New pictures

Finally got around to it. Check out the Kodak Gallery link on the right.

Yet another schedule change, laughs, and Vegas

Let's see, what all has happened in the last week and a half? We survived the snowstorm, and the ice that followed. We've now entered the Year of the Golden Pig, and who can forget the fun of celebrating President's Day?

On the baby front, we changed Lauren's schedule again. She's now eating 8 oz. of formula every 3 1/2 hours. Let's just say the little one likes to eat. She's still figuring out her nap schedule, but I think she's going to settle into a 1-hour nap in the morning and a 2-hour nap in the afternoon. She has a new favorite toy: the walker that Grandma bought for her. She likes to roll it down the hallway and pull the night light and air purifier out of the outlet on the wall. She also likes to pick Grandma's fake flowers out of the vase. She can also sit up on her own really well, and will throw a block back and forth with me or Chris. And the best news of all: she's finally laughing out loud. I've officially decided that it's the best sound in the world. She's always been such a happy baby, but it took her awhile to figure out how to laugh.

And the big news for me and Chris: we leave for Las Vegas in 6 days! I can't wait to have a grown-up vacation, never mind that it's in Vegas. I've never been, so I'm looking forward to eating, gambling and drinking. Oh yeah, and seeing Chris' sister, Brea, get married ;)

I'll get some pictures posted before the trip. We'll see some of you in about a week!

Yep. It snowed.

Okay, so they weren't lying. It isn't the storm of the century, but we have gotten about 6 inches of snow so far. Now we're into lovely sleet/freezing rain/grossness, and that's supposed to hang around for a few hours. Then another 4-6 inches of snow. How bad is it for Columbus? Nationwide shut down at 1pm today. Ohio State is closed, along with all the other colleges and universities in the area. We're under a Level 1 snow emergency right now, and several other counties are at a Level 2. I'm hoping for the grandaddy of them all, the Level 3. Anytime you can get arrested just for being on the roads, you know you have a good storm.
We'll try to get some pics up, but you know how bad we are with pictures.

The Storm of the Century!

Or at least that's what the news people would have you believe. We're expecting 4-8 inches of snow over the next day or so. (Minnesota readers may laugh again at our inability to deal with winter weather). The news coverage went something like this:

1. Catchy new "Tracking the Storm" logo and music.
2. Report from Franklin County snow barn, including information on how many snow plows and salt trucks will be on the road in Franklin County.
3. Report from Delaware County snow barn, including information on how many snow plows and salt trucks will be on the road in Delaware County. Yes, the same story twice.
4. Report on how none of the school districts have closed yet, but will make that decision in the morning. Duh.
5. Story on how people are buying snow shovels, bread and milk. By the way, why do people always buy bread and milk when there's a snow storm? I've never understood this.
6. Report from #2 meteorologist, live from the National Weather Center in Wilmington, OH.
7. Report from #1 meteorologist. The actual information we all wanted to hear.
8. The morning news program will start 1/2 hour earlier to give additional information on the storm. I would be very angry if I worked on this show. As if 5am isn't early enough to go on the air, now they have to go on at 4:30.
9. Repeat the above stories every 1/2 hour. This leaves about 10 minutes for all the other local and national news.

I can't wait for tomorrow's news stories. How much do you want to bet that it'll be the same exact thing?

Sorry, no baby update, just ranting about dumb news coverage.

Oh, and Happy Birthday to me :)

"Tiny"

Apparently Lauren's doctor is an amateur comedian. "Tiny" is the nickname he gave her at her appointment on Friday. Apparently that's funny when your 4-month old is 26 1/4" long and weighs 19 1/2 lbs. In case you're keeping track, that's off the charts for both height and weight. As in, she's not even in a percentile. But, she's proportionate so we don't need to sign her up for the fat farm just yet. She has a clean bill of health, and had four more shots and one immunization by mouth. Then I took off for the weekend and let Grandma and Chris deal with the aftermath. This will come back to bite me, I'm sure. From what I hear, she did fine, although she didn't sleep very well Saturday night. She's also coming down with a bit of a cold, but I think we all are, given the bitterly cold weather. This morning when I left the house it was -1, and -15 with the wind chill. Almost all the schools were closed due to the cold. (Those of you in Minnesota may now start laughing at our inability to deal with cold temperatures.)

We've got a fun week ahead of us. Chris and I are going to a Columbus Blue Jackets game on Thursday. By this time, we would have normally already gone to several games, but with the baby we just haven't had a chance. So, I'm excited to go watch our mediocre hockey team while Grandma watches Lauren. My birthday's also coming up in a week. It will be my first 29th birthday. One co-worker suggested I just start going backwards from here instead of staying 29 forever. Hard to believe I'm almost 30. That always sounded so old and grown-up, but I don't feel like either of those yet. I guess that's another one of those secrets our parents never told us.

Have a great week!