of Rachel Walking

2009-12-28T10:01:00.003-06:00

Be sure to watch until the very end when she walks over to me from the table!

Update from the last couple of weeks

2009-12-23T20:14:00.013-06:00

Johnny's brother, Dan and his girlfriend Adrianne came to visit last Sunday and Rachel was a little suspicious of the beard, but she warmed up after awhile! :)

Other updates....

Like all children everywhere...it's not really the gift you give they spend hours over, it's the huge box that it comes in which becomes the major plaything! Here are some fun pictures of Rachel exploring her new "toy."
Well, our little daredevil took a dive a couple weeks ago and received a buckle fracture, which means the bone bent a bit but didn't break...it's really more of a "baby" sprain the doctor said (out of 1-10, it's less than 1) so she can wear a splint if we want her to, but she really doesn't have to since it's healing pretty well and it should be all healed in the next 2 weeks or so. I've been beating myself up over it, but people keep telling me their kid daredevil stories so I don't feel so bad now.
Rachel has almost all her teeth now and as these pictures shows, I think she believes she can eat just about everything now!!

We're hoping to spend Christmas with my family, but the weather is just not cooperating. If you're reading this, say a little prayer for us ok?

First Steps

2009-12-19T18:44:00.002-06:00

Rachel has been taking one step here and there this week, but this afternoon while we were playing in the family room, she walked two steps to me from the coffee table!

She is also standing a lot on her own for longer and longer periods (five seconds to 15 seconds).

13 Month Update

2009-12-17T20:39:00.008-06:00

Aren't these pictures cute? Looks like Rachel wrote her own card this month! Rachel has such a personality these days! Here is a highlight of all the things she can now do at 13 months old:

Rachel has always liked to be held. Now she lets you know that she wants you to pick her up by holding her arms in the air and saying, ugh, ugh...

She's been waving bye bye for awhile now, but now she actually says the words as she's waving.

We've said "good girl" to her so much that now she says it and knows when TO say it. Crazy! She also likes to clap too when she knows she's done something she's proud of.

She can stand on her own, but only for a few seconds. She's still cruising along on her feet while holding onto furniture, including plastic walking toys. Any day now and we'll probably have a walker on our hands.

Rachel likes to pretend as if she's eating food. She'll take one of her plastic spoons, find a cup and mock eat. It's hysterical. She also "drinks" out of cups.

She does enjoy music and will bounce to the songs she likes.

While getting dressed or undressed is still difficult, she will sometimes help me out a little now...she is also fascinated by the whole shoes and socks process and will sometimes try and put them on herself.

She still adores the cats...but they don't adore her back sadly. Today she "gave" her monkey, Monker, to Bella. I don't think Bella understood the significance of this act!

Rachel loves soft things. She likes to jump into pillows or comforters.

She can spend hours opening and closing doors.
The days of two naps are numbered...or non-existent. She's now mostly napping just once a day for about two hours. This actually started the day of her birthday party. That was the first time she only had one nap and it just kind of continued. There are a couple days here and there where she takes two, but for the most part, she's become a one nap gal.

Overall, she's a pretty happy little girl who loves to laugh a lot, especially when she's playing with Dada! She is still teething though...but there are very few teeth left to come in at this point. She has almost all, if not all, of her bottom teeth and is currently working on filling up the back top of her mouth.

Rachel's BFFs

2009-12-16T15:10:00.002-06:00

Here's a picture from school today with Rachel sitting with her two BFFs (best friends forever)...Ethan and Dean. The teachers told me this week that the three of them will be moving to the Toddler room in mid-January. Eek, my baby in the toddler room!!

On weaning...

2009-12-14T11:07:00.002-06:00

I did what only a small percentage of American moms do...I nursed Rachel for a year. Actually, just past a year (almost to 13 months).

It's really an accomplishment that I made it this far. That first month was really, really tough. I sought the help of a lactation consultant at the hospital I delivered at about two weeks after Rachel was born because she wasn't gaining enough.

Despite the class, books and online help I sought for breastfeeding, it was NOT easy and "instinctual." It was very tough actually, made worse by my lack of sleep and me feeling so incompetent. (I have a college degree, how can I NOT get this right, I kept thinking).

It was uncomfortable, painful and Rachel and I, really kind of strangers at first, had to do this unique little dance to make everything work and click correctly. The consultant at the hospital was ok, but when I tried everything she said at home, it didn't seem to work as well. So I hired someone to come to the house. She was great actually. A lot of what she recommended I did all the way through this first year. And then I went to a nursing support group at another hospital and worked with a really wonderful lactation consultant there. It was really her support, and that group, that kept me going those first three months and even after.

After things clicked, I thought, well, if I can just make it to 6 months, I'll be happy. And then at 6 months, I thought if we could just get to one year...and now a year has come and passed.

It's time. I really need to seek out a dermatologist for my face problems and she's done really, really well. (The drs said I had super milk!) But Christmas is coming, she's becoming a toddler, and there are just so many other reasons to stop - yet this too is difficult.

I began weaning gradually in October. I cut one pump session and than one feeding out (I was only down to 5 a day at that point). But this last feeding - the morning feeding - took about a month because Rachel got really sick and I didn't want to stop completely while she was sick.

So I tried on Saturday morning and I didn't feel so well, so I guess my last feeding was yesterday. I've begun all the little tricks that are supposed to help - cold cabbage leaves, drinking sage tea, etc. And it seems to be helping a little bit today, but this morning, emotionally, was really tough.

Normally when I get Rachel in the morning, I nurse her and then change her diaper. Well, I brought in a sippy of milk instead. She was NOT liking that change at all. She threw it several times and cried and cried. She had this look on my face like, "Mommy, why??!" And she kept looking at the rocking chair (where we usually sit). She was just miserable this morning. I tried my best to distract her all morning and play with her. Eventually she calmed down, but man, was it hard not to second guess this decision. And of course, every site you turn to about this says it should be "child-led" weaning...which could take place anytime between 2 1/2 to 7 years! Um, no thanks. I grew to like nursing, but not THAT much!

When I was nursing, I never really thought about this part. It seemed so far off. But now that it's here...I know I just have to do my best to deal with it and move on. I know it's just the first of many milestones that Rachel and I will take on her way to independence. Logically I know. Emotionally...it's hard to say goodbye.

Our little Cassatt...

2009-12-09T16:25:00.002-06:00

(Rachel is in the Cassatt room at her play school)

Today the kids explored purple sand and sea shells. They also used glue...we really hope she wasn't "that" kid that ate the glue!

Professional Pictures from Rachel's Birthday

2009-12-07T20:19:00.002-06:00

Pictures from Rachel's first birthday, courtesy of Dowd Photography:

http://dowdphotoblog.com/2009/12/07/rachel-rosalies-first-birthday/

Rachel Learning to Walk

2009-12-07T17:16:00.004-06:00

Yesterday, Johnny got out this walker toy Rachel got from Grandma Rosalie and she was cruising all over the room with it. Today we got a picture from play school of her using a similar device.

Looks like it won't be soon before our little toddler will be "toddling" around!! Ha ha. Bad joke. Sorry, runs in the genes. :)

The only person smiling in this photo is me...

2009-12-06T20:05:00.002-06:00

Um, yeah...we'll try again next year.

Scenes from the 1st Birthday Party

2009-12-02T21:36:00.010-06:00

Bad Studio Experience

2009-11-21T15:48:00.003-06:00

Well, Rachel woke up early today (5:45 a.m.) and went back down around 6:30 until 9:30 a.m. So she missed her morning nap. Which had me worried about 12:30 since we had our 1:10 photography session today.

She was in an ok mood when we got there...but our wait was horrible. The place was PACKED. We didn't get her picture taken until about 2 p.m. and we did two - a 1-year-old shot and Holiday cards. The 1-year-old pictures did not turn out well at all...and he didn't take that many either. He wasn't very good with her (but she was also in a bad mood because she was tired). And her monkey, Monker, had been stolen by another kid so I didn't have that to distract her.

I found Monker and we got to the second session with her holiday outfit. That photographer was much better and we got a ton of good shots.

But then we had to wait to pick the pictures out. That was another hour. Picking them out by myself was really hard too. I don't think I picked the right selections...but I felt really pressured to make a quick decision and get her home for a nap. And in the chaos, Monker went missing again. :( I called the studio and they said they didn't see him anywhere. I'm really trying not to panic, but it's hard. It's her lovey. She holds onto him in the crib when she's upset and he comforts her. So, I'll have to pack her up when she's done napping and go back to look for him myself. What if I don't find him?? I don't know what I'll do.

I'm also wondering about these 1-year-old shots. Should I retake them given that we only picked out one picture or is that enough?

Editor's Note: We returned after Rachel's nap and Monker was found! Phew...crisis averted.

Rachel's 1 Year Update

2009-11-19T16:04:00.002-06:00

Drum roll please...

23 pounds, 11 ounces. 90% for weight. Same as what she was at 6 months!
31 1/4 tall. 97% for height.
46 for head

She didn't get her vaccines yesterday because she was sick, so we're going back next week. According to the dr, she just has a virus, so we've been giving her a lot of fluids. She's been feeling much better today, but we still kept her home from play school.

Johnny watched her in the morning, and I took the afternoon shift today. He had her climbing stairs! She'll be a triathlete before we know it. :)

It was a grand and glorious day...

2009-11-17T20:27:00.007-06:00

in our household one year ago, when Rachel Rosalie was born. And her mommy and daddy were so happy.

This is the saying my dad used to say to all the kids on their birthdays. For those who no longer lived at home or lived far away, he'd call and recite it in an Irish brogue. His call would apparently come very, very early sometimes too. I was lucky to not receive a 5 a.m. phone call since I was always home for my birthday...except for my 30th birthday when we were in Paris (!). That was the only time I got the grand and glorious phone call.

Both Rachel's Uncle Dave and Aunt Barb called to recite the saying for Rachel's first birthday today...which obviously touched me and made me happy all at the same time.

First birthday. Wow. Today from Baby Center I didn't get a "what is your baby doing this week?" I got a "what is your toddler doing this week?" Toddler!? Are you sure about that? Gulp.
It's truly amazing to see her become more self sufficient every day though. You can say to her, Rachel, put the book in the bag and SHE WILL DO IT. WOW. It's also kind of mind boggling to watch her at the dinner table, choosing the food she wants to eat, putting it into her mouth with her fingers and taking her sippy cup and taking a long drink. She's becoming a little person. Such a change from a year ago when she was this tiny, crying thing who didn't know the difference between day or night and couldn't really see in front of her.

Sad part about her birthday today...she is sick. Play school called and I had to pick her up because she was running a fever. Luckily we have her 1 year appointment scheduled tomorrow, so we'll get her checked out. So, no big celebrations planned for today, which was probably a good thing given her health.

So on that note...Happy Birthday, Rachel Rosalie. It WAS a grand and glorious day when you were born because you changed your mommy and daddy's lives forever. For the good. We love you little baby! (Take that Baby Center!).

Yea!

2009-11-12T21:08:00.003-06:00

You can see the joy in Rachel's face in this picture. The update attached to this picture -

Pots and Pans
The class pretended we were cooking in the kitchen. We pretended to pour ingredients into the pots and stir them. We also then talked about what yummy things we were making.

One of the things we're struggling with right now is Rachel's apparent intolerance to cow's milk. It reminds me a lot of when she was first born and had rashes all the time and really bad dirty diapers. (She probably had an intolerance then too, but just outgrew it after a few horrible months!). She also has a rash on her face around her mouth, so we're going to bring soy milk to school tomorrow and see how she does with that.

This little piggy...

2009-11-10T20:54:00.003-06:00

Today's Update....
Counting Toes-
We took our socks off and counted our toes one by one! We also sang “This Little piggy”. The children liked this activity and laughed.

Today was also picture day! (I've also scheduled her one year photo at Portrait Innovations next Saturday. If anyone local wants to help me wrangle her, you'd be more than welcome since Johnny won't be available).

The Little Artist

2009-11-09T20:13:00.005-06:00

Today's update from school...

Art Studio- We all took a walk to the Art Studio in the buggy this morning. The children sat at the table with a smock on and Roller Painted on Yellow Paper using Orange paint.

Ahhh Ahhh Ah...

2009-11-08T15:16:00.012-06:00

Choo! Rachel tries to imitate me when I do that (I'll put something on my head and say, ah-choo! to make it fall off), but the furthest she can get is the Ahh Ahhh part. I also make a chicken noise that she tries to imitate...we of course have concerns that the teachers at her school are going to think she's a bit crazy!

Here are some recent pictures of her over this past month.

Rachel's Play School Update

2009-11-03T15:15:00.003-06:00

Today the kids learned many things. They learned where their noses were and played with puppets and kitchen utensils (dishes, bowls, plates, etc.)

Rachel was apparently very intent on the shape sorter activity as judging by this photo. With the help of the teachers, the kids found the correct drop spot and listened to it as it dropped into the bucket.

I can't believe how much she looks like Johnny in this picture!

Rachel's first Halloween

2009-11-01T19:58:00.010-06:00

It was pretty cold, so we only went to 7 houses. We felt a little lame though since she's not eating candy yet. We acknowledged we were just there to show off her costume! :) Take note of the cute kitty dress...she wore that earlier in the day. It was a gift from Grandma Rosalie.

Very few trick-or-treaters this year - fewer and fewer each year. We only had three groups of kids. Sad. Don't know if it was the weather, scares of swine flu or kids just go to events or parties instead. Who knows.

Rachel and the Great Pumpkin...Guts

2009-10-28T15:58:00.004-05:00

We just got our first e-mail update from Rachel's playschool. As part of their "art" learning today, we got this message and this picture:

Inside of a Pumpkin- The children felt inside of a pumpkin and then explored with the pumpkin guts. This was cold, mushy and slimy, everyone took turns sharing.

Who wants to bet that she tried to put the "guts" in her mouth?

Family Photo

2009-10-28T06:23:00.002-05:00

Rachie's new play school asked for a family photo and can you believe we haven't taken one since Christmas???! Yes, we need to rectify that and take more photos of the three of us.

Sadly, Rachie isn't smiling in this one, but hey, it's a photo and I don't want her to be the only kid that doesn't have one...plus I think the purpose of it is just to comfort her with photos of mommy and daddy, not necessarily of her. :)

Rachel's Latest Photo Shoot

2009-10-26T20:13:00.001-05:00

Sneak peak of our Saturday photo shoot on Max's blog!
http://maxaroniandcheese.blogspot.com/2009/10/im-just-not-that-into-you.html

11 Month Update

2009-10-24T10:30:00.010-05:00

Well, it's not as easy to take pictures at this point...as one picture in this bunch proves!

Some updates on Rachel this month:

She speaks in this jibberjaberish made up language. You would swear she was really talking, she seems so sincere.
Speaking of talking, my little girl can finally say ma ma! And she does know what it means. When I pointed to a picture of me with three of my very best friends, I said, which one is mama? And she pointed and said ma! (She also knows when I'm coming home. The other day Johnny was holding her and the garage door went up. She started whimpering and saying, ma, ma...). She can also say baby.
She can clap and wave bye bye when you ask her too (but only when she's in a really good mood).
She's continuing to work on pulling herself up, hence on the bruises on her forehead. :(
She loves to crawl on us like we're big mountains to climb up and over.
Lately she's been crossing her ankles while sitting - she's like a little lady already. It's so funny.
She has at least 10 teeth, maybe more. Some of the big ones have come in and have caused much misery. Poor baby.
Some of her favorite things to do - she loves when you read to her and she loves cups and plastic things, such as taking things in and out and banging them together. She's not into stuffed animals at the moment, so I've put them away but will bring them back out when she's into them again.

In other news...things didn't work out with nanny no. 2, so we're looking for another one and/or are going to consider putting Rachel in child care. She seems to really enjoy the activities and playing with the other kids, so if we end up doing this, I think we'll feel better about it at this point. We've met a few candidates and have a couple more interviews today, so we'll see. As for the child care center at my work, the waiting list is still really, really long and plus the commute might be a lot for her. (It usually takes me an hour or so to get to and from work). Although one of my colleagues said he has about an hour commute too and his son does fine, so that made me think about it again. Sigh. Decisions!

Today Rachel and I had a photo shoot in downtown Long Grove. It was a little cold and rained off and on, so I was worried we wouldn't get too many photos, but Katie, the photographer, was very optimistic. Rachel didn't smile too much on demand, but I think she's cute even in her serious poses. I'm excited to see the photos because Katie had an adorable hat and sweater to put her in and we got some in an old covered bridge, so I think there will be some good ones too. I love, love, love Katie's pictures (I link to her blog on here), so if there are even a couple that are as good as the ones she's taken of her son and some friends, I'll be happy!

Our pumpkin at the pumpkin patch

2009-10-11T17:41:00.009-05:00

Adorable Holiday Dresses

2009-10-10T21:58:00.007-05:00

Rachel has one holiday themed dress...but not sure it will still fit in December because it's a 12 monther, so I've been looking around.

I loved the dresses at Janie & Jack, but wow, did not love the prices. But then I got the latest Hanna Andersson catalog today and they have the most adorable dresses ON SALE. Check them out! Don't you love them too?!

THE dress...

2009-10-10T06:26:00.004-05:00

Good lord, you'd think I was looking for my wedding dress again...but I finally found a dress for Rachel's first birthday. It was tough because almost everything I found was pink or sleeveless...

I finally found this dress late last night. What do you think? It goes well with the cupcake theme we've chosen for her party (I decided not to do Curious George since she's still too little to know the difference).

In other news, Rachel had her first flu shot yesterday and they weighed her at the dr. She's now 24 1/2 pounds.

She's also discovered her tongue and loves to make noises with it. At one point, she was making the 'labababa' noise with her tongue and looking at me. So I started to make the noise. Then we looked at Johnny and he made the noise. So there we were, the three of us, making these 'labababa" noise together. It was quite funny.

Rachel is also pulling herself up to standing really well these days too. We have a little learning table that she can pull herself up on, but I plan to get her the Leapfrog Learn and Grove table for her birthday so she can stand even more. (She started pulling herself up to standing about a week 1/2 ago).

On Skin Care

2009-10-04T10:28:00.003-05:00

Like a lot of issues that mostly women suffer from, I think if more men suffered from adult acne, the problem would be taken care of by now! But alas, most don't...and so women are stuck with a myriad of over the counter or prescription products that may or may not work. The only good part about being a woman when it comes to this topic is that we do have make-up (but again, that brings on a whole other issue...)

I've tried just about everything since about the age of 11.You name it, it's been on my face or ingested. The only solutions that have worked for awhile is a combination of antibiotics and prescription strength topical solutions. However, taking antibiotics for an extended period of time is not a good idea, so I've been off those for a few years.

Which leaves me to mostly over the counter solutions, which probably won't work either because my acne is mostly due to hormones.

Yet, I just ordered a different skin care "solution" today. I just keep pouring money down the drain hoping I'll find some amazing miracle product and I'll actually be able to not wear make-up all the time and feel ok about that. Given that dermatologists are not experts in hormones and those that are 'experts' in hormones are not face focused, it's a lose-lose situation. No one is working on this issue and it's frustrating!!! It can be very detrimental to self confidence and self esteem and like I said earlier, I think if men faced this issue, it would be a done and over deal.

On make-up, I absolutely dread getting new foundation. I went again yesterday and ugh....Each time I get almost chastised by the ladies for having bad skin. What, do they think I WANT bad skin?? Do they think I seriously sabotage myself and not wash my face, etc? It's such a condescending experience. Too many women in the skin care industry do this and it takes all my strength not to be rude. I'm guessing it's part of the retail experience...make you feel bad so you can buy more, but I'm on to you people!!