Monday, April 26, 2010

Happy Birthday, Stanley...

...today Stanley turned 5 years old. In true brat-out-it's-my-party form, Stanley collected all the presents so no one else could play. We bought him a new nursing bed, 3 tennis balls, and 3 rawhide bones (the plan being that each dog would get one of each). Stanley went around the living room, gathered everything together, then laid in his treasure pile to nurse. What a guy...



We also bought bubble, thinking they would be a big hit with Stan, the ball junkie, but he seemed afraid of them. Regardless, I got some footage of Brian and Joey blowing bubbles in the living room, the seemed to be enjoying it regardless of how the dogs felt about it. Always fun!

Thursday, April 22, 2010

22 Weeks...



...It seems like time is flying by. Maddie (we're thinking that's her name) is growing quickly and becoming quite the squirmer. It seems like every time I try to sit still, she wants to rock-n-roll. She's also found a vein or nerve or something in my lower left pelvis that she sits on and with every pulse there's a sharp, stinging pain. It only lasts for about 5 minutes, but its not comfortable.

Last night Lane and Aubrey put together a little dinner for Brian and me (to celebrate Maddie, as well as our one year sobriety). It was good times with good folks :o) Anyway, we all went to a meeting last night together after dinner where the topic was "fear." It was definitely a meeting I needed seeing as how I'm allowing so many fears (mostly related to my pregnancy) to hamper me lately. I heard some great things at the meeting, like "Fear is the absence of faith, and faith is the freedom from fear," or something along those lines.

My biggest fear is that Maddie will have to go through some of the nastier parts of life that I went through. I keep thinking to myself, "If my parents were ALWAYS around and I still had these things happen, how am I going to protect her?" A very wise friend, Kathryn, provided me with the slap-to-the-forehead-of-course answer that I needed. She said, "It's not your job to protect her, God will protect her."

Thank you, Kathryn, I needed that.

Things are going pretty good. The only complaint I have is excruciating back pain all the time. My back throbs constantly and I don't really know what to do about it. I've tried pretty much everything I can think of (Tylenol, heating pads, prenatal massage, belly bands, body pillows, shape-up shoes, belly wedges) and nothing seems to work. It's a pretty steady throb and it makes it painful to sit, lay down, or walk. Not sure what else I can do, but I'm at the point where I'm willing to try anything. The good news is that according to everything I've heard and/or read about it, it pretty much goes away with the birth of the baby. So here's looking forward to dirty diapers, sleepless nights, crying babies, and NO back pain...I can't wait :o)

For dinner, Debbie (Brian's mom), Joey, Gina, Brian, and I went out to eat at Macaroni Grill, which was excellent. Afterward, Gina and I got to work on a diaper cake for Tracy's baby shower tomorrow. Tracy and her husband have decided not to find out the sex of the baby (she's due in June, I think) so they're going with a Noah's Ark (animal) theme. The cake came out great, but since you can't eat it, we made animal shaped candies too. I love projects!!!


Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Lucy Versus....

...the door stopper...



...the fireplace tools...

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Happiest Puppy...

...in the world!!!
Every morning since Lucy joined our family I find myself getting up about an hour earlier than usual so that I can walk her, feed her, and play with her before work.

And every morning this is what I walk in to see. It's the best and makes being tired all worth it.



Sunday, April 18, 2010

Petco Pics...

While we were at Petco with the "kids" on Saturday there was a woman taking pictures of people's pets and offering a free 8x10 portrait. We figured with Lucy just getting a new dress (and being relatively new to the family) we needed a family portrait done. Here are the resulting pictures (because of course we couldn't pick just one).
The boys were pretty hard to control but Lucy was a little doped up from her shots at the vet so she was very compliant. We had to get copies of these pictures because we have such a hard time getting her to sit still for the camera. She always turns away at the last second. Anyway, here they are...enjoy!




Saturday, April 17, 2010

Lucy's 1st Party Dress...


We took Lucy to the vet today and were given the green light. She's healthy and everything appears normal. We were both VERY relieved to hear that. (The boys went with us to the vet's office because they love visiting the people there-we have the BEST vet).

On the way home, Brian and I decided to stop in at Petco to get some toys because the boys were being good...when 'what to my wondering eyes should appear' but a pink and purple polka-dot party dress :o) (And just Lucy's size too). It was meant to be-and WAY to cute to pass up.



A little later in the afternoon, Gina called to tell me she was going to visit her friend Rose, who just had a little girl and whose husband was out of town. Rose was feeling a little down so Gina and I decided to take Lucy over to cheer her up...I mean, what's better than a puppy in a party dress?

Answer: Nothing.

While there, Lucy got to meet Marlo, Rose's amazingly calm, beautiful baby girl. They weren't really sure what to think of each other.

but Lucy decided to give Marlo a kiss anyway. :o)

Friday, April 16, 2010

1 YEAR...

...I can't believe it's been a year since I had a drink. Soooooo much has happened. God has really blessed my life and His abundance is amazing.

I was able to spend the evening surrounded by people who love me and who I love dearly. What a blessing my life has become. Who knew, all I had to do was stop drinking and hand over the reins???

I'm so grateful to everyone who has believed in and supported me throughout the last year...better things are yet to come and I can't wait!