Bad Dexter

February 26, 2013 - Pathetic Dexter was not getting enough attention and decided to grab a painting on a thin piece of wood that Courtney has on her bedside table and chew it up.. Luckily we caught it early enough that he only mangled the corners. So someone was in timeout for a bit tonight..

On a more positive note; I get a new project of trimming up the chewed parts and building a frame for it!

MORE BLOG POSTS

HEY YOU!

Long time no see!

I didn't forget about you!! Don't be sad...

This is going to be a quick catch up post that will compile the pictures I have failed to put up here before bed each night..

I apologize for my neglect and I promise to be better... For better or for worse, right?

February 21, 2013 - Today I went and recruited at Ball State University's Spring Career Fair! It was a good day and we found some good potential hires. Oh and I got some Innovation Putty!

February 22, 2013 - This is Dexter's Tennis ball.. I failed to remember to take a picture during other events so you get this... Don't get greedy :)

February 23, 2013 - The family got together for a "Meet Finn" day where we all hung out and got to spend some family time with the newest member of the family, Finn Drook!

February 24, 2013 - Made some progress on the garage! I have the second part of the work bench that will be along the wall complete. All I have left if the miter saw shelf between the two pieces and the back shelf, then of course I need to build the island.. It is coming together and I am getting excited about it!

February 25, 2013 - I was playing with my lego man flash light and decided you guys deserved a picture of him.. That is all 

Relaxing!

Didn't get a chance to post this last night so you will get two pictures tonight!

Not much to report today. Haven't spent too much time in the garage and were all set to go for the baby

So I guess were just playing the waiting game..

 

February 19, 2013 - Dexter is not amused by me messing with him..  He was very much ready for bed..

February 20, 2013 - You will be happy  to know that my autographed Cal Ripken Jr ball is safely sitting in a display case on the shelf in the office.. No chance Dex can get it here!

New Tennis Ball!!

Recently Dexter destroyed his tennis ball and it was showing up all around the house in little neon yellow pieces. So Courtney and I decided to get him a new one! 

Holy crap the amount of excitement! He loves it! Carries it everywhere and even sleeps with it.. He is obsessed!

February 18, 2013 - Got a new tennis ball for the dogs. Operation Entertain the Dogs is a Success!!

The New Work Bench

So, today in between On Call time for work I was able to begin the work on the garage! I started to clear out that wall that the bench is going on and get some of the crap out of there! I moved the bikes to their new location and then I built the easier half of the new workbench and am pretty happy with it so far. I still need to build the shelf that goes on the back and butts up against the wall but overall it is coming together very well.

February 17, 2013 - Began the build of the new workbench and the task of turning my garage into something usable!

Taco Stuffed Shells

I tried a new recipe tonight.  It took longer than I would have liked, but it tasted amazing.

Here are pictures illustrating what was needed to make this meal and the steps to complete it:

Black Beans, Pinto Beans, and Large Shells

Enchilada Sauce(I accidently got 2 kinds) but it worked out

Boil Shells

Brown turkey meat then add taco seasoning

Drain beans and add to meat

Stuff shells with meat and beans(took forever)

Had extra meat and beans so I add them

 to the top of the shells

 Pour all 3 cans of enchilada 

sauce over the shells

 Next sprinkle 2 cups of shredded 

cheese over top

Last just baked it all for a half hour at 350 degrees

It was really tasty and we had a ton of leftovers.  YAY!  Next time I think I am going to make it like a Mexican lasagna.  That way I don't have stuff the shells.   It was spicy enough to make your nose run a little, but not so spicy that you can't eat a bunch without burning your tongue.  Bottom line this recipe is Matt and Courtney approved.   

Weekly Bump

Matt and I wanted to document my changing belly, so we have taken a picture of my profile every weekend(usually Saturday).  Our due date is on a Saturday, so the week changes over on Saturdays.  I have been making a book for the baby and myself in shutterfly that not only has the pictures, but I have been putting his changing size as it relates to fruits and vegetables and any special things that have happened during that week.  I feel honored to be this little guys mother and wanted to cherish this time when its just me and him.

I was working on updating the book the other day and was shocked when looking back at how much my belly has grown, so I thought I would share them with you.

I was originally going to just put the pictures up and call it a day, but Matt challenged me to make a video.  Of course I had to take him up on that challenge.  I will be adding the next couple of weeks pictures to it and some video of the baby when he gets here.  The music cuts off at the end a little, but when I have all the pictures and baby video I will line up the music.  Here it is so far:

Our Gated Life Part 2

So, today was a fairly relaxed day at home. Had a chill morning/afternoon and then Courtney and I finished the baby gate installs and ran to the grocery.

February 16, 2013 - Got the gate permanently installed at the top of the stairs.. Dogs seem to not be fond of them...

This picture is not part of my 365 Project but this gives you a view from the other side. We put the permanent brackets up for the white gate today so it is sturdier now and good to go!

They Know Something Is Going On

For the past week or 2 I have noticed that our boys(Yogi and Dexter) have been very clingy to me.  Yogi is normally not a cuddle on the couch kind of dog, but this past week he has been cuddling with me daily.  He has been so sweet.  He likes to rest his head on my belly while I pet his head.  Dexter has been cuddling with my belly for months now.  I have also noticed that when Dexter is upstairs with me and decides to go down stairs Yogi is upstairs with me within 30 seconds and vice versa.  They only do this when Matt isn't home.  They also keep me in their eyesight at all times.  Another interesting new behavior is that when I go to the bathroom, they sniff under the door and wait for me.  You would think that this new behavior would be annoying, but I find it sweet and am secretly hoping its a sign baby boy is on his way.  I really think they feel they have a responsibility to take care of me while Matt is away.


Here are some pictures of the boys taking care of me and being so sweet:

Dexter looking concerned about Mommy

Listening to the baby

 Dexter Cuddling with the Baby

Yogi passed out on my belly

Yogi Bear loving on the baby

Mo's Irish Pub - Bonus Pic Night!

Lucky you guys! It is a bonus pic night and you get two pictures for the price of one! Per the rules only one counts towards my 365 Project but I figured I would share both!

Tonight we met Haley and Michael at Mo's Irish Pub for dinner. As usual the food was good and they have this delicious fresh baked and still hot and gooey cookie with ice cream on top for desert that is amazing! Probably the main reason we keep going back!

Afterwards Court and I came back home for a relaxing evening on the couch, hanging with the dogs, where she finally got to watch Pulp Fiction!

February 16, 2013 - Us at Mo's enjoying dinner and hanging out!

Bonus Picture of Yogi very happily cuddling with Court and the Baby!

Our Gated Lifestyle..

Well ladies and gentlemen, the gates are starting to go up around the house. Our thinking for these gates is that they are going to serve two purposes:

1. Once kiddo gets to the point that he is mobile they will help keep him wrangled in locations where we can keep a good eye on him. But this won't be for awhile still.

2. They will serve as a way for us to separate baby from dog. Not that we are particularly worried about how the dogs will act around the baby, they are two very well behaved pups, but rather a way for us to pretend to control the large amounts of Yogi hair and slobber that will forever be around the baby.

My prediction is that these aren't used very often until the kid is moving around but hey, better to have and not need then to need and not have.. Right?

February 14, 2013 - Installed a baby gate to block off the hall going into the loft. 

Reuniting with an old friend!

Tonight I got to spend some time with an old friend that I haven't really spent time with since Fall. My Grill! Courtney and I went on a walk around the neighborhood and then came home and grilled out for dinner!

Pretty chill and enjoyable night!

February 13, 2013 - We grilled out tonight which we haven't done since maybe fall and Court made us some cornbread! It was delicious!

One second every day

WARNING: Poorly written and probably boring post about life motivation from a TED Talk. Skip to tl;dr if lack of interest

So today I rediscovered how much I enjoy TED Talks thanks to a link on Reddit about teaching children science. TED Talks are such an interesting thing and cover such a vast amount of topics that just about anyone can find some interest in them..

If you are unfamiliar with TED Talks check out http://www.ted.com/. 

So the talk that really has me thinking right now and that relates very much to my project with Haley is a talk  given by Cesar Kuriyama about what he calls 'One second every day'. In his talk he shares a project that he is doing where he goes and records just one second of every day of his life. One of the things that really struck me was his realization that he had while going through his project that he needed to do more interesting things with his life that would make his one second videos better. 

What I really like about this is not that it makes his videos more interesting to others but it makes his life more interesting to him. He talks about how it would be interesting if everyone took one second videos and there was a website where you could type February 13, 2013 and see one second of everyone's life there. Sure I can see how that would hold my interest for an internet minute but I think the real value here is the interest of the person taking that one second.

In a year I will go back through these photos and they will bring up the memories that are associated with them. Why shouldn't they be as interesting and unique as possible? Sure in everyone's life there are going to be normal and boring days but I'm going to try to keep those to a minimum. If I take at least 10-30 minutes every day to try something new or revisit some person, place or thing that is out of my ordinary day-to-day I believe that not only will I have better pictures for my 365 Project but I will be able to look back on those memories and think "Yup, that was a good year/decade/life. I had a lot of fun." 

tl;dr - No more wasting all of my free time in front of a TV or Computer. I'm pushing myself to be more interesting!

Yup - Yup - Yup

Unfortunately, I have a whole lot of nothing for you today.. Work was stressful and frustrating and I have zero motivation this evening.. Kind of one of those days where you just want to relax and do your own thing.. Which is usually nothing..

February 12, 2013 - Dexter being needy to the camera.. combined with some effects using the Camera360 App

Cleaning Schedule

So I am not the best house keeper.  If someone just stopped by on any given day, I would be embarrassed.  I hate this.  The little guy being on his way makes me want to make a change, so I am going to try a cleaning schedule.  As of right now, I try and clean the entire house in a matter of one day.  It takes the entire day and is exhausting.  Having a messy house is not only embarrassing but is stressful as well.  I want our child to live in a clean and organized environment.  We have the organization pretty much taken care of(its not perfect but its pretty good), so time to tackle the cleanliness.

In order to have a clean house everyday, I have to do some cleaning everyday.  Here is the schedule I have come up with:

Monday:

Laundry(clothes and bedding)

Put away laundry

Tuesday:

Vacuum

Mop

Wednesday:

Dust

Wipe down walls and doors(mostly Yogi Slobber)

Clean microwave

Clean out fridge

Thursday:

Clean bathrooms:

wipe counters

clean tubs

clean toilets

clean mirrors

change and wash towels

Friday:

Vacuum

Spot clean windows

Sunday:

Take out trash(Matt)

Everyday:

Dishes

Wipe down counters and stove top

Pick up

Trash as needed

  
We shall see how this goes.  I am sure with the little guy and working I will have to modify this schedule sometimes, but I hope to stick the schedule most of the time.  I will keep you updated on the progress.

New toys!

Greetings!

So, today I finally got my package from Amazon that contained some goodies! I got a couple new SD Cards for the cameras, an external HDD transfer cable for the video camera, some baseball cases, and some new robots for the kiddos room.

Now I was determined to get these robots, as any human being knows a robot themed nursery is not complete without some R2D2 and C3PO love!

February 11, 2013 - R2D2 and C3PO added to the Robot collection in the Nursery!

Unfortunately these guys are rather small but I was having trouble finding the perfect R2-D2. So, in the interim these dudes will have to suffice..

Also, I was playing around with the video camera now that I have a good SD Card for it and decided you guys needed another video! This time with some basic EDITING!

I may have enjoyed the slow-mo a little much but who doesn't!?!?!

Have a good night and see you tomorrow!

I would like to introduce myself.

Hi everyone!

I am Courtney Drummond.  I have been married to Matt for 2 and half years.  We have two beautiful dogs, Dexter(a 58lbs mutt) and Yogi(a 130lbs Newfoundland).  They are our babies.  Speaking of babies, we are due to have a baby boy on March 16th.  I can't wait to meet him.  We are pretty much prepared and are about as ready as we can be.  He is going to be our first child, and I am so blessed to be having this little guy with the love of my life.  We are so excited for his arrival and love him so much already!

I am also a respiratory therapist.  As a respiratory therapist, I maintain life support for patient's in the intensive care unit, give breathing treatments to patient's with lung disease or acute lung infections, administer preventative treatments for immobile patients, work closely with nurses and physicians to make sure our patients get the best care, and many other things to ensure the best patient outcomes.  I love my career, but I am only going to be working PRN in order to be a stay at home mom and raise our child the way we feel is best.  I am hoping that our schedules work out so that between Matt, myself, and our family he will never have to go to daycare.  I am so looking forward to being home with our little guy, but I have heard from many stay at home mothers that they feel disconnected from the world due to being in the house with a small child all the time and having no adult contact.  I am hoping to work an average of 8-16 hours ever 2 weeks in order to feel like a well rounded adult and use the bachelors degree I worked so hard for.

This is me in a nutshell.  My goal for this blog is to give my point of view on Life Via Drummond.  I am not doing the picture 365 thing, but will update whenever something important to me comes up.

Matt and I at his 26th birthday dinner at the lake house

Blogs with visible activity are way more fun!

Yup! Thank you Taylor! You are making my blog more enjoyable! Without comments as evidence to me that people are looking at what I am writing I fear this blog venture would go the way of the Dodo..

To thank you I have decided to provide you with more baby info, although this is more tech info then probably what you want BUT it is all I have to offer!!

BABY CAM IS SETUP AND READY TO GO!

Yup! I love tech toys! This thing is super cool!! It is wifi! It has night vision! It handles two-way audio! I can move that camera all around to get a better view of the entire room! I stream over the web, to my phone, to the office!! IT CAN DO SO MANY COOL THINGS!!!

That is all..

"P-N-P" Is Assembled and a backup FAIL!

February 10, 2013 - So two big things happened today...

1. We got the pack-n-play setup in our room. This is where the lil guy will sleep the first couple of weeks in our room. Then he will move to the nursery!

2. I had a major failure backing up my truck into Courtney's parents garage! I busted my driver side mirror :( Not happy at all about this one.. Rough day... No picture of this one cause I was so shocked and mad at myself that I forgot the picture.. Needless to say, there is a duct taped side view mirror sitting on my  truck..

Sigh...

I have a problem...

Hello, My name is Matt and I have a garage/workshop problem!

February 9, 2013 - My garage is a pit....

Currently the garage is in constant limbo from a traditional parking spot for my wife's car and a workshop for my woodworking hobby. Unfortunately with the current setup, the two different garage setups can not coexist. For the time being Courtney has been very understanding and has no problem with parking her car outside. This allows the garage to be in "workshop mode" for a couple days while I work on a project.. While this has been working, I hate the current setup. The major problems are:

- Garage looks unorganized and sloppy.
- Quick fix/projects are next to impossible
- Work surfaces are temporary and require the car to be outside
- Storage for wood and tools is done by shoving them to the empty side of the garage which makes findings things difficult.

Moving forward I have some plans to attempt to turn the garage into a workable space!

- Worktable along the wall for tool access and storage

- Rolling 'island' style table for building pieces as well as additional storage

- Rolling island will have a built in table saw and router table.

- Rolling wood storage cart

The plan is to complete part of this makeover in the next couple of weeks before the kid shows up.  I'm sure pictures will be coming!

Mutant Attack!!

February 9, 2013 - Mutant attack at work! AHH!!!

Train is a rollin' down the tracks!!

February 7, 2013 - We put the wooden train that I had as a child up above the window on the cornice board! It looks awesome! It will stay there until the kid is ready to play with it, as that is what a train is for right?

February 6, 2013

February 6, 2013 -  Not much to say today.  Yogi is very much ready for bed and not amused by my bed time energy..

Bonus Video!

Bonus video as I wanted to test how adding video to the blog would work..

Seems like uploading to YouTube and posting here is going to be the best process... Blogger's video upload would work but I think that ends up using up my free space...

Daily Pic 2/5/13

February 5, 2013 - Today Courtney and I met my Sister and Michael at Johnny Rockets and then went to see Zero Dark Thirty.. Overall an enjoyable evening!

Bucky Balls - Troll

So, I feel like I should put more about today then just my picture. Although there isn't much to tell.. We had our final pre-pregnancy class tonight and also purchased the rest of the stuff on our registry that we feel we 'needed' before the baby gets here. We're getting close and I am getting pretty excited!

Anyways, It's getting late and I'm an old man when it comes to sleep during the work week. Onto the picture!

February 4, 2013 - One of the engineers on my team decided to write Troll on my office wall with Bucky Balls. Seeing as this was the most unique part of my day, it is today's picture.

GLORIOUS!

Picture A Day Catch Up Post!

The very exciting dump post of my other Project 365 daily pictures! My first 13 photos that pre-dated this blog..

From the Start!

**Excuse any typos or grammar fails as I had to write this up really fast**

January 21, 2013 - This was day # 1 for me! It is also my Dad's birthday! Here is a picture of me being very excited with my pops at this birthday celebration!

January 22, 2013 - This is my Dew-Rubik's Tower that I created at work. It spoke to me.

January 23, 2013 - Here I am with my "getting out of control" beard after I gave a presentation on a new product that we have. Exciting right?

January 24, 2013 - I believe the free app of the day on Amazon App Store was some photo effects app. I was playing with it and here is the resulting pic.. Not too impressed with the effect but eh...

January 25, 2013 - Here is the beast, Yogi! He is a giant, loving, and slobbery dude who loves the snow!

January 26, 2013 - This was my first, and hopefully last, almost miss on my picture a day.. I realized at about Midnight that I hadn't set a picture for the day and had to use one that I took earlier (ON THAT SAME DAY!) of one of the boards to shelves we purchased and I was trying to put together.. Long story short, the board was cracked when I opened the box and we returned them.. So, a close one but I think technically I'm good since the picture was taken on that day.

January 27, 2013 - Here are the replacement shelves that I put together and Courtney loaded up and decorated. Office is looking pretty good now!

January 28, 2013 - I took our griddle to work and began making grilled Cajun turkey and Cheese sandwiches for lunch.. They are delicious! This is a picture to show how my sandwich started to melt and burn through the 'green' plates we have at work.. Not impressed

January 29, 2013 - This is Dexter, he is one of the sweetest and most pathetic dogs you will ever meet. And he is an attention whore.. Possibly our fault in how we raised him but I refuse to accept all of the blame.. Seriously though, he is a great dog..

January 30, 2013 - Here is my setup for making grilled Cajun Turkey and Cheese sandwiches.. Man are they good! Completely changes the whole "brown bagin' it" lunch approach!

January 31, 2013 - Another picture of Dexter, here he is starting to look pathetic.. Note the slightly drooped ears and concerned look in his eyes.. I think he plays us for fools..

February 1, 2013 - It is Friday! That means $5 growler fill ups at Sun King Brewery along with free taste testing of their current brews.. Always a good time and a solid way to spend your lunch break!

February 2, 2013 - Today is Shower #2 for Courtney and the baby! This one was thrown by my parents and Sister. So my Dad, my parents dog Sadie, and Brother escaped to my house to watch the movie Dredd.. It was a pretty good action movie!