A little help from my brother...

Here's a shot of Henry helping Teddy get his daily neb treatment. Mom and dad don't mind the extra help!

Dr. Lechner, paging Dr. Lechner!

By the Beard of Zeus

Here we are Tuesday night, officially day two of my furlough. I haven’t accomplished much, a lazy week so far. With that said, I am currently working on one project that I have found to be pretty smart at: growing a beard.

I decided before my furlough that I would not shave the entire week, kind of like hockey players do when they begin the playoffs or like a bum does everyday. I’m starting to regret it now. I don’t like having face fur, it makes my face look dirty. I do like not having to shave in the morning though.

The funny thing about growing a beard is you start thinking about all the crazy things you can do with it. I have thought about crafting my face mane into a nicely trimmed goatee, muttonchops, fu man chu and the good ol’ fashioned mustache. I've even thought about shaving designs in my beard. But right now I think the plan is to keep the beard.

Sorry this blog post is so boring. It's like watching paint dry, or grass grow...on my face. I promise better posts ahead.

A Furlough's Eve

Hello faithful Lechner Blog viewers, it’s Matt here. For those of you not aware of my situation at KARE 11, I am required to take a week-long furlough (week off without pay). This is Gannett’s way of saving money, without laying people off. While I don’t like missing out on a week’s worth of pay, I do like still having a job. I have big plans for the week, a lot of things to do around the house. But before we get to the tasks at hand, I needed one night of fun to kick off my week. On Sunday night, Chris Larsen and I headed down to Canterbury Park, the horse track in town, and did a little off-track betting on the ponies. It is my first love (of my gambling loves).

What you’re about to read is my attempt at being creative. At work I get to be creative, but since I’m off this week (NO WORK-MANDATORY), my creativity will spill over onto the family blog. I will try and keep you updated on my furlough trials and tribulations. Here’s my first try, I call it “A Furlough’s Eve.”

‘Twas the night before furlough and Matt was not in the house, he was out betting on creatures, no not a mouse. The track had been callin’, I needed a fix, but with family and job, it’s not in the mix. But then came a word I’ve never heard—furlough—said the big bird. With a week off from work, and no place to go, I hoped to hit it big on a win, place or show. To Canterbury Park I want, no flight required, sure it was late, but I wasn’t tired. No alarm clock set for 3 a.m., excited to gamble, you bet I am. First race starts without a hitch, hey I’m a winner, but still not rich. Then in the second I bet on four, miss by a nose, I stomp the floor. I play a little longer, nothing goes right, a hard one to swallow with no paycheck in sight. But, it really didn’t matter that my wallet wasn’t fatter, because I’m on Fur-cation.

Teddy at 6 Months

Happy half-birthday, little Teddy!

Teddy turns 6 months old today, and it's cliche, but I just can't believe how quickly time flies. The first six months went by so much more quickly than Henry's first six months - I can't imagine what the next half of the year will bring us! Teddy has had a rough winter - he's weathered multiple colds and viruses, RSV, a hospital stay, eczema, milk allergy, diaper (!) allergy and he pretty much is attached to his trusty panda bear nebulizer. The doctor thinks that he'll still be needing his nebuilzer through April... hopefully by then, the worst of the winter cold and flu season will be behind us. But he's really an amazing little guy who has a sunny disposition even when he's not feeling well. He's just full of big smiles and cuddles.

T had his 6 month ped appointment last week, and he's weighing in at 20 lbs. 5 oz. and is 29 inches long. Those are exactly the same stats as Henry at 6 months, so it's interesting to see how their growth is pretty similar. They're both in the 90-95 percentile, so they're on their way to being big boys.

Teddy has been breaking out lots of tricks lately, including:

- Rolling over constantly! He's learning that rolling this way and that is a good way to get around, and has also started trying to scoot along by pushing his feet on the floor. I think he'll be crawling within the next month or so! Henry didn't crawl until he was well into his 9th month, so this should be interesting for us...

- He's babbling lots! Teddy has been saying "da-da-da" for a few weeks now and is often "talking".

- Eating lots! He's solidly on solids now and LOVES to eat!

- No teeth yet, but he's constantly drooling, so we're thinking we'll be seeing one poke through any day now.

Photo Shoot...

Introducing the latest professional pictures of Henry and Teddy! We had these taken with photographer Olivia Wagner back in mid-January. They turned out great, don't you think? Nana was in town, so she came with us to the photo shoot. Henry and Teddy were really wonderful for the pictures, although it's always a little difficult to get Henry to hold or sit with Teddy for a picture. We had to bribe him with ice cream... on literally the coldest day of the year! What can I say - promises of "coneys" always work for this 2-year-old!

Happy Valentine's Day