Wowza, this weekend was jammed with family, family and more family! We spent Turkey day at my mom's where we whooped it up with Bill's family and lots of kids for Olivia to play with! After dinner, the entire family took a nice walk around the local park. The guys played football, the adults chatted and the kids took to the swings and slides. It was so cold out and I tried to keep Olivia all bundled up but she insisted on wiggling her way out of her "mama swaddle" to see everyone and all the activities around us. She turned in to Rudolph by the time we got home.
Friday we went out for some holiday shopping! We didn't actually get going until about 3 o'clock. It was much needed for mommy to sleep until noon, while daddy took care of Olivia. I am still trying to recover from my kidney infection... this thing is kicking my butt! Anyhow, we headed out for a Western Digital 1TB 3.5"external hard drive and got one for $78! What a deal. The hard drive will hold something like 285,000 photos! That evening, we headed over to my aunt Joanie's (my mom's sister) where we had a lovely family gathering. There were tons of friendly faces and more kids for Olivia to stare at in amazement. My little cousin, Erin, is a real cutie and had all of us laughing! We celebrated my mom's 55th Birthday and enjoyed a nice visit with cousins, aunts, uncles and nieces. Saturday, we headed to Monti for a grandpa and grandma Lindenfelser visit and we were all very tired! Everyone had already done so much over the past few days and it was nice to just "hang out." My dad and Karen fed Olivia an orange popsicle and, of course, she loved it! Her second little tooth has popped in and she is enjoying all the cold things in her little mouth! (Even without a tooth, orange popsicles are a tasty treat!) Karen had a garden themed puzzle going and I really got into it! I had forgotten about my secret obsession so we rushed home to clear off a table in our room and I pulled out two puzzles Rob bought me a few years ago and immediately dived in. I am finished with the outer perimeter and some of the inner! I am so shocked at how sore your back really gets after being hunched over for two hours! : ) Sunday, Rob headed to the the Mall of America Field for some Vikings action! He went with his brother Kevin and family-in-law. Rob said the game was amazing and he had a blast! Quick shout-out to Sheri, our sister-in-law... HAPPY BIRTHDAY! While they had some tailgating fun, I drug myself out of bed and headed to Coon Rapids to meet up with Olivia's cousins for a Theisen "grandkid" photo shoot. It was nice to see the youngsters all together. Unfortunately, one of the cousins was pretty sad and made the shoot a struggle. I was happy that it only lasted an hour as I was feeling absolutely disgusting and feverish from my infection. BUT.... I just couldn't pass up stopping by Jen and Jerry's to finally meet little Miss. Madeline Rose! I washed my paws and squirted on some sanitizer to embrace the little doll. I had completely forgotten what 8 lbs feels like! She was so teenie tiny and I was so in love! Why, oh why did my little girl have to grow up SO FAST? Speaking of fast... Tomorrow is her half Birthday and I am taking her in for her 6 month shots. I'll post details in the evening - maybe this time I won't cry harder than her! : ) Wish me luck! Tuesday night we went to JC P for some photos and about 9:00 p.m. we left the mall. Immediately after, I started having really sharp pains in my lower back and innards. I burst into tears and demanded that we head to Urgent Care for help! It was an unexplainable flank pain so I just knew someone had to check it out.
Our first stop was West Health, where they did some lab work (urine and blood) only to tell me that they couldn't do anything for me as the ultrasound tech had left. They called and reserved a spot at North Memorial E.R. and insisted that I get there asap, as there was no waiting. Our Second stop - North Memorial "repulsive emergency room".... by this time I was nearly bent over in pain and "crawled" into the e.r. I was handed a beeper and told to sit and wait for it to go off. Rob just dropped me off because neither of us felt it was appropriate for Livi to sit in there, plus it was past 10 and she would have been terribly crabby. I just about died when a huge man came out of the waiting room walked right by me and let out this obnoxiously loud and smelly burp. Then as I turned my head to avoid the thrash I see a man viciously swinging his arms around talking about how he had just knocked someone out and he was reenacting his drama. I was quite disgusted by the sweaty greasy white guy who was enjoying every moment of the story's graphic details. Then, needless to say, my loving mom and Bill came to my rescue and kept me company while we waited. As they arrived they too were able to enjoy the company of several braless women, who found it natural to scarf down chips from vending machines as their overflowing bellies bulged from their, again, BRAless tank tops. Oh, and I simply can't forget to mention the 30 something woman who found it appropriate to be sucking on a baby pacifier. Let's just say that I was very tempted to rate my pain as 100 out of 10 and not because of flank pain... Anyhow, they called me back after a short wait and I was given a nice gown and sent for a cat scan to see if there was anything to be detected. We waited about 15 minutes for a result. Meanwhile, we were startled by a loud rap on the door only to find a very sad Bill waiting for us to retrieve him from the hell of the waiting room. HA! We let him in, where he joined us in the private room. I was so amused at the language between the happy couple.... Bill was so tired and balled his jacket up to prop his head and every few minutes would blurt out, "Huh?, What?" This, of course, only encouraged my mom's frustration and need to say, "what? Why do I always need to repeat myself..." blah, blah... I had a few laughs and while it was entertaining, I might just visit the E.R. on my own, next time. Anyhow, the results of the scan were normal and they did not find any kidney stones, as previously suspected. They did determine and diagnose me with a kidney infection though. I was given a rx and instructions for my follow up and released at about 1:00 a.m. I got home to Mr. tired and we were both ready to hit the sheets. This Thanksgiving Holiday, I am thankful for a twice daily dose of Ciprofloxacin. Tonight we are going to play dress up and get our family photos done for the holidays. This will also be part of Olivia's 6 month shoot! My goodness, she is 6 months old 12/1/09! I may have gone a little fancy on our attire but it will be better than looking back and seeing a photo like this of us when we are 40!  We'll send the results out in our annual holiday greeting cards so keep an eye out!
 Olivia has shown much desire to tackle walking and insists that she stand at all times. Unfortunately, Rob and I are unable to hold her all the time as the "little princess" wishes so we went out on a hunt for something that could assist her and us!
We started out our trip by finding saucers that bounce, which we already have, that have a few toys and she gets tired of right away. BUT THEN, we found a ExcerSaucer that has one weighted leg and two others that roll. When the tot sits in it, they are able to walk around in a circle and stay active. But the best part - they CANNOT follow you around the house and risk falling down stairs and such. Bargain! It was only $15 at Once upon a Child! Gosh, there are so many great deals in that place! We also found a few fun toys and books that we rushed home to sanitize and watch Olivia play and explore in excitement.  On Monday, while Rob's brother and wife attended a family funeral, I watched our little nephew! He is such a darling little boy and Olivia got a real kick out of him. Riley was a little sad to see his parents leave, as any normal kid would be, but once he saw our kid sized play vacuum he was attached! My guess is that he has had some playtime with one already because he knew exactly how to stand it up and rest it on the wall when he needed a break. He worked up quite the sweat, I just wish it actually had been vacuuming the floor! : ) He was such a nice boy and while Olivia sat up in her boppy pillow, he piled toys all around her to play with. He thought it was really funny to stack them up around her and she just watched him in amazement. Eventually, Olivia scooted down the pillow to end laying on her back. Riley found this to be an opportunity and started running at her with the vacuum at mach speed. I nearly died laughing when he zoomed so close but then stopped just in time to avoid a collision. Rob rushed home for a long lunch and was delighted to see Riley's cheery smile. We were not sure if he could eat by himself or not so I presented him a ladybug fork and he stared at it for a moment, grabbed it and laughed. Obviously, it was not the normal "boy" utensil but it was too funny to watch him after each bite he'd take a moment to check it out and giggle some more. After lunch, Rob left and we journeyed back into our playroom for tons more fun. Riley discovered a book, The Gas We Pass, which I didn't even know we owned! As you may know, the book displays the front and backside of an elephant. Riley kept pointing at the front and moo-ed at it. It was really cute, but because of his excitement, he startled Olivia into an outrageous cry. He then looked at her with a " what the heck is your problem glare" and carried that book into our living room and put it on the couch, then picked it up and moved it to the t.v. stand, then picked it up and put it on the chair, then picked it up and brought it into the kitchen. Moo-ing the entire way. Once he was tired of that he headed back into the playroom and found a large toy dinosaur and out came a, "ROOOAAAAAR"... again, Olivia had a fit! It was all in good fun but Olivia sure has never experienced someone so loud. (Rob said he takes after Derrick, who apparently also was very loud as a kid) : ) Once Riley met his quota I was able to lay him down for a short nap. Mommy and daddy arrived shortly thereafter and swooped him up for the ride home. It was a blast and I am grateful to have spent some quality time with our nephew. We look forward to another visit, hopefully soon!   It has become quite apparent that time sure zips on by when you have a tiny tot! Rob and I started thinking and reflecting about all the things we have done, just over the past few weeks, and realized that time has been slipping away from us. Each night we intended to clean up the yard and each night it got dark, we got hungry and over the weekends we spend time relaxing, running errands, cleaning, prepping for events,etc. So when grandma Flanary insisted taking Olivia out for a long stroller walk, Rob and I cleaned up the yard. Earlier, he had taken round one on himself, so I was more than happy to assist in cleaning leaves and pulling the stalks from my gardens. Each spring, I find myself obsessively observant of the new buds that appear and pull Rob around to "show and tell him" about the newest sprouts. I think after a long, dirty and wet winter I am refreshed by the signs of life. Each year I plant something new. Each year, I forget about the last years and when it shows its self in the damp clearing I rave over what it could be. To my amazement, it is always something that has reseeded its self from a different location. Just putting this in writing makes me long for the vibrant stems of an Iris, or a rounded spud of a daffodil.....Or, my favorite, the burst of a friendly cone flower! Needless to say, I had no issues preparing my little beds for our spring-time arrivals.  Last night Rob and I met for a quick chiropractic adjustment then headed to G.V. to drop off miss Olivia. She spent a very loving evening with grandpa and granny ree while we did some Target shopping, dinner and a movie.
Usually Rob and I agree to a show but not this time. I would have liked to see Whip It or M.J's This is It (but really isn't) movie. He declared this eve to be his choice and picked the Fourth Kind. I hesitantly agreed. All I will say is that I am not a fan of anything Si-Fi but it was pretty convincing with the evidence of actual documented video and audio. The film was only about 1.5 hours and manageable. My thoughts - wait till you can rent it... It isn't worth the $18.00 for a theater viewing. Check out a clip at http://www.thefourthkind.net/  My friend Hillary and her pal LT came into the Cities last night from SD. We had a really nice visit and just hung out over dinner. Olivia stole the show, as usual, but we did get to have some adult conversation too.    They Did Their Share On Veteran’s Day we honor Soldiers who protect our nation. For their service as our warriors, They deserve our admiration. Some of them were drafted; Some were volunteers; For some it was just yesterday; For some it’s been many years; In the jungle or the desert, On land or on the sea, They did whatever was assigned To produce a victory. Some came back; some didn’t. They defended us everywhere. Some saw combat; some rode a desk; All of them did their share. No matter what the duty, For low pay and little glory, These soldiers gave up normal lives, For duties mundane and gory. Let every veteran be honored; Don’t let politics get in the way. Without them, freedom would have died; What they did, we can’t repay. We owe so much to them, Who kept us safe from terror, So when we see a uniform, Let’s say "thank you" to every wearer.  Did you know?
Veterans Day is an annual American holiday honoring military veterans. Both a federal holiday and a state holiday in all states, it is usually observed on November 11. However, if it occurs on a Sunday then the following Monday is designated for holiday leave, and if it occurs Saturday then either Saturday or Friday may be so designated. It is also celebrated as Armistice Day or Remembrance Day in other parts of the world, falling on November 11, the anniversary of the signing of the Armistice that ended World War I. (Major hostilities of World War I were formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 with the German signing of the Armistice.) The holiday is commonly printed as Veteran's Day or Veterans' Day in calendars and advertisements. While these spellings are grammatically acceptable, the United States government has declared that the attributive (no apostrophe) rather than the possessive case is the official spelling. |     ArchivesSeptember 2012 "She's the one all the boys loved because she lit up the room, and she's the one all the girls hated for the very same reason."
" a smile confuses an approaching frown." |