Hanging with Gus

Andy is in Canada until late tomorrow night, and before that he was in Michigan. He was home for about a day this week, so it's really just been me and the Guster hanging out. We've had colds all week, and Gus is also experiencing some new toddler phase (separation anxiety? who knows...) where he whimpers and/or cries a bit when I leave (especially at night when he's going to bed). It has caused some sleepless nights this week, but we're getting through it. Keep your fingers crossed for me tonight.


It's Thursday evening, and it's a nice, balmy night. We were (are?) in a tornado watch and thunder storm warning, but hopefully it'll pass soon. The weather is supposed to turn chilly again tomorrow, so we're enjoying the 80* weather by having the screen door open and by running around in our pj shorts (well, Gus is doing that). Gus had to pose for this photo...love the bent knee.

Gus played and played in the sandbox at daycare today. When I picked him up he literally had sand in his diaper and his shoes. Jen tried to clean him up, but it was everywhere. Then when he took a bath tonight, I realized he was covered in sand and dirt (his feet were so gross). The bath water was so filthy, and it took me forever to clean the sand out of his hair, but he's clean now. Or at least better than he was! I don't know which I loathe more now: cleaning up cottage cheese from clothes and the floor or cleaning sand out of a wriggling toddler's hair. Both have their special challenges.

This clip is from earlier this week when we went to the park. It was pretty nice out that day and Gus went down the slide by himself for the first time, and then did it over and over again. It was so cute. Have a great Friday..

Random thoughts for a Friday

Today should be nice. It's Friday, and I have some work to finish up and then some errands to run with Gus. Right now he's coloring with his crayons, but he likes to try to write on the hardwood floors, so I have to watch him. We've been working on his letters and numbers this week b/c all of the sudden he's really into the alphabet and whatnot. So far he can recognize and say the letters "T", "A," "O," and "Y"--with "O" being his favorite. Whenever he sees an "O" in a word he gets excited. It's funny. Andy is convinced we need to focus more on numbers b/c neither of us is that great at math, so Gus hasn't inherited any major math skills from us, unfortunately. :)

Gus just put another crayon in his mouth. I thought at this point he would get over that, but he still does it. I don't know why...it can't taste good...just waxy.

So, Andy and I took a big step and locked all three cats out of our room last night. It was one of the best night's sleep we've both had in awhile. The cats have been so restless and annoying at night, so we decided to just lock them out. I think when Fozzy arrives, we're actually going to put the cats in the basement and keep them down there at night, at least for the first few months. It's just too much to deal with annoying cats and a crying baby. The thought pains me. But I bought this cat spray at Petco that keeps the kitties from scratching at our door, which they are known to do. It worked last night!

I've caught Gus' cold and I'm cranky. I started taking zinc hoping that would keep it at bay, but it's here and it's not going away. It's just a nasty head cold, but it's still annoying. Gus' cold is doing ok, but he's a snot bucket right now and we all know how much I love wiping off snot. So goes it.

This weekend should be nice. Tonight we're just chilling out and tomorrow we will have Lindsey and Anthony over for some bbq and a movie, since today is Lindsey's birthday. Andy leaves for Michigan Sunday, but returns Monday night. Then he leaves Wed-Friday for Montreal. Then he's hopefully hope for at least a week. I'm used to his travel schedule now, but it's still so nice to have him home. I think it's just super crazy right now b/c he's meeting all his clients for the first time.

Oh, two movies I'm sorta excited to see are the new Sex & the City movie, coming out in late May (I'm going to the theatre for this one!) and Baby Momma. I know Baby Momma probably isn't that funny, but I really like Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, so it should be a good Netflix movie. Plus I just love it when Amy Poehler plays that trashy character...she's so good at it!

ek

Fozzy's Premiere

I had my 25-week appointment today with sono. It went really well and we have some fun photos of Fozzy. It was kinda weird to do it without Andy by my side, but I emailed him the photos today (he's in Phoenix) and he enjoyed them.

Here's an extreme close-up of Fozzy's mouth and nose. I love this one because it looks exactly like Gus' sonogram photo of his nose...same Dierks nose! :)
Here's a profile photo of Fozzy--pretty typical sono profile picture. I don't think it gives anything away, but if you see something, DON'T TELL ME! You can kinda see the leg semi-extended up. Fozzy was moving all around.
And here's my favorite photo...Fozzy was so active during the sono. He/she wouldn't sit still for very long. In this photo Fozzy extends his/her leg above the head. So limber! It reminded me of Kelly when she gets excited and does a high kick! Ha! Fozzy was definitely performing for us during the sonogram. It was fun to see. I can't wait to meet the little sugarcube!
-ek-

Beautiful Savannah

Flying the friendly skies...Gus watches the planes go by outside the airport window.

We just returned from our mini-vacation to Savannah, Georgia., to visit Andy's sister, Jenny, and our nephew, Eli. It was so lovely down there. Andy and I want to vacation down there from now on, especially in the spring. The town is just gorgeous and full of great history. I love all the ghost stories and history in Savannah. So lush!

The flights down to Savannah last Friday weren't so fun...long story short, our flight was super late getting in to Dallas/Fort Worth (thanks, American Airlines...you stink) so we missed our connecting flight to Savannah (even though we were told they were holding our flight for us). So we connected to Charleston instead and Jenny was kind enough to drive 2 hours down to Charleston to pick us up. We got in later than planned, but the rest of the trip was fine. And our flights back on Tuesday were smooth. Gus did so well on the flights. He had a brief meltdown on the flight home Tuesday from Dallas, but otherwise he was wonderful. We were so proud of him.

Our time with Jenny and Eli was so awesome. Gus and Eli had such a great time together. We were so sad to see them part, and I know Gus misses Eli. He's been looking around for him since we got home. Jenny was a fabulous hostess/tour guide/etc... and we really had so much fun just catching up and hanging out. She treated us so well! I also left with so many wonderful toddler food ideas and a great breakfast casserole and cake recipe--thanks, Jenny!

It's good to be home w/ the cats again, but we miss Savannah and Jenny and Eli like crazy. The trip was just too short! But it was a great trip and I'm glad we did it!

Oh, more photos from our trip at our flickr site. And check out this video of Gus and Eli playing on the bed. Insanity!

ROCK CHALK (that's never going to get old),

ek

2008 NATIONAL CHAMPIONS: KU JAYHAWKS! ROCK CHALK!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm still in shock from last night. Hell, I'm still in shock from our Final Four wins! Not that I didn't think we could do it...I honestly knew deep down we could beat any team in the tournament this year. I'm just so numb from the excitement of WINNING THE ENTIRE FREAKIN' THING! And the comeback we made last night was amazing! That was history in the making, seriously. Who comes back from 9 points with about 2 minutes left? THE KU JAYHAWKS DO! We rock. And as happy as it makes the fans, I can't imagine how happy those players and Coach Self are. I want to kiss and hug them all and just tell them how much we appreciate this fun ride. I love each of them so much (I know, cheesy, but I do). I forget how young they are, and sometimes I honestly get emotional thinking of how much pressure they are under all year at such a young age and how much some of our players have been through in their personal lives. They worked so hard to make this happen. We are fighters, through and through.

That's really what stood out over the course of this year and especially this tournament. We are true fighters, I think more so than any other team out there. We never give up! Never. Last night was the perfect example. I likened the end of the game to the scene in Kill Bill 2 where Uma Thurman worked her way out of the coffin after being buried alive. I know that's a crazy comparison, but that's how I feel about our team! There was never a situation that we couldn't fight out way back from in this tournament. Granted, it really helped that Memphis missed 4 of 5 free throws in the clutch, but I think we got into their heads and made them do that. I LOVE THAT.

Our night was good, albeit insanely stressful. We watched it at our house b/c we were superstitious. Lindsey and Anthony came over to watch it w/ us. Gus was in bed by 8pm b/c he had taken a short nap that day and was exhausted. So he slept through everything. I was shocked he slept through the end b/c I was crying and jumping around with Andy and whatnot. We all wore our KU gear (that I hadn't washed in a few days) and I literally rubbed Gus' lucky KU sweatshirt throughout the game. It worked!

That 3-pointer by Chalmers...what hasn't been said about it? It was the clutch play we needed. But I remember another clutch play by Collins--the steal on the inbound pass to get us even closer to the Tigers at the end of the game. Those were pivotal moments. Oh, and also pivotal was the fact that Chalmers was able to make Memphis' big dude foul out in regulation...that helped us in overtime! So many great moments, though.

The baby was kicking me so much during the end of the game last night, right when it was getting crazy. I kept thinking, "Baby, are you trying to tell me something? Are we going to pull this game off?" I think he/she was! I told Andy that Gus and Fozzy were our good luck charms. We are going to tell them that for the rest of their lives, too. :)

I prayed last night for the game. I know, I know, BAD FORM. I never pray for sports. I mean, there are bigger things out there to pray for. But when it was bad and we were down 7 points or so in the end, I did it. I prayed a quick prayer and do I feel guilty about it? Not really. :)

I am so tired today. We went downtown after the game (thank you, Anthony, for staying at the house w/ Gus!). It was as beautiful as you can imagine. I think they said there were around 40,000 people downtown! It was the best feeling to just walk around, hug and high five random strangers, sing the Rock Chalk chant, etc...everyone was so high on life. I wish I could've had all my KU friends there with me. That would've been the best! It was amazing to be in Lawrence during this great ride. We'll never forget it. Once we got home we both watched tv and went online and didn't get to bed until 2 or 2:30am. And Gus was up at 6:30am, so I'm beat!

Now Self just needs to stay. I know the money is tempting and so is returning to "fix" Oklahoma State's bb program. I just hope he realizes what he's got at KU and stays for at least 5 more years. I mean, he's only been at KU for 5 years. He can win at least one more championship here (if not more) before he moves on! I hope he does it. I hope Lew can pay him enough to keep him here. Fingers crossed.

ROCK CHALK, GO KU! WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS, MY FRIENDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! #1!!!

BRING IT!

So excited, so excited, so nervous, so nervous. So excited. Woo-hoo! I'm bummed b/c I have a video of the craziness of downtown Mass St. from Saturday night (Andy and I went down there and Lindsey and Anthony stayed at our house for a bit while Gus slept), but I can't get it to download on my work computer...so I'll try to add it later, but we'll see. It's hilarious! So many crazy, drunk fans. It was insane. I LOVE IT.

I'm at work and I wore my lucky KU t-shirt, brought my lucky KU sweatshirt and dressed Gus in his lucky KU sweatshirt. Andy is in his lucky KU t-shirt, too, so we're covered.

ALL I CAN SAY IS ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK, GO KU! LET'S BRING HOME THE CHAMPIONSHIP! 20 YEARS IN THE MAKING!

(So I lifted this photo from the JW website...I give them props for it, though. I love this look from my boo, Darnell. So cute.)

GO JAYHAWKS!

First of all, here's a photo of me at 22 weeks. It's not the best photo I've ever taken, but it's a nice depiction of the belly size. I was rather tired (if you can't tell) when this was taken, and pardon the messy dresser behind me. :) Fozzy swims around often and is starting to kick around more. Sonogram is in 2 weeks. I'm excited to see him/her up close!

April is such a great month. It hasn't even been that warm yet, but it's early, and I feel like April is going to be great. Our little daffodils and tulips are starting to bloom, so that is nice. I wish I had planted more last fall, but I will make a note to plant more this fall. I can't wait to get into my garden, though. I have so many plants I want to add and I want to have a veggie garden this summer, too. I remember weeding my garden at our old bungalow when I was 8-9 months pregnant with Gus, and although I had to take many breaks, it was nice.

I wonder when Molly is going to have her little one? I can't wait to hear and I wish her the best. I know she and Dan are probably so anxious.

I've had some nasty, terrible heartburn/indigestion lately, so I'm on medication for that. I hate taking any medication (besides the prenatal vitamin) during pregnancy, but my doc said it's fine to take. It has been helping a bit with the pain. The other night I literally could not eat anything b/c it hurt so bad. I had to go to bed early. I had heartburn w/ Gus, but nothing like this. Crazy! This baby is going to owe me big time... ha!

This weekend should be fun and stressful, the stressful part being the KU game! KU of course plays tomorrow night in the Final Four game. I'm so freakin' nervous I can't even think about it, but I just know we'll be fine. I think a lot of folks expect KU to lose, so that's good for us! I like being the underdogs...I wonder if Memphis or UCLA will win? I've watched them both play and they are both very good. It's hard to say, but I give the edge to Memphis b/c they are so fast. But UCLA has that Love guy, and he's a warrior. He scares me!

Sunday we're throwing a baby shower for our friends Jessica and Nick. (it's so funny, but when Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey broke up, Chris Jankowski, another friend, called me and said, "Erin, did you hear Jessica and Nick broke up?" thinking I would fall for it and think he was talking about our friends Jessica and Nick. But Chris forgot he was talking to me and I read every US Magazine out there, so I knew he was talking about the celebretards! Funny aside...anyhoo). So (our friends) Jess and Nick are due May 11 and we're having a coed bbq shower at our house Sunday. Should be really fun, and the weather is supposed to be in the lower 60's, so I'll take that! The kids can run around in the backyard and the adults can sit around and eat brats and drink beer. That is a Lawrencian party if I've ever heard of one. Too bad we don't have a live band, but we'll have the radio on. :)

Here's a sweet photo of Gus. He almost looks like he's posing for a senior photo or something, with his hands positioned the way they are!

ROCK CHALK! GO JAYHAWKS!

ek