The Miller Spot

2012-01-06T22:47:00.000-06:00

Is it weird that I said I would get four blog posts out in 2011? Yes, yes, it is.

2011 is a blur. And here we are at the beginning of another year -- 2012 -- beginning again. I'm revamping the blog...new look...changing things up a little. Honestly, I'm not even sure if anyone still checks this thing -- it's been nearly a YEAR. Pathetic!

But really the entire reason I started blogging way back in 2007 was to keep track of our lives. Half-scrapbook, half-yearbook. Share with our friends and family and let me remember what our baby (ies) liked to eat when, where we lived, etc. The blog will still be all of those things, basically the same info in a new format -- except I'm throwing in more house fun. It is a huge part of our life and it seemed weird to leave it out. If we aren't buying houses, selling houses, helping other people buy and sell houses, or renovating houses, we are moving, decorating, or doing one of a hundred other projects -- all house related. Houses are big with us -- and although I definitely want to remember all the family stuff, I also want to remember how it took us six months longer than we expected to finish our latest project (more on that later).

All of that to say, now our blog will be all of the above. And if we're lucky enough to have anyone along for the ride, that makes it even better!

Before we abandon this ship and board our new vessel, I feel maternally obligated to post all of Asher's monthly pictures -- poor little guy got stiffed big time. Second child syndrome, much?

Presenting, Asher -- the first year:

One Month

Two Months

Three Months

Four Months

Five Months

Six Months

Seven Months

Eight Months

Nine Months

Ten Months

Eleven Months

One Year Old!

Hope you'll join us on our new blog, when we get there, the address will be the same: www.TheMillerSpot.com. First post coming at you very, very soon.

Until then...

2011-02-27T01:30:00.001-06:00

Bound and determined to get the five month picture up before he's six months! So...here are the pictures from Asher's five-month photo shoot. Asher has rolled from belly to back, but only a few times and not so consistently. He just HATES being on his belly. Weighing in at 20lbs, it must be hard for him to roll. It's hard to carry him, I can tell you that. No sign of teeth yet, but he is loving the little amounts of rice cereal he's getting lately. Also, he's sleeping unswaddled--one of my favorite mom milestones with both boys!

Here's Riley at the same age:

Things are picking up steam around here! Closing on our latest flip very, very soon. Busy picking out finishes for our next flip (the one we're going to live in) and super duper busy being a Realtor. I'm showing houses, selling houses, and it's crazy fun. Although I'm learning that there are no days off. So much for my life of leisure... Wait, did I have that?

Here are some pictures from one of our blizzards...Gotta love Oklahoma! Riley is so much fun right now. He's so hilarious. Today, I was asking him what was wrong with a car that was in my way. His response? "Get off the phone and drive, people!" Awesome.

Asher: Four Months Old

2011-01-20T00:04:00.001-06:00

Asher, Month Four

Not sure on weight/length right now, but you're easily wearing 6-12 month outfits and making mommy very sad that she bought all of those summer clothes in that size... You sleep like a champ and I can put you in bed wide-awake and you'll fall asleep--usually without a peep. In the morning, you wake up happy, but that quickly turns into FEED ME RIGHT NOW. We love you so much, Asher Boo.

Likes:

Mommy (You are a real-deal momma's boy. Daddy tried to put you to bed the other night and you flipped. Must change this soon, but I love that you love me.)
Your swing. Riley never loved the swing, but man, you will fall asleep in there in a second.
Toys! You've discovered your hands and then realized you could do things with them. We love watching you grab at brightly colored toys and chewing them like mad.
Milk. (Not that you have a lot of choice...you're still on a mom-only diet, but solids are a doctor's checkup away and we know you'll be loving them!)
Bibs. Okay, I don't know if you love them, but we do. They keep your shirts from getting soaked from all that drool and spit-up that's a constant with you.

Dislikes:

Tummy time. Nope, you hate it. Riley was rolling over by two months but you just kind of float there like a big chunky Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade float. I know you would roll if you didn't weigh so much!
Baths. Funny thing about you... You don't dislike a lot and you rarely get upset, but when you are upset, you show it. Alot. And baths....well, we think if you had the means you would stab us in the face. You are not a fan.
That's honestly all I can think of. You are the easiest baby I've ever met.

Asher v. Riley: Playing Catch-Up

2011-01-18T00:35:00.002-06:00

Let's get back on track here with the baby pictures...and the comparisons. Honestly, I feel a little bad that I'm always comparing Riley and Asher, but I can't help it. It's more fun than anything to try and remember what Riley was doing at the same point in time. I'm sure I'm probably ruining them somehow by not letting them be their own people, but I'll likely scar them irreparably anyway so I might as well start young and get it over with!

Okay, so without further delay. The first four months of Asher's life...combined with the first four of Riley's:

MONTH ONE:

MONTH TWO:

MONTH THREE:

MONTH FOUR:

Yes, they are definitely brothers!

Beginning, again.

2011-01-18T00:04:00.000-06:00

It's a new year! So here I am with what will probably be one of four posts I'll manage to get out in 2011. There was no exciting "blog more" resolution so sad-to-say I'm not going to make some crazy proclamations about how well I'll do at updates. BUT, I have to keep chugging along. One of my favorite things to do is to look back at the early posts from 2007 and see how things were and where we were and what house we lived in. Now, it's a quick picture and our lives in bullet points. Way too busy living life to write about it!

Everything is fast these days... we have a four-month-old. Wow. He's a third of a year old! Too fast. Way. Too. Fast. He's a doll baby with the sweetest personality and a smile to match. We all just adore this perfect little guy that has blessed our world. Our 3-yr-old is pretty amazing himself. One of the funniest kids I've ever met (and I'm not at all biased). He keeps us laughing and happy all the time. His mastery of the English language is for real. His mastery of the potty--not so much. But, we're making some great progress. I would say...75% there. He switched classes at school and it improved his behavior by a landslide so I'm guessing it was the right decision. (Although he talks about his old classmates and how much he misses them. Sad.) He's also in gymnastics and adjusting to yet another teacher telling him what he can and cannot do. Get used to it, kid.

In professional news...tonight marks the last night of work on what can only be called, one of the longest projects ever. Throw pregnancy and baby-havin' into a construction site and 6-months later you'll have a finished house. The house, however, is awesome. Our best yet to be sure. I MUST share pictures. It's insane. AND, I will be listing it as my first listing (yaaaay) so I've been spending lots of time learning my real estate ropes.

Things are cranking. Big time. We are working on moving...yet again....and getting our current house on the market. So between selling the flip, selling this house, and renovating the next, I'm thinking 2011 is going to be pretty bad-a. I'm excited for it.

Here are a few Christmas pics: (and coming up next, a post with Asher's pictures...months 2-4)

Meeting Thomas

2010-10-26T14:23:00.000-05:00

We headed to the Oklahoma Railway Museum to meet the one-and-only Thomas the Train! (Can I just say that Thomas is the most boring cartoon ever?!) We wanted to take Riley for a big-boy day of fun that had nothing to do with his little brother. (Trying to make him feel special!). It was fun and a gorgeous fall day. We followed it up with a lunch trip to Pops...yum. I will use any excuse to head to Pops. Here are some pictures of our super-cool outing:

One month

2010-10-23T16:32:00.001-05:00

Remember this kid?

Well here's his "little" brother in his very own one-month-old picture! How has it already been a month? Who am I kidding, he'll be six weeks old on Monday. It goes so fast...

Baby on board!

2010-10-22T16:07:00.000-05:00

Super timely with this post...what can I say? Life with a newborn.

I'm sure this is old news to most of our blog followers, but we do, in fact, have another Miller in our lives! Asher Britton was born at 10:18 am on Monday, September 13th!

Remember that huge baby we were supposed to have? Ours turned out big, but not huge. He came out a very respectable 7lbs, 15oz (one tiny little ounce away from 8lbs!) and 20 inches long. His head was off the charts big though, so I can't say I'm sad that my pelvis didn't have to deal with that. ;-)

Delivery was quick and went great. I went in early for prep and then it seemed like it was suddenly time. I walked into the surgery room, Kevin stayed next door and put on his scrubs while they did my spinal anesthesia. When I was ready to go, they let him in and a few minutes later they were cutting me open to retrieve our babe.

The c-section was a whole other beast compared to the first time around. I can see the pros and cons of both ways, but I have to say, I did enjoy knowing exactly what was going to happen. The actual c-section was weird, weird, weird. No pain at all, but when they pushed on my chest to get Asher out, it was very intense. I thought my chest would cave in for sure! And then there was the non-stop shaking. I had shaking the first time too, but this time it would not let up at all. It was strange. The anesthesiologist kept asking me to try and think about holding my arm still so they could take my blood pressure. Afterwards, I got to listen as Asher cried, and Kevin watched, and I was repaired. Then onto recovery and finally getting to hold our baby!

I guess I should type out my entire birth story so I can remember it two years from now when this all seems like a good idea again, but I don't think I have the time! I have one kiddo asleep, one hanging out next to me and that means I'm holding my breath for lots of activity at pretty much anytime. I'm slowly getting the hang of mothering two boys, but it's hard to have the confidence! Healing from the c-section was a good first step.

Asher is the best baby ever! He has the sweetest personality and is as close to an easy baby as we could have hoped for. Just a doll. Riley is sloooooowly adjusting and the behavior problems are starting to present themselves lately. Poor thing, I know it is a huge adjustment for him, but holy smokes! We may be working on breaking his spirit just a wee bit...

I know there is so much more to say, but I'm going to be satisfied with writing this much out without any major breakdowns from children. Here are a few pictures from our hospital photo session. Official newborn pics coming soon...they are out-of-this-world fantastic.

Tired, but happy...that's our life right now. Love. My. Boys. (all three of them.)

The final countdown

2010-09-13T00:51:00.000-05:00

In just over five hours, I'll be awake again. Kevin too. We'll be showering and preparing to head to the hospital to meet our baby. Yep, at 8 am we check in for a scheduled C-section to retrieve our supposedly very oversized boy.

At the specialist last week we found out that Mr. Baby Miller is measuring around 9lbs, 2oz. --give or take a 1/2 pound either way. Now, almost a week later, it's time to bring him on out of that warm belly he loves so much. After much thought and deliberation with Kevin and our doctors, we decided a C-section is the safest way to enter the world. It was a hard decision...but I think the right one. The doctors were concerned with shoulder dystocia because of his size--and although it was a somewhat slight risk of injury because of it, I couldn't sleep at night taking a chance with it. So, Section it is.

Pretty different this time around. No timing contractions, wondering when everything will happen. Nope. Just no food after midnight, be here in the morning, and expect a baby soon after. It's crazy! We had a low-key day and night hanging out with Riley, doing last minute this and that around the house and relaxing. The calm before the baby storm.

Next time I post, I'll be a mother of two. Can't wait to introduce our little man!

Getting roomy

2010-09-06T01:42:00.000-05:00

Time is winding down here... The world's longest to-do list is pretty much complete (I thought it would never happen. I should probably mention that I PASSED my real estate exam last Wednesday. That was a pretty major pre-baby accomplishment. Between trying to prepare for the baby and studying non-stop, I came kind of close to losing my mind. Luckily, pulled through and passed. I am so happy and relieved!

Also in the nick of time, we managed to finish up the nursery. Wahoo! There are still some small details left but they are minor. I'm so, so, so happy with the way it turned out. Love it. My super-talented mom did all the bedding/curtains and everything else just kind of evolved after deciding I didn't want to paint since we'll be moving sooner rather than later.

Here are a few pictures of the nursery in all of its mostly-finished glory:

Now, we just need a baby to put in here...

Eviction date!

2010-08-26T02:09:00.001-05:00

Wheeeee! That's all I can say about our life. It's moving fast lately. What else is new, right?

We went for our monthly visit to the high-risk specialist last Tuesday and learned that baby #2 is weighing in at 6lbs, 12oz. Um....that was at 35 weeks, people. So, when I went in for today's check-in with our OB, she thankfully informed me that we would probably need to attend to this matter sooner rather than later. She was planning on a 2-week early induction, but the hospital scheduling gods were not smiling down on us today. So, we are scheduled for an induction one week early, on Wednesday, September 15th.

Yep, that means that unless our little guy comes on his own before then, we have exactly 20 days until he arrives. Now, I have to say for the record that I predict he comes earlier. In fact, I feel like I'm racing him right now. Trying to outsmart his not-even-born-yet brain to finish everything before he can make it out. I also feel like I'm losing, but I'm trying anyway. Today, I learned that I'm already dilated 2cm and 50% effaced. I think I was 38 weeks with Riley before that happened and I was only 4cm when I actually went to the hospital in labor.

Am I making this clear enough here? Baby will be here...soon. My guess is the week of Labor Day. But that's just my motherly shot-in-the-dark.

In the meantime...

Kevin is scrambling to make headway on the latest renovation. Windows are going in Friday, granite, carpet, and a new pool liner are ordered, and the rest is up to Kevin. It's been a rough haul because life is one big doctor's appointment right now and Riley has been out of school all of August.
Real Estate class...CHECK! Finished. In the nick of time. I'm turning in the last documentation for my application tomorrow morning and hopefully they'll process everything and I'll be able to take my test early-ish next week. (See what I mean about racing the baby!)
Riley starts "school" again next week. Now, if we can just teach him to use the potty...
Nursery finished? Not so much... I still need to wash baby clothes, bring the big baby gear down from the attic and reassemble it all, head to Babies R Us for a big shopping trip of all the necessities we no longer have, decorate the nursery, install the car seat, pack for the hospital, etc., etc., etc. I guess it's true what they say about second children. Pretty sure I had all of this finished by the time I was 6 months pregnant with Riley. Now, we'll probably be tossing the car seat in the trunk on the way out the door timing contractions and grabbing some extra clothes from the laundry room.
And what else...oh yeah, we are buying another house! And this one, we're planning on living in. Yes, that's right. The Millers are moving again. This one deserves a whole post on its own, so please stand by and hold your breath while I fulfill that empty promise! It's an amazing house in one of my favorite neighborhoods. Maybe we'll never move? Doubtful...I've quit even kind-of believing that at this point. But, it's a great, great house and I can't wait to renovate it and move in. Oh yeah, and sell this one with a 3-yr-old and a newborn. Sweet. The chaos continues...

I'll leave you with a random picture from our family vacation that now seems like a million long years ago:

Riley and Kevin roasting marshmallows at the resort (they did this every night--the resort, not us).

Here's what may actually be the only pregnant picture I've posted this time around (have I mentioned this has gone quickly?)


Riley, mom, and baby in utero...7 months pregnant.

And while we're at it...here's a picture of Riley Bug at his dad's birthday get-together. He loved bowling!

A quick recap

2010-07-23T13:53:00.000-05:00

Hanging on by a thread here when it comes to keeping up with the bloggity-blog! Why, oh why, aren't there more hours in the day... So, we're 31 weeks into a supposedly 40-week pregnancy and safe to say we are freaking out trying to get things done! Time is suddenly RACING by. This time around everything has gone so fast. Actually the entire last year of life has been insanely quick. Where did the time go?

I'm clicking out this post while Riley sits across the table from me polishing off some spaghetti and grapes before nap-time. That's to say, it will be a quick one. But, this is the only way I have of documenting the happenings of our insanity. It must be done!

With that said, here are bullet points about our crazy lives... Someday maybe I'll have enough time for a really great update, complete with pictures. There are so many good ones to share!

1. We've been home for about a week from a fantastic family vacation to San Antonio! It was long-coming and very needed. We really wanted to have a special time with just Riley and us before the new kiddo comes along so it was all about Riley, Mom, and Dad. We spent about 6 days away at an amazing resort in San Antonio called the Hyatt Regency Hill Country. Check it out...it was awesome. 4 pools, sand beach, lazy river, nightly smores and outdoor movies. It was a kid paradise and incredibly family friendly! I will be posting pics from it because it was great. Uncle Jimmy flew down for one our days there to take us to Sea World. He has a great pass gifted to him Southwest Airlines that got us in for free and even discounted all of our food and souvenirs! We are soooo grateful to him! That day was a blast and after we saw him off to the airport that afternoon, we went to our room and crashed as a family until late in the evening. Okay, this was a long bullet point. The trip was great. Especially because of the Prime Outlets in San Marcos. Three words: Pottery Barn Outlet.

2. Our flip sold! The house is Piedmont, after MANY delays, finally closed on the final day of our vacation. Sweet relief!

3. The next house is underway. Our newest project is underway and should be a good one. We had signed on to buy two more but one had some major expenses tied to a trashed room. So, when the bank started having title issues, we took it as a sign and decided not to buy.

4. Kevin just had a birthday---Happy 34th Birthday to the best husband and dad I can imagine!

5. Still chugging away on the real estate class...I have exactly one month from today to finish. Gulp.

6. Our two-corded baby is doing well. To say he's thriving is an UNDERSTATEMENT. I'll be more specific. He is measuring SIXTEEN DAYS AHEAD of his Sept. 22nd due date. He already weighs 4.5lbs and the doctor says if all goes as normal from here, he's likely to be 9.5lbs+ at birth. IF he stays in until the due date. All I can say is he is he's not allowed. You know, it's funny. The biggest risk with the two-corded baby is a low birth weight. I guess our little (big) guy laughed in the face of that one! Just to be safe, I'm planning on being ready for his arrival by the beginning of September.

7. Big boy room for Riley is underway! Kevin is making an insanely awesome bed for Riley based on plans we found on Knock-Off Wood. (Do you know about this site? Check it out, if not. It's incredible.) There will most definitely be a post about my husband's kick-ass skills in the wood-working dept.

Those are the major life-happenings as of this moment. I'll be back soon with some fun pictures. Nursery pics, big-boy bedroom pics, bed pics, life pics. I have the world's fullest memory card ever.

XOXO

A failure no more!

2010-06-22T14:59:00.000-05:00

Well, 15 hours without food, 4 blood draws, and 3 hours at the hospital and I can officially say that I do NOT have gestational diabetes! Wheeeee! I hope I never have to take that test again in my life! It was not fun at all. But, good results so I'll take it.

We went to the specialist today for our monthly ultrasound and another happy report comes with that visit. Our little guy is thriving. The fluid on the kidneys is completely gone, he is measuring a whopping 10 days ahead, and weighs 2 lbs already. Although I'm not happy about the cord situation, it is so great to see his face every month in high-rez 3D. Very, very cool. The doctor says he has hair already and he reminds me a lot of Kevin. They have matching chins! I've said all along that this will be the Kevin baby. Big at birth, big in life. So far, my theory is right on track. I'm also predicting early delivery, in case you're keeping track! This doesn't exactly excite me because my preparation level for baby's arrival is pretty much at -10. We have so much to do in 2 months. Ack!

We've been having such a fun summer so far (even though it's hotter than hot). We took Riley to his first real movie at the theater last Friday to see Toy Story 3. Great movie and great day! He was so excited and good. You can tell we aren't mall people by the fact that we parked at Macy's to cut through to the theater and when we walked inside the store he said "Cool movie!" Um, no buddy... This isn't a movie! Ha ha. He's hilarious. He loved the movie and clapped and said "yay!" when Woody and the gang made it through a particularly dangerous moment.

Here's a couple of pictures from his big boy movie experience:

Other than this, we are in full-on real estate mode. We are set to close on our Piedmont flip in about a week and are also in the process of purchasing two more houses within the next two weeks. My poor husband is about to be a very, very busy man. I'm about 1/2-way through my real estate course so as soon as I finish that I will hopefully have two houses to list! And, you know, have a baby somewhere in there. No big whoop.

I'm a failure.

2010-06-15T23:50:00.000-05:00

Argh! Could this be the most eventful pregnancy ever, please?!

Last Friday was our monthly check-up to the OB and my glucose test for gestational diabetes. The doctor's visit went great. We made our next appointment for the specialist who will do our monthly ultrasounds to keep an eye on the two-cord situation. I've gained 16lbs and everything is nice and normal. BUT, I failed the dumb glucose test. Grrrrr... This blows.

What does this mean? It means I have to return to the lab for a lovely 3-hour test. A 3-hour test. I'll have to fast for 12 hours before the test and then go and drink one of the weird juices they give you, then I'll have blood drawn and urine samples every 1/2 hour for the 3 hours. In between, I'll be hanging out in the waiting room, drinking water, and trying to finish this week's book club selection. That, and counting down until I can eat again.

Blaaaaaaah!

Pending.

2010-06-05T15:15:00.000-05:00

58 days later and we are under contract on our investment property! The house is being sold to a teacher moving to the district and she and her husband are so, so excited about it. This makes me happy. It's a happy day that ends a not-so-happy week. See what I mean? You can never predict tomorrow.

(By the way, our little fighter Beau is also improving by the day and they are hoping to move him to a rehabilitation facility soon. Still praying constantly for his total healing and rejoicing in his progress!)

2010-06-03T22:54:00.000-05:00

Wow. It is so crazy how fast life can change. Try to predict it and something will swoop right in just to let you know you're not in control of a darn thing.

Saturday was an awesome day. Wait--revise. Saturday started as an awesome day. We had long-standing plans to head up to Tulsa for the birthday party of one of my best friend's daughter. We were so excited. Birthday parties like this are especially fun because I get to see my long lost college friends and hanging out with them is one of my favorite things in the world--and it doesn't happen often enough.

The party was so much fun (minus the tire blowout we had on the turnpike on our way up. Kevin had to spend most of the party getting our tire repaired for the way home. And we thought this was the big crisis/event of the day.)

After the party, we were at Crystal's house hanging out with the kids and husbands and Robin and we all decided to order Chinese. I hopped in the car with Crystal and Robin and off we went to retrieve the order. But, before we made it inside the restaurant, Crystal's phone rang. And here is where life changed.

Robin and I were eavesdropping on a conversation that was quickly freaking us out.

"...Christy?...I don't know where she was...wait, what happened?....Beau?...kicked...what?...what?...oh my God...oh my God."

Robin and I were freaking out trying to figure out what happened. Crystal immediately called Christy (another one of our friends who hadn't made it to the party that day.) And it was then we learned the horrifying news:

Beau (Christy's son who is almost exactly one month younger than Riley) was at Christy's parents house and was kicked in the head by a horse. He had been life-flighted to Saint Francis hospital in Tulsa where he had undergone brain surgery. He was in critical condition. He might not live.

We all fell silent. Then we all grabbed hands and started to cry and pray. It felt unreal. We rushed back to Crystal's house to tell our husbands the news, then we got right back in the car and sped to the hospital.

Christy's mom took us back to Beau's room in PICU. And seeing that little man on the bed was one of the worst experiences of my life. We sat together. Talked. Cried. Tried to change the subject. We heard the story and the details and shuddered. Christy told us the first 72 hours were the most critical and that if he survived those days, there was hope.

This was Saturday. Today, is Thursday. I've never seen so many people rally around one little boy. The prayer response is the most overwhelming thing I've ever witnessed. It's intense and uplifting and every other word I could think of. And the best part is that it's working.

Beau is making amazing strides. They were hoping to get him off the respirator by the end of the week and he was off on Tuesday night. He's being weaned off his pain meds and is completely off his paralyzing meds. He is talking, trying to move, and improving every minute. And today, he was taken out of ICU and moved to a regular room. The doctors are surprised and Beau is surpassing expectations.

But he has such a long, long way to go. 30% of his brain is showing no signs of activity and the extent of his damage is still undetermined. The left side of his body has been pretty unresponsive. Brain swelling is still a real possibility and could result in paralysis or worse. There are so many scary unknowns and I can't imagine being in the place of my friend and handling with the grace that she is showing. She is my hero.

I tell you all of this because it's been all-consuming for me lately. I think and pray for this little boy constantly. I'm on my knees for him any chance I get. Because it makes me feel better; because there's nothing else I can do; and most of all, because it's working. And I tell you about Beau because I hope you'll join the hundreds of people praying for his recovery. I have faith that his recovery will be complete and total. That the titanium plates holding his tiny little skull together will be a tough-guy story to tell his friends. That life will not be permanently altered for my sweet friend and her precious family.

Please pray for Beau--for his complete and total healing. For Christy and her husband Zach--for strength, for energy, for rest, for faith. For her parents who feel so guilty over what was nothing more than a tragic accident. And for the doctors who are the human hands doing God's amazing work. A website has been set up with daily updates and pictures our our little fighter. If you'd like to follow Beau's recovery or leave a message for the family, please visit: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/beaukyledavis

I can't wait until I'm back here telling you the entire family is back home where they belong.

2010-05-25T14:34:00.000-05:00

Do I know how to leave you hanging or what?

Last week we had our much-anticipated visit at the perinatal center. I have to say those were some of the coolest ultrasounds ever. Extremely high-resolution and awesome to see the baby so clearly (and we got some 3D peeks which I'll share!)

The news is that we do have the two-vessel cord that they thought we did. I guess the official name is Single Umbilical Artery. Basically, umbilical cords are supposed to have three vessels, one feeding the baby and two taking away waste. We only have one of each. The complications from this can be zero or bad. Usually though, they end up being slight. According to both of our doctors, the most common complication can be low birth weight. Another common complication are urinary tract problems that have to be corrected after birth.

But, like I said, most times the problems don't exist. Our ultrasound looked good. The baby is still measuring a week ahead and everything appears great. The only problem they saw is some possible fluid in the kidneys. But, it is too early to tell if it's actually problematic or just normal waste showing up in the ultrasound. So again, lots of monitoring.

Again, the doctor sounded positive. Although the two-cord and kidney issue could indicate something serious as Downs, he didn't think it was an issue for us (we've had other testing done in this pregnancy that has come back negative on any abnormalities). He didn't think the markers were strong enough to recommend an amniocentesis, so we took that as another positive.

Basically, it's too early to tell much. We'll have regular ultrasounds and monitoring from here on out and that means lots of looks at our little guy, which is great! From this end, pregnancy has finally smoothed out and is mostly a non-event. The baby moves much and often which given our "special circumstance" is super-duper reassuring.

(Did I mention this particular condition affects only 1% of pregnancies...aren't we lucky?!)

So....that's that! I hesitated even talking about this on the blog, but since this blog has been the major journal of our life activities, I knew I'd want to remember what we were going through with this now. Plus, I truly think everything will be just fine. Just one more thing for an already stress-prone person to deal with. I'm dealing. Thank God for Kevin. There's a reason I'm married to the calmest person on the planet.

Oh yes, and we have a name...but aren't sharing just yet! :-x

Boy, oh boy!

2010-05-07T13:50:00.000-05:00

Thought I would come back and officially reveal the gender verdict (although I'm sure most of you have already been informed in one of our many ways of communication)...

As though the title didn't give it away--it's a boy. Yep, another one! Pretty much everyone we know was assuming baby dos would be a girl. This wasn't a feeling I ever shared. The first time around I assumed girl and was wrong. This time, I had literally no gut instinct about it. I'm good with two little boys--great, actually. I loooove little boys. Hell, I love big boys. I love the idea of Riley having a brother to share life with and for them to play together and cause all kinds of ridiculous trouble. Plus, I love the idea of continuing to be the only woman in the house! I can't help it. ;-)

Does this mean we'll try to get Kevin his much-coveted daughter with a third baby? We'll see how two feels first!

Here are the obligatory ultrasound shots. Remember Riley's? You can see them here. And here are the shots of baby boy #2. (Who, by the way, is still measuring a week ahead!)

On a kind of scary note, we have to go in for a high-level ultrasound at a specialty perinatal center in about a week-and-a-half. There was a possible complication that showed up on the ultrasound and going in to take a closer look will give our doctor much better insight about what may or may not be going on. I know, I'm being vague. I'm trying my best to not give this possible complication much energy, all the while thinking about it mostly constantly. I have faith that all will be fine, but I'm also counting down the days until that appointment. Why is it the appointments you want to go to the most are the always the furthest away? Damn specialists.

Let's see...in non-baby news.

We're still trucking along on selling the flip. We've had a decent amount of showings and some talk of possible offers coming in. I think it will sell sooner than later. Also, trying to buy another house with seriously little luck. We've had to compete on the last three houses we've tried to buy. Multiple offers on every one! Hard to steal a house that way for sure. But, we'll find another project soon. And I'm soon to begin on that real estate license so we can save some major commission on future buying/selling. Our long-time Realtor just jumped ship to Colorado so the timing is perfect. Kevin is busy signing up for summer construction classes and Riley is finishing up his last couple weeks at school before summer is officially here. Woo-hoo...I think it will be a good one!

Have I mentioned...

2010-04-17T12:00:00.007-05:00

that I'm with child? It's true. Baby #2 is on the way!

Most of you probably already know this fun development, but I felt the need to officially put it out there in the blog-o-sphere. We just went yesterday for our 17 week appointment. I can't believe how fast this pregnancy is going so far. At this rate, we'll be a two-child household in no time. Scary. Exciting. Scary.

Some of you might remember the life-changing all-day-long-and-most-of-the-night-sickness that I had with baby #1, aka Riley. Well, this time the sick came earlier, around week 7. And left much, much earlier too, around week 10. Thank you, thank you. It was intense while it lasted, but I can't tell you how happy I was --am-- was that it was easier than pregnancy #1. Oh. My. I guess every pregnancy really is different?

Other that that, smooth sailing. We've had some cool diagnostic ultrasounds to test for Downs, etc. and all have come back negative. Blessed, indeed. We are measuring a sweet-sounding week ahead and our official due date is September 22. Two weeks from yesterday, we will know whether our wiggle bean is a boy or a girl.

Stay tuned...

Finally flipped

2010-04-15T12:43:00.000-05:00

Has it really been over a month since I've stopped in? Insane. And what a month it has been! Well, needless to say the house is FINALLY on the market. And I really shouldn't say it like that. It only took 68 days to finish from the day we signed the closing papers until the house was officially listed on the MLS. I could not be prouder of my amazingly, awesomely talented husband. He kicked some major renovating butt on this one. And we even threw in a ski trip during that time. Minus that, we would not have been quite as far off our original goal of 60 days.

Now, we just need someone to buy this place so we can move on to our next project. We've already starting submitting some offers on other properties. As a matter of fact, we found a great house a few days ago and we're currently one of EIGHT offers. So, that's obviously a long-shot. I'll keep you posted!

Here are some official "after" pics of flip #2. And lest you forget what this little house once looked like, check out the scary before pictures HERE and HERE.

Tile for miles

2010-03-10T09:40:00.000-06:00

The end is scary close. It would be great if we could have a few days with 30 hours instead of 24. Just a few, please. Still working towards an end-of-the-week deadline. Fingers crossed.

Here's what's happening at the house as we speak...

This just in!

2010-03-08T13:10:00.000-06:00

Houston, we have granite.

More to come very soon....only 5 days until our finish date.

Another peek

2010-03-04T13:46:00.000-06:00

It seems that we may just be at the point where I have to give you bits and pieces of the changes because before long, it will be revealing too much of the finished project. Exciting that we're at t-minus 10 days until we plan to be completely finished with the house!

Kevin has done a great job at staying on schedule and squeezing in extra hours and days when he feels behind. (Did you know you could squeeze extra hours into a day? I need that secret.) But yes, up and at 'em at 5am, working on Sunday. He knows no limits! The man is a machine, I tell ya.

So, here's the latest change:

Patio Doors off of Dining Room:

Patio Doors off of Master Bedroom:

Week Five

2010-03-03T11:23:00.000-06:00

Even more updates for you! See, I keep my promises sometimes. Things are starting to come together. We have a completed roof, new siding is up and will soon be painted (all of the siding & trim will match our new garage door), paint is going up on the walls and cabinets have a first coat. We've ordered our carpet, have the granite install scheduled for March 8th, and the countdown is getting close. Kevin is working like a madman to stay on task and he's kicking some major house flipping butt. Love that man!

The new siding:

Interior paint on vanities & cabinets:

Can I finish?

2010-03-02T12:00:00.002-06:00

Thought you might like to see some of the finishes we've picked out for this project. Basically, we'll be competing with new builds when we pop little this casa on the market. Because of that, we're trying to mimic some of the new build features with our finishes. Going pretty traditional with neutral colors on paint, carpet, and tile. Hardware will be oil rubbed bronze. Because of the price point, we'll do white appliances instead of black or stainless. It should be fine since the cabinets will be white. But, one big upgrade will be the granite. This is not customary in this price range...it's mostly laminate tops everywhere in the area.

Also, last week Kevin got signed up at the Pro desk at Home Depot. We scored 20% off all our paint which is an awesome deal. And the Behr rep even gifted Kevin a sample swatch book of all of their colors. This made my week! It's like crack for me.

My new best friend:

All of the options....so much to choose from!

Our picks for carpet, backsplash, and granite:

Interior knobs & front door hardware:

Vanity fixtures, faucets & shower/tub hardware:

Week Three/Four

2010-03-01T12:42:00.000-06:00

Here's the latest from the flip. I actually should have posted this one last week, so get excited--there will be another update with the most recent pics later this week. This week shows the roof demo, a new garage door, and lots of wall patching and prep inside. Hope you love the progress!

Week Two/Three

2010-02-18T08:00:00.001-06:00

Okay, here's week two action, with a little bit of week three thrown in. Right now, we're in the midst of week three/four so hopefully there will be lots of progress coming your way very soon. T-minus three weeks until our original deadline.

Kevin has been busy with demo and has already started the rebuilding progress. This week he's working on drywall...especially in the bathroom areas where we (and by 'we' I mean Kevin) ripped out the circa-1984 light boxes over the bathroom vanities. The drywall will now be flush with a cute new updated light fixture.

Thursday brings the installation of a brand new garage door to replace the rotting wood that's currently in place. Also, you'll see in the pics below that our resident flipper has started taking down the wall that made the garage a rumpus room instead of car keeper.

We've hired a contractor to come replace the roof the house and replace some siding on the back side of the house. Materials are ordered and weather permitting, that job will begin in the next few days. We've been selecting lots of finishes and light fixtures, etc. (my favorite part) so getting daily shipments from UPS and FedEx has been like Christmas! Tomorrow, we're headed to the builders supply to select granite, tile, etc.

Scared yet?

Week One, Take Two

2010-02-17T00:57:00.001-06:00

Hmmm... It has come to my attention that my week one post showed two pics. Um, there were many, many more. Not sure why the pictures didn't post because they are showing on my version. Gotta love technology!

Here's the second attempt to show you the inside of the house. Yes. There really is more than a snowy brick exterior. The spacing is coming out weird, but I'll take what I can get for now. Thanks so much for your comments (both on the blog and in real life), otherwise, I'd have no idea you couldn't see what I'm seeing.

THE INTERIOR:

The lovely living room. There was an extremely heavy wood-burning stove on a brick hearth. Sold the stove on Craigslist and plan on busting out the brick and using drywall in its place.

The kitchen: Not in horrible shape. It will get painted cabinets, granite counters, new appliances, and tile floor.

The laundry room. A cute space. More paint, tile, and some updated plumbing will make this good as new.

Hall bath: Very cool that this house has two full baths. We'll rip everything out here and replace the tub, toilet, vanity top, mirror, light fixture. Paint and tile will complete the renovation.

There are two beds in addition to the Master suite. This is the middle bedroom and the site of some teenager graffiti. New drywall was put up in this room so we'll mud/tape and texture it to match the rest of the house. Paint and carpet will be the standard here, as well as everywhere else. New light fixtures, hardware, and knobs will also go throughout.

The Master: A GREAT size for the house. It's got a cool tray ceiling and an attached bath. Plus doors to the backyard, which we'll change from sliding to French. We had a little wallpaper party a couple of days before we closed. The kids couldn't help themselves!

And again with the Master bath, it will get the same treatment as the hall bath. New counters, tub, tile, toilet, fixtures, etc.

Super scary garage conversion. Obviously the carpet is coming up here, we'll replace the garage door, remove the air conditioning unit and two new exterior doors will go in. Paint and an opener will take this space back to its original purpose.

Week Two pics are on the way, with Week Three coming up shortly. I just need to rescue them from Kevin's phone. Wish me luck...

Funny Kevin

2010-02-09T09:00:00.001-06:00

So, this weekend we were talking about the missing camera charger (that I referenced in the Flip post below). It's been MIA since our return from Vegas about 3 or 4 weeks ago and I'm kind of fearful that it's hanging out in a hotel room drawer at the Monte Carlo. Anyway, our exchange about went a little something like this:

Me: I just don't know how we're going to take pictures of the progress at the house. I really want to document it all the way through.

Kevin: Why can't we take pictures?

Me: Well, duh. Because we the camera charger is still lost!

Kevin: It's lost? I thought you just didn't know where it was.

Me: .....

This makes me laugh every time I think about it. I wonder what his definition of "lost" is?

Week One: The Before

2010-02-08T01:49:00.002-06:00

Presenting....our current project. This is our latest purchase and Kevin's new day job: Flip this House, the Sequel. This little beauty is a 1200 square-foot, 3 bed, 2-bath brick house on a great oversized lot.

We learned from our last project that we only want brick houses so we're already way ahead of the game versus the previous go-round. It will need a new roof and some exterior repair, but the inside is pretty cosmetic and basically just lots of labor and materials. Wait... what else is there?

Anyway, some of the before shots are a little scary. The plan is to bring you pictures each week of the progress we've made. We are missing a camera charger now so week two may be strictly iPhone pics.

The exterior: Complete with overgrown landscaping and missing mailbox. The garage has been coverted to a big room, but we'll be changing it back.

The lovely living room. There was an extremely heavy wood-burning stove on a brick hearth. Sold the stove on Craigslist and plan on busting out the brick and using drywall in its place.

The kitchen: Not in horrible shape. It will get painted cabinets, granite counters, new appliances, and tile floor.

The laundry room. A cute space. More paint, tile, and some updated plumbing will make this good as new.

Hall bath: Very cool that this house has two full baths. We'll rip everything out here and replace the tub, toilet, vanity top, mirror, light fixture. Paint and tile will complete the renovation.

And again with the Master bath, it will get the same treatment as the hall bath. New counters, tub, tile, toilet, fixtures, etc.

And I think that pretty much wraps up our plans. Our timeline is about 6 weeks. A lofty, but hopefully reasonable goal. Piece of cake, right?

2010-02-01T02:49:00.001-06:00

We meet again! And in a different year, no less. If January is any indication, 2010 is fulfilling its promise of making 2009 seem like a bad dream.

It's been a fast first month. Don't you think? I think we always say that, but it feels especially true. Let's see, I think the last time I was here we were recovering from Snowpocalypse 2009. Who knew that we'd end January the same way? It's true. We've already had Snowpocalypse 2010.

Ugh.

Maybe we can try to not make this a monthly happening. The funny thing is, I was completely confident that we were on the downhill slide to balmy, beautiful, live-with-the-crazy-summer-and-winter-just-to-experience-it spring. I had practically put the Uggs in storage and busted out the short sleeves. Oh well... Uggs are comfortable. And I love a cozy cardigan. I'll try to pass the time, somehow.

Kevin and I made it out of a town for a quick trip to Las Vegas. Ahhh, sweet relief from reality. I would have been okay with an extra day or so, but really Vegas is made for short journeys. Kevin entered his first-ever poker tournament and placed....THIRD. How card-shark amazing is that? It was his first time even sitting at an actual table (And not playing online...tee hee.) Hmmm, I could totally stand being a professional poker player's wife. Hanging out in the Penthouse suite while he's down making a year's worth of money in a weekend.

Other big news? We are flippers once again! (Did you hear trumpets?) This is good news. Great news, in fact. Kevin's been floating around for awhile now. Trying to find just where and what we were supposed to be doing in life. After the restaurant didn't pan out, I know he was feeling like life was giving him no more than a huge kick in the privates. I mean, really. What do you do when you can't do what you've always done?

Many long talks and hard discussions later and we came to the conclusion that this was an opportunity for him to do ANYTHING HE WANTS. Not an opportunity many people get 10 years into a career. Turns out, Kevin kind of hates the restaurant business. But he LOVES working with his hands. Doing projects. Building and creating. Even more discussions later and we decided to dive back into home renovation. The fact of the matter is, we both LOVE houses. We move constantly. We look at houses even when we aren't buying. I mean, honestly, we move every two years. We just love it. So there, do what you love. Be happy. And the money will follow.

We. Shall. See.

Other quick quips from this month:

NEVER let them use clippers on your son's head unless you're okay with his curls disappearing.
Birthday parties at piano bars are very fun (Happy 30th, Jen!)
Sometimes you really can connect with long, lost friends on Facebook.
Sucky builders will last long after closing.

So, apparently when you don't post for a month, the posts are long. If you're still with me, I'm presenting my goals for this so-far, so-great year.

GOALS:

Work on expanding the Miller Family (and I don't mean get another dog, people).
Buy, renovate, and sell at least TWO, and likely THREE houses.
Attain my real estate license (more on this later, but it had to happen eventually)
Try to expand my writing to more creative and less means-to-an-end. (sometimes I feel like if I take another writing job I'll poke both of my eyes out. A good sign that I need a break.)
Convert our entire photo library to digital and organize it in a useful way.
New truck for Kevin.
Become a less sucky cook (yep, I set my goals high) and experiment with real recipes.
Read more (I'm joining a book club so that should help).
Stay connected with my friends in a more substantial way (sometimes it seems impossible!).
Potty-train Riley and work on narrowing down preschools (practically a full-time job in Edmond, OK).

Okay, I'm sure I have more, but that seems like a good, solid list. Maybe I should have added "blog more than once a month." I'll try that one anyway. Only 11 months to go....

It's here!

2009-12-25T08:00:00.001-06:00

Here's to a beautiful, safe, and abundant holiday with the people you love. Hope your holiday is filled with blessings of every kind!

Merry Christmas from the Millers!

Let it snow!

2009-12-24T15:55:00.003-06:00

Wow. We have been hit with a CRAZY BLIZZARD. I can't remember the last time we've had this kind of snow. People are being bussed off the highways because all of the Interstates are shut down. Nuts! I shot this picture of the house. The garland is about to blow off the door. This Christmas will definitely be WHITE.

Hope everyone stays warm and safe--

Uh-oh

2009-12-16T16:06:00.004-06:00

Things are starting to get serious, folks.
Nine days, no presents purchased...gulp.

Countdown.

2009-12-11T01:02:00.006-06:00

Only 14 days until the big day...are you ready?
You'll notice there are no wrapped gifts under our tree. We are waaaaaay behind.

Carnival Revisited

2009-12-08T21:06:00.011-06:00

I never posted pictures from Riley's carnival! Bad momma... So, if you've read my previous entries then you know that I spent about a week-and-a-half on the party planning. That's some kind of record for lack of preparedness, pretty sure. But, it came together quickly and I think it turned out pretty great. It was so fun to have kids running around and food and friends and family. Loved it all.

Here are few highlights (sorry for the random order--it is so hard to upload pics in Blogger!):

***Welcome to the carnival***

***The Details***

Party Favors:

Overview of the room
(we pushed all the furniture against the walls to make the room big and open)

Count the Beans!
This was for the adults at the party.
Total amount? 1122 beans...Riley's birthdate!

The food:
Hot Dogs, Chips, Licorice, Caramel Apples, and Lots of Sodas!

More party favors.
Each kiddo had a bag with his/her name on it!

Lots of goodies at the "Refreshments" table!

Backyard Photo Booth:

Bullseye Game:

Cotton Candy
(we repackaged CC from the store and added some custom tags)

Popcorn Cupcakes
(actually marshmallows in yellow food coloring!)

Beverage Station:

Riley's Circus Peanuts
(Again, repackaged and with custom tags)

"Thank you for coming to my party!"
I glued Riley's picture to big rainbow-colored lollipops!

The amazing cake! My mom is a flippin' cake genius.
She did ALL of this, including forming the animals from fondant. She's awesome!!

And here's Riley enjoying a couple of his toys, post-party:

Until next year...

Ta-da!

2009-11-30T21:50:00.002-06:00

I did it! 30 posts in 30 days.... whew. I'm exhausted. I'm so glad I did this. I've needed to reconnect with my blog for awhile now. It's a great outlet for me and a perfect journal of our lives. I hope this is the jump start to a recommittment to post often...and with meaning. There were definitely a few days where I know I posted complete crap. The funny thing is, I still have lots of posts in mind--and even did on the days where my posts sucked. Time got in my way more than lack of material. It always does.

With that, I leave you to go watch Four Christmases and finish decorating our house. I have a really good post coming up with all of our tidings of comfort and joy and another one with Riley's carnival pics...oh and then there's--see, told you no lack of material.

It's been a fun month. Thanks for sticking with me.

2009-11-29T23:06:00.002-06:00

I love holiday weekends! Working from home, it wouldn't seem like long weekends really matter. But they completely do. If for no other reason than everyone else is off so you can count on absolutely no expectations from anyone. Love that.

Anyhow...I actually did manage to get a little work done today, did a little more decorating (tree and mantle--check!), enjoyed a fantastic dinner with Kevin, Riley & Cass, and folded about 7 loads of laundry. In fact, the only thing that's not so great about long weekends is preparing for real life once they're over. Already thinking about all the to-dos this week: Christmas decorating, house cleaning, family pictures, dad's birthday, Christmas cards...and on, and on, and on.

How long until Christmas break?

2009-11-28T23:27:00.002-06:00

It was a great day of Bedlam football, family, food, friends, and fun! A great game-day get-together followed up by my mom's birthday celebration and a house guest--a visit from one of my oldest and dearest friends. Wish this holiday would last forever...having such a wonderful time!

Sorry for the quick post...it's been a long day and there's a man on the couch, popcorn with Junior Mints, and a movie in the DVD player just waiting for my arrival. Ahhhh...

Full.

2009-11-27T21:52:00.002-06:00

I am full...of love, of happiness, of pie, of turkey, of bargains. Yep. Totally full.

What a fun Thanksgiving we had and what a laaaaazy today we had. I had big plans of making it out to at least one early-morning sale today. But last night, I completely passed out on the couch at midnight--reading the ads. Boo! After many failed wake-up attempts by Kevin, I finally headed to my actual bed at 3:30...just about the time I should have been heading to the stores.

Oh well...

We did head out to Target about 1 p.m. and managed to get a few good deals. The doorbusters were completely wiped out, but lots of the toys on sale were still hanging around. Officially finished shopping for our little 2-year-old (we're taking advantage of him not really knowing what the whole gift thing is all about) and got a couple others checked off the list. A small Black Friday experience. Maybe preparing me for next year? I don't know... I was pretty intimidated by the whole idea anyway.

So, now Kevin is out at the bars with out-of-town friends and Riley is down for the night. I'm looking forward to a long evening of decorating and relaxing. We headed to storage tonight to grab all of our Christmas stuff.

Hmmm... I don't think we have quite enough. What do you think?

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T09:00:00.000-06:00

Hope you are enjoying counting your blessings today! I love a day to just be with family--no gifts or decorations necessary and just be thankful for the abundance we have in our lives. Take time out today to tell the special people in your life how much you love and appreciate them. We definitely don't do it often enough.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Turkey Eve

2009-11-25T23:52:00.002-06:00

Just got back from seeing New Moon with Kevin, Jaimie, and Jadyn. I didn't even really like the first movie, but can't resist getting into the whole fanatical fun of it all! I thought the second movie was much better than the first. The slow parts are still sloooooow, but the action scenes are fun. And holy moly. I thought Edward was super cute in the first movie, but this time he kind of skeeved me out. The werewolves though...major hotness.

Wow. Did a 15-year-old girl just hijack my blog?

Um...anyway. So, yeah....I was just going to say that I'm attempting to make a pumpkin pie tonight. Kevin should be back with a pie crust any minute now, then I'll begin. Hoping it goes much better than my cookie mix attempt from earlier this week. Yikes.

So excited to grub tomorrow. I love Thanksgiving!

In the black.

2009-11-24T22:49:00.002-06:00

So.... I've never participated in the whole Black Friday thing. I've never even really wanted to be involved. Wait, I take that back. For about 2 minutes last year I had this bright idea that I might actually go to one of the early sales, but only because I'm a night owl and was up anyway.

This year, for some reason, I'm completely intrigued.

I can't quit thinking about the Target ad and their super-cheap digital cameras. Ours is close to being completely extinct. And when you have a young'un around you have a tendency to take a lot of pictures. Way too many. So many, in fact, that it takes you days to post pictures of said young'un's birthday party because you don't feel like uploading that many pictures. Yep. There's quite a few.

Anyway, so the cameras. They are super cheap. And maybe the lines wouldn't be too long at Target. I mean, it's not like it's Walmart or anything. Or Toys R Us. It's Target. I'm rationalizing. And considering it. And surprising myself at all of this. But will I do it? Two days to find out...

Calm

2009-11-23T21:18:00.002-06:00

Today we're experiencing a little bit of birthday hangover... Not even the booze-induced kind! We had such a fun and whirlwind weekend and now that it's all over, we can't make ourselves do much of anything.

The party was so, so, so awesome. I loved it and it was definitely pretty great considering I threw it all together in just over a week. I have pictures coming your way soon. Hopefully, tomorrow.

We STILL have balloons to deflate, decorations to store away and floors to sweep. There are newly assembled toys all over the living room and leftover treats on every countertop. BUT, we likely aren't going to touch much of it tonight. We gobbled down some take-out earlier, stopped by Blockbuster, and now we're going to nestle in on the couch and enjoy a little bit of peace and quiet and each other.

I mean really, we only have a few days until a whole new type of insanity begins...

Happy Birthday Riley!

2009-11-22T23:09:00.002-06:00

Our baby boy turned TWO YEARS OLD today! What a fast and crazy two years it has been...

From this:

To this:

To today:

You were born two years ago on Thanksgiving and I've been so overwhelmed and grateful to be your mother ever since. I can't imagine being blessed with a more amazing, funny, smart, and silly little boy. Your joy is contagious. Your laughter makes me swoon. I love watching you grow up and learn and become the little boy you were meant to be.

I love you more than you'll ever know, little Riley, and I had such a fun, time celebrating your big birthday with you today. I can't wait to spend the rest of my life as a cheerleader for your precious life.

One more day...

2009-11-21T23:59:00.000-06:00

Big party prep happening here...stay tuned for deets and pics!

Again!

2009-11-21T02:17:00.002-06:00

Past midnight, but still before bedtime for me. So it counts!

Riley's party is Sunday and I've been working non-stop trying to get the house and the supplies ready to go.

I cannot believe our little boy is two years old. I was out running errands today and it reminded me so much of the last day I ran errands before he was born. It was the day before and I was in nesting mode--big time. I headed out on a huge store run and bought everything I could think of that we needed (my due date was a week away...) and then came home and decorated for Christmas. It was a little early since we hadn't celebrated Thanksgiving, but I wanted to get it out of the way. As I was walking through the store a lady asked me if I was preparing for Thanksgiving and I said, no...I'm preparing for a newborn. She mentioned that I better be careful...she did that before she was due and the next day she was in labor. I mentioned that in that case I was going to come back and do it again that night!

The next morning, I woke up with mild labor pains that progressed through the day...got intense that night and I headed to the hospital. Riley was born the next day--a week early and on Thanksgiving.

I'm so excited to celebrate our Little Turkey's second birthday. He may not remember it, but I definitely will.

Busy

2009-11-19T23:59:00.000-06:00

Carnival prep in full swing...be back soon!

Dude.

2009-11-19T01:18:00.002-06:00

I just want to make it clear that this blog is for WEDNESDAY, not Thursday. And it still count as a Wednesday blog because I haven't gone to bed yet! And around here, I make the rules...blogger date be damned. (Plus, I've made it this far so it's happening.)

Today was a busy day filled with hanging up long-neglected pictures that I haven't seen since last February when our house went on the market and I went into staging mode. Yep, you pack that stuff away and then when it takes FOREVER to sell you house, it's like getting all new things. That's how I'll look at it anyway.

I spent a very long time last night prepping things for Riley's big party. Getting excited! Hopefully, it will all come together in the next couple of days. Time is ticking away, for sure.

Seems like I had a really good story to tell...who can say! I'm off to watch Glee, yo. Deuces.

Burned.

2009-11-17T22:59:00.002-06:00

I decided to throw some cookies in the oven this evening using my favorite 'add an egg & butter' bag of cookie mix. So, I mix it up and comment to Kevin that they are on crack if they think this will make 36 cookies. I dollop out the dough and throw 'em in the oven. I flip on the oven light a couple minutes later and see melted cookies--no lie. Completely bewildered, I'm asking Kevin how I possibly could have screwed up easy bake cookies.

Then I pick up the bag.

And realize I only poured in half of the bag. Ugh.

We decide to take the cookies out and scrape the barely cooked cookies back into the bowl, add the other half and remix. The picture is the lovely chocolatey result. (writing this on my phone so picture will come later!)

They actually don't suck, but seriously...I can screw up anything in the kitchen. Anything.

In other news...saved 52% on our grocery bill tonight. Yay coupons!

Things I'm obsessed with today.

2009-11-16T14:33:00.003-06:00

My mind is everywhere this afternoon! So, here's what I'm thinking about...

1. The little boy who was murdered in Nichols Hill s...I'm so sad for this. He was Jadyn's age and went to pre-school with her many years ago. And I'm sad for his mom who will have a husband in prison and no son. And it freaks me out on a hundred other different levels too.

2. Scentsy. It is making this house smell damn good today.

3. My hella good deal from B&BW. 12 hand soaps for $21. Deal. Score. Already on sale 4/$10, plus a -$10 coupon. (I only stock up once a year or so, so I wait 'til it's cheap and go for it.)

4. Family pictures...must schedule. Soon. (Followed up with hair cut--must schedule sooner.)

5. Riley's party. Less than a week away and sending invites is the only prep I've done. Gulp.

6. Cleaning house. About to let loose on this domestic must-do. Ugh.

7. Not getting the H1N1 vaccine. I just saw a commercial telling me I should get the shot. That makes me want the shot even less. I know they are a necessary evil, but I seriously hate vaccines.

8. Babies. Riley needs a pal.

Zzzzzz...please.

2009-11-15T20:43:00.007-06:00

Sometimes when you're almost two-years-old, you have to grow some big molars. And sometimes growing those molars hurts--really bad. So bad that you can't sleep longer than a couple of hours. So bad that you cry and cry and scream until Mom & Dad rescue you at midnight...and again at 1:45 a.m.

And then you're out of bed, and hurting, and no longer sleepy. You just can't settle down.

So you have to join mom and dad in their room for awhile. And you get a popsicle and watch Wow Wow Wubzy, and Blue's Clues, and Olivia and get cozy between your barely conscious parents until they realize it's almost 4 in the morning.

Then, you head back to your room and (thank you, Jesus) sleep until about 8:30 a.m. when you're ready to hop out of bed and start what will be the crankiest day in recent history. Bananas make you cry. A broom makes you cry. Your hat that we left in the backyard makes you cry.

Naptime comes earlier than usual and keeps you resting almost an hour. Then, the crying again...

Your parents give up on hoping you'll drift back to sleep so you get a reprieve from naptime and then you're up again. Quite possibly more cranky than ever.

More Oragel. More Tylenol.

A quick errand with the 'rents has you finally feeling tired. You drift off into a sweet car-ride sleep that lasts until the car pulls into the driveway and guess what--awake.

Sigh.

Dinner, bath, and an early bedtime. All in the hopes you'll sleep. So far, just crying...and crying...and crying. But you'll sleep soon. I mean, at some point exhaustion has to take over, right?

I know it's taking over for your mom and dad.

Desperately seeking...

2009-11-14T23:45:00.002-06:00

inspiration! Big time. I'm behind on my tourism writing so I'll likely be spending a good chunk of time tomorrow catching up. It has been so hard for me to focus on writing lately. Ugh. Maybe it's because I have so many assignments. I'm basically full-time writing recently and that can make it difficult to 'produce.' Finding the energy to be creative can be really, really challenging. Especially when my mind is a hundred other places.

People tell me often that I'm so lucky to write for a living and to work at home and get to be with Riley. I do get that. And I do feel lucky...most of the time. But sometimes, I envy people that get to just go to work, do their time, and then go home and be free of all of it. When you make your own hours, the work is always there. Waiting. Hanging over my head. It's just hard to separate the two. Plus, feeling burned out. Work is always around, plus I don't really love it. Kind of a brutal cycle...

I'm rambling... But it's kind of how I feel about it all! Getting some honesty out there. Plus, I have a new idea and project on my mind. And it's all I can think of right now.

I feel like we're in this weird place of total limbo in our little family. It's good and bad, I think. Being restless is what motivates change. But not knowing what change is in store can be scary.

This is completely not what the post I intended to write. And that's the funny thing about the creative process: you start heading in one direction on a precisely charted path and you end up in an entirely different town. It's one of the best parts about the whole damn thing.

Yogaaaaahhhhh

2009-11-13T23:51:00.002-06:00

I think Ive figured it out. I suck at weekend blogging! The closer it gets to Friday and Saturday the less time I have to put anything meaningful on here. Oh well... Guess that means I have a life?

Tonight Kevin and I dropped off Riley for a bit and headed to a hot yoga class taught by a good friend. It was awesome. I can't even say how much I needed that hour of stretching and relaxation. I hope kev liked it too and wants to go back next week! Yoga is definitely something I've been missing in my life. Weird how sometimes you don't even know what you need until you get it?

Things have been pretty high stress around our house. Probably mentioned that once or twice. That's the fun of unemployment! That--and I get to live with the grumpiest husband ever. I sure do miss the silly, fun man I've known for 6+ years. Not sure who this guy is, but he's welcome to exit stage right anytime now...

Oh well! Here's to a nice, relaxing weekend!

TV Night!

2009-11-12T23:57:00.001-06:00

Barely getting this in before midnight! Tonight is all about a glass of wine (or two) and some fun TV. Ready for the weekend...see you tomorrow!

Yaaaawn...

2009-11-11T21:17:00.003-06:00

So sleepy today.

A couple of random thoughts...

Finally decided on Riley's birthday theme--a week away. We will be hosting a super-fun baby carnival! Woot woo! (will be addressing invites this evening--what's left of it)

Almost bought a dining room table on Craigslist today. It sold before we could arrange anything. Boo. (Ours is awesome and enormous and therefore lives in storage. Looking for something cheap to fill the space.)

Fantastic dinner at Kevin's parents. Pot roast and veggies are the perfect fall meal.

There is a serious amount of construction happening around our house. House going up across the street and they just cleared the lot next door. Bang, bang, bang--even on Sundays. So much for ever sleeping in again...

I might just hit the road in the morning to shop the Gap's annual (or is it bi-annual) Give-and-Get sale. 30% off. Pair that with the factory store's usual sales and it turns into a crazy huge savings. Last year, I completely cleaned up with literally everything we needed in the way of fall/winter basics.

Happy Veterans Day! (Is it always on a Wednesday? Weird.)

That's all I've got for now. Hopefully tomorrow will bring a more coherent blog!

Cha-ching!

2009-11-10T23:45:00.003-06:00

Tonight we set out for our first coupon-using shopping expedition. I claim....SUCCESS! I feel successful anyway. Actually, I feel like I made us $50 in about an hour.

So, basically, I loosely used the guidelines set out by most of the super couponers. And it was definitely a trial run. Here's what we (er, I) did:

1. We made a shopping list of what we needed to buy right now.*
2. I got online and read this week's Homeland ads
--we used Homeland because they offer great weekly sales and double coupons up
to $1 with their shopper card. --Also, Homeland has overlapping circulars and Tuesday is a great day to go because both circulars are valid at the same time.
3. I've been collecting coupons for a few weeks now from our moms (who both get the Sunday paper), so I took what we needed and matched up against things that were on sale and that I had coupons for. Then, after I exhausted those, I tried to match up the rest of the coupons with things we needed.
4. We shopped. Just off our list. Except for fruits and veggies, we didn't buy anything not on sale or without a coupon and we only bought from the list.
5. We got to the register and saw our total...yay!

(*super couponers don't do this...they plan way in advance so they never 'have' to buy things. The theory is that buying on demand doesn't allow you to maximize sales and coupons to get your biggest savings)

Here's an example of how we saved:

A box of Corn Flakes, regular price $3.99

It was on sale with the One Card for 2/$6. But I don't need two huge boxes of Corn Flakes so I just got one, for $3.

BUT, I had a coupon for $1.00 off this box of Corn Flakes. With the One Card, it's a double coupon. So....

$3.99 orginal price
-$.99 on sale with One Card (2/$6)
-$1.00 coupon
-$1.00 double the coupon with One Card.
_________________________________

$1.00!

A total steal.

And basically you do that the entire time. So our grand total savings?

Here's our receipt:

Do you see that? Between our coupons and sale card, we saved $45.36, or 37%! Woo hoo! Not bad for a first run, right? I'm pretty happy. And the sorting coupon prep took maybe 1/2 an hour or so. I did it at the kitchen table while Kevin fed Riley dinner. It didn't even seem like a big deal.

I'm so encouraged by this and so ready to get better at it. Can't wait to see how good we might get at this... I never knew grocery shopping could be fun!

Clip.

2009-11-09T22:14:00.003-06:00

Today was like a huge exhale for me. I finished up some loose ends on my last assignment that being sick had postponed. Today was the first day without a billion work-related things to do. I felt like I could think about something else in life. It's a great feeling.

Don't get me wrong. There's still plenty of work to do. In fact, I need to get busy on that amazingly large tourism gig I'll have going on throughout November and probably December. That's the plan. But, it's a relaxed job. And I can start to catch up on life. And that makes me happy.

So, what's with the weird picture?

It's a new goal. And what is life without new goals, right?

I'm hoping I can be good at this one. Because if I am, it will save us money and that is something we could use a little more of right about now.

I've been hearing about tons of my friends and acquaintances becoming super couponers. I guess it's a new thing enhanced by plenty of blogs from successful coupon geniuses. In fact, one of the biggest blogs out there is from a girl I went to high school with who has turned couponing into an empire. Pretty awesome, actually.

Let's be clear: I have none of those aspirations.

I don't even know if I can do this half-way successfully. But it sounds fun to try and why the heck not, right? So, we're giving it a go. And we'll see what happens.

Maybe we'll suck at it. Maybe it will take too much time. Or, maybe we'll save some good coin. And take that free vacay to Vegas after all....

Painted.

2009-11-08T20:44:00.003-06:00

(oh, if only our group picture was in focus...)

So, in case you're wondering, paintball might not be the best idea for a post-illness activity... but it was super fun. I know my stamina wasn't quite what it could have been but I'm not sure it made a lot of difference. I'm guessing the guys still would have kicked our butts pretty much exactly the same as they did.

This was a first-time adventure for everyone except two of us. The verdict? Really, really fun. But, paintballs do hurt. If you're headed out on this activity, I'd advise long sleeves. This was part of the reason we planned this for November, hoping cold weather would help with the bundle factor and ease the pain. Of course, we get a beautiful 70-degree day so no one wanted to get to layered. It all worked out though and minus a blistering tail-bone hit from behind (ahem, Brandon), I escaped mostly unscathed. Cannot say the same for many of my poor, bruised teammates (ahem, Jaimie).

Paintball. Do it. Really fun times. And yes, it hurts. Hurts so good.

2009-11-07T23:25:00.002-06:00

What a week.

I've spent about 30 of the last 36 hours sleeping. Riley had a cold earlier this weekly and promptly shared his yuck with Kevin and me. Kevin never gets super sick so he managed to get by with some congestion and runny nose, etc.

Me, on the other hand... I get sick if I look at someone with a bad cough. I think the stress of not sleeping during deadline combined with the germs shut down my body. I went to the clinic last night at 9 p.m. and thankfully, tested negative for flu. And was told I needed to rest and let it run its course with the help of some over-the-counter healing. Lovely. I was hoping for some strong narcotic drugs. Boo.

Thank God for Kevin. He completely took over all parenting and house duties the past few days. I was absolutely useless. This evening, I'm finally feeling a bit back to normal although still pretty stuffy and gross.

Tomorrow, we are set for a crazy day of paintball with our kickball pals. This should be interesting... I think one of us has ever done it before. I've heard it hurts... I'm kind of scared. But, can't wait to come back and report all about it.

Here are highs and lows for the week:

HIGHS:

Finishing deadline.
Being sick helped me catch up on much-needed sleep.
Super fun mom's night out dinner at Mama Roja's with swim moms. (can't wait until the next one!)
Being off deadline means I can start planning Riley's party!
Amazing weather.
Real Housewives of Orange County (sorry, I love my trash TV)

LOWS:

Riley--sick.
Kevin--sick.
Me--sick.
Completely behind on house everything due to above mentioned sickness.
Sucky Sooner Football (could it get worse?)

That's it for now! Wanted to get more than a sentence-long post in here this week. Off to watch more TV and cuddle up with my box of Kleenex.

Until tomorrow...

Sick.

2009-11-06T23:55:00.002-06:00

Completely under the weather today. Riley passed his funk straight to Kevin and me. Starting season 1 disc 1 of Mad Men and feeding our colds. So far this month of blogging isn't going just as planned. There are still some tricks up my posting sleeve. Let's see just how many days it takes me to produce....

Nick of time.

2009-11-05T22:52:00.001-06:00

This is my official Thursday post. But only because there is tv to watch. I'll be back later with a real, live post.... Maybe.

2009-11-04T23:24:00.003-06:00

Deadline finished!!!!!!!

This is the best news ever. I really thought it might never end. This one was a big one and it was the hardest deadline in recent history. Hopefully, I produced some worthwhile stuff...

So now, I move on to other things. Going to try to get back to basics: family, family, and family. I feel like I haven't seen Riley in a month! I'm ready to play and cuddle and plan his 2nd birthday. Holy crap...his 2nd birthday. Where does the time go?

We had two kickball games tonight, about an hour-and-a-half after I finished up my deadline. I'm exhausted and hittin' the hay....

Hooray for life. Yay for beds.

2009-11-03T21:48:00.005-06:00

I was hoping tonight's blog post would be in celebration of a completed assignment. Instead it's going to be another quick one....a brief procrastination from what I should be doing which is churning out well-written copy in rapid form.

It's 9:49 and I have a long way to go.

I wonder how many Diet Pepsis I could drink in a 24-hour period if I tried. This might be the time that I find out. Not because I'm trying to set a record, but because I'm trying to exist without sleep.

Woe is me.

I don't even know why the crap I procrastinate. If I could just get finished the relief would be immeasurable. It always is. But, here I am. Updating a blog. Wondering who has updated Facebook. Wishing I could watch So You Think You Can Dance. Thinking about how cozy my bed will be.

What in the hell?

Okay, it's getting seriously closer to morning all the time and I don't want to see the sun rise. That means, I'm outta here. It's time to stop blogging and get busy before I lose my gosh darn deadlined mind. Damn deadlines. I'm getting too old for this.

I cross my heart that better blogs are in the works. Can you imagine an entire month of deadline blogs. Talk about the cure for insomnia...

I'm going to leave you with another Riley Halloween picture. This time, he's a trick-or-treater at Haunt the Zoo. Have I mentioned how amazing he did during this event? He was a seriously good trick-or-treater.

2009-11-02T19:55:00.004-06:00

Trying to finish up the last of a deadline so this is all that's happening in my world today:

I'll be enjoying this exciting view for many hours to come. Hopefully, I'll be back tomorrow with something a little more thrilling.

In the meantime, one of my favorite pics of Riley from Halloween. This kid is the freakin' best.

See you soon!

Three months later....and a challenge!

2009-11-01T16:06:00.006-06:00

Was August 4th really the last time I updated my blog? Sad, really. Especially when there really is so much to say.

Today is November 1st. We just had the best Halloween with Riley and I'm smack-dab in the middle of the final deadline in what has been two months of continuous and never-ending deadlines. Just in time for a huge project that will take up all of November and most of December.

Vacation, please!

Likely, not. Two round-trip tickets and a hotel in Las Vegas are burning a hole in my figurative pocket. Sitting. Waiting. Wanting to be redeemed. Sigh. Please let it happen soon...

Until then, I work and feel grateful that the opportunities are coming my way.

That, however, is another post for another day. Yeah, right, you say. Like you'll be posting again in 2009, you irresponsible, leave-us-hanging blogger.

Okay, okay, I deserve that. But seriously, things have been hard to manage. Time has not been on my side and too much time on the computer for work leaves me running for the hills when it's time to update the blog. BUT, since it's fall and the trees are doing their thing, I decided to turn over my own autumnal leaf. A new commitment is brewing and it starts today.

Today is the first day of the annual NaBloPoMo...in English that's National Blog Posting Month. You can do it any month, but the official annual month is in November. As previously mentioned, today just happens to be November 1st. And here I am writing a blog. That's what you call: so far. so good.

(*thanks to Elizabeth at scarletwords.com for the cool graphic*)

The rules are simple: "Post every day for a month. That's all you have to do."

I'm going to fight the good fight to make it happen. Since I haven't been here in 3 months, I'm pretty sure I have a month's worth of good material to share. I won't guarantee greatness, but I'll guarantee something. And hopefully, that something will be success.

Whew.

2009-08-04T01:16:00.004-05:00

Still here--I promise! To date, I've received e-mails, comments, and even text messages asking for blog updates. I love the requests because honestly there is a TON to say and I'm glad someone's there to hear it.

Unfortunately for blog updates, this is the state of the Millers right now:

And in 4 short days we will be neck-deep in the middle of our highly anticipated move. Ahhhhhh... (cue the heavens opening up and me basking in the glorious rays.) I can't believe it's almost here. And it will be a flippin' miracle if we are ready in time. Our original close date was August 14th--then August 1st--and now August 7th.

So as much as I want to tell you about:

1. Our buyers deciding to buy our house without selling theirs and giving us 2 weeks to prepare to
move.
2. Running our first 5K.
3. Kevin jumping from the sky.
4. My weekend trip of boy-band stalking.
5. A quick floating -the-river getaway.
6. The newest happenings with our favorite 20-month-old.
7. Kevin's temper costing us a cool $500 in glass (it wasn't that bad actually, it just sounds more
dramatic when I say it like that.)
8. Hoping and praying that our new construction house will be finished before move-in day.

I can't. Because time is tickin' way too fast for me and what if we don't make it and the new owners just have to move in with us? Yikes. It could happen.

::::::

For now, you'll just have to enjoy these sneak peaks at the new house. It is fantastic. I thought this whole thing would have us in a house I didn't love and would be settling for. Aside from the tricky downsizing issue (holy crap, where did all this stuff come from?), that isn't the case at all. The house is awesome--and about 20 minutes closer to all of our family and friends. I can't wait to tell you all about it and show you some of the better features.

Send energy pills and good closing/moving vibes--it's going to be insane.

The heat is on.

2009-07-10T17:27:00.006-05:00

Interrupting life for a very quick blog briefing. It's a billion degrees in Oklahoma. Life-sucking, humid summer is full effect. I'm expecting to stay this way for pretty much ever at this point, but, I'm not a meteorologist, so back to us.

Everything is staying super busy in post-boot camp life. I was worried about how I'd keep up my regimen after the super intense month of camp. And the verdict is....I've definitely taken it down a notch. But, I'm trying to stick with things for the most part.

To that end, Kevin and I signed up for this:

My very first 5K. Gulp. This is inspired by the greatness that is Jaimie and her 5K running this year. She has been kicking some major tail with multiple 5Ks and after boot camp, I decided to join her. Yay for us!

Keep in mind, that I SUCK at running. Suck. But after the last month, I know I can do anything I want to do and so we've been running. The big loop around our neighborhood is 1.75 miles. It's kind of amazing to me that I can run that, but I really can. No one said I was running it fast, but I'm running it. So, I have two weeks to up my game to the full 5K distance.

It's a great feeling considering just a little over a month ago I was chugging along just attempting to run my mile for bootcamp. Made it about a half-mile before wishing for a nicely placed bolt of lightening to put me out of my misery. Then, pretty much walked the rest. I'd call this an improvement.

I've also managed to lose another 3lbs post-BC. Not sure how...maybe I'm losing that muscle already...sigh. That puts me at -15 for the last 6 weeks. Sweet.

We had an amazing Fourth of July with friends and family. I am so going to miss this house next Independence Day. The craziness of this neighborhood and our people is indescribable. It is pretty much my favorite holiday. Great times.

Next up....I'll show you the house on which we submitted an offer and tell you about the new adventure Riley has coming in September.

But before that, stay tuned for a very, very exciting post about Kevin and his Father's Day present. Because tomorrow, Kevin skydives.

How Andrea got her groove back.

2009-06-30T00:56:00.003-05:00

(Me with my graduation shirt! Took this as soon as I got home.
Silly picture, but I was really this happy!)

I did it! 30 long, hard, disciplined days in 100+ degree weather. But, I did it. I finished my first round of boot camp. I could not be happier.

I went from an out-of-shape mess to an in-much-better shape mess. I learned to look forward to the nightly torture and remember why I love fitness. I started the first night scared, left in tears, and slowly worked my way up from there.

I wrote down everything I ate for the month in my book (see below). Jotted notes about how I felt before/after workouts. Didn't cheat and enjoyed every splurge meal I was allowed.

(my sad little logbook after a month of living with me)

(sample pages of all of my logging)

We had our final PT test tonight. So happy with the results. Especially considering where I started just 29 days ago.

PT TEST: (each is timed for a minute)
PUSH-UPS (facilitated): First day, 14
Last day, 50 (whoa.)
TRICEP PRESSES: First day, 51;
Last day, 61
SIT-UPS: First day, 24;
Last day, 36
LONG RUN (1 mile): First day, 13:08 (I couldn't run the entire mile.)
Last day, 10:22 (ran in crazy humidity, but at least I ran.)

MEASUREMENTS & WEIGHT:
POUNDS LOST: 12
INCHES LOST: 7 (including 4 in my waist!)

GOALS FROM NIGHT ONE:
Attend every workout....yes!
Run entire mile....yes!
More energy...oh, yes!
Fit in summer wardrobe....might need a new, smaller one. ;-)

In summary: Am I where I want to be? No. But this past month has been a really great jump-start. And more importantly, it got me out of a funk that had been brewing for months. It was just what I needed, exactly when I needed it (although I wouldn't have been opposed to needing it in 70-degree weather). I am sad my month is over and wish I could do another....maybe in September. I WILL do this again at some point. It just works too well.

Here's to Jaimie and Susan who are trucking through their first month--and officially more than halfway finished. I'm so proud of them and can't wait to see them reach their goals. You can do it!

And one more thing--just to prove I have absolutely no shame--my horribly scary before and fairly decent after pictures. Please don't judge too harshly. Remember, this is a jump-start. I'm still on my way! (Although not bad for 4 weeks, right?!)

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

Hoo-yah, people....hoo-yah! Boot camp--over and out.

Happy Father's Day!

2009-06-23T23:58:00.008-05:00

We had an amazing, super-fun Father's Day this year! We loaded up all of the dads for a trip to the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History in Norman. It was awesome to have everyone together and it will, without a doubt, go down as one of the best.

Thank you dad for always being supportive and wonderful and everything a dad should be. I am so lucky to have you and I love you.

You know who else is lucky to have a wonderful dad? Riley.

Kevin never ceases to blow me away with his dedication to fatherhood. He is attentive, fun, loving, and gentle. He is so much more than these things. He is just the best dad I could ever imagine for our child and Riley loves him so much. In a world where so many dads don't take their job as father seriously, Kevin makes it his #1. I love my husband and I am incredibly grateful he's ours. We are the luckiest.

Here are a few more fun shots from the day:

(Ethan, Andy & Jadyn)

(Me, dad & Andy. What is my hair doing?)

(The kids lift the biggest foot ever. So strong.)

(Jadyn during an attack)

(Ethan also falls victim to the deadly foot stomp)

(Cousins! Ethan, Riley & Jadyn)

Here are some pictures of Riley playing outside the museum. This resulted in a huge knot on his forehead and plenty of scratches to go along with them. Oh, the joys of being 19 months old!

Life moves pretty fast...

2009-06-23T23:57:00.004-05:00

If you don't stop and look around every once in a while, you might miss it.

This is pretty much the story of our lives right now.

Between boot camp, house-selling, moving the restaurant, working, seeing friends, and trying to keep our son in one piece. Yep, we're beat. It's good though. Things are good. Thankful for that.

We're having a fun summer and the weekends are pretty much full until around, oh... August-something. Maybe beyond.

Last weekend included an awesome bouncy birthday party, Father's Day, and checking out a neighborhood where my mom plans to build a house (y-a-y!). Assignments are coming in like crazy so I've been working constantly (a good thing) and Kevin is going nuts trying to find a place to put the restaurant (after the first location we picked fell through this week). It's insanity, folks.

Perhaps our biggest news--and oh-my-god-I-can't-even-believe-I-haven't-posted-this-before-now (I blame Facebook), but WE GOT A CONTRACT ON THE HOUSE. Yippee! Well, kind of yippee. Don't get me wrong. This is good news. Great news in the big picture of everything. But, it isn't the most ideal of situations.

Last week we had about 4 or 5 showings within 3 days. It was nuts. And I mentioned it to maybe one person. We were at that point. Done. Done. Done. And it didn't really matter if I mentioned showings because after 5 months I had lost all hope anyone would buy our house--ever. But, the bright side of those showings were that two of them were second showings. As in, they liked it here. They might even like it enough to...buy it.

After the second showings, we found out that one set of people passed. We were top three for them. We lost. Boo. The other set liked it. Alot. They were checking out comps and deciding what to do. What they decided to do was submit an offer.

A less-than-stellar offer.

Two rounds of negotiating later, we came to an agreement. With a few catches. One catch? Our agent cut her commission to practically nothing. (A bonus of using her for 8 transactions in 5 years.) Second catch? We'll actually be losing a little bit of money to make this happen. (I feel like we'll gain it back in no time w/ smaller mortgage payments, less interest, etc. Kevin? Not so pleased.). Third catch? They have a house to sell in Tulsa. Boo. No other way around that one. Just boo.

So, we have a contract and a closing date is set for mid-August. But, until they have a contract on their house, we continue to market and try to get another contract. So, although we're finished--we aren't.

Never-ending much? It's okay. We've made it this far. I call this home stretch. We'll be headed out later this week to check out some houses. Maybe we'll find something amazing. And maybe it will all work out after all. And even if it doesn't (god forbid and knock-on-wood), I hope we can slow down just enough to watch it all happen.

Boot scootin'

2009-06-23T23:35:00.003-05:00

Dude! Has it seriously been more than a week since I've written about my beloved nightly torture? It has. Crazy how time flies. So many things going on in our household right now. I'll save that for the next post. For now, a quick bootcamp update.

Here's the deal: I only have 6 days left--and that includes this weekend. Only 3 real days of guided workouts. Friday is our graduation party (pizza and beer--woot woo!), then we have the weekend on our own. Monday is our final meeting. The first day of the next class and the day that we see how far we've come--our final PT test. Is it insane that it went by so fast? And after all that dread?

So, how are things coming? Damn good. There's no other way to put it. Yes, it's blazing hot out there and no, they aren't taking it easy on us.

Maybe I really am getting better at this thing? I think yes.

Last weekend I headed out to the park and set out to practice my mile run. Let's just say my final PT test will be much different than my first. I will say I've almost passed out a couple of these hot nights. It was literally 96 degrees when we started this evening--and we voted to start a half-hour later for this last week. It's just hot and there's no way around it.

BUT, I feel stronger. I feel GOOD. I feel great, actually. I can do more. I can feel muscles that have been hibernating and clothes are getting loose. I love it.

In fact, I love it so much I'm dreading the end. Yes, I'll actually be sad to see this month end. And I'm already wondering when I'll sign on for the next round (I'm thinking fall...). I know that I won't give up on my reunion with fitness, but I also know that I will never be able to keep up the boot camp intensity on my own. And although I can't wait to see how much weight I've lost and inches, and all that good stuff, I also know I still have awhile to go to reach my goals.

And that's where I am with things. Trying to figure out how I will parlay this month of amazing success into my "normal" non-boot camp life. Here's hoping my newly toned arms find a way.

Food is for the weak.

2009-06-13T00:04:00.007-05:00

(one of my favorite meals. Egg-white omelette, veggies, cheese &
a Morning Star veggie pattie. Soo, delish. I feel like it should be really bad for me. I love it.)

I know, I know. Every post about boot camp. Bear with me. Like I said before, I'm cracked out right now. So, food. A huge part of our program is an eating plan that we have to follow for the 30-day program. It's not a 'diet' so much (In fact, I feel like I'm eating all of the time), but it's a definite switch from everyday eating.

We eat six times a day. Basic good-for-you foods in small quantities.

Small as in, serving sizes are:

Size of your palm (no fingers, palm only) = MEAT
1/2 of a fist = CARB
Cupped handful = VEGGIES/FRUIT

I have done amazingly well on eating and I thought it would be the hardest part for me. We get one splurge meal a week and that meal was the only time we've eaten out in the last two weeks. That has to be some kind of record.

I think the only thing that made this possible for me was a LOT of preparation. One of the biggest ways to fail on diets is not having things ready to go. Ready to grab. Ready to devour at a moment's notice.

Eating 6 X a day can take a lot of time if those meals aren't easy. I spent about one-and-a-half hours at the beginning of week one preparing my meals for this week. I cut up fruit, veggies, made my own trail mix portioned out servings My fridge and freezer were (and are) completely packed with serving sizes of lots of healthy, approved food. If I can open the fridge and grab it, it makes following the plan pretty simple.

(I should also note that I worked out-of-the-house three days this week and still managed to follow this no problem. I took a insulated bag to work with tons of snacks and meals and just noshed the day away. Having things already divided up made this so much better.)

If you know me at all you know that I don't put things on the fridge. It's one of my OC ticks. I can't help it. But, for this one month. I'm making an exception. Now I have these three things on my fridge, always:

Category list. What qualifies as proteins, carbs, etc. This gives me suggestions if I'm trying to piece together a meal from all of my options.

Snack list. Again, suggestions of what I can grab. Some of my favorites: yogurt with trail mix and fruit; string cheese, wheat crackers and raw veggies; cottage cheese, cherry tomatoes & crackers. I could go on. I really do like so much of this stuff. (Riley added his own artistic touch to my list!)

A shopping list. This starts out as just a piece of paper. I add things as I run out so when it's time for the weekly shopping trip, I'm ahead of the game. (Can't actually "see" the list here, but it's there--trust.)

I'd also suggest avoiding restaurants. Even most of the "healthy" stuff is really bad for you. And wear out your freezer. Work it. Make it earn its keep. Our freezer is STOCKED with berries, fruit, veggies, trail mix. Anything and everything. Then, when my fridge stock is done, I can transfer some over. This really extends the life of the fruit/veggies I buy and I don't have to head to the store as much.

I don't consider myself an expert by any means. These are really just my tips from my last two weeks. Things that have made turning my diet completely around a little bit easier.

I'm sure I have more, but this is much longer than I thought it would be and if you aren't actually interested in this kind of info, you're probably asleep by now. I promise if anything else blog worthy pops up, you'll be the first to know.

Hoo-yaaaah

2009-06-12T23:50:00.002-05:00

It's official. I'm totally addicted to bootcamp. Every day I'm less anxious to go and more excited. And every night when it's over, I'm less tired and more impressed by my abilities. I can already do so much more than I could less than two weeks ago. I'm running better, doing more, less sore in the mornings. Clothes are getting loose. I can feel my muscles. I'm eating fantastically well (haven't cheated once!) and the energy is kicking in big time.

It's pretty. freakin'. awesome.

I mean, I even kicked a homerun in our final kickball game (which was an hour after that night's bootcamp session). I almost died of happiness right there on the field.

In fact, I'm now experiencing a different kind of scared. I'm scared about what the heck I will do once this month is over. How will I keep this intensity up on my own? I'm finding myself thinking about how I could possibly do another month, both financially and time-wise. I'll see how I'm feeling at the end of next week and the final week. Maybe that need to continue this insanity will wane.... For now, bootcamp is my crack and I love the high.

So, next week brings Jaimie and Susan into the mix as they begin their 5:30 A.M. class of the same program. I cannot wait to have two fellow "soilders." I can't wait to hear about how the first class goes and if they feel like I did. I want to know what they did and how many people were there and all of those obsessed questions that crackheads need answered.

Next week also brings buddy night on Thursday. That's the night that friends/family can come experience a night of our workouts. Kevin is sooooo going to be there. Is it horrible that I hope it kicks his butt?

On the wagon.

2009-06-07T22:46:00.004-05:00

Here I am, at the end of week one--or the beginning of week two. I can't believe I already have a week under my belt! Wait, who am I kidding. I totally can. It was a loooong, haaaard week. It's been good though. And there are no signs of me jumping ship yet. Not even when I read this in an email from my instructor. (Did I mention we get daily emails? They rule.)

So, anyway. On Saturday morning, this is the lead sentence of our email:

Today’s Mission: As we move into the weekend remember we ask that you remove the alcohol you drink. You will not know how alcohol affects you unless you remove it for any length of time, like 30 days. Alcohol is metabolized like fat in the body, it very calorie dense and can affect your athletic performance for up to five days not to mention it dehydrates you, makes you feel terrible the next day and makes you crave fatty foods. YIKES!

To be clear, I have studied nutrition and fitness in grad school and these are all things I know. But, if I could follow the advice I know to be true, why would I be in a $300 a month boot camp?

Furthermore, I am no lush.

I don't even really drink that often. Especially considering the amount I used to drink in my "prime." But lately, it seems that beer has been making a welcome appearance into some of my evenings and weekends.

A super-chilled bottle of Miller Lite and lime? A refreshing period on the sentence that is my day.

And now, to say goodbye to it. It saddens me. Not only that, but even after bootcamp, this short paragraph will haunt me. I will picture each drink permanently finding a home on my ass. Sad, indeed. I just don't know if I will ever view liquid carbs the same again.

This wasn't even what this post was supposed to be about. Depressing or funny? Can't decide. So, now that I've rambled about the booze. I leave to begin week two. Maybe tomorrow I can come and talk about what I actually meant to talk about tonight...and that subject was--and is--food.

Stay tuned my virtual sufferers. There is a lot more where this came from.

Give me death.

2009-06-02T14:07:00.003-05:00

Night one is complete. To say it was harder than I expected--a slight understatement. Is this a testimony to the difficulty of the program or my extreme lack of fitness...who can say. What I can say is that it kicked me to the CURB. I returned to my car after an hour and cried a little. Just a little. And just for a minute. I think I didn't realize just how out-of-shape I really am!

We did our fitness test --a mile run, sit-ups, push-ups, tricep presses--and then some other calisthenics and stretching with running in between. (add in my sprint to find a bathroom when we started doing jumping jacks. baby=weak bladder.)

All I can say is, it can only get better from here!

My favorite part of the night was getting our log book that we have to write down our food in every meal and our goals, workouts, etc. It has lots of instructions and tips. For instance, no sweets, fried foods, or alcohol---period. Gulp. I was good until the last one. We eat six small meals a day which is actually fun. I feel like I'm constantly eating and the food is what I like to eat anyway. Restaurants are supposed to be avoided...

The best part of the guidebook are the statements we are supposed to use with family/friends to keep us on track. Although true, they are LAUGHABLE. Don't make me use them on you!

If someone does not honor your wishes, avoid them. Here are some talking points.

'Please don't ask me to blow off my workout to do something with you.'

'Please don't offer me anything to eat that I'm not supposed to have.'

'Please don't ask me to go somewhere where I'll be tempted to eat or drink the wrong things.'

'Please don't keep me out too late if I need the rest.'

'Please don't question the validity of what I'm doing or give me unsolicited advice.'

Consider yourself warned!!! (that part is mine...ha ha.)

Booty Call

2009-06-01T00:47:00.005-05:00

Tomorrow is what I like to call a 'fresh start.' A 'new beginning' Or, the kick-off of a month of complete torture. Look at it however you like.

Let me be more specific.

Monday, June 1, 2009, is the start of a month. long. BOOTCAMP. (insert dramatic music here....) No, I did not enlist. And I can say with every confidence that my mind and body couldn't take the military. The military-esque experience upon which I am about to take part is putting me in a state of constant anxiety, tinged with a shred of fear, and a whole helluva lot of excitement and anticipation. So, I'm pretty sure the Army would cause hyperventilation and likely hospitalization.

I gave myself a good 18-months to be disciplined and get myself back in shape after Riley's birth. It just wasn't happening. And the result is a big, out-of-shape blob of a girl that looks something like someone I used to know. The girl I used to know had a great summer wardrobe because she FIT into her clothes. Yeah....not so much now.

I'm over it.

So, instead of a random Mother's Day gift, I asked Kevin if I could enroll in this bad-ass bootcamp class that I have been wanting to enroll in for over a year now.

The price ($275) held me back almost as much as the fear. Enough, however, is enough. I'm sick of being a gross representation of my former self.

Who is this person? Yuck.

I'm in a rut in a big way and I'm not taking it anymore!

Another big factor in my enrollment is my awesome sister-in-law Jaimie who decided to take the bootcamp plunge as well. Jaimie starts 2 weeks after me, in a different location, at a different time (5:45 am--holy crap), but the program is the same and I know both of us doing this will be even more motivation to do well and finish successfully.

The camp is every day for an hour. On the weekends, we have assignments to do on our own. No off-days, ever. It is supposedly pretty intense and the first rule is NO WHINING. Yikes. If you miss without letting someone know (AWOL), the entire group pays. Yikes, again. We have a food plan to follow and have to keep a food log for our instructors to review everyday.Simply put: these people are not messing around. Gulp.

So, yeah. I'm paying someone to kick my ass. If you know me at all, you know I commit to things in a big way. Which means, I'm expecting my money's worth out of this month--even if it kills me.

Riley Graduates!

2009-05-28T22:46:00.004-05:00

Today, Riley worked on his floats in full winter clothes--thermal shirt and heavy sweater, jeans, shoes, and socks. CRAZY! He did awesome. After tomorrow, he's finished for the season....and ready for summer! We'll either go back at the end of summer for a refresher or wait til next spring.

Have I mentioned how worth the money and time these lessons are? ISR is invaluable!

2009-05-28T01:56:00.005-05:00

As promised, a video clip from Riley's ongoing Infant Swimming Resource lessons. This is about 2 minutes of his 10-minute lesson last week. It's horrible lighting. (I should have been on the other side.) It gives a better idea at least of how he's doing.

This clip is his instructor taking him through some different exercises of how he could fall in the water, different angles, etc. Marcy has been working on stopping him from kicking so much during his back floats as you'll see him do lots here.

If you watch through the end you can see her burping him a little and then he puts his hand on his hand and says "Daddy ate it." At least he keeps his sense of humor during his lessons. Such a silly one.

He's progressed a lot even from here. This week we've been practicing floats with him fully clothed. Today we did summer clothes and shoes and tomorrow we're doing full winter gear. Better videos to come!

Eye of the beholder

2009-05-21T13:25:00.007-05:00

Word on our oh-so-exciting second showing? They're thinking about it. Gag. That's what my mom used to say before the answer inevitably was 'no.' Don't get my wrong, I continue my efforts at optimism, just not very successfully.

One of the most humorous things about this joy ride of home-selling is reading the realtors comments post-showing. Yes, we get to read feedback. And sometimes, I wish I hadn't heard a thing.

Curious about what could turn-off our potential buyers? I present,

Things people hate about our house:

1. LOCATION

This is probably the most often heard dislike and this one, I actually understand. We are out of Oklahoma County, though still technically in Edmond (and in Edmond schools), but some people can't deal with the distance. Our biggest obstacle. I have little doubt that this is what has kept our house on the market for 4 months.

2. A SUPER-LONG HALLWAY

Believe or not, this extremely, offensively long hallway is our second most-heard complaint about our house. Are people lazy? Do they appreciate more compact houses? Who can say...but this hallway is turning buyers off. Who knew.

3. TOO CLOSE OIL WELL

Okay, I also understand this one. Although I don't see it as a huge deal. We have an oil well across the street. It's very well-contained, but I guess considered an eye-sore. Fine. I don't even think about it, but I guess buyers are hyper-sensitive to it. I actually like it when it runs sometimes at night. Kind of soothing. But whatev. People dislike it. (Wonder how the peeps across the street feel with it in their backyard....good luck selling your house someday!)

Those are the biggest complaints we hear, but I had to throw in these too. A couple crack me up, alot.

HUGE BACKYARD: (One man's positive is another man's negative. A lazy man.)

TOO MANY KIDS PLAYING IN THE STREETS: (these aren't actual kids from my neighborhood, I have to say. And this one might be my favorite complaint. Perhaps, because I kind of agree. Even though it's hateful.)

DINING ROOM OFF OF ENTRY:

A TEENY-TINY MASTER CLOSET (please note my dripping sarcasm. This picture represents less than HALF of our apparently shoebox-size closet. Yep, tiny.)

All of this to say, these complaints--some valid to me, some trivial--prove one thing. We really are in a buyers' market and people have time and inventory to be picky. Our second showing peeps didn't like the big backyard and oil well. So, we just have to hope that everything else they did like overrule those things. And I didn't mention all the positive things we hear--and there are lots of those too.

Either way, someday soon, it will stick for someone. The odds tell us it's true! But in the meantime, it really is entertaining to hear the complaints.

2009-05-15T16:53:00.006-05:00

Whew. Just when I thought I might actually be consistent with blogging, it's suddenly 16 days later! Where does the time go?

Actually, I can tell you. All it takes is a little idle time for things to really take off. I was working on a cool tourism project I got as a follow up to the Chick Trips itineraries that I wrote and edited for the department last fall. So, I'm on deadline for the first two trips in the new series when I got an unexpected offer for a very cool assignment with Oklahoma Today.

That deadline took me on a great overnight trip to Tulsa where Kevin and I pounded the pavement for a good 24+ hours and saw more than I thought was possible in such a short time. We were in-and-out of restaurants, shops, and attractions all day long until we basically could go no more. We saw places like this:

And here's a shot with an actual person! Kevin drinking a pint of Guiness at McNellie's (the original!)

All of that to say, all of last week, and most of this week was all-Tulsa for me. Researching, phone calls, writing. It was a much bigger project than I thought! I finally finished up yesterday. Wondering what you should see and do in Tulsa? Stay tuned for my article coming out in Oklahoma Today's awesome July/August issue. It will be great.

Throughout this crazy week we've had three showings. One a day on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday....hooray! And even better news? Got the info today that one of those showings will be making a repeat visit this Sunday. Our first repeat! YAY! This is great news and basically means this is our visit to blow. They already like the house. We just have to seal the deal. Please stick, please. stick.

We had a very simple and great Mother's Day on Sunday (which is when the pictures above were taken). Riley is awesome. I have lots to report on his swimming lessons....which are going, well, swimmingly! He's close to being able to save his own life. And my Mother's Day gift? Boot camp! Also more on that coming up. See, I really am planning on blogging more. Really am planning...

The eyes of a child.

2009-04-29T02:10:00.010-05:00

Riley had a little self-portrait session the other night. He had a great time with the flash. I love the last one--crazy extreme eye close-up. Spooky.

Water baby.

2009-04-29T01:54:00.003-05:00

Wondering what's up with the precious little man who shares our house?

This week Riley begins his second week of ISR lessons. This picture above is Riley and me on the first day of lessons last week--before he knew just what he was getting into! If you aren't familiar, ISR=Infant Swimming Resource. These are hard core swimming lessons designed to teach young babies and children how to save themselves--or rather, buy some time--in the event they fall into a pool or other body of water.

It's pretty crazy, and really hard work for him. He goes 10 minutes a day, 5 days a week. Supposedly, this reinforces what they learn and helps them from fatiguing. Obviously, it's a technique you hope your baby never actually has to use, but we thought it was worth it for him to learn...just in case.

We've been wanting to enroll Riley for awhile now, but the nearest instructor was over 30 minutes away, and since we go 5 days a week, the distance was kind of a big deal. Now, we have a great instructor who teaches only 10 minutes away. Hooray! Honestly, he's not loving his time in the water. But he's happy before and after and still loves baths, so we're confident we aren't giving him some kind of crazy aversion to water.

Here's a cool video of an infant who has learned the technique. Pretty powerful stuff! Want to learn more about ISR? Check out their website: www.infantswim.com

2009-04-29T01:39:00.004-05:00

Okay, I officially suck at blogging. Dare I say life is getting in the way of my fun? The short update is that there is no update. The house is showing pretty well, but still nothing in the way of offers or solid leads. Boo. We are SO over house selling. So over it that we need a new word for 'over.' BUT, we are staying optimistic and keep telling each other that something has to happen soon. MUST. HAPPEN. SOON.

So, let's see. Other than our slow-selling abode... Kevin is actively working to get the lease in place for Taste, part deux. We have a very cool location picked out that should be about 8 billion times better than the previous. Once we get past the hump of construction and rebuilding clientele, this will be nothing but positive. Many updates to come as the actual construction starts to unfold, but as of now, more waiting. Does someone think we need to learn patience or what?!

The timing is great in one regard... Kevin being home has allowed me to take on a couple of writing projects. So, while Kevin has lots of down time, I have much to accomplish. Things are busy in my little freelance world. A well-timed occurrence to be sure! We are heading to Tulsa later this week for a quick overnight to do background research on a big writing assignment and I'm also doing an awesome project for the Department of Tourism.

Things are cookin'! For the low-down on Ri-guy, check out the next post. He's learning to swim...or at least to float.

Hurry up and wait.

2009-04-15T17:12:00.002-05:00

So, house-selling for us goes a little something like this....

1. Get the call that a showing is scheduled. (or in the case of this week, three are scheduled)

2. Freak out and get happy.

3. Start scrubbing the house. I take this part very seriously. I have to feel like I've done everything in my power to sell our house so I clean. And clean. And clean.

4. Collapse into bed with aching back and mostly clean house.

5. Wake up and finish cleaning.

6. Kick Riley and Kevin out of the house so I can clean alone.

7. Join aforementioned husband and child so we can go run errands, eat, or do whatever else sounds interesting for the half-hour or so we have to leave.

8. Return to house and enjoy the pristine state for 30 seconds until Riley unleashes his 17-month-old energy on all he touches.

9. Wait.

We are in a state of 'wait.' It's this full-on freakout to try and impress the total strangers coming to visit and then... Will a second showing come? An offer? Nothing? Sometimes, the realtors will leave feedback and then you get to discover some insight that is encouraging, some that is discouraging, and some that is just plain stupid, like 'I loved everything about the house. It was perfect. Except. Well... we really hated the placement of your toilet paper holders.'

Okay, so no one has actually said that. But it's practically that ridiculous sometimes.

Here's hoping that something magical happened for a buyer or two in the last day or so. But in the meantime, we wait. And we clean....just in case.

Sell me.

2009-04-15T00:03:00.002-05:00

After tomorrow's two morning showings, we'll be at three showings for the week....after no showings for three weeks. Told you the tide was changing.

Send offer vibes... I will sell this house today!

A real update, coming soon. Promise. First, I have to clean. :-)

They are a-changin'

2009-04-06T02:54:00.004-05:00

I'm officially declaring this our climb back up. The past 4 or 5 months have been hard, hard, hard. I keep trying to pinpoint where the decline began and I have to say it was probably somewhere around that ill-timed refrigerator replacement before Christmas. I can distinctly remember thinking that things were going pretty good before that and it seems like most of my posts were happier back then.

Since then, it has been one. thing. after. another. It is completely true when I say not one part of our life has been untouched. Family, friendship, business, home, disasters of the natural kind, disasters of the personal kind. It's all been affected. And it has all been hard to go through. But, we've survived and are still here.

So, why am I writing this? Because as of today, our business -- the one that we spent months of energy, sweat, and everything else you can imagine creating and trying to build -- is closed. Kevin spent the last three days loading up the contents and dragging them to storage. I spent today helping him pack up the office, load up the plants, sweep the floors, wipe down countertops and say goodbye.

Now, before you feel sorry for us -- Don't. Please. We closed a chapter. And luckily for us, we get a take two. This week, we begin rebuilding the business in what we hope will be a much better and more successful place. Closer to home, better populated, and hopefully a better fit for us. I don't expect our climb back to be easy, but I do think it's beginning. I think one of the bravest things that my husband could do was to admit that we couldn't make that business work there. No matter how hard he tried, the elements did not add up. We had lines to the door, but only for an hour a day. Just not enough people--no matter how good the food. He calls the last however many months a failure. I call it a stepping stone.

Anyway, this week marks the end of the crap if it kills me. I think we've all basically been stressed 24-7. There's been a dark cloud over our lives and we've been letting it get to us--bad. We've both felt pressure to stay optimistic, which can really be enough to make you crazy. And then, you start to think. I mean really, all you have to do is survive this mess, right? And even if it sucked, we did survive.

Rather than make this blog all roses and butterflies, I decided to kind of use it as an outlet for what we've been experiencing--without lots of specific details because we've really been dealing with alot of really personal stuff. But, because of the over-share, we've really gotten a ton of support from friends and family, with comments, emails, and phone calls. I'm not sure that we would have made it through this crazy time without the encouragement that this too shall pass. I know everyone is sick of the sad show we're presenting (we are too), but you never made us feel like asses for offering up bad news time and time again. And you kept taking our phone calls, which is encouraging in itself.

So, yeah. I think it's passed--or passing. I'm very, very confident it has passed. There's just a different feeling in the air and I genuinely feel optimistic. Not forced optimism. Not that we don't still have challenges ahead, but that the worst is over. The comeback is just ahead. And I can't freaking wait.

Here's to April and all that comes after. I can't wait to see what's waiting in Chapter Two.

Protected.

2009-03-31T00:48:00.004-05:00

Remember about a month-and-a-half ago when I wrote THIS -- my second in a continuing series post on our run-ins with Mother Nature, aka the latest Edmond tornado? In said weather-themed post I made mention of my need for an anti-tornado shirt. Apparently the gods heard my cries! Okay, so the gods are disguised as my awesome east-coast sister-in-law Juli, if you must know. And THIS fantastic one-of-a-kind creation graced my mailbox today.

Words cannot describe. I love its humor, its comfort, and --most of all-- its giver. I know it will give me strength through the coming spring months. I mean, really. "Seek Shelter Immediately" across my butt? It doesn't get better than this. Thank you, Jules. I'll keep you advised.

Dose of happy.

2009-03-23T02:19:00.005-05:00

Taking a break from our continual gloom-and-doom to bring some pictures of our growing little boy. Oh, how thankful we are for his bright and happy personality. He is just the best!

This is from earlier today. He looked so grown up in his overalls (sniff, sniff):

Real men take business calls in their PJs:

Frog towel, post-bath:

Took advantage of the cold day in March a couple of weeks back to get one last go at the sweater he never got to wear during the winter:

Last but not least, Kevin went in to check on him in his crib tonight and discovered this. Apparently there was some kind of frog battle before bedtime and Riley obviously won. Then, he used them as pillows: