Ryan's second Christmas and a pregnancy update

We all survived Ryan's first "real" Christmas (cause, come on, he really was just a blob last year!).
Christmas Eve
We tried to keep the day as normal as possible to avoid a melt down later. See, I am a firm believer that regularly scheduled naps and meals make a happier baby! We went to a 4:30 church service at Rob's family church. I am not a huge fan of their services, I guess because I was raised in a very traditional Catholic church that never allowed for Christmas trees or any other secular holiday items. During the service we went to, they sang a very secular holiday song about wrapping presents and decorating trees. It was weird!
Ryan spent the hour in the nursery. Turns out that the grand-daughter of one of Rob's co-workers was also there. Ryan and N. have met before and apparently are a little in love! It seems they spent the entire hour holding hands and kissing each other!!! She actually cried when we tried to take Ryan home! It is cute and touching but scary at the same time!!!
After church we got back in the car and I was hit by a horrible, overwhelming odor that caused me to open the door, puke in the church parking lot, and begin cursing Rob out for leaving food in his car!!! Nope, turns out something is leaking in his car AGAIN and making the rugs all moldy. The fun!!! They can't even look at it until next Monday!!!!
Anyway, we spent the evening at my Dad's. Ryan got this play kitchen that I am pretty sure is bigger than my own kitchen! I honestly don't know where we are going to put it! I am considering taking it back and getting a smaller one. We have a fairly large house, but no room dedictated to toys. This would have to be an outside toy and then he would only get to play with it for like 3 months out of the year! What would you do?
Christmas Day
Honestly, we had to wake Ryan up on Christmas morning!!! We needed to be to my mom's at 9:30 for breakfast and presents and by 7:00 he still wasn't up so I had to get him!
He had a blast! I can't wait to download all our pictures! Some if the toys Santa brought him included: Fridge Phonics, a tricycle, a sit and spin (Daddy bought that one!), many books, a new CD, some bath toys..... I am sure there are more, but I am slightly brain dead from it all!
We headed over to my mom's where he obtained a radio flyer wagon from his Aunt Renee, and countless toys from Grandma. Grandma also had a wooden toy box made for him - very nice, and bought us one of those storage racks with all the different bins. Also nice, but really big! We are in the process of re-arranging our family room since we are getting rid of our HUGE space killing heater that we no longer need now that our furnace is new and the ducts are actually connected! Hopefully we will be able to accomodate the new toy chest/storage thing.
So after breakfast and present, I put Ryan down for a nap in the pack and play at my mom's. What does she do? She proceeds to BITCH the entire time he is napping about how nice it was for us to come over and then put him to sleep!!! Is she serious?!?! Does she not understand that my child NEEDS sleep? NO, she really doesn't. She is always pestering me to take him places during naps or bedtime and when I cave (she is really persistent) he is miserable for DAYS!
I have decided that NO MORE! From now on, family events are planned around Ryan's sleep schedule and if she has a problem with it, tough!
After his nap we headed over to Rob's parent's house for more gifts and dinner (can I tell you how stuffed we were by the end of the day?!?!). Ryan got 84,000 more toys he doesn't need and that I don't have room for.
This year we decided to do a name draw amongst the siblings. It just got so expensive. We all picked names and everything was good. Everyone seemed to stay in the $50 limit although my gift was a $25 gift certificate, a mug and some tea so probably less than $50 but who cares? At least it was less junk to take home.
The day after Christmas Ryan and I napped for a total of 4 delicious hours! Oh, and my mom bitched again because Ryan and I left my gradparents after a half hour because it was nap time.
Since this post is long, I will save the pregnancy update for tomorrow....

A Christmas List

1. Eggnog or hot chocolate?
Hot Chocolate - with TONS of mini-marshmallows! Honestly, I think Egg Nog is vile. Even the name makes me CRINGE!

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?
Wrap, unless they are too big to wrap. This years Ryan's Sit and Spin and Tricycle will remain unwrapped. Actually, Elmo will be riding the tricycle!

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white?
Colored on the tree and white icicles on the house. I would love to someday do a second, smaller, tree with white lights, gold garland, and my collection of Hummel ornaments. Every ormanement made from 1974 to 2000 when they stopped making the series.
4. Do you hang mistletoe?
Nope, but I should we need more kisses in our house!

5. When do you put your decorations up?
The day after Thanksgiving (well the couple days after). The tree goes up about 2 and a half weeks before Christmas since we get a real one every year.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)?
This is so sad, but my favorite holiday dish are little smokies in BBQ sauce. For some reason we only have them at Christmas time. Actually, I am serving them tonight at a party we are having!

7. Favorite holiday memory as a child?
Going downtown to see Santa. Of course, when we were little downtown was still a busy place and safe to travel to. They had Santa on a HUGE mountain and there was a monorail to ride. It was so much fun. Now I work downtown and all that remains is the sad looking monorail and there is a seat for Santa, but I have never seen him sit in it....

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?
I was much older than I would like to admit! I was probably 9 and my best friend told me. I was so devastated. I remember asking my mom who told me the truth but also told me that Santa will always be real if you believe in the Christmas spirit. That, my friends, was the deepest thing my mother has ever said!

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
We always opened a gift from our parents on Christmas Eve and it was always PJs. We will be doing that with Ryan this year as well.

10. What kind of cookies does Santa get set out for him?
We haven't done this yet. But growing up I remember how interesting it was that my dad and Santa liked all the same cookies!
11. Snow! Love it or dread it?
DREAD! I do, however, like a pretty white Christmas but I hate travelling in it.

12. Can you ice skate?
HA! I took lesson at 7 and broke my nose learning, or trying to lear, how to skate backwards!

13. Do you remember your favorite gift?
It was Tina ballerina! I have tried in vain to find a picture of he ron the internet, but I have had no success! Those of you over 30 may remember her. She had a plastic tiara attached to her head and you could spin her around by it. Creepy, but all I wanted Christmas 1977....
14. What's the most important thing about the holidays for you?
Spending time with family and friends and earing cookies!
15. What is your favorite holiday dessert?
One year my MIL bought an ice cream roll from Friendlys. I LOVE peppermint ice cream!
16. What tops your tree?
For the 3rd year running our tree is topped by a star that looks like it is a gingerbread cookie. It was the only topper Rob and I could agree on the first Christmas we decorated a tree!
17. Which do you prefer: giving or receiving?
Giving, but only if I am sure I hit upon the perfect gift, otherwise I get anxious!
18. What is your favorite Christmas Carol?
I love Carol of the Bells, but don't ever ask me to sing it -- you will be sorry!
19. Candy canes?
The most perfect confection EVER! My mom got these chocolate peppermint ones form Hershey this year. Most perfect candy. EVER!

Merry Christmas from Ryan Elf

Long time, no update.....

So in addition to being struck by massive waves of exhaustion and naseua, I am also struck with the fact that Chirstmas is in 5 days!!!
5 DAYS PEOPLE!!!
I have mostly finished shopping (I just need to get a gift certificate to Home Depot for Rob), but have I wrapped anything? NOOOO!
I have baked my annual holiday cut outs, but have I frosted them? NOOOO!
I have purchased the rest of the ingredients for the rest of my holiday baking, but have I made them? NOOO (and, honestly, I probably won't)/
UGH!
Yesterday was my first midwife appointment - nothing terribly exciting to report from it. I didn't even have to get a full pelvic exam since I just had my annual exam in October. She does have me on a B6 vitamin and a half a unisom tablet at night to combat the morning sickness. I took this last night at so far have not thrown up today so maybe it is working? I hope so!
Funny Ryan sotry for the day - I got out of the shower this morning and Ryan had on one slipper, no PJ bottoms and was sitting in his toy box. I have no idea how he got in the toy box and I am not sure I want to know! Of course, I had to go get the camera....
Picture to follow when I can post it!

Sick, sleep, scissors, santa....

Today's post is brought to you by the letter "S"
SICK:
Apparently Ryan's ear infection never quiet went away. 3 weeks later and the doctor said they are still pretty pussy (yum, right before lunch). He is now on Augmentin which I hate. I am not a fan of antibiotics in general, but then I am also not a fan of sick babies so we are giving it to him, twice a day....
Oh, also under SICK, morning sickness has reared it's ugly head already! Again following the same path as when I was pregnant with Ryan -- from 4am to 11am, and then again around dinner time and until I pass out for the night. This morning marks the first time I puked this pregnancy - the joys!
SLEEP
I am assuming the poor ass sleep is coming from the ears and the fact that Ryan is growing 84000 teeth right now! I cna sympathize, but PLEASE sleep! Mommy is not feeling well and Daddy is working super early hours this week. WE NEED SLEEP! Ryan's poor sleep is effecting everyone including the dog, who was reduced to SLEEPING ON THE FLOOR!!!! I assume he will soon figure out how to dial the phone so he can call animal protectives....
SCISSORS
You should never run with them! Seriously though, Ryan and I both got haircuts yesterday. I was the only one who enjoyed it! She only took a half inch off and then FINALLY put some layers in! WE let them grow out to make my wedding do easier and I finally got around to getting a haircut.
Ryan, who has already had 8 or so cuts, was a terror yesterday. Crying, pushing, squirming.....
Final result is great, but getting there was not so easy! I can't believe she still won't charge us for his haircut! He give her $15 any way, but I have to slip it in her purse since she won't take money from me :)
SANTA
Ryan met the man with the beard. He did initially cry, but got over it and sat on his lap for one deer in the headlight picture which I need to scan!
That pretty much sums up the last 24 hours in my life....

Wedding pictures!

We got our pictures last week - 19 CDs worth of them! I have FINALLY gone through half of them and pulled out the best of the pictures.
I will share a handful of them here with you! They are all on OFOTO if you would like to see them all, email me and I'll send the link!





The rest of the posed pictures, pictures from before the wedding, ceremony, and the second part of the reception are at home right now and I am at work. I need to get working on these soon since I am making wedding albums for our families for Christmas!

If you're happy and you know it....

Ryan has recently begun singing "If You're happy and You Know It" thanks to Elmo.
You see, we have this Elmo puppet/book thing and Ryan REQUIRES at least thrice daily readings of it. Last night at dinner (which BTW Ryan ate CHILI and quite a bit of it!) he started singing and then clapping, and singing and clapping. After a few minutes Rob recognized the cadence as that of the book! HURRAY for my genius baby!
He has also discovered that everyone has a belly and he like to point them out by pulling up your shirt, blowing raspberries on your belly and exclaiming "BEEBEE".
He also walks around all day with his shirt pulled up so that his Buddha belly hangs out. Just another example of him looking just like my Grandpa D.
THE BULLY
Ryan met his first real bully this weekend! Friday afternoon I decided that Rob and I have now been married a month and maybe I should actually change my name now! It took 2 minutes, but over an hour wait in the Social Security office (now there is a fun place to spend the afternoon - I think I disinfected both our hands about 80 times before we left and then SCRUBBED them before we had lunch!). During our wait we took 84,000 walks, tried to shut the door 90,000 times, picked up 76,000 nasty things off the floor and got smacked across the face by a 16 month old brat named Liam. OOOOOOOOH was I angry! Fortunately the kid's sister who was watching him (she was 16) actually disciplined him, but that didn't stop him from trying again. Eventually the armed security guard got up, went to the window, and arranged to have their number called next (why couldn't it have been me next?!?!).
What an experience. Poor Ryan didn't know what to do!

Start Spreading the News....

So, Rob and I had an interesting conversation last night about when to tell people that I am pregnant. I, of course, have already told all of you and my friend Sarah at work. I only told her because she caught me (almost) puking in the bathroom and she knew we were going to start trying after the wedding so she would ahve figured it out anyway.
Rob wants to wait the 12 weeks! 12 weeks! That is AFTER the holidays!!!!
I am more inclined to tell our immediate families at Thanksgiving. After all, if something happened I would want their support. This will also solve the dilema of my MIL buying me ugly clothes for Christmas!!! YAY!!
I can see his point. This summer when we were in Michigan his cousin announced that they were having another baby having just found out that morning. She miscarried 3 weeks later. This was after they had told all their cousins and second cousins, etc. How sad for them to have to tell everyone about the miscarriage. But our close friends and parents? I think we should tell them next week - what better way of celebrating Thanksgiving?!?!
Anyway, I am still exhausted and so sick after lunch every day (but so hungry before it). I have been good other than that!
I have started bidding on some maternity clothes from Ebay since I will need winter wear that I don't have. I have 3 pairs of long pants and the rest are capris! I didn't need maternity clothes util late April last time around and I imagine I will be needing them by the end of Janaury this time. Cool timing though, I will be 19 weeks on Rob's birthday. I am hoping to be able to schedule our ultrasound for his birthday. What a great present for him! He, by the way, is convinced we are having a girl. Me? I am saying boy all the way!!!! Hey, one of us is going to be right!!!
I have found the perfect boy bedding and while I have a theme in mind for a girl, I have not seen any bedding that goes with it yet. I know, I have plenty of time:)

Ryanisms of the day

Ryan came up to me this morning while I was getting ready for work and handed me abook and said "happy". Clear as day! I asked him what he just said and he said "happy". The book was the Happy Hedgehog. I asked him if he wanted me to read it and he shook his head yes! of course, after 2 lines he closed the book and took it away from me!
Ryan can also put things away when you ask him and most times in the right spot! He helps me clean up the plastics he has scattered around while I am making dinner and puts his dirty clothes in the hamper when I ask (of course, he also puts blocks, slippers, and some clean clothes from the basket in our room in there!)
Even through all the tantrums he is such a joy!

The reactions....

Okay, so now I have had a day to digest the news and I am excited - still very freaked out, but very excited!
My biggest concern, I guess, is that Ryan is still a baby himself and now we are going to add another to the mix? Are we crazy (probably!)?
Rob got home sooooo much later than we thought he would - it was after 8:00pm. I couldn't contain it anymore, so after asking him how the game was, etc. I said "I know that our honeymoon being cancelled was really disappointing, but something really great DID come out of it" and I pulled the test out from behind my back. He was shocked! He kept saying "shut up!" and "Are you serious?!?!" and "WOW!". Of course I had to go and ruin the beautiful moment by starting to cry because I feel guilty towards Ryan for getting pregnant again so quickly and because I am still very overwhelmed that it happened this fast!
But, all in all, a good thing! Rob is so much more attentive already this time around. I think he was so SHOCKED by my last pregnancy that it took a while to sink in. We had some arguments in early pregnancy that were really related to him just being clueless about how I was feeling physically. This time around? He has already inquired twice about how I am feeling!
How am I feeling? Fine. Tired - no, make that exhausted! And hungry. That is it so far! And the mild cramping and very full feeling in my mid-section.
Last time the morning sickness didn't kick in until 6 weeks so I figure I have another 2 weeks of feeling good to go! Hopefully it won't be as bad this time around since all I wanted to do was sleep last time!

Cycle Day 27

2 pink lines
holy crap!
P.S. I tried to get a picture but you can't really make out the second line, but it is there. Trust me and my pounding heart! Rob isn't even home to share this with - he left for a football game before I got up this morning!!!

drowning in a sea of snot

So Ryan is sick. Really sick. So sick that he wanted nothing to do with Mandarin oranges, remote controls , or sleep Tuesday night. Poor baby. I took him to the doctor yesterday and he has ear infections. One in each ear. OUCH! It is so scary because it started as a little cough and then Tuesday afternoon the sitter asked me to pick him up a little early b/c he was starting to show a slight fever. He started whining around 4pm and didn't stop until 4am when he FINALLY fell asleep on my chest (with me sitting upright in bed). Afte the doctor yesterday, Ryan slept for 3 hours on the couch with Rob and another few with me. He was much better by last night and today he is (mostly) back to normal! YAY!
What scared us most was how he fine and then BAM! not fine. He did this the last time he was sick, when he was 3 months old. Yes, we are very lucky. Ryan has only been sick twice in 13 months (of course we have paid almost $200 in co-pays from all the injuries he has had!)
Anyway, on the mend but snottier than ever. Tell me, is nose wiping really that tortorous to a child? Is walking around with snot dripping down your face preferrable? YUCK!
Edited to add: Ryan is sucha trooper. Yesterday afternoon, even though he felt lousy he tried to play, but all he did was sit on his police cruiser and mumble "beep beep". Usually he cruises all over the room honking the horn and blaring the siren and yelling "BEEP BEEP"! I tried to get it on video but he wailed when I attempted to leave the room.

The last time I was this scatterbrained I was pregnant...

Nope - not an announcement, although I am on CD 21 of our first TTC cycle so stay tuned....
Anyway, I apparently lost my mind this morning. I had to return home twice before getting to work. First I forgot Ryan's sitter bag. Normally this isn't a problem but he is not feeling well right now and his bag contained a pacifier, tylenol (which I am sure the sitter has) and his thermometer. Now this brings up an interesting question - what temprature taking method do you use with your kids? I am of the rectal school (eeeeeew how would you like to have to list that as your alma mater??!?!). I have found that it is the most accurate method and since he is teetering on fever it is the difference between medicating or not so accuracy is important to me. Also, I tried to use the ear thermometer on him last night and it said 89.5 - clearly his ear is still to small for it.
After I went home and got the bag to the sitter's house I headed to work and realized that I had left my glasses at home. Normally I wear contacts, but my eyes were itchy and dry this morning so I opted for my glasses (think Tina Fey glasses) but forgot them! I would have made it to work fine, but would have had a fierce headache by noon!
I truly have no idea what the cause of my scatter brain-ness is, but the last time I experienced lapses in memory like this I WAS pregnant so maybe.....
Speaking of TTC - yeah, I mentioned it earlier - I am starting to think that maybe now would not be the best time to get pregnant. Turns out Rob will most likely be switching restaurants and going to the exciting new one that is opening up in Rochester. Problem is that he would be out of town training for 12 weeks and then setting up and opening a new store (think about the hours on that!). The store is set to open in September. So if I get pregnant in the next few months I will be either very pregnant, giving birth, or adapting to a toddler and a newborn right at the time of the opening!!! Good Grief!!!
Rob says we shouldn't let work dictate our family, but he isn't the one that would have to be home ALL day ALONE with a baby on his breast and one wrapped around his leg clammoring for attention right?!?!? Any advice out there? Should we keep trying or put it on hold?
Incidently, I wil NOT be trying to get pregnant during my March cycle -- seriously my child would be due December 24th! I would feel awful giving a child that unfortunate a birthday!

A possible career path for Ryan....

last night Ryan was asleep in the car when we got home from running some errands. In hindsight I should have put him in his jammies before we left to run them. Anyway, we got home, I took him upstairs and changed him for bed. Unfortuantely, he woke up during this process and proceeded to SCREAM for what felt like hours. After about 15 minutes I went back up. This is the kid who normally drifts off to sleep without a peep, so something must be wrong. I walk into his room and there he is standing in his crib with all his toys and pacifiers (yes he sleeps with 4 of them) on the floor and his pajamas - well, not on him! Honestly I still haven't found the top! When did my monkey learn to undress himself?!?!?

Some wedding pictures....

My walk down the aisle


Me with my HUSBAND


CAKE (and it was delicious - the one we cut was chocolate with mocha creme YUM!)

We danced to "Thank You (for Loving Me)" by Bon Jovi (who else?)


My bouquet

Back to reality

Today I came back to work at 8:00am, and by 8:15 I was ready to go home!
Since Rob and I were not able to go to Mexico for the week we spent it with Ryan and had a GREAT time!!!
We ate out at least once a day (hey, we have a ginormous refund coming from the travel agency), slept in - yup! Ryan can now sleep until 8:30 - ahhhhh!, watched lots of scary movies, picked pumpkins, and generally had a good time! I love my guys so much! And today I miss them incredibly....
I meant to post all week, but time got away from me.
I have some pictures, but not many - here are a few from the wedding and pumpkin picking:

Ryan and the pumpkin he wanted! This one is from Papa's garden
Okay that's all you get since I saved some pictures that were sent to me from Shutterfly and they are all the wrong pictures -- I hate shutterfly for that!
I will post more tomorrow - Ryan in his costume and hopefully at leats ONE wedding picture!

A wedding Story.....

I am a MRS!!!!
We had a WONDERFUL day! Perfect except for the following (cause I know everyone likes to hear what went wrong!)
1. RAIN! Lots of it! Hard, driving rain ALL day! Our limo driver SUCKED and didn't help me get into the limo, in the rain, in my dress! Or out for that matter! My Dad did that though!
2. I'm a klutz! The day before the wedding I was too impatient to wait for Rob to help me carry all the centerpieces out to my car so I did it myself and hit my arm with the door. Hard enough to leave an inch wide bruise on my upper arm! My right one, you know, the one EVERYONE sees while I am saying my vows! I tried covering it with make up, but I still had several of Rob's relatives ask me what my tattoo was of!
3. Rob marrying the wrong women! Not really! The priest slipped and called me SARAH! Thankfully the reading before his homily was about Sarah and her wedding! Everyone thought it was so funny to call me Sarah all night!!!
4. No room at the inn! After a LONG exhausting day, Rob and I took my poor tired, blistered feet to a very nice hotel in the area that Rob made a reservation with a month ago. Come to find out, they had a computer crash a few weeks ago and lost our reservation! YUP! AND they had no room! We could have taken a room with 2 single beds but who wants that on their wedding night?!?!? We ended up staying at home that night!
5. Wonder why I am posting when I should be en route to my honeymoon???? Because our resort no longer exists! Okay, that is an exaggeration, it exists, but they think it will be several months before they can open it again! They couldn't even offer us a re-route since another storm is about to batter the eastern Caribean! CRAZY! Luckily, we got a gift certificate to Niagara-on-the-lake so we will be going there tomorrow and spending the night! WE will most likely spend the rest of the week doing Halloween things with Ryan!
We are going to take our refund and buy a new couch. The rest of the money we will put into another trip sometime after the holidays -- this time we will take Ryan with us - YAY!!!
I will post pictures (hopefully) later this week! Everything was GREAT! Everyone looked great (even with my bruise) and Ryan was so sweet it made my teeth ache AND he sat through out whole ceremony! Of course, we couldn't get him to smile AT ALL!

Some validation, nice co-workers, and ADIOS!

Thanks for all the comments on my last post. I enjoyed being validated in my anger! Rob is out of the dog house -- I know none of it is his fault and he agreed that he too has noticed that Becky has been calling him a lot more and he also agreed to tell her she needed to call the house and not his cell phone from now on!
Last night we had Rob's family over for dinner - with his grandparents who are here from Michigan. It was a nice time, everyone enjoyed my sauce and had fun watching Ryan suck his linguine in!!!
Yesterday afternoon I came back from lunch and had a card sitting on my desk. It was a gift certificate to my favorite restaurant from my team! How nice is that I ask? I guess it was led up by 2 people who never seem overly friendly, but must like me as they also bought me a very nice gift right before Ryan was born. NOT the women who usually takes the rains on shower gifts, but I know that is b/c she doesn't like me (watch me care)...
Also, today my girlfriends from work had a pizza lunh for me - this I knew about since they asked me and we all decided that would be a nice alternative to the stuffy lame team showers we usually have. They did surprise me with a nice gift though! They bought me my favorite perfume that I happen to be out of and too poor to replace! MMMMMM, Dolce & Gabana Light Blue - YUMMMMM!
I will most likely not be posting until I get back from Mexico - if we get to go to Mexico seeing as how Wilma is headed right for Playa Del Carmen, so thanks for all the support and I leave you with a little assignment (can you tell I wanted to be a teacher?!?!).
POST ONE (or MORE) QUESTIONS YOU WOULD LIKE ME TO ANSWER - anything you are dying to know about me and my family??????

Mother Nature SUCKS and other wedding related rants

Okay, the wedding is in 5 days! 5 days PEOPLE! Do you have any idea how much stuff I still need to do?!?!?!?
1. Rob called me at work this morning to let me know that Hurricane Wilma is gunning for Playa Del Carmen - where we are supposed to be spending a relaxing week after the wedding. Just my luck! No, my luck predicts that the hurricane will NOT hit the resort but will cause windy, rainy weather. Thus, making our travel insurance invalid and leaving us stuck at a resort with crappy weather.
2. I went to get gas this morning and found out that I have a negative balance in my checking account! Turns out I never accounted for my gym dues coming out last week and bounced a check! Just great! 5 days till the wedding, 4 days until I get paid and I need money NOW!!! I am going to have to charge the remaining items that I need.... Oh, and I don't have any credit cards! In an emergency, which I believe this qualifies as, I use my grandma's account. I feel so bad doing it, but I always pay her back immediately!!!
3. And this is a doozie -- why must men have bachelor parties?!?!??! Really, does any good ever come of it?!?! Does any bride to be NOT end up angry over something that happened?
This past Friday was Rob's bachelor party. They were having a poker thing at a local bar/restaurant and then going out, most likely to strip clubs. No biggie, right? My only rule was no lap dances at said strip clubs b/c I think that is grody. So, Rob gets home around 2:30, stumbles around downstairs for a half hour and I can hear him on the phone, but think nothing of it. The next morning his cell phone is beeping and I pick it up, because it is driving my crazy and I am nosey and there is a text message from his friend, Becky.
Let me back up, I have never been 100% comfortable with this friendship but mainly because Rob had a girl he dated before me break up with him because of it. Unrelated to saturday morning, I have noticed that Becky has been calling Rob on his cell phone more frequently than normal. He had me invite her to our couple's shower and Ryan's birthday which I did and at which she was incredible distant towards me.
ANYWAY..... The message said something like "I'm glad I got to see you tonight, hope you had fun, HONEY". I FREAKED - well, wouldn't you?!?!? I put Ryan down for a nap and woke Rob up to let him know what I thought about this! Now, I was more angry at her than him, because I KNOW Rob would never cheat! NEVER! But I really felt like she is crossing the line in the friendship. She calls Rob when she needs someone, etc. and I don't like it. Well, I guess the long story short, Rob's brother sent her a freaking invitation to the bachelor party. AND Rob's sister and all the guys wives were also invited (except Cheryl who was at our house putting together ceremony programs and centerpieces with me!). WHAT THE FUCK!!?!?!?!
How incredibly disrespectful is that to me, I ask?!?! Everyone but the Damn Bride was invited! Oh, and Rob NEVER once called home to see how Ryan or I were doing AND Ryan had just had shots that day!!!!!! Needless to say we ahve been arguing about this on and off since Saturday morning and last night we really had it out. Everything is fine now, but I think this supports my argument for why I HATE Rob's friends! Oh, and Becky is babysitting Ryan the night of the rehersal dinner! Nice, huh? It just screams of "Hand that Rocks the Cradle"
4. The weather forecast for Saturday? Rain, wind, and then more rain - just ducky!
I seriously need less DRAMA!!!

A post of pictures....

To satisfy any sweet tooth you may have....

Ryan's First Birthday Present

Ryan with all his great presents

Ryan's Birthday Cake

Cleaning Ryan up so we can take him home

Ryan's sugar high

Move over Martha

These are the centerpieces for the wedding! Okay, just the bowl, but I would like to point out thatI MADE the placemat it is sitting on!!!! Oh yeah, Martha should be shaking in her shoes!

We were able to find 24 bags of apples, which as of now is just enough. I filled them in with cranberries - fresh ones! Each bowl needs a half a bag of berries, so let's re-cap how much these suckers ended up costing:

Bowl $2.99 + Apples .90 a bag! + candle $1 + berries .75 (each bag was $1.50) = $5.64

MUCH less than a floral arrangement would have been right?

Ryan is older than he has ever been!

Today the sweet boy turns ONE!!!!
ONE?!?!?! How did that happen?!?! Seems like just weeks ago he was a teeny tiny pup in my arms and now he is a walking talking maniac!!!!
I have been so afraid to blink for the last 365 days for fear I might miss something exciting in his life. I still call home every day that I am working and Rob is not for a full report - what he did, what he ate, how many times he yanked the dogs tail.....
Ryan was born on a day full of bright sunshine and has brought me more of the same every day since. He is truly my joy, my light, my everything.....
ETA - I intended to add pictures and post this on his actual birthday, but my home computer was giving me some trouble!
I'll post with all the party info and pics when I get them!

My observations from a trip to the rest room

1. My office is sooooo like junior high (or at least makes me feel like the un-cool seventh grader). I passed a group women chatting and they all stopped talking when I walked by! Oooooh, now I want to know what they were talking about.
2. My hair is really long right now - it is about a quarter of an inch from my bra strap, so about mid-back
3. I need my eyebrows waxed BADLY!
4. Today is the longest day EVER!

Just a quick post....

To let all of you know that I survived the bachelorette party in one piece (if you don't count the lining of my stomach that I think I puked up this morning). I am tired, and sore - that bull was rough! But Ryan did me a great favor and napped for 2 hours this morning - I LOVE that kid!
So, without further ado.....
GIRLS GONE WILD

I'm a dork!

I just paid $2.49 to get the password for the pre-sale of Bon Jovi tickets....
DORK!
Anyway, even on presale the best we were able to get is not the best. There is still that tiny chance that we will be getting free tickets complete with back stage passes, but I am not counting on it.....
In other, less dorky (or not) news: Ryan seems to be coming down with something. His nose is a faucet and he woke 4 times last night crying and rocking back and forth in his crib. His spirit was fine this morning though....
Another new talent - Ryan can now pick himself back up after falling without holding on!
Amazing isn't it?
Have a great weekend - tomorrow night is my bachelorette party - I am sure I will have fun pictures to share! The girls and I are having dinner at a lovely Mexican restaurant and then hitting the bars - YAY! Unfortunately, Rob is working Sunday morning, so you can only imagine how fun THAT will be - chasing after monkey boy with a hangover....

wanna see something weird?

Here is a picture of my sister at a year old: And here is a picture of my son at almost a year:


Freaky, isn't it?

Fall fun!

Rob has this Saturday off -- I think it is the first weekend day we will all be together and how does he want to spend it? At his brother's house watching baseball!!!
I told him that isn't going to happen - we should be spending time together doing something fun! I know Ryan is still to little to remember these things, but we will! My mom still talks about how I picked my first pumpkin (at just a few months older than Ryan) and has pictures to show from it!
Finally he relented and we are taking Ryan to Springdale Farm ! They are having a harvest fest so in addition to all the farms animals we can pick pumpkins, have cider, and play in the hay (oooh I better remember my Claritin!). I am so excited! I hope Ryan LOVES it - how could he not given his fascination with animals and Bas (as he calls anything round, including pumpkins!).
Tomorrow afternoon I am putting up all the Halloween decorations! You have to understand, LOVE fall! LOVE Halloween! So much so, that my kitchen is decorated in a pumpkin theme year round. Labor Day I put out all the fall decorations and changed the flag, last weekend I added the scarecrow to our porch and tomorrow all the Halloween stuff comes out of its 2 rubbermaid containers! I can't wait! I'll have to take some pictures of my favorites for you!

Wedding stuff - 3 posts in one day!

Rob just called me at work to let me know:
1. The jeweler called and my ring is in!!! YAY! I am so happy about that
2. We got a big box from Bed, Bath.... containing BROKEN crystal wine glasses. That sucks, but what can ya do other than take it back.

Girls are dropping like flies from my bachelorette party - boo! I am being blown off for football, a boy, and lack of funds (that one I can totally understand - especially since all my major life events are in the course of one month and these people are a part of all of them). It should still be fun though!

I ordered our programs for the ceremony today - they are beautiful!
I really need to start on my thank you notes from the shower! I meant to do them on my lunch today, but ended up running home to let the dog out as he wouldn't go this morning and to take dinner out of the freezer!
okay I am out for the day! LATER!

One last thing....

I found a midwife I think I am going to like! I ahve an appointment on October 11th at 3:45. I am not going to transfer my medical records until after the appointment in case it doesn't work out, but they are affiliated with a good group of doctors so I don't anticpate any problems.

A Calgon Morning....

Wednesdays are the toughest. Rob has to be to work at 6:00 so I have zero help with Ryan in the morning. Here is a run down of this particular Wednesday morning:
6:03 - alarm goes off (weird time I know)
6:10 - 11 month old alarm goes off - really Ryan is a total morning person - waking up happy and standing in his crib calling for someone, anyone.
Get Ryan, come back to my warm bed and turn the news on. Yes, we have a t.v. in our room - it was per Rob's request, but there are rules. Really we use it to watch the news in the a.m. and occasionally a 10:00pm show that I KNOW I am not going to make it through/
6:15 - Ryan-proof upstairs - gate on, guest room door closed, bathroom cleaned up and cabinets locked
6:18 - shower. This morning I didn't so much have to worry about where Ryan was since he decided to pull back the shower curtain every 2 seconds to say "hiiiiiii"
6:30 - chase Ryan around trying to get the home pregnancy test that he found in the only unlocked drawer in the bathroom (it is left over from a few months ago when I thought maybe I was PG - they came in a 2 pack).
6:45 - In bedroom getting dressed, hear Ryan shut the guest room door - the one that sticks.
6:46 to 6:58 - try desperately to open the door -- Ryan and the dog are in the room, my flat iron is turned on, and now Ryan is crying b/c I am making so much noise trying to open the door
6:59 - FINALLY get door open, hug baby, kiss baby, and continue getting ready for work
7:10 - wrestle Ryan out of Martian jammies and into decent clothes.
7:15 - carry Ryan, a pack of diapers, and the dog downstairs (while wearing heels I might add)
7:16 - chase dog back downstairs twice before deciding that he can pee his proverbial pants for all I care
7:18 - wrestle dog food out of Ryan's hands and listen as the screaming commences (thisclose to allowing it - he can use the protein!)
7:20 - make lunch, get my bag, Ryan's bag, the diapers and Ryan scooped up and into the car
7:22 - remove Ryan, his bag, and the diapers from the car, deposit at sitter's, remind her again to give Ryan a veggie at lunch (the boy can not live on bagels and turkey alone)
7:40 - arrive at work. Have co-worker tell me I look tired. Tell her to

Bite me (in my head of course, I need to stay employed).
So, how was your day?

Blog filler

By request from Jess:
10 years ago I was...
* a senior at Niagara University
* Working at Victoria's Secret
* Driving a 1988 Ford Escort
* wearing my hair in "the Rachel" - what was I thinking!

5 years ago I was...
* working towards a Paralegal degree
* living back at home after having my own apartment for 6 years
* meeting the jerk off cheating boyfriend of my past
* a size 2

1 year ago I was...
* anxiously awaiting my beautiful baby (who's due date was yesterday!)
* HUGE (see above)
* sitting at the same desk, editing the same books as today


Yesterday I was...
* playing hooky because my back hurt and I had lots of shower gifts to weed through
* having the first fitting of my wedding gown!!!!!!!!!
* very tired
* grocery shopping with my monkey who can climb out of carts now - eeek!

5 snacks I enjoy...
* cheese and crackers
* brownies
* warm chocolate chip cookies
* salt and vinegar chips
* Klondike bars

5 songs I know all the words to...
* Star spangled Banner
* The Fifty Nifty States (you know "Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, etc....")
* The number song from the laugh and learn home
* Livin on a prayer
* I give up - this is hard!

5 things I would do with 100 million dollars...
* pay off all our debt and our families debt
* set college funds for all my nieces, nephews and children
* adopt a child
* start a non-profit organization that gives low-income families books
* pay for a Moosejulie meet up somewhere fun - Vegas?

5 things I would never wear...
* White after labor day
* granny panties
* clogs (they make so much noise!)
* spandex
* a fanny pack

5 favorite tv shows...
* LOST
* ER
* Law & Order: SVU
* Entourage
* Desperate Housewives

5 bad habits...
* procrastination
* blaming (I can pin anything on anyone but me!)
* snacking
* picking scabs (gross I know)
* drinking juice from the carton in the middle of the night

5 biggest joys...
* RYAN
* knowing Rob is always there for me
* watcing the boy figure out something new
* RYAN
* spending time alone with my guys

5 favorite toys...
* anything that entertains Ryan while I am making dinner
* My new Hoover Floormate - LOVE IT!
* The Eureka Maxima vaccum
* The kitchenaid mixer
* the internet

5 fictional characters I would date...
* Sawyer (on LOST) - not so much to date as to have a steamy affair with
* Jackson Landry (Shelby's husband) from Steel Magnolias - Tall, dark, handsome, lawyer, and RICH
* Dr. Ross (George Clooney on ER)
* Mark Darcy (from Bridget Jones)
* Atticus Finch (To Kill a Mockingbird) - yummy southern lawyer with morals!

5 people I challenge to do this...
* anyone, everyone!
I hope you all had fun reading my blog filler - I am bored and brain dead so this is all I can handle right now!

Happy last day of summer

You've been a long, hot, bitch of a summer. Please send fall with crisp air, fallen leaves, and warm apple pie my way now.
Thank you!

Dream a little dream...

So now that Ryan has (finally) figures out that sleep is a good thing, and the consecutive sleep is even better, I should be sleeping well too - right?
WRONG!
I know have all the wedding stress doing funky things to me - like causing terrible wedding drama related nightmares. I can't imagine another month of this! Last night takes the cake though... I had probably 400 mini-dreams about wedding disasters.... Okay, that might be an exaggeration, but here are the ones I can remember:
1. It was 2:00 and all my bridesmaids and I were at the salon still, no one had their hair done yet AND nobody knew where their dresses were.
2. For some reason I moved the location of the photographs before the ceremony and never told the photographer, so he was MIA
3. I forgot Rob's ring. Now, I know that it is not my responsibility that day but for some reason it was in this dream. I think I used a twist tie in place of a ring!
Yup, it's official - I have LOST it!
oooooh, speaking of LOST -- season premiere is TONIGHT!!! Rob and I have been talking about it for weeks! We are such dorks, but we are really excited about it!
In addition to the wedding stress, we have Ryan's birthday party in 18 days! UGH! At least I got the invites out over the weekend, and now I just have to order the deli trays, finish the favors (they are candle holders made out of baby food jars -- I saw it in Parents magazine MONTHS ago and thought it was cute!), buy the paper goods (since we got slightly flooded on Friday and weren't able to get to the store), and add one more picture to his digital scrapbook so that I can have it printed up and available at his party. Oh, and I should buy him a gift, huh?
Those who's babies have just or are celebrating their 1st birthday's soon (Joana, Rachael, Mrs. Flinger) what have or are you getting them as a present? Anyone else who has idea feel free to answer!!!
I have seen a ton of toys that I think are cool, but Ryan has so much that I can't imagine him ever needing more. He doesn't need much in the line of clothes (although my sister is going to buy him his winter coat - a pea coat! He will match Daddy AND Mommy - we are such preppy dorks!). I know he will get so many presents from his generous friends and family that I feel we don't need to spend much. Honestly, I don't remember ever getting elaborate birthday presents from my parents -- that's what grandparents are for!

Vacuum and Bon Jovi (so not related)

Rob and I had a "couple's shower" this weekend courtesy of his mom. It was a super sweet gesture and we really did appreciate it. HOWEVER, only 3 couples that we are friends with were able to make it, so it was all Rob's parents friends. AND there were games! Not just any games, but Toilet Paper Bride like games. Anyone who knows me knows that I hate all things tacky including games! Anyway, I feel I was a good sport about it and I even wore the tacky baseball hat with the veil (it matched my gaucho pants and sparkly tank top perfectly!).
The best part of the shower was this! Our house is mostly harwoods, but the family room, where we spend most of our time, is carpeted and our vacuum sucked (or didn't as the case may be). I was excited that I wanted to vacuum as soon as we got home!!! I contained my excitement and didn't pull it out until Sunday morning! It kicks BUTT!!! So powerful, so sleek.... so worth getting married for (just kidding!)
Ryan spent the evening with a paid babysitter. A 15 year old girl from the Girl Scout Troop I used to lead. He was perfect, especially considering he boycotted his naps on Ssturday. She says he went to bed at 7:15, which is an hour earlier than normal, but we was sound asleep when we got home!
BON JOVI
As you all know I am a freak for Jon Bon Jovi! Today is my lucky day! IN honor of the release of "Have a Nice Day" - the new album, Xmradio is playing all Bon Jovi all day on one of its stations!!! How cool is that? How cool are we that Rob's car has Xmradio and we get an internet account with it? YUP! I have been listening to vintage and new (like the whole new album) Bon Jovi all day! I am actually bummed that I need to leave early today and that I don't have it in my car yet (Santa - are you reading?).
Sooooooo, lots more going on - Rob may be moving to a different restaurant soon, but would have to work out of town for 4 months. I'll post more when we have more details.
I feel like going home and vacuumming some more now!

Can I get an AMEN?!?!

I am glad to be posting lots of good things right now since I feel like I spend a majority of my blog time whining!!!
So here it is, THE TOP 5 GOOD THINGS IN MY LIFE RIGHT NOW:
1. HAIR
I went last night for the consultation on my wedding do and can I just say that I HEART my stylist!!! She did exactly what I wanted and in less than 20 minutes. She is the greatest! I also questioned about how much the bridesmaid's up dos would be since I am planning on paying for everyone's hair (there are 5 girls) and they decided to only charge me for 3 hair dos! Crazy isn't it? Well, Meg reasoned that 1. I did follow them when they left the salon my sister worked at and I have referred a bunch of people to them and 2. if I took everyone to my sister's salon I would get 50% off so they feel the need to stay competitive and 3. they consider me a friend! I love these girls! They are the girls who fight over cutting Ryan's hair and then don't charge me (and I mean fight to do it and a "I don't want to cut that maniacs hair - he is really good there HONEST! Could be b/c his first hair cut was at 5 months old!)
2. SLEEP
At the risk of cursing it, Ryan has slept straight through the night for 4 nights in a row!!!

He has also done this without a bottle meaning that he has now gone a week without a bottle at all!!! Honestly, I wasn't trying to wean him off it, he just seemed ready. All that's left is the pacifier and I am letting him keep that for a while since he only takes it at night now! My baby - so big, so fast!

3. BIRTHDAY STUFF

I am ALMOST all set for Ryan's birthday. I have one more gift to buy him, paper stuff to get (which we are doing today), and I have the invites done, I just need to send them out - my mom has the address labels and the envelopes right now, but I'll be getting them tonight. I am a stamp freak who tries to match stamps to occasions, so I got the Disney stamps for the invites. Ironically, they are the ones I used for his birth announcements!

This is the picture we used: I cut out the background on it first, and yes, Ryan is having an Elmo party! He has honestly seen about 2 minutes of Elmo's World, but his favorite toys are all Elmo toys and he says "OOOOOO" every time he sees an Elmo somewhere. It just had to be done!

4. MIDWIFE

I think I have found a midwife I like -- I talked with the office manager and they are letting me schedule an annual exam without transferring my file in case I decide to stick with my OB, but I think it is going to be a good fit. They have a practice of back up doctors right in the same building and they offer labor support and breast feeding assistance (which I need being the flunkie that I am) so I am excited. I need to actually schedule the appointment today. That brings up an interesting point. I am now on CD 33. My cycles are normally 30 days, I am also 18 DPO. Very strange indeed. I took an HPT yesterday morning because late is late, but it was negative - which is good with the wedding in 5 weeks, but I still find it perplexing. I have felt like AF is coming any minute for 2 days so perhaps she is just slow this month... I am not concerned about it at all (yet, sort of, well, maybe a little....)

5. PICTURES (and I promise this is it!)

FINALLY I have some decent pictures of my whole family! Ones where Ryan is (sort of) looking at the camera, and Rob doesn't have the "how did I get here?" look he usually has in pictures. So, without further ado, I present: US

The Family The Boys The monkey & his parents

Disappearing post

I had written a long post about Ryan turning 11 months old and it disappeared! DARN IT!
So, my baby will be one in 26 days - hard to believe it! I think it really hit home this weekend while I was at a local art show. I remember being very pregnant at the show last year and not having a CLUE what my life was going to be like this year. I think the whole concept of babies is very abstract until you are right in the midst of raising one. I knew there would be sleepless nights (who knew they would last this long!) and dirty diapers, but I never could have imagined the shear joy I could get from watching my little one play, eat, and occasionally sleep.
Enough melancholy for the day! I now present
RYAN AT 11 MONTHS

• Ryan finally figured out how to crawl on his hands and knees (over the combat style he preferred a month ago)
• He then decided walking was the way to go! Ryan took his first tentative steps on August 27th. He can now walk the length of the family room (20 feet or so)
• self-feeding is still his preferred method of eating, only now he tries to use utensils! He is pretty good with a fork and can dump the contents of his spoon on his head or the dog pretty well
• His vocabulary is growing daily! "Mommy" and "Daddy" are used in the proper context. "Doddie" (doggie) is used to describe everything else that is living. it is too funny to watch him "read" his Baby Einstein animal book - he flips each page and points saying "doddie". "ba" means bottle, ball, balloon, sippy cup, and book. Anyone know what "boppy" means? And no, he never uses the boppy pillow anymore!
• He will randomly kiss people while he is playing or when you get him out of bed in the morning!
• Waves Hello and Bye (sometimes will blow kisses when waving!)
• Stairs are his friend -- although he does try to go down them head first still.

I guess those are the highlights, and now some pictures:

Ryan walking

Ryan enjoying sauce

Ryan riding his Hi-Ho Silver horse from Papa Tony

A fish in the tub!

Milk it does a body good!

This past weekend Ryan graduated from formula to cow's milk. A whole month ahead of schedule I know, but he really wanted nothing to do with bottles anymore and enjoys a sippy cup with his meals. Also he has been eating dairy products for many months without any problems so I thought we should give it a try. After all, when I was a baby we were given cow milk at 3 months! Do you believe that?!?!? So much has changed in 30 years....
Anyway, I gave him his first glass Friday afternoon after his nap (when he would normally take a bottle). I put it in his sippy and gave him a few animal crackers as a snack. he picked the cup up, started drinking, and then got this big huge grin on his face! He looked at me and went "yummmmmmmmmy, mommmmy"! He drank 4 ounces! And another 6 with his dinner that night! So far, 5 days later, we have not had a problem with it! I am so relieved. With the exception of his possible egg allergy or intolerance, we are on easy street as far as food is concerned.
I do have a milk question for everyone:
Do you use hormone-free milk? Now, I looked at the organic milk and I really can't justify the cost. It would cost me more than formula on a monthly average. A local dairy makes a milk that is from cows that are "certified to be RbST and antibiotic free". This is only 10 cents more per gallon.
HOWEVER, they only make it in skim and 2%. Everything I have read indicates that babies should have whole milk until they are 2. I guess I need to decide what is more important - milk fat or hormone free milk....
I do have another grocery store to try - I have heard that they may have a hormone free whole milk available. I guess I will check it out after work.
So what does everyone else give their kids?

Pass me the aspirin....

Yes I have a massive headache and it could be caused from many things. Let's take a look shall we?
1. More wedding drama. A few different things really. Rob's cousin thinks they are bringing their 9 month old child to our adult only reception. I picked my veil up yesterday only to find that it has a tear in it! UGH! I called the shop and the clerk tried to tell me that I must have put it there!!!
The actual conversation went something like this:
ISG (idiot shop girl): Are you sure that it didn't happen after you left the shop?
BB (blushing Bride): I am very certain I didn't rip it
ISG: Are you sure you didn't rip it?
BB: Actually I did rip it. I didn't think there was enough drama in my wedding plans
ISG: (silence)
BB: Please leave a message for the shop owner to call me back about this. Thanks!
See, why me? I get all the crazies... I also made the mistake of telling my mother who started stressing about it and threatening small claims court, etc. STOP THE DRAMA!!!
2. Work sucks! Seriously sucks. Morons are being lauded for things that yes they have done, but at the expense of everything else. I am stuck with a crap load of work because someone on my team feels that kissing ass is a more important task than her actual work load. I also have a company wide project I am working on, but it is fun and not to time consuming.
3. I may be allergic to the perfume the girl in the cube behind me wears. I seem to have a headache every afternoon lately....
That or I need new contacts - which is more likely it!
Anyway, good news....

• We got 10 RSVP cards in the mail last night!!! So much fun! I love mail. Everyone is coming so far!
• I have been poking around my registry - Kohls and Bed, Bath, & Beyond if you care and LOTS of great things have been purchased!!! I am getting all new cookware, towels, silverware, kitchen accessories (spoons, serving pieces, etc.), a water filter, new bedding, sheets! My friends and family ROCK!
• I visited my best friend and her new baby last night. He is adorable, and I know it is a cliche, but I don't remember Ryan being that small EVER (and I know he was). He has the most dramatic little cry so I have started calling him Drama.
• Anyone else watch Entourage? I love it! Jeremy Piven is a hottie. Yes, I have very weird taste. My fave celebs are: Jeremy (hyper hottie), Harry Connick, Jr. (Cajun Hottie), Jon Bon Jovi (Rock hottie), and Tommy Lee (dirty hottie). No one can say I am not eclectic, right?
• Ryan slept ALL night again! HURRAY!!!
• Oh, I bought a breast pump (gearing up for number 2) from Stacy. She gave me a good deal - thanks, Stacy!

All right I am going to work some more so I can go home a little early and let the dog out and check the mail!!!

The Holy grail of centerpieces....

In a fit of Martha Stewartness I designed the perfect centerpieces for the wedding!
8 inch glass bowls filled with mini apples and an ivory candle. Simple, elegant, and affordable. I began my quest for the apples and was able to find small mesh bags with 6 miniature apples in them at Joann's! YAY!!! Double YAY - they were $2.99 and on clearance for 90% off!!!! The problem? I bought every bag they had in the area and I still need more!!! This is where all of you in blogland come into play.....
If you have a Joann's near you and pan on going there soon could you PLEASE look for these???? They are part of the Garden Gate collection and will be with the store clearance merchandise. I don't have them with me to give you the actual SKU (sorry), but they are plastic mesh bags with small (about an inch or so) plastic apples. I am looking for the red apples. There are also pears - the blush pears would work for this project as well.
If anyone can help me out at all I would so GREATLY appreciate it!!!
If you find them email me and I will give you my address and we can work out payment arrangements!
THANKS!

Not an ear infection....

So $20 later and it turns out that it must be the rather large cut Ryan has inside his mouth (from face planting on the Leap Frog music table) that is causing him such discomfort at night. Who knew?!?! Anyway we are to give him Orajel and motrin before bed and hope that keeps him asleep. I just know all this night waking, while legitimate, is going to mess with the sleep training we have worked so hard on....
In non-sleep related news:
Ryan took his first steps this weekend!!!!
He has been standing unsupported for a few days and Saturday afternoon he just put on foot in from of the other and moved! It was amazing!!! Of course, that is all he wants to do now and he is falling quite a bit - like he needed more falls in his life....
Now I am home, we are in the den/attic and Ryan just toddled over to me with a pacifier in his mouth. A pacifier I haven't seen since March. Very strange. He looks pretty happy to have it (normally he only take one at bed time). I wonder what will happen if I take it away.....
Hmmmm, that was painless! Good to know that my kid is not hooked on the plastic like his mother was so many years ago....
Seriously, I had such a bad pacifier habit that my mom says I would hide them all over the house, car, grandparent's, etc. Rather than gently wean me my parents chose to bribe me with a real bed in exchange for giving it up. Note to self - must not do that or Ryan will be whining about it all over the internet in 30 years....

Home on a Monday...

After 4 straight nights of Ryan waking every 45 minutes SCREAMING - and I mean screaming not just pick me up crying, but "someone is poking me in the eye with a stick" screaming I have had enough. We are going to see the doctor later today. Yup, spending $20 for them to tell me that Ryan needs to be sleep trained. No really, we had been doing so well. No more late night bottles and he only woke once crying (around 3) and put himself back to sleep.
It doesn't look like it is teeth that are bothering him and I hesitate to think it is his ears since he is so pleasant all day long....
OH well, hopefully I will have answers later today.
Staying home also affords me a chance to avoid the Wiggle traffic that will be invading downtown this afternoon. It was so bad last year trying to gt out of the parking garage that I had to re-park my car and haul my 8 month pregnant ass BACK into my office to pee.....

Ring Drama

Rob and I bought our wedding bands many months ago. His they ordered in the right size and mine they gave me the size 7 from the store and told me to bring it back and have it sized as we got closer to the wedding. We took them home and put them in the safe to, well, keep them safe. Since then I have had this nagging feeling that the ring I choose didn't sit right with my engagement ring. My engagement ring is a (almost) 1 carat princess cut solitaire in a plain white gold setting. The wedding band I picked out is this:

Or very similar to it.
ANYWAY, I wasn't sure that they sat well together since the band is 3 sided and it didn't seem to sit flush against the engagement ring. Last night I went back to the store to look again and make sure the band is the one I want to wear for the next 50 years or so. After 45 minutes of trying on every wedding band and feeling the same way about them all the salesman decided it was, in fact, because the ring didn't fit. He offered to order me the right size assuring me I would love it. I am SOOOO glad I mentioned that I had the size 7 in my posession and needed to bring it in to be re-sized. Turns out, this ring can't be re-sized more than a half a size and I need it a size and a half smaller. This would not be a problem BUT if they order it now it is expected back to them on October 21st.
Let's recap for a minute -
MY WEDDING IS THE NEXT DAY!!!
This is NOT a timeline I am comfortable with at all! The idiot who sold me the ring should never have let me leave the store with it - she should have ordered me the right size!
The solution is that they will put a rush on the ring and if it isn't in by 2 weeks before the wedding they will re-size the store ring (but it will still be too big) and let me have that until my ring is available. I guess that is okay, but I really want to bind my marriage vows with the ring I am going to wear for eternity, you know?!?!
I suppose if this is the only drama I have encountered so far in the wedding planning process I really shouldn't complain.....

They say it's your birthday.....

So yesterday marked the beginning of my 32 year *sigh*
Funny, 30 didn't seem that old, but 31 - good golly I am over the hill! I swear I woke up more tired last night than the night before (and, you better sit down, Ryan has been sleeping straight through!).
My actually birthday had the potenital to be crappy. Rob and I both had to work and Ryan was at the sitters, but it turned out quite nicely! I went to lunch with some friends - I had a delicious hummus pita, and got a great Law and Order coffee table book from my friend Dana! It features all crime scene photos - yeah, I am that geeky!
For dinner we had chicken fingers and fries - my ultimate favorite foods! Oh and my friend Pamela brought me a delicious HUGE slice of carrot cake! So I gained about 4 pounds yesterday!
The best gift was the phone call I received from one of my best friends. For my birthday she decided to give birth! YUP! A boy, Matthew Nicholas. 8 pounds, 20 inches and my birthday buddy! Everyone is doing well and I can't wait to leave work so that I can go meet him!
Sunday was my birthday dinner with family. I got some great kitchen stuff, clothes from my mom and sister, and the Muppets on DVD from Ryan. Oh, and he said "mommy" - not MA or Mama, MOMMY! I LOVE to hear it which is good since he says it all day now! He also kept saying Bopy yesterday morning and pointing to the stairs. I had no idea what he meant until we went down and he grabbed the balloons from Sunday's festivities and held them out to me and said "bopy". Hmmmm, okay. Oh and he calls the Tinkerbell on my PJs "doggie". I think doggie is a catch all for all living creatures not human in his world. Such is the life of an almost 11 month old boy!
So, to re-cap - food makes me happy, 31 makes me feel old, and my kid is a little weird, but still adorable!

HOLY AF!

So, the witch arrived yesterday with a torrent of cramps which I haven't seen (felt?) the likes of since I was 15! UGH! Strange, I always had terrible cramps as a teenager, but they tapered off as I got older and then got worse after Ryan was born. BUT they ahve been getting MUCH worse over the last 8 periods I have had since his birth. Should I be concerned? Anyone else out there experienced this and had things go back to normal? I worry because my mom had lots of problems after my sister and I were born.
I am about due for annual - yippee! so I suppose I could ask then.
That reminds me:
I am thinking about switching care providers. I am considering switching to a midwife. Anyone have any experience? Locally it seems that all the midwives practice together in a handful of groups and occasionally one or two will practice with a group of OBs.
I have some questions about using a midwife (that really I should just call one up and ask them):

• Because I like to see my unborn child, do they do routine ultrasounds?
• What happens if my pregnancy becomes high risk at any point? Who are their back up OBs and do I ever meet them over the course of a pregnancy
• What, if anything, can they, or will they, do if I can't conceive this time around?
• Who would perform an emergency C-section on me?
• Who would circumcise my child if I were to have another son? This is a decision I let Rob make - I don't care one way or another
• Do they offer breast feeding support after birth? My idiot OB nurse told me that 3 days after birth was to late to start a breast feeding relationship and THEN my milk came in. Don't want a repeat of that!
• How long do they spend on pre-natal appointments? I really want to focus on this next pregnancy for what it is and not just the means to an end - I am sure that makes no sense, but it is likely my last pregnancy and I want to enjoy and relish in it!

I think those are my main questions. I figure they don't work much different than an OB, but I do have concerns about the pregnancy becoming high risk and being sent to a strange doctor or being cut open by someone I have never met. Also, I want me those ultrasounds!

Sleep and other stuff

I have had the best of intentions on posting this past week including post titles running through my head, but every time I sit down to write, I loose the thoughts. Not to mention that I want to post some pictures and I need to do that from home and free time at home is a lost cause!
Since we last spoke Ryan has learned to sleep! YUP! Down at 8:30 (with a bottle) and he only gets up once around 3:00 just to let me know he is still there. Usually he can put himself back to sleep after 10 minutes or so, but some nights I need to go and soothe him. I'd say it is 50/50. He then gets up at 5:00 for his breakfast and then sleeps until 8:30. This I can live with! And we are now thinking that baby #2 can be conceived any time after the wedding again!
Ryan has obsessed with animals. ALL of them, but he can only say DOG (or rather DODDIE) and every animal is a doddie. It is cute, but trips to the zoo are hysterical since Doddie sounds so much like Daddy that people must think my child is blind or else has a bear of a dad! We spend much time each day looking at books with animals and properly identifying all the different types. The babysitter is working on this too.
Can we say 8 teeth? YUP! Tooth number 8 has finally worked itself through the gums - YAY! It is so amazing to me how much happens in the first year of life. I feel like I am constantly waiting for the next big development. It is like one big, fun roller coaster! It is hard to believe that his birthday is in less than 2 months. Plans are under way!
We have booked a lodge at a local park for the big party since we will have close to 40 guests (hey, you're only one once!), and I need to figure out what to do for invitations and paper goods. The food is planned and needs to be ordered, but everything seems to be on schedule.
Mostly I have been consumed with wedding plans! I truly plan on posting about all that soon. Like tomorrow soon!

Chicks dig scars

Or so Rob told Ryan last night.
Yup - we had another accident (and I swear this one was no ones fault). It happened at Rob's parents hosue. Ryan went to the window and at home he goes underneath our fabric blinds to look out the window. Not ideal and I always lift the blinds up for him. Well, at their house they have a glass shelf OVER the blinds - no idea why, but when Ryan tug at the blinds he loosened the shelf and it HIT HIM IN THE HEAD!!!
I grabbed him quickly, he was screaming, and I was saying "you're okay" until I pulled him away and he was BLEEDING! I began crying - no, SOBBING. I was so scared! I had never seen blood on my baby before. So scary!
As a scalp wound it beld profusely, but stopped quickly. Honestly we got more tears from the ice I tried to put on it than the actual cut. And he was fine in a few minutes.
Once we got home he had a bump and seemed like it was bothering him so I gave him a dose of Tylenol before bed and then proceeded to undo all our sleep training of this week by running to him any time he cried. I was afraid he was hurt, or bleeding again, but no, he is fine.
I debated staying home with him today, but his mood this morning was pefectly normal so I am at work, but secretly worrying about him. My poor baby. He really needs a helmet!!!

There is REALLY going to be a wedding.....

I guess it didn't feel real until now. I just ordered the invitations!!!
They are so pretty and so expensive! EEEEK!
I should have ordered them weeks ago, but I was going back and forth on the time of the ceremony and everyone weighed in with an opinion. We finally decided on 3:00. The reception is at 6 so this should work out perfectly.
I called Rob to ask him how he wanted his name on the invitation and after he gave me a few idiot responses "Supreme Ruler of the Universe" "Coolest guy in town", I told him that this is it - once they are ordered there is no looking back. I am glad to say that he didn't sound to freaked out by that :)
This weekend my mom and I are going to look at stuff for centerpieces and at the possibility of making my veil. Now the fun wedding stuff begins!

Random Ryan again....

Some of my recent favorite pictures.....
Ryan mastering the spoon


Ryan, The Hottest D.J. in babytown


A monkey face and in need of a haircut (which I
Still don't have a picture of since I need new camera batteries!!!)

Bottle Boot Camp II

We are now onto week 2 of bottle boot camp and I am proud to say that Ryan no longer needs to eat in the middle of the night!!! NOW he just wakes up every 2 hours crying.....
What to do? Usually I let him cry for 10 minutes or so (it is a weak whiny cry), but I can' t let him go any longer than that - I just can't do it! I had a friend this weekend tell me that Ryan would grow up too dependant if I kept going into his room every time he cried. Hmmmmm, he is 10 months old (TODAY!) - I think he is intitled to be slightly dependant, isn't he?
Part of his problem is that when he wakes up he wants his pacifier (which he only takes for night time bed now since I forgot to send one when we switched baby sitters 4 months ago). I have left 3 pacifiers scattered around the crib, but does he bother to look for them? NOOOOO! He stands up and begins crying for it.
Oh, lesson learned: Lay him back down before giving him the pacifier as he apparently is still sleeping and will fall back down loosing the pacifier in the process.
Of course, he also teething right now too, so that doesn't help, but that is an entirely different whiny cry.
I am at a loss - I NEED sleep!!! I figure the last full night sleep I got was somewhere around March of 2004..... Rob needs sleep. He doesn't think we should have another baby until this one can sleep. I am inclined to agree :(
Any suggestions? Solutions? Books to read?
In other news:
We had our nephew over last night. He is almost 5. Those of you from Moosejulie have heard talk of him and his (alcoholic) parents before. Basically, his parents don't care. No that isn't accurate. They care, but they can't be bothered. Does that make sense? They always end up giving in and he is a brat because of it. Also, it is no big secret that his mother drank while nursing him. Put all that together, throw in the fact that he is over 4 feet tall already (BIG KID), and you ahve one poorly adjusted child. Seriously, the kid was still in diapers, dragging a pacifier everywhere at his 4th birthday!
Anyway, dinner was not much of a battle last night (like it is when he is with his parents - interesting, no?) but I found it very strange that he has NO mastery of utensils! NONE! I asked him to use his fork and he responded that "Ryan wasn't using one". After explaining that Ryan was too little to know how (although he is getting great with a spoon - I'll show you a picture!!!), he picked up a fork. And could barely use it! And it was a child's fork! I know all kids are different and develop at different paces but I would think that basic utensil skills should be in place by the time a child starts kindergarten, right? Please correct me if I am wrong.
When I mentioned it casually to his parents when they picked him up the response I got was "yea, it's easier to get through a meal if he can do what he wants!". Great!
I woke up this morning with a sore throat that is getting worse as the day wears on. Now I ahve headache. Probably some SLEEP would make it better.....

So much for being in a better mood....

Thanks for all your dinner suggestions! We ended up at Don *Pablo's. I am not much for Mexican food - actually it usually makes me really sick, but I stuck to chicken fajitas and felt okay. Of course, I pick a healthy entree and then kill it by downing at least my weight in chips and salsa! GRRRRR!
Ryan ate 1/3 of a kids chicken quesedilla and a whole side order of black beans! I love that he eats so well, but I looked up the calorie/fat content of his meal and there were 85 grams of fat in the chicken quesedilla!!! Holy fat content!
So I now have a wedding related rant:
My mom and I are on wedding related argument number 2 now......
The first one involved what I am going to wear on my head. I decided a long time ago that I wanted to wear my hair in a bun at the base of my neck. Simple and elegant, right? Oh and I am going to have a string of crytals woven into it. The plan was to wear my veil under the bun and then take it off after all the pictures. Now my mom has me running all over creation trying on tiaras that I don't want or can't afford! AND she is currently obessed with this one particulr bridal boutique and I have no idea why.
Argument number 2 is really driving me crazy! Rob and I decided we don't want to have a wedding cake. They are very expensive, not usually very good, and I have seen lots of cake get served while people are dancing and mingling and then thrown away. We have decided to offer a HUGE sweet table instead. Up until this week, my mother has been on board with this idea, but suddenly, we are being rude for not offering cake, people will be pissed there is no cake, our marriage is doomed with out cake, etc. (okay she never said that last one, but you get the drift).
I don't really see what difference it makes, this is the way we want to do it (oh and we are paying for it) so really she should just shut up!
How I wish today was my half day.... Friday's usually are, but I had to take a half day on Monday so I am stuck here until 4! WHY?????
Oh and guess how much sleep I got last night? Like none! Ryan cut 2 more teeth and wanted make sure everyone shared in his pain!!!!
I promise to post some fun pictures this weekend and hopefully get out of my funk!

ENOUGH ALREADY!!!! Which turned into a diet rant

I have an hour left to sit here at work today and I am sooooo ready to go home!
I have hated being here more this week than any other week in recent memory and for no reason other than TOTAL BOREDOM! It sucks to be here when I could be at home doing things I enjoy.
I have taken on 2 new projects, but I have no interest in them either - they are just the same shit, different topic. UGH!
Also, it is 94 degrees outside (the upside to being in this hell hole is that it is so freezing that I am wearing a sweater! Rob and I just made an executive decision to NOT eat at home tonight, but we can't decide where we should go. Any suggestions?
We always do this and then stand in the kitchen (which is so hot it may be the gateway to hell) going back and forth with "I don't care, you pick", and me trying to find somewhere remotely healthy, with options for Ryan (although he know LOVES restaurant Mac and Cheese, but not my whole wheat, organic cheese M&C that I make for him!!!).
This will go on for about 45 minutes, and as it gets hotter, we will get angrier and hungrier and it will ultimately culminate in someone getting yelled at - most likely Ryan for eating the dog's food, but really, who can blame him if we have starved him this long, right?
To make it worse I am starving! I always do this - I eat so well all day and then pig out at night, which is bad because I just go to bed afterwards.
Every morning I have coffee with skim milk and cereal with skim milk for breakfast. That tides me over to lunch which is always an apple and either a salad or a frozen meal (so really I am under 400 calories usually) and then I get home from work and we have a healthy, but big, dinner. Adding about 800 to 900 calories to my day - which is not bad, but the timing is awful!
I really should eat a bigger lunch (or even have a snack) and then a smaller dinner, but dinner is our family meal and it makes me sad to think of not having a hearty meal with my boys.... Nor do I ever want to give my children the impression that food is bad. It isn't! Food is great!
So, now I have to go and pick up a prescription and bananas for my grandma (who lives down the street from us). She is 81 and takes care of my 85 year old grandfather who broke his hip lat summer and can't walk at all now. Really it is because he never completed his physical therapy, which is the same reason my mom's knee never healed, but that is another post of another time....
So, where should we eat?

Bottle Boot Camp

Once upon a time there was a beautiful little boy who woke up in the middle of the night very hungry. His mommy assumed he was having a growth spurt and fed him. The little boy went back to sleep and all was good.
Fast forward 2 months and the little boy is STILL getting up for a bottle twice a night! At 9 months old!!
UGH!
Yesterday Ryan had a doctor's appointment to have his eye checked again. Why, you ask? Well, because he fell trying to climb into the dog bed and scratched his cornea. My kid is a major KLUTZ! Anyway, his eye is fine, but I had a few other questions including the midnight madness...
The verdict was that Ryan, in fact, did initial wake because he was hungry, but he now is waking AND eating out of habit - a very bad one at that! The solution is to begin giving him less and less formula at each waking and eventually he will no longer think he needs to eat. Easy, right?
NOT!
Monday night 2am: Ryan cries and I first try to console him back to sleep. After being hit, punched, and attacked by a pacifier, I make a 2 ounce bottle. Quiet again, UNTIL the bottle is empty and then the screaming begins. It took 5 minutes of rocking and singing to calm him down enough to put him back in his crib (where he puts himself to sleep - see I read the book - the late night feeding must have been the Italian in me wanting to stuff everyone's face at all times!). 4am: repeat BUT no screaming after the bottle was empty hmmmmm.
Tuesday night he only got up once and I gave him an ounce of water and he went back to sleep. I guess it is working!!!
The down side is that we have to cut out his bedtime bottle (or give it to him early). I love that bottle! It is the one he takes upstairs, in the rocker, with soft music and low lights (sounds like the scene for a seduction). It is the only time of the day where my baby seems like a baby and I miss it terribly already...
Oh, the boy got his first big boy haircut yesterday! It was deemed necessary after 2 people stopped me in the grocery store to tell me how beautiful my daughter was! Darn those gender neutral clothes! I guess he should always be wearing sports wear and girl should always have pink on (actually we have friends who's daughter is ALWAYS wearing pink! It is weird).
I cried when I got home from work -- Ryan had his back to me and I called his name and he turned and said "Hiiiiiiiii" and I swear at that moment it was as if someone had taken my baby away and replaced him with a toddler. God help me when he turns one....

Monday, Monday....

I can't believe I have been absent from this blog for so long! So much has happened, most notably my best friend's wedding!!!
Kara tied the knot Saturday evening in a beautiful ceremony!
Everyone looked great! I got a cool updo (actually a little "hipper" than I would normally wear, but fun none the less. Dinner was fantastic as was the cake - she had a Cheesecake wedding cake! How cool is that?!?! Now I can no longer say I have never had a wedding cake I liked!
The whole thing made me realize how much I have left to do for my own wedding! Like order the invitations - I know, I have been saying that for weeks, but I want to triple check with the reception AND the church to make sure we are all set for the date and times before I order 125 invitations that will be invalid (how much would that suck??)
The wedding has pretty much consumed my time for the last several days and it also marked my first night(s) away from Ryan!!!
I suppose I would have found the ordeal overwhelming, but the bride and I got went out after the rehearsal and had a few too many :) I guess we both forgot that the bars in Buffalo stay open until 4am! We got back to her parent's house at 3:00!!! Oh yeah, we were both up by 6!!!
So tired all day.....
Of course, I missed the boy and was so glad to see him yesterday, but he seemed to have a great night at Grandma's (Friday night Rob stayed home in Rochester while I partied in Buffalo).
Heard something interesting....
Turns out it is a small, small world.
My mom's friend was talking to a girl she works with who was in a wedding this weekend. She was saying that she wishes her friend weren't marrying this guy because she could do much better. As the story wore on - the bride to be moved here from California after meeting this guy in a chat room, he had a girlfriend at the time, has already cheated on her a few times, and so on, that my mom's friend quickly realized that this wedding was the wedding of my horrible EX and the girl he met on-line and cheated on me with!!! How crazy is that?????
If it hadn't been for the fact that I had Ryan, I would be pissed that his cheating loser ass was getting married before me!!!! Of course, if it wasn't for Ryan, Rob and I would have been married last October :)
I should get some work done since I need to leave at 1:00 to take Ryan to the doctor (for a few different issues, but I will save that for another post!)

The one where I blog about work....

I have said it before. I hate my job. Plain and simple. Why do I hate my job you ask? I shall tell you...
1. It has become the most tedious, unstimulating job known to mankind. Every year I update the same research leads on the same products and deal with the same incompetent attorney editors.
2. The team I am on has gone to shit in the last 5 years that I have been here. We got a new team leader last year and she is horrendous! She plays favorites, has never worked in editorial (she came from another department) and has no idea what we actually do. She will jokingly admit this too!
3. The people on the team are the most socially dysfunctional bunch (minus maybe 3 of us). It takes a pretty introverted person to work here and every now and then a few of us exotroverts slips through. They are the most impossible people to work with (this is in no way a slam against introverts, just the ones I work with).
So what has set me off today?
Two things really. For starters on of the guys on our team is getting married. he has not shared this with anyone, but somehow the most obnoxious, stupid person on my team has found out. he said no party, and she is planning one anyway! Now she is asking for contributions to his gift. I know for a fact that he NEVER gives for any gifts (as I am usually the event organizer) and I feel like I shouldn't give for his either - ESPECIALLY since he has stated he does not want a party! I emailed Ms. Stupid and she is all up in arms over this. She said I am ungrateful since they had such a nice baby shower for me (that was back when 2 of my friends were still on this team) and I should be "paying back". Oh yeah, way to make me want to contribute.
Seriously, I could write a novel on this women and her social ineptness as well as her complete lack of knowledge on what she does. Somehow she has people convinced that she is the world's greatest attorney editor and has been promoted twice (to the highest rank in her job). Me, on the other hand, I usually end up fixing her mistakes, or racing around to do my job because she took to freaking long and I have never been promoted. This could be because there is no promotional path for my job here (again leading us to believe we are not long for this world).
My second grip of the day? Ms. Stupid is being moved to a window cube!!! These are based on seniority and I ahve been here 4 months longer than her as has one of our editors who outranks her anyway!!! UNBELIEVABLE! And annoying.....
Why can't we afford for me to stay home???? I would probably not mind coming to work if it was actually a nice place to be....

Girls Gone Wild (sort of)

Ladies (and Gentlemen is any are reading) I have news.
I. WENT. OUT!
Yup, with the girls. NO BOYS! It was only the third time since Ryan was born that I have been out and it was fun!
I was the designated driver (boo), but there were reasons
1. Kara (the hottie in the pink top) is getting married Saturday and needed a night out to let loose
2. Cheryl (the hottie in blue) is always the responsible one and needed to "let her hair down".
It was a great night. First we went to dinner. We tried to hit the great little Greek place I love only to find out they are closed :( So we went to an old stand by, had a great dinner, a nice bottle of wine, and many laughs.
Then we hit a bar that we practically used to live at. It was pretty slow there so we moved on to the new country bar downtown and look what I got Kara to do....

She is probably going to kill me for posting these pictures, BUT I promised her I would ride the bull come my Bachelorette party and I now pledge to post pictures from that!
She did GREAT on the bull especially considering that she told them to "go easy one her". She stayed on for about 5 seconds. How cool is that (and how cute is her outfit)?!?!?
We hung out there for a few hours and then, sadly, headed home where I was greeted by a chipper, playing baby and a tired, stressed out Daddy. It seems that while mommy's away, the baby will play. Ryan refused to sleep for Rob. I felt kind of bad when I took him into is room and rocked him for, oh 2 minutes, and he was out. Sometimes you just need the mommy touch.
But this post is about my girlies...
I'll focus on KARA since she is getting married SATURDAY!!!
We met my freshman year of college. I guess that now, 13 years later, I can admit this, I didn't really like her at first. Not because of any personality flaws or anything, but because she was cute, and little and I saw her as competition. As we got to know each other better I realized that we were not competitors, but rather, we played off of each other and enhanced each other. We were roommates the next year! I have had so much fun with Kara over the years I don't even know where to begin. There has been some sadness in our friendship, like when we stopped speaking for a few months because she was so incredibly wrapped up in a relationship that turned out to be horrible. Thankfully she took up my offer to come for a weekend visit and hit the East End Festival. Once there she realized that there was more to life than the loser she was dating, dumped him, went back to him, found out he was a serial cheater, dumped him again - this time she SPIT on him (I still laugh picturing that), drove to my apartment where we declared that night to be the first annual Goddess night. How I wish I could remember the date of Goddess night as we should still be celebrating it!
I spent YEARS trying to get her to move to Rochester (from Buffalo) but it took a boy to get her here - one that she met, I might add, while out with me!!! But, she is here now and we are finally seeing a lot of each other so I am happy about that. She is Ryan's favorite babysitter, the person I got to for children's book suggestions (she is a reading teacher), my fellow Martha Stewart wanna be, and my best friend!!!
I can't wait for her wedding next weekend - not so much the wedding since I have to wear a bridesmaid dress and high heels, but I am staying at her parent's with her the night before and I have a whole "thing" planned for the morning of the wedding. I can't say what it is since she is the only in person friend who knows about this blog, but it involves a gift and a song! I'll share details after the wedding!!!