Whew, finally an update!

So I have quite obviously been MIA for a while now. It seems like summertime slows down everyone’s blogs. It’s a busy time! Especially for my little famdam this year. I’ll do what my sister looooves to do and use bullet points.
*My close, close friends Josh and Lynsie (aka Sushi and Loincloth) got married in August. How lucky am I to have two such good friends find love together and get married. The wedding was beautiful and Max and I even got all spiffed up to stand up with them at the front. The reception was a lot of fun. Alcoholic beverages were drunk by all (except Max who does not drink) and I had enough for the both of us, enough to sing in front of 150ish people. Awesome. We all danced the night away (especially Rachel, haha) and had a great time celebrating these two people we love so much!

Here we are all dressed up.

*Their wedding was also my first night away from Dexter. I was quite sad not to come home and look in on him sleeping in his crib.
*I’ve been really trying to get my photography going. I want to be able to stay home with Dexter and baby #2 when s/he comes along someday (no, not pregnant now) and I will need to supplement my income somehow so I plan on doing the photography and having a daycare. So my “spare” time has been trying to get my name out there and working on the business end of things. Who knew there was so much to do and so much social networking to communicate with! It usually takes a couple years to really establish yourself so I’m hoping all this hard work this year will pay off next year with much more business. ***Shout out! I’m on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Jess-Arco-Photography/129784967115002 Come “Like” me! ***
*We got a kitty. Max hates cats and is allergic but we live in a farmhouse and with a farmhouse comes mice. Yuck. Previous years kills have come from mouse traps but with Mr. Dexter crawling all over the place, I don’t want mouse traps out. Max only agreed to an outside cat but I was hoping to just squeeze her in as an inside cat but unfortunately it appears that I am also allergic to cats. Who knew?! I have never had one before. Both our allergies should subside once we get her outside. Her name is Ivey. We have had her upstairs for the last week and a half and last night I moved her down the basement to adjust to the cooler weather. She’ll stay down there for another week or so and then we’ll move her outside. Hopefully my hands and feet can survive this rash that she gives me. It’s too bad. She’s such a good kitten and is very loveable. She is so good with Dexter. He really reams on her and pulls her legs/tail but she just puts up with it. I almost feel like we should give her to someone that wants an inside cat and get a kitten that hates people. That would work great for us.
*My other bestie JW is getting married on Friday. I am very excited for her and I’m happy that she loves me so much to make me maid of honor. I hope that my speech is up to her expectations ;) We have been preparing for so long to make her big day special and I know she’s stressed but the wedding will turn out beautiful. All the details she has though of are so very cute. After this wedding all my Monday friends will be married and then baby making time will begin!
*Max got a new job up at the hospital that he started at the beginning of August. You have NO IDEA how nice it is for him to have a job that is sort of in his field and he is NOT ALLERGIC TO! The rash on his hands is just about all gone (he was allergic to the oil in the concrete which is hard to get away from when you work at a concrete factory) and he is feeling much better. He doesn’t have to shower when he gets home from work and I don’t get nasty concrete dust all over everything. We both are so happy that he got this job. Thanks Rachel for telling him about it! He also works the same hours that I do so we are able to carpool every day and that saves a lot of money!
*Max and I carpool to work every day. The positive listed above. The negative being the car rides were my only “me” time for the whole day. It’s been really hard trying to find that time to myself. I always used to switch off between calling my mom or my sister or just sitting in the car in silence. Now rarely get to do any of the above. I’m definitely not complaining because it really saves us a lot of money to be able to drive together and previously we never got to spend together so now we are spending ALL our time together but you know how important that “me” time is. Plus I think my sister and my mom are feeling the effects of it as well since they don’t get to talk to me as much anymore.
*My son is almost ONE! How the devil did one year go by so fast? I’ve been busy trying to make preparations for his party. I know it seems a bit early but if I don’t do it now I will procrastinate and I really want this to be a good party for him. Even though technically he won’t even remember it. Either way, it is a celebration for everyone that we have had sweet, sweet Dexter in our lives for a year. Max’s family is so large that I had to find an alternate place to host the party since everyone wouldn’t fit in our house (and FYI we don’t have a small house). We were able to reserve a building at a park for free and there are enough picnic tables for all! Now we just have to hope for good weather and I’m sure everything else will fall together just fine.
I think that is enough updating for one day. If this blog gets any longer I will lose the few people I have as readers!

Bringing Sexy Back

Yesterday, as I was getting myself ready to go to a wedding reception I realized that I hadn't washed my hair in 2 1/2 days, hadn't shaved my legs in a week, I was wearing really unflattering comfy clothes, I was out of underwear so I was wearing my big huge "I'm 9 months pregnant" underwear that sags down to my knees and (Max's personal favorite), I hadn't shaved my armpits in 3 days.

Victoria's Secret called yesterday looking for their new angel. Right here baby, right here. On that front page with Adrina Lima and GISELLE (whom I really just don't like) is me, with my saggy pregnant underwear that all men are obviously attracted to. Bringing sexy back.

deja blog

I'm remembering a blog I read a while ago about a married couple and bed times. At the time I thought it was pretty funny and what not but now I completely get it. She was saying how she decides it's time for bed and she gets up, cleans up the kitchen, makes the kids lunches, picks out her clothes for the next day, yada yada yada and her husband decided its time for bed, gets up and goes to bed. I am having that same moment. Max was really tired today after a weekend of only getting about 5 hours of sleep a night and got up and went to bed. I decide to get ready for bed after getting Dex to sleep and I go do the dishes, make up a new batch of rice cereal for Dex, get his food ready for tomorrow, go wash my face, do the checkbook, pump, take the dogs out, put the clothes in the dryer and finally soon will be able to walk up the stairs to go to bed. I definitely didn't think that reading that blog a while ago would reflect my life so closely now. I'm sure that's how it goes for most families though. Mom gets tired and goes to bed an hour later... Dad gets tired and gets up and goes to bed.

misc thoughts

1. Yes, it's 930 at night and I have to get up in 3 1/2 hours to pump and get up about 3 times for Dexter but this is the only time I get to myself. 2. I hate sheetrock dust. 3. I just pinesoled my linoleum and I don't care. 4. I love my son with all my heart. 5. My remodel is freaking awesome. 6. I hope I keep up with mom's habit of having the dishes done when you go to bed. What concept! 7. I am really enjoying the show Bones. 8. I have lost 50 pounds since giving birth to Dexter and I only have 8 more to go... although my body is very different then it used to be. 9. I heart breastfeeding. I have lost all that weight while still eating pretty much whatever I want. Breastmilk calories :) 10. I had to move Dexter up to the next size carseat. The one that you don't take out of the car. It was getting a little uncomfortable for my buddie to get squished into his old one... He is my chunky monkey! That is enough for now. Night!

daycare blues

I dropped off my beloved son at daycare this morning. I knew it would be hard but man oh man was it really hard. I’m not a crier and I barely made it out to the car before tears came out. For some reason I felt really weird crying in front of the other daycare kids so I had to hold it in. Don’t want those little kiddos thinking I’m a big baby or anything.

I called her at 930 to see how things were going and I just text her now to check on him. Things are going well. That’s all I can ask for. I can’t wait to be done for the day and go pick up my munchkin and see how he did in detail.

Today just solidified my want to stay at home and have a daycare. Ideally I would just stay home with my children but I don’t think financially that will ever fly so I’d be happy to watch other kiddos so I can have the opportunity to spend the day with my babies.

holy moses of a dream

I had the craziest dream last night and I need to write it down before I forgot because I remember EVERYTHING. Josh and Loin will think this is pretty funny since it revolves around them.

Max and I walk into this hospital. It’s a really weird ghetto hospital that isn’t very updated or at least the entrance way isn’t updated. Old chairs, that ugly green color that old hospitals have. You know what I mean. We walk in and we have to keep going down halls and then take a right. Over and over we have to take a right like it’s some kind of maze. Finally we get to an area where there are some rooms and they doors are wide open. There is one room we pass with all men. There are lots of men in there getting ready to see the doc but they are naked. Not like sexual naked but just standing/sitting waiting for the doctor. We pass that door and after we take a right down the next hall, there is a room filled with women. These women are all pregnant and in labor. There are no family or men with them but a room filled with women in various stages of labor. There are women walking around, women hunched over, women moaning and groaning and one woman in the corner was in the fetal position also naked. (What’s with these naked people in my dream?)

Anyway, we apparently finally get to where we are going and we see Josh and Lynsie in a room. Lynsie has gone into labor as well. She is almost fully dilated and has made it so far without pain meds. Josh is pacing the room back and forth and back and forth nervous. I see Loin have a contraction and Josh springs into action to be by her side.

All the sudden, Max and I are at entrance way of this hospital again. We have to make the long journey of all these halls and all those right turns past the naked men and the labor room of women. We make it back to Josh and Lynsie’s room and Rachel and Brad are outside of the room along with Josh. Rachel tells me that Lynsie has started to push. I ask Josh why he isn’t in the room and he shakes his head and says “I couldn’t handle it; I’m going to be sick”. I was incredulous thinking that no one was in the room with Lynsie.

“She’s doing this all by herself?!” I asked.

Rachel then tells me that JW and Phil are in the room with her. Phil? What the heck. So we wait. Finally, Phil comes out of the room and is chuckling to himself… he couldn’t handle it either. Apparently it was too much for him. So Rachel and I fight to get in the room and Rachel beats me. So I wait.

Somehow, I finally get in the room and it’s just Lynsie, me and some invisible nurse. I don’t see her but I know she’s there. Lynsie is fully dressed in nice clothes and her coat still. She has a contraction and I tell her that she needs to breathe because it will help it not hurt so much (since she still hasn’t had any pain meds). I can still see her face all red with pain and with holding her breath for so long. After the contraction passes, I ask her if she wants her coat off which she does. We take off her coat and suddenly the baby is out. It’s a boy. At this point everyone is in the room and we ask what the baby’s name is. “Tripp” Lynsie says, “Tripp James Cole Oswald”. She called him Tippy though. He was a beautiful chunky baby boy with lots of dark hair.

I tell Lynsie it’s important to have skin to skin time right away and that she needs to get back in bed (why she was out of bed I don’t know). We get her back in bed and get her shirt off and I lay Tripp on her chest and cover them both up with the sheet so people didn’t see Lynsie’s chest. Then Lynsie looks up at me and smiles. It’s that tired smile that you get after you have gone though something hard and painful but received something so amazing you can’t even believe it.

Then I woke up.

Tell me what that bad boy means.

that's exactly what I meant

Even though we weren't looking the greatest, I wanted to take some pictures together.

J: Can you try to NOT look like a serial killer Max?
M: Ok, I'm just really tired.

J: Yep, that fixed it.

egh...MN drivers

To the red Silverado, MINNESOTA driver in front of me this morning on the freeway-

I would love to understand your logic of:

1. Staying in the left lane the entire time

2. Speeding up between cars on the left

3. Slowing down while passing a car

4. Being a jerk in general

Please get out of the left lane. Thanks.

Absent for one day...

Please excuse my boobs from having to pump or breast feed for one day. They are tired and want a break. They will be back in business after one day. Thanks!

-Jessie

Poor Grandma

On Monday my poor poor Grandma (my car, not my actual Grandma) took a pooper. I was up by the post office at the intersection and she made some sort of noise and started super chugging. I had JW come meet me to drive behind me home in case something exploded and I put a little more gas in the car in case there was some water in there but she was still chugging so bad and the engine starting clicking like a stick on bicycle spokes. Obviously not trusting the old gal to get me home, I left her in the Walmart parking lot and JW drove me home. I've been driving Max's loud, smelly, dirty, COLD (no working thermostat) to work. I really am not complaining about it, I am so very thankful we have the car because what the devil would we do without it!?
Anyway, after some tricky business with Triple A, Max's mom towed it out to our mechanic's house today where we await the verdict to see if Grandma is done for or if (please please please) it's something small to fix. There is never a good time to buy a new car but if that is the case, then Grandma has done her share of carting me around. The old gal has 275,000 miles currently so if she wants to be done, she can be done. I hope she misses me though and wants to continue on our adventures to work!

Settling in

It's been a while since I've felt the urge to come back to my blog. A lot has happened and my life is 100% different. I wanted to take time to fully enjoy and get used to my new life as a mother. I never knew the kind of changes that come with having a child and it takes time to get used to the overwhelming shift in emotions and your day to day life. I love it. I absolutely love it. I have no idea how well I will do at this but I want my blog to document my life as it is now so that I can look back and remember these days with my new family. I see now how fast time goes by and I want to remember this. I want to remember the begining of my growing family.

I heart my crockpot!

Crock pot lady :) (The link for her blog... I've also added it to my "Facsinating People" list)

This woman made it her personal challenge to use her crockpot every day in 2008 and she included every recipe that she tried... score! Max and I love our crockpot and are quite sick of the things we are cooking so this is a win-win find! Plus I'll bet this will be very nice to have on hand when we make our new transition from coupledom to parents!

brb

I know that my 28 week blog is late.

I'm editing photos every spare minute I have.

When I come up for air I'll be back.

Hopefully real soon.

Don't yell at me!

Note to self #1999

When you are a lazy butt and you decide that it would be a great idea to start doing yard work, you will regret the few hours of squatting, weeding, and tilling that you did as it will make you more sore then you have been since high school when you thought it was a good idea to try doing sit ups every day. Bad, BAD idea.

The flower bed looks good though.

But sitting down hurts, especially the toilet.

Yikes.

haha xcel!

I didn't think I'd be doing this already!!

Yay for sunshine!

*I ran out of clothespins so I had to resort to hangers... where do those things run off to during the winter??

one more...

did i mention on top of 2 very messy dogs, i live with not just one but TWO of my mother-in-law's children. you may not understand this but EVERY. SINGLE. TIME i say this house is a disaster and a disgusting gross mess, they look at me like i'm crazy because you know what, it's looks pretty good to them... sick.

pros and cons

As I am cleaning my house after a month long absence on my part (whoops) I am starting to notice the little things people never tell you about having your own animals. You know all about the purchasing of the dogs, the vet bills, the food, the toys, their own little beds (that they don't use) and such but what about the unexpected costs? The ones that are small but add up quite fast!
Such as:
1) the amount of floor cleaner I go through now would have taken me 5 years to go through. granted, I have Luca (grrrr) the expensive purebred little sh** I just HAD to have who thinks he has a 2000 sq foot toilet but I think a lot of people have small dogs now and small dogs are just prissy and think everything is all about them.
2)along with floor cleaner, I cannot find a decent mop that can keep up with my dogs. other then the usual cleaning wear and tear, clyde likes to protect me from the mop and tears at the foamy bits at the end of it while i'm pushing the mop around yelling at him. I think i have gone through 3 or 4 mops in the last 2 years. no one tells you about mops.
3)off brand febreeze (i am against febreeze, i think it's taking over the world). my couches smell like dog. my whole house smells like dog. at least to me it does so you go through quite a bit of fabric refresher.
4) garbages... we actually haven't had to get a new garbage can but we are still trying to figure out a way to keep clyde out of the garbage since he has learned he can lift the lid with his head.
5) laundry detergent for all the couch blankets and pillows. (see number 3)
6) well, i just don't want to think about the rest.

It sounds like my dogs are bad dogs, and they are I guess in their own little ways. I love my little freaking devils but dang it, they aren't cheap. I suppose I just got thinking on this since I just mopped the bathroom and realized that I need a new mop. Again.
This post is just mindless rambling on my part, I don't want to continue on to the rest of the house. *sigh* does anyone just LOVE cleaning and what to finish up for me?
didn't think so

:(

As you all well know, my beautiful nephew was born this past Sunday. It was an incredible thing to watch and I am so glad I got to be a part of it.
I got really lucky(in a way) in the fact that on Thursday and Friday I had the flu. I even stayed home from work which I never do. Felt much better on Saturday. Sean, Harmony and Isaac came over to play some games and have dinner. Caitlin went into labor late Sat night and we went to the hospital around 3am on Sunday morning. I was able to be there for everything and be there when my little Axey came.
Then, I woke up on Monday morning with pink eye in my right eye. This morning I woke up with it in both eyes. Isaac was nice enough to pass that along to me.
I’m so sad though because I can’t go over there to see and snuggle and love and kiss my little Axey :( I can’t go over there on Saturday to take his newborn photos :(
I guess that Axton knew that I had a one day window there where I could be around him.
Thanks Axey! I’m glad you love your Auntie because she sure loves you and I will be sure to make up for lost time once it’s safe to go around you!

curious...

Do you think you can control what you dream about?

I don't think that you can. Last night I had a dream so realistic (probably because I was drugged up on Nyquil) that once I woke up, I was just praying that it wasn't real.

That made me wonder, do you think you can control what you dream about? Not what happens IN the dream because I know sometimes you can guide your dreams but what you are dreaming about?

You have balls lady...

We always have some potential clients that call that always are an eyebrow raiser… here was one of my latest.
J: Hello, (place of business) how can I help you?
C: I need to retain a law firm that can help me with some issues that I am having, the least problem being divorce. I want a firm that can help me with all my many problems and not have to split it up between firms. If your firm can’t do that for me then I can’t go with you.
J: Well we have 7 attorneys that can help you with most things… what else do you have going on?
C: Another thing is I have to be working with a Christian law firm, are you a Christian law firm? Does everyone there believe in Jesus Christ?
J: (slight baffled) ah, I have no idea what everyone’s belief’s are.
C: well then I can’t work with you guys. I need a Christian Law Firm. Are you a Christian?
J: ahhhhhhhhhh, yes (I don’t mind answering this question but I do realize that it isn’t an appropriate question to ask a stranger on the phone at a place of business)
C: Well, how do you know you are a Christian?

Excuse me?????? How is this any of your business???? (I didn't say this ONLY because I was at work and I don't want to get in trouble in case she would complain) I was definitely done with this lady. I gave her a referral number and got her off the phone. Geez, this lady had some balls! At least that is what I think… what do you think?