1000 words

This was about it for yesterday. They can't all be good days.

Tag

So, Melissa posted this on her blog, and it looked like fun. So, I'm taking it :)

1. What were you doing five years ago?
At some point in the summer of 2003 Matt and I took a camping vacation of all of the amusement parks in Pennsylvania. It was an awesome trip and we had tons of fun!

2. What are five things on my to-do list for today?
The first five: put in under-sink shelf in bathroom, measure kitchen drawer for divider at Ikea, laundry, all of the trash, scrub bathtub to put non-skid stickies down (sounds exciting, I know)

3. What are five snacks that you enjoy?
Cheese 'n crackers, pretzels, popcorn, M&Ms, Cheez-its

4. What five things would you do if you were a billionaire?
Pay off all of our debt, make sure that the whole family was set (college, loans, houses, etc), buy a new car (or two), buy a new house, travel

5. Where are five of your favorite places to travel? Why?
Chicago: family, and nothing beats downtown Chicago
Maine (specifically Jordan Pond in Acadia Nat'l Park): just a wonderful calming oasis
Great Plains/West-ish area (like Yellowstone): big skies and miles and miles of views
Florida (in the springtime): good sun-shot during the dreary NH days
London: Matt and I had such a wonderful time there (minus the terrible food poisoning)

6. What five jobs have you had?
In no particular order: the Easter bunny, book seller, teacher, research chemist (sort of), lab aide

7. What five people do you want to tag?
Anyone who wants to respond!

Little Trouper

Joseph is such a good boy. We have had the week of chaos (it seems) and are (maybe) headed into another, and our little man just keeps going. Last week Max and I prepared for a big Garbage, I mean Garage Sale which was Saturday. You know what they say about one person's trash...well, we did not too badly. And, I never could've done it without Max--thanks bunches! So, that was last week and Saturday. The crazy auction men who all look like my dad showed up shortly after 7 (despite all advertising saying that we opened at 8). Then we rolled into the older ladies looking for kitten things for the rest of the morning. Around 2, we all hit the wall and everyone took a nap. That geared us up for the Fisher Cats game that we went to Saturday night that started at 7...this all makes for a very long baby day. He did pretty well and melted down at the game around 9:20 (who could blame him). Then today we marathon-shopped as we helped a friend get his new place all fixed up. It was a nice Sunday of Bed Bath 'n Beyond, Costco, and Walmart. Watch out world! We are too exciting around here! And, again, Joseph did really well until he got tired of Walmart (again, who could blame him). So now he's in bed and I'm supposed to be writing competencies (or something) for a workshop that I'm going to tomorrow (at 9:30...that will be a challenge all by itself). Too bad that my brain is complete oatmeal and I've lost a good chunk of my short-term memory due to lack of sleep over the past 8 months. Oh well...hopefully I can dig some edu-speak out of the less damaged parts of my head in not a lot of time because I'm really tired too...

Matt's Wonder Week

Since I usually write about The Boy (the little one, that is), this post is entirely devoted to The Man (the big boy). To say that Matt's had a good week would be an understatement.

• He finished another class for his MBA and earned another A.
• He was selected for a job at SNHU to be an A/V and I/T something-or-other--bottom line: he got a new job!
• And, he's up in somewhere-out-of-cell-service, NH fly fishing right now.

The job is really the most exciting thing for us, although Matt always loves fishing with the guys (my dad and Max), and who doesn't like getting A's? He's been with the same company since April (I think) of 2001 and has moved around quite a bit with them. It's been a good job and he's worked with some amazing people, but it was time to move on. So, this position at SNHU was recommended to us by our friends K and K since it is currently K's job and they're leaving NH (which we're rather sad about) so the position will be available. We're really (really) excited about this opportunity and couldn't be more grateful for the blessings that have come our way.

Happy Father's Day, babe! You're a great Dad and husband and I'm so proud of you! I hope that you caught lots of fish :) [even though, that's really the bonus of the Father's Day fishing/camping/bonding weekend] I love you.

Learning

We're getting there...a little drop of maple syrup apparently does the trick with rice cereal. Now we'll work on adding bananas instead. He's pretty sharp, though. He doesn't seem particularly interested in baby food, but he wants big people food. Too bad they don't make baby's first waffles. Soon enough. And, my mother calls it "the strength of one's convictions": he's starting to really figure out what he's interested in and what he's not, and he's not afraid to communicate either of those things. We're all learning.

And, Matt leaves tomorrow for fishing Father's Day with my dad and Max. Max will be late, though, because he has to take the MCAT tomorrow at 2--wish him luck and focus (mostly focus...he's been studying hard and he's a smart cookie)!

Food frustrations

So, our little man is small (just over 16 lbs). He's gone down in his weight percentiles and the doctors want him a little heavier. This is part of the acid-reflux diagnosis too. So, we're trying to stuff more food into him. Well, it's been like 100 degrees outside--how much do you want to eat when it's 100 outside? I'm also trying to find a productive balance between introducing foods and nursing so that I maintain as much milk as he needs and give him the foods that he needs too...this isn't easy. It's made even more complicated with a little boy who has figured out how to scream with his mouth shut. We'll figure it out, though, I'm sure. Now, for your viewing pleasure:

We like squash; we don't seem to like a lot of foods, but we like squash. And, it apparently tastes better when you put it in your mouth with your fingers. I'm learning a whole new kind of patience.

And when it's a million degrees outside, a little pool hits the spot! Check the Cubbies swim trunks--gotta support the team :) Here's hoping--Grandpa would love to see them go all the way!

6 months and ramblings

Well, here's the 6 month picture of our young man and Mona. This was at Grandma and Grandpa Krones's house too (like his 3 month--feel free to compare). He's sitting pretty well now. My friend Susan (well, actually her dad) says that this is the best age. We're enjoying it! He's not entirely mobile, but considerably sturdier than before. He's got quite a personality too and I'm loving getting to know him.
I could write so much about this last little trip that we went on, but I'm going to leave it at: Joseph is a wonder who never ceases to amaze and impress me and I am so proud of him!

Other ramblings:

• Turns out that the doctor thinks that he's got reflux too, so now we're taking baby [cherry flavored, that'll be $3 extra but at least your baby will take it now] Pepcid.
• We're up to: cereal, applesauce, and squash. Squash is our favorite.
• It was 58 degrees today and is supposed to be 90-something tomorrow--what?!
• Matt and I want a diesel VW after spending the last week in Max's--thanks for the "rental"!
• Nashua is [hopefully...cross your fingers] coming through for me on a part-time position for next year--phew.
• Things truly have found a way of working out for us so far this year and we count our blessings regularly.
• Friends and family far from NH have been in lots of my thoughts lately, so I hope that you're all doing well--drop a line (or comment) if you're catching this.
• Max takes the MCAT next Friday and is beginning his "blitzkrieg of studying" this week, so wish him smarts.
• Matt and I are going on our first post-baby "date" tomorrow--lunch and Indy! I can't wait!
• And, I can't wait to meet Miss Annika Lin--freshly home from China :) Check out this sweet face.

I don't know if I have ever been so exhausted. We got home last night at 12:30--Matt drove the whole way. What a wonderful husband and daddy! More to come when I can remember where I am and what I'm supposed to be doing...