The early years




















This fluffy, lace covered baby is me.

About 23 years ago.

My mom's dad (Papa) used to buy me tiny, expensive baby dresses from Saxs, 5th Avenue.
My mom, apparently, used to put on little baby fashion shows.

From the look on my face, there is something uncomfortable going on somewhere.
Or I just peed myself, you never know.

A list

1. I love to make lists.

2. I was so full of list ideas last night, I couldn't sleep till I wrote them all down.

3. There are 25 items on my list.

4. I am 93% through my insomnia-inducing list.

5. My list included making other lists.

6. I had home-made thai/asian chicken stir fry and noodles for lunch.

7. I'm currently watching "Holmes on Homes".

8. I love home improvement shows.

9. My new favorite movie is "Despicable Me".

10. I want my own minion.

11. 56 days to go in my pregnancy!

12. I can't end a list on a prime number. Hence this point.

Photo of the week



This photo was taken at the West Virginia State Fair in 2009.

I wanted to accent the colors of the sunset and I think it turned out great.

Me and the hubby bought our customary cinnamon roll and loaded potato chip, heart attack inducing snacks. After some exploring and sweating off our lunch, we went to check out the rides. I wanted to ride the ferris wheel, but after doing the math, we didn't feel it was necessary to drop $11 a piece to ride. Then after getting scammed out of $40 for a sorry looking teddy bear, we decided to go home. :) It was a good day!

10 things that make me happy

1. Baby C
He's my little buddy. He keeps me company during the day while Hubby is at work and is always making me laugh. He's getting older (so fast!!) and developing a sense of humor. The other day he really had me going. I was sitting in the recliner and he wanted up, so I put him on my lap facing me. He started jumping up and down, making the recliner rock back and forth and he was just having so much fun, I couldn't stop laughing. I love that kid. I never thought I could love something so much. :D

2. Hubby
Hubby is my best friend. I tell him everything, which doesn't always go both ways since he works so much. But when we do get the chance to sit and talk, we go on and on. I love how he is such an optimist, it balances out my (sometimes) scrooge mentality. He really does know how to make me laugh, not always when I want him to. He is an amazing guy and I thank God we found each other when we did. I love him eternally.

3. My mom
She is my rock. I know I can always go to Hubby but mom has a way of putting things that always makes me feel better. She knows my personality and how emotional I can get sometimes. She understands my pregnancy makes me very hormonal and what to say to put me at ease. I may have my dad's brain, but I have my mom's heart. I love that woman beyond words.

4. My brother
Brother isn't like every other college dude. And I love him all the more for that. He's smart as a fox and I am very proud of him. I know he will go very far and in some ways, I live vicariously through that. My life has taken a very different path and I will never be able to do what he is doing. He is a silly, caring, energetic, genius and he's my little brother.

5. Shopping
What woman doesn't?! I really do love shopping for others. That's my favorite. I like to go out and try to find something that is really meaningful to that person. Or if I can't find something just right, I make it. Which brings us to...

6. Crafts
I love anything that brings out my creative side. I made a gorgeous scrapbook out of my wedding photos. When wrapping presents, I always add personal touches like hand made name tags. I love to take photos and make a collage or put together a photo album and make custom photo captions. I'm good at making hemp jewelry, I can crochet, I can draw very well...I'm very good with my hands.

7. Photography
Taking photos, not just snapping pictures randomly, is something I am always looking out for. When I'm driving, or out with friends or family, I'm always looking for that one good shot. Photography is very important to me because I want to catch those moments and catch them in a great photo. Once I get a professional camera next year (thanks dad!!) and photoshop (who knows when) I will be in good order. I can get some practice in then start offering my photography talent along side my Wedding Planning business.

8. The outdoors
Growing up, we were always outside or taking vacations to new places. I have seen places that will blow your mind by the beauty. When you are on your way to work, do you notice the color of the trees or the changing colors of the sunrise? I notice these things everyday and it makes me happy. Nature is amazing and should not be taken for granted.

9. Time with family, friends
I rarely get to spend time with my side of the family since we all live in different corners of the country. I have family in Indiana, Washington, California, Hawaii, and my parents are in Virginia. I went to Washington for the first time 3 years ago, my last time to California was 3 years ago as well, and my Papa visited from Hawaii this year. So my visits with family are once every five years, if I'm lucky. I am very thankful for the time I get to spend with them.
Friend time has gotten slim lately since Rachel got a new job. She works more then Hubby does so I don't get to go out with her much anymore. She has more friends then I do, so I don't think she realizes she's the only person I go out with. Jesse is busy with a new baby, her two year old, her husband, and school so I don't talk to her much. Angie lives 2 hours away so those visits are slim as well. It's really just me and the baby all the time, when Hubby's at work. Needless to say, I really enjoy the little time I do get.

10. Music
On those days where my preggie hormones are really picking on me, music can always put me in a happier place. Getting out of the house and driving with the music up always makes me happy too. I don't have to explain how music finds the way to say how I'm feeling. It has always been there when I'm in a low place and made me feel better. It also makes my good mood even better :D

These are what make me happy...how about you?

Baby's first

I'm so glad Christmas is over.
I really do enjoy the decorations and family time but the crowds, the pressure, and the uncalled for rise in gas prices really wears me out. Now the lights and decorations are all put away, all the little snowmen figurines are packed up, and the wrapping paper is thrown away.
There is still a lot of candy floating around, however.

Monkey had a good time, I have to say.
Who doesn't love presents!?

















He was quite good at unwrapping...





We actually didn't get him anything...no reason really. He has all kinds of different toys. I also am not one of those people who showers their kid in presents "just because". I'm glad he liked what he got though. :D


On another note, I am almost finished with my baby blanket for the new baby. 


I am debating whether or not to put his whole name or just his initials on the blanket once I'm done. I really don't know how right at this moment but I'm sure there is a way. 

All I want for christmas...

Just because I don't believe in this holiday doesn't mean I want to be by myself.
Hubby has to work, like he did last year, and I miss him terribly. It makes it more depressing thinking that, pretty much, the entire world is celebrating with their family and I'm all alone.
I appreciate the "spirit of the holidays", I enjoy the family time that comes from it, and I understand the love that comes from sharing with loved ones.
But is sure does suck when you don't have anyone to share with...

Christmas Eve

Christmas eve is my favorite part of this holiday simply because I get to spend time with family.
Every December 24th, my aunt-in-law Yevonne has a dinner for just her brother( my father-in-law), my brother-in-law Wayne, and her daughter Stephanie. Well, Steph couldn't make it due to snow, since she lives in Virginia. Wayne brought his gilrlfriend and her three kids and Hubby's cousin Chrissy showed up. I love this dinner because there isn't a lot of people and there is no drama.
Monkey was the center of attention the whole night and he was loving it. Everyone was taking his picture and playing with him. He couldn't get enough. Of course when we get home, he's so pumped up that he's not ready for bed. But I'm glad he got to see family members and spend time with new friends as well.
I don't believe in Christmas, but I do enjoythe togetherness that comes from it. :

Photo of the Week



This is one of the very first photos I took when I decided to take Photography.

It was taken on the New River, in Pembroke, Va in 2006.

It is one of my favorites to date. I love the symmetry of the bridge and its reflection. I passed my Landscape Photography project in that class with flying colors, all thanks to Giles County and her beautiful scenery. 
Landscape photography is one of my favorites, along with people, bridges, and macro-photography. 
This photo, to me, represents calm, serenity, and a warm sunny day. It's a happy memory on film.

Just a shout out

I wanted to share a link to a blog I follow.
This woman is a super mom of 4 living on a cattle ranch, with her own cookbook, and recently beat Bobby Flay in a cookoff.
Awesome.
I'm sharing so you can get a piece of the action. She is always having giveaways, specially since it's christmas, and all you have to do is leave a comment to enter. Like how I recently entered to win a stand mixer, a professional set of knives, and an amazing photo printer.
Just saying...

http://thepioneerwoman.com/

Nesting has taken over

About a week ago, I went to the library and checked out some books.
Little to my knowledge, all three of them were sewing related.
The first was about knitting, the second was about quilting, and the third was about sewing. So of course, I got inspired to create something with my own two hands.
I dug out my yarn and crochet book and began to crochet a baby blanket.
The first three rows are a little uneven but after that I got into the groove and was able to sail through the rest of my yarn. I have to go back to the store and find the same color so I can finish but here is what I have so far:
















Here's a close up:
















I also want to try quilting, so I went down to the craft store and picked up some fabric. Now I don't intend on making a huge quite, just something small to test my skills.
















I will post some more pictures once I get farther along. Hopefully it turns out better then my 7th grade home economics project...

To be continued!

Say cheese!

After putting it off for 3 months, I finally knuckled down and caught up on my schoolwork.
I started taking a photography class online through Penn Foster when Monkey was three months old. I breezed through the first couple lessons then got stuck on the lesson about lighting. It was mainly concerning artificial light versus natural light and how to measure both.
Talk about complicated.
Photography class was hard enough when I had a professor and 15 other classmates. Geez.
Once I got past that lesson (passed with an 80%), it got a lot easier. Now I'm back on hold because I have a project I have to turn in. The first half is to photograph a publicly used building using natural light and the second is to photograph a woman using available light.
I know who and, most likely, where I'm going to photograph the woman. But the building, I'm stuck on. I don't know whether to wait till the snow has melted or not. I have the time but I know warmer weather won't come around till about April.
Just another reason for me to hate snow.

Origin of Christmas

I do not celebrate Christmas. And before you gasp and ask why in the world not? It's the birth of Christ!
No it is not, my friend.
I post this to be informative, not to be a Scrooge and ruin your holidays.

Please read:
http://www.simpletoremember.com/vitals/Christmas_TheRealStory.htm

Adventures in the snow.

I went to Walmart today.
It started snowing...which is no surprise, it's been snowing for the past three days. But I was standing at the cash register, paying for my groceries and I hear a girl say "It's snowing really hard!".
I look.
It sure is! Big fluffy snowflakes that cover the ground quickly. And the road.
Damn it.
I haven't left the house in three days and as soon as I'm 15 miles from home, the snow starts to stick to the road.
Go figure.

When I get home, I decide to take Monkey outside to see his first winter. Technically it's his second, but this time he realizes something is going on.
Anyway.
I bundle him up in his cute little snow outfit and his bunny ear snow hat.






















I put on Cody's hunting boots and trudge outside.
















Mooo...





















 Moo wha?

I set Colt on the ground to let him explore.
He puts his hands in the snow....

























...and starts bawling!
I guess the coldness of the snow really scared him and he freaked out. He was rubbing his hands everywhere to try and get the snow off. He was getting it on his face and in his eyes in the process, making it worse.
Poor guy.




















So I wrap the ends of his sleeves around his hands and he's much more comfortable.
He was content just to sit and look around.

















This was fun mom!

Cleaning and Cooking

The nesting bug bit me hard yesterday.
I had just put the baby down for a nap when it hit me: I'm going to clean today.
And I did.
I cleaned for a good two hours. All 4 bedrooms, one of the bathrooms, and the den and kitchen.
AND I did the laundry and the dishes.
I was on a roll!
Anyway, I decided to make a complete dinner for when Hubby got home. Not just something I scrounged together, something solid and hearty.
And I documented the process. :D

I had bought one of those recipe inspirations cards from McCormick. Its a little card with a recipe on it and it comes with all the spices you will need. Super easy. This one was for Rosemary Chicken and Potatoes.
Yum.

So I used a whole chicken instead of chicken breast, like the recipe calls for, and I added carrots and celery.

















I found this peeler at TJMaxx, and I gotta say, I love it. You don't have the danger of accidentally peeling your fingers along with the celery. Perfect.

















Next I chopped up all the veggies into big chunks.


















Then I emptied out all the spices and mixed them together.
You do have to add your own salt.
Don't forget!

















Monkey was helping me cook...
That's a baby cracker on the floor by the way.





















I also whipped up some asparagus. I boiled these earlier. Here I put them on a baking sheet, added some oil, salt, and pepper then popped them in the oven for about 8 minutes.

















Then I buttered the chicken skin. It helps to dry the chicken skin with a paper towel first or else it's too wet for the butter to stick. I also sprinkled it with garlic salt and pepper.

















Then Monkey helped me pick out a pan...





















Stuff it all in a baking dish...

















...then into the oven at 425 for about 30 minutes. I then turned it down to 400 for the next hour, after I buttered the chicken skin again. It gives it good flavor and keeps it from getting too crunchy. I like crunch but not dried out.
Don't worry, the veggies cook down a lot. I know it looks like its overflowing right now.

An hour later!
















Yurm....it smells amaaazing.

Total time: 1 hour and 1/2.
Time to eat: 30 minutes!

It's great as leftovers as well or for a working man to take to work with him!
Hubby loved it.

I want to start cooking new dishes and I plan to document my attempts at new recipes.
Until the new baby gets here....then I won't have time scratch my head.

It's snowing...darn it.

I. Hate. Snow.

Blegh...it's so cold, and wet, and dreary, I hate it.
I like "pretty" snow. I like the thick, clumpy, make-everything-look-magical kind of snow. The kind that sticks to everything EXCEPT the road. That kind of snow I can live with.
This stuff is blegh...ugly.

You can't really tell from the picture, but the snow is blowing around and its FREEZING.

I would hate to be one of the cows right now.

Brrr...





ON TOP of the snow...it flooded too! Apparently, (I wouldn't know because I slept like a rock) it rained like doomsday last night and flooded.

If you look past the fence, towards the trees, you can see all the water that rose last night from the creek.

It does that every time it rains hard and every winter when the snow melts.

At least we don't own the land that gets hit the hardest with water. It just covers a small part of our land, not too bad.


This is a picture of my fogged up front door:


I was doing laundry and it warms up the whole front of the house...so it gets kinda foggy when its cold outside. :P

I drew a snowman on one of the panes. The middle, right one.

:D

On another note: Monkey is walking A LOT more. I think Curtis is going to be right, that Monkey will be walking before Christmas! Right now, its more walking then crawling but its still not one all the time.

It's really exciting to see him learn new things. Like now he can imitate certain sounds you make. He likes to move his tongue over his lip and make a gobble like sound. It's hard to explain but SUPER cute. :D He can also clap his hands together. I love it.

We all went to the Greenbrier hotel yesterday to meet Rachel and get our Christmas pictures taken. It was a lot of fun and more personal then just getting a portrait taken. I don't like portrait pictures. I think they're are lame. It's so much more creative to pick a spot that you like outside of a studio and get your picture taken there. Here's some of my favorites.







Here Monkey is sitting on the piano. It could not have been more perfect!









And here, he's under the tree. I love how the lights reflect off of the floor. This one is my favorite. :D

The lighting wasn't the best, but that what you get with a basic digital camera. Dad is going to buy me a semi-professional grade camera like I've always wanted. I have a manual one, but not a digital. So next year, these should turn out a lot better. But for our first family picture, ever, I think they turned out great!

Christmas Cards!!!!

Little Christmas Christmas
Make a statement with custom Christmas cards at Shutterfly.
View the entire collection of cards.

FOOOOD!!!!

This happened last time.
Stuffing my face....scouring the cupboards.
Opening and reopening the fridge.
Ever since I turned 6 months pregnant, I have had the urge to munch!
The great thing is, I have only gained about 1-2 pounds in 6 months. :D

In other news: Colt is starting to walk! Just a few baby steps here and there but he is getting more bold about it and trying it more often. He was on a roll today when I went to visit Rachel, zipping back and forth between us. But as soon as I broke out the video camera, he didn't want to walk anymore. :P Go figure!

Oh boy...

It's a boy!
Yes, I cried.
No, not from excitement.
I bawled to my mama. Whimpered like a baby. Laughed at my prego-ness and apologized to the nurses and doctors around me.
It's my fault really, I had convinced myself that I was having a girl so I was disappointed when I found out it was a boy. *siiiiigh* oh well.
Maybe next time...
Oh, and we are naming him Corbin Walker :D

On a different note: I am getting the newest ipod touch for mine and Hubby's 2 year anniversary!! I could NOT be more impatient and excited at the same time. I have been wanted a new video camera ever since I found out I was prego with Baby C. Well...I didn't get one for Christmas, or when Baby C was born, or for my birthday OR when we got our tax return. Daggomit...it is time!
We were shopping around online and found some contenders on Best Buy. I didn't want anything too complicated, I'm not planning on making a blockbuster movie out of my videos. Well...Hubby stumbled across the itouch after he had searched: awesome video cameras. lol.
I was hooked.


I cannot help it! It is just so awesome! It's basically an iphone without the calling feature. And I don't have to pay monthly for anything. You get free internet because it can pick up on your own wireless internet. So you get all the perks right away from that: maps, webcam (live chat), mobile uploads, video and photo uploads instantly to Facebook...etc. It has TWO cameras. TWO. One in the front for close up shots and one in the back that records HD video as well as still shots. You can game on it as well.
How frickin' awesome. :D

Singing praises

I was able to get the majority of my photos back yesterday. Turns out, I WAS using my backup hard drive wrong: I thought it was wireless (blonde moment) and that it updated itself. Turns out, I was wrong (go figure), so the last time it was updated was when my dad gave it to me: almost 8 months ago! So until I find a file restoration program that is cheap or free...I have lost the past 7 months worth of photos. Thank God, I have all the baby pictures on websites, so those are safe. Any other important photos have been posted to Facebook, so they are not lost either. I really can't remember any other photos that might have been so lost, so I'm not that bummed about losing some. I guess they weren't that important!

If I had never went to enter a photo contest on pioneerwoman.com, I never would have realized my photos were gone! That website, by the way, is brilliant. I wish I had enough interesting things to write about like she does. But I'm hoping that the next couple months will bring some new interesting changes about, as we move into the big house.
The "big house" is my father-in-law's house, next door. Since I am pregnant, again, we will not have enough room in our house for both babies to have their own room. And since my FIL Curtis, is single, he doesn't need a 4 bedroom house all to himself: we get it! Hubby would have inherited it anyway, after his father would pass, but we had always planned to move there if our family got bigger.
I'm really excited about designing it to my tastes. Curtis is in the progress of redoing a lot of the rooms anyway, so now I can help pick out paint colors and such. All four bedrooms are done but the rest of the house is looking kind of rough.
The kitchen, for sure, needs the cabinets redone. I want to paint them white, with new silver handles, then paint the walls a stone kind of grey. I'm not sure what is going to be done about the countertops. I hate them. I don't even know what kind of material they are made of, but they are old and black. Not smooth black either...they're rough and textured. Hard to explain, but trust me, they are UG-LY. The appliances are black, which I hope to eventually upgrade to stainless steel; but that is a long term goal. I also want to remove one section of the counter and replace it with a curved island. It would make the whole room flow better into the den. Right now, the kitchen is in the shape of an "n". The opening faces the dining room doorway, but if we could take out a section it would face the den as well and open the entire floor plan up. Curtis said it was a good idea, but he didn't have the money for that kind of remodel right now. Hopefully, it will be able to get done in the future.
I want to continue the grey wall color into the den and make the kitchen/den one cohesive design. I will rearrange the furniture to allow better traffic flow into the hallway and create a conversation area with an area rug and a coffee table. Right now, it is a total bachelor pad, with mismatched furniture and old dusty picture frames on the coffee table. I want to use cool colors with green and white accents.
The dining room, I want to paint a warm tone of brown that will make the white crown molding pop. I plan to have a round dining room table, a buffet table along the wall, a mirror above that, and to use white and blue accents.
I want to continue the brown wall color into the living room but to use more earthy colors as accents. I want to move the tv from the den to the living room, and to have a lot of kid friendly ottomans that double as toy storage. A big area rug with break up all the wood flooring, and warm colored curtains will really make the room look roomy and inviting.
I'm not sure about the hallway yet. Right now it has a wood covering the bottom third of the wall, so I'm not sure what color to paint the remaining space. It's kind of narrow, so I want it to open up and not feel so small. And there's also the entryway to the front door. I want to add some more storage by using some sort of built-in or cabinet. But we'll see how the living room looks and I might continue that design into the entryway.
Overall, I am REALLY excited to get started. I know it won't be done in a week, it will take a lot longer since I am pregnant, Hubby works night shift, and Monkey will probable be walking by then. Since we plan to paint ourselves, the progress will depend on how much me, Hubby, and Curtis can get done at a time. I've been holding back on buying decorations lately since I don't want to start decoration without knowing what kind of furniture we will need and what color exactly we will be putting on the walls. But that doesn't stop me from drawing up plans and daydreaming about what I want it to look like!

oh crap...

I accidentally deleted my iphoto library.

Which means I have no pictures. Anywhere.
They are gone.

I am running a program that is supposed to find deleted files and offer me the option of restoring them. I am PRAYING TO GOD that it works. I cannot live without all my pictures. I would cry.

On a different note, I have had heartburn for about a month which means: hairy baby!! lol.

Oop..gotta go, baby is up!

Before I forget...

Baby #2 Update:
I first felt (him/her) kick in the beginning of September. I really felt (him/her) kick yesterday :D I'm writing this down so that I can put it in (his/her) baby book. I'm trying to keep up and be accurate in Colt's baby book and I def. want to keep it up with baby #2.

Success!

I've been having a hard time trying to get Colt to eat baby food. If I catch him at the right moment, he'll polish off a jar no problem; but if he's really hungry, sleepy, not hungry or doesn't like the flavor then it's impossible. He's not used to eating without sucking on something so it'll take some time to get him off the bottle. But I found today that if I give him his own baby spoon to suck on then I can sneak bites in and he'll eat at least half a jar. :D

Heart broken

I love my son so much, it breaks my heart.
He's sitting in his swing right next to me, with a big grin on his face, big blues eyes sparkling, breaking my heart. Babbling while he plays with his pacifier, watching "Grey's Anatomy", and drooling all over the place.
I love watching him scoot and crawl around, it makes me proud to see him pull himself up like a big boy and walk along the couch. He makes me laugh with his funny faces as he sucks on his lower lip, looking over the side of the recliner at me. I laugh with him when I'm tickling his belly, tossing his in the air, or when we play peek-a-boo.
It hurts me when he falls and hits his head, that sad painful cry of his. I yell with him when he starts yelling for no reason, the two of us making a whole lot of racket together.

I love how that kid breaks my heart. <3

*gag*

For the first time, since getting pregnant and including my pregnancy with Baby C, I threw up today.

Not that exciting but it is something different. I have been feeling sick more often during this pregnancy which leads me to believe this baby could be a girl. :-D With Baby C, I basically had no symptoms of pregnancy at all. You could never tell I was pregnant before until my belly started growing.

So cross your fingers !! And pray for a little Charlotte Mae :-D

Shrimp

I had my first doctor's appt. yesterday for baby #2. Everything looked nice and healthy and I wasn't as far along as I thought, but still over 2 months. The baby is a big as a medium sized shrimp, the eyes are developed but not open and the hearing system is developed so the baby can hear me. Today I am 10 weeks along which, get this, puts my due date 4 days after Baby C's birthday! They will be almost to the day, a year apart. Crazy!



I have my first wedding client :-) She is Rachel's niece and I've met her before but it's still a wedding. She's getting married in Myrtle Beach so she only needs me as a consultant. At least I will get some experience and have someone to finally write a review of me. I was hoping this would help jump start my wedding planning career but now that I've found out I'm pregnant, it will have to put on hold a little longer. Again.

I found a new website I am in love with. "Pioneer Woman"..a rancher's wife who has 4 kids, homeschools,  writes, has a cookbook out, is writing a book about how she met her husband, and is a photographer. She is amazing. Hopefully, after I finish this photography class I can start a more successful blog and become a better writer. I was a good writer in college, when I had to be.

I need something constructive to do with my days...when Baby C is asleep, besides watching TV and checking my Facebook every 30 minutes. I don't really have a lot to write about...so a blog really isn't a good idea. I don't like not having a set schedule of work, class, home...things like that. I miss the busy life I used to have. This blog is here for me to vent really...get thoughts out of my head and onto "paper".

Right now though, its Lost with the hubby. The hubby who keeps dozing off...

OMG

I can NOT believe it, but I am pregnant. Again.

I am at least two months along, the nurse says I am possibly 11 weeks along already. I had one cycle after Baby C was born then I started taking the pill so I thought that might have thrown my cycle off. So I was waiting longer then usual before I began to think that I might be prego. But here we are! 11 weeks prego with a 4 1/2 month old...Lord help me.

4 months

Well it's been two months since my last post and Baby C is growing like a weed! He has accomplished so much. He can laugh, scream (for fun), he can push up onto his hands when on his belly. He can recognize his bottle and reach for it, he can reach for and grab toys, and he has started teething. He seems to really like his baby pain reliever, its grape flavored :-). He was sleeping  completely through the night, from 6 pm to 6 am, but now that his gums are hurting, he wakes up around 2 or 3 first. He saw himself in the mirror at walmart and started laughing! I love watching him grow and learn. It's too bad Hubby can't be here like I can to watch him.


Right now I'm trying to lay him down for a nap and he keeps streeeeetching his leg out so that he's practically laying on his side. He has so many wiggles in him, you literally have to hold him down sometimes till he calms down. I put my hand on his head and pat him till I see his eyes start to close. Or I just let him watch his mobile till he will pass out as soon as I roll him over. He fights sleep so hard, its sad and funny at the same time.












Mom bought him a baby "entertainer" and he loves it. He can stretch and bounce on his legs. Its got lots of bright colorful toys around it for him to play with. He loves to stand up :-). He can almost sit up by himself. He hasn't quite mastered his balance yet though. I'm hoping that by putting him in his entertainer that he will learn to keep his balance better. He had his first sink bath a couple weeks ago. He's so cute when he's all wet. :-)


My 5 year reunion went well. I was worried people wouldn't show up on account of the rain. It was POURING, but there ended up being about 15 of us total. Jeremiah has flown in from California and was able to make it, Kashon ran into him at walmart and found out about the reunion that way. Some people had to work, but I gave them almost 6 months notice, I don't know why they couldn't have taken off that day. A lot of people just flaked for some reason, which annoys me to no end. If you can't make it then no big deal, but don't say you are going to come then don't show. It's just rude. *sigh*, oh well, at least some showed.


I didn't know Melissa would be there. I thought her and Matt were still in Ohio. I was SO happy to see her. It brought back a lot of good memories from Raddy. I miss those times. It was totally predictable to see the same people who hung out in high school hanging out at the reunion. I had people sign a card for Brittney since she was in the hospital. Although I found out later that Brittney isn't even in the hospital anymore. I hope they send it back so I can send it to the right address. It was a good time despite the rain and cop outs. :-)

I finally got my back porch the other day. The boys put it together in one day. Now I have a place to entertain. We have a table and chairs, a tanning chair and the grill up there. We have yet to put the rails up but that is on the list. I painted it a dark brown and I think its looks great. I love it :-). I can tan while the baby naps and go out and read. We can have dinner out there. It expands our living space and I love the extra room. I hope to put in a pool with our tax return. :-)



left out

The more and more I surf Facebook, the more I want to crawl in a hole. I feel so left out with everyone posting things about graduating, and classes, and parties. I wish I were in that group still. I miss college, I miss being able to go out and hanging with friends, I miss going to class! After I met Hubby, I started life early. Other people are starting their careers while I am starting a family. They were sophmores when I got married. They are worried about exams, I am worried about whether or not out insurance is ever going to add the baby. They worry about making it to class on time...I worry if we are going to make it to payday. They have bar tabs, I have car payments. They buy fancy new phones, I buy diapers and formula.

I wouldn't trade what I have for anything...sometimes I just wish I would have waited.

2 month update

So far, my little big man can: hold his head up on his own, stand and support himself when held, he can "talk" to you, smile when you talk to him, and he is pretty much sleeping through the night. Last night, he got up at 2:30 but I think its because I laid him to sleep on his back. I usually lay him on his stomach and he will sleep all night. But yesterday...I took him into his room, laid him on his back in his crib and turned on his mobile. He LOVES to watch that thing! Anyway, mom called. I was sitting in the big blue chair in the baby room reading a magazine, waiting to see if he would fall asleep on his own. While I was talking to mom, I realized I didn't hear him talking to himself anymore. I get up to look, and he is passed out!! So I closed the door and went to bed myself. I guess he doesn't sleep as good on his back but its good to know he will go to sleep without me rocking him. I want to get him in that habit.



He is drinking about 3-5oz at a time. Nothing new there. I tried to give him baby cereal mixed with his formula and he didn't really seem to act more full then he would with just formula. Mom wanted me to try it to see if he would stay full longer but I don't think it did any good. I will try it later though if he seems to be hungry more often.


Hubby started at a new prison this week that is a lot closer then Mt. O was. It cuts his drive in half and we will save hundreds of dollars in gas. :-) He gets home earlier and doesn't have to leave as early so I get to spend more time with him and so does Baby C. Which also means he has more time to get on my nerves but that is husbands for you.

one month update

We finally weighed the baby today: 13 pounds! Not sure how long he is...I have to find my little tape measure but if you have checked out my pics on Shutterfly, there is a picture that shows him compared to me.

I am definitely aware of how stubborn he is. I had to let him scream for about 10 minutes because he wasn't hungry, I had just changed him, he didn't want his pacifier and he wasn't happy in any position I put him in. So after a crying bout, I popped his paci in his mouth and he passed right out. He is VERY stubborn when it comes to going to sleep. He will fight it with all he has. But eventually, he cannot fight it when I rock him to sleep. It never fails. :-)

Today went good till about 7 pm when he began fighting sleep and he finally passed out around 8:30. I was finally able to do some dishes and eat dinner. I am going to bed now before he wakes up again.

Night!

thinking

Baby C is a month and 4 days old and by God, it blew by fast! He is growing like a weed. He had horrible diaper rash this morning. Every time he had a dirty diaper or when I changed him, he would SCREEAM, the poor thing. Its better now but I felt so bad because there is nothing you can really do but wait. Other then that, he has had a really normal first month!

I have been doing pretty good, I think, handling him by myself for the larger portion of the day. Hubby works long hours and has to go to bed soon after getting home so I basically watch the baby all day and night for 3 or 4 days at a time. Today was rough, with Baby C screaming every 15 minutes for a couple hours, but finally he's feeling better so I can relax...*sigh*...

Some days I really start to miss home in Virginia. I left all my friends, school, work, and my family behind when I got married and moved. God knows I wouldn't trade what I have now for the world, but I can't help  but get lonely and miss having friends. I have a very small group of friends now and I just wish I had more people to call, more people that would stop by, or to just have more people that call to check in. I feel, sometimes, that its just me by myself and no one cares how I am doing. :-(  Hubby tells me that its partly my fault, that I'm shy and I don't associate with people enough. He says I need to go out and MAKE friends. OKAY...to me thats just ludacris. I do not like people, I don't like having to try and make small talk. I know when I meet someone if I want to be friends with them. I don't bother with people I know I don't want to talk to. *sigh*...I don't know.

He's here!!!

So it's been two weeks since C baby was born and I have to say, I am exhausted. The past couple days, I have had a time trying to get him to go to sleep. He eats and starts to fall asleep but as soon as you put him down, you have about 15 minutes before he's back up again. During the night, he sleeps just fine for hours at a time, but during the day, he doesn't seem to want to go to sleep. I know he's tired...he gets fussy for what seems like no reason and you can tell he needs to sleep but he tries his hardest not to. *sigh*...

To start at the beginning, C baby was born Sunday, February 21st at 10:28 pm. I went into early labor Saturday at 5 am and would be woken up with each contraction so I didn't sleep very well the rest of the night. The next day my parents came to visit and I didn't get a chance to take a nap, which is hell when you are 4 days away from being full term. I was woken up at 1 am Sunday morning with some very serious contractions. I got up and started walking around the house counting how far apart they were and I noticed that they were a consistent 5 minutes apart, not lasting quite a minute but still qualifying as real contractions. We called the hospital to get their opinion on whether I should come in or not and they said that I should so we got our bags together, grabbed the car seat and left for the hospital! I didn't realize that morning that it would be my last day being pregnant!!


We got checked in and taken into a room where I received my lovely hospital gown, which I had to get help getting into. Those things are very confusing if you have never put one on before! I had a horrible time with the IV needle...bless that nurse, but she could not find a vein in my hand. Those needles are HUGE and I have tiny veins so I ended up throwing up a few times. It wasn't the needle itself that made me sick, it was the nauseating feeling of that evil thing trying to find my vein. It felt like it was scraping against bone. It was horrible having them do it 4 times before they finally got it right. After that, I was taken into the labor and delivery room where we settled down to wait!


Little did I know, that I would be in labor, with horrible back pain, for 21 hours!! TWENTY ONE HOURS! When you have back labor and can NOT get comfortable to save your life, it seems like you are there for days. I do have to brag: I did NOT get an epidural :-D I said I wouldn't and by God, I did not!! The labor was not as bad as I thought it would be. Yes it hurts, but its a squeezing pain that is tolerable. I did end up getting some pain meds through the IV which let me sleep (finally) in-between contractions. I do believe if I had not gotten the meds, I would have passed out from exhaustion. I was that tired. I do have to complain about the God forsaken blood pressure monitor. It would crank up and squeeeeeeeze my arm so hard, it hurt worse then the contractions. And sometimes it would just attack me over and over when it couldn't get a good reading. I wanted to throw it out the window but they wouldn't let me. Stupid thing.


Finally, what seemed like days, I felt the urge to push and they brought the doctor in. I did not know how hard it would be to figure out what muscles to use when pushing!! Some women push a couple times and out pops a baby, but I just could not focus on the right muscles and ended up pushing for an hour and a half. At that point, I was SO tired and SO frustrated that I wasn't making any progress. It had taken me 21 hours to dilate to 9 and 3/4 centimeters. I wasn't even fully dilated when I started pushing! I was getting really agitated, I started crying, feeling like it was never going to end. I felt that I was going to be in labor forEVER. I just felt like I couldn't do it anymore. My doctor looked at me and asked if I wanted to keep pushing, which might take another hour, or if I wanted to go ahead and have a C-section. At that point I did not care how that baby came out, just that he did! So we went ahead with the C-section. In-between urges to push coupled with contractions, I slept. I don't remember the ride to the operating room. When I got there, it took 6 times for him to find the right spot in my back for my spinal. I kept falling asleep sitting on the table and they had to keep reminding me to slouch my shoulders and arch my back. Here is my lovely bruise from that ordeal.


It was lovely when the medication sank in and numbed my insides to where I couldn't feel the contractions anymore. It was strange because you can feel pressure, but nothing else. So I could feel them pushing and tugging my stomach but not the pain. The procedure went great, the doctors were joking around and making me laugh. I wasn't worried at all. Hubby was there watching them cut me open and pull out the baby. The baby gave one little cry and that was it! When Dr.P  pulled him out, she said "My God, look at the shoulders on him! There's no way he would have come out vaginally." So there you go...I pushed that whole time for nothing. Go figure..lol. After they cleaned him off and I got to see him, I started crying. He was just so pretty I couldn't get enough of him. At that point I was out. I don't remember anything between that and waking up in the recovery room feeling very sore.


Baby C was born at 10:28 pm, Sunday the 21st of February. 9 lbs, 4 oz, 20.75 inches long. A full head of brownish blonde hair and dark blue eyes. He was lovely  :-D


The next day I got a lot of visitors. Too many really, I would have liked more time for just us three. But it was nice to see how many people care enough to come over and see how we were doing. I got lovely flowers and it was great to be waited on by the nurses. Three meals a day and all the help I could ask for. We felt bad sending the baby off to the nursery at night, but it was also nice to get a full nights sleep. They would wake me up around 4 to feed the baby but other then that, it was good to sleep. Here is a picture of Baby C that morning. He is huge!


The grandparents couldn't be happier :-D


Proud daddy and his baby


 I think Baby C looks like Hubby, but with my nose :-P


He's got dark blue eyes right now with blondish brown hair. We'll see if it changes!


After it all, I don't think about the horrible IV needle, or the back labor. I just can not get enough of this gorgeous little man I carried for 9 months. I love him so much, I had no idea how much it would affect me after he arrived. I get anxious when I'm away from him for too long and I worry if Hubby is doing the right things to take care of him. I love that little boy with all my heart and would not change a thing. How can you not fall in love with the big blue eyes.


Coming home was fun! I was terrified on the ride home, it felt like Hubby was driving like a bat outta hell when in fact he was driving like he normally does. I kept imagining every car ramming into us and all these horrible things. But we made it home just fine and started our new life with a baby. Trying to figure out why he won't stop screaming and whether or not those gas drops are helping. Which bottle should we use and where did we put all the blankets?! Two weeks later, we have most things figured out. He gets bad gas and yes, the drops help. He likes to be on his back when he's gassy and loves to fall asleep on your chest. He likes breast milk better but in a bottle please and thank you. Formula is okay, but please warm it up or he won't drink it. He likes his belly rubbed and loves his bouncer. He looks different already and is growing like a weed. I just wish he would stay little forever. I love the cuddle time and the cute squeaky noises he makes when he's eating. <3 I'm totally in love with this little boy.