Officially a family man

That's right folks!

We have officially traded in the Mustang for a 2011 Kia Sorento!

No more hot rodding for the hubs!

Ain't she a beauty?

It's funny how exhaust systems and horsepower used to excite him and now he's jazzed about dual control heat and 3rd row seating.  Haha.  Oh how the times have changed!

What a difference a year makes!

Exactly one year ago I peed on a stick and our world changed forever!

From two little lines to 12 pounds of joy.....hard to believe how much happens in 365 days!

Here's our little man  in the very first thing we bought him that weekend.

Thanksgiving and the stomach flu

So our original Thanksgiving plans involved a 10 hour car ride to Ohio with 2 dogs and a baby.

Our actual plans involved the stomach flu......times 2.

I'm not sure which is worse.

All joking aside I was looking forward to Jamie's first trip to Ohio.

Maybe not the actual journey, but getting to see all of the hub's family and our friends.

Stuffing my face with all things Thanksgiving.

Watching the Ohio State vs Michigan game in Columbus.

 One things for sure....spending my day in the bathroom was NOT my idea of a good holiday.

Needless to say the Ohio trip was scrapped and we stayed home.

Thankfully things did settle down a bit in the stomach department for both me and the hubs by Thursday so we could leave the house to spend the day with my dad, brother and our family friends.

We even ventured out into the cold to watch the infamous Plaza lights turn on.

Though for the first time ever they actually turned on about 10 min early and we missed the official switch on by about 2 min.  I joked and said my mom wanted to see them first.  She did have the best seat in the house afterall.  :)

Today we were nothing but lazy.  It was glorious.

The only black Friday purchase I made was a cow print cloth diaper and all that took was one mouse click from the comfort of my own home.

No lines.  No waiting.  No 4am wake up calls.

That's my kind of shopping!

HAPPY BELATED TURKEY DAY!

i'z givin you mah stink eye

Anyone who has their Christmas decorations up already.  It's November people.  Respect the Turkey!

My neighbor who has had a random set of red and green tube lights outlining his lawn.....since September.  Nothing else.  If you're going to go against my cardinal rule of pre-Thanksgiving Christmas decor....at least put some effort into it.

The girl who used her credit card to make a 70 cent purchase.  She then went on to say how ridiculous someone else was for doing the same thing for only a 25 cent purchase.  Really?  Should you be judging?

The fully capable women with nothing in her hands who used the handicap button to open the door.  Seriously?  How much effort does it take to open the door yourself cause now you just look stupid standing there waiting for it to open in suuupper sloooow motion.

The inventor of baby socks.  Why even bother.  They NEVER stay on.  Would it be considered child abuse if I taped them to my sons feet?

The seedy salesman at CarMax.  So you want me to spend $4000 to fix the transmission in order for you to give me $2000 more for my trade in?  Right.  Cause that makes good sense.  I think I will just stick with the original lame ass offer you gave me and NOT put myself in the hole $2000 on a car I'm selling to you.  Thank you and good day sir.

The idiot who wasn't wearing a coat today.  It's 30 degrees people, stop living in denial that winter is here and put on a freaking coat.  Oh wait.  That idiot was me.

Tis the Season!

I'm a firm believer of "Respect the Turkey!"  About the only thing holiday related I allow myself to do before Thanksgiving is get my Christmas cards.

Enter Shutterfly.

I'm going to be honest.  The last few years I've used one of their competition.  Shhh.  Don't tell.  It's the same site I was using to upload all my pictures so it just seemed easier.  Well in the past 5 years I don't think they have changed their options.  Not once.  And while scanning through the same ho-hum choices I had last year...and the year before that....and the year before that, I decided it was time for something new.

I was blown away by the hundreds of choices at Shutterfly.  All shapes and sizes, room to write more than just "Happy Holidays, Love the EyeCanSee's."  Multiple photo spots.  Cause nothing bugs me more than a Christmas card from a friend with one lousy photo of their kids.  Don't get me wrong, kids are cute, but I want to see you too!  For this years greeting I'm thinking of using one of their story cards...the less I have to write out the better!  Plus more pictures....who doesn't want to see more of me and my fabulous family?!  I'm also loving the more non-traditional Red and Blue ones.  Here are some of my faves.

Bright and Merry

Family Letter Blue

Retro Ornaments Blue

Holiday Window

I was also impressed with their photobooks.  I keep meaning to put something together for Jamie's Baptism.....even if half my pictures are blurry and he's crying....still gotta remember it right?  If anything to use as means of embarrasment when he's older.  Plus they would make a great Christmas gift for his Godparents.

So have you all discovered the wonders of Shutterfly?  What are your favorite things?

They're offering a great deal right now where bloggers get 50 free cards!  Who doesn't love free stuff?

Go HERE and sign up now!

So What Wednesday

So Shannon over at Life After I Dew does a little thing called So What Wednesday and I thought I'd play along this week.

So What.....

• If I've become blog friends with my husbands ex-fiance.  It may seem like an unlikely friendship, but we have kids born a week apart and anytime you go through a pregnancy with someone it's hard not to bond.  Plus my husband thinks it's hilarious.
• If I have a fancy Keurig coffee maker at home but still spend an obscene amount on a Starbucks latte.  It's crack I tell you, I can't stay away.
• If I still haven't sent out any thank you's from Jamie's Baptism.  I'm usually on the ball with those kind of things but I've been a little pre-occupied lately.
• If I still haven't sent out any thank you's to all the people who've done wonderful things for us since my mom's passing.  I kind of think this is the one situation where you should be exempt from the formal 'Thank You,' but that's just me.
• If I'm totally getting ready to make you all suffer through yet another one of those stupid Shutterfly posts.  It's 50 free cards people, I'm not turning that down.  Consider yourself warned and I won't be mad when no one reads it.  :)
• If I don't really feel like celebrating the holidays this year.  I'll go through the motions for Jamie's sake, but don't expect any extra cheer or HoHoHo.
• If my house is a total disaster zone right now.  I wear a lot of hats these days and when I finally have a chance to sit down and watch my shows, playing maid just isn't happening.  The dust bunnies aren't going anywhere, I'll get them eventually.
• If I discovered my pre-pregnancy jeans actually fit, but I keep wearing the maternity ones cause they're so damn comfy.
• If I saw a cute pregnant lady the other day and was a teensy bit jealous and already getting baby fever again.  Yikes!

What are you saying 'So What' to this week?

A day late and a dollar short

Yesterday I turned 3 months old!

Can you believe it?!

It was a pretty busy month and since I'm still not a very good speller, I'll tell you what I did with pictures! (See how good I am with Tummy Time now!)

I got Baptized on 10.17.10

and cried the whole time!

Here are my godparents.....my Great Aunt Sue (she was mommy's godmother too AND we have the same Birthday!) and 2nd Cousin Jay

Here's my mommy's family ~ Grandpa, Grandma DD, Mommy, Daddy, Uncle Matt and Great Aunt Sue

And my daddy's family ~ Great Grandma, Mommy, Great Aunt Sue snuck in again, Daddy, Grandma Debbie and 2nd Cousin Jay

I got my first ear infection on 10.20.10 :(

But had fun spitting my pink bubblegum medicine back at mommy!

I wore dipsosable diapers for the first time....but I pooped on daddy....twice...so he said NEVER again. Mommy bought me this super cute airplane diaper....I was so glad to have a fluffy butt again!

Mommy put me in this stupid Bumbo seat for the first time

I did NOT like it.....probably cause all they had left was this girly purple color.

I had my very first Halloween.

I was a monkey.

Wasn't I so cute?!

I wore my first tie....

And went out on my first date with my future wife Isla...

I said goodbye to my Grandma DD.

I loved her alot and I'm sure gonna miss her, but I know she's up there in heaven watching over me!

One day at a time

So I've started a post about 5 different times in the last week and each time I'm left staring at a blank screen. I don't want my blog to become a bevy of depressing post after depressing post but unfortunately that's my life these days.

I started back to work last week.

Hello awkward.

People just don't know what to say...so they stare at you with "sad" eyes and treat you like you have 3 heads.

I've gotten more pats on the back and "How ya doing's?" in the past week then in my entire life combined.

I appreciate the condolences and I don't want to sound ungrateful, but it's getting kind of old to be constantly reminded of the one thing you're trying so hard to forget.

Some days I do forget, and twice have gone to call my mom only to quickly realize I can't.

Some days it feels like she's on vacation...and we'll get to catch up soon, but I know that isn't true.

Some days I smile and laugh and then wonder if people think that's weird and maybe I shouldn't be doing that either.

I cry over the weirdest things....like a trip to Hobby Lobby. I don't even like Hobby Lobby. I used to hate when my mom would drag me to those craft like stores looking for a bargain. And now here I am...standing in the fall clearance aisle...crying about a 66% off scarecrow that I know she would have loved simply because it was only $5.00.

No wonder people stare at me like I have 3 heads.

My friends have been amazing.

The out of the blue phone calls, texts, emails and cards always brighten my day.

The stocked fridge from all the delicious food they've brought.

The plants and flowers that show up on my doorstep.

None of it has gone unnoticed.

A group of my blog friends took me out to dinner last week.

It was the first time I felt like myself, like no one was judging me for having a good time or talking down to me like I might cry at any moment.

They also gave me a gorgeous dove necklace from Tiffany's.

Little did they know we had used the dove as the "theme" for all my mom's funeral programs and cards. I've been wearing it all week and it makes me feel like I always have a piece of her with me.

I live most days in a fog.

I take the days one at a time.

Cause honestly I can't manage more than that.

Day 12 ~ I believe....

So I'm a little behind in the challenge now, but I was determined to finish, so here goes nothing.

Day 12 ~ I believe.....

That formula feeding does not make you a bad mom.

That disposable diapers also don't make you a bad mom but they are NOT for me. I've touched more poop in the last 4 days of disposable using than I did in the first (almost) 3 months of cloth diapering.

That eventually my child will consistently sleep through the night and in the meantime, I will cherish the nights he already does.

That I will get through this.

That one day I will make it the whole day without crying.

That I will fit into my jeans again....and I don't mean the ones with an elastic waist. (Yes, almost 3 months later I'm still wearing maternity pants)

That marriage is hard......but oh so worth it.

That the power of the blogosphere is amazing. You don't know how much all your thoughts, prayers, concerns and comments have meant to me. Some days it's the only thing that made me smile.

That we will some how find extra money every month to pay for daycare.

That we will find a daycare.

That my son and all future children will know about their Grandma...even if I have to tape her picture to their forehead and tell them stories until their ears fall off.....they will know how much she loved them.

That KState will go to a bowl game this year.

That Starbucks puts crack in their coffee. How else do they get so many people (myself included) to pay $5 for some roasted beans.

That the juice is worth the squeeze.

God Saw You

Today is day I didn't think I'd be doing for at least another 30 years.

But God had other plans.

We may not undertand them, it may not seem fair, but we have to believe you're in a better place now mom.

I love you. Always and forever.

Em
God Saw You
God saw you getting tired
and a cure was not to be
so he put his arms around you
and whispered,
“Come to Me”
With tearful eyes we watched you
and saw you pass away
and although we love you dearly
we could not make you stay.
A Golden heart stopped beating
hard working hands at rest.
God broke our hearts to prove to us
he only takes the best