Good-bye, Camelot

This is my favorite picture of the Kennedy brothers: a wishful-looking Teddy surrounded by Bobby and John. They all look so happy and enthusiastic.

I was deeply saddened by the loss of Senator Ted Kennedy yesterday... .

The Kennedy family truly seemed like royalty to the child that I used to be. I equated Jacqueline Kennedy with Princess Diana. To me, they were the same. Ted Kennedy was the head of his family, he seemed to take care of everyone. His eulogy of his nephew, John F. Kennedy, Jr. was perhaps one of the moist poignant speeches given. Here is an excerpt:

"We thank the millions who have rained blossoms down on John’s memory. He and his bride have gone to be with his mother and father, where there will never be an end to love. He was lost on that troubled night, but we will always wake for him, so that his time, which was not doubled, but cut in half, will live forever in our memory, and in our beguiled and broken hearts. We dared to think, in that other Irish phrase, that this John Kennedy would live to comb gray hair, with his beloved Carolyn by his side. But like his father, he had every gift but length of years."

Ted Kennedy served his country as best he could. Because of his voice, spirit and strength, he made America better for everyone. He improved Health Care, Minimum Wage, and Immigration, just to name a few. It seemed as if he were trying to live up to the legacies left behind by his fallen brothers, but I think he outshone them with pure determination. He will be missed.

Little League

(The kid on the far left, #13, never smiled during the whole game. The commentators for ESPN were commenting on it all night, which was sort of hilarious. He was Iowa's starting pitcher.)
Iowa was just eliminated from Little World Series. :-( and yes, we watched the games. I cheered. These Urbandale kids were awesome! I really felt like they were going to pull out a win in the 5th inning.

On a funny note... When the Crowd cheers, "I-O-Wah" I swear it sounds like an Indian war cry. I sort of loved it. Scott's all like, "Weston is going to play ball." and I'm like, "yeah...." He probably will. He loves watching baseball, and he cheers. It's great.

I could not find any happy pictures of our Urbandale team (by the way, Urbandale is another Des Moines suburb) so, I had to use these sad pictures. I was looking for a picture of this fabulous rolling catch that one of our outfielders made yesterday - it was so awesome that it had the New York fans cheering with the Iowa fans.

The 5th Circle...

This week has been awful. If this were Dante's Inferno, we'd have sunk to a new horrible Ring of Hell. Everything everywhere has hit the fan, and I am at a loss as to how to fix it.
On top of the bad, I have returned to the level of exhaustiveness that I left behind with Weston's first month on the planet. He first woke up at 1:25am. He was not asleep when I last looked at the clock at 4am. But he was asleep at 6:30 when I woke up late. And then he woke up in a great mood around 7:15.
The most annoying thing that just tops the cake? The amount of people everyday that call me "Anne" when I answer the phone, "Good Morning/Afternoon, Onthank. This is Erin, how can I help you?" After the first few days, I tried speaking slowly, letting people get used to hearing me on the phones again. I've come to the conclusion that they really don't listen to me. They hear the tail-end of what i am saying and make their own conclusions. I have only corrected one person, and they actually had the nerve to sound offended, like I offended them by insisting that they say my name correctly. I am sorry, but Erin is not difficult. It's 4 freaking letters.
The Best part of my week? And yes, in this mess, there is a best part. I am on Furlough tomorrow!!! Sleeping in (I'll try, but it won't likely happen.) Going to Tango with Shannon, her fundraising gala for Children & Families of Iowa. yea! Adult time.

But the best thing is this:

Yoplait Whips Yogurt. Frozen. Tastes like sherbet!!! love it! and at 140 Calories... totally a happy snack.

Weston has been awake for 2 hrs. Now he wants to play. Ugh.

from the weekend...

We actually took Weston to the Petting Zoo at the Blank Park Zoo Saturday. And he cried. He cried when the goats got too close, or when Mommy and Auntie Shannon gave the Llama s scratch on the head. The only thing he didn't cry at was the Brazilian Hindu Zebu named Souie. This is a monster of an animal. It was like a prehistoric cow with longhorns. You could make an entire couch from his hide. And it would be a gorgeous couch. Weston sort of stared at him like he was mesmerized. He stopped crying and wiped his tears away, and just stared at this monstrous animal. I was surprised at how gentle Souie really was. She let people pet her, seemed to pose for pictures. It was nice. And Weston wasn't crying or whining... so Souie is a winner in my book.
Weston seemed to enjoy the aquariums... I mean, it wasn't Sea World or even the Mall of America, but he loved the fish. Actually started talking to them. It was adorable. He enjoyed the Tigers (big cats, and he loves cats), Zebras and Monkeys most of all. He loved the Japanese Macaque (maw-kack) or the Snow Monkey. They kept jumping and rolling around, and he just laughed! It was great. Made my whole day. The only thing we seemed to miss were the Penguins. I have no idea where they even were.
So... at the end of our day, it started to rain. We tried to wait it out in the gift shop, but it kept getting worse. So Scott got the car (good guy!) and then picked us up and we drove the 3 or so miles back to Shannon's apartment. Weston was fast asleep before we parked. So he napped at Shannon's for a bit before church.

On Sunday, Jason and Rachel took us to lunch, which was very nice. Then we went back to their house. It's beautiful. We had a great time with some fun dessert and Rachel and Jason opened their belated Wedding Shower gifts. And I'm happy that they seemed to like the cook books. I think they will be lots of fun for them. Weston made me a little more than nervous in the obviously adult atmosphere, and he fell and smashed his face a few times. But we had a great day!

Weston in his newly turned around Big Boy car seat! He looks like a toddler now!

(Our weekend...)Had a great weekend! We had a blast at the zoo with Weston who walked the whole thing! Today we enjoyed an afternoon with our great friends Jason and Rachel. Pictures to come!

this weekend

Planning on taking Weston to Blank Park Zoo tomorrow in Des Moines. Not sure if it's going to work out, but we'll try. :)
Scott wanted to take him to the petting zoo at the Iowa State Fair... eeeewwww. I am never impressed with the Fair. and after Riverboat Days... I just can't put myself through it again. :)
Hope to get good pictures!

Thoughts...

Ever see that show on The Learning Channel (TLC) called I Didn't Know I was Pregnant? Scott and I watched 3 episodes on Sunday. He thought it was fake. Completely not real. There is no way that a woman wouldn't know she was pregnant. I kept trying to tell him that these are true stories, that TLC doesn't lie. The only thing I didn't tell him was that this has become my biggest fear.
I am scared to death that this will happen to us. That because of my screwed up reproductive system, combined with the crazy-ass birth control I am on, we will find out at my yearly exam on September 14th that I'm like 4-5 month preggers. Now you ask, "Why wouldn't she know? Why does she think this is possible?" Here are my reasons:
1. My reproductive system: I had/have Endometriosis. I have been afraid for the last few months that this disease is coming back with a vengeance. The usual symptoms have been occurring, though not as frequently or as painful as last time.
2. My birth control: the best cure for Endometriosis is to convince your body that it's pregnant or not functioning. Every period and hormone swing associated with a period causes Endometrial tissue to grow and scar. So by using birth control to limit my periods to every 3 months, I am essentially preserving my chance at conceiving in the future. Except my body won't listen. I changed to stronger birth control, and it's worse. Spotting... break through... all things that are not supposed to be happening.
3. I am so tired I can fall asleep anywhere. This was my major pregnancy side-effect the last time. It feels like it's getting worse. And I am sort of sleeping through the night now. So I should be less tired, not more tired.
4. Back spasms... again, something that I had while preggers with Weston.
5. Clothes. I'm not gaining weight, but things are definitely tighter. I am so annoyed.
6. Murphy's Law: If it can go wrong, it will go wrong. Sometimes my personal mantra in life. This is the worst time to even consider having another baby. Weston is thriving and learning and on the go. I am enjoying this age, I do not want another child to take away from that. (Selfish I know.) We cannot afford another child, we can barely afford the one we have now. And we are almost done with formula! I want a break from bottles and baby food. I couldn't imagine double diapers and double daycare. I'd be working to pay for daycare. it's nuts.

So... you can see how this would be a very big nightmare for us. I hope that my body is just being crazy and not incubating Weston's future sibling. I made the mistake of telling a friend about this fear and now it's all i think about. What if? What if? Cross your fingers and toes... we are not prepared for this.

A Sad Day for me.

John Hughes died yesterday.
I watched all of his movies for the first time either on HBO or later on reruns on cable TV. His movies hit something in me that seemed to make sense. I actually cried this morning when I watched the coverage of his life and death. His movies resonated with who I wanted to be, who I thought I could be. I think the first John Hughes movie I saw was Mr. Mom. And I saw it with my parents. And I laughed because it seemed so outrageous, but the funny thing was, by 1990 that was my life. My Dad became the primary caregiver. This movie influenced my adult life too. Scott is my helper at home. We are an even 50-50 with everything, or and easy 40-60 (Scott rocks.) I think because of this movie and my life after it, it just made sense for the husband to jump in to be an equal member of the household.
The National Lampoon movies, the real ones – not the new ones that make $ off of the name, are big hits in my family too. Christmas Vacation is a tradition at my house, and a surprising favorite of my Aunt Linda. The insanity of it is so… crazy, but so normal it’s almost scary. And Vacation? It was high-larious. I actually thought Wally World was Wal-Mart’s version of Disney World. (I should admit that there wasn’t a Wal-Mart in the town where I lived until I moved to Des Moines.) Home Alone is still the Ultimate Christmas Family Movie. John Hughes was a major staple of the Family Comedy, Uncle Buck anyone?
I don’t know which I saw first, but I am almost certain it was Sixteen Candles. I related to Samantha. I thought that 16 would change everything. That there would be a big party and magically I would change into a complete different person, an adult or some in-between; that the Crush of my dreams would somehow recognize me as his one and only. I was not unpopular in high school. I was known by all. We were the group just under the upper crust popular. But I remember the Senior classes that came before me. They looked every bit like Jake Ryan and Caroline (except in Z.Cavaricci instead of silk dresses.) The boys were all larger than my lowly sophomore existence, and the girls walked as if on clouds, they would talk to you, but you knew it was only because they granted you their attention. You weren’t friends. It wasn’t possible.
But this movie, and all the other teen genre movies by Hughes, made the fantasy seem like it could one day be a reality. That was his gift. He made teen life, fantasy or otherwise, seem completely attainable and completely relatable. He made me care about each of the characters, whether or not I liked them. Every female from 35 years old to 16 years old (and men from 27 - 40) probably knows a John Hughes Movie, most will even have favorites. His gift to the world was the teen genre. Not the idiot movies, but the ones that counted and have withstood the tests of time. His smartly written movies led the way for many others like Can’t Hardly Wait, and even the American Pie movies. He basically created the template for smart teen-centric TV. Can everyone say, Dawson’s Creek, Gilmore Girls, and One Tree Hill, heck, even Gossip Girl to an extent. Without John Hughes, teen movies would be just another episode of the Brady Bunch (*gag!*) For once-upon-a-time teens, these movies left an impact on film and television that will be felt for years, from them to their children and grandchildren. And this will be Hughes' legacy.I think that Pretty In Pink has to be my Favorite John Hughes movie. I remember everything about it. I actually owned the soundtrack. And it has some of the best movie quotes ever.
Andie: "You know your talking like that just because I'm going out with Blane."
Duckie: "His name is Blane? Oh! That's a major appliance...!"

Blane: "You said you couldn't be with someone who didn't believe in you. Well I believed in you. You just didn't believe in me. I love you... always."
This is why I Love this movie and pretty much all John Hughes.

Weston's Second 1st Birthday Party

Weston in front of our Birthday-bannered garage!

So, Weston has been sick with the mouth part of the Hand, Foot, and Mouth virus. Basically he had a horrifically high fever and the beginnings of blisters in his mouth and throat. He also had an ear infection. Great... so we spent the weekend with a hurting little boy who put on a great show for his first birthday. Alternating between Motrin and Tylenol every 3 hours really helped him out, but Heaven forbid if you took something away from him or changed something or put him down when he wanted to be held. Then he just cried and cried. Poor thing.
We had to ask my brother and his family to stay home this weekend, it would have been awful if Zoey and Paisley had gotten sick. Especially for Paisley since she's so little. On another sad note, Shannon is home sick, having gotten the exact same thing Weston had.
But Weston rallied for his party anyway. We missed Nathan and the girls, but we hope to see them soon. Here are some pics of the fabulous day.

Weston's second 1st Birthday Cake... definitely an improvement,
though last week's tasted better.
Close up of the Construction Zone

Remember when I said any changes? Yeah... this didn't go over too well.

The Birthday Boy also had a thing for flames!

Though he loved the cake this time, and the mess!

Grammy and Grandpa gave Weston a handmade Amish Rocker from Kalona, IA.

Jason tool most of these pictures, this is my fave. He's "mowing" our carpet.

Mowing the lawn... he didn't like the feel of the grass though!