The Driscolls

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2011-06-05T08:19:00.001-07:00

I'm back!!

2011-05-20T22:34:00.000-07:00

I finally changed my blog background from a Christmas layout. Sadly, this was not the last of my Christmas decorations to be put away... We might still have our lights on the front of the house (I blame my husband...) and I still have some green garland in my entry way. At this rate, I might as well just leave everything and we'll have a head start for decorating next year, right? Meh.

There are so many things I want to get better at/start doing again. This is one of them. No idea how many people *actually* read this...but it's more for me anyway. I need to have one place that I can record all the things we do so when I eventually get around to scrapbooking about those events I have some type of journaling to go off of.

So I guess I'll just start with today...

I took the day off of work. At first it was mostly for my emotional health. After hearing the very limited options I had to deal with my kidney stone over the next 3 months at my doctor's appointment yesterday, I was having a hard time processing everything. I have pain pills to help manage the pain, but I'm trying to take them as little possible. As the day went on, the pain in my back got worse and the pain pills only worked about half the time. I ended up sleeping most of the day and I'm finally getting some relief tonight.

I never know when I'm going to have another attack, which is the most frustrating part. I guess I'll just have to take things day by day and see how it goes.

This is a test.

2011-05-15T18:11:00.001-07:00

I downloaded a blog app for my iPhone. Trying to figure it out.

Oh. Em. Gee.

2010-12-06T19:57:00.000-08:00

I really need to get better about this. Seriously.

I'm a horrible blogger.

I promise...I'll post more often...because I'm sure all of my dedicated readers are SO concerned about this. Ha.

Ok, short post tonight, but hey! At least I let you guys know that I'm still alive. So stop worrying.

The end.

No binky!

2010-08-23T21:21:00.000-07:00

Our big achievement....

Cooper went down for a nap yesterday and today with NO binky!!!! Yesterday there was not much crying and he fell asleep within his normal time. (He usually sits in his crib for up to a half hour or 45 minutes reading a book or talking to himself.) Today he was at Grandma & Grandpa Driscoll's and hardly cried either. I'm still letting him have his binky at night, but....

I'm so proud of him. :)

My big achievement....

I got a new job! Wednesday will be my last day at Plumas County Glass and Thursday I will start working part time (for now) in the Human Resources department at the courthouse. I'll still be working about 32 hours a week. They're going to be flying the position full time within the next couple of months. I'll still have to apply and what not, but I'm hoping to be there permanent/full time. We could really use the benefits, especially the dental and vision. $400 at the eye doctor for Chris and I to get exams and two boxes of contacts each is not exactly what I want to have to do every year. I technically need new glasses since my eyes changed BACK to what they were before I got pregnant.

My eyes + pregnancy = no astigmatism and a worse prescription

My eyes - pregnancy = astigmatism and a better prescription

Contacts were giving me a headache because the prescription was off since the last time I had an eye exam I was almost 8 months pregnant. Because my astigmatism isn't bad enough for those special contacts, I just wear regular ones. I still have pretty good vision, but it won't be 20/20. So, as soon as I get vision insurance I'm headed to the eye doctor for a new pair of glasses!!

Chris got lucky with his glasses. Cooper decided to test their durability one morning. Chris' glasses are bendable which we got with Cooper in mind knowing that he would somehow get a hold of them. They've lasted the year and a half Cooper has been alive...but this one particular morning he found their breaking point. Luckily, the way he broke them only required a $30 part. We were thinking we'd have to order all new frames...out of pocket!!

Other than that we're just trying to enjoy the last little bit of summer. With softball season over we've been able to spend a lot more time together as a family. We've been hanging out at Chris' parent's house and going to the park.

I'm excited for fall to come though. I love it!! The colors up here are gorgeous!!! But mostly, I'm excited for all my fall decorations to come out and an excuse for me to go buy some more!!! :)

Two days in a row...wait what??

2010-08-02T15:20:00.000-07:00

Don't get too excited. I'm sure this is just a fluke......But I'm back for the 2nd day in a row. Woo!!

Cooper went down for a nap about 1230 and is STILL asleep. Since he has fallen asleep I have successfully disinfected almost everything in the bathroom. Why haven't I been using Clorox Bleach this whole time?? I got rid of some rust stains on the bathtub when our faucet was leaking months ago. I disinfected the entire tub, the counters and even Cooper's bath toys.

I am definitely a happier person when things are clean.

I'm leaving for Utah on Wednesday for a friend's wedding. I'm so excited!!! I can't wait to see her. We've been friends since middle school and while we weren't always the best of friends and lost touch at some points, she is still one of the few people I actually send a birthday card to every year. Not even some of my family gets cards from me. :) She is going to be one awesome, gorgeous bride!

My sister, brother-in-law, niece, and little brother are coming up to help me with Cooper during the wedding and to go to the reception with me. I'm excited to hang out with them! After the reception we'll head down to my grandparent's house where my mom is going to meet us. This weekend is going to be awesome. :)

I'm back!

2010-08-01T14:00:00.000-07:00

And hopefully for good this time...

I just spent an hour and a half fixing the layout, adding things, changing text colors, etc and now I don't really feel like typing out a blog entry. Blah.

I decided that I want to keep this up more frequently than I have been. Once every four or five months just isn't going to cut it anymore. My sister told me she wanted to start updating her blog at least every Sunday, so...I'm going to try that too. We'll see if I can do it. :)

Some facts about Cooper:

He's 18 months old now.

He loves to color/draw and pretty much knows he's only allowed to color on paper.

He still only says 'dada' and 'mama' but is starting to point at the things he wants and mumble his cute baby mumbling.

He really isn't a baby anymore. :(

He runs. Everywhere.

He loves watching Blue's Clues. Thankfully it's on NickJr from 6-630 which gives me enough time to either fix dinner or clean up dinner depending on what time we ate. And yes, we do try to plan dinner around Blue's Clues.

That's about it for now. Hopefully I'll be better at updating this...and hopefully I'll actually have interesting things to say!

ONElittleBELT

2010-02-10T09:05:00.001-08:00

A girl I went to high school with has started making baby belts. They are so adorable! I haven't ordered one yet, but I'm going to soon. She has lots of different choices for newborns to 36 months. Check out her site (www.onelittlebelt.com) and you can enter to win one of three belts. She has more info on the site. You can also see all the different styles she has. Drawing will be held on Valentine's Day (this Sunday!!) so hurry!!! :)

Half-Marathon Training Week 1 Recap

2010-02-08T21:39:00.001-08:00

Wow.

I did it. I survived. The only thing I changed in my workout plan last week was Wednesday's workout. My dogs decided that it would be fun to run away and not listen to me. Bah. I ended up chasing them around (while carrying Cooper) my street. I live on a hill...in the middle. They went to the top, then the bottom, then the top before neighbors finally helped me herd them back to my house. So, so, so mad. I couldn't believe that they were being so disobedient. Before anyone says it ("Just wait until Cooper is a teenager!"), just keep your mouth shut. No one wants to hear something like that when they're clearly upset about a situation. A "You poor girl!" or a "Here are some training tips that might help next time" would be a much better response. Just saying.

Stephanie (my husband's sister) is training with me. She goes to San Francisco State so we don't actually get to work out together. We were both in Sacramento this past weekend, so we got to do our long run (on Sunday) together. Oh. My. Gosh. I ran so much better with her. She pushed me an extra 1/4 of a mile...after we had already ran 4 miles...and we kept a faster pace than I had alone. I couldn't believe it. Just over 4 1/4 miles in 47 minutes.

Then her boyfriend decided to run after we got back...and ran 6 miles in 41 minutes. Show off. Thanks for stealing my thunder. haha :-) (In his defense...he has been running for a lot longer than we have and is in shape!)

Today started week 2 of training. Easy day of Wii Fit tonight and probably some more stretching before bed. I'm not as sore as I thought I'd be after our long run yesterday. I was actually kind of disappointed that today wasn't a running day. I think it's partly because I went out and bought a new hot pink sports bra and new running pants to match my shoes I got a few months ago and the running shirt I got for Christmas. I like to think I run better/faster if I look good (and more importantly....if I match!). :)

The rest of the week is pretty much the same as last week..

Tuesday: 3 mile run @ 6 am

Wednesday: 2 mile walk with Cooper @ whenever I can get out of the house sometime before noon

Thursday: 3 miles run @ 5 pm

Friday: REST DAY! :)

Saturday: 30 min cross training sometime in the AM

Sunday: 4 mile run sometime in the afternoon

83 days until the half marathon!!!

Training begins...

2010-02-01T13:22:00.000-08:00

Beginning of the week, beginning of the month...the only thing that could have made this more perfect if it was Jan 1st, beginning of the year, beginning of the DECADE! Well, the decade thing could be debated. Oh well...February 1st, the day my training begins. For real. Here's my workout schedule for week 1.

Monday: Stregnth - WiiFit @ 5 pm
Done! Chris made me a personalized workout on WiiFit plus. I don't feel like I did much, but I'm sure I'll feel it tomorrow!

Tuesday: Run (3 miles) @ 6 am

Wednesday: Cross Training: Walk with Cooper (2 miles) @ 9 am

Thursday: Run (3 miles) and Strength - WiiFit @ 5 pm

Friday: Rest

Saturday: 30 min Cross Training

Sunday: Run (4 miles)

Bah! That's AT LEAST 12 miles in one week. I can do it. I can do it. I can do it!!!!

I just need to think about how I'll feel when I complete the 13.1 miles run and how I'll look!! Ok, not how I'll specifically look immediately after the run (or during, ick!). But how my body will look in general. I'll *hopefully* be back to prepregnancy size!!

I'm getting close. Lost another pound! Woot Woot!!

Alright, back to my Monday shows and then I'm headed to bed!

New Year's Resolutions and My Toddler

2010-01-25T20:58:00.000-08:00

A lot of people don't believe in resolutions. I do. I'm all about starting a diet/workout routine on a Monday because it's the first day of the week. I like to start over a new school semester with a clean binder/backpack/locker and determination to do all the reading for my classes...and I would think of more examples...but I can't. :) I just like things to start fresh at the beginning. What I've decided to do is have big goals for the entire year, but also set smaller, easier to attain goals for each month this year.

My 2010 New Year's Resolutions:

1. Lose 10 lbs. - Cliche? Totally. Something that needs to be done? Definitely. I gained 38 lbs when I was pregnant and lost 20 very quickly. I was stuck at 146 for much longer than I would have liked. Since August I have been working out on WiiFit and I started running. I was down to 137 by the end of the year and only needed to lose 10 lbs to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight. So far this year I am down 2 pounds. Only 8 to go!

2. Workout 3x times a week. - This one I have been slacking on so far, but starting Feb 1 (first of the month AND a Monday!) my training begins. My sister in law and I are going to get in shape to run a half-marathon (13.1 miles!) on May 2, 2010 in Reno. I'm hoping to get a membership to the gym in town to get me through the snow/rainy/cold months unless someone has a treadmill they want to give/loan me. :) I figured this would be a good way to help with New Year's Resolution #1.

3. Completely move in. - We bought this house October 31, 2008 and moved into it on January 4, 2009...and we have yet to unpack all of our boxes and get this organized. My goal this year is to do that. *crosses fingers*

4. Writing things in my planner. - For 2010, I got the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People planner inserts. One of the features is that it includes an insert to put in your bookmark that includes weekly goals for yourself. I love it! Every Sunday I fill out my physical, social/emotional, mental, and spiritual goals. It also has space to fill out goals for other roles in my life (mother, wife, piano teacher, etc.). I'm trying to get better at writing out my daily goals each night for the following day. So pretty much, I will have a list of yearly, monthly, weekly, and daily goals. I love it. :)

5. Blogging - I just added this resolution. Typing is easier than writing and it's a way to keep my friends and family updated on what's going on since I don't live near most of them.

Enough of the productivity and goals and such...

Cooper turned ONE on Saturday and is officially a toddler walking all over the house! Where did this year go?? My mom, sister, and her baby Hazel came up for the party. Here are some pictures to highlight his birthday party. :)

Aftermath of his Birthday Cupcake

I was a mean mom and didn't put any frosting on it. :)

The cupcake alone did enough damage!

Chowing down on his Birthday Cupcake

Opening presents. Jake loved to help Cooper.

The back of Cooper's onsie.

Birthday present from Auntie Stephanie.

Cooper's cake made by his favorite Auntie Jen!

My adorable niece, Hazel Rebekah.

Three posts in a month!

2009-10-24T20:59:00.001-07:00

I'm getting better. :)

We got a puppy on Monday, Lilah. She's adorable and quite a handful. House training is interesting, but she's doing a LOT better with it. Only have had a few accidents in the house the past couple of days. Molly is starting to get annoyed with the fact that Lilah wants to play ALL the time. Well, any time she's awake.

The biggest news for me is that I've decided to run a half marathon. After watching Chris' cousin run a full marathon in San Francisco on the 18th, I thought hey...I should do that! Well, not a full one, but a half! 13.1 miles. My sister-in-law Stephanie said she would do one with me, so we're going to sign up for the one on May 2 of next year in Reno. Already a week into my training and I think I'm doing pretty good. The sad thing is that all the half marathon training schedules I've found want you to be able to run at least 3 miles. So, I have to train in order to train for the half marathon. haha Oh well. I ran a mile this morning and had Chris time me. A 13-minute mile is pretty decent for me. I mean, I've never ran before! I ordered some awesome shoes last week, too. They'll be here on Wednesday. I got the Nike+ Pegasus 26 (pink!!!!). I also got the thingy to put in the shoe so it'll tell me how far I ran, etc. I'm pretty pumped about this and can use all the support I can get!!!

Well, tomorrow is my day off of running, but I'm headed to the church early to practice the songs I have to play for the primary program tomorrow. Wish me luck! :)

Kennel Training & A New Puppy

2009-10-12T10:45:00.000-07:00

So, Chris and I went to Reno on Saturday mostly to get a dog kennel but of course ended up with a plethora* of things, including work pants and shirts for Chris, a skirt and khakis for me, and a book full of Billy Joel songs for me to play on the piano. (Surprisingly we didn't buy anything for Cooper. Wait, I lied. We bought him a soft set of sports balls: football, basketball, baseball, and soccer ball.) We set it up yesterday and realized that our house is becoming WAY too small all of a sudden. With baby toys, jumperoos, couches, desks, computers, and now a dog kennel, our living room is running out of room! Anyone need a couch? Because we have two extras. It's free if you can come get it. Anyway(s)**, yesterday we got her to go in it on her own and gave her a treat and today we've progressed to actually leaving her in there with the door closed for a few minutes while I run around the house like a chicken with its head cut off trying to get chores done.

The reason for the dog kennel is because we will be adding one more animal to our family a week from today!!! She's a lab(mom)/shephard(dad) mix, but looks more like her mom. She's white and is such a little princess. I've seen her twice. The first time she wouldn't stop eating (first puppy food, then food from her mama). The second time she held her nose in the air with her paws crossed over each other while we petted her as if to say, "I am the queen". We're thinking of the name Missy, but I'm still open to suggestions. Our other dog's name is Molly, and I think it's too close. Ones that I like but have been knocked out of the running because Chris says no or we know another dog with that name are Bella, Ella, Princess, and Rayna (That's our mail lady haha). I want something SUPER girly, but nothing that says "Hi, I'm a Chihuahua".

*Plethora has to be one of the coolest words EVER!

**Because it annoys my sister

Apparently, I suck at blogging...

2009-10-06T15:09:00.001-07:00

I need to get better at this whole blogging thing. So, I'll start today.

Sweet. I got a post in. The end.

Just kidding. :)

Fall is finally here!!! I'm so excited. All my shows started back up, with the exception of Scrubs. *sadface* Halloween is around the corner and it will be Cooper's first!!! So exciting! Still not sure what he's going to be for Halloween, but I'm heading to Reno next Monday and hopefully I'll find something cute. Then it's my birthday, Thanksgiving, and CHRISTMAS!!! This is the best time of the year.

Cooper is now 8 months old. Time is sure flying by FAST! I can't believe it. He's been standing (with the help of furniture, legs, or the dog) for a while now and wants to walk so badly! He's getting around just find with crawling though. He got his first two teeth in (bottom) last week and is working on the top ones now. I can feel the bumps, but they're not poking through yet.

Chris has been working on a friend's house re-doing their roof for almost a month now. He should be finishing it up tomorrow. It'll be nice to have my husband back in the evenings and on weekends.

I graduated finally and am working on getting my sub license in California. I already took the CBEST this past Saturday. Hopefully I passed and I get on to make some money. My piano studio is doing well with 5 students, but I'm definitely looking and willing to accept more!!

Well, that's about it for now. I'll try to update again soon. Hopefully someone will read this.... :)

Long time no blog...

2009-06-10T19:33:00.001-07:00

Wow...it sure has been a while. And to answer my sister's question (like she doesn't know..)

Cooper recovered from his cold....quite a few months ago. haha

ANYWAY....S. :-)

Hmm...three months of not updating. You'd think I'd have TONS to say...er type? But, I have no idea. Cooper is 4 1/2 months old now. WHOA! Crazy, right? He wants to sit up on his own so bad, but can't just yet. He has found his feet and absolutely LOVES them. It cracks me up. Last time we went to the doctor (June 3) he weighed 16 lbs, 4 oz. He sure feels a lot heavier than that! He was in the 50th percentile...kinda surprised. But he did not disappointment when it came to height. 26 inches, 90th percentile. Definitely his father's son.

Recently, I purchased this digital scrapbooking program from Creative Memories. I LOVE IT!!! Be my friend on Facebook and you can see pages I've made in the Creative Memories album. It's so much easier than regular scrapbooking and so much cheaper!! I'm starting with the pictures I have from when Cooper was born. Maybe I'll get the urge to put them on here...but probably not. :) Since most of the people who read this (if there are any!) are my friends on facebook. I did use the program to make the picture at the top of my blog page. Just a simple one that took me about 5 minutes.

Well, I have spent the evening scrapbooking and updating my blog...I should get some chores done!! Hopefully I'll be better at updating this. Too bad the blog can't nudge me to update by sending me a text like Twitter. :-)

Sick Baby :-(

2009-03-06T10:49:00.000-08:00

My poor baby boy. He's had a cold for the past week. :-( We went to the doctor yesterday for his one month check up (a couple weeks late haha) and the doc gave us some tips on how to help get through it. We pretty much have to drown our baby. I have to lay him down on my lap with his head hanging off my knees, nose pointing up. Then, put some saline drops in his nose and wait for him to suck it up. Then, comes the booger sucker. Cooper's nose + booger sucker = one unhappy Cooper...for a few minutes. When he realizes that he can finally breathe again he calms down. It looks like his cold is starting to go away, hopefully. It's been a very sleepless past few days.

Other than that, things are going pretty good. Cooper is six weeks old today!! Time has really flown by!! Jen came up a couple weekends ago and Coop had his first trip to Reno. We found out that my car will barely fit 3 adults, a carseat, a stroller, a suitcase, AND a bunch of in bulk items from Costco (diapers, paper towels, formula, etc.). SOOOO...we're looking at getting a new car!!! :-) So far we've looked at the Dodge Nitro and the Ford Edge. They only have a domestic dealership in town, so we'll go to Reno to look at a couple foreign cars (Nissan Murano and Honda CRV).

I don't go to the doctor for my post partum checkup until Wednesday, but I'm going to start working out...today! Nothing too big. The sun is FINALLY out so I'm going to go take Cooper for a walk in the stroller this afternoon. I'm determined to get back into shape by Memorial Day weekend because Chris, Cooper, & I are going to Vegas with the in laws for a little vacation. We're staying at the Monte Carlo and I want to be able to go swimming and wear my old CUTE clothes by then.

2009-02-17T14:54:00.000-08:00

My pregnancy was fairly normal, no serious complications. Things came up that I knew would happen. Some were fun (baby kicks, ultrasound, hearing the heartbeat) and others were not fun at all (stretch marks, morning/night/ALL DAY sickness, general uncomfortable-ness, having to cut out sugar due to hypoglycemia). Even my labor started out how I feared it would (VERY SLOW!!!). After talking to my mom several times about her labors, especially mine as she was in labor with me for three days, I knew I was going to be facing the same fate.

When my doctor finally made the decision to do a c-section, I was too exhausted to care. I thought after the fact that I might have some disappointment in not being able to deliver my son naturally, but I didn't. He was here and he was healthy. As cliche as it sounds, that was really all that mattered to me. It was all worth it. And in the back of my mind I was thinking "at least I'll still be able to breastfeed".

Now at only 3 1/2 weeks, he is almost exclusively formula fed. I never thought that breastfeeding would be so difficult and more importantly, I wouldn't like it. I've felt guilty for the way I feel about it, like I'm forcing my kid to have the second best option for my own selfish reasons. Other things have played into the fact that I've decided to stop breastfeeding so early. The main reason is that my supply cannot keep up with his hungry, growing body. He drank 6 oz of formula at one feeding last night and then almost 5 oz at his next two hours later.

On a happier note, everything else is going pretty good. Chris and I are actually getting a lot of sleep, just never on the same night. :-)

Cooper found his thumb for the first time this past weekend, and by 'found' I mean 'sucked'. It was actually kinda cute. I think it may have been a one time thing, though, because he hasn't done it since...or even tried.

Cooper Joseph Driscoll

2009-02-09T11:05:00.000-08:00

He's here! Ok...so I'm a couple weeks late in announcing this and a couple MONTHS late with an update. I was pregnant and now have a baby. So that's my exucse. Get over it. :-)

Anyway, I typed up a brief birth story that was sent out with our family newsletter last week. Here it is:

I went into labor on my due date (Tuesday, Jan 20th). The contractions were about 15 min apart. By 3 am they were 3-5 minutes apart, so we headed to the hospital around 430 am. I had high hopes because it didn't take long for the contractions to get pretty close together. I was barely 1 cm. We stayed for a few hours and ended up going home. We took a walk that afternoon and when I got back the contractions got a lot worse, so we went back to the hospital. Still only 1 cm. So we went home...again. I called my visiting teacher and she sent over a couple preisthood holders to give me a blessing. The next morning we were supposed to have my weekly doc appointment, but the doc wanted me to head to labor & delivery to be checked. Still wasn't that far along. I had been really nauseous, so the doc prescribed me some meds to help with that and that would make me sleepy. He thought that sleep would help my body relax and get the labor going more and told me to come back when I woke up. I got a few hours of sleep and ended up going back into the hospital around 5 pm. My mom was also here by then. I was only 2-3 cm. I got an epidural, the doc broke my water, and then they started me on pitocin for about an hour and that got things going (FINALLY!!). Sometime in the middle of the night I got to 7 cm...and stayed there for two hours...and then my epi wore off and I had gotten a fever. I got another epi and meds for the fever and kept begging for a c-section. Chris and the doctor wouldn't give up though. Early, early Friday morning they put me on pitocin again. I was at 9 cm, almost 10. I started pushing, and stuck with it for about an hour and a half. Cooper wouldn't budge. By then my body was completely worn out and my fever was back. Doc finally agreed to a c-section. Cooper was born at 9:32 am on Friday, January 23rd, 2009. He was 8 lbs, 1oz and 22 in long. Chris was the first one to hold him and wouldn't let anyone else hold him until I got to. It took me a while to wake up in recovery and I was pretty shakey from some of the meds they gave me. We were in the hospital until Sunday afternoon. Mom stayed until Wednesday (although I tried to convince her to stay a few more days) and Dad was able to come up for the weekend. It was really nice to have them up.

Cooper is a pretty good baby. I think he's finally gotten his days and nights figured out. He hardly ever cries; just wimpers a little. I'm trying to breastfeed, but I am just not making enough for him. He'll end up emptying both sides and still drinking 1.5 - 3 oz of formula. He definitely is his father's son. I fear we'll never have enough food in the house to keep both those boys fed. Cooper got my chin and Daddy's hands and feet (they're huge!!) and he's pretty much the cutest thing I've ever seen.

My recovery was very frustrating at first. I hadn't anticipated a c-section, even though I knew it was still an option and was open to it. I just didn't think that would happen. I wish I would have researched recovery after a c-section just as much as I did for a regular delivery. I had no idea what to expect, especially since I had never had any type of surgery before. I was able to get up for the first time the next morning and took several walks around the hospital before being discharged Sunday afternoon. I was off my pain meds (vicodin) 9 days after surgery and now I'm able to do pretty much what I want without any strain.

Chris is such an awesome dad! I knew he would be, but it's just so adorable to see how he acts with Cooper. We have a pretty good routine at night. Chris gets up and gets Cooper for me. I'll nurse while Chris makes a bottle. I feed him the bottle and then Chris usually burps him. I know that I couldn't do it all without his help!! I don't know how single moms do it.

Well, Coop is taking his morning nap which means I should use this time to be productive...or eat! I'll try to get better at updating this and I'll post some pics later!

insert title here

2008-10-28T18:47:00.000-07:00

I haven't really updated in a while, so I figured I would tonight...although I don't really know what I'm going to say.

I did end up going to the hospital to get monitored last week. I was having cramps and really bad lower back pain, so they told me to come in. It just ended up being round ligament pain, but we did get to listen to Cooper's heartbeat for an hour and a half and I found out what his hiccups feel like.

Apparently, Cooper doesn't like anything on HIS stomach. He tried to kick the monitors off my stomach the entire time. He would have succeeded if they hadn't been strapped on. He's pretty fiesty...and persistent.

OH!! Big news!!! We bought a house!! Everything should closed by Friday and we can start working on it.

Things that need to be done BEFORE we move in:
*Fill in the pool
*Clean out garage
*Generally clean the house
*New hearth for the wood stove
*Raise the living room floor up a bit to get it off the slab
*Paint
*New carpet (spare room at least)

Lots of work to be done!! We're hoping to be completely in before we go to Vegas for Thanksgiving. We're excited to finally have a house to call our own and now I'll have a room to decorate for Cooper!!

Stats on the house:
*3 bd/2 bath
*1700 sq ft
*HUGE open living
*Dining room
*DISHWASHER!!!!
*Garage
*Shed in the back for Chris
*Huge backyard
*Washer and Dryer (full size!)

Is it weird that we're closing on Halloween? Haha. Oh well, early birthday present for me. :-)

Because my sister made me do it!

2008-10-15T19:50:00.000-07:00

Five things I was doing 10 years ago:
1. Planning my 13th birthday party
2. Annoying my sister
3. Going through my "awkward" stage
4. Crushing on Josh hahahahaha
5. Hanging out at youth group/mutual

Five things on my to do list today:
1. Laundry
2. Deposit monies (PAYDAY!!)
3. Pay bills (Best Buy credit card for our TV, car insurance, and power)
4. Watch ANTM
5. Clean the house up a bit

Five snacks I enjoy:
1. Right now little candy corn pumpkins - SISTER!! I totally have a bag of those at my desk Shhh...don't tell Chris. :-)
2. Sour patch kids
3. Wheat chex/Shredded Wheat
4. Oreo milkshakes
5. Anything else I see and start craving.

Five things I would do if I were a millionaire:
1. Build my dream house (I might let Chris throw in a few ideas)
2. Get out of debt - ditto!
3. Buy a black baby grand
4. Buy my parents a house
5. Go to Italy!

Five places I've lived:
1. Las Vegas, NV
2. Liberty, MO
3. St. Joseph, MO
4. Las Vegas, NV again
5. Quincy, CA

Five Jobs I've had:
1. Babysitting
2. Library (HA!)
3. Movie theater
4. Photographer
5. Receptionist/Accounting

8 Things I Did Today
1. Worked
2. Went to the bank
3. Fed the kitties
4. Kissed the husband
5. Started the laundry
6. Ate dinner (Taco Bell!)
7. Watched the end of the presidential debates
8. Swept the kitchen floor (because i spilled laundry detergent all over!)

8 Shows I Love to Watch:
1. Scrubs
2. One Tree Hill
3. Gossip Girl
4. The Office
5. Heroes
6. Anything on Discovery Health
7. Desperate Housewives
8. Mythbusters

8 Restaurants I Love:
1. Claim Jumper
2. Ricardo's
3. Applebee's
4. Cheese Cake Factory
5. TGIFridays
6. Red Robin
7. Cafe LeCoq
8. Chili's

8 Things I am Looking Forward to:
1. Getting Cooper out of my uterus :-)
2. Buying a house
3. My baby shower and birthday dinner in vegas!!!
4. The holidays!!!
5. A 'date' with my sister (which consists of going to get oreo milkshakes while talking on the phone with each other)
6. Having a clean house
7. Being a mom!!
8. My birthday

My Wish List
1. I wish I could be a stay at home mom.
2. I wish I could stay home tomorrow.
3. I wish I had a maid.
4. I wish it was January already!
5. I wish my credit score was better.
6. I wish someone would give me a back massage.
7. I wish my hair was longer.
8. I wish I could cook.

8 people I tag:
1. you
2. you
3. you
4. you
5. you
6. you
7. you
8. you

I am... cold.
I think... it's time for 2nd dinner.
I know... the muffin man.
I want... a new phone. :-)
I have... an awesome relationship with my sister.
I miss... my family, especially Andrew.
I fear... labor and delivery...
I hear... Tyra...AHH TBS!!! (haha Brody & Jen)
I smell... my air freshener.
I crave... an oreo milkshake.
I cry... all the time now.
I search... for a house to buy.
I wonder... what Cooper will look like.
I regret... being so irresponsible with money when I was in Vegas.
I wish... Chris would come home, clean the house, and give me a massage.
I love... my husband...and my kitties. :-)
I care... about too much sometimes.
I always... need food.
I worry... about breastfeeding.
I am not... watching 90210! Time to switch to Mythbusters.
I remember... mine and Chris' first date (which was 2 years ago tomorrow!!)
I believe... in lust at first sight, but not love at first sight.
I sing... when no one is around.
I don't always... pay bills on time, but I'm getting better!
I argue... too much sometimes.
I write... in my blog.
I win... all the time!
I listen... to my sister talk..and talk...and talk...and talk. hehe
I need... a spa day.
I am happy... with life in general. :-)

Absence makes the heart grow fonder...

2008-10-04T16:46:00.000-07:00

So true.

Chris has been gone since yesterday afternoon. They had an away football game this afternoon in Merced. Took them 7 hours by bus to get there, but that includes eating time. Surprisingly, it doesn't take that long to feed the whole football team at Hometown Buffet.

Last night pretty much sucked without him. We hardly ever have to spend the night apart, and I'm glad that I'm spoiled like that!! I had no one to put my cold feet on. (haha Sister!) I watched two whole discs of Desperate Housewives: Season 4 and cried through most of it. The episodes were actually a tad cry-worthy, but it was mostly those darn pregnancy horomones and me missing the hubby. It was raining and kinda windy so every little noise scared me. I heard a really big crash outside somewhere and got up and turned on all the lights in the house for a while. When Chris called, I told him what had happened. His reassuring line was "Don't worry. It was probably just the bear." Hahahaha. Thanks, sweetie. That's what I needed to hear. :-) At least he tries, right?

It's really only the evenings/nights that I have a hard time with when Chris is gone. During the day I love it. :-) I get soooo much more cleaning done.

Chores I finished today:
*Cleaned the entire kitchen (minus the dishes; that's Chris' job)
*Half the laundry is done
*Cleaned the "office'/Chris' Domain (yeah...it was dirty!!!)
*Mopped the floors
*Vacuumed, furniture too (darn cat hair!)
*Gathered up all the trash
*Cleaned the bathroom
*Put away clean clothes (they had been sitting out for a week)

The only things I have left to do are:
*Clean the closet
*Finish the laundry
*Wash the sheets and kitty beds
*Clean out the fridge
*Clean the bedroom

My house hasn't been this clean in a while. Hopefully I can keep it this way so I can start decorating for Halloween!!! I have my pumpkin candle lit that my favorite mother-in-law gave me. It's my favorite scent ever!! It's really making me want some pumpkin cookies. Anyone want to make me some??? :-)

My mother-in-law just called and at halftime we were up 14-6. Woohoo!! I don't have a radio, so I have no way to listen to the game.

Well, I think I'll go finish the laundry, fix some dinner, and be lazy for the rest of the evening.

Where'd I go??

2008-09-30T21:20:00.000-07:00

It's been 3 weeks. Wow.

Not too much has been happening. Same old same old. Here's a quick update.

Football - Chris has won his past two football games and has played a lot!! The game this past Saturday was really good. It was 14 (us) to 16 (them) the whole second half until the last couple of minutes. We had a really good pass play (I think..haha) and got it to the 6 yard line. It took us 3 downs, but we finally scored the winning touchdown with less than a minute left.

School - I got an A in my second world politics class!! The first one I took I got a C...barely. My second C in my entire life! World politics is NOT my best subject and I absolutely hate it, so I was pretty surprised to get a good grade in the end. I even got an A on my research paper. Now I'm in a much more exciting class: child development. Only about 9 more months until I graduate!! Woohoo!!

And of course...BABY!!! The weeks are flying by. I'm almost in my third and FINAL trimester! I'm 24 weeks now, which means that if anything should happen, Cooper has a chance of surviving outside of the womb. Obviously the longer he stays in my tummy, the better it will be for him, but it's still nice to know. My first baby shower is in about a month and I'm SOOO excited! I feel like I'm getting bigger everyday although people keep telling me I'm tiny.

That's about all I can think of right now. I promise I'll be better about this because I know you're all dying to hear from me. haha :-)

To Do List

2008-09-09T19:07:00.000-07:00

Talk to sister.

Check.

My day is complete.

Go eagles!!

2008-09-07T20:32:00.000-07:00

Christopher had his first football game yesterday, and I must say, he sure does look cute in that football uniform of his. ;-) He's #85. It was a pretty close game. We lost 52-42 but considering we were playing a team in a higher league, we did pretty good. Chris didn't play as much as he wanted to, but I think he was just happy to be back out on the field again. He's a little sore today, especially after having to run at practice this afternoon, but it's good for him. :-)

His next game is about an hour and a half away and I'm going to be a very dedicated fan and make the drive. Well, as long as he'll let me drive down the canyon by myself. I decided that I'm going to try to make a shirt that says "I don't know much about football, but I know a tight end when I see one!" (That's the position that Chris plays :-D hehe) Here are a couple pictures from the game.

Getting ready for the game

Blocking!!

Going for the extra point! Chris is in there somewhere in the right side of the line blocking.

Ultrasound and other updates

2008-09-02T17:24:00.000-07:00

Ok...apparently 'after work' for me means almost a week later.
The ultrasound was amazing. I had to be there at 830 am with a full bladder. I was so nervous that they wouldn't get a good picture that I chugged too much water and threw most of it up. Eww. She got a money shot pretty quickly. She thought it looked like a girl, but she wasn't sure. About halfway through the exam, she had me go to the bathroom because my bladder was SO full (and I was really uncomfortable). It helped the baby because when I got back, she immediately got a ton of good shots proving that her initial guess was wrong. We were definitely having a boy. He weighed 10 oz and my amniotic fluid was 11.5, which is good. (It's supposed to be between 5 and 20.) We went to the doctor the next day, but he didn't have the results of the ultrasound yet. My belly measured right on schedule and his heartbeat sounded good. It was a pretty quick appointment.

We've decided to name him Cooper Joseph (middle name is still up for debate though). Yes, we realize that his name will rhyme will 'pooper'. Get over it. It's really not THAT big of a deal. And if you mention it to me, I will probably want to punch you in the face. :-)

Well, we do have other updates other than the baby. :-) Chris has his first football game on Saturday!! I'm so excited for it. So far in the past couple weeks of practice he has almost broken his big toe, bruised his ribs (thought they were broken at one point, but they weren't), pulled the muscles in between his ribs, and jammed a few fingers. I don't know how we'll get through the rest of the season if this continues, especially with me being pregnant!

My only big update is that I was called as the primary pianist in my ward. I have less than two week before I have to play in Sacrament for them. They're having their big primary program on November 9th, but since my baby shower is that weekend I have to find a replacement.

Well that's about it for us. I'll update again soon.

It's a BOY!!

2008-08-27T12:49:00.000-07:00

WOOHOO!! I'll post details of the ultrasound and pictures after work. :-)

Kicks & Nature's Compass

2008-08-25T21:47:00.000-07:00

I've been feeling the baby move for the past couple of weeks, but it felt like my stomach was doing sommersaults. It just tickled. But tonight, I finally felt my first real kick!!! I put my hand on my stomach where I felt it to see if he/she would kick again. As soon as I moved my hand away he/she kicked again...right there! My baby is already a little brat. :-)

My ultrasound is almost here!!! I can't believe it! I was reading the information sheet they gave me and I have to have at least 32 oz of water down an hour before my appointment. Uh...my appointment is at 830 in the morning, so my 730 am I have to drink that much water?! And then have someone push on my tummy?? This kid better show the goods or he/she'll be grounded before he/she is actually born. Darn kid.

Pretty much everyone I have told about the ultrasound has told me to bring a tape or DVD in so we can record it. So, I called the hospital today to see what exactly they did and they no longer record ultrasounds for legal reasons. WHAT!? :-( That made me sad, so we're going to try to bring it Don & DeeDee's video camera and tape it that way. Ghetto? A little. But I don't care.

Before I leave, check out this site one of my friends told me about. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7575459.stm Apparently it took Google Earth to figure out that deer and cattle are nature's compass. Funny? I sure thought so.

PS~Does anyone watch Heroes?? I just watched the first 8 episodes on Netflix in two days; they have seasons 1 and 2 on Watch Instantly. I'm totally hooked. I need someone to talk to about it!!!

My first post...again

2008-08-21T18:02:00.000-07:00

So I pretty much changed EVERYTHING because someone hacked into my email. So I had to give up my PERFECT blog name. It made me sad. But Jennifer (my wonderful and most favoritest sister) came to the rescue and suggested the one I have now, MommyAteIt. For those of you who haven't heard the joke by Red Skelton, punch yourself in the face and go ask my dad to borrow the video. (Hope you have a beta machine!) OR!!! I'll just attempt to tell you the joke, but no promises.

A mother prepares to tell her little boy that he is going to have a little brother or sister soon. He is so excited that all he can talk about at school is the new baby. He sings "We gonna had a baby! We gonna had a baby!" where ever he goes. Later, his mom asks him if he wants to feel the baby. She points to her stomach and says "Over here is his elbow and over here is his knee." The next day at school he doesn't seem as excited about the baby so his teacher asks him about it. He tells her "Oh, we're not have a baby anymore. Mommy ate him!!"

Funny? We sure thought so because we watched that same joke over and over and over.

AnywaySSSS (that was for you Jen!)

BABY NEWS!!

I'm 18 weeks (and 3 days) today! 6 more days until the ultrasound!!!!! Cross your fingers that the kid will not be shy and want to show off the goods so we know if we're having a Hannah or a Cooper. Yes, those are our names we picked out and no, I don't care if you hate those names or knew a Hannah or a Cooper that were absolutely terrible children/people. My kid will be adorable and you will love him/her.

I went to Reno last weekend with my mother in law (DeeDee) and my sister in law (Stephanie) and bought my first set of maternity clothes. AHH!! I got two cute shirts, a dress, and a skirt. The skirt should have been a size bigger because it's so not going to last much longer...but it was WAY cute. After that we went to Babies R Us. OMG!!! I could have spent ALL DAY in that store. I got to test drive the stroller I liked in person, and I love it! Picked out a couple bedding sets I liked. Stephanie is really hoping for a boy because she kept coming over showing us these adorable little boy outfits. There was a fishing outfit that I almost bought. TOO CUTE!

My next doctor's appointment is on Thursday (day after the ultrasound) along with a follow up appointment with the dietician. Hopefully I'll have gained a couple more pounds since the 11th.

Ok, blogger...you've distracted me long enough. Time to do homework...and watch Scrubs. :-)

2008-08-21T18:00:00.000-07:00

Ninja is a slut!
~halfpint

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