Official Business

 With Joel still working copious amounts of overtime weekly, I have had a lot of time to myself. I've stumbled across a few websites that have kept me entertained (Pinterest being the main one!). I came across this article and found it funny, fitting, and very true of Police officers. I copied it here in case you don't want to follow the link.


When do you really know that you are a police officer? Is it when you realize that you find humor in other people’s stupidity? Or is it when you know for certain that unspeakable evils will befall you if anyone says, “Boy, it sure is quiet tonight.” Is it when you’ve left more meals on the restaurant table than you’ve eaten, or when you come to the knowledge that discussing human dismemberment over a meal is a perfectly normal thing to do? Maybe it’s when you feel good when you hear someone say, “These handcuffs are too tight.” Here are 25 ways you can be pretty reliably sure that you’re really a cop.
1.) You have the bladder capacity of five people combined.
2.) You have restrained someone and it was not a sexual experience.
3.) You believe that 50 percent of people are a waste of good air.
4.) Your idea of a good time is a “man with a gun” call.
5.) You conduct a criminal record check on anyone who seems friendly towards you.
6.) You believe in the aerial spraying of Prozac and birth control pills.
7.) You disbelieve 90 percent of what you hear and 75 percent of what you see.
8.) You have your weekends off planned for a year.
9.) You believe the government should require a permit to reproduce.
10.) You refer to your favorite restaurant by the intersection at which it’s located.
11.) You have ever wanted to hold a seminar entitled: “Suicide: Getting it right the first time.”
12.) You ever had to put the phone on hold before you begin laughing uncontrollably.
13.) You think caffeine should be available in IV form.
14.) You know anyone who says, “I only had two beers” is going to blow at least a .15
15.) You find out a lot about paranoia just by following people around.
16.) Anyone has ever said to you, “There are people killing other people out there and you are here messing with me.”
17.) People flag you down on the street and ask you directions to strange places...and you know where it’s located.
18.) You can discuss where you are going to eat with your partner while standing over a dead body.
19.) You are the only person introduced at social gatherings by profession.
20.) You walk into places and people think it’s high comedy to grab their buddy and shout, “They’ve come to get you, Bill.”
21.) You do not see daylight from November until May.
22.) People shout, “I didn’t do it!” when you walk into a room and think they’re being hugely funny and original.
23.) A week’s worth of laundry consists of five T-shirts, five pairs of socks, and five pairs of underwear.
24.) You’ve ever referred to Tuesday as “my weekend.”
25.) You’ve ever written off guns and ammunition as a business deduction.

Joel applies to at least 20 of these.

We Moved!

We are in our new house! I'll post on that on another date. But for now, enjoy some Halloween 

pictures. Tessa was a cow. She hammed it up really well.

 Grandma has her by the tail. You can tel

Family Pictures

 We recently wend to Des Moines for Tessa's 1 year pictures and some family pictures. She refused to walk around because she was too busy eating the leaves, tree bark, mulch, grass, etc. She was so curious. We got very lucky with the weather and the wonderful Nuzum Photo got some great shots!

Birthday girl!

Friday was Tessa's birthday, and also her 1 year check up at the doctor. Everything with her looked pretty good. Grandma Laura got to show her off to a few patients (Joel's mom works at the clinic we take Tessa to, FYI). She showed everyone how she was a big girl, walking every where, emptying the drawers of the exam table, and climbing up into a chair.

One thing we've learned about this girl, she is so curious about everything and is totally fearless. The first few times she figured out how to get up on the couch (after we realized she'd been stacking pillows up for a boost), she dove headfirst off it. What can I say? She wanted down and she figured it out. Finally yesterday she realized it was probably a little easier to turn around and hang her feet over the edge and slide. Much faster and less rug burn.

Anyways, back the the appointment. She is a whopping 19 pounds, 10.5 ounces, which is right at the 25th percentile. Those of you not versed on percentiles, it means that 75% of children her age weigh more than her, and she weighs more than the other 25%. Get it? She is 29 1/2 inches tall, which is the 50th percentile. She's still long and lean, just like her dad. I would be thrilled if she were built like him. He is tall and naturally skinny. For an analogy on the body shape differences between Joel and I, see Sesame Street.

I am Ernie and Joel is Bert.

Needless to say, I hope she gets at least some of Joel's features, height being one of them. So anyways, Tessa got 3 shots this round. She got her Hib vaccine, her flu shot, and the chicken pox vaccine. You can tell she's opinionated because she cried more when she got held down than when she got poked. She was fine once I picked her up, and she ripped her bandaid off before it was done bleeding. Sigh. That's my girl.

She has had some more trouble breathing, being very wheezy with a phlegmy cough. We've done a couple breathing treatments with her and that seems to help. She may have asthma, which can be a very big deal. However, I have asthma and have learned to manage it well. I convince myself I'm fine when I'm not, but I know better than to leave without an inhaler. But if we do come to the find out that Tessa has it, we'll be more diligent with her.

Today is her party, so I'll be sure to report back. We spent most of yesterday cooking, cleaning, and decorating for it. I tried not to go too overboard with it.

Happy Birthday!

Well, the first year is over. We made it. We have a walking, talking, climbing toddler with an attitude. We went from this:

to this:

 

She's doing a lot of this now too:

 

It is so fun to see every day what she learns, figures out, and changes her mind on. She has more personality than she knows what to do with, and too much energy for her own good. She is fearless, full of life, and oh so entertaining! We love you Tessa!

Tessa and GG

We went and visited GG a few weeks ago. Actually, like a month ago. I just found the pictures though, so I figured I'd post them. My grandma Wilson is awesome. So awesome. She grew up on a farm, farmed her whole life, and now is suppressed with city living. By city I mean sprawling metropolis of 600 people.

She is so frugal and I can't help but giggle at her sometimes. We went out to lunch, and she washed the styrofoam takeout box so she could reuse it. Her entire deep freeze is filled with yogurt containers with various items. We always joke that she saves 4 kernels of corn in her yogurt container and freezes it so she doesn't waste anything. Everytime we visit, she's defrosted some cookies for us. Yep, defrosted cookies. At one point she had freshly baked them, but it never seems to be the day we're visiting.

We love spending time with her, and she loves the company. So, we had a day off and decided to make the hour long trip to GG's house. Tessa had a blast, as usual. GG pulled out the baby butler, which looks like a death trap but is really just an old skool high chair type thing.

Tessa was her usual happy and silly self, which made GG very happy. We got a few good pictures and had fun playing cards with GG. We knew it was a big deal we were coming because she cancelled her usual plans of cards and lunch with "the girls" to have lunch and cards with us.

This epically sucks

Working in an ER can be some of the most exciting moments in my day. From being a quiet, normal, easy, day with just a few patients, to instantly changing when you hear "Unit 3, 10-76 to Trinity, one patient on board, 10-33, CPR in progress, advise Code Blue." Your heart sinks, your gut tightens, and you know you are changing the course of one family's life. But at the same time, your pulse is racing, your hands get a little sweaty, and you know it's go time. Chasing the ambulance trying to figure out who your patient is, realizing they don't know who the patient is, having real life John or Jane Doe's, and hoping someone shows up to identify the patient before anything worse happens is part of my daily routine.

Lately, though, I'm over it. I don't want to have to see family members come into the ER with some hope and leave realizing they've lost a family member. It is worse when you see a fiance, a mother, or a child. Especially when that child is young. More often than I care to think about, I see a child that has been yanked out of school, being told something bad happened to their mom or dad, and show up to find out they now only have one parent. And yet, death is a fact of life, and seeing it regularly makes me jaded. I don't like it.

What a goofy girl

Tessa is officially 11 months old. Yikes. That's one month away from being a year old. Double yikes. She has more personality than she knows what to do with. She loves to fake cough, fake laugh, destroy everything in sight, and make silly faces. The newest of which is the one below:

She is going to be a bee for Halloween (maybe, this was a handmedown, I haven't decided if I need to buy her a costume yet, but I still might need to). So, we tried it on and practiced. She hates the hood, which is pretty much what makes it a bee as opposed to just a striped outfit. And it's a little tight. We'll see.

 Since she's officially 11 months, we also took her 11 month pictures! She finally realized that her rocking chair rocks and if she throws her body around, she can make it move. Pictures were more difficult than normal. And she loves her koala bear chew toy snuggle buddy/pillow.

SQUEEE

We bought a house! Yes, that's right. We have a signed, accepted offer on a house and will be closing November 21st! I'm a little bummed we won't be in our new house by Halloween. That was my goal since our new house is in the most adorable neighborhood in town. I was hoping we could drag Tessa around in a wagon in her bumble bee costume and trick or treat to all our new neighbors. But, we'll have to wait for next year. The sellers needed time to buy a house so we aren't closing until just before Thanksgiving. At least it won't be the dead of winter.

When we went to the bank today, Joel told the mortgage guy I already spent all our money on stuff for the house. I was embarrassed, but he was telling the truth. Ever since we decided to buy, I've been buying "house stuff" that I can't live without. Nevermind that I don't know if it will fit in the new house, I needed it because it was for the new house. That's just how my world works. So, I've been picking stuff up here and there, and loading up a few bags when we were at IKEA last month. The ability to decorate my own home is something I haven't had a chance to do yet, so I really want to take advantage and make my home 'us'.

work work work, all day long

I feel like that's all we do anymore. Joel gets home at 4:10am, I leave for work at 4:20am. Joel takes Tessa to daycare when she wakes up, I pick her up when I get off work. I come home, he goes into work at 4pm (he's been working insane amounts of overtime). He comes home for supper, I get Tessa supper and ready for bed, we go to bed. That's our days lately.

Finally today, we both have days off! So, we're heading to Ames for a fun day of Target. Yes, I make a day out of a Target trip. We have a few errands to run so uncle Marcus is going to watch Tessa. I think the best birth control in the world is handing off a wild 10 month old to a single college guy.

In other news, we're in the market for a house. We decided we like WC and want to hang out here a while. It's a pretty nice place, we've got some good friends and we both like our jobs. That is a stressful process! So many houses, so many choices, so many different layouts and designs. We want something that's at least semi-updated. We don't have the time or energy for a complete renovation of anything so it's a bonus if someone else already did it.