Sarcasm in a Skirt

I needed a change

2009-07-20T23:17:00.000-05:00

I've been considering a blog move for awhile now. I pretty much knew I wanted to move to wordpress. I just like the layout better, I know its a little more restricted but eh..I'm ok with that. The only thing holding me up was the fact that I'm really not wild about my blog name. I don't know how to explain it, it just doesn't feel right. So anyway until I get that figured out I'm over here http://sarcasminaskirt.wordpress.com/ . I hope that if you were following me here you'll come follow me there.

Jen

Chase - Month 1

2009-06-21T21:17:00.000-05:00

Chase

I waited for you for 8 months, I waited on pins and needles, I waited impatiently, and then I wasn't in the slightest bit ready. I should have seen the signs that day. I should have seen it (well you) coming. I hadn't felt well for a few days. All day I had been having trouble breathing, you were not so kind to my organs. I was starting to panic because your room wasn't completely ready. I managed to paint my toenails because I was tired of having ugly feet. It was NOT easy to reach my feet trust me. The real sign however, the one that should have "turned on the lightbulb", was the mopping of the floor. You will learn quickly that I'm more than just a little challenged when it comes to all things domestic.

Your dad was out playing golf with a co-worker who was visiting town. I had just finished putting together your pack-and-play. I thought perhaps I should lay down for awhile just in case your dad brought home company for supper. I had just gotten comfortable on the couch with my piles of pillows and blankets when I realized I had to go to the bathroom. I was beyond annoyed with you just then because really getting comfortable was a process at that point. I'll spare you the gritty details but I quickly realized that I didn't in fact have to go the bathroom but that my water had broke. If you have ever seen the movie Austin Powers consider the scene after he "wakes up" from being frozen. Lets just say I had a few minutes to collect my thoughts while sitting there. I remember repeating to myself "holy shit...I'm not ready...oh crap".

The tricky part was calling your dad, he was still golfing see. Now your dad has a tendency to overreact sometimes so I knew I had to be careful. I called and just told him that I thought my water had broke and that he should probably come home so we could go to the hospital and have it checked out. I didn't find out until later that he had left his friend on the 9th tee, seriously he just left him at the course. I'm still not sure exactly how he got back to his hotel. Maybe next month I'll tell you all about the shenanigans at the hospital.

It doesn't seem possible that you've been here for a whole month. Its kind of been a whirlwind. Next week will actually be the first time you and I spend any real time alone. Your first few days at home were not easy. The nurses desk at the hospital called not 2 hours after we had got you home to tell us that we had to bring you back the next day for blood tests. It seemed that you were a bit jaundiced. We continued these daily trips for blood tests for 5 days. As if that wasn't bad enough we had the bili blanket to contend with. Let me just say you did not like that thing and you made that pretty clear to us. Dad stayed home with us that first week then it was up to the Grandma's. Lets just say that at this point I'm looking forward to having you to myself.

The first thing people tell you when you're going to have a baby is how much it will change your life, and rightly so, you have completely changed our lives. I've had plenty of people tell me that I'm the most laid back new mom they've ever seen and I think they are right, I feel pretty laid back with you. You make it really easy, you really are a good baby. Thats not to say you don't have your moments but I always (almost) know what the problem is. You have no patience and unfortunately my temper when you aren't getting what you want. You get the hiccups all the time and you sound like a little bird. Last week I had to put away a couple of your sleepers, tonight after your bath I had to put away three more. I cried. You looked so big as I sat there rocking you to sleep. I know its only been a month but to me its been an eternity. I love you with all the pieces of my heart.

Love
Mama

A Father's Love - For Mike (and Heather too)

2009-06-21T00:01:00.010-05:00

Today is a pretty big day around here, today this little guy turns 1 month old...

today this guy is celebrating his first Father's Day as something more than someone's son...

and today this guy is missing his little girl...

I don't think I could find the words to describe the thousands of emotions that I have swirling around my head right now if I sat here all night trying. I simply can't imagine how hard today (and everyday) will be for Mike and his family. It breaks my heart that all I can do is send my love through the wires and hope that it offers a fraction of peace.

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(the following piece was written by Dawn (@kaisermommy) of KaiserAlex. If you didn't already know, she is teh awesome and I'm so glad to call her a friend)

Sometimes, the best we can do is share a person's experience and let them know we have their back. That while we may not how they feel, we recognize that there are days that are just going to suck beyond the telling of it.

So today we celebrate firsts. Just a very few of Maddie's firsts from the Spohr family flickr photostream:

First time being held by daddy

First time being held by mommy

Chillin' after the first bath

First Christmas

First Sunshine, First Car Ride

First nap when a totally embarrassing picture of Mike was taken

First Baseball Game

We celebrate all the joyous firsts with you, and stand guard over you for all the firsts to come. The Women of Room 704.

Leave some love for Mike here or over at Room 704.

The one in which I don't talk about the baby

2009-06-16T20:09:00.000-05:00

So I was talking with a friend today and I have realized that the rest of my summer is JAM PACKED I mean freaking busy busy busy. This is a small list of things that we/I have going on...
*One last baby shower
*Fourth of July (which at my house is the biggest holiday of the year)
*Blogher (OMG its getting fracking close)
*Baby's Baptism (ok so one mention of aforementioned baby)
*A trip to the Harry Potter exhibit in Chicago
*Trip to Vegas
and this is all going to happen by September 15th - HOLY CRAP!!!

All of this has me freaking out a little bit for the following reasons....
*when am I going to get my "house to-do" list accomplished
*I need to shop for Blogher and Vegas (my post baby size is actually slightly smaller than pre baby size, a good problem to have but a problem none the less) (shit second baby mention)
*but most of all...good god I hope we can afford all of this with having a new baby and me not working....

I'm just going to tackle one thing at a time, and perhaps I will need to start my prozac again.

Random Tuesday Thoughts - Baby Baby Baby

2009-06-09T21:55:00.001-05:00

First of all a great big thanks to all the comments and emails I got after my last post. It was all exactly what I needed to hear. On to the randomness...(You should be warned before going further than since I have a 2 and a half week old there is not much on mai brain that isn't baby related)

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I have never known a baby who can burp and fart as loud as mine. It is apparent that he is already "all boy" and more like his dad than I could have imagined. I'm just waiting for him to realize that these noises are funny and to follow the obnoxiousness with giggles.
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I have also realized that formula burps smell worse than poopy diapers and somehow the really juicy ones always get blown right in my face.
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Admittedly I am one of those girls I used to call bad names. After two weeks I was 10 lbs under the weight I was when I got pregnant. Some friends of my mom's were commenting on how good I looked and mom mentioned that I was actually lighter than before getting pregnant and one woman said "yeah you look so skinny...I mean you were a little heftier before right". Umm ok thanks I think....
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Some friends of my in-laws were discussing with me things you do differently with second children and how "less careful" you are. What does it say about me that I don't do any of the "overly cautious" things with my first baby. Lord my second baby is screwed!

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I put some new pictures in the online album if anyone wants to go look :)

Baby Chase

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I swear I started this post this morning it just took me all day to get what little is here done. I'm such a blog slacker - yikes!

My Very Own Catholic Guilt

2009-06-04T00:11:00.000-05:00

**Sidebar (yes before we even begin) - This is in no way meant to offend any of my Catholic readers. My very best friends in the world are Catholic. I, myself, am not religious and more specifically have some issues with the "rules" of being Catholic but that is neither here nor there. My best friend often blames her guilt on being Catholic and in turn when I'm feeling guilty she claims to be "rubbing off on me". Seriously I mean no offense. **

So I haven't posted in awhile and while a big part of that is because of this new baby, there is another slightly less obvious reason. I have been over-the-freaking-moon happy for the past two weeks. Exactly two weeks ago I was hours away from meeting my little Chase. Ever since he was finally freed from my tummy I have been delirious. Ok I have had two slightly embarrassing "freak-outs" but that's to be expected right? Anyway the point is I have been super happy and its all this happy shit that leaves me feeling guilty...confused...allow me to explain.

You see right now my life is pretty f'in perfect. I have a fantastic husband. He has been so great about taking care of me (he was through the whole pregnancy, especially the end), he loves his son and loves spending time with him (including the unfun tasks like diapers) and he is just generally a really good person. I have a really nice house full of nice things. I have the ability to be a stay-at-home-mom without too much worry about finances. I have a brand new healthy beautiful baby, on top of that he is what you would call a good baby. I could go on but the point is I don't want for much physically or emotionally. and that makes me feel guilty.

I know way to many people in real life and online who can't get pregnant with the babies they deserve, others who have lost those precious babies. I went to visit my old office today with the baby so a few people could meet him. I saw the look of pain on my former co-workers face as I carried him in. She carried her little girl for nine months only to lose her during labor. I know she doesn't begrudge me my happiness but all the same I felt like I may as well have stabbed her in the heart.

So anyways I'm just struggling right now with how to write posts about all my happy without feeling like I'm pouring salt in the wounds of my friends who aren't. Don't abandon my little blog forever I'll get back to regular posting soon.

Love to all!

My Monkey

2009-05-26T21:24:00.000-05:00

My Monkey,

Oh my sweet beautiful boy. Ok, so technically, you are still cooking in Mommy, but I just know you’ll be beautiful (ok, ok, handsome… sheesh). After all, there are no ugly babies- ok there are some unfortunate looking ones, but no truly ugly ones. Ok off topic here. Back to you- My Monkey. I haven’t known your Mommy for long, but it feels as if we’ve been friends forever (stop rolling your eyes at the cliché) so of course I’ll be writing letters to you. This letter is full of my hopes and dreams for you.

I hope you know how loved you are. Not only by your Mommy and Daddy, but by me as well. I’ll always be the cool Aunt B with the pink hair. I’ll be the one you call when Mommy and Daddy say no (and you so desperately want a different answer). I’ll be the one to take you to concerts and tell you silly stories. You will always know you are loved.

It is my dream that you find what makes you happy and you do it forever. I hope nothing holds you back and everything helps you move forward. My dream is that you know I will support you in whatever it is that you want to do. Although I promise to be honest if I think it’s a crazy idea. But I’ll support you anyways.

My hope is that you find wonder and amazement in everything you do. I hope that the stars shine extra bright for you. I hope that simple things fascinate you and that you never lose your interesting for falling leaves and chasing lizards. I hope you always love puppy kisses and playing barefoot in the grass.

I hope you are full of mischief (sorry Jen) and smiles; superhero capes and bed time stories; baby breath and toddler cheeks. I hope you love reading and the smell of the salty ocean air. I hope you love skipping rocks and alliteration (I couldn’t help it).

You haven’t been born yet my Monkey, but you are soon on the way. Know that even before I have seen your handsome face, I am totally and completely in love with you. I am amazed at my capacity of love; amazed at my adoration of you, my Monkey. But most of all, I hope you know how much you are loved.

Love,

Aunt B

A Baby is Born

2009-05-23T16:53:00.000-05:00

There is just so much to say and I don't even know where to begin. There are so many feelings and emotions and snippets of time from the past 3 days that I want to lock away in a box so I will never forget them. My mind is still a bit of a jumbled mess from all of it honestly so I'll work on some more "in depth" writing in the next week or so.

Introducing Chase
Born May 21, 5:54 am via c-section
8lbs 13 oz (although suprisingly not chubby just very long)
22 in long
perfect in every way imaginable.

Random Tuesday Thoughts - Holy Shitto Batman

2009-05-12T13:33:00.000-05:00

By now you know the drill...its Tueday and that means it's time for Random Thoughts. Enjoy these and then (if you haven't already) head over to Keely's place to check out everyone else's.
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So its been a while since I have posted, I would apologize but really what for, I haven't really had anything of note to say so....Honestly twitter has been my fixation for a few weeks, if you really want to know whats been going on check out my twitter stream. And follow me if you aren't already, I'll follow back.
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Today I hit the official 36 week mark of this never-ending pregnancy. The kicker is I could be further along than that, they really can't tell. Pretty much I think I could go at any time and they wouldn't be concerned. The real kicker is I am begging this baby to give me at least another week and a half. I'm just not ready.
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Today marks my second day of "not working". Last Friday was my last day of work and I couldn't be happier about that. I'm not sure how long I will last as a stay at home mom but I do know that I don't ever have to go back to the hell hole I was calling a job before this.
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There isn't a whole lot that will piss me off more than finding fresh cat poop on my brand new kick-n-crawl toy (that I just freaking unwrapped) all because my husband things that once a week-or-so cleanings of the cat litter is plenty. The thing is he won't let me change it because you know pregnant people aren't supposed to but he had no problem letting me clean up the poopy mess. Thank god toys designed for babies are easy to clean.
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Just to see what would happen I pulled down my favorite pair of pre-maternity jeans the other day and slipped them on. They fit all but buttoning, I'm considering this a massive victory for me. Say what you will but I'm somewhat vain and losing this baby weight is going to be a big deal for me so that made my freakin month.
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The baby's room is nearing completion finally, all thats really left to do is get the closet organizer in and rearrange the furniture a bit and get the wall decor hung up. The room is filling up fast with stuff and yet when I look at the "must have" list on my registry guide I feel like there is a ton of shit I don't have yet. Arg! Also, having a car seat in my car just feels frickin weird.
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Why I Love Bad Weather

2009-05-04T10:40:00.001-05:00

I used to love a good thunderstorm just because I liked to watch the lightning and the sound of the rain on the windows. My love for storms has only increased in the past four years only these days I get seriously annoyed if the storm fails to produce a power outage. Now before you go all ape shit on me and call me sadistic understand this, when the lights go out so does my husband. He works for the power company as an electrical lineman. Power outages equal overtime at my house and yeah we like the overtime.

The drawback is that I worry about him when he is working storm damage, it is generally not the safest conditions to be working in. In late January this year a big portion of the midwest was hit with a vicious ice storm and Ryan went to work.

Ryan is one of those rare individuals who not only loves the job he does but takes great pride in his work. He doesn't mind working 16-18 hour days because of the adrenaline rush it gives him to "turn the lights back on". I know it can be very frustrating to be a customer out of power but please try to remember that it takes more than just "flipping a switch" or "reconnecting a line" and trust me being snotty with the lineworkers is going to get your house pushed to the back of the list .

Now here are some pictures for you to enjoy :)

Randome Tuesday Thoughts

2009-04-21T07:36:00.000-05:00

I have been rather blank lately, even my random thoughts are few and far between. This saddens me.
Recently it feels like the baby is trying to stick an arm out, I'm not sure why, maybe to test the weather. I wish there was a way I could tell him that yes it is in fact warming up but until you are ready to come all the way out keep your arms inside the vehicle currently known as my uterus. kthnxbai!
As many of you know I am leaving work after the baby to be a SAHM. The person taking my job is mostly doing so because they think that I do nothing all day. Why is it that this person believes I should dedicate 6 hours a day for the next three weeks training them. Something does not compute.
I'm confused by the Miss USA controversy. So the girl from California doesn't believe in gay marriage, its not like she said they should be burned at the stake. Perhaps she isn't against civil unions. I for one am all for it either way, however there are lots of things that are legal that I don't care for, thats the beauty of being allowed an opinion. Am I being dumb???
I used to be a big fan of celebrity gossip magazines and blogs, that is until they started to consider Spencer and Heidi to be the biggest news available. Sorry....just no....I do not care an iota about them.
It's only 7:30 and yet I feel like today is going to be one of those days where I limit my spoken words to as few as possible because my filter is on the brink of being completely broken.

Head over to Keely's place and check out all the other random thoughts as admittedly mine aren't all that great today...

My Top Ten

2009-04-17T10:52:00.002-05:00

Today Sam wrote a post about her top ten celebrity list, you know the 10 celebs she is totally allowed to cheat on her husband with should the opportunity arise. I mean you just never know when you are going to run into someone in a gas station bathroom...wait...ummm....moving on. Anyway I decided after looking at her "man candy" that I wanted to post my own. So here goes, here is mai list...swoooooon.

We will begin with what I call my tri-fecta. For the past 10 years these three men have graced the top spots, I'm seriously doubting that this will ever change. I DO NOT care that they are old enough to be my father or grandfather even. It does not matter. I would leave my husband every day of the damn week for any of them. (ok perhaps I wouldn't LEAVE him but dude you know what I mean)

Dennis Quaid - its all in the smile, it makes me friggin melt on the spot

Harrison Ford - holy lord with the ruggedness...Six Days, Seven Nights best movie evah

Kevin Costner - umm The Bodyguard, For Love of the Game, The Guardian...holy freakin hotness

And here is the rest of the list, most of these have been here for ages but they have a better chance of being bumped, so to speak, than the top three.

Gary Allan - tatoos and a guitar...nuff said. If that wasn't enough though you should listen to his music, the songs he wrote after his wife died are so heartwrenching. Also his song "I Can Love You" was my wedding song - make me teary to this day. Do me a solid and go listen to it here.

Garth Brooks - watching him sing live just makes me happy

Sean Connery - its totally the accent, plus the fact that he just plain out kicks total ass.

JD Fortune - he may be slightly douchy but I don't care, he rocks my socks off, he is my token "boy who rocks the eyeliner" choice. Love the song "Pretty Vegas"

Josh Turner - again with the voice (I have a serious weakness for musicians I know). He is also my token "good boy" choice

Peter Berg - This may seem slightly random and I'm sure most of you don't recognize him. Truthfully the only thing I can recall seeing him in is an episode or two of Alias but hot-diggity that was enough. Something about his crooked smile just grabbed me.

Chris Mann - I'm pretty sure Chris is taking the top spot as my current music/hot guy obsession. He is a new artist for Sony and I have watched streamed videos of him "performing" at several friends houses. He is AMAZING. There just aren't words to describe how talented of a singer this guy is, his raw acoustic performances beat any "studio enhanced" performance of many of todays biggest "stars". If you haven't heard of him go check him out RIGHT NOW at chrismannmusic.com

Swear to jebus that this post took me like 3 days to write because I had to keep wiping up drool off of various keyboards...

I encourage each of you to post your Top Ten and share the link with me!

Surviving Pregnancy

2009-04-15T07:21:00.000-05:00

**Welcome to anyone who has linked over from Mom's Marbles!**

Yesterday the lovely Sarah of Ordinary Days asked me to do a guest post for Mom's Marbles. I jumped at the chance and said yes before I realized that meant I would need to put some coherent thoughts together. Let me explain why this freaked me out. I started this blog not so long ago not because I fancy myself a writer or even because I like to write for that matter. I have never really been good at putting my thoughts to paper (or screen...whatever). I started a blog because for over a year now I have been collecting some fantastic blogs in my reader and have "met" a lot of wonderful bloggers through twitter, I wanted a place to call my own where I could play with memes and throw out random thoughts. I swear to you I think in bullet points, fully constructed thoughts and paragraphs are just not my style.

If you are a regular reader (you know all 6 or so of you) head over to Mom's Marbles to check out my post, if you are coming from there I hope you'll come back to visit.

Random Tuesday - The Short Edition

2009-04-14T08:27:00.000-05:00

Let me start by saying that I currently work in a tax/accounting office and as today is the day before Tax Day, I have little to no time to be here writing out my random thoughts so these will be short sweet and to the point. Whats that you say....I should have planned ahead and had this post written...whatever you can go now...to those of you still with me, here we go.

I will never understand why people get so uptight as a deadline draws near, this is not a new occurance people, we do this EVERY YEAR. There is no need to be such raging lunatics.
Why is it that I just cannot get on board with Tweetdeck, it annoys me, am I the only one? Thankfully I finally found an alternative - Nambu - you can check it out at www.nambu.com. It is still in beta, but I haven't had to much trouble with it and thus far it way less annoying than tweetdeck.
I'm pretty sure the coffee pot was left on for a day and a half at my house, I'm not looking forward to trying to clean out that pot. I wasn't even the one drinking coffee, silly house guests.
At my baby shower this weekend one of Ryan's friends got him a plush deer head that hangs on the wall, made to look like a mounted deer head. His dad hung it on a nail in our kitchen. It scared the shit out of me this morning further reaffirming why a real dear will never be mounted in our house. They creep me the eff out.
Several of you asked last week if I was going to post the pictures from the 3D ultrasound, please see my previous post for those and some more baby updates.

Seriously thats all I have my mind is blank today. Visit Keely's place for more randomness.

**I'm wearing purple today in honor of Maddie. If you know who I'm talking about please keep her family in your thoughts, if you don't go to www.remembermaddie.com or www.marchformaddie.com**

Baby Update

2009-04-13T20:48:00.002-05:00

Well tomorrow marks the 32nd week mark of the pregnancy, we are inching closer and closer people. I would say I'm as scared as I can get but since I'm still anxious to have him here I'm guessing that my fear will grow even larger.

At any rate we had our first baby shower this weekend and good cripes did baby get some serious loot. I can't believe this is shower 1 of 4. It was seriously the best baby shower I've ever attended and not just because it was mine either. It was a couples shower and the guys hung out outside drinking beer, the gals were inside drinking wine (except me). We ate together and opened gifts and had some seriously tasty cupcakes. No stress, no games, just a very relaxing night with friends and family.

In other baby news I finally had my 3D/4D ultrasound last week. So worth the money! It was incredible the detail you could see and even my skeptical husband had a really good time.

Here are some pictures I wanted to share...

The Baby :)

according to this picture he is going to look just like his daddy...

but at least he has my "alien" fingers...

here is a video of him yawning...wow with the cuteness (at least to me)

From Baby's Ultrasound

Here are some pics from the baby's room...

here is the loot from teh party...

umm yes that is a plush deer head...yes it will be hung on the wall...no I do not and will not allow a real on in my house...moving on...

here are some pictures of his current clothes collection...

I realize this is a completely superficial post but in light of all the saddness going on around the interwebz this week and last I needed something to cheer me up.

If you haven't already donated to March of Dimes and have a few dollars to spare I would appreciate any help I can get in working towards my goal.

An Unspeakable Loss

2009-04-08T17:28:00.000-05:00

Sometimes there just aren't words to express the depth of emotion one is feeling. Today is most definitely one of those days. Last night we lost a precious girl whose time here was far too short.

That precious face inspired and touched more hearts than one could possibly imagine. I may not have ever held her in my arms or heard her sweet giggle in person but I knew her and I feel the loss all the same.

I can only hope that once the heartache has lessened we will all remember to live the way the Maddie did, to the fullest extent possible.

The outpouring of love shown via Maddie's "internet" friends today has been truly amazing. Over $9,000 has been donated thus far today in Maddie's honor at March of Dimes. Let's keep going...

Random Tuesday Thoughts...Things I Don't Understand

2009-04-06T20:37:00.000-05:00

All right boys and girls here we go...this week we are going to focus on things that not only do I not understand but also annoy me...lets get started...

For the life of me I DO NOT understand the obsession with Brad Pitt. I can appreciate that he is a decent actor and yes he does a lot of humanitarian work - ok points for him. I do not however think it is necessary to worship the ground he walks on. I do not think he is cute in any way shape or form, usually he looks dirty. While we're on the subject why is it that people only hate on Angelina Jolie for the whole "marriage breakup", last I checked it still took two people.
Since we're on the subject of celebrities already here's another that I just don't get - Brittany F'ing Spears. First of all she is really nothing more than a pretty girl who can dance really good. She can't actually sing and I'm pretty sure she isn't writing her own songs. Why do people hate Miley Cyrus because she "might" be the next Brittany Spears but they don't actually hate Brittany herself - weird.
Toilet Splatter - this is like a scientific phenomenon that I just do not understand. I have had to witness it first hand twice in the past week (in public bathrooms, not my own). I understand the occasional "explosive poo" but for god's sake how does one get it to splatter the back of the toilet. Today's encounter made it all to obvious that the offender was a "squatter" WTF. Personally I'm not a squatter so whatever but if you have to go number 2 and you know it isn't going to be solid (and usually you can tell) why the hell would you try to squat? Moving on...
I'm scheduled to have a 3D/4D ultrasound on Thursday. When I made the appointment they receptionist told me to drink plenty of water for 3-4 days before hand. Stupid woman, by telling me to drink water all she did was make water that much less desireable. I had finally gotten to the point where water didn't taste like ass and now that I'm supposed to be drinking more of it, it tastes like fruity poo again.
I was shopping for Easter presents with a friend tonight and we were looking at outfits for her two girls. I must admit that when I found out we were having a boy I was mildly disappointed that I wouldn't get to buy all the fun girl clothes. After trying to shop for her almost 7 year old I am no longer jealous. Why do stores think that 7 year olds should dress like hookers? There was a poster ad for a brand name that had a 7-8 year old girl wearing an "OK" dress although the pattern and color scheme seemed to convey more of a "grown-up" look. This small girl also had on shiny gold bejeweled gladiator sandals. The real kicker was her double banded rainbow colored headband. It did not match the outfit at all and looked as if it were placed on her head only to remind people that it was in fact a little girl. I just don't get it.
To end on a slightly less serious note I will tell you about something that happened to me yesterday. I was sitting on the couch just reading away on my google reader when the craving for an ice cream sandwich hit me. I stood up from the couch and before I could take a step the baby headbutted my bladder and nearly caused me to pee my pants. I didn't even realize I had to pee.

You should go now and check out all the other fabulous RTT participants at Keely's place.

Putting Things In Perspective

2009-03-31T20:20:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was a hard day.

Yesterday was a scary, emotionally draining day.

In the office where I work (at least for the next 38 days) there are a group of us who are all pretty tight. We keep eachother calm and sane which is a big feat in our office. Over the past year we have become eachothers support system.

Last November we had an addition to our group, she fit right in from day one and it was like she had been there the whole time. Much to my delight she was pregnant too, I had someone to share pregnancy with every day. She was 8-9 weeks ahead of me so we experienced a lot of the same things together.

Sunday she went into labor and early Monday morning she delivered a stillborn. As none of us have seen her we aren't really sure what happened or why. There are no words to describe how bad my heart aches for her. All at once I was hurting for her and scared for me and feeling selfish for thinking of myself. It helped that people actually asked me if I was ok, knowing that it probably scared me as I'm about 10 weeks from giving birth.

It's taken me hours to write this post mostly because it's just hard to think about let alone write about. I'm still having trouble sorting out my own feelings about it. All I know is that everything I had been whining about and feeling pissy about is suddenly non-existant. Everytime I feel a movement in my tummy I stop everything I'm doing and just put both hands on my stomach and think about...well I just think.

Hot by Blogher - Week 2 Challenge

2009-03-29T12:49:00.000-05:00

Exercise challenge = FAIL

Ok so maybe not a complete fail but I didn't do very good this week. I think I manged to be a little more active but it wasn't exactly exercise. I got the results of my three hour glucose test and while I passed I was very close. I'm also still dealing with some pretty icky swelling in my ankles and feet. The doctor suggestested that I cut back on my work hours after my appointment on Thursday so I'm officially off work at 2:00 every day.

The reason I was more active this week is because my mom came to visit. We didn't get out of the house to go for walks but we did get the whole house clean and a lot of organizing done. Mostly she let me with my feet up while she worked. She painted the baby's room and shampooed all my carpets. She took care of all the big stuff and let me concentrate on the smaller tasks.

On the plus side I did manage to keep the weight gain reasonable this week, I did not get the stink eye from the nurse. Only 10 weeks and 2 days left to go. Hopefully I will do better with this weeks challenge.

Random Tuesday...I may have cracked

2009-03-24T07:32:00.000-05:00

Warning: There will be no cohesiveness to my random thoughts this week, lets consider this more a list of things going on that are causing my very thin and very stretched sanity to crack....

As of today I am officially 29 weeks pregnant, I have 11 weeks left to go. That seems like a long time until I consider that the nursery hasn't even been started yet and considering how long it takes me to complete anything these days this baby will be lucky to have a bed to sleep in when he comes home.
Not helping the previos situation is that the husband is gone for the next four weeks, he will be home on the weekends but still my main source of labor has disappeared.
We hosted a Diaper Kegger this past weekend, for those of you who aren't familiar the basic idea is that we bought a keg and hosted a party in which all of the guests brought us a bag/box of diapers as a way to "pay" for thier keg cup. It was actually a lot of fun. At one point my husband "passed gas" and it smelled so foul that it caused someone to gag and puke, this person was not that intoxicated. Impressive really when you think about it.
My mom is coming for a visit today. This is a good thing because she is going to paint and clean out the nursery. This is a bad thing because my house is a disaster and she will be in said house unsupervised for three whole days.
I took the three hour glucose test this weekend. I had to have blood drawn four times. My inner elbows are still bruised.
My final thought for the day: Twitter is clearly out to destroy me, I've never come across such an irresistable time suck.

Thanks for reading...go check out Keely's place for more awesome random thoughts!

Hot by Blogher - Week 1 Challenge

2009-03-21T06:22:00.000-05:00

I admit it, this week I took the path of least resistance. I opted for challenge number three, the personal challenge, and let me tell you why. I have a lot going on right now, I'm 28 weeks pregnant and I work in a tax/accounting office. Basically that means that by putting in 9-10 hours at work every day and working on Saturdays I'm actually "taking it easy". Last tax season I worked 11-12 hour days and 6-8 hours on Saturdays. My overall energy level has been squat lately and yet when I come home I've been trying to organize the house and get the baby's room ready. Between that and keeping up with the interwebs who has any time!

So this week I really concentrated on taking a half hour a night to just completely relax. I shut the laptop, turned off my phone and just sat quietly. Most of this time I spent with my husband though not by myself. He's getting ready to be out of town during the work week for the next four weeks so I think we both really needed to get in some quality time. As a result I'm wicked behind in my reader, I haven't posted anything since last tuesday and I've been a really poor commentor on other sites. However, I could tell a marked difference in both my mood and my hubby's mood. We both seem to be a little more calm and our fuses with eachother are definitely longer.

Overall it was a pretty good week. I have to go have the 3-hour glucose test today because my first test showed high blood sugar amounts so I'm guessing that next week I will take on whatever sort of food challenge there is because I see a restricted diet in my near future.

Hope everyone is doing well!!!

Random Tuesday...the food edition

2009-03-17T06:31:00.000-05:00

**Please try to ignore the mess that is my blog. I am trying out some new themes and layouts.**

I may actually have a theme for this weeks edition...scary...

I've always been a picky eater and I thought that was ok and even somewhat normal, however, it has come to my attention that I'm just strange...

I hate casseroles, I can't stand for my food to touch on my plate let alone be purposefully mixed together. I can handle basic dishes like chicken and rice but the thought of tater-tot casserole makes me squicky
If I have corn and mashed potatoes on my plate and they touch or run together I have to separate out the offenders and I refuse to eat them
I wish all plates had dividers
My favorite pizza is canadian bacon and sauerkraut - weird huh
Whenever I go to Subway I have to re-organize my sandwich. They put the meat and cheese on the top and lettuce and pickle on the bottom. My sandwich has to be pickles, lettuce, ham then cheese, top to bottom. No exceptions.
I can drink soda out of a plastic bottle, it tastes funny
I love peanuts and cashews, I also love snickers, but I refuse to eat cake cookies or brownies with nuts in them
I eat NOTHING that lives in the water...and I mean nothing

Gawd I am a freak huh...Go visit Keely's place to catch up on all the other randomness!

Imagine me blushing...

2009-03-15T13:49:00.000-05:00

I got a blog award y'all (or is it ya'll?)! I won't lie I still get really excited every time I get a new comment on my blog, imagine my surprise when this popped up "Wow! I just came upon your blog and I love it! Stop on over to my blog~~~I've got an award waiting for you! Have a great week-end". I'm pretty sure I might have peed a little and for once it wasn't the from the baby pushing on my bladder. (TMI...no?) Swoozie over at Mommy Kingdom gave me my very first blog award!

The Lemons to Lemonade Award

Here are the rules for the award:
1) Put the logo on your blog or post.
2) Nominate at least 10 blogs that show great attitude or gratitude.
3) Link to your nominees within your post.
4) Let the nominees know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
5) Share the love and link to the person from who you received your award.

~~~Here are my nominees for the Lemonade Award~~~

These are all really great girls and I enjoy reading all of their stuff, if you don't already follow them you should hop over and check them out!.

Hot by Blogher

2009-03-12T19:31:00.000-05:00

For those of you who don't know me very well (which is all of you), I'm a big fat faker. What I mean by that is I can be totally engaging and (sometimes) funny and outgoing when I'm tip-typing on my computer but in real life...whoa buddy am I shy. Large crowds don't make me nervous, in fact I love people watching, but the thought of having more than a few people's attention on me at a time makes me twitchy. Walking down the aisle at my wedding with 400 guests watching me - jesus age I pretty much ran down that long ass aisle, I told my dad to "hurry up".

All of this adds up to me being very nervous about attending my first Blogher conference in July. As vain as it may be if I feel like I look good it really helps my nerves, so I really want to look my best when I go. My problem with that is I'm currently 6 months preggers, I'm due June 4th. That does not give me much time at all to "whip my sorry ass into shape". In fact I'm pretty sure I'm not even supposed to exercise for the 6 weeks following birth. My solution to this problem...Hot by Blogher...I just stumbled upon the site today...I'm fairly certain it was Amy in Ohio who threw the link out on twitter.

So here are my goals:

Focus on eating healthier through the rest of my pregnancy - yes that means eating some dern fruits and veggies
Working hard to stay within the 30lb weight gain for the overall pregnancy (so far I'm at 14)
Be able to fit into pre-pregnancy size 12 jeans by Blogher
I would like to be back down to 165 lbs, I would settle for 170
Find a cute cocktail dress that doesn't require me to wear spanx (I just hate undergarmets)
Have a fabulous new hair cut and color
Be able to look in the mirror and be proud of what I see

Stay tuned to see how I do!

Sometimes you just need a smile

2009-03-10T18:57:00.000-05:00

It's no secret that I've been a little down lately. I'm just really tired all the time and work is tough and blah blah blah you know the drill. This weekend I went home for a quick visit and I finally had a chance to play with my new camera. I admit I still know nothing about it and I'm treating it just like a point and shoot but I promise to get better and learn how to use it right. At any rate the "small smiles" I captured were enough to brighten my spirits tonight and that is what I really needed.

not bad for my first go round with the new camera, the only adjustments I made post shooting were cropping and color saturation.

Random Tuesday...Same Old Same Old

2009-03-10T06:47:00.001-05:00

so yeah having swollen feet that resemble the stay-puff marshmallow man's is a good excuse to put your feet up but it really keeps me from getting anything productive done in my house.
The spring rains have begun...wrong as it may be I'm hoping for a good old fashioned power outage storm. I know it sucks for those without power but hubby could use a good call out.
I'm pretty sure if it is nearing the 60's and 70's outside that it means I need to put away my snowman decorations. Ugh.
Why are all my shows so damn sad these days...don't these writers know that I'm already borderline depressed...family drama shows with lots of crying is so not helping.
Last night I dreamt that I forgot about Blogher until the night before...it was very traumatic...you don't think I'm nervous about it at all do you?
This weekend my 62 year old dad basically cringed at my new haircut - wow thats a good feeling.

Check out all the other random thoughts today over at Keely's place, it's worth a visit trust me Keely is hilarious!

Wednesday Whine...cheese optional

2009-03-04T21:08:00.000-06:00

I'm starting a meme...just for myself right now...maybe someday I'll get all "with it" and use the Mr. Linky tool and let others play...I just have to figure it out first. Most of the time when I think of something to blog about I realize I just want to whine about this or that so I'm going to limit myself to whining only on Wednesdays. Here goes...

I hate proofreading. So if my posts have grammer and/or spelling errors I promise its not because I'm stupid its just that I hate to proofread. There is also a good chance that if I re-read what I wrote I will just get embarrassed and delete the whole thing.
I work in a tax/accounting office, I'm not an accountant just an assistant to one. I'm so freaking tired of tax returns. The piles on my desk getting obnoxious to look at. I hate that the "professionals" in the office are allowed to have 4-5 day turn-arounds on projects but once it hits my desk it is expected to be out again in less than 20 minutes.
I hate that my thighs rub together all day long. I also hate that I have the motivation to actually do something about it and I basically can't because I'm 6 months pregnant.

Yeah that's pretty much my whines for the day. Perhaps I should do "thankful for Thursdays" just so I remember that there is a lot of good in my life too....

Random Tuesday...Here we go

2009-03-03T07:59:00.000-06:00

What the hell is with the evil eye I get when I purchase a couple pairs of maternity pants from Gap. Yes I realize that I'm not going to be wearing them forever but you know there is a chance I'll be pregnant again. Yes I realize that $60-$70 for a pair of pants may seem extremely expensive to you since you shop at wal-mart, honestly I wish I could find cheaper pants that fit but I'm awkwardly shaped and have long ass legs. So seriously I'm not being a clothes snob I just want to wear clothes that fit - get off my back
One thing I won't miss about working in an office this size of (mostly) all women is having my choice of lunch criticized every damn day. Yes I eat fast food a lot, yes I know its not healthy, yes I know its expensive and I should bring my lunch. Here's the thing though, I'm still young enough that my metabolism for the most part can keep up with my eating habits. I may be carrying an extra 15 pounds but I look pretty good (I mean I don't scare small children), I feel pretty good and so gosh darn it I'm going to eat things that taste good and make me happy. And for another thing Miss-I-wear-a-size-6 I do not want to hear about your "weight struggles" and how you just need to "lose 10 more pounds". Get the frig over yourself...
I have to go to the dermatologist today to have a mole looked at - on my face - I'm slightly nervous. My mom has been on my case for about a year now to have it taken off. I admit it has gotten a little bigger but there was no cause for this conversation:

Me: I've decided I want to get a new camera for my birthday, one to take really nice pictures of the baby
Mom: That sounds good, I'll just give you money then to help pay for it.
Me: Great!
Mom: If you get the mole taken off

Why are commas and apostrophes still so hard for me to understand...

That's pretty much all I have for today. Check out all the random thoughts over at Keely's place!

The Ultimate Wife Sin

2009-02-27T16:56:00.001-06:00

Sometimes I'm truly amazed at just how BAD of a wife I really am. Honestly I feel sorry for my husband sometimes. It's bad enough that I don't cook - no really I don't - and have no desire to learn but I'm also not very good about cleaning the house. Pretty much the only thing I have going for me in the "domestic wifey" column is the fact that I keep our bank account in the black and he really doesn't have to worry about the bills getting paid. He asks me if we can afford such and such and he can totally trust my answer. (side note: I hardly ever say no to a request just out of spite - hence the new $500 shotgun in the closet) However yesterday...oh my god...I crossed a line...a big one...

So there we were just chillin in the living room watching our beloved Illini basketball team. We are both pretty big sports fans and diehard Illini fans. It's about mid-way through the game and the announcers are talking about how one of the differences in the game has been the "points in the paint". This is the conversation that took place...

Him: so when they say points in the paint they mean the area below the free-throw line right?
Me: ...are you kidding me...you don't know what the paint is...how the hell can you call yourself a true fan...(lots of laughter)
Him: **angry silence**

He refused to speak to me for 10 minutes.

Lesson - If you husband is a sports fan and you happen to know more about a particular game or the lingo of said game you should NOT make fun of him when he doesn't. Next time I will just keep my big mouth shut.

***UPDATE: I'm not sure if I was exactly clear...my husband wasn't actually mad at me for making fun of him it was just a conversation that I thought was rather funny because really how often do wives have to school there husbands about sports...

Ughhh...why with the drama

2009-02-25T19:51:00.001-06:00

**warning** this post may contain language and subjects that could be construed as HIGHLY offensive, for that I apologize. If cursing in particular is not your thing I will not be offended if you just click away from here without reading.

Dear Former Family - You f@cking suck, really and truly I'm as close to absolute hate as I think I have ever been. Please follow the lemmings off a cliff soon....

I would love nothing more that to tell this whole story and lay out all the facts but honestly I don't know that I could do that, mostly because I don't always get the "full" story. The long and short of it is my Dad is a partner in a family farm, has been for the past 40 years, his brother, brother-in-law and him. A year and a half ago my grandfather, his father, passed away, it was shortly after that when things went to hell in a hand-basket. The brother, we'll call him C, decided that he no longer wanted anything to do with the family and he wanted out of the corporation. What took place after that was a lot of snap/emotional decisions, faulty advice from a bad lawyer, and oral as opposed to written agreements. Needless to say things got messy in a hurry.

Over a year later we are still "negotiating" to get C out of the corporation. At this point it is almost certain to go to court because we are unwilling to meet his demands. Mind you his demands are those of a fucking lunatic. Case in point after he decided he wanted out he went and took out huge operating loans so he could "farm on his own", all the while farming ground that wasn't even legally his yet. He went so far as to put up grain bins on ground that was possibly going to go to him after a settlement was reached. Well now one of his demands is that we pay him $24,000 - to pay the damn interest on his operating loans. Is it just me or is that completely asinine?

I could go on for days about all the ridiculous demands but that really isn't the point and honestly would just upset me more to rehash it all. What bothers me the most is the levels of hate this whole situation has made me feel. I hate that he is constantly attacking my dad's mental capacity to anyone and everyone around town. I hate that he and his children verbally threaten to "come fucking after" my aunt and her family. I hate that "being the bigger person" has led to him and his family basically getting away with all of it. I hate that today I actually said the words "I wouldn't feel bad if he died" outloud and meant them. Somewhere deep in my head or maybe my heart there is a voice saying that I don't really mean it and that its just the hurt talking but I can't honestly say that I believe that.

After negotiations fell through today and another threatening call and another visit from the cops it is more than likely that this will be decided in court. I want to have faith that going to court is the chance for us to get a fair settlement but I just don't know if I have that kind of faith in the system. What if they decide that the only thing to do is sell the whole thing and split the proceeds three ways. Even if selling out made my parents enough money to retire (which it won't) I think it would literally kill my dad to lose the farm.

I'm scared for what the future holds and there is really nothing I can do but wait and see what happens.

Warning Random Tuesday Thoughts Ahead

2009-02-24T08:41:00.000-06:00

So I've been MIA for a couple of weeks, at least on my own blog, I promise I'm still out there reading everyone else's and of course twittering the days away. This is what happens when you are working 9 hour days 6 days a week when you are 6 months pregnant...excuses, excuses, excuses, I KNOW! Anyway on to the randomness:

It's hard to come up with random thoughts when your mind is totally blank. I think perhaps I have reached the point of tired where there is nothing but after-hours tv static going on in my brain.
I don't understand how it's possible that every time I order clothes online I get one size too small...one would think this would only happen a couple of times since I only order from two places but alas EVERY TIME! I'm getting really tired of mailing clothes back.
This is one of the smartest things I've read in awhile, seriously if you are reading this go check out this post. I solemnly swear not to be one of the idiot mothers who blames my own lack of common sense on harmless baby products. I can't f'ing figure out how to make the button work so if you want the damn story go here. Fuck!

I bought a new camera this week, it scares me, I wish I had the time right now to learn how to use it. If I don't take some kick-ass pictures I think I will probably owe my husband a new gun. Here is my new baby.

What the hell possesses people in my office to feel that the thermostat needs to be set to 78, I'm pretty sure I baked my baby yesterday.

I think this is all I have for today - I realize it's nothing earth shattering but then again it rarely is. Whatever. If you want to play along head on over to The Un Mom and grab the button, be sure to sign in.

Peace Out!

I am absolutely not being political here.

2009-02-18T14:43:00.075-06:00

I have no intention of writing political fodder here on my blog, mostly because I don't consider myself educated enough to do so. Sure I have my opinions but often times I don't feel like I know enough about both sides of the equation to start spouting off at the mouth. I waiver a lot on my feelings towards the war especially, there are days I'm for it and days I wish we could just bring our "guys" home. I do believe that the media doesn't do a good job of telling the whole story. I personally know someone who was over there for two years and I can tell you that there are things he has told me I've never seen on a news report. Regardless of how a person feels about the war and whether they think it's right or wrong I strongly believe that every soldier should be supported. The soldier doesn't have the luxury of deciding which battles he has a moral/ethical belief in, they go where they are told and do what they are ordered. Each and every one of them deserves nothing less than our utmost respect. **stepping off the soapbox**

He clutches the cross hanging on his chain next to his dog tags.

You talk trash about your 'buddies' that aren't with you.

He knows he may not see some of his buddies again.

You walk down the beach, staring at all the pretty girls.
He patrols the streets, searching for insurgents and terrorists.

You complain about how hot it is
He wears his heavy gear, not daring to take off his helmet to wipe his brow.

You go out to lunch, and complain because the restaurant got your order wrong.
He doesn't get to eat today.

Your maid makes your bed and washes your clothes.
He wears the same things for weeks, but makes sure his weapons are clean.

You go to the mall and get your hair redone.
He doesn't have time to brush his teeth today.

You're angry because your class ran 5 minutes over.
He's told he will be held over an extra 2 months.

You call your girlfriend and set a date for tonight.
He waits for the mail to see if there is a letter from home.

You hug and kiss your girlfriend, like you do everyday.
He holds his letter close and smells his love's perfume.

You roll your eyes as a baby cries.
He gets a letter with pictures of his new child, and wonders if they'll ever meet.

You criticize your government, and say that war never solves anything.
He sees the innocent tortured and killed by their own people and remembers why he is fighting..

You hear the jokes about the war, and make fun of men like him.
He hears the gunfire, bombs and screams of the wounded.

You see only what the media wants you to see.
He sees the broken bodies lying around him.

You are asked to go to the store by your parents. You don't.
He does exactly what he is told even if it puts his life in danger.

You stay at home and watch TV.
He takes whatever time he is given to call, write home, sleep, and eat.

You crawl into your soft bed, with down pillows, and get comfortable.
He tries to sleep but gets woken by mortars and helicopters all night long.

REMEMBER our Troops, and do not forget them LATER

I'z been interviewed

2009-02-18T10:12:00.000-06:00

Liz at Will There Be Cake is letting me take part in the "interview-y" game. Here are her questions...and here are my answers...

1. What is your favorite song of the moment?

Right now it would have to be "You Found Me" by The Fray. Although I am pretty addicted to the new(ish) CDs by Adele and Paramore.

2. I see you're going to BlogHer. Who are you most excited to meet?

I admit I'm going to be a little starstruck by lots of people but if I have to pick just one person I will pick my all-time "blog-crush" Casey from mooshinindy, seriously she does fabulous like few people can!

3. I see you're also about to have a new addition to your family. Will you tell us potential names? If not, just tell us what you're looking forward to the most.

Well it's a boy so that narrows the list although this is a point of contention in our house. I think all the names my husband comes up with are ridiculous (not in themselves but when paired with the middle name and our last name, he isn't good at seeing the whole picture). The names I like so far are Colin and Cooper. I'm also considering Landon. However I think that getting the nursery cleaned out and removing the "cat" smell from the carpets is more important than a name right now. I can't tell you what I'm most looking forward to because currently I'm scared shitless about the whole thing.

4. When you're stressed, what do you do to de-stress?

If I'm upset-stressed I take a scalding hot shower and have a good cry while I'm soaking. If I'm just uptight-stressed I like to sit down in a quiet corner and read a good romance novel. Seriously I can read a 200 page book in a couple of hours, I'm a nerd that way. I read the 7th Harry Potter book in under 7 hours in one day.

5. If you had to eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?

There is a pizza parlor chain with a few restaurants around my hometown called Happy Joe's, they have the most awesome pizza ever. I could eat their BLT (no tomatoes please) or Canadian Bacon and Sauerkraut pizza every day. Lord I miss that pizza.

If you would like to play along here are the instructions:
1. Leave me a comment saying, “Interview me.”
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. (I get to pick the questions).
3. You update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post. You know, to pay-it-forward and keep this little interview game going.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions and so on and so forth
The first five ‘askers’ get the interview! (Though I’ll interview anyone who plays along - even if I get more than five requests. Because I’m nice like that.)

Random Tuesday Thoughts

2009-02-17T15:30:00.000-06:00

Keely from The Un Mom is hosting (for lack of a better word) Random Tuesday Thoughts, which is nothing more than a post written every Tuesday about, well, random thoughts. Personally I got hooked on the idea from Sam . I'm very much a fan of randomness as I'm not very good at stringing together anything resembling complete thoughts. So without further ado here goes...

I'm a fan of the site someecards, this card is just hitting way to close to home today. Seriously I have the attention span of a gnat today...moving on

I'm tired of being pregnant for a lot of reasons, however, reason number 1 is the whole "limit your caffeine" shit. Who the fuck made up this rule? If anything I should get a higher allotment because of how damn tired I am. Seriously water can kiss my ass.
Speaking of the baby that I'm incubating, why the hell is everyone so freaked out that we haven't decided on a name. Don't you think it's more disturbing that I have yet to clean out the nursery and figure out a way to get rid of the cat shit smell living in there...really...priorities I haz them straight I think...
Question: Is it possible to hear Christina Aguilera's song Candyman and not at least head-dance to the beat?

and since the name of this game is random thoughts I'm not going to even attempt to tie this up nice and neat I'm just going to stop. Done.

Why the Heck Not I Say...

2009-02-14T09:23:00.000-06:00

I found this meme on Liz's site, it looked easy (mostly because our answers are so similar - Gawd I'm lazy today).

• How long have you been together? Together almost six years married two and a half years

• How long did you know each other before you started dating? A week or so, and by "dating" you mean pretty much living together right?

• Who asked who out? There really wasn't any "asking out" we met in college, we traveled in packs. I just made sure we would be going to the same bar on the same night.

• How old are each of you? 27

• Whose siblings do/ did you see the most? Well considering I'm an only lonely that would be his sister

• Do you have any children together? Can I count the little ~~parasite~~ darling currently residing in my tummy

• What about pets? We have a cat named Kitty and we should have a lab puppy this summer sometime.

• Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple? dealing with families, we both have awesome families but they function in very different ways and it has been hard for us to adjust to each others idiosyncrasies - very hard.

• Did you go to the same school? To the same college yes

• Are you from the same home town? Nope, he doesn't really have a "hometown" he moved around a lot as a child

• Who is the smartest? well I'm a complete nerd but he is really smart too, luckily we are smart in different areas

• Who is the most sensitive? sensitive towards others neither, in respect to ourselves I think it would be me, I get my feelings hurt easier

• Where do you eat out most as a couple? Longhorn Steakhouse, it drives him nuts that I order the same thing every time. I have a favorite dish/meal every where we go and I RARELY veer off course

• Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple? Imperial Beach, CA

• Who has the craziest exes? definitely him

• Who has the worst temper? that would be me, I am a true red head

• Who does the cooking? He does basically all the cooking (and the dishes) I am completely inept in the kitchen

• Who is more social? Him for sure

• Who is the neat-freak? Neither of us is super clean

• Who is the more stubborn? I'm pretty sure that's a draw

• Who hogs the bed? He does. No matter what size bed we sleep in, he always ends up right in the middle of it. (wow I didn't even have to touch this answer from Liz)

• Who wakes up earlier? I do, he can still sleep until noon, I'm up by 7:00 at least no matter what

• Where was your first date? Like I said before we traveled in a pack in college, although if I had to pick I would say it took place in my living room, I invited him over to watch a Nascar Race at my apartment.

• Who has the bigger family? Me - drives him nuts

• Do you get flowers often? Only on Valentine's Day but I'm not super into flowers, I only enjoy them on Valentine's Day because I don't want to be left out.

• How do you spend the holidays? Thanksgiving belongs to my family (to avoid the crazies in his), We have Easter with both our parents (I know it's weird that they get along - right) and Christmas we go all over hell's half acre and back to see everyone.

• Who is more jealous? This is too broad to really know, we both have our moments.

• How long did it take to get serious? Not very damn long, I would say withing 3 weeks of "meeting" him we were pretty much living together.

• Who eats more? Me, I graze all day long

• Who does/ did the laundry? Since he handles the kitchen I try to do most all the other chores

• Who’s better with the computer? He can barely get online without my help.

• Who drives when you are together? Usually him unless I'm being DD

Who Knew A Manicure Could Lead To So Many Giggles

2009-02-12T19:48:00.039-06:00

I had pretty much the worst "work" day I've ever had today. There was a period of time where I seriously contemplated marching into my bosses office and giving my two weeks notice. When you take into account I am leaving after I have my baby in June, it might not sound that earth shattering but I work in an accounting firm and needless to say this is not the time of year to be leaving. I can't imagine the chaos that would ensue. Anyway...getting back to the point...

I'm going to a tropical themed party tomorrow night and that means wearing a skirt and flip-flops. Lets just say that my toes haven't seen any "proper" care for several months, and I'm to the point now where I can't tend to them myself, I simply can't reach. So off I went to the mall after work to get the toe-sies done up. I walk in and the only other customers are two young boys, I would venture aged 7 to 10. They were both getting their toes done too. I was lucky enough to get the seat between them.

I had planned on sitting back closing my eyes and turning on the massage chair, needless to say the relaxing did not happen. Funnily enough it turned out to be just what I needed. Those two little boys were having the time of their lives getting their toes worked on. Their giggles were very infectious. When the guy started in on one of them with the "buffer", you know the one that is agony if you are ticklish, the poor little boy nearly fell out of his chair from laughing and squirming. When the mom returned (she had just run to Penney's apparently) the younger one proceeded to tell her how his toe had gushed blood when his cuticle was cut (because he was squirming no doubt). The poor mom was embarrassed as she looked around to see if anyone had heard him. When she caught my eye we both dissolved into laughter.

Turns out having a pedicure with two young boys is excellent therapy.

This isn't really fun

2009-02-10T20:38:00.041-06:00

I may be new to the pregnancy game but I was pretty sure I knew what I was getting into. I never had rose colored glasses on and thought pregnancy would be this awe-inspiring experience. I was prepared for it to suck. I think most of my apprehension came from watching my cousins go through it - both had extreme difficulties "staying" pregnant. So when I finally managed to get in the game I (thought I) was prepared for the worst. The first couple of months were rough, I was fairly sick but nothing compared to what some go through. Then like magic one day I woke up and the crazy indigestion/heartburn and constant nausea were gone. I hadn't even gained any weight and was just beginning to show. That was 8 pounds ago...

Now its a whole different story. There are some parts of this ride that I either didn't know about or didn't realize would affect my day to day so much. Such as:

1. They warn you about the tiredness but I failed to realize simply walking to the bathroom would cause me to be short of breath and wheeze, this is embarrassing when I try to actually walk to a person's desk and communicate clearly with them.

2. I had no idea 8 little pounds would make me move so awkwardly. I already feel as though I'm wadling - badly. I do not move gracefully at all.

3. The constant sinus "issues" are enough to wear a person slick, especially when you can't take good drugs.

4. I'm having horrible cases of "pregnancy brain", I'm surprised I remember my own name most days.

5. I realized that being pregnant was a drain on the mother I did not realize it was basically the equivalent of housing a parasite for 9 months.

6. I can no longer put on underwear after a shower without looking like I'm doing some sort of acrobatic trick. I was prepared for the loss of dignity in the delivery room, I was not prepared to lose it at 5 1/2 months.

What concerns me the most about all of these is the fact that it is basically guaranteed to get worse as the days creep by.

All that said I am extrememly grateful to be growing a baby. I am so lucky and so blessed to have been able to get (and stay) pregnant so easily. I am so thankful that all I have had to deal with are minor annoyances so far. For all of those out there struggling with what came so easy to me, my thoughts and prayers are with you each and every day.

Popping the blog cherry

2009-02-09T20:56:00.030-06:00

So I'm guessing that my first post should be something really poignant, but honestly that is a lot of pressure and I don't work well under lots of pressure. Deadlines I can handle but the pressure to be creative turns me into a blithering idiot. This could be why my college degree in graphic design isn't getting much use.

I stumbled upon the world of blogging about a year and a half ago. It all started with a post from Chicky, I wish I could find the exact post but I remember it had something to do with the joys of parenting, and when I say joys I mean that in a sarcastic way. I was awestruck at how open and honest she was about not totally loving the parenting gig every minute of every day.

Anywho ever since then I've wanted to have my own blog I just never could quite get it done. I never thought I had anything worth putting out there. Slowly but surely I've realized that blogging isn't about having something "important" or earth-shattering to say. I've seen the kind of community you can be a part of and darn it I want in on that.

In the much more present tense I'm about 4 months away from becoming a mom for the first time and I couldn't be more scared out of my effing mind. Added to that I'm going to be a stay at home mom which frightens me even more. I'm really hoping that this blog can be a place for me to journal all the day-to-day stuff and be a place to cultivate some great friendships.

Thats really it for now. Like I said not very earth shattering but it is what it is. Also its 9:00 and that is totally my bed time...what I didn't mention that I'm boring... :)