Welcome 2010! A Year of Change for Me!

We're starting a new decade and this just boggles my mind! I can't exactly remember what I was doing on New Year's Eve 10 years ago. I'm pretty sure that I was at the apartment of my friends Courtney and Emily acting silly and drinking white russians (I had no clue ha, ha). I also vaguely remember some very bad karoke. But, the fuzzy details don't really matter because I do remember where I was every New Year's Eve since...at my Darling Husband's side.

We've only made a big deal of our very first NYE together with a fancy dinner, champagne, and all of that "stuff" that seems like a big deal when you're first dating. Since then, we've spent our evenings the same way every year - at home with a nice homemade meal, wine, conversation, a good movie, and lots of cuddling. *ahem ;)

This NYE will be different because we have another addition to our family. She's only about 8.5 lbs. but she's rocked our world upside down in a good way! No, we will not be cooking an elaborate meal tonight. Actually, I'm just thinking about sticking a frozen pizza in the oven after I suck down another cup of coffee. There's something about having a newborn and not sleeping that makes good food temporarily unimportant. But, DH did come home from the grocery store with a good bottle of wine! So, we're at least sticking to that part of our NYE tradition. I also will not be disappointed if I somehow manage to be asleep at midnight. But, that's up to baby girl.

I can't stop reflecting on how my life has changed in the past 10 years. I'm a planner, a list maker, and a go getter. But, nothing about my life has turned out the way I planned. When I was 20 years old, I knew that I had the world in my hand. I was capable of doing anything I wanted and my life was going to be amazing! I had plans of graduate school, a high level corporate position of some type, power suits, big bucks, a Mercedes, cute shoes and designer handbags, and of course I'd be married to the perfect man with the perfect children and we'd live in the perfect mansion!

Now at 30, I gave up my successful career and my very nice salary which paid for my cute shoes and designer handbags (sigh...) to become a stay at home Mom to two beautiful girls, a Wife to an amazing man who has somehow put up with me for 7 years of marriage, and we live in a beautiful but "normal" home. Oh, and I don't have a Mercedes but I do drive a fully loaded Saturn SUV - Holla!!! Hey, at least it's not a mini-van because I swore that I would never be one of those mini-van Moms. (Don't tell anyone but now that I'm a Mom, I secretly think that having a mini-van with those automatic sliding doors and a TV/DVD player would be a lifesaver).

I never saw my life taking this path but I am so grateful that it did! God really does know my heart, my desires, and how to make me whole even when I don't. Praise the Lord! Having said that, I don't think that I'll make any resolutions this year except for one - to listen more closely to God and to work on being the Woman he gave me the potential to be. This will be a hard journey for me because I'm stubborn and dangit I'm tired! I'd much rather sit on the couch with a piece of cheesecake and watch re-runs of the Real Housewives of Orange County than work on myself. But, I promise to give it my best shot - for myself and my family.

God Bless you and yours in 2010! My hope and prayer for you all is that your dreams will come true and that you may all know the fullness of God in hearts.

Hugs!

I Seriously Need One Of These...

from Wine Whimsey.

But, I think that I should wait until I start getting more than 2 hours of consecutive sleep.

She's Here!

Well, I didn't make it to 12/13 for the original planned induction. Last week, I was having some major back pain and feeling lousy because my blood pressure had started to spike again. I mentioned that the doctor put me on bed rest but after one day of that I just couldn't take it any more. I called Doc back and she said to head over to the hospital. They got me hooked up to an IV and prepped to start the pitocin early the next morning and gave me an ambien to help me get through the night with a little rest. Baby girl #2 was born at 2:55pm on 12/10, exactly two weeks early!

She weighed 8 lbs. 5 oz. and was 21 1/2 inches long. Even though I don't recommend having an induction b/c in my experience after two of them - they SUCK - I'm glad that we went ahead and delivered. If baby girl was almost 8.5 lbs. at two weeks early, I don't even want to know how big she would have been at her due date. Ouch!



Baby girl is healthy and such a good sleeper. I'm not used to having a baby who loves to sleep and doesn't really cry. It's really weird for me and I kept asking the nurses if anything was wrong with her. LOL Daughter #1 was screaming at the top of her lungs and demanding milk NOW from the moment she was born. So, this time I know better what I'm doing and this baby is easier to take care of - so far. Hope I'm not jinxing it by saying that!

Just wanted to give my friends a little update. I've got so many blogs to catch up on! I've only got 518 posts in my Google Reader right now! I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and Blessed New Year! Always remember what is important in life and recognize that happiness is a choice! Much love to all!

On Bed Rest!

As I already mentioned, I have preeclampisa. My blood pressure was up way too high at my doctor's checkup today. So, Doc sent me over to the hospital for a bunch of tests. Doc didn't want to induce me if she absolutely didn't have to b/c I'm not quite 38 weeks along yet. After all of the tests, she gave me the option to go ahead and induce tonight or let me go a few more days on bed rest at home. I chose bed rest just to make sure my little pumpkin is done cooking!

Thank goodness my MIL is on a plane right now to help me out and watch DD while I'm on bed rest. My Mother flies in on Saturday to take over for a week. I was already scheduled to be induced on Sunday anyway. I'm going to be monitored closely for the rest of the week. So, I'll be induced sometime between now and Sunday evening at the latest. I'll be MIA for a while but just wanted my bloggy friends to know where I am!

Hopefully, I'll have some time to catch up on my blog reading now that I'm on bed rest. I'll be sure to let you know how it goes once I have the baby and things settle down. If you don't hear from me before the 25th, Merry Christmas Y'all!!! God Bless!!!

The Benefits of Being 9 Months Pregnant

As of Thanksgiving day, I am now in my 9th month of this pregnancy. Praise the Lord - the end is near! :)

There are lots of downsides to being so pregnant which I will leave out of this post because who wants to read about that? Suffice it to say that this baby has dropped way low making it difficult to move around, I'm freaking huge, and just plain miserable.

So, what is the up side to all of this pain and discomfort? That would be my fabulous Husband vacumming and twirling the Swiffer wet jet around the entire house at 10pm on a Saturday night while I'm blogging and eating dulce de leche ice cream. Now that's a pretty sweet deal! LOL

Good night y'all!

Happy Thanksgiving Y'All!

I'm taking a quick break between my T-day cooking duties to wish y'all a very Happy Thanksgiving! After 7 years of marriage, we aren't traveling this year and I'm cooking a turkey all by myself for the first time! No damage done yet, just a slight burn on my hand. LOL Let's hope the rest of the day goes ok! If nothing else, the pumpkin pie looks great and I know that I won't mess up the green bean casserole or mashed potatoes! :)

Blessings to you and yours. God is Great!

Over The Top Y'All!

Thank you to Tiffany at Memoirs of a Munchkin Mommy for this fun tag! I've seen this tag on other blogs and I've been wanting to play too! :)



The rules: use only one word, pass along to your favorite bloggers, and tell 'em you did so. Take it away.

1. Where is your cell phone? Bar
2. Your hair? Brown
3. Your mother? Caring
4. Your father? Loving
5. Your favorite food? Mexican
6. Your dream last night? Crazy
7. Your favorite drink? Tea
8. Your dream/goal? Happy
9. What room are you in? Office
10. Your hobby? Sleeping
11. Your fear? Failure
12. Where do you want to be in six years? Happy
13. Where were you last night? Home
14. Something that you aren't? Perfect
15. Muffins? Blueberry
16. Wish list item? Chanel
17. Where did you grow up? NC
18. Last thing you did? Drink
19. What are you wearing? T-shirt
20. Your TV? Sony
21. Your pets? Dogs
22. Friends? Supportive
23. Your life? Exhausting!
24. Your mood? Tired
25. Missing someone? Family
26. Vehicle? Dirty
27. Something you're not wearing? Makeup
28. Your favorite store? Target
29. Your favorite color? Blue
30. When was the last time you laughed? Today
31. Last time you cried? IDK.
32. Your best friend? Hubby
33. One place that I could go over and over? Vacation!
34. One person who emails you regularly? JT
35. Favorite place to eat? MEXICAN!

I'd like to pass this award along to anyone who hasn't had a chance to play yet. Thanks for stopping by my blog!