Happy Birthday, Nathan!!

It's my brother Nathan's 21st birthday today.  I was in 6th grade when he was born and I remember being so excited that he was a boy (my sister was less than 2 and I didn't need another baby sister).

I'm sure Nate is having a great time with his friends celebrating this awesome milestone!  Don't worry though .... I'll buy him a beer this weekend on our family trip to Vegas.

I stole these Deep Thoughts from someone else's blog ... but somehow they remind me of Nate.  He wasn't old enough to remember Jack Handey (I do though), but the dry humor is very Nathan.  So Nate, these are for you!

My 10 Favorite Deep Thoughts

Deep Thoughts was a long running highlight of Saturday Night live in the 90s. They were the supposedly 'deep" thoughts of a man named Jack Handey.

1. The face of a child can say it all, especially the mouth part of the face.

2. To me, boxing is like a ballet, except there is no music, no choreography, and the dancers hit each other.

3. If you ever fall off of the Sears Tower just go real limp because you'll look like a dummy and people will try to catch you ... because, hey, free dummy.

4. Anytime I see something screech across the room and latch onto someone's neck, and the guy screams and tries to get it off ... I have to laugh because what is that thing?

5. The memories of my family outings are still a source of strength to me. I remember we'd all pile into the car - I forget what kind it was - and drive and drive. I'm not sure where we'd go, but I think there were some trees there. The smell of something was strong in the air as we played whatever sport we played. I remember a bigger, older guy we called "Dad." We'd eat some stuff, or not, and then I think we went home. I guess some things never leave you.

6. When I was a kid my favorite relative was Uncle Caveman. After school we'd all go play in his cave, and every once in a while he would eat one of us. It wasn't until later that I found out that Uncle Caveman was a bear.

7. Maybe in order to understand mankind, we have to look at the word itself. Mankind. Basically, it's made up to two separate words - "mank" and "ind." What do these two words mean? It's a mystery, and that's why so is mankind.

8. To me, it's a good idea to always carry two sacks of something around when you walk around. That way, if anybody says, "Hey, can you give me a hand?" you can say, "Sorry, got these sacks."

9. When I die I want to go peacefully in my sleep like my grandfather, not kicking and screaming like the people in his car.

10. The wise man can pick up a grain of sand and envision the whole universe. But the stupid man will just lay down on some seaweed and roll around until he is completely draped in it. Then he'll stand up and go, "Hey, I'm Vine Man."

and a bonus:

1. If you want to be the popular one at a party, here's a good thing to do: Go up to some people who are talking and laughing and say, "Well, technically, that's illegal." It might fit in with what somebody just said. And even if it doesn't, so what, I hate this stupid party.

2. Regardless of whether they discover life there or not, I still think we should consider Jupiter an enemy planet.

Ordinary Days … How Far We’ve Come

Although I definitely want to highlight the milestones in Elayna's life, I also want to use this journal to chronicle our normal days too.  After all, I am a huge proponent of celebrating the little victories every day.  It occurred to me yesterday what a crazy person I am now that I'm a mom (of course, I've always been a crazy person ... I know that). 

Elayna is becoming a great eater and inpatient monster.  When she's hungry, she's hungry NOW.  This had led to several melt-downs in her highchair while I'm trying to heat up her lunch.  However, I have found that signing, dancing, flirting, and entertaining her tends to help -- she likes a dinner and a show. 

I know this looks hysterical....  Elayna's mom, singing some rendition of "Blue Moon" like Kermit the Frog, while dancing the can-can in front of the microwave.  Oh....  WOW my new life!!

Days fly by, and for the most part I'm enjoying the balance I have between Elayna and work.  There are definitely days when I try to distract her with toys so I can veg on the couch.  And there are days when I doubt my value to Wells Fargo as a 60% employee.  And there are days when I wish I could ditch both Elayna and Wells Fargo, buy a motor-van, and live in the mountains somewhere with Clancy.  Most days, I love that I can do both and yet I wonder if I do a good job at both.  It's the struggle of the modern mother, I think.

Last night, Elayna and I joined Aaron at his weekly softball game.  She even sat and watched the game somewhat.  It was very fun to watch her play in the dirt, crawl up the stairs (it was a first!), and clap her hands for the team.  I love watching her blossom.  I love letting her learn about the world -- especially when she can watch her dad.  I love how expressive she is and how she interacts with us; her new favorite is a call-and-answer 'SSSSS'ing noise.

Since I also want to use this journal to document the happenings of the world, I suppose I should mention President Barack Obama's inauguration on Tuesday.  I was excited about it ... but I'm sick of the news coverage so that's all I'm going to say. 

Living for the Weekend!!

Happy Monday!!

Elayna is feeling much better and we are finally back to normal as a family.  To celebrate, we had a busy and crazy weekend.

Friday night, Aaron watched Elayna while I had an official Girls' Night!!  My friend Val's brother is visiting from North Carolina and is a GREAT cook -- so she enlisted him to cook for all her friends.  I don't know a lot of brothers who would be such good sports, but Chris made us a FEAST of munchies, wine, and finger-foods.  I had met several of Val's friends before but there were some new women too and it was a really fun night of gossip and laughter.  We even had a serious discussion about feminisim in our young women.  THANKS Val for such a great evening.

Saturday afternoon we drove over to our friends Nate and Sarah Schug for dinner with their family.  Sarah and Nathan have a new house and much of their neighborhood is under construction or dirt lots -- perfect for their boys to ride their bikes in while we walked with the younger girls.  Aaron and Nate worked in the garage, we grilled burgers and hotdogs, and Elayna had a really fun time playing with new toys.  We even had a bowling game on the new Wii (I lost horribly too).  A really fun evening -- we'll have to do it again soon!

Of course, the big news in Phoenix is the Arizona Cardinals and their recent rise to glory.  Sunday was the NFC Championship game, in Phoenix, against the Philadelphia Eagles.  We watched the game at home ... and were both shocked when they actually WON!!  Aaron was so nervous he had to vacuum during the game (it was hysterical).  The AZ Cardinals are off to the Super Bowl!!

Alot of good news for one weekend!!

Elayna video

Fun video to make ... check it out!

Not every day is golden

This has been a rough week for our little family.  Poor Elayna came down with a fever on Sunday night.  The fever spiked around 102 -- not dangerous but it enough to wipe her out.  Sunday and most of Monday she was sad and droopy although Tylenol seemed to help.

Monday afternoon, Elayna took a turn.  Although still feverous she was active and has decided that naps are no longer necessary.  Also not-needed:  sleeping through the night!

Last night, poor Elayna was up multiple times between 12 and 3.  She was congested and although she would fall asleep, she couldn't breathe and would wake herself up.  Aaron and I took turns consoling her ... but it was a long and painful night.

This was very frustrating ... probably the worst night's sleep for us since she was a new-born.  I find myself second-guessing myself all day and we're both exhausted.  Luckily, her fever today was gone so she could go to day-care and Aaron came home so we both could take a nap.

Elayna seems to be sleeping peacefully right now so we'll see how the night goes.

In the middle of this, Aaron and I went out last night!  Our friend Val's brother Chris is a professional chef and is in town for the week.  He treated us to a FABULOUS meal of veal, swiss chard, and gnocchi.  It was a FEAST!  Thank you Jay, Val, and Chris!!

Happy 9 Months, Elayna!

Today was the first day in a week that Elayna has been feeling great and eating as normal.  This flu definitely shook things up around our house but I'm so thankful Elayna is feeling better!

And just in time for her birthday!  Happy 9 month birthday to our sweet baby girl!  This month has been a joy with Christmas and watching the holiday through her eyes.  She also is crawling extremely fast and very curious about everything.  She'll pull herself to standing and take steps while holding onto our hands.  I love it!

We had a fun time taking her bear picture tonight.  She was so happy to see the big bear -- it was like a reunion with an old friend.  She draped herself on him, gave him kisses, and laughed and laughed.  Extremely sweet!