1 No More.

Maggie will be turning two on Thursday and tonight is her last night of being one. I think Maggie is really excited for her birthday tomorrow. She is still awake in her bed crying for mommy who is making cookies right now. I have already been in there several times. We almost had her sleeping in her big girl bed, but I went in there one last time and she wanted to go back into her toddler bed. I think she finally passed out.

I was scheduled to work because I forgot to ask for Thursday off from work. Luckily a supervisor tonight made some phone calls and got me to switch with some one. I know she is too young to remember it, but I would remember that I was not there all day.

We were in the hospital two years ago tonight. It would be our last night without children. We were in the hospital because the wife's blood pressure was high (I have to remind myself not to use medical language here, lots of abbreviations!). The doctors induced the wife the next morning and Maggie was born about twelve hours later.

We will no longer have two children under two. The terrible twos have already begun but I'm sure they might get a little worse even though Maggie is such a good girl. I think it won't be too bad. Our little princess is getting so big!

2 Cute

My Maggie will be turning two a few days before Christmas and she was the best Christmas present I have ever received. I just got back from a late trip to Toys R Us to get Maggie some birthday presents. I picked up a doctor play set and some new stuff for her doll house. I already got her some books (you can never have enough books) and I think she will be very excited about all of her gifts. I think I may be more excited to see her open the presents.

Lucy just loves to look at mommy or daddy and make all sorts of noise and smile. She is such a happy baby. Except when you are trying to do the dishes and she gets fussy every time. Then I get in trouble for not doing the dishes. I cannot wait until we redo the kitchen and put in a dishwasher. When I am feeding Lucy she will look at me and smile. Its so cute.

Five for Friday: My Five Favorite Christmas Songs (its not what you think)

Here are five of my favorite Christmas songs. They aren't the typical ones you here everyday on the radio.

1. Dominick the Donkey. What a great song! Santa visits his paisans you know. 

2. Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron. Yea this really isn't a Christmas song, but it is on the Snoopy Christmas Album that I had on vinyl when I was a kid. I used to play this over and over again. Still do actually.

3. Snoopy's Christmas. On the same album I had and I think I played this on more. Just great songs!

4. Let it Snow. No, not the usual one. This one is Twisted Sister's version and it Rocks.

5. Charlie Brown Christmas. You know the one where everyone is dancing while Linus is jammin on the piano. They always play it on the radio this time of year.

School's out and I'm still busy.

School is out and I still busy. Two young kids keep you very busy. If they both don't need you at the same time, they seem to switch off crying. I'm even busy with all of the holiday stuff too. Gotta go get this and run this errand. That reminds me, I need to pick up more stamps.

As I am writing this, Lucy is in the swing fighting to stay awake and fussing. She is still learning to calm herself down. Maggie just passed out in her bed for nap time. The wife is out shopping and it is all up to me to take care of the girls. Heck I am still in my PJ's.

My mom is in town visiting the girls for her birthday.She came up to take Maggie shopping for her birthday which is next week. I can't believe our little princess will be 2. We got her some really cool birthday gifts. Daddy got her a set of books that are princesses. Shh don't tell Maggie but Santa got her a baby doll that goes in the bath tub.

Wordless Wednesday

This is what happens when toddler gets a hold of the baby powder when she is supposed to be sleeping. 

Five for Friday: Five Things I Love About the Holiday Season.

1. My Princess's birthday! My little girl turns 2. The greatest Christmas present I ever received was Maggie. We brought her home on Christmas Eve.

2. Christmas lights. I love to look at the lights and I am excited to take Maggie to see the Lincoln Park Zoo lights.

3. People caring. This time of the year it seems that people care a little but more and give a little more to charity. It should be this way year round, but that is a long shot.

4. Buying presents. I like seeing the look on peoples faces when someone gets a great gift. I'm  not the greatest gift buyer, but I always try hard.

5. Holiday treats! Nuff said.

Silver Bells

The Holiday Season is upon us. I hope everyone is enjoying it so far. We are off to a great start and on Black Friday we did some great shopping and I put up the Christmas Lights outside. I got a bunch from Home Depot that were on a Black Friday special. The lights are LEDs and I think they look pretty damn good. We also got a new camera earlier that morning. I really like our new camera a lot and in the week we have had it I have already  taken more that 300 pictures.

The tree is up and we only have half of the tree covered with ornaments. This would be due to a little toddler called Maggie. She just loves to pull them off of the tree. On Monday she took a little cat ornament and put it in her bed and had to show me that the cat was sleeping and told me shhhhh.

Lucy is up to 15 lbs already. She is growing so fast. I went to playgroup today and I saw some little girls that were around 12 months. I realized that I really don't remember Maggie being that small and walking around. Sure she was that small and walking around, but it almost seems she just skipped over it. I told the wife that will be Lucy in about six months. I am not ready for that.

My Holiday Ale collection. All 3 will be opened. It gets better with age and it is really good after a year. Can't wait to try it after two years. 

Here we are waiting in line for the Black Friday sale at Target.

My lights. The bushes have colored lights now. 

Touch too Much.

Toddlers touch everything. Did you know this? I sure as heck didn't. I found out the hard way that Maggie will try and eat food off the floor or out of the garbage. Yuck is all I have to say.

I have seen Maggie bring me all sorts of stuff. A lot of the time I am asking her where in the hell she got that from. She will bring me food that she hid on us days earlier, books that we didn't know we owned, and stuff I forgot we owned.

This is one reason I threw out all of my old Playboys. I don't need her finding them (and yes toddlers will find it) and bringing them out when we have guests. Also, I really don't want her seeing the mags and thinking that I degrade women. It took me about two seconds to decide to toss them. The wife didn't even ask, I just said I need to get rid of them.

For those of you that don't have toddlers, hide your shit now. Don't put it up high, because these little one's are smart and they will find it. Put it under lock and key.

Wish me luck this weekend. I get to drive 600 miles round trip to pick up my wife's old furniture to give to Maggie ( did I mention she is ready for a big girl bed?). It is time for Maggie to move to a big bed and Lucy to move to the crib. My babies are getting so big. Well, I leave tomorrow only to drive back Sunday morning,  I have to get back in time to watch my 49ers win another game!

Time to get some sleep...

Five for Friday: Five Reasons I am Really Busy

Hello again. It has been a few days since I posted and I was getting ready to leave town last weekend, so no Five for Friday. I was too busy getting the girls ready and packing to write anything. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy writing this blog and I hope you all enjoy reading it.

Here are five reasons I am really busy.

1. Maggie. Yes my first born keeps me very busy chasing after her around the house and kissing boo boos.

2. Lucy. My youngest just loves to be held. So much so that she likes to scream unless she is held.

3. School. I am about a semester away from completing my first of several degrees.

4. Work. Sure I work now. Not much because I still have to stay home to watch the girls when the wife is at work.

5. Priorities. I enjoy this blog a lot, but I do have more important duties elsewhere. I try to write when I can. It is late and my wine glass is almost empty (what? It is for my Irish heart! lol). I'm exhausted, but I feel I have a duty to write a Five for Friday. It is always fun coming up with topics for these posts. Heck if anyone has any ideas, by all means please feel free to suggest some.



To my loyal readers. I have a little contest for you. I have had a common theme in almost all of my posts. I propose a $10 Starbucks gift card for whomever gets the correct answer first. *You have to be a follower of mine on google to win also. I have been stuck a 40 for a while and I feel it should be 41. Maybe 42 for one of my favorite 49ers, Ronnie Lott? Well there you have it. The only clue is a common theme, that's it. Good luck. I will put a deadline on this little contest at Thanksgiving (better hope 49ers beat the Ravens so I will be in a good mood, damn I'm funny). Leave a comment with your answer and the first with the correct answer wins!

I decided to do this just to see if anyone can guess what it is. Having a little fun and I will buy you a cup of coffee in return. Don't be shy now, and before I forget, thank you to all of my readers who keep me going. I love writing on this blog even though I may not always have a lot of time these days.

Wordless Wednesday

Five for Friday: 5 Things On My Bucket List.

Hello everyone. I hope everyone had a great week. I know I did and I am glad it is over. One more month of school left then it will be a nice long winter break. Can anyone guess where I will be New Year's Day? I will be in St. Louis watching the 49ers kick the crap out of the Rams and hopefully be heading into the playoffs. I love football.

Here are five things off my bucket list in no particular order:

1. Visit the Southern Hemisphere. I really want to see the toilets flush the other way. That and I really want to see Machu Picchu.

2. Travel to China. I hear they have a pretty big wall or something.

3. Skydive. Yes I want to jump out of a perfectly good plane. High Speed Dirt!

4. Meet one (or more!) of my childhood heroes. Any of the 49ers of the 80's will work (yes even you Matt Millen), but Joe, Jerry, Ronnie, Dwight, Roger, and Steve would be the best. Can't forget Eddie from my 49ers also. Nolan Ryan would most def work too.

5. Drive Route 66 in a Corvette. And I mean all of the way to Cali! Sure I have been on parts of it in Illinois hundreds of times but I want the whole enchilada.

Meant to put this up on Wednesday. Maggie is trying to teach Lucy how to roll over. 

The Kids Are Alright

I have to say being a father of more than one child is pretty damn cool. It is def cool to talk about your kids. When I'm at work I have to say which kid is which now. "Oh my oldest does this" and "My oldest is 22mos now." I do enjoy talking about my kids and I also enjoy showing pictures to anyone who wants to see them. The kids are always doing something new and I feel I should tell everyone!

I enjoy taking pictures of the both of them also, but alas our camera is broken. I think we will wait until Black Friday to get a new camera. We got the camera we have now on Black Friday for a very good deal. I think I will be flying solo this year though. One thing I learned from last year is don't even bother to go to Toys R Us on Thanksgiving. Just. Don't. Do it. Sears will be on my list of stores to stop by for some tools. We also live up the street from a Home Depot. Guess who will be getting some good deals from there?

Sometimes, I feel like I gotta get away. Having kids is stressful. But the good times are more than the bad and I wouldn't give up my kids for anything. I could use a vacation. Somewhere in the Rockies in January or Cancun in February. Screw it, how about both. It would probably be Cancun though as the wife does not ski.  Wait, on second thought I choose Jamaica. Red Stripes and golf would be perfect. I have a feeling I would have to bring the kids on vacation with me. I would miss them too much.

Well it looks like Lucy and I will be hitting the pool soon. She seems to love the water. Maggie doesn't really like the pool and for a while was not a fan of baths so she was taking showers with one of us. She thought is was the coolest thing to walk under the water. There is an indoor pool near the wife's grandparents and I think Lucy and I will have to partake in the pool activities. I love the water and I feel very natural in the water. I spent a lot of time when I was growing up in the water. I have been to many beaches, almost broke my neck on the north shore on O'ahu body boarding, Grand Cayman, South Padre Island, Oregon (Huge pet peeve, It is not OR  a GONE. As a former Oregonian I hate when people miss pronounce it, and Illinois too for that matter.) all over Florida, and all over of O'ahu. Looks like I will have someone to go to the beach with! The wife is not a big fan of the beach, and since Maggie is pretty much a clone of the wife I have a feeling she will not like the water either.    

Five for Friday: Five Foods That Maggie Likes to Eat.

Greetings everyone! Time sure does fly when you have kids. I thought it would move a lot slower due to the lack of sleep. This week is five foods that Maggie likes to eat.

1. Cheese. She loves cheese so much she constantly asks for it and now has learned to open the mini fridge in our kitchen and find the cheese and bring it to mommy or daddy and ask for some (we are planing on gut-rehabbing our kitchen very soon, so we the only full sized fridge we have is in our basement). She always asks for some right at bedtime.

2. Juice box, sure this really isn't a food, but she absolutely loves them and constantly asks for juice. She has gotten a little better and she knows now that she gets one after nap time.

3. Carrots. She loves them so much she will sneak a few every time we open the fridge. This is one food that I don't mind she sneaks all the time. In fact she loves all fruits and vegetables.

4. Cookies. Gee I wonder why, lol.

5. Ice Cream. I love share my ice cream with her and being an only child myself, I don't like sharing. She is also the only one that I share my tomatoes with. They are like crack and I never share. Now that I have a yard there will be plenty of tomatoes grown here. Like I said they are lick crack!

Wordless Wednesday

Look Ma no more soup!

Five for Friday: Five Words That Can Change Your Life.

Here are five words that can change your life.

1. Pregnancy- Most of us have gotten this one. For most it is good news. From what I have been hearing, not so good for Ashton Kutcher.

2. Layoffs- Yep I've been there. This why I spent ten months in Miami. Couldn't wait to get back to Chicago. I met the wife a month after I came back.

3. Marriage- What a change for me. I thought I'd never get married.

4. Divorce- My parents went through this. I never want to.

5. Graduation- It is the start of better things to come. Soon it will be my turn. *Side note- I was just made a member of the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society. Now that kicks ass! I'm a member of something Greek!

Wordless Wednesday

Terrible Twos

It would appear that the terrible twos, as they call it when a toddler is two, has begun. Yes Maggie is not quite two, but she is exhibiting some terrible twos type behavior. The wife was changing Maggie's diaper the other day and Maggie kept trying to kick her and laughing when we were trying to scolding her. She thought it was the greatest game in the world. Maggie hasn't done this with me yet, but she has done other thing to me. Maggie likes to hit people. She has smacked me in the face a few time. She is putting a little more time in the time-out chair these days.

Another one of Maggie's issues is that she needs to learn to listen when she is being told not to do something.  I know it will take time. She will eventually learn. She sure knows the word juice, but not the word no. She sure does know how to say no also.

I am amazed on how much Maggie understands. She understands almost everything the wife and I tell her (except no, haha). We ask her what she wants to drink and she will tell us. She is also great at yes or no questions. One question she always answers with a no is that if she is ready for bed.

Lucy is sleeping on her own a lot more. Although today she seems to want to be fed about every five minutes.  She started at 6am and about every hour she would wake and want more milk. When I am feeding her she will eat, stop for a few minutes, and then want more. It has been and endless cycle today. Even as I write this I am feeding her. At least she is sleeping for hours at a time and mostly all through the night.

Five for Friday: Five Things My Kids Have Done For Me.

Happy Friday Everyone. Fall is here and it is beautiful outside. Here are five thing my kids have done for me.

1. Made me proud to be a father.

2. Taught me to handle bodily waste problems. Poopie diaper in public? No problem!

3. Given me gray hairs.

4. Made me a better person.

5. Kept me off the course for the last year and a half. This might be a good thing. Especially if you are a tree.

Wordless Wednesday

We went to the beach today.

A New Level

Today was much like yesterday, but with more crying. Not by me, mind you, but by Maggie and Lucy. It is tough when both of them want to be held at the same time. Lucy is getting much better at sleeping on her own. This is a huge relief, because we would constantly have to hold her. Not much you can do when you are holding a baby.

I chickened out of story time. I just wasn't ready and I had a feeling Lucy was gonna want to eat during that time and I was correct. Would of been tough to participate in story time while feeding Lucy (story time has a lot of singing and other stuff going on). So we stayed home and played with Play-doh instead.

Lucy is holding her head up really well by herself. I think she is doing it a little faster than Maggie did. Lucy was trying to lift her head hours after she was born. Sometimes it seems like she is ready to get up and start  walking. They say the second is supposed to walk sooner. I think they might be right on this one.

Maggie likes to help out.

I'm a Survivor

Today was the first day with both girls all to myself. It was time for the wife to return to work. No one was ready for this day to come. I certainly was not prepared.

When it was just Maggie and I, it was not too bad most days. We had our little routine down pretty well. Some days were bad for both of us though. I wasn't exactly sure how I would handle both of the girls at the same time, but today honestly was not that bad. Sure I had both of them crying at one time for a bit, but I handled it. It started out a little rough with Lucy waking up at around 6am because she was hungry (none of us are morning people). The wife was pumping, so I heated up a bottle for Lucy and fed her. I thought she would be up for a while, but she slept until 11:30am. Maggie didn't get me up until 9:30. Thank you Maggie for letting me sleep in!! Not too long after breakfast Maggie was at the back window asking me for her shoes. She had decided she wanted to go find mommy. All day Maggie kept calling "Ba!" That is what she calls mommy. She calls me dada, but she will only say 'Ba" for mommy. She laughs when we try to get her to say mommy, and says "Ba".

It seemed like all day I had one of the girls with me at all times. One would start crying so I would pick them up and a little later I would have to switch again. Today was football Sunday, so the TV was on maybe a little too much. Maggie and Lucy helped me root on the 49ers as they kicked those Bucs back to Tampa. Thanks for stopping by. I thought Lucy would scream throughout the entire game, but she ended up sleeping from about five until the wife came home.

Today wasn't a bad start to me watching the girls all day. I hope tomorrow will be more of the same, but I am being told we have to go to story time at the library. Send help! Just me and the girls. Gulp!

Maggie did this all herself to carry her little friend around in. 

Don't stop believing

Things are finally get into a rhythm here at our house. I am still pretty busy but I am able to find time to get stuff done. The past couple weeks the only free time I had was on Sundays for my football game, then it is right back in it. Lucy is slowly making her own schedule. She is sleeping for 3-5 hours at a time. Then she wants to eat every hour.

Lucy is up to almost nine pounds. All she does is eat and eat. She also hates to be left alone. As soon as we let her down she starts crying. It has been pretty difficult for us to get a lot done because we have to hold her so much. The wife can get some stuff done by putting Lucy in the Baby Bjorn and carrying her around all day.

One thing that really keeps us (mostly the wife) busy is the diapers. I think we do a load almost everyday. Lucy goes through so many. I forgot how many diapers a newborn goes through.

Maggie is still a big help. She loves to give Lucy her soothie and she also likes to give her food when we are not looking. She tried to give Lucy a carrot one day. It kind of makes me laugh. Maggie loves to share everything with everybody. When we were at the hospital when Lucy was born, Maggie kept trying to give away her favorite toy to everyone that was walking buy in the lobby. She will also bring Lucy toys all the time and give them to her. She is such a great big sister.

Five for Friday: 5 reasons I love Autumn

It is officially Autumn now and here are five reasons I love it.

1. That first cold front out of the north. You get that first blast of cold air in your face. Makes me feel alive.

2. Birthdays and holidays. Except for Lucy all of our birthdays are in fall or early winter. So much going on this time of year. Plus Halloween!

3. Apple picking and pumpkin patches!

4. The smell of fall.

5. Football!

Five for Friday: Five Reasons I have Not Been Posting.

I'm back and better than ever. Ok I really never left, but no fear I am still here. I have been super busy, but I have not forgotten about this blog. I enjoy writing on it very much and I will soon be back in full swing.

1. Work has got me pretty busy. Being in an Ambulance all day has its advantages, but being online is not one of them.

2. Lucy keeps us very busy. We can't seem to be able to put her down for anything. She will start crying until she is held again. She has to sleep with my wife and I get stuck on the edge of the bed because I roll around to much.

3. Homework. I am online a lot, but I am usually doing homework. Three of my classes are online so I am very busy writing stuff on a nightly basis.

4. Work on the house takes up any free time I have. I still have a lot of projects I haven't finished because I have more important stuff to do. Some of the things on my list are to finish changing the locks, yard work, clean out garage and basemen. The previous owners left a lot of stuff behind, most I do not mind because we can use it but a lot of it is junk.


5. I have to sleep sometime damn it! I think I average about three hours a week of TV time. Not including the 49ers games. Can't wait til Sunday! (I don't work Sundays, I have worked way too many in the 18 years I have been working and now that I have the NFL ticket I wanna watch my games damn it!) For the record Tony Romo sucks! That is all.

Maggie helped me plant tulip bulbs. Yeah I like to garden, so what. 

Wordless Wednesday

On The Road Again

I know it has been a while since a post, but we have been extremely busy. We are at my wife's parent's house now trying to relax. We came down on Friday and the drive was't too bad. It is nice to get away, but there is still a lot of work to be done. We have one more load of junk to move out of the apartment to the house then we can kiss the apartment goodbye. We still need to unpack though. That is a whole other monster. To give you a brief description of my average day: I get up, eat, go to apt and move stuff, go to work, go back to apt, move more stuff, go home and try to relax. During all of this I am taking care of a toddler and a newborn with the wife. Oh, I started school last week also.

Maggie is helping by feeding her sister a bottle. 

I guess I had to prioritize. I think I picked the right ones. This coming week things should be getting back to normal. I haven't forgotten about this blog, just put it aside for a bit. I am off now to relax.

Five for Friday: Five things our new daughter Lucy does.

Quick update. The closing of the house got pushed back until Monday. The bank wanted some more paperwork from both sides an hour before we were to close. Nobody was happy about this.

This weeks Five for Friday is Five things our new daughter Lucy does. I would put more pictures on here but the wife put the camera somewhere.

1. Squeaks. She does this all the time. It is like she needs some oil. It is pretty damn cute though.

2. Keeps us all busy. Diapers, Feedings and such.

3. Lucy has been lifting her head since birth. She does it every time she is hungry. It is like she is looking around and saying where the heck is the food.

4. Drives Maggie a little jealous. Maggie is still learning that she can't be with mommy all the time.

5. Keeps my wife up at night. She is such a slow eater. She will nurse for like an hour and my poor wife dozes off because it takes so long. I nudged her the other night after she dozed off. It is almost funny, but my wife is exhausted.


Laura this is for you:

Maggie is trying to get Lucy to call daddy at work. Maggie loves to talk on the phone now.  The wife took this yesterday and sent it to me. 

Finally, The Story of Lucy. Thus Far.

It is time to tell the story of how Lucy came to us. I'm sure you all know about the birds and the bees part, if you don't watch Cinemax after 10pm. It all started when the family went out to lunch at our favorite sandwich shop and we were enjoying a great meal and the wife says that the contraction she is having hurts really bad. I ask her if it hurts more than normal and she says "yes, really bad." This was at 12:30pm. After lunch we decide to go to Toys R Us that is right down the street from us and pick up a new breast pump since the wife was nesting like crazy. She was still having contractions and they were getting more frequent.

We got home and relaxed a bit before I was to head out and take my final exam for my class I took over the summer. The wife got a little more worried because the contractions kept coming and we decided to call her brother to come stay with her so I can go take my test. Next thing I know the wife is in the shower because her back hurt and she wanted to put hot water on it. I go in and check on her and make sure she is not in full blown labor ( I do know how to deliver babies). I am talking to her and I can see the look in her face that says this baby is on its way.

I tell her damn the test I am taking you to the hospital. I throw some clothes in a bag and grab the wife's prepacked bag along with Maggie. On the way to the hospital I call my brother in-law and tell him to meet us there. We finally get to the OB triage room and waited to see a doctor, well the wife was in there and I had to watch Maggie in the waiting room. This was about 3pm.

 My brother in-law showed up with his fiance and they took Maggie home so I can be with the wife who was 5cm already. We get sent up to the delivery room about 4pm and wait on the Doctor to come and see us. She comes in and talks to us about what is going on and such. The doctor leaves and comes back a few minutes later because the wife is in a lot of pain. She tells us to let her know when she feels like she needs to push and leaves the room. No more than sixty seconds later she feels like pushing, so I call back the doctor and let her know.

The doctor and all the nurses get ready because this baby is ready to come out. The doctor tells the wife to push no more than four times and out came little Lucy. I cut the cord and the nurse took her away to assess her and we awaited to get a good look at our new daughter and thought that was really fast. She was born at 5:05pm.

Mommy and baby are all home and healthy. Lucy is doing great and sleeping on mommy right now. Maggie loves her new sister and she has been a super big sister. We have been running into a little jealousy only when mommy is feeding Lucy and Maggie wants some attention.

Did I mention I bought the Paul McCartney tickets at 10am that very morning? We thought that if we go into the hospital on Monday the day of the show we can just give the tickets to someone. Little did we know we would have our Beatles baby that very afternoon. We named her Lucy Eleanor. Eleanor Rigby is probably my favorite Beatles song. After Lucy was born I asked the wife if she still wanted to go. She said try and stop me. I am not the biggest Beatles fan, but Sir Paul puts on one kick ass show. Of course we went and it was worth it!

Lucy less than an hour old. 

Wordless Wednesday

Maggie and Lucy (in my chair) Pic by wife

Five for Friday: Five Reasons Why Next Week Will Be Great.

It has been a while since I have done a Five for Friday and I think I have had a pretty good excuse. You know that whole baby thing? August won't be any easier for me to write on this blog, but I will do the best that I can. I will have a lot of work ahead of me.

1. We close on the house on Tuesday!

2. We get to start painting and moving stuff in to the new house.

3. We finally free ourselves from street parking and paying for laundry.

4. Lucy will be two weeks old.

5. I will start designing and planning my office and basement display of my Star Wars and sports stuff. I think I will paint the office red and gold. Go 49ers!

So much to talk about and our new baby.

Hello everyone. It has been a busy week for us. I haven't posted in a while because I have had more important things going on. Work is going great, keeping me busy. I am going to keep this post short with more to come soon.

If you haven't heard the news yet, we had the baby! Little Lucy came to us (very quickly) on Thursday. I will be posting more details as soon as things get back to normal. She weighed in at 6lbs 9oz. She was few weeks early, but she wanted to come join us. Mommy and baby are doing well and Maggie is still wondering what the heck is going on. We are all home and resting nicely. I still can't believe I am a father of two!

As the week moves on I will be posting more and a pic of our new bundle of joy.

A year later...

It's pink for Maggie. Duh :)

I knew I started this in July of last year, but I couldn't remember the date (which is really odd for me because I am good at remembering dates, I know all my friend's birthdays). Well I just checked and it was July 10, 2010 that I started this blog. As you may have read, a lot has changed in my life as well as in my family's life. I honestly didn't think I would still be doing this a year later. I do enjoying writing this and sharing some of my adventures with everybody. So I'm a week late. Oh well, it wasn't like I've been busy or anything. Thanks for sharing in my adventures.

Who knew that a year ago I would expect another baby and that we would be buying a house. Who knew I would be focusing on school and taking care of Maggie instead of working some job I didn't like. I for one am glad to be back working. I am especially glad to be back in the EMS field. I am already making plans to further expand my EMS career. I will be taking a few EMS classes while the wife is on maternity leave. I also am starting to apply to Paramedic schools, it can be pretty competitive here in Chicago as there are not that many places teaching the course.

A quick update on the house. I received several emails today and it looks like we are still on course to close on the 1st. Both of us cannot wait to move in. We love this apartment, but I really hate waiting on the bathroom!   

Will I still be going at this next year? Odds are very good that I will.

Five for Friday: Five Random Pictures

Toys in the Attic

Good news today is that the tree was finally removed and the hole was covered. Bad news is that it looks like we will be pushing back the closing date. We were really excited for Aug 1st, but shit happens and we are trying to work with the seller on getting the repairs done. Which is what we really care about. We just hope it is not too late into August as we will; be bringing a new family member home.

Gotta sign off as I have a long shift tomorrow. I get to go play with latex gloves all day.

Tree vs House

My first day of work was a good one. I'm getting pumped to hit the streets again as an EMT. We were filling out paperwork this morning and some thunderstorms blew in. No big deal on the south side where I was at. After lunch I did drive by a tree that had blown over and fell on several cars parked in the street. Kinda reminded me of when the big tree branch fell on my car this time last year in clear weather.

I get out of work and I check my phone I see an email from the Realtor for the house and he tells me that a tree fell on the house this morning during the storms. I ask him how bad it was and he says not that bad and the seller is already on top of it. I had to go and get some stuff done for the new job and I decided to stop by the house to see how bad the damage was. This is what I saw:

So now it looks like we not be able to close on Aug 1 like we had planed. We shall find out more as the week goes on. Good news is we should get a whole new roof out of this.

Family Picnic

The wife's family had their annual family picnic yesterday. The wife was working so I took Maggie so everyone could see her. We had a great time. Maggie got to play with her cousin Sonya who is only two months older. Sonya was trying to say Maggie but she couldn't pronounce the G so it came out "Ma--ie. Too cute.

The wife ended up getting off work early and joined us. We tried to get Maggie in the pool, but she wanted nothing to do with it again. She was watching all the other cousins jumping in the pool and she was thinking about  it, but she would just stop at the edge and shake her head no.

I had a great time as usual. About 8pm I got really tired and almost passed out (yes I was sober, I had to drive Maggie home= no drinking) on the couch. Turns out I have some sort of bug. I went to bed last night freezing and feeling like I had a fever. I would wake up in a cold sweat and a puddle of drool. I did this last night about a dozen times. Thank goodness for my mother in-law this morning. She got up with Maggie and fed her breakfast while I finally took my temp and took some Tylenol and went back to bed. I slept the whole time Maggie was napping. I feel a little better but I can still tell something is off.

I hope I am better by tomorrow morning as I am starting a new job tomorrow morning. Yes, I am finally going back to work. It is not my dream job but it is a doorway to what I want to do.  It is just orientation so I just have to sit there and listen. I will have to think if I still qualify as a stay at home dad. I would think not, but I do stay home when my wife works her shift. We will both be working twelve hour shifts so we will be alternating days until she goes on maternity leave. Wish me luck.

Five for Friday: Five Things I Want to Get For The New House.

TGIF

Big family party tomorrow. My father in-law said to bring plenty of cigars. It's the only way to keep your sanity.

 Five Things I Want to Get For The New House.

1. A dog. This unfortunately will never happen due to the wife being allergic to dogs. I grew up German Shepards and  I would love to get another one because we would have enough room. My last Shepard I got for my tenth birthday. I miss that dog.

2. Home brew kit. Yes folks I wanna brew my own beer. I love beer. I am even enjoying a nice local brew made not to far up the street from me. Great beer from the Metropolitan Brewing Co. I got a great recipe for a Hefe that a buddy gave me and that will be my first batch. Hell. maybe I shall send out free samples.

3.  A garage deck. Here in Chicago a deck on top of the garage is very popular. In fact the neighbor right next to us has one and it kicks ass. The garage at the new place is quite old, so when we rebuild it, it will have a nice deck on top of it.

4. Patio furniture. I can't wait to pick this out. We love to spend time in the back yard. I am actually in our back yard now while typing this. It is a beautiful night here in Chicago.

5. Garbage disposal. Laugh if you must. Sure go ahead think that I am off my rocker (whatever the hell that means). It is the one thing that I want in our new kitchen and I will fight tooth and nail for (even though I won't have to). I grew up with one and I can't wait to get another one. As the main chef of the house it only makes my job easier.

Wordless Wednesday

Toddlers are fun.

Having a toddler around the house can be a lot of fun. At least with Maggie it is always fun. She loves to play with all of her toys and constantly bring me stuff. Then the next second she dug some clothes out of the hamper or her drawer and is walking around with it on her head. Yesterday she had three different purses on both of her arms. She is such a girly girl. Maggie also grabbed the wife's Squirt bottle (the soda pop, wife craves it while she is pregnant) and was carrying it all over the house. Holding it like a doll too.

Every time the cats start fighting Maggie will yell at them in her special growl that she does. Then will the cats are sleeping she will try to hug them. She will also walk around the house doing her speaking in tongues thing that she does. She called me a douche the other day also. It was funny, but at the same time I know where she heard that  from and daddy needs to watch what he says around Maggie.

Maggie is also starting to come and grab our hand and pull us if she wants something. She got me yesterday because she wanted me to get her a certain toy out of a bag. I kept pulling the wrong one out, she was shaking her head no to let me know I got the wrong one.

I had to go out the other night to get a plastic lock for the kitchen cabinets because some little toddler figured out how to remove the hair tie that mommy put on there to keep that toddler from getting in there.

Toddlers are fun.

Having a toddler around the house can be a lot of fun. At least with Maggie it is always fun. She loves to play with all of her toys and constantly bring me stuff. Then the next second she dug some clothes out of the hamper or her drawer and is walking around with it on her head. Yesterday she had three different purses on both of her arms. She is such a girly girl. Maggie also grabbed the wife's Squirt bottle (the soda pop, wife craves it while she is pregnant) and was carrying it all over the house. Holding it like a doll too.

Every time the cats start fighting Maggie will yell at them in her special growl that she does. Then will the cats are sleeping she will try to hug them. She will also walk around the house doing her speaking in tongues thing that she does. She called me a douche the other day also. It was funny, but at the same time I know where she heard that  from and daddy needs to watch what he says around Maggie.

Maggie is also starting to come and grab our hand and pull us if she wants something. She got me yesterday because she wanted me to get her a certain toy out of a bag. I kept pulling the wrong one out, she was shaking her head no to let me know I got the wrong one.

I had to go out the other night to get a plastic lock for the kitchen cabinets because some little toddler figured out how to remove the hair tie that mommy put on there to keep that toddler from getting in there.

Five for Friday: Five Things I Love About the Fourth of July.

Everyone in Chicago survive that storm last night? I had just walked into Target when it started to hail. Luckily my car was parked under cover.

Here are five things I love about the Fourth of July

1. Great day to BBQ. I do it every year on the Fourth. I usually do a brisket and burgers. This year brisket, ribs, and a grilled whole pineapple for dessert. (I started doing this circa 1998)

2. Friends and family. Every year whomever wants to come over is welcome. I love to have every one over and cook great food. Now that I have a family, it's all about family.

3. Spending the day outdoors. I am usually outside all day long. By the end of the night I am covered in all sorts of stuff.

4. Celebrating our great nations birthday. USA!

5. Fireworks! Since I grew up in a county that banned fireworks, I am making up for lost fireworks. I once bought $40 worth of produce just to blow up. It was worth every penny. The best was the cantaloupe that just disintegrated. Awesome. Fireworks are illegal in Illinois and I obey this law (hehe), but on the fourth the city kinda looks the other way due to that everyone is setting stuff off. It sounds like a war one here. It's awesome.

Rock and Roll

Maggie's new obsession is rocks. She can't seem to stay way from them. Small rocks, pebbles and today large rocks the size of softballs (regular ones, not the Chicago size softball). We walked to our favorite frozen custard place today because daddy wanted a milkshake. Mammy was not too happy we went with out her. After we shared the milkshake (I always share with Maggie), I let Maggie walk a bit out of the stroller and she had to stop a and look at every damn rock we ran into. It was kinda funny. I had to put her back into the stroller after she tried to pick up two softball size rocks. She didn't like that very much but she forgot all about it after she found her cell phone and made a few phone calls and chatted for a bit.

We stopped at the Beat Kitchen to talk to a good friend of mine who had a show there tonight. I called him to come outside and he's like come on in. I'm like, I got my kid fool! I would have gone and see his band play tonight but I was stuck at home while the wife was at work.

We went to the park afterward and there was a huge puddle that Maggie couldn't get enough of. She loves to walk through it and then check to make sure it is still water and then run over to me and touch my hand and yell and right back in the water.

Life with a toddler is very different than a baby. You seem so isolated with a baby because they mostly just lay there. Sure you can take them to the park, but you can't do to much with them. I have a lot of fun with Maggie now that she is a toddler. Sure I had fun with her when she was a baby, but now it is just a different type of fun.

Five for Friday: 5 Reasons Why I Love Grilling.

Hello everyone. It's Friday again and this week here is five reasons I love to grill.

This is what I made for dinner tonight. 

1. I love to cook. Especially over an open fire. Nothing beats a big hunk of meat on over the fire.

2. What better way to spend time to with the family.

3. You can make some amazing things on the grill.

4. Great way to get some friends over to share your grill treats.

5. I love to spend time outside preparing a great meal. I hope to do a lot more grilling in the new house.

Wordless Wednesday

What's Happening Now.

A lot has been happening this week. Hence the lack in posts. We are now finally starting to getting back to normal. I think.

On Monday we wanted to go to Ikea to look at their kitchen cabinets because we have to remodel the kitchen in the new house. We wanted to get some ideas for what to do with it. We ended up finding some great ideas for the new kitchen.

We then had to go to the wife's OB doctor appointment because we were running a little behind. It took forever in the office just to get into to see the doctor. We finally get to see the doctor and she wanted the wife to go to the hospital to get some further tests done. Oh boy. The wife went ahead to the hospital while I took Maggie home so she took a nap. We ended up calling my sister-in-law and she came over to watch Maggie so I could go up to the hospital. About an hour after I came up to hospital the decided to admit the wife over night for further observations and tests.

 We had both had contacted our parents to let them know what was going on. The wife's parents ended up coming up to watch Maggie over night so I could stay at the hospital overnight. The wife said she would be fine by herself, but I wasn't about to leave her up at the hospital by herself. I am very glad the in-law's came up to watch Maggie. They were a lifesaver.

Staying overnight at a hospital is never any fun. The only good thing that came out of it was that I got my homework done. We only slept only about 3 hours each. We were both up at at dawn and never got back to sleep. Some more tests were done Tuesday morning and they decided to let my wife go home with no restrictions. Then it took four more hours to let us go home.


I was supposed to go to Indiana to get some holiday supplies. My wife let me go when I got home. A friend of mine came by and we took off to get there before the place closed. Ha! We hit Chicago traffic and had to put off the trip. We ended up going Wednesday and it was a good trip with great supplies for the holiday.

I made the mistake of trying to get my wife a new phone because her's is not working properly. Her parents couldn't even get a hold of her. So we went to the store and picked one out and now she doesn't even want it. She complained about not having enough room to store pictures on her old phone and other things.The new phone has more than enough memory. She is very stubborn about certain things and this is one of them. This is driving me nuts.
While all of this is going on we were dealing with stuff for the new house. Nothing bad, but it is just one more thing to worry about.

I hope the upcoming week is going to be much better.

Five for Friday: Five Things I Want to do this Weekend.

1. Garage sales. A friend of mine's neighborhood is having a huge garage sale with over 50 families selling stuff. Old Star Wars stuff here I come. There is also a guy selling old cigar stuff I really want to take a look at.

2. Getting outdoors. Hopefully the water park we like to take Maggie to is open. We went there last week and it was closed.

3. Hanging with the family.

4. Sleeping in. Won't happen but I can hope for it. I am getting up early to hit the garage sales early.

5. Spending father's day with Maggie. Don't care if I get any presents or go out to eat, I just want to be with my kids (next year I will have two!). I've been told I am getting a present and I think we are going out to eat. Double fun!

Phone Call for Maggie

Maggie loves to play on any phone she can find. Here she is trying to give our cat the phone to talk on. This is   after she walked to mommy and daddy to get to talk on it. I think she is up to six play phones. All scattered around the house.

In other news, Things are moving along with the house. I think the last hurdle we need to clear is the appraisal which is on Tuesday. We are due to close August 1st. Just in time for the new baby. I got a lot of work ahead of me.

Five for Friday: Five of the coolest things I have seen while on the road.

I love to travel. I have been to over half of the states and several countries. I grew up going several places every year. I hope that my children love to travel as much as I do and can't wait to take them places like Colorado to go skiing. I would really like to take them to some of the places I got to go when I was growing up, like Disney World and the World's Fair in Knoxville. I usually flew everywhere when I was younger, now I mostly drive. I was blessed with flight benefits while growing up.

Now I take a lot of road trips. I love taking road trips, they can be very exciting. I have several thousand mile under my belt. I have seen a lot of interesting things on my road trips. Here is five of the coolest things while on the road.

1. Exploded cow. A good friend of mine and myself where driving to Lubbock Texas from Ft. Worth to drop of my friend's extra credit paper at Texas Tech so he can pass a class. We left at about 3am and after we stopped to refuel with some great road treats such as beef jerky and when where getting back on the Interstate there was what looked like an exploded cow all over the entrance ramp in the middle of Texas. Ever see Three Kings? Yeah it was like that. Messy.

2. Blizzard. I on the way to Colorado for a ski trip and we got caught in a blizzard. We ended up sleeping in the car because they closed the Interstate.

3. Rivers. When I left Texas for Chicago, I crossed the Red River and the Mississippi River. Both are cool, the might Mississippi takes the cake. That is a sight to see.

4. Corvette Museum. On my way back from a short nine month stint in Miami, I stopped at the Corvette Museum in Bowling Green KY. We had planned to stop, but we didn't plan on staying so long. We were there for hours. Much longer than we planned. It is that cool. Where else can you see a 1963 Stingray with a split window?

5. The back of a U-Haul Truck. I once was part of a trip from DFW to Boston, with no stops. There was four of us and myself and the now godfather of Maggie spent most of the trip sleeping in the back of the truck. What a trip. I got off work at 11:30pm and hopped in the back of the truck.

My Girl

Here is my girl on the drive back from down state Illinois. It looks as if she is yelling at me, but she is just reading her book. We had a great trip. Lots of Grandma and Grandpa time. I got lots of cigar time in.

Maggie is picking up on so much so fast. I am amazed by how much she changes from week to week. So far this week she is patting herself on the legs for an animal to come to her. It actually worked yesterday on our way back from the park when a neighborhood cat came up to say hello. She has also learned the signs for please and help. She is learning words faster and faster everyday. She is walking better and starting to run a little. She is even starting to throw temper tantrums. She had a good one early today when we were getting her dressed to go to the park and didn't want to wear anything we put out for her. Throwing the clothes on the ground as she saw them, and screaming her head off.

This temper tantrum and other things has brought a new challenge for us. This is how to discipline her. We would like to put her in time out, but she is at the age where she is not going to sit still for any amount of time. So right now we are playing it by ear. If she is doing something wrong we tell her no and try to move her away. My wife used to be a nanny and that has help a great deal, especially with discipline.

The Remote Incident

Today Maggie grabbed the remote while I was fooling with the printer. Usually not a big deal, but I didn't see what she did with it when she was done playing with it. This was about noon. After hours of tearing the house apart and checking places over and over again and me crying on the floor, I finally found it sitting just out of view behind my beautiful forty two inches of high definition viewing pleasure. Of course it was behind the TV. That's where I knew she would put it. This was at 9:30. Just shoot me. Please.

This is Maggie and her boyfriend Gabe. In case your wondering  my wife and her friend has arranged their marriage.  I guess he better behave himself if he wants my blessing. 

Five for Friday: Five things I saw on the road today.

We drove down to my in-laws place today. Good ole I-55.

1. The Wiener Mobile. Made me want hot dogs.

2. Construction. Wait, what? Not on I-55!

3. Maggie sleeping in the back seat. Too cute.

Maggie taking a snooze in the back of the car. Ah the good life. Before I know it she will be driving me around. 

4. My wife reading her book the whole way and pretty much ignoring me. Good times.

5. Rest stops. After what happened last trip I don't think I will ever set foot in one again.


We are here for the weekend in nice hot downstate Illinois. I was bribed today to mow the lawn. It had been over a decade since I have done that, but it all came back to me.  

Wordless Wednesday

Five for Friday: Five Things I am Excited About Buying a House.

Yes we are buying a house. This is the news I would discuss later. Well it's later. We have been looking for some time now. Nothing was for sure until a few weeks ago when a house we looked at in February price kept dropping. We decided to put in an offer because the timing was right because of our lease ending in September. We are due to close in August. We got lucky we put in an offer when we did. Another couple put in an offer that night, but we were already under contract. The owner lives in MI and he just happened to be in town that day. We had the inspection today and everything looks good.

So here are 5 reasons I am excited about buying a house:

1. Basement! I will now have my own space in the basement to do with what I please. All my toys and sports stuff can go up finally! The house even has a little work shop in the basement with a bunch of old tools. I can finally get the bigger boy toys like a table grinder and a kick ass sander. Maybe I will even start painting again.

2. Garage! I can park in my own space. My car has had hundreds of dollars of damage just from me parking on the street because some jack ass scraped my car. I can also do more work on my car again that I will have a work space for it. Got to convince the wife to get an air compressor, hehe.

3. The kids will have a (big by Chicago standards) back yard. A place we can go any time and do what we please. The yard also has a place to put a table, chairs and my grill. A great place to hang dry the diapers.

4. The space we will have! The house is the same square footage as the apartment we are in now, but that doesn't count the basement or attic. We are going to need more furniture.

5. No more paying to do our own laundry! As you know we cloth diaper and it can be a pain to run out and get quarters to do your own laundry. And with another baby on the way we will be doing twice the diapers.

Ten for Tuesday: Ten Parenting Surprises.

Things are going well for everyone here in Chicago. Spring is in full swing (except today, chilly). I have two job interviews this week. I hope they go well. We also have an important meeting in the morning. More to come on that later.

Maggie is becoming more of a toddler everyday. She walks around the house with her little purse and gets into everything! She is also getting a lot better about understanding what we are saying. She's a fun little person now! I'm writing this now while Maggie is watching DWTS and walking around and dancing.

Since I didn't post a Five for Friday last Friday due me just forgetting (I'm always looking for my keys or watch), I am posting a Ten for Tuesday to make up for it. Ten Parenting Surprises:

1. Poop goes everywhere. I mean everywhere. Its ended up on the wall. Don't ask.

2. You will get peed upon. I got peed on when Maggie was hours old. You'd thing I'd learn, but no.

3. Kids will make you late. I hate being late.

4. Babies need soooo much stuff when you travel. Maggie takes more stuff than I do and I always over pack.

5. You really are on your children's schedule.

6. You may rarely get to do what you would like to do. I haven't been to the movies in almost two years. Although I am scheduled to see Back to the Future on Friday.Bars, ha! Never. I don't even bother trying to play the Wii anymore. No Point.

7. Sometimes kids can do some pretty nasty things.

8. Toddlers are a lot smarter than you think they are.

9. Kids can get you to do things that you didn't do before they were born. A blog perhaps, or even join Twitter.

10. Kids can surprise you every day.

7.

Now That I Can Dance

Yes this is Hall of Fame Wide Receiver and former 49er  Jerry Rice.

Maggie loves to watch Dancing With The Stars. My wife and her like to sit on the couch and watch it on Mondays and Tuesdays. Maggie loves it so much we keep it on the DVR in case she is in a bad mood and play it for her. Always cheers her up. Every time we ask her if she wants to watch DWTS (we just call it "Dance") she waves both fists in the air like she is dancing. She claps every time the dance is over.

Maggie was just watching it before bath and swatted my wife's hand away because she wasn't ready to take a bath. So we let her watch one more dance and she was focused on the TV and moving back and forth like she was dancing. When we turned it off, Maggie started whining and shaking her fists in the air like to say put it back on!

I really don't watch this show. Not really a fan. I usually find homework to do while they are watching it. I really don't even like to dance. Probably because I am not any good at dancing. I'm glad Maggie likes it though. It makes her happy.

Who'll Stop the Rain?

For the last two days it has been in the 40's and rainy. Just when we thought spring finally arrived, BAM, Mother Nature reminds you that she's makes the calls. I had the AC on earlier in the week and now we have the heat on. Ah, life in the Midwest, heat one day, cold and rainy the next.

We didn't even leave the house today. Mainly because Maggie has been sick, but also because it is nasty out. I still have a brisket in the freezer that needs smoking, along with some hot links and my not so famous BBQ beans (my own recipe). I did some burgers and a whole pineapple on the grill earlier in the week and damn it was delicious.

School is out for the summer. I survived! I'm only taking one class over the summer. It's online, and easy, so it is just a class to keep me busy and sharp. I did pretty well this semester and I want to keep up the good work.

We have a busy week ahead of us. We have a few meetings to go to this week (I'll tell you about it at a later date, don't want to jinx it). Hopefully by the end of the week we will have some good news. Saturday is especially busy, our church is having its annually baby/kid garage sale. The wife has a meeting at work. If I can I go there is a demonstration I would like to go to on that day and we have a kick ass BBQ to celebrate a good friend of our's birthday. Wish us luck this week.

Maggie is rooting for the Bulls. (She has a red bow in her hair too)
D Rose Jersey courtesy of Uncle Phil. 

Five for Friday: Five Fun Things I Would Do If I Won the Lottery

Hello again. I am done with school and ready to get typing.

1. Buy my way onto some of my favorite TV shows. Great shows like The Simpsons, Sesame Street, Conan, No Reservations and Letterman. By buy I mean just donate a lot of money to charity in their names so I can get on. In Sesame Streets case, PBS would get a big fat check from me. I feel like I'm stealing it if I don't donate. Cookie and I can do I short scene together, maybe have a cookie eating contest. Cookies + counting = Fun for all!!

2. Buy a big sale boat and just sail. Anywhere and everywhere. (this boat would include several anti-pirate weapons, bring it!)

3. College funds for all my children. All 1.5 so far.

4. I would start my Corvette collection. I would start with the '66. Then a 2012 Z06. None would have an automatic transmission!

5. Start several business like my Cigar store. Maybe do a little day trading. Open a bar perhaps.

Got the Time

After spending a long day at school today, I met Maggie and the wife at the park after work. The weird part is I parked in front of our old building (the wife just called me in the other room to see Maggie in her high heels, oh boy). We hated that apartment. We moved 3 blocks down the same street. The place we are in now is much bigger and better than that old crappy apartment. We walk past it quite a bit. Anyway, we had a great time at the park. Maggie was walking around everywhere. We were just following her. We still can't get her in a swing, but we at least got her to sit in our laps in the swing. That's an improvement. I do not understand why she doesn't like the swings.

When I was at school today, I got a text from the wife that said Maggie tried to steal juice boxes from two different kids while at the zoo today. We gave her one over the weekend and she picked up drinking out of a straw really fast. Now she wants juice boxes all the time. Too bad she can't have them all the time.

This is the last week of school. Only have two more days of classes, all tests though. I think I will only take one class over the summer. I can't wait to be done with all of this. I'm ready for summer and all the great times Maggie and I will be having out doors, at least until the new baby comes in August.

The wife told me when she and Maggie was at Trader Joe's today, a random lady said to her "I hope your just wearing that big shirt and not pregnant." The wife says "I am pregnant". The random lady then says "well it will take two or three months to get used to it". WTF?  Probably a good thing I wasn't with them, because I am sure some F bombs would of come out of my mouth. Followed by something along the lines of minding her own business.

In other news Maggie is acting more and more like her mother. My father-in-law warned me of this. Oh well, I will just go with the flow.

Five For Friday: Five Things I Miss About Being A Kid.

After week off, we're back in the saddle.

1. Opening baseball cards. I used to save my lunch money to buy packs. There were 25 cents back then. Now there over two bucks! I know this because I buy a pack every now and again. I miss getting all excited when I found that one card I wanted. I actually am still in the hunt for the Nolan Ryan autograph from the 1991 Upper Deck cards. Twenty years and counting. In the past few years I bought a few boxes trying to find it. I will not rest until I find one! He is one of my favorite players and I saw him play many times.

2. Sleeping in. I am (more like was) a big sleeper. I used to work nights so I could sleep in every day. My record for sleeping is 16 hours and I was ten! (I've broken this but I was sick so I'm not counting it)

3. Riding my bike everywhere. I used to love riding it. I wouldn't mind riding it now, but I hate these bikers in the city, they never obey the law and I have almost hit a few of them.

4. Playing sports. I used to play baseball, soccer, and tennis. My body is getting old and beat up, so I don't play as much as I used to. I do wish I was still playing tennis. I really miss playing I would love to play it again, so if your in Chicago and you wanna play, hit me up.

5. Just being a kid. Oh wait am just a big kid at heart.

Let the Good Times Roll.

Everything has been going quite well for us. I am extremely busy with finals coming up next week. I am pretty much done with homework except for one last paper to write. I'm sure there will be more posts next week after I am done.

 Maggie and I are hanging out all day tomorrow while the wife is at work. It is finally getting warmer out and I think we will be outside a lot tomorrow. Maggie is also walking a lot more on her own. She will get up and just start walking around the house, after she grabs her purse of course. She is getting to a point where she just wants to walk by herself when we are out of the house.

Maggie and her purse.

Maggie also likes to surprise us (a lot!) by showing us things we had no idea she knew how to do. She picked up the wife's nail file the other day and tried to do her nails. She even folded her fingers back. We have no idea where she learned it because it was a file the wife hasn't used in months. I tried to get a picture of it but I was to late. 

I took Maggie to the park last weekend.