A midweek post...woo!

Hey friends. Watch out, a mid week post...can I get a high five?! Things have been going good around here. Zach is still working evenings, which stinks, but we're managing. He should get put back on days in a couple of weeks...probably not permanently, but I'll take what I can get. We still only have one deer, so of course, he's still obsessed with getting that big guy that he saw. I can't wait until January...at least I think that's when hunting ends. Jay is being as goofy as ever these days. He is a sponge! He is so teachable right now, and it's so much fun! He loved cheering for the Cardinals, he learned how to give great hugs, he now does knuckles, he is sure to tell you to "shhhh" when he sees Doug or a baby sleeping, and he tries to repeat every single word you say! My favorite is when I say "love you" and he gives me a "wuv wu"...precious! And as for me, I'm just rolling through the days like normal and doing what I have to do. :)

As for Halloween, we had a great night. As you know, I had ordered Jay's costume on ebay, and as of Halloween morning, it wasn't in my hands yet! Yikes! I kept asking Zach that morning to check the mail, and the mail was later than usual so I was getting so anxious! At about noon, I got a picture text from Zach of my little sea otter!! Woo hoo! Zach told me that it was a little big, and I thought geez, I ordered 12-18 months so I thought it was gonna be perfect. When I got off work, I ran home to grab the costume and some other things to take out to my parents house. I looked at the tag of the costume real quick, and it was an 18-24 month size! Grrr! I went back and made sure of what I ordered, and I sent the seller a quick note. She's handling it very well by giving me a partial refund. So, needless to say, Jay was having a little trouble walking in his costume. His feet kept slipping out of the little feetie part, and I had to roll up the arms a little bit. It turned out okay though. My mom came along with us since daddy had to work. First stop was great Grandma and Grandpa's. Then, we had a quick stop at Lara's and saw her cute little duo, visited some church family, and a few of Jay's great aunts. He was a trooper. He was fascinated with the fact that he had a tail. He literally chased it like a dog would. Too cute. He's enjoyed several pieces of his candy. I'm pretty sure Zach put a dent in it when he got home last night...haha. Next year is going to be even better! I love love love doing all of these things with my little man. Having a kid gives you moments that allow you to be a kid again...so fun!

I hope you are all having a great week. I get to spend tomorrow morning at Bass Pro. Be jealous. I actually don't mind going there...it's kind of a neat store. However, I'm not excited about what we're buying or the amount of money we're going to spend. But, when it comes to deer hunting...well, there's just not much compromising. I'm sure some of you understand. Well, I'm not gonna lie, I probably won't see you again until confession friday... :)

P.S. I mentioned in my post Saturday that I was thinking a blogger biggest loser would be fun. You might not have seen my post since it was on a weekend, or you could all be ignoring me...lol. So, I will ask one more time. It really doesn't have to be just for bloggers...just thought that would be a good way to get started. Feedback?

Confession Friday, better late than never!

I'm just so bad at keeping up with things! I really hope to have a regular post some time this week. Until then...

I confess that my breakfast this morning was not 2, not 3, but 4 cookies...yikes! Oh, and a big glass of tea. Ha, breakfast of champions.

I confess that I won Jay's Halloween costume off ebay on Monday, thinking that a week would be plenty of time for it to arrive, and I still haven't gotten it!! I reeeeally hope I get it or rockee66 is gettin some negative feedback!!! There's no reason it couldn't make it here in a week, especially because it's only coming from Nashville, TN!

I confess that I haven't vacuumed my floors in...umm...I can't even remember. Gross, I know. Maybe that's why I keep seeing Jay eating random things! I will get right on that!!

I confess that my husband took a vacation day for game 7, and I loved being able to watch it with him! Almost every game I've had to text him a play by play, so it was nice being able to experience it all as a family.

I confess that I have a secret tool. Maybe you've heard of it...it's called "Poo-pourri"...ha!! It's a liquid in a little spray bottle that you can keep in your purse, and if you're out and about and have to use the bathroom you just squirt a little of this magic into the toilet before you go, and no one would ever know that you did anything in there!! I ordered it online bc a friend told me about it, but I was in Keil's Pharmacy the other day, and they carry it! Woo!

I confess that we have really great neighbors. I am nervous though because the house on one side of us is for sale, and well, we haven't had the greatest luck in the past.

I confess that I got one Christmas present taken care of this week...yay!!

I confess that I really didn't like skinny jeans when they were first becoming popular, and now I'm on the search for some! lol, It always happens that way for me. Things grow on me after a while. I mainly want them to wear with boots...so we will see!

I confess that I don't understand why the squirrels that run across our roof sound like they are a 300 pound man. One day I actually thought someone was upstairs in our house...nope, just a 3 pound rodent.

I confess that I have zero plans for tonight, and that makes me sad. Just me and the little dude. I'm so ready for evening shift to be o.v.e.r.

I promise, well I hope, to catch up with you all during the week!! Have a fun weekend!
P.S. Anyone up for a Blogger Biggest Loser?? I've been thinking about it...let me know!!

Confession Friday

I confess that I might just be a "Confession Friday Blogger"...ha! I'm pretty sure that's all I've done for the past couple weeks. Oops! I'll just tell you what I've been up to via confessions...

I confess that I went hunting with Zach on Wednesday evening. It was....ok. It actually wasn't terrible, but I'm not in a rush to get back out there and do it again. I must say, I spotted the only deer we saw that night. It was a doe, but she never got in close enough for a good shot. But that's ok, because the whole time she was walking around I was telling myself all the reasons it's important to kill deer so I wouldn't cry if Zach shot her...ha!

I confess that I got a new pair of tennies, and I love them! It's hard for me to find comfortable shoes because I have really high arches, but I think I found a winner! Good thing because my "exercise" tennis shoes are from like 8th grade. Seriously!

I confess that I have the knees of a 70 year old. I take ibuprofen on almost all the nights that I work. It usually does the trick, so I'm thankful for that!

I confess that I have never cried when Jay has gotten shots, but I sure was close on Tuesday! The poor little guy had to get 5 shots...it was awful! He was a trooper though, and was done crying the minute I was able to pick him up.

I confess that I've been wearing the same brand, color, and type of foundation since high school. Why mess up a good thing?!

I confess that I had a pb&j for supper. That's what you do when your husband works evenings!

I confess that I hate hate hate cold weather. Yesterday was already too cold for me. Give me 100 degrees any day over being cold.

I confess that I'm not really sure when people stop using baby moniters. I think I'll use one until Jay's like 8...lol. I am such a paranoid person!! As I've mentioned before, I have a louder than a freight train fan at my head every night, so I would never be able to hear him if something was wrong. When did you stop using one?

I confess that I'm excited to go to Gracie's birthday party tonight! I can't believe she's already one, Adrien!! She's such a cutie...we had some good bonding time in nursery last Sunday. :)

Have a really great weekend everyone!!! I'm off tomorrow...woo hoo!

Confession...Saturday.

It's late, and I'm tired...but, I'm also completely bored since the hubs is working evenings now. I missed Confession Friday, so I owe ya a few...

I confess that I had to Google what tbt means a couple weeks ago because I have way too many tweens on my fb page that write "like for a tbt" or something to that affect, and it was driving me nuts that I didn't know what it meant!

I confess that I'm watching Forest Gump...it never gets old!!

I confess that I absolutely hate driving. I have the worst sense of direction, and I'm just plain bad at it...lol. I just started venturing around in Fairview by myself when I was pregnant bc I had to for my dr. appointments, but that's about as crazy as it gets for me.

I confess that I am terrible at swallowing pills. Recently, I had to take an antibiotic, and I asked for the children's version so I wouldn't have to swallow pills...i know, it's sad..lol!

I confess that I'm super excited to meet Lara's baby in just a few days!!

I confess that I just started using a men's razor, and I absolutely love it. What's the difference between men's and women's razors anyways?!

I confess that Jay did absolutely amazing on the car rides to and from my sister's. God bless that boy!

I confess that I kinda wanna start Christmas shopping, but I get so excited to give presents that I don't think I could wait that long to give them, and then I'd just end up spending way too much money in the long run.

I confess that I'm glad that Zach is off on Tuesday so he can go with me to Jay's dr. appointment, and he can be the bad guy that holds him for shots and not me!!!

I confess that I still have suitcases with clothes in them laying on my bedroom floor. Unpacking is so much worse than packing! This time it's all me...Zach already cleaned out all of his stuff...oops!

I need to go to bed...it's taken me like an hour just to write these out because I can hardly keep my eyes open! I hope you all have had a good weekend so far!! :)

Confession Friday!

Woo hoo! It's almost the weekend, which means I get a mini vacation with my family!! We are headed to my sister's in Mississippi way early on Saturday morning. I'm very excited to see her...it should be a fun time! So, here are my confessions for the week...

I confess that I'm hoping and praying that Jay does as good in the car as he did last time we visited my sister. We are leaving at 4 AM, and it's a 7 hour drive...so he will have some awake time. We shall see!

I confess that I went to Wal-Mart tonight and actually made an impulse purchase. What? Me? Don't worry...I saved the receipt in case I have nightmares about it.

I confess that my husband is on a weird shift right now, and I've realized after 4 days that I could never ever be a single parent!

I confess that Diana from the pumpkin patch gave me some good tips on how to make my pumpkins last until Thanksgiving, but I still haven't done it. Ridiculous, I tell you.

I confess that I've been meaning to show you all this.

That's right...Jay has his very own big boy toothbrush, and he loves it!

I confess that I ordered a small soda tonight because I didn't want yucky restaurant water, and fountain lemonade is gross. I drank about half of it, and I already remember why I chose to quit drinking soda.

I confess that I'm really tired of having a pile of toys in our living room corner. I can't wait for our upstairs to get finished so Jay's toyroom can be out of sight!

I confess that I just wrote about how Jay shakes his head no to every question, and just yesterday he starting incorporating yes! It's so cute because I think he actually knows what he's talking about!

I confess that I have a bag of snacks for our car ride this weekend, but I'm not sure some of them are ever gonna make it to the car...haha!

I confess that it's way past my bed time. Goodnight!

It's not quite Friday yet, but we will just pretend. I hope everyone has a great weekend...especially if you have Monday off! Yay Mr. Columbus!

Dear Jay

Dear Jay,

I had every intention on writing you a letter for your first birthday. Well, that came and went, and you are already about to turn 15 months old. I've always been a procrastinator, and you'll come to realize that eventually, but better late than never right? :) I don't even know where to start or what to say really because I can't even begin to explain the love that I have for you. I am so very blessed that God chose me to be your mommy. I pray that I never have to know what life is like without you. I promise to teach you about God's love and grace, and I pray that you lean on Him always. I promise to teach you how to be a gentleman and to have good morals. I promise to teach you to be kind and to have manners. I promise to do my best at being a good example for you. I promise to be a really good mommy and to always have time for you. You have changed my life, and for that I am so thankful.

Let me tell you about what you've been up to lately. You had a really fun Cardinals birthday party. It was at Lincoln park, and it was really hot outside, and you fell asleep on the 60 second car ride there and slept for an hour and a half!! I had to wake you up because your guests wanted to see you! It was a big party...you have too many friends already little guy! You got tons of cool toys that you love to play with! You were just taking a few steps at a time at your birthday party, and within a week or so you took off and haven't looked back since! You practically run now! You love to chase Doug around the house...it makes you belly laugh! Dougie tolerates you pretty well, seeing as how you climb all over him and hug him and kiss him all day long. You just started blowing kisses, like actual ones...you pucker and make the sound and everything. It is too cute! You always give random kisses, and it makes my day. You've started giving full teeth grins...you have 8 chompers right now, and 1 that just broke through! Sometimes you use that little mouth full of teeth to bite, and mommy is trying to get you over that real fast! You love to say ball, bat, hat, shoe, sock, hi, bye, mama, dada, doug, jay, more, eye, baby, uh-oh, and your own version of "peek a boo" (sounds like pee bee). You mock a lot of things that we say, but it doesn't all quite sound like the right word. :) Everything that is round is a ball to you...fruit, decorations, pumpkins...you name it. You love to point out babies, and you love to wave at people. You are mommy's best walking partner, and you always get really excited when we pass a dog or hear one! You have a cute little bark sound that you make! You love to brush your hair and pretend to put bobby pins in it...haha, too much time with mommy! You have had 2 haircuts already, and you're ready for a 3rd! The first one I did while you were sleeping, and the other one I did while you were playing in the kitchen...ha! That one was a little difficult. You play, eat, and sleep so well. I couldn't ask for a better sleeper...you give mommy 12 hour nights almost every night. And, you eat pretty much anything. You recently started shaking your head no to every question, even if you mean yes..it's really funny. You have some rockin' dance moves, and even the slightest little jingle in a commercial can make you show them off. You love to play outside more than anything even though we don't have much of a yard! You make me smile and laugh every single day. I am so blessed, you are truly a gift.

I love you so much, Jay! I look forward to all the fun we have coming up this year. Right now, I'm getting ready to get you up from your nap to go to the pumpkin patch...you're gonna love it!

I love you!
Love,
Mommy

Confession Friday!

It's been a good week! Although, tomorrow is the first day of hunting season, so things could change...haha! I'm praying that bambi runs right across my husband's path at the buttcrack of dawn so he can get back home at a decent time...we will see. This brings me to my first confession...

I confess that I cannot wait for hunting season to be O.V.E.R., and it hasn't even started. I'm really tired of spending money on all these little gadgets and tags and licenses and whatever else. I just hope it's everything Zach expects and remembers it to be...he hasn't been in years! This boy better get a deer!

I confess that I'm and eyebrow picker. If I feel a short spikey hair coming in, I just pluck it right out with my fingers. I've been known to get a little carried away...especially when my husband says "what did you do to your eyebrow??"...haha!

I confess that I stopped drinking soda about 2 weeks ago, and I feel so much better. I never drank a whole lot of it until I started working at the store, and it was so accessible. It got out of hand too fast!

I confess that I almost never make my bed. It literally takes a minute, and I still don't do it. No one comes in our room, so why bother?

I confess that my mom has found the magic toilet cleaner. All of our toilets get rings so fast because of the hard water, and I hate how dirty it looks. I'm telling you, this stuff just melts it right off...hardly any work needed! It's really potent, so try not to even let it touch you! It's called Santeen, and you can buy it at Ace. It's 6 bucks a bottle but so worth it!

I confess that I did my cousin's hair for her first Homecoming and we took some pictures of her after she was all ready, and it made me wanna jump back to being 16 again. I wasn't a huge fan of high school, but oh how I loved the dances!

I confess that I have no idea what Jay is going to be for Halloween. I have a costume put away that I'm pretty sure is going to be too small. I'm thinkin we may go with a good ole cowboy...the boy loves hats!

I confess that I'm super excited to have a date night tonight with my husband and some of our friends! We are going to the movies...something we haven't done in a long time! But, I am sad that I'll hardly get to see my little man all day. :(

That's all I got today! It's time for me to go wake up Jay and get him ready for Grandma's house! Have a great weekend everyone!!

Fall Flower Fun!

I'm so proud of myself...I finished my Fall flower project for outside, and I wanted to share it with you! So here it is, my friends.

I got these lovely planters on sale at Buchheit for $9.99 a piece. I love Buchheit. I discovered that when we were remodeling our house. They don't have a huge selection of certain things, but their prices are unbeatable on most items. So, I started with my planters and filled them with sand since I was using fake flowers.

I searched for flowers at two Wal-Marts and some other places, and they just weren't gonna cut it. I like the deep Fall colors, and they all had the really bright yellows and oranges...not my style. So, I knew that meant

a special trip to Garden Ridge...oh darn. I also love Garden Ridge. I'm proud of myself because I only came out with what I needed. I think it helped that I had Jay with me...it made me hurry along a bit! So, here is what I picked out for my arrangements...

I just started shoving these puppies into my sand filled planters and did some careful arranging, and this is what I came up with...

I'm in love. I love doing crafty things, and I haven't had the chance to in a really long time. I know they are gonna get faded and trashed being outside, but for now they look lovely! Oh, and I am finally the proud owner of a garden flag that I just stuck right down in one of my pots. I've wanted one so bad, but we have zero front yard, so I knew I had to make it work somehow, and I did!! Woo hoo! Here is my finished project...next to the clean as a whistle siding that my darling husband just washed for me!

Now, I just need to freshen up that door frame with a little white paint, and I'll be golden...for now anyway! :) I also can't wait to get some pumpkins to make things even better! Hope you all have a great weekend!

I'm Alive!

Hi Friends! I'm alive! Glory hallelujah! Last week I had all these great intentions of being very productive over my days off, but that didn't quite work out as planned. Monday night I was hit with some kind of bug and ended up in bed with fever and some other issues until Thursday night. I hadn't been to the doctor (besides being pregnant) since I was a kid, and I chose to go because I couldn't get rid of my fever. So, then I realized that I didn't really have a regular doctor because it had been so long. I just wanted to stay in town since I felt like complete poo, so I went to Dr. Mahtani. He is fantastic, so if any of you out there are looking for a family doctor, I highly recommend him and his staff! I hate hate hate being sick, so I am extra appreciative for my health these days.

Anyways, I thought I would crack up laughing when I read all my intentions for last week, but I actually didn't do too bad! We did have pigs in a blanket one night. We did do something nice and unexpected for some friends. I didn't set a weight loss goal, but being sick gave me a little head start...haha!! I did wash my bed sheets because I was doing everything I could to keep everyone else in the house healthy. So far so good! And, I'm pretty sure I've been a loving wife lately because I found myself out at that dumb deer stand again on Sunday afternoon, and this time it was pouring rain. It was muddy, yucky, and cold, but Zach needed help putting up his markers...whatever that means, lol! I didn't touch my closet, which is sad, but hopefully I can make my way there this week. I didn't get any decorating done outside...hopefully soon! I also didn't make it to the rummage sale, which makes me very sad, but there'll always be another one!

I'm excited for the week ahead! I hope to get a bit more accomplished this week than I did last week! I'm looking forward to a movie night with my bff tomorrow night, a trip to Garden Ridge hopefully Wednesday, and work the rest of the week, and a date night with my hubby on Friday. We are excited to see the new movie "Courageous"! I hope you all have a good week...stay healthy!!

It's a great week to...

So, I love reading the "Woman's World" magazine over my lunch at work. I just love that there's jokes, stories, pictures, recipes, diet tips, and so much more in that small, cheap little magazine. And, it comes out weekly! Can't get much better than that! It has a section that's called "It's a great week to..." So here it is, I'm gonna let you in on a few things I'm doing this week.

It's a great week to...

Have pigs and a blanket for supper...yum!

Decorate outside for Fall...can't wait!

Do something extra nice for someone...something they won't expect!

Set a weight loss goal AFTER eating pigs and blanket for supper! :)

Go rummage saling...yay for the Catholic rummage sale this weekend!

Wash your bedsheets...I'm just getting over a little cold bug, yuck!

Organize a closet...mine needs some TLC!

Encourage a friend...sometimes they need it more than you know.

Love your husband until it hurts...even if he is being a big turdball.

Count your blessings...I'm so humbled by the things God is doing around here!

Hope everyone has a really great week! I'm gonna try really hard at making it a great week around this house! :) Hopefully some chores get accomplished, some projects get finished, and some blessings are bestowed! Happy Monday!

P.S. Jay and I are ready for another play date before it gets too cold! Do we have any takers?

Oh, and I'm leaving you with these never before seen picture from Jay's birthday party...hilarious. I crack up every time I look at them.

Confession Friday!

Happy Friday everyone! I have to work tomorrow, so it's not really my weekend quite yet! It's been a quiet week as far as my blogging goes...I've had a couple started and never finished them, whoops! So, I guess I owe you some confessions. :)

I confess that I have a little bit of OCD. Like for real, I check our stove every.single.night. before we go to bed to make sure that it's off, even if I haven't even used it that day. I'm nuts I tell you!

I confess that yesterday was Doug's birthday, and I forgot completely! Even though he's just a dog, I feel terrible! So, we are pretending it's today. He's gonna get a tasty treat! Happy 6th Birthday, Dougie!

I confess that after I stopped working in the salon, I tried using cheap hairspray. It was even the expensive cheap stuff. Never again! It's terrible!

I confess that this week Zach and I started something new. We started planning our weekday meals out 2 weeks at a time in order to save money and for convenience. And, when you have an exact shopping list, you spend way less money at the grocery store! Every night after dinner, I look at what we're having the next day and set out the meat to thaw. It's working like a charm because there's no question on what to do for dinner!

I confess that even though I just typed that, we grabbed dinner last night...hahaha! But, it was only because my husband got some good news at work yesterday, and we were celebrating. Don't worry, that money is coming out of our "out to eat weekend fund".

I confess that Jay woke up earlier than normal today. The boy usually sleeps til about 9:30, but he had a really long nap last night so I guess that's why he got up early. And, my early is 8:45. Ha, I'm spoiled!

I confess that Jay is sitting in the bathtub playing, and I'm sitting on the toilet typing this. Lid closed of course! :)

I confess that I just might decorate the outside of our house this year for Fall. Until we can do landscaping, I'm going to have to do something! I'm so tired of it looking so blah, and we have some super cute Fall stuff at the store that I have my eye on!

I confess that I need to go! Jay is standing in the tub looking at me and crying, lol!

Have a great weekend!!!

Weekend Overview

Our weekend was nothing special, but that is just fine with me.  Zach doesn't ever find out if he's working on Saturday until Friday afternoon, so we just have to work around that. This Saturday he ended up having to work, which worked out okay because I was off. Finding a babysitter last minute is never fun!! So, that meant our Friday night was going to be spent at home taking it easy. We ordered pizza and watched t.v....good enough for me!

On Saturday morning, my friend Tanya and I and our littles went for a walk. It was a lovely morning! :) I then braved the crazy Saturday morning grocery shoppers at Aldi and Walmart.  I'd much rather go during the week, but I needed something to help pass my day. Jay always does really well on our shopping trips. He was an angel in Aldi. He loves playing with that dumb dangly thing on the cart where you put the quarter in, and he just smiles and waves at everybody. Then, we got to Walmart, and he had decided that he was done. He was crying and whining and trying to get out, and I was ready to make a mad dash for what I needed and get out of there! Until, the heaven sent deli worker gave the boy a potato wedge. He was perfect for the rest of the trip, which gave me time to run through the clearance aisle! Oh how I love the Walmart clearance aisle! I got a few things for next summer for Jay. The water wings were only 50 cents! And so was the side walk chalk, so I snatched some up! They also had these cute little golf caddy's with clubs and balls on sale for 3 bucks. I don't usually plan too far ahead as far as that stuff goes, but I couldn't pass up the deals!

Saturday night we spent the evening with the Voss family. Jay and Ty are slowly becoming playmates, and it's just too cute. Let me tell you, we had one heck of a dinner. We splurged and went to good ole Mickey D's. It's so funny how your lives change after kids. The boys made us laugh more than once. The little boys and the big boys. :) We came back to our house, and the big boys drove around and looked at real estate...fun fun, while Lara and I stayed back with the kids. We don't hang out enough, but we always have a lot of fun when we do!

Sunday morning we went to church, grabbed some lunch, and came back home for a little bit before heading to Zach's sister's house in Campbell Hill. Zach decided that he wanted to hunt this year, so he is hunting their ground. So, we had to go there to get his deer stand ready. This stand said it was supposed to take 15 minutes to put together, ha! It took at least 2 hours to get it somewhat assembled before he actually put it in the tree. We rode the 4-wheeler out to the tree that he picked out, and he thought he could just put it up. Oh, and picture me walking through thorns and sticks and all things nature in shorts and flip flops while he had on pants and boots. Nice of him to give me the heads up, haha! Let's just say after 2 more hours of "hold this, throw me that, don't do that, give me that, and what the heck are you doings" we got it up. Well, it was mostly Zach, but I was a good rope holder. We stayed for a great dinner, and then came home later that evening. It was a good day. Zach's sister also has a 1 year old, so she and Jay entertain each other! Oh, and note to grandparents thinking of Christmas ideas, Jay was obsessed with her Cozy Coupe! :)

We had a pretty laid back weekend, but it was filled with friends and family, and that's just the way I like it!

I may as well join...Confession Friday!

I confess that I'm kinda excited to join in on the "Confession Friday" fun!

I confess that our house has been ready for baseboards for over a year, and we still don't have them.  My husband wants to wait until our upstairs is done, but it drives me batty!

I confess that I love my family dearly, but I sooo enjoy the 2 hours I get to spend alone after all my boys go to bed.

I confess that I miss going to the gym...like really bad.  I walk or jog almost everyday, but it's just not the same.  I just wish the Y had daycare for babies!

I confess that I'm a tight wad.  I don't buy anything that's not on sale, and I love thrift stores and yard sales!

I confess that I have been terrible about brushing Jay's teeth lately.  I used to do it everynight with one of those little finger toothbrushes, but now that he has a full set of chompers, he bites!  The boy needs a real toothbrush.

I confess that the last thing on my shopping list is "a real toothbrush for Jay".  You know, in case I accidentally grabbed a fake one.

I confess that tomorrow (or today if you're reading this on Friday) is my 1 year anniversary at Deterding Drugs, and I couldn't be happier.  The balance I have between work and home is perfect for me!

I confess that, if I'm going somewhere, there's always some teasing involved with my hair.  Whether my hair is in a ponytail, scrunchy, or straight, I gotta have that volume!

I confess that Zach has slept with a box fan right by our heads every.single.night. since we've been married, and I still hate it.  I still ask him at least once a week to turn it off for just one night. Nope!

I confess that I love reading everyone's comments, so leave me a confession!!

Have a great weekend!  I think we're gonna head to the Musketeer's first home game! :)

And then there were 3...Jay's Birth Story.

So, I have to kind of back track a little.  I went to work on Thursday, July 8th, and little did I know that it would be my last day working before Jay came.  I just came home that night completely exhausted and knew that I was over doing it.  I always had Fridays off, so I thought I would just rest up that whole next day and be good to go back to work on Saturday.  Boy was I wrong!  I was starting to really feel sore when I was walking and had no idea why.  And then I found the culprit...really, hemorrhoids??  By Friday evening, I could barely walk.  This is another thing that gives me a new respect for anyone that has had these because they are really really painful and even more annoying!  Apparently, it's really common to get them during pregnancy.  Ugh!!  I was so over it all!  

My due date was August 4th.  I really didn't want to quit working over 3 weeks in advance, but I just had to.  I cancelled my Saturday appointments and began  my maternity leave.  I was hoping that after I healed up a bit that I could get a lot done in the next weeks.  That Monday, we were set to get carpet in Jay's room.  Absolutely nothing had been done yet as far as a nursery goes except for hanging some of Jay's clothes in his closet.  The carpet got installed in the morning, and that afternoon we were finally able to set up the crib and the changing table and get them ready to go.  I also packed my hospital bag that day.  It's a never ending joke between us because I packed my things in one of those huge Aldi canvas bags...haha!  I was at the point where I just didn't care anymore!  That day I had been feeling a little abnormal.  Nothing was ever painful, just a little weird.  I remember sitting in Jay's room while Zach was finishing putting the crib together and joking with him "I wouldn't go very far tonight". 

That night I slept on a blanket.  I was so freaked out of my water breaking in bed.  As we laid there, I told Zach some of the things that I was feeling that day, and he made me call the hospital and talk to them about it.  Sue, from Memorial Hospital, if you're out there, I hope you are reading this because you could've saved me from a lot of pain!  I told her what had been going on and she said "Oh, you are fine honey.  Things like that can happen weeks in advance."  Ok, no biggy then.  I went to sleep! 

At 4 AM, I woke up to this very strange pop inside my stomach.  Still, I had absolutely no pain or any contractions at that time.  I got up because I could no longer sleep and went to our living room.  I just knew something was up, so I sat on a folding chair we had in the kitchen because I was still leary of my water breaking.  I got out the computer, and what do I do?  Get on facebook of course.  At about 4:30, I kind of shifted the way I was sitting, and I felt something going on.  I got up to use the bathroom, and the second my feet hit the floor, I could feel this enormous gush of water coming out.  Luckily there was a bathroom close by!  I sat on the toilet and waited for this water to stop coming out.  It just kept coming and coming.  Holy cow, it was time!!!  I shuffled my way back to our bedroom, and I'm pretty sure I punched my husband in the arm.  He woke up all groggy as I'm saying "my water just broke!!"  He jumped out of bed and didn't know what to do.  I told him to finish packing what was on my list because I just kept feeling like I had to go to the bathroom.  Up until this point, I still had zero pain, but the instant I sat on the toilet again I started having hard contractions.  In the mean time, Zach is asking me if he can take a quick shower.  What a turd!  At that point, I knew that we had to leave right that second.

Everyone always says that labor is nothing like what you see on tv and in the movies.  Well, mine was...to a T.  The whole screaming car ride and running red lights, yep, that was us!  My contractions were not even 2 minutes apart in the car ride there.  Zach asked me several times if I wanted him to call an ambulance.  I just told him to drive as fast as he could.  We got to Memorial Hospital in about 25 minutes.  It was about 5:30 AM at the time.  We went in through the ER, and I'm telling them that I have to go somewhere NOW, and they still had me go in a room to sign papers.  What the crap?!  I would love to see my signature on those papers someday. Haha!  So, they wheeled me very quickly up to the maternity ward.  I got in a room and got on my gown, only with the nurses help.  I think they could tell that I was not exaggerating my pain.  She checked me right away and yes, I was 8 cm dialated upon arriving at the hospital.  I was begging for pain medicine, and they were pretty much ignoring me.  I knew it was too late just from reading the books and watching the shows.  Of course, like any other woman will tell you, it was the worst pain I have ever been in.  I knew that there was nothing I could do about it though.  The screaming mad woman in labor that you see on tv, yep, that was me too....lol.  They called my doctor right away.  They must have told him to be quick because he showed up in sweat pants and crocs, haha!  I was ready to push as soon as he got there.  Zach was pretty quiet throughout all of this.  I think he was a little scared, as was I!  I have absolutely no idea how long I pushed.  Everything is pretty blurry about the whole thing.  All I know is at 7:32 AM, I heard the most precious little cry, and I had complete relief from everything.  Jay Alexander Ingles was welcomed into the world weighing 6 lbs. 11 oz. and measuring 18.5 inches long.  Zach was able to cut the cord, and within seconds, I had this little miracle laying on my chest staring right at me.  He knew that I was his mommy. 

This is one of the only pictures I have of us in the hospital.  We have absolutely no pictures of him as soon as he was born because everything happened so fast that we didn't even bring in a camera!

So cute!

Delivering the placenta was a piece of cake next to delivering a baby!  I also had to get several shots in order for them to give me stitches.  I didn't care because I was holding my baby.  But then they took Jay to the nursery right away because they knew that he was over 3 weeks early, and they said his breathing sounded a little funny.  His levels stayed pretty good unless someone handled him.  He had to have an IV because he wasn't eating properly.  He just couldn't get the whole sucking thing down!  Then he graduated to a feeding tube.  We would try as hard as we could everytime to get him to eat from a bottle.  Some times he did really good, and others he hardly ate anything.  They didn't even let us bring him in our room until Thursday, the day I was to be discharged.  Noone besides Zach or me even got to hold him until then.  We were going to stay at the hospital with him, but that evening they told us that they needed our room.  It was our 4th wedding anniversary, and we had to leave our newborn baby behind in the hospital.  Let me tell you, Zach and I bawled like babies the entire way home.  We called several times in the night and right away the next morning to check on him.  They said he was doing better but still not as good as they'd like.  We stayed with him all day at the hospital on Friday and got up early Saturday morning to go back.  I'm pretty sure it was on Saturday that they removed the feeding tube because he was really starting to improve on the bottle.  We anxiously waited around all day for his pediatritian to let us know if we could bring him home.  That evening, we got the great news that Jay could come home as soon as he was circumsized!!  We had to bring him back the very next morning to get checked out again, but the fact that he was coming home with us was all that we wanted!!

Jay started taking off on the bottle and never looked back!  You would have no idea that my chubby little man ever had such a problem with eating!  It was a wild ride, and I'm not in a rush to do it again, but every second of pain was so worth it.  Being a mommy is the best gift that God could ever give a woman.

My Pregnancy Story

Oh my.  I don't even know where to begin.  I mentioned in my first post that there was a time in my life when I wasn't even sure that I wanted to have kids.  Now that I look back, I'm pretty sure every reason I had behind that was selfish.  I'm so thankful that God had other plans for me.  I got to watch one of my best friends, Lara, go through her pregnancy and see the precious miracle that she was blessed with, and I started becoming a little more open minded about things.

About 3 1/2 years into our marriage, Zach and I started talking about what it would be like to have a baby.  I was still a little reluctant to the whole idea, but Zach was ready!  I started Googling things...haha!  My name's Andrea, and I'm a Googleaholic.  I read that it takes the average woman about 3-6 months to get pregnant the first time.  So, I thought it would be okay to start trying because it would still be about a year or more before we actually had a baby.  In November of 2009, we just decided to leave it up to God and see if He was ready for us to become parents.  Well, he answered us with a big fat YES!  On the morning of Thanksgiving, we found out we were pregnant!  Holy moly!!  I did NOT expect this at all.  I was in complete shock.  Sure, I knew it was a possibility for it to happen that quick, but I didn't ever think it would.  And trust me, I know now that I am super blessed, but at the time, I was scared out of my mind!

So, we had to go through Thanksgiving day with this huge secret hanging over our heads.  The following Monday, I called and made my first doctor's appointment.  I had absolutely no idea who to go to, so I just started making phone calls and ended at the office of Dr. Colon.  My first appointment was the day before I turned 6 weeks.  I bet I took 6-8 pregnancy tests before going to the doctor because I was still in such disbelief.  I met with the nurse at the first appoinment, and I remember her asking "are you having any sickness?".  My reply was, "no, not at all".  So much for that!!!  The very next day, I woke up feeling like death.  I have a huge respect for any woman that has had morning sickness.  It is absolutely terrible.  All I wanted to do was lay in bed, but I had to go to work.  Poor Lara had to listen to me do an awful lot of complaining!  My sickness started off with just feeling terrible all through the day until about dinner time and then fading off and starting all over again the next day.  Then, I went through a throwing up phase.  I would have to excuse myself while doing someone's hair to go vomit in the bathroom.  Talk about embarrassing!!   

I had my first ultrasound at 7 weeks.  The lady tried an external first, and she didn't see a thing.  She had me go to the bathroom, and Zach said while I was gone she told him she didn't think I was pregnant!  After that, she did an internal, and Jay showed up right away!  I couldn't enjoy anything because I was simply focusing on not throwing up all over the lady!  My sickness lasted about 4-5 months before I started feeling human again.  Yuck!!

Welcome the much awaited 20 week ultrasound!!  It was Zach's birthday, and we were so excited!  We told the lady that we definitely wanted to know the sex.  Within the first 10 minutes, she told us we were having a girl!  We didn't care either way, we were just really excited to know.  We had her double check before it was over and she told us that she was 98% sure that our baby was a girl and that she had never been wrong.  We made phone calls and phone calls to let everyone know our news.  We were already fairly sure of our girl name at the time, so by the end of that week we were announcing that we were naming our baby Brynlee Rhei.  Pink presents started to trickle in...

By the Spring, I was already starting to swell and swell and swell.  My feet and legs got absolutely gigantic.  I would bring it up to the doctor at all my appointments, and he never seemed concerned since my job required me to stand all day.  They were only concerned with the fact that my blood levels showed that I was anemic.  My family has a trait that can make you show up as a false anemic, so I wasn't worried about it. 

Check out these feet! It looks like I'm wearing a fat suit...haha!!

At 26 weeks, I decided to have a 4D ultrasound done since my doctor's office didn't have that equipment.  We went to a great place called The Ultrasound Zone in Glen Carbon.  It's a fabulous place, and I would recommend it to anyone!  Anyways, they allow you to bring family and friends with you, so my parents and Zach's parents came along.  The lady asked if we already knew the sex and we assured her that we knew we were having a girl.  We joked with her and told her she could double check if she wanted.  I'm not kidding, within the first 5 minutes her face went blank, and she looked right at us and said "ummm....this is a boy."  I wish I could rewind that moment and look at my husband's face again.  We were like "what??? are you joking??".  She pointed out the picture to us, and there was absolutely no mistaking that our little baby was a BOY!  Everyone in the room was shocked!  It was such a weird feeling to know that this baby that we had been calling Brynlee for 6 weeks was not a girl!!  Poor Jay...lol.  So, we had to make all those same phone calls again!  I'm pretty sure we decided on the name Jay on the car ride home.  What a crazy day!!

So after all of this, things were kind of normal for a while.  I just continued to get more uncomfortable!  I had another 4D ultrasound at the end of May, and my last regular ultrasound through the doctor toward the end of June.  I remember at my last ultrasound that the tech was having trouble because Jay's head was already so low.  Hmm...that was kind of scary!  My baby shower was on June 26th, and we were blessed with just about everything that we needed!  At the beginning of July, I had to do the testing for preeclampsia because my swelling was out of control.  Still, everything came back fine!  I could no longer sleep at night, and I was just ready to be done!  I had already started dialating at 34 weeks, and at my 35 week appointment my doctor said he would bet that I would have my baby within 1-2 weeks.  Holy cow!!!  Ready or not!  Keep in mind that at the time we were in the midst of a complete remodel of our house.  There was not even carpet in Jay's room yet.  The pressure was on!

Then, in the early morning of July 13, 2010, a little boy was about to change our world forever.  Stay tuned!!

Just the Two of Us

I've always heard people make the statement "I don't remember our life before kids".  For some reason, that phrase has always been kind of scary to me.  I don't want the 4 years of marriage we had before Jay to be scrambled in with everything else and for us to forget the sweet memories we made along the way.  Don't get me wrong, our lives have only improved since we were blessed with Jay, but I always want to remember the fun times we had as a young, carefree couple.

Zach and I got married on July 15, 2006.  I had just finished beauty school that April and began my cosmetology career at The Healthy Hair Co. here in Red Bud.  Zach got hired as a butcher at IGA shortly after we got married.  We began our life in a cute little trailer in Knotty Pines.  It had awful blue carpet and ugly wall paper, but I can honestly say that I loved our first home.  It was more than enough room for the two of us and Doug.  My favorite part about it was this wonderful screened in porch it had on the front of it.  Sometimes I miss it!  I will never forget 1428 Peggy Lane, our little corner of Fuzzyland. :)

If you know me at all, you know that I live for vacations!  Some of the fondest memories I have of our first years of marriage are the trips we took.  In July of 2006, the Monday after our wedding, we headed out on our honeymoon to Cancun, Mexico.  It was our first trip as husband and wife.  We were 19 when we got married, so I was kind of scared!  This was Zach's first plane ride and his first time out of the country, so it was neat to experience it with him.  We had caught an awesome deal and stayed at a really nice place...The Crown Paradise Club.  It was the first time either of us had went on an All-Inclusive vacation.  It was simply amazing.  We spent the majority of our time on the beach and eating!  Let me tell you, Zach took full advantage of the free room service.  I can remember being woke up to Mexicans knocking on our door in the middle of the night with cheeseburgers and trays of soda.  He wanted his moneys worth I guess!  I will never forget the night we were out walking along the beach, and we came across a gigantic sea turtle preparing to lay her eggs.  What a neat experience!!  We also had fun snorkeling even though it was a little sketchy.  They basically took you on a boat ride and dropped you off in the open ocean and said have at it!  Supposedly there was a shark swimming around beneath us, but I'm still not sure if I believe that one.  All in all, it was a fabulous first trip as a married couple!

The rest of that year is kind of a blur to me.  The first year of marriage is always a little tough as you're learning new things about each other and taking on all new kinds of responsibilites!   The end of that year

we began our search for a house.

In May of 2007, we headed to Montego Bay, Jamaica.  We were so obsessed with our All-Inclusive vacation the year before that we had to go again and bring family this time!  It was a very last minute trip.  If I remember correctly, it was planned in about a month's time.  My parents and my sister came along.  We did about the same thing...layed on the beach and ate!  We did go horseback riding which was a great experience.  We even got to ride the horses through the water!  I loved it!  It was a fun vacation.  Being with family always makes things more fun and definitely more interesting!

Then, a couple months later, we bought a house!  We became home owners in July of 2007.  I will dedicate an entire post to our house.  It wasn't your average project! ;)

This is going to have to be a two part post.  I don't want to bore you to death!! haha.  I will walk through the next few years of events and some other fun memories pre-baby on another day.  Have any of you gone somewhere you absolutely love?  We are always looking for somewhere new to go.  Now, we are just looking for kid friendly places!! :)

Here I am...

I've finally given in!  I can honestly say that I never thought I would have a blog.  I find myself, everyday, writing little notes about things that my son does or says in hopes that I will remember these oh so precious moments of his life years down the road.  I have a terrible memory.  I don't have many specific memories of things until someone reminds me of them.  So, I figured, if anything this will help me "track" life from here on out.  That is, if I keep up with it! ;)  So, here I am.

I'm pretty confident that anyone who reads this already knows who I am, but here's a little "about me".  I'm a wife to my high school sweetheart, Zach and a mother of the most handsome little 1 year old boy named Jay.  My husband and I have been together for 9 years and married for 5 of them.  Seeing a young, cocky high school football player develop into a hardworking, gentle father has been the experience of a lifetime.  He has changed so much over the years!  Sure, we have issues like any other married couple, but I wouldn't want to journey through life with anyone but him. 

Jay is 13 1/2 months old.  He is definitely on the move.  He started walking a little over a month ago, and now he's practically running.  He is so much fun!  I love seeing his little personality develop in a new way everyday.  At one point in my life I wasn't sure if I wanted kids, and boy am I glad that God changed my heart.  He is such a blessing to our lives. 

Oh, and I almost forgot, he is best buds with our 6 year old boxer, Doug. 

I look forward to sharing new, fun experiences with everyone and re-living some old ones! 

P.S. How do ya like the name of my blog?  Haha!  I know it's terrible, but that's all I could come up with!!  I even just deleted it a little bit ago in hopes that I could come up with something else.  Nothin! 

Have a great Thursday!!