Holiday Wishes to All

To All My Democrat Friends:
Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all. I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2009, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great. Not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country nor the only America in the Western Hemisphere. Also, this wish is made without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishee.


To All My Republican Friends:
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

The Joy's of Real Food

Our little stinker is a quick learner. She has decided she doesn't like rice cereal so she carefully watches whoever has the spoon and when it comes close to her mouth, she pushes her lips together and plants her chin firmly in her chest to make it difficult for us to feed her. As a result, mom and dad are learning new ways to fool her into sitting up and opening her mouth. I fear she'll catch on to these as well. She might be smarter than both of us already....

Yeah for an ExerSaucer....

Madison's new joy and entertainment is the Jump & Go ExerSaucer. And yes, she really loves to Jump & Go. Again, another toy that needs batteries. So, it may be another trip to Sam's Club for the family pack of batteries. We need to keep Madison happy, as you can see she love to Jump & Go.

Very Busy Holiday

On Sunday, December 21 we had the Bohuslavsky Christmas in Brainard. Madison enjoyed her five new cousins and family. She also enjoyed Santa, okay maybe not that day. Darin enjoyed Sue's kolaches and would really like to get her recipe. I of course loved everything about the meal, because this year I could enjoy it. (Last year I was very nauseous and pregnant)

On Wednesday, December 24 we spent time with Grandma and Grandpa Rezac and Uncle Dana for Christmas Eve lunch. Then we spent time with Grandma and Grandpa Hanson, Great-Grandma J, Great Aunt and Uncle Sharon and Rene and Aunt, Uncle and Cousins- Jason, Marcy, Kylie, Alexandra, Wyatt and Buddy for Christmas Eve dinner. A very busy day for Madison, with a few naps in between. Poor Sonic was at Grandma and Grandpa H's guarding the house.
On Thursday, December 25 we had the Rezac Christmas in Omaha. Madison slept through most of that Christmas. Darin and I both ate too much, but we did not care because we love the food. And of course this year I was able to enjoy the food and not a peanut butter sandwich.
Back to KC on Friday, December 26 we went. It was a good thing we came back on Friday, because today we've had strong winds, lightening, freezing rain and thunder snow. It's a nice Saturday to be inside next to the fireplace.

We had a great time during the holidays, but we're all tucker out! Have a wonderful rest of the holiday and a Happy New Year!

Madison's First Meal

Today Madison had some rice cereal at my parents house. From the first spoon of "curiosity" to the last spoon of "keep that away from me", it was quite the adventure. We were able to get the food into her mouth by sneaking in the bottle after every spoonful. This helped prevent Madison from spitting it up. Most of the time we had tears, fat lips and lots of huffing. We probably should have sat her in her bumbo and bottle fed her a few times before attempting cereal, but for sitting up and eating for the first time, she didn't do too bad. Also,the plastic bib was a great suggestion by a friend. Well worth the investment when spoon feeding. Now, we just need to get her back on her schedule after a long Sunday celebrating the Holidays.

If you double click on the picture, it'll take you to a full screen view and you can see Madison's face much better. I think she gets that from her mom. At least, that is what I'm saying.

Madison's first two days at CernerKids

Madison's Tuesday at CernerKids was not as eventful as it was on Monday. Apparently today, she slept most of the day. However yesterday, she slept a lot and had three different outfits on. The first outfit she spit up on, the second outfit- she had a "blow out"(exact words on her report card) and the third outfit worked until bedtime. I guess for her first day at CernerKids she needed to make a statement. Not only did Madison make a statement her first day, so did I. When I went to exit CernerKids, I forgot to badge out and the alarms went off. I still here the ringing in my ear today. Hopefully I will never make that mistake again!

Many activities including seeing Santa

We had a great, but busy weekend. My parents arrived in KC on Thursday evening. Our neighbors made and brought over a wonderful penne chicken pasta, which was perfect for our Thursday supper. Friday, my parents "ran around" until we got off of work. Friday was Madison's last day at Creative World school. When I arrived to pick her up, they asked me to come back in an hour- they wanted to spend more time with her. I noticed on her "report card" that she did not have a nap since 11am that morning. Her teachers said they held her most of the day. It was a bit emotional as the teachers cried and gave me and Madison lots of hugs. They had also made a portfolio of her accomplishment and pictures of various events. It was a great school, however we're really excited for her to start CernerKids on December 15. Darin is delighted as Madison will be close to her daddy.
Friday night, Darin and I attended a Cerner regional party and had a great time socializing and showing his associates pictures of Madison. I called this our "date" night, we had a wonderful time. Thanks mom and dad for taking care of Madison.
On Saturday morning, Cerner had their children's Christmas party. We went there so Madison could see Santa. It was a wonderful event and we all had a great time. We had to use mom and dad's pictures that they took, because the ones I took you could barely see Madison. I called them my where is Madison pictures. (Instead of where is Waldo?)
Saturday night, we hosted Darin's finance team holiday party. We had Oklahoma Joe's BBQ and enjoyed the conversations and great company. We were also grateful and thankful that my parents were able to help "babysit" and keeping Madison entertained. (Love you!) The weekend is almost over, amazing how time flies.

Busy Weekend

This weekend will be very busy for Jen and myself. It starts Friday evening with a Cerner holiday party hosted by my new manager. It is a nice opportunity to mingle with the new team and a chance for everyone to get to know Jen. Saturday morning we have a holiday party at work for Cerner associates kids. There will be food, prizes and a Santa for pictures. That evening I will be hosting my own party for the Finance team I had most of the year. It will be a nice way for me to say thanks for the hard work in 2008. We decided to cater the event with some BBQ! Why not? We are in KC. Plus, it will take a load off our schedule. We still have to get the house ready. We feel very fortunate that Jen's parents are coming down Thursday night to help babysit, get things ready for our party and hopefully, and visit Santa with Madison.

Disappointing Weekend

I had planned on playing in a poker tournament in Detroit on Friday, December 5th. I left KC Friday morning and arrived in Chicago with no problems. After a 2 hour layover, I boarded my next plane to Detroit. It was one of those smaller planes with 2 seats on each side. We sat on the plane for a bit and appeared to be leaving late when the pilot announced they had some mechanical problems and we needed to leave the plane. Supposedly it would only take 30 minutes. Over an hour later they told us we were changing planes and had to move to a new gate. This flight was suppose to leave at 2:30, almost 2 hours later than my initial flight. At a little after 2:30 they told us our flight was going to be cancelled and we need to call reservations to make other plans. This may not sound that bad, but there was a flight leaving for Detroit at about 2:40 and had space for most of us. All of us on this little plane missed it as a result. I called reservations via their red "bat" phone and found out they couldn't get me into Detroit until after 10:30pm. By the time I'd rent a car and get to tourney it would be close to 11:30. Far too late to play.

I made some calls and got my hotel and car rental cancelled and decided to return to KC that night. My weekend of poker and seeing friends from Michigan was torpedoed. Hopefully, I can make it out for some event this winter.

Madison with Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus

Madison had a fun filled morning, she sat with Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus. The first Saturday in December, the Federal Reserve has their annual Children's Holiday Party for employees and their families. Many activities include: a life size Candy Land, popcorn/treat booth, cookie decorating, fishing for prizes, making ornaments, making snow globes, and pictures with Santa. I was amazed with the turnout, it was a great idea as there was no line for Santa. Thought you'd enjoy as Madison is getting ready for her 1st Christmas.

Can't wait to see everyone during the holidays!

Darin, the chili connoisseur

For the past few weeks Darin has been craving chili and cinnamon rolls. Over the holiday weekend we searched on-line for some chili recipes. We found three that we liked, so we "concocted" a version of our own using all three. It was amazing. Thought we'd share "our secret" recipe with you!

1 pound of ground beef
1 pound of chopped chuck
1/2 pound bacon (chopped up)
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 large onion
4 tablespoons of chili powder (plus a little extra, okay not a little, Darin got carried away)
2 tablespoon of cumin
3 cans of tomato sauce
1/4 cup of water
2 tablespoon of paprika
1 green pepper
1 red pepper
A splash of Worcestershire sauce

Darin fried up the meat and veggies and then cooked it all for 8 hours in a crockpot.

Serves six people..

Oh, the cinnamon rolls were good too..we bought them in your groceries freezer section!

Enjoy!