I Believe

Chase received the book, "The Polar Express" from Oma and Opa last year for St. Nick. He now has it memorized. When the movie came out last year we went to see it. It made a huge impression on Chase, because he continued to talk about it all year. So when I saw it was coming to the Science Center, I knew we would gol We arrived at 30 minutes before "The Polar Express" started. There was a huge line already. Everyone in line already had their tickets too! We were near the end, so we didn't know what kind of seats we would get. Well, we ended up right in the middle, which I thought was great. We were on the end, so Eric could stretch his legs, but then they asked us all to move towards the center, so late comers could easily find a seat. We were mad, we had gotten there early, so we could pick our seats, and then we ended up moving in. Eric was pretty miserable the whole 90 minutes. The leg room was horrible. However, the rest of us really enjoyed it.

I had forgotten how it was to see an IMAX movie. You actually look up and it surrounds you. It felt like we were in the movie. The great sound system and the high definition of the characters was so great. When the train loses control, it felt like we were on a roller coaster. It was such a rush. Later in the movie Chase says, "Mommy we are flying over the North pole." It was a fun movie to see at the IMAX. Anthony was a wonderful baby. He drank his bottle and then fell asleep. The movie was worth the wait. At the end I had a tear in my eye and felt the magic.

Plan B

All last week I told Chase we would be going to see "The Polar Express" at the IMAX when Nana got here. We didn't make it on Friday, so we headed over for the 1:15 show. Before we even got in the door, a lady came out saying all the shows were sold out. Chase was so sad. At first he didn't understand why we weren't going to see it today. I told him we would buy tickets for Sunday. Thankfully there were still tickets available for the later showings.

It was a beautiful day out, and since the movie was out, we went to the park and played for an hour and a half. Chase cheered right up and said he could wait until tomorrow. Anthony swang for the first time in a baby swing. He did really well. He has no problem holding his head. It was fun pushing both boys side by side.

Saturday night Mom babysat and Eric and I went out for dinner and a movie. It was an early celebration of our 9th wedding anniversary. We went to Bennigan's and I had some really good fajita's. Eric had a buffalo chicken sandwich which was really good too. We hadn't been there in four years. Then we went to see "Walk the Line." Joaquin Phoenix did an excellent job of portraying Johnny Cash. He did all his own singing, and you would have thought it was Johnny Cash singing. We really enjoyed it.

Mother/Daughter Outing

Friday night Mom and I went to see "Cats" at the Civic Center. Neither of us had seen it, and we enjoyed the production immensely. The dancing and singing were impressive. Eric stayed home with the boys. It was really nice to get away for a few hours. We even had a cocktail before the performance.

Timber

I was in the kitchen making some soup and Mom was holding Anthony. I looked over at the tree and thought that it was leaning a bit. I went back to stirring, and I hear Mom gasp and I hear a thump. I look in the living room and the Christmas tree had fallen over. I was in disbelief. My mom watched the whole thing happen, but there was nothing she could do, she had Tony in her arms. Water was pouring out of the stand and I am struggling to get it up-righted. We got the lights turned off and Mom was looking at the stand, trying to see what happened. My cheap $5 stand has four screws that go into the tree. Apparently the front one pushed into the soft trunk. So much for my new stand.

Our attempts to right the tree were futile. I went downstairs to cut some wood to pin in between the screws and the trunk, but that still didn't work. So then I asked Eric for strap. We now have a cargo strap wrapped around the entertainment center holding up the tree. The tree was fully decorated. Amazingly only one ornament broke. This is the second year in a row I have had issues getting the Christmas tree to stand up straight. Thus, I have decided I will be purchasing an artificial tree when they go on sale after Christmas.

Sheer Madness

I have never gone out at the crack of dawn in order to save a few dollars on Christmas presents. This year I decided I would venture out, but it would mid-morning. Menard's was having some killer deals. They had 20 oz. jar candles for $1.88. That was the main reason for me wanting to go. So Chase and I ventured out around 9:30am. We got to Menards and I have never seen it so packed. People were parking on the perimeter of the lot. One of the employees told us to grab a cart outside, because there were none inside. I walked in, and the lines went on forever. I was ready to walk right back out. But I really wanted to see if they had any candles left. So we went looking. Of course they were all gone. However, I did get a memory foam pillow for 11 bucks and a new Christmas tree stand for $5. Chase and I went up the middle of the store and found the lines in the middle to only have two or three people waiting. So we only waited 5 minutes to check out.

Then we headed over to Home Depot. I was going to get our tree at Menard's, but I would have had to go back inside to pay, and I wasn't going to go through that. Plus Home Depot has better customer service. I told Chase he could pick out the tree. Well, that isn't totally true. I pointed Chase towards the type of tree I wanted, a Balsam Fir. At this point he could pick which ever one looked good to him. Chase chose well, and we ended up with a beautiful 7 1/2 ft. tree. Now that Eric has a pick up truck, getting the tree home was a breeze. I cut off 3 inches off the bottom and brought it upstairs.

The new stand worked splendidly and the tree was up and straight. Chase had the best time putting on ornaments. This is the first year he has been able to really help decorate, and he was really enjoying it. He made sure to hang the Packers and Chiefs ornaments right next to each other in the front!

Happy Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I had decided to push back when we were going to eat. Normally we eat around 1pm. This year I aimed for 4pm. My mom was driving down from Milwaukee, and it is always such a rush. She walks in and then we are sitting down to eat. Well, from here on out we are eating later. It was so nice to wake up and not rush to get the turkey in the oven. I was even able to watch some football! I put the first turkey in the oven at 11am. I put the other one on the grill at 12:30pm. The first one got done around 2, and I carved that up and put it in my slow cooker. I was then able to use the oven to keep the stuffing warm, cook the asparagus and bake the rolls.

Dinner was ready and people were filling their plates at 4 pm. I put the card table up on encyclopedia's, so it would be the same height as the kitchen table. We managed to fit 11 at the main table, 2 at the bar and Anthony in his little chair. Everything tasted good, and we had plenty for all.

After dinner and dessert we decided to play charades. It was a lot of fun, but the three of us who thought of all the movies, books and television shows, then had an edge in the guessing. I discovered how poor I am at playing charades. Getting people to guess "The Bible" was not easy. Everyone headed out around 7pm.

What is That Noise?

I came home and walked in the house to the sound of water spraying. At first I could not tell where it was coming from. After some investigation, I discovered it was coming from behind the wash machine. I pulled the wash machine out and could see the water spraying out of the main water line. I called Eric to see when he was going to be home. He got home within 15 minutes. Luckily there was a drain in the floor, but the wall was still getting soaked.

Once Eric got home we had to determine if the water was coming from the side the city maintains, or if it was on our side. We finally figured out it was the city side. So we called Water Works and they said it could be up to 3 hours before someone one was out. In the meanwhile, Eric shut off the water. The guy showed up an hour after we called him. It was a very easy fix. He replaced the o ring and he was on his way. He told Eric that if he had tried to fix it, we would have been on our own.

The Flu Bug Bites

Wednesday night Chase woke up at 10:30pm. He was crying, so I get up and run to him. He was crying like he does when he has to go pee really badly. I am holding him and I said, "Do you need to go to the bathroom?" He just keeps crying. I asked him to stand up, so we would go to the bathroom. Just then he looks at me, and starts throwing up on the two of us. This was the first time he was really experienced this. He starts crying even harder. Eric finally wakes up and we get Chase changed and the floor and blankets cleaned up. I made a new bed for him over near my side of the bed. At 3:30 I hear him crying again. I go down to him and search for the garbage can. He started throwing up again, and this time we almost got most of it in the can. We went to the bathroom and he says, "I am going to barf again!" He made it in the sink this time. I didn't even know he knew this word. He must have heard Eric use it.

I told Eric there is no way he can go to Delana's today. Chase woke up at 6:30 and said he was feeling better. I told him he needed to stay home. So Eric stayed with him on Thursday. He took a four hour nap, which he really needed. So that was our excitement. I was dragging at work on Thursday, but I am getting use to that feeling.

4 Month Check Up

I took the day off. I didn't want Anthony at the sitters after he had his shots. He weighed in at 17 1/2 lbs and 27 3/4 inches. The doctor said he is the length of a 1o month old, thus the reason for the 18 month clothes! The doctor said we could start feeding him some cereal. Anthony also had his shots. He recovered pretty quickly afterwards, and then feel asleep for a couple of hours. Chase and I were then able to spend some one on one time together. I need to make an effort to do that more.

Caddyshack Re-lived

Last night Chase had his bath. I went to get Tony in his pj's. When I came back into the bathroom Chase says, "Mommy what's is that floating in the water?" It was a miniature Baby Ruth candy bar. Oh how I wish it was. Yes, Chase had an accident in the tub. I was freaking out since he was still sitting in the water. I told him to stand up and get out. I ran to get some rubber gloves. I started draining the tub and removed it. Chase didn't understand why this was a problem. I told him if he has an urge, he has to tell me, so we can get on the potty. It is not good to take a bath with poop floating around! I then scrubbed the whole tub down and then had Chase take a shower. I told him that I think showers would be a good idea for awhile. So that was my excitement for the evening.

A New Chapter Begins

All weekend I kept talking about going to Delana's on Monday. I would ask Chase what toys he wanted to bring over. What he wanted to wear for his first day, etc... He decided on his Packer jogging suit and Packer hat for today. (I didn't mention that they had lost again.) He even slept in his own bed last night.

When it was time to get dressed this morning, he started crying and said he didn't want to go to Delana's. I told him I can understand that, but this is his new babysitter and we would be leaving in 10 minutes. He could either wear his pj's or get dressed. He decided he would get dressed. He cried one more time before we were getting ready to walk down the stairs, and that was it. We loaded up into the truck and headed over to Delana's.

We went in and got settled. Delana had made scrambled eggs and coffee cake, Chase says, "I don't eat coffee." I told him it was a cake, but he said no. Chase wanted his cheese puffs from his lunch. So for breakfast he had cheese puffs and milk! I wasn't going to argue. He gave me a hug and kiss and I walked out the door. He didn't cling to me, he didn't chase after me, and he didn't cry. It was really wonderful. The pre-visits, talks and lots of prayers made a huge difference. I am looking forward to hearing how the day went.

The Sky is Falling

Chris and Kira came to spend part of the weekend with us. I hadn't spent much time with them since Anthony was born. So I asked if they wanted to come hang out. Both of them were very excited to comeover. I would like to think it was because they missed us, but I know it is because I will let them watch movies into the wee hours of the morning! :) Stephanie let Chris take her car, and drive them to Des Moines. It was Chris' first venture out of Knoxville. They arrived safely, after he missed our exit and realized he was heading towards Kansas City.

Saturday morning we went to see "Chicken Little." It was a cute movie, and had a lot of adult humor that flies right over the tops of kids heads. So it was an enjoyable G rated movie for all ages. You don't see too many G rated movies these days. Anthony was really good. He fell asleep 20 minutes into the movie. After the movie we came home and had lunch. Then we headed to the wellness center at my work. Saturday afternoon's are family time, and everyone gets in free. Myself, Chase, Anthony, Chris and Kira went swimming. The pool is used for arthritis therapy, so it is a balmy 92 degrees.

It was perfect for taking Anthony swimming. He didn't get cold! Chase practiced putting his head under water, and Chris got him to jump off the side into his arms. Anthony did some backfloating and rock-a-bye baby. We stayed for over an hour. Then Anthony started to get fussy, he was tired.

It was quite a production getting us all showered and changed. I had Chase get into the shower. Then I washed Anthony off in the sink and got him dressed. I put him into his car seat, and he fell asleep. Then I jumped in the shower and got dressed. Then Chase got out of the shower and we got him dressed. Good thing Chase likes hanging out in the shower! Forty minutes later we were ready to go home. Chris was able to get a 30 minute nap in, while waiting for us. It all worked out.

Eric didn't join in all the fun, because he got to sleep in on Saturday. He worked a 70 hour week, and was beat. Plus he has a cold, so that isn't helping matters.

Our Last Day

The day finally arrived, Chase and Anthony's last day with Julie. Sarah was taking it really hard. She was so sweet. She made Chase a "I will miss you box." I had 8 letters and pictures in it. The letters said how much she likes him, how much fun she has playing with him, and how she will miss him. The pictures were of them playing soccer. She also put some candy in it. Chase carried it around all day. Julie said she would come get Chase when the girls were off of school, and they would go to Chuck E. Cheese's. So Chase is already asking when that will be. Sarah started crying when we were getting ready to go. I told her I would pick her up on Wednesday, so she and Chase could play. That made her feel better, and Chase shouted, "All right!" and lifted his arm up in the air. Then off we went.

Tony's 3 month Picture