ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

That's how much of the alphabet James said last night. All of it. Ok, to be perfectly honest, the LMNO part sounded suspiciously like "Elmo", but we'll work out the details later. Blake congratulated me on teaching him this, but I can't really take credit, since he also has about a dozen toys that say the alphabet, too. And he counts to 12. Again, we do count together, but I was only going to 10, but the Mickey video goes to 12 . . .

Rachel pointed out that I haven't updated the blog since the sickness post, and that is because I was the one who was sick. James got over his stuff within a day of getting meds, so we were all very happy about that. But, the doctor I saw wasn't terribly helpful. He gave me a speech about viruses, how antibiotics don't help them, etc. etc. It wasn't until I was halfway home that I realized that he didn't even examine me, beyond listening to my lungs. Didn't look in my ears, eyes, nose, throat -- all the things I was complaining of. I understand about antibiotic resistance, but if he is just going to assume that all people who come in with symptoms have a virus that doesn't require antibiotics, why doesn't he tell the person who schedules appointments? I would rather not go out on a snowy day, when I'm sick, to drive 20 minutes and wait with other germy people just to hear that I don't need to be there. Anyway, I'm over the cold now, just an occasional cough. But, still have a bit of the pinkeye. And, I have apologized to Blake, who complained when he saw this doctor, and I didn't give him enough sympathy :)

No pictures or really much to talk about. Saturday was the first time we went anywhere in a week. But, James had a blast, as we started at the Hippo Place. He shrieked with joy and started clapping his hands as soon as we got to the parking lot. Then we went to his favorite restaurant, Red Robin. Blake's too! I was very proud of myself for sticking with my diet. There's not a lot of happy medium there -- get the grilled chicken breast and salad that I got. Or get something loaded with all kinds of things that taste really good and have about 2000 calories.

Today, I've been getting the house put back together after a week of neglect. Not terribly exciting, but it feels good. Also felt good to get back to working out.

Sick

James had a runny nose a couple of days ago, then started getting crusty eyes. Then yesterday he woke up REALLY crusty, worse than I've ever seen anyone. So, we called the doctor, who had us come in. He has a sinus infection and is working on pinkeye, too. So he's on medicine. Then I started getting a scratchy throat yesterday evening. I thought I would try to hide it, and just get through without Blake even noticing it. Then he started talking about getting a sitter and going out Friday. He could tell something was wrong by my reaction not being so enthusiastic. Couldn't have hid it much longer, anyway. I feel awful, but I do think it's starting to get better. James' medicines worked wonders -- his eyes are perfectly clear and he has his energy back. Just a little hoarse.

So, Blake is out getting a Papa Murphy's pizza for our big Valentine's dinner. Hopefully we can celebrate better this weekend.

The good news is that we got our wedding date! May 23, 2009. It seems that we chose a good time, and that I was right to have some concerns that it would be booked. They only had ONE wedding booked for all of 2009 at this point, and it is on May 30! I'm glad we went when we did, because she said she has 5 more couples coming to see it this Saturday. The Knot.com says that there are 464 days left before our wedding. So, I guess I don't need to stress about too much at this point. And, I have recently lost 5 pounds, so I only have about 20 left, and 464 days to do it . . .

We Have A Winner!

Since we really were mostly interested in the Bistro in Rocheport, and maybe the Melting Pot (& a ceremony location) in KC for our wedding/reception, we just went to Hermann today because this place I'd heard about at the wedding show looked interesting. But not really thinking it would be our first choice. We started by having lunch at Stone Hill Winery, and left there convinced that it would be a good spot, and I planned to call their coordinator on Monday. But, then we went to Hermann Hill, which was basically built for weddings, and met with their coordinator. I almost teared up in the chapel, because I thought it was so beautiful and perfect. She kept describing all that they did as part of their package, and showing us around all of the areas, and it just kept getting better and better. This picture I took in the chapel does not do it justice. Neither do their web sites http://www.hermannmoweddings.com/album.htm http://www.hermannmoweddings.com/album.htm , but here they are anyway. They really go the extra mile to make it special, and compared to the prices we've seen in St. Louis, they do it for a lot less money. And the rooms in the cottages blew us away! We may stay a few days. We decided to go with it almost immediately, but talked about it all the way home first. I am going to call back tomorrow to check on the date we want, then give them our deposit! One of the things that is really nice, is that they have a wedding coordinator working with you, so there is so little that we will have to do, other than make a few decisions. And sample cake.

Blake would like everyone to know . . .

that he won 250 tickets on the machine at the Hippo Place. Everyone was very impressed. Thank you.

Mmmm, Chili

We've had fun these past few days. Except that it was pouring down rain when we went to vote. Speaking of voting, I would like to point out how nice I am -- about a month ago, I found, printed out, helped fill out, and then ran the form to the post office, getting it there 20 minutes before the deadline, all so Blake could be registered to vote FOR ANOTHER CANDIDATE! Oh well, a little healthy political discussion in a household is a good thing. James really liked his sticker, even though he didn't get to vote. If he had voted, it would have been for Obama, because when we showed him the pictures in Newsweek and told him the names, that's the one he likes to say.

The OT came to evaluate James because of his drooling, and it turns out that it does need intervention. He doesn't qualify for therapy, but she gave us lots of great ideas of what to do, as well as the important information that it would take a lot of work for 6-9 months. So we know not to get frustrated in a week. We had heard and read that it is good to have him drink through a straw. But, none of that information said that it should be THICK liquids through a SHORT straw. Once I had him do that, you could see the muscles working. And he likes the new drinks better, because they are sweet.

Today we went to a place with inflatable things for kids to play in. We went with playgroup, and had a lot of fun. Then, we picked up Blake and went to his work's chili cook-off. There were 11 entries, and most were pretty good. In addition to prizes for the best chili, there was a prize for best costume. I voted for the guy who had Tums, Beano, Pepto Bismol, etc in his apron and went around offering them to everyone.

Tomorrow we are checking out another potential wedding site. Hopefully the first weekend in March we will check out the final 2, then make a decision!

And, for any of you reading this who use Blogger, any ideas on why Blogger keeps taking away the spaces between my paragraphs?

I Hope I Saw a President this Weekend!

I had such a fun, busy weekend! Saturday morning was spent going grocery shopping for my new diet (and for general food for everyone else in the house). On the way home, I heard that Barack Obama was going to be in St. Louis that night, and Hillary Clinton would be there on Sunday. Blake wasn't interested in going, and it would have been a challenge to take James. So, I went to both on my own.

The first one was the Obama rally at the Edward Jones Dome. 20,000 people were there, and judging by the traffic, each came in a car. The rally was fun, although not quite what I was looking for at this point. He had a lot to say about what he wanted to happen, but not the specifics that I like to hear. It probably didn't help that it was hard to hear, because the sound system echoed in the dome and I was behind him and had really bright lights shining in my eyes the entire time. He is an amazing, motivating speaker, and I would be quite happy if he won in November. The bottom photo is the best one I was able to get, on 11x zoom, using the head of the woman a few rows ahead of me to block some of the light.

Then Hillary. She had a town hall meeting at the Machinist Union building. They only let in 2000-3000, I'm not sure which. It was such a different atmosphere, with clear views of her and everything else. The photo of her listening to someone in the audience was taken with no zoom. This was a great setting to see her, as she was able to come out and give a brief speech, and then took questions from the audience. I was really impressed with how she responded to almost every question. She said what she had as a plan, and followed up with specifics on HOW she planned to implement the plan. I had heard that she really seems so much different and more personable when seen in these settings, and I truly felt that. I was excited and stayed afterwards as she was signing things for people, and ended up getting a picture with her! The camera was on the wrong setting, but I'm still so excited to have this photo. I'm hoping that it is a photo of me with our next president, but I will be happy to support either of the candidates I saw this weekend.

In other weekend events, Mizzou beat Kansas State, which came as a complete surprise to me! We are still down 3 players (all suspended, one injured), and KState just beat Kansas earlier in the week (which also brought me great joy). Last night we went to Blake's friend Derek's to see the Super Bowl. It was fun, and his niece was there. She is about 9 months younger than James, and they had fun playing. I was disappointed in the commercials, don't care for football, and didn't do my diet any favors, but had a lot of fun. Other than that "meal", my diet has gone well, and I think I was wrong in assuming the food would be bland. It's been pretty good!

By the way, I keep putting spaces between my paragraphs, and Blogger keeps taking them out!!!

Snow!

Last year, James hated when Blake took him out in the snow, which greatly disappointed Blake, who was really looking forward to it. This year, he started getting excited as soon as it started snowing. He loved watching it, then had fun trekking through the yard and trying to use the shovel. He wasn't so excited when Blake tried to teach him about throwing snowballs, though!

I thought the snow was pretty, enjoyed the fun Blake and James had, but am quite glad that it is almost gone now.