giddy up, it's christmas!

Being that it has been a while since we last wrote, Dawn and Bill both contributed segments to this post

What hasn't happened since the last post?!? Where do I begin? We have concluded why Ella hasn't started staking steps at home. They say that babies (or toddlers) will only take steps in places where they are comfortable. Since she has spent more time at the her daycare provider's house then our new house, she is more comfortable to do it there. Ella had her first McDonald's Happy Meal this weekend. Isn't it sad that in our society I find this to be a milestone?

Ella was greeted on Christmas morning by her gift from Santa: a Rocking horse. Um, Santa thought that Ella would just love this precious horsey from the moment they laid eyes on each other. This not was the case, however. She didn't necessarily mind it, from afar. But she hasn't really taken to riding the darn thing yet - trying to just made for a very upset Christmas girl. Maybe she just needed her diaper changed or a snack, we weren't sure. So we tried it again later on in the afternoon, still with little success. Maybe tomorrow. Ella also got a few more toys for Christmas and some more outfits. Onto North Dakota for more presents and holiday Cheer on Wednesday.

Christmas Eve, as always, a very nice evening, hosted by Rob and Annie. Santa made a quick visit to bring some presents to the kiddos, which was an especially nice treat for them. Ella got some groceries to use in her kitchen, Tristan got a toy truck, and baby Ashton got some new jammies. Ella didn't really care too much that the Man in Red was there, but Tristan was very excited! He was very concerned with where he parked his sleigh :). Which, considering the current weather conditions, that was a very valid concern! We spent Christmas Day at Hugh & Joni's. Delicious munchies were had by all. Dawn scored a new winter jacket, some winter boots, and some cooking utensils. Bill nabbed a new sport coat, and some tools. Auntie Debbie shared the day with us as well.

It started snowing on Wednesday night, the 23rd. It is still snowing and it is almost the 26th. The temperature this Christmas got up to around 35 degrees, so the snow isn't really light and fluffy, it's heavy and soggy. Dad tried to snowblow the driveway but I really think I heard the snowblower laugh and say "Yeah right!". We had a neighbor graciously offer his snowplow to help Dad out. What a life-saver!

song: Billy Mack - Christmas Is All Around

memory: This short memory has to do with the subject at hand...Christmas. When we lived in Richfield (from age 0 to age 14), my Dad always setup an electric train underneath our tree. And year-in and year-out, although we never intended to break it (cause we didn't want to find out the consequences), my brother and I always put little obstacles and jumps on the track. Apparently the train is still in working order in a box in my 'rents basement. Might have to dig that out next year.

As I mentioned before, we are heading to Bismarck and New Town on Wednesday. I am hoping to post at least one more time before the new year. I hope your Christmas was memorable and family filled. In my next post (more as a reminder for myself), I will include of picture of the family Christmas card we sent as well as my opinion of the BS holiday commercials that are flooding the stations today.

times remembered

Sorry for the random notes before, but eventually we recount Ella's birth...hence the title of the post. Well, it might be time for the mutt to get a special Christmas present this year. As I last wrote, I took Charm to the train station on Sunday night. Unfortunately, when we were heading out the door, Gage got a wild hair (or a cold hair as he later found out), to run out the door. And because he is so well-trained, he didn't come to us when we called. So, because Charmy-do had to catch her train, I took off to St. Paul with Charmaine and wished Dawn the best. About 20 minutes later, a neighbor named Sue called my phone, since my number was on his collar, and said he was sitting in the passenger seat of her car! Thanks to the caring neighbor, Gage got home safe and sound, but he wasn't in good standing in Dad's eyes.

It is still up for debate why Ella is sick, but she has had a rough go at it the last few days. It started the day after her birthday on Sunday when she had a funny stomach. Then, last night she actually threw up half way through the night. So at her 12-month appointment tonight, the doc chalked it up as a combination of her new teeth coming in and a a small stomach flu. So after the quick check-up, she is on her way! She is in the 72nd percentile for weight at 22.5 lbs, the 86th percentile for length at 18.75", and the 97th percentile for head circumference (Thanks Grandpa & Uncle Hugh!!). Onto year #2 for baby #1.

I am looking forward to happy hour I will have with my brother Hugh on Thursday and an co-worker of mine, Dan, from Ergotron on Monday. It'll be interesting to see what they have been up to in terms of work and freelance projects. We also are still debating on our situation this weekend for the Springer-side Christmas since bring Gage with us would be a trick if we were to stay at someone's house.

Being that I usually set aside a Memory section in each post, consider this that section. Since I know this will slip from our memory sooner than we know it, I wanted to jot-down how Ella's actually birth day, and night, and day went down. As most things in the past go, Dawn could recall this better than I could. So Dawn (hi!) will be stepping in to help me recall! Dawn's due date was December 14th. And on that particular wintery Sunday, Dawn's water broke at that cold afternoon at 3:15. After watching all the pregnancy shows that Dawn watched, I was banking on a high-speed race to the hospital, running red lights, and possibly a police escort. Well, considering all the other "excitement" we had for the remainder of our hospital stay, I am glad we didn't start off on that foot. We slowly gathered our things and headed off to Fairview Ridges. Even though Dawn wasn't far along, they admitted us early because a bad snow storm was coming in. We got to the hospital at around 4:30pm. As the afternoon and night went along, Dawn slowly went along but no major progressions. They started a pill to help induce at 6pm, with the next dose to come around midnight. And by around ten, Dawn was in quite a bit of pain with the contractions, but we still had to get to a 4 before an epidural was possible. She was given pitosen and a round of drugs the nurses called "the cocktail", or something to that effect (basically to make me woozy so I just wouldn't care about the pain! Not sure I liked it, but it worked; I relaxed alot which made the process go smoother). Turns out I didn't need the second round of meds that would help me dilate, so we waited out the night until we were ready to push. I slept a little bit throughout but was mainly on guard to help Dawn. By 3:30 Monday, the 15th, Dawn was ready to push. She had gotten a epidural around 1am since the anesthesiologist was still on call.

So from about 4:00am till 6:15am, Dawn pushed. We had a precious nurse named Jacee, who helped Dawn along in the process. Although she coached Dawn along saying she was progressing and more dilated, but it wasn't happening fast. Truth was, Ella was not "fitting" quite right, so no matter how hard she pushed, it wasn't going to happen. She had no visible "plates" to afix the vacuum to (said our doctor - are we talking about my child here?) and her head was just a little crooked. Dawn had some slight issues with blood pressure during the labor, and since she wasn't progressing, our doctor, Michelle, thought it would be best to do a c-section. So we got dressed up in our scrubs and headed to the operating room. Before Dawn went in (as the pregnancy shows told me), I needed to wait outside the operating room until they had prepped Dawn accordingly. As we headed down to the OR, the epidural started to fade. Unfortunatley, that wait ended up being longer than I expected. As I (Dawn) entered the OR, they tried to readminister my epidural drugs, with no success. As I contracted, Doc Michele pinched my skin to test my numbness...needless to say, I love my doc but I swore at her worse than my sisters ever heard growing up in girl fights! The doc said they'd try one more thing and if that didn't work, they'd have to put me under. Another pinch, another swear word, and he decided it was time for a little nap. Turns out my line had come out of my spine (I apologize for lack of medical lingo!) and it was a lost cause. I just wanted my baby! The last thing I heard coming from Jacy the nurse was, "You're going to feel like you're choking a little". Great. Next thing I new I awoke in recovery sorer than any awful double track practice day and without voice. Skip to Billy's recollection! Well, I waited in that little room for longer than planned. Jacee ended coming back out of the OR and giving me the scoop on Dawn's situation. Dawn had to be put under completely in order to deliver little beaner.

Between the lack of sleep and excitement, I didn't know what to expect next (and little did I know it was going to be a whirl wind). Jacee came out of the OR about 15 minutes later with Ella in her arms and no word on Dawn. I assumed they would update me on her status when they were ready, so I let it be. After all, I had my baby girl in my arms. Jacee and I and Ella took the elevator back up for the delivery floor of the hospital to go back to our delivery room. Ella was put into the nursery as I moved our stuff from the delivery wing to the postnatal wing. After getting settled and calling Darcy, Keli, and my M&D, I went to check on Ella in the nursery. Seeing her for the second time was unreal. After a short stay and holding her again, I went to check on Dawn's status. Between those unanswered questions at the nurses station and seeing Ella in the nursery, Dawn was finally wheeled in to our room. Dawn got to hold Ella at 10am that morning and we were together for the first time as a family.

To break it down, Ella was born at 6:45 am weighing 8.5 lbs and stretching out to be 21.6 inches long. 4 days were spent in that 'spital room and Ella spent a good amount of time in the bili-bed because of her slight jaundice. We left the morning of the 18th for the apartment at Cinnamon Ridge. Sleepless nights were had by all after that, but it was well worth it! Dawn was a champ during the whole excursion and I wouldn't have survived without her.

Song: NeedToBreathe - Something Beautiful (you can tell we totally dig NeedToBreathe and I like to mix it up when it comes to my music selection, but this was a tune Dawn listened to quite a bit when preggers, so I had to post it.)

To conclude, Happy 1st Birthday Ella Bean! You are such a big girl and we love you very much!

three-hundred sixety-two

Dawn and I had been busy cleaning the house and Dawn making snacks for the party. And there were a few little things we needed to do to the house before Charmy arrived. She got into town at 10ish on Friday morn at the Amtrak station. Dawn had Friday afternoon off. So Dawn, Charmy and beaner spent the afternoon groc shopping and putzing around the house.

We spent Friday night catching up over wine and good stories. Saturday morning was more cleaning and arranging the house. Folks started showing up about 12:15. We ate, opened presents and then Ella dove into her cake. The coolest part of the day was when Ella went head-first into her smash-cake. We were able to have Darcy and Madeline watch the festivities on Skype (you can see Ella and Dawn checking out the Skyping in this picture). Its tough not having Dawn's family close, but thanks to Amtrak and Skype, we are able to still share precious moments from time to time. Thanks to all of the friends and family who shared her big day with us! The presents were very nice and she has been playing non-stop since.

More errands and shopping took up our time on Saturday and Sunday. Ella did have a funny tummy most of the day on Sunday so we are thinking even more molars are comin in! Charm is hoping back on the train back to Minot at 10:30 tonight. We will see her and the rest of the Satermo/Fladeland side soon when we trek to Bismarck and New Town on the 30th.

Now looking ahead on the calendar, we have the Springer extended-side Christmas party this coming Saturday in Moorhead. We are still figuring out arrangements for our stay and what to do with the mut. Details to come once they are decided.

I opened a can of worms tonight by cleaning off the vid camera. Being that we hadn't cleaned it off since we bought it, there were quite a few clips on there. They are pretty big files, so the best route was to upload them to YouTube. So I will be here for the next 2 weeks cleaning off this camera. This YouTube project is one of many that have recently come on my social to-do list. I want to tackle a few more blogs. Not ones that I would update more than a few times a year, but rather more of a source/reference place for stuff! Maybe a project over the Christmas break?!?

Song: Darius Rucker - It Won't be Like This for Long

Even though Ella has only been around for 362 days, so its technically not her birthday till the 15th, an early Happy Birthday anyway to my precious girl!

is that what i think it is?

December 7th and it has finally snowed. Some called it a blizzard, I don't think it was that bad. In the end we (in Burnsville) probably got 7 inches. The roads have been pretty nasty since! And I have decided that all of Ella's college fund money is going to be borrowed and put towards the purchase of a snow blower, otherwise her daddy is gonna throw his back out! Since other things are more important, I imagine it will be a couple of years and a few chiropractor visits until I get a snow blower. Luckily Dave, Granny and the Schiller girls made it to and from the cities before the snow hit! As you can see, Ella loved seeing her and loved the precious baby bracelet she got as a present!

Dawn surprised even herself when she won a chili cook-off contest at Northern Tool on Monday. With the secret ingredient of bacon and quite a few spices, she brought it home! I was pretty stoked for her. But since late last week, we both have been fighting colds that have only gotten worse as the time has past. We are actually both home sick today trying to kick these things so we are ready for the Ella's party on Saturday. Unbelievable...she is going to be a 1 year old.

Dancing is one of Ella's favorite things to do, even if there is no music to jam to. And its funny that some of her toys have come and gone in terms of her interest in them. The music table she is standing next to in this vid has come and gone a few times in the last year, but it always a leg-shaker when its hot!

We are still gearing up for Ella's big bash on Saturday. Charm is taking the train from New Town to come see us and celebrate with us. We are really excited to see her and show her around Minni-happiness. Between the food, the cakes, the presents, the company, its gonna be a crazy weekend but we are looking forward to it! Ella has already gotten a few gifts from her NoDak cousins (as you can see in this picture of her opening them). Can't wait to spend Christmas with the Dooooogies and Madeline.

I haven't mentioned this in the past, but the other members of my fam are battling unemployment for some time now. My sister was the first one to get out of the rut with a part time teaching and now some good news just came down the pipe that my brother Hugh has a real good shot at a job (maybe even before Christmas)!

Song: Rob Thomas - Now Comes the Night

Memory: My dad's old, red, manual, 4-door Chevy Nova. A fun little car. He used to let us steer on his lap, we would play the coasting game (putting the car in neutral and seeing how many blocks we could cost before she stopped)! It all ended when my brother piled it up, but thats a different story. Nothing real specific with this memory, but the fun times we had in the car...R.I.P.

BTDub - Found the toy I want for Christmas! Now they make matchbox cars that are remote controlled! Oh, the things they think of. A cool little toy for $15.

Peace

kiss central

No, we didn't turn a new leaf and become new fans of KISS. Ella has been a kissing machine. When you ask for a kiss, she turns to you and open hers mouth. Precious girl! For the first time in a while, she had a pretty rough night on Friday night. Although she was crying for most of the night, it brought me back to the days of when she was a wee babe and we had to walk her to sleep cause she wouldn't fall asleep on her own. It is true...they grow up too fast. Speaking of baby #2, we don't have any to share, but I imagine baby #2 talk with start sooner than later. Back to my speaking of...we were at a Christmas party on Saturday night and it was quite the hike to get up to the party since it was on the North side of the cities. So Dawn and I didn't indulge at all. My Dad came to Dawn midway through the party and asked her if she was pregnant!

Ella had her 1 year pictures on Saturday...tear! She did pretty well and we can't wait for them to come back! After her pictures, Grandma Evy and Mr. G were in town since Jackie had her Midwest DECA conference to host. So they stopped by...Mr. G delivered some firewood for our fireplace and for the Winter season. Grandma was just content visiting and seeing Ella Claire! Ella got a precious gold, baby bracelet present from her great-grandma. I will post a picture once I grab it off the camera.

Although it meant more work over the weekend, big news came down the pipeline on Saturday night when Concordia's women's volleyball team won their 3rd straight national championship, in front of their home crowd too. It was cool to work on the web-side of things of YouTube videos and news postings to various CSP websites. I am hoping to launch a killer 3-Peat Championship website by mid-week. That, along with all the redesign projects I have cooking, its been a busy week!

Dawn has been quite busy putting Ella's stocking together. She bought a stocking kit off of Amazon. Although its a quite simple project, its still pretty time-consuming. The billions of sequins that are on this thing are amazing! It will look stellar on the mantle when she gets done with it (another photog I will post). I have been busy with those Golden Bear videos, but more importantly, our 2009 Christmas card. They were printed last night and we hope to get them in the mail early this week.

Song: Michael Buble - Just Haven't Met You Yet

Memory: My intention of having this memory section of posts was to recall stories that were slipping my mind, since I am only getting older. Although I love to keep you (all 2 of you) entertained, these memories may be a bit stale. The first home I lived in in Richfield was across the street from a elementary school (Centennial to be exact). This was my parents second home, but is the house I have lived in the longest thus far. All of the teachers, receptionists, principals, school nurses knew that we lived there and new our parents relatively well. On Saturdays and Sundays, I would spend time riding my bike and kicking the soccer ball around in the parking lot and the baseball field of the school. To keep myself entertained, I would kick the ball against the wall of the school. More often than not, the ball had its own plans and it would end up on the roof of the school. For some reason of another, I also became buddies with Scott, the school janitor. At the time I was probably 8 and he was probably in his early 30's. At any rate, once the school was closed in the afternoon he would take me on the roof with him to throw the ball down. Probably something he could get fired for now a days, but something pretty special for me at the time. Ah, memories.

We are stoked for this weekend because of Ella's big party (even though we still have so much to do). Charmaine is coming for the party and to visit us. So it will be a busy week, but an awesome weekend!

We are just catching Robin William's stand-up act on HBO so I gotta run.

hobbycity

Dawn and I have been busy the last couple of days taking care of mini projects and hobbies around the house...some related to Christmas, some not. I was able to nab a family tree book of the Kuehn family from my pops, so I am back on the Geni.com site again. I have over 450 people in the tree and I hope it keeps growing! I need to keep on it to add Satermo, Fladeland and Sheehan relies now.

Ella is funny with her TV selections recently. She is hooked on Sesame Street and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. But she only pays attention to certain parts of the shows. Elmo's World from Sesame Street and the intro song of Mickey's show makes her cheese out like crazy. But once those segments of the shows are done, she is out...moved on to bigger and better things. Silly girl.

My beef that I mentioned a few posts back is still on my mind. Marketing is a tough role to be in. Everyone experiences marketing/advertising/promotions all the time, everyday. Because of that, people think they are marketers in their own right. I didn't go to school for markteting, so Dawn could speak to this subject better than I could, but the point is, there are techniques, concepts, and trends that marketing folk know and see that others don't. Just as surgeons learn about procedures and bone structures, marketers learn about reactions to colors and taglines that sell. But because because of all the marketing others experience, they doubt that knowledge. Or maybe they don't doubt it, but they think they know just as much as you. But the source of the problem may not be the individual co-workers or colleagues, but rather the management and administration. If the general understanding of the organization is that marketing really knows whats it doing (which it always does), I guarantee that products/services will sell better. In that understanding, all other aspects of the organization need to work within that rule. Sales, Customer Service, Upper Management, etc., need to give the power to the marketing department. Taglines and campaigns will flow in harmony because its only marketing brain power that powers it. Obviously I am on a soap box because of the job that I have and I haven't been lucky enough to work for a company that functions in the this way. My dad worked as a marketing manager of cancer drug, Aloxi, for a pharmacutical company called MGI Pharma. The marketing managers walked on water at that place. The knowledge of the marketing team was respected and the company was successful. Enough on that note...

Story telling: I am not exactly sure how this started, but I enjoy "getting" people by making up stories. Let me explain, say you tell me that you are going to the Mall of America to do some shopping...I would quickly respond by saying, "If you walk by the big rotunda, check out the big elevators that are on the West side. Most of the time there are big banners or posters covering those elevators. I actually screwed in the i-hooks in the ceiling of the mall to hang those (and a little FF for ya, they can support 75lbs each)". So you get the point. Leading someone on to believe that I had a hand in something that I clearly didn't. But the trick is being quick and making it somewhat believable. At any rate, I don't want to give away my tricks of the trade. Only my good friends have experienced the power that is a believable story. Hopefully you will experience one in person soon.

song: Uncle Cracker - Smile

Two more random thoughts before signing off:

• 1. How does P Diddy still have street cred in the hip-hop industry? He hasn't released a song in like 10 years. And who the hell would want to work for him?


• 2. Have you noticed that recent songs that have been released have lyrics that focus on friends, family, memories and love? Maybe an effect of the crappy economy?

Looking forward to Ella's 1 year pictures and Grandma and Dave coming to visit this weekend!

I gotta jump!

red thursday

It has been sometime since I last wrote, and what an eventful week it has been. Dawn and I needed a break from work come Wednesday. I was struggling with unrealistic requests and Dawn was dealing with the day-to-day. Either way, the 4 day weekend was perfect timing. In fact, by the time Wednesday rolled around, I ended up meeting up with a few colleagues of Dawn's for a cigar at Burn in Burnsville. I actually brought my pool cue along as was pleasantly surprised with my performance. In a future post I will look back at the pool hall days in college at Lucky's in GF.

Thanksgiving was at my parents house in Burnsville. Most of the Sheehan family (my mother's side) made an appearance. Tristan was especially excited about the day since his pal Ella was there. Tristan, Ashton (my cousin Alisa's two sons) and Ella all go to the same daycare provider in Burnsville. It is sure nice that they have the same daycare and can see each other on holidays. I am sure those three will grow up as best buds. After gorging ourselves on turkey and three killer deserts that Dawn made for the occasion (Carmel Apple Cheesecake, Gingerbread Pumpkin Trifle, and Pumpkin Cake), we lounged for a bit at the Boulders, read the Black Friday ads, and cruised home about 3ish.

We took right to putting up the Christmas Tree and all the other decorations when we got back. It was fun to finally get to decorate our own house. Although we quickly realized how more decorations are needed since we have so much more space. By Friday night we had everything pretty much in place. I am sure that will grow over the next month as more decorations are added.

Friday morning I had planned to hit-up the Black Friday deals (Babies 'R Us, Sears, Best Buy, Menards, Home Depot, KMart, and Target). This was all going to start at midnight when BRU was selling diapers for a song. Being that I didn't sleep well (and haven't been at all recently), I almost got up about 11:45 and headed out the door. Then, as luck would have it, I didn't set my alarm correctly on my phone and my initial departure time of 4:45am turned into 6:15am. CRAP! Although we had high hopes of checking quite a few gifts off the list, between the crowds of people and my late start, those hopes were quickly lessened. None the less, I know what to expect for next year! After coming home and picking up Dawn and Beaner, we headed out for a few more stops. Later that afternoon I swung over to St. Paul to help Hugh Jr. move some furniture around in his house. As you can see by the picture here, Ella indulged in some pasta for dinner and we are hoping she at as much as got her on during the meal :). The night ended by Dawn and I watching the neighbors put up Christmas lights.

We didn't have much planned for Saturday. We ended up running quite a few more errands and then doing more cleaning and a few updates on the house (new light fixtures in the foyer and kitchen, wall art for the dining room and spare room, and some demo on the shop downstairs). Hugh Jr. helped me with those light fixtures later in the afternoon and we BS the night away after dinner.

Enough catching up...Ella has been pretty needy recently. She doesn't like being put down on the floor to play by herself. She is standing for longer periods of time by herself and we are thinking she might start walking here in the next month.

My beef from this last week was steaming from work related issues and having the role of a marketer. Since this post is getting on the longer side, I will save it for the next post.

song: Jesse McCartney - Body Language

memory: Falling up the stairs...Until I did it, I didn't think it was possibly either. It was the summer of 2000 when I was taking the in-class portion of Driver's Ed. I was taking it with a few friends of mine, and because I was home alone that summer, parents of these friends would pick me up and drop me off during this week long class. I was downstairs watching TV when I heard their car horn honk, so I quickly ran upstairs. Long story short, I slipped on the top step, and as I was falling my knee was bent and I cut the skin of my knee-cap open on the overhanging tile that was in our foyer. Immediately I went into shock and starting calling anyone in the family frantically. Thinking that I was going to bleed-out or something, I dragged myself into the main-floor bathroom so blood didn't get on my mom's carpet. In the end my knee didn't bleed at all, but it was sure thoughtful. Being that I couldn't get a hold of my mom or dad, I called Karen Franzwa who lived with us in household. Before calling her I called 911 since I thought for sure I was going to die on that kitchen floor. By the time Karen pulled up, the ambulance had arrived as well. Realizing how small the cut was and being mindful of my dad's checkbook, she turned away the ambulance and she took me to intensive care instead. What a bummer! In the end the doctor totally screwed my knee for life by only using 5 stitches when at least 10 were needed (i.e., my scar is still pretty harsh). Instead of a memory next time, I may have to mention and list a few of the epic stories I have told in the past...you will see what I mean when I explain myself.

Gotta jump.

thanksgivingfullness

I know...a tacky post title, but at least you get my reasoning right off the bat. Before I get into those notes, an update on the Springer life:

We are about to dive into a commitment for 30 yrs = our first mortgage payment is due on the 1st of December. YIKES! But, in order to save money in the log run and to pay off this puppy quicker, we are going with biweekly payments. Statistics say it could save us 10-12 years on our mortgage and $95k...I'll take it!

Ella enjoyed watching the wheel (Wheel of Fortune) and playing peek-a-boo with us tonight. She is dancing every second she is standing too! Go figure...the one song she danced to when we watched the top 20 video countdown on Saturday was lady gaga. Bleh. I have a thing or two to teach her about taste in music. It is strange to believe that our nightly conversations consist of "Ella is crawling around so pickup Gage's food bowl", "Did you make her bottle yet", and "Is it bath night". I know, most people comment on how their lives change when babies are young and its all about diapers, bottles, and naps. But life was too crazy and exciting to even have that cross our minds at the time. It, indeed, is crazy to think of how life has changed and how far we have come in the last 12 months.

In terms of thanksgiving, we are the most thankful for our health and our employment. Without those two, we wouldn't be in the fantastic place we are now. Along with that is our families. Although we don't get to see our No Dak family nearly as much as we would like to, all of our family and our dearest friends have been an amazing support through our move to the cities and to our new house, Ella's 1st year of life, and learning to adjust to family life! Before this day is too far gone, I do want to say how thankful I am of being able to get to know my grandpa before he passed. Yesterday was the five year anniversary of Grandpa Hugh's passing from cancer. He has been greatly missed and I can't wait to meet him again one day. You better have an American Spirit with my name on it when I get up there, Grandpa! Someday I will tell a story or two about Grandpa Hugh (haha, poet). He was a good man with haunting memories which make it difficult at times...anyway. More thankful notes this week.

Song: instead of browsing for a good music selection before diving into projects at work today, I spent time updating my Geni Family Tree. It's fun to keep that kind of thing up to date and hope to add to it this holiday season when I can glean more information from relatives. Between our two families, we have over 375 folks in our family tree!

Memory: As I have mentioned in the past, I was (and still have flashbacks here and there) a pansy growing up. I didn't like getting hurt, plain and simple. I didn't climb trees, I didn't go off big jumps with my bike, I...you get the point. It was all the same with water sports. My Dad grew up on a lake, and thanks to God's blessings, my parents bought a cabin on North Long Lake in MN in the early 1980's on the same lake as Ed & Bernie Boegamann and Brad & Patty Bye (whom I am sure will be in future posts). Because of that, living on the lake was what we did in the summer. And what we did was ski (well, what everyone else did was ski). I took more to the grass skiing and water chariotting (sp?). I used to pretend to ski by bringing water skis to the front lawn and holding my hands out like I was bring towed. And, my dad, being the compassionate one that he is, bought a ski chariot. As you can see by this picture (although the actor posing in the shot makes it look riveting and stellar), its nothing more than a tube with three sides so no harm or danger can be experiences by the rider. I loved it. I rode in that thing till...well, last year. Ha, kidding. Through the mockery of Kyle Bye and the encourage of my Dad, I started skiing when I was 14 or so and I am not afraid to say it! Speaking of being a pansy...my next memory will be of when I fell up the stairs and almost got an ambulance ride out of the deal.

I hear snow is in the forecast. We can't complain about the fabulous weather we have had up till this point. I put the flippin' Christmas lights up in a t-shirt yesterday for gosh sakes. And who are we kidding, it's not fun unless we have a white Christmas.

I do want to mention again that this blog is merely for fun and remembrance purposes. So if you find grammatical errors...deal with it.

in the holiday spirit

This weekend was full of holiday preparation. We are going to Mom and Dad Springer's house for Thanksgiving on Thursday. And we can't wait to go to North Dakota to see all the family for Christmas. We hung up Christmas lights today since the weather was so nice. We grabbed quite a bit of holiday decor so we can deck out the new house. We are planning on putting up the rest of the decorations and the trees next weekend. Dawn even got the chance to bust-out the KitchenAid for the first time. Deserts for Thanksgiving on are the menu!

Ella was funnier than ever this weekend. She is talking like crazy and scooting around the house. She has moved past eating baby food and is eating all adult food. Pizza, pasta, meatloaf, just to name a few. We sent out invites for her first birthday party on the 12th. She has even gotten used to her bean bag chair and usually watches Sesame Street in the morning.

Dad and I went and got sheet rock on Saturday morn so we can make more progress on the master bath. It would be stellar to have it sheet rocked and painted by the time we have her party. The funds are tight since we are still waiting for our First-Time Home Buyers Tax Credit. So, although the vanity, medicine cabinet, and shower may not be installed, it would at least look a little more finished. But, we know Dad is busy on the job search, so we take things as they come. The progress we have made thus far is tremendous.

We have met most of our neighbors now. Scott and Kara, and their kids, Noah and Toby who live directly across River Hills, stopped by and chatted with us on Saturday afternoon. We are looking forward to having a house warming shindig in the Spring so we can meet them all again. They have all been super nice and welcoming. I actually had to borrow Tony Schmitz's ladder to get onto the roof to finalize the lights.

I am fighting again with my eye infection. This happens once or twice a year. We think it's stress related. It is a real pain in the ass though, I tell you what! This seems to be the worse bought I have had in a long time. Its the biggest hassle cause everyone assumes that it is pink-eye and that it is super contagious.

Song: Carrie Underwood - How Great Thou Art

Memory: I promised a story about The Buckle. As you may have seen in a Facebook post, I had a good collection of jobs in my childhood. One of which was a sales position at The Buckle. The ideology of The Buckle is that if you approach the customer as soon as they enter the store and find out what kind of person they are or who they are shopping for, you can help them to find what they are looking for (and sell them more). I think that is BS especially since that is not how I shop. When I am looking for new clothes, I really don't know what I am looking for. So the last thing I want is to have a salesman breathing down my neck. So, in the end, I only was employed for three days and they recommended I move to work at the register...in the end, I didn't go back. I was 16 at the time, so it prolly wasn't the smartest way to go about things, but I had had my fill of retail sales. Future memory...my approach to water sports as a child (which didn't include water skiing).

I will write again before t-day. Have a good short week folks!

complaints and arguements

Got ya with that title didn't I? It's funny that I write one liners like that and expect a response...as if people are actually reading this blog. Anyway, This week has been busy for us. Both Monday and Tuesday we have had our fair share of battles at work. We have overcome them for the most part, but it sucks we had to face them in the first place.

Ella is just fine and dandy. She is standing by herself now for long moments and can just feel the walking will be coming soon. Grandma Joni is coming over to babysit tonight which Dawn and I go to this Release Party that we are pretty stoked about. Maybe rub elbows with Mr. Oake, or Brandi...God only knows.

So here is my beef (hence the title of the post)...I think the success of Taylor Swift is bunk (and Miley Cyrus for that matter). I have felt this way for some time and have even shared my opinion on some talk radio shows here in town. And here is why: Taylor Swift started as a country singer, marketed herself as a country singer, dressed-up like a country singer. I don't know if this was her choice, or the choice of her label, but at some point in her career, it was decided that every track of her would be recorded in two formats...one which would be looped on Country stations and Pop stations. In my opinion, the country music industry is one of tradition, respect, and history. The fact the she (or they) intentionally recorded in her releases in two formats for the sake of being played on multiple stations and marketed to multiple audiences for the pure sake of making more money is total bullshit. And it is incredibly disrespectful to the workhorses and pillars of the country genre (i.e. the George Straights, the Clint Blacks, etc.), and for that I am pissed off. There you have it...mentioning George Straight made me think of another beef...but thats for another post.

I wrote the first few paragraphs of this post on Wednesday afternoon. I am glad I waited to post this until now, cause, let me tell you, I have a few stories about the Release Party. I don't expect this to happen again anytime soon, but because Concordia has been playing commercials on Clear Channel stations, the sales rep gave my boss four tickets to the release party. So Dawn and I were able to have date night last night. One of my co-workers and her boyfriend were also going to the party. We had expected to see them, but because of the size of the venue and and the amount of people there, we never connected. We showed up during the middle of Erin McCarley's set. Unfortunately each set was only about 8 songs long, but still awesome to see the sweet mix of artists. Anywho...after her set finished, we went downstairs to see the rest of the Bayview Event Center in Excelsior. We really flippin' lucked out because it just happened that NeedtoBreathe's set was starting in a few short moments. Most of the party-goers had not yet migrated downstairs so we ended up standing about 10ft way from the band (see crappy picture). This is the same band that I included in my song link a few posts back. So I am a huge fan of the band, their history, and their sound. Their set was killer, and a memorable one. After their set, they scooted off stage and we headed back up stairs. Brandi Carlisle's set was next. We were hanging out waiting for that to start when Bear Rineheart (lead singer from NeedToBreathe) was hanging out behind us. No one recognized him or paid any attention to him (which may be what he wanted, but I wasn't going to let it stand). So Dawn and I turned around and chatted with him. We mentioned how we love their style, their sound and everything else. He was a stellar dude. Big moment for me.

On to Brandi's set. Of course, her vocals were amazing as ever. In addition to her hits, she also covered Hallelujah and Cash's Folsom Prison Blues...stellar to say the least. As I do, I stepped out for a cigarette (and Dawn accompanied me). During a convo we were having, Dawn froze and didn't say anything. Little did I realize that Brandi and her guitarist were walking right behind us heading to their tour bus. Since Dawn was still tongue tied, I say, "Thank you guys for coming, we love you music and you killed it tonight". Like teenage school girls, Dawn and I turn to each other and freak out. It was a pretty surreal moment and one we won't forget.

Song: Guitar picking cover of Michael Jackson: Black or White (sometime of tribute had to happen eventually, right?)

Memory: I will have to get back to my Buckle memory...See the next post.

Hope to get another post up tomorrow night. - Laters

first weekend of home accomplishments

I don't mean to belittle the progress we have already made on the house, but it finally feels like we are getting somewhere with the house. With carpets cleaner and some pictures of the wall, its feeling more and more like home. You will see in the pictures below that our rug doctor rental was a success. We took a risk by grabbing a couch and love seat set off craigslist that wasn't in the greatest shape. Turns out it just needed a little elbow grease (or lack there of) to make them look like new. We also bought a very nice dining set today. We will through up pictures soon.

Ella had a very exciting weekend. She was smilly and crawling all over the house. It seems like new teeth are coming in every day for our girl! She had two come in last week and two more just broke through last night. I can't believe how the times have changed! What a big girl.

As the first paragraph mentioned, Dawn and I were busy working on the house this weekend. She also found time to pump out some crazy perfection with her sewing machine. A second tutu for Ella's first birthday party outfit (because Gage got a hold of the first one), a blanket for Eli (Keli's second son), and a number of other snuggly things.

To sum up other events of the weekend, let's just say Gage is lucky to not be at the shelter right now. Between tearing up a tutu Dawn made for Ella, shredding a pillow and cover we just bought, and running two blocks down the street this morning, he is on a pretty short leash right now. I see obedience school in his near future.

We are super jazzed cause we scored two free tickets to the Cities 97's 21st City Sampler Release Party this coming Wednesday. Not only are we excited to get our hands on a copy of the new sampler, but some killer performers will be making an appearance...Five for Fighting, Brandi Carlile, Need to Breathe, and on, and on. Super stoked! Can't wait for Wednesday night.

Song: Weezer: (If You're Wondering if You Want To) I Want You to (killer version feat. Sara Bareilles)

Memory: When living in the Richfield house, Mom always let us play outside in the sprinkler during the summer. One day we got carried away with the house and decided to spray it in the street. We got even more carried away and took it to the next level by spraying at passing vehicles. Turned out that the last car that passed was a red firebird that had it's windows down. Lets just say that the driver wasn't too happy. By the time we stopped we have ran to the backyard to hide! Next memory: My three day job at the Buckle. Hopefully Dawn will provide a memory or two soon so you can hear the other side of the family's stories.

kept my promise

Here I am, already the next day. HA! So I tell Dawn that I finally got around to writing on the blog, and she says..."Bill, there aren't any pictures". As if I don't do enough around here...haha (kidding). So I added a picture of Ella from this morning to this post. One is of the angel cheesing out in her high chair. Hope to add more this weekend.

Today has been a pretty average day. Dawn got a new winter coat at Old Navy and I got Gage some rawhides (comparable, right?). We have been craigslisting quite a bit recently. We have nabbed a center island/chopping block for the kitchen, a california-king bed for our room (to make our old queen available in the spare bedroom), and a love seat and sofa set. But, the love seat and sofa came with a bit of dirt on them from the previous owner. So we will be resovling the problem with a Rug Doctor soon. We are going to go look at a dining set on Sunday.

In addition to cleaning those couches, I need to hang pictures in the house and paint the stairwell banister to match our chocolate wall in the foyer.

My old roommate from College is coming to visit on Saturday. Tim and his wife Kaylee live in Hutchinson and will be in town doing some wedding stuff for their upcoming nuptials next Spring. Pretty stoked for Timmy to come see the new place and to meet his new puppy Fenton.

I have been keeping my eyes peeled for the Black Friday Best Buy ad. I am hoping to score a cheap plasma for our bedroom, but the budget might not allow. Can't a guy dream?

Song: I'm Alive - Kenny Chesney & DMB

Memory: As promised, my "peeing my pants" story...Let me preface this story by saying I was a pansy as a child growing up. Never went to the hospital, never broke a bone, etc, and I did as I was told. Second grade in Mrs. Nelson's class we had a writing test. During this test, we weren't allowed to get up from our desks or talk to any of our neighbors, the usual rules during a test, so I obliged. Well, when a guy has to go, he has to go...so, repsecting my teachers instructions, I didn't leave my desk and went. It just so happened that I was wearing the most unfortable thing in the world that day: blue jeans. Don't get me wrong, I love Neil Diamond (and can do a pretty wicked impression when the mood strikes), but I hated jeans with a passion when growing up. They were too crunchy and didn't let me move like I wanted to...so I wore sweatpants about 90% of the time. There you have it. You basically got 2 stories in one on that one. Next memory: when us kids sprayed a water house at a car passing by when the windows were down...funny then, horrible to think about now.

Cheers!

its been long enough

it has been on my mind for some time to get back to blogging. I found some inspiration from a good friend of the Springer family, Carmen Lee. The Lord's plan finally came to be this last Summer when He brought Gail, Carmen's wife, to her final resting place. Since her passing, Carmen has been blogging about his daily struggles, triumphs, and activities. I commend him for opening up and sharing his struggles and pray that he continues to find comfort. I realized after reading a few posts of his that I do enjoy reading what his days are filled with (most of which are more eventful and thoughtful than mine). And although mine may never be as insightful and meaningful as his are, I would rather have something to look back at in the future than not. Call it a blog, a journal, a diary, what have you. And on that note, I am not here to check all punctuation and grammar, so if there are grammatical errors, deal with it.

In the most recent days, we have been dealing with Ella's cold (or what we think was a cold). It seems like it has been a month now where she has had coughing stints for 10 minutes at random times during the night. We finally took her to the doc last night and the best solution they had was that she has had a few different colds over time. That and the combination of possibly new teeth coming in. We shall see.

We have also been busy with still unpacking and remolding. We officially moved in the River Hills house on the 24th of October. I think we have made good head-way on the boxes, but I don't think the remodeling/painting will ever end. Even though its been unfortunate circumstances, Dad has had some time to work on projects at our house because he is unemployed. But, I know he enjoys the projects to pass the time. We have already most of our neighbors and they have been kind and welcoming! Its killer to have neighbors that don't share a wall with you!!

Back to Ella...we are planning her first birthday party already. Man oh live! I cna't believe its been that long already. I know, thats what everyone says, but, holy crap.

Work is busier than ever. Planning and carrying out the migration to a new content management system along with a redesign of the entire csp.edu website. That, along with continuing to push the higher-ed envelope with social media, has been exhausting. Twitter Contests are next on the agenda.

Dawn's job is rockin and rollin. She loves her co-workers and is really looking forward to making a bigger mark at Northern Tool. I am excited for her and can't wait for more of her marketing experience to be flushed out in her current role and any future roles.

That is a brief update in a nutshell. I won't be as bland in upcoming posts! With each of these posts, I want to make two things a regular practice...recent song I am listening to and a brief memory from the past (since I am only getting older and am forgetting these things).

Song: Need to Breathe: Washed by the Water

Memory: My 5th (golden) birthday...a typical young kids birthday. 5 or 6 of my friends from the Richfield neighborhood. The main thing I remember about it is that we played red light-green light in the drive way and it was flippin snowing...in April. Good one God. Next memory...why I peed my pants in the 2nd grade. Stay tuned.

Hope to keep this up and be back in the next day or two. Laters

We're here!

Hello! Well here we are, the Eagan Springers...we too, have decided to start a blog! Let the fun begin...

It has been a fairly mellow spring for us! Ella is going to be FIVE months at the end of this week! This little girl is growing too fast for us. She keeps us well entertained; she now is rolling (and rolling, and rolling...), eating rice cereal and other various fruits and vegetables (carrots are her fave), and "talking" non-stop! Her doctor said at her four month appointment last month that she suspects teeth will be coming soon, but so far they haven't made their debut!

And Gage. He is a very energetic pup, and likes to keep us busy. Bill just taught him to sit and to shake last week - he learned them very quickly! I wish he would learn to leave Ella's pacifiers alone, however. We could do without that.

Last but not least, the Mom and Pop of the family. We are coming up on the one year anniversary of our Minnesota residency! It has been a quick and crazy but very wonderful year! It has been tough to be so far away from all of the North Dakota family, but we make the trek as often as we can!

Geni(ology)

I was lucky enough to get copies of extensive family lineage for the Kuehn family tree (Bill's grandma's family). So, using the online website/tool Geni, we are entering family lineage information on both sides of our families. It is impressive to look back at our relatives and our history. And I am super stoked about the fact that we have an electronic record of this information. I am also hoping that this will encourage our extended families to contribute to this database.

We will show you all the results soon.

It's About Time!

Ya figure it's my job to monitor activity of social networking sites, yet I don't have one for personal use?!? Well, here you go! The Springer Forum is finally active and we hope to beef this blog up with comical stories, remarkable memories, and tons of photos for our friends and family to see.

Check back soon. And we love you all!