Valentine's Day!

We spent Valentine's with the fam. It was awesome!

First we went to Cathy's (Matt's Mom) for a family party and lots of yummy food.

After that we went to Michael and Mandy's for dinner. They had this awesome grill thing that sits in the middle of the table and cooks meat and veggies right there. It was so much fun!

My little niece Cabria did my make-up and my hair. She always tells me I look like "Miley Cyprus" and that she's going to style my hair like Tom Brady. After make-overs, she wanted to play doctor/sick man. I was the doctor first and she proceeded to tell me that she had butterflies in her tummy. They must have needed friends because she told me later that she had ladybugs, caterpillars and names in her tummy and could I please make her some tea with a jingle bell in it. She is so hilarious!!!

Trace is growing up so fast.. He's a little man now! All the girls at his school love him. We gave him some Tommy cologne because he's old enough to wear it. He looked at Matt like he had lost his mind when Matt told him to spray it on his wrists and rub them on his neck. I think he always thinks Matt is teasing him so he doesn't believe half of what he says.

After the kids went to bed, Mandy, Michael, Matt and I watched "Mirrors." I had nightmares. Thanks guys! Micheal fell asleep on the worst part. I almost convinced Matt to go home when Michael was sleeping but he woke up before I could sneak out.

All in all, it was the best Valentine's ever... We are so blessed! We have the most amazing family and life gets better everyday.

Cabin Fever

This is an email I sent to my friend who wants to come see Emma. After reading it back to myself, I realized how much my life has changed now that I have a baby. I stay home every night! I copied and pasted this from the email:





Listen, this is my schedule.

Monday: I’m free til 9:00 pm when Intervention starts. Technically it’s a re-run but I watch it anyways until 10 when the new episode airs.

Tuesday: Free til 7pm when American Idol comes on. However, I’m fresh out of shows after that so my schedule opens up at approximately 8pm.

Wednesday: American Idol is on again at 7. I’M BUSY FROM 8-9PM. No shirt, no shoes, no business. Lost is on at that time and as you may have heard, there is no talking during Lost. The only time there can be talking is at Lost Appropriate Talking Times like during music montage or commercials. There are no other Lost Appropriate Talking Times. Actually, there are no Lost Appropriate Talking Times period. And there are no cell phones allowed. After that, I have to decompress for a few moments. Around 9:30pm I’m free again but only til 11pm when the new Real World is on. From 11-12 I hold my eyes open with tape or tooth picks, whichever is more readily available at the time. 12am on the dot: Sleepy time.

Thursday: Not so good for me. I’m double booked between 7 and 8 pm when Ugly Betty and Bones are on. I flip between channels during that hour. It gets a little messy. 8pm: Grey’s Anatomy. I pretty much pretend that this is my other life and these people are my friends. I free up at 9. America’s Best Dance Crew is on at 11 but that’s not pertinent.

Friday: There are no shows on Friday. I don’t know if it’s because I’m never home on Fridays or what. Maybe I watch movies??

Weekend: No shows.

So, that’s my schedule. I really can have visitors anytime but there is no talking during Lost.

So this is love....

October 29th, 2008, my life changed forever in one moment.. I don't know that I'd even call it a moment really. How long is a moment?? It's sounds kinda long when you think about it. An instant. A blink of an eye. A nano-second maybe.. All I know is that it was super fast.

9:25 am: I walked into a freezing cold room wearing nothing but a hospital gown and hospital issued slippers. In case you're wondering, they do nothing to protect against the elements. My hands were sweating like a prostitute in church. The nurses told me to breathe deeply and try to relax, meanwhile, a ginormous needle was staring at me right in the eye. I had to lean over a stainless steel tray while they paralyzed me from the chest down. Really, it didn't hurt but the idea absolutely terrified me...

Once I lost the feeling in my legs, they tossed me back onto a table that I'm medium sure had been refrigerated up to that point. They yanked my gown off and proceeded to strap my arms down so that I was lying like a nude crucifix; exposed to any and every person that cared to peek in. These strangers were tossing my naked limbs about like a rag doll and there was nothing I could do about it!

They hung a sheet from a bar above my neck so that I couldn't see what they were about to do.. I was sure I wasn't numb enough for them to start cutting me open so I kept yelling, "Don't do it yet! I'm not ready!"

Apparently, they thought otherwise because they started the procedure. Don't worry, I was numb.. I didn't know they were doing it until Matt came in and asked me if it was hurting. That was when I started freaking out. I was still strapped down and paralyzed so running was out of the question. I just had to lie there and pray for death. Or Valium. Whichever came first.

What seemed like hours later (3-4 minutes), they said they had the baby's bum out. Matt looked up over the sheet and screamed, "SHE LOOKS JUST LIKE YOU!" Everyone laughed except me. I didn't know at the time but he was not trying to be funny. Our butts are identical. No joke.

9:49 am: They pulled the rest of her little body out and the doctors said she was beautiful. They brought her around to show me and that's when it happened; that was the moment. My life changed forever right then and there, while I was naked, numb and drunk with fear.

There, five feet from my strapped down hands was an angel. A perfect little princess that had been living in my belly for the past nine months. I could not have imagined that she would be so amazing! This was the defining moment of my life. So many emotions raced through me at that point, it's not possible to explain. All I know is that heaven could not be better than that.

Through all the insanity I managed to choke out, "That's our baby!" to Matt. Followed by, "Is she cute??" I wasn't sure at that point because she was gooey and screaming. Matt assured me that she was cute and then LEFT ME ALONE to be violated some more. Can you believe that?

So now I have this beautiful baby girl that is so beautiful and wonderful I can't believe it! I look at her in amazement every morning thinking, "I made that. People must be so jealous."
This is what it feels like to be really living.