One Year Smoke Free, New Family Additions, & We're Having A ...

One Year Smoke Free
Hey everyone! Wow. I've been so busy this holiday season that I didn't even sit down to write about all the things going on. I was even too busy to blog about my one year smoke free anniversary! I can't believe I've made it an entire year already. The odd thing is, I've been having a worse time of it ever since I got pregnant. You'd think being pregnant would give me an extra boost, because it'd be like a whole other reason not to smoke, but not even. I think it's that even if I want to cheat and smoke a cig, I know I can't. Period. And that definitity makes the urge to smoke so much more powerful. But oh well ... being pregnant is no time to pick the habit back up! Not that I would anyway. One year, whoot!

New Family Additions
On Thanksgiving day I brought home two new family members. I remember talking about one of the rabbits, but I don't recall if I talked about the second rabbit. I wound up bringing two home, both females from the same litter. The black and white one is Alexia's and the orange and black one is Amber's. They are 3 months old and absolutely adorable. Within a week they were litter trained to pee only in their box. They live inside the house, in a cage, and are let out to play at least a couple times a day. They are extremely tame and have no objections to the kids carrying them all around the house.

Starlight (Alexia's bunny)


Angel (Amber's Bunny)


You might recall Bonnie, the parakeet that we took in last March. She was not quite a good fit for our household (kids & cat were a bit too much for her), so I finally did the inevitable and found her a new (and very good) home to better suit her personality. I then got to do what I've been wanting from the very beginning -- get a hand raised baby bird, one that was tame and trusting of humans, one that could be raised as a true part of the family.

I finally found a highly respected place that had healthy, not overbred, hand raised babies. I drove the 45 miles to get there, all excited, only to be told that they didn't really have anything left. All the babies had been taken for Christmas. The lady then mentioned that they had a few Lovebirds in a cage that were weaned and ready. I stepped over, seeing only yellow lovebirds, when I caught sight of a little green one with blue tail feathers. But still, I was under the impression that lovebirds needed to be kept in pairs, and I wanted a bird to bond with me, not another bird, but when I asked the saleslady she said that you only need two if you don't have the time to interact and bond with the bird. She said if you buy the one, and spend the time with it, it will bond to you, like it would a mate. Well that sounded about perfect. She let the birdie out of the cage and I carried it around the store. It only took a few minutes for me to know that this bird was the perfect one. So I took him home.

Lovebirds are parrots. Although most don't ever talk, they are still very intellegent birds. I've had Yoshi only 4 days, and already I've taught him how to shake hands and turn around. He was a bit skittish at first, but now welcomes my attention and sits readily in my hand, and allows me to pet him.

Yoshi the Lovebird (3 months)


And Finally, It's A ...
I am now 22 weeks pregnant and getting quite large. Two weeks ago I had my ultrasound -- the big ultrasound. It was there that we learned I am most definitely having a BOY. I honestly don't know what to think -- my husband really could care less either way, he has no inclination towards a boy, and I wanted another girl. So at the moment I'm not quite sure how I'll handle a boy. Don't get me wrong, I'm quite sure I'll do fine and I'll love him to pieces, just like my other two. It's just quite a big change, and hard to picture me & Alex raising a little boy, since all we know are girls. But anyways -- we will do fine, it's just going to take some getting used to the thought!

Okay, you know the deal. It will take me a while to catch up on everyone's blogs, but I will get there. In the meantime, I will plan on writing back soon.

Birthdays and Holidays Galore

I've been battling an unfriendly stomach bug and therefore haven't had time to catch up on everyone's blogs yet. I'm trying desperately to get better because I have such a big week ahead of me. On Saturday is Amber's 8th birthday! I've completed the shopping for gifts but still have to pick up a few key items like, oh, wrapping paper. Usually we wrap up the gifts about a week before and set them out for display. It's so much fun to see them agonize for a week over what's in the boxes. So with only 2 days until her birthday, we're a bit behind schedule.

Thanksgiving is one week from today! This is arguably my most favorite holiday of the year. This year I will be cooking for 11 people. And I love to cook so I do it ALL myself. I spend two full days cooking. But, again, I'm behind! I haven't finalized the menu, or the shopping list! And I'm sending the hubby shopping for everything tommorrow. I guess I better get on that, eh? Shame on me!

The good news is I have this entire week for VACATION. I'm so excited, it's my only complete week away from work this year (no, 6 weeks on disability hardly able to move around didn't count, because it felt nothing like a vacation!). And it will be busy -- busy with cleaning, cooking and shopping. But I think I kind of like that, actually. I've been slacking off too much on the weekends. At least this way I'll feel like I actually did something with my vacation instead of being lazy, since I can't actually go anywhere.

And finally, we're getting a new addition to the family! No, not the bun in my oven :P But a Holland Lop rabbit. Actually, we're planning on two, but in case erm.. "accidents" occur, we're making sure to grab them from different bloodlines. They're a bit hard to find around the St. Louis area, but we've got our first, and it's coming home with us on the 29th .. just over a week away! In case you haven't heard of the breed, the Holland Lop is the smallest of the Lop family, and maxes out at about 4 lbs if you have a true Holland Lop dwarf. This one we're getting has been hand raised, is about 6 weeks old, and will be ours shortly. Isn't he/she adorable?!





Well that's it for now. I will work on finishing catching up on everyone's blogs, and you'll certainly get a b-day/Thanksgiving update with pics!

Guess Who's Back ...

Do you ever have the problem where the longer you stay away from something, the harder it is to return? I feel that way now. I guess I expected that I should wow you all with some grand revelation that I learned while I was away and anything less would be unspectacular and boring. Well, sorry, I have no such revelations! I simply needed a break from the blogging world. But now I am lonely and want to come back! How else can I waste such quality time at work? I must admit that I have an unproductive hour first thing in the morning, while I drink my caffiene and get used to the idea of spending (yet another) day at the office. But boy is it hard to find an hour's worth of time wasting sites (most of the good ones are blocked by my work) without blogging and catching up on other people's lives. So alas, I will write at my previous rate of a blog or two a week, even if I have nothing interesting to talk about it.

I am into my fourth month of pregnancy, which is also my second trimester. It was a HUGE relief to pass that first trimester at the beginning of the last week. In fact, I'm starting to feel pretty good. I still have to go to bed early -- I've been pulling into bed slightly after I get the kids down, at approx. 8:30 each weeknight. But at least for the rest of the day I seem to have more energy. I still get into slumps, but nearly as much as before (come home, nap, then sleep at 8:00). At least now I'm cooking dinner a few nights a week instead of leaving it to my hubby or take out.

I am in full maternity garb now. I have zero pairs of non-maternity pants that I can wear, and just a handful of non-maternity shirts. I have had people who didn't know I was pregnant (but who did know me & what I looked like previously) ask me if I was pregnant. So I'm happy that I'm now looking more pregnant than fat, although I still feel like it's too soon! The good news is my weight gain has been much more controlled this time. It helps tremendously that my pregnancy craving is NOT McDonalds this time around! Actually, the craving thing is kinda driving me nuts. The problem is that I have no set craving. For my first pregnancy, I ate Taco Bell almost every single day I was pregnant -- it started a couple weeks before I found out I was pregnant! With my second, it was McDonalds, and boy was it a doozy! Quarter Pounder w/Cheese meal, supersized, with a chocolate shake! Now I didn't eat that every day, but at least 3 or 4 times a week. This time my cravings are off just everywhere, which really sucks for my budget because I can't prepare for what I'll want to eat! A single, constant craving is much easier to manage.

Okay, so I'm going to leave you with that right now. I have many topics on my mind, but I'll save those so that I actually have things to talk about later. I will catch up on your posts, but please bear with me because it will be a while, I have a LOT of catching up to do!

Confessions of a Bad Blogger

Yes, I said it. For the past month now I've been an exceptionally bad blogger and for that I apologize. This pregnancy has had me dog tired so far. So tired that I often come home from work, take a nap, eat dinner, then go to bed at 8:00. On the weekends I might stay up till 10:00, but then turn around and sleep from anywhere between 10:00 and noon on both Saturday and Sunday. And no matter how much sleep I get, it's never enough. I'm so tired that I don't want to do anything, and blogging and keeping up with blogs has been the last thing on my mind.

But I vow that will change, starting this week. Even if I'm tired, I will find the energy to post about something once or twice a week. And yes, everyone -- I'm so sorry for falling way behind on reading your blogs. I'll catch up, every last drop, I promise. And I'll leave lots of comments to prove I was there!

So what's new with me? Well, I am now 9 weeks pregnant and thus officially into my third month, which is the last month of the first trimester. Everything is going well. Last week I had another ultrasound, this time we got to see the actual baby and its heart beat, so we know everything is working as it should. I'm only 9 weeks and have only gained 2 pounds, yet my stomach is significantly bigger. I can still (barely) fit into my regular jeans, but I'm about to outgrow those. Good thing my work clothes are all slacks so there's some growing room there. People who know me can tell I'm pregnant, but I've been assured not to worry, other people will just think I'm a little "bloated". Geez, thanks!

I spent this past weekend playing with my new toy: an Apple iPhone! Whoot! I'm psyched about this thing. I had my previous, primitive cell phone for 2.5 years, and I was well ready for a change. But I would not have gotten this phone if I didn't work for AT&T, and thus get an awesome 50% discount off the voice, text & data plans you have to purchase to have the iPhone. Anyways, this thing is awesome! I was apprehensive and feeling guilty about making this purchase, but not anymore. I have everything I want at my fingertips -- email, chats, weather, games, facebook, Pandora radio (oh yeah!), and much much more! Did I mention I love it?! (Oh, by the way, if this post makes you go out and purchase an iPhone, please contact me so that I can get a referral for your service :P )

Well that's about all for now. I will be spending this week catching up on everyone's blogs. I may not get to you right away, but I promise I will soon!

Maroon 5 Concert

Tomorrow night is the Maroon 5 and Counting Crows concert at the Verizon Amplitheater in Maryland Heights, MO. I've had my tickets for over three months now, and I'm more than ready to finally cash them in for the show!

I've had so little energy this past month that I've done very little with my weekends (in case you haven't noticed, the fun weekend posts have dropped off). As I've mentioned before, I'm so dead tired lately that I can do little to nothing but sleep. Anyways, the point is, I will do whatever takes to have energy for tomorrow night. I even have plans to go dancing with the sister-in-law afterwords.

As many of you have read in my previous blogs, any outing with my sister-in-law is quite an adventure. I didn't even mention how I wound up ending the night at a strip club (for men) last time I was out with her. So I'm going to need all the energy I can get!

I say this now, yet all I can think about this moment is if I could find a space under my desk for a quick nap. Wish me luck ...

9 Month Smoke Free Anniversary

I just realized that today is my 9 month quit anniversary!

I don't have anymore time to write right now, but I just thought I'd let everyone know what today is!

Magic House

Yes, I know I've been absent for a while. I just haven't had much to talk about and I didn't want to bore everyone to death with mundane details of my everyday life. Don't get me wrong, many people can make even the most mundane thing into a fun, interesting and humourous blog. But that's not me, for sure!

There's not much of anything going on here. I'm more exhausted than anything else. I've been lying down at 8:00 in an attempt to fall asleep by 8:30 and thus get closer to 9 hours of sleep a night. On top of that, I often come home after work and nap for an hour or so. It seems all I can do of late is sleep. I've tried to work out, but it doesn't really help -- all it does is make me even more wiped out. I assume all of this will pass in a few more weeks, and I'll start to feel like myself again. Until then I'm just trying to get as much sleep as possible. Also, it can be hard to get a good night's sleep when I'm getting up (literally) three times a night to pee. Fun times. Oh well, it could be much worse -- I could be suffering from morning sickness. Yeah, I'll take being tired and having to pee all the time over "morning" sickness anyday!

Tomorrow night is the monthly free family night at the Magic House. Some of you might have heard about it, it's a famous children's museum. It's called the Magic House because it shows how "magical" things are done with science. It's a huge house chalked full with non-stop fun (well, for the kids). Before I moved into this house I bought, I used to live just blocks from this massive house. Now I live about 7 miles away. It's worth the small drive, though, because the kids have a blast each time they go, even if it is very overcrowded on the free night. So, that's what I'll be doing tomorrow night.

I really don't have much else to talk about. Even now, after getting 8.5 hours of sleep and a nap after work yesterday, I'm just ... tired. Lots of tired, and thus not much brainpower going on. These past few weekends I've done nada. I need to try and think of something to do this weekend with the kids, so I can at least have something else to blog about.