25 Random Things

There is this "forward" of sorts going around on facebook right now where people write 25 random things about themselves. I don't normally participate in things like this, but I have learned so much about other people and have gotten so many laughs that I had to take part and so did Jake. So here are our lists of 25 random things about ourselves and just for fun I created one on Ethan.

Becky:

1. I have posed for nude portraits with a professional photographer (maternity pics). I have the pic on our bedroom wall and not afraid to show anyone.
2. I was working in a pharmacy when it was robbed, totally scary!
3. I have delivered a baby in the back of an ambulance.
4. I have held a dead child in my arms, the worst thing in the world!
5. I have saved several peoples life.
6. I think the only thing better in the world than being a wife and mother is being a medic!!!
7. I absolutely hated living in Florida at first, but now can't imagine life anywhere else!
8. I have a dream to open a children's museum in Gainesville.
9. I was at the bedside of my grandmother when she passed away, and so thankful that I was there for such a beautiful moment.
10. I believe my grandparents are my angels and make random appearances to let me know that "I will be ok".
11. I attended a political rally when in college and got to see President Clinton.
12. I love working out and have been blessed with the 2 greatest personal trainers (Eric and Carlos) in the world that have truly changed my life! They have made working out fun and helped me to see that it really isn't that hard.
13. I hate raisins...yuck!!
14. I can't eat ribs because they look too much like human ribs and that freaks me out (yeah, I'm weird)!
15. I'm totally addicted to geocaching and love our new family activity (thanks to Jared)!
16. I watched all 10 seasons of Friends (in order) after Ethan was born.
17. My dog is named after a drug (Visken).
18. I drive a BMW.
19. I LOVE Thai and Indian food!
20. I have been to several Gator games in the Swamp!
21. I can make a mean chicken noodle soup (just like Grandma's), that my husband usually asks for when he is sick. :-)
22. I am a certified flight paramedic!
23. I have a bachelor's degree in chemistry.
24. I never had a lot of girlfriends until I became a mom. Sorry guys, I love you for always making me laugh and helping me see that life doesn't have to be so serious but when it comes to being a mom...you really don't have a clue!
25. I have serious pregnancy brain and am more afraid of not getting my brain than my body back!

Jake:

1. There is nothing in the world more important to me than Becky and Ethan.
2. As a pharmacist, I am OCD.
3. I have accepted a job and applied for a new job, in the same company, before starting the job I accepted.
4. My wife always asks why we have the sound on during sporting events of any kind, because I have a tendency to say things just a couple seconds before the announcers.
5. I've worked in a casino.
6. I love my job, but am always looking for new opportunities to grow.
7. I've turned down a $50,000 sign on bonus.
8. I have an Excel spreadsheet at work that has a countdown until I'm eligible for retirement
9. The best champagne I've ever had is Cristal and I'm looking forward to sharing another bottle in April.
10. I am really, really addicted to geocaching thanks to Jared and am grateful that I live somewhere that I can do it year round.
11. As much as I love music, I never learned how to play an instrument.
12. I truly believe that everything happens for a reason.
13. I've been Catholic, Lutheran, and Methodist.
14. Living in Gainesville, I've learned to love the Florida Gators.
15. I love to cook.
16. I can't pick my favorite beach in Florida. Lover's Key? Anastasia State Park? Jax Beach? Pensacola Beach?
17. When it is 90+ degrees for 5 straight months, I sometimes miss Minnesota.
18. When it is 80 degrees on Christmas Day and I'm on the beach, I don't miss Minnesota.
19. I love coffee. There is none better than Peets.
20. I love to travel.
21. I got through pharmacy school with remarkably little studying thanks to a great group of friends. Gotta love D&T.
22. I like eating brown sugar straight from the bag and was disappointed when Becky bought some crazy device to put in the bag to prevent it from clumping together.
23. Watching Ethan smile and laugh is one of the best simple pleasures in life.
24. Even though I know that the lottery is a tax on people who are bad at math, I still play fairly regularly.
25. I love precepting students and residents because it allows me to impact many more people than I'll ever get a chance to work with professionally.

Ethan:

1. I am OBSESSED with Thomas the Train!
2. I love Curious George, just like my mommy!
3. My favorite movies are Cars and The Bee Movie.
4. I have truly loved and had the best babysitters: Caitlin, Nikole, Jennifer, and Jamie!
5. I walked at 10.5 months...basically I haven't stopped moving since I was conceived though!
6. I use to call my dog by his name "Visken", but have decided to call him "dog" instead.
7. I call my cat "Suz".
8. I call my mom "dag-ma" and my dad is either "da" or "dag-ma".
8. I love raisins, but insist that they be Publix brand.
9. I also love pizza, grilled cheese, hot dogs, and spaghetti.
10. My current bedroom is purple (my mom says boys can like purple, look at the MN Vikings)!
11. I like riding in the car.
12. I'm going to be a big brother!
12. I love helping my mom around the house and make sure she keeps up with laundry, dishes, and sweeping and mopping. And also make sure she remembers to take care of my pets.
13. I don't understand why my parents are trying to cut my hair....I was born in Florida (not MN) and love the beach bum look!
14. I like going to Publix because I get to drive the race car shopping cart, other errands however are quite boring!
15. I love to give and get hugs, pats, and kisses!
16. I love being on the beach...a giant sandbox!
17. I recently went on a 3 week vacation with my parents and visited 12 states and lots of family and friends.
18. I hate it when my mom's belly hangs out and am constantly pulling her shirt down (I don't understand this belly, we go to the gym all the time. What does she do there?)
19. My dad introduced me to X-box and I can almost beat my mom (she's not very good)!
20. I have all girl cousins! (Samantha, Erika, Loraina, and Grace)
21. I hate taking naps, but when forced to my favorite places to nap have been the car and stroller!
22. I love my dad's chocolate milkshakes on Thursday nights
23. I love being outside, no matter what the weather is like...ok, I'm not too fond of snow!
24. I have blue eyes and I know how to use them!
25. I love snuggling with my parents in their bed...but I recently moved into my "big boy bed" and think it is pretty cool!

Illness Report

Ok, I am so completely over being sick! I have never in my life been as sick as I have been since September (not even when I took care of sick people as my full-time job)! It doesn't matter how many times I wipe down the house, wash my hands, use hand sanitizer, take vitamins, etc. The worst part about being sick is I basically can't take anything other than Tylenol, which is about as helpful to me as 2 M&Ms. I feel as if I should be in isolation until after this baby is born, so don't be offended if you don't see me until April! I missed the gym all last week because Ethan was sick and now it looks as if I will miss this week because I caught the upper respiratory crud that Ethan and Jake had last week.

August: stomach flu hits Jake
September: stomach flu hits Ethan and me
November: colds strike the entire Tillmann house
December: stomach flu AGAIN for me and Jake
January: colds strike first Ethan and Jake...now me....AGAIN!

I'm really not exaggerating how sick we have been, this is honest to God the actual report. Please pray that all of us can be healthy at the same time for longer than a week! I have so much to do before the baby arrives yet and would like to enjoy this pregnancy at some point!

Missing Grandpa...

I was blessed to have a truly unique and very special relationship with my grandparents. Not only did we live in the same town, but they babysat for Mike and I when we were growing up. My grandmother passed away May 2001, just three weeks prior to our wedding. She was an incredible woman, wife, mother, grandmother!I miss her so much and think of her everyday! This month marked the three year anniversary since loosing my grandfather. I thought as time passed it would get easier, but it doesn't and for some reason I have found myself missing my grandpa more this month than ever. I miss his "whisker rubs", the smell of him, his hankies, him teasing me, etc. etc. He could make me laugh like no other person and brought so much joy to my life.

It is funny because in little ways my grandparents make their appearance still and let me know that they are never far from me. On January 11th (the anniversary of grandpa's death), I was having a hard day and in my own little world thinking of him while Ethan was eating. I all the sudden looked over and saw Ethan feeding Visken yogurt off of a spoon. (My grandpa frequently fed dogs from the spoon, much to the disgust of the rest of us.) When I asked Ethan what he was doing he turned looked at me and smiled with that "twinkle" in his eye, that same "twinkle" his great-grandpa always had in his eyes. I had to cry and smile at the same time....

I love and miss you so much grandpa!

No matter how much time you are given with those you love it is never enough, enjoy the moments God has given you...smile, laugh, have fun, seize the day because tomorrow may never come.

The Long, But Short Week

It was a short week, since Jake had off of work on Monday in honor of Martin Luther King Day, but seemed o' so long! Ethan and Jake have been battling a nasty upper respiratory infection all week and our refrigerator died, Jake's computer died, Visken has an infected abscess on his belly, I lost my credit card, etc. etc. The weather here has been quite chilly (us Florida people would say "COLD")! Ethan and I have stayed inside all week because I didn't want the cool air to aggravate this cough of his. We did go to the library and grocery store on Tuesday and the gym on Wednesday, other than that we have been home. Wednesday night Ethan ran a fever in the middle of the night, yet was happy and playful at 3am. He pretty much refused to eat all day yesterday other than one glass of juice and 2 strawberries (I even tried ice cream). He started eating again when Jake got home from work and made him a chocolate milkshake. He still walked around holding his throat though, so I suspect that his throat really did hurt. If you know Ethan (and me for that matter) and our go-go-go personality and love of being outside, you can only imagine how stir crazy we have been. I think we will try and wander out of the house today, but maybe just to Publix and a trip to Petsmart to see the animals.

On a bright note, Ethan and I enjoyed watching the inauguration of President Obama on Tuesday. Ethan watched and cheered with the crowds in Washington, it was so cute! A Democrat already? A politician? Passionate about politics and change like his Godmother and Auntie Lisa? I wished he would remember what an incredible day it was, but I fear he probably will not. Our prayers are with President Obama and his entire family during their transition. We have hope for the future of our country!

O' Monday I did have a doctor's appointment. All looks good with me and the baby. I gained weight, which was good since last month I hadn't gained any weight (darn stomach flu)! I am about 12 pounds lighter now than I was at this point with Ethan. I have some lab work that I need to do before my next appointment, one is the glucose tolerance test which I really dislike!

Hooray, it is Friday! I'm hoping the germs are going to leave our house soon and maybe all of us will be healthy at the same time! Hope everyone is staying warm and healthy!!

Ice Cream for Breakfast!

I have so many things to blog about, but things have been crazy around here so stay tuned I will get around to it. This one happened this morning though and it was too good not to share with everyone right away!!

This is how the morning started...Ethan woke up, sat straight up in bed, and said "set, go"! We were off for the day. Jake left for work and Ethan walked him to the door said, "bye" and promptly shut the door on Jake and ran to the window to wave good-bye. I then asked him what he wanted for breakfast, and took him to the freezer to see if he wanted a frozen toaster waffle. His eyes lit up and he pulled out 2 half gallons of ice cream, put them on the table, ran to the drawer and got a spoon, and said "ice cream, please"! My normally healthy eater picked ice cream! The picture on the bottom where he is pointing is in response to me asking him "which one he wanted more".

It could be a fun day...

Addictions!

We are battling some major addictions in our house! We all may need some serious help in the new year!

Ethan: Thomas the Train and raisins!
Jacob and Rebecca: geocaching and facebook
Jacob: mafia wars on facebook
Rebecca: FOOD!

O' the smiles! :-)

Ethan makes me smile so many times during the day it is incredible! I had to share a few of the best moments that have happened during the last few weeks!

1. Is Ethan deciding that outside toys work just as well inside as they do out. He waits until I am in the bathroom or getting dressed and then goes into the garage and brings in the outside toys.

2. Is Ethan helping himself to cereal out of the box (and of course made sure Visken wasn't deprived)!

3. Is Ethan's favorite new hideout under the dining room table. I frequently hear "stuck" and have to go rescue him!

Growing Up!

Our little guy is growing up. I have taken down his booster seat at the table because he always picks to sit at a seat other than his booster. :-( How sad, he is no longer a baby, but a little boy. The only things left to go yet are diapers, crib, and sippy cups. This morning he wanted to drink his milk from a regular cup, so I have a feeling soon enough sippy cups will be a thing of the past. I think diapers will be around for quite some time though, his brother or sister will probably be trained before him!