November 2011

November has been a great month. We have seen family and friends, attended a wedding with a special guest and went to all of the Colts home games. With plenty to update everyone on, let’s start with the beginning of the month and the wedding for one of Deb’s co-workers.
During the first weekend of the month, we attended a wedding for one of the students Deb mentored at work. He went to school at WVU, but was originally from New York and you could tell this guy had some friends that wanted to party. Probably 6 years ago, we would have been ready to party with all of them, but we stayed under control (mainly because they never played “Shout!”). Anyway, his bride is a huge Purdue fan, so she invited Gene Keady and he came! After several cocktails, I worked up the courage to say hi to him and ask him for a picture. He was very down-to-earth, easy to talk to and looked like he was having a good time on the dance floor!
Randy and Anna came to visit during the month of November. As you can guess, they were really excited to see Allison and enjoyed spending the weekend playing with her (and hopefully us!). Plenty of time was spent with Allison at the condo, but everyone ventured out to a local brewery to have lunch with several of our friends that have been skiing in Davis so everyone could catch up. Anna and Deb also went shopping and I will give you 2 guesses…and yeah, they went to Bed Bath and Beyond along with Kohl’s. Everyone enjoyed the weekend, and with us heading to WV for Christmas, it was a little easier to say goodbye with a visit scheduled within the next month. We spent Thanksgiving in Indy this year and it went as well as expected. Being the first holiday without Dad, we all wanted to make sure we did a few things to remember him. We all watched the picture DVD from his wake, along with Laura giving everyone a christmas ornament with his picture and Beth gave everyone a picture frame with dad’s voice recorded on it. We shot our normal free-throws (can’t go back inside until we get over 50%) and enjoyed time with family. Beth, Laura and I did a Thanksgiving walk that morning which gave us a chance to hang out alone with I really enjoyed.
Over Thanksgiving weekend, we also went to our annual “Friends Thanksgiving” at the Watkins’ house. It was well attended and this year’s theme was pictures from the last 10 years. I was pretty surprised to see pictures of my 21st birthday on the slide-show! We also went to Brandon and Diane’s for a bon-fire on Friday evening to hang out with them, along with the Bassetts and Lawton. We were back at mom’s condo on Saturday evening for a celebration of Beth, Grace and Frank’s birthdays. It was a good time, filled with an Italian dinner and just hanging out with some family members we aren’t able to see that often. Allison is doing great. She is able to sit up and play all on her own and can transfer a toy from one hand to the other. She is being stubborn and won't roll over just yet, but hopefully soon. She eats formula at about 6:30AM/10AM/2PM/7PM and tries some solids around 6PM. The solids are going OK, and as expected she likes the sweet veggies or fruit. She stays on her schedule pretty consistently, but her napping just doesn’t work well at daycare. It is OK, but she really does well for us on the weekends, with a good morning and afternoon nap each day, but the noise and lights at daycare must just prevent her from taking scheduled naps. We are working on getting over our first ear infection which caused some projectile spit-up and sleepless nights. She is doing better now and has weaned completely onto formula, which should allow for Deb to get some freedom!

Deb and I went to 3 Colts games this year, and tickets aren’t hard to come by! We haven’t won a game all year and the best part has been the tailgating. We went to a game over Thanksgiving weekend with Beth and Jeff Ferrand. Allison has done really well with our babysitters (my mom, Frank & Jan, Gabrielle Nondorf and 2 friends of Debbie).

October 2011

Each month, I always read the previous month’s post to recall what has happened in the last month. I will have to tell you that France feels like it was forever ago, but it has only been a month…so as Allison is continuing to grow and change each month, at least it doesn’t always feel like life is going fast! During this month, we went on vacation to Florida. Wait a minute, let’s replace the word vacation with “trip.” We have been on several vacations whether it is an all-inclusive beach resort or wine-tasting in San Francisco or New Year’s Eve in New York. It appears that from now on, if we take Allison, we are going on trips. We were just naïve to all the work it was to get Allison from one place to the next with all of the necessary equipment for her. On top of this reality check, there was a tropical storm that basically kept us inside for 3 of the 4 days. 25 mph winds and rain just isn’t something you can have an infant on the beach! We were trying to find things to do, but how much fun would Allison have at a movie or museum? And going on a pub crawl just didn’t seem like a good idea! I’m sure Deb felt the same way, but I just had a new appreciation for the “vacations” I went on as a kid and all of the work my parents did to make those happen.

Allison actually did really well on the flights. Deb did a good job getting us the best available seats, so we had plenty of room with the bulk-head or first-class on the planes. Her naps were a little off all week and since we don’t really have a consistent nap schedule each day (daycare puts her down at random times and on the weekends we do a more consistent job), we were sometimes stuck at the condo waiting for her to nap before we could leave. We did get her in the ocean and took daily walks (sometimes 2) on the beach regardless of the weather and just put a towel over the front of the jogging stroller we rented to block the wind. We had some great dinners at recommended places (Captain Kurts, Phillippe Creek, The Hub and Lobster Pot). On the last day, we took a walk and the weather was still breezy and overcast. At lunch, it wasn’t raining, so we had 13 beers left in our fridge and decided to take another walk. As our walk ended, Allison was asleep in the stroller and we stopped in front of our hotel and put a towel down. The sun came out, Allison slept for 3 hours and we each drank probably 3-4 beers and got a little sunburned! It was just enough to show us what Siesta Key had to offer and I think we will be back at some point! We participated in our 4th “Light the Night” fundraiser for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society on October 15th. We have done this each year since Dad was diagnosed in 2008. For obvious reasons, it was a little emotional, but we enjoyed each other’s company. The Vandervaarts made it back from Ohio, so we were able to spend some additional time with them this weekend as we hadn’t seen them since they moved to Ohio in August.

Allison had her 6 month appointment and seems to be doing great. She weighed in at 15 lbs and 9 ozs and was 27 inches long. She is currently eating 4-5 times a day and is starting to do better with the solids. Now really, why call it “solids”? I know it is more “solid” than milk, but it sure seems to have the consistency of a milk-shake and on a side note, it doesn’t smell that great!
We got a hand-me-down Halloween costume from a friend that was a “pea pod” and Deb decided she was going to be a “Sweet Pea.” We also took her to a local pumpkin patch and took some pictures. She did well in the costume as we wore it to a Halloween party at my work. Deb and I went as “Colts” to that party and I borrowed a neck brace to look even more like Peyton Manning (when your team is 0-8, you just need to laugh at it)!

September 2011

We have completed yet another month, and it is definitely hard to believe that Allison is 5 months old. On one hand, it is hard to believe she is only 5 months old as it is hard to remember our lives without her. On the other hand, when you are pulling out some new pajamas that we just got out a few weeks ago and she is already out-grown them, time appears to be flying by!

We started off our month going to Lake Lemon with the Fredericks, the Foulkes (minus Rosie), and Lawton. In our pre-children years, this used to be a lake where we would all gather to enjoy the summer, drink too much beer and cause too much noise until the next morning. This trip was just as enjoyable, but different with 2 infants and 3 kids running around. The weather was great and we spent the entire afternoon on the boat and in the water. Nick and Kimmey have a baby girl 6 wks younger than Allison and we all had a good laugh because Allison and Piper had on the identical bathing suit!



















For the last 10 days of the month, I was in France to work on a computer project. I was anxious to leave, but did my best to focus on work and try to enjoy some of the sites while in Paris. When I was able to call home or Skype, it sounded like Deb was able to do a great job with Allison. It was difficult to call or Skype much since I was 6 hours ahead of them. Deb’s parents came for the weekend I was gone and that was a needed break for Deb. They spent lots of time together, but Deb and her mom went shopping on Saturday while Randy watched Allison. They also headed over to Tom and Tracy’s for a quick visit after church on Saturday.

I know Randy and Anna enjoyed the visit, but I also felt much better knowing that Deb had some help over the weekend since I was gone for so long. She had some visitors on the weekday evenings (my mom, Beth and Tracy to name a few), but giving her a breather over the weekend was very much appreciated.

Now, about that trip to France… I usually come home from these trips and if we are really busy, I can at least say the evenings were fun because we were located in a great area. Or if we aren’t that busy on these international trips, then we have time to make the trip into the city we are located. This trip was a lot more business than some of my previous travels, but it was a learning experience and I was as productive as I could be with their limited previous training and translation issues. The town we were located in is directly underneath a flight path to the airport, so sleeping was difficult with planes flying in and out until midnight and starting again at 5AM. We did make it into Paris twice, and enjoyed some great food and saw the major tourist spots (Arc de Triomphe, Eiffel Tower and The Louvre).

Allison is doing great. She appears to have had a little cold/congestion for the last weeks or so, but it doesn’t appear to bother her and is usually in a smiley mood. Naps are something that are hard to figure out, because she doesn’t have a consistent schedule at daycare, but on the weekends, we usually can get 2 decent naps and one short one by leaving her alone in her crib and letting her talk herself to sleep. Daycare has so many lights and noise going on, it is hard for her to nap. She gets some sleep, but it just isn’t on a consistent schedule. We are going to start working with her on some rice cereal, so that experiment starts this afternoon! We will see how it goes, work in some other foods and start working toward bigger and fewer meals. This milestone will allow for Deb to get some more free-time hopefully!

First rice cereal... took 3 bibs!

A few more items from this month:
• We went and saw a few houses during September. Nothing stuck out at us, and we believe we will have more choices in the late winter/early spring.
• We went to dinner with the Andersons & Watkins as a “thank you” for all of the toys and clothes we were given from the Watkins in early September.
• I am playing flag football…again. I think I counted and this is my 20th season (2 times a year since 2002). This could be the end…as I really enjoy lazy Sundays and my schedule doesn’t permit for me to play more than half the games anyway.

First bow in Allison's hair.....







Allison's first time prop sitting....








Skyping with Nana and Granddad















GO BOILERS!!!















Mommy bought Allison a new hat for next month's vacation to Florida











Allison's first time in the Bumbo seat
(doesn't she look thrilled!?!)

August 2011

August has come and gone and we have spent a majority of it trying to figure out our new routines. As some of our friends have told us, trying to work, spend time with Allison, make dinner, doing laundry, clean the house, hang out with each other, working out, etc. can be difficult to squeeze into a 24 hour day. However, whenever anyone asks me “How are things going?” I quickly respond that Allison seems to make it easy on us and then Deb makes it even easier on me. I try to help out, and don’t ever feel like I am “slacking” but when I am trying to go to bed earlier than Debbie, you can understand how much she is doing in a day!
We spent our first weekend in August heading up to St. Joseph, MI for our annual “Beachmo” trip. I’ve explained it in the past years, but this is a weekend where we head up to the beach with my uncle’s family and spend the weekend at a hotel, playing cards and enjoying the lake. Each year, some people come and some people go, but I don’t think any of the immediate family members of these 2 families have ever missed in the past 20 years we have done it. I know it wasn’t a holiday, but this was probably the first “traditional” event we had since Dad passed, and I think it was lingering in the back of all our minds. They say with each event, it will get easier, so we will hope “they” are right. Deb has consistently bragged about it “never raining” in the past 7 years at the beach, and her luck ran out as we were rained out on Sunday. Allison did great all weekend, being passed around, sleeping in the hotel room, and doing well at the beach.
Deb's dad and friend John stopped by on their way to WV from Colorado. We took them to the Broad Ripple Brew Pub and introduced them to some local brews and then had a nice dinner at the condo. Randy of course enjoyed a little extra time with Allison. Jason and Stacey Depp came to visit us in August and we headed out to the Colts vs. Packers preseason game. Mom babysat for us, so we were able to head down for a nice dinner at Weber Grill and then enjoyed great tickets (thanks to Deb’s work) while watching a pretty competitive preseason game which the Colts lost on an onside kick. I tell you what, onside kicks are the Achilles heel of the Colts! Allison did really well for Mom, so that was reassuring since it was the first time someone other than Deb or I have put her down for the night. Now, I act like I may put her to bed, but it is more accurate to say that Deb always does it!
Allison had her 4 month check up with Dr McAteer. She is doing fantastic. She is 26 inches long and weighs 13.3 lbs. She is deinitely long and lean. Dr. McAteer was pleased with her progress she is making with her neck therapy and feels she is meeting her milestones appropriately. We are still going to PT one time a week and it is going well. Her therapist Erin is pleased with her progress and says her neck muscles are getting much stronger. She is going to continue to see us once a week for the next month and then we can decrease to only 2 times a month!

A few more items from this month:
*Pete, Laura and their family moved back to OH this month. It completed a pretty up-and-down 5 months for our family that contained lots of happy and sad events. I, for one, am glad the roller coaster is slowing down.
*After not playing any fantasy sports for the last several years, I have been invited to 2 different leagues and am pretty excited about it. I think Deb and I are going to have some arguments about who I should “start” and inevitably, she will be right.
*I am off to France in September to work on a computer implementation (which is why I normally travel for work). During my past travels, Deb always said that if I went to England, France or Italy, she wanted to go. Well, my chance to travel to England was in May (neither of us could go) and now that I am heading to France, she is jokingly upset. Deb’s parents will be coming to visit for part of the time I am gone, which is appreciated and will make me feel better about being away.
*The time has come to grow up and possibly move a little bit away from Broad Ripple. The condo is a little small and we met with a realtor this month to start the process. We anticipate the search will take some time, with our goal of moving in early 2012. Since we are allowing for plenty of time, odds are we will find it soon and have some decisions to make!

extra pictures of Allison from July