Thoughts of a 20-something-year-old

He's Here!

2010-06-17T22:20:00.002-05:00

It is my intention to blog as much as possible now that we have a new member of the family to let everyone know what is going on in our lives. Right now I'm not going to add pictures because it takes me so long to add that in - but I eventually will. Anyways, here's what has happened so far:

June 12, 2010 - 39 weeks, 1 day pregnant

Eddie was playing in a golf tournament so Reece and I just hung out at home. He spent the majority of the time in the backyard with his neighborhood friends and I cleaned. Mindy invited us over for dinner so we headed over there around 7, with Eddie to show up for dinner. Mindy grilled chicken, made cheddar mashed potatoes, and green beans for a great meal (a huge step up from the pb&js I'd been eating since I was getting too tired to cook!) Around 9 I stood up to hand Piper to Mindy when I felt a gush - I tried whispering to her that either my water had broke or I wet myself but she got so excited the whole house soon knew. I figured out quickly that my water had indeed broke (but as I pointed out to Bryson - it didn't get on their floors!)

Everyone wanted to go to the hospital so Mindy drove me, Piper, and Parker to our house to pick up my hospital bags and to get Reece's stuff (he was staying the night at their house). We left for the hospital while Bryson, Eddie, and Reece took Charlie over to their house and then went back to our house to pick up my wedding ring (I had taken it off when I was doing dishes).

We got to the hospital a little after 10 and I was checked into my room (Birthing Room 15). They hooked me up to the monitors and did the strip test to make sure my waters had indeed broke and then checked me. Unfortunately, I was still about the same as I had been at my 36 week apt (2 -3 cms dilated, 60% effaced, -2 station). I was checked again around midnight (3 cms dilated, 60% effaced, -2 station) and by this time most everyone was there Eddie Sr, Stephannie (Brandon was there for awhile too), mom, & dad. Bryson & Mindy had went home to put the kids to sleep. At 2 a.m. they checked me again (3 cms, 60% effaced, -2 station), needless to say I was getting frustrated that I wasn't progressing as I was having steady contractions every 3 minutes. Around 2:30 they put in my epidural and I was amazed at how it took away the pain completely (the one I got with Reece wasn't like that!) The nurse mentioned that the doctor might want to start pitocin if I didn't start contracting but I told her I wanted to avoid it if possible. They checked me again at 4:30 a.m. (4 cms, 65%, -1 station) and told me that the doctor would give me a little more time but that if things didn't pick up we'd have to start pitocin to give the contractions some strength. As I rested in bed, I had a talk with baby about making his way out so we didn't have to have any drugs and when I was checked at 6:30 a.m. I had finally made progress! I was 6 cms, 85%, 0 station. They said I had made it over the hump so we wouldn't have to do any pitocin. I was starting to really feel my contractions at this point and hoped we were nearing the end. At 8 a.m. I was checked and I was complete! They got everything ready and the doctor was called. When the doctor came in, we quickly introduced ourselves (my ob was on vacation) and we got ready to start. They told me we were going to push 3 times each contraction and count to 10 each push. The first contraction brought the top of his head out and the second contraction brought him into this world! It is amazing to me that I had him out in only 2 sets of pushing! I also choose to use the birthing mirror and it was really cool to see him being born.

Little Myles was born on 6/13/2010 at 8:35 a.m. weighing 7 lbs, 10 ounces and 20 1/2 inches long.

Introducing Charlie...Charlie Brown

2010-03-10T23:54:00.004-06:00

Well the husband finally did it...talked me into getting a dog that is! We have been going back and forth for quite awhile about getting a puppy/dog - anyone who knows me knows I'm not much of a pet person and I was worried about how to handle the pet when he is at work or gone. I said I was willing to compromise if we found a dog that was female and over the age of one. I didn't want to deal with trying to potty train a puppy and deal with all the chewing messes they tend to make!

So yesterday morning, Eddie woke me up and asked me if we could go look at Nebraska Humane Society because they currently have an overfill of dogs and were offering all adoptions at half-price. Once we got there, Eddie led me to the one he had fallen in love with on their website, a female chocolate lab mix. She had been found as a stray a few weeks earlier, so they could only guesstimate her age (they think one year, one month) and had given her a temporary name (Lover). Eddie and I got to know her and found out the basics (they weren't sure if she was potty trained yet, she tested free of diseases, they spayed her, and she knew sit & shake commands). We put her on hold and decided to bring Reece back after he got done with pre-school to see if they got along.

We didn't tell Reece which dog we were going to see but he picked her out of all the cages anyways! When he walked past hers, she was up by the bars and licked his fingers - which he loved. We decided to adopt her and brought her home last night. We also decided on the ride home that "Lover" wasn't the name for her and let Reece pick out a new name. Charlie has been a name he's been suggesting for the baby but he decided it worked well for her and Brown...I'm not sure if it's because she's brown or from the cartoon (which I'm not even sure he's ever seen). My mom pointed out to me today that now we have a Charlie Brown and a Lucy in the family (my brother's plott hound is named Lucy).

So far the process has been pretty good - we are crate training her and working on keeping her off the furniture (she likes to try and sneak on when she thinks we aren't watching). Last night she wasn't thrilled about going into her crate but she didn't bark or whine either, which I was very thankful for! Reece has enjoyed taking her on walks and playing with her in the backyard. She seems to be pretty calm, if we're in the living room she just lays by our feet and she allows Reece to cuddle up by her. Hopefully it's her true personality and she's not just being shy because she's getting used to the place - I feel much more confident handling a mellow dog that an active one!

Stay tuned for the many adventures of Charlie Brown and Reece!

Christmas Shopping is Done! (maybe)

2009-12-21T00:02:00.006-06:00

This year marked the first year that Reece actively sought Christmas presents. In years past, we've been able to get him whatever he wanted and it was good. This year there were requests =) Including some things that we didn't even know what they were (hot wheels racer anyone?) and others that didn't get purchased (Touch & Brush). The shopping is finally done and here's a round up (I saw this on another blog posting and thought it looked like a good time waster)

From Mommy & Daddy

"I'm Your Peanut Butter Big Brother" a magical book written by Selina Alko - here's a sampling:

Baby brother or sister, will you look like me? I blend from semisweet dark
Daddy chocolate bar and strawberry cream Mama’s milk.
My hair is soft crunchy billows of cotton candy.
I’m your peanut butter big-brother-to-be.

Can anyone see why we love this book? We (well I) looked hard to find a book that was written about a bi-racial family & found the jackpot on this one for the big brother to be!

"Family Time" an amazing kid's music cd written by Ziggy Marley - Reece loves to listen to Bob Marley (it reminds him of Uncle), so I know he'll love these reggae beats!

Semi Truck from Target - this bad boy holds 23 Hot Wheels size cars - I saw it at Target months and months ago and have wanted to get it for Reece since then. I know he'll love pushing the semi around and keeping his cars in it.

Handy Manny Preschool Skills Book - a cool workbook that comes with erasable markers where Reece can practice his ABCs & Numbers

V-Smile Game: Cars - this was a pick from Eddie, he wanted to get Reece a game to help him practice his preschool skills on his V-smile that they could play together. I'm not sure how well this will go over (Reece barely touches his V-smile) BUT it was buy one get one free - so we have the next gift holiday covered now as well!

From Santa:

Hot Wheels Racer - Reece REALLY wanted a Hot Wheels Racer, this is what he asked Santa for and told everyone he wanted. Unfortunately, we had no idea what this was! I even took him to Target so he could show it to me in case Santa's elves didn't have time to make one and they had to buy it. We didn't find it there, but I ended up finding some Hot Wheels track that I'm hoping is the "Racer" one he wanted =)

Stuffed Kitten- This one was actually supposed to be from us, but it got wrapped in Santa paper =) Reece told me, "I have my two babies, I have a stuffed puppy, now all I need is a stuffed kitty" He's really into playing with his babies & stuffed animals right now - he's such a good "daddy". They go EVERYWHERE with us!

Stocking Stuffers include: Spiderman Electric Toothbrush - Dora Toothpaste - Dinosaur Magic Towel - & Reese's Pieces filled Candy Cane

Can't wait for Christmas!! And yes we do remember it's about Christ's birth, but posting about presents is kinda fun =)

Ps - Eddie & I are skipping buying "gifts" for each other this year because of stuff that will be needed for the baby & the fact that we bought a house this year, but we each had $20 to spend on ourselves -- I got a nice body pillow to help with the uncomfy pregnancy sleep and he got an Popcorn Popper =) I also got some money from my parents that I used to buy some products from my fave Mario Badescu (although I wish that my skin wasn't so prone to breaking out that I had to spend my Christmas money on that!)

Summer has ended...

2009-08-20T22:30:00.005-05:00

Another summer has yet come to a close...and how fortunate we were that again I was able to stay home with short stuff! Last summer we thought it would be my last summer "off" since I was graduating, but since I decided to go on towards my masters I got another summer of doing random money makers from home & spending time with my favorite little boy!

Reece started pre-school in January and all summer has been missing his friends something terrible! He's been asking when school was going to start again and got great thrills out of driving past his "new school" (they moved locations - he got a new classroom, teacher & friends this year). Unfortunately, when we pulled up to school on Tuesday - he wasn't quite as excited! He's a shy little boy sometimes, he wasn't sure he wanted me to leave.....

So, I walked him into the classroom & helped him pick out a book (Clifford of course!) and find a great spot on the alphabet rug (he picked "R"). He shed a few tears as I exited the room (but as you can tell from the other faces, this was completely normal!)

He was all smiles when I picked him up, he said he'd "like to go back tomorrow". Whew! I think it's good for him to be with other kids his age a few hours a day and learn the things that I might forget to teach him =)

In celebration of his 1st day - I took him to Coldstones thanks to the One2Try blog (I won a Coldstones gift card from them last month). Unfortunately, I wasn't very impressed with their high priced, not so good tasting ice-cream (Reece on the other hand loved his creation of cake-batter ice-cream, brownies, & "sprinklers"). I think I'll stick with my B&Js but it was great to share stories of our separate afternoons with each other over ice-cream noneless.

Piercing Ponderings...

2009-08-14T01:14:00.004-05:00

I was once fired from a job...seriously. I left that day crying - I had never been fired before (& haven't been since). Where was a fired from? Good old Wal-Mart. Why? Because I had a nose piercing that I refused to remove (to be honest, I tried removing it most days but it always hurt & bled and made my nose turn bright red). Here is a picture of me with said nose ring - can you spot it??

It's actually quite small (I wear the smallest diamond that I can find - well not a real diamond, but you get it). I like my nose ring, it gives my face a little sparkle - and also got me fired from a job. So that brings me to my current thoughts....am I getting to old for it?

The other day I was at the park with my son and saw a mom in her early thirties talking and I noticed she had a tongue ring and the first thought that popped into my mind was "that lady is way to old to have a tongue ring." But wait, don't I have a tongue ring? (Yes in fact I do) And isn't this lady only a few years older than me? (Yes she is) So does that mean that I'm too old to have a tongue ring? (I honestly don't know)

I've realized that as I've modified my body in one way or another (weather it be piercings or tattoos) they have become a part of me - I don't even notice them most days. But that doesn't mean that other people don't notice them. So my question to you all is - do you think there is a day that you remove things like belly/tongue/nose rings if not for the fact that you've gotten to "old", for the reason that it might cost you a job (and in my age - they are supposed to be careers)? I'm contemplating my choices as I'm finishing my last year of grad school and going out into the career world.....but then again, I am who I am - and I like me - shouldn't others accept me?

Are you a parent? If so, bookmark this site!

2009-07-21T01:35:00.003-05:00

Since we are getting ready to move, I headed over to one of my favorite sites Family WatchDog to update my address. I want all parents, caregivers, etc., to know about this site. You can have free alerts sent to you via email or text message whenever a new sex offender moves into your neighborhood. Thankfully, my new home only has 7 offenders that work or live within a 5 mile radius (pretty much what my old address was too - we are only moving 2 miles). The site allows you to map where the offenders live and see pictures of them, along with their conviction information.

I believe as a parent you can never be too prepared for protecting your child and this is just one more step that you can take in the right direction.

Information taken from the website:

1 of 5 girls and 1 of 6 boys will be molested before their 18th birthday.

1 of 5 children has been sexually propositioned on the Internet.

Up to 70% of sex offenders released from prison will offend again.

'09 Family Vacation

2009-07-12T20:53:00.006-05:00

Adventure Land / Kokomo Kove 2009!

Eddie & I decided that we want to take our family on some sort of vacation each year & as this year was filled with big events like the wedding & the house - we decided to just take a weekend vacation to Iowa. We had never been to Adventure Land and it seemed like a great place to take a 3 year old (kids 3 & under get it free!) Pictured above is Kokomo Kove, their new water park. Reece LOVED this part of the park, his favorite things were the green slides (the ones on the left of the picture.) He went down the slides a million times!

This was one of the "family" rides that they had, where all of us were able to go together. Reece was having a lot of fun by this time!

One of Reece's favorite rides was the bumper cars. He & Eddie rode together and chased me all over the rink. Reece laughed & laughed when they finally would bump into me!

My two favorite men!! Complete with Reece's new haircut (that he gave himself).

My grandparents live about 15 minutes away from Adventureland, so we spent the weekend with them. It was great to be able to spend some time with them and for Reece to get to do fun things with them like tractor rides with papa and picking peas with grandma.

Newest favorites....

2009-07-10T02:19:00.003-05:00

Lulla-Bear

I first heard of this product while browsing through "mommy" blogs. I then entered a contest on Susan Heim on Parenting and actually won =) We received this bear a few weeks ago and my son is in LOVE! The bears official name is "Brownie" but has been given the name "Lola" at my house. Lola gets played with during the day and taken to bed at night where she sings great songs to my son. There are three different "buttons" on one foot that play "slow" night songs, "upbeat" daytime songs, and nature sounds. Unfortunately, my son always picks the daytime faster ones to fall asleep too, but hey it still works! You can also adjust the volume (on the other foot) AND there is a usb port in the back (enclosed in the bear) where you can hook it up to your computer and add music/stories of you own. It's a little expensive for a "teddy bear" but not for a mp3 player at $49.95. It's a super unique gift for a baby shower or 1st birthday party though - I'd recommend it!

Shark Steam Mop

This baby was number one on my wedding list & I am sooo diggin' it! It heats up fast (around 30 seconds) and only uses distilled water to clean (=NO chemicals!) I've used it several times since getting it and it works wonders - it cleans up any sticky mess and takes up little space in the closet. It's really light weight and easy to push around. It comes with two washable mats & a piece that you can put on the bottom to steam clean your carpets. The only downer? You have to use distilled water or it gets clogged up =( and the steam is VERY VERY HOT! (which you would think is a good thing until you burn your bare foot!) You can order these mops of TV (for around $100) or local stores (for around $80).

UV Skinz

I won this UV Skinz long sleeve shirt through a blog contest as well and have been using it all summer. I was allowed to pick the color & style, so I picked the Jesse for my son because it matched his swim trucks and because it was long sleeved (they have short sleeved too). At first I was nervous that my son would get too hot while swimming, but it's actually quite the contrary - the shirt seems to keep him cooler - crazy! I love that I don't have to worry about the sun beating down on his skin (I'm one of those 70 spf mommies - even though my son has darker skin). The shirt has been a topic of conversation at the pool and I wanted to spread the news even more -- please remember sun safety this summer!!

Thanks for the couch!

2009-07-10T01:53:00.003-05:00

If you gave us money for our wedding, your thank you probably mentioned a new couch that was purchased with the dough - well here it is folks...our first "big" purchase as a married couple (the house isn't final yet - so it doesn't count!)

We purchased the couch, a matching chair, & ottoman (that has a lid that lifts up for storage) at Mrs. B's which is a factory outlet type store ran by Nebraska Furniture Mart. We ended up buying some different throw pillows out of a clearance bin that were a brighter color (the ones that come with it are too dark - see photo). We got a great deal on them - $10 even though they were on clearance for $40 (the salesman quoted us the wrong price & ended up honoring it.) We won't tell you want we paid for the couch, chair, & ottoman - but we got a good deal =)

So thank you again to all of you that gave us our new living room set!

Our home search adventure...

2009-07-01T23:00:00.001-05:00

So as some of you know - Eddie and I have been looking since last October for a house (yes, 8 months!) After looking at almost 100 houses and making 2 offers, we have a signed contract on a house and close July 31st! We are SO happy to have finally found the one. So here's the details on our future love nest!

Updated ranch that features approximately 2,155 square feet, 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, & 1 car garage. Oak kitchen cabinets, center island, pantry, extended family room with fire place. Refinished wood floors, bed room & living room ceiling fans. Basement with new carpet, tile, non-conforming master bedroom with master suite featuring whirlpool tub, separate shower, and dual sinks. Patio, fence, shed, mature trees in back yard.

The front of the house...

-there is a gorgeous old tree that will offer wonderful shade

-a little landscaping has been done...but plenty of area for us to plant some flowers!

-we're going to do something different with the brick in the front, not our style!

-you can see our nice one car garage, with some added parking

-i don't think you can tell from the picture but it has a PURPLE front door - love it!!

where do people get the time?

2009-02-22T16:46:00.000-06:00

how do people blog? i love to read them (when i have time) but can never find the time to blog...there is just too much stuff out there - i hate technology -- facebook, myspace, twitter, google readers (which i just figured out), blogging, smartphones, bluetooth....TOO much for my brain!!!

5 Minutes for Mom Contest

2008-05-28T12:57:00.000-05:00

This photo is part of a contest at 5 Minutes for Mom please feel free to enter or just browse around their great site!

"The Kid in You"

This is one of my favorite pictures of my son & I. We love to make silly faces together to see who looks the funniest. I love being a mom so much just because it really does bring the kid in you out of hiding! When you are with your child you can dance in the middle of the store or sing at the top of your lungs in the car and you don't feel silly at all.

cool new stuff i found...

2008-05-22T14:42:00.000-05:00

so today i was cleaning the apartment (amazing right?? everyone knows i LOATHE cleaning!!) plus, i hate having all the chemicals around my son...i was shuffling through the random cleaning freebies i've acquired when i came across "the ultimate cleaning cloth" - the package simply says that it cleans with JUST WATER! i laughed to myself, but thought "why not give it a try?" --- well to put it simply - i am AMAZED this cloth cleaned things so fast, so well - i almost started crying! i've been running all over my house cleaning everything with this little sheet! windows, tvs, mirrors, pictures, etc --- and what is even greater - you just wash it and it can be used again & again!!! so not only do i not have to mess with icky chemicals - i am saving those rain forests because NO MORE paper towels!!! i recommend everyone check these amazing little cleaning things out......

and speaking of other great products (although this one is far from cleaning related -- yet it is good for you!) "froose" its a cool product that my son was selected to product test -- and he couldn't get enough of it! it's made out of all natural, organic ingredients - so i didn't even have to feel bad about letting him drink "juice"....the juice boxes are a good size (4 oz) and you can order them online 24/7 --- i would highly recommend them to any of my mommy friends!!

2008-02-29T18:50:00.000-06:00

so i've always wanted to start a blog, but didn't think i had the time....but i'm going to start!

so the first thing i wanted to blog about are products....

- danimals drinkable yogurt is one of the best products there are....they are made specially for kids and my son drinks them like there is no tomorrow! for some reason he calls them chocolate milk (even though he always gets the strawberry/kiwi ones) and he can't get enough...now that he's old enough to open the fridge he's usually done with the whole 8 pack in two days....the only thing that i would wish is that they were a little bigger in size, maybe just a couple oz...anyways, if you are a parent of a toddler - check them out!

-cadbury eggs! rumor is that they produce enough of these things each year that every person in the world could eat one - i feel bad for my family & friends because i've ate their share this year! the eggs make their way onto the shelves sometime in feb & head out right after easter...so before its too late, grab some! i'm not sure if its the specialty cocoa they use in their chocolate or the sweet egg yolk/whites inside that make it so good - but they are the best....don't go for the little dozen pack, they might look cute - but they don't taste near as good!

-diet dr.pepper chocolate covered cherry - holy crap, super bad!!!!! i'm not sure exactly what the taste is but it's somewhere between a melted tootsie roll and a cherry gummy...not my idea of a sweet drink...i even tried drinking it on 2 different days (just to make sure that my taste buds weren't off) but it was even worse the second time! at least i got a $1 off coupon for my next purchase (of regular dr. pepper thankfully!) off the wrapper!

that's it for now..i'll be back