ok, so you know how they say moms have super-human strength when their babies are in danger? well, it is definitely true.
this morning, i packed tess up in the car and headed out to get the new scotty cd (which is AMAZING), and the whole way back she was fussing and whining and just like... moaning, and i knew it was because naptime was coming up, and she's fighting off a cold (and losing), so i was trying to be understanding, but it was realllllly draining to hear that for 15 mins straight.
so we got home and pulled into the driveway, and one of the songs was coming to a close, so i decided to leave the music playing while i got her out of her carseat. i had been distracted because of the droning on and was thinking about the great weather, the great cd, and how we were finally home so tess could take a great nap. i opened the door and got out, and started walking around the back of the car to get to the passenger's side to let tess out -- and then realized that the van was moving.
and it was rolling straight towards the house. shit! talk about panic! not only is the car NOT supposed to be moving, but it's definitely not supposed to be traveling into the side of the house -- with my daughter in it!
so many things were running through my head. how did this happen? did i forget to put it in park? i always put the emergency break on, did i forget? oh no, it's about to hit the driveway light! wait, it's about to hit the house! wait, tess is going to die!!! and why hadn't i already opened the passenger door with the electronic button like i usually do? i could just grab her out if i had... and on and on and on. but these thoughts all ran through my head in the course of less than a second because before i knew it, i was running to the front of the van and pushing on it trying to get it to stop.
oh dear, i said to myself, this thing is heavier than i thought! ...which didn't make any sense, because of course it's heavy, IT'S A MINIVAN -- made of steel, with my child inside! shit!
so i pushed harder. and in another second, the rolling stopped. great! now what?! the thoughts started streaming through my brain again, if i let go, it'll keep rolling. if the car is off, will the break still work? how fast do i have to run and grab the door and jump in before it runs over the driveway light and starts barreling into the house?! i know, i'll push it uphill away from the house and THEN run! so i did.
i pushed the van, with a curb weight of 4,255 lbs, from the standstill that i was holding it at, backwards a foot or two and then sprinted around the side, grabbed the door, flung it open, and smashed my foot into the brake pedal, stopping the car. and then i hear tess laughing.
apparently, mommy freaking out and running around the van, pushing on it, and sprinting and jumping into it like a madwoman on fire is hilarious. glad i could make ya smile, kid! and also, you can call me supermom.
Showing posts with label everyday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label everyday. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Friday, August 12, 2011
livin' in the country
today was pretty cool. tess and i went on an adventure around our little town to find fresh food! we went to the local produce stand (L&G farms) as the first stop to get some fresh fruits (a carton of 6 peaches for $2.50!), veggis, and eggs! they also have a nursery, so i inquired about fig trees. we've been hoping to plant fruit trees at the house since we moved in, and i decided that if they had them i was going to just buy one today! ...but they didn't, and they didn't have figs either, but (and this is how you know i live in the country) the 92 year old lady they sometimes buy figs from lived right down the road!
so after the produce stand guy called "ms ruby", he gave me directions to her house - and this is really what he said - just go down this road here, past the middle school, down and up a hill, and it's the first brick house on the right, there's a single-wide across the street. i mean really, how awesome is that?! so i went down the road and found ms ruby standing in the driveway with rollers still in her gray hair, and i bought 6 lbs of figs! i was hoping for 1-2 lbs, but when she asked me if i wanted 15 or 10, and told me it supplemented her income, i couldn't help myself. luckily, i know my dad will love the extras, and once you get them home, 6 lbs of figs isn't all that much. the best part? they were only $2/lb, so i only spent $12 on a massive bag of figs. try getting that deal at a fancy schmancy farmer's market for some "organic local produce".
then we went to lowe's foods (pretty much the fanciest grocery store in a 30 mi. radius) and picked up the rest of the necessities. so for dinner, tess and i prepared a feast for daddy! we made spicy bbq'd country ribs, homestyle green beans (from the stand, cooked in chicken stock i made a few weeks ago), wild mushroom rice pilaf, and la piece de resistance, fresh scratch-made peach pie! i made this thing completely on my own (with help from tess), from peeling the peaches to making and rolling out the pie dough! and since it turned out AWESOME, i'm going to give you all the recipes!
the crust:
Ingredients
* 1 cup unsalted butter, chilled
* 3 cups all-purpose flour
* 3 tablespoons white sugar
* 1/3 cup ice water
Directions
1. Combine flour and sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer. Cut butter or margarine or butter and shortening into tablespoon pieces; add it to the flour and butter (i used plain, unsalted butter). Use the paddle beater to cut the butter and flour together. Alternatively, this can be done by hand with a pastry blender.
2. With the mixer on low speed , or while stirring the mixture with a fork, pour in the cold water. When the dough starts to clump, and before it turns into a ball, stop stirring (i had to use a little more than 1/3 cup to get to the right consistency).
3. Lightly knead dough in the bowl until it forms a ball. Divide dough into two parts. Flatten each part into a disk, and chill for about 30 minutes before rolling.
the pie:
Ingredients
* 1 (15 ounce) package pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie *just use the recipe above!*
* 1 egg, beaten
* 5 cups sliced peeled peaches (6 medium sized peaches worked just fine)
* 2 tablespoons lemon juice
* 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
* 1 cup white sugar
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 2 tablespoons butter
Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F (220 degrees C).
2. Line the bottom and sides of a 9 inch pie plate with one of the pie crusts. Brush with some of the beaten egg to keep the dough from becoming soggy later.
3. Place the sliced peaches in a large bowl, and sprinkle with lemon juice. Mix gently. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Pour over the peaches, and mix gently. Pour into the pie crust, and dot with butter. Cover with the other pie crust, and fold the edges under. Flute the edges to seal or press the edges with the tines of a fork dipped in egg. Brush the remaining egg over the top crust. Cut several slits in the top crust to vent steam.
4. Bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven, then reduce the heat to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and bake for an additional 30 to 35 minutes, until the crust is brown and the juice begins to bubble through the vents. If the edges brown to fast, cover them with strips of aluminum foil about halfway through baking. Cool before serving. This tastes better warm than hot.
the crust tastes like a flaky shortbread cookie, and according to the hubby, the filling is PERFECT. the only modifications i made to the recipes were using a homemade crust (rather than a storebought as the pie recipe recommends), making sure all the ingredients were fresh (including lemon juice from a real lemon), baking for 10 mins at 450 and then 40 mins at 350 (instead of 30-35), and when i peeled one of the peaches, it was definitely not ripe at all, so i cut very thin slices and let them sit in sugar for awhile before incorporating them into the rest of the peach mixture.
let me know if you try the recipe! happy eating, and enjoy exploring your local foods!
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
play-dough!
as usual, life is crazy! but here's a quick recipe for play-dough that tess and i made this morning:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Easy-Affordable-Play-Dough/
we had a lot of fun, and i liked the fact that i knew exactly what was in there in case she tried to eat it. she actually did lick her fingers once but promptly stopped and made a face to tell me how gross it was - i think due to all the salt. hah! it was really funny.
i did get pictures, but they're on my phone cause i couldn't find the camera, and the bluetooth is broken on our computer, so it may be awhile before i get them on here!
in unrelated news, tess will be starting tues/thurs at bright horizons, and i'll be working those days (in addition to my regular schedule) at oberlin. hopefully it'll all go well! my cherokee mission trip is next weekend, and the 4h camp is at the end of the month, so i'm going to be a busy girl!
aaaanyway, try the play-dough and let me know if you like it or have another recipe you like better!
http://www.instructables.com/id/Easy-Affordable-Play-Dough/
we had a lot of fun, and i liked the fact that i knew exactly what was in there in case she tried to eat it. she actually did lick her fingers once but promptly stopped and made a face to tell me how gross it was - i think due to all the salt. hah! it was really funny.
i did get pictures, but they're on my phone cause i couldn't find the camera, and the bluetooth is broken on our computer, so it may be awhile before i get them on here!
in unrelated news, tess will be starting tues/thurs at bright horizons, and i'll be working those days (in addition to my regular schedule) at oberlin. hopefully it'll all go well! my cherokee mission trip is next weekend, and the 4h camp is at the end of the month, so i'm going to be a busy girl!
aaaanyway, try the play-dough and let me know if you like it or have another recipe you like better!
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
so, i'm a little behind in the updates...
holy moly, what a whirlwind these few weeks have been! let's see... where to begin...
ok well 8 weeks of puppies turned into lots of visits to the vet, an emergency visit that had us weaning the puppies at 3 weeks, puppies living with me without their mama for 1 week, then puppies moving on to another foster and mama coming back to me until she is adopted! oyoyoyoyoy! meanwhile, andrew, tess and i took our first family vacation all together alone (without grandmas involved) and had a great time, tess has turned 13 months (why do moms count in months?! why am i succumbing to the trend?!), my work schedule is changing, i'm interviewing for another part-time job, we're looking into part-time daycares, there were tornadoes tearing through the state, i fell down concrete stairs and nearly broke my ankle, tess got her first cold (and passed it on to us), we went to several museums and even joined one, OH! and my house looks like laundry, dishes, trash, and baby toys EXPLODED in and around it! sheesh! mayhaps this is why i haven't blogged? on the other hand, sure would have made some fantastic material to read about... oh well.
would you like some details about our many events? here goes!
ok so the adorable puppies:
continued growing and doing well, being adorable and sweet, and growing like CRAZY! poor iris was taking such good care of her 10 little ones and trying to heal up her sad body. our friend liz was generous enough to watch the whole gang (including our two crazies) while we went out of town for a long weekend to boone!
we took tons of pictures, which you can see in my facebook album, and had a blast! we drove up late thursday night in hopes that tess would sleep through the drive. we got a later start than we'd planned, and instead of leaving at 8 or 9, we left at about 10:30, which meant we didn't get in to boone until about 2am. luckily, we'd planned to stay in a hotel room that night, so the late arrival time wasn't a big deal for our accommodations... unluckily, that was where our "planning" ceased to work anymore. tess slept for a good hour into the drive before waking up and deciding she was going to stay awake FOR THE REST OF THE DRIVE. she was so out of it and so exhausted that she just sat there staring in front of her like a zombie and occasionally whimpering pathetically but refusing to sleep. it was so sad! then, about 45 mins from boone, she decided she was no longer ok, and we had to put the elmo movie on for the rest of the ride. also, andrew - not being much of the night owl, was about to fall asleep and run us off the road, so my swollen, bruised, nearly broken ankle and i had to drive almost the entire way.
so we got in around 2 and got to sleep around 3am. here's a picture of tess from the next morning:
such a tired baby!
but the rest of the weekend was wonderful! i hobbled around, we swam in the hotel pool, we ate at great places, we hung out with old friends like the newells (who were generous enough to welcome us into their home for the rest of the weekend) and crystal, sue treated us to a birthday celebration with newer friends like andy, kelley, and lucas, we explored king st, drove around our old haunts, and on the last day, took a trip up grandfather mountain!
when we got back home, we had to settle back into real life - boo! and we hadn't been doing that for long before we went out andrew's theater picnic and returned to find iris looking literally like death. andrew called me out because i was propping my ankle up, and he'd gone to take her for the last walk of the night, and he said, "i think she had diarrhea" - so i got off the couch and went out to check on her, only to find her crashing. she had no eyes because her body had had an inflammatory response and made her 3rd eyelids turn red and puff up to cover her eyes. when i peeled those back, her eyeballs were bloodshot and she couldn't really see. her gums were white and tacky, and there was diarrhea everywhere in her whelping box. i freaked out and called the vet and took her in (in my pj's because it was 10:30 by the time we left) as fast as i could drive. we got her all set up with catheters in and bloodwork running, fluids, plasma, and antibiotics going, x-rays and ultrasounds done, and basically if we had gone to bed earlier that night, she would have been dead by the morning. her overwhelmed body had gone into septic shock possibly from her worm infestation (which we hadn't been able to get rid of due to the puppies also being infested), a mastitis we found developing that night, or possibly other things - we didn't really know what caused it, but we treated it. unfortunately, that meant the puppies had to be weaned - which caused the mastitis to get worse, and eventually lead to 3 of he breasts having to be removed. the puppies stayed with us for a week while waiting on an spca foster who is more used to taking care of orphaned puppies, and iris was returned to us.
the whole experience was a harrowing and exhausting tornado of stress. and on top of that, then raleigh and the surrounding areas were hit by... tornadoes.
i was actually working the whole time the storm was going through, and the crazy people at work kept coming in to while the storm was going on! during the minutes that the worst of the storm was passing right through, past work, and we'd gotten the call to "go to a safe place" this crazy lady came in and insisted we trim her cat's nails - WHILE THE TORNADOES WERE PASSING WORK! what is wrong with people!? i cannot understand people sometimes, but we did it. ridiculous. anyway, work was unscathed, as was our house, and everyone in our family, so we were very blessed to be spared minus a few branches and one of our walkway lights.
and speaking of work - i tried to get more hours recently and was basically told that there were enough people working and they didn't have hours for me (even though the doctors and my coworkers were all in favor of me working full time again), so i gave up for awhile and just figured it wasn't time to work more. however, i browsed the local listings and found that a nearby mobile vet was hiring a surgery tech position for tuesdays and thursdays. i got in touch with them and was set up to meet with them, when they stopped responding. i took that as a sign to pursue other things and let it go. recently, however, they contacted me again to tell me that the person they'd hired was pregnant and they needed to re-hire the position. so, while i'm a bit put off by their flakiness, they are nearby, seem nice, the job is appealing and part time, and i'm going to go in to interview with them tomorrow morning. i'm excited byt going to be very selective to ensure it's a move i want to make. i'd continue working at oberlin as i am, but i'd work there as well.
that led us to resume our search for a good, affordable daycare for tess. i still really want her to be at bright horizons, as they've impressed me like no other place has, but they are not only expensive, but also apparently impress everyone else because they ALWAYS have a waiting list. so we bit the bullet and put her on the waiting list there and have looked around at other, closer, cheaper places. the problem with places around here is that they're cheap but... you get what you pay for :-/ meaning they aren't as clean or interactive as i'd like, they know nothing about organic or even homemade food, and the idea of cloth diapers is completely alien to them. however, we may put her in one short-term while we wait for an opening (potentially september) at bright horizons.
soooooo, that's the long of the short of our april whirlwind world, and i hope to be more regular about updating during may!
ok well 8 weeks of puppies turned into lots of visits to the vet, an emergency visit that had us weaning the puppies at 3 weeks, puppies living with me without their mama for 1 week, then puppies moving on to another foster and mama coming back to me until she is adopted! oyoyoyoyoy! meanwhile, andrew, tess and i took our first family vacation all together alone (without grandmas involved) and had a great time, tess has turned 13 months (why do moms count in months?! why am i succumbing to the trend?!), my work schedule is changing, i'm interviewing for another part-time job, we're looking into part-time daycares, there were tornadoes tearing through the state, i fell down concrete stairs and nearly broke my ankle, tess got her first cold (and passed it on to us), we went to several museums and even joined one, OH! and my house looks like laundry, dishes, trash, and baby toys EXPLODED in and around it! sheesh! mayhaps this is why i haven't blogged? on the other hand, sure would have made some fantastic material to read about... oh well.
would you like some details about our many events? here goes!
ok so the adorable puppies:
continued growing and doing well, being adorable and sweet, and growing like CRAZY! poor iris was taking such good care of her 10 little ones and trying to heal up her sad body. our friend liz was generous enough to watch the whole gang (including our two crazies) while we went out of town for a long weekend to boone!
we took tons of pictures, which you can see in my facebook album, and had a blast! we drove up late thursday night in hopes that tess would sleep through the drive. we got a later start than we'd planned, and instead of leaving at 8 or 9, we left at about 10:30, which meant we didn't get in to boone until about 2am. luckily, we'd planned to stay in a hotel room that night, so the late arrival time wasn't a big deal for our accommodations... unluckily, that was where our "planning" ceased to work anymore. tess slept for a good hour into the drive before waking up and deciding she was going to stay awake FOR THE REST OF THE DRIVE. she was so out of it and so exhausted that she just sat there staring in front of her like a zombie and occasionally whimpering pathetically but refusing to sleep. it was so sad! then, about 45 mins from boone, she decided she was no longer ok, and we had to put the elmo movie on for the rest of the ride. also, andrew - not being much of the night owl, was about to fall asleep and run us off the road, so my swollen, bruised, nearly broken ankle and i had to drive almost the entire way.
so we got in around 2 and got to sleep around 3am. here's a picture of tess from the next morning:
such a tired baby!
but the rest of the weekend was wonderful! i hobbled around, we swam in the hotel pool, we ate at great places, we hung out with old friends like the newells (who were generous enough to welcome us into their home for the rest of the weekend) and crystal, sue treated us to a birthday celebration with newer friends like andy, kelley, and lucas, we explored king st, drove around our old haunts, and on the last day, took a trip up grandfather mountain!
when we got back home, we had to settle back into real life - boo! and we hadn't been doing that for long before we went out andrew's theater picnic and returned to find iris looking literally like death. andrew called me out because i was propping my ankle up, and he'd gone to take her for the last walk of the night, and he said, "i think she had diarrhea" - so i got off the couch and went out to check on her, only to find her crashing. she had no eyes because her body had had an inflammatory response and made her 3rd eyelids turn red and puff up to cover her eyes. when i peeled those back, her eyeballs were bloodshot and she couldn't really see. her gums were white and tacky, and there was diarrhea everywhere in her whelping box. i freaked out and called the vet and took her in (in my pj's because it was 10:30 by the time we left) as fast as i could drive. we got her all set up with catheters in and bloodwork running, fluids, plasma, and antibiotics going, x-rays and ultrasounds done, and basically if we had gone to bed earlier that night, she would have been dead by the morning. her overwhelmed body had gone into septic shock possibly from her worm infestation (which we hadn't been able to get rid of due to the puppies also being infested), a mastitis we found developing that night, or possibly other things - we didn't really know what caused it, but we treated it. unfortunately, that meant the puppies had to be weaned - which caused the mastitis to get worse, and eventually lead to 3 of he breasts having to be removed. the puppies stayed with us for a week while waiting on an spca foster who is more used to taking care of orphaned puppies, and iris was returned to us.
the whole experience was a harrowing and exhausting tornado of stress. and on top of that, then raleigh and the surrounding areas were hit by... tornadoes.
i was actually working the whole time the storm was going through, and the crazy people at work kept coming in to while the storm was going on! during the minutes that the worst of the storm was passing right through, past work, and we'd gotten the call to "go to a safe place" this crazy lady came in and insisted we trim her cat's nails - WHILE THE TORNADOES WERE PASSING WORK! what is wrong with people!? i cannot understand people sometimes, but we did it. ridiculous. anyway, work was unscathed, as was our house, and everyone in our family, so we were very blessed to be spared minus a few branches and one of our walkway lights.
and speaking of work - i tried to get more hours recently and was basically told that there were enough people working and they didn't have hours for me (even though the doctors and my coworkers were all in favor of me working full time again), so i gave up for awhile and just figured it wasn't time to work more. however, i browsed the local listings and found that a nearby mobile vet was hiring a surgery tech position for tuesdays and thursdays. i got in touch with them and was set up to meet with them, when they stopped responding. i took that as a sign to pursue other things and let it go. recently, however, they contacted me again to tell me that the person they'd hired was pregnant and they needed to re-hire the position. so, while i'm a bit put off by their flakiness, they are nearby, seem nice, the job is appealing and part time, and i'm going to go in to interview with them tomorrow morning. i'm excited byt going to be very selective to ensure it's a move i want to make. i'd continue working at oberlin as i am, but i'd work there as well.
that led us to resume our search for a good, affordable daycare for tess. i still really want her to be at bright horizons, as they've impressed me like no other place has, but they are not only expensive, but also apparently impress everyone else because they ALWAYS have a waiting list. so we bit the bullet and put her on the waiting list there and have looked around at other, closer, cheaper places. the problem with places around here is that they're cheap but... you get what you pay for :-/ meaning they aren't as clean or interactive as i'd like, they know nothing about organic or even homemade food, and the idea of cloth diapers is completely alien to them. however, we may put her in one short-term while we wait for an opening (potentially september) at bright horizons.
soooooo, that's the long of the short of our april whirlwind world, and i hope to be more regular about updating during may!
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
chomp, chomp, chomp!
we have teeth!
one day last week, i'm trying to remember which day, i looked into tess's mouth and saw more than just bumps beneath the gumline, i was pretty sure i saw teeth! but, i put my finger in there and didn't feel them, so i was a little confused. i know the gums become rather transparent when babies are close to getting their teeth, but i was sure this was more than just transparent. it wasn't until later that day, when tess had begged to drink from my glass, that i heard the "tink tink tink" of her little baby tooth on my glass - i was right! there was a tooth in there!
it was really hard to see until today though. this afternoon, as we were having our lunch of spaghetti noodles with alfredo sauce, when i got a really clear view of one tooth clearly above the surface (lower right incisor) and its pair (lower left incisor) just barely under the surface! dr. mann said that when she started getting teeth she'd get them all at once, and i guess he's right! we've started a new song when she's eating - i go "chomp, chomp, CHOOOOMP!" while i make my fingers look like a chewing mouth that chomps its way to her and tickles her neck. she LOVES it!
tess is learning what these new teeth thingamajiggers can do, and today, as she was gnawing away at her teething cookie, she began scraping it across her teeth, looking quizzically at me as if to ask what was going on and why the cookie was scraping off into her mouth instead of just gliding over her gums as it had before. then, the most interesting thing happened when she bit down, and the cookie broke! she was excited for sure! teeth are quite remarkable to one who's gone almost a year without them!
as i type this, she is enthralled with her one and only tv show, the dvd of "baby's first noises" by the baby einstein company. you have no idea how thankful i am for them! it is really the only thing on tv that interests her (which i take as a positive thing, so she's not glued to it any time it's on), but she enjoys watching it each afternoon with her teething cookie and apple juice, and it gives mommy some much needed mental break time (since my sweet angel DOES NOT SLEEP during the day, and so i rarely get a break then)!
i would post an adorable picture of her chomping away at that cookie or sucking down her noodles or even of the inside of her sweet little mouth - but i can't find my camera!!! i am so bummed! all these milestones and nothing to show for it :-(
one day last week, i'm trying to remember which day, i looked into tess's mouth and saw more than just bumps beneath the gumline, i was pretty sure i saw teeth! but, i put my finger in there and didn't feel them, so i was a little confused. i know the gums become rather transparent when babies are close to getting their teeth, but i was sure this was more than just transparent. it wasn't until later that day, when tess had begged to drink from my glass, that i heard the "tink tink tink" of her little baby tooth on my glass - i was right! there was a tooth in there!
it was really hard to see until today though. this afternoon, as we were having our lunch of spaghetti noodles with alfredo sauce, when i got a really clear view of one tooth clearly above the surface (lower right incisor) and its pair (lower left incisor) just barely under the surface! dr. mann said that when she started getting teeth she'd get them all at once, and i guess he's right! we've started a new song when she's eating - i go "chomp, chomp, CHOOOOMP!" while i make my fingers look like a chewing mouth that chomps its way to her and tickles her neck. she LOVES it!
tess is learning what these new teeth thingamajiggers can do, and today, as she was gnawing away at her teething cookie, she began scraping it across her teeth, looking quizzically at me as if to ask what was going on and why the cookie was scraping off into her mouth instead of just gliding over her gums as it had before. then, the most interesting thing happened when she bit down, and the cookie broke! she was excited for sure! teeth are quite remarkable to one who's gone almost a year without them!
as i type this, she is enthralled with her one and only tv show, the dvd of "baby's first noises" by the baby einstein company. you have no idea how thankful i am for them! it is really the only thing on tv that interests her (which i take as a positive thing, so she's not glued to it any time it's on), but she enjoys watching it each afternoon with her teething cookie and apple juice, and it gives mommy some much needed mental break time (since my sweet angel DOES NOT SLEEP during the day, and so i rarely get a break then)!
i would post an adorable picture of her chomping away at that cookie or sucking down her noodles or even of the inside of her sweet little mouth - but i can't find my camera!!! i am so bummed! all these milestones and nothing to show for it :-(
Friday, November 5, 2010
turtle funnies!
ok two funny tess stories, really quick (like if i twittered, i believe these might be tweets).
last night, tess woke up several times during the night. the last time, it was about 7 am. she usually sleeps till 8 or 8:30, and i was exhausted, so i was going to let daddy handle this one, when the crying girl - who hasn't said any words AT ALL in like two months (i even double checked with the doctor the other day to make sure it wasn't a problem) - says, "aaahhhmaaaahh!" i turned to andrew incredulously, "did she just say mama?" he said it sounded kinda like it, and then, like clockwork, she says, "MAAAMAAAAAAA!" CLEAR AS DAY. no doubt about it. andrew laughed and said, "yep, that was definitely mama." HOORAYYYY! and also... crap! how can you let daddy take this one when she calls your name?? it was mama duty again. at least she's adorable :-)
second funny - this morning, i had gotten in the shower (since andrew was still home, and i don't know when i last showered! eep!), and i encouraged andrew to try setting tess on the potty when they got out of bed. well, he begrudgingly brought her in and set her on the little potty. no pee. he encouraged, i encouraged from the shower, and he gave up and picked her up. i looked out from behind the shower curtain just in time to see a 3 inch poo hanging off her bum, and andrew about to stick his arm in it! "THERE'S POOP HANGING OFF HER BUTT!" i nearly shouted. andrew had her back on that potty so fast, and we were all laughing and shocked. poor tess looked a little scared, so i hope we didn't scare her from using the toilet, but holy poo! poop in the potty?! at 7 months?! my child is a prodigy. hehehe :-) i know she isn't *really* potty trained, but seriously, how cool is that??
and yes, i took a picture, but no, i won't be posting it... unless you want it!
last night, tess woke up several times during the night. the last time, it was about 7 am. she usually sleeps till 8 or 8:30, and i was exhausted, so i was going to let daddy handle this one, when the crying girl - who hasn't said any words AT ALL in like two months (i even double checked with the doctor the other day to make sure it wasn't a problem) - says, "aaahhhmaaaahh!" i turned to andrew incredulously, "did she just say mama?" he said it sounded kinda like it, and then, like clockwork, she says, "MAAAMAAAAAAA!" CLEAR AS DAY. no doubt about it. andrew laughed and said, "yep, that was definitely mama." HOORAYYYY! and also... crap! how can you let daddy take this one when she calls your name?? it was mama duty again. at least she's adorable :-)
second funny - this morning, i had gotten in the shower (since andrew was still home, and i don't know when i last showered! eep!), and i encouraged andrew to try setting tess on the potty when they got out of bed. well, he begrudgingly brought her in and set her on the little potty. no pee. he encouraged, i encouraged from the shower, and he gave up and picked her up. i looked out from behind the shower curtain just in time to see a 3 inch poo hanging off her bum, and andrew about to stick his arm in it! "THERE'S POOP HANGING OFF HER BUTT!" i nearly shouted. andrew had her back on that potty so fast, and we were all laughing and shocked. poor tess looked a little scared, so i hope we didn't scare her from using the toilet, but holy poo! poop in the potty?! at 7 months?! my child is a prodigy. hehehe :-) i know she isn't *really* potty trained, but seriously, how cool is that??
and yes, i took a picture, but no, i won't be posting it... unless you want it!
Friday, October 29, 2010
what a waste of a day!
our day started off ok, but tess the turtle was a little cranky for the second day in a row. this morning, she got really mad at the wooden spoon, i can only assume, because it would not do what she wanted it to in regards to her teething. she would put it up to her mouth, stop, and throw a tantrum. like full on, legs kicking, face red, spoon-throwing, screamingfacebeforenoisecomesout tantrum. then she would pick it up and start the cycle again. needless to say, i took it away and gave her some tylenol. it seemed to work ok, but she remained a bit on the fussy side all day.
so we decided to venture out, so that we could explore more than mommy's cooking utensils. we drove into raleigh to visit dad, but he was busy working, and tess had fallen asleep in the car, so we drove to the horse complex to watch the show there, buuuuut they were the crazy horses (saddlebreds, morgans, and roadster show) - nothing wrong with them, just not my cup of tea, so i continued driving. i decided that since it was 3:30 i'd just venture towards durham and find something out there to do for an hour or so before rush hour.
however, right when i made it to the point of no return - aka harrison ave - i saw that 40 east was a parking lot already. not to be daunted, i exited onto harrison with plans to cut through to chapel hill road and come in the back door, so to speak, of raleigh. i was ignoring the fact that i have never EVER successfully navigated cary on my own... and i still never have. as i was confidently trailblazing through the concentrated area of relocated yankees, i got a call from jennifer inviting me to her house. excellent. now i had plans! if only i could FIND HER HOUSE...
so i did actually find chapel hill road, and we deduced that i should turn right. wrong. i should have turned left. by the time i realized this, i was well into morrisville and on my way to apex. so, i thought, i will drive through apex to fuquay, and on to jennifers! no worries! of course now tess was waking up and fussing.
and somehow, i brilliantly missed wherever it was that 54 ran into 55 in apex, and i passed 540, and i blazed right on into durham. oh for the love. never fear, i said to myself. at least i know durham. and i do. of course it's all i can do to keep tess from flat out wailing at this point, but we made it safely to southpoint before a complete meltdown of either mommy or baby. yahoo! the day is saved! not.
so then i called andrew and texted jennifer and let them know the plan. i would just stay put, safely in durham. does that sound ironic? not if you grew up there, like i did. i wear neutral gang colors. anyway, andrew said he'd get off work early, a little before 5, and meet me at the rockfish. yum! so around 5, i went to the rockfish, got a table outside in the sun, sat with my daughter, got a side salad, and waited. and waited. and waited. and... you get the picture. i waited for andrew, and as i did so, i ate my salad, being careful to pick out the sticker that had fallen off of the avocado and on to a piece of lettuce. there was no avocado in my salad. then i waited for the waiter to come back. he never did. so i went inside and asked the bartender to send him out sometime. by this point, andrew had called to tell me that now HE was stuck in traffic. great. so when my fantastic waiter returned, i ordered dessert. bread pudding, to be exact, to eat while i was waiting on andrew to get in. and i waited for 20 mins. i believe they were actually waiting on the yeast to rise to make the bread, to let it get stale, to make the pudding. i was actually getting my stuff together and tess in the stroller and about to drop cash on the table and just leave, when the waiter returned with my dessert. i told him that i wasn't going to be able to eat it and was having a hard time getting service. he left with the promise of the bill. but what returned was the manager, who comped everything (a $6 total), and boxed my bread pudding. andrew had called again at this point to let me know he was still stuck, due to a vehicle fire on the side of the road, and would be in town... sometime.
SO at least, i thought, i can just take the quick 5 minute drive to my parents' house. i would take the back roads to avoid the disaster that was 40, and be done with this fiasco in no time. wrong again. i spent 10 mins just waiting for people, who also took my "shortcut" to turn left at a stop sign. 27 cars, 12 mins, and much crying (from the turtle) later, i made it safely into my parents' neighborhood.
to wrap the story up, andrew and i got into one car, left my parents' house around 8, stopped for take out, made it home by around 9:30, and watched grey's anatomy on hulu. it didn't end so bad, but holy moly what a day. i swear i probably wasted 15 gallons of gas driving nowhere and doing nothing! yeesh!
so we decided to venture out, so that we could explore more than mommy's cooking utensils. we drove into raleigh to visit dad, but he was busy working, and tess had fallen asleep in the car, so we drove to the horse complex to watch the show there, buuuuut they were the crazy horses (saddlebreds, morgans, and roadster show) - nothing wrong with them, just not my cup of tea, so i continued driving. i decided that since it was 3:30 i'd just venture towards durham and find something out there to do for an hour or so before rush hour.
however, right when i made it to the point of no return - aka harrison ave - i saw that 40 east was a parking lot already. not to be daunted, i exited onto harrison with plans to cut through to chapel hill road and come in the back door, so to speak, of raleigh. i was ignoring the fact that i have never EVER successfully navigated cary on my own... and i still never have. as i was confidently trailblazing through the concentrated area of relocated yankees, i got a call from jennifer inviting me to her house. excellent. now i had plans! if only i could FIND HER HOUSE...
so i did actually find chapel hill road, and we deduced that i should turn right. wrong. i should have turned left. by the time i realized this, i was well into morrisville and on my way to apex. so, i thought, i will drive through apex to fuquay, and on to jennifers! no worries! of course now tess was waking up and fussing.
and somehow, i brilliantly missed wherever it was that 54 ran into 55 in apex, and i passed 540, and i blazed right on into durham. oh for the love. never fear, i said to myself. at least i know durham. and i do. of course it's all i can do to keep tess from flat out wailing at this point, but we made it safely to southpoint before a complete meltdown of either mommy or baby. yahoo! the day is saved! not.
so then i called andrew and texted jennifer and let them know the plan. i would just stay put, safely in durham. does that sound ironic? not if you grew up there, like i did. i wear neutral gang colors. anyway, andrew said he'd get off work early, a little before 5, and meet me at the rockfish. yum! so around 5, i went to the rockfish, got a table outside in the sun, sat with my daughter, got a side salad, and waited. and waited. and waited. and... you get the picture. i waited for andrew, and as i did so, i ate my salad, being careful to pick out the sticker that had fallen off of the avocado and on to a piece of lettuce. there was no avocado in my salad. then i waited for the waiter to come back. he never did. so i went inside and asked the bartender to send him out sometime. by this point, andrew had called to tell me that now HE was stuck in traffic. great. so when my fantastic waiter returned, i ordered dessert. bread pudding, to be exact, to eat while i was waiting on andrew to get in. and i waited for 20 mins. i believe they were actually waiting on the yeast to rise to make the bread, to let it get stale, to make the pudding. i was actually getting my stuff together and tess in the stroller and about to drop cash on the table and just leave, when the waiter returned with my dessert. i told him that i wasn't going to be able to eat it and was having a hard time getting service. he left with the promise of the bill. but what returned was the manager, who comped everything (a $6 total), and boxed my bread pudding. andrew had called again at this point to let me know he was still stuck, due to a vehicle fire on the side of the road, and would be in town... sometime.
SO at least, i thought, i can just take the quick 5 minute drive to my parents' house. i would take the back roads to avoid the disaster that was 40, and be done with this fiasco in no time. wrong again. i spent 10 mins just waiting for people, who also took my "shortcut" to turn left at a stop sign. 27 cars, 12 mins, and much crying (from the turtle) later, i made it safely into my parents' neighborhood.
to wrap the story up, andrew and i got into one car, left my parents' house around 8, stopped for take out, made it home by around 9:30, and watched grey's anatomy on hulu. it didn't end so bad, but holy moly what a day. i swear i probably wasted 15 gallons of gas driving nowhere and doing nothing! yeesh!
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
and that is why i love my husband...
because after my crappy dr's appointment, he not only suggested ice cream, and called to check on me, BUT he asked if he could take me out to dinner. and then when he got home we went for a walk and then went to humble pie and had a wonderful dinner. he knows just how to make me feel better after a crappy day. and i just love him.
Friday, March 5, 2010
the life of a housewife
ROCKS!!!
hahaha, i'm sure at some point i'm going to be bored or frustrated with it, but at this point, it's awesome. i make my own schedule, i can get the tasks done that need doing, i can make a grocery list BEFORE going grocery shopping and then come home and make a real dinner for the two of us. i go to bed when i'm tired and wake up when i'm done sleeping, and i can go for a walk in the middle of the day if i want to instead of being stuck inside waiting for work to be over.
a lot of the projects that i've been wanting to do but haven't had time for, like cleaning the washer/dryer closet and other such randomness that has been driving me crazy, are so much easier to do now that i have TIME. it's strange, the task itself (at least in the case of the closet) took about 30 mins, but even though i had those 30 mins before, it seemed like such an undertaking that i never felt like i had enough time to even get started.
so now i'm trying to balance between going crazy and trying to do all the tasks i've set for myself at once and relaxing and resting before the arrival of baby k. so far i think the balance is going well, but we'll see how it continues as i approach the tasks i'm not so excited about doing (like cleaning out my OWN closet!!).
hahaha, i'm sure at some point i'm going to be bored or frustrated with it, but at this point, it's awesome. i make my own schedule, i can get the tasks done that need doing, i can make a grocery list BEFORE going grocery shopping and then come home and make a real dinner for the two of us. i go to bed when i'm tired and wake up when i'm done sleeping, and i can go for a walk in the middle of the day if i want to instead of being stuck inside waiting for work to be over.
a lot of the projects that i've been wanting to do but haven't had time for, like cleaning the washer/dryer closet and other such randomness that has been driving me crazy, are so much easier to do now that i have TIME. it's strange, the task itself (at least in the case of the closet) took about 30 mins, but even though i had those 30 mins before, it seemed like such an undertaking that i never felt like i had enough time to even get started.
so now i'm trying to balance between going crazy and trying to do all the tasks i've set for myself at once and relaxing and resting before the arrival of baby k. so far i think the balance is going well, but we'll see how it continues as i approach the tasks i'm not so excited about doing (like cleaning out my OWN closet!!).
Thursday, February 25, 2010
"love bird" chicken
yesterday on a rerun of rachel ray's 30-minute meal show i saw her make "love bird" chicken - see it's love bird because the breast is wrapped... i don't get it, and i think she's really annoying with all her "smashed potatoes" instead of mashed and how she calls pieces of chicken "him" and how she says we can cook "up" something in the pan, where "he" (the chicken) can "join all the other kids in the pool" = go into the pot with the other ingredients - holy cow, it's enough to want to stab your ears out with your yum-o lazy spoonula, BUT the recipe was intriguing and tasty looking, so i figured i'd try it. here is the recipe from rachel's site
however, i made a few adjustments based on what i had available. my country grocery store did not have fontina cheese, so i used havarti, and we had frozen boneless skinless thighs, so i used them instead of breasts, and lastly, we had pillsbury crescent roll dough instead of puff pastry. oh and i used dried rosemary instead of fresh chopped because we had it in the spice rack. OTHER THAN THAT, i followed the recipe - hahaha! the result was quite tasty, and i am sure it is something we will repeat.
we both loved the havarti cheese, so that might stay, and i'll have to debate about the puff pastry, as the flavor of the crescent roll was nice, but the perforations made for a difficult time wrapping and lots of leakage in the baking process. we will definitely try using breasts next time because the thighs were difficult to wrap and either you'd end up with a giant bite of chicken where it'd been folded over or a bite with no chicken because the pastry, cheese, and fig had spread without it. but all in all, i'd rate it a dinner success, and it really did take me less than 30 mins to make, including baking time.
oh, and i would have put up a picture of them, cause they were pretty, but we eated dem all!
4 pieces skinless chicken breast, boned (about 8 ounces each)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2-3 sprigs fresh finely chopped rosemary
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
1 sheet puff pastry (11 by 17-inch), (recommended: Dufour)
8 slices Italian fontina cheese, slices should be 2-3-inches square and 1/4 to 1/2-inch thick, cut in 1/2
1/2 cup fig preserves
1 egg mixed with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash
PREPARATION
Preheat oven to 400°F.
Season the chicken with salt, pepper and rosemary. Cut each piece of chicken in half across the breast giving you 8 equal portions. Heat the oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Lightly brown the chicken on both sides, 5 minutes total. Remove from heat.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Cut pastry into 8 pieces. Place a piece of cheese on each pastry square and top with spoonfuls of fig preserves and the chicken pieces. Pinch and seal the dough up and over the meat and cheese, seal with egg wash, flip the pastry packets over and brush the tops with remaining egg wash. Bake 12-15 minutes, until golden.
For entree portions, simply leave chicken breast whole and cut the pastry into quarters. Trim off excess dough and use it to decorate the pastry with small cut outs such as heart shapes.
however, i made a few adjustments based on what i had available. my country grocery store did not have fontina cheese, so i used havarti, and we had frozen boneless skinless thighs, so i used them instead of breasts, and lastly, we had pillsbury crescent roll dough instead of puff pastry. oh and i used dried rosemary instead of fresh chopped because we had it in the spice rack. OTHER THAN THAT, i followed the recipe - hahaha! the result was quite tasty, and i am sure it is something we will repeat.
we both loved the havarti cheese, so that might stay, and i'll have to debate about the puff pastry, as the flavor of the crescent roll was nice, but the perforations made for a difficult time wrapping and lots of leakage in the baking process. we will definitely try using breasts next time because the thighs were difficult to wrap and either you'd end up with a giant bite of chicken where it'd been folded over or a bite with no chicken because the pastry, cheese, and fig had spread without it. but all in all, i'd rate it a dinner success, and it really did take me less than 30 mins to make, including baking time.
oh, and i would have put up a picture of them, cause they were pretty, but we eated dem all!
Thursday, February 18, 2010
highs and lows
yay for highs! yesterday i had another successful visit to the ob - 33.5 weeks and a "healthy pregnancy" said the dr. my bp was high, but dr tosky was not concerned - i think it had to do with different nurses taking it from the ones i got used to and the fact that i was getting sick... but that's for the other section of the post. another high is that lula belle, the dog who received chloe's blood was not only a little better after the transfusion, but she was ready to go home!! how great is that? her pcv was 13 pre-transfusion and 23 post, and 26 about 12 hours after it, which means she's producing her own rbc's - yay! another great highlight is that andrew and i went over to heather's for dinner last night and had a great time :-) thanks again for having us guys!
now for the lows... the sickness i was getting yesterday has taken over. i decided to call out from work last night around midnight when, in addition to feeling crappy, we deduced i had a fever. however, the doc told me i could take any otc meds that made me feel better at this point in my pregnancy and that if i had a fever to take tylenol, so i did that. i have slept pretty much all night and all day with breaks to blow my nose, pee, and eat, and i don't have to work again until monday. unfortunately, this is my big friend/family shower weekend. i hope i feel better before saturday.
back to the plus side though, mom is bringing me medicine and food (she's the best), i have been able to sleep, and lillie's great at keeping me company.
now for the lows... the sickness i was getting yesterday has taken over. i decided to call out from work last night around midnight when, in addition to feeling crappy, we deduced i had a fever. however, the doc told me i could take any otc meds that made me feel better at this point in my pregnancy and that if i had a fever to take tylenol, so i did that. i have slept pretty much all night and all day with breaks to blow my nose, pee, and eat, and i don't have to work again until monday. unfortunately, this is my big friend/family shower weekend. i hope i feel better before saturday.
back to the plus side though, mom is bringing me medicine and food (she's the best), i have been able to sleep, and lillie's great at keeping me company.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
small things
i am trying to rejoice in the small things today to brighten my outlook.
today's good stuff:
1. the sun is out AND it's not raining
2. i went grocery shopping
3. i got money back on my lowe's foods reward card
4. i got a coupon for lowe's gas (which i needed) which brought my cost down to $2.30/gal.
5. i found a faster way to/from lowe's foods
6. i cleaned out the fridge (mostly)
7. i cleaned the kitchen (mostly)
8. i bought amaretto flavored coffee creamer and made myself a delicious mug of decaf amaretto coffee
9. i was alerted via email that my bile acids test was normal
the only drawback for today's adventures?
1. my few grocery shopping bags cost us ~$94.00
2. now we have no idea why i itch.
today's good stuff:
1. the sun is out AND it's not raining
2. i went grocery shopping
3. i got money back on my lowe's foods reward card
4. i got a coupon for lowe's gas (which i needed) which brought my cost down to $2.30/gal.
5. i found a faster way to/from lowe's foods
6. i cleaned out the fridge (mostly)
7. i cleaned the kitchen (mostly)
8. i bought amaretto flavored coffee creamer and made myself a delicious mug of decaf amaretto coffee
9. i was alerted via email that my bile acids test was normal
the only drawback for today's adventures?
1. my few grocery shopping bags cost us ~$94.00
2. now we have no idea why i itch.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
snow and other such nonsense
well we ran out of food yesterday, but i dared not venture out into the madness of crazed-snow-supply-seekers, so we shall see what we can scrounge out of the pantry/freezer to eat for the rest of the weekend! last night, i was craving some chocolate chip muffins (which i just knew we had in the pantry... but we didn't) so my sweet hubby made me some from scratch! they were an interesting consistency before and after cooking, and all of the chocolate chunks (to replace chips, which we didn't have) went to the bottom of the cups, but they're still pretty good. i attribute the strange consistency to the fact that he used hot coco mix instead of coco powder to make them chocolate-chocolate chip. hey, who can complain, i'm proud of his resourcefulness!
we called this one jaba de hut :-)
last night, i had trouble sleeping again. i think it was a combination of being overtired, having taken a nap, pregnancy itchiness/insomnia, and the ambient light bouncing off the snow and coming in our bedroom windows. andrew once again felt sorry for me and tried to figure out how to make me sleepy. we tried a back rub, which would probably have worked had it continued for a few more hours, some warm milk, and eventually i gave in and took some benadryl. actually technically i took diphenhydramine prescribed to lillie by the vet - ha! it's nice to work at a place where i learn things like, you can take your dog's meds cause they're the same thing but cost 1/8th of the price for quadruple the amount! benadryl is one of those things we buy in bulk to keep on hand for lillie's many issues, and since i am allowed to take two whole medicines (tylenol and benadryl) during pregnancy, AND we're out of tylenol (which does nothing for sleeping anyway), it's good the dog could lend me some of her drugs! it was great. i stopped itching, i slept, and i woke up totally rested! yahoooo!
this morning, we've been hanging out with the dogs and watching the snow/sleet come down. here are a few pics from our porch:
last night when it started coming down
this morning from the porch
[feel free to ignore the junk on the porch]
we called this one jaba de hut :-)
last night, i had trouble sleeping again. i think it was a combination of being overtired, having taken a nap, pregnancy itchiness/insomnia, and the ambient light bouncing off the snow and coming in our bedroom windows. andrew once again felt sorry for me and tried to figure out how to make me sleepy. we tried a back rub, which would probably have worked had it continued for a few more hours, some warm milk, and eventually i gave in and took some benadryl. actually technically i took diphenhydramine prescribed to lillie by the vet - ha! it's nice to work at a place where i learn things like, you can take your dog's meds cause they're the same thing but cost 1/8th of the price for quadruple the amount! benadryl is one of those things we buy in bulk to keep on hand for lillie's many issues, and since i am allowed to take two whole medicines (tylenol and benadryl) during pregnancy, AND we're out of tylenol (which does nothing for sleeping anyway), it's good the dog could lend me some of her drugs! it was great. i stopped itching, i slept, and i woke up totally rested! yahoooo!
this morning, we've been hanging out with the dogs and watching the snow/sleet come down. here are a few pics from our porch:
last night when it started coming down
this morning from the porch
[feel free to ignore the junk on the porch]
Sunday, December 20, 2009
santa baby...
i've definitely been in the christmas spirit recently. with the tree and our lights, i've been excited for the season to get into full swing. i'm kind of a scrooge when it comes to playing christmas music in OCTOBER, but once thanksgiving is over, bring it on! i love that the weather has gotten cold (finally), and although i was crabby about getting rain instead of snow at our house, while it rained just 20 mins west of us, i am enjoying having our house decorated and getting stuff ready for the big day. our plans this year include the christmas eve lovefeast at ckmc (a mostly annual tradition), christmas morning/afternoon at my parents' house, and dinner with andrew's mom. then, we both took off until january 2nd, so that we could have a real vacation together before little baby k's born in april. oh, and in honor of the little bean... 
this is an actual ultrasound from 18 wks that i modified using picnic - how cute?!
i was going to print them off and put them in the christmas cards (which we sent out in time for christmas this year!), but i didn't get around to it, so blogland can enjoy them instead.
let's see, what should we catch you up on... last weekend, we went to the carefirst christmas party. it was ok, not as much fun as past years in my opinion, but i'm sure the fact that i was playing sober sally, and had worked that morning, and had swollen ankles before we even arrived did not help my mood. it was nice that they put the event on and good to see my coworkers out of a work setting, but we called it an early night.
later in the week, lillie decided to give me a heart attack when she ran out of the open gate and went missing for about 6 hours... beginning around 7:45pm. yes, this means we found her around 2am... and that i'd pretty much been crying my eyes out for a good 4 hours. see, she has run off before, but we can usually hear her still, and she's come back within 30mins to an hour. this time, i thought she was surely hit by a car or shot by a neighbor. andrew searched, he drove the nearby streets, i wandered around the woods (until i thought i might be shot), andrew searched again, and then we almost just gave up and went to bed, but andrew, feeling sorry for me sitting there calling for her and then collapsing into a fit of sobs before going to bed decided to look one more time. after not finding her, he was returning home when she popped out of the woods behind our house. he brought her back, and she was relatively unscathed. she had cuts and bruises and smelled like cow poop, but nothing huge. when she saw me crying, it was obvious she felt bad for running off. we bathed her in the tub and went to bed, but she looked guilty and sulky for the rest of the night. i took her in to work (the vet) the next day, and other than developing a skin infection, is no worse for the wear.
yesterday, we both worked and then andrew got a haircut out in durham, so i met mom for lunch. we came back here and were lazy for the rest of the day, ordering pizza in and watching silly shows on the tv with the dogs laying around the living room. this morning, we got up and had a nice breakfast, followed by completing our christmas shopping in a total of 2.5 hours. pretty impressive especially considering that we hadn't done ANY at all before today AND that we bought my christmas present from my mom to me (strange to buy your own present, i know, but she told us to), so i am now a proud owner of a brand new sewing machine! woohoo! my first project... as soon as we can buy some fabric... will be stockings to hang on the fireplace. hopefully these will be completed before christmas, we shall see.
now, andrew is finishing painting the baby's room while i prepare for the mandatory sunday afternoon nap :-) pregnancy does have some benefits -- hehehe. and, la piece de resistance... 25 week belly pics:
there's no denying there's something growing... besides my chest :-P
this is an actual ultrasound from 18 wks that i modified using picnic - how cute?! i was going to print them off and put them in the christmas cards (which we sent out in time for christmas this year!), but i didn't get around to it, so blogland can enjoy them instead.
let's see, what should we catch you up on... last weekend, we went to the carefirst christmas party. it was ok, not as much fun as past years in my opinion, but i'm sure the fact that i was playing sober sally, and had worked that morning, and had swollen ankles before we even arrived did not help my mood. it was nice that they put the event on and good to see my coworkers out of a work setting, but we called it an early night.
later in the week, lillie decided to give me a heart attack when she ran out of the open gate and went missing for about 6 hours... beginning around 7:45pm. yes, this means we found her around 2am... and that i'd pretty much been crying my eyes out for a good 4 hours. see, she has run off before, but we can usually hear her still, and she's come back within 30mins to an hour. this time, i thought she was surely hit by a car or shot by a neighbor. andrew searched, he drove the nearby streets, i wandered around the woods (until i thought i might be shot), andrew searched again, and then we almost just gave up and went to bed, but andrew, feeling sorry for me sitting there calling for her and then collapsing into a fit of sobs before going to bed decided to look one more time. after not finding her, he was returning home when she popped out of the woods behind our house. he brought her back, and she was relatively unscathed. she had cuts and bruises and smelled like cow poop, but nothing huge. when she saw me crying, it was obvious she felt bad for running off. we bathed her in the tub and went to bed, but she looked guilty and sulky for the rest of the night. i took her in to work (the vet) the next day, and other than developing a skin infection, is no worse for the wear.
yesterday, we both worked and then andrew got a haircut out in durham, so i met mom for lunch. we came back here and were lazy for the rest of the day, ordering pizza in and watching silly shows on the tv with the dogs laying around the living room. this morning, we got up and had a nice breakfast, followed by completing our christmas shopping in a total of 2.5 hours. pretty impressive especially considering that we hadn't done ANY at all before today AND that we bought my christmas present from my mom to me (strange to buy your own present, i know, but she told us to), so i am now a proud owner of a brand new sewing machine! woohoo! my first project... as soon as we can buy some fabric... will be stockings to hang on the fireplace. hopefully these will be completed before christmas, we shall see.
now, andrew is finishing painting the baby's room while i prepare for the mandatory sunday afternoon nap :-) pregnancy does have some benefits -- hehehe. and, la piece de resistance... 25 week belly pics:
there's no denying there's something growing... besides my chest :-P
Thursday, December 10, 2009
playing catch-up
well it's been a long time since i've blogged, but i have so many topics, i'm not sure which one to write about! unfortunately, i think that leads me to listing, so here i go!
the weeks of pregnancy continue passing, and i am getting larger.
with the abundance of my bosom (shall we say?), it is hard to see that my belly is actually getting much larger, but i can tell it is. [you can see that i am THRILLED about the idea of pictures being taken of me in my bloated state] i had some back problems a week or so ago, but barricading myself in bed with thousands of pillows each night has really helped. i have been blessed to have had a relatively lighter work schedule this past month or so, but even working 40 hours like i am this week, i'm doing ok getting through it. i also bought new work shoes, which i believe are contributing to my better back situation. though things like new orthopedically correct shoes are expensive, i have found they are a pregnancy necessity. and, though not a necessity, andrew did buy me a replacement ring to wear on my ring finger since my wedding set has been too small for me for a while now. i finally feel like i'm married again! 
(i know it's silly, but having the ring on just makes me feel better.)
thanksgiving week was an interesting one for us, as we both worked all day every day except thanksgiving itself. it was sort of a bummer to not have a long time off to celebrate my favorite holiday, but we got to spend some time together with my parents, and that was nice. plus, there was a plethora of traditional foodstuffs, which cannot be forgotten! i know there are pictures, so i'll have to commandeer them from my mother.
the following weekend we got a somewhat impromptu visit from my cousin, michelle, which was awesome. we hung out, talked long into the night (for us old fogeys anyway), and had a TON of laughs. my face actually hurt from all the smiling. there's nothing like family and a good friend wrapped up into one package to remind you what it means to be happy. she offered a lot of pregnancy sympathy as well as a ton of baby-raising advice, and she's a great christian-married-woman sounding board. i really enjoyed her visit. i enjoyed it so much so that i completely forgot to take a single picture! for shame!
this weekend, andrew and i were extremely productive -- i got a wonderful christmas bonus from work, so the penny-pinching we've been doing was able to lighten up for one weekend at least. it was really nice. we got a beautiful christmas tree and decorated it,
bought decorations for the house and have been putting them up, 
did some general shopping for things we needed, and la piece de resistance, we bought a couch! i have been searching for a couch to replace the one we have for at least 2 years now, and though we did not get a sectional as planned, we bought a couch that i love, that will hopefully be very comfortable for me during my huge months of pregnancy. 
it'll be delivered right before christmas!
today was my day off, so i got to sleep in, have lunch with andrew, straighten up the yard/porch/driveway a little, put up some garland, re-install the driveway lights, and clean the kitchen. and as soon as he gets home, we'll make some dinner -- on days like this i love our quiet little country life :-)
the weeks of pregnancy continue passing, and i am getting larger.
with the abundance of my bosom (shall we say?), it is hard to see that my belly is actually getting much larger, but i can tell it is. [you can see that i am THRILLED about the idea of pictures being taken of me in my bloated state] i had some back problems a week or so ago, but barricading myself in bed with thousands of pillows each night has really helped. i have been blessed to have had a relatively lighter work schedule this past month or so, but even working 40 hours like i am this week, i'm doing ok getting through it. i also bought new work shoes, which i believe are contributing to my better back situation. though things like new orthopedically correct shoes are expensive, i have found they are a pregnancy necessity. and, though not a necessity, andrew did buy me a replacement ring to wear on my ring finger since my wedding set has been too small for me for a while now. i finally feel like i'm married again! 
(i know it's silly, but having the ring on just makes me feel better.)thanksgiving week was an interesting one for us, as we both worked all day every day except thanksgiving itself. it was sort of a bummer to not have a long time off to celebrate my favorite holiday, but we got to spend some time together with my parents, and that was nice. plus, there was a plethora of traditional foodstuffs, which cannot be forgotten! i know there are pictures, so i'll have to commandeer them from my mother.
the following weekend we got a somewhat impromptu visit from my cousin, michelle, which was awesome. we hung out, talked long into the night (for us old fogeys anyway), and had a TON of laughs. my face actually hurt from all the smiling. there's nothing like family and a good friend wrapped up into one package to remind you what it means to be happy. she offered a lot of pregnancy sympathy as well as a ton of baby-raising advice, and she's a great christian-married-woman sounding board. i really enjoyed her visit. i enjoyed it so much so that i completely forgot to take a single picture! for shame!
this weekend, andrew and i were extremely productive -- i got a wonderful christmas bonus from work, so the penny-pinching we've been doing was able to lighten up for one weekend at least. it was really nice. we got a beautiful christmas tree and decorated it,
bought decorations for the house and have been putting them up, 
did some general shopping for things we needed, and la piece de resistance, we bought a couch! i have been searching for a couch to replace the one we have for at least 2 years now, and though we did not get a sectional as planned, we bought a couch that i love, that will hopefully be very comfortable for me during my huge months of pregnancy. it'll be delivered right before christmas!today was my day off, so i got to sleep in, have lunch with andrew, straighten up the yard/porch/driveway a little, put up some garland, re-install the driveway lights, and clean the kitchen. and as soon as he gets home, we'll make some dinner -- on days like this i love our quiet little country life :-)
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