My first pair of Stilettos.......

We decided it was time for Madison to wear her first pair of stilettos. They have already brought so many smiles to our face. She seems to enjoy them.

On another note, it appears that Madison is teething. She has been "chomping" on her hands quite a bit and drooling like a water fountain. Ahh, the next adventure...Today she seems to be feel a little better, her cough is the same. A few more days of rest will do her good.

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving

Regretably Jen and I won't be back in Nebraska with our families for this Thanksgiving Holiday. Madison is still battling her cough. She hasn't been sleeping and we didn't want it to evolve into something else. It was really a tough decision as we haven't seen everyone in quite some time. I'm also sure everyone wanted to see Madison. Our neighbor invited us over for a Thanksgiving lunch. It was very nice of them to include us. It'll be nice to spend the day with others but more importantly, avoid my famous Thanksgiving frozen pizza. Turkey just sounds better.

Hope everyone has safe travels.

Community HOA

In September I was elected to the Amber Lakes and Meadows Home Owner Association community board. I really hadn’t considered running until my neighbor discussed the possibility of both of us being on the board at the same time. After a few days of thought I agreed to run. It has been over a month now that I’ve officially taken office and I feel like we’ve accomplished a quite a bit in a short period of time. We have reduced our cost of insurance by over 50%, we have reached a resolution to open the second community pool with the developer, we have figured out a way to save money on the lake chemicals to reduce the algae, and we have put out a new bid package for the commons area maintenance, just to name a few things. We are in the process of setting next year’s budget and moving forward with some long term plans for fixing the tennis courts, adding some sand volleyball courts and maybe a pavilion. We also want to do more to pull people together and give them some free options to have some fun with their neighbors. So far, it has been interesting. I was initially worried about handling the new role and being on a board. I also didn’t want to receive calls at all hours of the night. Fortunately, I’ve been able to balance both and the HOA has a community number so the board doesn’t have to share their own private numbers. It’s been very positive in fact. We will see what I think in 6 months.

Weekend with Grandma and Grandpa H

This weekend Madison enjoyed laughing and talking to all of us. My parents could not believe how much she had grown since they last saw her. This is the first time Madison sat in her Bumbo seat. She can hold her neck and head up very well. It was a very nice weekend. We made a roast, put the Christmas tree up, did some shopping and watched football. It was relaxing for us.

Red Day..........

Madison is keeping us busy. She loves to smile, laugh and "talk". Every morning before school, she just "talks, talks, talks." Madison's teachers say she "talks" and laughs a lot at school. She also kicks. Apparently, she was looking at Ainsley (day care friend) and did a 180 turn and started to kick her. The teachers had to make a separate area for Madison to kick (so she does not hurt anyone). Once she gets started it's hard for her to stop. Darin and I came to the realization that we are going to have our hands full.

PARTY...I'm three months old today!

Today is my three month birthday. As mommy got me ready for school this morning, she thought I needed to wear leg warmers. My mommy told me that she use to wear them. Apparently that was a loooooooooooooong time ago. I have a feeling that my mommy has more than just one pair of leg warmers for me. My daddy agrees with me that my mommy is stuck in the 80's. Anyway, it's my party and I'll kick (even with leg warmers on) if I want to. Can't wait to see you during the holidays.

XOXOXO,

Madison

Brrrrrrrrr.....

It's a balmy 30 degrees in Kansas City and the expected high is 37 degrees. Darin headed off to Manhattan, KS for the Nebraska vs. Kansas State game. Game time temperature is projected to be 34 degrees. Go Huskers!

Madison and I decided it was too cold and that we would watch the game on PPV TV. As Darin left this morning, I told him we'll watch for him on TV. Watch for the guy in RED! Might be a bit difficult.

On another note, I am happy to report we are all feeling better, even Sonic.

All I want for Christmas

http://www.gratefulpalate.com/?p=Category_11


It is the perfect gift for a man. hah!

Although I'm no longer going, an interesting article on Dubai

http://money.cnn.com/2008/11/11/news/international/dubai_bailout.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2008111108

Above is a link to a recent article about Dubai and their new financial troubles. Seems like the we are not the only ones suffering in this economy.

Some Blog Updates

We made some changes to the slide show at the bottom of this blog. Jen has been a little camera happy so we're showing some of her latest pictures. I also changed the music. I figured why not...

Meet the Rezac's.......

Bacterial infection, cold & cough, strep throat and mild depression. (a.k.a. Madison, Darin, Jennifer and Sonic)

Well we've had quite a week. All of us are taking some form of medication, except for Sonic. Madison of course got sick on Monday night and seems to be feeling better. Darin started feeling bad on Wednesday. He was also traveling to Arkansas for business. Apparently Arkansas's peak flu season is right now. I started feeling bad on Friday and then went to the doctor. As for Sonic, his condition is a bit chronic and we're working on it.

Good news is we all seem to be on the mends. We hope next week we'll continue to feel better.

Pink "Bubble gum" so soon...

Runny noses, coughs, matted eyes and saliva filled fingers, oh the "joys" of day-care.
When I picked Madison up from "school" on Monday, her teacher handed me a book Madison made. It was her first Halloween book that she had painted (spiders, ghosts and witches hats) using her hands and feet. We are so proud. What a great keepsakes, I should say the many keepsakes.
We got home from school and I noticed that Madison felt hot and was sweating a little bit. So, we took her temperature a plethora of times. Each time the reading was around 100 degrees. Of course it was after doctors normal hours so we had to page the on-call doctor. Fortunately, the on-call doctor was Madison's regular doctor. We were providing and giving her all the remedies we could, but decided to see the doctor the next morning.
Of course, her appointment included blood work. Not sure where she gets the strength of being poked and prodded. After all of the tests were administered, we found out she had a bacterial infection. As such, the doctor prescribed amoxicillin for the next 10 days. Oh...amoxicillin, "pink bubble gum" as we called it growing up. It brings back so many fond memories. Okay, yes I was tempted to smell the medication. I have a feeling that Madison will need to get use to taking the "pink bubble gum," hopefully not too often.
I am happy to report smiles and a hearty appetite are back. She still likes Cindy Lauper music, mom's singing of Cindy Lauper songs, dads tractor noises, kicking and playing on her ocean mat.

Troublemakers and Halloween

As mentioned below, Madison slept through Halloween. One of our neighbors had a get together and invited everyone over to hand out candy and hang out for the evening. Jen went over for the first half of the night and I hung out the second. There was all kinds of food and desserts. We even made some spiced hot wine which was great while sitting outside on a cool evening. But for some reason trouble started after Jen left the party to take care of Madison. It seems a couple of guys went over to one of the neighbors houses and brought up some fireworks. It seems one neighbor wanted to show them off and another neighbor was willing to help. In fact, everyone at the party shared in this encouragement but me. Everything was "fine" until the cops showed up. (Well, except for the fact Madison woke up due to the noise.) I'm not sure if it was the height of the fireworks or the echoing noise that got the cops' attention, but a KC cruiser showed up asking about fireworks. As the cops were discussing this with a neighbor I was nonchalantly moving the rest of the fireworks into the garage of the place we were having the party. The cops left with giving us all a verbal warning. This was the first time I've ever been lectured on my behavior. It was embarrassing.

I must say, I was disappointed in our neighbors and their teenage actions. I repeatedly have to be the adult in these situations and make sure others don't get out of line. Firecrackers on Halloween. Who would encourage such behavior? Well, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Happy Halloween plus one day!

Madison, our little tiny turtle slept through Halloween. Therefore, we were unable to trick-or-treat in our coldasac last night. However, we were able to celebrate her 1st Halloween today.