global warming, my ass

f you winter, ok? just, f you.

thursday afternoon we began to hear rumblings from the weather service that the snow we were expecting would be more than previously thought. forecasts went from 6 - 8" right on up to 8 - 14". we all hoped, prayed, and offered the proper sacrifices in order to have the snow miss us, but to no avail. overnight, i kept peering out the windows as i got up with the baby, and around 5:30, we started getting dumped on. fat, wet clumps of snow. it piled on all day, not stopping until 7:30 or so that night. i think 16" is the total we got. totally freaking ridiculous.

needless to say, i worked from home on friday. kept oliver home with me as well so we wouldn't have to drive, which was smart, because apparently the roads were a total disaster. staying home allowed me to log on work early, so i was able to log off early for a short nap before dinner. we had been planning on grilling T bone steaks for dinner, but as the grill was under 16" of snow, plans changed. i made a smoked paprika and rutabaga bisque, to which we added crispy crumbled bacon (it needed something more), and served along with fresh polish sausage and pretzel rolls. YUM. i made chocolate chip cookies for dessert, which really hit the spot (as homemade cookies warm from the oven are wont to do).


oliver did very well with his nighttime schedule once again, and even slept in until nearly 8am on saturday morning. he was in a good mood when he awoke; he woke us up with his giggling and babbling over the baby monitor. way better than an alarm. :) we played for awhile, and when he went down for his morning nap, bryan went out to clear the snow off the driveway while i made cheddar bacon biscuits (had to use the leftover bacon somehow, right??). we spent a leisurely day around the house, which included bean tostadas for lunch and a visit from mom, who brought us some homemade hot cross buns. bryan whipped up a spanish tortilla for dinner, with potatoes and chorizo. it did not suck.


saturday night wasn't so great for ollie; he seemed restless, not necessarily fussy. not sure what was going on but neither of us got a lot of sleep. finally around 8am sunday, oliver went down for a nap and bryan got up and i went to bed. we skipped church as a result (i'm sure god will forgive us).

sunday afternoon, bryan wanted to go to the mall so we could get a new comforter for the bed. we arrived at the mall, and were surprised at how empty it was. we got the baby loaded up in his stroller, and bryan headed up to the mall entrance while i closed up the car. or tried to. it wouldn't lock. it kept flashing the "there's a key in the car" light on the dash. i called bryan back to help me figure it out and whoops - he hadn't turned off the car, just put it in park. :) you can't tell when the engine is running on electric!! so we got that sorted out then figured out the mall was closed (hello? easter!). we got back in the car and decided to search out some lunch. unfortunately, bryan turned east instead of west down bluemound ave (i assumed he knew what he was doing), and long story short, we ended up in the parking lot of miller park. we found our way out, decided to cut our losses, and headed home for an easy lunch of grilled cheese and leftover soup.

i got ollie to take another quick nap, then we were off to my aunt's house for easter dinner. we had ham, polish sausage, beef tenderloin with mushrooms, twice baked potatoes, roasted asparagus, steamed whole carrots, pierogies with roasted vegetables, and some delicious homemade bread from mom. there was cake and pie as well. we were pretty stuffed. oliver started getting a little over stimulated and we didn't want to throw his schedule off too much, so we packed up and went home. on the way home, it started snowing. AGAIN. luckily, it didn't last long and didn't stick. i don't think our psyches could have handled it.

sunday night wasn't too great with oliver either. not sure what is going on but we needed a new plan of attack. we all needed our sleep. i decided to cut out caffeine; i was not having much, but bryan had picked up some cherry cokes for me (a fave) so i was having one every day or two. monday i did more reading and talking to other moms, and in short, we needed to let him cry it out. i wasn't willing to let him cry for hours on end, BUT he needed to learn to sleep on his own. and it worked!

monday night, he went down early, and i knew he hadn't eaten quite enough but he refused to eat more. he was over tired so was just plain fussy. so down he went. i let him cry for an hour, then went in and THEN he was ready to eat. then he went down without a problem and slept for 2 1/2 hours. when he woke up, it wasn't eating time, so i let him cry for a half hour, then went to feed him. he stopped crying when i went to pick him up, and while he usually would smile and talk, he just kind of looked at me. he was picking up on the change, for sure. he ate well, then he slept for 5 or 6 hours. when he woke up tuesday morning, we heard him, but again he was not crying, just amusing himself in his crib. score one for mom.

last night went well sleep wise, though he did get sick. we tried some sweet potatoes with our rice cereal for dinner, and he loved them. i had always heard you should start with green foods first, since orange/yellow foods are sweet and you don't want the baby to develop a predilection for sweet stuff. however, the orange/yellow foods are easier to digest, and ollie's had some digestion issues, so on advice from the doctor, we went in that direction. after dinner, he had a small bottle, and was in bed, wide awake, before 6. he put himself down without a problem. i was so proud! i had some time to relax and eat delicious fish and roast veg tacos before he woke around 8, had a bottle, and went down again around 8:30. he fussed for 15 minutes, was quiet for 10, then was was making really pathetic whimpering sounds. i went in to check on him and found he had vomited ALL over... poor guy!! we got him (and his bed sheets) cleaned and changed and once his stomach was empty, he seemed ok. i fed him and held him for a bit (i just couldn't put him down), and he only got up once more during the night. so, no more sweet potatoes. we'll back off and stick with cereals for awhile, and maybe try some sweet peas over the weekend.

and after all our recent snow, it was 55 degrees yesterday, and 99% of the snow has melted. they had forecasted snow and freezing rain, but i'm glad they were this side of wrong. although, whatever was uncovered by the melting snow has caused my allergies to jump to high alert status. snow is in the picture tomorrow and friday, though, and perhaps going into next week. welcome to the winter/spring transition in wisconsin.

a few new pics in the march gallery.

so not much happening, except working on baby scheduling, which is pretty darn exhausting. i'm a lucky mom, though, with a good baby, and he's doing well. looking forward to napping as much as possible over the weekend. will probably hit the mall up as well, since it will be open. :)

WFD: bryan's going to make a pepito/chipotle pesto, which we'll swirl into a cream sauce, and serve over pasta with crumbled chorizo and perhaps some toasted bread rubbed with garlic. yes, it will be good.