Here's our little peanut at two months old.
Enjoy!!
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
The Bell Rings In Some Memories
Mark and I met for lunch today (along with our little sidekick, PFB). He was short on time so our options were limited. It had to be something in Oglesby and the only options in Oglesby are fast-food. Since we had already had our fill of burgers and fries from the weekend spent traveling over to MI., we decided to think outside the bun and spice things up a little with a visit to the Bell.
It had been awhile for me. Years even. I think I gave it up for Taco Time whilst living in Idaho, and whilst living in Michigan I think I only went once or twice. (I think a commercial for a Crunchwrap drew me in or something.) Since there is no Taco Time in our little neck of the woods, I've been considering going back to Taco Bell for awhile. (As if it's this big meaningful decision or something...once again those new commericals for the Black Jack taco drew me in. I'm such a sucker for shiny advertisements of yummy food.) Anyway, I took the plunge today and in doing so was plunged into some serious melancholy.
As I ordered my lunch, it hit me...Taco Bell brings back some fun, happy memories for me. It reminds of me of my 2nd year at Ricks...living at Birch Plaza...hanging out with Sheila, Todd, assorted roomates, assorted boyfriends, Neil, Peanut, Ali-sone (our next door neighbor), and whoever was game to make a trip to Idaho Falls for some sweet Taco Bell goodness. At the time, Rexburg didn't have a Taco Bell and so we'd actually drive the 25 odd miles to Idaho Falls to get some. It was like a mini-road trip for us. It was an escape from the norm, an escape from the day-to-day rigors of school, homework, cooking Ramen, or eating cold cereal three times a day. I loved our trips to IF to that Taco Bell. I looked forward to it. It was a special treat, a way to pamper myself on a small budget.
Each time we went it was a different gaggle of friends. Like I said, different roomates of mine or Sheila's would tag along, sometimes Todd and one or two of his roomies or friends would come. But always it was me and She-She in the blue box (her powder blue Ford Tempo). I am so grateful for Sheila, she has been one of my dearest friends over the years. To pay her back, we'd sometimes foot the bill for her lunch, or fill up her tank with gas. Whatever the price to get our fix.
I'd always order the same thing more or less. A couple of soft chicken tacos, maybe a bean burrito (hold the onions and the sauce). I loved the Taco Salad, the Mexican Pizza, and the 7-layer burrito. The choices were delectable. And to top it off, they had Dr. Pepper on fountain...what could be more perfect? A match made in heaven (did I just say that?!?) My only problem with Taco Bell is that their dessert options are non-existant. Cinnamon twists? Really? That's it? I need chocolate. So we discovered the choco-taco at Maverick. We'd usually pick one of those up on the way home, or if they weren't in stock some other piece of chocolate-y goodness would suffice.
Those were fun times spent with fun friends, footloose and fancy-free. Reminds me of dusty expanses of dried up potato fields in the Fall, mountains of snow and black ice in the Winter, and in the Spring--the feeling of excitement and being in love with life as the world began to thaw out from a long, frigid winter. Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians was on the radio in Sheila's car--we would be belting out Circle of Friends together. Or Blind Melon's No Rain. Sometimes the Cranberries, sometimes the Carpenters, it was all good. Those were the good old days.
And I'm glad I was reminded of them today over my Taco Bell combo meal. It made me happy. It reminded me of how simple things make life so good. But especially how important friends make it incredible. So next time you're at Taco Bell, raise your value meal soda in honor of happy memories, good friends, and being young.
(Thank you Sheila, and everybody else for the memories...I love you all!)
It had been awhile for me. Years even. I think I gave it up for Taco Time whilst living in Idaho, and whilst living in Michigan I think I only went once or twice. (I think a commercial for a Crunchwrap drew me in or something.) Since there is no Taco Time in our little neck of the woods, I've been considering going back to Taco Bell for awhile. (As if it's this big meaningful decision or something...once again those new commericals for the Black Jack taco drew me in. I'm such a sucker for shiny advertisements of yummy food.) Anyway, I took the plunge today and in doing so was plunged into some serious melancholy.
As I ordered my lunch, it hit me...Taco Bell brings back some fun, happy memories for me. It reminds of me of my 2nd year at Ricks...living at Birch Plaza...hanging out with Sheila, Todd, assorted roomates, assorted boyfriends, Neil, Peanut, Ali-sone (our next door neighbor), and whoever was game to make a trip to Idaho Falls for some sweet Taco Bell goodness. At the time, Rexburg didn't have a Taco Bell and so we'd actually drive the 25 odd miles to Idaho Falls to get some. It was like a mini-road trip for us. It was an escape from the norm, an escape from the day-to-day rigors of school, homework, cooking Ramen, or eating cold cereal three times a day. I loved our trips to IF to that Taco Bell. I looked forward to it. It was a special treat, a way to pamper myself on a small budget.
Each time we went it was a different gaggle of friends. Like I said, different roomates of mine or Sheila's would tag along, sometimes Todd and one or two of his roomies or friends would come. But always it was me and She-She in the blue box (her powder blue Ford Tempo). I am so grateful for Sheila, she has been one of my dearest friends over the years. To pay her back, we'd sometimes foot the bill for her lunch, or fill up her tank with gas. Whatever the price to get our fix.
I'd always order the same thing more or less. A couple of soft chicken tacos, maybe a bean burrito (hold the onions and the sauce). I loved the Taco Salad, the Mexican Pizza, and the 7-layer burrito. The choices were delectable. And to top it off, they had Dr. Pepper on fountain...what could be more perfect? A match made in heaven (did I just say that?!?) My only problem with Taco Bell is that their dessert options are non-existant. Cinnamon twists? Really? That's it? I need chocolate. So we discovered the choco-taco at Maverick. We'd usually pick one of those up on the way home, or if they weren't in stock some other piece of chocolate-y goodness would suffice.
Those were fun times spent with fun friends, footloose and fancy-free. Reminds me of dusty expanses of dried up potato fields in the Fall, mountains of snow and black ice in the Winter, and in the Spring--the feeling of excitement and being in love with life as the world began to thaw out from a long, frigid winter. Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians was on the radio in Sheila's car--we would be belting out Circle of Friends together. Or Blind Melon's No Rain. Sometimes the Cranberries, sometimes the Carpenters, it was all good. Those were the good old days.
And I'm glad I was reminded of them today over my Taco Bell combo meal. It made me happy. It reminded me of how simple things make life so good. But especially how important friends make it incredible. So next time you're at Taco Bell, raise your value meal soda in honor of happy memories, good friends, and being young.
(Thank you Sheila, and everybody else for the memories...I love you all!)
Monday, October 19, 2009
Festive Fallish Fun, Part 2: The Belated Birthday Party Edition
On Saturday we had Avery's belated 7th birthday party...only a month late. Not too bad, right? I actually wrote that on the invitations. "Avery's birthday was actually a month ago, cut me some slack, I'm trying my best, please come anyway..." I made a pretty good case study of a sleep-deprived and spacey new Mom, I think. In any event, it seemed to work. Out of a possible 10, 5 of her friends came. I think she was thrilled either way.
I asked Avery what kind of theme she wanted to go with for her party, and she honestly didn't have any opinions. So I kind of "suggested" we have a "Fall Festival" birthday party. She thought it was a great idea too. She has a lot of fond memories of our Michigan traditions even in the short time we lived there. So a Fall Festival we had.
When her guests arrived, they played outside for awhile, then came in and we colored Scarecrow placemats, had pizza for lunch, and then played some Fall games. We "fished" for apples (instead of bobbing and getting drenched and water everywhere), we had apple relay races, musical towels, a dance party in the basement, and painted some baby pumpkins.
Instead of cake and ice-cream, we had cider and donuts. It was a fun day, and went surprisingly well. I'm glad Avery could have her special day and all the fun memories that go along with it, even if it was a little late.
I asked Avery what kind of theme she wanted to go with for her party, and she honestly didn't have any opinions. So I kind of "suggested" we have a "Fall Festival" birthday party. She thought it was a great idea too. She has a lot of fond memories of our Michigan traditions even in the short time we lived there. So a Fall Festival we had.
When her guests arrived, they played outside for awhile, then came in and we colored Scarecrow placemats, had pizza for lunch, and then played some Fall games. We "fished" for apples (instead of bobbing and getting drenched and water everywhere), we had apple relay races, musical towels, a dance party in the basement, and painted some baby pumpkins.
Instead of cake and ice-cream, we had cider and donuts. It was a fun day, and went surprisingly well. I'm glad Avery could have her special day and all the fun memories that go along with it, even if it was a little late.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Festive Fallish Fun, Part One
Well, I finally got some Halloween decorations up...here's a peek at a couple festive spots in our house.
This is in our kitchen/dining room.
And this is on the piano in the living room. We picked up the Peanuts characters last year at the after Halloween sales. The Great Pumpkin and the Legend of Sleepy Hollow are my all-time favorite (if only) Halloween movies. (P.S. Yes, we got a piano...some people in our Ward were just giving it away. I told them I don't even play, but hopefully someday somebody in this house will.)
Look at this little bundled up punkin'--I think we were taking her out for her first walk in the stroller.
I know, the bow is bigger than her head. But I can't resist.
She is our little Parker Punkin'...hee hee.
This is in our kitchen/dining room.
And this is on the piano in the living room. We picked up the Peanuts characters last year at the after Halloween sales. The Great Pumpkin and the Legend of Sleepy Hollow are my all-time favorite (if only) Halloween movies. (P.S. Yes, we got a piano...some people in our Ward were just giving it away. I told them I don't even play, but hopefully someday somebody in this house will.)
Look at this little bundled up punkin'--I think we were taking her out for her first walk in the stroller.
I know, the bow is bigger than her head. But I can't resist.
She is our little Parker Punkin'...hee hee.
Friday, October 9, 2009
The Story
I am forcing myself to sit down today and finally bang this story out. It's been a month (can you believe it?!?) since Parker was born and if I don't get this out now, I'm afraid I will lose some of the details in this jumbled-up, cloud-like brain of mine.
So...here goes...
Around 4 in the morning on Saturday, the 5th I got up to use the bathroom and noticed that my "mucous plug" (that's such a gross term, sorry everybody) had passed. After the false alarm I had on Tuesday, I was a little gun-shy and wanted to really make sure that this was the real thing, so I waited. I figured it would still be awhile, so I went back to bed, even though I was having contractions pretty regularly. They were coming about 8-10 minutes apart. I didn't want to wake the whole house up and I was already tired from a restless night's sleep. Around 8 or 9 that morning, I looked up "mucous plug" in my "What to Expect" Bible and it said that labor would probably happen within 24 hours. I informed the family over breakfast that morning that we'd most likely have a baby by the end of the day. They were excited, but for some reason it didn't really sink in with anyone that today would be the day.
We went about our normal Saturday morning activities. Mark cleaned the bathrooms, I did the floors throughout the house, and straightened things up. Maryn got ready for her soccer game, which was at noon that day. We decided to pack up the hospital bag and carseat and head to the game. It was probably best that we were all in Peru if something "happened" than in Tonica, so off we went.
We got to the soccer game, and I hobbled out to the field where Maryn was playing. I was really uncomfortable by this time, was still timing my contractions--now almost 5-6 minutes apart, and sitting in a lawn chair in the hot sun...what was I thinking?!? About half way through the game, I couldn't take it anymore. Avery and I headed back to the van, and we sat in the A/C until Maryn finished her game. Even then, instead of going to the hospital, we decided to head over to get some lunch at Maryn's favorite restaurant. We sat down, ordered our food, and then wham!! The contractions really hit and I got really uncomfortable. I actually got really emotional and instead of screaming in pain, I started crying. The waitress came with our soup and drinks, and Mark had to tell her that we wouldn't be staying. You should have seen the look on her face. She told us that it was fine for us to leave, and we did. We didn't have time to pay for anything, we just got out of there and raced over to the hospital.
Luckily the hospital was only 2 minutes away from the restaurant and when we got there, I was still crying. The attendant at the desk put me in a wheelchair and literally ran me down the hall and up the elevator to Labor and Delivery. In the meantime, Mark had called our emergency crew to take the girls for the rest of the day and night, and he joined me in my triage room. They got me hooked up to the monitors and were in the midst of getting my IV in. It had been about half an hour since we got there when my water broke!! Mark had been out in the hall handing the girls off, so when he got back in things were really underway!! It was a really good thing we had gotten to the hospital when we did, although all the nurses and doctor said I should have gotten there way earlier. Oh well.
The only problem was that because it was Saturday, and because it was Labor Day weekend, my doctor was out of town and I had to have the on-call doctor. He was an old-school doctor from Chicago, originally from Persia. I was a little disappointed, but really had no choice. My pediatrician was also out of town, so we had to have the on-call Ped doc too. Blah. Not ideal, but they both did their job.
They whisked me down to the OR, and got me all situated for my spinal. I was so relieved to be able to have a spinal for this c-section. With Avery, I had to have a general anesthetic and remember just being so scared and then I was unconscious for the entire thing. So I was very happy to be awake and aware of everything that was going on. I chatted with the nurses and was excited for my baby to be born, instead of feeling scared and freaking out. I had great nurses who were very helpful and I remember especially the Anesthesiologist (sp?) was my homegirl!! She talked me through everything that was happening, and was just really comforting to me throughout the entire thing. Mark joined me in the OR, and within a few minutes we heard the cry of our newborn baby girl!!
The doctors took her over to the layette to clean her and bundle her up, and as they held her up for me to see her I was immediately overcome with emotions. So beautiful, so perfect, so wonderful. I couldn't believe that she came out of me. After all the waiting, our Baby girl Brown was finally here!! I remember thinking that she looked so tiny. I was expecting a bigger baby this time because it was almost 38 weeks afterall and the ultrasounds always measured big. But she looked tiny. And she was...6 lbs. 9 ounces...actually an ounce less than Avery's birthweight. She was so delicate and pretty. She reminded me of both of the girls...more Maryn at first because of her dainty fingers and her smallness. But then when I studied her face more, she reminded me of Avery around the mouth and chin. One thing for sure was that she belonged to us...she fit right in with my other beautiful little girls.
After the c-section was over, they took me to a recovery room, while Mark took Parker up to the nursery. I got to see her after a couple hours. The feeling was overwhelming...we were so elated. A perfect day. Our Parker Faye was born, and we were absolutely in love with her from the moment she entered this world. It's such a miracle. We are so grateful.
So there you have the story of how Parker came to be. It's been a whole month since that day and it still seems like yesterday, I hope it always will. She is getting bigger now, actually out-growing some of her newborn clothes even. It's already going so quickly!! I am trying to enjoy it--every day of it--because I do know how fast it goes. I am absolutely in love!!
So...here goes...
Around 4 in the morning on Saturday, the 5th I got up to use the bathroom and noticed that my "mucous plug" (that's such a gross term, sorry everybody) had passed. After the false alarm I had on Tuesday, I was a little gun-shy and wanted to really make sure that this was the real thing, so I waited. I figured it would still be awhile, so I went back to bed, even though I was having contractions pretty regularly. They were coming about 8-10 minutes apart. I didn't want to wake the whole house up and I was already tired from a restless night's sleep. Around 8 or 9 that morning, I looked up "mucous plug" in my "What to Expect" Bible and it said that labor would probably happen within 24 hours. I informed the family over breakfast that morning that we'd most likely have a baby by the end of the day. They were excited, but for some reason it didn't really sink in with anyone that today would be the day.
We went about our normal Saturday morning activities. Mark cleaned the bathrooms, I did the floors throughout the house, and straightened things up. Maryn got ready for her soccer game, which was at noon that day. We decided to pack up the hospital bag and carseat and head to the game. It was probably best that we were all in Peru if something "happened" than in Tonica, so off we went.
We got to the soccer game, and I hobbled out to the field where Maryn was playing. I was really uncomfortable by this time, was still timing my contractions--now almost 5-6 minutes apart, and sitting in a lawn chair in the hot sun...what was I thinking?!? About half way through the game, I couldn't take it anymore. Avery and I headed back to the van, and we sat in the A/C until Maryn finished her game. Even then, instead of going to the hospital, we decided to head over to get some lunch at Maryn's favorite restaurant. We sat down, ordered our food, and then wham!! The contractions really hit and I got really uncomfortable. I actually got really emotional and instead of screaming in pain, I started crying. The waitress came with our soup and drinks, and Mark had to tell her that we wouldn't be staying. You should have seen the look on her face. She told us that it was fine for us to leave, and we did. We didn't have time to pay for anything, we just got out of there and raced over to the hospital.
Luckily the hospital was only 2 minutes away from the restaurant and when we got there, I was still crying. The attendant at the desk put me in a wheelchair and literally ran me down the hall and up the elevator to Labor and Delivery. In the meantime, Mark had called our emergency crew to take the girls for the rest of the day and night, and he joined me in my triage room. They got me hooked up to the monitors and were in the midst of getting my IV in. It had been about half an hour since we got there when my water broke!! Mark had been out in the hall handing the girls off, so when he got back in things were really underway!! It was a really good thing we had gotten to the hospital when we did, although all the nurses and doctor said I should have gotten there way earlier. Oh well.
The only problem was that because it was Saturday, and because it was Labor Day weekend, my doctor was out of town and I had to have the on-call doctor. He was an old-school doctor from Chicago, originally from Persia. I was a little disappointed, but really had no choice. My pediatrician was also out of town, so we had to have the on-call Ped doc too. Blah. Not ideal, but they both did their job.
They whisked me down to the OR, and got me all situated for my spinal. I was so relieved to be able to have a spinal for this c-section. With Avery, I had to have a general anesthetic and remember just being so scared and then I was unconscious for the entire thing. So I was very happy to be awake and aware of everything that was going on. I chatted with the nurses and was excited for my baby to be born, instead of feeling scared and freaking out. I had great nurses who were very helpful and I remember especially the Anesthesiologist (sp?) was my homegirl!! She talked me through everything that was happening, and was just really comforting to me throughout the entire thing. Mark joined me in the OR, and within a few minutes we heard the cry of our newborn baby girl!!
The doctors took her over to the layette to clean her and bundle her up, and as they held her up for me to see her I was immediately overcome with emotions. So beautiful, so perfect, so wonderful. I couldn't believe that she came out of me. After all the waiting, our Baby girl Brown was finally here!! I remember thinking that she looked so tiny. I was expecting a bigger baby this time because it was almost 38 weeks afterall and the ultrasounds always measured big. But she looked tiny. And she was...6 lbs. 9 ounces...actually an ounce less than Avery's birthweight. She was so delicate and pretty. She reminded me of both of the girls...more Maryn at first because of her dainty fingers and her smallness. But then when I studied her face more, she reminded me of Avery around the mouth and chin. One thing for sure was that she belonged to us...she fit right in with my other beautiful little girls.
After the c-section was over, they took me to a recovery room, while Mark took Parker up to the nursery. I got to see her after a couple hours. The feeling was overwhelming...we were so elated. A perfect day. Our Parker Faye was born, and we were absolutely in love with her from the moment she entered this world. It's such a miracle. We are so grateful.
So there you have the story of how Parker came to be. It's been a whole month since that day and it still seems like yesterday, I hope it always will. She is getting bigger now, actually out-growing some of her newborn clothes even. It's already going so quickly!! I am trying to enjoy it--every day of it--because I do know how fast it goes. I am absolutely in love!!
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Ahhh-ctober
Can somebody tell me where September went? I can't believe it's already October--my favorite month of the year. I love Fall...can't get enough of it. Maybe it's because of my Michigan roots, but this time of year has always been magical for me. The colors on the trees, the falling leaves blanketing the late summer grass, the way it's chilly in the morning and sunny and warm in the afternoon. And don't get me started on the traditions...pumpkin patches, apple orchards, cider and donuts. Now I am really homesick. Thank goodness we are planning a weekend getaway in the next few weeks...we can fill our cider mill cravings (as well as try out that new dish at Pei Wei).
Things here are fine. I'm still hanging in there. A little blurry some days, but feeling a lot better on the whole. My pain meds are gone and I'm only limping a little bit now (compared to my all-out Igor hobble that is). Still trying to squeeze in a shower when I can, put on a clean pair of sweats from time to time, reading and posting to the Blog as much as I can, and oh yeah, remember how I have 2 other kids? Trying to stay on top of their stuff too...lots going on, that's for sure. Life goes on...I guess it's time for me to get back on board.
October is looking good...General Conference this weekend. I have a special fondness for Fall Conference. It reminds me of being at Ricks for some reason...and making the trip down to Provo to stay with Jeff and Amy to watch the broadcast at their place. We would visit Grandma Day, she would take us to Chuck-a-Rama, we would take drives up the canyon to see the leaves changing, and we would scope out the hotties on the Y campus. Those were the good 'ole days. It also reminds me of getting engaged to Mark. He proposed to me over Fall Conference, between the afternoon session and priesthood session on Saturday...took me for a drive up Provo Canyon to a cemetary overlooking the valley, and popped the question. Ah, the memories.
Besides Conference, we have other fun things planned. Avery will be having her belated 7th birthday party--a Fall Festival to be exact...should be fun!! Erin and Cole will be making a visit to Tonica--hooray!! And we will be making our first trip as a family of five to Michigan for a weekend. And let's not forget Halloween--can't wait for that either!! And right after Halloween, we will be blessing Parker Faye on November 1st in our Ward. Both sets of grandparents will be in attendance and we are excited to be able to show off not only our new baby girl, but also our n ew place and town to Dennis and Laurie. So happy and excited they will be able to come.
This is going to be a great month!!
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