Livin’ Ever After Happily!

Month 6

2011-12-10T06:59:00.008-06:00

Well this may be the end of my blogging journey. I've come to accept that I am only a half hearted blogger and that I need to live my life and soak up the precious moments as they happen rather than trying to capture everything on film to share. This in no way shape or form is a judgement on anyone that blogs, in fact I love reading other people's posts while Olivia naps and I should be doing laundry, but alas it is not for me. Most of what I post here is already on facebook so if we're not friends on there add me and you can stay up to date with our little family. I've enjoyed this little experiment but I'm more than ready to let it go and clear one more thing off my plate.
With that said I'll leave you with the much delayed 6 month post.

Olivia has moved on to pears. She loves them and this week we start adding protein.

Bonding with Aunt and Uncle Reese at Thanksgiving lunch

The whole family, minus the Houston bunch

Our little family

Daddy's Girl

Trying to get a Christmas pic (we went a different route)

Thank you Junior League of Austin for giving me A Christmas Affair.
Reindeer breakfast with mom and gigi, pictures with Santa and lots of shopping

Love those baby blues

OK so I caved and we gave her one of her Christmas presents early.
It was the perfect way to distract her while I was cooking all Thanksgiving day

My first turkey

Life is good at the head of the table

Ho, ho, ho! Olivia's best santa impression

Um yeah she's spoiled rotten and got a gift from Tiffany's from one of her amazing Aunties

Rest easy I think she likes Christmas as much as I do

Her very own milk and cookies set for Santa

Trying to get a 6 month shot

She's so over this and would rather play

Yay there is my beautiful 6 month old!
Wearing size 3 Diapers and 9 month clothes
Still no teeth but she is in plenty of pain because of the 2 trying to break their way out
Olivia still loves her food
She has figured out her walker and will be playing in the living room one minute and then come find me in the kitchen the next.
She was 17lbs 9oz, and 26 inches at her 6 month visit

Squash

2011-11-15T13:49:00.009-06:00

This week's new dish for the little lady is squash and man oh man does she love her squash. I thought that the sweet potatoes were a hit but that was apparently nothing compared to the love my daughter has for this mini gourd. It makes me smile of course because I really enjoy squash. This week we had a special guest in the kitchen, Dad! We think that Olivia has hit her 6 month growth spurt early and has been pretty fussy so it was all ergo all evening with all attention going to her and not her veggies so dad stepped in to prepare this weeks dinner treats.

I feel bad laughing in this picture but she was making some pretty pitiful noises and faces

Again just hit up the organic produce section for your veggies. Jake did approximately 1 inch slices and then quartered them

Oh the handy steamer basket, 3 cups of water and 12 minutes
Miss O cheered up enough to put her in her highchair with some toys

It's so yummy, 2 for the fridge and 1 for the freezer
Love at first bite

Ok yes I have a hard time not imitating her without realizing it, and yes she is grabbing for my hand to shove it in her mouth

This is one stuffed and happy baby!

In other news Christmas has arrived in our home and Olivia's room was hit first!

5 Months

2011-11-09T18:11:00.005-06:00

*Yet again I'm late but posting none the less!

My sweet little lady you are 5 months old! These posts are always a little harder to write than anything else because as much as I LOVE watching you grow up it's hurts my heart a little that you are doing it so fast. Your 5th month was another very busy month and you made it through like a champ.

You now wear size 3 diapers
Several of your 9 month outfits fit you but for the most part everything you wear is 6 months
You're weighing in at a little over 17 pounds
Sleeping through the night is happening more often than not (last night you slept for 12 hours)
You had your first real cold this month and it was no fun at all but we made it through.
You have been doing great with your reflux meds and seem to be feeling much better
My favorite new development is you sitting up! So many new things are within your reach.

This month was also big because you started your "solid" foods. Every Sunday we hop in the kitchen and whip up a new puree for you. So far the verdict is Sweet Potatoes - Yes, Carrots - Not so much and Squash - We'll find out tonight.

We made our first trip to Dallas to visit Aunt Bethany and had so much fun. While we were there we went to the State Fair.

We also went to the Pumpkin patch at the Dallas Arboretum. On that note it was your first Halloween and you were the cutest peacock eh-ver!!

We played with our friend Jamey and can't believe how big he is getting too! I absolutely love watching you two and can't wait for all the memories to come!
This month we got to celebrate something very special, your Aunt Bethany's wedding! She looked absolutely beautiful and you seemed to have a calming affect on her all weekend. Her you are playing with her just hours before the wedding.

Every day you make me smile and make all of the stress of day to day life disappear. I can't believe your on your way to half a year old. Next month we'll be talking about your first Thanksgiving!!

Week 2: Carrots

2011-11-08T16:36:00.002-06:00

Seeing as how sweet potatoes were a glowing success onward to carrots we moved. Olivia once again got familiar with her new food.

Carrot meet Olivia, Olivia meet carrot!

Peeling veggies is fun to me, what can I say
Steam for 10 minutes then puree til smooth All of the above equals 1 very happy baby

At first she was thrown off, I think expecting her sweet potatoes, but quickly started grabbing for the spoon. I also tried the carrots and loved them. You really can't beat fresh organic carrots.
So far I really enjoy making Olivia's food and having her join us at the dinner table every night is (messy at times) so fun.

Wedding Weekend

2011-11-08T08:58:00.002-06:00

By now my little sister is sipping on a cocktail with her husband by her side on a beach enjoying her honeymoon. It was an amazing weekend celebrating their wedding and I hope that they are having a much deserved, relaxing trip. The festivities started Thursday with dinner at the Hilltop Cafe. There were about 23 1/2 of us and we had a great time chatting the night away and relaxing before all the festivities began.
Friday morning Olivia woke up early and since we were sharing a B&B with the bride and several other bridesmaids I thought it would be a good time to take a long run so everyone else could sleep. It was freezing, literally, it think the thermometer on the car read 31 when I turned it on to check. I bundled Olivia up with a few extra blankets and her winter hat and headed out. As much as I could bundle her up I was limited in what I had brought and was ill prepared. Because of my lack of gloves we didn't stay out too long. We managed to stop in the square to take a picture of Miss Olivia with this beautiful Christmas decoration (the name is German and I'm not even going to attempt to try and spell it) that has been used for the past couple of years.

We also managed to stop by Fredericksburg Gourmet, my favorite coffee spot, for some South Texas Pecan coffee and a blueberry muffin. My hands started to get pretty numb at this point so we headed back to the B&B. The rest of the day was spent at the bridal party brunch and the rehearsal dinner. Since I wanted Bethany to get a solid nights sleep the night before the wedding Olivia went and stayed at a different B&B with Jake and my in-laws.

Things got started early the next day with hair so Olivia and I headed over to keep Bethany company and watch some football. Most weekends Olivia is sporting her Burnt Orange and White but since Bethany and Robert are Red Raiders we made and exception and put her double T on and got her guns up! It wasn't much help for the Red Raiders but I was excited on the inside to see my Horns come out with the win.

My hair half done, and Olivia in the Tech outfit I made for her

It's not too often that Bethany and I think we look alike but this picture really shows the similarities
Bethany is so great with Olivia and I secretly think baby girl helped calm Bethany all day

My stunningly gorgeous sister taking a few pictures before we head to the wedding.

I was a wreck all day. I know she is only 2 years younger than me but it was so special watching my sister marry Robert. Baby girl went home with my in-laws early so that Jake and I could stay at the reception and have fun with everyone. All in all it was a fabulous weekend, I can't wait to hear all about their trip when they get back.

Sweet Potatoes

2011-10-30T17:14:00.007-05:00

*I wrote this a week ago then took forever to upload photos so the week 2 carrot post will most likely be very soon, as well as the wedding post and her 5 month post!!

Well here goes nothing. 1 batch down, who knows how many more to go? This afternoon I took maybe a grand total of 30 minutes to prepare Olivia's first batch of baby food. It was so simple and we're all pretty happy with the results. While the book I'm using starts with carrots I skipped to the 2nd recipe and started with sweet potatoes, because really who doesn't love sweet potatoes (also I wasn't too happy with the way the carrot selection was looking today.) I'll switch back to the carrots next week and get back on track to work my way through the book in order. It really is so simple to make and here is somewhat of a step by step on how I got from veggies to puree.

1) wash and peel organic sweet potatoes

2) Chop into 1 inch cube and steam for 15 minutes
(I use a steamer basket and my stock pot, pretty simple and no fancy baby making machines here. *Note - no I'm not hating on the machines, in fact I have my eye on the Baby Brezza but since this is all happening much sooner than expected we are using what we have>)

3) Olivia had been helping from atop her high chair but decided to take a play break while the potatoes steamed and mommy cleaned.

4) Regular blender set to puree - No more margs in this bad boy, at least until I get my Brezza ;) Use the water that was used to steam the potatoes to adjust the consistency to what your baby needs

5) Potion out the puree. 3 went in the freezer for future use and 1 goes into the fridge for dinner then next few nights. I love these containers! They are by Ball, you know the mason jars, anyway they are BPA free and can be frozen.Once all was said and done I gave it a taste myself and it was so yummy! It reminded me of my days at Texas Roadhouse and the loaded sweet potatoes sans calorie busting caramel sauce and marshmallows.

All in all I'd say our first adventure into purees went very well and as you can tell Olivia was one pleased patron at Cafe Du Mom (NOLA reference anyone??) Like I mentioned, next week we'll be making carrots but only after we return from a fabulous long weekend in Fredericksburg for my baby sister's wedding...better get cracking on my Maid of Honor toast.

Adventures of a growing palette

2011-10-24T16:20:00.006-05:00

And so it begins! As much as I would like to wait until the 6 month mark like planned Olivia is more than ready to make the jump into solids. Her Pediatrician, Jake and I all agreed to go ahead and give it a try. So far we have started with cereals which she seems to love. It's a messy process but she can't seem to get enough.
I've known since before she was born that I wanted to make Olivia's food at home. There's something about knowing exactly what is going into her body. If you think about it up to this point all of her food has been "homemade" so why not keep the process going once she starts solids. I want meals to be a family event and a way for us to bond so finding a book that is centered around the same ideas was perfect. So in the spirit of Julia and Julia I'll be cooking, feeding and blogging my way through Start Fresh - Tyler Florence's recipe book for baby and beyond foods. Some of the recipes sound amazing and I can't wait to try them myself as well as feed them to baby girl.

We are giving her a full week of cereal before we start the first puree on Sunday.

For now here's a video of my sweet baby girl going gaga over her big girl food.

*Note: No we are not making a habit of feeding her in the living room in-front of the TV, The dinning room table was covered with sorted laundry waiting to be put up when she decided she was hungry.

Girls Weekend

2011-10-18T14:04:00.005-05:00

This past weekend was my sister's bridal shower in Dallas so Olivia, Gigi (my mom) and I made the trip to spend the weekend with her. Other than the drive to and from Dallas it was a great visit. I got to see Bethany's cute new house and spend time catching up. Saturday morning we woke up and went to the Arboretum to take Olivia to the pumpkin patch. I have never been to the Arboretum in Dallas and could not get over how big and absolutely beautiful it was. I could have spent hours there but I needed to get some stuff done for the shower. We had a great turn out and it was fun meeting so many of the people in my sister's life in Dallas. We got home in time to order some food and watch the Rangers win the ALCS. Sunday we spent the morning at the State Fair introducing Olivia to the joy that is a corn dog and funnel cake. We didn't do any of the fried bubble gum, margaritas or butter but we did see lots of baby animals and make a stop at Big Tex. After the fair we made a stop by the Rangers store in Uptown to get Olivia something to wear while we watch the World Series.
It was such a great weekend and I can't believe that the next time I see my little sister it will be for her wedding weekend. I already get pretty emotional just thinking about it.

Gigi, Olivia and Auntie Bee at the pumpkin patch

This is one of those moments I'm so excited to have caught

"I want this one Mommy"

I love my pretty little peacock

Gigi and her little lady

Taking a little dip in the water installation

Baby's first State Fair
Mommy's lunch, Olivia's lunch

Cutest Calf ever!

All tuckered out from the fair

Go Rangers!!!

.33333333 of the year down

2011-10-08T17:19:00.004-05:00

Well Olivia love you are 4 months old! How in the world did we get here so fast? You're growing like a weed and hitting all kinds of milestones.

You've discovered your feet and they are in your hands all the time
Rolling from your belly to your back is old habit and you've moved on to rolling from your back to your belly
You hold your own bottles and are just showing off when I set it in your carrier and you decide to feed yourself ;)
We're having some issues with your GI Tract and had to make another visit to Dell Children's but the doctors are great and we are confident things will get fixed up quick
The army crawl is creeping out anytime we put you on your belly. Mommy might need to baby proof much much sooner than expected
We tried rice cereal with you one night and it seemed to not agree with you too much so we are putting that on hold for now
Your laugh is more and more exciting every day, when you get excited everyone knows it
You are in the 90th percentile in your head size and weight and in the 75th percentile in length
When it comes to clothes you are in 6-9month outfits depending on the makers

Your great-aunts from California came to visit and spoil you

We got out my old baby blanket for you to play on

You still love bath time and anytime you can be without a diaper is a very happy time

Your daddy is still the only man for you.
When I say Dada you start to look for him and when the dogs go crazy at the sound of his truck coming home you don't cry anymore, you just smile from ear to ear.

3 Months...better late than never!

2011-09-20T19:28:00.006-05:00

Well little lady you're 3 months and some change and I'm finally getting around to doing your 3 month post. We had a busy 3rd month and things look like they are going to stay just as busy until after Christmas.
Highlights of the past month:
You switched from 3 month jammies to 6 month jammies
You're weighing in at 14 1/2 pounds these days
The doctor put you in the 95th percentile in weight, length and head size last visit
You have discovered your voice and random excited shrieks are
one of the funnier parts of my day
You are transitioning into your crib and it's harder on mommy than you
You sleep 7-9 hours without waking up to feed most nights
When we do tummy time your legs are going crazy and we think you are more than ready to get your crawl on but take your time, you've got plenty of time to be a big kid
You have outgrown the infant insert in your car seat and you are about to not need the one in your ergo carrier either
You started school and it's making mommy feel like a horrible mommy for not being able to stay home with you but you're only 1 door away from me during the day so I'm right there if you nee me!!

I put you in your play bouncer but you're still a little too small
We went to Galveston for Aunt Bethany's Bachelorette party and during some of mommies down time from Matron of honor duties we took you in the pool for the first time and you had a blast!

You also impressed everyone by sleeping to and from Galveston, the entire time!

You're loving sitting in your big girl seat

You're getting so big, I just can't stand it!

Uncle Robert and Aunt Bethany came to town for their couples shower so you got some quality time with both of them but decided that Uncle Robert is the perfect canvas for your spit up art

Your most recent big girl development is that you are teething...yay :(

So far it's not too bad and you're just gnawing on your hands and drooling all the time

I mean ALL the time

Football season has started and you love it,

and your cute team clothes!

This past month went by so fast and everything seems to be picking up speed. I wish I had more time to savor all of the little things but it makes me appreciate the evenings and weekends so much more. I love you more than words baby girl and love watching you grow and discover the world around you.

Jobs

2011-08-16T14:19:00.002-05:00

As much as I would LOVE to make Olivia my full time employer, she only pays in smiles and cuddles and Austin Energy unfortunately does not accept such forms of payment...bummer.

While I knew that pursuing a teaching career during this time of extreme budget shortfalls and an abundance of applicants due to layoffs would be an uphill battle I figured I'd at the least be able to find an assistant teaching job to help me gain experience and better my chances for next year. Well with over 80 applications submitted I have had 1 interview and at this point am pretty sure I did not get the position. I know that I am competing with thousands experienced laid off teachers in the Austin area and I need to be patient but we are nearing a time that I need to be back at work and contributing. Adding the expense of child care makes things tricky because that means it's that much more that I need to bring in and thus I can't return to the preschool :( We're not at the point yet where we can afford to be a 1 income family so I'm trying like crazy to market myself but with the way school districts handle the hiring process these days it's hard to make an impression when you can't get in contact with the principals and have to go through the strict HR web application processes. We'll see how things go and I'm not losing hope just yet but as of now it looks like I'm going to have to take a job unrelated to teaching just to pull my weight with our expenses which makes me really sad because it puts me further away from my goal of being a classroom teacher. I know eventually I'll get there and it will be amazing when it happens but for now I continue my climb.

One thing I have discovered is that more and more school districts are requiring more certification areas for their teachers so once I am working I'll be taking 2 more TExES exams to make myself look even more attractive to the districts. ESL and GT endorsements aren't required by all but most districts I've been applying with list them as preferred. We shall see, soon I hope. The thought of some day walking into my own classroom, meeting my first group of students, spending the whole year encouraging them and getting them excited about all the things they are capable of encourages me to stay persistent. I will get there someday and it will be amazing. Until then I'll continue applying and waiting as patiently as I can.

Stealing 3 things

2011-08-09T22:31:00.005-05:00

So when I see something I like on someone's blog I steal it. With that said I bring you my 3 things post!

3 things I love:
*Olivia
*The way I love my husband more because of our daughter
*Doctors that help my little lady

3 things I miss {or will miss}:
*All the staff and moms at the preschool, hopefully Olivia will be able to attend in 2 years
*Long showers, there is no more showering for enjoyment. It's an in and out in 3 minutes type of thing now
*DAIRY! For the time being I am not eating or drinking dairy to curb Olivia's spitting up and reflux issues

3 things that make me happy:
*Footie jammies on my 2 month old
*Talking to my sister about her wedding details
*Dreaming of a Caribbean vacation for our family of 3 next summer

3 things that I'm looking forward to:
*Bethany's bachelorette party next weekend
*Getting a teaching job some day
*A really good margarita

3 things I need to do:
*Laundry
*Continue to apply for teaching jobs
*Go on a date with my husband

3 fun events coming up this fall:
*Bethany's Wedding!!!
*UT football season
*Hopefully my second half marathon

2 Months Old

2011-08-08T15:42:00.006-05:00

Miss Olivia is growing like a weed and making my life more beautiful by the day!

She is smiling all the time and laughs at mom and dad when we play with her
She's a little ham when mommy pulls out the camera
Everyone has noticed how much happier she is now that she isn't in pain
She likes to stay up late and most nights end up looking like this!She wears size 2 diapers and weighs 13 pounds 15 ounces
Her newborn clothes are stored away and she is wearing size 3 month
At night she is sleeping at least 5 hours straight with some 7 hour stretches here and there
Tummy time is a blast and she is always scooting across her mat
She has rolled from front to back several times now and is always very excited when it happens
Bath time has been moved to earlier in the evenings now that she has decided that she loves playing in the water
Windows could entertain her for hours

So much strength in such a little package

she's pretty excited about her new splash pool

And because I can't get enough of this beautiful face, more pics!

Daddy hanging out with bright eyes herself and her BFF Jamey so Jamey's mom and dad could go out for their anniversary

Mommy and Olivia enjoying a breezy morning on the back porch

Ah her laughs could cure anything!

She's already rolling her eyes at my ridiculousness

In her 3rd month of life miss Olivia is going to the beach and her first bachelorette party.
Really can't wait for that post!

Olivia - A not so brief medical history

2011-08-08T14:00:00.006-05:00

I'll do a 2 month post here shortly and it will be filled with all the loveliness of Miss Olivia but I wanted to give and update on my little bright eyes diaper dilemmas.

Everything started at about 2 weeks old. Olivia looked like she had a little cut on her left butt cheek (bail out now if you don't feel like reading about my daughters nether-region) that was just barely bleeding. I brought it to the attention of our pediatrician and she wasn't worried about it so we were to just keep an eye on it. Within a few days a little cut turned into a quarter sized ulcer that made Olivia scream in pain every time she went to the restroom. There were countless sleepless nights and a couple of very tired and frustrated parents. We called the pediatrician, went back in and the pedi was still convinced that it was just a bad diaper rash and prescribed lots of naked time (to amply dry everything out), frequent diaper changing and prescription burn cream.

We decided to switch diapers after reading horror stories online about the brand that we had been using thinking that might help. A week passed and there was no change so another phone call to the pediatricians office got us a referral to a dermatologist. We met with him 2 days later and he prescribed a steroid ointment and lots of naked time. 1 week later on a Friday we went back to the derms office with decent results. Over 1/2 of the ulcer had grown new skin and we thought we were going to have a speedy recovery with the right meds. The Dr asked us to come back on Monday to make sure that it closed up well. By the time we went back on Monday there had been no change from Friday and the Dermatologist called in a surgeon to come look at it. The general consensus between the two of them was that she needed to see a pediatric surgeon, YAY.

At this point I was starting to get stressed out and annoyed that nobody could tell me a) what was going on with her and b) how to fix it. I was more than a little on edge about going to see a surgeon so Jake took off work and came with me. That appointment was quick and not very informative other than sending us to yet another place. The surgeon referred us to the Wound Care Doctor at Dell Children's Hospital. After being referred to yet another person I was bordering on irate so my mom came with me to the appointment to help me with Miss O while I filled out yet another set of paperwork. Sidenote: I'd be all for universal/electronic patient records, maybe not really, but I have easily filled out 50-60 forms throughout this entire process and wish there was an easier way to go about the registration process. The wound care doctor that we saw was A-MA-ZING! She basically diagnosed that the redness on both booty cheeks and around the ulcer that everyone thought was "regular diaper rash" was not and needed different ointment that cleared up the infection in 2 days (little girl had this infection for 5 weeks and the right ointment cleared it up in 2 days, can you say unnecessary pain.) So we went back a week later for her to check out the infection and the ulcer.

With the infection completely cleared up and the ulcer still looking the same she let me know that it looked like Olivia had a Hemangioma and that the ulcer was on-top of it. With this in mind she referred us to a pediatric dermatologist that specializes in hemangiomas. At this point I was more than happy to go see yet another doctor because at least now we had a pretty good idea of what we were dealing with. Fast Forward to today and we met with the Pedi Derm (welcome to my calendar shorthand) sure enough she confirmed that Olivia does indeed have a hemangioma on her booty and it will in time, possibly a couple of years, go away. The Dr sent us in right away for an ultrasound to see if the Hemangioma was internalized at all. Poor little lady was not allowed to feed before she had the ultrasound so that meant she was really unhappy with me. She wiggled and cried the entire time she was on the table but I think they were able to get some images. While we were waiting to make sure they had all of the images that they needed I got the go ahead to feed Olivia and she finally settled down. The radiologist needed to get a few more images so back on the table she went only now she was perfectly happy and completely mesmerized by the ultrasound screen.

Let's talk about how strange it is to have your 2 month old get an ultrasound just 3 months after you got your last one to look at her in utero. So for now we wait a day or two for the results of the ultrasound and go from there.

To sum things up here is the Doctor breakdown since Olivia has been born:
Pediatrician - 3 visits
Dermatologist - 3 visits
Pediatric Surgeon - 1 visit
Dell Children's Wound Care - 2 visits
Pediatric Dermatologist - 1 visit
Radiologist - 1 visit

To top everything off I have to take Miss Olivia in to the pediatrician again on Thursday for her 2 month shots, sheesh. I am finding peace in the fact that at least she won't remember all of this when she is older.

I am very grateful that we have Doctors that are making sure miss Olivia is comfortable and not in pain anymore. I also know that there are many children out there with much bigger problems than ours so I don't want to sound selfish and insensitive. The only thing this post is meant for is too get some frustration off my chest and inform family and friends as to where we are at in this ongoing problem. Thanks everyone for all of the support and suggestions along the way.

New Ink Itch

2011-07-27T15:16:00.002-05:00

For a while now I've been craving a new tattoo. Currently I have 2, my first was on my lower back of a dove and my second a script heart on the inside of my left heel. I love both of them and have never regretted either and I attribute this to taking a long time considering what I want and making sure I'm really happy with the design before I commit to having it inked on my body forever. Well the itch has returned and I want another one. Almost as soon as we found out that I was pregnant I knew I'd want a new one for the baby, well for me in honor of the little one. I've been contemplating different designs and options. Who knows if I'll ever get anything done but the itch is there.

Vent

2011-07-25T18:45:00.004-05:00

So as many of you may know we have been losing the "diaper rash" battle. My sweet Olivia has now been to the doctor 6 times in her 7 short weeks of life; 3 times to the pediatrician, 3 times to the dermatologist (I didn't even have a dermatologist until college) and now tomorrow we'll be adding a Pediatric Surgeon to the mix.
*pause for a very frustrated sigh*
Yes poor Olivia has not only exhausted the knowledge of her pediatrician but the dermatologist as well. At this point we've moved past thinking it's a diaper rash and moved on to much bigger problems. I'm not going to go in to too much detail until we hear from the surgeon about what's wrong and what our options but right about now I'm very thankful to live in the same city as Dell Children's Hospital.
Today was rough to say the least. I went to our appointment at the dermatologist hoping to hear that he thought everything looked better but instead I got to cry alone in the check up room with my baby while they wrote up the referral paperwork for our visit to the hospital tomorrow. I'm very thankful for modern medicine and know that all of this is good because we're going to be talking with the best people available and she'll be in good hands but I can't remove the fact that she is only 7 weeks old and the thought of surgery scares me to death.
Ugh sorry for the Debby Downer post but I had to vent because I feel completely helpless and need to get this out.

***Update 7/27/2011 - Well we met with the surgeon yesterday and don't really have any more answers other than we are going to see yet ANOTHER doctor on Friday. We'll be seeing a wound care doctor and will do a treatment with them. Depending on how that goes we'll either be in the clear because hopefully it will work or we'll have to go back to the surgeon for a biopsy. My hope obviously is that the wound care doctor is able to give us something that will finally work and we can avoid any kind of surgery.

To end on a good note this week Olivia started smiling in reaction to things I do with her and I can even manage to sneak a fabulously gummy giggle out of her every now and then!!

Happy Dance

2011-07-13T10:29:00.002-05:00

So this morning, as quietly as I could so I didn't wake the baby, I jumped and danced and partied in my bathroom after I stepped onto our scale. I have not seen the # number that was on the scale since my (second) senior year of college when I was in the best shape of my life. I try not to be consumed by the number but it's nice to see that all of the life changes to be healthier and set a good example for my daughter are paying off (and the breast feeding helps - a lot.) I am completely surprised that I'm here and can only imagine what else I can accomplish. There is still some weight to lose before I'm in a range that my doctor and I would like for me to be in but we are getting there. It's amazing the motivation that Miss Olivia has provided me with. She'll be doing a lot of wonderful things in her big beautiful life and I want to be there for all of them so I need to make sure I take care of me as well as her.

On that same note I have 8 more days til I go to the doctor and hopefully get the all clear to kick start running again. I'm itching to get back on the trail and start training again, and even got a stroller fan for Olivia because lets face it, it's hotter than Hades in Texas this year. Maybe the heat will be my motivation to run faster and get out earlier.

1 month of Olivia

2011-07-08T14:48:00.002-05:00

Somebody is 1 month old!!

She wasn't feeling it so much our first try...

so I bribed her with her lovie and changed her outfit.

First month highlights:

I love the sound of Daddy and mommy's voices and respond when I hear them
I've been a pretty good sleeper so far giving mommy at least 3 hours of sleep at a stretch and lately I've been sleeping 4 1/2 to 5 hour stretches
My eyes are still blue which mom loves. Since everyone says I look like dad at least I have her eyes
I'm a really good eater and am up to 11 pounds
I still sleep in my bassinet in mom and dads room, but am transitioning via naps into my own beachy room
Bath time is super fun, i really like the warm water
I like being swaddled but don't even think about including my arms because I'll just find a way to wiggle them free
I've been pushing up on my legs and lifting my head constantly since I was born

All in all it's been a fabulous month but has gone by way too fast. At this rate my little lady will be grown up in no time. I'm going to savor every second I have with Miss Olivia, at least until she's old enough to talk back then I'll savor every other second.

Update

2011-06-30T13:51:00.005-05:00

What has been going on in our little corner of the world??

Poor little one has such a bad diaper rash that the Pedi prescribes burn cream, so sad. There have been lots of tears (mom and Olivia's) at diaper change time.
We had our first mini-road trip to Lockhart on Tuesday to Kreuz Market for some BBQ with Papa Bear and his co-workers.
Olivia is weighing in at 10 lbs now, yeah she's a healthy eater
In non-baby related news I ordered my Bridesmaids dress for Bethany's wedding and the dress was a smaller size than my wedding dress!!! This made me one very happy camper

Today was my sister's birthday so Olivia and I got to work early this morning on her birthday card!
*No I'm not torturing my child in this crazy Texas heat, Bethany bought her this hat for Christmas and I couldn't resist putting it on her

This was her 3 week birthday, already such a change from when she was born

This is how little miss looks with a full belly

Bethany and Robert stopped by to visit Olivia on their way back to Dallas

My new favorite past time, cuddling with my little lady.
Nothing cuter than a baby in nothing other than a diaper!

Father's Day

2011-06-20T08:56:00.004-05:00

One of the most amazing parts of having Olivia has been watching Jake become a daddy. He has always been meant to be a father and is a natural. He loves our baby girl so much and cares for both of us in so many ways. I can't imagine having anyone else as the father of our beautiful little girl. Thank you for the way you love her and me, we love you to the stars and back!

It was nice to celebrate him and all the other dads in my life yesterday. We had lunch at my parents house and Olivia got to spend plenty of time getting loved on by her dad, grandpa and great grandpa.

39 Weeks and 1 day

2011-06-16T15:26:00.013-05:00

Thanks for your patience while I get used to life with Miss Olivia.

So last Monday (June 6) Jake and I got to spend the entire day together since he decided to take some time off before the baby came. We needed to go to the grocery store for some little things but thought maybe we should go ahead and stock up on some items that would be easy to make once little one got here. It was nice to run errands with and spend time with him outside of the few hours we get every evening after work. *This next part cracks me up because I know I'll never forget it but I'm somewhat embarrassed to admit it.* That evening we decided to make dinner and then watch American Choppers, yeah that's right the motorcycle show on TLC. Halfway through the show I noticed that I was getting pretty uncomfortable, nothing too crazy, almost gas like pains. I really thought I just needed to go to the bathroom and didn't say anything to Jake because I didn't want to sound the alarm if my dinner was the culprit and not the baby. The pains were becoming annoying enough that out of curiosity I pulled out my iphone and started timing them with the app I had downloaded. At first everything was pretty random and the closest ones were 10 minutes apart...for the first hour (9-10ish.) After that everything began to speed up.

Around 10:30 I had moved upstairs to our bedroom to kind of feel things out, still not saying a thing to Jake. At this point he was finishing a paper for his class and I really wanted him to be able to finish before I let him know it was time. The pains were starting to get closer and closer together and by 11 I was having contractions 5 minutes apart. By now Jake had come upstairs and I had clued him in to what was going on and let him know that he might want to wrap up his paper and let his professor know that he might be MIA for a few days. To this Jake looks at me and coyly says "oh really?!?!" While he was wrapping things up I called the doctors office to let them know what's going on and jumped into the shower to ease some of the pressure in my back, yeah back labor sucks! The Dr on call said that if I wanted to stay at home until the contractions were about 3 minutes apart and then come in she was confident that would help speed things along once we got to the hospital. So I decided that it was more than doable and that we would hold off going in until everything was much closer together. The shower seemed to help and was a great distraction, but once I got out things got a little more intense.

I was having to concentrate more on my breathing and all of our labor positions. I was constantly on my knees leaning on the side of the bed swaying my hips back and forth through the contractions. The pain was beginning to really take over my thought process and becoming consuming. Jake was done working on his paper (please know that I was pretty much ordering him to finish his school work so don't think that he was being a bad husband not attending to me, really there was not much for him to do at this point.) and I wanted to get in the shower again so he manned the contraction app and informed me when I got out that everything was pretty much coming right at 3 minutes apart and her really thought that we should probably head out. At this point I got emotional and it really hit me that the next time we were at home we'd have Olivia with us.

We packed up and headed out. The trip to the hospital was pretty fast seeing as how it was 1:15am. Having contractions in the car was not fun at all. Once we got to the hospital everything went pretty fast since we preregistered and our Dr had called to let them know we would be coming in at some point that night. We got set up and they did the first round of monitoring to find that baby girl was doing good and I unfortunately was only dilated to a 3. While all of the monitoring was going on I was getting sick and throwing up quite a bit. The nurse told me that based on her check that baby girl was face up so we were encouraged to labor while walking the halls and moving my hips from side to side during contractions which works out because that is what felt the best and I had planned on doing anyway. We did that for about 2 hours then during one of our monitoring sessions we decided that it was time to call our parents to let them know where we were. Within 40 minutes my parents as well as Jake's dad and step mom were hanging out with us.

At this point it was 5am and the pain was getting to a level unlike anything I had ever felt before. It was an effort to get through contractions and we seemed to have stalled at 2-3 minutes apart for several hours. The whole time Jake was great helping me through each one, never leaving my side. At 9:30 am I had reached a point of exhaustion and pain that I could not get past and that is when our code word came in handy and my plans for an un-medicated child birth flew out the window without a moments reservation. I knew that in order for me to be strong for my baby girl and get her here soon I needed to get an epidural and rest up since I was not making much progress at all. Seems she was rather content hanging out right were she was at and as a result my cervix was not changing much. When we decided to call for the epidural seems as if it was the popular thing to do and I found out that we were 3rd in line to get one. The next 45 minutes were rough but when the Dr came in I was elated to see him, that was until it took 35 almost 40 minutes to get the dang thing in. If you know anything about epidurals then you know that in order to get one you must sit on the edge of the bed and be very still while they place it. Well that meant that for almost 40 minutes I had to work through contractions while in a horribly uncomfortable position and trying to relax my shoulders (I wanted to punch the anesthesiologist every time he told me to relax.) Luckily everything got taken care of and I was in a much better place rather quickly after the meds hit my system.

For the next 2-3 hours I was able to rest and regain some of the strength that I had used up laboring for 12 hours through some intense pain. Around 1pm the nurse that had been with me all morning came in and did one last check before her shift ended. She informed me that I was at a 10 and ready to go so she called the Dr to let her know that I was 100% and to see what she wanted to do next. The doctor said if it was ok with us that she would like for me to go one more hour to let the baby come down even further naturally so that it would mean less pushing for me in the end. It sounded good to me so we continued to ride things out. The nurse explained that at this point I should only push the button for my epidural meds for pain and not to confuse the pressure that was coming with pain because that could prolong the pushing, so I stopped pushing the button for the meds because I essentially told myself that what I was feeling was normal pressure and not pain ...bad idea! About an hour later around 2pm it was time to start pushing. Our families left the room and headed to the waiting room and Jake and I sprang in to action with our nurse. I quickly realized that my meds had worn off and I was going to feel every bit of this delivery and was very thankful that I had the opportunity to rest earlier in the day. We pushed in several positions making what felt to me like no progress what so ever.

1 hour passed then 2 hours passed and at this point it was getting hard for me to catch my breath because of the pain so they gave me oxygen which was very helpful. To my surprise the nurse called the Dr and said it was time for her to come in, Thank goodness!!! For the next 30 minutes I pushed and pushed and cried and gave Jake the must defeated look ever. I got to a point were mentally I was convinced there was just no way Olivia was coming out on her own. Even though the doctor never once said it, all I could think was that they were for sure going to have to take me in for a c-section. I remember looking at Jake with tears in my eyes saying that there is no way she's going to come (and genuinely believing it 100%) and then 2 pushes later there she was!

I had never felt so defeated and helpless in my life and in that moment Olivia decided to prove me wrong and show me that I could be strong for her when she needed me and do what had to be done for her. It was the most blissful moment of my life when they laid her squishy pink body on my chest. All I could do was cry and kiss her. I can't even begin to explain the love I felt for her and Jake. Jake cut the cord and they tended to Olivia while they were wrapping things up with me. Once all of that was done I was able to nurse her for the first time and she was a natural. I've been pretty lucky in this department and she is still nursing happily. After she was done eating our families were able to come in and join us and meet her. While we were pushing my two sisters and Jake's brother had arrived so she had quite the welcoming crew.

We spent the next day and a half in the hospital being cared for and having lots of visitors. On Thursday morning we were very ready to head home so we got all the Dr visits taken care of and were given the go ahead to be on our way. Being home has been an adjustment but a good one. The dogs responded well to her and Benson is already on the ball, he goes right to her when she is crying and then comes to look at me like "mom fix it, make her happy." She eats all the time and as of her first visit to the pediatricians office on Tuesday she is above her birth weight and Perfect (the doctors word not mine, although I use it to describe her daily.)

Sleep is pretty hit or miss but during the day I'm doing good so I can't complain. It's been nice having Jake home to help and share all of this bonding time with. I'll be sad when he goes back to work on Monday but know that we will be good. The past 9 days have been the hardest and most wonderful of my life so far and I will never be able to fully explain how much my heart has grown and how in love I am with my daughter. I never imagined myself as the mother of a girl and now I can't imagine not being Olivia's mom.

Ok so enough with words I know everyone really wants pictures.

Pretty sure this was after the epidural

moments after our Olivia was born

quality time with my little lady

Jake's in love

so is aunt Bethany

Hanging out in the nursery
About to head home from the hospital
Just so sweet

Diaper changing is a team sport

Hi world I'm 1 week old

Our family of three at my parents house

Olivia Peyton
Born June 7, 2011
@ 4:45pm
8 pounds 3 Ounces
19 1/2 inches long

Work in progress

2011-06-14T15:24:00.002-05:00

I'm working on Olivia's birth story but her feeding comes first so it's taking me longer than expected. I imagine it will be posted in a few days. Until then know that 19 hours of labor is well worth it when the end product is my beautiful baby girl!!

It's that time!

2011-06-02T19:53:00.001-05:00

Nope not a baby post. I dedicate this post to my other summer love...So You Think You Can Dance! I love this show and it makes this crazy sub-par dancer want to take Hip-Hop and Contemporary dance classes. I'm so excited that it's back on and I'm sure anytime I get a spare second this summer I'll be making time to watch the show. I tried to find video of my two favorite dances to post but one of them will not embed so you'll have to go here to watch Twitch and Alex do a fabulous hip-hop number. Then there is the dance below that made me cry while I was watching it live several years ago. I can't imagine having that much talent. Yay for summer reality competition TV!

Catch Up

2011-05-25T21:01:00.008-05:00

It's been a while so I'll play catch up. Well we got to see the little lady and she's not so little as it turns out. I pretty much knew she'd be big because I was big when I was born and just had an intuition about this. Anyway the doctor said that from all the measurements that she took Olivia looked like she was sitting pretty at about 7 1/2 lbs give or take 1/2 a pound. Anyway you look at it, that's one healthy sized baby. We're not making any rash decisions at this point and we're going to let her do her thing and come on her own. Needless to say it will be an adventure of a delivery. Baby girl's head is pretty low down so it was hard to get a good snap shot but this is the one we got. Love her so much it hurts!!

We go back to the doctor tomorrow for our weekly visit and will most likely have another ultrasound to see how things are looking this week. I guess one of the perks of having a big little one is the fact that our Dr wants a few extra ultrasounds to see how she is growing these last few weeks.

Recently we decided that our bedroom needed a major face lift. I've been making building a case for a king sized bed ever since Jake and I got married and 2 weeks ago we took the plunge. It could not have happened at a better time either as sleep has been really lacking in my life lately. Ever since we got the new bed I have been sleeping like a rock. My normal 2 or 3 trips a night to the bathroom have reduced to 1 or none. I have not slept this well in years. So with a new bed naturally came the new bedding and linens.

Olivia's little nook in our room. A swing with a view, gotta love it

This past week/weekend was extra busy. It was the end of the school year at the preschool and with that came a surprise shower for me and one of the other teachers that is due in August. I would share pictures but since I didn't know about it I had no camera. It was so sweet and we got lots of fun goodies. Baby girl is going to be lucky to have all these great ladies in her life.

Sunday was crazy busy. My little sister came to town for 5 hours to look at wedding dresses and come to a baby shower thrown for me by some of my fabulous college friends! It was so sweet of them to put so much great detail into the day. We even had gifts from 3 other college girlfriends that couldn't make it to town.
The spread was amazing and I can't get over the oh so yummy vegan cupcakes!

My baby sister/bride to be is so ready for Olivia to get here that she was practicing her Auntie Love on one of the sweetest little girls you've ever met!Sophie the giraffe came all the way from New Mexico, Thanks for all the fun goodies Mel!
Every time I strap her into that ergo she'll be getting some Auntie Mel love!

I couldn't resist adding a picture of the sweet little lamb that my brother, sister in law and niece sent baby girl. She came from build a bear and I'm told that my niece Avery gave the heart a big kiss before it was stuffed inside. So sweet and so soft. It's possible I sit in the nursery and cuddle with this often!

Ok so my friends know me and and I love them for that. It goes without saying that I have an unhealthy lust for my BOB Stroller! Well the ladies that hosted my shower ended up getting me all of the accessories that I needed to be out on the trail soon after little miss is born. I was so excited that Jake and I put everything together as soon as I got home. Thanks Ladies!!

I sure do love my friends and can't imagine life without them and their support!

Nesting

2011-05-16T21:33:00.003-05:00

***Before I start with the baby ranting and madness I have to say that I am thrilled beyond belief that my baby sister is getting married!! She got engaged a little over a week ago to an amazing guy that our whole family loves. Jake and I were lucky enough to join them along with both sets of parents for dinner just hours after the engagement. It looks like it's going to be a fall wedding so I'll be extra motivated to get the baby weight off. We're going dress shopping this Sunday and I know I'll be a mess watching her try on everything. She's always been the fashionista of the family so I know the dress will be fabulous.***

I can tell that I am getting restless and am ready to meet the little one because at the moment nothing can wait. Every little project and every little chore or task I've been meaning to get done around the house is getting done. Poor Jake has been putting up with me running around like a scatter brained psycho painting shelves, putting together patio furniture, buying our new bed & bed linens, laundry (oh the laundry) and general cleaning. The way I see it, if I can get all of this done now then I can enjoy relaxing the next couple of weeks before little miss arrives and if she gets here early then well we're ready. I seriously can't explain how excited I am about getting our new bed before the little one gets here. The difference between a queen and a king is beyond words for me. Right now when I'm about as big as a boat and can't get comfortable at all this bed has been the best investment we could have made. I'm sure I'll be less resentful of my lack of sleep now that I am getting quality sleep on a brand new mattress and not a 13 year old one.

Normally I can't stand posting without pictures but tomorrows post will have the pics from our last ultrasound tomorrow morning, the last time I'll see her in fuzzy doppler view before I meet her in person. I can't stand the night before an ultrasound because it seems like time stands still. Yes I will most likely be requesting a gender confirmation if the tech can get one. Mainly I can't wait to see how the little one has grown and what her features look like now that she is almost (5 more days) full term. I'd be lying if I didn't say that I am nervous about how big little miss is. Currently she is capable of ramming her head into my bladder while simultaneously kicking me in the ribs so I'm guessing she is taking after her mom and will be a long baby.

This is going to be a really busy week so I'm hoping to take lots of pictures and stay up to date.
Sweet Dreams All!

Jumble of life and baby

2011-05-06T17:12:00.003-05:00

So I've proven that I'm not very consistent with these posts but better late than never. Here's a belly pic from today so 34 weeks and 5 days.
I had an appointment with the doctor yesterday and everything looks great. It was a normal visit so blood pressure, weight and baby's heartbeat and I was out of there. My doctor did say that on the 17th I'll have my last ultrasound and start my weekly visits. I can't wait to see our little human again, scared about finding out how big she is, but excited none the less. I was a 9+ pound baby so naturally I'm apprehensive about how big Miss Olivia will be. Also I can't believe that we're at the point of going every week. This whole pregnancy has gone by so fast! I'm trying to make sure that I enjoy these last few weeks just Jake, me and the pups and get plenty of sleep.

Since I have to fill my posts with pictures here are some randoms that were on our camera.

Olivia's new bracelet that our friend Tonya made. She made me an awesome necklace too, love them!

We're going with a beachish theme in her room so my mom found this super cute seahorse for her.

So I gave in and started packing bags for the hospital.
Yes we still have 5 weeks til she is due, but everyone keeps reminding me that my niece came 4 weeks early and they didn't have anything packed. While I know this may not be the case with our little one I think it's ok to get what we can packed.

Other than the ongoing baby life changes things are pretty ordinary. Luckily the school year is almost over for me. I'm finishing up my teaching certification classes. Already took and passed one exam so I'll be certified to teach special ed but I take another one on May 31 to become eligible to teach Pre K - 6th. It's been a lot to take on right before the baby gets here but I'm glad that I'll be done and can focus on getting applications out, even though this is pretty much the worst time to be entering the teaching field. We'll see how things go and if I can land a teaching job for 2011-2012.

We have low key weekend planned. I'll be in class for 7 hours tomorrow, yay, and then Sunday it'll be mothers day festivities with mi madre!

Hope everyone has a fabulous Mother's Day!

Nursery...check!

2011-04-22T23:17:00.008-05:00

Well it took several hours a night for several nights this week of putting together furniture with Jake and then quite a few more on Friday to sort and set up everything with Mom and Bethany but we managed to get almost everything taken care of. All that is left is wall decor and different odds and ends, but as of now Lil Miss has a place all to herself.

Before we got to work

Jake wouldn't let me take pictures while we were putting together furniture so I'll skip right to fun-day-Friday with mom and Bethany

Auntie B putting together Olivia's bouncer

It was a clothing explosion, Mom and I were sorting by size, season, closet and dresser. There was a lot so this took quite a while.

The fabulous crib that my friend Angela gave to us, Thank you does not express enough gratitude!!

Taking a break to teach Bethany about all the fun toys. Ergo Carrier101, with a little assistance from Pink Beary (the cute teddy bear Olivia's Great-Grandmother got her)

Proof positive that this girl is spoiled. Because of our friends and family she is stocked. I think I personally have only bought a couple sets of onesies and some special occasion outfits. Her closet is this full because of everyone else. I'm convinced she'll be wearing 3 outfits a day til she is a year old.
I love this chair! Jake is sad that it no longer resides in the living room, but it was purchased specifically for the nursery so here it sits. Maybe this will make him a little more motivated to help with the middle of the night feedings.

Everything all put together. Still can't believe that we'll have her in here in a few short weeks!!

I love our bedding, it's pretty simple but oh so cute. Thank you Mom and Bethany for getting us all of our pieces.

Ok so this is not so much a part of the nursery but I couldn't help myself. I saw this on Etsy before we knew Olivia was a girl and lusted after it. Once the switch happened I ordered it. This is what she'll be wearing every Saturday this fall.

Olivia's First Shower

2011-04-11T19:15:00.003-05:00

Our first shower was weekend before last. One of Jake's oldest friends Mom threw the shower for us. It was so sweet and oh so very pink. I'm not feeling very wordy tonight so here's a couple of pics.

Laurie's Pram from when she was a baby in Europe made the perfect decoration

My Nana, Mom and sisters all made it to town

Getting ready to get started, this is one of the few pics where I am making a normal face
Bethany bought us the first of our bedding which I'm in love with as well as a super cute outfit that I can't wait to see little lady in.
My diaper bag was a huge surprise! Did not think anyone would purchase it for me as it's just plain expensive (and really only had it on my registry so that I could use the completion discount to buy it) but my mom yet again spoiled me and the little lady.

All in all it was a fabulous day and we are lucky to have so many friends and family love and support our family of 3. One of the main reasons I'm most excited about moving is so that I can give Jake his Daddy-Do list; all of the baby things that need assembly that we got at the shower but have just been sitting in their boxes.

Whoa Baby!

2011-04-11T18:49:00.003-05:00

So there seems to have been some drastic growth in the past week.
In the midst of of all the baby growing that's been going on Jake and I have been packing like mad. We move in 4 days and there seems to be so much more to do but no worries it will all be done one way or another. Luckily we have plenty of fabulous friends that are helping us move Friday and Saturday so there's not to much stress for me. All I have to do is direct, unpack and wait on the cable guy.

Prego Highlights:

Lately it's been really hot as in I sit at my desk and sweat like crazy. Yes it's warmer than normal in Texas right now but I'm also carrying an extra person which is making my body feel like a furnace. I have a feeling our electric bill will be insane over the next few months.
My belly button is still very much intact. It's a lot more shallow but it's still an inny with no signs of ever turning out.
My doctor visit last week went well and I got to meet the the other Dr in the practice so just in case my Doc isn't on call the night we deliver I'll at least have met the only other person that will deliver our little lady
Clothing shopping is no longer fun and I'm having a hard time finding an Easter/shower dress.
I'm not having my normal sweet cravings as much.
4 days til I get to start on Olivia's Nursery and I'll have plenty of before and after pics.

30 weeks and some change

2011-04-05T20:41:00.004-05:00

Well here is the 30 week (and 3 days) bump pic. I'm sure the sweatshirt adds a little to the bump but I'm ok with that. I'm having one of those snuggle nights where I'm lazy and just want to be comfortable, hence the not bothering to shed the extra layers for the picture.
Since today was an exceptionally hard and draining day at school this is going to be short and to the point. I'll re-cap Olivia's first baby shower soon but right not I'm heading to bed, at 9pm, because I'm worn out.

Giving In

2011-03-31T11:23:00.004-05:00

So I haven't so much been all about the bump pics during our little pregnancy journey, but then again I've never been real big on having my picture taken. Lets just say I'd MUCH rather be the one capturing the images than being the subject of them. That being said I have friends and family that are missing the whole process of my growing belly and have been getting lots of requests for progress updates. So I gave in and took a 29 week belly pic this past weekend and I'll try to be really good about posting 1 a week until Lil Miss gets here. I haven't been very good about keeping track of all of the milestones along the way and I am kicking myself for that. I read other blogs that record so much and it's fun to read but it also makes me annoyed with myself that I've slacked. So for the few that read this here are the prego highlights:

Morning Sickness sucked and lingered for 12 weeks - the throwing up all day kind not just the I'm queasy kind

My doctor told me my goal weight gain was 20 pounds, I looked at her like she had lost her flippin mind but the crazy thing is I just might do it!

Sleep comes and goes, naps are my new favorite activity

The first time I felt baby kick I was in the hall with one of my 4th graders and she asked if I needed to go to the nurse - Love that Jasmine

Cravings: all the same things I craved before little one took up residence. Ice Cream, Brussel Sprouts, Southern cooking, hamburgers

My favorite thing to do at night is sit in bed and watch my belly. There is something about 10pm that makes lil miss put on a show.

I LOVE love love watching my husband turn into this protective papa bear. I always knew he'd be a fabulous dad (one of the main reasons I married him besides love of course) but he's been amazing to say the least.

It's almost 10 weeks before baby girl is due and she has no nursery but that is all about to change. Her room will be my first priority when we move in 15 days.

Because I had lost so much weight before we got pregnant I had a surplus of larger clothes that still fit, I have yet to buy maternity pants or shorts of any kind. It really goes to show how big I was before and how I DO NOT want to go back there.

We're at the point now where we go to the doctors office every 2 weeks, Crazy!

Oh and we finished our baby classes at the hospital so now I feel less like a floundering fish when it comes to labor and delivery.

On that note we're going for a completely natural child birth...It'll be interesting when I'm writing the birth story to see how well we did.

I'll post more as I think of it and try to be better but with the big move coming up who knows how i'll be about sticking to it. All in all we have a very happy/healthy Mommy and Olivia.

Answered Prayers

2011-03-30T20:19:00.003-05:00

Ever since we found out Miss Olivia would be joining our family Jake and I knew that we would need to move when our lease was up. I'm sure that people survive with a newborn and 2 dogs in a 2 bedroom apartment with no yard but I refuse to be one of them. So lately we've been looking at a little bit of everything South Austin, Dripping Springs, House, Duplex. Basically anything that had a yard and the space we needed was game. Our lease isn't up until the beginning of May so everything we were looking at was looking for tenants at the beginning of April so we were running into a lot of frustration. Luckily this Sunday I stumbled across a listing for a duplex that looked pretty nice and e-mailed. The past 3 days have been a whirlwind of tours (where we fell in love with the place and knew we had to have it,) paperwork and really talking up the fact that we are a cute married couple about to have a baby and not party animals that would destroy the house (like the other applicants I'm sure were.) Well this morning we got word that we got it! I'm beyond thrilled and relieved to say the least. Going from not knowing where you would bring your baby home to for the first time to being able to put an address on the hospital pre-registration paperwork has felt amazing! I feel about 20 pounds lighter today just because of this part of the puzzle being put in place.
The most ironic and fun part of the whole situation is that Jake grew up about 1/2 a mile from our new place and my old house is maybe a mile away. There's an awesome local coffee shop just down the road, a fabulous cake baker (our wedding cake guy) around the corner and even a crossfit gym a short run away. We have a yard for the puppies, a patio for Jake's new grill and a balcony off the master bedroom that I can already see myself sitting in the rocking chair with Olivia enjoying the view.
Most important with all of this is that I get to start making a special place for Miss Olivia; I get to start on her nursery. Everything has been on hold since we knew we were moving. All of her things are in boxes, being stored or hanging out at friends houses until we have the space. I just can't wait to unpack and really make a space for her in our new home! It's going to be a crazy 2 months but I can't wait.

what's in a name?

2011-03-21T07:00:00.000-05:00

I'll start this out by saying that we were going to keep lil miss' name a secret but it's killing me biting my tongue in public every time I almost say her name so we are going public!

Jake and I knew almost instantly what we would name our little man back when we were told she was a he. Once everything got flipped on us in January coming up with a girl's name was a whole different beast. Every name that I would toss out Jake would make a face, and every name that he would suggest would be followed by me sharing how I have a student at school with that name that is a holy terror! Many, many, many nights were spent sitting in the living room after dinner just saying any name (serious or joking) that came to mind. One night it clicked when Jake tossed out a name that I seriously had no ill will towards, in fact the second he said it I loved it and thought not only did it sound like the name of our sweet baby girl but also a name that she could carry proudly into adulthood. Once a first name was settled on a middle name was pretty easy. We have no family attachments to these names and there is no significance to them other than the fact that it's HER name and for that reason alone I am in love with and very attached to it! So now that I have made you read all of that I'll leave you with what we have decided to name our precious little lady...

Olivia Peyton

*once we decided on a name I was looking on some sites that made it very obvious how popular the name Olivia is right now...this made us second guess our choice for not even a moment. I have a name that was pretty popular and I'm fine and never had problems with it. We fell in love with this name without using any of the naming books or sites so we are sticking to our guns.

Shopping

2011-01-29T17:26:00.003-06:00

Well today I took back the outfits that we had for baby when we thought She was a He and got started on some girly shopping. I think it helped with the transition for me and it was so much fun. Girl stuff really is more fun to pick out. Don't get me wrong the stuff that I had found for a boy was super cute but there is something to frills and colors! What's nice is even after exchanging the old for new I still had store credit. I'm thinking I'm going to use it and my coupon for next month to buy my over priced monitor.
I'll leave you with some picks of all the goodies I got for the little lady.

These two may not be daily outfits but I figure they'll be good for trips out on special occasions

Since my little lady is going to be a summer baby and it gets crazy hot in Texas she's gonna need plenty of cute summer outfits.

Changing Teams

2011-01-27T20:00:00.003-06:00

The past 24 hours has been shocking to say the least. It all started yesterday afternoon when I had an appointment to get my 20 week ultrasound. Jake originally was not going to be able to go with me which was fine but ended up getting out of court early enough to tag along. We got to the perinatal office and only have to wait maybe 5 min. Things were looking great! This was the appointment where they would look for anything that would lead them to believe that there might be something wrong so I was nervous about this visit. Luckily we have had a pretty smooth pregnancy so far so there was not much reason to worry. Well everything checked out great and the doctor seemed very happy with everything he was seeing until we got to the anatomy verification. This is where things got interesting. They asked if we wanted to know the sex, of course I wanted them to double check and confirm what we had learned over a month ago. This is when things get fuzzy, the tech informs us that the baby is a GIRL. I'm in complete disbelief and all my fears of having a little girl come rushing in. I kindly ask her to make sure because "we have been told differently a month ago." She keeps checking and confirms her opinion. Next she has the doctor come in and give us his call to which he explains that he has 3 daughters at home and knows what he's looking for and our baby's got it (well i guess technically, doesn't got it.) The next few hours were a blur and I'm still trying to wrap my head around it but yes we have now changed to Team Pink.

Spoiling Brady!

2011-01-15T16:10:00.002-06:00

Well it's official, my little man is spoiled rotten. Not only is Gigi (my mom) guilty but I as well have fallen victim to impulse Brady shopping. A few weeks back we were in Babies "R" us and saw the cutest outfit. I didn't get it because the sensible side of me kept saying we have plenty of starter clothes already. Fast forward 2 weeks and I can't get this specific outfit out of my head so today I celebrated being 19 weeks prego by buying it. My mom could not resist the socks so I bought them as well.

The whole purpose of our visit to BRU was to purchase a "big ticket" item off of my list since I had a 20% off coupon. My mother, who did not need to, decided that she wanted to get us our car seat so we now have a way to get Brady safely from point A to point B. I hate to admit it but I'm pretty much in love with our car seat. I didn't want anything powder blue or green or any crazy designs so when I saw the orange on gray it was love at first sight. Now don't worry it's a highly rated car seat and safe as can be so yes my love for all things cute was also balanced by my love for all things that keep my little man safe and sound.

It's so crazy to think that in 5 short months we'll have Brady here to fill his car seat and all his cute clothes. It became all the more real for me last weekend when I went to the hospital with Aubrey to visit our friends and their baby girl Eliza! she was born a week ago today. Mama looked amazing and dad was obviously so very in love with both of his ladies. Holding little Eliza made me fall in love with my little man even more than I already was. Just the thought that in 5 months it's going to be him in my arms almost brought me to tears but I held them back (there was a room full of people and I didn't want to be that pregnant lady.) It's amazing how big love can be! I'm so excited for Chez and Cody and hope that their first week at home with the little lady went well. They have both been good friends of mine since college and it's so amazing to see their family grow. They have so much love, laughter and wisdom to give, their little girl is one lucky lady to have them as parents.

Let go

2011-01-12T21:35:00.002-06:00

Today's post is an effort to release the horrible afternoon that I had and move on. This morning at preschool life was great. My day was normal and nothing fabulous happened but all was well, then I went to the elementary school. Oh my how I should have called in sick. We have a pretty unruly bunch that is a challenge to manage on a good day, and a good one it was not! Without getting too specific the 1st and 2nd graders are rambunctious and I got a very concerned phone call from one of the parents about some drama there. On top of that the 3rd-5th grade boys are relentless. I feel like I can't be the fun, nice teacher because I am on them constantly to be nice and treat other respectfully. At the end of the day I had 6 kids written up (oh so fun conversations with each child's parent), 2 frustrated parent talks not related to the write ups and 1 accident report. Things can only get better, right? There's no way tomorrow can be as bad, can it? Please let it be so, I need it before I lose all faith and have to keep my child locked away his entire life. That would never happen but man some days I really wonder what in the world we are teaching kids these days. So in an effort to get some sleep tonight I release today and move on towards tomorrow, a day in which all my little angels sing their peers praises and act on their best behavior. I must be sleeping already cause that can only happen in my dreams. Oh well if all else fails and I can't sleep because of this I can start drafting the come to Jesus talk I'm going to have with all of the grades tomorrow. Wish me luck!

Project #1

2010-12-27T17:31:00.003-06:00

I've seen all these super cute onesies all over Etsy, but I'm having a really hard time wanting to spend $18 on something that Jr. will A.) spit up all over and B.) grow out of in a matter of seconds. After doing some research online and having a little bit of faith in my ability to be crafty and sew I decided that this needed to be a mommy project. So after finding instructions, super cute fabrics and the templates that I liked I got to work. $25 and 3 hours later I have 8 precious outfits for little man. So excited that this didn't take very long and now that I know how to do everything I'll be able to make them in all different designs for any and every event or whim that strikes me.
Anyway here is the final product, this is only 4 of them but there is a tie and guitar in each different fabric.

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-26T14:22:00.002-06:00

Well it looks like lots of blue, dirt and sports are in our future. Jake and I were lucky enough to get a great look at our ultrasound last week and it's a BOY! No doubt about it. As part of my mom's Christmas present we had her come with us so that she could be a part of the whole process. It was pretty exciting but being able to share that with her was very special for all of us.
Baby Brady has already felt the Christmas love as we have a whole pile of gifts for him. I need to get some storage containers to keep everything in until he gets here. His Aunts spoiled him greatly as well as Gigi and Pops (my parents) with lots of cute outfits and necessities. Jake's dad and step-mom gave us a ton of gift cards that will come in handy once we are getting all the things together at the last minute. So needless to say it was a great Christmas.

14 week belly

2010-12-13T20:58:00.003-06:00

I feel like this picture makes me look a lot bigger than really am but oh well here I am.

Confession

2010-12-11T08:19:00.006-06:00

It's ugly confession time. I know that every woman experiences pregnancy and their feeling in their own ways and that not everyone feels the things that I feel but I also know that it is perfectly ok for me to have the thoughts and fears that I have. So with that said I am and have always been super sensitive about my size. I've always been a bigger girl, it comes with being 6 foot tall but still there is never a lack of meat on these bones. Anyway, I had just spent a huge part of last year working my butt off (literally) and getting to a healthier size and body composition. I had lost 40 pounds and was at a place in my life where I was more comfortable in my skin than I think I had ever been before. When we found out I was pregnant everyone, including me and my doctor, all knew that the drastic weight loss was a huge factor in that happening. It's an added bonus in my mind, a surprise added bonus but one none the less. With all that said it was only a matter of time until I got to the "I'm gonna get huge and never lose it" break down and it happened last night. All I have to say is thank the Lord that I have Jake! He's been so supportive and great. He put up with me crying and having my tantrum about maternity clothes and not wanting to look frumpy as I get bigger and bigger over the next few months. I know that I'm not getting "Fat" and that everything that is going on is only helping the baby but for me it's a scary thought to face and let go of. I'm going to gain back a lot of the weight that I lost...it has to happen for a happy healthy baby, but it does not have to rule my thoughts and worry me. I lost everything before and I can do it again after we have our beautiful little one in June. So I have found some peace with the help of Jake and some super cute starter maternity clothes. All will be good and yay my first prego meltdown is in the books!!

The one helpful fact is so far it looks like everything I am gaining is going straight to my tummy. This week my little dodge ball popped out, so much so that the ladies at work are all guessing boy because my belly literally goes straight out, no other direction. I still think it's a girl because everyone around me is assuming boy and knowing that this baby is 1/2 me I know it's going to be one for the surprises. I'm going to a Christmas party tonight and will have pictures tomorrow hopefully of my 14 week belly as my first belly shot. Before I just looked like I ate a really big lunch so I was having a hard time wanting to take a picture, but now there is a definite round shape to it. So sit tight, one more day Mel!

Because I can't stand posting without pictures here is a quick review of a book I read in two evenings.
It was so funny and really nice to see that all the gross and odd things that I am going through have happened to other women. I really loved the candid and blunt honesty about everything she went through, even the scary delivery experiences. It's great to get away from all the "medical" books and have an honest first hand account of what is happening. I would suggest it to anyone and I even gave it to Jake as a way for him to see what I'll be going through and a sneak peak into a prego ladies mind. Hopefully it will show him that I am not the only crazy lady out there and that other men share his pain.

Sunday update

2010-12-05T13:24:00.003-06:00

Well I know this is a little late but I just now am finding a spare set of minutes to sit and write. Our doctors appointment on Thursday went great. We didn't get to see baby but we sure did get to hear them. It was the first time that we got to hear the heartbeat and that was a sound I will never forget. The doctor seemed surprised at how fast she was able to locate the lil one and get some good audio. Jake was all smiles and later admitted that it sounded like we had a little drummer in there. I checked out great and other than some added vitamin D to my daily routine everything is going well. I still can't believe we are already through with the first trimester. It's going by so fast already, I can't imagine what it's going to be like once baby is here in our arms.

Now to leave you with a little baby-stuff eye candy. I made my first purchase for baby Stokes on Etsy and it arrived yesterday! It's so precious and I can't wait to use it in baby pictures. It's an owl ear flap hat and I had to have it. It's not the most practical of purchases but it's going to look so darn cute and makes me smile. If you are in the market for great children's headwear I had an amazing experience with Totz Hatz: This photo is from her esty listing of the hat we ordered!

I'm hoping for some belly pics sometime soon to track this little journey but Santa has decided to truly wait until Christmas to bestow upon me my new camera :( So I'll probably give in here in the next day or two and have Jake take my picture. I still don't feel like I look too crazy different but I guess that is the fun of tracking it through photos.

It's a good day

2010-12-02T08:43:00.003-06:00

So this morning I got to work and had a wonderful surprise waiting for me, the Holiday reusable Starbucks cup with candy cane straw! I tried like crazy to get my coffee lovin self one of these last year with much disappointment as the entire city of Austin was sold out. Thanks to the fabulous Eva my coffee receptacle lust has been fulfilled!

On a much more life changing excitement note: Today is another doctors visit to say "Hi" to Baby S on the big screen! I live for doctors appointments these days and am counting down until 10:30. I'm sure pictures and details to come later today.

I love today!

Baby S loves Phish, no not the band!

2010-11-28T18:51:00.004-06:00

So far for the most part I've been craving and eating savory, salty foods. That is a huge change for me as I have a crazy sweet tooth. Lately however I have been craving 1 sweet in particular Phish Food ice cream from Ben and Jerry's. This was a pre-pregnancy favorite of mine but it's been a new level of love lately. Trust me it's not something I'm eating all the time, I know better than that and I am trying to have a very healthy pregnancy but man oh man when it's a day that I let myself indulge this is what I reach for. As I write this Jake is busy earning his "best husband in the world" badge by picking me up a pint on his way home from the Texans game, Love him (for many, many other reasons but this sure adds to my love for him!)

I hope everyone had a wonderful and restful Thanksgiving. I know I'm sad the break is over but only 3 more weeks of school until Christmas break!

Happenings

2010-11-24T08:54:00.002-06:00

Realized I haven't been doing a very good job of chronicling this little journey we are on so I apologize for that. Lately there hasn't been too much going on. Work like always is consuming and we're staying plenty busy balancing family and friend time. I am feeling so much better than I was during the first few weeks. So much more energy and I just feel like my old self. We have our 12 week appointment a week from Thursday and I can't wait, I live for getting to see our little person. As of right now I still have no camera so no cute enlarged belly picks yet but they will come after Christmas I am guessing (fingers crossed, santa's got a camera in his bag for me this year.) Yes I have an iphone that can take pictures but I pretty much hate how those pictures turn out so I refuse to take important pictures with it. I know I'm a picture snob but I embrace it.
With Thanksgiving tomorrow this is a pretty busy week for us. Tonight we are heading up to Cedar Park to have dinner with Jake's siblings, his dad and step mom are at the coast so we won't see them until this weekend. My family generally does Thanksgiving on Saturday just because we all like to get together but know now that with husbands and wives in the picture we have to juggle. A few years ago we started having dinner on Saturday and I absolutely love it. I would absolutely hate it if I had to miss spending a holiday with my parents and siblings so I'm thankful that we have found a way around that. Not to mention that I really love spending time out at my parents new house. it's so peaceful and pretty.
Anyway that's what's going on with us, nothing too crazy. I hope everyone has a fabulous and safe Thanksgiving break!

Running

2010-11-08T12:05:00.003-06:00

So one of my biggest concerns when we heard I was pregnant was whether or not it was going to be ok for me to run. I've been training and it's not like I'm hard core breaking speed records so it should be fine everyone told me but I needed to hear it from my Dr. I got the OK from her with the caveat to trust and listen to my body, drink tons of water and watch my temps. Seeing as how my race is in February I think we'll be good on the temp thing. I'm still determined to finish the 1/2 marathon even if I have to walk the entire time. This will be something I'll always be able to share with the baby and show them pictures when they are older and say "you were there, we did it together!" So with all of that said i'm excited to get back to my training bright and early Wednesday am. On the days that I am not running with my training group I'm going to take it a little easier than I have been just to keep myself from getting too crazy exhausted. I'm discovering that I'm taking more time on every decision I make because well it's not just for me anymore it's for our lil one too!

"Morning" sickness

2010-10-24T05:55:00.003-05:00

Written @ 4am October 24, 2010
Yeah it sucks. I have been nauseous for 24 hours a day. The whole "morning" part of my sickness has opted for the all day/everyday rotation. During the day it seems to be tolerable enough and I can go about my day but nights have been rough. I've ended up sleeping on the couch or in the guest room the past 2 nights to keep from waking Jake while I toss and turn. It's just a constant feeling of, I'm about to get sick and don't bring any food around me cause it only fuels the fire. I know this is only temporary and not everyone gets it this bad but I can honestly say that I'm looking forward to getting past this stage of pregnancy.
On less of a Debbie Downer note I love that Jake is making cute comments and already tossing around name ideas. He's really been the calm one through these first few days of initial shock. It's so much easier facing this new surprise knowing that he is on board and excited. I'm beyond blessed to have him as my calming force.
We are trying to get into the doctors on Monday since I have the morning off from work. I love my doctor and can't wait to pick her brain about everything. We really want to get all the details from her before we make the big reveal to our family and friends. It's going to be so hard today to be at Jake's Dad's wedding with his family and mine and NOT be able to tell them our exciting news. Also not telling my girlfriends is proving to be much harder than I imagined. There are so many things that I want to be able to ask my girls who are going through or have gone through this but I need to hold off and at least get through the first 8-12 weeks.
Well I am finally getting a little sleepy so I'm going to try and sleep a little more before the wedding day begins.

Let the Wild Rumpus Start!

2010-10-23T08:08:00.005-05:00

The next couple of days will be a mixture of thoughts that I have been writing and saving over the past couple of weeks.

Written Saturday October 23-
Things are changing...big time. For the past week or so I have been feeling really bad. First I had a few spots of shingles pop up on my face where it normally occurs which is always painful and annoying. Then I was getting really sick to my stomach all day everyday followed by what I was sure was strep throat for 2 days. All of this happening the week of Jake's Dad's wedding was making me stress out because we wanted everything to be perfect for them. Luckily I started feeling better by Friday and was ready for a long fun weekend. I got to thinking about everything happening all at once and if my body was trying to tell me something and decided just to be on the safe side (especially before a weekend full of events with wine) I needed to check and make sure I wasn't pregnant. So I rushed to the store after work to pick up a test, raced home ran to the bathroom and confirmed what in my heart I think I already knew but my head was saying wasn't possible. The plus sign was as clear as day and I wanted to cry. I've always wanted to be a mom and now I'm looking at something telling me that I am, it's a mind blowing moment.
I had to figure out quickly how I was going to tell Jake. Seeing as how we were not trying to get pregnant at all I was nervous about his reaction. He's always been very big on wanting a family but it's not something we were thinking would happen this soon. Being in the preschool world I have lots of childrens books around & I've always loved Where The Wild Things Are so I decided to write something on the inside cover and give it to Jake. I wrote "Let the wild rumpus begin. There's a little wild thing on the way." When I handed it to him he kind of laughed and said "oh really" and I started crying. Considering that he had no clue when he got off work that he was going to find out he's a daddy it was a pretty sweet reaction.
We didn't have much time to absorb and talk about it as we were late for a pre-rehearsal happy hour with family and friends. So in the car on the way there I stressed that I didn't want to tell anyone until we went to the doctor and had everything checked out. We had to come up with a game plan fast. I was going to ride the I'm sick wave (still pretty stopped up and my voice is scratchy so it's not too hard to believe) as my excuse for not having any wine or champagne. This is by far the hardest secret I have had to keep. Being there with so many family and friends and leaving out this HUGE part of our lives is torture. Once we go to the doctor and get a better idea of how far along I am and what our due date is then we'll tell everyone, but I'd like to at least get my head wrapped around this before I open it up to the world.
This may be TMI for everyone reading this but we honestly have now clue when this happened. Since I've lost 45 pounds my cycle has been messed up and I haven't had my period since July which my doctor told me was normal. Well I know I'm not 3 months along because the symptoms are just starting so my guess is we are right around 6 or 7 weeks but we shall see.
Right now I'm just trying to soak all of this up and enjoy the moment. There are things that need to be figured out and worries in my mind but we have plenty of time and have a huge support system that is here for us.
So there you have it, my first baby post! I'm excited, nervous, overjoyed, scared and shocked but I can't wait to meet our baby and can't wait to experience my husband being a dad. Our baby is very lucky to have a daddy like him!

Scratch that...

2010-08-06T22:02:00.002-05:00

I think I'll have another. So it's been impossible to get the training in that I need for the triathlon. Yes It's an excuse but it's a pretty valid one seeing as how my employer found it nearly impossible to create a consistent schedule that I could plan my training around this entire summer. With running being the only thing I seem to be able to make time for my goals have changed. Instead of doing the tri in October I have once again started organized training for the Austin 1/2 Marathon in September to race on February 20, 2011. Instead of "just finishing" this time I'm going to have a time goal and really try to work my butt off. I've lost 35 lbs since my last 1/2 marathon and running is happening easier for me so I feel it's no longer acceptable to "just finish." I just started back at Rogue, it's a great training group that builds up and encourages it's runners in a fun loving, family kind of way. I actually look forward to my 5:45am runs and have discovered that I am a cold weather runner after suffering through the insanity that is maintenance runs in 100+ degree heat.
While I'm going to be training mainly for the Austin 1/2 in February in the back of my mind the "BIG" goal is farther away, like over a year from now. Tentatively we're thinking about taking a trip to Washington D.C. next October for the Marine Corp Marathon...that's right the full deal, whole enchilada, 26.2 miles. This gives me a full year to build a solid base, continue to get in shape and make my way to one of those things I never thought I'd ever go for. Once I'm done with 1/2 training in February I'll have 2 months "off" and then start up with summer/fall marathon training with Rogue. Everyone raves about the Sole Survivors Marathon group and the coach so it's something that I am for sure looking forward to. Am I crazy? yeah I think so. Am I scared out of my mind? you betcha, but I also know the way it feels to cross the finish line and feel that sense of "I can't believe I actually just did that!"
So here we go upwards and onwards. Wednesday morning is my first 5:45am run and I can't wait. Seeing as how I have the best supporters EVER I know it will be even more fun the second time around.

*One of the coolest moments of the 1/2 Marathon this past Valentines day was seeing my friends out on the course unexpectedly cheering me on. Yeah I cried!

Here we go again

2010-06-20T17:16:00.002-05:00

It's been a while since my 1/2 marathon and it's decision time. For the past couple of months I've been considering what I should do next. I can train for the 1/2 again or I can go for the full or I can go a slightly different route and jump into the Tri world, well Tri world here I come! I am registered for and ready to go for the Trek Women's Triathlon on October 3rd. I've grown up loving swimming, have already dabbled in running and have a comfortable foundation with that so the only thing completely new to me is the cycling. Living in a city like Austin though, with so many friends that ride and plenty of training programs I have no doubt the new challenge will be made less stressful. I think this will be a welcome change of pace for my body from running. Training begins tomorrow and I can't wait. I'm ready for what's next and it's exciting to know that another goal is going to be crossed off my list.

In other healthy lifestyle related news I've lost 15 pounds on my new diet! It's pretty amazing to be able to wear clothes that haven't fit into in a while and to feel more comfortable in my body. There's still a long way to go but so far I am very pleased with the results and with how my mindset on food has been so drastically altered! Once I get closer to my goal and am comfortable enough with where I am at I'll post before and so-far (I don't say after because I hope this is the beginning of a lifestyle change and not just a means to an end) pictures. Even after losing just the first couple of pounds I could tell the difference in the pictures but I'd rather give it some more time before I let it all hang out for everyone to see.

Hopefully everyone is having a great father's day and letting all the men in your life know you love them. On that same note I find it funny that so many people today at lunch were telling Jake "Happy Fathers Day Soon," do they know something I don't? It's all good, in time Jake will be an AMAZING dad we're just not planning to make him a daddy anytime in the near future.

Much love and happiness on this beautiful day!

Isla Mujeres - Lori's wedding

2010-06-14T16:36:00.005-05:00

It's about time I update this thing. About 2 weeks ago we got back from a great trip to my new favorite place in Mexico. My sister Lori got married in Isla Mujeres Memorial Weekend so most of our family made the trek down there to celebrate with her and Michael. It was a fabulous trip and there is no doubt in my mind that Jake and I will go back to Isla many more times as we were sooo happy with everything while we were there. Since I'm in need of a nap I'll go the quick route and just post pictures.

The best spot for any meal

The north side of the hotel

The set-up for the wedding

Lori getting all ready - she was so calm

Mr and Mrs. Cavin

when the flowers need to be held Jake's your man

Best bar EVER - Might want to switch to a bar stool after 3 margaritas though

The Kings Bath - This was a short walk from our hotel

Cafe Mogagua - Great place for an awesome meal

On our way to swim with a 60ft whale shark!
The life jackets made for some pretty awesome tan lines.

This was taken about 2 minutes after we got off the boat at the hotel. We had not even checked in and were just really ready to be in the water.

I love this picture of the 4 of us.
Jakers, Me, Bethany and Robert!

It was a great week and I can't wait to go back

Happy Tuesday Tutu you!

2010-05-04T10:32:00.005-05:00

Most of you that read this already know but it's official,

I am in the tutu making business and my etsy site has been launched

(It was so much more work than I imagined)

http://bellashae.etsy.com/

and I have already sold 5, not to mention the ones I've already sent as gifts.

I love making them and finding new color combinations.

So if you have a little girl in your life that needs something frilly and fun let me know.

From time to time I'll be doing discount codes on here and on twitter - @bellashaetutus

Here are some sample of what I have done so far:

New Beginnings!

2010-04-30T11:16:00.004-05:00

So I love weddings but life is taking some new exciting turns and I have gotten to a point where I go to more baby showers than bridal showers and I LOOOOVE it! This past weekend was one filled with so many new beginnings that even I was shocked by everything going on.

Let's begin with Friday:

Welcome to the world Avery - My first Niece

Mom and Avery are doing great and Dad is in love!

It's crazy seeing your brother be a dad, and a fabulous one at that.

Saturday:

Phil and Amanda get married at Barr Mansion.

It was a great ceremony and the reception was so fun.

I'm sad that they are moving to Baltimore soon but it's such a great adventure for them to start their marriage with!

*We rode with Jake's dad and his fiance Karoline to the wedding and they asked us both to be in their wedding which is such an honor. It will be exciting to walk down the aisle together again and show our support for an amazing couple.

Sunday:

Welcome to the world Julia Grace!

My dear friend Mel and her husband Matt welcomed their first child into the world. Julia's birth story is one of the most moving things I have ever read and it was a joy to hear about. I've already been all over southwest searching for flights to get up to Wyoming to visit her.

Sorry Mel but I've invited myself up to do laundry, clean, cook and pamper you and your family of three for a few days.

Another new beginning that is about to happen is the birth of my tutu business. I'll be releasing my Etsy site on Monday if all goes well this weekend. So if you have any little ones in your life that need something fancy keep me in mind!

Happy Birthday...

2010-04-23T23:52:00.003-05:00

Avery Leigh!
This morning at 1:31am my bothers little girl entered this world!
Avery weighed 6lbs 4oz and is 19" long.
Mom and Dad (Aimee and Brandon) are very tired and Gigi and Pops (My parents) are in Houston now getting some quality grandparent time in.
It's so crazy to think that my brother is a dad and that my parents are grandparents.
I'll have pictures soon I hope, but I'm not going to be visiting for a few weeks out of respect for the new family. I really want them to be able to get home and get settled and enjoy their time getting to know her before I go to Houston and love on her.
I already love her more than words and can't wait to spoil her.
She already has a nickname from Auntie L as I have been referring to her all day as Baby Aves.

Welcome to the world little one.
And welcome to the family, it's a fun one!

something to pass the time!

2010-04-12T23:19:00.002-05:00

So in the next month(ish) I will have 3 new little girls in my life:
Aimee (sister in law) is expecting Avery - My First Niece!!!
Mel is expecting Julia
Dawn is expecting Mia
I wanted to try and be creative and give them baby gifts that I made so I thought about blankets but had to come to grips with the fact that all my blankets look like middle school home ec projects. So I did some research and put my sewing machine to a slightly different use and LOVE the end result. I have to wait until Mel gets her package in the next couple of days before I divulge my new craft but it's so fun and fulfills the princess side of me. One of the moms at preschool wants to design me an etsy site so that I can sell them but for now I am happy to make them only as gifts.

Other than crazy allergy season not much is going on at the Stokes household.
Hope everyone is doing well!

Easter Cupcakes

2010-04-04T17:57:00.003-05:00

Easter is always a great time to see family and celebrate. This year Bethany (my youngest sister) and Robert (her guy) came to town so we got to have dinner with them and catch up. This morning Jake and I went church with everyone out in Spicewood and it was such a nice smaller church. We might go back next week to see what it is like on a non holiday weekend. After church we went to my parents for lunch and Bethany's special cupcakes. She has a new talent for cakes and cupcakes so we got to have little decorating party.

The set-up

B and R working hard on their creations

Gigi and Pops hard at work with Jake monitoring the situation
My cupcake - the white rabbit jumping into the rabbit hole

One year later!

2010-03-28T18:24:00.003-05:00

It's crazy to think that it was just a year ago that I married Jake. So much has happened but it has gone by so fast. It's been a great year and I'm really excited about our future but i'm also making sure to live in the moment and enjoy the time I have with my husband. He makes me happy every day and I hope that I do the same for him!

We spent our anniversary At Horseshoe Bay this year and had an amazing time doing not much of anything. I'd add pictures and elaborate but i'm tired and I just put all the pictures on facebook.

Much love to everyone that shares their love and support with us!

Also congrats to Jake's dad who got engaged on Friday.

Post post

2010-02-17T07:46:00.001-06:00

At some point I'll have a post about my post race feelings but right now I am still trying to regain full range of motion in my legs! Kidding kind of, the last bit of sore-ness is creeping out and I'm going for a short run today to loosen everything up. Hopefully I'll have pictures and my breakdown of how things went shortly.

Thanks again to everyone for all the support and encouragement along the way.

5 days 17 hours!

2010-02-08T14:10:00.002-06:00

In 5 days and 17 hours this will be me...

No not one of those guys in the front, I'll be way back at the back by the Capitol building, and I will be more than happy to be there. I can't believe I've been training since September and it's finally here! It's been a long road full of injuries and doubt but now more than ever I'm convinced I can do this and I don't care how long it takes. I do have a time goal but I am trying to not let that consume me. Let's face it just crossing that finish line will be a victory for this girl that before September had never run more than half a mile!! It's looking like it might be a pretty wet race so I'll be changing my gear up until the last minute I'm sure. Well only a few more miles over the next couple of days then rest and pasta dinner before the big day. If you can't tell I'm pretty excited and can't wait to experience this event as an athlete instead of just a spectator!!

Who Dat?!?!

2010-02-07T11:58:00.002-06:00

Short and sweet...

Geaux Saints!

Geaux Drew!

Question

2010-01-30T19:46:00.002-06:00

What in the world do I get Jake for our one year anniversary??? I already have Valentines day and his birthday figured out but I have no clue for our big 1 year mark?! I like the idea of sticking with tradition and doing something with paper but again...what? I have several weeks to figure this out but any help on the matter would be fabulous!!

This Lil' Longhorn

2010-01-07T09:35:00.002-06:00

The University of Texas will forever be my first love!

Long before I met or fell in love with my husband my heart belonged to Bevo and the old 40 Acres. I've known the words to "The Eye's of Texas" for I don't know how long and my favorite time of the year is when the football team takes the field in their burnt orange and white.

While I came from a large family of Aggies my passion and love for THE University was always a strong bond that my Mimi and I shared. I think about her a lot since she passed but lately with all of this good happening for UT I can't help but think of her even more. I'll be burning my orange and white candles tonight just for her (one of the old Texas traditions that she taught me.) I may not have attended Texas but growing up in Austin and with the bond that I had with my Mimi, my blood runs a very strong shade of burnt orange.

My longhorn Journey:

Me with my burnt orange babyBethany and Me before she went all "Wreck'em Tech" on us

and who could forget my first boyfriend...well maybe not but man was I in LOVE with Major Applewhite. I still get all excited and point him out when they show him on the sidelines! So glad he's back at Texas Coaching.

Mom and I at her first Texas vs ou game. I was so glad to share that crazy and amazing experience with her!

One of My favorite UT memories, meeting Mack Brown. It was the best Birthday present ever and I won tickets to the Texas vs A&M game that day as well.

So tonight is a Huge night for me and all of Longhorn nation! It's been such a great season and there are some truly classy guys on the team that will be playing their final game as Longhorns! I can't wait to cheer the team on from the comfort of my house although I would much rather be sitting in the stands in Pasadena. Hook'em Horns and Texas Fight, Tonight is going to be a fabulous night!

Recovery Mode

2010-01-02T14:20:00.002-06:00

Well this morning was hard to say the least but it's done! My ankle was killing me by the end of the run so I've been icing it and taking it easy today. Other than that I feel pretty good and now knowing that I am almost to race distance is pretty exciting. I can't believe it's only a few weeks away. This all has gone by pretty fast and I'm looking forward to running the race but I am also ready to have my Saturday mornings back, I've missed them!

Working on my fitness!

2010-01-01T13:13:00.003-06:00

Tuesday - ran 30 minutes
Wednesday - 1 hr of core
Thursday - I'm lame and spent the day with Jake and didn't work out
Today - 45 minutes of core

Tomorrow morning is going to kick my ass...sorry Mom!
We are doing our 12 mile run at Rogue and I might die. Luckily I have my new hydration belt that mom got me for Christmas. I have a feeling I am going to need every ounce of water that it holds.

Happy New Years!

45 workouts to a 1/2 Marathon!

2009-12-28T14:45:00.004-06:00

Full disclosure: I have been horrible with sticking to my running schedule over the holidays! I let travel and a root canal be excuses for not getting my lazy butt on the road as much as I should. So as and added push to prepare me for my 1/2 marathon on Valentine's day I'm starting a new challenge. 45 workouts in 45 days, it's a similar challenge to one I saw posted on Twitter today by local morning radio show host, Bobby Bones. No excuses now because my race is in less than 50 days and I have to be ready and I will cross that finish line!

So here goes, with this new challenge I'll work out each day leading up to the race with a couple of exception days built in for the 2nd half of my root canal and the day before the big race. I'll try to post every day even if it's just a 1 liner. It's all starting off tomorrow with a 5 mile run. Feel free to pester me if I slack on writing, I have a busy semester coming up but I want to be sure and post about the rest of my journey!

I hope everyone had fabulous holidays and that 2010 blesses you beyond measure!
Here we go!!!

*Yes I was going to go to core class tonight but I got off work late and traffic was horrible, no excuses but today didn't count towards my count anyway.

My Christmas "not gonna get list!"

2009-12-17T22:52:00.007-06:00

These are the items that I either didn't ask for or just recently discovered and that I will probably treat myself to or are just so far out there that I can dream!

1. FatCyclist arm warmers
These will be purchased and worn during my 1/2 marathon.
If you don't read his blog check it out, it's one of my absolute favorite reads!

2. Zensah Compression Leg Sleeve
I frequent Runnersworld.com and they had these on the runner gift guide and I instantly fell in love. I have compression socks that I adore but I'll admit I'm not too keen on the fact that they are toe socks so these sleeves would be awesome and I could wear my own socks! Maybe pink or white or what the heck maybe yellow.

3. Trigger Point Kit
Its basically everything I use pre and post run to help prevent further injury.

*yes I realize everything is running related but hey that is where I am at right now.

I still really want this...
4. Kitchen Aid Standing mixer

Well that is the end of that mainly because the pain killers are kicking in and everything is starting to spin. 4 days til the dreaded Root Canal. Maybe for the next blog i'll come up with a movie wish list for the day of when I am stuck at home.

Strike 3 - Short blog!

2009-12-16T17:51:00.002-06:00

So after writing and losing the post I really wanted to write 3 times y'all are getting the quick version cause I'm frustrated. Here are the highlights...

Woke up Tuesday morning with a swollen face and horrible pain in my mouth
Had to have an emergency dentist visit (Mind you I have no dental insurance)
Found out I need a Root Canal ASAP
Root Canal's cost $2500 start to finish, at least in my case they do
Just a reminder Christmas is just over a week away.
24 hour freak out about how to pay for said root canal
Yay for miracles we found a way to pay for the surgery!!!
The dreaded procedure takes place Monday afternoon.
I'm currently on antibiotics to reduce the infection and pain killers to make me tolerable again

So after about 36 hours of chaos and annoyance I am heavily medicated and a happier camper.

*I would post a picture of my swollen self but yeah that is not going to happen!!

10k done!

2009-12-06T11:15:00.004-06:00

Finished!! With my fav recovery drink in tow!

Well no more races stand between me and my 1/2, i finished my 10k today and it feels great. My goal was to finish under and hour and a half and I did it in an hour and twenty minutes. I know for most runners this is no speed record but for me its amazing!

The finish line with all the hibernating vines in the background

Training at times has been rough and frustrating but days like yesterday reaffirm why I am doing this. It was a beautiful morning although it was freezing, literally it was 22 degrees out when I was stretching before the race. The sun was out and the Vineyards were a beautiful setting. It was a really hilly course so it was a hard fought finish but a finish none the less. At the end of the race I was going to my car to get my warm clothes and I turn around to make sure I was out of the way of the car coming down the road and it was Jake!! I was not expecting him to be out there since it was a ways out of town and freezing outside but there he was and it made my day.

The best husband ever!

After a quick change into dry clothes we headed to the event center to taste some of the wine from the Vineyard. As our finishers prize everyone received wine glasses with the race logo etched on them and free wine tasting. As an added bonus I discovered that I like their Riesling. We walked around for a bit and enjoyed the nice weather. We couldn't stay out at the vineyard too long because we were meeting everyone for lunch at Perla for my father in law's birthday. If you like seafood you have to try this place. It's on South Congress and the food and atmosphere are great. We were there for brunch and I am already trying to plan a time that we can go back for dinner. After lunch we walked around with Dan and Caroline for a while and then headed to Hey Cupcake for some birthday desserts. I was exhausted from already having a pretty full day so Jake and I came home to watch football and relax. Needless to say the Texas game was not very relaxing but a win is a win and Texas is headed back to Pasadena. Today we are doing nothing and loving every moment.

Rogue Wisdom

2009-12-01T12:46:00.003-06:00

I get weekly updates from Rogue as my training putts along and unlike most of the mass e-mails I get most weeks I read the entire thing. They are really informative and keep me up to date on where I should be and what I should be doing. They also have information about injuries which is lovely since I find myself recovering from one at the moment. Most of all I appreciate the encouragement that the e-mails hold. Today's e-mail had a blog post from back in February and it struck home for me. I felt like this is the blog I would write if I could. My words tend to get fumbled and my thoughts incoherent but Chelsea says it exactly how I feel it so I thought I would share it with anyone that reads this. The post is long but it's a great insight into where I am at right now with this new running journey and especially as I am about to do the longest race I've ever done on Saturday.

The Loneliness of The (Slow) Long Distance Runner
Posted: February 2, 2009
By: Chelsea Biondolillo
It is mile ten-point-something and I am beginning to think that the Oreo I ate at the last water stop was a bad idea. The rest of my group is pulling ahead, and I just can't seem to lift my legs high enough to power up the short but steep hill out from the freeway underpass. By the time the ground levels back out, the other five runners are a little over half a block ahead. We won't see each other again until we are back at the Rogue headquarters at the end of this 14 miler. My mp3 player lasts another 5 minutes before the battery dies. The next 45 minutes will be spent with nothing but my inner monologue and the sound of my breath and pounding footsteps to keep me company.Each run, I expect it to get easier. Instead, it just seems to take longer for me to ask myself what the hell I am doing, but I'll take that as improvement. All of this activity is new for me. Athletics were never a part of my life until a friend talked me into training for a triathlon about three years ago. I had just learned how to ride my bike and wasn't even sure what the “freestyle” swimming stroke was. And now unbelievably, just a couple of years later, I find myself training for a half marathon.
And sometimes it is hard. There are days when my butt hurts in a remarkably persistent way from the hill workout the day before; or nights when I would rather go see a friend's band play downtown instead of rest up for the 7 AM run I have in the morning. Yet, I keep coming back. Even with the occasional discomfort and shuffling of activities, I find myself longing for these mornings with just me and a few team mates and hours of route unfolding slowly before me.Watching the houses slide by slowly in my peripheral vision, my mind is having a hard time staying on task. I find myself staring at the ground as the sun begins to rise in front of me. It was dark when I left and I didn't bring sunglasses. I adjust my visor down, so that I can lift my chin up. There is some factoid I should be able to recall about keeping my head square, something about aerodynamics maybe? I make a mental note to ask one of my coaches about this later. There are also persistent rumors about endorphins on the forum and in the training meetings. I could really use some of those here on miles 11 and 12, but most likely I used them up about an hour ago. Two years ago, I dropped out of half marathon training because I hated being last on every long run. It was embarrassing; I felt conspicuous and out of shape. It bothered me that people were having to wait for me to get back. But several races later, I don't seem to care as much. It helps that I am in better shape, and am now usually second-to-last or even (joy!) third- or fourth-to-last.
I have also figured out ways to feel better about my very slow pace. Mentally, I race all the people who are still in bed, or groggily staring into a bowl of cereal while they sit on the couch and watch morning news. Each house I pass is a potential runner I overtake. I even race myself from the week before, when the long run was shorter by a mile or two. When I pass my previous mileage, I imagine that I am dashing past myself like a cheetah. I count the number of steps between each whooosh of an exhale. The coaches have talked about rhythm before, as well as those elusive endorphins, and I try out different breath/footfall patterns, counting in my head. Just as I realize I have started to hum to myself, I stop. I try to sing in my head for a few verses, but I can't think of any songs that I know all the words to. A red light is a welcomed break, and I stand on the curb, curling up first my right then my left leg, stretching out my aching quadriceps. The light changes and I jog into the intersection, already forgetting where I was in the song I was trying to remember. I go back to counting my breaths and steps.
Should I be more focused? My thoughts wander away from my rhythm after only a minute or two. I replay a conversation from earlier in the week that I wished had gone better. If only I had had a better comeback! I try out a few different lines, suddenly aware that I am making faces. I blush, even though it is early on a Sunday morning and no one is awake to see me mouthing sassy one-liners like a method actor. I wonder again if I should be more focused. One-two-three (exhale). One-two-three (exhale).Most of the people who hear that I am training for a half marathon say something about how they could never do it themselves. “I can't even run around the block.” “You must be in really good shape!” “I don't have enough time for all that training.” It is easy to come up with reasons not to get up and run. I am incredibly slow. Nearly everyone in my training group beats me back to headquarters on our Sunday morning long runs. My body, so unaccustomed to regular training, protests each new threshold with aches and stiffness.
But there are payoffs, too. I lost 40 lbs last year between running and triathlon training. My legs look great and are surprisingly strong. Most nights, my sleep is deeper and more refreshing. I know so much more about my body's ability to work hard and exceed my expectations.
There is another benefit too, one that is harder to concisely describe. In the last twelve months, I have crossed six different finish lines. Crossing a finish line does something remarkable to the average person's psyche. I am not talking about professional athletes (whose motivation I can't even begin to imagine), or even the hardcore enthusiasts who run races all year, trying for personal bests and elite-level times. I am talking about the newbies, amateurs, part-timers, and weekenders, like myself. How many conceptual finish lines do we create each day, week, month, year? When will this day be over? I will take a vacation when I complete this project. We will get back to our routine after the holidays. But finishing these tasks rarely has the same sense of finality and success as crossing a painted yellow line and hearing the official clock beep in your finish time. How often in daily life does someone drape a ribbon and medal around your neck for accomplishing your goals? As I run past the Capitol building, I can feel the past mileage beginning to weigh heavily on my shoulders. I have less than one mile to go; in my mind's eye I picture the map of the final few blocks through downtown. I imagine myself as a little dot, moving past the hotels and restaurants like Pac-Man. I fight the urge to hum the Pac-Man music.
Now that I am running past store-fronts instead of yards and houses, the urge to turn and look at my reflection becomes overwhelming. I finally give in, and regret it right away. I have started to hunch over, and do not look as svelte and athletic as running 13 point something miles has led me to believe I must. I look a bit beat, to be honest. This sudden unneeded dose of reality slows me down a bit and my steps falter. It would be so easy to give into negativity, to start in with the “Just what the hell do you think you're doing, anyway?” Instead, I start humming the theme to Rocky very, very quietly. I fight the urge to raise my arms up in the air. Then I do it, immediately turning my Stallone into a shoulder stretch in case any one is looking. This is the farthest I have ever run. And I am still running. My legs are killing me in new and strange ways. Still running. I feel a raw spot-a blister maybe on the back of my neck from where my shirt tag has been rubbing for over two and a half hours. Keep running. My toes are numb and my fingers feel slightly swollen. Just run.When I see the arch over the finish line on race day, and pull an ounce of extra energy from I-don't-even-know-where and sprint forward, it doesn't matter that I am not the fastest, record-setting runner in the race. I win by crossing that line. It is such a cliché and is so cheesy, that it's hard to explain to the people who say they don't have the time or the energy or the natural ability. I usually just try to be as earnest and engaged as possible when I tell them, “Look, if I can do this, anyone can.”As I round the corner onto 4th Avenue, I start estimating how many yards are left between myself and the end-point at the Rogue headquarters. I arbitrarily say it's 1600 yards and then start to subtract yards as I cross streets. When I pass under I-35, I can see the end. I imagine a finish line arch in front of me and run toward it with everything I've got.

Where to begin?

2009-11-29T17:53:00.003-06:00

It's been crazy here at Casa Stokes. With the holidays and being out of town it's nice to have a day to relax and do nothing! Jake and I spent Thanksgiving with his family and some family friends. We headed down to the Texas coast and had a condo right on the beach. We split the condo with Jake's siblings and their significant others as well as our niece and nephew. It's always so great spending time with them. Riley (our niece) and I even ventured out on black Friday and managed to get her an early birthday treat. Jake and I took a couple walks on the beach and enjoyed the weather but in general it was an interesting trip to say the least. It was one of those trips that made me love my husband even more which makes the whole "interestingness" (i know it's not a word) of the trip worth it. Long story short, we don't think we'll be vacationing with his brother and lady friend again anytime soon. Anyway I'll have pictures soon I hope. I really missed seeing my family but splitting holidays is what we have to do now that we are married. Since Jake's dad will be in California for Christmas we have an all clear to spend a lot of time with my family.

Well I don't like posting without pictures so here is a picture of a painting that I won in a silent auction. It's super fun and I love it but Jake hates it. I put it in our guest room for now but I'm thinking that some day I will have a sitting area or some other fabulous place to hang it.

I knew it would happen...

2009-11-15T19:44:00.004-06:00

I just didn't know when!

This weekend I experienced my first twinge of pain that worried me. We had our 9 mile run and about mile 4 my foot began to hurt and I felt a pulling. It wasn't bad enough that I needed to stop so I finished and talked with one of the physical therapists there at the shop (one of the many reasons that I love running with Rogue.) Anyway after ruling out that my shoes as the problem I decided to go ahead and make and apt with the PT to go in and have my feet worked on. He thinks it Plantar fasciitis which the therapy for I hear SUCKS, but and this is a big BUT, I do not want to get injured even more and not be able to finish the race so I will endure some pain to get this taken care of.
On a related note...Holy Crap (sorry mom) I ran 9 miles. It was pretty great to finish and know that I am only 4 miles from my goal. Had my foot not been bothering me I feel like 4 more miles would not have killed me and that is a great feeling. It's also pretty good because I am running a 10K in 3 weeks and now I know I am more than ready to do it. The 10K is at Spicewood Vineyards so I'm trying to encourage Jake and his dad to come out to watch me finish and do some wine tasting and try some yummy food at the post race party. As part of our race packets we get wine glasses with the logo etched on them, I may be a simple and amused by the little things that come along with the race packets but I think that is pretty cool.

Well I'm pretty excited that I only have 5 more days of work until I am off for a full week, yay Thanksgiving. I hope everyone is doing great and thanks for all the encouraging comments along my little running journey! It really helps to know that I have so much support behind me!

Already??

2009-11-10T12:54:00.002-06:00

Well it's just under 100 days until the 1/2 Marathon and I can't believe it's going by so fast. Here is how far I have come

When I began it took me 45-50 minutes to finish a 5K and that included me taking walking breaks
This past saturday I RAN my first full 5K, no walk breaks and I completed it in 36minutes and 44 seconds
When I first started this I was in the 15 minute mile group
Now I'm running in the 11 minute mile group
The longest I ever ran before all of this was maybe 1/2 a mile without stopping
Now I have done an 8 mile run and this Saturday I'll be running 9

There's still a long way to go before I get to where I need to be for the race but so far so good and I have 96 days to get there. It's been pretty amazing seeing how far my body can go and how my body is changing. Who doesn't love buying new jeans because the old ones are falling off? It's pretty fun but it's also pretty hard, luckily massages are recomended and I love a good excuse to get a massage.

Well that's my little update.

Colin's Hope

2009-10-27T10:54:00.003-05:00

Running this half marathon is in large part for me. It's something that I want to acomplish and finish. The desire to finish and succeed at this run is a huge driving force but I am also motivated by the fact that while I am training and running this race I'll be raising money for a great charity here in the Austin area, Colin's Hope!

The reason I chose this particular charity is because I love the water and I love swiming, I have been in and around the water for most of my life. There is something about it that is so calming and wonderful that it just draws me, but I respect how dangerous not having proper knowledge of the water and water safety can be. Below are a few facts about water safety as it relates to young children:

The Facts
● In 2005, there were 3,582 fatal unintentional drownings in the United States, averaging ten deaths per day.
● In 2005, of all children 1 to 4 years old who died, almost 30% died from drowning. Fatal drowning remains the second-leading cause of unintentional injury-related death for children ages 1 to 14 years
● For every child who dies from drowning, another four received emergency department care for nonfatal submersion injuries.
● 19% of drowning deaths involving children occur in public pools with certified lifeguards present (http://www.colinshope.org/default.aspx)

If you read Colin's Story you will hear the passion his family has for making people aware of these facts and also the comitment of Colin's Hope to educate people and to make everyone more aware when you're out for a swim or are around water.

I'm excited to meet all the other running buddues for Colin's Hope and train for this race together. It will be pretty awesome to pass by the Colin's Hope water stop on race day and see all those excited faces cheering us on!

Running for yourself is awesome but running for a great cause makes you run a little faster!!

Oh my

2009-10-21T17:09:00.003-05:00

Well one of the kids today asked me when the baby would be here and patted my tummy, kill me now!! Needless to say I will be running extra hard tonight and will be heading to core class tomorrow night.

Update*** I love my husband! He is the most amazing encouragement out there. On a day where I feel uber down about myself and so not motivated he is just what I need and knows just what I need to hear. It's so fabulous having him in my corner!

Back to work!

2009-10-14T16:44:00.003-05:00

Well after a week of being sick and dealing with funeral stuff I am back to training. Well technically I have been back since Monday but this is the first that I have been able to write about it. I was nervous because I had missed 4 days of running and this Saturday we are doing a 5 mile run...I just got to 3 miles before I got sick so this week was major make-up time. Tonight we're running 4 miles so I really hope that my body cooperates and I can get this done. I ran 4 on Monday and yesterday so hopefully my body will hold up and get through tonight.

Love and Loss

2009-10-08T21:30:00.000-05:00

"No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear. I am not afraid, but the sensation is like being afraid. The same fluttering in the stomach, the same restlessness, the yawning. I keep on swallowing. At other times it feels like being mildly drunk, or concussed. There is a sort of invisible blanket between the world and me. I find it hard to take in what anyone says. Or perhaps, hard to want to take it in. It is so uninteresting." - C.S. Lewis

It's so hard to be selfless right now because I'm so sad but I'm also beginning the process of rejoicing that Mimi has moved on to a much more amazing place. Last night peacefully she passed away after being able to see all of her children. I'm so happy that she is in a place of peace, no pain, no nightmares and a place where she can walk side by side with Papa for all of eternity. They are together again and that makes me smile, but my heart is also broken. I will miss her more than I can even begin to describe but she had a wonderful and full life! I just can't help but hate that can't hug her, hold her hand, give her three kisses on the cheek and just be with her 1 more time, but that is me being selfish.
My family has always been close! Family defines who I am, and defines what I want for my future. I know I am lucky to have known my great grandmother for so long and I will cherish her memory forever! I was lucky to be able to spend a very happy day with her a few weeks ago for her birthday and I am glad that the last time I was able to see her Jake and I were both able to tell her that we love her. I'm so happy that she loved Jake and embraced him into our family.
I feel like all of my thoughts are jumbled and not clear in my head so i'm going to say goodnight for now but if I may ask please say some prayers for my family as we make our way through the next couple of days and from then on. The viewing is tomorrow afternoon and the funeral is on Saturday afternoon.

You've reached Lindsey...

2009-10-01T22:09:00.003-05:00

...I'm not able to come to the phone, blog, facebook or basically anything other than twitter because I belong to (as of 2pm Friday until Monday AM) ACL and all of it's musical yummy-ness. Please feel free to leave me a message or just come find us. I'll be there, spiked sweet leaf mint honey tea and kettle corn in hand, all weekend rain or shine!

Really I know everyone knows how I feel about ACL by now. It's amazing and really I kind of love it more than Christmas which is saying alot! This year is the first year that my sister will be at the festival so it will be fun to share this with her. Also Aubs is in town!!! and so is Jeff. It's always great to spend time with the out of towners! Well I'm off to bed and will have pictures after we have recovered.

6 months already???

2009-09-27T10:01:00.002-05:00

Six months ago today I was doing this!!!

I would relive my wedding every day if I could but I also Really love being married and getting further and further into our life together. Jake is the best husband and I am reminded daily why I am with him. Marriage is the best and I know it makes me a better person because now I'm not just living and doing things for me.
Love you to the stars and back Jake, you make my soul smile!!

Vegas Baby!

2009-09-22T18:14:00.013-05:00

Well we made it back from Vegas. Had a ton of fun and lost some money! All in all it was a great trip. I think Jake is already ready to go back. Here's a bunch of pictures, I'll let them guide you through or weekend...

Jake at the Venetian pondering our next trip!

The pretty window display at Barneys, it's made out of metal coat hangers

Not sure what Jake is doing at our suite, see the video below...the room was ridiculous!

The crew at Legasse's Stadium for the UT vs Tech game. We had our own little seating area with our own TV in addition to the huge screen that the whole room could see. David Spade showed up to watch the UFC fight, he's short and all I kept thinking was Joe Dirt. Anyway this place was pretty awesome.

Saturday night we all went to see Love and it was phenomenal! Go see it if you are ever in Vegas. I will for sure see it again.

The strip

Pinks opened the day we got there so I had to go and have one, best hot dog I have ever had!

Dad being Dad! I have so much fun traveling with my family and know that I am very lucky for that.

The view of Paris from the Bellagio, still never been in Paris

Serendipity, as close to the real deal as I'll get for a while. Mom and I stopped in for some Frozen hot chocolate.

Part of the Bellagio Fall atrium design. Their atrium is always something to see.

Beautiful wedding cakes at the Bellagio

The glass ceiling in the Bellagio lobby, AMAZING

The Bellagio, it's just really nice. You can't help but be drawn to it.

The Mirage, the first place I ever stayed in Vegas and where we saw LOVE

The Palazzo, home sweet home!! This hotel was Sick! I will never stay anywhere else if I can help it.

Fountain at the Palazzo

We had drinks at the Golden Nugget for my great grandmother

Enjoying the light show on Freemont Street & Jake enjoying the no open container laws in Vegas.

Jake and the Pivodas, dad was all about the limos all weekend. It didn't help that we traveled in a pack everywhere we went.

The chocolate fountain at Bellagio

A mini Bellagio display in their Atrium

Our room, the most ridiculous room i've ever stayed in!
We def did not "need" all that space but it was nice

All in all is was a pretty awesome trip. I did lose my passport at one point but security found it and returned it to me about an hour before we left (crazy long story.) It was great to hang out with part of my family but it was even better to come home to the news that my brother and his wife are expecting their first child!!! We are so excited for them and can't wait to meet our new niece or nephew. Aimee is due right around the time Lori is getting married so we will have lots to celebrate next May!

Just got in from my wed night training class and it kicked my butt in a good way. The rain let up right as we were getting on the track so that helped. Next week is my last week in the 1/2 Marathon prep class with the full blown 1/2 Marathon class starting next Saturday, that's right ACL weekend. I'm fully anticipating a nap during a band that I don't care for!! I can't wait to see Aubrey (East Coast) and Jeff (West Coast) when they come to town for the festival!

The Uber Post

2009-09-17T19:46:00.002-05:00

I am working on a blog post that is post dated as far as when it will show up on the blog itself. It's a daily journal of my 1/2 Marathon training. Our coaches talk about tracking your mileage, times, how you feel and what if any aches you have to better understand how you run so I am doing that. In the future I want to be able to look back and read what I went through during this entire process so rather than spreading it out over countless posts, I'm writing one long blog that spans 5 months. The post is set to go up when I "should" be crossing the finish line Feb 14, 2010. Just another source of motivation to do this race!
Last night our coach talked about turning us from Joggers to Runners with the difference being Runners have to run, their day is not complete without getting outside and putting in some mileage. I've already found that when I don't run I feel lousy. Already after just a few weeks it's becoming a habit in my life and a good one at that. Today I tried like crazy to get to Rogue for my 6pm core workout but with the traffic on Bee Caves it just didn't happen. I felt horrible so on the way home I stopped at the hike and bike and put in 2 miles. When I got home I felt like I could rest easy knowing that I had done what I needed to do for the day. It's a GREAT feeling! Who knew? Anyway things are great and I'm loving this new investment in my life!
Tomorrow afternoon we take off for Vegas with my family and I can't wait! I'm sure I'll have tons of pictures when I get back! Everyone have a great weekend!

Our Week

2009-09-13T09:24:00.005-05:00

This week is going to be a great week for so many reasons!
It starts with last night really, Jake and I met up with Chez, Cameron and Katrina and all of the hubbies for dinner at Phil's Ice house and it was amazing. The food was great but the company is what really made it count. I miss those girls and often forget how fun all the guys are. Anyway today we are headed to Flip Happy Crepes with my parents and then out to Fredericksburg to celebrate with Mimi. Her birthday is next weekend but we will be out of town so we are going to visit her today. Jake has the entire week off this week so i'll be really excited to spend lots of time with him. Wednesday we both have the day off so we're trying to figure out what to do with our day after I go to the Dr. I just ordered some brand new running shoes that should be here Thursday, Yay!! I've needed a new pair (the old ones were lacking in the kind of suppot I need) so I broke down and ordered the ones that I need for my feet. It's funny, growing up I always bought the "cute" running shoes but now that I am really relying on these shoes to do what they were meant to do and protect my feet I don't care what they look like I just need them to fit right. I decided on the Asics GT 2140, it's made for women runners with my type of arch and great support. Can't wait for my first run in them!!

Friday is the day we really can't wait for. Friday night after work we are packing up and heading to Vegas for 4days!!! I can't wait. This will be our first trip with my family. It's us my parents, Bethany and her boyfriend. I love Vegas! The last time Jake went to Vegas he was in high school so I can't wait for him to enjoy everything. We are staying at the Palazzo which is the new part of the Venetian. From what I hear it's pretty nice so I can't wait to see it.
So that is our week, pretty full and pretty fun with of course some running training thrown in there a couple of times.
I hope everyone else's week is just as fun!

Day 1

2009-09-12T09:41:00.002-05:00

Just finished my first Saturday morning "long run." No it has not stopped raining since last night so yes my first training run was in the rain! It was such a cool experience, the cooler weather was such a blessing after the crazy heat we've had all summer. We did a lite easy run this morning which was nice since I've never done anything like this before, I even saw some people I know which was cool. My hope for all of this is that I can really get something out of my training, running the half marathon would be the obvious something but I am also hoping to change the way I treat myself mentally and physically. I need to take care of my body and I need some me time! I really think that this training will help with all of it.
Well I'd say my day has started out great and it's only going to get better, Texas plays at 2:30, we're going to Chez's birthday dinner & then Jovitas to see Flatcar play. Busy but fun times ahead.
Time for a hot soak!

4 days to go

2009-09-07T18:54:00.002-05:00

Well come Saturday there is no turning back! I start with Rogue bright and early Saturday morning and I can't wait! I'm scared out of my mind, but in an excited anticipation kind of way. This past week I did 10 miles on the hike and bike, The 3 mile loop two days and the 4 mile loop this weekend. I've never done the 4 mile loop before so that was a mini milestone for me. When I was passing Auditorium Shores and they were prepping for the Austin Tri and seeing all of that encouraged me to keep going. I can't even begin to imagine what it will feel like February 14 when I wake up to go run, intense!

Related to the Half I am now running with a purpose! I'll be raising $$ and running as part of The Colin's Hope Buddy Program. I can't wait to help raise money and awareness for a great organization!

I hope everyone is having a fabulous Labor Day Weekend!

Favorite Things - Game Day Edition

2009-09-05T14:01:00.005-05:00

I'm pretty sure that anyone who has even come in contact with me for as little as a few minutes knows that I LOVE The University of Texas. I always have and always will. Our dogs have the UT collars, my car sports a Longhorn sticker, all of my cars have been named after UT football players with the exception of our new car named after Mack Brown. I bleed burnt orange, my mood is noticeably affected by the outcome of football games and if I had it my way I would get my Masters from UT, but that one is left to the powers that be (please please pretty please pick me!!!) So in honor of The Mighty Longhorns opening the 09-10 season at home today I am doing this special favorite things devoted completely to my beloved Horns!!

Tailgating on Game Day - Good food good friends and The Eyes of Texas sung only about 20 times depending on kickoff time!With my new half marathon training about to be in full affect one of my favorite pairs of running shorts are my UT Nike shorts...love em
This is the shirt that Jake and I fight over on game day! It's so comfy and perfect for the games at the beginning of the season where it's 95 degrees at kickoff
I LOVE watching College Gameday! Normally on Saturdays I sleep till 10 or 11 (don't judge) but during football season I wake up early to watch what the guys have to say about the days games. Not to mention Kirk Herbstreit is hot but it would never work he's a Buckeye.
Colt McCoy...Good kid, great Quarterback!!! Can't wait to see what he does this year. National Championship and a Heisman? I think so!

There is nothing that can beat singing The Eyes of Texas with thousands of your closest fan friends after serving a beat down to ou!!! So raise your Horns, Sing along and HOOK'EM HORNS

Forced Motivation

2009-09-02T19:55:00.003-05:00

Anyone that knows me knows that I start a lot of things and enjoy it until the next thing that draws my attention comes along. Well I've been trying to get in shape and have a pretty strong desire to be able to run and enjoy it so I am doing what I call forced motivation.
Today I registered for the Austin 1/2 Marathon (YIKES)

and as soon as that confirmation e-mail was received I registered with Rogue,

a training group here in town. The reason I call this forced motivation is because it is a fairly substantial financial commitment for the training over the next 6 months. If I am paying for it and I am already registered for the race you better believe I am going to give it everything, not to mention putting it out there for everyone to see and hold me accountable to. I've been wanting to do this for a while and I really have to credit my baby sister with motivating me to actually go through with it. Right now she is in training with Team in Training for the Rock and Roll Marathon in November! It's going to be pretty awesome to go to the race and watch her cross the finish line! She has always been a great cheerleader for me as well as my mom. The next 1/2 year is going to be something new but I hope it will be exciting and I will discover a new healthier me. If you see me around ask me how the running is going and what my mileage is up to, keep me accountable! I'll post as results come in.

Ponytails

2009-08-30T22:58:00.002-05:00

So I haven't added anything in a while and it's late so I don't want to write anything long but today we had a major milestone!!! I can Finally, almost, with the help of only one clip, get my hair into a ponytail. Anyone that knows me IRL knows that I am never too far away from my equine hair style. I like having the option to throw it up into a bun, a mess or just your standard edition ponytail. Today I was feeling lucky (or lazy whatever you choose to label it) and pulled it back. I was so excited because this means that my hair really is growing which I have doubted ever since I made the wrong decision to chop it all off! Anyway only about 8 more inches to go until it's back to normal!

Froggy Adventures!

2009-08-18T21:06:00.004-05:00

Thursday is the last day of school for my 4 yr olds. Monday the 24th they all move up to their last Pre-K class before kindergarten. This summer has been interesting to say the least but I love my kiddos and am going to miss them all. Since it's their last day we are going to have a party after nap. Our class is the Frogs and we love being frogs so I decided we needed some froggy cupcakes for our party. The cupcakes at the store were going to cost quite a bit to have specially made and while I love my little frogs, I don't love them enough to spend almost $3 per cupcake. Instead I decided to try my hand at some lindsey original cupcake designs! I had so much fun and all together it took me 2 hours start to finish...not too bad if you ask me. Here is a little photo journey through my evening...

*side note: this is the Sandra Lee Semi homemade version, I bought cake mix and icing and then dyed the icing to the color I needed. I'm not crazy enough to do it completely from scratch.

Where it all begins

Halfway there! This is all I will do until Thursday AM. The eyes are made out of marshmallows and I don't want them to get soggy in the icing so I will put the eyes on Thursday morning.

The sample that I let Jake taste test. I wanted to see what the final product would look like!

Anyway that was my fun for the evening. I have a new respect for anyone that pipes icing on cupcakes all day. My hand was starting to cramp pretty bad by the end of cupcake fest.

Tomorrow I'll add pictures of the honey bee and tiger that I am making for the other 4 yr old teachers (Those are their class animals)

Congrats are in order!

2009-08-11T18:51:00.003-05:00

Congrats to Julie and Jason on baby Reagan's debut!

That's all I've got for today but it's pretty awesome!!

Serenity Now!

2009-08-10T18:12:00.003-05:00

Ahhh breathe a sigh of relief, Jake got a new job! As of August 24 he is the court operations officer for one of the district courts! I'm so proud and happy for him, beacause this is a pretty big step up. He has slowly but surely climbed his way up the Travis County ladder, and the guy is still working on his bachelors! The job comes with a raise, a parking spot (key when working downtown) and a new wardrobe. Needless to say with hime being in court everyday we will be going shopping for a couple of suits this weekend. He's really excited and can't wait to start.
In similar news I am going back to the preschool I was at last school year. It all comes down to the fact that I was happy there, really really happy, and it's flexible enough for me to finish what I need to finish in order to get my teaching certification.
Anyway that is what is going on in our house today. I wanted to take Jake to ZTejas tonight to celebrate but he wanted to play video games and relax at home so maybe some other night this week.

Something Wicked in the air!!

2009-08-09T12:02:00.003-05:00

I CAN'T WAIT!!!!! One week from today Mom and I are going to see Wicked! I have been waiting YEARS to see the show. I had dreams of experiencing it on Broadway with Kristin Chenoweth staring in all her glory but that never happened and she has long since retired from her role in the show.

A few years ago I saw the show pop up on the list of future shows at the newly renovated Bass Concert Hall and I knew I would go one way or another. I had visions of Jake getting me tickets for my birthday but he wouldn't want to go so I decided I would make it a double gift. I ended up purchasing some of the best seats you can get and invited mom to come with me as her mothers day present and an early birthday present to myself! She is my partner in crime when it comes to going to the ballet or theatre! I know that anytime Jake might not want to see something she will be more than happy to enjoy a night of culture and entertainment. So in short I am pretty psyched about next Sunday and I want this week to fly by!!

My Mimi

2009-08-02T00:25:00.002-05:00

This is going to be a short and sweet one because I really can't put words to everything that is in my head.

Please lift my great-grandmother up in your prayers. All that I can think to ask is for is prayers of peace for her. Without going into all the details she is having some serious health issues at the moment. I would love to take it all away from her and put it on myself but I don't have that ability so I am reaching out for anyone's thoughts and prayers. She's an AMAZING woman of Faith and of family and if prayer is the only thing I can do to help well then I am going to enlist as much help as I can.

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers in advance!

Lamentations 3:21-25

Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion therefore I will wait for him." The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him;

Things are changing!

2009-07-26T17:50:00.003-05:00

Lately I have been experiencing blog envy, big time. I would look around at all the cute blogs out there and I was starting to feel a little drab so this past week I got on the task of getting mine where I like it. For not having any computer coding experience ever it was a pretty interesting task but I got it to where I love it. This way when I get a better job and don't have random time to sit around and decorate my blog I won't have to I'll just change out elements here and there. Anyone can do it and if you are even the least bit crafty it's fun! Here are the different sites that helped me along the way!

I wanted a 3 column blog and here is how you get one...be patient!!

The same site has great backgrounds

My header was from Scrapblog, and you can design whatever suites your style.

A great site for all things blog is Shabby Blog

Livestrong

2009-07-26T10:52:00.007-05:00

Lance Armstrong is a beast to still be basically at the top of his sport with so many younger riders out there!

Anyway I woke up early, early, way too early to watch the final stage of the Tour de France live. All the previous stages I tape and watch at night but I always like watching the final stage live. It was pretty exciting. For the most part the the standings don't change and you know exactly who is going to end up on the podium but it's crazy to watch the sprinters in the last few laps around the Champs Elysees.

Team Astana dominated with 2 members on the podium in the end with Contador and Armstrong getting 1st and 3rd respectively. It will be interesting to watch next year when they are no longer on the same team and Lance comes back to make a go of it! It's also been pretty cool to see all of the yellow Livestrong bands in the crowds and on the riders. It's amazing how huge the campaign and focus has gotten.

Wish List

2009-07-25T13:30:00.003-05:00

With babies all around me at school and friends beginning to have them, I'll admit I have a slight fever. Nothing like a 101 -103 extreme baby fever but a slight 99.5 warm-up when it comes to having kids. Now the realistic side of me knows that we have only been married a few months and have plenty of time ahead of us, I've always wanted to be a mom. That is just who I am. Jake and I know when we will probably start to approach the topic and it's not anytime soon so until then we'll just love on our niece and nephew.
When my mind starts to go into "awe I want to be pregnant, I want a little one running around" mode I remind myself of my pre-kids wish list, The things that we and I would like to have or accomplish before we have kids!

The next big thing Jake and I would like to tackle is buying a house. We are both in the process of interviewing for better jobs and if all works out then maybe this time next year we will be seriously looking at buying. All of the house buying however hinges on the next wish...

Law School! Jake will be finishing his undergrad, taking his LSAT's and applying to law school so until we know where he is going we don't want to buy. Our hope is that with his great grades, impressive recs and work history UT is a possible option but Texas Law is hyper competitive. We have resigned to the fact that we might end up in a different city for a few years but once law school is done we will start a family in Austin!

I want to be teaching before we have kids! I'll be starting my certification process this fall so that will help things along but the positions for teachers in the Austin area are few and far between so it might take a while to find something hence the job I am in the interview process for right now. If I get the job I'll be there for a couple of years while trying to find a teaching position so that by the time kids come around I'll have a much more family oriented schedule. Lastly this is purely materialistic and ridiculous I know but I want a boat! I love to be on the water and I love to spend time with friends and I hate that we aren't able to just pick up and go hang out on the lake. Right now we have to butter Willie up every time we want to go out on the lake. When you live in a city with 2 lakes and and tons of new and used boat shops there are lots of options and it really isn't that far fetched of an idea we'll just have to wait until after we buy a house.

Anyway that is that is in my head today. Headed to Lakeway to have dinner with the parents tonight and share our honeymoon pictures with some friends.

Interview Day

2009-07-16T09:44:00.004-05:00

***UPDATE: everything went really well but the down side is that I won't know anything for another 2-3 weeks, grrrrrr

Welp today is game day! I'm nervous but ready to go and can't wait to get this going! Before I go to my interview I'm going to go get my new drivers license and passport with my new name on it. I've been waiting for a day off so that I can go do all of this. Jake's excited, ready for me to be legit. I'll post an update later after the interview is over. My hope is that I will know something relatively soon! Either way I'm soliciting prayers for confidence and understanding with whatever the outcome is.

Have a fabulous Thursday
L

Prayers Needed!!!

2009-07-09T17:34:00.002-05:00

I don't want to talk about it too much because I don't want to Jinx it but I am interviewing next Thursday for a new job and would love prayers for confidence and the ability to put my best Steve Madden foot forward (yes I might have bought a completely new outfit for the interview.) Anyway it would be nice to make more money and be able to start really working towards buying a house. I'll keep you updated on how things go!

Happy 4th!

2009-07-04T15:36:00.005-05:00

I'm starting to LOVE the 4th of July! I have always liked the 4th of July with the fireworks and food and friends but lately it's just been fabulous. This weekend has been pretty fun so far and it's only Saturday. Here are the highlights!

1 year ago today Jake and I got engaged!
I can't believe it's already been a year. It seems like the past year has flown. I love being Jake's wife and am soooo looking forward to all the fun to come. Maybe this time next year we will be in a new to us home and applying for law school, who knows?!?!

Yesterday we spent the day with Jake's sister and her family. Angie her man and 2 kiddos just moved back to town from Tucson and we love it. We met up on Lake Austin, played in the water and in the sand. It's nice to to be around the kids while they are growing up. Riley is 12, can't believe she will be in 6th grade next year. It's going to be fun to go to track meets and football games to watch her cheer. She is such a great kid and so wise beyond her years. Kiezrael is 14 months old now and walking up a storm. He's got a pretty awesome personality and is such an easy going little man. I think the best part of yesterday was watching Uncle Jake in action. He's so good with them.

Well Expedia here I come! May 29, 2010 my sister Lori will be marrying her Michael in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico!! Michael popped the question Thursday night and we're all really excited for them. It will be nice to have another brother in the family! I can't wait to be there as they start this awesome journey! A destination wedding in Mexico will be absolutely beautiful and so will she! Congrats you two, Married life really is the bee's knees!

Pops!

2009-06-21T10:50:00.003-05:00

I have the best Dad ever, yeah people say that all the time and it seems to be a general blanket statement of most dads but in my case it's not, I really do have The Best Dad EVER! What makes my dad different from all the other out there?? My dad had a choice when it came to being my father and and he chose to love my sister and me as if we had his blood running through our veins. 17 years ago the man that is now my dad married my mom and took on two very strong willed girls. On top of having 2 kids of his own around the same ages he decided to really be there for my sister and me while our biological father was deciding to slowly push us away. Pops (John) was there through everything; the pets, the birthdays, the tears, the bad grades, the graduations. He has been there through it all and has loved and supported us every step of the way. On the biggest day of my life this past March there was no question who I wanted there by my side as I married my guy. Although Pops was unsure if I would want him or my grandpa to give me away in my mind there was no other option, my dad had deserved everything that is tied to that moment. I love him more than I ever truly think I could ever express and am so thankful that he loves me.

I love you lots Pops!

On top of having a great dad I have a pretty amazing Grandpa. Paw has been there since birth and when my parents divorced he had no problem being there for my sister and I when we needed a father figure. He's one of the old school tough love types but I know the real Paw and he's a man that loves his kids and grand kids with all of his heart. I wouldn't have him any other way! Love you lots Paw!

Honeymooning in the Caymans

2009-06-13T16:18:00.005-05:00

This is going to be a long photo post..

The beach on our second day

headed out on the boat for our day trip

Stingray City, last time I went out there we were the only boat out there. Now you go out and it's a slow day if there are 4 boats

Here come the stingrays

getting up-close and personal with one of the stingrays

Lunch on the beach, Conch ceviche and caybrew

our boat for the day

the view from our hotel pool

the water right off the hotel beach

Us and the insanely gorgeous water. I hope now everyone sees why this is my favorite place on earth

Our last night on the island

Royal Palms - best spot for food and drinks when the "boat people" are not around

Us at The Grand Old House for our big honeymoon dinner

The sunset from our table

It was an amazing and relaxing trip. Next time we really want to go with friends. On the next post I'll put up some videos from the trip too but for now it is nap and laundry time!

Wow, I suck at this

2009-06-02T19:25:00.002-05:00

If there is anyone out there that reads this sorry for the lapse in entries. It's just been chaotic around here. Jake has been working a ton and I have been trying to figure out what is next. On-top of everything going on with work for both of us we had a fun surprise Saturday morning...a flooded bedroom, closet and dining room. This was pretty annoying seeing as how most of our laundry was sorted on our bedroom floor getting ready for being packed and put away. Also the apartment smelled like mildew and all of our furniture was shifted to the far north side. This meant our dining room table and china cabinet were camped out in the living room and all of our bedroom furniture was up against the windows grrrr. I was so a paranoid sleeping because I was afraid I would kick in my sleep and my foot would go through the window. Oh well all is fixed now!

Now I am focusing on getting ready for our HONEYMOON!!!! We leave in 4 days! It's about stinkin time, I'm glad we waited so we can really enjoy our trip but man 2 months is a long time. We will be in the Cayman islands for 7 glorious days. we have a lot of nothing planned and can't wait. I'm sure we will have tons of pictures when we get back.

That is all I have got for now just thought it was about time I updated this thing.