Happy Memorial Day!!

Monday Madness

1. Which holidays (if any) do you consider more as a day off from work, than anything else?
Labor Day and Memorial Day
2. Which 3 holidays are most celebrated in your family?
The birth of Christ (Christmas)
The death and resurrection of Christ (Easter)
Thanksgiving
3. Do you have an organized filing system at home?
No, but I plan to when we move into the new house.
4. Do you clip coupons for groceries? If so, do you remember to use them? If not, why?
Yes, I clip them. I remember sometimes and sometimes I don't. I usually misplace them.
5. How many magazines do you subscribe to?
babytalk (free to new parents)
Parents (free to new parents)
Home Companion: Mary Engelbreit (gift from my Mom)
Entertainment Weekly ( we cancelled it after the free trial and they keep sending it)
6. Do you play any computer games on a regular basis? If so, which is your favorite, and why?
Sudoku, Websudoku , I like the JigSawDoku right now. Also, BrainBashers Sudoku puzzles. You can put in pencil marks!!
7. Have you watched any movies worth recommending, lately?
None to mention.

That was something a little different I will try to do everyday. It gets my brain to working and puts together fun stuff for me to look back on in the future!!

Here is also something fun. If you go here you can get a cloud that puts all the most used words in your blog together like this:

So today was a very lazy day. Lil D was unusually lazy. He woke us up at 7:45, he ate. He went back to sleep. He woke up at 11:20, he ate. He went back to sleep. This is very unusual for this time of the day. Usually he fights sleep. He woke up at about 1:00. We went over to Auntie E's & Uncle R's. Lil D got in another quick nap. We went to the pool. The breeze was actually kind of nice. There were 2 other couples with kids. The kids all played in the pool and some of the adults enjoyed the refreshing water also. I'm not going anywhere near a swimsuit yet. Lil D was so good at the pool. We sat under and umbrella and he just looked around content as can be. After about and hour or so we went back to there house and BBQ'd. The food was delicious. We sat around and talked for awhile and then went back home. We entertained Lil D as much as we could to keep him awake. I fed and bathed him and he was in bed by 9:45. Yeah. I really got nervous for a while that he wasn't going to go to sleep. He was just crying to cry. I finally calmed him down and now he is sleeping soundly.
J & I are going to have a very busy short week!! I am going to try to continue to pack while Lil D is napping. Auntie E goes back to work tomorrow. She is a teacher's aid. She & I have spent the past 4 weeks together. This is my first week day without her. I know that I will have withdrawals, being a new mom and all. She has helped me out more that I can even describe.
Tomorrow night I have my women's small group. We are starting a new study:
A Woman's Heart: God's Dwelling Place by Beth Moore. I am excited to get started. I am so incredibly hungry for the word since Lil D was born.
J has decided to play softball on the church men's team again. He has a game tomorrow night. I guess I have to take Lil D to small group. I was hoping J wouldn't play softball and keep Lil D instead. Oh well.
On Wednesday I am going to continue to pack. Wednesday night J & I are going to start painting all the walls in the new house. The landlord was going to do this for us but can't find anyone to do it before we move in. We volunteered to do it if he bought the paint. He is also taking $100 off the rent!! On Thursday it will be the same as Wednesday. Pack & Paint. On Thursday night, we will pack as many boxes as we can into my truck. Then on Friday morning at 8am we will meet the landlord at the new house, give him out deposit and 1st months rent, sign the lease and get the keys!! We will move in as many boxes and misc stuff as we can on friday and also finish up the painting! On Saturday we are renting a huge 5 bedroom truck and moving all the furniture in the least amount of trips we have to make!! I'm almost positive we will have everything out by the end of the day on Saturday!! On Sunday comes the worst part. Cleaning the current house. There are a few areas that will take some major elbow grease: the master bathroom shower and the yard. Everything else will be pretty easy. I really hope that our current landlord doesn't make us paint the walls back what they were since they asked us to move out. If they do we will deal with it when we get there.
I am praying that the week goes exactly like we planned it with no surprises!!
-Until tomorrow

It's just too hot!

The heat is killin' me! Lil D sat through the 9:45 church service without a peep. I didn't want to sit in the cry room so I sat in the back by the door. Lil D is such a good boy! After church, J and I went to Cosco and got water, eggs and a tub of cookie dough. When we got home I updated our budget and we went over our grocery budget by $1.03. Watch out! I love our new budget. I am weird like that. I love tools that get you organized!! Lil D had a stomach ache today. He fussed for a while and then finally fell asleep. At about 4:30 I took Lil D to Grandma's house. J & I cleaned out the garage. It was sooooo hot. When I pulled the car out of the garage it was 103degrees. I nearly melted. J & I have so much stuff. I don't know what we are going to do with it all! The new house only has a carport. We have a storage room in the backyard, but it's nothing compared to the garage space we have now. We just need to get rid of all the stuff we don't need!
I went and got Lil D at about 7pm. He was asleep, of course, in grandma's arms. He is such a cutie! J had dinner ready when I got back. We ate dinner, gave Lil D a bath and put him to bed. I guess I need to go to bed and get a head start on my sleep for next week since tomorrow is a holiday!
-Until tomorrow

Yeah, it's the weekend!

J & I slept till 9am. Lil D only woke up once last night! He is sleeping so well at night!! We are so blessed! We ate lunch. Then, we went to Wal-Mart and the grocery store. We met J's family at a park for his sister's birthday. We only stayed for 45 minutes. We had to meet our new landlord at the property to go over the house. There was a small list of things he has to fix:
1. Replace window screen in living room
2. Replace screen to sliding glass door
3. Fix garbage disposal
4. Fix leak at guest bath sink
5. Replace blinds in guest bedroom
6. Replace window screen in guest bedroom
7. Fix leak at master bath sink
8. Take down ugly shelf above fireplace
9. Paint all walls (he let me pick my own color!!)
10. Clean whole place better!

We will be moving in next Friday, September 8th!! I am really excited about moving!! Our master bedroom is larger. The space in the living,dining,kitchen is just so much more open and airy. There are tons of windows in the kitchen and dining area. The washer and dryer are inside the house. No more going to the garage to wash clothes and then forgetting about them! The guest bath is larger than what we have now. I usually use this bathroom to fix my hair and put on my makeup! I have to work on the window treatments. There are only blinds in the 2 guest bedrooms, everywhere else are these gosh awful curtains...yuck! I have some curtain panels from IKEA that I can use in the living room. There are some skinny windows that I have to be creative with. The kitchen window is going to be a challenge, so is the sliding glass door and the dining room window. The master bedroom will have to be replaced, but not right away. I have plenty of time to pack now. I just have to wait. I'm not very good at that.
J and I had dinner and watched a movie. Then, I layed out the entire house on AutoCAD. I started the furniture layout so that when we move in I will know exactly where each piece goes! Tomorrow J and I are supposed to clean out the garage. Sounds like fun huh?
-Until tomorrow

Last day with Auntie E :(

I woke up at 5am this morning to feed Lil D. I couldn't go back to sleep so I worked on our budget and called my Mom. Lil D woke up at 8am and I fed him. He went back to sleep. When he woke up about an hour and a half later he was so upset. He wasn't hungry and I couldn't get him to calm down. Auntie E arrived in my time of desperation!! She had great timing today. She took Lil D and got him to calm down. She is magic! We sat and talked awhile and I decided that I wasn't going to get anything done today so I went with her to her orthodontist appointment and then to her house. We had lunch and then I worked on a monster Sudoku puzzle. I took a nap and woke up to feed Lil D. He got upset again and wouldn't eat. J came to pick us up at around 4:45. Lil D only ate for about 4 minutes. He slept the whole way home. He was fussy all night. He wouldn't nurse. We had to give him a bottle. I hope he eats well tonight. I know he has worn himself out crying today. He should sleep really good tonight!
-Until tomorrow

Who would of thought...

...I look like Geena Davis or Katie Holmes.

Thought this was cute and wanted to share!
-Until tomorrow

Packing, packing & more packing!

I went to the DMV early this morning and paid my truck registration and got the custom plates that J got me for my birthday!! The wait actually wasn't that long. Auntie E came over at about 10:45am. I got a ton of boxes packed!! I think I am close to having this house 75% packed!! I went an ran errands with Auntie E (taking her kids to get haircuts, then to soccer practice). We also went and looked for boxes. We found a lot! I am glad, buying boxes is just retarded. I stayed for dinner. Uncle R made hash browns, bacon & eggs and mixed it all together. It was really good!! Just what I needed, comfort food!
Lil D was so awesome today! He was so patient at the DMV. He got a little fussy at the end, but I held him in my arms and he was ok. He was good while Auntie E was here and then he took a long nap while we ran the errands. He waited 4 hours to eat and then he ate for 23 minutes. He hasn't done that in a long time. He cried all the way home though. I guess he really missed Daddy all day long! The last 5 minutes was really upsetting. It makes me upset that he cries and I can't calm him. Of course I am driving, but usually singing to him while I'm driving calms him. It didn't work this time. It made me sad.
Daddy managed to calm him. We bathed him, I fed him and he went to sleep. Yeah!!
-Until tomorrow

Day of rest!

J & I got up at 8:30am this morning. We got ready, got Lil D ready and went to church this morning!!! Yeah! This is only the second service we have been to since Lil D was born. I have missed it so much! There is nothing like being fed the word by our pastor!! We sat in the cry room and were somewhat dissapointed. During the worship music 2 people came in the room just to look through the window to find their people in the crowd. Also, there were only 4 chairs. J gave up his chair and sat in the main room. There was still one mother who had to stand. There were also some items in the room that didn't have to be in there, like a huge welder in the corner. Last thing, the usher kept standing in front of the window. It was kind of annoying. People don't understand that it is our worship time too!
Lil D slept for 3 1/2 hours after church. He ate and then fell back asleep for another 3 hours. He ate and then slept for another hour or so. I fed him again, gave him a bath and he is sleep again. That is the best daytime sleep he has gotten all week. He has been fighting sleep everyday. He just doesn't want to miss a thing.
Well back to packing again tomorrow. Wah-hoo, I'm so excited. Auntie E is coming over at 10am. We have some errands to run together tomorrow! This is our last week to spend together. But, we will live one street over from her starting next week so we won't have too bad of a withdrawal from each other.
We got some sad news tonight. A co-worker of J's got sideswiped by a drunk driver on Friday. She was with her Dad and her Husband. She and her Dad did not survive, but her husband did. J was not close to her and she was a manager of a different branch, but he knew her. It is just amazing at how we take our lives for granted. Life is so precious and delicate. It could be gone in a blink of an eye. All the stress and worry we have is nothing. It just makes you think and remember not to take a second for granted.
-Until tomorrow

We now have a place to live!!!

Yeah!!! Our "new" landlord called this morning and said that our current landlord gave us a perfect reference. We were the best tenants they had ever had!! The current residents are supposed to be out by August 31!! We hope to move in as soon as they have cleaned the place up!! Just in time for a long weekend!! It is such a relief. I know where I'm going now. I hate not knowing where I'm going. Now I will enjoy the rest of the day with a peaceful mind!! I will sleep good tonight!
-Until tomorrow

My 100th post and another week gone...

Happy Friday! I didn't think that while being on maternity leave I would look forward to the weekends like I did when I was at work, but I do even more. Weekends mean time with J! During the week he has his work face on and is tired at night. The weekend is my time with him and we always have so much fun together. He is my very best friend and I love him so much.
I packed up the rest of Lil D's room today. Auntie E came over from 10am-2pm. J and I are creating a serious budget now that we have Lil D!! We want to be able to plan lots of fun things with him when he gets older and we need to start spending and saving our money wisely. Before Lil D, J & I were fly by the seat of our pants kind of people. We did things on a whim without much thought and planning. Now we feel that it is so important to be more responsible than before. Lil D is our main priority!!
Lil D saw his hand for the first time yesterday it was so cute. Here is a picture of him studying it:
It was the funniest thing. He would watch it whiz by his face and couldn't figure out what it was. He would just concentrate so hard on it and then it would move away. Of course he hasn't figured out that he controls it. He puts it in his mouth and tries really hard to lean forward to get it in his mouth farther but can't quite figure out why it doesn't work.
He is such a cutie pie and the joy of my life!! I have come to the conclusion that he is slightly spoiled. I rock him in my arms, he falls asleep, I try to gently put him in his crib...and he wakes up. Then he starts to pout and then cries until I pick him up and he falls asleep again. Today it happened 3 times in a row. I do think that he had a tummy ache because he was super clingy. Tonight J & I watched the movie Nanny McPhee and Lil D was being whiny and he kept putting his head under my chin and cuddling next to me while he was half crying. He finally went to sleep but usually he doesn't wedge his head underneath my chin. It was really sweet and I cherish all cuddles with him!! He is such a sweet boy!! He is definitely smiling a lot more lately. Here is his latest smile:

He's got me wrapped around his finger!!

Ham for the camera!
Anyways...I am definitely up too late tonight. It's just so hard to find some me time during the days. Friday night, Lil D is asleep...I'm taking advantage.
-Until tomorrow

More packing...

I packed up the dining room, the living room and the guest bathroom. I am feeling really good about getting all the packing done this week!! As time goes by I am dealing with everything pretty good! I am running out of boxes though. I should have called my work and told them to save boxes for me for the week. I will be packing up the office tomorrow. J is going on a day trip for work tomorrow. He is leaving at 5:30am and coming back at 8:30pm. He is going to be tired.
We got an email from the guy from the house. We did not get the house. Someone else beat us to it. I started thinking last night about some of the things that the guy told us about the house. The owner had to move because he got transfered for his job. So he could actually want to move back in the house in a year or two. I want a place that we can stay for a while. We are not looking to buy a house at all. We would possibly stay for 7-8 years. I called back the people from the first house that we looked at that is one street over from my sister-in-laws house. They were so glad to hear from us because they like us so much. We went over to their house and filled out an application and it sounds really good. We will know tomorrow.
Auntie E had Lil D tonight because we went to small group. They are really excited that we could be living one street over!!
-Until tomorrow

Started packing today!!

I didn't get up till 9am. My sister-in-law...Auntie E came over at 10am. I packed the entire kitchen. She stayed till 4pm. I am so blessed to have her watching Lil D while I pack.
Lil D discovered that he had a hand today. It was really cute!! I will try to post pictures!!
That is really all I did today. Nothing exciting.
J & I gave Lil D a bath, I fed him and J read to him and now we are going to bed. Goodnight!
-Until tomorrow

Mondays...

Lil D and I slept in this morning till about 10am. The guy with the awesome house called and wanted to know how flexible J & I was on meeting him at the house to look inside. He also wanted to email us the applications.
Lil D and I went for a nice long walk this morning. It was nice. Lil D slept.
When I got back, J & I filled out the applications and emailed them back. The guy called and said he would meet us there at 2:30. J & I had lunch and drove there. It is still awesome and wonderful. We will see if we get it not.
I worked on my blog a little more today.
I watched a little tv and played with Lil D.
I am so into Sudoku puzzles now!! I am doing the ones in the newspaper everyday! They are my new addiction!
-Until tomorrow

A wrench in our plan (not a bad thing)

So, J & I had made an appointment for todayto meet the landlord from the house yesterday at 1pm. We had decided to just go with that house because the location was perfect. It is 1 street over from Auntie E. My phone rang this morning at 9:30 and it was someone calling me back from yesterday. I had only made 2 calls on properties. I called the guy back and this house was still available. The guy said that we could drive by the house and then call him if we wanted to see the inside. Auntie E called and had found this incredible propery. It is really unbelievable how wonderful it is!! J called the number and left a message. So J & I drive by the first house and we call the guy back and tell him we want to see the inside. He said he couldn't get there for about 35 minutes. The guy from the awesome house calls and can't make it to the property today but could make an appointment for tomorrow. He told us to drive by the house and peek in the windows and if we liked it to let him know and he would call us tomorrow to set up an appointment. We drove to the house and looked in the windows. It has pergo flooring in the living room, the 3nd bedroom and the bonus room. It has slate in the kitchen. The kitchen cabinets are maple shaker. There are brand new stainless steel appliances. The other 2 bedrooms have carpet. There is only one bathroom and a one car garage. I instantly called this guy back and left a message and told him I definitely wanted the place. We drove back to the other house and looked inside. It was actually nice. The garage is huge and it has a laundry room inside the house! The kitchen has a lot of light. Is has a dishwasher! and all new appliances and freshly painted cabinets.
So now we play the waiting game. I am calling on that awesome house first thing in the morning. I am trying not to get my hopes up. It is just to good to be true. You just don't find houses like that to rent.
All of the family got together this evening for Andy's 15th birthday party. We had yummy cake.
I guess I am going to start packing tomorrow. I think I will start in the kitchen. We don't use any of our plates or cups because I don't have a dishwasher. We use paper and plastic!! I use some pots and pans to cook in but I hate to wash them!!! I am so lazy!! I took all the dishwashers in my life for granted.
I spent some time today changing the colors on my blog. I really like it alot. It is really happy and fresh and makes me crave sherbert!!
Lil D slept alot today, which means he's probably not going to sleep through the night. That's ok. Just knowing that it is possible makes me feel good. He was a bit fussy tonight. Not sure why. I thought for sure after his bath he would settle down but he is just fighting sleep tonight. I rocked him to sleep and put him down and, boink, his eyes were wide open. Hopefully tonight won't be a long night!
-Until tomorrow

Well...we liked it. The kitchen has a penninsula and is open to the dining room. The master bedroom is bigger than the one we have now. There is more closet space. Have I mentioned it has a DISHWASHER! We had to measure our couch before we told them yes. It fits...barely. We are meeting with the landlord tomorrow to give them the rest of our information. Hopefully everything will pan out and I don't have to think about it anymore!
J & I decided to have an evening alone. We dropped Lil D off at Grandma & Grandpa's house and we went to SeaWorld. It was nice. We watched 2 shows and had an apple pie a la mode funnel cake. It was really nice. I missed my little munchkin though. He is such a cutie!
-Until tomorrow

Small crisis...

I am somewhat stressed out. I am almost in disbelief that this is happening.
On Wednesday our landlord called and left a message. They are selling the house that we rent from them. They are wanting to start a new business venture and need the money they make from this house to start it. They are going to sell the house for $530,000, but offered it to us at $470,000. I would not want to buy this house, it's not worth that. The insulation is horrible (it's freezing in the winter and doesn't hold heat, and it's hot during the summer because it doesn't hold the cool air from the window A/C), the kitchen is ugly and closed in, and the master bedroom is tiny(the only furniture we have in there is a cal king bed and a dresser). Anyway, not the point. We have to move out in 60 days. Of course the landlord has been great and wonderful the 3 years we have been living here and they are not being strict about the 60 days. They said if it takes a couple more weeks that is fine. Lil D is only 9 weeks old and I only have less than 4 more weeks till I go back to work. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! We have also painted the interiors to make rooms feel warm and not so bright white. My poor sweet husband slaved away painting for me when I was pregnant. I slaved away when I was pregnant painting all the "crevases" that a large roller couldn't get to. I painted a black & white checkerboard on my kitchen backsplash so it would look like black & white tile. I also just finished Lil D's room on Wednesday. We put up chair rail molding and painted it white. Then we painted throw back charger blue above the chair rail and padres sand below. On the wall above the changing table I painted a huge charger lightening bolt. On the opposite wall I painted the padres logo. Have you seen the padres logo. It is very detailed. I used a projector hooked up to my laptop to trace the logo and then painted it very tediously. It is beautiful! I hung a huge LT poster over the crib and I put up Lil D's name letters under the bolt. Everything was done. I know, I know...I'm just renting the house why do all that work. Well, we thought we were going to stay here a while. When we rented this house from the landlord he said "I hope you live here forever!"
So, on Thursday night, when I got up at 1:30am to feed Lil D, I couldn't go back to sleep. I finally went back to sleep at about 6:30. Guess what I was doing. Worrying about our living situation. Where are we going to move, where am I going to find the time to pack and take care of Lil D, where are we going to come up with the money for deposit and first months rent and pay our current rent? I am going to have to set his room up AGAIN! And I don't really have the money to buy paint and molding AGAIN! Well, at least until I go back to work.
I have been looking up houses for rent online and in the newspaper. I found a perfect one in a the location I wanted, it was a 4 bedroom and it was only $1750. I called the realtor and they said I could come pick up the keys to look at it, I got there and it was rented. That really stressed me out. A lot of the ads were no pets. I have 2 cats. Shesh!
Here are the positives of moving:
*I can find a house with a DISHWASHER. I hate not having a dishwasher.
*I can finally get organized. With the pregnancy and the healing process after Lil D was born I
have not been able to clean my house properly so I have gotten behind on my cleaning and I
feel like I can't catch up. Especially the office/guest room...it's out of control. It has turned
into a catch all when we have company over. It was somewhat clean when my parents came.
*maybe we can find a house with a larger master bedroom.
*I can't think of any thing else.
So, when I got up this morning, I looked at rent ads online and in the newspaper. I found 2 new ads. I called on both and got a call back on a 3 bedroom in the location I want for the rent I want. J & I have an appointment at 3pm to see the house. It has a dishwasher and they accept pets and are ok with us not moving in till September 15. The only thing not on our wishlist is a garage. It has a 2 car carport. Which we can deal with.
Wish us luck!
Oh...and one more thing LIL D SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!! He went to sleep at 10:30pm and didn't wake up till 7am!!!! Yeah, we are so blessed!!!
I know that I am making a big deal out of this house situation. I know that worse things could always be happening!!! My baby boy is healthy, my sweet J is healthy and I am healthy...what more could I ask for. Nothing. Praise God!!!!
I'll post about what happens this afternoon!

Great news!!

WE HAVE DAYCARE!!!
J & I were interviewed by a lady that has a daycare in her home. Sarah Jean has been taking Lil B (her daughter) to her for about 2 months or so. She is really pleased with her. She has a spot opening up in September!! I was really scared that she wasn't going to pick up because of the stress that goes along with taking care of a newborn. She also had 2 or 3 more interviews with couples with older children. She picked us!! I am so happy!! I was so scared I was going to have to leave Lil D with a total stranger.
So, I took the deposit check to her this morning and we will be taking Lil D to daycare on September 11!
Praise God!!!
On a different note, I have been spending time at my sister/brother-in-law's (Auntie E & Uncle R) house. She has 3 kids...Andy 15, Z 10, Nate 8. They all love Lil D. Andy has gotten very good at getting Lil D to stop fussing and she has become a pro at changing diapers! Auntie E is known as the "baby hog." Anyway, I went over to their house every day this week! Andy and I have been scrapbooking. I wanted to at least be caught up with this album of Lil D's birth and first months of life. I only have a few more pages and I will be caught up thanks to Auntie E and Andy!! I have also gotten closer to Auntie E! We have gotten to know each other even better and we are becoming closer friends!! I am really happy about this!!
-Until tomorrow

Time is flying!

It is amazing how fast the weekend always goes by. Of course time if flying even faster now that I have a sweet baby! Yesterday I scrapbooked at church while Lil D stayed with Auntie E again. I scrapbooked on and off again when I got home. When Lil D napped, I scrapped. I got 4 pages done. Yeah accomplishment! It feels really good. Lil D was just the sweetest baby yesterday. He didn't seem to have any stomach aches or gas. He seemed to be a happy baby. J & I also went to church, the first time in 7 weeks. We sat in the cry room. Lil D slept the whole time. It felt great to go back. After church we went to the zoo with Lil D's Grandma & Grandpa. It was a really nice day and night! J & I were tired pushing the stroller up some pretty steep hills at the zoo. We both got workouts!
J & I didn't get out of bed till 10am this morning! I got up and started painting the bolt on Lil D's wall. That literally took all day because I was at Lil D's mercy. I also scrapbooked again today. I almost got 2 more pages done. I got a little break today and went to Michael's by myself. I bought some stencil paint for the bolt. It is amazing how revived I felt just having an hour and a half to myself. We also watched Nascar today, I only got to see part of the race. Jimmie Johnson won. I don't really like him and I don't know why. My favorite is Jeff Gordon. His car crapped out on the first couple of laps. I also like Dale Earnhardt Jr. He came in 5th. Tomorrow I am going over to Auntie E's again. Her 2 boys are away at camp this week and her husband is away for a few days for work. It will be just her and her daughter, Andy. I think I'm gonna scapbook more!! I want to stay caught up on Lil D's scrapbook.
-Until tomorrow

J & I went out!

Today Lil D and I just hung out. He ate, pooped and fussed all day. Everytime I put him down for a nap he woke up. He would only stay sleep in my arms. I am really glad he doesn't do this at night. I didn't get to take a nap today and I really wanted to.
J & I took Lil D to his Auntie E's and we went to the movies with friends. We saw Taladega Nights. It was ok. It was nice to just be out and cry free for a couple of hours. I know that Lil D is safe with Auntie E also.
We just got home and I was putting together all the stuff I want to scrapbook with for tomorrow. I am going to scrapbook with the ladies at church tomorrow morning. I am taking my niece Andy with me. I am already behind on scrapbooking Lil D's memories. Free time is just harder to get lately.
Lil D needs to be fed and then it is off to bed. Goodnight!
-Until tomorrow

Lil D is 7 weeks old

I can't believe how fast time is flying. It's crazy. Lil D slept for 6 1/2 hours straight tonight. I just got up to pump. We are so blessed to get all that sleep. I can't believe he is so close to sleeping through the night. Today Lil D and I spent the day with Auntie E. Lil D loves her. He just sleeps and never makes a peep with her. She went to Ross with Lil D & I so I could get a couple of shirts. I am still in the awkward stage where shirts are too small in the waist if they fit me up top. It is quite frustrating!
The last doctor appointment I lost 27 pounds. Today I have a doctor's appointment at 10:20. I am anxious to see how much more I have lost. I know that it's not going to be as large of an amount as the first appointment. But I know it will be something! I have to be patient because it took 9 months to put on all the weight and it will take probably that time and more to get it off. Patience..Patience.
The sun is coming up I need to get a few more hours of sleep before I get up!
Here is a cute photo of Lil D yesterday morning when we got up.

He was all cuddled and wedged in the pillows. We were watching him of course! It makes me nervous to put him in our bed. He loves to wedge himself under stuff!

Here is another before we went to bed the night before. We don't let him sleep with us. We usually put him in the middle of our bed while we are brushing our teeth and stuff.

-Until tomorrow

Hanging in there!

It is really hard to be a parent. When the baby isn't crying and is happy that is the easy part. When Lil D crys and he has been fed and his diaper has just been changed it's really hard to figure out why. Why...why? Does he need to be burped again, does he have a tummy ache, does he have gas, does he feel lonely or bored, is he being overstimulated, is he too hot, is he too cold? So much to guess at. It is really frustrating. Then later on in the day he eats and then falls right to sleep without a peep. If I don't "guess" the right thing I feel like a bad Mom. Shouldn't I be able to figure out what he needs...Mother's intuition? My intuition is broken. I still haven't figured out his different cries yet either. The only cry I know is this whiny little putter cry he has and I don't even know what that one means. I will just keep trying to do my best!! It will get easier!!! How cute is he:


-Until tomorrow

It is so HOT!

I can't believe how hot it got today. J & I left the house at about 1pm and it was 108 degrees. When we got to Babies R Us it was 111 degrees. Our poor little window airconditioner is working it's little heart out. We also have 5 fans blowing on us too! It is about 90 degrees right now. Poor Lil D is miserable. He has little red bumps on him from the heat. He also wants attention right now and he is like a little box of heat next to me. I can't wait till the summer is over!!! It's just too darn hot!
-Until tomorrow

It's the Weekend!

Yeah!!! I get to spend some time with J!! He has been working hard all week!! I really miss him! Tonight I added a bunch of new stuff to the sidebar. I know there is probably not anyone looking at it, but I look at it and I find it interesting!!
Lil D and I were attached at the hip today. He was kind of fussy all day and would only sleep in my arms. He has actually finally settled down for the night in his bassinette!
-Until tomorrow

What a wonderful day!

Lil D and I had a really nice day. We sat on the couch all day and just enjoyed the air conditioner!

He stayed on a "schedule" today! He ate every 3 hours and then took a nap after eating. We had some really great cuddle time. J made him smile today. He is starting to interact with us a lot more. He talks with his eyes so much. He has this way of cutting his eyes at me. He just looks like he knows something that we don't.

He is such a joy and a blessing. I feel so privileged to be his mom!
-Until tomorrow

Really tired!

Lil D did not let us sleep last night. He was basically up every hour to eat. He must be having a growth spurt. He didn't really take any long naps today either. I only got in about an hour and a half of napping put together. I am in a much better mood tonight than I was today. Hopefully we get a little more sleep tonight.
-Until tomorrow

I thought this was cute!

I am a Violet What Flower Are You?

"You have a shy personality. You tend to hesitate before trying new things or meeting new people. But once people get to know you, you open up and show the world what you are really all about."

That pretty much sums me up!!

Trying to stay cool!!

This is my little man after taking a bath. He is 1 month old today!!

I can't believe the weekend is already gone. Yesterday was just so darn hot J, Lil D and I stayed in the living room all day with our new airconditioner. J & I went to the movies last night and Lil D stayed with his Auntie E. We saw Pirates of the Caribean with Amy Jo and Scout. Auntie E said that Lil D was an angel and didn't cry at all! Yeah he is a good baby!! It was hard to be away from him just for 3 hours. Once the movie was over I was just ready to see him again. He & I have been attached at the hip for the past 4 weeks that it is hard to be separated from him. I think I did pretty good for the first time being apart from him. I am trying to gradually get used to being separated from him before I go back to work.

Today J & I went over to Amy Jo & Scout's house. J has been installing their new kitchen and had 3 cabinets to install. They had their airconditioner cranked up and it was nice and cool in their house!! We got home at about 4:15. J had to get ready and go to his softball games.
Lil D and I stayed in the AC living room and watched tv. Nice and relaxing.
-Until tomorrow

Lil D is 4 weeks old!!

I can't believe it has been 4 weeks since my baby boy was born. The first couple of weeks were really trying. J & I are getting much better at being new parents!! Getting up 2 or 3 times in the middle of the night was really hard to get used to. Some nights Lil D lets us get 4 hours in a row of sleep before waking us. He is so considerate!!
The only other thing that has been really hard is the heatwave! It has been so stinkin hot!
My parents were here last week and they got us a window air conditioner for the living room! It has been tolerable for the past couple of days!! Today it was 95 degrees. With no air conditioning that is just miserable. Lil D and I are comfortable now!!
Here is the latest picture of Lil D:

My sweet boy!
-Until tomorrow

Lil D is finally here!!

He was born June 16, at 9pm.
He was 8lbs & 3 ounces, 20 inches.
So Lil D & I have been home now for a little over a week!! He is such a good baby. He is really mellow. He doesn't get upset alot, only when he's hungry or needs a fresh diaper. With the heat he has been really hard to wake up and feed.
He is so beautiful and being a mother has been more wonderful that I ever thought it would be. He has actually let J and I get alot more rest that we thought. We just have to make ourselves take a nap during the day. At the most he wakes up about twice during the night. He has been really good about going back to sleep.
My days right now are divided into 3-4 hour increments. They are just going by so fast. I can already see him growing before my eyes.
He got circumcised yesterday so it was kind of a tramatic day for him. He is better today and not so sensitive to the pain. He was 8 pounds last Thursday and yesterday he was 8 pounds 10 ounces.
Here he is sleeping this morning!

Lil D napping
-Until tomorrow

D-Day

Ok, no sign of Lil D yet. He is being stubborn and wants to stay in a little while longer. Mama, on the other hand, is ready!!!! I have done as much as I can to stay busy today and not think about how it may still be a couple of days. Here is my day so far:
1. Shower
2. Breakfast: Granola & Yogurt
3. Read chapter 22-28 in Genesis.
4. Packed a few more things in my hospital bag
5. Had 5 phone calls today: Kaydee, Sarah Jean, E(my sister-in-law), my Mom & my brother.
6. Had lunch: mashed potatoes & gravy, coleslaw and a buttermilk biscuit.
7. I watched four episodes of Bringing Baby Home.
8. I watched 1/2 an episode of Martha.
9. I wrote some emails.
The rest of the day will be:
10. Dinner ?
11. Go to small group

COME ON CONTRACTIONS!!!!! I'M READY FOR SOME PAIN ACTION!!
-Until Tomorrow

So I'm pregnant

I know it has been awhile since I have blogged. It just hasn't interested me in the past couple of weeks. I have been off of work for 4 weeks now. I have organized my entire house and the baby's room is 80% done. I have my bag packed for the hospital and all my lists have been made. In other words...I am ready! So there, I blogged!! :)

Good Pregnant Day!

I have had 2 good pregnant days in a row. Yesterday was good. I didn't really have any pains and I didn't get tired until about 5pm. Today I got tired at about 2pm. I walked over to the deli and it is definitely getting harder to get around. I can't take long walks. I get too tired and baby gets too heavy. I only have 8 days left at work!!! Wahoo!!
Last night we played Cranium with our small group. Our team won!! Yeah!! It was really fun!! We all really need to do that more often.
I've completely lost my motivation today at work. I was so good all morning. I have hit the bottom. I have to make myself finish the rest of the day!
-Until tomorrow

I'm back!

Ok, so I know I have fallen behind for the past 3 months. Pregnancy is harder than I thought it would be. Not that I thought it would be easy. It's just really hard to control your emotions and make yourself do things when you just don't have the energy. I haven't touched the internet. At work I am constantly on the computer and when I come home I just want to veg and rest. I only have 10 days left till my last day at work!!! I'm really happy about that. I take all the stress home with me. I just want to relax and think and worry about the pregnancy only. I'm kidding myself if I say I'm not worried. I think it's just the unknown that I worry about. Some days I am stronger than others.
Today has been an angry day. I started the day out angry. So angry I cried. It was really stupid what I was angry about. My clothes were left in the washer from Sunday and they smelled bad when I put them in the dryer. I couldn't control the rush of emotions I had. When I got to work every person I talked to on the phone was being a stupid person. I know that is not nice to call people stupid. But like my dad says sometimes you just have to call them what they are.
I am actually having a better day now. I have calmed down and prayed about it. The Lord will get me through the day!
-Until tomorrow

Thursday...

Work was good and over fast.
I had to go the doctor and get a breathing test done to see if I have asthma. I had to breath in the albuteral for 7 minutes. I was wired. It made me feel crazy and anxious. I won't know the results of the test until next week.
The drive home was hard. Lots of traffic and I felt crazy because of the medicine.
When I got home J & I got dinner...FISH TACOS!! My favorite right now!! We watched tv the rest of the night!!
-Until tomorrow

Another work day

Today was a good day as soon as the morning was over. I have severe chest pain this morning. It doesn't feel good until I take a shower. I called the baby doctor to make sure that the inhaler that the doctor prescribed was ok. It is. I'm glad...pain is not fun!!(really?)
This week is really going by fast. I like those kind of weeks. Today was a catch up day. "Senior" designer is in Bozeman, Montana today with a client. I organized files and trained my new officemate. Her name is...I haven't come up with her blog name...to be determined. Anyway, she is really great. She will be taking over "Senior" designer's jobs while I am on maternity leave!!
Here is what is going on with all my current jobs:
Sim..it is almost done with the installation. Everything is installed except for the island in the kitchen. We are about to measure for countertops.

Sim Kitchen Floorplan

Ken...We are working on the guest bath now. The tile is going in. We are tiling the walls and floor.

Ken Guest Bath Floorplan

Gor...Has been installed. We are done. Tonight the client's are having an anniversary party. The job is beautiful. I need to get pictures and post them! Here is the floorplan:

Gor Kitchen Floorplan

Far...We are doing the office now. I just got the order in for the cabinetry. It takes about 7 weeks till they are ready for delivery. Here is the floorplan:

Far Office Floorplan

Py...Almost all the cabinets have been delivered. The kitchen install will start on Monday, Feb 13. I'm really ready for this job start! Especially the activity room. Which is a huge entertainment center bookcase that makes and L and takes up 2 huge walls. It will be beautiful!!
Here is the Kitchen Floorplan & the Activity Room Floorplan below it

Py Kitchen Floorplan

Py Activity Room Floorplan

Rich...this is a new job that just got ordered. It is such a cool floorplan I have to post it for you...Here it is:

Rich Kitchen Floorplan

Pretty cool huh? This is the center of the house and the stairs lead to the second story.

This is a majority of what is in progress, whether it be ordering, installation or punch lists.
-Until tomorrow

Ok, I'm back

I don't know why it has been so hard to blog lately. I know Kaydee, I lag!!! The past weeks have just flown by. I live weekend to weekend. J & I have been trying to fix up the house. We have been getting some painting done and we got a new couch. We are also trying to get rid of our old couch. It is in our dining room right now. Everything is kind of in disarray. I feel totally out of control. I think I have finally gotten out of my lathargic stage and have started to see the first sign of a nesting stage. I cleaned my refrigerator on Sunday.
Yesterday I booked my Mom's flight. She is coming March 11 and I am taking a week of vacation. She is going to help me get the baby room and guest room in order, unless I am so motivated to get it all done before she gets here.(Yeah, right)
Here is a photo of my baby boy: Little D!!


-Until tomorrow

I kept forgetting it was Friday.

I wore my first maternity outfit today. It was kind of fun. Ah the little things. I finished up the 2nd option on Fisch this morning. Mr & Mrs Fisch came in at 11:15. They liked the 2nd option and decided to go with it. They decided on the finished also. English Figured Sycamore with accents of stained and dyed madrone burl. These are both exotic veneers. It is going to be beautiful!!
I made meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and steamed green beans for dinner. It was good. We watched the Bad News Bears. It was ok. Time for bed. My back is killing me.
-Until tomorrow.

Hook'em Horns!!

We just got done watching the UT vs. USC Rose Bowl game. Yes, Ellie Mae just watched an entire football game!! Our small group came over to our house and watched. It was a really good game. I love Texas!!

Today was my first 8 hour day back to work. It actually wasn't that bad. I was hungry all day. I worked on Far's office. We did their bathroom a couple of months ago and they are ready to start their office. I did 2 options so it took most of the day. Wednesday is over and the weekend is almost here!!!

-Until tomorrow

Back to the Rat Race!

It was only a little hard to get up this morning. I could have slept another hour though.
I was a little afraid to go to work because I knew there would be germs everywhere! "Senior designer" sounded like death before I left for vacation and Chica sounded awful on the phone on Thursday. There was no telling who else got sick while I was gone. I cleaned my phone, my keyboard, my mouse and my desk with alcohol. I could tell that "Senior designer" had sat at my desk last week. Yuck!! Our office manager told me that I had forgotten to turn in my timesheet before I left for vacation and if I wanted my paycheck to get him the timesheet ASAP. I got that to him first thing and got my paycheck! Happy about that!!!
I worked on Rich job. "Senior designer" has priced this job as cheap as he possibly can. I will bet you money we will loose money on it. He takes my pricing sheet and just drops numbers for certain people and then at the end of the job he wonders why we lost money and didn't make anything on the job. I like to keep these cost sheets as proof and show him at the end of the job that he doesn't need to be pricing the jobs AT ALL!! He had an appointment with Mr. Rich at 3pm. I left the office at 2:25pm for my baby doctor apointment at 2:50pm.
We got to hear the heartbeat again! It has slowed down but is louder than the first time. It is just so amazing to hear. They also took blood for some test. I can't remember exactly what it was, J knows, but they said that no news will be good news...so I hope they don't call. We also scheduled the Ultrasound. It will be on January 23nd!!! 3 weeks!! We will know if it is a boy or a girl!!!!
Tonight I made grilled cheese sandwiches and oven baked fries. Ooo toughy huh? I'm just a baby cook! It will get better!!
J has been playing with his XBOX 360 that I got him for Christmas!!! He is having so much fun! Every now and then I hear him giggle because he has figured out something new that it does. It turns out that it is a media center. He can pull pictures from his laptop wirelessly. We were looking at pictures from vacation on the big screen. It was actually really neat.
Here are a few pics from vacation...ENJOY!!

J & Ellie Mae at the Train Station in Cottonwood, AZ!!

J & Ellie Mae at the Grand Canyon

J at the Grand Canyon

Ellie Mae at the Grand Canyon

It was REALLY cold at the Grand Canyon!
-Until tomorrow

LAZY DAY!!

J and I slept in this morning. I actually slept!!
My new year's resolution this year is...(drum roll please) to cook dinner most nights. I have been married for over 7 years and I just don't cook. J & I fend for ourselves or go out to eat. With the pregnancy I'm just sick of the same old thing and I'm sick of all the bad things!! So the solution is to start cooking and get good at it!! The only downfall to it all is I don't have a dishwasher. I know, I'm a kitchen designer, and I don't have a dishwasher...pitiful! The house that we are renting does not have one. It has a lame trash compactor instead, which I don't use. So, I got a slightly used dishwasher off of one of my jobs at work. It is sitting in the garage right now. All that needs to be done is...the trash compactor uninstalled and THROWN OUT!! and demo the drawers next to the trash compactor to make the hole big enough for the dishwasher. There is a plumber/electrician at work that has agreed to do the hook up FOR FREE! It's just all a matter of doing it. Pregnancy really disrupts the regular routine of your life. You just get so darn tired or so darn iritable that you can do any of the normal stuff you used to do. So poor J, my most awesome husband has to to a majority of the work. I have him so run down from all the stuff he has to do for me that he is worn out, burned out and tired!! Anyway, I know that the dishwasher project will get done before the baby!!
So, back to my new year's resolution...I have made a list of what I am preparing for dinner every night of this week. I also made a grocery list!! Usually when I decide to cook the grocery bill is insane. We only spent $100, and that includes my breakfasts and lunches...and J's snacks!! So for dinner I made Mexican Casserole and salad. It was really good. I was impressd with myself!! The key question is did J like it? He said it just needed a little seasoning...oh yeah, I forgot about that stuff!!
J & I also had to go buy a present for our nephew All Star "Z". It is his 11th birthday. We got him a gift certificate to Build a Bear. We all went over to R(J's brother) & E's(my sister-in-law) house and had cake. Turns our All Star "Z" spiked a fever 45 minutes before the party. Great contagious germs. Anyway it was a nice family birthday party!!!
J & I are both facing reality that we have to get back to the real world tomorrow. Why does vacation go by so fast?
-Until tomorrow

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

I didn't get to blog our entire vacation because I couldn't get on the internet for the rest of the week. We were out in the middle of nowhere. We stayed in Camp Verde for 2 more days. On day 3 we rode the Verde Vally Railroad. It was really beautiful. It was exhausting though. I rode in the out door car for the 1st half, my eyes were tired from squinting in the sun. The train left at 1pm and we didn't get back until 5pm. J and I got some dinner and went back to our hotel. We watched tv and relaxed. On day 4 we got up the next day and went to Jerome, AZ. It is an old copper mining town. It has a population of maybe 500. It was a neat little quaint town. We then went to a fish hatchery. Then to Sedona. J & I walked around uptown Sedona and went into all the neat little shops and had lunch too. That night we went to a cowboy dinner in Cottonwood, AZ. J & I took old west photos. They came out really cute. The dress I picked out made me look really pregnant or really fat. The dinner was good!! We had beans, baked potatoe, BBQ beef, applesauce and spice cake on a tin plate. The lemonade was in a tin cup. The show was cute too. A bunch of cowboys singing old cowboy songs like Tumbleweed and Ghostriders in the sky. The only part I didn't like was the wooden benches. I nearly died sitting on them for 1 1/2 hours. J & I slept in the motorhome tonight. It was really hard to sleep in the motorhome being pregnant. It killed my back and the bed was just too small for J & I and all my pillows. On day 5 we drove up to Williams, AZ. We drove to the Grand Canyon south rim. It was beautiful! But as the sun went down it got really cold! Wind blowin' cold. We drove back to the RV in the dark. We ate dinner at a 50s diner called Cruisers Diner on Route 66. It was really cold that night it hurt. J & I stayed at a hotel again. On day 6 we got up and ate breakfast at another 50s diner called Route 66 diner. Then we were off on our way home. We drove most of the day. Excuse me, J drove most of the day. We stopped in 29 Palms, CA. We left Williams at 10am and got to 29 Palms at 6pm. We stopped along the way and went to the Grand Canyon Caverns in Seligman, AZ. That took about 2 hours. It was really interesting. An elevator took us 21 stories down, 210 feet. It was warmer in the caves than outside. The reason it is called the Grand Canyon Caverns is it has a tunnel that ends at the Grand Canyon. At the end of the tour they turned out the lights and you couldn't see you hand in front of your face. And everything was formed around 345 million years ago...blah, blah, blah, whatever. When we got to 29 Palms we had dinner and J & I looked for something to do. We played Trivial Pursuit Pop Culture...J won(as usual). On day 7 we headed home. We left at 8am and got home at 11am. We unpacked the motorhome and got lunch. We washed clothes and put everything away and did nothing for the rest of the evening. I got addicted to this new game called Aloha Solitaire. We did nothing exciting for New Years. We went to sleep at 12:15am. This morning we got up and went to the Auto Show at the convention center. It was really good exercise for me. I was exhausted afterward. J & I played with his Christmas present, the new Xbox 360 for the rest of the day. We made a fire and I have played so much Aloha Solitaire that I am sick of it. Tomorrow is our last day of vacation. Boo. Then it's back to real life.
-Until tomorrow