Happy Birthday, Maiya

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Dan and Lynette had people over this afternoon to celebrate Maiya's first birthday. Both sets of grandparents showed up along with several sets of friends as well. Maiya was all decked out in a cupcake dress with a cupcake bib, cupcake cakes, and, well, cupcakes.

The Last Christmas Bash

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GnGT came down and met Lynette and Colin for the HAT party (Herman/Anderson/Trosko). Dan stayed home with Maiya who is suffering through her first ear infection. Hopefully she'll be all better in time for her birthday on Saturday.

We had great appetizers, food, dessert, and drinks. There was also more gift giving, which by this time, didn't interest Jake at all. He did have a lot of fun playing with his cousin though.

Merry Christmas - Update

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Here's the post that I promised yesterday. All our photos are up and commented on.

We got to have Jake open all his gifts from us today, and he seemed pretty worn out by it. So, we figured the best thing to do would be to get the Pruss family over so Jake and Elle could exchange gifts! Jake got a very cool wood block from them that shows all his vitals. I think it should go right into his "keepsake" tin from his birthday. We gave Elle a few books that she seemed to enjoy. Then, they spent the rest of the time terrorizing each other by trying to steal whatever toy the other was playing with!

The Herman family, or at least part of it (due to sickness) will be coming over with GnGT tomorrow so we can wrap up our Christmas celebrations. Then, we have Maiya's birthday party, and a trip over to the Jurado's this coming weekend. Those should call for a few more blog posts!

Merry Christmas

(Sorry... uploads are slower than Mark's stream,
so, no pictures tonight...

They should be up tomorrow though!)

I'm sure there are many questions about the photo above... it was taken through the top of the wall in the newly remodelled basement at MPnA's house. Mark said they should leave it unfinished. I think this proves that it should not. I'm sure Meme will be horrified that this made it to the blog, but I said it would, and thus it was done. Tomorrow's lead-in will be a cute picture of Jake... I promise.

We had a great Christmas with friends and family.

Our Christmas weekend started on Saturday when we went to our annual dinner and a movie with Dan and Lynette. We ate dinner at Luca's in Grand Blanc and then watched August Rush. It was a wonderful evening.

On Sunday, we got to see Tiff and Francesco who were are in town for the holidays. We only got a couple hours with them, but it was great to catch up.

Monday took us back up to GB where we went to church with MPnA, MnK, and Melissa. We then had our traditional Christmas Eve dinner with the Stewart family at the Husted's. Jake did really good and even managed to stay up until about 10 pm.

Today, we opened gifts in Grand Blanc then headed to Fenton to GnGT.

We, along with Jake, especially Jake, got spoiled by all the great gifts we received. We are very lucky to have such wonderful friends and family.

Welcome to Winter

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Well, we're winding UP to Christmas, and we just got our Christmas gift to each other delivered a few days ago. Michele and I decided we should finally buy our first set of living room furniture. Michele's parents were generous enough to let us take some of their furniture way back when we first got married. We've been dealing with slip covers and the loss of padding ever since.

Now, after ordering one set of furniture that we realized was WAY too big, we got a slightly smaller set that still seems pretty large. We both really like it though, and I've heard that's what counts. Michele's dream is to one day move to a house with a larger living room, and at that time add a chair-and-a-half with a cocktail ottoman in some sort of contrasting color. We all have our dreams, right?

Jake seems to like the new furniture, or at least sitting against it. He did tell me the other day that it would look better in the glow of a 42" LCD HDTV playing a blu-ray disc from a new PS3. Unfortunately, Michele wasn't in the room to hear it.

If you follow the link above, you'll see the furniture. If you continue below, you'll be treated to a few new videos.

Winter Weekends

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Jake had a pretty fun set of weekends bookending a brief fever. Two weekends ago, Jen, Jessi, and Melissa visited with Jack and Isabelle. The kids had a pretty good time playing with each other. Their naps seemed to go in phases so it was usually just two at a time.

Jake then got to spend three more days at home, one with each of us, and a final day with Grandpa. He never showed any symptoms of being sick besides his fever, and being a bit groggy. He got to go back to daycare on Thursday, and then got a visit there from Santa on Friday! Jake wasn't thrilled to sit on his lap, but he didn't scream, so I guess that's something.

This past Saturday, Meme brought Alison down to visit with Jake. Aside from just playing with him, they also helped to distract him while Michele and I shopped for some new living room furniture (our Christmas gift to each other - not quite an HDTV and PS3, but something cozy to sit on when we finally get those). Then, on Sunday, when we got the two snow blowing jobs worth of snow, it was fun to get Jake out and let him play around in the deep drifts. We then pulled him around on his sled while Jason pulled Elle on hers. Jake didn't like the snow blowing in his face, but he was more than willing to put up with it order to stay outside and continue to play.

Michele's First New Car

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Shortly before Thanksgiving, Michele's '02 Malibu that she bought from her Grandma Remenicky started to have some problems. After an overnight stay at the dealership, we found out that the laundry list of issues was going to cost a few hundred dollars less than the car was actually worth. We only had a few payments left, so we had to make the tough decision to fix it or replace it.

We decided to go ahead an replace it with a newer model. Michele is now the proud owner of an '08 Malibu LS. It's not loaded, but it's got all the features that you'd really want in a car like power doors, locks, and windows. It has remote entry, though it lacks a remote start feature. Cruise, CD player, and many airbags are all included as well.

Michele pretty much fell in love with it as soon as she took it on the test drive. Unfortunately, while we were test driving it last week, that particular car sold. Michele had her heart set on a black car, so we just tagged the next vehicle coming to the dealership. We were called yesterday and informed that the new car had arrived and we could pick it up.

Michele has slowly moved from sad about not having a car payment to excited about having her first, brand new car. Hopefully she feels the same way for the next few years!

Happy Week After Thanksgiving!

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We hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving. We sure did. We spent Thanksgiving day up at GnGT with DLCnM and Great Grandma and her friend, Gloria. We all ate way too much food, except, of course, for Jake who is attempting to survive on bananas, raisins, and cereal bars.

On Friday we headed over to MPnA's and spent the day with them. They had hosted a dinner at their house the day before, and were more than happy to just spend the day relaxing.

Rewinding back, a bit... on Saturday, November 17, we met Bret and Jen in East Lansing for the final MSU game of the season against Penn State. While Bret got sick and didn't get to stay through the whole game, the rest of us saw a thrilling game where MSU came back from being down 17 points and won the game!

A few days later, our friends had a big day. Jeff and Marie had their baby girl, Adela. You can read all about it in their blog here, and see their photos here. She's a cute little girl, and her parents couldn't be happier!

Fast forward to the weekend after Thanksgiving... after Jake went down to sleep, Michele and I put up our Christmas tree. We had both forgotten how nice and thin the artificial tree is that we bought last year, so we were pleasantly surprised. Jake awoke the next morning and was so shocked by the whole thing that he ended up laying back down. When he got up an hour or so later for round 2, he started to get into it! We got him dressed up and spent about the next 30 minutes trying to get a photo for the Christmas card. Luckily, this year, I didn't have to do any major editing to splice multiple photos together like last year. We found that getting him to count to three resulted in a great looking smile when he said "three".

I've also got three different videos to share with you this time (the feature is getting more and more use on our camera).

This first video is of Maiya playing happily with a couple of plastic golf balls. I can't believe how fast she's growing up, and her laugh was too cute to only capture some photos. Everyone was a little jealous because she really seemed to take an interest in me this time. I even got quite a few kisses that everyone else had to beg for!


This is a video showing Maiya chowing down on table foods. I would have videoed Jake, but it would have been him shaking his head, saying no, and then screaming if we forced the issue.


Lastly, this is a video we captured a little before Thanksgiving. Jake was having a blast splashing in the tub, so I thought I'd get it on video. What I didn't know was that he was going to bust out into an anatomy lesson. Make sure you have the sound up, and watch to the end. I'm thinking of submitting it to AFV.

Welcome to November

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Regardless of how much fun we have traveling locally or far to see friends or family, sometimes it just feels good to stay home. That's what we did this weekend. We still go to see family as my parents and Alison came down to watch the football game on Saturday. We were very excited for a little bit in the fourth quarter, but eventually UM came back and beat the Spartans. Luckily, that pain was dulled on Sunday when the Lions demolished Denver.

Aside from leaf-work, I think I performed the last of the yard work for the season. After I spent a good part of the afternoon finishing that up, while Jake and Michele played outside, Jake pretended to mow the lawn as well. One of us did a pretty good job. You can see his attempt below. (No one bothered to film my work... oh well).

To my fellow Spartan fans, while the football team is now very close to not receiving a bowl bid, at least their hockey team is undefeated in CCHA conference play, and have only lost one other game outside of the conference!

Happy Halloween

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Jake had a lot of fun in his costume this year. Like Michele has told anyone that would listen, the $20 was definitely worth it. Not only are we not as creative as Nez, but in the fall Michele doesn't have the time to make a costume either. Jake looked so adorable it was totally worth it.

We took him to a few neighbors houses where he got a couple goodie bags (we did not know that was customary, so we'll have to bust our butts to make our goodie bags next year make up for not having them this year). He then spent a good chunk of time playing on the porch, eating a banana, and helping hand out candy to the other kids.

Back from the Buckeye State

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We got back today from a weekend trip down to Gahanna. We were visiting Mike, Melissa, and their 6-month old son Eli. We had a great time even though we had to watch MSU lose to Iowa (I'm still pretty sure Mike jinxed them by calling for a loss when Iowa started to come back) and then later watch OSU beat Penn State. MSU needs to win at least one of their next three games (U of M, Purdue, Penn State) in order to be bowl eligible. On the bright side, as long as they get a win (preferably against Penn State since we'll be there), maybe they'll get an invite to the Motor City Bowl and we'll get to head downtown to see it.

While we were there, we also got to eat at Hoggy's. It was one of Michele's grand parents favorite restaurants while they lived down there. It was as delicious as we remembered it.

We had a great time visiting with them, and look forward to doing it again. We're hoping to do this at least twice a year, which is not as often as we'd like, but still better than once every other year!

Is It November Yet?

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Time sure does fly by once the Fall Season starts on TV. Work has been crazy for Michele and I as well, so we seem to alternate late working nights with picking Jake up from day care. We've got a few busy weekends ahead that should afford some more photos, so hopefully there will be a bit more regular posting in the near future.

Jake seems to be doing great besides having a cough that he can't shake. He's walking like he's done it his whole life. He's beginning to say more words. This morning, he heard the church bells, and without prompting, looked for the steeple and said "bell". While he's definitely improving on cute stuff, he's also perfecting his temper tantrums! He's begun head butting, even though we don't think he knows quite what he's doing, other than flailing around. Day care has gotten better. He tends to cry more frequently when we pick him up to leave than when we drop him off!

To, hopefully, make up for the lack of posts (maybe this is going to be the norm until Michele's home with him all day again in the summer) here are two more videos. The first is a little bit longer than usual, but the second is short and sweet. Enjoy!

18 Month Checkup

Blog Functionality Alert: I will no longer force links to open in new windows/tabs. If you want to do that, either press CTRL when you click on the links (should work in most browsers) or you can try using your middle mouse button (also pushing down on your scroll wheel typically works). I hope this doesn't cause too many people too many problems. If you fail to open in a new window or tab, you'll need to click the back button to return to the blog.

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Jake had his 18 month checkup yesterday. He seems to be doing exceptional in everything except the growth department where he is at least making progress. He is now 31 and 1/2 inches long, and weighs 22 pounds and 7 ounces. He had to get three different shots, but as you can see from the photos taken only an hour later, they didn't seem to phase him much.

He was in such a good mood last night, he even let us get a bit more video. Enjoy.

Colin's 4th Birthday Party

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Tonight, we headed over to DLCnM's house for Colin's 4th birthday party. GnGT were there as well, but Bill and Joni (Colin's other grandparents) are travelling out of town and were not able to make it.

It was fun to see the kids and how active they all are. Maiya is crawling around with ease. Jake, is walking and coming close to running. And Colin, well, he can obviously get anywhere and do anything. He's still pretty good with the littler kids though, which is probably very fun for them.

Glad to be Back

(Please click here for photos from August and here to see our September photographs.)

So, it looks like it's been a month since our last post. Did you miss us? If you did, and you're one of our friends that supposedly has a blog as well, maybe it will give you something to think about!

Our absence was warranted as we had some computer trouble. We had our hard drive crash on us very quickly. I should know better, considering I work with computers all day, but I did NOT have adequate backups. It had been about two months since our last backup, so I had to scramble to recover data. Luckily, I was able to get dotPhoto's download service to function properly so I was able to get all of our photos back. Other than that, we lost a few videos and documents, but nothing as bad as if we had lost all those photos. Now, we have a redundant solution in place along with an easier, and continual backup system running so we shouldn't have to deal with this again. If you do not backup your files, and you care about them at all, I would suggest investing in an external hard drive or an online backup service. Shoot me an e-mail if you would like any suggestions.

In the past month, we have done a ton of things that you'll be able to see in the photos. It would take far too long to describe them all in detail, so just take a look at the photos above and you'll be able to get a pretty good clue about the fun we've been having. The biggest change has been Jake learning to walk. He went from taking about 5 to 10 steps before collapsing one weekend to walking everywhere the following weekend. He can now walk all the way from his classroom to the front doors at day care. He can easily find his way down the aisle at Church to find Michele after we wait outside to hear the bells ring. I've even taken him on a few walks around the block where he's been on his own (he doesn't want any help most of the time) for probably a third of the distance!

Jake has also started eating MUCH better. He's still on some baby food, but mostly it's just to get him to start on the real food that we've made for him. He really likes fruits like cranberries, raisins, grapes, and, as you'll see below, cantaloupe.

Camping 2007

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Last weekend was our annual camping trip. This year, there were a few less people and a lot more rain, but it was still a lot of fun.

The Wegienka clan picked Port Crescent State Park near Port Austin, in the thumb, for our camping trip this summer. It was a very nice campground with a pretty nice beach for Lake Huron. The water felt great for the little time we actually got to spend in it.

We got rained on pretty hard Friday evening and Saturday morning. The rain held off during the night, and, luckily, our new tent held up pretty well and the majority of the water that ended up inside was not from the rain, but from a leaky cooler. Unfortunately, we didn't seem to get any photos of the new tent out in the wild. I guess there's always next year. It was also nice having Kari and Craig's camper there to escape into when the rain got to be too much.

Jake did really well for most of the trip. We could tell that his teeth were still bothering him a bit, but he was a trooper. Jake and Lauren, who is one month older, played really well together. Evan was even great about playing with the little kids too until Colin made it up on Saturday with Lynette. Evan kept calling Jake his "little friend". He also is the first child to make the infamous "Camping Quote Book". On Saturday morning, after all the kids were done with breakfast and already off playing, Evan wandered back to the picnic table. He looked at a bunch of bananas and asked if he could have one. He then proceeded, instead, to grab a powdered donut hole and said, "Thanks for the white banana," and ran off!

2 ER Trips + 1 Zoo Trip = Typical Summer Weekend?

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Yes, Jake got to visit the ER twice on Friday. It started out like any other day. Michele and Jake were killing some time before heading up to Grand Blanc to go to the spray park. They were playing around on the bed, and as usual, after tackling the pillows, Jake likes to play with the monitor. This time, however, the monitor fought back. He enlisted the efforts of the bed and the nightstand and did some damage to our son. Jake was reaching for the monitor, and lost his balance and bumped his head on the nightstand. Normally, it wouldn't be a big deal, just a few tears, and then a few button presses of the monitor later, and he'd be over it. Well, this time, he caught the edge with his forehead right by the eye. It was a bit more than his skin could take, so it decided to split, letting a lot of blood come out in the process. After confirming with Jo that it wasn't ridiculous to go to the ER for the cut, Michele hauled him over to St. Mary's. The doctor agreed that it was good to bring Jake in. Instead of stitches, he just glued the wound closed. Jake, by this time, was playing with his books like nothing had happened.

Fast forward to Friday evening. I was about to leave work to come home. Pete and Teri had come down for dinner since they didn't see Jake and Michele during the day. Right before packing up my notebook, my phone rang. Jake had bumped Michele on the chin. In case you hadn't guessed, it was with the same eye. So, the glue busted open and there was more flowage of blood. The three of them took him back to the ER where the second doctor glued the wound back together, but then also added some steri-strips to help keep it closed. Michele said Jake didn't even cry at all this time, but had a very brave look on his face while the work was being done.

As I stated in the previous post, Michele is getting anxious about the end of summer. She wanted to fit a zoo trip in today, but with the Woodward Dream Cruise in full swing, I didn't think it'd be smart to head to the Detroit Zoo. Instead, we headed South and visited Ohio. We had heard nothing but positive remarks about the Toledo Zoo. It was only a little over an hour away according to Google Maps, so we thought we'd go for it. The zoo was very nice. We decided it was probably cleaner than Detroit, but we also thought the animals were harder to get to, so we've decided we prefer the closer zoo. We had great weather, and it made for a really nice trip. We even bumped into our Tawas relatives, Ericka and Chase who were down visiting the zoo with one of her friends and her daughter.

Trips to the Splash Park

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Since the last post, Jake's been to the Plymouth splash park twice! The first time, Michele took him with GnGT and DLCnM - D. They went a week ago Monday while Dan and I were at work. Both Colin and Jake seemed to have a blast. Then, today, Michele went back to the same park with several of the teachers she works with and their kids. Jo and Elle went along this time too, even thought they don't appear in any of our photos.

Last weekend also brought Jen and Bret into town. Melissa threw a surprise birthday party for her husband Steve. The party was a joint party for Steve and one of his buddies who was also turning 30. After the party, Bret and Jen crashed at our place. We had a fun night with Chinese food, wine, and a couple of old scrapbooks. Then, on Sunday, Melissa and Steve brought Jack over. Jake and Jack really seemed to play well together during the brief time when one or the other wasn't asleep.

Jake has progressed rather quickly from standing to walking. He can take 3 or 4 steps now before he decides to lunge at whatever his target happens to be. He can also stand up without using furniture or anything else to assist him. I think he still gets a bigger kick out of that than the walking itself. Thankfully he's making all this progress now because he returns to day care next week. We don't want them to think we've been stunting his development all summer. Michele feels like this is the last week of summer since next week she'll be returning to school to start getting her classroom in order. I think we're going to try to pack a few more summer events into this weekend. Then, after that, we have a few weekend trips, and she'll be back to school full-time. Don't feel too sorry for her though, she's had a great summer and enjoyed every second spent with Jake (at least the seconds where he wasn't refusing to eat or drink).

Happy Birthday Alison!

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Today is Alison's 6th birthday. She was VERY excited for it. She even figured out that it started at 12:00 midnight, although she didn't quite stay up that late Saturday night. She came pretty close though.

On Friday, Jake and I left Michele home alone and headed up to Grand Blanc. Michele picked Tiffany up from the airport later that night, and then the two of them left for Grand Rapids on Saturday. Most of the college girls were able to get together at Jen's house for a home spa day, and then dinner and drinks later on.

On Saturday night, after Church and dinner at Applebee's, I took Alison to see Harry Potter. It was my first time seeing the fifth film, but her third. She did a good job of not spoiling it for me, but she seemed a bit antsy sitting through it again. I think this might be my favorite movie yet, but then again, the books seemed to get better as they progressed as well.

Sunday brought some rain which moved Alison's party indoors. At least it was nice and cool inside. Some people were even crazy enough to be wrapped up in blankets Shawn and Melinda . Michele made it to the party shortly through dinner, but in time to see Alison open her gifts. She got a lot of great gifts, per usual. We bought her a Barbie scooter that she really seemed to like. After everyone had left and all the tables were put away, she wowed us with her skill as she flew around the basement.

The other thing that amazed everyone was Jake. He finally decided to try standing on his own! He used one of the pillars to help himself stand up, and then would step away and just stand there for a few seconds before he would start laughing too hard and lose his balance. There are a few pictures of the feat along with a video that you can see below. Looks like our little guy might start walking soon. I think Logan has been walking long enough that he's preparing for a triathlon already. Maybe Jake just felt the pressure to get moving since Elle can now stand up on her own, which means she has free reign of wherever she is. And boy, can Elle ever walk around very quickly!

Beat the Heat

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Michele was going to take Jake to the zoo today, but with the weather forecast calling for some extreme heat, she decided it might be better to head up to Fenton to do something cooler. Lynette also brought Colin and Maiya up, so the Trosko's and kids got to spend the day out on Lake Fenton.

A Busy 10 Days

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The past ten days sure have flown by. The first four were consumed with a lot of reading (finished the book... it was great!) along with some golf and Melissa's birthday party.

Last weekend, we met up with a lot of Michele's teacher friends at a wedding for one of their own. Gina, another first grade teacher, got married to Matt Breslin on Saturday. I was working and as such didn't get to see the ceremony, but I heard it was beautiful. I did get to accompany MY beautiful bride to the reception at St. John's in Plymouth. Unfortunately, Michele is still getting over a cold/cough and I was exhausted from all the hours I put in at work, so we had to cut out earlier than we would have liked. From what we heard, the rest of the night was just as nice as the beginning though.

On Sunday, Pete and Teri held a memorial for Pete's mom, so we were all up in Fenton. Again, work got in the way for me, but Michele said the grave-side gathering went very well, and plenty of people turned out for lunch after and helped to remember Vera.

HP : Book 7

Jason, his friend, Todd, and I just got back from Borders in Novi. We got there around 10:30 pm and checked out shortly after 2:00. I'm now debating going to sleep or starting the book. Either way, I've got an 8:00 tee time. At this point, I'll probably be just as tired if I go to sleep as I would be if I stayed up.

In other quick news, Brian and Di came down last night. Brian and I went to use some free sneak peak passes to see Hot Rod. There were some very funny parts, but all-in-all, the movie was pretty dumb. If you liked Napoleon Dynamite, then it's probably worth a rental once it comes out on DVD.

Shelby 2007

(Please click on the photo to see A LOT more pictures.)

We just got back yesterday from our annual trip to Shelby, MI with the Trosko family. We had another great week. This year, we stayed in a different house now that the family has increased from 6 people to 9. The new house has more room, and was closer to the beach. Unfortunately, there was a pretty big dune to cross that started to give one of the older vacationers a bit of a hip ache. As we also went a little earlier in the year, the temperatures were much better for Jake and I, but not so much for everyone else. Dan, Colin and I spent the most time in the water, followed by Jake. The girls and Pete didn't spend hardly any time in it, as they felt it was too cold. We packed in the usualy adventures including the fish boil, dinner at the Par 5 Grill, and a trip to Craig's Cruisers for putt-putt and go-kart racing. This year, we also headed up to Luddington and spent some time shopping, eating, and then playing in the park.

Michele and I also celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary while we were there. I bought Michele a complete outfit and surprised her with that, dinner, and a play in a nearby town called Whitehall. I had arranged for the rest of the family to take over Jake duty for the night, and Michele and I headed down to the Michillinda Lodge for dinner. We had delicious seafood with a great wine. After dinner, we headed a bit back up the coast to the Howmet Playhouse to see a performance of William Shakespeare's "The Winter's Tale". The performance was very minimalistic, but was still, very good.

One other adventure on the trip involved our hospital-prone baby. On Friday, before we left, Jake cut his 8th tooth. With that in mind, it was not surprising that he had a bit of a fever. The fever, however, persisted and reached 103 on Sunday. After a call to the pediatrician, and their recommended double dose of tylenol didn't keep it away, we took him to the ER. There, they started him on a Motrin/Tylenol cocktail and did all sorts of other tests. He had blood drawn, a strep culture, and chest x-rays along with the usual checkup stuff. When all the tests indicated we had a healthy baby, they decided it was likely a viral infection, so we were just asked to treat the fever. They also saw what might have been the start of an ear infection, so they gave him a 3 day antibiotic in hopes of keeping that from adding on. Jake's fever broke late Monday or early Tuesday. When he was getting his chest x-rays, they used this cool device called a Pigg-O-Stat. Michele thought it looked cruel, but it didn't seem to hurt him, and it was way more effective than us trying to help him stand or sit still for the x-ray.

After the fun week, we are glad to be home. I am also glad to be done getting the photos online and getting the blog updated. If you get through our pictures, and your eyes aren't yet bleeding, you can see Dan and Lynette's photos here.

Happy 4th!

(Please click on the photo to see more pictures.)

OK, so this post is a few days late, but at least I got it out before we left for vacation. Tomorrow we're heading over to Lake Michigan for our annual Trosko vacation to Shelby, MI.

We got to hang out with Mark and Kelly and some of their friends during their 4th of July barbecue. Jake had fun showing off for all the new people. Mark and I dominated in bean bag toss (corn hole). Then, Jake got tired and we got to leave without eating.

Michele spent the rest of the week getting ready for our trip. She did find time on Thursday to make a delicious dinner of baked ziti. We paired it with my new favorite wine, Tres Pinos. We got it at Trader Joe's a few weeks ago, and I'm hoping they still have it when we go back to look for it next time. It's a lot milder than most of the Shiraz wines Michele prefers, but at the same time also seems to have more flavor.

Unless they have expanded the cellular networks, I probably won't be able to post any pictures or updates while we're on vacation. I grabbed two different providers' cards from work just in case, so we'll see. If we don't have connection, I'll be sure to post as soon as I can after we get back on July 14.

In the mean time, after checking out our photos, you can head over here to see MPnA's photos from their vacation to Tennessee.

A 13!!!

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Jake has a good reason to be goofy... he passed his sweat test! The normal range for the level of sodium in sweat is 0-40. 40-60 is considered borderline CF. Over 60 is considered a definitive indicator of cystic fibrosis. Jake, thankfully, received a 13 on his test.

The test began with a five minute shock treatment. They taped two electrodes to his right leg and turned on a small current. Jake started whimpering almost immediately, and it got continually worse until the test ended. The nurse administering the test stated that he wasn't nearly as bad as some of the children that she has performed the procedure on, so I guess that's good. As soon as she turned off the electricity, he calmed down and became interested in what was going on. She then wrapped some gauze on his leg, and we killed 30 minutes walking around.

We got the results back around 4:00 this afternoon. I met Jake and Michele on their walk and we split a mini bottle of champagne in celebration. After that, we made the all-important calls to the grandparents to let them know the results as well.

Tonight, Jason and I caught a late showing of the new Transformers movie. It was a very good flick, and definitely a buy when it comes out on DVD. There was a ton of action, and quite a bit of humor. I did, however, get reminded why I hate seeing a movie in a crowded theater. While some people enjoy the reaction of a crowd, I could do without it. People seemed to laugh at weird times, and there was SO MUCH clapping. If you're at a live performance, clapping is great. When you're watching a movie, clapping does nothing to inspire the performance. Oh well. I would recommend anyone looking for a big summer blockbuster to go and check this one out in the theater.

Congrats: 2007 Grads

Congratulations to Nick (Left) and Shawn who both graduated in 2007. Nick had his open house last weekend at Elms Park. Shawn opted for a cash buyout. After spending some time with Grandma Stewart, who seems to be healing well, we met most of the family at Nick's open house. It was a very nice day to have it out at the park.

On Sunday, Pete and I got up early to take the first tee time on the back nine at Fenton Farms. Pete, of course, beat me, but only by a slim margin of 42 to 46. That afternoon, Mark and Kelly came over to PnT's and we all went out for a ride on the pontoon boat. It was a bit chilly so there was no swimming or tubing, but we all had fun cruising around the lake.

On Sunday, MPnA also took off for a little vacation down to Tennessee to look at some time-shares. They are ending their adventure with a trip to Cedar Point on Wednesday. The Husted's (at least some of them) should also be down there that day as well. Hopefully they'll have plenty of pictures to share when they get settled back in.

15 Month Checkup

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Yesterday, Jake got to spend a fun day with Jack and Isabelle in Brighton. Today, he got to go to the doctor for his 15 month checkup which included another round of vaccinations.

The doctor confirmed that Jake's abilities seem to be developing at a regular rate. His size, however, is not. He did not grow much (if any) in height or weight since his 12 month checkup. Even his head didn't grow that much, but that one is probably a good thing.

The doctor has suggested a course of tests that he'll start next week. There are a lot of different possibilities to explain why his growth has seemed to hit a plateau. My guess is that he just likes making life difficult for his doctors.

One of the possible reasons could be GERD. The worst-case scenario, and the first thing Jake will be tested for, is cystic fibrosis. His test, next Tuesday, will hopefully eliminate that as a possibility.

Hopefully this will just turn out to be as minor as his possible head complications were.

One other positive thing that came out of the appointment today is Jake's ears are free of infection! If he gets another ear infection soon though, he's off to an ear, nose, and throat specialist.

Busy Weekend

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We had absolutely gorgeous weather all weekend (even if it got a bit hot) and we spent a lot of time outside enjoying it.

On Saturday, while I was golfing with Jason at The Links at Pinewood, Michele took Jake over to Patty and Gary's house. Anna was also in town with Reid, so the three kids got to play together for a while.

On Sunday, we had a few couples over for a cookout. Jason and Jo brought Elle across the street. Jeff and Marie were also able to make it. Also, Tony and Michelle brought their adorable (and advanced) daughter Skylar. Jeff and Marie are close friends with Tony and Michelle and I also happen to work with Tony. Everyone seemed to have a good time even though it started getting a bit toasty as the shade disappeared around the yard. DLCnM even stopped by for a few minutes on their way over to the Wegienka's for Evan's birthday party.

The fun didn't end even though the weekend did. Today, I left work a little early since Michele brought Jake downtown. We met up with Alex, Deanne, and Logan and walked through the River Days which was setup along the Detroit river. This is the first year for the event, and it seemed to be a success. The event ends with the fireworks on Wednesday. I hope they decide to do this every year, and allow it to continue to get bigger as more of the riverfront is developed. Jake and Logan had a fun time playing in the water, and we all had a good time watching them, and then eating at Loco Bar and Grill in Greektown.

The excitement continues for Michele tomorrow when she goes to get together with her girlfriends. I'm guessing I'll have even more photos to post from that.

Father's Day '07

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We had a great Father's Day weekend.

To start things off, Jason and I went to see Fantastic Four on Friday night. We both really liked it, and I thought it might have been better than the first.

Saturday, our two families took Jake and Elle to the park. They had a great time playing with each other. Elle learned to slide all on her own. Jake learned that he still shouldn't put wood chips in his mouth (OK, maybe he didn't learn, but he was definitely reminded).

On Sunday, we headed up and had a cookout and spent some time on the boat with DLCnM and GnGT. It was a gorgeous day to be out on Lake Fenton.

After spending most of the day with them, we headed over to MPnA. Mark and Kelly were there with Simba. Ericka and Chase were also still in town from a wedding. We grilled burgers, and then Jake even got to swim in the pool. He spent A LOT of time in the water today. We left Jake up in GB so that we can avoid paying for daycare this week while Michele goes in to move her classroom. Meme and Alison sure are going to have their hands full for the next couple of days.

Quick Post

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We had a couple cute pictures of Jake that I wanted to get uploaded along with a little video that I put together. I recorded him while he was asleep on Wednesday night. I did a little post-production work, and you have the video linked below.

Also, Rescue Me's season premier did NOT disappoint. I think this would be the one show I would choose to watch if I was forced to pick a single series. Good thing I don't have to with our 4 tuner DVR! FYI... if the service is offered in your area and are interested in getting U-verse, let me know since I can get credit for a referral. We are very happy with it thus far.

Lastly, today was Michele's last day teaching first grade. She is slated to move to kindergarten next year. The current kindergarten teacher, sadly, is moving out of state. They are also afraid that first grade attendance is going to be lower next year. I think Michele is ready to enjoy the summer home with Jake before worrying too much about that though (at least after she finishes moving stuff around next week).

...Bad Times

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This is the main reason that I was unable to update the blog over the weekend as I had originally hoped.

On Friday, around 2:00, a storm blew through Livonia. Johanna, said it looked like a tornado without the funnel cloud. There was high winds with rain blowing directly sideways.

Most of Livonia (if not all) was without power due to the storm hitting elsewhere, so when the tree fell and pulled the power and phone lines off of our house, there was not a fire or anything.

When I left work and drove home, I had to avoide Middlebelt road between Plymouth and Joy. A large tree on the West side of Middlebelt fell and was blocking 4 of the 5 lanes. Driving through our subdivision let me see just how many limbs and other entire trees were littering the ground.

While Michele took Jake up to her folks to enjoy some time on the boat with DLCnM, I stuck around and arranged getting the tree removed (most of it), and getting utilities restored. My dad came down on Saturday and helped me patch up a few things and clean up most of the yard.

We still have to arrange to get the fence replaced. We also have to replace the service door to the garage and the umbrella for the patio set. Hopefully we won't hit any snags when we try to get this all processed through our insurance company.

Good Times...

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Jake is really getting around well now... at lesat with assistance. He uses anything that is the proper height to steady himself as he walks or kneels around the house.

Clicking on the photo above will take you to the end of the May photos. Clicking on this link will take you to the newer June pictures including another trip to the park.

Jake is also giving out kisses like they are going out of style. If he doesn't want to give them freely, a quick peck between Michele and I will cause him to go into a a see-saw of affection kissing each of us alternately and, often times, repeatedly.

Mark and Kelly's Wedding: More Photos

So, it has taken a little while, but I have collected quite a few albums from Mark and Kelly's wedding that everyone seemed willing to share.

Professional (available through November 2007)
Christina
Erin
Kathy
Katie
Rick
Trosko's

Thanks again to anyone who passed along their albums.

Congrats, Mark and Kelly!

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On Friday, May 25, Mark and Kelly tied the knot. They were married at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church and had the reception at The Italian American Club.

Before the wedding, beginning on Thursday, the pre-marital preparation started. We had the rehersal at the church for the parents of the bride and groom, and anyone else included in the wedding. After a successful rehearsal, Kelly's parents, Steve and Maureen, had everyone back to their house for a lasagna dinner and drinks. The night, for most of the guys, any way, ended with an intense round of "lightening" or "knockout" on the basketball court.

Friday morning, Mark and I went golfing with six of his friends. We played the first nine at Saint John's in a scramble format. The other team won by a stroke, so the losing team sprang for lunch at Wendy's.

After golf, the afternoon just flew by, and before we knew it, we had to get to the church to start taking pictures before the ceremony.

The ceremony was absolutely beautiful. Alison, Haley, the junior bridesmaid, Katie, the maid of honor, and all the bridesmaids, Christina, Lauren, and Erin all looked beautiful. On Mark's side, Jason, Rick, and Jeff were groomsmen along with me, the best man.

The reception hall was gorgeous. The appetizers, dinner, and dessert were all great as well. Mark and Kelly opted to have a band, Joyride, instead of a DJ. We've been to weddings with good bands before, but I've never liked any enough to make me consider having one at my own reception. Well, this band, was totally different from any that I've ever seen. They did an amazing job, not only at performing a wide range of music, but also at keeping people involved without seeming pushy. Before we knew it, they were announcing the last dance, and Mark and Kelly were off to get ready for their honeymoon in Hawaii. They took both their cameras, so I'm expecting we'll get quite a few photos when they get back.

If you want to see other photos from the wedding, you can see those taken by MPnA right here.

Unfortunately, for me, Mark's wedding wasn't the only big event this weekend. We had a HUGE deployment at work that I had to head right over for after the reception. When I finally left work, things were looking pretty good, and from the sounds of it, the deployment was a success. We'll know more tomorrow as the users get logged into the new network. Beginning at 6 am on Friday, until 6 am Sunday, I only managed 3 hours of sleep. During that time, I worked for about 26 hours while the rest was spent on wedding stuff. After I got home, early Sunday, in the next 24 hours, I managed to sleep about 18 hours! Michele was a trooper and took care of Jake all weekend. Today, felt pretty normal, so I think my body has balanced itself back out. I just wanted to let everyone know that I wasn't intentionally slacking on getting this post/announcement up. It's just been a hectic weekend.

To end on a positive note, if you haven't been watching any shows on FX this spring, you may not have noticed that Rescue Me is about to return. As I've mentioned before, this show is definitely not for everyone (younger children included) but it is by far one of my favorites. Season 3 begins on June 13! If you follow the link, you can click on the promo to see what's in store for Tommy and the gang.

Mother's Day 2007 (and more)

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Jake and I had a great visit at the Schwartz house on Saturday. Heather and Ryan were there along, with Mr. and Mrs. Schwartz and Kris and her 3 month old baby girl, Sydney. Mrs. Schwartz cooked a nice breakfast for everyone, and we were able to hang out and catch up for a few hours. Meme and Alison headed over just as we were leaving since they hadn't seen Heather in ages either. After leaving, we got a quick bite to eat at Halo Burger and fed Jake as well. Jake then took a nice nap including about an hour or so being held by Meme.

During this time, Michele was in Lansing with her girlfriends. They grabbed some lunch and did a little shopping at the outlets.

On Sunday, after going to church with DLCnM at St. Mary's of the Hills, we had a delicious brunch at Gus O'Connors in Rochester. I would highly recommend anyone in the area try it out some Sunday. We had quite a large party: Pete and Teri, both Grandma's (Remenicky and Stewart), DLCnM, MPnA, Melissa, Mark and Kelly, and the three of us.

We headed home after brunch, and after his nap and snack, we spent the rest of the day outside. I blew a tube on my bike, so Michele got to pull Jake for the first time in his trailer. I rollerbladed along beside them, and we went up to a local park. Jake got to swing, slide, and play in the wood chips. We then got out his new water table when we got back home, and let him splash around in the water until dinner time.

Here's a little video that I took of Jake playing around on the piano on Saturday. I didn't realize it was going to turn out so dark, but you can get a good idea of how much fun he was having. You'll want to make sure your speakers are turned on so you can hear his masterpiece!

Happy Birthday Michele

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Yesterday, Michele celebrated her 29th birthday! Before we get to that, let's go back another weekend...

So, the main reason there have been no blog posts is related to the fact that I am getting old. Last weekend, while Michele spent time with her family, Mark and I went up to Boyne with some of his buddies for Mark's bachelor party. Between Friday and Saturday, we golfed 54 holes. We spent time at the casino, ate some great food, and drank probably a bit more than we should have. It has taken me nearly a week to recover from the sleep that I lost over the weekend. We had great weather for golf, and the three courses we played were gorgeous.

Back to the present past, Michele celebrated her birthday yesterday with Jake and I, and the Pruss family. Michele chose PF Chang's for her birthday dinner, so while she was getting Jake ready for bed, Jason and I went and got the takeout. Today, she is heading to Lansing to see her girlfriends, while I take Jake up to GB so he can finally meet Ryan and Heather Luna (along with the rest of the Schwartz clan).

Jake had a pretty big week at daycare. He has moved up from the Infant room to the Transitional Toddler's room. We think he'll be in this room until we pull him out for the summer. He was getting a bit too big to be in the same room with all the little babies. His teachers said he did great getting used to the new room throughout the week, so we'll see how next week goes when he is in there full time. He moved up with one other little girl, and a few other kids moved there a couple weeks ago, so he'll recognize plenty of the other children in the new room.

Congrats: Russ & Jen

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On Saturday, we headed up to Flint for my cousin Jennifer's marriage to Russ. They had a beautiful ceremony at St. Pius Church. Their reception followed in the same hall that Michele and I had our reception almost 5 years ago at St. Michael's. While their reception was very nice, they were lacking in the Polish cuisine that we served, namely, cabbage rolls and pierogi. So, I think I'm going to give the advantage to us. Those people that don't care for Polish food, might vote otherwise. You can also find some photos from MPnA here.

Last Thursday, I was so anxious to just get an update out, that I forgot OUR big news. We met with the neurosurgeon Thursday afternoon and he agreed that Jake did have "external fluid collections of infancy" but that we wouldn't have to do anything about it. Unless Jake's head grows abnormally again in one of his regular checkups, he will not need to get any further MRI's or exams for this issue. Apparently, the extra fluid is quite common, and is also not limited to premature babies. Dr. Zakalik stated that he was surprised that it even made it to him with how limited the fluid level actually was. Needless to say, we are both relieved.

Lastly, those of you that are subscribed to our blog might get some notifications that our Spring Break (SB for those of you that didn't figure it out) posts have been updated. I merely uploaded and re-linked to the full-size images. There is no new text, and you probably wouldn't even notice a difference in the photo quality. So, unless you just want to re-live our vacation, there's no need to go back and re-read or re-view anything (although you are welcome to, of course).

Happy Friday!

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Where has the time gone?! We've been home for over a week, and this is the first blog post. Not only have I heard it from Jake's grandparents, but my own brother even got on my case about it.

To catch up, after we got home from our trip, against my better judgement, I let Michele give Jake a haircut. Fast forward a week, and Jake got to experience his first trip to a hair salon.

In the mean time, we had been hanging outside and getting the backyard ready to be Jake's summer jungle gym. We also went on a few more bike rides and visited the local park. Jake loves sliding down slides (with our assistance). It should be interesting when he's able to balance himself.

In more interesting news, some of our friends had big baby news. Mike and Melissa added to their family with their son Elijah. You can watch the sidebar over there to see when they get a chance to blog about him on The Noll Report. Until then, take a second to check out these photos. We'll need to find a free weekend to take a car trip down to Ohio to see them. Jeff and Marie also announced on their new blog, The Jurado Journal, that they are expecting their first in November! Again, you can find that over there to the right as well. We're so happy for all of them.

SB07:Day 7

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This morning, Pete and I got 9 holes of golf in at a great course right on the island. Pete didn't get out golfing at all last year, but he still had no trouble beating me by 4 strokes. We played with rented 2007 Nike clubs. The driver is larger than any driver I've ever swung, and I never did get a feel for the putter, but I'm sure I could get used to them. Too bad the putter probably cost more than my existing set. The course was not very long, but it was very tight between all the trees, water, and sand. I managed to rack up a penalty stroke on 7 of the 9 holes.

Later in the day, Pete and Teri took a flat-bottom boat tour. Teri really enjoyed herself, and Pete might have if his allergies weren't bothering him, and if he had taken a jacket.

When they got back, we all headed back to the golf course for a very nice "final" dinner.

We will be cleaning up the house tomorrow and then heading back up through Charleston to the airport in Myrtle Beach. We have a fairly late flight that won't get us into Detroit until around 10 pm.

SB07:Day 6

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Today was another lazy day spent on the island. Aside from heading to the beach, Jake and I got to rescue Teri and Michele as they walked a bit further along the beach than they should have. Later on, Michele and I got to take a short bike ride while Pete and Teri watched after Jake.

We're not sure if Jake is teething, getting a cold, or both, but he has been pretty snotty and drooly lately. Worst case, he could have developed another ear infection, but he doesn't really seem to be showing any of those symptoms, so we'll keep our fingers crossed that he doesn't before our flight home on Saturday.

SB07:Day 5

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Well, the storms that they were calling for did not materialize, so we got to spend some more time at the beach. Before we made it down there, Michele and Teri spent an afternoon getting pampered at a local spa. Michele got a manicure and a pedicure while Teri got a facial. Pete and I kept an eye on Jake who napped most of the time while they were gone.

Once they returned we all headed down to the ocean. The waves were a lot higher today and the water felt a little bit colder. There wasn't as much compacted beach NOT getting pummeled by waves, so there was less room to let Jake wander in. He still managed to try to cram tons of sand and shells into his mouth, but we were mostly successful in stopping it.

I did finally get around to snapping some photos of the house which you'll see if you follow the link above.

SB07:Day 4

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Today was a relaxing day spent without leaving the island. It even warmed up to around the mid sixties.

Jake got to see the Atlantic ocean for the first time today. The waves seemed to scare him when we first got down to the beach. Soon, just the feeling of the sand was bothering him. Eventually, he was crawling around like he was sitting in our living room. He even let me put his feet in the water! Michele and I also got to play a little catch. However, Jake did have a tendency to put shells, sand, and anything else he could find right in his mouth, so we didn't have much time to ourselves.

Tomorrow, they are calling for some pretty severe storms, so we might be stuck inside, or maybe we'll head back into Charleston.

SB07:Day 3

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So, today we headed back into Charleston. After spending most of the morning walking through the Charleston Market, we had a pretty good lunch at Hyman's Seafood. We were lucky that we got there early as there was quite a line by the time we left.

After that, Teri and Michele went to their cooking class while Pete and I took Jake to the aquarium. Walking into the aquarium, there was an excellent view of the Cooper Bridge and the aircraft carrier in Patriots Point. The Aquarium was somewhat smaller, but had many cool displays. Jake really liked a lot of the fish, but he liked watching the other kids get excited over the exhibits even more!

After their class, we all met up again and walked around for a little bit longer before heading back.

Everyone has decided that we've driven way too much in the past few days, so we're planning to stay on the island tomorrow.

SB07:Day 2

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So, we finally made it out of Michigan today. Our new tickets took us through Boston to South Carolina. It almost doubled our total air travel time, but worse off, it added an extra up and down meaning two more times for Jake's ears to have to adjust to the pressure.

Jake slept through the first take-off, and was MISERABLE during the first landing. He took a bottle and slept for the whole flight from Boston, and was very playful and didn't seem bothered by the pressure change on the landing at all.

Over all, I think he was a pretty good baby on the plane. There were quite a few other kids on the plane and many were quite a bit louder than Jake.

After arriving in Myrtle Beach, we immediately headed to find lunch. We found a restaurant called Sticky Fingers right outside the airport and we all really enjoyed the barbecue food. We then started our 3+ hour drive down to Edisto Island.

On the way down we eventually managed to find a Starbucks and then also had to go grocery shopping. In order to save space while packing we opted to just buy diapers and food for Jake when we arrived. As long as we got enough diapers, I think the plan worked out well.

The house we are staying in seems really nice. I hope to get some shots of it tomorrow. We're planning on heading back up to Charleston tomorrow. Michele and Teri will be taking a "Low Country" cooking class, and Jake, Pete, and I hope to visit the aquarium.

Once again, I want to apologize for the quality of the photos, but my connection is slower than dialup.

Also, we realized that it wasn't all bad that we didn't get to fly out yesterday. First off, we got to have a delicious dinner with the Pruss family which included a GIANT ham. Also, we got to go to the Easter Vigil at our own church which was very nice. Then, I got to watch (on Tivo-delay) the Spartans beat Boston College to become the 2007 National Champions of NCAA hockey. They were down by a goal and then finally scored to tie it up on a power play with about 10 minutes left. Then, with only about 20 seconds left on the clock, they scored the go-ahead goal. That forced BC to pull their goalie, allowing the Spartans one last empty-net goal, and gave them a 3-1 victory.

SB07:Day1

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Well, this first post is coming to you from sunny, frigid, Livonia, MI. Jake got to get onto his first airplane, but he never got to take a ride.

After he stayed awake through the security screening process, Jake slept right up until they dimmed the lights to get ready for take-off. He woke up happy, and excited to explore the plane from my lap.

A few seconds later, we heard that the person backing the jetway away from the plane might have hit an engine. About 10 or 15 minutes later, we were de-boarding, meaning, the person DID hit the engine. About 30 minutes after that, Teri joined the mad dash to the ticket counter to try to secure a new flight as ours was officially cancelled.

We are now flying out tomorrow around 7:00 am through Boston.

On the plus side, we forgot the accessories for Jake's nebulizer, so instead of figuring out where we can get them, we got to come home to get them. We also get to unpack an outfit each as we'll be going to church tonight for Easter instead of tomorrow.

Hopefully the next post will come from South Carolina.

On an administrative note, the photos I upload during the trip are going to be scaled down to allow them to upload over a slower connection. When we get home, I'll replace all of them with the full-size versions. This will only impact you if you wanted to buy a print. If you do, wait until I send the all clear meaning the higher res photos are available.

Away We Go

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In a few hours (yes, a few hours), we'll be getting up to head to Metro Airport. We are flying down to South Carolina with GnGT. We'll be staying in Edisto until next Saturday.

I'm taking my notebook, and my goal is to blog each day, but depending on the network connection I get down there, that may or may not happen.

Before we go, I thought I should get our memory card cleared off. So, here are the photos that were hiding out there. It was spirit week at Jake's day care, so some photos show him wearing his Tiger's outfit for opening day. Others show him wearing a cute MSU getup for "hat day".

Cranbrook Institute of Science

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Today, I took Jake to the Cranbrook Institute of Science. We met MPnA there. EDS was sponsoring an exhibit, so EDS employees got to bring family members in to the museum for free. Alison really had a ball. The exhibit that EDS was sponsoring was really cool and had a lot of activities along with information about how kids live in different parts of the world. We also tried taking Jake into the planetarium, but it was close to his nap time, and he threw a fit forcing me to take him out about three minutes into the show. Everyone else stayed and said it was really cool.

After a quick, late lunch at Rio Wraps, we went back to MPnA's for a little bit. We then headed over to the Husted's house for Katy's birthday party. Jake stayed up about an hour past his bedtime before getting fussy, so that was fun.

Tomorrow, Jake and I will be going to GnGT so that they can hang out with Jake while I take a look at their computer.

Michele is still getting over her strep throat, so she decided to stay home and try to rest up. Hopefully it helped, because Jake and I are both ready to have a healthy Mommy around.