The Bilek Family

Madness

2010-03-27T22:43:00.003-04:00

So, I think I'm too old for March Madness. I've been a basketball fan since I was pretty young, although the time I spend actually following the sport has significantly decreased over the years. The only exception to that is the most wonderful athletic tournament on the face of the earth, the NCAA Men's Basketball National Championship, aka March Madness. I love it. I can't get enough. I always fill out at least one bracket and track them religiously. This year was no exception.

I made some crazy picks, and for once, most of them paid off. My Final Four: Kansas, Duke, West Virginia and Butler. Kansas got knocked off in the second round by Northern Iowa, Duke plays Baylor tomorrow night, and WVU and Butler both made it in today. Woo hoo! Other notable upsets I picked: Georgia Tech, Murray St., Missouri and Washington.

I've been winning my pool at work pretty much the entire tournament, but it really comes down to whether a) Duke wins tomorrow, and if so, b) WVU beats Duke. If those two things happen, I think I have it wrapped up.

And, I just figured out tonight that I went to high school with Brad Stevens, the head coach of Butler. It's good to have a reason to cheer for a team other than wanting to them to help you win something.

In other news, we've now expanded the number of pets in our household. Grandma Darke bought Lauren a really pretty betta a few weeks ago. Lauren named him Luke. Luke went to "swim with the other fishies" and Sammy the betta arrived a couple days later. Sammy almost joined Luke, but I managed to keep him alive. Bettas are pretty, but they're kind of boring. So Chris and the kids picked out a nice little 2.5 gallon tank, and today I took the kids to pick out a fish to put in it. Lauren of course chose a $12.99 green Glofish. That thing better live. We'll get another fish in 2-3 weeks, and maybe one more another 2-3 weeks after that. Who knew aquariums took so long to get going? Apparently there's some nitrogen cycle you have to worry about. But both the kids love the fish. Maybe someday we'll get a really cool aquarium with all kinds of neat fish. Not now, though.

I've got good things going on at work, and so does Chris. We're crossing our fingers that everything pans out the way we think it will. We all need some good news these days...

Evan's 1st Birthday

2010-03-22T20:56:00.006-04:00

Apparently I can't even master weekly updates. But in all fairness, there's been a lot going on. My biggest failure is waiting over 2 weeks to post an update about Evan's birthday. Bad mommy. Which reminds me, I posted awhile back about getting the book "Bad Mother" by Ayelet Waldman. I really need to post a review, because I thought it was a really awesome book. Anyways, I digress.

Evan's birthday week o'fun...started when the Bileks arrived. I love that they always come for the kids' birthdays (so far). It's such a long trip for them, and we appreciate them so much when they're here. The week started off pretty uneventfully, with the Bilek Grandparents giving Grandma Darke a much-needed break from the little monster. By mid-week, Chris, the kids and the Bileks were taking a dip in the hotel pool. Lauren's always loved the water, and Evan seems to agree.

Evan's birthday was on a Thursday, which didn't work out too well for a party. But we all went for a lovely dinner at Cap City, Grandma Bilek's favorite restaurant in Columbus. It was a dual birthday celebration, since Grandma Bilek's birthday was only 3 days earlier.

Saturday was the actual party. After every birthday party, I swear I'm going to start preparing earlier, have the cake baked and decorated the day before, and the house nice and clean so I actually have a chance to get nice and clean on the day of the party. And every time, I fail miserably. This was no exception. Chris was working, so thank goodness the Bileks were there to occupy the kids while I grocery shopped, baked and decorated Evan's block cupcakes, and put the final touches on the house.

We just had a few close friends over, which I think makes for a much more fun and relaxing party. Evan looked smashing in a cute little ensemble from Crazy 8 (my absolute favorite store for boy clothes!) and was in a really good mood. We opened presents first, with Lauren and Tenzin "helping." It might as well have been Christmas morning for those two. Evan didn't quite know what to make of it, but thought the tissue paper was pretty darn cool.

Then, it was time for the big event. I smartly removed Evan's sweater vest and dress shirt. I placed the (unlit) candle into Evan's little block, which he promptly removed...the boy doesn't like obstacles to his food. And then it began. The boy ate, and ate, and ate, and ate. His eyes glazed over and he went into the birthday cake zone. The sugar rush hit, and he ate some more. Finally, all that was left was a mess of red icing. Everywhere.

And then, from the living room, I see Rachel shoving Tenzin's head in the big bag we were using for wrapping paper remnants. Apparently Z ate something that didn't agree with him earlier in the day. We knew something was up when he didn't want cake. I mean seriously, have you ever seen a 3 year old refuse cake? Our childless friends quickly made an exit after providing Rachel with a lovely pair of pajama pants to wear home. The Thornburgs left just to be safe, even though Tenzin appeared to fine and didn't really want to leave. The Grandma's did a tag-team cleanup on The Ev, and then the evening was over.

We were sad to see the Bileks leave at the end of the week, but they'll be back at the beginning of May to give Chris a hand while I go to Disney for a week for a conference.

Now, I swear, for Lauren's birthday, I'll at least do the cake the day before the party. Right...who am I kidding.

A plea for help...

2010-03-13T22:14:00.003-05:00

By now, many of you know about my niece, Ryan. At the beginning of February, my sister went into her room to find her unresponsive. Over the course of the next few weeks, Ryan suffered seizures due to extremely high blood pressure. Finally, the cause was discovered: adrenocortical carcinoma. This type of cancer affects literally 1 in a million people. She underwent a lengthy surgery to remove the tumor on her adrenal gland, and was fortunate enough to receive treatment at St. Jude. While all treatment at St. Jude is provided at no cost to their patients, the medical bills for Ryan's treatment prior to going to St. Jude are astronomical.

My brother-in-law, Jeff, plays for the Missouri Mavericks who were kind enough to set up the Ryan Christian Love Fund to help raise money to offset those expenses. To all of you out there with children of your own, imagine being in this position. All you care about is the health of your child. Not your house, not your car, not the latest fashion or stylish haircut. But the bills still need to be paid. You still need to eat. And yes, you still need some time away every once in awhile.

If you have the ability, please consider donating to the Ryan Christian Love Fund. Once the family's expenses are under control, funds will go to St. Jude so even more children can benefit from the kind of care Ryan is receiving. You can donate here.

To those of you who have already donated, thanks from the bottom of my heart.

The rundown

2010-02-27T20:58:00.004-05:00

Well, we survived another week. One utterly crazy week, and there's another one almot upon us. Where to start...

Well, I got my dose of motherhood for sure. My mom went to Kansas City to visit Ryan, which meant that I got to juggle work and home for 3 days. Talk about exhausting...2 hours of Evan, 2 hours of work, 2 hours of Evan, 2 hours of work. Not necessarily the best way to effective at either parenting or working, but I did my best.

One long crazy day at work, and then Chris and I took off for WV. I was going for work, and Chris could come along at no extra cost since my rental car and room were already paid for. Did I mention the meeting was at a casino? Ah, makes more sense now. It was a bit of a treacherous drive there on some snowy roads, and more treacherous driving in snow on the way back. And the best part...a pebble hit the windshield on the way back and it cracked all the way across. I'm still trying to figure out how this is all going to work since it was a business trip. Joy.

Now we're busy cleaning and doing laundry, and really looking forward to the arrival of the Bileks on Monday. Hopefully they don't run into any bad weather on the way down. They'll be here for almost a week, so my mom will get a much-needed break to recover from her stressful travels.

Update on Ryan...she was accepted for treatment as part of a clinical trial at St. Jude's. She really couldn't be at a better place, and they really know how to take care of families in this situation. She arrived there yesterday, and will likely start her chemo early next week. I'm working on setting up some fundraising stuff, so be prepared for a plea for help in the near future.

On the kid front, Evan is a maniac! That boy went from cruising to practically running laps in the course of a week. He's also working on some more teeth, so he's a little crabby. I should have some updated stats in the next couple of weeks. He's due for his one-year checkup, but I wanted to wait until after all the commotion was done so he's not dealing with shots on top of everything else.

Last thing...have you seen the new Nationwide ads featuring the World's Greatest Spokesperson in the World?

Check him out here or become a fan on Facebook. There are some hilarious clips online only.

I'm gonna try this again...

2010-02-20T22:03:00.005-05:00

I've decided that family blogs are the modern version of the baby book. Now that Evan is almost 1 (yes, he's really 1!!!!!!), I've been looking back through this woefully out-of-date blog to see how he's stacking up to Lauren. In the process, I realized that I had created a really great account of our family's first couple of years of life with kid(s). I sat here for almost an hour reading month after month of posts, laughing, with tears in my eyes, wondering what the heck I was thinking. And then I was sad because I stopped doing this. So, starting today, I'm going to try to post once a week. I'm sure I can find something interesting to write aboout at least once a week, so why not?

Our lives have generally been good since the holidays. Evan is now the pro sleeper, and Lauren's the one waking us up in the middle of the night and super early in the morning. Please, someone explain this to me? Lauren is now a "Cookie Monster" at school and had her first Christmas program at school.

She still loves school. We're trying to figure out a way to get her there full time instead of 3 days a week, but we just can't afford that right now.

In even bigger news, Evan is now WALKING!!!!!!

Dear God, help me! I had learned from my first parenting experience and savored the little time I knew I had left before he started walking on two feet. He now has 5, almost 6, teeth, and loves eating people food. We're starting to move him off formula (yay!) and on to whole milk. He's over the bottle, so the sippy cup is making an appearance.

We're getting ready for the Bileks to arrive in a couple of weeks to celebrate his first birthday. No specific plans yet, but there will be a custom-made, hand-decorated cake of some variety. And a huge mess.

In less happy news, we're sending our best thoughts and wishes to cousin Ryan in Kansas City. She's been in the hospital since the beginning of February with what was originally seizures, and has now been diagnosed as adrenal cancer. She's a true fighter, making it through a 5-hour surgery to get rid of the nasty tumor. Fingers crossed, she'll be going home early next week to finish healing from the surgery. Then, 8 rounds of chemo to follow. It sounds rough, but this girl is one tough cookie. This silly cancer doesn't know what it's up against :)

Okay, I feel fairly caught up now. And keep me honest...

New pics...finally

2009-12-03T23:42:00.003-05:00

More on Facebook. Did I mention you should join?

Thankfulness

2009-12-03T23:33:00.003-05:00

This holiday season I'm falling prey to the tradition of reflecting on the year and what I've learned. It's been a year filled with ups and downs, joy and sorrow, and just life in general. From the elation that accompanied birth of our baby boy, to the devastating loss of a good friend, I think we've covered it all. So I'm thankful that I have a wonderful, healthy family, even if I do complain about the craziness. I'm thankful Chris and I both have jobs when so many don't, even if it means I'm stressed out. And I'm thankful for everything I've learned about myself through it all. I just might have turned out to be a decent grown-up after all.

I hope you've all had a good year, whatever that means for you, and that the year to come will hold more of the same.

2009-09-21T20:37:00.004-04:00

Really, anyone who still reads this blog needs to get on Facebook. Cause I just don't have the time to update anymore. That being said, I feel guilty that when Lauren was a baby everyone got the play-by-play, but nobody gets to hear squat about Evan. So, let's see what's happened in the last 2 months. I don't even know where to start.

Evan: 2 teeth, 2 more on the way, crawling (more like "the worm," but I still think it counts), definitely sleeping through the night (thanks to nighttime diapers), eating lots and lots of baby food, fits nicely into 12 month clothes. At 6 months old. Loves his walker, so over his saucer. The saucer and the swing went by the side of the road yesterday, and someone picked them up within 1/2 hour. He's still a spit machine, but it's getting better and I've figured out several tricks to minimize the spitting. Probably one of the cutest babies I've ever seen, but thanks to Murphy's Law of Child Photography, it's impossible to get a good picture of the kid.

Lauren: POTTY TRAINED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think I'm safe saying that since she finally pooped in the potty tonight and learned it wasn't scary. She's even been dry overnight a couple times. That's not consistent, so she still wears a pull-up to sleep, but it's been a joy not changing her diapers. She's moved up to the "Big Birds" class at school and thinks that's pretty cool. And her birthday is this weekend.

Chris: Entered is mid-30s this weekend with a golf outing at Longaberger Golf Course, the top-rated public course in Ohio. Took Lauren to visit the Bileks in Minnesota for about a week.

Deena: Completed my first Master's in Marketing class, and did such a good job my team and I got invited to present to the Chief Marketing Officer and everyone who reports to him. I have some other things in the works as well, but we'll keep that under wraps for now. Got rid of my car and took over my mom's old one when she bought a sweet new car. This way we'll be able to avoid a car payment for another few years.

So, this has still been a pitiful update with no links or pictures. But, Evan has his 6 month appointment on Wednesday and Lauren's birthday festivities, complete with Grandma and Grandpa B, will be taking place over the weekend, so in theory I should have a better post in the near future. Don't hold your breath, though. Sign up for Facebook. Seriously.

2009-07-09T14:30:00.004-04:00

Okay, over a month since a post. If you haven't already, sign up on Facebook and be my friend. It's much easier to post a quick snippet every other day than to compose an eloquent (hah!) post on here.

Anyways, life at the Bilek household is moving along pretty nicely. Lots of news on the Evan front:
--We're into a really nice 4 hour schedule, which means sleep from around 8:30pm until 7am, with a brief interruption for feeding at 11pm still. Gotta get that one cut out. Still, I think that's pretty good for a 4 month old!
--Just started a little baby food last week. I know they say to wait until 6 months, but he's the size of a 6 month old now (over 20 lbs.). So far he's tried rice cereal, sweet potatoes, peas and bananas. He loves it all, or at least the novelty of getting to eat like the big people. Oh, and he's completely off the boob now. Woo hoo!
--We'll be switching to the convertible car seat this week. I think the weight limit on the infant seat is 25 lbs anyways, plus Evan hates that thing. He can almost sit up completely unsupported now, so I think it's time for it to go. Hallelujah!
--Evan loves playing in the saucer! He's never really been one for laying down, and now that he has something he can stand up in, he's in heaven.
--Did I mention he's a big boy? He's wearing size 9 month clothes, and an unofficial weighing has him somewhere around 20 lbs. My co-worker's 2 year old weighs 27 lbs. Guess we just breed big babies.

Lauren is still Lauren...curious, happy, and funny. Her vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds, and we laugh just about everyday at something that comes out of her mouth. She loves that the weather is nice so we can take walks to the park or go swimming. Her knees are pretty much permanently skinned, but I guess that comes with the territory. Still no progress on the potty training, though. She did go in the potty a couple of times last week, but I think that was just a fluke. Every mention of it since then makes her scream and cry. Someday, she'll stop wearing diapers. Hopefully.

Our house just underwent an extreme makeover. Well, not really extreme in the classic sense, but it does look different. Chris' mom and sister came down to repaint our entire first floor. After much deliberation over color, we landed on a nice, neutral color palette that still provides some definition to the various "rooms" in our open floor plan. Chris and I never would have gotten it done, and it came down to the wire with the three of them doing it, but in the end it's definitely worth it!

So, that's it in a nutshell. No, no pictures to add yet. Who has time to take pictures?

What a week...

2009-05-22T08:15:00.002-04:00

And not necessarily in a good way. The great potty training adventure officially began, and also ended nearly as quickly. Lauren's obviously old enough to do it at 2.5 years old, but she just isn't interested at all. No really, she ran away from us when we put on the big girl undies. After two days of screaming and fits when she had to sit on the potty, and lots of messes for Chris to clean up, we decided to give up for now and try again in another month or so. Everything I've read and everyone I've talked to says you can't do it unless they want to, and she DEFINITELY doesn't want to. We were all really happy when it was time for her to go to school this morning...Lauren included.

In happier news, we eliminated Evan's 11:30pm feeding last night, and he still slept till his normal time! Woo hoo! Chris is ecstatic because now he doesn't have to stay up late to feed him, and I'm happy because we're moving a little closer toward total bottle-feeding. Breastfeeding is great for lots of reasons, but it's so hard to keep it up after I go back to work. I'm also going to Dallas for a weekend at the end of June, and I don't want to pump while I'm there, so we need to start getting him off the boob.

The little man has also discovered how to work his hands, so now he's grabbing toys and fingers and necklaces and pretty much anything that comes in range of his grasp. The boy's also strong...he can support his weight on his legs with hardly any help from us. I have a feeling he's going to be an early walker.

Tavis Smiley stopped by Nationwide yesterday. Nationwide sponsors the On Your Side Tour with Tavis to promote financial literacy and wealth planning. He was a great speaker, and I got a free copy of his new book, Accountable. The concept behind the book is great: our elected leaders (especially Obama), make lots of promises on the campaign trail, and it's our duty as citizens to help make them great leaders by holding them accountable for the promises they make. The book has a chapter for each of 10 major issues, and at the end of each one there's a checklist for you to keep track of what the president, congress, state government, local government, and you are doing to further progress in that space. Gotta add this one to my stack of books...

Have a safe and happy holiday weekend!

Random thoughts

2009-05-14T08:04:00.007-04:00

Just some things running through my head this week...

--Why don't we own more than one umbrella? And why isn't one of those non-existent umbrellas in my car? I got drenched walking into work this morning. Nothing like starting the day looking like a drowned rat. And why does it always rain on days when Chris is home with the kids?

--American Idol--yea, Kris Allen is in the final! Although Adam Lambert will likely win, his performances have gotten a little over the top. I told Chris his rendition of Aerosmith's "Cryin'" reminded me of what Aerosmith would sound like if they turned their music into a Broadway musical, a la "Mamma Mia!" One more week, then on to So You Think You Can Dance. I love my trashy reality TV.

--Bought a couple of new books. Not sure what I was thinking since I don't really have time to read. One inspired by an interview on Fresh Air on NPR (Bad Mother by Ayelet Waldman) and the other because I really want to understand more about cooking so I can do more than just follow a recipe (I'm Just Here for the Food by Alton Brown). Both look promising already.

--I'm getting really sick of all the Twitter talk. Twitter isn't new. It's been around for awhile. All of a sudden it's all you hear about on the news and talk shows. Wonder what the next "new" thing will be. That being said, I'm not on Twitter, but I am on Facebook. It helped keep me sane and connected when I was home on maternity leave. It's also helped me reconnect with a lot of college friends I had lost touch with. I wouldn't say it's a substitute for real human interaction and personal relationships, but it's the next best thing.

--We're starting to contemplate what we might need to do to possibly get the house ready to put on the market. I sound pretty confident in that, don't I? We're definitely outgrowing our house, but the thought of going through the home selling/buying process scares the bejesus out of me. In any case, it can't hurt to take care of a few little things, even if we don't end up selling.

--Back to work four days a week starting this week. This morning was rough getting up, even though I slept almost 8 hours. I think it's just a matter of getting used to a working mom routine, instead of a stay-at-home mom routine. It's crazy how fast the days go when I work. I get home with Evan around 5pm, then it's on to dinner, bath, and bed. I'll get used to that eventually.

--Looking forward to spending some time with family over the next month. And a trip to Dallas for a weekend at the end of June for sorority stuff. Hard to believe June is already here.

Over and out...

Happy Mother's Day!

2009-05-09T10:38:00.004-04:00

Just to get it out of the way, happy mother's day to all you mamas out there. Thanks for all you do for us! Alright, now on to an overdue update.

I'm honestly not sure where the time goes these days. Lauren has been in daycare for over a month now, and absolutely loves going to school. We're also into the swing of all the school activities...attended a chicken noodle fundraiser and muffins with mom breakfast. Lauren also went on her first field trip to the zoo. She's adjusted really well, and even naps there now on a pretty regular basis. By the time the weekend hits, she sleeps in a little, until almost 8. We really like that. Grandma Darke is going through some withdrawal, but at least she has the little man to cuddle with 3 days a week.

I've been back at work for 2 weeks, and it's really great to be back. Being out allowed me to get out of some of the work I really didn't need to be doing, so I'm starting with a clean slate. Evan also started sleeping until around 5:30 on a regular basis, so I'm going back to work 4 days a week instead of 3 starting this week.

The little guy had his 2 month check-up, and his first round of shots...5 shots and 1 oral vaccine. He did great, and he really is a big boy. He's in the 95th percentile for height (24.5"), and off the charts for weight (14 lbs. 12 oz.). No wonder his 0-3 month clothes don't fit him anymore. He loves interacting with anyone, and is gaining coordination in his hands and arms. We can also prop him up in the corner of the couch now, so hopefully he'll be sitting up on his own before too long. He's also reaaalllly close to rolling over...he almost rolled off of the examining table at the doctor's office!

Spring has officially arrived, so we're working on getting the yard back in shape. The squirrels really do a number on the grass. I may even get some flowers planted this weekend. Chris is happy because he can get out to golf on a regular basis without having to bundle up.

We're also gearing up for the latest visit by Grandma and Grandpa Bilek. This one mixes business with pleasure, since Grandma is in the Columbus Arts Festival. She did great last year, so hopefully this year will be just as successful. Come on out and check out her beautiful pottery June 5-8 near the CCAD campus. She'll be under the "A" of the big "ART" sculpture.

2009-04-10T13:29:00.002-04:00

Time for the next big change in our lives: Lauren starts daycare on Monday. We've been fortunate enough to have Grandma Darke in town to provide excellent, affordable care for Lauren since she was born. Now Lauren's getting to the age where she needs to be around other kids so she's not completely socially inept when she goes to real school. Plus, now Grandma Darke gets to look after Evan. And I'm not going to make her try to watch both of them...they're definitely a handful, and besides, she already did this once with her own kids.

So, it's off to Play and Learn Christian Child Care at the Gethsemane Lutheran Church. It's less than a mile from the house, and they had a part-time opening that coincided perfectly with my return to work. Everyone seems really nice and it's actually fairly affordable. I've been a little bit leery about sending Lauren to a relgiously-affiliated daycare, but there really aren't a whole lot of other options out there. It doesn't seem like they'll be pushing religion down her throat.

So, my baby, now the resident "big girl," is off to school. I have to admit I'm worried sick about how she'll do. Much more worried than I am about how Evan will do once I go back to work. Will she play okay with other kids? Does she measure up to them developmentally? We've been in our own little bubble with her until now. Hopefully we haven't done anything that will make her stick out like a sore thumb compared to the rest of the kids. We'll just have to wait and see.

Evan is plugging along. We've gone the last couple of nights without a 2:30am feeding, so hopefully he'll sleep through the night before too long. Right now he'll sleep from about 11 to 2:30, then from about 3 to 5:30, and again from 6 to 8:30. Not bad, but I'd love to get him to sleep from 11 to 5:30. I'm trying to keep myself from falling into the bad habit of sleeping with him on the futon in his room. Some nights it's been the only way to get him to sleep (which means I get to sleep), but I don't want to end up like one of those moms on Nanny 911 that's still sleeping with their kids when they're 4 years old.

The baby acne is still around, all over his face, scalp, and now his shoulders and chest. The pediatrician confirmed there's nothing I can do, and did say it will be at its worst when he's around 6 weeks old (next week). I just hope it goes away soon so I can have cute pics without pimples in them. The smiles have also arrived, especially when he sees me first thing in the morning. It's a great way to start the day.

We're looking forward to visits from Chris' sister Brea, my sister Dorie, and our niece Ryan this weekend. We'll be doing the traditional Easter barbecue to welcome them all on Sunday. Hope you all have a great weekend!

Happy 1-month Birthday!

2009-03-31T10:47:00.005-04:00

Wow. I can't believe it's already been a month since Mr. Evan joined the Bilek clan. In some ways it feels like it was just yesterday we brought him home, but in others it feels like he's been here all along. Here are some things I've learned in the last month:

--Boys can pee really high in the air. Always keep the "hose" covered with something during a diaper change. Even this won't protect you, but you'll just be damp instead of soaking wet.

--It's possible to breastfeed your baby and play with your toddler at the same time. Awkward, yes, but possible.

--Newborns are much easier to take out in public than 2 year olds. Why we didn't realize this with Lauren, I'm not sure.

--I hate baby acne. It looks like it hurts, and there isn't really anything I can do about it.

--I bought about 400 diapers on sale about a week after Evan was born. They're almost gone, thanks in part to diaper changing sessions that go through 3 diapers. See item #1.

--Size 6 diapers (which Lauren wears) look like adult Depends next to Evan's size 1-2 diapers.

--Babies grow really fast. Evan's already outgrowing 0-3 month clothes.

--Baby toys become really interesting to a 2 year-old when she realizes someone else might play with them.

--I actually miss going to work. It's my one break from family life, and pretty much my only interaction with other adults.

--A long, hot shower will do wonders for your mood.

--Friends and family make life much easier. It really does take a village to raise a child.

Two great products. If you have babies/toddlers.

2009-03-23T22:19:00.005-04:00

Just had to share my happiness over two products we found. First, the Brights Starts Infant Seat.

This is Evan's daytime home. With Lauren, we set up the gigantic pack'n'play, which took up about half of our living room, just to use the changing tray and bassinet. This time, we don't have that luxury of space...our home office is now in our living room to make room for Evan's bedroom. So, we found this gem. It's about 2 feet off the floor, has a storage bin underneath, and kickstands you can kick up and rock it with your foot. Once he's older, it can also sit up more, but right now it's fully reclined for a nice, baby papasan-type home. Love it.

I also just pulled out a book I bought awhile ago and never flipped through for some reason: Unplugged Play.

This book is full of ideas for fun with your kid, age 1-10, with regular stuff around the house. Other than making me feel stupid for not thinking of these things myself, it's awesome.

2009-03-20T14:10:00.000-04:00

Lots of Evan pics in the Kodak gallery!

Welcome to the world, big guy.

2009-03-14T10:38:00.007-04:00

Well, Baby Watch '09 did in fact end up with a baby. Things got a little crazy at the end, so here's the scoop.

Nationwide lets expectant mothers take off the 2 weeks prior to their due date. That meant my last day at work was February 13, the day after my birthday. Just as I was wrapping things up at work, Baby Boy Bilek decided to make an attempt at arrival. I was having contractions about 5 minutes apart for a good 2 hours, so I called the doctor at 3am on my birthday and then made a trip to the hospital. After a quick check and walking around the hospital for an hour, they sent me home. False alarm #1 over.

The next week we had false alarm #2. Again, contractions pretty strong and regular, so we sent Lauren over to Grandma's house for the night in anticipation of the big event. As soon as Chris got back home, the contractions went away. At this point, I was really frustrated.

Finally, my doctor scheduled my induction for 2 days after my due date. At 5am. Not really the time slot I would have asked for, but it ended up turning out just fine. We got to the hospital, completed our check-in and got settled into our room. At 6am they broke my water and started Pitocin to get the contractions going. Around 7am I got the epidural, plus a fabulous little drug called Nubain right before that. It made me warm and fuzzy and happy, like having a couple glasses of wine. I highly recommend it. Anyways, around 8am the nurse came in, checked my progress, and said, "We're going to have a baby by 10." Wow. That was fast. I was induced with Lauren, too, but that took 20 hours.

Around 8:30, something went a little funky and a bunch of doctors ran in and made me get on my hands and knees and gave me a shot of something in my leg. Turns out my uterus was hyperstimulated (going a little crazy, I guess), and little Mr. Bilek didn't like it so much. I knew it wasn't anything too serious when I looked back and saw one of the doctors still had a Tim Horton's cup in his hand. If it's not worrisome enough for the doctor to put down his coffee, I guess it's not that big of a deal. All this craziness apparently finished the "prep work," and I started pushing shortly after. Three contractions later, Evan Michael Bilek arrived.

Everyone was surprised by his size: 21.8" long and 9 lbs. 9 oz. Yeah, he was a big guy. Luckily I was still in pretty good shape, so we got to go home the next day. That was one of the bonuses of a 5am induction and only 3 hours of labor. The hospital stay was fine, other than the horribly uncomfortable bed and bad food. Grandma kept Lauren for one more night after we got home, and then it was on to real life.

Grandma and Grandpa Bilek arrived 4 days later, and they were a huge help with Lauren. She's fine with Evan, but has figured out that I can't keep her from doing things when I'm feeding Evan...one of the joys of breastfeeding with a toddler around. I didn't get the baby blues anywhere near as badly this time...only a couple of unexplainable crying fits to date. Evan is actually a pretty good sleeper, so I'm getting anywhere from 6-8 hours of sleep total a night. Not consecutively, of course, but I'll still take it.

So now it's been 2 weeks since he was born. He weighed 9 lbs. 14 oz. at his appointment yesterday, which is a gain of 11 ounces in about a week (he lost 6 ounces before leaving the hospital). It is pretty cool to realize that's entirely because of me. What can I say, he likes mama's cooking.

This time around is a little different. Boys can definitely put some more power behind their pee than girls, so we go through a lot of clothes each day. And diapers and wipes. Chris and I are much less frazzled. I think we just know what to expect and are more proactive at avoiding the crying spells we encountered with Lauren. There's also a sense of knowing that this stage will pass, and then we'll be on to the next parenting challenge, and the next, and the next. I guess it never ends.

Baby Watch '09--The Wait Continues

2009-02-05T12:22:00.003-05:00

Yep, still no baby. At least not outside the womb. First weekly appointment was today, and while some progress has been made, it's not enough to actually have a baby yet. Darn. I am down to only 6.5 days of work left, though!

We did end up getting the room set up. Chris has a few painting touch-ups to complete, and we should probably put some sheets on the crib mattress. Clothes hanging in the closet would also be an improvement. But the major things are done, and the room looks really cute. Definitely worth a full day's work on Superbowl Sunday. I know, I need pictures.

I've started buying everyday things for the baby, like diapers and formula. I couldn't believe it when I opened the package of size 1 diapers (8-10 lbs.). There's no way Lauren was ever that small. It truly was a reality check on the size of the kid that's about to arrive. I'm also trying to remind myself what it's like to sleep in 45 minute spurts instead of 8-9 hours straight. The thought of feeding a child every 2 hours or so seems so foreign, and yet it was only a little over 2 years ago I was doing that with Lauren.

Stay tuned for more updates on Baby Watch '09...

Baby Watch '09

2009-01-30T07:55:00.002-05:00

The countdown is on: just 4 weeks to go until the officially projected arrival date of Baby Boy Bilek (name still TBD). My weekly doctor's appointments start next week, and I'm technically considered full-term at this point, so pretty much anything could happen at any time. I'm just happy it didn't happen during Winter Storm '09 which has pretty much occupied this entire week in Columbus (2 inches of snow, 1/2 inch of ice, another 6 inches of snow, all in a 24 hour period).

We do have one slight problem. We're really not ready for him to arrive. His "nursery" is in a state of transition, to say the least, and consists right now of a futon, a lamp, 25 feet of cable, a laundry basket full of clothes, and two bags of clothes to donate. Not really the most welcoming environment for a newborn. The crib is in a box in the garage. His closet still resembles the junkpile it became over the last 4 years we've been in the house. Guess the nesting thing hasn't fully kicked in yet, although we did make good progress last weekend. Not to worry, though. We're planning on knocking it out this weekend. Note that "we" means a lot of "Chris" since my mobility is severely limited at this point. Maybe I'll post some pictures after it's all done. No promises, though.

And yes, I realize that I completely skipped the all-important months of December and January, including Christmas. In a nutshell, Lauren got a lot of presents that she's actually still playing with, we had a nice small family Christmas at home, it was cold, it snowed, and Chris and Lauren had a wonderful week visiting family in Minnesota.

Thanksgiving with the Bileks.

2008-12-15T08:06:00.006-05:00

Getting close to a month without a post, so I guess it's time for an update. When we last checked in with the Bileks, Lauren had just gotten her new big girl bed...

The following week, Grandma and Grandpa Bilek arrived to help us celebrate Thanksgiving. And see their granddaughter, of course! Lauren was so excited to see them. So excited that she decided to get up at 4, 4:30, 5, 5:30, 6, 6:30, and on and on and on, just about the entire time they were here. Each time she'd get up, turn on her bedroom light, and open the bedroom door. Sometimes we'd hear, "Grandma B! Grandpa B!" Cute, but not really that cute when it's 4 in the morning. By the end of their stay, she was doing better, and now she's completely adjusted to the new bed. It really wasn't that bad in the end.

Since the Bileks were in town, that meant I was hosting my first Thanksgiving. I decided to use my own recipe (found on the internet) instead of one from either family, in an attempt to start my own traditions. Overall, I think it all turned out pretty well.

After lots of yummy dinner, I planned my day after Thanksgiving shopping. I just started shopping on Black Friday a couple years ago, and will only venture out for really good deals on something I already need. This year, it was a new flat-screen monitor for our home computer. I let the crazy crowds pass and got to Staples an hour after they opened. No lines, plenty of my monitor in stock, and I was out in 5 minutes. Then on to Target for some Santa shopping. I have to say, Lauren's going to make out this year. Hopefully she won't remember that next year when she doesn't get as much since she has to share with a little brother.

That evening, we decorated our Christmas tree. This was pretty much a first for Lauren. The last couple of years we've done it while she's sleeping since we didn't think she'd be much help. This year she was such a big helper. I got the ornaments organized on the dining room table, and she'd run them over to Chris to actually hang on the tree. I'm not exaggerating when I say she ran.

Other than that, it was a pretty low-key visit. There's not as much to do in Columbus in the winter, so we just spent a lot of quality family time together. Oh, and we started Lauren on the computer. It never hurts to learn how to type early.

The big girl bed has arrived!

2008-11-20T07:47:00.005-05:00

Finally, no more crib. Wait, I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Lauren's always been perfectly content in her crib. She's never tried any daring escape maneuvers, so we've just left her there. But now, she's just getting too big. And we need to buy a new crib for her little brother with the voucher we'll get (hopefully) from the manufacturer of her crib (see here if you don't remember this whole ordeal).

So, we went to the Bunk and Loft Factory , a store here that specializes in custom made bedroom furniture. Every piece is made to order, so it ends up taking about 2 weeks to get it. We decided early on that we were going to buy Lauren one bed for her entire lifetime, so we settled on a full-size platform bed that should definitely last. We also opted for two rolling storage drawers to go underneath it, given our complete lack of storage in our ever-shrinking home.

The bed arrived on Monday, and Lauren loves it! We were initially nervous about how well she'd sleep there, but so far she's gone to sleep right away at night without getting up or anything. Mornings are a little bit of a different story. Without the crib to keep her confined, she's up and out of bed as soon as she wakes up at 6:30. That's about an hour earlier than we'd like her to get up. We're keeping the baby gate on the outside of her bedroom door for now, which at least keeps her from coming into the bedroom to wake us up. Instead, she stands there, peeking over the gate at our room, saying, "Help, Daddy! I'm awake, Daddy!" Over and over and over again. The kid is persistent!

She also loves playing in her new big girl room. We end up sititng on her bed playing with all her older toys, which seem new now that she hasn't seen them for several months. It's a welcome change from watching Finding Nemo 14 times a day. Of course, Disney/Pixar sucked her in with advertising for WALL-E, so we've now watched that several times. (It's actually a really good movie...go rent it!)

We also switched out her car seat to a booster. It's great because it's easier for her to get in and out, and she can reach her toys, juice, etc. without one of us having to reach around from the front seat.

It does all make me a little sad. My little baby is growing up so fast. When she got on her bed for the first time, I had visions of her sitting there doing homework, chatting on the phone with her high school friends. I know it's still many years away, but I can't help but feel like it'll be here before I know it.

Alright, enough sappiness :) I think the pregnancy hormones are getting to me...

Halloween.

2008-11-14T15:04:00.005-05:00

How horrible. I got so preoccupied with this little election thing that I totally forgot to post pictures of my little kitty on Halloween. She looked like such a big girl.

Chris took her out while I stayed home to hand out the candy. As they started walking down the street, she turned around and yelled, "Bye, Mama!" It was one of those moments when I realized how quickly she's growing up. I felt that tinge of sadness that my baby girl isn't a baby anymore, but also happiness that she's such a happy, healthy big girl now.

After an hour of trick or treating, Lauren had enough. Chris and I actually ate the majority of her candy, but you can see the effects of the sugar crash she experienced that night.

Chris and I also became amateur pumpkin carvers. I think we did a pretty good job!

Wow.

2008-11-10T08:04:00.004-05:00

I sat on my couch last Tuesday night, glued to the election results, watching with baited breath as each state's results trickled in. I also tracked real-time results on the internet, so I could see the percentages shift within a state in real-time. Pretty cool stuff. Then the moment I'd been waiting for: Obama had won Ohio. I knew this was a good sign...no Republican has won the presidency without taking Ohio. As 11pm approached, I could see the newspeople begin to shift their tone. Something big was about to happen. And then, as the polls closed in California, Washington and Oregon, they made the offical call: Barack Obama is the President-elect of the United States of America.

I can't describe the emotions I felt at that moment in time. Relief, awe, joy, and most importantly, pride in my country for showing that we can rise above the negativity and exclusion of the last eight years. I sat on my couch with tears in my eyes, then leapt up and did a happy dance around my living room. I felt like running out into the streets and hugging my neighbors, Obama and McCain supporters alike.

McCain's concession speech was gracious, and proved that he is the man I thought he was. If only he had been that man the entire campaign (and not picked such a horrid running mate), he might have had my support.

I stayed awake for President Obama's speech, and couldn't help but worry whether some catastrophe would take this man down. But on the country's biggest night, in a sea of people in Grant Park, Obama appeared and made one heck of a speech. He set the tone perfectly: we may have won, but the hard work has just begun. I could see the enormity of it all on his face, and I trusted in his ability to motivate others to change.

I mentioned to several family members that I feel like this election, more than any other, power has shifted: from the baby boomers, to the dreaded Generation X (that's me). We're all grown up now, and it's time that we started setting the policy for this country. I made deliberate choices in the election booth, at the state and local level, to support candidates more in my age demographic. The vast majority of these candidates were in their 30s, not their 50s or 60s. These people are living my life, and will represent me better than someone who went through their 30s in the 1960s or '70s. Interestingly enough, many of these candidates won. I echo Obama's thoughts: the hard work has just begun.

Time to wait and see.

2008-11-04T12:24:00.002-05:00

I did my civic duty this morning, voting the old-fashioned way by going to my local polling location on election day. Ohio saw unprecedented numbers of early voters, including almost 3800 yesterday alone. But no, I waited until today. I arrived at my polling place at 6:25 am, the doors opened at 6:30, and I was in my car at 7:30. Not too bad, but still an inconvenience. I didn't see any issues where I was, other than the fact the poll workers are older than dirt and really slow. Every year I say I'm going to take the day off and work the polls, but I never do it. I guess I shouldn't complain.

And really, is having too many people vote a bad thing? I say no. But I think it does point to the fact that there's got to be a better way to vote given today's technology. I still say if the internet is secure enough for me to file my taxes there, I should be able to vote there as well. If I choose to. We're in the era of choice, so let's give that choice to voters.

I'm not planning on watching much political coverage tonight. I get sick of the pundits arguing over top of each other and making speculations based on extremely early polling results. I just hope there aren't any "hanging chads" to worry about, and that some state other than Ohio is the pivotal state. Maybe it's Pennsylvania's turn.

This pretty much sums it up.

2008-10-30T10:47:00.002-04:00

"I'm reminded every single day that I am not a perfect man. I will not be a perfect president. But I can promise you this: I will always tell you what I think and where I stand. I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you when we disagree. And, most importantly, I will open the doors of government and ask you to be involved in your own democracy again."
--Barack Obama

I don't think I could explain better why my vote is going for Barack Obama. After the arrogance and closed-door policies of the last eight years, this is a refreshing take on what government is supposed to be: by the people, for the people. I may not agree with all of Obama's policies, but his spirit of openness and inclusion is something that's sorely needed. I also appreciate that his entire 30-minute infomercial focused entirely on his policies and platform, and didn't mention his opponent a single time. Again, what a refreshing change!

That being said, I still respect McCain and would have been much more on the fence had he not chosen someone soooooooo conservative as his running mate. It damages his reputation of standing up to his party, and probably lost him support from many middle-of-the-road voters.

We're down to five days left. Go out and vote on Tuesday, even if it's not for Obama. It's your choice.

Is it over yet?

2008-10-23T12:47:00.003-04:00

I'm so glad we're down to a little over 2 weeks before the *^#@& election! Campaigns and candidates stopped saying anything new, relevant or positive long ago, and I'm totally sick of it. My mind's made up, so stop with the freaking ads!

As usual, Ohio is a battleground state, so of course we have the two presidential candidates in town all the time. I just got an email from work saying that Michelle Obama will be in town tomorrow at 11:30am and John McCain/Arnold Schwarzenegger will be in town on Halloween at 5pm (costume party, anyone?). Both of those events are non-ticketed, which means the throngs of people coming to them should make my commute from work just hellish. Not to mention the rolling road closures. Yet another reason to hate election season. Maybe someday Ohio won't be seen as so crucial and everyone can just go away.

I also just finished my annual enrollment at work, yet another annoying, complicated process. Why health care insurance is tied to your employer completely boggles my mind. In any case, we made the big change of going to a high-deductible health plan this year. If my math was right, we'll come out ahead, and get to keep any money we put in our Health Savings Account (HSA). It's a scary change, considering we now have a $2520 deductible before anything is covered, but the cost for the plan is so much lower ($15 vs. $114 per pay) that it still makes sense. I truly believe this is where all health care plans are going...more self-funded, with encouragement to do so by employers. Nationwide is contributing $1100 to my HSA next year, which is a pretty darn good incentive to go to a plan like this. And actually, I like the idea of having my money sitting there, earning more money, and just being used for me instead of everyone else. Check back with me this time next year and we'll see how it actually turns out.

One last update for the week.

2008-10-10T08:27:00.001-04:00

It's been a busy week with finding out the sex of the new baby and all, but Lauren also had her 2 year checkup yesterday. She is 38.5" tall and weighs 37 lbs. Still off the charts for her age, but not to quite the degree she's been in the past. Just a flu shot at this checkup, and they don't see her again for a whole year! Woo hoo!

We're all psychic.

2008-10-09T13:43:00.002-04:00

Y'all are some pretty smart cookies. Maybe we should all go into the prognosticating business. The doctor confirmed that the new Bilek is in fact a boy. I didn't really need the doctor to point it out. It was extremely obvious on the ultrasound screen. Little Mr. Bilek apparently is not very modest. He looks great, everything is formed right, and he's just the right size. And now I get to go shopping :)

One day to go.

2008-10-08T08:15:00.006-04:00

So last night I finally consulted the Chinese Birth Chart to determine the sex of our next child. Everyone and their brother swears by this thing, and according to the site I found, it's accurate 93% of the time. It works by figuring out your age at the time of conception, and the month of conception. Apparently if you put those two together, you get a certain result. Silly me. I thought all along it had to do with whether the father passed on an X chromosome or a Y chromosome. In any case, here's what it shows for a 30 year-old who conceived the child in June (look in the 30 column):

Note the percentages. Those represent the chance of each option happening. Apparently I hit the boy jackpot, since none of the other ages have that kind of ratio of boys to girls. We'll find out tomorrow just how accurate this thing is.

In other news, I'm not watching anymore debates. Last night was just too painful and boring and stereotypically political. Do these things really change anyone's minds, or help them decide if they haven't already? God help us if they do.

Veep debate=somewhat entertaining.

2008-10-03T07:43:00.002-04:00

POLITICAL COMMENTARY BELOW. DUH.

For once, I actually watched a vice-presidential debate. Usually, I opt out of watching these things because usually, VPs don't really matter that much. Of course that's what I thought before Dick Cheney decided he could change the Constitution's definition of the VP's responsibilities, but that's a whole different story. The real reason I wanted to watch the debate last night was in the hopes of catching a trainwreck in the form of Sarah Palin. You know, collapsing into incoherent sentences and running off the stage at some point. Alas, that didn't happen, but it was still pretty darn good.

I'll admit that I really knew nothing about Joe Biden going in, other than the fact that he's a longtime Democratic senator from Delaware. After watching the debate, I was thoroughly impressed. The guy is smart, calm, and he actually answered the questions posed to him! I'm sure that means he's a bad debater by every definition of the word, but I hate when politicians are asked a direct question and they say everything but what could be construed as an answer. Not Joe. Good for him.

Palin, on the other hand, has just been too entertaining lately. I agree with the pundits that her recent interview performances set the bar so low that she really just had to utter a complete sentence to look competent, and she did manage to do that. My favorite line of the night from Palin: "John McCain is the man we need to leave...uh, lead." I know, honest slip-up, we all do it, but Chris and I were laughing hysterically on the couch. The one thing that grated on my nerves was Palin's passive-aggressive tactic of smiling and making a joke about how she must not know how things are done around here, instead of directly criticizing one of Biden's points. If I heard one more folksy colloquialism come out of her mouth I might have been driven to drink. Our leaders need to be professional, not folksy. That's one of my pet peeves with GWB, too. Heh heh.

In the end, it wasn't all that I'd hoped for, but I did learn a lot about both candidates. And it cemented my view that there is no way in hades I'm voting for McCain with that crazy woman as his VP pick.

2008-10-01T11:47:00.003-04:00

Please tell me that at some point my life will return to its normal routine. It seems like since the trip to Myrtle Beach, we haven't had anything resembling normal. Not that it's all bad. Sure, the week without power was bad, but celebrating Lauren's second birthday wasn't. Watch for a post on the birthday festivities later.

The Bileks made the trek down from Minnesota for the birthday party, and spent a whole week having fun with their only grandchild. Chris and I appreciated it because we changed very few diapers and got out to see a Blue Jackets game. My mom also got a week's vacation from providing child care, although I have a sneaking suspicion that she's having some severe Lauren withdrawals at this point.

So what's next? We find out the big news next week: boy or girl! This is really exciting, but it also scares the crap out of me because it means I'm halfway through this pregnancy. What?!?! When did that happen? Did I mention I haven't done anything to prepare for the new baby yet? I'm interested to know what you think. Will it be a boy or a girl? Take the poll on the right to let me know. I'll be sure to let you know whether you're right after our appointment next Thursday (10/9).

Bragging on the Bileks

2008-09-22T13:45:00.001-04:00

Check out the article on Chris' Mom, Jan Bilek, featured in the September 2008 issue of Midwest Home Magazine!

1 week, 4 hours.

2008-09-22T07:45:00.000-04:00

So it wasn't Friday when the power came back on. Or Saturday. Or even Sunday afternoon. It was 9:15pm on Sunday, and the lead-up to it was quite entertaining. As it turns out, not only was there a tree on the wires, a line was down two houses over that had to be fixed. But that couldn't be completed until the tree was off the lines.

Around 2pm on Sunday I awoke from my nap (what else to do?) to find workers standing in my yard, eating granola bars, and looking up at the power lines. I went outside to see if there was anything I could do and possibly get some information. They said they might need to move some small yard-type equipment into the backyard. I told them to do whatever they needed, including killing all my trees and plants. On their way out of the yard, they eyed the neighbor's three small trees/bushes on the property line. They joked that if they pulled those out, they could get the big truck back there.

Turns out that wasn't a joke. We went to mom's house to do some laundry and eat dinner, and when we returned there was a bucket truck from a tree service in our yard. They pulled the neighbor's trees out, even though she wasn't home and they didn't have her permission (she didn't care). Once the tree was taken out, that bucket truck left and the power bucket truck came in. About 45 minutes later we were watching TV and loading the dishwasher.

I'll update the post with pictures later today!

Light at the end of the tunnel.

2008-09-19T09:45:00.002-04:00

I'm cautiously optimistic this morning. As I left my house around 8:20, two AEP trucks were heading down my street. Chris confirmed that there are people milling around our backyard near where the tree is on the lines. One of our neighbors tried to get the AEP employee to say when it would be fixed, but he wisely wouldn't commit to anything. In any case, I'm just really glad there's some sign of something being done to get the power back on.

We bought a couple new board games last night. Monopoly and Phase 10 were starting to get old. Simpsons Sorry! was quite a good time, actually. Now just cross your fingers I don't have to play it again tonight!

Nope.

2008-09-18T09:23:00.002-04:00

I guess they weren't lying when they said Sunday. Our trash went this morning, so Chris and I broke down and threw out the remainder of the food that was in the refrigerator. I'm not really sure why we had a whole door full of condiments, but I'm also not looking forward to replacing them. At least we've been able to save our meat, cheese, milk, etc. We've lucked out on the ice front, so we didn't have to throw out any really expensive stuff.

When I got home around 8:30 last night, the other side of the street had power. It went off about an hour later. All the streetlights on my way to work are now restored, and some of the school districts went back today. They say progress is being made, apparently just not in my neighborhood.

The answer is no. You guess the question.

2008-09-17T09:35:00.003-04:00

Finally! AEP has released estimated power restoration dates by neighborhoods. Unfortunately, the news for us isn't so good.

We're in that patch of red which means 90% of that area will be restored by Sunday. It could actually be later. I have to say the novelty has definitely worn off, and Chris and I are both getting pretty stressed out by the whole situation. We're doing our best to go with the flow, but it's getting harder now that we've gone 3 nights without power and are looking at another 4 nights before there's any hope of light.

We did see 2 power trucks in our neighborhood last night, which was an encouraging sign. At the same time, I haven't seen any improvement at all in the number of traffic lights that are out. It's really sporadic, and I think people are starting to get less patient with treating them like 4-way stops. Area schools are still closed. Columbus City Schools says over 1/3 of its school buildings are still without power. They have additional concerns because their transportation communication systems (radios, GPS, etc.) are still out, and the traffic light situation makes it more dangerous for kids walking to school.

About 30 area grocery stores are still closed or selling only non-perishable items, and I have yet to see ice available anywhere. Thank goodness we have resources to get some elsewhere. My latest gripe, well, more jealousy I guess, is that 2 of my neighbors have generators powering their homes. It's so frustrating to look out my window at 2 other houses with real lights and TVs going while we're trying to keep ourselves entertained by playing Monopoly by candlelight.

Alright, enough complaining for a Wednesday morning. Have a great day!

36 hours and counting.

2008-09-16T07:45:00.003-04:00

Sunday afternoon started out as a pleasant day. We all went to the zoo and had a great time. Then, we observed the traditional Sunday Bilek Family Nap time and woke up to 80 mph winds. According to AEP Ohio, our power went out around 5:12 pm Sunday while we were at the grocery store stocking up on food, including a bunch of perishable stuff. My guess is that it went out when the neighbor's 3-story tree fell on the power lines behind our house. I'd post a picture, but my laptop doesn't have a memory card slot and I don't have power. The tree's still sitting there. AEP Ohio estimates that 90% of Columbus area customers will have power restored by midnight Sunday.

The good news:
--we have a gas range, so we can still cook.
--we have a gas water heater, so we can still take hot showers.
--we have a roof.
--it's not 20 degrees.
--it's not 100 degrees.

I'll keep you posted.

I think we're in the clear.

2008-08-21T11:45:00.000-04:00

Thanks for the anti-rain dances!

Two days makes a difference.

2008-08-20T08:11:00.000-04:00

As of 8am this morning, Fay is looking to head more inland. Of course two more days could change things completely. Still crossing my fingers for no rain! And thank goodness for the folks in Florida that it wasn't a hurricane when it made landfall.

Fay is not invited to my vacation.

2008-08-18T13:34:00.004-04:00

Several months ago we accepted a generous invitation from the Thornburgs to join them for a week in Myrtle Beach at the end of August. I've been saying all along, "I hope a hurricane doesn't hit. It is in the middle of hurricane season, you know." So now what's brewing?

Yep, Tropical Storm, soon to be Hurricane, Fay. If all goes as planned we should just be looking at a few days of rain, which is better than I can say for folks on the Gulf Coast of Florida. Still, if I have to be stuck in a 2-bedroom condo with 4 adults and 2 two-year olds for 4 days, I might lose my mind. Break out your anti-rain dance, please!

2008-08-14T11:37:00.002-04:00

When I was pregnant with Lauren I didn't gain an exorbitant amount of weight, just around 30 lbs., which is well within the normal rane. Problem is, I carried all of that really low, which means I now have a lovely patterns of stretch marks all over my lower abdomen and thighs. Not quite sure why the thighs gained weight, but I'm blaming it on pregnancy. Anyways, I figured with #2 I wouldn't get anymore stretch marks...I already stretched once and can prove it, so why would I get new ones? Well, I now have new stretch marks. Found them last night, along with some freakishly visible veins all along the sides of my belly. Good thing I gave up on the bikini long ago.

In non-pregnancy news, we have more family in town this week. Chris' sister Brea took a quick side to trip to see us while visiting her in-laws in Illinois. It's been pretty low key, just hanging out and playing with Lauren. They ventured to the Columbus Zoo yesterday, which is quickly becoming a Wednesday ritual for us. (Hint: a great gift for Lauren's birthday or Christmas would be a family membership to the zoo.) Then we went on to Red Robin for dinner, which is by far one of the most kid-friendly restaurants around. Except for the carousel horses used as decoration. Try to explain to a 2 year-old that she can't "ride horse". Not so much fun. After dinner, it was on to the mall, where Brea bought Lauren the cutest giraffe print hat. Great for those trips to the zoo.

We're looking forward to our vacation that starts next week. I'll post later about that, but let's just say that a 2 year old + 12 hours in the car=frightening.

Planning for #2.

2008-08-06T08:29:00.002-04:00

You'd think since we've done this baby thing once already, we'd be all set when it comes to supplies. Not quite the case. You see, the first time around we had to get so much stuff that we didn't get any "nice to haves." We got the basics, and added onto that as needed as Lauren got older. This time, we don't need to buy the swing, car seat, Baby Bjorn, crib mattress, etc., etc., so we can splurge a little bit. The new crib will also be paid for by Jardine and their crappy voucher program, so we don't need to shell out cash there, either. We also learned some things that we'd do a little bit differently the second time around, so now's our chance.

I've finally broken down and set up a registry at Babies R Us, just to keep track of it all. Right now there are only 6 items on it. I think back to Lauren's registry and I think there were about 100 times that many items listed. Expect to see that number go up if it turns out we're having a boy. I have crates and crates of girl clothes, but nothing for a boy. Secretly, I'm hoping for a boy just so I get to buy a bunch of cute little baby clothes.

We're also starting to figure out how to get the office/nursery in order. With only 3 bedrooms, the former office/guest room will now become the new nursery and the office will go...well, we haven't completely figured that out. Right now it's looking like the "office" will become a small desk with a computer on it at the top of the stairs. The guest room will no longer exist, unless you count the couch in the living room.

We finally turned the Willy Wonka door to our storage room into a real, adult-sized door over the weekend. Since our house has no basement, it has an 8'x10' storage room off of the 3rd bedroom. Great, except it also had a 24"x36" access door. Not exactly the most practical; we couldn't even fit our Rubbermaid crates through it. Thanks to some great handiwork by my cousin Aric , it now has a real door. No door handle and it's not completely painted, but the bulk of the work is done. We're also going to finish insulating the storage room since the builders only halfway did that for some reason. The goal is to have all the hard stuff done by the time we find out what we're having so then we just have to empty out the room, paint and set up the new furniture.

Final update: as of this morning I'm back up to the weight I was at when I found out I was prego. Definitely showing, although I can still hide it if I don't mind being uncomfortable for awhile.

Really, I'm pregnant.

2008-07-29T15:09:00.005-04:00

I now have pictures to prove it. Today was my first ultrasound appointment, and man was I nervous. I don't remember being this nervous the last time around, but my heart was racing while I was waiting there. Maybe it's because everyone had me freaked out that I was having twins because I'm showing already. But nope, just one little Bilek in there, thank goodness.

I still can't get over how surreal it is to see that little bit of life moving around on the screen. Even though it's grainy and black and white, I could see the little heart beating away and those little legs kicking. It never seems real until you have some sort of tangible evidence, and at this point, I couldn't ask for more. Now I just have to wait 10 more weeks for my next ultrasound to find out if it's a boy or a girl.

And baby makes 4.

2008-07-21T13:45:00.000-04:00

It may be a little early to make the official announcement, but since we've already told our family and closest friends, and if you saw me you'd probably wonder, I guess it's safe for the internet: We're having another baby! I haven't figured out yet if we're absolutely insane or just really like a challenge.

Let's get the basic questions out of the way:
1. Was it planned? Yes, although we planned for it to take a little longer to actually happen.

2. When are you due? Early estimates from the doctor have March 2 as the due date. I go for my first early ultrasound July 29, and they'll confirm it then.

3. How pregnant are you? 100%. I don't think there are many options here...you either are or you aren't. I'm about 7 1/2 weeks along at this point. Like I said, it's pretty early, but I'm already in maternity clothes. Yikes! They weren't lying when they said you start showing earlier the second time around.

4. Do you want a boy or a girl? Either one's fine with me. We have all the girl stuff, but it would be nice to have a boy to carry on the Bilek family name. I asked Lauren which one she wanted, and she said she wanted either an elephant or a tiger. She had been at the zoo that day.

So that's it in a nutshell. I'm feeling pretty good, but I think that's because I'm going to bed when it's still light outside and making sure I eat every few hours. No morning sickness yet, and according to my doctor I'd have it now if I was going to (please, find some wood to knock on). We're really excited, and started looking through the baby name book over the weekend. I've started trying to explain to Lauren that I have a baby in my belly, and she can even say "baby in belly." The problem is she thinks she has a baby in her belly, too, even though I've tried to explain that in her case it's probably just pancakes.

I'll try to keep this updated, but don't expect many pregnant belly pictures. It's not a pretty sight.

Update on the crib recall

2008-07-21T07:47:00.003-04:00

Remember my rant about the crib recall? Well, it's now nearly a month later and I still haven't gotten my recall kit. Must not be that big of a deal...just the potential for my kid to choke to death when their piece of junk crib breaks.

After a little checking on the web, it looks like others haven't waited this long to get their kits. Guess I'll have to follow-up with them to see what the deal is.

UPDATE: Just called the hotline. The answer I got was that they're processing these in Canada and aren't well-staffed. Wow. Great answer. Supposedly they're "expediting" my request. We'll see how that goes.

Worst recall plan ever

2008-06-27T08:32:00.002-04:00

Put yourself in this situation: You work for a company that manufactures cribs. You start getting reports that the spindles and wooden slats in your cribs are breaking, causing children to get hurt. You decide to issue a voluntary recall before word gets out and you get too much negative press. How would you work the recall?

Jardine Enterprises has decided to handle it in the most illogical fashion I've ever seen. We purchased Lauren's crib from Babies'R'Us shortly before she was born, without really looking at the brand. Turns out it's a crib that is now being recalled. I registered our information online to get the voucher, and this is how they're handling it:
--Enter info online and wait for a package to arrive from UPS with instructions on how to get the voucher. Keep in mind that Jardine advises to stop using the crib immediately.
--When that package arrives, it will include a return mail package. I'm supposed to take apart the crib and mail back the mattress support plates, bolts and identification label. Wait, it's not mail, it's UPS so I have to go to a UPS store or drop box, or schedule a pickup.
--Wait 1-2 weeks after sending the hardware back for the voucher to arrive, at which point I can go to Babies'R'Us and buy a new crib.

See any problems here? Where's my kid supposed to sleep?!?!?!? My plan: go to Babies'R'Us and buy a new crib now, and when I finally go through all the rigamarole, return the crib and repurchase it with the voucher. That's all fine in my situation, but not everyone has an extra $200 lying around to buy a new crib (the vouchers won't give you any money back if you buy a crib less than the voucher's value, so you better make sure you buy one that's expensive enough!). Those families will end up with children sleeping in a crib their parents now know to be dangerous. I also haven't confirmed yet that Babies'R'Us will go along with my plan since they're not open yet. I tried calling the Jardine recall hotline, which is supposed to be open, but no one answered after 10 rings!!!

Bottom line: don't buy anything from Jardine Enterprises.

Guitar Hero--what have I gotten myself into?

2008-06-25T11:09:00.004-04:00

I've never considered myself much of a gamer. Yes, I owned an original Nintendo when I was in 4th grade, but that was about the extent of it. I never got into any of the online, multiplayer games, or even really into PlayStation 2. We only bought that one because it worked as a DVD player, too. But for some strange reason, this year I bought a Nintento DS. It's a great little handheld game system, and there's a great range of games available for young kids to old people (I'm in the middle there, I think).

This weekend Guitar Hero was released for DS. I've seen it played before, but never actually played it myself. But I couldn't resist picking it up. It's pretty cool...there's a guitar grip that slides into one of the slots, and it comes with a stylus shaped like a guitar pick to "strum" the strings. Now, the little time I have left in the evenings ends up in screams of, "For the love of God, I'm not Stevie Ray Vaughan...why am I playing his guitar solo?!?" And that's in Easy mode. I do kick Chris' butt, though :) So please, don't bother calling between the hours of 8 and 10pm. I'll be doing my best Santana impersonation.

2008-06-16T06:46:00.001-04:00

You know what's good for waking you up in the morning? Riding an elevator that drops several floors twice on your way up. It may leave you shaking and in tears, but hey, you'll be awake.

I didn't do one of these last year?

2008-06-15T20:44:00.003-04:00

Father's Day #2 is now officially under the belt. I went back through the blog to see what I wrote last year, and apparently I wrote nothing. I'm a horrible wife. Now I feel this horrible pressure to make this Father's Day thank you incredibly deep and sappy. Unfortunately, I don't really live in that zone. I'll do my best.

Before having Lauren, Chris and I were both a little scared of what kind of dad he would be, mostly because he wasn't completely sold on the idea of having kids to begin with. Then she arrived. And it was still a little rocky for a few weeks. Now that I'm no longer sleep-deprived or hooked up to a milking machine, I completely understand why. Feeding a baby is one of the most intimate things you can do, and breastfeeding completely cuts Dad out of the picture. Then the magical day: Chris was the only one that could get Lauren to stop crying. Everything changed in that instant. He went from a scared, hesitant procreator to a true father.

That all bumped up a notch once I went back to work and he went part-time. Now I was the one asking him what to do with Lauren, instead of the other way around. He started taking her to doctors appointments and shopping for baby food, although he never really caught the bug for buying baby clothes. That must be a purely female genetic thing.

Fast forward to now and he's a much different man than before Lauren arrived. Not that he wasn't a good guy, but he has a much more serious sense of purpose and is willing to do anything for his little girl. I still think there's nothing better than seeing a father and his daughter hugging, laughing, dancing and generally having a good time.

So Chris, thank you for giving me the best gift I could ever wish for.

The new baby

2008-06-04T08:14:00.006-04:00

We finally broke down and bought Chris a new car: a 2008 Volkswagen Jetta Wolfsburg Edition, dubbed "The Wolf" by James. His old 2000 Jetta was falling apart, and we either needed to sink some money into it or just get a new one. So, Chris got an early Father's Day present.

I finally voted for a winner!

2008-06-04T07:56:00.003-04:00

**POLITICAL COMMENTARY BELOW**

I can't tell you how good it feels to know that I don't pick losers all the time. Ever since I've started voting, anyone and anything I've voted for has lost. I was starting to get a complex. But now that Barack Obama has secured enough delegates to get the Democratic nomination, I can officially say I've voted for a winner, even if it is a preliminary race.

I'm looking forward to the election in November. I feel like it's going to be a good race, and both candidates have their strengths and weaknesses. In past elections, I've actually been a McCain supporter. He's a straight shooter, has a lot of experience, and is respected on both sides of the aisle. That's important in a President...someone who can work with others to get things done. My biggest concern with McCain is his age. Not because it means he's out of touch, although that is a legitimate concern. It's more that I'm worried he won't make it through in good health.

With all that being said, I'm still leaning toward Obama. I know he doesn't have McCain's experience, but that means he's not jaded and skeptical and tied into "how things are done" in Washington. I do wish he had waited another four or eight years to run to get more experience, but I realize that a lot of things can happen in that amount of time that could potentially jeopardize the opportunity.

I mostly hope that this will be a clean race without a lot of mudslinging. Happy campaigning!

Just a quickie...

2008-05-28T07:44:00.002-04:00

Not much going on, but Lauren and Tenzin had fun playing together over the weekend (until Tenzin fell off the slide).

2008-05-16T08:04:00.003-04:00

Lauren found the scale in the bathroom, and now thinks it's really fun to weigh herself. Little does she know that in about 15 years her new toy may be one of her least favorite things. At this point, it's more about standing on top of something, not understanding what that "something" is for. Anyways, since we're down to annual doctor's appointments, we haven't really kept track of her weight or height. I looked at the scale when she was on it yesterday and it said somewhere between 34 and 35 lbs. Not horrible, even if it is still completely off the charts, until you realize that the super-cool tricycle we bought her a week ago has a weight limit of 37 lbs. Two more pounds and we're going to have to buy a new bike. I was really ticked off at Radio Flyer until I looked at the growth charts. A 3 year old weighing 37 lbs. is in the 95th percentile. Yep, the kid is big.

If I can get her to stand still long enough, it might be time to start the pencil marks on the door jamb to measure height over the years. I remember my Grandma Turnipseed had one of these door frames, and it had pencil marks for all of her grandkids. Every year at Christmas we had to get measured and see how much we had grown. Sure, there are probably much more high-tech ways to keep track of this stuff. I could start a MySpace page or Facebook profile for Lauren and put it out there for all the world to see. Oh wait, that's kind of what this is, isn't it? Still, I like the idea of doing some things the old-fashioned way. Maybe if I duct tape her to the frame she'll stay put...I think she's probably 3 feet tall now.

No big weekend plans...the weather's supposed to be crappy, so I'll probably spend most of my time listening to Lauren whine and keeping her from getting into things she's not supposed to.

A bunch of unconnected commentary

2008-05-11T20:07:00.000-04:00

Lauren is 19 months old and wears a size 4 bathing suit. Seriously. The size 3 was too small. My kid is a freak. A freak who likes to swim, apparently. From what Chris says, she's taking to it like a fish to water. She's not scared at all, even when he dunks her, and she really likes the big slide. No pictures of the swimming adventures since the lessons are during the day, during the week. Eventually I'll actually get to see her in the water and take some pics.

I'm still recovering from my trip to San Diego. It was a great conference and I met some wonderful people, but I'm still too wiped out to figure out what to do next. The Red Bull Air Race was also ramping up right next door to the hotel. It was so cool to see the planes practicing, even if it was a little loud. And the crew likes to party.

Spring has officially arrived. Usually this isn't all that exciting, but with Lauren around, it is. I thought we were over all the "firsts": tooth, word, step, etc. We are over all the major ones, except hair cut and using the potty, but here are some other recent firsts:

1. First popsicle. Orange, all fruit. Lauren says "orange," too, only it sounds more like "oween."

2. First tricycle. Yep, we bought her a trike. She picked it out, after trying out about 4 different models. Despite our best efforts to keep her from being a girly-girl, you can see what she landed on.

3. First ear of corn. She was a little confused about the corn at first, but her first reaction was "Mmm. Num num." Then I didn't have an ear of corn anymore. Next time, she gets her own.

4. First boy kiss on the lips. I thought I had a lot longer to worry about this one, but Tenzin and Lauren had different ideas. Tenzin was over playing this week, and one of us said, "Give Lauren a kiss." Usually that only halfway works. This time, they both went for it. It was cute, but now I'm having nightmares about her teenage years.

Lauren is talking up a storm. I was shocked when I got back from my conference and I was met with a steady stream of words I could mostly understand. I was only gone 4 days! A brief Lauren glossary:
Cat=Meow
Dog=Woof woof
Juice=Ju...she uses this for anything in a cup, so milk and water are also Ju
Yogurt=Yo yo
Crackers=Crack
House=how
Backpack=Ba pa
Shoulder=sho hee
Elbow=Bo bo
Flower=Pow (she's working on this one...she's just figured out how to make an "F" sound, but she hasn't put it with anything else yet)
Pretty=Pee
Car=Cah (think Boston accent)
Shoe=Shoe
Slide=Wee
Ow=Ow
Yes=Yah (she almost whispers it when she's really excited and wants something)
No=No...with a Minnesota accent
Mom=Mama (it almost has a British accent to it...more accent on the second syllable than the first)
Dad=Da
Nap/Sleep=Nigh nigh
More=Mo

I'm sure there are more, and probably lots that we haven't picked up on yet. It's so much fun to actually interact with her. She's at the point where she learns words so quickly. We were working on body parts in the bath one night, and the next morning she had learned all the new words, like shoulder, neck, etc. I think she also knows her colors. A park 2 blocks away has a mini-climbing wall as part of its playground apparatus, and it has different colored hand holds. Lauren pointed to all the blue ones, saying "Boo. Boo."

Grandma Darke says she's learning letters from watching Sesame Street, too. She's always loved books, like her mom and Grandma, so that doesn't come as too much of a surprise. I actually taught myself to read when I was 3. My parents pretty much freaked out when I picked up one of my sister's books one day and started reading on my own. They think I learned it from watching Sesame Street and Electric Company. Who says TV is all bad? I have a feeling Lauren might take this route, too.

One last item. This weekend was Mother's Day, and we went to Cameron's for their Mother's Day brunch. Chris, Lauren and Grandma Darke surprised me with a beautiful pair of diamond earrings. Nothing says, "Thanks, Mom!" like something sparkly :)

Thanks to our moms for all they do! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend.

Get a quote and help fight cancer!

2008-05-09T10:27:00.004-04:00

Shameless plug alert!

Nationwide is sponsoring Frosted Pink with a Twist, an event broadcasting on ABC in October to promote awarenesss of women's cancers. In addition, Nationwide will donate $10 for every insurance quote we provide online or or over the phone (one per customer) from now until August 31. Even if you don't buy the policy. So get clicking or dialing! You can get a quote online here, or call 1-888-490-1562.

End of shameless plug :)

Quick update

2008-04-24T07:39:00.003-04:00

My life is officially a roller coaster. I haven't decided yet if it's a good one or not, only time will tell. The last two weeks have been a little bit insane, mostly because of work. My boss took a new position at Nationwide, leaving her responsibilities open. Those responsibilities included managing 3 people (including myself). Due to some really boring "state of the insurance market" stuff, Nationwide is being extremely judicious in hiring and staffing open positions. So what happened? I got all my boss' old responsibilities. So, now I manage 2 people, do all my old work, plus the additional work that my boss used to do. I didn't officially get her old job title, but I did get a little bit of a promotion and the opportunity to prove myself in a managerial capacity. Frightening, I know.

I also signed myself up to attend a Women's Leadership Conference in San Diego. One of the great things about Nationwide (or at least the people I've worked for here) is that they really care about personal development. Since having Lauren, I've really struggled with being a full-time working mom. Nobody else makes me feel guilty, but every once in awhile I feel like I'm letting her down. But at the same time, I know I couldn't be a stay at home mom. It's hard work and it's rewarding in its own way, but I need other kinds of challenges and rewards. So, I'm hoping this conference will help me network with other women from across the country and learn some strategies for really being successful as a woman in the business world. That, and it's on Coronado Island in San Diego Bay.

One last tidbit: we signed Lauren up for swim lessons. Chris is taking her on Thursday mornings for the next 6 weeks. I'll post more tomorrow, since today is her first class.

2 down, 48 to go.

2008-04-11T15:48:00.001-04:00

Congratulations to my sister, Dorie, on passing the state bar exam in Oklahoma. That means she's now licensed to practice law in Ohio and Oklahoma. I know, the Os are a weird place to start, but our family is funny that way.

Way to go, sis!

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!

2008-04-09T07:00:00.004-04:00

Warm weather has finally arrived in Columbus. The high temperatures have been in the 60s or 70s since Saturday, so we're now being blinded by all the pasty Ohio legs that have peeked their way out of shorts. We spent the weekend doing some yard work, and had a nice fire in our fire pit to burn all the sticks.

When the weather is warm, I really love the area we live in. There are two nice parks within walking distance, along with a video store, Tim Horton's, liquor store and gas station/ice cream shop. For those of you not in Ohio, United Dairy Farmers is an odd combination. They started in 1940 as a dairy store, and have evolved into full-fledged convenience store. But they still make their own ice cream and scoop it in all their stores. So, we made the walk down there last night and Lauren had her first, very own, ice cream cone. Here's the result:

The level of mess was a little more than I anticipated. We prepared ourselves before leaving and were ready for a pretty big mess, but I actually think she was messier than eating her first birthday cake.

In hindsight, chocolate probably wasn't the best option. I was in no way allowed to touch that ice cream cone. Any attempt resulted in, "No, no, no!" By the way, you have to hear the way this kid says "no." You can tell there's some Minnesotan heritage in there. Anyways, there was a lovely sticky film of chocolate completely covering her belly, after the shirt was removed. Needless to say she went straight into the bathtub.

That's about all that's going in our neck of the woods. Chris was able to golf for the first time this season, and Lauren's thrilled to be outside. The forsythia has finally bloomed, so hopefully that last snowfall happens and we get on with spring and summer!

RIP, Skybus

2008-04-07T13:22:00.002-04:00

The days of $20 roundtrip airfares are officially over. Skybus announced their closure on Friday evening, effective on Saturday. (See this post for more info on Skybus)

Skybus has chalked up the failure to rising fuel prices and the general state of the economy. Some experts think the business model was flawed from the beginning. The lack of customer service department and lots of cancelled flights in the winter may have played a part as well. Still, I think the industry can probably learn some lessons from Skybus:
1. People want cheaper airfare.
2. Columbus is not a good hub.
3. Do something different and you'll get attention for it.

Despite their failure, I applaud Skybus for at least attempting to meet consumer desires and buck the traditional air travel conventions. Now if they just could have done it without stranding their customers...

2008-04-04T13:44:00.003-04:00

Note that the reading level of my blog continues to decline. Give it a couple months and we'll all be reading like Lauren, pointing at pictures and making animal sounds.

I don't want to be environmentally conscious if it means my desk smells like ass.

2008-04-04T08:00:00.003-04:00

A couple weeks ago Nationwide announced they were switching janitorial services. I know, earth-shattering news. Part of the deal is that they'll be emptying trash less frequently, thus sending fewer plastic liners to landfills and reducing our carbon footprint. No seriously, that's what the release said. And it's saving us over $1 million a year.

My work group has discovered what this actually means: trash cans at our desks get emptied twice a week now instead of every night. Did I mention that we all eat lunch, and some of us breakfast, at our desks? Guess where the takeout containers go? Guess what my desk smells like!!!!!!

If we're really trying to do something good for the environment, why did the cafeteria switch to all styrofoam containers? Saving money is a good thing, but not when it breeds bacteria and invites insects and rodents. Gross.

Bug

2008-04-01T08:52:00.005-04:00

This was Lauren's source of entertainment for about an hour yesterday. Yes, a Japanese Ladybug. She watched it and watched it and watched it, which really wasn't very interesting since it was just coming out of hibernation or something. She kept saying, "Bug!" over and over and over again. But she most definitely did not want it touching her in any way. That brought on a bunch of wriggling and "No! No! No!" which was pretty funny for us so we kept doing it. That's not child abuse, right?

You know what else she hates? When you put Mr. Potato Head pieces on the actual Mr. Potato Head. The Easter Bunny brought this bunny verion of the classic spud toy:

Lauren loves playing with the ears and hands, but don't you dare actually put them on the potato.

Ah, the quirks of an 18-month old.

One of these things is not like the other.

2008-04-01T08:18:00.002-04:00

Last night I had the good fortune of seeing Professor Barry Nalebuff of the Yale School of Management speak at a private gathering of the Yale Club of Central Ohio. The lecture was held at the beautiful and historic Columbus Club, a by-invitation-only men's club that's been around Columbus since the 1800s (men's club as in stogies and cognac, not as in stripper poles).

So how did I end up there? In my work at Nationwide I've done some work with Young Isaac. The re-founder and chief strategist of Young Isaac is Artie Isaac. Artie Isaac is also an officer of the Yale Club of Central Ohio. Barry Nalebuff is a professor at Yale and is also on Nationwide's Board of Directors. So Artie asked Professor Nalebuff to speak to the Yale Club and then invited me and my boss. I think I just invented a new game: "six degrees of Barry Nalebuff."

Anyways, Professor Nalebuff lectured on his book Why Not? How to Use Everyday Ingenuity to Solve Problems Big and Small. In true collegiate form, I spent yesterday afternoon cramming to finish reading the book, which I checked out from the Nationwide library 3 weeks ago. Some things never change. This, of course, made me look like a smarty pants when he covered all the case studies and I knew all the tricky little answers.

The room full of Yale alumni was very engaging and intellectual, and I did feel a little out of my league. Apparently some people spent their college years in the classroom learning about important things instead of spending them in bed recovering from a hangover 5 mornings a week. I also felt very young and female. Approximately 45 people attended the lecture, and I counted about 7 women, including myself. I would also estimate that 85% of the people present were at least twice my age. Despite all this, I did have some lovely conversations with some fairly influential people in Columbus. Overall the evening was entirely intellectually stimulating, although he did lose me at the "maternity MBA" program.

Check this out for more info on Why Not?.

Happy St. Easter Spring!

2008-03-27T08:08:00.008-04:00

Wow, I didn't realize how much had happened since the last time I posted. St. Patrick's Day, the first day of spring and Easter, all in a two week period of time. I suppose a recap is in order.

St. Patrick's Day
I vaguely remember St. Patrick's Day gatherings pre-Lauren. I think there was Guinness, maybe some corned beef, some goofy hats, and that's about all I can recollect. Probably too much Guinness. This year, we went a little more low key. I made corned beef and cabbage, which left a lovely smell in the house for nearly a week. The whole Thornburg clan came over, and we had a nice, relaxing dinner. There was still some Guinness involved, but nowhere near the quantities consumed in the past. Next year I'm going to try out a recipe for Guinness cupcakes I found. Yum!

First day of spring
It snowed. I shouldn't be surprised. Our weather guy always says it snows at least once after the forsythia blooms. It still hasn't bloomed yet, and it's March 27. I have a feeling I'll be posting snow pictures into May at the rate we're going. Grow, forsythia, grow!

Easter
Let's do a comparison, shall we?
Easter 2007

Note the lack of neck, scarcity of hair on her very round head, and the propped-up pose. She wasn't crawling yet, and she was at the heigh of her rotund-ness.

Easter 2008

Now she's eating ham and being a ham. This is her "so pretty" pose that Grandma Darke taught her, complete with hair all in her face. The girl hates hair clips. Or maybe it's that she likes them so much she wants to eat them. I haven't figured it out yet, but regardless, we end up pushing the mop of hair out of her face on a regular basis.

She also discovered the fun of putting olives on your fingers. Let's just say she ate a few too many olives and leave it at that.

We had a nice Easter dinner with Grandma, and that was about it. The Easter Bunny came and brought a few toys, but nothing over the top.

So that's about it. We're chugging right along, waiting for some nice weather...

UPDATE: Chris has mastered the ponytail!

Digging Out

2008-03-13T09:39:00.009-04:00

As you probably heard, Columbus did end up getting over a foot of snow on Friday and Saturday. The final two-day total was 20.5", the largest single-storm snowfall in Ohio since 1863. As in the Civil War. I didn't realize that the Blizzard of 1978 only had about 4" of snow with it. It's the wind that really makes a blizzard. I learned more about snowstorms this weekend than I ever needed to know because all the local news stations pre-empted normal coverage on Saturday to talk over and over and over and over and over again about the weather. For about 8 hours. It was fun.

Here are some pics from outside out house at about 11:30 Saturday morning. We got about another 6" on top of this.

Needless to say I was glad I have a husband to shovel my driveway :) I'm an indepedent, liberated woman and all, but it's still nice to have a guy to do the heavy lifting. Literally. Chris shoveled on Friday night after about 6" fell, but then had another 14" to shovel once it all ended on Sunday morning. We ended up with some nice piles of snow which Lauren kind of slid down when we went out to play.

So what did we do while we were snowed in? We made Lauren's hair static-y.

And she rode her scooter.

Smooches!

Book Report #3

2008-03-07T11:49:00.005-05:00

Well, I'm getting better. It didn't take me 6 months to read a book this time! Of course the flight to Las Vegas and back helped with that, as did sitting in the waiting room while my mom had her sinuses suctioned. Let's not talk about that.

So the latest of my literary conquests is Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World. Quite a title, and maybe a little bit overly dramatic. This is yet another non-fiction book, which made me realize that I really need to find a good novel to read. I'm taking suggestions!

Dr. Paul Farmer is an anthropolgist and doctor who founded Partners in Health, a group that focuses primarily on treating tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS in areas of extreme poverty, like Haiti, Peru and Siberia. It's a fascinating biography of a fascinating man, but also a heartbreaking account of life and death in rural Haiti.

I learned more about turberculosis than I ever really wanted to know, but that's not the point of the book. What makes Farmer's pursuits so successful is that he uses his anthropological training to look at treating his patients holistically. Why do they have tuberculosis? Because they're poor, they live in horrible conditions, don't have clean drinking water, and no one to make sure they're taking their medication. So Farmer doesn't just treat the disease, he also treats the condition that makes it easier for the disease to take hold.

Farmer is also an extremely dedicated and passionate man, almost to a fault. As I read the book, and all the descriptions of his travels around the world, I couldn't help but feel sorry for his wife and daughter. His wife knew what she signed up for when she married him, but his daughter didn't have a choice. I guess becoming a parent makes you think about these things more.

After reading this book, I realized that I'm a slacker. Or maybe not. Maybe I just need more down time than Farmer does. It's amazing what he's been able to accomplish in a relatively short period of time. I think it's because he never pauses to think that something might not work. He just assumes it will, and so it does. That's a valuable lesson.

Next up: Chasing Daylight. I actually already finished it...in just 3 days!

A foot of snow in March?

2008-03-07T11:36:00.003-05:00

Really? In Ohio? Bummer. Unfortunately, I'm going to look like one of those tools who runs to the grocery store to buy bread and milk as soon as a storm hits. I'm not really a freak, but we are almost out of milk and diapers and driving in 3 inches of snow is better than driving in 12 inches. Or running out of diapers because the stores decide not to open tomorrow morning. That's a nightmare I don't want to experience.

Did I mention it was 70 on Monday?

Voting is Cool!

2008-03-04T08:05:00.006-05:00

So this morning I took a new step in my involvement in our country's politics: I voted in the primary election. Believe it or not, this was my first time voting in a primary, mostly due to misconceptions about what it meant for my future voting. I've been registered with the state as an independent, and now I'm technically registered as a Democrat, but I can change that each time I vote if I want to.

WARNING: PERSONAL POLITICAL VIEWS BELOW!

The main reason I decided to vote in this year's primary is because it's such a close race. And for once, I felt like I was actually voting for someone instead of against someone. I was blessed with the problem of choosing between two good candidates, each of them with their own chance to write a piece of American history. How awesome!

So what's a girl to do? Do some research. I don't trust political ads, and when I started my research, none were really running in Columbus. So I went to the candidates' websites and read through them extensively. I took into consideration their positions on my most important issues: education, the economy, and Iraq. I noted how their websites were organized, and who they were trying to reach out to. There are actually a lot of similarities between the two, but in the end, I found my winner: Barack Obama. Yes, I've jumped on the Obama train (if you couldn't tell by his campaign logo on the right side of this page).

Here's why:
--He's positive. He has a message of hope and change. And yes, I know that hope and a desire for change alone won't get anything done. Keep reading.

--He is less divisive than Hillary. I don't have a problem with Hillary, but there are a lot of people who do, both in the general population and on Capitol Hill. To get things done, you have to be able to build consensus, and I think Obama will do a better job of that.

--His website gave much more detail on how he's actually going to tackle the big issues. Hillary's gave broad generalizations, saying things like, "I'm going to fix No Child Left Behind," while Obama's actually laid out, step by step, how he would do it.

--He appeals to my generation. He gets us, and he doesn't discount our importance. We may not be rich, and we may not have a lot of influence in the "right" circles, but we're important, too. Just because many of us haven't voted in the past doesn't mean we won't. We just need to be inspired and know how to do it. All of Obama's advertising, in Columbus at least, includes information on what times polls are open and what ID to bring. The doorhanger left at my house yesterday even told me where my polling place was. I've never seen this from any political candidate.

--I have reservations about having a Clinton in the White House again. I was really too young to truly understand Bill Clinton's stances, and my strongest memory of him has to do with a blue dress and a cigar. I don't have any strong negative feelings against Bill. But I don't think our founding fathers wanted to have two families controlling the presidency for 24 years (at least). It just doesn't seem right. And I worry about how much influence Bill will have during Hillary's presidency. I want our first female president to stand strongly on her own two feet, and not constantly have people questioning whether it's really her making the decisions. I don't think Hillary's a pushover, but you can't tell me Bill won't chime in.

I could probably go on for another two pages, but that's pretty tedious and you all probably don't care that much.

One last thing: voting was soooooo much better this time around. Instead of 2 voting machines, there were 16. And they were the cool, touch-screen kind. There were also some very young volunteers at the polls, wearing shirts advertising "Youth at the Booth." I found this on the program:

In conjunction with the Franklin County Board of Elections, Kids Voting Central Ohio
is promoting Youth at the Booth to Franklin County high school seniors who are 17
years of age, students in good standing, and having permission from their parents
and their schools.

The goal of this project is to recruit and train at least 25 seniors from each
participating high school to work at the polls on Election Day. Students are required
to work from 5:30 a.m. until at least 8:30 p.m. on November 6, 2007,for the General
Election, and March 4, 2008, for the Presidential Primary Election. Students will earn
$110 for attending a mandatory training session and working on Election Day.

Pretty cool, if you ask me.

2008-02-13T13:18:00.006-05:00

Chris and I just returned from an adults-only (AKA no Lauren) trip to Las Vegas to celebrate my second 29th birthday. Or my second 28th birthday (a co-worker once suggested after you turn 29, you start counting backwards).

We left sunny, 70 degree weather yesterday and returned to this:

Yes, I'm actually 30. A thirty-something, which sounds nowhere near as fun as a twenty-something. Twenty-somethings do fun things like go out to trendy night clubs and drink martinis. Thirty-somethings sit at home watching TV after their kids go to bed, worrying about their retirement and whether they'll ever pay off their debt.

I'm usually not very hung up on birthdays, but I've never had a real milestone birthday. Sure, being a legal adult and being able to drink alcohol are great things to celebrate, but 30 just seems bigger for some reason.

So I started reflecting on my life and whether my life at 30 years old is what I thought it would be. Let's see:

--Graduated from college? Check.

--Moved out of parent's house? Check.
--Married? Check.
--Own my own house? Check.

--Kids? Check (sorta, if you don't count the plural).

--Win the lottery? Nope.

Well, 5 out of 6 ain't so bad. But there's still hope, as long as Chris keeps playing the numbers. I guess I can't complain. Here's to spending at least 30 more with all of you.

Reason #362 our electoral process is broken

2008-02-07T07:40:00.000-05:00

People across the country were all amped up this week for Super Tuesday, when 24 states held their primaries or caucuses. Given the level of media coverage on Tuesday night, you would have thought it was a national election. Apparently people in Florida, Washington and Texas thought it was, and showed up to vote even though their states' primaries were not held on February 5th. It's no wonder: our election system is FUBAR. MSNBC has a great Q&A on how it all works. There are a total of 62 questions. Granted, some of them are pretty irrelevant to how an actual election works, but still, 62 questions? It should be as simple as:

1. Candidate says, "I am running for president." Campaigning begins (that's another ball of wax).
2. Citizens vote in the (one national) primary to narrow down the candidates for each party. The candidates from each party with the most popular votes win. Now time for the real campaigning.
3. Citizens vote in the national election to determine the winner. The candidate with the most popular votes wins.

I know our founding fathers thought the general population was too dumb, fickle, easily persuaded, etc. to be trusted with directly electing the president. I guess my lead-in kind of affirms that. But that doesn't mean that a system created 200 years ago still makes sense today. The 12th Amendment was passed after the Jefferson/Burr debacle that required 36 votes by the House of Representatives to elect Jefferson president, so we haven't always been idiots who stick to a system just becuase it's always been done that way. (Full disclosure: I really didn't know anything about the Jefferson/Burr thing until I found this site. Great detail pages on Presidential Campaigns and the Electoral College.)

After the last two presidential elections, it's become clear that something needs to change. Any ideas? Mine is already outlined above. May the best man or woman win.

2008-02-01T07:53:00.000-05:00

I heard this morning that United Airlines will start charging $25 for your second checked bag. Interesting move, and I'll be keeping track to see how it pays off. More and more airlines are starting to charge for things that used to be free, like snacks and pillows. That's all fine, since I can go without a little bag of snack mix for $2. They're also charging extra for "premium" seats, like the emergency exit row or the bulkhead, or reserving them for their frequent fliers. Again, fine with me since I don't usually need to sit there. These small moves don't really make them that much more extra money, but charging an extra $25 for your second bag can sure add up quickly. Here's my overall problem with their business model: these savings aren't passed on to the customer.

Want to see an airline that does pass them on? Check out Skybus.

Now, I haven't actually flown on Skybus, so I can't vouch for the quality of the experience. But here's what I do know:

--There are a minimum of 10 seats for $10 on each flight. That's right: I can fly from Columbus to LA for $20 round trip if I act quickly enough (like James and Rachel).
--Your first two checked bags cost $5 each.
--In-flight snacks and drinks are available for purchase, and no outside food is allowed.
--There is no customer service phone number. Skybus is an internet-only company. Controversial, yes. Cost-effective, yes.
--If you want to board first, you pay $10 extra.

So let's add this up. I want to fly to LA for a week. On Skybus, if I act quickly enough, it'll add up like this:

--Round trip ticket, non-stop (before taxes): $20
--Two checked bags: $20
--Preferred boarding: $20
--Total: $60

The same trip on United:

--Round trip ticket (with one stop): $240
--Two checked bags: $25
--Preferred boarding: not available to non-frequent fliers
--Total: $265

It's a no-brainer, if you ask me. The fact that Skybus can do this makes me even angrier every time I shell out $275 for a flight to Minneapolis. Why can't everyone do it? The traditional business model is broken, and at least Skybus is trying to do something about it.

Alright, enough ranting for a Tuesday morning. I'll update again after Lauren's doctor appointment on Thursday. She was supposed to go last week but her doctor had a family emergency. Stay tuned...

Book Report #2

2008-01-31T07:49:00.000-05:00

Yes, it really does take me this long to finish a book, especially when you throw in the holidays. Yet another reason that I've never activated my library card. Too much pressure.

I've probably mentioned that my friend James has two blogs, the normal family one, and then the cool green-techie blog, Insource/Outsource. One post on that blog inspired me to read "The World Without Us" by Alan Weisman.

Let's set a couple of things straight at the beginning. I do not consider myself to be a very "green" person. I don't recycle, I use plastic bags at the grocery store, and I pretty much avoid anything organic. There are lots of reasons for all of these things, but I just bring it up so you know this isn't a preachy "save the world" kind of post. And "The World Without Us" isn't a preachy kind of book, either. Here's the premise for the entire book: Tomorrow, all humans are gone. It doesn't matter why, whether it's global warming, the second coming of Jesus Christ, or an alien invasion. We're just gone. What happens then?

Weisman's approach to answering this question is very scientific and journalistic, which is one of the reasons that I liked the book. He considers everything from our transportation network, to our architecture, to the oceans, to our art, down to the way we're buried. He interviews experts in these areas, and then paints excellent pictures of exactly what the world would be like without us.

So what's the prognosis? To sum it up, we do a lot of things that have changed the earth forever. Many of our plastics will never break down, and our nuclear waste buried around the world will be one of our longest lasting legacies. But you know what? Our ancestors left legacies that have lasted just as long, like hunting "super-mammals" to extinction and migrating around the earth. I'm not saying these actions are equal, but I think it's important to remember that we're not the first generation to have an impact on the earth. Has anything on Earth ever stayed the same for very long, geologically speaking? No. Change is inevitable, and we all adapt.

The thing that struck me most after reading this book is just how insignificant we are. Mother Nature doesn't really care about us that much. If we go away, she'll keep on trucking. Plants and animals will adapt to survive to whatever we've left behind. Some animals, like birds, will probably be better off. There are some striking examples, such as nature's reclamation of the dead zone around Chernobyl, that left me in awe of the power of different species to evolve. Will every species survive? No. But that's evolution and the way nature works. Should we do what we can to make life easier for the planet? Yes. Is that always practical and easy? No.

If you're thinking of reading this book, be ready for some sections of heavy scientific text. It's not your traditional page-turner, but a great book if you're looking for something to stimulate your brain and really make you think about your surroundings and your actions. Weisman also has a cool website with some great graphics and animations to complement the book.

Next on deck: not sure yet. I'm still reading "The Ultimate Question," but that's more of a work book so I'm not going to bore you with the details of that one. I've ordered a couple books based on recommendations from Artie Isaac, the head of an ad agency I did business with at Nationwide. We'll see how those go...

Reason #47 why James' blog is better than mine.

2008-01-30T13:47:00.000-05:00

You must check out this post.

Bring on the steak.

2008-01-28T08:30:00.000-05:00

Lauren's menu is about to get a lot more variety. Over the past 5 days or so, her first molars have broken through.

Along with the molars came a fever of 102.6 on Saturday, but that was short-lived. I knew something wasn't quite right when she just wanted to sit on my lap and cuddle. Lauren's not a cuddler. It came and went though, and now she's back to her normal self. Of course it feels like the second molars are on their way, too, as well as her canines. At this rate, she'll have a full mouth of teeth by the end of February.

UPDATE: We actually did have steak for dinner. On the grill. In January. It's funny how 45 degrees feels like 75 in the winter. Anyways, Lauren still wasn't having it. Although she LOVED raw onions.

UPDATE #2: Lauren just had to have some of my leftover steak and mashed potatoes last night. No onions, though.

Leaving on a jet plane.

2008-01-23T10:18:00.001-05:00

I'm on the road once again. I've gone to at least one different state a month for the last 3 months. This time it's off to Raleigh, NC. I've never been there, and I'm hoping for some warmer weather since it is south of Columbus. The Weather Channel tells me it should be in the upper 40's, which is a definite improvement on the upper 20's we're experiencing here.

In other news, the Bileks are now officially out of credit card debt. I thought the day would never come. I can't explain how great it feels to have the weight of all our past purchases lifted from my shoulders.

Finally, Lauren is still Lauren: goofy, silly and generally happy. She has two more teeth on the top, and it looks like Mt. Everest and Mt. Ranier are going to erupt from her bottom gums. She goes for her 16-month well child visit next week, so we'll see if she's still on track to be a 6 foot tall kindergartener.

No, we didn't eat the stew.

2008-01-07T08:04:00.000-05:00

Ack. James pointed out that it's now been over a month since I've posted anything. I go from trying to post every day for a month to not posting at all. The latter was much easier, I must say. The holidays have been crazy, and we've been traveling, so this just slipped to the bottom of the list. I promise to give more updates, but for now, just know that we're alive, well, and settling back into our normal routine. More to come (including Christmas pictures) later...

What's for dinner?

2007-12-03T07:26:00.000-05:00

Lauren stew.

Dancing Machine

2007-11-27T07:26:00.001-05:00

We finally captured Lauren's sweet dancing skills on Thanksgiving. While shopping for Christmas decorations, Grandma found a snow globe that plays music when you press a button. Of course Lauren liked that. First, the still shots.

Shake it to the left...

...and shake it to the right.

For the finale, the video.

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Twelve days of Christmas can be awfully pricey.

2007-11-26T11:06:00.000-05:00

While doing my normal morning news roundup, I found this article about what the gifts outlined in the Twelve Days of Christmas would cost if purchased today. First of all, who has the time to come up with this, and who really cares? Apparently I do.

The cost of buying each of the items once would be $19,507, but if you bought them repeatedly like the song suggests, it would add it up $78,100 for all 364 items. I never really noticed it before, but this song has a strange fascination with birds. You'd end up with 184 various birds by the time it was all said and done. And 100 assorted drummers, leapers, dancers and pipers to throw quite a party. I wonder how they'd mix with the birds.

Book Report #1

2007-11-19T08:35:00.001-05:00

So, I have the list of books that I'm reading on the right side of the page. I figured I might as well give you at least a high-level report on what I think of them.

I just finished reading The Collected Stories by Grace Paley. I had never heard of Grace Paley until a couple of months ago when she died. NPR had several stories about her, and she sounded like an intriguing woman who was ahead of her time. Another plus is that she wrote primarily short stories, which are much easier to fit into my schedule than a novel. So, I bought The Collected Stories, which is a compilation of three of books of short stories: The Little Disturbances of Man (1959), Enormous Changes at the Last Minute (1974), and Later the Same Day (1985).

The first thing that struck me is how different her writing style is from what I'm used to reading. Call it the "book club" mentality or whatever you want, but I tend to read all contemporary fiction, usually from the bestseller section. I'm a victim of marketing. But Paley's writing style is vastly different. The tone, pace and vocabulary remind me of talking with my grandmother or great-grandmother. It made more sense in the stories from the 1959 book, but even the 1985 stories had the same kind of flow. It took awhile to get used to, but eventually I really liked it. This style was an interesting juxtaposition to the subject matter of the stories. Political commentary is woven throughout, and there are some definite sexual references. I know, women in the '50s thought about these things, but I don't think I've ever seen these ideas expressed from a female writer of that time period. I'm probably just reading the wrong books.

Secondly, it's amazing how much I was able to get to know characters in just a few short pages. Some characters, or archetypes of characters, appear in multiple stories, even in different books. All the stories feature female characters who are strong in their own way. Many are single mothers, many are poor, many are just trying to find happiness in a difficult world. I saw a piece of myself in all of them.

The other thing that intrigued me about this collection is that I really didn't like some of the stories. But that made me like the others that much more. I realized that not every story Paley had to tell would resonate with me, but would with another reader. And most importantly, these stories are rooted in her real life experiences. Some of these I will never have, and will never be able to relate to. And that's just fine with me.

So, my recommendation would be to keep this book around to pick up and read when you have a few minutes or need a break from a current novel you're reading. It's around 400 pages, so you're definitely not going to read it one sitting. Unless you sit for a really long time. Women will probably like it better than men, given the feminist undertones (well, sometimes they're not so "under"), but there are some interesting, if not entirely likeable, male characters as well. I'm glad I discovered this author. Thanks, NPR!

Almost Thanksgiving

2007-11-19T08:11:00.001-05:00

For some reason it doesn't really feel like it's almost Thanksgiving. The weather has gotten colder, we have 14 ft. of leaves in the back yard and Ohio State beat Michigan, but it still doesn't feel like Thanksgiving should be this week. I'm not looking forward to the time suck that occurs once Thanksgiving hits, either. It's like the world goes into some kind of weird time warp making Christmas seem like it's 2 weeks after turkey day.

Since our family and friends are scattered across the country, our Thanksgiving is usually pretty low key. We'll be heading to my mom's house, about 15 minutes away, so at least we won't have to pay outrageous gas prices to travel somewhere. Of course my mother doesn't know how to cook a Thanksgiving dinner for less than 12 people, so we'll definitely have leftovers upon leftovers. I basically gave up on grocery shopping this weekend, knowing we'd be eating turkey and stuffing for half the week.

I'm cooking a few things, but cooking is somewhat of an art form now that Lauren is walking around. She's close to 3 ft. tall, so her hands can easily reach the open flame of the gas burners on the stove. (Don't worry, she hasn't burned herself since her birthday.) She understands most of what we're saying, but she doesn't understand why she can't touch the stove and why Mom and Dad are so mean when they say no to that. Any serious cooking or baking has to be done after Lauren goes to bed.

The last 3 or 4 days have been interesting around the house. Lauren and Chris have both developed a nasty, snotty, cold. I'm not quite sure how I've managed to avoid it. Maybe Chris has been getting more snotty, open-mouth kisses from Lauren than I have. It's probably only a matter of time.

Have a good week!

Forget last weekend, fans of Ohio teams

2007-11-14T19:00:00.001-05:00

Let's just say last weekend wasn't so great for fans of pretty much any Ohio sports team. OSU football, Columbus Blue Jackets, and the Cleveland Browns all lost. The Bengals won, though, and CC Sabathia won the Cy Young award for the American League. I guess it's not all bad.

I'm getting ready to watch the Jackets take on the Chicago Blackhawks. Cross your fingers...we got off to a good start but have lost 4 straight. Someday we'll have a good team.

Congratulations. You all read at a collegiate level.

2007-11-13T08:40:00.000-05:00

You'll notice a new icon on the right side of the screen showing that this blog's reading level is College (undergrad). I can't compete with Insource/Outsource, but hey, college level is pretty darn good for a family blog. (Thanks James!)

Even though I missed a day of posting, I'm still going to try to post daily. I'm not making any promises for Thanksgiving weekend, though. Too much tryptophan won't make for good blogging, although the pictures of Lauren eating her first Thanksgiving dinner will.

Have a good week!

I'm a failure.

2007-11-12T07:29:00.000-05:00

Apparently 10 days was all I could make it. Maybe I'll blame it on my rousing celebration of Veterans Day. Of course that would be lying. I just forgot.

To make up for it, some long overdue Lauren pictures!

Halloween

You may notice that the wings to the angel costume are practically strangling her. It's the only way we could get her to leave them on. The halo also stayed home. We made it to one house.

Getting ready for winter

Chris swears that second picture is Lauren, but I think he actually found a Lauren body double. She doesn't really look like that. Ever. Her hair does look like that most of the time, though. There's too much for it to lay nicely, but not enough to do anything with. Throw a hat into the picture and you end up with Donald Trump. Someday the pigtails will arrive.

Lauren's a big girl

2007-11-10T21:33:00.000-05:00

I've officially decided that Lauren is no longer a baby and instead is a little girl. It's a little sad to admit it, but at the same time it's pretty rewarding because I must have had something to do with it. Some ways that I know she's not a baby anymore:

1. She eats the same food I do.
2. She only naps once a day.
3. She wears shoes, and not just because they make her outfit look cute.
4. She points to things and then says what they are. Like the cats.
5. She throws tantrums. I'd be fine if she didn't do this one.
6. She meets me at the door when I come home from work.
7. She tickles me.

I could probably try to think of 3 more to complete a top ten list, but I'm drowning my sorrows from the Buckeyes' loss, so I'm not going to.

Go Blue Jackets.

TGIF

2007-11-09T08:09:00.000-05:00

This has been kind of a crazy week at work, so I'm definitely glad the weekend's here. I don't have any plans to do anything other than hang out with Lauren, and that's just fine with me. Oh yeah, and post on here once a day.

Okay, that's the true slacker post. Have a good weekend everyone!

I've made it a whole week!

2007-11-08T08:38:00.000-05:00

It is kind of satisfying to look at the listings of posts by month on the right side of the screen and see 7 for November as I begin this post. And I actually kind of like taking the time to write a little something every day. It makes me think about what's important and interesting in my life. Like planning for the holidays. I know, I just ranted a few days ago about how it's not time for the holidays yet. But apparently the evil marketing machine is getting to me and I've resigned myself to start thinking about Christmas now.

If you're like me, there's always at least one person you get stuck on, and all of a sudden its December 23rd and you still don't have a gift for them. In an effort to prevent the Bilek family from being your sticking point, below are some things we'd like as gifts. Not that you have to buy us a gift. Cards are fine.

Lauren
--board puzzles, the simple wooden ones with little handles on the pieces
--books! Just make sure the pages don't rip easily. She likes pop-ups, but understand that they will likely be ruined within a month.
--CDs. She's discovered music and dancing. Please no Barney. Please. Seriously.

Dan Zanes is good, though.

--clothes in size 24 months or 2T. She still has chunky thighs, so stretchy is good. I have yet to find a pair of jeans that will fit.
--bath toys
--deposits to a 529 plan
--cash

Chris
--gift certificates to Golfsmith. He would like to get some new clubs for next season, and can use his employee discount.
--black socks
--cash

Deena
--gift certificates to Ann Taylor Loft
--women's business tote that will hold a laptop. Hard to explain, but they basically look like big purses, and are much more stylish than my wheelie computer bag.
--books. I've been reading more lately, so if you have a book that you love, I'd love to read it
--cash

You'll notice that cash is listed for everyone. Some people feel cash is impersonal, but I'm not one of them. Every year Chris and I put together the cash we receive for the holidays to buy one larger gift the whole family can enjoy. Last year it was our new TV. A couple years before it was a digital camera. You get the idea.

So there it is. The 2007 Bilek Family Christmas Wish List. Happy Holidays!

Slacker post alert

2007-11-07T07:55:00.000-05:00

Sorry, nothing really good to report. Lauren's still waking up about 5:45-6am. I've gone from a relatively respectable 10pm bedtime to a 9pm bedtime, so apparently I should go hang out at the retirement home. And it's cold. Not Minnesota cold, but cold enough that I don't think we should take Lauren outside since we haven't bought her a winter coat or mittens yet. Not that I think she'll actually leave the mittens on her hands, but at least if they're in her vicinity it means I'm not necessarily a bad mother.

Have a good day!

Nigerian scams and a tired baby

2007-11-06T07:08:00.000-05:00

Hmm, which to start with first. I'll keep you waiting on the Nigerian scam.

First up, the time change. Usually I love "falling back." It seems like you get an extra hour of sleep, which is awesome. However, someone forgot to tell Lauren about that. This is the first time we've gone through a time change that's really affected her. She's aware enough now to know when it's time to get up and when it's time to go to bed. For the last few months you could set a clock to her nighttime sleep pattern: in bed at 7pm, out of bed at 7am. While 7am is still kinda early, especially on the weekends, we didn't really think we should complain since it was 12 continuous hours of sleep, something that seemed impossible about a year ago. Then the time change comes. Now we can't get her to stay awake until 7pm, and she's up at 6am. I suppose we should have started easing her into the change a few days ahead of it, but nobody told me that. None of my books, no websites, not the news, nothing. Argh. So, Chris is having fun trying to make her stay in bed until 7am, and I'm having fun trying to keep her awake until 7pm.

Last night it was actually pretty funny. Apparently when she gets really tired she likes to run laps around our kitchen. Then every once in a while she'll stop and just stare off into space, rubbing her head. It's like stopping makes the tired start. So then she's off running again. She also found it pretty entertaining to dig in Chris' belly button. Chris didn't appreciate it so much.

On to the Nigerian scam. You may have read about these, offically known as advance fee frauds. In a nutshell, you get an email from some guy in Nigeria, Sierra Leone, etc. offering to give you a portion of his fortune for helping him move it to an offshore account. What really ends up happening is you have to send money to some scammer and you never get the fortune. I had always heard about these and couldn't believe people actually fell for them. There are even people who have a hobby of messing with the scammers and getting them to do really crazy things. Turnabout's fair play, I guess. Well, one showed up in my junk mail box today. Woo hoo! I've officially been targeted. Sorry, Brooks Fung, you'll get no money from me. What scares me is that these freaks now have my email. Oh well, I guess they'll just deleted along with all the offers for Viagra I get.

Who am I?

2007-11-05T12:11:00.001-05:00

I'm spending my day today pitching my project at work to senior leadership, meaning VPs and above. It's kind of weird because I'm not really asking their permission to continue the project, but I still need their blessing in order to be successful. I have to be assertive and confident so that it doesn't appear that I'm asking whether I can do it, but deferential enough to show that I value and respect their opinions.

As I listen to myself in these meetings, I sometimes wonder how I've turned into the corporate robot I appear to be. Here are things I heard myself saying today:

"We've worked hard to make sure our cross-functional team is aligned across all touchpoints so the messaging is consistent."

"I appreciate your feedback on that point. I'll make sure I touch base with (insert name here) offline to make sure we address it."

"We'll just be covering the first 17 pages of the deck I sent this morning. The remainder is an appendix for your reference."

What? Do I really talk like that? I'm like a bad version of The Office or Office Space. What's worse is that's what's expected. Nobody can actually come out and say "Different departments worked together for once so we don't seem like idiots." Or, "Oh crap, I forgot to address that. I don't want to talk about it now, though." Or, "I could only get an hour on your schedule so we can't talk about everything I know about this, but I still want you to know it."

And I'm not even 30 yet. Oh dear.

When did November 1st turn into the day after Thanksgiving?

2007-11-04T18:49:00.000-05:00

Did I misplace my calendar? Did Congress pass some new act changing the date of Thanksgiving from the 3rd Thursday in November to November 1? Kind of like messing with the time change? Please tell me. Because I'm about to boycott Christmas.

Case #1:
It all started on October 30. Being the procrastinator that I am, Chris and I took Lauren to Target to buy her Halloween costume. I figured we'd get some good deals since we waited so late. We get to what used to be the Halloween section, only to find that it was now a tree farm. All Halloween stuff was moved to the endcaps (the things on the ends of the aisles), and all the Christmas trees, stockings, lights, snowmen, etc. was now in its place. In October. Even their website is holiday-fied.

Case #2:
I went to lunch at Olive Garden with my mom on Friday, November 2. Yummy salad and breadsticks. All was fine. Then the bill came, with the little Andes mints. I love those, so I snatched mine right up. Until I saw the wrapper. It had holly leaves on it and said "Happy Holidays."

Now, if the graphic was a pumpkin and turkey, it might not have bothered me, but holly leaves are a sure sign of Christmas.

Case #3:
On the Today show yesterday morning, they had a segment on how to find the right type of coat for your body. I know, earth-shattering news. When the models came out, they were standing in front of white Christmas trees.

"Winter Wonderland" was playing in the background. I suppose you could argue that "Winter Wonderland" is technically not a Christmas song, but when combined with traditional Christmas decor, I think it is. I turned the channel to SportsCenter.

I could go on and on. Maybe I'm oversensitive due to my past life working in retail, but I think it's gotten ridiculous. Stores had sales this weekend that are supposed to rival those of the traditional Black Friday. It's just not fun anymore.

I haven't made up my mind yet whether or not to boycott all things Christmas, such as card sending and gift giving. Maybe I'll just refuse to actually buy anything and just regift or hand make my gifts. That sounds like a lot of work, though. I'll keep you posted...

Go Bucks!

2007-11-03T21:50:00.001-04:00

OSU's still undefeated after beating Wisconsin 38-17 today. It wasn't the most impressive win this season, but a win's a win. Lauren had a little party at Grandma's house today, so Chris and I are enjoying a night off (Thanks Grandma!)

That's gonna be it for today. This posting everyday thing is hard.

Day 2, still going strong

2007-11-02T08:22:00.000-04:00

Woo hoo! I'm posting for my second day in a row. Something tells me this will get harder as the month goes on.

Today I'm going to brag on Nationwide for a bit. Nationwide is the title sponsor of the PGA's Nationwide Tour, a sort of minor leagues for the real PGA Tour. The Nationwide Tour Championship is being played at the Barona Creek Golf Club this week. That's in San Diego. Unless you've been living under rock, you know this area of the country was devastated by wildfires, started by some kid playing with matches. This is what Nationwide's doing about it:

Nationwide and the PGA TOUR created "Birdies for Relief," a program that will donate a minimum of $200,000 to the Red Cross Fire Relief Fund, established to provide direct support to victims of the recent wildfires. For every birdie made during the event held at Barona Creek Golf Club, Nationwide and the PGA Tour will donate $100 each, for a total of $200 per birdie. Both organizations have committed to a guarantee of at least $100,000 each or $200,000 total. The four-round championship begins on Thursday and ends on Sunday.

In addition to the donations made through the program, Nationwide donated 40 Pro-Am playing spots in support of local relief efforts. The Championship, via the Century Club of San Diego, which is managing the Tour at Barona Creek, extended invitations to San Diego firefighters to participate in the Barona Pro-Am. Twenty-eight will be participating, along with eight junior golfers from San Diego's First Tee Program, the Pro Kids Golf Academy. Each firefighter will be paired with a member of the Nationwide Tour.

The Century Club of San Diego also announced the decision to grant free admission to the Tour and encourage spectators to make a donation to the Red Cross Fire Relief Fund at the gate in lieu of a ticket purchase.

So there you go. Instead of trying to actually make money off the Tour's biggest event, the PGA and Nationwide are basically forgoing any profit and donating the money to charity instead. I think that's pretty cool.

NaBloPoMo

2007-11-01T08:08:00.000-04:00

What the heck is that? It's National Blog Posting Month. So, in an effort to spend every last minute of my day doing something other than working, playing with Lauren or watching TV, I'm gonna try it. Basically the goal is to get bloggers everywhere to post once a day for the entire month. Why? I don't know. It's the Internet. What this means to you is that you're probably going to learn more about the Bilek family than you ever wanted or needed to know.

On to family news, since it's been awhile. Last night was Lauren's first official Halloween. I don't count last year since she couldn't really do much other than eat, sleep and fill a diaper. This year didn't really count either. Yesterday Lauren decided she wasn't going to sleep much, so by the time 6pm rolled around, she was reallllllly crabby. We still stuffed her into her angel costume (purchased at Target the night before) and took her to the neighbor house across the street with her little plastic pumpkin. We had to practically glue the wings to her, and the halo had evil pokey things on the headband so we gave up on that. I'll post some pictures later tonight. She was sufficiently cute, even if she did scrape her knee on the driveway.

We also went to Tenzin's first birthday Oktoberfiesta over the weekend. The weather wasn't the greatest, but the food and company were. I've decided that first birthdays are really just preparation for what goes on Christmas morning.

Alright, I better stop before I run out of things to write about tomorrow.

More birthday pics...

2007-10-16T20:38:00.000-04:00

Thanks, James! Check 'em out.

Will she ever stop growing?

2007-10-10T15:08:00.000-04:00

Lauren's 12-month checkup was today. The latest stats: 28lbs. 11oz. and 32 3/4" tall. So let's see, in her first year of life she's gained 20.5 lbs. and has grown 12 3/4". If she continues at this pace, she'll weigh over 90 lbs. and be almost 6 feet tall when goes into kindergarten. Doesn't sound very attractive to me, although the average runway model is 5'9" and 110 lbs. Ick.

Anyways, Lauren is now the height of an average 21-month-old and the weight of an average 33-month-old (yes, that's almost 3 years old). No wonder we have problems finding pants to fit her. Her belly and badonka donk need a size 2T, but she only needs a size 18 month for length.

In other big news, we can now switch her off formula and on to whole cow's milk. Thank god.
How do I hate formula, let me count the ways:

1. $$$$$. Sure, she breastfed until she was about 3 months old, but then it was on to the regular Similac which ran about $24-26. At about 10 months we switched to the Similac Go & Grow, which was only $20. Yay. Figure that one can lasted less than a week, and you can see how it adds up.

2. The smell. I don't even know how to describe the hideous smell of baby formula. Let's just say that if I had to smell that every time I ate, I'd probably weigh about 50 lbs. less.

3. The powder. This powder sticks to everything.

4. The clumps. It never actually dissolves like it's supposed to, which means you end up with really gross clumps in the tip of the nipple.

5. The bubbles. The Go & Grow especially foamed up so much. And it's a weird foam that doesn't really move. Who knows what the crap is actually made from.

Sorry, Similac, time to find someone else to make money on!

Her next appointment isn't for another 4 months, so you'll have to wait until then for the next official update.

Maybe I'm the travel idiot?

2007-10-05T13:31:00.000-04:00

So, I'm going through security at the Houston airport and put my computer bag through. It gets a second inspection. They ran it through the x-ray a second time in Columbus, too, so I was wondering what the deal was. The TSA guy says, "Do you have a bottle of water in here?" I say, "No, not that I know of." Then he pulls out this:

He's holding it like a gun, and his eyes get all big and he says, "What is this?!?!?!" After I recover from thinking the TSA guy is robbing me, I calmly explain that it's an extra battery for my laptop, despite it's gun-like appearance. Here's the good part. Then, still holding it like a gun and waving it overhead, he yells over to the other TSA lady sitting about 45 feet away, "Hey, look at this!" She about falls out of her chair, and he got a good laugh out of that. I said, "Just remember, you're the one joking about it and not me." I was having visions of dying in handcuffs at the Houston airport, all because some idiot TSA guy thought my laptop battery was a gun.

Note to self: don't take that extra battery on the next flight. The nice thing is that I managed to inadvertently sneak a bottle of hand lotion, courtesy of the Hampton Inn, in my computer bag. He was too preoccupied with my "gun" to notice :)

Oh, and I did sit next to bare feet guy on the way back to Columbus. I don't know what it is with men and not wearing footwear on airplanes...

Air travel tips for idiots (or everyone I seem to get stuck with on an airplane)

2007-10-03T14:38:00.000-04:00

My recent flight to Houston reminded me of how frustrating traveling can be. Here are some of my most basic, common-sense recommendations for anyone getting on a flight:

1. Do not wear strong-smelling lotions, perfumes or colognes. Examples: patchouli, rose-scented lotion, any cologne or perfume that you can smell on yourself. (This is true: if you can smell your own cologne or perfume after you put it on, you're wearing too much). Not everyone is as much of a fan of Windsong as you are.

2. Keep your shoes on, unless specifically requested to remove them by a member of the Transportation Safety Administration or other law enforcement official. No one wants to smell that "perfume" either.

3. Don't bring strong-smelling meals on a plane unless you plan to share with the rest of us. Items such as Indian food, sauerkraut, etc. are not recommended.

*I apologize for the emphasis on smells. On the way down, I had all three of these at once (well, it wasn't bare feet but two German women sitting next to me, but it's pretty much the same idea).

4. If your "carry-on" luggage won't fit in the overhead compartment, give it to a flight attendant to gate check. Do not:
a) empty the entire bin of everyone else's appropriate sized carry-ons
b) repeatedly slam the door to the bin trying to make it fit
c) ask for help in cramming it into a space where it was never designed to fit.
Chances are it's not actually carry-on luggage, and you're just too lazy to go to baggage claim.

5. If you are traveling with many carry-on items and will take awhile to recover all of them, wait for the rest of the passengers to deplane. Do not hold up everyone from rows 6-25 so you can get all of your bags.

6. Go to the restroom before boarding the plane. For a normal adult, there is no reason to use the "restroom" on an airplane during a 1 hour flight.

7. Respect your fellow travelers' privacy. If they respond to your conversation starting attempts with nothing more than a smile and nod, or one-word answers with no eye contact, do not continue trying to start a conversation. They don't want to talk to you.

I thought about adding some tips regarding children, but that's a whole different ball of wax. Maybe some other time...

Is three days of birthday enough?

2007-10-01T09:51:00.000-04:00

From a parent's perspective, yes. From a child's, of course not! The birthday festivities are over, the Bileks are en route back to the Land of 10,000 Lakes, and Chris and I are sleepily dragging ourselves to work. Something about a birthday party just wears you out. Here's the day by day rundown of the Bilek family visit/birthday party/golf outing.

Day 1: The Actual Birthday, Thursday, September 27
Let's actually start at Day 0. As luck would have it, I had to travel to Cincinnati for work on Tuesday and Wednesday. Great timing. Nothing like being out town before guests arrive and when you have a party to plan. It does make for a good excuse to take time off work, though. I took the afternoon off to put a couple of finishing touches on the house and be there when the Bileks arrived around 3pm. We hadn't eaten yet, so we went to Red Robin for some linner (lunch and dinner, come on people).

Lauren wasn't so excited about the food, but did have fun with my bracelet and jump drive. Really, actual toys are overrated.

Lauren gave me a little present in the car seat on the way home, resulting in an early bath. Lauren opened a few presents from the Bileks and the Turnipseeds, and then she was off to bed. After a few drinks with the Bileks, we were all pretty much done. Kind of anti-climactic for the actual birthday.

Day 2: The Prep Day

Now the work really started. I did all the grocery shopping, made the food, and began my journey to create a hand-decorated monkey cake for Lauren. Remember, the kid really likes monkeys. Chris and his dad worked on filling in our patio. After we were all ready for a break, we went for a nice family dinner at Buca. Again, Lauren was nice enough to give me another present at the restaurant. Let's just say there's nothing like changing a yucky diaper in a restroom with 15 ten-year-old girls running around playing hide and seek/peek-a-boo in the restroom stalls. Joy. We came back home, made more food and crashed.

Day 3: The Party
There were really 4 important parts of the day.

The Cake

Thank god for the internet! I found a picture of a monkey cake online, complete with suggestions for how to make it. And I didn't completely mess it up. I guess all those years of helping my mom decorate cakes actually sunk in. Now, I didn't actually eat any of the cake. The gallon of buttercream icing that I ingested while decorating it pretty much filled me up.

The Birthday Girl

Apparently she feels pretty in a dress and a flower headband. I thought for sure that headband would be trashed before anyone actually arrived. Lauren did sample it, but I think she liked wearing it better than eating it.

The Birthday Girl and the Cake

Enough said. Except for one minor detail. We narrowly averted some serious burns due to Lauren's fascination with fire. Her fingers did go in the flame, but we managed to rescue them without too many tears. It's a wonder what cake can do to dry up tears.

The Presents
Everyone was way too generous. Our house looked like Christmas morning with all the toys and wrapping paper around.

We spent the rest of the afternoon playing with her new toys, and then watched the Buckeyes beat Minnesota. Sorry, Bileks!

Day 4: The Golf Outing
A visit with the Bileks wouldn't be complete without a round of golf for the men to finish out the weekend. Luckily I got to hang around the house with Mom Bilek for a more relaxing day, which was much needed after all the festivities. I hear the golfing was a little scary, but the weather was beautiful.

So, we're back to our normal lives. Although I'm writing this while I'm sitting in the airport waiting to fly to Houston. So, I guess it's not so normal after all. It was great to see all our family and friends there to share in Lauren's special day(s). Only 3 months until we go to Minnesota for Christmas!

UPDATE: More pictures in the Kodak Gallery!

Happy Birthday Eve!

2007-09-26T10:07:00.000-04:00

It's hard to believe that one year ago today I went to Riverside Hospital to kick my kid out of my belly. In case you can't remember a year back, I had to be induced since Lauren was apparently perfectly content being a parasite. My original due date was 9/19, and a week after that we took matters into our own hands (well, my doctor's anyways). 20 hours later, Lauren arrived and my life hasn't been the same since.

To put things in perspective, here's Lauren(with Tenzin) when she was a little over a month old...she's the one with the bow on the shirt:

Now, here's Lauren last weekend:

In the first picture she couldn't do much of anything, except eat, sleep and fill a diaper. Now she's walking. It's amazing that someone can change so much in such a short period of time.

We're really excited that Grandpa and Grandma Bilek are arriving tomorrow to begin 3 days of birthday festivities. They haven't seen Lauren since Memorial Day, when she wasn't even crawling yet. I can't wait to see how much they have with the wee one.

I'll post more after the monkey-themed birthday party on the weekend. Wish me luck in decorating a cake shaped like a monkey...I haven't used cake decorating tools in many years, so it will be an adventure!