Reader Poll

I read a hilarious, but thought provoking post on Mama M.'s blog that got me to thinking. I also found this inspiring article about the same topic.

How do you feel about it? Would you nurse a baby that wasn't your own? If so, would you actually take it to your breast or pump and donate milk?

I feel if the circumstances were right, I would have no problem nursing a child that wasn't my own. If I have the supply and a baby is in need, then who am I to say no to that.

Leave me a comment and let me know what you think!

5QF...On Saturday

I've been so busy this week, I almost forgot to do 5 Question Friday. I actually didn't even have time to do it yesterday, but I'm sneaking in some blog time this morning. I haven't had a chance to read any blogs at all this week, so I'm hoping I'll get to catch up in a few weeks.

On to the questions. I'm joining Mama M. like usual and answering 5 questions so that you can get to know me a little better. Happy Weekend to you!

1. Do you sing karaoke? If so, what is your go to song?

I do sing karaoke in very small groups of people. Not something I do very often, so I don't have a go to song, but I love country music, so that would be my song choice most of the time.

2. What is your favorite coffee drink?

Not a huge fan of coffee, actually haven't drank any in a long time since I'm breastfeeding. But, when I do have one I really like the Mocha from Bread Co.

3. If you could choose your own name, what would it be?

You know, there were times when I was a child that I didn't really like my name. People always tried to call me Jennifer. My name is Jessica, not Jennifer, I don't think it's that hard. Even though people tried to call me Jennifer, I didn't want that to me by name. I really don't have a clue what name I would have chosen for myself. 

I really love being Jessica now, as long as you don't try to call me Jessie, I've always seen that as a boys name. My Grandma Redburn is the only one who can get away with calling me Jessie and that's because she's my Grandma. When Ross and I got together several people in his family tried calling me Jessie and I hated it, it took me a few years, but I think they've all figured out not to call me that anymore. It's Jessica, Jess, or if you've known me since childhood, it's Jay or Jay Bird, or Mom and Dad sometimes call me Sis still.

It's actually really rare for people in Ross' family or his friends to call me Jessica because Ross always just calls me Jess unless he's really mad, then he'll whip out Jessica! I'm quite content with my names and I really can't come up with any other name I'd like to be. Unless you want to put Queen in front of Jessica!!! ;)

4. Were you ever bullied?

No, I was home schooled, so I wasn't around a lot of other kids on a daily basis, so no one ever had the chance.

5. How often do you eat fast food?

I used to quite a bit, just out of convenience, but now that I'm counting points, not so much. And it really helps save money when you don't eat out.

I absolutely love eating fast food breakfast! McD'z Bacon, Egg and Cheese Bagel is quite yummy and Hardee's Frisco Breakfast Sandwich is delicious!

Arby's is one of my favorites, the Roast Beef sandwich with cheddar sauce makes my mouth water every time I think about it.............sorry, had to wipe some drool off the keyboard! I did find out an interesting fast food fact the other day, Arby's curly fries are the worst on the Nutrition Facts scale. An unbelievable amount of calories and fat...bummer. :( And surprisingly, McDonald's small fry is the healthiest in the fast food realm, but you have to get the small, no super-size allowed!

Not Fat Friday

It's been a rough week. The weekend started out with a birthday party and dinner at Red Lobster, so I didn't even count points this week. I did manage to lose .6 though, so that's better than a gain. I'm up to 6.4 pounds lost.

Back on track today counting those points. Going to Pizza Hut tonight for dinner with Ross' parents, sister and his Uncle Vance who is in from Montana. I already calculated what I'm going to eat, so as long as I don't decide to have anything else we're good to go.This will be the first time Ross' uncle has met either of the girls so we're excited about that.

We're still knee deep in the re-arranging process. Ross moved the desk and computer into the office yesterday and I've been working on getting things settled in here. Today he started emptying the closet in the office and the one in our bedroom and I'm a little overwhelmed at all the stuff that came out of there and trying to figure out new homes for it.

I have a lot of stuff I've kept over the years that I just can't part with, so I'm trying to figure out a good storage system for it. I have tons of boxes of pictures too, I love them all, but they take up space.

I don't know if I'll post this weekend or not, we are going to do our best to get as much done as possible to prepare for the carpet coming on March 8th!

Just Stuff

My brain is so full of stuff that you'll have to forgive this very random, rambling post.

I've been very busy today working on getting the girls room set up and I think I'm finished. I have a few more things to sort through in the closet of their old room and that's about it. I need to hang things on the wall, but I'm going to let my Dad help me do that when he has a chance to come down. Ross has plenty on his plate now, so I don't want to bother him with it, but I just can't wait any longer to decorate and make it look homey. I feel like I've been waiting forever for this and it's finally happening!

I'm so tired, but so completely satisfied with all that's going on. My house is in utter chaos and a disaster area, but I don't even care. It's going to be so fantastic when we get it all done and together! March 8th is when the rest of the house gets carpet, so a few days after that and my home will be fresh and pretty and clean and new feeling and I will have so much more space! You have no idea how that excites me!

I've always been a fan of organizing and somewhat anal about how things are, but I've never been that way since I moved in after we got married. I know some of the reasons why I haven't been and one was that I just didn't care, because this house didn't feel like mine.

*Brief history lesson for folks who don't know me - Ross purchased this house during our engagement and I really didn't have anything to do with it or a say in it at all. It is the house he grew up in and he bought it from his parents. He got a really great price for it, so there's no complaint there, but I've never really felt like it was mine. The shadow from his parents lingered for quite a few years and then we began making changes that made it feel more like our own home. And this project has been the biggest change and makes me feel like I have a brand new house!*

I'm super excited about finding a place for everything and keeping everything in its place! The girls room is so cute, I can't wait to get all the stuff up on the walls and take pictures to share with you.

I need some decorating help in our room though, I'll be calling on my Momma and sister's for some advice on what to do up there. But, it's so nice to be able to walk around the bed without brushing against the wall like we did in our old room.

Our old room is becoming the guest room/playroom. Guest room just because we are putting our extra full size bed in there, mostly just a playroom for the girls. My living room will once again be just a living room. We'll have so much more room to entertain now without feeling like there is no for people to go.

The girls old room will become the office, getting the computer out of the living room and making room for the piano that is out in the garage that will hopefully be repairable and working again so Alexis can take lessons soon!

The girls are sleeping sweetly in their new room, so I'm off to do some more cleaning down here. I can actually make noise and do stuff after they go to bed and I'm not afraid of waking them now!

Update On The Remodel

Here is the link to some of the before pictures.

We've changed things a bit since that post. We are all upstairs with the girls sharing a room.

We all slept up there last night and I think Alexis was the only one the got a good nights sleep and she's still snoozing away right now. Hopefully tonight will be better for Ross, Isabel and myself.

The Carpet Is In!

The carpet installers came yesterday and we have carpet upstairs now!!! It feels so incredibly nice to have that project "almost" finished. We are done enough to move up there at least. Here are some really bad cell phone pictures of the carpet.

 

We spent some time today getting some stuff moved up there. We have all of our beds up there and 3 out of the 4 dresser's that are going up there. Ross had to stop to go to work, but I'm going to continue working up there tonight as long as the girls allow. 

We are so, so happy to be getting up there finally. We have a lot of work to do over the next two weeks, but it will be so worth it. We've got a lot of rearranging to do downstairs and some painting before they come back to lay the carpet down here in two weeks. Can't wait to show you pictures of the final result! Now, it's back to work for me.

Sausage Gravy & Biscuits

Happy Monday to you! I'm joining MckMama in her blog carnival of Not Me! Monday. Check out her blog to see all the Not Me! stories.

It's been a crazy busy weekend here in my neck of the woods. Saturday morning we were up bright and early headed to St. Louis. My nephew was celebrating his 7th birthday and the party was at "Pump It Up". It's a place full of those huge blow up bounce houses, slides and obstacle courses. The kids had so much fun!! And it was Not Me! who had just as much fun playing as the little ones did! ;)

We had some shopping to do in the afternoon and then over to my brother and sister-in-laws house to finish the birthday celebrations. We had a nice time seeing family. It had been since Christmas that Ross had seen any of my family and it had been a while since I've seen some of my siblings too. And it was Not Me! who ate way too much of the yummy food and ice cream cake!

Saturday evening Ross and I attempted to have a date night. We didn't get away from my Mom and Dad's house until 8:30 because we couldn't agree on a movie to go see. It was Not Me! who thought we should see the romantic comedy Valentine's Day since it was supposed to be our Valentine's date. My husband wanted to see Avatar. We didn't see either one. We ended up at Red Lobster, my favorite, and enjoyed a late dinner. We were almost finished and were going to figure out what else we wanted to do when we got the call to come back. Isabel wasn't taking a bottle and she wasn't happy at all. By the time we got there she had cried herself to sleep, so after a little snooze I got her up and fed her and she was as happy as a lark again. It all worked out just fine because we were pretty tired anyway.

Sunday morning comes and it's time for breakfast.....

It was Not Me! who was making biscuits and gravy. It was Not Me! who was cooking in a kitchen they were unfamiliar with, so it was Not Me! who used powdered sugar instead of flour to make the sausage gravy!

It really was Not Me! it was my sweet husband, the breakfast chef in our home! He really is an awesome breakfast maker so I should clarify here that he was in my Mom's kitchen and none of her canisters were labeled, so it was an honest mistake. He couldn't figure out why the gravy wasn't thickening up, and then my Mom saw the empty canister in the sink and asked if that is what he used. He said,"Yeah, I thought it was the flour." Well, it wasn't even close to flour!

We enjoyed some very sweet gravy with a few clumps of flour that were added to try and thicken it a bit. It was edible, but needless to say, not a mistake we'll do on purpose! We all enjoyed a good laugh about it and it really wasn't the most horrible thing I've ever eaten!

Busy Busy Busy

I've got a lot going on this weekend so I probably won't get a chance to blog.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend. I'm sure I'll see you on Monday!!

5QF 2/19/10

It's Friday again which means it's time for 5 Questions with Mama M. I personally look forward to Friday's because 1) I don't have to try and come up with something to blog about...I've been very blank upstairs when it comes to having anything to write about. 2) It means it's the weekend, and I have a bunch of stuff going on this weekend!

Tomorrow is my nephew Tyler's 7th birthday party at Pump It Up!! I know Alexis is going to have tons of fun!

Tomorrow night Ross and I get to have a Valentine's Date...well, I'm not much of a fan of Valentine's Day anymore, so it's just a date. I didn't even get Ross a card this year =(. Anyway, it's a date none the less, and we could really use one. We've kind of been in one of those slumps lately. I might try and blog about it later in the week.

Sunday, I get to go see my brother Brent again. It will be the last time I get to see him for a bit. He is leaving next week and going to the Teen Challenge facility in Cape Girardeau, MO. He'll be down there until he graduates from the program in December. That's probably a 2½ - 3 hour drive for us one way, so I won't get to see him a whole lot this year. He is doing really great though, it's almost like he's a new person!

When we get back home Sunday afternoon/evening it's the final prep time for the upstairs. Carpet comes Monday!!! YAY! So excited!

Okay, enough of that stuff, on to the questions.

1. Have you ever hit an animal with your vehicle?
Yes, but I don't think I've ever actually hit a pet. A few rabbits, squirrels, birds, a coon or two, probably a possum, and an armadillo. 

I remember the first time I hit anything, I think it was a raccoon. I was so upset and my heart was racing so fast. Now that I've been driving for longer, it doesn't get me quite so worked up if I hit something, it's not really my fault they jump out in front of me now is it? And I do live in a rural area, so it comes with the territory.  

2. When you see a string on your clothes do you pull it off or cut if off?
Most of the time, I just rip. Unless it's the elastic band on my underwear and then I cut it or it just keep coming and coming and coming undone. 

3. Did you have your own room or share a room when you were young?
When I was very young I shared a room with my brother Matt. I was too young to remember though, so I've always had my own room as long as I can remember.

4. Would you rather wear the same thing for the rest of your life or eat the same thing for the rest of your life?
I would much rather wear the same thing everyday than get stuck eating the same thing over and over again. I love food way to much to be bored liked that. But give me some jammie pants and a hoodie and I'm good to go!

5. What was your favorite TV show as a child?
I don't really remember honestly. We watched TV when I was young, but somewhere around the age of 10 or so, Mom and Dad got rid of TV. We only watched videos. But, I remember going over to Bill & Daphene's (they were Mom and Dad's friends, kind of like extra grandparents for me)  house usually once a week for supper. While they were all chatting over coffee and cake after supper, I go downstairs and watch Nick At Nite. I loved The Dick Van Dyke show and I Love Lucy.

Not Fat Friday

Okay, so I've got some BIG news this week...........I lost .2 pounds, yes, that's right, not even half of a pound.

Oh well, I'll do better this week.

I'm not going to offer any excuses other than to say, I did a little bit of emotional eating this week. That is my biggest struggle. Unlike the majority of people who don't eat when they are stressed, I seem to have the need to eat everything in sight.

So, I've now lost a total of 5.6 pounds, better than none at all! See ya next week!

Little Buddies

My friend Amy and I were Pregnant Buddies. Here are some pictures of our girls together. Callie and Isabel are 2 weeks apart in age.

200

Yes, I can't hardly believe it, but it's my 200th post!

I haven't been feeling all that bloggy the last week or so. I enjoyed doing the Valentine's Day Extravaganza last week. It was fun to tell some of the old stories. But, I've not had a lot of inspiration of my own for writing posts lately.

Today I want to talk about American Idol.

Do you watch the show?
What do you think of Ellen as the new judge this year?
Do you have any early favorites yet?
Do you vote on your favorites?
Are you sad that this is Simon's last year?

So far, I'm really liking the humor Ellen is bringing to the show. We'll see how she does when we actually get into the top 12 though...

I have mixed feelings about Simon leaving. He's never been my favorite judge, but it just won't feel like American Idol without him. I guess the same could be said when Paula left too, but they did a good job of replacing her. You really can't replace Paula, she was one of a kind, but they found someone who fits nicely with the other judges.

I do vote when I have the time and a contestant that I REALLY like.

Here are a few that I'm looking forward to seeing make it all the way to the top 12.

I really like Michael Lynch, but when I was searching for this picture I discovered that someone in his family broke the confidentiality agreement and leaked that he was disqualified from the top 24. I'll be interested to see if that's true and what it's all about.

Okay, I'm going to admit it....Casey James is hot! And he can sing! I may not be crushing on him as much as I was Chris Daughtry, but he's one to watch for sure!

Looking forward to tonight to find out who the rest of the Top 24 are!

Memory Monday...on Tuesday

Christmas 2006
My sister Jaimee and I when we were pregnant with Jackson and Alexis.

Reader Input

Okay girls, I won a gift card from Bloggy Blog Designz and I'm going to get a little blog makeover. I was hoping to get some feedback from you. I really like my title but I'm not real happy with my description. What do you think??

Bronson's Miracle

If you need a moment to be blessed and maybe shed some tears of joy, you must see this video. It tells the miraculous journey of one little boy and a lot of peoples faith. You can find the whole story here.

Not Me! Monday

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

It's Not Me! that keeps an ink pen, ranch dressing, Parmesan cheese and an orange in the butter keeper!

That would be the workings of my master mind, mischief making daughter, Alexis! Happy Monday!

Valentine's Day Extravaganza - Ross' Top Ten

My final post with Mama M. for this week. 

Happy Valentine's Day! 

Today's theme: Ten things you love about your love!

1. I love the fact that he is my best friend and I am his.
2. I love that he is such a great dad to our daughters.
3. I love that he works so hard to make our house a home. He has put so much time and effort into this house and I truly appreciate everything he's done.
4. I love that he knows just what to do to make me smile or laugh when I'm having a bad day or I'm in a bad mood.
5. I love the feel of his big strong arms wrapped around me tight. He always knows when I just need a hug.
6. I love that he tolerates all of my quirks and annoying things I do.
7. I love that he is forgiving when I make mistakes.
8. I love that he can make me laugh when I feel like crying.
9. I love his smile and laugh.
10. I love that he is such a good provider for our family.

Happy Valentine's Day!! Hope you have enjoyed all of my V-day posts this week. Back to normal tomorrow!

Valentine's Day Extravaganza - Photo Day

Joining Mama M. at My Little Life all this week. For those of you getting tired of all the sappy, lovey dovey stuff, it's almost done!

Today's theme: Photo Day

From our wedding day - June 4th, 2005

Chicago Trip - Summer 2006

My friend Krista's Wedding - October 2006 (12 weeks pregnant with Alexis)

Cardinal's Baseball Game - July 2009 (33 weeks pregnant with Isabel)

Valentine's Day Extravaganza - Special Love Edition Of 5QF

I'm following along with Mama M. all week long on her Valentine's Day Extravaganza. And it's also 5 Question Friday!

Today's theme: A very special 5QF

1. What is the one thing your love does for you that you can't live without?


Well....this is kind of a tough one for me for some reason. I guess I would say that I wouldn't want to live without his love. He knows how to make me feel wanted, special and loved and that would be pretty hard to live without.



2. When did you know your love was "the one"?

About a week or so after we started dating. I just knew he was going to be my man forever. It took 4½ years for us to tie the knot, but I knew from the start he was "the one".



3. Does your love have a special ringtone on your cell?

For years his ringtone used to be Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On". Last time I switched phones, I didn't personalize anyone, too much trouble to move contacts from the sim to phone and then have duplicate entries.



4. What are you attracted to most in your special someone?

It's hard to pick just one thing, but I guess it would have to be how thoughtful and loving he can be.



5. Did you know when/where he/she was going to pop the big question?
 
I had an idea, but I never would have expected it when he did.
 
Check back over this past week and you'll find all of my Valentine's Day Extravaganza stories! HAPPY FRIDAY!

Not Fat Friday

Another 2 pounds down! I'm up to 5.4 gone. I wanted a little more than 2 pounds this week, but I'll take it. Just means I need to work harder this coming week and maybe, just maybe I'll actually start exercising.

Valentine's Day Extravaganza - Big Blue

Linked up with Mama M. yet again today!

Today's theme: Tell the story of your love's biggest romantic screw up

All right, I'm not really sure what to share on this one. Some of our early dating screw ups are just too personal to tell just anyone.

We were on a bumpy road and hit lots of pot holes in the first few years we dated. I'm thankful for those years, because I firmly believe they made us who we are as individuals and as a couple. I also believe that all the struggles we had then, made the first year of our marriage much easier. I've always heard that the first year is rough, for us it was great! Yes, we had to adjust to living together, but that is the case for anyone that has even just a roommate.


The only really goofy thing happened on our second Christmas together. Ross gave me one gift. Now, that in and of itself isn't a horrible thing. But, take into consideration that we'd only been dating for a little more than a year. And during that time, Ross had proven himself to be a great gift giver multiple times.

My one gift was a winter coat.....................Ugh! A big, blue, puffy, ugly coat. I didn't need or want a winter coat, especially as a gift from my boyfriend. HELLO???  Had you learned nothing about women over the last year we've been together? But, apparently, he thought the coat I had was a little lacking in the warmth department, so he decided to get me one he thought was more appropriate. In hindsight, it really did reveal his caring and thoughtful personality, but I wasn't thinking about that at the time!

Now girls, I'm in no way a fashion diva, but this coat was just plain booorrrrrrrrring. I had a nice black leather coat that my parents had given me a few years back and I was quite content with it, and had no need for a different coat.

So, yes, Ross tanked that year in the gift giving department. He had made up for it in years since though. He's a very thoughtful and creative gift giver!

5 Months

My Isabel is 5 months old today!


She is growing so fast, I can't hardly believe it's been 5 months already. It goes by too quickly if you ask me. I love each and every one of their stages, but I'm already missing my little baby.

 

She is getting really good at gripping and holding toys in her hands. And of course everything goes to her mouth. =)

She loves playing in her Exer Saucer. She's getting quite bouncy in it these days. We use the bottom of it the throw her toys in, so she has a heck of a time kicking at them while she's in there!

And she is rolling over from her belly to her back a lot. She hasn't quite mastered the back to belly flip yet. But, she'll get all the way up on her side from her back, so she's close.

She jibber jabber's a lot and likes to make herself heard to the world. It seems like when Alexis is being loud and rambunctious is when Isabel likes get loud. Almost like she wants us all to know she's here too!

Alexis dotes on her so much. She loves to sit on the floor and pull Isabel up onto her lap. Isabel just sits there while Alexis wraps her little arms around her and rocks her. Alexis is also really good at making her giggle!

We completely love and adore her. I wake up every morning looking forward to her first shy smile of the day. It is so cute! She'll be looking at you and when you start talking to her, she ducks her head like she's bashful and gives the cutest smiles ever!

I have gotten a little lax lately about our schedule. It's easy to do since I'm home all day, every day right now. I haven't really made her stay on schedule during the day, so now she's back to eating in the middle of the night again. She just gets so distracted during the day, she doesn't eat well. Then she chows down at night when it's just me and her in the dark. Oh well, I'll get her back on track here soon!

Valentine's Day Extravaganza - Wedding Memories

I'm playing along with Mama M. on her Valentine's Day Extravaganza this week.

Today's theme is: What is your favorite memory of your wedding day? 
 

There are entirely too many to pick just one!  So, I'm going to share several with you.

First off, I should tell you that I was probably one of the most laid back brides ever. I didn't get worked up about much of anything. 

I didn't even get all that upset when it was discovered that my bridal gown was no longer available and I had to pick another one about 3 weeks before the wedding. (I ended up falling in the love with the new one, I liked it way better than the first one I chose!)

 

Wedding day dawns beautiful and rather warm. It was June 4th, 2005 and we hadn't had a really warm day yet that year. Until that day, I think it decided to get to about 90°. Thanks a lot, just what I want, sweating like a pig in a huge gown and melting makeup. So everything is still cool until about 4 hours before the wedding, and I sort of have a little melt down.

We got married at a church in St. James. We were going to do a few outside pictures at Maramec Spring Park before the wedding. Hair and makeup was done 1 hour and 15 minutes away in Park Hills. I know, why so far away? Well, I had worked at this shop as a receptionist and I knew all the girls and they had an awesome Merle Norman makeup lady there and that's just where I wanted to do it.

As you all know, girls and hair and makeup doesn't always stay on schedule, so it was looking like we would be late to my own wedding and I still had to dress once I got to the church. I called the photographer and canceled pictures at the Springs. 1.} because I thought it would make the wedding late and 2.} because it was hot and I didn't want to start sweating that profusely until I was shakin' my boo-tay on the dance floor.

I was still kind of flipping out about being late, my wonderful sister/matron of honor reminded me that they can't start without me and it would be okay. 

 

We get to the church and flurry around getting dressed. (We also wanted to do pictures before the wedding.) I'm finally starting to calm down, but I'm still a little on edge. I swiped a swig of the Crown Royal that Ross had filled his groomsman's flask with. And I stepped outside to have a last cig before the ceremony was getting ready to start. Yes, I used to smoke and I thoroughly enjoyed. But, I gave it up for my health and my kid's sake.

It was windy as all heck out there. I wasn't worried about my hair because it had at least a half of can of hairspray on it. So, I'm puffing away and all of sudden, the wind whips my veil around right onto the cherry of my cig, burning a hole into it. Yikes! I get all worked up again, but thanks to Sue, my awesome wedding planner, we fixed it with some clear nail polish and it wasn't even noticeable. 

Now, let's move on to the ceremony. Ross and I are standing on stage, gazing lovingly into each others eyes while one of the wedding songs is being played and there are some technical difficulties with the sound. Still not sure what happened but it sounded awful. So, I gave the cut it signal across my neck and we move on. 

Okay, now we're getting to the good stuff! I told you I had too many to pick just one! Sorry if I'm boring you, but I'm having a blast thinking about all these memories.

 

I wasn't exactly at my goal weight when I got married, so I was wearing some tummy controlling granny panties under my gown, and had plans to put on the sexy ones before Ross and I got to our hotel. It was hot...and I was sweating. I don't know about you brides out there, but I had to have a little assistance from my bridesmaid when I used the potty. First time in there, they had to help me pry my sweaty, granny panties back onto my caboose. Second time in the bathroom, I said....*cover your ears, bad word I usually don't say coming up*, screw it, and threw them in the trash can and went commando the rest of the reception!

 

Fast forward past lots of dancing and a lots beers later...it's time to head to the hotel 2 miles down the road from the reception hall. Ross and I had the truck. Now, anytime we've gone out in the past, Ross is always the one to keep it together and he drives us. He informs me that he is drunk and can't drive. Huh? What's that all about? I've known you for 4½ years and this is the second time I've seen you actually get drunk. So, while I wasn't in the best of shape, a bunch of us were driving back to the hotel at the same time, so I knew I could make it. I'm sure it was a pretty funny sight to see me hauling it into the truck in my wedding gown.

We get back to the hotel and Ross, my charming, wonderful new husband decides that he can't wait to get up to our room to relieve his bladder. He goes behind the truck and takes care of business. Didn't think a thing about it until the next morning when the wedding party and a bunch of my family meets for breakfast. Sue, my wedding planner, is telling us that she saw this guy in the parking lot last night messing with his crouch and then she realizes he's peeing in the parking lot. And then she realizes it's Ross peeing in the parking lot! Yes, thank you, I know that my hubby is slightly red neck sometimes, but I love him to pieces!

Well, that wraps it up, those are some of my favorite memories from my wedding day. Hope you enjoyed!

They Got A Miracle!

I posted about this over the weekend. I was overjoyed today to hear that this family got some wonderful news. Praise to Jesus for keeping this little one safe in His arms! Read all about Bronson here.

Thanks Jaimee for posting too. I hadn't checked on them yet today.

Vacuuming

This is her vacuum cleaner...

 

And this is how she turns it on/off...

 

It's My First...

...Blog award! Chrissy over at Traveling Light was nice enough to give me an award. Here is her post about it. It's nice to know that she likes visiting my blog for whatever the reason may be. I'm glad that I can make others smile or laugh. Thank you Chrissy!

Blog award tradition says I must pass on this award to 12 other bloggers. Here is my list:

My Little Life I've just discovered her blog a few weeks ago and I'm really enjoying reading it and participating in her blog hops.


Lessons Learned She makes me laugh so hard with her stories. I love her writing style. She's in the process of changing up her blog, so if they link doesn't work, that is why.

If only everyone thought this way....  Another new blog I've recently found that I like.

My Redburn Journal Ashley was who introduced me to blogging and it was because of her that I started my own. Her blog is such an encouragement in so many ways. And I love seeing pictures of her adorable kids. (And we're related too!)


Mammalog I really like her Simple Woman's Daybook posts and her other ones are great too!

Traveling Light I don't know if this is proper or not, but I'm giving Chrissy the award she has already received and given to me. I just love reading her posts everyday. She is always willing to tackle the challenging topics and she makes me think about a lot of things in my life that I may or may not be doing so well. Plus she's got super cute kids and they are always doing something funny!


The Fabulous Adventures of Baby H This is Mrs. Haid's blog to her precious little boy. I love the letters she writes to him and all the wonderful pictures too!

Wife and Mommy Her blog is private so unless you are one of her readers you can't go there, but I love reading about what is going on in her life and with her little girls.

Our Little Six Pack Another new blog I've come across thanks to BlogFrog that I like a lot.

From My Kitchen To Yours She shares some awesome recipes on her blog and it inspires me to spend more time in the kitchen!


Busy Momma This is my awesome sister! I love her!

[M]^2 Her blog is fun and young. Reminds me of what it feels like to be young and in love and very passionate.


Thank you ladies for brightening my days and making me smile. Or uplifting me with your words of inspiration or encouraging me when I'm down.

Valentine's Day Extravaganza - He FINALLY Asked

Once again, I'm linking up with Mama M. over at My Little Life. 

Today's theme is: Engagement stories

Oh what a special, wonderful day this was!


Our dating years weren't exactly the best years of our lives. We started dating in December 2000 and before our engagement, we had broken up 4 different times and had already had one brief engagement that we broke off. Neither one of us were ready for marriage that first time around.


But, things had been good between us for quite a while and we had tossed around the idea of marriage again. We both knew we wanted to spend our lives together, just hadn't figured out the timing yet. In February of 2004 we decided we were going to ring shop so that he would have an idea of what I liked when the time came.


We found the perfect ring for me at Helzberg Diamonds 

 

 My ring is in yellow gold. (This was the only picture I could find.)

I didn't know it at the time, but Ross actually purchased the ring that day. The sales people kept me busy looking at stuff while they were taking care of the transaction and he had the ring in his pocket and went back later for the boxes and paperwork. 

I actually had suspicions that he had purchased that day, because they slipped up on some of the paperwork they sent home with us to look over. There was a brochure about diamonds and selecting the right one based on the 4 C's, an engagement guide for guys and some other things. There was a card that had all the information about the ring we had been looking at. It had a purchase date listed on it and the first inspection due date 6 months from that day. I asked Ross what that was all about and he shrugged it off and said that it was just a sample they gave him of what it would look like. Yeah, uh huh, nice save babe!

My birthday is on March 30th and I kind of thought maybe he was going to propose to me that night at dinner. *Long pause for dramatic effect*. No proposal at my birthday dinner. I was pretty disappointed but tried not to let it show. 

My birthday was on a Tuesday that year. On Friday April 2nd, we were leaving with my parents and some of my siblings and going to Kentucky Lake for the weekend. Ross arrived at my house early that morning and we were still packing up. He went to St. Louis Bread Co. to get some bagels, a mocha for himself and a hot chocolate for me.

  When he got back, I was in my room putting stuff in my suitcase. My back was to the door when he walked in. I told him to just put my hot chocolate on my dresser behind me. He didn't respond or say anything, so I just thought he was sitting in the chair by my dresser waiting for me. I turned to get something...

....and he was on one knee holding the ring up with a big cheesy grin on his face. I let out a big squeal, followed by tears of joy as I blubbered how much I loved him and was clinging to his neck like there was no tomorrow. I think at some point in all the hub-ub he said something along the lines of, "Will you?" Of course my answer was "YES!"  

My family was as surprised as I was that he had done it at such a strange time, but leave it to Ross to do it his own way, in his own timing. That's one of the reasons I love him so much! I was so excited that I made my family wait to leave, so that I could run over to Sam's Club and show my best friend my ring!

I absolutely love my ring and I get so many compliments on it still! It is quite sparkly. Here is the band that we got to go with it:

 

Our wedding date was set for June 4th, 2005.

 

Showers and Boogers

It is time once again to join MckMama in her blog carnival of Not Me! Monday.





  Okay, just a little disclosure before I get started this week. I really am a clean person and I really am not nasty like I'm going to portray myself today. It's all about honesty though right?  I was totally on the ball and showered on Saturday and Sunday this weekend. So, it's Not Me! who hasn't had a shower since Friday....*I'm a total skeez today*. Let me give you the reason why. Saturday was a laid back day, didn't do much of anything that would have gotten me dirty, so I decided I would shower Sunday morning. Well, hum, it was a rough night with Isabel. She's all snotted up so she isn't sleeping well. Sunday morning came and I got up, but then as soon as Daddy rolled out of bed, I crashed on the couch for a few more hours.

By the time I got up, Uncle Jimmy had already arrived to help Ross do plumbing this weekend and the water was already shut off. By the time they had water back on, I was busy cooking dinner and I just put my shower off until bedtime. Bedtime for the girls came and I go to start their bathes. No hot water. Hubby checks into it and discovers that somehow the pilot light on the water heater had gone out. He gets it re-lit, but we'll have to wait for the water to heat up. No biggie, the girls can have a bath in the morning. And I'll just take my shower later once the water heats up. Somehow during all this, we end up getting no water out of the faucet at all. Something is wrong with the switch on the pressure tank, so Ross will have to go to the lumber yard Monday morning to get some parts.

So, it is absolutely Not ME! who hasn't had a shower since Friday!

 I would never ever pick my kids boogers without having a tissue close at hand and I would never just wipe it off my finger onto the carpet since I need to vacuum today and we're getting new carpet installed next week anyway, Not Me!

I forewarned you that it was nasty this week!

Oh, and just so you know, the water is now fixed thanks to Uncle Jimmy and Ross and as soon as the dishwasher starts it's drying cylce, my nastiness is hitting the shower!  

Oops! I was just proofreading and found several typo's. Sorry to those of you that have already read it. I've now showered and the girls are bathed. Ross is still a little stinky though! 

Memory Monday

I had so much fun this day at my Grandpa Gaugel's house. I don't think I'll ever forget it. My cousin Caroline and I spent hours with this bucket and stick making a massive mud pie! It was such a simple thing, but we got hours of entertainment out of it.

Valentine's Day Extravaganza - Date Stories

I'm following along with Mama M. all this week on her Valentine's Day Extravaganza.

Today's theme is: Your favorite date story (good or bad!).

I'm a little ashamed to admit, but I had to ask for hubby's help on this one. We didn't do a lot of different things on our dates like a lot of couples do. We were pretty boring, out to dinner, go to a movie or rent some movies to take home. I know...boring, but it worked for us!

But, he reminded me of one of our more special dates. We had been dating for a few months (2001) and Ross picked me up and told me we were taking a drive and going someplace special.


We drove for a while and then a while longer still. We finally reached our destination. Elephant Rocks State Park. This is one of my favorite places of all times! Here is a picture of me as a child at Elephant Rocks:

 

We used to go to Elephant Rocks at least once a year when I was a kid, so I love it there.

Well, that day, Ross packed up a picnic lunch and we had a great day. Strolling hand in hand along the paths. Stealing kisses when no one was looking our way. Climbing up the rocks and looking at the breath taking views of the valley below.

We were very much in young love at the time, so it will always be a good memory. I don't think we've been back to Elephant Rocks since that trip, but I'm thinking that this summer or fall, we should go back there. It's a really beautiful place in the fall. The view from the top is amazing when all the colors are turning.

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures from our special date there. And I don't have any of our older pictures to share this week either. I have no scanner and I was still a film girl for our dating years. Didn't go digital until we got married.

I don't think we really ever had a bad date so to speak, unless we had an argument of some kind. (We had a lot of those in the early days ;)

I do have a bad date story from before I met Ross though. I was on a first date with a guy named Nathan. One of my friends had talked me into going out with him, against my better judgment. The date went okay, he was a big dork though.

Trouble started when the date was over. We had met at a gas station and I got into his car with him. So, when he dropped me off at my car, he took off before I even got in my car. Very un-gentleman like if you ask me. Wouldn't have been so bad....but the car didn't start. Needless to say, he did not get a second date.

Okay, one more goofy date story before I go.

This time, it was a guy I worked with, who had been asking me out for quite a while. I totally didn't like him in that way at all, but just to get him to leave me alone, I agreed to a date.

I was 18 at the time and Peter was probably 20. He did not have a drivers license, his mother took him where he needed to go. (Not knocking that he lived at home with momma, but he could have had a license at least.) So, I had to drive on our date. He wanted to take me out to eat in St. Louis. (I was living in Farmington at the time.)

We headed up to the city and went to a Ruby Tuesday's (I think??) at South County Mall. We get there and he tells me that I have to wait outside. He disappears inside and finally comes back out and says our table is ready.

He leads me into the restaurant and our table has candlesticks and rose petals scattered all over it. {*So embarrassing* First date mind you.} So before we even get a chance to order he pulls out this little black box. It's a beautiful gold cross necklace and he asks me if I would like to be in a serious relationship? WHOA, what just happened?? Are you kidding me?

That was the most awkward drive I've ever made from St. Louis to Farmington (and I've made lots of trips between those two places). As politely as I could, I told him I couldn't accept the gift and that I wasn't interested in being in a serious relationship with him. It was weeks before he would even look at me at work. Oh well, not too long after that debacle, I met my love!! And we all know how that story ends!