Santa Baby

Merry Christmas, from Wisconsin!

Fisley

As a Christmas present for our baby, I ordered a fancy dog bed, advertised as indestructible for heavy chewers, complete with her name monogrammed on the top (so we don't get confused on whose bed it is, of course.)

Took her a day or two to warm up to it, but she found it a cozy alternative to the floor.

Not more than a week later, we found our new dog, "Fisley," in her bed when we came home from work.  "Indestructible" must not mean what I thought it did.  Or, our new habit of letting "Fisley" sleep on our couch made her dog bed a bit less attractive.

Alas, we sent the bed back to Fetchdog.com for a full refund.

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

For those of you who haven't been to our new house yet, we have a vaulted 15 ft. ceiling in the family room.  I think before we even purchased the house, Kyle was dreaming of filling that room with a ginormous tree at Christmas time and boy did his dreams come true this year.

[Side Note: Holidays with Kyle's family are usually spent with his Mom's side of the clan, hosted at his Aunt Lori and Uncle Steve's place in Blair, Wisconsin.  They also have a vaulted ceiling and always have a huge and gorgeous tree decorated for the holidays ... so really, Kyle has had this dream for the last 10 years or so.]

We snuck out on Sunday morning after Thanksgiving, drove about 30 minutes West and cut down a beauty in Howard Lake, Minnesota.

Here we are searchin' ... note the Coach bag on my arm ... you can take the girl out of the city, but you can't take the city out of the girl ... ;)

This was Paisley's choice, but Kyle insisted on a 14 footer ...

 Here's the winner ... chopped ...

dragged ...

and thrown in the trailer.

If you're wondering, here's how you decorate a 14.5 foot Christmas tree ... with an 8 ft ladder.  Reminder for next year, put the topper on before the tree is up.  This one will have to go un-topped this year.

I fussed quite a bit about getting a tree this big, but I have to be honest, it really is gorgeous and has a special (and big) way of bringing the Christmas season to life.  Our Christmas list now includes ornaments as the tree is a bit sparse ... hint, hint...

Merry Christmas, from the Petersen Family.

The Mulhausen's in Minnesota

(classic, right?! the only family picture we got before the batteries in the camera died!)

Kyle and I hosted my side of the family for Thanksgiving this year.  We were grateful that all of the Mulhausen's made the trip!  My brother and sister-in-law even brought the warm weather with them from Austin, TX as we enjoyed 60 degrees for the holiday!

The meal turned out great ... much less stressful when you have a lot of helpers.  Sure, I picked out the recipes and prepped a few things the day before, but on Thanksgiving day, the whole family pitched in (well, almost the whole family, you know who you are...) - Kyle cooked the bird, Kathy and Jason took care of the herb biscuits, Kathy made her mom's mashed potatoes, my mom prepared the brussel sprouts and gravy and my Aunt Hedy set the table and poured the drinks.

 

Vaughn and Paisley were the entertainment of the weekend, as expected.  It doesn't get much cuter than these two.

I just can't explain how happy it made me to have my entire family under the same roof, celebrating the holiday together in our new home.  Those of you that have family spread across the country can probably relate, but having everyone in the same place doesn't happen too often these days, so no matter how crazy it gets, I love every minute.

Thanks to my family for making the trek to Independence, Minnesota!  I only wish the holidays came around more than once a year.

VIP for ZBB

The Sunday before Thanksgiving, we got a little taste of the "charmed life."  We went to the Zac Brown Band concert for free because our friend had met the band!  We were escorted in through the back door, walked back stage and onto the floor for the show.  True VIP style.

Back story - ZBB performed at Polaris' Dealer Show this past year, and part of their payment came in the form of several ATV's.  Since they were back in Minneapolis the weekend before Thanksgiving for a show at the Target Center, they asked to go out riding for the day.  Enter our friend Brent.  He's one of the engineers on the vehicle that they wanted to ride so he was tasked with taking the Polaris CEO and Zac Brown Band on an ATV ride.  Tough day at work.

Here's Zac and his dog getting ready to hit the trails.

As a way to thank Brent for his expert services, they offered him free tickets to the show.  Hence, our connection.  Here's Brent and his new BFF. 

We had an absolute blast at the show!  One of our favorite bands and as you can probably tell from several previous postings, some of our favorite friends.  Brent and Christine - Thanks for making us feel like rock stars for a day!  We are happy to oblige anytime you stumble into free tickets.  :)

One Amazing Year, and Hopefully, More to Come

One year ago today, little Miss Paisley came home with us and has been bringing unlimited joy to our family ever since.  Sure, life is more complicated (and a bit more expensive!) with a puppy relying on you for everything ... but honestly, we can't imagine life without her. 

Here we are picking her up in Joplin, Missouri one year ago.

Here is Kyle bringing her into her new Arkansas home that night.

Here she is with one of her first toys ... before she learned to destroy them ...

 

Here she is, reluctantly celebrating her first birthday a couple months ago.  (her actual birthday is September 15th)

And here is the whole "fam damily," as my Grandpa used to say, on our one year anniversary today!

Can you even imagine what we'll be like with kids?!?!?  :)

 

For those that we haven't told yet, we just found out our baby has a rare condition called Tricuspid Valve Displaysia.  The vet noticed a heart murmur when she was being spayed at 6 months, and after a collapse episode in the backyard this summer, we took her to a cardiologist at the University of Minnesota for testing.  Basically, there is a valve in her heart that does not open/close properly so her heart has to work overtime.  She will eventually die from congestive heart failure and may only be with us another year or so.  Luckily, she is in no pain and bounces around just like any other 1 year old puppy.  She's just going to get even more spoiled than before, if that's even possible, and while I cry about it at the drop of a hat, we plan to enjoy each and every moment we have left with her.  She really is a sweet little girl.

She has full reign of the couch and ottoman, gets a new toy at least once a week (which she proceeds to destroy as noted in a previous blog entry,) relaxes in bed with us every evening and has been promoted to the laundry room while we're at work.  We plan to schedule more play dates with her puppy pals and take her on more walks, and despite my earlier plans, she ends up sleeping in our bed a few nights a week.

Our hearts have begun to break with the news of her impending fate and I can't imagine I'll function real well when the day finally comes ... but she has taught us to love with everything we have and enjoy every day ... our hearts have grown bigger because she is part of our lives.  We will pray the doctors are wrong and that she will be with us for several more wonderful years, but either way, she will always be our first baby with a special place in our big hearts.

Meet the Neighbors

We've been living in our new home for 10 months now, and have still only met a handful of neighbors.  With busy schedules, it's always hard to meet people when you move into a new neighborhood, but it's even more challenging when everyone has a few acres and your neighborhood doesn't have sidewalks or streetlights. 

Brent and Shianne always seem to be outside with their girls when Paisley gets her walks, so we have chatted with them the most.  Real nice family at the opposite end of our street.  I was invited to Sarah's house across the street for a Cabi Party last month (think Tupperware, Silpada or Lia Sophia ... only clothes) so that was a great way to meet a few neighborhood ladies (while adding some great pieces to my wardrobe - sign me up!)

The only neighbors we have pictures of are the ones that hang out in our backyard.  News to me, but apparently there are motion cameras that you can attach to trees that have night vision and capture pictures of anything that moves.

So, here are a few of our neighborhood friends ...

 

We're definitely not in the city anymore ...

All But One

The majority of the friends I made during my days at Ohio State lived in my dorm on North Campus freshman and into sophomore year.  Good ol' Taylor Tower.  Given that we were off on our own for the first time, we really developed a strong bond and became like a little family. 

Fast forward 12 years (wow, we're old) and we're all in good but different places in life, and as life goes, you tend to grow apart a bit.  I hadn't spoken to some of my old roommates in years when one of them called out of the blue this past spring.  Alayna was in tears - our good friend Jamison had suddenly passed away.  Unreal.  I'm as shocked today as I was the day I first heard the news in May.  He was found dead in his apartment, but we do not know what happened and can only hope he felt no pain and knew how much we loved him.

The last time I saw Jamison May was Memorial Day weekend of 2009.  My high school girlfriends and I went to Baltimore for the long weekend, the city that Jamison called home since he graduated a proud Buckeye.  Here we are together for what would be the last time.

Jamison was literally one of the first people I met at Ohio State.  He lived in the room next door to me, and I remember going to the dining hall together with him and his roommate Kris one of the first days at school.  He was always a very easy person to talk to - genuinely listened and gave his best advice or words of encouragement whenever needed.  His smile was like a warm hug, his voice like an angel when he sang and most of all, I'll remember his laugh.  More of a hearty giggle, really, and you couldn't help but join in.

As a way to create something good out of this tragedy, my old roommate Heather got the crew back together in mid-October for a visit back on campus - the first time some of us had seen each other in over 6 years.  We had talked about a reunion forever and with Jamison gone, we only wished we had done it sooner.  But, we know he was looking down on us, happy that he brought us together again and just as jealous as we were about all the cool new buildings and upgrades the students have now.  So not fair.

 

To Julie, Beau, Susan, Heather, Alison, Alayna and Ty - damn, we look good!  Truly amazing to see everyone and hope to do it again soon.

To Kris, Kevin, and Chris - we wish you could have been there with us, but mark my words, we WILL have another reunion and we won't wait another 6+ years to do it.

To Heather - thank you for representing all of us at Jamison's funeral and for rallying the group to get back together.  You've always been such a dear friend to Jamison, and I know he's grateful.

To Jamison - thank you for being such a wonderful friend since we met that day in September of 1999.  You were always the type of person I could look up to.  I'll miss you, Jamisonian.

"Pack"ing in the Memories

Almost exactly 3 years from the day we got married, Kyle and I made our way back to Door County, Wisconsin.  The leaves were changing, fall was in the air, and the Packers were in town!  That's right.  A game at Lambeau Field is what took us back to revisit the memories from 3 years ago and make some new memories with our friends, Mike and Dana.

We got into town late on Friday and checked in at The Landmark, the resort where we had our reception!  The Repka's arrived at 2am after their travel plans from New Jersey were interrupted, but we all made it safe and sound.
 

We started Saturday at one of the best breakfast places ever.  Do you see those pumpkin pancakes in front of me?!?

The rest of our day was spent touring around Door County - driving past the church where we said our vows, the places that we stopped for pictures with our wedding party, and several of the townie bars that Kyle and his groomsmen visited the day before the wedding.  :)

Here we are at The Blue Ox ... butts in saddles and a deer's butt on the wall.  Only in Wisconsin.

Here we are at PC Junction bar, complete with a train that delivers your beers - genius.

We ended the night with a traditional fish boil and took in the Badger game at The Log Den, where we had our rehearsal dinner.

Sunday ... Enter ... The Packer Game!  Tailgating promptly at 11am, game at 3pm, victory by 6:30pm.  Done and done.


The weather was perfect, the scenery was beautiful, the game was a blast ... the weekend was magical.  Just like another weekend I remember in Door County a few years back ... :)

My Nanny Diary

Late July:
Talked to my Mom today.  Turns out Jeff and Kathy need a nanny for a week and the 'rents are traveling (yet again.)  Mark my words - I WILL find a way to get to Austin.

1 week after "Late July":
Meetings moved, vacation days blocked, ticket to Austin purchased.  Nanny 911 to the rescue!

Sunday, August 22nd:
I arrive in Austin, TX to 105 degree weather.  That's right - even triple digits won't keep me away from my nephew.  Jeff and I grab lunch and Vaughn and I get reacquainted.  He remembers what I taught him last time I was in town ...

Monday, August 23rd:
Full day playing with racecars, hammers, magnets, racecars, stuffed animals ... oh yeah, and racecars.

Tuesday, August 24th:
Repeat Monday ... add playing in the dirt out back and sweating from parts of my body I didn't know I had.  Took a trip to the Splash Pad to cool off.  Put Vaughn in and out of the car seat, oh, three times or so because I kept forgetting things in the house.  Gimme a break, this babysitter has been out of practice for quite some time now.

Weds, August 25th
Trip to the Children's Museum.  He was by far the best kid there, at least, that's what I heard ... SO good, he even talked Aunt Trace into a popsicle when we got home.

Thurs, August 26th
Austin Zoo, here we come!  Vaughn's favorite was the pint-sized deer that he was able to feed.  He couldn't get enough, and neither could the mini-deer.  They were a perfect pair.  We went home with a stuffed donkey as a souvenir.  Buying things from the gift shop - that skill I get from my Dad.

Friday, August 27th
Walk around the block and past the firehouse so we could wave at the fire truck.  BIG day.  Spent some time on the front porch blowing bubbles.  He blows more from the soap on his lips than through the little stick ... hilarious.

The days were so exhausting, Vaughn and I relaxed in the evenings with our "juice."

The weekend was full of quality time with my brother and sister-in-law.  VIP seats at a local fashion show, cocktails, movies, dinner at a great taco place ... they know how to spoil the babysitter.

Bottom line - Vaughn and I are BFF's!  What a wonderful opportunity to spend some one-on-one time bonding with my little nephew whom I don't get to see nearly enough.  Skype is handy but doesn't always cut it.  Now I can understand his language, I know his favorite foods, and he even knows my name ... Ace!