Tina Marie Grant

Tina Marie Grant was born on October 13, 2011. She arrived at 10:20pm, was 7lbs 0 oz, and 21 inches long.

We woke up at 5:30am Thursday morning, got dressed grabbed Michelle and headed down to the hospital. We stopped at Chick-fil-A for some breakfast on the way. When we got to the hospital we found out that they were doing construction in the labor and delivery wing so we had to take the longest way possible to get to our room. The nurses finally got me all hooked up and strapped down by 7:30am. (If you've ever had a baby you know that there are a million little strappy-thingys that go around you stomach, arm. wrist... everywhere!) I had a regular nurse and an intern who were both going to be "helping" me. The nurse was great! The intern... not so much. She was putting my IV in and couldn't find the vein so she ended up sticking me 4 times before the regular nurse came over and got it on the first try. Needless to say my arm had a very pretty blue and purple area for the next few days. Dr. Mos came in to check on me almost right away and made sure that they started pitocin immediately (they didn't get that message when I was having Michelle and wasted a few hours before giving it to me). She was also really nice and told the nurses to give me whatever pain meds I wanted as soon as I wanted them. This made me do a little happy dance! My dad and Daniel came up around noon and took Michelle home for a nap. Bryan was trying to be supportive by not eating as long as I couldn't eat, but as soon as the offer of subway was made he caved in! Daniel was really great and got him some lunch and took care of Michelle for a good part of the rest of the day. Anyway, we hung out and did the whole labor and contractions thing (SO fun...not) for a few hours and decided that an epidural was in order around 3:00pm. At this point I was only 4 cm dilated, but it had been a long day so far. Unfortunately my anesthesiology sucked big time and ended up making my already long day even longer. To make a long story short the guy stuck me 7 times, hitting my sciatic nerve 4 times and left my back bruised and swollen. I didn't even know your back could be swollen!! The worst part is, even after he got the needle placed right, he didn't give me a high enough dosage so I could still feel every contraction, but couldn't feel my legs. And when I called him back in (about an hour later) to tell him it wasn't working, he tried to argue with me and tell me that I just didn't know what it was supposed to feel like. SERIOUSLY?! Bryan was a good husband though and stepped in. After Bryan said something that guy upped the drugs. I labored for a while longer and around 7 Dr. Mos came in and checked me again to find that I was only dilated to a 6... not cool. At that point we had the "c-section is a possibility" talk. She said that She would give me until 10:00 and then she would check me again. If I wasn't fully dilated by that time then we would start prep for a c-section. This is also about the time that my epidural started to wear off again. So now I was super tired, stressed, and in pain. My family came to visit around 9:30pm. My mom kept asking me if I wanted a blessing, and I kept refusing. My thinking was that blessings are meant to heal and comfort... and what I really needed was for my body to get in gear and get this baby out! Eventually my brother, Daniel, told me that if I wasn't going to let them give me a blessing that we should at least say a prayer. So Daniel prayed for me to have a good, natural delivery. After they left I got another dose of drugs and then, literally 30 minutes after Daniel's prayer, I was fully dilated and pushing! By 10:20 Tina was here and we were a family of four!

Eviction Notice

To the Current Resident of 40 Weeks in Mommy's Tummy ,

This is your final notice to vacate the premises on or before October 13, 2011. Your lease contract has ended and is officially overdue! If you have not cleared out before the 13th at 7:00am we will be forced to help you evacuate. If you have not done so by late that evening you will be forcibly removed!

Thank you for your future cooperation,

The Landlord (aka your Mother!)

That's right. I'm still pregnant. Baby girl's due date came and went with no sign or indication that she is making any effort to come meet the world. I had an appointment with Dr.Mos yesterday where I found out that she is in the right position, and I am slightly dilated, but nothing exciting was going on. So we agreed to meet again Thursday morning at 7:00am in the labor and delivery section of the hospital. Yep, we're going to get this little girl out one way or another! lol! We'll start pitocin as soon as I get there and keep our fingers crossed that my body takes the hint and finishes out the process on it's own. I fully expect to have a new beautiful baby girl to show off to the world by Thursday evening. I'm not sure why, but my children seem to think they are allowed to stay in me as long as they want. This whole 40 weeks thing doesn't seem to register with them. lol! Michelle was 5 days late, and this little one, if she doesn't come today, will be 3 days late. Seriously, what's wrong with my children?! GET OUT! *deep breath* Well, at least I'll get one more night with it being just Bryan, Michelle and I. No crying baby, no new born poopy diapers, and no nursing every 2 hours for one more night.

I love Fall

Don't you just love fall?! I do! I don't know why, but I can never figgure out how to decorate my house during the summer. I mean, there are specific months that you can decorate for. July- red white and patriotic all over. But other then that... how are you supposed to decorate for mothers day, or fathers day, or school starting (especially when none of your kiddos go to school yet!)? So, for me, October starts the best time of the year! I can break out my pumpkins and wreaths and all the fun fall colors! Then in December you get to switch to Christmas! It's just sad that it only lasts a few months. Spring is ok to decorate for, but it's just not the same.

So here's what I have going this year- I don't have a fire place in my house, which makes me very sad, so I had to get creative when it came to decoration. With Bryan's permission, I decked out the top of his desk with my previous fall decor. Here's what it looks like right now:

Don't judge my lousy picture. My camera is about 50 years old and has been broken numerous times by my lovely daughter. That, and I forgot to turn on some back light to even out the light coming in from the window in our back door! Oops! Anyway, I'm thinking something is missing. I want to add some sort of focal point right there in that big empty space in the middle. My first thought was an oversize framed quote. Then I had a hard time picking a quote, so I moved on to the big chunky framed mirror idea. But that just seems too boring. SO- I've decided to try and get the mirror, but I want to hang a wreath on it. Something like one of these...

And I can put a framed quote off to the side if I think it still needs something. What do you think?

Then, I'm going to do something very similar to this in from of my house...

I just have to go buy the pumpkins and get Bryan to help me with a few of the carving techniques. I'm going to buy the pumpkins on Thursday though, so I hope to have something up and ready to go by this weekend! I'm so excited!! Don't you love fall?!

We're not dead

I know it's been a while since my last post, and even then, it wasn't really a great "what's been going on" kind of post. But- we are still alive! I have a ton of pictures to upload and update the blog with, but my computer's been in slow motion lately and I just don't have the time to sit here for hours while blogger loads the pictures, so that will have to wait. For now, here's a VERY quick little summary of what's been going on this past month...

Jess, Mom and I made 3 huge mum's and one garter for Plano East's Homecoming.

Justin (Bryan's twin brother) graduated from UTA!

Bryan finished his Associates and has started working on his Bachelors at UNT.

Michelle LOVES gymnastics!!

My dad celebrated his 47th Birthday.

Ben got a surprise trip to Utah, from Jessica, for his 30th Birthday.

I went to my first Enrichment activity in my new ward- more fun then I thought it would be!

My date with Bryan was a total bust after I put TONS of work into it- I know, sad day!

Daniel celebrated his 19th Birthday!

I had ANOTHER doctor's appointment! At least I got some pretty cool sono pics out of this one!

There was a scorpion in my house!! Yeah, I freaked out.

Chelci, Ryan's girlfriend, got baptized- it was a great baptism. The spirit there was SUPER strong!

Bryan planned a little date for us to go see a movie. As sad as it is, his super easy date turned out better then my "2 months of planning" date!

And that brings me to today. I have another doctors appointment on Wednesday, and I'm going shopping for Fall/Halloween decorations on Thursday and am super pumped to get my house all decorated! And then Drew, Bryan's best friend, and my friend since elementary school, is getting married on Saturday! So, we've been a little busy, but I promise I'll do a better, more thorough update later this week!

Dirty Little Secrets

We all have them! Don't lie! Here's mine-

I really like this show! lol!

I know, I'm not 15, I'm too old to be watching this show. But everyone needs a little drama in their life, and I'de rather not have it IN my life, so this is my surroagate drama dosage! Plus, I record it every Thursday so it's the perfect "during Michelle's nap" activity on Friday to help me relax from that week. Well, that and this...

Yep, ice cream straight from the container. It really does make the perfect afternoon treat. I put on Vampire Diaries, grab my pint of ice cream and a spoon... oh man... I love it! And the best news?! It all starts again this week!! Oh, that reminds me- I need to get some ice cream while I'm at the store tomorrow...

A "Little Red Hen" Story

Once upon a time there was a little Baker Mommy. She had a helpful Daughter. One day the Baker Mommy found some bruised and overly ripened bananas. She had an idea. She would bake the bananas into bread!

The Baker Mommy asked her daughter, "Who will help me smash the bananas?"

"I will!!" said the daughter

Then the Mommy asked, "Who will help me add the flour?"

"I will!" said the daughter

"And," asked the Mommy, "Who will help me mix all the ingredients?"

"I will!" said the daughter.

When the bread was finished the Mommy asked, "Now, who will help me eat the bread?!"

"I WILL!!!" replied the Daughter.

I know, she's really cute sometimes! lol!

Michelle's favorite snack right now is, without a doubt, banana bread!

Michelle's World

Every night before bed Bryan reads Michelle a book, tucks her in and then tells her night night before slipping out the door. Tonight Michelle wanted to talk for a minute.

Michelle: Tomonnow (aka- tomorrow) you have to go to work and get some money.

Bryan: Yeah, I'll go to work tomorrow and get us some money. ...Ok, Night, night baby.

Bryan leaves the room only to be called back in seconds later.

Michelle: Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!

Bryan: What do you need hunny?

Michelle: You stay home tomonnow?

Bryan: No, I have to go to work.

Michelle: Stay home with me tomonnow, daddy.

Bryan: I'm sorry hunny, I have to go to work. But you can stay home with Mommy, and I'll come home after your nap.

Michelle: Oh...

Bryan: Ok, I love you. Night night.

Michelle: Lub you. Nigh nigh Daddy.

How sweet is that?! That's the first time she has really shown that she understands that Bryan won't be here AND that she wants him to stay home with her! It melts my heart!

Vacation Time

First, let me just say that Bank of America rocks! Bryan gets 3 months, PAID, off for paternity leave, and on top of that he still has his three weeks vacation and one week sick time! This means Bryan is going to have October thru the end of the year off to be home with the new baby, and has a ton of vacation to use before then. So this week Bryan took Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday off. It was so nice to have him home for five days, I can't even imagine having him for three months!!

Saturday and Sunday were business as usual. Mowing the lawn, bathing Jack, and other house-hold chores most of the day Saturday. Then Church and Grandma & Grandpa visits on Sunday. Monday we relaxed most of the morning. We did some chalking out on the back porch and a lot of playing/rough housing with Daddy. Then Monday night Michelle had her first day of gymnastics! We got her all dressed in her little leotard, which she picked out, packed up the camera, and headed out! I was totally bummed when I saw the big sign that said "No flash photography". So the only pic we got of her first gymnastics experience was this one:

She had a blast though! She was so excited to finally get to go into the room that she didn't do such a great job of listening, but she wasn't the only one. There are three other little girls in her class and none of them were completely focused the whole time. In fact two of them refused to move or even stand up for the first little while. Michelle was jumping and clapping the whole time. It was pretty sad when we had to take her home. She cried when we told her it was time to go, and didn't stop until we promised her that she could come back next week, and do it all over again! We took her out to GoldenChick for dinner. It was so yummy! Michelle loves her "chickn' and frefries." She had me crying laughing when she yelled -SO loud- "AND APPLE JUICE!!" while we were ordering her meal.

Tuesday we went to the splash park in Allen. It was so much fun! Michelle had to go down every single slide she could find.

The purple one...

the green one...

the red one...

...there was also the blue and yellow ones, but they were pretty big so I had to catch her instead of take a picture.

She also got soaking wet playing in the water. Bryan was so good to walk through the splash pad with her so she wouldn't be too scared. He ended up carrying her through some of it, but she giggled, screamed, kicked and clapped the whole time!

Bryan and Michelle were pretty soaked by the end of our trip. It was such a wonderful experience! Bryan and Michelle really got some good bonding time in. We will absolutely do it again!

On our way to the car Michelle found out that there were birds on the grass. There was no question, as soon as she saw them she was off! "I have to catch them!", she yelled to us as she was running away.

Wednesday was spent mostly relaxing at home. It was good for me and Bryan to get to spend some time together doing things that weren't "productive". I had my 32 week appointment with Dr. Mos that afternoon, but that was pretty boring. It was a nice easy day.

Now it's Thursday and Bryan is back at work, and I'm home with a long list of cleaning and general catching up to do from our little vacation from reality. lol- you should see the piles of laundry and dishes that need to be done! And you don't even want to know what the living room looks like!

It was worth it though. I wouldn't trade out mini-vacation for anything. It was wonderful!

July Date Night/ Anniversary

Bryan and I have been keeping up with out monthly date nights and they have all been SO fun! We originally started with a $50 budget for each date, but have recently been challenging ourselves to keep the spending to a minimum. This month I proved that dates don't have to cost money to be fun. I spent a total of $2! Yep, that's it! I was so proud of myself. So here's what we did....

This month just happened to be our 5 Year Anniversary so I decided to base my date around that. Bryan and I aren't what you would call "traditional" when it comes to the typical lovey-dovey stuff. For example, we don't have "a song", neither of us can remember what we did for our first date, and we strongly disagree about the first time we said I Love You to each other. So planning an anniversary date is a little more difficult then you would imagine. I decided to pick a song that I liked and change it a bit to fit our relationship and use that throughout the night's activities. I chose You're My Everything and went from there.

I picked 5 activities (see the connection there? 5 years... 5 activities, yeah I'm super creative! lol) and then taged each activity with the chorus-

"Every night I pray,

on bended knee,

that you will always be

My ___"

Then the blank was filled in with these five things- Best friend, Taste Tester, Note Writer, Questioner, and Masseuse.

Bryan got to choose which activity we did first. We started the night by opening Bryan's gift. I couldn't figure out what to get Bryan for our anniversary so I went to this website I've heard of, but always been too scared to try. It turned out GREAT! The website is called Gift Sling. Basically, you go there, fill out a survey about the person you're shopping for, pay $20, and then wait for the gift to show up. I had no idea what Bryan would be getting. The survey was so random and asked the weirdest questions! And I was a little worried that I was going to get ripped off (pay $20 for something that only cost $5). But it turns out that I paid $20 for something that normally cost $50!

Bryan got Epic Mickey for the Wii! Such a fun game, and something that he will actually play and have fun with! I have no idea how they knew he would like this, but it worked out great!

Then we moved on the playing cards. This was the "Best Friend" portion. Before we started dating we did a lot of group activities with our friends, like playing cards after each exam, or playing games with my family. This time we made it interesting and decided that the loser would have to make dinner for the winner. Of course I won! So Bryan had to do the hard part of the "Taste Tester" portion of our date. He made pene pasta with sausage, peppers, and a red sauce. I helped by making the garlic bread! ;)

During dinner we played a game we used to play a lot when we were dating. This was the "Questioner" portion of our date. It's a different version of 20 questions. We get to ask each other any question we can think of and the person has to answer honestly. The game used to consist of questions like "what's your favorite color?" or "Who is your favorite comedian?" But, since we've been married for 5 years now, the questions had to evolve. Instead we asked things like "If you had unlimited funds, where would you take our family on vacation?" or "What's one thing you mean to say to me more often, but don't?" The questions actually turned into pretty interesting conversations. And, for once, our conversations weren't about the three M's (Money, Michelle, or Managing our time).

After dinner we had to go pick up Michelle from Grandma and Grandpa's house. We came home, gave her a tub together and put her down for the night. Then we went to our room and finished our date with the "Masseuse" portion of the night. I even broke out the massage oil from Bath and Body works! After the massages I introduced Bryan to the "Note Writer" portion. I wouldn't say it was part of our date so much as it is a part of our lives now. This is also the only part of the night that cost me any money. I bought two notebooks and covered them in scrapbook paper. Then I wrote on the front page of each the answers Bryan and I gave to the following:

The definition of OUR marriage, not marriage in general.

Your favorite part of our relationship.

And the end of this sentence- In order to maintain our happy marriage I must remember...

Then every night, before bed, we write in our "journals" what our favorite thing that the other person did that day was. For example, last night I wrote about how much I love when Bryan plays with Michelle and makes her laugh till she gets hiccups! We do this every night and then at the end of the week we switch journals. We've been doing this for a few weeks now, and I love it! I get so excited for Sunday night when I get to read all the things Bryan has written about me, and he gets to see everything I've written about him.

Maybe we'll do something big and elaborate for our 10th anniversary, but for us, we both agreed that this was a perfect way for us to spend our 5th anniversary.

Can't Wait!

I've been standing like this a lot lately...

So Bryan bought me one of these...

and now I'm going to do this on September 10th....

I CAN'T WAIT!!!

Something Different

Ever get bored with the same old same old, and decide you're going to try something new and different? Every try to be super creative and fancy? Sometimes I try.... I pretty much rock at it! Just like this:

Michelle's World

Let me start this story with a quick explanation. A while ago Michelle asked Bryan and I why her Daddy had to go to work. So we told her that Daddy goes to work to make money so we can have all our toys and snacks. Since then she has really latched on to the idea that Daddy goes to work to make money.

It's also important to note that there's a huge pond at Bank of America with gigantor fish in it. So every time we have lunch with Bryan we go out and feed the fish. Ok, on to the story...

When I got Michelle up this morning her first question to me, after yelling at Jack to "not come in", was "Where's Daddy?"

Me: Daddy had to go to work.

Michelle: Oh!

Me: But we'll see him when he gets home.

-a short pause-

Michelle: We can go make money too?

Me: (laughing) Well, I think only Daddy makes the money.

Michelle: No, yoooouuuu need to make money with Daddy.

Me: No, YOU make money with Daddy!

Michelle: No, Mommy, I feed the fish and eat frefries! (frefries- aka French Fries)

Me: Oh, I see. So Daddy makes the money, I help him, and you feed the fish?

Michelle: Yes.

LOL!!!! I WISH I lived in her world!

Sometimes...

Today I was supposed to- do laundry, clean the kitchen, straighten the living room, work on Michelle's quiet book, and figure out what were going to eat for dinner. This should be an easy list to get done before Bryan comes home... Guess how much of that I have actually done today?

I give up!

Ok, well Bryan and I have both tried and gotten too frustrated to deal with getting pictures off of my phone. For a while I still fought him and insisted that my phone was the best camera that happened to be a phone out there! Then he introduced me to this little guy...

This is the HTC Inspire. It seems like a pretty cool little phone. I'm still nervous about switching phones because this one (the HTC) is a smart phone with the Android OS. So far I've only heard awesome things about Android so that doesn't worry me too much... however- I've never has a smart phone before. I'm a little overwhelmed with all the functions and capabilities this phone can handle. I know, I know, when it comes to cell phones I'm about as good as a 90 year old lady! And I probably do need to catch up with everyone else in this department. It's just a little intimidating.

Our big debate right now is to stay with AT&T, or to switch to Sprint. Sprint will end up saving us about $50/month, but from what I've read will also come with a significantly less stable network. To me, it would seem, that if Bryan and I are both upgrading, we would want the best network possible to run our new phones on; But Bryan seems to think Sprint will be just as good as AT&T. Any thoughts or opinions?

Ugh!

As usual I can't get the pictures off my phone! I have two fun "events" to blog about, but all the pics are stuck on my phone. I just tried to upload them again and ended up having to restart the computer without uploading anything! Bryan has promised me that he would "take a look" when he gets a minute. So I'll keep my fingers crossed that I'll have something to post by tomorrow.

Bryan's New Car

A few weeks ago (I use the term few loosely) Bryan was involved in a three car accident. Unfortunately he was the middle car! We were incredibly lucky and very blessed that Bryan wasn't hurt, but his car didn't get off so easy.

There was also quite a bit of damage to his rear bumper, but our garage was too squishy (and it was super late when I was taking these) so I couldn't get any decent pics.

The insurance company took everyone's stories down and concluded that Bryan was in no way at fault! So he took in his car to get it fixed (at no cost to us, Thank goodness!) and rented a sweet little rental to drive around until his car was drivable. Well, a week went by and this sweet little rental turned into the gas gussler from hell! Then another week went by and Bryan started to get a little testy with the repair shop and insurance company about how long things were taking and how this was costing us WAY too much money. In the end they totaled his car and gave him a check for the car's worth. Bryan. Was. Heartbroken! He loved his little silver civic. Anyway, they gave us one more day with our rental and then we became a one car family.

I tried my best to be patient while Bryan looked for a car on his own, but quickly realized that I don't do well stuck at home all day long while he drives MY car back and forth to work. (I love my car too, and get a little possessive of it.) So after a few days of no car I started looking for him. For the next two weeks we went out almost every other day after work and spent a good portion of our weekends looking at cars and test driving others. Last weekend we decided to take a break from car hunting because we were both pretty burnt out. Then I found this little guy on Craigs List and told Bryan to go check it out ASAP!

It was in our price range ($6,000), has fewer miles then his Civic did (97,000), gets better gas milage (26 city/30 Hwy), and looked pretty decent. Plus it's a Toyota Corolla so I was almost immediately sold! It turns out that it's in really good condition on the outside, but kinda beat up on the inside. I'm thinking Bryan and I will go buy some new floor mats this weekend and then work on a few small details when we get the money for it. All-in-all I think we got a pretty good deal, and I LOVE that I have my car and Bryan has his car! (lol, it that totally selfish or what?!)

Yes, Michelle climbed on the outside of the car, and had no fear jumping off the roof into Bryan's arms! Crazy girl!

Obsessions

Michelle has developed a few... for lack of a better word, lets call them obsessions.

First there's her pirate face! Any time you ask Michelle to smile- this is what you'll get.

lol! She cracks me up! (She's actually saying "Cheeeessseee" in this picture!)

She is also obsessed with playing Hide and Seek. She's pretty good about telling us when she wants to play, and is actually pretty strict about the rules. "No Peeking!" and "Now, you count to 10!" But she is always the one to hide!

She's got some pretty good hiding places for a two year old!

The next obsession on her list is washing her hands. Wiping them off with a towel or a baby wipe is no longer acceptable. She needs to stand on a chair, rub her hands under the water, get soap, and dry her hands all by herself! And if you try to help- she starts all over!

Her eczema has also flared back up, so scratching is another HUGE obsession, but that one is kinda sad so I don't have any pictures of that. She also insists on going potty in her "big girl potty" every night before her tub. She doesn't usually go, but she always tries! I think Bryan gets a little frustrated with this one. She sits there and sings and plays for, probably, literally, five minutes before she'll admit that she doesn't have any pee to put in her potty.

She's such a sweet girl. I love the little obsessions that she has, and will be so sad when they start to disappear.

Projects Finished

I've been meaning to post these pics for a while now. We got a lot of projects finished these past few weeks!

Thank you Thank you to Ben for helping (by helping I mean almost completely doing it all by himself) get our chair rail project done! I'm SO happy with the results!

We found out that we have a "Willy Wonka Wall", but I still think it looks great! (One of our walls is so far from being flat that it's not even funny! It looks like one of those fun house mirrors was used as a level! lol!)

I also have almost all of my Vinyl projects done.

And we finally got our gallery wall hung! We even have pictures in most of the frames! I'm still waiting on a few frames- I know what I want in them, but I don't have pictures that I like yet.

We also got the front yard under control... but it's not what I would call done. So no pics of that yet! And I have a few more projects that I had planned on doing, but, after talking with my accountant (aka the husband, Bryan) I have decided to wait till after the baby comes to tackle those.

First there's the issue of our public office/computer desk. I really want to hang a big clock on the wall above it and then treat the top of the desk like I would a fire place mantle. I have a vision involving topiary's, some fabric, and a candle or two... BUT- we're waiting!

I also REALLY want a new front door! We have one picked out, and I found a super cute entry table to go in there too. But, again.... waiting. lol!

So, for now, this is where we stand:

Kitchen Wall- Done!

Kitchen Appliances- Updated!

Ugly Black kitchen drapes- replaced!

Guest Room- Done, and then redone, and now-Work in progress.

Front Yard- Forever a Work in progress.

Bowling Ally Hallway- Fixed!

Gallery Wall- Hung!

Baby's Room- Done!

Michelle's Big Girl Bed- Done!

My Own Big Girl Bed- Done!

Front Door/Entry Way- TBD.

Desk Top Makeover- TBD.

I was talking with Bryan and realized that we have only been in our house for 5 months and already have most of our projects done. Not too shabby if you ask me!