Wordless Wednesday

Five for Friday: Five Great Things From The Past Two Weeks.

Hello again. I am going to keep this one short as I am preparing Maggie's birthday party tomorrow.

1. Lucy is now walking. The pic from last week is her walking into the play room. I had to chase after her because she moves so fast. She just decided one day to start walking.

2. Found out I passed my state test. I am now a licensed paramedic. Feels pretty damn good.

3. Got some good news from some family.

4. Found out that I will be an uncle to another nephew due sometime in spring (I wished I remembered when but it has been a long day and I noticed my glass was empty.

5. Maggie is now three years old!

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Five for Friday: Five cute things that my daughters do.

1. Maggie used to say this and it needs to be recorded. When she wanted to be picked up she would say "up you." Too damn cute. I miss it.

2. Lucy smiles every time she sees me. I love her smile.

3. Maggie Told me just this morning that her heart belongs to daddy. Well she's right. Made my day.

4. Lucy will stick her finger up to her mouth like she is telling you to shush.

5. Hearing Maggie (and Lucy soon) telling me she loves me every day.

It's been a while

Yes it has been a long time. School is making me very busy. I am actually at the hospital now. I have some free time so I shall blog.

I have discovered that along with this very hectic school that it is very hard to be a stay at home parent. I'm still home with the girls 3-4 days a week when the wife is working. I know not doing the best job, but I am doing my best. With school I spend a lot of time out of house and I don't really like leaving the house when I'm home.

I feel bad because we have a great park down the street and I need to take girls there more. Especially now that Lucy is being more active. She wants to walk by herself so bad!

Yesterday I went down stairs to switch laundry and when I came up Lucy had scooted (she still doesn't crawl) all the way to an end table and lifted herself up. She was smiling at me after I freaked out when I didn't see her in middle of the room where I left her.

I am doing better with them every day.
I have drastically cut Maggie's tv time down because she was watching it too much. She loves watching tv but I limit it to when I trying to get chores done, or before I have my coffee. I can see why some parents just plop their kids in front of it all day, but kids need to be playing.

I never really knew potty training would be so hard. Maggie will change day to day whether she wants to use the potty or not. I try to put her in undies, but she is 2 and wants what she wants. She is getting better on telling me when she has a dirty diaper though .

School is winding down so you should see some more posts coming soon.

Wordless Wednesday

Lucy in her birthday present that daddy put together.

Five for Friday: Five Things You May Not Know About Me.

Yup, I'm back for more. Two weeks in a row.

Maggie has been going around all week singing We Built This City. Too Funny.



1. I really miss playing golf, skiing (snow), scuba diving and going to the movies.

2. I met my wife in a bar.

3. I was once printed in the Chicago Sun-Times.

4. I love to cook. I prefer making stuff from scratch.

5. I'm stuck at home tonight while the wife is out with all of her cousins.

Five for Friday: Five Things That Have Been Happening.

Hello all. Yes it has been quite a long time since I have posted something. Since the girls are napping I have a little bit of a chance to do a little writing. I am now half way through Paramedic school and have some free time.

Here are some things that have been going on:

1. We are almost done with the kitchen. I have been so busy I haven't had  time to finish painting it. At least the kitchen is functional. All of the appliances are in there and they are awesome.

2. Lucy's first birthday is at the end of the month and it is very hard to believe that she is almost a year old.

3. For about two Weeks I was either out of the house or doing paper work for school. That is how busy I have been.

4. Maggie is doing great. Yesterday she asked the wife if I was her first marriage.

5. We went for ice cream (frozen custard really) and the girls each got their own cone. Lucy finished her's in about a minute. Then she kept getting mad that we weren't giving her more. She got daddy's love for ice cream.

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

So Big!

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Someone is supposed to be sleeping.

Five for Friday: Five things that are in/out in the girls world.

1. Out- "Ba Ba." This is what Maggie used to call mommy all the time. I am kind of sad to see this one go. Now it's. "mama."

2. In- Thomas the Train. Maggie asks to watch choo choo all the time. Just glad she doesn't want to watch The Chew. I just really hate that name. Who green lights this shit?

3. In- Lucy grabbing ahold of everything.

4. Out- naps on most days for Maggie. Lucy loves her naps though.

In- Maggie singing all the time. Love it and yes I sing along with her.

Turn the Page

Yes folks we are still here. Me, barely. LOL. I am staying super busy with school and we are remolding our kitchen. I was just informed that we will be installing the cabinets ourselves. It was the fact that I get to buy a bunch of new power tools that got me. I do love tools and working with my hands. I already tore down one wall and all the shelves in the pantry. Took out some stress on that wall with the sledge hammer. It opened up the kitchen so much. Here are the before and after pics.

I can't wait until the kitchen is done. I have a lot of work ahead of me.

I had a rare day off and went to C2E2 and ran into @VicvegaChi there. First time I ever met someone from Twitter in real life. I was asking his wife where they found a Chewbaca T-shirt for their little girl and he ended up asking me about gaming stuff, gave me his card and I was like "I know you!" Check out his blog. It's all about great nerd stuff! We will have to get that beer there next year (my buddy and I our are prob gonna do all weekend  package, hehe.)  Hope to see you there! 


Maggie is going to play group two days a week at our local park. She calls it "park school." I have taken her twice now and I like a little better than the 300 kids at our church playgroup. That can get a little crazy.

Maggie is now obsessed with our Kindle Fire. She knows how to turn it on and turn on Netflix to watch Thomas the Train, which is her new favorite show.

Lucy is getting so big and interacting with us more and more. She loves to pull hair and laugh at whatever Maggie does. We are trying to get Lucy to crawl but we think she just wants to be held all the time. We are trying to force her to crawl and such, but she is a lot like her daddy and is not very patient. She is slowly getting there. We are still awaiting that first tooth too. Her younger cousin already beat her with his first tooth.

I will try to have a Five for Friday this week. I should have a chance this week. I have actually started a few posts and got distracted by the kids, wife, or homework.

In other news I rocked my test today. I rule!

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

10000 Page Views.

Now that is awesome. Thanks everyone!

Maggie Just Handed Me A Booger...

Yes, you read that right. Then she pointed to her nose and told me that is where it came from. Yep, that's right, I am Super Dad. Nothing phases me! OK that was a little on the gross side.

I have had one heck of a week. I paid off my car. We spent all day Wednesday shopping and finally got a double stroller for the girls. Finally I can take the girls on a walk and not have to worry about chasing Maggie around everywhere. Like I did at IKEA all day. That little toddler can move and never seems to run out of energy.

We finally got some new patio furniture. I finished putting it together today. Looks really good in our back yard. I think we shall have to have a few beers to break the new stuff in.

The diaper washing never seems to end. I think we average a load about every 1.5 days. As I am typing this there is a load in the wash right now. With all of this warm weather we have been having here in Chicago it is a great excuse to take the kids outside and hang the diapers. The sun bleaches the natural fibers in the diapers. It is almost like magic. I have seen some pretty bad looking diapers come out almost new looking.

Lucy is finally feeling better after running a temperature all week. Poor thing has had trouble getting to sleep. She gave me a big smile when she saw me this morning. Makes my day when she smiles. Her whole face lights up. Maggie's face doesn't light up as much. Not to say I don't like Maggie's smile. I do love it when she smiles while gritting her teeth.

Five for Friday: Five Reasons Why We Had A Great Week

What can I say. We had a great week. A lot of different things going on here and I am only going to get busier.

1. Got our Tax Return. It helps to have children and go to school to get a good refund.

2. Went to IKEA and picked out our new kitchen. I cannot wait for the new kitchen. Our kitchen now is from the 1950's. NO counter space whatsoever.

3. The wife went out yesterday and bought a Kindle Fire. I dig it. I still want an Ipad, but I didn't want to shell out that much cash. Especially when we are getting a new kitchen.

4. Paid off my car!! Now send me my title! Now to pick out a new car for the wife.

5. Took my first test this week. I did well, but not as well as I would have liked. Although the test format was new to me and to the school. Still need to work out the bugs.

Wordless Wednesday

Five for Friday: Five TIhings I Played With Maggie Today.

1. Cash register. We made several transactions on her Fisher Price cash register. I wanted a real one when I was around six. Santa brought me the Fisher Price one and I was a little mad. I think I threw a fit. I remember being sad that Santa didn't bring me a real one.

2. Bed. One of Maggie's favorite games is to roll around on mommy and daddy's bed. It's big and its soft. She will drag me back to our room and pat the bed and say "dada, bed." She unmakes the bed on a daily basis.

3. Snap dress-up dolly things. There are some kind of dolls that have plastic snap-on clothes. I was told to sit down, so I did and played with her for a bit. Until Lucy started crying.

4. I chased her around the house a few times today.

5. I put the girls high chairs together facing each other so they could play footsies and crack each other up.

Heaven and Hell

Today was the end of a very long weekend for me and the girls. The wife worked four days in a row. Now most people are 9-5ers. My wife and I are not and probably never will be. When the wife goes to work it is for a twelve hour shift. So I have the girls from 6:30am until the wife gets home which is usually around 8pm. It can be a VERY long days sometimes. I'm not Suzy home-maker in the least bit. I was never cut out to do this but I do my best. I do love spending time with my girls but I can only take only so much of the crying and poopy diapers. I think I handled it very well. Today I was a little on edge.  When the wife came home she could tell I had had enough.

We decided to get pizza for dinner tonight. The wife told me I should go pick up some pizza so I could get out of the house for a bit. I had pretty much been at home all weekend except for quick trips to the store. The hour I was gone picking up pizza and wine for the wife really helped. When I got back it was time for the girls to go to bed. The wife took care of Lucy and I got Maggie ready for bed. I read her a few stories and she was off to dream land. I planned on only reading two stories but Maggie got four out of me (what can I say, it is hard to say no to my little princess.) Lucy went to sleep right away and the wife and I got to enjoy our pizza.

I would like to thank the wife for working these hard shifts so I may finish Paramedic School. Only nine more months until I am finished.

Five for Friday: Five Things That My Mother Sent Me This Week

Well I just got spaghettios spilled on me after Maggie decided to share her dinner with me.

My mom sent me some of my old stuff that was in her attic this week. Here are five things that were in that box. Here we go:

1. My old Brio wooden train set. Probably one of my favorite toys growing up. I spent hours building different tracks. It brought back a lot of memories. I once let a girl play with it and I got mad because she didn't all wrong. Tracks going no where. Chaos all over the track. I still stand by my statement.

2. Photos of Nolan Ryan pitching that I took at a game. I wanted to go to every game he pitched. I broke many boards off our fence growing up. I am still trying to get his autograph.. It is hard to tell what team they where playing, but it appears to be the Indians. Looks like I took some pictures of Ruben Sierra too. Why, I don't know. I was never a fan of his and we used to yell at him when we sat in right field. Side note-I once saw Pudge Rodriguez at the local Wal-Mart at 2am (not a whole lot to do in DFW at that time). At first I thought it was my neighbor that lived behind us, Carlos. Man that would have been embarrassing. 

3. Some of my old Star Wars books. Glad I got them too, because I almost bought them on ebay.

4. Battery Charger. Sure this thing really has no use today and it is probably twenty years old. I charged batteries for my remote controlled car and Laser Tag on this thing.

5. A picture of my first truck. I hated that piece. Has some good times in it though. Took it off roading many time. Always scaring the crap out of my friends while I was laughing. I once made it look like a Hot Wheels car when you dropped it on the ground (thanks for that one Pete). I hit my head on the ceiling on that one. I had some more successful jumps though. Did I mention it only had an AM radio in it when I bought it. No worries, I had that thing sounded great with a new stereo and speakers.

Run to the Hills

Run to the Hills! Maggie is learning to talk more and more. She is starting to use three and four word sentences.  She even grabbed my cell phone and called my mom today. She had a full conversation with her. This was after she talked to me mom for almost an hour on Skype. The wife had both girls out in the back yard playing in the girls play house and Maggie said that the table in the play house was the "sister table."

I was on shift today. By this it was my day to be home with the girls for all thirteen hours the wife is at work. Lucy scream pretty much all day. Tried everything and nothing would work, but me holding her. I didn't get anything done today. Even when I was feeding her dinner she would cry because I wasn't  feeding her fast enough. Another day at the office.

Five for Friday: Five Random Numbers

Here we go people:

1. 37. You know what movie I'm talking about.

2. 867-5309. What a great song. 

3. 800-588-2300. If you live outside of Chicagoland watch the beginning of Wayne's World.

4. 1060. As in 1060 W Addison. Kind of a big landmark there. Google it. 

5. 911. Don't be afraid to use it. 

Wordless Wednesday

Long Weekend

Yes I know, I did not write a post for Friday again. I didn't get home until late and the wife was hogging the laptop, again.

I started paramedic school on the 4th and I have been very busy. I do not get much free time and will get even less when I start doing my clinicals next month. I have to do a lot of studying and reading. You have to know a lot in order to be a paramedic.

I have been home with the girls all weekend while the wife is at work. The wife is working three days in a row so I stay home all three days with the girls. It can be rough. Especially since I really can't do any studying when I am with the kids, I pretty much hit the book when the wife gets home at night.

Maggie is such a little talker. All day long. She seems to pick up a new word every day. Her new saying is "El   Sho" for the Elephant Show. Have you ever heard of this Canadian import? I didn't until last week. Maggie loves this show for some reason. All day she keeps asking to watch it. I have to say I am not a fan.

When I am not chasing Maggie around the house, I am feeding or playing with Lucy. She can be such a happy baby. Then she can be such a screamer too. Just like a banshee. She mostly does the screaming when we put her down to sleep. Which can take a while at times. We try to let her cry it out, but we do go in and calm her down every 5-10 minutes. As soon as we put her down, waaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh! It really isn't crying. It is full blown blood curdling screams. The wife usually ends up nursing her to sleep in the rocking chair. I can sometimes calm her down, but when she wants mommy she will thrash about until she gets her way. Slowly she is getting better at going to sleep. I usually have to put her in the swing to nap because after hearing her scream for an hour, we both need to rest.

In other news, Lucy finally rolled over for the first time last week. From tummy to back. She can almost to back to tummy. Before we know it we are going to be in trouble with Maggie and Lucy running around the house.

Wordless Wednesday

Five for Friday: Five Things About Lucy

Lucy just turned six months old last week. She is getting so big. She just got over from having a fever from her six  Here are five things all about Lucy.

1. Lucy love to cuddle with mommy and daddy. She is such a little cuddlier.

2. Tonight will be the first night in a room by herself. We are putting her in what was the office temporarily until she is sleeping well through the night. So far so good tonight.

3. She love to take baths. She splashes all over the place and she seems like she never wants to get out of the tub.

4. Lucy also loves the jumper. She smiles and makes all sorts of happy noises.

5. When the wife came home on Wednesday Lucy reached for her with one arm. I thought it was really cute (yeah I said cute, what of it?) You could tell by the look on face that she just really needed to be held. She really needed her Mommy. That was cool because Maggie really needed her daddy that night.

Not A Wordless Wednesday

Things have been quite eventful in our house these past few weeks. I started school, dropped out of school (more on this later). I have been driving all over the place in this great city. Sick and crying kids every other day. Things are going to get busier around here in the next few weeks.

I originally enrolled in my classes two months ago to get into the classes I wanted. I started the classes on time and started doing the work in my online classes. Meanwhile, I was applying to a paramedic program, and I passed all of the tests. I awaited the letter of acceptance only to receive a rejection letter instead. I was pretty bummed, but I was ready to test for the next school. Last Wednesday I had just gotten to work and was checking out my rig when my phone rang. I answered it and it was the instructor telling me there has been a change and a spot has opened up. He asked if I was still interested. I said I was very much interested. I picked up my acceptance letter the next day and started my rush to get all of the stuff done that I needed before class, including dropping of my other classes. I start tomorrow and I have to say I am excited to get started.

I had to call AT&T this morning and after being on hold forever I finally got through. I had both kids in our room so I may watch them while I am on the phone. I didn't do that great of a job. I turn around and see Maggie has no pants on and no diaper. I ask her what she is doing. She goes and stands in front of our full length mirror and starts going up and down while saying up and down. If you have ever seen the original Winnie The Pooh movie from the '60s in the beginning Pooh Bear goes up and down and sings in front of the mirror. She watches this movie all of the time. I couldn't help but laugh and I had to call my wife and tell her. That kid cracks me up. 

Wordless Wednesday

A week ago it was above 50 degrees here in Chicago. Maggie is doing some gardening (playing with dirt.)

Five for Friday: Five Maggie Translations

Maggie is really learning a lot of new words everyday. A lot of them she can't pronounce the whole word yet, but she is slowly learning. Here are some of my favorite words that Maggie says.

1. Uce. This what Maggie calls Lucy. Not quite yet to the L sound.

2. Ho Ho. This is Santa Claus

3. Frost. Short for Frosty

4. Bra. How she got to this for tree, I will never know. It took us a while to figure out what she is talking about. I actually had to text the wife to try and get a translation and she didn't know.

5. Da Boo. This is my favorite thing she says and she says it a lot now. This is for thank you. I love when she says this when you give her something.

Hazy Shade of Winter.

So far winter really hasn't winter like we know it. It has been very mild. In fact today it was above 50 degrees. Tomorrow more of the same. Thursday is a different story. Snow. Snow on a day I have a very important test to take. All the way in the south suburbs. I have to work too, but this test in way more important. It is the next step in getting into paramedic school. Next week I will find out if I got accepted into the program.

Maggie is surprising me more every day. She is switching off from her toddler (crib) to her big girl bed. She can't seem to decide which one she wants to be in. That is all right for now, but soon Lucy needs a bed of her own. If she is ever able to go to sleep by herself. Maggie did stay on her bed for almost an hour reading books today. That is actually like me.

Lucy is acting more like her father every day. The wife says Maggie is her clone and Lucy is my clone. Maggie is just like her mother, stubborn, cranky after naps, and  loves baked lays (only we she is able to get her hands on them as she is not allowed to eat them). Lucy is like me as she always wants attention, likes things her way and hates getting her fingernails cut. She also likes to sleep a lot too. We thought her hair was going to be dark, but it has lightened up to almost blonde. I think it may be lighter than Maggie's.

Lucy has also found her new favorite toy. She loves to sit in the bouncer now. She can look around at everything and play at the same time. Good times. She makes all sorts of noises when she is bouncing.

Tomorrow we shall all go outside and enjoy a rare warm January day. Then we shall be stuck inside until April.

Five for Friday: Five Questions for 2012.

Happy New Year from our family to yours. Here are some questions for this new year.

1. How many people will ask if this is a leap year? Or an election year? Look it up!

2. Will the President get re-elected? I have my opinion on it, but this isn't a political blog.

3. Will the world end? Not likely. What is supposed to be the date again? Anyone remember Y2K?

4.Will the 49ers make it to the Super Bowl? If they do you will hear me yelling from my house.

5. Will we ever get snow? Not that I am complaining. I opened the windows today. In January.

I hope everyone has a great 2012. So far this year has been great. Maggie is starting to sleep in her big girl bed. Lucy is interacting with us more and more. The wife is keeping us all together. I'm getting ready to bust my butt in school again. Will I ever give up? Never.

Wordless Wednesday