fourth

Here’s how our Fourth of July went – or at least what I can remember. It’s been 2 days!

We woke up. Brian made orange rolls for our breakfast! I cleaned a little. I also washed several loads of clothes. Brian wanted to practice drums, so we took a family trip to the church. He played drums while I pushed Cora around the hallways until she fell asleep. Then, I took her to my office where I listened to music online and read a book. I quickly realized how stupid it was to sit at my desk on my one day off, so I went to push her around some more instead. After that, we went home to hang out before going to Five Guys for dinner. It was yummy! Afterward, we drove all around Homewood while Cora was asleep because that’s nice to do sometimes. We listen to music and explore roads we don’t know. I have no idea what else happened except some neighbors ended up setting off firecrackers in the street, and they were loud. Cora wouldn’t go to sleep that night until later, but when she did, she miraculously slept through all the firecracker noises. After they stopped, someone down the road was shooting off major fireworks, and they were loud but far away. They seemed to NEVER end. She slept through those, too! I did not, but whatever. 

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!

GOOD THING: This week had a very nice Thursday. That is random, but it was good.
BAD THING: My mom is sick!

UPDATE:::Doy. My favorite accomplishment of the day was that I did some yardwork. I love pulling up ivy vines and getting rid of crappy plants! If I didn’t have Cora, I’d be out there all the time, and my backyard and the woods wouldn’t be so grown up this year. I’d rather not give her poison ivy, so I’ll just wait.

wedding weekend

Howdy! We just got back from Georgia again. This time, we went to my cousin’s wedding! Here’s a picture of the happy couple:

 

My cousin is Samantha, and her husband is Michael. He’s a great guy! They had a nice down home kind of wedding, and it fit them perfectly. Her dress was great. The bridesmaids magenta/hot pink knee length dresses with brown cowboy boots, and the guys all wore jeans with brown vests. The bride even had fancy white cowboy boots! It sounds crazy, but it was cute. It was very country glamorous, which fits Sam to a T.

I had the best time at the wedding reception. There was good music, PERFECT weather to sit outside, and everything just felt relaxed. I don’t usually get to spend lots of time with my family, and it was the perfect chance to sit around and just chat with each other in a different setting. Awesome!

The next day, we were supposed to go to my other family’s reunion. We were about to walk out the door, and people pulled up to visit at my parents’ house. Oh, well! No one was exactly dying to go to the reunion, so we told the new guests to stay when they tried to leave to let us go on. My aunt & uncle just really love to visit Cora, and I’m happy they do! Everyone seems to love her so much. I love it. It’s very odd how babies being around can reignite the family feeling among a family that’s been together forever. I guess a new item of interest is always good!

One of the best parts of the weekend was that we made the trip both ways without stopping. On both trips, I told Brian to get off at the next exit because Cora was crying too much. By the time we could get pulled over, she stopped each time. A miracle! I’m proud of her. Also, while we were there, she slept almost 10 hours on Saturday night, so that was a good thing to experience since her sleeping habits have gotten a bit worse lately. It’s just a phase. I know it will get better!

GOOD THING: Choxie has meds and will get better soon!
BAD THING: My stomach hurts. 

saturday

Here’s another recap for you.

Saturday: I woke up after Cora slept 8 hours!!!!!! Brian then made me eggs and toast for breakfast, and that was yummy. After a while, I went running in the nice weather (and pollen) for the first time in many months. I only went about 1 mile and had to walk 2 times, but that is okay because my back between my shoulder blades were burning like crazy from the swinging motion of my arms. My legs could’ve done a little more, but I’ll try again soon! Brian stayed home and made faces at Cora while I went out (he said). That’s how we play these days mostly. Anyway, after that, I showered before we went to dinner at Lovoy’s with Brian’s parents and sister. While there, the family’s favorite waitress wanted to get a picture with Cora since she hadn’t met her yet. She’s been serving the family since Brian was little, and she knows what we all want to order before we say anything. After dinner, we stopped by CVS to rent a movie, then the group continued to our house to visit a while. After his parents left, his sister stayed to play with Cora and watch Your Highness with us. I ended up bathing Cora (my choice, of course) during the last part, so I missed the best stuff judging by their laughs, but that’s not a big deal. I also washed diapers during the movie. It was a pretty good day!

The best part – Cora slept 8 hours Friday night, and she slept 8 hours and 15 minutes Saturday night and only woke up when she did on Sunday morning because I was in there making noises in my closet! I needed her to get up, though, because she needed breakfast before I went to church.

wftw

*title stolen from Sheena’s life motto!*

I am actually NOT working for the weekend since I don’t work these days, but the weekends still roll around! This weekend, my parents came to visit from Saturday morning until Sunday after church. They love visiting Cora, and it’s nice that they’ll come down here to do so. We went to Moe’s BBQ for dinner and met Brian’s parents there. That is a great place to go eat with Cora! It’s not crowded, it’s laid back, and it’s loud enough in there to drown her out if she cries. Plus, they have good music (usually). Sunday was church, and my parents went with us. It was just the 2nd time we’ve been since Cora was born. Apparently, she farted really loud a couple of times during the special singer’s song! haha

guess what?

CORA IS HERE! Surprise!

I don’t really know what to say about it, but she is here, and she is super duper awesome.

She weighed 9 pounds 2 ounces and was 22 inches long. I knew she’d be big! I had her naturally, as well. It was a really awesome experience, and I would do it exactly the same again – after a while. 🙂

She’s already over 1 week old, and that makes me a little sad. I want her to stay tiny forever! But, I also can’t wait to see her grow. It’s weird, but I might as well not dwell on wishing she’d stay tiny like this because I know it’s impossible. 

Our time at home has flown by, and we are learning lots in addition to sometimes feeling like we haven’t learned a darn thing. We had 3 rough nights in the beginning, and now we’ve had 3 good nights in a row. It’s not like we’re sleeping all night, but getting 2 or 3 chunks of sleep is a good thing, even when they’re 2-4 hours each.

All in all, no matter what, having Cora is worth it all already. She’s beautiful! I wish everyone could see what all she does when I stare at her, but then again, I deserve to see those things for myself (and Brian, too).

christmas 2

Today, my parents drove down for a 4 hour visit so we could exchange Christmas gifts and go to lunch. Our gift time was good and pretty simple, which is a nice change for us. My favorite part was getting a video camera! I’ve been wanting one, and they brought it just in time to capture Cora’s earliest moments!

We went to lunch at Mugshots because my dad loves burgers (and so do the rest of us). I just knew they’d like it, and my dad said it was the best burger he’d ever had. Success!

Christmas on New Year’s Eve isn’t so bad.

this weekend

Here’s what happened since Thursday. I’m sure I’m forgetting some things, but who cares? Sorry it’s long.

THURSDAY: I took off work to catch up around the house and do a little Christmas shopping. I was only out of the house a few hours before I felt like the Energizer Bunny running out of energy, so I came back home. I did manage to buy maybe 3 small Christmas gifts and some things I wanted for the house. That was successful enough. I also worked around the house a lot – mainly on setting up a guest area in the basement.

FRIDAY: I went to work for half the day and worked around the house the rest of the afternoon. I cut Brian’s hair before my parents came into town just in time for the Mezzell Christmas party. It was pretty fun even though I was mostly just tired the whole time. 

SATURDAY: Baby shower! It was nice. We had great brunch food, and I got good things. The other good thing is that it was over by 12:30, so I had most of the day free still. We sat around a lot with my parents because we were tired. Later that afternoon, we went by St. Vincent’s to show them where to go in the hospital before going to The Cheesecake Factory. There, we experienced a true Christmas miracle. It was PACKED. People were coming out saying 2+ hour waits, and my mom went in to check – they told her 45 minutes because she said the heated patio would be ok. Our buzzer went off in five! After we ordered our food, they warned us it could take a while on the food since it was so busy, and we seriously got it all so fast. We basically had our main courses in FORTY minutes from the time we asked about a wait time. SCORE! That evening, we put together Cora’s new swing and high chair. They’re hanging out in the dining room since we don’t need them for a while.

SUNDAY: Church, my parents left, then lunch with Brian’s mom, sister and her friend. Brian and I later went to Babies R Us to swap out the pink swings (2) we got for the yard for the normal blue & red ones, but I somehow misplaced one receipt on the way (found it later, of course), and they didn’t have any regular ones in the store. We also returned one jump up since we got 2 somehow. We also went to Lowe’s and bought some storage stuff – something to use as a bookshelf in Cora’s room and something to help organize my laundry area in the basement. That crap needs organized REALLY bad. We put together the bookshelf tonight.

I SERIOUSLY have to make lots of jewelry tonight to mail tomorrow so people can get them for Christmas gifts. I am not looking forward to it! I am glad for the $, however.

thanksgiving ’11

I know this sounds bad, but I have to say that both the turkey and the dressing I made this year might be THE BEST I’ve ever eaten. It was my third time making each of those foods, so maybe the third time really is a charm! I didn’t use any new recipes or anything, so it just happened that way. Actually, the “recipes” aren’t really measured out, so I probably did do some things a little differently even though it was all the same ingredients. Anyway – success! The best part is that we have leftovers of that and my other favorite – Brian’s mom’s sweet potato casserole (thanks to his Mamaw’s recipe). IT IS AWESOME, and I have a pretty good bit of it in my fridge!

In addition to that, Cora is STILL on the move like crazy. Today, she literally felt like a rock in my belly. She is pushing SO HARD on my outwardly that I sometimes can’t stand up straight if she gets in that position while I’m sitting until after I stand a few seconds. My skin has to readjust, I think! right now, she is weeble wobbling all over the place as I type. Sometimes I wonder if the laptop’s bright screen gets her attention. Supposedly, they will turn toward bright light and sounds.

I cannot wait to do NOTHING tomorrow unless I want to! I want to sleep late, relax, not put on any real clothes, and veg out.

GOOD THING: successful Thanksgiving!
BAD THING: back and feet HURT! 

not so short week

I am off two days this week, AND I get off early every day this week for various doctor visits, but I feel three times as busy!

Monday afternoon, I had to go to the dentist to check out my back tooth because I suspected it had broken. It had. Monday night, we had our 3rd parenting class. Regarding that – oh crap. Having a baby sounds like nothing compared to the grossness and discomfort in the following days & weeks. Oh well. I can’t do much about it now!

Tuesday afternoon, I had to go back to the dentist to get a temporary crown while I wait on the real one to come in a couple of weeks. It was the least painful thing every to have done at a dentist’s office, not that those things usually bother me very bad. After the dentist visit, I had to go to Publix during a torrential downpour and buy all my Thanksgiving groceries. It wasn’t that bad. Tuesday night, we had band practice before meeting Brian’s family for dinner at Mugshots since his sister flew in Tuesday afternoon. We didn’t get away from there until around 9, and we visited with them afterward until around 11.

Today, which is Wednesday, I am leaving a little early from work to go to the doctor for a regular pregnant lady checkup. I hope to not be there that long. This evening, we have no official plans, but I need to make all the food ahead of time that I can for tomorrow, so that will take lots of time probably. Also, we have to clean the house for people to come over. At least we’ll get a clean house out of it! And then I’ll have to clean the kitchen again right before everyone comes since it’ll be a whirlwind in there on Thursday.

Thursday, we’re doing something we haven’t done before, and that is have a brunch with some of Brian’s family before they all head to Auburn for the game weekend. Later that evening is when they’ll come to my house and eat the real Thanksgiving dinner.

GOOD THING: Ann is home for a visit.
BAD THING: couldn’t sleep last night past 4:30 because my right leg is a huge butthole and keeps cramping. 

today

Here’s what we did today:
-We woke up.
-Brian made delicious biscuits (from scratch, of course)
-I worked some more on my baby registries online while we hung out at home.
-I did laundry.
-We went to his mom’s house to visit. Carrie stopped by to give me a ticket to get into a consignment sale early.
-We went to Levy’s to finally ask about getting Brian’s wedding ring resized. He needs an 8 instead of his original 10! They also cleaned up my rings so they sparkle bling bling style.
-I went to Kids Market, the consignment sale they have at Wildwood. That place is white trash central, and I will never go again. I wanted to wash my hands as soon as I left; it just felt that gross, and the shoppers were maniacs.
-We picked his mom up again and went to an early dinner at Kool Korner in Vestavia, which is a Cuban sandwich shop. It was pretty awesome, and everyone else there must have been for real Cubans – workers and diners. We all got a Cuban (versus just chicken or beef or whatever), and that is roasted pork with ham plus lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and jalapenos with swiss cheese. I never saw the first jalapeno, and we figured out they just use jalapeno seeds, which are the hot part. My mouth was on FIRE by the time I got to the second half of my sandwich. Brian’s mom got black bean soup, also, and Brian got a tamale. They also have plantain chips! They were good.
-After that, we sat at his mom’s house to let our food settle, and then we went to Brookwood Mall for dessert. I chose 2 cookies from GAC, and they got yogurt at YOLO.
-We went home to watch TV, work more on registries, shower and watch TV.

It’s been a good day!

GOOD THING: tried a new restaurant AND we’re on vacation!
BAD THING: forgot to order a gift for Brian in time to get it for our anniversary