Quest for the new normal

The new chair

2012-02-12T11:15:00.002-06:00

Allie really likes her new booster seat. She does well with it, but doesn't understand that she has to stay in the chair until we clean her up and let her get down. The seat doesn't fit too well in the chairs that we have now, but soon we'll have a new dining set with some better chairs.

It was a little bitter sweet this morning as I decided it was time to take the high chair down to the basement. I also moved some other things around to make a little more room in the dining room. Its so strange not to see the chair there!

Future football player?

2012-02-10T20:13:00.000-06:00

Lazy Sunday

2012-02-09T16:32:00.000-06:00

While awaiting the Super Bowl this past Sunday, Allie and Dada relaxed on the couch and watched Allie's favorite movie, Toy Story. I think Toy Story is becoming Dada's favorite movie as well.

Trying new things

2012-02-08T21:04:00.002-06:00

We've recently started experimenting with drinking out of a cup without the lid.

She seems to like it. She does it pretty well considering she's just starting out.

But, like any new and exciting skill, when she's working on that new skill, other tasks like dinner go untouched.

So we have to try and balance the new skills with getting proper nourishment.

Its not always a successful endeavor. That kid has really gotten those terrible 2 tantrums down.

Big girl chair and family breakfast

2012-02-04T14:42:00.000-06:00

This morning Allie decided she didn't want to use her high chair anymore at meal times. We have actually been talking about this, but I wasn't prepared for Allie to make that decision!

She did pretty good, for the most part. We had to experiment a bit because she doesn't sit up very high in the chair. But she didn't want to sit on the phone book and the pillow slipped out too easily. So she just sat on the chair. Eating took second fiddle though, which also happened at lunch. I'm sure she'll either get hungry enough or the excitement will wear off so she'll actually eat when she's in the big girl chair!

Saturday mornings we have breakfast together, usually pancakes. For a long time now Allie has loved helping making the pancakes by mixing them. Today we had chocolate chip pancakes.

While the pancakes were cooking, Dada started unloading the dishwasher and Allie decided to help!

She did pretty good at helping. We just have to be careful that she doesn't get the sharp knives or breakable dishes. I wonder if she'll be this enthusiastic about doing the dishes in a few years?

Then it was time to eat. She enjoyed eating the food she helped make! She sat better at the table when Mama and Dada were sitting there too, though we did have to remind her many times that she had to sit on her butt.

Ribbit!

2012-02-04T14:29:00.001-06:00

Allie is very into animal sounds. The other night, we had fun playing animal motions! We all took turns hopping across the room like frogs do and saying ribbit!

Its exhausting to squat like that and then hop! We all got a workout that night.

We also did cat, cow, lion and penguin. Those were all pretty much the same but with different sounds. I think Dada made a pretty good penguin!

A for adorable

2012-02-01T20:23:00.000-06:00

Here's a few of the adorable things Allie has been doing lately.

Allie got a boom box for Christmas. At first she was confused about this pink box with music coming out. But she caught on. Her favorite part of the boombox is turning it up to full blast.

On any given day Allie has a lot of stuff to carry around. She's got a brush, a necklace, a whisk, Woody, Buzz and blocks.

So Dada had the great idea to put all stuff in her purse! Allie likes to take toys upstairs at night and in the car on the way to daycare. Her favorite activity is taking stuff out and putting it back in, so this is a fun game in addition to being functional.

While we haven't quite discovered dress up, Allie does enjoy going into the princess dress up chest once in awhile and taking out her princess rings or slippers. The other night she took out one of each. She liked these slippers so much that she tried to wear them to bed.

Allie loves the camera, but on this night she decided to be camera shy.

Every day when we get ready to leave the house we get our coats. Allie always makes sure to get my coat and bring it to me... though sometimes bringing Mama's coat means throwing it down on the bottom of the stairs.

And here's our big girl eating a tomato. When we get home from work we're starting to go without the gate a bit, so Allie can go where she wants. She likes to open the fridge and get her cup of milk out. Tonight she opened the fridge and took out the cherry tomatoes. So I cut one in a couple pieces and she sat at the table like a big girl eating it. We're hoping to buy a new dining set soon and I think we'll be transitioning away from the high chair.

Bumps, bruises and blood

2012-01-31T15:29:00.002-06:00

When I became a parent, I knew what I signed up for. I expect the injuries and I know I can't protect Allie from everything. We've seen the bumps and bruises plenty in her short life. But last night when she fell and split her lip open and I saw all that blood, it was hard to stomach!

It wasn't really a lot of blood. But it was more than I would have expected to come from her lip. She'd been playing by Dada and fell down hitting Dada's knee. It really gushed out at first and got all over her shirt. I thought she'd lost a tooth! I sat her down out in the kitchen and we wiped away the blood (which gushed out a bit more before it finally stopped!) and could finally see that her teeth were fine. She was fine and she liked dabbing the wet rag on her lip for a little while. Mama kissed the owie and it was all better.

She recovered and went on playing, but ended up sitting on the couch with Mama and Dada and we decided to take her up to bed after that. She was tired. And we were too.

The whole incident was a bit nerve racking. Dada was pretty upset by it. I suppose I was too, but I was more calm. We know this is by no means the last time our little girl is going to bleed. And I'm sure there will be worse injuries than this. But its just so scary to know that not only will our little girl bleed, we can't protect her from it. I guess the only reassurance is that we will be there to help fix it. I just wonder how it will be if or when its something that we can't fix so easily with a little kiss?

Little Miss Smartypants

2012-01-30T20:13:00.000-06:00

Allie can count to 10! Last week on Dada's birthday we were on our way out to dinner and she was saying 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4. With some help she went up to 10! She'd been counting to 3 and that was the first time we've heard her go past 3. Tonight at dinner she had a cutie and we counted the pieces. There were 9 and she said all the numbers except 7 and 9. Where'd she learn to do that???

We got her some ABC cards for her birthday but had kept them put away since they aren't terribly toddler-proof. But she keeps pulling them out of a drawer, so we've started letting her play with them and talking about the letters. She sings the ABC song by herself, with or without music.

She really likes putting away the groceries. She takes things out of the bag and hands them to Mama to put away. Every time I'm always surprised by the objects she names, like rice, tortillas, tomatoes and paper towels to name a few.

Her verbal skills are growing a lot lately too. We've been working on saying please and thank you, and she says please at daycare. She's putting together basic sentences in asking for things she wants, like "milk Dada please." Its gratifying to work on something at home and hear that she's applying that at daycare.

Another fun part of the verbal skills is singing. She's been singing along with her music in the car for awhile, but she's really getting good. Tonight she belted out "five green and speckled frogs sat on a speckled log, eating some most delicious bugs, yum yum." Not quite with all the verbage, but pretty close! It really surprised us. Every night before bed we sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and she sings right along with us.

Endless discoveries

2012-01-30T19:59:00.000-06:00

I love our children's museum membership. We don't take advantage of it nearly enough. But we did yesterday. This time Mama and Dada mostly hung back and let Allie go where she wanted to. Its so neat how she discovers new things every time we go!

Driving the cart... I think the animal pulling it may be an ox, but I really don't know. Allie didn't care what was pulling it, she just enjoyed pulling on the reins!

Playing in the little baby area... Allie liked bouncing as well as the pictures on the wall and the aquarium in the background.

Allie found the water fountain... and kept going back. Between the water fountain and the water room, her shirt was soaked!

She really loved watching the birds race down the poles.

Then it was time to go upstairs!

This big table is a model of Madison with all kinds of blocks to build the city and cars to drive on the streets. Allie was building and driving in Lake Monona!

And of course we had to stop by the paint wall.

She was way more interested in the squee-gee though!

Then it was time to wash hands... Allie liked the soap and used a lot of it.

There were a couple refrigerator fronts with a whole bunch of magnetic words. Of course Allie can't read yet, but she likes magnets! We need to get some magnets for our fridge.

Outside the art studio there's a "car" for kids to drive. Allie wasn't interested in driving though. She wanted Mama to drive and she just rode.

Right before we went home Allie took a ride on this puppy.

Allie would have stayed all day if we'd let her. But it was a good thing we didn't let her... she almost fell asleep in the car. We gave her a quick lunch and she slept for three hours!

This laundry is kind of hard to wash

2012-01-24T15:25:00.000-06:00

Allie liked sitting in the laundry basket, but she had a little trouble getting out! Good thing Mama was there to resue her!

Bring on the snow!

2012-01-23T19:40:00.000-06:00

With the first snowfall of the winter a week and a half ago, this weekend I decided to have Allie finally try on her snow geat. She seemed to like it.

She even tried to open the sliding door to the deck to go outside!

She has a pair of boots too that I tried on her before the snow pants. Allie has all the necessary items to play in the snow... but now Mama and/or Dada need to get some snow gear in order to take her out! I found out this weekend thats harder than it should be this time of year. Its only late-January and we only got our first snow a week and a half ago, but winter items are nowhere to be found, at least at Target! Most of the snow boots are clearance, which would be good... if my feet were a size 5 or 10! They already have racks and racks of bikinis out at Target! It doesn't make much sense to me... who actually buys the summer's swimsuit in January anyway?

I may continue hunting for the snow boots. Its my sixth winter in Madison and I've finally decided this year that they may be a good investment... you know, for keeping my feet dry and warm when tromping through the snow!

Bouncy Town USA

2012-01-22T21:13:00.001-06:00

This weekend we wanted to go somewhere for Allie to play. I have a few web sites I look at for ideas of what to do with Allie and it has a section on open gym times. I was surprised to find there weren't very many that have open gym on Saturday! That doesn't make sense to me.

But we found Bouncy Town USA in Windsor. Its a half hour away, but worked out well because it's only $5 and its open until 8. Allie hadn't taken a nap on Friday so it worked out for her to nap and then we headed out to bounce.

Allie had fun! It was decently busy, but the toddler areas were empty. She enjoyed it, but I think she would have more fun next time if we went with a friend.

It was a fun evening. After playing for a little over an hour we went to Chili's for dinner using the gift card Dada got for his birthday. We had to wait about a half hour but Allie was really good during the wait and the meal. A few of the restaurant staff stopped at the table because she was being so cute. And when anyone came by, Allie definitely turned on the charm!

Introducing baby Tyler!

2012-01-22T20:45:00.000-06:00

On Thursday, Jan. 5, I became an aunty again and Allie got a new baby cousin!

Photo by Jocelyn Swanson

Baby Tyler wasn't due until the end of February. But complications with Mama, my sister Jeni, moved up his debut. Born eight weeks early via emergency c-section, he weighed 4 pounds 15 ounces and was 18 inches long.

It was all very sudden. Tyler was born on Thursday and we were supposed to have her first of two showers that Saturday! I had to hastily let everyone know it was canceled. We just rescheduled it and its the invitation photo card that I shared on the post under this one. Unfortunately I was looking at the wrong month when I put the date on the card, so we'll have to figure out a way to fix it when I get the cards this week! But I'm very excited to throw a shower for our new Mama!

It was a couple days until Mama got to meet Tyler. But when she did, they were both so excited.

I stole this photo and the next four from Jeni's facebook page.

Here's Tyler with his Dada, Allie's uncle Dave.

And here are some great pictures of baby Tyler! He's such a cutie, especially now that he's starting to open his eyes more!

Congratulations Aunt Jeni and Uncle Dave!

We went and saw Jeni in the hospital the weekend after Tyler was born and we saw Tyler in the NICU. I didn't get to hold him that day though. But last weekend I went to see Tyler again and got to hold him! He's so little!

This photo is actually mine.

Baby Tyler is doing great. He's been gaining weight like a champ and today was up to 5 pounds 8.4 ounces. He's sleeping in a regular crib, meaning he's maintaining his body temperature on his own. The only issue is in feeding and its just going to take time for him to get it. Everyone's hopeful he can go home from the hospital within the next couple weeks.

Photo Card

2012-01-18T21:29:00.001-06:00

Hey Baby Baby Shower

Click here to browse Shutterfly bridal shower invitation designs.

View the entire collection of cards.

Three cheers for cheerios

2012-01-18T19:52:00.000-06:00

The other day we got lazy with dinner and gave Allie chocolate cheerios. For the first time ever, I put milk on her cereal. Apparently she's been eating cereal like this at daycare for awhile now. I'm happy to report that she didn't spill anything! She's also getting really good with the spoon, though after awhile she gave up and went back to eating with her fingers.

New hiding spot

2012-01-11T20:26:00.003-06:00

We took down the Christmas tree on new years eve. I've been known for leaving the tree up until April, but this year we were tired of it. It was time to come down. In place of the tree, we moved Allie's art table over to that corner and now most of Allie's stuff is over there. Before there was some stuff next to the TV and some in front of the fire place. Mama and Dada like it because having the table in the corner makes the room look bigger. And Allie likes it because she can have plenty of fun hiding under the table and behind the couch. Win win!

Brown bear brown bear

2012-01-09T20:18:00.001-06:00

What do you see?

Credit: Amazon.com

Uncle Justin and Aunt Kira gave Allie this book for her birthday and right now she can't get enough! We read a book before bed and I can't remember the last time we read something other than this! We brush teeth and she asks for "brown bear brown bear."

We don't usually read before nap time, but lately she's been asking for brown bear brown bear before naps too.

She's learning what all the animals say, except for the goldfish because goldfish don't talk. I think maybe she's learning her colors too. She loves the slide and find doors!

We've all memorized the book. Allie "reads" along with us. Tonight when we got to the end she recited the last two pages by herself: "Teacher teacher, what do you see? I see... children looking at me!" It was adorable.

Kira and Justin have given us lots of great books because Aunt Kira works at Barnes & Noble. Allie got a reindeer finger puppet book for Christmas that was a big hit as well. Kira tells me that Justin was the one to pick out brown bear brown bear, however, and that he's quite proud of himself! Well thank you Uncle Justin and Aunt Kira!

Partners in crime

2012-01-09T12:42:00.001-06:00

A week or so ago we went over to Grace's house to play. We hadn't been there since before Thanksgiving since life has been so busy. But Dada had a work party and Mama and Allie had to wait up to pick him up, so what better way to spend an evening than having a quick dinner and then going out to play?

Grace was in a really fun mood. And the girls became partners in crime, each feeding off the other's energy!

Allie made herself at home playing with all of Grace's toys.

But perhaps the most interesting moments came when Grace decided to crawl into one of the dog's crates and Allie crawled in the other! I didn't think Allie would fit, but the one she went in is a little bigger. This went on for awhile until it was time to go pick up Dada. What funny times to tell Dada about how we were a bit late picking him up because I had to get Allie out of the crate!

Imagination at work

2012-01-04T20:12:00.000-06:00

I feel like Allie grew up on our Christmas trip. One major new development is evident in her play these days. You can really tell that her imagination is going strong!

Allie knew just what to do with her Baby Alive. We named her baby Annie. She likes to feed, burp and dress baby Annie.

Last week when I came home from work one day, I was greeted by Snow White Allie! She got a trunk of princess dress-up clothes for Christmas. She loved the slippers on her feet and also the ring. She carries the ring around. And of course there's the phone. She got three phones for Christmas and she knows just what to do with them!

The present that we were sure would be a slam dunk, however, was her cooking set. I'm generally against toys with lots of pieces. But this one is great. There are a couple different pans that light up and sizzle. There are also lids and utensils, her favorite being the whisk. And of course it has food too!

Doug sent me this picture the day after Christmas after we'd opened out presents when I'd gone to the chiropractor. Here she is talking on the phone while cooking and feeding baby Annie and her other friends! Priceless!

Babies growing up

2012-01-04T10:27:00.003-06:00

On our way to Carbondale for Christmas, we stopped in Mattoon and had lunch with Desiree and Macenzie, who is about four months younger than Allie. They liked each other right away. I bet they'll become best friends just like their mamas!

Cousins!

2012-01-02T20:58:00.003-06:00

On Christmas Eve we went all to Aunt Julie's house in Troy, MO. Allie had a great time playing with her cousins Carson and Cole. And they had a great time with her too!

As always, it was an adventure trying to get a picture of all three of them together. This one was the best we could get:

And of course there's the one with Allie trying to get away!

Allie made friends where ever she went on vacation. It took her a few minutes to warm up at each new place, but then she had no fear. Maybe it had to do with the fact that there were usually cookies involved. We were sad when it was time to leave. The kids had such a great time together. Hopefully we can all get together again soon!

Party like its 2012

2012-01-01T22:49:00.001-06:00

When I think of new years past... none seems nearly as perfect or fun as last night. We had a fun family night on the town consisting of dinner at The Great Dane and then our first ever US Bank Eve. Its a family event with activities at different venues in town. We chose to head to the US Bank plaza where we got free parking and took in some dancing to silly songs, balloon animals and lots of confetti.

Allie wasn't sure what to make of the clown at first, but I think she didn't mind because the clown gave her a sticker. Unfortunately it didn't stick well and she lost it.

After dancing a bit...

We waited in line to get a balloon animal. When we first walked in I thought this wouldn't be so fun because we'd be waiting in line for things all night. There were a lot of lines but we just made the most of it.

Allie enjoyed her balloon hat.

It was funny though because after taking it off and putting it on a few times, her hair was sticking up all over the place!

Then we went to the confetti station. This might have been her favorite activity because she really likes taking things out and putting them back in.

While Allie was making her bag of confetti for the big countdown, Dada took care of her balloon hat.

They had a holiday trolley giving rides around town, but time ran short and we didn't get on one. So instead we just danced and blew our horns and threw confetti around until the countdown.

The countdown wasn't at midnight though. It was at 8:30. Good thing too... Allie was quite tired ahead of the countdown.

You can see her fading the later it got!

With about five minutes to go, Allie laid down on the floor and Dada picked her up for the big countdown. She didn't protest.

At the stroke of 8:30 we counted down and threw our confetti and blew our horns. Then it was time to go home and put Allie to bed. Mama and Dada were going to stay up and watch a movie, but we ended up going to bed ahead of midnight after eating our treats we'd picked up from McDonald's. We were so tired! I think it was the first time since I was really little that I didn't stay up until midnight. We watched the ball drop in New York and then went to sleep.

It was a great way to ring in a great new year! We look forward to seeing what's in store for us in 2012!

Out with the old year, in with the new

2011-12-31T22:27:00.000-06:00

Wow. Where did the year go? How is it 2012 already?

2011 was great. We took some fun trips and learned new things. Allie turned 2 and started talking, running and jumping. She became a big girl! Mama lost 43 pounds and got a new job. Dada endured the NFL lock out and got a Redskins helmet for Christmas. We took fun trips to St. Louis and Minneapolis and lots of new places around home.

I can't wait to see whats in store for 2012!

Presents, presents and more presents

2011-12-30T21:23:00.001-06:00

When we got to Grandma a.nd Grandpa's house last week, the presents were all sitting out by the Christmas tree. A bit mound of boxes wrapped in shiny paper. It didn't take long for Allie to invade the presents. So we all helped take the presents to Uncle Jeff's room.

Thursday morning Grandpa was wrapping a present for a friend and Allie was fascinated. He gave her another small box and wrapped it. She played with it awhile and then opened it, then asked Grandpa to wrap it again. She opened it again... and then asked Grandpa to wrap it again. This went on about three times, I think until we were ready to go out for the day.

Then when it was time to open presents on Thursday night, we all brought the presents back out. Allie took great delight in bringing the presents down the hall!

By time it was time to open, Allie was raring to go. She wanted to open everything.

In true kid fashion she ripped through the paper and barely looked at what was inside!

She opened her own presents but didn't stop there. She opened almost all of Grandpa's, and some of Dada's and Jeff's.

Then we got to open more presents at Aunt Julie's. She helped with the distribution by ripping off the gift tags. Then she enthusiastically ripped through these presents.

On Christmas morning there were more presents! These presents were special delivery from the North Pole. But I think by Christmas morning Allie was a bit bored with presents. We had to keep calling her back to open.

For this one I'm not even sure she looked at what was inside!

Christmas night we were at Grandma and Grandpa Swanson's with MORE presents! Allie was much more intrested in the cookies that her aunts and uncles were sneaking into her hot little hands.

At least she drank her milk! Finally on the morning after Christmas, we had our little family gift opening. Allie was a little more focused on that, maybe just because there weren't so many people around.

She got some really nice things. A cooking set, a new baby, stuffed animals, pajamas and books. One special item was the scrapbook Aunt Jocelyn (sitting next to her in the picture above) made. She said she's going to add to it as Allie gets older. It was so thoughtful! And useful since I don't even know where Allie's baby book is, let alone add anything to it.

Of course with all the new toys, we need to find space to put everything!

The tale of Woody and Buzz

2011-12-28T21:53:00.002-06:00

Allie loves Toy Story. LOVES Toy Story. If we put any of the Toy Story movies on, Allie is mesmerized.

We started a tradition of buying Allie a Christmas ornament every year. When we went out to see Santa the Thursday before Christmas in Carbondale, we stopped by JC Penney to look for this year's ornament. Toward the top of one of the display trees was a Woody ornament, which we thought was perfect since Allie is obcessed with Toy Story!

Grandma Durso also bought her a stuffed Clarice from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. She wouldn't let go of either Clarice or Woody! We had to sneak them away from her when it was time to see Santa.

We got home and Woody slept on the table next to the crib while Allie slept. Woody was never far away.

She even hung Woody on the Christmas tree!

Woody was plastic and part of his boot broke off. That didn't phase Allie!

One of the things Woody says in the movie is "there's a snake in my boot." Allie started saying "snake boot" over and over after we said it once! She kept calling Woody buddy.

But alas, Woody didn't leave her presence for two days, and as we were packing up Saturday morning, Woody disappeared. We looked all over the house and couldn't find him. We thought he either got packed or thrown away. Now that most of our stuff is unpacked, I'm sad to say he must have gotten thrown away :-(

Allie's asked for "Buddy" a few times since we got home. We change the subject. I'd like to try and find a replacement ornament but I don't know how much luck we'd have since it was on clearance in the first place and now Christmas is over. We'll have to get another ornament for this year. We're also going to look into getting a real Woody doll!

We lost one toy but gained another! Today at daycare one of the girls gave Allie a Buzz Lightyear to calm her down at naptime. She's been climbing out of the pack n play she sleeps in at daycare lately but she was occupied with Buzz and fell asleep and actually had a good nap!

Once she got up Buzz was glued to her the way Woody had been last week. We asked Allie who that is and she says "Buzz Year!" It was fun watching her run around flying Buzz and shouting "to infinity and beyond!" with her.

Buzz is bigger than Woody so I'm confident he won't go missing! He's going back with her to daycare tomorrow to hopefully continue to occupy her at naptime so she doesn't climb out of the crib.

Vacation from vacation

2011-12-27T12:58:00.000-06:00

We're back from our holiday travels. Mama and Allie are back at work but Dada gets to continue his vacation another week.

Truthfully I'm relieved to be back at work. Vacation is fun but there's so much going on, no time to exercise or eat right, lots of traveling. It was so nice to sleep in our own beds on Sunday night and even nicer to have yesterday off. But it is oddly comforting to be back at my desk here at work. One of my good friends calls this "vacation from my vacation."

We had a great Christmas. It was a great vacation too. It was SO nice seeing some friends we haven't seen in a long time and spending a lot of time with family. I feel like we watched Allie grow up on this trip. It was so fun seeing her interactions with people. She usually had to warm up a bit but she was fast friends with everyone. She had a lot of freedom and she was so good. We started carrying on conversations. I would ask her if she needed to be changed and she said yes! She got lots of great gifts and has had a wonderful time really playing with them. She played hard and slept harder, though not nearly long enough!

But perhaps the best part was seeing her really experience Christmas. She loved the presents, though I think she was kind of tired of them by the end! She also loved all the cookies and surprisingly she also liked Santa.

Christmas magic

2011-12-20T15:57:00.002-06:00

Christmas week! Vacation! We made it! Last week was a bad week, but now vacation is here and its all fun. We got all the shopping done last weekend and I've even finished wrapping except for one item. We're leaving for southern Illinois tomorrow, and all thats left to prepare for the trip is packing!

Yesterday Dada finished shopping for Mama and Mama finished the wrapping. When Dada got home we all sat together and watched "The Polar Express." Allie has been really interested in TV lately and she's been enjoying the Christmas shows on ABC Family. But her favorite by far now is The Polar Express. Its Christmas and its a train, her favorite thing in the world right now. We all sat together on the couch watching. Monk even laid on the couch next to us. We all clapped when we saw the happy ending to the movie. Allie was saying "polar express!" all night long.

Today has been a relaxing day. We decided to stay home and relax so that Allie could have a good nap, a restful day at home and then go to bed early. She won't sleep enough once we're traveling! While Allie slept, Dada took Monk to the kennel and ran a few other errands and Mama finally got the baking day she hadn't gotten yet this season.

I've made ginger creams and am baking double chocolate chip cookies. There's dough in the fridge waiting to be baked into oatmeal raisin cookies. More cookies than we need, but I love baking! We'll take them on our trip this week to share.

When Allie woke up from her nap she joined Mama in the kitchen to watch the baking and mixing. She likes watching but got quite worked up asking for a cookie. We gave her one but also some yogurt... but since she was very engrossed into the baking, Dada fed her the yogurt while she was standing on her stool watching Mama mix. It was some fun family time even if Dada was sitting on the floor!

I wish we could have taken a few pictures! It was so fun seeing Allie's face as she watched the mixer go round and round.

The terrible twos are rearing their ugly head though and Allie was a bit too disruptive in the kitchen. To get Allie to come out to the living room, Dada asked Allie if she'd like to watch The Polar Express again. She's just as engrossed in the movie again right now!

I'm loving the Christmas magic already. The rest of the week just holds more. Its so fun now that Allie is getting old enough to understand about Christmas and enjoy it!

Snow!

2011-12-17T21:23:00.001-06:00

It snowed! I wish I'd had the camera to see Allie's face when we opened up her curtains to show it to her. She kissed and hugged the window because she wanted to kiss and hug the snow!

These pictures sort of show how she liked seeing the snow!

Here she is trying to hug it! There wasn't enough snow to play in, only about 2 inches or less, and we didn't have time for it today anyway. We did see people sledding on the big Elver Park hill.

Today was a full day of Christmas shopping! Allie enjoyed it at first but she lost interest by the time we got to the mall. It was the fourth stop, and Mama and Dada were losing interest too! We went out to lunch at Applebee's though and that perked all of us up! After lunch we went home so Allie could nap and then Mama went out for some more shopping. Its almost all done, just one more item needed! Thats somewhat strange for us since Christmas is still a week away!

What's the deal with this guy in the red suit?

2011-12-16T10:23:00.001-06:00

On Tuesday night we went to a daycare Christmas party. The flyer for the party said we'd be having pizza and some surprises. Well one of those surprises was a visit from Santa!

It was this night I found out that Allie's not so sure about this Santa guy. She kept saying she'd see him, I think because all the other kids were, but then she'd change her mind. She finally did go see him, with Mama as her bodyguard. We got a cute picture to document the moment. I wonder when, if or how we should navigate seeing the mall Santa?

Unfortunately Dada couldn't go to the party with us. He was home sick that day and very sad about it! Mama and Allie had fun though. Allie got a doodle pad (magna doodle style, I'm not sure what they're called now) that she loves to draw on. She also got a coloring book and small box of crayons. And in a victory for Mama, she ate two pieces of pizza with minimal mess and great behavoir! If only all meal times could be so smooth.

The party was at a pizza place inside a bowling alley in town. In the pizza place was a small arcade of the sort where you can play games and earn tickets for prizes. Unfortunately not much of it was stuff Allie could do. But she did get a kick out of riding the train twice. It was a little train car that moved back and forth. She seemed to like it although she was trying to get out while it was still moving and it moved with such a jerky motion that Mama had to hold onto her so she wouldn't fall out.

Starting this evening we're on vacation! Well, I'm sort of on vacation already, but only because I'm home sick today. We have a bunch of Christmas stuff we want to get done. All three of us have been sick this week so we haven't been doing many of the Christmas things we've wanted to. Hopefully I'll be more punctual with blog entries once we're busy again!

'Tis the season for... rain and fog?

2011-12-16T10:13:00.000-06:00

I took these pictures on my phone the other night walking out of work. It was foggy and rainy and not terribly cold. It felt more like early spring than mid-December! It was kind of neat to see the top of the Capital obscured by fog.

I have heard the news off and on that its supposed to be a snowy winter, but other than a few flakes back before Thanksgiving, nada. Of course I don't mind! It was kind of strange though to have my birthday pass without a big storm or any snow at all. The last few years we've had blizzards on or around my birthday. As long as we can travel to southern Illinois for Christmas next week, we can handle any snow after that. Of course I say that now, but I'm sure I'll sing a different tune once that snow actually comes! I just have to wonder if all that snow we're not getting is going to save itself for a bigger blizzard than the ones we've seen the past few years.

ABC!

2011-12-08T21:05:00.001-06:00

I've mentioned Allie's music that we listen to in the car before. Lately when we get in the car to go home from work, she asks for "mugik." And once its on she shouts "ABC!" The ABC song is the first one on the CD and we listen to it two or three times before letting the CD keep going. Allie is getting really good at singing along. Sometimes she sings almost all the letters, and other times she only sings certain letters. Its funny because she just sounds like she's singing along to a song she doesn't know the words to. You know, like where you gibberish the words you don't know? Thats the best way I can think of to describe it.

Christmas choo-choos and fishies

2011-12-03T22:08:00.001-06:00

We love Ella's Deli. I went there when I was a kid, but didn't remember it until I saw it after we moved here. Its always busy and loud and fun. We've taken Allie there a few times and she's enjoyed it, but nothing like today. As she's getting older she's gaining so much awareness of whats going on around her.

There was a lot to look at from our table. Allie really liked Spiderman. But near Spiderman was also a basketball guy and the Beatles as the Sargent Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, complete with a yellow submarine. I didn't get a picture of that, unfortunately.

On the other side of our table was a circus train and Superman underneath.

So there was a lot to look at, and it really surprised us that Allie actually ate well! Its always a nice surprise when she eats well. Before we ate, Allie studied the dessert menu. But we ultimately decided against dessert.

After lunch we were on to the main attraction of our afternoon: Olbrich's Holiday Express! Its their annual flower and model train show. Its one of those events that we hear about every year and want to check out, but still haven't, until today. We're really trying to get into the Christmas spirit this year and exposing Allie to a lot of new experiences.

I'm not really sure what I expected, but when we walked in, it seemed a little underwelming. But then I realized all the detail and all the work! But the real treat was Allie's reaction!

She LOVED watching the trains go round and round. there were two big tracks set up. One had two trains and the other had three.

There was only one running at a time on each track, but they switched a lot. Allie was absolutely DELIGHTED!

She was shrieking and shouting and giggling and jumping around the whole time. I think she would have stayed there all day if we had let her.

We really were surprised at Allie's reaction to the trains. She also liked looking at the poinsettias and the lights on the trees.

Our admission to the holiday express also included admission to the conservatory, so after we looked at the trains for awhile, we went to check out the conservatory. This was another big hit with Allie, though she seemed a little scared at first.

Her favorite things were the two waterfalls and the pond with the fish. She kept going back to the bridges and looking at the fish. This was another place she would have stayed all day!

The exhibit in the conservatory right now is treasures of the rainforest. We've only been in the conservatory once before, for the blooming butterflies exhibit almost five years ago soon after we moved here. It was when we went to that exhibit that we decided we wanted to have our wedding at the botanical gardens. Anyway, the blooming butterflies is a special exhibit and I didn't realize they change other exhibits too. This one goes til March so we'll have to check it out after March.

We went up to the second "floor" and saw the top of the rainforest. That was pretty neat. Allie liked looking up at the birds.

It was a lot of fun to walk around and see the cool plants. They had objects on display near some of the plants showing the products that come from the rainforest. That was pretty interesting.

We finished our afternoon with some cookies in the car on the way home. Allie took a nice long nap and Mama did the grocery shopping. This was a great family activity for a rainy Saturday and a great way to get into the Christmas spirit!

Moving on

2011-12-02T20:19:00.001-06:00

It was strange cleaning out my cube today. I didn't have much time to reflect. It was a busy day of doing as much as I could to train my replacement. I think it was a great thing for me to be really busy on my last day in my old job. I had to stay a few minutes longer than my shift to fit in some last-minute training and clean up my cube. I left my box on my old desk and will take it to my new one on Monday.

I can't help thinking of the last time I cleaned out a work desk. It was three years ago a few days after I was laid off from my job at the Wisconsin State Journal. At the time I had no idea what I would do with the rest of my life. It took a year to get a job, and two more years after that, but I think I've found my career. I know what I'm doing for the rest of my life. Even though my next job is another project, I have the confidence that I will get permanent. I will continue to move up. I'll hold the same job for more than three years and be a lifer in unemployment insurance.

Nervous doesn't begin to describe how I feel right now. I'm excited for the opportunity, nervous to start doing totally different work than I've ever done, sad to leave the safety and comaraderie of my current office. While I didn't really have a lot of close friends there, I definitely have people I'll miss. Yes I'm just moving down the hall, but to a totally different department and I don't know how often our paths will cross. Its just weird. I'm the new girl again. It was easier when I started here two years ago because there were 16 of us starting together. This time I think its just me.

The next adventure starts Monday!

Sing a happy tune

2011-12-01T20:03:00.001-06:00

Allie sings songs. Its music to my ears. We have a kids music CD that we listen to in the car almost every night on the way home from work or just whenever we're in the car. Allie sings along with the songs, but just certain words. She's getting more letters in the ABC song. She sings "home," "range" and "play" in Home on the Range. She claps when the song is over and then starts on the next one. We sing the 10 in the bed song, I'm not sure what its called. "There were 10 in the bed and the little one said roll over, roll over, so they all rolled over and one fell out." After everytime one falls out they say "oops" or "ouch!" or "again?" I love how she shouts "ouch!"

We sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star as part of our bedtime routine. I lay her down but she stands up right away and we dance and sway while we sing. She sings along, more and more every night. I really want to try bringing the camcorder in with us one night to see if I could tape it. I know I say everything she does is precious, but this is awesome.

Her babies can ride in style

2011-11-30T20:45:00.001-06:00

This week Allie got a late birthday present from Bridget, Teagan and Gianna. Its a stroller for her babies. It was a process to put it together, but Allie helped!

Look! Monk poses for the camera too! We haven't taken any pictures of Monk lately.

Unfortunately by the time we got the stroller put together, it was past Allie's bedtime. But we did let her play with the stroller a little. She put her baby Sara, another birthday present, in the stroller. She was more interested, however, in the extra plastic things that we had to cut off the stroller pieces (that's one in her left hand in the bottom picture). Its still funny to us sometimes the things that catch her eye. After these pictures she threw Sara out and put the plastic pieces in.

How many phones does a toddler need?

2011-11-27T13:42:00.001-06:00

We had our big Thanksgiving dinner yesterday at my parents' house. Allie had lots of fun running around and playing with her aunts, uncles and cousins.

Almost everyone was there. And everyone had some type of techology along with them... phones, ipods, ipads... well, the phones were Allie's favorite!

And look how many phones she got? In addition to two in her hand, notice the one on the floor!

So just how many phones does a toddler really need?

Playing with blocks

2011-11-27T13:40:00.001-06:00

One of Allie's favorite activites is playing with blocks. She has a few different sets. She got this big set of nice wooden blocks for her birthday. Sometimes she just dumps them out and goes to play with something else. But most of the time she'll sit there for awhile playing. She doesn't build much though. Whenever Mama or Dada start building towers from the blocks, she always knocks them over. She's learning her shapes because the lid for this block set is a shape sorter and she also got another set of shape sorter blocks for her birthday as well. She's getting really good at matching! These blocks are also good for another thing: Learning to pick up toys! The blocks make a big mess, but Allie's getting really good about helping when we all work together to pick up her toys. She's learning so much these days.

Have we made it?

2011-11-24T16:35:00.001-06:00

Almost three years ago I was laid off from my job as a copy editor at the Wisconsin State Journal. It was a job I loved, though maybe I never really appreciated it until it was too late. Not everyone can say they worked in a career they loved. But things changed and I was let go from the newspaper. I decided right away there wasn't much, if any reason to pursue another newspaper job. We didn't want to move and while there are other media outlets in Madison, who knows if they would have the same fate?

I was unemployed a full year. Eleven months into my unemployment I had a job interview at the state Department of Workforce Development in Unemployment Insurance. I wasn't even that sure what the job was. It was a job I'd applied for one week in order to fulfill my two required applications for that week. The interview was on my birthday (Dec. 8). I left it sad and frustrated because I didn't think I did too well and was wondering if I'd find a new job.

Well, I got the job. I started on Jan. 19, one year to the day that I was laid off. The in the fact that I became employed in unemployment insurance and started on the anniversary of my layoff was not lost on me. I think of it often.

This year on my birthday, I will still be working in unemployment insurance, but in a new unit! Since late August I've been interviewing and waiting and I've finally obtained a new position and advanced my career in unemployment. It is still a project position... I'll be working in tax collections as an entry level collection specialist. They were going to hire four permanents, but then someone said they couldn't. While this is still a project, its set to go almost three years to July 2014. And I think there is a lot of opportunity for advancement in this work, including getting hired permanent whenever they can hire permanents.

Project or not, I'm thrilled! There's a nice raise included and I think it will be interesting work. I question "have we made it?" because I think this new position makes it a lot more likely that I've found my new career path... putting us one stop closer to the new normal. Three years ago I was in the midst of just trying to find some kind of job. I needed to get paid. I had no idea what I watned to do for the rest of my life. I took the CNA class thinking I'd like to get started on a nursing career path and that didn't pan out. I started the job I have now and was still puzzling over what I'd do for the rest of my life. But now I'm feeling a lot more settled. I'm feeling a lot more confident that I'm set. Thats a nice feeling.

I'm nervous about the job itself though. I've never done any kind of work like this before. I suppose I wonder how I got the job. But I think I will enjoy this work. I'll be collecting on employers who don't pay their unemployment taxes. It sounds intimidating but also fulfilling. I'm really looking forward to it.

I have plenty to be thankful for on this Thanksgiving day for sure. I have a great family. I have a great house. We can live a pretty comfortable lifestyle. Even though I'm dealing with my sprained ankle, I can run (eventually) and work out. I have my health. And now I have my career.

Chilly (but fun) start to turkey day

2011-11-24T16:00:00.001-06:00

The forecast for Thanksgiving morning looked perfect for a family walk with thousands of our closest friends at the Berbee Derby. Originally Mama was going to run the 10K with Uncle Jacob. But then Mama sprained her ankle three weeks ago and still hasn't recovered.

So I was going to walk the 5K. Mama, Dada and Allie were all going to walk together. Aunt Jocie was going to walk with us. Grandma and Grandpa Swanson and Aunt Jeni were going to watch us. The only problem was that it was too cold!

Ready to go mix some pancakes! I think she looks so grown up when her hair is up!

This race is huge. It had total of close to 5,500 runners in the 5K and 10K. Thats not counting the walkers. We left the house later than we did last year and ended up parking pretty far away. We walked a good distance in getting the the race staging area and then getting back to where the 5K would start! The temp was in the low 40s but it was really windy.

I registered with the Team in Training team which got us a warm place to wait for the race to start. We got there in time for the team photo!

I was surprised Allie kept her hat and her mittens on. She even seemed to like them.

The 10K started at 9. We walked out in time to hear the start so Jacob had to run off to get on the course. Then we started the long trek to the area where the 5K walkers were lining up. I think we walked a 5K to get there. They changed the 5K course this year but I wasn't impressed with the way it was all staged. Its in this research park area thats like a prairie restoration-type set up. Its really pretty but between all the vegetation and the barricades and equipment, there wasn't room for all these thousands of people to walk.

But we eventually made it and stopped to take a few pictures.

Lots of people dressed up in Thanksgiving-themed costumes.

Unfortunately it took awhile to get to the start of the walk. The 5K walk started at 9:15. The walk didn't finally start until after 9:30. We were out waiting for so long and Allie decided she wanted to walk. Then she decided she didn't want her blanket or to wear her hat or mittens. Then she wanted to get out of the stroller to walk. By the time we were starting she was crying and we stopped almost right after we actually got to the starting line to try and re-bundle her. She was so grouchy and we decided to skip the walk and head over to wait for Jacob to finish. It took so long for the walk to start that 10K runners were already finishing. But Allie was so cold and miserable that Dada and Aunt Jeni took her back to the car and went home.

I stayed with Mom and Jocelyn to wait for Jacob. Paul headed back to their car. I enjoyed seeing the costumed runners and snapped a few pictures.

I was sad I wasn't running, of course. And the longer we were standing there, the colder my feet got. I think we'll skip the Berbee Derby next year, but I'm not doing the Berbee Derby again unless I'm running the 10K. Or at least until Allie is a lot older and more patient with waiting. It just takes too long if you're not in the first race!

There's Jacob booking it to the finish. He hadn't trained much (or at all?) and had to stop to walk a few times. We both ran this race last year and I remember being ticked that there was that big hill at the end. He apparently forgot about it and was ticked all over again. We probably would have been running about the same pace if I had been able to run. He finished well though!

After he was done we started the cold walk to the car. It took awhile to get home. But once we got home we had some tasty hot coffee and a great lunch of ham sandwiches, chips and all sorts of other fixings. We'll have our big family dinner Saturday!

In hindsight, Allie probably shouldn't have come to the race. But I thought it was warmer than that! We may wait a few years before trying the Berbee Derby again. It was a fun time at the race though and a fun day with family. And we still got in plenty of walking even though we didn't walk the 5K!

There's a tree in our living room!

2011-11-21T21:02:00.001-06:00

We like to have our Durso pack Thanksgiving dinner and put up our Christmas tree the weekend after Thanksgiving. But this year the big family Thanksgiving dinner is the Saturday after. So this weekend we decided to do it a few days early. I made a pumpkin pie, roasted a turkey breast and made homemade stuffing for the first time! The dinner was a smashing success. I should have taken a few pictures of Allie eating her pie! She's definitely developing a sweet tooth!

We didn't put up the tree last year. We had our big Thanksgiving the weekend after and then it was the following week Doug and I went to San Francisco and Sacramento. By the time we got back December was half over and it didn't seem worth it to spend the time, especially considering we didn't know how Allie would react to it or if she would mess with it.

But we put it up this year, and Allie helped! Dada brought the box up and had the bright idea to have Allie help him sort the branches. This worked well... for about 5 minutes. Then she just threw them around.

So rather than going bottom to top, Dada just took the branches she gave him and put them wherever they belonged. Allie was a very good helper.

Once there were more branches on the tree, Dad moved it into the corner before it got too heavy.

Then Allie decided it was time to clean up and she started putting the branches back in the box!

It was a long process. We always have grand illusions of putting the Christmas tree up and getting it all decorated in the same day. It never happens. We got the tree put together and waited until Sunday to do anymore work on it. Besides, by the time the tree was together, it was time to eat!

So Sunday morning Dada brought up the two gray tubs from the basement that have the Christmas decorations. Since we didn't put the tree up last year, the tubs were on the bottom of a big pile of other stuff stored downstairs. I've been needing to clean and organize the basement and that need is even more urgent now!

But on to the task at hand. Dada brought the tubs upstairs and Allie started working on opening them. Turns out the tubs are Allie-proof, at least for right now. There's not a whole lot left in this house that is Allie-proof!

She was quite fascinated with the bag that held the door hanger and the wreath.

After putting up the wreath, the big test ensued... the lights! We had actually bought a couple new strings two years ago when our old ones died. Those lights worked and I thought we were in the clear, but the star didn't work! Well we need to have a star! So Dada went to the store to get a star and he ended up getting some new lights too.

Dada and Mama put up the star, lights and garland and Allie helped with this part too! She held to extra lights and garland and had fun running around in delight at what was going on around her. It was so adorable to see. No pictures of this part though, as we were all participating!

We didn't really care for the star at first (it was the most OK one that Dada decided was in our budget, that stuff's expensive!), but once it was all put together, we decided it looks really nice!

See for yourself! My camera when it flashes doesn't show that the lights are even on. I can't turn the flash off because the pictures turn out blurry. So the picture doesn't do it justice, but it gives a decent representation! As you can see, we didn't quite make it to the ornament phase. So far Allie hasn't messed with the tree much and usually stops when we ask her to. I don't know how she will be once the ornaments are on though.

Allie is so cute. Every time she comes downstairs or in the house she shrieks with delight at the tree in our living room! I can't wait to share more Christmas fun with her!

Fun time with friends!

2011-11-21T09:57:00.001-06:00

Last Tuesday we had dinner with our neighbors and friends across the street, Teresa, Doug and their daughter Grace. We met over the summer when we went outside a lot! Grace is about 7 or 8 months younger than Allie. Their so cute together, when we would go outside they would giggle when they saw each other across the street! Since its gotten colder and dark earlier they don't get to see each other as much. So it was fun to have a great dinner together and then play for awhile.

Here the girls are mixing their cakes! It took Grace a little bit to remember Allie, but once she did they have a great time together.

And another of Allie mixing. She loves mixing and making things. Teresa took these great pictures and was nice enough to share them with us!

And then here's Allie wolfing down her cupcakes! Teresa made some great chicken and dumplings and I made pumpkin cupcakes for dessert. Allie sure liked hers!

The paint wall

2011-11-13T15:16:00.001-06:00

The really fun part of our day at the children's museum was the paint wall! Here's our budding artist at work.

I love that apron! We didn't actually paint very long because the paint got spread around really easily and I didn't want any to end up in Allie's hair. But next time, we'll bring a hair pretty so Allie can paint to her heart's content!

Exploring the children's museum

2011-11-13T14:38:00.001-06:00

Finally, we've had a couple Saturdays where we didn't have plans! It was nice after having a crazy busy October. Last weekend we took in a high school playoff football game (for which Allie barely last the first half, now we know!) and this weekend we hit the Madison Children's Museum! We've been members since April, but this was only our third time going!

Allie was really into it this time! We went in and just let her go explore. First we went to the water room.

Then this hut that had all kinds of hut toys (I don't really know what else to call it).

Next was the hut that had all the drums and other musical instruments. There was a constant banging from the big drum behind Allie, kids were always banging that drum! Allie didn't get a chance to bang on it, but she seemed to like the smaller ones better.

Next we found a table with some magnetic blocks. We had fun building with those, but Allie seemed to like the tree stump stools better.

In a corner was a learning spot with cabinets to open to see samples of the leaves and bark of trees that are found in this area.

And there was also a telescope!

And that was just on the first floor! In the photo below, theres all these wooden tracks that are stuck to the wall by magnets. You can arrange the tracks and them watch the wooden ball roll down. Allie really liked this activity.

Next we went upstairs, where Allie took quite an interest in all these pictures on the railing. One of the pictures turned. I'm not sure it was supposed to, but Allie really enjoyed turning it around and around.

Upstairs is the art studio, which we'd never really looked at before. Allie had fun doing a little coloring here. The girl working there traced Allie's hand to make a turkey. She thought that was really cool.

There are some other fun photos from the art studio that warrant their own special post to be forthcoming.

We had so much fun at the children's museum! But we had to get home for Allie to take her nap. But first we had to quickly head to the third floor, which is actually the roof. Here's the puppy by the elevator that Allie really liked.

There's a clubhouse and garden up there, including a chicken coop! Allie was excited to see the chickens, but they were hiding. We didn't stay on the roof too long and I didn't end up taking any pictures!

But here's the dinosaur bench Allie sat on while waiting for the elevator to go back down!

This was such a fun day. There are so many other activities there that we didn't get to. We really could have stayed a lot longer but we were all tired. Allie fell asleep in the car on the way home. We took Allie home and put her right to bed. We plan on spending a lot of time at the children's museum this winter!

Fun with noodles

2011-11-10T20:20:00.000-06:00

I like to try new things when I cook. I look at a lot of food blogs and I have way more recipes bookmarked than I'll ever make.

When Allie really likes something, that new recipe becomes part of our treasury of keeper recipes.

And the tomato and basil noodles I made last week are definitely included in that treasury!

She ate everything I gave her! Mama and Dada both had to give her a few more noodles! That doesn't happen often. If only every meal could go this well!

Perfect

2011-11-10T15:48:00.001-06:00

Last Thursday Allie had her 2-year check up. She's a growing girl and she's perfect!

The stats...
Weight: 29.4 pounds, which is in the 82nd percentile
Height: 34 inches tall, 56th percentile
Head circumfrance: 49.5 cm, 93rd percentile

So as the last few stat reports have shown, she's still short like her Mama, at least compared to her weight. And she still has a big head... to house her big beautiful brain! Compared to the percentiles she's got a big head, but it looks pretty darn perfect to us.

She passed all of the development screenings and physical exams with flying colors. The only slight concern continues to be talking, though like the last few appointments, in the week since we talked to the doctor about what she should be doing, she's doing it! I didn't know until last week that its important for the child to start identifying "me" or "mine," I guess to start perceiving herself. Well, we started talking to her to get her to say those words and now she says them a lot! We ask "who wants milk?" or "who wants to go to work?" and she yells "meeeee."

The other talking goal is to have her saying two- and three-word phrases. Since we started working on that, she repeats phrases when we say them, and she does say a few on her own too. She's a smart kid and learning more every day.

Birthday continued

2011-11-07T13:45:00.001-06:00

We gave Allie her birthday presents on Halloween. There was just too much going on to do everything in the same day!

Allie seemed to like the flashcards, but considering how she likes to tear and destroy paper, we may wait awhile before we start trying those. Yes, the bag that Monk is sniffing is how we gave them to her. Mama never found time to wrap.

The highlight was her Leapfrog laptop. Tied for a close second was her coloring book and her new baby.

She was quite intrigued as Dada went worked on getting it out of the package. Once Dada had it opened, she carried it around as long as she could.

And she played on her computer the way Dada plays on his. It was precious.

Our little witch

2011-11-05T21:37:00.000-05:00

We didn't get to do Halloween last year because Allie was sick. And the week before it was looking like she would be sick for this Halloween (and her birthday) as well. But she wasn't sick! So she wore her little witch costume that we bought her last year but she didn't wear.

She looked so cute, but she didn't like the hat. She doesn't like any hats. These pictures are the only good ones I could get with her hat on.

The costume came with a little pink belt that I thought was lost but was actually in the bag with the costume the whole time. Allie probably wouldn't have worn the belt anyway.

We decided she looked like a little court jester with the black dress with the pink collar. A cute court jester!

She wouldn't wear her witch's hat with her costume, but she wore this animal head!

We weren't going to go trick-or-treating. We weren't going to let Allie eat the candy so Mama and Dada would have. That wasn't good for Mama and Dada! And also Mama sprained her ankle on Monday morning and she also had an eye doctor appointment after work.

It was too bad for my ankle and the eye doctor appointment because we would have changed our minds and gone out for a little bit. Instead we drove around the neighborhood after the appointment (they drove me because it was my sprained ankle is my driving foot) and watched the kids and looked at the decorations. We'll trick-or-treat next year. Instead we came home, had dinner, and put tired Allie to bed.

Celebrate good times

2011-11-05T21:24:00.001-05:00

Ask Allie how old she is and she answers "tooooo." Its really cute how she says it.

She was excited to party last Sunday and so were we! We had a small party at Grandma and Grandpa Swanson's house. It worked out well since everyone but us lives down there anyway. Grandpa grilled hamburgers and hot dogs and we made the rest of the food. I wanted to find something that was a bit more creative than just your normal pasta salad. This is what I came up with:

Snack-o-lanterns! It wasn't my idea. I found it on a blog. You just scoop the orange out of the rind and then carve them and they're little fruit cups. It really wasn't too hard to do. It took me about an hour and a half to prepare them. They didn't go over super well at the party, I think its better suited for parties with more kids.

We just had lunch and then presents and cake. It took Allie a few minutes, but she did catch onto the fun of opening presents. She really enjoyed it since one of her favorite things to do is tear paper!

Allie really liked her cake. It was on the seat next to her when we drove down to Rockton, and she kept yelling for us to give her Elmo. The Elmo and Big Bird are actual toy cars that Allie got to keep.

After presents came cake, but before we could cut the cake and eat it, it was time to sing!

I think it surprised Allie at first to have everyone in the room singing to her. But she enjoyed it. And then she blew out her candle. She blew it out all by herself.

It was fun to see her goofing around with her cousins and her aunts and uncles. She was quite hopped up on sugar after the cake! Our little 2-year-old had a great time and tuckered herself out. She fell asleep in the car on the way home and she almost never falls asleep in her carseat anymore! It was a good day celebrating our baby.

First coloring book

2011-11-04T17:03:00.001-05:00

Among Allie's birthday presents was her first coloring book. She LOVES it. She loves coloring, and she also loves ripping paper.

Just look at how she's concentrating! She loves it most when Dada or Mama colors with her, but she will happily color by herself too.

We really want to start keeping some of her masterpieces to decorate our fridge and cubes at work, but most of her creations get ripped up because her second favorite pasttime after coloring is ripping paper. I'm not kidding. We need to be quicker to snatch those pictures before they're destroyed!

Bearded Allie

2011-11-02T20:39:00.000-05:00

Hello friends! There is so much going on in the Durso pack that Mama needs to blog about, but life is getting in the way this week. Mama sprained her ankle on Monday morning, so all my time not working is spent elevating my foot in an effort to alleviate the swelling. I'm working on slowly uploading pictures and hopefully will get caught up by this weekend!

But in the meantime, here's our bearded Allie. In addition to Allie's Sesame Street birthday cake, Grandma Swanson made cupcakes and sent a few home with us. Last night we gave Allie her two little cupcakes. She picked all the frosting off and didn't get it all in her mouth! Hence, we have our bearded Allie.

Happy birthday baby!

2011-10-30T20:51:00.000-05:00

It seems like it was just yesterday I held you in my arms for the first time!

But now suddenly you're 2!

Happy birthday baby!

We had a nice party today at Grandma and Grandpa Swanson's house. Allie loved her cake because it had Elmo on it! The cake was on the seat next to Allie on the way down and she kept asking for Elmo. This was a good cake. Its from Target and everyone commented on it! We love Target cakes. Anyway, no time for more pictures right now. We're all recovering from the hectic weekend!

All about the pumpkins

2011-10-29T21:48:00.000-05:00

The Durso pack has been a busy pack this fall. So busy that we didn't find time to get to the pumpkin patch until the weekend before Halloween! But we finally went today. Even though its the same thing every year, its new to Allie every year and that makes it super fun.

First it was the pig races:

We went early in the day instead of after lunch like we usually do. That worked out great because it wasn't as crowded. We scored a front row seat for the races, which Allie really enjoyed.

Then it was off to see the animals. Allie got a kick out of the goat going up on the goat bridge.

The main attraction was, of course, the pumpkins. Allie enjoyed examining the pumpkins up next to the store. But we took the hayride out to the patch to pick out pumpkin.

Here's the first pumpkin Allie was going to pick.

Until she found this one!

Its the perfect size for her! Since its so late we decided against carving the pumpkin. There's just not enough time. So we put it out on the porch. And its so cute because tonight Allie kept running over to the window and squealing when she saw her pumpkin out on the porch!

The last attraction was the mini-maze in the barn. At the end of the maze was a sandbox with corn instead of sand! I think Allie would have played here all day, but we needed to get home and get her nap.

Last year when we took a picture next to the "how tall this fall?" ruler, Allie wouldn't wear her shoes and she didn't want to stand next to the ruler! This year she didn't mind at all. What a cutie!

Looking back: The second year

2011-10-28T21:38:00.000-05:00

Allie has grown so much this year! As promised, here's year 2 in pictures:

Month 13, November: It was a tad chilly this day, but Allie did enjoy some running around at the park. And she enjoyed chewing on her mitten-covered fists.

Month 14, December: Riding around in her brand new umbrella stroller. We were out the day before Christmas to see Santa. So far Allie has gotten along with Santa fine.

Month 15, January: Hugging her big bear she got for Christmas from Grandma and Grandpa Swanson. The bear was bigger than her at the time:

Month 16, February: Look at that hair! This was the beginning of her mop. It still looked cute instead of just being a mess!

Month 17, March: At the Madison Children's Museum. She really liked playing with all the blocks they have there. We haven't been to the children's museum in awhile.

Month 18, April: In the car, ready to go home after a long day at Aunt Jeni's wedding. She didn't nap that day. Can you tell?

Month 19, May: Lounging at Brat Fest, Allie's got the purse and the keys and she's ready to go!

Month 20, June: We introduce Allie to the really big bath tub that is the pool. She likes it.

Month 21, July: We're working on brushing teeth. I think she likes it, though we're still not sure how much the brush actually meets her teeth.

Month 22, August: Mama takes a day off work and Aunt Jocie comes for a day at the beach. Allie liked putting her feet in the sand, but she didn't really like going in the lake.

Month 23, September: She really hams it up for the camera! This kid is used to having her life chronicled on film, thats for sure! These are her new kitty jammies.

Month 24, October: Earlier this month we took a family vacation to Minneapolis. Allie had a great time running around through the sculpture garden there.

Allie is so different now than she was last year at this time. Well, duh! But it still surprises me sometimes the things she can do and how she has grown. It seems the last two year have absolutely flown by! This weekend we celebrate!

Looking back: The first year

2011-10-27T20:35:00.003-05:00

With Allie's second birthday coming up, I thought it would be fun to go back and find one picture a month from the last two years. This is year 1. It was really neat to go through all the pictures and see the changes as she grew, as her personality started coming out. I haven't looked at the pictures from her first year in awhile. Its amazing how different she looked when she was tiny, but that she also looks the same.

Birthday: At 1 day old, Allie dressed up for Halloween too. But it was only for about 20 minutes. She was sleepy and Mama was (needlessly) paranoid about her wearing clothing that hadn't been washed yet. Ahhh, the silly things I used to worry about.

Month 1, November: One of her awake moments. She couldn't do much. She'd try to roll around without success. She would cry when we'd put her on her tummy.

Month 2, December: This was on Christmas Eve. We had her all dressed up with her coat on and all that dress crammed into the carseat. I'm not sure how we got her buckled in.

Month 3, January: Allie was really starting to smile a lot. She hated tummy time, but didn't mind it when her face wasn't on the floor. This was a few days before I started working and I was taking lots of pictures to take that perfect one to work. This is one of the ones I took.

Month 4, February: By this time she was rolling over and she didn't mind tummy time so much anymore. She was awake a lot more and starting to play.

Month 5, March: There's that big smile!

Month 6, April: Rolling over, eating solids and discovering her feet!

Month 7, May: She loved, and still loves, going to the grocery store and seeing all there is to see there.

Month 8, June: We went to the Discovery World Museum in Milwaukee and she was fascinated by the fish and the ship on the top floor as well as the taste of her stroller!

Month 9, July: She started standing before she was 9 months old! It was soon after this that she started walking, but she wasn't really good at walking until sometime near her birthday.

Month 10, August: This was when we switched her from the infant seat to the convertible seat. She was getting so big and we managed to keep her in the infant carrier that long!

Month 11, September: We had to start baby proofing, which included the fence to keep her in the living room. This fence was and still is a lifesaver!

Month 12, October 30, 2011: Our baby turned 1! She didn't really "get" the present thing. She enjoyed the cake though! I think she'll be way more into presents on Sunday and probably more into the cake too.

Stay tuned for the second year!

Coloring and cooking

2011-10-26T20:47:00.000-05:00

Allie has taken an intense interest in "colors." She also likes to watch Mama cook... or maybe she just likes playing in the kitchen since we don't let her go there in all the time. Either way, the other night she combined these two intense interests by coloring with Dada on the floor in the kitchen while Mama cooked dinner!

Allie's pumpkin

2011-10-23T14:55:00.000-05:00

This is one of our Halloween decorations, a plastic pumpkin that lights up (you can't really tell from the picture though).We bought the pumpkin because its cute and cheap... except it hasn't been particularly cheap. Allie always wants the light on, and the two AA batteries don't last long! It seems even if we remember to turn it off when Allie isn't in the room, the batteries only last three days or so. We bought another package of AA batteries today in order to keep the pumpkin lit until Halloween! Its fun though. I love seeing Allie's enthusiasm. She gets really excited when she sees pumpkins outside. I wonder what she'll think of the pumpkin patch when we go next week?

My cheerleaders

2011-10-22T22:25:00.002-05:00

Mama ran her fourth half marathon this morning. And Allie and Dada were there cheering! It was frigid to start, but we all survived and had a great time! It was nice that we could seek refuge inside before the start.

The start and finish were at a resort on Lake Geneva. The course also came back by the start at mile 3. So Dada and Allie were able to see Mama three times without going anywhere! After the start Allie played a bit and then after mile 3 they got in the car and cruised. I don't blame them. The weather was perfect for running but not so much for spectating.

I feel so lucky. I know a lot of runner friends who's husbands and families aren't always supportive of their running or, if they are, don't go to races. Allie and Dada have been to all my races unless it was too cold or rainy. And I feel so privileged to have my own cheering section!

This picture is early in the race, when I passed the start again at mile 3. I still felt great at this point, this is before the hills started taking their toll. After this picture I stopped and gave Allie and Dada both a big kiss and kept going.

A full report is forthcoming. The short version is this: I knew there would be hills, but this course was basically all rolling hills. It was TOUGH. So that makes it even sweeter that I met my main goal, which was to beat 2:30. I beat it with time to spare, final result 2:28:54!

Budding artist

2011-10-21T20:32:00.001-05:00

We went out to dinner tonight for Mama to carbo-load before my half marathon tomorrow. Nevermind the fact I've been carbo-loading all week! We went to Bella Vita, a local Italian place that has butcher paper to color on instead of a kids menu. This apparently sparked Allie's creativity.

We've never seen her color like this before! We all had fun coloring and then eating out good food. And now Mama's all ready for the race, and Allie and Dada are all ready to cheer!

New tricks: Getting undressed and kissing owies

2011-10-20T20:18:00.000-05:00

Allie's latest fun trick is taking her shirt off. More than a few times I've gone into her room after a nap or a night of sleep and found her shirtless. I only hope that she's taken the shirt off since waking up and not sleeping all night without her shirt! Her room can get pretty cold!

The other night at dinner she decided to take her shirt off.

Another trick I've taught her is that if you get hurt, Mama or Dada can kiss the hurt and make it better. I ask her if I can kiss it, she says yes, and I kiss it and say "all better!"

Some nights she goes and "hurts" herself just so Mama or Dada will kiss the owie.

Monday night I fell down when my foot got tripped up on the gate. I hit my knee and sprained my ankle. Allie kissed both and they were all better! Well, the knee was all better. It took a little longer for my ankle.

We did this when I was a kid. Its a good approach to make owies not a big deal. Kids will be hurt if we make a big deal of it. Of course there are the big owies that take a few kisses, but overall Allie doesn't make a big deal of her owies.

Pancakes!

2011-10-15T20:37:00.000-05:00

This morning Mama ran 10 miles. Right after finishing that Mama had to get to the chiropractor. Then Mama was starving. We managed to run way low on food this week, but somehow had the ingredients for pancakes in the house. So what does Mama do? Make pancakes of course. And Allie helped!

Allie loves pancakes. I make them almost every weekend. We like regular pancakes but also banana pancakes and especially chocolate chip pancakes. When I said I'd make pancakes, Allie kept shouting "pancakes!"

I say this a lot, but Allie helped me make the pancakes and I think its the most fun we've had together. Allie stood on the step stool and watched me measure the ingredients. After I measured the ingredients, Allie helped me put them on the bowl. Then she held the whisk with me and we stirred them up together. We decided to put chocolate chips in too.

I wish I had pictures! After mixing the pancakes we moved the step stool over by the griddle and watched me cook the pancakes.

Then it was the best part... eating them! I asked Allie if she liked eating food that she made and she answered in her new, "umm hmm." Its the cutest thing ever!

Afternoon on the farm

2011-10-15T20:23:00.000-05:00

Two weeks ago when a couple of our friends came to town for the Wisconsin Nebraska football game, Allie spent the night with Aunt Jeni and Uncle Dave. They had a lot of fun going to Edward's Apple Orchard. Here are some of the pictures Aunt Jeni took! Highlights were riding a pony, touching a pig and stealing Uncle Dave's apple cider doughnut. I remember going to the apple orchard as a kid. Its a fun place! We hope to take Allie to our local pumpkin patch next weekend!

Day 3: Mall of America and home

2011-10-13T19:47:00.000-05:00

Sunday morning we were ready to go home, but not quite yet. So we got all packed up and headed to the Mall of America. We get there around 9:30 and none of the stores were open yet! We weren't interested in shopping anyway. We wanted to ride the carousel, but you couldn't buy tickets for an individual ride. The cheapest ticket package at Nickelodeon Universe is $19! No thanks. So we just walked, which was just fine with Allie.

It was cool to walk around while the mall was still empty though! We walked through the Nickelodeon Universe and one of the roller coasters was running. Allie was fascinated!

We stopped to play at Legoland after watching the roller coasters for awhile. Allie enjoyed that, but only for a few minutes. It can be hard to keep this kid entertained sometimes!

We went up a couple floors and let Allie out of the stroller. She was fascinated by the Hello Kitty store!

Too bad the stores weren't open! We thought they'd be open at 10. They didn't open until 11!

But it was really fun letting Allie explore before the mall got really crowded. She had fun walking around the food court and pulling out the chairs.

I've been to the Mall of America twice now and only bought food! Perhaps if the stores had opened earlier, I could have bought something. Oh well, we'll just have to come back!

An interesting tidbit... we had originally thought we'd have lunch at the mall and then leave. But we were bored with the stores closed and not being able to ride the carousel. So we were going to get a Coke from McDonald's and hit the road... but McDonald's had Pepsi! That just doesn't seem right for McDonalds! But I guess all the restaurants at the mall only have Pepsi?

This was a great trip. While we had considered going on Thursday to have another day, but three days was perfect. It was only a four-hour trip, which was pretty easy. We got on the road at 11 and only stopped for lunch and got home at 4. It was nice to be home, especially for Allie. It was also nice to get home so early and have some relaxation time before it was time for bed and going back to work Monday!

Day 2: Sculpture garden and downtown

2011-10-12T20:42:00.001-05:00

After meeting Betsy on Saturday morning, we went back to the hotel for nap time. Allie seemed extraordinarily tired and cranky. So we were sure she'd sleep. She didn't.

So we played in the room for a bit and then headed for an afternoon outdoors. It was so beautiful and it had become obvious that outside was the best place for Allie. I remember reading about the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden before we went two years ago, but we didn't get there that time. When I ran across it while searching for activities this time, it went on the list of things to do!

It was kind of funny though... the address was on Hennepin Avenue across from the art museum in Minneapolis. I put the address in our GPS and I got three choices: Hennepin Avenue north, Hennepin Avenue south and Hennepin Avenue. The address didn't indicate a direction, so I chose Hennepin Avenue. We got to our destination and there was no art museum and definitely no sculpture garden! This isn't the first time our Garmin GPS has failed us.

Instead of getting mad, we were laughing as we drove around the neighborhood trying to figure out where to go. Thats when I discovered the navigation feature on my smart phone. I put our destination in there and it was only nine minutes away. I'm not sure where we actually went the first time, but we were happy when we got there!

This is such a beautiful area. There's a conservatory next to the garden that was closed for a wedding. We saw at least three different wedding groups (aside from the actual wedding that was there) come to the garden and take pictures. We took plenty of pictures ourselves!

Allie definitely enjoyed running around. She didn't care too much for the sculptures, but she did enjoy looking at the flowers.

I had to explain to Allie that we just look at the flowers and smell them, but we don't pick them. I had to tell her several times, but she didn't pick any flowers!

We got a nice family picture with the iconic spoon and cherry sculpture in the background. We spent close to two hours there just walking and running around the sculptures. It was definitely a good place to let Allie run, she had a blast. After we saw everything, we decided to go downtown to the stone arch bridge.

Allie really liked the bridge and watching the waterfall. She was a little too eager to climb up next to the railing though, and that made Mama nervous. Allie was getting pretty tired anyway, so we decided it was time to go back in the stroller.

We had a nice walk across the bridge. Of all the stuff we did this weekend, this is the only thing we did both times we went to Minneapolis.

When we were walking back to the car, we discovered Mill Ruins Park. This former industrial powerhouse was the leading international producer of flour back in its heyday.

We were getting tired, but it was worth it to walk down the hill and see the restored ruins.

The Mill City Museum pictured here is supposed to be really interesting to visit to learn more about the history of this area. We'll go there in a few years when Allie has a bit more of an attention span!

After this we were all beat. We decided to pick up a pizza and head to our room instead of going to a restaurant for dinner. It was a good choice. It was good pizza from a random place we found when we searched the area of our hotel!

Even though Allie was exhausted from not napping two days, she always perked up when we got back to the hotel. I think she was most in her element when it was just us. We still had plenty of fun when we went out though. Allie went to sleep earlier Saturday night than she did on Friday, so that made us happy. Mama and Dada weren't too far behind on going to sleep either!

Meet Betsy

2011-10-11T20:13:00.002-05:00

Saturday morning after breakfast we headed over to the Build-A-Bear workshop. There is one in Madison, but we decided to make this a special part of our vacation.
Allie picked her bear all by herself, and she picked the cheapest one!

Waiting in line was a struggle. Allie just wanted to run around and take all the clothes off hangers and pick seven more bears and just make a mess. It was a long line! But finally we made it to the front!

The first thing we did was put Allie's name on her bear, so she wouldn't get lost!

Then Allie picked a heart for her bear. The girl who was stuffing her bear said to rub it on your heart, and she rubbed it on mine after trying to rub it on the girl's as well! Then both me and Allie kissed her bear's heart. It was adorable.

We decided to name Allie's bear Betsy. After Betsy was stuffed, we took her over to get fluffed and then pick out clothes! The choice became clear when we saw a Wisconsin Badgers cheerleading outfit. Betsy became Betsy Badger!

Allie liked to throw Betsy on the floor. Then later on the trip home, she discovered that she could undress Betsy!

Day 1: Como Park Zoo and Rainforest Cafe

2011-10-10T21:04:00.001-05:00

The first stop on our Minneapolis adventure was the Como Park Zoo. Como Park also has a conservatory, a theme park, a carousel and a mini-golf course. Its a pretty cool place! The zoo is small like the Madison zoo, so we figured it would be a great place to start our adventure. In reading about the zoo, I was glad we went on Friday afternoon. Apparently it can get pretty crowded, but on a Friday afternoon in the fall, parking was plentiful and it wasn't crowded at all.

First stop was the primate house, where Allie was delighted when this tiny primate came up to her and ran along the glass. We had to convince her to go see the rest of the animals instead of just camping out here!

She got up super close to this gorilla! He didn't move much though so Allie wasn't as interested. I don't think the gorilla was interested in Allie either.

The seals are a favorite display in Madison, but this big pool only had three of them! There were a couple other seals in a different pool.

Allie and Dada were delighted to watch the zebras.

And she really liked when the giraffe came up to the fence.

The big cats had huge enclosures. Allie liked watching the tiger go for a dip in his pool.

While we couldn't get too close to the big cats in Como Park, we got close to the polar bear!

Como Park was the perfect place to spend a couple hours outside on a beautiful Indian Summer October afternoon. It wore us all out, but even as we were heading out to the exit, Allie was still running strong.

But about a half hour later while sitting in traffic, she got a little shuteye. The ride to the hotel was supposed to only be 20 minutes, but in the traffic it was an hour! We didn't mind though as Allie hadn't yet napped. And Allie without a nap is pretty unpredictable.

Once we got up to our hotel room, Allie was on the go again exploring the room and having some snacks.

We went to the Rainforest Cafe in the Mall of America for dinner. Silly Mama thought this would be a highlight of the trip.

Well... I felt like a terrible parent when Allie got scared of the gorilla dances and thunderstorms! She seemed into it at first, but went downhill after this picture was snapped. I was asking her if she was having a good time and with her face still in my neck she kept nodding her head "yes."

It had been a long day and I do wonder if she would have liked it better if she'd been better rested. We headed back to the hotel where we were sure Allie would crash... but she didn't. She always came back to life whenever we got back to that hotel room! We had some of the most fun times in the hotel room! Allie finally went to sleep around 8:45 and day 1 of vacation was complete.

Sneak peak

2011-10-09T21:27:00.000-05:00

We had a great time in Minneapolis. We learned that Allie is still a little young for some things (and nap time is important!), but we all had a great time. Here are a few pictures to start with. I will hopefully post a bunch more in coming days.

I'm having some issues switching my photo account as my original one is full! I deleted some photos from the blog to make room, and then ran out again. Instead of paying for more storage, I'm creating a new account and thats been a challenge. Photos are missing from the beginnings of my blogs that I'll have to restore at some point. But hopefully I've gotten some storage space to post the photos from our trip!

Spooky decor

2011-10-06T20:12:00.000-05:00

Tonight we got out the Halloween decorations we bought a couple weeks ago. We bought them in September but wanted to wait until it was actually October to put them up. We got some window clings, two ghost wall hangings, a lighted pumpkin and some pumpkin lights. We put up everything except the lights. We need to get another string in order to plug them in.

Allie LOVED putting up the window clings.

She enjoyed taking them off the paper...

... and putting them on the windows!

Then she also had fun pulling them off the windows and putting them back on.

Dada and Mama agree, she loved putting up these decorations, thus she will definitely love decorating the Christmas tree.

Finally!

2011-10-05T20:14:00.001-05:00

After hearing rumors and getting the "unofficial" confirmation a month or so ago, I finally got the official word in the mail today that my project position has been extended to July 31, 2013!

I actually got this news a month ago because when someone in HR was putting the extensions in our timesheet system accidentally terminated me! That was kind of funny at first, but it got old when I started getting letters about continuation of insurance coverage and unused leave payments. So at the time I was told we had gotten the extension but to keep my lips zipped.

Well now they don't need to stay zipped anymore! I don't know why it took so long to get the official word, but I'm glad to have it!

I have been interviewing for some other jobs over the last month as well. I haven't been talking about it much here just because I don't really have anything to say about them yet. Five weeks ago I interviewed for an overpayment collections job and I still haven't heard anything yet on that one, though I do know they checked my references. Then last week I interviewed at the call center last Tuesday and for a delinquent tax collections position last Wednesday. That week was stressful! I have heard from all three of my references that they were called on the collections position. I haven't heard anything about the call center, but I'm 99 percent sure I'd turn it down if offered.

So its Wednesday night, but my Friday! I am taking tomorrow off as a Mama day. Then Friday Doug is taking off and we're headed to Minneapolis! We are so excited for this trip.

Just Mama and Allie

2011-10-04T20:12:00.001-05:00

Poor Dada is sick again. :-( Some kind of stomach thing. He went straight to bed when we got home from work yesterday, so it was just Mama and Allie.

I decided to be daring and let Allie have the run of the house while I made dinner. Since Dada wasn't eating, I could have just made us something quick. But I needed to make something that would have leftovers to take for lunch. So I made this pasta with Mexican black bean sauce.

She loved standing on the step stool watching me put things in the pan. I chopped onions and opened cans and put in spices and she looked at everything and smelled it before I put it in. She handed me the cans and thought it was really neat when I drained the pasta and when I used the food processor to blend the beans with the rest of the sauce.

The sauce doesn't look all that appetizing, but its really good! We love black beans in our house and the combination of the black beans with tomato and the spices is quite tasty. Its a nice protein alternative for hamburger in regular marinara sauce.

Allie liked it too! She ate a bowl of just plain pasta but then wanted more with the sauce. She even used a big kid spoon. But she's really funny with the big kid spoon, she put the pasta on the spoon and then picked it off and ate it with her fingers.

It was a nice night together, but exhausting. I have a few mama friends who's husbands travel a lot for work. I don't know how they do it! Unfortunately Dada is still sick this evening and I got to do it all again. But this time we got home from work late and then Monk got out and decided to take a run around the block. She's never done that before! Then it was a quick dinner, bath and cleaning the kitchen and doing laundry. Now I'm finally sitting down!

Vacation time

2011-10-03T20:53:00.002-05:00

We just booked a hotel in Bloomington, Minn., for our first real family vacation this weekend!

This fall is so crazy, but we've really wanted to go on a family vacation and October seemed like the perfect time to go. We went to Minneapolis two years ago and have really wanted to go back. There's a database conversion happening at work this week so the work we can actually do will be limited. So people could take vacation if they wanted to. Thus we're taking our first real family vacation to Minneapolis this weekend! And it seems that we're going to have some great weather!

We'll be going to the Mall of America for sure. We decided to stay closer to the mall because it will be easy if other plans don't work out. I've been worried that we may try to do too much. But we can go to the mall the whole time and be entertained. We want to do Build-a-Bear and go to the big Lego store where Allie could play with tons of legos. She loves playing with blocks at home. We also might check out the aquarium and the American Girl doll store. The pictures here are from when we went the last time. Above is from the aquarium and below is the big Lego airplane above the Lego store

In Minneapolis we'd like to perhaps go to a sculpture park I read about and the Como Park Zoo. There's also the stone bridge pictured above and some other things in the riverfront area. And of course there's are a few museums we can get into free using our Madison Children's Museum membership. And I'm sure there are other activities I've looked at but not listed here. We're really excited to take Allie along with us on a family trip. We can't wait!

Allie's first haircut

2011-10-02T20:51:00.000-05:00

Allie has a lot of hair. We've been talking about getting her hair cut for a long time. Well, gulp, today we finally did it! Jeni's friend Becky does hair and today on her day off, she cut Allie's bangs.

Here we are before starting. Notice how her hair is a mess and all over her face.

For reference, here's a cute picture from this time last year. Its not really a good view of her face, but its a cute picture and you can tell there's a lot less hair!

Allie didn't know what to make of the haircut process.

She sat pretty well though.

But she was definitely confused by the scissors and cutting, looking at Becky like, "what the heck are you doing to me?"

But aside from asking what the heck she was doing and being somewhat wiggly, she was really good. And the haircut was a total of three cuts to the bangs. Quick and painless!

And Becky even made a certificate for Allie to commemorate the occasion!

It does make me sad though. My baby's growing up! Just look how much more grown up she looks with real bangs instead of messy hair all over her face!

Our little punk rocker in her new shoes

2011-09-30T14:58:00.001-05:00

We got Allie some new shoes last weekend. Converse One Stars were on clearance for 50% off. Its the only time I'd buy those shoes because these canvas shoes in toddler sizes are $25 at full price?!? That doesn't seem worth it for canvas, but I know its for the brand. $12.50, however, was great. The peace signs are cute. Allie loves her new shoes too. We got them on Saturday and when she wasn't wearing them on Sunday, she was carrying them around.

I took these pictures on Tuesday because with her peace sign shoes, the little spikey pony tail and the shirt she was wearing, she looked like a cute little punk rocker! And this little punk rocker is turning 2 exactly one month from today! Where has the time gone??

How time flies

2011-09-29T21:07:00.000-05:00

For a long time in my life, I thought I'd never get married. I never had a boyfriend. Until I started dating Doug. I met Doug on May 19, 2003, my first day of work at The Southern Illinoisan. I used to laugh at women who said they knew the moment when they met their husbands. I didn't think it was possible. While I didn't know he'd be my husband on May 19, 2003, I knew later that summer.

With the help of a couple friends, we started dating Jan. 20, 2005. The real start of our life together, however, was Sept. 29, 2007.

I love looking back at the pictures of that day. It was perfect. And while our life since hasn't always been perfect, its been pretty darn close. I couldn't imagine life any other way.

Its been four wonderful years and I'm looking forward to many many more. How time flies when you're having fun! I love you honey! Happy anniversary!

Goin' out for a walk

2011-09-29T13:33:00.001-05:00

We like to take walks when we get home from work if the weather's nice.

On a recent sunny afternoon, Allie was very insistent that we walk!

We like this fun family time and this time even took Monk!

But we never walk too far from home because right after this picture was snapped, Allie decided she wanted "uppa," meaning she didn't want to walk anymore. Luckily it wasn't too far to carry her.

Wet morning at the zoo

2011-09-29T13:29:00.001-05:00

Sunday morning looked like it was starting nice enough as we got up and got ready for the Zoo Run Run 10K. We were looking forward to this race because since it was at the zoo, Allie and Dada would have things to do while I was running.

Allie wore her new kitty jammies the night before and was still really excited about them... but that didn't stop her from making a mess at breakfast!

But right as we were leaving it started to rain. And it kept raining. I had known about the chance of rain that day but thought it would be later. We drove to the race anyway because I race rain or shine... but we didn't know what Allie and Dada would do.

As it turned out, the rain let up soon after the race started. And Allie and Dada had the zoo practically to themselves!

So Dada let Allie run around a lot.

That is, until she decided she didn't want to listen to Dada anymore. Then it was time to go back in the stroller. But by that time it was time to see Mama run to the finish!

Seeing Allie and Dada so close to the finish made me go that much faster! And it was so fun seeing Allie's reaction as I ran by. In spite of the rain and a lingering chest cold, Mama finished in 1:06:30, an almost-PR! The full race report can be found over in My Marathon Journey.

Then it was home for Allie to take a much-needed nap (she almost fell asleep in the car! She never does that!) and for Mama and Dada to spend a rainy afternoon watching football.

Good luck for the Pack

2011-09-26T21:06:00.000-05:00

So one day this summer, my mom found two toddler Packer's shirts in a bag on their porch. She didn't know where they came from and thought perhaps someone meant to leave them at someone else's house... but since she didn't know who left them, she couldn't find out! So she gave them to Allie! Its fall here now and the Packers were playing the Bears yesterday, so it was a perfect day for Allie to don her new Packers gear. It must have been good luck because they won!

She is such a ham. I try to take candid pictures, but she always senses (or hears) when I'm about to take a picture and she turns around and poses.

It was a nice day watching football together yesterday. Allie was in her element as were the rest of us. Mama ran the Zoo Run Run 10K yesterday morning and we were all happy to have a lazy afternoon after that.

On Saturday we bought some Halloween decorations. We're waiting until its actually October to put them up, but we let Allie keep her new bucket. She loves that bucket! Its a jack-o-lantern that she'll use if she goes trick-or-treating. We won't really trick-or-treat, but there is a Halloween event at the zoo we want to go to.

It was rainy and cold outside, but since we were inside, Allie was comfy in short pants and flip flops. She loves those flip flops.

Here she is being a ham again!

Dada's already teaching her the finer points of football. She did actually sit next to him for awhile and seemed like she was watching.

I have plenty of things to write about and pictures to post, but while I don't normally get stressed out... the past few weeks I've been stressed out! We've been crazy busy the last few weeks and its not really slowing down anytime soon. I know there are a few readers out there though, and I'll try my best to be a bit more regular with posting!

"Gampa?"

2011-09-20T15:42:00.001-05:00

Allie's favorite toy is the phone. The real one. Fake phones won't do. Whenever she gets into the kitchen she grabs the real phone to talk on it. Who does she talk to? Gampa. I think Grandpa Durso, but could be Grandpa Swanson, who knows?

She loves to "talk" on the phone to Gampa, but when there's a real person on the line she clams up.

A funny aside, when she talks about Grandma and Grandpa, its always Gampa Gampa.

Gotta start 'em early!

2011-09-20T15:39:00.003-05:00

Allie met technology on Saturday when we were all riding to a baby shower in Wausau.

She really liked Cousin RuthAnne's headphones. So much so that she cried when RuthAnne took them back to keep using them herself.

And the ipad. Such crazy technology is many years away from appearing in our house (I only got my first laptop earlier this year, after all). But Cousin RuthAnne and her siblings are well versed in this newfangled thing. Allie wasn't impressed. RuthAnne was showing her all kinds of cartoons and games and stuff and it wasn't long before Allie was bored and ready to move on to something else.

I was right

2011-09-18T12:36:00.001-05:00

Well, in the past two weeks everyone around me who could be sick, was. Allie brought it into the house and then Dada got (and still has) it. Coworkers have been sick along with one of our daycare's kids. I got the first tickle in my nose and scratch in my throat Friday morning. Saturday I was miserable through the middle of the night but felt OK during the day as Allie and I headed to my cousin's baby shower with mom, Julie and two of Allie's cousins. But by the time we left I knew I had fully succombed.

I knew I'd get sick this time around, and it turns out I was right.

The unfortunate thing is that the way my breathing/lungs feel, especially how quickly this cold moved into my chest (pretty much right away), I'm afraid this may end up in a bronchaitis-type infection, especially considering I know of at least one case of walking pneumonia encountered this week.

So the question now is how long this will last and how bad will it get? Doug is still sick but Allie is fine so its tougher for both of us to keep track of Allie while doing our best to rest and recover. But to her credit, Allie's been really good. This morning while Dada was doing the grocery shopping and Mama was sitting and feeling yucky, Allie was perfectly content to play quietly on her own. Now hopefully she'll take a long nap.

Baby!

2011-09-16T15:51:00.002-05:00

Allie has become obsessed with babies, both of the doll variety and the real variety.

Yesterday when we got to daycare to pick her up, she was carrying around a baby on a play bed. She wouldn't let go of the baby, so we took the baby home for the night.

She loves to hug the baby.

She also "rocks" the baby, even though it looks like she's smothering her!

And she also took the baby along on some adventures.

Allie slept with her baby last night. In fact, the baby didn't leave her sight, except when Allie was eating. I wonder if baby will have to come home with us for the weekend?

This weekend will be fun for Allie, as she and I are going to my cousin's baby shower tomorrow. We're riding with, among others, her cousins RuthAnne and baby Sammy, who is almost 5 months old. I'm sure Allie will have fun!

Ski bunny

2011-09-14T20:04:00.000-05:00

Tonight Mama got out the fall clothes. We don't have a whole lot right now, but I'm happy to report Allie has a coat! She got some clothes from her cousins awhile back. I didn't think the coat would fit because its size 12 to 18 months. Well, it fits! And she looks like a little ski bunny in it.

Allie had fun having me put it on and zip it up and unzipping it and taking it off and then asking me to put it on again! Its getting chilly this week, I hope we don't need winter coats already!

Just like that, summer's gone

2011-09-13T20:50:00.000-05:00

Its funny how while Allie is still a few years away from school, it really felt like it was time for school to start. Maybe it was the weather cooling right at Labor Day weekend or perhaps the preparations Bridget's kids were making to start school. But it feels like all of the sudden, summer's gone and we're well into fall.

I wore long sleeves on a couple of my morning runs last week. Twice now we've had to scramble to find some long pants for Allie to wear. Its harder than it seems because she's grown since the last time she wore pants. A lot of them, while they still fit her waist, are short! The jeans she wore today are passable, but others have been funny to try on. I have a bag of bigger fall clothes in the basement that I need to bring up so that Allie can wear some clothes that fit! It was warm over the weekend and warm yesterday. Today was that in between day where it was chilly in the morning and pleasant after work. But soon we'll have to get the winter coats out!

One of the things I really love about the fall is the lighting. With the sun lower in the sky in the evening, I just love how the sun shines through the trees and the shadows. I love the pictures I take outside in the fall.

We have lots of fun stuff going on this fall. No breaks for us. We're looking forward to all the new adventures we can find this fall with Allie a year older. When we go to the pumpkin patch in October, we may try the kids' corn maze! And when it snows, we're thinking we'll go to one of the smaller hills and try sledding. I wonder what Allie will think of that?

So grown up

2011-09-11T21:16:00.001-05:00

We're slowly becoming aware that our itty bitty baby isn't so itty bitty anymore as Allie approaches her second birthday. She is one amazing little girl. She's growing up and we are constantly on our toes. A few weeks ago we had to move her art table up into her bedroom because she discovered that she could climb on it!

She already knows what she wants: The keys and the phone! And the toy versions just don't do. Oh my.

She tries to fill some big shoes. She loves playing with shoes and she especially loves flip flops as well as untying our shoes as we are putting them on.

I'm not really sure what she was doing here, but her expression was really intense and priceless.

Our neighbor feeds the ducks from his balcony so we see the ducks a lot. Dada showed them to her and she was mesmerized. She looks for them now whenever we go down to the garage.

One of our favorite things Allie does these days is sing. We especially like singing at bedtime. I wish I could take a picture. We recently gave her a blanket. She doesn't usually keep it on, but we cover her up with it (its one of Mama's baby blankets!) and give her Hippo and Penny. Then Dada and Mama sing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star," in all our out-of-tune glory. It doesn't sound pretty, but Allie loves it. She sometimes sings along in her gibberish language. And when we're done she claps, sometimes so enthusiastically that she tosses Hippo and Penny. We give them back to her and pat her on the tummy and say good night.

Eating is still hit or miss. I suspect it will be like that for a long time to come. But we recently discovered that she likes plums, in fact, she loves them. She has her old favorites, peanut butter and jelly, macaroni & cheese, spaghetti, pizza. But some days she won't even eat those. What she eats one day most certainly isn't what she'll eat the next.

There's almost nothing she won't repeat after us. I had her saying "Durso" today. She says "Allie," but doesn't put together "Allie Durso."

She plays games with Mama and Dada or by herself. She got a play picnic basket from Grandma and Grandpa and spends a lot of time taking things out and putting them back in, drinking out of the cups and eating from the plates. There's a little red and white checkered napkin that she uses to "cleeeeen up." Or she'll set the picnic on it like a table cloth. She plays with her blocks, building tall towers. Capitalizing on how she likes to "cleeeeen up," we make an effort to pick up the toys together before bed.

She's growing up though. Over the last few weeks she seems to have discovered fear or at least more separation anxiety. She cries when one of us leaves the room. She's also started the tantrum habit. Sometimes there's a tantrum over every little thing. We've definitely learned to ignore this weekend! Naps are getting shorter, I'm afraid she might be moving toward giving them up entirely. Compounding this she hasn't been sleeping well. We hear her crying in her sleep and saying "no no," like maybe she's having a bad dream. I don't want my baby to be afraid!

Its been such an adventure. I love seeing her learn. I love her quizzical looks as she studies a person or thing. She still springs up the moment we come into her room in the morning and gives us a smile and then promptly lays her head on a shoulder to try and go back to sleep. Her face lights up whenever we mention Baby Einstein or when we turn her music on in the car. What else will she learn in the coming year?

Ten years ago

2011-09-11T13:54:00.000-05:00

Ten years ago this morning I was a junior at EIU and getting ready for my 8 a.m. class. It was my first semester working at The Daily Eastern News and I walked through my dorm's lobby to grab a copy of the paper to see how it turned out. I remember thinking how weird it was that there was a TV in the vacant front desk area tuned to what I thought in passing was old footage of the Oklahoma City bombing. I know how silly that was now becuase while I don't remember specifics of Oklahoma City, I know that building looked nothing like the twin towers! I walked across the quad to my class in Coleman Hall, Intro to Mass Communication. It was a class that I took because I was a PR minor for a semester. As I walked across the quad I was oblivious to what was going on. I hadn't turned on the TV while getting ready for class.

Only once I got to my class did I start to realize what had happened, though I'm not sure anyone realized at that moment the true enormity of it. The teacher was really upset and we discussed it a bit. We were dismissed just after the first tower fell and I got back to my room just in time to watch my TV horrified as the second tower fell. I was crying in my room wondering what the heck was going on and suddenly realized I needed to get to work. There was tons of work to do for the paper!

I don't remember too much afterward. It's faded over 10 years. I remember all the panic of the skies and that our editor in chief and a photographer had gone to the little airport in Champaign an hour away after we'd heard that planes had been diverted there. I remember the school administrators arriving at the newsroom to meet with the editorial board, which I was not yet a part of.

That evening I covered a prayer vigil that was held at the union. I wasn't the most aggressive reporter and thats the story that I ended up with. It was such a powerful service though. I don't remember much about the service, but I remember the picture on a photopage in the paper of a campus minister kneeling and sobbing.

In my short journalism career, this was the most surreal, the most significant day. I'm not sure what could surpass it if I was still working at the newspaper. I certainly don't want to find out because that would mean it would likely be something even more horrific than 9/11.

I didn't know anyone who was in New York or Washington D.C. or on flight 93 that day. I know a few people now who were closer to the action. But even though I wasn't closely affected, I know we were all affected. We were affected when those terrorists stole our security out from under us. The thought that no one could touch us on our soil was no longer. In its place came security alerts and difficulty traveling, particularly flying. The country got sucked into a war that I'm not sure is any closer to being won 10 years later.

One of my facebook friends posted this link a few days ago. Someone, I have no idea who, posted The Daily Eastern News from 9/12/01 (for some reason dated 9/12/08). I still get chills looking at that photo on the front page. We did our best to never use wire stories on the front page in those days and I don't even think we normally had access to wire photos. But thats what it was on Sept. 12, 2001, the first day of our alternate reality.

I write this because I think its important to remember. And I think everyone has their own interesting stories from that day. But I also write this because above all, I hope beyond hope that Allie, any future children of mine and everyone's kids never have to experience this horror. I hope we can end this war soon and show those terrorists that when they mess with the United States, they lose.

Relaxing

2011-09-10T12:57:00.001-05:00

Note: I uploaded Thursday's video via YouTube and didn't realize I had it set to private. I think I've fixed that, so check out the video and someone let me know if you still can't watch it?

Its been a week here in the Durso house. Allie was a little off all the week before last, even that weekend before. Then last weekend we went to see Grandma and Grandpa with little sleeping (for all of us) or eating (for Allie... Mama and Dada ate plenty). It was an exhausting trip for all, especially Allie. She was in bed early Monday night and we headed out to work Tuesday. By the time we picked Allie up from daycare, the poor kid had a fever!

So Allie stayed home the rest of the week. At first we thought it was going to be a quick rest day, but when Allie puked on Mama Wednesday evening, we knew it was a bit more. It was my first time getting puked on, I guess I'm lucky I made it this long? But the poor kid was so upset, I think mostly because it got on me! So I had to hide my disgust so she didn't get more upset. With a bath, a load of laundry and a little Resolve, the evidence was gone. Dad had stayed home Wednesday, Mama stayed home Thursday and Dada stayed home Friday. In that time Allie slept a ton and slowly got her appetite back. I'm happy to report she's back to normal this morning.

Ahhh, Saturday. We're so glad to have no real plans this weekend. We all woke up early and headed to the farmer's market after pancakes. Allie was so happy just to be out of the house. She always enjoys going to the farmer's market and seeing all there is to see. With all sorts of activity downtown, it was somewhat difficult to get around, but worth it for what we got.

Now Allie's napping and we're sitting on the couch watching the Badgers. Life is good. All we have left on the agenda for the weekend is the grocery store, laundry and I'm planning to run 10 or 11 miles tomorrow. Aside from these activities we're eating chili and watching football all weekend. Afterall, opening weekend is a holiday in the Durso house!

Ice cream cone adventures

2011-09-08T20:17:00.000-05:00

A video from Aunt Julie. We traveled to Carbondale last weekend to see friends and family. It was fun and exhausting. Saturday night and Sunday afternoon Aunt Julie, Cousins Carson and Cole along with Grandma and Grandpa babysat Allie so Mama and Dada could see some old friends. They made their way to Dairy Queen where Allie had adventures with an ice cream cone... this one was her second. It didn't work out well!

Note: You may need to click on the entry title to make the video appear.

Allie's wheels

2011-09-02T15:03:00.000-05:00

A couple months ago one of our neighbors gave Allie his daughter's little bike after she got a big kid bike. We've tried to get Allie to ride it, but right now she's still more interested in pushing it. I snapped the picture of her actually riding about a split second before she jumped off to push it again! She likes her bike, points it out in the garage every time she sees it. I guess she just doesn't get that its for riding yet.

Singin' in the rain

2011-09-01T15:52:00.003-05:00

Most days when we get home from work we all go outside. Dada takes Monk to do her business and also gets the mail. Allie and I hang out on the porch or run around the yard. Tuesday when we got home it was raining a bit, but not hard. It started raining harder while we were outside. But Allie didn't mind.

In this last picture she's feeling the wet sidewalk! It was so cute! She loves being outside and most days it takes some convincing to get her to come back inside with the rest of us. On Tuesday when it was raining, it took even more convincing.

Back to the blog

2011-08-31T21:03:00.003-05:00

It's been quite a week. Sorry to say that blogging has taken the back seat! But I'm back with plenty of cute pictures!

Last week when our daycare took a long weekend, Doug stayed home with Allie that Friday and I stayed home on Monday. We spent our morning taking our first ever walk without the stroller. She liked it so much that we took a second walk that afternoon. And now she is no longer a big fan of going in the stroller. Whoops.

For the first walk of the day we went to the playground. We stayed there for a bit more than half an hour. For the most part I let Allie run around where she wanted. She liked exploring and climbing on the equipment.

She also liked crawling through the tube to get to the slide. She actually sat on the slide and went down all by herself! I caught her at the bottom, of course.

When it was time to go home, she didn't walk too far before deciding she wanted me to carry her. She was tired! I didn't mind. At least it wasn't a too long walk, and I got my workout in for the day!

Later we played upstairs for a little bit. We read some books and ran around in circles. It was a fun day.

Going for a stroll

2011-08-31T16:53:00.000-05:00

Allie likes to walk...

and walk...

and walk some more!

We've got a cookie monster

2011-08-25T21:45:00.000-05:00

Monday when it was just me and Allie, I started making some cookies. I've been on a baking kick lately and today was a treat day at work. I decided to make these pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. I started while Allie was napping, but she woke up while I was baking them. I gave her one and then she wanted another... and another...

Ya can't really blame her. These cookies are chocked full of cakey goodness. I told her we'd have to wait for Dada to get home before we could have more. That didn't really appease her. She cried and yelled a lot. I finally got done baking and she was still crying for the darn cookies. So I took her outside and she finally forgot. And now she knows about cookies. Luckily she doesn't ask for one as long as they are not in her sight! Lesson learned... don't talk about cookies with Allie or show them to her!

Hair pretty

2011-08-24T21:37:00.000-05:00

I just discovered I can pull all of Allie's hair up into a pony tail! It looks super cute and so far it doesn't seem like she can pull it out as easy as other hair pretties. She looks so grown up!

All about choo-choos

2011-08-22T21:38:00.001-05:00

Original plans for Saturday included a trip with my sister Jeni to a bridal shower in New Richmond, four hours away. We unfortunately had to cancel because Jeni and Dave have been having car trouble. I was a little sad but also glad I wasn't going to leave my family all day!

So instead we went to the Mid-Continent Railway Museum in North Freedom, which is about an hour away from here. We've wanted to go there for a long time.

The draw of the museum is the ride in the restored old-time train. Its a 7-mile ride on a former branch of the Chicago & Northwestern line with authentic-dressed conductors. We started by getting our tickets for the 1:00 train. Then we needed to get lunch. North Freedom isn't really a bustling metroplex though. In fact, the population, according to the line, is 649. There's not much to North Freedom. Using my fancy new phone I found there was the "Railroad Cafe" in North Freedom and no other food until Baraboo, about 5 miles away. We were a little short on time and looking for something interesting, so we braved the Railroad Cafe.

We were pleasantly surprised. It was an old fashioned diner and we were the only customers, at noon on a Saturday. That worked just fine for us.

Allie enjoyed some crackers and fries. We got her a grilled cheese but she wasn't into it. The only hangup of the restaurant was that it didn't have a changing table in the bathroom. I had to get creative and change her on the floor! It worked fine though.

The food was quick and it was good. We finished in plenty of time to get back to the train.

This is the historic depot built in 1894!

We rode in the Delaware Lackawanna & Western coach #563. They also used cars 425, 557 and 595. According to the pamphlet we got, these cars "were constructed by the Pullman Company between 1914 and 1917 for suburban passenger service in New York and New Jersey. These cars are of riveted steel construction and were one of the last large orders of open-vestibule coaches ever built. Their simple design provided economical transportation in short-distance use."

The weekend staff is volunteer! I'm sure its a labor of love for these people. Fascinating.

Allie liked looking out the windows at all the other trains. She really loved the entire experience, though we had taken a calculated risk, however, in skipping nap time. She had a mini meltdown before the ride started. Luckily she recovered nicely and we all enjoyed our ride.

The way her face lit up when the train whistle blew was priceless. This is the only real picture I got of the expression, hence the picture with only half her face!

After the conductor punched our tickets, we let Allie hold on to hers. Her ride was free, but she still got her own ticket.

The ride was a bit more than 3 miles down the track. When we got to the end of the line they separated the engine from the train to display for people to get a closer look. After everyone got a look, they moved the engine to the other end of the train for the trip back to the depot.

Allie's reaction was interesting. She loved the horn, but I think she was a little scared of it as well. Because her face would light up, but she'd also snuggle in closer to Mama. I think her tiredness played a part in this as well.

After the ride Allie ran around a bit while Mama used the bathroom. You gotta leave time for running around!

The other part of the museum is the coach shed, where they display the other restored trains. Its so interesting, but it was difficult, really impossible, to spend much time looking at the trains with Allie, especially with a tired Allie in tow.

Allie enjoyed walking between the trains though. She especially liked going up and down the stairs on the platforms.

It was a great family day. On the way home we stopped at Culvers in Sauk City for some sundaes. Allie didn't care for the frozen custard though. She enthusiastically took a couple spoonfuls and was startled by how cold it was. After a few bites she didn't want anymore part of it! Its better that way though, for her at least. Toward the end of the trip home we really started losing Allie. She'd been in the car and without a nap a bit too long. She was much more relaxed once we got home!

We really enjoyed this trip. We had considered going to one of the Milwaukee museums, but this trip was so much easier and perhaps cheaper. The train kept Allie's attention better than a normal museum would have for sure. They have several special events and we'd love to do any of them. They have a fall colors weekend, pumpkin special where you get a pumpkin at the end of the line, a Santa Express, and a winter train. The one we really want to try though is the dinner trip. Its $80 a person but it sounds like an awesome experience.

The train we rode Saturday was pulled by a diesel engine. The museum's mission though, is to get a steam engine in service. The conductor said they expect that to happen in a year. We were a bit bummed, however, to find out that a steam engine had made a guest appearance the weekend before! Now that would have been an experience. But now we have an excuse to go back next year!

Tantrums and kisses

2011-08-21T22:42:00.001-05:00

What a weekend! Allie has had a long weekend because daycare took a long weekend. Dada stayed home Friday. This picture is from their trip to the playground that day. Tomorrow is my turn at home. I'm looking forward to spending time with my baby, but wondering what's in store for me. Along with all her learning and cuteness, she's been a bit of a challenge this weekend. Among other things I saw her almost flip out of her crib this morning and then while at the grocery store, temper tantrums were in full effect. Of course, on the flip side, she hasn't been stingy with giving out the kisses and hugs!

Where's Allie?

2011-08-19T20:51:00.000-05:00

Every once in awhile when we're playing and Allie does something cute, I get the camcorder out to see if I can tape it. Of course when I do that, she becomes more interested in the camera than what she was doing to make me get it out! But this video is cute anyway. She was hiding behind her chair and I caught it a little. Enjoy!

Impromptu photoshoot

2011-08-18T21:01:00.000-05:00

The other day I decided Allie was going to dress up. We should really dress her up more often. She was SO cute! Anyway, since she was so pretty (she even wore a hair pretty... for a few minutes) and I have a new smartphone with a great camera that I love playing with, we had a photo shoot before leaving for work! Too bad the stairs were such a mess!

Car seat cutie

2011-08-17T21:40:00.000-05:00

Think she loves the camera a little?

In our yard

2011-08-17T13:11:00.000-05:00

We don't have our own yard in our condo, but we do have a yard with interesting activities to play! We all go out together when we get home from work. Dada takes Monk out to do her business and also gets the mail. Allie and I play, but more often I just watch to see what she'll do next.

One of Allie's favorite things to do is sit on the porch.

She likes pulling leaves off trees and picking the grass.

For whatever reason, there's a manhole cover in the middle of the yard to the side of our building. Allie discovered it and loves playing on it.

She also enjoys picking up the rocks and tossing them around. She gets mad when I take them out of her hand when we go inside. But the rule is rocks, sticks and leaves aren't allowed in the house. We enforce that rule for both Monk and Allie!

And of course Allie likes to just run around.

Aren't these great pictures? I took them all on my phone! I figured out how to upload them to my online photo album too, so its a lot quicker to get them onto this blog. I don't have to mess with the camera cable and uploading them onto the computer before uploading them here. Not to mention the camera on my phone is a lot faster and in the right light takes better pictures. I'm really enjoying playing with the new phone!

Little pink piggies

2011-08-15T21:55:00.003-05:00

I call Allie's toes piggies. We like to play "this little piggie went to market." She even calls them piggies too. And today at daycare Bridget's daughter Teagan, whom Allie absolutely loves, gave Allie her first pedicure! You can almost see the pink on her little piggies. I was amazed that she sat still for it. They said she was just fascinated. I think Allie's feet are so adorable anyway, but with the light pink on her little piggies makes them even more adorable!