I Now Pronounce You: Husband, Wife and Two Crazy Dogs

Friday Fun Day!

2010-04-23T10:10:00.001-04:00

So after another long sleepless night, my child is napping like an angel. I'm not exactly sure why he choses to be up every 2 hours during the night, be up for the day at 6:30 then take a wonderful nap at 9:00. I'm not complaining, I LOVE his morning naps. I get to have a cup of coffee, catch up on my shows, read a few blogs...but couldn't we compromise and get a good nights sleep til 7:30-8ish and then go from there? I'm a night girl by nature, but that means I like going to bed at 6:30, not getting up then. Anyways...

It's my own fault I get no sleep at night. Little man has been sleeping in his crib since we moved into this house, so since he was about 3 months old. His crib however is still in our bedroom. I just can't let Mr. Football move it yet, even though he threatens to everyday. I love the house we moved in to. Its spacious, it has enough yard for the dogs to do their business, it has a separate family room so Mr. Football can watch/play whatever he wants, but the bedrooms are on the first level. That wouldn't be such a big deal except the master is on the second level. So for little man to be in his own room, he's an entire floor away from me and has ground level windows. I know I'm a little neurotic but I just can't let him sleep all by himself down there. And what if someone broke in his window? (The Lindbergh baby was taken from a second story bedroom you know.) I know I'm crazy. So for now, I deal with getting no sleep because he wakes up all the time. But I'd rather have him waking me up then be worried about him all by himself...

So once he wakes up from his wonderful morning nap, we're meeting Mr. Football for lunch then going to the aquarium! Maybe I'll try to sneak in a nap too. Happy Friday!

long lost friend...

2010-04-22T07:28:00.003-04:00

We used to be friends,

GREAT friends...

What happened?

We used to spend such quality time together,

hours and hours and hours

You brought me such peace and serenity

I feel absolutely lost without you...

Will we ever be friends again?

I miss you sleep...

this cutie patootie thinks its necessary to get up every hour the last few nights...

he thinks his mom might be doing somthing fun without him.

I'm not.

strange happiness

2010-04-14T22:07:00.002-04:00

This came today...

And even though it wasn't a surprise since I did order it last weekend and UPS did call me twice yesterday to confirm that they were coming, my heart still skipped a beat when the door bell rang today.

Now I make it quite clear that I do NOT enjoy cleaning...not even a little. Vacuuming definitely falls into that cleaning category, but since I have a little munchkin man who is now rolling and heartbreakingly close to crawling (he scoots on his belly already) I decided to suck it up (literally) and get a new vacuum. Theres just something not right with setting your baby on the floor to play and picking up a ~~third dog~~ I mean fur covered child.

It's so pretty and shiny and new still...I almost hate to dirty it up.

And to make it even sweeter, Mr. Football decided it looked pretty cool and wanted to try it out.

I happily obliged...

It's my party....

2010-04-12T21:16:00.015-04:00

Well I'm back, so why not join the party?! I was catching up on my blogs and saw that the mrs. from Trying Our Best and Nan from Mom's The Word both had party posts this weekend. I was curious so I headed over to 5 Minutes for Mom's to check it out...you should too!

So I guess I'll introduce myself...

I go by Mrs. Not-so-Domesticated because thats what I am. I only know how to cook like 3 things, I hate doing dishes, cleaning? I'd rather have dental work done. Laundry gets done on an as needed basis. Grocery shopping consists of buying Cherry C*ke Zero and swiss cake rolls. (I should buy stock in Little Debb*e) Yet somehow I found a sweet and wonderful and more often than not, sarcastic man to marry me. I lovingly refer to him as Mr. Loves-football-more-than-life aka Mr. Football. He is also property of the United States Navy, at least for 4 more years. Yep, I'm finally accepting it, I'm a military wife. We just finished a 3 year shore duty rotation during which he moved to where I lived, we bought a house, got our second dog, got married, and had a baby 5 minutes later. Life was perfect...then BAM! New orders. New jobs. New house. New city. My first move...

What hasn't changed is our family. We have 3 children, 2 of the canine kind, 1 of the human kind. Our oldest is Lulu, our puggle. Shes 5. She's the typical first child. Very bossy, spoiled and tempermental. She loves eating, making nests on the back of the couch, and sleeping under the covers. She hates the rain, laundry baskets...oh and people (until she gets to know you that is).

Our middle child is Jax, our mixed breed. He's 3. We think he's part lab, part pit part human. He loves everything and everyone. He hasn't found anything he hates yet. His favorite activities are swimming and sitting on the sofa, like a person, arm propped up on the armrest and everything.

Our youngest is Baby Clay, he's 5 months. He's the sunshine in my life. Though unexpected, he's everything I've ever wanted. He's worth all the sleepless days and nights, dirty dishes, vacuuming, dusting, cooking, oh, and being fat for.

I originally started this blog to chronicle our newlywed days. I wasn't sure what I was doing or if anyone would ever read it but somehow I figued it out and have made some really great friends along the way. My husband likes to argue that they aren't really my friends since I've never actually spoken to them but I know more about some of my blog friends than my real-life friends...and I like some of them better too. So thanks for stopping by and I hope you'll stick around to read about my new adventures as a Not-so-Domesticated mama!

Oh, and if you haven't yet, you should join the party! It's a great way to meet new bloggers and win some fantastic prizes! I personally like the grand prize, a new toshiba laptop, US6, US17, US8, US11, US39, US50, US56, US77, US105

So where did I leave off...warning contains graphic content

2010-04-10T21:25:00.008-04:00

"Actually, only about 10 percent of women rupture the sac of amniotic fluid before labor starts, so it may not even happen to you until you are already in labor and checked in at the hospital." -Dr. Spock

Even after reading that, one of my biggest fears during pregnancy was being that woman whose water breaks in the middle of the grocery store, at work, at the mall, etc. That and also the dreaded thought of going #2 while your pushing, but we won't go there...Seriously though, you see it happen in every movie, the woman is standing there minding her own business and then gush, her water breaks and shes then whisked off. Who has to clean that up?

I'll tell you...you do. No one whisks you off once your water breaks, and you definitely don't look like a million bucks after you have the baby either.

We were at one of my bestest friends birthday parties, Reverend X, about an hour away from our house. I had been contracting off and on that night but I had been for about 8 weeks...just braxton hicks, no big deal. She lives on a farm so everyone kept joking that I was going to have the baby with the cows. Well apparently that sounded like a great idea to my little man, so while I was sitting in the living room with everyone around I thought my water broke.

I ran to the bathroom, well waddled quickly to see what the deal was. It wasn't the gush I was expecting and nothing else happened so I went back out to the party. Crazy pregnant lady. A little bit later I was upstairs using the bathroom, I was peeing every 20 minutes or so by that point, I finished up, pulled my super awesome maternity pants back on, you know the ones that cover your whole belly (and my belly was huge so it was a fight getting them on and off) and GUSH...

Oh sh*t...

My first instinct obviously was to pull everything back off and sit back down on the toilet. Now what? I'm stuck on the toilet, my clothes are soaked, I'm upstairs at a party and everyone else is downstairs...My water definitely broke, I was sure of that. So do I put my wet clothes back on and go back down to the party? Do I stay where I am and wait for someone to come eventually? What if the baby falls out into the toilet? In the meantime I'm trying to clean up as best as I could with toilet paper and I'm convinced that they're going to be mad at me for messing up their bathroom and using all of their toilet paper. Again, crazy pregnant lady. I finally heard some of my friends talking nearby so I start yelling their names. Do they respond? NO! They didn't know where I was yelling from and they thought I was being funny. So not funny. I kept calling for someone and eventually they all came to see what I was yelling about.

What would you do if your pregnant friend who's been yelling from the bathroom asked you for a pair of pants?

Seriously, things like this only happen to me...

The girls, Ms. D, Ms. K, Reverend X, me, mama cookie

like I said, my belly was HUGE...do I look like I'm expecting to have a baby tonight?

Ironic, we were talking about going into labor...

Little did I know things were changing in a few short hours...

Leaving the party, in my borrowed pants. Also my last "pregnant" picture...

And we're off to the hospital!

2010-04-08T21:35:00.004-04:00

I think I've started at least 100 posts but everytime I get distracted and stop...

So to get myself started again I'm going to keep it short and sweet...

Introducing the newest (well he was new 5 months ago today) love of my life

Baby Clay

I can't believe its been 5 months since he was born. Between being a new mom, sleep deprived, moving, and starting a new job its gone by in a flash. I'm going to try to be a better blogger but I make no promises...

With that I'll leave you with my little man, I know every mom thinks their child is the cutest, but really...look at that face...

unbelieveable

2009-10-21T22:30:00.004-04:00

Has it really been 3 months since I posted last? Where has the time gone? And is it really possible that I only have 4 more weeks before my life is changed completely? It seems like its all happened in the blink of an eye.

We're all still here, Lulu, Jax, Mr. Football, myself and little bean (although he's not so little anymore). Things have changed and things have stayed the same. We just celebrated our 1 year anniversary and are getting ready for our big arrival.

Being pregnant really hasn't been that bad. I guess I always imagined that everything that could go wrong would, so imagine my surprise when my only issue so far has been some high blood sugars. Don't get me wrong, being a gestational diabetic is a serious issue and can cause significant health issues for the baby and I, but just watching what I eat and checking my sugars several times a day has been enough to keep me on tract. I will say it has helped me to not gain the 97 lbs I would have if I didn't have to be on this diet. Especially now, when I feel huge and want to eat everything under the sun. I know that an hour later I'll have to check my sugar and I feel really bad when they're high...guilt, its the best motivation.

Other than waiting for little one's arrival, things are definitely changing around our household. Mr. Football just recieved his orders and will be going back to an air craft carrier so our little family will be relocating in a few months. I'm not so big on change so adjusting to having a baby was stressful enough, now we're also trying to sell our house and find a new place to live in an unfamiliar city...(anyone interested in a 3 BR house, its in a cute neighborhood and has new appliances???)

With that I will leave you with a few new pics...I can't believe I thought I was big in my last posts...and I never would have imagined how big I could get...and he just keeps growing!

And now...introducing

Baby

Surprise

2009-07-09T16:10:00.005-04:00

I remember sayin' I don't care either way
Just as long as he or she is healthy I'm ok
Then the doctor pointed to the corner of the screen
And said " Ya see that thing right there well ya know what that means"

And I started wondering who he was going to be
And I thought heaven help us if he's anything like me
He'll probably climb a tree to tall and ride he's bike to fast
End up every summer wearin something in a cast
He's gonna throw a ball and break some glass in a window down the street
He's gonna get in trouble oh he's gonna get in fights
I'm gonna lose my temper and some sleep
It safe to say that I'm gonna get my pay back if he's anything like me

I can see him right now knees all skinned up
With a magnifying glass tryin to melt the Tonka truck
Wont he be a sight with his football helmet on
That'll be his first love til his first love comes along
He'll get his heart broke by the time he's in his teens
And heaven help him if he's anything like me

He'll probably stay out to late and drive his car to fast
Get a speeding ticket he'll pay for mowing grass
He's gonna get caught skippin class and be ground for a week
He's gonna get in trouble we're gonna get in fights
I'm gonna lose my temper and some sleep
It's safe to say that I'm gonna get my pay back if he's anything like me

He's gonna love me and hate me along the way
Years are gonna fly by I already dread the day
He's gonna hug he's momma he's gonna shake my hand
He's gonna act like he can't wait to leave
But as he drives out he'll cry he's eyes out
If he's anything like me (cant understand)
Aw he'll be alright if he's anything like me

Brad Paisley-Anything Like Me

Mr. Football and I bought this CD last week and I fell in love with this song. Don't get me wrong, I love Brad Paisley in general but I kept listening to this song over and over. This entire pregnancy I've really been impartial to what we were having, Mr. Football on the other hand has made it quite clear that he wants a boy (imagine that). But after listening to the lyrics of this song it kind of made me want a boy too. I can totally picture Mr. Football playing with our little boy, taking him fishing, watching football, all that good stuff...

Well we found out today.... It's a BOY

weekend fun

2009-06-15T15:50:00.003-04:00

I can't believe the weekend is over already...it feels like it was just Friday! Friday night we went and played games over at Mama Cookie's and Mr. T's. Apparently I suck at board games.

Saturday we drove to my parents and had lunch with them. In the afternoon Mr. Football and Mr. T played golf while I napped with all the dogs. I very much enjoy naps these days.

The bachelorette party was great, we all had a good time and it was really great seeing everyone. It makes me really sad that we can't go to the wedding...unless anyone wants to fund a 4 day trip to Vegas for Mr. Football and I...anyone??

Love these girls, I've known most of them since 7th grade. We've had some pretty great times together...

Sunday was spent swimming at Mama Cookie's parents house, then driving back home. Like I said, I can't believe the weekend is over already.

Boo...is it almost Friday yet?

keeping busy

2009-06-12T15:01:00.003-04:00

Hey all, sorry its been so long between updates. Sometimes life and exhaustion just don't allow time to get basic necessities done let alone anything else.

Went to the doctor this week for a checkup and everything is looking good. Baby is growing and the heartbeat sounds good. I'm finally staring to look pregnant and not just fat...it makes me feel a little better. Last night we went to the baseball game, the local AAA team and survived through the rain. At one point my bestest Cookie and I went for some ice cream and a beer for Mr. Football and I'm not going to lie, it was a little awkward buying it. I made her carry it...she's a great best friend.

Tomorrow we're heading back to my hometown for the bachelorette party of a dear friend. She went away to college and recently moved back and started a relationship with someone else we went to school with. They're getting married next month in Vegas and since funding and size issues are limiting me from going I'm not missing her bachelorette party...but believe me, I still have that lingering adolescent self conciousness of seeing all of these girls from high school and being the fat one.

Some of the girls and I at the wedding

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

home

2009-06-04T00:50:00.004-04:00

We're back! We had a wonderful time in lovely Charleston, but now I have the after vacation blues...

I always love the anticipation of going somewhere, especially when it's somewhere fun...but coming home is always bittersweet. I'm glad to be back home with the pups and I definitely miss my bed when we're gone but now its back to the real world and everything that comes with it.

Today's battle, laundry.

So nothing all that exciting going on...I'll leave you with some pictures. Can't wait to see what everyone else has been up to.

The dock near the Bluff house
Baby bump at the beach-15 weeks
The beach
A dolphin swimming in front of the boat
The wedding party, all of the groomsmen are serving or have served in the military
The bride and groomMr. Football and I

one more day...

2009-05-25T14:26:00.002-04:00

Tomorrow we'll be in lovely Charleston SC...I can't wait! We're going for Mr. Football's best man's wedding but we'll also be vacationing as well. In the meantime I still have tons to do...

-Laundry
-Shopping for last minute vacation items
-Buy this weeks Baby book
-Cook out with Mama Cookie and Mr. T
-Get doggies packed up and sent home with Mama Cookie and Mr. T
-Pack
-Clean the house ( I hate coming home to a messy house)

I guess I should get off my growing booty and get some stuff done! I'm not sure how much posting I'll be able to do while we're away, but you never know!

Have a Wonderful Week!

happy happy happy

2009-05-20T02:27:00.003-04:00

I'm still a little hesitant to say it but it feels like summer is finally on its way! We've had beautiful weather lately, and today it's supposed to be in the 80's! Thats absolutely considered summer weather in my part of the world. I can't believe it's almost Memorial Day weekend, it seems like spring flew by. It never fails, spring, summer and fall seem to pass in the blink of an eye, while winter drags on and on and on...

Regardless, I'm looking forward to summer and all that it includes! This weekend Mr. Loves Football and I are heading the 2 hours east to my parents for a wedding. A family friend who was a life saver during my wedding planning is getting married Saturday and we're so excited to share the day with them. Since nursing never takes a break, we'll be back home Sunday so that I can work Sunday night (gotta love holiday requirements).

Tuesday the hubby and I depart for a mini-vaca/wedding in beautiful Charleston, SC. I'm so excited! Mr. Football's old Navy roommate and best man in our wedding will be getting married next weekend, so we're taking the week to spend some time with him and his fiance before the big day. I've never been to Charleston so I'm looking forward to checking out the area as well as vegging out on the beach.

Other summer activities include: weddings, weddings, camping, cookouts, beach days, etc...

I just have to make it through the rest of this work week first...wish me luck!

relief

2009-05-19T00:35:00.005-04:00

Yay! Bryson's benefit dinner was a huge success! After all of the planning and stress the day was everything we could have hoped for...I'm not saying there weren't issues here and there but no one knew any differently, and that's all that matters. We were able to raise an amazing amount of money to help our dear friends and their sweet baby boy. He just has a little more to endure and hopefull we'll be home free!

Today I had a doctors appointment and everything is going well. Baby beanie has a strong heartbeat and is definitely taking up more and more space. My baby bump keeps protruding further and further but I still don't think its big enough to be a "baby bump", to me it just looks like I've had a few too many on Saturday night...

And since we've been having such nice weather lately, the puppies have been playing outside, as much as possible.

Because all of the outside playing leads to this...

And that makes me very happy...

updates

2009-05-14T01:34:00.007-04:00

So as promised, here are some pictures from our trip to Mr. Footballs family. Like I said we went for his sisters wedding...and a lovely wedding it was.

The plan was to have the wedding at a pond on the Groom's farm, but since there was so much rain the event was moved into the barn instead.

The Happy Couple

Mr. Football and I...the baby bump is slightly making an appearance

Last week was Mr. Football's week to pick a book. He chose...

He was a big fan of Curious George growing up, so he chose that as his first pick.

This weekend is Baby Bryson's Benefit dinner so we've all been working hard at getting the last minute details together. We're planning raffles and a silent auction and are hoping for a good turnout. He's doing pretty well at this point. He's going to have one more round of chemo then they plan to redo all of his tests to find out if his tumor has gotten any smaller. If it has they will remove it and he will then have a stem cell transplant. The family has definitely had its ups and downs throughout all of this and we're hoping to stay on the down course at this point.

Mr. Handsome last week when I babysat...

Finally Home!

2009-05-10T23:58:00.003-04:00

After such a crazy week it feels wonderful to be home. I'm slowly catching up on my blogs as I sit on the couch with the pups. I'm pretty sure they missed me since they keep getting up and circling to get a closer spot to me.

Our trip to see Mr. Football's family went well. The wedding was lovely and I plan to post pictures sometime this week.

We had our 12 week ultrasound done last Wednesday and little beanie was moving and shaking everywhere again. It's so odd to see this squirming thing on the monitor and have no feeling of it what so ever. Strange...

I'm off to catch up on laundry and get some sleep since I've been on a normal schedule lately... but first I wanted to wish everyone a belated Happy Mother's Day.

We had breakfast with Mr. Football's mama this morning, then flew 800 miles to have dinner with my mama, then drove another 100 miles home. Needless to say, we're all exhausted.

Us with Mama Football at our Wedding

My Mama and I

working, sleeping, shopping, working...

2009-05-02T15:55:00.003-04:00

I really really love my job, I do. I love the babies, I love the nursing aspect, I love most of the families...I hate going and staying up all night. I think it would be really great to work 1 day a week. That sounds like the perfect schedule. But I have to work to afford all the great things I want to buy!

Since my expanding waistline as made it difficult to wear most of my regular pants, Mr. Football agreed that I needed to go shopping. Which doesn't happen very often...so I jumped at the opportunity. I bought my first pair of maternity pants yesterday. Now I'm a little annoyed that I have to already adjust my wardrobe this early in the game, breathing I've decided is a necessity. I got the basics, a pair of capri's, a pair of white cargo capri's, a few tops. I was a little shocked however at the price of everything. I didn't help the situation that I also needed to purchase an outfit for my SIL's upcoming wedding. So while Mr. Football approved said shopping trip, I don't think he realizes the amount that was spent. So let's just keep it a secret.

With that being said, I wanted to share our book of the week...
This week was my pick, and I decided that I really liked this book when I was little. And it is a cardboard book which I was told is very important in those early reading days when the little one's like to help.

I'll be working the next few days, then it's off to the in-law's for the wedding. Have a great weekend!

rain rain go away

2009-04-30T16:46:00.003-04:00

I'm glad spring is here, I'm loving the mild temperatures...but really, could it stop raining at some point?!? Don't get me wrong, I'd much rather sleep during a cloudy gloomy day than a beautiful sunny one but I don't work everynight so the rain gods can stop at any time.

Also Lulu is having some intestinal issues since she will not go out in the rain...and my rugs are paying for it.

On another note, I posted last week about my bff Cookie's engagement. Well she's decided to start a wedding planning blog and you all should head over and leave her some love and encouragement. Most of us know how stressfull wedding planning was, and she will need all the support possible. http://acookiekindofday.blogspot.com/

Rain Rain Go Away, Come Again Another Day... (or not)

beautiful weekend

2009-04-27T15:42:00.002-04:00

I don't know about you but we've had such gorgeous weather here over the last few days. I'm finding it hard to stay inside...in fact I'm sitting out on the deck right now typing this post. I've got the ghetto fence up and the doggies and I are enjoying the nice weather...until the rain comes that is.

Mr. Football and I had a pretty relaxing weekend. I worked Friday night so I slept half the day Saturday. Cookie, Mr. T and Reverend X came over Saturday night for dinner. We played some Mad Gab...we're pretty cool I know. Sunday was our local March for Babies which went pretty well. We had about 20 people on our team which is double of what we had last year so I felt like I accomplished something. It was a 3 mile walk which would have been just lovely except that it was 80+ degrees, which I'm not complaining about but they ran out of water...at every station. So unless you were part of the front of the group, you didn't get any water for the entire walk. I saw a few of our NICU grads which is always fun. Its always a good feeling when a parent remembers you and shows off their miracle. That's the reason why we're there afterall.

Needless to say after the walk, I crashed on the couch for a few hours. The hubby then made dinner and I laid on the couch all night after that. I have to give credit to all of the dad's out there supporting their pregnant wives...I know it can't be easy. I don't think Mr. Football had any idea what he was getting himself into. Hopefully this first trimester exhaustion will pass soon and I'll be back to normal...as domesticated as I can be that is...

Well I'm off to keep the dogs from attacking the neighbor dogs. Have a lovely day!!

Hump Day

2009-04-22T22:58:00.004-04:00

Happy Hump Day everyone! Well I guess its almost over, which is wonderful because we're over half way to the weekend! Weather forcasts say we're supposed to see 80 degree's this Saturday, we'll see if it truly happens.

Today was a pretty busy day. I worked last night so obviously I came home and crashed. I had an ultrasound appointment at 1:30 so I reluctantly dragged myself out of bed to be there and it was amazing! Every time I've seen this little bean its changed so much. Today it actually looked like a little person, head, body, arms, legs...and it was moving all over the place! I've read that they can move around already but it was crazy to see it firsthand. The ultrasound tech was trying to measure it and it was waving and kicking and turning its entire body. I was blown away. I can't believe this is happening inside me. Weird.

my munchkin waving hello (apparently it's left handed)

I spent a lazy afternoon lounging with the puppies. They are always pretty clingy when I've worked a few days in a row...and as for the lounging, that really means I passed out drooling on the couch. Apparently its allowed now that I'm pregnant, at least that's what I've Mr. Football.

After I emerged from my laziness Mr. Football and I went and ran some errands. We decided that every week we're going to buy a book for the baby. We'll take turns picking it out. So our first book is...
Mr. Football suggested this one and I love it. It was one of my favorites growing up so it was definitely a must have. I guess that means its my turn next week...any suggestions?

Tonight we went to a fundraising dinner for Bryson at a local restaurant. A portion of the proceeds of the night will go to the family. The food was yummy, especially their famous cookies and hopefully The P family will get a nice check out of it. Bryson is doing better, this round of chemo was pretty rough on him but he's starting to come around. He can't go out in public so we stopped over to see him. He was wearing only a diaper since he had just thrown up on his clothes and was happy as a clam. (I think he just throws up because he doesn't want to wear clothes...) It was good to see him happy again.

And finally on a serious note, I got a few messages that a co-worker of mine collapsed on her way into work tonight. They think that she had a heart attack and isn't doing very well. We are all shocked and scared. Please think of her and her family during this horrible time.

please pray

2009-04-21T07:43:00.003-04:00

This little boy is the reason I started blogging...

Last spring I happened to find this world of blogging which I never knew existed. One of the families we had in the NICU had a blog they decided to share with us once their baby went home. After looking at it and clicking on other blogs I happened to see a "Praying for Stellan" button on someones site. I was immediately drawn to it as it was an ultrasound picture. I just had to know why we were already praying for someone who wasn't even born yet.

It took less than a minute for me to be hooked. I had never met Mckmama and I knew nothing of her life or family, but I just knew I had to find out what would happen with this little boy. I became a regular reader of mycharmingkids.net. Like I said, I've never met this family but I grew attached to them like they were my friends or neighbors.

They said this little boy would not live. His heart was either working too hard or completely failing, and he wasn't even born yet.

On my honeymoon I paid $2.50 for 15 minutes of internet so I could find out how his delivery went...it was definitely worth it.

Stellan is now almost 6 months old and he will be having heart surgery today. After 5 months of having a "normal" rhythm this heart suddenly flipped back into SVT (an irregular fast heartrate). After an entire month of going back and forth between rhythms and failing all other treatments, surgery is his only option...and it still may not be a cure.

So please pray for this sweet boy and his wonderful family today...I know I will.

Exciting day...

2009-04-18T19:03:00.005-04:00

Here is the exciting post that I promised...

My bestest friends Cookie and Mr. T got engaged last night!!! He had orginally planned to propose this October in Disney World since that is where they met but plans change and he couldn't wait any longer. So this week he called me and told me he had a plan. He decided that since he couldn't actually take her to Disney he'd take her to the closest Disney place here...the Disney Store of course! She was so surprised. We are so excited for them and can't wait for their wedding!!! (maybe that will be at Disney World...)

Also today is Mr. football and I's 6 month anniversary! It seems like our wedding was just yesterday... 6 months has just flown by. I'd love to say that being married has changed our lives but really it hasn't been that different. We're still the same people, living in the same house who enjoy the same things. But I guess thats a good thing, we don't feel like we need to change ourselves in any way.

We're having a great time being married and we have something else to share...

We're having a baby!

I'm a little over 9 weeks along and we're expecting our little one to arrive in November. Surprise! It definitely was for us at least but we couldn't be happier or more excited.

Have a great weekend!

busy busy busy

2009-04-17T08:21:00.004-04:00

Sorry for the absence again...its been quite chaotic around here. Easter with the family was lovely, well except the psycho child who liked to antagonize my poor puppies to the point that they wanted to eat him (both dogs, Jax and Lulu).

sweet babies, they wouldn't hurt a fly...

With working every night this week and March of Dimes planning I've had little time to eat/sleep/shower let alone blog. But believe me friends, I'd much rather be blogging.

I did get a chance to visit with little Bryson this week. He's in the hospital getting another round of chemo and as you can see his spirits are up. He's an amazing boy.

I'm off to bed now but I promise to post something more exciting tomorrow...

One more day

2009-04-10T17:05:00.002-04:00

I just have to get through one more night of work, then it's off to my mom and dad's for the weekend...Yay!

Saturday my mother and I are lunching, shopping, and stopping by to visit my grandma's grave. My grandma passed away while I was in nursing school and it was probably the biggest heartache of my life. I spent almost all of my childhood life with her. Both of my parents worked all day so my grandma lived with us and raised me. She was an amazing woman and I still miss her everyday.

Sunday we are having a picnic with the family. I'm so excited! Once the weather gets nice we like to go out to my parents country house. They have a large piece of property with a pond so I'm sure the puppies will be swimming all day. I can't wait!

What are your plans for this weekend?

decisions

2009-04-08T19:47:00.004-04:00

So after this horrendous winter, I've vowed to get a better car. While I love my car I have now, its jut not practical for the snow. If you remember from a few months ago, I got stuck then my car was acting funny, I thought it was broken completely but once the snow melted it seemed to be ok...anyways...

It was a semi-decent day today and Mr. Football happened to get off work early so car-shopping we went. They keep advertising "great deals" and "lowest financing" so we figured why not. It can't hurt to look right?

Well what do I know.

I've decided that I want to go bigger obviously, but how much bigger? And then it comes down to money. One company will give us such and such deal, but the price is higher. The other company only offers a little bit of a discount but their price is lower....decisions decisions.

So I've narrowed it down...

Do I want this one?

2009 Toyota Highlander

Or that one?

2009 Chevy Traverse

And I thought buying jeans was difficult.

grrrr

2009-04-07T16:09:00.003-04:00

So after having lovely weather last week...it snowed this weekend. Big fat puffy snow that stuck to the ground. Today is like -50 degrees, ok maybe not but it sure feels like it. It's gloomy and cold and I hate it. I'm so annoyed. Doesn't Mother Nature know that its April???

What a sick joke.

Spring!!!

2009-04-02T22:52:00.012-04:00

The last two days have been wonderful...and by wonderful I mean its been in the 50's so yay! Close enough to summer for me, well almost.

Yesterday Mama P, Bryson and I hit up the outdoor mall for the afternoon. It was such a nice day, besides the wind. We walked around most of the afternoon (in flip flops of course) and did pretty good purchases wise. Bryson enjoyed his day with the girls I think. He was too cute, just jabbering away all afternoon. He even ate pretty well at lunch, because of the chemo he doesn't have much of an appetite so even getting him to take 3-4 ounces by bottle is good (most 6 months old take double to triple that in a sitting). He's such a doll baby.

I'm very picky and since I like to consider myself "curvy" I don't like stretch or skinny jeans, so I was pretty excited to find my favorite pair of jeans available, in my size, and on sale! It was a good day. I also picked up a few cute T's since they were on sale too...How could I resist?

Yesterday night Mr. Football and I met up with Cookie and Mr. T for some frisbee golf. We made it through 9 holes before the wind became too much. I'm already "challenged" enough in the sport I don't need anymore obstacles.

Today ended up being another beautiful day, despite the forecast of rain. So I put up our "ghetto" fence and let the dogs play outside. (Sidenote: We bought our house because we loved the layout and it had a pretty good sized yard with a deck. Our garage however is detached, which is pretty common in our area and set behind the house. The entire backyard is fenced in, except the driveway since you have to drive behind the house to access the garage. We thought we'd figure out how to fence it in later....Well almost 2 years later we still don't have one. I just don't know if I'm willing to block the driveway permanently with a fence and no longer have access to the garage. So on the days I let the dog's play outside I have to take Jax's pen, which is a Petyard, open it up and block the driveway...hence Ghetto Fence)

*Note* This is not Jax and this is not my house. But this is the pen I have for him.

They had a lovely time running circles around the yard, barking at neighbor dogs and playing fetch, so much so that during a much needed water break Jax had to lie down to finish drinking. Seriously, I think I have the laziest dogs ever.

Tonight they're both passed out on the couch. Bring on the warm weather!

Lazy Days

2009-04-01T02:09:00.002-04:00

So last week didn't go as planned. In fact I think I actually did worse...with blogging that is. I've decided to blame it on work. Not that I'm working, I'm very thankful that I have a job, especially one that I love...No I'm blaming it on the fact that they've blocked Blogger, so I can't check the blogs I love or update my own. Its extremely irritating. Now, don't get me wrong. I would never sit on the computer all night and ~~stalk~~ periodically check blogs, and I would absolutely never write posts to pass the time...but what else is there to do in the middle of the night? I can only ~~shop online~~ read nursing journals for so many hours. Seriously.

With that being said...besides working, we've been pretty lazy around here. We rented a few movies last week that were pretty good. Role Models was hysterical and Australia was a beautiful movie. I highly recommend them. Hugh Jackman...need I say more?

Last Saturday we drove to my parents house (two hours away) to pick up their dogs for the week since they were planning on going out of town. Well plans changed, we drove back home Saturday evening without dogs and my parents drove here late Saturday night. Sunday Mr. Football and I spend the day with my mom and dad at the casino...I know, random! I ended up winning a little on 2 cent slots (yay Deal or No Deal) but the dear hubby lost his share at blackjack. It was an interesting day.

Today, being the wonderful housewife I am, we went out to dinner at Abuelo's. Yum. After dinner we stopped for ice cream and picked up doggie sundaes for the pups. We're such good doggy parents.

Other than that, we're pretty boring.

Not Me Monday!

2009-03-23T07:07:00.003-04:00

Thanks to MckMama, I finally have something to look forward to Monday mornings...Not Me Monday where we get to confess all the things we did NOT do. Make sure to check her out for more laughs!

I have NOT totally been in a funk lately, causing me to become the laziest person on earth. I have NOT neglected my wifely duties, doggy mama duties and blogging duties leading to me becoming not a very interesting person to be around.

I am NOT coming out of my funk, starting yesterday.

I did NOT break a major rule of our marriage this week...going to Target unattended. I would NEVER spend an obscene amount of money just because I found cute things. I would then NOT try to sweet talk the hubby into thinking that I needed those things...he didn't buy it.

I did NOT really really really want to go out at midnight Friday night to be one of the first to buy Twilight the movie. I am NOT that childish and it did NOT make me feel like I was in junior high again waiting for the newest Backstreet Boys CD to come out...yes I confess, I was one of those girls. Don't judge me.

The hubby and I did NOT go looking for new cars the other day. I did NOT fall in love with the Chevy Traverse and I'm not dying to get one now. Hopefully soon!

So tell me, what did you NOT do this week??

I'm Back

2009-03-22T18:33:00.007-04:00

I know I've been gone awhile and really I have no other reason except that I've been in a funk lately. I'm tired and grumpy all the time. I can't seem to motivate myself to do anything...which includes blogging. I'm blaming it on the weather. I am truly feeling the winter blues, especially since Friday was the first day of spring and its still only in the high 30's here.

Yesterday we planned to have a cookout with some friends to celebrate the first weekend of spring and to cheer ourselves up...I almost canceled it because it was flurrying in the morning.

I didn't though and even though it was cold we still had a good time. My bestest Cookie and I took Jax and Boo for a walk during the afternoon. It was pretty entertaining to figure out who was walking who. I figured since I made a promise to make him a better behaved pooch I should stick to my word. We're working on it...

Bryson came over with his parents and he amazes me everyday. He's now learned to blow raspberrys and stick his tongue out whenever he sees the camera. Genious. Love him.

Today Mr. Football started his Spring football league. He left pretty early, and of course woke me up in the process so I watched Twilight (obsessed, I know). We napped this afternoon, like I said, we've gotten pretty lazy...Had an early dinner and I walked Lulu after. He's been feeling under the weather also so he stayed home.

I did buy a fabulous dress today for a wedding this May. Our bestman from our wedding will be getting married in Chalreston this summer and Mr. Football is a groomsman. I can't wait!

So I'm officially getting over my funk...at least I'm making an effort. I plan to be a better blogger, wife and person altogether. I'm not going to lie on the couch under a blanket and keep my nose in a book any longer. I'm going to get outside with the dogs and work on my "summer body" cause obviously my actions have lead to a pretty horrific "winter body".

NO MORE WINTER BLUES!

just precious

2009-03-11T20:07:00.003-04:00

These pics were just posted and I felt like I had to share them. My dear friends the P Family have been going through the toughest time of their lives, their 6 month old Bryson was diagnosed with cancer just a month ago...

Even after surgery, more tests than the average adult, several rounds of chemo, etc. I can pretty much say he's the most beautiful baby in the world. (I am not at all biased) Their wonderful friend and photographer JP of JP Photography has been kind enough to capture these shots of this little man...

Adorable.

Not Me Monday!

2009-03-09T04:17:00.006-04:00

Welcome to "Not Me! Monday" hosted by the talented Mckmama! This is where we can confess all the things we didn't do...Because we all obviously live perfect lives and never do anything wrong. So here are the things I didn't do this week...

I did NOT take a blogging break this week. I would NEVER completely neglect all of my blog friends that way. I did NOT forget to check my blog for several days and then decide, whats a few more? Not Me!

I did NOT have a melt down at work one night. I was NOT overly stressed and overly tired and I did NOT take it out on everyone. I did NOT decide that I need to take a break from work-related activities for a little while...

We did NOT have a scare with Bryson this week. He was NOT back in the hospital for his 2nd round of chemo and he did NOT have an episode where he turned blue for several minutes. We were all NOT totally terrified and the doc's did NOT think he may have had a seizure. Scary. He's NOT doing totally fine now and he may NOT get to go home tomorrow.

Silly boys, always finding a way to scare their mama.

Our new dining room table did NOT come on Tuesday! I'm NOT totally excited and I did NOT go out that day and buy new stuff to decorate with. The delivery men are NOT coming back again this Tuesday to bring my last dining room chair that they claim "wasn't in stock" even though I waited for everything to come in before I scheduled delivery.

I did NOT learn at our NICU Nursing conference this week that it is inappropriate to have "relationships" with the patients. They did NOT spend an obscene amount of time telling us this was against the law...our patients are babies, whether their our patients or not isn't that always against the law???

The hubby and I were NOT totally lazy this weekend, literally we did nothing. I was NOT the instigator of this and I did NOT sleep more hours than I was awake. He was NOT totally bored...poor hubby.

We did NOT doggysit Maliboo, Mama Cookie and Mr. T's pup this weekend so they could roadtrip to Florida. (Good thing I was being lazy this weekend because who doesn't want to roadtrip to Disney??) She did NOT make me realize how lazy my dogs are (they fit right in) because she was sooo animated. Some people say that after having 2 kids adding more is no big deal, well I did NOT learn that that doesn't apply to dogs.

Maliboo...please excuse the green fuzz. She thought her bed was too firm.

The dogs have taken over...sorry for the quality, it was late and I only had my cell phone.

Well those are the things I most definitely did NOT do...what about you? Make sure to check out Mckmama's blog for more "Not Me's!"

Not Me Monday!

2009-03-02T07:35:00.005-05:00

Thanks to Mckmama, I now feel like I have something to look forward to on Mondays...her fabulous blog carnival "Not Me Monday" where we can all share the things we would never admit to doing...Here goes!

After deciding a few weeks ago that I need to get my butt in gear and work some extra hours for our mini-vaca's this summer, I did NOT decide that I've had enough and I'm burnt out from working extra hours. I also did NOT think that maybe we don't need to go to all of the weddings this summer...

While at our Kick-off Meeting for March of Dimes I did NOT get tearful when the Ambassador family shared their story of their previous 24 weeker who is now a little over 2. I was NOT completely excited when after I walked in he looked at me over his little glasses and said "HI Mrs. Not-so-Domesticated!" (Ok he said my real name but I wrote that for blogging purposes). I also did NOT completely blank out during everyone elses speaches because I was too busy watching all of our NICU grads running around. I DON'T really have a great job...

I did NOT spend hours on a poster presentation with Little S this week for our Conference. I am NOT totally impressed by our really awesome chest cavity that we built on the poster as a visual aid for our disease. I also am NOT totally annoyed that a poster we spent hours on, other people spent minutes on and are getting the same credit.

I was NOT completely intimidated at our Benefit for Bryson meeting on Thursday. I did NOT let all of those opinionated "helpers" walk all over me. I did NOT want to quit as the chair of the event, just a little.

The hubby and I did NOT have a ~~little~~ or big spat one night while I was at work. (when I work a lot of days together or a lot of overtime, we might get a little nasty with each other) I was NOT thouroughly mad that he had made plans for an out-of-town overnight excursion and not tell me about it until the night before. I was NOT so mad that I didn't even want to give him the girlscout cookies I had bought him when I got home that morning...(he didn't go btw, and I shared my cookies)

I did NOT ask the hubby if I could go on a roadtrip to Florida with my bff Cookie next weekend...he did NOT ask me if I remembered our fight mentioned above...

We did NOT have an exhausting weekend playing cards and bowling with our friends. It was NOT super fun, and we are NOT huge dorks...

I am NOT exhausted thinking about my week ahead, and its only Monday...

Well it's a good thing that I didn't do any of these things this past week. What didn't you do??

It's About Time

2009-02-27T08:27:00.006-05:00

It's 8:20 in the morning, I've worked 6 out of the last 7 nights.

I'm watching Lost and eating girl scout cookies.

Don't judge me.

Tonight I will catch up on the blogging world.

But for now...

I think I'll have another caramel delite.

Y.U.M.

busy

2009-02-25T16:56:00.003-05:00

This week is flying by and I can't keep up.

-Monday night I was off, but after working all weekend and staying up extra early to wait for Mckmama's Not Me Monday (wait, I'd never stay up until noon after working all night...) I pretty much was dead to the world Monday night. The hubby was a little miffed that I didn't want to hang out with him and would rather nap on the couch on my only night off...

-My tiramisu is a little stronger than I can handle...as in I followed the recipe exactly, and now theres too much alcohol for me to enjoy it. Why didn't I use less alcohol? I know that I can't handle a lot... I'll never understand myself sometimes.

-Tuesday I went to our March of Dimes kickoff meeting and it was surprisingly fun! There were lots of cute NICU grads and their families so I was in heaven. I think we're going to do awesome this year, and have fun doing it too.

-After the meeting I went to work for a few hours, I'm greedy afterall and I have plane tickets to purchase.

-After work (midnight-ish) headed over to Little S's house to work on our poster for the Conference next week. Can you tell we're night shift workers, who else would plan to get together at midnight?? Its done by the way...thank goodness.

-Tonight after I make dinner (because I promised the hubby that I would cook sometime this week) I'll be headed back into work a regular shift.

Left to do this week...

-Thursday night there's a benefit meeting for my dear friends the P family and Baby Bryson.
-Thursday night after the meeting, I'll be heading back into work...again. (When does retirement start?)
-Then I'm off for 2 days!!!! I can't wait. I promise to catch up on everyone's lives once mine isn't so crazy.
-Sunday, the madness starts over. I. Can't. Wait.

Not Me Monday!

2009-02-23T08:37:00.003-05:00

Its that time again...time to confess the things I absolutely did NOT do this week. Make sure to head over to Mckmama's to see what everyone else didn't do!

-I did NOT have such a craving for tiramisu after our Valentines Day dinner that I went out and spent an undisclosed amount of money this morning buying the ingredients...have I ever made tiramisu before you ask...that would be a NO.

-This week I did NOT finally give in and work an extra shift. I am NOT planning several mini-vaca's this summer and I do NOT have to earn a few extra bucks to pay for them.

-I am NOT really bummed that one of our big summer plans fell though and we're no longer going...boo. all that camper hunting for nothing...

-I did NOT complain all weekend when everyone else received girlscout cookies that mine weren't here yet because I obviously ordered from the wrong person...then said person showed up to work today and told me my cookies were here...and I definitely did NOT forget to bring money to pay her...no cookies til Friday I guess.

-No matter what you may have read, I did NOT clean my house AND plan dinners for the nights that I worked this weekend. I am NOT becoming semi-domesticated.

-I did NOT invite Little S over the other night to work on a project for a work convention we have coming up and then decide to have game night instead. The girls team did NOT totally kick the boy's butts.

-I did NOT find out the other day that since Little S and I didn't attend the last planning meeting for the convention we were kicked off the committee...I am NOT thoroughly pissed and I do NOT totally want to abandon our project now. Grr...

-I also did NOT find out that since I'm not going to this weeks convention planning meeting (out of spite) I have time to go to our March of Dimes kickoff dinner...Yay! And a sweet little man that I primaried (or took care of consistently) who was a former 24 weeker is going to be this years March of Dimes Ambassador...he's 2 now and too too cute!

Well thats it for my week...make sure to visit Mckmama for more fun "Not Me's!"

unbelieveable

2009-02-20T03:07:00.003-05:00

Right Now...

-The laundry is finished and put away in the first time in ~~weeks~~ months??

-The floors are swept.

-The rugs are vacuumed.

-The dishes are clean, in the dishwasher still, but clean (I'm still me afterall)

-The bathroom is bleached to an inch of our lives.

-The house smells like Yankee Candle, as opposed to wet dog.

Why you may ask?

I'd love to answer that I'm trying to be a better housewife, I've had a few days off of work and decided to be productive, that I'm working on changing my ways...

But in reality, MY SISTER IS HERE!!!!!

My sis and her husband came to stay for the night. He has an appointment here tomorrow morning and instead of driving 3 hours tomorrow, they came up tonight! Yay!

My sister is several years older than I am, I did not grow up with her as my "sister" she was more of a second "mom"...and a very strict annoying one to boot. We didn't get close until we lived together while I was in college. She was going back to school and I was starting...I didn't think we'd both make it out alive.

The opposite happened, we became best friends. I'm closer to my sister now then I've ever been. I know that we are always there to support each other unconditionally. She and her husband moved away after we graduated and I miss having her around all the time. I love spending time with her and I wish that we lived closer together. Sigh. Maybe someday.

We graduated the same weekend, she from pharmacy school and I from nursing

1/4 of the year

2009-02-18T09:01:00.003-05:00

Today Mr. Loves-football-more-than-life and I, Mrs. Not-so-Domesticated have been married 4 months. Thats 1/4 of the year, thats 123 days, 2952 hours...

We've had our good days together and and our bad days together and we wouldn't have it any other way...together.

L.O.V.E.

busy night

2009-02-17T07:43:00.002-05:00

I saved a baby's testicle last night...what did you do?

Seriously.

We went by ambulance, lights and sirens to save this baby's family jewels.

I know that its a very serious situation, and terrifying for this family...

but it IS pretty funny to think about.

My job has so many ups and downs, when things are bad...they're really bad

so sometimes you need some comic relief.

(And I'm not a totally insensitive cruel b*tch, his "boys" are going to be just fine. I'd probably think VERY differently had the situation been different.)

Not Me Monday!

2009-02-16T05:30:00.003-05:00

Welcome to this weeks free therapy session hosted by MckMama...basically it's a list of everything I absolutely did not do this week...right. Here goes nothing!

-This week I did NOT feel incredibly old after our ski trip. I was NOT so sore that I couldn't move and I did NOT have bruises everywhere...and I am NOT dying to go snowboarding again...

-I did NOT read The Host in 2 days this week...I did NOT really really like it, even though I'm not really into books like that, I do NOT wish that Stephenie Meyer had more books published...

-I did NOT drag the hubby to the bookstore on Valentines day while waiting for our table and leave with nothing because Amazon has better prices. The hubby did NOT say to me last night that maybe I should have bought any book because he saw me re-reading The Host. (I've already ordered the Sookie Stackhouse books and they should be here by early next week. I also saved 25$ by ordering them through amazon...)

-I was NOT asleep by 11:00 on Valentines day, I am NOT that old and tired...

-We did NOT look at buying a camper this week. I am NOT totally psyched and I can't wait til the details are figured out so that I can share...

-We also did NOT buy a new dining room table/chairs and coffee table/end tables. We definitely did NOT need them...and we apparently do NOT think we're made of money and feel like we can be big spenders all of a sudden...

-We did NOT have dinner with the P family last tonight at their house (yay!) and have a wonderful time. It did NOT feel like things were back to normal, except when it was medication time and he had to get a shot...boo.

-I am NOT totally devastated about Bryson's diagnosis and prognosis, but I WILL keep my head up and be strong for his family. We WILL all get through this and accept whatever happens. Everything happens for a reason right?

So theres a list of random things I would never do...how about you? Visit MckMama for other great Not Me's!

Happy Day

2009-02-15T17:25:00.006-05:00

The hubby and I had a pretty relaxed Valentine's Day (which is also our 5 year anniversary)...

Our First Date

-I woke up late, he woke up early (our typical pattern)
-Grabbed some lunch

-Stopped and checked out some campers (for a very exciting reason, details soon!)
-Came back home, he watched the race, I took a nap (I sleep alot)
-Got ready for dinner

-Had to change dinner plans because the restaurant I wanted to go to was Reservation's only, and they were booked...boo!

-Went to a different restaurant...YUM!

-We had crab and lobster dip, I ordered fettuccine with lobster and he had shrimp and crab cannelloni...so delish...and so filling
-I had a glass of homemade Sangria...and I don't drink so half a glass was all I needed

-On the way out of the restaurant I saw someone's dessert
-Cried to the hubby all the way to the car that I now wanted dessert
-He went and bought me a piece of tiramisu togo

-Rented Pineapple Express and Swing Vote

-Got home, ate my tiramisu watched half and hour of Pineapple Express and fell asleep.

We're party animals...

bitter sweet

2009-02-13T17:16:00.003-05:00

Yesterday results came back about Bryson's tumor and it has the MYCN gene, which pretty much means that the tumor continuously makes copies of itself...so it just keeps growing and regenerating.

This was a pretty big blow to their family. He was upgraded to the High Risk category now. The chemo treatments from last weekend are now considered obsolete and they will start over with much more aggressive treatments when the next course is due. We are scared but always knew this was a possibility. Please continue your prayers for this sweet baby boy...

About half an hour ago the family finally got home. They were discharged from the hospital for the weekend and are going to try to spend some normal time together...aside from his ATC meds and injections that is. He will have lab work drawn again Monday, so hopefully they can have a peaceful weekend. Oh, and of course their situation must get more complicated...Mama P just found out unexpectedly that she's 8 weeks pregnant.

The hubby and I are planning an evening at home tonight, game night with some friends. We're very romantic aren't we...any one else have fun Valentines day plans?

finally!

2009-02-11T08:45:00.004-05:00

On my drive home this morning from work my outside temperature read 51 degrees....51!!!! Its raining, which is ok because the snow is finally completely melted. Can it be possible that spring is almost here?

...Ok probably not. Its supposed to be 30 again this weekend but thats still better than the negatives. I figured since its just balmy out I'd post our pics from this weekend.

The hubby and I...doesn't he look thrilled

Mama Cookie and Mr. T

Me and Little S

A very intense game of Phase 10

Yeah, we're super dorks.

My super super cute snowboard...

One of the few good things that came from the ex...

And a quick B-dawg update:

He had his first chemo treatments this weekend and everything went well. He tolerated the treatments very well actually. He's been awake and happy. He loves to look at his toys and watch his baby einstein dvd's. He has been throwing up a few times a day, especially with meds but once he does he's a happy boy again. It's hard to imagine him being a sick baby, because he doesn't look sick, or act sick. But he's just proving how very strong he is...and what an infectious smile he has.

Not Me Monday

2009-02-09T12:53:00.002-05:00

When I started my blog I was determined to be one of the first participants in MckMama's "Not Me Monday" every week. So much so that I'd stay up late at night just to see if she'd posted yet...which isn't too uncommon for me since I work nights. Then I'd either stay up til the wee hours of the morning or get up super early to see if I could get in the top 10 or 20 or 30. Wait, I would NEVER do that... hmm.

Well this week I woke up late, almost forgot about MckMama's wonderful blog carnival, and then debated not posting at all.

I then remembered all the things I did NOT do this week, and this weekend especially and decided that it was so worth sharing with everyone. Thanks MckMama for the free therapy!

-This week I did NOT spend more hours at the hospital then at home. I was not there before work, during work and after work pretty much everyday. Because of NOT spending so much time at the hospital my house is NOT completely disgusting.

-I did NOT have a root canal and hair appointment scheduled for the same day. I did NOT figure if I was good and went to my dentist appointment then I could reward myself with a "new do". The root canal was NOT horribly painful and my dentist did NOT prescribe me 2 pain killers after... and my hair is NOT super cute.

-I did NOT consider it pretty fortunate that my dentist prescribed 2 pretty heavy duty pain killers right before our snowboarding trip. I would NEVER take medications for any other reason other than prescribed. I'm a nurse after all...

-Our car trip up North did NOT consist of Mr. Football and Mr. T driving and us girls watching DVD's in the back, for the entire 5 hours. We always do our share and drive or keep our men company...

-I did NOT fall over and over and over again trying to snowboard. I did NOT think that since I used to know what I was doing, this would be a piece of cake. I do NOT hurt, and I am NOT taking Motrin 800 around the clock...

-I did NOT almost die several times on the slopes after professional children skiers tried to run me over.

-We did NOT spend the remaining part of the weekend crying over our aches and pains, we are NOT that old!

-I am NOT still sore today (2 days later) and dreading the drive to my parents to pick up the pups. I do NOT enjoy my quiet house and really want to clean it before the dogs come back and destroy it all over again. I am NOT catching up on cheesy reality TV (Rock of Love/Tool Academy) while I could be cleaning. Its a vicious cycle...

Well I feel better, make sure to check out MckMama's site for more confessions. I know I will, once Tool Academy is over of course...

ouch

2009-02-07T21:55:00.003-05:00

I didn't realize how old I am until today...

My entire body hurts, I have bruises in places that should never be bruised...

I almost died getting run over by 10 year olds...

O.U.C.H.

Pictures coming soon!

Lets go!

2009-02-06T01:43:00.004-05:00

This afternoon we are leaving for our ski trip. While it makes me sad to leave with everything going on I think it will actually be a good break. We're driving 4 and a half hours north to play in the snow...something that I've been complaining about all winter. But I'm actually really excited about it.

About a million years ago (or maybe in high school) I was a snowboarding junkie. I'd go several times a week with my Mr. at the time...we'll refer to him as "Mr. Not-so-Motivated"...and I was pretty decent. When he and I decided to part ways, I shoved all of my snowboarding paraphernalia in the back of the closet and locked it away with all my resentful feelings toward him. This included the brand new snowboard and bindings that he had given me that Christmas.

When Mr. Football moved to the blistery north he kept making comments about wanting to go skiing, he's NEVER been out on the slopes. So for the past 3 years we've tried to plan a ski/snowboarding trip for his birthday since he was conveniently born in January...peak snow sporting time. This is the FIRST year we've been able to plan a trip.

I hesitantly dug out all of my snowboarding gear and my snowboard and decided that it doesn't bother me all that much. Actually my snowboard is quite cute and I'm pretty excited to use it for the first time ever (since I've had it for a million years, or 8...) I did have an anxiety attack last night at work about the whole situation. I was thinking about things I needed for the trip and realized my bodacious booty is a ~~little~~ lot bigger than it used to be and that it may not fit into my gear anymore. Side note, I tried my stuff on tonight and it does fit...phew!

So tomorrow Mama Cookie, Mr. T, Mr. Football, Little S and I will be heading north to enjoy the slopes. I'll be using my downtime when I'm sore and I ~~don't~~ can't ride anymore to be checking up on all the blogs I missed during the last week. I want to say THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for all of the prayers and encouraging words. We're trying to deal with this horrible situation in the best way we can by being there for our friends. They have a truly amazing spirit and I KNOW that they will overcome this. If you'd like to read her views and feelings please let me know. She has her own site where she updates on his progress and visitors can leave comments. I know she finds a lot of peace reading the comments left on her site, so leave me your email and I'll send you the link.

And since I just can't resist showing his adorableness, I had to post these...

They have a wonderful friend in their lives who happens to be a photographer. They met when their engagement photos were done and she has continued to follow their lives through their wedding, pregnancy, birth and newborn shots. When she found out about Bryson she went immediately to the hospital to offer comfort and support. In the process she was able to capture these amazing photos. These were taken the weekend before surgery. They will have these to remember their precious little boy in the perfect body he was born in. Thank you for being a wonderful friend JP, they are blessed to have you in their lives.

updates

2009-02-03T13:38:00.003-05:00

Bryson did well in surgery yesterday. They decided to put in a venous port which is a permanent IV access site so that he doesn't need to be poked constantly for IV's and labs and they did a biopsy of the tumor. The results won't be in until Wednesday sometime but from the looks of the tumor itself they're thinking a Neuroblastoma...which is not what we wanted. So we'll just be waiting for another 24 hours to find out what has upturned our lives.

I have to appologize for not having anything fun or exciting to blog about. When I initially started this blog it was to write about my everyday life as a newlywed. It was supposed to be lighthearted and fun...which with the help of Mr. Loves-football-more-than-life I think I accomplished that...

How I wish we could go back to that. I wish that we could just hang out in the evenings, have him ask me "whats for dinner" and I give him the "look" back because he surely knows I'll be leaving for work in an hour. I wish that I had more chaotic doggy stories to share. I wish that I could be excited about our ski trip this weekend, or that we could be planning our Disney trip, where we would have been celebrating Bryson's first birthday. Instead my life has revolved around working, visiting and being strong with my best friends and being a source of information for our friends and co-workers. I've barely seen Mr. Football, other than at the hospital and briefly before or after he or I works.

I guess I'm just frustrated with not having any answers like everyone else, and I'm still wondering...what just happened to our lives?

Not Me Monday

2009-02-02T07:00:00.000-05:00

Welcome toMckMama's Not Me Monday's where we all get a little free dose of therapy. It's been a pretty crazy and emotional week, so I'm ready to get all of the things I did NOT do off of my chest.

-I did NOT start off the week planning a fun birthday gathering for Mr. Football, I did NOT make a chocolate cake from scratch and his favorite dinner, lasanga for his birthday. I am NOT becoming semi-domesticated.

-I did NOT learn from my mistake last week and only cook 4 nights this week...I would never deprive my husband of home cooked meals everynight...he ALWAYS eats everything I cook...right.

-I do NOT have the worst toothache of my life right now, so much so that I'd extract it myself if I could. I did NOT drive out to the drug store in the middle of the morning after being at work all night to buy Oragel because I couldn't tolerate the pain anymore.

-The hubby did NOT say I smelled like and old man when I came to bed this morning...due to the toothache I did NOT use Listerine over and over trying to numb the pain, and he did NOT ask my why I smelled like Bengay.

-I did NOT learn the most devestating news about my close friends baby this week. This is NOT happening...

-I am not praying for this amazingly sweet baby with everything I have. He is NOT having surgery today at 10:15 and we are NOT hoping that this will only be a Wilms Tumor. People do not pray for certain types of tumors, that would be wrong.

But if people did pray for certain types of tumors, a Wilms Tumor is much more treatable and has better outcomes than a Neuroblastoma...so please pray.

Make sure to check out MckMama for more free therapy, sorry this week's wasn't as lighthearted as usual...

...better day?

2009-01-30T15:11:00.003-05:00

Just got off the phone with the P family and Bryson is pretty much the same. Some of his lab work came back though...Bone marrow test came back negative, which is fabulous because it means it hasn't spread there yet, and his blood counts have gone up significantly. Hopefully this will make him stronger and able to fight harder. The next step is to have a biopsy on Monday to officially find out what they're dealing with. The docs have explained a few possiblities but it will be better to know for sure.

We are still in shock. How did this happen? Why did this happen? What more does this family have to endure?

The P family found out they were pregnant last January, 4 months after they were married. They weren't planning on getting pregnant at the time but thrilled regardlessly. At the time, Daddy P had just lost his job and was in the process of finding a new one, so Mama P was working big time to support their growing family. Around July Mama P was having severe headaches, which turned out to be extremely high blood pressure. She was taken off of work and put on strict bedrest...Thankfully Daddy P had just found a job (after being unemployed for 6 months). Mama P's pressures stablized but because of her high risk status she was being monitored very closely. In September it was decided that it was time for little Bryson to be born. He wasn't growing at a very good rate and the Docs decided that he'd be better off out than in.

This precious little man was born September 4th weighing in at a whopping 4 lbs 8 oz's. He was born 3 weeks early but did wonderfully. After a difficult labor, Mama P ended up with a C-section where she had to be completely knocked out. She didn't "see" her baby until he was almost 2 hours old. Once this family was home things seemed to be turning around. It finally looked like the stress of the year was over...

New Years Eve the P family called to let us know they wouldn't be able to make it over. Bryson was sick with an upper respiratory infection and Daddy P wasn't feeling so hot either. Turns out Daddy P had some pretty serious kidney stones and ended up being hospitalized several times in a 3 week period. More stress for this already streched thin family. Finally Daddy P was recovered enough to go back to work and now this...

So when I say that this family has already had its share of stress and heartache, I wasn't lying. I'm just trying to understand how bad things keep happening? I'm amazed at the strength of my friends. I'm not sure I would be able to handle everything as gracefully as they have been. They are an amazing family and I feel privileged to be a part of their lives.

So please keep praying for Bryson and his family and we'll keep supporting them in any way that we can. Thanks.

Devestated

2009-01-29T21:54:00.012-05:00

I wrote a post about the P Family awhile back here... They are part of our FRamily (as my BFF cookie puts it) and they need our help. Their 5 month old Bryson has been sick off and on for about a month now and after numerous doctors visits he was finally admitted to the hospital last night for dehydration and an abnormal blood count. After a thourough examination the hospital doctor noticed a hard area on his stomach. An ultrasound and x-ray were ordered and this morning a CT was done. They've found a tumor growing on his kidney and they've determined that he has Stage 3 cancer. We are completely devestated and in shock. His parents are going through every parents worst nightmare...they feel completely helpless and hopeless.

The plan is to do a few more tests, get a biopsy of the tumor, start chemotherapy and then hopefully remove it. I've seen how prayers have helped MckMama's baby Stellan and Kelly's baby Harper and I'm asking for your prayers for Baby Bryson. The hubby and I are doing everything we can for our dear friends but Bryson's health is out of our hands.

Bryson after bath time, 1 week old

Bryson and I, 6 week old

Smiley baby with his mama, 3 months old

Christmas, 4 months

In the hospital

Please keep Bryson and his family in your prayers...

Happy Birthday!

2009-01-28T08:00:00.001-05:00

Happy Birthday Mr. Loves-football-more-than-life!

You're an amazing husband, son, brother and uncle.

You are the love of my life, my best friend.

You are an inspiration to your family and friends.

You bring humor into the lives of others.

I love you more and more everyday.

I'm so lucky to spend my life with you.

Happy 27th Birthday!

better late than never...

2009-01-27T01:17:00.008-05:00

Happy Chinese New Year (Yesterday)!

2009 is the year of the Ox.

Ox personality traits:

Still waters run deep, as anyone who has observed an Ox will tell you.

People born in the Year of the Ox are the supremely self-assured, and as a result are noted for inspiring confidence in others. Generally patient and thoughtful, they measure their words, and will speak clearly and concisely often when it matters most.

Born to lead, Ox people can be quite stubborn — but also stubbornly loyal to those they love. However, when opposed, their fierce tempers are legendary. So always follow this very wise advice : never cross an Ox!

Generally placid and easy-going on the outside, the Ox can be very dogmatic. There are no gray areas evident within their narrow scope of vision, and they often only see things as good or bad. Therefore, they are never easily persuaded by a clever argument. Possessing an excellent memory, the Ox can often recall verbatim a conversation weeks or months after it has occured.

Their physical stamina combined with their mental alertness is a distinct advantage when it comes to completing any task at hand. In fact, Oxen can often be seen patiently working away ... long after everyone else has dropped from sheer exhaustion!

Ox people are also generally good with their hands, and together with sterling leadership abilities are often successful as doctors or surgeons, construction managers, army generals or business leaders.

Oxen are most compatible with : Rat, Snake, Rooster

Famous people born in the Year of the Ox : Johann Sebastian Bach, Napoleon Bonaparte, Charlie Chaplin, George Clooney, Walt Disney, Anton Dvorak, Clark Gable, George Frideric Handel, Oscar De La Hoya, Richard Nixon, Barack Obama, Aishwarya Rai, Wayne Rooney, Vincent Van Gogh

The hubby and I went to my parents for dinner on Chinese New Years Eve. We ate the traditional New Years foods for good luck for the upcoming year (the hubby even tried everything surprisingly). This was our first New Years as a married couple so this was our first year to give out "lucky money". It is a tradition that adults give red envelopes with money to the children, since we're married we're now considered "adults".

Normally when you get married you get red envelopes and gifts for your wedding, then poof...no more. You're an adult and you don't get anything again until you have children. We are very spoiled however and still get lucky money.

Our Wedding lucky money and gifts

On actual New Years Day you're supposed to wear new clothes, have a clean house, not spend money, not eat meat etc. My mother being so concerned about us, sent us back with vegetarian meals for the day. What she doesn't know is my house looks like it always does, I didn't wear new clothes and I definitely spent money today. But hey, I ate her vegetarian dinner...that's gotta count for something right?

My Parents at Our Wedding Tea Ceremony

After my dad wishing us well...

I love our traditions, and I hope to pass them along to our children one day.

Not Me Monday!

2009-01-26T14:21:00.003-05:00

I almost forgot about this weeks "Not Me Monday"...but I figured better late than never! MckMama hosts this fabulous blog carnival every week and if she has time to do it, I should too. Check out her site for more great laughs!

Other than almost forgetting about my "Not Me's" here's what I did NOT do this week...

-I did NOT schedule and appointment for my car to get fixed, make arrangements for the hubby to take my car to the shop then miraculously have my car not be "broken" anymore...

-I did NOT stick to my meal plan and cook every single night last week, and also work every single night to only have Mr. Loves-football-more-than-life eat dinner twice...yes twice! AHHH!

-We did NOT drive 2 hours to my parents house Sunday night to eat dinner then drive back 2 hours home...That would just be a waste of gas and time.

-I am NOT totally psyched about Mr. Football's birthday this week (even though I have no idea what to get him)...and also I'm Not very happy that he will ALWAYS be older than me...Ha!

-I am NOT obsessed with animal planet this week. I did NOT cry like a baby while watching a show about the Presidents dogs and Underdog to Wonderdog...It was be too silly to cry over shows like that, I'm an adult after all!

So what haven't you done this week?

Cute Contest!

2009-01-24T00:34:00.003-05:00

I'm a little behind in the blogging world, I've been working extra hours since Mr. Football's birthday is a few days away...

But I wanted to get in a quick post about the cutest contest over at The Reality of Happily Ever After. Definitely check it out!

This is Elly Mae and she's just too cute for words!

Finally

2009-01-21T09:35:00.005-05:00

I will be spending tonight like the last 2 nights, here...

...at work with my lovely babies. I've had some very cute ones lately...its impossible not to bond with them. (this is not an actual picture from where I work, just one I found on the internet. I would never post pictures of my patients, even though I would love to show you how adorable they are.)

The second love of my life (my DVR) will be spending the evening with...

I'm so excited for the season to start! I'm a TV-aholic. I'm not sure how I lived before DVR...

Anyone else have exciting plans for the evening?

Only in my world

2009-01-20T16:08:00.002-05:00

Since my car has been running funny, I made an appointment to have it looked at this morning. The lady at the service center asked what was wrong and I said that at higher speeds the car would shake like crazy. She recommended that I make sure there wasn't any ice around the wheels. Obviously I made sure there wasn't any lingering ice before I drove it, and it was still doing the crazy shaking thing. I haven't been driving it because I don't want to end on the side of the road in the snow. So when I got off work this morning I drove my hubbys truck and he drove my car to the dealership.

On the way there, he calls me and asks "How fast did you go before the car started shaking?"
I answered "Over 50 mph"
He said "I've driven over 55 several times and I don't feel anything"

So after he met me near the dealership, determined to prove myself right, I got in the car and drove. I got it up to 50mph, nothing...then 55mph and nothing...then 60mph and nothing... and so on...

We went back to the dealership, picked up his truck and I went home. I wasted an hour of my morning for what??? ICE!!

I'm so done with winter...

Not Me Monday

2009-01-19T01:00:00.001-05:00

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

Yay! I think Monday is becoming one of my better days in the week. Throughout all of my school life I dreaded Mondays like the plague, then after becoming an adult with a big girl job I found that I still dreaded Mondays...even though I work sporadic days throughout the week. I think the stigma just stuck. Well now, because of MckMama I feel like I have something on dreaded Mondays to look forward too! Check out her site for the rules and other pee-your-pants laughs!

This week I did NOT hide out in the house on my days off to avoid the cold. The hubby and I did NOT eat take out/random things we could find because I refused to go grocery shopping. I'm a very responsible person and I would have prepared for a wretched snow storm...

Because of the snowstorm/freezing weather I did NOT break my car somehow. I am NOT notorious for car problems and my car was NOT shaking like crazy after hitting 50mph on the highway. I then did NOT decide to leave it at work for 4 days and bum rides off people because I didn't want to drive it home...

I would NEVER allow the dogs to sleep with me during the day for warmth. They always sleep in their kennels and letting them sleep with me would NOT cause whining and refusal to go in their kennels for several days after.

I did NOT give the dogs baths one day this week and then decide that they smell really good and I want to bathe them everyday. I'm much more reasonable about dogs skin and hygiene than that.

My Storybook Wedding albums did NOT come this week and are NOT totally fabulous. They did a wonderful job and I would absolutely recommend this company to anyone in the area...

I did NOT break down and plan our meals for the entire week after reading other fabulous blogs about meal planning. I am NOT becoming domesticated afterall...

The hubby, Mama Cookie, Mr. T and I did NOT break out the WII Fit this weekend to have our ego's bashed when all of our Mii's ended up "pleasantly plump" after our weigh-in's. I did NOT end up with a fitness age of 48 because of my excellent balance and I did NOT realize that it was probably a good idea that I didn't participate in organized sports as a child...

Now that I've shared all the things I absolutely did NOT do, how about you? Thanks MckMama for the laughs!

Random Sunday-ness

2009-01-18T07:15:00.003-05:00

The other night while I was at work I called home to check on the family...

Me: "Hi, How's your night going?"

Mr. Football: "Fine, I ate healthy tonight." (I'm very guilty of not cooking dinner the nights I work. I just have something small and the hubby has to fend for himself)

Me: "Really, what did you have?"

Mr. Football: "Well I ordered a pizza online and I did it wrong, so I ended up with the wheat crust..."

Me: "Oh, so eating pizza with a wheat crust is healthy?"

Mr. Football: "Yeah..."

...Ok

That is the man I married exactly 3 months ago today. We may have our issues at times but I love him and he knows how to make me smile.

On another note, today is Mr. P's birthday! He's the baby of the group, finally catching up in age with the rest of us. He's having a bad birthday this year...he's been pretty sick the last few weeks and I'm hoping that he'll be feeling better soon. Happy Birthday!

And finally, I was catching up on everyone elses posts and read about the sweet little Harper. She's a newborn who's fighting for her life right now. I'm not sure exactly what is going on with her but I know she has pneumonia and an enlarged heart that isn't pumping adequately. Please say a prayer for her and her family, my heart just breaks for them. I can only imagine what they must be going through...

COLD

2009-01-16T08:34:00.003-05:00

I can't even explain how cold it is...

I'm sitting on the couch and I can feel the cold coming through the windows.

There is frost on some of my windows (granted I live in a very old house and the windows are not necessarily the greatest, but its still ridiculous)

My car decided that it was just too cold out to work...so its sitting the the parking garage at work right now. My lovely Little S had to drive me home. And keep in mind, my car is only 3 years old.

The temperature gauge in her car read -15 on the drive home.

I moved the dogs kennels away from the windows and next to the heat vent. I'm worried they will freeze while I'm alseep today.

Yet in 3 short weeks, I'm paying good money to go here.

Is it bad that I'm having second thoughts?

Goals

2009-01-14T19:18:00.004-05:00

So I'm pretty bad at setting New Year's resolutions. I never stick to them...halfway through the year I can't even remember what they were.

I went up to bed the other night and the hubby had "It's me or the Dog" on, I'm a huge Animal Planet fan...so I had to watch how Victoria would change the behavior of a rambunctious english bulldog. I realized that Jax is very much like this bulldog...he's hyper, pulls on his leash and aggressive towards other dogs (well not so much aggressive, more crying/screeching/whinning when he can't get near them). She was using the "clicker" method...where you "click and treat" the dog for good behavior.

This made me decide that my Goal (a better word than resolution for me) was to make Jax a polite member of doggy society by this summer. He LOVES being outside, he LOVES going for walks and he absolutely LOVES swimming. We took him camping with us last summer and quickly realized that he has no manners at all. He would pull while we walked, escaped his harness on several occasions to chase other dogs, stole the football from our neighbors while knocking over their kids in the process, etc. He had very very bad manners.

So for the rest of the winter we are going to work on basic commands with the clicker in hopes that he will be a little more manageable by spring. Then we'll work on taking him to more public places. Lulu on the other hand hated the whole camping experience. She did NOT like being dirty, getting wet or being around people. She may stay home with a sitter next year.

I HAVE to accomplish this Goal...because He is my motivation...

My First Award!

2009-01-13T15:54:00.007-05:00

Littlesack over at Navigating the Quarterlife gave me my first award! I'm so excited! Thanks so much!

Here are the rules:

The honorees are to:

A) first list 10 honest things about yourself - and make it interesting, even if you have to dig deep!

B) pass the award on to bloggers that you feel embody the spirit of the Honest Scrap.

1. I'm extremely sensitive. I cry all the time, when I'm sad, or happy, or mad, it makes no difference...

2. I'm scared of everything. I don't like it to be dark or quiet so the tv is always on at my house. I completely believe in ghosts and spirits so I can't watch the haunted shows on TV and I change the channel when scary movie commercials come on ("Unborn" is a good example right now).

3. My dad is my hero. I was a mama's girl growing up and I didn't completly appreciate my dad until I became an adult (or close enough). The year before I was born my dad was helping a friend who was having car problems. He was helping to jump-start the car when another car hit him. He lost both legs above the knee. Even through it all he's managed to work everyday and follow his dreams of owning his own businesses...one of them is an office building where I got married last year!

4. I am the most impatient person...ever. When I want something, I wanted it yesterday. Like right now I'm waiting for my wedding albums to come in the mail. I would hear the mailman if he came, the dogs would definitely let me know, but I still continue to look out the window every few minutes.

5. I LOVE to give gifts. I wish I had tons of money because I find things to buy my friends and family everyday. I LOVE to wrap them up pretty and then I want to give them the gift IMMEDIATELY (see #4). Mr. Football will ask to open presents early all the time, just because he knows I can't wait.

6. I miss my grandma everyday. Both of my parents worked when I was growing up, so I spent everyday with my grandma until I was old enough to stay home alone. She was a huge influence in my life, my first language was vietnamese because that's all she spoke. I was a junior in college when she passed away and I'll remember her forever.

7. My sister bought me my first designer purse when I was in college. It was a white Dooney and Bourke bucket bag with colored hearts on it...and I was hooked. I have since spent an insane amount of money on beautiful purses. I can't help that I love them!

8. I am allergic to alcohol. Any type of alcohol. Even a few sips will make me turn bright red and break out in hives. If I have enough my throat will start to feel tight and by them I'm completely drunk...and we're talking half a drink here. I will occasionally have a few sips of peoples drinks, but I really don't enjoy drinking because it makes me feel awful.

9. I'm addicted to cheesie reality shows. The cheesier the better. I love Real Housewives of OC, all of the Charm Schools, and I just watched VH1's Tool Academy. The Mr. and I watch these shows together before bed and just laugh...

10. I love my alone time. Don't get me wrong, I love spending time with my hubby. Since we work opposite shifts I cherish the 2-3 evenings we have together...but once he goes to bed I feel like I can start my alone time. I do laundry and catch up on my shows that we don't watch together. I read books and blog...

I'd like to pass this award on to...

Becca at Lovely Yellow Ribbons

Emily at Living our own fairy tale

Ashley at Polka Dots and Paisley and

Mary Teresa at Petite, Plump, or Pregnant?

Are you kidding me??!!

2009-01-12T23:37:00.003-05:00

***COLDEST WEATHER IN YEARS EXPECTED THIS WEEK***

OVERNIGHT: Snow likely, 2-4" by noon Tuesday.
Lows low 20s.
TUESDAY: Snow in the morning. Blowing and drifting
snow through the afternoon. Windy and cold. Temperatures falling
into the teens. Wind chills zero to
-10.
WEDNESDAY: Snow likely. Another 1-3"
possible. Highs mid teens.
THURSDAY AND FRIDAY: Bitterly cold
with low temperatures below zero.

I literally just dug my car out of the street....I think I'll
keep driving...South...

Not Me Monday!....Snow Edition

2009-01-12T00:00:00.010-05:00

Phewww! It's that time again...to confess all the things I ~~did~~ did not do, and after all the snow we've been slammed with I thought it was only appropriate to go with that theme this Monday.

-We did NOT get over a foot of snow in 2 days...and it is NOT still snowing right now...UGH!

-I did NOT have an anxiety attack after digging my car out of the snow and having my windshield wiper fall off...I was NOT already late for work and I did NOT call Mr. Football hysterical because I had no clue how to fix it...I'm much more reasonable than that.

-I did NOT make yummy Buffalo Chicken dip for Mr. Footballs work training potluck on Saturday morning...and then after having it canceled due to the snow take it to work with me instead Saturday night and tell my co-workers I brought it in to be "nice"...

-One of the perks of working night shift is NOT having traffic to deal with on the way home. I did NOT drive in the middle of the snow covered interstate just because I could...I'm always a very safe and law abiding driver.

-Jax is NOT completely loving the snow...he does not haul booty outside every chance he gets to prance around in it...Lulu is NOT staying in the house the rest of the winter.

-I did NOT park my car in the driveway because I was unloading groceries and then have Mr. Football move it back into the street to shovel the driveway...My car is NOT surrounded by a 3 foot pile of snow now from the plow truck. I may NOT drive it again until Spring.

-Even after all of my complaining about the snow this week, I am NOT planning an amazing snowboarding trip for the second week in February...I do NOT actually LOVE the snow when I'm playing in it...

And finally...one that isn't snow related...

My neighbors 2 houses down from us also happen to have a puggle, he's a little bigger and darker than Lulu and he's her boyfriend. A few months ago they got a second puppy, another puggle...(I love my Jax-y but I would have gotten a second puggle if I could have)...

-Well I did NOT get my camera out this week and take pictures of the neighbors puppy with my zoom because I wanted to get a better look at him...I am NOT a stalker of the neighborhood dogs. That would just be creepy. He's very very cute if you wanted to know...

I have to say I don't dread Mondays anymore now that I have my "Not Me" post to look forward too! Thanks MckMama for the blogging carnival! Check out her site for more confessions...What didn't YOU do this week??

I don't wanna grow up...

2009-01-08T18:00:00.000-05:00

So pretty much I'm a huge kid, I always have and I always will be...

So it just makes sense that I LOVE DISNEY WORLD! I love the attractions, I love the atomosphere, I love Mickey and Minnie Mouse. I can deal with the crowds and the ridiculous heat in the middle of the summer. Its just the "happiest place on earth"! I went with my family for my 20th birthday and again with the Mr. and some friends for my 22nd birthday (I couldn't go for my 21st, it just wouldnt be appropriate) and I'm dying to go again!

So the Mr. called me today and told me this...

Disney Parks Celebrate U.S. Military in 2009

Filed under: Orlando, Orlando Events — seo2wins @ 10:08 am January 7, 2009

Through December 23, 2009, each active or retired member of the U.S. military may obtain one complimentary 5-day “Disney’s Armed Forces Salute” ticket with Park Hopper and Water Park Fun & More options. This ticket is valid for five days of admission into the four Walt Disney World theme parks, plus a total of five visits to a choice of Disney water park, DisneyQuest Indoor Interactive Theme Park or certain other attractions. During this offer period, active or retired U.S. military personnel may also make a one-time purchase of up to a maximum of five 5-Day “Disney’s Armed Forces Salute Companion” tickets (one theme park per day) for $99 per ticket, plus tax, for family members (including spouse) or friends. Although this ticket for family members and friends does not include either the Park Hopper or Water Park Fun & More options, this ticket can be upgraded to add either such option, or both, for an additional $25, plus tax, per option. All tickets and options are nontransferable and must be used by December 23, 2009.

YAY!!!! Maybe we'll have to make another trip there this year...

Let me introduce you to...

2009-01-07T21:32:00.011-05:00

I completely believe that you have the family your born into and the family that you make...

I feel so lucky that the Mr. and I have such a wonderful family. I'm the youngest of 3, I have an older sister who is the best big sister that anyone could ask for. She's married to her junior high sweetheart who has always been a big brother to me. I also have a big brother (whom I've mentioned in my blog once or twice) who is always there when I need him. Mr. Loves-football-more-than-life is the oldest of 2, he has a younger sister who he's close too. We have amazing parents who have always supported us in everything that we do. We love our family but distance is our issue, my parents live the closet...an hour and a half away...

I grew up in the suburbs and had the same friends my entire life. I graduated high school with some of the same people I graduated pre-school with. Leaving for college was absolutely devastating. I knew that I would always have my "home" friends but I had no idea what it was like to have to make new friends. Now I can't imagine my life without these friends.

So I'd like to introduce you to my other "family"...

These are the people who are in our lives everyday...the people we call when we need a favor, the people we have spent countless hours with, the people that I blog about...

First, I want to introduce my bestest, my beloved, "Mama Cookie"...

I've known Mama Cookie since the 7th grade. We met in Student Council and quickly became friends. We both went away from home for college, about 30 minutes from each other. We always car-pooled home together all 4 years...Like I said we were always friends, but we didn't become "best-friends" until our sophomore year of college. We were both going through similar situations with dead-beat boyfriends and heart-wrenching break-ups. She was my rock when I thought my world was crumbling...She's the kind of person who hold your hair back after a rough night, who eats cookie dough with your for days strait, who will go on any road trip anywhere for no reason at all, she will be patient with you while you sit in front of a computer for hours on end waiting for a deployment email...she'll be there for you for your surprise proposal even though she had plans to go out of town, and she'll stand next to you on the biggest day of your life. I had no question that she would be my maid of honor, and I cannot wait until I can return the favor..

She's always been Cookie to me, a childhood nickname, but mama came about because she's the god-mother to my 4 legged children. She's found her other half, Mr. T, and I couldn't be happier for them. He's an amazing boyfriend and friend and he's hilarious. Not a day goes by that he doesn't make me almost pee my pants...

Next I'd like to tell you about the *P* Family...

I met Mrs. P at work...they pretty much call us "twins". Obviously we look nothing alike, but we're similar heights, builds, and we're always together. She is exactly to the day 1 month older than I am, she married her soul mate almost 1 year before I married mine and we live down the street from each other. We were in their wedding and they were in ours. They are truly an amazing couple that I learn from everyday...especially now. They had their first child, Baby B last September and its been amazing to see them transform into parents. I'm not sure where life is going to take us but I know that this family will always be a part of it.

This is Baby B...he's the sweetest cutest baby I've ever met. I'm sure I'm biased but I don't care. In the short 4 months I've had the privilege of knowing him, I'd gladly walk through fire for him. He fills my heart and makes it just a little easier to wait to have one...and harder too I guess. I'm so excited to watch this sweet boy grow up...

Then there's Little S...
We call her Little S because look at her, she's tiny! I also know her from work, she started a year before I did and pretty much taught me everything I know. She's an amazing person, she has a heart of gold. Shes the type of person that will bring you chicken noodle soup when you don't feel good, she'll spend hours on wedding projects just to give you a break, she'll make you a beautiful blue charm to wear on your wedding day...just so you have something blue. She's the type of person I strive to be...She's also the girl who has stolen my brothers heart. They met at our wedding, they walked together actually and have since been inseparable. I'm excited about their relationship and I'm excited to see where it will go...

And finally, Reverend X and Mr. G

I've known the Reverend since 7th grade also, we went to junior high and high school together also. She and I took a trip to Idaho when we were 16 to visit another one of our friends and had the most amazing summer ever. After high school she moved away but we still stayed close. Last summer while planning our wedding our officiant backed out at the last minute. I wasn't sure what I was going to do...then I remembered that the Reverend was an internet ordained minister. I called her immediately and the rest is history. I wasn't sure how our ceremony was going to go since we are so close, but in the end it was better than I could ever imagine. She and her mister, Mr. G are so funny together...hence their Christmas picture. We're hoping that they will move closer to us because we love spending time with them!

I felt like I needed to formally introduce all of my blogging friends to my "family"...Since this blog is about my life, and my life revolves around my family and friends it just makes sense. We are so fortunate to have this close group of friends to fill in as our substitute family. I'm thankful everyday for them and I couldn't imagine my life without them.

I have a sickness

2009-01-06T20:04:00.005-05:00

So today I'm pretty much feeling like the lousiest wife ever... I slept all day, which is ok I guess because I worked last night, I ordered pizza for dinner, I've been catching up with my lovely blogging friends, my house is still decorated for Christmas, laundry is hiding all over the house and all I can do is wait for the new episode of Nip Tuck...

Whats wrong with me!!!???

I feel like I have a million things to do, but all I can accomplish today are selfish tasks...

Tomorrow I promise to:

-Catch up on laundry, its a MUST
-Put Christmas decorations away
-Pay lotsa bills
-Clean the house
-Get my oil changed

But tonight...

...I'll be spending with the beautiful Dr. Sean McNamara and Dr. Christian Troy

Really....whats wrong with me???

Not Me Monday

2009-01-04T21:12:00.005-05:00

I can't believe its already Monday...this week just flew by. So here we go again with all of the things I did "Not" do this week...

I did NOT call in sick to work twice this week because I would NEVER risk getting my fragile patients sick...and after considering calling in, I did NOT think that would mean I'd have 2 extra days to get ready for our New Year's Eve party...Not Me!

I did NOT thoroughly enjoy only working one day this week...and try to figure out a way to do it all the time...

I am NOT totally excited about getting my Wedding Storybook album this week!

I did NOT have a great time at our New Year's Eve slumber party. Eight 25-35 year olds would NEVER spend the night stuffing their faces, playing board games and watching the Simpsons Movie til 4 in the morning...that would just be juvenile... I did NOT try to be a "real" wife by making a New Year's Day dinner...which included a Glazed ham (which I bought from the store and stuck in the oven), Cheesy Potatoes (leftover from Mama Cookie for our New Years Eve party), and Jiffy Corn Bread...I at least turned the oven on...

I did NOT go out to dinner at Smokey Bones Saturday night and wonder why they were playing 90's music...(XM 90's on 9 to be exact, which is my favorite station)

I was NOT a little dissappointed when we went out after dinner and the club was NOT playing 90's music...

I was NOT sad to say goodbye to my brother after his 2 week trip here. I am NOT dreading his upcoming deployment in June...

Apparently I must have been pretty good this week since all of those things did NOT happen... Just wanted to add that Baby Stellan is doing much much better, make sure to check out MckMama for more laughs!

back to normal...whatever that means

2009-01-02T21:50:00.003-05:00

So I'm finally feeling like myself again...other than the occasional cough and ear popping, but I can live with that. This week was pretty unproductive, I'm blaming it on the holiday again.

The hubby and I decided to have a New Year's Eve party at our house this year. We did it last year and it went pretty well. We invited a few of our friends over for dinner and played some games. It's official, we're "old people". The thought of having to get dressed up in cute outfits (but always remembering to be practical because of the snow) and go out to different bars to pay a ridiculous amount of money because its "New Year's Eve" was just too much to deal with. Last year we used the excuse that we were "saving for the wedding"...but this year we're ok with admitting that we're just old.

Most of our friends spent the night, seeing as they were in no condition to drive home and it ended up being a fun slumber party...just like junior high, except there were boys there too. In the morning Mr. loves-football-more-than-life made us all breakfast (yum) and we lounged around all day watching football of course.

Because of the party and being sick I've pretty much done nothing around the house. Don't get me wrong, we "straightened" up for the party but thankfully no one looked in the closets and found our dirty laundry waiting to be done. So it looks like an exciting weekend ahead of me...

fun...here's to being back to "normal"...

Not Me Monday

2008-12-29T00:48:00.015-05:00

So between the working, Christmas and being sick, this is my first post in awhile...and I have lots to ~~confess~~ NOT confess. Here we go again!

I did NOT go out with my friends Monday night instead of cleaning/wrapping/packing/shopping which did NOT led to a frantic 11pm Kohls/Old Navy trip between bars...thank goodness for holiday shopping hours!

I did NOT buy Mr. Football a Christmas present after we had agreed on "no gifts" this year...I would NEVER buy him this awesome jacket for our upcoming ski trip.

And since we're so awesome at following our own rules, Mr. Football did NOT get me Lost Season 3 and 4...I can't wait until January 21st!

I did NOT get a WII Fit and a Pink Yoga mat from my siblings! They are NOT completely wonderful and I do NOT love them to pieces...I'm the baby so I do NOT get the best gifts..

I did NOT fall asleep Christmas day after opening presents and completely miss my family playing Guitar Hero World Tour...that would just make me so sad that I missed the hilariousness...(I worked all night Christmas Eve, a girls gotta sleep at some point)

I did NOT convince my 9 year old cousin to see Marley and Me with me because all of the boys wanted to see something else. I did NOT cry throughout the entire movie, and she did NOT look at me like I was crazy the entire time...

The Mr. and I did NOT drive from our house to my parents (100 miles) on Christmas morning, then leave the day after Christmas to return home (Friday) then drive to my sisters house Saturday morning (200 miles) and come back Sunday afternoon. So if we do the math or NOT do the math, that would equal 600 miles+ in one long weekend...and to make it even better, my brother, Mr. Blackhawk, took our car while at my sisters and drove another 110 miles (220 roundtrip) to finally purchase the Christmas present he wanted for himself, so we're NOT at 820 miles + total...

And we were definitely NOT at my sisters because Mr. Blackhawk wanted to go to a Gun Show (I did NOT make muscles when he first suggested this, who would do that?) in the area...And after driving all that way he didn't even find what he was looking for and had to go to another store hours away...

During all of this family fun, I was NOT cuddled up on my sisters couch too "sick" to go to the Gun Show, but NOT too sick to read Eclipse...or maybe I NOT not was too sick...I'm confusing myself now...

I do NOT feel like my head is still underwater and that my ears might explode at any minute...and I'm definitely not wishing that they would explode so that the pressure in my head might get some relief...

I did NOT try to finish my Secret Santa gift and realize when it was half done that I had run out of ink in my printer, I would always make sure I had everything I needed when working on a project...I did NOT push it aside and consider it a lost cause...

I also did NOT figure out who everyones Secret Santa is...I hate that. I always want to be surprised, but everyone ruins it for me. Its impossible to keep things secret when your shopping with your friends and they're picking out their own presents for their Santas to buy them. SERIOUSLY?!!!!

And finally, our Christmas pictures did NOT turn out fabulously! I loved the sweaters, everyone else pretty much cooperated...and the doggies even got their own Christmas outfits! My parents have 2 dogs also, so my Mom likes to buy them ALL matching outfits. Gotta love doggy grandmas!

My brother in law, my sister, Mr. Blackhawk, myself, Mr. Loves-football-more-than-life

my mom, Lilo, my dad
??Why is Lilo the only dog in the picture??

my mom and dad, Lilo, Lucky (his jacket is blue, but he's too fluffy to see it)

Jax and Lulu

So I guess that will do for this week, although I'm sure I could keep going...I'm off to take some more cold/flu medicine and hope that my head stops pounding/nose stops running/quit coughing/ears stop popping...maybe theres a magic medicine that will do that...Please send your prayers MckMama's way, her sweet baby Stellan is battling a pretty severe case of RSV and is in the hospital right now...

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-24T07:47:00.004-05:00

One word...ICE

Not snow, not rain....

ICE.

I hate it I hate it I hate it.

Now that I've got that out of my system I can continue. Things here are going pretty well. I'm working tonight then its off to see the family for Christmas! Yay! No matter how old I get I still want to spend Christmas at my parents. Now I'm sure that once we have our own kids we'll start our own traditions, but for now I'm sticking to my mom and dad's.

Our shopping is finally done (well my shopping, Mr. Football isn't the "shopping" type, he's more "ok we got the 1 thing we came for...lets go!" type.) We pretty much got what everyone asked for, so there really aren't any surprises this year...except the matching sweater thing. I even managed to pick up a few festive shirts for the dogs (I know...too much, but they were 50% off at Old Navy) I can't pass up a deal. My brother will meet us over here in the morning, then we'll pack up the gifts, 2 crates, 2 dogs and ourselves for the hour and a half trip. It's really not a bad drive to my parents, I did it pretty much every weekend for 4 years but now we've got 2 dogs who are not polite passengers. We'll spend the weekend at my parents then head back to face the real world on Monday. I'm hoping to catch up with some of my high school friends while I'm home. Its always nice to see what everyone is up too. Even after living away from my parents for 7 years, I still call their house "home". I'm not sure why that is though. I dont feel at "home" there, I feel at home at my own house, but its still what I say when I go there. Old habits die hard I guess.

So I hope that everyone has a safe and Merry Christmas!

Not Me Monday

2008-12-22T09:14:00.003-05:00

I came across this poem that Sarah posted on her blog and decided to post it on mine also. This year I feel so thankful that I get to be with my ENTIRE family for the holidays...I realize so many others (many whom I met blogging) are spending this year away from spouses and loved ones because of deployment. I realize being a part of a military family now that's always a possiblity for me, so I'm going to live it up and enjoy every minute. I am also going to take time to think about all of our soldiers and their families out there keeping us safe...and I hope you will too.

Merry Christmas, My Friend
By James M. Schmidt, a Marine Lance Corporalstationed in Washington, D.C., in 1986

Twas the night before Christmas, he lived all alone, In a one bedroom house made of plaster & stone.

I had come down the chimney, with presents to give and to see just who in this home did live
As I looked all about, a strange sight I did see,no tinsel, no presents, not even a tree.

No stocking by the fire, just boots filled with sand. On the wall hung pictures of a far distant land.
With medals and badges, awards of all kind, a sobering thought soon came to my mind.

For this house was different, unlike any I'd seen.This was the home of a U.S. Marine.
I'd heard stories about them, I had to see more, so I walked down the hall and pushed open the door.

And there he lay sleeping, silent, alone,Curled up on the floor in his one-bedroom home.
He seemed so gentle, his face so serene, Not how I pictured a U.S. Marine.

Was this the hero, of whom I’d just read? Curled up in his poncho, a floor for his bed?
His head was clean-shaven, his weathered face tan. I soon understood, this was more than a man. For I realized the families that I saw that night, owed their lives to these men, who were willing to fight.

Soon around the Nation, the children would play, And grown-ups would celebrate on a bright Christmas day.They all enjoyed freedom, each month and all year,because of Marines like this one lying here.

I couldn’t help wonder how many lay alone,on a cold Christmas Eve, in a land far from home. Just the very thought brought a tear to my eye. I dropped to my knees and I started to cry.

He must have awoken, for I heard a rough voice, "Santa, don't cry, this life is my choice

I fight for freedom, I don't ask for more. My life is my God, my country, my Corps."
With that he rolled over, drifted off into sleep,I couldn't control it, I continued to weep.

I watched him for hours, so silent and still. I noticed he shivered from the cold night's chill. So I took off my jacket, the one made of red, and covered this Marine from his toes to his head.

Then I put on his T-shirt of scarlet and gold, with an eagle, globe and anchor emblazoned so bold. And although it barely fit me, I began to swell with pride,and for one shining moment, I was Marine Corps deep inside.

I didn't want to leave him so quiet in the night, this guardian of honor so willing to fight. But half asleep he rolled over, and in a voice clean and pure, said

"Carry on, Santa, it's Christmas Day, all secure."

And now...

Well another week has passed and I feel the need to confess the things I certainly did NOT do...

Here goes!

I am NOT getting sick right now. It's the middle of the holiday season and I have far too many things to do still. I absolutely eat 3 square meals a day and get 8 hours of rest a night...I'm the picture of health, so it is NOT phlegm that is sitting in my chest right now...

I did NOT decide to keep my sister's christmas present for myself. That would be selfish and unnecessary. I was NOT planning on re-gifting a wedding present to her but then decide that the crockpot is way too cool and I want it for myself (hey I registered for it afterall)...

I am NOT planning on going out after work today to buy her the exact same crockpot...

I would NEVER continually harass my brother to find out if he's gotten me the 3rd and 4th books in the Twilight series for Christmas. I'm very patient and appreciate any gift I receive (just like the crockpot)...

I did NOT have 2 college-aged guys show up on my doorstep this week to ask to shovel my driveway on 2 separate days. I also did NOT have a detective show up a little while later to ask about these guys...and inform me that a house was broken into down the street. I then did NOT call everybody I knew to talk to because I didn't want to be alone in the house...scary!

I did NOT guilt Little S (my friend) and Mr. Blackhawk(my brother) to bring me dinner at work after he arrived into town yesterday. That would just be very selfish...and I did NOT justify my selfishness by having them bring Mrs. P Olive Garden too...yum!

I did NOT go to lunch this week with work friends and snuggle with all of their babies! I would never monopolize all the time with the babies...

Finally, I did NOT go Christmas shopping one day this week until after 11 pm, then come home to find out that Mr. Football had not eaten dinner and was still awake. I did NOT feel guilty about all of this and make him pizza rolls at midnight. I always have a home cooked meal on the table when he comes home...remember??

Well I feel better about all the silly things I did NOT do this week...Check out MckMama's page for more confessions!

Finally Friday

2008-12-19T03:54:00.004-05:00

Well for most people the work week is ending, mine is just about to begin. Ugh... but I finally started and pretty much finished my Christmas shopping, Yay! I met my friends for lunch today at Bravo (yum!) and got to play with their sweet babies...Baby B is 3 1/2 months, Baby A is 2 months and Baby E is 1 month. We had an epidemic at work last year and pretty much everyone had babies sometime this fall, I think there were 14 girls pregnant total. I decided it was safest to only drink bottled water...

So then we had a day full of shopping. Mr. Football wasn't exactly pleased that I shopped until 11pm tonight, but I felt like I HAD to keep going. I knew that once I stopped, I wouldn't start again. I have something to pick up at Target and Walmart on Monday, then I think I'm officially done. I'm very excited about these cute sweaters I found at Old Navy. Every year we take a family picture Christmas day, it's the only day everyone is actually together. So this year I decided I want everyone to match (corny I know) and found an assortment of grey/black/white sweaters for a very reasonable price. I can't wait to see how it turns out...

My brother "Mr. Blackhawk" is coming into town this weekend, so I planned on cleaning the house, getting the spare bedroom ready, and finally putting away the last of our wedding gifts...instead I finished Twilight and had to run out to Walmart at 9pm to buy New Moon. Pathetic. So tomorrow, before I go into work, I'll be speed cleaning (aka throwing things into totes/baskets/anywhere else unseen). No wait, I NEVER do that...

It finally feels like Christmas! Bring it on...

Oh! and I almost forgot...

2 months (and 1 day, I said I almost forgot, so I'm a day late) ago...

We got married! It's been a wonderful (and busy) 2 months...here to many many more!

seriously, who blogs about their dogs?

2008-12-16T23:45:00.003-05:00

...I guess that would be me! The adorable Milo over at the Jet Plane's tagged Lulu and Jax for their very first post! I'm going to let Lulu handle this since she's the opinionated one...

So here are the rules:

1. Link to the person that tagged you.

2. Post the rules on your blog.

3. Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.

4. Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.

5. Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.

From Lulu's bark, to your eyes...

1. I'm the guard dog of the house...really. I might be smaller, and a girl but I see and hear everything. I'm often found perched on the armrest of the sofa looking out the window just to make sure those people up on the balcony next door don't try anything funny...

Here I am protecting my family...I have to stand on the table to see out the window

2. I don't like the water, at all...I hate baths, puddles, rain, anything that might make me wet. BUT if my brother is out swimming in the lake and playing with my mom, I might just jump out of my lifeboat and swim to them...

3. I will not lay down on anything hard or cold. I MUST have a blanket, a pillow or anything soft if you expect me to go to sleep. And if I have to sit on the ground I will sit on my legs. My booty can not and will not touch the floor.

Lazy days...

4. I am very lady like. I always cross my legs when I lay down and I have a "prance" to my step, but I snore like a bull (at least thats what my mother says). I may have a longer snout, but there's still a pug in me.

5. I really like to play, but only by myself. As soon as that big lug Jax goes outside, I find the nearest ball/bone/toy and run around like crazy. I will bring it to mom or dad or anyone else in the room to play fetch/tug/keepaway with...but the second I hear Jax at the door, I drop the toy and lay back down on the headrest of the couch.

I had an allergic reation to my vaccinations. I was miserable.

6. I used to have a best friend named "hump-doggy". When I was little I was in love with a brown and white stuffed dog. I carried it around with me everywhere I went. I used to clean it and shake it around, then I would hump it...even though I'm a girl. It was my bestest friend for 2 years, then He came, and ripped her apart. Now I have no one...no wonder I'm so onry...

My bestest...

Well now that you know all of my embarrasing quirks, its your turn! I'm tagging:

1. Boo at Losing Weight With Cookies

2. Taylor and Jackson at Polka Dots and Paisley

3. Chief and King Arthur at First comes love

4. Marley Aspen and Thumper at With Love from New Orleans

5. Poodle Puppy at Momstheword

6. Cheeto at Navigating the Quarterlife

Have Fun! Love Lulu!

Not Me Monday

2008-12-15T01:07:00.002-05:00

So I thought I did pretty well this week, until I started writing my “Not Me’s” and they just kept coming… So here goes!

This week I did NOT go Christmas shopping and buy myself 2 Christmas ornaments and nothing for anyone else…

I did NOT read a book (Twilight) instead of doing laundry, cleaning, cooking, sleeping etc…

I did NOT make myself look busy in my patients room all night “working” when in reality I was taking photos of the babies and making cute signs to post over their incubators…

I also did NOT put off doing my Christmas cards because I still have NOT finished my “Thank you’s”...I have terrible bridal etiquette.

And I would NEVER go to a jewelry party and buy something because I felt bad that only 3 people came… I always purchase products at parties.

I did NOT justify not cleaning the house this weekend because I’m off work midway through the week…my house is always spotless.

And finally, I had to write one for Mr. Football himself, he did NOT cheat at cards this weekend because he could not stand to lose another game to his lovely wife…he would NEVER do that… he’s such a gracious loser.

Thanks MckMama for the free therapy! Be sure to check out her blog for more fun “Not Me’s”!

11 days till christmas

2008-12-14T19:48:00.005-05:00

Mr. Football and I had a pretty busy weekend...We started the excitment Friday night when one of my bestest girlfriends came home from Hawaii, yes Hawaii. Little S (as we like to call her) happened to meet this boy at our wedding. They started talking and decided to exchange phone numbers. While the hubby and I were on our honeymoon they talked pretty much everyday. This boy just so happens to live in Hawaii and invited Little S to come visit anytime...well Little S, being a very smart fun girl, decided to take him up on his offer. So she was able to fly to Hawaii for 12 days pretty much all expenses paid. She had a wonderful time there, and while I'm not exactly sure of their relationship, I know that they are great friends now...oh and did I mention that this "boy" happens to be my brother? I think it would be so much fun to have one of my best friends as my sister-in-law but I think I'm getting ahead of myself...we'll just have to wait and see what happens.

So Friday night we all went to dinner and exchanged Secret Santa names. I'm very excited about who I picked because I already knew what I planned on getting this person...and that just about never happens. I'm always at a loss as to what to get people...either I want to buy someone everything, or I have no clue.

Saturday the hubby and I spent the afternoon "attempting to" Christmas shop. Pretty much we went to several stores, got discouraged with the crowds and left with nothing. I did find a 2008 ornament for our tree and a photo frame ornament for Jax. But shopping for myself defeats the purpose of "Christmas Shopping".

Our friends invited us to a Christmas Party Saturday night, there was good food and fun people. We played Euchre, where I happened to beat Mr. Football pretty much every game. He and his friend were not very good sports about losing so they ended up cheating to win! Very uncool...

Today we went to a friends for a Premier Designs Jewelry party. The girls shopped for jewelry and the boys played Guitar Hero. There was lots of cute jewelry that I wanted but since we broke the bank with our wedding we only have enough to spend on others. I bought my mom a very cute charm bracelet. Hopefully it will be here in time for Christmas...

Tonight I'm on-call for work again. Someone must have called in sick because I'm the "A" transport person. I should probably try to get a nap in since I could go out anytime, but I really just was to read my book...

Everyone has been talking about it and I really wasn't that into it when I first started reading it, but now I'm hooked...

...back to reading!

baby, baby, baby...

2008-12-12T09:28:00.002-05:00

I just want to start with saying that I LOVE my job. I don't say that everyday, and that's because I don't feel like that everyday...I'm not sure anyone does. Obviously there are other things I'd rather do than work, a million things I'd rather do actually. And when I have a crappy night at work, I feel like why do I even bother? My job is serious, pretty much all the time, and when I have a bad night, believe me...its bad. Thankfully I've only had a handful of "bad" nights, and in my line of work that means...well I work with sick and premature babies, you get the picture.

Last night I had the privilege of taing care of the sweetest babies ever...3 little boys, who just so happen to be triplets. They are doing so well and are absolutely thriving. They are the reason I LOVE my job. It is the best feeling to take care of little people who have fought so hard and are on the path to go home. Normally I take care of sick babies, the sickest, and when they get better I move onto the next sick one. So when I actually get healthy babies, I take advantage of the situation. Their mother was discharged from the hospital last night, so she was pretty tearful. Every mother imagines going to the hospital, having a baby and then going home with that baby...so its only appropriate to be sad when your vision doesn't take...especially times three.

Since I had three very nice babies last night I decided that they needed to be fluffed and buffed...meaning baths and linen changes for everyone. We just so happened to get a delivery of clean baby laundry so everyone got cute bedding and outfits. The hospital provides standard baby shirts, but we are fortunate enough to have a closet of donated baby clothes and blankets. Most are preemie outfits donated from our graduates and others are bought by staff. (If anyone has preemie and newborn outfits lying around look into donating them to a children's hospital. We are always VERY grateful.) Anyways, after bathtime it was photo-shoot time. Its amazing to me that I can not motivate myself to scrapbook anything at home, I don't really know why. I love scrapbooking and I'm always looking for new ideas and buying things, but then I get home and I have no desire to do it...hmm.

A lovely family donated a digital camera and printer after their son was discharged so now we frequently do "photo-shoots" of our babies. Then we make cute cards and signs and banners when we have the time. So each of my boys last night got footprints done, a picture of their face, and a close up of hands or feet. I creatively scrapped each picture on different colored paper and attached each square with ribbon for each boy. It's not the greatest but it was the best I could do while at work. Hopefully mom will be surprised when she comes in and feel at ease that her boys got plenty of attention while she wasn't there...

...and my baby itch was satisfied, at least for a little while.

so I repeat...I LOVE my job!

If your looking for something new you should consider being a NICU nurse...its pretty great.

how I wish I were there

2008-12-11T09:24:00.004-05:00

Its been a busy week, I worked every night so far and have one more to go... Haven't had a lot of time to blog this week so I thought I'd write a quick one. It was 24 degrees when I left work this morning (at least that's what the temperature thing in my car said). Theres just a dusting of snow on the ground, dirty snow that is, and random patches of ice. Yuck. So I was thinking as I drove home, how I wish I was there...

Tulum

Riviera Maya, Mexico

Our Resort-South Half

Deep Sea Fishing

Lounging Poolside

Mr. Football and I had a fabulous time on our honeymoon. Even though it rained half the time we were there, it still wasn't 24 degrees. Hope everyone's thinking warm thoughts!

One Week

2008-12-09T07:29:00.005-05:00

I've officially been blogging for one week now and I think I've done pretty well. I know I've met some really great people...and I can't wait to meet more!

So my silly dogs today were going crazy outside. I just figured there were people walking around or a cat in the driveway...nothing unusual. Every time I would let them outside they would bark and bark. It wasn't until this evening that I realized what they were barking at...

...a shovel. Mr. Loves-football-more-than-life had shoveled the driveway over the weekend, and left the shovel propped up against the house. That apparently was enough to get my dogs stirred up. Silly babies.

On another note, I finally put the Christmas tree up and started to decorate the house. I realized this year that almost all of my ornaments mean something, and I love that. Eventually I would like to have all our ornaments mean somthing, but these will due for now...

We only have 3 stockings right now, Jax still needs one...but I think we're off to a good start. And if you noticed, there aren't any gifts under the tree because I haven't started shopping yet. (I'm such a procrastinator) I finally our christmas cards last night, so hopefully they'll be out by the end of the week. It feel like we just got back from our honeymoon...I need a few more months until Christmas. Anyone else feel like this year flew by?

Not Me Monday!

2008-12-08T08:20:00.002-05:00

I’ve been following MckMama’s “Not Me Monday” for a while now, but this is my first post! So here goes…

This week I absolutely did NOT check my email every 5 minutes every single day until I received the link to see my wedding pictures. I am much too busy of a person to waste time doing that. That would just be obsessive…they’re fabulous by the way…

Also, I did NOT spend all of my free time on my new blog meeting great new friends this week. There is just too much housework and Christmas decorating to get done, that would have been a huge waste of time…

I would NEVER use the excuse of work to get out of attending a Christmas party, and then actually get called into work…

And I did NOT cut 6 inches off my hair that I’ve been growing for the last year and a half. I’ve worked so hard to grow it out for the wedding, I would absolutely NOT be spontaneous and cut it all off…and if I did do it, I definitely would have let Mr. Football know ahead of time…

I did NOT buy a roll of chocolate chip cookie dough at the store this week. Whenever I make cookies they are always from scratch. I then proceeded NOT to eat ¼ of the roll and bake only 4 cookies for myself. That would just be selfish…

Mr. Football and I did NOT eat out practically every night this week. I am a wife now and I always have a hot home cooked meal waiting on the table every night…

I would NOT have started my blog last Monday night because I really really wanted to participate in “Not Me Monday!” And if I did, I definitely would have gotten it done before midnight so that I could participate…

Finally, I did NOT have a huge baby itch when our friends were over Sunday night with Baby B. He is absolutely adorable and squeezable. I am much too practical and I know that we are just not ready for babies yet, and I would NOT have asked Mr. Football for just one…

What a fun post! I love reading everyone’s “Not me’s!” Read more at MckMama’s page!

And what did you NOT do this week?

an explosion!

2008-12-07T21:56:00.016-05:00

I absolutely love my friends, especially on random days like today.

This afternoon the Mr. and I had an impromtu gathering. Mr. T and Ms. Cookie stopped by first, then we invited the P family over. We were watching football and ordered dinner...pretty ordinary. The Cookie family brought over their child, a black lab/weimaraner mix named Boo to play with our children and the P family brought their sweet 3 month old baby B over. Normally these nights are a little more planned, but this works too.

Since getting engaged last year Mr. Football and I decided we needed to save money for the wedding, but we still loved hanging out with our friends. So we started having Game nights, and they became a hit. Each time we had one, we would plan on playing a different game...but we'd always end up playing Cranium Pop 5...girls against guys. Some of my best memories this past year are of us girls beating their pants off!

So after we were done eating our delicious chinese food we ordered (Mr. Football had chili-dogs because ironically enough he's not a fan of chinese food...maybe he should re-evalulate who he married) the baby started getting fussy. At first we could see what was wrong, but then on further examination...

An Explosion!

This sweet baby boy made such a mess he had to go the rest of the night dressed like this...

But he was all smiles! So being the amature photog I try to be, I had to snap some pics...

The rest of the gang played video games and blogged themselves...

Daddy P, Mr. Loves-football-more-than-life

Mr. T and Ms. Cookie

Lulu, Boo, Jax

me, Ms. Cookie, Mama P

Look how cute...Mr. Football looks pretty good with a baby...don't you think?

P.S. Jags and Browns let us down again...is football season over yet??

faithful companions

2008-12-07T05:24:00.005-05:00

So its 5 in the morning and I'm awake watching SATC, the movie and blogging. After 3+ years I'm officially a night-shift girl. I'm sleeping while Mr. Football is awake, and I'm awake while he's sleeping even when I'm not at work. I ended up getting called into work last night to go pick up a baby from another hospital that was sick. Part of my job in the NICU is being part of the transport team...which is exactly what it sounds like, we "transport" babies. We go to outlying hospitals and bring babies to our Level 3 NICU or we take babies to other hospitals when necessary. I got the call at about 11pm last night while the hubby and I were watching Hancock. The charge nurse told me that I'd be going to pick up a baby from a hospital 45 minutes away that was pretty sick. We would be going "lights and sirens" which means its pretty serious. No matter how long I do this job I always get butterflies when I go out on transport. I never know what I'm walking into or how bad it is going to be...

I ended up not getting home until 7:30 this morning so I slept ALL day. I consider the first day after I work my "lost day" because that's what it is. Sometimes I can urge myself to get up around noon but today was not one of those days. Mr. Loves-football-more-than-life is pretty good about letting me sleep, especially on football days. So I did not get to go to a Christmas party today and I did not decorate the house like I wanted...

Instead we watched football, had chili for dinner, I slept some more and now I'm still up watching movies and blogging. I've got my two faithful companions to keep me company...

...ok maybe not.

On another note, today was the first snow fall. I mean the first REAL snowfall, that stuck and everything. Theres about an inch or so, and its beautiful. I love the first snow fall of the year, especially when I dont have to be out in it. Im looking forward to snowboarding and sledding, making snowmen, and Mr. Football's birthday!

What are you looking forward to this winter?

my very first...

2008-12-07T02:03:00.006-05:00

Looks like I've been tagged by Ashley at Polka Dots and Paisley!

The rules:

1. Link to the person that tagged you

2. Post the rules on your blog

3. Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself

4. Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs

5. Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.

6. Let your tagger know when your entry is up.

And here they are! My 6 random things/quirks:

1. I absolutely hate going through the mail...well sort of. I thoroughly enjoy getting mail, in fact I race Mr. Football to get it everyday. But once I sort through it and pull out all of the fun stuff, I dread going through the rest. So my system is I leave "piles" of mail through out the house, organized "piles". I know exactly what is in each pile, I just choose not to deal with them until 1 day a month when I do all of it. Its tedious and time consuming but I just can't bring myself to do it any other way...

2. I have an obsession with cookie dough. I can eat cookie dough everyday, all day. Its bad for you and full of terrible calories but I LOVE it. I'm sure this isn't a random quirk because lots of people love cookie dough...but my best friend is also named Cookie. (well her nickname)

3. I have a chronic raspy voice. More often than not I get asked if I have a cold, which is terrible when you work with premature babies...but I don't. I had vocal cord nodules when I was 15 and had laser surgery to remove them...which has left me with a raspy voice. I used to hate hate hate it and I didn't really like to hear my own voice, but I think it's just me now.

4. I planned my entire wedding myself...I'm sure I'm one of millions who have done this. But I mean EVERYTHING. I made all of my save the dates, invitations, programs. I made the centerpieces, all of the decorations, and picked all of the music. I picked bridesmaid dresses (2 to be exact), the photographer, and designed my cake. I spent hours and hours on tedious details, and on the weekend of my wedding, when everything didn't go as planned (of course), I said "oh well".

5. My dog Lulu came from my mother in law. The first time Mr. Football and I went to meet his parents, his mother gave me a dog. She has a pug and his dad has a hunting beagle. They randomly "hooked up" one day and along came 6 puppies. They obviously had no desire to keep 8 dogs so they started giving them away. After some research she realized her pug/beagle mix, a "Puggle" to be exact, was worth a lot of money. So when Mr. Football and I went out for the holidays she gave me one as a present. I had recieved a $500 puppy as my first gift from my future mother in law.

my first child:

6. I'm a blog stalker. I love reading other people's blogs. I don't know who they are or anything about them but I get sucked up in their lives. It started when I randomly found Mckmama's blog one night and read about sweet baby Stellan and I was obsessed. I wanted to know how he would do and if he'd survive (if you don't know his story, you should check out her blog)...so much so that even on my honeymoon I paid $2.50 for 15 minutes of internet to read about his birth. Are there any other blog stalkers out there?

And here are my 6 chosen ladies..have fun!

Losing weight with Cookies

Learning to be a Wife

Leaving and Loving on a Jet Plane

Never Apart In Heart

Lovely Yellow Ribbons

The Crazy Life of a Navy Wife

Thanks Ashley for my first Tag! It was fun!

They're fabulous

2008-12-05T08:03:00.005-05:00

so just a quick post because I'm going to bed...and waking up in 4 very short hours for a hair appointment. It takes work to be beautiful as you know. :P so here is a sneak peak!

Huge Huge Huge Thanks to Jeff at Making the Moment Photography. I can't wait to receive my storybooks!

getting very impatient

2008-12-03T23:32:00.003-05:00

...so what are the chances that my Username and Password for the photography site will magically appear in my inbox at midnight??

apparently Tuesday night is grumpy night...

2008-12-02T17:22:00.007-05:00

So I'm getting ready to leave for work tonight, and don't get me wrong...I completely LOVE my job. I love the fact that I'm able to have a part in the tiniest babies lives...but I've worked every other night now for about 2 weeks and its catching up with me. Normally I try to group my days together so that I have some time in between to be "normal" (whatever that means...) again but due to the holidays and people being on vacation I'm feeling pretty grumpy.

Oh well...what's another 12 hours...

Things I'm looking forward too...

-MY WEDDING PICTURES on Thursday (Yay!)

-Hair appointment on Friday (I think I've been waiting all year for a new do, I'm tired of just getting "trims" before the wedding)

-And this GREAT raffle-way prize package from McMama! I'm pretty much a beginner when it comes to photography but even I know that this is an awesome package. Check out her blog for all the rules and complete details!

...but here is some of the stuff included

and there's more stuff too! It is for a really great cause and it's an amazing prize package so check it out.

Mr. loves-football-more-than-life just came home with Taco Bell...maybe I'm not so grumpy afterall!

Have a good night!

...Imagine that

2008-12-02T03:13:00.000-05:00

...so Jacksonville lost...we're shocked...not really. Sports haven't been going so well for Mr. loves-football-more-than-life. But he's still a supporter...

...he figured since he couldn't find his jersey, he'd wear every hat he had. Gotta love him.

Typical Monday...

2008-12-01T20:12:00.000-05:00

Here we all sit, Mr. loves-football-more-than-life in his "man chair" and me, Mrs. not-so-domesticated on the single person couch with Lulu and Jax on top of me. Its a typical Monday-nite...Football is on, of course....Its after 8 and we've actually eaten dinner for once...and I'm on the computer. Why do these dogs always have to crowd me? I have no clue...but It's pretty ordinary these days. I'm not sure what I'd do if there weren't an extra 70 lbs attached to my side, on my legs, on my chest, on my head...where ever they choose to lay at the moment. We've "officially" been married 6 weeks now, and I think we're doing pretty well. The wedding craziness has finally subsided and we're pretty much back to our regular lives...and its a pretty good feeling...

Jacksonville plays the Houston Texan's tonight...we'll see how it ends, but I'm pretty sure the Jag's will continue to let us down as usual. Maybe they'll surprise us...

Our professional wedding pictures should be posted by the end of the week, and I can't wait. I'm nervous to see them...either I'll love them or despise them. Either way I have to keep reminding myself that we had a wonderful day and that nothing will change that...even terrible pictures.

The game is about to start and Mr. loves-football-more-than-life is getting rowdy. He's singing the Monday Nite Football song and antagonizing the dogs...this really is a typical Monday...