On to Indy!

Duke is finally heading back to the Final Four and we are all smiles in this house :) The alumni association even tempted me with an email offering tickets for next weekend's games. Of course I was tempted...but I'll be watching them from my 10' projection TV screen instead (probably have a much better view ;) Go Devils!!!

idol worship

Anyone who's spent time with Reese knows how much she loves music and usually stops what she's doing as soon as she hears anything from a grandfather clock to a commercial with a catchy jingle. It shouldn't surprise you, then, to hear that Reese's favorite show is American Idol. In fact, she loves it so much that she gets mad at us when other things are playing on TV and demands we switch it with "sing! sing!"

Maybe it's the catchy tunes they sing, maybe it's the dancing during some of the more powerful performances. Or maybe it's just that she really, really likes Ryan... Either way, it's pretty funny to watch Reese and her appreciation for all things musical. It could be a phase or it could be that we have a budding superstar on our hands. Maybe even a contestant for American Idol 2026?

letter to TSA

So this week I considered writing a letter to TSA about their inconsistent application of the 3-1-1 rule for carrying liquids through airport security. I consider myself an expert in this area after my experiences over the past 15 months or so. As some of you may know, TSA allows you an exemption to their 3-1-1 rule for juice or milk, both while you're traveling with an infant, and when you're not. This exemption has been in place for at least as long as I have cared (so more than a year). However, I have flown through no less than 15 different airports in the last year and have had a different experience in almost every one. Scarier yet is that I have a different experience in the same airport depending on which TSA person I encounter. While I have never been prevented from bringing my precious (and hard earned) milk through security I have spent varying levels of time (from a 30 second pause to a 20 minute delay while they scanned each one of the 40+ bags I was bringing through) delayed at the security checkpoint, often while TSA dude #1 talks to TSA dude #2 (or his supervisor) to figure out how to handle the crazy lady who's attempting to board a plane with a cooler full of milk. It's funny how often I get asked the question "Where is the baby?" Uhhh...the baby is clearly at home which is why I'm carrying this ridiculously large and heavy cooler through the airport. Maybe they think I just like to cart around milk for fun. I guess it frightens me that if our TSA employees aren't trained well enough to understand this rule and implement it consistently, what other (arguably much more important) rules are they also not following? For anyone reading this who may be looking for tips on how to make this process easier, I wish I had some. I have travelled with the milk in liquid form (to avoid it melting and being wasted). I have travelled with it frozen. I have travelled with some of each. It doesn't seem to matter. All has been accepted and all has made it home safe. The delay time at the checkpoint is completely up to the individual TSA employee and their interpretation of the rules. I've had everyone from the 20-something guy who takes one look at me and (displaying signs of being slightly grossed out) ushers me through with a "You're good" to the "I'm going to follow our rules by the letter" guy who has taken out each and every bag from my cooler and scanned them all for explosives (and I carry 30-40 at a time). I wish I could say there was an easy way to do it but, at least in my experience, easy and TSA don't usually go together.

So yes, I considered sending in a letter but then I got busy playing with my kids that I haven't seen all week and decided against it :)

Plan B

So here is Plan B. We decided to go straight to the toddler bed (good thing we got the convertible crib, huh?) Reese slept in it for awhile last night and then rolled out onto the floor around 2am. We're going to keep at it and get her used to being in her own bed but we did move the crib/bed into our room to make things easier for her and for us.Like my bed head?

Now you see me...

Now you don't

And now you see why we don't put anything under the sink :)

Reese has found it's much more efficient to just play INSIDE the toy bins
Reese playing with her friend Tyler

Reese likes to read books to Asher
Asher celebrating Duke's 2010 ACC Championship and their #1 seed
Asher seems to like Reese's new bed...yes, we're starting him early :)
Smiling for Dad

Our little monkey

Well Operation get-Reese-to-sleep-in-the-crib was pretty much a complete failure. After assembling the crib last night and starting a good routine of bath, then book reading, then bed, we left Reese in her new crib (in her own room). She cried for about 10 minutes and it was pretty heart-wrenching to hear "Mommy! Mommy" (with choking sobs in between each one). I see now why it's better to train them to do this before they can say your name :)

Anyway, CK and I were both in our bedroom debating on how long to let her cry when we heard a thump. I started walking towards Reese's room to see what had happened and there she was walking down the hallway to see ME. Yes, despite the crib mattress on the lowest setting and the rails all the way up, Reese managed to climb out of her crib within the first 15 minutes. Hmmm...

Plan B, anyone?

where I work

In case you’re curious, this is the hospital that I’m currently working in. In fact, if you watch the video, the hallway that they’re in at the end (with the lovely orange tile) is where I walk 10 or more times a day. Anyway, if you’ve been keeping up with the healthcare reform debate, Intermountain has been cited by everyone (including the President in many speeches) as a model for balancing quality and cost of care. They do it better than almost anyone else in the nation. This project for me is less of a “they’re in real trouble so let’s fix them” and more of a “good to great” challenge. Somewhat ironically, the video focuses on the example of how c-sections cost the healthcare system so much more than regular deliveries so I guess I'm not doing my part to keep costs down!

back to work

Yesterday was my first day back at work. It was a long, exhausting day. A different kind of long, exhausting day than I'm used to :) I'm trying to prepare for the project I'm starting on Monday while also doing the work I'm assigned to in PDX this week and pretend to carve out time to "catch up" with everyone who wants to catch up with me. Oh yeah, and sleep and maybe squeeze in a workout and a meal or two. However...

I did sleep 6 hours in a row last night without waking up once.

Now I am a waker. Meaning even when I didn't have kids I usually wake up a few times a night, see the clock and roll over and go back to sleep. But I was so exhausted last night that I hit the pillow and didn't see the clock again until my alarm went off for my run this morning. And despite the early hour it said on the clock, I felt fabulous and got right up with only a minor hesitation about pressing the snooze button.

As I've said, though, I have the easy end of things. CK said the first day with the kids went pretty well. Asher is doing great with the bottle and slept quite a bit (unfortunately, during the day so we'll see how last night went). Jen watched the kids last night so he could play basketball which I'm sure was a nice break.

So far so good. I'm sure in a few weeks this will all be our new routine but right now we're both still adjusting to the new days (and nights).