hmmm so it's been awhile, huh?

Ok, I really thought I'd be better at blogging as a Mommy b/c I'd have stuff to write about, than I was before... but as you all can tell, I'm so not! And really, it's not b/c the girl demands so much of my time, she is totally not a morning person and sleeps in, she doesn't need me to hold her constantly and we have a TON of toy/things to keep her attention. I should run downstairs and take a picture of our family room and the baby stuff that has overtaken it, but I'm too lazy. I'm sure I'll get around to it, but really, don't hold your breath!

Christmas was very uneventful at our house. C had to pay for a speeding ticket that he got so that was pretty much his present. I did manage to score him a new game, a dvd, and one of his favorite snacks for his stocking, but that's all I did. I was too mad about the speeding ticket to reward that behavior w/ presents! C gave me a new robe (yay! right Shell?) my other robe was 14 YEARS old!!! I got it from my college roommate, freshman year, Christmas 1993. I was still wearing it, until our recent trip to NY when it received some more damage and unfortunatly we made the decision not to bring it home w/ us, so we buried it in NY, in its original hometown! :D He also gave me this awesome coffee table book, called The Art of the Snowflake. It's actual photographs of snowflakes. Way cool! C did really good on my stocking stuffer items too, which I know is hard for him since he didn't get a stocking when he was a kid and the stocking is totally my favorite part of the presents. We did not go all out for the girl, she's 4 months old for crying out loud! I got her some teething toy things for her stocking. And took pics of her on the couch with her stocking and our gifts to make it look like she got stuff, so when she's older she can't say we didn't spoil her! :D





We currently have an unwanted tenant in our attic... I think its a squirrel. I can hear it when it comes in at night and when it wakes up and leaves in the morning. It crawls around in the ceiling over our bed. It is totally getting evicted this weekend! C is going to see about finding out how he/she is getting in, then set a trap for it, get it out of our house and revoking its key (sealing off its entrance)!

The girl is totally laughing now. She even has tickle spots. Its so much fun to make her laugh. C is really good at it, and I've been trying to catch it on video, I think I've gotten some. She's also spent some time on her belly, she doesn't push up on her arms yet or roll over, but she does bring her knees up under her... so we'll see where she goes from there. She's also eating like a pig!!! She's up to 6oz a pop now! Oh and for about a month now, she's been sleeping through the night, a good 8-10 hours in a row. YAY!!! And for those that knew, saw, or remembered... her clogged tear duct is all cleared up. No more goop coming out at all. WHOOO HOOO!
Today is the girls 4 mo check up, so next time I blog I'll have stats for you. Not much else happening here. Just chilling out. Have a wonderful day!

~Til next time!

ok real quick...

I'll post a few pics then come back tomorrow (maybe) and give you all an update.

Pics have been YANKED!

B/c I can... and I wanted to! :D

Sorry you missed it!

Anyone looking for me?????

We made it back from our trip LATE Tuesday night (really it was Wed morning). We had a wonderful time, Lovey did absolutely PERFECT on the flights and really the whole time we were gone. We had her so off her regular routine, out of her normal surroundings and she was still the perfect baby. At one point, my dad asked "Does this baby ever cry?" For the record, she does, but only if you are slow getting her food to her. I'm still trying to catch up with laundry and cleaning and decorating for the holidays. We are leaving again on Thursday for a trip to St. Louis to see friends and I'm so looking forward to being there, but not really looking forward to the drive. It's a 10 hour drive, I don't like car trips and Lovey isn't crazy about being in her car seat for long periods of time either. So this should be quite the trip.
I'd love to show you pictures from my trip in NY, but I left my memory card at my dad's. They are going to mail it to me sometime this week.
In other news....
At some point during my pregnancy, around the same time the tingling in my right hand started I realized that the heel of my left foot was numb, sometime later I discovered that the area on the outside of my right knee was also numb. I figured these symptoms would go away after delivery. Well, they haven't. I finally mentioned it to my OB dr at my last visit and she said I needed to see a neurologist. He ran some kind of tests, said there was some nerve damage, probably from a pinched nerve but that I needed an MRI. Last Thursday night, I had my MRI and the tech guy said that I have a bulging disc and that I'd get more info from the dr. Soooooooo, I'm still waiting to hear from the neurologist, but I had the MRI people also send the results to my chiropractor and he said its very treatable and that I won't need any invasive procedures. But of course, we still have to find out what the neurologist says. In the mean time, I'm seeing the chiropractor 3x a week. I'll let ya know what the neurologist says when he gets me back in his office.

I do have some crappy pics that I took of the 'great decorating' idea I mentioned in a previous post that I was so excited about. The pictures so don't do it justice, but at least you'll get the idea. The first one is w/ no flash and the second is with the flash on.

I did find one of my aunt and Lovey when we were at the airport getting ready to fly out of NY.

Alright, that's all your getting for now....

~Til next time!

So sorry to have left you all hangin'

I have wonderful blog posts that come in my head at in opportune times and then when I actually have time to blog.... they are gone. I need to start carrying around a journal.

So for all of you who are wondering about "THE MOP"... its real name is: Euro-Pro® Shark™ Steam Mop and I still love it. This is what it looks like.

Lovey* (formerly known as The Sweetness) was dedicated this past Sunday at church. It went REALLY well, she didn't cry or fuss at all. I was a NERVOUS wreck though! C sang a song (of course) it was "Find Your Wings" by Mark Harris and while he sang we showed a slide show of pictures. I cried. I thought I would, so I prepared myself by listening to the song about 4 million times, but when C turned and looked at us while he sang, I just lost it. Probably from all the nerves... and the fact that all I could think about was how much I miss my mom. My wonderful aunt and uncle who live in Austin drove up w/ their dogs, one of whom is recovering from 3 knee surgeries!!!! and they totally spoiled us over the weekend. The visit was too short of course, but we are planning on making the trip down there sometime around Christmas. They need to get their Lovey 'fix' and we need some snuggle time w/ their beagles!

This was us on Sunday!

OH! I got these about 2 weeks ago, (that is NOT what I paid for them, YAY!) and I am so very happy with them! They are beautiful, they cook things up REAL fast, they are so easy to clean, and they have ORANGE on them! The first thing I cooked in them was scalloped potatoes, C emptied the pot and left it on the stove w/ out rinsing it out or anything, in the morning I went to wash bottles, saw the pot and about had a fit b/c they were left overnight with food in them... but the cheese just slide on out, no scrubbing at all! I'm so thrilled with them. Now, I want this.

I also got these, again NOT the price I paid for them. (YAY for me!!!) If you've never been to my house, I do a whole winter/snow/snowman decorating thing... not so much for Christmas, but for the entire season, (btw, so much cozier in IL than in TX, but I try although it seems REALLY silly when in Feb/March I still have the snow stuff out and its almost 80 degrees! I so am NOT spending the rest of my life in TX! Sorry to my TX friends, as much as I love you all, you'll have to visit me in a colder climate, I NEED winter to be happy!) ANYWAY... I also got something else that once I get it all set up I'll take a picture of and share with you... I'm SO very excited about this decorating idea, I almost want to do it now! Yet, I will hold off until AFTER Thanksgiving, because I believe that all holidays should have their time in the spotlight. None of this Christmas decorating before Thanksgiving in my house! So now to match my new stuff I need the rest of this set, I already have 8 of the dinner plates.

Sooooooooooo, who's coming for dinner??? Anyone????

I'll try to blog before we leave for our trip on Saturday... but considering my track record, don't get your hopes up.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!!!

(*Her demeanor hasn't changed, it's just shorter to type!)

~Till next time!

Little Miss Muffet...

stood at the kitchen sink washing bottles,
down from the ceiling came a spider, and landed beside her!!!!

I was washing bottles the other morning, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw this spider riding his web line thing all the way down from the ceiling, he landed in the sink so I just poured water on him and sent him down the drain. BUT... that got me thinking, it was only b/c he did this right next to me that I saw him, what if he had come down from the ceiling 12" to the right? He would have landed on my head... and how long would it have been before I realized it?????? EW! EW! EW! I got sooooooooo creeped out, that as soon as I was done w/ the bottles I got the vacuum cleaner and attachments and vacuumed everywhere I could reach over my head. Now, I just need to do that upstairs too.

I got this cool mop the other day. (Ok, how weird is that???? I just said 'cool' and 'mop' in the same sentence???) Anyway, its a steam mop, and when you use it on the floors, not only does it clean them but b/c the steam is so hot it sanitizes them!!! How awesome is that for a germaphobe??? And yes, I've gone a little insane w/ all the steaming that I've done, I'm sure that will wear off soon.

Today we are going to a fall party/festival thing... there will be a pig roast (EW!) but I'm bringing my camera so I hope to have new pics for ya soon.

~Till next time!

I need a few days for mourning please.

Not only did my beloved NY Yankees not make it past the first round of the play-offs, but the OTHER team won the World Series in a sweep. I'm hanging my head.
I'll be back in a few days.

I've been tagged! YAY!

These are the rules I’m supposed to follow:
1. Link to your tagger, and also post these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of you post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are TAGGED by leaving a comment on their blog.


Okay. . . seven random and/or weirds things about me. This might be hard b/c I share a ton of stuff on here already!

(I'm stealing 2 from my tagger, Lesle, b/c they apply to me as well.)

1. I’m scared of the dark.
2. I’m perfectly content to listen to a song over and over and over . . .
3. I'm 5' 5" but wish I were about 3" taller.

4. I love to watch game shows, I'd really love to be on one!

5. I'm a germ freak, but still I share my bed w/ my 2 dogs.

6. My voice has changed since having The Sweetness, it cracks all the time.

7. I absolutely CANNOT stand other peoples feet. I don't even want to see them.



Now, I'm supposed to tag 7 more people, this could get difficult.



1. The Lizness

2. Dream Bigger

3. Loving Everyday Life (even though I can't read her blog anymore since she made it private and hasn't invited me!)

4. Moving On

5. Random Thoughts Running Through My Head

6. Random Insanity

7. hmmm how about I'm Gonna Be a What? (maybe this will get him going again!)

ok, so two of those blogs are private, 2 of the girls already are random, and one hasn't blogged in an eon! This should be interesting!

Here's the story

I went to Wallyworld for a few things on Friday... (of course I came out with more than I went in for) the checker says to me "I put all your things in one bag so that it would be easier with the little one" and she put the bag in the top of the cart. The sweetness is in her infant carrier in the big basket and my pocketbook and the bag are in the top basket. As I'm wheeling the cart out of the store, I go over the track that the doors slide on and something fell out of the bag and down into the bottom basket, The Sweetness didn't cry so I figured I'd get whatever it was once I got to the car. At the car, I picked up my pocketbook and the bag and I see what fell.... it was a pair of scissors!!!!! They were still sitting on her lap, but first they hit her cheek right below her right eye, about an inch away! They left two little holes and a scratch and she even had a small trail of blood down her face! She didn't cry, but I almost did! Who puts scissors in the top of a bag and then places the bag directly over a baby????? The good news is that today you can't even tell anything happened, even the little scabs are gone. Thank God the scissors didn't get her EYE! UGH! I'm sure she'll get hurt in her lifetime... but seriously I thought it wouldn't happen at 8 weeks old!

~Til next time!

I just realized...

that you all probably think I was referring to messy diapers.
HA HA HA! Sorry for leaving that image in your head. But that was not what I meant by my previous title.

I had a much needed girls night last night. After church we went out to eat to celebrate a friends birthday. We laughed and laughed and ate food and had horrible service. The night was so much fun. I didn't get inside my house until midnight. Notice I didn't say 'get home until'. Because I was home by about 11:15pm, but sat outside w/ my friend and chatted. About everything under the sun... and then we even made up stuff. ( I kid... sorta) I was on a high after having so much fun and we were cracking each other up and I used a big word (an S.A.T. type word) and my friend looked at me and said "all I've got is poop". This put us into hysterics. I guess you could say that we were both over-tired, but I told her I was gonna use that as my blog title today and well.... I try not to lie!



Ok, here's the deal. I don't work anymore. I like not working. I haven't worked in over a year. My dr and I think that is why my high risk pregnancy was so boring. I like cooking and having a picked up house before C gets home, I like to be relaxed and not stressed, I like being able to volunteer at our church's school. ( I teach the high school boys cooking class... and I LOVE doing it!) All that being said.... I REALLY miss my old paychecks. I was reading an highly amusing blog the other day and this little nugget of info has not left my head since... the blog author makes $4k a MONTH from advertisers on her blog. How I'd LOVE to be paid to blog. I could PROMISE you that I wouldn't let a day go by without posting... unless of course I was on vacation... even then I'd try to find a way... anyway, I realize that I am not talented enough to warrant the traffic on my blog that I would need to get advertisers to pay $4k (heck, ANY amount) a month for a spot on my blog. But there must be something that I could do to work from home to bring in a few bucks a month. If you know of anything, please let me know. Oh and do NOT say that I could watch kids, b/c I'm not doing that. Sorry.



I must give honor where honor is due. C is an EXCELLENT dad. He gets up w/ The Sweetness in the middle of the night, he takes over for me when he gets home from work, he totally does his share of parenting duties. And I am totally in love with him even more for it! If you see him, give him a pat on the back and tell him he rocks!!!!



The other night we were watching a movie and C is holding The Sweetness and she starts to get just a bit fussy... totally not normal for her... C does all things that one does to get a fussy baby happy again and nothing works. I said, 'let me have her'. He handed her to me and she got content in about 3 seconds. (this type of scenario) has happened more than once) C says, 'she totally wanted you'. I just smiled. Then he says, 'how come she never wants me'? I said, 'well, I'm the mommy'. He said, 'but I'm the daddy, and she never does that for me.' I didn't know what to say, until I realized that The Sweetness will NOT go to sleep in her crib for me. She just won't. If we do our little bedtime thing and I lay her in her crib and then C and I go to our room she will make noises, then I'll go check on her, give her pacifier back, tell her she's fine, not hungry, doesn't need a diaper change and that she needs to go to sleep so that she can spend the day with a happy mommy tomorrow. I go back to bed. Then a few minutes later more noises which sometimes lead up to actual crying... I go back in and repeat the scene. Go back to bed... more noises... so I send C. He does his magic and comes back to bed and that's it. She's fine and will sleep for hours. If he puts her in her crib initially, she may make a few noises and he might go in once more after that but most of the time she goes right to sleep. Its pretty wild.

oh yeah, C told me that The Sweetness did her fussy thing for me for about 45 minutes last night and finally gave up and fell asleep. Can we all say aaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwww!!!!
I told him that even though he tried putting the guilt trip on me that it would not deter me from going out on any more girls nights!!! :D

~Til next time!

"All I've got is...

poop."

I am SO finishing this blog later... but I just had to get it out there for now.

I've got good stuff coming up people.

Where have I been??

and what have I been doing?

nowhere and absolutely nothing.
just hanging out on the couch w/ the sweetness and it feels GOOD!

I'll think of something to blog about over the weekend and get it up here.

In the meantime, have a great weekend everybody!!!


~Til next time.

I walked.

Today was my first day 'out there'. I'm keeping my distance from 'the visitors', so I left The Sweetness w/ her daddy and 'them' and I went to the community center. I had my ipod, my water bottle, and my lip moisturizer. I was all set. Got the headphones on and I wasn't even 1/2 around the track when an older woman approaches me. She wants to know if I'm going to jog. I totally laughed out loud. I told her I'd just had a baby 6 weeks ago, and I'll be lucky if I can walk for 15 minutes. She proceeded to inform me that on M, W, and F we walk counterclockwise and the joggers go clockwise, then on T and TH we switch direction. OY! I didn't realize there were rules to walking. So I turned around and followed her. I'm grooving right along, working up a sweat, realizing its a bit early for walking, b/c my toe still hurts, but maybe with the right sneakers I'll be ok. Today I wasn't wearing the right sneakers. So, I'm in my own little world and the next thing I know... I was lapped! By the old lady! Who by the way is a SMOKER! I totally could smell it. So here I am at least 1/2 her age, a non smoker, who in the past I would have considered to be a bit of an athlete; nowI realize it has been a while since I've been pretty active but COME ON! She is a smoker and she's OLD! Then it happened... AGAIN... and AGAIN! This old lady lapped me three times on the track! This is why people stay fat. I was humiliated. This woman was so stinking skinny that the baggy-ness of her jeans didn't even touch and here I was trying to figure out if I should drink my water before I passed out or use it to put out the fire between my thighs! I think I rubbed off 4 layers of skin there! (Thanks, Grandma... gotta love the thighs I got from you!)
But I'm determined to go back. I have given myself a goal and I really really really want to achieve it.

We are not going to discuss 'the visit'. It has been worse than anything I could have imagined.

I thought that I was going to be emotional right after I had The Sweetness about my mom not being here. I was wrong. I'm an absolute mess b/c our 'visitors' are a constant reminder of what The Sweetness has lost too.


~Til next time.

oh, don't forget to squeeze your boobs this month. It's Breast Cancer Awareness time!

Random stuff...

The toe still HURTS, course wearing my new shoes yesterday didn't help it at all. I had to ice it when we got home from church last night. My new shoes are so out of the box for me, they are a high (more than 2" ) heel w/ a peek a boo toe!!! I got lots of compliments on them, but the shoes would have looked much nicer if I wasn't limping in them and if my big toe that got crushed under the coffee table on JULY 3rd(!!!) wasn't still purple and sticking out the peek a boo part. So attractive! OY!

C's parents will be here this week and they are staying for a week. I hate that I'm borrowing trouble from tomorrow, but I'm already stressing about the visit. I've got a headache and I've noticed that I'm really clenching my jaw in my sleep. (I need to wear my bite thing at night.) I'm basing my anxiety for this this visit on previous visits. So pray saints, pray.

The Sweetness is doing well, she is such a good baby. God really blessed us. She loves to cuddle... which means she doesn't like being put down, so there isn't much happening in the way of scrapping or housework these days. Although, C and I did get to do some purging of paperwork this weekend, so I already feel like the house is cleaner! LOL! The girl is sleeping about 3 hour stretches in the night at a time, but I really can't wait until she can go 5-6 hours. She eats like a champ... we can't let her eat until her hearts content b/c then she 'overflows' and we wind up w/ her formula all over us! But for the most part, she's good if we give her 3 ounces every three hours..... (HOW can this 'odd numbered' kid be mine????) She hardly cries, just when we are slow w/ a bottle or if she decides she needs to eat NOW! even though it hasn't been 3 hours. Last night on the way home from church she decided she needed to eat NOW even though it had been less than 90 minutes since her last meal, since she was screaming and seeing as how C and I are not big fans of the screaming, we pulled into a parking lot and I jumped in the back w/ her and made a bottle.... she drank all of .5 oz and promptly fell asleep. And it wasn't just an issue of "I want something to suck on" b/c I tried giving her pacifier, and she kept spitting it out. Little punk. We've kinda got ourselves into a little routine and it seems to be working.

Well, I've been working on this post all day and I know there was something else I wanted to say but I can't think of it now, so....

~Till next time!

OH!!! We found out who the 'gifter' was! So the mystery has been solved, YAY!

Also, I'm in the market for some new pots and pans... mine are 11 years old and the lids don't even fit anymore b/c the pots are so warped. I'm looking at the Rachel Ray ones, and a friend told me that Kohl's had them on sale... LAST WEEK! So if ya see 'em on sale anywhere, let me know... BEFORE the sale is over! THANKS!!!
(oh, and friend... still love ya, cause ya didn't know I was looking for them!) :muwah!:

Ouch ouch ouch!

I have my first mommy injury. Last night during a feeding of The Sweetness, I was trying to get back into her room after rinsing out a bottle, when IT happened. Duke decided it was boring being in the baby's room, so he tried to leave, I tried to step out of his way and my itty bitty toe on my right foot SLAMMED into the dresser. MAN, does it hurt! Every step is excruciating. I put on a sock and a sneaker this morning to try and give it some support but it still hurts. I think I shall drug myself with about 600mg of motrin and put my feet up!

Sometimes I can be pretty dense.

SO DUH!!!! For almost 5 weeks now, I've had The Sweetness... and it wasn't until I opened a gift mailed to us from The Lizness that I realized the similarity of the names!!!! The Lizness made a blankie and of course sent some foot 'blingage' for The Sweetness. The blankie is super soft and will be nice and toasty for the winter, and the shoes are just way too cute! If my camera wasn't upstairs and I wasn't so lazy, I'd take a picture and share it with you guys, but alas... the laziness takes over. Sorry.
ok, the girl is sleeping and I should use this opportunity to get in the shower....

~Til next time!

Check it out!

Look what we did today!

I mentioned to my Aunt D that I wanted to put this phrase over The Sweetness' crib, and my aunt emailed me a few days later... she found the phrase online ON SALE! SO YAY! I ordered it and today we finally got a chance to put it up. They are just rub ons. So easy to put up. I have another phrase that I want to get for our master bedroom, and I'd love one for the family room, I just haven't figured out what I want it to say yet. The phrase that I *think* I've settled on is from Psalm 4:8 "I will lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety." I'll probably order that sometime next month... and of course I'll share pictures when we get it on the wall.

and I did a mini photo session w/ the girl, but the ones I planned didn't come out right... I need another lesson with my camera... so I'll share this one I took just because she is so stinking CUTE!!! :D



~Til next time!

I did blog...

but I didn't post it. It was a whiny blog post that I wrote up on Sunday after a sleepless night with The Sweetness. It was a long and whiny post and after rereading it I decided that none of you really needed to read it. Sleepless nights are to be expected and with all the help that I get from C, I really shouldn't complain at all. Since The Sweetness is really SO GOOD, I absolutely have no business whining about her. She hardly cries. I read in books that babies spend 1-4 hours a day crying. I think that MAYBE in her 4 weeks of life she has cried for 1 hour total.

This Sunday is her first time at church and I'm excited yet nervous at the same time. See, not only do I have OCD tendencies (as mentioned in the previous post) but I'm very much a germaphobe. And of course the OCD in me has made the germ thing come out in full force since The Sweetness has arrived. I really don't want people touching her hands and face. Where the problem might be, is in the way that I tell them to BACK OFF and not so much in the actual request for them to not touch her hands or face. I'm really hoping to count on the support and protection of my friends on Sunday (HINT HINT... Staci do ya think Mike would stand by as a body guard?)
I've asked C to sit w/ me but I feel badly about doing that b/c in the last 4 weeks both of our attendance at church has been pretty scarce and I know that he misses playing the saxophone.

Ok, I have a real mystery on my hands here folks... this week we received in the mail a gift for The Sweetness, it is a Savings Bond, totally an awesome gift for her and I think its the coolest thing ever. Here's where the mystery comes in... the savings bond arrives in an envelope from the US Dept of Treasury and NOT from who the sender is or where they are from, neither is there a 'gift note' indicating who the gifter is. So we have no idea who this is from. I NEED to send a thank you note to them. I've asked some of the people in my family who I would suspect of doing something like this if it was them, so far they've all denied any involvement. What do I do now???

I know some of you are looking for more pictures of The Sweetness... they are coming soon. I plan on having a bit of a photo shoot w/ her this weekend. So hopefully, depending oh how they come out... I'll share them with you next week!

~Til next time!

This post is not about the baby!

Recently some of my OCD tendencies have been pointed out to me. So I'm going to list the ones that I can remember here for you.
I can't have the thermostat at the house set to an odd number... and yes I will go back and forth and move it from 74 to 76 as I feel it needs it, but will NOT just set it at 75!
The volume on the stereo in the house or car can also only be set to an even number.
A cup must be filled to within a half inch of the rim. (This seems to be something that C has an OCD tendency NOT to do!!!)
I absolutely HATE having any kind of garbage in my car... I will carry it with me and deposit it in a garbage can in front of a store if I find or 'make' some while out and about.
Toilet paper can hang from either direction, but when I tear it, it MUST tear on the perforation and not any where else! Same with paper towels.
Right now, I'm loving that The Sweetness drinks 2 ounces at a time and not an odd number... I don't know what I'll do when she moves on to 3 ounces; probably make a 6 ounce bottle and pour 3 in one bottle and refrigerate the rest.
I hate listening to commercials and will mute the stereo/tv if one comes on. (Thank goodness they have put tv series on dvd's!) PSSST! Staci... are ya finished w/ 24 season 4 yet?
And now for a personal note: my 'unmentionables' must match what I'm wearing.... like black top black.... (you know) If I can't get the bottoms to match my skirt then I'll wear a matching top and bottom set. It's weird and I know it. (I have an ungodly amount of 'unmentionables'... it's not right and C thinks that I probably should get therapy! ;) )
There are more I'm sure but I can't think of them now... and maybe I've done just a bit too much sharing as it is!!! :D

~Till next time!

All alone, by all herself! *picture has been added at bottom!

Yep we are mean. We put The Sweetness in her crib. And she slept there, all night long, all by herself.

Last Monday night was her first night and I'm proud to say she has slept there every night since. It was really hard for me, I cried, I jumped up and checked her breathing a few times, eventually after 3am I fell asleep. At first when we laid her down, and went to our bed, we both turned on our monitors, and I could hear her in her crib, making noises and breathing. I started crying. C offered to sleep on the floor in her room if I thought it would make me feel better, I told him it would be nice, but he needed a good nights sleep just as much as I did and eventually I was going to have to let her sleep alone anyway. C did go into her room b/c she was making more noises and then through the monitor I could hear him starting to read... he picked a book that we have called "I love you, Mommy" so yes, I cried harder. Then I heard him pray for her. Eventually I settled down, but The Sweetness didn't, she insisted on being swaddled. I had heard that it wasn't a good idea to swaddle them but The Sweetness insisted on it, she kept waking herself up w/ her random arm and leg movements. Once swaddled, she settled down and went to sleep. She only woke up 2 times to be fed and once she finished eating she went right back to sleep. She has pretty much kept up this pattern for almost 2 weeks now. She has a bit of trouble getting settled the first time we put her in the crib; so, we've decided that instead of putting her in when we are ready for bed, we are going to put her in a few hours earlier. Tonight (9/14) will be our first night trying that out.

The dogs are adjusting just fine to The Sweetness's arrival. At first, Duke moped, but I think some of that was b/c we weren't sleeping in our bed and I wasn't' able to get down and love on him like I usually do. Since, I've been feeling much better, and we are now in our bed again, he is doing MUCH better. Josie is much calmer and has totally adapted to this change really well. I'm so pleased with her. She of course is very curious and wants to sniff her as much as possible. I do have a picture of Josie stealing one of The Sweetness's 'spots'. I'll have to add that later... its still on the camera... and that is upstairs... so come back later and you can see it!

Here's the story...

ok, I think I'm ready, I've got a large 2nd cup of coffee and an even larger glass of water at the desk with me... I'm going to try to blog THE BIRTH story.
For anyone to fully capture the emotion of this post you have to understand that I am NOT a dr type person. I will do whatever I absolutely can to NOT see a dr. The only dr that I look forward to seeing is my dentist and that is b/c I have an obsession with teeth. ANYWAY back to the topic... so back in January I wasn't feeling well, I fought it for a few days, then started mentioning it to C and then to an online friend. Someone (not C) mentioned that I should take a pregnancy test, I laughed said what's the point? I can't get pregnant blah blah blah... well.... I peed on the stick and VOILA! it read PREGNANT.
Let me back up just a smidge, I was babysitting for a friend at the time and we had run to my house to let the dogs out, so I peed, set the timer, got some lunch together for myself and a snack for the kiddos, and got the cheesecake that I had made ready to go to a friends house, during all this the timer went off and I did not go check 'the stick'. I actually got in my car and was almost out of the driveway before I remembered to check it, when I did and it read PREGNANT, I literally pulled it closer to my eyes to look for the NOT word... the thought ran through my mind that maybe I had waited too long and the word has disappeared, but deep down I knew. I was pregnant. OH. MY. GOD!!!!
So if you've followed the blog at all this year, you know that I have had more dr appts than anyone else. EVER. I've been on more medicines, have given myself multiple shots daily, and this was all BEFORE the c section. If anyone else was going through all this, I would have been beside them the whole way, from peeing on the stick to the recovery room of the OR and I wouldn't have closed my eyes for one blessed second. However, this was ME we are talking about and not some third person. The day that I sat in the dr's office thinking we were going to pick an 'exit' date, I had it all planned out... I wanted it the following Tuesday and here were my reasons and couldn't she please just do it 2 days early. Well, she shocked me and told me to go home, have dinner, get my bag and to meet her at Labor & Delivery at 6pm b/c I was being admitted that night and we were having a baby the very next afternoon. Let me tell you, I was STUNNED! I must have asked her to repeat herself like 3 times for every sentence she uttered. They say that your hearing loss is like 50% when you are sitting on a dr's examining table naked. Well, I was half naked and my hearing and comprehension loss was most definitely at 90%! I left her office and called C. I was so NOT prepared to have a baby in less than 24 hours! I didn't even have my bag packed. I had laundry to do! In less than 3 hours I was being admitted to a hospital for the very first time in my life and I DIDN'T want to go!!! There is no doubt this baby had to come out and soon, b/c my body was 'creating a hostile environment' and it was becoming harmful for my baby. While I treasured this baby and was anxious for its arrival, I must be completely honest with you and tell you that in my whole life being pregnant was never anything I wanted. When C and I would talk about becoming parents it was always through adoption. Having a baby growing inside of me was not something I felt that I needed (or wanted) to do. As easy as my pregnancy was, (excluding all the dr visits and medicines and shots and whatever else I may be forgetting right now) I didn't really have much pain or discomfort. The weather this summer was truly a blessing for me and I totally realize that. However, I didn't ENJOY being pregnant. Some women love being pregnant; I am not one of them. Plus I knew that somehow this baby had to get out of me and quite frankly, I didn't like the 2 options presented to me... natural or c section.
I got to the hospital about 30 minutes late (surprise surprise surprise). The nurses at L&D were confused as to why I was being admitted the evening before my surgery. They are used to people coming in early in the morning the day of their surgery. Once everything got figured out and they realized that I was a gestational diabetic with pregnancy induced hypertension whose blood pressure and sugar levels were no longer under control they had me in a bed and hooked up to machines in the blink of an eye! We tested my sugar every 2 hours and my blood pressure every 28 minutes ALL. NIGHT. LONG!!! Thursday FINALLY arrived. I shouldn't waste my time telling you the tortures of sleeping in a hospital, not sick, and by yourself... b/c I'm sure you can imagine or have possibly been there too... I will tell you that, if you can, request to not have the room near the OR doors, ya know the doors that have that button on the wall to open them... b/c most likely that button will be on the other side of your wall and well, all night long at random intervals you may or may not hear the BANG every time someone PUNCHES the button to open the doors and then the not so gentle whooosh noise the doors make as they open, then clatter as they bump your walls, and then again with the not so gentle whooosh noise as they close. By Thursday I was one raw nerve. The morning seemed to drag yet also race by as I waited for that dreadful 1pm hour. I was prepped for surgery, IV was inserted and off we go into the OR. C was back in my room 'gowning up'. They had me sit on the OR table and hug a pillow and then my nurse was hugging me. We were supposed to be making my back into a C shape for the spinal block to be inserted.
:SCREEEETCH:
I MUST tell you before I go any further... if I had a natural delivery I was adamant that I was NOT going to have an epidural NO ONE was going to be putting a needle in MY spine!!!! My philosophy was "I can do anything for a day". I'm a tough cookie, I can handle pain and I knew there would be an end in sight, besides they didn't always have this medicine and women have always been having babies so I figured I could tough it out with the best of them. Now here I am sitting on a table making my back into a C so this dr guy can do exactly what I didn't want! Ok, remember me? the one w/ the high blood pressure... well, um the machine starts taking my blood pressure... and well, the alarm goes off... I look over at the monitor and my blood pressure was 191/119...yep, that's me having a STROKE!!! So of course this freaks me out. oh and my pulse was way up there too. The nurse had to literally take my face in her hands and make me look away from the monitor. She (tried) to talk me into calming down (HA!) finally I looked at her and said, I'm gonna cry. She said that's fine honey, you go ahead and cry. and I did, not only did I cry, I SOBBED. Great big buckets of tears rolled down each cheek and I was gasping for air. The dr guy that was trying to put the spinal block in said, crying is totally ok, but I really need you to keep your back still. Between gulps of air I told him I'd try. He said some nice encouraging words and said something about how the next time I won't be so nervous and I told him he was really pushing it and then STING and it was over. They were laying me down and putting up curtains and I was about to pass out. I told them a few times I wasn't going to make it, they put oxygen at my nose and told me to breathe, so I took big mouthfuls of air... they said to breathe through my nose cause that's where the oxygen was... I felt a little bit better... then C came in, looking all cute and whatnot in his little surgery outfit. Then I promptly shut my eyes and pretended I wasn't there. C held my hand and sang to me and then I heard her say it... "SCALPEL" OH. MY. WORD. they are gonna cut me open!!! I tried desperately NOT to be where I was, then I felt all this pressure on my stomach and then the dr said 'Hey someone is trying to give me a high five' and then a bit more pressure and a squawking baby was outta me and we heard 'oh she's beautiful' and then C went over to take pics and within seconds he was back at my side w/ this absolutely STUNNING baby in his arms. His eyes were shining so bright and I could tell he had a HUGE smile on his face. He said, "this is our daughter". I think we both cried a little. Then I started to not feel so well, and even gagged a bit... then... get this! I fell asleep. Yep, me. The human raw nerve. I fell asleep on the OR table. I think it was a combination of no sleep and absolute relief that the baby was out and ok and that I was going to be ok too and that this whole ordeal was almost over. C said I slept for about 7 minutes, and well, since I'm sharing... I do this hum/moan thing in my sleep (a lot) and apparently I was doing that and the medicine dr guy (I keep calling him that b/c I can't spell anesthesiologist) was asking me "Denise, are you ok?" and C told him that I was sleeping, that sometimes I do that in my sleep and the dr guy said well, better to be sleeping than throwing up. True dat. After a bit more unpleasantness, they got me off the OR table and onto my bed and then wheeled me back to my room. And that my friends is THE story of how The Sweetness got here.
Sometime, I'll explain the why she wasn't expected.

oh and tomorrow... I'll tell ya how it's been this week... since Monday night she has been sleeping in her crib in her own room!!!! Down. The. Hall!!!!


oh and btw: 9lbs left!!!! Hallelujah!

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

Just so you know:
The Sweetness was just placed in the crib to check things out... she wasn't left alone. When we did put her in the crib, all stuffed animals and 'whatnots' were taken out to prevent something awful from happening. More on the dogs reaction to baby girl at another date. (probably tomorrow)

19 down... 12 more to go!!!

* eta missing info at the bottom of post.

Today is a good day folks... and not because The Sweetness decided to sleep last night... no, it is a good day because I wore a NON maternity skirt today!!! WHOO HOO!!! Ok, so it may not have been really pretty, but I got it on, snapped, and zipped it closed. Now, if the swelling would just go down so that I could feel my fingers and the heel of my left foot again, I'd be just thrilled! I did get a wrist brace like someone suggested and while it does help keep the swelling down so that I can move my fingers in the morning, the tingling and numbness is still there throughout the day.
On the Csection healing note, I am doing so much better! YAY! I no longer have to take the major pain med and I am able to sleep on my side. My abdomen is still sensitive, more like nerve sensitive than pain sensitive, if that makes any sense at all. It is so weird though, to have like no muscle tone in my stomach at all. I feel like Santa Clause, I have a jelly belly right now. So NOT cool.
The Sweetness still has her schedule backwards... thankfully C is home with me this week to help me help her get it sorted out.
My aunts have been here since last Monday and they are leaving this Monday morning... they have been such a HUGE help; I'm really going to miss them!!! It really stinks to live so far away from family. There is just something seriously wrong with that!
Ok, so the fingers are numb... I'll try to post another pic or two and then I'm outta here for tonight!






*OH DUH!! I forgot to mention that the title of this post refers to pounds lost, and pounds left to lose until I am back to prepregnancy weight.

Introducing.....

The Sweetness! *

She was born on Thursday August 23rd at 1:28pm. She weighs 8lbs and .05oz and is 20 inches long. Mom is on the mend... Dad is loving being a dad. (and he's great at it too!) I can't wait for him to remember his password so that he can blog!!!! Should be some real good ones coming up!
Ok ok, I'll stop rambling and attach the pictures.....

oh and if you are a blogger user and you blog and sometimes I leave comments for you..... (rochelle and faith) something seems to be wrong with blogger and they haven't been letting me leave comments for a few weeks now... but I have been reading! Just wanted to let you know that.

Here she is... The Sweetness




We are a family of three now.




He's totally whipped!






This is what exhaustion looks like after two nights of VERY LITTLE sleep. Someone has her days and her nights mixed up.



* for security reasons... name has been edited. Thanks for understanding!

I'm having a BABY!!!!

So, I just got back from my dr appointment....
evidently my body is creating a 'hostile environment' due to rising blood pressure and roller coaster blood sugar levels so I'm being admitted tonight at 6pm and they scheduled the baby for a 1pm exit tomorrow! AAAAAKKKKK!!! PRAY Saints, pray! I'll be sure to have C update and include a picture asap!!! I'll be back in a few days! :D

I'm sorry

I'm here and I'm fine. No baby still. I don't blog so much now b/c of this stupid tingling/numbness stuff going on in my right hand. It was absolute TORTURE trying to get all the thank you cards written and addressed. But they are done and in the mail. Now I'll only have to do one or two at a time.

I thought I'd have shower pics for you but well, they aren't pretty. So maybe not.

On the baby front, all bed linens, clothes, and bottles are washed and ready to be used, the monitors are charged and ready to go. I just need to pack my bag for the hospital. Today I plan on making spaghetti sauce and a ziti to freeze for 'future use'. I'm also making a cheesecake for one of the ministers at our church who has been 'on my list' since Christmas!!!

Oh if you are looking for an update on C's blog... keep looking! The doofis forgot his password. He thinks it'll come to him eventually. He also thinks it starts with the letter R and that it might have a number in it. Can you tell I'm rolling my eyes!?!?!?

Ok, well, that's all I've got for now... I'm gonna jump off of here before I lose too much sensation in my hand.

Oh look here's a shower pic.....

We've been showered!

Last night C and I went to a shower that some of the ladies from church hosted for us. There was a great turnout and an amazing outpouring of love for us. We wound up staying up until 4:30 in the morning putting the baby's goodies away. I'm sure there are pictures on my camera, but I haven't even seen them yet. I'll post them tomorrow or one day next week.

We had a bit of a scare regarding C's job situation. The project he was working on was ending, and they gave him a release date of August 31st. But he got 'unofficial' word that they had gotten a new contract for at least another year. This week it was made official. We are breathing much easier now.

I'm totally done being pregnant, but so not ready to have a baby in the house. I can't wait to be able to move without it being a huge ordeal, and I so can't wait to sleep on my stomach again. I really can't wait for this numbness/tingling in my arm to go away. The dr said its from the extra fluids pushing on my nerves and causing carpal tunnel like symptoms. It's at its worst when I'm on the computer so that may be why I haven't been blogging much.

~til next time!

Here's your update!!

Last weekend, I was at a scrapbooking crop. I'm a member of a message board online that I am pretty much addicted to... it was decided that the TX girls needed to get together. Well, this TX crop turned into a very big event. It was held up in Lewisville at a scrapbook store, and ladies (and some spouses) flew in from as far as Canada and California!!! It was so awesome to meet everyone! These awesome ladies also presented me with a baby gift. We received the play yard that was on our registry. I was so overwhelmed by their generosity. Its so amazing, I mean they had never even met me before and here they are being so thoughtful and caring to a stranger (practically). I must say that it was totally weird for me to be recognized by everyone. I had to keep asking people who they were and what their screen name was... and yet they all knew exactly who I was immediately. The belly was the dead give away! LOL!!! I was so exhausted from the weekend but it was so totally worth it!

Saturday night, we (C drove me to and from the event both days) didn't get home til close to midnight and Friday night it was close to 1am. We were both so excited about the play yard that we stayed up so that C could put it together. Then on Sunday, he was so excited about putting the furniture in the nursery that he didn't even wait for a friend to help him get the stuff up there. He somehow maneuvered all 3 pieces upstairs by himself. My idea was that he just take the parts to the crib upstairs individually. But once he got the crib together there was no stopping the man! The room looks so great! And yes, I took pictures and I will share them here with you now!






I had a dr appt on Monday... she did an exam... said my cervix was 'up in china' but that she thought I'd be doing 'this myself' and not in the distant future either.
My counter at the top of the blog is a week off... it's going by a 40 week schedule and the dr said that no matter what I wouldn't be going past 39 weeks. So if I don't 'do this myself' before 39 weeks comes, she wants to do a c-section. I told her about the contractions I had last week, she said that I'm building up to something. For now, we are still playing the waiting game. I'll definitely keep you posted!

~Till next time

sorry.

So my Monday didn't turn out as planned. I cleaned up the office this morning, then ran a few errands after lunch and wound up sitting in my dr's office for an hour and forty minutes before I even got into an exam room! Let me just say that I wasn't happy, I was so frustrated, tired, and hungry; I really had to work hard not to burst into tears. Then when I was checking out of the office and scheduling my appt for next week, the receptionist says to me so how about next Monday at 1:40pm? I said fine. Then she added you may have a bit of a wait though. I nearly came undone. I just stared at her. DO NOT TELL ME A WEEK IN ADVANCE that I'm going to have to wait, especially after I just sat in your office for almost 2 hours!!!!!! I'm calling tomorrow to see if I can get a different appt. I didn't say anyting today b/c I really thought I was going to start crying. I went straight home, got some food in me and fell asleep on the couch for about 30 minutes, then C came home and we had to go out again. While wandering through Home Depot I had a few contractions, the most intense I've had so far... C was a bit freaked, I hope he calms down some when its the real deal.
Tomorrow morning, I'll clean up from the construction over the weekend, the project isn't entirely done, I need to paint and I want C to add some small finishing touches. But I'll take pics of what we (he and Uncle R and Aunt D) did this weekend. (I sat there 'supervising' :D )
We got a call today from the store, the baby's furniture is in, we should be picking it up tomorrow night. YAY! The carpets are getting cleaned this week, so I don't want to put the furniture upstairs in the room til that is done, so most likely we won't have baby room pics til next week. Sorry folks!
This weekend I am attending a crop, I'm excited to meet a lot of people that I 'chat' with online at the scrapbook store, I'm also nervous. I'm really hoping to get a lot of work done on this one project I'm being paid to work on.
Next weekend, the ladies at church are having a baby shower for us, I'm excitd about that too! I'll be sure to share pics from that!
Tomorrow I'm getting a bit of pampering done! I'm getting a manicure and a pedicure! I hope the lady is gentle on my toe... the nail is still very purple from its unfortunate encounter with the coffee table in the front living room on July 3rd! After my pampering, then I have to go to the diabetes consult and learn how to inject myself with insulin twice a day! So if you've been following my blog at all, after tomorrow I will be giving myself THREE shots a day!!!!! I'm super disappointed that I wasn't able to control the diabetes strictly with diet. I really tried, I've been doing it since the first of May, but evidently its just too much now and I need the meds. On the upside, I have to watch to make sure now that my sugar levels don't go too low, so that means I get to add a little more 'goodies' to my diet. So that should make me a little bit happier.

~til next time!

hmmm who'd a thunk??? :D

Mingle² - Online Dating

I'll be back on Monday with better blog material, I promise!

Have a wonderful weekend!!

~Til next time!

OH and that ladybug up there is getting AWFULLY close to that flower!!!!! :O

Did you miss me?

I haven't blogged in over a week, and there is no reason for it. I was not even out of town. I've been home this whole time. I just got nothing for ya this week. Me and the baby are doing just fine. I'm just now getting uncomfortable and tired of being pregnant... of course I'm not entirely ready for the alternative yet. I am getting more tired than I used to be, and I'm always ready to eat! We are ordering the furniture for the baby's room this Monday, so that's a bit exciting. It should be here in 7-10 days after the order is placed. I'll take pictures for ya once it's all set up.
The scrapbook store that I used to work for is having a huge sale. So I HAD to go and see what was left. I picked up quite a few things at 70% off... so I'm totally excited about that and feel quite inspired to get some work done! SO YAY! Finally (hopefully) I'll get my scrapping mojo back!
On the way to meet up w/ someone from ScrapJazz today I passed a yardsale. They had a fishtank on the lawn, so I pulled up. I checked it out and it looked really good to me, so I called C. Told him all about it... and now its in the back of my car waiting for him to get home. It's a 90 gallon tank! I still can't believe the price. It's like we stole it from them with their knowledge! We've gotta clean it up and then set up the water to run for a few weeks, then we are going to need more than 6 fish. LOL! C wants to keep the other tank set up, but I just don't know where we'd put it. Although if there is room in the baby's room, I think that would be totally cool to have it in there. Of course selling it is still an option. Only time will tell.
Still loving the car! We'll be busy this weekend making a 'frame' for the ScrapFest that I'll be attending the first weekend in August. When that's done I'll totally share pics w/ ya! Next weekend, my aunt and uncle are most likely coming up to help C with an idea that I had... hopefully, we can make my idea a reality. I'm totally excited about it.
K, really that's all I've got for now so ....


~til next time

Your are what you eat!

Found this 'blog quiz' on someone else' blog....
Of course I would be a chocolate chip cookie... they are my absolute favorite cookie!

You Are a Chocolate Chip Cookie

Traditional and conservative, most people find you comforting. You're friendly and easy to get to know. This makes you very popular - without even trying!

What Kind of Cookie Are You?

It's gone... and I'm a little bit sad about it.

Yesterday, on a whim I thought I'd run into the Nissan dealership to pick up some books on the sentra and the altima, then run to the used lot to see what they had. My thoughts were that I was doing the leg work for C and that if I found anything I thought he'd like we'd run by and look at it later. Well, LONG story short. Last night we bought C's new car. It's an '06 Sentra Special Edition. The ONLY thing I don't like about it, is that it is white. C doesn't like that it is white and that it is not a manual transmission.... and that I more or less pretty much 'picked it out'. He's right and I totally understand. I picked out and bought my car while C was in Texas. He barely had a chance to test drive one down here while I was buying it up in St. Louis. Then when we are only THINKING about replacing his truck, boom! all of a sudden, I've got papers for him to sign. Really, it's a great little car, totally perfect for what we want it for, it has almost (he REALLY wanted a stick-shift) all the features that C wanted plus a few extras, (spoiler, upgraded stereo system w/ 6 disc in dash cd player, tinted windows (which we would've added anyway), oh and a 10" built in subwoofer in the trunk. It's a pretty nice drive and as an added bonus the passenger seat is REALLY comfy! The best part is the money we will save on gas. It gets just about 3x more mileage than C's truck, so we can almost pay the car payment w/ the money saved on gas. It was sad to walk away from the truck, I think I even teared up a bit, but I'm also a little glad to be rid of it b/c I was starting to get worried about C's safety while he was driving it.

I've been holding out on you folks... this is for the coffee drinkers out there.
While staying at my aunts place in NY, someone made this UNBELIEVABLE pot of coffee (all decaf). I asked what they did and since then I've been making this at home. I fill my coffeepot's water line to 8 then add 3 scoops of decaf coffee, then 2 scoops of hazelnut coffee (i've been using folgers, since I didn't get to wholefoods yet to pick up the organic decaf coffees they have there) then 2 scoops of french vanilla. The coffee smells SO YUMMY and tastes just as good as it smells. I drink one cup hot in the am then have some over ice in the afternoon. What a delicious summer treat let me tell you!!! YUM YUM YUM!! If ya like flavored coffee ya gotta try this!

~til next time!

this is gonna be LONG!

I've got a lot running around in my head and this is the place where I let some of it out.
First of all, in case you live under a rock or are deaf, mute, and blind... it's still raining in N. Texas. I personally love rainy days and don't mind this one bit, besides it keeps the air cooler and since I am almost 32 weeks preggo, I'm all for that! My only 'problem' w/ the rain is that my dogs don't like to go 'out' in it. And when it does stop or rather 'pause' from raining, and they do go out then they bring in muddy footprints and I have hard wood floors. Nevermind the fact that there are 5 area rugs for them to wipe their little feeties on before they get into the house, we still have footprints and lots of them. Oh and since they aren't outside as much, there is way more dog hair on the floors than there usually is. So on Tuesday, in an effort to be like the Holly Homemaker that I claim to be... I hauled out the vaccum cleaner... and used it. On every square inch of the first floor. I was almost done when I went to move the coffee table. It's on wheels so no biggie right? Well, since it is on wheels and on hardwood floors, I lost control of it and it totally smashed my big toe! The nail was/is this nice light shade of blue within an hour. It throbbed for most of the night and still hurts today. Let me tell ya, you don't realize how much you use your toes for walking til you hurt one of them!
I don't usually re-read books, well, except for the Bible... but I'm re-reading a book this week and boy is it a kicker. It's called "Having a Mary heart in a Martha world." the concept is that we women can tend to get caught up in the things and busyness of life and forget to just sit and take a moment w/ Jesus sometimes. Like when Jesus went to Mary and Martha's house... Martha was ticked b/c Mary was sitting there listening to Jesus talk and she (Martha) was running around like a chicken w/ out a head trying to be the perfect hostess. It bothered her so much that she tattled on Mary to Jesus! He told her, chill girl, Mary has chosen the better thing.
(um, this is from the 'DRB' translation not available in print or anywhere outside of my head actually) Anyway, the book really gets you to look at where your priorities are and how difficult we sometims make our lives b/c we don't spend a few minutes w/ God before we rush (or slowly enter) our day. Just thought I'd throw that out there for ya.
Ok, now for a vent about fireworks. Yesterday, C and I just puttered around the house, he actually was able to mow the back yard and we washed all the windows and screens on the first floor, then we napped and watched some movies. Well, around 8:30 we decided to go to a majorly announced fireworks display since the one we went to last year (which was great by the way) was cancelled and rescheduled for Labor Day. Our town wasn't doing anything and I think its b/c this majorly announced thing was happening just one town over. So we threw some chairs in the pickup, grabbed a can of OFF! (thanks to the rain we are overpopulated w/ mosquitos!) and headed out about 45 minutes before the show was to start. Now the place where the display was going to take place is only 10 minutes from us, but it took 90 minutes for us to get there!!! Traffic was horrific and people where being amazingly idiotic. The show started late, and we wound up watching it from inside the truck while stuck in traffic. Let me just say this, for something that was announced as much as this was, and for as hyped up as it was, I was expecting one incredible display of fireworks. Boy, was I disappointed! The show lasted about 15 minutes MAYBE one or two minutes longer than that with some major pauses between some of the blasts. What a HUGE letdown. It looked like the whole world had come out to see this display and it was the puniest show I've ever seen! EVER! The small town in IL where we used to go had better displays. Then it took about 45 minutes to get out of the snarl of traffic. Not before we were almost t-boned though. OK, now I've mentioned the rain we've had right???? So, common sense would tell you that the ground would be wet, muddy, and really not driveable. Well, common sense is obviously an oxymoron... b/c it ain't so common!!! This moron decides he wants out of his parking spot from up on the side of the road. So he tries to back up his LARGE SUV into the traffic that is inching its way down the road. (By the way, just b/c you have an SUV does not mean that that you can drive on any kind of surface, you need 4WD or AWD AND the right type of tires. If you primarily use your vehicle to pick up milk and run the kids to soccor practice you DO NOT have an all terrain vehicle. C's truck has 'mudding' tires on it and he even said he wouldn't have tried parking up on the side of the road like some of these COMPLETE morons!) The guys truck was at least 3 inches deep in the mud up there but he proceeds to spin his wheels and spray mud EVERYWHERE just to go nowhere. His buddies help push at least the rear drivers side wheel off the curb and into the street. Do you remember how I said he was 3 inches in mud? Well, guess what he has NO traction back there now. The other 3 tires are just spinning and spraying mud and the one wheel that is on the street is so covered in mud that it is just sliding on the road. So the geniuses get out and give him a few more pushes and boom the other back tire is on the road and now the entire rear of the vehicle is just fishtailing on the road. I'm scooting in my chair to the middle of the truck b/c I'm so afraid that he is just gonna slam into my side of the truck. Since there is so much traffic, C has no where to move our truck and we are both just praying that we don't get hit. The gifted driver decides to 'rock' his car now, putting it in drive then reverse then drive again. Can I just tell you if I wasn't so worried about getting slammed by this man in the middle of deadlocked traffic at almost 32 weeks pregnant, this would have been quite the show and more entertaining than the fireworks we had come out to see! Somehow he managed now to get the driver side tire off the curb and now he really has no control over his slidding truck. Truly its a miracle he didn't hit anyone. He finally spun his wheels enough on the pavement to remove enough mud to get traction and pulled the rest of his vehicle onto the road. Yes, he looked like a moron as he drove 2 inches away with his arms in the air claiming 'victory'! No one was happy w/ him, as most of us now need to get our vehicles cleaned to get his mud spray off.
Speaking of trucks... I'll just mention this and then end the longest post in bloggin history... it seems that we will be saying a sad farewell to C's truck sooner than we really wanted to. Of course, now that it is paid off and we actually have the title, oh and spent the money to have it reregistered b/c we figured we'd use it for a few more months... it doesn't look like it will make it that much longer. We'd rather not put anymore money into it. So we are on the look out for a small sedan for C. I'm really going to miss the truck. I loved having a pick up. It was great for camping and for hauling stuff to/from Home Depot or Lowe's, and getting rid of tree limbs that we've cut down. We had some good times w/ this truck, I will be sad to see it go. The dogs will also miss hearing C come home. They perk up their ears when he is about a block away and go running to the door as he gets closer.
Ok, I promised I'd go now...

~til next time!

ok, I'm back... finally!

Sooooooooooooooooo did ya miss me?

The trip to NY went really well. The planes were full so I was warmer than I wanted to be, but over all the flights were smooth, the layovers were uneventful and there weren't any delays... even getting back into Dallas where it has been raining for what seems like forever! The weather this year is the exact opposite of last year and quite honestly I'm very glad about it. I love rainy days! :D

The shower was wonderful! My family and friends totally blew me away with their generosity. I'm still overwhelmed by it all.

C painted the baby's room and b/c of the generosity we received in NY, we are able to order all 3 pieces of furniture we want for the room. We wanted to go do that on Saturday, but the store has a coupon that starts on July 23rd so we are gonna wait to use that for it. I'll be sure to take pics once that is all set up. I'm getting pretty excited about it and so is C. He was really bummed that we have to wait to use the coupon. If we weren't going to save a significant amount of money... I think he would have just ordered it anyway.

When I got back, I had a NST (non stress test) on Thursday and a sono on Friday and all is A-OK with the lil bean.

We have a home project in the works, I'll try to take before, during and after pics. I'm really hoping to have it done in the next week or two. Course, I'm not doing the work... that is gonna have to be all C, I'm just 'supervising'. :D

I've been 'tagged' to do a 7 things you didn't know about me blog... I'll work on that and hopefully have it up for you soon.

Now to leave you with some pics from the shower... I didn't take any of these!

My Step-mother, Beth & me



My 'other mother'. This is Debbie. She and my mom were best friends. Debbie and her family is my family! She hosted the shower in her home/yard.



My Aunt Virg, she's the one who takes care of me!




Here is my Aunt Sheri, she flew up from Orlando, FL; then my Sis in Law (and friend) Stacy, and my Aunt Dorene, she flew up from Austin, TX... she has also taken on a roll of taking care of me. I have WONDERFUL family and friends! I love them so much!



This is Sharon, my almost sister, who organized this whole thing.
In this pic, she is measuring my 'girth' for a game. (so humiliating by the way)



ok, I'm sure I've bored you all to tears by now...

~til next time!

So long... farewell....

I'll be gone for a week folks... with NO internet access!!!!! I really don't know how well I'm going to handle this. Seriously. I'm the type who checks her email every 20 minutes. SO there is going to be some major withdrawal going on here.

Here are a few pics that I have from when some friends of ours came to visit.... the last time I was gone for almost a week! :D





ok, so I really don't have a whole lot of pics of that visit. Guess you'll have to wait for R to put them up on her blog!! :D

I'll catch you all up to speed when I get back next week. In the mean time, would someone please keep an eye on my hubby for me??? I hate to leave him all alone!

It is a bit odd...

last night the baby was moving around, not jabbing but rolling or whatever... so I put C's hand on my belly and he could feel it. I couldn't help but laugh at his reaction... his face said EW That's disgusting!!!! but his words were that must feel weird. And it is, but in an odd way neat and majorly reassuring. My aunt lost 2 babies in the womb and that is always in the back of my mind, so I get uber nervous when I don't feel the little bean moving and grooving. I try to reassure myself by saying this is totally a miracle from God and He will finish it perfectly. But I'm not delusional... even Christians lose babies. I'm just trying to trust Him that He has this in His hands and that whatever the outcome is... He will prepare me to handle it.

I had a post...

at 5am running through my head, but now I can't remember it all. I do remember that I was going to say how glad I was that we have health insurance. I mean seriously, God's timing is sooo perfect. If I had gotten pregnant in 2003, when C was out of a job and we had no insurance I just don't know what we would have done. During this pregnancy I have seen my OB dr at least 2x a month if not more, a cardiologist once, he performed an EKG and sent me home on a monitor for 24 hours, I have seen the perinatologist 4x and at each visit he has performed a sonogram. My OB gave me the number for a dermatologist b/c I have this small rash on my abdomen (its going away so I haven't called... I'm dr'd out)I have a 'scrip for prenatal vitamins, my lancet and test strips for my glucose monitoring... and the machine itself, I had a 'scrip for blood pressure meds but I don't have to take those anymore, plus I have the 'scrip for the shots that I take daily. I have been to the hospital once b/c they were worried that preterm labor might set in and they hooked me up to monitors for 2 hours and did some swab test. (don't worry, all is good) At my last OB visit she informed me that I will be starting monitoring 2x a WEEK at the hospital... every Monday I go in for a NST (I think this means non stress test) and then on Thrusdays I will have a sonogram. This is from now until I deliver. The whole reason why this is running through my head is b/c I recently picked up a refill of my shots. Originally, the pharmacy told me that the ins would only pay for 14 needles at a time. This cost me $15. My dr warned me that it was an expensive med and that some ins cos won't pay for it, she said if this was the case to not pick up the meds, call her and she would prescrip a different med, but the catch to that was that I'd have to have 2 shots a day. So we figured $1 a shot a day wasn't too bad. Well, when I went to pick up my first refill, the pharmacist said that the ins co didn't want to pay. I told her, well neither do I!!! She said she wanted to make some phone calls to find out whats going on... so I went home. She called a few hours later and said she got it worked out w/ the ins co that I could now get 30 needles at a time and still only pay $15. YAY! Well, when I picked them up and saw the receipt and it sais "Your ins co saved you $986.89" I was shocked. Seriously, someone else would have to pay $1001 a month for this???? YIKES!!!! I haven't seen a bill yet from all the other visits I've been to, nothing from the hospital yet on the monitoring from the other day... but so far I've only paid out $10 to each dr... and only on the first visit, nothing on repeat visits. OH AND I have been to diabetic counseling... one class and 2 follow up visits... these take place at a major medical facility a few towns over. I don't know what we would do without our health insurance. I hate to think that the baby or I wouldn't get the medical care that we have been getting without the ins, but quite honestly, we couldn't afford it without insurance.
On the pregnancy front: I still feel fine. My complaints are minor. One is waking up to pee and not being able to get back to sleep for about an hour, and I really get annoyed b/c I have to wake up to roll over. I mean really, how rediculous is that???? I am a little annoyed that the one time in my life I could be eating whatever I want and not feel too guilty about it... I can't. I miss fruit juice, I miss indulging in ice cream and not feeling guilty. I don't like feeling monitored when I dish up my serving of mashed potatoes or pasta. I just want to sit on the couch with a fresh loaf of french bread and some butter. I want to eat a bagel w/ cream cheese every morning. I want to drink a regular soda. The occasional sips that I steal from C just aren't cutting it. I will need a regular coke from McDonald's with no ice when I am at the hospital! I want to be able to eat anything with out having to think about the consequences. I don't want to test my sugar levels anymore. I don't want kool-aid or decaf iced tea made with splenda anymore. I'm tired of reading labels. I used to freak thinking the baby was going to be here soon and I'm not ready... I'm still not ready, but I'm so glad this is almost over! Summer time and ice cream are just meant to be enjoyed together!

WHEW!!!

OK, I told you I was going to be gone for about a week!
I was soooo busy... the good kind of busy. We got a visit on Monday from 1/2 of the family that I used to be a nanny for in St. Louis. It's so amazing how quickly kids grow up. My little Sammykins is no longer little. But he's still my buddy! :D
Tuesday I had a dr's appt and spent some time in the hospital on some monitors b/c they thought I might be headed for some preterm labor... but nope! All is going well with baby (and mom!)
Then Wednesday we picked up some friends from the airport, they were staying w/ us til Sunday. We had such a good time! (well, I did anyway) Thursday, Becky and I went to GASC (great american scrapbook convention), *ETA: We met a friend who we have been chatting with online for over a year! It was so great to meet her in person and spend "real" time with her. V, so sorry I didn't mention this earlier... it was so great to meet w/ you and hang w/ you at convention... I'm ready for next year already... do you think we can get Becky down here again??? We spent the entire day there shopping and in 2 classes. Friday we did the touristy things, and Saturday we kinda bummed around and did a little more scrap shopping. All in all, it was a great visit, we packed in a TON of things it felt like way more than just 4 days. I'm going to try to get some pics off my camera to share w/ you guys... so give me a little time to get around to it.
I'm heading to NY next Thursday for a week, so again my blog will be going stale. Sorry about that. Soon, my life will have a ton of stuff for me to share that you guys will be sick of me I'm sure!!!
Have a wonderful day!

~til next time....

2 pounds and 4 ounces

That is how much they say the lil bean weighs right now. C and I went to take a look at the lil bean yesterday. Originally, this was to be our last appt w/ the perinatologist (an obstetrician specializing in focusing on problems emerging during the perinatal period) but since this whole Factor V Leiden thing he still wants to see me, which is fine cause he's a nice man and well, I like to see the kiddo in there! I was really hoping for this great shot of the lil bean, but no such luck. The kiddo was standing up in there (breech) so we didn't get a good look at all. They say that it is growing right on schedule and looking and sounding healthy.

C and I are working our way through the house getting rid of stuff that we really don't need. Trying to make room for all the stuff the lil bean is going to require. We did get paint on the walls in the living room/dining room. I totally love it!!! We also rearranged some of the furniture in those rooms and MAN! does it look so much better!

Since it isn't raining today, (finally!) I'm going out w/ a friend to take pictures of her daughter . Originally, this was for her 7th birthday... well, that was in November... so now I guess they are YAY you are out of 2nd grade pictures! :D Either way, it'll be fun b/c her daughter is such a great sport and I've never seen a sour puss on her face; plus, I could use the practice! :D

I plan to be busy for the next week... which means little blogging from me, but at least one hopefully exciting blog when the week is over! :D Have a great weekend!


~till next time folks!