2 new additions to the family!

first and foremost... Nora Joann was born today to my bff Jess and her hubby Pete! There couldn't be a more deserving couple. She has been here for less than 20 hours and is already loved my so many! She is a doll! I love her to pieces!

and secondly... ya like my new ride! :) I'm soooooooooooooo over the minivan... finally I feel like I'm a 20 something mom and not a 40 something mom. Whew... no more minivans. EVER.

BRING IT ON WINTER! BRING IT ON!

our day in pictures

in the garden before the wedding

church pews

i love this

i thought this window was beautiful

ellie

we were near the airport, ellie loved the airplanes

ellie and daddy (i almost cried during the father daughter dance thinking about the 2 of them!)

greg and molly (friend from UW River Falls) - does he look plastered to you??

beautiful flowers!

mike and anna

mole

Funny Ellie story:

I have a totally gross (at least I think it's gross) mole under my left arm. It is about the size of a pencil eraser and sticks out just a tad from my skin. Ever since the first time Ellie has noticed it she is so interested in it and is always wanting to touch it... which I think is totally disgusting!

Last weekend at the pool Ellie fell and skinned her elbow. She got a nice sized scrap. In a perfect circle about the size of a nickel. So the other day she comes up to me and points to her scab, which is now a dark brown, and says "mommy, Ellie's mole". It's these little correlations she makes, things she remembers from weeks ago and the new things she shows me she's learned that amaze me every day. I am simply in awe of being a mother. It is truly a wonderful job. I love it.

Ok. First off I am catching up on the Bachelorette (I dvr it) and I *LOVE* this show! I love Jason... what a cutie with his little boy Ty! I kinda like Jeremy too, he seems so mysterious... I like that. Grahm is hot, but an is acting weird. I don't blame him, cause I'd probably act the same way on national tv... and Jesse, just a big goofball brotherly type.

Now, to the important stuff. Ellie is allergy free!!!! Our Dr. left a message today to tell us the news. I am SO happy. We have to call him tomorrow to let him know how the meds are going for the reflux and the ear/sinus infection. They seem to be helping... but that darn pesty ear infection just seems to want to hang around forever.

There's a hitch in the business planning... will talk more openly about it when I can!

Greg is in a wedding this weekend... he went up tonight by himself for the rehearsal and grooms dinner. Then we'll all go up together tomorrow morning. Greg has to be there at 11 for pictures! And the wedding doesn't start til 4! What the hell are are Ellie and I going to do for 5 hours in a town I know nothing about?!?!? Good god, I'm kinda dreading that. I'm hoping to find a McD's or something like that for lunch... preferably a place with a playground! Or maybe a park. Any where to keep my little monkey busy for a while!

I am so tired right now. We just got home from the annual pj party. Every year Red Wing holds a pj party downtown the last Friday in June. It is really fun. Women of all ages wear their pj's downtown (some go all out with robes, slippers, hair rollers, etc) and walk around to fun events, shop and eat. There was a fashion show, there a about a million drawings to enter for prizes, free food and drinks, massages, and my favorite - henna tattoos! For some reason I didn't get one this year. Here's what the promotion said...

3rd Annual Pajama Party-Girls Night Out

Friday, June 27th, 2008

5pm - 9pm

Join us for a warm summer evening where girls of all ages wearing their Pajamas, Slippers, Robes, Curlers and more are strolling the streets of historic downtown Red Wing. Bring your girlfriends! It's a blast!

Grand prize drawing sponsored by The Enhanced Image Salon - an ultimate salon experience including massage, hair color, facial, manicure, pedicure, facial wax, hair re-constructor, hair products, bottle of wine & chocolates

Our "handsome hunks" will be out and about downtown handing out prizes and coupons.

Specials, promotions and treats throughout the businesses.

Vendors from Mary Kay, Longaberger Baskets, henna tattoos, scrap booking, custom jewelry, For Your Pleasure and more.

Cotton CandyMusicGirlfriendsGood TimesShopping in your Pajamas.....priceless!

fun in the sun

Tanya and I took the girls to the pool yesterday afternoon. It was beautiful outside! I *heart* summer SO MUCH. It is to short a season here in MN. For some reason this year it is just hitting me harder, that summer is so short. I want to be off for the summer or have a more flexible job. Ellie is only going to be this into her mommy for a few more years... then she'll want nothing to do with me... and I want to make these years so fun for her. And not just 2 days a week. :( It probably doesn't help that I don't enjoy my job... or that it isn't AT ALL flexible. M-F 8-4:30. Everyone thinks those hours are soooooo great. I think they suck. I want the flexibility of working a few weekends a month and having some weekdays off. I had that at my last job and it made life so easy when it came to making dr or dentist appt's, going grocery shopping when the store wasn't jam packed, spending more time as a family (Greg's schedule is as follows: Week 1 - Monday, Tuesday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Week 2 - Wednesday and Thursday. Rotating that schedule. So he has lots of days off during the week) and being able to spend more time with my friends. Tanya has off Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and Jess has a schedule as a nurse that allows her lots of weekdays off. Excuse my rant. I'm just not happy with my life as far as the job front goes and I'm just venting. I'm just waiting for something else to fall into place... anywho... back to yesterday... here are some pics from the pool!



When we got home we had some dinner and I threw her in the tub... all cleaned up with pj's on and within seconds she was out... the end of a great day :)

We took Ellie to the dr on Friday afternoon to have her checked for a few different things...

1) she's been waking up coughing during the night
2) she has had a horrible runny nose. sometimes it's yellowy/greenish
3) she has had goop/what looks like boogers/ coming out of her eyes. totally yellow and green
4) greg says she has been more wheezy while playing
5) when we play hard/tickle/giggle a lot Ellie always gets hiccups which usually begins when she looks at me with a sour look on her face cause she's just thrown up in her mouth. i've had a gut feeling since she was born that she had reflux problems

I've been told time and time again by our dr that kids usually grow out of it. By now.

After checking her out he determined that Ellie had 1) a sinus infection 2) a double ear infection (again damn it) 3) acid reflux. He also had her blood drawn to check for a few different allergens. (He used to be an allergist). Pet dander/mold/outside things/penicillin/certain foods/etc. I'll be very eager to see the results of this. We have 3 cats and while I'd be so sad if she is allergic to them I would HAVE to get over it and find them a new home. :( I just don't even want to think about it until I have to. It makes me want to cry.

Ellie started sobbing the moment Greg sat down with her in the lab chair. Having your daughters arm cinched with a rubber piece of material while your husband holds her in his lap, a lab lady holds her arm down, another lab lady thumps her arm with her finger to find a vein and then sticks a needle in her arm is so damn sad. I almost cried. A third lab lady came over and rubbed my shoulder. I must have looked distressed. I held Ellie's other hand the entire time and she kept looking at me like, "momma what are you letting them do to me???" That is a horrible feeling. Just horrible. But I have to say, that damn lady did a great job. It seriously only lasted about 20 seconds and she had all the blood she needed.

So, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE pray/wish/hope (whatever you call what you do) that Ellie is not allergic to pet dander. I will be so freaking sad I won't be able to go to work for a week. (hmmm... that might be ok actually) no really. I don't want them to go anywhere.

wanna know more about me? no? well to damn bad...

I stole this from Gina cause I thought it was cute and I thought it would be nice for everyone to get to know me a little bit better. I tag everyone who reads it... if you want to do it :)

A - Age: 29 for 15 more days :( OMG I'm kinda freaking out about that!!!!
B - Bed size: queen
C - Chore you hate: cleaning out the cat pots
D - Dessert you love: ben and jerry's - half baked
E - Essential start your day item: either a mellow yellow or an iced vanilla latte
F - Favorite actor(s): julia roberts and reese witherspoon, jeremy piven
G - Gold or Silver: silver
H - Height: 5' 7"
I - Instruments you play: until 8th grade played the cello (laughing allowed)
J - Job title: support enforcement aide (child support office)
K - Kid(s): ellie
L - Living arrangements: our home with 3 cats: max, mae and callie
M - Mom's name: judi
N - Nicknames: momma,
O - Overnight hospital stay other than birth: never
P - Pet Peeve: people who don't know how to drive, shopping at walmart
Q- Quote(s) you like: well behaved women rarely make history
R - Right or left handed: right
S - Siblings: katie
T - Time you woke up today: 9:15! cause my parents took ellie overnight last night!!! :)
U - Unique habit: no clue, ask greg
V - Vegetable you hate: beet and radish
W - Worst habit: picking zits, biting nails when i'm nervous/upset/stressed
X - X-rays you've had: leg, face (i broke my cheek bone), can you have an xray of your head? maybe i had an mri or something??
Y - Yummy food you make: tater tot hot dish, rhubarb cake, cheesy potatoes
Z - Zodiac Sign: cancer

Last night I was catching up on a little blog reading, now that it's summer I just don't seem to find enough time to sit inside on the computer (I've found a solution to that, will explain later).

But first... I was reading Lost in Translation and she directed readers to this site: Matt, Liz and Madeline. If you have some free time please go visit Matt. He recently lost his wife Liz a day after their daughter Madeline was born. It is an AMAZING blog about the day Matt lost Liz and his struggles in dealing with the loss plus the realization that he now has to raise Maddy by himself. And from what I've read so far he has an amazing group of friends and family helping him. A good place to start in his archives is March 2008 (the beginning of the month). At the time they were living in CA... I'm not completely caught up to the current date, but I'm assuming they still live there. Although they do have ties to MN, I'm not 100% sure yet if both their families are here, but will figure it out as I continue to read. Matt is such a great writer. He has made me both laugh out loud (quietly, since it was after midnight last night and I was lying in bed reading next to my sleepy husband who had to get up at 4:30!) and get teary. Go check it out.

Now, back to my solution for not getting much time to blog in the summer?! Ellie and I went to Menards yesterday after Jess's shower and bought her a little pool for $10. It keeps her entertained for hours! What is better than that for a mommy of a 2 year old! It frees up time for me to sit and read a book or to catch up on blogs... I never thought something that cost $10 could keep me (and Ellie for that matter) so happy! Happy Ellie = Happy Mommy :)
Oh, and Happy Father's Day to all you daddy's out there! Ellie sure struck out and got a good one!