Coby past away this afternoon.  I adopted Coby when he was 7 months old.  Even then he was a laid back kitty, I remember him sleeping in his cat carrier all the way home.  When he was small he suffered from kitty asthma, and I remember anytime he would play too long he would start to wheeze.  As he got older he grew out of that and became a very curious and playful kitty.

Coby was 8 years old.  His birthday was May 2001.  He will be  remembered for always coming up an inch short on jumps, having the loudest pur you’ve ever heard, sleeping on your pillow above your head at night, getting in the window and rattling the blinds in the wee hours of the morning, sticking his head in water glasses, being the first to a freshly filled food bowl, scurrying from place to place, laying on his back, trying to go home with strangers, walking on the ledge of the bathtub in between the curtains while you’re in the shower, always trying to cleanup messes, scratching the sub woofer, trying to play with and groom Wrigley, wrestling with Spotty, and fighting with Frosty.

Coby (aka. Coby Coaster, Grace, Cobes) was a loved member of our family and will be deeply missed.

Today I went to Divine Designs Salon and had 10 inches chopped off my hair!  When you donate your hair to Locks of Love, they give you a free haircut and actually do the donation for you.  The hair stylist was very friendly and I told her to do whatever she wanted with my hair.  Now my hair is the shortest it’s ever been.  The husband gave it two thumbs up, saying he thought this might be the best hair cut I’ve gotten.  Take a peak at the before and after photo!

Before and After

A couple weeks ago we all had our first weekend getaway.  Logan had his first trip to his grandparents house for the weekend, and Wes and I had our first nights away from Logan since he came home from the hospital.  Everyone involved had a great time!

Wes and I stayed the weekend at the One Ocean Resort at Atlantic Beach in Jacksonville, FL.  We stayed in a room with an ocean view balcony on the seventh floor of the hotel.  The view was magnificent and we even caught the sunrise on the first morning we were there.  We reserved dinner both nights at the Azurea Restaurant in the hotel.  We really felt like our dinner was more then just a meal out, it was a culinary experience.  The presentation of the food was beautiful and we were really impressed with how all the flavors on the plate came together.  While we were there was also enjoyed a couples massage in the hotel spa.

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Logan stayed with his grandparents in Jacksonville.  He was a good boy for them, and only got up once each night he was there.  He kept them busy by taking very few naps during the day, and staying up later then he normally does at night.  It was a very exciting trip for Logan, he got to meet some new doggies, do some tummy time, read stories and get lots of thumb sucking in!  He even got to meet his second cousins and great aunt and uncle while he was there as well.

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Frosty

Earlier this morning our pet Frosty passed away, he was around 10-11 years old. Frosty was actually adopted by my brother Justin and his wife Nicole in the Chicago suburbs. After a couple years he became part of my family by moving in with me and Spotty in our Wrigleyville apartment. It was really nice to have a second cat so they could entertain each other, and from day one they got along well.

Frosty was a really good pet and has left a lasting impression on both Loretta and I. He also left us each with a physical impression over the years in the form of a scar. Frosty was a bit infamous for being startled by a loud noise while sitting on your lap or cuddling with you, this would make him jump half way across the room and forget he had rear claws in the process.

Frosty & Spotty

Other things we will remember him for are; licking plastic bags, curling up in the bathroom sink, sleeping in an old cracker barrel box, hating the vacuum cleaner, hiding behind the dryer when a stranger was in the house, loving the sound of crumpling up paper, climbing to the top of the refrigerator and then announcing to the house that he was there, retrieving paper balls and playing fetch, being the primary lizard hunter in the family, and of course his most famous, drinking water from the sink.

Frosty (aka. Tubby, Tubby Bear, Big Bear, Big Boy, Tub of Love, Frosty Bear, Fat Ass) was a very loved and valued member of our family and will be missed greatly.

Laying Drain Tile

While my mom and dad were visiting we had a ton of rain.  So much, in fact, that our pool began taking on extra water because of all the grass that had overgrown the pool overflow.  My mom is quite the outdoors woman and loves to get her hands dirty, so in the morning we noticed the backup, she marched outside and began digging a little mote for all the water to pool in.  This was the beginning of the development of what is now known as the Belt Pool Overflow System.

Hose Comparison

The original design was a mote dug out to the left of the drain with a 1.5 inch pool vacuum hose laying in the mote to help distribute the excess water.  This gradually evolved into using a 10 ft section of drain tile with a mote dug out to the left and right of the drain, all buried under ground.

Grandma and Grandpa from MN just arrived for their first visit with Logan this week!  They have been such a tremendous help so far.  The last two nights Logan slept from about 11pm to 3am, and grandma has been taking over the morning shift from 3am on.  I haven’t gotten that much sleep in a single night for over 2 months!  It’s wonderful to have the extra help and wonderful to be sharing this time with my parents.

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Sunday (May 10th, 2009) was officially my first mother’s day!  We celebrated the weekend with a visit from Wes’s mom, dad, and grandmother.  They arrived late on Friday night and stayed through until Sunday.  We enjoyed the famous Chicago style stuffed pizza from Giordano’s on Saturday night and mom’s homemade breakfast casserole recipe on Mother’s day morning.  This was the first visit for dad and grandma since Logan came home from the NICU.  Logan looked drastically different for mom since her visit in March, having over doubled his birth weight!

We made sure to get in a photo shoot with Logan while they were here.  He was a good sport about all the flashes, until the very end when he made it clear he had enough.  Check out the gallery!

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That’s right, today marks 6-weeks postpartum.  I am officially 1/2 way done with my 12 week maturity leave!! It’s hard to believe that already 6 weeks has gone by.  My oh my has time flown by, but maybe that’s just because I’m so exhausted 

Yesterday I had my follow-up doctors appointment and got the “all-clear” from the doctor.  They say I have healed well and am back to normal, except for the few extra pounds I’m still carrying as a souvenir from the pregnancy.  Logan also had his “boy appointment” yesterday too.  He did fantastic!  I was fully expecting to receive a screaming baby when the procedure was done, instead he was SLEEPING!  What a champ!  Yesterday he was a bit fussy, but all things considered, he was great.  Today, he’s basically back to business as usual.  It’s hard to believe that something I was dreading so much turned out to be such a non-event.

Tonight was our first date night since Logan has come home.  It was tough leaving Logan while we went out but we felt confident he was in good hands with his grandma. For our first official date night, we went to our favorite restaurant, Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse.  The food was marvelous and overall we had a great experience.  We toasted to our new family over a glass a champagne and finished the meal with Crème brûlée.

Before heading out for the evening we took this family photo.

]]> http://www.flbelt.com/2009/04/06/first-date-night/feed/ 0 http://www.flbelt.com/2009/04/05/here-we-go-again/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=here-we-go-again http://www.flbelt.com/2009/04/05/here-we-go-again/#comments Sun, 05 Apr 2009 13:04:41 +0000 Wes http://www.flbelt.com/?p=3

After having an unsuccessful attempt at maintaining a blog over a year ago, Loretta and I have decided to try to give it another try.  With the birth of our first son (Logan Kiffin Belt) we are hoping there will plenty to blog about and keep the site current.  If previous history holds true, this will likely only make it a couple of months and then start to collect dust again… but you never know until you try!