Wednesday, May 14th, 2014

HAPPY 10 MONTH BIRTHDAY NOLAN :)

I can't believe that it's been 10 months already since our little guy joined us on July 14th, 2013. 

He's been growing so much!  Recently he has learned to clap, which he does often when he is happy.  He has been crawling like a champion for quite some time now.  He can pull himself up to standing, and he can cruise around as long as he has an object to hold on.  He can even stand in place independently without holding on... I've seen him do that for probably 30 seconds at a time.  He still hasn't taken a step without holding on to something yet, but it probably won't be long before he is walking!

Today I picked him up from daycare since Elizabeth has to work late for a conference.  I fed him some "Broccoli, carrots, and cheese" baby food.  It sounded good when I bought it, but it really seemed pretty gross when I warmed it up.  Nolan seemed ok with it, and he probably ate 5 oz of the 6 oz jar.  I'm telling you, a lot of the babyfood you get at the store does not seem appetizing! 

After a messy dinner, I decided to give Nolan a bath.  The picture above is from his bath yesterday.  A bath two days in a row?  What mean parents! He seems to enjoy splashing around in the water though. 

After his bath we played downstairs for a while until he started to get cranky around 7:15ish.  It was pretty obvious that he was getting tired.  Besides squawking, he was crawling around dragging his forehead on the floor... even when he is grumpy he is cute :)  So after a 7 oz bottle, he was passed out in his crib by 7:40.  Hopefully he sleeps through the night (he hasn't been very good at that the last couple of weeks).

Sunday, May 5th ,2014

Today I drove back to Ames after spending a fun weekend up in Yellow River trout fishing.  Just like last year, I took Friday off and drove up that morning with Matt Seago.  The campgrounds at Little Paint were quite full of people this year, and we had to pick a campsite other than our favorite one since it was already taken.  After meeting up with Jon Seago & Tyler and setting up our camp, we all went over to Wexford (by an old church) to try a fishing hole.  After a good chunk of time was wasted, we came back to camp... none of the four of us even had a bite.  We then tried our luck in the holes back a ways behind the Little Paint campsites with small success. I caught a nice sized brook trout, Matthew caught one rainbow, and Jon caught two rainbow trout. I also caught one small rainbow trout that I threw back.  We did get rained on for a little while at that time, but that was the only precipitation for the trip which is better that I can say for most years.  In general, this was the best weather that I have had at Yellow River.

Friday night we enjoyed a nice campfire, and we were able to cook up some trout for each of us.  It's really hard to beat fresh trout like that.  It seemed like all of the stars were out that night as well which was nice to see.

On Saturday morning, Jon and I tried to walk along the river by the equestrian trail and fish a few holes there.  We never had a bite or really saw any fish that whole time.  We then drove to another spot (I think he called it Waterville), were Jon was able to catch two rainbow trout.  We spent a good amount of time then making a fire at camp and getting lunch ready.  Matt diced up some potatoes and made really good hash browns, and we cooked up some sausage links and eggs.  Probably around 2:00 Jeremy and their dad met up with us at camp.  The Seago boys and I tried to go fishing back at another part of the equestrian trail later that afternoon.  Again, not even a bite. 

Finally we were able to catch a few fish Saturday evening.  I tried the fishing hole right next to where we normally make camp, and after a few nibbles, I was able to catch one nice sized rainbow trout.  Jon came over about the time I was getting tired of that spot and had pretty good luck himself.  He came back to camp with a stringer of 5 trout! 

To recap our fishing success, I had only 2 keepers for the weekend, Jon had 9 keepers, and Matt had one.  Tyler had some fish as well, but I'm not sure how many.  The Wexford and equestrian sites did not seem very productive, but the ones right by camp were the best.  Waterville seemed alright as well. 

Here is a picture showing the difference between rainbow trout, brook trout, and brown trout:

Sunday, April 20th, 2014

Nolan turned 9 months old on the 14th, and had his 9-month photo shoot today:

Friday, April 18th, 2014

Some people are under the belief that it is wrong to eat meat on Fridays during lent, but I am not one of them.  I love meat, and I will eat it when I want!  Maybe it's because I grew up on a beef farm, or maybe it's just because meat is just so darn tasty... but today I had a craving to make some bacon cheeseburgers for supper, and they were delicious!  The weather this afternoon warmed up to the mid-60's which made it very comfortable to be grilling outside :)

Ingredients for supper... hamburger patties, thick cut bacon, and supplies for green bean casserole.

Burgers on the grill!

Eat me!

Nolan enjoyed a sippy cup of apple juice.

Sunday, April 13th, 2014

Last night was so much fun!  We attended the 8th annual Cy's House of Trivia event at Hilton Coliseum along with Tim Nevins, Lydia Metzger, Mike & Jamie O'Donnell, and Trevor & Amanda Huisman.  This was the third year that Elizabeth and I have been to the event.  Our team name was "Cyclone Power Hour", and we did celebratory shots of beer with each of the "Cyclone Celebrities" that stopped by our table.  We were lucky enough to have Fred Hoiberg sit at our table for the last round!  We also had quarterback's coach Todd Sturdy and head women's basketball coach Bill Fennelly sit at our table.

I had plenty of time to have a conversation with coach Hoiberg while he was at our table, and that was the highlight of my night!  I asked him what was the most free throws he has ever made in a row, and his response was something like "well once I got board after 500, so I just stopped counting".  I also asked him about next year's Big 12/SEC challenge opponent, and he said that nothing was final, but he did request to play either Kentucky or Florida.  He was very nice in person and spent plenty of time taking pictures and signing autographs for everyone.

Coach Hoiberg!

Elizabeth and myself with Seneca Wallace!!

Here Elizabeth and Jamie pose with "Iowa Nice Guy" Scott Siepker.

Tim with coach Rhoads

Bill Fennelly and Elizabeth... the pose makes them look like a cute couple :)

Elizabeth with ISU Athletic Director Jamie Pollard.

Jeff Woody

Sunday, March 23rd, 2014

IOWA STATE ADVANCES TO THE SWEET 16!!

I am so proud of this Cyclone team this year!  A lot has transpired since my last blog post.  First on Friday Iowa State defeated North Carolina Central 93-75 to advance to the round of 32.  The win proved costly however as the Cyclones lost Georges Niang for the rest of the season with a fractured 5th metatarsal.  Then today Iowa State found a way to win without possibly their best offensive player as they beat the North Carolina Tar Heels, 85-83.  In the end, DeAndre Kane was the hero for Iowa State.  With the game tied, Kane drove the lane and banked in the game-winner with less than 2 seconds remaining.  He finished the game with 24 points and 10 rebounds. 

DeAndre Kane shooting the game winner to beat North Carolina!

Today we also had a couple of visitors stop by.  First my old college roommate Jerome stopped by and got to meet Nolan.  Then Amy stopped in since she was driving back to her place from Davenport.  Amy stayed to watch the game with us and have supper.  Maybe she is a good luck charm... we might have to watch all the tournament games with her from now on! 

Yesterday, Elizabeth and I took Nolan to watch the ISU women play in the NCAA tournament.  Sadly, they played pretty poorly and lost to Florida State.  Still, it was a fun weekend of basketball for us Cyclone fans! 

P.S. If you are keeping track, Nolan is now 36 weeks old!

Jamie, Maddie, Elizabeth, and Nolan pose with Cy at the woman's game yesterday.

Nolan's ear muffs keep him happy and safe from all of the loud noise at the game :)

Jerome and I with Nolan.

Aunt Amy!!

Sunday, March 16th, 2014

SELECTION SUNDAY!!  One of my favorite days of the year.  The questions regarding Iowa State's position in the NCAA tournament that I have been wondering for months have finally been answered!  Iowa State is a 3-seed and will face 14-seed...

Public Enemy #1: North Carolina Central Eagles
North Carolina Central is a small college located in Durham, North Carolina.  The Eagles play in the MEAC conference (Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference).  This will be the school's first ever appearance in the NCAA tournament. 
 

 It's worth noting that Iowa State has met up with a team from the MEAC in the tournament once before... and it was one of the darkest days in Cyclone athletics history.  In 2001, the 15 seed Hampton Pirates upset #2 seeded Iowa State.

Overall, this has been a great basketball season for Iowa State. 
I count a total of 9 teams that made the big dance this year that Iowa State has defeated:

• Kansas - South #2 
• Oklahoma - West #5
• Baylor - West #6... ISU beat them twice
• Oklahoma State - West #9... ISU beat them twice
• BYU - West #10
• Michigan - Midwest #2
• Texas - Midwest #7
• Kansas State - Midwest #9... ISU beat them twice
• Iowa - Midwest #11 (play-in game)

 Hopefully if Iowa State defeats North Carolina Central (and they should), the Cyclones would then face the winner between the North Carolina Tar Heels (6-seed) and the Providence Friars (11-seed).