I've moved!!!

For those of you that have followed me in the past, well, I'm back. Check me out at my new place and let me know what you think!

At A Glance

NOW I KNOW MY ABC'S MEME

Allright...my mama tagged me on this so away I go!!!

Accent: Well, I am from Colorado so I guess I have a Coloradoan accent? Apparently it's a real accent...I dated a guy once who was from back east and he told me I had an accent. Weird, but I guess I have one.

Bible book I love: Genesis...honestly I've only gotten half way through Genesis...is that awful of me?

Chore I don't care For: Dishes. I even have a dishwasher and I hate loading and unloading that thing. I think it's because, next to laundry, it's the chore that piles up so fast.

Dog or cat: Which do I prefer? Either one actually but I have a dog right now. A little (well, not so little) lab-sharpei puppy named Cody. She's a sweetie!

Essential electronics: My cell phone and my big screen TV. There are just too many shows I am addicted to.

Favorite movie: Gees, where to start. I love anything with Julia Roberts in it...except her movie Closer, that was awful. Other than that I don't have a "favorite"- I do love Baby Boom and The Witches of Eastwick. Those are great!

Gold or silver: Silver, all the way! If I own something gold it's by accident.

Handbag I carry most: A black purse I bought, like, 5 years ago at American Eagle. I am so not a handbag/purse/shoe kind of girl.

Insomnia: Sometimes but not so much now that Baby-Son started sleeping through the night. I never knew how much I valued sleep until I had my son.

Job Title: Escrow Processor...I work for a title insurance company.

Kids: a one year old named Cameron.

Living arrangements: 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house that was built in September 2004. It has a 2 car garage, a finished (finally) front yard and a sort-of-finished backyard.

Most memorable moment: Duh! When Cam was born!

Naughtiest childhood behavior: Picking on my sister and by picking on I mean beating up...unfortunately.

Phobias: 1. Heights...more than 5 feet up and I get unhappy. 2. Spiders...just the thought of them makes me very unhappy. 3. Losing someone I love...that freaks me out and just flat-out depresses me.

Religion: Christian

Siblings: A younger sister, Mandy and an older brother, Gregory.

Time I wake up: During the week I get up at 5:30am. I need plenty of time to get ready before Baby-Son wakes up. On the weekends I get up when he wakes up which, thank God, is around 8am these days.

Unusual talent: I can do this funny clicking thing with my tongue. I can't really explain it, it's just weird and kind of funny. I can also do this funny croaking thing with my throat- my husband and sister hate it when I do it but it scratches my throat when it itches!

Vegetable I refuse to eat: All of them. No really, except corn and green beans.

Worst habit: I self criticize...all the time.

X-rays: Just of my mouth so I could get my wisdom teeth pulled. I'd rather have a baby than go through that again...seriously.

Yummy stuff I cook: I cook this dish that my husband likes to call Prison Slop. I prefer to call it Potato Chip Casserole. I also make yummy ghoulash, another hubby favorite, and a yummy pork chop dish called Clayton Pork Chops.

Zoo animal I like the most: Elephants- don't know why because all they do is stand there, swish their tails and pick their feet up but I like 'em!

Well then...I think I will go ahead and tag anyone who thinks this looks like fun, 'cause it was!!!!

A REAL EYE OPENER!

OK, I have this problem...whenever I can't sleep my mind tends to wander. Not to nice happy things that might help me fall alseep. Nope. My mind wanders to anything under the sun that could freak me out or stress me out. This happened to me the other night...

Does everyone realize that Christmas is only 5 1/2 months away!!!!? Does that thought freak out anyone else!? Well, it freaks me out because EVERYONE, excpet Cam and Mandy, are nightmares for me to shop for. My in-laws are the worst. I never know what to get them and my husband, being the man he is, is not much help during this festive time. My parents are equally hard. Especially mom since she makes one list and gives it to both Mandy and I. My hubby is hard because eveything he wants has to be plugged into something and genereally costs upwards of $300.

My sister-in-law and I say every year that now is the time to start the shopping but what is a girl to do when she has no idea what to get people. Ever! I can't really ask people because then they would all think I am insane...it is a little to early for that.

That's really all this post is about. I just wanted to do a pulse check and see if anyone else gets the Christmas season anxiety. 'Tis the season!!!!

FRIDAY FEAST #2

Appetizer: When was the last time you visited the hospital?

To be honest, I have no idea...it was either when Andy's mom had her heart attack, his dad got diverticulitis or his sister started having major seizures. I hate to say this but his poor family has tons of medical problems. It's pretty scary most of the time.

Soup: On a scale of 1-10, how ambitious are you?

Well, at work I would say I am a 9 or 10. I am really working my butt off to get promoted to a closer one of these days. At home, when it comes to organizing and getting my house in order...I would say a 10 at heart but a 1 or 2 when it comes to actually doing it. It makes me tired to even think about all the things I need to do to get organized.

Salad: Make a sentence using the letters of a body part:

Lips- Love is perfectly splendid!

Main Course: If you were to start a club, what would the subject be and what would you name it?

I would start a club called MMA- Missing Marbles Anonymous and anyone who is as scatter-brained as me could come and talk about how un-organized and nuts-zoid their life is! Anonymously, of course.

Dessert: What color is the carpeting/flooring in your home?

You really want to know? OK- it's supposed to be creamy white but thanks to baby-son, Andy-man and Princess Codilums...well, it's not!

WHEN GOOD PETS ACT LIKE BAD PUPPIES!

After my Aunt Bev's pet purging post, my cousin Sarah's post about all her pets (bless her heart!) and my mom writing about how Chelsea needs Zoloft (which she SO does NOT need), I thought I would join the pet bandwagon and share a photo...

That is Andy and I's couch that Princess Codilums destroyed when she was 6 months old. Is this the first couch she destroyed? Oh no...this is the second couch she destroyed. The first couch was Andy's ex-girlfriend's so I really could have cared less...well, except for the fact that we were couchless for a little while. That was fun...NOT. This poor couch was the couch I got when my Grandmother passed away. Ask my mom, this couch was hideous before Cody got ahold of it. It was a 1970's Ethan Allen couch that my grandma thought was stunning, spectacular, beautiful. We all smiled and nodded. :) Anyhoo, this is what our sweet dog did to our couch. I am embarrased to be showing this but this is truly what hppens when you have a lab/sharpei puppy!

Now, if I could pan around to the right (sorry, can't do that) you would all see holes in my wall where she would lay on her side and scratch...for hours while we were away. To the left side of the couch, there is a hole in the wall about 5 feet up...Andy blamed it on Cody. Hmmm, interesting? How could a puppy put a hole in the wall 5 feet up? Well, she runs under her Daddy's feet when he stands up, trips him and he uses the wall to break his fall! She also dug up the carpet in our bedroom and REPEATEDLY dug up the sprinkler system in our yard...imagine my surprise when I came home from work one day to find a mini-geiser in my front yard. Again, embarrassing and to this day I hope none of the neighbors saw. Thankfully, this all happened at our old duplex. Should I say "thankfully"? Probably not since we ended up OWING money when we left. But, she is our Princess and we love her. We love her even more now that she is potty trained and no longer has an interest in our couches or walls! You really would think she was a terror, completely hyper and fearless, right?

Wrong! This is the fearless terror hiding in our bath tub, behind the curtains because she is terrified of fire crackers. Even though there was a fire ban here in Junction, our neighborhood was CRAZY with fireworks and I seriously thought the poor thing was going to go into cardiac arrest. But, I did think this was pretty funny! My little chicken dog!

So, there is my pet story of the week. Trust me, she keeps me busy and I could come up with tons but I just thought I would give you all a taste of my puppy days! But, I love her so I'm gonna keep her around for awhile. Besides, she and Cam are buds!

THURSDAY THIRTEEN

If money were no object, what would I do? Well, well...let's get started!

1. I would absolutely pay off every bill we owe. Every last single one of them. I know it's pretty impossible to be completely debt free but this is Thursday Thirteen so anything is possible.

2. I would pay whatever it takes to get a professional landscaper here to finish the front yard, the side of the house and completely re-do what Andy and I started in the back yard. I totally dread next summer because that will be our summer project.

3. I would buy my husband a new Toyota Tacoma since that was what he REALLY wanted when we went truck shopping last month. He was a teeny bit disappointed but there was not a decent deal to be found on the Tacoma's. I'm glad he's warmed up to the Tundra but that's the truck I would buy for Andy-man.

4. I would buy Andy and I another house. This one would have 5 bedrooms, 2 baths, tons of open space, a three car garage and a fully landscaped yard!

5. I would then hire someone to come organize that dream house. I swear, that is my biggest downfall...I am so un-organized. So un-organized, in fact, that I drive myself crazy! That's bad, huh?

6. I would, without a doubt, start a college fund for Cameron. I know how hard it was for my mom and dad when I was in school and I see how hard it is for me now trying to pay off the loans!!!

7. Personal trainer, personal trainer, personal trainer...need I say more?

8. I love my vet, trust me, but if I had the money I would find a puppy specialist who could fix my dog for good. I feel awful for her!

9. I would buy my parent's movie tickets for whatever movies they wanted to see whenever they wanted to see them. They used to go to the movies all the time and I don't remember the last movie they saw!

10. I would buy my parent's their dream house - that older southern style house with the big wrap-around porch. Said house would be three doors down from my dream house...in case any of you were wondering!

11. I would buy my hubby a boat...not a hugemongous boat but one that he would love to take fishing. He could pull this boat with the new Tacoma I would buy him as well.

12. OK, now this may sound strange to some people...but I would havemoney put away for my next c-section delivery. We have good insurance but even good insurance doesn't foot the entire bill for a c-section and three and half days in the hospital. You know, they charged Andy and I $980.00 for every day that Cam stayed in the nursery? Funny, because he spent all but one day in our room with us! One year later and I am still paying off that bill- one of the reasons for #1.

13. Season tickets to the Colorado Avalance, baby!!!!!!!!

OOPS...I DID IT AGAIN...

Well, what can I say? It's been one week since my last post...are any of you surprised? I am a terrible blogger! Everytime I think I am going to have some time to sit at my computer a load of laundry needs to be done or Cody needs her medicine or it's dinner and bed time for Baby-Son.

I do want to say thank you to everyone who left sweet comments on my last post about Cam's birthday party. I feel bad for not responding...my mother and sister left beautiful posts about their grandson/nephew and I loved them.

I have a little bit of time now because husband and son are sound asleep. Is anyone noticing a pattern here? I blog everytime the family is in bed...hmmm...

ONE YEAR AGO TODAY...

Exactly one year ago today, this is what I was doing. Well, not exactly one year ago since technically Cam wasn't born until 10pm, straight up, and it's pretty early in the morning here. Anyhoo, Here I was! Looks like fun, doesn't it? Well now, one year later, I can say that it was fun. If you would have asked me on this day a year ago I would have burst into tears and sobbed "no"! This was June 30th but all of this began the morning of the 29th- I was induced by my doctor at 11am, checked into the hospital at 3pm, labored until midnight and was then sent home. Back to the hospital at 8am the next day. Labored until noon at which point my doctor broke my water. That was disgusting and I am thrilled that I never have to experience that again...my contractions really hit about 5 seconds later. I lasted for all of 20 minutes before I practically begged for an epidural. Labored until 7pm and that's where the real fun began. I pushed and pushed and pushed. I said one bad word the whole time and felt really bad about it. I also felt bad for snapping at the nurse...she told me that she could see his hair and I told her to reach up there, grab it and get him out! Obviously that did not happen because I was being wheeled into the operating room for a c-section 2 hours later. Fun, right?



This sweet little thing is the reason I can say the experience was fun. This was my precious little first born son when he was one day old. He was so small! Well, not small enough since he got stuck and he had to be removed via c-section but whatever...here he is! He weighed 7lbs 7oz., was 20 1/4 inches long and named after his Papa (Cameron Robert). He had the darkest hair and for a couple of days it did this weird Bird-Of-Paradise flippy thing in the front. I loved him the minute he was born! I didn't get to see much of him right afterwards because my doctor had to knock me out after the delivery...I woke up about an hour and a half later to this beautiful little boy just staring at me. It was so awesome! For those of you who know me I'm sure you can tell right away that he looks just like his Daddy...I think the only thing he got from me was my dark hair and it's not even dark anymore. I miss him being this little but...


This stage is also great. Look at him...isn't he too cute!? He loves his bath time. He loves his stuffed monkey and stuffed frog, he loves goldfish crackers, Fruit Loops and orange sherbert push-ups. He loves Cody (our dog) and nana and papa. He loves his Aunt Mandy and Uncle Aaron. I KNOW he loves his Daddy (they're buddies!). He growls at you to be cute and screams at you when he's hungry or wants your food. He laughs when you tickle the inside of his thighs or under his chin. He cries when he has bad dreams and then clings to his mama until they go away and he can sleep peacefully again. All these things I have learned about my son over this past year.

Today he is one. One! I can hardly believe it because it still feels like I just brought him home. I can honestly say my life is better because of this child. I look forward to all the changes he will go through in the upcoming years and I look forward to all the things I'm sure he'll teach me. He will always be my baby...even when he's 50 with babies of his own. He is my first born son and that, to me, is precious. I thank God for him every day and I hope he knows, or will come to know, just how much I love him.

So Happy Birthday my sweet Cameron! Today is all about you and only you...

THURSDAY THIRTEEN

Thirteen things I am thankful for, huh? Well, I'm sure I have more than 13 but we can start here:

1. First and foremost- my Mom. For many reasons but mainly because I know she'll show me how to get my own TT icon so I don't feel like a TT loser. Seriously though, she is the world's best mom. She's Super Mom for heaven's sake and always has been.

2. My husband. He is my best friend and without him I would not have precious baby-son.

3. My job- I work for a great company in a great office with 13 ( hey, what a coinky-dink) of the greatest girls. Yep, all girls. Oh wait, we hired a guy to be our marketing rep a few days ago...whoops! Pray for him everyone! :)

4. Our new truck! Yee haw it has AC...need I say more? My Neon does not have AC and neither does Andy's older than dirt Firebird. Trust me, I am so thankful for this new truck!

5. My Budget Sheet...it has helped me get my act together financially and that is ALWAYS a good thing.

6. My dog, Cody. Without Princess Codilums I would not truly appreciate the value of a new couch!

7. My parents being able to move out here 2 months after I found out I was pregnant. I can't imagine them not being here to watch their grand baby grow up.

8. Starbucks...yummy, yummy, yummy. I'll take an iced mocha frappachino, please!!!!

9. My blogging friends- you are all so patient with me and my sporadic posting habits! Thank you!

10. Quack-qwee! I know my mom is the only person here who knows what quack-qweey is. Let me just explain that it is the funniest little duck toy thingy that kept my son entertained for hours when he was teeny.

11. My dishwasher- looking at my kitchen now I am going to REALLY love my dishwasher tomorrow morning!

12. High speed Internet...without it blogging would be a serious frustration for me.

13. My son, Cameron. He teaches me every day to be a better person. :)

Oh my heck, I could go on and on and on. I guess it's a good thing when you have a hugemongous list of things to be thankful for! What a positive TT this was. Thank you to my Aunt Bev for chosing the TT this week. I am THANKFUL you chose a topic that was so easy, fun and uplifting!