Random Who I am Facts!

I saw this on another blog and I thought...Oh what the heck..Plus I thought it would be a nice change up.

I am a child of God.
I am a wife to my best friend.
I am a mom to a healthy baby girl. Who is 13 months today!
I am a stepmother to my "mini Mike" Devin.
I absolutely love my family and miss them dearly.
I am a loyal friend and sister.

I am bossy and very outspoken.
I am very detailed oriented.
I am a morning person.
I hate being late or lost.
I am a list maker and I get great satisfaction when I get to cross items off my list.

I am addicted to sugar. I could live off of candy,cookies,cake & ice cream.
I am always baking new yummy sweets.
I am always taking pictures. You just can't have enough.
I am in love with tupperware and storage containers. Things need to be organized with a lable to keep me sane.
I am not ok with things left on the kitchen counter.
I am a fan of cute shoes & purses

I am a fan of fall. I can't wait for sweatshirt season to get here.
I am not a fan of football. I try so hard to watch a game with Mike, but I usually don't make it past the first period, or whatever you call it.
I am a fan of running.

I am where God wants me to be.

I am happy.

What's going on in our world...

We can officially say, Linda has moved in with us and is now a resident of Arkansas. 1 person down 543 people to go. We started our mission to relocate all of our family to Arkansas. I figure if we aren't moving back then they should move here! LOOK OUT my STL PEEPS!
We truly enjoy having Linda here, and Hannah is beyond excited to get one on one attention everyday with her grammie.
My job is the same old stuff everyday, now that school is back in session the phone calls get a tad bit more entertaining. I am fortunate to say that I love the people that I work with. When God moved us here, I truly believe that he lead my to my job. I have laughed and cried with them, they truly feel like family.
Mike, has made a transition in his work career. He is still with AT&T, just in another division. I am so proud of him. He has made a great name for himself with AT&T. I am so thankful to have a hard working husband.
Our little Hannah is growing with leaps and bounds. Her personality is coming out more and more everyday.
Sleep: Her bedtime is getting better every night. She's asleep between 8:30 and 9:00 and wakes up around 7:00am. Although she is still asleep and it is now after 8:00..I love when she sleeps in.
Food: Girl likes to eat. Her favorite food now is peaches and any fruit. She can tear them up. I love that she is on all table food. It really forces us to eat healthy. I have always been a big fruit girl and I'm glad to see that Hannah is too. It's so funny to watch her eat and entire bannana. OH and we FINALLY have what apears to be TWO BOTTOM TEETH!!
Remember that high chair that I was so excited to get? We'll that thing has been retired.

She wants to be at the table with us.
Drinks: I've never seen a kid love water. She loves it and drinks it all day long. I have given her a tiny bit of TOTALY watered down juice. BABY STEPS.
She does pretty good with Milk. She doesn't guzzel it down like most kids, but I can't say I blame her. I'm not a big milk drinker either.

The binky and the bottle are almost extinct in this house. YEAH!! I use the bottle as a back up, she's really funny about drinking milk out of a sippy cup. If she hasn't drank much milk during the day, I give her a bottle of milk at night. That way I know she getting enough milk.
Hannah has always like a binky at night when she goes to sleep I don't understand why, as soon as she falls asleep she spits it right out. Now she only gets a binky durning nap time and at night for bed. It's really funny if she tries to slip one in when she's not suppose to have one, and you say "Give me the binky or you have to lay down" She goes and lay's down..it's hilarious. She lays down and then when she thinks your not watching she gets up and you say it again..she goes RUNNING to lay back down. Cheap entertainment.
CUTE THINGS: Hannah loves to give hugs. Now when she gives hugs, she squeese your neck and then she gives you a pat on the back. She still does the "All done sign" when she is done eating. Sometimes she even gives a little glare like "Don't you see me giving you the all done sign?"
She loves to dance. She wiggles all around this place when she hears music playing. We spend a lot of time in the backyard. Hannah loves to walk laps around the back yard.

It's amazing that we still have humming birds. I haven't seen anything like this. we have to fill the feeders at least once a day.

August Adventures

Besides the fact that dad was laid up in the hospital, We made the best of our previous St. Louis trip. We took advantage of any free time we had and enjoyed the beautiful weather.

I met Hannah's Aunt Leslei and Aunt Amber and we went to Grant's Farm.

Hannah LOVED being on the train. She laughed the entire time. she loved looking at all of the animals.

I cringed at the idea of her feeding the baby goats, but it was so late in the day and the goats were way overfeed. They were too full to jump on anyone.

The carousel ride was a hit! Hannah loved it.

I am a HUGE fan of the ST. Louis Zoo. Not only was it my first job and I have a ton of great memories from working there. This place is amazing and it's FREE!!! They have added so many great fun things for kids to enjoy. I met my dear friend Renee and her girls for a day at the Zoo.

The girls had a great time playing together. I always love spending time with them, they are growing way too fast. Charlotte and Hannah are only 2 months apart. I know they are going to grow up to be the best of friends.

We spent most of our time in the Children's Zoo. Hannah loved watching all of the animals.

We also got to spend some time with our friends the Valle's. It just so happened to be Paityn's 2nd birthday Party!

We also spent some time with Stacey and Madi. These girls were a riot together.

It was so good to see everyone, I miss them so much!

Humpty Dumpty Had a Great Fall...

There's really no other way to describe our past 6 days and since nursery rhymes are the only thing playing in our radio,I thought Humpty Dumpty fit perfectly.
We can not thank our friends and family enough for the prayers and the extended kindness that we have experienced. We are so thankful that Dad is doing ok.
As most you already know, my parents maybe approaching 50 yrs old (No matter what my mom say's she is not 40) but they certainly don't act their age. My dad's newest toy is his precious Harley Davidson.

He loves his bike, I swear it's his third Child. It's not dad's first motorcylce, and we all know he follows all of the safety rules.
You can only imagine my surprise when I got a text message that read "Your dad has been in a motorcycle accident and is in ICU" Tuesday night. Of course my mind went crazy, isn't it funny how you always think the worse. I was up all night with my mom. I felt so helpless. She did the best she could to keep me updated on dad's status and she sent this picture.

Which didn't seem to help at all. They did a complete body scan on dad and found: A broken collar bone, 8 broken ribs, a lot of road rash on his arms, a rock in his forehead,a gash on his cheek and a punctured lung. BUT..praise God, he was alive and in good spirits.

I tried to be strong and go to work on Wednesday, but my mind was on dad. I knew me being in St.Louis wouldn't change anything, but I felt the need to be there to support mom. Thankfully I have wonderful work family that totally understood my need to be in St. Louis.

Dad wanted to hold Hannah so bad. She was a hit on his floor. The nurses loved her.

Hannah got lot's of walking done with her big brother. I just love seeing these two together.
It was nice to see all of dad's fellow fire fighters and friends who came and visit dad. They were so thoughtful to bring dad food, balloons, and his favorite DIET COKES.

The pink training wheel was by far the best "Get well" gift.
Dad got to come home Monday night, with a bag full of medication. He's doing really well. I guess the saying is true, "Can't keep a good man down!"

oh, and the Harley is still drivable and no he's not selling it. Dad can't wait to get back on and ride again.

Just one of those days

I'm having one of those days. I'm trying really hard not to "get stuck on mad" but I just can't shake it. I'm a pretty sensitive person so when people do me wrong, It takes me awhile to get over it.
I thought I would focus on my "personal pick me ups".
1. my family

These guys are my everything! I feel so blessed to have a healthy family. My husband is not only my hunk of burning love, He is hard working, funny and a great father. He is truly my best friend and I don't tell him enough but I LOVE him to pieces.

2. RUNNING

Running has always been a way for me clear my mind. I love it. I put my head phones in and off I go.
3. Relax Reisling Wine

This just takes all of my worries away.
4. Oreo Ice Cream

Makes me smile!!!
5. Grilled Cheese Sandwich

I can live on these things!

It's a 1st Birthday EXTRAVAGANZA!!!

We loaded up the truck Thursday night and headed to St. Louis for Hannah’s birthday. Friday was her actually birthday. We celebrated by singing her Happy Birthday multiple times. (I’m shocked she doesn’t think every day is her birthday, I always sing Happy Birthday to her when I’m in a pinch during bed time.) We spend the day shopping and preparing for her birthday party.

Saturday, was her party and we had a blast. We had lots of friends and family show up to celebrate out little bundle of joy.

I thought she would devour the cupcake but she insisted on using the spoon.

We had such a great time.

Birth Story

My pregnancy was…well let’s say very interesting. The first 12 weeks were a little rough. Whoever said “Morning” sickness was just for mornings are full of lies. I was so nauseous. It felt like a hangover, a REALLY bad hangover. My diet consisted of saltine crackers, ginger ale and pregnancy lollipops. My bionic nose wasn’t helping much either. I could smell for miles. Mike’s feet never smelt bad, but for some reason his left food would always smell TERRIBLE! I asked him randomly to please wash his foot.
I felt like I could sleep for days the first 12 weeks. I got off work at 4:00pm. I’d come home, make dinner (which was always grilled cheese) take a bubble bath then head for the couch to watch my DVR, I was always out before the sun went down. I couldn’t wait to get out of the 1st trimester.
The 2nd trimester was wonderful. The weather was warm and I was sporting my oh so cute baby bump. This was WAY before the calories from my abundance of grilled cheese and Oreo ice-cream caught up with me. 2nd Trimester was also nice, because I was:
1. Still able to bend over
2. Get up without using Mike as a rail
3. I could still see my feet.
BOY did that stage come to a brutal halt. The 3 trimester was TERRIBLE!
I was now in the waddling stage. At 30 weeks I was pretty much done with being prego. I was miserable. I was so “lucky” to develop a case of PUPPS. When I went to the DR. She’d say “Sometimes pregnancy does weird things to your body” The PUPPS were icing on the cake. I felt like a dang science project, I had gold bond all over my body to help with the itching, I smelt like tar from the anti-itching soap I was told you use, my left foot was so swollen it could have been mistaken as Shrek’s foot, oh and I developed this attractive wheeze…all the time.
I was more than excited to enter the month of July. Hannah’s due date was August 5th but I was determined to evict her by the end of July. July was an exciting month for the doctor visits. We were on the home stretch. I was supposed to start seeing Dr. Deed weekly to see if I was making any progress. I loved my Dr. she was the cutest little PETITE thing with tiny hands. So when she said she was going out of town, I politely declined to see one of the other “big Flintstone handed” doctors. I said I would wait and be checked by her when she got back.
Monday, July 26 I went to see the doctor with high hopes. I thought she check me and I would be 100% effaced and 9cm dilated. WRONG. My cervix was locked shut tighter than Fort Knox. I was 80% effaced and 1 cm dilated.
So here I go…to the treadmill, I had a tried pregnancy tea to get things going, that didn’t work. I had no other choice but the treadmill. Picture this: Huge prego girl, in her husband’s T-Shirt, sweating because it’s 90 degrees at 7:00pm, in tennis shoes that don’t fit. I could barely get them on and you can forget about tying them. I would walk, run, walk, and run for 30 minutes. I did this Tuesday and Wednesday night.
Wednesday night, I got my burst of energy at 10pm. I cleaned EVERYTHING, made tuna salad, did all of the laundry I had to make sure the place was in tip top shape for when family got here. Once I finished cooking and cleaning, I assumed my position on the couch. I wouldn’t say I slept there; sleeping anywhere was out of the question. I was so uncomfortable. So there I was sitting on the couch watching reruns of the Nanny at 5 in the morning and I starting feeling cramping in my stomach so I waited. I was told “You’ll know when you’re in labor”, when you A. still have a smile on your face and B. You don’t care to take a picture to capture the moment. I wasn’t quite there. I called my mom to let her in on the new news. She told me that my water didn’t necessary have to break in order for me to be into labor. I got excited. Mike arose from his 8 hour slumber of sleep around 6am. He told me to get in the shower and get ready to go to the hospital.
I took a shower and got ready, and then I remembered someone telling me that once I checked into labor and delivery, I wasn’t allowed to eat anything. I waddled myself to the kitchen and ate a bowl of cereal. I remember not being able to eat without having contractions. They were getting closer and closer. So off we went.
The car ride seem to take forever, once we got in and settled into my room my doctor arrived and checked me. I was only 3cm dilated. REALLY?? Thankfully she told me I could have my epidural any time. I’m pretty sure my next breath I said “I think I’ll have it now”
Things were pretty smooth sailing from that point a little too smooth and slow. I stopped dilating at 5cm and I was told Hannah was face up (imagine that, Me with a Nosey baby? Afraid she was going to miss something).
My parent’s and Devin were driving up from St. Louis the made it right before they took me to have my C-Section around 6:00pm that night.
I have never felt so close to God than during my C- Section. I prayed the entire time; God gave me such a peace about everything. I eventually heard Mike say “Oh my baby girl” Hannah was born at 7:58pm. 21 inches long, 7 pounds even.
She has truly changed our life.

"I'm just making a baby"

So after the initial shock of being prego, I headed to the book store to read up on having a baby. I was sure I was going to do everything right. Take my vitamins, work out, eat healthy, no caffeine, you know never really needing maternity clothes until the last trimester. LOL that lasted about 2 weeks until "Morning" sickness kicked in. I have never slept so much in my life. I would come home from work, take a shower, eat my grilled cheese and be asleep before the sun went down. It was great. That is all a memory these days.
I actually didn't mind the 2nd trimester. My bionic sense of smell had trinkled down to a minimal and I had a little more energy.I was in love with maternity clothes (well clothes in general as you most know)they were so comfy.I made a home in the old navy maternity section.
People were so nice to me when I was prego. It was always the subject of conversation in the grocery line and I loved the "Maternity" parking spots at Babies R Us.
The last 12 weeks were not so much fun. The grilled cheese and oreo ice cream calories had planted their ugly face all over my body, it was 100 degree's outside, my left foot could have passed as Shrek's foot and I had finally reached the waddling stage. If Mike asked me to do anything, he would get a not so nice look and I would often say "I'm busy making a baby"
one random stranger told me to be thankful and to enjoy my pregancy because it's all over with once she is here. I had no idea what he was talking about then, but now boy do I ever. Carrying Hannah for 9 months was the easy part.
Having her here and seeing her little adorable face makes my day every day!
I would like to take this opportunity to tell everyone that the book "What to Expect When Expecting" is full of lies ;o)
That book was helpful and a good reference book but I felt like it "fluffed" a lot of things. I would highly recommend "Belly laugh's" that book was hilarous and 100% true.