A little sunshine on a cloudy day.

No matter how sad I am, this face brings me a smile.
She loves wearing my shoes around the house! She is already a pro with the high heels!
She pooped in the bathtub again tonight. She was a little scared again, but it didn't bother me. I just wanted to comfort her. Those tiny little turds seemed so miniscule in the current events.
As I sat on the couch and cried, she kept handing me the towel to try to help wipe the tears from my face. That only made me want to cry more.

In a minute....

your life can change. One phone call can change everything. Everything that seemed important, no longer is. Everything that seems stressful and not worth dealing with, now seems meaningless. Everything we took for granted, now seems like I should take another second to love the moment for what it is.
One phone call. A friend of ours was killed today in a car accident. An ex-boyfriend of Holly's, who had become a wonderful friend to her over the years. Always funny, smiling and wanting to have a good time. Always honest and completely in love with my sister, even though he would never admit it to anyone. A good guy lost his life today...putting my life in perspective. I haven't been to a funeral in probably 10 years....for my ex-boyfriends great-grandfather.....and before that my grandparents back in the 80's. Three funerals (only 1 of which I remember) in 31 years. I've been extremely lucky when it comes to this part of life and death. I'm having a hard time dealing with this and probably mostly b/c I know Holly is devastated. I don't want to see my sister hurting and this is going to bring her so much sadness.
RIP Brendan. We will miss your smile and laugh and happiness you brought to those around you.

Random: part 2

Biggest loser final weigh in was today! I gained .6 pounds (which was expected), so I ended up 9.4 pounds down and in 5th place. The winner got almost $500 in winnings! We lost 182 pounds as a group! I think we are going to do another challenge in the next month or so!

I got my hairs cut and highlighted tonight. Another expensive trip to the salon, but I love how she cuts my hair! I now have thin, blond hair!

We are beginning to wonder what little person took over the body of our baby girl? The child that we have now is....crazy? weird? loud? hyper? She gets so loud and excited over EVERYTHING! The letter P....she screams P and laughs, like it is soooo funny!!! What does a cow say? MOOOOOOOO, hahahaha....so funny!
She is so girl in some ways, but a rough and tough girl (or sturdy, as my mom calls her!). She likes to wrestle on the ground and dance around the living room with dad. She likes to throw around the ball but carry her purse while 'talking' on her phone. She's got a beer gut and a ponytail. Basically, she's awesome!

Man vs Food. We are watching it right now and I just saw the most awesome place ever! Voodoo Donuts in Portland, Oregon. I need some of these donuts, if anyone has a way to get me these donuts let me know! This place is a little piece of heaven on earth for me. I could've cried seeing the amount of love and jelly that went into these donuts. I love donuts.

Random

- I don't like having a husband that works construction in the winter b/c that means our laundry doubles!
underwear
long underwear
jeans
socks...sometimes 2 pair depending on how cold it is and if he has to work outside
long sleeve shirt (sometimes over a wife-beater)
t-shirt
sweatshirt..........
Every day all of these items are worn. Now you are probably thinking like I do....do all of these clothes REALLY get dirty? Shouldn't he be able to wear them more than once? And like me, you would be wrong. Just ask him.

- Our friends Lane and Rachel are having their baby girl tomorrow. They have had a rough year but they are still going strong. We are so happy for them and can't wait to meet her!

- Two weeks from today we will be on our cruise ship drinking something with an umbrella in it. We are looking forward to getting away and enjoying ourselves but it is going to be so hard to leave Presley for one whole week! It was hard to leave her last January for 3 days when we went to Vegas and in February when I was in Tempe for work! :( We have so many things to do before then and we both have very busy work weeks ahead of us! So maybe I should get off the computer and do something useful!

- I think I married my father. They both like to watch too many car shows, like to spend time organizing their garages, spoil their daughters rotten and like to have 'things'. They talk about tools, cars and whatever other weird things they both know about. My daddy is a super good guy so I guess I'm pretty lucky to find a guy like him! :)

Merry Christmas!!!

So Friday I got up and went to work, despite the crappy weather the drive wasn't too bad b/c there weren't that many cars out since it was Christmas Eve. We had a breakfast potluck at work (full of cinnamon rolls, breakfast casseroles and donuts....my best dream and worst nightmare) and then they ordered pizza for lunch! I could feel the pounds coming back on with full force!
I did get to leave at 2:30 which was nice so we were able to get to Earlham for Steve's family Christmas about 4 pm. Presley got so many nice things and was able to play with all her cousins.
She even liked to play with the boy toys, including my least favorite WWE men.

Santa Claus came the next morning and brought Presley too many things including this kitchen set! She didn't want to open any other gifts, she just wanted to play with the pots and pans and open and shut the oven! It was so cute!

Grandma Becky has a piano that P loves to play, so Santa brought her a miniture version in the form of a keyboard! She was loving it!

After we had our Santa fun we headed over to my parents house for my family Christmas.

Look how cute Holly and Boston are! Boston loves smiling at his Aunt Holly!

Samantha was nice enough to play with P and read her some books!

It was a coincidence that all of us girls wore green but we got our picture taken together with the necklaces that my grandma made us! We took about 20 pictures and not one of them turned out good, this was the best we got.

We ate too much, exchanged lots of good presents (including a Bible Themed Word Search, don't ask!) and played some games. It was nice day to spend time with the family!

P got a table and chair set from Grandma and Grandpa....she loves it!

And of course she drags the chairs over to her kitchen to sit and play! She pretended to wash her hands in the sink and then ran to the real kitchen to grab a towel to dry her hands!

She took a plate of eggs and peas over to her table to eat, then went running into our kitchen saying 'for, for' and pointed at the dishwasher....she wanted a fork to eat with. I gave her one of her fake forks and she ran back to the table and tried to the fork the food! She doesn't quite get the meaning of pretend or make-believe yet, but it is cute to watch!

We've been hanging out, playing, cleaning and running errands all day, but the weekend has been so great! I hope everyone got to spend good, quality time with their families like we did with ours! Holidays need to happen more often so we can see everyone more! :)

Walking in a winter wonderland....

Well according to the forecast we will be tomorrow morning though it is 9:30 pm and it hasn't started snowing yet?!

Wednesday's biggest loser challenge was pretty good, lost .8 pounds which takes me to 10 lbs exactly lost. Still 5th place. Not too shabby.

Tonight we had a surprise 30th birthday party for our friend Jared. His wife Lisa, who is 8 and a half months pregnant kinda threw it together last minute a couple weeks ago but it worked out and he was surprised! It was nice to get together with everyone before the holidays and the baby arrives! Presley was friendly and 'talked' to everyone, it was good to see her be social!

Presley loves commercials! It seems the insurance commericals really catch her eye (Travelers insurance with the wild animals, the woodchuck Geico commerical and especially Flo with Progressive). I think if we had a TV station made up of only commercials, she would be set!

The Dilemma

So when Steve and Brock did their private investigating a couple weeks ago, they were sitting in their car talking about the kids. Steve mentioned that 'they don't talk about their kids in the movies like this. Do you think Martin Lawrence and Will Smith talked about their kids in the movie Bad Boys?'..............first of all....I thought it was funny they were taking their private investigating SO seriously AND that they were comparing themselves to Will Smith and Martin Lawrence!
I recently saw a movie premier for The Dilemma starring Kevin James and Vince Vaughn. Now when you look at the previews for this movie there is a little private investigating going on....so I'm thinking the comparison with Steve and Brock is definitely better with Kevin and Vince than it is with Will and Martin.....just saying! :)

Aluminum foil

So you might have noticed in the previous post that my parents cover the table in aluminum foil. This is normal, as my family has a slight obsession with foil. I would go so far, as to say we almost have a lifetime supply.
My dad gets the huge commercial size packages of aluminum foil, which equals about 88.8 miles worth of foil. We got a roll about 3 years ago....and we have many years left. So why not cover the table in foil, makes for easy clean up!

Busy Bees

Friday night I had my work Christmas party at West Glen Cab. It was fun, I knew I couldn't be hung over on Saturday so I didn't drink too much and I didn't get home until almost 1:30 am! The 25-year-old me would be sooo proud, the 31-year-old me just wanted to eat and sleep on Saturday!
Steve was working on my parents kitchen so I thought I could just nap when Presley did. I should've expected that this would be one of those days that she just talks in her crib for 3 hours, so neither one of us slept.
We had Holly's 30th birthday party at Raccoon River Brewery that night! It was great, there were so many friends and family that came out to share this day with her! It was wonderful to see everyone and be able to catch up with those friends that we hadn't seen in a while! I know Holly had a great time and appreciated everyone coming out especially during this busy time of year!
This license plate has been passed down through our family for years! My aunt had it and gave it to her son Lee when he turned 30 and then I got almost 2 years ago and now it's Holly's turn to pass it on to Samantha (in 4 years!).

Today we had Holly's birthday lunch at Johnny's Italian Steakhouse! YUMMY! One of our absolute favorites!!! Holly had a $100 gift certificate to help pay for our meals too! Seems odd that the birthday girl was in a sense, paying for our meals! :) Thanks Holly!
Then we went to my parents for presents and to decorate Christmas cookies!
Here's Mr Boston, looking cute and being good as always!


Presley loved helping decorate cookies. She loved putting sprinkles on and then licking them off.

Grandma gave Presley one of her Christmas presents early, an apron that has her name on it! It is so adorable! Despite her reaction, she really does love it too! :) and can't wait to wear it the next time she helps dad cook!

Tonight we had Christmas carolers come to the door! I've never had carolers come by! It was the Urbandale Baptist church not too far from our house and it helped put us in the holiday spirit! Another busy week ahead of us, but I think our Christmas shopping is done. except for each other but that's ok neither one of us really needs anything!

Five Question Friday...on Sunday

Obviously I'm not very good about posting on Fridays!

1. Do you regift... and if so, do you have a regifting horror story around it? I don't think I have, but I think I've rec'd some regifts. I won't name names but we actually really like it!

2. Do you know what you are getting for Christmas this year? No, and I've been terrible at giving ideas for what I want. So I won't be disappointed if I don't get what I want!

3. Who brings the most gifts in your family... you or Santa? Santa! And we still get gifts from Santa at my parents house. Steve always grew up getting one big present from Santa so he thinks we are weird. Most of our presents were from Santa except the boring stuff like socks and underwear!

4. What store do you love to buy jeans from? Probably Von Maur or any other place that sells Silver jeans. They can be a little pricey but Von Maur and that why their NO interest credit card comes in handy!

5. Christmas meal? Recently we've been doing mostly snacks and stuff which I love but then I always feel like crap for eating so much junk! I think we are beginning to realize that we don't need to have food for 20 people since there are only 8 of us!

Not much going on here

It seems like I have a list of things to get done, but I just don't have the willingness to get out and do it! I think it is a combination of the weather and not wanting to deal with people. Oh well, it will all get done eventually.

Our Biggest Loser weigh in was yesterday, I lost .4 pounds. It's not gaining so I can't complain. The final two weeks are ahead of us and both weekends are going to be full of food and drinks so I know that is a bad sign for me. I'm down a total of 9.2 pounds and am still hanging on to 5th place!

We missed our last waterbabies class last night. Recently P has been throwing fits when she has to change her clothes or get in the car, and both happened before we even got ready for swimming so we knew it was going to be a struggle. It took both of us to pin her down to change her diaper....like wrestling a small animal!....and by the time she was ready to allow us to change her...it was too late. It was fun while it lasted and we'll look to do it again in February or March so we can get Little-Miss-Busybody out of the house!

Five Question Friday...on Saturday!

1. Do you open presents on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day? Growing up we always got to open one present on Christmas eve and the rest in the morning. Now we do Steve's family Christmas on Christmas eve and my parents Christmas day, it works out great. No fighting about holidays or having to travel to 2 places on the same day!

2. What is your favorite Christmas candy/cookie? There is no way I can just pick one thing! I always make puppy chow and the peanut butter cookies with the kisses in the middle around Christmas, but really I'll eat about everything. I'm not picky!

3. What is the worst Christmas gift you've ever recieved? I don't remember exactly, but I remember we'd alwasy dread opening presents from one of our aunts (no names will be mentioned!) You just knew you were going to get a really ugly sweater or something you would never, ever wear!

4. What Christmas song do you love? I definitely can't pick just one! Josh Groban singing any Christmas song has to be up there though!

5. How many trees do you put up? Just one (do people normally put up more than 1?) We bought a fake one a couple years ago. We both like the idea of the real trees, but honestly we are too lazy and it is too much work. Our tree was included in the items to get flooded in our basement this summer, so we weren't sure the lights would still work. But they do and it looks great! (especially since P leaves it alone!)

Countdown to Christmas

Thursday we had Steve's work Christmas party. Not holiday party, Christmas party! :) Holly watched Presley for us and Steve and I headed to West Glen Cab to have a few drinks before the party. It was nice to spend an hour just the two of us and we have no problem carrying on conversations NOT about Presley! :) The party was at the Holiday Inn with Johnny's Italian Steakhouse catering it. It was so nice, I love the people and we are so lucky he was able to get in with this company that has done well in these tough times (especially for a construction company!).
Last night Steve went and did some more Christmas shopping for us. Presley and I were going to go, but she was less than cooperative when trying to get her in the car seat. So we hung out at at home.
Today has been a lot of hanging out thanks to the weather! (and I want to take this time to thank November! November with no snow is greatly appreciated!) Laundry, cleaning, Presley and I in our pajamas all day. We did try to take Presley's picture by the christmas tree so we can send out christmas cards....again, she was less than cooperative. No sitting or standing still, no smiles, the exact reasons we aren't paying someone to take her picture!
Steve is out Brock tonight. They are playing private investigators. They are traking down a girl to see if she is cheating on her soon-to-be ex-husband. They were pumped! I heard something about Magnum PI, wearing a wire and how they weren't talking on secure phone lines.....they might be taking things a little too seriously! :) Of course, when you lose the suspect on the way to the destination, that can make things a little more complicated. Though I did just get a text from Steve that says he saw Shawn Johnson and she probably thinks he is stalking her b/c he's seen her 3 times now! Gotta love it!
Tomorrow I'm going with my mom and Holly to Centro for brunch and then to the Civic Center to see Mary Poppins! I'm super excited! I recently exposed Presley to Mary Poppins and she actually watched part of it! I wish she was old enough to go with me and enjoy it. I guess that day will come eventually!

Random favorites

I love watching The Sing-off! I love people that can sing and these groups do it sooo well with no instruments!

My sister Holly cracks me up. Her blog is a breath of fresh air some times. I wish she had more time to post more often. She is going to be 30 years old next week! My sister is going to be 30, that makes me....even older! YIKES!

My three favorite Christmas movies: Home Alone, Elf and The Santa Claus

Everyone should get to experience the feeling of picking up your little girl (or boy) from daycare and having them run to you and give you a big hug! After a long day at work, nothing else matters but that perfect moment of happiness! (until she throws a fit b/c its 20 degrees outside and you insist that she wears a coat!)

I lost another 2.4 pounds for the biggest loser challenge at work. I'm down 8.8 pounds in 5 weeks and am #5 in weight loss out of the group. I'm shocked. I never thought it was possible to get down to the weight I'm at now. I even got my pre-maternity pants out b/c my other ones were hanging off of me! I'm proud of myself, even though I don't feel that I've really worked hard enough for it! And I just finished off the puppy chow that I made last night. Good thing that is out of the house now!

A couple new firsts....

Saturday afternoon while Presley slept, Steve went to run errands and I had the afternoon to myself to do nothing! I laid on the couch and watched Sex in the City 2 that I had from Netflix, and did nothing. No laundry or cleaning and I enjoyed it! Normally when I get those couple hours I'm doing things or running errands!

Sunday morning I went to work and Steve took Presley to cousin Gavins wrestling match! Like normal she liked watching all the kids, but was good!
That afternoon Steve watched football while Presley napped and I went to Target BY MYSELF for the second weekend in a row!

Tonight? Presley had her first poop in the bathtub experience! Not pleasant. I went to get her out of the tub and looked down and.....that girls needs to chew her food more! haha! She looked down and FREAKED out! She got scared and started screaming and crying, I felt so bad! I guess it gave me a good reason to clean the bathtub though!

Bad parents?

Presley has had a cold and cough kinda off and on over the last 3 weeks. She has been acting fine and sleeping good so we never really thought about taking to the doctor. The last couple days she has been whiny around dinner time, but I just thought it was b/c she was hungry. Finally, today I took her to the walk in clinic just to make sure there was nothing wrong. There wasn't. She gave us an antibiotic to help kill any viruses she might have, but no ear infection, whooping cough or pneumonia. Though the doctor did state that three weeks was a little long for a cough.
We aren't the parents that rush her to the doctor for every cold, but are we bad parents for waiting three weeks to take her? Even though she is fine?

Five Question Friday!

1. What's on the top of your holiday wish list and why? I'm having a hard time trying to think of something good that I want! I guess our cruise can be considered a gift and all the stuff I'm buying for it! (new swimsuit, suitcase, suit for Steve, pedicure....you know, the essentials! :)

2. What is your favorite Christmas gift from the past? My parents put car starters in our cars 5 or so years ago, that was pretty awesome! and they got us a snowblower a couple years ago too!

3. If you had to do life over again, what would you be when you grow up? Hard question! I went thru a phase of wanting to be a criminal pyschologist and I still think that would be super interesting.

4. When do you put up your tree? The weekend after Thanksgiving if I can wait until then!

5. What is your favorite holiday? I really love them all! Christmas for the food, family and decorations. Halloween for the candy, costumes and decorations. New Years b/c of the memories of the good ole days. Easter b/c we still dye eggs and play 4-square! 4th of July b/c Urbandale is awesome for this holiday!

Another hump day gone by

Steve got to be in the water with P for waterbabies last night, however I didn't get any good pictures of them! Steve looks like he has a white T-shirt on b/c his arms are so tan and his chest is WHITE! Grandma Becky came to watch the intense action of the waterbabies class, so I did get this cute picture of them afterwards!
My Biggest Loser weigh in didn't go great but I expected that after the long, holiday weekend. I gained 1 pound and fell to #7 on this list. At least I know I'm going to have to work hard this weekend to be good! The holiday season is sooo hard b/c there is yummy food everywhere!

Before I met Steve I was a planner, but Steve is not. He doesn't worry about what time things happen, what we need to bring....he assumes things will work out! So I've learned to not be so worried if things aren't planned out all the time, months in advance! But last night I think I slowly worked myself into a panic attack worrying about all the things I (we) have to do in the next 2 months. EVERYTHING was running thru my head last night (b/c Holly's birthday is only 2 weeks away, Christmas 3 weeks away, our cruise 5 weeks away and then hell our baby will turn 2 years old shortly after that! So here I was at midnight worrying about February! WTF?), so this girl didn't fall asleep until after 1 am. I actually got out of bed at 11:45 and wrote down a list of the things I was thinking about, that way I could stop worrying about them....but I didn't. I rarely do this, but maybe it was a good thing b/c I actually got 4 of those things crossed off my list today!
I'm fighting a cold, Presley is still coughing but hopefully this weekend we can get some more items off that list!

Waterbabies!

We had our make up waterbabies class from last Wednesday tonight. I decided to get back in the water and let Steve watch the fun. He'll get to have his fun this Wednesday!
He got a couple good pictures of us though!
She loved it!...but this girl gets HEAVY! My arms get so tired carrying that 30 pound child around in the water for half an hour!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Friday we got out the Christmas tree and got it decorated. Presley was a big help (?), but she is doing a great job of leaving the tree and ornaments alone now!
We went out for a mexican dinner with 1000 calorie margaritas that night and I enjoyed every calorie! And I was sleeping on the couch by 9 pm again!
Saturday we had the Goodrich Thanksgiving in Earlham. A lot more food and fun! We were hoping P would take a good nap before we went so we could stay late, but she decided to talk in her crib for over 2 hours before falling asleep about a half hour before we had to leave.
Presley is always a little overwhelmed by all the people when we go to Earlham, but she did GREAT! Her and Ava played good together too!

She played well with her other cousins too and they were a great help in keeping her away from the stairs and keeping her occupied while we played the Goodrich pool tournament! (Steve and I played in the championship game, Steve won. He was pretty proud of himself even though I'm really not a good pool player!)

Here is Presley with cousins Ava and Gavin.

We didn't leave Earlham until 11 pm and Presley was still wide awake and rolling with energy. She rarley gets whiny or throws fits when she gets tired and with only a 1/2 hour nap, we were happy that she was so good (and social!).

This morning Steve took Presley shopping and let me have a couple hours to do whatever I wanted. Of course I cleaned, did laundry and headed to Target, but it was nice to have 2 hours to myself! Our long weekend is coming to an end and that stinks! I don't have another vacation day until our cruise in January! (that's right, I'll be working Christmas Eve thanks to my employer). I hope everyone was able to spend some time with their families, eat too much and relax!

Loving long weekends!

It's been a whole week since I've posted, we've been busy and eating! My Biggest Loser weigh in on Wednesday was good, I lost another 1.4 pounds and was the #5 loser for the week! So far I'm down a little over 7 pounds! Woohoo! Of course, this long weekend has been a disaster with my eating! I'm pretty sure I'll be paying some money for pounds gained this week! Yikes!
Here is P cooking with Daddy again, helping by putting cheese on the ravioli.

I like this picture b/c she looks so sweet and innocent...and she isn't cheesin like she normally does!

We had Thanksgiving at my parents house on Thursday. It was good and fun and I ate way too much and was falling asleep on the couch by 9 pm.

Presley decided to help Grandma by sweeping up the kitchen after dinner.

Samantha and Boston in their plaid shirts! Aren't they cute?

Overall I am extremely grateful for my awesome entertaining baby girl, my hard-working awesome husband who is a wonderful daddy and my family, who are supportive and critical and loving and sarcastic.....we are lucky, lucky, lucky to have you all so close to us! (and I'm thankful for everything else in my life too, but that would be boring for me to list it all! )

A different kind of dinner.

Before kids we used to get together with 4 other couples for dinner once a month. But life happens and people are busy and now we are lucky if our 'dinner club' meets a couple times a year. No matter what, it is fun to see everyone and catch up! There were 3 kids on Thursday night and 3 out of the four women were pregnant. Yours truly was the fourth woman (the NOT pregnant one!). The kids played good and Presley and Preston ate at the picnic table together. Preston was even nice enough to share his green beans with her!

The weekend was busy with errands, we got a lot done (even some Christmas shopping!) and spent a lot of time playing. Presley now likes to fake cry and laugh! They are both pretty funny! I should try to get both on video!

Presley sporting her Packer outfit....wearing mommy's shoes, which she LOVES to do! She can walk pretty good in them too!

Go Pack Go! Go Hawks Go!

It's amazing once you start counting calories, how you become so aware of everything you eat and drink. Like the damn Red Bull in our fridge, normally I would have no problem drinking one but I don't want to give up 110 calories for one! (I don't know why Steve didn't buy sugar free!) I would rather give 100 calories up to a nice Hostess 100 calorie pack of chocolate cakes. :)

On the other hand, I was able to run a little over a mile tonight! Those of you who run, are probably thinking that isn't very far but those of you don't run....the first mile really is the hardest! It did help that there was girl running on the treadmill next to me and I really didn't want to stop running before she did...thank you girl for motivating me without knowing it!

FIVE QUESTION FRIDAY

1. What Christmas song do you loathe? I love them all!

2. Do you and your significant other cuddle at night or sleep on complete opposite sides of the bed? Most of the time it's other sides of the bed unless I'm cold and need some body heat to warm me up!

3. Have you ever had surgery? I had my tonsils out in preschool and I had my wisdom teeth out when I was in highschool. I've also had 2 minor surgeries in the last 5 years removing moles with abnormal cells.

4. When do you typically have your Christmas shopping done? This year I'm hoping to get most of it done soon. We have 11 nieces and nephews to buy for (not to mention all of the other family members!), 7 of them will just get money b/c I don't have the time or patience to try to find presents! But usually, I wait until the last minute which I hate!

5. If money was not an issue (and you HAD to choose something), what would your ultimate luxury item be? Despite my issues with the sun and skin cancer, I would still buy a house on a beach somewhere warm. Just being able to travel would be wonderful!

Oh Wednesday!

We've had another cold roaming around our house this week. P and Steve have had stuffy heads and terrible coughs! Presley rarely seems sick, she is still active and fiesty as ever.

Yesterday we bought a new flat screen TV, we've had our TV for about 6 years, it works fine but the picture is not good quality. We pay for HD channels and yet you can hardly tell the difference between the normal and HD channels. Steve had been doing research about what we should get and we found a good deal on a good TV, so we bought it! It is amazing the difference in picture quality! So Merry Christmas to us!

I had my Biggest Loser weigh in today at work. I lost another pound! I slipped down to #8 out of 18 people but at this point every pound is going to be a struggle and hard work to get off, but as long as I'm not gaining weight I'll be happy!

Tonight we had our first waterbabies class at the YMCA. We were both going to go and Steve was going to get in the water with her and I was going to do what I do best and take pictures! But Steve went to the doctor in the afternoon and had a 102 temperature, so he wasn't able to go. I mustered up enough guts to get in my swimsuit for the third time in 2 years to take her. I was nervous about taking her. I didn't know if she was love it, like she does her baths or if she would hate it since there would be strangers there! She is very aware of stranger danger! :) But she LOVED it!!!! She was smiling and laughing the whole time and did great with splashing, kicking and 'jumping' in the water to me. She did scream and cry when we had to get out of the pool, but it was worth it since she loved it so much!.....and I have no pictures! :(

Here is P helping daddy cook. Doesn't she look so grown up?! Where did my baby go?

Sorry for another long list....but I just LOVE this and wanted to share!

Written by a 90 year old

This is something we should all read at least once a
week!!!!!

Written by Regina Brett, 90 years old, of the Plain Dealer, Cleveland ,Ohio .
"To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons
life taught me. It is the most requested column I've ever written.
My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the
column once more:

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your
friends and parents will. Stay in touch.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to
disagree.
7. Cry with someone It's more healing than crying alone.

8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the
present.

12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.

13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea
what their journey is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be
in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But
don't worry; God never blinks.

16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or
joyful.

18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you
stronger.

19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the
second one is up to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life,
don't take no for an answer.

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy
lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear
purple.

24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.

26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In
five years, will this matter?'

27. Always choose life.

28. Forgive everyone everything.

29. What other people think of you is none of your
business.

30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

33. Believe in miracles.

34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of
anything you did or didn't do.

35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.

37. Your children get only one childhood.

38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting
everywhere.

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw
everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.

41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you
need.

42. The best is yet to come...

43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

44. Yield.

45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift."

Friends are the family that we choose.

And I have learned that Family can become Friends as well.

So true!

1. I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer
history if you die.

2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're
wrong.

3. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.

4. There is great need for a sarcasm font.

5. How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

6. Was learning cursive really necessary?

7. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on # 5. I'm pretty sure I know
how to get out of my neighborhood.

8. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

9. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

10. Bad decisions make good stories.

11. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you
know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.

12. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blu-Ray? I don't want to
have to restart my collection...again.

13. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want
to save any changes to my ten-page technical report that I swear I did not make any
changes to.

14. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when
they call.

15. I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

16. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night
more kisses begin with Miller Lite than Kay.

17. I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.

18. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

19. How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile
because you still didn't hear or understand a word they said?

20. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars team up to prevent a
jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers and sisters!

21. Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you
can wear them forever.

22. Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what
time it is.

23. Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a
pocket, finding their cell phone, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey - but I'd bet
everyone can find and push the snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds,
eyes closed, first time, every time.

24. The first testicular guard, the "Cup," was used in Hockey in 1874 and the first
helmet was used in 1974. That means it only took 100 years for men to realize that
their brain is also important.

Five Question Friday----on Saturday

A couple friends of mine have been doing this on their blog for the last couple weeks and it seems kinda fun and a good way to get to know little things about me...and them! so I thought I would add it also!

1. What is the most physically painful thing that's ever happened to you? Definitely labor! No question about it. The pain I was in made Steve feel bad for me, and normally he thinks I'm a wimp. 16 hours in labor, 7 hours without an epidural! :) The epidural was the best thing I've ever spent money on, and I would definitely recommend it to everyone having a baby!

2. How much sleep did you get last night? Not much, normally on a Friday night I have no problem getting 8-9 hours. For some reason P was up from 2 -4 am, so I got about 6. I should really be taking a nap right now!

3. What is the last movie you saw in the theater? Inception, it was a great movie! Steve and I never see movies in the theater....if we are lucky, maybe one a year.

4. What do you wear to bed? I'm boring and comfortable. Usually sweatpants and a sweatshirt, real romantic huh?

5. Do you return your shopping cart to the corral or leave it wherever in the parking lot? I return it to the corral, those who don't are lazy!

Happy Veterans Day!

Thank you to all those veterans who are serving or have served our country! Freedom is not free and we are truly grateful!

We weighed in yesterday for the first week in our work 'biggest loser' contest. My goal over the next 2 months was to lose 5 pounds....I lost 5 pounds in the first week! (of course this weigh in I didn't have jeans or shoes on!) I was #6 percentage weighloss this week out of 18 people, I was pleasantly surprised. Now my goal is to maintain this weight, if I lose a few more pounds that would be a plus but I want to NOT gain weight over the holidays and I would love to start running again!

I had today off! Presley and I went to the mall and did some shopping and played at the play area and then I took her to Aprils for a couple hours in the afternoon. I got the leaves from the backyard bagged up and had a dentist appointment. I always feel slightly guilty taking her to daycare when I have the day off, but really I just missed her nap time so that's not too bad! :) I just feel that I hardly see her and spend good quality time with her so those extra days I should be thankful for b/c we all know how fast time flies by!

One of the houses behind us was painted John Deere green a couple years ago. Well, whatever happened and the home went into foreclosure and was recently purchased and fixed up. Those new people race pigeons! A couple times a week you'll see them in their backyard with the birds flying over head, you can hear them cooing in their....cage?barn? I'm used to people having pet dogs.....but pigeons? No wonder their neighbors put up a wood fence between their yards!

Ah, November.

Now if we can get another month of good weather like we had in October, that would be great! And so far, November has not been disappointing! A couple cool, windy days (perfect for blowing some of our leaves into the neighbors yards!) during the week gave us a great weekend!
Friday night Holly and I attended the Cystic Fibrosis Wine Opener, a great event to raise money and awareness of this horrible disease. We got all fancied up and went and donated some money and drank some good wine!
Saturday we did nothing and it was fantastic! I stayed all day in my sweats and it was so nice! Steve worked in the basement and I did some housework. Instead of Presley taking a nap, she spent 3 hours in her crib talking to herself. I'm not sure how a 21 month old can keep herself entertained for 3 hours, but she did not sleep.
Sunday we were up early due to daylight savings but we got so much done! Steve worked in the basement again, drywall is going up! Slowly but surely this basement will be finished! My goal was to get the front yard raked! It was a great workout and I'm sure I'll be sore tomorrow! I filled up almost 5 leaf bags....too bad the backyard has double that waiting for us! :(
I love that her hair is long enough to blow in the wind! Too bad from the front it looks like a shaggy mullet! :) ha!

Random

She has good taste!

and no, this is NOT what Santa is bringing her!

We headed over to Earlham on Halloween for their trick or treat night, here is cowgirl cousin Ava! They share the same curly hair and beer gut bellies!

Presley needs to hang out with her cousin a little more often. Ava is 3 months younger but is by far more outgoing! Of course, she is the youngest of 3 kids and is around kids all the time. But she had no problem walking the whole night and going up to houses for candy.....completely the opposite of P!

Holiday favorites!

I love the holidays! I hate winter but I love October thru December b/c of the holidays! I never liked the holidays until a couple years ago. I always worked retail and it's very hard to enjoy the holidays when you have to work during then and deal with people who don't have the holiday spirit!
Thanksgiving is coming up in a couple weeks and my mom no longer wants to host this family gathering. I don't blame her, she has done it for too many years and the family is growing and it is a lot of work preparing a large meal. The problem is, our house just isn't big enough for everyone and it won't seem 'right' NOT being at my parents house....the house we grew up in! I'm trying to convince my mom to still have it at her house and she only has to be responsible for the turkey! The rest of us can bring all the sides and desserts, I think that is a pretty reasonable compromise! :)

Josh Grobans' Christmas CD is one that everyone should listen to, AMAZING!

Christmas has to be at my parents house too. It's just the way it has been and always will be, we are obviously creatures of habit! The one Christmas my parents went to Texas to be with my grandparents, it didn't seem like Christmas at all. Holly came over and Steve made his famous chicken mac & cheese and we watched A Christmas Story. I think we are banning my parents from going anywhere over Christmas ever again!
Santa already has a present for Presley! We are really going to have to limit what we spend b/c there are so many things we want to buy for her!....I guess she does have a birthday in February that we need to buy things for too! I just might have to get out the Christmas tree next weekend!

FYI....if anyone cares.

- Presley is going to Aprils for daycare 2 days a week now. Kind of sad for my mom and Presley to give up another day together, but I think it is good. Good for Presley to get used to being without Grandma and being around other kids more often. Plus Grandma is now watching Boston and this will give them more one on one bonding time together! We are lucky to have two great daycare options, who are flexible and wonderful for Presley!

- Everyone we know who has a kid around Presley's age is pregnant with their 2nd baby. We just aren't ready to jump on that bandwagon yet. I think all families/parents have a good idea of what is 'right' for their family when it comes to when to have kids and how many to have. Presley was a difficult baby and we haven't fully 'recovered'! :) We love being able to take Presley places and do things with her. It will be hard to give that up (assuming the next will be difficult also and we won't want to leave the house with a baby for 6 months). Having a baby is stressful and expensive and we'll go ahead and enjoy our little family for a while before we decide to cross that bridge.

- We are doing the Biggest Loser weight loss challenge at work. There are 20 of us, $20 a person to enter and $1 for every pound you gain on weigh in days! I like that concept, hopefully it will keep me from gaining weight over the holidays! I still have that last 5 pounds (of baby weight?) to lose and I want to get in better shape and start running again. I don't think I'll win the challenge but I'm keeping track of what I'm eating and moving a little more (watch out Anytime Fitness, I just might use my membership!).
I have noticed that if you are trying to lose weight, you shouldn't watch TV. Last night I saw a commercial for Dove chocolates, Olive Garden and Dominos.....it's just torture! I might have to have a cheat meal (day) coming up soon, so I have something to look forward to.

- I didn't vote, I know a lot of people who did and who feel very strongly about their voting rights. My excuse? I just don't know that much about politics...and I really don't care. It seems no matter who is in office, people aren't happy or they are disappointed with the choices that our leaders make. Maybe next time I'll educate myself and vote.

1.75 = 1 3/4 = 21 months

Our baby is 21 months old. We are on the count down to 2 years! If you ask her how old she is going to be, she says twooo (she says her o's like she is from the north, MinnesOta).

Presley:
- loves to dance, but only with someone. She won't shake her booty alone.
- loves her cousin Boston! She gives him hugs and kisses and likes to point to everything on him.
Ears, nose, eyes, he might need glasses after all the eye poking she does!
- is starting to make more sense of her words. She still is only saying the first syllable or sound of the word but tries to put 2 words together occasionally. Da woh for daddy work. Uh ple for up please. She'll even do sign language for more and say please for more please! :)
- is wearing between 18 months and 2T clothes. Some 18 month pants fit her b/c she has short legs, but needs the 2T shirts to cover her belly.
- loves food. One night for dinner she ate grilled chicken, steamed broccoli, oven fries and a peach! She is beginning to try some new foods too! Salmon, ketchup, lettuce and she even had her first rice krispy treat yesterday! :)
- loves reading and pointing out things in books. Also loves bath time, I'm going to sign her up for baby swim at the Y. It will help get us out of the house once a week and do something fun, especially since it will be dark when we get home from work soon and there will be no time to play outside at night.
- takes her baby for walks in the stroller.....with her purse in one hand and her cell phone in the other. She likes to have a diaper and wipe to change her baby's diaper too. What a girl!
- has 12 teeth, we've recently gave her a toothbrush. I mainly use it to keep her occupied while I try to put a ponytail in her hair. She mainly sucks the tiny bit of toothpaste off of it. Oh well, it's a start.

Ghosts of Halloweens Past

Three years ago, when we were fun and went out for halloween.
Sam, Cindy, Lisa, Mistee, Holly, Me and Steve rockin out as Axl and Slash
(I don't know why this is underlined and I can't figure out how to get it off!!!)

Two years ago, I was about 6 months pregnant so it wasn't as much fun!
Me, Cindy, Ben, Lisa, Brock, Steve, Michael and Jared

And last year, our little lady bug. Cute as ever, I can't believe that was just last year!

Long, long week.

We started off the week with a runny nose and carving pumpkins. She didn't really know what to think about the whole pumpking thing. She did think it was funny that we had newspapers all over the floor and was mostly interested in stomping all over them and picking them up and throwing them at us.
Don't let this picture fool you. This was just good timing on Steve's part, b/c this is the only time her hand got anywhere near the inside of this pumpkin!

She was very focused on coloring her pumpkin.

The middle of the week Presley had runny, dirty diapers (sorry TMI)and would hardly eat anything (which is NOT like P at all!) and a sick daddy. We all know that when boys get sick, it is almost the end of the world! :) No fun! By Thursday, I wasn't feeling good either but the end of the month is always busy at work so I had no choice but to suck it up. Friday night, we all started feeling a little better. We all got a good nights sleep (I slept for 11 hours and Presley slept for 12!)

Thank goodness by Saturday life was looking normal again! We hung out with the family since my Uncle David was in town and watched the Iowa game. Presley did not get a nap but she was pretty good anyway.

Snow White was not into trick or treating. We went to a couple houses around the block, but she was tired and shy.

The house on the corner of our block, gets into Halloween big time! I love it! They had their yard and garage all decorated. There were kids lined up in the driveway, most of them afraid to get close to the garage.

Is it weird that I love Halloween and everything that goes along with it....but I CANNOT watch scary movies?

Some of my favorite things:

1) You must read the book "It Sucked and Then I Cried: How I Had a Baby, a Breakdown, and a Much Needed Margarita" by Heather Armstrong. LOVE IT! I follow her blog also.


2) Darius Ruckers song 'It won't be like this for long'. Again, LOVE IT!
He didnt have to wake up
He'd been up all nite
Lay'n there in bed listen'nTo his new born baby cry
He makes a pot of coffee
He splashes water on his face
His wife gives him a kiss and saysIt gonna be OK
It wont be like this for long
One day soon we'll look back laugh'n At the week we brought her home
This phase is gonna fly by
So baby just hold on
It wont be like this for long
Four years later bout four thirty
She's crawling in their bed
And when he drops her off at preschool
She's clinging to his leg
The teacher peels her off of him
He says what can I do
She says now dont you worry
This will only last a week or two
It wont be like this for long
One day soon you'll drop her off
And she wont even know you are gone
This phase is gonna fly by If you can just hold on
It wont be like this for long
Some day soon she'll be a teenager
And at times he'll think she hates him
Then he'll walk her down the isle
And raise her vale.............blah blah blah....but you get the point. Time goes too fast!



3) Spicy Holy Guacamole - it's good!

4) Jethros BBQ...they have good guacamole too!

5) The movie The Count of Monte Cristo...if you haven't seen it, you should! It's one of our favorites!

Yawn.

Saturday morning I went in to get Presley after an hour of her talking to herself in the crib. Her pajamas were unzipped down to her ankles and her diaper was off. Guess she was tired of waiting for me to come in and change her! Thank goodness it was just wet! :) Later she saw the camera sitting on the coffee table and said "cheese?" I asked if she wanted her picture taken and to bring me the camera. She brought me the camera and stood there saying cheese until I took the picture. Obviously, she isn't camera shy! But this cheesy smile with the gaps between her teeth cracks me up!

We headed to Adel for a charity waffle breakfast for cystic fibrosis and then went to the pumpkin patch!

They had a petting zoo area...which Presley wanted nothing to do with. She liked to watch the chickens, but then hid behind dad when we were near the llamas. She loved the tractor! She kept pointing to the tractor smiling, so we went on a hay rack ride out to the pumpkin patch to find some pumpkins!

She found the perfect Presley size pumpkin!

They had a couple bounce houses, which she loved when there were no other kids in it! She wasn't brave enough to try to stand up though!

Saturday night we had another wedding! (our 3rd wedding in 6 weeks!) Presley was in heaven! She was running around, wanting to dance it up! We couldn't keep her off the dance floor!

Mommy and Presley taking a break from dancing!

Another cheese for ya! She almost looks like she's in pain! ha!

Sunday morning I went to work and Daddy and P hung out. Presley has a runny nose now, but she is pretty good at blowing it herself. Hopefully, it won't turn into an ear infection! Keep your fingers crossed! Happy Sunday, hope everyone has a good week.