The Simple Sweet Life

NATE

2012-02-04T07:15:00.012-06:00

Update: Between the time I asked permission to post on the next SUYL Singles Day and the time I posted, Nate is in communication with someone. I don't want to lose all of your comments, so I'm leaving the post for the time being.
Thanks to all of you who have commented and emailed. You all are wonderful!

Its Show Us Your Singles time over on Kelly's Korner blog. For months I've been wanting to post about one of my favorite singles, Nate.

Nate and I became friends (through church) when he moved to Houston from Oregon back in 2006. As I got to know Nate, I was impressed by several things; his deep love for his family, devotion to friends, how easy he was to get to know, his compassion, his faith, and his relationship with Christ. Nate also has a wonderful sense of humor, strong work ethic, loves to travel, and is an amazing unlce to his niece and nephews. I've met his family and they are all wonderful too. Any girl would be amazingly blessed to become a part of it! My daughter loves him. The first time he met her, he sang her Billy Joel (which is our favorite). Any guy that would sing Billy Joel to a baby is a keeper for sure!

As I've gotten to know him over the past (almost) 6 years, I have developed a tremendous amount of respect for him. Nate travels with his job and has gotten to see and do amazing things in spectacular places!

Nate's job is based in Houston, but he lives in Vancouver, WA. He is (almost) 29. He enjoys cooking, taking photos (of all the fab places he goes), time with friends and family, and spending time in the great outdoors.

If you'd like to know more, please comment or email me at jcedwards613@gmail.com

"Word Nerd"

2011-12-09T07:14:00.003-06:00

Hadley's vocabulary is EXPLODING. I LOVE it! As I sit and try to think of all of the things she says, I know I'll forget some. But, I want to remember the things she says and how she says them. So, in no particular order, our current vocab consists of the following words:

1. Mama
2. Dada
3. Gigi (sounds a bit like "she she")
4. Papa
5. Tucker (Tuck-errr)
6. Piper
7. Lily (her teacher)
8. Outside (Osiye)
9. Light (Liiiiigh)
10. Hello (heyo)
11. Bye
13. Purple
14. Poop (pewwp)
15. More (mo)
16. Milk ("Gilk")
17. Book (gook)
18. Again (gai)
19. Night Night (nih nih)
20. "Na Na" (No No-but she doesn't say this often-yay! She does shake her head "no" though)
21. Up
22. Done (da)
23. Uh Oh (we have this one down pat)
24. Diaper (dipah)
25. Nose
26. Eye
27. Baby (she is currently OBSESSED with babies)
28. Doggie (she had been using the word Tucker to describe all living things that weren't people, but she now will sometimes say doggie)
29. Puppy
30. Muah (to blow a kiss)
31. Moon
32. Blue's Clues
33. Wow
34. Wee
35. Bath
36. Hi
37. Mi (Mine)
38. Duck
39. Cheese
40. Down

I'm pretty sure there are a couple I'm missing. The other night Hadley was looking for Piper. Piper was in the backyard and Had started walking to the door saying "Piper" *which sounds a bit like a mix between Tiger and Cracker* in a sing song voice. It was too cute for words. It also sounded like she said where are you? But, I'm not 100% sure on that one.

I love that everyday Hadley has a "chatty" time. She just jabbers on and on about something. I'm sure she is solving the national debt crisis or figuring up a peace plan for the middle east. But, I can't understand most of it. Hadley, please always want to chat with me and tell me about your day. I dread the thought that there may be a time when you don't want to talk to me and you shut me out. Let's not roll that way, k? Thanks. Oh, and my child is obsessed with the phone. She loves them, loves to talk on them, thinks the world stops when the phone rings...it is insane.

Where to Begin

2011-11-13T20:19:00.002-06:00

I have completely failed at documenting Hadley's life. Before she was born, I was convinced that I would be filling out her baby book daily-furiously documenting every day of her life. I haven't, not even close. In order to fill in the entries, I will have to review over a year's worth of facebook statuses. Despite that failure, there are a few things that I'm pretty sure I will remember all the days of my life...Hadley is an amazingly easy baby with a sweet spirit and cheerful disposition, she moves ALL. THE. TIME, and I love her so much it hurts.

I'm often torn between wanting to have a conversation with her to find out what she thinks and wishing away this time that is already flying by. Parenthood is amazing and exhausting, and I'm sure as she gets older the more exhausting it will get. We are so blessed because Hadley is relatively healthy-she meets/exceeds her milestones, she has a great vocabulary, her problem solving skills look like they will be more like J's and less like mine (thank you Lord), and she doesn't have any life threatening problems. But, the chronic ear infections, URIs, and such are getting old. This week we have a surgery scheduled, 2 in less than 8 months. I'm not thrilled, but I think this is necessary. Unfortunately, we are having trouble moving air and that could stand between us and surgery Thursday-its a little stressful, we're ready to be past this.

I've been thinking lately about how quickly time passes and how it is almost cruel to think that we are turning the calendar toward the last month of 2011. I graduated high school 10 years ago this past May and college 6 years ago. It is amazing to me to think that I've been Baylor Alum longer than I was a Baylor student. I feel 'right out of college' and I'm definitely not. I'm thankful for the changes in my life (good and bad) that have brought me to this season. I've learned a lot and grown a lot, but I still have lots of growing to do. We were in Waco last month for a special event. It was wonderful and I'm so glad we were able to go. But, I was reminded of the person I was as student. I was so passionate about so many things and was involved in amazing outreach, effective ministries, and felt so fulfilled by it all (in most areas of my life). I made mistakes that I'm not proud of, but definitely have seen how all of it has shaped me into the wife, mother, and person I am today. Good and bad, its all there. A huge part of me wants to dive right back into the ministries I served, do the things I did back then. But then I look at this beautiful little face that is beyond thrilled to see me come pick her up from school and hear the "Mama!" come out of that tiny little mouth. Its then I know that which I'm passionate about outside of my home can wait for the time that I mold this child with passionate purpose as her mom. One of these days, I'll get back to my roots. But, now is my time to comfort, play, and baby hold (okay, baby chase). Someday soon the ear infections, fevers, breathing treatments, and all of the antibiotics will be in our rear view mirror and there will be more that I can give elsewhere.

Can I also just say that I miss Brinkley like crazy? After we got home from vacation in August, we started a month long journey with the beag. I know he was just a dog, but I'm pretty sure I won't ever fully get over this. For the better part of a decade he was my constant. Brinkley was the one 'person' in my life that was happy to see me regardless of how I looked, smelled, or what I had done that day, he was a bed warmer, and the joy of my life covered in fur. Its been almost two months since I laid nose to nose with him on the floor of the "comfort room" at the vet's office. He was so sick and it happened so fast. I'm quite sure I left a part of my heart in that room with him. I find myself looking at other dogs, trying to find one to bring home. But, it doesn't feel right (I know it will in time). I don't want another dog, I want Brinkley back. I want the comfort of knowing that I know all about him and he knows all about us. He had us trained and he knew how we roll in this house. Somedays I have to remind myself that he won't be waiting for me when I get home. Today was one of those days, so was yesterday. I think it boils down to realizing that everything I learned about parenting I learned from a beagle. That should be scary, but it really isn't.

Never Gonna Catch Up, Reset, Go Again

2011-04-08T08:40:00.002-05:00

I'm never going to catch up on everything that has happened since Hadley came into our lives. So, I believe that I will just start fresh from now.

Today is my Friday off, just in time! Unfortunately, Hadley is home with a virus that is causing her to run a fever. Her fever is currently under control, but only because of Tylenol and Motrin. We're a little concerned because she has just gotten over an ear infection and had to come home from daycare with a fever yesterday. So, we'll be taking it easy the next couple of days and try to get well before Monday!

Hadley turned 7 months on Tuesday. I don't even know where the time has gone. Everyday has been an amazing blessing and I am having a BLAST with her. What a sweet sweet girl that I am so undeserving of!

Work has gotten insanely busy and is strangely unimportant in my life after 5pm these days, not much more to say there.

We are gearing up for Easter around here. I LOVE Easter! For the past 10 years or so, we have been so busy on Easter Sunday that we end up going out to the Japanese Steak House for Easter lunch. It is a fun tradition-I loved it! But, this year, we wanted to stay close to home and worship at our church and with our friends. We are hosting Easter Lunch at our house this year. I'm trying to think of what to serve and what traditions we want to start with Hadley.

Pretty lame "come back" post, but its the most I've got for now!

Hadley's First Christmas and New Year's

2011-02-17T08:49:00.001-06:00

Ok, so I definitely have some catching up to do!

Let me start with Christmas…

December was FULL of activities. We opened December with Cookie Baking Weekend at Gigi’s, we attended a couple of Christmas parties, met Santa, and prepared for the holiday. Joe and I built our annual gingerbread house on Christmas Eve and we took a dolled up Hadley Grace to Christmas Eve services at Gigi and Papa’s church.

We were very lucky to have Grannie come to Mom’s for Christmas this year. It was fun to have her celebrate Hadley’s first Christmas with us! As usual, we were tremendously blessed and Santa was good to everyone!

Hadley got a doll stroller/walking toy combo from Santa and Santa assigned Hadley her elf, Lola that will be with us each Christmas. Mom and I wrote a song for Lola, the Show Elf…I bet you know the tune! Hadley got a lot of teething toys in her stocking-boy does Santa know what he’s doing! Gigi and Papa spoiled Hadley with books, some sweet outfits, and toys. We bought her several toys as well-drums, maracas, a play kitchen (that sings in English and Spanish), some videos, and other assorted toys that she can crawl toward. We had a fun morning opening gifts and a great lunch that Gigi put together.

By Christmas, Hadley was rolling over fairly regularly, but by the first week in January, she was rolling all over the place! Normally, we go to Moody Garden’s Festival of Lights on NYE. But, I won’t lie, this year we were lame and stayed in. I played with Hadley by styling her hair and we were in bed by 9:30. New Year’s Day, we had my parents over for lunch. It was a nice, laid back, afternoon followed by a trip out to Moody Gardens. Hadley did great and enjoyed looking at the lights.

2011-02-17T08:33:00.001-06:00

I may be behind the times, and am not sure if this is really going to work…but, can I really email my blog for an update??? Seriously? Blogging may have become MUCH easier for me!

Callie Holland-Edwards

Waste Management

Ethics and Diversity

1001 Fannin Street Suite 4000

Houston, TX 77002

713-287-2515

Roll Over, Roll Over

2010-12-28T07:57:00.004-06:00

My boss' boss, Linda lives in my parents neighborhood, which is weird because I see her out in public at stores and out to eat at places around their house. Its kind of like seeing your teacher at the grocery store...they aren't supposed to have a LIFE outside of work! But, it is nice when we have meetings at her house, because then I pop in and spend time with my parents. We had our annual Christmas lunch at Linda's on the 16th. Since the lunch wasn't going to be over until 4:00, and traffic would be a NIGHTMARE, Joe and Hadley met me at my parents' house. We spent some time with them and then went out to eat. It was nice. Hadley was perfect.

Joe and I both had the next day off and planned to do some errands and go on a date. We got up and played for a couple of hours and took Hadley to daycare (I felt pretty guilty sending her when I didn't have to work), then we set off about our day. We went to breakfast and then to run some errands at the mall before going on our "date." There was nothing playing at the movies that we wanted to see, so we decided to go to Main Event. We walked right up and were told they were closed for a private event...great....we couldn't find anything to do, how lame is that? So, we went and picked up our baby. I ran in to get her and the teacher says, "Oh, she rolled over today." WHAT??? I missed it? Seriously?? She had almost rolled over while we were playing that morning, but she'd been almost rolling over for weeks. I got huge tears in my eyes from happiness and guilt. How could I miss such a big thing on a day when I didn't even have to work???? I compose myself, get Had in her car seat and go to tell Joe that she rolled over! Here's how it went:
Me: "So, um Little Miss Hadley Grace rolled over today! I can't believe I missed it."
Joe: "Oh."
Me: "I can't believe I missed her first time to roll over and I wasn't even working." ( I couldn't get over the fact that I took her to daycare when I was off work)
Joe: "Welllll, today wasn't the first time she has rolled over."
ME: "WHAT? When did she roll over????"
Joe: "Mary Grace told me she did it yesterday."
Me: "She rolled over and you didn't tell me???"
Joe: "I didn't want you to be upset that you missed it."
So, Hadley really rolled over for two days before I knew anything about it. Talk about feeling like a failure as a mom. When we got home that day, I put her on the floor determined we were NOT moving until she rolled over. No joy. We tried again Saturday. No joy. But, something wasn't quite right with her Saturday, so I didn't make her stay on the floor all that long.

Hadley had gotten really clingy Friday and Saturday nights, and she would SCREAM anytime we put her down. On Sunday she seemed fine, so we went to church. She started screaming in the nursery and we ended up going to the ER. Hadley was starting to get another ear infection (2 in 2 weeks). I'm hoping the first one just never went away, but I'll never know. Poor baby was not feeling well at all. But, thanks to her meds, she was on the mend quick. Finally on Monday at her follow up appointment with her doctor, I saw her roll over. After the nurses had taken all her information and gotten her weight, I got her dressed and was holding her. Then the blowout. So, I stripped her down and was trying to change her (it was an awkward set up, I was trying to dig through the diaper bag, there was no place to put anything and it was chaos) and she decided it was high time she roll over for me. She rolled right into the thick of things if you know what I mean. I was still pretty happy to see her do it. I cleaned her up, got her dressed, and policed up everything we got dirty in the exam room. It was quite the ordeal. Somehow it seems fitting that the first time I see my baby roll over is in the doctor's office in the middle of something that resembled a calf scramble at the rodeo.

Hadley Grace meet Santa Claus

2010-12-28T07:49:00.002-06:00

We took Hadley to meet the big man in red on December 6 after I got off work. I figured since it was a Monday night early in December, no one would be there in line. As we walked toward Santa I heard barking...LOTS of barking. It was weird. We round the corner and there are tons of people in line to see Santa with their pets! Yep, we went on pet night...classic. Santa was on a break feeding the reindeer so we had to wait and wait and wait. Hadley slept and slept and slept. We were trying to figure out the perfect moment to wake her and feed her so she didn't scream bloody murder at the jolly ol' elf. The line moved so slowly because people were dressing up their pups and using props. Next year, I will check to make sure it isn't pet night! Hadley did great though, she snoozed until we woke her up for her bottle, she ate and then threw up down the side of her dress, and was ready to sit on Santa's lap for a picture. She did great! I'm a little bummed that her dress matched Santa's chair perfectly. Out of all of her Christmas dresses, I picked the one that matched the upholstery, go figure!

Cookie Weekend and 3 Months

2010-12-05T21:09:00.004-06:00

This weekend was our annual Cookie Baking weekend. We set aside two days to make tons of cookies. This year was so different (and much harder) with a baby to care for in the midst of it all. All in all, we made over 70 dozen "pieces." Hadley enjoyed herself for the most part, but wasn't feeling well. She woke up Saturday morning with a fever of 100.8. We went to the doctor as a walk in (we went to the doctor that I used to go to) and they thought her ear looked slightly red, so they put her on antibiotics as a safe guard. I think tomorrow we will probably go back to Hadley's regular Doc just to be sure he thinks she looks okay. All in all, it was a successful weekend and Hadley seems to be feeling better.

Hadley is 3 months old today! In some ways time has flown by and in other ways it seems like it took us a long time to get to this point. My parents taught her La Cucaracha today, she thinks it is hilarious. She is working on rolling over (back to tummy), holding her head up fairly well, reaching for things (especially her reflection in the mirror), and turns in the direction of who is talking (most of the time). We weighed her in tonight at 10 lbs 10 oz! She has been gaining weight slowly and I've been a bit worried. On Wed we weighed her and she has gained 4 ounces since then! That is a crazy amount for her to gain in such a short time! Hadley Grace, we love you so very much, its hard to think about what life was like before you. I am torn, I want you to stay small, but I also want to be able to have a conversation with you and know what you are thinking in that beautiful head of yours. For now, I will hold you and cuddle you as long as you will let me. I know it will go by in a blink!

Hadley was having floor time this morning and fell asleep as she was rolling over. She rolls over about half way (from back to front).

One of the cookies I made for Hadley. BU class of 2034!

It was much easier to take this month's picture than last! We got several cute ones before she fell over. She almost rolled over, but then started having a melt down, so we saved her!

Thankful

2010-12-02T08:25:00.007-06:00

Every year around this time we all focus on giving thanks for our "stuff." And, like most things "our stuff" changes over time. In addition to all the normal things, friends, family, homes, cars, jobs, food, clothes, etc... This year, our family had MUCH to be thankful for!

Dad's successful quintuple by pass surgery (and recovery) last December
Awaiting the arrival of baby Cocoa Puff, Hadley Grace with a healthy pregnancy
Grannie's recovery from multiple hospital stays
Grannie's succesful valve replacement surgery in August followed by another succesful surgery in October
The most precious little girl I've ever laid eyes on

This Thanksgiving was a bit different for us. Hadley and I drove up to Mom and Dad's on Wednesday evening to spend the weekend. Joe was working the night shift, so we didn't want to be home alone trying to be quiet during the days. My parents cooked the usual feast and we took it on the road to Joe's work for all of those who had to work Turkey Day.

Hadley chilling in her high chair while Gigi makes turkey

Friday we went out for some Black Friday people watching and some light shopping. I spent a whopping $28 at Gymboree and called it a day. Saturday Hadley and I helped decorate the house for Christmas. There is nothing better than Mom's house at Christmas time!

Tucker checking out Miss Hadley after her Black Friday excursion

Mom and I took SEVERAL breaks from decorating to love on Hadley and pose her for pictures

Hadley was supposed to watch Gigi and make sure she put the greenery up right

Best of all, Hadley got several days of extra love from Mom and Dad and I didn't change hardly any diapers while I was there. Gigi took them for the team!

Sunday we went to church and spent some time with Joe. Hadley wore her first (of many) Christmas dresses and looked SO sweet!

11 Week Re-Cap

2010-11-24T12:39:00.042-06:00

Since I've been so delinquent in blogging, I'm going to try to catch up in one post. This in no way does justice to the past 11 weeks, but it is my only hope of getting caught up.

Hadley, here is a look at the past 11 weeks:

Week One:

-We brought you home and nervously tried to figure out what in the world to do with you. We did LOTS of holding, diapering, feeding, and crying. We also took you out on a few "outings" for sanity sake

-You went to your first doctor visit on September 9, 2010 and saw NP Stacy (we LOVE her). Your appointment was at 8:30. Getting up, dressed, fed, and out of the house by that time was crazy! Gigi came over that day to cook and do some serious baby holding! Getting ready to take Hadley to her first Dr. Appt.

-We took you on your first trip to TargetRiding to Target

-You played on your play mat (you HATE tummy time)

-You slept A TON! I knew babies slept a lot, but you slept almost all the time, about 22 hours a day.

-You screamed through your first bath. I was so nervous, but we survived. You loved having your hair washed.

-You were the Bears' cutest fan on your first Game Day, 9-11-10 when Baylor played Buffalo. We met Josh, Lory, and Mo for lunch at Jason's Deli that day

Week Two:

-You slept some more

-You had more appointments because you had episodes of projectile vomitting. After a couple of weeks going back and forth, they decided you had reflux. Gigi came and helped me that Thursday because your Daddy had just gone back to work. You did great all day, then she left and you got sick. But, while she was there, we went on our first Girls' outing to McAlister's.

-You went to your first church service on September 19

-You lost your cord

-You had your newborn pictures made by Carina Olson of Kat's Photography. She was awesome! You'll be seeing her again and again I'm sure.

-You had your first ultrasound (to rule out Pyloric Stenosis). You were less than impressed with the process, but did really well all things considered.

Week Three:

-You met your Grandma and Grandpa when they came to town for your dedication

-You slept some more

-You went with me to my hair appointment and did GREAT hanging out in the salon

-We presented you to the Lord and promised to raise you in a Christian home and to reflect Christ in our lives as an example to you as you grow. After your dedication service we had lunch at our house with the Cook Family and all of your grandparents. Then we went to Uncle Bert's for a shrimp boil that night.

- We went and spent the day with Papa

-You smiled at us periodically from the time you were born. But, you really started smiling to get our attention this week.

-You went to Waste Management to meet my co-workers and have lunch with Gigi

Week Four:

-You had your one month weigh in. You were 8 pounds 2.5 ounces (and not too thrilled to be propped up in bed for a picture)

-You spent your first night away from home. We stayed the night at Gigi's because Daddy was sick.

Week Five:

-Gigi and I took you to meet Grannie. There are a few things you need to know about Grannie...I adore her. She spent a lot of time around us when we were growing up and she helped your Gigi with your Uncle Steven and me when Papa was in Desert Storm. I never will forget calling Grannie to tell her I was pregnant with you. I had my first appointment to confirm my pregnancy and came into work. When I got to work I showed Gigi the pictures of the ultrasound (you looked like a polka dot) and she says, "you have to tell Grannie, I can't keep it a secret." So, that afternoon as I was leaving the office and walking to the bus, I called her. I asked her what she was doing in September. She said, "September??? Its just only January, I don't know hun. Why, what are you doing in September?" I told her I was having a baby and there was a very long silence followed by "are you serious?" "Yes." Then she got choked up and said, "you'll have a little girl with a head full of dark hair and blue eyes." Throughout my entire pregnancy she asked about you. When she had her open heart surgery, she kept checking to make sure you hadn't been born. Grannie was so excited about you. When she saw you, she cried, I cried, Gigi cried, and you slept. It was a moment I will never forget. Hadley, you are so loved by one of the most amazing women to walk this earth. I desperately want you to know and remember her.

Week Six:

-You started daycare at Kid City. I took you on Monday (10/18) morning and left you an entire three hours. I was a basket case and cried almost the whole time. Being away from you was awful, it still is. We kept you there a little longer each day to make sure you (ok, I) would do okay before I had to go back to work. You did just fine and have the sweetest teachers; Aida, Mary Grace, and Joanie. Whenever I go in to get you, the teachers from other classes tell me how cute you are and how sweet they think you are.

-We took you to the Fall Festival and to the Pumpkin Patch. Papa came down to go with us since Gigi was out of town.

Week Seven:

-Mom went back to work and then got a stomach bug. Daddy kept you home just in case

Week Eight:

-You celebrated your first Halloween and holy cow did you look cute!

Week Nine:

-You had your 2 month appointment (11-5-2010) and got shots. I cried, you cried, and Daddy almost cried.

-At 2 months, you weighed 9lbs 8.5 oz and were 22.5 inches long. You were in the 8th percentile for weight and in the 20s for length. This picture cracks me up, your legs are so skinny! Each time we set you up, you'd roll to the left and fall over, it was pretty funny.

-After your appointment, we went to Gigi and Papa's. Daddy and Papa installed lights in the kitchen while we took you Christmas dress shopping. Girl, you have 5 Christmas dresses.

-You had your first dinner at a hibachi joint that night too

-Your little classmates passed along a sickness and you were out of school with RSV for half the week. Daddy stayed home and took care of you.

Week Ten:

-We went Christmas shopping with Papa on Friday.

-Gigi and Papa babysat you on Saturday so Mommy and Daddy could go do some shopping of their own

-Grandma sent you Thanksgiving cash. You even held it in your hand

Week Eleven:

-We are getting ready to celebrate your first Thanksgiving. You wore a little outfit to school today with a turkey on the tush and a turkey hairbow. You are so precious!

So far you :

clasp your hands together (you've done this since day one)

love your fists

smile a lot now

follow things with your eyes really well,

you LOVE the Christmas tree lights and the Christmas village

you are cooing and making sounds to "talk" to us

still HATE tummy time

are getting good at holding your head up when we carry you (but not when you are doing tummy time)

you like your swing, bouncy seat, high chair, and infant carrier

you usually do really well in the car

you typically only cry when hungry (until last night when you had a gas bubble and screamed your head off)

you LOVE your Daddy, Gigi and Papa

you have done EXCELLENT at day care

you love bath time and getting your hair washed

and you love the "Good Morning" song

Right now you think I'm hilarious, I'm living it up while I can

I had you in your high chair last week and I was making brownies, you were really fasicnated with my mixer and seem to enjoy being in the kitchen with us. While we were baking, Billy Joel came on the iPod, you grinned a huge grin and started kicking your feet. You loved him in utero too.

We have had so much fun getting to know you these past 11 weeks. They go by so fast, sometimes I just find myself holding you and crying because I don't want time to pass so quickly and yet I am so anxious to learn more about you and who you are. I am so humbled that the Lord has blessed me with you because I am so undeserving of such an amazing gift. Even more wonderful is that He loves you so much and knows you so well that He knows the number of hairs on your precious little head. Oh Hadley, you have been so worth the wait!

Hadley Grace's Birth Story

2010-11-24T11:05:00.006-06:00

I went to see Dr. Nisbet for my 39 week appointment on Friday morning (September 3) and FINALLY had a slight change...I was at a 2. As we were leaving I told Dr. N that I hoped not to see her for my appointment that following Friday. She looked hesitant and said if she didn't see me Friday it would be because she saw me Wednesday or Thursday. I told her I was hoping more like Saturday, she looked skeptical, and I looked bummed and desperate.

Joe took me in to work and made plans to come pick me up, I think he felt pretty bad for me at that point. Through the course of that day at work, I decided that I was done. Monday was Labor Day and I was hell bent I would have Hadley before Thursday! Stella gave me permission to work from home until Hadley came. I said my farewells and waddled out of the building, laptop in tow.

That night, Joe and I went to dinner at Cracker Barrel. All I could think of wanting to eat was fried okra (ick) and jelly beans. I ate dinner and skipped the jelly beans (and craved them all night long).

Saturday we went to Babies R Us, walked around the mall, went to HEB (bought jelly beans), made dinner, and went for a walk. Joe was transitioning to the night shift, so after watching The Backup Plan, I went to bed and Joe went out to work on his car. I woke up at 11:15, stuck my head in the garage and chatted with Joe. I made sure he knew I was just up for jelly beans and that I wasn't in labor. I grabbed some jelly beans and got back in bed. Right as I was starting to fall back asleep (still chewing my jelly beans like a cow chews grass) I felt a little strange. My water was breaking, it was 11:39 Saturday night. I got myself in gear (as fast as one can at 39 weeks pregnant), called the doctor's office, stuck my head in the
garage and told Joe I was in fact in labor, changed my clothes, called my Mom, and we were off.

When I got to the hospital the nurse told me I could wait in the waiting room or put on a gown and wait in one of the open rooms. I opted for a room of course. I got in there right at 12:00 am. The nurse FINALLY came in and checked me. When she hooked me up to the machine she said I was having contractions every 3-4 minutes. I didn't even know I was having them (thank you Lord)! Labor was not as bad as I had anticipated, I had a lot of pressure in my back. It was certainly uncomfortable, but better than I had thought it would be. Mom, Dad, and Joe were there the whole time I was in labor (Dad left for the delivery part). Dad even came up with a "cheer" to get me to progress--funny if not only slightly inappropriate.

The rest of the story is a blur or not part of the story that should be shared. Right up until delivery, we had excellent nurses (then shift change brought in a few ding bats). Dr. Bowman was on-call that day, she was amazing. I loved her and am glad that she was the one to bring Hadley Grace safely into this world. Hadley was born at 11:44 am on Sunday September 5, 2010. She had a head full of dark hair, blue eyes, and was a tiny bundle of awesome! She weighed in at 7 pounds 10.5 ounces and was 20 inches long. One of the first things I noticed about her was that she could flare her nostrils---a girl after her mom's heart! ha!

We spent the next couple of days in the hospital. There was a Tropical Storm that was hitting south Texas, so we had lots of rain on the day we were released. Finally on Tuesday at about 2:00pm we were discharged to go home. Hadley did great in her car seat, she gripped my finger the whole way home, and I'm pretty sure I cried the entire way. Was this really happening? Years of wondering what it would be like to have a baby in my house, to parent a child, and here we were in our Honda CR-V, headed to our sweet little house about to find out what life is really all about.

When we got home, we showed Hadley the house, we took her to her room and showed her all of her sweet things. We put her in her swing, we held her, we stared at her, and just soaked in those first hours at home together as a family.

Frustration

2010-11-24T10:57:00.002-06:00

I started this blog as an attempt to capture our lives...the exciting, the not-so-exciting, and everything in between. So far, epic fail! I have so many things that I've wanted to stop and blog about to document so I would remember all of the little things that have happened in Hadley's life so far, and I've not found the time to do so. Oddly enough, I'd rather baby hold than blog about baby holding. My next few posts will serve as a poor attempt to catch up. Stay tuned....

2010-09-02T08:15:00.002-05:00

Today marks the start of our 39th week of pregnancy. I will admit for all to see that I was WRONG...I thought all along CP would be here by about week 37. The past couple of weeks have been disappointing in that I'm ready to see my baby's sweet face. At the same time, the past couple of weeks have given Joe and I extra time to be a party of two. We've had several dinners out, gone on lots of walks, and had some quiet evenings at home waiting.

My appointment last Friday was somewhat disheartening when Dr. Nisbet said, "I'm pretty sure I'll see you for your regular appointment next week." Followed by the observation that there hadn't been much of a change. I wanted to scream, "CHECK AGAIN!" "Are you sure???" I had a round of contractions the night before and was totally certain there would be a noteable change. No cigar.

I have noticed a few things this week that are different;
-lower back pain
-crazy indigestion (I had some heartburn but this is fierce business)
-icky nausea today

We go back to the Dr. tomorrow and I'm not expecting there to be a change. I suspect we will talk about an induction and I'm hoping that if we do, Dr. Nisbet will humor me and do it next week instead of making me wait until the week of the 13th. I won't hold my breath though.

In other news, work has been pretty slow this week. My colleague is slammed and I'm not. On the one hand, it is awesome to not be running around like a fool this week, on the other, it means time passes SLOWLY and I have time to sit and dwell on Hadley's upcoming arrival.
Grannie had open heart surgery a couple of weeks ago in Austin. She is currently at a re-hab facility in Marble Falls. I finally got her on the phone last night. She sounded good and chipper. Apparently there is a lady that comes in to do hair and Grannie got her weave did. She told me, "ooooh boy, I got my hair washed, set, and cut. I look like the Queen of the Ball. Everyone thinks so." She is a mess! I got a good laugh out of that when I got off the phone with her. Aside from Joe and I, I think Grannie may be the most anxious to meet Hadley Grace. I'm pretty sure this is the day she has been waiting for forever!

Hadley's I Love Jesus Dress

2010-08-27T18:22:00.004-05:00

We went over today and bought Hadley's Dedication dress. I'd had my eye on one for months but never purchased it. Then, we were told Aunt Pat was making her a dress for the dedication. Pat sent us beautiful dresses for Hadley, but we think we will need to wait for Easter so they will be a better fit. So, we are saving those precious ones for a later date. In the meantime, I'm scared to even breathe on them or they will get dirty! ha!

Here is what we selected to dedicate l'il one to Jesus in

BBA

2010-08-26T20:41:00.004-05:00

My name is Callie and I am a bow buying addict. I think I may start a support group, Bow Buyers Anonymous.

6 bows came in the mail yesterday and I ordered another dozen or more today. Etsy, you enable me. Especially now that I found someone who sells them for $2 or less! Thank you for helping me with this addiction, at least my daughter's head will be well decorated. I bet she will be able to identify where her bow is before her eyes, ears, nose, or mouth...And, honestly, I'm okay with that....

37 Week Pictures/Update

2010-08-21T13:58:00.003-05:00

Yesterday we had our 37 week check up. I was really expecting there to be a great change from our last appointment. Hadley had dropped quite a bit (see picture) since last weekend and I was hoping for more progress. I know that the numbers really don't mean anything in the grand scheme of things, but still....

Sadly, there wasn't much of a change progress wise. Better luck next time! Ha! Here are a couple of pictures Joe took before our appointment. Since my Mom is out of town, I wanted to show her how low Hadley had dropped this week.

Joe was at work last night and asked me (via text message) if it was bad that he didn't want to wait 3 weeks for Hadley to be here. I told him absolutely not, I don't want to wait either! I am already crazy about this little one and I've not even met her yet. How can I miss someone I haven't met???

*The palm of my hand is at the bottom of sternum. The entire space taken up by my hand is "squishy" now and Hadley wasn't occupying space until the point where my finger is pointing. She is squishing herself in a smaller space than necessary!

Doneski...well, sort of.....

2010-08-19T04:56:00.003-05:00

Well, we've made it to 37 weeks! Hadley, you are now considered "term" and should be fine to come any time. So, that being said, we're ready to see you, please come soon!

At our last appointment, Dr. Nisbet confirmed you are head down (we had already figured that one out), and there was "progress." We go back again tomorrow. While I know the numbers don't really mean all that much, because you will do your own thing in your own time, I will cry my eyes out if I haven't progressed since last week! Ha! You started dropping a couple of weeks ago. I remember being so excited because I could fit my hand (sideways) between my sternum and the baby bump. You slowly continued to drop a little at a time. Then, on Monday, I woke up and could fit my hand (from palm to fingertips facing toward the floor) from my sternum down before I could feel you. You were sitting in alignment with where my fingers ended. Basically, I don't know that you can get any lower without deciding to grace us with your presence, and we'll take you!

Overall, I still feel pretty good. I'm getting tired of working, but know if I was home I would be going nutso sitting and waiting. I've cut down on swimming and am only going 4 days a week for about 35 minutes instead of 6 days for 45. I still love swimming laps, but have definitely slowed down! You like to have little parties (that don't feel as cute as they used to since you are bigger and squishing yourself in a smaller space) as soon as I lay down to go to sleep. You also wake up with my alarm and start squirming around. I was hoping you'd have your Dad's sleep habits and not mine, but I don't think I am going to be that lucky! Between your sleep habits, mine, and FREQUENT trips to the bathroom at night, sleep is scarce. I'm starting early these days!

Your room is DONE! Car seats are in the cars, bags are packed (full of cute outfits for you to sport in the nursery), and all of your toys and things are put together. Your Dad has had a lot of fun putting together swings, strollers, furniture, car seats, and toys. Let me just tell you, he is toast. You already have him wrapped around your little finger. He is just toast.....
Speaking of, your Papa and Gigi are toast too, but that is a given. Papa has been looking for lacy booties for you (I've had a hard time finding them). Gigi says that anyplace they go, he stops and looks at things for you. You will just adore them! Just wait until you get to have Christmas at Gigi's! We're ready to include you in our cookie baking days, decorating, and all the fun stuff we do for the holidays (this year, you'll probably just snooze through it, but next year, you'll have a BLAST)!

Bottom line kid, we're as ready as we're going to get. So, you have my permission and blessing to come whenever you want (hopefully sooner rather than later)! We can't wait to meet you!

T Minus 5

2010-08-09T20:54:00.003-05:00

We are down to about 5 weeks until Hadley's due date. From the beginning I have believed that Hadley will get here early. I could be completely wrong, but I've just wanted to be mentally prepared for her to be here before her due date. People look at me and ask "how much longer?" and shake their heads when I tell them. I don't feel like I'm THAT big, but I guess there is something they see that I don't. Who knows. Everyone always has a guess and an opinion based on their experiences.

I am pretty certain that Hadley started dropping a couple weeks ago. I don't have a lot of space for her to drop, so I think she is slowly wiggling down. There have been a couple of other "signs" of upcoming labor. But, when you read all the information on it, these are things that can happen several weeks ahead of labor with a first child. So, that isn't much of an indicator.

We have one more shower at work this week, then we'll be all set and ready for Hadley's arrival. Joe put the swing together last night. I'm REALLY excited about the swing. I just wish it didn't take up so much space.

Hadley's room is done, with the exception of the niche above the closet. We'll have to find the perfect thing to go up there.

Other than some last minute organizing, we are ready. I hope she will stay put long enough to get her lungs a little more developed. But, we sure are ready to see her face!

Shower Take 2

2010-08-07T17:55:00.005-05:00

Last weekend, Joe and I packed up the Big Beag and headed north to my parents' house on Friday night for a shower on Saturday morning. We had a hard time going to sleep and right as we were dozing off, Joe got called into work for the morning shift. Neither one of us got much sleep that night.

Saturday morning, Mom and I got up and dressed and went over to the Whistle Stop Tea Room for the shower. The Whistle Stop had great food, amazing desserts, and was a really cute place! It was a perfect shower, we had a great time celebrating with friends and family. We got some really cute things for Miss Hadley!

Grannie got Hadley her first pairs of earrings. They are so tiny! Dad got her a tiny yellow polka dot bikkini, and we got lots of goodies with her name on them. Everyone was so thoughtful and generous in blessing us!

Waiting Game

2010-07-27T05:18:00.002-05:00

I am a planner. No question. I like to know what I am doing and when. I want to plan it all out to ensure that I'm prepared and that everything goes well. In this way, I'm very much a "Type A" personality.

Pregnancy has challenged me greatly with this NEED to plan out my life. And, I'm okay with it. I wouldn't expect to be able to predict anything related to growing a person. But now, I'm beginning to get a bit antsy about it all. I keep thinking that in all reality anytime within the next 6.5 weeks our worlds will get flipped upside down. 6.5 weeks is a large window...yikes! When I leave work each day, I wonder if I'll be back the next day. I'm pretty sure I will be, but you never know. And with each day that passes, we get closer to the day I won't be back.

To top it all off, I have a severe case of "senioritis." I am at the point where I don't want to do much at work and I can't focus without really concentrating and forcing myself to get it together. There is so much to do to set my colleague up for success while I'm out, but there is even more to do to prepare my home, my brain, and my husband for Hadley's arrival. I have never been more ready and more unprepared for anything in my entire life! For now, we wait and get more and more anxious with each day that passes.

Showered

2010-07-24T19:35:00.004-05:00

Today was Hadley's first baby shower! It is a strange thing to be showered...I've been to hundreds of showers, but when you are the one being showered, it is a very surreal and humbling thing!

Mom and Dad came down for the festivities. Mom and I went to a tea room and looked in some little shops before the shower started. It was really nice and we found a super cute store that had TONS of sweet baby things (all overpriced of course).

Our friends Lory, Julie, and Cindy planned the shower on behalf of Women's Ministries. They ran with my love of baby bathing suits and pool parties and we had a "Swimmin' Party." Swimsuits, sandals, sun shades, and pool toys adorned the room and hallway. It was really cute and very original!

The shower was well attended and I definitely felt humbled and blessed by everyone's thoughtfulness. Dad and Joe came for cakes and gifts, so Dad shot some pictures of the ladies and gifts. I loved each gift and know that everything was selected from the heart. One of the sweetest things we received was a hand made white afghan. It is beautiful! I was overwhelmed that someone would take the time to make Hadley's gift.

When we got home, Mom and I went back through everything and tried to get it somewhat organized. I have some washing to do, and will get things organized and put away after next week's shower.

Hadley Grace, I think everyone is very excited about your arrival. And, you sure played hard today...you've gone almost non stop since about 3 this morning!

Baby, It's Hot Outside

2010-07-15T05:18:00.002-05:00

I have a love/hate "relationship" with summer. I love the footwear, accessories, pool parties, and longer days. But, I hate the weather that comes with having all of the fun stuff. This year is no different. I always find myself desperately wanting to move this time of year! Apparently we've suffered through the hottest "spring" on record with our heat index climbing over 100 almost every day since mid May. Seriously, it is HOT! This morning (by 5:00) the heat index was already over 90 and its expected to go up over 106. Everyday I'm increasingly thankful that I have an inside job in the AC.

Even with the heat, we're just rollin' along (quite literally in some ways). We are 32 weeks today! The reality that Hadley could be here within the next several weeks is crazy. I have very mixed emotions about it. I'm ready to no longer be pregnant, but I know I'll miss feeling the parties and kickboxing. These episodes are (often) like a secret between Hadley and me. For all the ways I feel ready to see this baby's face, I think of all the ways I'm not prepared for the changes Hadley will bring with her arrival. Overall, I'm feeling pretty good. I'm tired and trying to focus on work which is becoming increasingly difficult. Luckily I've been able to keep swimmin' at least 6 days a week. I still love it and miss the days I don't make it to the gym.

The nursery is mostly done (we have a few small touches left). We have a Lamaze class this Saturday and baby showers the next two weekends. Hopefully that will make the rest of July pass quickly and we can get to August!

Thursday's Thoughts

2010-07-08T10:06:00.002-05:00

* We are down to single digits...9 weeks (or less) until Miss H graces us with her presence. Hopefully it goes faster than I think it will

* I was NOT encouraged at my last Drs. appointment when my Dr. indicated I am in the "EXPANSION PHASE" -what am I, a building?

* I would really love to have an ultrasound machine so I could watch what Had's doing in there. I think she is taking her finger and poking my bladder.

* Hadley will not let me sleep on my left side. She balls up and if I try to lay on my left, she kicks me until I surrender and roll back over.

* I'm tired of the rain in Houston. We've gotten over 10 inches in a week, 7 of which have been in the month of July (and, it hasn't rained everyday).

*My husband is currently at my favorite breakfast joint with our Youth Pastor and I'm jealous.

*I gave Hadley the following pep talk this morning: "Hadley, you have between 42 and 63 days to show your face or I might go crazy. If we can keep that number at about 50, that would be great."

Transparent Grief

2010-07-06T15:00:00.002-05:00

Over the past several weeks, I have thought many times about writing this post. I’ve written it in my head almost everyday from the lap lanes of the pool at the gym. The frustrating thing is I know that now I will not be able to capture what I want to say nearly as eloquently as (I think) I have in my time at the gym. Not only do I want my blog to serve as a digital scrapbook and reminder of the good and fun things, but also of the ugly, complex, and trying things as well. So, I write this post as a tribute and reminder to myself of a part of my life I don’t delve into much. In the end, I know that there is beauty even in the parts of our life that are less than perfect.

A couple of weeks ago, the world remembered the one year anniversary of the death of Michael Jackson. I felt like we just barely got over the “hype” of his death, and all of a sudden we were hurled into the one year marker. My hunch is that it will be several years before the news and specials stop airing on the anniversary of his death. While the country watched the news, relived the moments, tweeted and updated facebook statuses around the King of Pop, I quietly remembered something else. I relived moments in my life that (at one time) I desperately wanted to forget, and as memories faded, I desperately wanted to remember.

15 years ago, my family was forever changed. Until that day in our history, we thrived on change. We had come to expect it and embrace it. But, this change was different. In a series of moments we went from a family of 4 to a family of 3 when my older brother passed from this life to the next. The moments felt like hours and days, and in the end, I don’t remember much about how time passed that day or the days following. To say it was a blur is the biggest understatement I could make. This isn’t so much about those moments on the beach waiting for life flight, or the drive Dad and I took (with friends) driving to the hospital while I threw up in a Burger King cup in the back seat. This is about something longer lasting than that....grief.

I used to believe that time healed all wounds. I hoped that would be the case, and assumed in my limited understanding that it had to be true. Over the past 15 years I have come to realize that time does not heal all wounds and that grief does not go away. I would argue that it becomes easier to deal with as we continually push it down in ourselves so that we can go on. I would also say that I believe grief becomes familiar and, in some way, maybe even comfortable to us as we allow it to shape and define us. This has been my experience so far.

When Steven died, we went through the motions of a Memorial Service, then we came back to the States for his funeral and buried him on the third of July, just 6 days before his 15th birthday. We were on auto pilot. Toward the end of the summer of 1995, we moved to San Antonio and began to start over (whatever that means). I remember grieving at the loss of life, grieving for my parents’ loss, and trying to know when it was appropriate to talk about it, and when best to keep my thoughts to myself. I felt very burdened to not upset my parents or add to their grief. I grieved for adjustments we had to make as a family and for a lot of “little” things. Learning to set the table for 3 and not 4 was a big challenge. I wanted to put things up in “his” room and try to make things somewhat normal.

Over the years, that grief changed. I still grieved for many of those things, but I grieved for bigger things too. As friends watched their siblings go to prom and graduate, as they became friends with their siblings instead of “enemies” who were always picking on one another, I grieved that I would not know that in my life. I wouldn’t see Steven go out on dates, or get to judge the girls he brought home. I wouldn’t see him in cap and gown walking the stage at graduation, or help move him away to college.

A couple years later, the grief changed again. I grieved knowing that he wouldn’t be at my graduations or see my accomplishments. He would never know what I chose to do with my life or meet the man I married. I grieved knowing that I would never have nieces and nephews that would favor him. I wouldn’t get to spoil them rotten and send them home to him to detox off a sugar high, or tell stories of the crazy things their dad did growing up. I still grieve over some of these things. But lately, I grieve knowing that my children will not know him. They will not have the privilege of hearing his laugh, or benefitting from his kind heart and compassion. Sure, my children will know about him, but knowing about something and experiencing it are two different things entirely. I grieve that my children will not have an uncle that prays over them and longs to be involved in their lives. They will not have an uncle that cares about their walk with Christ or encourages them to be strong in their faith. My children will not have cousins to play with when we go to may parents’ house for holidays. In many ways, I assume my children will feel a piece of the void I’ve felt for the past 15 years. The grief is there, and it is familiar, and in some ways easier to deal with because of its constant place in my life. The things I grieve now were so far from my mind that first summer. Death has shaped me in more ways than I care to admit. Its given me an appreciation for life and challenged me to not be defined by loss, but to recognize its impact on my family.

As I prepare for Hadley, I am challenged in my excitement by some grief. I wonder how I will answer questions when she is older and how to bridge my life as an “only child” with my life as a little sister. I wonder how I will react if she doesn’t really want to know much or seem overly interested in that aspect of my life. And, because time does not heal all wounds, I wonder if I’ll be able to keep my composure as I explain this part of my life to her. Sometimes I can, sometimes I can’t.

One thing I know for sure now as I knew then, one thing does not change. God is in control. He has used death to speak to me and my parents and He has shaped our lives in spite of the grief that holds a piece of each of us. And, He has made me thankful for the familiarity of my grief.

28 Weeks

2010-06-17T10:08:00.002-05:00

L'il Miss Hadley,

You have been growing like crazy the past couple of months! Since 21 weeks you:

-started tasting the foods I eat (21)
-have eyebrows, eyelashes, and hopefully hair on your head (22)
-started perceiving light and dark (22)
-developed a sense of touch and can feel pain (22)
-have some fat deposits to fill out your skin (23)
-your face has almost fully developed (24) (I had a dream and got to see your face, you did not have my nose! I'm hoping that is prophetic)
-been able to recognize my voice (24)
-formed capillaries and air sacs in your lungs (25)
-have open nostrils (25)
-developed your vocal chords (25)
-opened your eyes (26)
-gone from being measured "crown to rump" to "head to toe" (27)
-started to get in position for birth (28)
-started blinking, coughing, hiccuping, sucking, and taking practice breaths (28)
-your sleep cycle now includes REM sleep so you may even be dreaming (28)
-grown to a whopping (estimated) 2.5 pounds and 16 inches (28)

With all that growing, I would think you'd be exhausted. But, you are proving otherwise! You have started taking to a "party routine" sometime around 2am. You have several nights in a row where I wake up to you doing the Snoopy Dance. Then, for a few nights, you give me a reprieve (either that, or I'm so tired from the previous nights' parties that I sleep right through them)!
You also throw a dance party or two around lunch time. Each time I go up to your GiGi's office to let her see/feel your antics, you stop. I've even sat at her desk for half an hour waiting for you to move, and you won't. You'll quickly learn that all good things come from GiGi! She says she'll woo you with cookies like she does Tucker and Brinkley. I have no doubt that she will be your favorite in no time!

I am convinced that you are going to love to eat carbs, fruits, and veggies. I've eaten two (small) watermelons in the past two weeks and quite literally, I look like I swallowed one whole!

We started swimming 5 or 6 days a week. This is quite possibly my favorite time of the day. I CRAVE getting in the pool more than I crave foods! I can normally feel where you are and pick on you a little bit, but while I'm swimming, I can't find you. Beating gravity has been amazing!
Your Daddy and I are taking turns reading to you almost every night. So far, you seem most into Dr. Seuss. During last night's reading of Green Eggs and Ham, you were going crazy! I think that may be your favorite one so far.

The furniture for your room came in this week and Daddy got it put in your room. I sat on the floor and had him move the furniture 100 times to try it out different ways. I'm amazed that there are so many things a little person can need! Your room is a bit cramped, but when we get all the decor and special touches finished, we hope it feels more cozy and less cramped! We're getting very excited to meet you!

2 And Counting

2010-06-12T14:43:00.003-05:00

Happy 2nd Anniversary to my sweet hubs! I'm so blessed that even though you know me better than anyone, you still chose to marry me! Here's to many more!

Felices

2010-06-03T20:29:00.002-05:00

Happy (belated) Birthday to my fabulous husband! Joe celebrated his 31st birthday last Saturday. I came home from work Friday, gave Joe his birthday gift, and took him to dinner at Cullen's. The food was great, and we love the atmosphere. After dinner we went to HEB to get groceries! Great way to end a birthday date eh?

Saturday we prepared to have my parents and Joe's uncle over for dinner. Dad brought BBQ and we provided sides and dessert. We had a nice time celebrating together and then with our family.

Even though my post is late, I still wanted to make sure to recognize another year of life for this sweet guy the Lord has blessed my life with! I'm pretty sure 31 is going to be your best year yet.

Hooding in the Hood

2010-06-02T12:20:00.003-05:00

Joe and I took a little break to "get away" from it all back in mid May. My sweet friend, Dinah was graduating from Baylor with her Masters in Social Work, so we went to town to celebrate with her, spend a weekend away, and get to see old friends.

We drove to Waco on Friday and attended Dinah's hooding ceremony Friday afternoon. It was a nice ceremony where family and friends got to truly spend time celebrating with the graduates on their accomplishment. After the ceremony, we went and checked in to our B&B out in Lacy Lakeview of all places! It was really nice and our room had this tub that was a direct gift from God! OH MY! I could stretch out head to toe in this thing and practically swim in it. It was GLORIOUS. Joe and I "hit the town" on Friday night and went to dinner and shopped around town. Saturday we skipped the actualy graduation service and were able to enjoy a nice breakfast with some of the other guests at the B&B. We went over to Baylor and searched for Baylor onesies, had lunch at a new bakery in town, went to the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame (random), Spice, Sironia, and walked on campus before meeting our friends the Tetens for dinner at Cathay House. It was a great time to catch up with Kelly and Josh since the last time I saw Kel was at our wedding, and the time before that was when she had Patriot 3 years ago and we stopped in to see her. Kelly and Josh are expecting their second a few weeks after us. They are having a little girl too. We're hoping Baby Girl Tetens and Hadley can be Baylor roomies!

Sunday we went to church at my old church. I LOVE going back there to worship and fellowship. I have so many great memories of the people there, it just feels like home. After church, we finally got to meet up with Dinah to visit. It was great to get to hear her stories and her plans, but also such a poignant reminder of how much my life has changed. My world does not revolve around class schedules, text book prices, student life, and all of those wonderful/awful things any more. Life is more about work and bills. Sad but true. I would love to turn back time and tell myself to enjoy college more and be more patient with it, live it up...it was gone in the blink of an eye!

Waco changes every time I go, but it always feels a bit like coming home. It was a great weekend and we had a good time just being out and about together doing a lot of nothing.

Preparation

2010-06-02T12:05:00.002-05:00

As you can imagine, most of our "free time" has been eaten up with baby prep things.

We have:
Cleaned out the study to make room for Hadley
Held two garage sales to get rid of all of our stuff
Picked out bedding
Made arrangements to have our furniture pulled out of layaway
Painted Hadley's room
Made some more kid friendly adjustments to our house with a new TV cabinet and TV
Registered
Put the stroller/car seat together
Bought LOTS of cute clothes (on sale)!!!
Made Hadley a hairbow holder
Re-organized the kitchen to make way for bottles and such

We still need to:
Survive the next 13 or so weeks
Go to our childbirth class (luckily it is just one Saturday)
Get closets cleaned and re-organized
Register with the hospital
I need to legally change my name. After two years of marriage, I have yet to go stand in line and turn in all the paperwork I filled out back in fall of 2008. Yep, I'm a winner.
Once the name is changed, switch over all my medical records and get it together so we don't have two names on a birth certificate

The Name Game

2010-06-02T11:35:00.002-05:00

Joe and I had been thinking long and hard about baby names before knowing if CP was going to be a girl or a boy. Boy names had stumped us from the beginning, but we had narrowed down to three. Girl names, we had narrowed down to two before we even got pregnant. When I was in high school, I worked at a daycare in the baby room. One of the little girl's name was Ellisyn. I fell in love with the name, and she was my favorite in the "class." Ellisyn went to the top of my baby name list and stayed there for 10 years. Then, when Joe and I were looking for wedding stationary, I saw the name Hadley Tate on some cards in the store. I fell in love with the name immediately. As friends and family members were having babies and choosing names, Joe and I talked a lot about baby names. I'd told him from the get go what names I liked for a girl and he liked them both as well. So, we decided if CP was a girl, she would either be Ellisyn Grace or Hadley Tate. Beyond that, we didn't want to narrow down to one boy's name or one girl's name.

When I saw CP on the screen during our ultrasound, I just knew that we had to go with the name Ellisyn. After our appointment, we went out to run a couple of errands and then went to dinner at Carraba's. While running errands, Joe told me that when he saw CP, he knew she was a Hadley. So, we discussed over dinner and doodled the names on paper to see what we liked best. By 20 minutes into dinner, we had decided to morph the two into Hadley Grace. And, if I were completely honest, I'd admit to you that our waiter that night helped us decide on Hadley as well. Plus, we got a free dessert. But, that is neither here nor there! CP had a name! We called our parents and let them know that Cocoa Puff had become Hadley Grace.
We've known Hadley as Hadley for about 6 weeks now, and it is so strange to think we ever called her something different. The days of calling the baby Cocoa Puff seem like a life time ago!

Here are some name "facts;"
Hadley means (Old English) "from the heatherfield" ---not a great meaning, but we loved the name
Hadley is currently not on any of the most popular name lists (that we have found), although we do run across people who claim to know a Hadley from time to time. I think it will increase in popularity over the next 5 years.
Grace means grace. Pure and simple.... Grace is on several lists as being one of the top 100 girl names.

Tutus, Hairbows, and Tights, OH MY!

2010-06-02T11:16:00.003-05:00

We had our anatomy ultrasound on April 22. I had been attending a conference here in town and felt pretty bad about missing the afternoon session, but hey, when they want to look at your baby, they want to look at your baby! Plus, we (read I) was so crazy excited that I couldn't wait until the next appointment three weeks out. Since I was right downtown, my Mom came by and picked me up from the conference. We jumped on the HOV lane and headed south to meet Joe for our appointment with Dr. Ellis. Dr. Nisbet, our OB refers all of her clients to Dr. Ellis for the anatomy ultrasounds, he is a specialist in fetal development and fetal abnormalities. I knew we were in good hands, but there is something concerning about seeing such a specialized doctor. So, I did what any red blooded American would do...I Googled him. Thanks to Google, I found out all about him and even discovered he was a Baylor Grad. Sic 'Em!

Our appointment was at 3:00, but we had to wait for a very long time to be called back. Any of you who know me (even slightly) know that patience is NOT my strong suit. When Mom and Joe started getting impatient, I knew we'd been waiting for a long time! They finally called us back about 4:20. The room was really neat, complete with a flat screen tv on the wall so we could all see what Cocoa Puff was doing during the scan. As soon as the nurse put the doppler on me, I saw legs and a tush flash on the screen...we knew right away that CP was a girl. No question! Then, the little stinker rolled into a ball and was perfectly happy staying that way. The nurse squished around trying to get her to move, no luck. I had to stretch all the way forward and try to get her to move, no luck. They gave me chocolate, I did jumping jacks, stretches, and all kinds of crazy twists and turns to get her to move. No luck. We did realize pretty quickly that we have one stubborn girl on our hands. Let's go ahead now and have a moment of silence for Joe for all that he will endure with two stubborn women in his house.
Finally, baby girl moved and allowed the nurse to get the measurements she needed of the spine, the legs, the head, etc...We were in there for well over an hour while Dr. Ellis reviewed the scans in his office. He came in and met with us and was WONDERFUL! He spent quite awhile showing us multiple indicators that we have a healthy girl that measured in right on target at 20 weeks. Dr. E even pointed out bones in the fingers that were developing that indicate Downsyndrome is very unlikely. He was very encouraging and told us it was nice to end his day on a positive note as he had delivered a lot of bad news to parents earlier that afternoon. Needless to say, we were thrilled to know we are having a girl and that everything looked good!
I was especially thankful that we got to see the baby's gender BEFORE she had her bout of stubborness. It made the scan much more fun getting to call CP, "she."

Catch Up

2010-06-02T11:03:00.004-05:00

I can't believe with all of the fun and exciting things going on that I have not blogged in over a month. The intention has been there, but the motivation and follow through has been lacking. Instead of posting one ginormous post, I'll catch up on the past several weeks in some smaller, more organized posts over the next couple of days.

Stay Tuned!

Half Baked

2010-04-20T18:51:00.004-05:00

We're almost there....one more day and we are officially half baked! Our anatomy ultrasound is on Thursday at 3:00 and we can't wait. I'm so ready to get another glimpse of our Cocoa Puff and make sure that everything is looking good. And, of course, we hope CP cooperates and lets us know if we will be buying trucks or tutus. By the end of the week CP will have a name.

Here are our updates:

At 18 Weeks:
-Blinking and frowning reflexes are developed
-Bones started to calcify
-You have finger and toe prints and are totally unique! There will NEVER be another baby like you.

At 20 Weeks:
-You are about 6.5 inches long and weigh a whopping 10 ounces (although when you sit on my bladder, you feel like you weigh a ton)
-I can feel you move almost every day
-When I stand up after sitting, I can feel you roll from one side into the middle and hang out over my bladder. This makes me waddle my way to the bathroom like a crazy woman!
-You have unique sleeping pattern and have a favorite position to sleep in

I'm wanting to eat strange things. Your Dad took me to Luby's tonight (you must know I hate Luby's) and I ate fried okra (something I don't like). Go figure.

We are having a garage sale this Saturday to make room for you. Even with all the conversations that led up to the cleaning of the study, I was overwhelmed when we actually started. We're getting ready for you little one!

2010-04-12T05:08:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was a crazy busy day. We had a Parents' Information Breakfast for our teen parents, church, board meeting, lunch, a baby shower, and then I was supposed to teach youth Bible study. Luckily, our youth pastor offered to teach last night and I GLADLY accepted his offer! I'm so glad he did because I was exhausted.

Joe went to go grab dinner (our kitchen is a mess because we are getting some new furniture today) and CP started having a party. I was pretty sure that some of the movements could be felt from the outside too. Of course, Joe was gone and by the time he got home CP had totally settled down. After dinner I laid in bed and waited and waited and waited. I would feel the small flutters and Joe and I would wait and wait some more. CP would move but Joe couldn't feel them. We were both getting pretty bummed. Finally, CP packed a powerful hit and Joe was able to feel it too. I don't know that I will ever forget the look on his face. All in all he was able to feel about 4 kicks, punches, head butts, or whatever CP was doing in there. It was really exciting and he probably would have missed it if I had to teach Bible Study.

We sure are ready to give CP a REAL name. We have an appointment tomorrow afternoon, and will get the referral to call the other office that will actually do the ultrasound. Hopefully, the referral process will happen quickly and they will have an appointment available soon. I don't know that I can wait much longer to know if this baby is a boy or a girl. My entire pregnancy (18 weeks--15 weeks since I've known), I've felt CP is a girl. I never really had a moment where I thought I'd have a boy. Then, on Saturday, it was like someone flipped the light on and said "this could be a boy." Either way, we'll be thrilled. I'm just so ready to know!!!

Washington Re-Cap

2010-04-10T08:07:00.002-05:00

Well, we are back to reality and have caught up on all of the things we missed while we were gone. Our time in DC was great (not restful by any means)! We took over 500 pictures on our cameras. I'm still trying to sift through our photos and get them posted on Snapfish.

Here are the highlights:
-Arrived at our hotel about midnight Thursday. They didn't have a room for us, so they put us in the hospitality suite on a pull out sofa bed. Needless to say, we got that night for free and a complimentary night if we ever want to go back. I found out yesterday that the hotel had some flooding in some of the rooms.

-Friday we had breakfast at Union Station then headed over to the Capitol Bldg, toured the inside, hit the Library of Congress (its BEAUTIFUL), then swung by the Supreme Court Bldg before hitting the National Mall. We saw all of the memorials and monuments (more on that below)

-Saturday we jumped on the subway and went out to Arlington National Cemetery and on to Mt. Vernon (Washington's home). Arlington was amazing. I can't even begin to describe the gratitude that came over me for the sacrifices made by those buried there. Of course, they are just a fraction of the total number of men and women who have died for our freedom. I was so blessed to be reminded of our history and the sacrifices that it has taken for us to have what we have.

-Sunday we had brunch with some old friends of mine before heading to the International Spy Museum. That may be the best museum I've been to, SO interesting! Sunday evening/night we took two "hop on/hop off" double decker bus tours. We just rode around looking at all the sights and taking it all in.

-Monday we met Joe's Aunt Molly in Bethesda for lunch. When we got back into DC, we hit up the National Archives building and saw the Bill of Rights, Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution. They even had the Manga Carta (I had to REALLY think hard to remember learning about the Magna Carta) from the 1200s. The bulk of Monday was spent at the Smithsonian Museum of American History. Joe liked the exhibits on inventions and electricity. My personal favorites were Julia Child's kitchen and Judy Garland's Ruby Red Slippers.

-Tuesday we got up, packed our bags, and headed to the airport. We were NOT ready to come home. The longer we were in DC, the more I found that I wanted to do. But, truthfully, I missed my dog and was tired of the crowds. We chose the busiest weekend of the year to be in DC. It was Cherry Blossom Festival, Easter Weekend, and Spring Break all wrapped into one. As you can imagine, we spent a lot of time in lines waiting. Oh! We encountered countless horrible children...HORRIBLE!

I definitely want to go back, there is still so much to see!

There were a few things that really concerned and challenged me in DC, so now, my soap box:

My MIL has accused me a few times of being an army brat. Maybe because I'm an army brat, somethings we saw bothered me, or maybe its just because I believe in reverence and respect...While we were on the National Mall on Friday, we went over to the WWII Memorial. Inside the Memorial is a pool/fountain. Its a beautiful Memorial. When we got to the middle, there were kids and adults wading and "swimming" in the pool. I about came unglued. I was so disappointed in the apparent lack of understanding that we were not at the public pool or beach, but at a Memorial designed to recognize and honor those who served and died for us. We encountered similar disrespectful and ignorant attitudes at Arlington as well. People were hollering and yelling throughout the cemetery, cell phones went off during the Changing of the Guard/Wreath Laying Ceremonies, etc...I couldn't believe it. Parents were as guilty as their children. I'm pretty sure my Dad would have busted my butt if I behaved that way in a place like that. I'm so thankful that my parents instilled in me a strong sense of gratitude, respect, and admiration for those who have served for our country. I'm pretty scared that people are not instilling those values in their children. I can't begin to think about what will happen when we get so far removed that we can't appreciate and honor the sacrifices made in our past and present.

Ok, off my soap box...

Mover and Shaker???

2010-04-01T05:10:00.002-05:00

After packing last night, all I could think about was going to bed. BUT, I was too keyed up trying to figure out just what I forgot to pack and thinking about our trip. I finally got out of bed and decided to sit in the jacuzzi tub and relax to clear my head (it almost always works to make me tired). While I was relaxing (and getting super sleepy), I felt three very small and fast "taps" on my lower left side. It was so small and so fast that before I realized I was feeling it, it was over. I'm pretty sure CP was having a party in there. I figured if I was feeling CP, I could get him/her to move again. So, I squished around and poked trying to get some movement...NOTHING...
Then, when I finally gave up and laid in bed, I felt one other little "tap" ---fast and small. I'm assuming this was my first of many kicks, elbows, and bumps from CP. Exciting!

Ramblings

2010-03-31T15:39:00.000-05:00

So, as you have all heard by now, Baylor did NOT make it to the Final Four in Men's Basketball. It was a bummer, but I'm still so proud of the Bears for bringing the program to its best season on record! It was only 7 years ago that scandal hit the BU campus and put our team on probation.
BUT, our Lady Bears have made it to the Final Four and we play Connecticut on Sunday. I'm both excited and nervous for them. Hoping for a win!

In other news, we leave to go on vacay tomorrow. I. AM. SO. READY!
Normally, I am all packed, have an itenerary, and everything outlined and micromanaged to a "t"--that is just how we roll. This time??? My agenda??? See what we want when we want. Hopefully that doesn't come back to bite me and we end up seeing/doing nothing. Packing?? Its all about the things I have that fit, so those options are narrowed down too.
The one thing I have done for trip prep?? Pedicure! I had the best pedi ever last night! When I left my legs were swelling from all the massaging. DIVINE! the lady didn't want to help clean up the shop, and as long as she had a customer, she didn't have to clean. It was a great set up for both of us!

Work has been busy this week. I've gotten absolutely everything on my desk done. Hopefully a lot won't come in tomorrow, but enough to keep me busy until I leave at 3:30.

Next Up--Washington DC post

16 at 16

2010-03-27T21:29:00.004-05:00

Baylor had a great sports achievement this year--men's basketball made their first appearance in the Sweet 16! And, if that wasn't enough, the game was in Houston (and both J and I had the day off)!!! I bought tickets last Sunday knowing that we would be able to go to Friday's game, but not Sunday's. Friday morning, we cleaned out the study, ran some errands, had lunch with our youth pastor Josh, and hit the road to Reliant Stadium to see Baylor play some ball. It was GLORIOUS. Luckily, it wasn't a nail biter. I think I would have wet my pants. Baylor definitely showed up to play and scored more points in one game than they did the entire time I was a student (ok, that isn't true, but it sure seems like it is). We had a great time and I'm completely bummed I can't go to the Elite Eight game tomorrow. This was CP's first of many Baylor sporting events. I can't be certain, but I'm pretty sure I felt a little "bear paw" go up in Sic 'Em Bears fashion. : ) At the very least, I'm sure I disturbed his/her activities with all the yelling and screaming, and CP has been exposed to That Good 'Ol Baylor Line! This morning, I made sure to get to HEB and home in time to see the Lady Bears take on the Vols in the women's Sweet 16. What an amazing upset! That game was more of a nail biter, and I loved it! So proud of our Bears! Sic 'Em in the Elite Eight!

Me and CP at 16 weeks

72 -49 Baylor!

Post Game Victory Shot

Whose Pants Are These Anyway???

2010-03-22T19:50:00.003-05:00

Does anyone remember The Supertones? I'm pretty sure they had a song about pants, where they were trying to decide whose pants they were wearing. Now, I'm pretty sure I'll have the song in my head for weeks. But, I digress...

I had an appointment this afternoon, which meant I got home "early" (before 5:00). So, I figured I would contribute to my household and do a few loads of laundry. I was taking the darks out of the dryer (they've only been in there for a week) and hung up all of my pants. You know, my regular person pants. The ones I lost all the weight to get into. The pants that if I wore them now would make me cry from discomfort. The ones that were getting ready to be sent to the consignment shop because they were getting too big...Yep, I hung up my pants and realized that the next time I see them we will be gearing up for the holiday season, they'll get covered in spit up and other bodily functions, and I will be a mom. STRANGE. For the next (at least) 5 months, I won't have belt loops, buttons, zippers, or non-elastic waistbands in my pants. Funny how that happened so quickly and slowly at the same time! Its a little overwhelming and sad and exciting all wrapped into one. So for now, I look at my fabulous find, used to be comfy, durable, tried and true pants and say, "these are not my pants..."

Crazy Day

2010-03-18T17:26:00.003-05:00

CP,

You are 15 weeks today (and are about the size of a large orange). It sure feels like you've been around a lot longer than that, but time is starting to go faster and you'll be here keepin' it real with us soon. Brinkley is looking forward to meeting you, although we think he'll need an attitude adjustment once you make your debut.

I must tell you, you gave me quite the scare today....followed by a freak out in my office and an impromptu trip to see Dr. Nisbet. I thought your heartbeat was the sweetest sound I'd ever heard on Friday...until today! It took the nurse awhile to find it (which was really probably 30 seconds, but it felt like hours). Your heartrate was 156 today and people are projecting you are a girl based on your heartrate. Luckily, your high strung madre married a calming man and picked a CALM doctor. Dr. Nisbet gave us the once over and sent us on our way. How 'bout you never scare me like that again, ok? Ok, thanks. After our appointment, I decided I deserved some ice cream, so we went to Chick Fil A so J could get lunch and I could get dessert. It was a nice treat and I'm sure you enjoyed it too. I've got your back.

Sic 'Em

2010-03-15T15:24:00.003-05:00

#3 Seed.
Sic 'Em Bears
Enough said.

The Sweetest Sound Of All

2010-03-12T15:54:00.004-06:00

After I got home from work last night, J and I decided to go to a movie. We hadn't been out for fun for weeks! It was nice to come home, have dinner, and do something other than go straight to bed. There wasn't much playing (at a good time) that we wanted to see, so we decided to see Dear John. Um, yeah, I thought it was somewhat lame and not as good as The Notebook.

When we got home, we stayed up waiting for the Bonus Fairy to visit us. We booked our trip to DC and are SO excited! Orbitz had an awesome package deal and 5 nights of our hotel was cheaper than our flights. From April 1-April 6, this will be our home http://www.washingtoncourthotel.com/

I finally went to sleep about 3:00 this morning and woke up at 6:15 to get ready for a pre-appointment breakfast with the hub. Breakfast was great! The Egg and I has a yummy egg white omelette that I love (not as much as I would love french toast or something buttery and syrupy). We had some time between breakfast and our appointment, so we hit Target and got birthday gifts for Katelynn (1) and Courtney's (3) birthday party tomorrow! It should be a fun shin dig. The first pool party of the season!

In our baby's world:

We met with Dr. Nisbet today for a check up. It was so short and quick! The nurse (didn't really have a personality at all) pulled out the doppler. After a short speech from the nurse about how it would take her a few minutes to find the heartbeat, she placed the doppler down and within seconds, the most amazing sound of all (one I've heard many times before, but this time was SO different) the whirring that I was anxiously waiting to hear! 140 beats per minute of wonderful!

Puff's World:
-Your heart was beating loud and strong today
-The placenta has kicked in completely and is giving you everything you need
-Some research indicates that you can taste foods I'm eating. Yesterday you enjoyed a McDonald's cheeseburger and fries
-You are likely sucking your thumb
-You have little nails on your fingers and toes. Will there be manis and pedis in your future?

Random Thoughts on a Thursday

2010-03-11T09:22:00.002-06:00

As March is rolling right along, things for us are picking up a bit. Every year, January and February seem to crawl by, but when March comes things definitely start moving! This year, I couldn't WAIT for March. March held hopes of more energy, less sickness, and some activities to help time pass.

In February, I found out someone nominated me to sit on the church board (um...thanks??? maybe) as our NYI (youth) President. I've sat on church boards before (unofficially as staff) and in other capacities, and I really FELT like this was just not my year to do this again. But, after talking with our youth pastor and realizing he needed to have some help administratively, I decided to allow my name to go forward for the vote. The areas where he needs assistance are things that I do well, and he has ample support/sponsors for teen camp, camping trips, and all the things I can't do while pregnant this summer. I'm feeling challenged by this group of young people in a way I haven't been challenged before. They are great teens and generally well behaved, but they may be the least motivated group I've met before. Couple that with some disengaged parents and we have our work cut out for us!

Today is my Friday (did you hear that? The angels just sang the Hallelujah chorus) at work, and I have a three day weekend! Tomorrow Joe and I have an appointment with Dr. Nisbet to check on Cocoa Puff. I'm excited to hear the heart beat and that everything is progressing as it should (I'm saying it like I know for certain that will be the case, because I'm trying to remain positive instead of worry...its not really working all the time, but I'm trying)! After our appointment, we plan on stopping in to see Baby Boy Jaskiewicz (who should be born any time now) and pick up some fun things for his Sip N See Shower on the 28th. I'm looking forward to spending some time off with my hub tomorrow. It feels like its been awhile.

As soon as my bonus check hits the bank account we're booking our trip to DC! I hope we still get as good of a deal as we've seen online. I guess we'll know about midnight. We are really looking forward to a get away over Easter...it just seems far away (eventhough it will be here before we know it)!

Saturday we are going to celebrate a 3rd and 1st birthday of some sweet girls from our Sunday School bunch. After partying hard with the little ones, I'm headed to see South Pacific with my parents Saturday night. I am pretty excited. This will be CP's second musical and we may even spend the night at my parents' house so we aren't driving home so late. We'll see.

Overall, it should be an exciting few days. Next week our teens are on Spring Break, so we have a couple of activities planned next week (one is at night, so I can make it). Hopefully that will make next week fly by and get us closer to Easter.

Oh I wish...

2010-03-04T19:04:00.002-06:00

I were an Oscar Mayer weiner...
Just kidding.

I'm sitting here goofing off on the laptop and listening to my husband talking to his parents. His mom is trying to find out all the "dirt" on our pregnancy. I wish he could tell her and we could all be excited together. But, with her, you can't say anything at all. He keeps trying to dodge the bullet and change the subject. So sad, but totally necessary.

I also wish today was Friday or that tomorrow was my Friday off.

I also wish it were closer to April. We got BLESSED with a decent bonus (thank you Waste Management) this year and are planning a Babymoon to DC over Easter. Hoping that when the bonus posts, we can still get good rates to travel!

Oh Twelve!

2010-02-27T20:46:00.004-06:00

This past Thursday was a big day for us, we hit our 12 week mark. It truly seemed like we would never get past that important mark. I have a tiny bit left in my first trimester, but hitting week 12 is always a great sign! CP is not kickin' my tail quite as badly these days, and I feel like my energy may SLOWLY be making an appearance again. I'm sure my husband will be THRILLED to have his wife back. I want to document some things so I'll be sure to remember the good, the bad, and the ugly.

CP- Even though you are still pretty tiny, you have DEFINTELY made your presence known! Over the past 12 weeks, I would have "kung fu-ed" someone if they stood between me and;
Chick Fil A Chikin' Minis
Avocados
Oranges
Apples
Limes with salt on them
Meat/Chicken (it kept my nausea from raging out of control)
Chick Fil A Diet Lemonade
Strawberries
Pasta
Salsa
and of course, cookies, candies, and all those things that are bad for you (Smarties saved my life a few times)!

Things I've wanted to stay away from:
eggs (that is changing these days, thank goodness)
cooking/baking (also changing)
perfume/cologne
toothpaste ---I suck this up because the alternative is bad too
fried foods
and many other things that hit when I catch a whiff of them

While I've been living by a crazy eating and sleeping schedule, you have been growing away.

10 Weeks:
-Each minute your brain produced approximately 250,000 neurons!
-Your brain is now able to make your muscles move on purpose
-Your fingers and toes are lengthening (piano hands???) and are separate digits
-Your external ear if fully developed by now (that way you can hear me sing show tunes on road trips)!
-If you are a boy, you started to produce testosterone this week

11 Weeks:
-You have all your major organ systems and would (medically) no longer be considered an embryo, the Drs. consider you a fetus. We don't operate under that mentality though.
-You've grown to a whopping 2 inches long
-You can yawn and suck
-Your eyelids have fully formed and sealed to protect your eyes
-Your intestines are developing and your kidneys begin to produce urine

12 Weeks:
-By now you are measuring in at 2.5 inches
-Fingernails are growing
-Your skeletal system now has centers of bone formation in most of your bones
-If we could take a peek at you, we would likely be able to see if you are a girl or boy
-The digestive system is capable of producing contractions that push food through the bowels and is able to absorb sugar (I had a lot today, I made cupcakes)
-Your pituitary gland is starting to make hormones.
-The nervous system has further developed
-Apparently you are moving around in there, but I can't feel it yet
-Stimulating you in certain parts may cause you to squint, open your mouth, and move your fingers or toes

After I started getting sick on the bus, I decided to start driving myself to work. It has been an adventure and a blessing. My morning commute has proven to be a time of prayer over you and busting to some jams with you. I may keep driving every day (even though I think I could handle the bus again) just to have this time with you. Just about every morning, this song comes on the radio. If I heard the song at any other time in my life, I probably wouldn't be too crazy about it, but the words reflect the prayers we pray for you

Three in the morning,

And I'm still awake,

So I picked up a pen and a page

And I started writing

Just what I'd say

If we were face to face,

I'd tell you just what you mean to me,

I'd tell you these simple truths

Be strong in the Lord and,

Never give up hope,

You're going to do great things

I already know,

God's got His hand on you so,

Don't live life in fear,

Forgive and forget

But don't forget why you're here

Take your time and pray,

These are the words I would say......

Keep growing little one! We love you!

Also, as I'm watching the Olympics, I must tell you, that spandex is not for everyone. In fact, I believe it is really for no one....

Cheap, Easy, and Light Berry Cobbler

2010-02-20T19:54:00.002-06:00

I was in the mood for dessert tonight (ok, I'm always in the mood for dessert), but I actually felt like baking something! So, I embraced it and tried to look for a recipe where I could use some frozen strawberries I had defrosted. Here is what I came up with:

Cast of Characters:
2 Cups of blackberries (HEB had them on sale, so I used fresh)
2 Cups of Strawberries (I used thawed frozen ones)
1/4 tsp table salt
2 Tbsp Cornstarch
1/4 Cups Sugar
2/3 Cups All-Purpose Flour
1 tsp Sugar
1/2 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Baking Soda
1/4 tsp Salt
1/2 Cup Buttermilk

Preheat oven to 400. In a shallow, 2 qt. baking dish, stir together berries, 1/4 tsp salt, 2 Tbsp. cornstarch, and 1/4 cups of sugar. Bake until hot, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the topping: In a bowl, mix together 2/3 c. of flour, 1 tsp sugar, 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp baking soda, 1/4 tsp salt. Stir in buttermilk to form a sticky dough.

Remove fruit from oven. Drop dough by heaping tablespoons onto fruit to form 4 biscuits. Bake until biscuits are golden brown and fruit is bubbling, about 22-25 minutes. Allow cobbler to sit for 5 minutes for fruit to firm up before serving. Yields about 1c. fruit and biscuit per serving. (all that for 4 weight watchers points)!

Then, I topped with some Vanilla Bean Dryers Slow Churn (1/3 calories). You could also top with fat free cool whip or full cal ice cream---whatever floats your boat.

Sip 'n See

2010-02-14T10:03:00.003-06:00

Several months ago I offered to host a Sip 'n See shower for our friend Amy. Amy is expecting her third child in March. After months of searching for ideas for a "theme" (read: not too "themey" or typical baby shower-ish) I came up with some ideas that I think will be fun and different. I contacted Lisha at SWAK Notes to get her help on the invitations. The whole process took less than a week and I had these in my mailbox yesterday. If you find yourself needing (or wanting) cute stationary for a GREAT price and exceptional service, Lisha is your gal! http://www.swaknotes.com/ (I had visited her site many times and wasn't overly thrilled with the selection. But, she will customize) Her blog has a better sample of her work. http://www.swaknotes.blogspot.com/

My total cost (plus shipping) for 25 invites was $30.00. That is amazingly cheap for custom invites. And, can I just tell you the best part??? When I opened the invitations, they were already stuffed in the envelopes. All I had to do was seal them and slap addresses on 'em.

Pat, Pat, is it a he or a she????

2010-02-13T10:43:00.002-06:00

While I may have just gone down in history as the worst mom ever, for titling a blog about CP from a SNL sketch...I'm dying to know! I desperately want to start preparing for this little one (I know we have PLENTY of time, but I like to be type A about things and get a move on)! There is next to nothing that is "gender neutral" these days. Even the yellow and green things have a stronger push toward the boy side than the girl side. Besides, as much as I want to prepare, what fun is a bunch of neutral stuff when it could be something that screams BOY! or GIRL!

I have to be totally transparent and admit that I find myself looking mainly at girl things...shoes, bows, headbands, frills, tights, and all the goodness that is a little girl. Then I walk out of the store and into the silver part (main part) of the mall and see teeny bopper girls dressed like they work at Hooters, and I think it might be better for my heart if CP is a boy. The truth is, at the end of it all, we will be thrilled with a healthy, well adjusted, little one. I'm just much more comfortable with the thought of raising what I know---a girl. As crazy as they can be, I get 'em. I can roll that way. The thought of a mischevious little boy that will try and strap engines to wagons and blow things up in the backyard (like father, like son) scares me to death!
Of course, Joe feels the same way...he is more comfortable with what he knows---boys. A girl would throw him for a loop. And, quite frankly, he'd be toast. She would have him wrapped around her finger in a second, and it would stay that way for her lifetime.

For now, we wait and we wonder and go CRAZY about not being able to find out for about another 10 weeks. Which, feels like a lifetime from now, by the way. And, we desperately hope that CP cooperates and angles exactly right so we will know for sure! I know that until recently women had to wait for 9 whole months to know if they were having a son or daughter. When I think about that, I feel very sorry for those people. I thank the Lord that I live in a time when I can find out, otherwise I don't think I'd be able to handle the suspense. While we wait, I try to think about things for a boy and a girl. I try to be equal in my thoughts. I'd honestly be surprised if CP is a boy and I don't know why. But the more I "think pink" the more I feel like I'm setting it up for CP to be a boy and for me to be found in shock without a plan!

9 weeks

2010-02-08T18:56:00.002-06:00

I think these may have been the longest weeks of my life. I am always so anxious to get to the next step, I have a hard time remembering to enjoy the moment. I'm anxiously awaiting the 12 week mark. It seems like an eternity, but it will be here soon. Hopefully all of these first trimester symptoms will pass at 12 weeks like they are "supposed" to! Joe has been amazing these past several weeks. He has put up with my food aversions and cravings (I'm pretty sure he starved for a couple of weeks), he runs to the store to get that thing that I HAVE to have, and he is patient when I can't make up my mind on ANYTHING! He keeps the house running these days. Brinkley, CP, and I are all SO blessed!

Here is what little CP is up to these days:

Last Week:
-CP was about 1/2 an inch long from head to bottom.
-Elbows and fingers can be seen
-Can move her trunk and limbs and respond to touch by reflex
-Lungs are developing
-Taste buds formed on the tongue
-Tooth buds for baby teeth are taking shape in the jaw
-Eyelids begin to form

This Week:
-CP is about 3/4 of an inch (about the size of a green olive)
-Weighs a whopping 1/8 of an ounce (funny I feel huge already)!
-The developing ears and nose are visible (CP, we're keeping our fingers crossed that you don't get the Holland "schnauz")
-Pigment is in the retina
-Nipples can now be seen on the chest
-The limbs and fingers are growing rapidly
-Bones in the arms begin to calcify and harden

No wonder we're so tired! I am so amazed how early everything happens and I'm thankful that we have the technology to know such things! The hardest thing is not being able to see CP grow all the time. I want to have an ultrasound each week just to check in on her.

Keep growin' little one!

Simple Pleasures

2010-02-03T19:50:00.002-06:00

Today on one of my all time favorite blogs, Kelly's Korner, there was a post about the simple pleasures in life. I thought I'd get in on the action here to help put things in perspective.

1. Nights when my husband is not at work
2. Laying on the floor with a blanket and a beagle warming my toes
3. Iced Tea (a simple pleasure I won't have for quite awhile now)
4. New dessert recipes
5. A husband who will cook AND do dishes!
6. Socks for cold toes
7. Cushy toilet paper
8. Towels right out of the dryer
9. Finding great salsa
10. Friends re-runs
11. Premiere week
12. Williams Sonoma trips
13. My favorite sweatshirt
14. Catalogs in the mail
15. Skinny Cow ice creams

The Last Days of 2009

2010-01-25T12:36:00.004-06:00

As 2009 came to a close, I started thinking back on everything that happened in the last decade:

1. I voted in my first election (hanging chad anyone?)

2. I got my first new car

3. Graduated High School

4. Started College

5. Graduated

6. First job

7. First REAL job with a paycheck!

8. Met my future husband

9. Got engaged

10. Bought a house

11. Got hitched

12. Bought my first car (car payments---ick!)

Just when I thought the decade couldn't get any busier, the Lord saw fit to prove me wrong!

On the 30th, we were out and about running errands. For some reason I just kept feeling flakey, I must have asked Joe the same question about 10 times that day. It was just not like me and I was a little concerned about it. As these things go, one thing led to another (more on that later) and the following day, New Year's Eve, Joe and I met for lunch at Jason's Deli. I closed out 2009 by telling Joe that we would be parents in 2010. Of course, I had made a trip to Target and bought some cute onesies that say, "I love Daddy," and some books. He was not TOTALLY surprised because the night before I had taken a test and was sure I had seen a line, but when I asked him he said he didn't see it. So, he had a hunch. From my years at the pregnancy center, I definitely knew how to read a test, but I thought maybe I was going crazy...so, I bought a digital test. No guess work there!

We found out super super early and were pretty nervous until our first appointment. We met with our doctor for the first time on January 13 and had an ultrasound. Everything looked just like it should, but it was too early to see the heartbeat. We got to go back today and have another peek at our little one. Much to my relief, there was a bright flashing heart beat on the screen. Cocoa Puff's heart is beating at 154 beats per minute and CP is measuring in at 7 weeks, 4 days (right on target).

Needless to say we are super excited and nervous. But, most of all, we are so incredibly thankful and blessed that things are going well so far. I'm pleased to introduce you to Cocoa Puff

This is our scan from the 13th. The black circle is the gestational sac and the tiny little polka dot is the yolk sac. Cocoa Puff is hanging out right on top of the yolk sac (CP is the little light spot at the top of the polka dot).

This is today's scan. CP is measuring 1.26 cm. The black circle is the gestational sac and the little shrimp looking thing is CP...just growing away.

I will definitely have more to blog about now. So many fun and exciting things are coming our way!

8 years

2010-01-22T05:34:00.003-06:00

It was 8 years ago yesterday that Brinkley and I became a family. I don't think I'll ever forget that day. Oh how I love this dog! I had just gotten home from working in the daycare, was exhausted, and had a not so great hair cut...But, he loved me anyway!

Holiday Photos

2010-01-16T13:14:00.004-06:00

Here are some photos we took over the holidays (in no particular order)

Joe and I have made a couple of small traditions the past couple of years. We paint a holiday plate at the local paint your pottery dive and we build a gingerbread house. This year's was much easier than last year's! Sadly, Joe is better at both the plate painting and the gingerbread house decorating than I am.

Holiday Catch Up

2010-01-09T07:44:00.003-06:00

I'm so ashamed! I always have such high hopes that I will keep up with my blog, and then I don't. Normally, I feel like our life is not eventful enough to post anything. This holiday season was quite different. Here are the noteable happenings.

Thanksgiving was great. We spent a few days up at my parents' house and relaxed and ate and relaxed some more. We went to see The Blind Side, which I LOVED! The day after Thanksgiving, Joe and Dad went out and ran errands while my Mom and I decorated the house. Then we went out and had Dad take a million pictures so we could get ONE for our Christmas cards.

The week after Thanksgiving, we flew up to spend a few days in Cleveland to see the in-laws. The trip went about as we expected, it was strained and uncomfortable for all. In fact, I was so on edge about this whole thing that I went running every morning for over an hour. It is important to note that I HATE running more than just about anything and it was maybe 20 degrees! While we were there, we went to this place, The West Side Market. OH. MY. GOODNESS!!! I found out about it on the web and fell in love. IN LOVE! Hundreds of vendors have little stands set up and sell everything from veggies to Crepes. I ate my weight in rich goodies! I had a chicken crepe that was to die for, cannoli, a monk, a small cupcake, and a cookie. I had been saving up for this market and it was totally worth it! That was the highlight for me! If I had a place like this in Houston, I would be there all the time buying fresh meats, cheeses, and veggies!

When we got back from Cleveland, my Dad went in for a heart cath and maybe a stent. They wheeled him out of the heart cath and scheduled by-pass surgery for the next day. I spent the day with Mom at the hospital waiting for Dad's surgery. They finally took him back just before 3 and he was out and we got to see him sometime around 8:00. He did great! They ended up doing quintuple by pass. Luckily, Dad's heart had not been damaged by a heart attack or anything prior to his surgery. Mom and I both had planned to take quite a bit of time off at Christmas, so it didn't put us in too much of a bind work wise. I spent most of my time off up at my parents' house to hang out and help out. The day after Dad got home from the hospital, I stayed with him so my Mom could go catch up on some things at the office. He asked me to take him to CVS, Mardels, and Best Buy. He ran errands with us pretty much every day and has gained his strength and energy back. We are all so thankful that God protected Dad throughout this process and that He got Dad into the doctor's office before there were more problems.

The Sunday before Christmas, we hosted our church's College group Christmas party. We had a TON of food--chips and queso, cheeseball, lasagna, salad, bread, tiramisu, and cheesecake. I wanted to make sure I had a good variety and mass quantities...these are college students. They ate like birds! I couldn't believe it! We had so much food left over! Later that night, we got together with the Bergerons and went to Dickinson's Light Festival and then on to Moody Gardens Festival of Lights. It was a fun evening to say the least!

Christmas Eve we did our gingerbread house, went to church, and opened our Christmas pjs. Christmas Day we opened our gifts, made Christmas dinner, and chilled out the rest of the day. Dad took a lot of pictures, I'll have to post some later.

Joe worked New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. I met Joe for lunch on NYE and we had a great lunch at Jason's. Then on NYD my parents came over for dinner. It was nice, low key, and yet eventful all at the same time. I'll post more about the New Year later this week!

Oh Wednesday

2009-11-25T07:41:00.002-06:00

This week has been alarmingly quiet at work. I love to have a "slow" day every now and then, but this is getting scary. When people aren't reporting violations and there aren't issues being raised, it normally isn't because things are perfect. Normally, the silence is indicative of a problem. So, for now, we wait for the other shoe to drop. Yikes!

I imagine that today will be pretty quiet for me, therefore, I am ready to go home now and I've just been working an hour! I must say, I am ready to go "home" for Thanksgiving. Joe and Brinkley are going to swing through downtown to pick me up and go to my parents' house around 2:30. My parents pull off a fabulous Thanksgiving feast, and they make it look easy!
But, before I can even think about Turkey Day, I have to make it through today...I have a hair appointment tonight. I'm dying to do something totally different and new with my hair, but everytime I think about it, I remember how much I love a pony tail. I'm stuck between wanting to be daring and sticking with the familiar. I go through this every time I get my hair cut, one of these days I'll be daring, but I don't think today is the day...

In other news, today starts the one week countdown to Cleveland. Transparency moment: On the inside I want to pitch a fit, throw a tantrum, and loudly proclaim that I am not going. On the outside, I'm holding it together for my sweet husband's sake.

Date-a-versary

2009-11-24T07:19:00.002-06:00

Several weeks ago, Joe and I made plans to celebrate the anniversary of our first date. We were both off work that day and planned to cram as much as we possibly could into one day! Since this weekend is Thanksgiving and we will be with my family, and then next week we are flying to Cleveland, we knew it would be much needed time together.
Friday morning I had an early doctor's appointment that ended up taking a lot longer than I thought. Long story short, I've been ordered to do an ultrasound and blood work because the Dr. thinks my liver is enlarged. Unfortunately, she didn't talk to me about it and when I asked questions they were cast aside and I was told to wait until the results were in. Um, thanks...next up, new doctor. So, like any tech savvy gal, I came home and Web Md'd "enlarged liver." I got a list of causes like, hepatitis A, B, or C, Leukemia, Mono, and Fatty Liver. None of those things sound great (I know there is no way that I have hep of ANY kind, so that is a no brainer), but if I had to pick one, I'd pick Fatty Liver. That seems the least of the evils. But, to diagnose that, they have to do a biopsy of the liver. Bottom line, if this lady is right, this is not going to be a fun adventure. I got my blood work done yesterday, but can't get the ultrasound until Dec. 7th. Lucky for me I have a LOT of time to worry and stress! Ha!

Needless to say, this put a damper on the whole stress free date day. But, we tried to have a good day anyway. Last year, we painted a Christmas plate and decided to make it a tradition. We went over to Painted Potter and painted our 2nd annual Christmas plate. I THINK this one will turn out much better than last year's plate. After the Painted Potter, we headed out and did some window shopping followed by dinner at Perry's Italian Grille. Dinner was amazingly good! I had the chopped salad, veal marsala, and we split a dessert. We ate dinner pretty early so we could get home and decorate the tree and watch Elf. I was passed out no later than 9:00! It was a good day, but we certainly didn't get everything done that we aspired to do~ funny how that happens!

This week Joe is working nights. We're pulling our things together to spend a couple of days with my parents. We'll get home Saturday morning to clean, do laundry, and start packing again for our trip to Cleveland next Wed. Originally snow was forecast for Wed and Thursday, now that has changed. There went my one shred of hope for this trip!

Coming to a Close

2009-11-17T08:10:00.003-06:00

When I was in school, I remember adults making comments about how quickly time passed. Every time I heard that I thought, "yeah, right..whatever...I wish time would pass quickly for me." It seemed like time crawled at a snail's pace. I was always so anxious to get to that next holiday or school break, the next grade, out of high school, out of college...you get the picture. And, here I sit as a 20 something (closer to 30 than I would ever admit), in an office building in downtown Houston, looking at my calendar and wondering where 2009 went. Now, I know we still have several weeks left in the year, but I just keep having to remind myself that it is mid November and Thanksgiving is next week. Here is where all of this is coming from...
For the past two years, I have saved as much vacation time as I can for the Christmas season. Having a husband who has to work on holidays means that if I want to see him at all, I need to be able to take off work. So, I have 6 days left. 6 days isn't a huge amount, but nothing to frown at either. Take into consideration that I already get every other Friday off, so plugging in 6 additional days was tricky (if you have more than 2 days off in a week, you lose your flex day or have to take a vacation day, so I had to play with the calendar quite a bit so as not to lose those Fridays off)! It has been a GREAT problem to have! Last week was my last 5 day work week of the year. YAY! This week is my last 4 day work week of the year. From here on out, thanks to holidays, flex days, and vacation days, I have 3 day work weeks from now until January. Tomorrow morning we have a meeting across town from 9-11 (there goes half of my day) and Thursday I will be out on a ride along in one of our Roll-Off trucks (there goes another day out of the office). It is amazing to me as I look toward December that this year is coming to a close! I know I am going to LOVE LOVE LOVE my time out of the office, but I also know that the work doesn't stop just because I'm out. Things have been fairly quiet for me and I sure hope they stay that way!

Also, I've so enjoyed reading Facebook statuses about those things everyone is thankful for. I need to start doing that today. I had a sweet moment this morning when I thought of something (maybe silly to some) that I am thankful for. Each morning when I get up at O God, O'Clock, I stumble in the darkness toward the bathroom and start the morning routine while Joe and Brinkley sleep away. When I emerge from the bathroom, showered and ready to dry my hair (which I do in the recliner in the living room! ha) I am greeted by a thumping sound...every morning like clock work. Thump, Thump, thump (slow) and as I walk toward the sound it gets faster. That thumping is one of my favorite parts to the day. It is the sound of the tail of my "happy to see me first thing in the morning" lazy hound dog. This starts our morning routine. In a span of 3 minutes he drinks 80 gallons of water, eats breakfast, takes a bio break and is curled up in his living room bed listening to the morning news. As I was drying my hair, checking emails, and watching the news this morning, I caught a glimpse of the beag snoozing away (a sight I see ALL THE TIME) and I was so thankful for him. I know it seems silly to feel that way about a dog (and to blog about it no less)! But, this little guy brings so much fun to our lives. And, talk about faithful...wow! He LOVES us. He WAITS for us, he CRIES for us and is so happy to see us when we get home you think his heart will explode. And then, after a sweet reunion he acts like he doesn't need us...aloof and independent. I have this morning routine with the dog that stole my heart and made me "that girl that blogs about her dog" and I am so thankful to have such a faithful friend greet me each morning when no one else wants to be up!

Off the Wagon

2009-11-16T09:05:00.002-06:00

Well, I completely fell off of the NaBloPoMo wagon last week. I'm a bit disappointed, but I'll get over it. Last Monday I left work and called Joe with a "to-do" list a mile long- all the things I wanted to do when I got home that night. I got on the bus and was totally wired about decorating for Christmas and ended up completely wiped out by the time I got off the bus. Somewhere, in the midst of all the sickness going around, I contracted a virus. I had blisters in my throat and everything. I worked a full week last week, so I was EXHAUSTED each evening when I came home.
Friday night we had a Sunday School class party. Joe worked until 7:00, so I went to the party for a couple of hours and then picked up Wendy's on the way home. We sat and watched Grey's on TiVo and had dinner together. It was nice and quiet and totally needed!
A couple of months ago, I made plans to go to the Nutcracker Market. Every year something pops up and I can't go. Stuff popped up this year, but I made a commitment to other people to go, so I kept my plans. I had a blast. I will definitely go back next year! Hopefully Joe will be off work to go with me!
Sunday was pretty busy. I went to church, took lunch to Joe and his co-worker, went to HEB (with about a billion other people), and got ready to teach the Youth Bible Study last night. I really struggle with curriculum for teens. Everything I see seems sooo cheesy. The topics are good, but do I really think junior and seniors in high school are going to find it interesting to do a word search on neon paper with splatter paint on it? My first thought was that the curriculum must be from the 90s. Nope! 2007! CRAZY! I feel like someone (or several someones) are missing the point. High School (and Jr. High) is not what it used to be, and yet we can't seem to keep up with the things they are faced with.
In other news, Joe spoke with his parents last night. Two weeks ago, there was a huge blow up. Short version: Joe's mom lied to her oldest son Ben. To make her point, she threw me under the bus in the process. Then, we talked with Ben, tried to straighten out what did and did not happen then Joe talked to his mom. In order to cover herself she lied to Joe too. And, let me just be clear that these were not "small" lies--these are life impacting, pit son against son, family against family lies and manipulation. Of course, as luck would have it, we were scheduled to go see them the week after Thanksgiving. Initially, we decided we would not go. But, I decided to go. I hate seeing my husband torn over her horrible behavior toward me, him, and the rest of the family. So, I'm sucking it up and going. We spent almost 2 weeks seeking advice and counsel, and pretty much no one thought we should go on this trip. I'm pretty sure it will not be pleasant, but in the name of moving forward (regardless of what that looks like) we need to go. Please pray that I can exhude patience and have peace. I am walking into the lion's den, that much I know. I also know that her behavior won't change and that we can only take so much of her...its a good thing she lives far away! Also, I'm hoping for snow while we are there. If it snows, then I will be outside playing like a kid and won't have time to worry with her!

Feliz Navidad y el Biggest Loser

2009-11-10T18:39:00.002-06:00

Tonight we are starting one of several nights of decorating for Christmas. I love this time of year, I just wish that it was the weekend and we had the entire day instead of spending a few hours several nights in a row on this. Normally I would be all over playing Christmas music for the festivities, but I have this small addiction to the Biggest Loser...so we will watch people work out and get skinny while we play with the twinkle lights. Merry Christmas!

ReRuns...

2009-11-09T18:50:00.002-06:00

I had tons of energy when I left work today! I was totally pumped to get home and start decorating for Christmas with Joe. I've been looking forward to it all day. While I was on the bus, my throat starting hurting and my energy level just bottomed out. So, we have a change of plans...quiet night watching all our shows on TiVo. I have a hunch I'll be asleep no later than 8:00. I'm excited about that!

Christmas Wreath 101

2009-11-08T21:17:00.004-06:00

I saw this super cute idea for this wreath. I liked that it is so different from a traditional Christmas wreath. Overall, this was really easy, but I did figure out some things I will do differently on the next one. I think this same idea would be cute for an Easter decoration, or to put on the door to a baby/child's room.

With the white ribbon and white dots, the camera was having a hard time focusing. But, these give a general idea.

Eating, Shopping, Football and More Food...

2009-11-07T21:37:00.003-06:00

That pretty much sums up my day! I woke up early this morning, got dressed and made the trek across town to spend some time with my Dad. Mom is out of town this weekend, and Joe is working nights (sleeping during the day). I figured Dad and I would both be pretty bored today, so we might as well get together and be less bored. We started the morning off with breakfast then hit the Woodlands for some Christmas shopping. About 2:30, we had done all the damage we needed to do, so we went home to watch some football. I have to admit that I "watched" football while horizontal on the couch with a pillow and a blanket and I'm pretty sure my eyes were closed most of the time. It is my favorite way to watch the games that I don't care an awful lot about. After some games, we went to get some dinner and ended the day with a trip to Target. It was a great day. I love those rare chances when I get to spend time with just my Dad.

Rant from an Army Brat

2009-11-06T19:45:00.003-06:00

There are many things that go on in the news that really bother and concern me, but because of all the hype, I refrain from comment. This week, I don't think I can do that. In the last month, I have been crticized for being an "army brat" and for growing up in a home that ran strictly on military precision. Now, Army Brat is a term I will proudly use to describe myself because to me, that means one thing. However, when a woman who repeatedly belittles and criticizes me calls me an Army Brat, it doesn't set too well. So, the concept of being an "Army Brat" is something that I have been thinking about a lot lately. Yesterday, while on the bus home from work, I was checking out the news on my Blackberry and saw the news about the happenings at Ft. Hood. I was shocked and have not been able to stop watching the news about the shootings. You see, this "Army Brat" has a tremendous pride in growing up in a military household and the life I lived while my Dad served this country. I have nothing but respect for our troops and their families, and am deeply saddened by this whole episode. To me, part of being an "Army Brat" is standing by and supporting your military family. I can not even begin to fathom how these families are coping and dealing with this knowing that it was an inside job. My thoughts and prayers are with these families and the leaders of the Armed Forces. While I will not say that growing up in a military household is harder than growing up in a non-military household (I think there are aspects that are more difficult, but there are some things that I believe are easier in a military home as well) I firmly believe there is a difference. I will always be grateful for the childhood I had and for the positive impact the military had on my family. My heartfelt thanks to all of those who have sacrificed time with their parents or spouses, the chance to stay in one place, and live a life of constant change so that I may feel safe and secure in my home.

8 Years and Counting

2009-11-05T19:10:00.003-06:00

Happy Birthday Brinkley!

I know I've said it before, but I NEVER imagined I would be a sucker for a dog. Then, I met Brinkley and I was toast. We love this (not so) little guy! I can't believe that time has passed so quickly and he is just shy of a decade. Brinkley, we adore you! You bring us great joy! Can you really already be 8?

Wordless Wednesday-Trick or Treat Edition

2009-11-04T20:51:00.003-06:00

Dazed and Confused

2009-11-04T05:02:00.002-06:00

The past 36 hours have been incredibly emotionally difficult in our house (and in my office). And, apparently, in the midst of the frustration of the behavior of my MIL I believed Monday was Tuesday. So, when I logged in to blog last night, I thought that I had blogged yesterday since the title of Monday's post was Tuesday Twosday. So, four days in, I've missed my goal for NaBloPoMo! Oh well.
In other news...we launch a huge project at work today that will keep us insanely busy for several months. And, we don't tend to need help being busy so it will be an interesting end of the year.
Last night after I got home, Joe and I decided that we just needed to get out of the house and be away from emails, phone calls, etc...We went out to dinner last night, ran some errands, and walked around the mall. I love when school is in session, it makes running errands and shopping so much easier when there aren't people everywhere.
Tonight we are starting a several week Bible Study that we are sure will cause very helpful discussions in our house. We're looking forward to that. Stay tuned for Wordless Wednesday...then I'll be back on track!

Tuesday Twosday

2009-11-02T19:53:00.002-06:00

Day two...I'm struggling. Today has been the day from you know where. My mother in law has hit an all time low. We're dealing with that on the phone as we speak. I had a great blog post planned that got interrupted by some "Your Mama Drama." Oye, the family I married in to.

Second Post In A Day!

2009-11-01T20:57:00.003-06:00

Not that I forgot, but I didn't think to blog about this earlier. This was us two years ago today...
We were at Niagra Falls (on the Canadian side). Joe had just proposed right before we left the NY side of the falls. Nothing has been the same since!

NaBloPoMo

2009-11-01T20:41:00.002-06:00

Over the past several days, I decided that I would participate in NaBloPoMo this year. My hope was that this would get me motivated to keep up with my blog. Sadly, I almost didn't enter anything tonight, if I hadn't "facebooked" about it, I wouldn't have done it. Hopefully it will be something I can keep up with.

I love Sundays (except that they are promptly followed by Mondays). After church today we had lunch with some friends and then went to the park. The weather was amazing, I could have stayed out all day! We headed back to the church for Bible Study and are home watching Desperate Housewives and Brothers and Sisters. I like lazy and laid back Sundays, they are such a welcome start to a new week.

We had a great Halloween. I like Halloween more and more each year. I'll post pictures later this week...maybe for Wordless Wednesday?

Random Thoughts

2009-09-02T18:44:00.003-05:00

Hello, fall! Pumpkin Spice Lattes have arrived at Starbucks and the temps have dropped below 80 in the morning...fall is upon us. I fully anticipate another heat wave or two, but I am thrilled to be into September and am excited that the holiday season is right around the corner! I adore the last quarter of the year, there is just something lovely about fall and winter. I have begun the hunt for fabulous Thanksgiving foods and Christmas cookies to make on Cookie Day and am so looking forward to this season.

I am contemplating starting a food/recipe blog. Maybe I will be better at keeping up with that one...

MIL Update-
Things have calmed down greatly in this area of my life. God has been faithful to help me gain insight and perspective into this piece of my new married life. While I enjoyed spending time with my sweet niece, my visit to Raleigh allowed me the opportunity to experience some of my MIL's frustrations, concerns, and hang ups. Right, wrong, or in different (its not for me to decide), I certianly have a greater understanding and for that I am thankful!

Disappearing Act

2009-08-01T09:46:00.005-05:00

I can't believe it is already August 1! For all of my teacher friends, I'm sorry you have to go back to work soon. But, personally, I am so ready for all of the "kids" to go back. Living near two "tourist attractions" in the Houston area, makes summer time a traffic nightmare and everything is packed! Personally, I don't consider Galveston an attraction, but hey, to each their own.

We've had a pretty busy summer (mainly with work) and have braved the freakish heat rather well. Here are some highlights from the summer so far:

May

-Saw RENT with the 'rents

-Celebrated Joe's 30th

June

-Celebrated our first anniversary. I had a great blogpost in mind to document that, but two months late doesn't seem very effective. anyway, we went on our first 5 dates all over again then to dinner at Perry's. After dinner we came home, watched our wedding DVD for the first time, and ate our cake. The cake was still really good!

-Spent a few days in San Antonio at Schlitterbahn and Sea World. Complete with dinner on the Riverwalk and dinner at Alamo Cafe (I had grilled veggie fajitas to die for! I would drive all that way just for those fajitas)

July

-Celebrated the 4th with good friends (new and old)

-Saw Phantom with the 'rents

-Mom and I took a road trip to Kingsland to see Grannie. Grannie had a heart attack earlier in the summer and is transitioning into a new diet, and getting used to being at home alone again
-Business trip to Atlanta that gave me the chance to fly into Raleigh (for only $100) to spend a couple of days with Ben, Adrienne, Gwynn, and new nephew Rowan

I have some more business trips around the corner and have a lot of projects I want to complete around the house. Time just goes by so quickly I feel like I can't keep up.

Vacation Brain

2009-06-10T10:24:00.002-05:00

I am suffering from a MAJOR case of vacation brain! It doesn't help when most of my social network are teachers who are now off and having a blast until August. Or, that any time I have taken time off since I started working it has been to fulfill an "obligation" and has not been a care free and fun time like vacation SHOULD be. OR, that we had a cruise to Alaska planned but J's company decided to take away vacation time. That is the big one. I should just be returning from a refreshingly perfect vacation...oh well, such is life. We are looking into going some place fabulous next spring, but who knows what will come up between now and then, or if Joe's company will even give vacation time in 2010. Time will tell.

Since we can't go anywhere too far because of J's work schedule, we planned a trip to Schlitterbahn and Sea World next weekend (we both get a 3-day weekend)! Its no where near as exciting as other people's plans, but hey, its something! Now for my dilemma...I've been on a major swim suit hunt. MAJOR. I have a coronary at the thought of spending $100 on a bathing suit, because I know that I only wear them a hand full of times before they get replaced. My biggest issue this year is fit. For the first time in MANY years I am not limited to the plus sizes anymore (cue inspirational music). BUT, since we'll be on water slides, I wanted a one piece so as not to have any tankini top mishaps at the bottom of all the rides. I've tried every store I can think of looking for a Non-Grannie one piece. Hard to find. I finally found some that are practically backless and do not provide near the coverage that would be needed to keep me IN the suit....I would have never thought I would have this much trouble. Its too late now to order something from Lands End, so I think I'll have to go for a tankini and hope for the best. If all else fails, I will be in Dillards shelling out $120 for a suit while someone does CPR on me....
I was telling my Grannie (whom I totally adore) that I was swim suit shopping the other day. She offered to send me her "never been worn, really cute bathing suit with a skirt"--I graciously told her thanks but that I was SURE I would find something. Somehow, I think her Grannie Panty bathing suit will show up at my house.

Another Decade...

2009-05-29T21:41:00.002-05:00

Happy 30th Birthday Joe! I hope this is your best year yet!
Love you!

14 Layer Cake

2009-05-25T18:35:00.005-05:00

If you look closely, some of the cakes have a fluted edge and some have a straight edge...this is why mine leaned more than I had hoped.

I found this great tool at Hobby Lobby that creates a pattern in the frosting as you drag it. It was $1.50 and worth EVERY penny and then some!

I had a hard time cutting the cake in small enough pieces for everyone. But, this is how the inside looked.

This morning at 7:00, I started working on this cake. It was done and the kitchen was cleaned up completely by 1:00 (and I cooked and baked other things at the same time). This cake was much more do-able than I would have figured. And, I'm sure next time I make it, the process will go more smoothly as I will know what to expect. My cake leaned a little bit because the store had two types of disposable pans that had different sides (it made a difference for sure).

So here is my yellow cake with choclate glaze filling/frosting topped off with a nice Chocolate Creme Buttercream frosting on the outside....Thank you Smith Family and Bakerella!

My MIL And My Revelation....

2009-05-24T16:23:00.003-05:00

Several weeks ago, I mentioned that I would blog about my MIL in effort to encourage those whose relationships with in laws are not all they'd hoped for. I've chewed on this for awhile and really struggled with how to approach this while being tactful and respectful and yet candid and honest all at once. I think I've come up with a way to accomplish this and hope that through this post you understand my heart and the struggle that this has been on all involved...

I had always hoped to have an awesome relationship with my husband's family (at the time, I did not know Joe or have any idea what my future husband's family would "look" like, but you get the idea). As a person that was thrown into a life as an only child, it was my desire to marry someone with siblings so that I could have nieces and nephews, brothers and sisters, and a great relationship with my in laws. And, so far, only part of that has happened for me. Even though it isn't ALL that I wanted, I am so blessed and grateful for my brother in law, sister in law, niece, and nephew.

To summarize my MIL is quite difficult. Think "Everybody Loves Raymond"....that is how our lives would be if we were geographically near my MIL. Without airing too much "dirty laundry" and listing out all of the things that have frustrated me about my MIL, I will leave it at the comparison to Marie Barone. As much as she makes me crazy, and as much as I believe that she needs to take responsibility for her actions and try to help herself by seeking help (whether in the form of wise friends, a counselor, a new hobby, etc...) one thing is for certain, my MIL is hurting. She is a woman who lives in fear with much anxiety over things that are not hers to be anxious over. And, to be frank, if she spent the time trying to help herself that she spends meddling in others' business, she would be in better shape emotionally and psychologically. I believe that there are emotional and psychological barriers that we can experience, but I also believe that we need to work through those and move on and not "swipe the card" for the rest of our lives by saying "that is just how I am" or "just ignore me."

While my in laws were here visiting, my goal was to be as busy as possible. This was my way of ensuring that I did not have time to idly chat with my MIL and end up saying something I would regret after keeping it bottled up for months. This plan did not work out completely, and we did have a "Come to Jesus Meeting" as I like to call it. One thing I asked my MIL in the course of that discussion was whether she had any friends that lived near her. She told me she did not. At that moment, despite how I feel about her in general, I began to feel a bit sorry for her, even though I had known that truth for quite some time. She told me that if someone from the neighborhood or from her church wanted something from her, then they had no problem asking for her help. But, they did not often seek her out to do social things, they'd only reach out to her with a need or a want (my words, not hers). I told her I would pray that she would make friends and hope that people would see her for more than just what they could get from her.

There's some background....here is my revelation:
In Sunday School this morning, we were talking about the scripture that calls us to carry others' burdens. Of course, it started out with the generic Sunday School answer of "pray for them"---then we began to discuss (metaphorically) physically carrying burdens with and for people. We talked mainly about people carrying bricks. If a friend was walking down the street with 10 bricks, would we say "Hey, great job with those bricks! I'm prayin' for ya!" or would we pick up a couple of the bricks to lighten the load, go halvsies, or pick up more than that??? Then we discussed why people become wary of carrying burdens for others...This got me thinking about my MIL on a couple of levels.

1. As annoying as it is, she tries to carry others' burdens. Her way of doing so crosses boundaries, and does not cease even when she is assured no help is needed, warranted, or asked for. But, she is still burdened by our burdens (and even sometimes by her perception or made up version of our "burdens" which is when we all want to pull our hair out). She often misconstrues things too, but that is part of her burden process I suppose....

2. I shared with the SS class the conversation about my MIL's "friends." The story got a few laughs in the beginning, but overall I was sharing how she has become wary of carrying the burdens of her neighbors and those in her congregation because she feels used and not fulfilled. I think we all know how that feels to some degree, and I truly do feel sorry for her that she feels that way. We have all talked about and hoped and prayed for her to have positive relationships with women in her area. But, I am beginning to wonder what other ways I can help carry those bricks. Prayer is a powerful thing, but when appropriate and able, it is far more powerful to pray and carry bricks. This for me is a slippery slope as I know that I can't carry bricks without her feeling like she is carrying my bricks as well. In normal circumstances, that wouldn't be too bad. In these circumstances, I believe it could contribute to the problem of her not respecting boundaries. I'm really torn, but believe God is turning the wheels in my mind for a reason....

Do I reach out to her and tell her that I'd like to carry her bricks by being a friend to her? Can I genuinely be a friend to her if I constantly have to be guarded so as not to fuel the fire? If I don't live near her, can I really carry the bricks when she REALLY needs someone to go have coffee at chat with that lives in her community??? What does carrying the bricks look like in this case???
All of these are things I hope to figure out....it may take me awhile though!

Any thoughts out there in Blog Land?

Snapshots...

2009-05-03T10:56:00.002-05:00

Here are a couple of "recent" photos of us.

My birthday dinner (in Jan) at Maggiano's

We went to see Les Mis for Mom's birthday (March) then had a fabulous dinner at Vincent's

RENT was in town for the weekend. Dad got us tickets for yesterday's matinee. The performance was amazing. Here are a couple of photos we took before the show.

I'm in love...

2009-04-30T19:22:00.003-05:00

With this sweet little face and baby feet!!!

Debut Day

2009-04-30T06:49:00.002-05:00

I get up early, about 4:00 to be exact. And, I leave the house by 5:30 every morning to catch the bus into downtown. Pretty much like clock work. This morning, however, I have an unplanned Drs. appointment at 8:00, so I was looking forward to sleeping "late" this morning. Then at about 5:38 (actually, precisely at that time), I received the most wonderful call ever. My brother in law, Ben, called to let me know that my precious nephew made his debut this morning around 2:00. Rowan Reese Edwards has already captured my heart. For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to be an aunt. Always. There was a time when I wasn't sure that would ever happen for me. I had come to terms with the thought that I might not ever get to casually say, "oh, my niece/nephew...." So, when I married Joe and gained my sweet niece, I was more than thrilled. Then, when Ben and Adrienne informed us that they were pregnant I was ecstatic. It is such a privilege to be an aunt and to get to spoil and love these little ones as they grow. This is a charge I do not take lightly. So many people take their role as an aunt for granted, not me! With our niece, Gwynn, I was not around until she was 3. I missed a lot of good stuff (but got there just in time)!
This time, I have had the amazing opportunity to pray for Rowan's safe arrival, for good health, and that we would all be ready (in every way) to welcome him to this crazy, beautiful life! I am richly blessed with a niece AND a nephew and I am just over the top excited (or as I would REALLY say to you in person...I'm pee my pants excited!)

Welcome to our world Reese! You have already captured my heart and I love you to the moon!

Back in the Saddle Again...

2009-04-28T19:11:00.003-05:00

Welcome to my new (old) blog! I had to change my blog address and had to re-do some things. My MIL found out I had a blog, which in normal cicrumstances, wouldn't be a big deal. But, with my MIL...HUGE deal. She definitely could not handle knowing what was going on in our lives, and I wasn't able to post things I wanted to, so I moved the blog over. Sometime soon I will go in to more detail about the MIL situation. Its a big deal and a huge part of our lives these days, and I think I've learned more about myself in dealing with her than I would have thought possible. Maybe someone out there will benefit from my story. But for now, I'll hold off on the D-RAMA!

Here are the happenings from the past 6 weeks:
1. Visit with my in laws (stay tuned for more on that)

2. Moved offices at work and on to a new floor. It amazes me how the atmosphere on your floor impacts your satisfaction.

3. My new nephew will be here in May! We are super excited and can't wait for him to make his arrival!!!

4. Celebrated Mom's B-Day with a family outing to Les Mis. It was Joe's second musical...

5. I have officially lost over 50 pounds since the end of October.

I'm sure there is more, but at the moment it escapes me!

Ahhhhh Sic 'Em Bears!!!

2009-03-14T16:59:00.000-05:00

In case you haven't heard yet...I heart all things Baylor. I'm proud to be a Bear at all times, but today I'm REALLY proud. The Bears played an awesome game against Texas last night and have landed themselves in the Big XII Championship game tonight!!! Tip off should be any minute now. I'm pumped! Best of luck to my Baylor Bears!

Friday Rants, Raves, and Updates

2009-03-06T11:07:00.000-06:00

It feels like forever since I've posted something. So much has happened the past couple of weeks that it is almost hard to think straight!
For those of you who are praying for Lisa, please keep praying. I had an update from her last Friday letting me know that they should have the results of the biopsy today. Ultimately, she will probably be coming to MD Anderson. Please keep her and her family in your prayers. They are nervous to be here at Anderson and away from their family, friends, and church family. As soon as I know more, I will post. It seems like it takes forever to get biopsy results. In the world of fast paced technology, you would think they would be able to expedite that process.

On another note...something I've been wanting to share but was not able to for quite some time. I've been working at Waste Management since June of 2007. I landed there while looking for a teaching job. Things worked out for me to stay, but I wasn't a full time employee. By title, I was an intern. By scope of work, I definitely wasn't. Last January I was given a raise and was told that it shouldn't be too long before the department had approval to add head count...then I waited, and waited, and waited. My boss waited and waited and waited too. As the economy got worse, it became clear that they would not be granting any requestion requests...so there I was, a 25 year old intern....In November, one of the ladies on my team was fired for performance. We were all sad for her, but knew the integrity of our work required her to be gone. It was approved to fill the position, after the first of the year. I had applied for the job and was qualified and had the experience needed to do the job. In January, the company announced lay offs. Everyone was sweating it big time, especially the intern! I thought "this is it...they are going to see my title and get me out." Our team hadn't heard anything, so we thought we were good to go. As soon as we had let our guard down, they terminated our VP (a member of the Senior Leadership Team). That was a HUGE deal. Some were sad to see him go, others were not. Our department, Ethics and Diversity was split up into three other groups. Three of my co-workers and I are now in the Legal Department. The ball started rolling to bring me on full time and my OFFICIAL first day at Waste was Monday. Almost 21 months as an intern. It has been a crazy ride, but I'm really excited and insanely relieved. Not that my new status protects me from anything, but at least now I can work toward things like bonuses, raises, more vacation time, and a severance package should I need it! It was a busy week at work, and I totally enjoyed every minute of it. The only down side is going to be that I will be working more than 40 hours each week. I won't get to leave early on Fridays anymore-but I'll take that any day!

Joe and I were going to go out for a celebratory dinner last night. I'd been looking forward to it all day. What is better than dinner and dessert out with the hub??? Instead, I spent my whole commute home on the bus PRAYING I wouldn't toss my cookies on the lady next to me. Luckily, I was able to control things. I think I got food poisioning at lunch at the Four Seasons yesterday and ended up getting sick last night and running a fever. I've been teasing all week that I was going to find a way out of yard work this weekend...this was NOT what I had in mind! Ick!

Please Pray for Lisa

2009-02-24T05:57:00.000-06:00

One of my oldest friends and her family need your prayers! I don't feel like I have all that many details, but I think I know as much as there is to know right now...it just doesn't feel like much. I spoke with Lisa's brother Phillip and found out:

Last Monday Lisa went to the hospital with tingling in her face, numbness in both arms, speech problems, and a horrible headache. At that time, they believed she had a stroke. After running some tests, they concluded that she didn't have a stroke, rather had a HORRIBLE migraine. They ran additional tests and found a brain tumor. According to Phillip, they have not mentioned how large or small the tumor is. Its on the left side of her brain near the temple. Tuesday they did a biopsy, the results of which should be in today. Depending on the outcome of the biopsy, they want to do surgery as soon as possible. Lisa was in the hospital from Monday through Saturday.

Lisa's dad passed away about 15 years ago with cancer, so this is all too familiar for the family. Please pray for God's favor on this family. Even if the tumor is benign, there is much to walk through in the coming weeks and months. Lisa's mom Nena is back and forth from San Antonio to Oklahoma City and her brother lives here in Houston. Also, please pray for Lisa's new husband Justin (they've been married since June).

As I know more, I'll update. In the mean time, please pray!

Wedding Flashback

2009-02-23T05:14:00.000-06:00

We finally got our wedding album and a copy of our proofs!

Here are a few I'll share for now....

2009....Year of the Baby

2009-02-19T19:11:00.000-06:00

Not mine....

It seems like this year everyone is having a baby! So many of our friends are having littles this year, I can hardly believe it! In addition to several couples at church, my dear friend Ashley is expecting her second (I'm pulling for another girl) and my brother in law and sister in law are having a little boy in May. We didn't think they would find out the gender, but were pleasantly surprised when we found out about our new nephew before Christmas!
With all of these precious lives getting ready to make their arrival, I have babies on the brain! I love buying baby stuff more than anything. I went in to Gymboree the other day----MISTAKE! I found SO many adorable things to buy! I bought the cutest little baby bathing suit, hat, glasses, and matching blanket for baby Katelyn. We were supposed to have Katelyn's baby shower tonight, but it got postponed by her mom (Cindy's) trip to the hospital. I spent last night cooking for the shower and getting everything prepped. I hate to waste delicious treats, so Joe's co-workers will get to polish them off tomorrow. We're gearing up for baby season here in Houston and can't wait to meet all these itty bitties. I see many baby sitting opportunities in our future!

I Love You More Than Blank....

2009-02-14T22:16:00.000-06:00

Several weeks ago I ran across the I Love You More Than Blank website and thought it was pretty fun. The wheels in my head started turning and I decided what to do for Joe for Valentine's Day. I went to the teacher's supply store and scored a few packages of patterned hearts (the kind that would be desk/locker tags or on bulletin boards). I came up with 75 " I Love You More Than ______" statements. I got some from the actual website, and used others to get some ideas. Some were funny and edgy while others were a little more serious. One of my favorites (that I don't know if Joe will get) is, "I love you more than Elizabeth loves Mr. Darcy." I don't know if he will know who Mr. Darcy is, sometimes he is missing that cultural side to things. So, I also made one that says, " I love you more than I love Dr. McDreamy" ---that one he'll get. I got him sucked into my Grey's watching web.

Originally, I was going to attach the hearts to ribbon and hang them from the ceiling in the entry way. I've felt so awful this week, that I got behind and did not feel up to hauling the ladder in the house and climbing up and down it all evening. I was feeling a little better today and made cupcakes for Joe and his team. After he left for work, I decided my alternative to ceiling art was wall art----I put paper hearts all over our walls. Its cute, I'm hoping they stay up until he gets home. The hearts have super cute and bright patterns on them and they remind me of this comforter I had as a kid (but, I digress).

On our first Valentine's Day, I made Joe this little garland thing with 10 things I appreciated about him (he still has it). Last year, we bought a house and I told him I would get back to making his Valentines. How do you top a V-Day house??? You decorate it with V-Day hearts of course! Oh, and you make super yummy cupcakes with buttercream frosting from scratch ; )

Hope you all enjoyed your day!

Tissues, Meds, TV, and Heart Day

2009-02-12T20:00:00.000-06:00

I'm now on my second round of antibiotics. This time they pulled out the big guns---the kind that make you want to throw up and die. You trade one set of symptoms for another. It seems like I'm getting more symptoms and not getting rid of any. Needless to say, its been a long week. The one thing I'm loving is having a nice tv in our bedroom. We found a great deal on one last weekend and bought it for our V-day gift for each other. Joe put it up on the wall this week and its fabulous. If Joe has to work on Valentine's Day and I'm home sick, I might as well enjoy curling up and watching my gift!

Of course, I'll be making cupcakes and cookies for Joe and his team. Other than that, I'll be resting up and watching cheesy movies on Lifetime or something lame like that.

Oh my goodness....the funniest thing happened on Wed night....

Joe and I were at church for youth Bible study. Our fabulous youth pastor, Josh, started a round of "Honey If You Love Me You'll Smile." Since Joe was sheltered as a teen, he'd never played before. It was hilarious to watch him get into the game. First, Josh sat in his lap and tried to get him to smile---nothing. That was pretty entertaining in itself. THEN, another adult sponsor, Jonathan, sat in his lap. He whispered in Joe's ear, played with his cheeks, etc...in attempt to get Joe to laugh or smile. Joe had NO response. We were all in hysterics. I was laughing pretty hard and it hurt so bad to laugh. Then, I started crying and laughing (crying because of the pain) and still laughing one of those silent deep laughs that made my face get all distorted. Luckily everyone thought I was laughing so hard I was crying instead of the other. Joe was a rock, it was great.

Looonnng Day

2009-02-10T18:17:00.000-06:00

Today was insanely long. I was working away and thought surely it was time for lunch....nope, 8:15. I hate days like that. Even now, it feels so late....can I rationalize going to bed before 6:30? I think I will....I can get away with it. I REALLY hate being sick, and so far, the antibiotics don't seem to be working---so much for swearing by a Z-Pack!

2009-02-08T18:58:00.000-06:00

Ok, so this has been going around Facebook for the past few weeks. I think everyone I know has tagged me to do it and I've FINALLY given in. Our weekend was pretty uneventful since we're both under the weather, I figured I'd use this as my Sunday night blog post.
Without further ado----

25 Random Things About Me

1. I love my dog more than a lot of people love their children
2. I can hold my hair brush in my toes and brush my hair
3. If I could have ANY job in the world, I would be Madame Thenardier in Les Mis so I could sing her part in Master of the House
4. Until I met the Cook kids, I didn't like children
5. We had a pet monkey once. He ate grapes, chocolate chips, and butterscotch chips. Really cool pet if you ask me.
6. When I have a family, I want it to look like NATO met and everyone left a kid on my lawn (I wanted to do that before Angelina did it)
7. I love cold weather and all the fun clothes that go with it!
8. When I move from Houston, I'd love to live in New England
9. I want a house with a red front door
10. I've lived in two foreign countries in my life and would LOVE to add to that list by moving over seas sometime
11. In the summer of 2004, my parents and I went on a trip to Germany. It was amazing. My mom was taking her time while trying to take a picture of my dad and I. In those minutes he said something to me that made me laugh so hard I almost wet myself. Neither one of us ever told anyone what he said....it was the same thing I said to him during our dance at my wedding. I think we'll take that secret to our graves.
12. My dad and I are freakishly similar---God bless our spouses!
13. I love giving to others (almost to a fault)
14. My goal before I die is to have one passport full of stamps
15. I took Chinese in college and LOVED LOVED LOVED it
16. I love languages and cultures
17. When I was 5, I was attacked by an ostrich....then again in the 8th grade. I'm terrified of the things. Then, just as I was getting over the trauma, I was attacked by a goose at fall retreat my Sr. year in high school. Now, I don't trust birds of any sort and fear them all. (this is something my husband finds hysterical)
18. I tried to smoke a cigarette before my stats final. I couldn't even inhale and my friend smoked my cigarette and his at the same time. This was the first and last time I tried to light up.
19. I tried to teach myself how to make fried tomatoes one summer in jr. high. I had a couple of small fires in the kitchen (cleaned it all up before my parents got home though---sorry mom!)20. My first college major was Church Music
21. While on a mission trip to New York City, a few of us accidentally threw a flaming tampon bomb out the window of the hotel. Yes, this could have been a major disaster, and yes I could have been tried as an adult. (It really was an accident!)
22. My husband does all the laundry in our house so that we have clean clothes to wear--otherwise I wouldn't be able to keep up
23. One time my brother and I were home alone and we ordered pizza for dinner. While we were waiting, I dressed him up like a girl and the pizza guy hit on him (should I mention this is when we were living OUT of the country?)
24. My husband thinks its weird that I get out of the shower before I dry off and he makes sure I know it!
25. I broke my leg in several pieces in the 7th grade. I was more upset at the thought that they were going to have to cut my new jeans off of me than I was about them having to pop my leg back in place.

Heavenly!

2009-02-01T18:25:00.000-06:00

My lazy day turned out not to be so lazy! I had really been wanting to try to make cinnamon rolls from scratch. At first, it was just time consuming---waiting for the mixture to cool so I could add the yeast, waiting for the dough to rise, etc...After today's adventure, I've decided I need more counter space! I couldn't get my dough into a long enough rectangle because my counter top isn't long or wide enough. I had piles of flour everywhere and the kitchen was a mess! But, at the end of the day, I have 7 pans (yep, 7 PANS) of cinnamon rolls. The cinnamon roll itself is good, but the maple frosting on top is indescribeable! I'll be making 1/2 a batch next weekend for a Sunday School breakfast. Hopefully next weekend won't be so messy!

Lazy Days

2009-02-01T13:24:00.000-06:00

After a full day at work on Friday, Joe and I went to dinner and did some shopping at the mall (I think we spent a whopping $5!). Yesterday morning, we went over to the Space Center to meet my parents and four super precious kiddos from the International Children's Choir. The kids were so sweet and well behaved. We hung out there the majority of the day, but had planned to go see a movie. We grabbed a late lunch/early dinner at Cheddars and went to see Revolutionary Road (with Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet). The movie was really interesting and had some interesting messages that we felt like we could identify with--but all in all, it was not what I was expecting in the least.
Last night after we got home I started feeling icky. I keep feeling like I'm coming down with something and then it will pass. Lately though its getting more frequent. So, today we are taking it easy. Joe ran up to the church to deliver sodas, chips, and dips for the teen Super Bowl Party tonight. We'll grill burgers and make home made fries. My only goal today is to make cinnamon rolls with a maple frosting to send with Joe to work tomorrow morning and to take to the engineers on my floor at work. Hopefully they'll turn out great--its a lot of work!

15 Things......

2009-01-26T19:51:00.000-06:00

That thrill me....

1. Brinkley
2. Dishes
3. Shopping trips with my mom
4. Snow
5. Grey's Anatomy
6. DVD Box sets
7. Christmas Carols
8. Puppies
9. Babies--especially foreign ones
10. All things Baylor (except for class)
11. Pay day!
12. Doing Random Acts of Kindness
13. Languages
14. Baking
15. Spending time with my boys

Things That Make Me Go "Boo!!!"

1. Monday mornings
2. The bus driver that blasts the heat and causes it to be hot and stuffy on the bus
3. Breaking in new shoes
4. People that can't get their own life straight and try to rule yours
5. Fat Free Hot Dogs
6. Wal Mart (ok, this is really my number one!)
7. Houston Traffic
8. Manipulative old women
9. Working in the yard
10. Snakes
11. Meddlers
12. Fanny packs
13. Salesmen
14. Unsolicited opinions and advice
15. Warm climate

No Room In the Inn

2009-01-25T20:28:00.000-06:00

I'm a sucker. There is no denying it, so I'll just fess up and admit it. I'm a sucker. I'm REALLY a sucker for certain things---mainly four legged furry ones and ones without a home. Yesterday after grocery shopping, I came home, grabbed the Beag and took him to Petsmart. He was so excited to go he could have killed me with his tail. We got him brushed and he got a little mani pedi while we were there. As I was waiting for him to get all glammed up, I looked around the store. Lo and behold, it was pet adoption day. I can normally play with and pet the little ones without too much of a problem, but yesterday was different. There he was---a BEAUTIFUL blue-eyed Australian Shepherd named Percy ( I wasn't overly thrilled with the name, but the dog was fantastic). He was so sweet, gentle, and playful---just perfect. I asked the volunteer about his history, this is when I turned to jello. Percy was not a stray that was living a better life in the shelter than on the streets. His family lost their home in Hurricane Ike and they had to surrender him because they had no place to keep him. This is a dog that had people---he had a treat jar and a couch, probably had a leash and his favorite toys all at his disposal.
This dog had a life, and by the way he acted, it was probably a good life. I couldn't take it. I was melting fast, faster, and before I knew it I was taking Brink over to see how they responded to each other. I called Joe, he reminded me of all of the reasons I couldn't get this dog. Its not that I WANTED another dog, I could go either way...its that I think my heart broke into a million little pieces at the thought of this little guy that had a life and was now slummin' it in the shelter.
At the end of the trip to Petsmart I came home with just my lil chunk, the Beag. It was so bad after I got home that I had to take a nap to keep from going back for Percy (who would have to be renamed something a little more modern and fun). I thought about going by the shelter today just to see if Percy was still there (if he was, it would be a sign). Apparently the fact that the Today show did a segment on dog adoptions today was not sign enough--- I decided that I didn't really want a divorce in 2009, so I stayed out of the shelter. My dad was encouraging this potential puppy adoption and my mom was on Joe's side (just something to note). My parents ended up coming to play this afternoon and as we were walking around the mall they made things worse----
Next weekend my parents' church is having an International Children's Choir. They are hosting two kids for two nights. One of the boys is from Nepal and one is from Uganda. We were making plans for something fun to do with them on Saturday, when my mom casually mentioned that these kiddos are orphans. ARE YOU KIDDING ME????? There are two things I'm uber passionate about---pregnancies/babies and orphans (in no particular order). Not only am I in love with the thought of adopting, but I so desperately want to adopt kids from impoverished countries that it hurts. So now, I have a dog that has broken my heart, and two kids I will spend time with next weekend that I will want to bring home too. I'm strong enough to leave the dog, but I don't know that I'm strong enough to leave the orphans. It would be great to get kids that are already potty trained....But, as Joe keeps reminding me....there is no room in the inn (there really is, I could make plenty of space!). For now we remain a family of three...

Give me two pina coladas.....

2009-01-23T18:52:00.000-06:00

You know when a President goes into office they look MUCH younger than they do when they leave---or even after the first year??? I absolutely feel that way this week. I feel like if you took a look at me today you would think I'd aged about 10 years in a week. This has been such a stressful week! We underwent MAJOR lay offs this week and there will be more next week. Our team hadn't heard anything and was hoping that no news was good news. And, in large part, we had let some of our guard down yesterday. All of the other departments knew what they were going to have to do lay off wise for a week or more. Our team is very small and we had cut our budget by over 20%, so we thought we might get spared this time. We took our first hit this morning and it was a big one that will cause a major re-org of several departments. It amazes me how much these things can impact people---physically, emotionally, spiritually and psychologically we are all a mess. Our company is large and stable, I can't even begin to imagine what other companies are going through!

Oh how I love 3 day weekends

2009-01-19T14:06:00.000-06:00

I love three day weekends. I think they are the greatest thing ever. Friday morning I drove in to work so that I could go to my parents' house. After a quick dinner with my parents, I went to see Linda. Linda is my super fabulous, amazingly wonderful friend and hair dresser. Linda and I had a great time catching up and she covered up my gray, trimmed up my weave and cut bangs. I have been toying with the idea of bangs for about the past year, but never wanted to bite the bullet. I haven't had bangs since about 5th grade. Bangs these days aren't quite what they were in the 90s though (thank goodness)!!!

Saturday mom and I talked my dad into going shopping with us. We went shoe shopping, had lunch at Chuy's (to die for), and then went to the mall and the Container Store. After a fun day with my 'rents, I came home to make some desserts for a fundraiser at church. When I got home, I had one sick puppy that resulted in 3 hours at the Emergency Vet Clinic. B always seems to get sick after hours or on the weekends---which of course costs 3 times as much as the regular vet. Brinkley and I were up all night Saturday. I got my desserts made and went to church yesterday morning. The teen fundraiser was great and thanks to Lindsay, my desserts were a hit. After church I had a quiet afternoon and a great chat with my sister in law and super cute niece.

Today I hit the grocery store and am making some baked ziti. Joe is working tonight and I have a board meeting at the pregnancy center. All in all, its been a good weekend. Tomorrow will start another very stressful week at work (more lay offs to come). Good thing I'm not the One in charge!

And the winner is....

2009-01-11T17:35:00.000-06:00

I LOVE this time of year---okay, not really. I think this is a depressing time of year. BUT, I do love the award shows. People's Choice, Golden Globe, SAG, and of course the Academy Awards. I adore all of the pre-show and post-show dish on who wore what and how horrible or wonderful the choices were. I never really care about who wins, I just love the fashion (and lack there of!). E! Live from the Red Carpet here I come!

What a week...

2009-01-08T20:25:00.000-06:00

This week feels eternally long! Everyone is back at work and things are crazy busy. On top of all that, my company is beginning to talk about "restructuring." Funny how they will never say "lay off"--they always come up with an alternate term. The last major round of lay offs they called a "RIF" (Reduction In Force). This time its going to be restructure and consolidate. Apparently there is a big announcement tomorrow morning about our Market Areas merging....and now it starts.....

Sunday Afternoon Blues

2009-01-04T16:34:00.000-06:00

Another weekend has passed and I have another bout of "Sunday Blues." Joe and I are both working days this week, so there is much to do this afternoon to prepare for the week ahead. Truthfully, this will be the first 5 day week I've worked in almost a month. I've definitely worked 40+ hour weeks, but I was doing it in 3 or 4 day increments before the holidays so that I could take Joe to and from appointments and procedures.

We found a new shopping place yesterday, it is another one of the outdoor centers that are becoming wildly popular around here. It has a nice stand alone Macy's on one end and a stand alone Dillards on the other, lots of eateries and a variety of little shops. While we were there scoping it out yesterday (before going to a movie), Joe got called into work. He ended up having to work all night, which was a bummer. I found plenty to do, but its always a bummer to have an unexpected interruption to the weekend.
This week starts some long anticipated (okay, dreaded) changes at work. If I could just fast forward through tomorrow that would be fabulous! Oh Sunday Blues!!!

Year in Review

2008-12-31T15:12:00.000-06:00

2008 has been such an amazing year! When I think back on all that's happened and all that has changed this year, I'm excited and nostalgic and proud of all that we've accomplished. So many life changes, so many twists and turns, ups and downs and so many memories- some of them have even been captured in photos. So let's take a look at our 2008...

January:

We braved Houston's Bridal Extravaganza---totally crazy and something I would NEVER do again!
I celebrated my 25th birthday on Martin Luther King Day
Started the hunt for a house.
Found a house, went to put a contract on the house, had the house sold out from under us

February:

Were thrilled to find a better house and started to make it officially ours on Valentine's Day!

We celebrated V-Day with a late lunch at Perry's and coming back to the house to sit, stare, and marvel

March:

Welcomed a new four-legged member into the family....then we watched him grow...
Celebrated Mom's Birthday
Closed on our house

April:

Moved Joe into the house
Spent time with our family from Alaska with a trip to Galveston

Shopping for Diva shades in Galveston

May:

Bridal Showers
Celebrated Joe's 29th Birthday

Birthdays always mean memorable meals at great places!

June:

I don't remember much from June. Apparently there was a wedding of some sort....

September:

Survived Hurricane Ike with no damage to our home!

October:

Road Trip to San Antonio and San Marcos
Celebrated our first Halloween

We found the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown!

November:

Celebrated Brink's 7th Birthday
Road trip to Waco with my parents
Watche our Bears dominate the Aggies!
Met and visited old college friends
Celebrated Thanksgiving with my parents and mom's fabulous pecan pie!

December:

Our second Colt Christmas Party
Snow day 2008!
Joe's ER visit
Joe's first real surgery, followed by a second
Christmas

Summing up such a big year in our lives in a blog seems impossible. I know there are things that I've forgotten, or things that can not be captured in pictures or words. How in the world do you summarize or capture the dynamics of learning to be a spouse and to share your space, money, time, and energy completely with another person??? We have been abundantly blessed this year. 2009 will be an exciting year for us as well (we're really glad that it doesn't include wedding plans!). One thing we are especially looking forward to this year is when we will welcome a sweet niece or nephew into the world! I know 2009 will hold so much for us- BRING IT ON!

New Toys!

2008-12-29T19:58:00.000-06:00

Joe picked me up after work so that we could grab some dinner and do a bit of shopping. Our main goal was a trip to Williams Sonoma (be still my heart!). Tonight I got my amazing Cookie Press and an awesome Mechanical Pastry Bag! I'm crazy excited to use them. I guess I'll be making and decorating cookies and cakes this week! I love new toys, especially those from Williams-Sonoma!!!