Video-fest

Here are a couple of videos from the last week...

He loves drinking his bath water :( It grosses me out, but he'll find any way he can to do it - frisbee, Loons mini helmet, squish ball, etc. Here's his latest fun....








He is also becoming quite the little walker!!!

Hair loss...

Well, unless he does something really cute tonight, this is the last time you will see Justin with long hair! Last night in the bath tub we saw how long it really is when it's wet....I could dress him in pink and call him Justina :)

Tomorrow morning we are going to Chicago for his 1st birthday party (we're having it on Sunday - a little early, but taking advantage of the long weekend). We are going to find somewhere around there so he can look nice and clean cut for his party!

We are SO EXCITED to see everyone this weekend :) Yeah!!!!!

Sunday Evening Report

We had a great weekend! As you can see from the last two posts, Saturday was pretty busy. Sunday we took things easy and didn't have a schedule at all - it was nice! We were up at 6:30am and out the door to go grocery shopping by 7:30am. If you would have told me 5 years ago that I'd be at Kroger at 7:30am on a Sunday morning I would have told you that you were crazy :) We also went shopping for plates/napkins/cups/etc for Justin's 1st Birthday Party!!!! I can NOT believe that he is almost one already. We are having his party this coming Sunday since it's a long weekend. I am so excited to see everyone!!!!




Justin styling in his new shirt and Nike Shox.....


















Ignore the drool all over his chin - he's been drooling a lot; maybe getting more teeth to add to the 10 he already has!













Justin got really, really bad diaper rash on Thursday night. Friday it got worse and I got a prescription cream from the doctor. She told us to leave his diaper off as much as we could to get air on it - so here he is loving life without a diaper! He did pee on the floor once...oh well; it's apartment carpet :)










The dogs kept walking in front of me, but I love how he's giggling in this one...




The next Tiger Woods???

Fun afternoon with the girls....

On Saturday afternoon, I met Katie, Britta, Sandy and Erin at the nail salon for pedicures and then it was off to Kickapoo Creek Winery. It was a fun mini-bachelorette party afternoon for Katie who is getting married September 1st.

Rob and I wish you all the love & happiness in the world Katie and Josh!!! Have fun on your big day :)

Dinner with the Gibsons

On Saturday evening we went to dinner at Rob's bosses house. Russ (his boss) and his wife Denise have an 18 month old son Luke. It was really fun to get to know them better and it was really nice that their house is already child proof and full of age appropriate toys!!!!




Justin playing on Luke's play set. I really wish we had a yard so we could get one for Justin!!!


















He LOVED the swing....again - wishing we had a yard!!!!


















Everytime we let him wander he went right to the stairs. He was getting pretty fast at making it to the top!!!



















Russ and Justin














Daddy and Justin

Operation Get Fit!!!

I am tired of feeling fat. I finally realized that I am the only one who can do something about it too.... so I am going to try!!!

I bought a pair of Nike Shox Remix yesterday that I can use with my iPod. For those of you who don't know how it works there is a chip in the bottom of my left shoe that talks to a reciever that I plug into my iPod. Then it tracks my workouts as I run. I put a little tracker on the side of the blog too, that way if I slack off everyone will know it - motivation :)

Please ignore the time it takes me to do these miles for now...I have not run unless being chased since high school track 9 years ago! Plus the way I went today was really hilly and it was windy. Next time I am going to take Quincy and Tucker with me - they can pull me up the hills!

Have a great weekend! I am off to a bachelorette fun afternoon with Katie and the girls and then we are having dinner at Rob's bosses house. Nothing like packing on quadruple the calories I burned this morning!!!

Diet Coke Lover - Just like Mommy & Grandma!!!

He loves trying to drink out of our cups - and loves Diet Coke! Notice at the end when he tries to bite Rob...we are trying to break that habit!!! Any suggestions???/

#7

I had to post this pic...Anyone who reads this already knows my feelings toward the barbaric, ghetto thug, waste of flesh & fresh air former QB for the Falcons.

I wish I had a jersey to let Quincy & Tucker play tug of war with :)

New shoes!

Now that Justin is starting to walk more, we had to get him some new shoes! He did not have any that fit him and he's been barefoot all summer. We got him a pair of Adidas and a pair of Nike Shox. We put the Adidas ones on him to go out to dinner on Tuesday and he just stared at them like they were cement blocks :) He wouldn't move at first in them and then Rob and I took his hands so he could walk and he was high stepping most of the way. He'll get used to them!!! I also ordered him a pair of slightly used Merrells on ebay for $15! They are the slip on moc type in khaki color - perfect for fall! We had to get him a size 6...his feet are huge! Doesn't that seem big for a 1 year old (almost!!!)?

Just a few more pics...

Here are a few pictures from tonight. Nothing too exciting, but I know that Grandpa & Grandma's love to see new pictures :)

Justin has 2 more teeth! He now has 10!!! We thought he was getting one last week because he was biting and drooling like crazy and then yesterday when I felt for it (when I was finally brave enough!), there was one on each side. I don't know what ones they are but they are on the top! You only have about .5 seconds before you risk your finger getting bitten off :)






I love his beautiful blue eyes!!!!


















Watching the Bears/Colts game on Monday Night Football.....


















Who needs a jungle gym when you have 2 labs???

Sunday evening report....

Not much new to blog about, but here are some pictures for you (sorry mom...I'll try not to be a slacker!).

Friday when Rob picked Justin up from daycare the teacher said that he had to sign an accident form that said Justin bumped his head when playing; no big deal - he's done it before and I am sure he'll do it again. The big deal is that they had Justin in the crib room SLEEPING in a bouncy chair less than 1/2 hour after it happened!!!! He was irate and so was I when he called me. Who lets a baby go to sleep after bumping their head? And why didn't they call me or Rob? He went to the front office and the director had just gotten there. She was not happy with the way the situation is handled either. I was SO MAD. I called her on her cell phone after I saw the bump and vented again. It's not her fault, but something needs to be said to the teachers/Assistand director that were involved. The assistant director signed his accident form without even seeing him. She said that if we want to he can go back to the other infant room which is younger babies and different teachers (we really liked those two). I think he would be bored out of his mind in there though. I can't wait for December to come when he can go to PALS....










Here is the bump....














Sitting in his new chair!

Climbing on his new chair - no guess how he got the bump!
He's all BOY!!!


















Here is a smile :)























Quincy is so patient with Justin!












...so patient!








Our Future Linebacker!!!

Mama is not in Justin's vocabulary :(

I don't think he's ever going to say Mama :(

Why dogs don't live longer than people.....

Yesterday was a very sad day for our family - we had to put down our 14 year old Cocker Spaniel, Katie. She was old and I know it's for the best and she's happier now and all, but it is still hard. It's especially hard on my parents who have lived with her for so long...I have been gone for 9 years and it still hurts.

I was talking to my brother Mike yesterday and we were talking about the Katie that we remember.... While most dogs like chasing balls or frisbees, Katie liked rocks. We lived in the middle of the woods and you could throw any rock deep into the woods and she would come back out with the exact same rock. Sometimes she'd be gone for 1/2 hour or so, but she always got that same rock. Even when we were clearing the yard for grass to go in and we would throw them she would bring them back :)

I still remember taking her to the vet for the first time with my dad. She was SO TINY she fit into my hand and had these little brown eyebrows that looked like milk duds on her black fur.

You are very loved Katie and you will be greatly missed :(


Why Dogs Don't Live Longer Than People

Being a veterinarian, I was called to examine a ten year old Irish
Wolfhound named Beaker. The dog's owners, Ron, his wife, Lisa, and their little boy, Shane, were all very attached to Beaker and they were hoping for a miracle. I examined Beaker and found he was dying of cancer.

I told the family there were no miracles left for Beaker, and offered to
perform the euthanasia procedure for the old dog in their home. As we made arrangements, Ron and Lisa told me they thought it would be good for the four-year-old Shane to observe the procedure. They felt as though Shane might learn something from the experience.

The next day, I felt the familiar catch in my throat as Beaker's family
surrounded him. Shane seemed so calm, petting the old dog for the last time, that I wondered if he understood what was going on. Within a few minutes, Beaker slipped peacefully away. The little boy seemed to accept Beaker's transition without any difficulty or confusion. We sat together for a while after Beaker's death, wondering aloud about the sad fact that animal lives are shorter than human lives. Shane, who had been listening quietly, piped up, "I know why." Startled, we all turned to him. What came out of his mouth next stunned me. I'd never heard a more comforting explanation. He said, "People are born so that they can learn how to live a good life -- like loving everybody all the time and being nice, right?" The four-year-old continued, "Well, dogs already know how to do that, so they don't have to stay as long .

Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly.
Leave the rest to God.

Happier Days!

I am happy to report that I am feeling MUCH better! I am still a little tired by the end of the day, but that's to be expected I guess! I have not had any pain killers for my throat in 2 days and last night I even ate dinner! I hate being sick and I don't know why I have been sick so much this year. I am healthier than I've been in a long time as far as walking the dogs 2-3 times a day, hardly drinking at all and eating semi-healthy meals. Who knows....



Justin is doing good! Rob and I just love coming home from work and playing with him all night. He is getting to such a fun age. Last night we fingerpainted after dinner - pictures are below :)



We found Justin a new daycare too! It's called PALS. He can't start until December though. The infant room has a waiting list a mile long and so we have a spot secured for him in the toddler room which he can start at 15 months. He has to be walking by then! I don't think that should be a problem. He's close now! The place is downtown pretty close to Rob's office. It's not that we "hate" the place he's at now; I know that they don't beat him or anything, but we just don't feel that he is getting the attention/care he needs. Not to mention one of the teachers tells me EVERYDAY that "he was crabby today". Justin is not a crabby baby at all - if he's crabby it's because they are completely ignoring him all day long or he is feeding off of their energy.

A little better....

Happy Monday!

After the doctor at the ER on Thursday told me I'd "feel like a new person in 24 hours" we decided to head to Elgin on Friday even though I still wasn't feeling very good. I figured I could sleep there as well as here and we didn't have anything to do until Saturday. We had an appt with the realtor at 9:30am, I had a hair cut scheduled at 12:30pm and we were going out to Midevil Times with Jacobs at 7pm...fun day right? Well, all I did was go back to the ER, get more IV fluids, found out that yes I have strep which the meds I got at my last visit were working for however they did not diagnose the tonscilitis or the mono. Lovely. So all of those Saturday plans were shot. Rob met with the realtor (more on that later) and I was in bed all day. They did give me the 5 pack of Zithromax which seems to be helping my throat a little and some vicodin so I can actually swallow fluids. They are afraid that my left tonsil might be abscessed, so he kept pressing down on it and now it burns like crazy when I try to eat or drink anything other than water or unsweetened tea. Good weight loss plan! So I am trying to rest as much as I can and kick this thing. I am obsessed with my Purell hand sanatizer and I use it CONSTANTLY. The doctor said that mono is not as contagious as people think and I can touch the baby, feed him, play with him but not to kiss him (duh.)

Then on Sunday Rob's parents and Godsie came down for the day. It was nice to go out to breakfast and then they helped us clean our house so we can hopefully sell it soon!!! Thanks for all of your help; we really appreciate it!

On to the realtor topic - we dumped our realtor. Couldn't stand him any more and he was putting ZERO effort into marketing our house at all. So I found a new guy and Rob and I really like him. He suggested we hire a staging lady. Our house has almost all white walls and it's very "neutral"....probably aka boring. She I guess brings in decor and some furniture and moves stuff around and makes it look pretty. It's going to cost us a little $$ but if it will sell our house faster it's worth it. Then next week when she is done he's having a realtor open house with food and drinks for the realtors to preview the house. He said that this gets people talking about it and realtors can tell their clients that they have already been through it, etc. He said that he won't lie; it's a tough market, but if the realtor is WORKING to sell it and not just listing it, that is the difference. He also said that the staging thing is what takes it from "another" house to a WOW house. So Rob and I are pretty excited about this new guy and I hope that something falls soon!!!! (or lightning strikes it!!!) J/K!

We got to see Marley this weekend too...she is SUCH a cute puppy! I don't miss the potty training days though :)

Here is a picture of our little cookie moster last night. He LOVES chocolate chip cookies :)

Great day!

Warning - there will probably be TMI in most of this post so read at your own risk!!!

I have not been feeling well since Tuesday night so yesterday Rob talked me into going to the ER to get some meds. I went into Triag and the registrar that took my temp said it was 100.2. Not bad. Then when the doctor came in he said he could feel the heat radiating off of me and redid the temp and it was 103. The other girl didn't tell me to put it under my tongue. So they gave me ice water and tylenol and sent us to the waiting room. As soon as I got out there I got sick and threw up the Tylenol and water. So then it was back to a room with a bed. They laid me down and started an IV with fluids and morphine and other drugs...it was wonderful. And the lady who did the IV was perfect - I barely felt it. Then in comes another nurse with Tylenol supposorties since I couldn't keep them down orally. Not one, not two, but three of them. Lovely. Then my strep test came back positive and I got a penecillan shot in the rear end. Oh, and to top my day off I started my womanly time of the month. So what are the things that I really don't like? Throwing up, needles, etc....I got them all in the same day. And I am still home in bed feeling horrible. My throat and headache are killing me. :(

Oh, and Justin got home from daycare with a big goose egg on his forhead where he fell when trying to walk...poor baby. I miss him; i've been in bed so much i have hardly seen him.

Random thoughts...and Justin trying to walk!

This video below is over a week old, but I thought I'd post it anyways since I don't have any new pictures since last weekend! He hasn't really smiled too much since then; we think he's getting more teeth if that is possible! We can feel hard bumps on his upper right gum that are not on his upper left one. I don't know if he can get those back teeth this early???

Yesterday Justin turned 11 months old - Rob and I can't believe how fast it's gone by! We are in the process of planning his birthday party and we are SO EXCITED for it! A few people have asked what he "needs" for his birthday and the answer is nothing. This kid has a toy box that is overflowing; and that is not even all of them! Is it tacky to tell people Toys R Us gift cards? I know that people don't really like just buying gift cards, but when we get a house we really want to get him one of those little plastic houses or forts or something to play in/climb on. It would be nice to have gift cards to pay for it, but I don't know the proper etiquette of what to tell people for gifts??

My mom and grandma are both doing well....thank you to those who sent emails/cards/well wishes - it is much appreciated!!

We are going BACK to Elgin this weekend. We fired our realtor and are interviewing a new guy on Saturday morning. I think I really like him - we talked on the phone for a while about different marketing things that he can do, etc. Our old guy called me and told me that he's going on vacation for 3 weeks and if an offer gets faxed in someone will call me. I don't think so - he's not done a darn thing since he listed it...it's still a picture on the website with no leaves on the trees and grey dreary skies. So then he tried telling me that I had to wait to cancel until he got back from vacation. I told him that was not the case; we had fulfilled our contract and he needed to cancel immediately. We had an email war and I finally won. Lori called to tell me that someone was there taking the sign down and the fliers off the counter. Yeah! I am excited to see the Jacobs and hang out with Tom, Lori and Marley!!!

I woke up this morning with a killer sore throat and it won't go away :( I am hoping that I am not getting sick; I don't have time for that! We were planning on going to a few Great Lakes Loons games this week since they are in Peoria, but the heat index yesterday was 107 and I think it's 105 today. Air conditioning sounds way better than sitting outside at the ball park!

I'll try to get new pictures up soon!

Latest happenings!

Sorry it's been a while since I've taken new pictures - I lost our camera charger for a little while...oops.

Things here are going well. Justin is starting to try to walk. He will take a few steps at a time! I have a video that I will try to post soon. This week my mom had a full hysterectomy and she's home recovering. Hope you're feeling good mom!!! Then on Thursday my grandma had surgery at Mayo Clinic to remove the colon cancer they found last week. They did the surgery and removed the cancer, so she is hopefully on the road to recovery too!

Tom & Lori came to visit us this weekend - we had a GREAT time hanging out with them! We went to Old Chicago for lunch on Saturday and then to PAWS (Peoria Animal Welfare Society) to see if they had any lab puppies (not for us!). They only had older dogs and it was so heartbreaking to go in there :( Then we came back to our apartment and got on petfinder.org. We found a litter of lab puppies down by Springfield that had white/yellow female lab puppies which is exactly what they wanted so this morning we drove down to see them - and Marley will be spayed tomorrow and delivered to Tom & Lori's house on Friday!!!! She is SO CUTE...pictures below!



Justin enjoying bathtime with his bubble maker!














His hair is getting really long - daddy wants it cut but I don't want to yet :)

















These are the frames I got at Kohl's - bargin shopping! I got all 3 for under $28.00!!!!














New family picture!














Justin eating his new favorite food - tater tots!















Here's Marley!!!!!
















Here she is saying "Thanks for picking me - see you Friday" :)













Justin playing with Marley. She is by far one of the more mellow puppies in the litter. She snuggled right up to Tom as soon as we got there.












The newest addition to the Treml family! First family picture (minus Rascal, the parrot!)













Justin playing with the puppies. He wanted to get down there with them, but we all know how puppies like to nip with their sharp little teeth!!!

Twin Cities girls

I really hope that everyone and their families / friends are okay after the tragedy in Minneapolis tonight. That is also the National Headquarters for McQuay International, the company that I am a manufacturer's rep for. I am praying that everyone is okay!

We'll be praying for those who lost their lives on an ordinary day driving home from work. So sad :(