Thursday, August 23, 2007

Football

Tonight, as the 3rd Packers preseason game was about to come on, my husband reminded me that Annelise has yet to experience the wonder that is football. I cannot tell you how excited it made me. One of my favorite things to do on saturdays is to curl up in front of the TV and watch college football. I often repeat this activity on sunday with pro football. I cannot wait to share this with my daughter.

This realization also made me a little sad. It was my mom who taught me to love football. She was a diehard Packer fan. When I say diehard, I mean DIEHARD. I think she even freaked my dad out a little with how excited she would get. When I was little, watching football on sundays was something we did together. It was practically a ritual to make some snacks, get some sodas (or a beer for mom) and park ourselves in front of the tv for 3 hours. It was one of the few times on the weekends I didn't hear "Its nice out, get your butt outside."

My mom learned her love of football from her mom, my Gram. We spent a lot of sundays and Gram and Gramps house, watching football and ordering chinese from Harvey Moys. When I decided to attend Purdue for college, the first of my family to attend a Big Ten college, my gramsaid "Oh Jess, I love that Drew Brees. I gotta call my friends and brag!" (For those who don't know, Drew Brees was Purdue's quarterback the year I started there, 2000.) My parents came down to attend a football game on Parent's weekend my freshman year. My mom was so excited to see a football game in a stadium that she practically peed her pants.

Thats what I loved about my mom though, she was passionate about the things she loved. What makes me sad is that I learned to love football from my Gram and my mom. I always thought my mom and I would pass that same love on to my daughter. I don't often feel sorry for myself for losing my mom, because I have so many other wonderful blessings in my life. But I feel sad for Annelise that she won't get those sunday afternoons with take out chinese like I did.

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Five months

Annelise is five months old today. I cannot believe that its been that long! The time seems to have flown by. Five months ago she was this tiny 7 lb 6 oz bundle in the NICU with tubes in her nose and an IV in her arm. She was so helpless. Now, she's almost 15 lbs and out to be a big girl!

The last 5 months have been both the best and most challenging months of my life. Learning to be a parent is difficult. There are no right answers, no one to tell you what to do when it gets hard. Becoming a mother has shaped my life in ways I never could have imagined.

When I look back to my life before Annelise, I really can't imagine it. These past few years of my life have been truely wonderful. Despite losing my mom 5.5 years ago, I have had a life full of wonderful people and many blessings. But she has added a whole new dimension of happiness. Looking into that smiling face every morning breaks my heart with happiness. Seeing Troy become such a wonderful father makes me love him more than ever. We are so blessed to have our little family.

Monday, August 13, 2007

A Baby Story

I'm going to get sappy here for a moment. If you don't feel like reading a sappy blog entry, I suggest you hit the back button on your browser. This is not the place you want to be right now.

When I was pregnant, I NEVER watched "A Baby Story" on TLC. OK, I watched it once, and that was what prompted me to never watch it again. Troy was home that day and the woman had a water birth, in her bathtub, AT HOME. She was screaming her head off. I actually thought Troy was going to cry. He just looked at me and said "You are going to the hospital to have this baby. Don't even argue with me on this one". No arguements here.

Now that I've had a baby though (and I know its not nearly as bad as all the screaming made it seem), I adore watching this show. It almost always brings me to tears. A lot of my friends told me that as soon as they saw their babies, they forgot about all the pain of labor. I was very skeptical at first, but it really is true. Well, maybe not all true. I do remember how bad it hurt, but I also remembered the epidural. God bless the epidural. *sidenote* If you are questioning getting the drugs, DON'T. Get the drugs. I didn't want them beforehand either. Then I felt a real labor contraction. God bless the epidural, thats all I have to say.

Here is the sappy part. Everytime I watch "A Baby Story", I am so thankful for the miracle that is my daughter. I thank God every single day for her and for my husband and for this little family we have. We have so very much to be grateful for. Even if you know you want children, you can never imagine what a true miracle it is. I always heard about "the miracle of birth" and tohught "how could anything that potentially painful be a miracle?". It really and truely is.

I know a few people that are struggling with infertility right now. I pray for them each and every night, that they will someday get their miracle.

Friday, August 10, 2007

Real World

So I watched the first episode of the new Real World (Sydney) tonight. What a trainwreck. I admit I wasn't paying too close of attention to it, but really, they picked some interesting people. By interesting, I mean crazy.

I cannot believe that people still want to be on this show. Is there really a lot of appeal in baring your worst qualities on television? I supposed everyone wants their 15 minutes of fame, but come on people. Its the first episode and two girls get in a fight. Here is how it goes

Girl 1:I really don't like getting up to a dirty kitchen. (
Girl 2: Well, I'll clean it.
Girl 1: You should have cleaned it last night. I'm only cleaning it because I hate dirty kitchens
Girl 2: Thats fine, but I'm not going to act like you're Mother Theresa or something. You did it voluntarily
Girl 1: I know. I don't like dirty kitchens. I'm really irritated right now (Wait, do you like dirty kitchens? I'm not sure)
Girl 2: Do you want some ointment for that irritation? (Oohhh. Burn!)
Girl 1: No, but I'd really like you to get a personality
Guy sitting at counter: That was a little uncalled for.

Really. Get a personality. All because you don't like a dirty kitchen and had to clean it up. I'd bet $50 that she just wanted someone to either
a: tell her how great she is for cleaning up a mess thast not her own OR
b: get mad at the girl who made the mess

or both. For crying out loud.

Monday, August 6, 2007

Book club

I just got back from my monthly book club. This club was started by several women from the Milwaukee board on theknot.com. I know what you are thinking. Yes, they are my "internet friends". At first I was a little freaked to admit that I had internet friends. Now I'll shout it from the rooftops with pride. Some of these women have become my closest friends. I've shared deeply personal experiences with them. I've shared the process of learning how to parent. I go to these women for advice. It may not be the most conventional way of meeting friends, but I am so glad I came across this board. I feel like I have created friendships with these women, and it makes me happy.

Back to book club. I guess I want to rave about these people some more. I can't tell you how much I look forward to the first monday of each month. Don't get me wrong. I love being a mother and a wife, but book club allows me a guaranteed night to escape that. We have witty and intelligent conversation (sometimes about the book, sometimes not), we eat good food and drink good wine. Its my kind of social event. I think I was born to be in a book club.