What keeps our hope alive!

So the countdown has begun until we move into our new place...(Well it is not our place just yet...hopefully it will be if things go as planned.) Todd has gone to war with our management company and the battles rages on..For those of you who know Todd you can imagine how interesting the situation must be...The manager we are dealing with is the SIXTH manager since we moved here a year and a half ago... Apparently they realize what a crap hole this place is and decide to get out while they can...unfortunately for us we have a stupid thing called a lease which we can't get out of as easily as saying "we quit!" We had to fill out a little form giving them notice of when we are moving and there was a spot to put why we were leaving... Todd said not to say that we were buying a house...None of their business! So I came up with the only semi cordial thing I could think of writing without being so rude that they (as in the evil managment) will come up with more reasons of why not to give us any of our deposit back...this is what I wrote: "We are not happy living in this apartment." What an understatement...

I came home from work today like any other day and walked up the stairs like any other day and what do I see? Something that, unfortunately, is not quite as unusual as one would hope (***see below***)...I know you are probably thinking "Wait! I thought those neighbors were evicted!" Well, don't worry, those neighbors WERE evicted....however these neighbors are still here. These neighbors live next to the apartment where those neighbors used to live until they were evicted. Those neighbors (aka the "evictees") lived across from us which makes these neighbors (aka the giant TV smuggling up the stairs at 1 am, non-english speaking and constant spanish YELLING, loogie hawking in the hallway, loud & obnoxious neighbors) kiddie corner from us.

Yes, folks, it is a couch (or pieces of a couch) stacked up outside the door making it impossible to get in or out of the door...or at least very dangerous to do so. Who does this?!?!?

***Don't remember our hallway adventures? Check these out!***

*http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2241/3079/1600/100_2208.jpg *http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/2241/3079/1600/100_1798.0.jpg *http://photos1.blogger.com/x/blogger/2241/3079/1600/858815/100_2627.jpg

So this is what we have to keep our hope alive. It isn't very big and it is a little longer of a drive than what we were originally thinking of but we absolutely love it! We can picture ourselves being very happy in our little starter home for the next four years while Todd goes to dental school at the University of Louisville. Did we mention that we decided to stay in Louisville instead of moving to Cleveland? In the end it was a lot easier to stay here. We are familiar with Louisville, we already had a house in mind which we are going to buy from our friends, and things just sort of fell into place.


It makes me happy looking at these pictures so I thought I would share. Sorry to those of you who we have already seen these. You can move on or you can humor me and look at them again.

This is the view from the front door.

This is from the kitchen looking towards the front door.


Our little kitchen...can't you just picture me cooking up a storm here? (TOTALLY kidding.)

Here is our soon to be deck where we will BBQ with the BBQ that we don't have!

Here is the back yard. Aren't the trees beautiful?? Fisher will have lots of room to run around which will be a nice change. As of right now we won't even let him walk in the hallway outside our apartment due to the excessive amounts of "loogie" that dwells in the carpet thanks to our lovely neighbors.

And when I thought it couldn't get any worse....

I wish I had a picture of Sunjaya's hair from the performance tonight...I feel as though he is starting to make fun of himself along with the rest of America.


On a different note I do have to say that I am starting to become irritated with Chris Sligh and all of his sappy love songs...Okay buddy, I get that you are married and so lucky in love but I don't need to be reminded every single week! Get a life.

That's my two cents for tonight, although the show isn't over yet. 15 more minutes to go.

Fisher and the Park...Finally!

Sadly enough, Todd and I had not taken Fisher to a park until the other day when I went walking with a friend. There happens to be a nice little park where we walk. Both of the boys wanted out of their strollers and so we decided to let them out to play. It was a little on the cool side so there was no one else there, which was wonderful.

Before we went to play at the park there was a basset hound named Max who wanted to play with Fisher and Daniel. I took a picture for Todd since he has a soft spot in his heart for basset hounds.

Fisher's first time in a swing. He never liked the baby swing so I guess we weren't in any hurry to try the big boy swing but now I feel bad because he absolutely loved it.

Loving every minute of the swing.

Fisher was fascinated by the mulch on the ground. The ground was wet because Louisville has been receiving a lot of rain. He would occasionally fall down and then stare at his hands trying to figure out what was on them. This picture was one of the first times his hands were dirty from the ground.

As time progressed he realized he could get his hands even dirtier...

Sliding down the slide. We had to wipe the slides down since they were wet and the boys would get stuck but Fisher enjoyed it regardless of how wet it was.

We played a little on the toys but the soles of Fisher's shoes were kind of slippery so between that and the wetness he decided it was a little safer to crawl in some parts. I eventually decided just to keep him on the ground in the dirt where it was a little safer.

This killed me being that I am somewhat of a germ freak. I guess that boys will be boys.

The joys of having a little boy. I am sure little girls are fun as well but it was so fun seeing Fisher covered in dirt after a good time in the park.

Sleepy time....

Fisher with his blue blankie sucking his thumb....

I had pointed out in an earlier post that Fisher occasionally likes to take his pants off when he sleeps (and apparently takes after his Uncle Robbie...thanks for the info, Roberto :) Once again Fisher is sucking his thumb with his blue blankie.

Blue blankie, thumb suck and wild man hair.

Nothing but pictures...

Fisher does not bite his nails like his mom and dad...not yet. He is constantly chewing on his fingers to help ease the pain with all of his teeth that are coming in.


Making himself comfortable with the books on the shelf...well, they were on the shelf at one point in time.

Enjoying his mess.

This is Fisher after his nap. He recently has gotten into the habit of occasionally taking his pants off while he is supposed to be sleeping. "Where's your belly button?"


Looking like such a big boy in his Santa Cruz shirt. Nothing like giving mom a good nightmare...

If he was sure of where his nose was before, now he is twice as sure.

I was curious about how long his hair was and decided to put it in a ponytail...this won't become a habit.

Meagan's nemeses

Meagan and I were watching American Idol, known as (AI) or "Idol" hereafter, and she decided that Sanjaya was to be added to her list of nemeses (plural for nemesis). So, I thought it would be important for everyone to know who some of Meagan’s enemies are in this world.

Here are just a few:

Craig Bolerjack- he is the play-by-play guy for the Utah Jazz. One problem Meagan has with him is his repetitiveness. He uses the same phrases over and over throughout the game. Her favorite phrases include: "money ball!", which he says on three point shots regardless if they make or miss, "he could be a fullback", referring to some of the larger guys on the court, "he pops the rim", almost every shot pops the rim in his opinion, even if it is a swish, and "big (steal, shot, assist, block)", the problem is every play is "big" to him. But what I really think gets to her is his non-stop talking and stating the obvious, such as "the point guard is typically the smallest guy on the court" or "all the Jazz have to do is outscore (insert opponent) and they'll get back to their winning ways". My favorite was when he said, "that kid plays like he has a tractor in his right foot!" What the heck does that even mean? Now that I think about it, he is probably more my nemesis than Meagan's.

Arvin Sloane- he is the bad guy on Alias. Meagan hates his beady eyes and how he conducts business. He is pretty cold-blooded, so it is easy to dislike him.

Pat and Vanna- Meagan thinks Pat is as dumb as an ox and if you watch "Wheel" (those of us who do, refer to it as "Wheel" because we are cool) you'll understand why. Vanna is Meagan's enemy because "she is too old to be dressing like that!" Repeated three times. Plus, if you look at the picture, I wonder where her mind is.

Sanjaya- he is currently on "AI" or "Idol". Meagan thinks he is an individual who is gay, but doesn't know it yet. This picture looks like there are flames behind him ;)

Constantine- another "AI" guy. Meagan says he's creepy. I just think he sucks. Every time she sees something with him on it she screams.

Paula- the judge from "AI". Meagan thinks she does some kind of hallucinogenic drug or maybe even two. If you listen to her reviews of contestants you'll see why. By the way, I love you, you know that right? I'm your biggest fan. You radiate and really move me, yes, you move me.

Trump- Anyone who knows Meagan knows what PIG means. Enough said.

Finally, last but definitely not least, Alex Trebek. Meagan cannot stand to listen to him talk. She thinks he is condescending to the contestants, even to the point of making fun of an over-weight guy who chose to change categories from one related to romance to another. Meagan thought it was because Alex was referring to the guy's inability to attract women. Meagan also believes Alex has the answers to all the questions. Sometimes I wonder what other conspiracy theories Meagan believes, because we all know Alex knows the answers or else he couldn't be the host! Right? Anyway, you should all watch "Jeopardy!" to see if you agree with Meagan's assessment, you also may gain some useful information.

I thought this picture would make Meagan happy, since it is Alex unleashed!

Well, that's enough for now. I'll update when more are added to the list or when I think of others.

Louisville v. Cleveland

Todd was recently accepted to University of Louisville's dental school. This is exciting but frustrating at the same time because now we have to decide between Louisville and Cleveland. We had already gotten used to the idea of Cleveland and our non-refundable deposit of $1,000 has already been cashed by Case Western.
Now we know most of you are not thinking "Wow, we have always wanted to live in Louisville or Cleveland!" However, since those are our only two options, they are options that we are grateful for. Any thoughts on which one we should choose?

Pictures

Sorry to disappoint, but there will be no pictures of Fisher's pee, his finger up his nose or him demonstrating he is a little thief when it comes to crackers...sad, I know.

Fisher loves feeling Todd's scruff. It makes him laugh like crazy every time.

Are you going to put me to bed or what? The hand you see is Todd trying to get "five" from Fisher. This is a newly acquired skill and is fun for all. Fisher has a sound effect to go with it and everything.

Mommy and Fisher Magoo.

My manager decided to have a bring your baby to work day while my boss was out of town...I was a little concerned considering pretty much the only time Fisher will throw a tantrum is if a computer is around and he is not allowed to have full access to mouse and keyboard. I warned my manager that I would not get ANY work done if he was there and I was very correct. He not only took over the keyboard and mouse but the phone and desk (see photo above). Todd can attest to the phone hijacking as he called me and had Fisher pressing numerous buttons during the 10 second conversation of "You need to come and get him." When we arrived to work he had on a sweatshirt, hat, shoes, jeans....the whole works. By the end of the day he was flaunting his stuff for the other two female babies and terrorizing Mom's desk...

Pondering all of life's questions.

Just thought I would put this one here.

This was right before Fisher and I went to overnight a package for Alicia & Abby's shower. When we left the apartment it was sprinkling and by the time we got to the store and back to the apartment it was pouring. Here comes spring!

"Tip-Toes"

Fisher's idea of helping Mom clean the pantry.

We recently pulled out Fisher's rocking horse and as you can see Fisher liked giving him hugs. It was really cute! It sings "I'm a little pony, hippity hop, hippity hop," while the mouth moves and everything. This is a high tech rocking horse we are talking about here! Anyway, Fisher kept grabbing the mouth trying to make it stop moving and the song would turn into "I'mmmmmm aaaaa littttttlllle ppooooonnnnyyyy...." Apparently when the mouth slows down so does the song :)

Fisher & the cookies v. Mommy

"Mmmmmmm....I want some of that."

"Me want cookie!" (Sounding more like "grunt grunt")

"Ha Ha! Try telling me I can't have cookies! What are you going to do about it woman?"


Catch me if you can...and if I avoid eye contact you won't be able to see me.