Can you say OBSESSED?

I admit, I have another problem. I'm having an affair. An affair with a little tv show called "the office". It takes up way too much of my time and sometimes I have to sneak around so that people can't see what I'm actually doing... reading "office" blogs, creating new office merchandise...it's definitely out of control. I've kept it a secret even from my husband up until now, but the guilt is just killing me and I have to come forward with the truth.

I LOVE the office. I love Dwight, Jim, Stanley, Oscar, Creed, Ryan, Michael and the big fat guy who's name I can't even remember right now, but I love him just the same. I even love that new little weasel Andy and his ability to suck up to Michael the likes I've never seen. I love Jim and Pam and Karen, I love Phyllis and Bob Vance, I love Dwangela, I love the one who is always drinking and thinking about men (can't remember her name right now either) I love Ray and the other guy that works in the warehouse, I love how Kelly is always chasing after Ryan, I love Jan and Michael and I even loved Carol... I LOVE them all right down to that little "World's Best Boss" coffee mug.

Even though I'm probably the only one having this degree of an obsession, I know many of my friends are also [normal] fans, so I thought I would let you all in on my favorite office blog. This guy is the ultimate office blogger, but you can get all kinds of cool links from his site. My personal favorite is my new Jim Halpert wallpaper...mmm..Jim...

http://www.officetally.com/




Okay, better get back to work cause I'm pretty sure this client is not paying me to research the office... or maybe I could spin that somehow...hmmm.

A scene from an upcoming office where Phyllis and Bob Vance marry. Isn't that dress gorgeous? (too bad about the thing on her head). Oh, there's the spin - we could use a gorgeous plus size wedding dress just like this at the Closet. See, I knew there was research involved.

Happy Thursday - (aka New Office Night!!)

ps - You better believe if I had more time right now I would whip up a Jim & Erin picture for your viewing enjoyment.

http://www.cafepress.com/hipclips/2381423

my office gear collection

PALTSKKJ

Why does she bug me SO much?

Now, hopefully this won't offend any of my loyal blog readers when I say that for some reason, I simply cannot stand Ann Curry. What is it about her that I would rather pull out my eyelashes one by one than watch her? (again, that's a bit of an Erinism, but not that much of a stretch...)


Let me back up, the day started out like any other Wednesday. Babygirl woke up nice and late today - 8am - life is good! Then, after making our way to the office - a little tough today because the traffic was bad (think homeboy and little dude running around fighting creating mass congestion on stairs and in hallway). Then to top it off, there was even a detour in the hallway (that's for you tpd), but regardless we make it to the office on time thank goodness! The usual breakfast for both - 8 ounces of pure heavenly Similac for Babygirl and 44 ounces of pure heavenly Diet Coke for me. Everything was going great.

We did our "rounds"; this is when we check in on sales, internet traffic from yesterday, check email, etc... the morning "rounds". Everything still going great after rounds - 2 fresh sales, good traffic numbers, even google organic was up... then it happened. You see, the today show is also a staple of our morning as we have it on in the background from the moment we get in. Usually this is an okay thing, but inevitably, at least once a day, I will get annoyed with Ann to the point of wanting to clench my fists , shake my head in dismay, and scream at her through the tv as if I will actually get her to change her behavior.

Today what set me off was when Ann was running around like a nut job hugging and being her usual dorky self to two today show staffers that were retiring. Does she think she is that cool? She is NOT that cool.

Okay, I will not go into all the ways that Ann Curry makes my blood boil. She is seemingly a very nice person and I do not want to attack her personally, I will just say that I do not like her on camera persona.

What do you all think? Do we have Ann Curry fans out there? If so, I'd love to know what is so great about her, she is a TERRIBLE interviewer and I don't think she is even that good at reading the news, so tell me where I am wrong. I know Aunt Meme is on Bridget and my side on this one...

Allirght now that I've gotten this out maybe I can start the healing process. Admitting you have a problem is the first step, right?

No lie, as I was wrapping up this post, Ann was wrapping up a segment on good posture for working out and keeping you back straight. So she says to the guy that was doing the segment, verbatim: "Thank you so much for helping us out with our backs, you certainly have one."

Well, thanks for that observation Ann, yes. he does certainly have a back just like all of us have backs.... Perhaps I need to go to therapy and adress my issues with Ann Curry and stupid weather people.

Wait - I think I have a solution - here is the new NBC Today Show dream team:

Is it just me or do I look kinda good with Matt Lauer...?

PALTSKKJ

How did this happen?

I've definitely become one of those moms.

One of those moms unable to use any objectivity when it comes to the "cuteness" factor of their own offspring. Sure, I think that little Brangelina baby is adorable, but still, sorry, Shiloh, you pail in comparison to MY baby girl. I mean I look at Babygirl and the level of cuteness she exudes makes me want to put her on a couple slices of bread, slather her with some mayonaise and eat her right up. (Okay, so that's a little extreme, but you get the idea - I basically cannot handle the cuteness.)

How? When? I always told myself this wouldn't happen to me and yet, here I sit, admitting fully that it has, in fact, happened. I am a picture pushing, email sending, blog posting one of those moms. Not to mention the way I soak up all the compliments as if they were gospel:

"She's so cute"
"She's adorable"
"Oh my gosh, she is beautiful"

I've said these exact comments to other mom's of new babies time and time again. Sometimes fully believing them and other times, I have to be honest here, not completely 100% behind those statements. I know this will sound terrible, but before I had a baby I was always looking at the actual physical attributes of the baby, right or wrong, I didn't know any better.. I wasn't around babies a lot and I've never been a huge "baby person" so I couldn't understand how every baby was "so beautiful" or "so adorable".

But, now that I am around one day in day out and I get to see the toothless smiles, the oohs and aahs, the most adorable soft sigh I've ever heard in my whole life, and the hundreds of other adorable baby noises and faces, all objectivity has gone out the window.

I don't think you have to be a mom to "get it". I just never did, it took becoming a mom and being around a baby more for me to fully understand. So, now I see how anyone who's had a baby, been around them a lot or just really loves babies in general, can truly 100% say and believe that every baby they meet is the most adorable and beautiful baby.... because, in fact, they are in their own individual way.

And, since I am now in that club, here's your daily Babygirl fix, whether you want it or not.

Seriously, does it get much cuter?

PALTSKKJ

Happy Birthday Baby Ava!

We're glad you're here! 8lbs 1 ounce 8:28 (i think) pm.

Congrats Jeremy and Erin! She is so beautiful!


Bridget can't wait to meet her new pal!

Maybe the Moyer's are to Blame

I have a strange daughter...Tim says I made her this way and I guess that's possible, but more so, I prefer to think she just takes after me and that's where she gets this innate weirdness. This weirdness mostly manifests itself around sleeping times. Let's first examine the normal things she needs in order to soothe herself to sleep:

1) A pacifier
2) The Rainforest soothing sleeper (come to think of it, I could use that, too)
3) Her first pony (a gift from the Moyer's) and bear baby from the hospital (see bottom left of pic for bear)


Now, there is nothing strange about needing those things, what is strange is that the third item, the pony and the bear, needs to be placed exactly on either side of her head. They have to create a little barricade around her head like when you ride a roller coaster and you have those head support thingys. The bear is usually much closer, but she must have shoved it away when I took this picture.

She will actually turn her head into them when she is trying to fall asleep. Back and forth rotating between the two babies on either side trying to decide which she likes better. Books...rocking...we don't need any of those normal baby things - just stuffed animals jammed right up against her head... we are definitely poster parents for what NOT to do in your crib.

On most nights, I will stand there watching her as she goes to sleep. Her little baby head jostling back and forth between the two babies and watching the monkey on the rainforest soother rock on his vine... eyes getting heavier and heavier with each round trip...it is just so flipping adorable.

Well, the whole reason I thought of posting this (other than the fact that I just watched this sleep dance take place) is that, as I placed the pony on her head tonight and she reached up and immediately jammed it into her mouth, I thought about our friends, Erin and Jeremy. In fact, many times when I put her to sleep I think about them. You see, they are the ones that gave her the all-important sleep pony and, for some reason, she has latched onto it to the point where I panic a bit if I don't have the pony.

Well, tonight they are especially in my thoughts as they are about to enter the wonderful (and sometimes strange) world of parenthood. My thoughts have been with them non-stop since last night when they went in the hospital as a family of two and will leave as a family of three. It's such a crazy, magical, special and terrifying time when you are awaiting the arrival of your first little one. Any minute now I will hopefully get a call or TM that Miss Ava has entered the world and for some reason those calls are all the more special now that I understand...

I can't wait to hear about her full head of hair or how she looks like Jeremy - sorry Hutch, but baby girls always look like their daddies! We love you guys and are so excited for you to embark on all those strange (and completely awesome) things that little girls bring!

PALTSKKJ

zoey gets a blog!

I'm sure you've all been dying for me to create another blog...well, the time has finally come. This one will actually be pretty boring for most people, but it will help us to continue to grow our other little baby, not bridget, but Bridget's favorite baby, Zoey.

Here is the link below. I'm going to try and post a new design or item every day or every other day depending. Feel free to leave comments with feedback and ideas. That's what it's there for and it helps out our blog popularity which in turn helps out our traffic (dorky web designer talk there, but the bottom line is it helps us!)

Thanks!

http://zoeysattic.blogspot.com


PALTSKKJ

Dwangela '08

This is not the right place to be posting this, but I'm having major problems getting my new blog set up for Hip Clips/Zoey's Attic. Either way, I thought since tonight is a new office, we should pay tribute to it with a new design courtesy of Mark Jones. Here is his spin on tv's hottest new couple, Dwangela! I think he's on to something here.


ps. Happy last day in your 20's Kim! We can't wait to welcome you to Club 30 tomorrow. It's a great place to be, really!

Well, gotta go as Bridget is trying to smother herself with blankets, her pony and a burp cloth. All I hear is a muffled babble....


PALTSKKJ

Sad Baby Girl

I'm a mean mommy, cause I just thought her sad faces were
hilarious and that others needed to see the super sad face, too. Enjoy!
Cute penguin shirt from Cousin Amy! We love it!

.

His name is Ponies, but sometimes I just call him Pony

I so get it... I so get why parents say childhood is such a magical time. It's such a short window of time, you just wish you could bottle it and open it anytime you need a dash of magic. I guess that's why parents go crazy taking pictures, recording videos and even tape recording as often as possible - to try and hold on to it forever.

The blog title today came from "Miss O", our friends Steph and Jay's 3 year old daughter, Olivia. We were talking about ponies (thanks to Tommy's lovely little addition to our hallway wall) and she was explaining to me that she had a pony, too. When I asked her what his name was, she very seriously replied, "His name is Ponies, but sometimes I just call him Pony". It was just one of those classic moments and I'll never forget how adorable she looked as she told me about "Ponies".

Here's a pic of Olivia with babygirl today. She was so cute and sweet with Bridget, she kept taking toys over to her that she thought she would like. At one point, Bridget was piled up with a stack of about 4 toys.


See, now I wish I had a picture of that as it was hilarious... you just want to hold on to every thing and every moment.

PALTSKKJ

It's a cat, it's a frog....nope it's just Bridget

A new sound has recently filled our household. The sound itself is really almost indescribable. It's kind of like one of those natural wonders that you have to see or hear to believe. If I was forced to describe this sound, I would say it sounds most like a fight between a cat and a bullfrog with a soar throat. Most people would not like this sound, but since it comes from my one and only daughter, I must admit I find it to be a sign of an incredibly gifted child. The fact that she can produce so many inflections and tones from one little mouth is surely a sign of high intelligence, right?

This sound can be heard morning, evening and sometimes in the middle of the night. It occurs without warning and is used to express a number of different emotions from happy, sad, excited to wicked mad.

Talking on the phone with this new sound has become challenging as the sound is also not a quiet, cute, peaceful baby sound, but more like a sound that would be audible from the street, walking by our house, even if our windows were closed.

Nonetheless, it is yet one more new fish in a whole sea of everyday new things and I love every one of them.

PALTSKKJ

Fool me once, strike 1, fool me twice, strike 3

Oh my, we do not recall a better hour of television in a very long time. Kudos to both Earl and our favorite show, the office, as they both put on a splendid display this evening.

Awesome! And, if you love the office as much as us, you'll want to be sure and check out (shameless promotion) Zoey's Attic for great office apparel and gifts. Make sure to hurry before we get sued by NBC - they're sure to be collector's items after that!

Still a work in progress..

Well, aren't we all, really? Anyway, I am finally ready to post links to Zoey's Attic. My (not-so) secret project I've been working on for the last month and 1/2. We have been somewhat successful so far with this little business venture and we are excited to see where it might possibly take us. We are still a long way from declaring this a "business", but we'll see what happens as our knowledge grows and hopefully our business grows. After all, we started out small, right Big D?

So, here it is, my labor of love, Zoey's Attic (appropriately named after Bridget's favorite Zebra, Zoey, since she is the inspiration and drive behind this initiative!) www.zoeysattic.com We still have plenty of work to do here, but we're coming along and welcome any and all suggestions and ideas!

Well, that's all for tonight, I don't have much as I am still kind of in a funk about losing grandma and the funeral tomorrrow. I know all of this is good, it really is good, but you can't help think about time and loss and making sure to treasure what we have when we have it. I wish I could live in the moment more often, in fact, that was even my new year's resolution this year, so I am going to keep trying to absorb what is going on around me and delight in the little things of everyday life. I.E. not sweat any of the small stuff, it's not worth it and life is too short.

Okay, enough of my pity party for the night. Prayers and love to my dad, aunt carol and uncle kent on the loss of their mom, cause I know if I am struggling with these emotions about my grandma, losing a parent, must be a whole new ballgame.


PALTSKKJ

Just a day in the life...

It's just a regular monday so far (besides the raging cold that I am still fighting and unfortunately losing the battle against). Babygirl wakes up and contently talks to herself, Tim and I start rousing and I begin looking feverishly for my sudafed so I can breathe again when the phone rings.. "it might be your dad" Tim says as I try to become conscious enough to answer the phone and then I know, I know immediately why he is calling.
My grandma is gone.

Now I sit here struggling to figure out what emotions I am feeling. My grandma has not been "my grandma" for quite some time now so I've sort of lost a real connection with the person in that nursing home. Yes, it is her, it looks like her, there are familiar things around her, but I can't connect with her. Sure, I would go visit and I took babygirl there when she was only two weeks old to "meet" her great grandma, I talked to her and I did most of the things that I should do. But, what I didn't do was remember to keep the connection. I forgot all of the things that made my grandma so awesome...

I forgot to remember all of the sleepovers filled with games of ping-pong, chinese checkers and dummy rummy. I forgot that she would make sure I could sprinkle the powdered sugar on the brownies right after they came out of the oven since she knew it was my favorite thing to do. I forgot how she would cook Mark and I totinos pizza (with extra cheese on top - no wonder I love cheese so much) for a late night snack and let us watch Johnny Carson when we would spend the night. I forgot all of the trips to the farm and the smell and sounds of grandma up early cooking breakfast so that it would be hot and ready when we would crawl out of bed. I forgot how her homemade biscuits were the best, how she would take us apple picking in the fall, how fun bathtime was at her house and how the smell of baby powder can still take me back there. I forgot about playing the piano with her and how we would sing along to "Tootsie Wootsie" and "Let me call you sweetheart" as she showed me the right chords to play and when to use the pedals. I forgot how proud I was when my grandma would play bells in church. That was "my grandma" up there I would proudly proclaim. I forgot how she would call me her girl or gal depending on the day or situation. "We just made it, didn't we gal?" she would say as we went through a yellow light. And what about those special Christmas mornings when everyone would gather at Grandma and Grandpa's house to show off our new toys, eat brunch and better yet - open more presents! That was Christmas morning to me and I'm sure helped to define why I love the holidays so much.

Yes, I'm sad, my grandma is no longer here in body with us, but I would be lying if I didn't say I feel some relief. Relief that she is no longer suffering or trapped in a body that won't let her bake brownies, play cards, or relive these very memories. I feel like maybe now I can regain a connection with my grandma instead of trying to force one with the person in the nursing home. She lived a great life and finally now, in death, hopefully has that life back; back to be with her husband, to remember her two sons and daughter, remember time spent with her eight grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

I can only hope that at this very moment my grandma is once again with the love of her life, my grandpa, and that they are listing to and maybe even dancing to some Glen Miller, drinking a highball and playing a game of gin rummy with grandma and grandpa Beinart. I love you both and I will miss you until we meet again.


PALTSKKJ

Pics, challenges, tears and enchiladas...

I have finally posted all pics up to date, well, except New Year's Eve - but I think I might have to censor some of those since they all are most definitely not PG-13.

If you head on over to my shutterfly account, here is the address delanty.shutterfly.com, you will find all kinds of good stuff going back to Liggy's Graduation, then Christmas baby photo shoot, Mom D's 60th birthday (with commentary), and finally the grand daddy of all albums, Bridget's first Christmas. She actually wrote the captions for that one, since she thought she could best recap her first whirlwind holiday season.

Okay, here is a challenge to all my blog readers who take pictures, yes that means you: Kim, Aimee, Mom and Dad D (I think that might be all 4 of my total readership) but I want you all to post any old pics that you haven't posted. Kudos to the Jones' for already posting NYE pics, but I need pics from the Christmas celebration at my mom and dad's house (remember I forgot my camera and I think Mom D took a bunch), Thanksgiving in George from Kim cause I think you had some cute one that I wanted, and Aimee you are pretty up-to-date, but I'd like to see NYE from you, too!

On a side note, Babygirl went to the Dr. today and got 4 shots. She handled herself like a pro - not even a tear, but now is a different story. Poor baby has been very upset since about 4:30. We gave her some Children's Advil and it seems to be helping now, but she was very warm and I could tell she just didn't feel right. Now I get it why it's so hard to see your kids sick. You want to take it away or do something and you really can't. It stinks, but we all go through it, so we are just trying to keep her comfortable. She's taking a little snooze now, but man did we have a full-blown meltdown earlier. She wouldn't even take her bottle so you know something doesn't feel good! So sad!

Good things at the Doc were everything else is great and she is in the 96th percentile for both height and weight so even though she is big, everything is in proportion, so that's all that really matters. She is definitely teething Betty said, but she may still not get a tooth for a couple of weeks or a month, but no question about it she said.

Lastly, I have to thank my sister-in-law Kim for providing me with both lunch and dinner for the past four days. I have pretty much survived solely on chicken enchiladas. You would think one would get sick of the same food over and over, but I promise you I am actually sitting here right now thinking about making my plate of enchiladas and watching the office and I couldn't be happier. So, thank you for making GREAT enchiladas and for leaving them behind when they would have been good leftovers for you guys, too!

Happy "new office" night everyone!



PALTSKKJ

525, 600 minutes... How do you measure, measure a year?

***WARNING****
525,600 minutes is approximately how long
you will need to read this monster post! :)

Well, officially another year, 2006, has come into my life and out. I thought I would recap (without Ehlert or TPD) about some of the great, not so great and other things that made up this past year as it was arguably one of the biggest years of my life.

Here goes... 2006 started off with a bang and a gag. Shortly after learning we were expecting our first, we threw a New Year's Eve party. I was still keeping the pregnancy a secret except from close friends and family so I had to do a little fake drinking at the party. It was a good time and we had fun ringing in 2006 although it was different being newly pregnant and missing having Mike and Aimee to share the news and hang out with (they were in Cabo still celebrating the holidays with family).

Shortly after the new year began, I began my pregnancy "renegade gagging", as I believe Aimee Muldrow called it. It would last well into March and really was not fun. I've always been a "gagger" not being able to control it when there are assorted bodily functions or terrible smells from my animals, but this would be a whole new type of gagging. An uncontrolable, out of nowhere type of gagging that was set off by seemingly nothing at times. My favorite gagging incident came one day while teaching an Excel class at UMSL. I was talking about how to hold down the control key to select "non-contiguous groups of cells" and immediately after those words came out the gagging began, in front of a full class of about 24 students, I struggled to reel it in and finally excused myself for a little water and gagging privacy. That was my favorite gagging moment of 2006.

Other than that, early 2006 memories include telling family and friends about our impending addition to the family (I did not particularly care for spreading this news, but it was a big part of early '06 as we got further into the pregnancy).

We had our annual traditional events like the Cat's Meow washer's tournament and Mardi Gras which were fun, albeit I couldn't partake in my usual celebrations of Anheuser Busch products, but I tested the waters with Non-Alcoholic brew and borrowed plenty of "sips" of the real stuff.

The first big event of the year was Tim taking a new job. It unfortunately meant a lot of travel and a lot of nights by myself, but it was an important step for him in his career and it came at a time in my pregnancy when the gagging had settled down and I was finally starting to feel like a normal person again, at least for a couple months... The job started in March and between March and late June he would be gone off and on for 14 weeks. We made it and with the help of friends, family and Libby being my roommate for 6 weeks, I came out with three new decorated rooms (bathroom, my office and the guestroom) and a better appreciation for having my husband around!

March was a busy wedding month with Chris and Kristi exchanging vows one weekend and Dave and Lisa the next. We had a great time at both events and although this was during Tim's traveling time, he surprised me by flying in for Lisa's wedding and I was so happy! I also realized during this month I am a terrible wedding present buyer... they are still coming guys I promise... you have a year right? I still have a couple of months. So sorry.

April was another huge month as we welcomed a new member into our close circle of friends, Matthew Muldrow made his debut on my birthday, April 11th (something I had predicted from the day I heard they were pregnant). He immediately wormed his way into our hearts upon visiting him when he was only 6.5 hours old and he has been there ever since. We spent most of the better half of April and May getting to know this new little man and spending time hanging out with the new parents and addition to our group. It was great practice for us and I was so glad to have invaluable Aimee and Michael new parent advice as we continued to prepare for our big change.

Also in April, Sheryl and Ronnie got married and we had a great time being a part of all the wedding events. Once again, being 5 months pregnant in a dress that didn't fit particularly well and having not even one glass of champagne before giving a speech to 200 people at a reception was a little trying, but a rite of passage for any pregnant woman and I made it relatively unscathed.

The summer brought all kinds of fun stuff - from having Tim back home full-time to baby prep, it was a whirlwind! I had my first shower on a Friday night and it was a taco salad shower. That happened about the same time I started my blog, so if you go back in time on the blog, you can read all about the shower. July was a big month for Dad D as he turned the big 6-0. We had a great time celebrating the big event with a limo and full day of fun around St. Louis. July also brought a major storm which stranded many people without power and we had the Muldrows and Libby stay with us for about 4 or 5 days. It was actually a lot of fun and we really enjoyed the company, even though we joked about them never leaving... we really like it when we have a full house! The other big event was my shower thrown by Kim and Aimee. Again, you can read about that in a previous post. It was so much fun and I will never forget how much work they did and how exciting it was to know the time was drawing near.

Well, the big month for us obviously came next - August... the longest month EVER. I was due August 18th, but Miss Bridget did not want to make an appearance until August 26th... in fact, she didn't even want to make one then, we forced her to! August was definitely a little tough. The uncertainty, the fear, the waiting, the excitement, too many emotions to even begin to describe. I wanted to be one of those pregnant girls who went around saying, "I'm so ready... I can't wait, I just want him or her to be here"... unfortunately, I wasn't. I was feeling okay physically, just mentally not knowing what to expect was really tough for me. The August heat, the ginormous size of my stomach, sleeping difficulty... all that stuff that people said would be just awful toward the end didn't bother me nearly as much as the uncertainty of change. I just wanted it to be over, but at the same time, didn't want to go through everything necessary for it to be over... not sure if that makes sense, but looking back now that I am 4 months removed, I feel silly for being so worried about everything, but I felt so nervous. I remember being at Becky's birthday party on my due date and being so glad to be there instead of in a hospital, that's how scared I was! So silly, but so true...

Then, finally on August 26th, Miss Bridget entered the world and everything was SOOOO... much better. It was over and the world as I knew it did not come screeching to a halt. She was beautiful and I actually LOVED being in the hospital. The drugs, the food, the nurses, the full night's sleep... I didn't even want to leave. Again, as not to bog this down with a recount of everything, you can read about Bridget's arrival in this post. I can't say I was immediately overcome with love and emotion for this new little being (sounds harsh, but I didn't know her and she didn't me, and we needed to get to know each other a little). Before long, though, she too wormed her way into our hearts and by the time we left the hospital, I was smitten and ready to see what each new day would bring.

September was filled with adjusting to life with a screaming baby (they really get you by being all quiet and sleepy in the hospital and then you go home and BOOM... totally different story...). We had to work on figuring out what was wrong and went through many days and nights of crying spells (both her and me), but again we made it and will be better parents in the future because of it!

It's so funny because I can remember EVERYONE under the sun telling me from day one home from the hospital when things were definitely NOT easy, that, "It just gets better and better...everyday is easier". I couldn't hear it at the time (I probably didn't want to hear it at the time), but they were so 100% right. Every week was usually better than the last and at some point, not too long after, it doesn't even seem hard anymore, it just seems "normal". I can't thank everyone enough. You all helped us out during our, a-hem, "adjustment period" and were all so helpful and supportive in both giving us space and being there when we needed help. I personally especially thank my Mom and Dad, who, besides Tim, I leaned on tremendously during the difficult periods and especially for all the times you said, "it will get better", you were right, it did and I couldn't have done it without all your help. It's funny, not until I had my own baby and became a parent and had to struggle with something so much bigger than myself (not in size, mind you...) did I realize how much I still needed my mommy and daddy!

Life continued to become a "new normal" in October as we started to understand her better and she got used to her new surroundings more. We were able to sneak away a couple of weekends for some Tim and Erin time and went to Mizzou Homecoming and Octoberfest. They were much welcomed time for just the two of us.

November brought our first road trip to Georgia and was again that much easier of a month. We definitely fell into being a family and developed routines, schedules, real life! Tim and I found time to play ping-pong again and this month was a breeze - if not, dare I say, great!

December just wrapped up and was by far the easiest and best "new family" month of the year! We celebrated Mom D's 60th with an awesome night and surprise visit from Molly. (Will post pics soon, I promise!) Not to mention, Babygirl's first Christmas was so exciting, again.. more details coming soon. We did receive some really sad news in December, at the very least it has brought our family back closer together and I remain incredibly hopeful that we will continue to gain strength and that we will beat this and things will work out okay. Please, again, keep us and my extended family in your prayers as there isn't a day that goes by that I don't say a prayer for them and wish them continued strength and healing.

Finally, things are gelling nicely at Ivy Trace and the 5 of us are really settling into our new life. We are excited to see what 2007 brings as we can't believe we'll have first teeth, words, walking, etc. Honestly, I am very excited for this year, for all the usual stuff that we look forward to each year, but also for the new things. The uncertainty of having baby is over and I now realize that uncertainty and change is actually good thing, it leads to all kinds of possibilities and a larger capacity to love than you ever thought possible.

So, maybe that's how you measure a year... seasons of love (thanks RENT). I get it now and I can't wait for each new day. Treasure them all, each one.

HAPPY NEW YEAR to all and thanks again for all the support and love this year and thanks for actually being interested in our lives enough to read this entire post...if anyone actually does!


Seasons of Love

525,600 minutes, 525,000 moments so dear.
525,600 minutes - how do you measure, measure a year?
In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee.
In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife.
In 525,600 minutes - how do you measure a year in the life?
How about love? How about love? How about love?
Measure in love. Seasons of love.

It’s time now to sing out, tho the story never ends
Let's celebrate - remember a year in the life of friends.
Remember the love! Remember the love! Remember the love!
Measure in love. Seasons of love! Seasons of love.

So long, fair well, auf weidersehn, good bye

We'll miss you Karen. You were always one of our favorites.

to all a good night...

Bridget enjoying her first Christmas Day... see any resemblance?

Merry Christmas to all

and to all a good night....

Third time's a charm

This is the third time I've tried to write a post and everytime I publish it, Blogger eats it. Grrr...

Anyway, I wanted to give everyone a quick update for the Christmas Eve goings on at Ivy Trace. Babygirl is very excited that Santa is on his way tonight... well, maybe she isn't as much as her mommy is, but it is certainly fun. I even get that little tingly feeling like when you're a kid thinking about the magic of Christmas eve and even though she doesn't know it yet, she's helping to bring that magic back into our lives as well... I never really complete lost it, but you look at things differently with a brand new little one.


So far today we made appetizers, baked cookies and watched football. It's been a pretty good Christmas eve and it's about time to pack up the car and head to Steph and Jim's for the Delanty /Gianino /Fabry /Brennan /Ellis celebration. It promises to be as fun as always!

We officially kicked off our holiday season on Friday with a fabulous dinner and present opening time at Mom and Dads. It was awesome and fun as always.

I even have wrapped all my presents early this year. At least, that is, if you count wrapping until 2am last night early. But for me, that's amazing. One quick rant about wrapping paper - at what point did all the wrapping paper manufacturers get together and decide they needed to tape a new roll of wrapping paper in like 15 places? Isn't the complete plastic cover on the roll enough? I mean did we really need the tape, too? It drives me crazy you have to be so careful not to A) rip the paper or B) pull the paper off with the tape leaving behind only paper backing. I mean were they all sitting around at the last WPMC (wrapping paper manufacturers conference) and decided that tape was the way to go???

Lastly, on one sad personal note, we'd like to recognize Buddy IV who met with an untimely demise this morning. Buddy was a good fish and he will be sorely missed by us and Buddy V. We can only hope that Buddy IV is looking down on us from that big fish bowl in the sky with Buddy's I, II, and III. We love you Buddys!

Merry Christmas to all and especially to our little magic munchkins, Matthew and Bridget - may this only be the beginning of years of magic and wonder to come for you and your mommy's and daddy's!

Soon it will be Christmas day...

I can't believe it is December 21st already. Well, actually I can - I knew it would fly by as usual. Also as usual, I am completely behind. Tim and I went shopping last night and we were going to conquer it all and then, of course, by 6:30 were so starving we just had to go eat at Chili's with our gift certificate we've been saving FOREVER -then two beers and a lot of fajita's later we were ready to cache it in and go get babygirl. Grandma and Grandpa D were watching her so we could get some secret Santa presents. I hear Santa doesn't officially start making visits until they are over a year... that's just what I hear - don't shoot the messenger.

Anyway, tonight/this afternoon I plan on kicking some serious Christmas shopping ass. (Sorry, I've decided my blog isn't completely pg, I'm making it pg-13) that will be as bad as it gets. I have my Sydney's Closet Christmas lunch at Bristol's today...yummy! After that, I'm going shopping and finishing it off! The only problem is we always drink a little wine and linger around for a while, so I'm hoping we don't have another repeat of the laziness of last night after lunch today. Plus, babygirl is with G & G J today, so I have another free afternoon and I really need to capitalize - lord knows I don't want to be anywhere near a mall, old navy, barnes and noble or any of those places this weekend.

Well, better get to work, even though it's Christmas lunch day, there is still plenty of work to do no matter how little I feel like doing it!

This picture is from Bridget up at SC with me. They have a little bassinet and everything set up for her, so she can hang with mom while I work. They love her so much, it's so nice, I am really lucky to have them be so accomodating for a working mommy!

Happy almost the holiday season!

Santa and Mrs. Claus

So, we didn't get too many great shots of them together, but I still think this is too funny not to use as a blog header. For those who don't know this is Bridget and her best bud Matthew during one of their forced "we're really just here for our mommy's to take pictures" photo shoots. This one was too cute, though and soon enough you will see the results of our efforts in both the Delanty and Muldrow holiday cards.

The best part was rangling up four dogs in antlers and making them sit while we snapped away. At times, though, they actually were easier subjects than the little babes.

I'm posting just a couple from the photo shoot, but will post most of them on shutterfly soon after everyone has received the too cute christmas cards from Aimee and I. That way it will be more of a surprise!

Well, too much to do today as this is a super busy weekend with Mom D's 60th birthday party (I have some secret missions to do for that today) and then we are celebrating Liggy's college graduation on Sunday. Congrats LIGGY!!! It's a great feeling, isn't it?? Then throw in there that I actually need to buy some Christmas presents at some point and it's a little crazy!

Happy Friday to all!

Thanksgiving pics...

finally, I have posted the pics of Turkey day in Georgia... I'm still working on posting the adorable Christmas photos from Sunday, but I'm working on it... check out my photo website at delanty.shutterfly.com.

Big Birthday!

Happy 60th Mom D! Can't wait to celebrate this weekend! Love you!

Life's not always fair...

I got some really devastating news yesterday, and while I don't want to go into the specifics of it right now, I would appreciate everyone's prayers and thoughts for my extended family, they need all the support they can get right now.

Kiss your significant others, hug your kids, call a good friend and give the pets a treat. Life is precious, albeit incredibly unfair at times.

One year ago today..

My how time flies! I can't believe it was exactly a year ago, probably to the minute when I was doing pretty much exactly what I am doing right now: Sitting at my computer, checking email, doing a little work when for some still unknown reason to me, I jumped up and decided to take "the test". Without going into the gorey details, there really was no reason for me to believe I was pregnant and certainly no reason to take the test that day. It was definitely too early to be testing, if you know what I mean. But for some reason, I did it.

I leave my computer, take the test and then return to my work knowing it would be negative mainly due to the aforementioned gorey details. Plus, supposedly it takes a couple of minutes so I just left the test and came back to the computer to keep working. After about 10 minutes, curiosity got the better of me and I went back to where I had hid the test in my closet, picked it up and let out a very quiet little gasp. There in front of me was the faintest little tiny pink line. I was pretty calm, but in awe, it was almost surreal...am I seeing a line? Is that really there? No...it can't be....

I placed the test back under a stack of t-shirts, went back to the computer and proceeded to feverishly look up "faint lines" on hundreds of websites - work at this point was out the door. I still did not really believe it and to complicate matters, after an hour of internet research I find out that when you leave the test for more than 10 minutes faint lines called evaporation lines can appear when a test is not checked in the alotted time period. WHAT!? CRAP!! How long had I left it? Had it been 10 minutes? Crap, crap, crap (btw, that's the pg version of what I really said...) I had put myself in complete limbo land and now, I had to sit here wondering whether or not that was a "faint" positive line or "evap" line...and the worst part...I had no more tests. So, I put it out of my mind.. sort of.. and proceeded to finish up the project I was working on. It's such a strange feeling when you are not sure... it's a mix of overwhelming excitement, terrifiying anxiety, wanting it to be true so badly and at the same time not sure if you want it to be true. So, I had to just stop thinking about it.

After work, I made a quick getaway to do a little Christmas shopping and of course to get some more tests. I remember the feeling I had walking around Gordman's and it would just hit me that maybe... maybe... and I would just smile. Then I knew I wanted it and wanted it badly. After my trip to Wal-mart I came home with tests and immediately went back upstairs and tested again... this time I would not miss my window. In exactly two minutes, there it was again...the cute little faint line. This time there would be no "evap" line and I was sure, although, it was still so hard to believe.

Believe it or not, I just sat on that little gem of information while I proceeded to take at least 16 more tests (I'm exaggerating, but there were a lot!) of different kinds - digital ones, pink ones, blue ones, fast ones, slow ones - every last one was positive. That night, I went to Becky's Christmas party with Tommy and Libby (Tim stayed home with Riley who had hurt his leg the night before) and I fake drank Martini's and punch. Tommy even called me out on not drinking fast enough. I couldn't believe it - it was a Martini for crying out loud. Who drinks a Martini fast? So, I had to keep walking in the kitchen and pouring it out little by little. It was so weird, too, not to be able to drink that Martini, especially when it is all so new and you're still not sure you believe it...things just changed on a dime that day.

The next day, December 11th, was Mom D's birthday party at our house and I had planned on telling Tim that day, but the opportunity never really arose during the day with all the bday preparations and cleaning. I was going to go to Walgreens and get a card for him (and one more test...just to be sure) before the party so I made up some lame excuse to go and he told me that I didn't have time and why was I trying to push it to Walgreens... grrr...okay then, you won't find out you're going to be a daddy tonight. He would have to wait another day. That same night, again, somebody called me out on drinking water. Maybe I was just more sensitive to it, but I remember thinking so these people have "pregnancy-dar" or am I giving out "pregnant" vibes right now... how the hell?

Finally on Monday, the 12th, I set a hot dog bun and the controversial walgreens card inside the oven and taped a sign to the oven that simply said, "TPD, Open Me"... It felt like an eternity, he was in and out of the kitchen, back and forth and... nothing. It was probably the most nervous I've ever been in my whole entire life and the agony just kept getting prolonged. I would tense up every time he walked in there and every time he came right back out. I finally, after at least 7 trips in and out of the kitchen where he failed to notice the sign, marched in there, pointed to it and made him open it... I absolutely could not take it anymore. He opened the door and just stood there for a minute and ultimately just said "no...no... really?" I could tell he was so excited when it finally sunk in.

So, that's the way it all went down, starting a year ago right now, little did I know the extreme turn my life was about to take over the next 48 hour period and ultimately up to now. And here I sit a year later, with babygirl sitting on my lap helping me write this and I can't even begin to think about if that line had been an "evap" line...

Long Term Effects...

It's been a little while since the last post! I've just been so busy with work and our new site, which I am still not quite ready to post links to, that I've fallen down on my posting duties. I feel like I am glued to a computer screen almost all waking hours except driving and showering. I am looking at the computer screen from sometimes as early as 5am to as late as midnight some nights. I am reading while feeding babygirl, working all day long, surfing and researching while l watch Earl in the background, designing for the new business in bed with the news on in the background.

I've become attached to the computers. It's almost to the point where if I've been out or away from a computer for more than an hour or so, I get ancy to get around one. I don't know what I would have done without any power here.

Okay, enough about computers, but I do worry sometimes about the long term effects of sitting in front of this screen type, type, typing or reading constantly. We are really the first generation to grow up with computer screens in front of us and I am on the extreme end of the spectrum in relation to how much time I spend in front of them...

We got our Christmas tree last night (leave it to us to pick the coldest day of the year to bundle up babygirl and subject her to frigid temperatures). Regardless, it was a quick process and it's a frasier fir and very fresh, so that's exciting. I'm not sure when we will actually get to decorate it as we have a pretty busy weekend with holiday events and drinks with friends, but, hopefully we can do it either tomorrow or Sunday at the latest. I have sporadically worked on Christmas decorations, so I'm excited about getting those finally finished!

Lastly, babygirl is talking up a storm these days and is very vocal when she is hungry or unhappy. You'll hear about it- no question. She's also started this kind of screaming/screeching stuff that is incredibly disturbing, but again, is just her way of letting you know she needs some attention and, unfortunately, I can't help but laugh at it. I can already fast forward in my mind a couple of months when she has perfected that skill and will scream at random in public places and at quiet places. I'm sure we will be one of "those" people in church who can't control their screaming children. You can just tell that's the path she's going down. I still love it, though. It's so funny to see her discovering her voice and changing every single day. I'm excited for her first Christmas, even though she won't really understand yet, it's still a fun time for Tim and I to have her here.

Well, that's all for my quick post today - I apologize for the randomness or my ramblings. TGIF!!

Ready for the Holidays!

I needed to update the look for Christmas! Don't worry moms, she was only out there for like 30 seconds max. It was literally - set her down, snap a pic, back in the house!

Hope you like the new look. Please feel free to comment!

Happy snowy Friday day to all!

It's beginning to look a lot like...

the weather people know what they're talking about! Okay, I am officially conceding round 2 to the weather people. They didn't overshoot this one. Now, they were still a little off on snowfall totals and I think my brother's philosophy holds true in that I think we got about an inch and a 1/2 of actual snowfall. HOWEVER, I will give them that this was a major storm.

Way to go weather people! Let's keep up the good work!

I've already been outside this morning taking more pics, so I'll try and post those after my deadline this morning. Of course, I don't think anyone is in the office where I have the deadline...but whatever.

So, officially, if you're still keeping score:



Erin - 1
Weather people - 1

Maybe they're right about this one... maybe

Babygirl has been sleeping through most of the exciting weather news!

Below are some of my artsy shots of the ice out here. I bet you didn't see that coming. What else are you going to do at home. I mean Custom Web dismissed all it's employees already, so I got to head home early and take pictures!

 


 
 
  Hope you are all snuggly warm at home... or at least will be sometime tonight. Be careful out there my friends!

My New Favorites

Okay, it's official - I have two new favorite metereologists... da da da... Glenn Zimmerman and Dave Murray. They tell it like it is and Dave even said how he doesn't want to make it a bigger deal than it is as far as snowfall totals. They are just good weather folks!

No, I am not obsessed, well just a little, but since I work from home, I do have the luxury of having a tv on in the background and no one about to walk into my office to make sure I am doing what I'm supposed to be doing. Well, unless you count tpd who walks up here about once an hour cause I think he gets bored, but I don't really care what he thinks about what I'm doing.

Hmmm..no wonder I end up working until 7pm every night and then again after babygirl goes to bed....

"Tomorrow morning we'll wake up with possibly 6 inches of the white stuff..."

I may just be bitter, well I definitely am bitter, (I've already discussed my pent-up St. Louis childhood weather resentment in previous posts), but I just don't believe it. I think my brother's philosophy is to take whatever the weather people predict and cut it in half from the lowest number. So, for example if they are calling for 1-3 inches of snow. You take the lowest number (that would be one if you're playing along) then you cut that in half and that is about how much snow we'll actually get.

My good old weather friend Scott Connell says 3-6 inches in the metro area, so we're looking at appoximately 1 and 1/2 inches here in the St. Louis area. That is my prediction...we'll see what tonight and tomorrow brings.

I just hate getting my hopes up, because unlike my husband, I LOVE the snow and looking forward to a big snowstorm and making chili, getting a Christmas tree and having a fire in the fireplace...oh wait, I think you need a chimney for that, but I digress. If we got snowed in we could finally clean my wrecked house and start decorating the new living room layout - thanks Tommy and Liggy! Babygirl would get to experience her first big snowfall and of course I would put her out in it and take lotsa pics! Anyway, I'll secretly hope for the best (lots and lots of snow!) but I won't get my hopes up too high...

Well, babygirl is waking up, I'll check back in with another "Major Winter Storm" update later today!

Georgia on my Mind

I've finally managed to post some pics of Thanksgiving. These are just a few of the highlights, but I have many more to post soon.   This was on the drive home, but she just looks so darn cute.

Next is Cousin Sean taking over the feeding duties! He was really good with babygirl and seemed to enjoy caring for her a lot! 
 

Babygirl loved to play cards! She sat with me forever and then Kim without making a peep. She was really mesmerized by the cards!  Too funny.

Lastly is Babygirl and her Great Grandpa. They make a great pair!

I'll post the rest of the pictures on Shutterfly later today after they finish uploading. Kim (since I know at least you read this blog - can you post those pictures of Thanksgiving day I took with your camera?) Thanks!
  

Winter Weatheroff Installment #2

Well, here we go again. I just heard my favorite weather person Scott Connell say, and I'm quoting this verbatim, because, yes I wrote it down right after he said it, "This will be the kind of winter storm, the likes of we haven't seen in St. Louis in some years"... hmmm... really, Scott? Now, Scott is my favorite since he doesn't usually sensationalize the crap out of weather like Cindy does, but this one he is really building up. So, round two is ready to start. We'll check in later tonight or tomorrow with any updates.

Could this be the first "winter storm" the weather people actually predict correctly? We'll see...

Tuesday Night Leftovers during Friday Night Lights

I am struggling to find time to work on my usual things these days and I'm finding it very frustrating. It's 7 pm and I feel like I've been going non-stop for the past 12 hours. Tim says welcome to parenthood, but honestly it's the in-flux of work, the new business and an overwhelming amount of housework and Christmas decorating that's got me all stressed out. I'm even feeling shakey right now, just trying to get this post in. I want to sit back, have a glass of wine and watch Friday Night Lights, but all the work piling up is too much. Well, that's enough of my pity party, I'll be better after getting this all out.

Okay, for the good stuff. Babygirl was awesome for our whole trip. Even after the 3 1/2 hour drive turned into a 7 hour drive, she was still a trooper. Then, coming home on Sunday, she entertained herself and only got irritated when mommy pushed feeding her entirely too long and then tried to maneuver herself over into the backseat and almost took out both of us!

We had a great time visiting with family in Georgia. Babygirl was a big hit, especially with her 9 and 6 year old cousins, Sean and Jackson respectively. Sean was a great babysitter and got to know all of her cries and sounds by the time we left. He was telling me she needed to burp and/or eat! He even fed her a couple of times. Looks like he's lobbying for a new baby brother or sister. Watch out Ted and Shannon!

Great Grandma and Grandpa also had a good time hanging out with bg. Grandma was a great babysitter and Grandpa liked to hold her a lot. She seemed to like it, too. She seemed very comfortable in her Great Grandma and Grandpa's house. Great Uncle Walt and Aunt MaryAnne also got to meet Bridget and were happy to learn she is definitely a Bulldog fan and NOT a Georgia Tech fan. Unfortunately, it was our last night there and she was a little fussy, but it was only because she was so excited about the Dogs winning the big game that she had stayed up a little too long! I think they liked her anyway.

Thank you so much Ted, Shannon, Sean, Jackson, Morgan, Katie, Cassie and Lobo (sorry if I spelled any of those wrong) for letting us invade your space. It was perfect for us and you made it so warm and inviting. We appreciated it so much and can't wait to come back again soon!

All in all, we had an absolutely fantastic time with our Georgia family and babygirl was extremely excited to make her first trip down! We love you all and had a great time (even helping Becky for hours with her cards - just kidding, Beck, it was a lot of fun!)

We missed all you St. Louis family and friends and hope you all had fantastic Turkey Day's as well!

One last babygirl note, she is soooo.. cute these days. Smiling up a storm at just about everyone and cooing and gaaaing constantly. While Matthew liked the mmmmmmmgaaaaaaa, Bridget seems to prefer the oooooaaaagggggaaaa. Gotta just love em, don't ya? She is also very close to rolling over. She's done it on a smooshy surface, but still struggles a little on the gym mat. I'm guessing she'll get it really soon! She's getting so big, time is just flying by!

I'll post Turkey Day pics later tonight or tomorrow when I am not so stressed. Just typing this all though, I already feel better. I think Aimee said how nice it was just to get down all your thoughts and I really think it is very cathartic. Okay, again, I'm rambling. On to the other tasks of the evening...

Go webmasters!