Life at the Lindqvist's

Let the 18 week countdown begin

2010-05-31T11:06:00.002-07:00

A few weeks ago, my friend Kris and I decided to compete in our first sprint triathlon at the end of September. This has been on my "bucket list" of sorts for several years. With my 30th birthday looming just around the corner, I figured that this my shot to give it a "tri", haha!

Today marked day one of training with 30 minutes in the pool. With my competitive swimming background from childhood through high school, I thought that this would be a piece of cake. I was sadly mistaken. First, my competitive swimming days are long, long ago, TWELVE years to be exact! When the heck did that happen? I've done a few pool workouts here and there over the years, but this is the first time that I will be committing to swimming two to three times per week over the next 18 weeks. I thought for sure that it was going to be like riding a bicycle, some things you just don't forget. True, I still know how to swim, but my speed is slow as molasses and my form is less than desirable. However, there was a comfort about getting back in that water today. It's like slipping back into an old, worn-in t-shirt. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed the quiet monotony that comes with swimming laps. No strangers chatting next to me, no ipod, just quiet nothing. It was quite lovely! After my workout, I had to head to the grocery store and as I walked around, I could smell that familiar chlorine smell from my hair that brought me waaaay back to high school.

Baseball, baseball, baseball

2010-05-11T20:27:00.004-07:00

Our child is obsessed with baseball, in a way that I never thought possible at only 19 months. All he sees is a glimpse of a baseball field on the tv or in a book or magazine and he loudly proclaims "Baseball!!" with much gusto. Cole loved going to spring training every weekend this year, but it was a little bit of a nightmare now that he can walk or run shall I say. How does a toddler with short little legs run so freakin' fast?

The highlight of every day is playing catch with Daddy, Mommy's not nearly as good at it or has the patience to play it for hours like Daddy. He recently received his own mitt at the Cubbies vs Dbacks game at the end of spring training. His eyes lit up as soon as John presented it to him. He's still having a rough time figuring out which way it goes on his hand, but he loves it nonetheless.

Every day I hope that perhaps today will be the day that is not completely centered around baseball. But alas, no such luck. The first word out of his mouth in the morning is "baseball" well, except for the days where it's "waffle." He may look like his mama, but he is his father's son. Baseball, baseball, baseball....

Cole and the Goats

2010-05-05T20:24:00.002-07:00

We had our friends, Bill and Nikki along with their little man, Tyler come visit us a few weeks ago. While they were here, we decided to take the boys to the Phoenix Zoo. While Cole was mildly impressed with the animals, he was in heaven when we made our way over to visit the goats in the petting zoo. They have these little rubber brushes for the kiddos to brush the goats with. Cole decided that every goat in the place needed to be brushed, but just once or twice each and then he was off to the next. Well, you'll see....

Finally....

2010-02-12T15:25:00.004-07:00

Cole's already for the 7th inning stretch: "ah one, ah two, ah three!"

We have been having some technical difficulti both with our camera and computer over the past few months. We got some pictures of Cole taken a few weeks ago, so you can see how big he's getting. He's definitely got a personality on him too! And for a little peanut, he eats like it's going out of style.

Very cute he is

2009-11-12T06:24:00.002-07:00

Cole had a great Halloween. The weekend before we went to a pumpkin patch with some friends, where he got to pick out his own little pumpkin and check out the animals. They had a hay maze that Cole wanted to walk through, but we had to take him out since he was holding up the crowd. His speed wasn't very great at that point, plus he wanted to stop to pick up pieces of hay along the way. At the rate we were going it would have taken an hour to get through the maze.

On Halloween weekend, he got to wear his costume twice, once on Friday and then again on Saturday. He was quite the hit! On Saturday night, our street does this huge block party event. Everyone comes out on their driveways and sets up games or activities for the kids, or just hands out candy. We had our bean bag game set up and the kids seemed to love it! Cole loved marching up and down the driveway and trying to figure out what the big kids were doing. The best part was the house down the street. They happened to have a Star Wars theme at their house, so of course Cole had to take pictures with all their cardboard characters. Everyone was checking out "Baby Yoda".

He's one already???

2009-10-20T19:12:00.003-07:00

Somehow, John and I have survived the first year of Cole's life. It was definitely the fastest year of my life. I can't believe how much he has changed these last 12 months. He went from being a screaming, hungry, blob of a baby to this little bundle of energy with a full-on personality. He is like a force of nature. He walks all over the place and just this week has learned how to point at things that he wants. This has made him quite demanding, especially at meal times. If he wants his sippy cup of milk, he points, yells and then bangs on his tray until we give it to him. Just like his daddy, he wasn't overly interested in his cupcake on his birthday. In fact, the first thing that he did was pick it up and throw it to the floor. It's fun to watch him get interested in new things, like when we went to the zoo a few weeks ago. John had him up against the fence and you could just see his little brain wondering "what are we looking at?" He is very curious and so fun to be around. Our favorite game right now is called "I'm gonna get you" in which John or I would tell him that we are "going to get him" and he squeals in delight and takes off waddling away from us, laughing hysterically. Unfortunately at this point, he only has one speed, which is slow. I'm sure that he will be running in no time, which is frightening for those of us that have to keep up with him.

Sedona

2009-09-20T18:31:00.003-07:00

View of the creek from the porch

View of the Sedona red rocks as a storm was rolling in

Cole and I getting ready to take a short walk

John, Cole and I traveled up north to Sedona this weekend to stay in a cabin with our friends, Steve and Kristi. We had so much fun up there. We went up Friday night and stayed until this morning. It was so nice to enjoy the cooler weather and just listen to the sounds of the creek and nature outside of our cabin. Cole had a lot of fun terrorizing Steve and Kristi's Boston Terrier, Monkey. Monkey was not a fan of Cole at all. I don't really blame her because the one time she allowed him to get close to her, he almost poked her eye out.

On Saturday night after Cole went to bed, the four of us busted out the board games. We played Battle of the Sexes, where Kristi and I took on John and Steve. Of course, Kristi and I won because we were able to prove that we are the superior sex. I seriously laughed so hard that I almost peed myself. It was so much fun.

On Sunday morning, John, Cole and I started heading back to Phoenix. We decided to make a spur of the moment stop in Jerome to have lunch, which was great. Apparently, Jerome is a big biker destination, so Cole was fascinated by the all the loud noises of the motorcycles. About an hour from home, we noticed that the a/c in my car wasn't blowing quite as cold as it should have and we realized that the car was overheating! We had to pull over on the side of the road and let it cool off. We drove the rest of the way back home with the windows down and the heat turned on. Not exactly the way that you want to drive through Phoenix when it is 100 degrees outside. Besides the car mishap, we had a great time.

Where were you?

2009-09-11T16:08:00.004-07:00

For me and probably most people my age, the horrific events of 9/11 became my first "where were you?" moment in my life. For me it went like this: I woke up that morning and got ready for my first class. When I walking downstairs to leave, another girl from my sorority was also on the stairs rushing down to get to the tv room. She said that her mother had called and something was happening, maybe a bomb. We quickly ran to turn on the tv and watched the news coverage of the first tower burning. It was horrible. We sat in silence for several minutes until I had to leave. I drove over to John's house and I remember walking into his townhouse where he was standing in his living room watching the tv in disbelief. The first thing that he said to me was "did you see this?" We continued to watch until we saw the second tower hit. It was horrible.

Later that day, I went to all my classes, but that was all that people wanted to talk about. I had a hard time getting a hold of both of my parents because all the cell phone signals were down. I remember being terribly worried about my dad because he traveled a lot for his job and traveled to New York on a regular basis. Finally I got a hold of him and he was luckily in St. Louis safe and sound.

Later that evening, my sorority house organized a candle light vigil outside of our house. We invited all of the other fraternities and sororities to join us. It was amazing to see all of these people walking down the street to our house all lit up with candles. It was a sight I will never forget. There were literally hundreds of people standing on our lawn and in the street totally silent.

In 2007, John and I went to New York to celebrate my dad's 60th birthday, since that was where he was born and spent the majority of his childhood. We were able to take the time to go down to where the twin towers had previously stood and it was such a humbling experience. Seeing the tributes and pictures was probably one of the saddest moments of my life. Above are some pictures of the area including pictures that were posted there. There are also two tributes in those pictures, one for the NYFD and one is of a piece of the tower that they salvaged that now is the place of an eternal flame.

I feel like 9/11 holds a different significance for me now that I am a mother. I think of all those parents that lost their children that day and all the children that will grow up without one of their parents and it makes my heart hurt. I think of all those police officers and firefighters that selflessly gave their lives to save someone elses and I pray that John, my cousin Amy and all the other police officers that are a part of my life never have to be a part of an event like that.

As it is for everyone, that day is a day that I will never forget. I hope that Cole can grow up in a world where these type of events are just spoken about in history class. I hope that he never is asked that question "where were you?"

When life hands you lemons...

2009-09-06T22:28:00.002-07:00

apparently you should make a funny face! This picture is from a few weeks ago, but it was so funny that I wanted to put it up here.

Climbing like a monkey

2009-09-06T20:20:00.004-07:00

Although he isn't quite walking yet, Cole has figured out how to climb onto our futon! He's turning into a little monkey! He is starting to stand on his own a bit and I feel like those first steps are just around the corner, which is just crazy to think about. We are just over a month away from his 1st birthday and it feels like this year has just flown by! I can't believe that he has gone from a tiny helpless lump to an active little guy with a huge personality. It's unbelievable how much a baby changes in just a year.

i love my hippy baby

2009-08-29T15:27:00.003-07:00

I have officially converted Cole into a hippy baby. He has started wearing cloth diapers and I love them! These are definitely not the cloth diapers that we wore as children, no pins required. Plus they are super cute! John has been a good sport about the whole process even though I know that he wasn't a big fan of the idea. Maybe once Cole is walking, he'll start hugging trees....

Cole's 1st haircut

2009-08-14T17:03:00.003-07:00

I took Cole for his first hair cut today. He looks so handsome!

He has traveled to the homeland...

2009-08-14T16:44:00.003-07:00

The most important part of our trip to Chicago was Cole's first visit to Wrigley Field. It didn't start off so hot with my mom, Cole and I driving in massive amounts of traffic to get from Naperville to downtown. Where in the world were all these people going in the middle of a Wednesday morning? We finally got downtown, picked up John and headed to Wrigleyville. For those of you who have ever driven to a Cubs game, the parking situation is unbelieveable. We ended up following a weird guy on a scooter (yes, I said scooter) to a parking spot, but at least it was decent and we weren't going to get blocked in. We had lunch at Goose Island and then headed to Wrigley. Cole was on sensory overload with all the people there. I thought his eyes were going to bug right out of his head. The game itself was great with 6 runs scored in the first inning, however Cole did not appreciate all the cheering and he cried during the first 3 or 4 innings. After a while, he got used to all the noise and started to enjoy himself. He even dozed off during the 8th inning. He is apparently a good luck charm because the Cubs beat the Astros 12 to zip that day.

Our trip to Chicago

2009-08-14T16:29:00.002-07:00

I know we got back a few weeks ago, but our trip to Chicago was a success. Cole was really good on the plane on the way there and less than stellar on the way back. We crammed a lot of family, friends and fun into 9 days. It was so nice to see everyone again!

Ah vacation...

2009-07-22T17:53:00.002-07:00

It's almost vacation time for me! John and I are going back to Chicago this Saturday and staying through the week until the following Sunday. John's already been off all this week too because our daycare lady is on vacation, but due to his funky 3 day workweek, he's going to actually be off for 18 days straight! We are looking forward to being in Chicago, visiting with everyone and showing off the munchkin, but it feels like we are going to be super busy rushing from one place to the next. The main reason for our trip is that Chris, my friend from high school, is getting married. I am excited to see everyone; since several of us live out of town, it will be the first time I have seen some people in several years! It will be like a little mini-reunion, so I thank Chris and Marilyn for being so kind to get married for all of us this summer and bringing us all together. I am sure that it's going to be so much fun! I can't wait to see everyone!

I think that John is most excited to take Cole to his 1st game at Wrigley Field next Wednesday. I'm not sure how the wiggle monster will make it through the game, but we are hoping for the best. We probably are most concerned about the plane ride. When we went back in December, Cole was only 8 weeks old, so he was still sleeping a lot. Now, he wants to look at everyone and touch everything, so we are hoping for the best. Wish us luck!

9 months and cranky....

2009-07-09T06:31:00.003-07:00

Cole turned 9 months old yesterday. I tried to get him to take some cute pictures to commemorate the occasion, but he wasn't having any of it. He is cutting his two top, front teeth right now, so he is super cranky. I actually sent a text to John yesterday that said "some evil monster has taken over our baby!" I keep praying that these teeth will break through soon because when Cole's mad about something, he wants everyone to know it! And now, looking at these pictures, I didn't even put the right date on the sign! Sigh, I guess these pictures just weren't meant to be....

Our new adventure....

2009-06-26T16:41:00.003-07:00

After 5 1/2 years, John and I have decided to put our house up for sale. We are slowly outgrowing our home and have decided to take advantage of all the low prices of bigger homes. We got in right before the big housing boom, so we are still going to make some money, which is good. We have already had three showings since we officially put it up on the market on Tuesday. It's kind of a pain due to the fact that I have get me, Cole and Ryno out of the house everytime someone wants to come see the place. Wish us luck!

Splish Splash

2009-06-22T18:20:00.004-07:00

Cole's favorite time of day is bathtime, which is right before bedtime. Now that he can pull himself up, he likes to watch the bath fill up. It's almost like he's thinking "is it time to get in yet?" Trying to actually bathe him is getting increasingly more difficult as he wants to crawl around, pull himself up on the side of the tub, splash like a mad man and chew on his toys. We try to wash him as quickly as possible so that he can play. I'm pretty sure that he would stay in there all night if we let him!

Ryno's new BFF

2009-06-19T19:40:00.004-07:00

Ryno's been pretty sad since his big brother, Leroy has been gone. However, it appears that Cole has decided to fill the role of Best Bud. They are still trying to figure each other out, but Cole loves to follow Ryno and grab on to him and Ryno loves to cover Cole with as many kisses as possible. If Ryno is outside, Cole loves to pull himself up on the back door and watch him.

So long, Leroy...

2009-06-06T12:41:00.007-07:00

At our apartment when we first moved to AZ

Leroy loved that we bought him a house with a pool

Typical Leroy, lounging on the bed

Our sweet old dog, Leroy passed away last night. While we did what we could with the Valley Fever treatment, it was quite likely that he also had liver cancer and his body probably just couldn't fight it. He was an awesome dog and we will miss him terribly. Even though my heart hurts for him, I know that he lived a good life and he loved us.

I'm not a religious person at all, but I like to think that Leroy is up in doggie heaven having a great time. I told John this morning that I hoped that God's caterers are ready for Leroy with some steaks, french fries and peanut butter. John said that with all the beer drinking and up-close sniffing of cigarette smoke that he did in college, Leroy probably won't ever leave the Pub in heaven. I think that he's probably right. Leroy was known to "accidently" knock over your beer so that he could lick it up. We always called Leroy the man's man. He loved beer, cigarettes and even stealing my underwear. Leroy was quite a character and there won't ever be another dog like him. So long, old pal!

Our sweet Leroy

2009-06-05T13:46:00.002-07:00

Our wonderful 10 year old black lab, Leroy has been diagnosed with Valley Fever. It's quite serious and probably fatal. There is also a strong possibility that he has liver cancer. I guess he finally had one too many beers! Seriously though, he is had a rough couple of weeks and we are praying for him every day. A few weeks ago, he stopped wanting to eat his food and would only pick at it after a lot of coaxing from John or me. We didn't think it was anything too serious because he would still eat anything else that we gave him: doggy treats, peanut butter, chicken, etc. Over this last weekend, he quit even picking at his food and would only eat some other stuff that we would give him. On Tuesday, John took him to the vet where they drew blood and sent it out to test for Valley Fever and also Tick disease. On Wednesday, the tick test came back negative, but the vet said that Leroy's white blood cell count was out of whack and his liver enzymes were elevated which could be a symptom of the Valley Fever or possibly liver cancer. We didn't hear anything on Thursday and poor Leroy just kept getting worse. He was refusing pretty much all food and mostly just laid around. I was worried that when I got home from work that he wouldn't still be alive and prayed that he would make it until John got home. When John got home, we told him that we loved him very much, but that we didn't want him to suffer and that if he wanted to go, it was ok. It has just been heartbreaking to watch him deteriorate in front of our eyes. We came to the difficult decision that if the vet called and said that it wasn't Valley Fever and that he most likely had cancer, we were going to put him to sleep. There is little that you can do for cancer in a dog and we didn't want our buddy to suffer through chemo and/or surgeries. When I left for work this morning, I was sobbing because I was afraid that he would be gone by the time that I got home. While at work, John talked to the vet and he said that it was in fact Valley Fever, but because of the liver enzymes it could still be cancer. However, Valley Fever can be treatable. I rushed home and prayed that he would still be living, so that I could get him to the vet. They gave him two injections and will be giving him a prescription. I'm not really sure how I am going to get him to take a pill, when he is refusing all food, but we have to at least try. If he doesn't make any progress by Monday, we are probably going to to have to put him down. Leroy has always been our billy goat and has eaten everything he has ever wanted and to let him just starve to death would be cruel. He has had a great life with us and brought us a lot of joy (and some heartache with his antics over the years) and we will miss him terribily if this becomes his time to go. However, I am praying that we are able to get him through this. It's hard to remain optimistic without getting my hopes up to high. Please keep our Leroy in your thoughts.

Happy (Belated) Birthday!

2009-06-02T21:31:00.002-07:00

John turned 32 on Saturday. I don't know where the years go. It seems like only yesterday that he was having a fit about turning 30! He got his very first "Happy birthday Daddy" card from Cole, which was fun to pick out. He went golfing with Steven during the day, which I think has been established as a new birthday ritual for the two of them, as Steven's birthday is the day after John's, so they usually celebrate together. We of course went to Benihana's for dinner as we have for the past 4 or 5 years. John believes that all birthdays should be celebrated at Benihana's and has already tried to convince me that Cole should spend his 1st birthday there as well. Somehow, I just don't see that happening. However, Cole was fascinated by our chef and all his wonderful Benihana's tricks.

About a month ago, John had asked Cole if he could learn to crawl for his birthday. And did Cole deliver! Almost two weeks ago, he started moving just a foot or two and now he is crawling all over the place! I swear that he is moving faster every day. It's amazing! Just when I was getting used to this milestone, I walked into his room this morning to see him standing up in his crib! When the heck did he learn to do that? It's just crazy how fast he is growing up.

Rock On Gold Dust Woman

2009-05-25T20:22:00.003-07:00

John and I went to see Fleetwood Mac in concert last night, which was my Mother's day gift from him. Even though I appeared to be the youngest one at the show, it was amazing! I had no idea it was going to be as great as it was and I was totally blown away. It was crazy to see how a band that has been together since 1965 can still totally rock out. Mick Fleetwood certainly looked his age and all during the show, I kept thinking, "this guy is too old to rock like this" but he totally did. Stevie Nicks has such an unusual and amazing voice, so it was awesome to hear her in person. She rocked out her flowy dresses and the tamborine as only Stevie can do. Very few people can pull off a tamborine, but she manages to do it. They played for almost 2 1/2 hours and sang pretty much everyone of my favorite songs, including "Go Your Own Way" "Gold Dust Woman" "Second Hand News" "Rhiannon" and of course "Landslide".

An interesting bonus to the concert was the very nice, but super weird lesbian couple next to us. The older lady was super chatty and kept me entertained before the concert started. John was actually the one to open the floodgates of conversation with her by commenting on her Cubs shirt, which is also the same one that his Grandma has. Believe it or not, this woman was actually from Naperville. The two of them are super Fleetwood Mac fans and had collectively seen them around 75 times in concert! And to show their hardcore dedication to the band, they even named their daughter Stevie. They kept screaming "We love you, Stevie!" throughout the show. John and I were definitely amused by these superfans. However, it was helpful to sit next to such dedicated fans because we would have missed the last song "Silver Spring" because it was done like a second encore, but our friendly neighbor made sure that we knew to stick around.

All in all, it was a lot of fun and I would definitely go see them again. If you ever get the chance to see them, I highly recommend it.

Seriously, could he be any cuter?

2009-05-22T15:50:00.005-07:00

I am sure that I am biased, but I think that John and I have the most handsome baby ever. I always think that he couldn't get any cuter and then he does! Our friend Lindsey took some beautiful pictures of him a few weeks ago and I can't believe how adorable he looks.

In the past week, he has learned to get himself into a sitting up position, so he thinks it is lots of fun to practice that in his crib during nap and night time. We can hear him squealing in there and then when we go in there, he is just sitting up, waving around his blankie and looking pleased as punch with himself. He is also SO close to really crawling. He has been scooting around on his tummy quite a bit and makes some admirable progress that way and in the past two days, he has also started crawling on his own, but only gets about a foot before he stops. John asked him if he could learn to crawl by his birthday, so we will see if that wish comes true...

Is he a celebrity?

2009-05-13T19:54:00.004-07:00

Apparently Cole thinks that he is a rock star. We went to visit a friend of John's from work last weekend to meet his new son. His five year old daughter thought he would be funny to put her sunglasses on Cole and she was right, he looked hilarious!

Like mother, like son?

2009-05-13T19:42:00.002-07:00

We took Cole swimming in our pool on Sunday. He seemed a little unsure of what was going on, but overall seemed to like it. We even bought him a little floatie to hang out in. In two weeks, Cole and I will be taking parent/tot swimming lessons through the town of Gilbert. I figure that no son of mine is going to be afraid of the water! Plus, doesn't he look adorable in his little swim trunks?

He's almost on the move!

2009-05-01T18:23:00.004-07:00

Cole has been getting ready to start movin'! He gets up on his hands and knees and rocks back and forth. He also does what I call baby pushups. He loves "practicing his moves" even in the middle of the night, which is fun for everyone!

1st Cubs game

2009-04-28T14:18:00.003-07:00

Cole went to his first regular season Cubs game last night when they played the Diamondbacks. I think he was more interested in all the lights, colors and sounds than the actual game, but I suppose that's to be expected when your only 6 months old. He also seemed to enjoy muching on his ticket. He did not like it when the Diamondbacks scored and burst into tears when they did, but I think tha twas mostly because of all the cheering and loud music from those Dbacks fans. But overall, I think he had a fun time hanging out with John, Uncle Steven and me.

If you build it, he will come...

2009-04-22T20:38:00.002-07:00

John is officially done with his baseball stadium tour. He wasn't quite able to finish it last year before Cole was born, ending with only Shea Stadium left. Unfortunately, they tore down Shea Stadium, but John went to New York this weekend to see Citi Field, the new home of the Mets. Since he was already in NY, he also went to see the new Yankee Stadium and from what I understand, it was quite impressive. It's nice for me that he is finally done and won't be galavanting across the country anymore to visit these stadiums...that is until they build another new ballpark somewhere. And finally, we will be able to take a vacation that doesn't revolve around going to see a baseball game. In the last three years, I personally have been to games in DC, San Francisco, Anaheim and San Diego. Now I just pray that John won't want to take Cole on his own stadium tour when he gets older!

Bed Head

2009-04-22T20:33:00.004-07:00

And to think that there are people that style their hair like this on purpose....

6 months already!

2009-04-08T19:37:00.003-07:00

I can't believe that Cole is 6 months old today! Everyone always said how quickly babies grow up and it is so true. Now that Cole has discovered the fun crunchy sound of paper, he wasn't overly cooperative with his sign.

It's almost here!

2009-04-05T09:29:00.002-07:00

7th inning stretch time!

Tomorrow is the official start to the Cubs season, which John and Cole are very excited about. Last weekend we went to our last spring training game of the season with our friend Shane and his girlfriend. Cole spent more time smiling and flirting with the teenage girls sitting behind us than watching the game. He is definitely a little ladies man!

What a day!

2009-03-22T09:46:00.003-07:00

Yesterday we drove out to Glendale, on the west side of the valley. The main purpose of the trip was due to the fact that Ron Santo was going to be there signing autographs. Ron seemed like a really nice guy and even asked how old Cole was. Since John was making us go all the way out there, his consolation was to eat dinner at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville, where we got to put a parakeet mask on poor little Cole! Apparently Cole was not impressed with Margaritaville because he eventually fell asleep in John's arms after dinner. After that, we visited this hunting/fishing/outdoors store called Cabela's. Everyone made a big deal out of it when it first opened, so we thought we would check it out. It was quite interesting. They had an aquarium full of fish like trout and salmon. In the middle of the store, they had a giant mountain with all these stuffed dead animals. Even though I'm not really into stuff like that, it was pretty interesting. We even found a coon skin cap to put on Cole. He was quite the tropper yesterday!

Night time

2009-03-21T08:34:00.003-07:00

We have had our ups and downs with Cole's sleeping over the past few months. He had been sleeping pretty good when I went back to work, getting up once or twice a night to nurse really quickly and then right back to sleep. Then the 4-5 wakings per night started; this went on for several weeks. Eventually we discovered that the poor guy had a double ear infection. Once we started treating that, he started sleeping good again, only getting up once sometimes twice during the night. Well, that changed again this week because he seems to be teething, so he is only sleeping for 3-4 hour stretches at a time, sometimes only 2 if the teeth are really bothering him.

However, I know this might sound crazy, but one of my favorite times to spend with Cole is actually in the middle of the night. Now, I certainly wish he was a better sleeper, but sometimes I just love those moments. There is something about sitting in his dark and quiet room while everyone else (John, Leroy, Ryno and Sammy) are all fast asleep and it is just me and my little guy. He will nurse for about 10-15 minutes and just doze off in my arms. Then I will put him at my shoulder to try to burp him, even though he rarely needs to burp in the middle of the night, but I just love to snuggle with him for a few minutes before I put him back in his crib. Just listening to and feeling his little body breathe is so amazing. I know that as he gets older and actually starts sleeping through the night I am really going to miss those times. However, I am sure that I will appreciate having more sleep at that time, but for now, those moments are usually worth it.

He's growing so fast!

2009-03-16T18:17:00.003-07:00

In the past week, Cole has hit two new milestones. He has started sitting up if you put him in a sitting position and he has also started eating some solid foods. He started with rice cereal and then my mom and I gave him his first try with sweet potatoes last night. My mom was genorous enough to buy me this machine called the Beaba Babycook. It steams and purees just about anything into baby food and in under 20 minutes. It was amazing! Cole seemed to love the sweet potatoes even though quite a bit of it got on his face.

The littlest fan

2009-03-16T18:06:00.005-07:00

As of today, Cole has already gone to six, yes I said six, spring training games. Since John is now off on Mondays and Tuesdays, it is their new father/son bonding time. Cole is a good little fan. He seems to always be in a good mood at the game and has actually figured out a way to nap while there. John has finally started using the Baby Bjorn and it appears to be a bit hit!

Out of town guests

2009-03-16T17:45:00.003-07:00

For the past three weekends, we have had houseguests. Luckily, they have all been lovely guests, so it was lots of fun. We started off with Martinique coming down to visit for an audiology conference, so I got to spend all day Saturday and part of Sunday with her. She got to spend lots of time with the little man and I am pretty sure that I was able to hear her biological clock ticking (watch out Keith!).

The following weekend, our friends Brian and Ashley came down from Colorado with their daughter Ainsley. She is just the sweetest, most well behaved child. She loved Cole and always wanted to talk to him and help feed him. We told her a couple of times that it was her turn to change his diaper, but she wasn't having any of that. While they were here, we went to a Cubbie spring training game, had a bbq, went to the zoo and made it to dinner at the infamous Uncle Sal's. Whew!

This past weekend, my mom came into town and she was in full "Grandma mode". She got to babysit him while I was at work on Friday until I got home around 2pm. She swears that he was a perfect angel the whole time. While she was here, we went to see the Chilhuly exhibit at the Desert Botanical Garden, went shopping, hit another spring training game and just hung out with Cole. I know that she was sad to leave him, but is already planning her next trip to visit.

Spring training is finally here!

2009-03-02T19:11:00.003-07:00

Even though John threatened to become a Yankee fan after last baseball season, once again he is caught up in the excitement of Cubs spring training. Today he took Cole to his first ever Cubbie game with Rob and Larz. It sounds like they had lots of fun. Cole wore his Soriano shirt that Grandma Linda bought him, along with his Cubbie hat from our friends Dave and Kristy. I believe there are still 8 more games on the agenda before spring training is over. I will be going with them on Sunday, where we will be tailgating beforehand with our friends Brian, Ashley and their daughter Ainsley that will be in visiting from Colorado, plus some other friends.

Snowboarding

2009-03-02T19:04:00.002-07:00

A few weeks ago, John and Evan went to Sun Valley, Idaho for their annual snowboarding trip.

They had to fly into Boise and then drive 2 1/2 hours to get to Sun Valley. It looks like it was a beautiful town. John said that it was probably his favorite resort that he has been to in all the years that he has been skiing and snowboarding.

Yum!

2009-02-22T09:49:00.004-07:00

I joined a produce co-op this week. You order a basket online and pick it up on Saturday mornings at a local pick-up spot. It's through a local organization called Bountiful Baskets: http://www.bountifulbaskets.org/. I heard about it from a girl at work, she says she's been using them for a while and saves a ton of money this way. Yesterday I picked up our first order and boy, did I get my moneys worth! We got all of the following items: a pineapple, 9 plums, 8 oranges, 9 apples, 10 bananas, a pint of blueberries, 6 red peppers, a head of romaine lettuce, 6 tomatoes, two bunches of spinach, a bunch of broccoli and two cucumbers; all for under $20! Normally the price is $15 plus $1.50 handling fee, but this time I also had to pay a $3 fee for being a first-timer. This will probably last us at least 2 weeks and then I'll have to order some more. The only downfall is that you don't get to pick what you are getting, so you never know what you are going to get at the pick-up. Luckily, neither John or I are very picky, so we will probably be able to use it all. There wasn't anything this week that we wouldn't eat. I plan on continuing to order from them, so hopefully this will eventually expose Cole to all sorts of fruits and veggies. Now I have no idea what I am going to do with 6 red peppers, but I figure this will also force me to try some new things, like learning to make roasted red peppers.

Cole loves his furry siblings

2009-02-14T14:59:00.004-07:00

Cole is getting increasingly more interested in his furry siblings: Leroy, Ryno and Sammy. Leroy and Ryno are always interested in what he is doing and they are usually near him when ever they can be. Sammy just thinks that Cole is the best thing every probably because he doesn't torment her yet like the dogs do. She even let me put him on the bed next to her this morning. I thought she would get all grouchy and run away, but she just laid there next to him. He even put his fat little hand on her back like he was petting her!

Up up and away!

2009-02-14T14:54:00.003-07:00

Here are Cole and I playing our favorite game, which we call Up, up and away! I just put him on my shins and pretend that he is "taking off" into the air like an airplane. He also loves to play superbaby, so obviously he got his love of flying genes from his Grandpa Urban.

Art in the desert???

2009-01-30T20:48:00.003-07:00

A few weeks ago, my father gave us free passes to go see an art exhibit temporarily being held at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix. There were about 20 different sculptures done by a guy by the name of Dale Chihuly. He makes these amazing and crazy looking free-form glass blown sculptures. For those of you who have been to the Bellagio Casino in Vegas, he was the creator of the glass sculptures on the ceiling inside the main entrace. His sculptures were located all around the garden. We went in the early evening, so we got there just as the sun was setting. It was beautiful to see all these sculptures both in the light and then all lit up against the dark. Even Cole seemed interested in his first art/cultural experience.

Yay Cardinals!

2009-01-23T16:36:00.004-07:00

I know, I know, I'm from Chicago, I am a Bears fan by blood and Grandpa Wally would be so disappointed in me. That being sad, it is still super exciting that the Arizona Cardinals are finally going to the Superbowl! They have had the 2nd longest losing streak next to the Cubs, which is pretty sad. So at least temporarily, I have to root for the hometown team!

Where do the days go??

2009-01-23T16:16:00.003-07:00

This is also an excellent view of Cole's totally out of control hair

I realized that it had been two weeks since I last posted, but it seems like just yesterday. With being back at work, the days are just flying by. By the time I come home from work, I feed Cole, play with him for a while, then it is bath time and finally time for bed. Then I have to get all my stuff ready for work the next day, relax for maybe 30 minutes and then I am in bed! And somewhere in there I have to make dinner. It's not a very exciting life nowadays.

Cole is getting bigger and more personable every day. He is working on his rolling skills, but at this point, he can only get from his back to his side and then just stops. He loves looking at himself in the mirror. A lot of times he smiles, so I can only assume he is thinking "who is that handsome guy looking at me?" He also loves to be pulled into a sitting up position, even though he obviously can't sit by himself yet. When I do let him sit up without my help, he starts to fall to the side in very sloooooow motion. It's quite humorous to watch.

Even though football season is almost over, Cole did finally get a chance to wear his Bears sweatsuit that my cousin Amy got him. Something about a baby in a neon orange fuzzy jumpsuit is hilarious! We went to a birthday party that day and he got a lot of compliments!

3 months already!

2009-01-08T20:50:00.004-07:00

The last three months have just flown by! Little Cole is growing bigger by the minute and we are having so much fun with him. He is smiling a lot and starting to make all sorts of silly noises.

Sadly, my maternity leave was over last week and I returned to work this week. It breaks my heart every day to leave him and I already feel like I am missing out on so much with him. Luckily, we have a great daycare situation. John is home with Cole on Mondays all day and Fridays until early afternoon. I get to leave work early on Fridays to spend the rest of the afternoon with him. Tuesday through Thursday our friend Lindsey comes over and watches him, along with her little guy, Larz. Larz is going to be 2 in April, and is quite a handful all on his own, so Lindsey is certainly busy all day long with these two! From what I understand, Cole has been quite the smooth operator with Lindsey and likes to flirt with her by showing off his handsome smile! I am fortunate that I love my job and the people that I work with, so it makes it that much easier to get through everyday. However, I still miss him terribly and can't wait to see him when I get home.

Maybe this year...

2009-01-01T09:48:00.003-07:00

Cole is already on the "this is their year" Cubbie bandwagon. Poor guy, he has no idea what kind of heartbreak he is in for. At least he will have his Daddy to commiserate with every year.

Cole's 1st Christmas

2008-12-31T18:34:00.003-07:00

Cole's first Christmas was a success! He was quite the grouchy-pants all day, but was finally in a good mood when it was time to open presents. Because John had to work until 7pm, we didn't open presents until after dinner. Cole got tons of presents from family members and Santa. I didn't realize how many presents a not quite 3 month old could get! My mother got him a mirror to look at and when I put it in front of him, he started smiling at himself! Because he was grouchy all day, he didn't nap much and then was up every 2 hours that night. The next day, he napped much better as you can see! That must have been his Christmas recovery pose!

Someone is ready for Christmas!

2008-12-23T21:50:00.002-07:00

As you can see by the pictures, Cole is very excited for his first Christmas! There are already a number of presents under the tree for him and Santa hasn't even been here yet. Cole was a very good sport about getting suited up in the reindeer outfit. As soon as I saw that outfit in Kohl's, I couldn't resist. Plus it was 50% off! I figure in a few years, he'll be too embarrassed to let me put him in something like that, so I better seize the moment!

Bigger by the minute

2008-12-22T13:27:00.005-07:00

It's amazing how quickly babies change. Cole is growing bigger every day. Last week, he went to his 2 month check-up and was just shy of 14 lbs at 13 lbs 15 ozs. He has also grown 2 1/2 inches to 24 inches; John and I laugh that he is 2 ft tall! He likes when when we hold him up in a sitting position. He has pretty good neck/head control, but we are still working at getting it to 100%. He loves tummy time, holding up his head and looking around.

Ho Ho Ho!

2008-12-15T16:54:00.004-07:00

Even though I think that visiting Santa is a little lame and a lot cheesy, John and I took Cole to see the big man himself today. We got him all dressed up in a sweater vest and even put shoes on him for the first time. He was stylin' in those Vans that he got as an early Christmas present from his great aunt and uncle and cousins! He looked so handsome, even though he seemed to hate his outfit and screamed bloody murder for about 20 minutes after I dressed him this afternoon. When we actually got to the mall, instead of freaking out like I thought he would, he actually was asleep for his little visit, so unfortunately, he didn't get to tell Santa what he wanted for Christmas. It was super cheesy, but he looked so cute! Also, getting to see Santa is quite the rip-off nowadays. We bought the cheapest thing we could, which was one 4x6 picture for $15!! We figured we could scan it at home and reproduce it ourselves. The poor kid behind us was in a great mood before pictures and proceeded to freak out as soon as he sat on Santa's lap. Our little man decided to wait until after meeting Santa to begin his meltdown in the middle of the mall. For obvious reasons, we chose to leave at that time. Maybe next year, he'll actually be awake to meet Santa, although he will probably be at just the right age to be scared to death of him like the kid behind us.

Waiting for Santa...

2008-12-12T18:15:00.000-07:00

Cole's first trip to Chicago

2008-12-12T11:20:00.000-07:00

Passed out on cousin Rob's bar

Here is Cole with Uncle Bill and Aunt Nikki (if you look carefully, you can see the bump of Cole's future little buddy!)

Cole with Great-Grandma

Cole had so much fun with Great-Aunt Cindy,

he passed out before Mommy and Daddy got home!

First plane ride!

Last week, we took Cole back to Chicago for the first time. He had a great time meeting all his new family members. It was quite a busy trip trying to fit in everyone and we still didn't get to see everyone that we wanted to. The first two nights we spent in Naperville with my family and a few of my friends. On Saturday, we went up to John's aunt and uncle's house for the night, where Cole got to meet his only great-grandma! A few of John's friends met up with us that night to meet our little guy. On Sunday, we went to Grandma Laura's house for the next two nights until we left on Tuesday.

While we were in town, of course we had to indulge in some authentic Chicago food. We had deep dish pizza from Gino's and we even went to Portillo's, not once, but twice! It was so good; I miss that place...

How you doin'?

2008-11-28T14:43:00.001-07:00

Apparently Cole is practicing to be a ladies man in the future... Who wouldn't want a guy with a roly-poly belly like that?

The happy little turkey

2008-11-28T14:29:00.001-07:00

I was finally able to capture one of our little guy's smiles! Everytime he would start smiling, I would get the camera and he would get camera shy. He is tricky like that. For some reason, the smiles really get going when he is on his changing pad getting his disper changed. I don't know if he likes getting a fresh diaper or if he likes being naked... who knows?

Cole enjoyed his first Thanksgiving at Grandad's house even though he wasn't able to have any turkey. Unfortunately, John wasn't able to join us because not only did he have to work, he ended up having to work late due to the crazy folk in East Mesa. So unfortunately, he ended up having a burrito for dinner and not able to have his Thanksgiving meal until today for lunch.

The Grand Canyon

2008-11-24T09:25:00.001-07:00

Last week, we took our first road trip with Cole to the Grand Canyon. Grandma Laura came out to visit as well last week, so she was able to join us on the trip. The Grand Canyon is certainly spectacular. Everyone has seen it in pictures and on TV, but there is no comparison to seeing it in person. I don't think you can really appreciate how large and beautiful it is unless you seen it in person. Cole was great while we were sight-seeing. He actually stayed in his wrap carrier the whole time and just napped, so essentially he missed the whole thing. Because it was freezing cold up there (it actually hit 18 degrees in the morning, but reached the mid-60's in the afternoon) we put him in some adorable fuzzy jammies. As you can see from the picture, he didn't seem to much like the fuzzy white suit, even though he looked adorable. It even had cute little ears on the hood!

What a difference 6 weeks makes!

2008-11-24T09:09:00.000-07:00

On October 11th

On November 23rd

Notice the addition of the chubby cheeks and hams for thighs!

Napping with Grandma Laura

Can you get anymore relaxed than this?

Cole is growing like a weed and the proof is in the pictures! As of Friday, he was already 13 lbs, 1 oz . At the rate he is growing, he is going to be enormous! This last week he has started smiling like crazy, but I haven't been able to capture a picture of him yet, except for on my cell phone. Nothing is cuter than seeing his big toothless grin.

Our little porkchop

2008-11-13T07:43:00.000-07:00

Cole is officially a chubby baby now. He was 5 weeks old as of yesterday and he has gained 4 lbs since he was born! He is now 12.6 lbs. No wonder he seems so heavy when I carry him in his carseat. I wonder how long it will be before I am physically unable to carry him in there!

Yay for Gilbert!

2008-11-11T15:27:00.000-07:00

Our lovely city of Gilbert has been rated the number one place to raise children in Arizona by Businessweek! We had no idea of that when we bought our house almost 5 years ago, but apparently, we picked well. The list was based on affordability, school performance and safety. You can see the article here.

http://images.businessweek.com/ss/08/11/1110_best_places_for_kids/4.htm

Thanks for sending me the link, Marilyn!

Up Up and Away!

2008-11-10T20:11:00.000-07:00

Our little monkey is already holding his head up like a pro! It's amazing how quickly he is he changing and developing every day. He was officially one month old on Saturday and he is so different already. As of last week, he had already gained about 2 1/2 lbs since he was born. I haven't been able to measure him, but I am sure that he is longer too.

The dogs just love him. They were initially kind of disinterested in him, but now they are increasingly more interested in him every day. They always want to know what he is up to, so Cole gets a sniffdown by one of them at least once a day. Luckily, both of the dogs listen really well, so if I tell them to back up or lay down, they respond immediately.

Next week, we are taking our very first road trip with Cole to visit the Grand Canyon. It is about 3 1/2-4 hours away, so hopefully he doesn't scream the whole way there! It will also be considerably colder there, so we will have to bundle him up. Neither John or I have ever been to the Grand Canyon before, so it should be interesting.

Our New President

2008-11-06T14:16:00.000-07:00

Although I haven't been alive for that many elections that I really paid attention to, this election certainly seemed different to me. I don't ever remember seeing people actually be moved to tears like they were when it was announced that Barack Obama will be our new president. We have finally reached a point where Americans were able to look past the color of someone's skin to see what really counts.

John, Cole and I went to vote on Tuesday afternoon after John got off of work. All morning, the news was reporting people standing in line for hours waiting to vote, so I was quite worried that we would have to stand in line and Cole would grace everyone present with one of his meltdowns. Luckily, our polling place was almost empty and we were in and out in 10 minutes and Cole slept through his first experience with the democratic process. Unfortunately, since John and I are at opposite ends of the political spectrum, our votes essentially cancelled each other out, but since Arizona went to McCain anyways, my vote didn't really count at all (darn electoral votes!).

Even though John was disappointed that John McCain lost, even he said that he was glad that our son is going to grow up in a time with a black president and not think it is a big deal. For most of us, this represents a historical moment in our lifetimes, but for Cole, it won't have any real significance for him.

Our Handsome Son

2008-11-04T11:46:00.001-07:00

I just love this picture that my friend Lindsey took of Cole over the weekend. Isn't he handsome? Look at those chubby cheeks! Of course, I am probably biased, but I don't care!

5k Race

2008-11-04T10:39:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, John ran in a 5k race to benefit pancreatic cancer research. For those of you who don't know, John's father, Urban passed away from pancreatic cancer in 2005. Last year, we discovered this 5k race and decided to do it every year. Pancreatic cancer is the 4th leading cause of cancer deaths in the US, yet it receives the least amount of federal funding for research, so it is important to us to participate in events like this. While I wasn't able to run this year, Cole and I did attend the event. Luckily, John had his two friends Rob and Steven run with him instead.

This year, I also made matching shirts/onesie for John and Cole with a picture of John's father/Cole's grandfather on it from when John was a baby. Both of them wore the shirts to the race.

I'd like to take credit for these pictures but in reality, my friend Lindsey took them, which is why they look so good! Thanks Linds!

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-30T18:10:00.001-07:00

Cole celebrated his first Halloween a little earlier this week. John carved his name into a pumpkin and we dressed him up in some Halloween gear. He was not digging on his outfit as you can see from the pictures!

First Real Bath

2008-10-30T18:01:00.001-07:00

Since Cole's umbilical cord didn't fall off until Tuesday, he has only been able to receive sponge baths up to this point. Last night we gave him his first real bath and he loved it! I was ready for a massive meltdown, but as soon as we put him into the tub, he was totally relaxed. He looked like he was just lounging at the beach. Of course, the warm water made him promptly pee everywhere right away! It was hilarious! As you can, see he is getting bigger by the minute. I actually weighed him this morning and he is over 10 lbs already!

Grandma Linda left today after a week's stay. I believe that she loved every minute of it, including while he cries. She will be back at Christmas along with Grandma Laura, so we will have all the grandparents together for Cole's first Christmas! Not that he will have any idea what is going on.

Yesterday, my mom and I took him into visit my office. I was a bit worried that he would be on full meltdown mode, but he surprised me by not only being well-behaved, but he was actually awake during the whole visit! Everyone loved him and couldn't believe how much hair he has in person.

As you can see from the picture, Sammy has fully accepted Cole as a member of the family and likes to snuggle with him and John. I thought that she wouldn't care for him at all, but she has warmed up to him completely. She is always interested in what he's doing.

Update on our little man

2008-10-27T12:09:00.000-07:00

Lounging around

Playing with Daddy and big brother Leroy

This is our smiling, peace sign waving baby!

Cole is certainly a handful. Most of the time he is a perfect little gentleman, but when he is upset, everybody better watch out! Yesterday he screamed bloody murder at the mall and all the way home until about 3 minutes from the house. Then last night, he chose to only sleep from 1-5am and then fuss the rest of the time. The only good thing was that he wasn't screaming, but he was fussing enough that John and I couldn't sleep at all, which was fun. He finally settled down at around 8am and has been pleasant ever since.

Grandma Linda has been here since last Wednesday and she has been loving on him every minute. She is certainly loving being a grandma, even when does some less than desireable things like spit up or shoot poop out of his rear-end. Cole has been to visit Granddad's house twice now. The first time, he was quite good and this last Saturday, he was a bit fussier and even managed to poop on Granddad's new carpet while Daddy was changing him.

On Wednesday, we went back to the pediatrician for the two-week visit. Our champion eater has already gained another pound and tipped the scales at 9 lbs 12 oz! He is certainly turning out to be a very big boy!

Cole's first week

2008-10-17T19:02:00.000-07:00

Cole's first week at home has been quite interesting. He has had a number of nighttime meltdowns even though he is a perfect angel all day long. We think that part of the problem is the fact that when we go to bed at night, that is the only time that the house is quiet. During the day, he falls asleep to us talking, vacuuming, watching tv, etc. So, today Cole and I made our very first mother/son outing by ourselves to Babies R Us to get a sound machine. We will be trying that out tonight so we are keeping our fingers crossed.

We have given him a couple of baths, which he isn't crazy about, but he seems to tolerate and he looks so cute in his little hooded towel! He is also a professional at going through several outfits a day, but that is probably John and my faults due to our apparent inability to always properly get the diaper on him. The future president outfit that he has on in the picture lasted about 15 minutes before it was peed on.

We went to the pediatrician for the first time on Monday to get Cole checked out, as they recommend bringing him in about 2-3 days after being discharged from the hospital. Babies generally lose some weight after birth and then get back up to their birth weight within two weeks. Well, our championship eater was already at 8 lbs 10 oz (one oz less than at birth) already by Monday. Dr. Mike said that is pretty unusual for a breastfed baby to be back up at birth weight so quickly, so apparently I am a professional milk maker! John and I joke that my new main function is being like a gas station for Cole.

Winner of the baby pool!

2008-10-17T19:00:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Marilyn, the winner of the online baby pool! She had the closest guess. She guessed that Cole would be born October 9th at 10:09am and would be 9 lbs 4 oz (thank goodness he wasn't that big!) and 20 inches. Coincidentally, she was also the one that told me about this website.

Cole Urban has arrived!

2008-10-12T16:02:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday, October 8th at 6:43pm, Cole finally made his grand entrance! He has been here for four days and he is already the love of our lives, even though it seems like he has completely taken over every minute since he was born. As you can see from the pictures, he was born with a ton of dark hair, we joke that he looks like a little chimpanzee, especially when it sticks up everywhere. Even the nurse at the nursery gave him a little mohawk after his first bath because she said that she couldn't resist giving all that hair a little 'do. We came home from the hospital on Friday evening and most of the time he is a perfect angel, except for the hours of 1-5am when he becomes a wild maniac. He can be pretty fiesty already. Apparently, we are not swaddling him like the nurses at the hospital because he refuses to have his arms confined when we wrap him up in a blanket. He does not like to be contained and usually sleeps with at least one arm flailed above his head.

Surpringly, the dogs have not been overly interested in him. They get a little nervous when he cries, but generally they are disinterested, which is probably a good thing. The cat is a little more curious, but won't get any closer than about a foot away from him. She usually bolts if he makes any noise.

As you can see, the curse of the Cubs fan has officially been passed along, so unfortunately, our son has been set up for a lifetime of heartbreak! Maybe some time in his lifetime, he will actually see the Cubbies make it to the World Series.

4 days left and still no sign of Cole...

2008-10-06T19:17:00.000-07:00

We have four days left until the "due date" and still no sign of the newest Lindqvist. I have officially reached the point where I am tired of being pregnant and I am ready for him to get here already! Leroy and I took a very brisk walk this evening hoping to entice Cole along. I'll keep my fingers crossed that it actually works. If not, Leroy and I will probably head out again tomorrow for longer.

Tomorrow, I head back to the doctor for my weekly appointment. Hopefully, they will tell me that I am making some progress. Last week, I was already dilated to 3 cms which shocked me seeing that I have had no other signs of impending labor. The doctor said she thought that he would be coming sooner rather than later. I asked her if she thought that meant I wouldn't make it to my appointment the following week (tomorrow) and she said that was likely, but here we are...

Over the weekend, we went to Costco to stock up on all types of goodies that we knew that we would need while I am on leave and not recieving a paycheck; everything from dog food to laundry detergent to paper towels. We were those people with the overflowing cart due to all the giant items we were purchasing. And Costco certainly knows how to make you impulse buy. Somehow we always end up with things in the cart that aren't on the list, simply due to the fact that it's such a good deal. That's how John ended up putting a box of 700 baby wipes into our cart figuring hey, it's only $15! Although, I am certain that we will go through those in no time!

Being a Cubs fan just equals heartache

2008-10-06T19:08:00.000-07:00

As we discovered this weekend, being a Cubs fan pretty much guarantees heartbreak somewhere during the season. Sometimes it's earlier and other times, like this year, it is all the way into October. Cub fans everywhere were ecstatic to see the Cubbies clinch the division early only to watch their beloved team get swept by the Dodgers. For those of you who actually watched the three day massacre, it was pretty brutal. It wasn't even as though we could say "hey, they played great, but the Dodgers just played better". Not a chance: as John put it, "it looked like third grade softball out there."

John has even threatened to become a Yankees fan now. He claims at least this way, he can at least be rooting for a team that not only makes it to the World Series on a fairly regular basis, but actually wins. He even went so far to try and re-name the animals. He told Ryno that he would now be known as Derek Jeter and that Leroy (who doesn't have a Cubs related name) that he would become Reggie, as in Reggie Jackson. I stopped him before he re-named Sammy (the cat) something ridiculous like A-Rod. But as happens every year, I know that when January rolls around, he will start getting all excited again for the upcoming spring training. As they say, "there's always next year..."

14 days and counting....

2008-09-26T21:56:00.000-07:00

So today officially marks 2 weeks until the estimated due date. Of course, he technically could come at any time now. I am getting increasingly more uncomfortable, but not quite at miserable yet. My back pain is definitely increasing, probably because I am completely front-heavy now. Add to that my incredibly attractive swollen feet and ankles, and I have definitely moved into uncomfortable mode. John laughs at my fat old lady "cankles". A few weeks ago, we saw a very large woman in the Walmart parking lot and I said to John "Look at her ankles. Mine look just like hers!" It was quite horrifying to say the least. Even my doctors seem mystified at my swelling, but since my blood pressure is so good and I already drink a ton of water, they say that there is nothing medically wrong with me and I will just be uncomfortable. Not really a comforting thought...

Last week we had the carseat installed in my car by some very nice firemen. We had a couple of people ask why we didn't just do it ourselves, but I have heard from multiple sources that approximately 80% of all carseats are installed incorrectly, so I figured why bother trying to do it ourselves when the fire department will do it correctly for free? We didn't have the base for John's car yet, so I am taking that in next weekend to be installed. Yes, even John's precious Lexus will become baby friendly!

John had a long discussion with Cole last night about how he should arrive no earlier than October 9th due to the World Series schedule. If the Cubbies can make it that far, John wants to be able to go to at least one game (not at Wrigley, due to extreme costs) and will already be off of work for two weeks for "paternity leave". You can only imagine my high levels of pride for my husband during this discussion. (sarcasm intended) Apparently John feels that Cole's arrival is even remotely within my control as he also recently informed me that it would be more convenient for him if I could go into labor during the day rather than at night. Sure thing, I'll see what I can do!

Well, that's it for now. I will keep you posted as Cole's arrival is just around the corner!

Poem for our son

2008-09-18T17:59:00.000-07:00

I'd like to say that I wrote this myself with my fantastic creativity. However, it was actually a wonderful gift that I received from a semi-retired gentleman, Gary, that works part-time at my company. He brought me this framed poem that he actually wrote himself. When I opened it and read it, I actually had to try not to cry, it was so touching. Seriously, this guy should write greeting cards! So here it is:

To Cole,
From Mom and Dad with Our Love

How precious are you, our first born child.
How fortunate are we, to call you our son.

You are the one we hoped for, the son we dreamed of.
The love of your mother and father has formed you.
From this day forward you are bonded to us.

We promise to watch over you, promise to protect you and show patience from toddler through your teens and beyond. We will guide you always, but will need your help.

We have nothing of value to compare to your worth; a priceless child of ours for safe keeping.

As you grow older, so also will we, but with each passing year our love for you will only increase... neither time nor distance apart shall weight upon that love.

Whatever you do, wherever you go...
Go also our hearts with you.

On your sunlit days our shadows will entwine with yours and when stormy times come upon you, we will shield you as the Lord allows.

How precious are you, our first born child.

How fortunate are we, to call you our son.

Baby Shower

2008-09-13T08:44:00.000-07:00

Last week, the lovely ladies at work put on a baby shower for me. The little munchkin got all sorts of wonderful goodies. I did put up a fuss about having a shower ahead of time, but my manager, Audrey, basically told me to be quiet because we were having one whether I liked it or not. I still felt silly having people buy presents for me, but it was a lot of fun. There was a beautiful and delicious cake and my co-worker, Sonya, made me a diaper cake, which was adorable. It's so great to work with such nice people! I will definitely miss them all when I am out on leave, although my co-worker Sue has insisted that I bring in the baby as much as possible during that time.

Today is our anniversary!

2008-09-10T18:14:00.000-07:00

Yay, today is our third anniversary! It's hard to believe that we have been married already for three years, since it has gone by so fast. Since John works until 7 on Wednesdays, we actually celebrated our anniversary last Sunday by going to the Melting Pot. I have always wanted to go there and finally John relented and we went. Plus, we figured it was probably going to be our last chance to get out an enjoy a nice, quiet meal with just the two of us. From here on out, it will be family friendly restaurants like Red Robin. It was quite tasty, especially the chocolate fondue, which was to die for! I could have made meal out of just that.

Coincidentally, today also marks the 30 day countdown to the "official" due date. However, he could come either earlier or later. According to the online baby pool, people are guessing anywhere from September 27th (only 17 days from now!!) to October 15th! My at work baby pool has a similiar range as well, so I guess we will see! My co-worker, Sue is certain that he is coming on September 30th and refuses to even think that he could come any other time. She has even threated to make me pull weeds outside of our building and walk laps around the huge building next door on the 28th and 29th to make me go into labor!! However, since Cole will be half of John's genes there is a 50% chance of him being late, since John has a tough time getting anywhere on time.

Pregnancy photos

2008-09-07T15:00:00.000-07:00

John and I are lucky that our friend Lindsey is an amazingly talented photographer. Last weekend, she took some beautiful photos of John and I and some of me and my belly. Looking at these pictures, I can see how really huge I have become. Apparently, the camera doesn't lie, but the bathroom mirror does! I was worried that John would fuss about having his picture taken, since he isn't really crazy about posing for pictures. The beer drinking in the pool earlier that day seemed to help!

http://picasaweb.google.com/dreamlenzphotos/JohnLaura?authkey=HhPShQZCZtw#

The Baby's room

2008-09-07T09:41:00.001-07:00

The room is finally coming together. After much begging and pleading on my part, John finally finished painting the room yesterday with Steven. They also moved the dresser into the room and later John and I put together the crib and glider. There was some cursing from John during the assembly of the crib and at one point, I was instructed to bring him a beer. For those of you who know John, you will know that his patience level is not high with things that don't work quite right. Luckily, the crib was put together with only a minor meltdown and the glider was put together very quickly with no issues. We don't really have any decorative stuff up yet and the walls are still bare. Hopefully, the decorating part should be easy now. However, I did make him a little name decoration. It doesn't look perfect, but it was made with love by his mother, so that is all that matters! Also pictured in the top photo is a handmade blanket on the back of the glider that I received from my manager's mother. She specially made it for our little munchkin! I was so touched that some that that I have only met a couple of times actually took the time to make a beautiful blanket for our son.

Apparently, putting the room together finally made John realize that our little guy will be here before we know it. This morning, I was instructed that we must install the carseat and get it inspected very soon. I am glad to see that John is finally realizing that we dont' have that much time left!

Time for the Baby Pool!

2008-08-22T21:55:00.000-07:00

My friend Chris's lovely fiance, Marilyn, told me about this website where you can actually set up a baby pool. What is a baby pool you ask? It is where you can enter a guess on the date and time the baby will arrive, how much he weigh, his length and his gender (which has already been discovered). You can enter your guess at http://www.expectnet.com/games/colelindqvist or click on the link to the left. We are inviting everyone to participate and wish you all good luck!

PS: if anyone says that I have to give birth to a 10 lb baby, you will be disowned as our friend/family member, so keep that in mind....

And then there was one...

2008-08-22T18:23:00.000-07:00

After last weekend, John officially has only one more baseball stadium left to visit! He went to see the Atlanta Braves and the Florida Marlins, finally knocking them off of his list. He had previously been informed that all baseball trips must cease within one month of the baby's due date. He was hoping to get the last stadium in before then, but we are not 100% sure that will happen, so Shea Stadium may have to wait until next year and by then, they will have a new stadium anyways. But since the Cubbies are having such a great year, that baseball money may be better spent this year going to see them play in the playoffs or (keep your fingers crossed), the World Series!

50 days and counting...

2008-08-21T18:34:00.000-07:00

As of today, we have 50 days until our official due date. Of course, Cole could make his debut either earlier or later, but either way, that isn't much time! The major issue is that the room isn't even close to being done. The new carpet was put in a few weeks ago and looks fantastic, but that's about it. The room still needs to be painted (although, I graciously helped out John by placing the blue painters tape everywhere that I could reach without needing to climb on a chair or ladder), the crib needs to be put together and moved into the room along with the dresser and all of our miscellaneous baby "stuff" needs to find a home that is not on top of our pool table. John has assured me that the painting and furniture will be done by Labor day weekend. We will see....

Our first baby class

2008-08-17T07:58:00.000-07:00

John had to take quite the hit to his manhood this week, when I forced him to go to a baby class with me. Mind you, this was not any baby class; this was called "The Art of Breastfeeding." John was at first mildly agreeable to going when I first asked and then he found out that it was 3 hours long. He officially blames our friend Dave for his whole miserable time. Dave's wife, Kristy had previously attended this very same class last year and recommended it to me. Dave did not attend, but actually told me on more than one occassion that he wished that he had, so that's why I made John go. And quite honestly, it was his fault because I wouldn't even have thought of taking John if he hadn't suggested it. Sorry Dave!!!

I had promised John that if he was the only man there that he could leave; unfortunately of the 8 of us that attended, 4 of us brought our husbands. We saw the first one in the parking lot and John actually said something along the lines of how he was going to need to "kick this guy's ass" so he could go home. As we got into the building, we realized this husband had even brought a notebook along, which John proclaimed "totally ridiculous." Obviously, John wasn't planning on paying much attention, let alone taking any notes. However, I was glad that John went with me, even though he remained grouchy for most of the evening. At one point, the teacher made us watch a 20 minute video on breastfeeding, so I tried to make light of the situation and joked to John that "if nothing else, he at least gets to see boobs on tv". Unfortunately, he did not think that was funny. Later on, the teacher made us work with these hideous, plastic baby dolls. John had volunteered to pick ours out of the bin at the beginning of class while I was picking up the hand-outs. For some reason, he comes to our seats with an unusually large, black baby. I could not stop laughing during the "practice" portion because I had a really hard time imagining that this was our baby!

Next weekend, we have our first of two Chidbirth preparation classes, so we will see how that goes. Those are 4 hours long, so hopefully John can handle it!

"The Hawk" comes to Phoenix

2008-08-10T12:47:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, John and I drove into Central Phoenix to go see "The Hawk" himself, Andre Dawson. John had gotten a Cubs jersey for him to sign off of Ebay. Although the seller said that it is an "authentic" jersey, John and I refer to it as the Taiwan special, because something about it doesn't look quite right.

Even though the man has been retired from baseball for over 10 years, he is still a huge dude in person. John was thrilled to meet him and told me later all about how he used to race home from school back in 1987 (when all the Cubs games were still day games) so that he could watch Andre Dawson play. My job was to take a picture of him signing the jersey and also one of him shaking John's hand. Unfortunately, John lifted up the jersey at the same time he was shaking his hand, so the camera didn't really capture it. John is planning on having the jersey framed and it will be added to what has quickly become the sports memoriabilia room in our house.

Sturgis Bike Week

2008-08-10T12:24:00.000-07:00

John got back late on Friday night from his week long trip to Sturgis, SD for bike week. He went with his friends, Shane and Evan. They met up with John's Uncle Greg and a few of his buddies from Illinois. Because it is quite a ride from AZ to Sturgis, they drove up in Evan's SUV and towed their bikes in a trailer. They stayed with John's cousin James for one night in Cheyenne before heading on to Sturgis on Sunday. They stayed in Deadwood, which was about 10-15 miles from Sturgis.

It sounds like they had a great time. They rode every day and saw a ton of stuff including Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Devil's Tower, a petrified forest, some wild buffalo, and the towns of Deadwood and Sturgis. Check out the pictures here.

They were there until Thursday when they headed out to the Denver area, where they stayed overnight at Brian and Ashley's house. The next morning, they started the long drive back to Phoenix, finally getting home after 1am early Saturday morning. It was a long trip with a ton of driving, but John is already talking about going back again in a few years. I had previously been assured that this was a "once in a lifetime trip", clearly I was misled, but I think I might get to go next time.

Who comes up with this crap?

2008-08-09T07:37:00.000-07:00

I found this website called http://www.dumblaws.com/. These have the most hilarious and supposedly real laws actually found on the books. Here is a sample for you.

In Arizona:

Hunting camels is prohibited - really??? Who know this could even be an issue? As though there are so many camels roaming free in the state of Arizona...
Donkeys cannot sleep in bathtubs - well, now where are we supposed to put that new donkey we bought at the mall?
It is unlawful to refuse a person a glass of water - this one I have actually heard of; I assume this is to prevent someone from dying of heat stroke when it is one of our beautiful 114 degree days here. While it is an odd law, it does actually make sense
When being attacked by a criminal or burglar, you may only protect yourself with the same weapon that the other person posseses - I guess we are out of luck when a burglar comes into our house with a slingshot; all we have our kitchen knives and John's guns
It is illegal to manufacture imitation cocaine - I was unaware the manufacturing real cocaine was ok...

In Illinois:

In Champaign, one may not pee in another's mouth. Gross! I feel bad for the person who was the victim of this act, for which this law was created.
In Chicago it is illegal to fish while sitting on a giraffe's neck. - Again, where are the giraffes in Chicago? I guess maybe at the zoo, but who fishes at the zoo?
It is actually legal in Chicago to protest naked in front of city hall, but only if you are under the age of seventeen and have legal permits.

Thank goodness we have excellent law enforcement officers like John to protect us from the hooligans that would dare to let a donkey sleep in a bathtub or fish while sitting on a giraffe's neck...

Bachelorette Party, Baby Shower and Man Shower...

2008-08-03T09:49:00.000-07:00

During the last weekend in July, John and I traveled back to Chicago. I went for a two-fold reason: one for my friend Martinique's bachelorette party and also for my baby shower with family and friends.

The bachelorette party was great fun! Martinique got all types of scandalous gifts, which were hilarious. We started off the night at Lou Malnati's for pizza, then moved to a bar in downtown Naperville. We were lucky enough to have a reserved table and we had a great time. Martinique made friends with some weird stuffed crow and he became the life the party. Unfortunately, I was only able to stay out until 12:30 before I had to call it a night, but from what I understand the party continued into the wee hours of the morning.

The next day was my baby shower. It was so nice to see family and friends that I haven't gotten to see in a while. I saw two of my friends, Chrissy and Danielle for the first time in almost two years since Chrissy's wedding! It's amazing how the time flies. We had a lot of fun at the shower and Baby Cole got a lot of great stuff. He got a ton of clothes, so I am sure that he will not be naked for at least the first six months of his life! He got several Cubbie related items, including a "Cubs 101" book, a pacifier and a few outfits, so he is all set for spring training next year and (keep your fingers crossed) the World Series this year. Even though John did not attend the shower ("Guys don't go to showers"), he did send me a gift, which was a beautiful Coach diaper bag. Just because I am going to be a mother, doesn't mean I can't be stylish!

Even though he didn't come to my shower, John did hold a "Man Shower" of his own. This obviously consisted of a Cubs game, beer and his rowdy gaggle of friends. From what I understand, they had a great time, with many beers consumed and some inappropriate remarks shouted.

This last Friday, John and his friends Evan and Shane left for Sturgis, SD for bike week. They will be returning next Friday, 8/8. Stay tuned for pictures from that adventure!

The Cubbies come to the Desert

2008-07-24T18:08:00.000-07:00

This week marks one of John's favorite times of the year: when the Cubbies play the Diamondbacks. They were here for three games and we were able to make it to the last two on Tuesday and Wednesday. On Tuesday, we went with our friend Shane. We were supposed to sit up in the upper deck area, but courtesey of a friend of a friend, we got awesome seats at field level right next to the Cubs dugout. We were so close, we could have almost touched the dirt. We were about 30 feet away from Derrek Lee at 1st base. And Fukudome jogged out right in front of us to get the the right field every inning. The only downfall was this super weird guy sitting two seats down from Shane. He had on an elbow, knee and ankle brace, which didn't seem to stop him from jumping up and down wildly while cheering for the d-backs. He also had the largest and shiniest watch on that I have ever seen in person, plus a giant, tacky class ring of some sort. He was certainly a strange dude. I wanted to take a picture of him, but John wouldn't let me. However, even with our amazing seats, John still left the game depressed because they lost 9-2 to the diamondbacks, which is why he looks so grouchy in the pictures right next to the dugout. As we were leaving through the underground tunnels to exit from our seats, the security guards stopped us because Carlos Zambrano was walking from the dugout to the visitors locker room. Even though the Cubs lost, John was still excited to see Zambrano just a few feet away.

Wednesdays game was much better. We didn't have as great as seats as the night before, but we were in the bleacher area behind right field, which was fun. There were tons of Cubs fans all around us, probably at least 50% of the stadium was filled with Cubs fans, which says a lot about the fans out here in AZ. John was still depressed because the game wasn't shaping up for a win, until the 8th inning when Reed Johnson hit a grandslam, which was awesome. Even though they lost the series, 2-1, it was a great way to end the run in the desert. John's looking forward to seeing the Cubbies at Wrigley on Sunday during our trip to Chicago.

Update to Glucose Testing

2008-07-21T19:56:00.001-07:00

Luckily, my test came back normal, so I do not have gestational diabetes. I guess that means that I get to eat what ever I want for the next 11 1/2 weeks! It would be a long end of the pregnancy without any sugar....

The Dark Knight

2008-07-21T19:46:00.000-07:00

If you haven't gone to see the new Batman movie, "The Dark Knight", I highly recommend it. John and I went on Saturday and it was by far the best Batman movie ever made. Of course, it really could only go up from George Clooney in "Batman and Robin." Christian Bale is a fantastic Batman (plus it doesn't hurt that he is easy on the eyes) and Heath Ledger's performance was amazing. I had read a bunch of reviews before and everyone was talking about how Heath's performance as the Joker was Oscar-worthy. Personally, I thought his first few scenes were decent, but not fanastic, so I was a bit concerned that his performance was going to be over-rated. However, as the movie went on, his performance as the Joker got darker and more amazing. Michael Caine is wonderful as Alfred the butler and adds a nice humor element to the otherwise pretty dark movie. That's my two-cents. If anyone else saw it, what did you think?

You know what's not fun....

2008-07-17T19:15:00.000-07:00

Fasting and glucose testing when you are pregnant. I had to get the glucose test on Tuesday at my regular doctor's appointment. They make you drink this liquid that tastes like non-carbonated orange soda. It's not really that bad, but you have to drink it all in 5 minutes, which is a bit rough. Plus, I wasn't allowed to eat sugar of any kind all day prior to taking the test, which was awful! Then you get to sit there for an hour and then they take your blood. If you are lucky like me, you will get a call back two days later from a very nice lady that tells me that my blood sugar is "slightly elevated". So that meant that I had to go in again this morning for a 3-hour glucose test, in which you have to fast from 10pm the night before and then they take your blood, give you the glucose drink again and then draw your blood every hour for 3 hours. Plus, you aren't allowed to eat anything during the test, so I didn't eat until noon today! What kind of test makes a pregnant woman starve?? This was so not fun. Lucky for John, I went Thursday instead of Friday and didn't make him sit there with me for three hours! Now we get to sit and wait to see if I have gestational diabetes. I am already at risk because Type 2 diabetes runs prevalently on one side of my family, so I have my fingers crossed.

Back from Colorado

2008-07-07T20:34:00.000-07:00

For the 4th of July weekend, John and I went up to visit our friend's Brian, Ashley and their 4 year old daughter Ainsley, outside of Denver. Our other friends, Bill and Nikki came out from Chicago as well, so it was like a little mini-reunion. The guys all went to high school together and hadn't all been together in over a year, so they had lots of fun. Us girls had a good time as well. On the 4th, we went to check out the local festivities, where John escorted Ainsley around the pony ride. He was also a very good sport when Ainsley insisted on putting a tattoo on his neck, which of course looked awesome! Later on that night, we were able to watch the local fireworks show from the front yard. We were also wowed by John and Brian's own fireworks display. While they certainly did give it their best shot, you can only do so much with $12 worth of fireworks. On Saturday, we had some pool time and the girls got pedicures while the guys went to Target, where John helped Ainsley pick out a new Barbie and a tricky to set-up sticker machine as a belated birthday gift. Lucky for Nikki, Ashley and I, Ainsley even let us play with her Barbies. On Sunday, the guys went to the baseball game and the girls checked out downtown Denver. All in all, it was a nice relaxing weekend and lots of fun to catchup with friends.

Not entirely certain why the pictures turned out funky, but enjoy!

He will be his father's son...

2008-07-03T18:10:00.001-07:00

John went on another baseball trip a few weeks ago to see the Cincinnati and St. Louis stadiums. (Only 3 stadiums left to go) About a week or two before he left he comes home from work and says that he is going to get the baby the best gift when he goes on the trip. Obviously the first question I ask, is what the heck is he buying for our baby in Cincinnati? John says "no, not Cincinnati, it's actually across state lines in Kentucky." Then comes question #2, "what the heck kind of baby gift comes from Kentucky?" John then asks if I know what is in Louisville, KY and it finally dawns on me... the Lousiville Slugger Factory. Sure enough, John returns from his trip with a Cole's very first baseball bat, complete with his name engraved on it. And because John is really just a big kid himself, he also got himself a bat, with both his name and the Cubs logo engraved on it. When I asked him why he didn't get the Cubbie logo on the baby's bat, his answer was that he "didn't want to shove it down his throat." Right, like our baby is really going to have the option to be anything but a Cubs fan. That'll be the day....

99 days and counting....

2008-07-03T17:48:00.000-07:00

Apparently, today we have officially 99 days until this baby is due. I cannot believe how quickly this is going by. Little Cole is going to be here before we know it and we still have so much to do. We haven't even begun to start the babies room yet, but John has assured me that we start in the next few weeks. The first thing that we have to do is get rid of the guest bed in there. Luckily, I believe we have a taker. Then we have to replace the carpet, which you can see from the picture has been "altered" by the dogs. I am fairly certain that is frowned upon to have exposed nails in a baby's room. We did order our furniture a little over a month ago, but for some reason it is going to take 10-12 weeks to get it in. I don't know if they are planning to whittle it or what.

One thing that we do already have it the bassinet. I have been lucky enough to get a family heirloom one. Cole will actually be a third generation baby, as both my father and I used it when we were babies. It's about 65 years old and has been used by about 40 or 50 babies since then. For safety reasons, it has had to be rebuilt a few times over the years, but it is adorable and I can't wait to see our little guy in there. I have two "concerns" with the bassinet. One is that Ryno is tall enough to actually peer inside, so I think he will be obsessed with watching the baby while he is in there. Two, I am quite certain that our cat, Sammy will decide that it is a perfect place for her to nap out of sight of the dogs. Ah, the adventures of owning crazy animals...

Practicing for our baby

2008-06-16T20:15:00.000-07:00

So yesterday, I get a text message from my friend Lindsey wanting to know if I would mind watching her son for an hour or so. I said sure, no problem. I have spent time with Larz almost every weekend since he was born and I thought this would be a breeze. The moment that they dropped him off and left, I realized that I have never been left all by myself with a 14 month old baby. My first words to him were "Well, Larz, I have no idea what we are going to do, but I am sure we will figure something out." Luckily, he is the sweetest little guy, so it wasn't too difficult. The most amusing part was watching him follow our cat, Sammy around for the majority of the time. He would run after Sammy with his short (but amazingly quick) little legs and laugh the whole time. He just cracked me up. Sammy was definitely not amused, but fortunately for her, she is a whole lot faster than Larz and was never in any danger of being caught. At one point, he and I managed to corner her and I held her while Larz checked her out. Sammy was as good of a sport as you can expect from a grouchy kitty. She meowed at him constantly, but let him poke and prod at her until she finally wiggled her way out of my grasp and shot out of the room. I am sure she will not be pleased to have a baby living in her home full-time in just a few short months, but I figure she will just have to get used to it. At least the baby won't try to make a snack out of her the way the dogs do.

Belly shot

2008-06-09T20:24:00.000-07:00

No, my hair isn't dark now, I had actually been cleaning the house prior to this picture beng taken, so it was all back in a headband. As you can see, my belly appears to be growing at an alarming rate. I can't believe how much bigger I look today than I did just a few weeks ago. I am about 22 1/2 weeks now, just a little over half way there. At this rate, I fear that the little guy isn't going to be quite so little. I have been able to feel him move around for about a month now, but just today I felt what could only be kicks. He practiced his ninja skills for about 3 hours straight this morning while I was at work. It was quite a strange sensation compared to the small, gentle movements I felt before. It was almost like he had been tickling me from the inside, but today all that changed. Of course, he must have been sleeping this evening, so John still hasn't felt the little guy yet. I am pretty sure that will freak John out the first time.

Can he possibly be 31 already?

2008-05-31T08:13:00.000-07:00

Yes, John officially turned 31 yesterday. Yes, I know, some of you already thought he was older than that.... He started off the day by waking up at 5:30am to go play 36 rounds of golf in Scottsdale with Steven. I can only imagine how he lasted until the end of the day seeing as it ended up in the mid to high 90's by the end of the day.

As for presents for the birthday boy, this was my easiest year ever. Normally, I find John difficult to buy for, but this year he made it easy on me by buying all of his own presents on Ebay. He bought himself two signed baseball pictures for the memoriabilia room, some police patches to add to his collection and a book called "1000 Places to See Before You Die". Unfortunately, the book has not arrived yet, but we are anxious to check it out when it gets here. Now, before you all think I am heartless by not buying John anything myself, I did track down a gift for him from the baby (but really for the baby), which is shown in the picture above. I thought it was hilarious and had to buy it for him.

We went to Benihana's with the usual crew for dinner because that is the only place that John will go for his birthday. He believes that every occasion should be celebrated there. (He even took me there one year for my birthday after I specifically told him that I wanted to go to Uncle Sal's.) We were kind enough to tell our waiter that it was John's birthday and Steven's the next day, so they sang "Happy Birthday" to them both in English and Japanese, which they were thrilled about. They took some excellent polaroid pictures of them as well. As you can see, John and Steven did their trademark "Siamese Twins" pose where they pretend they are joined together at the head. It is quite a sight to see, especially in public. And remember, these are two grown men who turned 31 yesterday and today.

Back to the Midwest

2008-05-31T07:45:00.000-07:00

Over Memorial Day weekend, John went back to Chicago for two reasons. The first being attending Mike Weis's wedding. He had a great time seeing a lot of his friends from college. From what I understand (even though they are all grown men with children and/or babies on the way) they even pretended like they were back in the frat house with John and Jesse banging on Billy's door at 1am so that they can drink beers. On behalf of John, I would like to apologize to Billy's sleeping wife, Karen. Apparently, they even managed to stay up until the wee hours of the morning, just like the old days. When John called me the next morning he complained that he was a little hungover and I had to remind him that he is over 30 and just can't party like he used to.

And of course, what trip for John would be complete without baseball?? The day after the wedding, the baseball partner in crime Steve showed up at O'Hare. Steve hadn't seen either Wrigley, Comiskey (sorry, US Cellular) or Brewers stadiums. Of course, John was more than willing to visit all of these stadiums again. What a hardship for him, I am sure. John was classy enough to wear his "Sox Suck" t-shirt to the White Sox game and apparently he, Tim and Bill thought it would be awesome to wear matching jerseys to the Cubs game. I pray that this was accidental. Even though the Cubbies won, Steve was apparently unimpressed with the traditonal playing of "Go Cubs Go", but you have to excuse him, because he is a Yankees fan and just doesn't know any better. While at the Cubs game, John even picked up the baby's first Cubs gear; thank you Grandma Laura.

I also had my own adventure while John was gone with the breaking of our hot water heater. It started with a small amount of water in our garage one day and then water running out of our hallway closet the next. You know what is bad business practice? Taking advantage of a pregnant woman who is about to be forced to take a freezing cold shower by trying to charge her $1400 to install a new hot water heater! Even though I had an emotional meltdown on the phone with John twice, he did manage to get it taken care from 1500 miles away in Chicago. With the kindness of his buddy Joe from work, we were able to get a new water heater installed for about $1000 less than "Take Advantage of Pregnant Woman Plumbing". Ah the joys of being a homeowner...

100% Positive

2008-05-20T17:49:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone who voted in our poll. Apparently, our online poll has scientific backing because baby Lindqvist is 100% a boy! The proof is in the picture. John is very impressed with his "Y" chromosomes ability to swim and is already looking forward to the little man's first Cubs game. And a special thanks to Rolf's statistical analysis of the Lindqvist family's ability to produce boys. This will be the 21st boy out of the last 28 Lindqvist babies born. We are pleased that our little guy will carry on the family name. Fortunately for the baby, we will not be utilizing my Polish heritage to name him Stas. We actually have already picked out the name: Cole Urban. We both liked the name Cole and Urban is both John's middle name and his father's name. We can't wait for you all to meet our little guy!

Trip to DC

2008-05-15T18:15:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago, John and I took a trip to DC. I'd like to say that we went because we are interested in learning about our nation's capital, but that would not be the whole truth. The fact is, we went all the way across the country to DC to see the Washington National's new baseball stadium. For those of you not aware, John is on a mission to see every ballpark in the MLB. I am actually pleased to say that he "technically" only has three more stadiums to go: Florida Marlins, NY Mets and Atlanta Braves. But alas, he is a good friend and will be traveling to extra stadiums with his partner in crime to see all the stadiums that Steve hasn't already seen that John has. He has promised me that he will be all done with the stadiums before the baby arrives in October. However, the real baseball/baby issue will present itself when it is determined whether or not the Cubs will actually make it to the playoffs. I'd like to say that John would rather see the birth of his first child than see the Cubbies go to the World Series, but as John puts it "we can always have another baby, but the Cubs might not go to the World Series again in our lifetime." Unfortunately, this is a painful truth for all you Cub fans out there.

But I digress. The trip to DC was amazing. It was such an awesome experience to see all these great buildings and monuments, such as the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument and of course, the White House. We even got to take a tour of the Capital building, which was fantastic. All I kept thinking was that "this is where stuff happens, this is where laws get passed". My phrase of the weekend as we went around was "this is very impressive" and it was. Everything we saw was impressive. Being able to see something like the original document of the Declaration of Independence was amazing.

Very first blog

2008-05-15T18:10:00.000-07:00

So, I finally got with 2008 and decided to create a blog. Since so many of our friends and family are back in Chicago, this seems like the easiest way for everyone to see what we are up to. Especially my mother, who hasn't seen me in about 5 or 6 weeks and wants to see how big I am with the baby growing. I will be 19 weeks tomorrow, so we are almost half way done, which seems crazy, since it seems like just yesterday we found out that we are expecting our first 2-legged, non-fur covered child in October. We find out next Tuesday whether it will be a boy or a girl, so we are very excited about that.

I hope that you all enjoy our new blog!