Patience

"Patience is a virtue, have them if you can. Seldom in a woman, but never in a man."

This is a quote that my mother in law uses often. When I tried researching its author I came across another version of this quote "Patience is a virtue. Possess it if you can! Found seldom in a woman, and NEVER in a man" author unknown

I never really thought too much about it until recently. I feel like every ounce of patience that I "DID" have is completely gone! I'm not saying that I had much to begin with, and I know Marcus would agree that I have very little patience because he tells me just about every day. But in the past week or so I have noticed a significant decrease in my level of patience; in all aspects of my life. I see myself more annoyed by things that don't even concern me, like other drivers on the road, or things I see on TV. But on a more personal level I see myself being annoyed by some of the things that Kaylee does (more so the things she doesn't do), and I am sure that I have been more impatient when it comes to Marcus as well. "Marcus feel free to keep your comments to yourself!"

After last nights "adventure" I realized that it is completely out of my control and I just need a little more patience. This baby will come when he/she is ready to come, not necessarily when I am ready for him/her. Because God knows I am READY for this baby to come! So I am going to try my hardest to muster up any remaining patience I have and try to relax for the rest of this pregnancy. I will probably end up enjoying the next few weeks instead of feeling so uncomfortable and miserable.

I'm not quite sure if my mother in law reads my blog, but if so then......
"I thank you for teaching me that quote, it is very meaningful to me in my present state and I am sure that it will help me through these last few weeks."

2nd False Alarm

Last week I thought that I might be going into labor. My contractions were regular at 12 minutes apart but not getting closer or stronger. Then after a couple of hours they just tapered off and then stopped.

Yesterday I felt kinda "off" most of the day with more intense contractions and pressure very sporadic throughout the late morning and early afternoon. I finally started timing them later in the evening and found I am having more than I thought. But once again not getting stronger or regular. This time they were between 5 and 8 minutes apart. I called the nurse and was instructed to wait it out until they became 5 minutes apart and were more intense.

Later in the evening they became more regular so we went to the hospital. After being monitored and examined, they found that I am still 3cm and not progressing yet, so it is deemed to be false labor. I am going in for an appointment today, hopefully, to see my doctor.

So more waiting........

I'll keep you all posted

Funny Coincidence

Last night a package was delivered to our front door during dinner. Mary, Kaylee, and me were sitting at the kitchen table enjoying our beef and broccoli when the door bell rang. Tahoe went crazy, barking, and charging at the door. Kaylee asks "was dat?" I go and see that UPS had just delivered the package I had been expecting. Kaylee asks again, "was dat, a-ma?" (that's her new name for grandma) Mary said "No, its not grandma." Then she went through every ones name asking if they were here, finally I said "Kaylee that was the UPS man." To which she responds "ups?" Mary and I died laughing. She loves saying the word "ups" she says it when she wants you to sit down, or when she wants you to pick her up, but this time she said it right on cue when I spelled UPS. It was quite funny. Kaylee joined in with us laughing, but had NO IDEA why we were laughing!

It's Almost "that" Time!!!

If you haven't already voted on the sex of this baby, time might just be running short!

I had my first "exam" check up today, and found that I am

3 FULL cm dilated and

50% effaced!

I knew that I had made SOME progress I just didn't think that I would be 3 cm already. I don't know why I am freaking out so bad cause I could walk around for weeks like this without making anymore progress. But I have been saying for some time now that this baby is coming early! And I still think that he might! My next appointment is next Wednesday I will keep you all posted, unless something happens before then (probably not, but you never know).........better go get the car seat down and my hospital bags packed.

Frozen Meals

I have never been good at eating frozen meals!


Before we had Kaylee I tried a new place in Collierville where you go and prep your meals and then bring them home to cook them. This place helped me deal with my frozen food phobia. And we thoroughly enjoyed the fabulous meals they had to offer. So a few months ago I decided that I would revisit this place to prepare more meals for when this baby is born, and I am not quite feeling up to cooking meals every night. So I got on their website to check out the meals they were offering and found that they had closed about 3 months prior. I was devastated! Now what would I do to enjoy healthy, delicious, easy to prepare meals? I decided that I would try my hand at preparing my own meals and freezing them. I started thinking about what i liked to eat after Kaylee was born, and all I could remember was that i wanted to eat ALL the time! Mrs. Julie, one of my aides from my teaching years at Holy Rosary, made us a perfect recipe. I decided that would be the first one that I would try to freeze. It is what I like to call "Chicken, corn, rice, cheesy soup." I decided to make the recipe once and eat it to see if Marcus and I still approved of it. And it was a huge hit, Marcus said half-way through his bowl that he could eat this more often, and Kaylee munched it right up too. So I gathered the ingredients necessary to make 2 more batches of which i made and froze today. I have also gathered a list of other "favorite" meals we have and am going to be making them the rest of this week. right now my list includes:

• beef pot pie (minus the crust, that we will make when we actually eat it)
• beef and broccoli
• the all time favorite, chicken pot pie (minus the crust)

and a few sides

• twice baked potatoes
• spaghetti squash

So i figure after I make and freeze all that we should be able to eat a delicious meal at least every other night for 2-3 weeks after the baby is born. If anyone has anymore ideas of great meals that are easy to freeze let me know.

My ranting continues

The trim guy actually showed up today, 2 1/2 hours late, but he showed up! That is about the extent of the good news. The bad news is, is that I counted the doors that got delivered earlier this week and found that we are 1 door short. Not knowing which doors were attic (aka insulated) I wasn't sure which one we were missing. So I told Marcus about it this morning, and he tried calling the door guy (the one we bought the boors from, not the installer). But he no longer works at that company, keep in mind he worked there just yesterday. So when the trim guys got to work, it quickly became one problem after the next. First they banged the ceiling on the way up the stairs, then the wall, then the real problems started. Let me just bullet point the rest in an effort to shorten this lengthy rant

• we now have a door we did not order at the top of the steps and is too small so it wont stay shut (but we decided we are going to keep the door and make the doorway narrower to accommodate the size difference)
• the doors we "thought" were attic doors are not insulated, they are regular interior doors
• we are missing one attic door, apparently it was never ordered
• the window trim wasn't delivered for one room
• one set of closet doors were 2 inches too short
• the other set of closet doors were 10 inches too short (how can you be off by as much as 10 inches?)
• AND to top it off our trim guy is going out of town all next week so work will not continue until the following week at the earliest!

So now after all that we still have 1 attic opening that is causing a problem with keeping our heat regulated, and the other 2 that he did go ahead and hang are not even insulated (but at least they are there to prevent some of the cold air from blowing). The trim is almost complete in the playroom, and they did a little bit in the hallway, i would say that part is about 1/3 of the way complete. So let me think, if they would have shown up on time today or better yet yesterday as planned all of these problems could have been taken care of, but NNOOOO, now we have to wait til Monday to reorder the things we need.

I know there are always "snags" in construction projects but I am so NOT in the mood for anymore with this project. I'm wondering if it will be completed by the time the baby arrives. Heck the stress from upstairs might just send me into labor.

I promise this is the last I will use my blog as a means for my venting!

By the way did you all notice that the baby in my pregnany counter has been head down, the real baby inside me has been head down causing problems now for about 2 months. This baby is so low in my pelvis that a lot of the time I have that pregnancy waddle going on, Marcus even makes fun of me every now and then about it. And i only have like 33 more days. I cant believe it is that close, I am getting really excited about meeting this little one! Oh and we are pretty sure we have both a boy and girl name picked out!

COME ON!!! (I just had to rant.....sorry)

Are all contractors the same?

We have been at a stand still when it comes to progress upstairs, I thought i was being really patient, but i have HAD ENOUGH!!!

We still have no window in the front of our house, it has been boarded up and covered with plastic now for probably about 6-8 weeks now. We still do not have attic doors, so we are throwing money out the window, literally, when it comes to our heating bill. The trim guy, AKA contractor, was supposed to come this morning at 10 am. As you can see it is now 12:30 and i have not seen or heard from him. What the heck? Cant he call and say he is late, or not coming? I WANT MY ATTIC DOORS INSTALLED!!! The trim and other interior doors would be nice too, but right now all i am asking, in fact begging, for are my attic doors. That's it just 3 measly doors, cant you just come out and install my 3 doors?

I actually feel better after getting that out, sorry to bore everyone.

Tiger Fan!

This morning Kaylee asked for me to take her picture. This is new territory for the little girl who cant seem to get comfortable in front of the camera.

She came up to me and said "cheese, cheese mommy," while pointing to the camera. so I grabbed it and followed her. She went to sit down on one of the little chairs we got her for her birthday and proceeded to smile and wait for me to take her picture. Here are a few of the ones I got.

Kaylee's Birthday

Yesterday we had a little party for Kaylee's birthday. It was sorta a last minute thing because I didn't want to have a big party when Marcus wasn't going to get to be here for it (that's before we knew we WEREN'T moving to Hawaii). So one day last week I get a text from my brother asking what the plans are for Kaylee's birthday and i thought "Oh CRAP, now Marcus will be here I better get something together! Thanks for reminding me."

We decided to do another small "family" birthday party at our house. So my 2 brothers (and their girlfriends), my sister (and her boyfriend), my mom and dad, Marcus' mom and sister, and a family friend, all came out for the afternoon. Oh yeah and my brothers' girlfriends' daughter, who happens to be only a few months younger than Kaylee. We had tons of appetizers, opened presents, watched football, played with toys (even the grown ups!), and grilled out for dinner. It was a really fun night. Kaylee had an ABSOLUTE blast! And the gluten free cupcakes were a big hit too (compliments of Aunt Concha, who sent me a chocolate gluten free cake mix last month). Speaking of cake, Kaylee was able to blow out her own candle, which really surprised me, I thought she would be scared of the fire but she blew it right out......I think she forgot to make a wish though. Then when it was time to eat it, she decided that she LOVED the taste of it, but HATED getting her fingers dirty. She would leave the cupcake on her tray and lean down, putting her face into the cupcake, to take her bites. That is until Aunty Ceire helped her out by feeding her bites. The night ended with Kaylee's all-time favorite game of hide-and-seek. She loves to try and find Uncle John and Aunt Mary when they hide. But most of all she loves it when they jump out and scare her.

I'm sure next year will be a party full of a bunch of little 3 year olds running around the place.......I cant even imagine what it is going to be like.

See the slide show above for a few pictures of the evening.

Late Night Shananagans

If what I am experiencing now is ANY indication of what is to come, it wont be good!

This little monkey inside me thinks that nighttime is code word for playtime. He is not active all day, and then nighttime rolls around and suddenly he wants to do gymnastics on my bladder. What's that all about?

Clean bill of health

Kaylee had her 6 week post-op appointment with Dr. Shea today and she is doing "Fantastic!" She has not had any ear infections and the tubes seem to be doing their job perfectly. She is even getting a little more used to doctors poking around in her ears. That doesnt mean that she didnt put up a fight, but she definitely did much better than in the past. So that was progress, in my eyes! Let's just hope that she continues to stay ear infection free.

2 Years Ago Today...

I can hardly believe that 2 years ago, my terrified self walked into the hospital to deliver my first baby. I was scared, excited, nervous, anxious, and DYING to meet the little life that had been growing inside me for 9 months. My life was changed forever at 5:15 pm when the wait was over. I finally met my beautiful baby girl, and I was officially in heaven!

The day is still so clear to me. I remember so many details about that days events.

I remember telling the doctors and nurses that Marcus (and only Marcus) was to announce the sex of our baby when he/ she emerged. And then when the moment came, Marcus stumbled over his words, the doctor showed her to him, but apparently her arm was blocking the important identifying parts so he said "it's a.....it's a", and it seemed like hours had past (it was only about 1/2 a second) before my impatient self said "what is it?" And both Marcus and the doctor told me she was a girl.

I remember we had variations of Kaylee's name written on the white board in the room and the nurses and doctors helped us decide on the spelling.

I remember watching Marcus as he proudly texted everyone announcing her birth, and then him reading all the response that flooded our phones.

I remember just staring at her and being so proud and happy she was finally with us.

I remember watching as everyone held her, and seeing the looks on the faces of all her aunts, uncles, and grandparents who waited so patiently in the waiting room for the news of her arrival.

I remember watching as my little brother sat in the corner trying desperately to avoid holding her.

and the list goes on, I hope that those memories are with me for the rest of my life!


Now on to today......
I started the morning off telling her it was her birthday even before I took her out of her crib. We have been working lately on putting up 2 fingers, so i told her that she was 2 and we practiced some more. She can put up 1 finger but she seems perplexed as to why her fingers wont cooperate when it comes to putting up 2 of them at the same time.
Then it was time for breakfast. While I was making her chocolate chip pancakes she devoured a banana. After 3 pancakes and a whole banana she was still hungry so she ate an entire pear. She washed it all down with her usual cup of OJ. She said she was still hungry but i decided to take a break from eating for a while.
I had to give her a bath after breakfast because she had chocolate smeared over much of her body. After her bath we played for the rest of the morning until nap time. I was able to successfully teach her how to respond when someone asks, "how old is Kaylee?" She says "two" and holds up her entire hand. It is really cute! (but who am i to judge, moms are always prejudicial) After nap it was time to leave, so we headed over to grandma's house. Grandma greeted her at the door and as Kaylee ran through the house she stopped when she saw the birthday balloon my mom got for her. It was attached to a grocery cart filled with toy groceries that Kaylee could have cared less about. she was enthralled with the balloon! Thankfully my mom was not upset, she actually thought that Kaylee would like the balloon better. After eating a quick bite for lunch, I headed off to another dreaded OB visit, where I was to sit in the waiting room for nearly 1 1/2 hours, waiting to be told that I have to come back in 2 more weeks to do it all over again. YIPEE! I was able to run a few errands before my doctors appointment though. After my appointment was over i headed straight to pick her up. I hurried her into the car because it was dinner time, and we still had to drive home, which means that bedtime was going to be delayed. My friend Katie called right as I was leaving mom and dad's house, and while talking to her i realized that it was the exact time that I had delivered her, 5:15 pm. Katie told me where she was when she got the text message that evening and her reaction when she heard that she was a girl. That was really sweet to hear her tell the story.
When we got home, Marcus (and Tahoe) greeted us in the driveway. Marcus scooped her up (this is the first time he saw her all day) and they hugged and kissed. I showed him how she knows what to say when asked how old she is and he got that "I'm so proud of her" look on her face when she responded accordingly. I just love seeing the 2 of them together! After giving Oreo and Tahoe nearly an entire box of treats, we went inside. She did not seem hungry, and who would be after leaving my dad's house. He feeds her like a starving child every time he gets his hands on her, like i said before, I guess that is his way of "bonding" with her. I gave her a few bites of crackers and something to drink. She danced to her Sugarland song, I lost count after 3 times of hearing it. She played hide and seek with daddy for a few minutes before he whisked her off to get her ready for bed. Daddy was on bedtime duty tonight, so he brushed her teeth, put her on the potty, got her dressed, read her books, and put her to bed.

It is still so hard for me to imagine that we are about to do it all over again with another baby. I can only imagine the memories I will have in 2 years time.

Kaylee's Big Girl Room (in the making)

I finally settled on a design plan for Kaylee's new room. I am going to give you a few little ideas of what is to come. I am not going to give away everything though, you will have to wait til it is all finished to see everything. First of all the colors I choose are chocolate and blue with khaki and cream accents. Her walls are painted a color called Steel City.

So here is the bedding i choose...





(ignore everything in the picture except the comforter and the shams)






I am going to put a solid chocolate bed skirt with this and alternate between solid khaki and blue sheets.

The curtains are going to be solid chocolate.

There are a few other accents in the room that I am excited to see how they turn out, this whole decorating thing is TOTALLY new to me, so I am hoping it all comes together like I have it planned in my head.

A Few Maternity Pics

My friend Bethany took a few pictures of me and my belly. I really regret not having any pictures of me when i was pregnant with Kaylee. i wanted to make sure that i have them this time around, cause who knows this could be the last time i am pregnant (boo hoo, i am crying on the inside at the thought of that). Kaylee was not too cooperative this particular day, so Bethany has agreed to try again another day, and hope that she is in a better mood. Marcus, on the other hand, was MORE than cooperative! Haha


I tried really hard to pick a few of my favorites from the hundreds of pictures she took, keep in mind we have not photoshopped the backgrounds yet, so you still see our messy living room in the background.

If anyone has any special event that you want to have documented I totally recommend giving my friend Bethany a call. She has an awesome eye for photography and is great with kids too! I have been so impressed with all her work, not just the pictures she took of us.

Kaylee Dancing to Sugarland

This is Kaylee's new favorite song, All I Want To Do. She sings the "ooh, ooh, ooh" parts.

Our New BIG NEWS

It seems our lives have been full of gigantic news lately, so I figure why stop now?

Our newest news started to unravel a few weeks ago when FedEx announced the pay cuts for their employees. As soon as Marcus told me the that, I immediately started freaking out wondering how we were going to make it financially in Hawaii with so much less money. Marcus was busy trying to prepare himself personally and professionally for the job change and move all while trying to figure out how this pay cut was going to affect us. He was finally able to get some answers, 2 days before he was scheduled to leave. Turns out that the financial impact was much more than we could possibly bear heading to such a high cost of living area. So we decided it would be best to pull out of the whole deal. He spoke with many people about his decision and finally made it official on New Years Eve. I think we were both relieved by the decision knowing that we would have been putting our family in a horrible position by going. Now we are focused on finishing the upstairs and preparing for the new baby's arrival. I have been so happy having Marcus at home with us, and couldn't imagine us being separated now, as the plan was before. Not only are we working on the upstairs we are trying to get Kaylee's "big girl room" ready. She is going to move into the front room (the old office), to make room for the baby in the nursery. I am busy deciding what colors and designs I am going to put in there. I think I have settled on chocolate with some pinks, greens, and blues. I will definitely get some pictures as soon as there is something to take a picture of.

I feel bad that days after I sent out our Christmas cards announcing our move to EVERYONE plans have changed.


Upstairs Update.........we have kinda been on hold the past week or so with the New Year and all, but I would consider us on the home stretch now. We are in desperate need of attic doors, they will really help out with keeping the heat regulated and cut down on the never ending drywall dust! I believe all that is left is hanging 2 new windows, trim, doors, and the paint touch-ups. It is really exciting to have the extra space! Feel free to come check it out whenever you want.

Kaylee's New Wagon

Kaylee loves the new wagon she got for Christmas! Especially when Uncle John pulls her fast! She is going to have fun playing in it with her new brother or sister too.