Happy Birthday - Belated

Well oops! Last week was GMan's birthday and I did not post about how awesome he is. In my defense we did celebrate but we were too busy celebrating and preparing to leave town the next day to sit down at the computer and type. So here it is....

Happy Birthday Little Man!

We started the morning by opening presents which consisted of books, a mini football, a key ring that plays music and other stuff I can't remember. Most were purchased to be good entertainers on the next days flight. After our morning nap we went swimming with our dear friends Katie and Mark. It was a good time and thoroughly wiped out my child for his afternoon nap. Instead of cake we just did a birthday cookie. GMan didn't seem to mind one bit and polished off any crumbs.

We also got his one year check up on Monday. He is a healthy normal baby. The doctor says he developing great and actually is speaking at a 15 month old level. No wonder I feel like he is talking all day, he is! I was actually relieved because I thought he was behind on speech so she calmed my fears. Here are his stats

Weight - 23 pounds (50%)

Height - 31 1/4" (90%)

Head - Humongous (90%)

GMan has also started walking this week. The other day he wanted me and just let go and took 5 steps to get to me. The Man and I try to get him to walk between us a couple times a day. Gman plays along a time or two but then refuses to stand up, the little stinker.

He also has four teeth now and we can see another four trying to make their way through. It makes for a grumpy baby but that is why we have invested in Motrin, the stuff rocks.

I think that's it for our Little Big Man. He grows up so much everyday and gets funnier and funnier. Those that don't see him much, be jealous, very jealous.

Hope GMan's birthday was as good for you as it was for us!

ps - Family members will get a 1 year photo, if anyone else wants one just let me know, thanks!

Things I will not miss

To soften the blow of leaving good friends and great experiences I have been thinking of things that I will not miss.

1. Chicago traffic

2. Construction all summer

3. Nasty humidity

4. 6 inch snow storms

5. Goose Poop everywhere

6. Expensive gas

7. Finally, nasty restaurants aka - White Castle

I know I probably should explain that last one. I have gone my entire life without trying a White Castle slider and I was okay with that. The Man felt that since we were leaving and I may not have the opportunity again that I needed to go to this fast food establishment. Not seeing any reason to argue I agreed and we ordered our mini burgers. Now, for those of you who have never seen a slider, it a is a mini paper thin piece of what I think is beef topped with an equal amount of sauteed onions and 1 pickle chip (yes just one) all on a dinner roll. It looks nastier than it tastes but that's because there is so much bread and onion you can't taste the meat. In order to even out the ratio of bread to meat I took the top of my roll off and guess what I discover. Not only is it the worlds slimmest piece of meat, they actually cut holes out of the center of it so you're getting even less! Agghhhh. I am not a McDonalds person but even I would go get a McD's burger over a couple sliders because it's the same cost and 100 times more meat. Anyway, the experience was not all roses and chocolate and I would not be sad if I never saw a White Castle again. The entire experience just leaves me wondering, what are the crazy White Castle fanatics thinking?

Dancing King

Since I am the only girl in the house, and you will never see a video of me dancing, we only have a dancing king. Every time music is playing whether it's from a toy, the tv, ipod, anything The Little Man starts doing his own little jig. I was taking this particular video to try and get more crawling shots but he started dancing and I just thought it was so funny. He definitely didn't get any rhythm skills from my side of the family, come on siblings, admit it. :) If anyone wants lessons let me know, we'll arrange it.

We're Moving

Yes you read that right. We found out on thursday that we are moving to the dry prairie land of Oklahoma City. Feel free to sing the Oklahoma OK song anytime, heaven knows we've sung it dozens of times already.

All I know right now is that The Man's effective date is September 7th. He will be at a training from Aug 29 until September 4th and I will be at my sister's from Aug 27 until September 5th so I hope that we don't have to move until after that. If we are supposed to move before I will just rearrange my trip, no biggie.

We are flying down on the 15th to check out houses. We have a day and a half so hopefully we find something we like. We then fly home the 17th first thing in the morning so the man can fly away to Tennessee for a meeting with his new territory that afternoon. Pretty much The Man will only be in town a week and a half before we move. Dear friends, if you see him assume it will be the last time. Sorry.

In case you're wondering we are excited and sad. Excited when we think of our new adventure but sad when we think of who we're leaving behind. Thank goodness for e-mail, blogs and facebook so we can all stay connected. Be happy for us, it makes the thought of leaving easier. So for now, farewell to pizza and hello BBQ!

He Crawls!

We thought he was going to skip the crawling stage but then I got the surprise of my life. I was in my bathroom doing my hair yesterday while GMan was playing on the floor by my bedroom. All of a sudden I look down and The Little Man was next to me on the floor just jabbering away. I assumed he was telling how amazing he was for instantaneously crawling. I was so excited, he is cruising around everywhere so I thought I would have to tell the doctor that I failed to produce a crawler, now no worries. Soon I will have a completely mobile kid, I guess we should invest in come baby gates for the stairs.

ps - This video was taken on my phone for The Man so he didn't miss anything while at work. That is why I reference only to dad. Don't be offended.

I Survived!

Holy Cow, I have been to camp and back. It was a lot of work but such an amazing week. I won't bore you with all the details but I participated in two ridiculous skits (I can say that because I helped write both), a high ropes course (I felt like a monkey in the tree tops), gave 2 workshops (I felt good about them, I just hope the girls got something out of them), was part of a spirit filled "walk of the champions", ran around like a chicken with my head cut off, ate about 4 meals all week and slept no more than 4 hours a night. I am extremely exhausted but spiritually filled. Girls camp is the reason I haven't blogged in over a month but I am back. Check soon for
updates about our life since July, lots has been happening.
ps - Thanks to the Nana for coming to watch GMan so I could go play with my girls. It was hard to leave him but I knew he was in good hands.