And Then It Hit Me

Big news around the Meezy household today: we're buying a new house!  Commence freak-out.  It's not like I haven't bought a house before, but this time feels different.  I have 3,500 square feet of stuff to pack up and move to a new house, with a baby and 2 dogs in tow.  That's new to me.  Part of that "stuff" is a shuffleboard table and pool table that are currently situated upstairs and need to be disassembled, moved, and reassembled by professionals.  The quote I've gotten on just those two items was $500.  Sheeeeeesh.  Lemme think on that.

The new house is exciting for many reasons!  We're moving closer to Dutch's daycare, his doctor, my doctor, my dentist, some of our friends, my sports leagues (if I ever get well again), and most importantly - my sister!  It'll be so nice to live within walking distance of her house.  The other big plus is that the new house has a pool!  We've been talking about a pool ever since we moved into our current house almost 5 years ago, and since we didn't think it was cost-effective to install it ourselves, we finally pulled the trigger on buying a home with an existing one.  I am SO looking forward to laying out by the pool this summer.  The new house is also set up really well for entertaining.  It's a ranch-style house with most of the square footage on the first floor.  The only rooms upstairs are a guest room, a hobby room, and a full bathroom.  That's perfect for guests staying over, to have their own section of the house.  It's especially nice if those guests have kids, because the second room can be for their kiddos, so that they're nearby, but not in the same room!

It feels like it's been so long since the last time I moved, that I don't even know where to begin.  So many addresses to change, services to transfer, logistics to be planned, etc.  My excitement was slightly halted when it hit me how much work I had ahead of me in the coming weeks.  But, it'll all be worth it!  Can't wait for my little family to start the next exciting chapter of our lives.

Pretty stoked about our circular drive!

Where I'll be spending a lot of the summer

Like Mother, Like Son

Dutch has become a bit of a daredevil lately, wanting to climb up on everything.  My mom told me I was the same way, and she found photographic proof!  Here is Dutch at 13 months, climbing on his rocking chair:

And here I am at 13 months, climbing on a chair:

Considering he looks so much like his dad, it's nice to see that he's getting some of my traits too, even if they are troubling at times!

The Next Attempt

My herniated disk (causing severe sciatica) hadn't gotten any better over the past month, so the next attempt was an epidural cortisone injection.  It's not meant to actually remedy the herniated disk, but it should hopefully provide immediate pain relief so that I can perform exercises and stretches that might help correct the underlying problem.  It's a routine outpatient treatment, so I was happy to give it a shot in favor of a major surgery.  I checked in to the surgical center at 8am yesterday, got IV fluids around 9am, and the procedure started around 10:30.  I was put under general anesthesia, so I had no pain related to the procedure, and was happy to not be awake for it!  Meezy came to pick me up around 11:30 and I was home by noon.  Immediately following the procedure, I was tired and nauseated, but that went away within a couple of hours.  For the rest of the night, my right leg was pretty numb and heavy, so walking was a little scary.  Today, though, I'm not feeling any residual effects from the injection.  I've been told it could take up to two weeks to start feeling relief from it, so I'm anxiously crossing my fingers for that to happen.  There's no telling how long the pain will subside, or if it will even get rid of all the pain, but I'm hopeful it will at least help.  I'm so ready to attack the root of the problem without having to deal with the constant interruptions the sciatica causes my daily life.     

Vegas 2013

Meezy and I gave ourselves a much deserved mini-Spring Break this year.  We went to Vegas with his brother and wife from Wednesday night to Saturday night.  Dutch stayed with my parents, so we knew we had nothing to worry about and that he'd get some awesome bonding time with his Oma and Opa.  I was lucky enough to get daily pictures sent to me from my Mom, because she knew I'd be missing my kiddo like crazy.  Here are the ones she sent:

  very happy at breakfast time

enjoying some strawberries, pasta, and green beans

early morning bottle with his Opa

LOVING the outdoors 

tuckered out from all the fun

As far as the trip went, besides a minor snafu with our shuttle from the airport to the hotel, everything was awesome!  We love Vegas because the atmosphere is just so fun and you have no responsibilities or obligations.  You can pretty much live carefree for a few days.  Seth, Katie, and Meezy spent a lot of time playing craps.  The casinos have these machines where you can play without having to be at a table.  It's more relaxed and personal and there are no dealers.  Since the drinks were a-flowing, Seth and Meezy made sure it was a lively time.  Some of the funniest moments from the trip took place around that craps machine.  ("Trouble just rolled up." "Who's the shooter?  Who's the shooter?  Oh, I'm the shooter.").   Katie and I sat back and enjoyed the show.

We enjoyed some yummy meals while we were there.  We ate at Hash House A Go Go (known for their ridiculously large portion sizes), Grand Lux Cafe, I Heart Burgers, Lagasse's Stadium, and Tao Asian Bistro (Crunchy Spicy Yellowtail roll was delicious).  

Tao dinner date

On our last day there, we stopped by the Fashion Show Mall to kill some time.  As you might've guessed, there was a fashion show going on!  It was pretty cool because the stage and runway emerged from the ground.  

huge glass enclosure is normally underground

We were happy to show Seth and Katie why we like Vegas so much since Seth had never been and Katie had only gone once about 6 years ago.  It wasn't necessary, but they got us a very sweet thank you card and a stockpile of goodies, in addition to paying for a couple of our meals.  The nicest part was how thoughtful their thank you gift was - they had heard us talking a couple days prior about how Meezy only loved chocolate candy and I only loved hard candy like sweettarts and skittles.  What do you know - that's exactly what they got us.  I didn't even know they were paying attention!  It may not sound like much, but I value when someone takes the time to put some thought into their gift.  It meant a lot to us!