"A Baby Changes Everything"

I was trying to put the song on my blog "A Baby Changes everything" this is on Faith Hill's Christmas album Joy to the World. I seem to have become computer illiterate because I can't figure it out. However, I would like to post the lyrics. Enjoy.

Teenage girl, much too young
Unprepared for what's to come
A baby changes everything

Not a ring on her hand
All her dreams and all her plans
A baby changes everything
A baby changes everything

The man she loves she's never touched
How will she keep his trust?
A baby changes everything
A baby changes everything

And she cries, ooh, she cries
Ooh, oh

She has to leave, go far away
Heaven knows she can't stay
A baby changes everything

She can feel it's coming soon
There's no place, there's no room
A baby changes everything
A baby changes everything

And she cries, and she cries
Oh, she cries

Shepherds all gather 'round (Shepherds all they gather 'round)
Up above the star shines down (Star shines down)
A baby changes everything

Choir of angels sing
Glory to the newborn King
A baby changes everything
A baby changes everything
Eveything, everything, everything

Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Hallelujah, Hallelujah

My whole life has turned around
I was lost, but now I'm found
A baby changes everything, yeah
A baby changes everything

Dear Jesus
I praise you for coming to us as a babe and changing everything, thank you for changing me.
I lift up my heart, soul, mind and everything that I am to give you praise this Christmas season.
Happy Birthday!

Love you,
ME

The Mother Letter Project.

This story, this project will catch your breath. I can't imagine the thoughtfulness that has gone into this gift but if you have yet to hear about it you must check it out and if you have the time to participate it's really quite amazing!! A family decided to make their Christmas presents for each other this year. The money that they are saving on buying each other presents is being donated to a small village in Africa. The husband decided to start a project for his wife and has asked people to come and write letters to her. The letters are to tell your story about motherhood, to give her encouragement, etc. I believe that if you post a letter you might have a chance to read some or all of the letters. If you go and check it out you will get a  chance to read the letters that have been posted so far but some of them are submitted only through email. I can't imagine that there isn't a woman out there that wouldn't feel loved receiving such a thoughtful gift.  I read some of the letters and they are so so beautiful. Ultimately that is why we blog. To share our lives and hear each other's stories. You must check it out. Click here. 

TAG I'm it!

My friend at SassyFrazz tagged me for a fun picture game. Here is how it works. You must go to your documents folder and go to your 6th picture folder, then go to the 6th picture in that folder and post it on your blog. Tell us a story about that picture. I must say my pictures aren't set up that way. I have two picture folders that are not located in my documents. So I chose my personal folder, went to the 6th folder and 6th picture. So do what works for you. I am going to tag my mom, melissa, maydaygirl, susan, and someone being me. :) Make sure to comment and let me know that you posted your picture. Have fun with it.

 

I don't know that there is a great story to tell here. Brodes is just over a year and we were in the backyard playing and I was paparazzing him as usual! He is just so darn stinkin cute, the camera loves him. ;)

Sophie to the rescue!

My hubby and I went out to Costco the other night. When we came in the door he dropped the eggs. :) Whoopsie. So I went upstairs to talk to our mentors. They watched Brody for us while we were gone. Don didn't realize I left and started to wonder so he came upstairs looking for me. After being upstairs for 15-20 minutes (??) SOPHIE runs upstairs. She knows she is  not allowed upstairs and has never done that before. I was surprised. So Don grabs Sophie and starts to bring her downstairs. I walk through Rob & Janets kitchen only to get a waft of something that is really stinky... it smells like something burning. So as I head downstairs it gets smellier and smellier, stinkier and stinkier. Are you getting the picture. I walk into the basement and their is smoke billowing out of the kitchen. Once the eggs were dropped they cracked. So Don decided to boil them. Well when he came upstairs he had obviously forgotten about the eggs and when the smoke started coming from the kitchen is when Sophie ran upstairs. Pretty impressive huh!? I think it's pretty funny... luckily nothing serious happened. Don is starting to act like me! As far as Sophie goes, should we call her Sophie or Lassie! ;)

Brodes Update

So I think the augmentin is working. At least he is sleeping better. He slept until 8:30am on Sunday! :) Also he hasn't had anymore diarrhea, his tummy seems to be better and he certainly has his appetite back. :) We have to go back on Jan. 6th to have his ears checked again. My only concern is that he is still pulling on his ear and scratching it. It's his right ear that was bad and that seems to be the ear that bothers him. So hopefully the infection is clearing. Overall doing better and is more himself then he has been for a couple of weeks. Please pray for complete recovery with his ears. My father has very serious problems with his hearing due to ear infections as a young child so it makes me a little paranoid. He has also developed some congestion and cough so I hope that he doesn't come down with something else as he gets over the ear infection. Anyway, thank you all for asking how he is doing. 

Just fun stuff!

I have been pretty busy lately but it's been fun stuff. Last week I got to have a micro peel done on my face which was interesting. I had never had one before. It's basically a deep cleaning of your skin and pores. It's a little uncomfortable but somehow it still felt pampering. I got to go somewhere by myself and do something for myself. That same day Don and I got to spend the whole afternoon together. His mom came over and we went out to lunch and Christmas shopping!! It seemed like forever since we had a date. I got to end the date going out to dinner with my girlfriend and that was GREAT! We went out to the Green Mill and had pasta and margaritas! YUM! AND of course we had a few hours of girl talk and lots of laughing!!! Thursday night I got out AGAIN by MYSELF and went to my MOPS Christmas party. That was also full of girl talk, naughty treats and lots of laughing. Pretty good week so far right? Well then the weekend was fun as well. I don't remember what we did Friday night but Saturday we got up and went to the Macy's exhibit downtown. I really enjoy things that are creative. It wasn't my favorite story, It was the Day in the Life of an Elf. However, it was pretty and Brody was enthralled.  You could see his eyes light up and he was just in awe of it all. It was really cute. That night was more fun for me because we finally went and did something that I have been wanting to do since I lived in Rochester. Our Mentors that live upstairs knew where a Live Nativity was located. I tried to find one last year but didn't locate one in the citites. THey knew where it was and it was probably less then a mile from where we live. So they came with us and we all piled into the SUV and went through the live Nativity. It was really beautiful. We all took turns reading the signs and reliving the birth of Christ. I am excited to know that we will be around this area for a little while so that we will get to do this again for a couple of more years. 

It was a great week and weekend! I am so excited to celebrate Christ's birth with Brody. I know that he still young but I am starting to see that sweet sparkle in his baby eyes as he starts to discover that there is something extra special about this season!!

Not Me Mondays!!

Not Me Mondays is the opportunity to share our imperfections through being brutally honest!! Check out

 Mck Mama's blog and read more Not Me Mondays!!

I am going to preface this Monday by saying that if passing gas offends you or maybe you don't pass gas you may not want to continue reading this post. YOU have been warned!! BUT if NOT ME MONDAYS is about being brutally honest, well here I go...

I would never get stranded at the Y for the second time because I left the lights on our SUV. This wouldn't have been the 4th time that I would have killed the battery because someone who is logical and responsible would have learned their lesson the first time or even the second time. I would also never consider asking a strange man in the parking lot for a jump!! Nope not me. 

I would never try to make my husband coffee in the morning and not add water to the coffee pot. That's just ridiculous and obviously you can't make coffee without water, I would never do that. 

Wash, rinse, repeat... clearly this process starts with conditioner and we all know this from the time that we are about 5 years old. I would never try to wash my hair with conditioner, realize what I did and rinse it out only to proceed picking up the conditioner and doing it all over again. Nope Not me. 

I would never get frustrated with my child for being completely stubborn and unwilling to try new food. I have no idea where he gets his stubborness from. I would never consider plugging his nose to get him to open his mouth and then proceed to stick the food in there when he went to take a breath. What kind of mom would be so stubborn as to do that, NOT ME NOT EVER!

I would never go out to Costco with my hubby and then talk him into get a slice of pizza and a hot dog to share. That stuff is fattening and I would never eat that, especially after having a yummy dinner of pork tender loin and squash. What kind of pig would I be if I ate two dinners. I wouldn't even consider doing that. 

I would never sit in my car alone talking to my sister on the phone and feel the freedom to let go of my gas. :) I don't pass gas so this would never happen. Even if I did it would never be so loud that my sister would hear it and start laughing. This would never happen and I most certainly do not ever pass gas. NOPE NOT ME. 

More christmas pics of Brodes

Brodes Update

Brodes still has an ear infection. We had his 18 month well visit today. He finished his antibiotic this morning but the doctor said that the infection in his right ear looked worse then last time. So he is back on antibiotics and this time they upgraded him to augmentin. :( Poor guy. I really hope that he isn't going to have on going problems with his ears.

Do you think maybe I talk to much?

You know how some voice mails are limited in the amount of time that you have to leave a message? Well one of my girlfriends cell phones is like this. The problem is that I am a detailed person. I have to explain to you why I am calling, everything about the message and how I came to call you and sometimes in the message I might just need to tell you about my day, how I am feeling and what's new. The problem that I have is that the voicemail system does not understand me and isn't sensitive to the amount of time that I need for my messages! OR maybe the problem isn't the with the voicemail and I just talk to much? Hmmm... 

I have QUESTIONS for you!

There are two things that I want to know about all of you. The first one is in regards to Mommy moments AKA: embarrassing moments. I frequently share about the flighty things that I do, you know the ones where  you temporarily lost your mind and  you can't seem to figure out why in the world you did that. OR the really embarrassing ones that you vowed to never tell the world!! Well those are the things I want to come. So please leave me a comment or write a story on your blog about a funny that you did and then come back and leave the link in your post.

The second thing is in the spirit of Christmas. I love traditions. Hubby and I have had discussions about what kind of traditions we want to have as a family for Christmas. So I would love to know what some of your traditions are. Either ones that you do now or what were some that your parents did with you. I really want to hear about holiday traditions but you can also share regular family traditions that you do.

Our tradition so far is to share Christmas morning together as a family. I like to make a nice breakfast. That's about it. I would like to add to it, because right now it's a little sad. We had the idea that we would like to go to a live nativity every year but we haven't been able to find one that is within a reasonable driving distance. We are thinking 20 minutes or less. 

We also started the tradition of going to the apple orchard every fall as a family. We have done that the last two years and we look forward to many many years of this! I hope you will all participate and I can't wait to hear about your funny moments and learn about your traditions!

Poor Brodes!

It's really awful to watch your kids when they are sick. I feel so so bad for them. Brody hasn't slept good for sometime. He has had multiple ear infections and is currently on amoxicillian for the upteenth time! Well I am guessing that it's probably due to the amox... ??? whatever.. but now he has diarrhea. poor baby. It started yesterday. Don got it bad last night. Brody filled the diaper to the maximum and he didn't realize to what extent.

So he picks up Brody to bring him with to get a new diaper and that's when all heck broke loose. He apprently added pressure to the maximized diaper and well we got poop all over the floor. It was bad. It continue on today. He has been sick all day and isn't eating. I am curious though has any other mommies had this kind of experience with amoxicillin?? How have your kids reacted to it. Brody has been on it before and never been like this. Anyway, I just had to share with you all my crappy story. :( Poor babes. 

Christmas Early

I am definately excited about Christmas this year. I love seeing the snow falling outside. Not that snow has anything to do with Christmas but I always love it when there is snow on the ground for Christmas. 

Last weekend Christmas came early! We went to visit my parents and had an early Christmas celebration. It was a really positive time and fun. My step mom arranged an activity for all the kiddos and the dads to do together. She took kitchen towels and ironed on pictures of little kiddos on them. Each kid got a towel to decorate and the dads got to help them. Then they presented them to us. It was really sweet and thoughtful. The kids really enjoyed it and all the mommies got a chance to visit with each other which was fun. 

Just before we opened presents one of the grand kids read the Christmas story and then we talked about why we give presents at Christmas time. It was cute to hear the kids answer the questions. It was such a positive way to go into opening gifts. :)

I was really excited for celebrating Christmas with my family this year. Our family is a combined family. My parents got married when I was 12. We have not always been the happy family. We certainly have our issues but I have seen God come in and start to bring healing, break down walls, and reconnect my family. I think this is one of the main reasons why I feel so filled this Christmas because there is nothing like seeing God at work. I am also excited because I believe that it's just the beginning. I know that there is more work to be done and I have hope that God will do miraculous things. 

NOT ME MONDAYS!!

When my hubby gives me an opportunity to go rent a movie by myself and choose one of my liking I would never ever consider renting the movie TINKERBELL and making him watch it with us... nope not me. 

I would never go to the bank drive thru and then drive away with the tube. What kind of crazy woman would take the bank canister with her. I would never do that while talking on my cell phone either. 

I would never let Brody cry or scream like crazy in his high chair so that I could try to get through my emails quick. What kind of horrible mom would I be if left my kid like that. 

I would NEVER EVER consider giving someone a gift that somebody else gave me. Regifting is just awful and cheap and I would never be as cheap to give away something that somebody gave me. Even if I did think that it was better fit for that other person. Nope I just wouldn't do that. 

AND I Would never leave out the NOT ME MONDAYS button just because I am clueless and have no idea had to do the buttons and I would never be so lazy as to not even attempt to try to figure it out. NOPE NOT ME

Thank You!

I just told you all about my darling friend Sarah at SassyFrazz, well I need to Thank her for awarding me the Butterfly award! Sarah thank you so much for your thoughtfulness. Sarah's blog is so fun to read and visit. She always has fun hilarious stories, reviews, and giveaways! 

I also want to thank Miss Sassy for the Ipod shuffle that I won. That was a GREAT giveaway! Wahoo... I should have thanked you sooner. Thank you so much.

Now for the butterfly award... I would like to pass this award onto my MOM. My mom is a truck driver and writes about her experience driving cross country! Love you Mom.

Warning: This post may be slightly over exaggerated, and contain dramatic material!

You know you are tired when:

your eyes hurt so bad you feel like they might pop out of your head

when waiting for anything gets you so crabby you feel like screaming or just giving someone a dirty look. (Like just being in line a Target which is something that every normal person does and really isn't a big deal)

you feel as though you don't even understand what it means to be rational and wonder if you will ever get back there. 

When your child throws food on the floor and you feel like picking the food up and stuffing him with it like a Thanksgiving turkey.

the thought of making lunch or dinner makes you want to cry.

(which I pulled myself up by my boot straps and already made lunch and dinner is in the crock pot. PRAISE the LORD for crock pots... )

you can't prioritize anything that you need to do because you can't think straight. ( ex: son is napping, go nap - instead blogging!!! I promise I am going right after this.)

you can't stand yourself because your moody and crabby from being tired and that makes you more crabby. (seriously)

when someone calls the thought of picking up the phone exhausts you.

it's somehow easier to blog and complain then it is to take a nap.  

In case you were wondering

So the last month my blogging has been sporadic and at times non existent. I have been doing pretty good this week but I just wanted to share with you all what I have been up to. This fall I did a promotion for JR Photography and I had NO IDEA what I was getting myself into. :) I booked 10 shoots for the promotion but I had an additional two outside of the promotion, so in the last 4 1/2 weeks I have had 12 photoshoots!! WHEW!! So if you want to see what I have been up to you can check it here.

Cyber BABY SHOWER!!

Seriously a CYBER baby shower! What's next? What an amazing and fun idea. Words can not express how much I am blessed to have my wonderful girlfriend Sarah over at Sassyfrazz in my life. Sarah is expecting baby #4 and we can all celebrate with her by checking out her cyber baby shower and participate in shower games and door prizes!! Wahooo! I love a good party! ;)

Ok. So for the party games. The first game is to enter the sweetest picture of Daddy with their new baby! Well my wonderful talented friend Melissa took this beautiful picture of my husband and my son. My husband is beaming with pride as he is holding our darling boy and I love that Brodes is looking up at his daddy! I hope you love it as much as I do! :)

The second game is to guess the birth weight of Sarah's second son. 

My guess would have to be 8lbs 10oz. ( I am sure I have the stats somewhere but I figured it wouldn't be fair to look them up.) :)

The third game is to make something out of playdoh! I don't have any playdoh around. Maybe in about a year I will but not right now. I will pass but thanks for all the fun games!! :)

Elvis was riding in the backseat of my car today!

Yep you read it right. Elvis, the King is alive! Today I got a wild hair and decided that I would listen to the soft rock station rather then the Christian station. So Elvis was on singing  Blue Christmas. Have you ever heard that song? Very 1950's with all the oooohhh, and the awwww's... do you understand what I am saying? That is when I heard the singing coming from the back seat. Soft whispers almost, oooohhh and awww's. Very much out of tune and very much singing. I wonder if I will have an Elvis impersonator in the family when I get older?? :) Hahaha.. It was the cutest thing to hear my little boy trying to sing. :)

UMMMM, HELLLO!!! That is NOT OK!!

Remember how I said I was trying to get Brody to say MOMMY!!

YEAH WELL GUESS WHAT!!? He said GRANDPA this week!! 

I AM NOT OK WITH THIS!!

I thought he was DEAD!!

I was standing by the mats stretching my legs and there was an older gentleman laying down on his side on the mat. I glanced and something looked odd. He was reeally old, did I mention that. I noticed that he was laying there on his side with his arm straight out and a hand weight was laying there almost like it had slid out his hand. I started to feel a little paranoid. Is he dead? Is he breathing? Is he Ok? What do I do? 

As I am stretching I am trying to be discreet as I am staring at this poor old man to see if he is breathing. Finally I see it, the rise and fall of his chest! WHEW.. and then I FINALLY noticed that I started breathing again, as I had been holding my breath. 

Come on say MOMMY please!!

I feel like I have waited my whole life to her my child call me mommy! Well since he is 18 months you would think that I would hear this!! RIGHT? Guess again. My 18 month old says a lot of words.  He says cracker, (like that is the easiest word to say?) football, touchdown, daddy, papa, and I don't even know what else. He repeats LOTS of words. He can say momma, mom but he doesn't say it in reference to me or at me. Just once in a RARE while he says it when he is whining. He definately refers to Don as daddy. So yesterday Brody and I are laying on the floor. I am trying to get him to say Mamma. 

Me: Say momma

Brody: BBBIIYYEEEA (in a very drawn out tone.)

Me: Say MOOOMMMMMAAAA 

Brody: BYYYEEE

Me: SAY MOOMMMMMMMMMMAAAAAAAA

Brody: FFFFOOOOOTTBAAALLLL

ME: SAY MOMMMMMMAAAA

Brody: Football

*exasperated sigh* 

Thank You Miss Alicia!!

My blogger friend Alicia awarded me the Kreativ Blogger award! Alicia thank you so much for your thoughtfulness.

Here are the rules for this award:

*Mention the blog that gave it to you and comment on their blog to let them know you've posted your award. 

*Publish the rules

*Share 6 values that are important to you and 6 things that you do not support.

6 values that I support 

Faith

Love

Forgiveness

Truth

Family

Commitment

6 things I am against:

Abortion

Hatred

Insensitivity. (Although we all can be insensitive at times I am referring to people who have no filter and don't care. Who are insensitive intentionally.) YUCK!

Currently I am against whining.. Brody is going through a big whining stage and he doesn't care that I am against it! ;) Hahaha

HUGE PET PEEVE is when people smack their food or SLURP! (**shivering**)

Telemarketing. 

Ok. So I am awarding the Kreative Blogger award to a dear friend. God brought her into my life one day and it hasn't been the same since. She is talented, creative, and entertaining. Make sure to check out Billmissandourbrood. Her writing is entertaining and she has a fun way of sharing her life with you. 

The diaper went missing!!

Brodes and I were sitting on the floor and I was patting him on the butt! (because that is what mom's do) When I noticed that his butt didn't feel padded. Actually it felt like I was patting a bare butt crack. I should explain that he had on footy jammies. I remembered putting his jammies  on and a diaper. I opened his jammers up and sure enough he didn't have his diaper on, he was NAKED under his clothes!! I am trying to figure out how in the world this could happen. He can't work a zipper to save his life, so how would he manage to unzip his PJ's, take off his diaper and then zip his jammies back up.  So I started to take his PJ's off so I could put a diaper on when WAHLAH... I found his diaper in a bunched up mess in his pant leg... how funny, weird, but funny!

$27.00??

Did I hear him right? Don told me the total but it didn't seem possible. In the recent past we have spent $70.00. How could the total have only been $27.00. As we pulled out of the gas station with a full tank for our SUV I was still shaking my head in disbelief but was also relieved that prices have come down so far. :)

CHEESE!!

Apparently in our house when you ask Brody to say CHEESE, this is what you get!!

18 months Old

Ok.. I already posted that Brody turned 18 months old but I didn't post pictures. So I took pictures today. Here is my darling big boy. :( :)

PS. I made a cute little collage and it won't upload for some reason. :( Oh well. At least you get to see the pictures.

JUST FOR FUN

Just wanted to post what Brody and I do all day!! hahaha..

Actually we don't get everyday pictures so I thought we would 

have a photoshoot of our own. 

MY BABY BEE

I had the best intentions today to take a picture of Brodes. However I did not. :( My darling boy is 18 months old today. It's weird how emotional I am about it. Not because he is 18 months but I keep focusing on the fact that he is going to be two in 6 months and that does not seem possible. Already the time is flying and he is growing up before my eyes and if I blink I might miss something. 

I will share with you a little bit about my boy. He is loud, vocal, stubborn, tinklish, loves to play, loves attention, loves to eat, loves books. He is repeating words everyday. He is signing more and more. He gets so excited when I tell him what something is and then sign it to him. He is funny because sometimes he looks at me and nods like "Yeah MOM, I know!" He probably does already know, they are so smart. Hmmm... what else can I say, I love him more and more each day. Happy half birthday baby bee!

LIFE WITH JP & THE BOYS

One day JP and baby bee were going to the office for their regular visit. JP was all done with her work and picked up baby bee to head off to Target. It was a cold blustery day and as they start to walk out to the truck the automatic locks weren't working. A sinking feeling came over JP and she knew instantly what happened. (Because this has been the 4th time that she has done this so you would think she would know better but nope she did it again.) The lights on the truck had been left on and the battery was dead. Here they are stuck at the office in the parking lot and she is frantically going through her mind trying to figure out who she is going to call??? The front door won't even unlock with the key. So she tries to unlock the back door and it opens up. She gets baby bee through the back door of the truck and into the back seat. Proceeds to strap him into his car seat in order to keep him still while she figures out what her next move is. She knows she doesn't have much time before things are going to start getting ugly. Baby bee needs to eat lunch and is tired from waking up earlier then usual on this bright cheery wonderful day. So JP calls Daddy D who isn't answering his phone due to meetings. Then a light clicks on and she calls Grandpa B who has barely enough time to come pick them up and take them home before he has to get to a meeting. WHEW! What a day, JP and babes are safely home and getting ready to take naps from being tired out from their adventurous day. And oh yeah, everybody lives happily ever after. 

Adventures in babysitting

Here is my babysitting checklist in honor of my friend Melissa. I babysat two of her boys last week and Brody.

3 kids up at 5:45am - check

1 bowl of baby cereal dumped on the carpet - check

1 baby with poop on his fingers ( I left a poopy diaper on the floor, sure did.. Mommy moment #9867564322.....) - check

3 diapers changed, 2 new diapers full of poop - check

2 kiddos using play pen as a wrestling ring - check

1 broken picture frame - check

1 broken lamp - check

1 kid almost sent to the ER - check

1 mommy almost pulling her out - check

FOR BABYSITTING SERVICES CONTACT 555-5483

Halloween

Our new pet!

He kept stumbling because he couldn't see. Poor kid. He was like a drunk little puppy dog.

ALL DONE!! Poor kid. This was about 15 minutes into it. 

Joining the land of the living!!

I guess it could have been worse. I had the stomach flu yesterday. It didn't start out too bad but then it got bad. I forced myself to go vote last night. It was not an option to miss voting. However, by the time I got back home I thought that my body my just explode. I spent the rest of the night in bed and was sleeping by nine. Today I am doing better. I have had a little bit of soup, applesauce, and gatorade. My stomach is learning how to handle food all over again and I have a little bit more energy. I can't remember the last time I had the stomach flu. It really sucks. :) Anyway, now that I am feeling better maybe I will actually get those Halloween pics up. :) We'll see.

Just the beginning!

Ok here is the beginning of some the pictures I promised. Complimentary of my mom! Thank you so much mom. These pictures are priceless to me. :)

Trick or Treat

Halloween was craziness. I don't think we even left the house until about 6:45pm. There weren't a lot of kids around here which surprised me. I think Brody was still tired from the trip. He cried and had tantrums. We weren't out long and he was sleeping by 7:30pm. :) I do have pictures of him though and he looked pretty cute. I will post pictures soon. 

Saturday night we went to a Halloween party and Don and I got dressed up as well. That was fun. I haven't dressed up for Halloween in years. It made me feel like a kid again. I will say that after they voted for the costume winners I took most of my costume off, it was fun but it's itchy and uncomfortable. :) Those pictures are yet to come as well. :)

Finally a chance to say HELLO!

Well Brody and I got back last Thursday. As you can imagine with Halloween we have had a busy weekend. The trip was good. I am so glad that I went. It was fun to have so much time with my mom and for Brody to see his grandma and great grandparents. We spent most of the time packing and moving. However, I had a fun surprise. Tuesday night (last week) my mom and I stopped by my uncle Jeff's house. My cousin Celeste who lives in New Mexico was there. I didn't know she was even home visiting her dad. I think it had been about 4 years since I had seen her. Well I didn't have Brodes with me because we were on a trip of moving stuff. So we made plans for dinner with my uncle, aunt, and cousin. I also got to meet her boyfriend and they got to meet Brody. It's weird to think of my family meeting my son when he is a year a half already. Regardless I am so happy that they did. Coming home was bittersweet. I could have stayed longer if Don had been with me but I was ready to see my hubby. I definately wanted more time with my Uncle and his family and to see my other uncle. I had some family that I didn't get a chance to see and that is the part that makes me sad. It was hard to have time to do much of anything since my mom was moving. I don't know what she would have done if we hadn't come out. She certainly needed the help. My Grandma was awesome she was so helpful watching Brody and I am so thankful for that. Well I had stated before that Brody was a rockstar flying out to Idaho but coming home was a little different. It went fine but he was a little more stinkery. He had a complete meltdown on the plane, poor guy. He was so tired. I think he loved going to Idaho and being on an airplane but it definitely wore him out. Regardless it's good to be home and to get back to life. We took some pictures one day with gramps and grams, me, mom, and Brodes. I will post some of those soon. :)

Airplane + Touchdown = Football

Brodes and I are now in Idaho. Yesterday was the first day that we got any significant amount of packing done. That is why I am here if I never mentioned it. My mom is moving and needed help packing. Her husband is driving semi-truck and can't be home to help her. My grandparents are here but my poor mom has to move by the end of this month and her husband is delayed. At this point they are not sure if he is going to get home until the 31st and my mom doesn't have anyone to help her move. :( I feel awful for her and am praying that they will be able to get out in time. Otherwise they have to pay next months rent and she doesn't have the money for the next months rent because she spent extra money moving. 

Anyway I wanted to tell you about the first part of our trip. It was actually really fun traveling with Brody and my mom. If I hadn't already thought that Brody was the greatest kid ever he is even greater! He was a ROCK STAR traveler. :) When we left Minneapolis Brodes didn't cry he was excited. Loved the airplane. When we were taking off my mom and I clapped and said YEAH and Brody chimed in, threw his hands up in the air and yells YEAH!! It was pretty cute. 

He sat great in our laps during flight. We had a layover in Denver. As we were coming into Denver my mom tells Brody that the plane is going to touchdown... Brody once again threw his hands in the air but this time yells "Football"!! It was hilarious. He was excited to be in the airport terminal because he got to run around. He was in striped orange and blue footy pj's and was running up and down the terminal squealing and saying hi to everyone. He got a lot of attention. Back on the plane he sat in grandma's lap while we took off, looking out the window he waved and said bye bye during take off. My baby didn't fall asleep until the last 20 minutes of the flight. So basically he was up until midnight. He didn't complain or cry once. OF course once we landed he woke up by the time we got to my mom's house and got Brody to bed it was 2am minneapolis time. Poor baby. He was awesome though. I was a proud mommy. 

Since we got here we have been running errands and packing. Today we are going to Mountain Home Idaho. My mom is moving there. We have to move some stuff out there and then she has to rent storage. It's going to be a busy day. I miss you all. I will write more soon.

So Long, Farewell!

My week has been crazy but the time has come. Brody and I fly out tomorrow to Idaho with my mom! WHEW! I hope all goes well. Keep us in your prayers. I will be back in about a week. I am not bringing my camera! :( Too much other stuff to bring but hopefully my mom will take lots of pictures and I will get some to post. To my girlfriends, I miss you guys like crazy. I hope we can connect when I get back! I just have to add that Don and I haven't gotten much time together lately and tonight was wonderful. I got to go out alone with my hubby. We went and had dinner, walked around the mall, bought a game and went and sat at borders books and played it. It was so fun. Why isn't that being with someone somehow makes you miss them?? 

Goodnight, be back soon!

The CUTEST boy EVER!!!!!

There might be a dispute about this but I think he is the cutest ever and I know that there is a small following out there somewhere. This post if for those of you who are followers and those of you who dispute this well here's proof!! :0

TAKE A LOOK!!

So I created another logo. My sister and I worked on this one together. :) It was fun collaborating. Take a look here and tell me what you think. Should it stay or should it go??

My heart is breaking..

Our Sophie dog was attacked. I stated this somewhat casually in my last post about 31 things. She was attacked on Tuesday by another dog. It was in the evening and I am assuming Don didn't take her to the vet because of the price of emergency care. Initially I think we just thought it was a bite. Don kept saying that the vet will just clean it and put gauze on it and that will be that. I think that because he seemed not worried I wasn't really worried. We tried to get her an appointment this morning but they couldn't get her in until this afternoon. Roxy came with me. I didn't really want to take her by myself just in case I had to make some difficult decisions. The thing is, it's not good. She has a really bad infection. Her belly and breast is swollen something awful. She is in a lot of pain. The bite wound is bad as well. The dog ripped her skin to the point that it can't be stitched and Sophie is going to have to have surgery. :( Currently they will not operate until the infection goes away. So she is on antibiotics and I have to take her back to the vet on Friday. She isn't even the same dog right now. She won't lay down she just stands in one place with her head down. Don and I are thinking that she must be in more pain when she lays down. I don't even know what else to say. I am just so so so so sad. Sophie is the nicest and the best dog I have ever known. I hope with all my heart that the infection clears and we won't face any complications with surgery. If anything goes wrong there is no telling what will happen. We can't pay thousands of dollars to make her better. I love Sophie but she is Brodes best friend and I think that is what breaks my heart the most. :(

31 Things

Ok, so if you are reading this then I hope you will take the time to answer the 31 questions so I can learn more about you. Copy and paste it into a post, rewrite the answers to fit you and come back and let me know you do it! Thanks.


1. Where is your cell phone? hmmm... good question. It's around somewhere. =)
2. Where is your significant other? on the couch sleeping
3. Your hair color? brown with blond highlights that are growing out, doesn't that sound lovely.
4. Your mother? loyal
5. Your father? hardworking
6. Your favorite thing? laughing
7. Your dream last night? not sure
8. Your dream/goal? I would love to be able to do some traveling with my photography. Maybe someday when Brodes is a bit bigger. Destination Weddings, shooting artists for their CD's or other promotions.
9. The room you're in? my bedroom
10. Your hobby? exercising, photography, blogging,
11. Your fear? sadly enough I have many fears. However, I know that God is greater then any of them and someday I will be completely free.
12. Where do you want to be in six years? Living in a house that we own
13. Where were you last night? home working on pictures
14. What you’re not? I am NOT alot of things.
15. One of your wish list items? Nike running kit for my ipod
16. Where you grew up? Dawson, MN; Houston, TX, and a few places in Florida
17. The last thing you did? edited a gazillion pictures
18. What are you wearing? comfy pants and a t-shirt
19. Your TV? off
20. Your pet? Sophie Bella. She is currently injured. She was attacked by a dog tonight and we have to take her to the vet tomorrow. I am worried about her. She has had a lot of problems lately. :(
21. Your computer? is on my lap
22. Your mood?a little wired.
23. Missing someone? my sister
24. Your car? Toyota Camry
25. Something you’re not wearing? jewelry
26. Favorite store? I am a sucker for the Gap, especially Baby Gap
27. Your summer? too short.
28. Love someone? sure do.
29. Your favorite color? pink, blue, orange, red, brown, green, teal and so many others.
30. When is the last time you laughed? Tonight. My cell phone called my sister and I didn't realize it. So when I went to grab my phone out of my person I heard a voice saying hello coming from my purse and it scared me. Hahahahahaha.... oh geez.
31. Last time you cried? The question should be when was the last time I didn't cry. If you must know it was this morning. :)

WHOOPSIE!

Well apparently NOT ME MONDAYS are quick on the rules. I missed the linky so I happened to write for you fine folks! I hope you enjoyed this, I feel a bit sheepish! ;0 

I know what you are all thinking btw... "It is not me MONDAYS!" Yes yes I get it... I am going to bed now. 

NOT ME MONDAYS!!

Here is a fun little thing to try out. Read about NOT ME MONDAYS and share with us what you would never do!! ;)

I have read a few NOT ME MONDAYS today and I would never get confused and not understand that people were being sarcastic. I am way to quick for that, I would never
Take 15 minutes to understand NOT ME Mondays… NOPE NOT ME!! Did I mention that I would also never write a NOT ME monday at 12:38am when it is actually Tuesday.. I couldn't possibly do something like that.. NOT ME


Saturday I spent a fun filled day at the Mall of America hanging out and riding rides with my sister and nephews. My responsible loving step-dad took Brodes to get something to eat. These two absolutely adore each other by the way. I am telling you all this because I just want it to be clear that me being the completely mellow laid back person that I am would never fret or worry about a responsible loving PAPA taking his grandson and being gone a little longer then expected. That is just ridiculous and something I would never do, Nope NOT ME!

I went on a ride that takes you up really high and drops you really fast!! Have you ever been on one of these. Seriously!!! I wasn’t scared one bit, I would never have peed just a little because I was just too brave for this ride and I would never kick and scream like a freaked out five year old little girl. No way, NOT ME. (It’s true what they say, you loose just a little bit of bladder control after having a baby! I wouldn’t know from experience I
just want all of you to know.)

I would also never stay home all day in my jammies eating chocolate and crying. This is something I would never do before my period comes because I am just to rational. Nope I wouldn’t avoid exercising and take a nap instead. NOT ME!!

I think my eyes are starting to cross!!

I am working like a dog to try and get as many pictures edited before I leave for Idaho!! I seriously feel like my eyes are crossing right now. Any WHO... check out my blog.. there are 3 new shoots on there with updated pics! Enjoy!  JR PHOTOGRAPHY 

"Get your NOSE out of there!"

My weekend was crazy busy and wonderful. However this particular story deserved an entry all on it's own and well I will just have to tell you about the rest of my weekend in another post.

Saturday night my sister and I slept on an air mattress together on the floor. Before we went to bed I was teasing her that she better not cuddle up to me in the middle of the night thinking I was her husband. Who knew she was the one that was in for it. 

Apparently she couldn't get to sleep. She was laying there wide awake on her side facing me when all the sudden... WHAP right on her nose she got flicked! Then I said to her.. " Get your nose out of there!" ( I have to say that this probably isn't exact but as close as I can remember it being told to me.)

Then I smacked her on her nose again... a little harder this time and told her again... "I SAID get your NOSE out of there!" She was shocked. She looked at me and she said "What?" Apparently I told her that she knew what I was talking about. I laid back down and went back to sleep. After being abused by me she decided that she better roll over and face the other direction. A little later I sat straight up in bed and she was afraid to move, she didn't want to get socked in the kisser again! Poor girl... I told her that if she wouldn't stick her nose in other peoples business I wouldn't have had to take such drastic action! :) Hehehehe...

The power of saying "I CAN"!!

We have all heard the story of the little train that said I think I can I think I can! How much does it really sink in. For years I have had it in my head that I am not a runner and I could never be a runner. However, when I met Don and he ran my interest was tweaked. Partly because it's something that he really enjoys and has always wanted a partner to run with. Anyway, I think since I have been exercising my mind set has changed a little bit. I slowly have started to run with him but it's been pretty sporadic. One day we went four miles but it was walking and running. The farthest I had run without stopping up until recently was about 3/4 of a mile. That's nothing but I had it in my head that I could never run a mile. Like I said I think it all started to change since I have been going to the gym. It was just a decision that I made that I wanted exercise to be a regular part of my life. I definately want to loose weight but more then that I want to be healthy and I want Brody to have an example of regular exercise so that hopefully he will grow up enjoying exercising. Anyway, I have worked hard for months now and have built up to an hour on the elliptical. It feels good. So one night Don and I decided to run. It felt like it was out of no where and I ran a mile and half. Wheew!! I went over a mile. It was like I jumped the I couldn't hurdle and went above and beyond. The next day I went two miles. Since then it keeps going up. Today I went 4 miles. :) WAAHOOOO!!! I don't think I have ever thought that I could run 4 miles. My body feels strong. Regardless of running I am learning something that is greater then exercise. I fully understand what it does to you when you tell yourself you can't do something. You won't ever be able to because you have already decided that you can't. In some ways I have chosen to exercise and I do it on my own. I go to the gym almost everyday without someone telling me to go. I choose to exercise for a full hour and give it my all, I don't quit because I have made a decision to make it a regular part of my life. In some ways I think that choosing to exercise and persevering is harding then choosing God everyday. Then allowing God to be in control of my life, my heart, my mind, and my soul. I realize that saying I CAN and I WILL is all I need to do and yet some how I make it way harder then it needs to be. This has really impacted me spiritually and it all started by choosing to exercise. Isn't it amazing the way God teaches us things about ourselves and about him. If anyone of you is out there and there is something that you feel you need to do but you keep telling yourself you can't, try and figure out why! Stop saying I can't and just try. I think you will realize YOU CAN do more then you expected. ;)

PS. In the big picture I also don't think I exercise on my own. I think that God gave me the desire so that he could teach me something greater. 

He stuck his fingers in my soup!

Brody and I love to eat chicken and rice soup. YUM! Especially with crackers. So today to appease him while I was getting the soup ready I gave him some plain multi grain crackers. I started to share the soup with him and after a few minutes he looks at me takes his cracker and dips it into the soup!! His little fingers and all went right in, then he proceeds to let it sit there so that the crackers soaks up some of the juices. He did this over and over until his crackers were gone. Clearly he likes his crackers in the soup! It totally cracks me up that he knew enough to just let it soak up the juice. However I am going to have to work with him on getting his fingers in there. Kind of gross! I did wash his hands but still. I would be mortified if he ever stuck his fingers in a strangers soup... not to mention it might be hot. Anyway I am started to babble but I thought it was a funny story! TTFN!!

Would YOU eat a strangers gaucomole??

I am a nerd because I talk about gaucamole way too much on my blog. Who does that? Seriously if you don't know this by now, WELL then you must be a newbie. Anyway I had to write this story because I thought it was a little odd. 

Saturday I was at Como Park and Conservatory in St. Paul. I needed to eat before I had my next shoot. I ordered a taco salad and the guy gave me barely a tsp of gaucamole! :( So I kindly asked if he could give me a little more. He was great and he did. Then the lady in front of me says you can have my gaucamole, I can't stand the stuff. I didn't reply... what am I going to say, it felt weird taking her food off her plate. So I go and find myself and seat. I start mixing up and eating my salad and guess who comes and sits at my table. Little did I know I sat down with the people she had come with. We talked a little, very nice person, and then she brings it up again.. "Do you want my gaucamole." I politely declined. Something in me could not bring myself to a strangers food off her plate. I think she was just being polite and it probably would have been fine but still... a little weird! 

All sorts of things...

Last weekend was BUSY with a capital B!! I had 4 photo shoots! At some point those will be on my photography blog. (Probably in the next day or two.) It was really fun. Saturday I had two family portrait sessions, and an engagement session. On Sunday I shot Sr. portraits. It was a beautiful weekend. The weather couldn't have cooperated any better. 

Now I am gearing up for next weekend. I have so much that has come up. First of all I had asked my mom if there was anyway she could come to MN this weekend to watch Brody while I went to a photography class. She is an owner operator semi driver. She is able to request loads to places in the states. Well it worked out and she is coming here with her husband this weekend. Well since she is coming my sister, brother-n-law and there three kids wanted to come as well and see my mom. It's not for sure yet but it's possible we are all staying at our little place! So it's going to be fun. My mom mentioned to me that she is going to go back on the truck only to come off the truck to go back home to Idaho to pack. Her and her husband (aka: Papa G) are moving. Before I knew it she decided to stay off the truck with us for a week and then fly out to Idaho. She also asked if Brody and I would want to come with her because she could use some help packing. It's crazy because she brought it up yesterday, we decided on the dates last night and in two weeks I will be flying off to Idaho. :) I am going for about 5 days. So not too long but it will be enough to help my mom get some work done.  I will also get to see my grandparents and they will get to meet Brody. 

Idaho is really beautiful. It's going to be interesting taking a trip with Brody. I am a little nervous about that part. If anyone has any input on traveling with a toddler I would greatly appreciate it. I would also love your prayers as we are traveling. I really hope that we won't have any flight delays or cancellations... I think that would make me a nervous wreck. Anyway it will be interesting. I will probably be blogging less after this weekend because my mom will be here and then I will be gone to Idaho. WHOOOOHOO!!

My little winkie!

Don winks at me all the time. Now he has taken to winking at Brodes. I don't know what it is but I love it when he winks at me. 

I think it is cute that he winks at Brody too! Anway, today we were sitting at the table eating lunch and apparently Don winked at Brody and he winked back. Don got soooo excited... did you see that did you seeee that!? I did not. So we both now sitting there winking at him and HE DID IT!!! He winked today and it was the CUTEST!! 

sweet moments

Our bedroom, mine and Don's, is a place that I don't really let Brody play in. There is too much stuff for him to get into and it's not things that are safe. So I usually keep the door shut. Certainly there are times that he follows me in there. I let him mess around and then redirect him out. Well today he follows me into the bedroom and when I went in to redirect him he ran off. Our quilt was laying on the floor because I had stripped the bed this morning. He goes and falls down on it. I thought for a split second about picking him up and carrying him out but in an instant I decided to plop myself down on the floor beside him. In return I got a one in a million smile. We played a little bit on the floor. Then he got up and started running around again. So I tried directing him out of the room again and he did the same thing, so I layed down beside him again! The next time he got up he ran right out of the room. It was so precious. We have so little time when are children are small to cherish those precious sweet moments. We have choices that can create those moments or we can get back to work without realizing the opportunity that we missed. I am thankful that today I made the choice to create such a precious moment with my Brodes.

mm....mmm.... good!

After having a hairy morning I decided that one way or another I was going to take a bath ALONE tonight!! Don got home from work and we had one of my favorite meals... grilled cheese and tomato soup! :) I told him that I really wanted to get some sort of exercise in today. I could have gone to the gym but I kind of wanted to go for a run. So Don and I bundled up Brodes and we went for a run tonight. We have done this off and on through our marriage and I have always wanted to run with him. It felt so good, and it was fun. It was dark out and a little cool, and the air smelled completely of fall. I love the smell of wood burning.  

Well like that wasn't fun, then I came home and I got what I had been really wanting all day! A bath, and I was a little naughty because I treated myself to a glass of wine! I tell ya, nothing like a bubble bath and a glass of wine. :) 

Maybe I should take a hint!

Brody had a new discovery today! :) We didn't go anywhere today. It seems we both might be coming down with colds. Regardless I felt the itch to exercise today but didn't really want to take him to the daycare at the Y. So we didn't go anywhere all day. I kept thinking I might exercise so I had on exercise clothes and did not shower. Sounds pretty sexy right? Well Brodes and I were playing on the floor when he started to run his hand down my leg... do you see where I am going with this? He keeps doing it and then he tries grabbing at my hair stubbles.. that's right... he discovered my hairy legs!! 

A Little more rational

For several days maybe it's been more then a week, I am not even sure anymore. Brody has been waking up every night in the middle of the night, sometimes several times. He is usually a good sleeper. I haven't slept through the night since before last Friday and I am thinking it's been more then a week. I think this more I hit bottom. I was up till midnight working because I have procrastinated a bit with some picture editing and am now getting caught up. Among gathering some information for some stuff. I just had a lot to do so I finally crawled into bed around midnight. This has been the other problem I don't go to bed at a decent enough time. So when 2, 3, 4 o'clock in the morning roll around I can't handle getting out of bed to take care of poor Brodes. I can't hardly walk straight I am so tired. This morning he woke up at 4:45 and wouldn't go back to sleep. I was so irrational in my thinking. I don't function with little sleep. Don slept, he had been up until 2 working on a paper for school. Brody finally went back to sleep around 8am and I followed about 20 minutes later. We slept until about ten. So I am feeling a tad better. However, I am so exhausted. I need just one night of sleeping at least 8 hours without waking up!! I pray that this comes soon...

My Mom

My mom and her husband having been semi-drivers for I don't even know how long! MOM??? Anyway, she has a blog and she shared about something that happened to her recently and you can check out the story here. I think it's just craziness. I think that as a truck driver you would have many interesting stories to tell and I hope that she will continue to share them with us. Also she is an amazingly talented photographer! Check out her blog here.

The silly things we say..

We have all done it, had a conversation with someone and one or the other person completely misses what is being said and it makes for a funny. Well here is a recap of a conversation that Donny and I had this morning. I will preface this by letting you know that poor Brodes has a yeast infection. :( poor little guy.

Me: Did you change Brody's diaper yet this morning.

Don: Yep, I sure did.

Me: Did you put his medicine on him.

Don: No, I didn't

Me: Did you make sure that he was good and dry before putting the other diaper on? You know when I change his diaper I will use it like a fan to help dry his bottom and he thinks it's funny.

Don: His diaper was so full this morning that if I would have used it like a fan he would have gotten wet with pee.

 (Me looking at him like GROSSS....)

Me: I DON'T use the dirty diaper, I use the CLEAN diaper!

Don: OH....

"A Woman and her God."

"A Woman and her God" is a wonderful book that I am reading that was given to me by my friend Sarah for my birthday. I have to say that I received wonderful, thoughtful gifts for my birthday but this has been my favorite. The book is a collaboration of authors, one of them is Beth Moore. Beth Moore is amazing. I am so excited to be doing a study by her in a couple of weeks with some women from my church. 

Anyway the first chapter is about loving God more then life. This has been something I have thought and prayed about A LOT over the last week. I really love life. I have had to wrap my mind around if I love God more then life and how I can love him more then life. She writes out Psalm 63. This is a great psalm. The first sentence is God you are my God. I think that loving God more then life obviously has to start by knowing him and recognizing that he really is OUR God, your God and my God. Also that God loves us personally and he belongs to each one of us as Abba Father. I have had a new perspective on God this week in the sense of viewing him as my Abba Father. When I consider who a father is in the perspective of humanity God is all that and more, and it has helped me realize that there is no reason to not love him more then I love my life. I could go on and on about this book. The chapter of Self concept was life changing. In the chapter about Self Concept the author talks about what a healthy self concept looks like and what an unhealthy self concept looks like. She expressed that her  whole life she thought that something was wrong with her, that she was weird or different then everyone else. I have shared this same feeling with my sisters and as an adult have still struggled with this but I honestly thought that I was the only person who thought this. I thought it was weird or different thinking. I didn't think anyone would ever understand and that alone made me feel different. So reading this from a woman who is an author of a devotional book was huge for me. It also got me reflecting on the ways that Satan lies to us. Seriously I think that is the one lie I fall for over and over again, I am alone and no one could possibly understand how I feel. Amidst reading all this is when she talks about God being Abba Father and that she never really had a father figure growing up. I have struggled so much in my relationship with my dad in the last few years. It still hurts now as I am thinking about it. I will tell my dad that I love him and he doesn't even say I love you back. He doesn't like to visit and he rarely calls. However, I know in my head that he loves me. What I learned is that I need to recognize God as my father. The one that I look for to receive love, support, encouragement, guidance, and wisdom. He needs to fill my tank and when I do this it frees up the people in my life to be human and make mistakes. They aren't responsible for meeting my needs, anything that they say or do for me is above and beyond because I have allowed God to be everything that I need. Again I can't say enough about this book. I can't imagine that I won't read it over and over again because I know that I will probably need to be reminded of the things that I learned but I am learning so much about God and about myself. 

WORDS WORDS WORDS AND MORE WORDS

Turtle, Tickle, Cow, Sit down, and I don't even know what, are all words that Brody has said this week! It was weird, on a rare occasion he would repeat a word and all of the sudden one night I was reading a book to him and he just started repeating the words that I was saying. He has been doing it a lot ever since. I can't complain, I love it! I have a feeling though that once this kid starts really talking... he isn't going to stop. :)

I'M STUCK...

remember how a REALLy LONG time ago I was happily singing about losing 12lbs... WELLLLLLL I haven't lost anymore weight.

"It doesn't matter, It doesn't matter, It doesn't matter!!" This is me trying to not focus on the weight. However, I would like to loose more weight I would like to weigh a little less then where I am at but I feel really good about where I am and what I have accomplished. I honestly can see me exercising regularly for a long time because I have created a habit and I really enjoy it. I couldn't imagine enjoying exercise but I do and just because of that I guess I could say that maybe I'm not stuck. :)

GAUCAMOOOOLLLLEEE!!!

I love gaucamole! Did you know this about me?? It's one of my favorite things. My mom used to make gauc from scratch growing up. Well Saturday when we were at Don's sister house she had gaucamole there. mmmmm.....! I was eating corn chips and dipping them in the gauc. Well Brody was sitting in my lap and sees me doing this. He then grabs a chip and dips it in the gaucamole. He tasted it and right away gets another chip and dips it and then tastes it and dips it again and then again... before I know he takes his hand and grabs a handful and shoves it in his face!!! Hahahahaha... I guess he loves gaucamole too. :) 

Midnight Madness

Our weekend was fun and busy. Friday night we went to a fundraiser for Don's cousin. They had a dinner and an Elvis impersonator. Brody stayed with Friends and we went to pick him up afterwards. I was surprised that he went to bed fairly easy when we got home. Typically if he sleeps for awhile and then wakes up he thinks it's time to play. We think this is what may have happened on Saturday but we can't be too sure!

Saturday I got to escape and go to the MALL! I love the mall. The shops, all the people, the smell of naughty food!  It's great. 

I got home shortly after five and we still needed to eat dinner. Don wanted to go to his sister's house in Andover. It takes about 30 minutes together. By the time we got out of the house it was like 6:30. We were just going to hang out and visit. She didn't say anything about making food for us so that is why we ate before we left. Well when we got there she had a ton of food made. She made taquitos, quesadilla's, she had chips and gaucomole, mango salsa... I don't remember if there was anything else. So we all ATE again. Don gave Brodes a taquito. I didn't think that this was a great idea because I thought they were just a little spicy but he didn't think so. Anyway we put Brody in his playpen to sleep so we could watch a movie. He went to bed fairly easy. When the movie was over we walk him up right away and started to get ready to head home. It was about midnight! Well we ended up continuing to talk while Brody started to wake up and play. We finally get in the car to head home, I thought for sure he would fall asleep on the way home. NOPE.. still awake when we get home. So we get ready for bed. Sophie  , our dog, is making a weird gagging noise. Great. Don decided to put her in the laundry room for the night. Off to bed we all went, or atleast we thought we were going to bed! It's 1 am by the way. Brody is screaming his head off. So Don gets up and goes and checks on him. Meanwhile the dog is gagging something terrible and we can hear her in our bedroom. It sounds like she might be dying. It was really awful. When she wasn't gagging she was whining and hitting the door. So I grab a chair and put it in front of the door so that she at least will stop scratching the door. BTW, when I went in to put the chair in front of the door she had thrown up, x3! Nasty. Meanwhile, Don is rocking Brody. Appparently little big man was gassy! Hmmmm.. so is the gas keeping him up or was it because we woke him. and WHY would he have gas??? Spicy food maybe?? 

So Don and I head back to bed about 2:15am. I fell asleep around 2:30. I woke up at 3:30 from hearing Brody crying. I get up and Don and Brody are rocking again. Apparently I fell asleep but Brody did not and Don had been up with him. Needless to say the dog was still gagging and whining. Don just looks at me and says "WHAT is with this night." We all finally went to sleep at 5am and slept until 10am!! It was MADNESS! Sophie threw up ALL over the laundry room and is still gagging. Something clearly is not right with our dog and we are not sure what it is. We think maybe she ate something and got it stuck in her throat. We really just don't know. The mystery with Brody is still a mystery but he literally was up from 12am - 5am. Needless to say we were exhausted yesterday and didn't do much of anything. :)

Some changes!

Clearly I changed my blog. As you know this was not an easy task for me! However I did add some things but they are at the bottom. I added "followers". So if you follow my blog you can sign up for that and let me know it! :) THANKS!!

His Little Hands

His little hands unfolding the laundry

His little hands knocking on the door.

His little hands all over the mirror

His little hands full of spaghetti

His little hands banging on the high chair

His little hands trying to do everything mommy and daddy do

His little hands holding onto my pant leg

His little hands hugging my neck

His little hands holding my face

His little hands holding my hands.

Oh how I love his chubby little hands.

Geeeeezzz... what are you? BRILLIANT?

So as you can see I redesigned my blog!! It's absolutely ridiculous how hard it is! It's not exactly the way I would want it but I think it looks a little better with a personal touch! So to those of you who design blogs, or those of you who have customized your own I give you props because sizing the picture just right and working with them within the templates that they give you is a big pain in the.......... BUTT!! :) 

GO TO FACEBOOK!

So if you want to check out the pictures from my birthday I recommend you just go to facebook! Sorry but I don't feel like trying to figure out why these ridiculous pictures don't want to load onto my blog! :) 

Urrr... after all that work.

I finally uploaded and edited some of the pictures from when we went to the apple orchard. I have been wanting to get some of them uploaded and I finally take the time to do it and the upload gives me a bad error!!! WHATEVER.. I am going to bed and you all will have to wait to see the pictures. TTFN!

My baby's coming home to me!

Don has been at a men's retreat all weekend. I know that it's only been 51 hours since he left!! :) BUT I miss him so much and I can't wait to have a break. Hehehee.. I am ancy as he literally should be walking through the door any minute. 

I got to see my best friend Sarah this weekend. My sister who is another one of my best friends. I had some really good time with God and learned that I could survive a weekend on my own. I even slept all night by myself one night. I know that this probably sounds small to some of you but I have a phobia of being home alone at night. It was daunting but I woke up feeling victorious!! :) It was a big step in my faith with God and I praise him for giving me the courage to get through a lonely night. 

The Spoiler..

Today September 18th, 2008 I turned 32. :) It was fun to see your votes for what we should do to celebrate, even though I already knew before I put the poll up. There was two that were probably tied in my desires which was to get a facial or go to a hotel for a night with Don. I would love to go away with my husband. Regardless I can't complain. My Don is a spoiler from beginning to end. First of all he took the day off of work. :) That in itself is thoughtful. I got up this morning  and exercised and got ready for the day and we headed off to the apple orchard. It was a beautiful day. We ran around and took some pictures, ate apples, ice cream and donuts. Aren't we naughty!! :) We bought fresh apples and apple butter and then ran off to Taylor Falls. Basically we walked around the town and looked through the little shops, we also bought fresh vegies at the farmers market. Then came the downer!! Seriously it was awful, I was humilated. We went out to dinner at AppleBee's. This was mainly for convience. Do you KNOW what happens at AppleBee's on your birthday? The staff all come out singing and clapping... the song said something about getting old, turning red, and I don't know what else but I don't think I have ever been more embarrassed. Seriously I just turned away from them put my hand up and couldn't look even of them in the face. I thought I was going to throw up. We ended the night at Target running around, which was kind of putting us all over the edge but it was still fun because I ended up returning one of Don's gifts and I got a CD and sunglasses. Anyway it was a great day with my family and to top it all off I got A TON of emails, phone calls, messages with lots of birthday wishes and singing!!!!! THANK YOU for thinking of me. :) 

Prayer for Brody~

For the last several months Brody's hemoglobin has been low. I haven't been real concerned because it's pretty much normal in my family to have a low hemoglobin and it's always been normal for me to have a slightly low hemoglobin. The Doc wanted to put him on iron because they tend to suggest iron with a low hemoglobin. However due to family history I didn't feel peaceful about this and suggested that they test his ferratin levels. This would tell us whether or not his iron is low. His ferratin levels were slightly low but just barely. Since then the Dr. called and left a message stating they want to do further testing. Today I spoke to the doctor directly because Don and I didn't want to do more testing unless it was absolutely necessary. Basically the doctor feels that it's important to proceed. We aren't really sure what they are looking for. I know that they want to take a closer look at his red cells. I think we both are a little scared about what this could mean. If we knew what they were looking for maybe it would be less scary but the unknown takes your mind to places that are unmentionable. Next Wednesday we will both be taking Brody into the lab for more blood tests. Don and I know that Brody belongs to God, we place him in his hands and trust that God is in control of the situation and Brody's life. I love the verse Jeremiah 29:11 " For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to proser you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

We would greatly appreciate your prayers. We don't want to just talk about trusting God but that we will completely trust him and sometimes it might be day to day or minute by minute. This might be nothing and that is what we are hoping for but like I said it's the unknown that can be haunting. Thank you for your prayers, love and support. 

JR :)

Creating a rucus!

Today I was on the elliptical, happily watching The View. The t.v. keeps me distracted from my aching back, jelloey legs, and the disgusting sticky wet feeling from being drenched in sweat. :) AND yet I keep going back. Whoopi G. was talking about how crazy people are for not evacuating their homes when a life threatening storm is heading right for them; AKA: hurricane Ike. 

Her rant was funny and of course as I chuckled out loud I hear another boisterous laugh come from this cute pudgy gray haired man next to me. He noticed me laughing as well and got rather excited, which made us both laugh harder. We made somewhat of a rucus. :) Seriously people were looking. However Whoopi is just so funny. This cute old man was rather excitable and very talkative. Then there was me trying to smile and be polite while practically hyperventilating trying to talk to him back. He loved that I was watching the View and was telling me that it gets him through his work out! Barely able to speak I reiterated the same thing but I don't think he could hear me because I was breathless and who knows maybe he was hard of hearing. I am sure we were quite the site.