Ready for a change???

Do you guys think M is ready for her big girl bed or what???

WHOOOOO HOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just in case anyone heard the shouts of joy, sighs of relief and champagne bottles being opened - don't worry it was just us CELEBRATING!!!!!!!!!!!

Update!!!!!!!!!

Miri had her echo and her murmur is “nothing to worry about” (per the Dr.) She will more than likely out grow it – so we don’t have to have anymore follow-ups with the pedi cardio dr., our regular dr. will monitor it. I guess if it sounds different or something at one point we might have to go back, but they didn’t seem to think it would be an issue!!! I am so relieved. Thank you to everybody for your good wishes and prayers they really mean a lot to us. This has been a wonderful blessing filled week!

Also I just have to brag on my little one - she sat on my lap and held perfectly still throughout the whole ultrasound. Now a days it seems she hardly ever sits still and if we are doing something she really doesn't want to do she is quite adamant about not doing it! So I was dreading her possible behavior, but she did great and made Mommy so very proud of her well behaved little girl.

Off to "Wiscaansin"...

Well, I'm off to the land of the Cheeseheads, Miller Beer and the guy who is slowly ruining baseball - Bud Seilg. Since this trip is a goofy one - two meetings at 6:30 PM (one on Monday, one on Tuesday) and not much in between, I figured there would be time to take a trip to either Miller Park to catch the Milwaukee Brewers, or sneak down to the northside of Chicago and catch an afternoon Cubs game and make this trip worthwhile.

Yes, I was envisioning the scene from Ferris Bueller's Day Off where Ferris, Sloane and Cameron end up at Wrigley on TV right under the Principal's nose. Well, small problem... er, problems:

-- The Brewers are in town both Monday and Tuesday, against my #2 team the Colorado Rockies. Good, right? First pitch, both nights - 7.10 PM. (Meetings start at 6.30 in Somers - about 25 miles south).

-- The Cubs are off Monday, but Tuesday, they play the Reds - at 7.10 PM.

Rats.

Oh, and if you haven't seen ticket prices for these teams, you would be in for sticker shock. Bleacher seats at Wrigley for all games from June 1 through Labor Day are $45 per game - general admission!!!! That's actually more expensive than the upper deck, lower level near the infield. The Brewers aren't much better, however those prices would get you into the lower level, down the lines at Miller Park in Milwaukee.

Maybe I need to find the free microbrewery tours... or see if S.E. Johnson has tours of their Administration and Research buildings (done by Frank Lloyd Wright.)

I'll keep the long "o's" to a minimum when I get back, eh? :)

RW

GREEN

“Going Green” this seems to be the catch phrase of the year. But truly how new is this concept and how long before it falls out of our vocabulary (again). I remember not to long ago a big environmental push to recycle, plant more trees and cut down less rain forest in the early 90s. And although I wasn’t around for it history tells us of the 60’s where being “one with the earth” was the thing to do. Like most fads in this country the concept of being “green” fell out of the news and therefore the public consciousness. Now it is back with a vengeance. And I hope for the sake of our planet and future generations that this time it sticks and that more people make lifestyle changes that will affect in a positive way our planet and her ability to sustain life for generations to come.

Generations to come - I never really put too much thought into this phrase. I have always felt like the day when our planet can no longer support our life is far far into the future. After some reading and research I don’t think it is that far away. In fact I truly believe that in Miriam’s lifetime catastrophic changes to our environment could occur and that scares me. I want our children and our children’s children and many more generations to enjoy all this planet has to offer. So how do we change a future that seems so bleak and how do we face what seems like such a daunting tasks?

The only answer I can think of is start at home, make some small changes I truly believe that if every household made some small changes it would help change our world and our environment – the “Think Globally Act Locally” phrase has some merit. Ryan and I are following the “Reduce Reuse and Recycle” philosophy. I have to be honest this really excites me and is something that I feel is very important. I am planning a series of post on this, how we plan on sticking to each idea, what we do everyday to accomplish this and what we plan to do. So stay tuned for some exciting posts on “being green and going green”

Fourth of July

Happy Birthday USA!!!! I love the Fourth (and I really love the 4th when we don't have to work the next day!) . There is nothing like fireworks, cook-outs, family and friends doing nothing but having a good time. I never feel the "holiday pressure" on the Fourth like I do during Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving. The Fourth is just casual fun times.

We had a wonderful celebration this year. Like we do nearly every year we went to a backyard party at our good friends, the Bowman's house. The live very close to the river so we are able to walk down and watch the fireworks when it is time.

Miriam is completely in love with her Uncle Jeremy, especially since he was feeding her red, white and blue Jelly Bellies.

We made some new friends. This is Miri and Cat with Alisha. She is the g/f of one of Jeremy's buddies. She also just happends to be one of the nurses at M's cardiologists office and will be helping with our echo next week! Talk about a small world and fate. She was just awsome with M and C, you can tell she is a total kid person and I am feeling much better about this appoinment.
Miri and Cat both enjoyed dangling their feet in the fish pond. I was able to catch them both in a rare momemnt of stillness.....

I even enjoyed a moment of fish watching with my little girl.

Miri got to experience the joys of sparklers for the first time. She loved playing with her "fire sticks". Guess we have created a little pyro but then again who doesn't like sparklers and poppers?!?


The big finish and best part of the evening was of course the fireworks. And what a great job the City did this year!!! What a spectacular display, it was simply breathtaking.
And it was so much fun to watch M enjoying herself - no tears for this baby over the big booms, only "ooooosss" and "awwwssss" Watching through the eyes of a child is truly an amazing experience.

I hope everyone else had a wonderful Independence Day and continues to have a fun and safe holiday weekend.