One, one, one!!!

Yes, time has flown, and Bacchus turned one just the other day. It was a low-key affair, being on a Monday, and that was just fine for us. He had cake for the first time, which he seemed to enjoy, and I'll try to get some pictures on here soon. He had a good one year well-baby checkup, and is still in the 80% on height and weight. Let's see...what else...Nana Louie and Grampa Gary came down to visit the weekend before his birthday, allowing Drew and I to attend a wedding in Hermann, MO. Believe it or not (or probably, believe it, because many of you haven't seen us in awhile), it was the first time Drew and I left him at home and went out of town. After a year. It sounds pretty sad when I actually type the words, but it's really not. Bacchus is just the kind of kid you want to take with you wherever you go. He likes doing pretty much everything that we do, so taking him with is just fun. That is not to say that Drew and I didn't enjoy time alone...because we did. And I only called home to check on him three times. That's not too bad, right?

Let's see...development-wise...he has eight teeth, and has been crawling and cruising for a while (seems like forever). He's experimenting with shoes, and looks like he's THINKING about taking some steps here in the near future. His hair is finally grown long enough to look unkempt at times, and he drools more than I thought was humanly possible. He's eating table food for the most part, and we've started experimenting with different diluted juices and things, in addition to his whole milk. So far the only thing he's literally taken out of his mouth instead of swallowing is broccoli. He seems to pretty much like everything else. We had a rough patch of a few days after his shots at his well-baby check, but last night things were back to normal...sleeping peacefully all night. I think he has a little bit of a cold, which probably didn't help things.

Grandpa Lemberger and Uncle Paul have been visiting with us since Friday, trying to hunt deer here on the property. So far, no one has been successful. It's too warm, or something.

For Thanksgiving, I believe we're heading to Kearney-town, where we can spend some quality time with all the family who can make it. Drew will also be heading to Colorado for some hunting with friends for several days after the holiday, and Bacchus and I will hang out in Kearney while he's gone. I have to facilitate a training session in Rolla the end of the following week, and will stay there for two days, so Bacchus will most likely stay in Kearney with the folks until that's done. Should be interesting!

That's it for now. Pictures soon, I promise. Take care, all!

More random pictures

Jackie, Gretchen and I had a good time at the Rocheport General Store...

Bacchus looks somewhat innocent after successfully pulling Aunt Marie's hair out of it's ponytail.

Big boys sittin' on the couch together

Bacchus wears Grampa Gary's hat with panache.

Smily Smilestein!!

Crush Festival, Renewable Energy Expo

Les Bourgeois Crush Festival, 2007Baby Bacchus preparing for the grape stomp at the Crush Festival (toga and laurel wreath courtesy of Nana Louie). We're not going to show you the picture of his face when we actually put him in with the grapes, but it is available upon request. Let's just say that he wasn't digging the squishiness.

Here Bacchus relaxes with a few Cheerios, having braved the grape-stomp experience for approximately 15 seconds.

Hey, everybody! C'mon in! The bubbles are awesome!

See, everybody? This one is just to show you that he is not always photogenic.
Watch out, folks!! Here I come!

Last weekend was one of our busiest weekends of the year, so far. The Renewable Energy Expo took place in the fields behind our house on Saturday and Sunday, and the Crush Festival at the winery took place on Saturday. Mom and Dad Marchbank, along with Aunt Barb, came to the festivities. A good time was had by all!

Bacchus started crawling a few weeks ago, and pulling up, and "cruising" (which here means moving along pieces of furniture while standing up, NOT doing what some high officials do in airport bathrooms). He has entered a whole new world of hitting his head on things, crawling so fast he face-plants, and learning about gravity. He has three teeth coming in on the top (one already came in, causing Drew to call him "snaggle tooth"). All in all, he's a pretty happy kid, teething and all. He has been getting up disturbingly early these days, but this morning, broke the 6:00 a.m. barrier, much to my relief. 4:45 a.m. is just TOO early, and I'm a morning person in general.

Drew and I will start renovations on the Rocheport property, having been approved by Planning and Zoning, the Rocheport City Council, paying a fee to the city, and obtaining the proper license. Good times. I'm pretty tired of the process, and we haven't actually started yet!

Hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful weather...

Whew!

Ok...so it's been awhile! Part of that time we can attribute to our trusty old computer crashing...but the rest, chalk it up to having a 10 month old. Bacchus is growing like a weed, and learning something new all the time! Within the last month, he learned to crawl, pull up, wave "hi" and "goodbye", do the 'How big is the baby? Soooo big', and babble a variety of sounds. Just yesterday he started saying "hi, daddy", which comes out as "hah, dada". I'm not convinced that he knows what he is saying yet, but Drew is. :)

Crush started weeks ago, so the Les Bourgeois crew has been pretty busy lately, working some weekends. They purchased a new bottling line, which has had Drew in fits recently, trying to work the kinks out. He's done a few sunset cruises lately, which has been nice.

My office just opened up a sub-office across the street from where I was, which is called the Reentry Opportunity Center (or the ROC. Heh.) It's focused on helping clients obtain employment, get their GED, or improve their family lives. I don't facilitate the classes, but am merely a presence if needed. Basically, it means that I moved from an office of about 50 people, to an office of 4. All women, who get along. Amazing!

Bacchus woke up today at about 4:00 a.m., and has been intermittently crying, which is the reason for this early morning post (it's actually 5:09 a.m. here). He is apparently only wanting to fuss when both Drew and I are in bed and trying to sleep. My being awake is apparently all it took for him to settle back to sleep. Today might be a two-cupper day in the coffee world.

Other than what is listed above, we haven't really been doing much else here. Drew is attending the planning and zoning meeting in Rocheport tonight, to get approval for the changes we want to complete on the new/old Rocheport house. Should be interesting. Let the porch demolition begin!

I was going to post some pictures, however that doesn't seem to be an option this morning. It HAS been awhile since I posted, and the format has changed. Jessica, any help?

Take care everyone!

First song!

Bacchus sang his first song last night! He was following Drew, who was singing "Ya ya ya ya, ba ba ba ba". Today he's still saying the words, and sometimes with a "mam" thrown in for good measure. He also does this with his tongue turned sideways in his mouth (I can't do it), which looks pretty funny. The cuteness pretty much balances out the fact that he woke up at 4:45 this morning!!

We have his 9 month check up today. This will be the first one without shots, which is good, because Drew is crushing grapes, and probably won't make it to the appointment. (He usually handles the shot part while I go make the next appointment!)

Within the last few days, he has learned how to sit up from being on his belly on the floor. He's still SO CLOSE to crawling, but mostly gets around by rolling or scooting. He likes to watch the morning news with me (I think he thinks the heat graphic on the weather report is 'pretty').

Well, it's time to get to work!

New pics, as promised!

This is Drew and Curtis pulling in to the finish line, after 79 hours and 4 minutes...

Drew was tired, but excited to see Bacchus!

Drew and Curtis receiving their medals, along with Mark, the crewman.

It was hot, but we survived!

This was a picture of Bacchus doing a push-up that somehow disappeared after I'd posted it.

Mission Accomplished!!!

Since the last post, our lives have been consumed with the Missouri River 340, which is the worlds longest non-stop canoe/kayak race, from Kansas City, Kansas, to St. Charles, MO. Drew and Curtis Bourgeois participated, finishing yesterday, in a time of 79 hours and 4 minutes. There is a website you can check out, which has all the relevant info, for those who are interested. It was quite an undertaking, and I'm happy to say that it's over. Here's a copy of my final update, just sent a few minutes ago...
"

On 7/28/07, Sara Lemberger wrote:

Sorry to keep you all in suspense!! We (mom, Bacchus and I) traveled to St. Charles yesterday, to surprise Drew at the finish line of the MIssouri 340. Drew had estimated that he and Curtis would be paddling in between 4:00 and 5:00 p.m., but we got to the boat ramp early just to be safe...which was great, because they found a burst of energy at the end, fueled by another tandem team passing them several miles back. They paddled hard, covering 20 miles in only two hours!!!! They finished the race officially at 3:04 p.m., with a total time of 79 hours and 4 minutes. Whew!!!!

Drew and Curtis were tired and travel weary, but enjoyed sitting with a bottle of champagne and telling stories about the race. There was a reporter (from the Columbia Missourian, I think), who had interviewed them pre-race, at several of the checkpoints, and who arrived in St. Charles after the finish. She will have audio clips, as well as a slideshow on the Missourian website (I'm not sure exactly when). We are so proud of their accomplishment! The conquering hero is still sleeping right now. I THINK he took his medal off before bed, but can't be sure!! :)

Please forward this to anyone who was getting the original emails that is not on this list. I'm writing from home, and don't have all the addresses that I had before. Thanks everyone, for your support over the past week, for Drew and me...I have new respect for single mothers...

Love, The Reunited Lemberger Family

We have tons of pictures, and I'll be uploading them as soon as possible.

Gotta go...Drew is sleeping, and Bacchus is fussing...

July 11th, 2007

Sorry it's been so long since I posted! We've been fairly busy here, as everyone has been, I imagine! Let me see if I can summarize:

We purchased the house in Rocheport on 06-15-07, and for awhile, were busy with demolition. We are now to the point that Rocheport Planning and Zoning needs to approve our plans for the outside changes to the house, and that could take until next month's meeting. Drew went to a meet and greet last night, but got side-tracked by plans for a new boat ramp in Rocheport. Which leads us to the next item on our agenda...the Missouri 350.

The Missouri 350 is a kayak/canoe race from Kansas City to St. Charles on the Missouri river. It's touted as the longest race of it's kind in the world. It takes place from July 24th through the 28th. Drew and his boss (Curtis) have signed up, and Drew has been busy building the kayak for the last several weeks. It's nearing completion, and then they will start training, and then will participate in the race. They have 100 hours to make the trip, while stopping at eight or nine mandatory checkpoints along the way. Anyone interested in being in the "support crew" should call us...the support team meets the team at the various checkpoints along the way, supplying food, water, and God forbid, medical care. I think my parents are going to be helping in Kansas City, and will hopefully then drive to Columbia to keep Bacchus and me company for the rest of the trip. I think "basket case" may adequately describe how I might be feeling during that time!!

I've been busy at work, getting ready to transition into a new building that will host GED and various other classes every day. For me, it means moving from a building with 100 people, to an office with three other people. It should be considerably quieter, and more productive. I've been making a lot of jewelry during quiet moments at home, and selling it for extra spending money. It's not much, but it keeps me busy.

I've been thinking a lot lately about my friend, Kathy, who died last summer from a brain tumor. We are approaching the year anniversary of her death, and I'm still having a lot of trouble dealing with that. Part of that is guilt that I haven't seen her husband, Shawn, or her son, Lucas during the past year, having been caught up in my own family, for one, and not knowing what to say to him, also. Yesterday, as I was cleaning out my office, in preparation for the move, I glanced through my 2005 calendar (yes, I keep them, just for this purpose), and saw all the casual "dinner with Kathy" notations, that took place before she got sick. There weren't nearly enough of them. Not like the old days, when we got together at Booches, our favorite bar several times a week. We grew up, and she was pregnant in '05, and all of our lives started changing. Gather ye rosebuds, people...

Well, that's it for now. I woke up at 4:30 this morning, thinking about all the things that have been nagging at me lately, begging to be done, and I decided that updating this site could be easily taken off the list. (Check)

I hope everyone is having a wonderful day. Oh, shoot. I forgot to mention Bacchus, and this is, after all, his blog. So, in a nutshell, he's doing great. He has been toying with words, mostly "Ba ba" and "ma ma", but in a whisper now, instead of out loud. Maybe he's trying them out? He's up on his hands and knees, rocking back and forth, but instead of getting his legs moving in a forward motion, he collapses like a bad souffle. Jessica said that Grayson did that for what seemed like a few months before crawling. I can wait! I'm patient! We're having some general fussiness in the evenings, and I think that bedtime is creeping slowly sooner each night. He's sleeping longer in the mornings, for sure, and hasn't woken up during the night for several weeks. He is much smilier in the mornings (much like me!), and we enjoy several minutes waking Drew up in the morning before we head off to Columbia. I'm not sure Drew enjoys that as much as we do, but it gives me a chance to run in the kitchen and make my sandwich to take to work, or do some dishes, etc.

So THAT's all from here. I miss you guys! (Whoever reads this...and I'm fairly sure that if you're reading this on a regular basis, you would be someone I would like to see more often!)

Rainy day

Grandma and Grandpa Lemberger visited us last weekend, and we all had a great time. They treated us to lunch at the bistro, to celebrate their 38th wedding anniversary! The last two pictures were taken this evening (you can see his teeth on the portrait, as well as red, "tired baby" eyes!). What a beautiful boy! Drew has been off for the past two weeks, working on the house and generally not being at work. I've taken off a few days here and there, to help out. I spent yesterday scraping off the first four layers of wallpaper in the dining room, leaving about two more to go. Demolition is going pretty well! That's all from here...

Morning exercises

Mom took these while visiting us last weekend. He's so strong!! Maybe he'll skip crawling, and go straight to weightlifting.

"Baby fish mouth!!"

Well, we closed on the Rocheport house on 06-15-07...went relatively smoothly. Drew and I spent the rest of the day down at the new property, joined by Mom and Dad mid-day. On Saturday, Drew ripped the rotten floorboards off the front porch, while Dad and I ripped the carpet out of the living room. Several friends joined us in the late afternoon, and then we had Drew's party at the A-frame. It was a nice time, but hot, and Baby B and I went home at 7:30 to cool off and go to bed early. Bacchus had a really fussy day on Sunday. I don't think he was napping well, and may have had some teething issues, combined with the ridiculous heat and humidity. I was also probably not hydrated enough, which I think has affected my milk production. It was a rough day all around.

Drew and I predict that he will be crawling by the end of the week. He is getting so strong! Mom got a picture of him in the push-up position, which he can hold for several seconds. Last night, he also started imitating me, to some extent. I was saying "Ba, ba, ba", and first, he started opening and closing his mouth like a fish (which was hilarious...oh my gosh "Baby fish mouth!!"- a funny line from When Harry Met Sally), but at the end, he would throw in a few "bas". He also said "ma ma" once, but I don't think it was on purpose. Drew pretended to be really offended that he would say "ma ma" for the first time on Father's Day.

Rocheport house pics

This is the house we're closing the deal on day after tomorrow. I hadn't been inside since our initial walk-through, and it's amazing how your mind can distort things over time! Some rooms were much smaller than I remember, and I don't remember the floor being so uneven. It's still beautiful, though, and we're really excited to start working on it.

Steve "tagged" me, for real this time

I'm supposed to come up with seven facts about me that aren't generally known, so here they are, in no particular order:

1. When I read the local newspaper, I am (sometimes) compelled to keep reading until I read the name of someone I know. This is usually pretty easy if I just look at the local arrests from the day before.

2. I was once invited to throw out the first pitch at a Kansas City Royals game, because it was United Methodist day, and I was the president of the Methodist Youth of Western Missouri. I turned it down, because mom and dad were out of town, Steve wasn't home, and I didn't know how to get to Kauffman Stadium. ( I was in high school, and really shy.)

3. I didn't have any imaginary childhood friends, or boogie men that I was afraid of, or anything like that (that I recall), but I did have an older brother who would torment me, which leads me to

4. One of Steve's friends started calling me "Back-seat Sara" in high school (even though I was a "good girl" until my mid-20s), because Steve would make me ride in the back seat of his car when taking me too and from school. Just because.

5. I can't stand the word "phlegm", or any derivative of the word, and the noise even makes me vomit just a little bit.

6. When I was about 12 or 13, I went to this ultra-Christian camp with my best friend, and all of the counselors had bird names. My counselor's name was Pecker. For real. And I was the only person who thought it was funny.

7. I pretend to be grossed out whenever Bachhus spits up on me, but I secretly smell it later, and think it smells pretty good. (Eewww, I know.)

Baby update: He has another tooth coming in on the bottom, and is ON THE MOVE. He isn't crawling yet, but he can stick his butt really high up in the air, and slide forward on his face, or he alternately will raise himself up on his arms, and his whole body slides backward. Once he puts two and two together, we'd better watch out. He's rolling to get from point A to point B now, and we've had to start baby-proofing. He bonked his head on the fireplace bricks over the weekend, and they are now covered in pillows.

We're closing on the Rocheport house on Friday. I'm peeved at the mortgage company, because they "forgot" to lock our interest rate in 40 days ago, and now the rate is 6.75 (instead of the 6.25 we did the initial paperwork with). I called them today, and they are going to "do their best" to get us 6.5. I told the lady that I was confident that she could do better, either rate wise or by knocking off some of the closing costs, and for her to think about it and call us back tomorrow. I was polite, but firm, and expressed my displeasure about the situation. (Dad, I think you would have been proud of me. I was ASSERTIVE.) Drew said that he thought we didn't have a choice but to go through with the closing on Friday, but I think there is ALWAYS a choice.

Anyhoo, that's it from here. Looking forward to seeing Mom and Dad on Friday/Saturday, and celebrating Drew's birthday, the house closing, and Father's Day all at once. To anyone reading this that I haven't talked to, we are having somewhat of a party at the A-frame on Saturday night. We've reserved a pavillion, and there will be live music (there is some other event going on with several bands, so there is a cover charge to get in that night). Hope to see everyone there!

Scooting!...er...kind of...

On Friday, the sitter warned me that when I put Bacchus on the floor, I should expect that he will not stay in the same place. "Oh, is he crawling?"- me, "No..."-sitter (whose name is Sarah, btw). "Is he doing the 'soldier crawl'?"- me, "No, not exactly"- Sarah. Ummm... yeah. So what's he doing? Well, on his tummy, he's pushing up pretty strongly with his arms, which causes his body to move backwards very slightly. You can't even really tell that he's doing it (moving), because it's just a little bit at a time. Maybe I can take a time lapse video of it, or something. So, he's moving. Albeit backwards, at a very slow pace. But movement is movement, and we're very excited! He's also big on the "fake cough", and still smiling at anything that moves. What a great kid!

We're going to set up the pack-n-play in our bedroom, for naptimes, as we can no longer trust him on the king sized-bed ( even though it would take him an entire nap time to push his way to the edge).

We went to the Rocheport General Store last night, to grab dinner and listed to a jazz duo (sax and guitar). We've heard the same duo before, and they're pretty good. Bacchus was totally mellow, and appeared to like the music, as we were able to stay an hour past his normal bedtime, with no fussing or problems.

Well, that's it from here. A belated happy birthday to Nana Louie, who celebrated yesterday with family in KC. Love you, mom!

Well, Baby B just woke up, so I'm off to start my day!

Pics from Memorial Day weekend

These pictures were really great...actually three different naps, on Saturday. Then, Bacchus playing with Grandap Gary, and Drew and Bacchus after we got back on Monday night.

Memorial Day Weekend...with teeth!

Bacchus and I had a great time visiting Mom and Dad over the weekend. Uncle Steve and Aunt Delara were also there, with Uncle Josh and Courtney, too. We played Catch Phrase on Saturday night, and watched a movie on Sunday night. Drew stayed in Rocheport for a sunset cruise that had been booked, but ended up being rained out. He really missed a fun time. One of my favorite moments was looking up to see Delara, Steve, Josh and Dad, ALL fiddling with their laptops. To quote Kip on Napoleon Dynamite..."I really love technology". We capped off the weekend by finding that Bacchus had a tooth breaking through on the bottom, and Steve said one is coming on the top as well. There were some tears (mostly Bacchus'), and one trip to town for baby Orajel (thanks, Grandpa Gary!). He was fussy all day yesterday, too, but today seems back to his normal self. Thank goodness!

Jacob and Jan Carla's wedding day 05-20-07

General pictures from the wedding day. Bacchus had a great time, as did we all!

Smiley babies are the best!

Thank goodness Bacchus is smiley most of the time!!!!

Drew's new baby...

Drew has been working on this timber frame gazebo for weeks...it looks so beautiful on the wedding site! I tried to take a picture of Bacchus next to it, so you could get an idea of scale, but the camera battery pooped out. I'll take some tomorrow at the wedding. I can't wait! And I'm so glad Drew is not going to be staying out in his workshop until 3:00 a.m. anymore! (At least this week, for those of you who know Drew:)

05-18-07 pics, Bacchus and Poppies

Baby Fight Club II: The Wrath of Bacchus

For the last three nights, the kicking has been back full force. Last night, for the first time in weeks and weeks, he needed to be fed in the middle of the night. I'm guessing it's another growth spurt. Other than that, nothing is really new here. Our friends Jacob and Jan Carla are getting married in the fields beyond the farm house on Sunday, and Drew has been building a timber-framed gazebo for the ceremony to take place in. I'll have pictures when it's up. They are having a "barn-raising" this afternoon to erect the structure on the wedding site, which should be pretty interesting! Maybe I'll take pictures of that, too.

My sitter had the day off today, so we're at home, kickin' it infant style. I think Bacchus and I will got for a walk on the trail later, if it's not off-limits. The flood water never breached the trail, but it's still right up to the concrete barrier they erected and fortified with sand bags last week.

Hope everyone is having a fantabulous Friday!

Mmmmmm....carrots!

Bacchus had his first non-breastmilk or formula foods tonight...carrots. The word that best describes his expression most of the time was "concerned". He didn't seem totally opposed to the idea of the weird orange stuff, but was wary. Not that this stopped him from eating, of course! He got a good few tablespoons worth of it down, and then washed it down with good old milk. We'll see how his tummy reacts!

I was thinking today about how this time, right now, is probably the easiest time, parenting wise. He doesn't crawl or roll over yet, so he stays where I put him, and he's sleeping 10 hours a night, which has allowed me to catch up on some much needed sleep. I have a feeling that when he becomes mobile, I'll never get a moment's peace! I'm sure enjoying life right now...:)

and more...

Gretchen, Lara and I after singing in Amie's wedding this past weekend in Lee's Summit

Bacchus giving Oscar Bomgaars a special greeting

He pulls them off my face all the time!

This one's for you, Uncle Steve! I'm afraid he's going to outgrow this outfit before football season even starts!