Happy New Year!

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2010. Wow. That just sounds weird. Today was the first time I had to actually write it. My mind had to overpower my hand to avoid writing 'o_. And what are people calling it? I have already heard someone say "oh ten". Umm no. I'm leaning towards "twenty ten", I think.
As most every reader of mine knows, we rung in the new year celebrating the nuptuals of Matt & Stacia Plothow. It was one of the best receptions I have been to in quite awhile, I must say. It was the first time that we left our little T-bone overnight, and fortunately there was enough booze on hand to keep me from worrying about her all night. It was so great to see my Chi-town friends. I don't see them near enough these days! Matt & Stacia were great hosts. I'm hoping they do it again next year... Come on! Anniversary party? Lee and I exceeded our own expectations and stayed standing until after 1:30am (thankfully we did not stay up with Barry, Amy and the Reuters).

Oh... And... NEWSFLASH... On New Years Day, Lee woke up hungover and I DIDN'T. I felt pretty darn good. Especially after the complimentary hotel breakfast. Hoping this is a trend that sticks around for the whole decade.

I told myself that for my new years resolution I would be cutting back on the sweets. So far, I have made a slight improvement. I had to go ahead and polish off the chocolate covered cherries and carmels from Christmas. I mean. I can't let them go to waste. But, yesterday at the grocery store I avoided the Chips Ahoys, and I avoided dessert when we went for lunch at Spagheddi's. SIGH. Why must the stuff that tastes SO GOOD be SO FATTENING?

Some things we have to look forward to this year:

My "golden" birthday. I turn 29 on January 29th.

The Colts winning the Superbowl... Yes?

The final season of LOST. Mixed emotions here.

My cousin Jamie is getting married in Cabo in March (we won't be going - frown).

Purdue going to the Final Four in the NCAA tournament... Please?

Grandma Shirley hits the big EIGHT-OH on March 25th.

Lee finishes up his undergraduate program in March. Just a few credits later and he'll be a college grad. (He has to fill in a science, speech and english.)

Taryn will be turning 1 year old on May 20th.
Lee will be hitting the big THREE-OH on July 23rd.

Jamie & Garret get married August 14th and I am the maid of honor. (I refuse to say matron of honor. It sounds so matronly.)

I will (hopefully) get my first teaching job starting this fall.

Phew!

Continuing Improvements

BEFORE

AFTER

I wrote once before about the projects we have to do in our house. Today we got kind of a big one out of the way. It wasn't hard to do at all, it was just pesky. Today Lee removed the 1/2 wall out of Taryn's room. The family that owned the house for the 50 years before we bought it had two daughters. They always wanted separate bedrooms, but that ain't gonna happen in a 2-bedroom house, so the parents built a 1/2 wall. Yeah... It was odd. Anyway, we made it work for the last few months, but now it is gone and I can hardly believe how much bigger her room looks! And brighter too! It won't be completely gone until we re-carpet and paint, but already it is a huge improvement!!! The room is still hard to furnish because it is a long skinny room and it also has an oddly placed heating vent and only ONE outlet in the whole room. But, we've made it work for now!

Adios 2009!

I think I copied this off of Mich a couple years ago, so I thought I would go ahead and do it again. I like having a nice little summary of my year to look back on.

1. What did you do in 2009 that you’d never done before? Had a baby, changed careers, started graduate school, owned 2 homes for a couple months...

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for 2010? I don't think I made any NY resolutions last year... I was feeling rather vice-free since I was pregnant. For 2010, I am going to attempt to curb my obsession with sweets. I somehow got totally addicted to sweets while I was prego and now it needs to stop!

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? It seems like everyone did! The Reuters, the Howards, the Goldmans, the Gundersons, Lee's brother & wife... Plus, it seems like about 1/3 of my graduating class from high school!

4. Did anyone close to you die? Not this year, thank goodness.

5. What countries did you visit? Stuck around the good ol' USofA.

6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009? I totally agree with Michelle on this one... SLEEP!

7. What dates from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? May 20th, T's b-day!

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? Having my little girl and learning how to be a mother, succeeding in grad school while doing the mom thing.

9. What was your biggest failure? My diet and exercise regime. Also, maintaining a social life. I have done very badly with inviting friends to do stuff (I blame this on #6... Lack of sleep!)

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? My asthma has returned since moving back to West Lafayette. I also had a pretty rough flu. Other than that, most the illnesses have been suffered by our little T.

11. What was the best thing you bought? Our house in West Lafayette. It is so good to be back.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? My mom. She has been such a great grandma to little T not to mention a huge help!

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? My aunt and cousins. They are bitter and narrow-minded people that have been spreading hate throughout our family. I hope not to hear much from them in 2010.

14. Where did most of your money go? Healthcare, daycare and two mortgages. Oh and home improvement.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Pretty much everything Taryn. Selling our house in Demotte!

16. What song will always remind you of 2009? "Single Ladies" by Beyonce

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? Happier.
b) thinner or fatter? Thinner than I was when I was 20 weeks prego... But, definitely not in shape!
c) richer or poorer? Monetarily much poorer, but I feel richer in many ways.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of? Sleeping. It sounds awful, but I also wish I had taken advantage of daycare a little more so I could get stuff done in a much less stressed manner!

19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Eating, stressing out.

20. How did you spend Christmas? At my grandma's apartment. Christmas Eve at the Klemme's. Then off to NJ on the 26th to see my dad's fam.

21. Did you fall in love in 2009? I love my little T more than I ever thought possible!

22. What was your favorite TV program? Biggest Loser

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? I don't think I really HATE anyone. There are a few people that I don't much care for.

24. What was the best book you read? Euclidian Geometry textbook... Yeah. I haven't gotten to read for pleasure this year.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery? Lee discovered Palladia. A channel on tv that shows live music.

26. What did you want and get? An amazing baby! A home in the Lafayette area. A fellowship to go back to grad school.

27. What did you want and not get? A full price offer on our house in Demotte.

28. What was your favorite film of this year? I can't even think... Gran Torino? Was that this year? I know I watched it this year.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? 28. I went to dinner with my mom at Bruno's. Pretty lowkey.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Selling our house sooner so we didn't have to commute to Lafayette. A few less illnesses for baby T.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009? Back to college gear! No more business clothes!

32. What kept you sane? Lee getting up with T on the weekends so I could sleep an extra hour.

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Peyton Manning and Drew Breeeeees!

34. What political issue stirred you the most? The failing economy and the bailouts.

35. Who did you miss? My Chi-town friends.

36. Who was the best new person you met? Taryn Elizabeth

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009. It may take longer than you want, but things will work out in the end.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
Don't need no five star reservations
I've got spaghetti and a cheap bottle of wine
Don't need no concert in the city
I've got a stereo and the best of Patsy Cline
Ain't got no caviar no Dom Perignon
But as far as I can see, I've got everything I want
Cause I've got a roof over my head,the woman I love laying in my bed
And it's alright, alright
I've got shoes under my feet
Forever in her eyes staring back at me
And it's alright, alright
And I've got all I need
And it's alright by me

The Wood Floor Saga

Here is a rundown of how our wood floor refinishing went:

Monday - Sanding. And Sanding. And SANDING. It wasn't as dusty as I thought it would be, thank goodness. Lee took the big floor sander and I was in charge of the edges and corners using the hand sander. It was a long tedious process.

Tuesday - Lee and I both woke up sore as heck. Onto the staining process. This part was a rollercoaster of emotions. It's too dark. That spot is too light. Is that a fuzz ball in the stain? Do you think it will dry evenly? Agh! The can said that it would dry in 8 hours, so we were hoping to get in a topcoat that night. When the evening rolled around... Not dry.

Wednesday - Still not freaking dry. Are you kidding me?

Thursday - And it isn't dry STILL. 8 hours has turned into 48 hours. We're getting antsy here.

Friday - Merry Christmas! We finally got two layers of the topcoat down in between our holiday festivities.

Left to do: put the toilet back in, put our new bathtub in, buy and install a new vanity, put our washer and dryer back in, replace all the vents and whatnot, then refill with furniture! Even though things did not go as smooth as we hoped, we're really happy with how they look. Oh and we're REALLY happy with the money that we saved. We were getting quotes of $1300 for the job and we spent only $230 in materials. (You wouldn't believe how many times I had to tell myself that during the sanding process!)

P.S. Yes, we are still working without a bathroom. We have been showering at my mom's and peeing outdoors. Thank goodness for neighbors that aren't right by us! It's all class around here. I have never missed indoor plumbing so much!!

Merry Christmas to All!

* We are flying to NJ after Christmas so I would be very surprised if you see another blog from be before 2010! Have a great one!

Sweet Lil Seven Month Old!

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Taryn turned 7 months old today! It seems like just when I get used to having a 6 month old, it's already time for her to be a month older!

Taryn is learning new things by the day it seems. For example, yesterday she learned to clap. She loves to be standing and is trying hard to start crawling. She is able to get her little rump in the air now, but only for a little while. I'm actually enjoying these last weeks of her not being mobile. She already can get into so many things, I can't even imagine what it is going to be like when she is crawling and then walking. Taryn is starting to understand toys and enjoy playing with them. She likes most baby food but is especially fond of her veggies. Odd considering those are not high on Lee and my list! She just had her first bottle of formula today!

She is still a chunky little bear. On Monday she weighed 20.4 lbs at the allergist. We're still battling random colds, her asthma and now the trip to the ER was thrown in there. She takes it all in stride though. She still has just two teeth on the bottom which she enjoys having brushed. She has a baby toothbrush and whenever I get it out she opens her mouth so I can brush her two little teeth. It is pretty funny.

This picture is of Taryn in my Grandma Shirley's dress from when she was a baby. We took this picture of her in it and I am getting it framed for my Grandma for Christmas. While we were having her "photo shoot", I had her sitting on the floor. She went to try and grab one of the kitties and she tipped over and hit her face on the heating vent. I felt sooooo bad! She ended up with a little cross on her cheek from the vent. Lee kept saying it was for the Christmas season. It ended up turning into her first little bruise. Just in time for me to look like a negligent mother at all of the holiday events!

Yesterday we went to Lee's Puetz family Christmas. If the whole family attends, there are something like 63 people there. I can think of 7 people that were missing yesterday, so needless to say, there were a LOT of folks there. Taryn got to meet a ton of her relatives for the first time. She got quite a few compliments on how friendly she was.

Girls in the back and boys in the front. Lee's immediate family is up to 17 people now!

Fun Times at the ER

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Yesterday I took Taryn to daycare at about 10:30am. I had to go up to Monticello to meet the two teachers I will be student teaching with next semester. An hour later, daycare called. Taryn had a fever of 102. Ugh.

Late last night, Taryn woke up crying. As I rocked her, I felt her jerking. At first I thought she was just getting the chills from her fever. But, as it happened a few more times, I realized it was more like convulsions. I sat her down on the couch so I could see what was happening. I was pretty darn sure it was a seizure.

As I walked the fine line between sanity and totally freaked out, I called my mom. She told me to go to the ER. And thus, started our night at the ER.
It turns out that Taryn had a Febrile Seizure. Apparently babies and young children can get these when their fever spikes up quickly. While at the ER, Taryn had to get a catheter, blood had to be drawn, she had to have chest x-rays, she got a shot and had to take some medications in the form of suppositories. Fun. I'm just REALLY glad that she is too young to remember this for the rest of her life. Now, if only I could forget!

If I had to use one word to describe our fellow ER-goers... It would probably have to be freak-o's. You don't have actual rooms, just curtained partitions, so you can hear pretty much everything that is going on with the other patients. There were a couple that I could tell were just trying to get some meds, but my favorite was a 16-year old boy who was 2 partitions down. When the doctor asked him what was wrong he said that he was having pain in his "jewels". Yeah... Don't use such technical lingo dude!

Anyway, we finally got out of there at 4am... FIVE hours after we got there. I am really hoping that Taryn doesn't have to make anymore trips to the ER in the forseeable future. Or, like, ever!

Holy Holiday Busyness!

On Thursday I made a to-do list. It was so overwhelming that I had to make a SECOND list that broke things down by the day.

December is always a busy month with all of the holiday festivities, but jeepers, this year things seem to be taken to another level! Here is a rundown of the BIG things I have left to do. Then there are a bunch of not-necessary-at-this-moment-things that are still on the list like getting Taryn's college fund started.

Today: We headed up to Demotte early to pick up a UHaul truck and empty out our Demotte house. These are things that were still left in our house after moving to West Lafayette 2.5 months ago. These have been passed over in all of our trips to Demotte when we have taken a load of stuff back. ie, these things are NOT IMPORTANT. We then had to come back to Lafayette and unload/disperse things. Some went to my mom's, some went to my grandma's... More things than should have went in our basement and the Man Coop. What's the opposite of an Indian Giver? An Indian Taker? That's what we are. When we moved into our big ol' Demotte house, we took everyone's extra furniture. Now that we cut our square footage in half, we're giving it all back!

Tomorrow: Our niece Cora's 1st birthday! Then lots of organizing around the house.

Monday: Taryn has her follow-up appointment with the allergist. Then we have our closing up in Demotte.

Tuesday: Study for my Geometry final. Yes, I realize that it sounds like I'm in high school when I say that. Who takes Geometry in college?

Wednesday: I go to meet the teachers that I am going to be student teaching with next semester. Please be cool! Then my Geometry final is that night, 7-9pm. That is bordering on my bedtime.

Then, next weekend we have FOUR social committments. For real? That's more than we usually have in a month. Phew! And, during that time, we also need to be preparing our house for our project du jour... REFINISHING OUR WOOD FLOORS! Yes. We are insane.

We are refinishing our floors in the few days before Christmas. What makes it even worse is that while we are refinishing the floors, we are also installing a new bathtub. So... Yeah... That means we're not going to have a toilet for a couple days and a shower for a few days. Ah, good times. From the glass-is-half-full side of things, I can't wait to have the new floors! It is going to make SUCH a huge difference up in here!

Oh, and right after Christmas we are going to New Jersey to see my dad's family.

So, please understand if you don't see many blogs from me in the next few weeks. I'll catch up when I catch my breath! Happy Holidays to all!

Every girl knows... You just HAVE to accessorize!

Last year (or the year before) I bought a purse from 9 West. For some reason, it came with a mini-purse in it. I could never really figure out what to do with the mini-purse, so it just got shoved into another purse that I wasn't using at the time.
So, now I finally figured out what the mini-purse is for... Mini-PEOPLE!

Taryn loves this little baby purse. I haven't gotten around to it, but I totally plan to take a picture of her with the baby purse and me with the big purse. Yes... I have become that person that wants to dress their kid like a miniature version of them and take pictures and then laugh about it. Muahahaha. If you like Taryn's "old school" Purdue pants... Those babies aren't retro. Those are straight outta 1981! Sweet!

On an unrelated note, Taryn now says "Mama". I love it! Even though I'm not sure that she knows exactly what Mama means... Today she called the cat Mama. And something in our front yard... And the television... Oh well. I'll take it.

"Sleeping In" (with a 6 month old)

Last night we had Zach & Elise and Jamie over. Beer was drank, frozen pizzas were eaten around midnight, a heated game of Balderdash was played. It was a good time. The only problem is that Zach always wants to stick around until like 3am. Last night he was parked in our living room insisting that we use our Ebay account to buy him a snow mobile. He'll give us the $1800 in the morning. Seriously.

Elise finally got him out of our house around 1am. So, morning came WAY too fast. All we wanted to do was sleep in. But, of course, babies don't understand the concept of sleeping in.

This is how Lee and I "sleep in" these days.

4am - I get up and feed Taryn. She only wakes up to eat, so she goes right back to sleep, as do I.

6am - Taryn gets up for the day. Lee gets up with her (after MUCH prodding) and I sleep.

8am - My turn again. I feed Taryn and get her down for her first nap of the day. When she goes to sleep, so do I.

10am - We all get up. (Except Lee is still trying to steal a few more minutes on the couch.)

It definitely isn't the same as pre-baby when you could just sleep away your Sunday. But, there is something especially awarding about all the naps! You're almost tricked into feeling rested.