PICU family

Dear PICU peeps,

I am going to try not to be too much of a sap.  Try being the key word. Because I know most of you have blogs and because I know I won't get to see all of you before heading out, I thought I would send out a message on Baby Lud's space.  Thank you thank you thank you for welcoming me into the crew.  I came as a fresh young nurse, scared to make any assessments of my own.  I had a bit of a rough start... well bagging a kid with room air is always a bad idea.  But I feel, now that I am leaving, that I have learned a tremendous amount of info about myself and how to take good care of kiddos.  It is so hard for me to say goodbye to a job and friends that I love.  I will miss late night market runs for sodas and popcorn and trying not to laugh when Sam has CP Jack make her another milkshake.  I will even miss Julia s-s-slurping her slushy loudly.  I will miss talking everyone into ordering Burrito Drive and feeling awful for the rest of night.  I will miss "Chinese here" and Nickel nuggets.  (Apparently I am going to miss food more than you all.... :)) 

I will miss more than anything your friendship.  You were my support system, my second family.  I knew I could call, say for example, Stacie on a Friday night when Brian was out of town to ask if I needed to take Harrison to urgent care because he was wheezing.  I knew I could yell out for help when my trauma was sitting up in bed--intubated.  I knew I could always count on you to back me up.  And I could always count on you for a good laugh, gossip fest or a shoulder to lean on.  I hope I find another ICU that treats me as well as AFCH.  I will always remember the fun times we had.  

Stay sassy!  And stay in touch!

"Why you acting so crraaazy!?"

10 months!

It's so hard to believe our baby boy is almost 10 months!! A little update on the boy:  He is now army crawling everywhere.  And boy, can he book it!  He walks fairly well while holding your hands and can stand while holding onto something for a good 10 minutes.  Favorite toys lately include tupperware and spatulas.  If it even closely resembles something made for a baby, he has no interest.  Oh, and he l-l-loves the dog.  He still isn't saying too much... mostly "ga" and "ca"-- I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this is a sign of higher intelligence later in life.  We are experimenting with new finger foods.  He loves mandarin oranges, chicken, and ravioli.  Check out his hair--it WILL NOT stay down... poor kid is going to have a buzz cut for life. 

As for Brian and I, we are in the midst of packing up and heading out.  Brian takes boards on Thursday of this week and we will then be in full packing mode.  We hope to be moved and settled in Birmingham by next Saturday.  Wish us luck on our drive across country.  I will have a cat (medicated with a little Xanax, mind you) and a baby (hopefully a sleeping, quiet, happy baby) in my car.  Auntie Keri, who is so awesome for volunteering to come with us, will have the dog in her vehicle.  And Brian will be driving a semi, that is our moving truck!  This will be nothing short of an interesting adventure...

Baby in a box--this entertained him for at least 30 minutes

When all else fails, let him play with newspaper

The End, Finale, Finish Line

So long chiefly duties... we are outta here.  

This past weekend, we celebrated the culmination of Brian's residency.  Senior dinner was Saturday evening.  Each of the graduating residents were talked about and applauded for all their hard work the last 5 years. Here is a pic of our friends, The MacDonald's, who are headed to Seattle for fellowship.  

True to Ortho ways, we went from dinner to drinking at a local bar.  

Cheers!

How I will miss my Madison friend, Amy.  

Quick pic of my parents, who flew in from Seattle, with Brian at dinner.

And one of Brian's parents--this was actually at Ruth's Chris the night before Senior dinner.  It was a VERY good weekend!

In T-3 weeks, we are off to Birmingham. Brian is super pumped to be working with such a great doc down there.  (Did you know Favre just had his shoulder scoped by him?) This move will be very bittersweet for me.  I love Madison.  I love my job in the PICU, where I have made lifelong friends.  I love being able to sit on the lake's edge, eat popcorn and drink a beer.  Madison has become home to me.  And although I know Birmingham and then eventually Indianapolis will be good to us, I will never forgot my Mad-town years.   

Little Dipper

I signed Harrison up for "swim lessons" at the local high school.  He LOVES it!  The class is called "little dippers" and Harrison is the biggest dipper in the class.  :)  We sing songs and splash around.  Harrison, on the other hand, just tries to drink the water.  Today we practiced dipping.  Basically, you blow in the kiddo's face so they hold their breath and dunk them under water.  Sounds cruel, but he actually liked it! Came back up smiling (gasping, but smiling).   

Uncle Buggy and Auntie Keri

My baby brother (Uncle Buggy) flew in from Norfolk last weekend for Harrison's baptism (it was a super busy weekend!) He hadn't met Harrison yet because he was deployed at the time, so we were all looking forward to seeing him again.  He had a blast with the bean!  We asked Matthew to be Harrison's godfather.  

Auntie Keri, Harrison's godmother, also came to Madison to hang out for the weekend.  She babysat the bean while we were away at dinners.  She is like a second mother to him and he just adores her.   

The week...in photos

We had a chance to catch up with our friends, Meg, Dan and Connor last weekend.  We had a great time hanging out in the park with the boys.  Harrison and Connor are 1 day apart in age, but I think they are almost identical in size.  :)

Harrison and Brian love to play "airplane" now.  

And there is always the fun that bathtime brings.  His favorite toy--a sponge.

And my newest favorite picture of the bean... 

Teething...

The last few days have been quite a challenge.  From what I can see, Harrison has 3 teeth coming in.  Joy!  He has been non-stop whining, whimpering and wailing.  Tylenol, ice cold teethers and lots of cuddles seem to make life a little easier for him (and us!!).  Here is a quick photo of a rare quiet moment at our house.  Such a peaceful fella. 

Momma's Goal--

Running... I try, but have not built up any endurance yet.  So if you pass me "running" pretend you don't know the panting girl who can barely keep her feet moving.  I'd be too embarrassed to know anyone saw me.  :)  The good thing is that Harrison doesn't laugh at my lack of ability.  He is content to just chill in his jogger.  

Brian had the ENTIRE weekend off... free from rounding, studying or even thinking about a patient.  So we headed to Blue Mound State Park on Sunday for a little hiking.  We threw Harrison in the Bjorn and off we went.  It was great to be outside; the weather was beautiful. Harrison eventually fell asleep.  Sadly, I think that will be his last time in the Baby Bjorn.  I'm pretty sure he is over the weight limit!!

Field Trip

Harrison and I trekked across southwestern WI into Iowa to visit Aunt Keri, Aunt Julie, Madalynn and Grandma.  We spent the afternoon at Aunt Keri's house.  She lives on a humongous farm in Guttenburg.  There were lots of opportunities for the girls to school me (the city mouse) on tractors and farm life. :)  We had a blast.  Harrison loved sitting outside in the fresh air and being spoiled by grandma, who bought him a boatload of new toys.     

*Harrison*

*Grandma and Baby Madalynn

*Auntie Keri and the bean*

Let's poll the audience...

So Brian dressed Harrison this morning.  This is what he was wearing.  I laughed out loud.  Brian's feelings got hurt because he thought he did a great job on his choice of outfit.  What do you think?  Does this match? (Or fit???)

Sunshine and Green Grass

We are IN LOVE with the warmer weather.  And Harrison has enjoyed showing off his chubby thighs!

Harrison's First Tractor Ride

Grandpa Ludwig took Harrison on his 1st tractor ride yesterday afternoon.  He was a little sleepy, but I think he enjoyed his brief spin on the John Deere!  I think Grandpa had just as much fun as the little man.

Buds

They even fight over Dakota's rubber chicken!  

Pears-Yum! Peas-Gag!

I've been experimenting with making baby food for awhile, but always veggies and fruits.  So this past week, I thought I would try doing a chicken combo with peas.  While I thought my concoction was pretty tasty, Harrison was NOT a fan of mom's homemade cooking! 

Bath Time...

... is Harrison's favorite time! 

And he LOVES eating his toys!