Sep 30, 2013

Weekend Recap

This mama-to-be got lots of relaxing in this weekend and I couldn't be happier about it since I'm no longer sleeping more than 2 hours at a time. It's really awesome.

Saturday I got up and hammered out a couple hours of productive activity. I got dishes done and then got to work on the baby's room, which I explained on Friday meant I needed to clean out the spare bedroom. I got the stuff that needs to go out to the shed set out in the kitchen so Danny has to look at them every day until he moves them, then I got all the baby stuff we've accumulated so far moved to the spare bedroom where it will stay until after the shower. I went through one of my craft stuff on Friday so I didn't need to do that on Saturday. Moving boxes and things created some back pain so I parked it on the couch for the next few hours until Danny got home from training. This is the point where I got 100% completely sucked into Parenthood. On Demand has the first 3 seasons and I made the decision to start at Season 1 in case it was as great as everyone said so I could start from the beginning. I loved it! I also made the easiest banana bread I've ever made. Recipe will be up this week!


Saturday night Danny and I headed to the James Dean Festival in Fairmount. (Google James Dean if you don't know who he is. Its pretty cool he's from a town right down the road!) The festival is a meeting ground for classic cars, which are cool and all, but this girl went up there to eat. I had a tenderloin and THEN got a Taco Loaded Baked Potato. Oh it was delicious! It was pretty much a Taco Salad with a potato. Thats how loaded it was.
There's a potato under there believe it or not.

Sunday was rainy and perfect for lounging. After church we came home and took cat naps, then got up and ran a couple of errands. I couldn't get back in my sweats fast enough once we got home. I got in my sweats and settled in on the couch for 3 episodes of Parenthood. Danny watched with me so I think he's enjoying it almost as much as I am. The rest of the night was basically spent lounging for me.

Danny's birthday is tomorrow... and I still don't have a gift for him! How terrible am I? Wait, I did pick him up a 6 pack of Redd's Apple Ale on Friday. Now other than that.... nothin. Hopefully something comes to mind. What are some creative ideas you've used on your husband's birthday?

Sep 27, 2013

Five on Friiiiiday!

Yay for Friday. I think I jinxed myself on Wednesday when I said Wednesdays are usually my worst day. Typically they end up being the busiest. To the point where I can't even tell you what I did that day sometimes. However! Yesterday was rough. Things just kept popping up and I ended up having 2 afternoon meetings, which I don't like to do, and I didn't get home until 6:30. Womp womp. Erin likes to get home at 4:30. But, I made some money out of it so it'll be worth it!

Lets get to the easiest and one of the best link ups in all of the blog world... Five on Friday with Darci @ the good life blog.

1. Weekend to-do list. There's just a lot on it for Saturday. I really need to get the baby's room cleaned out and in order to do that, I have to clean out the spare bedroom. And the things in the spare bedroom need to go in the shed, which is Danny's job. I also need to go through my craft supplies. I need to minimize and find a new storage system (yeah I think I said this like a month and a half ago and still haven't done anything about it.) I also need to purge my closet. I have tons of jeans in there that I've only worn like 10 times in the last 2 or 3 years. I obviously don't love them. The kitchen needs attention too. Where is my maid?

2. Banana Bread - its happening this weekend. Not sure if I want to stick with the recipe my former roomie gave me or try a new one.  I remember seeing a 3 ingredient recipe on Pinterest that I've wanted to try, but I don't know if I'm feeling brave enough. Banana bread sounds great and I don't want to be disappointed. Has anyone made the easy one?

3. In-Laws - I hit the jackpot. I've probably said this before too, but I really truly did. I ran into Danny's stepdad yesterday at the gas station and he pumped my gas for me. His dad has done this before too. Such gentlemen they are. And my mom texted me yesterday telling me my baby shower is going to be awesome. She's helping my sister-in-laws with it and they're just wonderful. Great party planners and have been nothing but welcoming to me since day 1. I know in-laws can cause some trouble, but mine are the exception to that.


4. Grey's Anatomty -  My world is right again now that its back on, except for the fact that my BFF Shelby isn't here to watch it with me anymore.  She just moved to Texas. We plan on watching it at the same time, most weeks anyway, except for last night. The whole 9/8c threw her off.. she thought it would be on 9 there. Nope. It started at 8 for her. I certainly watched it though and it made my jaw drop on a few occasions.  Its going to be a great season!

5. Weekend weather - The high on Saturday is 81. WTF is that about? Its practically October. I'm over it and ready for sweaters, cardigans, hot chocolate, boots (provided that I can put them on myself), soup and all things fall. I can't get into fall mode when its 80. Lets get it together Mother Nature!



That's what is on my mind on this Friday morning. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend! :)

Sep 26, 2013

27 weeks!

So yesterday marked 3 months until Christmas. Did that freak anyone else out? No? Just the girl thats gonna pop out a kid right around then?






Baby size: Rutabaga... I honestly have never seen one of these in real life soooo this is SUPER helpful.
Any symptoms?  back pain is constant. heartburn sucks. some nausea. fatigue is making its way back.
Cravings? cheeseburgers, scrambled eggs
Favorite part this week? we finally bought paint for his room! and the kicks and movement still have me amazed
Least favorite part this week? the back pain.
Boy or Girl? BOY!! :)
Names? Tucker. I guess we're still deciding on the middle name for sure.









I've been feeling pretty good lately other than being really tired some days. All of the running around we did Saturday afternoon and evening had me on the couch most of the day Sunday.

I'm definitely feeling some of the 3rd trimester woes already. I get full pretty quickly, but then I'm hungry an hour or so later. It also seems like I get out of breath just breathing. That's an exaggeration, but still. Little activity makes me huff and puff.

I've got lots to do this weekend to get his room ready for paint and getting the crib put together. If I don't do it soon, I'm going to be super overwhelmed after our baby shower thats in a month.

Have a good Thursday! I know I will because GREY'S ANATOMY COMES ON TONIGHT!!!!!!

Sep 25, 2013

So What Wednesday

Hump Daaaaayyy.

Well this week is just flying by and I am pretty pumped up about that. Wednesdays have turned into my busy, hectic, want to pull my hair out and have a bottle glass of wine days so hopefully this one goes smoothly. Now that I say this, I'm sure Tucker will decide to make his grand appearance on a Wednesday in December. That would only make sense wouldn't it?

One of my favorite parts about Wednesday is linking up with Shannon at Life After I "Dew" for So What! Wednesday.  It's been a few weeks since I've participated because like I said, Wednesdays kind of suck.  Well I'm back and hoping this link-up can take some of the suck out of it.

P.S. I could NOT figure out how to use the new pic because I'm still blogging-challenged.
 
 
 
SO WHAT IF...
-  I think the work they are doing on the railroad crossing next to my house is the biggest inconvenience of 2013 because it causes me to have to drive at least 2 miles out of my way to get to work, which is only 1 mile away. This TRIPLES my drive time to work.
- I'm complaining about my commute time to work being tripled and its still only 10 minutes.
- We went to dinner with another couple last night and I only ate half of my entrée so I could eat it for lunch today.. and then ate it within an hour of us being home last night.
- I full on cried last night because our toilet wasn't working right and Danny wasn't sure what was wrong. 1 bathroom + a pregnant bladder = tears.
- I am just about as excited for the Grey's Anatomy premiere tomorrow night as I normally am for Christmas... every Christmas other than this one since I'm due to have a baby that day.
- I think this Daddy Sticker Chart that I saw on Facebook the other day is the funniest thing I'll probably see or hear of this week.

 

Sep 24, 2013

A Day in the Life

I feel like its commonplace for a blogger to have a "my day" kind of post.  I've seen a number of these floating around in just the last couple of weeks and I've been tossing around the idea of doing one myself. Why? Well for starters, it doesn't get much easier than writing about your day. That's not the main reason though. Thats just a bonus :)

The main reason I'm choosing now to do it is so I can come up with a new schedule once the baby is dictating my life here.  As soon as you find out you're pregnant, you start thinking about how life is going to change. From trading in your late nights with friends for late nights with a fussy baby, or for Danny and me, the biggest change is going to be leaving at the very last minute for an event. Lately my morning routine has been on my mind. I know my days of getting ready at a snails pace (its not really that slow but I do have the luxury of taking my time right now) are coming to an end. I have to find a time to fit in a feeding and/or pumping, get myself ready, get a kid ready and eat. Makes me tired just thinking about it really.

Now that I've got you sitting on pins and needles just waiting for how I spend my 24 hours, lets get too it.

6:00-6:39 - I roll out of bed at some point. If Danny works, he starts waking up around 6, which obviously means I have to get up too. I've basically been his alarm for 5 years. I get up around 6:30 on those days. If he's not getting up for work, I normally get up between 6:15 and 6:20.

Out of bed until 8:20 - My plan is to have my shower done, hair dried and fixed, make up done and clothes on by 7:30. Its a great day if its done by 7:20. I make breakfast and plop it on the couch until about 8. During that time I blog if I didn't the night before, watch tv, eat my breakfast and maybe read a blog or two if time permits. By 8:10 I'm off the couch making my waters and morning snack. I'm out the door at 8:20.

8:25-12:00 - I'm at work. Yep, I live about 5 minutes from where I work. Its only 5 minutes because half of the route is a school zone. When I get there I check messages and emails, then go over my to-do list. If there isn't anything urgent, I piddle around on the Internet(blogs, Facebook) until about 9-9:15. Then I pump out 2.5-3 hours of work. If I finish a task around 11:30, I piddle again until its time to go to lunch. I'm not one to start a project shortly before I leave the office. I think its silly.

12:00-1:15 - I either go home for lunch or go eat with the hubs somewhere. These days its mostly eating at home since he's working other jobs quite a bit, which is fine. It saves money that way. I fix my lunch and I used to watch Will & Grace until Lifetime changed their scheduling WITHOUT NOTIFYING ME which is f'ing ruuude! I also get some Diesel snuggles in at lunch and its so nice. At 1 I make my afternoon water and snack then head to the post office to get the mail for the business.

1:30-4 or 5:00 - Finish stuff from the morning and make my to-do list for the next day. This is usually when my brother and I do a lot of our business and meeting together. If I'm not out of the office by 5, I'm an unhappy person. I know, thats not something huge to bitch about since normal business hours are 8-5.

4 or 5-7:00 - When I'm in the walking mood, I go to the park after work. I take Diesel more times than I don't these days since I'm not walking more than one mile. After we walk, I cook dinner. While dinner cooks, I straighten the kitchen, and empty/load the dishwasher. I don't do dishes everyday like a good little girl. It doesn't make sense to do them when Danny isn't here and I use like 1 plate, a bowl and some utensils. I might start some laundry at this time. Throw a new load in and fluff the load thats in the dryer, because lets be honest, there's probably been one in there for a day or 3. We eat dinner and the lounging commences. When its Zumba night and I can go, like when I'm not pregnant, that's at 6:30 and dinner is either light or non-existant, dishes don't get done and Danny is probably on his own for dinner.

7-9:30 or 10 - If Danny is home, I usually let him have the tv and I'll finish laundry and play on the computer. If there is something I just HAVE to watch, I'll go to our room. If Danny isn't home, I induldge in recorded tv and stuff that is on On Demand. I really have to get my tv habits under control lol. Around 10 I get ready for bed if I haven't already and head that way.  When Diesel hears the fans (yes there are 2) come on he knows its bedtime and is in there pretty quickly, whether Danny is home or not. When mama goes to bed, Diesel goes to bed. Its adorable. Once I'm in there, I check social media again and let my brain start shutting down. Once I put my phone down, I'm out.

Thaaats it.

Sep 23, 2013

Weekend Recap

This was one of the quickest weekends I've had in a while. I'm sure from here on out until the baby gets  here thats how they will be since we have so much to do on the weekends now to prepare for his arrival.

Friday was rainy, which messed up some of our plans. We attended the homecoming parade and then ordered pizza to take over to our friends house who just had a baby on the 17th. I keep saying she's Tucker's first girlfriend. She was so precious and has me so ready to meet our little guy! We planned on going to the football game, but the rain never let up unfortunately. We missed a great game though from what I hear. After we spent a couple of hours with the new family, we headed home.

Saturday was busy, busy! My pig farmer husband got up and headed to pick up the pigs that we sold. We now have an ungodly amount of pork in our garage freezer. I did laundry way longer than I should have and both Danny and I's morning activities made us late for my mom's birthday lunch. 
My mama and I on my wedding day!
We met her, my brother and his girlfriend at PF Changs in Indy. Yummmmm. We all had a good time laughing and learning the difference between 1st cousins and 1st cousins once removed.  (Sidenote: Danny and my brothers girlfriend are second cousins or something like that. Even after the lengthy discussion, I still don't know how it all works and am just going to keep going by what I have been for 20+ years. Sound good?) After lunch Danny and I needed to go to Buy Buy Baby and do our registry there. We invited the grandma-to-be to tag along since it was her birthday. You just can't let your mom spend majority of her birthday by herself. That's rude. We felt much better about this registry than we did the Target one. It wasn't as brutal since it wasn't our first time in the store actually looking at baby stuff, or our first time making decisions about our kid's shit.

We also treated my mom to some birthday cheesecake at Cheesecake Factory. I got the new toasted smores kind.


I didn't really love it. Next time I go there, I really just want to order the original cheesecake with strawberry or cherry topping. Make it simple so it actually tastes like cheesecake. I just get so distracted by the peanut butter and chocolate and red velvet and apple that I forget I want JUST cheesecake. Am I alone in this? Yes?

After cheesecake, we went to a couple other store then stopped by Lowe's on the way home to get paint and supplies so Danny and his brother can't paint Tucker's room. Danny's brother is a great painter and will have that knocked out in no time. I can't wait to see it when it's done, whenever that may be!

Sunday... I was worthless.  Aside from the grocery trip that Danny joined me on and making dinner, which took very little effort, I did nothing. All of Saturdays festivities wore me out!

That would be all for now. It's time to tackle another work week. Yayyyyyy!

Sep 20, 2013

Five on Friday

Fridayyyyyyy. Lordy I never thought this day would get here. The first week back from vacation is always a drag but when you're pregnant its just about exhausting. Friday means its the end of the madness. It also means its time for the "Five on Friday" hosted by Darci @ The Good Life Blog



1. Baby Appointment - This went so well yesterday. We started out with an ultrasound and our little guy is still a little guy. Danny and I both got a little worried his man parts disappeared. Why? I don't really know. It probably had something to do with the fact that there are boxes and boxes of baby boy clothes sitting in the nursery. After the ultrasound we had our regular appointment and the doctor had nothing but good news. The placenta is no longer an issue and I won't be having a scheduled c-section. I talked to her about my back concerns and we're just going to see what happens. I have great ultrasound pics to share, but I'll share those next week after my mom gets a chance to see them in person since she reads this little bloggy blog.

2. My breakfast - Today I whipped up a yummy breakfast treat that has me all excited for fall. It was Apple Pie Yogurt. While everyone and the mom get pumped about pumpkins, and I'm over her ready for apple stuff. While I love pumpkin (I tried a pumpkin spice latte for the first time a couple weeks ago... heavently) I LOOOOOVE apple stuff. I don't necessarily love caramel apples, but I love cider (regular and hard), apple desserts, apple butter, applesauce... and caramel apple shakes from Steak n Shake. Anywho, back to the yogurt.  All I did was chop 1/2 of an apple into small pieces and put that on top of a thing of vanilla yogurt. Then I sprinkled it with some apple pie spice that I had in the cabinet from a recipe I made last year. Delish! It would have been even more delish had there been some graham crackers to play the role of the crust.


3. Fall TV - The second best thing about the season after the fall yummies. Fall TV starts tonight in the Summers home with Last Man Standing on ABC. It stars Tim Allen.. you know Tim the Tool Man Taylor from Home Improvement.  We think it is hilarious! In Home Improvement Tim had 3 boys and in this show he has 3 girls and he works at an outdoorsy shop (Think Cabelas or Bass Pro Shop). The guys from Duck Dynasty are on it tonight so it should be good. We won't be home tonight because its homecoming for our high school so thank goodness for DVR.

4. Festivals - Its Fall Festival time around here in these parts. The next 3 weekends there are some pretty good ones. This weekend is a small one, next weekend is a HUGE one that I've never been too but have always heard good things, and then the next weekend there is one right here in our hometown. Once festivals start popping up on the calendar, thats when I feel like its fall. So I'm excited.

5. Mr. Summers birthday - Its October 1st and I have NO CLUE what to get him other than be lame and give him a gift card.  COOL. I'm officially on the hunt for a good idea.

It's time for me to go knock out this last work day of the week so I can get onto my fun filled weekend.
 

Sep 19, 2013

26 weeks!

Hey hey hey!  Its time for yet another bumpdate. I missed out on doing the 25 weeks bumpdate last week due to vacation. Blogging from a cell phone, even if it is an iPhone, just sucks. Soooo, here we go. The shirt I normally wear was in the dryer all wrinkled since its been sitting in there for 3 days. Hey at least its clean!




Baby size: Head of Lettuce
Any symptoms?  back pain, constant trips to the bathroom, fatigue
Cravings? breakfast sandwiches have sounded good lately along with beef. Also still into the cakey stuff.
Favorite part this week? the increased activity going on in there. buying him some adorable outfits while we were in Michigan.
Least favorite part this week? the back pain. My back is paying me back for not taking the Snoogle on vacay.
Boy or Girl? BOY!! :)
Names? Tucker Paul.




So yeah, not much excitement in the past week and that's okay.

We have an ultrasound and appointment today.  The ultrasound is to check the placenta location to see if has moved any further up since at the last one a month and a half ago it was still considered to be low lying. Hopefully it has moved, if not, I have a feeling a C-section will be planned soon. After talking to my mom last night, I feel like that's in the cards for me anyhow. Here's why.

1. My oddly shaped uterus - I learned early on that I have a bicornuate uterus, meaning its heart shaped.  The doc said this could potentially create some issues as far as the baby being breech, preterm labor and him running out of room quicker than babies in a regular uterus. My sister-in-law has also mentioned to me that this might get me thrown into the OR for a C-section too. Something about both sides of the uterus not working together at the same time or one having to do the work of both.
2. My back - oooooh my back. I have an extra vertebrae and my tailbone didn't develop correctly. If anyone is going to have back labor, it's going to be me. Plus my mom knows someone who knows someone who broke their tailbone during labor. She didn't tell me this to scare me. Another issue with my back is I think I've heard my back doctor say at one point in time that my pelvis is crooked or something awesome like that.
3. Big head - Let's face it, he's gonna come out with an NBA regulation sized basketball sitting on his shoulders.

These are all things I'm going to try to discuss with her today, except the big head. We'll see what she says and what the plan is gonna be for getting this little one here. Although we could start to come up with something and then the baby have a plan of his own. Babies are funny like that.

Sep 17, 2013

Michigan Babymoon: South Haven

Yesterday I recapped the first part of our Babymoon that we spent in Frankenmuth. Today is all about the second half of our trip, which we spent in South Haven.  South Haven is a little lake town on Lake Michigan. And it's just about adorable.

Thursday in South Haven was pretty quiet and relaxing.  We got to the town about 3 hours before we could check into our hotel so we drove around to explore and grabbed lunch at Wendys (which I wasn't impressed with). Once we could finally check in, it was nap/relax time for a couple hours. Napping and relaxing is what vacation is about. At least thats how it was for me growing up and I don't see a point in changing it. I'm a firm believer in "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." After we relaxed for a little bit, we headed towards the water to find a place to eat downtown.  We decided on a place called Black River Tavern and I had the most amazing fish tacos. Danny had the fish dinner and hardly even put any sauce on the fish because it was that good. After dinner we walked down to the water to watch the sunset. It was beautiful. We also saw people kite surfing(?) which was pretty cool. I put the ? because I have no idea if thats what it was called. Oh, and it was freezing.



Friday was more exploring. We went to a couple little parks to be one with nature for a few hours.It was also freezing this day. Thank God I suck at cleaning out my car and my North Face pullover was in there from the winter. And I'd also like to thank God that it barely fit me. We went back to civilization to check out the little shops and have lunch. We got Diesel some bully sticks at a dog store. (Pet owner PSA: Bully sticks = crack for dogs) Then we happened to mosey over to a health foods store where I purchased a Diet Coke only. NO WHERE in Michigan (by no where I mean restaurants that have fountain pop) has Diet Coke. It's unreal. So as soon as I saw it it was mine. Again, after lunch and shopping, it was time for my daily nap before dinner.  Dinner was at what I would consider a dive bar on a boat. They had the best soup I've basically ever had, it was Sweet Pepper Crab and it was the bomb. My calamari ceasar salad was ok. I ordered it for the calamari so I got what I wanted out of it. After dinner we got ice cream and my pumpkin ice cream was delish.
 

 



Before heading home, we stopped by an orchard/winery.  Danny tried some hard cider from there at one of the local restaurants and we decided we needed some (I may have had a small sip). They were pretty rude, but we still bought a couple bottles. Mama can't waaait to enjoy a glass in a few months. 


After that we hustled home to our puppy dog. Upon arriving home, we unloaded the car and had this conversation...
Me: Are we doing anything else?
Danny: Together? NO!
Me: I was just asking so I could change into my comfy clothes
Danny: Ohhh

So even though my husband got tired of spending every waking second with me for 4 days straight, we had a wonderful time and are ready to get things ready for our little bundle of joy.

Sep 16, 2013

Michigan Babymoon: Frankenmuth

Our Michigan vacation was wonderful and exactly what this lady needed!

Tuesday morning we took off and headed up north to Shipshewana, IN. Flashback to April when we made the trip up there only to find out it was closed. Stopping on our way up to Michigan only put us an hour out of our way so we felt it was worth it. Danny was extremely excited about the flea market. I, however, was pumped about the food. The flea market was nice. A lot of repeat vendors which made me feel like we were walking in circles. The only thing we purchased were wine and sangria slushie mixes though. Can't waaaait to try those in a few months!

Next we visited a meat and cheese shop where we left with rolls and Amish peanut butter, which we snacked on all week.  After a yummy lunch, we kept heading north!

After about 3 and a half hours and 3 potty breaks, we made it to Frankenmuth. You're probably wondering what the F Frankenmuth is. I know I did the first time Danny's mom told me about it. Frankenmuth is home to Bronners, the largest Christmas store (probably) in the world. The town has a Bavarian theme to it as far as the restaurants, building styles and even some of the shops. Tuesday night we had dinner at the brewery across from the hotel then just went back to the hotel to relax for the night. Wednesday was our shopping day. We hit Bronners first and Danny was excited.  He somewhat pouts every year when I go with the women in his family. We got the little guy an ornament for the tree, Danny a couple for himself, I got a wine themed one and a couple Christmas themed wine glasses (I miss wine can ya tell?) and a couple decorations for the  house. It was a successful Bronner's trip. All of the Christmas spirit got me extremely excited for this Christmas, especially since there's a chance Tucker will be here by then!





 After Bronners it was time to explore the other shops and eat lunch, then I needed a nap! It was soooo stinkin hot there Tuesday and Wednesday. After our nap we freshened up and hit the outlet mall.  I walked out with a cute new Coach wristlet that I can easily transfer from the diaper bag to our purse and about 5 shirts and a pair of leggings from a maternity outlet. I also couldn't pass up the Carter's outlet :) We had dinner at the Bavarian Inn. I had fried chicken and Danny has a sausage. My dinner came with about 4 sides that we served family style. Cole slaw, steamed veggies, mashed potatoes and cranberry salad. This was after they had brought us soup, pasta salad and cucumber salad upon ordering. Yes, we rolled out of there.

That was the first part of our trip. I'm glad Danny finally got to go to Frankenmuth. Maybe this will keep him from whining for the next few years :)

Wednesday marked 25 weeks, so I snapped a bump picture before we left for the next stop Thursday morning.



I'll be back tomorrow with the next part of our trip!

Sep 6, 2013

Sunshiiiine, Sunshiiiiiine

As soon as I saw the picture for the Sunshine Award the other day, the scene from Remember The Titans where the players are tormenting Sunshine popped into my head. The same thing happened this morning when Marcy over at The Mustache Diaries nominated me.

 
 
The Sunshine Award is a special way to acknowledge bloggers that you just enjoy. Their posts add some "sunshine" to your day. See what I did there.  As there is with just about everything in life, there are rules, but they're fun and easy rules to follow. And here we go.
 
 
1. Include award logo in a post or on your blog - Check
2. Link to the person who nominated you -  The hilarious, honest, and motivating Marcy. This girl cracks me up and inspires me all at the same time. I just about love anyone that can make me laugh, soooo that means she's pretty awesome in my book.

3. Answer 10 questions about yourself - Below
4. Nominate 10 bloggers to receive the award. Link your nominees to the post and comment on their blogs letting them know they’ve been nominated. - even further below.
 
 
1.  What is your biggest fear? - Something happening to this baby that I have no control over.
2.  What is the one item you couldn't live without on a daily basis? - oh probably my phone. I joke about how I would like to live without it but I couldn't. I mean that thing gives me access to basically the entire world, the ability to find out what my friend's cousins mom's sister is doing on Facebook, directions to anywhere (except for that one time on my way to a meeting), and instant communication to my hubby. What's not to love?
3.  Have you ever been arrested? - I have not
4.  What is your favorite thing to pass time? - Well these days my favorite activity is laying on the couch and watching tv
5.  Do you collect anything? - Dust bunnies, until the maid swept them up this past weekend. I use to collect heads up pennies in college and I would take them with me when I took tests. They would rest comfortably in the left pocket of my pants for no reason other than the fact that I wrote with my left hand. Its a true story. I mean you can't make that kind of shit up, you really can't.
6.  How did you get started in blogging? - I kept reading all the cool blogs and was so inspired by how motivating they were. I found myself relating to some of them in ways that I couldn't relate with my real life friends for some reason. So, one day I created my little ole blog to join the fun as a way to document my life. I've been on a roller coaster for the last 3 years and hadn't really documented any of it and now I can.
7.  Do you have a lead foot when you drive? - Oh I certainly use to be until I got 3 speeding tickets in a matter of 18 months. One of which being pulled over by a state trooper on the interstate when he was IN FRONT OF ME. Being the insurance agent that I am, I knew I needed to take it easy on the pedal or I would be paying an arm, leg and left tit for insurance.
8.  What is the one movie you could watch on repeat and re sight all the words to? - Superbad. Chicka chicka yeah, fake ID fake ID.
9.  What's the worst present you have ever received? It's probably gonna have to be the cd my grandma got me one year. I just wrote country cd on my Christmas list and wasn't specific. I didn't care what I got really, until I got a cd full of "hits" from the 1960s. However, my brother has always won this contest hands down. Same grandma, likely the same Christmas, he got a bobblehead. Of an NSYNC member. Joey. Not even Justin or JC, the hot ones. Joey. My 10 year old brother got a Joey bobblehead.
10.  Do you like me?  - Uh, duhhhhh.
 
Now I nominaaate:
 
The Questions
1. What was the first concert you ever went too?
2. Are you what you wanted to be "when you grow up" If you've grown up that is?
3. What is the worst thing you got into trouble for as a kid/teenager?
4. Please describe the worst haircut you've ever had?
5. Do you have a bucket list? What is the first thing on it?
6. What is your go-to drink at a bar, restaurant, or get together?
7. If you could have one single thing from your Pinterest account, money is no object, what is it?
8. What is your least favorite chore?
9. Are you a cat or dog person?
10. If you could be on any game show, which one would it be?
 
Haaaave fun!
 
And as promised, here is the pic of the new do! Getting ready this morning was a breeze!
 
 BEFORE 
 
 
 AFTER
 
 
 

Sep 5, 2013

24 weeks!

Um, when did I become 6 months pregnant?

Some days it feels like I just woke up one day and I'm MONTHS into this journey. But then there are days where I feel like this might be the slowest time of my life, like when my back hurts really bad. Either way, being 6 months pregnant means we are coming up on the home stretch and we've got work to do to get ready for our little man.




Baby size: Cantaloupe
Any symptoms?  back pain still. pregnancy brain is back. many trips to the bathroom 24/7.
Cravings? baked goods/pastries (cookies, donuts, whatever I can get my hands on that's cakey). omelet from ihop.. thats about to be settled here in an hour.
Favorite part this week? not only feeling the kicks, but WATCHING them! :)
Least favorite part this week? Someone's been a little emotional basket case the past few days.
Boy or Girl? BOY!! :)
Names? Tucker Paul. Yep, his initials are gonna be TP.  Paul is  Danny's middle name and his dad's middle name.





So the pregnancy brain. I mailed out a bunch of envelopes to some of our customers last week and we got one back yesterday from the post office for insufficient address.  I had only written the guys name and then city, state and zip. It was pretty funny.

I also found out this week that my hubby told me a small lie, maybe.  A couple weeks ago before he left on his trip with his dad and brother, we were laying on the couch and the baby was kicking so I was put Danny's hand where it needed to be to feel it. I felt kicks and asked Danny if he felt it on the outside. He said yes.  Wellllll, Mr. Summers informed me earlier this week that he isn't sure if he felt them for real or not.  Well, Tucker is getting VERY active these days and like I said, I can see the kicks now in addition to feeling them. Last night I asked Danny to rub lotion on my belly for me since I didn't want to get out of bed to wipe my hands off.  As soon as he grabbed the bottle, Tucker started kicking, and hard. Danny was pretty freaked out by it and it was pretty funny. That's what ya get for fibbin', Dad! :)

Danny's sister texted me last night and said that her and my other 2 sister-in-laws are planning a shower for me the first weekend in November. I basically hit the jackpot when it comes to in-laws. They threw me a wonderful bridal shower so I'm sure the shower for their newest nephew will be nothing but wonderful! Now we really need to get going on the nursery and do our Buy Buy Baby registry!

Ok, I am off to meet my BFF Shelby at IHOP for breakfast. She is moving to Texas in like a week and a half and I demanded that we see each other at least twice before she moves. Especially since I won't see her again until months after the baby is born. I'm gonna go be sad now. See ya!

P.S. - The hair got chopped last night! I'm in love. I'll have a pic up tomorrow after I get a chance to style it from shower to the end. :)

Sep 4, 2013

How Diesel Trains Us

I cannot count how many times over the last 3 years I've said "Diesel is great practice for a baby" and truly meant it.  There have probably been times that I've said "A baby has got to be easier than this dog"  I feel like I have good reason for thinking he's been great practice for us and this isn't because we treat him like a baby, which we totally do. Danny legit rocks him sometimes and the other night I caught him singing to him. It's whatever.
This wasn't the other night when he was singing. Just a random night Danny was holding Diesel.

Life with our fur baby has been realistic glimpse into life with a baby-baby, just on an easier scale. 
1. If mom and dad want a night out on the town, we have to arrange for a babysitter. That use to require me driving an hour to my moms, then an hour back home to go out with my friends. That was a lot of work. Its frowned upon if you leave your dog locked up in the house for 12+ hours and even worse if you leave your child unattended for that long.

2. Next is how I am a single mom 9-10 days a month when Danny is at the fire department.  I may be tired, have a headache, or not want to do anything, but that doesn't mean Diesel won't puke on the carpet or go roll in a dead animal and need me to drop whatever I am doing (or not doing I guess) to clean up his mess or give him a bath. I think I've told Danny something like this before " I had to clean goose shit off him last night, you go feed him" I foresee a "I cleaned a diaper blow out at 2:48 a.m. this morning, you can change the wet diaper" Because shit storms only happen when Daddy is at work.

3. It's Diesel's world and we're just living in it. Prime example is the furniture in the living room. When we bought our new couches back in February, we wanted a sofa with an ottoman so if we wanted the whole fam (Danny, Diesel and me) to be able to sit together, we could. Danny could half way lay down, I could put my feet up and Diesel could lay on the ottoman. Diesel can also sit on the love seat across the room if he wanted. So yeah, Danny and I have to share a sofa, but Diesel gets an entire loveseat in addition to his ottoman. Well, Diesel doesn't want the ottoman. He wants the middle cushion on the sofa between me and Danny.  What Diesel wants, Diesel gets and I have a feeling that what Baby wants, Baby is gonna get too. It's their world and Danny and I are just livin it. We often joke that we bought Diesel a house and we just get to live here.



4. Diesel is notorious for noticing when I am running late and having to go outside. Magically, on this trip outside he has to sniff the 6 bushes twice, pee, lay down on the porch just letting the breeze blow his ears around, then go poop. I stand at the door and think to myself, "if this baby is anything like his brother, I'm sure I'll get him ready the leave, he'll shit up his back and then puke on me"

5. I've saved the best for last folks. This happened a couple Sundays ago. It was the morning after the wedding I was in so I was pretty much exhausted.  It was around 7:30 and Danny was awake sitting on the couch watching tv and I am in bed enjoying another couple hours of snoozing. Diesel prances into our room, sits on my side of the bed, and proceeds to whine letting me know he needs to go outside.  Completely bypassing the fact that his father is sitting on the couch, AWAKE, and fully capable of letting him out. Danny calls for him and goes and lets him out and I fall back asleep. About an hour later, Diesel comes to me again and starts whining. Danny calls for him and Diesel goes and sits in the living room just staring at him for a few seconds, then runs back to our room to pester me some more. I give in and get out of bed and make my way towards the door. Guess who doesn't want to go outside? Diesel.  The dog wanted me out of bed! That was it. Plain and simply wanted his mom out of bed. Sweet. Remember how I said I play a single mom 9-10 days a month? Well, Diesel forgets that 20-30 days a month his dad his home and can cater to him too. I have a feel this will carry over to the little 2 legged child too.

I tell all of my friends who are in serious relationships to get a puppy. Don't get a dog... get a puppy. You can tell a lot about your partner by the way they treat the puppy and also by the way they train and deal with behavior issues.

I love my Diesel and I wouldn't trade any part about him for anything in the world.  He has been the best dog that Danny and I could ever ask for and he seriously brightens our world. He will always be my baby, even when I have a real baby in a few months.

Sep 3, 2013

Labor Day Weekend

To say this weekend was exciting would be a total lie.  It was just another weekend in the Summers home. A lot of this happened.


Friday night Danny and I went and did our registry at Target. Well, we had planned on completing it but we got a bit overwhelmed. What item did this? Pacifiers. Freaking pacis caused stressed. I was looking at bottles and Danny had the scanner gun and was going about his merry way then ran into the 193 different kinds of pacifiers. After scanning fun things like toys for his carseat, things got better. We still have things that we need to add, but we're going to create another registry at Buy Buy Baby. They had things that we liked that Target didn't have.
Firefighter bibs were an easy choice


The maid was here for the weekend. By maid I mean me. My Saturday went something like this: Clean kitchen, lay on couch and watch tv, clean dining room/future play area, lay on couch and watch tv, finish load of laundry, lay on couch and watch tv. Normally, I would knock out the kitchen and dining room in one swoop and get laundry going while doing so, but my back wasn't having it. So, I had to take things slow, which is fine. I didn't have anywhere to go, Danny was at work, and Diesel was being very well behaved. It was a nice little Saturday for me and the pup.

Sunday we went to church then stopped at Subway for breakfast after. The maid was still here and cleaned our bedroom, which hadn't been cleaned in what appeared to be months. Pretty sure I swept up a small dog, just on my side of the bed. Which doesn't make sense since Diesel sleeps at the foot of the bed or on Danny's side when he's at work. And now I've just confessed how dirty we really are. Sunday afternoon we got rid of the last 2 kitties. The mama later got her revenge by leaving a BIRD WING right inside the garage door Sunday night for me to find Monday morning. Bitch.

Our neighbors came over to get the kitties for their friends and while they were here we learned what they thought of us when we moved in. Which was that Danny was 30 and I was his little 18 year old that he nabbed straight from high school graduation. Then learned after talking to Danny over a few months that that was not the case. After they left I made dinner and discovered just how serious Danny was when he said he doesn't like chicken wings with bones. I made Cripsy Asian Baked Chicken Wings (Recipe HERE) . They were almost too easy as well as too delicious! 


Monday the maid finished her visit and cleaned the living room. Notice she hasn't cleaned the bathroom. That's her husbands job :) After cleaning and laundrying, the maid said no more! The house is cleaner than its been in months and I'm satisfied with her work.

Like I said, the weekend was not exciting at all. I'm kind of okay with it. Kind of ok because I know my weekends of leisurely cleaning and watching what seemed like 19 episodes of Law & Order SVU are coming to an end. Kind of not ok with it because my weekends are going out and easily doing things are coming to an end.

Now the work week begins. 4 work days then its of to Michigan for the hubs and I!! :)