blanket: phase 1

During Christmastime I made a scarf for myself. Even though I've made a ton of scarves I never keep any of them for myself, but I really loved this one, and so it inspired me to make matching scarves for the 3 of us. I got a little carried away while I was crocheting the first row and it ended up being over 7 feet long! One day I took it off and tossed it on the bed... hmmm it looks really nice there. So I decided that after Christmas I would turn it into a blanket. I knew it would be time consuming and figured it would take all year but dang- I just want to finish it and get it over with! It's not like you can multi task while you're using both hands to crochet. It was one my life list to make a blanket, and I did years ago. It's incredibly special to me so I don't like having it out, with an unruly cat and a 2 year old I don't want to anything to happen to it. I hope one day this blanket is special to someone....

Here's what it was originally...

Here's how far I've come....

I've got a long way to go!

The worst anniversary ever

If you didn't read about my Easter this year, you should before you read this-

On the morning of April 2, 2013, our 8th wedding anniversary, I woke up at 4h a.m. feeling sick....really sick. I threw up a few times then was able to go back to sleep for an hour or so before my daughter woke up. I spent all day lying on the couch while Z took my temperature, blood pressure, put bandaids on me and gave me injections with her doctor set we had put in her Easter basket. She is an amazing little MD for being just 2 years old. She was tender and loving and seemed to understand that mommy couldn't play. I suffered through the wretched day, it was a challenge and took everything out of me to feed her, change her and take care of her...I was so anxious for Joel to get home and take care of both of us. I knew our anniversary plans would have to be postponed, we were going to go to a fondue restaurant, but I still thought we would be able to enjoy our annual tradition of watching our wedding video, drinking champagne and eating pizza-I was sure I'd feel better in a few hours.

When Joel got home from work he told me that he was starting to feel a little under the weather - within 30 minutes we were both puking our brains out. He'd go in the bathroom then minutes later I'd hurl myself out of bed barely making it to the toilette. I felt like I was throwing up the devil. It was violent, painful, disgusting, and heinous. It was the first time I felt like a sickness had actually taken an evil form. I kept saying I needed to go to the hospital. Since I tend to have a flair for the dramatics, Joel thought I was exaggerating. I waited until 8h- by that point I had endured 16 hours of the most grueling attack on my body I have ever experienced and I couldn't take it anymore. Every second seemed to be magnanimously worse than the previous. It was a feat to even get to the hospital but I knew if I didn't there was no way I could care for my daughter in that state the next day.

So we went to the local emergency room. While the nurse was setting up my IV Joel began to sympathize with my need to go to the hospital as he started feeling worse. After they got me all hooked up they admitted him.

I will never forget how amazing our daughter was that day. We couldn't play with her, we could barely take care of ourselves and she was like an angle sent from heaven. Sweet, attentive, loving, nurturing, sympathetic and calm. When the apocalyptic vomiting began she was a little scared at first-hell I was terrified-but she stayed cool and kept praying "Jesus help my mommy" and telling me "feel good honey". She is a dream daughter.

I feel very sad that for the first time in 8 years we didn't get to watch our wedding video (we still haven't but we will soon) but this viscous case of the stomach flu thwarted our plans-it's not like we just 'didn't get around to it'.

And that's how we spent our anniversary, laying in hospital beds next to each other feeling like we were going to die-both totally miserable. I felt very sick for 5 days afterward. Later in the week I called everyone just to make sure nobody else had gotten sick. As it turns out 8 out of 9 people had the stomach flu. Reluctantly I am glad my mom didn't come, this gruesome case of the stomach flu probably would have killed her! Presumably Joel and I got it from our daughter then passed it along. On that Friday before Easter she and I had volunteered so I'm sure that's where she picked it up the virus. The real mystery to me is not how we all got sick but how one person out of 9 managed NOT to become ill.

 I used to wonder why people were so afraid of getting the flu-now I know the answer, and I too will forever be crossing my fingers that this never happens again!

Though we don't do anniversary gifts, we do like to do something different together and I have to admit-this was different!

Anniversaries Past 

Year 1-We got matching tattoos.
Year 2- We played pool.
Year 3-Went to the shooting range.
Year 4-We beat the crap out of each other at Krav Maga.
Year 5-I was pregnant.
Year 6-We went to Millenium Park in Chicago.
Year 7-We shot handguns at an indoor range.
Year 8- We had matching IV's in the ER.

None the less Dear Happy Anniversary, I love you with all my heart and what do ya say...wanna shoot for 8 more? There's no one I'd rather lay next to in the hospital....except for maybe a celebrity...or a former president.

Easter

Two days after Easter was our anniversary which meant that a sigh of relief was around the corner! I feel like we've been so nutty busy since the beginning of October with birthdays and holidays. I love both but I am ready to have to few months off from the expense, the clean up and the planning. 

Two months ago my family requested that we host Easter, we gladly accepted knowing full well what a hectic month we had ahead of us but we also knew it would be a lot of fun. It was shaping up to be an eventful Easter; my mom had prepared 80 eggs filled with candy and money for an Easter egg hunt, everyone was bringing food and drinks, they all had gifts for my daughter and the Brazilian kids who were celebrating their first Easter in the US and we wanted it to be very special for them. My step dad was going to bring his flamenco guitar and I planned on joining him for a few dances. I was also excited because this was going to be the first time everyone was meeting the Russian, Valeryia. On top of it all we decided to redo our living room to surprise everyone and because we wanted it to look nice for the holiday since we were having so many people over. Though due to the expense and the very busy week there is no way we would have had it done at this point in time-all the cleaning, prepping and cooking would have been plenty of work.

The day after we finished the living room was Joel's 30th birthday, a Thursday, that Saturday I had to work then come home to prepare for 16 people to come over for Easter dinner. While I was at work Joel sent me a few text messages that our daughter was not feeling well and had thrown up a few times. I felt terrible but he said she seemed to be in good enough spirits and that I ought not be concerned. When I got home she threw up once more and feel asleep. I wasn't with her so I did not know what kind of shape she was in. I never hesitate to take her to the clinic and from what I saw she was on the mend.

Pricilia and Valeryia and I made these ingenious deviled eggs. 

The next morning we decided to skip the Easter service at our church but not because I thought Z was too sick, it was more as a courtesy to others...at the time I made the decision she was running around the house talking about how excited she was to see everyone.

I called our friends to tell them about Z being sick the day before but that she seemed better. I said we would still be cooking dinner but if they didn't want to risk it we would understand.

Concerning my family on the other hand I thought two things; 1. I assumed they would come regardless because everyone wants to be around our little one all the time no matter what and 2. I expected them all to come since she was feeling better and we all had been looking forward to celebrating the holiday together. It wasn't even a question whether or not they would still be coming. When I called my family and uttered only the words "Z threw up yesterday" you can imagine my surprise when I was interrupted and hysterically  informed that NONE of them would be coming.

It was a major disappointment to say the least that all but my sister did not show up, but we still had an enjoyable time with our foreigners. When I told Valeryia it would only be the foreigners coming she said 'we're not scared' I said "right....you've been through worse." And our sweetheart loved her Easter surprises, the dinner was great and I was happily given several bouquets of flowers so it was a good Easter!

Our daughter had us laughing all afternoon, she was very bossy to Be the 7 year old boy and during dinner, she kept shouting at him "Sit down Be, Eat your food and Drink your water!"

I never get sick of getting flowers and I never will!

I had to add these...pictures of our baby opening her Easter baskets....

Her first Easter 2011

2012

Her favorite gift was her little medical set, she loves to pretend she's a doctor which came in handy 36 hours later.....

Braces: 9 months

I have had my braces for NINE MONTHS!! To put this in perspective, it was this time last year that I was having some 'discussions' with my husband about the possibility of getting them. I knew I wanted them but I did not know if it was even affordable or if I would have the guts. And now, here I am, 9 months later with nearly straight teeth. I am overjoyed and proud of myself for FINALLY going threw with it as it was something had wanted for so long.

Last week I had an orthodontic appointment I had been dreading for 2 months...I kept thinking...how can I get out of this? Should I take some Xanax? Should I have a few drinks first? I have to go but mentally I do not want to be there. Last time they told me they would start 'moving my roots'. That sounded dreadful and tremendously uncomfortable. The last couple of appointments seemed to get progressively worse so I really was expecting a nightmare of an appointment... but it was wonderful, the greatest trip to the dentist I've ever had!

Two months ago they said they'd have to move some brackets (not fun) around in order to move the roots: my doctor said my roots looked perfect and they would not have to move ANY of them!

I've had that stupid thing on the back of my tooth called a 'turbo'....or also known as a 'pain in the ass' for the past nine months that drove me totally crazy:
I'VE BEEN ASSOILED FROM THAT NUISANCE!  It was a glorious surprise and it feels so good to have that rock gone!

Originally they estimated I'd have my braces on from 12-18 months:
 in 2 months I get my last set of wires-these wires will just be fine tuning my already straight teeth ( did I just say that?! I am a person with straight teeth?! HUGE SMILE!) so it is very possible that I will be able to get my braces off in August! Which is amazing- POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING is something I strongly believe in. I really did not want to have to worry about my braces on our trip to Disney-they require a lot of time and maintenance, the idea of carrying around a fanny pack filled with toothpaste, floss and little brushes sounds awfully nerdy.

There is just one tooth that is still slightly overlapped, it was the tooth which inspired the ardent desire to get braces in the first place and they knew it would take the longest. However it still is not where it needs to be: my orthodontist said it is less than one millimeter away from sliding into the right spot and that it ought to be there within the next 2 months!

The time has really flown by and the embarrassing factor is all but gone. For the most part...though I do feel odd when I run into people that I know but who are seeing the braces for the first time. It's awkward because they don't say anything about it! It's like I have a new obvious handicap and it feels strange when it's not discussed-a brief mention would suffice like "oh, how long have you had your braces" or "your teeth look  like that of a movie star" or even a "you go girl" would give me a little pep in my step! It would be peculiar for me to bring it up...can you imagine if Brittany Spears walked around pointing to her hair saying "I shaved my head"....that might seem narcissistic! But then again I had a boss who used to say that having a blog was narcissistic.

Related posts:
Getting my braces
half way there 
sick of all the metal in my mouth

Weigh In Wednesday: 2 years later

I have no new weight loss (or gain) to report but I had to share these pics with you! We took our daughter to this deer farm 2 years ago, she was only 5 months old at the time....we went again a few days ago

-I think the pictures say it all.... but I guess I'll just go ahead and write it too...the little one and I have gone through a lot of changes in the past 2 years!

The difference in the weight at this point is about 70 pounds.

BEFORE AND AFTER: living room

Well the week of Easter/Joel's Birthday/our Anniversary was interesting....and I will share it all with you but I  have to start with our living room...we had it redone, well we started it by repainting every centimeter and we only have a few more things to do.

 It couldn't have been a worse week to do all this work considering our finances and our time since I was also planning and preparing a surprise party for Joel but/and we were hosting Easter dinner at our house so we wanted it to look nice-so to make this clear...we redid the living room at this time SPECIFICALLY because we were hosting Easter at our house....

I LOVE the size of our fireplace but I HATED this ugly 'Chicago style' brick! I was embarrassed every time it snuck into the background of pictures but now I try to make our fireplace the focal point of our photographs we take! I'm SO happy and pleased with the results so far! It's so fun fixing up our house!

I just want to get a new ceiling fan and have that 'window' next to the fireplace turned into a mirror...in a few weeks we're starting the bathroom....a bathroom that we actually refer to as 'the suck bathroom'....it's going to take a long time but one day my goal of having my 'dream house' will be fulfilled!

Joel's 30th Birthday

Last year Joel's birthday was...lackluster. I felt terrible about it; the three of us went out to dinner, no gifts from me, and that was about it....so this year I certainly had some making up to do! And he definitely was surprised! We have done a lot of work to our house in the past week and had to get a new transmission in our NEW car so he was under the impression that we were low on funds and that I couldn't do a lot of gifts and he knew I didn't want a party at the house-but I had a few tricks up my sleeve....I always have a few tricks up my sleeve!

Phase 1: I left a birthday card with money in it in the bathroom so he could get himself some breakfast.

Phase 2: I told him he had 3 small gifts...there was about 20 different things awaiting when he got home from work...and our little sweetheart was so cute-as soon as he walked in the door she yelled enthusiastically "we got you presents Daddy-TADA!"

Phase 3: I told him a Jehova's Witness was at the door....it was my dad and step mom to give him his gift.

Phase 4: I told him we were meeting my mom and step dad for dinner.....27 of his friends and family were waiting at the restaurant when we arrived!

It was a great day and I know Joel had a ton of fun! His exact words were "you are the greatest woman in the world"

and then here are some cute pics of the cutest thing in the world from today....