Itchy & Scratchy

Dude, no one told me how much my stitches would itch. I'm in itchy agony over here! They are driving me nuts. I don't even hurt anymore, other than when the dogs pounce on me or if I roll over on my stitched side, but the itching, OH SWEET JESUS the itching. I swear I either need to drink away the itch or take a brillo pad to my side. I've been trying to apply a little anti itch cream periodically and that helps, for maybe an hour. I heard that itching means healing, and that's good, but I don't get my stitches out until the 9th people! I don't think I'll make it! Now, where is my rake? That oughta do it!

Flatware identification

I visited Sara and the boys today and made sure to capture Jake naming his utensils on video. I make a dvd for them each year and this is just too cute not to have forever. We know it isn't right and we're teaching him to say FORK instead of F@#& but this is still pretty forking cute.

Gung Hay Fat Choy!

Happy Year of the Dog! Ike and Kea are pleased that this is their year! My inlaws came over today and brought money in a red envelope and a little gift in a red bow. I love how in to all the Chinese culture they are. My MIL runs a library and for story time this week she had all the kids make little year of the dog dragons like they use in the parades. But instead of a dragon head she had me draw a dog head. It turned out really cute and the kids loved it. I'm so excited that my girls will have grandparents who are all about learning their culture.

Shower the people you love with love

Susan's baby shower for little Miss Olivia was today and it was fabulous. It was so great seeing her and she got lots of wonderful things for the baby. The blanket Susan is holding in that picture is the one I made her. I'm so excited for her and can't wait til she's home from China with Olivia! And it is always fun to have bloggy girls together! Here we are- Susan, me, Karen, and Shannon.

Sexy beeyotches

Y'all are so sweet! Thank you for all the sweet comments, words of encouragement and get betters. I thought it was extra sweet some of you thought I was having a good hair day. Funny, cause that was the day before my hair appointment. I should have waited an extra day to get cut into and y'all would have been blown away by my hotness.
**Seymour update: I'm all bruised around my stitches now. My middle feels so much better. I don't feel like I've been kicked by a mule anymore. But getting in and out of a car is still a pain, as is bending over. Oh, and it's really fun when one of the pugs jumps on my belly. I've only needed to take a couple of the pain pills my dr. prescribed so that's good. Changing the bandages is a bit of a chore since my skin has become raw where the sticky part of the bandaid sticks. My dr and other people have commented on how calm we are and how we've kept up a good sense of humor through this. Jon and I were talking about it. We've been through so much with me medically in the last few years that losing Seymour is nothing compared. Since we've been married I've had gum surgery, my tonsils and adnoids taken out, lost a fallopian tube when it twisted and became engorged (another surgery), a couple of d&c's. and a couple of burst ovarian cysts. You just gotta take it all in stride. Oh and here is a picture of Seymour next to a quarter. He has shrunk a good bit since he first came out, but it still gives you a general idea.
So, yesterday Shannon and I went and had our hair done. Here is Shannon's before: Here is her "during": Scroll down for my before- the one of me in my lovely hospital gown. Here is my "during": We forgot to take "afters" so I'll take care of that tomorrow while we're at Susan's baby shower. But we must look at least semi fabulous because our hair lady told us we were sexy beeyotches when she was finished with us. Of course, she was being paid. Hmmmm...

See more of Seymour

I'm alive! First of all let me say I love my doctor. He's so laid back and has a great sense of humor. The whole time he was hacking into me like a flank steak he was telling us all about his travels in China. He spent 5 months there teaching English. So cool. Jon was in the room with me, but spent a good deal of time playing solitaire on the crackberry so he wouldn't pass out. So Dr. numbed me up on the side and gave it a few minutes to sink in. Then he cut a little piece of skin away and cut Seymour out whole. So it looks like an iceburg. You see a little floating on top, but there's a WHOLE lot more underneath. I could feel him pulling and tugging me, Jon said it was like watching a butcher at work. No hair or teeth in Seymour- just a bunch of chicken fat and red stuff. It wasn't a cyst, Dr. said a cyst is like a pimple on the inside, he said mine was a lipoma. Round or oval lumps under the skin caused by fatty deposits. Lipomas are more common in women and tend to appear on the forearms, torso, and back of the neck. Lipomas are generally harmless, but if the lipoma changes shape, your physician may perform a biopsy. Treatment may include removal by surgery.
Ok so now for the gross show and tell portion of our program. Just in case I have readers who aren't as morbidly fascinated by this stuff as I am I've concealed the pictures by linking to them instead of just displaying them.
This is Seymour in his jar.
This is a top view.
This is my war wound.
Jon has been so great, so worried. He's changing my bandages for me (I can't see them unless I look in the mirror since it's hidden by my boob). He called a million times last night to check on me from work. Shannon has been awesome too. She brought dinner over and noticed right away that I had bled through my shirt (again boob blockage, didn't even see it). She changed my bandage and checked it every few minutes for bleeding. I called the dr's office and they said if I bled through another bandage to go to the ER. She stayed with me til just before Jon got home to make sure I was ok. That girl is good in a crisis!
And so, there it is, the saga of Seymour.

Lumpouttamy

Ok so I'm going to have Seymour removed here in just a couple hours. I have to admit I'm nervous. They aren't putting me to sleep or anything which seems weird. My dr says I can bring Seymour home with me though. My little sister has a biology project due soon- maybe we'll add teeth and hair to my lump. She'll be sure to get an A+!

And the party don't stop

Today is my FIL's birthday. We went out to their house for dinner and cake tonight. I remember when 58 seemed so old. But they say 60 is the new 40. When I was a teenager I thought 35 was old. I thought for sure I'd be married by 25 and have babies by 30. Funny how things change and now 35 doesn't seem so old anymore!

Speaking of parties....don't forget I'm having an online Pampered Chef party! If you would like to purchase anything from my Pampered Chef party just click here. If you spend more than $50 you will get these fabulous heart themed kitchen towels free! In order for your order to be credited to my party you have to type in my name on the website. Leave a comment with your email address or email me for my last name if you don't have it. If you are local click ship to host to save on shipping and I will deliver your order to you. Tell your friends, family, co-workers, cell mates. Spread the word! Thank you so much!

Go Jo Jo, it's your birthday!

We're gonna party like it's your birthday! My nephew Joey turned 1 on the 18th and we celebrated his birthday today. Friends, family, and 147 children. Well, it seemed like there were that many! They were all so cute and had a big time. Joey had fun eating cake for the first time. The party was only about 2 hours long but it felt like it lasted about 3 days. I looked around at one point amidst all the noise and chaos and thought "This will be my life someday". There is nothing more fun than a full crazy house full of kids having the best time. It looked like a toy store exploded in there. We taught the kids how you could rub a balloon on your head and it would stick to your head and the wall. They thought we were magic!
I absolutely can not wait to have kiddie birthday parties at my house!

Fun with MIL & FIL

I spent this afternoon with my inlaws helping them upgrade their cell phones. Their phones were so old they only had those tiny little blue screens that showed the phone number. The abacus of cell phones if you will. Anyway, we went to the cell phone store and after some back and forth with Josh the charming cell phone man and over 3 hours of explaining features they left with 2 new phones. I spent the car ride home programming speed dials and ring tones.

Then I met up with Shannon. We went to Hobby Lobby to check it out. We don't have one on our side of town yet, but I had a gift card I needed to spend. Man, that place is ginormous! We got there an hour before closing and even with cruising the aisles at a quick pace we still didn't have time to see everything we wanted to see. We'll have to go back when we have aa free day to properly explore. I did find some Spiderman fleece to make a blanket for my nephew Jake. He loves Spiderman with a passion. It's so cute, especially since this is his first big love. Thank goodness he didn't fall for some singing lizard or anything. After Hobby Lobby we stopped by St*rbucks to get a caffiene fix then saw Fun with Dick and Jane. Cute and funnier than I expected. I would be such a terrible robber. I just don't think I'm cut out for a life of crime. And I wouldn't last a day in prison.

Rebel, Rebel

The late night guy at our Jack in the Box is Reb. He is awesome. We're guessing Reb is short for Rebel. Click the video to see why we love him so.

*Lump update: Seymour will be removed next week. Apparently it is a cyst, my family has them and I inherited the problem. The little one on my arm and leg will stay, but Seymour has gotten too big and painful.

My humps, my lady lumps

Check it out... Memorial Day 2005 we were having a cookout and I leaned over to the right and while doing so I scratched an itch on my left side. It was during this scratch that I noticed a lump. About 2 inches below my ribs. I felt around and it appeared to be a mass about the size of a tater tot. I sort of forgot about it after a while. Then a few weeks ago my side started feeling kind of constrictive. I felt for the tater tot and it has grown into a turnip. Well, maybe more the size of a ravioli. Why do they always compare body masses to food? Point is, it has grown. And now it hurts. I have an appointment Friday to get it checked out. My sister is having some similar masses biopsied right about now. Her doctor is pretty sure she just has a couple of benign cysts so I'm hoping for a similar diagnosis. Although knowing my luck they'll go in and find hair and teeth and pull out my unformed twin. I had a dream about it the other night- Seymour is its name- he's an alien that has taken residence inside me and is putting the squeeze on all my innards. In the dream they pulled him out and I instantly lost like 50 lbs and walked out of the hospital looking like a supermodel. I'll totally take the supermodel option over the unformed hair and teeth twin any day. Of course I guess I could always name my twin Seymour too.

Curiosity

I have some questions.
1. Why does the UPS man lie to me? He leaves a note saying he'll be here between 2-5 today so I made sure I was here too. He came at 11. Is the taunting necessary?
2. Why do they insist on calling them "Boneless Wings"? People, they are CHICKEN STRIPS. I can guarantee you none of the meat in those "wings" was ever even close to the flight providing limbs.
3. How is it that I can watch LOST and totally miss the clues? I had to watch the smoke scene from last week in slow mo to catch that there was anything other than lightning in the smoke. I swear they need to send out a guidebook for each episode. While we're on that subject, why hasn't anyone moved into the hatch? Dude, if you showed me a place with a shower, bed, radio, food, and electricity I'd never even bother to go back to my little beach hut made out of leaves and sticks with a bed made of sand. And why are the men all scruffy but the women look great? Is there a Banana Republic on the island that the women are keeping secret?

Wee knit

Jacob saw me knitting a scarf for a friend (the one that took over a year), and wanted one for himself. Turns out I had just enough yarn left after finishing Marsha's scarf to make a wee one for Jakey. He loved it and wore it all day when I gave it to him yesterday. I think he looks rather dashing- especially since he paired it with the family birthday hat!

Get used to it!

Ike had a vet appt this morning for his annual exam. He did really well, although we learned he went from 19.9 lbs to 20.5 lbs. Must have been all those Christmas treats! I was told to bring in a poop sample. Well, if you know me at all you know I'm a prissy girl. That being said, I don't do poop. More power to ya if you can pick up warm poop with a plastic bag. Bleh. So I took a bath tissue roll and stuffed the end with tissue. Then I scooped up his morning poop- not easy as he s&!ts and spins all over the yard- in the tissue roll. I stuffed the other end with tissue so it couldn't roll out and popped it in a bag. I gave the sample to the vet tech who laughed and told me she'd never been presented with a sample in that manner. Then she went off to test it. I was in the exam room and could hear all the vet ladies laughing about my poop aversion. One advised that "If she's adopting babies she better get used to poop fast!" I hope what they say is true- that it is different when it is your own child's poop. I just don't think I'll be able to pack a HAZ MAT kit in my diaper bag- tongs, plastic bags, oxygen mask and all!

All malled up

Yesterday I went to the big mall with Shannon, my sister Sara and my nephews. I love this picture of Joey with his foot all up on the table while we were having lunch. They were having some great sales on baby clothes and Shannon racked up. While there we ran into Melissa and her family. It was good to see them and Melissa looked great! We also saw some cute nursery art. While looking at it I was thinking I can so do this. I took a picture for inspiration later. I'm thinking I'd like the nursery to be fun and bright and we'll go with a bug theme- ladybugs (of course) and dragonflies, bees, butterflies, the works. After the mall Shannon and I worked on some crafty business and I completed a shower gift. I can't post a picture yet cause the shower is next week, but it's way cute!

A few things...

1. Thank you to everyone who left a comment and de-lurked! I hate that word though, so I just think of you as silent visitors, window shoppers at blog town. Anyway, thanks again and let me know if there's anything you'd like to see more of, less of, etc.

2. Up for Grabs: I had a package on my porch today that included a coupon for $5.00 off any Enfamil baby formula purchase. The coupon expires Feb 26, 2006 so the first person who wants it just email me at blessblog at yahoo dot com with your name and address and I'll pop it in the mail for you.

3. Adoption news: there is none. We put the paper chase on hold over the holidays. But starting next week I'm diving in full force again. I want to be DTC by March if possible. I also picked the holiday season to refinance the house. IDIOT timing on my part. We've just been so busy. But I'm on it like blue bonnet now!

4. Partay: My MIL needs a few things from Pampered Chef so I thought I'd turn that one order into an online party. If you would like to purchase anything from my Pampered Chef party just click here. If you spend more than $50 you will get these fabulous heart themed kitchen towels free! In order for your order to be credited to my party you have to type in my name on the website. Leave a comment with your email address or email me for my last name if you don't have it. If you are local click ship to host to save on shipping and I will deliver your order to you. Tell your friends, family, co-workers, cell mates. Spread the word! Thank you so much!

Weird

I've been seeing a meme floating around to list 5 weird things about yourself. 5 is such a small number. I'm sure given 30 minutes in a quiet room and transcriipts of this blog you guys could come up with 5000 weird things about me. I will speak to one right now because of a conversation I had with my sister that made me realize: 1. I am not alone in my weirdness. 2. It may be in my genes. 3. Thank the Lord I'm adopting and can't pass on the crazy DNA.
I'm freakish about the mail. Jon's not allowed to check it because he might throw out things he considers "Junk". Hey, I don't know how I got on the off shore sports betting list either but if those nice people took the time to mail me something then I want to at least skim over it! I can't wait for the mail to come and it sucks if all we get is flyers and ads. So I was outside with the pugs the other day talking to my sister on the phone when this conversation occured:

Me: Ohh, the mail's here.
S: Really? I wish mine was here. *Sidebar- Sara's mail person is such a bitty that they won't deliver AT ALL if a car is parked too close to the box. OMG.
Me: Yeah, they just pulled up.
S: Mine always comes so late.
Me: Well if you want to hold on I'll go check it and tell you what I got.
S: That would be cool. I love the mail.
Me: Me too, me too.

Holiday, a time to cel-e-brate

Today is my mom's birthday. Happy Birthday Mama! I believe she is 37 or so. For the longest time she had my littlest sister convinced she was 33. Now she's a little more seasoned, but still looks great!

Today is also the day I found out that this week is National DeLurking Week. I'm not a big fan of the term "lurk" or any of its forms, but I am a fan of greetings. That came out so awkward. Point is, I want to know who's out there? Who's reading me? How ya doin? Send me an email or leave a comment. I don't bite. I know you're out there- you guys burn up Statcounter with over 100 hits a day here, so say hi why dontcha?

You don't see that every day

I was coming home from the dentist in the pouring rain. I went to turn down the side street to get into my neighborhood and I saw this big, blue garbage truck coming my way. It was looking kind of wobbly so I pulled over as much as I could on the 2 lane street. Then the front passenger wheel went off the pavement and it started sliding. It got going a little faster and next thing I knew it turned right over and slid down the embankment! It was like a big blue elephant falling down a muddy hill. I turned on my hazards and grabbed my phone and dialed 911 while I was running over to the truck. This van stopped and a man jumped out and sprung like spiderman with the greatest of ease up the side of the truck. He opened the door to the cab and while he was helping the two workers out I was yelling "Are you ok? Need an ambulance?" while talking to 911. Both the men were fine and once they got to the ground safely, Spiderman hopped back down from the truck, jumped in his van and sped away, presumably to save more lives.

The blind leading the blind

So, you know how we made 37 trips to IKEA to get shades for our den? Well, turns out our windows were too long for anything at IKEA. I was dying, thinking we'd have to deal with those ratty mini blinds forever or order custom shades that would cost as much as a car. Then my sister told me to look at JC Penney's. I hadn't been there in years but I went online and found some fabulous shades for only $15 each! Turns out they are still on sale if anyone's looking. I found a coupon code for free shipping and they were here pronto. Jon put them up the other day and I really think they warm up the room.

Chalk it up

My sister Sara is very creative. She has done the coolest thing with one of the walls in her family room. They framed out an area and she painted a white, high gloss matt. Then they used chalkboard paint to fill in the "picture". So now she can change out the pictures any time she wants. This time around she has a birthday cake to celebrate Joey's first birthday on the 18th and the Panther's logo to celebrate a fabulous season! Click to enlarge.

I'll take my winter drinks in pie form please

Jon's parents came over today to watch the Panther game (we won- yay!) and to help install the new kitchen light. Plus, they had a hefty IKEA order to pick up. Jon's mom brought eggnog pie for dessert. I'd never heard of egg nog pie, much less tried it. It was sooo good! While I like the taste of egg nog I can never drink more than a couple sips though because it is so thick and rich. But in pie form- delicious! Here's a recipe I found online, when my MIL finds the recipe she used (she's famous for making delicious meals and losing the recipe) I'll update. This one sounds really close to how she described it. Stove top cooking then chilling then good eating!

Rocket man

We spent the day today over at Marc & Sara's. Jon helped Marc install a ceiling fan in their master bedroom while I played with our nephews and watched movies with Sara. Joey is trying so hard to walk. He gets so excited after the first couple of steps though and falls down. So cute. Jake is turning in to such a little ham. He'll run over and grab my camera and give it to me saying "Cheese Shanny!" meaning he wants his picture taken. I'll snap a photo and he'll want to immediately preview it on the camera screen. These kids will probably never know what its like to be photographed by an old fashioned film camera that requires at least an hour to develop! While we were there Jake and Joey showed us their new toys Santa brought them. They got a fabulous play tent and a karaoke machine. Jake loves singing Hey Ya! and demonstrated that the best place to sing was the tent.
When it got dark Jake showed us how the light we gave him for Christmas looks in his room. He has a space themed room so this light was perfect. I was so pleased how great it looks and how it shoots stars and planets and moons all over the room! I know this may be an overload of little boy cuteness, but I can't help it- I'm a proud aunt! Oh and it is just so cute to see how Jon is bonding with the boys. Jake wants to go wherever Unca Jon is and they give each other five all the time. So sweet!

Techno shoppers

We went to Atlanta today for yet another IKEA trip. We had ill fitting roman shades to return and a list a mile long from friends and family to fill. Jon loved the travellator (sort of a cross between escalator and people mover that locks in your buggy as you go downstairs to the parking deck). I swear, how did we all function before technology? We used Google Local on my phone to get us there (as we all know I'm directionally challenged). While at the store we checked in via mobile phone (Jon to his mom) and BlackBerry email (me to Shannon) --I have it for work, I'm not that fancy. It's a total tax write off, but I'll admit it is very cool. And I got mine for only $49, and work is paying for that. My adoption budget would surely not let me be this stylin.-- So in less than 5 minutes we both knew to increase our orders due to IKEA's fabulous prices and selection. Our purchases for ourselves were few, but we did get a nice replacement light for our kitchen. Here's Jon and his dad taking down the old boxy flourescent light: And here's the new non-flourescent, much more modern light. While at IKEA we also looked at the crib and dresser and toy chest and changing table we want for our girls. I picked out window sheers and we looked at bedding. None of these things will be purchased for months and months of course, but it was sure fun to dream!

Re-fi, so dry

In an attempt to fund this adoption, Jon and I are refinancing the house. It seems that quite a few houses on our street are selling for way more than we paid, so we're hoping the house will appraise high and we can get enough cash out to pay the adoption bills. Plus, we'll be able to eliminate PMI and lower our mortgage payment. Cross your fingers for us.

In other news, it is terribly dry around here. I feel like my skin is going to crack open and fall off. To combat the bloody nose I've been waking up with, we've ordered a humidifier. It should be reaching me soon. Please hurry, delivery man, I've turned into such a mouth breather at night since I can't breathe through my nose! Pretty!

**Humidifier has arrived and it is so wonderful to wake up breathing through my nose! This thing is awesome! I got it via a friend's recommendation from Amazon. Click here for details.

Competition

Jon's Dad is a judge, a chief justice, and in the state where he lives that is an elected official. He's up for re-election this year and we just found out he has competition. So this fall me and Jon and the pugs will be hitting the campaign trail. Wish us luck!

** My FIL lives in the next state over from us. I can't give too many details as I don't want anything floating around the internet about him with the election coming up. But we will certainly be doing all we can to make sure he gets re-elected. Thanks for your support!

Cottage living

Jon and I saw this adorable play house at Sam's. For only $1700 your little darlings can play in a cottage that includes a front and back porch, window boxes, a window seat in the bay window, 2 adult sized doors and vaulted ceilings. We had a cardboard box as our playhouse when I was growing up! Or a fort made out of sofa cushions. Kids today! Jeesh!

For good luck in the new year

We spent yesterday afternoon at Marsha and Larry's house. Every year they pick a country and that's the theme for the New Year's meal. This year it was Germany. For good luck in the new year in Germany you are apparently supposed to eat a jelly doughnut. Marsha made some from scratch. Good eats. Danke. They were huge to begin with then they went into the fryer. Jon was the fry daddy. They turned out great and tasted so good. Marsha melted some chocolate and filled the plain ones with homemade whipped cream. Yum.
She also made the traditional black eyed peas and collards so we'll all be rich this year. After all that we should have our bases covered!

Happy New Year!

Last night Jon and I went to Big Daddy's fireworks castle and loaded up. We made out like bandits cause they give you lots of free stuff and they are bad at math. Example- the video is of a firework that cost $13.99 but it was on the 30% off table. Well, the little dude rang it up full price and didn't know how to void it so he gave me over $10 worth of free stuff to make up for it! Fun! Our neighborhood sounded like a war zone with all the fireworks going off all night. From sundown til 2am. We're lucky we didn't set the house on fire! Jon set off the first rocket and it went right into the neighbor's yard across the pond and exploded on the ground. He ran inside and turned off all the lights and hid for a while. From then on out I was in charge of the explosives. It pays to be raised in a state where they're totally legal and basically required at every holiday, event, and occasion.