No big surprise!

Not like everyone did not already know this, but I thought I would join in the fun too!

Another "to do" on our already full list....

I took Justin back to the ear, nose and throat surgeon today and he confirmed that the right tube has already fallen out. He has an "angry" (in Dr. Gootee's words) ear infection in his right ear also. So, he has to go back to the hospital for another surgery on October 4th. Oh, and we get to pay for it all over again too.

The good news is that he seems to be keeping fluids down better. He did spit up his Pedialite all over himself in the waiting room this morning, but I would not really call it "throwing up" - at least it was not like it was last night where he would get dry heaves when he was done. Poor little thing...it breaks my heart to see him sick.

So now our schedule is as follows:

Sept 29-Oct 2: Melissa in Dallas for work, Rob & Justin in Elgin that weekend packing the house
Oct 4: Justin's surgery & my boss wanted to have a meeting at our new office (note to self: talk to boss)
Oct 5: Close on our new house
Oct 5th or 6th: Rob to Elgin to swap appliances (we want to keep our new stuff that we have in Elgin- thanks for the suggestion Uncle Mikey!)
Oct 8-12: Melissa in Virginia for training

Plus sometime we have to make a trip to Elgin to watch the movers pack up the truck and then be in Peoria the next day to watch them unload it. Oh, and we want to get our new master BR painted before the movers come because it's purple.

I wish there were one or two more days in the week - non workdays of course!

PS. I know that this is not a very positive post and I try to keep my blog happy, but it's just a little venting about the surgery. All in all Rob and I know how very lucky were are to have a normally healthy, happy baby!!!!

Sick baby....

I got a call from Justin's daycare around 3:30pm telling me that he threw up all over. He was so covered they gave him a bath. So I went right there and got him. He threw up again on the way home in his carseat as I was getting him out. It was all over me, him and the Yukon. Thankfully Rob has a very understanding boss so when I called Rob crying he was able to come home and help me. Justin has been sick all night. Everytime he drinks something it comes right back up. If he's empty he gets dry heaves. He's never done this before and I don't know what to do :( We got Pedilite and he kept it down longer than water, but still threw it up. He crys for a bottle and wants something to drink, but we know it will not stay down. Right now he has a bottle with mostly ice cubes in it so he's getting just a little bit.

Any suggestions???? Hopefully I won't need them by morning, but you never know. He has his appointment with the ear nose and throat surgeon at 10am to see why his tube in his right ear already fell out so I will probably just take a sick/personal day and keep him with me after the appointment too.





Here he is snuggling with me between "episodes"..... I don't know what is on his forehead - he doesn't have another bump!














He wants to be happy! He played for a little bit tonight trying to be his normal self...













He kept falling asleep for short periods of time all evening. He held onto the bar under the table and slept like this for about 30 minutes. Right now he's in his pack and play in our room so we can hear if he gets sick again.

Night with Grandpa & Grandma Metzler

Monday night Grandpa & Grandma Metzler stayed at our house on their way to Las Vegas. They are driving out there to meet the moving van. It was so good to see them, but so hard to say goodbye. I know that we didn't live very close to begin with, but not being able to get in the car and drive to visit is hard. We will just have to make lots of trips out there to visit!

Here is a video of Justin on his 4 wheeler that Uncle Mikey, Uncle Ryan and Aunt Amanda got him for his birthday. He's always pushed it around until last night. He was kneeling on the seat and trying to ride, but I didn't have my camera.

As you can tell from the video, Justin LOVES his Grandpa :) He loves Grandma too, but she didn't want her picture taken after a 7 hour car ride!

We love you guys so much - have a safe trip out west and good luck in your new jobs!!!!!!!!

Wake up call....

Last night Justin started fussing and crying around 1:30am. Usually we try to let him cry for up to 10 minutes, becuase he usually goes right back to sleep. So last night he had been crying for less than 5 minutes and there was a knock on our apartment door. I figured it was one of the neighbors mad about the crying. Rob and I decided to ignore it and see if they went away - they did not. So I went and got Justin up and stopped crying and I looked through the peek hole...did not see anyone and figured they left. Just then they knocked again and really loud. I almost hit the ceiling I jumped so high. I said "How can I help you" through the door - no way was I opening it up! Next thing we here is "Peoria Police mam - open the door".... I was in a tank top and underwear, so I took Justin back to the bedroom and Rob answered it. They were looking for someone named Craig and had this listed as his address. I wonder what he did that they were looking for him at 1:30am?? Not a fun wake up call - I was shaking...I don't know why becuase I don't think a crying baby is a crime yet!

Have a happy monday! This week is going to be great with all of the new shows starting!!!!!!

Fun weekend in Michigan.....

Sorry it's been a while since I've posted - we've been busy, busy! With the new house we are in the process of getting the mortgage, insurance, etc. Plus my boss also finalized the lease on our new office, so I am coordinating getting the internet, phone, furniture, etc. I am so excited to have an office to go to! I thought that I would really like to work from home full time someday, but this summer has shown me that this is not the case!

Friday after work me, Rob, Justin and the dogs headed to Big Rapids for the weekend. It was a LONG RIDE. At one point Justin screamed for 44 minutes straight. Somehow he managed to bruise his cheek in the car between Peoria and Big Rapids - still not sure how, maybe his bottle?

G&G Brooks are keeping the dogs for us until we get in our new house since I'll be going out of town twice in the next few weeks....it's a big help for us - thank you! Saturday morning we hung out at G&G's house and had lunch with Godsie. Then we went into town and met the Fossitt's at the hotel and went to the Ferris game. It was so good to see them again :) We realized just how old we are when we got a 12 pack of Miller Lite after the game and ended up leaving 8 of them in the hotel room! Breakfast at the hotel was 7:30-10:30am...back in college we never would have made it by 10:30am but now it was the highlight of the morning!

Sunday we headed to Grand Rapids and visited with Aunt Buzz & Uncle Jeff and then went to lunch with Great Grandpa Don and Great Grandma Ellen, Godsie and Bob, Uncle Kurt and Ashley and G&G Brooks. It was nice to break up the ride a little bit and then Justin took a 3 hour nap!!! When he woke up he was really happy and chatty the rest of the ride home - much more enjoyable than the ride there!


Grandma Metzler called us tonight and said that her and Grandpa are coming to see us tomorrow on the way through to Las Vegas - We are so excited!!!! Justin told me that he's not going to sleep good tonight because he's too excited :)






Godsie loving up Justin!








Melissa, Justin, Jalen and Jamie















So cute :)
















Mommy's little fish....










I know I'll figure out this secret code....what you can't hear is Jason yelling for Justin to cover up while he covers Jalen's eyes :)















Melissa, Jason and Justin at the FSU vs. Hillsdale game.









Jalen and Justin











"What is your paw doing on my stroller? You don't even look like a bulldog!!!"













See the bruise on his cheek???













It was a great game! They kicked a field goal with 6 seconds left to win the game!














Billy & Jimmy Bourdlais













Daddy, Grandpa and Justin - Grandpa, Uncle Kurt and Ashley met us at the game and we had fun hanging out with them!













Justin ran around the field for a while after the game. I can't believe he stayed awake - it was a 7pm game! He was a very happy boy and then slept in until 8am!











The whole gang - The Brooks, The Fossitts, Billy, Jimmy and Kristen (Jimmy's girlfriend)

We stopped at Buzzy's and she has the best toys!!! Justin liked being pushed around in the dump truck. How times change - all I could think about were dump trucks at Phi Taus :)

Weekend pics...

Here are a few pictures from the weekend.... We had a nice relaxing weekend - Rob had to run to Elgin to get some paperwork for our loan, but other than that we watched football, looked for a new comforter and went to the dog park!

Sorry no more details - I am off to work, aka a golf outing and then steak dinner :) It's supposed to be 82 and sunny...I love my job!!!





Justin decided that licking the bowl was faster than using a spoon with his mashed potatoes......













.....and he also gets a bath immediately following dinner! What else could a boy want???













On Friday night we ran some errands and he fell asleep in the car. We got home and he didn't even wake up - so we snuggled thinking he would wake up soon.... nope; we put him in bed and he slept until 7:30am!!!!!! Yeah :)










Here is the outfit that Grandpa and Grandma Brooks sent for Justin - Thanks G&G!!! He looks so cute and it's comfy too!

Our new house!!!!

Hello everyone! We have had a pretty busy week - we bought a house! We figured for what we were paying in rent for a furnished short term lease we might as well put that money into something that is ours rather than throwing it away every month. When we moved here we planned on buying our "dream house" since the cost of living here is so much cheaper than Chicago, however after weighing our options we decided this was the best thing for our family right now (since our house in Elgin is still not sold). We're young - our dream house will come but in the mean time we love the house we found! It is on 2/3 of an acre - with a fully fenced back yard! It needs a little TLC - it was built in 1992 and a single lady has lived there for the last 7 years. It could use some landscaping, new light fixtures in the kitchen, new face plates for the light switches (they are gold!), but nothing big! We can't wait to get the keys!!!

One of the best things about this house is the location - in Germantown Hills; it's a small town (approximately 3,000 people) about 10 minutes outside of Peoria. The school district is awesome here. Germantown/Metamora are pretty much known for two things - the great school system and the high school football team. We are still going to try to make it to a game this year....I've heard it's something to see. Most home games get over 5,000 people!!!

Here are some pictures of the house. We are hoping to close mid-October so we'll post more pics once we have it decorated and our own stuff in it!

Tug of War

Tonight the dogs were playing tug-of-war with each other...until Justin got involved. They're so good with him! They'll play with him, but not too rough. And usually Justin ends up winning!

Sending love to Marquette & NY :)

This morning Justin and I went down to the riverfront park in East Peoria for the PKD walk. It was a beautiful, crisp fall morning and the walk was really nice. I learned a lot about PKD that I did not know before. I walked because I know how much it means to the Kimmes family - I can not imagine the strength it takes for them to get through this.



I met people who have had kidney transplants and are doing wonderful - they were there walking with their families. I also met people who were sitting on the benches along the route who were waiting for transplants and too weak to walk. It was really hard imagine what they were going through. I signed up to be an organ donor if something should happen to me. I have thought a lot about this and had feelings both ways....however after seeing how much hope a kidney brought to the Kimmes family, I would love to help multiple families get that hope in the event of a tragedy. I hope we don't ever have to worry about that, but if it happened I would want there to be a bright spot in the situation!
















Justin with the PKD bear....





















Mommy and Justin 2 miles into the walk...







All tuckered out!

He learns new things everyday!!!!

Here is his latest accomplishment...




It is SO MUCH fun watching him discover new things all of the time.

Walk for PKD

Many of you know one of my very best friends, Kimberly. Most of you probably know her as the infamous "Kimmes" :) As I had put in some blogs before, her dad recently had a kidney transplant. The reason he had the transplant is because he has a disease called PKD.

Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD) is one of the most common, life-threatening genetic diseases, affecting 600,000 Americans and 12.5 million people, worldwide-regardless of sex, age, race or ethnic origin.ADPKD affects more people than Down syndrome, cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy and sickle cell anemia combined. Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD) is one of the most common, life-threatening genetic diseases, affecting 600,000 Americans and 12.5 million people, worldwide-regardless of sex, age, race or ethnic origin.ADPKD affects more people than Down syndrome, cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy and sickle cell anemia combined.

Kimberly is doing a walk in Syracuse, NY where she lives on September 16th and Justin and I are going to walk here in Peoria on September 15th. Had I known that Peoria had a walk a little sooner, I would have signed up to have a fundraising page and such, but I didn't find out in time. However! Kimberly has a page and if you could spare a few dollars to support this cause I know that she would be very touched!

Here is the link -

http://www.pkdcure.org/site/TR/Events/SyracuseChapter?px=1410266&pg=personal&fr_id=1753

I will be sure to post pictures of Justin and I doing the walk on the Peoria Riverfront :)

Random happenings....

In no particular order....

*Justin is still teething, but he was in a better mood tonight! His daycare teachers said he had a great day and was not crabby at all - yeah!

*He had his one year doctors appointment today. He weighs 24 pounds 4 ounces and was 30 3/4" long.

*We found out that he no longer has a tube in his right ear - and has an ear infection in that ear. We have not even gotten the bill for his surgery yet!!! He had it in less then 2 months!!! I have a call into the surgeon's office that performed the surgery. I don't think that we should have to pay again if he needs to have it put back in. I am sure we probaby will, but I will argue until I am blue in the face to avoid it.

*We fired our pediatrician. Right there in the exam room - I told her what I thought. First of all, this was the 4th time we were at this doctor and the 3rd time in a row that we have had to wait over an hour to see the doctor. Today it was about 75 minutes. I was very annoyed. Then she comes in and apoligizes - okay; I'll let it go. However, we were just there LESS THAN A WEEK AGO and she did not even remember. Okay, I know she sees tons of patients in a week, but is it that hard to look at the chart for 30 seconds before you open the door? She said "oh, it sounds like he has a cold..." - yes you stupid doctor; that is why I brought him in less than a week ago. Whatever; we just wanted to get the appointment done and leave. She said that someone would be in shortly to do the immunizations. About 5 minutes later she came back in and said that they didn't seem to have Justin's immunization records. HELLO!!! I had them faxed over to them from our doctor in Chicago. I have a copy at home too if they did not have them. However, how am I supposed to know they didn't have them??? That was when I lost it. I was ready to start crying...my voice was wavering and it took all I had not to burst into tears. I was so mad and upset and everything else. Rob and I had just sat in a hot exam room with a crabby baby that we didn't want to let crawl around on the floor in his diaper for over an hour and didn't even get anything accomplished.

I told her that we have had enough and would be finding a new pediatrician. She apoligized and said that she would call our old doctor and we could come first thing in the morning. I told her no; we had both taken time off of work to come today - and then I told her that we were sick of waiting so long to see her every appointment, it was ridiculious that she could not look at his chart to see that we had just been there, etc. I told her that we would not be back and I did not want to see this appointment show up on our insurance as a claim. She then had the nerve to try giving us recommendations of other doctors - like we are going to take them from her???? Ugh!!!

*On a much happier note - JUSTIN SAID MAMA!!!!!!!!

*Here are a few pics from the last couple days....Rob and Justin playing Legos

Here is our little monster!!! This is his Halloween costume we got this weekend.

Teeth :(

Justin has been miserable for the last couple of days. He is getting molars on the bottom already. I thought this was not until he was older :( I feel horrible - it's a cry that we've never heard...you can tell he is in pain. I try Orajel, but it does not seem to help and when I do I can feel the teeth under the skin. It feels like 2 or 3 on each side, but I think it's just because the gums are so swollen. Is this normal with molars? Does anyone have any advice on how to make him more comfortable? He does not like teething toys or popsicles. He will eat a little bit of ice cream or smoothie. He is not eating much food either - table food or baby food. I just feel like there is something I should be doing :(

Oh and to make life even better for him, we have to go to the doctor tomorrow for his one year shots..... Poor baby. I wish I could take the pain instead of him.

Justin's Birthday (cont.)

Lunch at Hooters!!!

1 going on 16.....

Hey! Get out of my way pal!

Now if I could only figure out how to use the radio....

The petting zoo - Justin's favorite part of the Peoria Zoo.

I had to protect this poor horse - Justin kept beating on him :)


Justin and his friend Luke (Rob's boss's son)

Happy Birthday Justin!!!!

Rob and I can not believe that our precious little baby is ONE! I keep thinking about it and I get emotional. I can't believe how blessed we are to have such a perfect, happy, healthy, handsome little man. Every day he learns new things and it amazes us to watch him grow up.

I always knew that I wanted children someday; I just never knew how rewarding being a Mommy would be. It does not matter what happened at work, how dirty the house is, how much laundry I have to do, etc. - When Justin looks up at us with his toothy little grin, nothing else in the world matters.

We love you so much punkin! Happy Birthday Baby!!!!!

Thank you!

Thank you everyone for coming to my Birthday Party and for all of the fun presents - I love them!

I am lucky to have such great family and friends!!!!!

Love,

Justin (and my mommy and daddy, too!)

Justin's 1st Birthday Cake Experience!

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves on this one!!!!!