Day 236

Sorry I've been off for a week, but last week was as hectic of a week as I've probably ever had. Everyone who told me that my life would never be the same certainly was not kidding. Between Andrew, being back at work full time, and the time consumer that is the NCAA Tournament, I was just exhausted. Then you throw in the sore throat followed by the cold which I currently have and I'm about 65% currently. Then there is Leah, who is still not 100%. Early last week she had a few bad days after the surgery, but is steadily improving. The bladder issue is still a concern and we are back to the doctor tomorrow to hopefully have that problem licked.

Now to the fun stuff. Some highlights of the past week:

1. Now that his cord fell out, we can start giving him real baths. One night last week my mom and I gave it a shot. We have this little plastic seat bath. We put him in there much to his chagrin. He was screeching like a cat. We finally got him all clean and the next thing you know, he just drops one right in the bath water. After we re-cleaned him and got him dressed, I told my mom this was one of those life moments for the two of us that we will talk about the rest of our lives.

2. Every day he is looking a little different. He is starting to look more and more like Leah I think. His once dark hair is lightning and is more brown. I've put up a couple of newer photos taken yesterday. We had him in his KU gear for the game.

3. His sleeping is still better than normal. Thursday night I volunteered for the late night duty because I figured with the tournament, I'd be up anyways. I couldn't get him to calm down really until about 12:30 and brought the monitor in with me. Of course, I was up every hour looking at the video monitor thinking something was wrong because he wasn't making any noise. Turns out, Andrew slept until 7 AM uninterrupted. It was so solid.

4. One of the few downsides of having a new baby other than the lack of sleep is thank you note writing. Now let me preface this by saying that I am beyond thankful for all of the gifts we have received for Andrew and all of the money it saves us. But as they gifts come in, the thank you notes have to go out. Leah is a thank you note machine and can knock these out quickly. I on the other hand am slow and seem to always find something better to do than to write them. Saturday I buckled down and knocked a bunch out while watching hoops.

5. I know I have said this before, but I don't know how we could have done this without Stacey being here. Between Stacey and my own mom's visits, we have been saved. We actually extended her 5 days as Leah wasn't recovering as well as we would have liked and I am travelling this week for work. Yes, I'm back to the business travel. We'll see how this goes. I'm trying to do day trips as much as possible. But, as one of my co-workers with a young kid told me, "Business travel equals sleep."

Now on to more pressing issues in the world:

Today marks the four year anniversary of the joke that has become the Iraq War. Four years later, what have we really accomplished? I'll give W credit on one thing - he got rid of Saddam Hussein. Turns out we'd probably be better off if he was still in power. The world definitely needed to be rid of this tyrant, no doubt about it. But as well all know, we are four years into a complete cluster-fuck, botch job of this war. We entered this war as an answer to 9/11 and now more people have died in this war than that awful day itself. My personal favorite moment during the Iraq War was when the arrogant Mr. Bush arrived on an aircraft carrier aboard the USS Lincoln in May of 2003 in the co-pilot seat and exclaimed "Mission Accomplished." Great job moron!

Readers of the blog know I'm a fan and watcher of American Idol. This season has been as bad as it has ever been and the talent level is a C-. Its a three horse race right now between Melinda, Lakeesha, and Stephanie. Nobody else has a chance. Most of the guys are terrible. But the thing to me that is keeping the show going this season is how bad the very effeminate and strange looking Sanjaya is. The kid is so bad that it gotten to the point where you now feel sorry for him for sticking around. Simon and Randy kill him every week. There is even a groundswell on the internet to ruin the show and have people vote for this kid. I for one, hope he continues on and makes a mockery of the process. Its not like Taylor Hicks, last year's American Idol, has any career whatsoever or any talent for that matter. Check out the site www.votefortheworst.com. Its great stuff.

The NCAA Tournament had a great opening weekend. Thursday's game were somewhat snoozers, but Saturday was maybe the best day in tournament history. Every single game was close and several games went to OT. Friday night was Kansas' first round game against Niagara. and it was not being shown here. I was contacted by this woman at the KU Alumni association who was getting a group together in Cleveland for the first time to watch tournament games. I had nobody to watch it with (KU fans that is) and with Leah stuck at home, Patti D stepped it up and said she'd go with me. We went to Champps in Valley View. We had our own section of tables and our game on with sounds. It was quite an eclectic group. You had some Lawrence locals, two older couples, and some mid-thirties drunks. I've gotta give my mom serious props. It was a funny experience being with this group of strangers. The good news was that we won by 40 and we got to enjoy a blowout. Our game was shown here yesterday, so I didn't have to go anywhere. Thank goodness, this cold is brutal and the last thing I would have wanted to do is go to a bar to watch. We took care of business and beat Kentucky by 12 to advance to the Sweet 16. What I love about this team is they don't seem complacent. They seem to be on a mission. We have a tough draw left, facing #4 Southern Illinois Thursday night at 7:10 EST, and then if we win, we get the winner of #3 Pittsburgh and #2 UCLA.

Lastly, I have to give special mentions to several people today:

Yesterday was the birthday party for Baby Jordan, who turned one. He is the son of my cousin Debbie and her husband Russ.

Today is the 35th wedding anniversary of my in-laws Max and Stacey. I have been lucky enough to get in laws that I love. Not everyone has that luxury. They are truly great people and like my parents, have a great marriage that has stood the test of time. I truly love them both.

Our friends the Bilsky's welcomed their daughter Laila Clair last week. Melissa was two weeks early and have a little one come out. They did not know what they were having but were thrilled for it to be a girl. Although I was disappointed as I had grand plans of Jeremy and I taking our sons to Tribe game together.

On Friday, one of my oldest and best friends Jaime Schneider and her husband Steve welcomed their daughter Ella Grace to the world. Ella came out, according to Jaimo, looking exactly like Steve. She was 6 lbs, 12 oz. We couldn't be happier for them. Its crazy to think how far we've come since she was my first girlfriend when I came to Orange in 6th grade.

Andrew's gonna have lots of girlfriends to choose from...

Song of the Day: "Girls, Girls, Girls" by Jay Z