A brief update on our lives

Don't worry, pictures will be shared soon, I just thought I would let anyone who cares know what we have been up to. This is NOT an excuse for being such a blogging slacker, I REFUSE to have blogging guilt.

* Joshua and I have been very busy this fall with mom's group at church, a gymnastics class with our good friend Miles, Community Bible Study, and a swimming class we can never quite seem to get to regularly (we go 1/2 the time). I also do a baby swap bi monthly with Emily, Miles' (and Eleanor's mom), so we are busy most days of the week.

* Joshua really likes Bible Study, not because of the bible but because he has developed a crush on another 2 year old named Evey. When you ask him "What did you learn about in Bible Study today?" He will answer "Evey". Sometimes he says "Evey and Moses", they just did a Moses unit.

* I am beginning to get used to the fact that I am not working outside of the home, and am giving myself grace that I DON'T know what I want to do when I go back to work. I am trying to enjoy my time at home and the opportunities I have to be more available to volunteer at church

* I am leading a small group of 4-8 girls, ages 2nd-6th grade, on Wednesday nights at our church's rebirthed midweek program. I am having so much fun as I really missed hanging out with the kids. My girls are all so bright, some shy, some talkative, but it has been really fun to get to know the new ones and get to know some old friends better (some of these girls I have been a leader to off and on since pre-school! wow am I old!)

* In between all the craziness I am trying to coax Joshua into more regular naps (3 for 3 since we got back from our trip) and keep homefires burning as Andy has been travelling a lot lately. I am so glad that God brought the crisis at work which lead me to quit because otherwise I would be a wreck trying to juggle work and being a single parent. Single stay at home mom beat single working mom any day of the week.

* Finally, we just took a brief, but wonderful trip to San Francisco to visit Andy on his project out there. We had a blast and I gained the knowledge that I can travel across the country with a toddler by myself, I am tougher than I thought! More details on the trip soon, once pictures are posted.

Word of the Day

So, the new word Joshua learned today is "equipment" from our gymnastics class today. Who knew gymnastics were good for your vocabulary?

Apple picking

Every year I am a little sad to have the wonderful summer weather leave us, but always so excited for the apple picking. This year, we went with my folks (Grandma Barb and Grandpa Bill) out to Woodstock, IL. We came back with a lot of fruit, I am even baking a raspberry-apple crisp as I typed this!

Rain gear is adorable

So I snapped this adorable picture yesterday when we were heading out into the cold, rainy day. Nothing matches, but he sure looks cute!

Also, today Joshua jumped and got off the ground! Another milestone reached!

I thought I would...

There is a long list of things I thought I would do more of once I was no longer working. Some I am doing, some I am not, as evidenced by the lists below.

Things that I have been doing more of:
Cooking, playing with Joshua, going to the park, various kid classes, Community Bible Study, working out (still not enough but more than I was doing this summer)

Things I have not been doing more of:
updating the blog, taking pictures of Joshua, taking videos of Joshua.

so I apologize for being a slacker in list # 2, but I am pretty proud of myself for doing more of list #1. I will at least try to post the big news of the day for those interested.

Big news of the day: Joshua blew bubbles in the water during swim class!! I am so proud ;)

Hiding in the office

So, I am hiding in the office to lessen my ability to hear Joshua crying "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy" as he protests his nap. Someone told me that many kids go through a nap protest phase then fall back on schedule, but this is driving me nuts! The poor kid is so sleepy, he is grumpy all day because his night sleep isn't enough to compensate for the lack of nap. I told him he had to lay down for an hour, so if he is still crying then, I will get him, but I hope he gets some sleep!

Joshua's birthday (a little late!)

OK, this post is way late, but I still wanted to get the festivites posted :)

On Sunday, 8/24, Joshua turned two. Wow, he is such a little boy now and not a baby. On Saturday the 23rd, we had a birthday party for him at my parents house. They were troopers as about 10 children and their families invaded the backyard. Birthday parties at this age are pretty easy to plan, we just needed food, water activities (pool and water table), chalk, and yard toys. No organized games or activities, just good old fashioned play. Thanks to everyone who came, we had a great time!!

*I apologize for the offkey singing on the video, I was holding the camera, oops!

My first week

So far, my first week as a stay at home mom is going so-so. The good--I really do love being able to spend time with Joshua and not have the dread of "uh-oh, tomorrow's a work day". The bad--he did not nap AT ALL Tuesday to Thursday this week. I am pulling my hair out, it is too little to drop naps altogether right? Any advice on this front would be appreciated :)

Because of the nap situation and other crazy week happenings, I am behind on my to do list. You will all have to wait for photos and video of JP's two year old party, as we have another busy weekend planned. I also haven't yet figured out what to do with the rest of my life yet. I'll keep you posted on that one, I for now am taking a breather and enjoying the time with Joshua. And friends, and houseguests, and travel, and the list goes on...

Camp

We just got back from an awesome few days at Nicole Foster's favorite place, Village Creek Bible Camp. Seriously, all of you friends in the midwest with kids who like the outdoors should go. A little about the week here and you can see a video mashup of our adventures at the end.

First of all, VCBC is located in Northeast Iowa. As I am only familiar with the parts of Iowa to be seen from the I-80, I did not have great expectations for the area we were going. I was wrong, it was beautiful. There are a lot of ridges and valleys and streams, just a pretty, peaceful spot.

We arrived on Sunday evening after driving most of the day -- road trips with toddlers not nearly as fun as road trips alone :) When we got there, the Fosters met us and we all had dinner together. Joshua was glad to see Charlotte after being promised her company all day. The rest of that evening we got settled in and had an opening chapel.

Monday morning, we met are awesome family helper, Tristy, and spent time over the next several days doing camp things, trying to get Joshua to take a pony ride (a no-go), strapping Joshua into the harness on the trampoline, a kayak ride for Andy and me, hiking, paintball for Andy, and a night zipline for the two of us again. It was a great time of hanging with friends and each other. We are looking forward to returning!

Thoughts on leaving work

I have been having a lot of thoughts about leaving work lately. Sometimes I am super excited, sometimes I am terrified, but mostly I am bewildered. I know I will have a lot to DO every day (Joshua is pretty good at keeping me busy), but what of greater significance will I be acomplishing. I am beginning to doubt my abilty to be a good role model for Joshua -- he can make me angry somedays I am afraid of losing my temper. I also worry about not spending my time well, wasting it. At work, I always had a list of projects to do, at home I have a list of projects, but they are not nearly as fun (I prefer designing databases and doing stat analysis to taking care of my house anyday). Also, at this point I think I will be returning to a job someday and what the heck will that be?
I think I am also having a hard time because I am leaving this job feeling like I failed. I failed as a working mom and it is hard to deal with. I didn't have the chops to do a job and be a mom. This is where my comparing myself to others always comes back to bite me. So and so does it. I know I could do it if I pushed myself and made myself and my family miserable, but I have determined that cost is too high, but still the question remains, why can't I do it all? Anyway, so that is where I am, in a place of really needing words of encouragement because YIKES! IN three days I will be a stay-at-home mom. Good friends (you know who you are), keep me accountable to not trying to find another career path or job for the 1st month I am home. I need to really seek God on what I should do, and not start working on something else right away.

Reading

I took this a few weeks back, and am finally getting around to putting new things up. Enjoy!

Big boy bed

More proof that Joshua is no longer my baby, we moved him to a big boy bed a few weeks ago. He loves it, as you can see from the picture, although sometimes he ends up sleeping on the floor. That is better for your back anyway, right? :)

The benefits to this change for us are: no more worrying about his habit of climbing out of the crib and ending up on the floor, head first; a happier kid at naptime and bedtime (he still gets upset, but then just goes and plays if he doesn't feel like sleeping); and the biggie is he is content to be in his room most mornings until 6:30 or 7! Hallelujah!

The disadvantage is a huge mess of a room some mornings and afternoons after naps (we quickly realized the markers had to be moved to another room--I got him up one morning and he was covered in marker, he had even colored some of his hair!).

All in all, we are all happy with the change. Thanks Grammy Barb for getting us the new bed!

My garden

This is the first year ever I have had a vegetable garden, granted it is very small, just along one side of my fence and only has a few tomato plants, one bell pepper plant, basil and mint in it, but I am very proud. I have grand plans of expanding next year with more peppers, squash, lettuce, etc. My tomatoes are doing very well and I am going to need to start figuring out something to do with them all. Also, as my mint supply is going strong, I am thinking of having a mojito party. I can even look up a recipe for a non-alcoholic version for non-drinkers. All in all, I am pretty pleased with my garden, it makes me very happy. Also, if you like tomatoes and want me to bring you some, let me know!

My day as a single working mom

Andy is out of town this week, on a consulting project in San Francisco, so I am doing the solo parent gig. Today was my first day ever as a single working mom. It is not easy and I am so blessed to have a husband who is around most of the time to share in the child-rearing. The day started at 3:45 AM with Joshua screaming. This, of course, woke me from my blissful sleep spread out across our queen sized bed (hey, there are some perks to being home alone). I ran in to get Joshua and tried to go back to sleep together on our bed. After an hour of sharing the bed with a rolly-poly toddler, I decided to put him back in his crib and get my extra hour of sleep. He did not like this, and protested, but eventually fell back asleep.

I was super-tired when my alarm clock went off at 6:00am, and turned it off and slept until 6:45. Joshua was still asleep after the middle of the night wakefulness, so I got a chance to take a quick shower and get ready by 7am. I am nothing if not efficient in the mornings, growing up sharing 1 shower with 5 people taught me this. I then had to WAKE JOSHUA UP (gasp) to get to the sitters and work.

Work was uneventful. I have a lot of organizing to do so when I leave my replacement is not lost at sea, and the day passed without incident. After work and picking up Joshua, we came home, had dinner together and played. Bedtime was a little tough because he refused to go into his crib (I set him up with his stuffed animals and blankets on the floor, we will see if he goes to sleep that way). All in all, not too bad of a day, but I am glad I do not have to do it all the time. Kudos to all those parents who do.

*Update.: Joshua was NOT sleeping, he is making a mess of his room. I had to put him in the crib and tough out the crying and beseeching.

Two little monkeys jumping on a bed

We had our good friends the Campings over this past weekend for dinner and afterwards let our two boys jump around in Joshua's crib. Looks like fun!

4th of July weekend

Ok, I realize this is late, chalk it up to a lot going on in my life right now. We had a great 4th of July weekend. Andy was able to NOT work for all 3 days (a small miracle in our house) and we spent the time doing fun summer things.







On Friday, the actual 4th, we spend the day at my parents, enjoying the Evanston Parade and a cook out. We got to hang out with my brother Jon and his girlfriend Caitlin and had a great time. Joshua missed the first part of the parade, but seemed to enjoy what he did see, especially the entries with music. I enjoyed the memories of growing up and seeing the ETHS band. Hey, they aren't great, but I was a proud member for 4 years and I even got to say hello to the conductor who hails from my days in high school.



On Saturday, after an early wake up call from Joshua (he was up a lot with all the noise from the pyros in our neighborhood, which I will NOT rant on here), we went to breakfast at m. henry *YUMMY* and then hit the beach for an hour and a half, making sand castles. Andy got sick of the sand, so we went home and Joshua took a SUPER long and early nap from 11-2 (he was tired, just like us). After nap time, we hit Millennium Park with friends. Joshua LOVED the water fountain, and thought it was very funny.

Sunday, was more low key with church in the AM and a brunch to celebrate with our friends the Campings as they dedicated their son at church. We had another day of eating really good food (too much, notice a theme for the weekend?) and spending time with friends and as a family. When we finally got home, we ALL crashed for a nap. What a great weekend!

I did it...

Well, yesterday I had the conversation with my boss resigning my position here at UIC. I have pretty mixed feelings about this, but I think it will be good. It has been time to move on for a while and for a bit I will be at home enjoying my toddler son (more pictures posted soon, I promise!). I don't have a last day yet, but we will work that out when she returns from out of town. If you want the gory details, ask me in person or call me, they will not be posted here. I do have a lot of peace about the decision. Thanks to all who prayed!

Goodbye to old friends

This picture pretty much sums up my weekend. Our dear friends, the Engstroms (Jason, Roxanne, and Anni, Joshua's betrothed), have left Chicago for the mission field. We are so excited for them, but sad too as you can see. At least we had a rockin party to send them off and I didn't cry like a baby until the very end. Oh well. Like my friend, Meg, I don't handle change very well, but since change means growth, exciting, unexpected things, and adventure, I will take it, however sad I feel in the moment.

Happy Father's Day

We had a laid back Father's Day celebrating with all the grandparents at our place. Joshua had fun going between all of them and getting loved on. Here is a shot of all the dads with Joshie! Grandpa Bill, Andy, and Grandpa Chuck.

A small rant on getting the car fixed...

Why does it take over an hour and a half to determine that you don't have the part needed to fix the weather stripping on a car door?? Especially since I called two days ahead of time and let them know what needed to be done. ARGGH!

I love having a photographer in the family

Check out the photo my dad took last weekend. I think it is beautiful!

Hanging with Uncle Tom

So, Saturday turned out to be a busy day, not only did we see the Studees in the morning, but we got to play with my brother Tom on Saturday evening. Tom even read Joshua a book!

It was really cool to see Tom interact with Joshua. We only see him once or twice a year, so it was a treat!

Happy Birthday Grandpa Chuck!

Today was Grandpa Chuck's birthday. At the last minute, my mom and dad arranged to meet Grandma Donna and Grandpa Chuck for breakfast. It was great to see them. Also, in a reversal of the usual birthday tradition, they brought me a present, a trike! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa.

Graduation weekend fun

We all had a great time over Jon’s graduation weekend. Here are some details on the weekend for those of you interested.

We stayed with Grandma Barb’s best friend from high school, Marlene. I (Laura) hadn’t seen her in 10 or more years, but she and her husband Frank are the sort of people it is like time has not passed since you saw them last. It was wonderful to enjoy their company and hospitality. If I have put on a little weight, you know the reason why.

We arrived on Friday afternoon and Joshua got a chance to play outside, his favorite activity. On Friday night, Jon and his girlfriend came up for dinner. She was very nice and took our family in stride. Later, I was told she thought I was the funniest family member, so of course I like her!

Saturday, Andy, Joshua and I decided to skip the Convocation ceremony and Joshua played outside for the entire day. His only nap was a snooze in the stroller when we went for a walk. (This was a theme, his naps were all kinds messed up). That evening, Dad, Andy, and I went down to Ithaca to attend a graduation dinner for Jon. Mom gets the rock star award for staying behind and babysitting Joshua so Andy and I could go. Thanks Mom!

Sunday we did the full on graduation hoopla. We had to leave super early to drive down to Ithaca. We then attended the big outdoor Commencement ceremony and then Jon’s department graduation ceremony. Thanks to Beck and Kim whose lent and hand-me-down clothes made me look so fabulous! After a late lunch on the way back to Frank and Marlene’s at the Glenwood Pines Restaurant, we went back to our hosts. Their daughter, Becky, was home for the holiday, so it was great to see her (she was the kid I hung out with on childhood visits). We all stayed up way to late (except Joshua) enjoying a great meal, good wine, and good friends and laughter. As usual, I went to bed before the party stopped, but Andy had a great time cutting it up with Becky and her fiancée Matt.

Monday we had to travel home. Our route was to drive to Buffalo and then fly from there to home. I gotta say the people at the Buffalo airport are geniuses. They had this small play area for kids to wait for the plane it. Trust me, plastic slides are much better to climb than waiting area chairs.

A few other highlights of the weekend:

* F and M had a digital photo frame with pictures of their grandson. During each meal, Joshua would say “baby” so he could watch the slide show while eating.

* F and M have a very old cat (19 years old), who fascinated Joshua. At first he would want to see her, but not get to close, as the weekend progressed, he worked up to petting her. Everyday when he got up he would ask to see the cat. When he saw her, he would say “Hi Cat”. Needless to say, everyone thought it was adorable.

My brother is smart, at least that is what Cornell thinks

There Jon is, in all his cap and gowned glory.

This past weekend we traveled to upstate NY to watch Jon graduate from Cornell. My parents also were celebrating having written their last tuition check for their youngest kid. He received his BS in Mechanical Engineering (MechE to you nerds out there) and will be working for Toyota starting in July, so I guess he is pretty smart :)

Congrats Jon! I will post other tidbits about the weekend in a separate post.

Our little fireman

So, here are a few adorable pictures of Joshua in the super cute raincoat I got him from the mondo rummage sale. Enjoy!

There's a first time for everything...

Today was our first experience with full-on Joshua throw up. Until now we have been lucky. The little guy hasn't been sleeping well at night. He took a long nap this afternoon and then we all ran an errand. On the way home he was VERY cranky. After we walked in the door, Andy said "He feels a little clammy and is breathing funny". I took his temp, and it was a little high (99.6). NO biggie, I thought, then I carried him in to the living room and puke starts shooting out of his mouth, all over me, furniture, the floor. It was terrible. The good news is that although he was a little tired, he seemed a little better after getting all that out. Hope he is on the mend soon, but as a precaution, we will be staying home from church tomorrow. All you nursery parents feel free to thank me ;)

Laura

Vacation

We just got back from our vacation to the gulf coast. It was super fabuloso! We didn't DO anything, just relaxed, which was perfect. There was a lot of pool and beach action, walks and bike rides. The resort had these crazy surrey things (see below) you could rent. Everyone enjoyed it as you can see.



I am also posting a few other pics (1) Andy teaching Joshua by the pool. (2) Joshua playing in the sand. (3) Joshua learning to play ping pong. It was great to see the two of them bond this week.







I have posted a video montage of Joshua enjoying the trip if you have the time and desire to sit through a 2 minute video.

 

Rox, this picture is just for you. Joshua eating at Chick-fil-A for the first time!

If I had only had a video camera...

Yesterday, we went to go visit our friends the Wiggins, and their new baby girl, Sarah. I will post a picture of her soon, she is adorable.

At one point in the afternoon, Hunter gave Joshua his Blackberry to play with. Joshua starts spinning around, laughing, and singing to himself. He was in heaven! If only I had my video camera with me, I could have gotten videographic proof of this cute routine. More proof that Joshua is his daddy's son!

Photos from Grandpa Bill

When we saw Grandpa yesterday, he took these photos.

More Waterpark photos

 

Grandpa C. thinks JP look like a pirate in this one.


Blowing Kisses!


Joshua and Cousin Aydin


Joshua and Daddy

Part I of Easter post

On the Saturday before Easter, all of Andy's relatives get together at a hotel in Madison, WI, to hang out and drink beer (I am serious about this, beer drinking is a required activity). We had a change of venue this year and went to a hotel with a small attached waterpark. It was little, but just the right size for the Studee clan kids. Below is a video montage of Joshua having fun with Mama in the waterpark. Excuse my super-white skin, what can I say, it has been a long winter!



More photos of the weekend will be posted shortly. We had a great time!

A few things about Joshua

Here are a few things I want to remember about Joshua at this age...(He turned 19 mo. old yesterday) Pictures will be posted soon, I promise!

1.) He LOVES bagels. Almost every morning he has a mini bagel for breakfast. It takes him a while to eat, as he gnaws on it, so I get a little peace and quiet either in the car on the way to Leslie's or at home.

2.) He high fives everyone and can say the word "five". He will go up to people and say "five" expecting you to high five him. It is adorable. This weekend, we were up in Madison with a lot of Andy's relatives and he had a great time high fiving everyone.

3.) I have played the Elmo keyboard game with him a few times and now he REMEMBERS that on the computer he can play with Elmo. If I forget to close the office door he goes in there, points at the computer and says "Mo?" If I don't let him play, he throws a tantrum. If I do let him play, he throws a tantrum when we are done. Ahh, the joys of parenting.

4.) He loves his family and get super excited to see any of the grandparents.

5.) He will not perform his tricks (like doing the animal noises) on command, much to mom's dismay when she is trying to show him off.

6.) He now LIKES the water. I will have photographic and video proof of this posted soon from our trip to Madison. Thanks Grammy Barb for the swim lessons that got him over the hump!

There are many more things and this is just a start. I will be posting photos from our crazy Easter weekend soon. I am still recovering!

It begins...

I went in to get Joshua up this morning to take him to Leslie's (our sitter) and asked if I could change his diaper. He looked a me and clearly said "No". Not in a mean or whiny way, just clearly stating his position on the matter. Until now, I have lucked out and only had to deal with head shaking for no. Ah, a new phase begins.

Our weekend

Who is that crazy guy in the picture above? Why it is Andy with the Fantastic Fuzzy of course. This past weekend, Andy had an "anniversary celebration" at his salon to entice new customers in. Despite the awful weather, God brought out a lot of folks to enjoy free eyebrow waxing (over 70 done in 2 days), free chips, salsa, and guacamole, the oldies station street team, and of course, the Fantastic Fuzzy.

On a side note, be glad your mom is not the regional director of a salon franchise. Dressed up in the suit is the 16 year-old daughter of Andy's regional director. Poor kid!

All in all it was a successful weekend, Praise God! We are praying that a lot of the people who came out come back regularly :).

What did Joshua and I do all weekend? Saturday, I went to a Women's Breakfast at church, which was awesome and a huge encouragement. I was even on a panel dispensing advice (scary, I know). Later on in the afternoon, my in-laws came over to see Joshua after checking out the scene with Andy. Sunday, we went to church, took naps, and even got a walk in despite the chilly weather (hey, I am desperate to get outside). Poor Joshua missed Andy all weekend (he didn't get home until after bedtime each night and was gone pretty early in the AM). He kept knocking on the office door going: "Daddy?". Luckily Andy was able to come home early last night and spend some quality time with the fam :).

Here is a picture my in-laws took of Joshua when then were over on Sat. They think he is ready to run for president. What do you think?

Mom and Dad go wild and crazy...in Milwaukee

On Friday night, we dropped off Joshua with Grandma and Grandpa Studee and headed up to have a parent's night on the town in Milwaukee. Why Milwaukee? We aren't sure, but here is the recap of our night.




We stayed at the Hilton Center City with Points. Gotta love the remnants of Andy's traveling days. It was a nice old hotel downtown, kinda like the Palmer House in Chicago. We had a fabulous dinner where we both ate too much at the Milwaukee Chop House, conveniently located on the first floor of our hotel. Then, we had our true adventure of the night, going to the Blues Festival. As an aside, the nice thing about Milwaukee is that is is so compact compared to Chicago, the concert was only 3 blocks from our hotel.



The concert was at US Cellular Arena, where the UW-Milwaukee basketball team plays. When I went in to get our tickets from Will Call, the agent said "Are you looking for the 'Lion King'? That is next door". It was then that I looked around and realized Andy and I were the ONLY white people in the lobby. This struck me as odd as in Chicago, you would see a more mixed crowd at a Blues Show. Don't white people like Blues Music?? Anyway, we had a great time at the concert. One nice, slightly stoned lady, told us that there is no color line in Blues Music to make us feel less odd, I guess. Another interesting thing was that as fabulous as Andy and I looked, we were underdressed by some people's standards. There were a lot of white three piece suits on the men complete with white fedoras and many of the women were dressed to the nines. Awesome! the other thing that struck us as funny that evening was after a song full of lyrics about sleeping around, etc, one of the singers got everyone all excited for Jesus!

After the concert we went back to the hotel and crashed and got to sleep in until 7am! Such crazy kids. All in all it was a nice night away doing adult things without constantly worrying about the little man :)

Don't I look smart

Last weekend I went to play at Grammy and Grandpa Bridges' house. (I go there a lot). I decided I would try on Grandpa's glasses to see what I would look like. I am pretty handsome, don't you think?

My first sledding experience

It is a sad thing that when the temperature gets above 20, Chicagoans cheer, “Yay! It is warm enough to play outside!” Since it finally warmed up ;) yesterday, Mom and Dad took me sledding for the first time. It was a lot of fun! I even went down the hill all by myself a few times (see video below). I was glad that they got me the super warm and way too big snowsuit to keep me from getting cold!

Video, try 2

Here is the video again!

New Year's Eve

 

I love this picture of Joshua, my mom and dad, and Andy all reading a story on the couch before bedtime. We are so blessed to have both of our parents (the Bridges and the Studees) live so close and excited to be involved in Joshua's life.