Whew!!!

Wow, what a weekend it was!!! Thursday and Friday, I busted my butt cleaning the house getting ready for the birthday party. We're talking scrubbing the back splash in the kitchen, wiping down the wainscoting in the downstairs bathroom and the trim in the upstairs bathroom, and scrubbing the "bowls" that go under the burners on the stove.

Saturday morning I rolled out of bed around 6, and I still had some tweaking to do on Julia's slide show. Somehow the timing got messed up and it was causing the songs to overlap. After about 45-60 minutes of fighting with that, I got it to a good point, and shut the computer off.

Julia usually gets up about 8 am, but I got her up around 7 in hopes that she would actually take a morning nap. See...she decided a week before her party that one nap a day was peachy! Well, that one nap usually runs from 12:30-2:30 or 3. The party started at 12! We continued to get food and other things ready for the party. Julia went down for a nap around 10:30 (thankfully!), and the first guests arrived at about 11 am. I tried to work my way around everyone standing in the kitchen and in front of the table to get everything put out and ready. 11:45 rolled around, and everyone else started showing up. The slide show ran on the TV throughout the party, but I don't know who actually got to see it... Julia actually ate well with a pretty good sized crowd, which made me very happy. The cake was BEAUTIFUL, and Julia enjoyed her little teddy bear smash cake. Then, we opened presents, and everyone went home. All in all, it was a pretty good day! I was in bed and asleep by 8:30 that night! LOL

Here are some pictures from the party:

The Table...

The Cake...

Cake Face...

Getting in one of the gift bags...

Walking with her new Explore 'N Grow Step Start Walk 'n Ride...

And with that...I think I'm going to look through the baby name book a little bit, and head to bed!

God bless

One year...

One year ago today, at 5:55 pm, my beautiful, adorable, wonderful little girl was born. She is the light of my life, and I would do anything for her. Happy First Birthday sweet baby girl! I love you!!!

Today was kind of rough for the poor thing. She's been teething like crazy, and spent the majority of the morning just laying on me snuggling. Now...I love the extra snuggles since she doesn't do it very often, but I really don't like that she hasn't been feeling so hot for the last few days. She spiked a fever on Saturday, but was better Sunday...starting to show signs of not feeling well again on Monday.  Today, we had her 12 month well check visit. It didn't go so well!!! She threw up all over in the car when I got into the parking garage (and I mean a LOT). When we got into the room, the nurse measured her (28 1/2") and weighed her (18lbs 14oz). When the doc came in and started checking her for illness since I mentioned she hadn't been feeling well, we discovered that she had an ear infection in both ears, and might have strep! Let me tell you something...I sure felt like mommy of the year at that point! They sent us on our way with some antibiotics and no standard well visit yet...not until she's better anyways.

We went ahead and gave Julia a little bit of her birthday present today (she'll get the rest on Saturday), and a cupcake to celebrate! She really enjoyed the cake once she got past the frosting! LOL

Anyways, here's our beautiful birthday girl one year ago, and today...my, how she's grown!

Hope you all have a wonderful evening...

God bless!

It's about that time...

For Lent that is! Last year, I decided that my penance would be to read up on my religion a little more. Learning about purgatory and other things that I wasn't 100% sure about. The year before, I gave up dairy (I LOVE cheese and milk...). Little did I know how much dairy actually entailed!!!

This year...I am giving up Facebook in an attempt to make myself a better Catholic, mother, wife...all around person. I'm going to make a "to-do" list on a separate tab here in order to help myself keep track, and to keep myself accountable. I'm going to try to update it on a daily basis with what I got done, and what I did extra...if anything. LOL See, my problem is I have NO motivation. When Julia is up, I'm feeding her, playing with her, etc. When she goes down for her nap, I just want to relax and play on my computer (or take a nap!). I need to stop doing that, and get some things done around here!

Anyways, watch for the new tab with my to-do list!

God bless,

Birthday Activities

As you can see by my post yesterday, it was my birthday. It turned out to be a pretty darn good day!!! My sister, BIL and adorable niece came over to babysit while Michael and I went out. My sister got me a great gift...see...when I was little, I had a Velveteen Rabbit stuffed animal. You know, the one from the story! Anyways...we were on a trip to Alabama, and when we were on our way home, I left the bunny at a hotel. We tried to track it down, but either the hotels didn't have it, or wouldn't ship it. I don't remember exactly how it went. It was pretty traumatic for me because I LOVED that bunny!!! Anyways...guess what I got for my birthday from her??!! You guessed it...a Velveteen Rabbit! It was so cool!!!

I mentioned that we were going to a dinner that our church was putting on last night, and I knew that Michael had made "arrangements" for all of the people there to sing "Happy Birthday" to me. What I didn't know, was that he went out of his way to pick up a cake, with the big "3 & 0" candles to put on top, drop it off at the church, and have it presented to me while I was standing up in front of about 70 other couples!!! Thankfully, there were 2 other people celebrating their birthdays yesterday (not sure if it was their actual birthday), so I wasn't totally alone up on that stage! It was so sweet! And the cake that he got...was DELISH! A very good girlfriend of mine and her new hubby were also there last night. It was so good to see them! They just got married 7 weeks ago! The 4 of us participated in the skit immediately following the "presentation of cakes and song". That was kind of strange for me...because I really don't like being the center of attention...but it was fun! We had a really good time.

Anywho. I need to get ready for church now!

God bless =)

Dirty Thirty

Ok, so maybe not dirty, but today...I turned 30 years old! AAAHHH! Michael and I are going on our church's Valentine's Day dinner "cruise", so that should be fun! Oh, and I see some SHOPPING in my future!!! Heheheheehee

Anyways...Julia is growing like a weed. I still can't believe she'll be one in a week and a half!!! Here's our big girl!

As for the tot, all is well so far! Other than baby laying frank breech (butt down), everything is fine! =)

God bless,

To-do list...

My "To-Do" list seems to be growing on a daily basis. I have so much that I want to get done, and not enough nap time in the day! Well...there probably is enough nap time in the day, I just need to get my butt off this silly computer and in gear!

Here's what I need to do:
~Finish crocheting the sweater I've started for my girlfriend K's baby girl (she's a little over a month old now).
~Finish the photo slide show for Julia's first birthday.
~Contact the 12 or 13 people that STILL haven't let us know if they will be attending said birthday party (we requested an RSVP date of 2/26, and they were sent out nearly a week and a half ago).
~Scour the baby name book I just bought in hopes of finding a couple of cute baby names.
~Work on the baby blanket for baby #2 (another crochet project).
~Work on a blanket for my sister (yet another crochet project).
~Fix the hem on one of the 2 curtains that I just hemmed. It looks silly, though it does get the job done.
~Sew tie backs for aforementioned curtains.
~Rearrange the kitchen cabinets.
~Organize the silly linen closet upstairs.
~Keep the house clean.
~Find a "formal" maternity dress for Michael's graduation in a little over a month.
~Keep up with my blog.

Oh...and somewhere in the middle of all that...I have to take care of this little doll!!!

I <3 her. =)
Now someone give me motivation to finish this stuff!!! Heheee

God bless.

It's about to warm up...

...and we had our first run-in with a bug yesterday.

See...we use cloth diapers for Julia, and since she's on solids now, we have to put the poo in the toilet before washing. Well...I saw her trying to get at something on the hard wood floor, so I went over to investigate. It looked like a little piece of poo, so rather than move her away, go get a wipe, and then get rid of it, I just reached down and wiped it up with my finger. (Hey...I can wash my hands!) Well...I go into the bathroom to wash my hands and realize that it was in fact a small spider. EEW. I strongly dislike spiders. They are the arch nemesis. It was gross. I guess I have to get used to all the gross creepy crawlies coming out of the wood work though. It's going to be getting warmer soon. Time to put my big girl panties back on, and deal with them for my daughters' sake!

Have a great day today...it's sunny, and the skies are blue here!

God bless

Time...SLOW DOWN!!!

I have one small request...and that is to have time slow down just a little bit for about a month. I don't know where this year has gone, and even though I've been home with Julia since September, I feel like I've missed so much! I can't believe our beautiful baby girl is going to be ONE YEAR OLD in just under a month! HELP!!!

We still have mounds of snow on the ground (probably a good 6" still), and it's really pretty...but. I love the blue skies and sunshine we've been having lately. I absolutely love snow, but I can't wait to get Julia outside to go for walks again. It will help me keep my weight gain in check also. I guess maybe I'm just going stir crazy...catching cabin fever...whatever you want to call it. I want to get OUT of the house!!! 2 hours of wake time (Julia's wake time) isn't really enough to get out and go "shopping", especially when she spends at least 30-45 minutes eating. Ah well...maybe a walk will be in order on Wednesday. It's supposed to be in the 40's, and if I use my sling, she'll be nice and snugly warm!

Tot update: We had an ultrasound yesterday at 18 weeks. Everything checks out great! Measuring right on time, and in the 50th percentile for size and weight-baby weighs about 9oz right now (which in NO way explains my whopping 13lb weight gain!!!). Here are pictures for your viewing pleasure!

Alien baby!!!

Profile 1 - arm below the chin

Profile 2 - hand in front of the mouth

Profile 3 - if you look close, you can see the legs stretched out on the right side, and the feet pushing up as high and as hard as possible!

I hope you all are having an enjoyable weekend.

God bless!

"Snowpocalypse"

At least that's what everyone is calling it! We had a pretty good snow storm that started Tuesday night, and went through Wednesday afternoon. Thankfully, we weren't in the line of ice that went through! Here are some pics...

Find the driveway and the road...

Somewhere in this picture are landscaping blocks, a flower bed frame (below the pine tree), and a ditch...

A small drift next to the shed...

Notice the line about 1/3 of the way up, running across the middle of the picture. There's actually supposed to be about an 8" drop off, but it's "masked" by all the snow!

I was actually somewhat disappointed when I got up Wednesday morning to see only about 6 or 7" of snow on the ground. They were calling for upwards of 14". Well...it snowed until almost noon on Wednesday, and we ended up with about 10" total! It's so pretty...I love, love, LOVE snow! Not enough to live in Alaska...but enough to love where I do live!

I also had an appointment today. Everything is checking out great! Tot is growing, I got to hear the heart thumping along, and I have my next ultrasound scheduled for next week! I can't believe I'm almost halfway through this pregnancy already...CRAZY!

Anyways...Stay safe, and stay warm!

God bless!

Snow...

Well...we're about to get HAMMERED with snow! Yay!!! Made me think of this song from White Christmas. I love that movie, and that song!!

A little snippit:

Snow, it won't be long before we'll all be there with snow
Snow, I want to wash my hands, my face and hair with snow

Snow, I long to clear a path and lift a spade of snow
Snow, oh, to see a great big man entirely made of snow

Where it's snowing
All winter through
That's where I want to be
Snowball throwing
That's what I'll do
How I'm longing to ski
Through the

Snow, those glist'ning houses that seem to be built of snow
Snow, oh, to see a mountain covered with a quilt of snow


Possibility of at LEAST 12" by Wednesday...can't wait! Must...get...pictures!

Stay warm.

God bless!

Can I just say

That I really don't like being sick???

No fun...

None at all...

Oh, and going on what...4 days now?

GO AWAY COLD!!!

Stay healthy fellow bloggers.

God bless

The Beauty of it All...

Ready??? Obviously...none of these have been retouched or edited in any way...

Enjoy!

New Toy!

I got a new toy!!!  Watch for many beautiful photos to be posted in the coming days, weeks, months, years!  I love my new camera!

All is well on our end of the world.  Michael is working, Julia is growing, and so is Tot!  15 weeks today!!!  Hopefully I'll have a better post very soon!

God Bless!

2010 Year in Review

Well, with 2010 winding down, I think it's time for another "Year in Review" post!  I'll try to keep it short and sweet, but who knows...it could get very drawn out!

~~January 2010~~
○ January happily brought on the third trimester of my pregnancy with Julia!  We had our first baby shower later in the month and got clothes galore, an abundance of blankets and bath stuff, and many other small items.  Michael also had his diaper party, and we received tons of disposable diapers!  Which...by the way...are still being used!  We purchased our travel system, and mom and I snagged an AWESOME deal on a gorgeous bassinet that will be used again too.
○ We also found out that Michael's brother was engaged to a wonderful woman in January.  They planned the wedding for July 2010.
○ Hospital tours commenced.

~~February 2010~~
○ CLOTH diapers were ordered, since this was in fact what we wanted to use.  Save some money...save the planet!  =)
○ I called it this month that Julia wasn't going to wait until her due date to be born...hehehe.
○ I turned 29 years old!  Nothing major, right?  Just one year closer to 30.  We went out to dinner with my girlfriend and her hubby to celebrate since her birthday is 2 days before mine.  Good times!

~~March 2010~~
○ March brought on big changes in our house.  We rearranged the living room, got rid of some furniture, and made room for baby stuff (like the pack n play).

○ We enjoyed some Olympic actions...Men's Hockey anyone?  =)
○ Little miss Julia made her appearance!!!  3 weeks and one day early...she was considered a preemie by one day, and had to undergo some tests in the hospital nursery before we could take her home.
○ We had our "adventures in jaundice" this month too...along with me realizing that motherhood...changes everything!

~~April 2010~~
○ We had Julia's first professional pictures taken in April...when she was only one month old.  The photographer did a good job, but Miss J wasn't having it!
○ I witnessed the first gummy grin...it was beautiful!
○ "Mommy" had some eye opening experiences...

~~May 2010~~
○ I celebrated my first Mother's Day this May...it was wonderful!
○ Michael and I celebrated our one year wedding anniversary.
○ I started back at work.

~~June 2010~~
○ I introduced "Time Warp Tuesday" here on my blog.  It didn't really last that long, but I gave it a shot!
○ Julia started day care, while I was work...It wasn't easy.
○ We encountered our first ear infection for little miss.

~~July 2010~~
○ Michael's brother got married!  Yay!
○ Julia developed a dental cyst due to her first tooth trying to poke through.
○ I rediscovered my confidence...

~~August 2010~~
○ Julia tried oatmeal for the first time instead of rice.
○ Michael got a full time permanent job, allowing us to decide when I would be able to stay home with the wee one.

~~September 2010~~
○ Julia turned 6 months old!  Happy Half Birthday baby girl!
○ I started my "new job".
○ Some family issues arose...things were taken in a completely wrong way, and it's still being sorted out.
○ I shared some advice...

~~October 2010~~
○ I completed and mailed a scarf I made for a swap on my Crocheting Mama's board.  I liked it!
○ Adjustments into parenting continued...things kind of started getting easier.
○ I had my first trial of a baby with a fever unexpectedly this month...thanks to yet another ear infection.
○ Our first Halloween as a family!  Julia was a lady bug.  =)

~~November 2010~~
○ We shared the news with our parents and siblings that baby #2 is on its way, estimated to arrive in July 2011!
○ We ventured to my grandparents house for Thanksgiving, and announced to my family that we are expecting our second little bundle.
○ Our first Thanksgiving as a family!
○ We got a big girl car seat for little Miss.  No more infant seat!

~~December 2010~~
○ Julia got to see her first snow fall!  She loved it!
○ Our first Christmas as a family!  Well, actually...4 of them!  One at Michael's cousin's house, one with his parents, one with my mom, and one with just us!  It was fun, and we're still enjoying our new toys...
○ I made a decision to possibly pursue an age old dream of freelance writing or editing.  We'll see...
○ My sister decided to be a surrogate for Michael's brother and his wife...what an incredible gift!  Their baby (or babies) will arrive some time in 2011!

I hope you enjoyed your 2010.  Whether it was difficult, easy, love filled or heartbreaking...

Here's to a blessed 2011!

God bless...

Age Old Dreams...

I have always been told that I'm a good writer.  I know it may not come across here much, but it's always something that has come easily to me.  In school, my teachers always enjoyed my stories, and I was constantly getting good grades on my writing assignments.  When I got into college - for the two semesters that I was there - I got praises constantly again.  A few papers even received an "A+".

There have been times that I've considered being a freelance writer.  But I've never known where to start.  I love to write...well...I think I do better with editing, but writing has always been a passion of mine.  Maybe one of these days I will begin pursuing this dream, and who knows...maybe it will become something more for me...

God bless...

Where has this year gone???

Really???  Where has this year gone?  I look back to the beginning of the year, and I swear it feels like it's only been a few months...but...it's already December 29th!!!  Hopefully I will have a new update soon.  I just need to sit down and come up with something good.  Only 2 months until Julia's first birthday!!!

Oh, and here are a couple of pics to "tide you over".

Julia, Christmas eve at mom's house

And meet The Tot...AKA Baby B #2!!

God bless!

Merry Christmas!!!

Just a quick note to say Merry Christmas to all of my loyal blog readers, and those that may just pop in...

From our growing family...of FOUR!

2...more...days!

2 more days until we find out how much little Miss J has grown!  I hope she's finally above the 25th percentile...

It snowed again last night!  I will consider this one our official first snow.  We got about an inch total, it stuck around all day, and is still here!  It's so pretty.  When I got Julia up this morning, I brought her downstairs, and told her I had something to show her.  I unfastened the back curtain, and pulled it open.  She LOVED the snow!!!  This was her "second" look...

Her first reaction was the best, but I didn't get that one on camera.  As soon as I opened the curtain, she had the wide-eyed, eyebrows raised, mouth open look on her face.  It was so. stinking. cute!!!

Anyways...she has her 9 month well visit on Wednesday.  Thankfully she doesn't get any shots at this one!  Yay!

God Bless.

What if...

Have you ever stopped to think about the "what ifs"?  What if you had made different decisions in your life?  What if you did/did not have God to look to?  What if you knew of certain outcomes, but made the same choice anyways?  What if you never lost a loved one before it was "your time" to go?

What if...

I am grateful for all of the choices, hardships, struggles, and blessings that I have had in my life.  If it wasn't for my past, I wouldn't be the person that I am today.  What have you dealt with that you wouldn't trade for anything?  Simple, or hard...leave it anonymously if you don't want people to know who you are.  I won't judge you, and I hope others wouldn't as well.

God Bless...

First Snow!!!

Today we had our first snow fall of the "season"!  It was so pretty...I miss the white stuff!!!  There wasn't really much of it, but it was so pretty falling.  I took Julia to the back door to watch it, and she was totally mesmerized!  It was really cute...  =)

I scheduled her 9 month well visit appointment today too...  *sigh*  Our little girl is growing up so fast...

That is all.

God bless!

14 weeks and counting...

Until our "baby girl" turns ONE!!!  Where has the time gone???  I can't believe she'll be 9 months old already next week.  I guess it's time to start planning her party!  I have no idea where to start though.  No thoughts on a theme, decorations...nothing.  I know she'll never remember it, and I know it won't turn into what I really want it to, but I like to think that I can throw one of those really cute first birthday parties...

Anyways.  I just ordered a new "big girl" car seat for her, and a playpen to put around the Christmas tree so that she doesn't get into it when she shouldn't.  I couldn't believe the seat actually fit in my car.  It's nearly twice the size of her infant seat (it's a convertible so it faces rear and front), but it fits better than her infant seat...which...mind you...she still hasn't outgrown but it's getting close! 

Halloween this year was lots of fun!  Julia was a little lady bug, and daddy took her out trick or treating while I hung out at the house and handed out candy.  I was ok with it because it was COLD!!!  Plus, I got to see all the other cuties that were out and about!  She (well, daddy) did pretty good for her first year.  She had one of those plastic pumpkins and it was almost half full!!!  Apparently, a few people said to my hubby "I know you're not trick or treating for her, so you can take your pick".  That would have been funny to see! Hehe

Thanksgiving was lots of fun too.  We saw a lot of my family on Thanksgiving day, then on Friday, while Michael was working, I started putting up the Christmas tree and a few decorations!  Unfortunately, the tree sat with just lights on it until yesterday...  We went to visit with his family on Saturday, and celebrated his niece's (niece-in-law) 16th birthday.  It was lots of fun.  Julia didn't sleep well...AGAIN...while we were there, so that made for a very crabby mommy on Sunday.  I stayed at the house and slept while they all went to church.  =(

Oh yeah...another thing since my last update.  I had to go see an orthopaedic surgeon for a consultation on my wrist.  See, I got tendinitis when I was cheering in high school.  It kind of disappeared for a bit, and reared it's ugly head once I was picking up Julia on a regular basis.  I now have this super high fashioned wrist brace (high amount of sarcasm there...) that I'm supposed to wear every day.  It's not too bad, just hard to get used to...

Well, that's all I've got right now!

Until next time...

God bless.

Coming soon...

A new post...I promise!!!

What a weekend...

So, shortly before my previous post, I realized my little girl was getting sick.  She hadn't napped more than 45 minutes at a time all day, and in turn was over-tired and whiny all day.  She looked terrible once 5:00-ish rolled around.  Red eyes, stuffy runny nose (runny enough to rival a 6 year old boy!), breathing through her mouth, tears *every* time she cried...I felt so bad for her!  I had no idea what to do.  The whole day was spent playing with her trying to keep her happy.  The moment mommy or daddy walked away or set her down, she would start crying again.  At one point, she started to feel noticeably warm to me.  I took her upstairs and took her temperature.  It was about 100.1 under the arm, so you have to add a degree.  Granted, it's a VERY low grade fever, but it's enough to make her miserable!  I went ahead and gave her some Tylenol, since it really came out of nowhere, and I wanted to be pro-active (so not my style to give medicine when not 100% necessary...).  I then stripped her down to just her diaper and headed back downstairs.  Then, Michael and I decided to let her sleep if she fell asleep...well...she slept alright!  On me!  =)  Snuggle time!  Anyways...after about an hour and a half, her temp had only gone down to 99.6.  I waited another half hour and gave her a dose of Motrin to see if that would help.  I later realized that I had only given her half a dose.  Well, another 2 hours later, I gave her another dose of Tylenol - it was about 9 pm at that point.  Her temp went back up after that dose to 100.6.  I alternated Motrin and Tylenol the rest of the night with her "double dose" at 1 am.  Half of the night was spent trying to calm her, relax her, soothe her...so she could get to sleep.  I even tried sleeping on the floor in the nursery with her...which wasn't going to happen.  That's another story in itself.  At one point, I just brought her into our bedroom so that *I* could get some sleep!  She snoozed for about 3 hours...the longest stretch of the night.  I don't know why the thought didn't cross my mind to give her Orajel...after all, I figured she was just teething...so I felt bad when Michael suggested it.  I didn't give her anymore Tylenol or Motrin after 5 am because I wanted to see what her temp would do.

In the morning, when she woke at 7, her forehead actually felt cold to the touch so I wrapped her up in one of her fleece blankets, and snuggled her for a bit.  She slept some more laying on my chest.  I kept an eye on her temp for the rest of the day, and it pretty much stayed in the low 99* range.  It got up to 99.8 at one point but that was the highest it reached.  She actually did pretty good all day.  Napped relatively well, seemed MUCH happier than Saturday, but once the evening hit...it was all over again!  She went down relatively easily, but woke up just after Michael and I decided to sit down to watch a movie...and was up until about 9:30 I think.  *sigh*

I took her to the pediatrician today and discovered that she has a minor ear infection...again.  She hasn't had one in a few months...more meds...yay.  But hey...hopefully I'll have my smiley happy little girl back soon!

Anyways...that was my weekend.  How was yours?

God bless.