Happy Memorial Day...

We started out the morning by heading to the Neenah/Menasha Memorial Day Parade. I think Rowan enjoyed it for the most part. Turns out she was afraid of the bands. When the first band came by she headed behind us and into her wagon to sit with her 'ukie'. She would venture back out inbetween bands, but usually head back when one would return. She would dance to the music, but not want to get out, even if you were going to hold her. Our one and only mistake was sitting near the end of the parade route. NO one had any candy left! We were lucky enough to stay dry. It actually didn't rain at all here today, but was overcast on and off. Near the end of the parade, they had a dog riding in a remote control truck, pretty funny!
After the parade we came home and had lunch, took naps, and then headed to a new park for Rowan to play. And that was the extent of our day for the most part. It was a nice weekend at home.

Sunday Fun Day...

Today, Nana and Papa came up to visit for the day. We had a busy day. We headed to lunch at Chipotle (1st time we have been there since living here surpisingly; Ed has loved that restaurant since the first time he ate there when Blayne and Molly lived in Minnesota!) After lunch, Eddie and Papa took Rowan home for a nap, and Nana and I headed out to do some shopping. I have been trying to buy decorative things for the house in addition to curtains, which was the next project of the day.

When we returned from shopping, Ed and Papa had Rowan out in her pool. So we all enjoyed the weather for a short while before we headed inside and put Nana and Papa to work. They helped finish hanging curtains and curtain rods, and organizing some decorative purchases. Meanwhile Eddie was working on dinner. And Rowan, well she was a great helper to everyone!
We had a wonderful kabob dinner with salads and corn on the cob. And dessert too. Nana and Papa brought a strawberry pie, so Rowan enjoyed some cool whip, in addition to the monkey cupcakes that Nana brought along from neighbor Gail. Rowan sure dug into that. Messy as always! She sures gets into eating different things. You can tell she isn't too sure of them both at first, but then loves them!

Nana and Papa (Tula too!) headed home shortly after dinner. Rowan was very upset to see them leave!

Sunny Saturday...

Today was a wonderful day...

...we accomplished/started a few projects, and got to enjoy some sun as well. Rowan and I have frequented the pool in the last week, the novelty might we wearing off for her. But she still has some fun with it. Today we bought a few water guns and she thought that was fun too. Today was the first day she sported a two piece swim suit, super cute! I wouldn't doubt that she has eaten more 'popples' in the last week than she has in her life! She loves them! Our projects today included finishing our closets system! Very nice. Our shoes now all have a place, and we have more hanging room as well. And we still have the top shelves open as well. Will probably move some things up there from the spare bedroom closet that don't belong there once we get to that closet!

Ed also started building himself a work bench for the basement. A larger space to organize all his tools and projects in progress. This bench is a work in progress, perhaps will be finished before the end of the holiday weekend, we will see.

In addition to the projects and sun, we had a visit from my mom's cousin, Grace and her dog Murphy Brown. Grace has some friends that live just streets away from us, and she was up staying with them this weekend, so stopped by for a visit and tour of our home. Was very nice to visit with her a bit, and Gizmo enjoyed having a friend to play with.

Owies and Ponies...

Rowan had her 1st pony tail in today! I finally bought some hair things that were small enough for her lack of hair. And it is finally long enough to fit in a pony tail! She even left it in for a short while. Her hair obviously has a ways to go in regards to length, but it is a start!

Rowan has been big into running down the driveway, and usually into the street too. And lately her body seems to get ahead of her little feet, and she therefore has developed a few road rashes. Today she wasn't strong enough to break her fall with her hands, and managed to get her forehead into it as well as both knees. Nothing a little water and Barbie bandaids can't fix! She thinks they are pretty neat! Of course the 'ukie' helps with the tears too!

Got the job...

So I finally got a call today from Children's Hospital of Wisconsin-Fox Valley (CHW-FV) today with a job offer...

...and I decided to take it.

Therefore, I no longer am employed by Appleton Medical Center, and will start at CHW on June 7th! So I get a week off, yipee! CHW's orientation process for just the hospital wide stuff is quite extensive. I have to go to the Corporate Office in Milwaukee for 3 days, 2 separate weeks. They transport us (me and any other new employees from the area) to Milwaukee, put us in a hotel overnight Monday and Tuesday, and drive us back Wednesday afternoon(or rent us a car to carpool ourselves). That is a bit much, but oh well.

So anyway, we will see next week what my new schedule will look like. I am anxious to find out so that I can plan my summer. The downfall of changing jobs: a whole new schedule (every other weekend again) Meeting new people again too. But the upside of the new job: NICU (no big people), day shift with minimal rotation to nights (I learned that the day shift is their short staffed shift from the nurses when I job shadowed)

I hope I don't regret making this change so soon. But I was worried if I passed up this offer and ended up hating labor and delivery, I would be stuck bored out of my mind! Time will tell!

Nothing like...

pretty painted toes for the summer months...

Rowan surprisingly sat still long enough for me to paint her toes, and not smudge them all over the house. Very different compared to last summer when it took 3 of us to get the job done. Now getting a picture of the pretty toes was easier last year than today!

Another few hours outside enjoying the weather. The little mommy made sure her doggy has some water from her pool to drink. And usually she proceeded to stick her hand in the water and drink it herself. Such a good sharer, despite the dog slobber!

Holy heat...

Well the summer sun has finally found Wisconsin! Perhaps the lack of gradual heat increase wasn't appropriate, but it sure was nice to have a nice sunny warm day today!

Except....out air conditioner isn't installed yet, and therefore it is piping warm in the house. And we are in the process of finally retesting our radon (started at noon yesterday and goes until noon tomorrow) which means no opening windows and doors! So it is a bit untolerable tonight, we will see how we all sleep tonight. We will be working on getting that a/c installed in the near future.

Anyway, since it was so warm out today, we headed to the store to get Rowan a pool to play in. Poor thing has to play in it in the driveway, due to our continuous lack of grass, but she didn't even care. (We are hoping to get the yard progress moving this week) In addition to the pool, it was necessary to invest in some 'popples' as well. Wouldn't be summer without 'popples'.
Sorry so many pictures in the collage. But I couldn't decide which ones were best, so I included almost all of them. So funny to see her faces when having fun splashing. She was very good at using her buckets, filling them with water, and letting Gizmo drink from them. Too funny!

May 2009 vs 2010...

2009...

v.s. 2010....

Super cute.....

Sun, Skirts, and Ice Cream...

The warmest day yet in Neenah! Rowan and I did some errand running in the morning, and then headed to a new park in the afternoon to try out the play equipment. The downfall of slides when it is sunny and warm....they are super hot to the touch. So Rowan needed help to get down quickly in order to not fry her legs! But she had fun.
And it just wouldn't be right to head straight home on a warm day, passing up A&W without ice cream! Rowan is sort of new to the ice cream in a cone, but she loves the independence! CAn't say I love the mess too much, but she does pretty well with it! Hopefully we will get to check out another new playground later in the week!

Woohooo...the grass is greener....

....well it's gonna be greener in our yard sooner than later! We emailed the builder today to follow up on when our rough grade is planned to be done. The response email said that he would send us the calendar of rough grades to be done tomorrow, and that we are like 8th on the list. But when I got home tonight at 645pm, half of our yard had been done! Super cool. We can't wait to have grass and a place for Rowan and Gizmo to play! Now we just need someone to deliver Rowan's swingset from Nana and Papa's house!

Sunday afternoon projects...

When we returned home from our trip to Lyndon Station on Sunday afternoon, we started and completed a couple projects! First of all, we got the last 2 needed blinds for the patio doors! We now have blinds on every window in the house!

We also went and purchased a screen/storm door for the front door; so Ed installed that as well.

I was on Rowan duty, and I think that was more work than the actual door. She has been playing with wipes, naughtily, and cleaning anything in sight. Goofy girl! And I got a picture of her new 'shoulder shrug'. You ask her any question, and 90% of the time you get a shoulder shrug! Silly, Silly!

Weekend in Lyndon...

We left for Lyndon Station friday evening after I got home from work to visit Grandma and Grandpa Bremberger! Got up Saturday morning for a day full of fun. Ed and Grandpa Bill went golfing to a very nice course in the area. And Rowan, Grandma Pam and I bought out the outlet mall! Doesn't get much better than that. Rowan actually napped for over an hour in the stroller, so we got more time to shop than we expected!
Saturday night we went out for dinner! Great Grandma Elaine and Great Grandpa Ron joined us. I think they all finally realized why we don't go out for nice dinners. Let's just say, we spent more time chasing Rowan than we would like to when out for dinner. But overall she did okay!

Other things we squeezed into our visit: 4 Wheeler ride, Hula Hooping (Grandma Pam bought Rowan one while we were shopping), and lots of puzzles! Rowan was the center of attention above while showing off her puzzle skills! Super cute!

Happy Mother's Day...

Here is my Mother's Day masterpiece from Rowan from 'school'! Super Cute!

Weekend trip to MI...

We started our venture to Grand Rapids friday afternoon. We were headed to Grand Rapids to do a run/walk on Saturday morning with the Smith Family! We stayed in a hotel friday night because Papa's condo isn't big enough for all of us to stay. But we then were able to have a pool and room for the kids to run around too. We met for dinner friday night after our drive and then pretty much headed off to bed shortly thereafter.

Only the runners ended up participating on Saturday because the weather was cold and wet. Not ideal for us to be walking 3 miles with the kids. Papa wouldn't get in the group photo; so it was Ed II, Ed III, Dusty, Blayne and Molly that ran! They did great! They all finished and were happy with their times! Rowan and I walked to the starting line with them, and then waited for them outside of Papa's condo at about mile 5 to cheer them on! Rowan even met a doggy friend while we were waiting for them to run by!

Otherwise, Nana, Julie and I had kid duty while the others ran! Kieran and Rowan watched some cartoons, did some coloring and puzzles, ate some snacks, and ran sacked Papa's condo!
After the run, we headed back to the hotel to clean up and sneak in some swimming. Kieran and Rowan loved it. After swimming we headed out for lunch and then back in the car to trek back to St. Joe's to Blayne and Molly's house!

We spent Saturday night at Blayne and Molly's house. The kids were happy to have toys and running room again. We ordered some pizza, played some pictionary (pretty sure the women beat the men again), and just relaxed. There were plenty of sore muscles after that 6 mile run. Not to mention Rowan has a cold, so she didn't sleep well friday night. So she was happy to be free and playing.

Sunday morning we headed home. KB was not feeling well, and we didn't want Rowan to catch it, so we were back on the road before lunch time. We made great time getting home and were able to catch a nap and relax before the start of the next work week.
Here we all are! It isn't often we are all able to get together like this, so we needed to photograph it. Next time might not be until Dusty and Julie's wedding in November! Can't wait!

Job Update...

I don't usually post about myself, but I have some ideas/concerns/thoughts to share about my job situation; and it is easier to share them here than to call or email all of my friends and family.

Currently I am in orientation for labor and delivery, either my 3rd or 4th week, I have lost count. Anyway, after my 2nd week I was having severe doubts about labor because I worked 3 night shifts, and had a migraine every night, and felt like crap. So I didn't know if it was the night shift that caused it, or the work I was doing. But now, the last 5 shifts I worked were day shifts, and I had great experiences and felt fine. So not sure what that was all about. But I am still unsure if labor is going to be my thing. I feel I am catching on to many things, but at the same time I feel like I rely on my preceptor too much at times. Granted, I have many more weeks of orientation to go, and haven't even touched on the 'sick' pregnant women (mag sulfate/diabetics etc) or the C-Sections, and evals and what not, but I just don't know that this area is my cup of tea.

In addition, I am not super happy about my schedule after orientation is done. It seems as though I have little control over it compared to what I was used to at St. Joe's (due in part to my good friend Cora). They have given me a 'footprint' schedule of what I should usually be scheduled, but that isn't always the case apparently. So, I assumed that being hired for a 12 hour position, I would always work 12 hour shifts, but they are trying to give me a week of 3 - 8 hour PM shifts, which is very inconvenient for daycare and our family (they say they have to staff to accomodate the other 8/12 hour employees; so then perhaps they should hire more 8 hour people to match their needs). Also, being hired as a 12 hour 0.6 FTE, I assumed I would be scheduled 2 shifts a week, but they are trying to give me 1 shift one week and 3 the next. Again, not a huge deal, but they screw with your schedule a lot it sounds like. Oh, and there is potential to have to work at the affiliated hospital if their census requires more staff, which not many people seem to be a fan of, which means I am sure I won't be a fan of it either.

That being said...

Sunday night I decided to go out and look at the hospital websites in the area with NICU's to see if there were any postings. And by golly, Children's Hospital - Fox Valley (located in ThedaClark, which is in Neenah) had a 0.6 FTE position available in their NICU. So I went ahead and applied. The only down fall of this position right off the bat is it is every other weekend, and I am used to every third weekend. The posting said that it may take 2-3 weeks to hear anything after applying, and I got a phone call yesterday already. But I was working yesterday and wasn't able to get back to them until today, had a mini HR interview over the phone and now have an interview next Wednesday with the Supervisor of the unit. So we will see what happens, I have mixed feelings on leaving AMC so quickly, and am concerned if I do get a job offer and take it, that I might not love it there either. I like the people I work with now, but that isn't always enough to make you like your job. So we will see.

Oh, and I have only been working at AMC since the end of March, and I already got a raise. So maybe it isn't so bad?

So that is my current situation. Sorry some of this post might not make sense to my non-nursing friends and family, but I think it is easy enough to get the idea of what it going through my head.

Our outlook...

Here is a glimpse of what we see out the front door/windows these days. This is the extent of our yard, clearly not rough graded yet and ready for planting. We are a bit bitter about that subject because the house next door that is newly built and not sold yet, was having it's yard rough graded as I took this picture!
These are the fountains that are in the retention pond out front too. Sort of neat!

Daily must-haves...

These pictures were initially to show off the little snap clips Rowan and I found at the store today. But then I realized the puzzles and fruit snacks in the photo, we wouldn't make it through the day without these items! You can see how focused she is on the puzzles, can't even look at the camera and smile! Oh well.

Neenah happenings...

Will start off with one of Rowan's newest pieces of artwork from school! Looks messy and fun. Things we should leave at school, at least the messiness!
We had tornado warnings here tonight, and this is what our back yard looked like after the storm. I got home from work at about 6:50pm, and we were sitting down to eat dinner, and Ed heard the tornado siren going off, so we moved our dinner to the basement. After about a half hour, we were able to come back upstairs to the grill being overturned. So Ed got to wade in some dirt/clay to stand it back upright. We are just glad the tornado stayed away from our home.