Cleaning Out My Desk

I am cleaning out my desk today.  Technically, my last day is not until Monday but I'm going to take the majority of my stuff home today. 

The reasons behind that decision are

1: I don't want to wait till the last minute

2: a bunch of my co-workers are gone today and I think removing my stuff today will cause less "sappy drama".

Also, since a bunch of my co-workers are gone today, I decided to buck the dress code and am wearing blue jeans.  W-H-O-A...  In the past four and a half years, I have only worn blue jeans to work four or five times and each of those times I'm pretty sure I made a donation to the American Heart Association in order to earn the "privilege".  Not today.  Today, I'm just in jeans.  Sorry for the dark, bathroom self portrait. 

Oh and since I'm trying to catch up on my life...  If I had to name this picture, I would call it Crossing the Finish Line in the Tour De Bonus Room.  haha.  Yes, hubby and I have bicycles in our bonus room that are set up on stationary trainers so every once in a while (for me, all the time for him) we go upstairs and ride bikes.  Last night we rode bikes and watched Louisville play basketball.  Needless to say, I was being an idiot in this picture.

And because we couldn't have a blog without a picture of the princess!

And finally because this is my blog and I can put this up here if I want to...  Hopefully, I can have a real picture of my Callie girl like this someday.  I'm hoping, hoping, hoping that she'll be a horsey girl just like her momma!

Stay At Home Mom??? Me???

Hi Friends...

I guess that really this post could've been titled "So this is where I lost my job..." but, I'm trying to look on the positive!  Actually, it is very positive.  We had discussed this at length but always come to the conclusion that "the timing wasn't right" and we would say "maybe in a a few months".  Apparently, God decided that he didn't approve of our delays and on November 30 I received the news that as of January 30, I would be unemployed due to budget cuts.  We stewed and thought and cried and prayed and by Christmas had realized what a blessing this truly could be.  We have decided that I will be a full time, stay at home mom.  Hopefully, along with my SAHM position, I can also find the time and energy to blog.  Working full time and then being a mommy/wife has left me with little opportunity to communicate with you all.  I have still been reading a lot of blogs but posting and commenting has obviously decreased.  I am also planning to get my butt back to the gym.  I have lost all of my pre-pregnancy weight plus about 5 or 10 extra pounds (????) but believe me, nothing is the same.  I miss the little flat belly that I had before it expanded to fit a 7 1/2 pound babe!  I will get it back though, I'm determined!

So anyway, I hope that you all (assuming, of course, that anybody even still reads this...) are doing well.  Be on the lookout for more regular posts from me...

Oh, and I'll leave you with a couple of pictures of my Callie Belle! Much Love!

I fell off the blogging planet...

No guarantees guys, I'm not sure that I can keep up a blog but I did want you all to know that my sweet Callie Belle is here and she's amazing.  She was born April 18 and weighed 7 pounds 7 ounces and was 20 1/2 inches long.

Here are some recent pictures...

Like I said, I will try...  but if not, I hope that you all are doing well and that your summers are as amazing as my has been!

Last Week Was a Rough Week...

Well, I think I'm almost recovered.  Honestly, I really just hope that I am.  Last week was a pretty difficult week for me.  I made an unexpected and pretty much un-Callie related trip to my ob's office which was followed three days later by a trip to the "Private Referral" portion of the hospital, followed by another trip the next day, followed by a trip to Labor & Delivery that afternoon.  It was definitely not awesome.

To make a very long story short, I had raging stomach issues (sorry for the TMI) for approximately 8 days which caused me to be extremely dehydrated.  The trips to private referral resulted in IV treatments with a liter of fluid each day.  I also had an ultrasound done to check the fluid levels in my uterus as well a Non-Stress Test done on Callie.  It was exhausting and when the OB asked me if I would rather stay over-night and continue IV fluids or go home and sleep in my own bed, I begged and pleaded to go home.

I contracted a bacterial information called C Diff which should basically be considered hell and will make you feel that way until you have been diagnosed and been on antibiotics for probably 36 hours.  The OB described it to Drew as basically a bacteria that makes your insides and gut "raw"...  He was trying to find food that I could eat (I lost 5 pounds during this period) and she told him that throwing food at me would only make me more miserable and shock my system.  I was eating jello and drinking Gatorade and that was pretty much it.

Fortunately, Callie Belle is doing fabulously and we did learn some exciting things about her through the Ultrasound.  As of Thursday, she is approximately 7 1/2 pounds (give or take a pound...) and has hair!  I'm sure that it will be dark brown or maybe even black and I just absolutely can not wait to see her!  Hopefully she will be here soon!

I was also told that I am now officially to be on maternity leave.  Apparently after all the stress to my system, I am supposed to be staying home and resting.  That has sort of worked, except for the fact that I've been waking up at crazy times in the morning.  This morning, I was out of bed unloading the dishwasher at 5:45....  Oops...  so much for rest!

Anyway, well, hopefully we will have a baby soon but I wanted to let you all know what had been going on with us.  Needless to say, it has not been fun!

****Also, I should add that my normal OB was on Spring Break through this whole ordeal in Cabo...  Lucky her.  Her instructions last time I saw her included that I was not allowed to have a baby because she wouldn't be there to deliver her.  Something tells me, she would have rather me gone into labor than almost be admitted to the hospital for some crazy raging bacteria!

KB & Baby - Week 37

How Far Along: 37 Weeks
Size of Baby: Miss Callie is about the size of a Swiss Chard...  Now, I have no idea what that is or what the size of it is so we will say that she is approximately 6.3 pounds and 19.25 inches (according to my iPhone app).
Total Weight Gain/Loss: By my scale this morning - 25 pounds (I am extremely pleased)...
Maternity Clothes: Everything is maternity!  Drew has a few t-shirts (that he says are too big for him) that I can still wear if we go walking or to lay around the house but everything else is maternity.  Now even the maternity clothes are even not working.  The waist bands in my pants are starting to slide underneath my belly which makes me pretty self-conscious.  I don't want to be one of those Mommy's-to-be who walks around with her bare belly hanging out.
Gender: G-I-R-L!
Movement: Her movement is now almost continuous.  Especially when I'm at my desk at work.  Its also starting to be a little painful.
Sleep: This one sucks.  Sleep varies from almost non-existant to interrupted.  Last night was interrupted, night before last non-existant... 
What I miss: Just the norm...  but we're getting so excited that it doesn't matter!
Cravings: no real cravings or aversions... I seem to be eating all of the same foods that I ate before pregnancy, which is nice.
Symptoms: Basically just exhaustion and body soreness.  Pretty much every night you can find me passed out on my couch by about 8.  I have been in bed asleep by 9:30 or so for the past few nights...
Best Moment this week: Probably packing hospital bags on Monday night.  I was really excited to get some of the stuff put together.  I still have a few of your suggestions (thank you for these, btw, they were very helpful!) that I need to get together and will probably work on those this weekend.  Also, the nursery is now completely put together and I absolutely love it.  I'm so proud of it and need to post some pictures for you guys.

Hospital Packing...

Ok, I need some advice.  I am usually a major procrastinator and that has gotten me into large amounts of trouble on more than one occassion.  I decided last night that I needed to do my best to not fall into that habit for the next three to four weeks.  I worked on laundry last night and even started to pack my hospital bag.  So far it includes:

• nursing tanks with pajama pants
• a nursing night gown because I figure I'll be much more comfortable in it than in a hospital one for at night
• house slippers
• flip flops
• fuzzy socks
• a fleece to wear if the room is cold
• a robe
• two sleep nursing bras and then another nursing bra
• I also packed sanitary pads and nursing pads
• I also have snacks for the dad, grandparents, and then for me to have in the room while we're there

I have also worked on packing for Callie, even though I don't think that she'll need as much...  She has:

• her going home outfit (w/ blanket, etc)
• boppy
• her baby book and a pen so that visitors can sign it
• a notebook so that if she is brought any gifts we can keep track of them

I have a few things that I know I'll need to pack closer to time so that I can use them up until the date.  They are:

• toiletries (even though I'd like to go ahead and get some travel shampoo/conditioner, saline solution, etc. and put them in a bag so that they're not forgotten)
• cell phone charge
• camera/charger

What do you guys think I'm missing???  I know that there are some Mommies and Mommies-to-be that read my blog and I'd love your input.  What did you take that was worthless and just took up space?

Lunch Date!

I was so excited to be able to meet up with two fellow bloggers for lunch yesterday!  Paige (from Mommy & Charli), Erin (from Howell's Happenings), and I all met at a great restaurant in BG for lunch on Wednesday!  It was such a great lunch and I was so glad to be able to hang out with these two great girls!

Erin and I went to school together but we were in different grades and had different friends and neither of us had ever met Paige, so it was great to be able to take that time to get to know each other a little better!

It is so fun to be able to meet people and already know so much about them!  We decided at the end of our lunch that we couldn't wait to get together again soon!

Girls, thanks so much for meeting up and I hope that you all had as good a time as I did!

Our Anniversary Present to Each Other

So...  Mine and Drew's anniversary was a little over a month ago and we decided that we would go together and buy each other one big gift.  My laptop was dying a slow cruel death so we decided that we'd get a new computer and Drew decided that we needed a Mac.  Personally, I wasn't sure, but since we've gotten it I have really enjoyed it and found it quite user friendly.

I still have no idea what all it can do, but the lady at the Apple Store assured me that I will love it and so far she's been right.

 This is the keyboard.  Actually, we got two because we wanted the little number pad on the side.  This little one is wireless and so far has been the only one that we've used.

This is the mouse.  Pretty crazy, huh?  I'm pretty sure it looks like a post-it note but it is the coolest thing ever.  Apple Girl demonstrated it and we were sold immediately.

Callie's Room Progress

Callie's room is actually making progress.  We have had all of our showers and now we are in the process of trying to put everything away and making sure that everything is organized.

In fact, my mom is coming this weekend to help me.  She is a much better organizer than me and I'll be glad to have her help.

Hairbow holders that I made with ribbon and horse shoes.  I'm actually quite proud of these and am so pleased with how they turned out.  At Mom & Dad's, we pretty much have a never ending supply of worn horse shoes.  Needless to say, these were cheap decorations.

 This is the only piece of furniture that we had to purchase for the room.  It doesn't match the crib completely but we really like it and think that it will be very helpful.  We are also planning to use it as a changing table.  There isn't a lot of wall space in the room for furniture, so we're multi tasking the pieces that we have.

The crib and window.  Like I said, we're making progress but we are not any where close to being finished.

And again.  These pictures were taken in the daylight so the colors are pretty accurate in these pictures.  I love them and think that all the pink accents look pretty darned cute.  Needless to say, I'm pleased :)

Wordless Wednesday - Baby Girl's First Boots

Thank you so much to Brittany!  We love them and can't wait till our baby girl can wear them around :)

Scooter

I haven't had a good Scoot Dogg post lately and thought that I needed to include one, especially since she is laying in the floor staring at me waiting for me to play with her.  I told you guys all about our massive amounts of snow that we got a month or so ago and didn't put up any pictures of her playing in it.  

She really likes to play in the snow.

Watching.  That red bag is what I always take home to WKY and she knows that when I start putting stuff in it we are going somewhere.  She basically attaches herself to my leg and will not give me any peace until we're in the car.

My sweet girl...  I will always love her like my first born :)

Customer Service

One reason that I really like living in a small(er) town in the south is hospitality. 

Today, I had planned to go home, let Scooter out, and eat a healthy lunch.  Well, you know what they say about plans...  they don't often work out.  I had noticed this weekend that one of the tires of my car seemed low and today I decided that I really needed to take it to the tire place and let them check it out.  When I got there, the man recognized me (this is where I always take my car, they're the only ones who have really ever serviced it over the past four years) and asked how he could help.  I told him my predicament and asked what I needed to do.  He checked the tire and said that it had 10 pounds of air in it, they usually have 35.  He filled it with air and asked me to bring it back tomorrow and drop it off so that they could check the tire and see what the problem was.  I asked him how much I owed him and he laughed and said "nothing, we never charge for stuff like that".  Then he asked, "your name is Kelsey, right?  Kelsey Richey?" 

Cool...  I don't know his name and the only reason he knows mine is because I'm a customer.  Looks like I'll be a customer for a long time.

After I left the tire place, I didn't have time to run home (it is about a 20 minute one way trip to our house) so I gave in to my guilty pleasure and went to Rally's.  I ordered the usual, Rally burger with cheese, french fries, and a Diet Coke...  Medium sized (definitely not a healthy lunch...).  I waited a few minutes before I got my food and when the boy at the window handed it to me and said "we have replaced your medium fry with a large due to you having to wait."  Huh?  I was only there for a maximum of 5 minutes...  That was completely unnecessary...

So I went and parked in a lot to eat my lunch and it was amazing.  I'm pretty sure that my LARGE fries had come straight out of a fryer because they were so hot that they burned my mouth.  YUM YUM YUM...

Anyway, two completely different industries with two great examples of customer service.  They pretty much made my lunch hour.  Oh, and if you've some how managed to never eat Rally's french fries, you need to change that.  They are amazing with no salt or ketchup needed...

Oh, and yes, I realize...  This post is completely contradictory to my previous post regarding feeling fat...  I promise, I don't eat like this everyday...  P-R-O-M-I-S-E...

Thank you...

Thank you guys, you really are all amazing.

February 12, 2011 with some of my best friends...  Oh, and if you can't tell, I'm the non-blonde!

I believe:  If pregnancy was easy...

Men would do it.

The Dark Side...

I don't really know how to start this post or even really what I plan to say.  All I can say is that its probably going to be a downer and if you don't want to read it, I completely understand.

I guess what I can do is start with a question.  Have you guys noticed that there aren't any pictures of me on here pregnant?  Well, there's a reason for that, mostly because I hate them all.  They are horrible and more so than that, I look horrible.  I have actually had three showers so far and have access to pictures from two of them but I just can't bring myself to post them and honestly, I don't really even want to look at them.

My little cousin took maternity pictures of me and Drew on Saturday.  It will be a struggle to make myself buy them.  I just don't like myself right now.

This little girl, I love her, but I'm finding it hard to love this version of myself.  I know I haven't gained a lot and honestly as of Friday, I had gained 24 pounds.  My scale said 161.

I'm just struggling.  And to top it all off, the person who told me to "get up off my fat ass" when I was 26 weeks pregnant made the comment to my husband this weekend that "pregnancy had made me lazy".  WTF?  Are you serious?  I guess maybe it has made me lazy.  I mean, I'm only working 40 hours a week, going to the gym 3-4 times a week, and managing my household.  I only cook dinner 4 or 5 nights a week and keep all the laundry clean, folded, and put away.  I guess I am lazy. 

FML...

Tasty Tuesday: Southwest Chicken Skillet

At our house, we call this "Rotel Chicken & Rice" and it is a super easy and quick dinner that Drew and I both love!

1 tablespoon Pure Wesson Vegetable Oil
20 ounces boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 cup long-grain white rice, uncooked
2 cans (10 oz each) RoTel Diced in Sauce - Tomatoes & Green Chilies, undrained
1/2 cup water
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (1 cup = 4 oz)
2 tablespoons green onions, thinly sliced, optional
Sour cream, optional

Directions

• Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook 5 minutes, or until chicken pieces are no longer pink in centers, stirring frequently.
• Add the rice, tomatoes with their sauce and the water to skillet; stir. Bring to boil; cover skillet with lid. Reduce heat to low; simmer 20 minutes, or until rice is tender. Fluff rice with fork.
• Sprinkle with cheese and onions; cover. Cook an additional 5 minutes, or until cheese is melted. Serve topped with the sour cream, if desired.

We ate this with chips and salsa but its also great with Refried Beans!  I actually love them, but Drew is not a fan, so if I fixed them I'd be the only one to eat them.  Which is obviously just an invitation to eat the whole can!  HAHA!

One Spoiled Little Girl...

Today was our second shower for Miss Callie and she sure made out like a bandit.  The shower was hosted by Drew's Church in WKY and when we counted the number of gifts on the list there were 45 (yes, that means I am going to be writing 45 thank you notes, but wow, it will be worth it!) gifts!

It was insane.  The princess got lots of clothes and LOTS of diapers.  Drew and I were thrilled because to this point we hadn't received many diapers.

The gifts after we condensed them enough too make the trip home. 

After going through all the boxes...  I promise my dog is not possessed, even though she definitely looks it in this picture.

Her closets, yes she has two and yes, the first one is full of clothes.  The bottom wrack is all clothes from Newborn to 9 months.

These letters are over the closet door on the right.  When you walk in her room and turn around, there are three doors, two closet doors and a door to the hall.  These are over the center door.  Her very uncrafty mother made these :)

We have been fortunate enough to borrow this crib from Drew's brother and sister-in-law.  Their two children used this crib and now they are allowing us too.  We are extremely appreciative and think that it is beautiful!

I found these prints on Etsy and they are from Callie's bedding.  Pardon the horrible yellow color.  The yellow in her room does horrible things to pictures, but they glared pretty bad anytime I used the flash.  At any rate, these hang over her crib.

Happy Anniversary!

Happy Anniversary to my sweet hubby!

As of today at about 3:00, we have been married for 3 years!

I can't wait to see what the next three years have in store for us :)

Wordless Wednesday - A Baby Girl's First Horse

Tasty Tuesday - Papa Murphy's

Have you all ever eaten at Papa Murphy's pizza?  One just opened here in BG and Drew picked us up a pizza on Thursday night.  It was wonderful!  We got a stuffed pizza that had sausage, pepperoni, onions, mushrooms, and black olives inside of it.

The way that Papa Murphy's works is they prepare the pizza for you and then send it home with you wrapped in plastic.  When you get home you cook it in your oven and have it for dinner.  Since our pizza was very thick, we had to cook it for about 25 minutes but it was absolutely worth it!

Our pizza before we cooked it...

The finished product...  I can't believe that Drew let me get a picture of it before he started chowing down...  Like I said, it was awesome! 



Needless to say, we will be repeat customers!

Snow Days

Well friends, it snowed here last week.  Not really a whole lot but it did snow enough to cause a big mess.

This is the main road through town at a few minutes after four on a Thursday afternoon. 

The same road just a little farther out of town.  We have to drive this road for about 10 miles from our work.  Luckily it is a pretty main street and is usually not very icy or snowy.

Oh, and I definitely took these pictures while driving.  I'm a smart one, let me tell you!

 This is the country road that we turn off onto to get to our house.  Notice that its a little more white?  I was in Drew's F150 and if I started going too fast (much more than 15 or 20) it fishtailed on the street.  Fun Times!

We live at the top of a hill and I made the mistake of stopping to get the mail and of course snapping this picture.  I ended up having to put the truck in 4 wheel drive just to make it to the top.  Drew was driving my car and had to try this hill about 5 times before he made it.  We were both getting very tempted to just leave it at the bottom of the driveway until the next morning... 

And this is what the little car looked like when it finally made it to the garage!  Quite Snowy!  Needless to say, we car-pooled the next morning in the truck.  The little blue car says that it is not a snow driving vehicle!

Did you all get snow?  I know that I am getting very tired of it and absolutely can't wait until spring!  I'm beginning to wonder though if it will ever get here :(