Thanksgiving & Update

Happy late Thanksgiving to everyone! I meant to update prior to the holiday - but got extremely busy.

I have been swamped, and just don't have the energy to do any of it! Last week I had 3 exams and needed to finish some large research papers. I can't wait for these large projects to be finished. I turned one paper in already, and next week I have one due Tuesday, a presentation on Wednesday and another paper due Friday! It almost feels like finals will be the easy part! The good news is that I did apply for graduation for May 2011 so there is a goal and end in sight!

We haven't been up to much besides playing and homework. We're still working on Brode's bedroom but we did finish his little reading corner. We had these letters from his nursery:

We moved them to the opposite wall and built him a little area to read, and hang up his 20 hats! I don't know where the kid got so many, but each of these hooks at least 3 hats on them and there is always one on his head! The rack was a must.
Wednesday afternoon Brode and I made a trip to Oshkosh to meet a family going through the Craniosynostosis journey right now. They have a 4 month old daughter, Brynn, that is scheduled for surgery in February. We brought Brode's scrapbook and shared our story and answered questions while the kids played. It was great meeting another family in the same situation and being able to help with all questions!

Thanksgiving was wonderful for us! I went out with friends Wednesday night and it started to feel like a class reunion there were so many people. It was great to see so many people and catch up! Thursday morning we headed over to Matt's moms for breakfast and watched the parade. Everyone took a nap then we were off to Thanksgiving dinner at my aunt and uncles with the whole family! Brode liked playing with the other kids, trying out UNO Attack and eating all the food!

We are very thankful for all we've got this year. We're very lucky to have so many friends and family, but it always seems to amplified with Brode and everything he has been through. I think one of the things high on my list this year is our health insurance. Brode is blessed with two insurances and although they give me extreme headaches and use up all my phone minutes calling every week - they have covered tremendous amounts of bills that have enough numbers strung together to make me hyperventilate. I don't know where Matt, Brode or I would be if we were left with all of them. I can't imagine other families with sick children with ten times more!

We didn't do much Black Friday shopping. We did run errands in the late morning but not really as Christmas shopping and not to the high demand stores. We did make a lunch stop at McDonalds and Brode tried out Playland and loved it, so he had a fun morning!

So there is a minor update for now, I'll try and get some pictures soon!

Pull Up A Chair

Pull up a chair, grab something to drink, this could be a long post. Come catch up with our lives. I'm obviously doing awful at catching up, and I don't want to start them all as separate posts and forget about them, so I'm going to combine several into one. There is one advantage to you, the reader, lots of pictures!

Some of these aren't updates, just some silly pictures we caught of Brode around the house as well.

Grandma did some cleaning a few weekends ago and our little labor child (you may remember the post about washing his tractor) once again wanted to help and wash the windows. It didn't take long for him to figure out the spray bottle and there was cleaner dripping everywhere! He did a pretty good job at wiping it up though.

You may notice the stars painted on his cheeks. Brode does art at Grandma Beth's on Saturday morning and he has just gotten back. They just add to his cuteness as he scrubs the windows.
In my last post I pointed out that Brode did NOT enjoy Halloween. We have two pictures that do not include Brode from the entire night, here they are:

Matt and I went as cookie monster and big bird. we each wore yellow and blue with ours masks as we dragged the elmo costume along with us and Brode wore a hockey jersey. Let me tell you, we were a big hit.
We also carved several pumpkins and Brode painted one at day care. This is the only one I snapped a picture of. Our neighbors grow pumpkins in their garden each year from seeds the year before and they got this very big one out of it! They generously gave it to Brode so we thought we should carve it up with who else but his favorite character, Mickey!



Brode got another birthday present in the mail! They just keep coming, that boy is very loved! This one came from my LaCrosse roommate, Leah! It is a hand crafted puzzle of under water creatures. Each piece has a small magnet in the middle that corresponds to the magnet on the end of the fishing pole. Brode enjoys picking them all out, then putting all the pieces back in!
I know you can't hear him, but every time he catches something he yells "I got a octopus", "I got a fish" or "I got a turtle"! He is very good at identifying all of them!
Last week we had a dinner party at our house! United Way does larger events at work every fall and one of the items auctioned this year was a catered dinner party. The chefs and one server came from work with all of their supplies and table settings and cooked dinner at our house. Our menu included appetizers of mini chicken wellingtons and salmon spread, a main course of salad with homemade strawberry vinaigrette, steak, lobster, asparagus, and baked potato, and lastly a strawberry cheesecake and coffee. We were stuffed, it was by far the best meal I've ever had. They cleaned up all of their things, prepared our to-go boxes and we were left with a spotless kitchen!


This past weekend we didn't have any plans so we did a little cleaning and re-organizing. Back in June we got water in our basement and had to rip out the carpet. After the new carpet came in last week we were able to put it all together and move some things around. You may remember pictures of Brode's toy pile taking over the living room, well it got moved downstairs and we couldn't be happier! Everything is organized, and he got a much bigger space to run and roll around. He loves it too! It was very exciting to see his face, "Look all the toys!"


Along with the re-organization downstairs came a few new moves upstairs. Brode finally got his toddler bed!!!
He has not once tried to climb out of his crib, but when he regularly uses the potty we're getting close to seriously potty training so he is ready for his bed. Brode is very resistant to change so he wasn't too sure about it at first. We do still have his crib up for emergency or if he climbs out, but it will soon come down.
This is how he actually spent his first night in it to avoid a large fall out. He did great! Only few more things to move out of the room, some shelves to hang, and a train table to put in there and he will have his very own big boy room!

Update

I know, it has been weeks since I've updated, again.

I had a post written, just needed to add pictures, but never got around to it.

I wish I had good reasons for not updating, but here they are:

15 page paper on mold in the workplace for environmental health
20 page paper on mixed martial arts needs analysis for principles of strength training
10 page paper on exercise during pregnancy for research techniques

It's awful. I've been reading articles every minute between classes and when I'm not at work.

I know many of you would love a Halloween update and that is the main reason for checking. Well I regret to say that there is no update and there are no pictures. Brode refused to wear his costume. Matt and I wore big bird and cookie monster, but our little Elmo was very stubborn. He went trick or treating in his hockey outfit, used his manners, and got candy - but it was a complete bust. He cried at half the houses and got scared by people in masks. We're going to forget about Halloween for a while then give it a go next year.

I do have a few random pictures to add, but the screen on my computer is broken right now so I can't get to any of the pictures. I'll find a way and update with something more fun later!