Ch-Ch-Changes

The temperatures have dropped, I have used my crockpot three times this week, my first (large) fall candle is almost finished, we've gone through two bags of candy corn, I've had more than a dozen pumpkin spice lattes, and I pulled out my ever-so- favorite 'bin' yesterday.  It was full of my sweaters, shoes, boots, scarves, and purses.
It's here.  Fall has finally arrived.  I'm beyond thrilled.

Change #2 that also brings me much joy...TOH's (I think I have adopted this as husband's new nickname...'the other half')new schedule has been a marvelous change to our days.  I am a very big fan.  He is home just in time for lunch each day, we take walks before their naps, then we have dinner, play outside, or...play dress up :)  Good, good times.

And probably the most fun change of all is this weekend's celebration.  A dear friend is joining the 'mom-club' in a few short weeks and this weekend we are showering her and her sweet baby boy.  She and her husband are not only going to be the kindest, most caring parents...but by far, the coolest and most fun!  Love you, Amo!

I haven't always been open, nor very good with change.  But these changes are all awesome events that bring lots of excitement...that makes me one happy girl on these cool, fall days!

Little (Hilarious) Lawyer

Lawyers.
They know what they want. They fight hard to get it. They argue for a living.
This is the new stage that Bug is currently in.  
At her annual check-up a few weeks ago, our pediatrician placed this perfect label on her back.  He said that is what he calls this age group and I couldn't agree more. 
I say "I love your dress"  she says..."No, you don't."
I say "We're going to Addie's house to play today!" she says..."No we're not."
I say "Aren't these cookies delicious?"  she says..."No, they're not."
It's pretty annoying after awhile, but also pretty damn funny.  I could tell her I'm going to buy her a huge princess castle and she would tell me I'm not.  God love her. 

And in between all of my worrying and stressing yesterday...she managed to crack me up quite a few times...some quotes from the day:

As I walked into her room to wake her up in the morning (I was dressed and ready to go to the hospital)...from a deep sleep, she sits straight up in bed, looks at me and (nicely) yells, "What happened to you??!!"  (she didn't understand why I wasn't still in my pajamas!)

While we are in the waiting room at the hospital, we get a text message from our good friend (who, mind you, is 35 weeks pregnant with a 2-year old toddler at home) graciously took on watching her for us saying they just had a discussion that went something like this..."Well, Bug, that's because boys have boy parts and girls have girl parts."  Oh my. 
Thank you, Corey!

And finally, when we were pulling into the garage last night from dance class, as I put up the door, she burts out with, "IT"S HOTA KOTB!!"  (from the Today show)  WHAT??!!  Where the heck did that come from??  And then she just cracked up laughing.

Exactly what I needed after the day I had. 

It's Good to Be Back

Back to normal.  Back to blogging.  Back to myself.  Since last Monday when we were told that Monkey would have surgery yesterday, my mind was in a complete fog for ten days.  I couldn't write, I couldn't talk on the phone, I was pretty much mute.  All I kept thinking about was "how is she going to make it that long without eating or drinking, will I be able to pull myself together enough to hold her while they put her under, will the surgery go smoothly, will she react okay to the anesthesia, how long will it take for her to get back to normal?"  And to think this was just a minor surgery. 
She was born with a tiny little 'hole' on her skin at the base of her neck, which in the medical world they call a branchial cleft sinus.  The hole was actually the end of a sinus tract which doctors were hoping would close up.  We kept an eye on it for the past 16 months, but it never did, so the doctors decided it was time to have it stitched up to prevent any future infection as her skin grows.  She had the sinus tract removed and is all put back together again.  She did awesome.  With the help of the other half, I did pretty well myself too.  Don't get me wrong, there were some tears as I walked away from the operating room after lying her down, limp as could be.  But I knew she was in good hands and within an hour she was back in my arms.  By last night, she was back to eating chicken, fruit, and milk and running crazy around the house with her sister.  We have returned to normalcy.

 
And not that we don't know what amazing friends and family we have, but so many of you sent such thoughtful and caring messages and prayers our way and we could not be more grateful to have you all in our lives.  Thank you for helping us to get through this experience...it was so great to know we have you to lean on. 

So for now I have had my fill of hospitals, doctors, and anesthesia...maybe in 18 years I will be ready again when they need their wisdom teeth or tonsils removed.  Maybe.

Sorry for the Confusion!

I know it's silly (and confusing!) that I don't use Bug and Monkey's real names  (due to the fact that I spill pretty much everything about them on here!) but in hopes of clearing up the 'guessing game' of who's who, I thought I would make it easier by posting their pictures and nicknames on the side on the blog which can be used as a reference at any time :) 
Hope that helps!
And thank you so much for all your kind wishes and prayers for Monkey's upcoming surgery!

Emotional Overload

Being an athlete in high school, I was used to being physically exhausted.  But never do I ever remember feeling as drained and numb as I do today.  I will forever remember this day.  In a matter of six short hours, I went from feeling excited to anxious, then worried, nervous, & scared all wrapped into about thirty minutes, and then finally sad, heartbroken, and mournful. 

I woke up this morning to a day full of change.  Two years ago at this time, I was teaching full-time, 6 weeks pregnant, and mom to a newly-turned one year old.  My awesome other half worked Sunday through Thursday 2nd shift, so we only saw eachother from Friday at 4pm until Sunday at 2 pm...less than 48 hours a week.  For the past year, after making the decision to stay home with the girls, we have been in the routine where we would spend the morning with dad, and then he would go off to work from 2pm-11pm.  But as of today, lots of good changes have taken place and he is now home with us for the majority of the day...lunch, playtime, dinner, bath, and bedtime.  We girls are thrilled, better yet, ecstatic.  Pretty sure he is too. 
 
On to worried, nervous, & scared...we were told today that Monkey has to have surgery next week.  It's a minor surgery, but still, it's surgery.  I'm a bit of a wreck...to put it lightly. 

And finally, as I was dealing with the news regarding Monkey, I got a call that I was hoping to never have to receive.  A very, very dear friend was given some terribly sad news today, and as soon as I heard the message, I knew.  I am devastated and have been sick to my stomach since hearing the news.  I have been asking 'why' all day, but I know I need to stop, accept it, and continue on.  My friend was actually the one to calm me down during our hour-long phone call.  I admire the strength, compassion, and true beauty of this person and I cannot send enough of my prayers and thoughts their way.  Things will get better, I do have faith. 

Today was hard.  Extremely hard.  It was an emotional roller coaster that I took about 3 rides on.  I will not lie and say that I am sitting here with dry eyes like I was hoping I would after writing about it.  But until my baby girl is sleeping soundly in her bed, post-surgery, and my friend is laughing and smiling with me again, I am not sure I can say that I won't tear-up at the drop of a hat.  I'm emotional, and today pulled extremely hard on my heart.

Three.

We were in complete shock.  A girl?  Really?  Are you sure?  For nine months we were positive we were going to be the parents to Brody Andrew.  And suddenly, we were given the best surprise we could have ever received. 

You rocked our world.  We fell head over heels in love. 

We couldn't wait to have kids, but we never, ever imagined it would be like this. For the past three years, you have fit right into our lives like we have never had a day without you. Years one and two were filled with some pretty memorable happenings ~ from moving to your new house, to your first trip to the ER and lots of stitches, to a seven hour plane ride to meet you great-grandparents, to meeting your new baby sister. 

And now you're three. 

Just a few of the reasons we love you as much as we do...

The way you love to dance with your dad as I sit back and picture your wedding day...

Your maternal way with everyone and everything you're around...

Your awesome sarcastic side that makes you 100% our daughter.  You have the ability to go from totally serious, sad, or angry to crack-us-up funny...

How you roam around the house with baby wipes voluntarily cleaning the furniture, floors, etc. while innocently humming and singing like an 80-year old man...

Watching you as you lay on your bed flipping through the pages of your library books and using the pictures to help you read the stories aloud...and

How you cuddle up against us at night during storytime and just as we are ready to kiss you goodnight, you say 'you can lay down and sleep next to me if you want to?'  

You are a sweet, sweet girl and we are so blessed to have you in our lives!

And here's a little taste of how we spent your big day...

some new shades from Great Grandma

new dollhouse furniture

the look when you saw your new Tinkerbell magic wand

playing "Dr. Tinkerbell"

and your favorite, Cinderella!

So, as you can see, we did everything 'girl' today. 

You are all about dress-up.

But in between costume changes, countless tea parties, and make-believe play in your dollhouse,

you got to eat sprinkles all day long!

That's what birthdays are all about, right?!

But best of all...

your dad got home from work just in time for you to enjoy your #3 Cinderella cake with him too!

We love you, bug!

Our Last Supper

In keeping with my "3 years ago" theme this week...three years ago tonight, we went out to our last dinner together as a "child-less" couple.
We went to Calamari's...I had a chicken salad. (no idea why I remember that?) 
And as we went to sleep, we knew tomorrow would be one of the two most amazing days of our lives.

September 2, 2007

It was a beautiful, end of summer day...a Monday afternoon.

I was sitting on our front porch reading my bible at the time, What to Expect When You're Expecting, and anxiously awaiting.

I was due with Bug today.

I guess it's a first-time mother's naiveness to think that all babies come either before or exactly on their due date.

I walked 2 miles, I ate spicy foods, I went to the grocery store hoping I would have to throw a jar of pickles on the floor to hide the fact that my water broke...I tried every old wives trick in the book.

And nothing.   She was one happy little camper and was in no hurry to join the world just yet. 

So we sat, and waited...

It's Easy to Fall in Love

Mulled Cider Candles

Candy Corn mixed with peanuts

Mums

Carving pumpkins

The hunt for Halloween costumes
Bug's birthday

North East Wine Fest

Our wedding anniversary

Open windows

Football, friends, and firepits
Apple cider

Jumping in endless piles of leaves

...and...my all time favorite...

the return of Pumpkin Spice Lattes!

I Love You Fall!

(Looking back at last fall, many good times were had

with these fun little faces around!)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

  Now don't be fooled,

my heart still belongs in sunny  Arizona, but along with wanting to be closer to family and friends, living somewhere that we could truly indulge in my most favorite season was one of the main reasons I wanted to return back east (or now, south, or mid-west, or wherever it is that we live!) And although we probably still have a good eight weeks of true summer left here...as it doesn't really start to cool down until around Halloween...being that it is officially September, I have dived headfirst into the best season of the year!