The Hills 5-5-09

Hello! Not too much to report on this week - other than sickness :(

Justin got sick on Friday night; he threw up a few times and was miserable. Then Saturday he'd start feeling better and want to play, play for a few minutes and be back on the couch. He had a fever that we broke with Tylenol and Motrin and thought we were okay. He was fever free from Saturday night until Monday morning so we thought we were in the clear. No luck. He got a fever at daycare yesterday and I had to go get him. So we are home today and maybe tomorrow until he's fever free for 24 hrs without drugs. Oh, and Rob was home sick yesterday yesterday too. Times like these I REALLY wish my mom lived closer. Justin has been so clingy and whiny - I know he can't help it but it wares on your nerves so bad. At least today he is better. He's still taking the Tylenol/Motrin so that is probably why, but I'll keep him drugged up if it makes him feel better. Maybe we can get some errands run since it's supposed to be in the 70's and sunny!

In other daycare news... Justin has to move to another room June 1st. Why? Not sure. It makes no sense to me. He's not moving UP; just to another 2 year old room. Away from Lauren and Clare; his best friends. And most sadly away from Ms. Ericka and Ms. Steph. I have already cried more than once and I'm sure I'll do it again. The only reason I'm hoping this will be okay is that the director told me that the room he's going to (with an ok teacher; not great) will likely turn into the next 2/3's room and then he gets to skip Ms. Jani's room. Rob and I are not fans of her AT ALL. We have both had experiences with her screaming at the kids, being flat our mean and treating them in ways that if she does it in front of people what does she do when there are no parents around? One time Rob went to pick up Justin on the playground and he was running at Rob with his arms out screaming "Daddy...Daddy". Jani screamed (barked) at him to stay on the woodchips. Rob just looked and her and said "I'm here" and walked away. She later told Steph that she thinks she made Justin's dad mad. She's just not a nice person to be around and I really don't think I could leave Justin there with her everyday. Seriously. I was starting to look at other daycares. So I guess if he can skip her room it's worth it, but I wish he didn't have to be separated from Lauren..... If this is bothering me so much I don't know how I'm going to handle the rest of his life when it doesn't go the way we exactly want it to! It just seems like if we're paying $190 a week for him to go there we should have some say in who his teacher is. I did email a brand new daycare that just opened closer to our house. They have web cams that you can watch your kids at any time. That really would give me piece of mind with an infant.

We are waiting on a quote for our backyard problem. I had one landscaper not show up to give me an estimate, but our friend Evan's friend has a business that does exactly what we need. He came and looked at our yard on Saturday morning. He's giving us quotes a few different ways - I don't think it will be cheap! He was talking about tying all of our downspouts together and running them along with the sump discharge and then laying an "H" shaped tile system in the back half of the yard where it's low and running it all into a main line that would discharge into a lake (huge pond) behind our fence. I need to talk to the guy who owns the property behind us to see if he'd let us do that. Otherwise if we run it to the back of our property, it will make his wetter. He has a slope going to the lake too, so it would be better for all of us. He never comes near the property line other than to mow it once or twice a year when it gets knee high! Even if it's expensive, it is probably worth it since we'll be here a while and don't want to have this problem every year. We can't even walk to the shed without losing a shoe in the mud. Ugh.

I planted a few flowers last weekend. We also planted new boxwood shrubs - ours from last year did not make it. I thought those were impossible to kill? I should take pics this week of the plants/shrubs because the flowers probably won't be around long. I don't exactly have a green thumb :)

I think that's all for now - I'll try to take some new pics this week!

Here is a random post :)

First pic is a quick stop we made to the zoo on Saturday. We have a membership so we will probably go quite a bit. On June 6th the Africa Exhibit opens - lions, hippos, giraffes that you can feed, etc. Justin is excited to go see the "move it, move it" animals. He's a big Madagascar fan!

Second pic is from swimming lessons as well as the many videos at the end. I don't know how to put them all into one, so sorry - if you want to watch them you have to do it individually! In the 2nd video, he hits his head. He has a red mark on his forehead to show for it...but he kept doing it!

Then we have the belly pictures - by request. I was not going to put any on here, but what the heck. I'll be skinnier again someday :) Keep in mind these were taken from Justin's vantage point, so they are maybe even more unflattering? We'll go with that! Oh well - baby brother is a healthy growing boy. Getting large is inevitable I guess!

Have a good day!

Playset Info

For those asking about Justin's upcoming new playset:

We picked the Kodiak kit, and we're building style #513. There's a gazillion plans and styles on Swing N Slide's website.

We bought all the non-lumber components from DoItBest.com

• 819581 Kodiak Kit


• 810975 Green Giant Slide


• 829587 Discovery Mountain


• 807370 Climbing Rocks (1 extra set)


• 829927 Anchor kit


• Use coupon code "CustomerCancel" upon checkout, to get 10% off! Shipping is free if you have it shipped to a local store and pick it up yourself.

So he'll have 2 different rock walls, a 9 ft. slide, a fort, and two swings. The kit is nice because it includes all the bolts, screws, brackets, etc. plus the two swings, safety handles, and 1 set of climbing rocks. Now we just have to get the lumber....

The Hills 4-28-09

Hello! Sorry; no new pictures today, but maybe Rob can get some videos at swimming tonight.

Nothing too much is new around here - just plugging along. Here are a few highs and lows....

Highs:

*Sales are really up this year for me. This is a good thing because I was really worried with the economy and being on commission.

*We ordered components to build Justin a swingset. I know we said we were not going to until some more money started coming in, but what is the point of waiting until August or September? We found a website to order the kit, slide, rock wall, etc from and then priced up the lumber at HD, Lowes and Menards. Menards won and when all is said and done we should be able to do it for around $1000. Much cheaper than a rainbow one where the cheapest DEMO (aka used) one was over $2500! We think it will be a good investment with 2 boys :)

*Justin is doing really good at swimming. He gets moody sometimes and does not want to cooperate, but overall he's doing really well! He will go underwater all of the time and sometimes does it on his own. At the Saturday lessons with the float bubble on his back he has been kicking and swimming to the wall on his own (about 5 feet).


Lows:

*The Rivermen are done for the season. They lost in Game 7 last night. I feel hungover - a hockey hangover. It was so disappointing... oh well - there is always next year! I think that we will have the youngest season ticket holder with us next year :)

*Our backyard. Just the back 1/3 of it.....wet, wet, wet. Like you can't even walk with sandals on or they will get lost in the swamp. We have a plan for our sump discharge - to rent a trencher and run it to the back of our lot line, but now this problem we don't really know what to do. We are a low spot between our neighbors and our own yard is not flat either. We were reading about french drains and ideas like that, but I don't even know where we would dig it to make it effective. Who do you even call for things like this - a normal landscaper? an irrigation company? I am at a loss, but right about now I would happily pay someone to do it and do it right to get the water out of our yard. I am SO SICK of muddy dogs and not being able to use our whole yard.

*My back. I feel like a 90 year old woman everytime I stand up. Ugh. Oh well - in 4 months it should all go away!!!

*Belly pics. Probably not going to happen :) I am so large and so not a cute pregnant person. Plus my belly is so large and white it would probably blind you.


I will try to get more pics taken soon!

22 weeks!

Your baby has stretched to the size of a spaghetti squash and weighs almost a pound. (Length: nearly 11 inches.)

How your baby's growing:At 11 inches (the length of a spaghetti squash) and almost 1 pound, your baby is starting to look like a miniature newborn. His lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct, and he's even developing tiny tooth buds beneath his gums. His eyes have formed, but his irises (the colored part of the eye) still lack pigment. If you could see inside your womb, you'd be able to spot the fine hair (lanugo) that covers his body and the deep wrinkles on his skin, which he'll sport until he adds a padding of fat to fill them in. Inside his belly, his pancreas — essential for the production of some important hormones — is developing steadily.

The Hills 4-20-09

Hello! Not too much is new here, which is a good thing :) I am in Champaign right now. I had to present an award on behalf of ASHRAE at the U of I last night and today I am making customer calls all day and I have to be on a jobsite here tomorrow morning at 8am. I miss my boys and really want to be home. I am just grateful that I only have to do this a few times a year!

Speaking of my boys.... Rob is doing good. He started his summer hockey league that is 3 on 3. He's the goalie and they are undefeated so far. I have not made it to a game yet, but hopefully soon! He played yesterday but I was already on the road. Thank you for watching our monster Katie!!!! Rob and I realized that we both had something to and got the panic; what are we going to do?? This is when it's hard not having any family in town to babysit! I feel guilty asking Katie everytime. He loves when you come over though!

Justin is doing good too. He LOVES being outside all of the time, so I think we'll have a fun summer! He loves going from the sandbox to the trampoline to throwing frisbees/balls for the dogs to baseball to hockey, etc. We really want to build him a nice wooden swingset for our backyard, but those are really expensive and it's not in the budget right now. Maybe soon. We have the park nearby, but it's still not as convienient as just letting him go out the back door and play. He makes Rob and I laugh every single day with new things he says, things he remembers and things he comes up with. I think he's going to be such a good big brother!

He has been doing swim lessons every Tuesday and Thursday and we just did our first Saturday class this week. It's still sing-songy and not as much swimming as I'd like, but he enjoys it. At least for the Saturday class they get to use the bubbles that go on their back to help them float. He is getting so much better at going underwater and jumping in. Still a little apprehensive to jump in, but much better than before we started lessons! We just need to keep him around the water more often to get used to it I think.

I am feeling well. Just getting larger by the day! Baby Brother is moving a lot more, but everytime I tell Rob to feel it he stops moving :) One of these days he'll catch him!

That's about all that is going on here - like I said, nothing exciting!

Have a great week!

Evening with the Wisley Family!

Saturday we went over to the Wisley's house for pizza and good company. It is so nice to get together with Michigan people :) I knew Dave before I met Rob....they were both Theta Taus. Dave and Stacy always organized the Drink-n-Drown canoe trip we used to go on every summer too.

They recently purchased duck eggs online as a science project for Samantha. Two of the seven have hatched. There are three left, but Stac said there is no movement in the eggs so they probably won't be hatching. They have to keep them for 15 weeks and then they can be released in a pond (all was pre-arranged!). Dave ordered the jumbo ducks though and they are supposed to be 20 pounds full grown! Better them than us :)




Rob and Justin....notice the duck poop on Rob's leg!!!















Justin and one of the ducks












He would put food on his finger and the duck eats it off :)

David and Beila

Justin and Stacy looking at the ducks

Samantha and Justin doing art projects

Dave, Rob and the duck watching the Stanley Cup playoffs...

Beautiful weather!

The weather has been beautiful here the last few days! Thursday I picked Justin up right after his nap and we went to Averyville and got ice cream. He just wanted to get down to the cone and eat that part :) Next time I'll have to ask for less ice cream!

Easter Weekend

We had fun having family in town for Easter weekend!

Friday everyone got there and we just hung out and grilled burgers, then some of us went to the casino.

Saturday the guys went to a car show, Sue and Godsie went shopping and me and Uncle Mikey hung out and played with Justin all morning. In the afternoon we had our Easter dinner a day early (G&G Brooks had to leave by 9am to get the dogs from the kennel), so we ate between replacing the sliding door and the hockey game. I made prime rib, smashed red potatoes, green beans and sauteed onions & muchrooms. It turned out pretty good! After that we went to the Rivermen's last regular season game vs. Grand Rapids and then home and went to bed!

Sunday we got up early to have breakfast before the grandparents left. Most of us got up early - not Justin! He was tired from a LONG day on Saturday. He got up at 6:30am after being up late Friday night. On Easter Sunday he didn't even wake up until 9:30am! He got up and found his basket from the Bunny (as he calls it....just "the" bunny). After going through is basket we told him that the bunny left something in the garage too and gave him his bike. He really likes it! Uncle Kurt and Ashley left around 11am and then me, Rob, Justin and Uncle Mikey went to Menards, BW's for lunch, home to nap and then bowling! Justin has wanted to bowl with Uncle Mikey since Ry and Manda's wedding in October. We bowled two games and Justin did good! After bowling we just went back home and hung out until bed time. Low key Easter Sunday which was perfect!

First egg complete!







He had to do everything by himself, which equated to me getting very dirty fingers catching the eggs he was taking out with the little wire thing!








The crew replacing our sliding glass door. I LOVE our new one - its all white vinyl with blinds in the middle of the window panes.





Justin opening his Easter package from Papa and Gramma Airplane. He got another Hockey Monkey movie! The first one got too scratched and loved and would not play anymore :)

Going through his basket from Uncle Mikey

Playing with the bubble maker from his Uncle Mikey basket

Lots of bubbles!

He had so much fun with Uncle Mikey :) He likes playing outside - I think he would stay outside all day and night if we'd let him!

Playing hockey with Grandma Brooks and Godsie

Easter Dinner (on Saturday afternoon).

Justin on his new bike from the Easter Bunny

New chalk eggs

Opening his basket from Grandpa and Grandma Brooks

He loved the Peeps!

Going to ride outside where he can go further without hitting a couch or fridge :)

Easter Sunday bowling!

High Fives with Daddy!

Just in case anyone forgets his name - it's a microphone.....aka Mike......get it? :)

He liked where the air blows out of the ball return

Showing Uncle Mikey how many pins he just got!

Uncle Mikey's bowling pose......

....and Justin trying to copy :)

Video....

Okay, maybe it's the pregnancy horomones, but I cried when I saw this. What a great lesson on not judging a book by it's cover. Wow.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxPZh4AnWyk