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| This time,last year... Charlie has grown SO much! |
Showing posts with label memories. Show all posts
Showing posts with label memories. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Picture post
Just going to post some of my favorite new pics of Charlie. She is such a goof ball. She totally hams it up and loves to get us laughing. I love her so much!
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Bittersweet
This last weekend we took a long drive down south to Arkansas. In the drive down I saw more mullets than I had in the past year of my life. We also referenced the movie "Deliverance" on more than a dozen occasions. Basically we were in the middle of nowhere and surrounded by inbreds. Could be quite scary at times. But we were down there for a good reason. (And I apologize in advance for anyone who lives down there but you've got to admit, about 75% of the people down there are quite the sight.)
As some of you may recall, my grandpa passed away a year ago in April. We had him cremated and per his request we were going to scatter his ashes over my grandma and uncle's graves down in Arkansas. However, last April I was very pregnant so we decided to wait until later this summer when Charlie was bigger to head down there and scatter his ashes.
We headed down to Des Moines last Thursday night to cut our long drive up a bit. From Des Moines to our destination it was about 9 hours, add on the 3 1/2 from Minneapolis to Des Moines and we've got one hell of a haul. We were nervous as to how well Charlie would handle being in the car for so long but luckily our nerves were unfounded. She did GREAT. We rented a 12 passenger van and all easily fit in there along w/ lots of toys and a portable DVD player so Charlie was always entertained.
Once we reached our destination we hit the pool for a bit, met up w/ my dad's cousin, Mike and his wife, Debbie and got some dinner before crashing early. What is it about long drives that totally wipe you out? I don't get it.
The next morning we headed to the cemetery w/ Pap's cremains. It was bittersweet. He was finally home with his wife and son. It felt good to do but also re-opened the feelings of loss. He was so close to getting to meet his 1st great grandchild. I know he would have loved Charlie.
Not all was sad though. We took a drive through Fairfield Bay which is where he lived for several decades and we talked about memories we had of him and being down there. We'd been driving down there to see him my whole life. That's a lot of memories! We finally ended up at Greer's Ferry Lake which is not only absolutely gorgeous but huge! We rented a pontoon boat, like we had so many other times w/ Paps and took it out on the lake for 3 hours. Charlie loved the boat and the weather was perfect for an afternoon out on the water.
It was a fun afternoon to celebrate Paps and our love for him.We finally made it home last night and we are wiped. Charlie slept for 11 1/2 hours straight and Kobe was so tired I picked him up and he sagged like a rag doll, so no fireworks for us unfortunately. Besides the illegal ones we picked up in Hillbilly, Missouri on our drive home. :)
Charlie was not impressed w/ the gigantic sparkler. 
She was however impressed w/ Kara's sunglasses. 
Maybe next year... :)
She was however impressed w/ Kara's sunglasses. Maybe next year... :)Later~
Kellie
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Birthing Charlie: My Story
I thought it would be fun to write my complete birth story down so that in the future if Charlie ever wants to read it or if I just want to remember why I’m one and done I can read it. If you recall, Wade posted a short version of Charlie’s birth story the day after she was born. And although he did an excellent job, his side of the story is lacking in some of the details from my perspective. So if you’d like to hear from my point of view, read on, however I warn you it is long! (Also, keep in mind that I will not be sugar coating it and things may not be all that appealing but really, what about the birthing process is???)
It was July 22, 2010. One week before my due date. I was at my weekly appointment where the doctor did an internal exam to proclaim “nothing” was going on in there yet. Seemed Charlie Monkey was pretty damn comfy in my ute. She was still high up although she had dropped a bit from what I could tell b/c I was having to frequent the bathroom more often. I was huge. And uncomfortable. And not getting any sleep. Oh yeah, and did I mention, I was HUGE? Just take a look! (And this picture was taken at 40 weeks so I still had another week to go)
So since the doc said nothing was going on and we only had one more week until my due date she decided she would strip my membranes in hopes of getting things moving in the right direction. What exactly does stripping of the membranes entail, you ask? This isn’t pleasant, but basically she was wrist deep down there and did some kind of swishing around motion to break the amniotic sack from the wall in hopes that it would weaken it and bring on labor. (Also, please note I am NOT a doctor. I am nowhere near qualified for that. Some of this may not be 100% accurate when it comes to terms I use.) Anyway, the overall stripping didn’t really hurt so much as it was just uncomfortable. I pulled my big girl panties up and went on my way. Later that day it caused some awful cramps and a little bleeding but other than that, nothing. No labor being brought on by that feeble attempt.
Fast forward to July 29, 2010 (my due date). Doc examined me and again proclaimed “nada”. She stated that my cervix had thinned out a bit and I was “maybe” beginning to dilate but that the baby was nowhere near ready to come out. Comfy in there Charlie? I guess so! But I definitely wasn’t! I was ready to get this done with. The doctor said that they would only allow me to go 1 week past my due date because of something about “any longer than that and the chance of stillbirth raises dramatically, yada, yada, yada”. All I could hear was 1 week. Only 1 more week at the most! Yippee! So we scheduled an appointment in a couple days pending no labor by then.
If you know me, I am perpetually late. This drives Wade insane. I could say I am just trying to prepare him for what it will be like having to wait the rest of his life b/c he was having a daughter who it seems will be just like me. :) So our appointment on August 3 comes and of course Charlie is still not interested in making her appearance and we are forced to post a mandatory eviction notice for the next day, August 4, 2010. We are to report to labor and delivery that evening around 7:00 pm so that I could have Cervadil applied (this softens and “readies” your cervix) for 12 hours after which I would then be examined and if ready I would then be administered Pitocin by IV to bring on contractions and get labor induced. So we readied ourselves for a fun night in the hospital waiting. We watched Seasons 1 and 2 of ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’ DVD’s and ‘The Big Lebowski’. Neither of which our nurse had heard of so we forced her to sit and watch some of them with us. She seemed to enjoy IASIP but I think she thought the Dude was dumb.
Thursday morning came and they decided they would break my water and then get the Pitocin flowing. Only problem was, the doctor was having one hell of a time breaking my water. They use what can only be described as a crotchet hook. I don’t knit, but I’ve seen these before and it’s exactly what it looks like! Anyway, doc was digging around down there (pleasant, I know) and could not for the life of her get my water to break. She then suggested using what is called a Foley Bulb. I had no clue what one of these was but the way she explained it was that it’s a tube w/ a balloon at the end that inflates and the pressure it exerts on the cervix is supposed to stimulate natural labor and it would hopefully cause my cervix to dilate a bit so that she would then be able to get my water to break. Dear Lord. It did not sound good.
So she’s attempting to insert this Foley Bulb when all of a sudden the nurse watching over the procedure states “I think you just broke her water”. To which the doctor exclaims “Oh, yes, I think I did.” Sad that the nurse had to point that out to the doctor but perfect for me! No Foley Bulb needed. Thank the baby jeebus b/c the nurse whispered to me right after all this that it is supposedly not a very pleasant experience. Phew! Crisis averted.
I should mention that pretty much this whole time Wade is over in his little corner of our huge room working on his laptop. I think he may have glanced over a few times and saw me grimace but other than that I’m not completely sure he had any clue what was going on. I just kept making him get me ice chips and little flavored ice cups (which we found out later that I wasn’t supposed to be eating! Oops! But I was starving!)
So water broken and Pitocin started, we were on our way! They begin the Pitocin drip at a very low level so that they can monitor how you and your baby adjust and handle the contractions it brings on so in the beginning I was fairly comfy in my bed watching TV. Well, comfy besides the IV I had in my wrist, the blood pressure cuff around my arm and the heart monitor belt strapped around my waist that I constantly had to readjust b/c it would not stay put. Yeah, all these things were a lot of fun when I had to get up to use the bathroom. I had to unhook the heart monitor and blood pressure cuff and then wheel the IV alongside me all while trying to keep my back side covered. Ah modesty. It soon left me b/c in the very near future I could care less who saw my girly bits let alone my back side!
A few hours in and they’ve upped the Pitocin drip to a higher level b/c the contractions weren’t coming on very strong still and Charlie was still handling things well. I could barely feel the contractions at this point and they didn’t last long so I was still fairly comfy. The nurse would come in every hour to check on me and see how the contractions were coming. Eventually they did a cervix check to see if anything had started happening and FINALLY declared me a ONE. Sad face.
Within the next 5 hours I progressed to a THREE and the nurse said if I wanted an epidural I could get one at anytime. The contractions were still bearable, although lasting longer, they felt like really bad period cramps. But who am I kidding? I knew coming into this I didn’t want to feel any more pain than necessary and you never know when the anesthesiologist is going to be called into surgery and the last thing I wanted was to start to get severe labor pains and not have that epi so we called for him to come as I sat on a labor ball bouncing away. (The nurse said the labor ball may help to get Charlie heading south.,. It didn’t.)
At about 2:00 pm I had officially been in labor for about six hours. The anesthesiologist came in and did his thing for the epidural. I know a lot of women say that this procedure is awful but either I had a rocking anesthesiologist or I have a high threshold for pain b/c really it wasn’t bad. They had me sit on the edge of the bed and lean over (as much as a fat pregnant lady can) and the sweetheart of a nurse held my hands and helped me to not move while he was poking my spine. Awesome. I could feel the cold liquid course through my spine which was weird and about 15 minutes later I couldn’t feel any of the contractions.
Fast forward to about 6:00 pm and I’m now at a FOUR. Yep. I made it another cm in 4 hours. And this was after upping my Pitocin drip several more times. I’m now at a very high level (I have no idea what) and the contraction machine is showing me having constant, strong contractions (although I don’t feel them which is awesome) and I’ve only progressed 1 damn cm. I’m also shaking from my waist up from the epi. I guess this is one of the lovely side effects it can give you. Most annoying feeling ever. It’s like the cold shakes b/c you can’t control it. I can’t feel my legs or feet but I swear that my feet are freezing off so the lovely nurse gives me these socks to wear which she has to put on for me b/c did I mention I can’t feel a damn thing?
8:00 rolls around and they declare maybe a 4 ½??? Then 10:00 and they say I’ve reached a FIVE. Sweet. I’m half way there and been in labor for 12 hours. Ridiculous. At this point I’m exhausted b/c even though I can’t feel the contractions I can’t sleep. I’m anxious, excited, shaking like a leaf from the epi, hooked up to so many things I can’t get comfortable and the nurse has to come in and flip me to my other side every hour since I can’t move myself. Oh I also have a catheter in at this point too since I can’t walk to the bathroom. Just another tube attached to me. Fun.
Sometime around 11:00 pm Charlie decides that she’s not liking the process and her heart rate starts dropping if I’m on my left side so they try to keep me on my right side. Then finally around midnight they do another check. I’m hoping to at least be at a SIX by now. But nooooo, still a FIVE. The nurse calls my doctor to explain the situation and gets the reply that I’d been dreading but now fully accepting since this whole process is getting old really fast. She is recommending a C-section due to failure to progress.
In all honesty I was so ready at this point to have this baby that I readily accepted this fate. Also, I had prepared myself early on in my pregnancy that I may need a C-section due to placenta previa. Although the placenta previa fixed itself so a C-section was no longer required for several weeks prior I had thought I’d have to have a C-section, so mentally I was prepared for this outcome.
The Dr. Cho was at another hospital finishing up another C-section and said she could be w/ us in 30 minutes. Wade’s face lit up. He was so excited knowing that we were going to meet our little girl in a short while. I on the other hand was a little nervous about my upcoming major abdominal surgery. Wade got to put on scrubs and looked like a handsome doctor. We joked about what his name would be if he were on Grey’s Anatomy. I can’t remember what we came up w/…
The anesthesiologist comes in to upgrade me to the first class pain free meds. This made my shaking even worse and I was numb all the way up to my armpits. Sweet. They began rolling me to the OR around 1:15 am. This baby is now another day late. :) They get me settled into the OR and pull a blue tarp up in front of my face so that I can’t see my innards being pulled out and Wade takes a seat by my head and holds my hand for a bit. Dr. Cho explains they are ready to go and Wade stands and starts taking picture after gory picture. I felt no pain although I did feel some tugging going on down there. It’s a very odd sensation and hard to describe.
At 1:38 am on August 6, 2010 Charlize Ann was born. As they pulled her out Wade looked down to me and said ‘she’s beautiful’ and I couldn’t wait to see her. Dr. Cho held her up over the tarp for a few seconds right away so that I could get a chance to see my new baby girl. I’m not really sure what I was expecting to see but I guess I was expecting something beautiful since that was what Wade said. Instead I saw a 7 pound 13 ounce little girl completely covered in blood and mucousy goo and right when Dr. Cho held her up for me to see, this long string of bloody snotty stuff came shooting out of her nose. I remember being totally grossed out as they whisked her away to clean her off and get her vitals. Wade made me expect something beautiful but that was not what I was saw b/c that gooey stuff was definitely NOT beautiful. Ew.
Once they got her cleaned off they held her right next to my face and I finally got a good look at Charlie. And Wade was right. She was beautiful once I could see something other than bloody goo. Immediately at hearing my voice she stopped crying and struggling and just stared at me. It was the most amazing moment in my life.
They took her off to get her warmed up and finish cleaning her and Wade went with them so he could “cut” the cord (it was actually already cut since I had a C-section but they cut it long so that he could still have the chance to cut it) while I had to stay in the OR to get sewn back up. Longest 30 minutes of my life! I just wanted to hold her!
When I finally got to hold her and get a good look at her I realize:
1. She has a cone head even though she was delivered via C-section. Dr. Cho explained this was due to her being stuck in my pelvis for the 16 hours of labor.
2. She had a lot of hair but none on the top of her head! She has a receding Danny DeVito hair style! We joke that us watching It’s Always Sunny during labor is to blame. (See above picture: cone head and receding hairline very obvious!) :)
3. She is perfect. And 6 months later she still is.
The End.
It was July 22, 2010. One week before my due date. I was at my weekly appointment where the doctor did an internal exam to proclaim “nothing” was going on in there yet. Seemed Charlie Monkey was pretty damn comfy in my ute. She was still high up although she had dropped a bit from what I could tell b/c I was having to frequent the bathroom more often. I was huge. And uncomfortable. And not getting any sleep. Oh yeah, and did I mention, I was HUGE? Just take a look! (And this picture was taken at 40 weeks so I still had another week to go)
So since the doc said nothing was going on and we only had one more week until my due date she decided she would strip my membranes in hopes of getting things moving in the right direction. What exactly does stripping of the membranes entail, you ask? This isn’t pleasant, but basically she was wrist deep down there and did some kind of swishing around motion to break the amniotic sack from the wall in hopes that it would weaken it and bring on labor. (Also, please note I am NOT a doctor. I am nowhere near qualified for that. Some of this may not be 100% accurate when it comes to terms I use.) Anyway, the overall stripping didn’t really hurt so much as it was just uncomfortable. I pulled my big girl panties up and went on my way. Later that day it caused some awful cramps and a little bleeding but other than that, nothing. No labor being brought on by that feeble attempt.Fast forward to July 29, 2010 (my due date). Doc examined me and again proclaimed “nada”. She stated that my cervix had thinned out a bit and I was “maybe” beginning to dilate but that the baby was nowhere near ready to come out. Comfy in there Charlie? I guess so! But I definitely wasn’t! I was ready to get this done with. The doctor said that they would only allow me to go 1 week past my due date because of something about “any longer than that and the chance of stillbirth raises dramatically, yada, yada, yada”. All I could hear was 1 week. Only 1 more week at the most! Yippee! So we scheduled an appointment in a couple days pending no labor by then.
If you know me, I am perpetually late. This drives Wade insane. I could say I am just trying to prepare him for what it will be like having to wait the rest of his life b/c he was having a daughter who it seems will be just like me. :) So our appointment on August 3 comes and of course Charlie is still not interested in making her appearance and we are forced to post a mandatory eviction notice for the next day, August 4, 2010. We are to report to labor and delivery that evening around 7:00 pm so that I could have Cervadil applied (this softens and “readies” your cervix) for 12 hours after which I would then be examined and if ready I would then be administered Pitocin by IV to bring on contractions and get labor induced. So we readied ourselves for a fun night in the hospital waiting. We watched Seasons 1 and 2 of ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’ DVD’s and ‘The Big Lebowski’. Neither of which our nurse had heard of so we forced her to sit and watch some of them with us. She seemed to enjoy IASIP but I think she thought the Dude was dumb.
Thursday morning came and they decided they would break my water and then get the Pitocin flowing. Only problem was, the doctor was having one hell of a time breaking my water. They use what can only be described as a crotchet hook. I don’t knit, but I’ve seen these before and it’s exactly what it looks like! Anyway, doc was digging around down there (pleasant, I know) and could not for the life of her get my water to break. She then suggested using what is called a Foley Bulb. I had no clue what one of these was but the way she explained it was that it’s a tube w/ a balloon at the end that inflates and the pressure it exerts on the cervix is supposed to stimulate natural labor and it would hopefully cause my cervix to dilate a bit so that she would then be able to get my water to break. Dear Lord. It did not sound good.
So she’s attempting to insert this Foley Bulb when all of a sudden the nurse watching over the procedure states “I think you just broke her water”. To which the doctor exclaims “Oh, yes, I think I did.” Sad that the nurse had to point that out to the doctor but perfect for me! No Foley Bulb needed. Thank the baby jeebus b/c the nurse whispered to me right after all this that it is supposedly not a very pleasant experience. Phew! Crisis averted.
I should mention that pretty much this whole time Wade is over in his little corner of our huge room working on his laptop. I think he may have glanced over a few times and saw me grimace but other than that I’m not completely sure he had any clue what was going on. I just kept making him get me ice chips and little flavored ice cups (which we found out later that I wasn’t supposed to be eating! Oops! But I was starving!)
So water broken and Pitocin started, we were on our way! They begin the Pitocin drip at a very low level so that they can monitor how you and your baby adjust and handle the contractions it brings on so in the beginning I was fairly comfy in my bed watching TV. Well, comfy besides the IV I had in my wrist, the blood pressure cuff around my arm and the heart monitor belt strapped around my waist that I constantly had to readjust b/c it would not stay put. Yeah, all these things were a lot of fun when I had to get up to use the bathroom. I had to unhook the heart monitor and blood pressure cuff and then wheel the IV alongside me all while trying to keep my back side covered. Ah modesty. It soon left me b/c in the very near future I could care less who saw my girly bits let alone my back side!
A few hours in and they’ve upped the Pitocin drip to a higher level b/c the contractions weren’t coming on very strong still and Charlie was still handling things well. I could barely feel the contractions at this point and they didn’t last long so I was still fairly comfy. The nurse would come in every hour to check on me and see how the contractions were coming. Eventually they did a cervix check to see if anything had started happening and FINALLY declared me a ONE. Sad face.
Within the next 5 hours I progressed to a THREE and the nurse said if I wanted an epidural I could get one at anytime. The contractions were still bearable, although lasting longer, they felt like really bad period cramps. But who am I kidding? I knew coming into this I didn’t want to feel any more pain than necessary and you never know when the anesthesiologist is going to be called into surgery and the last thing I wanted was to start to get severe labor pains and not have that epi so we called for him to come as I sat on a labor ball bouncing away. (The nurse said the labor ball may help to get Charlie heading south.,. It didn’t.)
At about 2:00 pm I had officially been in labor for about six hours. The anesthesiologist came in and did his thing for the epidural. I know a lot of women say that this procedure is awful but either I had a rocking anesthesiologist or I have a high threshold for pain b/c really it wasn’t bad. They had me sit on the edge of the bed and lean over (as much as a fat pregnant lady can) and the sweetheart of a nurse held my hands and helped me to not move while he was poking my spine. Awesome. I could feel the cold liquid course through my spine which was weird and about 15 minutes later I couldn’t feel any of the contractions.
Fast forward to about 6:00 pm and I’m now at a FOUR. Yep. I made it another cm in 4 hours. And this was after upping my Pitocin drip several more times. I’m now at a very high level (I have no idea what) and the contraction machine is showing me having constant, strong contractions (although I don’t feel them which is awesome) and I’ve only progressed 1 damn cm. I’m also shaking from my waist up from the epi. I guess this is one of the lovely side effects it can give you. Most annoying feeling ever. It’s like the cold shakes b/c you can’t control it. I can’t feel my legs or feet but I swear that my feet are freezing off so the lovely nurse gives me these socks to wear which she has to put on for me b/c did I mention I can’t feel a damn thing?
8:00 rolls around and they declare maybe a 4 ½??? Then 10:00 and they say I’ve reached a FIVE. Sweet. I’m half way there and been in labor for 12 hours. Ridiculous. At this point I’m exhausted b/c even though I can’t feel the contractions I can’t sleep. I’m anxious, excited, shaking like a leaf from the epi, hooked up to so many things I can’t get comfortable and the nurse has to come in and flip me to my other side every hour since I can’t move myself. Oh I also have a catheter in at this point too since I can’t walk to the bathroom. Just another tube attached to me. Fun.
Sometime around 11:00 pm Charlie decides that she’s not liking the process and her heart rate starts dropping if I’m on my left side so they try to keep me on my right side. Then finally around midnight they do another check. I’m hoping to at least be at a SIX by now. But nooooo, still a FIVE. The nurse calls my doctor to explain the situation and gets the reply that I’d been dreading but now fully accepting since this whole process is getting old really fast. She is recommending a C-section due to failure to progress.
In all honesty I was so ready at this point to have this baby that I readily accepted this fate. Also, I had prepared myself early on in my pregnancy that I may need a C-section due to placenta previa. Although the placenta previa fixed itself so a C-section was no longer required for several weeks prior I had thought I’d have to have a C-section, so mentally I was prepared for this outcome.
The Dr. Cho was at another hospital finishing up another C-section and said she could be w/ us in 30 minutes. Wade’s face lit up. He was so excited knowing that we were going to meet our little girl in a short while. I on the other hand was a little nervous about my upcoming major abdominal surgery. Wade got to put on scrubs and looked like a handsome doctor. We joked about what his name would be if he were on Grey’s Anatomy. I can’t remember what we came up w/…
The anesthesiologist comes in to upgrade me to the first class pain free meds. This made my shaking even worse and I was numb all the way up to my armpits. Sweet. They began rolling me to the OR around 1:15 am. This baby is now another day late. :) They get me settled into the OR and pull a blue tarp up in front of my face so that I can’t see my innards being pulled out and Wade takes a seat by my head and holds my hand for a bit. Dr. Cho explains they are ready to go and Wade stands and starts taking picture after gory picture. I felt no pain although I did feel some tugging going on down there. It’s a very odd sensation and hard to describe.
At 1:38 am on August 6, 2010 Charlize Ann was born. As they pulled her out Wade looked down to me and said ‘she’s beautiful’ and I couldn’t wait to see her. Dr. Cho held her up over the tarp for a few seconds right away so that I could get a chance to see my new baby girl. I’m not really sure what I was expecting to see but I guess I was expecting something beautiful since that was what Wade said. Instead I saw a 7 pound 13 ounce little girl completely covered in blood and mucousy goo and right when Dr. Cho held her up for me to see, this long string of bloody snotty stuff came shooting out of her nose. I remember being totally grossed out as they whisked her away to clean her off and get her vitals. Wade made me expect something beautiful but that was not what I was saw b/c that gooey stuff was definitely NOT beautiful. Ew.
Once they got her cleaned off they held her right next to my face and I finally got a good look at Charlie. And Wade was right. She was beautiful once I could see something other than bloody goo. Immediately at hearing my voice she stopped crying and struggling and just stared at me. It was the most amazing moment in my life.
They took her off to get her warmed up and finish cleaning her and Wade went with them so he could “cut” the cord (it was actually already cut since I had a C-section but they cut it long so that he could still have the chance to cut it) while I had to stay in the OR to get sewn back up. Longest 30 minutes of my life! I just wanted to hold her!When I finally got to hold her and get a good look at her I realize:
1. She has a cone head even though she was delivered via C-section. Dr. Cho explained this was due to her being stuck in my pelvis for the 16 hours of labor.
2. She had a lot of hair but none on the top of her head! She has a receding Danny DeVito hair style! We joke that us watching It’s Always Sunny during labor is to blame. (See above picture: cone head and receding hairline very obvious!) :)
3. She is perfect. And 6 months later she still is.
The End.
Monday, May 3, 2010
Until Next Time...
Well folks, it’s been a long, tough week. I’ve been MIA and it wasn’t for a pleasant reason. Friday, April 23rd I got an email from my dad saying that Paps was not doing well and wasn’t sure if he would make it through the night and that they were headed to see him. It blind sided me. I knew Paps had been having some issues but I had no idea that he was so sick. I left work, packed up some stuff and Wade and I headed down to Beatrice, NE.
I thank God that we made it there in time to get to see Paps before he passed. He was not able to communicate at that point but he opened his eyes a few times and I think he knew we were there. We had no idea how long he would be alive in the state he was in. As one of our doctor friends said “it could be a day, it could be a week”. So we left Saturday afternoon and headed to Des Moines. Saturday night at 11:15 pm we got a call that Paps had passed. Brutal. Why didn’t we stay just a bit longer? Was he alone? Did he know we had been there? Why hadn’t I called him last week like I’d planned? Why couldn't he have made it just 3 more months to meet his great-granddaughter? Some questions we will never have the answers to but you have to just push them aside and tell yourself that Paps knew he was loved. And even though I wasn’t always the best granddaughter (I should have called more often, sent more cards, etc, etc) I think he knew that I loved him. I have to believe that. Otherwise it will eat at me for the rest of my life.
I stayed in Des Moines with Kara and Todd and Wade unfortunately had to travel back home to be on a flight to New Jersey on Monday. Paps’ funeral was Wednesday and it was a very nice, small service. Then we traveled to Galesburg on Friday where I met back up with Wade.
So we finally got home after nearly 10 days away last night at 8:30. Possibly the longest week ever. I’m exhausted. I had my first baby shower on May 1st that I want to tell you all about but it will have to wait.
Little Nugget has another guardian angel watching over her now. I miss you and love you Paps.
I thank God that we made it there in time to get to see Paps before he passed. He was not able to communicate at that point but he opened his eyes a few times and I think he knew we were there. We had no idea how long he would be alive in the state he was in. As one of our doctor friends said “it could be a day, it could be a week”. So we left Saturday afternoon and headed to Des Moines. Saturday night at 11:15 pm we got a call that Paps had passed. Brutal. Why didn’t we stay just a bit longer? Was he alone? Did he know we had been there? Why hadn’t I called him last week like I’d planned? Why couldn't he have made it just 3 more months to meet his great-granddaughter? Some questions we will never have the answers to but you have to just push them aside and tell yourself that Paps knew he was loved. And even though I wasn’t always the best granddaughter (I should have called more often, sent more cards, etc, etc) I think he knew that I loved him. I have to believe that. Otherwise it will eat at me for the rest of my life.
I stayed in Des Moines with Kara and Todd and Wade unfortunately had to travel back home to be on a flight to New Jersey on Monday. Paps’ funeral was Wednesday and it was a very nice, small service. Then we traveled to Galesburg on Friday where I met back up with Wade.
So we finally got home after nearly 10 days away last night at 8:30. Possibly the longest week ever. I’m exhausted. I had my first baby shower on May 1st that I want to tell you all about but it will have to wait.
Little Nugget has another guardian angel watching over her now. I miss you and love you Paps.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Photo Tag Time
The wonderful Ms. Gabby from Gabby She Wrote tagged me for a photo tag and well since these are so much fun I thought I’d play along!
Here are the rules:
Open your 1st photo folder
Scroll to the 10th photo
Post the photo and the story behind it.
Tag 5 or more people
I think ya’ll may have seen this photo before. Not sure. It’s taken in Mexico at the swing bar at the resort we stayed at. We were down there for our good friends, Brad & Erika’s wedding. Those drinks in our hands look SOOOOO good right now. I’m pretty sure I’m drinking a White Russian and Wade has a mojito. The quality isn’t the greatest unfortunately but I love this picture! It brings back good memories! I want to go back! And yes, I have a swizzle stick in my mouth for some reason.
So I usually take the lazy way out of tagging and just say I want whoever is reading this to play along and let me know! Today is no exception b/c I’m always lazy and I’m too preoccupied w/ the upcoming appointment today to think about anything else! Ahhhh!!! When will 1:30 get here?!?!?!
Here are the rules:
Open your 1st photo folder
Scroll to the 10th photo
Post the photo and the story behind it.
Tag 5 or more people
I think ya’ll may have seen this photo before. Not sure. It’s taken in Mexico at the swing bar at the resort we stayed at. We were down there for our good friends, Brad & Erika’s wedding. Those drinks in our hands look SOOOOO good right now. I’m pretty sure I’m drinking a White Russian and Wade has a mojito. The quality isn’t the greatest unfortunately but I love this picture! It brings back good memories! I want to go back! And yes, I have a swizzle stick in my mouth for some reason.
So I usually take the lazy way out of tagging and just say I want whoever is reading this to play along and let me know! Today is no exception b/c I’m always lazy and I’m too preoccupied w/ the upcoming appointment today to think about anything else! Ahhhh!!! When will 1:30 get here?!?!?!
Cheerio~
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Pot Baby
Back in my college days I was known to smoke some pot every now and then. And really, who didn’t toke up every once and a while back in college? If you say you didn’t you are lying. Even Bill Clinton admitted to it and he saying he didn’t inhale is total bull shit in my book. Regardless, don’t judge, I haven’t been near pot in ages (my fun college days are way behind me, dammit).
Pot made me hungry 99.9% of the time that I smoked it. I remember one time after enjoying a little pot I was so ravenous I attacked the pantry trying to find something to eat. Unfortunately, being a broke college student the pantry had ramen noodles, peanut butter, saltines and granola bars in it. That isn’t much to work with. At least you’d think it wasn’t. However in my genius pot haze I thought of the best plan ever. To dip the chocolate chip granola bars into the jar of peanut butter. I remember my sister and I standing in the pantry doorway like hungry wolves over a carcass engorging ourselves w/ peanut butter covered granola bars. You’d have thought it was the most fabulous meal cooked by a world famous chef the way we inhaled these things. Looking back I’m sure had we been sober they would have tasted decent enough but nowhere near good enough for us to be shoveling them in our mouths the way we did. And one other time I ate an entire medium pepperoni pizza by myself. The whole thing. In one sitting. And I locked myself in my boyfriend’s room so no one else would even dare try to take a slice. (No wonder I gained the freshman 15…) Talk about a little pot piggy.
After my pot use was over and I grew up into a mature adult (ahem...) I became a fairly picky eater. I’d only be in the mood for certain foods and if that isn’t what Wade wanted too bad for him b/c that is the only thing I can even think of eating.
Not anymore.
Give me anything.
I don’t care what it is.
I’ll eat it.
It’s like I’m a human garbage truck. And I’m eating non-stop. It’s like I’m back in college and smoked pot again and all I can do is think of eating.
Anyways, I’ve come to think that this baby is the equivalent of really good pot. Minus the nonstop giggling and me saying “what?” over and over. So basically this baby makes me want to eat anything and everything. You’d think I was a starving Ethiopian child the way I want/dream/think about food all the time. So if you ever have the pleasure of enjoying a meal with me while I am expecting you’d better watch your hands. If they even start to move toward my plate there is a good chance I will bite your finger off.
And eat it.
Ciao!
Pot made me hungry 99.9% of the time that I smoked it. I remember one time after enjoying a little pot I was so ravenous I attacked the pantry trying to find something to eat. Unfortunately, being a broke college student the pantry had ramen noodles, peanut butter, saltines and granola bars in it. That isn’t much to work with. At least you’d think it wasn’t. However in my genius pot haze I thought of the best plan ever. To dip the chocolate chip granola bars into the jar of peanut butter. I remember my sister and I standing in the pantry doorway like hungry wolves over a carcass engorging ourselves w/ peanut butter covered granola bars. You’d have thought it was the most fabulous meal cooked by a world famous chef the way we inhaled these things. Looking back I’m sure had we been sober they would have tasted decent enough but nowhere near good enough for us to be shoveling them in our mouths the way we did. And one other time I ate an entire medium pepperoni pizza by myself. The whole thing. In one sitting. And I locked myself in my boyfriend’s room so no one else would even dare try to take a slice. (No wonder I gained the freshman 15…) Talk about a little pot piggy.
After my pot use was over and I grew up into a mature adult (ahem...) I became a fairly picky eater. I’d only be in the mood for certain foods and if that isn’t what Wade wanted too bad for him b/c that is the only thing I can even think of eating.
Not anymore.
Give me anything.
I don’t care what it is.
I’ll eat it.
It’s like I’m a human garbage truck. And I’m eating non-stop. It’s like I’m back in college and smoked pot again and all I can do is think of eating.
Anyways, I’ve come to think that this baby is the equivalent of really good pot. Minus the nonstop giggling and me saying “what?” over and over. So basically this baby makes me want to eat anything and everything. You’d think I was a starving Ethiopian child the way I want/dream/think about food all the time. So if you ever have the pleasure of enjoying a meal with me while I am expecting you’d better watch your hands. If they even start to move toward my plate there is a good chance I will bite your finger off.
And eat it.
Ciao!
Thursday, December 31, 2009
2009 In Review
I can’t believe it’s the end of a decade. It kind of starts to make me feel old… Hmmm… Regardless, 2009 was a great year for us. Here is to hoping that 2010 is even better and is wonderful for all of you as well!
Here is a look back at what we did this past year:
January - A pretty quiet start to the year 2009. We made a trip down to Des Moines for Wade to be in an indoor race. He's his own biggest fan. J/k :)
Here is a look back at what we did this past year:
January - A pretty quiet start to the year 2009. We made a trip down to Des Moines for Wade to be in an indoor race. He's his own biggest fan. J/k :)
February - We made our annual trip up north to Bessemer, MI for a weekend of drinking, drinking and more drinking. Some people actually get out and hit the slopes but not me. :)
March - Made another trip down to Des Moines for Alicia's birthday party and also had family up to visit us in MN. The weekends were all full!
April - We got our kitchen repainted! It looks so much better although we still need new cabinets. (That will be a 2010 project!) And our yard put together with a new fence and garden! Success!
May - What a busy month! I participated in the Des Moines MS Walk, saw Foreigner in concert, went to IL for a race and turned 30 years old! Holy moly!
June - Wade participated in the MS150 bike ride (I was the chauffeur) and Wade left for France which left me behind for 2 weeks and just dying to get there to meet him!
July - Another BUSY month! I left to meet Wade in Europe for a 10 day trip that included Paris, Amsterdam, Bruge and Bacharach. Time of our lives. We also traveled to Chicago to see our great friends, Bill & Bartels, and Wade turned 30! How we squeezed that all into 31 days I have no clue!
August - STURGIS baby! I love that town. Nuf said! We also made a trip to Galesburg and made it out onto the lake. 
September - I took a trip to Chicago for girl's weekend getaway and had a blast! And we made another trip to Des Moines for the Iowa/Iowa State game.
October - We took a trip to Dallas, WI for Oktoberfest, had a neighbor outing in Minneapolis (and took the bus!), made it down to Des Moines for the ISU Homecoming game and partied like rockstars for Halloween. I also busted the shit out of my knee. It felt good. Not! :) 
November - Wade and I celebrated 3 years of marital bliss, our good friends the Schuman's finally visited us and we traveled all over for Thanksgiving feasts!
December - We went to an ugly sweater party, I saw Paps for the first time in years and we traveled like rockstars for Christmas vacation.
Looking back at the year I realize we have been busy little beavers! I'm looking forward to January which is usually a quiet month! :)Coming up tonight, we are having a little get together to ring in the new year. Cheers to you and all of yours for a happy, healthy, prosperous and fun 2010!
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Wordless Wednesday
Going old school on this one: July 2004, Apple River, WisconsinHoly crap, look at how long my hair is!?!?!
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Wordless Wednesday
On our honeymoon
Wade has been gone now for 4 days enjoying his time (and working hard too I'm pretty sure) in Lyon, France. I miss him... Boo hoo.
xoxo
Debbie Downer
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