Pinkeye

Earlier this week, Madelyn was diagnosed with a double ear infection and pinkeye.

And this morning I woke up with pinkeye! Painful and disgusting!

Happy 40th!

This weekend we celebrated Jason's 40th birthday! Madelyn and I were really excited to give him his birthday present.

Those of you who know my Jason, he's a car and NASCAR buff, so for his special birthday, his dad and I got him a Richard Petty Driving Experience for the end of March. That means Jason will get to take a class and drive 8 laps around the track at Kansas Speedway in a real race car! He'll drive behind a pace car going about 135 mph. He also gets to do a ride along where he'll ride in a car going 165 mph!

Jason is always so great about getting me awesome gifts that I'm thrilled his dad and I can do this for him.

We also put up the Christmas tree.


Madelyn was kinda curious ... about the tree ..


... and the cake

Thanksgiving

Wow, I realize how pathetic I am. I haven't blogged since writing about Halloween. Geez.

Well, we've been dealing with illness again in our house. It's been pretty common this year since Madelyn started daycare. She gets something and it gets passed around the house and then she picks something else up and the process repeats itself.

The week before Thanksgiving it was stomach issues and migraines for me. Thanksgiving weekend it was ear infections and strep throat for Madelyn.

But we did have fun in North Platte with Jason's family. We stayed with Jason's mom, and boy did Madelyn LOVE having so much space in which to crawl. She was all over the place, pulling herself up and chewing on the numerous giraffes Sue has at her house.







Madelyn enjoyed playing with bubbles.


And sitting at the table with Mr. Giraffe


Enjoying time with Grandpa


And getting her nails filed by Grandma


We had to make a trip to Urgent Care on Saturday after Thanksgiving - at which we were told her high fevers were a result of ear infections and strep throat. So we got some meds ... and discovered when we got home that the dosage we were told to give her was more than double the correct dosage! Poor thing. She finally started feeling better on Wednesday. We're happy to have our little happy girl back!

OH, and here's a family pic!


This weekend we have Jason's office Christmas party and his 40th birthday party! Can't wait for him to learn what we got him for his special birthday. :)

Madelyn's first Halloween

Madelyn was a zebra for Halloween this year. She wore her costume to daycare the Friday before Halloween and then again on Halloween and both times she was the only one who came in costume.

Oh well, we got our $14 worth out of it!

We stayed home that night and passed out candy. We kept the front door open and Madelyn often crawled over to the glass door and watched people go by. So cute!

Ode to Jason

Four years ago I married you, my best friend. Jason, you are such a wonderful husband - always going above and beyond to make my life happy. We've experienced the joys of traveling, concerts, your baptism and entrance into the Catholic Church and now parenthood, and have survived the challenges of infertility, illnesses, job loss and home repairs. But through it all, I've always been assured of your support and your commitment to us.

Every day I am grateful that I'm the one who get to wake up and fall asleep next to you - and I look forward to living a lifetime's worth of adventures with you.

You are a treasure and I treasure you.

New floors

Finally, after more than a month of walking around on carpet without padding and then exposed wood floors (ruined by a leak in our fridge over Labor Day weekend), we now have beautiful wood floors installed - thanks to my awesome hubby, Jason.

He spent all day Saturday and Sunday on his hands and knees, going up and down stairs and in and out the door to lay the flooring. He's saving us about $600 by doing it himself. Poor guy has a sore back and achy knees ... and has the rest of the hallway to do.

I can't tell you, though, how wonderful it is to have our appliances back in their places in the kitchen! Last night I forgot I had access again to the dishwasher and started washing our dishes by hand. Good think Jason reminded me before I got too far!

Here are some before, during and after shots:






Madelyn and I hung out at home the best we could despite the constant banging. We went for a couple good drives so Madelyn could get in some naps, but I was careful to keep her out long because she'd had high fevers - due to a reoccuring ear infection and thrush - for about 5 days. She's better now. :)

Here's Madelyn feeling pretty good:

Weekend at mom and dad's

Madelyn and I had a fun time in Lincoln last weekend at my parents' house. We stayed there while Jason tore up the subfloors in our hallway, kitchen, dining room and bathroom (ruined by the Labor Day flooding).

Here are a few highlights:

Hangin' with Grandpa


Meeting Belle for the first time


Eating with Nana


Crawling around, exploring


Playing with cousin Henry


Me and Henry


The twins showing off their new hardhats

10 years

Today is my 10th annivesary at the Catholic Voice. I can't believe I've been here a decade! I praise God, though, for the opportunities I've had working in the Catholic press and at the Omaha paper. I've learned about the teachings of my faith and how to better live my faith,and I've interviewed many wonderful people - laity, religious and clergy. I'm grateful to my late boss, Charlie, for hiring me with very little experience, and for always supporting me in my work. I love spreading the word of God for a living!

Here are some photos from my 10 years at the Voice:

Me and my former coworker, Gretchen, had a lot of fun together before she moved. We often at late together at my apartment.


For several weeks we had Gretchen's baby, Emily, with us at the office. She was such a sweet distraction!


Sometimes our fridge needs a good cleaning.


On this particular day, me and my coworkers all showed up at work with the same color on.


During our stay in NYC for the Catholic Press Association Convention, my coworker Jaci and I skipped the morning session and hung out at the Today Show with the signs me made at work.


My sister and I got to go to Italy in 2004 on the first Catholic Voice-sponsored pilgrimage.


We all got Catholic Voice polos and wore them in this publicity shot for the web. My current boss refused to be in it.


This photo makes me laugh because it was taken for a story we did about me during Catholic Press month. It was the one and only time I wore a suit to work.


This is a promo shot for a contest Jaci and I did for fish frys.


And me and Jaci at a few fish frys.






A shot of me and my current boss, Randy.


Me and Archbishop Curtiss


Surprise, Jason! Looks who's on my desktop.


Working the Luis Palau festival


And finally, the photo of Jason I took when I met him ... as it appeared in the paper.

Husker Saturday

Yesterday was a terrific day! The 3 of us spent the whole day together. We shopped at the outlet mall in Gretna and got adorable clothes for Madelyn and a great Husker N for our front door.






We ate lunch in Jason's trailer






and as we left, a driver's ed student drove the car over the embankment down onto Jason's project.






No injuries but it took about an hour to clean up. Madelyn and I killed time in the back of the Tahoe.






Later that day Madelyn pulled herself up in the crib!



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Apple orchard

Yesterday, Madelyn and I went to an apple orchard in Nebraska City. We met my friends Angie (who was visiting from Illinois) and Lisa and their children. We had a fun, relaxing time enjoying the fall weather.