Birthdays and company

First I will start by wishing my Dad, sister Kelly and brother Fred all a Happy Birthday!
This weekend was so much fun, even though I can't kick whatever flu or virus has a hold on me. Saturday Jacob worked and when he got home Peter, Marcia, Brianna, Joey, Ashlyn and Steve came over. We spent the afternoon visiting and grabbed something for dinner. We came home and all spent the night playing Guitar Hero. It was so funny because we wanted the Guitar Hero band set over the Rock Band but we were so anxious we decided to buy whichever one we could get. Well at the exact same time I bought Guitar Hero and Jacob bought Rock Band LOL. So we will be returning the Rock Band. Anyway, we all had a lot of fun. I just love to play the drums and so does Jacob so that is our biggest problem.
Sunday we met up with all the Rock's for breakfast at The Good Egg. After breakfast the boys went off to watch football while the rest of us went to look at a few houses in Scottsdale. We were all in love with the first house that we saw. It was AMAZING! In between we stopped at The Golden Spoon and then met up with the guys. We went to Oreganos for lunch and it was wonderful as always. I wasn't feeling very well though, so I didn't eat very much. We all went back to the Rock's place to watch the Broncos game. I was trying to stick it out, but I was just feeling more and more sick, so Nadia and I went home. Jacob came home when the game was over to find me in bed miserable. I was in bed all day today afraid to even move. It is so hard to take care of a 3 month old when you are so sick you can't move. I begged Jacob to stay home from work, but I knew he couldn't. We made it through the day and Nadia was such a good girl. I just hope I feel better for work tomorrow.

Merry Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. Last night we were at my parents house to celebrate Christmas Eve as usual. We ate, made our hot spiced wine (Feuerzangenbowle) and ate cookies. I made homemade Lebkuchen this year for the first time and I was very happy with the results. Every year I can't wait for Christmas because I just LOVE those cookies, now I can make them! After we all had our wine we let Nadia open her gifts from Julia and Rick, Frank and Maureen, and David and Matthew. Afterwards everyone started heading home and so did we. We both exchanged gifts last night. We were only supposed to do 1 each, but we did 2, and one of Nadia's gifts. This morning we woke up and opened the last of our gifts. I got everything I wanted! I was especially excited about my new robe and coffee maker. I had to make coffee right away. Its a new type where it has no carafe, it has a little button you push to dispense the coffee. It is supposed to keep it fresh. I had one of those senseo machines where you only brew a cup at a time, so I am very excited! Jacobs favorite gift he got was a new electric razor. I was surprised at how expensive they can be, but I wanted him to have a good one. I bought him the Braun 360 complete 8995.
Nadia got lots of toys. She also got a cute pair of slippers and a stuffed animal from Jacobs cousin Jeremy and his wife Jessi. Her Oma and Opa gave her a savings bond and money. She got a pair of Nike shoes from her Daddy. They are the cutest little things you have ever seen! I got her a mobile for her crib, for when she starts to sleep in it. She has only laid in her crib once!

Here are some pictures from last night and this morning.

Three months old

Have a Holly, Jolly, Christmas....

This is apparently the only Christmas song I know, and only 2 lines of it, but I love to sing it. I'm sure I drive Jacob crazy, but Nadia likes the signing :) I am so excited for Christmas. I get excited about the gifts I give, it is almost unbearable for me to wait until Christmas to give them. Nadia and I started making cookies yesterday, then I moved on to the deviled eggs and pickle wraps. They are such simple things to make, but Jacob LOVES them. Today I am going to my parents early to help cook. Everyone should be over around 4. I am excited for Nadia to have her first Christmas. Jacob should be home soon and I need to get us ready! I just noticed that the video didn't post, so I am going to try it again.

Ahh, the holidays

Here are a few photos from a couple weeks ago. And a video from this week.
I can't believe how long it has been since I have last blogged. Things have just been so hectic lately. Our little Nadia Grace is just growing up so quickly. It is amazing how a little baby can show you a love you have never known. She is starting to really recognize people and loves to talk, smile and giggle. Her only problem is that she gets so excited that no noise comes out. It is just so cute hearing her little voice. Yesterday we went up to Jacobs work for his year review, they always love to see Nadia. So the baby and I had fun with the girls at his work while he was in with the owner of the company. We were excited that he got a raise and a bonus! Jacob works so hard, I am happy that he is being rewarded. I had a hair appointment at 11 in Scottsdale so Jacob dropped Nadia and I off while he went shopping. I had her cut off 5 inches and give me bangs. I feel so much better, I was in desperate need for a change. When we came home Jacob sent us to the bedroom while he wrapped our presents. We each bought Nadia something that the other doesn't know about. We thought it would be a nice surpise for eachother since she is so little. Christmas Eve we will be going over to my parents house to celebrate as usual. I always opened up all my gifts Christmas Eve, but I really feel like I missed out. We decided that with Nadia she can open gifts from my family Christmas Eve and one from us, but the rest will be Christmas morning. Christmas Day we are invited over to my brothers, in-laws place. I can't believe how fast time is going, our anniversary is in a week and a half and we haven't even planned anything! Well, I have a few ideas, but I have to see if I can pull it off or not.

Wonderful Weekend

Little Nadia looks so much like her Daddy! She loves to snuggle now.


Early Friday morning I woke up so sick. I was up and down for hours. I finally managed to get back to sleep only to be woken up an hour later by my alarm. I got up and got ready for work, but it was not a great day. I was off by 2 and went home with the baby to relax. She was not in the mood to relax though. That is the one thing that both Jacob and I agree we miss. There are times that you are just exhausted, or sick, but above all you are a parent. So you suck it up no matter how you feel and do your best. I think the first time we have a baby sitter over night we will spend it not going out, but sleeping in LOL. Friday night our friends Lisa and Justin wanted to hang out but we were both just too tired.

Saturday morning we woke up, got ourselves some coffee and went to a couple garage sales. I wanted to get Nadia a Bumbo seat, but I didn't want to pay $40 for one. I know she won't use it much and you have to be very careful with them. She is just too cute sitting in it though!


Afterwards we went to look at houses in Queen Creek. We looked at about 8 houses and were impressed by most of them. All the houses we looked at had pools and all of them were at or under $150K. A few of them were just too big to be honest. We don't need 3000 sqft nor do we want to pay utilities on that much space. We really enjoy going out and looking to see what is out there and it gives us a chance to see which areas we like. On our way back into town we stopped to pick up a gift for the White Elephant gift exchange at my office Christmas party next week. I also had to stop and order California Rolls from Kona Grill. I had been craving them ever since I had them when Peter and Marcia were out. We stopped by the house and stocked up Nadias diaper bag and headed over to Justins house. They were decorating the house and drinking egg nog and rum. We both had a drink, played Mario Cart and visited for a while. We were home by nine and exhausted. I noticed that I had missed a call. It was my parents cell phone and my Dad left a page to call it back. I knew this wasn't good. They don't use their cell phone often. I tried calling a few times and no one answered. I tried their home, no answer. So I called my brother, he didn't know anything. I finally got a hold of my Dad and they were at the hospital. My Mom had gone in at about 5 with chest pains. It is basically the same issues as the last time she was in. They are running tests on her and keeping her a few days. They did get 4 liters of fluid out of her and she was stabilized that night, so she is feeling better.

Today we laid in bed and watched football. When Nadia napped we napped. It was a nice relaxing day. I thought about going to visit my Mom at the hospital but we didn't think it would be a good idea to bring Nadia to the hospital. My Mom was pretty knocked out by all the Morphine they had given her anyway. We did finally venture out around 5 to pick up formula and diapers. We came home and cleaned the house for about an hour before we settled down to watch the Amazing Race and Desperate Housewives. All in all we had a great weekend together minus my Mom going into the hospital.

Brainstorming

Now that Nadia is finally sleeping a little longer I am finding myself not being able to sleep well. I keep having crazy dreams, not nightmares necessarily but pretty close. Once I am awake I find myself doing our budget in my head, thinking of what I can make for dinner the next night, trying to remember if I have to work the next day. I am usually pretty good at calming my mind but there is a whole new world of things that you wonder/worry about once you are a mother. I had myself so worked up that I just had to have a talk with my boss today. We make decent money, but as I have said before our health insurance is a huge drain on us. Add to that the 20% we owe for our hospital stay. I told her that I was ready to take on more hours if they were available. We also talked about life issues and afterwards I felt much better. She told me there is plenty of work for me so I can get as many hours as I need. We again talked about me activating my license, but I think I will hold off a little while for various reasons. As long as I am making decent money I am happy. I love the fact that they are so easy going and flexible. Most importantly, they are good hearted and fair. I am checking into different health care for us in hopes that I can find something that is reasonable. I found a few options today that look promising.

In other news.... Jacob told me he had been thinking about Brick possibly coming out here to stay a couple/few months. We talked about it and we think it might be fun for him to get away for a little while. We spoke about it prior to him even bringing it up to Brick so he was very excited to call him today. Brick liked the idea, so we will talk after Christmas about how and when he will come down. I had to assure my parents that they would not miss out on any babysitting time. LOL We are not bringing Brick out here to be a babysitter! Crazy parents, they love their little Nadia. I felt so bad for Nadia today. I got her after work and had to do some grocery shopping. Lets just say that's not easy to do in heels lugging a baby carrier. When we got home she just started screaming bloody murder. This just isn't like her, I have never heard her cry so hard. I felt so bad for her. This continued on and off for quite a few hours. I cried with her because I felt so helpless. She was looking at me with those sad eyes all welled up in tears. I was afraid she was starting to get constipated, and had picked up a few items from the store to help, but it was too late. Poor girl was in so much pain all because she couldn't poo. Finally she was able to and she has been the happy baby we are used to. I am going to do everything I can to keep that from happening again, it was horrible!

Running

Yesterday I felt great, wasn't even sore, so I was a little disappointed in myself. I didn't want to push it too much on my first run and I may have slacked off too much. I ran again today and it seemed harder than the first time! I kept the same pace as last time, so we will see how I feel. I stretched a lot better this time, so my legs weren't as tense but my asthma was kicking in slightly and my heart was pounding! I figure at least maybe I will get my hips, butt and legs back to a normal size by working my muscles. I am going to have Jacob measure me tonight. I am more worried about inches than I am weight. If my clothes fit, I'm happy! I was talking to a friend today that suggested the "lemonade cleanse diet" There is no way that I have enough willpower to do that and I'm just not sure how healthy that can really be for you. She lost 10 pounds in 10 days each time she has done it. The "safe" weight to lose a week is 2-3. So we will just eat healthier and get our butts moving. Jacob also has been running, but of course he is a little better at it than I am. I did remember though while running Monday I must look like a fool! LOL This is why I don't run! Good thing no one can see me and I am the only one seeing things jiggle that just aren't pretty! Oh man.....

An attempt to run

LOL, Well I am soooo out of shape. I started week 1 of the podcast today. After I fed Nadia I decided I had the urge to go run.I set her swing up in the room and got the podcast all ready. I knew I was in for it when my legs were tired just from walking fast. I know that I need to start somewhere though and I may just have to repeat this week for a while before I can move up. I do feel really good and I know I will be sore, but I feel like I acomplished something, so I am happy.

Here are a few pictures of Nadia over the weekend. We let he try out her new swing and excersaucer. She was adorable!