Oh, the craziness!

Finally, we're emerging from our move-, graduation-, sleep-deprivation-induced cocoon, which we've been in for the last week or so. After returning from our time spent in Green Lake and Madison with Mark's family and the night in Reedsburg with my fam for Steph's reception, we had barely enough presence of mind to start packing up and get ready to move Thursday evening and Friday. My parents were nice enough to take a few days off of work and (possibly) crazy enough to stay on our futon during all the chaos to help us move. Originally, we were supposed to have two apartments starting Thursday evening, so they wouldn't have to deal with being the same one-bedroom as a screaming Dane at night, but the previous tenant in our new apt moved out late, moving all the cleaning, repair and painting back as well. Hence, we all got to spend a very busy evening moving things downstairs to the center of each room, then a very long night as Dane had his normal meltdowns before and after feedings. Fortunately, my folks were able to get out a bit and enjoy the Taste of Wheaton, which was happening the weekend they were around. They had dinner and saw a cool car exhibit, along with being shocked at the $4.15 price tag for a pastry at L'Anne. Yes, we're definitely aware that we're not in WI anymore!

The next morning we all got up pretty early and started another long day of moving. Fortunately, we had a bit of help from Tim Meisenheimer, so my dad and Mark weren't the only ones around to carry the big stuff. We had some very sore muscles by the time Mark's mom arrived, bearing lunch, which was a good break for all of us. After lunch, Mark's brother and grandmas also arrived, which was fun. They got some time in singing Swedish songs to and just doting on Dane, which he seemed to be entranced by. It was nice to have him occupied so we could finish up the moving stuff. That evening, after everyone left, Mark and I were able to run out for a 15 minute Target date while my folks watched the babe. He had another really hard night, which made Saturday kind of a blur for us. Mark had an honors ceremony, which we decided to go to alone, as we had no other time for a celebration for just the two of us as we hit this big milestone in our family's life. It was a good break, and I was very proud to see him honored for his hard work.

We then rushed back to the apartment to get read for dinner with Mark's parents and numerous friends and relatives who made a special trip to celebrate the big day with us. We had a wonderful dinner at Weber Grill, one of Mark's favorites. It was incredibly nerve-wracking, as it was Dane's first time at a restaurant. All I could think about, in my sleep-deprived/moving-exhausted state, was that I needed to keep him from bawling. I didn't want to be THAT MOM, the one whose child is sobbing while those around, trying to enjoy a special dinner, are thinking, "Really?! You needed to bring a newborn?" Dane did have a number of tantrums, but because we had him in his carseat, he was much calmer and the crying was a little more controlled. For future reference - baby-changing tables, even in nice restaurants, are kind of gross. I was glad to have brought my own stuff to change him on!

Following dinner, we headed home again, for yet another 2-hours-of-sleep night with Dane. We aren't sure why he's struggling so much, but the pattern of his crying lately suggests that he has colic. We're trying a couple of homeopathic remedies, which we're not sure are working, but are willing to give anything that will lessen the hours of crying each night.

We awoke bright and early to get ready for our big celebration the next day, Mark's graduation ceremony at Navy Pier. We were worried about time, as we had a large group and wanted to get good seats for everyone, so we got there over an hour early. This meant that Dane's feeding schedule was off, and I ended up having to feed him during the ceremony. Fortunately, Mark's administrator from school suggested I sit up in the balcony, which was much more private and allowed Dane to make some noise without disrupting the other audience. It was a nice set-up, as my mom helped me watch him so I could take a video of the ceremony. I got almost all of it, but in our busyness in the last few days, we forgot to charge the video camera, so I had to keep running back to the bathroom during the non-vital moments and charge the camera. Mark did a great job, not a single stumble and Dane was so proud of him that as he exited the stage, our little one did a big one in his diaper, managing to get stuff all the way up to his armpits. Good thing we had him in multiple layers! After the ceremony, we mingled with everyone in for the weekend, including Mark's Uncle Steve, both his grandmas, his mom, dad and brother, and my parents. We managed to take quite a number of pictures and I know I'll always love the ones of my two boys, Dane and his proud Dad, now a doctor. It's crazy!

Things have been slowing down a tiny bit for the last couple days, letting us recuperate, and while it was our anniversary yesterday, there was too much on our minds to really enjoy it, or even have energy to celebrate. We're planning on doing something fun in a month or two, when Dane is big enough to get a babysitter for an evening. Then we'll take the time to look back on our two years together, and all the things that led us to where we are now. We're both bracing for the next year as Mark is an intern (he was at ACLS training all day today), but then very excited for what lies ahead, as we'll finally start to have a little more choice about what our life looks like.