Marilyn Monroe

I surrender

So, I wave my white flag and give up. Yesterday was the first day in a while that I didn't have any contractions. But I have had other signs that things are beginning, starting to happen, so Kate and I thought we would try to help things along by walking. So, walking we did...and lots of it. We first went and walked around the mall for two hours. And I mean we walked around the mall..around and around and around without stopping. We didn't go into stores, we just walked around the main mall area. We estimate it was a good 3 miles we walked. Then, at around 8:00 P.M., I walked maybe about a mile outside. The weather was gorgeous. It had rained earlier in the day, so it was just so beautiful outside. Then miss Kate and I walked to Blockbuster. It is a mile away from our house. So, that was a 2 mile walk. And I started having some slight contractions for an hour last night before falling asleep. And the baby was lower than before. So, I thought maybe this was the start of something. But, just like every night, they went away. So, this morning, the only sensations I am feeling are my overly sore legs. So, I give up. Now, I will just patiently wait on the little baby. Kate did take some pictures yesterday of each of us and the whole family, but it was so very windy and rainy and only a couple came out somewhat good. I don't have them on my computer yet. Once I get them, I promise to post them for you.

A new 'do

So, once the baby decides he'd like to make his entrance, there are a couple of things I hope to do within the next month. One, get rid of my glasses and get some new contacts. Your vision changes when you are pregnant, so I wanted to wait until after the baby to get my eye exam. I can't wait to have my contacts back. I miss them. I've gotten so used to seeing myself in glasses, it will be weird to not see them on me all the time anymore, ya know.
Then, it is off to chop off my hair. I have loved having longer hair and when I can keep up on getting it cut and what not, it looks good. But I haven't trimmed it or anything since March. And I am so sick of it hanging there. Plus, with a new baby, I want something easy. Thankfully, I have been blessed with lots of hair and it's wavy. I can do the wavy with my hair a lot easier when it is shorter. The longer it is, the heavier it gets and wavy just doesn't work. So, I am thinking of Heidi Klum's style.

Maybe a little bit shorter....just a tiny bit shorter.

No other news really. I am sick of these contractions I keep getting that decide to go away. They happen especially in the evening hours. I get so tight and they don't really hurt..but they seem stronger than Braxton Hicks ones. But then they go away. I'm being teased, darn it. Kate is on her way back to my house this afternoon. We are going to go walk tonight and tomorrow morning in hopes that it may help. Even though, it's still all up to the baby. I was telling him last night that I am going to start making his home not so comfy. I was thinking of playing the drums on my belly...maybe jumping up and down for a while. LOL. Oh well.

A couple of Steve's co-workers came over during the week and helped to put together his bowflex. It looks so awesome. He got to use it last night and really liked it. I can't wait to use it. He said I can do all of my arm and leg workouts that I loved doing at the gym, with the machine. So, yay! Plus we got an ab attachment for it as well. So, I am looking forward to when I can use it.

BTW, as I type this, I am having a contraction. I don't even care when I have them anymore, they are so random and irregular. It'll be funny when I am in labor....it'll probably take me a little bit to figure it out..since I've started to ignore them and not think anything is the real thing anymore.

Well, I'll keep you posted.

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Nice things you can do. Courtesy of Do One Nice Thing

1. Make a Get Well Card for a child in the hospital

2. Donate a phone card through the USO for military families to be able to talk to their deployed loved ones.

3. Pay for the meal behind you in the fast food drive thru.

4. Help hospitalized children feel better by letting them watch your used videos and DVDs. Kidflicks collects and and sends them to hospitals. Send films to Kidflicks, 11755 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1450, Los Angeles, CA 90025

5. Become a Senior's Angel. You can "adopt" a senior from a nursing home and send them little gifts, cards, and letters each week to bring a bit of sunshine to their lives.

6. Participate in the ongoing teddy bear provider program to the Edendale Hospital Children's Ward and Hillcrest AIDS Orphanage in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. Purchase a teddy bear through Bears Without Borders, to be given to a child.

7. The Fisher House at Fort Sam Houston, Texas is a guest house for families of wounded U.S. service members.
It's a home away from home, a wonderful supportive environment for families dealing with difficult situations. Their loved ones are being treated at Brooke Army Medical Center, home of the largest military burn unit in the U.S. and an advanced rehab center for amputees.
There's a way we can help: Art supplies would be greatly appreciated. Fisher House guests of all ages would benefit, and service members too. Through art they can express feelings that are often hard to articulate.
If you can, please send a pack of crayons, markers, colored pencils or other art supplies to:
Fisher House
Brooke Army Medical Center
Building 3623 George C. Beach Road
Fort Sam Houston, TX 78234-5000

8. Pay for the person behind you on the toll road.

9. Recycle your empty inkjet cartridge for the Starlight Starbright Children's Foundation and help make a difference for seriously ill children.

10. Do you have a lot of your child's artwork laying around. Send the ones you don't want to hold onto in your scrapbook, to Color A Smile. They collect crayon drawings from school children and distribute these drawings to Nursing Homes.

11. Are you getting married? There are many Gift Registries that will donate a percentage of your gift purchases to a charity of your choice. A few of these partner stores are Macy's, JcPenney and Target.

12. Give a birthday present to someone who may have their birthday forgotten. Foster kids are frequently moved from home to home, and their birthdays often fall through the cracks. But we can give a foster child something to celebrate. When you're out shopping, buy an extra toy or book, drop it into a padded envelope unwrapped, and mail it to:
CLCLA-Children's Law Center.
c/o Princess Ramey, Esq.
201 Centre Plaza Dr., Suite 10
Monterey Park, CA 91754
(323)980-1700

13. The Letters From Home Campaign is currently collecting many items to send to the troops. All donations need to be in by July 16, 2006. Please visit their website to see a list of the items that they are requesting.

Now, get out there and do something nice. :o)

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Big Ol' thanks

So, I had a neighbor growing up who was a tad older than me, named Nicole. We also had a friend who lived a little ways down the street from us, named Andrea. Although Nicole and Andrea were best friends, I would hang out every so often. Yet, since I was younger and so hyper at that time, I am sure I may have annoyed them on more than one occasion. I moved away from Connecticut when I was nine. The only other time I saw them was when we visited when I was 11. So, it's been gosh, 15 years or so. Thanks to the powers of Myspace, I got back in touch with Andrea and Nicole and we have all kinda gotten caught up here and there with each other's lives.

Today, I got such a surprise. Such an awesome surprise. Andrea, if you are reading this, you'll hear a big thanks in here. I will also be emailing you as well. It's funny, because I am a gift giver. I pay close attention to things others like and I strive to get them awesome gifts. It's just a weird thing about me. Today, I realized another like me exists in this world. I received a package today from Andrea. There was an awesome scrapbook inside for me to make for Isaiah. She even got all the pages in there with the borders and stickers that I can use. All I need to do is insert the pictures and decorate it. Then, she got Audrey a book, The Giving Tree. I have been wanting to get that book. My 2nd grade teacher used to talk about it all of the time and I loved it at that age, so I am glad to have it. Already, I was so amazed with her thoughtfulness in these presents.

But then, I saw the gift for little ol' me. I must tell you, this girl pays attention. I must have done some survey at some point on Myspace where I talked about the restaurant in New York called Serendipity 3. I have always loved the word Serendipity and then loved it even more when the movie came out with Kate Beckinsale and John Cusack. In that movie they go to a restaurant in New York called Serendipity 3 and they have themselves some frozen hot chocolate. I have always vowed to go there and have one someday. So, do you know what was in my package from her? A Serendipity 3 Frozen Hot chocolate mix. I just need to add milk, ice, whipped cream and chocolate shavings. She had had the package from when she bought it at the actual restaurant. I had to look at it a couple of times, because I was just so in shock that I was holding actual mix from Serendipity 3 in my hands. Now, our blender has been broken for awhile. But, guess what I will be purchasing soon. yep, a new one. So, I just had to come on here and share my excitement over the wonderful surprise package I received today. Thank you, Andrea!!! Your thoughtfulness means so much to me!

By the way, if you haven't seen the movie, Serendipity, you should. It's cute!

Also real quick...I took this from my praise journal entry today:
" I have been blessed with such wonderful family, extended family and friends. They are always there when times are tough or to just let me yap to when I feel like it. They also seem to love to shower me and my family with gifts at special times in our lives. It just shows how caring and wonderful they are. Since it's baby time, my friends and family have given of themselves in providing me with a wonderful shower and wonderful presents for the soon to be new arrival. I am so blessed to have so many who care about me and my family. I am so truly appreciative for all the special packages I have received lately and the gifts that were given to me at the baby shower as well as the time spent by some to put together the shower. I really do think that every single one of you are so thoughtful and amazing. And I thank God for blessing me with all of you in my life."

She is just too cute, I tell ya.

The miss loves to sing and dance and she has been doing so much more of it these past couple of weeks. I can't wait until she is three, because I would love to get her into dance classes. She is such a mini-me. I love it! I found an old dance recital video of mine. I think I was eight in it. I put it in the other day and put it on this little 7 year old girl who did a ballet routine all by herself. You should have seen the miss. She would try to do all the moves the little girl was doing and she twirled around and around. When the routine ended she kept asking to watch it again and again. It was so stinking cute. When she starts dancing, she gets this serious face on and concentrates so hard. I love it. She, gosh...she is so addicting.....I could just sit and watch her for hours.

On Eagle's Wings

I have been introduced to so many wonderful blogs thanks to my two Christian blog rings that I am a part of. There is one in particular that I love. It is the blog entitled, Windscraps. It can be found on my sidebar. I visit it every day. Today there was a wonderful post. What I love about her posts is that she always takes a part of her day, relates it to scripture and then merges it altogether with such beautiful writing. She is such a talented writer and amazing storyteller. And when I leave her site, I always walk away pondering a scripture verse in a way I never had before. I wish I was so talented as she with my writing to be able to do that as well.
I encourage you to read Her post from today. I know you will enjoy it as much as I did.

It reminded me of one of my favorite church songs, On Eagle's Wings. It is an adaptation of Psalm 91. The chorus says, "And He will raise you up on eagle's wings. Bear you on the breath of dawn. Make you to shine like the sun. And hold you in the palm of His hands."


Psalm 91
He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High
Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress;
My God, in Him I will trust."

Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler.
And from the perilous pestilence.
He shall cover you with His feathers.
And under His wings you shall take refuge.
His truth shall be your shield and buckler.
You shall not be afraid of the terror by night.
Nor of the arrow that flies by day.
Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness.
Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.

A thousand may fall at your side.
And ten thousand at your right hand;
But it shall not come near you.
Only with your eyes shall you look.
And see the reward of the wicked.

Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge,
Even the Most High, your dwelling place.
No evil shall befall you.
Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;
For He shall give His angels charge over you,
To keep you in all your ways.

In their hands they shall bear you up.
Lest you dash your feet against a stone.
You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra.
The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.

"Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him;
I will set him on high because he has known My name.
He shall come upon Me and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will deliver him and honor him.
With long life I will satisfy him
And show him my salvation."


I will post later today after my doctor's appointment. That is if there is anything worth sharing, of course.