Otter

I was reading an article in Time today about Yasuni National Park in Ecuador. Some scientists consider this area to be the most biodiverse spot on the planet. What I found the most amazing is that the park is home to 28 threatened or near threatened vertebrate species. One of these species is the giant river otter which can grow to nearly 7 feet. Wait, what? SEVEN FEET?! Holy crap, that's huge. Can you imagine seeing an otter that's 7 feet?

What I learned: The giant river otter can grow up to 7 feet long.

Avery is sick AGAIN!

Avery slept much better last night, however when he woke up, his breathing was really a lot worse. I didn't want to end up going to the ER again tonight so we decided to take him to the doctor right away this morning. Turns out, he has bronchiolitis...again, which is basically baby bronchitis. He was given a steroid, an antibiotic and an inhaler so that we could give him breathing treatments from home. The inhaler seems to help a lot and I'm glad we have one at home now to use in case he gets sick again. He is breathing almost normally already after just one treatment. I can't wait for him to stop getting sick all the time.

What I learned: Avery has bronchiolitis again.

No Sleep

Last night, Avery had a really bad night. I think he is coming down with something as he was having problems breathing. This resulted in Jared and I not getting any sleep whatsoever. We were supposed to go to church and sing for choir as well as have practice for motet choir but we were zombies. Thankfully, my wonderful mother said she would watch Avery so Jared and I could go back to bed and actually sleep (who on earth knows how Avery was awake and functioning!). We each slept about 3.5 hours and then got up. It made me remember back to my college days when I could easily pull all-nighters and function completely normally. Now I am not only ridiculously tired if I don't get enough sleep (which actually is almost every night anyway) but I seriously am incapable of functioning, thinking straight, etc. I felt so old that I could no longer just pull it together. Thank God my mom could watch Avery so we could at least get some sleep, otherwise, I'm sure my son would have been in danger if I had to watch him! I'm hoping this doesn't happen tonight again...

Trifle

Tonight I went to my friend Angela's house to watch Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II in Maximum Movie Mode on Blu-ray. We all decided to make something Harry Potter related for the party. I borrowed The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook from my other friend Christine and quickly decided on making homemade Raspberry Trifle. This involved making homemade yellow cake and homemade custard. While the recipe called for strawberries and strawberry jam, I had homemade raspberry jam from Jared's parents as well as raspberries from their garden, so I used those instead. The outcome was delicious and satisfying. I wish I had taken a picture.

What I learned: How to make homemade trifle.

Burt's Bees

I really like Burt's Bees Diaper Ointment so when I finally ran out of everything I had received from my baby shower (yes, it all lasted for 16 months), I went to Target to buy more. Of course, they were out. On top of that, it was about $10 for a 2oz tube of it! Granted, I know it lasts a long time, especially because Avery isn't prone to getting diaper rashes, but still, it's way more expensive than other brands (but still worth it in my opinion). Then I looked at Walmart and they don't even carry it. My next idea was to look online since I was buying a bath net for him online anyway (as I couldn't find one of those in the store either.). Well good thing Target was out because I found a 3oz tube online for $9.78 with free shipping!

What I learned: Burt's Bees diaper ointment is cheaper online.

More babies!

This morning Avery and I went to playgroup. We haven't been in awhile because a)there hasn't been one lately and b)Avery missed the last two because he was ill. This playgroup had the biggest turn out of any playgroup we've ever had. There were 19 kids there I think! I met some new moms as well as meeting some new babies. One of my friends who was due to have her baby sometime in January showed up with her baby and I had no idea she had had him yet! I felt completely out of the loop but it's my own fault because I haven't been on facebook for weeks and that's the only way I would have found out anyway. It made me realize that as dumb as it might sound, I really need to keep up with facebook more as it's how I remain in contact with so many people and how I find out news, like people having babies!

What I learned: My friend had her baby a few weeks ago (and I completely missed it!).

Sam's Club

Jared and I buy a lot of organic food, especially produce. Awhile ago, my dad bought a family membership at Sam's Club, giving us the second card, so we could save some money. We were only there for a little bit and I didn't see anything organic there, and since Pick n' Save is just two blocks from our house, we usually just go there to grocery shop since they have a wide selection of organic food (in fact, Roundy's brand often is the only organic option available, which is great because it's generic so the organic is oftentimes cheaper than the regular brand name option).

Yesterday we went to my dad's house for the day and he had these giant containers of salad from Sam's club that were organic. This is the exact kind of salad we usually buy at Pick n' Save. Apparently they do have organic food there, I just didn't see it. So since we need to go grocery shopping anyway, Jared and I are going to go to Sam's Club tomorrow to see what else they have. It would be great if we could save more money on food!

What I learned: Sam's Club sells organic food.

Pregnancy Fog

So I have mentioned this before, but I take notes in my phone every day to keep track of the things I learn and then when I have time, I catch up on this blog, writing a few at a time. It started out that I would write on this blog every three or four days and slowly, it has turned into waiting a week or ten days between writing. This is getting very difficult for me because even though I take notes as to what I learned, I find that I'm not able to remember what my notes mean sometimes! Or I write down something simple that I learned but I don't remember where or how I learned it. I really need to get better at writing more often so that I don't have to remember things from 10 days ago. I have to remember that the memory fog of pregnancy is real and that I suffer greatly from this!

What I learned: The longer I wait to write posts, the harder it is to remember what I actually learned each day.

Sushi!

Today, Jared and I were so graciously invited to go out to lunch for Sushi with our friends, the Jacobson's. We went to Fujiyama in Brookfield. It was delicious. I LOVE sushi. Apparently, the sushi menus we got are special lunch prices for Mondays and Tuesdays, and you can get a roll anywhere from $3.75-$8.00 instead of $8.00-$16.00 that they usually cost! They also have a Maki Lunch Deal where you can choose any three rolls of sushi for $11.75 and it comes with soup and salad as well. What a great deal for sushi! Once Jared and I have disposable income (so...when we're 65...), I think we will plan to go there more often. If you love sushi, you can't pass up this deal!

What I learned: Fujiyama has great lunch deals on Mondays and Tuesdays.

Super Bowl Rematch

Today the two football games were played to decide who was going to the Super Bowl. I find myself extremely apathetic this year for some reason. And now the outcome of the two games-with the Patriots and Giants being the winners-seems boring to me. These two teams just played each other 4 years ago in 2008. According to some websites, the 2008 Super Bowl was one of the most entertaining Super Bowls ever played. Really? I don't really remember.

What I learned: Super Bowl XLVI will be played by the Patriots and the Giants.

Newt Gingrich Wins SC

To the surprise and amazement of everyone, Newt Gingrich not only won South Carolina, but he got 40% of the vote. A lot of political commentators are saying his surge there was due to his performance in the debate where he demeaned the debate moderator by berating him for starting a presidential debate by asking him a question about his ex-wife (whom days earlier, in an interview, said that Newt asked her to enter into an open marriage so that he could continue his 6 year affair with Calista, his now third wife). While his point about the media demonizing politicians and digging up crap on them is valid, it is also valid to point out that someone who is running on the sanctity of marriage is a complete hypocrite. I especially enjoyed Newt's comment about how he could think of nothing more despicable than starting a presidential debate with something so tawdry incredibly funny. Um Newt, I can think of something more despicable-how about leaving your first wife who's dying of cancer for your mistress, then leaving that one after she was diagnosed with MS for your second mistress...and then on top of that, claiming that you want to uphold the sanctity of marriage. I'm pretty sure that you sir, have done some pretty despicable things in your past. What surprises me is that the conservative base seems to either not care or have forgotten this and instead are steadfast supporters of him as a great moral conservative. Hmm.

What I learned: Newt Gingrich won the South Carolina primary.

Ticket to Ride: Nordic Countries

Tonight I got to go to Game Night while Jared stayed home with Avery (we decided to try switching off going for awhile so at least one of us can play games uninterrupted for an entire night!). While there were only three of us there (Karen, Gary and me), I had a lot of fun. We played 5 games, including one new one I hadn't played before-Ticket to Ride: Nordic Countries. The rules are basically the same as Ticket to Ride with just a few variations. The game can only be played with 2 or 3 people. I really liked this version because it was different enough from the first one to present challenges (like people blocking your routes; trying to find your cities on the new map) and the routes were shorter which meant you went for a lot more routes throughout the game. There were also tunnels and ferries in some of the routes, which required different cards to complete. And the best thing was, I won! I actually won 3 of the games we played, which is amazing for me.

What I learned: How to play Ticket to Ride: Nordic Countries.

Rick Perry Out

The GOP field narrows. Rick Perry dropped out of the race today. Not only that, but he endorsed Newt Gingrich. This primary season is turning out to be quite interesting. No one seems to know what's going on or what's going to happen! Who will win the South Carolina primary on Saturday is anybody's guess.

What I Learned: Rick Perry is out of the race.

Rush n' Crush

Blake came over this morning to play games. After I annihilated Jared and Blake in a rousing game of Agricola (50 to 23 t0 12), it was decided that we should learn one of our new games. Jared really wanted to learn Rush n' Crush, so we went with that. It is a racing game that involves getting your car/driver around the racetrack before everyone else. There are obstacles that you have to "drive" around and you can inflict damage upon other cars by ramming them, etc. It' a pretty cool game but would be better with more than three people. Blake got ahead of us after the second turn and was so far ahead that we couldn't catch up to him and there were no collisions of any kind. It seems there is a lot more to the game when you add in the collisions so if there aren't any, then that aspect of the game is lost. With more players, there would be a lot more opportunity to crash into other cars and walls, etc. Overall it was a fun game and we liked how varied it can be (in length and in difficulty) based on how you decide to lay the track. I hope to play it with more people soon.

What I learned: How to play Rush n' Crush.

Colbert for President!

I think I mentioned in a previous post how Stephen Colbert is going to try to run for President in South Carolina. Well today he announced that he couldn't get on the ballot because the deadline for filing was 2.5 months ago. Also in South Carolina, the ballots are closed meaning that a)once you are on the ballot, you can't get off of it and b)they do not allow write-ins. It looked like Stephen Colbert was in a pickle!

Enter in Herman Cain. Cain filed to be on the South Carolina ballot months ago but has now dropped out of the race. This means that he is still listed on the ballot. So Stephen Colbert has declared that a vote for Herman Cain is a vote for Colbert and this is how he will gauge interest in his running for President. I hope that Herman Cain gets a huge percentage of votes in South Carolina now :)

What I learned: While Colbert can't officially be on the ballot in South Carolina, he is more or less using Herman Cain to get voters to vote for him anyway. I wonder how many people will vote for Herman Cain, thinking they are actually voting for Herman Cain. Teehee.

Tolls and Mr. Jack Pocket

Today, Blake, Ken, Gary, Jared and I drove down to Board Game Barrister at Gurnee Mills for their awesome game sale (see post from the 12th). Upon arrival we soon realized that they really didn't have that much left in stock that we had heard of or that were on our lists. We looked up a lot of games online to see ratings, etc and finally decided on five new games (buy two, get three free!). Here are the games we purchased:

-Mr Jack Pocket
-Martian Fluxx
-Rush n' Crush
-In the Name of the Rose
-Megacorps

Ken and Blake got one game each while Gary got three. All in all, it was worth the trip. However, we found out on the ride down (too late of course) that apparently as of January 1st, the tolls in Chicago on 94 went up. The first toll, which I believe used to be $1.50, is now $2.80! I hate taking 41 but man, it looks like I'll have to do that from now on. Either that or buy an I-Pass.

After Avery went to bed today, mom agreed to learn Mr. Jack Pocket with me. This is a 2 player game based off of the board game Mr. Jack which is about Sherlock Holmes trying to catch Jack the Ripper. This pocket version of the game only takes 15 minutes and is really easy to learn but requires a lot of logic, so we both really liked it. Only four more games to learn!

What I learned: The tolls in Chicago almost doubled; how to play Mr. Jack Pocket.

Taxes

Jared and I filed our federal taxes today! This year has been the simplest year to file since we've been married (which I know isn't saying much since we've only filed taxes three times, but still). We only had one W-2 to enter! The few other forms we needed (like student loan interest 1098s) were already online so we downloaded those and were able to complete our taxes very quickly. However, we thought we would have our refund by the end of the week, but apparently the IRS doesn't accept e-filed returns until the 17th, which means it is waiting in IRS la-la-land until Tuesday when it will then be processed; we should get our refund by early next week. It feels great to have it done. Now we just have to file our state taxes which should take all of 30 minutes. Awesome.

What I learned: The IRS doesn't accept tax returns until January 17th.

Sushi, Rum, Pirates and Robots

The Sonnenbergs came over today to play games and I learned three new ones: Wasabi, Rum & Pirates, and Robo Rally. I really liked all three but think that I liked Wasabi the best (the game involves making sushi recipes; it also made me really hungry for sushi). Rum & Pirates had the coolest theme of the three while Robo Rally proved to be the most challenging, mostly due to the fact that I kept miscalculating where my robot would end up between moves which ran me off the board three times! Overall, it was a great game day.

What I learned: I learned how to play three new games.

Bagels

Jared decided he wanted to make bagels in our bread machine today. I guess I had seen the recipe before in the booklet that came with the bread machine but never once thought to make them. Seeing as we eat a lot of bagels, it seemed like a good idea. If we can make bagels at home, that could save us some money. So Jared put in all the ingredients for the dough and when it was finished, he formed the dough into bagel shaped portions. Since he had to leave for work, it was my job to complete the bagels.

After letting the bagels rise for 45 minutes, I had to boil them in water, three at a time, for 3-4 minutes on each side. Then I placed them on a greased pan and put cinnamon and sugar and half of them (yum) and cheese on one more of them. Since I didn't know if that's how you actually make bagels with cheese, etc on them, I figured I would try it. Then four of the bagels were left plain. I baked them for 20 minutes and they were ready!

Looks like the cheese kinda burned to the pan and the sugar kinda caramelized a bit but they tasted delicious. Looks like there will be a lot more bagel making in the future.

What I learned: How to make homemade bagels.

Board Game Sale

Jared sent me a text today from work to let me know that Board Game Barrister, a board game store at Gurnee Mills, was going out of business and was having a massive sale until they closed shop on January 22nd. How good of a sale? Well you could either buy one game and get a second half off, or you could buy two games and get three for free. Wait...what?! Seriously? Looks like we might have to make a trip down to IL for some serious game buying.

What I learned: There is an awesome game sale going on at Board Game Barrister.

GOP in New Hampshire

Since the modern primary system began 35 years ago, Mitt Romney is the only Republican candidate to win the primaries in both Iowa and New Hampshire. Granted, he only won Iowa by 8 votes, and republicans still don't seen to really want him as their candidate. While a third win in South Carolina on January 21st should mean that he has clinched the nomination, because of new rules about how the delegates are divided amongst the top three candidates, he won't be able to declare victory until May at the earliest. I wonder how many more debates there will be...

What I learned: Mitt Romney won the New Hampshire primary. 

Liberace

My mom is reading a biography of Liberace and yesterday I learned some interesting things while talking to her about it. First of all, for some reason I thought he was maybe 10-15 years older than Elton John, but he was born in 1919, which makes him older than my grandpa (except that he's dead; Liberace is dead I mean, not my grandpa)! I had no idea. I knew he was from the great city of West Allis (that stallion!) but learned that he grew up in a house on National Avenue across the street from the Veteran's Administration building, which is a little over a mile from my house. I also learned that at age 2, he would listen to his 8 year old sister practice piano and then just play it back perfectly. Age 2 people. While everyone knows Liberace is a piano player, I guess I always saw him first as a crazily sequined man of the stage who also played piano. But by age 7 he got a scholarship to go to the Wisconsin College of Music. Age 7!!

What I learned: Liberace was a musical genius.

Income Inequality

I was reading Time today and there was a page about the economy showing a map of the U.S. color coded to show income inequality. The northeast and south have growing gaps in income inequality while the midwest scores the best as a region. But here's the kicker: want to know the most income equal city in the U.S.? It's Sheboygan, WI. Let me repeat that. Sheboygan.

Those of us who live in Wisconsin can see the comedy in this.

What I learned: Sheboygan is the most income equal city in the entire United States.

I Forgot

This has become a very familiar phrase for me as of late: "I forgot." I find that I have to say it more than usual and it's really starting to frustrate me. I was never one to remember everything anyway, but now that I'm pregnant, it seems that I forget A LOT.

For example, today I forgot to go to a friends' daughter's birthday party. We received the invitation for it over a month ago, I RSVPed, put it on the calendar, and then...forgot to go. And you know what we were doing all day today? Nothing. We sat around, watched some football, I cleaned/rearranged our bedroom...nothing of importance that would cause me to forget a birthday party. I just thought of things to do to occupy my time since it seemed like we had nothing to do all day. I felt so bad and stupid and annoyed.

What I learned: I am apparently even more forgetful than normal whilst pregnant, and it's even worse this time around.

Ricky Gervais

Many of you have seen the British Office and are therefore familiar with Ricky Gervais. I would presume that if one were to describe him to someone who was unaware of his person, you might use terms that would reflect that he is a larger man, chubby perhaps. Well tonight I was watching TV and saw a commercial for the Golden Globes. Ricky Gervais is hosting again this year and to my surprise, he is skinny. I mean, I almost didn't recognize that it was him at first except that the voice was undeniably Ricky Gervais'. It's not that he was so large before that it was unbelievable that he lost maybe 25-30 pounds, it's just that he looked the same for so long and now he looks so...slim. After the commercial, my mom declared, "He was funnier when he was bigger." Haha. It probably just wasn't a very good commercial.

What I learned: Ricky Gervais lost weight.

Far Far Away

Today, Avery's crib got moved down to his own bedroom on the first floor. Since we are expecting a new baby in May, we figured it was time for Avery to move to his own bedroom and we thought this would give us/him plenty of time to adjust and transition. He has always been either in our bed or in his crib, which is 15 feet away from our bed. Most nights he sleeps in a little of both. He has always been just a few steps away should he need me. Now that he is actually in his room in the crib I am feeling incredibly anxious about the whole thing. He is after all only 15 months old (as of today!) and has yet to ever even come close to sleeping through the night. I am beginning to wonder if this is all happening a little too soon. But then I think, it's probably just happening too soon for me, not for Avery. We are hoping that the introduction of a more distinct bedtime routine and having his own room will help him to sleep better and we will have less night wakings. Only time will tell.

In the meantime, I will lay anxiously in bed with the baby monitor on high so I can be sure to hear him the second he wakes up and needs me. I am so afraid he will wake up and freak out because he won't be able to see us and know we are right there for him. I have no idea how parents have their kids in a separate bedroom since birth. This is seriously torturing me. He's not just in another room; he's on a different floor from us! I would not have chosen this but seeing as our house only has two bedrooms, we don't really have a choice. It's either our bedroom, or his own bedroom on a different floor. This makes for one sad and anxious mommy :(

What I learned: I am not comfortable with the idea of Avery being in his own room so far away from me, even though I know it has to happen eventually and the sooner he's used to it, the sooner I can sleep better at night before the new baby comes.

Chronology of the Bible

So I am reading the Bible chronologically this year with the help of the Bible app on my phone which reminds me to read every day but also has a daily plan so that I can read it in one year. I chose the chronological plan because I have never done it and thought I would enjoy the historical aspect of this type of Bible reading.

So the first few days I read Genesis (obviously) and then after Genesis 11, it suddenly went to the book of Job. I had no idea that Job happened so early! So basically Job comes right before everything with Abram. I wonder how many more times this will happen, leaving me surprised.

What I learned: Job's story happens chronologically before Abram's.

Iowa GOP Results

I don't know how many of my readers follow politics but I gather that you have figured out that I do. So I was very curious to see the results of the Iowa caucuses from yesterday. And boy was I surprised. Mitt Romney only won by 8 votes, followed closely behind by...Rick Santorum? What?! Where on earth did that come from? I have been following semi-closely and it seems that no one saw this one coming, not only because Romney only won by 8 votes, but that the second place person wasn't Ron Paul or Newt or even Rick Perry. I was also a little surprised that Michelle Bachmann got in last place but am not sad that she is leaving the race. It will be really interesting to see what happens in New Hampshire next week now.

What I learned: Rick Santorum apparently is surging as a candidate, coming in second place in Iowa by only 8 votes.

Halfway There!

Today, Jared and I went to my 20-week appointment and to get the ultrasound. I will admit that I was starting to feel a little worried because I haven't really felt the baby move yet and I just felt like something was different from when I was pregnant with Avery. Then when my midwife was trying to find the heartbeat, it took her three minutes! Finally she found it. This was such a relief and she said it seemed like the placenta was in front and the baby was behind it, which made it hard to hear/find the heartbeat. The baby was also way lower than she expected, which just means that it took her longer to find it because she was looking higher.

At the ultrasound, the tech confirmed that the placenta had implanted itself in front this time (with Avery, it was posterior), which means that every time the baby moves, the placenta acts as a cushion, which is why I haven't been feeling the baby yet! I felt so relieved that I wasn't crazy and that there was a reason why I felt things were different. The baby was also sitting breech with it's head up and sitting cross legged. The baby's feet were basically just sitting on my cervix, which was another reason I haven't felt any kicks. All of these things are completely normal, it is just very different than how Avery was positioned.

I can't believe that I am 20 weeks already! They did move my due date to May 25th (from the 18th) based on the size of the baby, but I'm fine with that-it means more time for them to not intervene!

What I learned: My instincts were correct that something was different with this pregnancy. The baby is also perfectly healthy and normal!

Rose Bowl

While I didn't get a chance to watch the game at all, I heard that very sadly, Wisconsin lost to Oregon in a close game. The game also set a ton of records:

• Most Points scored in 1st Half of Rose Bowl (Both teams): 56 pts
• Longest Rushing TD in Rose Bowl: 91 yd De'Anthony Thomas (Oregon)
• Most Points scored in regulation in Rose Bowl (Both teams): 83 pts
• Most Rushing TD over 60 yds in Rose Bowl: 2 TDs De'Anthony Thomas (Oregon)
• Most First Downs in Rose Bowl (Both teams): 45

Looks like it would have been a great game to watch. Oh well. Michigan plays Virginia Tech tomorrow in the Sugar Bowl, and I won't forget to watch that game!

What I learned: Oregon beat Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl.

A Scary Incident

I got a text from my Aunt Marie today asking me to tell my mom to call her brother Jack as my cousin Jace (age 15) was in the hospital (she is in the Czech Republic visiting her dad). I thought that maybe he was in the hospital again regarding his previous two foot surgeries, that maybe he just had an infection or something related to that. Boy was I wrong.

Apparently a few days ago, Jace had the same sort of virus that Avery had, which caused him to contract illness-induced asthma. He was prescribed medicine and an inhaler I think. Then today, he was having a hard time breathing so Jack decided to take him to urgent care. On the way there however, Jace passed out in the car, turned blue and his eyes rolled to the back of his head! They made it to the hospital and they had 10 people working on him to stabilize him. He had to be put on a ventilator because he wasn't breathing on his own since his airways were so compromised. He also had to be put on a feeding tube and they decided to try to keep him unconscious for 7-10 days. At this point, they have no idea if he will incur any brain damage from the lack of oxygen during the drive to the hospital. I am praying that he will be ok and that Avery's doesn't get anywhere close to being that severe!

What I learned: My cousin is in the hospital trying to recover from a similar virus that Avery had. Please pray for his recovery.

UPDATE: I am adding this update to this post on Tuesday, 3rd January. Jace is doing wonderfully! He turned around incredibly fast. As of today, he is no longer on the ventilator or the breathing tube. He is talking and acting completely normal, so there is no brain damage! He gets to leave the hospital tomorrow after they do some allergy tests to make sure that he didn't have an allergic reaction and that it was indeed just an illness-induced asthma attack.