an award? :) YAY!

Yay!  It's always fun to hear that your bloggy blog got an award! :)

Libby over at the ELF blog gave me this cute, (yummy looking ;) award!

In order for me to accept this loveliness, I have to share three things that I love about myself, a photo and award this to a few other very cute, very deserving bloggers.  :)

So, three things I love about myself:

•  I'm a pretty good cook... and most of what I make or have made, I've learned on my own by trial and error ;)... when Ryan and I first got married, we had mac and cheese for dinner at least a few times a week.  It was when we had Maeve, that I decided I really needed to figure this whole cooking thing out.  While I'm not comfortable (or very good) at working with a lot of different meats, we've definitely expanded our menu.  This week we've had chicken enchiladas, baked ziti and chicken pot pie.  I am also a big breakfast cooker.  I usually make the kids muffins or pancakes at least a few times out of the week.  I love the feeling of feeding my family yummy food that makes them happy :)
• I'm frugal :)  I like to save money on normal every day things (such as groceries, clothing- I shop at 2nd hand stores, toiletries, etc.) and spend the saved money on vacations :)  It may not be the greatest financial move, but the memories we're making are worth more than the nicest car, house or clothes in the world :)
• I love my healthy appetite :) haha!  That's for sure... 

Okay... here's the photo I would like to share:

ahhhh sweet HAWAII :)  This was on our honeymoon... we had the most amazing time... and have I mentioned lately that I am so completely in love with the greatest guy on earth?  I love looking back at "old" pictures of us... I thought I loved Ryan so much on our wedding day (and yes, of course, I DID!) but through the years, making a family with him, seeing him hold our babies, wrestle with Mr. H, read stories to MaeMae, I love him more than ever.... :)  It's true what they say, that love just grows and grows with time.  :)

Okay... and the 2 bloggers I'd like to pass this award on to, are not only super bloggers, but they're also good friends :)  These are blogs that I read daily and that are updated with lots of pictures and funny stories. 

Manda over at The MiniVan Diaries
Leslie over at The Story Of Us

Great job blogging ladies! 

ughhh... the woes of being a woman.

Today is my dreaded...(very much dreaded) biopsy of the ol' cervix (sorry dad- any other males who stumble upon this post today).

Ryan took the day off, so I wouldn't have to trap myself in the examining room with my two rabid-like children while getting my cervix examined and snipped.  For that, I am so thankful :)

I am also thankful that I got this message last night:
"sooooo......i got a sitter for the girls in the morning and i would like to take you to your biopsy.. if that is okay, that is. you might have a little cramping and when you said you were going by yourself, i didn't want you to. hope i am not out of line just inviting myself. :)"


{-from my dear Leslie }

After confirming over and over that yes, she was actually volunteering to come and sit in the waiting room of Dr. P's while I get my cervix looked at, we set the date :) haha :)

Along with the doc. visit, we'll be swinging by Starbucks for a pick-me-up, and hopefully having a little girl talk :)

Ughhhhh the woes of being a woman.

But at least I'm a woman with some amazing, AWESOME, incredibly loving friends :)

I will update you all on the appointment later!
  (because, you are dying to know how my cervix looks, I get it, I know :)


PS- if you haven't already, could you take a hot second to click on this LINK and then click "LIKE!"

ramblings... part??

I need to come up with some catchy "Rambling" title... I tend to ramble, a lot.

Any suggestions for a go-to rambling post title?

back to the rambling...

-if one good thing has come out of my parents leaving, its me becoming closer with my brother, Tyler. We used to see each other ummm.... maybe once a month in passing- IF THAT- now a days, he's babysitting the kids, we're doing lunch and just talking... and that's really nice. Tyler has a girlfriend, Katie, who comes over as well, and she's great with the kids. I am so thankful that I have them here. I never thought in a million years (sorry tyler- not like you read this anyway:) that I'd be looking to my little brother for anything, but I know now, if I'm in a pinch, he's always more than willing to hang out with his niece and nephew.

- Maeve is 3 and not potty trained. that's all.

-this morning when I woke up, I had one thing on my mind- MAKE A PIE. I don't know why... but for a few days I've been wanting a stinkin pear pie. NOT a store bought one- but a fresh, home made one, that makes your house smell like fall. I chopped, kneaded, folded, whatever the heck you do to make a pie- I put the dough patties in the fridge and patiently waited (ALL DAY) for them to chill. Around 5 I took them out annnd.... they cracked. In a zillion pieces. I was close to tears (I must have really wanted this pear pie...) and Ryan suggested I just pile all the crust into the pan. HA... I did, and all I can say is faiiillllure. But I'm planning on blogging about it tomorrow.

-I feel like our kitchen has become some sort of pharmacy. We've got infants tylenol and motrin for Henry. CHILDREN'S tylenol and motrin for Maeve. Antibiotics, vicks, thermometers, blahhhhhhh. Okay sickness, can you go now?

-Henry's ears are really bugging him when he lies down. Anyone wanna take a wild guess at what activity he is NOT doing because of this??? Yahhhh.... that boy- woooo! It's a good thing I love him so much... I rocked him from 8 PM to about 1 AM - sitting up in the rocker- it was the only way to get him to stay asleep. Insane.

-I woke up this morning in a puddle of milk. That's always fun, right? I was up so late with Henry, I didn't even hear Maeve get up- Ryan must have stuck her in with me (and a sippy cup of milk...) when I woke up, Maeve had left, sippy stayed and leaked everywhere.

-Ryan and I have decided that whatever we do in Florida- whether we rent a house or an apartment (notice I didn't say buy... I don't think we'll ever buy again) it has to have a spare bedroom for TOYS. I thought I could manage with the toy clutter... but apparently I can't. Maybe its because I tripped over a little tykes grocery cart filled with barbies and books this afternoon... I don't know- but I want a playroom.

-I have an amazing husband. AMEN. then end.

-I have been having anxiety attacks about our upcoming flight. I would rather get some sort of dental surgery (and we all know how much I hate dental surgery) than fly on an airplane, alone, with my 3 and 1 year old.... not fun.

-my family has always joked that I can read people really well. Like put someone in front of me and I get a vibe. Weird? Yeah, I guess. But I am SO on... Like SO ON its scary :) -ANGELA- do you remember my birth predictions???

-Why do I have to discover this fabulous herbalife diet in the middle of freezing winter? I mean, I guess its not WINTER yet, but its freezing- and not a time where I feel like shakes. I want coffee. I've been off the train... usually drinking coffee for breakfast, a shake for lunch and whatever I want for dinner... not quite the plan, but that's the best I can do right now. I'm not walking around with a milkshake in 20 degree weather.

-early, early this morning (4/5?) I woke up and heard Maeve reading in her room. It was sweet, and then I heard her starting to ask questions- like she was talking with someone. I made Ryan go check... I watch too much dang dateline. And thank GOD she was just talking to herself, but uhhh, it kind of reminded me of "The Shining." Later, I asked her who she was talking to and she said "the bones." WTH.

-I am SO excited.... there is an awesome give away that I have the privilege of hosting.... stay tuned... it's fab and it's next week :)
-I have Henry's career path nailed- he will be a Shamu trainer. This kid wants water 24/7. And he's a smart one- he'll dump his bottle or sippy on the floor, forming a puddle that he can splash in. It doesn't matter if its the toilet, the dog bowls, a puddle of milk, leftover shower water, WHATEVER- he'll find it and play in it. I suppose there are more careers besides being a whale trainer, that involve water- like a captain or a fisherman... those would be cool too- but how sweet would it be to get in free to SEA WORLD?!

-My mom called and told me they were having a "cold front" down in Florida. Lows of 50.

-I feel like we're (Ryan, myself, the kids) are in this big waiting room- we're being soooo patient... knowing that great, great places and things are in our future- but we're waiting... and waiting... I will now quote that super obnoxious quote about waiting- "good things come to those who wait."

-This week has been wretched. God sure works in mysterious ways.

-I learned a super important lesson this week... and again, I'm going to use a quote (because I love them) by BUDDHA!: "Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned." So, so, so true. And I'm not sure why it took 26 years to realize that.

those are my ramblings for tonight...

my friends and family- I love and miss you all... (well Les, Jess, Angie- I'm sure I'll see you gals next week:) Mom, dad, brothers & sisters, Ang, Suz- it's been too long. I am desperate for an ear, advice and a shoulder.

ahhhh big love and hugs to all...

blue toes.

screw bubbly toes.... I have BLUE toes. And so does Leslie :)

We had a really laid back Saturday... but I suppose if your house is being ravaged by the flu, its going to have to be laid back.

A few days ago (Friday, I believe...) my left eye felt like someone was stabbing it with a fork- nice imagery- but it hurt. I took out my contacts, made an eye appt. and thought that was that.

Later on in the day, I developed a slight fever and a crazy headache. I was thinking this was all derived from my bum eye, until around 8 PM or so.

Eight o'clock on Friday night was when I started my evening in the bathroom... 3 AM is when I ended my evening/morning in the bathroom.

I hadn't eaten anything all day Friday- my family had eaten jambalaya for dinner (nope that wasn't going to work with me) and I thought that maybe if I had some sort of bread, I'd start to feel better. We all drove to Tim Horton's after (their) dinner. The kids got donuts, I got a bagel. Halfway home, I started shaking my head and spitting out the bagel. "Nope, this wasn't the right choice." I told Ryan :)

And thus began my one night stand with the porcelain bowl.

I don't want to gross you readers out, but I also want to explain the severity of this situation. haha :) It went something like this. Chug a glass of water, puke a glass of water. Chug a glass of water, puke a glass of water... and so on, and on. AND ON.

I sat in the bathroom with my blackberry and facestalked in between pukes. I caught up on my cousin's, looked back at old pictures and wrote to anyone that I had plans with that weekend that uhhhhh, I'd need to cancel and reschedule.

My sweet, sweet husband who is a "fixer" of sorts... came in every once in awhile to ask if I wanted toast... (no sweetheart, not at the moment.) He refilled my water and rubbed my back. And made funny comments that made me laugh :) At one point I think I asked (or shouted- because I was in the bathroom and he was in bed-

"Did you eat the cookie dough last night? I think I ate bad cookie dough!"

He shouted back "Yeah I ate the cookie dough..."

"Well do you feel sick?"

"Yeah, kind of.", he said.

"YOU DO??? IT WAS THE COOKIE DOUGH!"

"Well I wasn't feeling sick until I started listening to you..."

"Oh."


Around midnight maybe, I abandoned the bathroom and asked Ryan to get me a bowl. But not a kitchen bowl- because how could I ever use it again? He ran downstairs, rummaged through bins and came up with a huge, red Christmas bowl that said "Ho Ho Ho!" Fair enough, I thought. I can guarantee you, the "Ho, Ho, Ho" bucket will be thrown away and not used for candy this year.

I am so confused on times, but I am thinking it was around 3 AM or so that we first heard Maeve's cries. And I'm a tad ashamed to admit that when she first started calling for us, I rolled my eyes and covered my head with my pillow. "TONIGHT IS NOT THE NIGHT MAEVE!"

A few minutes later, we realized that something was wrong with her... poor Maemae... the bug had gotten her.

Ryan, being the super husband and dadda that he is, took over- I slept off my flu hangover thing, and he took on Maeve.

By the time morning rolled around, it was safe to say that we had been through the ringer... all of us- well except for Henry. (I am knocking on A GIANT PIECE OF WOOD RIGHT NOW).

Unfortunately, I had a lot of plans for Saturday. I had a newborn session (which obviously had to be canceled), a pancake breakfast at AppleBees(that uhhhh was not going to happen) and a wine/cheese/pedicure party with some girl friends.

I called the girls, letting them know that my family had been attacked by some crazy bug. It turns out that Leslie and I are such good friends, we not only share laughs, k-cups, hugs and secrets, but apparently, we also share germs. Les informed me that Reyna was throwing up as well.

We (Les and I) figured that we had already been exposed to it... so there was no harm in still hanging out.

I was hesitant- I hadn't eaten anything all day (Saturday) and I was terrified I'd have to make a mad dash to the bathroom at some point.

Everything went great though, and I'm glad I went :)

Via twitter/facebook, we found out that blue nail polish is an "IN" color. We decided to forgo the usual pinks and browns...

After a suuuuper nice (and cheap!) pedi, we flopped over to Tim Hortons (with our blue toes and giant pedi sandals). I was thinking, "Hmmm... what would be a good food to introduce back into my body?"

I decided to go big or go home, and chose cake batter ice cream with brownies and sprinkles. IDIOT.

No, it was fine- it stayed down. We talked, laughed, told stories (I hope Leslie will still be my friend :) and by the time I got home, I had forgotten that it had been such a pukey (pun intended) day.

Sunday morning, we're all feeling much better. Maeve ate breakfast, I drank coffee, and the house is filled with little foot steps and laughter. (and the occasional scream)

WOOOOOO what a weekend!


PS- If you're wondering about my eyeball, I have my 2nd corneal ulcer.  Thankfully I've been told, that with the antibiotics and steroid drops the "oozing and infection" will clear up soon.  Thanks to the CVS pharmacist who shared that with me, and everyone else who was in line. (I could see the squirming..."get away from that oozing eye girl...")

Anyways, have a good Sunday... and ONTO MONDAY!

at the end of the day.

this morning was nuts. We ran out of oatmeal- waffles were not sufficient.

We had a playdate, and honestly, I am so preoccupied with the zillion other things going on that I had a hard time even focusing on my dear friends.

Nap time was a lost cause... Henry slept for maybe an hour- Maeve was up singing and jumping on her bed for the ENTIRE length of "nap."

My plan was to make some Thai food for dinner. I realized I didn't have chicken (of course I reached this realization AFTER I opened the noodles, flavoring packs and crushed the peanuts).

Ryan had to mow the lawn which left me in the house with the kids for the remainder of the night. To put it mildly, I was just in a rotten mood. It's not anyone's fault- certainly not my kids- but I was taking out my frustration on them. Just being short with Maeve- (like when she asked for water, then changed her mind and wanted juice... and I actually said to her "Maeve walk out of the kitchen and be thankful for your water.") Or my Mr.Man who ((I THINK)) may be cutting another tooth?!? All he wanted was to be held and all I needed to do was the dishes, tying up some things before Florida, packing, picking up toys, etc. He kept doing his Mogli crawl to me, and instead of just stopping what I was doing and picking him up I muttered under my breath "dear LORD give me a BREAK!"

The beautiful hour of 8 PM finally rolled around. Baths were given, pjs on. Henry was happy again (belly full with milk:) and it was story time for Maeve. I said "ONE book tonight." She picked out 3. Out of pure exhaustion I decided it would take less effort to read 3 than it would to argue about only reading one.

All three books were read and we folded our hands for prayers. I asked Maeve what made her happy today and what she wanted to thank Jesus for. This is how it went.

"Thank you Jesus for mama. Thank you for my Henry. Thank you for dadda. Thank you for nana, and popa, and aunt emi, and aunt meg, and uncle ty, and uncle al. I love the park. I love ice cream."

I told her those were very nice prayers and asked if there was anything else she wanted to thank Jesus for... she flung back her head, started giggling and said "YOU SWEET MOMMA!"

At the end of the day... My.Heart.Melted.

overwhelmed....

with gratitude! Not stress...not work... not anything bad... but I am overwhelmed by the help I've had.

Now- I think it might be a bit of an understatement to say I am having a garage sale- its more like an "I've never had a garage sale/sold anything/gotten rid of anything,etc. HOUSE SALE. I am not kidding you- my garage is packed to the BRIM. I have clothes back from HIGH SCHOOL that are out there! A garage sale has been on my "to do" list since last summer... yeah I procrastinate I guess :)

Things were getting so packed that I finally took the plunge and posted to craigslist that yes indeed, there would be a garage sale this Friday & Saturday. The pressure has definitely been on- I mean, this task is seriously daunting.

I posted on facebook that I was planning this garage sale, and without even ASKING, I had three friends volunteer their time and energy. Again, I will say I am overwhelmed by their generosity. I mean, this is my garage sale- and even I don't feel like sitting out there into the wee hours of the morning sorting and organizing.

Last night, true to their word, Jess, Les & Sara all came- ready to work. And what a night we had :) Thank goodness for Sara's garage sale tactics- I think we'd still be wandering around looking at things if it weren't for her. Jess and Les are amazing baby clothes sorters! They tackled those bins in no time (well in what- 4 hours? :)

Of course we broke out some wine, music and some crazy girl talk- :) Which helped the time and the process go faster...

Les and Jess tried on some of my old clothes from high school (grrr... to you girls! haha just joking :)- after 2 babies, they can still rock skinny jeans and cute shirts (and blazers) :)

At the end of the night, when they had left. I did a quick sweep through the house (which woke Ryan up) and of course- I had to show him what we did... he was very impressed.

We went to bed and Ryan said "Wow I'm really proud of you babe- it looks great!"

I smiled and said "I've got great friends."

Yes I do :)

Our Weekend out West :)

It is no secret that Ryan and I (and the kids) do a lot of weekend "get away" type things. We're the kind of people that, if we have extra money, we choose to spend it on experiences rather than save it or put it into a car or our house. I still haven't figured out if that's a good thing or not! :) I CAN tell you that we've seen a lot, done a lot, experienced a lot... and that- I'm thankful for :)

This past weekend, we were invited to come up to Grand Haven/Muskegan and stay with miss Suzie Kingsley (soon to be MRS. ELLER:). Ryan and I have been to the west side of the state only a handful of times. Most often, I have gone with my family to visit my cousin, Mal and her family in Grand Rapids. A few years back (when Ryan and I were engaged?) we went to Michigan Adventure. And when I was in 8th grade (pre-Ryan) my family took a long trip up north to Mackinaw. It was in September- and it was pretty, but cold. Where am I going with all this?? When Ryan and I start talking about getting away for the weekend its almost ALWAYS either SOUTH or East! :) We like the Detroit area quite a bit- not like DETROIT, DETROIT, but the areas surrounding it. We love the big malls, fancy hotels and restaurants. We also have this strange fondness for the airport... so weird. Anyways, when Suz invited us, we said "SURE!" And thus began our FIRST "westside" getaway :)

We left Friday after Ryan got out of work. The plan was to load up immediately upon his arrival home and go. HAHA- an HOUR and a half later we were on the road... and then in the McDonalds drive through. We're not prompt people anymore.

We drove to Lansing- all was great. Henry slept, Maeve played with her new "pee pee toy" (more on that later...in a different post). Ryan and I listened to G.Love, laughing at the funny lyrics and holding hands (like we were back in high school- do you remember those days? Where you HAD to hold hands with your significant other- like ALL THE TIME?) A few miles past Lansing the kids started breaking down. Henry was up and wanted to eat... like NOW. And Maeve was whining right along with him. Unfortunately, there is a stretch in between Lansing and Grand Rapids where its BOONSVILLE. The only halfway decent restaurant we could find was a Subway in a gas station.

It actually worked out fairly well. Maeve and I did a potty break- Ryan and Henry ordered food. We all sat outside in this big grassy field, letting the kids eat. Maeve ran around- got the wiggles out. Henry scooted, ate some grass, ya know... We finished our nutritious gas station meal with ding dongs and were back on the road in a jiffy.

We drove and drove (I have no clue why the drive there seemed like it was days...) and FINALLY hit mile marker 3- we were at the WEST side of the state! Somewhere I had NEVER, EVER been before. How exciting!

We met Suzie & Ben (her fiance) at this camp... I am still utterly confused about it- just ask Suzie- I had question after question about the camp and its purpose and what she did there... :) haha... but we took a walk down to the lake and I stuck my feet in LAKE MICHIGAN for the first time EVER. Yeah- pathetic... 26 years old- 20+ years in the state of Michigan and it was the first time having my feet actually stuck in Lake Michigan.

After our walk (and some ice cream:) we headed back to Suzies house. Suz, my friend, has struck gold up there in Muskegan. Her house could swallow our house whole. It looked cozy and quaint from the outside, but it was HUGE and spacious on the inside. We got the entire basement to ourselves- a kitchen, living room, PLAY ROOM (WHAT WHAT?!?!), bathroom and TWO bedrooms. Kind of insane. Anywho, we enjoyed ourselves quite a bit! My favorite part was her shower- we called it the capsule. It was really like a capsule and I loved it :)

Saturday morning, Suzie took us to this grease pit diner (my fave kind of breakfast places) and I seriously ate myself sick. Don't believe me? Ask Suzie. I was for REAL sick later on... oink oink! It was SO GOOD though. And I must be a glutton for punishment and pain because Sunday morning I wanted to go back (and we did).

After the ridiculously yummy breakfast, we headed to Maranatha (that camp) for the penny fair. I *THINK* this might have been Maeve's fave part of the trip? (this or Reggie- Suzie's dog...) Anyways, its like a mini (mini) fair type thing with little games & activities for kids. Most of the games cost a penny (some 5 or 10 pennies). Maeve had a blast holding her little cup of pennies and handing them to the workers. Her fave game was the fishing game... there was also a table where you could make tubes full of sugar. Fab. But we were on vacation so I said "go for it." Maeve sucked that sugar down in a hot second... grossssss. But again, she was loving it. We ended the penny fair with face painting. It was adorable- Maeve sat there, so patiently while the face painter gave her a kitty cat nose and whiskers. :)

After the penny fair, we did the pool and beach for a bit. My kids wear out (fairly) easily- so around noon/one it was pretty apparent a nap was in order. We headed back to Suzie's house and crashed for a few hours. Yes- I sad a FEW. Maeve slept from 2-5!!! Henry... not so much, but still, I think I got an hour of silence. That's always nice!

After naps we hung around the house and did a cook out. Maeve ate nothing. Henry ate 2 corn on the cobs. WOW!

Around 7 or so we headed to Grand Haven for the big coast guard festival. I kind of was picturing it to be something like the Jackson County fair- or the Hot Air Balloon Festival- something like that. Ummmm NO. The sheer volume of people was mind boggling. I really, REALLY don't like crowds (who does?!?) and it took a lot of strength to keep myself from hyperventilating. It was insanely crowded. We parked about a mile (guessing?!) from where we were going to watch fireworks. It seemed like an eternity until we found a spot that we could all sit down and watch. But... we did. And when the show started, it was fab! Maeve hates fireworks but these fireworks lasted so long that about 10-15 minutes into the show she was loving them. :) Henry enjoyed wriggling all over the place, trying to get his mitts on the popcorn. And I spent the ENTIRE TIME playing around with my stupid (not really stupid- I love my camera! :) camera. Suz mentioned something about playing around with the glow sticks, fireworks and aperture. I had no idea how fun and addicting it could be. I snapped about 50 pictures of random lights- and would excitedly show Ryan, Suzie, Ben- whoever- how "SWEET" the picture was.

After fireworks, we walked our long walk back to the car. The kids were zonked in a second & I felt completely drained. It was bedtime for sure!

The funny thing is, Suzie and I are pretty used to hanging out SANS kids- meaning, when Suz and I used to get together, it was without kids- we'd be up till 2 AM, enjoying some drinks... sleep in till 2 PM...chug water, etc. (you get the idea!) I have to say it was strange going there and saying "No I really can't stay up late tonight- Henry will be up at 6." Or, "No, I can't go to the beach because the kids HAVE to have a nap."

Kids certainly switch things up!

To sum it all up, it was a great weekend to catch up with an old friend... introduce her to life with children, relax (a little) eat (a lot) and get out of town. I am also fairly positive our weekend will inspire Suzie to take her birth control pill religiously. :)

No really- it was a blast- thanks Suz & Ben! If you're brave enough to have us again, we'd love to visit ANYTIME! :)

Here are a boat load of pics- not one is edited- because well.... I honestly have no time or energy to do so... STRAIGHT OUT OF THE CAMERA- RAW fun!

I've got friends in LOW (High?) places :)

I have a friend, SUZIE who has generously invited us to come spend the weekend with her up in Grand Haven to celebrate the "Coast Guard Festival." (I believe that's what it is... correct me if I'm wrong Suz!)

Anyways, when she said we could stay at her house for the weekend, enjoy the beach, fireworks, carnivals, ice cream, etc. I said, "HECK TO THE YES."

So... its now Friday morning (the morning of our departure) and as usual I am scrambling around the house, making sure I've got everything packed and ready to go.

My sis, Emily and her friend will be dog/house sitting for the weekend and its all working out perfectly. I needed to get out of Jackson for a couple of days... driving past my parents house was/is getting pretty old.

Ryan and I aren't the most spontaneous people in the world (okay- I sort of am- Ryan, not so much). I am pretty shocked that he agreed to just take off on such short notice. But I'm not arguing... I'm packing & going with it!

I'll update when we get back (on Sunday) with pics and stories :) Happy weekend!

Luau 2010!

No surprise, I've been depressed. I needed something to take my mind off the fact that my parents are gone & I'm here... in the dirty J.

How about a BIG HUGE LUAU with some great friends????

Turns out, it was the perfect "get away." I worked hard to transform my house into a "fun" island type thing. As the night wore on, I became oblivious to the decorations (and NO not because of the RUM) but because of the great friends, crazy kids & fun that was surrounding me.

To sum it up... we had a lot of food... a lot of fun... a pinata... a waterpark... sugar... drinks... laughs...memories :)

I'll let the pics do the talking now.

What Is It About A Newborn???

Gosh- what a soul searching week this has been for me! Bizarre to say that, but really, I can't remember the last time I have done so much thinking, crying and reminiscing.

If you haven't heard (and if you haven't you must have boycotted facebook for the week or something :) I got the UNBELIEVABLE privilege and honor of being present at and photographing my dear friend Angie's birth. My fingers are hesitating to type because I'm unable to come up with even a smidgen of a word to describe the birth accurately. I mean, I'm sure to the doctor and the nurses, it was your run of the mill birth; the labor went smoothly (besides a severe drop in blood pressure on Angie's part which was pretty frightening!) and I'm sure when her nurses and Dr.P went home they didn't think twice about the birth of Layla Susanna Marie. I, however, can't get it out of my head. Nor can I stop thinking about the births of my own kids.

Angie happened to be put in the SAME room I had Henry in- 414. As soon as I walked in, I was flooded with memories and started to cry... is this normal?!?!?! Anyways, it was a long day... I'm sure a LOT longer for Angie! She did get an epidural but that's when her BP dropped... she only pushed for a few minutes though and Layla made her way into this world. I won't give out all the details, as that's Angie's place to do so. But OMG. Incredible. Awesome. Out of this world. THERE IS A GOD, a GREAT GOD. Insane. All these words/phrases ran through my head during the birth of Layla.

Now, my job, I thought- would be to capture the details of the birth- things that you can't capture if you're either A.) in labor or B.) a spouse who doesn't even know how to work a point and shoot camera :)- and that's not a slam to Sam at all- Ryan (and I'm sure many other hubbies) has major problems with cutting off heads and getting us ALL in the pic... I got to the hospital around 11 or so, and started shooting away. Like I said, we were in the room where H was born, so I was already very teary eyed while photographing the baby warmer, the baby shampoo, little stethoscope that would soon be used, etc. Back to what I thought my job would entail- I really didn't think Angie would want me in the room while pushing- I mean, anyone who's given birth knows what an intense time that is- and I thought the last thing she'd want is me snapping away in her face. As time wore on though, she got to be a little more out of it- I remembered that feeling so well. That feeling of losing all inhibitions- because the only thing that mattered was getting that BABY OUT! :) She ended up asking me to stay in- and I was scared out of my mind.

I took a break from the intensity of the room (right around when her BP dropped) and called Les. I told her I was going to pass out- there was no way I could do this! I thought I'd just be photographing the baby POST birth- not like actively coming out. Again, what great friends I have- Les gave me a fab pep talk (reminding me over and over again to make sure I'm upfront with the nurses if I start to feel dizzy or lightheaded!) and Jess even offered to come up and sit with me. I was REALLY excited for that- because Jess is a GREAT photographer and I was a hot second away from sending HER into the room with the camera! :) However, baby Layla had different plans- she decided to arrive completely out of the blue- and FAST.

Angie went from sleeping/comfortable to "THE BABY IS COMING NOW." I took my place behind her head and I felt a calm come over me. I was very comfortable with my spot. I couldn't see anything more than her thighs/butt area. And of course her face :) I snapped a lot of pics of her face- and although SHE thinks they're ugly- I think they're gorgeous. Yeah- she is making pushing faces... straining faces, pained faces- but these faces represent LABOR. And LABOR is truly a beautiful, miraculous thing. As far as my "photography" goes (I say "photography" because we all know I am not a REAL photographer- just a complete amateur who is very passionate about life.) I definitely learned a lesson in birth photography- it's very hard to capture super quick moments CLEARLY when you're bawling your eyeballs out! (and shaking) :)...

All in all, it was an experience I'll never forget. Next to my kids births, it was the most incredible thing I've ever seen. I think that it should be on everyone's bucket list- to see a birth.

The birth left me incredibly tired. I came home and zonked out. Thank goodness Ryan was there- because when I woke up it was 9:30 PM and both kids had been bathed, fed and put to bed. I asked Ryan to bring Henry in... because I really wanted to snuggle with MY baby. He warned me that he'd wake up and once he was up, it would be my job to get him back to sleep. I took the gamble. :) He slept with me for about a half hour and then started stirring. I realized, as little as Henry had looked Thursday morning before I had left for the hospital, he was no longer a peacefully, obliviously sleeping baby. He wakes to the sound of the tv... to the movement of me next to him. He has totally outgrown the newborn-sleep-through anything stage. How depressing.

I spent the next hour getting him back to bed (Ryan was laughing... because he "told me so.") Anyways, while feeding him his 3rd bottle in an hour time period, I couldn't help but to think how quickly time goes. HOW cliche- I KNOW I KNOW. My parents used to tell me all the time "enjoy it now, because before you know it..." I used to think that was something "old" people said :) SADLY, its too true. Life with children is unfairly fast. And there's no slowing it down. I can't halt their growth... I can't keep them in diapers forever (like I'd really want to!), I can't expect them to always want to cuddle with me. I know they're growing. And that's a good thing- I wouldn't want them to not grow. I just wish it wouldn't go so fast. Or rather, I wish I could savor every second... instead of spending my time stressing over the house, their clothing, food for the day/week, money, bills, plans... you get the picture.

I told Ryan the number of children I want has now bumped up to 6. HAHA. You should have seen his face. Funny though, because we both come from large families... I didn't think it would be such a shock to him that yes, indeed, I want a large family. As the weekend wore on, I told him- "no seriously- I want a big family." And he told me, "Seriously- I do too." :) Will we REALLY have six children? Probably not... I am a firm believer in not depriving your already existing children of opportunities in order to add more to the clan. But you never know where we'll be in 2,3,4,5,6, etc. years. We'd like to think we'd be in a position to have a large family... but really, only God knows :) My mom told me she would have had 6, maybe MORE kids if they wouldn't have had to take her uterus! I have a feeling I might be following in her footsteps. I can't even come close to pretending to be one of those moms that doesn't love to have a baby around... :)

ohhhhhhh so what is it about newborns??? Really??? :)

Rainy Days and Mondays Always Get Me Down

The Babes.

Max & Maeve. Just a side note here- Max is only 3 weeks YOUNGER than Maeve!!! Look what a big girl I have! She looks so much bigger than him!!!

Maeve having a ball in her blow up thing.

Ha :) This is Maeve in her bug floatie and Olivia trying to get in to take a pic with her! :) Cute!

Olivia took this pic :) We are 2 sun loving chicks, Maeve and I! :)

I hate Mondays just about as much as I hate dieting or ear infections. When I woke up today I SO wanted it to be Sunday or Saturday. Or I guess any day but Monday because then we'd be closer to Saturday. I had ZERO, ZILCH, NADA planned for today and I was dreading spending the day cooped up in the house with my captain insano child (thats what Ryan and I call her sometimes when she's be crazy... Cpt. Insano) SO Maeve and I went swimming over at our good friends, the Schochs. We are SO lucky to have them as friends, not just because they're great people and have awesome kids, but also because they own an amazing pool! They are so kind in inviting us over there all summer long... when I was big and preggo I basically sat in that pool all summer long with Jessy (who was also pregnant... but not big!). Anyways, I took Maeve over there for lunch and a little swim session today. It was fun getting out of the house and seeing other babies :) Maeve loved it and now she's conked out in her crib which is always a good thing! So this Monday was pretty nice.... Now if I could only think of something kick butt to cook for dinner.

Saturday Night in J Town

The Man and I:)

Me & Dr.Beth (I have a friend who's a doc!!!)

Standing in front of the track. I look like I'm wearing this giant apron/smock thing... its a really cute shirt- I swearrrrrr!

On most Saturday nights its pretty much guaranteed that Ryan and I will be at home either in bed (watching TV...) or on the couch. Sometimes we go out for dinner, just the two of us, for what we like to call "date night." But we don't really get to do that too often. So much to our excitement we were invited to go to the horse races in downtown Jackson last night. First off, I was thrilled to actually have plans of some sort, second, I had NO idea that there were harness races in Jackson! Haha... I thought it was the darn Kentucky Derby or something- I got all dressed up and was so excited to hopefully win some big money... yeeaaahhh.... It was the most hickish thing I've ever been to! Although I did have a lot of fun ;) But these people get so crazy into their horse betting stuff its insane!!!! Ryan and I bet a couple dollars on each race... and on the very last race we won $25 bucks. That was pretty exciting. Go Bam Bam Larouche!!!! (Thats the horse that won it for us:) Anyways, I think we might go back again some Saturday night because it did kill a lot of time and it was really cheap entertainment and food.