Guess We Should Start Saving Our Pennies for Med School!

The day in the life of a hard wroking toddler baby doctor..................

Hard at work at her new Leap.Frog desk. Wonder what she is working on?

Oh Oh! Baby is sick. Yep, thats my daughter pretending that he baby is throwing up. At least I can say that she plays realistic games. We dont comb their hair or dress them up in silly outfits. What fun would that be?!

Hey, as long as you are in the ba.th.room with baby, start the toilet training! And please note the knee high pant.yhose on the 2 1/2 year old. Her sense of fashion is spectacular!

Remember to wash your hands after th.rowing up and toi.let training!

Baby isnt feeling well so to the doctor table she goes for a blo.od pres.sure check and a listen to her heart. Seriously...the stetho.scope makes heart sounds!!

Baby, you need to take your medicine to feel all better!

Wow----what an exhausting morning. Grace just refused to sleep in her bed---apparently the top of the stairs is a much better option.

My Theme

It's that time of year again...New Year's Eve is only 2 days away. Are you making resolutions?

I made a few last year. Did I keep them? Kind of. Each one of the resolutions was thought about this year; sometimes one was more important than the last. But all in all, I did make some progress on each one of them. But I cannot say that I kept them all. So be it. I can at least say that I am working on it all.

This year there will not be a resolution. More like a personal statement.

I am tired of not feeling like myself. I am tired of being tired. And I am tired of hiding behind my exhaustion and fears. In 2007, I wil not allow all of that to run my life.

This morning, I took Allie to the airport. On my way to the office, Sugarland was playing in the car. For the first time, I actually sat and listened to the lyrics of a particular song. Each line rang true to me. This song has now become my own personal theme song.

Go ahead and take your best shot,

Let 'er rip, give it all you've got,

I'm laid out on the floor,

but I've been here before,

I may stumble, yeah I might fall,

Only human aren't we all?

I might lose my way,

but hear me when i say,

I will stand back up,

Youll know just the moment when ive have enough,

Sometimes im afraid,

and i dont feel that tough,

But I'll stand back up,

I've been beaten up and bruised,

I've been kicked right off my shoes,

Been down on my knees more times than youd believe,

When the darkness tries to get me,

Theres a light that just wont let me,

It might take my pride,

and my tears may fill my eyes,

But I'll stand back up,

I've weathered all these storms,

But i just turn them into wind, so i can fly,

What dont kill you makes you stronger,

When I take my last breath,

Thats when I'll just give up,

Go, go ahead to take your best shot,

Let 'er rip, give it all you've got,

You might win this round but you cant keep me down,

'Cause I'll stand back up,

And you'll know just the moment when ive had enough,

Sometimes im afraid and I dont feel that tough,

But I'll stand back up,

Youll know just the moment when ive had enough,

Sometimes I'm afraid and I dont feel that tough,

But I'll stand back up.

We should all have a theme song...do you have one?!

And the presents just keep on coming!!

I have been sitting at my desk for 4 hours now and the phone has rung once. ONCE. Thats crazy. You can hear paper clips falling on the carpet it is so quiet here.

Not that I am complaining! :)

And I have the best husband in the world..........as I type this, he is ordering our new Sleep Number Bed! To be delivered while he is in the hospital in 10 days! I am so psyched for the bed!

And he even ordered new sheets for it too!!!

Meery Christmas!

Sending holiday hugs from our family to yours!!!

The Christmas spirit has finally hit me.

Every year I look forward to the holidays. Even with all the extra items on my "To Do List", I love Christmas time. The house looks pretty with all the decorations and I just love driving around looking at Christmas lights on all the houses. And finally, after 2 years, Grace is into the whole sharade as well. Santa is the most important guy in the world to her right now.

But for whatever reason, it took until last night for the excitement to hit me. I just couldnt get reved up for it all this year. Shooping became annoying to me (that NEVER happens!), the decorations were simply in the way at the house, and the lights were just something else to entertain Grace on the way to various errands each day.

Last night, I spent 2 1/2 hours wrapping gifts. Santa presents, work friends gifts, family presents. They are all wrapped and under the tree in the living room.

Thats when it hit me. While I was placing the gifts under our tree.

Strange that a fake 6 foot tall tree, decorated with family memories and with gifts spilling out from under it, can make you feel so happy. I just love it. And now I cant wait for Christmas to come!

Losing His Head

Grandma: Grace, if you are good you can have a Gingerbread Man. But you have to use your big girl voice.

Grace: I a big girl.

Grandma: Yes you are. Here is your Gingerbread Man.

Grace: Thank you.

Carries the cookie around with her for an hour. Didnt take one bite....just carried it everywhere.

Grace: crying and screaming and kicking and the whole bit!

Grandma: What's wrong!!!???

Grace: His head! Head falled down!!!!!!!

Apparently Grace does not appreciate it when the Gingerbread Man loses his head.

Never A Dull Moment when Traveling with Me!

Thursday, I boarded a plane to Dallas at 5:30 AM. It was a pretty uneventful flight, until the plane was approaching Houston (I had to switch planes there on my way to Dallas). Fog had rolled in and the Houston airport was diverting all arrivals and grounding all departures temporarily. No big deal. We went on the Austin to get some fuel and wait out the fog; the pilots estimated an hour in Austin.

3 ½ hours later…………..we were still sitting on the tarmac at the Austin airport. Not at a gate, the tarmac. No way to get off the plane. With no food or drinks on the plane since they only stock for the flight time. There was a newborn baby on the plane who overheated and the EMTs had to come to help cool her off. The air conditioning was only blowing hot ait. And to make it better…..we were on an Express flight so the plane was one of those 50 seaters; I could barely stand up straight in the aisle.

At the 3 ½ hour mark, the pilot finally told us that if we wanted to get off the plane, we could. The airline rep was going to take us to the Austin terminal but we could not get our bags off the plane and we would not be able to get back on the plane when they did finally take off. I had enough and got off the plane. I had already missed 3 of my meetings for the day in Dallas but I could at least get food and find another way to Dallas from Austin. The plane sat on that tarmac for another 2 hours after I got off the plane!!!

Once in the Austin airport, I found a Southwest flight to Dallas. $121.60 later, I had a new ticket to Dallas, $4.59 left in my expense account, and food. My cell phone charger was in my suitcase (still on the tarmac with the plane) so I went searching for a new charger to make that beeping stop from the dying battery. No store in the Austin airport sells cell phone chargers!!!!

I found my Southwest gate, plugged my computer in, paid the $6.95 for internet access, and then the announcement that the Dallas Southwest flight was delayed…..45 minutes.

When I finally got to the hotel in Dallas, it was 5:15 PM local time (6:15 PM at my original location). It took me 13 hours to get to Dallas from Washington DC!!!! Ridiculous! My luggage finally arrived at the hotel at 9:30 PM.

You might think the story ends there but NOPE!

As we started the hotel meeting space tour (the original purpose of the trip), the lights flickered and the fire alarm went off. All the guests in the hotel had to be evacuated. There we were, standing outside the hotel. Probably 700 people or so. The poor sales manager I work with at the hotel…….she felt so bad but all these things were out of her control! Once we were let back into the building, the generator power was giving just enough light to see the meeting space. The evening ended well with a fabulous dinner and several glasses of wine.

What happened to the power?! A squirrel bit the electrical wires and it created a surge, blowing the transformer to the hotel tower. Yes, my day was bad but the squirrel had it worse!!!

Lesson of the day: At no time should anyone get on an airplane with me if you really want to get somewhere on time!

I Love the 80s!!!

It took me 2 hours to drive 23.5 miles to the office this morning.

Not fun.

But I did have a great radio morning! Hubby and I got Sirius Satellite Radios for our cars last Christmas. They rock! My favorite channel: 08, The Big 80's. Seriously. This morning, during the hellious drive to work, I heard "Billie Jean", "Total Eclipse of the Heart", "867-5309", and "Like A Prayer" and "Walk Like An Egyptian".

Love that radio!

AND you can listen online too----even cooler so you dont have miss a great song while sitting at a desk for 8 hours a day! (Check out the Free 3 Day Pass---upper right corner of the Listen Online sign in screen!)

Holiday Traditions...NOT the Fun Kind

Black Friday was very successful.....for Santa. But not so much for all the OTHER holiday shopping I have to do.

This year, I was determined to stay on top of the gift buying. Okay, I say that every year but this time I meant it. I was going to spread the shopping over several paychecks and be done by......this weekend.

hahahaha!

I am not done. Not even close.

Santa shopping is done. Now I have to buy presents for my family, Hubby's family, Grace, and Hubby. And I have no clue what to get for any of them! Not to mention get ready for Christmas at my house. Its the first time I am "hosting" Christmas Day dinner. Since I am a perfectionist when it comes to events, hosting Christmas for my family is a big deal to me. I already have the china ready and the centerpieces put together. Yes, I am OCD over it.

In between work and family and all the other stuff going on lately, shopping has fallen to the bottom of my To Do List. While Hubby thinks that is GREAT, I am starting to stress about it. Seriously.

I dont want to spend 30 minutes looking for a parking space 5 miles from the mall's front door. I dont want to stand in line for an hour to buy a $30 gift. And I really dont want to deal with all those cheery, happy holiday shoppers (can you hear the sarcasm!?) at the local stores. But without all that, is it really holiday shopping? As irritating as it all is, its kind of part of the tradition of Christmas shopping.

And so off to the mall I will go this weekend. Maybe if I organize myself before then, I can get it all done in one trip.

Hey---we all need hopes and dreams in our life!

My Saturday Night in Pictures

Grace loved playing "big sister" for the night. She held Dylan on the couch and gave him kisses and hugges and wouldnt leave his side all night long.

"Dylan, check out all the cool things your bouncy seat does!!! They didnt have seats this cool when I was a baby!".

Grace introduced Dylan to the story of Snow White....though all she said over and over and over for 10 minutes was "Hi Ho Hi Ho".

All three kids...the dog (Jake), Grace, and Dylan just hanging out!!

YEP.....I survived!! And I am even looking forward to the next time I have both kids all to myself!

Two of Them and Only One of Me!!!!

Grace is quite the Little Mommy. For instance, every morning we wake up to find ALL the PullUps and EasyUps so carefully put away in the dresser all over Grace's room. After a week or so of this, we have finally discovered that Grace likes to pull her little chair to the changing table and use the real diapers and wipes on her Baby Doll. Which on one hand is adorable and great (hey--she is trying to be a good Mommy....you cant yell at her for that!) but those real diapers are expensive!!!

This Little Mommy streak in her just might come in handy this weekend. KB and SuperGirl are going out on the town---okay, really its just his compnay Holiday party but for a new mom and dad, thats a big night out!! And I get to babysit!!!! YEA! 11 week old Dylan is coming to my house and I get to spoil him rotten!

Really, I am SO psyched.

Hubby is terrifed. And excited. He cant decide which right now. This babystiting adventure could go either way---either I love having two, decide I can do it, and baby-itis hits HARD. Or I can get so overwhelmned and decide I am done. Which one shall it be?! Not sure but I have a hope!

When I told Grace that Dylan was coming over, she said, "Okay. I read to Baby Dylan and color with Baby Dylan. He my Baby Dylan??? As long as the big green monster of jealousy doesnt rear its ugly head tomorrow night, I should be just fine. Oh, but what if it does!!!!??

I know its only a few hours but I really feel like tomorrow is the first test for me when it comes to the baby #2 question......do we or dont we? Cross your fingers for me. And I promise pictures.....even have a new camera battery for the occasion!!!

Categories

Things you learned this year:
1. I prefer the baby stage; toddlers are really hard!!
2. Being a working mom is so damn hard---seriosuly, this year I struggled with it more than ever before. I really wish I could stay home but I learned that I cant and so life goes on.

People you met:
1. One of the best thorasic surgeons in the country---he's the guy who is performing the aortic replacement on Hubby in January
2. Babies galore------Galen, Dylan, Ryleigh, and more!!!

Things you don't want to take with you into 2007:
1. Bitterness about how our life together began and things we missed back then; it really is time to move on from it all and live the life we have.
2. Depression----I need to learn to enjoy the every day stuff in my life.

Things you want to hold close as you pass into 2007:
1. Hubby and Grace
2. My sanity

Things you're looking forward to in 2007:
1. Getting to the other side of Hubby's aortic surgery
2. Finally figuring out what to do with the Money Pit house we live in (see, there's that bitterness!)

Things that were life changing in 2006:
1. New jobs for both of us
2. Health issues for Hubby---and it will continue to change/run our life

Things you hope to accomplish by the end of 2007:
1. Settling the Baby #2 question...should we or shouldnt we?
2. Pass my certification exam for my job

Okay, so Bri tagged me on this one and tagged all my "Real Life Friends". I am tagging.......all the lurkers and blog friends here!!!

TAG! You're it!!!!!

Here Comes the Bride!

Yes, it has been days since my last post---sorry!---but life gets in the way sometimes. Specifically, L's wedding this past weekend in NYC. So beautiful and way too much fun. SO tonight, here are a few of the pictures....the nice ones...to enjoy. There were too many hysterical moments to contain in one post. However, in the next few days, I will post all the funny pics and stories to give everyone a bunch of laughs!!!

The new couple kissing on the street in Brooklyn outside the church. So sweet and made me want to re-do my own wedding!

All the fraternity brothers, their better halves, and the new couple. Its pretty rare for all these guys to be together at one event. So much fun (and trouble) when we all get together!

The fraternity moms.....MamaChix, SuperGirl, me, and Karen.

Congratulations Mr and Mrs Clark! We love you and are so excited for you!!!!!!!

As soon as L and D's first dance song started to play, Allie, Bri, and I started crying. How could you not!?!? Look at how in love these two are!!

Allie and Matt. One of the first quasi-official couple portraits! Very exciting things to come I am sure!!