2 year pictures

We went to get our family pictures/Jack's 2 year pictures done today by my sister in law Katie at Mill Race Park in Northville.  Jack was crazy.  I've never seen him like this.  The playground didn't even make him happy.   We *may* have gotten one good picture.  (family).  Unfortunately, I wanted outdoor pictures mostly for Jack's pictures alone.  That didn't happen.   What really stinks is that my sister in law lives in Lansing and drove out to us and it was for nothing.   So, now I'm stuck with a decision.  We have to go to the studio anyway to get pictures in his halloween costume.   So we can just do studio pictures then.   But, we did studio pictures last year and I'm not sure how they will be different, except he's older.   I just don't want the same thing again, if that makes sense.  I thought there would be more options outside. 

Next weekend is supposed to be nice, and we could try again outside, but I hate to take the chance and have them do the drive AGAIN....

These are important to me, though, as they serve as the main decor in our living room, and our Christmas card picture :)   I could figure something for the Christmas card, but I'd like updated living room pictures!

30 years old.

Ok so that was a little ridiculous. But, John was taping it using our new Kodak Zi6, a little tiny video camera for taping baby stuff! We practiced by taping my mom, Aunt Karen, Uncle Doug, Alex and Jillian singing happy birthday. No one should ever be video taped while being sung to, you just look silly!

That was Sunday, we all went to lunch for my birthday. My actual birthday, today, was TERRIBLE! I have developed pregnancy induced carpal tunnel, and it was in full force today. My hands have been numb, and my wrists hurting all day. I was very uncomfortable most of the work day, and I'm just ready to quit! All kinds of crappy things happened today, but I'll spare you all the details...it was just the worst birthday ever. Fitting for 30, I guess.

We are having the kitchen painted tomorrow though, hopefully that will make everything seem better!

37 weeks

I'm full term today!



The baby is as long as swiss chard, about 19 inches, head to heel. I know, swiss chard doesn't seem big enough to come after the melons, but whatever! The baby weighs about 6 1/2 lbs. Being full term means that the baby is fully developed, lungs and all, and can be born at any time!

At my 36 week appointment, my midwife did an internal exam, and I'm already 3 cm dilated and 70% effaced. That is good news, because it means my body is getting ready, but it does NOT mean I will have the baby soon. I could, but I could also stay 3 cm dilated for 3 more weeks, easy. So, no one is to assume I'm going to have the baby early! I probably won't have any more internal exams until labor starts, either. Speaking of labor, I haven't had any contractions at all, so I think I'm safe right now.

We've done all the baby laundry, we've put together the pack n play, swing, bouncer, and we are going to Babies R Us to make some final purchases this weekend. The nursery is closer to being finished, we just need a cushion for our rocker, that Nana is making for us. We also need to get the car seat installed, asap.

Scary stuff!

Almost forgot to mention that I'm sick, again. I have had a cold every 10 weeks, since I was 17 weeks pregnant. That sucks. This one is much more mild than the other 2 though, which is VERY good. I need to get over it soon, because I don't want to be sick when I go into labor, nor when I have a newborn to take care of!

28 weeks

A day late....the baby is now the size of a...



Chinese cabbage, weighs two and a quarter pounds and measures 14.8 inches from the top of it's head to the heels. The baby can blink his/her eyes, which now sport lashes. With the eyesight developing, he/she may be able to see the light that filters in through my womb. Also developing are billions of neurons in the brain and adding more body fat in preparation for life in the outside world.

The only new thing going on with me, is my cold. If you remember, I had a terrible cold 10 weeks ago. TEN WEEKS ago! This is awful! I thought being in the 3rd trimester would give my immune system some more strength, but I guess not. Pregnant and sick is NOT fun.

We signed up for our birthing classes, we are doing hypnobirthing. It was recommended by our midwife, and I've only heard WONDERFUL things about it when you are doing natural childbirth. Our classes start next Thursday.

We are also painting our nursery this weekend. We are painting it Gleeful by Sherwin Williams. Thanks to Aunt Karen for painting her kitchen this color and inspiring us!



I'm very excited about this nursery, I think it's going to be SO cute!

I think I'm dying.

Remember that cold I said I was getting? It's here and it's BAD. And I might never get better because my body doesn't care one ounce about me, just the baby. It's all about the baby. Which I hear, doesn't suffer one bit from the cold I have. So, I think maybe my body could use a little energy on getting me better? Just a little? Hopefully the baby likes chicken soup, as it's about all I can eat when I'm this sick.

29 Sucks.

Saturday was my 29th birthday. John and I thought it would be a good idea to do something fun and young, since I was feeling like I am getting old. We decided to go to Cedar Point for their Halloweekends stuff. It was CRAZY busy! TONS of people were there! The new rollercoaster, Maverick, was fantastic! It has been at least 5 years since I have been on a rollercoaster, and it was different! I'm definitely older!



I did go through some of the Fright Zones, which is a big step for me, I don't do haunted houses. Way too scary! The Fright Zones were ok because there were sooo many people there, it was easy to stay away from the "screamsters," as they call them.





Towards the end of the night, we rode the Magnum, which has always been my favorite, and it stopped very suddenly at the end of the ride....after getting off, I realized my neck was KILLING me! I could barely turn it to the left! Me? Hurt on a rollercoaster? Oh, for goodness sakes! I thought you weren't supposed to break down til 30! And, I'm getting a cold. AGAIN! I just got over one.

My health is failing and I'm injured. 29 sucks.

Ugh.

That was me on Friday night. Done with work for the week. 2 more work days before vacation, out with my husband, brother in law, sister in law and friends for the Tour of the Town. Free wine and appetizers all night. Eating at my favorite pizza place. Nothing could go wrong!

Then, Sunday I check the weather. It's 83 degrees right now in Florida. When we get there? Thunderstorms initally. Then low 70s. Now, low 70s is nice, don't get me wrong. But I was wanting a beach vacation! I bought a new bathing suit, I was ready to get a nice tan, and see the Tigers. Now our game could get rained out and it may be too cool for the beach. And, the day we leave....back to 80 degrees.

Then today, I come down with a cold. Crazy fast too. I felt a tickle in my throat at lunch, and by 3:00 I was feeling like a truck had hit me. I even started my airborne/Zicam treatments IMMEDIATELY!

I just want to go back to Friday, when everything was great!

As negative sounding as this post is....I am keeping good spirits. John got me some chicken soup, and I'm feeling a bit better! I could still fight this cold off! And, we expected bad weather in Mexico last year, and it couldn't have been more beautiful. So, I'm also still holding out for good weather in Florida next week.

We'll see!

I did do a couple of layouts this weekend that I'm really happy with. (You can click on them to see them larger.)

This one is me and my dog Taurus about 26 years ago. This was for a scraplift challenge at the Zone. I scraplifted my friend Stacey.


This is one of Jillian...she is definitely a wild child! Love these photos of her.

Crappy day...

with a little glimmer of light in it.

Yesterday sucked. I was fasting, since it was Ash Wednesday, and it made me feel especially crappy. I was dizzy, shaky, and just felt awful. I fast twice a year every year and I have never felt this bad. At the end of the day at work, I decided to eat a granola bar and see if it helped. If I was sick because of fasting, it should have. I wanted to throw up as soon as I ate it. I didn't, but it did not help at all. I came home and ate some dinner (big mistake) and I was sick all night. I mananged to get down to the computer for a few minutes because I was expecting some news, and I got what I was looking for...just not EXACTLY what I was looking for. The Scrapbook Zone was choosing their new design team, and I wasn't chosen. Just what I needed in between trips to the bathroom.

John thinks it's good, he says there is something else out there for me to do. I don't know. I like being part of something, so I enjoy design teams a lot more than getting published, so I'm not going to be submitting like crazy or anything, and I've now been turned down for 3 design teams, so I don't know that I want to try again any time soon.

My friend Benita did get on the team, though, and I'm so happy for her! And the rest of the team, it is a great team to be a part of and Kelley and Kevin and Sue are great to work with!

My glimmer of happiness for yesterday? We are going to spring training!!! In Florida!! In 3 weeks!!!! I'm soooooo excited! And now that I'm feeling better, I can really feel excited about it! We are going to a game against Philadelphia and maybe a game against Cincinnati.

Oh and one more thing. I don't get into stuff like this on my blog much, but it is scary. I don't shop at Walmart, because I don't want China to take over the world. Now Chrysler is for sale, and China is looking to buy it. Not good. Especially not good for our already suffering Michigan economy. So, please, unless you want to start learning Chinese, PLEASE don't buy Chinese cars. They are coming, and they will be cheap. STAY STRONG!

Go Colts!

First, let me say this: I'm not a football fan. I can watch any other sport and follow it quite well. Not the case with football. But, when you live with my husband, a little bit rubs off no matter how hard you resist. So, I can appreciate it a little bit.

That, combined with lots of Indiana blood (No, I have never lived there), I'm thrilled that the Colts are going to the Superbowl. Since the Lions just missed it (Ha!), there isn't any other team I would rather be there.

And, how can you not like Peyton Manning?

Go Colts!

In other news...the weekend sucked. The ONLY good thing about this weekend, is that I didn't have to go to work. A cable line fell on our house, we don't have a working vehicle if there is precipitation outside, we spent an hour pushing my stupid truck up and down our driveway (don't ask). We missed TigerFest. Did I mention we can't drive in precipitation? And, it's January, and snowy? My bluetooth doesn't work anymore (not that it matters since I won't be doing any driving anytime soon).

I did get my first layout done for my Heidi Swapp "A Year to Remember" Class. We were to scrap a goal. This class rocks.

Oh my goodness.

We are hosting a New Year's Eve party.

The house is a disaster from Christmas.

I've gained about 5 pounds this Christmas season.

The party is Sunday.

I have to work Friday and Saturday!

I need help!

Tommorow's Gonna Be Another Day...

quoting a really early Monkee song there....

Ok, so this has been one of the worst days I've had in a long time. Super busy at work...I have a headache still that I came home with, I have developed a cold sore this afternoon, I didn't make the finals for a design team I was really excited about, the Tigers lost (we are now 0-4), we may not be able to go to any more games this season because we are bad luck, and I think I'm getting a cold. And it's 1:00 am and I'm not in bed.

So, on that note, I'm going to bed. Tomorrow can only get better, right?

Can this day get any worse??

First, it started with a really terrible day at work, followed by a headache that wouldn't leave.

Then, I found out that Stevie Y, our Red Wing captain for the last 20 years is retiring. Ok, we knew it was going to happen, and we knew it would be soon. But, it still hurts. Things just won't be the same.

Then, I thought to myself, Self, look at it this way, things can't get worse...you have the day off tomorrow! Nothing is better than a day off work. Things are good.


Then can you guess what happened? Ben Wallace, the face of the Detroit Pistons, has accepted the Chicago Bulls offer. He is no longer a Piston. Nobody really thought he would leave. He loves Detroit. Or, I suppose loved Detroit. Then again, maybe he didn't. I mean, we offered him $48 million and they offered him $52 million. When you are talking that many millions, does it really make a difference???? I'm really disappointed, Ben. What an incredible group of 5 guys we had.

Thank goodness for the Tigers. Did I mention the Tigers are the best team in baseball right now? That Pudge Rodriguez is the starting catcher for the All Star game? That Kenny Rogers is pitching in the All Star game? At least the Tigers can't disappoint me!