Two Day Hangover…

It’s possible.
A two day hangover.
So. Very. Possible.

This weekend, was Hales’ bachelorette party.
And let’s just say… I drank more that night, than I have drank in the last two years, combined.

True story.

My typical hangover, is just being beyond ridiculously tired.
That’s about it.

So, I stopped two times on the drive home for coffee.
I crashed for two hours when I got home.
And Monday??
Well, I just wanted to sleep all freaking day long.

Now, I’m typically a tired person… but this was just beyond that!!

I’m starting to feel normal again.  But not normal enough to go through the photos from last week to do a weekly update.
I’ll get on that tomorrow.

Hope you all had a great weekend!!!

Week in Photos – 15/52

Guys… I have a confession.
My weeks are all messed up.
Yep.  It’s true.
Your Sunday is my Saturday.
Your Monday is my Sunday.
Guess this happens when the hubby works Tuesday-Saturday.
So, while everyone is posting their weekly recap on Monday, I post on Tuesday…
Because you know, Tuesday is my Monday.

I also took a lot of photos this week.
I guess the kids were being extra cute.
Oh, and it was my Birthday!!! on Sunday…
So more pictures that the norm were taken!!

It’s true. I don’t know what happened, but at one point, I felt like I was 27, and that was well before I was 27.. So now I feel like I’ve been 28 for years.  Apparently I wanted to skip over 25 and 26…

Lilly walking around with a bucket on her head, silly girl.  **  Baked ravioli for dinner, so delicious.  **  The precipitation forecast for last Thursday through this Wednesday.  How sad is that?!  **  Little man loves his carrots!

Josh is getting revenge on his sister!  **  Lilly is a flower girl in Auntie Hales’ wedding, and she got her dress and the invite on the same day!  **  New Tinkerbell bedding for my big girl.  **  Just chilling in the bouncer.

I tried to get a photo for thank you notes for her birthday party… she did not want to smile. This is what happened when I said, “Say Cheese!”.  **  Hey Ladies!!  **  Birthday breakfast at the coffee shop, yum.  **  Lilly being a goofball, while waiting for Daddy to get out of the store.

Yoga, bright and early, to start my birthday off great!  **  Coffee and chai for my birthday, with the sister-cousin.  **  FREAKING SNOW!!!!  UGH!!!!  My birthday was great up until that point!  **  Lilly wanted to go to yoga too.

Chris went and got ice cream cake for my birthday, and Lilly loved it!  Loved it so much, she licked the plate and the table when she was done.

Monday was actually a very nice day, so we decided to get out of the house.  We ended up at a county park/waterfall.  It was beautiful!

Lilly enjoyed being out in the fresh air, and able to run around… and climb on things.
But she was good and held my hand when needed too, especially when we looked over the waterfall on the bridge.

Week in Photos – 14/52

This week was pretty crummy.
Lilly and I were both sick.
Chris worked a bunch of overtime.
Lilly threw up.
Josh had an eye infection.
Just overall, our family was out of it.

Thankfully, we are now at the end of the sickness.
Josh’s eye has cleared up.
Chris will hopefully not have to work overtime this week (or at least, not as much as last week).
And….
My birthday is on Sunday!!  Woot!
It’s got to be a good week.
Even though the weather is supposed to be crappy (seriously, rain every day?!).

So, this is what my past week has looked like.

Cuddles with Daddy.  **  A family divided, one Cubs fan, in a land of Brewers fans.  **  Lilly loves watching Tinkerbell.  **  I could tell she was sick this week, she never falls asleep in the living room, but she did this week.

Oh wait… Now Josh is a Cubs fan!!  **  Chris was playing with Josh and Lilly wanted in on the action!  **  Second time Lilly fell asleep in the living room this week.  **  I’m a nerd, and went through all the books I have bought for my Kindle that I haven’t read.  I put them in rating order from Goodreads, and am now bound and determined to read all of them, before I purchase another book.  So far, 3 down, 32 left.

Ordered Lilly’s flower girl dress for Hales’ wedding!!  **  Josh was my cuddle buddy this week.  **  Chilling on her couch, reading Dr. Seuss.  **  Lilly wanted to dress herself, shorts, long sleeved shirt and dress shoes… my little diva.

Daddy and Josh playing video games.  **  Someone turned 4 months old!!!  **  Gah, he is such a handsome little man!  **  My babies… looking so much alike!

I’m off to finish reading book 4 of the 35.  I’m on a mission, and cannot be stopped.
Seriously, how did I read before my Kindle?!

 

 

 

Week in Photos – 13/52

My baby girl turned 2 on the 21st of March.
TWO years old!!
Guess I can’t call her my baby anymore…

TWO!?!?!
How in the world did that happen?!

So we had her birthday on Thursday, we had a party for her on Saturday and we had Easter/party with other side of family this past Sunday.
So much going on…

Here are a few photos from the last two weeks.

Lilly enjoying her birthday pancakes **  Birthday cake on her birthday.. little stinker kept picking at the frosting.  **  Mmmmm… cake… **  Modeling her new clothes.

A birthday gift from my brother, yep, that’s basically what I’m trying to do… **  Her second birthday cake this year, I spent a lot of time on Friday making it for her.  **  The inside of the cake.  **  Yay for ballerinas!!

My best friend and her son, with Josh (they are best friends too)… apparently Z did not want to share his momma!  **  Hales and Josh hanging out.  **  Lilly put her hat on Daddy.  **  Best friends!!

Lilly and I after church on Easter.  **  Opening presents at her (third) birthday party.. she loves books!  **  Some kitchen utensils, they will look good with her kitchen set.  **  Josh and I after church on Easter, my little man is all dressed up!

The first picture of all of us together!! It’s blurry, but it was the best one, since Chris did not want to take any pictures, and refused to smile in any but this one!

Hope you all had a great last few weeks!  And a wonderful Easter!

Don’t Make Me Hurt You, Momma

When I found out this weeks Toddle Along Tuesday was photo bloopers…
There was only one picture in my mind.
One picture that repeated over and over again.
A picture that I laugh at every time I see it.

Lilly was not happy taking her first real bath….
Not happy at all.
She was pretty much ready to punch me.

Let’s see your photo bloopers!
Link up to:

Week in Photos – Catch Up!

Where have I been?

Well, I guess life has caught up with me.
That… and some MAJOR cleaning!
Every time I sit down and think I’m going to blog – I think “well, I need to clean this or do this..”
So, blogging gets put to the back… week after week after week.

This week, I’m playing catch up.

I realized I dressed Lilly in the same outfit I put her in a year ago, so I wanted to do a side-by-side comparison… my little girl is getting so big!!  **  Stabbing her garlic bread with the fork, that’s how she eats.  **  My posters from my favorite musician!!  Got them framed and hung up!!  WOOT!  **  Lilly being pulled in the sled at my parent’s house.. she loved it!

Lilly watching Downton Abbey with me… I may have gotten addicted to it.  **  My happy little man – and the shirt is so true!  **  Josh and Grandpa snuggling.  **  Lilly finally passed out after a massive temper tantrum.

A text from my best friend – she never liked Justin when we were teenagers, (I have loved him since the MMC..), so it was very entertaining to get that text from her!  **  Lilly and Josh hanging out on their couch.  **  Chris had his birthday at the end of Feb.  I made him raspberry vanilla cupcakes.  **  Lilly didn’t want to eat dinner, so I gave her yogurt instead… and she made a massive mess.

Lilly making a painting for Daddy’s birthday.  **  Josh turned 3 months old at the beginning of March!  **  Josh and Grandpa hanging out – they have the same smirk!  **  Lilly wearing Grandpa’s headphones for when he mows the lawn.

Josh and Uncle Nathan hanging out.  **  Lilly eating a cupcake on Chris’ birthday.. she was very excited… and super hyper afterwards!  **  He is seriously such a happy guy!!  **  Lilly was reading to her Great-Grandma.

Josh was trying to blend into the blanket.  **  Chris’ birthday present from me.  A ‘bro-quet’ of all his favorite things.  **  My sister-cousin and I after power yoga yesterday… I am feeling it today!  **  Lilly and Grandpa making snow angels.

Ahhh… pretty Lambeau.  **  I needed a night of just relaxing, reading and ice cream!  **  Watching Downton Abbey on my brothers iPad while visiting the family.  **  I won some fun flavored stevia from one of the blogs I read… it was quite exciting!!

My new reading corner!  You should have seen this corner before, it was full of totes and boxes and junk.  We finally got it cleaned out and now it is an amazing, comfy reading corner!  I love!

Hope you have all had a great couple of weeks.
I’m off to plan a little girl’s birthday party for this Saturday!
I cannot believe I am going to have a 2-year-old come Thursday!!

Week in Photos – 8/52

Why does it seem like the weekend has just flown by?
Maybe it’s because hubby is working Tuesday-Saturday shifts these days… so our weekend doesn’t truly start until Sunday, and that is when most people are winding down their weekend.
Ugh… I don’t know.
All I do know, is this was a much too short weekend…

I typically never win anything (and believe me, I have entered enough giveaways!)… but I finally did win something!!  It’s carpet cleaner, stain remover and such… which is very helpful here, since I have a little girl who likes to dump everything on our carpets!!  ::  Lilly decided she was going to wear some makeup.  ::  Josh, proving he’s the good child right now.  ::  The aftermath of a delicious mixed berry crumb bar at the coffee shop my sister-cousin and I hung out at.

Coffee date with the sister-cousin.  ::  Sweating it up – I have no idea how I got that smile out… my body hated me.  ::  Typical nightly view…. a sink full of bottles.  ::  Mr. Smilie-Face.

Lilly just chilling on her couch watching some morning PBS.  ::  A snack after a tough workout (grapefruit smoothie and egg, bacon and cheese biscuit).  ::  New treadmill workout I’ve started… it kicked my butt… especially since I did a leg/arm circuit the day before.  ::  I can’t help it… every time I drive past Lambeau Field, I have to take a picture… it just makes me so ridiculously happy.  My sister-cousin even laughed at me, as I drive past it at least on a weekly basis… she thinks I should be sick of it by now… silly girl.

How was your week?

Three Became Four Part 2

{read Part 1 here}

I don’t even know when we got to the hospital.  4:30pm?  5:00pm?
All I know is we had to check in at the ER.  And the contractions were coming faster and harder.
We walked up to the counter and the lady asks why we were there.
“I’m in labor.”  I tell her.
“Oh… yes, yes you are.”  She looks me up and down.  She gets me signed in, (I had registered early, but it took forever to find that paperwork… psht.. yay for pre-registering!)
Finally she called up to the birth wing – and tells them they have another one (she had just checking in another lady prior to us coming in.)
A nice volunteer brought us up to the birth wing – and too our room.  As we were passing the front desk, I hear a nurse go, “Is that another one?!”
I get to my room – the nurse shows up, looks at me and goes, “Yeah, you don’t look very comfortable.”
Oh really, could it be because I am leaning over this chair right now, trying to breathe through the contractions?!  I just want a flipping epidural, please!!
I get in the gown, get in bed and the nurse starts doing her thing (you know, poking and prodding).
I swear, they were taking their ever-loving time… Why do they make you wait for the epidural?!  Clearly I wanted it…. clearly the contractions were sucking… clearly I was dilated enough..  UGH!!  I just wanted my epidural!!!

But I waited.  I ‘breathed’ through the contractions, I yelled at my hubby to shut up when he was telling me I was doing a good job.  It was not the thing I wanted to hear at that moment.
Finally, the nurse goes, “Are you ready for your epidural.”  Yes, please God, yes please, NOW!!  “Okay, we’ll I’ll call the anesthesiologist, so he can start heading in.”   Wait… WHAT?!?!   You have to call him in?!  Shouldn’t he be waiting right outside the room?!  I have to wait for him to drive to the hospital, from who knows where?!?!  Are you kidding me?! 
She started prepping me.  Gave me an IV – rolled in carts… I seriously thought I would get the epi right away, but no…. I had to wait another 1/2 hour!
Finally around 6:30pm the anesthesiologist shows up. Starts asking questions.  Tells me how he’s going to do everything.  Yeah, yeah yeah… blah blah blah.. I’ve had a baby already, I know what’s going on!!  Just get it done!
So, he starts… in the middle of a contraction.  Um…. yeah.
He wants me to curve my back, so he can get the needle between the vertebra.
Easy said than done, especially in the middle of a contraction!
The nurse was holding me by the arms, trying to get me to curve my back, but I just couldn’t do it… not during the contraction.  But the stupid man did not understand that, and kept telling me what I needed to do.  Finally I just yelled at him, “I can’t do it during the contraction, you’ll just have to wait!”
So he waited, finally the contraction stopped and I curved my back as he wanted.  He got the needle it, then the catheter, and… another contraction.
I rested my head on the nurse’s shoulder, because I couldn’t do anything else.  The anesthesiologist is asking if it’s in the right place, and all I can focus on is the contraction.  I can’t feel the anything else.
Another nurse had come in and asked if I wanted some pain medicine just to help until the epidural started to work.  I agreed and she shot something into the iv.
I didn’t feel relief, I didn’t feel anything… just the stupid contraction.
Finally the anesthesiologist was done and the nurse let go of me… the other nurse who gave me the pain medicine stepped in and started playing with my hair.  WTH?!  I didn’t think anything too much about it, since another contraction started, and she was so nice, rubbed my arms and told me to breathe through it.
Contraction ended – and she asked if the other pain medicine had kicked it.  I said I didn’t know, and she asks if I feel like I’m a little drunk.  I tell her no as she helps me back into bed.
Then.. the room starts moving.  And my head starts feeling light.  Like it would if I had a few drinks and was pleasantly buzzed.
“It’s working!”  I yell.  It felt amazing.  I still had crazy painful contractions, but my mind was just floating on a cloud.  Wonderful.
Around 7:30 the epidural started working… or… well… it started working on the right side.  I felt no pain on my right side, but continued to feel every contraction on the left side.
So the nurse had me lay more on my left side to get gravity to do some work.
Nope… didn’t work.
I was able to relax a little though, because of the first drug they gave me and not feeling pain on my right side… and okay, the left side was slightly less painful.
I was able to call my parents around 8:00 to let them know I was in labor (yeah, I waited all day.. but in my defense, they said they didn’t want to know as soon as I went into labor (like last time) so I just waited until I felt I should call).

Then it happened…
My left side started getting worse.
It got so bad that the nurse started pushing the epidural button to try and get more medicine in me.
Didn’t work.
Around 8:30 I slowly started feeling pain in my right side.
I mention it to my nurse and she again hits the button and goes to see if Mr. Anesthesiologist is still in the building.
They both come back and he goes, “I don’t really want to try to redo it, since it was so difficult the first time.”  And he left.
UGH!!  The pain steadily got more intense.  It finally got to the point where it was before the epidural and other drug…. then it surpassed that point.

Oh.My.Goodness…. why on Earth would anyone choose to not get drugs?!

I don’t remember when I started screaming during the contractions… but I did.
The nurse kept telling me I was doing great and to just breathe through the contractions.
Chris was off to the side, letting me do my thing because he didn’t want to get yelled at again… and he was keeping the family updated.
I swear, I was ready to punch those nice nurses because they kept telling me how good I was doing.
Seriously?!?!  I don’t want to do good… I want the freaking epidural to work!
Around 9:00, the nurse ran out to call the doctor (who of course was on-call, not in the hospital, and not my actual doctor).
And then it happened…. I had the urge to push.
I told my nurse and her response was, “I know you want too, but you can’t.  You have to wait for the doctor to get here.”
Every contraction, I keep telling her I had to push, I had to push… and she kept telling me I couldn’t.  I mean… how can I stop what my body wants needs to do?!
I begged her to just deliver my baby herself.  And she smiled and said she wished she could.

I swear, there should not be clocks in the room where laboring moms can see them.  All I did was stare at the clock from the moment she said she called to doctor to when he got there.
With every contraction she said that he was almost here… almost here.
Finally I said, “You said that like 15 minutes ago?!  He is such a slow poke!!”
All the nurses started laughing and told me I should tell him that when he got there.

Around 9:25, the doctor strolled in.
He went to the corner to s.l.o.w.l.y put his scrubs on.
I’m in the middle of a contraction and he’s just talking away to the nurse.
Oh, if I could have moved, I would have punched him.
He finally came over to me, broke my water and told me the words that I loved,
“The next time you feel the urge to push, you can do it.”
3 seconds later, a contraction came, and I pushed..
3 pushes later (at 9:33) little mister came into the world.

They laid him on me and all the hours of labor and pain just washed away.
All the anger I had for the doctor taking forever to come washed away too.
This beautiful little boy, cried for a second and then snuggled into me.

We didn’t have a named picked out.
Well, okay, we had names picked out… but we hadn’t decided on one.
We were going to wait to see him and hope he looked like one of the names we picked.
I wanted Andrew, Chris wanted Zachary.  I looked down at my quiet happy little baby and asked, “So… are you and Andrew?”  And his face scrunched up and he started to cry.  “Oh… you don’t have to be Andrew if you don’t want too!”  I said, stroking his arm.  The next name that came to me was not Zachary, but my second favorite name.
“Do you want to be a Joshua?”  I asked.  Instantly he stopped crying.
“Okay, I’ll take that as a yes.”  I look up at Chris and he goes, “Yeah, he looks like a Joshua.”  And the doctor goes, “That’s my son’s name… it’s a great one.”
So little man decided he wanted to name himself.
His middle name is my dad’s name, and we had kept that a secret from them… so when I called them to let them know their grandson was born, my step-mom asked for his name and I told her and she goes, “Oh… I’ll let you tell your dad that one..”  And she hands the phone to him.  He goes, “So, does he have a name?”  “Yes, yes he does.”  “Okay, don’t tell me, I’ll find out tomorrow.”  In the background I hear my step-mom say, “I know what his name is!”  And my dad says, “Okay, tell me his name.”  I smiled and told him, “His name is Joshua Neil.”  Silence…. “Oh… really?!”  My dad choked out.  He recovers and jokes, “He’s got a great first name and dumb middle name.”
Awe, it was cute.  I choked my dad up by naming my son after him.

Telling my dad what has grandsons name is.

So, after 16 hours of labor, 1 botched epidural and 3 pushes…. our family of three, became four.

Pink Grapefruit Sunrise Smoothie

It’s not unknown that I love Pinterest.
So many ideas, crafts, recipes, that I would never have thought of on my own.
One day I came across a delicious looking smoothie from Crafty Little Gnome, and knew I had to try it.
I was right, it was just as delicious as it looked.

The cast of ingredients:  1/2 cup orange juice, 1 cup frozen strawberries, 1 banana and 1 grapefruit.

Plop them all into a blender and give it a whirl.

Pour into the coolest glass you own (yeah, I’m all about the Packers!)… and enjoy!

You guys… this is so refreshing.  And takes me away from the fact that it’s typically negative digits outside… it has me dreaming of summer, and really, I’m not complaining!

Lilly wanted to try the smoothie, but it was a little too…. grapefruit-y for her, so made her one with some simple ingredients.

Milk, banana, strawberries and strawberry yogurt.
Lilly isn’t into eating breakfast (or any other meal right now)… so I figured I should cram as much as I could into this smoothie.
Believe me, if we had spinach on hand, that would have went in there too!

I popped hers into her thermos, so a) it wouldn’t make a mess and b) it would keep the smoothie cold, as she takes her ever-loving-time drinking it.

If you’re in a winter slump, go try the grapefruit smoothie… if you aren’t much of a fan of grapefruit, you can add half, or a quarter… adjust it to your preferences.  But try it!!

And seriously, with the (next) winter storm coming… this may just be the key to staying optimistic that spring is just around the corner.

Week in Photos – 7/52

Oh wow… major slacker over here.
Daily I remind myself that I need to get on here…
And then, life takes over.
Speaking of life… I have to go put Lilly down for a nap…………………………….
Why does it get harder and harder to get her to nap?
She is SO tired, yet she screams and throws a tantrum every.day.
I really don’t know how much more of the screaming I can take…
It is seriously an everyday thing.
Screaming, tantrums, more screaming, kicking….
I don’t know where she picked it up – but I’m beyond tired of it.
And she isn’t even two yet – so I know I have many more days (months) ahead.

Okay – so before Josh wakes and needs all the attention, I need to get this post up.
I cannot tell you how many drafts I have that need completing.
Seriously, life… can we slow down a bit??  Hmmm.Thanks.

I started the weekend off by getting a much-needed haircut.  Seriously, I have been hating the style and blahness of my hair for some time now. ::  I love the new cut and it is so much more easier to take care of! :: Such a happy little valentine. ::  My little girl is getting so big, she’s turning into a big girl.

Josh and his girlfriend.  ::  The makings of a delicious grapefruit smoothie.  ::  Lilly being a little artist in the bathtub.  ::  It’s about that time… my baby girl isn’t going to be a baby much longer.

Momma and Josh just playing around.  ::  I needed a new dresser (if you couldn’t tell), finally my clothes are not a) left in a basket or b) thrown all over the room… they have a place again!  ::  The complete grapefruit sunrise smoothie.  So good!  ::  Little girl takes up the whole bed!

Good thing we are done having kids… we’d have no room for all of them in our bed.  ::  Joshua was not impressed with bath time.  ::  I finally cleared off the treadmill and hung some motivation and workout ideas on the wall… now, to find the time to use it.  ::  The best way to start a morning – a good book and a green smoothie.

How was your week, last week?

Have you tried NuNaturals Stevia?  I haven’t (tried other brands though).  Ali over at Peaches and Football is hosting a “sweet” giveaway, for one bottle of each of the NuNaturals Lemon / Orange / Peppermint flavored Stevia liquids, PLUS the NEW Chocolate Stevia!  Go check it out – and check the rest of her blog out.. she’s a daily read for me!