Wordless Wednesday - 03-30-2011

Vloggin' Vednesdays

Vednesday, March 9th “Rooms in your Home” - Show a room (or rooms) in your house, could be your favorite, could be a room you want to redesign… do what you feel.

Vednesday, March 16th “Q&A Day” - Vlog questions
•Why did you start bloggin?
•If you had to eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?
•What is the biggest personal change you have ever made?

Vednesday, March 23rd “Guilty Pleasures” - OK, we know you’ve got ‘em, let ‘em all hang out.

Vednesday, March 30th “How To” - Share a “how to” video. I love learning new things, who doesn’t?

Bowling to Hook up... Nope, Bowling to Bowl

This past Friday, we decided to do some Astro-Bowling for family night. It was late and the music was loud, which scared Diego at first. He wasn't sure what to make of the flashing disco balls on the ceiling, but all he knew was that he LIKED THEM!

For the most part he was a well-behaved boy... until he saw the bowling alley.

Daddy almost broke his back reeling Diego back into the "Safe, non-waxed zone"

As the night got later, my husband and 15 yr old son decided to play pool.
When Diego got restless, we sat on a couch and he fell asleep. The couch was in front of a group of girls who had come in to bowl after us.

Then, a guy from the next lane over, wearing a "The Hangover" t-shirt started asking me questions about Diego. He said he was expecting soon and this was his last night out.

He came back about 20 mins later and asked me I had any friends I could "hook them up with". Not only did I find it comical that this guy was asking a woman with a baby if she could "hook them up" with friends, but I also found it odd that only minutes before, he told me that he was expecting a baby of his own. It's so weird to think that even if I did have any single friends, that I would even go that far. I don't think so!

I soon realized that he thought I was with the group of girls in front of me, and wanted to get to know those girls. Once I told him that I was not with them, he walked over to initiate conversation with them.

I'm so glad I'm out of that scene. I have a husband, a family, that's all I need...

Everybody's got a "Ring" to Bear...

I'm so sad today. My trusty point-and-shoot camera is experiencing a lens error this morning (Diego dropped it in dirt and sand in Peru, and it's never been the same!). I think the little guy is going to have to go into the ICU for this. Whaaaaaa!

Anyway, before he got sick we snapped these photos of Diego last night. He's going to make a handsome ring bearer (if he would only just wipe off that boogery, sulking face!)

Sigh...

Wordless Wednesday - 03/23/2011

Engaged at 14..........................Months?

DIEGO SHOWS US HOW TO GET ENGAGED:

STEP 1: Pick a romantic venue such as your aunt's bridal shower.

STEP 2: Hold your girl's hand and get down on one knee to pick up a glowing ring on the floor.

STEP 3: Ask for your girl's hand in marriage.

STEP 4: Make sure she accepts the ring!

STEP 5: Snap a picture of your blushing fiance.

MOH's before Hoes!

I did my best Matron of Honor (MOH) duty this weekend, and threw my sister's bridal shower along with her best friend and other MOH, Barbra. While working on this party, we realized that neither of us was really good at throwing parties, but my sister threw me such a thoughtful baby shower way back when, that I was obligated to put in some effort.

Luckily for everyone, I love themes and being crafty. Since my sister got engaged on the Eiffel Tower in Paris, we decided to make it a French cafe theme. We played French cafe music, served French pastries and wine, decorated in a pinky french theme, and I even made canopies for the cafe - yes - canopies. Like I said, I go crafty-wild when given a theme. Do you like my canopies? I'm pretty proud of them if you ask me.

Our cafe was called Cafe Les Anneaux, which I'm hoping means "The Rings" Cafe. I spelled it wrong on the actual canopies, but luckily no one spoke French at the party, LOL!

At the end of the day, Barbra and I gave each other a great big, procrastinator's high-five! And proudly exclaimed our slogan for this wedding, "MOHs before Hoes!!!" :)~

Vloggin' Vednesday: Q&A Day!

Better late than never?

Well, at least it's still Vednesday on the Pacific Coast...

Vednesday, March 9th “Rooms in your Home” - Show a room (or rooms) in your house, could be your favorite, could be a room you want to redesign… do what you feel.

Vednesday, March 16th “Q&A Day” - Vlog questions
•Why did you start bloggin?
•If you had to eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?
•What is the biggest personal change you have ever made?

Vednesday, March 23rd “Guilty Pleasures” - OK, we know you’ve got ‘em, let ‘em all hang out.

Vednesday, March 30th “How To” - Share a “how to” video. I love learning new things, who doesn’t?

How Could You do this to Me?

My biggest sales pitch ever was convincing my dad to buy me a dog when I was 10 years old. It took what seemed like a year to a kid and many confirmations that "the dog would not end up on the floor or under the bed like my other toys." One day, as if by magic my dad was reading the local paper and found an ad for Pomeranian puppies for sale - and he actually suggested that we go check it out! That was the day I brought home Bingo, my best friend until I turned 28 years old!

During that time I was working hard on my second biggest sales pitch - getting another dog. Unfortunately, that endeavor seemed to be cursed from the start. I have never been able to realize that dream since its inception. I think I am bound to stay a single dog owner for the rest of my life.

Even now that I'm an adult with my own house, I own Cujo Qori, who does not always get along well with other dogs. Knowing this, for some reason my husband brought home a black lab named Midnight over the weekend who was looking for a home (her owner has cancer and they needed to move to an apartment and in this city, pet friendly housing is very difficult to find for a dog her size).




I knew in my subconscious that we could not own another dog, so I immediately thought, "How could you do this to me? You know I'll fall in love with her right away!"

And we bonded immediately. It's amazing how some dogs are instantly so affectionate to a total stranger. I was also communicating with her so quickly, and for the most part, she understood my commands. I felt bad for her situation, and when she would whine I thought she might be saying to her family, "How could you do this to me? How could you just leave me here?"

My husband soon realized the flaw in his actions, and we decided to send Midnight home a little bit early. But not before Midnight opened her can of whoop-ass and went "Cujo" on Qori. Qori defended himself, but ended up backing down to her royal highness.

As always, I did what I was not supposed to do and tried to stop the dog-fight. I won't say I was bitten, but I'll say that my hand crashed into one of the canine's canines. I don't know whose, but all I could think was, "How could you do that to me?!"


[Excuse my veiny hands, they get that way in heat or when I'm agitated as in this case!]

PS. She really is a wonderful dog, so if you're interested let me know!

Message in a Tupper

Grandma always picks up Diego from the sitter's house, so I never see the sitter after the morning. The sitter has become creative in her attempts to let me know when Diego is running low on supplies. Thank God I decided to clean out the diaper bag over the weekend and found this tupper ware!

Vloggin' Vednesdays

Link Up! And Join in on the fun!

Vednesday, March 9th “Rooms in your Home” - Show a room (or rooms) in your house, could be your favorite, could be a room you want to redesign… do what you feel.

Vednesday, March 16th “Q&A Day” - Vlog questions
•Why did you start bloggin?
•If you had to eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?
•What is the biggest personal change you have ever made?

Vednesday, March 23rd “Guilty Pleasures” - OK, we know you’ve got ‘em, let ‘em all hang out.

Vednesday, March 30th “How To” - Share a “how to” video. I love learning new things, who doesn’t?

Wordless Wednesday - 03/09/2011

Mommy & Me Monday: The Loss

It's sort of like when you wake up from the most luscious dream that you are dating your high school crush, and then you wake up to remember that you are still a high school nerd and he doesn't even acknowledge your existence. You wake screaming, "No!!!!! Bring me back to my dream!" And you close your eyes to go back to sleep, but you can't catch a wink of sleep.

It's sort of like when you walk in through the door to your home after coming back from a sweetest paradise vacation, and you think, "Was I really just there only XX hours ago?" You know you were, but it's all just a memory now.

It's sort of like when you lose your mother's most precious bracelet, given to her by her father who had to work hard to get it. You can still feel it in your hands, feel the weight, the ridges, the temperature - yet it is not there. Your palm is empty.

And the emotion - well the emotion is like the day you realized you were mortal, or the day you had to put your dog down, or the day your parents divorced, or the day you were told you had a terminal illness. I could go on, but I won't.

Instead I will acknowledge how lucky I am to come home to a healthy one year old boy, a loving husband, and over-sized fluffy dog that I love so dear. Lucky to have a strong family support system in my sister and parents. I will focus only on the light through this tough experience. And to me, the light is that we were able to conceive so quickly. Maybe the next time around will not take us another 3 years? For now, I still count my blessings and anticipate a better outcome as the year progresses. I am fine now, and know more than ever now, that Diego is meant to be an older brother someday...

Someday, I will not have to wake from the dream because the dream will be the reality. Someday my vacation paradise will be my everyday life. And someday, the jewel that I lost will be returned to my hands, and I won't let go...

Waiting for the Miscarriage?

No sooner did I express my concerns regarding a miscarriage that I'm already in the middle of a scare. Yesterday was a BAD morning for me. I will be very candid about the events that occurred:

After a couple days of light spotting, I woke to feeling something similar to discharge. Sadly when I checked, I found out it was not: I was bleeding. A million thoughts went through my head at that moment. Am I having a miscarriage? Was I ever even really pregnant? Is this my regular period?

I did not feel any horrible pains, so I went in to work. The bleeding continued and seemed to get a little heavier so I called the nurse. She scheduled me for an ultrasound at 2:45 pm (I had meetings in the morning). Can you imagine what it's like to sit through meetings, trying to talk to people normally while in the back of your mind you think that you are in the middle of a miscarriage? It was horrible!
2:45 FINALLY came and I had both an ultrasound and a sonogram. After taking the pictures the radiologist said something like:
"I don't see anything in the sack but some fluid and a small amount of mass that COULD BE an embryo. I'm going to let Dr.Baker take a look at these and get back to you in a few minutes."

I sat there, hanging on the words that I had no expertise on "nothing in the sack". What did this mean? Was I never even pregnant? I decided that must be it, so I immediately began dealing with the depression of a false-positive pregnancy. Those 10 minutes felt like HOURS...

Dr. Baker walked in and began to talk to me about the results and plan. She said it was "smaller than expected" which means I could have been a little off on my days (I don't think so because my last period was on Diego's birthday for sure). I really didn't listen to her, and went straight into asking questions about a false-positive pregnancy because I had convinced myself that's what it was. She assured me that according to the pictures she saw, she agreed with the positive test. It was just smaller than normal.

At that moment I felt good if only for the moment, knowing that an expert had confirmed my pregnancy for the first time. But then I remembered the facts: I was still bleeding heavily. I also remember having taken Ibuprofen (above the recommended dose as prescribed by the urgent care doctor) for almost a week due to a plugged ear after returning from Peru. Could this have stunted my baby's growth or worse, stopped it?

To make an emotional story short, there is no way of knowing at this point whether or not I have possibly miscarried. I had blood work done yesterday to check out my pregnancy hormone levels, if the levels aren't high I may have to get the work re-done on Saturday because hormone levels are supposed to double in 48 hrs. I am impatiently waiting for a call from the Dr.'s office to see what the next move is.

I'm also supposed to go back for another ultrasound in a week. A WEEK! Combining my overactive brain at the moment, Googling "miscarriages", and a week's time together can only lead to me feeling defeated and depressed for the entire week. Yet I go on, because there's a glimmer of a chance that Baby will make it through this tough time. I look into Diego's eyes and imagine how I could fight if I knew it was him in there fighting for his life. I can't be weak... I need to be strong... for my babies....

Wordless Wednesday 3/2/2011

The Four-Zero Project!

So, I haven't really said much about my new pregnancy, and I think because I'm still in disbelief and it's still suuuuuuper early! I'm not really mentioning it to anyone other than close family (I already have video footage of the surprise). I won't even be posting any YouTube videos about it until I'm further along (but I will continue to provide a link to my blog for the curious-cats).

I'm one of those women who freaks out that she's going to have a miscarriage. I'm willing to share the experience through blogging if it happens, but for some reason to speak about something like that on video would be too emotionally draining for me.

With that said, if you read my blog you are part of a special VIP group who knows a fun secret. (and thank you for being so awesome, by the way). Let's have fun with it! I'm going to start what I call the "Four-Zero" project (kinda like the 365 project that I've seen going around where people take daily pictures of themselves for a year). That's too much commitment for me, so I will be taking weekly pictures of myself (plus I saw a girl do it in a blog and I really liked her pictures).

So, according to the interwebs I am due in late October (Halloween Baby?) and am currently 5 weeks. Therefore, this is the 5/40 shot. What do you think? Not much to see yet. Hahaha!

Symptoms:
None

Cravings:
Starbuck's Caramel Macchiato (before I found out)

Special Note:
My period sort of came when it was supposed to. It was about a day and a half of really, really light bleeding that never developed into anything stronger. I thought it might have counted as my period since it was the first month I was off the pill, and I assumed my body was just re-adjusting. Yes - that's right, it was the first month! As opposed to 3 years & 3 failed inseminations with Diego. I really think Diego did some remodeling with my pipes to help his little sibling get a good grasp!

If anyone is curious, this is how I told my parents about my first pregnancy: