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.

mother’s day

My first one!

Here’s my sweet sweet holding my face! I love it.

I had a good Mother’s Day. Brian made me brownies, got me really pretty flowers, and loaded up a digital picture frame with various photos featuring Cora. He also cooked me breakfast and let Cora watch him while he did. She likes to watch him cook! I also got a sweet card. We went to church together, too! After church, we picked up lunch from Taco Bell on the way home. We also had some good times playing at the house. One of the best gifts Cora gave me herself was a bath with no crying whatsoever! I tried something new with bath time, and she obviously approved. No more silly little baby hammock – we just want to sit up in the tub like a big girl! Score all around.

 

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.

house stuff

I am pretty excited about fixing up my laundry area in the basement, and that feels a little odd. Either way, yay for me! I would post a picture, but it doesn’t look THAT good even though I used the term “fixed up.” That just means I threw away a ton of junk that had piled up in that area and washed the clothes that were specialty cases that had been sitting around too long. We also bought and put together a white storage cabinet with doors that I now have my detergents, laundry bags, stain stuff, etc. organized and put away in. Today, we bought a clothesline and clothespins for me to hang my diaper covers on (and anything else we want to hang dry), so that will go up soon when I figure out where it will work best. I like doing laundry so much better now because I can get to my dryer and detergent!

Since we keep getting gifts and shipments for Cora, the nursery keeps cycling through clean & ready and piled up with boxes, bags & stuff not put up. It’s getting there, though.

Our basement now has a legitimate guest area in it complete with a not-ignored full bath, so that is nice for my parents and anyone else that might stay over. I actually think it’s nicer for the guest room to be down there than on the main floor anyway because there’s way more privacy, a separate bathroom and a space heater so the guests can control their own temperature. It needs more organization in the other areas down there, but the bedroom part is good to go for the most part.

On top of all that, I am trying hard to get all our Christmas leftovers put away so our house will be clean again! I got it all up besides some boxes, but I need to take the tree down to get everything completely taken care of. I just can’t bear to do it yet.

GOOD THING: started reading a new book!
BAD THING: Choxie is really sad today every time Brian leaves.

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. 

tv

I love this show!

I might have to get the seasons on DVD later on when they come out.

On a side note, I have what feels like a major earthquake going on in my torso. It’s REALLY weird tonight, but it started being that way early this morning; I noticed it first at 5AM. She has to be so cramped in there. It feels so tight with pressure that she has to have grown a good amount without my skin stretching to catch up yet.

GOOD THING: lots done in Cora’s room lately
BAD THING: haven’t bought any food to make for Thanksgiving yet 

loong weekend

I added an extra ‘o’ because we took an extra day off! We did lots, but I will try to keep it simple.

Basically, we went to the lake for the first weekend this year. We were able to go Friday afternoon and not come back until Tuesday evening! We found out the phone and the satellite service were both messed up (we think the house got hit some by lightning), so that cut out some options at night, but it really was better that way. On Friday, Brian’s parents were already there, so we hung with them. Saturday, Drew and Vaughan came down, and we had fun. On Saturday evening, they and Brian’s parents went home, so we had one evening and morning to ourselves. On Sunday evening, both couples came back after church and stayed the night. We had super fun times! We swam and floated lots, went on some boat rides, ate lots of food, played with our dogs, and went to the fireworks show on the water Sunday night. I haven’t laughed as hard as I did during the fireworks show in a really long time! Vaughan and I almost died by some redneck’s fireworks that were landing directly over our heads. Monday afternoon, everyone went home but us, so we had another day and a half to ourselves. On Tuesday, we just floated around and took turns riding in the kayak. We had a good variety of people combos.

Also, I got to see some cool animals: green heron (usually hard to find, but we saw him every day!), giant black grasshopper (love those), baby skink (so cute), lots of dragonflies, a baby turtle, and 2 crawfish. Brian also saw a snake on the pier, which had apparently been right behind us for a while, but I didn’t see it, so I can’t include it in my list. I saw other stuff, but those were notable things.

Since the TV was out, we rented 3 movies while there, so I have now seen: True Grit, The Rite and The King’s Speech. They are all good. True Grit was the worst because there’s a creepy rattlesnake scene, and a poor horse dies. I hate those 2 things in movies.

GOOD THING: All the dogs this weekend (4) got along PERFECTLY! They had SO much fun, and it was fun watching them.
BAD THING: back to work tomorrow. Can I win the lottery soon?

fat tuesday

Today is Fat Tuesday! I started my day off with a donut. At work, we always have a Fat Tuesday lunch, compliments of my mother in law, and it gets better every year! This year (today), we had leftover Fish Market fish, chicken, salad, green beans & hush puppies from an event at the church last night. On top of that was our real Fat Tuesday lunch of sandwich meat, bread & fixings, good, fresh fruit, a fruit and cake trifle, bean & corn dip, chips, cake & icing balls, broccoli salad, king cake and probably something else that I forgot. Anyway, I am very full! I actually didn’t eat any king cake, so I did try to hold back a tiny bit.

Tonight, we are going to Moe’s BBQ with our friends Dan & Carrie because their baby is old enough to get out of the house and go into the public! She has taken her out before, but probably not to a restaurant. We’ll see how it goes! I’m just pumped that I have a great coupon that will get our dinner super cheap tonight.

Other than that, I don’t have much to say about the rest of the week.

However, this past weekend was awesome! Well, Friday was. Saturday was pretty terrible. Sunday was good again, and so was church. Woo! This weekend’s gonna be maybe even better!

GOOD THING: This month is passing by faster than I assumed so far, which is great for me.
BAD THING: Waiting stinks.