I Have A Dream

I have a dream that it is Fall, and then I wake to realize it is never really Fall in Texas. I was going to wait until October to decorate my house for one of my favorite times of year, but I just couldn't help it. Call it nesting, call it obsession, call it whatever you like. It is 91 degrees outside, I'm wearing shorts and a tanktop and am sweating, there are only a few wisps of clouds in the sky... but darn it if my dining room and front entry don't look like Thanksgiving is next Thursday!

To Sleep or Not To Sleep?

Someone help me! For the past several days I have suffered from I can only term "Pregnancy Insomnia." Basically my bladder wakes me up in the middle of the night (no surprise there), but I can't get back to sleep! My mind races and wanders, and I lie awake tossing and turning for the better part of 2 hours. Last night I woke up initially at 2am, and it was 3:45am when I last looked at the clock before finally drifting off again. Have any of you had this?? What can I do? I'm exhausted and it's all I can do to not fall asleep on my patients at work at this point...

Posh or Poo?

My sister Rachel was in town over Labor Day weekend and we went to the outlet mall nearby with Greg and Jared. Our preppy husbands were like giddy schoolboys walking through all the shops and even bought the matching pairs of shoes... In any case, they just about doubled what Rachel and I spent, thus justifying the above purchase from the Fossil Outlet store. I've needed a new handbag: something bigger but not gynormous, something that can hold a diaper but doesn't look like a diaper bag, yada yada, you know how it goes.

Anyway, I picked this one out. I received two comments about the purchase that day: Rachel said that "green is the new black" and she loves it. Greg said that he really likes the style, but the color reminds him a little of Noah's diarrhea when he was a baby.

Who to believe?

InterNOT

I was all ready to post a new entry last night after loading and editing some pictures on my computer and everything. Suddenly and for no reason at all, the internet shut down. It wouldn't open again. I went to the control panel and repaired the connection, I turned off the computer and restarted it, I spoke nicely to it and then finally resorted to yelling. Nothing. This is not the first time this has happened, no, it's been going on consistently for the past 2 weeks! And this isn't dial-up we're talking about either; we pay a stinkin' lot of dinero every month for instantaneous, do-what-I-say, high-speed internet. Furthermore, it's with AT&T! We're not talking Joe's Hubcaps and Internet here, people.

I hate all electronics that don't listen to the commands I give. Aside from slow drivers on the road, nothing can get me stringing words together that I haven't used since the ole farm days in Iowa like crappy internet or cable service. Thus endeth my ranting. Hopefully by the time I get home tonight I'll be able to turn on my lovely computer, post a worth-while blog entry complete with a picture or two, and be done with the yelling for one day.

I'll let you know. :)

Weighty Issues

I'm venting a frustration today, so bear with me and if you like, agree with me and make me feel better about it. :)

I haven't gained much weight with this pregnancy so far; I'm almost 30 weeks along and am apparently measuring a little small but my doctor is keeping the due date the same because he thinks the baby is just little. Little but healthy, that is! Furthermore, since I'm tall and long-waisted, I carry babies vertically so they don't stick out very much.

The comments I've received thus far include
(the first one was from today, prompting this blog):
"There's no way you're in your third trimester! Are you eating anything?"
"You don't really look pregnant, just like you ate a lot for lunch."
"Are you sure that baby is growing properly?"
"I hope you're at least taking vitamins so the baby will be healthy!"
"I hate people like you. Just eat some cookies or something."
-and finally, my personal favorite...
"You look like you just have a really good beer belly."

Are you kidding me? If it's not politically correct to tell someone they need to lose a few pounds, why is it okay to tell them they need to gain a few? And for crying out loud, is it ever okay to say someone's UNBORN CHILD is NOT HEALTHY? I didn't think so. And just for clarification, I'm not like a skinny girl who gets skinny comments on a regular basis. And I do eat cookies. I'm just a mom who happens to hide babies pretty well because of the biomechanical makeup of my uterus for crying out loud, so I wish everyone would just keep their mouths shut!

Thanks for listening. I feel better.

Farewell, Glorious Summer!

I've been out of the loop for the past two weeks because we've been in fabulous South Carolina relaxing and taking advantage of all the lake life has to offer. We originally went to the east coast for my cousin's wedding, but decided to leave a week early and spend some time with my immediate family at a lakehouse owned by a couple of our aunts and uncles. Here are a few of the highlights...


The Lakehouse viewed from the dock. This humble abode was our home for 7 wondrous days of eating, boating, sleeping, taking drives through the mountains, enjoying family, and much more. The house itself sleeps more than 20 people comfortably in 7 bedrooms including 2 master suites, it also has 2 kitchens, gorgeous views of the lake and moutains, a private dock, and all the toys necessary for a water vacation such as a boat, jet skis, and ample swimming gear.


Greg wakeboarded every day (okay, let's be serious, he needed one day of rest after his first day of wakeboarding. He is 30, after all). Okay people, my husband did backflips, 360s, 180s, and got really tan in the process. He was hot the whole time. :)


My 6 1/2 - month pregnant self couldn't do water sports, but did enjoy myself on the boat every day with my boys...

...and my sister, Rachel, who came down with Jared a couple days after we got there.

There was cliff jumping...

and jet skiing...

Noah had a blast on the boat and discovered a pair of un-claimed girly sunglasses.

And of course, there was tubing. All the men (Greg, Jared, and my dad) took turns tubing with our nephews, Skye and Trey. I've never seen such boyish delight on the faces of grown men!

Noah and Wally were especially concerned each time someone jumped from the boat into the lake. Wally was our official "babysitter" the whole time because Noah never got tired of playing with him!

We climbed up this waterfall,

...and swam in the swimming hole (I'll spare you the picture of me in the water in my maternity suit that floated up over my belly and almost to my boobs).

-

At week's end, we sadly bid farewell to the lake and headed up north to Charlotte to attend my cousin's wedding.

The Ladies: Carol (my stepmom), me, Rachel, and Andrea (my sister-in-law).


The Men: Rich (my brother), Greg, and Jared in the back with Noah, and my two nephews in the front.

Aside from having to stand in the back of the church during the wedding because Noah noticed that his PawPaw was up front and kept trying to get his attention (my dad officiated the ceremony), we had a great time. :) It was a gorgeous multicultural wedding; the bride is from here, the groom is from Spain, and the vows were in both languages. We did have a babysitter during the reception however, and were able to dance the night away!

-

Well that's the scoop, and such a memorable way to cap off our summer! No more vacations to look forward to for a while now, because I'll officially be in my 3rd trimester next week. All hail the coming maternity leave...

A Few Good Photos

Why don't any of my pictures look like this? This gallery is a big thanks to my friend, Laura, and my mother-in-law... May you both find jobs at photography studios, and give me discounts...

Girls' Weekend 2007!

As you may know, every year since college a group of 7 of us get together for a relaxing weekend sans responsibility of husbands and children. We've been doing this for 7 years now, so we realized we've known each other when we were dating idiots in college, when we were making wise and sometimes less-than-wise decisions, and when we started dating "the one." We were there through makeups, breakups, engagements, and have been to each others' weddings. We seen the skinny, sexy stages as well as the fat pregnant stages, and our kids have played together. We've shared traveling experiences throughout the years and have been there through illnesses and deaths of family members. We've always committed to reuniting one weekend each year to reconnect, reminisce, and of course, eat a whole lot.

Here are a few highlights from this year:

Lounging by the pool takes up most of our Saturday every year (this is the only swimsuit photo that was approved publishing material due to 5/7ths of the group being pregnant...)


Lunch picnic by the pool: Summer salad, homemade chicken salad croissants, fruit, veggies and dip, and other such girlish sundries are usually on the menu.

Me and my other half, Sara (and apparently my bra) -- go check out Sara's brand new blog at http://queen-of-the-house.blogspot.com !

Grand tradition states that we get sassy and go out to dinner on Saturday night. Usually sushi is the menu of choice, but with so many pregnant ladies, we opted for meals a little less fleshy... We topped off the night with New Orleans Beignets paired with raspberry, white chocolate, and Jack Daniels dipping sauces. Mmmm.

The whole group: Christy, me, Sara, Jenny, Kelly, Ruth Lee, and Emily. Farewell until next year! Alright, fewer dramatics. I'll see most of you at Homecoming in October. :)

Old Friend, New Blog

Okay, so I'm currently on my college girls' retreat weekend (if you remember from this post last year; it's the second group of girls). Anyway, one of my very best friends, Sara, told me she just started a blog. Go there, right this minute: http://queen-of-the-house.blogspot.com/

She has yet to dedicate a post to me (though, ahem, it's how she got started blogging in the first place), but I'm working on it. Have a great weekend, and I'll write more about the retreat when I'm back.

One more thing, one of the other girls would like to start a blog but is stumped on a creative name for it. Any and all ideas are welcome!

Dog Tired

...or maybe I should just say tired of the dog.

She's sweet in the house, though she doesn't ever cuddle. If we so much as reach out to her in a manner that might suggest petting, she jumps up, wags the ole tail, and thinks it must be time for a 5 mile run. If we do not oblige, she sulks and takes to the ground once again, acting as though she might pass away from boredom. Similarly, anytime we're changing clothes, she thinks we must be getting ready to take her for that 5 mile run so she pants loudly, nips at our heels, whines, etc. and if she doesn't see us putting on running shoes, well, again with the sulking. The worst part is that as soon as we do leave the house to go for a walk, she is uncontrollable. She squeals and whines and pulls (even on a choke collar!) and refuses to actually do any walking. She doesn't listen to any commands when outside, and has made it impossible for me to take her for a walk and handle Noah in the stroller. Oh, and if she so much as sees another dog, she turns into this maniacal thing that starts humping the air at random. If our friends' dogs come over, she can't relax or sleep at night, but continues the humping and licking and sniffing and body gyrations. She also must be man-handled every time the front door is opened just to make sure she doesn't sneak out and chase neighborhood rabbits for hours on end. She doesn't know how to fetch anything, so all she does in the back yard is run in circles without regard to landscaping; she actually uprooted an entire crepe myrtle bush because she ran into it at full speed.

Aren't most dogs just happy to cuddle and be rubbed down and have their tummy scratched?

Yesterday she went to work with me because she had to go to the vet next door for a bath and a shot. She pooped on the floor in our clinic entryway! She hasn't done anything like this since she was a tiny puppy! I had 3 patients there, my boss, and 2 coworkers. I'm totally the girl with the dog who poops on the floor. Sweet.

Our plan is as follows: Get her spayed this month, then get her into a round of obedience classes. If she doesn't calm down and start listening, we might have to find her a home on a couple of acres where she can herd other dogs and children all day. She is part border collie, after all. Am I cruel to consider this?

Big brother and little...

We found out Friday and are thrilled! Greg and I got to celebrate our anniversary the next day (7 years!) by getting massages and going to a fabulous steak restaurant. Coming up with girl names was the topic of conversation for most of the night! Any ideas?

Sour Cream and Chive Creamed Corn

Okay, a few of you asked for this recipe after I mentioned it in my last post. I have to admit that I made it up on the spot when I was cooking it a couple of weeks ago, so here's my attempt at recall. Please add/subtract ingredients to your taste!

Sour Cream and Chive Creamed Corn

1 can sweet whole kernel corn
1 can creamed corn
2 TBLS butter, seperated (I used light)
2 TBLS sour cream (I used light)
6 oz Whipped cream cheese, chive or sour cream and chive flavor
2-3 chopped green onions
Salt, garlic, and pepper to taste
Shredded cheese
1 cup crushed croutons, seasoned

Put corn into a soup-sized pot and heat on medium on the stove. Stir in 1 TBLS butter, sour cream, and cream cheese until melted. Stir in onion and seasonings, then gradually add shredded cheese until consistency is not to runny. :) Heat a couple of minutes until melted through. Transfer to a baking dish, cover with crused seasoned croutons, and drizzle with 1 TBLS butter. Bake on 350 for about 10 minutes or until croutons are browned.

It was really good and really easy, and basically was born out of my desire to serve a vegetable with our meal that was "gourmet" enough to go with steak! Also, I wasn't in the mood for beans... Let me know how your rendition tastes if you get around to making this!

True Holiday

Today has been pretty perfect, definitely the perfect end to a great holiday weekend. Here's a recap:

I woke up really early so I went ahead and got up with Noah at 6:30am so Greg could sleep in a bit. But at 7:20am, Greg took Noah and let me go back to bed. He fed him and kept him busy until I woke up at 9am, when I went out into the living room to find two generations of vaccuuming men:

Then I took a long shower and shaved my legs (I am having a mole cut out of my lower leg tomorrow so I didn't want nasty hairiness to distract my cute dermatologist). Noah was asleep when I got out, so Greg and I relaxed and had breakfast; I made homemade blueberry belgian waffles. I read 6 chapters in my new book, and then we all got ready for the day. Like Noah's new outfit? Sweater vests are totally in for baby boys.

Another added bonus for the day I noticed while getting ready today... Not to draw attention to my cleavage, but seriously, I have my boobs back. When I stopped nursing Noah, I dropped a whole size. Check me out now; all it took was 15 weeks of pregnancy to pump those babies back up!

We all left and Greg and Noah dropped me off to get a manicure/pedicure. I read a little more of my book before finally surrendering to the chair massage, paraffin wax bath, and salt scrub with hot towels. I've been doing pretty well with not biting my nails lately, and sice we're going out of town this weekend I decided to splurge. Greg took Noah to Sam's and bought some steaks for dinner, and when they picked me up there was a gorgeous bouquet of flowers in the car for me that he swears Noah picked out. There were enough for me to divide them into several vases for various rooms in the house:

After we left the nail salon, we went to Central Market and walked around and ate samples. :) Then we picked up some homemade tamales and fresh salsa (and of course a grilled cheese for the kid) and we ate lunch in their deli. Central Market is always a good idea, but even better on a rainy holiday.

When we got home, Noah and I took a nap for 2 hours! By the time we woke up, Greg had washed the dog, started the laundry, and was Resolve-ing various spots on the carpet. So as not to make him sound too domestic, I should mention that he's also been watching a marathon of The Deadliest Catch all day... Noah and I got dinner ready and we all sat down to a feast of steaks, baked potatoes, sour-cream-and-chive-creamed-corn, and garlic rolls:

I put Noah to bed after several games and stories, layed down on the couch for a bit, and felt the new baby moving around for the first time! Well, that about brings us up to the present. Now I'm going to go read a bit more, then we're going to watch Night at the Museum with Ben Stiller (and hot fudge brownies and cool whip).

Sometimes you just need a day like this, but the really cool thing is that I wasn't expecting or planning it. I have the sweetest husband and son imaginable, and wanted to devote a little post to them!

Events at Random

So I've been worthless, and I'm sorry. I have been reading up on your blogs, but have been to tired/busy/lazy to update my own so I thought I would tell you a little of what's been going on.

First of all, I don't know ho the weather has been for the rest of you, but Dallas has been slammed with thunderstorm after thunderstorm for the past several weeks. A couple of weeks ago, Greg and I were glued to the TV watching the "severe weather warnings" in our area when we heard a loud noise right outside the window. We opened the back door to find this:



Basically the umbrella caught a gust of wind, flew out, and shattered the glass top of the patio table. The specks you can see are a mixture of glass, rain, and nickel-sized hail. We, aka: Greg, got it all cleaned up but we still have no patio table on which to usher in Memorial Day and grilling season.

In other news, we went to an FC Dallas pro soccer game this past weekend. Noah is their youngest and yet their biggest fan:

We went with some friends, so after the game we let the kids run around the deck of the stadium. They started running around by this other cute little boy, and I glanced over at the boy's dad (I assume). It was Martin Grammatica - the starting kicker for the Dallas Cowboys! For us Cowboys fans, this was huge. I had to walk over and shake his hand, congratulate him on a good season, and wish him luck next year.

Well, that's all folks. Sorry nothing else fabulous or exciting has happened but I'll keep you posted...

California, Here We Come

Hi, my name is Jackie, and I need help.

I can't believe I'm admitting this; my sister will be horrified and my husband has rolled his eyes at me for days now, but I need an outlet of honesty...

Okay. Here goes. Tuesday afternoon I picked up all my maternity clothes from a friend who had borrowed them. As a little fun gift, she included her entire DVD set of The O.C., First Season for me to watch, because, as she said, "when you're pregnant and tired sometimes you just need to watch some mindless television." Little did she know.

I watched the entire first season--27 episodes--of The O.C., plus all the deleted scenes and special features, in 3 days.

I have this sickness. I can't start something and then just stop to go to bed or shower or eat lunch. Once I begin a project, it must be finished, and this counts as a project. I watched all the seasons of Alias over the course of about 6 weekends, and I have sworn myself off of watching 24 because I made Greg sit through like 8 episodes in a row and then got irritated that he wasn't "hardcore" enough to stay tuned. I don't really watch much TV at all anymore (I'm even less amused with Grey's Anatomy lately), so I don't know what came over me. I reverted back to my old self. I couldn't control it. I couldn't turn it off.

In my defense, I didn't watch it while Noah was awake and playing. He's been sick this week though so I've kept him home from daycare, he's taken naps each day for like 3-4 hours at a time, has gone to bed early, and has just wanted to lay on my lap and relax. And thus far he hasn't objected to watching a little Newport Beach drama himself...

Well I'm taking control again. At least for today anyway; she's bringing me the second season tomorrow.

Move Over Bono??

I'm wasn't having any problems with the fact that I'm turning 30 this year until yesterday at work. I was doing therapy on 2 patients; an 18 year old guy and a 13 year old girl.
Here's what followed:

18y/o: So I'm going to a Brad Paisley concert!

Me: Who's Brad Paisley?

18 y/o and 13 y/o in unison: WHAT? Are you an idiot? He's only like the most famous country singer of ALL TIME!

Me: Oh. I don't listen to country music. I do get to go see The Fray this summer, and maybe John Mayer.

18 y/o: Who's The Fray?

13 y/o: Who's John Mayer? Have you seen anyone cool in concert?

Me: Seriously? I've seen Dave Matthews several times and U2 and year and a half ago.
(actually I was too pregnant to go to U2 so my husband went but I was trying to make a point).

18 y/o: OK. I know one of Dave Matthews' songs. BUt if you asked anyone who they know better, I SWEAR 9 out of 10 people would know more Brad Paisley songs than Dave Matthews songs.

13 y/o: Obviously.

18 y/o: And U2 only has one good hit. Something called Vertigo I think. Do they even sing anything else?

13 y/o: Don't know any Dave Matthews. What's U2?

---------------
I had nothing further to say. Am I getting so old that teenagers today actually don't know these bands, or did I enter the twilight zone of two freakish kids stuck in a stereotypic Texas country music video?? Someone reassure me...

What a Weekend!

Friday, Noah got to play with his friend Carson all day long. They were adorable and had a great time, and they kept each other such good company that I could actually sit on the couch and relax!



Saturday, I got up ealy and went to our huge neighborhood community sale. I'm usually not much of a garage-saler, but this was the mother of all sales. I got something for each of my kids--yes, that's right, I can't believe I will have TWO kids soon. Anyway, a big wheel for Noah:



...and a double stroller, which is thus far the first official gift for the unborn:



I also got my hair cut and highlighted on Saturday so I am a blonde again. I didn't take a picture of this; I know you're all super sad about that. The rest of Saturday consisted of watching the entire first round of the NFL Draft (remember my New Year's Resolution?). Then I made an appetizer, got a sitter, and Greg and I were off to a work function for his office.

Sunday morning I had to pick up some cinnamon rolls from a food auction I entered to support a mission trip. We were going to have a small breakfast together out on the patio:



Seriously. Anyone want to come over?

Lazy Sunday Afternoons

It remains that there is nothing quite like an overcast Sunday afternoon at home.

The Daily Granite

At long last (well, to me anyway) I get to blog about my new kitchen! Pretty much for the last year Greg and I have been talking, saving, and planning to upgrade our kitchen countertops and backsplash. Finally this spring, after quite a bit of price comparison, we decided on a company and settled on all the details. Last weekend, it was made official! Below are pictures of the old kitchen, complete with a highly fashionable maroon stripe in the tile (I have no maroon in my whole house other than this).

Are you just wishing this beautiful display of culinary framework had been your kitchen?

We had to remove everything from the surfaces and the lower cupboards!

This island was the only part of the old kitchen I loved and will miss because my dad made it for us a year and a half ago. I love the slate top!

Remember when I said we had to remove everything? I never realized how much crap one can accumulate in 7 years of marriage when one has 42 cupboard doors behind which to hide things... Our poor office, however, will never forget.

Oh, the draping. And more draping. Futile efforts to discourage dust from settling anywhere but the kitchen floor. Futile I tell you. I still had to scrub the rest of the house, now I just had 8 sets of sheets to wash as well.

So was it worth it? Behold, the finished product:

Noah even helped us clean up afterwards. :)