So Tired. Must Sleep.

Hmm. I thought the FIRST trimester was supposed to be the tired one. Here I am, 16 weeks and some odd days pregnant, and I am wiped out. I slept all day on Monday. Ben and I both took sick days. So tired. And I couldn't even drink at the reunion, so it definitely wasn't a hangover.

Heard the baby's elusive little heartbeat on Monday morning and found out that I am officially fat. Ahhh, Pop Tarts.

The reunion was so weird. Unlike a high school reunion where you only see people you knew at one time in your life, we saw tons of people that we knew in various stages of our lives, and it was unsettling to have all these different eras of people together in the same room. And, some of these people were our roommates, not just our classmates, another key difference between this and a HS reunion.
Things I may have said to various roommates:
"Ha! Remember the time I left incense burning in the flower pot in my room and almost burned the whole house down on New Year's Eve? Oh, you're still kind of pissed about that, huh?"

"Ha! Remember that time I let that candle melt all over your wicker end table and almost burned the whole house down? We never could scrape all the wax off your rug, could we? Oh, not funny yet?"

"Ha! Remember that time we fell asleep before the after party with cigarettes burning in our mouths and woke up to find burn marks on the blankets? Wow, that bedspread could have exploded!" [that last thing, I probably said to Ben, who probably did think it was funny because he is probably as irresponsible as I am]

About a million people said they couldn't believe I stopped smoking, which made me realize how many cigarettes I sucked down in college. They were really surprised, too, as if they totally expected to see me and my baby bump enjoying a Camel Light and flinging the burning butt toward a pile of dry leaves or something else flammable.

Look! It's college Ben

Here's me, Marianne, and Dana in 2000 when we were speech team officers

And here wer were last Saturday

Here are some more alums in the judges' lounge

I didn't take very many pictures becuse I was too busy bitching about being sober, but Jamie has some good ones up at her place.

Also? My mom is 55 today-- enjoy that senior citizen discount-- you earned it! Happy Birthday, Mom--we love you!

Big Man on Campus

We're in Peoria for a speech team reunion, and I have a few shots of Harry on campus today. It's totally weird because all of our old friends keep saying "Oh my god! I so cannot believe that you guys are parents!" This leads me to think that we didn't come off as totally responsible, upstanding citizens in college. I wonder why.**

**Note-- this is a rhetorical question. Please do not answer. I know exactly why. And so do you.

He appreciates this art, which is good because somebody has to. Also, he enjoys banging his head against it and saying ouch while pressing his fat little palm to his forehead. Is this weird? Because he absolutely got a red mark. A big one.

Harry in a Pen

Not really. He was just all about climbing into this ring thing at Little Gym last week-- and he stayed in there like the whole class.

Hmmm.... Think a Pack n Play would float is boat? Probably not.


Josephine liked it, too



It cracked her up, in fact

Notice the other parents sitting on the Big Red Mat?

I could not join them because my kid would not get out of the ring thing. He don't need no stupid warm ups.

He just needs some parallel bars in the sun.

Halloween Harry-- Looks a lot Like Tantrum Harry

We should have just trick or treated in our own cute little nieghborhood. Harry could have toddled along the sidewalks, and he could have carried his plush pumpkin basket to a couple of houses. Our sidewalk isn't even on the street, so we wouldn't have had to worry about him getting hit by a car. Sure, we'd have to watch out for some skunks (the house smells like skunk right now, actually), but that would have been it.

Despite the weather being perfect and sunny, I was worried about him roaming around in the dusk. So, I got the brilliant idea of going to the mall. All day, whenever Ben or I told anyone we were going to the mall, they raised their eyebrows and said, "Oh," like they just smelled something bad (and I would know that face, since I am making it right now since everything smels like skunk). We didn't take a hint, though, and we loaded Harry up in the car.

See, even he looks skeptical.

Things started off cute enough. Although my fanatsy of letting Harry run wild in a safe, enlcosed place never happened because the mall was packed with big, rowdy, unsupervised kids. And, on the other side of the spectrum, with moms pushing strollers full of dressed up babies, and the moms were filing their stroller baskets with free candy. This grossed me out on 2 levels. Either they were going to feed candy to kids Harry's age and younger, or they were seriously troling the mall for give-away candy bars. Ick.

Harry's candy eating instincts kicked in after he snagged this sucker from a jewelry store that was also handing out jewelry cleaner, a random gift for children. He yanked off the wrapper and shoved it in his mouth while we stood there, shocked. Then, luckily, he dropped it on the ground and it broke before we had to pry it from his cold deads.

Really excited about a Brachs mint he grabbed from a kiosk. Which? Seriously? Starlight mints? That's a good way to get your kiosk egged.

Harry started to get really hot in his plush suit (a perfect outdoor costume, you idiot), so we told him he could play on the playland. Yeah right. Dirty, rough, and did I mention dirty? We took him to the mechanical cars instead. He usually LOVES to ride these things, but the mouse car he always picks was full. Which he noticed.


We had to scrape our screaming child off the ride and struggle him back to the car. Make no mistake, he is NOT smiling or laughing in these pictures. We may have laughed a bit.


His haul?
Jewelry cleaner, a mint, a pad of Post-Its, and a box of Milk Duds, which I ate as soon as he fell asleep.

I will never T or T the mall again unless it's raining. And when someone I know says they are going to Malloween, I will do more than grimace-- I'll invite them to my neighborhood instead!

Pumpkin Patch Kid

Does anyone else remember Pumpkin Patch Kids? They were knock off Cabbage Patch dolls. I totally got one for my fifth birthday, and I remember being more than slightly pissed. Bomma bought me a REAL Cabbage Patch for that same birthday (thank god). She UPSed it (I remember waiting in the window like a puppy because I KNEW my doll was en route), but it was a day late because she had to fight off thousands at a K-Mart to get it (may have had to camp out for weeks, for all I know-- Cabbage Patch Kids were very popular in 1983). So, until Ursula Carmel came in her triangle-shaped box, I had to make do with Pumpkin Patch Penny, who wore a yellow dress and had yellow foam arms and legs.

But I digress.

Here's Harry at the same pumpkin patch last year (clearly, we went earlier in the season last year because there were WAY more pumpkins left. We had slim pickings this year).

He totally has shiny ittle doll cheeks in this picture.

Look how little he is with the sign!

I'm telling you, the kid has a thing for apples. We were in the cute little store buying apple donuts and caramel apples, and Harry saw bags of apples and went nuts, saying "Apple! Apple" really pleadingly like we never give him fruit and just force Malomars down this throat all day.

He was not sure how he felt about the dirt all over the side of the pumpkin

A little bothered.

But still curious

Loved the wagon

and the wheel barrow

and whatever the hell he's pointing at

Here's his POV on the pumkin carving


He was super serious at first, but as the cute little pumpkin face emrged, he got excited

Not sure about the gooky pumpkin insides (note that he's wearing breakfast-for-dinner all over his face)


Because we're huge dorks (as if you didn't know) Ben and I carved our pumpkins, too, after Harry went to bed. Here's the finished product:

Kind of 3 Bears-ish, huh?

What Happened in Vegas...

Greetings Web-Log readers,

This is Harry's dad, Sarah's Husband--Ben. I am here to tell you about my wonderful trip to Las Vegas. While I understand that this is Harry's blog and this story is not about him or Sarah, it is about me, and since I stole Sarah's password to blogger and had hours to upload pictures, I thought I would share them with you, the internet community.

This first picture is in Wisconsin on my way to the airport. This tee-pee was at a gas station I stopped at on my way. I have stopped as this tee-pee before and been in it. Sarah didn't believe. I told her all about the tee-pee I was in with a friend and she thought we were driving drunk or doing illegal substances. As I am an upstanding citizen, I assure you it was neither. Rather, I stopped at a gas station with a tee-pee and decided to go in it, and stay for about a 1/2 hour and listen to the great chief's story.



So I went to Vegas with Josh and Kyle, two of my best friends from High School. We stayed at the Luxor. It was a great time...everything you think about Vegas is true, except for Elvis, I didn't see one Elvis. I did see a polyester Elvis Jump-suite for Harry but it was $110 and that seemed a bit insane...plus I was losing money by the handful...but I'll get into that later. Thats Josh and Kyle walking the strip.




That's Ceaser's...Lost some money Playing roulette there.



These next two I really like, these are of New York, New York I won betting on Boston there and playing slots...Liked NY, NY it was good to my...expensive bar though.





This is Excalibur. We spent a lot of time there...for many reason...1) because it was attached to our hotel and we were lazy. 2) because we won there. The first game of poker I played in Vegas was here. I didn't know the rules. I mean I know basic poker rules, but they don't play like I play at Rob's house (Sarah's Professor). So While I knew what I was doing I didn't pick up on the intricacies about the game. I was pissing people off too because I was winning, pretty big. I was pissing the people playing off because I was kicking their asses and I was betting wrong, betting earlier, and robbing them blind, I pissed off the dealer because I didn't know I was supposed to tip her when I won. Needless to say everyone was happy when i left the table after 45 minutes, up $200. And yes, I did tip the dealer when I left.



This is Josh and Kyle, after the first night. They were tired boys, for many reasons. One, because we were out late getting a "Vegas Tour" of the Showgirls set, and two, because my happy-ass can't sleep past 7:00 because of Harry, even if we do go to bed at 3am.



This is a butter sculpture...yulp, butter at the Excalibur breakfast buffet.



This is Josh wicked hungover waiting in line for breakfast. Kyle and I were very understanding of how tired he was and did not egg him on at all...note we were total bastards...I probably would have cried.



These next two are the Luxor. It was a pretty cool hotel. The Casino itself kinda sucked, but it was a nice hotel...we left a little early though because Paris Hilton was going to be at the nightclub LAX at the hotel tomorrow...total bummer...because I would've loved to have me some Paris Hilton time...I'm sure we could've just talked for hours.





That's the MGM Grand, I don't know why I posted this picture. I lost money there...Josh lost money there...kyle lost money there...my best advice...don't gamble there...I heard they put on a hell of a fight though...if your in town.



This is a picture of Me, Josh and Kyle around 2 in the afternoon...we lost a lot that second day...I was down pretty big by this point. As was kyle, so we decided to have a few cold ones.



This is a hooker Josh got...She also served us drinks and gave us some excellent - - to do advice for Vegas.



This is a wedding we actually got to be a part of, that was pretty special...for us not them.



As I have been saying, I lost...a lot, well my luck turned around when we went to the Bellagio. The others lost, but I made a fine chunk of money on roulette. I was up a little then I put down on 13 baby and won 32 to 1 odds...Nice (note* I did not bring any of those winnings home. I lost them all the rest of the night...but I did win big enough to have a fun last night in Vegas.)







The fountains where we met up after robbing the hotels...in broad daylight...try that Danny Ocean...



The last night we spent in downtown Vegas...it was weird and creepy and had a roof...and, yes, I lost...but had a great time as the second picture might suggest...Josh won a $600 pot on poker while we were down town, which was good because Kyle and I needed help getting a taxi back to the hotel.





This me right before I left. If you notice the suit coat...classy huh? Well, try a whole suit, cuz that's what the playa' wore for two straight days in V-town--a suit--the same suit for two straight--you say stinky--I say classy.


Vegas was great...would I go back...maybe...we'll seeI really missed Sarah and Harry a lot. I think Sarah and I would have a lot of fun there...sorry HB, your Vegas will be Disney.

I hope you enjoyed...I hope we can talk again sometime.

Ben