Are you ready for some football?

Michigan started football practice on Monday and even though most experts think a .500 season is in the cards, I’m still pretty damn excited about what is to come. Here are 10 things I am SO looking forward to this season:

1. I literally have NO IDEA what the first offensive play of the game will be. The predictability of the past and our stone-aged offense are GONE!

2. The team probably won’t run out of gas and blow a game in the fourth quarter. And, we won’t have to see the fat lineman with their hands on their hips after Ohio State spends an afternoon in our backfield.


3. We probably won’t see opposing offenses - seemingly hemmed in - breaking free and running down the sideline for a touchdown while our slow, fatass players are laid out on the turf.

4. The offense MIGHT go for it on a crucial fourth down instead of wimping out, punting and playing the good ole’ field position game.

5. The new coaching staff won’t coach scared and hopefully won’t worry about dropping 50 on someone if need be. Don’t fool yourself, style points count!

6. Young coaches with fires in their bellies who will get in players’ faces (as opposed to reading them poetry and feeding them milk and cookies).

7. Seeing players actually play to their potential. In the past, SO many players haven’t been coached, developed, prepared or conditioned the right way while at Michigan. And then fans wonder why these players go on to succeed at the next level.

8. Seeing a Michigan football program that is open with the media instead of hiding EVERYTHING inside of Fort Schembechler.

9. Not having to watch Michigan Replay and hearing Coach Carr say “well …” every five seconds while trying to explain away another loss.

10. COACH ROD!

Maternity clothes (and a manatee)

Well, it finally had to be done. At 20 weeks, I finally had to bust out the maternity gear. I took a few hours on Sunday to dig it out of the depths of my closet and then wash it so it was ready to go for work on Monday. So far, it’s been … OK. That might, however, have something to do with the fact that I’m still in my regular PANTS. The shirts were the real problem – just too tight across the chest and belly. I figured it wouldn’t be such a good idea to pop a button and put someone’s eye out. Although, if that DID happen, the unfortunate soul couldn’t be in a better place – hello, Kellogg EYE Center!

With Harmon, I made it to July (my sixth month) before the circus tent clothing made an appearance. I almost made it that far this time (I’m in my fifth month) but, alas, the body (well, the abdominal region) remembers.

I guess I can handle four months of the maternity gear if I get another kid as cute as Harmon in the end. The hard part, though, is looking and feeling like this:

Morning sickness eats it

OK, I’m almost 21 weeks along so enough of the morning sickness already.

I’ve felt nauseous 24/7 since the day I took my pregnancy test – only getting a break while I am SLEEPING. Granted I haven’t puked as much as I did with Harmon but I’ve FELT sicker. Yesterday was a crappy day and today is even worse. I puked right after brushing my teeth this morning and then had to have Kevin pull over on the side of the road to puke again on our way into work. Right now, I’m fighting off another puking spell. I have a meeting at 10 a.m. and then a doctor’s appointment at 11:30 a.m. so I hope I can get through both of them puke-free.

I hope I have a better day tomorrow because this is getting to be ri-goddamn-diculous!

Birthday weekend

Yesterday, I turned 35. Ever since I hit 30, I really don’t even think about birthdays anymore. Sometimes, I’ll even forget how old I am - must be the aging brain. Anyway, despite getting older, I had a great birthday weekend! On Saturday night, Kevin and I dropped Harmon off for a sleepover with my parents and we headed downtown to the Tigers’ game. One of my presents was tickets to the Champions Club. The Tigers’ started offering these last month and it looks like they will for the rest of the season. I must attest that they are worth every cent of the $90 per ticket!

We arrived early and ate WAY TOO MUCH food from the impressive spread (the dessert cart was amazing). We also camped at two seats along the windows and ending up staying there for the whole game. While we originally planned to wander the ballpark (part of the $90 was a standing room only ticket), it was simply too nice up there to leave. The only thing that ruined the night was the outcome of the game – GD White Sox!

On Sunday morning, we slept in until 9:30 a.m. and then squeezed in a showing of Step Brothers (so funny) on the way to my parents’ house. I asked my Mom to make taco salad for dinner and chocolate cake for dessert and both were perfect. As for the gifts, I got a few small things (a new Adidas Michigan LS t-shirt, a cool electronic photo cube for my desk, gorgeous orange daisies, etc.), some cash and some gift cards to do some post-pregnancy shopping. I requested NO maternity items – what a bummer that would be for a birthday. Kevin and Harmon also got me pedicures for August and September at a “real” spa (I’ve never been) so I’m hoping to schedule one this coming weekend. I am so excited and pedicures are SO underrated – especially when you’re pregnant and are having a hard time reaching your toes.

One of the best gifts, though, was having Harmon sing “Happy Birthday” to me this morning. He was too shy to do it with everyone else last night so he sang it to me this morning while he was eating his breakfast. He is the sweetest, cutest kid ever!

You want a piece of me?

Usually the answer is, “no, I don’t want a PIECE, I want the WHOLE THING.” But this was not the case for Harmon who was involved in his first schoolyard rumble (kind of) last Thursday.

As the story goes, Harmon and this other little boy (I will withhold his real name but let’s call him Jordan) met at the gate that separates the classroom from the stairwell. Harmon was on one side and Jordan was on the other and they both wanted to come through. Evidently, Harmon put his hand up (in a “talk to the hand” kind of fashion) and, while he didn’t TOUCH him, Jordan still took exception and bit Harmon’s right index finger. Stunned, Harmon didn’t know what to do so – like most 2-year-olds – he cried. His teachers gave him lots of hugs and kisses and iced his little finger and he was fine. When Kevin arrived to pick him up, his lead teacher explained what happened but didn’t tell him who the culprit was. Harmon was having none of that, though, as he interjected with “Jordan bit me!”

On the way home, Kevin did everything he could NOT to tell Harmon to “bust the kid in the mouth” and we had more than a few bad things to say (under our breath, of course, about the cretin). Kevin also later told me that Jordan was in the classroom and standing near the door when he picked up Harmon. He said he wanted SO BAD to smash his fingers in the door – I DIED!

Although I highly doubt Harmon will get pushed around as he gets older I’m glad, in this case, that he was the bitee, not the biter. If he was biting kids at school, we would have a big problem on our hands!

It's a boy! Oh, boy-oy-oy-oy

We are pleased to report that Harmon will have a baby brother, Simon Abner Bergquist, in December. His due date is Dec. 13. Here is the latest ultrasound photo of Simon, taken July 15. Simon would not sit still during the ultrasound; he kept spinning and kicking and punching, just like his big-brother-to-be. I have a feeling we are in for another active one. Simon did not want to show his "boyness" at first, but finally came around, literally, at the end. The ultrasound tech thought she knew early on, but did not want to say for sure. But, she did say something like, "he is an active little guy," so we had our suspicions. Harmon is so happy; he tells us that Simon is in Mommy's belly and he rubs the bump. Aimee is doing fine, and all was normal during the ultrasound.

On the road again

After a week in Minnesota with Kevin’s family, we are off again this weekend for another Bergquist family function. This time, Kevin’s cousin is getting married in Beloit, Wis., so we’re making the drive. Although we’re going for the wedding, Kevin and I are sneaking off to a Brewers game on Friday night. I can’t wait to see the Sausage Race! To make the weekend even better, we MAY stop in Chicago on the way home on Sunday. If we do, I have these three things on my to-do list:

1. Cheesecake Factory – Note to Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake: I still love you. My pregnancy nausea and food aversions have not changed that.
2. Garrett Popcorn Shop (mmmm, cheesecorn)
3. Niketown (I can buy clothes for when I’m no longer the size of a small manatee)

Harmon will have fun too. He’ll get to use his favorite backpack again, there’s a pool at the hotel and there will be plenty of people there to spoil him rotten!

All in all, should be a good one!

Turning the corner

Kevin and I hope we're turning the corner with this potty training business. Exhibit A - check it:

Harmon went potty THREE TIMES at school yesterday! I was a little nervous he might revert back to trying 4-5 times each day with no results but he stepped it up. He also stepped it up over vacation rarely going in his pull-up and telling us he had to go when we were out and about. I really hope this continues because he's got some really cool Mickey Mouse and Handy Manny underwear awaiting him in his dresser drawer.

Alive and kicking (like Simple Minds)

It’s definitely true that you feel your second child’s movements earlier than your first. Baby #2 has been doing a number on me for a couple of weeks now. It started around my 15th week and has continued to get stronger each day. Even though I’ve felt it before, it’s still so cool. At this point, I just can’t wait for Kevin to be able to feel it too.

Pregnancy Update

I hit the 17-week mark on Sunday and it seems, for the most part, that my nausea has subsided. I would call it morning sickness but it was more like an ALL-DAY sickness. I didn’t throw up as much as I did with Harmon but I think that’s only because I knew what to do this time around – thank God for the combination of Vitamin B6 and Unisom. This little pill cocktail limited me to TWO yak sessions total, as opposed to two yak sessions EACH DAY before. It does work wonders.

I’ve noticed the belly has appeared sooner this time. I guess those muscles are already stretched out so they’re like “what the hell!” I’m still in my regular clothes but will have to break out the maternity gear very soon. With Harmon, I made it to July (my sixth month) but I don’t think I’ll be able to make it that far this time. It’s funny, I thought the body transformation would be easier to deal with the second time around but it’s not. It’s still hard and you still wonder if you’ll EVER go back to normal. I guess, when it comes right down to it, I’m just not one of those women who likes being pregnant.

I feel like I’ve been more tired this time but I think that’s deceiving. Before, I didn’t have a 2 ½-year-old to chase around so maybe that’s a simple explanation. I also feel like I’ve been more hungry but, again, I don’t know. I DO know that if I DON’T eat, I go downhill WAY TOO FAST and it takes a while to recover. I’ve had no real cravings and no real food aversions, other than Starbucks. Before I got pregnant, I would visit Starbucks 3-4 times a week (bad), going through countless gift cards and Starbucks’ cards re-loads. Since I took the pregnancy test, though, I’ve been there ONCE. The mere thought of a Light Mocha Frappuccino or a Peppermint Mocha makes me SO ill. It’s the weirdest thing, I swear. Kevin is STILL stunned. He jokes that a representative from Starbucks is going to call the house to find out what’s wrong! Not all caffeine has been banished, though. I still love Diet Coke as much as ever.

One other food-related item – I would like to pimp Crispix cereal for helping me stave off many yak sessions. While I’m sure I’ll never want to eat it again after December, it has been an important ally in my battle against nausea. In fact, I had some this morning and it helped yet again so THANK YOU, CRISPIX!

My ultrasound is one week from today (July 15) and Kevin and I are SO excited. While Harmon was a surprise, we are hoping to find out the sex of #2. I hope he/she cooperates so we can begin to prepare and, most importantly, we can tell Harmon who is on the way – Maizey or Simon.

A few things I miss already …

I came back to work today after being off for almost two weeks and these are things I already miss:

1. Wearing capri pants or shorts
2. Wearing sandals everywhere
3. Wearing t-shirts (I never realized how annoying collars can be)
4. Not wearing a watch (and thus not knowing what time or, hell, even what DAY it is)
5. Not wearing my glasses

I realized all of this earlier as I got ready for work. I think the worst part was putting big black shoes over my freshly-pedicured, banana-yellow painted toes – UGH!

I guess that’s why vacation is called vacation and work is called work. I am looking forward to my usual Friday off more than I have in a LONG time!

Back from Minnesota

Still trying to get caught up after our family vacation in Minnesota. Will document our five days at the Bergquist cabin on Upper Gull Lake later. Some things we learned: Harmon is an angel on planes, mosquitos love his skin, and The Power Loon is lame. Happy 4th to all!

A tough first

Believe it or not, tonight will be the first night Harmon will spend away from me. He will spend the night with his Nana and Papa – and his aunts will visit – and then Nana will keep him for his usual Wednesday.

It didn’t HAVE to happen but we thought it might be a good idea. I didn’t want my first night away from him to come when I’m in the hospital birthing #2. Harmon surely would be thinking WTF when we came home! AND, it would do wonders to fuel that future sibling rivalry.

So, we’ll meet my parents and drop him off after work and then we’ll head down to Comerica Park for the Cardinals-Tigers game. It’s a good thing that I have the baseball game to distract me but I know I’ll check in a lot. I’m sure he will be just fine – he’s pretty laid back and just rolls with it. He probably would be more upset about not being able to go to the baseball game than spending the night away from us.

I just know I’m ALREADY looking forward to picking him up tomorrow night!

PS – I must note that Kevin has only been away from Harmon for ONE night – on an overnight trip to Baltimore about a year ago. Overall, we’re both very lucky that we’re around most of the time and don’t have jobs that require travel.

Harmon's medley

The secret is out

A few years ago, a friend of mine who works for the NBA (and strongly dislikes Danny Ainge because of this), made the following statement when I asked him what he thought about Danny and his efforts with the Boston Celtics:

“If Danny Ainge has a plan, it’s the best-kept secret in the NBA!”

Well, after last night’s Beantown beatdown of the Lakers which culminated with the Celtics’ 17th NBA Championship, I guess the secret is out.

Kevin and I have been Celtics’ fans since the Larry Bird era. I think that was the last time fundamental team basketball was played in the NBA. It was always so cool to watch those old teams that played defense, passed the ball, played unselfishly and put the success of the team ahead of their personal achievements. Since those days, though, there have been some rough years for the Celtics with last year being the roughest as they won only 24 games.

During the off-season, though, Danny made some moves that would make history. In June 2007, Danny traded Delonte West, Wally Szczerbiak and the fifth overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft to Seattle for Ray (Jesus Shuttlesworth) Allen, Glen Davis and the 35th overall pick in the draft. Then, in July 2007, Danny worked a deal with former Celtics’ teammate and current Minnesota Timberwolves VP of Operations Kevin McHale to get Kevin Garnett. In exchange for Garnett, the Timberwolves received Al Jefferson, Ryan Gomes, Sebastian Telfair, Gerald Green, Theo Ratliff, two 2009 first-round draft picks and some cash for good measure. This trade was the single largest trade for one player in NBA history.

It was at this point that many experts began to wonder if the Celtics would have enough players to field a team much less players talented enough to help the “Boston Three Party” (Allen, Garnett and long-time Celtic Paul Pierce) win a title. During the rest of the summer and then into the season, the Celtics signed some free agents and filled out their roster.

Now that the team was together, they were fun to watch and they went on to win 66 games in the regular season – the biggest turnaround of all time. Although the NBA is different (much worse, in my humble opinion) than it was back in the day, this team made us want to watch pro basketball again. Just like the old Celtics’ teams, they were unselfish, they passed the ball (sometimes too much), they played defense like no one else in the NBA, they had great role players (and you never knew who would step up and contribute each night) and – most importantly – the players changed their games and put all their personal accolades aside in hopes of achieving one team goal – a championship.

While they struggled in the first two rounds of the playoffs, going to a seventh game with both the Hawks and the Sixers, they took care of the Pistons and the Lakers in six games and won the title. And, along the way, Danny Ainge was named NBA Executive of the Year.

So, I guess he had a plan after all and now he’s got a ring too!

Happy (I am glad I am Harmon's Father)'s Day

One of my Father's Day presents from Harmon was this book, "Father to Son: Life Lessons on Raising a Boy." Taking a few moments to flip through the pages, I came across this passage on page 97: "Take him for doughnuts Saturday morning. Let his mom sleep late." While we don't do doughnuts just yet, although I will be happy when we do, Harmon and I do go for boys' breakfast every few weeks. I usually take him to McDonald's (or Old MacDonalds, as he calls it) for pancakes and sausage, or Denny's, for the same. But, today I wanted a family breakfast, so we had pancakes at home. It was there that I received some of my gifts, including the aforementioned book, Phil Steele's 2008 college football preview issue (which is suspect in that he has Notre Dame as preseason No. 19; but that is for later in the summer) and a new cologne. Earlier in the week, I received my biggest present when, after more than 10 years of the same glasses, I picked out a new pair of specs at Kellogg. After I cut the grass on Sunday, Harmon spent two hours in his backyard pool before we had dinner from Applebees. It was a great Father's Day, and just the way I wanted it with my family, including Baby #2 as we call him/her. I read Harmon his customary four books before he went to bed, which also is included in the "Father to Son" book, on page 16: "Read to him nightly. He'll love it." He does love it, and I love Harmon, Aimee, Isabel, and Baby #2. I am blessed to be a father.

31 months – 3 days late

I’ve been writing SO MUCH at work that the last thing on my mind has been writing for the blog so it’s no wonder I totally forgot to do Harmon’s 31-month update. God, I’m only 14 weeks pregnant and I’m ALREADY forgetting about the first born. I need to step it up!

Harmon is doing wonderfully! No, he’s not potty trained yet but we are oh so close. He no longer goes #2 in his diaper – thank the Lord – and he’s dry overnight most of the time. #1, however, is the challenging part. He’ll go on the toilet at all the usual times – in the morning, before bed and after meals – but he won’t tell us any other time. It’s very frustrating because WE ALL KNOW HE KNOWS but he just won’t do it. I hope it just clicks soon but I just don’t know.

Aside from the potty training, everything is great. He’s continuing to do well at school. We got him a cute t-shirt with his school’s logo on it so now says he’s going to Annie’s Children’s School to play with his friends. It’s very sweet!

He learns new things every single day. He’ll see numbers and letters and yell them out and still is really into all his books. I got him a Curtis Granderson t-shirt to wear to our summers Tigers’ games and he points out the number (28) and spells out the name. I really hope he continues to learn at a good pace.

Although we haven’t officially told him he’s got a little brother or sister on the way, we’re slowly dropping hints. We’ll ask him if he wants a baby to come live with us or if he wants a brother or sister. Since we have names picked out, we’ll ask him what we’ll name a boy (and he’ll tell us Simon) or a girl (and he’ll tell us Maizey) and he gets into it. We’ll tell him a) once I get noticeably bigger or b) when we have the ultrasound (July 15), whichever comes first. I hope we can make it to the ultrasound because we’re finding out this time and it would make it easier to tell him who exactly is on the way.

Once the baby does arrive, we’ll move Harmon from the nursery and into the den. We picked out his new bedding (Junior Varsity from Pottery Barn Kids – it’s very cool) and will change his toddler bed into a full bed. We’re thinking late September or early October might be a good time for this change. We’re hoping he’ll be potty trained by then and it will be after he changes classrooms at school so hopefully his big changes will be behind him. We also thought this was early enough so that he doesn’t feel kicked out right when the new baby arrives. So, that’s the plan. Unfortunately, with him moving into the den, we’ll have to move the computer downstairs which will take some getting used to. We’ll deal, though.

Other than that, it’s business as usual. We’re outside every day – taking walks and going to the park. We’re trying to take advantage of those summer months before the craziness of the fall arrives.

And baby makes four

When we brought Harmon home from the hospital on November 12, 2005, they didn't give us an instructional manual. But, 2-1/2 years later, I think we have it all figured out. We are raising a handsome, smart, playful little guy who will probably tower over both us us sooner than later. We have had so much fun raising him, we have decided to do it again. No, not raise Harmon again. He is well on his way to age 3 and, if we did get the chance, I am not sure we would do anything different.

No, the news is that Bergguist Baby #2 is on the way. We have been very blessed to have gotten pregnant so quickly with our son or daughter to be. We wanted to space our children three years apart, to give Harmon time to be the baby and enjoy being the spoiled one. And, believe me, he is. The due date for Harmon's new brother or sister is December 13, 2008. Because Harmon was a C-section, Aimee will have another one, so he/she may come a week earlier. Of note, our anniversary is December 2, so it will be a joyous month every year between Harmon's birthday in November and our anniversary and the new baby's birthday in December. And, just in time for the holidays. Whew!

Aimee is a trooper to carry the baby during the hot summer months again. If the new baby is anything like Harmon's size, it will be quite a summer. She has been such a good Mommy with Harmon; he loves her so much! Aimee no doubt will document her pregnancy more as we go, but we couldn't be more blessed. Harmon is even getting into the act, as we often ask him if he would like a brother or sister. When we first asked him, he said "a cat." But, now he says brother or sister. I think sister is in the lead now. BTW, for a point of prediction, Kevin thinks it is a girl.

P.S. Isabel takes great offense to the title of this entry. Maybe it should be high five.

Shoes

I love Harmon’s spring/summer shoes so much that I felt the need to document them FOREVER. I’m sure this is more for me than him but whatever, here goes:

These are his Keen sandals. He has them in navy, with yellow accents of course.


Here are his brown Kenneth Cole Reaction sandals. These pretty much go with everything and he LOVES them.


For the times he needs gym shoes, we went with the old stand-by in this house: Nike. They are blue and orange and really cute but sometimes difficult to put on his big feet.


On occasion, Harmon does need to dress up so he has these cute Merrell slip-ons. He’s worn these a few times already this spring and they are adorable, especially with his brown sweater vest and jeans.

And, to complete the shoe wardrobe for the season, yesterday we bought him these Crocs. We thought they would be great for our upcoming trip to Minnesota – easy on and easy off and it’s OK if they get wet.

Old vernacular

One of our favorite phrases since way back when Kevin and I first met is “boot in the eye.” I’m not sure where it originated – most likely from our crazy days at U-M Sports Information – but it still gets A LOT of play in our household.

We love to joke with Harmon and tell him he’s going to get a “boot in the eye” if he doesn’t do something we ask of him. Or, if he’s crying, fussing, whining, etc., we’ll ask him what’s wrong. After he’s done explaining, we’ll say “well, how about a boot in the eye?” His hilarious response is ALWAYS “no, no boot in the eye!”

There are lots of other choice words and phrases that we use from the old days. They’re probably not the nicest things for Harmon to say (like “talkin’ ‘bout fat chicks,” for example) but they are hilarious nonetheless. One of the many fun things about having a 2 ½-year-old!