Life as Reilly

Roadtrip!

2010-07-11T13:33:00.004-05:00

As you can tell, I've been absent for some time. Please blame the 2 year old who resides with me. So I was thinking, no time like the present to start again! But, what to write about? I have to ask myself, "Self? What do you want this blog to be? To do for you?" And I answered, "Well, self, I think it should hold memories and share stories. No matter how boring that may be for your painfully low number of readers." And really, who am I to argue with myself?

This past weekend we took a Roadtrip! We got Liam all pumped up with the promise of fishies, birdies, froggies, etc. We were going to go to the aquariam in the Mall of America and to the Minnesota Zoo. This meant a night in the hotel with Liam. No problem, right? I mean, we've taken him places overnight before...just never in a hotel. We always had friends or family silly enough to put us all up.

The trip started off nice. We stopped at the Medford Outlet Mall and we all got a little something. I spent way too much money, but hey, what are roadtrips for?? Liam loved the aquariam, of course. No suprise there. And then we get to the hotel. We walk in our room...the bottom lip comes out, it starts trembling, and silent tears roll down his checks. "Bye-bye, home, mommy truck." Ugh.

But then we had a quick recovery. Which was great! He's flushing the toleit and looking out the window and in all the drawers. I explained that it was bedtime and we needed to get some sleep so that we could go to the zoo. This worked long enough to get PJ's on. Then we remembered we did not have the binkie. Oops.

Now let me insert here that we ONLY use the binkie at night-night time. It does not leave his room (apparently not even for overnight trips.)

So, we explain that the binkie is at home. He says, "Binkie, home." And proceeds to punish us by refusing to go to sleep for over an hour. But, he does eventually and sleeps all night, no issues with the MIA binkie. (You can imagine my plots to get rid of the thing completely now that I have his number.)

The next morning we hit the zoo right as it opens and have a blast, staying until Liam was falling asleep in his stoller using his new stuffed turtle as his pillow. We said bye-bye to the monkeys for at least 10 minutes and then headed straight home. Liam was asleep before we were even out of town.

I was dozing on the way home, reflecting on our successful trip and daydreaming about some wonderful things to come and all of a sudden I feel the truck start to lurch. Luckily, my wonderful mechanic husband is driving and obviously nothing could be wrong and even if it did he's going to fix it without even slowing down. No worries, right? Wrong.

Next thing I know, we're walking down the highway - with my 2 year old! - AWAY from my truck and towards a bike shop that we think is open. Luckily it was open and a wonderfully patient man helped us pick a trusted tow truck company, talked the owner into letting us park at the shop overnight, helped me call car rental places, got us all bottles of water, gave Liam stickers to play with and let us loiter in the store for over an hour.

So, in short, our unplanned expenses were as follows:

Cost of towing us a QUARTER of a mile down the road: $90.00 (Highway robbery if ask me.)
Cost of renting a (kick-ass) car: $42.00 (I think Chris flirted with the Avis girl.)
Cost of part to fix truck: $300.00 (Apparently Chris can't flirt with the parts guy.)

PLUS, a two hour delay getting home, 6 additional hours for Chris and the neighbor to go get the truck and bring it back, 3 more hours for Chris to track down and pick up the part we needed in order for me to have my truck back by Monday morning and the additional gas for all of this.

This TRIPLED the cost of our roadtrip. Ahhhhhhhhh, memories.

A Proud Day for Iowa

2009-04-04T04:10:00.006-05:00

"In a precedent-setting ruling, the Iowa Supreme Court today upheld a lower court decision legalizing same-sex marriages in Iowa...The unanamous court decision is expected to carry national implications as Iowa becomes the first Midwest state to grant full legal standing to gay and lesbian couples and only the third state nationally to confer marital status beyond traditional one-man, one woman unions."

It is time that we take a step back, look around, and take giant leaps forward. It is time that we remember that all people are equal and deserve equal rights in all areas of life. What a proud day for Iowa! I hope many states follow our example.

As always there are negative feelings toward this step in the right direction. Let us remember that any church can deny a marriage request for any reason. This will not change and we should not expect it to. This will not "re-define" marriage for, say, the Catholic church. Or for any other church that does not feel the need to recognize the rights of all people. There is a reason that church and state are separated.

What other argument is there? Either your definition of marriage is shaped by your religion or it's not. If it is, continue to move forward living your life as your religion dictates that you do. I will continue to disagree with you, in respectful silence.

Before & After ~ The Haircut

2009-04-01T21:20:00.017-05:00

So, I got my haircut tonight. Big time! Here are the before and after pics...

BEFORE (And YES, I see the smudges on the fridge. I need a new stainless steel cleaner.)

AFTER

Now, the big test is how it will look after I style it!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-03-25T09:00:00.002-05:00

Beautiful Day!

2009-03-21T20:01:00.016-05:00

Today was such a beautiful day! It started off just swell when I woke up feeling good for the first time in a week. Then after breakfast and some play time Liam took a two and a half hour nap....which brought us to 11:30. By the time we ate lunch, got dressed and got out of the house it was almost 1!

We went to Kohl's - where he throughly enjoyed riding in the stoller carts they have. (Yes, I have made a mental note of this.) Then we moved on to Target...where he was again wonderful. Then, after dropping off the frozen foods at home, we went to Hy-Vee and enjoyed a very early dinner - just the three of us!

He was perfect. He couldn't have been a better baby. He waved to all the old ladies, he waved to all the cute girls, all the other babies. He pointed at everything and called everything "Da da." (While I said "Ma ma.") Then we came home and played in the backyard...

Ahhhh....what a beautiful day!

Random Picture

2009-03-08T07:33:00.005-05:00

This week's challenge, brought to us by 4 Little Men and Girly Twins:

February 2009 or 1st folder

FIRST picture of something other than your kids

I have about 10 pictures this entire year that aren't of Liam. But, this is my husband and our beautiful dog Kenya getting ready to go outside and shovel/play in the snow!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-03-04T06:17:00.003-06:00

Messy Faces

2009-03-03T06:59:00.019-06:00

A Twitter friend turned me on to this great website I ♥ Faces. This week's theme is messy faces. I can't wait to go back and check out some other people's favorite messy faces! Obviously I'm an amateur, but I hope you enjoy regardless!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-02-25T20:35:00.002-06:00

Wordless Wednesday

2009-02-04T19:41:00.007-06:00

25 Things About Me!

2009-01-29T21:13:00.001-06:00

OK - I wrote the following note for Facebook so I thought I'd just use it twice!

1. I LOVE being a mom.

2. Being a mom is the best/worst/hardest/easiest job I have ever had. Did I mention I LOVE being a mom?

3. I love to read - anytime, anywhere, almost anything.

4. I love to write.

5. I started a blog (see #4) and am frustrated that I do not have much time to write posts!

6. My favorite season is Fall. I enjoy everything about it!

7. I was extremely sick for a couple of years and most of my friendships ended in these two years.

8. My husband was at my side EVERY SECOND that I was sick. He spent EVERY night in the hospital with me BOTH times.

9. I knew that I would marry Chris because of #8.

10. I would be OK with never watching TV again.

11. I would die if someone took my computer away!

12. I often wish that I had a brother or a sister.

13. I'm extremely close to my mom and I can talk to her about anything.

14. I regret not going to college past a two year degree.

15. I am CRAZY organized at work and if I have to study for something. But at home...I'm a mess.

16. I hate my hair.

17. I never pump my own gas. Seriously, I don't. (But I could if I had to.)

18. I am EXTREMELY sensitive and cry easily.

19. If I could live anywhere, I would live in northern Minnesota.

20. I have never had a job that I was passionate about. I get sick of a job within a few years and have to move on.

21. The only kind of movies I like to watch are comedies. I don't like to cry or be scared, but I love to laugh!

22. I LOVE the old TV show M*A*S*H. I have seen EVERY episode, OWN every episode and can quote that show like nobody's buisness.

23. I played clarinet for 8 years and I am proud that I was a band geek for 8 years. I actually miss it.

24. I drive way too fast when Liam is not with me.

25. We have been remodeling our house for almost 2 years now and I am sick of it!!

I Will Remember...

2009-01-21T07:27:00.013-06:00

A post for my son...

I promise you that I will remember the first time that I saw you. I promise that I will remember the first time that I held you, that I watched your daddy hold you, the look in my mom's eyes as she watched me holding you for the first time.

I promise you that I will never forget how you knew exactly what to do when I nursed you for the first time. I will always remember that you taught me how to do it.

I promise you that I will remember how hard the first few weeks were, how tired I was, how my recovery was difficult. I promise that I will remember how much I loved you through this time.

I promise you that I will remember the first time that you smiled. I'll never forget standing over you and taking pictures as fast as I could, so that no one would be able to forget that moment.

I promise you that I will remember the first day that I left you at daycare. I promise that I will always remember how lonely I was. I promise that I will remember the first time day care called and asked if they could give you formula. I will remember how I felt that I had failed you.

I promise you that I will remember the first time I fed you cereal, the first time you splashed me in the bath, the first time you pulled off my glasses, daddy's hat. I will remember the first time you sat up, rolled over, crawled, reached for me, stood up; said dada and mama - and then proceded to call the dog dada or mama and never me and daddy.

I promise you that I will remember how you smile at me when I pick you up after your nap. I will remember how loudly you cried for me in the middle of the night and I will remember all the time that we spent together in your room - just you and me; when it felt like the rest of the world was asleep, we were awake together, just you and me.

I promise you that I will remember every moment with you as long as I can. And I promise you that I will always love you as much as any mom can love a son as wonderful and beautiful as you.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-01-21T07:07:00.003-06:00

Not Me Monday!

2009-01-19T20:05:00.005-06:00

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama.

First of all I have to confess that I am NOT letting my husband sleep in the recliner in our son's room just so that I can get this done without being interrupted. Also, I am quite certain that I DID NOT have Cheetos, M&M's and Sprite for dinner on Friday night. I would never do such a thing.

I can also say with some confidence that I DID NOT let Liam rip up one of my magazines just so that I could get the bills paid. I would not let him "play" with such things, no matter how much he enjoyed it.

Oh - and Liam is not getting older (and taller, and bigger) every single day. Therefore, I am not freaking out and starting to think to myself - "When did he get so big? My little boy is growing up!" I'm so thankful I DID NOT have the fleeting thought of "When there will be another baby in the house?!?!"

Wordless Wednesday

2009-01-14T22:53:00.005-06:00

I have jumped on the Wordless Wednesday bandwagon. Here's my first!

Random Picture

2009-01-10T21:07:00.013-06:00

Welcome! Please bear with my Christmas decorations. I will be taking them down shortly! In the mean time, my first post of the year is Random Picture - a fun idea brought to us by Brittany at 4 Little Men and Girly Twins. This is the 21st picture that I took in May 2008! He was just a wee 3 weeks old!!

Sara Made Me Do It

2008-11-04T20:52:00.001-06:00

Sara inspired me to start my own blog simply because she said she would update hers every day for two weeks! And then she came up with Life as Reilly and I figured that I had no choice but to follow through.

So, for my first entry I'll write some basic info. My name is Lisa. I am a full time pharmacy technician. I married Chris in the fall of 2006 and we welcomed Liam Christopher to our family on April 30, 2008 so I'm also a full time Mom! Liam is the best thing that has ever happened to me! Many, many pictures are soon to come.