Whew! Holidays are here!

Hello from hibernation.

I started this blog a little bit before I had my son. I had time then! I haven't updated this since he was 3 weeks old!!! He is now almost 5 months!! I can't promise I'll be back on here regularly, as he is movin' a bunch now...so I rarely have time to veg on the computer.

Just wanted to post our Christmas card and tell everyone to have a VERY Merry Christmas and a Happy and SAFE New Year. We here in St. Louis are dreaming of a White Christmas and it looks like we are forecast to have just that!!! Hope your dreams come true, too!

Is this shit normal?

Either way...I'm pretty excited to watch him make so much progress!!

So my child is 3 weeks and 2 days old.

He watches me walk around the house, and smiles sooo big when I stop and smile or talk to him. It's pretty awesome!

He can sit on my lap and hold his head up for at least a solid minute! That's fun, especially when trying to burp him, or hold him and he's winging his head all around, using me as a rock wall to climb. I decided I should give him some stomach time to see if the neck holding/climbing motion will progress.

It's progressed alright, he schimied and scooted his way accross the floor!! His leg muscles are already defined and he just pushed and pushed to the other side of the blanket! His arms aren't real strong, he tried to lift up and didn't budge, but at least we have the legs and head working!!

This is so exciting!! He's not just a blob, he totally hangs out with me and we are interacting more and more!! I just feel like it's a little early to be movin' everywhere. Man alive, maybe..since he got all his dad's features, he'll get my energy!! I just haven't decided if that's a good thing or not!! ;)

~Happenings~

Feels like forever since I've last blogged!
I don't really have shit to talk about, but I guess I will.

I'm bored right now. The baby (shout-out to his 3-week birthday!!) is sleeping in his new swing that we just splurged on, and at the moment the hubster is studying to learn grocery item (that don't have bar codes) register code numbers. It's ridiculous really. I never realized how many different types of Apples there are.

He quit his job at the bike shop b/c they couldn't pay him on time, or at all sometimes. So he took a job opening with my father's company, but on the labor side of the business, not a desk job-like my dad. Not P's ideal situation, desk or not, but with a new baby, we needed a good paying, steady paycheck gig. His first day was today, and successful. A week ago, this grocery store called him back after passing on him a few months back and said that they believe they had made a mistake. So, after finishing up his time with the bike shop, starting a new job with my dad, then waiting on the go-ahead for this grocery manager gig--(then having to quit my dad's job if it does pan out), AND HAVING A 3 WEEK OLD BABY~~our lives have been chaotic-to say the least. Oh ya, and we've tried to get our social life back since that was missing for 9 months. ;)

But, that's how I survive. I'm a chaotic, non-stop, ADD inflicted person. I bore easily, need excitement. The hubby, however, is all out of wack. We work well b/c he is so even keel, and I'm not. He isn't used to stress, ever. So for him, he's just sick of the in-between situation. He wants all his ducks in a row and life to be smooth. BORING! :)

Anyhow, P believes he has memorized these apple numbers...guess I'll quiz him and have a couple beers. Peace blog-world.

Happy Birthday to Me from P!!!

So, I had to celebrate my birthday in the hospital, as my main man was born 2 days prior to my b-day. The hubster hooked me up with this cruiser that I've been eyeing for a long time now. I was only able to see it in the catalog and he just brought it home tonight. Check it out.

I'mma be "cruisin' down the street, smokin' endo, sippin' on gin and juice...laaaid back"

Check out the pinkness that this bike is, the flower accents, the dice valve caps, the wide handle bars and of course...the white walls. I'm so excited to pull the little one around on this pimp mobile!!

We shall call you...PJ

Here is the crazy (for us at least) story of our boy's birth.



Saturday evening, the 25th, and continuing into Sunday morning, the 26th, I began experiencing some major contractions. For about 4 hours (10pm-2am) they stayed 10 mins apart, so we decided to just wait them out at home until they got a little closer. By 3am they had spread back out to about 20 minutes apart and I was able to get some much needed sleep.

Sunday morning when I woke up the contractions still felt strong, but not close enough together to worry. I spoke to my OB and she said that I could stay home, go about my day as usual and report to the hospital at 8pm that night as we had scheduled, to be induced.
And that is just what we did...we went about our normal activities. We went to a 5 year old's birthday party and I just dealt with the contractions as nothing were happening. We made it home from the party with a couple of hours to spare, so I showered, and double-checked my hospital bag, packed the car and we hit the road about 7:15pm.

We had high hopes that I wouldn't have to be induced since I was having contractions all weekend. Boy were we right! At exactly 8pm I was hooked up to the fetal monitors. One to monitor my contractions, and one to monitor the baby's heart rate. Not long after being hooked up, the R.N. checked to see how far I was dialated. I was already dialated 5 CM!!!

Not long after that, though, the R.N. and numerous other doctors noticed on the baby's monitor that it's heart rate would drop very low during my contractions, and then raise to normal levels when I wasn't contracting. They decided to lay me all sorts of different ways on the bed to take some pressure off of the ambilical cord. I was also hooked up to an oxygen tank to send the baby more oxygen. They said that my contracting uterus was applying pressure on the ambilical cord, cutting off flow to the baby. Eventually they attached monitors to the baby itself, inside of me, to get a more accurate heart rate.

Pretty damn scary stuff considering we hadn't been at the hospital for longer than an hour and a half and all this was happening so fast. I was given medicine through my IV to stop my contractions to monitor the baby's heart rate on it's own, and everything was fine. It was just when I was contracting that the baby had a tough time recovering.

At some point during this fiasco the nurse told me that my best bet, at the time being, was to get an epidural, considering the fact that I may have to be rushed into an emergency c-section.

So now, at 5 cm dialated, my contractions have been halted, an epidural has been given, and now pitocin was to be given to start my contractions up again. All of course, while the baby's heart rate being monitored by a zillion nurses. (or so it seemed) Patrick and I sat around listening the baby's heart rate at a nice, fast, consistent pace (which at times put us to sleep) only to be terrified when we heard a lag in between beats. Remember, I can not feel my contractions now, so I had no idea when the baby was having a hard time recovering unless I heard the inconsistent beats. Not fun. We would hear the lag, sit up, look at eachother and wait for the dr.'s to come rushing in.

We had to do this for FIVE hours until about 2:30 in the morning when my OB called and gave me two options.

1.) Continue with how things were going, but realizing that the hardest part of birth on a baby is the actual delivery. If it couldn't handle contractions at this point, it would be very stressful during the delivery.

OR

2.) Prepare for a C-Section.

I didn't even ask my husband, I found out later, I just made the executive decision to have a C-section. There was no way I was going to put my baby at anymore risk than it was already enduring.

We called family members at 2:30, telling them to hurry on up b/c the Dr.'s weren't waiting. Daddy got dressed in his hospital scrubs and the Dr.'s upped my epidural dose and off we went to the surgery room. HERE GOES NOTHING!! :)

My arms were laid out flat, pointing directly out. They put warm towels on them, and I was given little nose oxygen plugs. They hoisted a tarp in front of my face and my OB began her procedure. The epidural is no joke. I couldn't stay awake. The lights were too bright, I was struggling to STAY AWAKE DURING THE BIRTH OF MY CHILD. Seriously?? I made daddy talk to me so I could stay awake. He really helped out!

I think the whole C-Section process took about 20-25 minutes. Daddy got to announce the sex of the baby to all of the doctors and to me. We have a baby BOY!!

Picutres were taken, tears were shed. What a surreal experience!
Our perfectly healthy, 8lb 5oz, 20.5 inch baby boy was born at 3:33am!!

We Love You PJ!!

***Editor's Note** My OB had to wait until delivery to inspect what could have been happening to my abilical cord when the baby's heart rate was dropping. She said that my ambilical cord was thin and old (I guess b/c I was 9 days late), and that not everyone experiences the complication that we did, but that it isn't that uncommon.***

Baby Boy is Born!!

We are the proud parents of an 8lb 5 oz baby boy!! He is now a week old and boy oh boy has it been life changing! I have a new best friend :) Very cliche', but oh so true---I never knew how quickly you could fall in love with someone...

Anyhow, this is a quick post, as I'm pretty busy these days, but I will post my birth-story soon~~it's a doozy!!

PUPPP~~I APOLOGIZE

Whoops. I guess I diagnosed myself. Went and actually saw my Dr. today. She says that's it's just hives, NOT PUPPP. Although, I look like a lot of those pics on google image.

She said that I may have a Wheat allergy if that's the thing I've noticed I've done differently. I guess I've never changed my diet so drastically before to have noticed. I mean, I have had wheat here and there...but maybe wheat everyday for a few weeks did do this to me....? Who knows.

One great thing--if it's not PUPPP, then it shouldn't last 6 weeks!!

I'm going to take my prescription itch/sleep aid stuff and a nice oatmeal soak today/night. I hope this does the trick!!!

See, your prayers worked! ;)

PUPPP---F U

So, I've had a fairly easy pregnancy. I mean, I passed all my tests with FLYING COLORS. Minimal morning sickness in the beginning, plenty of energy at the end....2 weeks left, easy peasy right?

Shit no. Never.

Google Image PUPPP and tell me that this is real.
~Tell me I broke out with this a week ago today only in my minor belly stretchmarks.
~Tell me the Benadryl cream my dr. referred to me will take care of it, that I just need to "stay outta the heat".
~Tell me that it will spread to everywhere except my face and feet within a week.
**Over the holiday weekend. When I can't reach my Dr., but only the exchange who tells me to take oral Benadryl & Zyrtec & hydrocortizone cream.
~~~~Great, that's what I want. I want to make this far, to have to med-up, b/c I haven't slept in 3 days, and am itching my skin off.
~Tell me that the Grandpas Pine Tar Soap I just ordered online will do the trick, (per the babycenter.com community).


Tell me all of this and I will tearfully say Eff You. This hurts, it's ugly and I'm in pain. Nothing helps. Nothing. Cold showers relieve me instantly from all the itching I feel, but within 10 mins I want to cry again.

I feel like a crack-head...itch itch itch. I pray this doesn't spread to my face.

They say 70% of the ONE PERCENT of woman that get this in their 3rd trimester have boys. That's about the only fun thing related to this. I can daydream about a little boy.

Do I want to do this whole thing again to shoot for a little girl one day? Will this happen in all my future pregnancys? Lord knows I'm hard-headed enough to try though. ;)

I've thought of anything and everything that could possibly caused this...the only thing I've changed recently is that I've quit eating White bread and switched to Wheat. So far I've researched no relation. :(

Say a little prayer for me. I'm not sure I can handle this much longer. (and it's supposed to last 6 weeks)~~even after delivery!!!!

Goody Goody Gum Drops!!!

Peace, Love, & Good Eats....AND 2 posts in a row...WOW!

Sooooo, once this baby decides to arrive, (which I've been told ((for the 2nd time in 2 wks)) will be late b/c I have ZERO, ZILCH, NADA, NONE, NOOOOO activity happening down town) I will need to drop this preggo weight. I'm torn on Breastfeeding, and will try in the hospital, but if it doesn't work, I've got no qualms with formula feeding. So I'm left with using the good ol' fashioned ways of weight loss: a healthy diet and exercise. I'm getting some new kicks for my b-day for walking/running and have located & dusted off this here cookbook to guide me in a finding new, healthy alternatives for meals. Always easier said than done, of course, but I'm pretty pumped. I'm going to use this as a GUIDE, a REFERENCE, and hopefully these will be permanent adjustments to the way myself, and my family will eat. Wish me luck!!

World Cup 2010~South Africa Part Deux

Soooo another BIG Soccer weekend, hope you got your fill. While the US played a great tourney (for them) they were knocked out Saturday. :( Thankfully for me (and P) our backup teams were still in the mix! They played eachother on Sunday though, which meant one of them were packing their bags and heading home! Hopefully not the Krauts!!


WAR PAINT!

RIVALS!! GRRRRR!!

THE REDCOAT STANDS ALONE~~I MADE HIM HIS ENGLAND TEE

DEUTSCHLAND WINS!!!!

37 weeks and ready to go!!

Holy Busy Batman

Hi everyone!! Another boring, up-to-date blog...

Friday was our World Cup Friday...my family & P's brother all took off work to get together and celebrate the fact that the US, Germany, and England all played on the same day. The party started at 6:30 am and didn't end until about 4pm...we crashed pretty early, considering we started pretty early! Even though I didn't drink a drop, I was ex-hau-sted!!!--and don't get me started on the terrible officiating that we witnessed ALL DAY!

Saturday the hubby worked and then we celebrated Father's Day on his family's side. Patrick threw his back out at work so that put a little kink in the fun to be had, but he made due and we had a really nice evening...with some kick-ass grub compliments of his mama.

Sunday was our busiest day, if you can believe it. He and I were celebrating our 1-year wedding anniversary, to which we went out for a fancy lil' breakfast at FirstWatch, then we really started the partying by grocery shopping!! :) We were supposed to hit up babys r us too, to finish up buying the rest of the items on our registry, but due to his back being in worse shape than the day prior, we just came home and vegged out in bed watching soccer...and I wouldn't have wanted to celebrate our mark in history any other way! 1 o'clock rolled around and we headed over to my parent's house to have champagne and eat our cake--(cheesecake still as delicious as the day we got married), then we celebrated my sister's 25th birthday, then we jumped into the Father's Day celebration for Pops. Whew!! We literally lit candles on one cake, and moved onto the next...pretty funny actually. Patrick and My sister were supposed to have a soccer game too that evening, (I'm out, you know, b/c I'm prego), but we didn't have to worry about that b/c of his back....and the game ended up being cancelled anyhow due to lack of players. I mean, who schedules a game on a holiday?!

Luckily, Patrick was able to see my Uncle today, (a chiropractor) and has another appointment tomorrow. Even though my Uncle retired about a year ago, he has the whole setup in his home, so it's a pretty sweet deal for us. And, while one doctor told Patrick he would need back surgery--something Patrick's father had at a fairly young age--my uncle believes that getting him adjusted, corrected, and on a regular chiro schedule, he will survive~~without going under the knife. Let's hope this 'voodoo that he do' works! The timing couldn't be worse, and how scary having such an invasive procedure done so early in life?!

So that's what we've been up to. I am on the countdown for this baby, 4 weeks left! Went to the Dr. today, to be told that while my cervix is soft, I am not dialated in the least bit. I will be "on-time or late" the doctor told me. Yippeee...here's hoping this 95 degree weather keeps up!! ;)

Hope everyones been keeping busy themselves!!

Finishing touches

So, it feels like I have a bunch to do before this baby comes, but not a lot of time. But, on the flip side of the coin, I am not in freak-out nesting mode yet either. I have slowly but surely been checking some things off my list!

Still, we have to look over our baby registry and take a shopping trip to grab some items that we need, but didn't receive...I'm excited for this!!! I think we will do this Sunday, (our 1 year anniversary), before we celebrate Father's Day and my sister's bday.

Next up, I need to find my baby-to-be a photo album...I have taken lots of baby-prep books that I'd like to have in a book, as well as on the pc. I have the pics printed out already, just need to finish the process!

And lastly, Patrick and I have SOOOOO many soccer t-shirts from over the years...his military jerserys, our college t-shirts/jerseys, club & tournament t-shirts, coaching t-shirts, Beer-League t-shirts....AAAHHH, so freakin' many to part with, but way too many to keep in drawers any longer. So, about 2 months ago, I contacted a friend of mine who recently had her late mother's clothes put into a quilt and asked for the lady's name who did the work. Finally, that lady and I made correspondence and now we need to round up our goodies. Oh goody goody! I can't wait to see the finished project~~she only takes two weeks to do so too!!!

Not that I HAVE to have the pics/quilt finished before the baby arrives, but for some reason, these things are weighing on my mind and have been lingering for so long now, I'll be happy to just have them finished!

Next up...DEEP cleaning, like washing down each wall in my house, I don't know why, but I feel like this is something that HAS to be done before the baby arrives.

Perhaps I am nesting.

World Cup 2010~South Africa

If you know my husband and I, you know that we are huge soccer fans. I'd say that we would rank soccer #1 on our list of sports we enjoy spectating. Followed by Football, and then Baseball. The World Cup arrives once every 4 years and lasts exactly one month. 6-11-10 started this year's World Cup. I was off work opening day and was able to catch one game, caught all 3 on Saturday and will be catching two, today. In my heart, my No. 1 team is the US of A, of course...but by blood, I am on the German's side....along with the rest of my immediate family. Patrick's 'blood' team is Ireland, but the fuckin' French stole the quallifying game from them with an illegal handball goal to knock the Irish outta the Cup...so, US and England for him it is. Check out the pics below of my sisters artwork on my 35 week prego belly. I love it!!

6 weeks left...enjoying my weekend!

So I/we am/are 34 weeks along! 6 weeks left!!! I'm sooo antsy and excited and calm at the same time. It's weird to explain, but I think this is what they call the "calm before the storm"...maybe? :)

I just got a different kind of manicure this afternoon, nice YELLOW tips. Dunno why, just felt like it. Simple, cheap, non-permanent way to express myself I guess. I'm feeling sunny (yellow) lately...so BOOM! Yellow it is! (think the bit of color I got last weekend really lifted my mood--gotta love that Vitamin D)

I didn't do my Henna last weekend, will probably do it this weekend. Going to use it a chance to experiment different REAL tattoo locations on my bod. Like, on my hand in between my wrist and thumb, on the back of my neck, and a goofy spot on my foot....these are locations I'm toying with for the month of August when I get my real ones, so I can play around now...CAN'T WAIT!!!

I also am procrastinating on packing my hospital bag, for me & P, and then an outfit for the baby. This is like the hardest thing I've had to do. I don't know WTH I need, I have lists that various books and magazines have given me...but I don't know, I just feel uncomfortable, and intimidated by this task. But I will have it finished this weekend. (Any tips from you mama's out there would rock too!)

Other than that...just chilling out this weekend, doing laundry and cleaning bottles and such...Also a BBQ with some good ol' friends that sadly, we haven't seen in a while. Should be fun!

Have a great weekend everyone!

32 Weeks and just jammin' out

LOVE my new headphones!! Hope the Baby does too!
*editors note- This pic was taken at 32 weeks, this Friday I'll be 34 weeks.

Back from a hiatus

Hello blog-world. Been awhile, and if anyone missed us, I apologize! There hasn't been a shortage of blog-material happening, that's for sure, but there's been a shortage of time, and a shortage of will. I will recap a few of the highlighted moments that have been happening, but I tell ya what...We may not continue this blog much longer, I think we have more fun living life, rather than writing about it. I suppose if I participated in the 'Wordless Wednesdays' and 'Thankful Thursdays', etc., then I would have a desire to hop online and have some fun...so maybe I'll begin doing that. I just usually take to facebook to quickly summarize each day...so who knows...we will see.

**Two Saturdays ago (5-15-10) we had my baby shower at my mom's house, thrown by my mom, sister, and MIL. It was a success I'd say! (A few pictures to follow) It started at 1pm and ended at 1am. Although, I had to disappear and TRY to nap around 10:30pm, finally getting fed up with my father and his sound system, I left to head home around 12:45. I simply couldn't stay awake any longer!! We got a ton of great presents and I'd say that being surprised by the sex definitely worked in our benefit...we received every big-ticket item that we desired plus a TON (read:FOUR) handmade blankets, 2 diaper cakes, and our personal fav, some little soccer shoes!! All in All, we had a blast and I loved sharing it with our closest friends!

**Patrick recently received a nice raise at work, FINALLY, although that hasn't hindered his efforts to get a different, 9-5 gig...but for the time being, the timing couldn't be better!!!

**I am officially 32 weeks pregnant, which leaves us 8 to go!!! Whoo Hooo!!! I simply cannot wait. It's no secret that for me, pregnancy isn't the funnest event around, so I will be sooo happy when we have our little friend in our hands to hold...but daydreaming, and feeling the little one all day long will suffice for now :)

**We had to call the local police recently for the first time in our lives, over a domestic assault situation courtesy of our White Trash neighbors. Sigh. Knowing a policeman on the force is helpful, but it is RIDICULOUS how much power they really don't have. She won't leave him, or press charges and there's nothing the police can do. Awesome. So happy to be raising a child in this environment. Thankfully they are only renters and I'm working every avenue to have them evicted. Wish us luck.

Okay...I'm thinking that's a nice quick recap of some things that have been happening on the homefront. I will try to keep this blog up-to-date, I know so many of you are anticipating our next entry! HaHa!! Have a great Memorial Day Weekend everyone!! Due to Patrick's work schedule, St. Louis' summer heat wave, and sleeping conditions, we are unable to participate in the camping festivites with our friends this year. We will miss that so much. But however you chose to celebrate, have fun and be careful out there!!!

For Our Nature Baby

So, as some of you may know, we did not (and won't) find out the sex of the baby. Our theme is nature...and this weekend we really stepped it up! Lots of planting and watering happened to decorate the room, and it was much fun!

Also, we are trying our hand at another Betta fish. Last year, in July, the hubster had to go out of town for a week, leaving me with the one-day old fish. I killed it. I guess...since I was the only one home. But really, we didn't realize we had to condition the water for the little guy. Whoops. So this time, we really did our research and bought a little baby Betta. He's blue and oh-so-handsome!! Finally, I'm able to use our hanging Betta bowl! Check the pics from our exciting weekend!!

Is that the baby?-Or are you just happy to see me?

Both!!

Okay, so this is a quick, not well-thought out blog, but I gotta post it!! As we speak, I'm sitting on the couch, browsing the net waiting for my brownies to bake, and I feel a kick or a punch. But something catches me eye. My tummy is actually moving! I can't wait for the hubster to come home and see this!

I've heard about watching an elbow or leg move accross the belly freakishly, but I didn't realize we could see kicks!! This is so much fun.

I think the baby smells the brownies and wants some.
I will oblige.

Some Quick Things

Okay, lots on my mind, and I think I'll feel better getting it out!

~~Tomorrow I am 27 weeks!! That seems so close. And so far away. AAHHH. Also, it seemed to have been going a little quicker before, but now we've just reached a stand-still. I'm guessing that's because we are super anticipative. (Is that a word?) So time always crawls in those situations.

~~Patrick finally felt the baby kick this week! It's so fun. He would leave his hand on my belly in the evenings while winding down and as soon as he'd remove it, BOOM, KICK/PUNCH! And so now he says the baby is stubborn like it's mama. :( :) Whatev!

~~Monday we are sitting with the photographer to finalize our wedding album. Finally! With the selling of the house (read: TRYING) and the baby and yada yada, I never took action, but we've picked our prints and hope to see an almost-finished album next week!

~~My Friend Anna, over-there on the left of the page (Companion to the Wind)...((I can't link!!!) has asked once and reminded me once to get my Ultrasound pics emailed out/posted to our group of friends. DUH! Soooo, I wrote it on a post-it (that I didn't invent) and will make the hubster set up our scanner TONIGHT!!! I will do this mama, promise!!

~~The weather here in the Lou has been amazing, so we really enjoyed ourselves last night BBQ'n with our good friends, Z and N. Over-there on the left of the page (Life of a Flat Foot Floozy)...((I can't link!!--HELP)) I can't wait for more summer BBQ's with good people!

~~I'm trying to get better with leaving blog love (comments) and tonight after work I left TWO comments on TWO blogs, (that I can't link to) and they didn't show up. BUMMER!!!

~~I think that's it...we've got some family-time to be catchin' up on this weekend, so Saturday, My mama's house, then Sunday, His mama's house. I'm sure I'll have a nice blog on Sunday!!

***EDITORS NOTE*** There will be no Ultrasound scanning work tonight. We got kicked outta the house for a showing, so our evening plan was thrown a curveball. Maybe tomorrow!!!

Until Then.

Cards Home Opener 2010

Sooo, I've been to every home opener (never with tickets) for like 10 years now, if not longer. It's a tradition and it's always fun to get a group together and party hearty!! Even if I was the DD, it was a blast and so many people told me I was trooper. Secretly, I was in heaven~~didn't feel like a chore at all!! And my favorite part...I got to sport my "future Cardinals fan" belly t-shirt. :)

Cabin Time!!

Happy Weekend everyone!! We took some time out of our busy schedule to head to my parent's lake house this weekend. Here in St. Louis, most people hear me say "we are heading to our lake house" and they (rightfully so) assume I mean a house at THE Lake of the Ozarks. This is not true, so I will call our lake house, The Cabin. My mom's family owns the cabin in the middle of nowhere on a private 90 acre lake. I believe her and my dad and her siblings purchased this when I was around 5. Essentially-this has been my 2nd home since I can remember. I learned to swim here, build a bonfire, hunt for fossils with my cousins...leaving none for my children to find. :( But I'm sure they will create their own fun, to which they can blog about 25 years later!! I've actually convinced my immediate family to take about 4 or 5 days this summer while I'm on maternity leave, to "live" there. I will have to wait until the baby is more than a couple of weeks old, but I've got 13 weeks off work and we would love nothing more to bond with our baby surrounded by Mother Nature.

The serenity of the place is amazing, and literally noone, NOONE, could find us if they had to. (Which could sometimes be scary if a family member needed medical attention). In fact, I recall a few years back, an Uncle went down alone to cut some trees and do some fishing, and my mom called him at the end of the weekend to see how it went. He never answered his phone and so my mom was worried. She called the closest county's police station to head to our cabin and check on him. That was the biggest clusterf*ck...we don't even have an address. It's off a dirt road, then turn by the big tree, then down the hidden hill. :) Turns out said Uncle was at the casino enjoying a few beers watching a Cardinals playoff win after his long weekend at the cabin. Whoops.

Anyhow..the cabin is used mainly in the spring/summer/fall time, we never go down during winter b/c there isn't much to do. We use this cabin for outdoor activities. Swimming, bonfires, BBQin', horseshoein', fishing, blaring music and dancing like gypsies. (well, me at least). This weekend was our first trip of the year, we had to de-winterize it, and while it got super hot..the water was waaaay too chilly to take a dip. So....music, fishing, BBQ and bonfires it was~not necessarily in that order!

Checkin' In...

Whoa! It's so hard to blog. I didn't realize how busy I am. I suppose if my company didn't block blogger, then I could keep up more. I'm a crappy blogger, and a crappy commenter. I am just crap. ;) My apologies!!

Tonight we relaxed and bbq'd and I was able to take a few more pics of our baby's room's progress. Pictures of the gorgeous view off of our deck are attached too. I Love Spring!!

~~Note: The walking stick that is shown below has a cute-to-us story. I'd like to share. About 2 years ago, Patrick and I were on one of our many walks together through a local park. We had recently experienced a storm that had knocked lots of loose branches off of the trees along the path. I fell in love with one of them. Claiming that I could wrap tons of different types of fabric all around it and make it a festival-walking stick. (I saw some diiirty hippie dude with one at Rothbury and really wanted to make one of my own) Patrick was right when he said it would be too heavy to carry as a walking stick, and he wasn't too keen on the idea of carrying this stick around for the rest of our walk, and though I begged, literally, I got over it. We continued on...no stick in tow.

Two days later I came home to THE STICK. He got in his truck, retraced our path, found my stick and brought it home. (I love him!) So, walking stick idea out...we decided to save the stick and coat the puppy in about 6 coats of polyurithane. (My parents have a log that is also polurithaned that is special to them) Now the stick was perserved for a lifetime. But we didn't know what to do with it, so it was a corner piece in our living room for awhile. Now that the baby's sex is going to be a surprise, and we've decided on a Nature Theme for it's room, the stick makes perfect sense to be a staple in that room. Check out how the hubster purchased some twine, and hung this baby...for the baby!!

Gorgeous Spring Afternoon here in the Midwest!

Guest Blog #6 "Hope everyone had a great easter"

Hello everyone, we hope you had a great easter with your families, I cut my nose shaving, and friends. We had a great day, this post is a little late so most of you have forgot about easter by now but I am a busy guy and sometimes I forget to do things. There is no reason you need to re-read the first sentence because I am going to ellaborate on the embarassing situation that unfolded 15 minutes before we had to be at church.
So there I was, shaving my mug like all men have to do or have had to do at one time. It seems easy enough since I have been shaving since the sixth grade, you would think that I would have mastered it by now. I guess I got cocky, as I was finishing up I saw a couple of repelling ropes hanging from my nose, you may refer to them as nose hair. Instead of doing the smart thing, which would be reach into the closet were I have the exact tool to take care of these eye magnets, I decided to stick the straight razor up my shnoz and start chopping away. As I was taking the curves of my nose like a formula 1 racer all of a sudden i pulled the razor out along with a stream of blood. Now, I thought I cut the inside. Nope I cut the EFFing tip of my Effing nose. What The Shit? So as we are scrambling to get to church I have blood dripping off the end of my nose, not a good situation. Picture yourself, your husband, or your boy friend with those little pieces of toilet paper on their face where they have cut themselves shaving. Now picture me, with said piece of toilet paper on the tip of my EFing nose. Eventually it stopped bleeding and Easter was fine but sometimes I feel like I should kick my own ass for being dumb. Good thing I'm not limber. Don't mind the spelling or typos I didn't proof read it and Kelly (sp) is slaving for the man, so she can't correct my mistakes.

I am a Fool

Happy April Fool's Day ya'll!! I love love love this day. Or at least I used to when I was younger. It feels I'm too busy for such non-sense now. Ba-humbug! I didn't even think of anyone to punk today. Makes me sad. I was totally aware of jokes being played on other people, so it's not as if I just 'forgot' about the day.

Perhaps I just have too much trust placed in my husband.

Dumb.

I need to fill you guys in real quick on what the topic of our texts is about exactly, and because I know that none of you know who Gary is, I will explain. Gary is a mouse that Patrick found in his shop's trashcan a little over a week ago. (Patrick names all animals Gary, as a funny aside). Anyhow, Somehow this critter managed to get onto Patrick's workbench and fall into the trashcan. Patrick heard some rumbling around and found Gary. They hung out all day, and Patrick even fed his little buddy some chips that he had for lunch. (Sad, I know) Anyhow, at the end of the day, Patrick freed his little buddy in some brush behind his building and that was the last we'd know of Gary.

Until today.
Here are the text messages exchanged between Patrick and I this morning.

Patrick: Gary's back, and he brought a friend.

Me: OMG! TWO in the shop? GROSS. R u sure it's the same one?

Patrick: How am I supposed to know?

Me: Well u said. You can't have them run around ur store, customers will freak out! Maybe now you will clean that shop.

Patrick: Suck it. They're in the trashcan.

Me: Unreal. How do they get in, and then go to the trashcan? Weird. BUT what if they run out while someones in the store? What if they make babies?

Patrick: I need mousetraps.

Me: Don't kill 'em.

Patrick: Oh, let me get my flute and I'll serinade them out like the pied piper.

Me: He He.

FIFTEEN MINUTES PASS.

Patrick: I smashed them with a hammer.

Me: OMG. You r evil and disgusting. I can't believe it.

Me: Swear?

Patrick: mm hmmm

Patrick: APRIL FOOL'S! HA HA HA HA HAAAA!

Me: OMG. I hate you even more. At least I have a blog topic now, butt.

Patrick: I let them outside. But if I see more than 3 at once i'm getting traps.

Me: Fair.



AND THAT, my friends, is a normal day at the office between he and I. I love this kid...but he gets me everytime.

Anyone have a funny April Fool's story--I'd love to hear it!!

Healthcare...

I kind of swore-off political posts for this blog. BUT...this is kind of a big deal. (Just ask the V.Pres) Ha!~~Anyhow, I will say that the healthcare industry could use some help, but this isn't really the help I envisioned. What did I envision you ask??--Well, that's not up to me to create. That's for our elected officials to do. To come up with a plan that the majority of Americans agree with. Not vice versa.

I do not know a Jake Fox. But his recent facebook post is being copy/pasted all over facebook today, I took the liberty of posting it here, for you. It's kind of a humorous blurb of what I been thinking...

"We've passed a health care plan written by a committee whose chairman says he doesn't understand it, passed by a congress that exempts themselves from it, signed by a president who smokes, with funding administered by a treasury chief who didnt pay his taxes, all to be overseen by a surgeon general...who is obese, and ...financed by a country that's broke. What could possibly go wrong?" -Jake Fox

Guest Blog #5 "St. Patrick's Day To-Do List"

This being one of my favorite holidays and being part Irish, over the years I have compiled a check list of things I must accomplish on St. Patrick's Day. Actually, from the parade on Saturday up until St. Paddy's Day. You're probably wondering what criteria a holiday must have to be one of my favorites. It's easy, lots of drinking and lots of eating. So here goes the list of St. Me Day accomplishments, feel free to compare it to your own and/or read it with an Irish accent:

1. Participate in a parade run. Check

2. Drink my weight in Guiness. Check

3. Eat enough corned beef and cabbage/ruebens to fumigate an office building with my ass. Check. Sorry Kelly (sp)

4. Talk with an Irish accent until I annoy even myself. Check

5. When someone asks "How you doin'?" Reply, "Irish I were drunker". Check

6. Watch Boondock Saints (I & II) and wish I was one of the brothers. Check

7. Pretend I know the words to O' Danny Boy and sing it loudly. Check

8. Dig out all of the St. Paddy's Day garb for the wifey. Check

And best of all:
9. Get really, really, super sauced. CHEERS!

There it is, The List. It is however, subject to modification as I see fit because sometimes when I'm drunk I think of and do really awesome stuff, just ask me. You can tell me your top thing to do for St. Paddy's Day and maybe I'll add it to my list next year. Happy St. Me Day everybody.

Body Movin' Body Movin'

I can't help but sing this Beastie Boys song while FEELING MY BABY MOVE.
Sing with me! Baby Movin' Baby Movin'.
Catchy huh?
I sure think it is!!

Finally...I'll be 22 weeks tomorrow, but at 21.5 weeks into my first pregnancy I felt my love move. I scare when I can't feel it, but then I realize the poor thing's gotta sleep too! I am convinced though, while singing to Steve Miller on my way home from work, that it was dancin' a bit.

Baby Movin' Baby Movin'

Baby Prep!!!

Well, it's been a crazy-busy week, but we are making some progress I tell ya!!

To catch some of you up to speed, our condo has been on the market for 6 mos with no luck in selling. :( We placed it on the market before we got pregnant, with the hope of selling in time to start our new family in a new home. Well. The. Market. Sucks. We aren't in a terrible situation b/c I purchased a two-bedroom before we got engaged, so there is room for the baby and us. I just want a yard, and a basement, and a garage, etc. We want a home, not a house. But if we have to raise our baby for a year or so in this house, I'll be damned if we don't make it a home. The current plan is to keep it on the market for another 6 mos and then if it doesn't sell, take it off and enjoy our new family for a year, then put it back on. Sigh.

Okay, now the fun stuff. We received an antique-like Radio Flyer Red Wagon about a month back. My incredible husband decided to clean this puppy up, get rid of the rust and give it a new look. He did amazing, I am so proud of him.

Next, my Aunt and Uncle gifted us a Circa 1984 Bassett babyroom set. Complete with two dressers, (one with a mirror), a changing table and the crib. I'm in love. They are my godparents, and I babysat in the summers for my two cousins who both used this set. It's just neat all around.

NOTE** I have to brag a bit on my husband. Watching his handy-work in action, the care in his hands, and the smile on his face when doing all of these projects this week has made me so damn proud to go through life with him. I knew him while I was in a previous relationship and if I wasn't with him now, I would be so sad. I'm very lucky.

So without further ado, here are of some of the projects that we've completed this past week. I would have added some before's of the wagon, b/c it was a mess of dirt and rust and spider eggs, but blogger is saying I'm over my limit, so try to use your imagination! ~~And a little shout-out to my Brother and Sister and Parents for helping move the stuff and assemble all day yesterday. I got a pic of the 'help' in progress--and my bro set the mirror up so I could be in it too!! Aww! Also, the changing table isn't in the pictures b/c of bloggers size problem. Bummer!