Welcome Baby Liam!

Angie had her baby yesterday and he had nearly the same specs as Nori (birth time, weight and length). A match made in heaven? We shall see. His name is Liam Peter McIntyre and we won't get to see him for at least a week but I am so making them Jeff's Grown Up Mac & Cheese when I go over. Here' s a pic of Pat & Ang with baby who is NOT Liam but just pretend, okay? BTW, Lo Lo calls him Baby Lamb. How cute it that?

On a happier note...

My good friend Ang is in labor due with a baby boy, hopefully today! Another bud for Norelle and who knows, she may be a cougar and marry him someday?

Despite my anxiety about a global meltdown, I remember how much I have to be thankful for this already year. It's been a big year! My beautiful, happy baby girl was born, I turned 30, I enjoyed my maternity leave to the max, we leave for a great trip this weekend, and my mom just got another all clear from her oncologist. Yay!

Is anyone else getting freaked out?

Gas and food prices, global warming, recession, mortage crisis, etc. I need comfort that I won't be broke & homeless in 2009. Jake?

Off the market...

From: Susan Beth
Sent: Mon 4/21/2008 10:24 PM
Subject: Guess who is engaged????

ME in Mexico! Hope you are all doing well! I will be in contact when I get back!

Love,

Susie

Book recommendations

I need help! Give me some book ideas for vacation...nothing too serious but nothing with vampires either.

Erica Cilek...

I like the way you think! And dance.

3 months old today!

Not that you care...

but we are trying the Born Free BPA-free bottles. So far so good.

Whatever happened to Evonne Goolagong?

Someone asked if Jake reads my blog. Rarley. Jakes read the Wall Street Journal at breakfast and Tennis magazine in the bathroom. I found that if something is in either publication, he takes it very seriously. Recently, I have been worried about the chemicals in the plastic bottles Nori uses but I didn’t really bring it up because I worried he would think I was overreacting. Yesterday, he read an article in the WSJ, did more research and tonight he is going out to buy new BPA-free bottles for her. Mission accomplished. So, what I really need to do is to get an in there so I can float my agenda in their articles. Perhaps an article about how giving your wife backrubs increases your lifespan or how $200 designer jeans are a sound investment?

DList

Inspired by Sabrina and her Quenten Tarantino story...

Back in ‘99 while on Spring Break in Cancun (can you believe I did that?), I met Jerry Springer. Just happened that MTV was doing some show where people had to roll up in a burrito and make out. No, not me & Jerry. They needed some girls to swim, no frolic, around in the water in the background and later tape a short intro with Jerry. So my colleges friends and I (Jana, Dawn, Kim, Angela, and Andrea) filled in. It was not the funny Dancing with the Stars Springer we met but the more pervy talk show version. Did I mention I was 21 and a total fox back then so I didn't want him to get the wrong idea. I won’t even write what he said because my grandma reads this blog. Okay, my grandma does not have the internet but Nori's grandmas do. I have also met Roy Rogers and Donny Osmond and had photos with all three.

Can you top that?

Jake's new fav song

Click here to listen!

Jake is home today with Nori because our daycare provider's son has the flu. Luckily, I have a friend Chrissy from church who is a stay at home mom to three boys and she offered to watch her next time this happens. Gotta put her number on speed dial! Anyway, they have called me three times today to chat. Nori is very talkative saying "ah goo" and "ah gee" and then laughing. As Jake would say, she's so "darn adorable." I hope he's not torturing her like he did to me this weekend, spraying silicone spray (not WD40) on door hinges and then making her listen to see which hinge still squeaks.

Parakeet has feathers!

What about you?

Happy Monday loyal blog reader. How are you? People just don't ask you that enough do they? No really, HOW are YOU? I care, I do. You are special and I love you. Did you have a nice weekend? We sure did. Schnookers took her first trip to MOA on Saturday, narrowly escaped getting eaten by a shark, experienced the softer side of Sears (portrait studio that is and now knows never to go back) and enjoyed lunch at Tony Romas, just like Nick Lachey back in the Newlyweds days. Sunday we did hand & footprints at church with the other new babies and just hung out. And how am I? Despite trying not to eat junk food, my underwear are getting tighter everyday. Truly, I think it's all the coffee with creamer but then again it could be the dark chocolate squares (antioxidants people). Oh well, we are Midwesterners and the whole of Maui will just have to accept my non-anorexic body and orthopedic shoes. That's how we roll in MN.

Comment on how YOUR underwear are fitting! I care.

Not that I watch or anything...

but on the The Bachelor:London Calling the rug used during the rose ceremony is the EXACT same rug we have in our living room! You would think the execs at ABC would be above ordering from Rugsusa.com but I guess not! BTW, I am rooting for Amanda the meeper, not yuckyRobin or Shayne.

Return of the phlegm fatale (that’s me)

What a week. I was super sick with a chest cold & laryngitis but am feeling better as my nasal passages once again reopen. Norelle braved her second week of daycare and I was the overprotective mom who got upset and had to “talk with” the daycare provider about how much the TV is on. It’s a big deal, right? No? I don’t know, it is to me and I don’t want her watching TV all day instead of learning & playing. She’s too little right now for it to be much of an issue but we need to know now if we are going to need fork over the big bucks for Monte$$ori school sooner rather later instead of doing an in-home care.

My brother, Casey, came over to play with his niece one night. Casey is newly single (but not so ready to mingle) so that’s a big change plus he is hoping to go back to school for a music education degree, probably at UW-River Falls so talked about that. We were interviewed by a reporter from the Duluth newspaper, along with Tasha and her SW, for a piece on open adoption. It is going to run into the Sunday edition in a couple weeks. How cool for Nori to have in her scrapbook! We also had our final SW visit and were asked to participate in a panel with Tasha about our experiences for some future adoptive parents. We go to court in May to finalize everything. Finally, we got life insurance so if we die on our trip to Hawaii, Nori can live large.

Congratulations Er-Bear and Mr. Er-Bear

My dear friend Erin just announced her engagement to her BFF Andrew. They are so Grey's Anantomy, in a good way.

In her own words:
"We wanted to share a dream come true and let you know that we are engaged! Andrew proposed in the rain on April 4th on Alki Beach before a magical view of Seattle, the city that has been so good to us for this past year. As you can all imagine, the bride-to-be was crying and screaming for joy all at once. It was an amazing night that we will never forget -filled with laughter, tears, and cheers - knowing that we will have a side by side journey through life. It was fun to reflect on all of our memories, travels, and fun times since that summer day in Minnesota when our paths first crossed."

Awe!

and also very boring.

Isn't writing a blog so narcissistic? That's probably why most people don't do it, like who cares what I am doing? I don't but I think the baby is the real draw. Anyway it is a nice virtual journal of my year so often I just write dumb stuff just to entertain myself. More than often.

No wonder I was tired, I have the plague. I have been really sick all weekend with a major chest cold. I am praying Nori does not get it!! Jake was my manny all weekend and I think my baby has forgotten me because my voice sounds like audio-poop. Despite this, we did some fun things like take a few walks and visit with some friends & neighbors. I got my hair cut shorter and my teeth finished so I am like a contestant on The Swan, pre-lipo. Just to show how lame I am I will admit that I spend a good chunk of the weekend sorting dog food kibbles. We were optimistic and combined Dorothy's old dog food with her new Rx dog food in the hopes of taking her off the Rx. Immediately her severe itchiness returned, hence the dog food sorting. It's amazing I have any friends, really.

Also, my blog and Google toolbar are both in Spanish...Que tal?

I'm exhausted...

It's true. Norelle is still sleeping well but this whole work/baby is not easy. I had this vision of jumping under a car because I thought the tires would feel good on my back. A little car, I don't want to get hurt. I just want a back rub and major nap-age this weekend.

Time warp

You gotta love this instructor at the JCC who teaches BodySculpt...she is like a 4 foot tall muscle dynamo. I think she is a PT at her day job because is constantly giving us exercises that come from "the physical therapy world". Anyway, this is the second time I have heard her make this statement so I just had to share. As we are doing tough squats, she wants us to use our "assets" to make an impression. The ladies should pretend like Patrick Swayze is in the back of the room. Huh? Patrick Swayze 2008 or Patrick Swayze 1987? Neither sound good to me.

Also, Tom Cruise might be watching. Tom Cruise 2008 or 1986? And the guys should imagine Gwyneth PETRO watching (I'm sure she meant Apple's mom). Okay, there is only one guy in the class and I am sure he would prefer Cruise or even Swayze 2008 version over any chick. It's like she is using imagery to make us stop working out...it kinda makes me want a Big Mac, just in case. My mother-in-law makes a dessert she calls "Better than Robert Redford" or something. Well, during the Titanic craze, Ellen renamed it Leonardio DiCaprio and last time we looked in the cookbook Charles had crossed that name out and replaced it with Charlie Seltz. At least we are getting in the now.

Hulk Hogan voice

Last night I was saying something sarcastic to Jake and I used a deep WWF voice. Nori heard me and started to giggle. Apparently, she LOVES funny voices. She is especially fond of the Hulk Hogan but when my throat get too sore for that she will laugh at the Britney Spears "I'm country y'all" voice. Something about daycare really got her going last night because was so talkative, "ah goo-ing" and laughing non-stop for over an hour. She was almost too cute to put to bed. How does a baby know what funny is? I feel bad for her because she is going to have heavy, perhaps even toxic, levels of exposure to my sense of humor.




Jake gets in on the action but creating personas for her dangling toys on her Baby Einstein gym. The cardinal is named Red (original), the blue duck is Fabrizio from Italy and the Sun is UV. They also entertain Norelle with banter on a daily basis.

Breaking news...

My dog just pooped a baby wipe. I think this explains the horrific hacking attacks Friday night and near death attitude she displayed all weekend. Unfortunately her butt is none the cleaner after this episode.

We survived the first day back!

"Any signs of abuse?" were Jake's first words walking in the door tonight. I'm not sure if he meant me or the baby. Word is Nori was great at daycare, sleeping much of the day something she often does when in groups or around noise. Hopefully, that won't affect her nighttime routine, fingers crossed. I did okay myself, no tears just back to CCE like I had never left. Everyone was really sweet but it sure is a big change from days with pure cuteness. It was weird to leave her little round bobbing head alone with a practical stranger but hey, people do it everyday. She gave me a big smile when I picked her up, too. I think the fast-paced days are going to get old and it already seems like there is not enough time but oh well, life is good.