Hey! How was your Thanksgiving? (I ALMOST wrote Turkey Day... that is one of the things that embarrasses me about myself. Yes. I am the kind of person who sometimes says things like Turkey Day. Also, sometimes, at the end of the week if I am talking to work people I don't know very well I say something like, "Hey at least it's Friday." NERD!)

After an initial hiccup, our break was great. The traffic Wednesday was horrible. Joel and I were not filled with much gratitude as we navigated the Illinois Toll roads on our way out to Wisconsin.

Thursday morning we drove the rest of the way to Minneapolis to stay with Joel's step-brother and family. It was so relaxing. I avoided Black Friday, but am going to sign off now to take advantage of the free shipping of "Cyber Monday".

I am sick with Bronchitis...and seemed to have coughed out any creative ideas I have. In the meantime, here is a picture of the CBE.

The second time's the charm...

Finally! I found out a few days ago that I achieved National Board Certification. Mostly I am just relieved to be done, and that I will get more money soon. One side bonus is that my teaching certificate is no longer called "Type 9". Instead I am an Illinois Master Teacher. That has a much better ring to it, but don't feel like you have to call me Master Barr. But if you insist...

You must be smelly and constipated...

because there are a lot of scientists and engineers making amazing advancements in pro-biotic yogurt that "helps with digestion" wink, wink, and don't get me started on Glade! Thank goodness I can get air freshening night lights and plug-ins that let in puffs of air!

Joel says I should stop playing dress up with the baby. When he brought it up the other day I summarized some of the finer points of labor with him. (He did SLEEP for part of it so I think he just needed a refresher.) I didn't have the world's worst labor, but it was still "labor". Thirteen hours of it = a minimum of 13 years of dressing him up in funny hats, right?


Pelmo, my stepdad, will probably also have something to say about the hats. But I think that is because he is only familiar with the big, white, cone-shaped hats you have to wear in a corner.

Walking baby!

Speedy Dexaroo!

Dex (mostly) manages to navigate the rough terrain of Chicago sidewalks.

Happy Birthday Rory Pants...

I hope you have so much fun and...

I will ALWAYS be your aunt.

Love,
Nora

Promise me that we'll never have to touch base to make sure we're on the same page about taking our connectivity to the next level?

Thanks.

Little Man is doing very well. His parents, on the other hand, have issues. We spent a wonderful weekend in Michigan, with a few glitches. The major one being that all of LM's bags (food, formula, medicine, diapers, clothes) got left behind. Chesterton Big K to the rescue. I guess we can prioritize because we remembered his toys.

Look at my blue eyed guys.

We had a great walk in the woods on Saturday afternoon.

Mostly I am just enjoying watching LM's personality evolve. All of a sudden he has a sense of humor. He likes to make people laugh. If he makes one of us giggle with something that he does, he'll keep doing it, and his whole body will shake with laughter. Most of this is getting lost in translation, so you're just going to have to visit and be entertained by the comedic stylings of DHB. (I am kicking around the possibility of keeping Little Man's name out of my blog... it is tedious, but maybe he deserves his privacy? Of course, I'll have to go back and do a lot of changing in entries over the last year so maybe not.)

What's Up?

Upward Mobility

So Little Man is climbing all over the place. He's able to climb up an entire flight of stairs. (Closely supervised of course.) See that look in his eyes? That is a boy who has movement on two legs in his near future.

Last night Joel and I got to go out with some friends. We had a great time with some of our new neighborhood friends. We owe our relaxing night to my Aunt Colleen. It sounds like Dexter had fun too.

How Big is Dexter????

So Big!



Yay!!!


Thanks to Grandma Jane for the pictures.
(And it looks like the September insomnia continues. Or I guess, if you go to bed at 8 and then you just wake up at 3...is it insomnia? Probably not.)

Counting down the days until his mom stops playing dress up with him...

I kind of need a life. What do I do on a Saturday night? Entertain myself and others by downloading soundtracks to Dexter's life on Rhapsody.

(Sorry it is kind of grainy.)
School is still kicking my butt. I have to occasionally remind myself of my priorities at home. Plus I am cranky and not terribly creative.

Is Dexter trying to escape his crazy mommy?

This weekend we went to Wisconsin with Megan and Christian. Little Man enjoyed large expanses of hardwood floors to crawl upon. There was also a friendly Black Lab named Bear, so I spent a lot of the weekend like Lucy avoiding dog germs, but Joel and Dex were in heaven. On Saturday we went for a hike in the state park and came across this snake. Anyone know what kind it is?

The rest of the weekend was pretty peaceful, but Joel did get caught in a speeding trap on the way home. F'in Cheeseheads. (Did I really just write "F'in"?)

Things have been a bit crazy and yet boring around the Meander household. We're pretty much going to school, eating, and sleeping. Sometimes not even at separate times.


I love my job, but it makes me kind of tired. Stupidly so. I had a hard time stringing together sentences last night at Welch family dinner. Luckily I had Little Man to be charming and social for me.

Hooray! It's the weekend and we're just hangin' out.