Half-Way to Spring?

And winter continues, at least, up here in Normal. It's been a good, busy week. I turned in my last comprehensive examination on Thursday and so am now starting work on my dissertation proposal. As soon as that passes (maybe in early March?) the dissertation is all that stands between me and graduation! Sounds easy, huh? And you're wondering, I know she told me at some point, but what is she writing her dissertation about again? Here's the one-sentence sound bite: It's a study on how authors of Southern texts acculturate/socialize adolescent readers into a Southern identity. Explains everything, doesn't it?

Friday evening I had a graduate forum (i.e. monthly meeting where graduate students get to learn professionalization [i.e. how to construct a resume, how to publish an article, how to get through the degree] from professors in the department) after which we all convened at Lunker's, the town bar, for fried food and beer. JD and Michael joined us as they usually do. Saturday morning, I got to meet up with some girls for our monthly/bi-monthly prayer group, followed by lunch with our baby-friends, the Liberts. We also took the babies to the library and signed them up for their first reading programs! That evening, Beth and Danielle went to dinner with us at our favorite pizza joint in town, Luca grill. Delicious!

By Sunday morning, JD and I hadn't done any work yet all weekend, so following church we did just that. It's a new month for JD at work, so he always has a lot of preparation to do for planning his schedule and sending in expense reports and such. Too bad work is always getting in the way! Michael worked on scooting around the room, eating puffs, and drinking from his sippy cup. We got a few pictures of him at bathtime. Until next week!

Family Visits

The Ponds broke up the long winter for us by coming to visit this weekend. It was so nice to see them and to watch them enjoy Michael! It was too cold to do much outside, but we made the most of our time and did make it to the Garlic Press for lunch and shopping. Their visit was over much too quickly.

Michael is now enrolled in sleep boot camp here at the house; he started waking up again during the night, and he's re-learning to put himself back to sleep. It's hard, on all of us. And as for happy news, the word is officially out that JD's brother Stephen and sister-in-law Lindsey are pregnant with Michael's cousin! We can't wait to meet our new family member at the end of July. Ahhh, July. Will it ever arrive?

Slow Start

The first week of this semester started a bit slowly since I had to cancel the second day of class for a debilitating headache. I spent all of Thursday in bed but have since rebounded and am ready to start the semester afresh tomorrow morning. Michael, in the meantime, has developed quite a strong will. He now yells at you if you take anything away from him and spends a lot of his happy time yelling for no reason! I'm kinda hoping it's a teething thing (which I've been using as an excuse for the past three months). JD finally got over his cold and worked over the weekend organizing the basement. Thanks, JD! Ah, the joys of home-ownership.

Winter seems so much longer with a baby in the house. We are already eagerly planning our spring and summer vacations.

Official Parenthood

Even though Michael was born 7 months ago, our status as parents is now official with our purchase of a minivan! JD drove several minivans during his tenure with Philip Morris, but never before has he purchased one of his own. But we're excited about it because it's so nice and will be perfect for roadtrips. In fact, yesterday we warmed it up and hung out in it in the driveway because we didn't have anywhere to go! Yes, I realize that will wear off quickly.

In other news, Michael is about to crawl. He can now get up on all fours and rock back and forth. He can even scoot backwards but has not yet figured out the forwards motion yet. Get ready because here he comes!

Winter Hibernation

I don't have too much to report this week; now that the holidays are over, we're settling in for the long, cold winter. After we returned home last week, it took a couple of days to unpack. JD's grandfather passed away Tuesday morning, so JD flew back home to attend his funeral. We will miss him; he sure did love Michael! Michael and I spent the few days watching movies (Toy Story 1,2, and 3, Inception, Bye,Bye Birdie) and preparing for the next semester to begin. JD returned just in time to spend New Year's Eve with us, although we all went to bed far before the new year actually came. Now, JD's back to work, and I'm trying to be productive during my last week off. I'm working hard on painting the trim downstairs, which might take the whole month...