Our Pets

I figured I might as well put a picture of the zoo out here since I talk about them all the time. Its definitely wild kingdom around here and much to everyone's surprise we have actually downsized the animals in recent years!!! This is why Tyler pants when asked what a dog says....and makes a tongue click noise when asked what a bird says. (Gossip - our bird - does not talk but makes all kinds of whistle and clicking noises.) These guys either make our life better or crazier....depending on the day!!!!

Skype

We are officially all online with Skype. We have now Skyped with both sides of grandparents as well as siblings!! Its amazing how technology changes our lives. When I was young we saw my grandparents once or twice a year. Now Tyler will be able to see his grandparents daily if he wants and they will be able to see him grow up. He changes daily, I swear, and this will allow everyone to be able to see that!!

So if any of you have Skype, let us know and we will link up with you!!

Chopsticks

So Chad and I went out to dinner tonight to discuss some new business aspects and took Ty with us. As he was minding his own business eating his dinner he stealthly grabbed the chopsticks that came with my tuna wonton appetizer. Next thing we noticed he was using the chopsticks to eat the salad off my plate....and I mean USING the chopsticks. He had them in one hand and was actually picking food up with them. I mean come on....the kid is only 21 months and he uses them better than his dad (ok...I'm kinda kidding about that....hee hee) So I will proudly admit that our kid is a GENIUS!!! :)

Before & After in PA

I was just thinking about how fast time flies. It's AMAZING how fast Tyler keeps changing. Then I was reminded of the pics we take each time we go back to PA to visit Chad's family.

Here are the kids when we went back to PA in November of '07.

And here they are this past Dec '08. Pretty wild!!!!

Wings

This was supposed to be a post this weekend but I didn't get around to it. On Thurs night last week we hit Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner and Tyler downed his mac & cheese and then started chewing on a wing. The manager walked by and told us to take a picture and post it on their website!! Hilarious. Unfortunately the only camera we had was on my phone so the pic isn't very clear but it still shows our little guy going to town!!!!!

Recovery

I think Chad and I are both finally starting to feel better. I felt so bad when he caught my cold but I guess it was no surprise he did. Chad is a little less holistic than I am, so I think the bottle of Robitussin he drank did wonders for him. :)

Of course I am supposed to be working right now but I just had to turn on the Presidential Inauguration parade. Pretty wild stuff. Definitely history in the making!!! (Although I'm a little confused as to the parade itself. I just watched the motorcade take Obama from the Capitol Building to the White House where apparently he will sit and watch the parade.....so I guess I didn't see the parade at all but more the two hours it took to go 1.7 miles.) And a side note, when I was staffed in DC I used to do my runs along those roads so it was a little walk down memory lane for me!!! DC is a great city!!!!!

Ok...it's only Jan 13 and I am ready for winter to be over. I wish I would have gotten a few great pics of the snow on the trees yesterday after the storm but it was just TOO dang cold to step outside. Even the dogs don't want to go out to potty. I swear they are holding it longer just to avoid the weather. I feel so bad for all those wild animals out there all winter long....this has to be HARSH on them. So even though we are cozy inside the house, I am ready for one of two things....either for winter to be over....or a nice LONG vacation somewhere sunny & warm!!!! And on top of that, I need to start running outside in a few weeks for half marathon training....oh joy....uuugggghhhhh.

Hair Care...

What do you do when your child has a dry scalp? Well you put almond oil on it of course!!! Which is exactly what I did to Tyler the other night. Apparently you let them sleep with it on and then run a fine tooth comb through it the next day to soften the skin and remove any loose skin. Needless to say he did NOT like the combing process so instead of softening his skin...I made him look like a punk rocker straight out of the 80s!!!

Nothing that a nice warm bath couldn't fix. The whole hair-do thing must have worn him out cause in a brief moment of cuddling, I caught these pictures. Proof that a toddler DOES sit still every once in awhile.

Reason and Passion

So as my hubby plays NCAA 2009 Football on Xbox 360 with his buddy, I decide to blog again!!! I wanted to put one of my favorite quotes from one of my favorite books on here from The Prophet by Khalil Gibran. This quote reminds me of a paper we had to write for AP English in highschool...although he is WAY MORE ARTICULATE than I ever could have been.

Reason and Passion

And the priestess spoke again and said: "Speak to us of Reason and Passion."
And he answered saying:
Your soul is oftentimes a battlefield, upon which your reason and your judgment wage war against passion and your appetite.
Would that I could be the peacemaker in your soul, that I might turn the discord and the rivalry of your elements into oneness and melody.
But how shall I, unless you yourselves be also the peacemakers, nay, the lovers of all your elements?
Your reason and your passion are the rudder and the sails of your seafaring soul.
If either your sails or our rudder be broken, you can but toss and drift, or else be held at a standstill in mid-seas.
For reason, ruling alone, is a force confining; and passion, unattended, is a flame that burns to its own destruction.
Therefore let your soul exalt your reason to the height of passion; that it may sing;
And let it direct your passion with reason, that your passion may live through its own daily resurrection, and like the phoenix rise above its own ashes.
I would have you consider your judgment and your appetite even as you would two loved guests in your house.
Surely you would not honour one guest above the other; for he who is more mindful of one loses the love and the faith of both.
Among the hills, when you sit in the cool shade of the white poplars, sharing the peace and serenity of distant fields and meadows - then let your heart say in silence, "God rests in reason."
And when the storm comes, and the mighty wind shakes the forest, and thunder and lightning proclaim the majesty of the sky, - then let your heart say in awe, "God moves in passion."
And since you are a breath In God's sphere, and a leaf in God's forest, you too should rest in reason and move in passion.

Past Pics

So I figured I would add some past pictures on here since I recently started this blog and have pics from way back that should represent!!! :)

Our wedding:

Early Pregnancy (when I felt like CRAP and ate a lot of PIZZA)





Baby Tyler

On the Haircut Warpath

Ok ok...to all of you out there (you know who you are) that kept telling us that Tyler had hockey hair...you know..a mullet of sorts....business in front, party in back.....we officially took him for his first haircut today. Now before you all start jumping up & down with joy...we only trimmed the back....so he still does have some long curls back there. However, it looks much cleaner now....and she layered it a bit so his curls may hold a bit longer!!! I kicked myself when I realized we forgot the camera to capture this wonderful moment....but about 2 seconds into the event it was clear that ALL pictures would have been of Tyler screaming bloody murder. Yep....he HATED the whole experience. They even had Dora on the TV and another woman was blowing bubbles for him to look at but nothing worked. So, he sat on my lap while she did her best to leave his ears intact and trim his hair semi-straight. Meanwhile, the little girl in the chair next to us (who looked MUCH younger than Ty) sat by herself, didn't move much, and smiled through the whole thing. I wonder if girls are born with desire to be pampered by hairdressers. Even if they are blowing buddles in your face. (And yes it was her first haircut too.) Poor Ty managed to moan and groan the whole way home. Can't believe he got so worked up over a hair cut.

So since we were on the haircut warpath, once Tyler when down for his nap, I pulled out the clippers and grabbed Codi. Now some of you know this usually happens after I've had a few glasses of wine. But today I had had enough of the 'fro on top of his head. Mind you it's still the middle of winter and he needs his "winter coat" soooooo I just shaved his head, neck & paws. I will say he looks rather ridiculous but at least his head is smooth!!!!! (and at least he doesn't look as dumb as those poodle haircuts....aaarrrggghhhh)

Natural Cold Remedy

Well the inevitable happened...I caught Ty's cold. Ugghhh....I hate being sick (as I'm sure the rest of the world does too but I don’t make a very good patient) So I busted out all my natural healing books and have come up with quite the remedy. I figured I'd post it here if anyone else wants to use it instead of doing their own research!!! This is for a common head cold.

Starting with the obvious:
· Drink plenty of fluids (preferably water….avoid too much juice as cold bugs thrive on sugar)
· Take 1000 – 3000mg of vitamin C a day (I prefer a brand called Emergen-C that mixes in with water)
· Put your head over a pot of boiling water to steam your nose & throat (add eucalyptus essential oil if you want)
· Take a warm bath with eucalyptus, tea tree or lavender essential oils
· Eat homemade chicken noodle soup (yummmmmm)

Now the not so obvious:
· Eat one clove of raw garlic daily (yep…you read that right…it’s not so bad if you wash it down with something…QUICKLY!!!!! I would have eaten more today but Chad used the rest in the chicken soup!)
· Take 3 ml of Echinacea or a combo Echinacea/Goldenseal root (alcohol free….I know I know…bummer right!?!?) about three times a day
· Drink hot water with fresh squeezed lemon and honey
· Suck on zinc lozenges (you can get these in a cherry flavor which isn’t so bad)
· I am also trying the Zicam cold gel swabs (which claim to shorten the length of the cold….hey I’m up for trying just about anything when it comes to colds)

Two more I have not tried:
· Ginger – apparently hot ginger tea or just eating it will help however I HATE the taste of ginger….so I will be avoiding this one
· Elderberry – I have not tried this but apparently health food stores carry elderberry juice, syrup, or capsules

And while the natural healing books say not to take OTC meds since they just mask the conditions and can prolong the cold….sometimes you just have to cave and take a Tylenol Cold!!!

Evil Spin Instructor

So I think my spin class instructor was trying to kill me today....maybe even everyone in the class. I showed up for typical Wed class only to be informed that today was an endurance ride and would be an hour vs the normal 45 min. Wait what?? An hour spin class right after the holidays? Are you mad?? It must have been a new year schedule change that I didn't know about. So there I was....already warming up on my bike...thinking to myself...well I can't get up and leave the class so I guess I'm gonna suffer through this. We continue to warm up and the instructor drops another fun bomb on us that we won't have any recovery sessions during the ride....YEAH!!! Midway thru the ride she informs us that we may start to feel a burn in our quads....WHAT??? I FELT THAT BURN 5 MINUTES INTO THE RIDE...AARRRGGGHHH!! I have no idea what it is about biking but running that long feels great!!! Biking that long is torture!!!! :)

Creeping Crud

Poor Ty caught a cold....I guess I can't complain too much since its only his second real cold in almost 2 years so he's doing pretty good on that front (knock on wood). This cold reminds me of those nasty Mucinex commercials where that green blob settles into the lungs. YUCK!! So we've been working the homeopathy treatments on him....he was not happy when he found out there was lemon water in his sippy vs regular water. I will say that even with this cold he is such a happy kid.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Welcome to 2009!!! Apparently today is considered National Hangover Day...I am guessing that whoever named it that does NOT have a toddler at home. We did manage to have some cocktails and to see midnight due only to getting sucked into watching some crazy motorcycle guy doing stunts in Vegas. Jim, Bren, Eva & Mike all left before midnight as well....hhhhmmmm kids sure do change things!!! ;) Here are Eva & Ty enjoying the New Years Eve festivities.

With the new year always comes resolutions....so here I go. I have officially signed up for the Lake Minnetonka Half Marathon for May 3. That means I will need to start training outside in Feb. Looks like I will need to buy some WARM running gear!!!!! If anyone wants to run it with me let me know!!! It will be FUN!!! ;)

I also had to add a pic from today. Tyler and his buddy....I caught him giving her hugs and kisses and grabbed the camera in time for this shot.

And of course for Chad.....GO PENN STATE!!!!!