Mmm Peanut butter!
Friday, February 27, 2009
Auto Service
Everyone knows you can haggle at the car dealer when you buy a car, right? (well besides saturn). Well whoever knew you could haggle parts at the service department? We were going to get tina's timing belt changed at the subaru dealer, then i called the place i go to get major work done on the jeep and they were going to do it and the waterpump and the drive belt for the same price, but it wasn't as convenient as tina dropping off the subaru at the annapolis dealer. Well when tina called to cancel the appointment at the dealer they asked why and she said as much and they went to the manager and came back to the phone and told her they'd do it for that price! wow! I wonder if we should haggle the service department more often haha!
Mmm Peanut butter!
Mmm Peanut butter!
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Swimming Lessons Part 3
Okay, so I cheated and this video is from last week, but we DID go to swimming yesterday!
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Mmm Puffs!
I can't believe I haven't posted a video of this yet. I'm so proud! Juliana and I worked for a whole morning learning how to pick up puffs and eat them with her hands! Before when mommy worked with her she would pick them up and they would be stuck in her fist and she couldn't figure out how to eat them without punching herself! But DADDY got her to pick it up with her fingers! This video isn't the first time she learned it, but it's a great example of how far she's come!
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Swimming Lessons Part 2!
Juliana went to her second swimming lesson last night. I'm working on trying to get the video from my camcorder to the computer lol I'll get it eventually. I do have a picture which I'll upload later tonight. Tina thought she lost an earring in the pool, which obviously made for a frustrating night since it wasn't found. But this morning we found out she dropped it at the baby sitter, yay! So hopefully that's a good sign for her meeting today.
Videos/Pictures:
Here's a still picture and one of a few videos I took! I'll add some more videos over the next few days!
Videos/Pictures:
Here's a still picture and one of a few videos I took! I'll add some more videos over the next few days!
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
The things we give to our kids we can’t control...
Here’s another mike’s random thoughts and rambling. You can skip over it to the bottom if you don’t want to read 2 pages of nonsense.
Having kids, you find yourself or other people saying a lot of things you hope that they get from the parents. Like oh I hope she gets her mother’s eyes, I hope she gets her father’s good looks (haha), I hope she gets my musical sense, I hope she gets your responsibility. Unless you have a genetic problem, you try not to or don’t often think about the things you DON’T want them to get. The things don’t want to pass down to kids but might not have any choice. You’re especially in trouble when you both have something, like a temper! Sure we hide it, but Tina and I can both get going and it is NOT pretty.
The past week or so has reminded me of one of what I feel is one of my uncontrollable downfalls (versus temper as something controllable) that I really hope Juliana is not stuck with. Sometimes, my brain gets jumbled when I’m too emotional or thinking too fast (or worse both) and it doesn’t translate correctly. My brain works too much for my mouth to understand and so what I say is nowhere near what I’m thinking, but in the communication it almost seems like it was correct. Or sometimes it thinks so much that it freezes from the bounceback of information that was supposed to be sent to the mouth but never came out!
Then I have to go back and fret a few days later about how I really meant to say it versus trying to remember what I said. Which is difficult when the mind thinks that it made sense to itself but doesn’t admit that the mouth didn’t actually say what it was sent. Okay that sounds normal I know, about thinking one thing and saying another, but I’m talking about the brain actually believing the mouth said what it was thinking. Anyway, then you have to go and figure out how to again talk to people who heard it while feeling that they’ll be stuck on the conversation the first way. How to get them to understand I want to explain the way I thought versus just changing the story. Why? Because people are skeptical like that, “oh he’s just using the extra time to change the story.” But that’s not what it is. The time was necessary to tone down the emotions and slow down the thoughts so that they all come out correctly. And goodness knows I’ve tried that just to find myself afraid the second time of messing up again and resulting in my brain scrambling and still not expressing it correctly. It’s a vicious circle.
I know there have been lots of examples in my past, but here’s what brought on my thoughts of Juliana’s fate. In small group last week I wanted to express how I don’t believe in the bible as a substitute for a personal conversation with god. Or that it frustrates me when it’s used as a replacement for god’s word. That it can be a crutch and people get stuck focusing on the bible and never complete their journey to god. And worst, that it scares me to think that people, and I fear sometimes affecting people I know and love, might sometimes overemphasize the bible and it could cause interference in their communication directly with god; that it scares me thinking that it could cause them to not get the full word through the distraction or noise in the conversation.
And that’s such a huge fear for me because it has taken so much of my effort to not be interfered in my own conversations with myself, others, and most importantly God. Sometimes I still fail to prevent the interference and it feels so catastrophic, whomever the conversation was with. So all those thoughts I want to express jumble through my mind, the feelings and emotions that go with the thoughts and it goes a million miles an hour like people have said my mind is able to do. They compliment my fast mind but they don’t have to deal with my downfall in trying to get all those feelings from my mind to my mouth. It’s like the interference I worry from the bible. My mind thinks and sends signals around my body at 1080p 5.1 surround sound and my stupid mouth is only able to talk in analog signal with rabbit ears. It’s why if you’ve ever seen me concentrate on saying something I’m not comfortable talking about I need to stare off in the distance and talk slowly. My brain needs to get rid of visual distractions and try to calm any emotions it’s having so that it can slow down and make sure my mouth gets the whole sentence or thoughts. But when the communication fails and there’s too much interference going on in MY head…what comes out instead are choppy bits of my thoughts like a simple “I don’t believe in the bible.” And in the ensuing minutes my brain is like “yeah I sent the right signal” and my mouth is like “yeah I said what you said” and 2-3 days later something’s bothering me and I think about it and I’m like oooh crap what did I say and what did I think?
So sure people can wish my mind on my daughter and children, but I certainly don’t wish the logjam of communication from the beautiful thoughts through to the world when things get confusing, emotional, and upsetting. Yes, I dream Juliana and all of our potential future children are blessed with the wonders of a mind that works as fast as mine does, I just hope they also get their mother’s articulation to express it in situations other than the controlled environment of the shower or before falling asleep.
Anyway, here’s a reward for reading all of that craziness and more about my head than you wanted to know:
Having kids, you find yourself or other people saying a lot of things you hope that they get from the parents. Like oh I hope she gets her mother’s eyes, I hope she gets her father’s good looks (haha), I hope she gets my musical sense, I hope she gets your responsibility. Unless you have a genetic problem, you try not to or don’t often think about the things you DON’T want them to get. The things don’t want to pass down to kids but might not have any choice. You’re especially in trouble when you both have something, like a temper! Sure we hide it, but Tina and I can both get going and it is NOT pretty.
The past week or so has reminded me of one of what I feel is one of my uncontrollable downfalls (versus temper as something controllable) that I really hope Juliana is not stuck with. Sometimes, my brain gets jumbled when I’m too emotional or thinking too fast (or worse both) and it doesn’t translate correctly. My brain works too much for my mouth to understand and so what I say is nowhere near what I’m thinking, but in the communication it almost seems like it was correct. Or sometimes it thinks so much that it freezes from the bounceback of information that was supposed to be sent to the mouth but never came out!
Then I have to go back and fret a few days later about how I really meant to say it versus trying to remember what I said. Which is difficult when the mind thinks that it made sense to itself but doesn’t admit that the mouth didn’t actually say what it was sent. Okay that sounds normal I know, about thinking one thing and saying another, but I’m talking about the brain actually believing the mouth said what it was thinking. Anyway, then you have to go and figure out how to again talk to people who heard it while feeling that they’ll be stuck on the conversation the first way. How to get them to understand I want to explain the way I thought versus just changing the story. Why? Because people are skeptical like that, “oh he’s just using the extra time to change the story.” But that’s not what it is. The time was necessary to tone down the emotions and slow down the thoughts so that they all come out correctly. And goodness knows I’ve tried that just to find myself afraid the second time of messing up again and resulting in my brain scrambling and still not expressing it correctly. It’s a vicious circle.
I know there have been lots of examples in my past, but here’s what brought on my thoughts of Juliana’s fate. In small group last week I wanted to express how I don’t believe in the bible as a substitute for a personal conversation with god. Or that it frustrates me when it’s used as a replacement for god’s word. That it can be a crutch and people get stuck focusing on the bible and never complete their journey to god. And worst, that it scares me to think that people, and I fear sometimes affecting people I know and love, might sometimes overemphasize the bible and it could cause interference in their communication directly with god; that it scares me thinking that it could cause them to not get the full word through the distraction or noise in the conversation.
And that’s such a huge fear for me because it has taken so much of my effort to not be interfered in my own conversations with myself, others, and most importantly God. Sometimes I still fail to prevent the interference and it feels so catastrophic, whomever the conversation was with. So all those thoughts I want to express jumble through my mind, the feelings and emotions that go with the thoughts and it goes a million miles an hour like people have said my mind is able to do. They compliment my fast mind but they don’t have to deal with my downfall in trying to get all those feelings from my mind to my mouth. It’s like the interference I worry from the bible. My mind thinks and sends signals around my body at 1080p 5.1 surround sound and my stupid mouth is only able to talk in analog signal with rabbit ears. It’s why if you’ve ever seen me concentrate on saying something I’m not comfortable talking about I need to stare off in the distance and talk slowly. My brain needs to get rid of visual distractions and try to calm any emotions it’s having so that it can slow down and make sure my mouth gets the whole sentence or thoughts. But when the communication fails and there’s too much interference going on in MY head…what comes out instead are choppy bits of my thoughts like a simple “I don’t believe in the bible.” And in the ensuing minutes my brain is like “yeah I sent the right signal” and my mouth is like “yeah I said what you said” and 2-3 days later something’s bothering me and I think about it and I’m like oooh crap what did I say and what did I think?
So sure people can wish my mind on my daughter and children, but I certainly don’t wish the logjam of communication from the beautiful thoughts through to the world when things get confusing, emotional, and upsetting. Yes, I dream Juliana and all of our potential future children are blessed with the wonders of a mind that works as fast as mine does, I just hope they also get their mother’s articulation to express it in situations other than the controlled environment of the shower or before falling asleep.
Anyway, here’s a reward for reading all of that craziness and more about my head than you wanted to know:
New Cars
So Tina and I looked at cars this weekend. She wants more seats in her car. We love love love our 2004 Forester, but when we have more kids, she wants more seats. So we started looking at 7 passenger vehicles. She doesn't like the idea of a minivan and doesn't want a truck based SUV; they're too big for her. We specifically looked at the Subaru Tribeca on Monday. It was nice we liked it. We definitely did NOT like the 09 Foresters. We don't like what they did to change the front body styles. Regardless, the only Tribeca's that don't take premium gas are the 08's and 09's. There aren't very many 08's and the 09's are pretty much all in leather! Well leather certainly won't work with young kids and a dog! Oh well so we'll wait for some 09 cloth to be made and become used over the next few years and get something a little while down the way.
Meanwhile I'm trying to come up with a list of other 7 passenger not-too-big vehicles for her to sit in and compare. So far I'm coming up with Ford Taurus X, GMC Envoy, GMC Acadia, Toyota Rav4, Toyota Highlander, Honda Pilot, Mazda CX-9. I've never actually sat in any so I don't know how they compare size wise. I'm pretty sure we dont' like the feel of the Saturns. I've only sat in the Vue and it's nice but we like the Tribeca better. Still haven't sat in the Outlook.
Otherwise I also got to learn to change the manual transmission fluid in the jeep on monday with Tina's dad. that was super fun. Next time I'm hoping to relearn the oil change and coolant flush!
2004 Forester Example:
2009 Forester Example
2009 Tribeca
Meanwhile I'm trying to come up with a list of other 7 passenger not-too-big vehicles for her to sit in and compare. So far I'm coming up with Ford Taurus X, GMC Envoy, GMC Acadia, Toyota Rav4, Toyota Highlander, Honda Pilot, Mazda CX-9. I've never actually sat in any so I don't know how they compare size wise. I'm pretty sure we dont' like the feel of the Saturns. I've only sat in the Vue and it's nice but we like the Tribeca better. Still haven't sat in the Outlook.
Otherwise I also got to learn to change the manual transmission fluid in the jeep on monday with Tina's dad. that was super fun. Next time I'm hoping to relearn the oil change and coolant flush!
2004 Forester Example:
2009 Forester Example
2009 Tribeca
Monday, February 16, 2009
Gillmeister Family Photo Update!
Thought it was time for a barrage of pictures for everyone who isn't lucky enough to see Juliana everyday like us! =) More to come later!!
First Valentines! 
First Swimming Lessons! 
Opa (Grandpa in German) and Gramma H Visit!
I can crawl! (kinda)
I'll go waaaay back! First Halloween
First Thanksgiving!
First Valentines! First Swimming Lessons! Opa (Grandpa in German) and Gramma H Visit!I can crawl! (kinda)Thursday, February 12, 2009
Spring!
Spring is coming and it's SO exciting. I don't like winter so much b/c I don't like not enjoying being outdoors. I love the outdoors but when it's cold my nose complains and my fingers/toes get cold too quickly. The weird thing is that I would probably miss the winter if it wasn't there. I already miss the snow living in Baltimore.
Anyway, it was in the 70's this week and I LOVED it. Can't wait for more. Ah and the wonderful list of spring! Dog swimming, Baseball, Lacrosse, Paintball Tournaments, sandals, washing the car, mowing the lawn, ah the list goes on and on! Oh and reduced BGE bills haha!
Anyway, it was in the 70's this week and I LOVED it. Can't wait for more. Ah and the wonderful list of spring! Dog swimming, Baseball, Lacrosse, Paintball Tournaments, sandals, washing the car, mowing the lawn, ah the list goes on and on! Oh and reduced BGE bills haha!
Someday...
Someday, I'll learn the trick to keeping this blog updated.
Maybe it's taking more pictures of the baby.
Maybe it's taking 5 minutes of the day to just let out what went on.
The problem with the first is that it requires transferring the pictures from the camera to the laptop!
The problem with the second, and partially the first, is that I often don't set up the laptop at home because we get home late or we're busy when we get home or we go out or other things. Another problem is I know most people who read this blog do so for pictures of the baby! It's not as interesting to hear the random thoughts from Mike's head!
So, rather than talk about this week's small group adventure, what are some interesting things Juliana has been doing?
Ah Wednesday we went to the grocery store. Mainly because we're pretty much out of everything we need for day-to-day living! Secondly I did it because Tina has been working till 9pm the past two nights =(. Also we have parents visiting the next two weekends so we need to stock up!
If you visit us, one thing that you might want to do is bring Juliana to the grocery store! She loves it! She doesn't care if she's hungry or dirty diaper or sleepy. When she's in the store she's alert and looking around and happy! I think it's all the colors of all the boxes and seeing all the people close up in the aisles.
I don't tend to go grocery shopping because I'm not usually out. It's some weird thing I think about not wanting to take the Jeep out if it's not already driven that day. Well I was picking up the baby Wednesday so I had no problem stopping at the grocery store! I had other things planned for that night like laundry and picking up the basement but the shopping was so tiring I couldn't even throw in one load! Oh well!
Maybe it's taking more pictures of the baby.
Maybe it's taking 5 minutes of the day to just let out what went on.
The problem with the first is that it requires transferring the pictures from the camera to the laptop!
The problem with the second, and partially the first, is that I often don't set up the laptop at home because we get home late or we're busy when we get home or we go out or other things. Another problem is I know most people who read this blog do so for pictures of the baby! It's not as interesting to hear the random thoughts from Mike's head!
So, rather than talk about this week's small group adventure, what are some interesting things Juliana has been doing?
Ah Wednesday we went to the grocery store. Mainly because we're pretty much out of everything we need for day-to-day living! Secondly I did it because Tina has been working till 9pm the past two nights =(. Also we have parents visiting the next two weekends so we need to stock up!
If you visit us, one thing that you might want to do is bring Juliana to the grocery store! She loves it! She doesn't care if she's hungry or dirty diaper or sleepy. When she's in the store she's alert and looking around and happy! I think it's all the colors of all the boxes and seeing all the people close up in the aisles.
I don't tend to go grocery shopping because I'm not usually out. It's some weird thing I think about not wanting to take the Jeep out if it's not already driven that day. Well I was picking up the baby Wednesday so I had no problem stopping at the grocery store! I had other things planned for that night like laundry and picking up the basement but the shopping was so tiring I couldn't even throw in one load! Oh well!
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