Life in the Fast Lane

Things around our house have been a little non-stop lately. We rearranged our entire house, making the living room a library/lounge and turning the guest bedroom into a "viewing room" as Stephen likes to call it. The TV, DVDs, gaming systems, couch and recliner are now all in there so I can shut the door if I don't want to hear all of the boys yelling every time someone shoots a zombie or whatever it is they do playing their video games. During the day Johnny and I usually relax in there for a while and watch some CSI, then move out to the living room for reading and some tummy time.

Meanwhile, I've started going to a chiropractor. Best idea ever! My back has been all messed up since my belly started throwing me off balance 8 or 9 months ago, and the doctor confirmed my theory that I have a pinched nerve. I am now going in daily for therapy, and I think I'm in love. I always feel so much better when I walk out of there. I was even thinking of possibly having him take a look at Johnny's back since I have been convinced for some time that one of his vertebrae is out of line.

Johnny is coming up on 4 months in a week here. We will find out how much he weighs again soon, and I'm interested in where he will fall on the percentage charts. Hopefully we'll have him up from his last appointment where he ranked 10th percentile in weight and 16th percentile in height. He has been stretching out even more over the past few weeks, and I'm convinced he is going to be 7 feet tall by the time he reaches age 16.

BIG Johnny is back in the States! He got in last night and was able to get a cell phone right away. Everyone has been getting calls from him, and it sounds like he will make it from his base in Kentucky up to State College in about two weeks. Johnny is excited to meet Johnny. Take that either way you like, it's true from both sides. Bancroft is threatening to steal Delafield and run away with him. Christy said that is perfectly natural, as it crosses her mind every day. Everyone is trying to steal my baby from me!

Its been a while...

So we're in Altoona for a few days with my mom. Johnny has decided he just likes being naked more than being clothed, so hes been chillin au natural for most of the day. I finally put some clothes back on the kid a little while ago, mid-dinner.

I think the last thing I mentioned in reference to his vocabulary was that he can say "hello" and "hi," but now we've added "Da" to the list. Really I can't get him to say it twice in a row for "Dada," but we'll keep working on it. He seems to think its really funny to pause and laugh in between. I'm kind of worried his next words will be something like "I don't want to," since that is about the attitude I took as a little one.

God, please slow this kid down.

And don't make him too much like me.

On Friday I took Johnny to a class with GG and I. It was called Praying in Color, and was rather fun, but I was worried I might not get him back to take home with me. Shirley tried to steal him and wouldn't let me feed him his bottle because she was insisting on doing so herself. All of the little old ladies were fussing over him and were very impressed when he behaved for the whole thing. Yes, he is well behaved.... for now. Wait until that kid hits the walking and talking stage, then I'll be screwed.

Good news! I get to go to the chiropractor tomorrow! My back has been so messed up since the pregnancy and I am about ready to keel over every time I need to stand up, let alone carry anything. My lower back looks like someone punched their whole fist into it, it is that dented in. Kind of unnatural looking and it is freaking my family out. We didn't think the state's insurance would cover it, but I called and checked. Hooray, they do! Help at last!

Steve has been kind of M.I.A. this past weekend and will continue to be so for the rest of the work. ARL has so much work for him to do for two projects they're working on at the moment that Johnny and I haven't seen much of him. Of all times to go out of time, I think this week was rather appropriate. Hopefully he will get some good rest when he does get a chance to go home, and I pray he finds a way to make it to his classes every morning before work. Last night he called when he got home at 9:00pm. They don't pay him enough for that, especially for the fact that he is currently working a job WAY above his "student" status that would cost over $100k/year if they were to actually hire someone trained for the position. Oh, how I long for the day when he will finally graduate.

Forecast for the following weeks: two birthdays, 3 weddings, and very little time to breathe between. Here we go!

The Proposal

Last night we went to Johnny's first movie at the theater! Surprisingly, he actually watched the whole thing. We were expecting him to either sleep through it or just kind of chill and not care where we were, but he actually watched it and got mad if we turned him away from the screen for any reason. Really, we just wanted to see The Proposal and didn't have a sitter so he came along, but by the end of it he was honestly laughing and cooing and very into the whole experience. He insisted on having his bottle while turned so he could watch at the same time, and when I stopped to burp him he was rather angry until I sat him on my lap and did it that way.

Great movie by the way, I don't think I've laughed that hard at a film in years. The previews made it look like a cute and funny romantic comedy, but it was downright hysterical and had the whole audience in stitches. You know how usually you get one of the best lines in the trailer to a movie and then it's kind of ruined in that sense? So not the case here... I love Betty White.

Johnny's first movie theater experience? Two thumbs up!

Bradley's

This is the weekend of Arts Fest in State College. For those who don't know what that is, it is the one weekend a year when more people pour into this town than even football weekends, getting drunk and wandering around pretending to look at overpriced art and eating way too many horribly expensive cheesesteaks. That is, unless they go to Bradley's, which is still rather expensive but really good quality food in such a large quantity that one $7 sub would feed two easily.

This is also the weekend when townies can land a one-time job working at random food joints all over town. Example? Bradley's. Where drunk people go into the wee hours of the morning to order three times because they can't remember ordering the first time, and where they all forget their names and steal each other's orders. Where people puke their guts out in the bathrooms and overflow the toilets. Where you see the fresh-cut french fries regurgitated. Where worker's heads spin so fast they fall off.

This is the weekend Karie decided to work at Bradley's Friday and Saturday nights from 6:00pm-3:30am to raise enough money to buy Johnny a new swing to replace the one he has that is broken.

This is the weekend Karie died.

For a swing Johnny doesn't even seem to like.



Fail.

Independence Day and Beyond

We had a very pleasant 4th of July. Johnny wore a special outfit made just for him, and I even got to talk to his uncle Johnny for about a half hour! What a great treat! I love that boy, I can't wait for him to come home and meet MY Johnny. As I told him that night, there is a reason I named my son after him.

Yesterday we were able to buy some much needed necessities that we have been going without for a while now. In the baby department, we were on our last thing of diaper wipes, and he desperately lacked bottles and pacifiers. Hooray for shopping trips that involve dish detergent and toilet paper... oh how life has changed since I have become an "adult".

I am hoping to go and walk around People's Choice (a local art festival) on Thursday with Johnny's GG. We will have to break in the chariot stroller now that he is big enough for it and it has the best sun protection for the little guy. I hate this no-sunscreen thing for babies under 6 months. I feel like I'm subjecting him to cancer if I take him outside at all. Summer is my favorite time of year, and between the lack of clear skies, temperatures over 72, and sun protection for my child, I feel trapped inside.

Hopefully the weather at the lake in August is much better.

Moving Day

Today Johnny and I are going to my mama's to help her move out. The lease on their house was supposed to end July 31st, but since the fire caught hold of a good bit of their stuff and the landlord wasn't much help with everything, they're getting out of it early. Christy Michelle is moving in with the Hendersons until she leaves for Penn Tech. I'm still kind of just pretending she isn't ever going to go off to college.

GG is picking us up in a little bit to drive us out to Stormstown since Stephen ended up having to work today afterall. Sure, people everywhere get the day off since tomorrow is the 4th, but not Penn State! Oh no, why would they do that? So daddy and Steve are stuck inside.

Last night was pretty cool. Lisa and Tim came over for dinner and we had a good time catching up. Tim can talk a mile an hour just as well as I can, so time just kind of flies and we never run out of stuff to discuss. He is kind of amazed at times when Lisa and I just change subjects mid-sentence on eachother and still understand what is going on. After 18 years or so of friendship, a good 14 of which spent in close proximity of one another, I'd hope as women we could follow one another's thought processes. Men just don't get it.

August 1st is the Geleskie/Howell wedding. I keep saying Lisa should be called Lovey so she can be a character from Gilligan's Island. Anyway, it should be fun. Big huge Catholic wedding, and then a reception at the Ramada in the ballroom. I'm excited to see my childhood friend get married. She is excited I'm bringing Johnny. It's a good trade off from my point of view, as he is kind of attached to my hip for the most part anyway! I'll take him up to the cry room if he gets noisy during the ceremony, and otherwise we are set. His first wedding! -- Poor kid has a mom who loves them, so he will be to a good many in his lifetime. Depending on when his aunts get married, he stands a good chance of being in a few as well.

Pudding and Picnics

Yesterday we went to Gary and Dotty's for dinner. Steaks on the grill and potato salad. Pretty darn good, but I was still hungry, so I sent Steve (and Gary, who went running out the door to catch up for a ride to the grocery store) to get me the ingredients for the pudding desert I always make for kids. Nice and easy... all you have to do is layer the cookies, pudding, and bananas. Well, Gary has decided this is his new "famous recipe he has been making for years". He plans on convincing Johnny of this. I truly love my father-in-law.

After dinner we went and picked up Mindy. She spent the evening holding and playing with Johnny while we worked on making her a resume and posting ads on craigslist to offer her services as a nanny. We've made it a family business! We're all going to watch kids! Christy is still watching Gabe and Eli, and once the fall hits I'll be back to work with Averey and Kelsey, as well as anyone else I find to take on. Can you tell we were raised in a home daycare?

Mindy had fun with Johnny though. We have been rather amazed with him lately because about two weeks ago he started repeating "hi" back to me, and a few days ago he started in with "hello" as well. Mindy tried for a while to get him to say something to her, but he seems to be partial to my father out of anyone. He will sit and "talk" with anyone, but he is picky about who he says certain things to. Johnny has already figured out how to work the system!!!

With the 4th of July coming up, we have made plans to go to GG's for a picnic, and then home when everyone else goes to the fireworks. I don't think I want Johnny that close to the crazy noise. I had a hard enough time sitting through Christy's graduation ceremony with the orchestra 50 feet away and playing loudly. I had my fingers in his ears for that, and when they finally paused for a break, Steve took him out of the main part of the Bryce Jordan Center. Fireworks just seem excessive at his age. Maybe when he is 4 or 5 we will go and watch them. For now, I'm good to wait.

GG is excited. Originally she was only going to get Johnny-time on Saturday. Well, a bunch of us cleaned and pack boxes at my mom's on Friday, and GG volunteered to spend the day there with Johnny. I don't know who will be more ecstatic with this arrangement, the grandmother or the grandchild. This should be a fun weekend.