Ramrons: 10th Annual College Girls' Weekend

If you've read my blog for any length of time, you'll recall that I go on a Girls' Weekend every year with a group of 7 college gals. While each year is special, this year was arguably the best yet for several reasons. First, it was our 10th annual retreat!! Second, Kelly, who is currently a missionary in Kiev with her husband and kiddos, was able to be here! She's had to miss a few of them when she wasn't able to make the trip. Third, we tried something new and got together at a sweet little lake house owned by Emily's in-laws. We indulged in lots of the same traditions: unlimited dessert and coffee, gifts all around, out to dinner Saturday night, late nights talking, fun girly beverages... But we added some new ones: boating, tubing with up to 5 of us at a time, swimming in the lake, getting crafty as Sara taught us how to make sweet hair bows for our baby girls, and having a special prayer time the last day. We also thought it was funny how 10 years after college our conversations have changed so drastically. We are now talking about child raising tips rather than just pregnancy and nursing stories; we are sharing our hearts on school options for our children and how to manage the peer pressure faced not only by them at their fragile little ages but also by us as we attempt to make the best choices for them with God leading us.

Here are some highlights of the group. They are a highlight of my year every year, and I can't wait to see what we are talking about at the 20th annual! These ladies are precious, and it's been so fun literally growing up with them over the last 10 years!













Sara, Emily, Christy, Jenny, me, Ruth Lee, Kelly





























The world's comfiest tube. Well, with 2 people on there. Once we got up to 5 passengers, I think we all got elbowed in places you're not supposed to get elbowed.

Can't wait to start planning next year's!

Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?

Lauren and I were going through photo albums recently and she thought every baby picture of Noah was actually Chase. I guess there are some similarities; aside from the fact that Noah had way more hair than Chase at every stage, and that now Chase is the one with the red hair and Noah's has gone blond.













Noah: 8 months Chase: 8 months













Noah: 9 months Chase: 9 months

Okay, I'm Back

Sweet Blog, I've missed you but needed the break. Life got the best of me, I bowed to the busy-ness, catered to the craziness, and something had to give. More about all of that later, here's a quick update:

October, 2009: My last blogpost. Lauren turned 2!

November, 2009: Noah turned 4!

December, 2009: We drove, yes, DROVE, 17 hours to Florida with two toddlers and a 6 month old to visit my whole family for Christmas. It was so worth it!


January, 2010: I got a promotion to Regional Director of Central Texas within my organization. It kind of cracks me up that I'm like in charge of a bunch of stuff.

February, March, April, May, 2010: Very stressed by the new position. Went on lots of dates with Greg, changed innumerable dirty diapers, became chair of the social committee in Sunday School, started potty training Lauren, changed innumerable dirty underwear, interviewed and hired a part-time nanny, signed Noah up for soccer, went to all games and practices, signed the kids up for swim lessons, became generally very tired.

June, 2010: Celebrated 10 years with the best husband imaginable, and went on a ginormous cruise to the Caribbean without the children. Also, battled the 'tweens and saw the midnight showing of Eclipse on June 30th. Of Course.

July, 2010: Went on my 10th annual College Girls' Retreat Weekend and had such a great time, then came home and celebrated Chase's 1st birthday...today!

(I don't have a picture of Chase's birthday quite yet, but we're having a party for him in a week and a half so I will do a special post for him then).

I just realized that in the time I've been gone from blogging, I could've had a baby. I'm glad I'm blogging now rather than nursing an infant and making ice packs for my lady business...

Chase's Faces

The many expressions of baby Chase:

And I love every one!

New Moon, New Trailer

Click HERE to witness the glory that is the new, extended trailer for Twilight: New Moon. Skeptics, even you might be impressed as this one looks to be way better than the first. Now if we could only teach Kristin Stewart how to act...

Smiles!

One of his first true smiles; I LOVE this stage! Just a brief update--Chase is doing great; he only gets up once during the night and goes immediately back to sleep after his bottle. Occasionally he makes it all the way to 5 or 6am (like this morning), eats, and then sleeps again until after 8am. Perfect! He's happy almost all the time, rarely cries, and loves the (albeit sometimes aggressive) attention of his older brother and sister. He's absolutely fabulous.

There are no words.

Okay, so I have a few words. My friend Lindsay found this photo on a website of Awkward Family Photos. This is SO SO awkward I simply don't know what to say.

Ode to Rich at 1 Month

Chase at 1 month old. Could he be any sweeter? I'm totally smitten! I thought it appropriate to post this picture because you can see his wisps of red hair in honor of my brother, Rich, the cutest (well, now the 2nd cutest) redhead I know. It's Rich's birthday today; Happy Birthday big brother! I hope Chase gets many fine qualities from his Uncle Richie...aka: not the ones that pertain to bathroom humor or other such nasty habits.

Pulling My Hair Out

You know those great days you have as a mom where you feel like you have things together? You're able to shower and get in a few chores early in the morning, the breakfast dishes get done (which means a somewhat respectable breakfast was served), and you managed the kids without yelling too many times?

I had one of those days last week. Yesterday was NOT one of those days. Today wasn't, either. Maybe tomorrow I'll get to shower and shave. Awww hell, at this point I'd settle for putting on deodorant and brushing my teeth.

Two Weeks!

I can't believe Chase is already 2 weeks old! In no time at all he'll be 2 months, then 2 years, then I'll be walking him to kindergarten, giving him advice about girls, and helping him shop for dorm room essentials!

Okay, I must slow down. Or rather, HE must slow down! He's already almost 8lbs, he slept for 6 hours straight last night, and I may be crazy but I think I heard him say "mama." Sue me for getting carried away; he's most likely my very last infant ever, so I'm relishing every minute of this stage. Yes, I've been caught staring at him for hours, and I've been known to pull him in bed with me and sleep with him after the middle of the night feeding time. Bite me, Baby Wise!

For those of you who know my younger sister, Rachel, I will tell you that Chase looks exactly like her baby pictures in this photo below (and also resembles her son, Judah, with the fabulously wide eyes and little chin). Love him, love him, love him!

Chase Bradley is here!

Chase Bradley R. joined us on Wednesday afternoon at 3:59pm, after a less-than-5 hour induction labor. There was a little craziness that included trouble with the epidural (mainly due to an anesthesiologist who was talking on his iPhone and answering pages while holding my needle), a drop in my blood pressure, a drop in the baby's heartrate, the need for like 5 bags of fluid to be pumped into my swollen body for hydration...etc, but overall it was a simple process that resulted in 8 minutes of pushing and the most awesome baby boy ever!

Once again one of my favorite parts of childbirth is seeing Greg's expression when the baby first enters the world; he literally suspends his breathing and gets the most fabulous look of awe on his face and is immediately smitten. Of course I get all teary eyed at that point, and neither of us can believe we ever didn't have that particular little one in our family. This experience was no different; I was so nervous that a new baby would take away from the dynamic of our family of four. As soon as Chase was born though, it was like we'd always been a family of five.

Enough ruminating. A few details for you: Sweet Chase was born at 3:59pm on Wednesday, July 15th. He weighed 6lbs, 7oz, and was 19 inches long. He looks almost exactly like Noah did, but with strawberry blonde hair (which I had as a baby) and several of Lauren's expressions. He's absolutely perfect and has such a sweet temperament, a very light squeak of a cry that only arises when he's starving, and he has great cycles of sleep time and wake time already. I'll shut up now, and let you see for yourself!

Most Unproductive Hospital Visit EVER

For those who don't know, here's a little update. Last week I was babysitting for my friend's daughter at her place (also had my two kids) when I suddenly started having contractions and apparently a minor separation of the placenta (which I found out later, and I won't tell you the symptoms of this b/c it's not pretty).

I called the doctor who of course told me to head to labor and delivery immediately. Immediately? I have two 3-year-olds and a 1-year old in my friend's apartment. Furthermore, Noah had been playing with their super cute cat all morning and had just started to have a massive allergic reaction to her including itchy, swollen eyes, and large bumps around them.

About 15 minutes later I was able to hobble downstairs with three toddlers in tow, get them all in my minivan, and head to the hospital where Greg met me at the valet (I freaked out the poor valet driver when I showed up to L&D all hunched over and needing a wheelchair).

After several hours of sonograms, dopplers, etc., it was determined that I needed to SPEND the NIGHT at the hospital. I also apparently needed to have like 4 bags of IV fluid pumped into my already swollen body as it slows down contractions and protects again loss of fluid around the baby. Fine. Sounds noble so I agreed to it, but when my eyes were swollen shut the next morning and my feet looked like sausages I was pretty unagreeable about most things.

I finally got to go home on "light activity" (with two toddlers waiting for me? Right). I'm now just waiting for the REAL hospital visit that will actually be productive and end in us being able to take home a baby rather than just lug 4 additional pounds of fluid-filled pregnant lady across the threshhold. Greg's words? "At least you're okay honey. All of you. Heh heh." I don't think I laughed.

Girls' Weekend 2009

My 9th annual Girls' Weekend (college girls' retreat) was a couple of weekends ago, and it was fabulous! We ate candy and desserts, took turns making meals, talked for hours on end, went to bed super late, got to know a couple of the newest infant additions, went out to a nice dinner in a Plaza in far North Dallas, looked at pictures, played games, and talked about the past and coming year. Basically, we did what we do best!! As you can see here and here, we've kept many traditions alive and wouldn't trade this weekend for anything.

Top: Me, Sara, Ruth Lee, Kelly
Botton: Jenny, Emily, Christy

Justification!

Okay, so I've been ragged on for rarely posting anymore. Here's my explanation:

Below you'll find my To-Do List for before the baby comes (in 7 weeks, but the list must be completed in 6 weeks because I'm OCD and must be prepared).

Things to purchase/retrieve and assemble:
1. Dresser for Lauren **Greg just finished this tonight!
2. Office chair **Greg finished this today!
3. Chair for nursery
4. Baby's crib (borrowing from a friend but have to assemble)
5. Twin bed and trundle for Noah (he's so big!) **Ordered it.
6. Mattress and box springs for Noah's bed
7. Ginormous Playset for backyard
8. New Gas Grill (Happy Father's Day, Honey!)
9. Sit-and-stand stroller
10. Shelving for nursery, laundry room, and kids' closets
11. Ceiling fan for our bedroom and faucets for our bathroom (the kids don't get ALL the new stuff!)

Things to clean out and/or sell:
1. Regular stroller and jog stroller
2. Old office desk and chair
3. Noah's crib

Things to arrange/clean/etc:
1. Get all carpets professionally cleaned.
2. Turn the playroom into a nursery! This means the closet has to be cleaned out of all toys, which then have to be put in their new places in either Noah's or Lauren's room.
3. Clean out Noah's closet and Lauren's closet to make room for toys from playroom!
4. Move ENORMOUS armoire and TV from playroom into downstairs guest room.
5. Move couch from playroom into loft.
6. Move Lauren's baby furniture into new nursery, set up crib and organize new baby's closet.
7. Decorate "new" loft area and nursery.

My Babies' Hobbies

Noah is into all things "Fireman." Lauren is still into taking 3 naps a day because she's SO busy when she's awake!

But set up the pools in the backyard, and everything else seems to disappear. Safe to say they are BOTH into swimming!

I Need a Break!

Greg has been out of town since Thursday and we're going to pick him up tonight. Yes, I've taken the opportunity to have a lot of fun with various girls' nights (which I'll post about later!) but I'm ready to have some help with these kids!

Since he left, here's a synopsis of the goings-on in the home:
1. Thursday night Lauren woke up at 4am and puked dog food until 6am. I didn't know she had eaten any dog food.
2. Friday night Lauren started running a fever and had about 6 dirty diapers.
3. Friday night Noah pooped a big one in the toilet--yay!
4. Saturday morning Noah pooped a big on in his pants. Yuck.
5. Saturday afternoon Kona peed an enormous pee spot in the middle of Lauren's cream-white carpet. I have Resolved until I'm high from the fumes, and it's still a faint yellow.
6. Sunday morning (today) Lauren ran a fever again.
7. ALSO this morning, Noah's asthma cough acted up so much that he gagged and dry-heaved for several hours and has had to use his respirator machine twice already.
8. And finally this afternoon Lauren fell (or was pushed?) off the slide in the back yard and got a bloody nose and mouth.

I'm not being cynical or ungrateful for my wonderful children mind you, I'm just flippin' tired! Leaving now to pick up my better half. I think I'll bring him a sandwich before dumping the kids on him for the rest of the night...or week.

We're Having...

A boy!

It's funny because we wanted another boy (Noah needs a brother, and Greg never had a brother so he especially wants Noah to have one), and now I find that I love Lauren an extra amount knowing she'll be my only baby girl. It's so crazy, but I already can't wait to take her out for birthday lunches and prom dress shopping!

Update...

Hey! Whew; it's been such a busy couple of months as I'm sure it has been for many of you as well. I simply claim "pregnant and blond" and have therefore been unable to post regular blogs.

Here are a few updated photos of the kids and what we've been up to.

Noah is in this super fun stage of interaction. He loves to play pretend, especially if he can be a fireman! He is potty trained for the most part, so it's fun to just run errands with him and not have to worry about packing diapers or wipes.














Lauren's favorite activity is anything involving being outside. She definitely has the makings of a tomboy.


















We had a great time visiting Jared, Rachel, and Judah in Chicago!












But we were really in the Windy City for my Grandma's 90th birthday celebration. There were 95 people there!!, about 80 of whom were wearing hearing aids. It was awesome to see family and friends, and celebrate with everyone.

My Brand of Heroin

I thought it high time to admit, fully and unashamedly, where I've been for the last month. I've been living in the realm of that which is the Twilight Saga. For those of you who have read (or are reading) it, I need pose no further explanation. For those who have not, or who are harboring some unfortunate boycott against the whole thing because it is so trendy, well, your loss. Books don't usually grab me, especially fiction novels, but the 2500+ pages of this series were consumed in 8 days. I then read the unpublished manuscript, Midnight Sun, online on my flight to Charlotte in a couple of hours. I've seen the movie, albeit an unworthy representation of the series, 5 times. I've made Lauren two tee-shirts that say "Team Edward" and "Cullen Baseball". I've read the entire series a second time, amidst stumbling through The Shack and a few other fiction novels, and am finally on to something else that I enjoy, although my mind often wanders to a certain meadow... For the skeptics who think this should be avoided because it is a vampire novel, for crying out loud, Chronicles of Narnia contains an evil witch, a talking lion, blood-thirsty wolves, and several over-sized beavers and it was fabulous. So go get lost in a bit of fantasy for a couple of weeks and let me know what you think!

Crashtest Dummy

So I apologize that I haven't blogged in almost a whole month! My only two excuses are that I have been caught up in the world that is Twilight, reading all four published books, the partially completed unpublished one online, and seeing the movie an embarrassing number of times. Other than that, I've been working, taking care of the kids, and leading a fairly normal life without any true blog-worthy moments. Until yesterday, that is.

I was driving in the left, middle lane down a 4-lane highway when the car in front of me suddenly swerved. I quickly saw why; there was a large box of furniture in the middle of the lane. With about 2 seconds to react, I followed his lead and swerved into the far left lane and then back into my lane so I wouldn't hit the middle guardrail. The Jeep fishtailed, spun around to face traffic, and skidded across the entire road off into the grass on the side of the highway.

I hit the grass at a sideways angle, felt the passenger side of the car lift, and about 10 feet later flipped over. The Jeep rolled 2 1/2 times and landed upside down. I remember flipping over a couple of times, and I very clearly remember how tight the seatbelt felt.

I couldn't unlatch the seatbelt because I was hanging from it upside down, so I kind of contorted myself so I could push my body up and away from the pull of the seatbelt and braced myself against the roof of the car (which was on the ground). Once the weight was shifted, I unlatched the belt and caught myself. I flipped over and pretty quickly figured out I wasn't going to be opening any doors so I kicked the driver's side window out and crawled out. I totally made sure to grab my purse, and had an onlooker go search for my phone. :) Here's the driver's side:

The police, firetruck, and ambulance were there in about 3 minutes, and once they found out I am 4 months pregnant, they insisted on doing the whole C-collar and backboard routine. They took me to the hospital as a precaution and to check the fetal heartbeat (which was strong). Greg met me at the hospital, but had to drive directly past the accident scene to get there which was really hard for him. He stopped to get the carseats and a few other things out of the car.

After they let us go, we had to go to the impound to get the rest of our things from the Jeep so the insurance company to haul it away. Here it is back on it's feet...sort of:

I can't exactly say that I walked away without a scratch because I did, in fact, have one scratch.

And one broken thumbnail.

So how's that for a re-entry into the blogging world? It's 6:27am and I've been wide awake since 3am b/c everything from my head down to my waist hurts and I pretty much took a bath in Biofreeze. I feel very blessed to have walked away from that one with only a few aches and pains, and feel doubly blessed that the baby is okay and that my other babies were not in the car. Noah gave me a big hug when I told him I broke the Jeep, and he told me that we have to get a new car and that it should be a red firetruck--with a ladder. I think that would be very safe.