My crazy idea

Recently I convinced myself that since this will most likely be the home we stay in for a long while (hell if I'm moving again!), I could finally fulfill my dream of getting granite in my nice new, bigger kitchen. I know...I'm nuts! I had found an awesome company I was working with previously that was both affordable and reliable, as we almost put granite in my old kitchen to help resale. When we finally sold and moved...I decided to call Ian from Spectrum up again and see what his price was for the new digs. Now the price wasn't the difficult part...it was the picking of the granite that had me in a tizzy. It's very stressful to pick a slab of stone and pray it looks as good in your kitchen as it does in your head because...lets face it...it's permanent after the green you just shelled out. After many weeks of trips to the stone wholesaler and back and forths about the sink, faucet, and island...we finally got it installed and I LOVE IT! I don't care what anyone thinks...it was a completely unnecessary purchase for my lovely new kitchen but it has fulfilled a small dream and I just adore it!!! :) Here are some before and after shots of the kitchen a'la granite:)

The before (not the best angle) but the countertops were cream

And now the new look...it's "tan brown" if you're familiar. We also got our island extended so we can put a couple bar stools on the endand our drop-in sink and new faucet:)

September in Review

So I finally have a second, and the strength...to update the blog. Although it won't be the best entry I've ever had...I'll do my best to try to remember all the things we've been up to this month. First, and most important thing was Tyler starting daycare and my going back to work. We started both endeavers the last week of August...and it was difficult...for all of us. I had a bit of a nervous breakdown the couple days before we had to drop him off and continued to have random crying fits leading up to the day of. Good news is...we've survived...and we are very happy with our choice of daycare facilities. Ty seems to really enjoy his teachers Miss Dana and Miss Kelly, and always comes home with art projects, a head full of snack food, dirty clothes that he's played his heart out in, and...unfortunately...lots of germs. Ty made it in daycare 3 days before we had to pull him out for an ear infection. Unfortunately...he gave it to me as well. We were both sick for about a week and enjoyed many doses of the "pink stuff". Then the virus struck....and oh boy...it was debilitating. Ty had a fever for almost 4 days and I am still trying to fight it off. But looking at the bright side...we have a routine down and the video cameras at daycare allow us and the grandparents to check up on Tyler anytime we wish. That's been very comforting.


Ty on his first day of daycare. He's clearly about as happy as I was!

Ty and Mommy...both with fever...trying to get some rest! In between the illnesses we had a power outage that left us without power for four days. It was right in the middle of us being sick too and the homecoming week at the high school I work at. I've been coaching JV cheerleading and spend all my Friday nights and Saturday mornings watching high school football. And if we're not watching Loveland football games we're home watching the buckeyes, Browns or Bears...basically it's been a football-filled September. During homecoming at Loveland I was also roped into coaching one of the male cheerleading squads and I drew the short straw and got the freshmen. It was interesting to say the least...and very time-consuming. We practiced 3 evenings, had to cheer at the powder puff game, and did our big routine at the pep rally on Friday. Somehow I was also roped into being on the staff tug-o-war team...and still have a sore back. I'm old.

Here are a few pix of my male cheerleaders at the powder puff game. I was so proud of them...they really held their own against the seniors!

And here they are at the pep rally right before their performance...looking cool! I wish I had videotapped their performance...but I was too nervous to multi-task.

at the dance with my aide (and former cheerleader) Kayla In Tyler news...we have quite a firecracker on our hands. He's now throwing temper tantrums when he doesn't get what he wants. He literally throws himself to the ground and screams. We have learned to just let him be and he'll eventually quiet down and resume his happy self. Ty has started saying a few more words but to others I'm sure they all sound the same...but we hear them. He says ball, cat, dog, mama, dada, shoes and uh-oh. We also had his 15 month appt this week and he was 22lbs 5oz and 33" long. He was 95% in height and 25% in weight. He's sprouted since his last appt. We are excited he's "tall"...and were excited to hear his stats mirrored my brother's at his age. Here's hoping for the Burkle tall gene to kick in! Ty also has become a bit of a picky eater. He now throws stuff on the floor or feeds it to the dog if he doesn't want it. We have also noticed he prefers to eat off of the seat of his booster after meal-time is over. We've actually started dumping the left-overs onto the seat after we clean him up...hoping he eats a few more morsels. It's weird I know...but it works! :) Ty can show his belly when asked, and pulls up our shirts to reveal our bellies too. He also knows where his and our noses are. It's so fun to watch him learn. We've noticed he's cutting a molar or two...which causes him to wake up in pain from naps lately. Thank goodness for teething tablets and Tylenol. Our little man loves to boogie and dances to just about anything that resembles music. He also waves to every car he sees...in the Kroger parking lot, on our street, anywhere. It's hilarious!

He's a Cincinnati boy...Skyline...and drinking from a straw for the first time

Go Browns...watching football from his chair And the tantrum...before...(note the look on his face) and during...
Oh...another new trick is throwing and catching. We have about 50 different sized balls and he's obsessed with throwing them. When we tell him to put out his arms he does and we lob it to him so he can catch it. He laughs and laughs! Another pasttime around the Scherman household...pushing the barstools around the roomwhy do we spend money on toys when he can play with a box for hours...and torment the dog with it as well! Out for a drive on our new neighborhood...representing for all the Bears fans out thereOur little boy...he's not our little baby anymore!!!We are looking forward to a visit from the Burkle grandparents this coming weekend and we will head to Chicago the first weekend in November...when cheerleading finally comes to an end (thank goodness!). Until then...it's football, football, football...

Alive and Well

I know I know...I've been a bad bad blogger lately. I just wanted to drop you all a line and let you know we are still alive. It's been a crazy few weeks and we're just starting to right ourselves. Tyler has been in daycare now for 4 weeks and has been sick for 3.5 of those 4 weeks...literally. First it was an ear infection and this past week...a nasty nasty virus that had him feverish for almost 4 days! Aside from that...I have had both sicknesses right along with him,and now have larangitis as a side-effect of the virus (great for a teacher)! Daycare is brutal! On top of illness...we had to deal with 4 days of power outage due to Hurricane Ike weather patterns from Sunday - Wednesday of last week. The outages sent the city of Cincinnati and surrounding regions into panic mode...grocery stores were sold out...gas was sold out...schools were called off...it was insanity. So we had no power, no tv, no internet...and were living out of bags back and forth to my mother-in-laws house (thank God for their hospitality!). My school had no classes Monday and Tuesday of last week (can you believe they had to call a hurricane day in Ohio...which was the beginning of their homecoming week. I felt bad for them. They even had to cancel the homecoming parade for them as well due to trees down in the roads, little to no emergency personel to man the parade route etc. Needless to say...it's been an adventure this week. On top of all of this I have been coaching the freshmen male cheerleaders for a competition they had for homecoming week (we won too! :)), coaching my cheerleaders, attending all the events, going to chaperone the dance and trying to train for a marathon in my non-existent spare time. Are you exhausted yet? I surely am!!! I promise to update the blog this week and get some pictures up as well. Miss you all very much! Hopefully we'll soon return to the land of the living, breathing and catching up soon!

Mr. Personality

This video really speaks for itself. Ty is loving putting anything and everything over his head and playing his version of peek-a-boo. He knows exactly what he is doing (the little performer that he is)...and does it all just to get us to laugh! Just an fyi before you watch it...he doesn't get hurt during the filming of this video...I swear! :)