i'm just sayin is all...

what the bishops are up to...

2010-03-21T20:29:00.000-07:00

We bishops have been snuggled away for the winter. the cold and snow and grayness of west michigan has had us almost ready to go stir crazy. I am not a cold weather person so Lorens and I did not go outside much (ok, like not at all if I'm being honest)... So we have been so excited with the warm weather the past couple weeks. What a beautiful start to spring! To bring you up to speed...
LORENS
He is growing like a weed. Mostly just upwards though. He is pretty tall for a 16 month old - in the 85%! (He doesn't get that from me.) He's still sporting his poofy, duckie-like blond hair, (although now growing into quite the mullet...I don't even care)... He is getting a mouth full of teeth (much to my dismay)... and usually has a smattering of bumps/bruises/scratches/cuts all over his little body. He had his first bad fall about a month ago which ended up in 3 stitches right above his eye. Pretty traumatic for a fifteen month old...and for his mama since josh was in CA at the time. He still owes me for that somehow. These things don't faze Lorens though. He's onto the next death defying experience as fast as his little legs can carry him. He is running and climbing all over the place. I'm still finding out that nothing is safe from him. I walked into our living room a few weeks ago to find him dancing in the middle of a room completely covered in smashed rice chex cereal. I promise you he wasn't alone for that long...he's quick. He is learning all his animal noises and is getting quite good at them. He is also learning to say the names of everyone in the family. He will so far say MorMor (sounds like MoMo), FarFar (yaya), Kirsten (Keeteh), Ben (buh), Matt (mah), Grandma (ganah). Sorry everyone else, its still a no go. If it makes you feel better, I'm a solid "mama!" at home (yes, an exclamation mark was added because he never says it without yelling it), but "dada!" out in public. what does that mean? :) He's also working on his ABC's - he'll repeat alot of the letters to us. He's starting to repeat a lot of what we say, which is the cutest thing ever, when he's never done it before. Today we gave him a teething biscuit and Josh called it a cookie, and Lo yelled "cookah!!!" His favorite foods are raisins, blueberry pancakes, spaghetti squash, sweet potatoes, berries, avocado/beans and his "green monster cereal" which is oatmeal/applesauce/and a kale, collards, chard mixture. He loves to sing, booty dance, "read", color, and basically destroy my house in his path. I love a clean house, so this is my biggest frustration. Josh likes to take pictures of what the house looks like when he comes home because it is that ridiculous looking. Aaahhh, and I'm proud to say that MY son loves shoes. He DID get this from me. He got some green rain boots for christmas (thanks mere!) that he has insisted on wearing everywhere the past couple weeks. He actually likes picking out his clothes and shoes already...i love this kid! He is super quirky, sweet, joyful, stubborn, and cracks us up constantly! There is never a dull moment here.
MICHELE
I am still working part-time and am really happy to be doing something I love, and am good at. I'm mostly happy to have a good job in this economy! Josh and I are thankful for this all the time. Aside from taking care of my little jumping bean, and working, I decided to train for the Riverbank 25k run in May! I started really training in January and quickly realized that training for an almost 16 mile run is almost like having another part-time job! I got up to 10 miles this weekend. I'm running somewhere around 9 minute miles, which is good - I surprise myself everytime I'm able to add another mile and I don't die at the end. Although I've been a runner for like 13 years, running this type of distance is something I never thought I could or would want to do - and I'm doing it! I'm planning to do this race with my dad which is my main inspiration for doing this run - I've always wanted to run a race with him. Its no Chicago Marathon, but will do the trick!
JOSH
Is still working full-time at Mars Hill and loving it. He has been doing the job of student ministries (5-12) pastor for about 2 years now. He also took the plunge this past winter and applied to Michigan State's Master's of Social Work program. He just had his interview 2 weeks ago and is now waiting to hear if he got in - they only accept about 25 people per year - we'll know by the first week of April whether our lives are going to drastically become double busy. It's an online program so at least he doesn't have to commute very much! The program will take him 3 years to do - so we'll be in Michigan for a while longer! (boo...but happy to stay with friends who are like our family and keep living in a city that we are in love with.) Josh also just recently ended a 4 year battle with chronic knee pain from a pretty devastating basketball injury. After what seems like a hundred doctors and therapies, he got fitted for some custom orthodics (he won't tell me how much they cost, probably wise...) and it seems like they are really doing the trick! no pain and no swollen knee - praise God!

~mb

september summary

2009-11-02T17:21:00.000-08:00

sorry for my blogging absence! Its been a busy fall and I have a hard time finding the energy to go through pictures and update my blog! But here is a wrap up of September!

Lorens had a tragic fall right around Labor day when he started taking his first steps. He was standing and playing in his carseat (under his dad's supervision...) and took a nosedive into our sidebar. Below is what resulted... A goose egg and a dark welt. It looks worse than it was. It never bled but scabbed and is still healing over a month later. It kind of blends in with the rest of his bumps and bruises now... I have a very active child...

I rediscovered my hotsling wrap that I bought before I had Lo. I had all the best intentions of using it when he was a baby, but I thought it was very uncomfortable, hard to get Lorens into, and he seemed just as uncomfortable as I was. So I ditched it and bought a Moby wrap. Love, love, love this wrap. It is super comfortable, easy to wear (once you figure out how to wrap it), and would put Lo to sleep instantly. I also used our babybjorn carrier a lot as Lo got a little older. It was nice for Josh to wear too. However, now that I carry Lo on my hip everywhere, I decided to try the hotsling again in this position. I'm so glad I did! We love it. I now use this more than my other carriers.
This is me and lo on our way to the Eastown street festival...very artsy and eclectic with bands playing...it seemed like they had a really great turnout this year...it was packed all day long!
I went to a big mom2mom resale event when I was in Virginia this summer and got some really great deals on toys and things for Lorens, so I decided to check out if west michigan had any...yes it does! They have a great mom2mom sale 4 times a year. I think it cost me $3 to get in, but it was so worth it! I ended up spending $50 and got 20 pieces of clothing/outfits, shoes, hat/mittens, books, and a carseat (just for our second car)! What a great deal!
We have had a lot of fun introducing Lolo to all kinds of different foods. We started giving him corn at 9 months, and he LOVED it on the cob. this corn is straight from our garden (the BEST corn we've ever had! and he sucked that thing clean.)
Making my own baby food continues to go really well. We made a TON of food in early September and we are still going strong with it in November. I've also made my own brown rice cereal with lentils and different beans in it. It's a little tricky to get the consistency right, and I think I need more work on it... but I enjoy doing it! The introduction of rice and corn for us was life altering as we can now feed Lorens rice and corn chex cereal. its so wonderful being able to reach into a bag of cereal and give this kid a snack. (we are doing a different food introduction scheudule based on allergy avoidance and a healthy gut). Oats dont come for another 3 months, so we haven't been able to give him the typical cheerios or puffs...(although i'm pretty sure he has had them during nursery...hmm)

We had a pretty sad turnout in our garden this summer as far as tomatoes go. All our romas were mealy, our better boys got eaten by slugs, and our cherry tomatoes never got very red. sad. I had big plans of canning a bunch of our tomatoes this year...try try again next summer! We tried something new this year and bought a half bushel of peaches and made 12 jars of peach jam as well as a ton of frozen cut up peaches for pies and stuff. This jam is so good and definitely worth all the trouble!

I admit, I never thought I'd become this domestic after having a baby. Before Lorens, we pretty much only cooked in the summer when there was good produce, we were lucky if we swept our floors, thought my grandmother was the only person who could can things, and went grocery shopping spur of the moment before we cooked dinner. horrible.

I actually meal plan now. and cook dinner 4 times a week. and want new cookware for christmas. i got a steam cleaner vacuum for my birthday which i adore and use once a week now. how did i become (no offense) such a mom in under a year?

I'm planning on 2 more posts - Lorens's birthday celebration and halloween! but Josh just informed me that I'm only allowed one post per day, so I'm hoping to post again this week!

~mb

oh pictures!

2009-08-25T18:42:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago, we went on vacation to Virginia to visit my family and the Chesapeake Bay to visit Josh's family. Here are a few pictures from our week on the Bay!

(what a doll baby)

Lorens had fun getting tickled by his cousin Cade, playing in a tent outside, and swimming...

We spent a few days in Virginia with MorMor and Grandaddy and my cousins...Lo loved all the attention! And it was wonderful to see MorMor looking and feeling better. Thank you to all of you who have been praying for her. Keep praying that the next rounds of chemo go well.

Since then, we said goodbye to our good friends Jon and Chaeli and their son Brennen. We will miss them so much, but we are excited for their new lives in Texas! Lo was teaching B how to play the piano. Brennen always has this look on his face I think. Very puzzled...

A few random pictures of Lorens...
Jon and Chaeli returned our bassinet and Lorens figured out how to climb into it, but couldn't get back out. :)
He loves to make faces on our glass door at Josh

Another one of his favorite things to do...
teething! These top two teeth are taking forever!

Our summer...so far...

2009-08-19T19:05:00.000-07:00

I tried to take a bit of a break from the blogging world this summer - concentrate on taking care of my family and myself! We have had a mix of a busy/fun/relaxing summer!

Lorens is growing like a WEED. At 9 months he is 16 lbs 15 oz (still a pipsqueak!) but is 29 in. long in the 75th percentile...hmmm...could be that he has a tall, skinny dad. About 1 month ago, in the span of 4 days he started to crawl, sleep through the night, say mama, and pull himself up on furniture. A couple wks ago he learned to wave, say dada/baba, and walk along furniture. Last week he learned to climb out of his crib (followed by hopefully learning a very valueable lesson to NOT climb out of the crib), climb up our entire flight of stairs, and can completely stand by himself and lower himself to the floor without falling. phew! he is on the go and wearing me out! This video is lo waving for the first time on our vacation to the chesapeake bay with josh's family. How adorable is he?

We've spent ALOT of time this summer making our own baby food. We have loved being able to go to the farmer's market every week to buy organic, local fruits and veggies to make for lo. He is a fantastic eater. His favorite foods are kale, collard greens, squash, avacado, and blueberries. He also is in love with these sweet potato fries I made for him. We are being really careful with his food introduction, so he still has many more months before he gets any sort of wheat/gluten - so its forced me to become creative on what kinds of finger foods I can give him. most fruits were too sliipery for him to pick up on his own, but the sweet potato fries worked awesome! he learned how to feed himself on them. :) We finally have a good system for making our food - its been a fun challenge for me, and now that I have an extra freezer (thanks to my mom and dad) we now have a freezer full of food! Josh and I constantly joke that our friends and acquaintances must think that we are crazy people for the way we take care of our child. (feeding, diapering, medical care) It's work obviously, and not for everyone...but in the end I know that we are just doing things the best we know how. Now if only Josh and I could take care of ourselves this carefully... :)

Josh has been spending quite a bit of time outside with his other baby this summer...his garden! And oh my, is it ever a garden! He's growing a few different herbs, corn, squash, zucchini, green beans, 3 different kinds of tomatoes, raspberries, strawberries, cantalope, lettuce, cucumber, peppers, and onions. Most things are growing great so far - we've already picked a bunch of lettuce, squash, peppers, beans, cucumbers, and herbs! still waiting on the rest to mature...but its really a beautiful garden. I'm also working on getting a permanent clothesline put up back there. Josh has a makeshift one up, that I have yet to really use. I just have to get over my stupid fear of bees that are back there. stupid bees ruin everything. ..

Well, not everything. Lo and I have had many adventures going to the park - we make the 5 minute trek over to Reed's Lake a couple times per week and have lunch and play and take walks...this has been tons of fun for both of us. I have gotten some good use out of my jogging stroller this summer as well! It's definitely much harder running/walking with a stroller...burning more calories though right? :)

I hope your summer is as enjoyable as ours has been so far! picture update to come!!!

~mb

dear baby,

2009-06-09T18:11:00.000-07:00

you are 7.5 months old going on 7.5 years old! We can't believe how much you've grown! It was like yesterday that I gave birth and you were just a teeny baby in my arms. I look at myself holding you now, and I'm holding this bright-eyed, bouncy, squirmy, wriggly, KID! The cliche is true...it just gets better and better. You are so much fun and the light of our lives. All that to say, you must know that your momma and daddy think you are crazy. You definitely have one BiG personality, and are the quirkiest baby. You have been kicking and squirming (and jumping i believe) since you were 20 gestation weeks old. You were standing and bearing weight at 2 weeks old and started jumping soon after. Jumping is still your favorite thing to do. Your calf muscles are huge. In fact they may be the only big thing about you...you are still very much a little pip-squeak, but you pack a lot of punch.

You are NOT a cuddler! oh no. As much as I struggle with you to hold you down and get a hug or a cuddle out of you, you are just way more interested in everything going on around you. You have always been super alert and don't want to miss a thing. You never stop. Even while falling asleep, I can still feel your little hands going and going untill you finally pass out. When I'm feeding you, you never just lay quietly and eat. You wriggle and squirm the entire time. You used to wind up your free arm as far back as it would go, and let it fly like a slingshot and smack me wherever it would land. I have battlewounds all over my arms and chest from your grabby fingers. You need to be constantly grabbing and playing with something.

Ok, this is weird, but your new thing is finding your way into my armpit and grabbing my skin and twisting it. You do this everytime...the things I let you do... In fact, I'd say one of your talents is being able to pull skin up off anywhere on your dad's and my bodies (even the neck) and twisting it. How do you do it? Your other weird thing is that you don't like anyone to touch your hands. You pull them away whenever anyone tries to hold them. Forget trying to teach you how to clap. That's a losing battle. You WILL let me hold them when we sing "itsy bitsy spider" though. What is it about this song that you love? You know it so well that the instant I grab your hands and start to sing it, you become still, watch me sing, let me do the hand motions with you, and then somehow you KNOW to stand up everytime the sun comes out...without fail.

All I know is that I am in trouble. What am I going to do with you when you become mobile? How will I harness all this energy?

You are so happy all the time! We have people come up to us all the time to tell us how happy and smiley you are. You have a smile for almost anyone willing to make a funny face at you. Your laugh is the best. It cracks me up. You think I am super funny for some reason...even when I don't do anything to make you laugh. (I give you the hiccups when I actually try to make you laugh because I can get you laughing so hard). When I come home from work and you haven't seen me all day, the moment you see me, you give me a huge belly laugh. It's the highlight of my day. Your dad wishes he had that kind of power over you. what can I say? :)

Other things you like are: to spit and blow bubbles, play with tags, shake your hands and grunt when you want something, play with your fufu (pacifier), throw your fufu, and play with your daddy's chest hair.

We haven't begun to feed you solid food yet, but I know you are chomping (literally) at the bit to have us start. Your momma and daddy have learned a lot about nutrition from a wonderful, wholistic, naturalpathic doctor. We really wanted to wait until you started to get your first tooth, but that toofy is taking too long! So we are going to give you your first foods this week! We really want you to get wholesome nutrition and to avoid any allergies, so we're committed to making all of your food homemade and as organic as possible. And we're going to feed you only fruits and vegetables for the next few months untill your body is ready and capable of handling meats/dairy/gluten. We hope to set up these same food values in you as you grow up.

We've also been cloth diapering you since you were about 1 month old. I was a bit shaky on this at first - as you chose me to be the person you peed on everytime, but your daddy and I have totally gotten the hang of it, and are so glad we chose to do this with you! I am happy we made this choice with every single diaper change. Plus, you'll be happy to know that you have never had a single diaper rash...which I whole heartedly tribute to your cloth diapers. I don't even mind the huge butt they give you. Besides, it kindof helps to hold up your pants for the time being.

Sleeping is our long ongoing battle with you. You have never been a great nighttime sleeper. You have been waking up a couple times per night to eat for months now. I'm pretty tired. I am thankful that your daddy helps me every night by bringing you to me and then taking you back to your crib when you're done eating...thankfully you fall right back asleep. We're pretty sure you aren't doing this out of habit but are just a little tiny thing, and need the extra calories at night to get you through. You have always had trouble with spitting up a bunch of your food during the day, so you don't always get all the calories you need while you are awake. I'm secretly hoping that starting solids will help you sleep better. But, wise advise I've been given over and over is, "this too shall pass", and even though I'm sometimes a bear at 3:00am, I look at you with such love, and am willing to do anything for you.

This past year has been the most amazing, most challenging, most incredible year of my life. It's hard to put into words everything I feel and think and know and love about you. Your daddy and I lovingly call you "crazy", but in fact we're the crazy ones, we're crazy in love with you...with everything from your funny little quirks to your blonde, fuzzy, chicky hair. You are now and will always be our 'little lolo'...

love,
momma and daddy

2009-05-07T18:39:00.000-07:00

Sometimes Lorens laughs at Michele because he thinks she is funny.

Sometimes Lorens laughs at Michele out of courtesy.

-jb

sitting up

2009-05-02T19:46:00.000-07:00

this is a long video, but so cute! Lo is learning to sit up and he's almost got it!!! he thinks falling over and me catching him is hilarious.

~mb

Paris's best...

2009-04-29T05:47:00.000-07:00

street singer? you be the judge... :)

notice he sings an extra second for me as i put my money in the cup...

kills me evertime.
~mb

fini

2009-04-27T19:09:00.001-07:00

ok...I've lost interest in my "parts" post. I realized I just don't have enough time to do that many posts... So here goes the part I really wanted to get to. At the beginning of April, Josh and I were reminiscing about being in Paris a year ago. I wanted to do a little post about it because I don't think I posted much about it when we came back. The reason why I didn't was because of the morning sickness. There were quite a few smells and things that made me really nauseous in Paris and just looking at our pictures when we came back would remind me of the things that made me sick....so I just couldn't do it. (I still have a pair of shoes that I wore everywear wrapped up in a plastic bag because just looking at them would make me want to puke...haha). Josh and I just recently opened up a bottle of wine (1 of a few that we brought back with us) and went through all of our pictures for the first time. It was so much fun. We literally fit in every possible thing we could in the 2 wks we were there. Here are a few pictures of a couple of the places we visited...
This is in Montmarte (my favorite part of Paris) where Sacre Coure and Moulin Rouge are located...

from the top of sacre coure...

josh at Notre Dame

us being silly at the eiffel tower...

the tower at night when it's all lit up...gorgeous! everyone cheers as soon as the sparkles come :)

the coolest cemetary ever...pere lachaise...we did the touristy jim morrison thing there

the louvre...

and since we were expecting little lo...we bought a 6 mo. onesie for him to wear one year later :)

A highlight of our trip was that we were there when the olympic torch runner ran through Paris...the runner and whole parade and exactly 1 million police cars with the european sirens went right by us after we came out of our 6 hour HIKE through the Louvre. It was pretty awesome! We can't wait to go back someday.

~mb

one year ago... part 1...

2009-04-12T13:58:00.000-07:00

Lately I have been thinking about what Josh and I were doing a year ago... Here's a few of my reflections (in parts...)

1. We found out we were expecting our first baby at the end of last Feb! At this point last year, we were almost 3 months along and were trying to figure out how we should tell our loved ones. My mom already knew - I told her when I was about 6 weeks along with the gift of a pacifier, to which she jumped up and down giggling/crying...saying "I'm gonna be a MorMor!?" over and over...(it means grandma in Danish). Then Josh and I had a really scary experience - I came close to miscarrying our baby, but by some miracle our precious gift survived, and my pregnancy was fine from there. When we told the rest of my family our news at Easter, I said "So I have some news, and I'll give you 10 guesses what it is." Ben said, "You're pregnant." And I said "Yup!" Ben said "Congratulations!" This is basically the reaction that I expected out of him. But when I looked at Kirsten, expecting her to be jumping up and down for joy, she was just kind of sitting there staring at us like she didn't get it. I said, "Kirsten! I'm having a baby!" (my mom echoing me...) (Insert Chandler saying "wait for it...") She just kind of sat there for a second and then finally said, "wait...what?!" then the screaming started.

After we told them, we were trying to decide how we should tell Josh's family. We live all spread out in different states so we wanted to do something more fun than the boring phone call to all of them separately. So, conveniently (or maybe inconveniently?!) we had planned our long awaited trip to Paris, France for the first week of April. We decided to tell them all by postcard and writing in French that we were pregnant. Matt and Mere got the postcard first and apparently went a little nuts trying to figure out the french phrase I wrote (J'attends l'enfant). None of them knew if the other already knew, which was the funny part. It also turned out that the rest of the family didn't even need to translate the card. Dan and Nancy were in Fl and Nancy ended up guessing we were pregnant while talking on the phone to Mere...she must have had a sixth sense or something... Nancy called Julie to ask if she read the postcard and Julie said "yeah, i got it." Then nothing. Nancy asked her if she got the French phrase and Julie said, No, she just thought I was having fun finally getting to use my french. haha. We had many cute voicemails waiting on our phones when we returned from our trip. It was fun getting to hear everyone laugh and recount about how they found out.

more to come...
~mb

eleventy billion hours

2009-03-30T07:09:00.000-07:00

okay, you're right Alex Trebec, that isn't even a number...but, it does mean that Lory has been sleeping awesome lately. Eleven uninterrupted hours on Thursday night!!!! Plus, a week of mostly 3 hour naps once a day. Maybe its just a fluke, but this gives me hope! I now know that he is capable of getting more sleep without eating. Its been a rough road with his reflux...not gaining weight, switching to more frequent feedings...regressing with sleep...but since starting medicine and our new routine a month ago, we are starting to get back on track...and we are loving our super happy baby. I know that things will probably change tomorrow...once you get on a good routine, something ususally changes...but for now we will savor this!
~mb

Lorens and Punky

2009-03-22T17:32:00.000-07:00

Our cat is crazy. I was really nervous to keep her around with a baby coming. She hasn't had a fabulous track record with small children...older children/teenagers/adults/old people/us. :) Which is why we decided to wait until Lorens can defend himself to really introduce the two of them. We've done a decent job of keeping them away from each other so far. Punky has done better than we initially thought. She's just been really curious about the kicking feet under the blankets and the jerky hand movements. Before she tries to investigate further we usually swoop in and take him away or make her run away. Basically though, I have little to no love left for this cat. You could say I hate her. All I ever do is yell at her through clenched teeth. You would too if you had a cat who was constantly torturing you for attention. Her latest game she plays is "tag." She hides under our tables and waits as you walk by...lets you get to the other side of the room... and then bursts out, runs towards you at full-speed, and then jumps up and swats your legs. It happens so fast that all you hear is galloping and then you get swapped from behind. It makes me scream every time. It's funny the first couple times, then it just gets IRRITATING. The only reason we still have her is because Josh still loves her. He gets a little sad everytime I mention getting rid of her. I'm slowly wearing him down though I think. So, I was watching all our lo lo videos this past week and came across this gem. Before you watch...I give a disclaimer. My house is very messy in the video. Normally I can't function with the messiness, but for those who think my house is always clean because you only come over when we have company...this is real life with a little baby. Actually, this is from a couple months ago when we were in the process of disassembling a bunch of our baby stuff that we didn't need up anymore, so it was all over our living room. Which gave someone in our family the perfect place to hide and stalk lo lo. It just took us a while to figure this out. We think its pretty funny...and if you know our cat you probably will too.

Anyone want a cat? haha.
~mb

Inspired...

2009-03-16T18:43:00.000-07:00

I love to decorate. I've been told by numerous people that I should be an interior decorator. It's flattering, but I would be no good going to someone else's house and decorating it for them...it would probably turn out just like mine. My style totally reflects my personality, my passions, my sentiments... Usually when decorating a room, I'm the type who has one object that I start with, and build the room around it...a lamp, a picture, a pillow, etc... I decorate with gusto. Lots of bold colors, patterns, I don't like matchy-matchy. It takes me forever to completely finish a room. We like to create our own paintings to personalize a room and make it "ours". I rearrange and add touches here and there untill I can sit in the middle and decide its "done" its "me" its "us". So all this to say I've been completely uninspired to decorate our bedroom. Last year at this time, I got sick of the red walls and decided to repaint it a light/sunny yellow color. We put up a couple wardrobes, and hung a few pictures, but we keep saying...it's just not us.
Saturday night, I came home from a "girls night out", and walked into our bedroom to find the most beautiful comforter on our bed. My husband is the greatest.
Here's our old comforter...(shabby chic)

Here's our new comforter...i love it! You can't tell from the picture really, but there are birds and flowers stitched in a different fabric on the orange branches. I'm already inspired to finish our bedroom...

And, whats a post without some pictures of little lo lo?
We got to visit the Ackermans and their new baby Brennan a few weeks ago. What an adorable little baby boy! Jon and Chaeli will be great parents.

~mb

fun after bath time

2009-02-23T12:13:00.000-08:00

Not too sure what I'm supposed to do here...cry because I'm cold, or laugh at the silly people making faces at me...

laugh!
and laugh...

and laugh...

and laugh some more...

Lo is just too cute when he giggles.

first booboo

2009-02-23T11:58:00.000-08:00

I think I will stick to cutting nails that are my own for awhile...this is Josh's job now :)

mb

Lorens Rolled Over!

2009-02-17T17:44:00.000-08:00

Other than all the smiles and laughing, I guess the most exciting milestone we've reached is that the boy is rolling over! Usually I give him tummy time on my lap, and I just sat there dumbfounded last thursday when he flipped over. I got his third roll-over on video. Note to self...do not talk while recording next time...
mb

growing up!

2009-01-10T14:07:00.000-08:00

Lorens had his 2 month check-up yesterday, and I realized how much he is growing up! Here is what he is doing now...
*smiling and cooing and "laughing" all the time - we love to make him smile
*sticks his tongue in and out when we wiggle ours at him...thanks dad for teaching him this! :)
*sucks his hands and thumbs
*loves to stare at hanging toys in front of his face
*smiles and squirms when we play patty cake
*loves to stare at the Mary Englebreit border I have in the laundry room where he gets changed
*he is a good sleeper! He takes 2-3 naps in the day and sleeps 5-7 hours in a row at night.
*ever since he was born, he continues to be on the small side. At 11 weeks old he is weighing in at 9 lbs. 11 oz. His head is pretty little too. So, he is pretty low on the growth chart. He is long though!!! 23 and 1/4 inches! The Dr. wasn't worried because he is so long...proves he is growing i guess!
*he definitely knows who his momma and daddy are. sometimes I have trouble getting other people to hold him because he will end up wailing once he realizes I'm not holding him anymore.

He also got his first vaccinations yesterday...soooo sad! I was absolutely dreading this. He let out the longest, loudest scream I've ever heard, all the while looking at me, wondering why I was letting this happen to him. Someone should have been videotaping my face because I realized when the nurse looked at me that my face was twisted in horror like I was the one getting the shots. Lory made it through though. He stopped crying as soon as the nurse handed him to me. I think I was the one who needed a pat on the back and an "I was a brave patient" sticker on my way out. :)

Also whats going well...cloth diapering! I had a lot of people ask me in the beginning if this was going well, and I had no update because the diapers would just fall off the poor kid's butt. A non-existent butt is just not conducive to a cloth diapering regiment. But now that it has filled out a bit, we've been able to embark. For awhile we were doing about half regular diapers and half cloth diapers, but now we're in cloth diapers all the time at home. Its going really well and its not as hard as I thought it might be. I'm actually not grossed out by any of it, and I think its kind of fun in a weird way. Josh has actually been more gung ho about it then me...he is a cloth diapering pro. I'm glad we were able to stick with it - it sure is saving us a lot of money, and I'm glad we're doing something smart for the environment.

And for something funny... since we have had Lorens, we haven't been able to go see any movies (which we love to do), and so what do you do when you have a newborn in the middle of a blizzardy (horrible) Michigan winter? You borrow 2 seasons of Veronica Mars and watch over 40 epidsodes in 3 weeks. We became slightly addicted to "pop culture's savviest, sassiest, kick-assiest teenage detective show". :)

OK...Here are a couple pictures that we snapped of cutie little Lorens over Christmas...

this is us doing laundry together...Lory isn't too thrilled...
this is me and Lory playing Tiger with Cade, Lorens' cousin...
Lory watching Mr. Cow in his bassinet...he loves him some Mr. Cow...
a cute picture that Josh snapped of me and Lory at my parents house...
don't my parents look so natural holding the screaming baby? hahahaha

~mb

Thanksgiving!

2008-12-04T20:48:00.000-08:00

We went home to see visit my family (Michele's) for thanksgiving this year. It took us 4 hours to actually pack up and get out of our house as opposed to the 30 minutes that it used to take us. It probably would have taken us another 4 hours if we had to pack all our baby stuff...but thankfully my parents were given a ton of baby stuff - so it truly saved us a hassle! Over our stay, my parents babysat for us for the first time - it was nice to be away from Lorens for a couple hours...but also very sad! My sister and Josh and I went to see Twilight. I kid you not, we were the oldest people in the theater. It was a sold out show of solid 11-14 year old girls. When Edward (the "hot" vampire) appeared in the movie, the theater erupted in girly screams and clapping. When Edward and Bella kissed, everyone giggled and whispered and screamed. It cracked me up...especially when Josh tried to join them. :)

This Thanksgiving I was so thankful for my new little love, as well as my husband who takes such good care of both of us. Also so thankful for my mom.

Here are a couple pictures from our thanksgiving week.

family pic

Lorens' first steps...sort of...don't you love that frown?

yawn!!!!!!

~mb

2008-11-30T19:46:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple of pictures from Lorens's first few weeks. Things are going great and we're in love!

Here's a link to see the professional newborn pics we had taken.
I'll post more soon...

Lorens Hansen Bishop

2008-11-06T14:04:00.000-08:00

On October 24, at 9:54am, Lorens Hansen Bishop was born! He arrived by C-section, weighed 6lbs 14oz, and was 19 inches long. Michele and Lorens are both doing well!

His name (pronounced LOR-ence) is a Scandinavian version of the name Lawrence. He's named after St. Lorenzo/Lawrence. Here's the Wikipedia version of it:

"After the death of Pope Sixtus, the prefect of Rome demanded that Lawrence turn over the riches of the Church...Lawrence asked for three days to gather together the wealth. Lawrence worked swiftly to distribute as much Church property to the poor as possible, so as to prevent its being seized by the prefect. On the third day, at the head of a small delegation, he presented himself to the prefect, and when ordered to give up the treasures of the Church, he presented the poor, the crippled, the blind and the suffering, and said that these were the true treasures of the Church. One account records him declaring to the prefect, "The Church is truly rich, far richer than your emperor." This act of defiance led directly to his martyrdom."

His middle name, Hansen, is his Bestamor's (Danish great-grandmother) maiden name.
If you'd like to see pictures of his first week, go to www.lorenshansenbishop.shutterfly.com.

Here's one of all of us before we left the hospital.

It's almost time!

2008-10-12T19:19:00.000-07:00

Here is 36 weeks plus a preview of the nursery!
Any day now...

Check out some baby bump pictures our amazing photographer friend took for us: baby bump pictures

I waddle...

2008-09-13T15:44:00.000-07:00

now. When did this start to happen I wonder? It must be a gradual thing because I don't remember not waddling one day and waddling the next. :) Waddle is a weird word.
Josh and I have been so busy getting ready for the baby. I've had four amazing showers...we feel like we pretty much have everything we need for him to come! A list that has gone down from like 100 things to two. phew! We've done most of the work on the nursery...its painted, and we have the crib, dresser, bookshelf and curtains done. We're waiting for our glider to arrive and then we will do the final decorating. I'm going to wait to post pictures of it for when its finished. (the suspense Chaeli, I know...)
This past weekend I started to get stressed out about all the little things we still have to do to get ready, so Josh and I made a "baby to do list" and have started working on it. babies are a lot of work and he's not even here yet. :)
maybe this is where my stress stemmed from...last week I went to an early childhood conference in Dearborn for work and among many things learned that if you give your child 1500 hours of laptime before they go to Kindergarten you'll be sure to set them up for success in school! He's technically sitting on my lap right now...does that count? haha. :)

Since I (we I should say) last blogged...

Baby and I turned 28 weeks...

Baby and I I turned 32 weeks...

34 week pic to come...

We bought a car!...

We sold a car... (i miss it, it was a good car)

showers: (no pictures though)
I had a beautiful outside shower thrown by my GR friends and mom-in-law...what a beautiful day...and so many friends came!

I had an amazing shower thrown by my mom back at home...a fabulous brunch, FIVE games (i loved it), family, and many old and new friends. Including my new best friend who guessed that I had only gained 5 lbs so far during one of the games...love that lady whoever she is... :)

A very sweet (literally...lots of desserts :) shower thrown by my co-workers

And a fun shower thrown by my high school girls and Wendy

baby is on his way...we're so excited! We're taking some baby belly pictures this weekend...hopefully our next post won't take us so long to do...

mb

Josh's first post - the metamorphosis

2008-07-21T20:30:00.001-07:00

Faux hawk plus beard plus braces

Faux hawk minus 1/2 beard plus braces

Faux hawk minus beard plus braces

Faux hawk minus beard minus braces

new haircut minus beard minus braces

and finally, an actually good picture taken by my new friend Daley Hake

the end.
-jb

Wow!

2008-07-20T08:43:00.000-07:00

25 wks...It doesn't seem like I've been pregnant that long...but then again it does. The baby and I are doing great. We had another ultrasound this past week and were told baby is in the 41st percentile and is growing perfectly. :)

Last weekend Josh and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary. We went to Ludington for the weekend and had such a great time together. Although it was a little too chilly to sit on the beach we still drove to the state park to walk on the dunes, ate our weight in ice cream, went shopping, saw a movie, etc. Here's a couple pictures from our get-a-way.

me and baby at 24wks

Josh, Baby and I conquering the chilly beach

pretty sunset!

Earlier in the month I also celebrated my birthday - Josh had flowers sent to work and took me to Boatworks in Holland for dinner and we had some aaaaamazing food. Then we walked to the lighthouse, which I've never actually been to, and watched the sunset.

Over the past couple weeks we finished painting the nursery, putting the crib together, and registering for the baby items we need...it was sort of a surreal experience for both of us. I just want to give a disclaimer that Babys r us is a crazy store...especially for 2 people that "babys r not us yet"...it was an interesting experience to go around and figure out what we "needed." The only thing that saved us from throwing our registry gun at the foreign registry lady at the end was the fact that I had walked around with two wonderful moms a couple days before who kind of explained everything to me that I would need and which brands they liked best...we thank you, and probably so does the registry lady!!!! :)

Here are the links to our registries:

http://www.babiesrus.com/ControllerServlet?registryNumber=75259153&target=search

http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/baby/1NKAUEZGH5SHI

https://www.target.com/registry/baby/014399700052705

~mb

20 Weeks

2008-06-18T18:12:00.000-07:00

A lot has happened in 4 weeks for us! We went to Florida with the Bishop family at the end of May and had a great vacation with them...our last before our little baby comes! It was so relaxing - nothing but laying out by the pool and beach in the beautiful weather. Then we went home a couple weekends in a row to see my sister, Kirsten, graduate from highschool and have a great party. After that came our 20 wk ultrasound! We were really excited/nervous to find out the gender and to know if our little peanut was healthy...HE is! It's a boy, and we are so happy. We haven't been able to stop talking about what our little boy is going to be like for the past couple days. And now it's names, names, names. We decided to wait to start talking about names until we found out the gender. It's a hard job but someone has got to do it. How do you pick out the perfect name? Welp, you'll have to wait 4 more months to find out as we're keeping whatever we decide a secret. Actually, we're not going to "name" him until he's born so we can make sure he fits whatever we pick out. What if we pick Newt, and he is not a Newt? My point exactly. Josh and I went out last night to baby's r us, our first trip, and each picked out a little boys outfit. I picked a cute little organic blue and yellow polka dot outfit minus anything with cars, baseballs, trucks, tractors, etc. (blech) and Josh picked a little onsie set that has a pirate theme to it...one says "argh" with a little pirate hat on it, one says "i'm a pirate" etc....if you know Josh, you'd know that he was unbelievably excited to buy it... So, there's our 4 week recap! Enjoy the pictures!

me and josh in Fl on a dolphin cruise

me and baby @ 17 weeks

Kirsten's Graduation Ceremony

me and baby @ 20 weeks

baby's tootsie (that's for you, mom!)

baby bishop sucking his thumb

~mb

16 weeks

2008-05-18T20:31:00.000-07:00

For anyone who's wondering what I now look like, here is me and baby at 16 weeks.

This weekend Josh finished remodeling our bedroom - woohoo! Now we can start cleaning out all our stuff from the "nursery" since we have more storage space in our room now. We also decided to try our hand at some garage saleing. Heritage Hill had a community wide yard sale, so Josh strapped a milk crate to his bike (yes, he looked ridiculous...shhh) and we rode down there to check things out. So glad we did, because we found some great deals! We spent $40 total and bought a baby bathtub, a baby bouncer seat, a BabyBjorn active baby carrier (the best deal by far), 14 little yellow and green outfits, 8 onsies, and a little hat. I think I'm going to be sick once we start shopping for full price baby gear and clothes.

Highlight of this week is that I started to feel the baby move! No kicks or anything yet, but I'm definitely feeling it move around. It's weird and I'm still getting used to it, but I kindof like it so far. I like knowing its there :) Hopefully I'll post again in a few weeks with a new picture - maybe by then we'll know the gender!

~mb

And we're back...

2008-04-20T18:25:00.000-07:00

from Paris, France! We spent 10 wonderful days eating, sight-seeing, eating, drinking, shopping, and eating. It is true what they say, the food is fantastic. We had everything from crepes and chocolate croissants to organic pasta with seaweed. All of which were amazing. We took a tour of the city the first day to get our bearings, and then proceeded to really see the city the rest of the time we were there. Seeing the eiffel tower and notre dame in person was something we'll never forget. They definitely seemed larger than life. There was so much great art, it was almost overwhelming. We are sort of art enthusiasts, so we really loved going to all the famous museums. I think we had the best time just wandering around and coming across little markets and cafes, street performers and cathedrals. I found out that even having 5 years of studying French under my belt didn't seem to help me much in understanding or speaking to people. Sorry Madame S. Josh did quite well, he impressed me! Here are a couple pictures we took (2 of the over 600...we're trying to put some on flickr...stay tuned).

eiffel tower at night

notre dame at night

Going to France isn't the only big news we have...as most of you know, we're expecting our first little baby! We are so excited to finally have everyone know our wonderful news. I am 3 months along, and finally starting to feel a little better as I get out of my first trimester. Baby Bishop is due on October 31. Hopefully I will be better at updating our blog during my pregnancy. Here is a little picture that we took this weekend of what the belly looks like so far...It finally just popped out a little this past week. :)

~mb

So as I was saying...

2008-02-10T13:01:00.000-08:00

in my post from last week, Josh and I went to a costume party. We dressed up as our friend Johnny and his daughter Freja. Here are some pics...

Josh grew out some killer sideburns, a soul patch, got his hair cut into a fauxhawk with shaved sides, and had Johnny's tattoo artist draw his tattoos on Josh's arms. All I had to do was dress up like his 4 yr. old daughter complete with skull mary janes. :) Josh actually got mistaken for Johnny a couple times at the party. Here is a picture of Josh and the real Johnny dressed like Mr T. "I pity the fool."
Life has been busy as usual which has made it hard for me to find the time to post on this blog. I just really couldn't leave the last post hanging though... I did promise these pictures after all. Hope they were worth the wait! haha.
mb

boo-wling

2007-11-06T17:30:00.000-08:00

Last Wed. instead of trick-treating, I went bowling with the girls I mentor from Mars Hill Senior High. I have been with them since they were seventh graders...my how they have grown up! We went bowling in our costumes and ended quite early as most of them had parties to get to. For the second game I made everyone bowl with their opposite hand. It was hilarious. I also said that I would bow down to anyone who got a strike...and whatdaya know...Wendy got one. Surprise, surprise. ahem...I bowed down.
Here's Wendy and I ...Obviously Wendy was a nerd...and I (not so obviously?) was a little girl named Freja. This costume will make sense in a post that I will do next week...Josh and I are going to a costume party this weekend...Josh is sort of going as my other half...or rather...I, his. I will explain better with pictures next week.

On another holiday related note...I CAN'T believe that downtown GR already has a lit up santa claus on one of the ellis parking garages. really?!

mb

chicago: there and back

2007-11-01T19:40:00.000-07:00

What happens when you go to Chicago with your train routes all planned out and then you get there and the line you based all your traveling around is closed for construction? You get two frantic girls making laps (literally) around downtown trying to find a different line to get on...and then eventually take a really expensive cab-ride. I was confident that I would be able to get Wendy I around Chicago using their Metra...but I didn't even get the chance. You have to be able to find a way underground first. Aside from our transportation woes, Wendy and I had a very fun/adventurous day in Chicago together last weekend. We shopped the whole day, ate lunch at Giordano's and then expensively made our way to our final destination...Marissa's bachelorette party. Here's the three of us at her soon to be sister-in-law's downtown condo.We had a great time eating, drinking, and thinking of great dares to make Marissa do later in the night at our various stops. Marissa was surprised with an evening at Chicago's Baton Lounge drag show...yup. It was ahh... interesting? Actually, a few times my stomach hurt from laughing so much. Wendy and I opted out on the rest of the night so that we could catch our train back home (which we made ah-thankyou.) Here's a picture I snapped on our mile walk to the train station.It was a beautiful night! I think our favorite part of the walk back was this guy sauntering up to us to ask us if we would give him some money to donate to his Jack Daniels charity...haahaahaa. In Wendy's words "hey...at least he was honest!"
Actually...my favorite quote of the day (quite biased, but what can I say?) was at Crate and Barrel. My cashier guy said "Michele Bishop. That's a good name. In fact...you could totally be a movie star with a name like that." God bless Crate and Barrel cashiers. I say we all could use a random quote like that in our day.
mb

REALLY?!?

2007-10-25T13:10:00.000-07:00

so, I know I refer to SNL frequently, but I can't help it. There’s just certain skits that seem to stay with me. Usually, there’s not a week that goes by that either Josh or I don’t mention a line in a skit…and then crack up. Or something happens that reminds me of a certain skit. Can’t help it. (I also tend to relate real life situations with Friends episodes all the time – many of you can vouch for that I’m sure. I’m Sorry.)
The GR fire/police department isn’t too far away from where my office building is located, so it isn’t unusual for me to hear their sirens go off all the time. Half the time it seems like they end up on my street for one reason or another. Usually its because the fire alarms go off in the Cooley Law School across the street …all…the…time. Yesterday I left my office just in time to see about 6-7 squad cars pulled up in front of our building and Mel Trotter. There is a parking garage going up on the corner for the law school, and a crazy guy decided to climb up the humongous crane that they happened to be using yesterday. I stood and watched as the police scrambled around yelling at him, trying to safely get him down. (they did finally) How many police do you think it takes to get one crazy guy? Apparently it takes about 15. If you think that’s “crazy”…today will take the cake.
The sirens go off and I think… “here they come again”… sure enough, they pull up right below my window. There aren’t any alarms going off anywhere… my immediate thought is that there must have been an accident…someone is hurt. NOPE. I watch as they talk disgruntled amongst themselves around a light pole. Then one of them walks slowly to the fire engine, grabs a bottle of water, walks back to the light pole and pours his bottle of water on the cigarette holder...in head-to-toe fire gear. They got a call about a smoking cigarette holder. Now I ask this…. “REALLY”?
And in conclusion…(I’m bringing it all back together now)…Seth Meyers and Amy Poehler do a segment called REALLY?!? on weekend update. It’s pretty funny (not hilarious) but I guess memorable enough for it to come back to me today…haha – you should U Tube it if you are an SNL fan.
mb

You've entered...The Twilight Zone

2007-10-02T14:04:00.000-07:00

All I expect from my bi-yearly dentist check-ups is for a hygienist to clean my teeth, brush them, floss them, get the dentist to give them a once over, give me a toothbrush and floss and let me get the H out of there. (did I mention that I HATE getting my teeth cleaned and all that is teeth related? I do.) Why do dental hygienists talk to you and ask you questions whilst they are cleaning your teeth? I can’t answer you, crazy lady, your fingers and sharp pointy things are all up in my mouth. My hygienist always wants to know the intricate details of my life…and remembers them better than I can. She asked me when my husband and I wanted to have kids…and asked what my exact time frame was…(!?) I’m thinking this must have been for medical purposes… She always answers her own questions followed by her life story…so yes, I do know that she is having children and when she is planning on having them… THEN, she actually said to me... "I bet you get asked when you’re having kids all the time since you’ve been married so long…don’t you just hate it when random people ask you that?” Again…I can’t answer you…your hands are in my mouth. I am screaming obscenities inside my head at you though. They need to teach people in dentistry schools what inappropriate means. For all she knows…this could be a devastating subject for me for any number of reasons. It’s not, thankfully, but what does she do when I burst into tears on the swivel chair? Goodness. She also said that she saw me and my husband in home depot a few months back…she has never met my husband and has only cleaned my teeth 3 times…(insert twilight zone music here).
~mb

I predict...

2007-09-24T19:45:00.000-07:00

Keri Russell will be up for best actress at the Oscars next year. Her new movie, August Rush, is coming out in November - the 21 to be exact. I cannot wait! It's going to be great I think. Speaking of movies...Josh and I were feeling silly on Saturday night and decided to go to a 10:00 showing of Sydney White...laugh if you will. It was super cheesy, but gave us some good laughs. You may be thinking..."wow, josh is a trooper." Untrue. May I emphasize that WE love that Amanda Bynes. Josh will gladly tell you that She's the Man is one of his favorite movies. Anyways, we were in a theater FULL of high-schoolers. They belly laughed at every scene...we felt old. I guess we are old compared to them. Thats sad. To round out the weekend, we also rented Bridge to Terabithia last night. Did you read that book when you were a kid? I did...what a beautiful story. The movie was great - I cried buckets...so did Josh...thats why i love that guy :)
mb

Racism a Reality

2007-09-18T11:58:00.000-07:00

Dear friend,
I just learned about a case of segregation-era oppression happening today in Jena, Louisiana. I signed onto ColorOfChange.org's campaign for justice in Jena, and wanted to invite you to do the same.
http://www.colorofchange.org/jena/?id=2310-393941
Last fall in Jena, the day after two Black high school students sat beneath the "white tree" on their campus, nooses were hung from the tree. When the superintendent dismissed the nooses as a "prank," more Black students sat under the tree in protest. The District Attorney then came to the school accompanied by the town's police and demanded that the students end their protest, telling them, "I can be your best friend or your worst enemy... I can take away your lives with a stroke of my pen." A series of white-on-black incidents of violence followed, and the DA did nothing. But when a white student was beaten up in a schoolyard fight, the DA responded by charging six black students with attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
It's a story that reads like one from the Jim Crow era, when judges, lawyers and all-white juries used the justice system to keep blacks in "their place." But it's happening today. The families of these young men are fighting back, but the story has gotten minimal press. Together, we can make sure their story is told and that the Governor of Louisiana intervenes and provides justice for the Jena 6. It starts now. Please join me:
http://www.colorofchange.org/jena/?id=2310-393941
The noose-hanging incident and the DA's visit to the school set the stage for everything that followed. Racial tension escalated over the next couple of months, and on November 30, the main academic building of Jena High School was burned down in an unsolved fire. Later the same weekend, a black student was beaten up by white students at a party. The next day, black students at a convenience store were threatened by a young white man with a shotgun. They wrestled the gun from him and ran away. While no charges were filed against the white man, the students were later arrested for the theft of the gun.
That Monday at school, a white student, who had been a vocal supporter of the students who hung the nooses, taunted the black student who was beaten up at the off-campus party and allegedly called several black students "nigger." After lunch, he was knocked down, punched and kicked by black students. He was taken to the hospital, but was released and was well enough to go to a social event that evening.
Six Black Jena High students, Robert Bailey (17), Theo Shaw (17), Carwin Jones (18), Bryant Purvis (17), Mychal Bell (16) and an unidentified minor, were expelled from school, arrested and charged with second-degree attempted murder. The first trial ended last month, and Mychal Bell, who has been in prison since December, was convicted of aggravated battery and conspiracy to commit aggravated battery (both felonies) by an all-white jury in a trial where his public defender called no witnesses. During his trial, Mychal's parents were ordered not to speak to the media and the court prohibited protests from taking place near the courtroom or where the judge could see them.
Mychal is scheduled to be sentenced on July 31st, and could go to jail for 22 years. Theo Shaw's trial is next. He will finally make bail this week.
The Jena Six are lucky to have parents and loved ones who are fighting tooth and nail to free them. They have been threatened but they are standing strong. We know that if the families have to go it alone, their sons will be a long time coming home. But if we act now, we can make a difference.
Join me in demanding that Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco get involved to make sure that justice is served for Mychal Bell, and that DA Reed Walters drop the charges against the 5 boys who have not yet gone to trial.
http://www.colorofchange.org/jena/?id=2310-393941

Do your part to create change.
Thanks.
mb

this one's for you

2007-09-11T14:29:00.000-07:00

julie belle. I've heard your plea for an update, and I've responded. If nothing else, just to give you something to read while you sit at work. :)

So, I signed up for a cardio kick-boxing class through the city. I went to a free trial class this past Saturday, and felt a strange sense of deja vu come over me. The instructor, who is a ripped out 60ish year old woman, asked us, "so, have any of you done kick-boxing before?" My first thought should have been, "sure, I did some tae-bo video workouts back in my college days," but no. The very, very first thought I had was doing an 80's tae-bo skit with Julie belle, ben dunbar and betsy barko (don't know her new last name) way back in the day at one of our high school winter retreats. Julie was our "billy banks" if you will, and ben, betsy and I were her class. We wore hilarious workout gear including leg warmers, belts, spandex, side ponytails and headbands and "kicked" it 80's style. What a great, yet odd thing to remember.

Now, I'm guessing when amazing old instructor woman asked if we had kick-boxed before, she probably wasn't looking for a reply like mine. So, I nonchalantly kept that to myself and shook my head with a smile on my face. :)

mb

I just like you so much...

2007-08-29T20:13:00.001-07:00

Last week Josh and I had dinner with our friends, and I happened to make a new friend...her name is Grace. She's 5 years old. While we were eating dinner, Gracie yelled across the room from where she was playing "HEY!! What's his wife's name?!" Kindly I yelled back, "MICHELE!" to which I learned she has a cousin named Michele that she doesn't like very much. While the adults were talking, apparently Gracie decided that I would be her new best friend. She skipped over to me numerous times to whisper her new greatest thoughts...I'll share a few of my favorites...
"Umm, Michele, I just like you so much that, that I want to just give you things." (i drove home with a fake flower that I promised I would put in a vase WITH water when i got home, as well as a picture of her and I, standing on rocks, that I promised to put on the refridgerator by request)
"Ummmmm, Michele, Michele, I just like you so much that I think I just want to come over to your house sometimes and have a sleepover."
"Ummmmmmm, Michele, I think I just want to sit down here and show you how I can tie my shoes cuz I've been practicing, I've been practicing real hard, and cuz I just like you so much, see?"
Then at the end of the night, she skipped over with a little case of makeup...the kind that's got super bright, sparkly colors of lipgloss, eye shadow, and blush...but they all look like lip gloss...and proceded to try and put makeup on me..."cuz I just like your hair and face" she said. And I let her...because how could I not? I left their house with one extremely bright purple lip, and one extremely bright pink lip with sparkles on top. I'm so glad Gracie chose to accentuate my most prominent facial feature. Her mom swore to me that it didn't look that bad...amidst smothered giggles...ha! No pictures, sorry to disappoint. However, we did come home to a very big thunderstorm, and as we drove up to our house, Josh said "OOoo, I better park our car under the tree" the tree that always looks like its about to fall over in a storm...and we wouldn't mind it falling on our car...but that's another story. Anyways, just as he says that, look what came down in our front yard, JUST missing our car!
a big piece of tree. our car is fine. darn.
mb

coming back?

2007-08-22T18:33:00.000-07:00

I admit, I was a little surprised when all the 80's stuff started coming back. Who would've ever thought that we'd be bringing high-waisted pants back with big thick belts, or side pony tails? Some of it is a little extreme, but a lot of it grew on me to where I actually walk by a big flashy purse covered in buckles and gathers, and I think, "OOoo, cool purse!" It's the new 80's...it's cool...i like it...i wear it.

New 80's started to make me think...oh dear lord...does this mean 90's is next? Who enjoyed the style of the 90's? If you are thinking, "sheeyah, i would kill to pull out my flannel shirt and straight legged jeans with army boots, that i saved just in case" then this post is dedicated to you. So...I'm walking in the mall a few weekends ago, just browsing...doing a little people watching...when out of the corner of my eye I see her. Stripped UnionBay shirt (the red colors one), shorts overalls...with ONLY one shoulder strap buckled...the other just hanging...like only it should, white cuffed socks, black Birkenstock style knock-off sandals, and a thin layer of bangs curled under just so. Did I paint a picture for you or what? I seriously had to turn around to make sure we weren't on camera. You CANNOT get much more 90's than that. If that style ever comes back and I walk by a store and say, "OOoo, if only I could pull off that sock and flip flop combo again like back in the day...well, it was cool once..." slap me. I give you full permission.

mb

i moved!

2007-07-28T09:49:00.000-07:00

my time at xanga has come to an end. I decided that i like blogspot better, mostly because anyone has the capability to write comments. Not that I need them or anything... ha...i just want people to actually have the option :)

welcome!

mb