Flying by the Seat of My Pants

Happy Birthday to Me, & Desiree

2010-02-18T12:58:00.000-08:00

Okay so this post is going to consist of a couple of days. I'll start with this past Friday, Feb 12. As you know it was my & Desiree's birthday. Well, there wasn't really a celebration for me (which is totally fine by me since I wanted Desiree's little party to be perfect) but I did get new chairs for my kitchen table; yay, we can finally eat dinner at our table! Thank you so much for those Mom! We've been using them to eat dinner every night now & the girls eat breakfast & lunch in the kitchen. Now I don't have but one picture from Desiree's little birthday party because I put Nick in charge of the camera & so it never got used, Hila did get some good pictures though.

Desiree got a lot of really great presents; she got a racer Barbie from her Aunt Ashlee (Nick's sis), a Tinker Bell story book pillow from her Grandma, a Disney Princess game set from Aunt Hila, & from Nick & me she got Tarzan, Barbie as The Island Princess movie, a Tinkerbell outfit, a cute pair of jeans, Ariel pajamas, a Vanity set with a Barbie, a helmet & knee & elbow pads for riding her bike, & 4 My Little Pony ponies: Scootaloo, Toola Roola, Sweety Bell & Cheerilee (that's so sad that I know their names). Anyway, after Desiree opened all of her presents we had some cake. Now, this I thought was pretty awesome; my friend Nicole baked Desiree a cake (that looked like a giant cupcake) & put pink icing on top because she knows pink is Desiree's favorite color. The cake was really good, super rich & sweet but extremely good. Desiree loved the cake & ate most of it herself. After cake we played a couple of the princess games that Hila got for Desiree. We played Princess Bingo, Princess Dominos & Princess Go Fish. Desiree had a lot of fun & won all of the games (no we didn't let her). Mom had to go after Go Fish then Hila left after Dominos. That was the bulk of Friday (or the best part). On Saturday I don't really remember what we did, I do remember I had to get the maintenance guy out to our apartment that day because only two rooms (the kitchen & the bathroom) had power. So I'm talking to this idiot on the phone & he says to me "Is this something that needs to be done today or can it wait till Monday?" what kind of a moron asks a question like that?!?!? I was so peeved that I kinda got snappy with him & said "There is no power in half of my house. I have no heat in my daughters' room, what do you think?!?!" So he finally shows up at about 2 in the afternoon to fix the problem (which he did fix) & we finally had power again. That's pretty much the only story I have for Saturday. On Sunday Nick & I did some Spring cleaning & just hung out at the house with the girls. Hila came over that evening & stayed the night. Nick & I taught her how to play Dominos (the way we know, & not with Princess Dominos). After our game of Dominos Hila & I watched some Scrubs & ate popcorn (we made it the way Mom used to make it for us). It was a fun night. After that we went to bed.

The next morning we got up early & got ready to head to Forks. This was my little birthday celebration with Hila. While we were driving I discovered a "friend" that Hila had in her car, it gave me the heebee jeebees. It was a gross little bug, looked kinda like a stink bug. I got a picture of it. It was so hilarious, Hila was just laughing at me for the way I reacted to it & when we got it out of the car finally she laughed even harder at me because of how I acted trying to get it out the window & hoping it didn't get on me & such.

We came up with nick names for Emily & Desiree in the car because of the way they were acting & the faces they were making. Emily was the Brain & Desiree was Pinky from the old cartoon Pinky & the Brain. It was so funny, Emily would furrow her little brows & look just like the Brain when he was plotting to take over the world. I wasn't able to get a good picture of Emily's face though :(.

Anyway, once we got to Forks (well, right outside of Forks really) we went to First Beach in La Push to get pictures & to get sand for Hila's friends in Alabama. It was so much fun. After we got the sand we were taking some pictures right in front of a log right on the beach the surf came in & we got our feet totally wet. It was so funny. After we finished with that we went to this little store that had a little restaurant in it & the restaurant had a Twilight menu so we ate there. Right at the store they had a sign that said it was the Treaty Line (if you like & read the Twilight books you'll know what I'm talking about), they also had the Treaty Line sign inside the restaurant. After lunch we went into Forks & went to a store that sells original Twilight stuff & looked around, there Desiree got a little suffed wolf & I got some rock candy there called Jacob's Quileute River Rocks, they were chocolate rocks. Once we finished there we started heading back home. On the way home, when we got into Port Angeles, we stopped at a McDonald's & got some little Sundaes there then continued on our way home. The drive home was a little less enthusiastic because everybody was so tired & the girls both took naps on the way back home. It was such a blast & a pretty awesome little birthday celebration for me, thank you Hila. :) That's really all I have for now, I'll post again soon.

A Day With My Friend

2010-01-29T19:31:00.000-08:00

Well, today is Friday & here I am posting, as I promised. Today was payday at work so I went to work to pick up my check & meet up with Nicole. After Nicole got to Best Buy we were getting ready to leave when a motorcycle cop pulled somebody over right in the parking lot, well the guy that got pulled over blocked Nicole in so we had to wait for them to leave. While we were waiting we went into the Install Bay (where the car stereos & such get installed at the store) & chatted with Kevin (one of the installers) for a bit. That guy is hilarious; poor thing burned his nose while throwing a log onto the fire outside his house & while he described to us how it happened he got all animated about it, flailing his hands around in front of his face as if to bat something away. We laughed so hard. Well, we finally got to get going after about 15 mins, it took that cop forever to get on his motorcycle! We went to my house to drop off my Jeep then we went to cash my check & to Sally's Beauty Supply & we picked out hair dye for me. Yes, I dyed my hair today, well Nicole dyed my hair, but whatever. I'll show you guys a picture of my new color, don't worry it's nothing drastic (it's not even a huge difference). After Sally's we went back to my house to get started on my hair & boy was Desiree excited to see Nicole, she loves being the center of attention. Nicole worked on my hair while we chatted. I was sitting on the toilet seat & Nicole asked to turn a little bit so she could work on the other side of my head, well I started turning & slipped off the seat & busted my butt on the floor. Nicole tried to shield my fall with her body because her hands were covered in dye & she didn't want it to get all over me, but failed. It was hilarious; seriously only stuff like that happens to me, but it was worth it, we had a good laugh. After she was done working on my hair, she put a cap (a shower type cap) on my head to stop dripping or whatever & I totally looked like an old woman about to get in the shower. I looked pretty goofy. Sorry we didn't get a picture of that, I totally wasn't even thinking about the camera. So, we went into the living room & chatted. Desiree, being Desiree, wanted to be the center of attention so she sang a song she memorized from Barbie & the Diamond Castle for Nicole. She's such a rotten. Emily wanted to eat so I fed her & Nicole got to see how much she likes to eat, my little piggy. She's so cute though; when I am getting ready to give her a bite she turns her head up & opens her mouth as wide as it will go & keeps it like that until she's gotten the bite in her mouth, she's like a baby bird. It was fun today. Well, that's about all the new stuff I have for you. And as I promised, here are some recent pictures of the girls & some of my new hair & me with Nicole.

M.I.A.

2010-01-27T19:14:00.001-08:00

So I realize I haven't blogged in well over a year & I'm sorry for those of you who attempted to keep me going so you could get updates on everything that's going on. I'm guilty of not really having a life, I go to work & come home, that's pretty much it. I have some updates for those of you who might still check my blog. Emily is now 1 year old (I can't believe it's been over a year already!), well, 1 year & almost 2 months now. She's walking all over the place now & it's the funniest thing to watch because she holds her arms out at her sides to keep her balance & when she catches you watching her she'll give you this huge cake-eating grin (the cutest thing ever) & then lose her balance & fall on her butt anyway. Desiree will be 5 in a couple of weeks & starting school this year!! Man, where has the time gone?? Around the end of October we adopted a stray cat; or should I say she adopted us. She's the sweetest thing & puts up with so much, considering I have two kids & one of them doesn't know how to pet a cat yet so she pretty much slaps her, poor thing. I've been reading a lot more, thanks to my sister, the librarian. She's gotten me into a lot of good books & excellent authors, thank you Hila. So I've been doing a lot of reading for the past year. I've read a wide range of books, from the Twilight Saga to medical thrillers. So, if you ever need a recommendation for books let me know (or Hila would be even better). Last Wednesday Desiree & I had a girl's night. We watched The Little Mermaid, ate popcorn, & painted our nails. Well, I painted hers & mine. She's such a girly girl & getting so big, I miss when she was littler! She was thrilled about that night, apparantly she was talking about it to Nick all that day while I was at work & now she's making plans for another girl's night with me. On Friday I'm going to hang out with my friend Nicole. She's so much fun, when we're together we just laugh. Although our stories & stuff we talk about isn't nearly as great as Hila's, I always laugh at her posts, especially all her stories with Julie & back in the day in Alabama. Well, I hope I got you guys a little updated & I'll post again on Friday with the events of that day out with Nicole.

Another Year Older

2009-02-23T11:23:00.000-08:00

Saturday was Desiree & Ben's birthday party. It was a lot of fun. Even though Desiree's birthday was actually on the 12th of February, we celebrated it then so we could combine the parties, the kids really love being able to get together & play. Oh, how big she's getting, I can't believe she'll be starting school next year! Anyway, back to my story. We had planned to have the party in the evening because Nick & I were going to go look at cars during the day, so I asked Hila if she would mind watching Desiree while we do that; because it's just not very possible to look at much with her there because of how wild she is. So, I have to wake up at like 8:20 in the morning to get Desiree up, fed, & dressed & ready to go with Aunt Hila to the Primary Olympics, where Mom would be watching her while Hila started the grocery shopping; & make the cupcakes for the party (since I was slacking the night before). Meanwhile back on the home front, we finally get Emily completely ready to go & calmed down so we can head out to look at cars. Let me tell you, we didn't have too much of selection as far as mileage & price range goes, thank goodness for my wonderful Dad :). We're buying his Jeep Grand Cherokee from him, & he's going to drive it up at the end of March, beginning of April; I'm so excited, a car with all working doors, heater, CD player, & a bonus of AC :). Sorry, tangent. Anyhow, after we decided to get my Dad's Jeep we drove over to Barnes & Noble so I could buy the first three books in the Twilight saga (I know, I could've bought them cheaper at Wal*Mart, but they only had soft-back books), YAY! Then we went & picked up the topper & frosting for Desiree's cupcakes & a gift bag for Ben's present, I didn't think he would really want Disney Princess wrapping paper. After all of that we get back to home to get the presents, cupcakes, & pickles (Hila needed them for the chicken salad sandwiches we were going to be eating with the rest of the finger food). We had planned to be at Brad & Tarylyn's by 3:00 so we could work on the food & decorate the cupcakes, needless to say we were all late getting there. Nick, Emily & I were the first to arrive, followed by Hila & Desiree, & finally Grandma (or Mom to us) who was so late because she HAD get her hair cut because it was driving her crazy. Once Mom got there we started on the food & decorating the cupcakes. I bought butter cream frosting because it's oh so yummy :) & Mom brought the food coloring for us to do half of the cupcakes blue & the other half pink. After the frosting was colored & put on both sets of cupcakes we put the toppers on, Ben's had little cars to go on his cupcakes & Desiree had a Princess Aurora doll on the cupcake she was going to get to eat.

Sam thought Emily needed a party hat.

While we waited for our food to finish.

After we finished with that it was time to eat (sorry I don't have any pictures of the food, except the cupcakes, maybe Hila has the food pictures, she usually does); we had simple smokies, chicken salad finger sandwiches, chips & salsa/dip, & crackers with cheese spread. It was really yummy. After we finished eating we sent the kids upstairs to play while the adults played Apples to Apples (it was Nick's first time playing), it was so much fun, I can't think of anybody better to play with than my family, especially if Mom & Brad are in the same game :).

After a couple games of Apples to Apples we sang Happy Birthday to Ben & Desiree & had cake & ice cream, my cupcakes were awesome & very moist (no, I'm not conceited).

After the cake & ice cream the Birthday kids opened their presents.

Ben got LOTS of cars, but he loves them so I guess you can't go wrong with those, Mom got him a big Mustang that plays 'Life is a Highway'; poor Brad & Tarylyn, he also got some really cute clothes & a gross ball from Aunt Hila. Desiree got some really cute clothes too, & she got a couple of Barbies, some other little dolls, a noisy wand (that's going to drive me nuts...that's what I get for buying it for her) & these really awesome felt "paper" dolls with a ton of little clothes & a carrying case for them all. I have too many pictures on here, I think I need to open up a Photobucket account :). Well, after all the presents were opened all the kids went back upstairs to play & the adults, well, we played more Apples to Apples. Again, you can't go wrong with Mom & Brad in the game; Nick threw a really funny one out there for me, Hila & Tarylyn (& all you other Twilight fans); the adjective was 'sparkly' (I'm pretty sure that's what it was, correct me if I'm wrong Hila) & Nick put down 'Vampires', hahaha :) that was great. We finished up playing a little after 10:00 & got home close to 11:00, where Desiree wanted to pull out all of her new toys & play with them; haha, NO, I was exhausted & she needed to go to bed. So that was our day & the kids party, probably the most exciting thing that's happened to me in like 2 weeks.

Off to Church the Girls Go

2009-02-09T15:53:00.000-08:00

This may not be the best rendition of this story because I wasn't at church, I was at work. Anyway, yesterday, Sunday February 8, Desiree & Emily went to church with Hila & my Mom. I was told that they both did really well in church & that it was Desiree's first time in Primary & that she absolutely loved Sunbeams. I'm so proud of her. Mom said she sat down when she was asked to & listened to the teacher for the whole lesson. She got sung to because it was her first time in Primary & got to pick out a surprise/treat of sorts for being new to Primary, she picked the stickers; which she didn't have anymore of by the time I went to pick the girls up...but that's later. She was so excited about going to church & being in Primary that she said to me last night: "Mommy, can I go to church with Gramma again next time they go?" She's so cute, how can I tell her no?! I'm sure Mom & Hila don't mind taking the girls with them. Oh, & yesterday was Emily's first time at church ever & her first time wearing a dress. She wasn't too happy during the process of dressing her, & was even less happy when I put her in her car seat. But she looked so cute; yes, I have some pictures. Julie thank you so much for the cute dresses, she wore one of the ones you sent. The dress is 3-6 months, the dress portion of the little outfit fit her pretty well, but the little bloomers were HUGE, by the time I picked the girls up her little bloomers looked like ruffly shorts. Haha, it was so funny looking, but so cute too. Oh, Hila got some really cute pictures of Emily smiling; I can never catch her doing it with my camera. Little stinker smiles good & long for her Aunt Hila...haha, I'm just kidding, I'm not really jealous. That was pretty much the most exciting thing for me to blog about today. All I did was work yesterday, & today I've been doing laundry...more work, joy :P. I'm pretty boring, but I'll start posting more. Oh & here are some pictures that have nothing to do with my little story, just because they're cute.

Firsts

2009-01-22T11:40:00.000-08:00

So, last night I decided to cook Pepper Steak (see the Family Cookbook). A first for me, & it was pretty good if I do say so myself; I also made rice for the pepper steak to go on, from scratch for the very first time ever, as my friend Nicole says, I was a rice virgin (haha). Hila came over before she was headed to a movie night with some of the ladies from church, which ended up canceled & Hila didn't know, so she just hung out for a little while. She helped me a little with dinner & a whole lot with the girls while I was cooking. Here's the work in progress.

Both Nick & Hila said it was really good & that my rice tasted great, that's wonderful news considering I've never made rice before. And here's the finished product.

Other than my cooking firsts, Emily wore her bunting & actually fit in it for the first time that night.

Here's Emily, ready to go out in the cold. While I was still working on dinner Hila went out to her car for a minute & took Emily & Desiree with her. It was so cute. I can't believe how big she is. While we ate dinner we watched Roswell (t.v. show that used to come on FX), I put the first episode on for Hila to see since she'd never watched the show before; the show's got a sort of Bella & Edward feel to it (as far as the forbidden love thing, & fantasy aspect). It's a really good show that I recommend to everybody reading this (if they don't already like the show). Anyway, after that I gave Emily a bath. She really doesn't like those very much, she has some of the funniest facial expressions.

After Emily's bath was done, Desiree got one. I took some really cute pictures of Hila with Emily before she had to go back home. That was my night of firsts for me & my family. Oh, & since it took me two days to get this post up, here's another first. Emily wore her cute little yellow ruffle-butt outfit that Julie sent her (see the baby shower post), she finally fit in it so I put it on her since we were going somewhere (I wanted her in something cute).

Two Little Piggies Went...to the WIC Office

2009-01-15T11:32:00.000-08:00

So yesterday was a pretty busy day for me & the kids, & poor Hila got pulled into the mix to (just because she was driving). We had a couple of appointments, one of which (thankfully came to me). So Hila got to my house at about 11:30. She helped me with Desiree & Emily while I did the dishes & got Desiree's lunch ready. At 1:00 the Public Health Nurse came to the house just to check on how things were going with Emily & Desiree. After she left we got the kids & ourselves ready to leave for the other appointment I had, in Silverdale. When we got to Silverdale we still had 20 minutes before my appointment at the WIC Office so we stopped at Sears to pick up our family pictures; they turned out really good, with the exception that the photographer chose the wrong family picture for the 10x13 that was going to my dad, but other than that, really good. So we leave Sears & get to the WIC Office right on time. The lady calls me back & weighs Emily, let me tell you, she is a little piggy-piggy! Last time she got weighed (about 1-1 1/2 weeks ago) she weighed 8 lbs., well, she's gained a whole 2 lbs. & like 10 oz.!! She's almost 11 lbs & is only 1 month & 4 days old!!! Wow, Desiree was a little bitty thing for the longest time; they are so totally different. Anyway, next the lady decided to go ahead & weigh Desiree & get her checked & such to get her restarted on WIC rather than me having to go back on the 27th for Desiree's appointment to get her WIC reinstated. Well, it turns out that my other little piggy-piggy is just a little piggy. She was a little under weight from other kids her age, but she's still my little piggy, just in a different way; she's a little piggy for certain foods, like candy, chips, snacks, or other such treats. So we got both WIC appointments out of the way & got a buttload of WIC checks, 3 months worth for me, Desiree, & Emily. After the WIC appointments we went to the Social Security Office so I could find out what was going on with Emily's Social Security Card. Hila dropped me & Emily off there & she took Desiree with her to Albertson's to pick up a few things for dinner. We both expected it to take me longer, A LOT longer, than it did at the SSO (sorry being lazy). I got in the office, got a number, & went to sit & wait with Emily. But before I could even get my butt on the seat my number was called!! Of course they were closing in like 30 minutes, but hey, it's a Government office so I figured it would take longer. So, I get to the window & explain to the guy there that I still haven't received Emily's SS card & that I was told over the phone (called Social Security the day before) that I should have gotten the card at about 3 weeks after Emily was born so it should have already been in my possession. Of course we didn't take into consideration that the hospital hadn't sent the forms off yet; but I thought they would have gotten it done while we were still in the hospital (or right after we got discharged), but no, they didn't send the forms off until the 9th!!! What the crap?!?!?! I mean hello, by that time Emily was only 2 days away from being 1 month old!!!! Oh well, I was able to get a copy of her SS number for my DSHS application so I could finally finish it, after having started it a month ago. Sorry for the ranting, I'm done with that now. Anyway, on with my story, Hila got back to the SS Office to pick us up & then took us up to my Doctor so I could give her my paperwork about my Maternity Leave for work so she could fill it out & fax it to my HR. Yes, I know, I'm supposed be off leave next week, but apparantly Best Buy HR is retarted & doesn't understand the concept of being on time for anything! Those of you who were up here a few days before the family reunion know what I'm talking about. Ok, so I got that taken care of too, yay!! Now I just hope Dr. McMillen gets it filled out & faxed before, WAY before, I'm supposed to start back at work. After I finished with that we headed back to my house. Unfortunately Hila had to leave to help make dinner. It was very busy, good day. Thank you Hila for ferrying me all over the place :). Here are my little piggies, & Aunt Hila, the day before & the day after (today) the WIC appt.
Heehee, see Emily's little chunky cheeks :).

The Government is Really Messed Up!

2009-01-10T11:37:00.000-08:00

Take a look at this thing I found...thanks to Kira's blog! I can't believe the government is trying to do this. Consignment shops & garage sales are the best ways to get baby clothes & little kids clothes, I'd have hardly anything for Emily if it weren't for them! This is really messed up. Anybody who agrees with me on this go to this website & sign the petition. http://www.rallycongress.com/make-second-hand-kids-clothes-legal-/

The Sleepover

2009-01-08T11:44:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I know I haven't blogged in a very long time. So here's the most blog-worthy stuff that's happened lately (other than Christmas, which I forgot to blog about). First of all let me tell you about this WONDERFUL swing that Ben & Michele got me for Emily (Baby Shower present). It's the most amazing creation there is! I put Emily in it & in a matter of a couple of minutes she's out. It's so great :). I know that sounds terrible, but I just have to have time to my housework & me time. The swing is the perfect baby accessory & I recommend that everybody with a new baby have one. So again, thank you my saviors, Ben & Michele; you guys are so wonderful!

On Tuesday Hila came by & stayed the night with us. It was a fun night. We can't call it a girl's night because Nick was at the house & involved in some of the stuff we did. First we went to Ben & Micheles for a little bit to visit & give Michele back her book, New Moon. After that we went to the store & picked up a few things for dinner & for the cookies we were going to make later. When we got home at around 5 pm we started dinner. We had hamburgers & chips (appropriate food for a sleepover, in my opinion) for dinner. While we ate dinner we watched family videos, which are totally hilarious! Nick got a kick out of them, especially because I felt the need to strip in the majority of the videos (I was only like 2 years old so lets not freak out) haha! Man I had issues. After we finished dinner & Hila got her shower we started on our cookies, YUM. We made Melt in Your Mouth Sugar Cookies with powdered sugar icing. Desiree told us that she wanted pink flower cookies to eat, but as the evening progressed she forgot about the flowers & told us she wanted pink heart cookies; which was a tiny bit of a problem considering the fact that I don't have any cookie cutters. We were able to improvise on the hearts at least. Hila cut one of the finished cookies into a retarted looking heart (sorry no pictures of her botched heart....haha, I love you Hila) & I molded some of the dough into little hearts for Desiree. Once the cookies had cooled Hila dipped them into the pink icing (Hila brought food coloring just for Desiree's pink cookies). While we were finishing the cookies we watched the two first episodes of the new season of Scrubs, the first episode wasn't that great, but the second one was pretty funny. After Scrubs we watched the Mentalist, well Hila did anyway, while I did some mom stuff. Once the shows were finished we went back to watching the rest of one of the Family Videos DVDs...we really are a crazy family (especially then). It was so much fun. After the end of the DVD we all went to bed, well, Desiree went to bed about 9:30. We had such a fun & busy day that she zonked out after about 10 minutes of being in bed, a very rare anomoly (spelling?), especially for the tiny bit of a fit she threw to stay awake (those are worse if Aunt Hila's not here to witness them & offer incentive); my poor baby was so exhausted, here are the results of our fun & busy day with Hila, & Desiree's hear cookie.

Even Emily couldn't keep up, my cute little squeaker :). We didn't get to bed until like 2 am. So the next day when Desiree woke Hila up at 9 am I felt so awful. But Hila didn't mind, Desiree was just so excited to see Aunt Hila & tell her about sleeping in her own bed all night without any accidents. She's my cute patoot. Poor Hila didn't get very much sleep, but she got up with Desiree & made her breakfast (Princess cereal). Emily & I got up at around 10 something & while I was feeding Emily, Hila made Egg in a Frame for us to eat for breakfast. After breakfast we watched Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, it was a pretty cute movie. I watched more of it than Hila did, & here's the reason why.

That's me looking at Hila's blog & laughing about the picture of my little frog (little squeaker laying on me). After the movie we had lunch & watched tv before Hila had to go to take Grandma & Grandpa to an appointment. Poor Hila. That was our sleepover.

Feats of Getting Festive & Early Christmas Presents

2008-12-17T11:19:00.000-08:00

Getting Festive

So I know I haven't blogged in quite a while & that this latest post is super late, but it will probably be extra long. So here it goes.

The last two weeks have been really eventful for me & my family. On Saturday, the 6th, Nick, Desiree & I went to get our Christmas tree so we could start decorating. Now usually we wouldn't have started so early, but I wanted to be able to help with the decorating (no matter how minimal it was). So, we went up to Safeway to pick the perfect tree, once we decided on one we had to get it tied on to my car (for those of you who don't know, I have a little '89 Mustang, two door, one of which doesn't open) to get the tree home, thank goodness we only live up the road from Safeway. So we finally get home with the tree & poor Nick has to make some 'adjustments' on it so it would actually stand in our tree stand, once that's done we got the tree inside & started putting the lights on it. Once we got the lights on we ran up to Wal-Mart to get some little adhesive hooks so we could hang our stockings. When we got back home we lit up the tree & Desiree & I started putting the ornaments on the tree, she did such a good job (when she wasn't playing with the ornaments), after the tree was all decorated Nick put the hooks on the wall & we put our stockings up, Desiree put her stocking & baby Emily's stocking on the wall just like a big girl. Here are some pictures of the finished product (it's not much).

So that's our festive living room, not much, but Desiree was excited about it (especially the Christmas tree). The days that followed consisted of us getting ready for our new addition. I washed all of her baby clothes & crib bedding so it would be all ready to be worn & slept on when she got home. Nick put together the crib & the changing table in Desiree's room. I also busied myself packing up baby Emily's diaper bag with some clothes for her to wear home from the hospital, & a bag of clothes & other essentials for myself to have too.

The Big Day

So, Thurday got here super quick! Let me tell you, it was by far the wierdest day of my whole life!! I had an appointment to have a baby....how wierd is that?!?! So, it's Thursday morning & Nick & I are getting ready to leave for the hospital. We of course had to get all of my stuff together & wait for Hila & Mom to get to our house so they could watch Desiree while we were in the O.R. When they got here Mom had a HUGE grin on her face (I love you Mom), she's hilarious; I was nervous & so was Nick (he was going to be in the O.R. with me). We got to the hospital & got set up in my room. When we got in there I was told to go in the bathroom & get my gown on after I took a dry bath...haha, that's what it felt like to me anyway (wierd). After I was done with that the nurse came in & hooked me up to a monitor to listen to baby's heartbeat & monitor my contractions. By this point I'm super hungry (I wasn't allowed to eat or drink after midnight on Wednesday night) & thirsty. Nick went out to get the bags out of the car while the nurse started my IV. That was an experience. She started my IV in my arm, but it wasn't working so she had to pull it out & start again, so she put it in my hand instead. She got the needle in, & when she pulled out the needle to leave just the tubing, SPLAT, I leaked quite a bit of blood on the floor (she said that she had found a good vein, but it still wasn't a nice experience). After that I got another nurse (the nurse that was gonna be in the O.R. helping w/ my C-Section). She got me all prepped up for my surgery & brought in the gear Nick had to wear in the operating room, then the Anasthesiologist (spelling?) came in to meet me & tell me exactly what he was going to do & tell Nick where he was going to be sitting for the whole thing. About 10 minutes later it was time to go in to the O.R. Now I was getting really nervous & poor Nick was getting whiter with every step closer to the O.R. We got in there & I sat on the table to get my epidural done (thank goodness I didn't see the needle, Nick said it was HUGE), that didn't feel too good :( I hate needles. After that, they helped me lay down on the table (I couldn't move my legs) & got me all hooked up to the monitors. While they were doing all of this & we were waiting for Dr. McMillan to get in I started freaking out! I did not like the feeling of not being able to move my whole lower body at all, & then it started getting hard for me to breath!!! Talk about scary & uncomfortable. They assured me that all that I was feeling was completely normal, but I still wasn't calming down much (poor Nick, I scared the mess out of him, he was white as a sheet!) I was moving my upper body around a lot, the Anasthesiologist thought I was gonna fling myself off the bed (or table....whichever you prefer) & tried to calm me down. I finally started to calm down & stopped moving, but I still was scared of what I was feeling & was now hot & sweating. Dr. McMillan got in & they got started. First they put the sheet up, then Dr. McMillan said she pinched me super hard to make sure I was good & numb (apparantly I was because I didn't feel a thing), then they got to work on my tummy. Poor Nick was pretty scared & he could hear everything that was going on & being said, I could too, but I could also hear like a fuzz noise (kind of like white noise) & was trying to block it out. I guess I didn't look too good because Nick wanted me to look at him & talk to him to make sure I was doing alright (I had my eyes closed & my hand on my forehead...it helped me stay in the zone to stay calm, helped me feel better). The Anasthesiologist kept checking on me to make sure I was alright & was telling us what was going on (with the baby & what he could see of her), he told Nick that he could look over the sheet to see Emily's head Nick who looked like a ghost by now just gave a scared shake of the head & stammered that he was gonna just sit here with me (I don't blame him). At 12:17 baby Emily was completely out, the minute she hit the air she was screaming & crying (that made it all worth while!) & ready to go into the nursery to be cleaned up. Nick decided that for last part of the surgery he was going to go w/ Emily into the nursery. Here are her very first pictures, taken right after they cleaned her up in the nursery. She was exactly 7 lbs. & 19.7 inches long. when she was born. I'm glad he did because I started feeling nauseated. So the Anasthesiologist gave me something for nausea & then brought me a little basin to get sick, i won't elaborate why i got sick (Tarylyn, you probably know why). They finished getting me all back together & then took me back to the room. It was just me & Nick for an hour after the C-section for my recovery. When I was able to have visitors Hila, Mom & Desiree came up to see me & baby Emily, I still didn't have the use of my legs but all in all felt much better now that I was back in my room. When the nurses came to check on me, they told me that I wasn't warm enough (even though I was burning up) from the surgery so they kept putting warm blankets on me to try to get my temperature back up; they also had to keep pumping fluids into me because I was dehydrated, so even though I felt "fine" (as fine as can be expected after major surgery) I apparantly wasn't doing very well. Thank goodness for all the wonderful nurses that took care of me (& baby Emily) while we were at the hospital, they were absolutely wonderful! Here are our first pictures together.

She's so beautiful!! Don't I loook gorgeous too.....HAHAHA. :) Thursday was a very busy day. We were in the hospital for a total of 3 days. We got discharged on Saturday, & even though we were all expecting me to get discharged in the early afternoon at the latest, the doctor didn't get in todischarge us until like 8 pm!!!

How absurd, he didn't even have a good reason for not discharging me at around 3 pm he was on the labor & delivery wing to see patients at that time, he left to have dinner or something at like 5 pm & still hadn't come to discharge me, while my doctor came in, the day before, on her day off to see me & check my incision. So that was about the whole of my hospital visit. Here are more pictures from our stay at the hospital.

My Big Surprise

2008-11-12T13:19:00.000-08:00

So last night Hila, Mom & I were going to take Tarylyn out for her birthday & after dinner go back to Tarylyn's house for cake & ice cream. Well, it turns out this wasn't the case. I had been tricked, I just didnt' know it yet! Hila came over yesterday around noon so we could make Tarylyn's birthday cake & spend the day together; we worked on Tarylyn's cake for almost an hour, while it was baking we watched the NCIS marathon. After the cake finished baking we took it out to cool then went to Safeway to buy the frosting for the cake, Rainbow Chip icing for Rainbow Bright :) Hila, you're so funny. While we were on the baking aisle I found rainbow candles for the cake to go along with the theme, & Hila thought they fit in perfectly (apparantly she was looking for the same thing, but wasn't finding them). We also picked up our lunch while we were at the store, then headed back to the house to fill & ice the cake. After our lunch we decided to try giving Desiree a nap so she would be good for Brad while he watched all the kids so the girls could go out for "Tarylyn's birthday". Well, that wasn't happening, so after about like 30 minutes we finally gave up & decided to ice the cake completely. After we finished the cake we got ready for the big night. Hila suggested that I put on some makeup so I could look nice since I never get to go anywhere without my kiddo or really go anywhere to get made up. We packed up all the goodies for Tarylyn's birthday surprise & headed to her house. Just as we were about to pull into the house Hila turned off her headlights so they wouldn't see us pulling up & we could put the final part of Hila's sneaky plan into action; we got into the driveway we snuck over to Brad's truck & put the cake, ice cream & other goodies for the birthday surprise in there for Brad to get after we pulled out of the driveway with Tarylyn. We got Tarylyn & headed to Miller Woodlawn to get Mom to leave work (or so I thought). I must admit, Hila's really good at these tricky secrets, even when two are coinciding with one another & she's having to keep two people in the dark. So, we get to Mom's work & Hila says she's gonna go in & see if Mom's ready to leave. Meanwhile Tarylyn & I are sitting in the car, & she's trying to keep me talking to her & my full attention focused on her; although I didn't realize that's what she was doing at the time. Apparantly Ben, Michele & the boys were sitting in a car (I didn't even see their car, & if I did, I didn't know it). Well, while Tarylyn & I were talking mom pulled up & backed in to her usual spot, blinding me & Tarylyn in the process; which drew my attention, & poor Tarylyn was trying to get it back inconspicuously so I wouldn't notice it was Mom with Grandma & Grandpa. Ha ha, they did a really good job because I still didn't suspect a thing. Then Hila came back out to tell us that Mom just got back from running an erand for work (which she actually does frequently, so was completely believable) & for us to come inside to wait for her to finish up & get her stuff together to leave. So we go inside, talk to Pam (the receptionist) for a couple of minutes then went downstairs where Mom's office is. We went into the meeting area & there were a bunch of people sitting in there, I didn't register anybody's faces & just assumed it was people that worked with Mom waiting for the Family Gathering to end; it took me about a minute to register what was going on & who was sitting at the tables. When it completely dawned on me everybody was just looking at me & smiling, I'm sure my face was completely hilarious. So, I was completely fooled & felt so silly at how long it took me to realize what was going on; but I was also extremely greatful at how much trouble they all went through to surprise me & what everybody did for me. I really do have the best family ever & know some really great people! Everybody that works with my mom is so wonderful, & I'm truly blessed to know them. I can't believe, they did all that for me! I found out it was all their idea to throw me a surprise baby shower, Hila just had to keep it a secret & get me there without any suspicion. Last night was a truly amazing night! I got lots of great gifts for baby Emily. Sean, Tony & Royce (Ben & Michele's boys) got her an awesome little sleeper (it's super soft & thick so it'll be really warm for being born in the middle of winter, & it has little slots in it so we can buckle her into her car seat with the sleeper on), a pack of cute little socks, & two little tins with plaster in them to make Emily's little handprint (& one for Desiree, so she won't be left out), Ben & Michele got her an awesome Rainforest Open-top Cradle Swing that plays music, Grandma & Grandpa gave us $20 to buy diapers or other baby stuff we might need, Julie got her some cute little clothes, two adorable little dresses, a cute onesie, an adorable Classic Pooh sleeper & a cute little outfit that's super soft & has little ruffles on the bottom of the pants (hehe rufflebutts), Mom got her a baby bath, two bottles, a bottle brush, extra bottle nipples, a pack of wash cloths, & an adorable little pink onesie with frogs on it & a bib with it, Hila & Tarylyn got her diapers & wipes, & all of the wonderful people that work with Mom pitched in & got her a baby crib & changing table. There was an awesome spread of food there too, Hila & Mom made Hila's Oreo Truffles & these yummy little appetizers that have bacon, cheese, & onion in them, & Yvonne (a lady that works with Mom) had a cake made at Costco, it was super yummy with butter cream frosting & strawberry mousse in the middle.

Last night was a great night. After the baby shower we went back to Brad & Tarylyn's to "drop off" Tarylyn. We all went inside so we could see the kids & I could get Desiree, but not before we surprised Tarylyn with her birthday cake (which Brad put the finishing touches on, per Hila's instructions that you can see on her blog).
It was a great night & everything went as planned.

With a Little Help From My Friends...& of course, my Family

2008-10-21T13:23:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't blogged in like a month, but here's some good news for you guys. We have accumulated some stuff for the new baby, & have decided on a name. First off I want to start by thanking a couple of the wonderful people I work with :), James & Erin & Ramone & his wife (I think her name's Rachel, but I can never remember). James & Ramone gave me some really awesome stuff for our new baby. James & Erin gave us a little basket full of goodies; which included some Pampers Swaddlers, baby socks, an awesome Baby Healthcare collection (the usual stuff, safety scissors, baby nail clippers, the nose sucker thing, etc.), & some super cool baby toys, a couple that go on the car seat for entertaining her in the car. Ramone & his wife gave us some super cute baby clothes (they just had a baby girl in July, so they gave us all of the 0-3 months stuff for our baby) which included some really cute little baby dresses, a couple pairs of adorable baby shoes, some little headbands & some little shirts. Yay, less for me to buy! I also want to thank Mom & Hila for getting all the cute baby clothes they got at the garage sale they went to & the car seat from St. Vinny's from our day packed full of shopping on Saturday. They picked up quite a few cute little sleepers for winter to keep her warm, & some other little outfits, like some dresses & pants. I also got some cute stuff for our new baby at St. Vinny's. I got a cute little dress, a couple of onesies, & a pair of pants or two (I couldn't help it, I also bought myself of couple of books & a dish drying rack...had to endulge a little for myself; I'm so terrible). Saturday was such an awesome day! I have such a blast hanging out with my family, especially my sister & my Mom, they really are a couple of characters; I don't know what I'd do without them. Thank you guys so much for being so awesome & supportive, & always being there for me.

Hila & I added in some close ups so you can see everything I have so far.

Finally, to the biggest news of all. My tummy's finally showing that I'm pregnant, for all of you who have made comments about me sucking for not showing any proof of being 7 months along; I'll be including a picture of my new pregnant tummy. Last but definately not least, Nick & I have decided on a name for our new little girl; Emily Judith (Judith after Nick's late mother). Oh, & my doctor has, or was going to, scheduled my C-Section. If I remember correctly, she wanted to schedule it for a week prior to my actual due date, which she estimated for about the 12th of December. Well, I don't really have anything else to tell you so I'll close for now & hopefully will have more news in a couple of weeks.

And The Results Are In...

2008-09-22T16:28:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to put this cute picture of Desiree in to mark the start of our day, this was before we left for the Social Security Office.

Today was my ultrasound appointment, & let me tell you, it was a rough morning. Hila came to pick me up around 10 this morning, after she had to go & get Desiree's car seat from our car at Nick's work. We started off the morning by going to the Social Security Office so I can get a new Social Security Card & a letter stating that I've applied to get a new one. When my number finally got called it was like 10:50 & my ultrasound appointment was at 11:15, good thing it didn't take me long to get the application put in. So, off we headed to Salmon Medical Center Imaging Department for my ultrasound. When we got there Hila took a pregnant tummy picture for pre-ultrasound, I guess for perspective.

So, we get inside & I go to check in with the receptionist; here's the best news of the day (if you could hear me, you'd be able to hear the sarcasm in my voice) apparantly I wasn't scheduled for an appointment, today or any other future date, at the Salmon Medical Center! The receptionist called another Imaging office linked with the Doctor's Clinic to see if maybe I got my information mixed up, well, I wasn't scheduled there either; so Hila, Desiree & I went back up to the Doctor's Clinic to see what was going on & how we could fix it. It turns out my Doctor's assistant did make me an appointment at Salmon Medical Center, but somebody over there screwed up & didn't put me in the system. Well, the receptionist was finally able to get me an ultrasound appointment it was with a place called AMI in East Bremerton at 2:30 (at least I was able to get it fixed & still able to be seen today). So, we went back to my house & layed Desiree down for a nap (she was being a very rotten little girl), I did the dishes & Hila went to the store to pick up the last of the ingredients for the cookies we had planned to make. When Hila got back we got to work on our Peanut-butter Blossoms, they turned out really yummy!!

There's Hila putting them on the rack to cool (I'm a little ghetto, I don't have a cooling rack so we used upside down pizza pans). While we made the second batch of cookies we also cooked Velveeta Shells & Cheese for lunch, it was rather yummy. The day was certainly looking brighter :). After we ate our lunch & all the cookies were done we had to leave for AMI for my ultrasound appointment. Yay, no repeats of this morning; I was able to get in to get my Ultrasound done. The nurse who did my ultrasound informed me that I'm 27 weeks & 2 days along. Wow were my calculations WAY off!! All of the baby's measurements & estimated due date are as follows...oh & my ultrasound pictures. For those of you who don't know where to look for what on one of these things, my estimated due date is 12/20/2008 or 1/19/2009 (I know I can only read a little of it, couldn't begin to tell you what the baby's measurements for it's head & such are).

IT'S A GIRL!!!!!!!!!!

Hila's Here

2008-08-26T23:09:00.000-07:00

So, Hila & Dad got in on Sunday, 8/24/08, at around 9p.m. Desiree & I were over at Grandma & Grandpa's for their arrival; it was a very busy & exciting day! When they finally got to our Grandparent's house we had a busy first hour or so situating cars & the moving van & trailer hitch (which had Hila's car on it). Then we got down to the business of visiting for a bit all together, before Hila & I went downstairs to look at the pictures she had from Panama (it's sooo different down there!). I forgot my camera, so there are no pictures from that night; which is probably better because at first Hila & Dad were very grumpy.

Monday Mom was going to come and pick me & Desiree up to go over & spend time with Hila & Dad. So, Mom called to let me know that she was going to be at my house to pick me up in a little bit & that Hila & Dad were coming over to bring me some stuff that Dad wanted to bring to me from his house. I got a lot of GREAT stuff :). Well, Mom got to my house & they still hadn't shown up; it was around lunch time & Mom had called about 30-45 minutes before she showed up. So, Mom spent about 3 hours watching movies with me & Desiree (all Desiree's movies) before they got here at about 2:30 with a bunch of stuff (one item being a very nice glider...thank you Tarylyn); then Nick got home & everybody just stayed at my house & spent time together. It was a rather fun (even though we didn't really do anything very interesting) day. Dad played Barbies with Desiree, we got a good little video of that (which I was unable to post, I'm sorry). I also got some really cute pictures of Dad & Desiree together. Here's one of them.

We spent the majority of the day together watching the little movie clips & pictures Hila got in Panama. It was really fun, & I'm really glad Nick got see Panama (or parts of it) & some of it's rather large wildlife, even if it isn't the way I remember it.

Today was Dad's last day here, which is sad (but at least we got to visit with him for a few days), so we all got together as a family & went out for dinner. We went to eat at Shari's (a little diner chain up here, a little like The Waffle House but with more meal options). Ben, Michelle, Sean, Tony & Royce (Ben's wife & kids), Mom & Dad, Hila, Brad, Tarylyn, Sam, Saria, Benjamin, (Brad's wife & kids) & Tarylyn's Mom & stepDad, Grandma & Grandpa, & of course me, Nick & Desiree were all there; which made it loads of fun for our server, we're a pretty big group & very loud (that was the younger kids). Every time the server came back to our tables (yes, tables, we took up four total) people had moved to different seats & different tables, like we were playing musical chairs, poor lady; so when our food came our poor server was super confused about who got what food. Anyway, we had lots of fun and laughs & Hila & Dad gave us (Ben, Brad, me, Nick, Tarylyn, Michelle & the kids) our presents they got for us while they were in Panama. It was a good last night for Dad, I think...at least I hope he enjoyed it. I'm really gonna miss him. So, here are some pictures from our dinner.

There are all four tables, & keep in mind that people kept changing spots so nobody was actually sitting in these seats to start with.

Now on to the goodies we got. Nick, Ben, Brad, Mom & I all got a pair of flip flops from Panama. Tarylyn & Michelle got some really nice bags/purses ( I think they had Mola's on them, you'll see what a Mola looks like in a minute). Everybody got Huevitos, YUM (candy from Panama). Sean, Tony & Royce got shirts (I didn't get to see what they looked like). Nick got a Panama hat. Desiree & Saria got Mola dresses, I'm not sure what Sam & Benjamin got but I know Dad & Hila didn't leave them out. And finally, Brad, Ben & I all got Tagua Nuts (carved into little frogs), chinese plums, & platanitos (more YUM), & I got a Panama bracelet. Here are the pictures of the stuff Nick, Desiree & I got. The first two pictures are Nick wearing his Panama hat & Desiree wearing her Mola dress, second are my Panama bracelet & our frog Tagua Nut, third are the yummy Panama snacks (platanitos, the Huevitos in the middle & the Chinese Plums last), fourth is just a close up of the Huevitos so you can see the labeled name & the candy inside, and last but not leas are the authentic Panamanian flip flops we each got a pair of.

I had to put the bag in there so you could see that these are "the Original" sandals. :) Well, that's all I really have to blog about tonight. Oh, but some good news really quick, I got approved for medicaid. Yay!!! No paying for Doctor visits & labor & delivery. Hope you guys enjoyed.

The Big Shock!

2008-08-19T18:22:00.001-07:00

Well, I don't really have anything new to report other than that I'll hopefully be getting my Medicaid very soon so I can get to the Doctor & find out for sure how far along I am & possibly get a due date (when that happens I'll blog about it >:) ). Now for the reason for the name of the post. I've decided that I'm pretty sure that I'm out of my first trimester (spelling?? Hila); but how far exactly, I don't know. The reason for my thinking this is because I can feel every move the baby makes & because I can also sometimes feel (with my hand) where the baby is sitting, if he/she is pushing against my tummy. So, Hila, as far as taking preggo pictures, don't worry, I have a camera too you know, & I work at Best Buy, so I can always pick up a bigger memory card for you :). So far on the guesses of the sex of the baby we have a tie, lets see who's right, & get some more votes in. (Don't jinx me & say twins either :P that does sort of run in my family...on Dad's side anyway). I added in a poll so now everybody can vote & see what the majority thinks, make things a little interesting.

A New Addition

2008-08-05T11:10:00.000-07:00

I don't have very long to blog right now, gotta be getting to work very soon, but I did want to blog about my new news. I'm pregnant! I'm not sure how far along I am, but I do know that there will be pictures soon; especially with Hila gonna be here in like 20 days. Hila wants to take pictures of my pregnant tummy so I can post them, before I get any ultra sound pictures. I will LOVE anybody that talks her out of that idea for the rest of my life!! Anyway, I just wanted to update all of you that didn't know yet, & I do promise there will be more blogging coming from me soon to come, & lots of pictures. I hope the news isn't upsetting for any of you. Oh, & any gender guesses, please post them in my comments :) Maybe there'll be a surprise or something for the winner?!?! Love you guys.

The New Me

2008-07-20T19:07:00.000-07:00

So, I know I haven't blogged in a super long time. Sorry Hila :) & Katherine. Well, I got my haircut yesterday. For the most part it's alright, but the lady cut my hair too short :(. I wanted it down to my chin, but instead it ended up at about mid-jaw. A little too short for my taste & definately a lot shorter than what I'm used to. I feel like I look like a boy! So, here are my pictures.

Well, that's not a very good picture. Here's another one, maybe it's a little better.

Well, it looks like both of the pictures I took are pretty bad :(.

My hair is now too short for me to do what I would normally do with it. I'm so not a girly girl type girl, I'm more of a roll out of bed, brush my hair & put it in a ponytail type of girl, but now I have to wake up earlier so I can attempt to style my hair (which I know absolutely nothing about...well, on my own hair anyway). I did do Hila's hair, for Julie's (I believe it was Julie) wedding, once & it looked so good!!! When it comes to my hair, especially this short, I'm completely lost!! Hahaha...any tips would be appreciated. I really hope my hair doesn't look as bad as I think it does. What do you think??

Birthdays, Parties & Presents

2008-02-17T13:00:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a fairly eventful day. For me, it started at 7 a.m. :(, I can't stand early morning meetings. Honestly, what makes those people think that anybody's going to retain all the droning of boring information at that time in the morning?! Anyway, at around 9:30 I got home & got Desiree & Benjamin's presents 'wrapped' (I actually put them in bags because I'm being a little lazy & cutting corners where I can), checked my email, & fell asleep on the couch (purely by accident, I assure you). I was awakened by Desiree asking me to wake up because she was hungry. So, I had a nice little power nap before we had to head to Brad & Tarylyn's. After Desiree ate breakfast we decided to get dressed & start getting ready to go. Well, Desiree didn't want to do that, so she ran away from both of us & yelled & screamed when I caught her & put her shirt on...she did that over & over again until she was completely dressed. Finally it came time to get her hair brushed so she looked nice for the party, but she wasn't having that! She was being very rotten (Miss I'm Always Right), so I finally had to put her in the bedroom for a timeout. She didn't like that at all, she started screaming bloody murder at the top of her lungs & beating on the door. I finally had to go in there & make her sit on the bed & behave for 5 minutes before I could brush her hair. All in all, this entire ordeal took us a few hours, so by the time I was completely ready & so was Desiree, it was time to go.

We finally got to leave, & our first stop was Albertson's to pick up her cake. I ordered a Disney Princess cake, I picked a good one if I do say so myself!

After Albertsons, we finally got on our way to Brad & Tarylyns. We inevitably arrived to the party a little late. But once we got there, things were great (& Desiree was being a good girl). Ben's cake was open & ready to be cut when it was time for cake, & all the presents were on the kitchen table; Desiree's on the left & Ben's on the right.

Before we got started with the cake cutting & opening of presents, we talked for a little bit & the kids played & sat with Grandma. They looked so cute in their little party hats. Oh, & so everybody knows, Saria was in trouble, so she isn't in any of the pictures.

After a few pictures the kids decided it was time to cut the cakes & open presents. Brad lit the candles on the cakes, & we all gathered around Ben's cake. We sang 'Happy Birthday to You' & then he blew out the candles (well, Tarylyn actually did, but we'll let him think he did it :)). He looked so cute trying to blow the candles out, he didn't have enough force to blow them out by himself.

Next came Desiree's turn. We sang 'Happy Birthday to You' to her & then it was her turn to blow out her candle. That one was fun. She was trying so hard to blow the candle out but it just wasn't working, so Nick was trying to help her without letting her know. That still didn't work, so I jumped in & helped, finally the candle got blown out. After that, it was time to open presents. "Oh joy!!" Just what the kids had been waiting for. That was a lot of fun, Sam wanted to sit with Desiree, I thought he just wanted to sit with her, but then his real intentions came out, he wanted to open some of the presents. The kitchen ended up a little messy during the present tearing, but it was so much fun to watch the kids' faces light up.

Haha. Got love my little ham's 'smiles'! She's so funny. I tell her to smile (for the camera) & those are the kind of faces she makes. Catching her off guard gives me a more traditional smile. Our kid's are some real characters! I'm sure all of you will agree.

After the present opening it was time for cake. The cake yummy! We had icecream with the cake & each of the kids had a piece of each cake.

We all hung out & talked for a little while longer, while the kids played. Yesterday was a really fun day, & the kids had a blast. Desiree & Sam are partners in crime! They are so funny to watch together. We left around 5:30 because Desiree really needed a nap. But before we left, we had to get one last picture with all of us together.

The Life & Times of Me

2008-02-14T17:29:00.000-08:00

Well, I know I haven't blogged in a while (shame on me), but there isn't really much for me to blog about, my life isn't very exciting. But I will share some new things that have been going on around the Hamby household.

Most of my days consist of going to work in the morning & then coming home a little after noon to do laundry & other such house-hold work, fun. But Desiree certainly is keeping me on my toes. She has started using the "big kid's potty" on a regular basis (yay, no more diapers...except for bed time). So for her birthday we got her lots of underwear (mainly with the Disney Princesses on them, I'm a sucker for cute "big girl" clothes, even if they won't be seen), & some really cute little outfits for when the weather warms up, & yes she got a few toys (My Little Pony is where it's at right now apparantly). I'm excited for Saturday though, that's when she's gonna get her clothes & some ponies. We're having a double birthday party for her & Benjamin ( I will blog about the party on Saturday night or Sunday, with pictures for you all to see). Hopefully I'll be able to switch shifts w/ somebody at work so we can have the party during the day instead of the evening.

In the news of work, my department (Wireless) is going to be it's own store within a store, woohoo, no more covering other people's breaks & more hours for me!! Cross your fingers for me to get the full-time position. Other than that not much has been going on with us, just the same old stuff. Oh, & I want to thank you all for the blog support & the birthday wishes (yes, even to Abe). I hope you guys have had a wonderful Valentine's day.

Not Even Three Yet.

2008-02-02T13:36:00.000-08:00

Well, I was talking to Hila & something I said to Desiree while I was on the phone absolutely tickled her. I was giving Desiree her lunch, dog dog & cheese (as Desiree calls it), & when I got it on the table & it was time for her to sit & eat she had oocupied herself with her Disney Princess book that came with a "video camera" that you put reels in to view the pictures, so she didn't want to eat she wanted to play with that. Well, I told her that she wasn't aloud to have the camera back until she ate; she didn't like that, so she started walking to the bedroom. So, then I told her that if she didn't come eat she was going to go to bed, needless to say she came back to eat, but didn't touch her food; she just sat there with a sour look on her face (clearly mad at me). She still wanted her camera back & didn't want to eat now because she wasn't getting her way. Well, I looked at her & told her "You have to eat & clean your plate or you're going to bed & you can't have your camera." So I started walking back to the kitchen & then had to turn around at a very important thought, & I said to her "& you have to EAT it all, don't throw it in the trash, or you'll be in trouble!" Well, Hila found that so amusing & proceeded to ask me "Has she done that before?" Well, to answer that question, yes, she has done that before! Desiree thinks everything's supposed to be her way or no way. I've told her she needed to eat & clean her plate one day, well, she decided 'Ok, I'll clean my plate.' & went & threw her food in the trash can! Needless to say she got a time-out & nap for that stunt.
Thought I'd give you guys something fun to read. :)

My Wonderful Family.

2008-02-02T12:25:00.000-08:00

Well, first I'd like to start off by apologizing to my family for not having blogged in so long. We've been going through a really tough time up here. Nick lost his job last month & then this past Monday, 1/28/o8, Nick found out his Mom had passed away. So things haven't exactly been ideal for us, or for blogging for that matter. So, I just thought I'd update you guys on the latest news.

We got a 'new' manager at work, I say "new" because he's not new persay, he used to be the Sales Floor Manager. Nick's in Alabama right now helping his sister go through all the legal deals with their Mom's death. He will be back on Monday, we miss him a lot up here.

Now, the other reason for this blog. Thank you all so much!!! You're all so wonderful & so supportive, I don't know where'd I'd be without you guys; this is to my wonderful family, & good friends (Keira), for diligantly checking for new posts on my blog & keeping us in your prayers to get through this difficult time. I love you guys all so much & miss you all just as much. But in good news, Desiree's starting to work on saying her ABC's & 123's. We were working on them a little last night. Her speech is also gettin much better, other people (like Hila, Mom, & Dad) are able to understand more of what she says now. I guess I'll close for now, like I said, not much good news to report. I love you guys.

White Christmas

2007-12-27T13:24:00.000-08:00

Hope everybody had a Merry Christmas! I certainly did, & I thought I'd tell you about it :). Well, it started off a little slow & rainy at my house. We opened presents with just our little family first. My daughter had a ball! She thought that every present was for her & insisted on playing with everything right away, so that was interesting! But we got some great gifts for eachother, I got Nick Transformers (the movie), Bones (the t.v. show, hehe, I benefit from that too, how terrible am I), & a really great gaming keyboard & mouse (sorry I don't quite know how to tell you about those), he got me a PSP (handheld game system) with a couple of games (one that he'll play way more than I will, so we're even now), & two books, Tess Gerritsen's The Bone Garden & Harry Potter & the Sorcerer's Stone (the only one I didn't have). We got Desiree a lot of clothes (she's growing way too fast), some toys (Ariel doll, two My Little Ponys & a Care Bear that came with a DVD, I can't think of what else she got) & of course we got a ton of movies from 'Santa' to the whole family; oh yeah, Desiree also got Atlantis: the Lost Empire (Disney movie), I love that movie. Well, while we are opening our presents (completely unknown to us), it starts to snow! My first ever White Christmas!! How cool is that?!? Not very! After all of the presents were opened & we talked to Nick's Mom & sister, we got ready to leave to go out to Shari's for a Christmas lunch & then head to Ben & Michelle's to have Christmas with the whole family. Well, we get going & everything starts off ok, but then we get to the hill we have to go up to stop for gas & head into East Bremerton (keep in mind, my car is an '89 Ford Mustang, it's not made for this kinda stuff), well, we putt putt up the hill & turn into the Shell for gas where we just start sliding sideways down this little embankment & can barely do much else! So, we didn't get gas at the Shell, we drove back home to find the tire chains & then head back out, if we found them; luckily we did find them & put them on the car. So we brave the the snowy road & slightly large hill again, forget the Shell, we slowly make it up the hill & just pass the gas station & head straight for the freeway into E. Bremerton, where we got gas at a Chevron with no slight inclines, just flat ground. So we finally make it to Shari's & have our lunch, let me tell you, it was so GOOOD (to me)! After lunch we start heading to Ben & Michelle's for the whole family Christmas. Given the problems we were having starting off & stopping for lunch, we made it there first :) YAY us. After everybody else gets there & we get all the presents under the Christmas tree, it's time to start opening presents (the kids were getting restless). Everybody got some great stuff! Other than my books from Nick, my favorite presents were my new Shorty & Slim cds. Thank you very much Dad & Hila! Desiree made out like a bandit there too! After the present opening it was time to eat the little meal everybody put together (sandwiches with a lot of snack food & Christmas cookies & sweets). I didn't eat much because we had just eaten maybe 2 hours before that, but I am a piggy so I had to have some of the snacks & sweets. We talked to the rest of our family (Hila & Dad) after we opened presents. Shortly after that we had to leave because I had to work at 7 a.m. the following morning. So, that was not only our great Christmas, but our (my, Nick's, & Desiree's) first WHITE Christmas. I hope you enjoyed my family's Christmas. Here is a photo from Christmas.

Hence the Name...

2007-12-22T19:35:00.000-08:00

So, I thought a good idea for my second blog post ever would be the explanation of the name of my blog; but I don't know so you be the judge of that & tell me what you think at the end. Well, when I decided to make a blog I was talking to my sister on the phone, so I'm sitting there spouting out possible blog names with Hila when the thought just entered my mind & I blurted it out before I could even think about it, "flying by the seat of your pants" haha, feeling a little silly I laughed about it & shrugged it off, but Hila on the other hand thought it was hilarious! Anyway, she was laughing her butt off on the other line & when she finally stopped laughing asked how I came up with that, "I don't know, it just came to me." was my response. But now that I've thought about it, a lot of things in my life have been a 'fly by the seat of my pants' moment'; I'll delve into that more in a bit. So Hila gave me an even better idea for my blog name, by telling me to change the 'you' to 'my', so I did, & it's even better! :) Thank you Hila. Okay, onto the delving. Now, I'm only going to tell you of the most significant ones; starting with the most significant, which would be the day that I found out I was pregnant. After I got back to Nick's crazy Aunt Brenda's house (living with that old bat was another of my 'fly by the seat of my pants' moments, albeit one of the stupid moments), I cried & told him that I was pregnant, then we talked about it (abortion was never an option, but we did "decide" that we were going to put her up for adoption) & I said "I'll carry her full term & when I have her, we'll have an adoptive family already lined up for her. --I know that doesn't sound too 'fly by the seat', but trust me it is, & you'll understand in a lilttle bit.-- So, I go through my entire pregnancy with no problems & working the entire time. Well, everything was going fine & smoothly until my brother & sister-in-law & their kids came to visit from Valdosta, GA, & it just happens it's my birthday as well. So my sister wants to take us all out ot lunch for my birthday. We go to Old Mexico for lunch & have a good meal laughing & reminiscing, when we have finished our meal & it's just about time to leave Saria (my niece) wanted me to take her to the bathroom. So I take her to the bathroom, & I'm holding her on my knee so she can reach the sink to wash her hands when my sister comes into the bathroom & sees my baggy shirt pulled tight "Christina! You're pregnant!" she exclaims & I burst into tears & tell her about it & ask her not to tell Dad yet, but to do it once I'm not there any more. So, later that day I have to go to work (Hila told our Dad when I was at work, I think). I get to work & we have a manager from another store acting as our manager for the night, oh joy, & after I'm at work for a couple of hours he wants me to go wash all of the dishes (it was quite obviously a slow night for Dominos Pizza). So I go to the back (after a little protest to him that another girl should have to do it & I never have to wash the dishes for one reason or another, after all it wouldn't be me if I didn't do that, but that's another story altogether) & start washing the dishes; well after a little time washing the dishes I start feeling really wierd & my tummy starts hurting, so I go & tell the manager that I need to go home because I'm not feeling well. Needless to say he didn't believe me, but he did let me go home when I told him I was pregnant. So I drive to crazy Brenda's & tell Nick that I need to go to the hospital & get checked out because I'm not feeling well. So we get to the hospital & when we finally get in (of course it did take like 30 mins before I got a room in the Maternity Ward) & I get in my room & checked, we find out that I'm going into labor!!! Well, after about 3 hours on the operating table (those of you who know me, know I had to have an emergency C-section) I wake up in my room, very disoriented & can't really see well (it was the anasthetic....did I spell that right Hila?). Anyway, on to the next day. Well, I get a call from my sister who's worried about me because she had been trying to get a hold of me ever since she got out of church, but I was no where to be found. So I tell her that I'm in the hospital because I've had the baby & she freaks out & tells me she's going to get Dad & come up there. And this, my friends, is more popularly known as "The DAY Christina was pregnant!", well, by my family anyway. :) Hila coined the phrase, by the way. Now, if you'll recall me telling you earlier that we had planned to give the baby up for adoption. Well, once I saw her & held her....that wasn't happening, it was kind of like, nah, I think I'm going to keep her!!
Now I know that was a super long story, but it's only one of the many :), hahaha. Anyway, I decided to make my explanation of the name of my blog shorter because it took me like 2 days to write this & I don't want to drive anybody away, so...to make a really long story, kind of, short, I fly by the seat of my pants in most every decision I make, & roll with the punches from the out comes. I hope you enjoyed.

Bear with me....

2007-12-21T22:00:00.000-08:00

Ok, so this is my very first post; actually this is my first blog ever, so please bear with me. So, I don't think I'm a very interesting person & lead a very boring life, but my sister thinks otherwise; so here it goes. Just something that's been on my mind lately & I thought I should share with you, working retail during the Holiday season really sucks, I truly mean that. I work at Best Buy, I've worked there for a year now & let me tell you, this Holiday season has been much worse than last year; for the past two weeks the store's been opening at 8:00 a.m. so I've had to be there at 7:15 to perform my opening duties (I'm not really a morning person, so you can probably imagine how bad this is for me). Well, every morning I have to get up at like 6:00 a.m. so I can get myself & my daughter ready to go, yes this does take like 30 minutes to do, after all she's only 34 months old so she doesn't listen that well, anyway, then I have to drive her to my brother & sister-in-law's house, in the freezing cold in a car with out a heater, then head back to work (which just happens to be right across the street from my apartment complex, literally). Well, on with the real point of this long drawn out story. What seems like every person in the Kitsap county area decide to come in & shop with only a few days left before Christmas, so here I am, not a morning person at all & have to be at work & dealing with a bunch of people that I don't know & the majority of them are really mean because we don't have something they want to get but should've come in & bought like last month when we actually had a ton of that item (which is usually the gaming systems, i.e. the Nintendo Wii or the XBOX 360). I think that everybody needs to be more like me & my sister (actually, probably most of the women in my family), & start shopping for Christmas presents in the summer! I don't know, maybe I'm just being selfish because the only person this is really benefitting is me :). Well, the worst day this Holiday shopping season, for me, had to be Friday (I believe it was Friday) last week, the store was packed to the brim, probably to the legal limit, & the line to check out was like forever long, come to find out that everybody decided they wanted to shop at Best Buy because the mall was closed due to a power outage there. So, it was literally chaos & probably my worst working day at Best Buy.

Well, I don't really have anything worth writing about (as for all of that, it was just a personal thought I wanted to share) so until I have anything news worthy or interesting for you I'll spare you the boredom.