I haven't had much time to blog lately with all the holiday festivities so it's more like a couple weeks in review, just to catch everyone up before the year comes to an end.
Towards the beginning of last week, my brother spent the night here and we made a big mess and made some Christmas cookies...it was a lot of fun decorating them....not so much cleaning up! I wrapped a ton of presents and thankfully everything that we ordered online made it here in plenty of time.
The night before Christmas Eve we got a little present from Sophia...she rolled over for the first time!! As I've said before, she really dislikes tummy time so when we put her on her belly we were surprised that she was really up high on her arms and looking pretty content...no crying or whining at all! Then all the of the sudden she just rolled right over!! Michael and I both were there and saw it and started cheering really loud....and we scared the crap out of poor Sophia, who had no idea what the heck was going on, haha.
Christmas Eve we went to mass and Sophia was a really good girl. After that we packed our SUV to the hilt and drove over to have Christmas Eve dinner at my Aunt Robin's house. Then we got Sophia in her cute Christmas pj's and spent the night at my parents house.
Christmas Day was really nice.....my sister, bro-in-law and nephew came and we opened up lots of wonderful gifts....Sophia sat in my lap and watched cousin Cooper but didn't really partake in the festivities....and eventually fell asleep. She was a good baby the whole day, while we had a delicious meal and lots of family and friends over. It was a very nice first Christmas for her, not that I think she'll really remember it!
We mostly relaxed the day after Christmas....tried out some of our presents...including the Michael Jackson dance game for the Wii...it was hilarious, what a seriously fun game.
On Monday, my mom, sister, Sophia and I spent the better part of the day at Lenox Mall. It was packed. But Sophia slept most of the time we were there and we found some good buys.
Tuesday we had planned to go to the GA Aquarium but we got a late start and it was really crowded downtown. We ended up strolling around Atlantic Station...it was chilly, but not too cold and we warmed up with some hot chocolate.
Today was kind of a lazy day...although I spent the day doing laundry and getting together our stuff since we are heading down to FL to visit with Michael's family for a few days tomorrow morning. Hopefully Sophia will be as good on the long drive as she was the last time.
I can't believe the year is over. It has been such a great year, the best part being the addition of our sweet little Sophia Rose to our family. I am excited, interested, intrigued to see what 2011 holds for us!
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Bad Day Turned Great
Today didn't start out so great. To explain exactly why, I have to first tell a little bit about yesterday. When I woke up yesterday morning I noticed that my left eye was a bit red and bloodshot...not much white showing. I tried to not panic, figured maybe there had been something in it as I slept that irritated it....anything but the dreaded pink eye that I had so often as a kid. I took a Claritin in hopes that maybe it was an allergy thing?? By the end of the day, it was not at all better. I took 2 Benadryl when I went to bed, sure that it would be clear by this morning....especially since I had to go to work. And especially since pink eye is gross and contagious and the last thing I wanted to have was something gross and contagious that I could possibly pass on to my baby (not to mention my husband or co-workers and customers).
I woke up early to get ready for work this morning and saw that my eye actually looked worse than yesterday. I knew that I really shouldn't put in my contacts and debated for a full half an hour if I should head to urgent care instead of work. I was actually looking forward to making some sales at work since it is the last Saturday before Christmas and I figured since I go in so infrequently now, if I am going to make any sales at all then today would be the day. But I did realize that my Frankenstein eye was not going to go unnoticed and besides infecting the customers it would probably scare them away. I emailed my boss my regrets and off to the Immediate Care I went.
I hate the Immediate Care. I was there almost a full ten minutes before the place opened and stood in the cold drizzly rain with what looked like 2 other people until the doors opened. Oh. The lady at the front of the line was actually standing in line for both of her non-English speaking Asian parents. Ugh. Whatever. So I am technically patient number 4. I sign in, fill out forms, etc and then wait. Patient number 2 gets called back first, but not for quite a while. I figure I might have a shot to be called back next, I really only have a quick thing that needs to be looked at and it seems the Asian couple is sick and also wants some vaccinations. I am not called back next, the Asian couple and their translator daughter win out over me. It is then that I hear the front desk girl and a nurse mention there is only one doctor there. UGH. After a full hour I am finally called back. There is one other guy who is in the waiting room with me and after about 10 minutes waiting to see a doctor in my little examination room, I hear them call him back. And then more waiting. After quite a long time, probably about 45 minutes, I actually hear the doctor talking to THE GUY THAT WAS CALLED BACK AFTER ME!!!! In fact, I can hear pretty much everything going on, all my waiting room "friends" are still there. At this point, I get really annoyed. Finally the doctor comes to see me. Good thing I wasn't an emergency. He assesses my eye, prescribes me some drops and another medicine and I am out of there at an even 2 hours. After another extremely annoying hour at Walgreens, I finally have my prescriptions and can head home to my daughter....who I have to try and stay away from as much as possible, just in case I haven't already passed her my germs. It is probably close to 1 o'clock at this point and the day is crap.
But later on something totally awesome happened that turned the whole day around. First, it was a small thing....Michael had Sophia on the changing table and he thought she laughed a little when he was doing something silly to make her smile. I wasn't in the room to hear it for sure...but yesterday when I was playing with her, just the two of us, I thought I heard something similar. I wasn't 100% sure it was a laugh though, it could have been some gurgling or something like that and I didn't have anyone else around to hear it.
A few more hours pass and this time I am changing her since Michael is in the kitchen doing something. I think I tickled her a little near her neck, something like that, and there it was again...but this time it was louder and longer and a lot clearer. A laugh!!! And Michael heard it from the kitchen too. It is such a cute little sound, totally out of nowhere and it made me so excited. I completely forgot about my crappy morning and literally spent about an hour trying to get her to do it again. I think I got one more the whole day but it was SO worth it. I can't wait until she laughs and laughs at all the stupid things we do just to hear that sweet sound over and over. I thought that the first time I ever heard her cry when she was first born was the best sound I had ever heard...and it was definitely awesome...but now I know that my little baby girl laughing is the best sound ever. And I can't wait to hear it again!
I woke up early to get ready for work this morning and saw that my eye actually looked worse than yesterday. I knew that I really shouldn't put in my contacts and debated for a full half an hour if I should head to urgent care instead of work. I was actually looking forward to making some sales at work since it is the last Saturday before Christmas and I figured since I go in so infrequently now, if I am going to make any sales at all then today would be the day. But I did realize that my Frankenstein eye was not going to go unnoticed and besides infecting the customers it would probably scare them away. I emailed my boss my regrets and off to the Immediate Care I went.
I hate the Immediate Care. I was there almost a full ten minutes before the place opened and stood in the cold drizzly rain with what looked like 2 other people until the doors opened. Oh. The lady at the front of the line was actually standing in line for both of her non-English speaking Asian parents. Ugh. Whatever. So I am technically patient number 4. I sign in, fill out forms, etc and then wait. Patient number 2 gets called back first, but not for quite a while. I figure I might have a shot to be called back next, I really only have a quick thing that needs to be looked at and it seems the Asian couple is sick and also wants some vaccinations. I am not called back next, the Asian couple and their translator daughter win out over me. It is then that I hear the front desk girl and a nurse mention there is only one doctor there. UGH. After a full hour I am finally called back. There is one other guy who is in the waiting room with me and after about 10 minutes waiting to see a doctor in my little examination room, I hear them call him back. And then more waiting. After quite a long time, probably about 45 minutes, I actually hear the doctor talking to THE GUY THAT WAS CALLED BACK AFTER ME!!!! In fact, I can hear pretty much everything going on, all my waiting room "friends" are still there. At this point, I get really annoyed. Finally the doctor comes to see me. Good thing I wasn't an emergency. He assesses my eye, prescribes me some drops and another medicine and I am out of there at an even 2 hours. After another extremely annoying hour at Walgreens, I finally have my prescriptions and can head home to my daughter....who I have to try and stay away from as much as possible, just in case I haven't already passed her my germs. It is probably close to 1 o'clock at this point and the day is crap.
But later on something totally awesome happened that turned the whole day around. First, it was a small thing....Michael had Sophia on the changing table and he thought she laughed a little when he was doing something silly to make her smile. I wasn't in the room to hear it for sure...but yesterday when I was playing with her, just the two of us, I thought I heard something similar. I wasn't 100% sure it was a laugh though, it could have been some gurgling or something like that and I didn't have anyone else around to hear it.
A few more hours pass and this time I am changing her since Michael is in the kitchen doing something. I think I tickled her a little near her neck, something like that, and there it was again...but this time it was louder and longer and a lot clearer. A laugh!!! And Michael heard it from the kitchen too. It is such a cute little sound, totally out of nowhere and it made me so excited. I completely forgot about my crappy morning and literally spent about an hour trying to get her to do it again. I think I got one more the whole day but it was SO worth it. I can't wait until she laughs and laughs at all the stupid things we do just to hear that sweet sound over and over. I thought that the first time I ever heard her cry when she was first born was the best sound I had ever heard...and it was definitely awesome...but now I know that my little baby girl laughing is the best sound ever. And I can't wait to hear it again!
Friday, December 17, 2010
The Friday Five
Wow, Friday came around quick. I don't think I really have 5 random things to say that occurred during the week (since there isn't much random about trying to get a 3 month old into a routine....feed, change, nap, repeat) so this will be a themed Friday Five....things I am thankful for this time of year.
1. The obvious...I am so thankful to have my little baby girl Sophia. I can barely remember not having her, but I know that things weren't quite complete until she arrived.
2. I am thankful that I don't have to work full time and can go in to my job every once in a while, even sometimes bringing the baby with me. I can't imagine leaving Sophia every single day for the entire day...I would miss her like crazy and never get a thing done. I love my time with her.
3. I am thankful that my husband works so hard to take care of us. Plus he helps with cleaning the bottles and changing the diapers and he will cook for us and lots of other things. I definitely ended up with a great husband and I love him.
4. I am thankful for my family and friends. I have no idea what I would do without them. Or how I would get through a week not talking to any of them. I get a little sad that I don't get to see some of my friends (or even some of my family) as much as I would like to, but thank God for all the different ways of communication these days that keeps me in touch....I literally would go crazy if I were alone.
5. I am thankful for all the things I have. Some people literally have nothing. I might think I live in a small condo or might think I need a new pair of shoes but I don't really need a thing...I have plenty of clothes and food and things...more than enough. Plus, looking at the previous 4 things I am thankful for, the most important things to me aren't really things at all. I am very lucky. I know there are so many out there that aren't even half as lucky as me and that is a sad thing. I donate my old clothes/shoes/books/etc to the Goodwill a couple times every year when I am cleaning a closet or trying to make room for something else (more things) but I am going to try to make time (ambitious of me, I know) to get a big bag of donations ready before Christmas (or at least before the new year) since this is a good time of year for giving and that will put me in the Christmas spirit even more than presents or trees or baking cookies. :-)
1. The obvious...I am so thankful to have my little baby girl Sophia. I can barely remember not having her, but I know that things weren't quite complete until she arrived.
2. I am thankful that I don't have to work full time and can go in to my job every once in a while, even sometimes bringing the baby with me. I can't imagine leaving Sophia every single day for the entire day...I would miss her like crazy and never get a thing done. I love my time with her.
3. I am thankful that my husband works so hard to take care of us. Plus he helps with cleaning the bottles and changing the diapers and he will cook for us and lots of other things. I definitely ended up with a great husband and I love him.
4. I am thankful for my family and friends. I have no idea what I would do without them. Or how I would get through a week not talking to any of them. I get a little sad that I don't get to see some of my friends (or even some of my family) as much as I would like to, but thank God for all the different ways of communication these days that keeps me in touch....I literally would go crazy if I were alone.
5. I am thankful for all the things I have. Some people literally have nothing. I might think I live in a small condo or might think I need a new pair of shoes but I don't really need a thing...I have plenty of clothes and food and things...more than enough. Plus, looking at the previous 4 things I am thankful for, the most important things to me aren't really things at all. I am very lucky. I know there are so many out there that aren't even half as lucky as me and that is a sad thing. I donate my old clothes/shoes/books/etc to the Goodwill a couple times every year when I am cleaning a closet or trying to make room for something else (more things) but I am going to try to make time (ambitious of me, I know) to get a big bag of donations ready before Christmas (or at least before the new year) since this is a good time of year for giving and that will put me in the Christmas spirit even more than presents or trees or baking cookies. :-)
Thursday, December 16, 2010
What a Weird Question
Lately I feel like I have been blogging about those who annoy me or get on my nerves or do downright stupid things, etc. Either I am getting too touchy about things or just need a good long break from reality (not going to happen so it's probably the touchiness that is the issue).
I had to go into work a few days ago and thankfully I have a great boss who doesn't mind if I bring Sophia with me. She was a really good baby on this particular day and just stayed asleep in her carrier almost the whole time. But the carrier is near me at the desk so all the customers can see her......not something I mind at all (showing off my little cutie!)....until I start to get the weird questions. Sure, a lot of the questions are typical (whose baby? how old? what's her name? is she your first?).....but one older couple that came in actually asked me this weird question and oddly, they were not the first to ask it of me....."When are you planning on having another?"
I answered with my standard "Not for a while" line but after the fact (and for the past couple of days) I have been thinking about what a strange question that is and why in the world do so many people ask it. This particular couple doesn't even know me (or my husband) so why do they care when and how many kids I have? Why does anyone else (besides me or my husband) really care so much about this topic? Is it just something to say when they can't think of anything else? It is seriously annoying since there is absolutely nothing wrong with the adorable 3 month old baby that we have now and this question over and over makes me think maybe she was a good try but we need to keep trying for that "perfect" baby or something like that.
I have started to think of some good remarks to the next people that dare to ask me this question.....
1. We only live in a 2 bedroom condo so we don't have room for any more kids. Sure, they may think we are poor but that should leave them feeling a little uncomfortable.
2. We don't make enough money yet to support another baby....we barely make enough to support this one and the two of us! Again, that should get them squirming a bit.
3. There is nothing wrong with the little baby we have so until there is we won't try for another. And no, we don't ever want anything to be wrong with her. She is perfect and always will be.
4. Is our reproductive schedule your business?? Nope, didn't think so. This one is a little rude and snarky so I'll probably just say that one in my head.
5. We aren't trying to compete with the Duggars so we'll have another when we feel like it. Hopefully I won't have to go into who the Duggars are since that will weaken my comeback quite a bit.
All that being said, if I really thought about the question, I don't know when we will plan to add another baby to our family. I feel like I love the one we have SO much and we are getting to know her and love her more every day that I can't imagine having to split that love between more kids. But I would definitely like to have more kids and I know I will end up loving them just as much. Just right now my whole life is about Sophia and I am fine with that. Plus there is some truth to some of my snotty comebacks....we would need a bigger living space and more income to support a larger family. Which I know those things will come as well....in time. So everyone (family, friends, and strangers alike) can just relax....we'll have more kids but it won't be anytime too soon and we will let you know when it happens for sure.....just don't ask me that question for at least a couple years!!!!
I had to go into work a few days ago and thankfully I have a great boss who doesn't mind if I bring Sophia with me. She was a really good baby on this particular day and just stayed asleep in her carrier almost the whole time. But the carrier is near me at the desk so all the customers can see her......not something I mind at all (showing off my little cutie!)....until I start to get the weird questions. Sure, a lot of the questions are typical (whose baby? how old? what's her name? is she your first?).....but one older couple that came in actually asked me this weird question and oddly, they were not the first to ask it of me....."When are you planning on having another?"
I answered with my standard "Not for a while" line but after the fact (and for the past couple of days) I have been thinking about what a strange question that is and why in the world do so many people ask it. This particular couple doesn't even know me (or my husband) so why do they care when and how many kids I have? Why does anyone else (besides me or my husband) really care so much about this topic? Is it just something to say when they can't think of anything else? It is seriously annoying since there is absolutely nothing wrong with the adorable 3 month old baby that we have now and this question over and over makes me think maybe she was a good try but we need to keep trying for that "perfect" baby or something like that.
I have started to think of some good remarks to the next people that dare to ask me this question.....
1. We only live in a 2 bedroom condo so we don't have room for any more kids. Sure, they may think we are poor but that should leave them feeling a little uncomfortable.
2. We don't make enough money yet to support another baby....we barely make enough to support this one and the two of us! Again, that should get them squirming a bit.
3. There is nothing wrong with the little baby we have so until there is we won't try for another. And no, we don't ever want anything to be wrong with her. She is perfect and always will be.
4. Is our reproductive schedule your business?? Nope, didn't think so. This one is a little rude and snarky so I'll probably just say that one in my head.
5. We aren't trying to compete with the Duggars so we'll have another when we feel like it. Hopefully I won't have to go into who the Duggars are since that will weaken my comeback quite a bit.
All that being said, if I really thought about the question, I don't know when we will plan to add another baby to our family. I feel like I love the one we have SO much and we are getting to know her and love her more every day that I can't imagine having to split that love between more kids. But I would definitely like to have more kids and I know I will end up loving them just as much. Just right now my whole life is about Sophia and I am fine with that. Plus there is some truth to some of my snotty comebacks....we would need a bigger living space and more income to support a larger family. Which I know those things will come as well....in time. So everyone (family, friends, and strangers alike) can just relax....we'll have more kids but it won't be anytime too soon and we will let you know when it happens for sure.....just don't ask me that question for at least a couple years!!!!
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Birthday Shout-Out!
To my little brother, Dillon James.
Seventeen years ago he came into the world and the Mercer family was then complete. Cheesy, but true! (See my sister's wonderful blog for the details of that day as she remembers it and her own b-day shout out to him)
Mostly I just want to say that I am very lucky to have such a wonderful little brother....he has gone from adorable baby to handsome young man and I am very proud of him and the person he has become. Sure, he knows about a thousand ways to annoy me but that just comes with the territory of any younger sibling! I definitely consider him my friend and a wonderful uncle to my daughter....as much as he is grossed out by her spitting up (which she unfortunately does often) I can tell that he loves her as much as she loves him....and he is going to be a great Godfather for her.
I hope that I tell him enough how much I love him and am proud of him....seventeen years has flown by and before I can blink I will probably be blogging about him at college and his wedding and his kids and all his great accomplishments....hope it doesn't go too fast, I am looking forward to enjoying all those moments with my favorite brother! :-)
Seventeen years ago he came into the world and the Mercer family was then complete. Cheesy, but true! (See my sister's wonderful blog for the details of that day as she remembers it and her own b-day shout out to him)
Mostly I just want to say that I am very lucky to have such a wonderful little brother....he has gone from adorable baby to handsome young man and I am very proud of him and the person he has become. Sure, he knows about a thousand ways to annoy me but that just comes with the territory of any younger sibling! I definitely consider him my friend and a wonderful uncle to my daughter....as much as he is grossed out by her spitting up (which she unfortunately does often) I can tell that he loves her as much as she loves him....and he is going to be a great Godfather for her.
I hope that I tell him enough how much I love him and am proud of him....seventeen years has flown by and before I can blink I will probably be blogging about him at college and his wedding and his kids and all his great accomplishments....hope it doesn't go too fast, I am looking forward to enjoying all those moments with my favorite brother! :-)
Friday, December 10, 2010
The Friday Five
I have seen some other fellow bloggers do this and thought I might do the same, if nothing more than to make sure I at least post one blog a week! Basically it is just five completely random items that have to do with me, my family, my life, my week....just whatever! So, here we go.
1. Sophia HATES tummy time. We put her on her tummy a few times a day and she puts her head up for like 3 seconds and then gets mad and smashes her face into whatever we have put her face down on. So, we know she can do it, she is just stubborn and dislikes it immensely. Not sure yet how to fix that problem!!
2. Michael had his last class of grad school on Wednesday. I am SO SO happy about that. Not only will he now have an MBA, he will be able to stay home with us every night and we can do normal family things together.
3. We are going to Michael's work Christmas party tomorrow night. I have attended it every year (except last year) since 1996. And that is not necessarily a good thing. At least the last several times haven't ended with any throwing up, haha.
4. In relation to item #3, I have to actually put on a nice, normal, non-maternity party dress. Ugh. Even though the scale says I am finally the same weight as before I got pregnant with Sophia, the mirror says gross, go get a personal trainer or liposuction...or both! Ugh. Needless to say, the dress is black.
5. Despite items 3 and 4, I am actually in the Christmas spirit and excited for the holiday. The last couple of years I was so busy with working extra hours (in retail) and so tired that I didn't even decorate....this year we have a real tree and lots of decorations and plans to make cookies and a gingerbread house. Oh yeah, and we have Sophia! I think that even though she won't know what is going on and won't even remember it, I want to make her first Christmas really special. :-)
1. Sophia HATES tummy time. We put her on her tummy a few times a day and she puts her head up for like 3 seconds and then gets mad and smashes her face into whatever we have put her face down on. So, we know she can do it, she is just stubborn and dislikes it immensely. Not sure yet how to fix that problem!!
2. Michael had his last class of grad school on Wednesday. I am SO SO happy about that. Not only will he now have an MBA, he will be able to stay home with us every night and we can do normal family things together.
3. We are going to Michael's work Christmas party tomorrow night. I have attended it every year (except last year) since 1996. And that is not necessarily a good thing. At least the last several times haven't ended with any throwing up, haha.
4. In relation to item #3, I have to actually put on a nice, normal, non-maternity party dress. Ugh. Even though the scale says I am finally the same weight as before I got pregnant with Sophia, the mirror says gross, go get a personal trainer or liposuction...or both! Ugh. Needless to say, the dress is black.
5. Despite items 3 and 4, I am actually in the Christmas spirit and excited for the holiday. The last couple of years I was so busy with working extra hours (in retail) and so tired that I didn't even decorate....this year we have a real tree and lots of decorations and plans to make cookies and a gingerbread house. Oh yeah, and we have Sophia! I think that even though she won't know what is going on and won't even remember it, I want to make her first Christmas really special. :-)
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Need to Just Stop Watching.....
Reality TV!!! I admit that day time television is pretty lame and I get stuck watching all sorts of weird and worthless shows when Sophia and I are cuddling on the couch during the day. I will often TiVo shows that I know Michael won't watch so that I can have at least some shows of interest for us to watch during the day so we are not at the mercy of the daytime line up. Unfortunately some of those shows are just as bad. I know that I have blogged about this particular show in the past (and really just need to stop watching it altogether) but I can't help but comment on a situation that occurred in a recent episode of 16 & Pregnant.
I really truly do not expect mother-of-the-year awards for any of these young (and very often unfit) teenage moms but I guess I am just naive or stupid enough to expect a little common sense....some maternal instinct that would kick in to suggest some activities are just not appropriate to do with your newborn.
The episode actually seemed to be going quite well (I mean, as well as a show about a pregnant teenager could go)....the girl had supportive and present parents and a baby-daddy that actually wanted to be involved and marry her and all that. Her baby was born 5 weeks premature but healthy. So how did this show go so wrong in my eyes? Well, at about 5 or 6 weeks old, the girl decides to take her baby horseback riding with her. Yeah, you read that correctly. She decided to take her infant preemie son on a horseback ride with her. What in the world?? I'm not even sure where to start on this topic as far as the thoughts going through my head. Like for example, her parents or at the very least, the baby's father, didn't find anything wrong with that?? She put him in a baby carrier and strapped it to her chest.....but as far as I could tell, the baby was probably too little for even that. And then she practically crushed him as she hoisted herself up onto the horse (with the help from her baby's daddy)!!! After jostling him around (I was holding my breath as his tiny head bounced around) for a good ten minutes or so she finally decided it wasn't going to work out. No kidding.
I have GOT to stop watching this stupid, stupid show. After 3 or 4 seasons I think the world gets it...don't have a baby as a teenager. Thankfully I really don't have to watch it to learn valuable lessons about what NOT to do with a baby. No horseback riding for me and Sophia. Check. No spending all our income on giant speakers for the trunk of our car (compliments of last weeks episode). Check. And both Michael and I have graduated high school AND college already so we don't have to try and squeeze in studying for our GED. Phew.
I really do feel bad for these kids. I also feel bad that there seems to be SO many teenagers that are reproducing....it's pretty easy these days to figure out how to keep that from happening, even if your parents and your school don't offer up all the various ways of prevention. I guess MTV feels like they are "helping" by showing all the sad stories of kids having kids....but I think they are missing the mark. If a teenager doesn't know that she shouldn't put her infant baby on a horse then another teenager might not get the "don't have a teen pregnancy" message.
I have actually learned a very valuable lesson from this show though..........
STOP WATCHING IT!!!!!! Guess my own common sense failed me on that one. I'll just go back to watching regular daytime television now!!
I really truly do not expect mother-of-the-year awards for any of these young (and very often unfit) teenage moms but I guess I am just naive or stupid enough to expect a little common sense....some maternal instinct that would kick in to suggest some activities are just not appropriate to do with your newborn.
The episode actually seemed to be going quite well (I mean, as well as a show about a pregnant teenager could go)....the girl had supportive and present parents and a baby-daddy that actually wanted to be involved and marry her and all that. Her baby was born 5 weeks premature but healthy. So how did this show go so wrong in my eyes? Well, at about 5 or 6 weeks old, the girl decides to take her baby horseback riding with her. Yeah, you read that correctly. She decided to take her infant preemie son on a horseback ride with her. What in the world?? I'm not even sure where to start on this topic as far as the thoughts going through my head. Like for example, her parents or at the very least, the baby's father, didn't find anything wrong with that?? She put him in a baby carrier and strapped it to her chest.....but as far as I could tell, the baby was probably too little for even that. And then she practically crushed him as she hoisted herself up onto the horse (with the help from her baby's daddy)!!! After jostling him around (I was holding my breath as his tiny head bounced around) for a good ten minutes or so she finally decided it wasn't going to work out. No kidding.
I have GOT to stop watching this stupid, stupid show. After 3 or 4 seasons I think the world gets it...don't have a baby as a teenager. Thankfully I really don't have to watch it to learn valuable lessons about what NOT to do with a baby. No horseback riding for me and Sophia. Check. No spending all our income on giant speakers for the trunk of our car (compliments of last weeks episode). Check. And both Michael and I have graduated high school AND college already so we don't have to try and squeeze in studying for our GED. Phew.
I really do feel bad for these kids. I also feel bad that there seems to be SO many teenagers that are reproducing....it's pretty easy these days to figure out how to keep that from happening, even if your parents and your school don't offer up all the various ways of prevention. I guess MTV feels like they are "helping" by showing all the sad stories of kids having kids....but I think they are missing the mark. If a teenager doesn't know that she shouldn't put her infant baby on a horse then another teenager might not get the "don't have a teen pregnancy" message.
I have actually learned a very valuable lesson from this show though..........
STOP WATCHING IT!!!!!! Guess my own common sense failed me on that one. I'll just go back to watching regular daytime television now!!
Monday, December 6, 2010
There are No Words for Some People...
I had a great weekend and will update all that in a minute, but first the main point of today's blog....
Today Sophia and I ventured out to the mall so I could get some shoes for the party dress I already bought for this coming weekend (Michael's work party). Sophia wasn't really feeling the shopping but with the party so soon I needed to get out and get the chore done and she had no choice but to come with me. I ended up finding TWO cute pairs in Macy's at a really good discount and stood in a short line to check out. As I was finishing up with paying, a sales associate noticed my stroller and came around so she could "take a closer look at the baby". Well, ok, whatever. She takes a good look and laughs and says loudly "Oh, she's so FAT, what are you feeding her?"
What. The. HELL??!!!
Was that supposed to be a compliment? Cause you sure missed the mark, lady. I would take it personally if someone flat out called me fat (and I at least really could stand to lose some weight) and I took it quite personally with someone calling my baby fat. Especially since she is really not fat at all...she does have some cute chubby cheeks, I'll give her that, but we've only been in size 1 diapers for several weeks now and she is between 0-3 month and 3-6 month clothing...and she is 3 months so that seems pretty average. The doctor has said she is right at 50th percentile on the charts for weight. To me that does not say fat.
As a mental explosion went off in my brain, I tried to just chuckle a bit as I answered the lady, "well, since she's only 3 months we still only feed her formula". And I walked off as she said something else, who knows what, probably that the fat apple didn't fall far from the fat tree or something equally rude. She's lucky I didn't tell her what I thought of her! Needless to say, our shopping trip ended shortly after that. At least I got what I went for.
On to more positive topics. This past weekend was really busy, but really fun. Friday night I met my mom and sister at the movies to see Burlesque while Michael watched Sophia. The movie was great and Daddy and baby had a good time together....till she screamed for about an hour at the end, haha. She must've missed her mommy!! Saturday morning we took Sophia and my sister brought my nephew Cooper up to Michael's work to see Santa....Sophia didn't mind the old guy but Coop wasn't having it and my sister had to sit on Santa's lap too to get the picture! We had a great afternoon watching the Auburn game (War Eagle!) and then Sunday I did a little shopping with my mom and sister and we ended the evening with the whole family at a nice Italian restaurant. All in all it was a wonderful weekend and all the fun Christmas festivities seem to be in full swing. I am glad that I am getting in to the Christmas spirit, I think having Sophia in the family has really made it so the holidays are fun and exciting!
Today Sophia and I ventured out to the mall so I could get some shoes for the party dress I already bought for this coming weekend (Michael's work party). Sophia wasn't really feeling the shopping but with the party so soon I needed to get out and get the chore done and she had no choice but to come with me. I ended up finding TWO cute pairs in Macy's at a really good discount and stood in a short line to check out. As I was finishing up with paying, a sales associate noticed my stroller and came around so she could "take a closer look at the baby". Well, ok, whatever. She takes a good look and laughs and says loudly "Oh, she's so FAT, what are you feeding her?"
What. The. HELL??!!!
Was that supposed to be a compliment? Cause you sure missed the mark, lady. I would take it personally if someone flat out called me fat (and I at least really could stand to lose some weight) and I took it quite personally with someone calling my baby fat. Especially since she is really not fat at all...she does have some cute chubby cheeks, I'll give her that, but we've only been in size 1 diapers for several weeks now and she is between 0-3 month and 3-6 month clothing...and she is 3 months so that seems pretty average. The doctor has said she is right at 50th percentile on the charts for weight. To me that does not say fat.
As a mental explosion went off in my brain, I tried to just chuckle a bit as I answered the lady, "well, since she's only 3 months we still only feed her formula". And I walked off as she said something else, who knows what, probably that the fat apple didn't fall far from the fat tree or something equally rude. She's lucky I didn't tell her what I thought of her! Needless to say, our shopping trip ended shortly after that. At least I got what I went for.
On to more positive topics. This past weekend was really busy, but really fun. Friday night I met my mom and sister at the movies to see Burlesque while Michael watched Sophia. The movie was great and Daddy and baby had a good time together....till she screamed for about an hour at the end, haha. She must've missed her mommy!! Saturday morning we took Sophia and my sister brought my nephew Cooper up to Michael's work to see Santa....Sophia didn't mind the old guy but Coop wasn't having it and my sister had to sit on Santa's lap too to get the picture! We had a great afternoon watching the Auburn game (War Eagle!) and then Sunday I did a little shopping with my mom and sister and we ended the evening with the whole family at a nice Italian restaurant. All in all it was a wonderful weekend and all the fun Christmas festivities seem to be in full swing. I am glad that I am getting in to the Christmas spirit, I think having Sophia in the family has really made it so the holidays are fun and exciting!
Friday, December 3, 2010
Wow, Time Flies!
So I can't believe that 9 weeks have passed since my last blog! I have a 12 week old baby now...and she is growing fast and changing everyday. Sophia Rose definitely keeps me busy and on my toes. But I love being her Mommy and wouldn't have it any other way. :-)
Good news, we got a new laptop computer this week. I think it will be SO helpful to me to have an actual functional laptop, at least where blogging is concerned! I can just fire up the laptop in any room I am in (mine, Sophia's, the living room on the couch...which is where I am right now...with Sophia laying on the couch right next to me!) and blog away. I am glad I should be able to keep my few followers more in the loop on my life, haha. Now I just have to figure out how to get all my pictures loaded on this computer so I can add those to the blog as well....lots and lots of Sophia pictures!
Well I guess this isn't much of an update but I wanted to let everyone know that I am not completely off the map and will be blogging much more frequently in the future....can't wait!!
Good news, we got a new laptop computer this week. I think it will be SO helpful to me to have an actual functional laptop, at least where blogging is concerned! I can just fire up the laptop in any room I am in (mine, Sophia's, the living room on the couch...which is where I am right now...with Sophia laying on the couch right next to me!) and blog away. I am glad I should be able to keep my few followers more in the loop on my life, haha. Now I just have to figure out how to get all my pictures loaded on this computer so I can add those to the blog as well....lots and lots of Sophia pictures!
Well I guess this isn't much of an update but I wanted to let everyone know that I am not completely off the map and will be blogging much more frequently in the future....can't wait!!
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
She's Here!!!
So I haven't had the chance to blog in a while....I've been busy with our little one, who finally decided to grace us with her presence 6 days after her due date!!
Sophia Rose Santoro is here!!!
She is 3 weeks old today and even though it has probably been the most tiring 3 weeks of my life, I will say that they have also been very memorable and wonderful weeks, starting with the moment Sophia came into the world.
This blog will mostly be about the experience and then I will do a separate entry full of pictures....she is so adorable, there are definitely lots of great pictures of her!!
Going back to my last blog, I still had another week and one more doctors appointment until my actual due date (which was Sept 1). At my final doc appointment, 2 days before said due date, I was only dilated at 2 cm...pretty depressing but the doc said everything did look good and she was pretty sure that I would be heading to the hospital later that week to have the baby...but just in case not, we set up an induction date of Sept 7 (in which we would head to the hospital on the evening of the 6th to get settled). Needless to say, she wasn't quite right with her prediction so at 3pm on Monday, September 6th (which happened to be Labor Day, haha) we got everything together and nervously headed over to Northside Hospital. We "checked in" and got settled in our room and then they hooked me up to monitors and stuff and explained the process of starting the induction the next morning. As the short version of the story goes, they started my induction at 8 am on September 7 and twelve and a half hours later at 8:30pm that evening our little girl finally made her appearance into the world!! (For the long version of the story just contact me....it was definitely a memorable day that I won't soon forget...no matter how many people say "oh you'll forget all about that part of it"!)
By Friday, September 10th we were cleared to go home with our new little sweetheart. I think Michael and I were both pretty nervous but I don't think we really needed to be. It sure has been an adjustment and we are getting used to not getting our beauty sleep (haha) but I don't think I have ever been happier. So strange that a little tiny person (who at this point only eats, sleeps, and poops) can totally complete a family and bring more love to two people than they ever thought there could be. I don't want to speed up time, I am so enjoying every moment with our little girl, but I can't wait to see her little personality develop and how she grows. I know that she already fits in perfectly in our family and I am so happy that Sophia Rose is finally here!!!
Sophia Rose Santoro is here!!!
She is 3 weeks old today and even though it has probably been the most tiring 3 weeks of my life, I will say that they have also been very memorable and wonderful weeks, starting with the moment Sophia came into the world.
This blog will mostly be about the experience and then I will do a separate entry full of pictures....she is so adorable, there are definitely lots of great pictures of her!!
Going back to my last blog, I still had another week and one more doctors appointment until my actual due date (which was Sept 1). At my final doc appointment, 2 days before said due date, I was only dilated at 2 cm...pretty depressing but the doc said everything did look good and she was pretty sure that I would be heading to the hospital later that week to have the baby...but just in case not, we set up an induction date of Sept 7 (in which we would head to the hospital on the evening of the 6th to get settled). Needless to say, she wasn't quite right with her prediction so at 3pm on Monday, September 6th (which happened to be Labor Day, haha) we got everything together and nervously headed over to Northside Hospital. We "checked in" and got settled in our room and then they hooked me up to monitors and stuff and explained the process of starting the induction the next morning. As the short version of the story goes, they started my induction at 8 am on September 7 and twelve and a half hours later at 8:30pm that evening our little girl finally made her appearance into the world!! (For the long version of the story just contact me....it was definitely a memorable day that I won't soon forget...no matter how many people say "oh you'll forget all about that part of it"!)
By Friday, September 10th we were cleared to go home with our new little sweetheart. I think Michael and I were both pretty nervous but I don't think we really needed to be. It sure has been an adjustment and we are getting used to not getting our beauty sleep (haha) but I don't think I have ever been happier. So strange that a little tiny person (who at this point only eats, sleeps, and poops) can totally complete a family and bring more love to two people than they ever thought there could be. I don't want to speed up time, I am so enjoying every moment with our little girl, but I can't wait to see her little personality develop and how she grows. I know that she already fits in perfectly in our family and I am so happy that Sophia Rose is finally here!!!
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
One week left....
Until my due date!!!
My bags are packed and the bassinet is ready for when we bring the baby home. :-)
I cannot believe how fast 39 weeks has gone by.
As I think back over the entire pregnancy, I realize that I just don't have too much to complain about at all:
I was a bit nauseous in the first trimester but no actual throwing up (in fact I only threw up a few times the whole pregnancy and once I know it was because I gagged on my prenatal vitamin, haha). Sure, I have been tired pretty much the entire time but still managed to work up until a few weeks ago and keep the house (somewhat) clean and organized....including dealing with a major household renovation and the packing and unpacking associated with it (much thanks to my husband for being a HUGE help with that). No stretch marks, no ginormous amount of weight gain (a bit over 20 lbs but less than 30 lbs, without giving away the exact number...weight gain is still weight gain!), I feel like my feet are swollen but my ankles still look like ankles, my belly button didn't pop out, some heartburn but not constantly, passed my glucose test (trust me, I was worried about that one)...and have generally been in good health the entire time, if not somewhat uncomfortable as the days go by.
I hope that a good pregnancy does not equal a a bad labor/delivery. I guess I will find that out soon enough.
We are very ready for baby Sophia to make her entrance to the world. Her room is ready, the house is ready, her parents and grandparents and aunt and uncles are ready. Maybe not her cousin Cooper, but I think he'll like her when he sees her! I can't wait to hold her and feed her and dress her up in all her cute little clothes. I am excited to be a mom and excited that Michael and I are going to be parents to a little girl that we already love. :-)
Hurry up, Sophia, we are waiting for you!!!!
My bags are packed and the bassinet is ready for when we bring the baby home. :-)
I cannot believe how fast 39 weeks has gone by.
As I think back over the entire pregnancy, I realize that I just don't have too much to complain about at all:
I was a bit nauseous in the first trimester but no actual throwing up (in fact I only threw up a few times the whole pregnancy and once I know it was because I gagged on my prenatal vitamin, haha). Sure, I have been tired pretty much the entire time but still managed to work up until a few weeks ago and keep the house (somewhat) clean and organized....including dealing with a major household renovation and the packing and unpacking associated with it (much thanks to my husband for being a HUGE help with that). No stretch marks, no ginormous amount of weight gain (a bit over 20 lbs but less than 30 lbs, without giving away the exact number...weight gain is still weight gain!), I feel like my feet are swollen but my ankles still look like ankles, my belly button didn't pop out, some heartburn but not constantly, passed my glucose test (trust me, I was worried about that one)...and have generally been in good health the entire time, if not somewhat uncomfortable as the days go by.
I hope that a good pregnancy does not equal a a bad labor/delivery. I guess I will find that out soon enough.
We are very ready for baby Sophia to make her entrance to the world. Her room is ready, the house is ready, her parents and grandparents and aunt and uncles are ready. Maybe not her cousin Cooper, but I think he'll like her when he sees her! I can't wait to hold her and feed her and dress her up in all her cute little clothes. I am excited to be a mom and excited that Michael and I are going to be parents to a little girl that we already love. :-)
Hurry up, Sophia, we are waiting for you!!!!
Baby bump....
I know I only posted a few pics before of my growing belly...and with just one week until my due date I guess I can post some now to show the progression of the second half of my pregnancy....we have been taking them, just not posting! I am definitely ready to post some pics of the actual baby, not just my expanding stomach!!!
26 weeks
30 weeks
34 weeks
38 weeks
26 weeks
30 weeks
34 weeks
38 weeksMonday, August 23, 2010
Baby Sophia's Room
Another accomplishment in the last couple of weeks has been getting the nursery ready for the coming of our little girl. Everything is now ready for her arrival, clothes all washed and hung up or folded neatly, everything in its spot, just waiting to be used when she comes home.
Changing area....still need something to hang on that wall.
Sleeping area....above her bed says "Goodnight moon, goodnight air, Goodnight noises everywhere" from the book Goodnight Moon.
View from the door
Where mommy and daddy can relax....
Yes, both the closet and the wardrobe are FULL of her clothes. :-)
Changing area....still need something to hang on that wall. 
Sleeping area....above her bed says "Goodnight moon, goodnight air, Goodnight noises everywhere" from the book Goodnight Moon.
View from the door
Where mommy and daddy can relax....
Yes, both the closet and the wardrobe are FULL of her clothes. :-) I am so excited to bring her home to her new room...it smells so nice and is so neat and clean (for now, haha) and I think she will really like it. Now that everything is finally ready, all we need is for her to finally get here!!!
A great week.....
Besides getting a new car last week, my birthday also happened to fall on one of the days. My sister, bro-in-law and nephew came into town and me, my sis and mom did a good bit of shopping. :-) We also all went out to Maggianos (yum) to dinner to celebrate. On the actual evening of my birthday Michael and I had a relaxing evening of dinner and presents and he surprised me with flowers and delicious cupcakes from a new cupcake store near our house (which I didn't know about but will definitely be visiting more often!). Despite being 9 months pregnant (and not celebrating with the usual adult beverages/activities expected on a birthday), it was a wonderful day and I am so happy that I had my whole family here to share it with and my wonderful husband to spoil me and make the occasion great.
Here are a few pics:
With my amazing husband!
Beautiful flowers!
Yummy cupcakes!!
Something new.....
This last week was my first official week of no work....I envisioned sleeping in late and lazing around the house in my pajamas all day long watching tivoed shows....that sure didn't happen! I was as busy as if I had put in a full 40!! But a lot of things got accomplished and it was a very good week.
At the very beginning of the week, Michael and I got a new car (well, used, but new to us). We have been looking for the better part of the year and just haven't found the right thing at the right price and had been worrying a little bit about how to make either my 2 door car or his truck work for an infant. We really hadn't come up with much. After two almost purchases of 4-door sedans (thankfully, with the help of our awesome mechanic, we found out they had both been wrecked and not worth the asking price) we saw a nicely priced SUV and decided to check it out. I will backtrack a little to mention that I might be a tad of a car snob...as in, I drive a 6-cylinder, leather seat, sunroof, 2 door car that I LOVE and pretty much just wanted a bigger version of that car....turns out all those little extras add up on the price tag of any larger or newer version of my car. Michael was only concerned with the safety and price of whatever we got, and in that order. Since he was (probably) right about what we needed to focus on I had pretty much dropped all criteria except leather (haha....wouldn't that be so much easier to clean up if a baby threw up on it??!!) and we were looking at Accords, Altimas, and the like.
Anyway, we go check out this SUV on a whim and it was immaculate and the price seemed decent. But I was so nervous that our mechanic would once again say no way. Turns out the thing was taken care of like a baby and in excellent shape. Ok, that was good news....now the other issue of price....Michael did a great job of negotiating and the best part is we ended up getting it and not increasing our payment (of Michael's truck that we traded in) at all! We stuck to our plan of only having one car payment (my car is paid off) and we are even saving on insurance a little bit! Here are a few pics of what we ended up with......and I couldn't be happier!!!
In the end we got something that we both love, I didn't have to drop any of my criteria and we didn't go over our planned budget on this Acura MDX...it's got leather, V6, loaded with all kinds of features we haven't yet figured out...tons of room and low mileage....plus not one single mechanical issue and great safety ratings....I will definitely be driving this for a long while and am glad that we didn't just settle and ended up finding the perfect baby-mobile for us!!
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
My Wonderful Baby Shower
This blog is a little late but on July 24 my sister and mother threw me a fabulous baby shower at my parents house. I am so lucky to have such wonderful family and friends who gathered to "shower" me with gifts for our little girl...who will be here so soon! Only about a month to go, I am definitely ready for her to make her arrival.
Here are just some pictures that I had on my camera of the wonderful day (see my sister's blog for many more great pics).
With the party host, my sister!
Wonderful spread of food
Beautiful cake (thanks Tracey!)
Everyone was SO generous
Love this from my bro...we'll see
if I share it with the baby, haha!!! :-)
The day was really wonderful and made me so excited for the coming of baby Sophia. Thanks so much to my sister, Sara, and my Mom for making the day so wonderful!
Here are just some pictures that I had on my camera of the wonderful day (see my sister's blog for many more great pics).
With the party host, my sister!
Wonderful spread of food
Beautiful cake (thanks Tracey!)
Everyone was SO generous
Love this from my bro...we'll see
if I share it with the baby, haha!!! :-)
The day was really wonderful and made me so excited for the coming of baby Sophia. Thanks so much to my sister, Sara, and my Mom for making the day so wonderful!
Friday, July 16, 2010
Another Birthday....
Today is the birthday of my wonderful husband, Michael.
Unlike my sister, I have not known him since the second he entered this world but I am very, very grateful to his parents for bringing him into the world and raising him to be such an amazing person.
I have been lucky enough to know him for about 4 and a half years...I had already been working at the credit union and he was brand new...I remember the day that he walked by my desk on his "new employee" tour. He was dressed really nice, I did think he was a good looking guy and seemed very friendly (in the few seconds of just saying hello). I remember then that I just thought of him as "off limits" since he was a co-worker. :-) Once we finally had the chance to hang out (after work on a Friday with a group of other co-workers) I also liked his personality and knew that we would be friends at the very least.
After a year and a half of friendship and getting to know each other (and finding out that he was a really genuinely nice and caring person) I finally ditched the notion of us just being friends and it was probably the best decision I ever made (well, we made it together). I am so happy we ended up together, married, and now have a little girl on the way. I wouldn't have wanted to end up with anyone else, he makes me happier than I have ever been in my whole life. He is an incredible husband, takes care of me and loves me so much and I feel like I love him more every single day of our lives together. I can't wait to see him with our daughter, I know he is going to be the best dad.
I'm not sure if in my life I have always been a believer in 'soul mates'.....but the moment I realized that Michael was the one for me, I realized that there can be no other way to explain it. I definitely could not make it without him and I am so glad that I don't have to.
Happy Birthday to my wonderful, amazing, caring, loving husband! I hope that your day is wonderful and I look forward to a hundred more birthdays with you!
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Twenty-seven years ago today....
This blog post is a little shout out to my sister, Sara Lynn Mercer Watkins....today is her 27th birthday!!
I was only 4 years and 11 months old when she was born but there are a lot of things I remember about the day of her birth...actually even a thing or two about my Mom being pregnant with her. Once I remember sitting on my parents bed with my Dad as my Mom threw up over and over in the bathrooom....haha...apparently she was sick the whole time she was pregnant with my sister!!
On the actual day of July 10, 1983 I remember that my Dad got me out of bed pretty early in the morning, wrapped me up in a blanket and carried me a few houses down to some neighbors where I was going to stay while they went to the hospital. I sort of woke up and he told me I would be a big sister soon....guess it wasn't quite interesting enough for me to stay awake because I think I just went right back to sleep. Before I was able to go up the hospital to visit, my Dad called the neighbors to say that my sister was born...and to get my opinion on her name. His choices?? Sara or Jerri (with an "I" specifically). I am sure that my sister is quite thankful that I went with Sara. :-)
When I finally got to go in to see her I was interested for a minute....until I realized that my Mom had a tv with cartoons on it in her room! Even some of the pictures of me holding my new sister show me looking up and into the distance...surely watching something on the tv, haha. What can you expect from an almost 5 year old??!!
Over the last 27 years I would say I have had much more interest in my sister....in that she has become my best friend. Now, there were some rough years when we did more fighting that getting along....but the second I went to college I missed her being around and I think that really made us closer....we'd talk more, she wrote me hilarious letters (which I still have in a box in my closet), and when I was home the fighting was less and less. I wish she lived closer now, I know we wouldn't make it a week without seeing each other a few times....I am very happy she at least lives close enough to visit often and we have the phone, texting, chatting online, email, our webcams, facebook and various other ways to stay in touch every day of the week.
I was thinking that wow, if she is 27 (which sounds old for my "little"sister) then I am really getting old!! But we are still just 4 years and 11 months apart and the age difference really doesn't seem like that much anymore.
So, Happy Birthday, Sara! I love you, little sister!! :-)
On a side note: my Mom's birthday is tomorrow so Happy Birthday to you too, Mom! (Not that you will get on a computer to read this...I'll just call ya!)
I was only 4 years and 11 months old when she was born but there are a lot of things I remember about the day of her birth...actually even a thing or two about my Mom being pregnant with her. Once I remember sitting on my parents bed with my Dad as my Mom threw up over and over in the bathrooom....haha...apparently she was sick the whole time she was pregnant with my sister!!
On the actual day of July 10, 1983 I remember that my Dad got me out of bed pretty early in the morning, wrapped me up in a blanket and carried me a few houses down to some neighbors where I was going to stay while they went to the hospital. I sort of woke up and he told me I would be a big sister soon....guess it wasn't quite interesting enough for me to stay awake because I think I just went right back to sleep. Before I was able to go up the hospital to visit, my Dad called the neighbors to say that my sister was born...and to get my opinion on her name. His choices?? Sara or Jerri (with an "I" specifically). I am sure that my sister is quite thankful that I went with Sara. :-)
When I finally got to go in to see her I was interested for a minute....until I realized that my Mom had a tv with cartoons on it in her room! Even some of the pictures of me holding my new sister show me looking up and into the distance...surely watching something on the tv, haha. What can you expect from an almost 5 year old??!!
Over the last 27 years I would say I have had much more interest in my sister....in that she has become my best friend. Now, there were some rough years when we did more fighting that getting along....but the second I went to college I missed her being around and I think that really made us closer....we'd talk more, she wrote me hilarious letters (which I still have in a box in my closet), and when I was home the fighting was less and less. I wish she lived closer now, I know we wouldn't make it a week without seeing each other a few times....I am very happy she at least lives close enough to visit often and we have the phone, texting, chatting online, email, our webcams, facebook and various other ways to stay in touch every day of the week.
I was thinking that wow, if she is 27 (which sounds old for my "little"sister) then I am really getting old!! But we are still just 4 years and 11 months apart and the age difference really doesn't seem like that much anymore.
So, Happy Birthday, Sara! I love you, little sister!! :-)
On a side note: my Mom's birthday is tomorrow so Happy Birthday to you too, Mom! (Not that you will get on a computer to read this...I'll just call ya!)
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
30 down, 10 to go...
Weeks of my pregnancy, that is.
Sleepy Girl
Little smile for Mommy and Daddy
And then she was done!
She didn't want to move around much the whole time, even when I changed into different (uncomfortable) positions. But we did get some cute shots of her face...the technology is so amazing, that we can see her so clearly well before she gets here. She already has chubby cheeks and I think she has her Daddy's mouth. :-)
The next 10 weeks will be full of getting the baby's room ready and preparing for this little one to get here....should be exciting and I bet will go by far faster than I think it will!
I can't believe that there is only about 2 and a half months left before we get to finally meet this little girl. Clearly she is ready to get out as well....she practically never stops moving around! Even as I type this she is doing some weirdo gymnastics or something in my stomach. I would say I have gotten used to it by now....but sometimes it just feels so strange or the movement is really big or I can see my stomach moving all around.
I don't really have too much to complain about, health wise, for this pregnancy. I never threw up, haven't been put on any kind of bed rest, the doctor always says things look great when I have an appointment. I do feel like I have been tired every day of it though. I have had some periodic killer heartburn (like all last night...I guess a volcano erupted in my chest cause it felt like lava in my throat for hours) and times when I feel more swollen than others (not wearing any of my rings right now, even took off the toe ring...but most days are fine) and I feel pretty giant all around but I know that some expectant mothers have it way worse than I have these last 30 weeks. I haven't even really had any major cravings (maybe I have been a little pickier with food than usual) and the most that Michael has had to get for me in the middle of the night is Tums (and from the closet, not the store). I hope there isn't some saying that if you had a great pregnancy you'll have a horrible labor, haha.
Michael and I go to our "birthing essentials" class this Saturday. Should be interesting....hopefully Michael won't spend the next 10 weeks in terror of the event of labor, haha. I am sure it won't be a picnic but at this point I am ready to just get on with it, so she can be here with us.
A couple of weeks ago we had some 3D shots of our girl taken....here are just a few:
Sleepy Girl
Little smile for Mommy and Daddy
And then she was done!She didn't want to move around much the whole time, even when I changed into different (uncomfortable) positions. But we did get some cute shots of her face...the technology is so amazing, that we can see her so clearly well before she gets here. She already has chubby cheeks and I think she has her Daddy's mouth. :-)
The next 10 weeks will be full of getting the baby's room ready and preparing for this little one to get here....should be exciting and I bet will go by far faster than I think it will!
Monday, June 21, 2010
Monday Movie Review
Not that every Monday will have a movie review....but on this particular weekend we had my brother, Dillon, spend the night with us and we rented 5 movies to be watched in a little over 24 hours. And it was only $4 for all 5 movies (we rented from Blockbuster Express and had a rent 2, get 1 free coupon)!! It was a lot of fun and we accomplished our goal (watch 3 on Saturday night and 2 on Sunday), with a lot of salty and sugary snacks to keep us going.
The first movie we watched was 2012. Dillon recommended it since he had already seen it and said it was good and action packed...and he was right. The premise is that on a particular date in 2012 the earth as we know it will cease to exist due to extreme core temperatures rising, shifting of the crust and plates, etc. You get some background info on how they find out a few years before that this will happen and pretty quickly you fast forward to when things start to go bad. It was a very action packed movie, with pretty great visual effects....although a tad unrealistic that this one particular family would be able to avoid every single catastrophic event throughout the movie....which I guess makes it a movie. Not sure if my sister should see this movie since she seems to have some sort of tsunami phobia....and I don't think her plan of what to do in the event of a tsunami would work out all that well in this instance. I really liked this movie and if you haven't seen it, it is definitely worth renting.
Next we watched Shutter Island. I am all about some Leo Dicaprio. I could watch him in a movie if all he did was stare at the wall. Not sure how to sum up this movie, it was crazy. For a while, we weren't quite totally sure what was going on....there are a lot of flashback type scenes so it is definitely a movie that you will need to pay close attention to. The music is well worth noting...not sure who did the score, but they should get some type of award...it kept the entire movie full of suspense. I wouldn't really classify this as a horror movie at all...but there were some scenes that made you jump...including one that even had my brother practically jump off the couch!! Without revealing the end...it was....well, something I didn't see coming. I didn't dislike this movie, it wasn't bad, but it is not one that I will run out and purchase (which is what I do with most Leo movies). Still, I would say it is worth seeing (if you are a Leo fanatic, such as myself).
Our final movie of Saturday night was Youth in Revolt starring Michael Cera. We thought we would end the night with something to counteract all the suspense and this comedy did the trick. I went into this movie not really having a clue what it was about, couldn't remember seeing any previews for it, but that was ok. Basically the main character is kind of a loser who falls in love with this girl and creates this cool, sly, rebellious alter-ego for himself so he can win her heart. He ends up in all kinds of hilarious trouble just to win this girl. You feel bad for him, but you really can't help but laugh at him all along the way. I thought this was a good, funny movie. We all liked it and would recommend watching it if you were looking for a laugh. (But it is not a kids movie, too many adult type situations....really all the movies we watched weren't for kids, since I haven't mentioned that so far)
On Sunday we continued our movie marathon with The Hurt Locker. I am not always big into war movies, but we were again going on Dillon's recommendation that this was a great movie...and he was right. Essentially you follow a small group of specialized soldiers whose job it is to disarm and dispose of bombs that are set up all over Iraq. They gain a new leader and quickly find out that he just might be crazy....and definitely not scared to die, or put them in dangerous situations. This movie had suspense and made you think, also had some sad parts too. I ended up really liking it, and very thankful that we have so many brave men that will become soldiers and put their lives on the line to protect our country. I could never do that job, or do it as well as these guys did.
Our final movie of the weekend was The Shooter with Marky Mark Walhberg. Boy, do I love some Marky Mark. Another actor that I could watch doing nothing. And if he was shirtless I could watch for even longer. Thankfully, he had a few shirtless scenes in this movie. But even if he hadn't, the movie still would've been great. He plays a former sniper who was living all alone in the mountains, but gets talked back into helping the government figure out a possible assassination attempt on the president.....but things go wrong pretty quickly and he himself is the main suspect, totally double-crossed by the guys in DC. This movie has action, that is for sure. And you are drawn into the story from the moment the movie begins, rooting for the main character as he tries to clear his name and bring to justice against the real bad guys. We all liked this movie a lot, I could easily watch it again, and might even buy it. It turned out to be a great finish to our movie marathon weekend.
So, I probably won't be contacted by any publications to write up movie reviews any time soon....which is just fine with me. But we had such a fun weekend of movie watching and junk food eating (Dillon made rice krispy treats, I made cupcakes, Michael made chocolate chip cookies....plus we had popcorn, some chips and lots of raspberry ginger ale) I couldn't resist blogging about it. We were all happily surprised that all 5 movies turned out to be pretty decent, you'd expect at least one dud in the bunch and this weekend that was not the case. I really like having relaxing weekends like these after feeling like the past few weeks we have been just going and going....plus we really enjoy when my brother spends the night at our house. I definitely hope to be having many more of these weekends in my near future...especially before the baby gets here and then I probably won't see 5 movies in 5 months!! :-)
The first movie we watched was 2012. Dillon recommended it since he had already seen it and said it was good and action packed...and he was right. The premise is that on a particular date in 2012 the earth as we know it will cease to exist due to extreme core temperatures rising, shifting of the crust and plates, etc. You get some background info on how they find out a few years before that this will happen and pretty quickly you fast forward to when things start to go bad. It was a very action packed movie, with pretty great visual effects....although a tad unrealistic that this one particular family would be able to avoid every single catastrophic event throughout the movie....which I guess makes it a movie. Not sure if my sister should see this movie since she seems to have some sort of tsunami phobia....and I don't think her plan of what to do in the event of a tsunami would work out all that well in this instance. I really liked this movie and if you haven't seen it, it is definitely worth renting.
Next we watched Shutter Island. I am all about some Leo Dicaprio. I could watch him in a movie if all he did was stare at the wall. Not sure how to sum up this movie, it was crazy. For a while, we weren't quite totally sure what was going on....there are a lot of flashback type scenes so it is definitely a movie that you will need to pay close attention to. The music is well worth noting...not sure who did the score, but they should get some type of award...it kept the entire movie full of suspense. I wouldn't really classify this as a horror movie at all...but there were some scenes that made you jump...including one that even had my brother practically jump off the couch!! Without revealing the end...it was....well, something I didn't see coming. I didn't dislike this movie, it wasn't bad, but it is not one that I will run out and purchase (which is what I do with most Leo movies). Still, I would say it is worth seeing (if you are a Leo fanatic, such as myself).
Our final movie of Saturday night was Youth in Revolt starring Michael Cera. We thought we would end the night with something to counteract all the suspense and this comedy did the trick. I went into this movie not really having a clue what it was about, couldn't remember seeing any previews for it, but that was ok. Basically the main character is kind of a loser who falls in love with this girl and creates this cool, sly, rebellious alter-ego for himself so he can win her heart. He ends up in all kinds of hilarious trouble just to win this girl. You feel bad for him, but you really can't help but laugh at him all along the way. I thought this was a good, funny movie. We all liked it and would recommend watching it if you were looking for a laugh. (But it is not a kids movie, too many adult type situations....really all the movies we watched weren't for kids, since I haven't mentioned that so far)
On Sunday we continued our movie marathon with The Hurt Locker. I am not always big into war movies, but we were again going on Dillon's recommendation that this was a great movie...and he was right. Essentially you follow a small group of specialized soldiers whose job it is to disarm and dispose of bombs that are set up all over Iraq. They gain a new leader and quickly find out that he just might be crazy....and definitely not scared to die, or put them in dangerous situations. This movie had suspense and made you think, also had some sad parts too. I ended up really liking it, and very thankful that we have so many brave men that will become soldiers and put their lives on the line to protect our country. I could never do that job, or do it as well as these guys did.
Our final movie of the weekend was The Shooter with Marky Mark Walhberg. Boy, do I love some Marky Mark. Another actor that I could watch doing nothing. And if he was shirtless I could watch for even longer. Thankfully, he had a few shirtless scenes in this movie. But even if he hadn't, the movie still would've been great. He plays a former sniper who was living all alone in the mountains, but gets talked back into helping the government figure out a possible assassination attempt on the president.....but things go wrong pretty quickly and he himself is the main suspect, totally double-crossed by the guys in DC. This movie has action, that is for sure. And you are drawn into the story from the moment the movie begins, rooting for the main character as he tries to clear his name and bring to justice against the real bad guys. We all liked this movie a lot, I could easily watch it again, and might even buy it. It turned out to be a great finish to our movie marathon weekend.
So, I probably won't be contacted by any publications to write up movie reviews any time soon....which is just fine with me. But we had such a fun weekend of movie watching and junk food eating (Dillon made rice krispy treats, I made cupcakes, Michael made chocolate chip cookies....plus we had popcorn, some chips and lots of raspberry ginger ale) I couldn't resist blogging about it. We were all happily surprised that all 5 movies turned out to be pretty decent, you'd expect at least one dud in the bunch and this weekend that was not the case. I really like having relaxing weekends like these after feeling like the past few weeks we have been just going and going....plus we really enjoy when my brother spends the night at our house. I definitely hope to be having many more of these weekends in my near future...especially before the baby gets here and then I probably won't see 5 movies in 5 months!! :-)
Friday, June 18, 2010
Some people are so strange.....
I have read a lot of different things that pregnant ladies have posted in various places about random people touching their stomach and saying inappropriate things to them....up until this week I have not had the personal experience of this.
My first encounter happened earlier in the week....a lady came into the jewelry store to pick up a repair we had done for her. She doesn't come in too often, but I like seeing her, she is a nice lady and I always like to see what purse she is carrying, what sunglasses she has (I happen to own a pair of Chanel sunglasses that she owns as well), how she is dressed, etc. The last time she came in I told her I was pregnant and we chatted about it a little....I didn't know we were having a girl at the time and probably wasn't showing near as much as I am now. On this visit, she asked if we knew yet and I said, yup, we are having a little girl. And then she proceeded to ask how much I had gained so far. Um, what? I can count on one hand the number of people who know this (and one is the doctor, so that sort of doesn't count) and can't really count any number of people that I would really like to share that little fact with. I told her I wasn't totally sure, had been trying to ignore the number at my doc appointments, and guessed an approximate number, something like that to kind of just blow it off.
A much more traumatic event occurred yesterday. Another customer who comes in from time to time came in to pick something up....now she had actually just been here earlier in the week and didn't notice me much, but yesterday she immediately said, oh, you're pregnant. Yup (just like I was the other day). And then she said, and it's a boy! Um, no, lady, it's a girl. Definitely need to get a new prescription on those x-ray glasses I guess. She goes on to guess how far along I am (she said 7 months, I am about 6 and a half, so not bad) and then on and on about how the way I am carrying almost 99% of the time says boy. But it actually got worse. She told me to turn around (for a back view, I guess) and then was groping my stomach and even my hips. She finally decided that since I did have some thickness in my hips (she used the words 'love handles' at one point) that maybe I was in fact having a girl. Well, thanks, Doc. Actually, she is doctor of some sort...but I know she now mostly does research and stuff (and gets Botox for migraines in an unrelated topic, haha) so I am not totally sure how that qualifies her as an OB. It got a little worse from there but I am trying to block it out so I don't need therapy for years (for this issue anyway). I felt like I had been totally molested, to say the least.
Which brings me to my point....why do people feel like they can just do or say whatever to a pregnant lady? Hello, surely you know that are our hormones are in complete overdrive now, right? Why chance getting your head knocked right off your body if the comment or action is not received well?! Or it is because, like me, pregnant ladies everywhere are like deer caught in the headlights when something like this happens and don't call the person out on their inappropriate/rude behavior? Do women who are not pregnant (but maybe have been in the past) just want to compare their personal stats with someone else, even if it is not someone that they personally know? But it sure isn't like I am asking the same rude questions right back. Maybe I should. That might shut them up. Not sure what to do in response to the groping though, haha.
I really like talking with my family and close friends about pregnancy and babies and I appreciate that they are able to be open and honest with me every step of the way. I don't feel weirded out when they ask me something personal because surely they have either told me or would tell me the answer if I were to ask the same question. But someone I hardly know, someone I barely see a handful of times in a whole year??? Just weird and nosey and uncomfortable!
All I can say is that I am glad I will only be pregnant for approximately 11 more weeks (a little less if I am lucky) and won't have to worry about this issue anymore. Of course then I am sure I will get all sorts of strange, unsolicited advice from the same kind of people about everything from losing pregnancy weight to how I should raise my kid....can't wait!!!
My first encounter happened earlier in the week....a lady came into the jewelry store to pick up a repair we had done for her. She doesn't come in too often, but I like seeing her, she is a nice lady and I always like to see what purse she is carrying, what sunglasses she has (I happen to own a pair of Chanel sunglasses that she owns as well), how she is dressed, etc. The last time she came in I told her I was pregnant and we chatted about it a little....I didn't know we were having a girl at the time and probably wasn't showing near as much as I am now. On this visit, she asked if we knew yet and I said, yup, we are having a little girl. And then she proceeded to ask how much I had gained so far. Um, what? I can count on one hand the number of people who know this (and one is the doctor, so that sort of doesn't count) and can't really count any number of people that I would really like to share that little fact with. I told her I wasn't totally sure, had been trying to ignore the number at my doc appointments, and guessed an approximate number, something like that to kind of just blow it off.
A much more traumatic event occurred yesterday. Another customer who comes in from time to time came in to pick something up....now she had actually just been here earlier in the week and didn't notice me much, but yesterday she immediately said, oh, you're pregnant. Yup (just like I was the other day). And then she said, and it's a boy! Um, no, lady, it's a girl. Definitely need to get a new prescription on those x-ray glasses I guess. She goes on to guess how far along I am (she said 7 months, I am about 6 and a half, so not bad) and then on and on about how the way I am carrying almost 99% of the time says boy. But it actually got worse. She told me to turn around (for a back view, I guess) and then was groping my stomach and even my hips. She finally decided that since I did have some thickness in my hips (she used the words 'love handles' at one point) that maybe I was in fact having a girl. Well, thanks, Doc. Actually, she is doctor of some sort...but I know she now mostly does research and stuff (and gets Botox for migraines in an unrelated topic, haha) so I am not totally sure how that qualifies her as an OB. It got a little worse from there but I am trying to block it out so I don't need therapy for years (for this issue anyway). I felt like I had been totally molested, to say the least.
Which brings me to my point....why do people feel like they can just do or say whatever to a pregnant lady? Hello, surely you know that are our hormones are in complete overdrive now, right? Why chance getting your head knocked right off your body if the comment or action is not received well?! Or it is because, like me, pregnant ladies everywhere are like deer caught in the headlights when something like this happens and don't call the person out on their inappropriate/rude behavior? Do women who are not pregnant (but maybe have been in the past) just want to compare their personal stats with someone else, even if it is not someone that they personally know? But it sure isn't like I am asking the same rude questions right back. Maybe I should. That might shut them up. Not sure what to do in response to the groping though, haha.
I really like talking with my family and close friends about pregnancy and babies and I appreciate that they are able to be open and honest with me every step of the way. I don't feel weirded out when they ask me something personal because surely they have either told me or would tell me the answer if I were to ask the same question. But someone I hardly know, someone I barely see a handful of times in a whole year??? Just weird and nosey and uncomfortable!
All I can say is that I am glad I will only be pregnant for approximately 11 more weeks (a little less if I am lucky) and won't have to worry about this issue anymore. Of course then I am sure I will get all sorts of strange, unsolicited advice from the same kind of people about everything from losing pregnancy weight to how I should raise my kid....can't wait!!!
Friday, May 28, 2010
Long Weekend
Today is the Friday before Memorial Day weekend. I am very excited about this particular holiday because I have 3 whole days off work and lots of fun things planned for those days.
Tonight, when the work day is finally done, I am getting together with my sister and a 3 other friends for dinner and a movie....Sex and the City 2!! When the first Sex and the City movie came out we had a similar girls night....my sister wasn't able to make it though so I am very glad she can this time. Sure, I can't have anything exciting to drink (cosmo, martini, etc) with my dinner but that won't stop me from having fun. I think my last Girls Night Out was my bachelorette party....and that was over a year and 3 months ago! So it won't be as wild tonight as it was that night (an entire other post in itself, haha) but I think we are all looking forward to the evening.
Tomorrow, if the weather cooperates, we plan on spending time at my parents' house, lounging by the pool, just relaxing with everyone and hanging out. Tomorrow evening Michael and I are attending the wedding of the youngest daughter of my former boss. It will be nice to see a lot of my former coworkers and I know that the bride will be beautiful. I love going to weddings with Michael because it always reminds me of our own wedding and how wonderful it was.
Sunday we are having a traditional family pool party at the Mercer house. Which means lots of people (family and friends), lots of food and drinks (minus the drinks for me this time), and cutthroat Trivial Pursuit. We do this kind of party several times a year (with or without the pool being involved, just depending on the weather) and it is always a great time.
Monday could be a nice relaxing pool day or maybe a movie with the family or Michael and I have talked about going to register for this baby...I know we have to get on that soon! Whatever we end up doing will be nice and then the next work week will be good and short.
I hope everyone is able to just relax and enjoy the long holiday weekend with family and friends. I am so thankful that I have such close friends and family and am looking forward to getting this fun weekend started!! :-)
Tonight, when the work day is finally done, I am getting together with my sister and a 3 other friends for dinner and a movie....Sex and the City 2!! When the first Sex and the City movie came out we had a similar girls night....my sister wasn't able to make it though so I am very glad she can this time. Sure, I can't have anything exciting to drink (cosmo, martini, etc) with my dinner but that won't stop me from having fun. I think my last Girls Night Out was my bachelorette party....and that was over a year and 3 months ago! So it won't be as wild tonight as it was that night (an entire other post in itself, haha) but I think we are all looking forward to the evening.
Tomorrow, if the weather cooperates, we plan on spending time at my parents' house, lounging by the pool, just relaxing with everyone and hanging out. Tomorrow evening Michael and I are attending the wedding of the youngest daughter of my former boss. It will be nice to see a lot of my former coworkers and I know that the bride will be beautiful. I love going to weddings with Michael because it always reminds me of our own wedding and how wonderful it was.
Sunday we are having a traditional family pool party at the Mercer house. Which means lots of people (family and friends), lots of food and drinks (minus the drinks for me this time), and cutthroat Trivial Pursuit. We do this kind of party several times a year (with or without the pool being involved, just depending on the weather) and it is always a great time.
Monday could be a nice relaxing pool day or maybe a movie with the family or Michael and I have talked about going to register for this baby...I know we have to get on that soon! Whatever we end up doing will be nice and then the next work week will be good and short.
I hope everyone is able to just relax and enjoy the long holiday weekend with family and friends. I am so thankful that I have such close friends and family and am looking forward to getting this fun weekend started!! :-)
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Dogs
I really do like dogs. My sister and I had a dog when we were much younger (we miss you Muffy!) and if Michael and I didn't live in a condo we'd probably have a dog ourselves right now. And once we do get a dog we'll probably end up with a couple since I think I would like a cute small dog and he would want a larger, more protective dog. Either way it would be nice to have a good sized yard so any dog could run and play and get some exercise and we don't have that right now.
Michael and I getting a dog is definitely not the topic of my blog today. No, instead I have decided to vent all my frustrations concerning our neighbors, who have two small dogs...and who let said dogs bark outside our bedroom windows. Every. Single. Day.
This has been going on for literally a couple years, probably since they got the first dog. Our condo is on the bottom floor and they live in a town home that attaches to the end of the building and backs up directly to our unit. They have a back door that opens to a small patch of community grass that runs the entire length of the building. This patch of grass runs right by our entire condo, including all our windows. These "lovely" neighbors like to tie up their two dogs just outside their back door to let the dogs go to the bathroom....and every single time they run right under our bedroom windows.....and bark. And bark. And bark. At literally nothing. Conveniently for our neighbors they can't hear the dogs (or they are deaf) and the barking goes on and on until I am ready to scream (and often do...at the dogs, the neighbors, just whoever). As I mentioned, we have been dealing with this for well over a year....even my former roommate (before I was even married) can recall trying to study while the dog would bark away outside. We have tried all kinds of things to get this to stop...Michael has repeatedly gone over to merely ask them to bring in the dogs, we both have apps on our iphones for dog whistles that are supposed to hurt the dogs' ears, we will bang on the connecting wall and yell for them to bring in the stupid dogs....and most recently Michael has been talking a lot about digging a big trench or building a big wall of some sort blocking the dogs from getting near our windows (neither of which we can do, but the idea isn't terrible). In the past we have discussed planting poisonous plants (not really sure what plants would be poisonous to dogs), spraying them with our hose every time we hear them, buying a bird house that has an anti-bark alarm to hang out by our window...even buying muzzles and leaving them at our neighbors doorstep. In desperate times we have even discussed getting a bigger, meaner, louder dog that could possibly scare their dogs into shutting up and at our most frustrated we have considered inviting my brother over with his handy-dandy bb gun to do some damage.
Here is what is the most awful and irritating about this whole thing. It almost always happens when we are already sleeping or trying to get to sleep. Don't get me wrong, it happens all day long, almost every single day of the week. Some of you may have even been on the phone with me, trying to have a normal conversation, and heard the obnoxious barking in the background. But it is without a doubt the most annoying thing in the world when I am startled out of a deep sleep or even worse when I am trying to get to sleep in the first place. I am not getting a whole lot of sleep these days...between getting up to go to the bathroom and trying to get and stay comfortable. Not to mention Michael's occasional snoring, haha. The very last thing I want to hear is a dog (not even mine) barking right outside my bedroom window.
So anyway, this morning was the straw that broke the camel's back, so to speak. I get up each morning at 8:15am. On a typical morning Michael leaves for work at about quarter till 8 and I get about half an hour of totally quiet, uninterrupted sleep. No offense to him but usually that is the most sound sleep I end up getting each night. Today he was leaving for work early, at 7, and I was really excited to get a good long hour of blissful sleep. Not so much. About ten minutes till 7 (yes, 6:50am) the dogs began barking outside the window. I heard Michael leave and squeezed my eyes shut and tried to ignore the noise. But getting woken up with a loud bark definitely makes the heart beat faster and as the barking continued I began to get upset....you can imagine how upset I was HALF AN HOUR LATER when the dogs were still barking. Since there was no going back to sleep I finally got up and as I got ready for work I plotted a very strongly worded email to the President of our Home Owners Association. Which I did send as soon as I got to work and typed it up, thank you very much. To my surprise, she responded immediately. She said she understood how we felt and would be annoyed too (and that she imagined it is probably 10 times worse since I am pregnant). She assured me that she would have the HOA Management company issue the neighbors a written violation and would also call them and talk to them herself....since they are breaking a rule of just tying up dogs and leaving them unattended. I was very happy with how she has handled it thus far and can't wait for the peace and quiet to settle over my home.
Do I realize that these neighbors will know right away that we must've complained and had something to do with the violation notice?? Yup. Do I care at all? Nope. I am so happy right now just looking forward to the possibility of not hearing those dogs every single day. Clearly it has taken me way longer than necessary to take action on this matter but now that I have, I already feel better.
We can't move, we can't dig a big trench and we can't have my brother shooting up the place to stop the annoying barking......but if all it takes is a phone call or email, we sure can do that. And I am happy that we finally did. :-)
Michael and I getting a dog is definitely not the topic of my blog today. No, instead I have decided to vent all my frustrations concerning our neighbors, who have two small dogs...and who let said dogs bark outside our bedroom windows. Every. Single. Day.
This has been going on for literally a couple years, probably since they got the first dog. Our condo is on the bottom floor and they live in a town home that attaches to the end of the building and backs up directly to our unit. They have a back door that opens to a small patch of community grass that runs the entire length of the building. This patch of grass runs right by our entire condo, including all our windows. These "lovely" neighbors like to tie up their two dogs just outside their back door to let the dogs go to the bathroom....and every single time they run right under our bedroom windows.....and bark. And bark. And bark. At literally nothing. Conveniently for our neighbors they can't hear the dogs (or they are deaf) and the barking goes on and on until I am ready to scream (and often do...at the dogs, the neighbors, just whoever). As I mentioned, we have been dealing with this for well over a year....even my former roommate (before I was even married) can recall trying to study while the dog would bark away outside. We have tried all kinds of things to get this to stop...Michael has repeatedly gone over to merely ask them to bring in the dogs, we both have apps on our iphones for dog whistles that are supposed to hurt the dogs' ears, we will bang on the connecting wall and yell for them to bring in the stupid dogs....and most recently Michael has been talking a lot about digging a big trench or building a big wall of some sort blocking the dogs from getting near our windows (neither of which we can do, but the idea isn't terrible). In the past we have discussed planting poisonous plants (not really sure what plants would be poisonous to dogs), spraying them with our hose every time we hear them, buying a bird house that has an anti-bark alarm to hang out by our window...even buying muzzles and leaving them at our neighbors doorstep. In desperate times we have even discussed getting a bigger, meaner, louder dog that could possibly scare their dogs into shutting up and at our most frustrated we have considered inviting my brother over with his handy-dandy bb gun to do some damage.
Here is what is the most awful and irritating about this whole thing. It almost always happens when we are already sleeping or trying to get to sleep. Don't get me wrong, it happens all day long, almost every single day of the week. Some of you may have even been on the phone with me, trying to have a normal conversation, and heard the obnoxious barking in the background. But it is without a doubt the most annoying thing in the world when I am startled out of a deep sleep or even worse when I am trying to get to sleep in the first place. I am not getting a whole lot of sleep these days...between getting up to go to the bathroom and trying to get and stay comfortable. Not to mention Michael's occasional snoring, haha. The very last thing I want to hear is a dog (not even mine) barking right outside my bedroom window.
So anyway, this morning was the straw that broke the camel's back, so to speak. I get up each morning at 8:15am. On a typical morning Michael leaves for work at about quarter till 8 and I get about half an hour of totally quiet, uninterrupted sleep. No offense to him but usually that is the most sound sleep I end up getting each night. Today he was leaving for work early, at 7, and I was really excited to get a good long hour of blissful sleep. Not so much. About ten minutes till 7 (yes, 6:50am) the dogs began barking outside the window. I heard Michael leave and squeezed my eyes shut and tried to ignore the noise. But getting woken up with a loud bark definitely makes the heart beat faster and as the barking continued I began to get upset....you can imagine how upset I was HALF AN HOUR LATER when the dogs were still barking. Since there was no going back to sleep I finally got up and as I got ready for work I plotted a very strongly worded email to the President of our Home Owners Association. Which I did send as soon as I got to work and typed it up, thank you very much. To my surprise, she responded immediately. She said she understood how we felt and would be annoyed too (and that she imagined it is probably 10 times worse since I am pregnant). She assured me that she would have the HOA Management company issue the neighbors a written violation and would also call them and talk to them herself....since they are breaking a rule of just tying up dogs and leaving them unattended. I was very happy with how she has handled it thus far and can't wait for the peace and quiet to settle over my home.
Do I realize that these neighbors will know right away that we must've complained and had something to do with the violation notice?? Yup. Do I care at all? Nope. I am so happy right now just looking forward to the possibility of not hearing those dogs every single day. Clearly it has taken me way longer than necessary to take action on this matter but now that I have, I already feel better.
We can't move, we can't dig a big trench and we can't have my brother shooting up the place to stop the annoying barking......but if all it takes is a phone call or email, we sure can do that. And I am happy that we finally did. :-)
Monday, May 24, 2010
The Beach
A couple weeks ago we were very lucky to take some time away from work and head down to the beach with my family....PCB 2010, Whoo Hoo!!!! The last time I was in Panama City was Spring Break of 1997.....my freshman year of college. One of my best friends, Tracey, and I headed down for a very interesting time, to say the least. We remember most of it. Thankfully we bought some airbrushed t-shirts, with plenty of scrawled phrases that don't even ring a bell to us now, haha.
Needless to say, I remember all of this most recent trip, even without the airbrush tee, and it was wonderful. The weather was perfect, no oil in the water or on the beach, perfect temperature with a nice breeze.....plus a really, really nice condo to stay in while we were there (thanks to my sister doing the research and booking this place for us).
Needless to say, I remember all of this most recent trip, even without the airbrush tee, and it was wonderful. The weather was perfect, no oil in the water or on the beach, perfect temperature with a nice breeze.....plus a really, really nice condo to stay in while we were there (thanks to my sister doing the research and booking this place for us).
I LOVE the beach. I don't really like getting all in the ocean so much (the edge is just fine with me), but being right near the water, lounging on a chair and soaking in the sun with the sounds of the waves crashing, with an occasional walk at the waters' edge....I could just do that forever. Which reminds me that if this is your plan, you'll need to put on sunscreen thick and often. Maybe it was because it wasn't so scorching hot, or maybe the wind was just a tad more than a gentle breeze, or maybe because it is true about pregnant women having more sensitive skin.....but my couple of applications of SPF 30 didn't quite do the trick....I got pretty burnt. I wasn't the only one, Michael looked like a splotchy lobster too. We didn't let it ruin our trip for one minute, we just upped the SPF to 50 and made sure to lounge in more shady spots (like under the umbrella).
I was really very sad to leave when we had to....I could easily live at the beach and hopefully one day Michael and I can retire to a nice condo on the beach.
Here are some pictures from the trip....can't wait to go back....next time we'll have a new family member to bring with us!! :-)
View from condo
Michael and I on the balcony
Sara and I
Dillon and I
Coop & Max
Coop and his best buddy Uncle Michael on the train
Chip & Gus 
New pals!I wanted some of these mini turtles SO bad. But apparently they are near death to the pregnant woman (I guess you can get salmonella easily from them or something) so I had to talk my parents into letting Dillon get a couple....for me to be around them I have to have supervised visits and can't touch them at all. Better than nothing and you can bet this will be the first pet my own child will have....after the risk of salmonella is gone, of course. They are SO adorable.
My hubby and I, relaxed and happy on vacation. :-) With the exception of it just not being long enough, this trip to PCB was really fun and wonderful and I am so glad that we had the chance to spend some good quality time with my family. It will probably be a while until we get to go back to the beach (hopefully not more than a year, I am sure the baby will love the beach as much as we do when she finally gets here) so I am happy this trip was filled with great memories!
Sunday, May 23, 2010
A couple pics.....
So here are a couple belly shots of my pregnancy so far....I haven't taken them with any regularity....for example I am 25 weeks and 4 days pregnant and it has been almost a month since I took one....need to be a little more diligent about keeping track!!
At 19 weeks and 2 days pregnant...just before we found out it was a girl!
At 22 weeks and 4 days pregnant...she (more like me) is getting bigger!
Hopefully I can add some more soon....unless I get too big to fit in the frame....then you can all just use your imagination on how giant I am getting!! :-)
At 19 weeks and 2 days pregnant...just before we found out it was a girl!
At 22 weeks and 4 days pregnant...she (more like me) is getting bigger!
Hopefully I can add some more soon....unless I get too big to fit in the frame....then you can all just use your imagination on how giant I am getting!! :-)
Thursday, May 20, 2010
No extra glucose here....
So Monday I had my 24 week doctor's appointment (at 24 weeks and 5 days) for the Glucose test....something I have been dreading for quite some time. Basically they were testing me for gestational diabetes, which is apparently pretty common in pregnant women.
Why was I dreading it so much, you might ask?
Well, I have this little issue with sugar....as in, if it is in candy (and I don't think there is anything else actually in candy) then I LOVE it. Not always chocolate candy (although once in a while I need a good Hershey's with almonds bar or a mini Snickers or chocolate covered almonds/strawberries or a seasonal Cadbury egg) but the list of other candies that I could eat non-stop is endless. Sweet tarts, Runts, red licorice, Peeps (so happy they have them now for more than just Easter!), all different types of lollipops like Blow Pops, Tootsie Pops, even Dum Dums, gummy bears (or snakes, shape isn't too important), Gobstoppers....I think you are getting the idea. Basically if I got locked in a candy store I wouldn't even try to get out.
It's not like I sit around and eat candy 24/7. But you can be sure that if I get a craving for something sweet I have a little sugary treat in my purse at all times. And even though there is candy ALL around my house (in little bowls, in the cupboard, in my room, etc) I don't constantly eat it...and sometimes I have to throw away candy that has been sitting around for too long.
The problem for me might be that, along with my occasional dip into the candy bowl, I eat too many other things that contain too much sugar. I like Froot Loops for breakfast. Early on in the pregnancy it was one of the few things that the baby didn't "complain" about when I ate it....so I kinda stuck with it. I also like those frozen strawberry popsicles and ice cream from time to time for dessert....more sugar. Chocolate milk makes it into my day at least a few times a week....more sugar. Anyway, the point is I was super worried that the second they took my blood for the glucose screening at the doctor's office they would see sugar crystals floating in it or something and stamp a big red FAIL on my chart.
BUT......the results are in and I PASSED!!!! The nurse even made a point to say my iron looked good too. Hooray for that, cause I know I am not eating enough green (or any other color) vegetables along with my sugar filled diet.
I feel like I can relax a bit now that the test is over and had positive results....although I surely don't want my child to be born having sugar withdrawals and screaming for a little candy fix with her formula. I have decided that I will try to limit myself on the sugary stuff, at least until she gets here. We'll see how that goes!!!! :-)
Why was I dreading it so much, you might ask?
Well, I have this little issue with sugar....as in, if it is in candy (and I don't think there is anything else actually in candy) then I LOVE it. Not always chocolate candy (although once in a while I need a good Hershey's with almonds bar or a mini Snickers or chocolate covered almonds/strawberries or a seasonal Cadbury egg) but the list of other candies that I could eat non-stop is endless. Sweet tarts, Runts, red licorice, Peeps (so happy they have them now for more than just Easter!), all different types of lollipops like Blow Pops, Tootsie Pops, even Dum Dums, gummy bears (or snakes, shape isn't too important), Gobstoppers....I think you are getting the idea. Basically if I got locked in a candy store I wouldn't even try to get out.
It's not like I sit around and eat candy 24/7. But you can be sure that if I get a craving for something sweet I have a little sugary treat in my purse at all times. And even though there is candy ALL around my house (in little bowls, in the cupboard, in my room, etc) I don't constantly eat it...and sometimes I have to throw away candy that has been sitting around for too long.
The problem for me might be that, along with my occasional dip into the candy bowl, I eat too many other things that contain too much sugar. I like Froot Loops for breakfast. Early on in the pregnancy it was one of the few things that the baby didn't "complain" about when I ate it....so I kinda stuck with it. I also like those frozen strawberry popsicles and ice cream from time to time for dessert....more sugar. Chocolate milk makes it into my day at least a few times a week....more sugar. Anyway, the point is I was super worried that the second they took my blood for the glucose screening at the doctor's office they would see sugar crystals floating in it or something and stamp a big red FAIL on my chart.
BUT......the results are in and I PASSED!!!! The nurse even made a point to say my iron looked good too. Hooray for that, cause I know I am not eating enough green (or any other color) vegetables along with my sugar filled diet.
I feel like I can relax a bit now that the test is over and had positive results....although I surely don't want my child to be born having sugar withdrawals and screaming for a little candy fix with her formula. I have decided that I will try to limit myself on the sugary stuff, at least until she gets here. We'll see how that goes!!!! :-)
Thursday, May 6, 2010
An anniversary....of sorts
So yesterday was Cinco de Mayo....the 5th of May. Mexicans were celebrating the anniversary of a victory in battle....and Michael and I were celebrating 4 years since our "unofficial" first date.
Michael hadn't been in Atlanta for more than 6 months at that time and had only been working a few months at the credit union. Up until that point we had mostly hung out in group situations and seemed to get along well with plenty to chat about and we both seemed interested in having a good time. Cinco de Mayo was on a Friday that year....coincidently the very first Friday that I was to start my volunteer work at Egleston Children's Hospital. My slotted time was from 6pm-8pm....pretty much when all the happy hour festivities usually got going. I was a little bummed about missing out (even though I was excited...and a little nervous...about starting my volunteer work) and Michael mentioned that he lived close to the children's hospital and that if I wanted to I could just go over to his place to meet up with him after I was finished and we would plan on hitting some Mexican restaurants to celebrate the occasion. I really don't think I considered it a "date" at the time, just friends hanging out to eat lots of chips and drink lots of margaritas.
Anyway, as it turns out, my 6-8 time slot ran a lot later than 8 o'clock. I was playing Monopoly with a teenager and given the fact that he was the one in the hospital bed I didn't want to just cut and run at 8...so we played a bit longer. It was either 9 or after when I finally apologetically called Michael to let him know I was on the way. Much later he told me that he thought I was just standing him up.
Once I got to his place, finally, we had a beer and then decided to head out to find a suitable Mexican restaurant in the area. I had one in mind (Panchos) but when we got there the parking lot was so full we couldn't even park, let alone get in the place. Strike one. The next place we drove by (El Azteca) was also a packed house....and we saw a little sign that said they were charging a cover to even get in!! Strike two. Then I had a brilliant thought....not far was a smaller Mexican place that had awesome margaritas (ugh, can't remember the name....we started out my sister's bachelorette party there though) and I was sure we'd be able to get in and enjoy our evening. We got there and were very excited to see it was not packed. We went in and waited a bit for a hostess....who promptly told us basically to leave, it was late (um, not even 10 o'clock yet...close, but still that is not late for Cinco de Mayo!!), they wouldn't be serving, etc. Strike three.
And so, starving at this point, we ended up eating pizza and drinking beer at Fellini's. Not exactly the way one pictures spending a Mexican holiday but we had a good time. I think after that we just went back to his place and I got my car and headed home. Date or not, we had definitely had a great time together that evening and were clearly comfortable hanging out with each other.
For the next year and three months we had plenty of similar "dates" together, went to the gym after work together, watched movies, chatted on the phone, made up reasons to skip the gym and drink in the middle of the week, and became really close friends. And finally in August of 2007 we had our first "official" date.
Did I know on May 5, 2006 that I would end up marrying and starting a family with Michael? Nope, and I don't think he knew it either. But both of us, looking back, realize that something special started on that Cinco de Mayo 4 years ago......which makes May 5th an anniversary for us that we will always remember!! :-)
December 2006....after Cinco de Mayo but still well before we started dating!
Michael hadn't been in Atlanta for more than 6 months at that time and had only been working a few months at the credit union. Up until that point we had mostly hung out in group situations and seemed to get along well with plenty to chat about and we both seemed interested in having a good time. Cinco de Mayo was on a Friday that year....coincidently the very first Friday that I was to start my volunteer work at Egleston Children's Hospital. My slotted time was from 6pm-8pm....pretty much when all the happy hour festivities usually got going. I was a little bummed about missing out (even though I was excited...and a little nervous...about starting my volunteer work) and Michael mentioned that he lived close to the children's hospital and that if I wanted to I could just go over to his place to meet up with him after I was finished and we would plan on hitting some Mexican restaurants to celebrate the occasion. I really don't think I considered it a "date" at the time, just friends hanging out to eat lots of chips and drink lots of margaritas.
Anyway, as it turns out, my 6-8 time slot ran a lot later than 8 o'clock. I was playing Monopoly with a teenager and given the fact that he was the one in the hospital bed I didn't want to just cut and run at 8...so we played a bit longer. It was either 9 or after when I finally apologetically called Michael to let him know I was on the way. Much later he told me that he thought I was just standing him up.
Once I got to his place, finally, we had a beer and then decided to head out to find a suitable Mexican restaurant in the area. I had one in mind (Panchos) but when we got there the parking lot was so full we couldn't even park, let alone get in the place. Strike one. The next place we drove by (El Azteca) was also a packed house....and we saw a little sign that said they were charging a cover to even get in!! Strike two. Then I had a brilliant thought....not far was a smaller Mexican place that had awesome margaritas (ugh, can't remember the name....we started out my sister's bachelorette party there though) and I was sure we'd be able to get in and enjoy our evening. We got there and were very excited to see it was not packed. We went in and waited a bit for a hostess....who promptly told us basically to leave, it was late (um, not even 10 o'clock yet...close, but still that is not late for Cinco de Mayo!!), they wouldn't be serving, etc. Strike three.
And so, starving at this point, we ended up eating pizza and drinking beer at Fellini's. Not exactly the way one pictures spending a Mexican holiday but we had a good time. I think after that we just went back to his place and I got my car and headed home. Date or not, we had definitely had a great time together that evening and were clearly comfortable hanging out with each other.
For the next year and three months we had plenty of similar "dates" together, went to the gym after work together, watched movies, chatted on the phone, made up reasons to skip the gym and drink in the middle of the week, and became really close friends. And finally in August of 2007 we had our first "official" date.
Did I know on May 5, 2006 that I would end up marrying and starting a family with Michael? Nope, and I don't think he knew it either. But both of us, looking back, realize that something special started on that Cinco de Mayo 4 years ago......which makes May 5th an anniversary for us that we will always remember!! :-)
December 2006....after Cinco de Mayo but still well before we started dating!
Friday, April 30, 2010
Dream Weaver
Wow, so two posts in one day! I was thinking of just combining this topic with my other one...but they were just too different so I thought I would just post twice.
Lately I have been having some terrible dreams. Not sure if this can be attributed to the pregnancy (I have heard that dreams are more vivid and frequent while pregnant) or what but it is getting to be a bother, sleepwise. As if I need more problems in that area, I am starting to get uncomfortable in some of my more well liked positions and getting up anywhere from 1-3 times a night to go to the bathroom. The bathroom thing alone is really annoying, as I have never in my life before now had to get up in the middle of the night to use the restroom unless I was sick. Talk about disruption of sleep.
Anyway, on to the bad dreams. A lot of the time they revolve around something terrible happening to a family member.....an impending death, a funeral, just general awfulness that only makes me worry more about something bad happening to those close to me. Two nights ago was no exception. I dreamed that my 2 year old nephew fell head over heels over a low banister from a second story porch....just out of my reach and before I could do anything about it. Usually it is days before I can get the terrible images out of my head (or I'll just have another bad dream to replace the bad one before it).
Last night was a little different. I had a bad dream about Freddy Krueger. I know, what am I, ten years old??!! Probably not coincidently from seeing that someone had posted on facebook about the new (?) Friday the 13th movie that is coming out tonight....complete with the catchy little song from the movie (1, 2, Freddy's comin for you....etc...you know you know it). I have seen quite a few of the Friday the 13th saga and really don't find these movies to be very scary....but for some reason I was pretty scared last night. I woke up my husband, as usual, and as usual he asked what the dream was about (which is pretty impressive, considering he is always half asleep, haha).....at first I didn't want to tell him cause I was sure he would make fun of me....I was almost making fun of myself, despite knowing there was no way I would fall right back to sleep (cause that is when Freddy gets you. Right.). But amazingly he didn't laugh and even woke up to stay awake with me (you know, to protect me) while I ran (sprinted) to the bathroom, light glaring, and he kept his iphone lit so I could run back to jump in the bed and wasn't in total darkness. He cuddled me while I proceeded to spend the next half an hour trying to force my eyes open and read a little E News on my iphone (really, E News, is the Friday the 13th movie coming out a story?? I figured I'd find some harmless material there and eventually did) and trying to think of any possible song to get stuck in my head other than the Freddy song (thanks Taylor Swift!). Eventually I must've fallen back to sleep....and I lived to blog another day!
I guess given a bad dream about something fake (Freddy Krueger) and something that could potentially be real (something happening to my loved ones), I will take the fake any day. But if my dreams have to be so frequent and vivid, can't they be about something happy and positive??!!
Lately I have been having some terrible dreams. Not sure if this can be attributed to the pregnancy (I have heard that dreams are more vivid and frequent while pregnant) or what but it is getting to be a bother, sleepwise. As if I need more problems in that area, I am starting to get uncomfortable in some of my more well liked positions and getting up anywhere from 1-3 times a night to go to the bathroom. The bathroom thing alone is really annoying, as I have never in my life before now had to get up in the middle of the night to use the restroom unless I was sick. Talk about disruption of sleep.
Anyway, on to the bad dreams. A lot of the time they revolve around something terrible happening to a family member.....an impending death, a funeral, just general awfulness that only makes me worry more about something bad happening to those close to me. Two nights ago was no exception. I dreamed that my 2 year old nephew fell head over heels over a low banister from a second story porch....just out of my reach and before I could do anything about it. Usually it is days before I can get the terrible images out of my head (or I'll just have another bad dream to replace the bad one before it).
Last night was a little different. I had a bad dream about Freddy Krueger. I know, what am I, ten years old??!! Probably not coincidently from seeing that someone had posted on facebook about the new (?) Friday the 13th movie that is coming out tonight....complete with the catchy little song from the movie (1, 2, Freddy's comin for you....etc...you know you know it). I have seen quite a few of the Friday the 13th saga and really don't find these movies to be very scary....but for some reason I was pretty scared last night. I woke up my husband, as usual, and as usual he asked what the dream was about (which is pretty impressive, considering he is always half asleep, haha).....at first I didn't want to tell him cause I was sure he would make fun of me....I was almost making fun of myself, despite knowing there was no way I would fall right back to sleep (cause that is when Freddy gets you. Right.). But amazingly he didn't laugh and even woke up to stay awake with me (you know, to protect me) while I ran (sprinted) to the bathroom, light glaring, and he kept his iphone lit so I could run back to jump in the bed and wasn't in total darkness. He cuddled me while I proceeded to spend the next half an hour trying to force my eyes open and read a little E News on my iphone (really, E News, is the Friday the 13th movie coming out a story?? I figured I'd find some harmless material there and eventually did) and trying to think of any possible song to get stuck in my head other than the Freddy song (thanks Taylor Swift!). Eventually I must've fallen back to sleep....and I lived to blog another day!
I guess given a bad dream about something fake (Freddy Krueger) and something that could potentially be real (something happening to my loved ones), I will take the fake any day. But if my dreams have to be so frequent and vivid, can't they be about something happy and positive??!!
The End of Another Month.....
Wow, can't believe that April is over today and May will be here tomorrow. This year is flying by. Since it has been over a week since my last post, I will catch up a little that has gone on lately. On Wednesday, my little brother made his confirmation. Dillon, aka St. George, did a great job and answered his question from Arch-bishop Gregory with ease. Michael did great as his sponsor as well, although he really just had to stand behind Dill and put his hand on his shoulder. :-) I was impressed with this Arch-bishop a lot....he was very entertaining and even though the kids must've been intimidated when he asked them questions, he was funny and you could tell he was trying to get them to relax and laugh a little. Not only can I not remember who the Arch-bishop was when I was confirmed, I know that my confirmation was surely not entertaining at all. We just kneeled down and he said something to us and that was it. Even though the mass for Dillon's confirmation was pretty long (about 2 hours), I thought it was really nice and Michael and I are very proud of Dill for reaching this milestone.
Last night Michael had class so I went shopping, finally stocking up on some adorable baby girl clothes. I didn't really have anything in mind specifically to buy....but when I got into Bloomingdales and saw that the clearance baby clothes were an extra 40% off...and that a very large amount of them were Ralph Lauren items....well, I went a little crazy. My girl is going to be one adorably dressed girl! I even found a DKNY (who knew she did baby clothes??!!) outfit for her....and it was less than $20. The prize of the night though was a red velvet Ralph Lauren holiday dress orginally priced at $145 (cannot imagine who spends this on any one baby clothing item at all)........for $36!!!!!! I can just imagine now her Daddy carrying her into church on Christmas morning in this adorable dress....now I just need to buy her some little white tights and black patent mary janes to complete the perfect look!! Needless to say I am very excited about it....even though Christmas is a good 8 months away and the baby isn't even here yet, haha.
Tonight should be a relaxing night...well, for me.....Michael has got to study, study, study for his last final of the semester that will occur Monday night. But the rest of the weekend will be nice...I have to work tomorrow morning (as usual) but I think we are spending the rest of the weekend at my parents house....my sister and nephew are in town so it will be a fun family weekend, hopefully with nice weather and the pool involved. :-)
I am glad that the warmer months are upon us. No matter how hot I will feel this summer (with my extra padding, haha), I always like the warm summery months much better than the cold, dreary wintery months. Just something about nice, warm weather makes me in a much better mood. And I also know that at the end of these nice, hot summery months I will be getting a huge present.....the baby!!! And she needs to get here soon so she can start wearing all her cute new clothes!!!
Last night Michael had class so I went shopping, finally stocking up on some adorable baby girl clothes. I didn't really have anything in mind specifically to buy....but when I got into Bloomingdales and saw that the clearance baby clothes were an extra 40% off...and that a very large amount of them were Ralph Lauren items....well, I went a little crazy. My girl is going to be one adorably dressed girl! I even found a DKNY (who knew she did baby clothes??!!) outfit for her....and it was less than $20. The prize of the night though was a red velvet Ralph Lauren holiday dress orginally priced at $145 (cannot imagine who spends this on any one baby clothing item at all)........for $36!!!!!! I can just imagine now her Daddy carrying her into church on Christmas morning in this adorable dress....now I just need to buy her some little white tights and black patent mary janes to complete the perfect look!! Needless to say I am very excited about it....even though Christmas is a good 8 months away and the baby isn't even here yet, haha.
Tonight should be a relaxing night...well, for me.....Michael has got to study, study, study for his last final of the semester that will occur Monday night. But the rest of the weekend will be nice...I have to work tomorrow morning (as usual) but I think we are spending the rest of the weekend at my parents house....my sister and nephew are in town so it will be a fun family weekend, hopefully with nice weather and the pool involved. :-)
I am glad that the warmer months are upon us. No matter how hot I will feel this summer (with my extra padding, haha), I always like the warm summery months much better than the cold, dreary wintery months. Just something about nice, warm weather makes me in a much better mood. And I also know that at the end of these nice, hot summery months I will be getting a huge present.....the baby!!! And she needs to get here soon so she can start wearing all her cute new clothes!!!
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