Christmas Pics

Dollhouse that Santa brought

Paige got 2 Rocking horses: Brown one from Mom & Joe and Pink one from Dad & Edie

Baby Doll Bed mom got Paige for Xmas, She Loves it!

Close up of Paige's new chairs


Paige at her table that mom gave her for Xmas. It was originally hers and Uncle Dick's, then Holly's and mine, Then Michelle's, and now it belongs to Paige. The yellow is the original top and mom just recovered the chairs.

Xmas at Moms house

Giggles!

Cozy in our chair

Movie Star!

Some Pics Aunt Karen took

Me and My Baby!

Pretty Paige!

The Meier Family

This one is for the Broerman annual calendar,

we got March (hint all the green and big clover)

More pics of Paige

Playing with the Halloween candy bowl!

Happy Halloween

Here are some pics of Paige dressed up to go trick-or-treating! We decided to make her a duck, since Grandpa Stubby calls her Silly Duck!

4 Month Update!

I can't believe it has been 4 months, since I last updated this. I'm such a slacker! Actually, I've kinda become addicted to Facebook. I'm on it all the time! Anyway, where should I start. I guess with some sad news. Rod's Grandma Broerman passed way on June 8th, she found out she had cancer in February and had a fast down hill battle with it. It was pretty hard on the whole family and she will be missed deeply!

On a lighter note, Rod and I went to see Staind in concert on July 1st. It was a very good show and Rod even touched Aaron Lewis when he was walking bye, I was so jealous! Anyway, It was nice to get out and have an evening all to ourselves.

July 18th was the annual Broerman golf outing. Not a huge turnout, but it was descent. It was nice weather and fun to get to see everyone. I was on the winning team and even won women's longest drive, I was very proud of myself!

August 15th, we took Paige to Brookfield Zoo. Some friends of ours went with us, which included the Sancken Family and Erin Mehn and Kyle Hart. We didn't get to see everything and it was a little warm, but I think everyone had a pretty good time. Paige liked the viewing station where you could see the dolphins and seals swimming under water. She also liked the Gorilla exhibit.

Rod has been busy working on our garage, putting up the siding. It will be so nice when he gets it all done!

Paige is growing like a weed, and changing everyday. She is developing a little attitude, she must get that from her daddy! She is going through her everything is MINE stage, but I guess that is pretty typical! We just had a visit with her urologist, and everything is looking good. She goes back in 6 months for another check up.

I have been busy at work, being tax season and all. Sadly, my co-worker, Stephanie is leaving us. Her last day is tomorrow. She is getting married on the 29th and then moving to Hawaii. LUCKY GIRL! Good luck and Best wishes Steph! However, my other co-worker, Tess will finally be coming back to work on Monday. She was on maternity leave for 12 weeks. She and her husband, Dustin had a beautiful baby boy, named Asher. CONGRATS guys! Anyway, Barb & I will be so happy to have her back in the office!

Paige Playing Outside

Happy Birthday Rod!

Since my last post we celebrated Easter and Rod's 33rd Birthday!

Easter was busy, of course! Saturday we had the Broerman Easter at Rod's aunt Pat & uncle Harry's house. They had an Easter Egg hunt for all the family kids and neighbors. Pat said she put out 650 eggs, but Paige only found 8! She seemed to enjoy it though. It was funny because she would put 1 in her basket and then go to pick up another one, but the one she already put in would fall out. Mommy had to help her out a little bit, which she didn't seem to want. Little Miss Independent likes to do thing for herself these days! Anyway, food was great I ate way too much, but I wouldn't expect anything less at a Broerman function.

Sunday, we went to my moms in Saunemin for lunch. My step-dad, Joe cooked Hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill and we had a nice relaxing afternoon. Paige and Michelle had a little egg hunt in the house and Paige got 3 Easter Baskets full of clothes, toys, and candy. You would've thought it was Christmas she got so much stuff! Then we headed back to Pontiac, to Bernardi's for dinner with my dad and step-mom and some of Edie's family. It was nice to see everyone and the food was excellent as always!

The 17th was Rod's Birthday. He turned 33 and celebrated to the fullest with his cousin, Chris (who is home for a couple weeks before going back overseas) and a couple of his uncle's. Rod didn't get home until 3 am! I'm blaming Jim for that one!

Saturday night we went to a fish fry at Scotty's. Paige and I went home after dinner, but Rod stayed out late again. Not as long this time, but he seemed to have enjoyed being out with the guys!

Sunday Rod and I went to Peoria to the boat to do a little gambling. Paige went to Grandma Peg and Grandpa Stubby's house for the evening. I played Roulette and lost $100.00 in about 20 minutes! I didn't really enjoy that at all ;o( and then I lost another $40.00 playing a stupid machine. That was it for me! I just watched Rod play cards the rest of the time. He did however win back most of what I lost! Yeah for him! I knew I kept him around for a reason! LOL :o)

Paige & The Easter Bunny

Click on Pic to Enlarge

Over the weekend, Rod had to work Friday and Saturday night, bummer! So Saturday morning I took Paige to Grandma Peg's for the day and I went to Bloomington with Holly & Michelle. First we went to the Interstate Center for a huge garage sale. We didn't find much though! I bought Paige a winter coat for $2.00, just to use from now until it actually gets nice outside and stays nice! Michelle bought a print to hang on her wall. Holly new the painter of it right when she saw it, but I can't remember for the life of me what she said, oh well! That is all we got there so then we headed to the mall. I did some damage there! I got Easter presents for Paige, Alex, & Michelle. I let Michell pick hers out, since she is getting to the picky stage! I also got myself some old navy flip-flops for this summer and a pair of loungey capri's.

Yesterday morning I got 2 steroid injections put into my very low back, but Doc said it could take a few days before I'll be able to tell difference. However, physical therapy has helped my back tons! I only have 1 more session on Thursday evening then I'm back on my own. I think as long as I continue doing the exercises I should be okay. Right now I'm just a little sore at my injection spots, but hopefully that will go away soon!

Rod has been busy working on our house & garage. We got a new back door and screen door which is so much nicer! and we have one side of the garage that now is able to open and close. Big thanks to Doug Jones for helping Rod out with that! They have 1 side of the garage left to do and then Rod can start wrapping the outside of the garage and put up some siding. I can't wait for the stupid thing to get done!

Paige is at Heather Sancken's this week for daycare. It's a little rough in the mornings because she doesn't want to let me go, but as soon as she gets Baby doll she seems to be fine!

This weekend we have the Broerman Easter at & Harry's house, which will include a fun Easter Egg hunt. Hopefully Paige will get a few before the bigger kids grab them all.

Sunday, we have Easter at my mom's house in Saunemin at noon, hopefully my Grandma will be out of the hospital by then. She went back in Monday morning, they still are not sure what is wrong, at first they thought it was a slight heart attack, but that was ruled out, and now they think she is bleeding internally somewhere. They are suppose to be doing more tests today to find where it is coming from. She might have to have a blood transfusion if he keeps losing blood everyday. Mom & Joe's anniversary is on Sunday also, so Happy Anniversary to them!

Sunday evening we are having dinner at Bernardi's with my dad and Edie and all of Edie's family. It's been a long time since we've all been together and some of them have never seen Paige, so that's pretty exciting!

Rodney's birthday is coming up on the 17th. However, I have no idea what to get him! he won't tell me anything and he's getting very hard to buy for.

Pain Management

I had a pain management appointment yesterday afternoon with the Millennium Pain Center. They are actually based out of Bloomington, but they have an office in Pontiac at the hospital. They informed me that I don't have scoliosis! and that I just have arthritis in my back, so they are going to give two steroid injections on April 7th. They have to put me under, which I'm not to thrilled about, but she said it is just a twilight sleep. Rod said that's what he had done when he had his carpal tunnel surgery. I remember he was a little funny on our way home! Anyway, they said I'm still suppose to go to physical therapy as scheduled and continue taking my prescriptions. They also gave me a fancy belt to wear as often as possible. It is kinda cool and helps quite a bit! It's not very stylish, but I can hide it under my shirt.

Last night Paige and I went to Grandma Peg's & Grandpa Stubby's to pick up our plate of monster cookies, and it just so happened that we stayed for dinner. Paige was playing with an old wooden school bus that holds blocks and she fell down and gashed her lip open on it. She cried for a bit, but stopped as soon as Grandma gave her a cold wet wash cloth. That seemed to make it all better! She's defiantly a little dare devil. Her newest stunt is that she likes to climb on to the couch, sit on the edge of the cushion, and fall backwards onto the floor. She makes me so nervous! I've learned to throw pillows on the floor just in case I don't get to her in time!

Date Night

Last night Rod and I went to see Knowing (the new one with Nicholas Cage in it). We just went to the show here in town and Paige spent the evening with Grandma Peg & Grandpa Stubby. It was very unpredictable and not what I was expecting at all! It was good though. It was nice to get to spend the evening alone since Rod has to work tonight and tomorrow night. Paige and I really don't have any other plans for the weekend, so we will probably just be lounging around the house.

Sick Baby Girl!

Poor Paige had to go to the Dr. today. She had been running a fever since Monday afternoon and she has had a runny nose and a nasty cough. I took her in to make sure it wasn't going to her lungs, I would hate for her to get pneumonia! Turns out she has an ear ache, which kinda surprised me because she had not been pulling on them at all. So Dr. gave her an antibiotic to take twice a day and she said to keep giving her the Motrin or Tylenol. Also she said, to keep sucking boogers out, to keep her nose as clear as possible, easier said than done!

Rod is home with Paige today, since she couldn't go to the sitters. I feel bad for him because he is running on ZERO sleep! He got home from work at 5:00 this morning. I'm sure he will be ready for a nap when I get home from work.

Physical therapy seems to be helping my back. It still hurts, but not near as bad. It is hard to find time during the day to do my home exercises, but I squeeze them in when ever I can.

Potty Training, WHAT!

My back is getting a little better and physical therapy is going really well. Some of the exercises I have to do at home really hurt my tail bone, but I just push through the pain! I have 8 more sessions of physical therapy, so hopefully it will help a lot more.

Last Thursday was Paige's appointment in Peoria with the Urologist. Basically, her vaginal opening has closed shut. I guess about 30% of little girls get this and it is usually treated with an estrogen cream. So it really is pretty common, even though we had never heard of this before. Basically what causes it is because she is wearing a diaper and she goes potty in it, there is bacteria also, and naturally her body is closing to keep out any infection. So Dr. Reid said the fastest and easiest way to eliminate the problem is to get her potty trained as soon as possible! So we went out and bought a potty chair and we are suppose to sit her on it after every meal and eventually she should grasp the concept that something is suppose to happen when she sits on the chair. When the Dr. told us what to do, Rod and I just looked at each other like "WHAT!" lol

Anyway, Paige has been on the cream since about 3 months old, but Dr. Reid prescribed another brand, so hopefully it will open it back up. She also prescribed her antibiotic that specifically targets the vaginal area and she recommended that we make her a mixture of pears, benefiber, and white grape juice and give her 1-2 tablespoons every evening to soften her poop. Because hard poop can lead to kidney problems and we don't want that! Paige goes back for an ultrasound on her kidneys in May, just to make sure there isn't any kidney stones or any other problems.

Rod switches shifts at the end of this month and will go back to working Wed-Fri 4 pm to 4am and every other Saturday.

Rusty turns 3 years old today, Happy Birthday Rusty Bucket!

That's about it for now, hope everyone has a Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Dr. Appointment

So I went to Dr. Richardson's office, an orthopedic specialist yesterday. I did not actually get to see him, I just saw Amy, the nurse practitioner. She said Dr. Richardson looked at my X-rays and MRI and confirmed that I do not have a pinched nerve. So we have no idea why I'm in so much pain! She prescribed me Darvocet and I start physical therapy this Friday at the hospital and I have an appointment on the 24th to see another doctor in the pain management department about getting a steroid shot. Hopefully I will get some relief soon, that's all I'm asking for.

Oh the Pain!

Last week Paige drew 1st Blood. She was walking around with her bottle in her mouth and ran right into our sofa table. She hit the leg and gashed her lip open. Rod was surprised I handled it so well, he thought I would have a melt down the first time she really go hurt! But I didn't I just washed her up. She was fine, once she got her bottle back. She had a fat lip for a couple days, but now you can't even tell.

Last week we had an unfortunate event occur at Rod's Grandparents house. They have had a little miniature poodle, named Peaches for probably a good 12 years. Grandpa let Peaches out to go potty and the neighbors dog got loose from his pen and charged at Peaches. He practically ate him and the owner of the dog, rushed Peaches and Grandpa & Grandma to the animal hospital in Bloomington. Unfortunately, there wasn't much they could do and Peaches was put to sleep. Poor Peaches was a lovely pup and will be dearly missed! RIP.

On a lighter note, Friday evening Grandma & Grandpa got moved into their new home at Woodridge Supportive Living Center. I took Paige out there to run around, while Rod and the guys moved in furniture. It was really nice, they have a movie theater, a salon, a library, and craft center, and the dining room, truly looked like a restaurant. I think they will be happy there and will get to socialize more once it fills up with residence.

Saturday, I woke up and could hardly move, the night before I tweaked my back and my pinched nerve really hurt! It felt like sharp stabbing pains over and over again! I wore a heat patch all day and loaded up on 800 mg Ibuprofen. When I picked Paige up, it put me too tears, so I didn't pick her up the rest of the day. That was really hard, but by 3:00, it started to give a little relief. Which I was so happy about because we already had plans to go to the Elk's Club that night for a comedy show to benefit the Pontiac Fire Department.

The Comedy show was so good! We had 9 people at our table and everyone was cracking up the whole time! The food wasn't bad either and it was nice to see all our friends. We will defiantly attend next year for sure!

Sunday was kinda lazy, my back felt much better and I actually could hold Paige again! I did get the Laundry done and I went through all of Paige's clothes and packed up all of them that are too small. Sunday night Rod had to work, so Paige and I went to Monicals for Pizza with Peg & Stubby. I got home and still can not find my cell phone anywhere! I called Peg this morning and she said she would look in her van, otherwise I must have left it at Monicals. Hopefully it will turn up by the end of the day! When I put Paige to bed last night I tweaked my back again, it kills again right now, but I'm wearing a heat patch, so hopefully it will start to help soon!

I go to see Dr. Richardson, an orthopedic doctor on Tuesday, so hopefully he will be able to do something to relieve my pain. This Thursday, Rod and I will be taking Paige to Peoria to see the urologist. I just hope they don't have to do anything painful to her!

Today is Peg & Stubby's wedding anniversary, so wish them congrats!

Over the Weekend

Friday after work, Rod & I dropped Paige off at Grandma Peg and Grandpa Stubby's house. They volunteered to watch her over night, since they were already planning on having Alex. So Rod & I got the whole evening to ourselves. We headed to Bloomington and made our first stop at Best Buy. Rod had 2 gift cards for there, but he decided to save them because the CD player he wanted for his hunting truck was out of stock.


Then we headed to the movie theater and saw Fired Up! It was stupid funny, but very entertaining. We laughed through most of it. After that we decided to get a bite to eat, so we went to Logan's, it was so Yummy! That is our new favorite place to eat, we have never had a bad meal there! Since Paige was at Grandma & Grandpa's house for the night it was so nice to sleep all night with out any interruptions and I actually got to sleep in too! It was heaven!



Saturday morning we picked up Paige, we were planning on going straight to Walmart, but Paige didn't sleep so well and was extremely grumpy! So we just headed home and Paige took a 3 hour nap! Rod & I cleaned up the house and did laundry. I was having some girls over that night while Rod went to Lexington to play cards.



At 6:00 my girls started showing up. Crystal Gourley and her 2 girls McKenna and Maddie showed up first, then Heather Sancken and baby Maddie, and Erin Mehn. We ordered Mario's Pizza and just talked. It was really nice to see everyone, and get caught up on every one's lives. Paige really enjoyed playing with the Gourley girls and I think the girls enjoyed playing with all Paige's toys too. Crystal made a very yummy ice cream desert and after we devoured it, everyone left around 9:00 and Paige crashed as soon as we went upstairs.


Rod and Matt Gourley played cards in Lexington while all us girls were at our house. Matt got 5th place and Rod got 6th place. unfortunately they only paid the top 4 places. Rod was a little miffed, to say the least!

Sunday was a pretty lazy day. We did go shopping at walmart, but that was about it!
Paige did learn how to crawl up onto her little wooden toy box, sit there like she's a big girl and just smile like "Look at Me!" It was quite cute, but daddy didn't seem to think so, once she started pushing buttons on the DVR player. Oh well!

Today through Thursday Paige is attending daycare at the Sancken House and from the email I got from Heather this morning she has already found herself a boyfriend. Carter you keep your kisses to yourself :o)

No Ringworm!

I took Paige to the Dr. today because what we thought was ring worm still hadn't cleared up yet. However, Doc. said she was pretty sure that it was not ringworm. She said it looked like Eczema (An itchy red skin rash) So she prescribed her some cream to use 3 times a day and we are suppose to use Vaseline between those applications to keep it good and moist. She said it isn't anything to worry about and is very common. So that was a relief!

I also had my MRI done after Paige's appointment. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be! It was like being put into a funky tanning bed for 30 minutes and hearing really loud beeping noises, at one point I thought I was in a casino! The last 10 minutes were the worse, I thought it was going very fast and then the tech said he had 2 more tests to run and that it would take 10 more minutes. Those 10 minutes seemed like forever!

Tomorrow night Paige is going to stay the night at Grandma Peg & Grandpa Stubby's house, along with her cousin Alex. I'm sure the two of them will keep Grandma & Grandpa on their toes. Rod & I get to have date night, so I think we are planning on heading to Bloomington for the evening. It will be nice to have an evening to ourselves, even though I'm sure Paige will be the main topic of conversation!

Saturday night Rod is going to play cards in Lexington, but that's pretty much all we have planned for this weekend.

Not a very productive weekend

Friday night we went out to the Sportsman's Club to help get everything ready for the annual game feed on Saturday. Paige loved running around the big open space and playing with her cousin Alex. Well I can't say that I really helped, I just watched mostly. They had enough help.

Saturday Rod spent the whole day out at the Sportsman's club, since he is vice president I guess it was his responsibility to attend the festivities. Paige and I spent most the day with Holly and Michelle. We went to Maurice's and Fashion Bug to do a little shopping. I had gift cards for both stores from my birthday, and they were burning a hole in my wallet. Paige was great in Fashion Bug, the store is big enough to take her stroller in so she just watched everyone. Maurice's was another story though! Since everything in the store is so tight I just carried her in, and it wasn't 2 seconds before she wanted down and started getting really fussy, so we didn't stay long there. I guess I'll have to make another trip with out her sometime.

Sunday was a pretty lazy day I didn't even get dressed until 5:30 pm when Stubby called to invite Paige & I over for pizza. I was glad because it meant I didn't have to cook, since Rod was working.

Paige's ring worm is starting to look a little better, but it is still there. If it's not gone by the end of this week, I guess I'll have to call the Dr. office again. But hopefully it will clear up. I go for my MRI this Thursday, I'm a little nervous about it because I've never had one before and everyone is telling me how awful it is gonna be.

Shopping

I went to my Doctors appointment yesterday afternoon. Doc said I have Scoliosis, and probably have had it since I was born, but just never new. Also my coccyx (tail bone) is slightly fractured (probably happened while I was trying to push Paige out) and mine curves more than other peoples (So she wasn't coming out). But he said he didn't believe that that was my major source of pain, so he scheduled me for a MRI on the 26th. Most likely I have a pinched nerve in one of my disks.

Rod stayed home sick last night from work. He didn't sound very good so I was glad Paige & I already had plans with Aunt Kari to go to Bloomington to do a little shopping. Kari needed to get some pants for work and I wanted to pick up Paige's pictures from Sears and go to Kohl's to spend my gift cards and buy me some new clothes. We went to Lane Bryant, where we both bought something and then to The Children's Place, where I got Paige 2 cute outfits for summer and her first pair of sun glasses, I'm sure she will keep them on her head!

Then we headed to the mall and picked up her pictures at Sears then we ate at the Pizza place in the mall. Paige scarfed down hers, she must have either been starving or she thought it was just super good! After we ate, we went to Kohl's and I found a few shirts for me and a new pair of shoes for work. Also I got Paige a couple outfits for summer there too.

It was a fun night and nice to get out of the house for the evening. I feel like I do the same thing every night, so it was a nice change of pace.

Another Year Older

It was a nice long weekend. On Valentine's Day, Rod & I went to see He's just not that into you at the Pontiac movie theater then we went to Delongs for dinner. It was a nice evening. Rod didn't care for the movie too much, but I thought it was descent. Holly & Michelle watched Paige for us and of course she had to wait for us to get home before she would go to sleep.

Sunday, I turned 29. Rod had to work that night, so I didn't see too much of him. Paige and I went to Holly's for cake and ice cream around 2 pm. Grandma and Grandpa K got me a balloon. Mom got me a necklace & matching earrings that were really pretty and also a gift card to Fashion Bug and Holly & Michelle got me a gift card to Maurice's. Yeah, now I get to go shopping! After we left there Paige & I headed over to Peg & Stubby's house. I had to help Peg draw names for the annual American Idol pool. I got Michael Sarver & Alexis Grace. Hopefully one of them will win me some big bucks! We ended up staying for supper and Cake (Spice, my favorite). After we ate Paige fell asleep in her highchair. I guess all the commotion wore her out!

Monday I noticed the spot on Paige's belly was not getting any better. I thought it was just dry skin and I had been putting lotion on it everyday, well I looked a little closer and I thought it might be ringworm, even though I have never actually seen ringworm. So I called her Doctor's office. The nurse said I didn't need to bring her in, but the way I described it , it did sound like ring worm to her. So she said just to apply a special cream available at any drug store, to it twice a day and hopefully it would go away. So we headed to Walmart and bought the cream and hopefully that will take care of it!

Later today, I have a Dr. Appt. to see what my back x-rays show. Hopefully nothing bad, but it still really hurts! :o(

New Pictures

We went to Sears last night and got Paige's 1 year pictures taken. She wasn't her usual smiley self, but I think they still turned out pretty good. Here are just a few, enjoy!

New car seats

Well, I had ordered 2 new car seats for Paige from walmart.com, and we got them over the weekend. Now Paige is sitting face forward like a big girl and seems to really enjoy it! Also, we started her on whole milk, phasing out the formula and trying to get her completely on table food. I'm hesitant on letting her feed herself, because I know she will make a complete mess! I guess I have to sometime though. She seems to love throwing her plate, so I have a feeling utensils will be the same way! Oh well, the sooner she learns the better I suppose!

Jonny Lang

About 10pm on Tuesday night Paige woke up with a temperature of 102. I gave her some Tylenol and bottle and she went back to sleep. Every time I tried laying her back in her crib she just wailed, so I held her and rocked her ALL Night long, her temp did go down after 1/2 hour or so, but when she woke up Wednesday morning it was 102 again. She already had a Dr. Appt scheduled for that day for her 1 year appt. So I just took the whole day off and and Rod, Paige & I spent most the day out at the hospital. Dr. wouldn't give her any shots though, because they would've just made her temp go higher. So she has to go back next week for those. Dr. said she had puss on her tonsils, so she tested her for strep throat. Test results came back negative though. They also took a urine sample (very interesting-they had to stick a bag on her until she went pee) to see if she had a urinary infection, but that is a no too, so we really don't know what is wrong with her besides that she has a temp and a sore throat. She is very cuddly, which isn't such a bad thing, but I can tell she doesn't feel well and it makes me very sad!

Thursday Rod a I debated very hard on whether to keep our plans of going away for the night, everything was already paid for and Grandma Peg convinced us that she could handle Miss Paige just fine. So we headed off to Chicago to the House of Blues to see Jonny Lang (Blues for those of you who don't know) in concert! Our friends Lena & Sean Smith met us there and we had a great time! Sean, Lena, & I have been fans for quite some time, so when we saw he was going to be in our area, we jumped at the chance to see him. Rod thought he was just OKAY, until he saw him live. Now he says it was the best concert he's ever been too, huge compliment from Rodney!

The show was GREAT! His CD's just don't give him any justice! He was so much better LIVE! He was amazing and gave 110% every song! If you ever get the chance to see him GO!

Before the show the 4 of us went to Harry Carey's to eat, none of new what kinda place it actually was, we were thinking sports bar, but boy were we wrong! I saw the white table cloths and new we were in trouble! Oh yeah Rod was wearing his racing t-shirt that says (Front-view) GOT CHUB? (Back-view) I DO. It was Very Classy! OH well. Anyway, It was the most expensive meal we had ever eaten and really wasn't very good at all! At least we can say we've been there I guess.

We all stayed the night in Chicago.Lena & Sean stayed at a different hotel than us but, Rod & I stayed at the Hotel Sax, which is right next to the House of Blues. It was nice, but not worth the $200.00 we spent to sleep there or the $42.00 we paid for parking!! Oh well, it was fun, but I think we are good on our Chicago visits for a little while anyway.

Happy Birthday Paige!

We had Paige's 1st Birthday party on Sunday and it was really nice! We had a full house and Paige got lots of new toys and a few outfits too! Here are a few pics of her eating her yummy birthday cake that Grandma Peg made. She was not real into getting her hands all messy and cried when Grandpa Stubby smashed her hand in it. I thought she was going to be a little tomboyish, but maybe not!

B-day Prep

Well we have finally got all our Xmas decor all put away, except for the wreath on the back door; crap! Anyway, so I'm trying to get the house put back together for Paige's 1st Birthday Party. We took down her jumper, since she doesn't like being restricted in it anymore, now that she's starting to walk. Also we took down the playpen that she rarely ever used. We used the changing table that sat on top of it, but she outgrew that too. So we bought another changing pad and attached it to the top of an old desk. Now we have lots more room for her toys that are taking over the whole house.
For Christmas Rod & I got ourselves a new TV, the old one is currently still sitting in the middle of the floor until Rod can find someone to help him move it to the garage. It's a beast and I'm a weakling!
I'm excited for Paige's party and to see her dig into her birthday cake, it should be quite amusing! I think we will have a full house, it'll be nice to get together with everyone for the afternoon. Hopefully everyone will find a place to sit and Rusty won't try to hump them all, he's a frisky little fella! Watch out Erin and Katie, you know how he likes you!
That's it for now, Paige fell asleep so I'm gonna go take a nap too! :o)

Shopping Trip

Friday night Rod, Paige, & I went to Chenoa for dinner at the Starting Line with Peg, Stubby, Kari, Aunt Karen, Uncle Bill, and Alyssa. Food was excellent, even Paige couldn't get enough of their cheesy potatoes!

On our way home Friday night my mom called, my grandma was admitted back into the hospital. She was doing so much better, but when she had some tests run earlier that day, Dr. said he better admit her before things got any worse. Basically her pancrease is junk!

So she's gonna keep having problems the way it sounds.

Saturday morning I dropped Paige off at Grandma Peg & Grandpa Stubby's house. She got to spend the entire day over there. Paige & Alex love jumping on the air mattress that Grandma puts in the middle of the living room floor.

Karen, Kari, & I drove up to Huntley, IL to do a little shopping at the outdoor outlet mall. I bought several cute outfits for Paige to wear this spring & summer. She will be oh so stylish! The weather was a challenge, but we did make it there and back, just took a little longer than usual.

Sunday, I finally took our Christmas tree down and I'm trying to get our house back to normal. It's kinda a mess at the moment, but I don't really feel like doing much more today.

Christmas at Dad's was very nice. Pizza was Delicious as usual! We played 1 in a million afterwards, We had 3 teams: Dad & I, Holly & Rod, & Edie & Michelle. Dad & I won of course, he's 1 smart cookie!
After our game, My 3 uncles showed up: Lyle who lives in Bloomington, David who lives in Conneticut, and Earl (aka Babe) who lives in Ohio. It was nice to see them, they only stayed for about an hour or so then moved on. They watched us open presents: Paige got a Band Wagon that plays music and a toy Box from Gma & Gpa.

This week was pretty boring nothing too exciting going on. Tonight we are going to have dinner in Chenoa with the Meier Clan and tomarrow I am going to go shopping in Huntley with Karen & Kari. I like going to the outdoor mall there. They have good kids clothing stores. Paige is going to spend the day with Grandma Peg and her cousin Alex, I'm sure she will enjoy it fully. Rod has to work all weekend, Poor Rod :o(

Another New Baby :o)

Welcome to the WORLD Emmalynn Lane! She was born on January 3rd, daughter to Amy Black and granddaughter to Vicki Delheimer. She's so adorable! Congratulations Amy & Vicki :o)