Introducing Keira Louise

My newest niece arrived yesterday morning.

Keira weighed 9 lb 13 oz and is 20.5 inches long.

Board

I don't think it's a coincidence that "board" and "bored" are homophones because in general boards are boring.

Currently I am bored. My husband got called in to work so it's just little Mia and I hanging out this afternoon and evening. That's not usually so boring except she's in the midst of a long nap... so for now it is.

So what do I do on a Sunday afternoon when I'ved checked email, myspace and facebook about a gazillion times already? I blog.

I blog that I'm super excited about the birth of my new niece and Goddaughter which takes place this coming Thursday.

I blog that although my sweet 16 month old is over her croup, she now has a cold that makes her sound a bit like Donald Duck every now and then.

I blog that Andrew felt the new baby move today and that was SUPER exciting!

I blog that we pulled out Mia's little wooden kid rosary at Mass today and even though it doesn't have pictures or anything on it, out of nowhere she said "Mary." That was cool!

I blog that I think it's high time Hilary drops out of the democratic race. Seriously... you've lost... get used to it.

And I blog that it seems Andrew and I have sneak peek tickets to the new Adam Sandler movie coming out next weekend. I wonder if it will be stupid and funny or just stupid. We'll see I guess.

U2 Rocks

Dum dum dee dum!!! Andrew and I went to the doctor for my 18 week sonogram today! It's so fun to watch sonos when I'm this far along cuz sweet little baby is totally cute and moving around and stuff. We saw feet and hands and a bunch of face shots and some butt shots. The sonographer was having a heck of a time getting all of the shots she needed because our little U2 LOVES to lay on his/her belly. Baby wouldn't flip no matter how much prodding she did.

Anyways... sonogram day is awesome. And U2 is so sweet. And YEAY for babies!

Adventures in Parenting

What with breastfeeding her for so long, and her not being around a ton of other little kids at a babysitter, Andrew and I have been really blessed with a super healthy baby in her short 15 months out-of-utero. So when Mia woke up at 2am last night with a terrible sounding coughy/cry, I knew something was out of sorts.

We tried to soothe her back to sleep, but the wheezing didn't seem to be letting up, so I finally called the nurse-on-call for our pediatrician. She listened to Mia, said it sounded like Croup, and suggested we stay in the bathroom with her with the hot water on full blast so it got really steamy for 20 minutes. That seemed to help a little, but when I called the nurse back and let her listen to Mia again, she said "You better go ahead and take her into the ER just to make sure... she really shouldn't be wheezing at all after that steam treatment."

So for the THIRD time in like 40 days, we headed for the ER. Got there about 3:30am and after waiting for like an hour, the doctor listened to her, got a quick chest xray, and confirmed, YES, Mia has the croup. He then warned Andrew and I that even though she'll be pretty happy and normal during the day, we shouldn't expect to sleep too much for the next 5 days because croup likes to act up at night.

We got home from ER about 5:30a this morning. We all went back to sleep. Then Mia woke up at 7:30a bright eyed and bushy taled.. ready for a new day.

I got up with her and gave her breakfast and mosied around thinking there was no way I was going to work for awhile considering I'd been at the hospital for 4 hours last night. What a mess!

Anyhoo... the chiquita is doing pretty good. She's got to take drugs for the next 5 days, but she's pretty normal and happy (minus a bit of extra fussiness when she gets wheezy.)

I'm just thinking I'm pretty done with ER trips for a LONG LONG LONG LONG LONG LOOOOOOOONG TIME.

Cheers to parenting... it's an adventure. That's for sure!

Fun Survey

You have 10 dollars and need to buy snacks at a gas station:

Hmm, if I wasn't preggo, I'd buy a Starbucks Frappucino and one of those yummy spicy hotdog things from Quiktrip.


If you were reincarnated as a sea creature, what would you want to be? Nemo!


Who’s your favorite redhead?

My brother Tom and my blogfather Kyle


What do you order when you’re at IHOP?

The Quick Two Egg Breakfast with scrambled eggs, wheat toast, bacon and orange juice.


Describe your mood. Sad that Andrew's working late but amused that Mia likes to call out the letters after the people on Wheel of Fortune call them out.


Rock concert or symphony? symphony


What is the wallpaper of your cell phone? since the wreck, it's either a picture of Mia or a blank blue screen.


Soda? Dr.Pepper


What type of shirt are you wearing? A frilly blue shirt with a matching tank underneath that isn't maternity but could totally pass for it. I'm so glad that empire waists are back in style!


If you could only use one form of transportation? Our new super cool station wagon.


Most recent movie you’ve watched in theaters? Made of Honor - not so great, but it was a free sneak peak so it was worth the moula.


Name an actor/actress/singer you’ve had the hots for: Will Smith... yummy


Whats your favorite kind of cake? White wedding cake


What did you have for dinner last night? Hamburger steak from the George Foreman, Spaeztle and Asparagus


Look to your left, who do you see? Ms. Amelia Grace sitting on my body pillow watching the Great Wolf Lodge commercial.


Do you untie your shoes when you take them off? hardly ever


Favorite toy as a child? my barbies!!


Do you buy your own groceries? yes


Do you think people are perfect? No. If they were perfect, wouldn't I like all of them...


What’s your favorite fruit? Hmm... good watermelon or peaches


Do you have a picture of yourself doing a cartwheel? no... pretty sure I've always been too scared to try and do one.


Do you like running long distances? negative... but I'm always running a lot in my dreams and I never get tired. It's sweet.


Have you ever eaten snow? yes.


What color are your bedsheets? cacky and burgundy... the same ones we registered for at the wedding... I think.


What’s your favorite flower? Daisies!

Do you do ballet? I think it's kinda weird and kinda pretty. I don't like that the guys wear tights.

Do you listen to classical music? only if it's on Baby Einstein.

Do you watch Spongebob? no

Do people consider you smart? probably depends on the people... but I think I'm smart.

How many piercing’s do you have? just my ears.

Are you signed on AIM? i bet my account has expired by now.

Have you ever tried gluing your fingers together? um... i don't think so.

How do you feel about your family? LOVE MY FAMILY SO MUCH

Do you have an iPod? nope

What time do you go to bed? 9 or 10p

What CD is currently in your CD player? no clue

What movie do you know every line to? Little Mermaid, Dirty Dancing, probably Pretty Woman

What is your favorite salad dressing? Ranch... but mostly just restaurant kind

Do you like myspace? not as much as Facebook

Last time you had butterflies in your stomach? Hmm... I don't remember

Last person you hugged?My sweet Mia girl

That's the thing about 15 month olds...

I'm learning more and more that little kids learn so much just by observing. Just this week Andrew and I were praying before dinner, and I looked over a little Mia and she had her hands clasped together just like we did. As soon as we finished the prayer, she put her hand on her head. Granted... it was the back of her head instead of her forehead... but she knows that we make the sign of the cross and that's cool.

Since observing this, I've been teaching her to say Amen at the end of the prayer and she's getting pretty good at hit. My daughter is cool!

A Menagerie

So many things to blog... but never feeling like blogging gets to be a problem. So here's a summary:

1) Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks to all the people who were so awesome after our crash. All the prayers, phone calls, babysitting, food, cleaning our apartment, visiting us, and just expressing concern did NOT go unnoticed. We're so grateful for all of you who have been so amazingly supportive during this whole mess. Now three and a half weeks later, you can barely tell we were even in a very bad car wreck. The bruises are fading, the scrapes are nearly healed, and the muscle pain is definitely improving. So thank God for all of you because you were such a help in our recovery! .... oh yeah... AND we found out that the family who hit us had insurance!! YIPEE!

2) The 2nd anniversary was lovely. Andrew and I didn't do a whole lot, but we did go out for dinner and just have a relaxing evening together with our bambina. I sure do love my husband.

3) And this Mother's Day was EXPONENTIALLY better than my first mother's day. I don't recall if I wrote about it, but Andrew was called into work last year and was gone like ALLL day on my first mother's day. I spent the majority of the day in tears... that was until my sweet gal pals Ray & Lisa came over with flowers to keep me company and cheer me up. But this year was just fab. We spent Friday and Saturday with my mom and dad and Tom & Kim and Avery. Then we traveled home on Sunday in time to see Andrew's mom, too. Andrew made the day super special by being an extra attentive daddy to Mia so I could relax, and we capped the day off with a family walk. It was great!

4) Remember when I used to name the seasons? I haven't done that in awhile but I've got a vibe the next year or so is going to be full of changes. "Lots of changes, old Max, lots of changes." With U2 coming along, changes at my job and Andrew's, and just a whole menagerie of things... it just seems like we're in for a loop-de-loop year.

5) I forgot about the part of pregnancy that I am currently experiencing. I'm not sick anymore. I don't feel that abnormal. I can't feel baby moving yet, and I'm only slightly chunkier. So basically I don't feel pregnant, and it freaks me out. I'm getting super ansy for the day this kid hauls off and kicks me hard enough that I can feel it, because I totally do NOT feel preggo.

6) We got a new car. It's a Ford Taurus Wagon and it's super cute. Wagons today are so much cooler than back when I was a kiddo. They're like way sleeker and cuter than those blocky brown things we rode around in. I totally love this car and it makes me feel way more mommyesque. Plus it seats 7 so we totally have room to grow our family!!!!