Friday, December 18, 2009

Update on the thief

Crystal Bennett. That is the girl's name. Using her fingerprints, WUPD was able to find her in a criminal database, because of course she's stolen stuff before. And quickly, they were able to discover she had pawned a Flip video camera the same day mine was stolen. Thankfully Kevin was able to find the serial number of my Flip from looking at the videos on my computer, and we could prove it was mine. So last Friday, I went with the cop to the pawnshop to get my Flip. Of course, nothing is ever easy, and we couldn't get it without some legal notarized document. Or I could pay $30 for it.....um, no. So the plan was to go back on Monday with the document to get it.
Monday afternoon the detective finally called to tell me he was going home sick, but had just come home from the police station in the city where he talked with Ms. Bennett, because she had turned herself in. She wasn't very cooperative apparently, and the detective wasn't in a good mood because he was sick. Among other things, he seized her clothes because she happened to be wearing the same thing she had on on the day she stole stuff at the med school and was caught on a surveillance camera. Hilarious! She said she had a lawyer and wouldn't talk about anything til he was there. Anyway, finally yesterday the detective called me and said we could go back to the pawn shop. So we went. This time there were a number of people in there, who knows....maybe some of them were selling stolen stuff too. But they looked at us like they were crapping their pants, presumably because of the cop and not because we were white, but that was part of it too in this part of town. But we were in and out of there with my Flip in less than 2 minutes. The detective told me I should give up any hope of ever getting my digital camera back, so hopefully this weekend we can get a new one. He told me that once this finally goes to trial, that I will be invited to the sentencing and I can ask for money for my camera, and will probably get it. So I look forward to that.....
In the meantime, still no pictures. We used up all the memory on the memory cards of my ghetto camera which I can't delete pictures from - which was why I bought a new camera - to take the christmas card picture. So hopefully you've gotten that or will get it soon! And videos to come soon....maybe I can get Gus laughing at someone barking soon.....

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Feeling a little violated

I had expected my next blog post would be filled with cute family pictures. We took some good ones over the weekend, first when we cut down our Christmas tree, and then when we took Gus to walk on the new I64 before it opened to traffic. They were good pictures too!
Probably everyone knows by now that my purse got stolen Monday from Wash U. A girl was just wandering around and in and out of labs, and unfortunately she saw my purse. Lauren, a tech in the lab, saw the girl walk out of the lab and she confronted her because she didn't belong. The girl had a story, of course, about how she was looking for someone that was supposed to tutor her. She even used the phone in the lab, supposedly trying to contact this person. Lauren could tell the number she dialed wasn't real though, because she could hear beeping on the other end. So as soon as this girl wandered off, Lauren called the campus police. Lauren had also closed and locked the office where we keep our stuff immediately while she tried to follow the girl to see where she went. Anyway, so a little bit later, I see Lauren talking with the cop and describing this girl (orange coat, purple braids....how inconspicuous...) and I went to borrow someone else's keys to open up the office because mine and Lauren's keys were locked in. And of course, I opened the door and saw my purse was gone. I had recently switched purses, otherwise Lauren would have known this girl was carrying my purse while she was confronting her. So at this point, I'm talking to the cop describing my purse and its contents, when I get a call on my cell phone (this all is happening in about 15 minutes), and its a Wash U number so I tell the cop I'm going to take the call. It was someone from engineering - they had found my purse in a stairwell across campus. So the cop and I went over there to get my purse. It was mostly intact - she had left my wallet, and had only taken the cash and even the change, but she had also taken my digital camera and my flip video camera. So anyway, I'm grateful that I got this much back. I'm also grateful that she didn't take my breastpump (she probably didn't know it was worth more than my camera, haha), and that I had my phone in my pocket, and that my laptop wasn't there. I would be a little more lost without those things. I'm also grateful that the Wash U police are actually investigating this. They came to our lab and got fingerprints off the phone (as well as off the phone from another person's office where she used the phone, I guess she was wandering suspiciously and they let her use their phone too). They also have her on a security camera at the med school and Lauren is sure its her. And Lauren worked with the cops to come up with a composite sketch. This is all pretty awesome and impressive, considering in the city if your car gets stolen they don't even investigate. So I hope they at least have enough information on this girl that they can catch her, even though my cameras have probably long been sold to buy drugs.
If its possible, I think Kevin is even more upset about this than I am. He was really proud of the pictures we took on the highway, and it was even his idea to go out there that day to take pictures. So he's scouting craigslist and even talking about going to pawn shops to see if he can find my stuff back. I don't think there's much hope, but I guess you never know.
So there you go. No pictures for awhile. Hopefully we can borrow someone's camera soon though because we need to take the picture for our Christmas card. In the two evenings since I've been cameraless, its been depressing, because Gus is always doing things that I think about getting the camera out for. So sad.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Quite an experience

Last night Kevin and I took Gus to get his Christmas pictures taken. I was a little nervous about it, just because Gus is always so happy and smiley, I figured the one time we paid someone to take pictures of him that he would be crabby. But everything went more or less ok. The biggest problem was that his outfit was black and gray, and the only shoes he has are brown. Last year for John's Christmas pics, Jenny just had socks on him, and everyone gave her a lot of grief for that. But I decided to just go with the socks and deal with it. Anyway, the photographer was pretty weird (I guess that's a given). We tried putting Gus in a couple chairs, but he always stretched his legs out straight and kind of leaned over. They even had the exact same chair that was in John's picture last year. They also put him in a box like he was a present, but again he just wanted to stretch his legs straight, and the round box looked more like an oval. So the 'Christmas-themed' pictures were all just a little weird. Anyway, here's the ones I ended up ordering...and thankfully the shoe/sock debate ended up not being a problem! Unfortunately Gus was a little drooly in the portrait picture, but its still decent.
And thanks mom for the cute outfit!!!!!


Monday, November 23, 2009

Baby Burrito, Part II

Gus still does the cute stretch from time to time in the mornings when I undo his burrito. Today he was sleeping late, so I had to wake him up so I could get going to work....so I was ready for it :)
I didn't realize how shadowy the video was til now. Oh well.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Good timing

This isn't the most exciting video, I was just pleased that I caught it so easily. Gus was hanging out on the floor, and rolling from side to side, so I figured I'd get out the video recorder just in case he decided to roll over. And 30 seconds later, he did! Pardon the loud tv in the background....Kevin was watching tv....
And I should mention this is only the second time I've witnessed him roll from back to front, and the 4th time total he has done so. The first two times he was in his crib in the morning.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Busy busy busy

We've been busy! I'll try to recap the most interesting things we've been up to.

Gus was baptized on the 8th at my family's church in Grantfork. It was a nice service, and Carole (the organist) had some special music for us, so it was really nice.

us and Gus's godparents (Jackie and Allen)
\

My mom made Gus's outfit.....the bottom part of it was made from leftover fabric from my wedding dress. It was so cute and perfect!



Grandma Plocher (aka great grandma) made Gus's cake - so cute!



I played hookey from work one afternoon last week and we went to the zoo. This is the only picture I took. This is a statue, but for some reason everyone kept asking me if it was a real elephant?



Gus had his 4 month checkup last week - he weighs 17lb 3oz (90th percentile!!!!) and is 25.5 inches long. He's huge! We started trying to give him rice cereal....so far not going so well. But we'll keep trying.



This weekend we had a playdate with my friend Lindzy's little boy, Joey. He was born Sept 4, so he's about 2 months younger than Gus. He has the cutest hair ever!!!



Gus and Joey hanging out



Gus has also started rolling lately, both front to back and back to front. Here, I had put out a blanket for Gus to do tummy time on, and then Satchel laid on it right away. So I put Gus on his belly right next to Satchel, but he almost immediately started rolling over.....



The end result.....



Gus is still loving the exersaucer!!



There's lots of other stuff going on, but its time to hit the road and try to beat the worst of the traffic in the rain.....

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Halloween, etc

Oy, its been a busy few weeks. Sorry I haven't posted in awhile....I was at two scientific meetings that went for eight straight days, during which I wasn't on my computer at all....then this weekend Jenny and family came to town. So I haven't had much downtime. On top of all that, I've had the longest lasting cold ever which is finally taking its toll on me. But anyway, here's some pictures. A video of Gus in his exersaucer coming soon.....

Smiley Gus


Uncle Kevin and John


At City Garden


Grandma trying to help John jump hard enough to make these bells ring (like a keyboard in the ground, kind of....)


Gus passed out on our bed with Lucy (and his cow blanket)


Gus the elephant, minus the elephant head.....I just think this is a good picture of me, which never happens.


Gus the elephant in all his glory!! Aunt Jackie made him the most amazing costume ever!


Jenny and bumblebee John


Gus smiling again!


Charlie with the cousins

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Bad Timing

I'll start out with the not-so-depressing stuff.
This weekend we went on a private tour and tasting at the Schlafly Tap Room. It was pretty cool, just because it was small and very casual. One thing we learned is that when a Schlafly worker gets married, their wedding present is to get to brew something special for the wedding. I guess a guy that got married last year made a beer everyone liked so much they're bringing it back this year. It was one we got to taste - IBA - India Brown Ale....very very good! But anyway, the majority of the tour was in the basement, which was cool since its such an old building. We got to taste one beer straight from the finishing tank, and then we had 5 others to taste (which they kept refilling during our 25 minutes of tasting!!) and they gave us cheese and sausage. Score!!

Here is Kevin and his unsightly beard with one of Schlafly's oak casks they use for conditioning.



I just thought this was funny.



They took a picture of all of us, but they haven't emailed it to me yet. So sad. Otherwise, Jen took one, so maybe I can get that eventually. But the tour was really cool, I'm grateful to June for getting it for us!

Here are a few random pictures of Gus.
Being cute last Sunday



Wearing his Illinois shirt once again triggering a loss....what is wrong with Illinois football this year?



Passed out....



This was just a funny one of Kevin and Lucy - she jumped up on his lap while he was sitting down. She was probably looking for food in the grotesque beard.



On to the bad news. Almost everyone that reads this probably already knows, but I'm saying it here to preface the next pictures. Kevin got laid off Monday, which obviously sucks. I'm just hoping and praying this means he'll end up with a job he likes better for which he's compensated appropriately, instead of getting paid crap for all the work he does. His boss laid off half the company, and Kevin's pretty sure the company in general is going to be over with soon based on their complete lack of cash flow in the last 6 months or so. I guess its possible his boss will call him next week wanting to hire him back (he's been doing this with other people for months) but Kevin hopes more than anything he'll find something else by then. So yea, scared to death about making ends meet, but I'm trying to be positive and take things day by day....
But the BEST THING EVER about all this? Kevin decided he had to shave! HOORAY!!!!!!
So when I was driving to work Tuesday morning, Kevin first texted me this picture:



Followed shortly by a picture of a pile of his hair in the sink (which I'm sparing you), and then this picture:



Kevin really looks good there. But anyway, the beard is gone. So relieved. He seemed serious about growing a handlebar mustache, and I swear I would not have gone out in public with him looking like that..... Today he was supposedly going to get a haircut (in Highland, since he refuses to go anywhere else) so now he looks presentable for the interviews which I hope to God are coming soon.....

So that's what's going on.....

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Three months old!

Gus is three months old today! It's pretty hard to believe.....
Anyway, last night Kevin was playing with Gus and they were having a pretty entertaining conversation. I only caught the end of it, but still kind of funny.

Monday, October 5, 2009

The weirdest egglplants ever

We finally had a relatively unbusy weekend. Although I start to panic when I don't have plans, it was kind of nice to not have much to do. I got some long-needed cleaning done, baked cookies, went for walks, and got a bit of knitting done (although this sweater seems to be taking forever). I also did some yard work and picked some stuff in the garden. We've still got about 8 eggplants that are trying to get bigger in the cooler weather. But I found the weirdest eggplant ever....and then I found another one! Has anyone ever seen anything like this?!?



See dad, we have some hops.



I also spent the weekend inventorying Gus's 3-6 month size clothes, since he needs to dress warmer now, and since a lot of the 0-3 month stuff doesn't fit anymore. I was worried he didn't have enough pants or long sleeves, but I think he'll be more than fine (mostly thanks to Jenny loaning us John's clothes). Gus continues to be entertaining, but I have the hardest time taking pictures of him being cute, because when I put a camera in his face, this is what he looks like:



This weekend we dug into his toys for the first time, and we found he likes this rattle. We have to put it in his hand, but then he holds onto it forever.





Saturday we went to Arnold for Angie and Matt's open house. Gus got to spend some time with his friend Anna :)

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

I don't know anything.....

But here are a few pictures....





Friday, September 25, 2009

Gus talking and smiling

Man, uploading videos takes forever. I edited this (finally figured it out) so it was shorter, so hopefully there's still enough cute smiles and noises.
I had to take the movie from a weird angle....when the camera is in Gus's face directly, he just stops doing what he was doing and stares at the camera (I think he does so briefly in the middle of this one).
As I promised, Jenny.....now you must reciprocate with more pictures or movies of your kid!

Monday, September 21, 2009

Hop in the City!

The highlight of my fall has now come and gone. This weekend was the annual Hop in the City at the Schlafly Tap Room. This was either the 6th or 7th year Kevin and I have gone....I guess I need to count the glasses in our cabinet to see how many its been. But we always have a great time. This year was no exception! We went along with Lauren and her sister Shawn and one of Shawn's friends, and Jen and her friend Katie met up with us a bit later. Good times were had by all (I think). My favorite tastes were the Pumpkin Ale (always...), Cask conditioned American IPA, and Biere de Garde. Kevin said he was going to taste all 43 beers, but he kept coming up with exceptions (like....'I'm not tasting the ones that they sell in bottles' and 'I'm not tasting any of the dark beers'.....can you say cheater?). But anyway, we had a good time while Grandma June took care of Gus. There were certainly people there with babies (even one that had to only be a couple weeks old !!!!!!).....people are stupid.

The Southwick girls



Me and Kevin



Jen had a very good time! Too bad this picture is blurry.....



Kevin took this picture. I guess he saw this guy was going to try to get in it, so he waited til he was posed like he was supposed to be. Dammit Kevin, this would have been a good one of me and Jen!



Sunday was Kevin's brother's birthday, so we went to his mom's house for dinner. Then we went to Breese to visit Kevin's grandma, and this was the first time she saw Gus. I really liked Gus's outfit, but I forgot to take any pictures of just him.

Four generations



This morning Gus went to the doctor for his 10 week checkup (almost a week late - he'll be 11 weeks tomorrow). He weighs 14 lb 5 oz, and is 24.5 inches tall....everything was in the 75th percentile. He's officially supposed to be out of size 1 diapers.....but we have a few more to use up at home and at day care before we open up the packages of size 2!!!

Things have been crazy busy for me at work. I've been running back and forth a lot between Wash U and the Danforth Center....this is good for passing the time quickly, but not conducive to pumping.....but I'm managing. I also decided to apply for a post doc fellowship that's due next Thursday (!!!!) and there's a meeting I have to go to this week that I have to make a poster for. A bit too much to do, but I guess that's better than doing nothing! I'm certainly glad to be getting back into the swing of things at work though.

I did finally get a couple good videos of Gus taking/smiling...so I either have to figure out how to edit them so they're shorter, or see if they'll upload faster at work than they do at home. We'll see.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Another random video

I had one video I was trying to upload forever without luck. So I just tried to upload this to see if it works. I intend to get a video soon of Gus really smiling and jabbering....but you just get this boring one for now.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Helping the Cards Win

Not much interesting to share. But here's a few pictures.

Gus and his friend Max (6 months old this week)....their arms are linked up - very cute!



Close up of their cute faces!



With the Minnie at the power show



With Dad on Grandpa Thole's tractor



I went to the Cards game on Monday, so I thought it was a good time for Gus to wear his Cards onesie for the first time. I think it helped the Cards out of their (brief) losing streak!