Happy Halloween!

Superman never made any money....but I'm okay with that

Okay, okay, I'm waving!

Do you see something spooky in the corner?

Ready for my Milky Way

My potential is yet untapped

And you thought Casper was cute

I ain't 'fraid of no ghost

Jor and Kal-El

My mom keeps dressing me in these stupid Halloween outfits

My dad is so proud of my costume

Our Weekend

We had a very busy weekend. On Friday night, my cousin, Greg, and his family came over to our house for pizza and some chatter. They were in town from Indiana, enjoying some of the fun the Twin Cities has to offer, like the MOA (Mall of America) and the Children's Museum. We had a great time catching up with them. I can't believe how big their "little one" has gotten. We hadn't seen her since last Christmas and wow, has she changed. We got some good parenting advice from the experienced ones. I'm sure we'll be seeking some more via email. Jack liked meeting his relatives.

Wow, she's two-fisting it with the babies, what a mom!

He's kind of strange, but I like him

On Saturday, we went over to our friends' house to help them get ready for a Halloween party. It was our first experience of a kid-focused party when we actually had a kid. We had a lot of fun and got to catch up with some friends that we hadn't seen for a while. There were many amazing Halloween costumes.

I think I'm gonna yuke

Don't anyone make a move or the monkey is history!

I sure hope that was a raindrop I felt

On Sunday, we enlisted the help of our friends to get our broken storm windows fixed (long story) and to figure out what is wrong with the HD connection to Nick's Xbox (another long story). Sadly, we weren't able to resolve either problem, but we appreciate their willingness to try, especially, Mike, who was not feeling well.

Look for a special Halloween edition of You Don't Know Jack tomorrow! Surprises are in store! (Ooo, what a teaser!)

Good Things

Okay, I'll admit it. Even though I don't have it listed on "my What I've Been Watching Lately - TV," I have, on occasion, (well, maybe a few occasions), watched Martha Stewart while home on maternity leave. (I have also watched some other unspeakable things - Young and the Restless: Out of the Ashes - but I'll save comments about those for another time.) I have never been a big fan of Martha. In fact, I have never been any fan of Martha. I don't hate her or anything, I just don't fully appreciate Martha's appeal. This has disappointed at least two of my aunts, who measure most decorating tasks they undertake by some unknown Martha factor.

Martha has just always seemed a bit too stuffy for me. However, since her stint in the slammer, she has become a bit more fun. I saw her on Late Night with David Letterman a few weeks ago (yes, I have been watching late night TV a lot also), and Dave was being pretty edgy with her and she seemed to be having a good time. She even made her own jokes about some weird plant pod thing she had brought called hairy balls. (She also talked about this on her TV show that day. Not that I was watching.)

Those of you who are not Martha fans may not know that she has a segment on her show called "Good Things." I didn't realize until recently that was the source of my aunt saying, "It's a good thing" in a funny voice. I guess "Good Things" are her (or more likely, her staff's) little discoveries of things that she has found useful or likes, such as products or crafts.

Recently, I have been thinking about all the "Good Things" that have been happening to me, family, and friends. So, in honor of Martha, the Bodeans (no, no, no, don't pass me by BoDeans – Good Things), and the Fine Young Cannibals (good thing, where have you gone? Fine Young Cannibals – Good Thing), here is my list of good things:

1. The sun is shining today.
2. The sun was shining yesterday.
3. It hasn't rained since Sunday.
4. Jack and I went for three walks already this week.
5. The leaves are at their peak here.
6. We are predicted to have the longest stretch of no rain since the end of July.
7. We had visitors from Wisconsin last weekend (Janet and Pat).
8. We have visitors from Indiana coming this weekend (GML family).
9. My friend, Aaron, got engaged (to a girl named Erin).
10. My cousin, Darcy, got engaged (to a boy named Bryon).
11. I cleaned the cupboards today.
12. Jack's Halloween costume arrived in the mail this week, just in time for his 1st Halloween party this weekend. (Stay tuned for pictures.)
    
13. The Clever King got his Xbox back today.
14. Jack slept for six hours last night!
15. The Office is on tonight.
16. I talked with Nick's dad on Yahoo messenger yesterday (go, George, with your high-tech self).
17. My friend, Kris, got a great new job.
18. The fires in California are getting under control.
20. We have managed to not eat most of the mound of Halloween candy that I bought a couple of weeks ago.
21. Tomorrow is Friday.

Thoughts from Garrison Keillor

I enjoyed this piece sent to me by my husband this morning and thought some of you might enjoy it also. Garrison Keillor is Minnesota's hometown boy whose essay on Salon this morning comments on the war, health care, and parenting.

http://www.salon.com/opinion/keillor/2007/10/24/gop/

If You Want a Baby Badger...It Takes Due Dilligence

As most of you know, I am a Wisconsin Badger through and through. I grew up just outside of Madison, I completed my undergraduate degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and I returned to the good old UW to complete my graduate degree a few years later. My allegiance to Bucky Badger is strong. My dad (along with my aunt and uncle) has had season tickets to Badger football games for several decades, suffering through the years of Don Morton and experiencing the rush of beating Michigan in 1993 to go to the Rose Bowl for the first time in 31 years (and to win for the first time ever). In the last 15 years or so, many of my family's vacations have revolved around traveling to see the Badgers play in a post-season bowl game. (Thank goodness they don't have the Garden State Bowl any longer!)

One of the (many) benefits of marrying an international man of mystery like Nick is that he did not come into our relationship with an allegiance to any particular college sports team. This has saved our relationship from much agony, as he readily converted into a Badger fan. His love of American football in general has also been beneficial, as he has no trouble spending Saturdays curled up on the couch, catching a Badger football game.

Maintaining your Badger status while living in Minnesota (land of the Golden Gopher) isn't hard when you have a strong Badger pedigree like I do, but it will likely be more of a challenge for Jack. Because we truly want a Baby Badger, we are working diligently to expose Jack to all things Badger. He has already watched at least two Badger football games on TV, he has a Badger mobile that plays On Wisconsin attached to his crib (thanks Aunt Janet), he has some Badger clothes (thanks Aunt Jane and Uncle Steve), and we sing Badger songs to him every chance we get.

One of my personal favorites for serenading Jack, stemming from my days of living in the Lakeshore dorms, is "If You Want a Baby Badger." Many of you are probably more familiar with the traditional version of this song, that is, "If You Want to Be a Badger." The Baby Badger version, is sung to the same tune, but using the lyrics below:

If you want a baby badger, just come along with me,
By the bright shining light, by the light of my room.
If you want a baby badger, just come along with me,
By the bright shining light of my room.

By the light of my room,
By the light of my room,
By the bright shining light, by the light of my room.
If you want a baby badger, just come along with me,
By the bright shining light of my room.

I'm not sure where we got this version from, but, boy, did we have some good times at Badger football games with this one. (Perhaps the tailgating before also had something to do with it.) Maybe one day, Jack too will decide to go to the UW and will get to experience this fun as a student. If he does, he will be one of the best prepared kids in his class!

Jack after the loss to Illinois

Come on, Badgers!

Jack and Bucky

Note: Those of you non-American readers of this blog who are not very familiar with college football teams may want to check out the hyperlinks that I have embedded in the text above, as they may help you understand what the heck I am talking about in this post!

Parents' Night Out or Our Life Before The Child

Last Friday night we went to the movies. That's right, to the movies, like in a movie theater. We didn't get a DVD from the library or watch Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason for the 10th time on TBS, we went to the movies. It was the old "us" (which includes a 30-something brunette and a 40-something New Zealander) , not the new "us" (which includes a little baby that we just can't seem to shake). Before that, it had been exactly 7 weeks and 2 days since we had been to the movies, a fact that my husband, the King of Clever, had pointed out to me just a few times. We last went to the movies the day before Jack's due date and saw The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (highly recommended glimpse into geekdom - appealing to geeks and non-geeks alike).

If you haven't spent a lot of time with my husband (or maybe even a moderate or little amount of time), you have no idea how important going to the movies is to him. Here are a few things that will give you a clue:
1. In addition to being the King of Clever, he is also the King of Pop Culture, reading Entertainment Weekly cover to cover each week. (When the summer and fall movie issues are on the newsstands, he checks the mailbox obsessively to see if his subscription has come yet.)
2. He was praying that his son wouldn't be born before August 3rd because then he wouldn't get to see The Bourne Ultimatum the first night that it was in wide release. Luckily, his son wasn't born before August 3rd and we went to The Bourne Ultimatum on opening night. Despite the fact that the theater was about 90 degrees and I was 9 months pregnant and about to pass out, I lasted through the movie because I didn't want to let him down by asking to leave. (Full disclosure: I also really wanted to see the movie and I never told Nick that I was feeling so hot, although I was fanning myself with whatever random items I could find in my purse and I wiggled out of the tank top which was under my shirt while sitting in my movie theater seat.)
3. His surefire conversation starter is "what movies have you seen lately" followed by a recitation of the slew of the movies that he has seen lately. If people respond that they can't remember when they last saw a movie, but it has been a long time, he responds, yeah, the last movie I saw was a few weeks ago.
4. He doesn't trust anyone that hasn't seen a movie for more than six months on DVD, or a year in the theater.
5. He LOVES Roger Ebert. We once went to the University Bookstore in Madison to hear Roger Ebert talk about movies. He checks Roger Ebert's website every week to read Ebert's latest reviews. When Roger Ebert was offline because of complications surrounding his cancer, Nick was genuinely concerned.

This outing came about because my 2nd cousin some number removed Katie had volunteered to babysit for us. I wasn't quite sure if we were ready to leave our baby home without us, but decided that we should give it a shot. Katie offered to babysit for dinner and a movie, but that seemed like too much on the test run, so she brought us dinner instead and ate with us. (Thanks, Katie! Yum.)

It had been so long since we had been to the movies that the CK (Clever King) had a difficult time selecting which movie was worthy of our attendance. The movie that we saw was Michael Clayton. It was a great movie, made even better by that eye candy, George Clooney (whom the CK bears some resemblance to).

We don't typically buy refreshments at the movies. Since we go to the movies so often, this has saved us a lot of money over the years. We also had a bad experience early on when we were dating where I choked on a piece of popcorn while watching the movie Traffic and had to go to the emergency room to have it checked out because it felt like something was stuck in there. (After looking down my throat by putting a camera up my nose, it was determined that everything was fine.) This time, I bought a bottle of water (for $3.75!) only because as a nursing mother you are supposed to stay well-hydrated and I didn't want to duplicate the Bourne experience again.

We arrived plenty early, as we always do, to allow the CK to select the optimum seats. I felt proud to stay awake through the previews (no, it wasn't a midnight or even 9pm movie, it started at 7:10pm) and really struggled to keep my eyes open during the first 20 minutes or so of the feature. Then, I kept thinking, baby thoughts. Was he okay? Would Katie call us if something was wrong? Did he miss us? Did he understand that we hadn't deserted him forever? Would he decide he liked Katie better than us?

Despite those initial thoughts, for about 40 minutes at the end of the movie, I forgot that we are Mommy and Daddy. I forgot that I was still wearing maternity jeans and that, prior to that night, I had been in record setting mode for how long it had been since I had worn makeup or shoes with a heel. We were Amy and Nick (formerly Kit Kat and Moondog), and they do this every couple of weeks. Sometimes they even go out to a 9pm movie. Sometimes they go out to dinner after 6:30pm. Sometimes they go to dinner AND a movie in the same night. Baby? They have no baby. Just a rather large tabby cat named Hank who thinks he is a baby.

On the way home, we both agreed that we had a fun time, but we missed Jack. We decided that it was a good thing to get out and that we are lucky to have Katie (and others) who are willing to babysit for us, as our immediate families are not in town. The CK said we should make a point to go out every couple of weeks or every week. "Every week?" I said. "We do have a new baby you know."

I was just testing you, said the CK, and you passed the test. But maybe we could go out once a month or so.

I agreed to consider it. After all, we are approaching the holidays and that is when all the best movies come out. And I don't want the King of Pop Culture to lose his edge in movie trivia.

Amy, Jack, and babysitter Katie

Parcel from New Zealand

When we returned home from our adventure to Madison a week or so ago, we were lucky enough to come home to a special thing - a parcel (or what we call a package here in the States) from New Zealand. It's always fun to get something in the mail other than the usual assortment of bills, requests for campaign donations, and circulars (advertising fliers for you Yanks), and something from Nick's family overseas is a special event.

Nick eagerly tore into the parcel. He had made a special request to his family for an All Blacks outfit for Jack and they did not disappoint. For those of you non-Kiwis who are wondering, "what kind of crazy father requests an all black outfit for his newborn son, don't most normal babies wear blue, green, and yellow," let me explain. The All Blacks are New Zealand's national rugby team and they inspire a cult-like following, particularly by my husband and father-in-law. If you are American, it is difficult to understand the magnitude of a whole country following the same team playing the same sport. I guess it would be like if all of the die-hard Packer, Cub, and Badger fans united together to cheer for a common cause. When visiting my in-laws last fall, I had Nick teach me the New Zealand National Anthem on the long drive from Queenstown to Milford Sound so I could impress my father-in-law, George, by proudly singing along before that Sunday's rugby match. I won several daughter-in-law favor points by doing so. (Note to self: will have to learn the Maori verse on the next trip to bank a few more.)

Not only did Nick's family send an All Blacks outfit, but an All Blacks hat, mittens, and booty set. Their timing couldn't have been better, as the weather has turned cool and we finally gave in and turned on our heat last Friday. Jack also lucked out with a new Stretch and Grow (known as Sleep and Plays in "American"), lots of fun socks, and a beautiful sweater, handmade by Auntie Jean and purchased by Nanny from the hospital shop where Auntie Jean volunteers by selling the sweaters she knits with her amazing talent. The sweater is the perfect size to fit Jack in the heart of winter. There was also another snuggly sleeper that will fit Jack soon and will keep him warm all winter. Grandad tucked in a kiwibird key chain for Jack, which Mommy will carefully safeguard until Jack is old enough to have his own set of keys.

Nick said the All Black outfit and package (almost) made up for the loss that the team had suffered to France in the Rugby World Cup earlier that weekend.

Jack begged us to let him model the clothes right away, so we acquiesced. I swear, he can be such a prima donna. Please see his runway shoot below.





A note from Jack:
Thanks, Nanny, Grandad, and Uncle Michael for all the cool stuff. Hope you don't feel too bad about the All Blacks. As I told Daddy....

There's always 2011.

First Road Trip

Last weekend we took Jack on his first road trip to Madison (Wisconsin, for those of you who are familiar with Madison, Minnesota). The leaves were turning which made for a beautiful drive. Jack traveled pretty well; Mommy and Daddy just needed to realize that the trip will no longer take 4 hours on a good day. Slow down and enjoy the ride, right? More like drive as fast as you can while the little man is sleeping so you can get as far as possible and try to coincide his need to stop with an available exit, preferably one not in the middle of a cornfield, but with real commercial buildings and such. (Don't worry, Grandpa, we didn't drive that fast.) My friend Jen used to pride herself on knowing every exit between here and Madison that had a Dairy Queen. Before Jack turns two, I am confident that the Henderlembckes will know every exit with a baby changing station available on that stretch of I-94.

Aside from the road trip itself, the big news is that on the way home Jack rode in the back seat all by himself. One of us had been riding with him limo style for the first six weeks of his life (yes, even on those short Target or Costco runs) so when he turned six weeks plus one, we decided to move him on. (Actually, I just got tired of being the chauffeur and having Nick ask "what" after everything I said because he couldn't hear me over the fade of the radio.) After several attempts, we finally figured out the little mirror dooblebob so I could see more than just the top of Jack's head from my rearview mirror. By Thanksgiving, I'm sure Jack will be ready to ride shotgun and by Christmas, he should be ready to drive us. In 2008, he can start making solo trips. Who needs parents after the first three months of life anyways?

Friday night, we arrived at Grandpa's house about 5:30pm and decided to go out to dinner at family favorite Gino's with Grandpa and Auntie Anne. Mommy had gotten a little cocky about feeding Jack on the road and left the bottle at Grandpa's house. Big mistake. Halfway through the meal when Jack was once again hungry, I attempted to breastfeed him in the smallest booth east of the Mississippi. Quite different from the relaxing living room at home or even the (relative) luxury of the backseat of the Altima. While lying on the table, with his legs sandwiched between me and the side of the vise, I mean, table, Jack looked at me like, "you've got to be kidding." He managed to get a few drops of a milk in his mouth, despite the table's best efforts. After a bit, when everyone but me had finished their meal, we decided it would be best to leave and just feed Jack in the comfort of the backseat of the Altima once again. We took off from the restaurant very quickly. I wouldn't be surprised if we left the restaurant with half of my bra (or boob) in view, which luckily would not have drawn any attention from the college crowds on State Street. Lesson learned: not a great idea to go out to eat after a long car ride that has thrown everyone out of whack (especially Mommy who did not get her usual afternoon nap because she was driving) and ALWAYS bring a bottle EVERYWHERE, just in case.

Saturday morning we (including the bottle) went to the Hubbard Avenue Diner for breakfast with my friend, Xandy, her husband, and their baby, Riley. It was great to catch up with them. We had last seen Riley when he was about 10 weeks old. Riley is almost 4 months older than Jack. He is a handsome devil with long eyelashes, bright blue eyes, and the shoulders of a future defensive tackle. Jack looked at him in awe (see picture below). Maybe someday you will be that big, Jack. Like when you are 3. Or maybe 13.

That dude is freakin' huge!

Yeah, yeah, he's bigger, but the ladies love the hair

After watching the Badger football team lose to Illinois, on Saturday night we went with some extended family to dinner at the Great Dane, Hilldale location. The Great Dane is one of my favorite Madison restaurants and I had not been to this new branch of it before. It was very nice, but I thought it was strange that you couldn't get their own brewed beers there, especially since at the other locations, they don't have anything BUT their own beers. I guess there is some old law on the books from the time of Prohibition that prevents this. Weird. They put us in a small private room which worked out really well for our group. Afterward, we were lucky to have some yummy chocolate torte at Aunt Janet's. (You can always count on her for a chocolate fix.) Thanks to all of the relatives that came to meet Jack, including Great-Grandma, who, despite her disappointment that Jack is not a girl and her propensity for negative commentary, managed to say he was cute and hold him a bit.

This lady puts me in a chocolate coma

This one's giving me a cousin soon

I've been meaning to talk to you about this "little monster" stuff

Are you sure this guy's held a baby before?

You can't change me into a girl by looking at me that way

And you call yourself a Badger fan

On Sunday, we made our way home, shaving about 50 minutes off our previous record time of 6 hours. Daddy and Jack relaxed by watching the Packers lose to the Bears and Mommy by tuning in to Desperate Housewives and Brothers and Sisters. (Don't worry, Wisconsinites, I managed to catch the Pack a bit before my shows, as well as during commercials.)

We're sorry that we weren't able to see all of you who live in (or near) Madison. We wish we had more time on our visits. It is always such a whirlwind to get there, visit my family, and get on the road again Sunday to get settled before the work week. We hope Jack gets to meet more of you soon. We're home (or at least in the TC Metro area) until Thanksgiving.

And miles to go before I sleep (or maybe not)

Some captions courtesy of Jack's daddy; all captions meant in fun.

The Beginning

Well, I have finally succumbed to temptation. I am starting my own blog. Nick started one a while back and I remember thinking, "why on earth would someone want to have a blog, I would never do that. He must have too much time on his hands." Flash forward three years and one baby later and here I am, eating crow while typing my first blog entry. (Side note: Nick posted semi-regularly for a year or so and then busied himself with household chores, Xbox, football watching, and work, and indeed ran out of time, until recently when he posted about Jack's birth.)

Why did I decide to start a blog now? There are a few reasons. For the almost six weeks that I have been on maternity leave, I have been loving reading the blogs of my friends and family. Although they all update their blogs regularly, it is never quite enough for me, who obsessively checks each one several times a day to see if they have written anything new. I thought a blog of my own would keep me from becoming too (much more) neurotic about this. (One would think that a new baby might keep me busy 24/7, but, surprisingly, I have more time on my hands than you might think, especially now that Nick has gone back to work, my dad has returned home, and it is just me, Jack, and Hank, our loving, but non-verbal cat, all day, every day.)

Also, I talked to my aunt last week and she told me that she has enjoyed the blog that my cousin's wife started about a year ago, shortly after their daughter was born, because it has allowed family who reside at a distance to receive regular updates on the little one. Nick and I have so many friends and family that are far away, that I agreed this would be a good way to keep everyone who is interested posted about Jack and his (of course) amazing exploits.

Finally, because I am not at work, I am missing my usual captive audience for all of my stories, thoughts, and opinions. I thought a blog would give me an outlet for those as well.

"You Don't Know Jack" will hopefully allow all of you to get to know darling Jack better, see pictures of him as he grows, and give you some insight into our day-to-day life and how my brain works. (Feel free to skip those posts, if you wish!) I hope you return to take a look!

P.S. Thanks to my darling husband for coming up with the name for my blog. ALL of his ideas (including the ones that I did not use, such as Badger in the Gopher Hole) were MUCH better than mine (such as Henderlembcke's Hood). I hope Jack gets his daddy's quick wit and creativity.