a little photo, a big change

oct 22nd

i took a picture when i found out the news.

it was 7 in the morning and ronnie was sleeping.

when my three minutes were up and i became a mommy,

i got back in bed and woke ronnie up to tell him.

if you wanted a picture that was truly accurate,

i would be crying,

and ronnie would be laughing.

he also asked if i was kidding three times.

it wasn't that i was devastated to be pregnant.

it was just 

SO HUGE.

so life changing.
so scary.

it's a lot to take in.

and it's weird,

but i feel like i started

changing the things i thought i had planned for my life

just hours after finding out.

our trip to europe in june?  cancelled.

buying the farm in illinois? gone.

instead i was thinking,

 which room i would make the nursery.

what theme i would want for the first birthday.

how i was going to share the news with my family and friends.

and baby names.

in fact, by the next night, i had my baby names list

printed out and on our night stand table.

who am i?

and it's weird.

i know i keep saying that,

but while i'm disappointed in some of the things

that i have to give up.

the other stuff is just as exciting.

so very exciting.

planning future pictures

oct 21st

i saw this on pinterest.

and while i'm nervous to actually pin anything

having to do with a baby

with fear that someone will figure me out,

i decided to save it to the ol' blog for future references.

cute right?

so since i had on make up

and was getting ready to go to the pumpkin patch with my family,

i thought i snap a quick picture to get the "before" shot.

i'll probably take the next when i'm at 30 weeks.

someone remind me.

symtoms

oct 20th

this post is about pregnancy

and therefore, might not be suitable for anyone not female. 

or modest.

the reason i took a pregnancy test

was because i legitimately couldn't remember when i had my last period.

i was having cramps, so i kept thinking it was coming any minute,

until it just never came.

speaking of cramps,

all my life i've had the period of tinker bell.

it starts on tuesday or wednesday,

and i'm done by friday or saturday.

only 3 or 4 days.

no bad cramping.

no crazy bitch mood swings.

(or at least i don't think, maybe we should ask ronald)

but now?

now, i'm having cramps the majority of the day,

everyday.

i find myself hunched over with a pained expression

and then i remember i'm supposed to be masking

my "situation" and try to carry on.

i'm not used to this.

some might consider these light cramps,

but i don't know because i have nothing to compare it to.

which makes me think that the pain of the actual birth

will probably send me over the edge.

maybe i should be thanking these cramps for starting to prepare me for the pain that is to come?

i don't know, i might be slightly (that's a lie, i'm terrified) nervous about getting this kiddo out of me.

and even though it IS natural.

it doesn't seem natural.

it seems like torture.

just saying.

anyway...

my doctor appointment isn't until next week,

so i looked up what these cramps are

and it says my uterus is expanding.

awesome.

just what i was afraid of,

my body is already preparing itself to be large.

move over willy,

there's another whale on it's way.

planning for a baby

 

ronnie and i found out we were pregnant on october 14th.
it was a sunday.
i documented it, so i had a good memory of the day.
and my first blog post was three days later...

 

oct 17th

i've been on birth control since i was 17.

(hey mom and dad!)

i figured after being on it for

t w e l v e   y e a r s

it would take a minute or two,
or three months

to get out of my system.

not so much.

it took ten days.

i got off bc in september.

i thought i could take this fall

to clean out my system

and then start "trying"in january.

and if you don't know me very well,

then you should know this:

i am a planner.

to the max.

and i wanted a fall baby.

- we don't have any fall birthdays in the family.

- the parties would be fun to plan.

- its my favorite season.

perfect, yes?

unless you don't get pregnant in january

and instead, get pregnant in september.

which puts you due june 12th.

- madeline's birthday is in june.

- ronnie graduates in june.

- its hot in june.

not my plan,

but june it is.

so my uber planned out life,

just got a 4 month kick-start.

the lesson here is:

as soon as you're off bc,

consider yourself baby ready.

oh, and feel free to call me myrtle.

fertile myrtle.

santa baby

merry christmas,

we're having a baby!

'tis the season

for big dreams
& small wonders.

 

 

our small wonder arrives in june.

 

 

 

 

and yes, i've been blogging about my pregnancy since day one.

i have a lot of posts to share from all the way back in october.

are you ready to catch up with the cox's and our pregnancy adventure?

 

i'll be sharing my posts day by day, so starting tomorrow,

get ready to go back in time.

 

 

hope everyone had a

blessed,

family-filled

 Christmas,

with too much food and presents.

 

love it.

a little trip to the hospital

there are two types of people in this world.

the type that laughs when you fall

and the type that helps you up.

i admit that i am type one.

recently proven when ronnie "collapsed"

(his description, not mine)

after dinner and i kept right on talking

to my dear friend margie and laughing at him.

it wasn't until later,

5am the next morning

when i realized that he wasn't just being dramatic

so i decided to help and take him to the hospital.

we thought he might have a hernia,

so after a x-ray, mri, and many exams,

some i regret being in the room for,

the doctor told us ronnie has three separate issues.

1. an infection in his prostate

2. a bulging disc and fragments broken in his back

3. epididymitis

he was prescribed a cocktail of several different medicines

and put on bed rest. he went back to work this week,

but we have an appt. with orthopedic specialist on monday

to find out if ronnie will need back surgery, injections or physical therapy.

what a sa-weet christmas eve we have planned.

i'll let you know what we find out.

ice queen

what makes you bite your husband's

 head off faster than shit?

 

 

answer:

falling on the ice in a snow storm

because his precious jeep got a spot

in the garage, while your 4runner sits

outside on the slippery drive way.

 

 

ronnie and i may or may not have

made a scene for all our neighbors to see.

 

no worries.

i wasn't injured,

but my 4runner is now

safe in the garage.

 

 

one point for me.

say it with me: or-gan-i-za-tion

is it too early to know my

new year's resolution?

because i have my pegged.

it's called organization.

some people are born with it.

ronnie, for one, has to have things in order.

you've seen my closets.

i am obviously not worried about it.

but it drives him crazy.

i've never understood his concern with MY closet,

but i guess its time i jump on his bandwagon.

i take up four closets in this house

and think its because nothing has a place,

so i just throw it anywhere.

i even told ronnie he could buy me closet organizers

for a christmas gift.

(i should get some sort of gold star for that)

so hopefully this winter,

when we can't play outside,

i will be reorganizing all my clothes.

or maybe i'll make ronnie do it,

while i watch.



name that movie

we're having an open house at work

and they asked us to come up with some

sort of game to play for customer to win prizes.

i thought "name that christmas movie quote" would be fun.

wanna see if you're any good?

It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags.

Look, Daddy. Teacher says, every time a bell rings an angel gets his wings.

Santa, how come your clothes are so baggy?
Because Santa is...watching his saturated fats!
How come you don’t have a beard?
Because I shaved.  Now, do you want this doll or not?!? Go back to sleep!

Only I didn't say fudge.

I said THE word, the big one, the queen-mother of dirty words,

the "F-dash-dash-dash" word!

Why is the carpet all wet, Todd?

I don’t know, Maarrgo.

You stink. You smell like beef and cheese, you don't smell like Santa."

Merry Christmas, you filthy animal.

If you're really Santa Claus, you can get it for me.

And if you can't, you're only a nice man with a white beard like mother says.

Seeing isn’t believing. Believing is seeing.

Aunt Clara had, for years, labored under the delusion

that I was not only perpetually four years old, but also a girl.

Can I refill your eggnog for you? Get you something to eat?

Drive you out to the middle of nowhere and leave you for dead?

just a little fun for the holidays!

the middle is the best part

on saturday we went to ronnie's sister's

to hang out with her family since we hadn't

seen them in awhile.

i made cookies to take to them.

chocolate chip cookies stuffed with rolos.

yes, they are as good as they sound.

i won't bore you with the chocolate chip cookie recipe details,

since i'm sure everyone has one,

but just remember to

freeze your bag of rolos for an hour.

make your normal cookie batter,

roll them into balls with a frozen rolos in the middle.

then throw them back in the freezer for 20 mins

and bake at 350 for 13 mins.

so so so good.

and i think you could just buy

a tub of chocolate chip cookie dough

and have these done in literally 20 mins.

my kind of cookie.

oh and next time, i might try peanut butter cookie dough.

brilliant, right?

ps- i stole these pictures off the internet.
those are not my man hands featured in picture #1.
just to clarify...

the ups and downs of today

i made crockpot chicken today

and it was a fail.

chicken, carrots, potatoes, onion, a packet of chicken gravy.

how could that not be good?

but it wasn't.

the chicken was dry.

i thought about throwing it away.

ronnie didn't even try to act like it was good.

not cool.

but on the upside,

i did get to rock out my new dress

thanks to the new blog i follow

that i mentioned here.

she had it on and my friend at work and i decided to buy it.

plus it gives me a great excuse to bust out my

new birthday shoes too.

sa-weet.

what else...

i find myself wishing for the weekends.

work is not fun,

 but christmas plans are.

we have shopping day

cookie day

4 family dinners

and ugly christmas sweater party.

i'm looking forward to it all,

so work really gets in the way.

speaking of work,

i'm looking for a new venture.

again.

well maybe.

i might stay where i'm at,

but in a new position.

so basically,

its all up in the air.

but i wouldn't mind some positive thoughts

being sent my way.

and while you're at it,

throw ronnie in there too.

his B I G test is this saturday.

the one he has to pass

to be done with school.

i would really love it if he passes.

cross your fingers

and wish us luck.

12 days of christmas

has anyone heard this song on the radio?

and since its only 23 days until christmas,
i thought i could share.

it's my favorite.

so funny.

and the guys are so good.

reminds me of the warblers on glee.

now i really want to see them in concert.

they're coming to kc soon.

who's coming with me?

because i know ronnie's not interested.

jingle bells, batman smells

my friends keep me motivated.

i mean, if all the mothers i know are out there

crafting away like mad women,

then i can to.

so i decided that i was finally going to make my

jingle bell wreath. 

my current christmas wreath was purchased from

wal-mart 5 years ago when ronzo and i

still lived in the townhouse.

back then my house was decorated in

left over college pieces, along with my mom's hand-me-downs.

it was not cute.

this wreath is not cute.

imagine plastic greenery

with gold accents.

plastic, as in rubbery.

so since i had to run to hobby lobby to buy

new white taper candles for my dining room table,

i thought i would pick up everything else i needed

for my new wreath.

then i picked up three boxes of jingle bells and

decided to go on the hunt for foam wreaths.

i walked and walked

sounding like a million santa claus's heading down the aisle with me.

nope, sorry folks, its just me and my boxes of bells.

i gave up, shoved everything on a shelf and left.

merry freaking christmas,

i need a cart.

leftovers

do you have lots of turkey

and side dishes left at your house?

normally my mom's idea for getting rid of

all the leftover turkey is to make turkey tetrazzini

which, don't get me wrong, is delicious.

but i am a pot pie girl,

so when i saw this on the food network,

i had to share.

first, get out your muffin tins

and preheat your oven to 375.

cut fillo dough in squares for each muffin cup.

fill with turkey, gravy, green beans, corn, potatoes

and dressing.

top with another square of fillo dough
and brush with butter.
sprinkle with paprika if desired.

back for 20 to 30 mins.

wah la... since everything is already cooked and your gravy is made this is literally

the easiest and fastest turkey pot pie ever made.

happy turkey day

thanksgiving was huge.

lots of family.

lots of food.

we had 2 turkeys

1 beef tenderloin

corn, green beans and broccoli/cauliflower casserole

dressing

sweets potatoes

mashed potatoes

deviled eggs

salad

cranberry sauce

strawberry pretzel salad

my dad's rolls

and

4 homemade pies

i am full.

and that was 3 days ago.

hope your thanksgiving was as filling as mine!

ps- like the keep calm and gobble on motto?  it's a free printable found here.

print it, frame it and use it next year!

if you look hard enough, you can always find something to buy yourself

pottery barn got me.

i mean, i don't know how a 20-something childless lady

gets put on the pottery barn kids mailing list,

but i couldn't help but look through it.

it.   is.   adorable.

if i were rich aunt brooke,

instead of just aunt brooke

my nieces and nephew would own half the magazine.

but alas, i can't see spending $45 plus shipping

on a robe that a kid is going to outgrown in 6 months.

too bad.

but i can justify some amazing christmas stockings

that will get used year after year after year.

i guess i found my own weak spot.

longevity.

so i dug into ronald's wallet, got out our trusty credit card

and made my purchase.

i even bought two of the striped littler ones for leia and louie.

they should be here by next week.

and hung promptly in my house the weekend after thanksgiving.

i can't wait.

fall day - in more than one way

we had our family fall day yesterday

on what i think will be our last nice day of the season.

yesterday - - sunny and 70.

today - - rain and cold.

we barely made it.

it was a lot of fun.

we had a hayride

hot chocolate

roasted hot dogs

made pumpkin pie

had a bonfire

and played a little game of football.

i hadn't played in years, but i was the top scorer -

thank you very much.

at one point ronnie was covering my dad

and somehow fell, then fell trying to get up and then fell again.

(not the most coordinated, that one.)

when we got home last night his knee was really bothering him

he slept with a heating pad and his leg propped up on a pillow.

this morning he could barely walk

and as i type,

he soaking in the tub.

yep, only one injury yesterday

and it was this guy.

eight things on the eighth

{one}

i had an interview at the bank today.

i'm trying to psych myself up

for a position i'm not sure about.

i think it went well.

{two}

i voted.

and my guy lost.

i hated it.

but that's all i'll say,

because who really cares about anyone else's political beliefs.

{three}

i found the best [new to me] blog.

http://www.jseverydayfashion.com/

she posts outfits everyday

 and tell exactly where she got the clothes.

but the best part?  this shit is cheap.

and her ideas are good.

{four}

i made chicken and rice casserole

but used cream of mushroom soup

instead of cream of chicken because

it's all i had.

i don't recommend it. 

{five}

ronnie spent more time and money on the jeep.

but now it is lifted and has bigger wheels and tires.

he's happy.

the amount of time he spent in the freezing garage is unimaginable.

i seriously would have cried.

and given up.

but ronnie seems to enjoy this crap,

so i let it go. 

{six}

i'm dying sections of my hair

an auburn color.

but i'm leaving the blonde ends.

i think it will look cool.

i can't wait.

{seven}

i'm in the market for a new laptop.

i know nothing about which computer is best.

suggestions?

{eight}

i started christmas shopping

and have three people done.

only ten more to go.

hope you had a good eighth of november!

halloween, a week late

i had a festive halloween.

two parties

and two costumes

in one weekend.

i don't think i've pulled that off since college.

we were wayne and garth - - and then a hunter and an electrician.

 

the first party was at our house.

since kiddos were involved

and i had a prego mom on the roster,

i wanted to have a few activities

to make things more fun.

plus, my friends are a little jealous of

all my family fall fun days

so i wanted to give them a little piece of that.

i had a scavenger hunt around the neighborhood,

hanging apple eating contest,

a fire pit complete with hale bales

and of course, booze.

the scavenger hunt and apple contest were fun

but we never made it outside to the fire.

i think the booze kicked in and that got skipped.

so if anyone is interested,

ronnie and i have a sweet set up in the back yard.

complete with all the fixings for smores.

ps- interested in doing an "adult" scavenger hunt?  just make a list, pick teams, and give everyone a couple beers for the walk.  so. much. fun. i had them take pictures with their phones of the items on the list to see who found the most things.  mine was fall themed, but it could be in any season.

making a list

there's been a lot of laziness going on:

making sure my dvr doesn't get too full.

relying on wendy's for dinner.

stuff like that.

but i have been going to the gym

or long walks with lindsay after work.

that makes me feel a little less worthless.

i think the days getting shorter does this to me.

if it's dark,

i find the need to be at home.

i do not dare venture out on errands once the sun has set.

but i would like to come out of my lazy haze

because i have made an official list of house projects

for ronnie and i to get done this winter.

1. paint/fix the ceiling in the living room

(that spot has been painted but not fixed and the whole ceiling needs a fresh coat)

2. paint/fix the ceiling in the basement

(a very short time after we got the basement completely finished,

the ceiling in the back bedroom cracked. and then so did ronnie's will to live.)

3. stencil one wall in my master bedroom

(we have a headboard now, but i still thinks it needs a little something more.)

4. put in a new shower in the master bathroom

(it's gonna be a cracker box no matter what,

but at least it will be new and easy to clean.)

this is the one i like - not the one we have.

that's it.

pretty doable.

nothing should take more than a weekend

and i seriously think this would be the "finishing" touches to make our house

D O N E

and it would be nice to be done.

well, unless you count furniture that still needs to be bought.

because that's a whole other list.

bump, set, spike it!

i loved volleyball in high school.

(minus the mean coaches who benched me until i quit,

but that's beside the point!)

when the bank put together a team,

i decided to join.

even though i hadn't played in forever

and was little nervous about sucking.

every wednesday night,

i drove out to blue springs

and got my game on.

we lost.

a lot.

but i still had so much fun.

the season is over,

and i'm a little sad to see it go.

boots and sweaters

the key to fall fashion is boots and sweaters.

and while its a warm 77 here in lee's summit,

i'm still gearing up for my favorite fashion season of the year.

sweater, boots, leggings - check.

sweater, boots, skirt - check.

sweater, boots, jeans - check.

sweater, boots, dress - check.

sweater, boots, shorts, tights - check.

and speaking of boots...

i happen to buy a couple new pair,

along with some adorable oxfords.

aren't they amazing?

i can thank my parents for those.

happy birthday to me!

another tip?

take dresses that you would normally consider out of season

and put a sweater over top of it.

pair it with some tights

and give it a fall look.

plus it makes your seasonal clothing,

wearable all year long.

the most important meal of the day

the last few weeks ronzo and i have been

going on little sunday morning dates.

i love going out for breakfast. 

it's relaxing to sleep in and then get waited on.

i'm sounding lazy, i know.

and that's why this past saturday

i decided to make little breakfast casserole muffins

that would last several days.

and they are super healthy,

which is good, because i'm back on the diet train.

choo. choo.

you'll need:

flour tortillas

ground turkey sausage
(i bought the precooked frozen kind from jimmy dean's)

egg whites

salsa

shredded cheese

grab your muffin pans and grease them.

next cut the flour tortillas into fourths.

(i cut up three to make a dozen)

press them into the muffins pans.

next add:

a spoonful of cooked turkey sausage

and a spoonful of salsa.

pour eggs whites to cover

and top with shredded cheese.

bake at 350 for 20-25 mins.

sorry i don't have exact measurements, but

you can always add more of something if it's your favorite.

enjoy!



october 14

sometimes you just have those

sundays that seem perfect.

the weather is beautiful and everything is easy.

ronnie and i had one of those days today.

after lounging in bed until nine

and missing church, which is very unlike the good christian people we truly are. 

hey mom, that was for you.

[insert two thumbs-up here]

we took off for a little hike around lake jacomo.

we met my parents for lunch.

we ran a few errands.

i did a little crafting.

ronnie worked on his jeep.

we made dinner.

and then we went on a jeep ride.

right now i am cuddling my puppies in bed

and i just wanted to document today.

a perfect sunday.

welcome to the jungle

i am kind of proud of myself.

i've officially kept

S E V E R A L

plants alive

all summer. 

whew.

(ronnie gets the majority of the credit. 

he was a watering fool in july and august.)

but now, here comes cold weather

and two of my plants are tropical.

so i brought my grandmother turner's old table up from the basement

and tried to make a home for them for the next couple seasons.

does anyone know... will they die here?

it's a south facing window.

my only other option for a big window would face the east.

which is better?

and another (more important) thing,

does it look stupid?

do we like a table full of plants in the dining room?

i can't decide.

sanku for the help.

it's the most wonderful time of the year

fall.

autumn.

my favorite.

what is better than this?

and i always have a bunch of fun ideas for the season,

but it's easier if i just take this list from pinterest:

i've busted out my boots, scarves

and my dining room table ghost.

i've hung spider webs

and orange lights.

i decorated the inside

and ronnie took care of the outside.

plus, we plan on busting out our homemade ghosts again this year

when it's closer to halloween.

i've made plans to go to a haunted house, corn maze,

the louisburg cider mill and fall family fun day.

i've eaten caramel apples

and chili.

i am officially celebrating the season.

hope you're out enjoying it too!

my machine

ronnie and i had a date night to florence and the machine. 

at one point she actually sprinted across the whole amphitheatre through the crowd.

it was crazy.

and she was fast.

after she was done,

she kept right on singing.

like it didn't phase her.

i told ronnie that she must be in good shape doing these concerts every night.

he retorted that this is probably why she was so skinny.

i think the suggestion was:

i need to become a singer and dance around a crazy stage every night.

then i would be skinny.

but until that happens,

i'll just watch her do her thing.

since it was amazing and all.

and i'm sure that burns calories too.

even the one song i may or may not have sat down to.