Shout out to Lyndsi!

We had our monthly girls night last night at El Rodeo. We had a great turn out, with about 16 girls! It is always so fun to talk and laugh while we eat and drink! Lyndsi is one of those girls. I met Lyndsi about 5 (?) years ago, her then-boyfriend is friends with Steve. We love Lyndsi! She is hysterical and beautiful and I'm so glad we've remained friends over the years!

Today I took Presley over to see our friends Colleen, Chris and Bridget. Bridget is 3 years old and Presley just watched her for the first 20 minutes. She loves watching the older kids move, play and talk. We came home and I put Presley down for a nap (which of course she didn't take, she stayed in there for 2 hours talking, playing.....) so I didn't get the nap I wanted! Steve spent all day building new steps outside our side door and they look great! I think he was a little irritated that I was just sitting inside trying to sleep, but you know what?? It's my weekend and I'll relax and nap if I want to!

One of my fellow bloggers pasted away this morning! I've been following her blog for about 6 months (65redroses) and she has been suffering from Cystic Fibrosis. Everyone who knows me should know that my family supports and contributes to CF. Eva was fighting her battle with such a positive attitude and enjoying every minute of life she had left. She was so inspiring and my thoughts and prayers are with her family and friends.

Tanning (weird change of subject, huh?) might be getting taxed! I'll all for all rules and regulations against tanning. Though I don't think it will stop people from tanning, b/c I do believe that tanning can be addictive (been there, done that!).
There was an article in Glamour magazine about the dangers of tanning and I'm including 2 of the comments about the article in this blog, in hopes to pass along my message to at least 1 other person!
To all the women out there who wnat to continue using tanning beds to feel good. Please stop! An amazing friend of mine died at 26 from melanoma. In her honor, I will echo the important message she passed on to others before she died: Tanning beds aren't safe! Protect and take care of your skin!

I'm 23 years old and was diagnosed with stage III melanoma. I used tanning beds a lot as a teenager. I knew the risks, but I had "it can't happen to me" syndrome. The cancer was removed after three surgeries. If just one person reconsiders tanning because of your article, it will be a success. You don't need to be tan to be beautiful! Take it from me, it's not worth the risk.

Fan or not a fan?

I wanted curls....we have curls! Definitely a fan of the curls!
Cheesy smile, I'm a fan!

Presley in her new hat? Fan! Here is Daddy holding her hands down so she'll leave it on for 10 seconds so I can get a picture! Yep, I would say they look alike!

NOT a fan of texting while driving. I am guilty of doing this in the past, but not anymore! I'm just curious why people wouldn't be in favor of banning texting while driving? Are there really any good, supportive reasons why we shouldn't ban it?

NOT a fan of putting calories on restaurant menus! I'm sure I won't enjoy eating out nearly as much as I do now! We were going to go to Perkins tonight, not after looking at the nutrition facts! The sandwich Steve normally gets is 1700 calories (including fries and all that) and the tasty looking Cheesy Bacon Scrambler that I was going to get is 1400 calories (including the pancake and fruit!) That is freakin scary! We decided to get Planet Sub instead, which was better (at 400 to 700 calories in our 6 inch subs)! I might never enjoy eating out again.....................Please El Rodeo do not let me see the nutrition, (or lack there of) in the yummy cheese dip or margaritas.

NOT a fan of American Idol this season and I'm disappointed! I've loved American Idol since Season 1 (Kelly Clarkson and Justin Guarini as the final 2, loved it!) and right now I'd be happy if they just cancelled this season and started over!

Need I say more?

Proud to be a Panther!

My UNI Panthers won!
We went to Creston to pick up Steve's new car and to attend his brothers surprise 40th birthday party! My parents were nice enough to watch Presley for the night for us!
We hung out and watched the Panthers beat the #1 team! It was freakin' unbelievable and wonderful! I didn't have UNI winning in my bracket (shame on me!), but I didn't have Kansas winning it all either.
I know very little about basketball and it is the one sport I don't like to watch. It takes too long and it is too nerve-racking (like the UNI game for example, when I was hiding my face for the last minute and chewing my nails off!). But I love filling out a bracket to make March Madness a little more tolerable! Now I just need Syracuse to will it all and I'll be happy!

Soooo.......

Not much has been going on. I had Monday and Tuesday off b/c we didn't have daycare. For some reason Grandma thinks she gets to take days off?! I'm not sure what that is all about! :)
Presley and I hung out, the weather was fairly nice so we spent some time going on walks and pulling her around in the wagon she got from Grandma and Grandpa. She loves it, though she hangs on for dear life!

She is really becoming a daddy's girl. This is her crying b/c Steve had the nerve to put her down to go to the bathroom when he got home from work! She bawled!

Guess which bag she likes to play with?

Yeah, not the fun, colorful one that talks and sings (thank you Aunt Ann and Uncle John!). She now loves the Von Maur paper bag. We are going to have paper bags and cardboard boxes for toys, yep we're high class!

Boys

In my previous post I said 'lousy boys', I don't want anyone to think I'm against having boys! I did not mean it to come off that way! A lot of my friends have boys who are freakin adorable!
I just want to defend myself. A family full of boys is wonderful and would not need a 'girl' to be considered complete!....I should've mentioned that before. So hopefully everyone knows what I meant in my last post.....and really this is my blog so I shouldn't care what people think anyway! :) ha!

My sister told me that I use exclamation points too much. So now I'm trying not to use them so much, but it's hard and I feel like I don't have the right emphasis on things now! :)

Steve is getting a new car. His current car is a piece of crap, too bad we still have 2 years left to pay on it. We've spent $1000 on new heat a couple years ago, new tires last year and the air conditioner doesn't work. So we either spend $1000 getting the air fixed (and still have a P.O.S car) or spent the money for a down payment.....so courtesy of Stalker Chevrolet in Creston (again! They are so good to us!) Steve will hopefully be driving his new ride next week. Of course, it has all the fancy options (that I don't always agree with) the DVD player, heated seats and an automatic starter!.....that will suck for him next winter to automatically start his car but still have to go out and start mine for me! haha!

Babies and VCR's?

I'm watching A Baby Story on TLC.
The mother was talking about all her concerns with the epideral......I never thought twice about it! Side-effects, accidents? Nope never entered my mind.
Everyone always talks about your birthing plan.....when we got the hospital and the nurse asked what our birthing plan was, I simply said "quick and easy!".......she didn't seem to think I was that funny.
This mother already has 2 boys and just had a baby girl.....she just said that their family is now complete since they had a girl. That drives me crazy, maybe b/c I come from a family of 3 girls....so our 'family' is not 'complete' b/c we don't have a lousy boy? Samantha was more a little boy growing up than most boys out there! Steve honestly didn't care if we had a boy or girl, I'm sure he'll want a boy with the second one. But every girl needs a sister, right? I don't know what I would do without mine!

I gave Steve his birthday present yesterday (his birthday isn't until April 12th), he has been trying to convince me that we need a new TV for either the bedroom or family room. The TV in our family room is about 6 years old, and there is really no reason to get a new on except for the fact that it isn't one of the fancy new TV's.
The TV in our bedroom on the other hand was a highschool graduation present! A little 13 inch TV with a VCR (do they even make TV's with VCR's anymore?).....so I got him (us) a 22 inch with a DVD player for the bedroom. It is amazing how much better that TV is than all of our TV's! Our new 22 comes in much better than our big 46 inch TV!
After Steve finishes the basement we can talk about getting a new, fancy TV for the family room and move this huge one downstairs (if it will fit!)

Spring?

So yeah, we have a lot of shoes.....I just found this image funny. With her two little white shoes mixed in with all our big shoes. Too bad these aren't even half the shoes we own, damn you Von Maur shoes!
Since it was 50 degrees today, we spent a lot of time outside! Presley LOVES being outside!!!

Mom! I found a bug!

I almost got him!

Please, can't I play with the bug?

I'll call dad, he'll let me!

Why I love my daughter!

- I love her cheesy smile....she might not wave bye-bye to strangers but she'll always give a good, cheesy smile!

- I love seeing her cute, chubby thighs in the new jean skirt we bought her!

- I love when we ask if she wants a bath, and she does the 'sign' for bath and takes off running toward the bathroom. Or when we tell her we need to change her diaper and she walks into her bedroom waiting for us to follow. And when you ask if she is hungry or if she wants to eat, she'll walk over to her highchair.

- I love that she smiles and kicks her legs in excitement when watching Baby MacDonald or with every turn of a page in a book.

- I love the way she holds her baby doll and gives her wet open mouth kisses.....and then grabs the doll by the feet and tosses her around, knocking the doll head into the floor or table.

- I love that she claps along when Wheel of Fortune is on and dances when she hears Party in the USA.

- I love that she'll sleep from 7:30 pm to 7:30 am. Of course, she almost always takes 2 two hour naps at grandmas, and we usually only get 1 nap out of her at home. We say it is b/c we are more exciting and she wants to spend more time with us.

Of course there are a lot more reasons why I love this child, these are just a couple of the things I noticed tonight that make me smile and want to squeeze and kiss her all the time!

Sorry to copy and paste an email forward, but I love this!

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider Freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time.

We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've added years to life not life to years. We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space.

We've done larger things, but not better things.We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill.

It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete...

Remember; spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever.Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side.Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn't cost a cent.

Remember, to say, 'I love you' to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you.Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again.Give time to love, give time to speak! And give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

Daddy/Daughter Dance

I think Steve's dancing is a little distracting to how cute she is in this video. I'm sure he appreciates me posting this! ha

Flood

So our poor neighbors are kinda in a bad location. All of our yards slope towards theirs, so their backyard ALWAYS floods! This was a couple days ago, and this isn't nearly as bad as it has been in the past. Birds use his yard as a birdbath! I feel bad for them, but I'm just glad it's not us!
By the way, don't tell them I posted this picture of their backyard on the internet!

Mom's

I'm beginning to think there are 4 types of mom's. I'm not saying there is a 'right' way to be a mom, but you just begin to notice differences in how parents are. It just makes me realize there is no 'right' way and we are all just trying to figure it out!

1) The PERFECT mom....these woman were born to be mom's. All they have thought about their whole life is having a baby. They are probably stay at home mom's, who home-school their kids. They seem to have everything under control all the time. One of the blogs I read, lostasock.com is one of these mom's. It's admirable and kinda sickening! :)

2) The OVERPROTECTIVE mom....is a natural worrier. They probably take their kids to the doctor for every sniffle or cough. They are 'by the books' kinda women. No bumper pads in the crib, only organic foods, no daycare is good enough and they probably go thru a lot of hand sanitizer. Babysitters are non-existent.

3) The LAID-BACK mom......thinks mac-n-cheese just might be ok to have for lunch and dinner! Probably isn't too concerned about putting on the kids hat and mittens if it's 30 degrees out. Doesn't mind leaving the baby for a night out (or two) and the pacifer is always handy.....just in case.

4) The PROBABLY SHOULDN'T BE A MOM mom.......These woman can't afford birth control, daycare or self-respect. They probably smoke or drink when pregnant...and somehow these are the woman who have A LOT of kids with many different men. STOP having kids!

ok.................so the first 3 types are way better than #4..............can you tell I'm irritated by #4? I just feel sorry for the innocent kids that are born to the #4 mom. I don't know any #4 moms, I just hear about them on some sad news story! :(

So what kind of mom are you?

**disclaimer - these are by no means professional, scientific definitions of moms. They are general opinions from me and I am not trying to offend anyone. So if you are offended, get over it! :) Like I said before, there is no right way... as long as you have happy, healthy children who grow up to be wonderful, nice people who aren't menace to society! :)

? and !

Why do baby clothing stores (Baby Gap and Gymboree, I'm mainly talking about you) have very little room for strollers?

Does anyone else have an incredibly hard time changing the diapers or clothes of their 13 month old? It's like wrestling a small animal!

When someone asks you how old your child is, at what point do you no longer use 'months' as the answer? I realize in 3 years I'm not going to say 'oh she is 37 months old'.....so do you stop at 12 months? 18 months? 24 months? We already been saying 'just over a year' as our answer, I just think it's too early to not answer in months!

So we are done with formula, we just finished our last can last night! She was only getting her bedtime bottle, so now we just have to phase the sippy cup into our bedtime routine and we should be off the bottle completely! I think we enjoy that bottle time with her more than she does. :(

Our waiter at Outback Steakhouse last night spoke like a robot. And I was slightly embarrassed with the amount of food left under Presley's highchair. She takes handfuls of food, obviously only getting about half of it INTO her mouth!

Does anyone else think it is crazy that schools only have 30 minutes of physical education a week? I personally think it is sad, how are kids supposed to concentrate for that long without some sort way to release their energy or exercise? On the other hand, I hated PE when I was in school! Except for power-walking, bowling and country line dancing in highschool gym class!

The little girl next door to us, is about 2 month younger than Presley. She is already walking and talking. Presley doesn't say anything, babbles but that's it.
However, a couple that we know had premature twins in June and they are still having health problems and are in and out of the hospital all the time! :( and we learned another couple we know has a 9 month old who is handicapped (not sure what is wrong, but they originally thought she was deaf, but she hasn't hit most of her 3 month milestones yet either). Hearing those stories, just puts everything in perspective for us. It doesn't really matter if Presley doesn't say 'words', she is happy, healthy and growing and learning by the day and that is what we are happy and thankful for!

Weekend away!

Just P playing behind her chair. Her hair is getting a little longer, starting to look a little shaggy sometimes. Maybe she get a hair cut in 2011.
So we decided to take a family trip to the mega mall! We were a little nervous with Presley. She never has to travel that far and hasn't slept in a hotel room before, but we were willing to risk it.
Before we got to Ankeny Saturday morning, Steve spent $90.....in the form of a speeding ticket! His first ticket in close to 10 years! After Presley's first (and only, if I have anything to say about it!) run in with law enforcement we continued on our way.
Presley was very good! She slept on the way up there like we hoped she would, we knew there was a slim chance she would fall asleep in the stroller while we were in the mall and we were right! There was just too much going on for her to even think about sleeping in her stroller.
We let her walk and roam around in less crowded areas. She was so cooped up in the car and stroller, we knew she was dying to get out and run around!
We got a hotel with a pool so Presley could experience her first time in a pool....and my first time in a swimsuit in 2 1/2 years (since our honeymoon)! I bought a new swimsuit last May and finally took it out of the bag and took the tags off to get in the pool with Presley. She did not like the pool! She was very nervous and cried, so the whole pool experience lasted about 15 minutes. Maybe I should sign her up for introduction to water at the local indoor pool, so she can get used to it?!

Once we got back to the room, she was much happier!

She was super tired, but she fell asleep easy and slept the whole night. We thought for sure sleeping in a strange place and with us in the same room, that she would have a rough night, but she was good!
Today on our way home we stopped by Cabelas to look around and have a little lunch. Presley wanted candy. (That's my girl!)

I did it!

So I've been working out for about a month, 3-4 times a week. So of course, when I got on the scale today and saw that I gained 2 pounds I was a little irritated and discouraged! That's the hard part about exercising and trying to lose weight, if you don't see results it makes it harder to continue and think it is worth it! UGH!
I got on the treadmill ran 1 mile, walked about 1/2 mile (about 20 minutes total, since this is my lunch break!) I've ran 1 mile twice this week, I literally have to talk myself into it. I have a conversation in my head,

"I'll just run a 1/2 mile today" then when I get to a 1/2 mile,
"Ok, if you can just get to 3/4 a mile then you can stop" then when I get to 3/4 mile,
"Ok, get to 1 mile. You can run a mile, you just did it 3 days ago. Those people on the Biggest Loser can run 1 mile, geez Jessica you are a wimp if you don't run 1 mile when you are already at 3/4 mile!"...............and finally I hit that mile. It felt good, as I huff and puff like I just finished a marathon. I ran the 5k Dam to Dam 3 years ago, maybe I can do that again this year!

So on my way home from working out I drive by McDonalds and I have a weakness for the shamrock shakes! I pulled into the parking lot,
"Jessica, you were just pissed off becase of the weight on the scale! Why would you get a freakin shake right now? Turn the car around, just turn the car around!"
...............and I did! I did a u-turn and left McDonalds!

But damn, I still want that shake!