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This month has flown by. I really cannot believe Christmas is on Friday. How does that happen?

This hasn’t been a very happy month. On Monday night our Carbon Monoxide detector went off around 2 AM or so. It was reading about 50. Gene would crack the door and the number would go down to zero. He’d close it and the heater would kick back on and it would go off and read 50. We cranked the heater way down so that it wouldn’t kick on and went back to bed. First thing Tuesday I began calling around to find someone to come look at our furnace. Someone came by to look at it, found some pretty bad cracks in the heat exchanger and gave me an estimate for around 4 mortgage payments to replace the furnace. We stayed the night at my parent’s house since the temps were going to dip down into the 20s that night. They came out the next morning at 10 AM and by 8 PM that night we had heat again. Spending that much money right now was not on our list of things to do, well, EVER honestly.. but what can you do? I am just thankful that we had a carbon monoxide detector and that we are ALIVE. Especially Zoey. A reading of 50 on a CM detector is HIGH for an infant :(

My mom’s dog (who is only 8) stopped eating a few weeks ago. He had been going to the vet to figure out what is going on. They thought it was a bad tooth and pulled 3 bad teeth and he still would not eat or get better. Finally took him to a specialty hospital where they did exploratory surgery and found a peach pit lodged in his intestines. They took it out, cut 4 inches of his intestines out and sewed him back up. He was doing well but needed a transfusion. Somehow over night last night he went down hill.. The infection spread into his stomach and blood stream and his entire body was septic. They put him down this morning. We got him as a little puppy back when I was still living at home. He was always a little sh*t dog.. but we loved him for that. He had personality and was a cuddle buddy to me when I lived there and to my sister after I moved out of the house. I don’t know what it is but whenever I think about him not being there any more, my heart feels heavy and my stomach drops. I am beyond sad about this and finding it hard to put my feelings into words :(

Things can only get better right? I mean, in the last 1 1/2 years my Grandma passed, my Grandpa passed and now my “brother dog” passed. Zoey has been our little ray of sunshine through all of the sadness we’ve experienced and we’re really hoping that things can only look up from here. Hopefully we can all laugh about all of the crazy things Toby used to do and remember what a sweet dog he was while still enjoying Christmas this year. It’s Zoey’s first, after all.

Candy :: Dec.19.2009 :: Family, Holidays, Tragedy :: 3 Comments »

I just wanted to write and say the same thing that everyone else is already saying: It’s ALREADY December??? Where in the world did October and November go??

Zoey loves to shimmy her way underneath the tree and then look up at all the lights and ornaments. She loves to play with garland and pull little strands of tinsel off the tree. She doesn’t try to eat it, she just likes to feel it between her fingers. She is such a sweetheart these days and the only time she ever really cries or fusses is when she is going down for a nap or bed and doesn’t feel like she is ready.

Candy :: Dec.01.2009 :: Holidays, Zoey :: 2 Comments »

First of all, I hope all of the Mommies out there had a spectacular day today!

I had a wonderful day. We went to eat at Mimi’s Cafe for Mother’s Day lunch but the wait was 1 hour and 10 minutes! We saw there were hardly any cars in the parking lot at BJs so we went there instead. It was a wonderful lunch. We then went back to my parent’s house to hang around for a couple of hours until we met some out of town family for dessert. Zoey got to spend some much needed quality time with Grandpa and then we headed to Cracker Barrell to meet our family that was passing through town.

By time we got home it was easily 6:30 PM. We got Zoey fed and ended up taking a nap on the couch. By time we got up it was time for her to eat again and boy she was screaming. I think she was trying to poop, and then she did poop, and then her diaper was dirty… it was a succession of events that had her screaming at the very top of her lungs. She was doing that new baby cry where they are screaming so loud and so upset that eventually it is no longer screaming, just hollow from-the-throat cries and a VERY red face. It was awful! I finally got her calmed down enough with a pacifier that I could actually feed her after Gene changed her and she ate peacefully and went down very easily after that. Poor little girl wore herself out!

Today at Cracker Barrell, she made what we thought to be a really stinky diaper. Since I have The Best Husband Ever, Gene took her to the Men’s room and changed her diaper. He really is the best Daddy ever. I just wanted to document that this was the first time Zoey was changed in a public place by her Daddy.

Well, my thoughts are scattered and not very well put. I’m pretty tired. I’m going to get my shower in before Zoey wakes up again to eat. I’m hoping she will eat sometime around 12 or 1 and cross my fingers that she’ll go down easily and sleep for 3-4 hours. Last night she was super fussy and we ended up sleeping together on the papasan chair together because she just would not go down. However, at her 5:30 AM feeding, she went down pretty easily and slept until 9:30 AM. Gene is going in to work early tomorrow morning so it will be just us tomorrow.

Oh one more thing, Zoey got me the CUTEST card ever. Complete with backwards Es and everything ;) She also got me a set of 3 board books to read to her. I may have to read one to her this evening before she goes to bed. I love my husband so much! I am blessed to be a mother today. Feeling very fortunate.

Tomorrow is my due date!

Candy :: May.10.2009 :: Baby, Holidays, Motherhood, Zoey :: Comments Off

I hope everyone has a great New Year’s Eve and I hope 2009 brings you lots of love and happiness. I plan to write my big “review” sometime in the next couple of weeks. I knew setting a deadline for January 1st would be a little ambitious so I’m gonna give myself a couple of weeks to settle down and write it up. A LOT happened for us in 2008, mostly good but some sad. It was definitely a busy year! And I see 2009 being just as busy with a new one arriving, though not quite in the same sense.

Tonight we are going to hang out at my house with my mom and just chit chat. I think Gene and I will get some quality Wii playing time in before the ball drops and eat lots of fattening, bad foods. I don’t like to set resolutions but one goal I do have for next year is to start taking my blood sugars more regularly and start eating a little more health consciously. If not for me, at least for the baby :) Oh and I guess another goal would be to decide on a name for the little one and maybe even get my nursery done BEFORE the baby arrives.

The last couple of days have been very emotional for me (and Gene, I’m sure). Astro has had this weird itching thing he does. He scratches the underside of his chin until its raw and scabby and he chews on one side of his rear end until it is raw and scabby as well. We got an e-collar (those dreaded cone shaped collars) for him from PetSmart last night and finally was able to get it on him, though it was a HUGE struggle. He is a big dog but he is scared of everything! He looked so pitiful and sad and miserable all evening and then for about 2 hours last night he whined non-stop in our bedroom. We tried to give him some water but he was so scared of the cone bumping into things he refused to drink. It was awful and I can’t even tell you how much I cried from the time we put it on him around 9 PM to 4 AM when I finally decided enough was enough. I didn’t get a whole lot of sleep last night but I’m really hoping the adrenaline kicks in this evening so I don’t fall asleep before midnight.

Needless to say, as soon as we took the collar off he was back to his old self and didn’t seem to hate us too much. He really knows how to grab a hold of my heart and SQUEEZE it. I swear I thought my heart was breaking last night. I went through a WIDE range of emotions from being really pissed off that he wasn’t cooperating to feeling really guilty about what we had done. It was to the point where at one point I was questioning what kind of mother I am and how I could have done this.

Oh boy, is that the hormones talking or the real me? I can’t even tell. At one point I’m convincing Gene that the ecollar is the right thing and not to worry and the next I am sobbing about how we need to take it off of him because he is so miserable and sad.

All of this. Over a DOG. But man, if you could only SEE his sad face. I’m pretty sure it would make you cry, too.

Candy :: Dec.31.2008 :: Dogs, Holidays :: 1 Comment »

I hope everyone had a wonderful Holiday. I know we did. I got off work on Christmas Eve at about 3:45 and came home to rest up. Around 4:30 or so we loaded up the car and headed over to my parent’s house. We had chili for dinner and then I put together a Gingerbread House and then we opened gifts with my parents and my little sister. Gene and I exchanged our gifts (we set a $50 limit since I just got a Macbook Pro, we ordered a camcorder and also plan to spend more $$ on this little one) on Christmas Eve night because I was too excited and didn’t want to wait until Christmas morning. Sometimes I can be such a kid.

Christmas morning we got up and let the doggies open their presents and play with them and then we headed over to my parent’s house for the day. We had a big breakfast of pancakes, sausage, bacon, homemade bread and eggs. This was a late lunch around 11 so we ended up having Christmas dinner around 6ish. For Christmas dinner we had Ham (my Dad’s work gave them a choice of ham, turkey, or brisket), Cornflake Potato Casserole, Sweet Potato Casserole, layered salad and rolls. For dessert my mom made a Pumpkin Toffee Cheesecake. The cheesecake was TO DIE FOR. Oh and her Sweet Potato Casserole is amazing! It isn’t the kind that has marshmallows on it.. The topping is a mixture of brown sugar and finely chopped pecans. Oh boy that stuff is good.

Anyway so we had a great Holiday. Last night Gene and I drove around and looked at Christmas lights. It’s a tradition we usually do a week or so before Christmas but we just never had time to do it before now. Unfortunately it seems as if a lot of people took down or turned off their lights the day after Christmas. I thought people used to leave them up until New Years? I don’t know. The people across the street from us took theirs down yesterday, I couldn’t believe it.

I would like to get all of my decorations down soon but I don’t know how that is going to pan out. I may have Gene bring in the containers this week and that way I can slowly take the tree apart and dismantle the fireplace mantle (hah). I love right after Christmas when my house gets back to “normal.” There is just something amazing about that feeling! I’ve been getting all of these ideas for ways to declutter and minimize the amount of crap I have laying around. I think I’m going to try to sell some of the stuff I have online, I just haven’t decided where. Probably Ebay. I’m guessing these are the starting stages of nesting. Is it too early to be nesting at almost 21 weeks? I’ve decided that we will probably paint the baby’s room a VERY pale pink. I’m talking, VERY pale here. I don’t want anything overbearing or crazy. I was also thinking I could do a very pale yellow and maybe do pink stencils on the walls of something or other. I need to research nursery ideas and stenciling and painting and stuff.

Anyway, here is the rundown of gifts we received so I’ll have it down for the future. Because my memory? Almost non existent these days.

Me:
- Brown Crocs with brown wool lining (Link) – From Mom & Dad
- Giraffe print purse with red leather strap. – From Mom & Dad
- Electric Skillet (Link) – From Mom & Dad
- Snowman trash can with Japanese Cherry Blossom body wash, body spray, hand creme, a stuffed black sheep – From Layla
- Wii Fit (this was to Gene and I both) – from Mom & Dad
- Animal Crossing for Nintendo DS – From Mom & Dad
- Touchmaster for Nintendo DS – From Gene
- The Simpsons Movie on DVD – From Gene
- Nintendo DS Accessories (a stand, a game case) – From Gene
- LOTS of candy, including: A candy cane tube of sweet tarts, a candy cane tube of runts, a candy cane tube of life saver gummies, a candy cane tube of hershey kisses, a package of snickers peanut butter santas, a package of assorted Fererro Rocher chocolates, a box of laffy taffy… Oh geez I am getting cavities just typing all of this out… – From Gene
- $200 cash from Santa. We are so using that to buy a crib!! $10 restaurant gift card to Chlis/Macaroni Grill/On The Border, more CANDY, fuzzy socks, a movie ticket & free large popcorn – all from Santa

Baby Chao:
- ADORABLE sleeper in size NB that has little bees on the feet
- ADORABLE sleeper in size NB that has little lady bugs on the feet
- Very cute purple “Princess” outfit, a onesie with pants
- Pink Giraffe hooded towel 0-9 months. The hood has the little Giraffe ears & tentacles.

Gene:
- Nintendo DS Lite – Pokemon edition – From Mom & Dad
- A really expensive and fancy electric razor – From Mom & Dad
- Futurama DVD & Mario Kart for Nintendo DS – From Layla

I know I’m forgetting some stuff… I’ll update it as I remember. I also have a lot of pics I need to download off the camera and process and then upload to Flickr. Those will be coming soon.

Candy :: Dec.27.2008 :: Holidays :: Comments Off

Just a quick shout out to tell everyone Happy Holidays. I hope you all have a great one, whatever it is that you celebrate. Remember to be thankful for friends, family and life in general.

Tonight we are having our family Christmas, like we always do, on Christmas Eve. We’ll eat Chili for dinner, open gifts afterwards and then put together a Gingerbread House kit and just hang out for a little while. Gene and I will head home from my parent’s house and watch National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation while we fall asleep.

This is our first Holiday season together as an officially married couple but also our last Holiday season together with just us. Next year we will have a little one joining us :)

I’ll be back after the busy Holidays slow down a little.

Candy :: Dec.24.2008 :: Holidays :: 1 Comment »

Well November, you have been a pretty good month. However, I have to admit that this has been by far the fastest moving month so far this year. It really seems like we were just starting November and all of a sudden, it’s over. This has been a mild November for us okies and I’m sure for a lot of other states out there. Usually we’ve had at least some snow flurries by now but there is no sign of temperatures that cold.

I’m looking forward to the first snow, even if it is a few little snow flurries that don’t stick to the ground. I need something that signifies that we are entering Winter. Right now it seems like some kind of on and off Battle of the Seasons between Fall and Winter. And truly? I have no idea who is winning. Some days it is in the 70s and some days it is in the 40s or 50s. This is the kind of wonky weather that totally throws my sinuses off track. I’m trying everything in my power to stay healthy and NOT get ill with a sinus infection again. I am sick of those darn things!

My Thanksgiving was great. We didn’t do Black Friday shopping. I really can’t remember if we even did last year or not but there were horrible “deals” (if you can even call them that) this year. Also, after hearing that a poor man died at Walmart by being trampled to death, I realized that maybe Black Friday shopping may be on our list of Things To Boycott. I don’t want to be involved in craziness that risks people’s lives. I spoke with a friend who works at Walmart nearby and she said they had a fight break out while people were running to the merchandise. I don’t understand why people become to violent when it comes to all of these stupid material possessions? It makes me sick and embarrassed to even be of the same species as them.

My BIL and SIL came in to work with their 2 week old baby, so I did get to spend an evening with an adorable newborn. It made me SO excited and so ready to have this baby. When Gene was holding the baby I just felt like, wow this is going to be my life in 5 short months. It’s amazing! Also, a friend from out of town came to town to visit and catch up with people so it was really great to hang out with her. We walked around Target, went to eat Pho and ice cream. It was a nice visit! I felt like it was a great long weekend for catching up with old friends and family and just hanging out with my husband and my family as well. Good times!

I did buy a few things that were on sale, but not until late evening, so I personally don’t think it counts as Black Friday shopping. I got a game for my Nintendo DS Lite and I Also got a few movies: Peter Pan, Rush Hour 3 and 101 Dalmations. My Disney collection is coming together nicely. I’m glad to know that my kids will have a nice stack of (ahem, GOOD) Disney movies to watch as they get older. A lot of the classics that I also enjoyed as a child.

Today has been a lazy one. I wrapped all of the gifts I have bought for people so far (almost done!) and watched part of Santa Claus The Movie (my FAVORITE classic Christmas movie), fell asleep on the couch and just woke up from a call from my Mom inviting us over for dinner tonight.

We’re finding out the sex of the baby in just 10 short days!!!

Candy :: Nov.30.2008 :: Daily, Family, Friends, Holidays, Pregnancy :: Comments Off