99 Things

I stole this from Lil Misa :) The ones that are in bold are the things that I have done in my life so far. I love these because they truly remind me of how lucky I am and what a great life I've had and continue to have. It's good to have that reminder every once in awhile.

1. started your own blog
2. slept under the stars
3. played in a band
4. visited Hawaii
5. watched a meteor shower
6. given more than you can afford to charity
7. been to Disneyland
8. climbed a mountain
9. held a praying mantis
10. sang a solo
11. bungee jumped
12. visited Paris
13. watched a lightening storm
14. taught yourself an art from scratch
15. adopted a child
16. had food poisoning
17. walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. grown your own vegetables
19. seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. slept on an overnight train
21. had a pillow fight
22. hitch hiked
23. taken a sick day when you're not sick
24. built a snow fort
25. held a lamb
26. gone skinny dipping
27. run a marathon
28. ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. seen a total eclipse
30. watched a sunrise/sunset
31. hit a home run
32. been on a cruise
33. seen Niagara Falls in person
34. visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. seen an Amish community
36. taught yourself a new language
37. had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. gone rock climbing
40. seen Michelangelo's David
41. sung karaoke
42. seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. visited Africa
45. walked on a beach by moonlight
46. been transported in an ambulance
47. had your portrait painted
48. gone deep sea fishing
49. seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. kissed in the rain
53. played in the mud
54. gone to a drive-in theatre
55. been in a movie
56. visited the Great Wall of China
57. started a business
58. taken a martial arts class
59. visited Russia
60. served at a soup kitchen
61. sold Girl Scout cookies
62. gone whale watching
63. got flowers for no reason
64. donated blood, platelets, or plasma
65. gone sky diving
66. visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. bounced a check
68. flown in a helicopter
69. saved a favorite childhood toy
70. visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. eaten Caviar
72. pieced a quilt
73. stood in Times Square
74. toured the Everglades
75. been fired from a job
76. seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. broken a bone
78. been a passenger on a motorcycle
79. seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. published a book
81. visited the Vatican
82. bought a brand new car
83. walked in Jerusalem
84. had your picture in the newspaper
85. kissed a stranger at midnight on New Years Eve
86. visited the White House
87. killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. had chickenpox
89. saved someone's life
90. sat on a jury
91. met someone famous
92. joined a book club
93. got a tattoo
94. had a baby
95. seen the Alamo in person
96. swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. been involved in a law suit
98. owned a cell phone
99. been stung by a bee

All About Daddy

I'm very lucky to have such a great husband and outstanding father as my support at home. He's so great with Jeffrey, and Jeffrey LOVES playing and being with him. He's even started showing excitement when Jony gets home from work, which makes his day. It's all come pretty naturally to Jony, and he loves being a dad. However, he's extremely jealous that I have so much outside support. From e-friends, e-friends that I've met in person, and the hospital support group, I have a bunch of people that I can go to with a question or a vent. He doesn't really have anyone. He has a few guys at work that he's started talking to, but most of them are quite a bit older than him. I guess that's one of the downfalls of having kids younger than most. He mentions quite often that he wishes that he had an online group of dads that he could talk to. I need to get out there and make some more mom friends so that he can make some dad friends.

Out and About

I always knew that I wanted to be a stay at home mom, and I was right. I love it. I never could see myself doing anything else (which posed an issue when trying to decide a major in college). However, I cannot be a stay at home home mom. Meaning- I have to get out of the house. On the days that I don't go anywhere, I go insane and get frustrated way too easily. So, I've started looking around for ways to force myself to get out. I'm no good at just leaving to go stroll around Target- I need to have something to do. I also need to find some more moms with kids Jeffrey's age both for playmates for him and some friends for myself that are at the same stage of life that I am. I've already been going to a support group for new moms that my hospital has (open to everyone, though) on Wednesday morning that's been nice. I get some mom interaction and also discuss some of the troubles/issues that you go through as a new mom. I also have a LLL meeting once a month. I need more, though. I've printed two free trial passes to test the waters of a Stroller Fit class and a Mommy and Me Yoga class. I think both will be great physically and emotionally. Plus, the Stroller Fit has other events and outings, too. Providing those work out and I like them, I'll have something every morning!!

2 Month Appointment

Jeffrey got an A+ from his pediatrician this morning- he's meeting all milestones and is in perfect health/condition. Yay! Jeffrey, again, really liked her and kept trying to have a conversation with her. He was smiling away! She was impressed with his "communication" skills. We just may have a talker on our hands. I did really well today, too. I almost broke down crying at the last appointment when he got his vaccine, but I was strong today! I held his hand and kept him as calm as I could. He ended up getting two shots (Pentacel and the second Hep B) and drank the stuff for Rotavirus. The shot lady was very impressed with his drinking skills- he downed the whole drink. She wants him to come back and teach all the other babies how to do it. He handled the first shot super well with just a pouty lip, but I don't think he was prepared for a second one. He calmed down fairly quickly, though, and now he's napping it out. He was pretty sleepy after the vaccine last month, so I suspect it should be pretty similar this time.

As for his stats, he's smaller than we thought! However, he's still perfectly average- 50th percentile. Except for height- 75th percentile. So it begans- he's going to be just like his parents, it seems. He's currently 11lb, 24 inches, and his head measure 15 1/4cm.

We go back in one month to get another vaccine. No well baby check-up, though.

2 months!

2 months ago (yesterday), I got started on the most amazing aspect of my life. It's gone by so fast, but it's left such an impression. Sure, I get frustrated sometimes, but the majority of the time it's pretty smooth sailing. If we had to make a guess, he's a bit over 11lb and probably around 24-25 inches. We have his appointment tomorrow to get the exact measurements. This last weekend was a bit of a turning point as far as sleep goes- about a 6 hour stretch in the middle (he sleeps in 3 shifts). That's been pretty nice. He's also forming a routine of his own which makes it much easier on us to know what he wants/needs. That, along with really getting his cues down, has cut down the crying to almost nothing in our house. We do know, though, that he has to work himself up in order to go to sleep. He gets super fussy and then- click- he's out. It's the wierdest thing.



Jeffrey's 2 month stats and milestones:

• over 11lbs and about 24-25 inches (I'll update this tomorrow...)


• wearing 3-6 OR 6-9 month onesies. They're all getting to be too short for him, but he's too skinny to really fill them out.


• holds his head up about 90% of the time


• recognizes his mom and dad (he's also learning his me-maw, paw-paw and aunts)


• is attempting to swing at things (mostly my boobs) but gets easily frustrated when they don't do what he wants


• he found his hands and is constantly chewing on them- he loves it


• he can also bring his hands together


• smiles all the time


• coos and is attempting to giggle/laugh


• will hold a rattle for a bit


• makes associations- lifting shirt=get fed, showing him the wrap=comfort/being held
• sticks his tongue out when you do- the most hilarious thing in the world to him

Do they bottle pregnancy hormones?

I would seriously buy some. My body is completely out of whack now, just as it was beforehand. As my OB says, my body prefers to be pregnant. This is why it tries to torture me when I'm not and rejects all birth control. Blah. I feel miserable right now.

1. I have a cold. Yuck. This has caused me to be stopped up, of course, but it's also made my nose all dry, chapped, and bleeding from having to be blown so dang much.

2. My ear is clogged. I went to the doctor today and, apparently, I have a hardcore blockage on my eardrum. Gross. They don't have to tools, so I'm off to a ear, nose, and throat specialist. Great joy. There may even be an ear infection under there since it's so inflamed! Again, great joy.

3. I have a sty under my right eye.

4. My hair is gross.

5. My skin is awful looking- pimples all over the dang place. Even worse, I have ingrown hairs on the nape of my neck. I know, disgusting.

I am in no way ready for another child or even thinking about it, nor do I really want to be pregnant again right now. I would love to have those hormones, though, so that I can have a normal body again. Sigh.

Post Partum Appointment

Good news and Bad news.

Good news: everything looks great! I'm fully back to being a non-pregnant woman. I'm not even bleeding anymore (although I JUST stopped last week, finally). Cervix is sealed shut, stitches are healed and removed, and it didn't even hurt to have the exam done.

Bad news: I am allowed to have sex now. Yikes. I won't lie that the thought terrifies me. Now I have to come up with other reasons to avoid it. I am starting to see a wee bit of sex drive starting to emerge (yay for not being on birth control!), so that will hopefully help. We only have pre-seed in the house as far as lube goes, so we'll need to hit up the store before anything goes down. Although I'm sure that it works the same as regular lube, I just can't do it. It's like it's asking to get pregnant again even though it's really not. It's my unjustifiable fear.

Sadly, I do have a reason for right now. It seems as though I've come down with a cold. Poor little Jeffrey has it, too. Blame dad for bringing it home. Punk. My left ear is clogged, which sucks. I keep waiting for the elusive 'pop' to no avail. I just may have to call the doctor to make sure I don't have anything more serious if it doesn't pop soon. It's really freaking annoying. Jeffrey seems to be handling it well, although he shrieks like we're torturing him when we suck the snot out. We got a humidifier and will use that, so hopefully it helps both of us.

Back to Work

I have a part time job at Curves. It's a super cushy job that entails that I do pretty much nothing. The "hardest" part of the job is to clean up at closing. Mostly, I talk and entertain old women. I've been off on "maternity leave" since the first week of November, and today was my first day back. It really wasn't too bad. I hadn't left Jeffrey at all (ever) yet, and I think that made it as bad as it was. My mom came over to watch him for about two hours until Jony got home, so I knew that he was in good hands. Once I got into the car and out of the driveway, I was alright. Sure, I missed him, but I wasn't insane like I was afraid of. It was super slow tonight, so I was able to call in the middle of my shift to see if it was going okay. It was and did. I'd left a bottle all ready for him, so he was taken care of. Surprisingly, my boobs didn't get engorged. yay! All inall, it went well. It'll be nice to get that paycheck, too, even if it is super tiny. Anything helps when you send off the hospital bill like we did today!

I also found out that my best friend is pregnant! We work together and haven't really seen each other too much since Jeffrey was born. She found out on December 23rd and thinks she's about 7 weeks along-putting her due in August! Jeffrey will be in the same grade! She goes to the doctor on the 13th which should put her mind at ease. She had a miscarriage in May, so she's a bit hesitant. She's SUPER sick, though, so she's feeling pretty good about it. I'm excited.

Reflections of a Decade

The 2000s was a big decade for me. I'll never have another one with so many life-changing events/growth. A lot has happened since 2000- it was a great decade, and I'm looking forward to what the next 10 years will hold!!

Here are the biggest events of the decade in my life. They all made an impact on me and made me who I am today.

2000

-"graduated" middle school

-went to Australia for 3 weeks

- entered high school

-developed "the crush" (on Jony)

2001

-became really good friends with Jony

-made it to the top level of competition in an organization I'd been in (and still am) since 4th grade
:earned 12th place at World!

-went to England

2002

-started dating Jony (September)

-made it to World Finals again

2003

-got dumped by most of my good friends. This taught me a lot about being a true friend, although it took me a few years to let people really into my life again

-went to Florida for the first time to meet Jony's relatives

2004

-went to Poland for Spring Break

-turned 18

-graduated high school

-started college

2005

-joined Zeta Tau Alpha

2006

-my niece, Aly, was born (January)

-did a study abroad trip for 3 weeks to Ireland

-started working as an AARC Writing Tutor

-a big year for my relationship with Jony: worked through some issues and came out stronger

2007

-got engaged (July)

-went to a Leadership conference for ZTA

2008

-graduated college

-went on a 3 week Mediterranean cruise with Jony and my family

-got married! (August)

2009

-bought our house

-had our first child- Jeffrey (November)

Bring it on 2010s!