Ok, Ok... hold on...

I know. We send out Christmas cards with our blog site listed so you can all keep up on the Ehlke family goings ons... and there are no new posts in weeks!

Well, Christmas in our house was nice. Nice and quiet. Since we couldn't travel this Christmas it was just Scott, Kathie and Braden. Braden has definitely gotten the hang of opening presents, so if you want to open any of your own presents around him, you'd better be quick!

Kathie's dad came to see us on Christmas and is returning home today. It was great to see him.

Brett's fiance Lori and her mom are also staying with us this week as they look for an apartment for Lori. So we have a full house!

We setup a new changing table for Emma. Yes, the leading name for the coming girl is Emma... I've been avoiding putting it on here just in case we change our minds, but at this point I think Braden would be confused if we changed.

That's enough for now... back to work. It's nice and quiet here too...

Baby Update

Kathie had another ultrasound yesterday. She's 5 lbs now (the baby, not Kathie) and in the 62nd percentile. Apparently she also has lots of hair because it's visible on the ultrasound. Everything looked great and even with the flu episode this week, the baby is very healthy!

We went to see the lights at Country Christmas. Braden wasn't too sure about all the Christmas lights, but he also wasn't feeling good yet. But when we went inside and saw that train display...wow! I think he'd still be there if we hadn't dragged him away. That boy loves trains!

Ehlke Weight Loss Plan

I've got Atkins beat hands down. I've lost 5.5 pounds in two days.

We have the stomach flu here. It's not pretty. Thank heaven for Grandma & Grandpa who came down Sunday morning at the drop of a hat to take care of all of us. Now we just pray they don't get it too.

It's a puke off!

Braden had a rough night, poor guy. He started puking after he went to bed last night. it appears to be something he ate, as he's fine otherwise. It was a rough night... puke every 20 minutes or so until 2:30 AM.

He's doing better today, though. I feel bad because I was playing hockey last night, so Kathie had to deal with the initial part of it. Of course I got home as fast as I could to help.

We're not sure, but we think it might have been egg nog... we gave him just a little of mine.

On the accomplishment front, Braden can now climb into the bath tub on his own. He demonstrated that ability while I was running his bath today. I stepped in the hall to get a towel and came back to find him sitting in the tub in his pajamas, playing with his bath toys.

It's a woot off!!!!

For those of you who have not discovered the newest web craze (and thus still have a life), check out www.woot.com. It's a 'sales' site that offers one deal a day, starting at midnight. Sometimes they're really good deals, some times they're ok deals. The good items sell out quickly.

Every so often they have a woot off... a woot off is when they start new deals as soon as an item sells out, causing all the 'wooters' to spend all day hitting F5 over and over again in their browsers. Which might explain why I haven't updated the blog lately...

Braden was supposed to meet with a speech therapist this week, but she had to cancel because her son was sick. So, no news on that front. But either I'm starting to understand his babbling or he's starting to at least try and use words. I still think one day he'll just rattle off a complete sentence.

We have most of the Christmas decorations done and the house is looking nice. Now if only I could find someone to shop for me...

Braden's blood work.

some good news on the neutropenia front. Braden's blood work from Friday shows his Neutrophil levels are coming up. He has been around 400. His latest levels were over 800. Normal levels are around 1100, so it's still not perfect, but it seems like it is improving. We'll still have to have another test in 3 months though.

We saw Santa Claus at the mall today! Braden isn't too sure about him and didn't quite sit on his lap, but it was pretty neat seeing him.

Catch up...

I realize it has been a while since I really blogged, not counting the big boy bed blog (alliteration rocks!).

So, here goes.

Last Wednesday we had our new laminate floor put in the kitchen and dinette. It looks great! I'm still working on getting the shoe molding in, but I'm about 75% done with that. Pictures will follow. Braden thinks it's really cool playing with cars and a roll of duct tape on it.

Thanksgiving was very nice. Kevin and Stephanie hosted at their house in Mennnooommmeee Falls. (yes, I know that's not right, but I figured I'd throw in a bunch of n's, o's, m's and e's to make sure there were enough). It was a very nice gathering with good food (especially those black olives!). Braden had a lot of fun playing with Sophia and even managed to sneak a hug or two from her!

Braden had another blood test Friday. Results are in, but we're getting two different stories from Children's Hospital and the nurse at our doctor. We're clarifying the results, but it sounds like his Neutrophils are up to 700, which isn't great, but it's better than the 200-400 they were in May.

I installed the new Windows Vista on our laptop at home and now can no longer log into work, which is not really bothering me too much! That's not a cut on Vista. So far I think it's much better than Windows XP. And I know most of you don't care about that stuff... but tough.

Big Boy Bed

This weekend we moved Braden into his big boy bed. I never imagined it could go so easily! He never cried or complained. The first night we had to put him back in bed after he fell asleep on the floor, and once again later in the night. At nap time the next day, we had to move him back into the bed once. But that night and the next day he stayed in bed on his own. Last night he even went and crawled into bed on his own at bed time!

Buzzzz.....

From Halloween2006

Sorry

Yeah, I've been lazy and not blogging. And the Braden Halloween pictures aren't up yet either. I've been trying to clear some stuff off my plate at work so I can focus on the holidays and getting ready for the baby.

The baby is starting to really roll around and kick. Friday will be 28 weeks.

Braden has learned to say No for sure now. He still uses the head shake more, but he definitely says no. He also uses it to yell at the cats when they scratch the furniture or carpet. It's very funny.

We're having laminate flooring installed the day before Thanksgiving.

That's about it for now.

Baby Girl Ehlke

We had a 4D ultrasound today at GE Medical. So, without further ado, please say hello to Baby Girl Ehlke.

Click for more pictures.

Little Shopper.

We went grocery shopping while in Algoma. Since we were only picking up a few things, we let Braden take his own shopping cart... a child sized one. He was on a mission! He would not let us help him steer, even though it kept veering to the right. And then he started shopping.

First item on his list was Turkey Bacon. He very seriously went to the shelf, picked out a package of bacon, then placed it in his cart. At that point we figured he'd just start tossing in everything in sight. But no... he was very selective. He went down a couple of aisles and picked out some wheat bread. Followed by some crackers, some cereal and a few other choice items. The jug of orange juice was a bit heavy for him though and he wouldn't let us help him, so he left that. If we tried to help him steer the cart, he'd shove our hand off the handle.

He was so intent on shopping and doing it himself it was just hilarious!

Another first...

I think we set a record tonight. A record for shortest time for a trip to the ER. The fall happened at 8:15, and we were back home by 9:45.

Braden was wrestling with Dad on the bed tonight and fell off. To make matters worse, Dad tried catching him and only managed to spin him around so he smashed his face on the corner of the nightstand.

He is ok, but he cut his cheek just below his right eye, right on the top of the cheek bone. It obviously needed stitches, as it was a pretty good gash an inch long and it just kept bleeding. So off we went to the ER. By the time we got in the car for the trip, he was already smiling, so we know it wasn't too bad.... or he's really tough.

Braden was very brave! They ended up strapping him to a papoose board and putting in three stitches. He cried through that, but did much better than I thought he would!

But boy is he going to have a shiner! Pictures to follow.

No, Mark, we didn't ask him what he hit... he can't talk yet.

No...

Braden's new trick is shaking his head no and nodding his head yes. It's very cute. You ask him if he wants something or if he can do something and he lets you know! Maybe he'll start saying no soon!

I give up on catchy titles.

Holy cow, the Packers won! And the Bears didn't! Yeah, the Bears didn't play, but I figure that's the only way they're not going to win right now.

Braden sat through a whole church service yesterday! He was very good! Either that or we're just getting better at distracting him. He was even singing. That's something knew. I told him that we were going to sing now and he started going "la, la, la".

Pumpkin Head

Braden thinks pumpkin guts make a nice hat!

He had a lot of fun helping carve pumpkins.

He also had a lot of fun eating them.

Thanks Brett and Lori for bringing the pumpkins! We had a blast!

Another rainy Monday...

Yes, I've been lazy with the blog. But that's ok... the only person that really reads it (my mom) has been on vacation and couldn't read it anyway :)

So, Thursday & Friday were rough days for Braden. On Thursday he developed an infection in his thumb due to finger nail clipping. Since his neutropenia means he will probably have a hard time fighting off bacterial infections, we decided to take him to the doctor to get it looked at. We also decided to have his 18 month checkup at the same time.

He jumped up to the 75th percentile for height and the 25th percentile for weight! Yeah! And everything else looks great... even if he SHOULD be talking by now. They sent us home with some antibiotics for his thumb.

Friday morning he woke up with a 99.9 degree fever. Which, of course, could have been caused by his infection or the 4 immunizations that we gave him. In retrospect, we should have waited on the shots so we knew which caused the fever. Oh well, lesson learned. We called Children's Hospital and they had us come in for blood tests to make sure he was fighting the infection and didn't need a booster shot for his neutropenia . After waiting a couple hours, the blood work came back and his neutrophils were at 1,890. His base line has been around 300-400. So this is great news... it means his body does indeed mount an attack if there is an infection. We still have to get some baseline numbers to see how he's doing, but it certainly alleviates some of the worries when he does have an infection!

But the poor guy had a rough couple days... 4 shots and a blood draw.

Uncle Brett and (soon-to-be) Aunt Lori came over on Saturday and brought pumpkins! Wow that was fun. I'll write more about that when I've got the pictures and video uploaded.

Monday update

Exciting title, eh?

So, we got all the mulch in this weekend and we're pretty much done landscaping! Yeah! No, I don't have pictures Sonja.

The Packers and the Admirals really, really, really stink. Admirals lose 7-1 and looked like they thought preseason went on for another month. The Packers should have won but 3 dropped interceptions and a last minute fumble kills them. That game was important as I think it was the difference between a 2-14 season and a 1-15 season.

It was great to see Kay and Stess at the Admirals game Saturday! I don't get to see them nearly enough with as busy as we and they are.

Braden has a cold and is just miserable. Well, miserable for him. He still manages to laugh and play and be generally fun, but he also has times where he just needs to rest and cuddle with his mom. Mom likes that because it's unusual for him to sit still long enough to cuddle.

Mulch!

The mulch comes today! Yipee! 7 yards worth. Sonya, we'll post pictures after it's in. :)

Rain, rain...

Yes, I'm sick of all the rain.

So, what's new? Not a lot.

I got the results from my blood work and my cholesterol is better than it was with my last test. Still not 'perfect', but better. Doc says to just keep exercising and watching my diet and I shouldn't have anything to worry about.

Braden is finally starting to talk. We think. He says dad and mom and tries to say things like jump, down, and a few others. Problem is he doesn't do it very consistently. But at least he is starting to try and use words.

Best Toy Ever!

Guess what!? The Packers didn't lose this weekend ;) Ok, it's only because they play tonight, but still!

We found the best toy ever for Braden. We got him a Hot Wheels/ Matchbox style car garage that has 4 levels and ramps between them. He loves it. He has spent almost every waking moment since we gave it to him sending those cars down the ramps. I hope this doesn't mean he'll chose to be a Parking Lot Attendant when he grows up!

Physical...

Not that most of you really want details, but my physical went well yesterday. Then again, I probalby just think that because I didn't need the prostate exam!

Our neighbor Renee helped Kathie plant a bunch of flowers yesterday. Thanks a lot Renee! We've got most of the landscaping done now. We just want to add some bulbs for spring color and then get the mulch in.

Hair today, gone tomorrow....

I came home from work yesterday and I almost didn't recognize the little boy that met me at the door! Braden got a hair cut yesterday and boy does it make him look different. He's definitely growing up fast.

More pictures are available at our picture site.

No wasting time...

Brett and Lori sure don't waste any time. They're already picking a date for the wedding! Sounds like July 28th is the day. Yet another July wedding. It's like we have a bunch of teachers or pastors in the family or something.

Sorry for the Bretty nickname Brett. Ah, who am I kidding? No I'm not.

Braden is going for his first professional hair cut today. I want to take this time to wish the barber/stylist luck. Hopefully he'll come back with both ears!

I get to go for a physical tomorrow... and thanks to Dad, I have to have the most fun of tests done. Thanks Dad! I donated platelets yesterday and my blood pressure was 118/60, which is a lot better than it was at my last doctors visit. This working out business is apparently helping.

By the way, you can post comments to my blog... click on the pencil to the lower right. Not that I need validation or anything, but it would be nice to hear feedback.

Little Brettie is engaged!!!!

How do you spell Brettie, anyway? Bretty? Brettie? Brett-E? Brett-E is the only one my spell checker doesn't complain about, so maybe that's the right one.

Congratulations to Brett! He got engaged on Saturday! I suppose I should also say congratulations to Lori too, but quite frankly Brett's getting the better deal here.

Seriously, though, we're very excited and happy for both of them. We think Lori is a wonderful addition to our family and that they make an outstanding couple.

Now how about the Packers?!? At least we won't have to go a whole season without a win. Wow, the Lions really stink.

Sick...

We're all sick. I hate colds. Braden seems to be getting over his though. He was absolutely giddy last night. I don't think I've ever seen him have more fun playing. We played hide and seek for an hour. It just doesn't get old!

Dirt!

First, let me say thanks to Brett for all his help with hauling dirt Saturday. He was a huge help!

We got 7 yards of dirt moved. And I only have one wheelbarrow of dirt left over that I'm sure I can spread around.

Braden has a bad cold. We really need to keep an eye on it and make sure it doesn't end up as an ear infection with his neutropenia.

And the Packers... well... they still suck. But they looked a lot better against the Saints than the Bears. I have a feeling that's more related to the level of the other team than the Packers improving though.

Boring Blog Title

I've discovered that one of the big problems with blogging is coming up with witty titles every time you post. I'm further handicapped by my total lack of wit.

So, yesterday was some big news! A girl! We are both very, very excited. I say both because I don't think Braden knows what a sister is yet. We hope he'll be excited when she 'shows up.'

I've been working out about 4 days a week for the last month now. And finally I'm starting to lose some weight. I haven't been dieting, though, and those Nutty Bars are just too good! But I do feel a lot better. I know I'm in a lot better shape cardiovascularly (is that a word? Yep... spell check says it is). We'll find out this weekend, as I have to move 7 yards of dirt and play hockey.

By the way, a number of people have commented on how impressive this web site is. I want to make it perfectly clear that I have very little to do with it. This is just a blog on blogspot.com. Anyone can do it. All you have to do is click on 'Create Blog' and it sets most of this up for you. There is some configuraiton involved, but basically all I do is type new blogs. Give it a try! It's kind of fun.

The string has been broken

A number of blogs ago I introduced the 'Unexpected Phrase of the Day' where I would post a phrase I've caught myself saying that I never believed I'd say.

The new phrase of the day is "We're having a girl."

Yep. That's right. The string has been broken. There will be an Ehlke girl in our family.

Everything with the ultrasound looked great. She appears to be in great health!

Braden helps with the laundry

Yesterday Braden was a very helpful little boy. While he was in child care at the gym, there were a couple of other kids crying. So he would bring the kids a toy, then walk away. If they kept crying, he'd try again with a different toy. His 'teacher' said he was very concenred that they were crying. This is one of the moments that really make a parent proud.

The following video, on the other hand, doesn't make a parent so proud. But it IS hilarious.

Video: Braden helps with the laundry

Monday...

Back to work. Pretty good weekend... Tim & Anne Marie have a great crew working on the haunt and are doing great. They've had most of the haunt built by the end of Saturday, even with my help.

The Packers look great! For a high school team. I will say the running game looks like it might be ok... the Bears D is very hard to run against. So, say if they match up against Waukesha North High School, I think we can win.

Braden had another fight with a door jamb. He's got a great bruise to show for it.

We find out Thursday if, by some odd chance, we break the string of Ehlke boys and actually produce a girl.

I'm getting a cold.

Another week...

Tough week... Off Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Work Thursday and Friday. Thank god the weekend is finally here! ;)

Braden started side-kicks today. It's a pre-preschool gathering for kids at church. I really likes it. Last year it wasn't as much fun for him because he was too little to do much playing with the other kids, but now he loves gym time.

Tomorrow I'm helping our friends build their haunt. Should be interesting... it's a new site and design this year, so hopefully Tim has got his plans in order! They're at the Waukesha expo grounds now, which is great for them as it's a lot closer and in a more populated area. Here's their website if you want to see more: Morgan Manner

Sod Cutter!

Sod Cutters are awesome! I rank them a close second to jack hammers for coolest tools to rent. I rented one today to remove the grass for landscaping beds. I was able to prepare beds all the way around the house and deck in a few hours.... roughly 3 months sooner than it would have taken if I'd done it by hand!

Braden found a spray bottle last night and was carrying it around. I asked him if he was going to clean something. He looked at me and then used his hand to wipe off a storage bin, then pointed the spray bottle at it, then wiped it off again with his hand. I don't' know where he picks these things up! It's not like we do a lot of cleaning around here! :)

Unbelievable Phrase of the Day

New blog feature: Every so often I'll post a phrase I've found myself saying that I never imagined I'd say. You'll find most of these involve being a parent.

For example, today's Phrase of the Day is "Please don't eat the broom."

I've learned a valuable lesson about golfing a very tough course like the Irish course at Whistling Straits and only having played twice that season. It was not pretty. But it was still fun and a great day for golf! Thanks for setting it up Kay & Stess!

*yawn*

Friday!!!

It's supposed to rain on Sunday. When I'm supposed to golf. Coincidence? Probalby not.

Another night of screaming. Tried to let him quiet himself down and after 20 minutes gave up. Yeah, I'm tired.

Sleep

Well, I saw my doctor yesterday. He gave me trazodone to help me get to sleep. And it does work well... at least until Braden wakes up screaming at 1:30 AM.

We're really not sure what to do about this. It's almost a nightly occurrence. We think it's probably something similar to night terrors. He doesn't want a bottle or to be held. Usually we can lay him on the floor and he'll calm down right away. Sometimes he'll just scream himself back to sleep (how bad does that sound?) but usually we need to do something.

We're thinking about moving him up to a toddler bed at this point. That way he can get out of bed himself and lie on the floor. But we're nervous about what he'll do then and whether he'll go to sleep when we put him down for naps and bedtime.

This next kid better sleep better!

I get to golf at the Irish Course at Whistling Straits Sunday! I can't wait! And of course it's supposed to rain. Oh well, at least it's not supposed to snow like the last time I was there. Now I just have to find some time to get to the driving range, since I've only played twice this year.

Oh, and I give platelets today. Please donate blood... they really need it. And no, I'm not talking about hockey.

Ultrasound

No, we haven't had another ultra sound yet. But Kathie found out last night that GE Medical is looking for pregnant mothers to help them test their new 3D and 4D ultra sound machines.

We're looking into getting into the program so we can get a free ultra sound. It sounds pretty cool; you even get a DVD of the ultra sound.

Pictures Galore!

When my company's CEO announced a year ago that we were going to a business casual dress code, he made it a point to state that "We aren't google." I think he was trying to make a point that they are a different type of business and can get away with casual dress. Then again, their stock is now over $340 and we still aren't public.

Anyway, I digress. The reason I bring up google is that I think Google is awesome... even if they dress like slobs!

They let me do things like a Picasa web gallery with a ton of our family pictures.

Take a look: Ehlke Family Photos

Latest News

Hi all. Let's start this whole blogging experiment off with the latest news from the Ehlke family... that's the Scott/Kathie Ehlke family, in case you were confused.

As some of you may know, Kathie is pregnant! Our due date is around the end of January and we're very excited at the new addition. We don't know the sex yet, but we do know there's only one in there! (Phew!) Kathie has had a bit of a rough time with this one. She'll tell you that's a major understatement and it probably is. She's been very nauseous and had some stomach pains. But it looks like this week marked the end of that, so we're both looking forward to the rest of the pregnancy.

Braden is growing up very fast. He turned 16 months on Sept. 12th. He loves to walk everywhere, but he's still not talking; But he can imitate dogs, cats, planes and cars excellently. He plays mean games of peek a boo, ring around the Mommy and jump on Daddy. He also LOVES his train Toots.

We have received some bad news in regards to his health though. Braden has neutropenia. We believe and pray that he has a minor form of this that will go away on its own. Neutropenia is a disorder where his body does not have enough neutraphils, which are a part of his white blood cells that fight off bacterial infections. The good news is that he has had almost no bacterial infections, so the doctors don't think it's something to be too worried about. But we will have to have blood tests every three months to check and if he runs a fever it means a fast trip to the urgent care center.

We also bought a new Toyota Sienna mini-van this month. It's much more convenient than the Blazer was for hauling Braden around!

And to try and get in shape, we joined Westwood health club. Kathie has been going at least a couple times a week and I've been trying to get there 4-5 times. Braden really enjoys the child care they have there and is usually a bit disappointed when he has to leave.

Scott's hockey starts up again in a couple weeks and he is going to golf twice next week! Yeah!

We're going to try and get some landscaping done around the house before frost and start looking at installing some wood/laminate floors in the kitchen and dining room. We've been seriously considering moving to a larger house, but at this time we just can't swing a house that we'd really love, so we feel it's better to wait a little while.