Terrifyingly Excited

Yup I think those 2 words somewhat describe the feeling I've been having lately. My heart is racing faster than I thought it could and I have that goofy smile you can't get off your face. It is 108 days till the wedding. It seems so far but also so soon. Mat made a comment shortly after we started booking things about how it was scary that things were happening now. I told him I didn't like the word scary being used to describe marrying me, but now I get it. Scary, terrifying, exciting, amazing, just a few words to describe what it indescribable.

It's like I've been waiting in line for a ride my whole life. I've made friends along the way but hadn't found the person I wanted to sit next to. Then a little over a year ago I found Mat and shortly after I knew he was the one. It was great having someone to stand there and talk to while we waited. But now we're getting closer to the ride. We can hear the laughs and screams of people already on it. Sometimes we can catch a glimpse of parts of the tracks, big drops, loop-de-loops, etc, but we can't see the whole ride. We won't ever get to see it until we're on it. We know this ride is amazing and can't wait but we're scared at the same time. We see some people get out of line. We've heard that sometimes people fall out of thier cars and are badly hurt. Some of those people decide to ride the ride again, some don't.

But we're in this together and we want to ride the ride soo badly. The waiting is hard. Sometimes I wish the line would go faster. Other times I think it's going to fast. But I have Mat next to me so no matter what it's ok. The ride is long and an amazing adventure. It will start with the ceremony - as we get into our car and TJ helps us make sure our seat belts (God) are in place and there to help hold us together. Then the reception - the slow part where you keep climbing up and up, higher and higher. Your soo excited but you have no idea what's coming up ahead. Then you reach the top and the ride starts. The honeymoon - the first big rush of excitment - followed by the rest of your life. There are twists and turns. The ride will turn us upside down. Sometimes it will slow down and then suddenly there will be another big drop - that might make us laugh, but could make us scream or cry. Sometimes there will be sharp turn that slams us against each other, othertimes a gentle turn that pulls us closer together. But through it all we will be there next to each other. And we will have God as our seat belt, the bar that's just above your lap so you don't always feel it until you need it to keep you in.

Yeah I am terrifyingly excited about what is to come. But I can't wait for the ride to start!

Wedding Update

So YAY Mat and I set a date for the wedding. Super exciting but super craziness now. The wedding will be Sept 27th at Grey Rock Mansion. It's such a beautiful location, we're so happy. I picked out my dress (sorry no pics of that) and I've picked out the bridesmaid dresses. I can't put a link up for them b/c it's the Mix and Match stuff and it always default to one style :-( But they are beautiful long satin skirts w/ either a strapless or strapped(?) top in apple :-)

Reese will be my Maid of Honor and Hillary is my Matron of Honor (MOH). I also have Anne, Katy, and my sister Meg. Mat has his 2 brothers.

We've secured a photographer through a recommendation of an old friend and our friend Lyle is going to do the sound. It's amazing the people God has put into our life to help us bring together this wedding. We have a pretty small budget and we'll def go over what we originally wanted to spend, but we'd rather pay friends than strangers.

I'll try to update with more details as they come along. I've been staying up WAY to late trying to plan out details. I'm hoping I get a job sometime soon and when that happens my amount of time to plan and meet with people will decrease ALOT. Current projects include:

Guest List w/ addys
Pick/order flowers
Pick/order favors
Write: Invitation, RSVP card, Letter about kids*, and babysitting form*

*We're requesting Reese be the only child (except newborns) at the wedding so we're setting up some babysitters for people

More info later

I need a job

It's been about 2 1/2 months since I was told I was being let go and I still haven't found a new job. The market for biotech jobs was pretty hard already and now we're entering graduation time. I don't have to compete with any undergrads. But graduate students will make things harder.

I have much stronger faith this time than last time I was job hunting. But I'm human and the faith waivers from time to time. When I get a couple emails in one day saying I wasn't chosen for a position, it hurts. Knowing everyone else who was laid off w/ me has found a new job, it hurts. I've interviewed for a few jobs and 2 of them seemed cool. One I REALLY wanted. and of course, those are the jobs I never heard anything back from. Not even a rejection so I could get some feed back.

The biotech industry had little niches, once you settle into one it's very hard to move to another. For example I don't have experience with protein purification except for DNA and RNA or immunoassay experience. Alot of job descriptions want ELISA and Western Blot experience (Sorry to anyone who doesn't know what those are but you can read about it on Wikipedia). So I'm stuck in a niche of working with DNA and RNA on a molecular level. There are jobs out there, I've found lots, and applied to them all. But so far they haven't been "the one."

Being home isn't too bad. I get to sleep in (yes to me 7:30 is sleeping in b/c for work I have to be up by 6) and then spend some time cuddling with Reese while we wake up. Then downstairs for breakfast and some morning cartoons on Disney. The rest of the day varies. Sometimes errands, or playdates, or outings. Some days we just hang out at home playing or doing some preschool work. Overall staying home with the kid is pretty easy, but it's driving me crazy.

I need adult interaction. And my kid needs kid interaction. I feel like I am doing her an injustice having her here with me. She needs to be around a group of children learning to play and work with them. There were always kids she didn't get along with, so she was learning early how to handle that situation. She had teachers with state approved curriculums and all the resources to carry out those curriculums. I'm a school person. I wasn't a straight A student or anything, but I put a high-value on school education. The teachers in preschool went to school to learn how to teach my kid and help her. Sure there are things I know naturally and I can turn a grocery store trip into a lesson about fruits and counting, etc. But in my mind, I cannot match what she would get in an actual school.

Also like I said I need adult interaction. I miss sitting around at lunch and talking about stuff with adults. I miss having deadlines and trouble shooting problems. I even miss meetings, which is scary.

Finally there is the wedding. Our date is still being held and it's only 5 months away. I'm going to start checking out photographers and florists and gathering information but we haven't officially signed anything for that date. So far unemployment has covered all my bills and other incidentals (except the car accident) so we haven't touched out savings. I have a very large tax refund coming as well. We have enough money to pay for the wedding. But if I don't have a job we don't know if we'll have enough money to have a place to live post wedding. Maybe this is a big test of faith from God. We know He wants us to be married. Maybe we should sign the papers and trust that things will come together as He wants. But it's really scary. And I don't have alot of support from my mom right now. Previously she offered Mat and I a place living here for a few months post marriage to save up some more money. But if we drop a couple thousand on the wedding she might not be so willing b/c she thinks it's a waste of money. Anyway that is a whole separate blog.

Please keep praying for me and my strength and patience. Pray for Reese that together she and I can grow together during this time and learn from each other.

Wrong Forecast - Hey the Weathermen do it all the time

Yeah so that blog storm didn't end up coming through. I really miss my laptop and the ability to be able to sit a type wherever, whenever. My job took back their laptop, understandably. And I dropped my other laptop, possibly cracking a circuit board or something. I don't know but if it turns on about 5 min later the screen fades out to nothing.

So here I am at home with lots of fun things to talk about but I never get around to actually sitting and writing them. Hopefully I'll start getting better.

On the topic of weathermen we went to DC on Saturday for the last day of the Cherry Blossom festival. The weather forecast said it would stop raining around noon so we left around 11am for the metro expecting to emerge to sunshine. Surprise surprise the weatherman was wrong. At 1pm as we came out at the Smithsonian it was still very cold and wet.

We decided to hunt down some lunch but also wanted cover. The Smithsonian Castle Information building as a cafe so in we went, along w/ 1/2 the people in DC. Everyone was sitting on the floor eating their food. The food choices were a bit odd and none of the sandwiches were appealing - sorry I don't do pear and orange on my turkey sandwich or maple pumpkin spread w/ my ham - so I decided on a hot dog. They had salads but $9 for a small container of lettuce was too ridiculous to me. Unfortunately they ran out of hot dogs as we ordered Reese's so Mat had to go back outside to a vendor to buy ours and bring them back in.

After we ate we decided to go to the tidal basin. But quickly got cold, ok I got cold b/c I dressed expecting sunshine and 60F weather that was promised. We turned around and headed to the opposite end of the mall for the Air and Space Museum. Again most of DC was in there so it made actually seeing any exhibits a challenge. Eventually Reese got tired of being inside and wanted to see Cherry Blossoms. It was about 4 and the weather had finally started to improve. With the rain most of the blossoms were gone but it was still a nice walk down to the Jefferson.

Mat being the smart man he is realized we needed to figure out dinner, and this time we preferred not to do hot dogs. After asking for some directions we started walking and I saw the sign for the waterfront. I knew there were restaurants near where the dinner cruises leave so we started walking. Luckily not to far down we found Phillips and enjoyed a very yummy seafood buffet.

After dinner we headed back to the Jefferson for the fireworks. Mat and Reese went off to get my some coffee b/c I was cold, my feet hurt, and it let Reese run around a bit. During which I spotted some people getting married at the Jefferson. I don't know if they did the real ceremony there or not b/c it was about 3 min but I saw them kiss and then the bridal party joined them for pictures. Pretty cute idea. While waiting for Mat and Reese to come back a groundskeeper told us we wouldn't be able to see the fireworks from where we were. There were about 200 people at the Jefferson who thought they were at the right place. But after some research I figured out that the fireworks were going off . . . . . Down by Phillips where we had just walked from. :-( Back we went and we saw most of the fireworks, our view was blocked a bit by boats. Reese liked the fireworks, but the ducks were more fun.

After the show off we walked to the metro. Reese fell asleep in her stroller which was good. The trains weren't too crowded but we did encounter some rude people. A mom with two preteens who slid under me to sit in the seats directly under the sign that say those seats are for seniors or people with disabilities. Granted I am neither but everywhere else in metro to signs contain a picture or people with baby strollers as well. B/c that way you can tuck to stroller out of site. And I was raised to give my seat up to older people.

Anyway overall is was a fun day because we were all together as a family. We learned lots of good things for our next trip to DC.

Funny Reese Story - The day before Reese went upstairs in the morning to get dressed. Curious after a few minutes I went upstairs and Reese is standing in the hallway staring a the guest room. When she sees me she says "Mommy I thought there was a Bear upstairs!! But it's just Grammy snoring" This was almost as funny as when she told Grandad he like white wine "Because you're hair is white"

Blog Storm's a Comin

Wow I have soo much to write about. Maybe during nap time I'll crank a few out. However I had to write about the funny stuff that just happened right now.

My little girl is becoming WAY too independant. While I was checking email she came and asked me if she could have some cereal while holding a box of Shredded Wheat. I said sure, figuring she'd plop down on the floor and grab a handful out of the box. Next thing I know I hear the fridge being opened. I run to the kitchen to see what's going on.

Reese had climbed onto the counter, gotten down a bowl, filled it w/ cereal (without spilling any on the floor) and was now getting the milk out to add. Luckily the milk was almost empty so w/ supervision I let her pour it in. Then she grabbed a spoon and sat down at the table to eat.

Back to the computer I go and a few minutes later I see Reese walking to me with a carton of OJ. This morning she had asked for OJ but since there was none upstairs and I didn't feel like getting any from the basement I told her she was having apple juice. So where did the OJ come from?? She had gone downstairs, opened the fridge there, gotten out OJ, and brought it upstairs to me. She's done this a few times and it's pretty helpful if I am feeling lazy so it was cute. She puts the OJ down and then walks up to me with a full 1/2 gallon of milk. Apparently she had brough both upstairs. That's some arm strength for a 3 yr old.

But the cuteness doesn't end yet. Since she had brought a gallon or each upstairs she new that the basment now had less of each. So she promptly grabbed a dry erase marker and her stool. If she new how to spell she would have written Milk and OJ on the shopping list board. But instead she asked me too. while I'm writing she hops up on the counter again, gets me a bowl, fills it with cereal, and says now I can have cereal and OJ with her.

So much cuteness how could I not sit down and have a snack with her :-)

A Computer Knows Me Better Than Me

So Mat and I are starting pre-marital counseling through church and I am super excited. The first step was taking an online survey and then meeting with one of the pastors to go over it. Nothing to surprising when they went over mine and Mat's answers. The things we knew needed work/ more discussion and planning were what we thought they would be. It was still good to voice them to someone else and get a little bit of reassurance about how we were handling them and advice for the future.

What was more interesting was the personality profile results. Weirdly I am someone who is confident but not aggressive. Normally confident people know what they want and ask for it, which was this surveys definition of aggressive. I wasn't to surprised by this revelation, and I think most people who know me would agree. I will stand up in a debate and defend my side or challenge someone who does something that upsets me. But in many other things I am not aggressive. There are 2 sides/reasons for this. The first part is that I know what I want but I hate to ask people for help. Especially when it comes to Reese. I hate asking people to babysit her or do other things for her. She's my kid, she's my responsibility so I need to take care of her. My parents have told me over and over again they have never felt like I abused their generosity in asking them to watch her. And I know Mat loves taking Reese out to spend time with her. But I can't help but still feel like I'm asking people to do me a favor and I'm burdening them. Definitely something I have to work on. I still don't want to take advantage of people, but I do need to realize that there are other people like me, who like to help people. And people who enjoy spending time with Reese and don't mind watching her for me, or even really enjoy getting some time alone with her.

The second side to this is similar about not being a burden but a little skewed. I don't like feeling like people are hanging out with me b/c they have to or feel obligated to. I've always believed if someone likes/loves you they will put in effort to spend time with you. I kinda sucked at that rule during college and lost touch with alot of close friends. Some of it was because I didn't think those friends would like the person I had become. But that's a whole different blog. Now I try to make sure I IM, call, text, or visit with my friends to keep in touch. I always hope that my friends will do the same. To me there is no better feeling then when people chose to come spend time with me. It's a weird way to think about it but sacrificing their time to come hang out with me is really nice.

So far I've talked about stuff that didn't surprise me so you probably wonder why I chose the title I did. Well here it is. Another aspect of the personality profile was that I am comfortable in social situations. I knew that from how I was raised. May mom was always hosting dinner parties or I went to parties with them. Being in these situations I learned to start conversations with lots of different people and how to interact at a party. I'm very lucky because Mat is not a big social person like me but still can handle himself at a party. I've dated guys where I felt like I had to hold their hand the whole time (and not in the romantic way). Guys who felt awkward being around people they didn't know, or just in a party situation. Tim (the pastor we met with) said that it was good I was aware of that. And that I recharged myself through those events. At the time I dismissed that. I've never been someone who needed lots of friends, I just feel comfortable when put in big social situations. Or at least I thought that until tonight. I've been a SAHM for 2 days now. I love getting time with Reese, it's been great. Tonight Mat and I went to a tasting event at the place we're hoping to have our wedding. I felt off the whole evening as soon as I left the house. I thought maybe it was because I felt bad leaving Reese. She hurt her thumb with splinters (I'll explain more in another blog). I didn't know what was wrong, and I kept trying to figure it out. Then we got to the event. Within 5 minutes I ran into a sorority sister who works at the place and a fellow ISAT grad who's wedding is a few weeks within mine. Chit chatting with those 2 and catching up I suddenly felt so much better. Hillary and Neil showed up and I got to introduce them to my friends and show the place to Hillary. As Mat and I left I suddenly felt so much happier.

I didn't figure it out till I was in the car, but the computer was right. Social situations energize me. At work there's lunch and other random interactions with coworkers that provide that socialization. I really hope that I can find a way to fulfill the social needs in other ways now that I'm at home. Because I really don't want to feel like I did today again.

Reese's Hannah B-day

Today was Reese's last day at school until I find a new job. Hopefully a new job will be close to Frederick so she can go back b/c I LOVE her school and all her teachers. "Luckily" her last day happened to coincide with her B-day weekend so she could still have her school party to celebrate with her friends.

Reese loves Hannah Montana. I blame myself b/c I like Hannah Montana so I've put it on when we're home at night since she was a baby. Also at school Reese sometimes gets bumped to the PreK classroom and they tend to listen to Disney Artist music in there.

So for Reese's school party I was determined to get her Hannah Montana cupcakes. I checked a couple places that wanted ridiculous amount of money for cupcakes. I even purchased little pics with pictures of Hannah on them and contemplated baking my own because I needed 30 cupcakes to cover all her friends in her 3 different classrooms. Then a teacher recommended I go check out Walmart. I went over on Wed and saw some HSM cupcakes out for sale. I asked the woman behind the counter if they had Hannah Montana decorations and they did - rings and pics with different designs. YAY!!! So I order 36 cupcakes for a grand total of $18 which was much more reasonable than the other quotes I had gotten.

Thursday evening we go to pick up the cupcakes. I noticed all the valentines cupcakes were all marked $3 for a dozen. Now I was thinking if I had risked it and just come in and bought those cupcakes and switched the decorations I could have saved money. Oh well too late now.

After 10 minutes searching through the cooler (it must be huge) the bakery woman brought out Reese's Hannah cupcakes. There were amazing. They had airbrushed them with Pink and Purple (Reese's 2 fav colors) and I think the amount of icing on each one was equal to or more than actual cake. This is very important to children (and adults like me who can eat icing out of a can anytime) The smile on Reese's face was worth the extra money I was going to pay for them. But then I got to the register and . . . they rang up at $3 each. Apparently all cupcakes were on sale, even special order. I almost jumped for joy.

Of course Reese and I had to taste test them after dinner to make sure they were up to par. And yeah they were delicious. I really want to go more for the weekend but then there's that whole diet thing. Walmart does wedding cakes and after tasting the cupcakes I might seriously consider them because it was delicious.

This morning Reese woke up and put on her Hannah shirt from Great Grandma Davis, her Hannah Rockstar ribbon (from me), and her Hannah ring from her cupcake last night. Definitely a Rock Star in training. I even convinced her to let me braid her hair which is an accomplishment for me. I can put my hair in a ponytail and that's about all.

So here are some pics or her this morning as we drove to school. Don't worry we were at a red light when I started snapping.

A small look at my french braiding skills

Never trust a toddler with that look on her face, holding a marker. Luckily her dry erase doodle board was the only victim.

My Little Fashionista

Monday night Reese suddenly decided that she wanted to decide what she was wearing and Mommy had no say anymore. (She thinks Mommy has no say, but I hold ultimate Veto power)

So outfit #1 - to wear to bed was the following lovely ensemble:



A lovely floral summer dress, with striped pink leg warmers, a striped pink and brown head band, and her monkey T-shirt to keep her arms warm. This outfit was her choice for school the next day as well. It's hard to tell but the 2nd pic is her jumping. She's practicing those oh so difficult "action" modeling poses ;-)















Wednesday was another morning searching through our summer dresses to pick the next ensemble. And here it is:



Our favorite multi-colored heart shirt, with a navy Nautica dress sporting a teddy bear on the chest, teddy bear tights, and her black "dancing" shoes.



This morning's outfit was just as creative but I didn't have time to take a pic before we left. I'll post it later tonight.

Kids WorkShop

For those of you who don't know, Home Depot does a free kids workshop the 1st Sat of every month from 9-noon. Now some projects are cooler than other. Reese made a catamaran that really floats, but we skipped the month they made paper-football field goal posts. You can check online to see what the project is before actually venturing out here.

This month in honor of Valentines day the kids made cute little tricket boxes with Hearts. Reese had so much fun gluing the box together and putting the "velvet" lining in. Then we decide we should paint the box before giving it to Grammy. So off we went to the paint department. I haven't been in awhile but Holy Cow how many shades of pink are there??? For fun we went to the Disney section b/c I liked the names of the colors, and Reese liked that the paint chips look like Mickey's head. We settled on Pooh's Kite which was a pinkish purple. I asked for a sample size which only costs $4. A great idea if you ever just need a little of a color for an accent or project.

Once at home we put on some painting clothes, spread out some newspaper, and had some fun painting.

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There was a bit of a debate as to who had more paint on the end in the end. I won for volume but Reese won for square inches compared to body size.




Once everyone was washed up we hung out relaxing together.
Not the best family pic, but I'll take it :-)

Why did God Make Poo?

So I was supposed to write about this yesterday but you know this whole finding a job thing kinda takes up my time.

So Reese and I have wonderful conversations while driving to and from Frederick everyday. The things that come out of her mind are incredible. Yesterday was no different. We are driving along and I here "Mommy, why did God make Poo?" I'm thinking - really?!?! this?!?! this is my first stump the parent question?!?! Why couldn't I have gotten "Why is the sky blue" or "Where do chicken nuggets come from"(she knows babies come from bellies so she won't ask that) or pretty much anything else. But no I get asked to explain poo, and not just poo but why God created poo.

So I start off trying to explain how God gave us food so that we could have energy to play and have fun

"No Mommy, why did God create poo"

I told her I was getting there. That when our bodies eat the yummy food God gave us we feel good and happy

"No Mommy, why did God create poo" (with more emphasis this time)

So I begin to explain that we don't need everything we eat and what our bodies don't need they get rid of when we go potty.

"No Mommy! Why did God create Winnie the Pooh!"

I really should learn to get clarification for questions before I start answering!

So much to write so little time

Actually now I have lots of time :-( After coming back from NY over the weekend I had a weird feeling from the emails I was seeing from my CEO in my inbox. Sure enough I sho u monday and here people saying one of the big investors has pulled out.

Quick clarification my company is a small start-up company with only 30 employees. Over the last year things started moving very quickly and we were making huge progress steps. Of course progress costs money and we went from spending a couple million a year to almost $20 million. Needless to say we needed more money to keep going. Two large very well known companies stepped up to say they would invest. We don't do VC money b/c that is evil, only angel investors or other private investors like these companies. Because of things going on with the economy unfortunately both investors decided to wait on investing. Maybe in a few months if the market turns, but who knows. Now comes the dominoe affect. Smaller investors get nervous and things get dicey. Rememebr the saying "Last hired, First fired" well I wasn't the last hired of the company but I was for my staff postion. So myself and a few other people ere given 30 days notice.

Not a great severance package but based on the status of the company it's better than the 2 weeks my contract promised. I truely beleived in Akonni's product. I hope that they can turn this around and bounce back b/c it truely will revolutionize the medical diagnostics world.

I have finished updating my resume and I'm starting to email it out to friends and employers. It's kinda nice at work b/c everyone keeps coming by telling me contacts they have other places and giving my advice on my resume. I have lots of people willing to be references or write letters of recommendation. So now I trust in God and see his plan. I remember what it was like last time i job hunted. It was one of the 1st times in my adult life I remember really feeling God tell me what He wanted me to do. It was an amazing experience and I can't wait to feel it again.

Speaking of God and on a note of perspective I started cleaning out my cubicle yesterday and started feeling a little bummed. But then I looked across the office at one of our scientists Julia. She and her husband just moved here from Chicago a few months ago. Some of her family is still there, the rest is in Russia. Her husband Boris was an Akonnis employee as well and they were the cutest couple ever. His English was not very good so she usually had to translate for him. I am sure you noticed I used the past tense to describe him. Boris ws not laid off by Akonni, he passed away of a sudden and major heart attack last wed. I was not at work that day due to ice and then left for NY so this was the first time I had seen Julia since Boris passed. No matter how I feel about cleaning out my cubicle and leaving Akonni, at least I cleaned out my own cubicle. Julia has to clean out Boris's. Everything happens for a reason, even death. I am sure God had a bigger plan in what happened w/ the Chernov family but I know I found a mesage in it for me.

Please pray for them, for all my coworkers (times are going to be crazy and rough for awhile), and of course me and my family.

This wasn't on the Mommy Application

Ok really it was b/c everyone knows part of being a parent is cleaning up the grossness. It starts as soon as they are born cause those 1st dirty diapers are the grossest things you've ever sen or smelled. And spit-up yeah I cut my hair from past my shoulders to chin length b/c Reese spit up in my hair so often I had to wash it twice a day. And I can still here Anne saying - that's what burp cloths are for. I think I'll buy her like 50 as a shower present just for that.

So dirty diapers and spit-up are super gross. And then it happens . . . you're child pukes for the first time. My first time was actually over a year ago but I was somewhat lucky. It happened in bed so I stripped off her PJ's threw them on the bed, grabbed the sheets by their corners and carried it all down to the machine in one nice stinky package.

Yesterday I was not so lucky. Reese was complaining the whole way home of a tummy ache. We were about 1 mile from home when suddenly Reese coughed a few times and out it came. All over her coat and seat. At that moment I was sooo glad for the eddie bauer seat protector under her car seat. But that happiness quickly faded as more puke came out and this time she turned her head b/c she was so upset. I drive as quickly as I could to get home got her inside and in the tub. Once she was clean she was back to her happy self. She didn't eat much dinner and went to bed 1/2 an hour early but she appeared to be feeling better.

I however didn't get to go to bed. Instead of my easy picking up the corners of the sheets I had to clean puke from my car. It was on the carpet, btwn the sheets, everywhere. And of course it was dark and there was snow on the ground so it was a bit cold. I guess the cold was good b/c in heat the smell is even worse. But it was not a fun job.

We woke up this morning and she said she felt better. I was ready to take her to school so I could get some work done. I am the only member of my team who's been in the office for almost a week so doing 3 peoples worth of work has kept me busy. Reese was sitting on my lap putting on her shoes when suddenly she said "Mommy I'm going pee-pee on your leg" This semed like a funny thing to say since she's well potty trained but sure enough I felt something warm on my leg. It wasn't pee but definately liquid.

So needless to say we stayed home today. A few bouts of "upset tummy poop" as we called it with a pullup on for protection (I don't like scrubbing underware) but we've been good since nap time. So hopefully this was a quick bug. I will say for being sick Reese had 3 times as much energy as normal. Even my mom was amazed I was still functioning after playing with her all day.

We did some home work to take into school tomorrow. She's so proud of her rhyming words picture to give to her teacher. And I am proud of myself for making up some sort of lesson off the fly so we had some structure today.

And now I am heading to bed b/c tomorrow will be a LONG day. But I am meeting with a realtor to start getting more info on buying houses and our options.

Wedding Planning

Since I keep getting asked about the wedding plans I figured I put up a blog about it. Mat and I are pretty sure we found a place. Thanks in HUGE part to Wes Linda who put us in contact with Grey Rock Mansion (he designed their awesome website). We haven't set a date but it's still sometime in Sept or October in 2009.

I'm hoping to start dress shopping in the next few weeks, although I still have lots of weight I want to loose before the wedding so prob won't buy anything now.

I'm having trouble picking bridesmaid dresses. I thought I found a dress I liked but on Anne in MA it didn't look like I though it would. She found a diff dress that we liked but now David's changed their styles. Now I found 3 other dresses I like as well :-( I need to drag Hills out and see them on her. My big dilemmas . . Short or long? Mix and match or 1 dress for everyone? Color . . Apple, Marnie, or Black. The wedding will be in the late afternoon to evening of the fall. Maybe I'll put up a poll.

Flowers - I have thought about doing my own flowers. I watch Martha Stewart do it today on TV so how hard could it be. But the stress of that and trying to do corsages and boutonnieres kinda scares me. Doesn't mean it's not an option, just not my favorite option right now. Diane at Grey Rock gave m the names of 2 florists or suggested going w/ a grocery store which may be an option.

Living arrangements - Mat and I have decided we're moving to Frederick. It will be nice to keep Reese in her same Day Care and we'll save several hundred dollars a month in gas money with me not commuting for work. We're sad to be far away from our friends so if any of them want to pay for my gas we'll consider other towns ;-) Another perk is Frederick has some really great schools and Reese can go to any of them no matter where we live. Since she's enrolled in KinderCare and they have thier own bus, as long as a school isn't full and KinderCare will drop her off and pick her up, she can go there. It's a pretty sweet deal.

Hmm I'm sure there are other details I'm leaving out but I'll try to update more frequently. Right now I know there are things I should do but I feel like I can't do 1/2 until we set a date and the other 1/2 until I pick a dress. Oh well the 1st one will be done in a few weeks I hope, and the second soon after.

Night Time Chit Chats

I love when Reese's bed time routine goes as planned. Watch a cartoon show and cuddle to settle down then up to bed to read 2-3 stories and few minutes later she's out. It's wonderful and I love my 45 minutes of Mommy Reese time. Some nights don't always go as planned, like last night.

My poor little Reese-cup could not get her brain to stop working. We all have night like that but it's def frustrating as a mom waiting for your kids to settle down enough to fall asleep. So I decided to let her talk to me and tell me what was on her mind to help get her ready for bed. The conversation that came out made me so proud and SOO happy I let her talk.

"Mommy, I'm pretty"
"Yes you are"
"God made me so I'm pretty"
"Yes God did make you and that is beautiful"
"God made Jesus, and he loves me. Jesus lives in my heart. But right now he's in my belly, and he's not ready to come out." (too much time around Aunt Hillary influenced that last comment I think)

I love my little girl and moments like that are all the reasoning I need when someone wonders why I will sit in her room for 30 min reading her stories and watching her fall asleep.