Alas, Cheeks is not. She is, in fact, a bit of a monster when it comes to the treat basket.

Every. Single. Time. the pantry door is open, there she is. “Sucker! Sucker!”

At work, she will sneak into the formal dining room and stand at the baker’s rack, pointing at the treat basket, “More! More!” I have to admit, she’s cute as hell when I say, “No more.” and she walks out of the room with her tiny little voice going “No mo. No mo.”

But she’s a bit of an addict. Dum dums are her crack of choice, but she won’t turn down a Kit Kat.

I have to admit, this is one area we have semi-failed as moms. Cheeks has had sugar. She has had soda. (I know, I know.) But, I’m happy to report, she is a huge fruit and veggie nut. As a matter of fact, she’ll take a banana (“Nana! Nana!”) over just about anything.

I think her absolute favorite foods are broccoli and tomatoes. She loves carrots. She will take mashed or baked potatos over french fries any day. As a matter of fact, the kid doesn’t really care for french fries. (I know, I know, another parenting fail on our part!) But we do have a tendency to use candy when the need arises.

This kid spends a fair amount of time in the car. On occasion, she flips her lid and protests. A Dum-dum stops the screaming and gives us a good half an hour of silence. I know, I know. Bribery at its best.

We do limit her sweets a great deal. It’s a treat and it is treated as such. And when she’s told no, she protests a bit, but she gets over it quickly. But that treat basket. Ugh. If she never saw it, she’d never ASK for it. I could easily get rid of the one at home, but that isn’t my call at work. Maybe I’ll just start hiding it!

But I have to admit, it makes for cute photo opportunities!

All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.
-Charles M. Schulz

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When I was looking for a job, I immediately turned to Care.com. EH and I had used them a time or two to find a sitter for the girls and it was awesome. I found a background checked special education teacher and we used her a number of times.

Have you ever experienced the after effects of a bad nanny or babysitter? If you have, you surely know that they aren’t pretty. A bad nanny or babysitter can leave your house in disarray and your children discontented, and it can make it particularly difficult to appease your children with caretakers in the future. As you surely know if any of these concerns are familiar to you, kids can be a bit stubborn about being left with babysitters as it is – and who could blame them? They want someone they feel comfortable and safe with, and ideally, they want someone that they will have fun with while their parents are away.

There really isn’t an easy solution to the problem of finding help for your kids – you just have to strike gold! It will happen, eventually, though you may have a few missteps along the way, which may include minor issues like food being thrown at babysitters or kids locking themselves in their rooms when they don’t want to interact with certain nannies. This is all to be expected. But one idea worth considering is to check out websites like Care.com, which allow you to find babysitters for kids (or jobs, if you’re the babysitter). I’ve had some measure of success with this site, and now swear by it! There are other ways of searching for good help, as well – but with so much convenience available online, this option suits me best!

Plus, I can cover my kids AND our pets! It’s a one-stop shop!

Care.Com: Better care starts here!

*No compensation was given for the content of this post.

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I haven’t even turned on my laptop since last week!

And we’ve just been busy! Work is insane right now and it feels like we’re constantly on the go. This morning I had that deep persistent yearning to just sit and hold my baby. So I did.

She won’t be my “baby” much longer and I want to relish every moment! Thankfully, she was in a mommy mood and was more than content to sit with me.

Hopefully I will get a few blog related things accomplished tomorrow, but I have a shortened work day which means ample oppurtunity to get something done at home.

My awesome wife got an incredible new tattoo yesterday, so she took some time off work…which she used to clean and organize the house (love her!)

I can’t believe she did this in one sitting!

I’m sure you can figure out the significance of the name/birthdate/crown! The piece turned out just amazing!

Other than that….we’re just busy living and loving life!

What’s new in your world?

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See? Told ya!

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Here it is, my reward:

Here are the rules:

1.) Add the Versatile Award graphic on your blog post. (Check)
2.) Thank the Blogger who nominated you. (Check)
3.) Share seven random things about yourself.
4.) Nominate fifteen fellow bloggers.
5.) Inform bloggers of their nomination.

Ok, I can handle that!

Seven random facts:

1.) Sometimes I find something ridiculously mundane to be hysterically funny. I laugh uncontrollably while my wife looks at me like I’m crazy.

2.) Sometimes I laugh so hard, tears run down my legs. This has gotten worse with each pregnancy. And yet, I refuse to have a bladder hammock. REFUSE.

3.) I’m bringing sexy back. For real. Just watch me transform!

4.) This is my year. This is my time. Before I hit thirty-six I will attain better healthy, a better appearance, a better sense of style and an increasingly better attitude…for no one other than myself.

5.) I’ve recently started reading again. I mean, really “pages bound between two covers” books. Oh, how I have missed it!

6.) I love peanut butter (hey, they said random things!)

7.) I can’t wait for spring and summer! So many fun things going on this year! Woo hoo!

Nominate fifteen fellow bloggers: (insert evil laugh here)

1.) Jaime at Life with Cheeks.
2.) S at An Offering of Love.
3.) Jenny at Our Chilli Tribe.
4.) Becca at The Bates Motel.
5.) Amy at The Flege Farm.
6.) Jo at Minnesota JoY.
7.) This Mom at Come What May.
8.) Kellie at Another Day Stronger.
9.) Chibi at Chibi Jeebs.
10.) Lacey at Jaxson’s Fight.
11.) Joyce and Sarah at My Name Is Sarah.
12.) Camlin from Camlin’s Crooked Line.
13.) CIW from Listening Through The Airshaft.
14.) Jen from Chunk and Mommy.
15.) Teaberry from 04-05-08.

Inform bloggers of your nomination:

Well, if they don’t figure it out on their own by Monday, I will certainly notify them personally!

You go, girls!

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She decided to take them to Brown’s Chicken and Pasta. Before leaving, she went up to the counter and purchased a cup of coffee from one of the managers. The employees were busy preparing to close. They were wiping off tables and cleaning the floors. Debbie left with her clients around nine p.m.

Nearly six hours later, around three thirty in the morning, the police entered the restaurant through the open employee entrance after they were notified that some of the employees never made it home. When they arrived on scene, they found seven dead bodies in the refrigerator and freezer.

Richard (50) and Lynn Ehlenfeldt (49)
Guadalupe Maldonado (46)
Michael Castro (16)
Rico Solis (17)
Thomas Mennes (32)
Marcus Nellsen (31)

Michael Castro was in a few of my seventh grade classes. He was a bit quiet, but he was a very sweet and kind kid. He left a nice note in my seventh grade yearbook.

There was $1,800 missing from the restaurant and there were no clues as to who committed the crime.

None.

One of my high school friends was working at a grocery store which shared a parking lot with the restaurant. He was called in and questioned. At the time the murders took place, he was bringing grocery carts in from the lot. He didn’t see or hear anything.

They had no leads.

There was nowhere to go.

A few years after the murders occurred, my parents moved approximately a mile down the road from the restaurant, which was empty by that time.

Over nine years passed with no answer.

In March of 2002, someone stepped forward.

Juan Luna and James Degorski (who both attended my high school) were said to have committed the crime. Juan had dropped out before I entered the school, but Jim and I attended at the same time.

Eileen Bakalla (who also attended my high school) was friends with Jim. Within hours of committing the crime, he told her everything that had occurred. Eileen told her husband what she knew back in 1998, but he kept the secret until 2002, after he and Eileen were estranged.

Anne Locket was Jim’s girlfriend at the time. He also told her all the gory details a few days after the crime had been committed. At one point, years later, she told her boyfriend and their roommate. Her mother and sister were also aware of who was behind the crimes. It wasn’t until she told yet ANOTHER friend that someone encouraged her to step forward with what she knew.

Over the years, it is believed that as many as eight people had knowledge regarding who committed the crime and no one stepped forward.

Here’s what happened.

At 9:08 p.m. on January 8, 1993, Juan purchased a meal. He threw the remnants into a garbage can. Both Jim and Juan are very careful to not leave their fingerprints on anything and they put on plastic gloves. Jim has a gun and fires off a shot. The employees and owners are directed to get down on the ground.

Someone tries to jump over the counter and is shot.

Jim directs some of the employees into the freezer. One person tries to escape, but he is stopped.

The owner, Lynn, remains on the floor, near the safe. Jim and Juan clear out the registers of all remaining cash. Juan instructs Lynn to open the safe. Once she does, he slits her throat with a knife.

Thomas and Richard are taken into the cooler and shot.

Jim puts Lynn’s body in the freezer with four of the employees and begins to mop the floor.

He then shoots everyone in the freezer.

At 9:52 p.m., Juan turns off the lights using a breaker, which also stops the wall clock.

The two men exit through the back door.

Do you remember that meal Juan was eating shortly before he and Jim began their murderous rampage? The police kept the portion he threw out. Back in 1993, DNA testing was virtually unheard of. Thankfully, it was quite common place by 2002. The DNA on the food matched Juan Luna’s DNA.

In May of 2007, Juan Luna was sentenced to life in prison, narrowly escaping a death sentence with eleven jurors for it and only one against it.

In September of 2009, James Degorski was also sentenced to life in prison, escaping a death sentence due to the mercy of two jurors.

One is left with the question of “Why?” Why would two people do this? What could their motivation possibly have been?

The answer is almost as sickening as the crime. Juan Luna wanted to “do something big”. He wanted to see what it felt like to take someone’s life and James Degorski agreed to help him. They chose the restaurant because Juan once worked there. Therefore, he knew how things operated. He knew the layout. He was familiar with the building and some of the people.

A few years after the murders occurred, a dry cleaning service opened up in the building that once held Brown’s Chicken and Pasta. Needless to say, it shut down approximately five years later. In April of 2001, the building was demolished, leaving only a “footprint” where the foundation once was. even that was chilling to drive by. In early 2010, a bank was built on the site and is still (to my knowledge) open.

Before the restaurant was demolished, the crew took a few moments to pray.

In 1995, two years after the murders occurred, I left home for college in another state. When people asked where I was from, I quickly learned to say “a Chicago suburb”. If I mentioned Palatine, specifically, I was immediately inundated with questions regarding the Palatine Brown’s Chicken Murders.

To this day, it’s chilling to drive by the site the restaurant once stood. I’ve driven Ash by it. She’s heard the story from me more than once.

It’s chilling to be so “close” to something. These victims weren’t just photos in the newspaper. The murderers weren’t some big bad boogy men that didn’t REALLY exist. These were people I went to school with. People who likely waited on me at one point or another. People who shared my high school hallways, cafeteria and gymnasium.

And the victims. The victims are real. They have left behind parents, siblings, children, friends and other lives connected to their own.

So this, this is my way of remembering them. Of documenting their names. Of telling you their story. Of making them real.

A friend who dies, it’s something of you who dies.
-Gustave Flaubert

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Enter a “Messiest Kid” blog post for your chance to win a $100 gift certificate to Amazon.com! You can either make a new blog post with a photo of your messy kid OR use an old one you may have already posted. How easy is that?

Here’s one of my favorite “messy” photos of Cheeks. And trust me, we have MANY!

This was one of her first birthday photos taken by Picture People! I love the expression on her face!

Ok, so what are you waiting for??  Go join the contest!  It ends in four days!!

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One Million Moms is a group of Christian moms who are affiliated with the American Family Association. They target specific issues such as television networks, sponsors, organizations, music, movies, etc. and tell you how you can take action and fight against the things they find simply atrocious in our society.

In the past, they claim their mission has caused advertisers to pull their ads from such shows as Pretty Little Liars, Glee, Two and a Half Men, The Cougar, Brothers and Sisters, Desperate Housewives and a few others.

In short? They are trying to rid the world of anything and everything that could somehow poison their children to the evils of sex, homosexuality, sex, divorce, sex and anything else not sanctioned by the bible.

(Personally, I think they all just need to get laid, but that’s just my opinion.)

The latest issue to get their proverbial, higher-than-thou undies in a bunch was JC Penney’s move to bring Ellen DeGeneres on as their official spokeswoman. This was just unacceptable as far as One Million Moms is concerned. I mean. Ellen? Ellen is *GASP* gay! How can SHE be their spokeswoman! Oh the horror!! Not a *GASP* lesbian!

Well, they simply cannot stand by and allow this to happen. Therefore, they immediately got to action and sent this letter to JC Penney.

DeGeneres is not a true representation of the type of families that shop at their store. The majority of JC Penney shoppers will be offended and choose to no longer shop there. The small percentage of customers they are attempting to satisfy will not offset their loss in sales.

JC Penney has made a poor decision and must correct their mistake fast to retain loyal customers and not turn away potential new, conservative shoppers with the company’s new vision.

By jumping on the pro-gay bandwagon, JC Penney is attempting to gain a new target market and in the process will lose customers with traditional values that have been faithful to them over all these years.

They went on to essentially threaten JC Penney and told them if they didn’t fire Ellen and remain “neutral in the culture war” they would burn in hell and die a slow and painful death. (I took the liberty of paraphrasing a bit here.)

Thankfully, their little plan of attack backfired pretty severely. Instead of being commended for defending family values, walking in the way of the Lord and protecting American children everywhere; they were seen for what they are. Bigots. Cowards. Closed minded twits. Discriminators. Ellen haters. That’s right, I said it. These women hate Ellen.

Now, hating Ellen is like drowning a basket full of cute little puppies. It’s like repeatedly running over a sack full of helpless kittens. It’s akin to kicking sweet innocent babies. She’s frickin’ ELLEN! She is America’s favorite lesbian! And notice I didn’t say “GAY America’s favorite lesbian.” People LOVE Ellen! They’ve done market research to prove it! Young people love her, old people love her, gay people love her, straight people love her…hell, I’m sure even America’s PETS love her! She’s just…..Ellen!

But they want her fired. Not because she can’t do the job. Not because she’s a drug addict. Not because she’s a hot mess of a prostitute. Not because she abuses puppies and children. Just because she’s gay. They want to fire her for being gay.

Really? Delusional, party for one million?

I mean, did they think JC Penney wasn’t AWARE Ellen was gay when they proposed a partnership with her? Do they think they took this decision lightly? Do they think they’d make a move that would cause them to LOOSE revenue? Apparently they need an education as much as they need a good lay.

I mean, until this entire debacle, had you ever heard of One Million Moms? What? No? Ok. Now, before this entire debacle, had you ever heard of Ellen? What? You have?? Point made.

JC Penney has responded to the suggestion Ellen be fired, with this statement:

“We stand squarely behind Ellen as our spokesperson, and that’s a great thing. Because she shares the same values that we do in our company. Our company was founded 110 years ago on The Golden Rule, which is about treating people fair and square, just like you would like to be treated yourself.”

Take that One Million (anti-gay, discriminatory, small minded) Moms! Did they really think JC Penney would just bow down to their ridiculous demands and fire Ellen? Why stop with Ellen? Hell, let’s fire ALL the gays who work for JC Penney! Better yet, let’s round them all up and send them to concentration camps and exterminate their existence from our precious children’s world!

Here’s the thing. SOME Christian communities go on and on about their wholesome and proper virtues. They build themselves up on God’s principles and what is “right” and “just” in their eyes. They preach love, understanding and community. They proclaim “God hates gays!” and yet, Ellen seems to be doing better than your average dyke! I mean, if God is so hateful of her, where’s her punishment? Where’s her downfall? Where’s God’s scorn??

Apparently, He isn’t working quickly enough for One Million Moms and they’ve taken it upon themselves to bring her down.

Well, try again, One Million Moms! This is one very big battle you have not only failed to win, but have shown yourselves for who you really are! Instead of taking time out of His day to slay gays everywhere, God may need to spend some time watching over any children of YOURS who may end up being gay. God knows they’ll need all the love and support they can get from the LGBT community when they’re chugging down pills and playing with razor blades because, after all, mom said God hates gays.

But Ellen doesn’t need me to stand up for her, she does that just fine on her own!

Oh, and Ellen? Your producers have still not contacted me about The T21 Traveling Afghan Project. What’s up with that??

**Note: For those of you interested, my awesome friend Laine (and I) belong to a group of One Million LBQT Moms and you can join too! This group was created as a direct response to One Million Mom’s ridiculousness in regard to Ellen. The group is all inclusive (we even have male members!) and is spreading like wildfire. Ellen is aware of the group, as is JC Penney. If you would like to be included, send a request to any member for access! (Including myself or Laine!)

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When I got to work, Cheeks and I set about getting our gifts made! This kid is a budding artist, let me tell you! She loved putting the paint on her hands and seeing her hand-print on the paper! We made one fancy heart with just Cheeks’ print on it then we made one larger heart with Cheeks’ hand-print inside my own! Then Cheeks had her first experience with paint and made Mama an awesome picture!

*Note: This is a pre-paint picture! I gave her paper and a marker to draw with while I got our painting supplies set up! I took her shirt off while she actually painting and I don’t want to post my topless toddler on the blog.

Later in the day, I was in the back of the house when there was a knock at the door! Now, nobody every knocks on the door, much less the garage door, so I was a bit confused.

When I opened the door, Ash was standing there completely dressed to the nines, holding a rose for me! She asked if I would accompany her to dinner! I, of course, accepted. See? My wife has GAME, people!

And then? Then Ash came inside and had a flower and a little balloon for Cheeks! How frickin’ sweet and adorable is THAT?! Seriously, my heart melted all over the floor at Cheeks’ smile!

I changed clothes and we dressed Cheeks up in the cutest, most adorable dress ever and went to eat at The Melting Pot. They had this cool little survey on the table for couples and we actually spent over two hours enjoying one another, our food and even our fifteen month old who was ridiculously well behaved.

When the dessert plate came, there was an additional little plate placed in front of me. When I looked down, the waiter pointed out there was “something” on the plate…and there was! My engagement ring! Now, you may be confused. Ash and I have already been engaged twice. Ash proposed to me back in 2010. Then I presented her with her ring in 2011 when I proposed to her.

Since we had both been proposed to (and had our turn to propose) I said it was kind of sad we only got to do it twice. Therefore, she decided to ask me, again, to spend the rest of my life with her last night. I, of course, said yes.

I mean, she spoils me rotten, she brings our daughter Valentine’s flowers and she still pops the question and totally surprises me!

Happy Valentine’s Day, baby! I love you very much and am so proud to have you as my wife and the mother of our child! Here’s to many more Valentine’s Celebrations (and the cutest little Valentine ever!)

Life has taught us that love does not consist in gazing at each other but in looking outward together in the same direction.
-Antoine De Saint-Exupery

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This kid is full of energy! We always get comments on how tiny she is (even though she’s exactly the size babies are SUPPOSED to be at this age!) Her pediatrician says it’s no wonder she’s a peanut because she’s so active! There isn’t a drawer, cabinet or door that’s safe when she’s around. Everything is fair game, as far as she’s concerned, and she wants to know what’s behind everything!

She has started walking on her tippy-goes, which is seriously too cute for words! She climbs on ANYTHING and EVERYTHING. We’re trying to teach her to keep her “feet on the floor”, but she has her own plan of attack in mind and she’s a determined little girl!

For Christmas, McAuntie got her a shape sorter. I emptied the pieces out, showed her how to fit them into the appropriate holes and dumped them back out for her to give it a try. Cheeks picked up one of the pieces, opened the main door you use to dump the pieces out and put all the pieces right back in. Apparently she has no use for the specifically shaped holes they’re SUPPOSED to be put into. She’s all about streamlining her activities!

We’ve been doing more artsy craftsy stuff now that she’s a bit older. She loves to color (and is eating the crayons less and less) and write with pens.

Lately she’s been ALL ABOUT playing with her baby! She is constantly asking us to wrap her baby in a blanket, then she holds it, walks around with it, feeds it and puts it in a stroller to walk around. The other day we were getting ready to leave the house and she actually INSISTED we bring the baby with! This is a far cry from the kid who didn’t seem to want to bond to any type of blanket, stuffed animal, etc.

For Valentine’s Day, we always take her to Build-A-Bear and help her make a new “friend”.

Remember this from last year? This is Cheeks with her Love Bug!

This year I actually won a gift certificate from Support For Special Needs which made the trip all the more exciting (at least for mom!) We decided to get her the Love Puppy and Cheeks is in a bit of love with her newly made friend!

She actually asks for him when she’s nursing before bed and holds him close to her while she drifts off to sleep. Then I lay him next to her and she always rolls over and puts her arm around him.

This past weekend we found out Cheeks likes sushi. We weren’t entirely surprised since she really likes rice, but to see a tiny little girl pick up a hunk of sushi and go to town was a bit comical!

She is talking up a storm! She repeats anything and everything you say and I do mean EVERYTHING! “Thank you” is her new favorite! Kevin The Dog was being goofy the other day and I said, “That’s cute!” to which Cheeks immediately replied, “Thank you!” Apparently everything cute pertains to her!

Some of her other favorite words are “la lou” (love you), puppy, bye-bye, Bubba, MeMa, kitty, more, ball, book, Kevin, nigh-nigh (night night), “ni” (nice), up, down, baby, diaper and the list goes on and on!

Yesterday she actually told me when she needed her diaper changed! She reached down, patted herself and said “diaper!” I went to change her and, sure enough, she had a full load! Hopefully this means potty training will be a breeze!

She seems to have recovered from her first ear infection and antibiotic experience. It’s made her have a bit of diarrhea, but she keeps this one down and actually doesn’t throw a complete fit when it’s time to dose her. The first one they put her on would be thrown up the moment she swallowed it. Her taste buds are a bit sensitive!

One of her teeth finally broke through, but she has at least four or five swollen spots on her gums, so we’re waiting to see how long it takes for those to pop on out! So far, she has three teeth completely through on top (along with half of another one) and two fully through on the bottom.

Since she’s been sick, she’s back to nursing two to three times during the night, but she barely wakes up, nurses for just a few moments and goes back to sleep. She is doing much better sleeping on her own mattress and will actually go into our room and lay down on it when we’re getting ready for bed! When she starts getting tired, she goes to the bottom of our stairs, points up and says, “Nigh nigh!” When we move the gate, she climbs up the stairs and goes and gets into bed! The concept of child psychology never ceases to interest me.

This kid is a comic! She will do anything to get a laugh out of anyone! The other day she took the dog’s food dish and decided it would make a cute hat!

She certainly keeps us on our toes and happily so! This kid is anything but boring!

Yesterday she ducked behind a chair with her baby doll and book. I gave her a few moments and I heard her talking to herself. When I peeked over the back of the chair, this is what I saw:

How can you not just totally adore that little face?

And thou shalt in thy daughter see,
This picture, once, resembled thee.
-Ambrose Philips

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