Dreams

I have always had vivid dreams.  Or, so I thought.  Apparently, I didn't know vivid until I became pregnant.

Not only have my dreams been vivid, but they've been weird.  Bizarre, even.  Let me enlighten you.

-  Right after we found out - I dreamed that Ryan was not only accusing me of not really being pregnant, but insisting that "my ovaries probably don't even work!"  Huh?

- Ryan and I were running a choose-your-own obstacle course.  One moment we would be running and obstacle-coursing together than then the next, Ryan would be gone.  This obstacle course involved crawling through a building without being seen, jumping off a cliff, and zip-lining over a ravine.  In the dream, Cara, Webb, and Liam picked us up when we finished the course (and Ryan and I were magically reunited).  Here's where it got really weird.  We stopped at a gas station.  Ryan, Cara, and Webb all got out of the car - leaving me alone with Liam.  While everyone was in the car, Liam was baby-babbling away.  As soon as it was just me and him, he turned his head and clear as day said, "Hi."  He continued to name all the members of our family and then recited the books of the bible.  Yeah.  I could not make this stuff up, people.

- Ryan and I bought a new, beautiful house that was on a lake.  Little did we know, there was a underground grocery store being run underneath this house.  When we discovered it, the shoppers were looking at us like we were the ones out of place.

- At one point I dreamed that I was inside an ultrasound.  Like, Magic School Bus style - I was inside my own uterus with a front row view of our baby.  Baby was a boy.

- I recently dreamed that I was playing second base for the St. Louis Cardinals.  For whatever reason, Mike Matheny decided that I was the best gal for the job.  I kept telling him that I'm a softball player... Not a baseball player.  He ignored me, and in the dream I made a complete fool of myself and was booed by the fans.

- Don't worry.  Because the next night I totally redeemed myself by pitching for the Los Angeles Dodgers.  As in, the pitching I did all through high school - not overhand.  I was smokin' and sitting them down left and right.  Take that, Cardinals fans!

- After Rachel and my cousin Kristen ran the Seattle Rock 'n Roll Marathon - I dreamed the three of us were running a marathon in San Fransisco until a rampant tornado destroyed the city.  And we walked back to Seattle.

So, there you have it.  Totally bizarre, no?

Something tells me this will Part 1 of a series of crazy-pregnancy-dream posts.

Take Luck,

LP

Belly Band

Today was a turning point for me.  It was time to break out the belly band.

Source

Obviously, the picture is not of me - but it was the least creepy photo I could find of the belly band in use.

While getting dressed in the dark so to not wake my sleeping Hubby (as usual), I noticed that my work pants were not coming together as easily as they did last week.

I expected this, as we are in week 15.  As of Saturday afternoon, I still had my belly band in the package it came in (from my favorite mother and sister-in-law) and had just taken it out having sensed the need for this glorious piece of spandex was nearing.  I was confident that my pants would continue to fit me in my butt, hips, and thighs.  But the tummy, not so much.

 I probably could have gotten my pants buttoned and zipped this morning.  The challenging part would have been sitting down, breathing, and eating without flinging my button off into the next cubicle.  Let me tell ya - the belly band was a wise, wise choice.

The best part?  I sat at my desk all day, and interacted with my co-workers feeling like I was holding onto a little secret.

"You have no idea.  But my pants are not buttoned.  Or zipped."

This belly band and I will become close friends in the coming weeks.  I can feel it.

Take Luck,

LP

Dear Monday

Writing Dear Monday letters for the week with Megan.

Dear Monday, My three-day weekend was jam packed.  I needed another Sunday before being shoved back into my 5am wake-up routine.

Dear Rachy's Graduation Party, I cannot speak for everyone, but Ryan and I had a great time.  Perhaps the greatest entertainment was me continually circling the food table sans plate and noshing on everything in sight, the "baby tigers" that were crawling through the living room, and the "monster" that was tormenting the baby tigers.  I can't say enough about how proud we are of our Rachy.

Riley the Monster

Ara, Baby Tiger #1

Kennedy, Baby Tiger #2

Dear Tiff, I'm thinking that whenever I make my trip to Ohio (in the near future), we should have a Star Wars marathon.  Just a thought.

Dear Kennedy, On Friday, you were completely obsessed with my little tummy and the baby growing inside - touching, pressing your ear to listen, talking to him/her, and lifting my shirt to get a better look (not at all awkward).  If anyone else had continually told me, "You're getting fatter..." I may have cried a little.  But because it was you, I'll let it slide.  Especially since you offered to give the baby your blanky.  You reminded me that you do have two!  I love you, kiddo.

Dear 15 Weeks, Where on earth did you come from?  My belly is slowly expanding and I'm totally OK with that.  The baby went from the size of a lemon last week, to a naval orange this week.  No wonder Kennedy tells me I'm getting fatter.

Dear Sadness and Grief, You are serving as a constant reminder to me to be happy, grateful, and make sure the people in my life know that I love them.  Life is far too short and fragile to get caught up in the weather, the monotony of work, and other unimportant things.

Dear Ryan, Our conversation topics are obviously evolving.  I think it's quite hysterical that we talk about baby stuff while watching American Ninja Warrior.

Take Luck,

LP

Food Makes Me Cry

I'll apologize in advance for the recent burst of pregnancy and baby related posts.  But, here comes another one.

In everything I've been reading about pregnancy, and from all the women I've talked to who have been or are currently pregnant - everyone experiences different extremes of food aversion, morning sickness, and nausea.  Some experience just a little and some can hardly eat anything at all (or keep anything down).

Throughout these first 14+ weeks, food and I have been sea-sawing back and forth in a love/hate relationship.  For awhile I had all day nausea (luckily no vomiting) and it would kick up a notch at night.  I got in habit of eating as much as I could during the day since I knew that after 5:00 - nothing was going in the tummy.

Weeks 6 and 7 were my hardest.  There were days when I was completely miserable - laying on the couch in tears because I knew I needed to be eating, but the thought of food just made me feel even more horrible than I already did.  My mom suggested cottage cheese one day and I had to put the phone down to compose myself.  During those weeks I relied on juice, jello, pudding, saltines, and bagels.

Normally, I am a pretty picky eater to begin with - so I knew that "eating for two" (although not literally) would likely require me to branch out with my palette whenever I could.  I never really expected to find my most favorite foods to be repulsive... Or make me cry.

Between the nausea and hating-food-side of the sea-saw, cooking food for Ryan and I for dinner was not happening.  I felt so bad, but luckily he understood and did a lot to help himself or order out.

One day, several weeks ago, I got up the cajones to make us dinner and decided to do something easy - spaghetti.  The fact that I had to sit on the bar stool while cooking to keep from getting lightheaded is not important.

I prepared the meal and put it on plates for Ryan and I.  He dug right in and immediately commented on how good it was to have a homemade meal after all these weeks.  I, on the other hand... Stared at my plate in disgust and before long, started to cry.  Ryan stopped eating and gave me a look that resembled, "What the hell did I just miss?" and I cried out, "I don't want this!"  Totally dramatic and pathetic.

So, I cried*.  Cried because I had just spent my time and energy making this meal, and I couldn't even eat it.  I was absolutely repulsed by it and all it's saucy and noodle-y goodness.

*I would like to say that this has been my lone irrational crying moment during this whole hormonal journey.

A few days after this episode, I was texting with my best friend, Tiff, and she was asking how I was feeling.  I explained that I was feeling pretty good, but food makes me cry and didn't elaborate.  Her response was, "Why does food make you cry?" and I pictured her with a "What is wrong with her?  Why in the world would food make her cry?" look on her face.  I responded something like, "I don't know.  I made spaghetti and it made me cry because I couldn't eat it."

Welcome to the world of hormones and pregnancy.

I've had two wacky cravings so far.  And not that I was craving food that I wouldn't normally eat, it was the combination of the foods that would be strange together.

One night I was seriously craving lumpia and a salad from Spiro's, one of my favorite local restaurants.  Ryan compromised and got me lumpia that night and a Spiro's salad the next.

The more recent one was a hankering for Kraft macaroni and cheese and pancakes.  Again, I made macaroni and cheese one night, and a pile of pancakes the next.  Glorious.  And let me tell ya, those pancakes were the first food I've eaten in the last 8 weeks that actually tasted good.  No,delicious.

There's a strong likelihood that pancakes will now be a staple in my diet for the rest of my pregnancy.  And I'm OK with that.

At least they don't make me cry!

Take Luck,

LP

Changing It Up

After a little thought and a quick consult with my dearest Sar - I decided to change things up on the 'ol blog.

New header

The web address has changed to www.laurenpetersblog.com, but if you use the previous link - you will be redirected.

I was growing very tired of my random blog title.  It was fine for the start of my little blog, but since it's evolving to be less random in content (or so I hope!) - I wanted things to look a little cleaner and focus more on what I'm blogging about - my life, our life.

Growing up I went by several nicknames, but most everyone knew me as Lou or Louie.  This was the case until I got to college and a teammate of mine's last name was Louis and she went by Lou/Louie.  This caused lots of confusion, but I learned to stop turning around when I heard it.

So, here we are.  You are living in Life With Lou and I'm glad to have you along for the ride.
 

Take Luck,

LP

Sharing the News

My favorite part of this new journey (so far) has by far been spreading the news.

It didn't (and it still doesn't) matter how I said it, but the more times I say it - the better it feels and the more fantastic I feel.

It usually comes out as: "I'm pregnant!" or "Ryan and I are pregnant!  Well, he's not but I am!"

You get the idea.

****

I found out I was pregnant on a Monday morning.  Ryan had gone off to work early and I was home alone to pee on a stick in solitude.

I barely took my eyes off the pregnancy test and those two little lines were instantly pink.

Holy crap.  Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap.

I was in total shock and we had been trying!  It's not like this was a surprise, people!  Still, I knew our lives were changing (and in an amazing way) right in that second.

Of course, I wasn't going to call or text Ryan to tell him the news.  I was going to somehow manage to make it through what was sure to be the longest. day. ever. and tell my Hubby when he got home.


I had a big breakfast ceremony to attend with a bunch of people from work that morning and on the way there my mind was racing and I had this "They are going to see this news and my shock written all over my face!  They are going to know!" feeling.  Of course, no one had a clue.

I came up with a plan for telling Ryan.  He had started a new apprenticeship quarter that day and as far as he knew, I was taking his photo with a "good luck and work hard this quarter gift."  See for yourself.

Of course, we told our parents next.  Actually, our sisters knew before our parents.  Oops.

I had wanted to think of some fun and creative way to tell my sister, Rachel, but it just kind of came out like word vomit and it was totally uncool.  But that's totally me.

Ryan tried to be sneaky and call Webb to enlist his help in getting Danny, Chris, and Cara together for the big reveal.  The plan was foiled when Cara heard the whole conversation and demanded to know what was going on.  She had a feeling that 1) something was wrong, or 2) we were pregnant.  Funny how both sisters found out in totally boring ways.

It just so happened to be my parent's 31st wedding anniversary that week.  And we seriously could not have thought of a better gift in our wildest dreams.


Here they are posing with their "gift" for a 31st anniversary picture.  Apparently I'm good at disguising videos as photo opportunities?

It's best to watch this video twice.  Once to focus on my Dad's reaction and the other to focus on my Mom's.  Both are priceless and wonderful.  Why my Dad is yelling, "We're number one!  We're number one!" and howling is totally beyond me.


We had hoped to tell Ryan's parents (and Cara and Webb too) over the phone all at once or over Skype.  We decided that requesting a Skype date would be a little too obvious since Danny and Chris had just been visiting us a week prior*.

*Why, oh why those little lines didn't show up a week earlier is beyond me.  It would have been amazing to tell them face-to-face.  C'est la vie.

This year was going to be our year to spend Christmas and New Years in St. Louis.  So that was our angle, or gateway if you will, to tell them they would be grandparents again.


I think they knew something was up when one answered the phone and we asked if the other was there, and then told them to put it on speakerphone.  Anyway, Ryan said, "We just found out we won't be able to make it for Christmas this year."  Of course, they asked why not and Ryan simply responded, "Because Lauren is pregnant and we're going to have a baby in December."


Hoots and hollers erupted from the other side of the phone, so as far as we could tell they were very excited to hear the news.  Chris said she wasn't too surprised and assumed we would be sharing news of that nature in the near future.


****


I debated on when to start telling friends and extended family members.  I knew there were a few of my closest friends that I wanted to tell immediately, and I made a list of people that I wanted to tell personally after I reached the 12 week mark.  The exception here was Sarah who I met for coffee in May.  I knew that since I only see her twice a year - I had to take this opportunity to tell her in person.


Figuring out ways to tell people was fun, and most of the time I tried to slyly insert the news into conversation and see how long it would take people to realize what I had just said.


When I called Tiff to tell her, I started out by asking about her new job and their recent trip to Destin, Florida (we are taking a trip there in September).  She was telling me all about the jet-skiing, paddle-boarding, and dolphin-watching they had done when I said, "Well, I don't know if I'll be doing much of that myself since I'll be 7 months pregnant...."  It didn't take long for the words to click and the excitement explode.


When I called Becky (my college roommate), I figured she would answer and immediately say, "You're pregnant!" because we don't talk on the phone much.  We usually communicate through text.  Anyway, we talked for a minute and she asked what was new.  I said, "Not much.  You're going to be an Aunt in December and..."  Again, it didn't take long for her to understand what I was getting at and more excitement exploded.


I could go on and on (obviously).  Sharing the news has been really special and fun.  Everyone has been super excited and supportive.  And even if they weren't - at least they pretended to be!


I am starting to lose track of the number of friends who are pregnant and due around the same time.  It's crazy, but awesome to know there are a number of ladies who are all experiencing the same things as me.

Take Luck,

LP

Dear Monday

Linking up with Megan for Dear Monday!

Dear Monday, Funky butt-loving, what a day.  I got tasked out the wazzu and am looking forward to the challenges this job will hold.

Dear #40milesinJune, I have been lacking in the energy department for the last several weeks but decided to hop on the bandwagon, anyway.  Better late than never, right?!

Dear Bills, The fact that you are coming in and are due in the month of July really blows my mind.  How is it already mid-June?

Dear Baby News, I am happy I finally put you out on the blogosphere.  I have been pretty firm on my decision to wait to share our news, and I am happy I did.  Of course I've been slowly telling my "people" since we found out but I have been anti-social media distribution until now.  Hooray for pregnancy blogs and stories!

 Dear Tile Backsplash, It's been three months since our countertops were installed and I am overjoyed to say that we are finally making some progress.  And I mean we are making progress as in, Ryan and Frank are making progress.

Dear Sar, Thank you for the sweetest shout out on your blog today.  It warms my heart greatly to have a friend like you.  Come to think of it, the next time you see me - I'll be toting a baby!  P.S. Ryan loved his Father's Day card. 

Dear Hubby, I didn't know you were up to such shenanigans when you went to Lowe's on Sunday morning and came home with "belated Mother's Day gifts."  The best part was when you said, "They didn't have any Mother's Day cards!!" and seemed genuinely annoyed by this.  Normally, when a holiday such as Mother's Day is a month overdue, they put away those greeting cards.  You are the best ever. Thank you for making me laugh... And laugh, and laugh, and laugh.

Take Luck,

LP

Happy Father's Day!

Today was a great day to celebrate Father's Day and the men in our lives who are truly great fathers.

Daddio and me in Hawaii, 2008

We spent some time with my godfather, Frank, while him and Ryan starting tiling our kitchen backsplash (ahem, finally).  Hearing him refer to Ryan as his godson made my heart melt.  This evening we had dinner at my parent's house.

Even though we didn't see them or get to personally give them a Father's Day hug - Ryan's Dad, Danny, my brother, Josh, and our brother-in-law, Ryan, were not far from our minds or hearts.

Ryan and Danny earlier this year!

 Today was a pretty special Father's Day because it was Ryan's first Father's Day.  Well, Father-to-be-Day.

Yup.  In the words of my favorite convenience store clerk (Rainn Wilson in Juno), my eggo is preggo.

So, Happy Father's Day (to be) to my favorite person in the world. You are going to be a rockstar Daddy, and I can't wait to take on this adventure with you.

Take Luck,

LP

An Intern No More

Today marks my official graduation from a three year internship program.  Some days I truly and whole-heartily believed that this day would never come, and now it has.

For the past three years I have felt really silly telling people that I'm in an intern program.  Hello, I'm 26-years old and still an intern.  Awesome.

This intern program was a paid, career ladder position and was super intense.  We had a too-high-for-me-to-count number of requirements that needed to be met, all focused around the area of logistics and gaining competencies in each of the logistics elements.  There are 12, people.

I don't know why, but I think when people hear the word "intern" or "internship" - they automatically associate it with two words.  Coffee and copies.  I would like to say that I never had to make anyone coffee, and the only time I had to make copies was when I was sending off my travel documents to be approved.

If someone had asked me to make them coffee I probably would have made some snarky remark about how they had legs and were damn capable of doing it themselves.  Or something like that.

At times I felt that me being (or rather, me saying I was) an intern was a sort of disclaimer.  Almost like, "If I screw up you can't really hold me accountable because I'm just a little intern."  Or, "I don't know, I'm just an intern."  I never used any of these disclaimer-y excuses, mind you.  But I always felt they were there, hanging in the air - at least in the minds of those I was working with.  Perhaps in their minds I was less capable because there was "intern" associated with my name.

Lauren Peters, Intern.

Overall, my internship was pretty good.  I had a really rough start and certainly had some rough patches within the three years, but the experience I gained and where I am today (or, where I will be effective Monday) is pretty incredible.

I still remember my first day and week of work.  It was my second real job out of college, but I had every intention of making it a career.  I was upbeat and excited, ready to hit the ground running, and had no idea what to expect.

I immediately felt out of place and insecure for four reasons.

1) I was female (don't worry, I still am), 2) I wasn't an engineer (don't worry, I'm still not), 3) I was young (hmmm, debatable), and 4) I had no prior military/Navy experience.

In the eyes of all my co-workers and peers I felt like those were four giant strikes against me because they were mostly male, engineers, old, and with prior military/Navy experience.  I knew from Day #1 that I had to seriously prove my capabilities, and even that wouldn't be enough.

The hardest part (in the beginning) was actually getting noticed and having my team members acknowledge my existence.  This sounds ridiculous but it is totally true.  For awhile I felt as though I could 1) not come to work or 2) sleep underneath my desk and no one would have cared or noticed.

Luckily, that got better.  It just took a lot of time and pestering.

I pretty much made a total transformation.  I worked my patooty off to get the respect of my co-workers, bugged the hell out of them with questions, and continued to ask for more, more and more work/responsibility.

Last month I mentioned that upon gradation from the intern program, I would be taking a new job.  So today, not only did a end my tenure as an intern, but I ended my time supporting my current working group.

It was and is totally bittersweet.  I am so thankful to have gotten the opportunity to go through this intern program, and I am even more thankful to be done with it.  No more dragging around the intern connotation with me, and I certainly won't complain about a promotion. 

Here's to the next step.  No more disclaimers, just responsibility.  I'm ready!

Take Luck,

LP

Baby Sister Graduates from UW

It's official.  My baby sister, Rachel is a college graduate.

Last Saturday was the big show.  The University of Washington's 2012 Commencement ceremony was being held at Century Link Stadium since Husky Football Stadium is undergoing renovations.

 

This renovation actually made it more convenient for us because all we had to do was walk-on the ferry, walk off, and hop down a few blocks to Century Link.

The ceremony was long.  And solidified my almost-definite decision to not walk in my Graduate School graduation next May.  UW was honoring all graduates from 2012 - including Doctoral/PhD students, Graduate students, and Undergraduates.

I think the longest part of the ceremony (at least for me) was waiting for the graduates to get to their seats.  Ryan and Spencer may disagree with me, as I think they found the whole thing semi-torturous.  They were promised beer afterwards so they just kept their eyes on the prize.

We were momentarily entertained by a woman sporting some wild (and I mean wild) hair.  Perhaps she was channeling her inner Katy Perry?

Rachel called Spencer when she got seated and was trying desperately to explain to him where she was.  It didn't work, but I got a kick out of listening to him continually asking, "Are you.....?" and describing various landmarks of the stadium.  Then my dear mother was waving proudly to the sea of graduates, making me think she saw Rachel, when really she didn't.

Thankfully, we finally spotted her when she was standing and walking toward the stage.

It's blurry but there she is on far left - waving to her fan club.

I have no idea how this happened but I managed to catch her pretty face on the big screen.  It was there for literally one second, and I just so happened to click my camera button at that particular moment.

We celebrated afterwards with dinner at Ivar's.

We are so proud of her.  Rachel graduated with a double major in Public Health and Medical Anthropology and only a few days after graduation - left on a week long Global Public Health Brigade trip to Honduras.  While there she will be working alongside families in a rural community to improve home infrastructures with the implementation of eco-stoves, latrines, water-storage units, and concrete floors, while also introducing basic public health education in efforts to decrease the contraction of a number of life threatening illnesses.

So, I'd say we have a reason to be proud of our little Rachy.  She's beautiful, smart, fun, talented, and kind.  I could go on and on about her qualities, but I won't.  'Cuz I would probably start to cry a little.

Congratulations, Rachel Marie.  We are all so proud of you and cannot wait to see what the future holds for you.

We love you!

Take Luck,

LP

Thursday Thoughts

Linking up with my real life friend, Sar for Thursday Thoughts!

[1] I just made us breakfast for dinner.  Prior to cooking the hashbrowns and pany-cakes I wasn't feeling super confident.  However, the pany-cakes turned out to be deliciously golden brown, as did the hashbrowns.  I consumed my plate of food in under five minutes, only stopping to breathe and make strange holyshizathisisfriggingdelicious sounds.

[2] Tomorrow marks my final day as an intern and the last day of work with my current group/team.  I am so happy to be dropping the intern connotation, but it will be bittersweet leaving the people I've been working with for the last three years.

[3] I think I ate too fast because now I feel like there are pany-cakes and hashbrows stuck in my ribcage.

[4] A good friend of mine, Clare, welcomed her first baby (a boy, Levi) yesterday.  I am so excited for her and her husband, and especially proud of her for delivering naturally.  I knew if anyone could do it - she could.

[5] I'm trying to scheme up a bunch of weekend trips for Ryan and I this summer.  So far, he's not biting on any except heading back down to Portland where we spent our first anniversary.  I think all the beer is calling his name.

[6] Sunday is Father's Day and I have no idea what to get my Daddio.  By the grace of someone (or something) I managed to remember to get Father's Day cards and gifts off to my father-in-law and brother-in-law in Illinois... But I am now stumped when it comes to my own faja.

[7] My little sister flew out to Honduras late Monday evening and I miss her.  She lives in Seattle so it's not like I see her everyday, but I have thought of 100 reasons to call or text her in the last few days and I can't.  Ho hum.  She'll be bombarded with me when she gets back.

I'm just full of thoughts this Thursday.

Take Luck,

LP

Dear Monday

Linking up with Megan for Dear Monday!

Dear Monday, I would have appreciated a good night's sleep after a very long and busy weekend... But, no.  Let's see if we can't change this tonight.

Dear Kennedy, I asked your Mommy yesterday how your little puffy lip was doing.  She told me that it wasn't so puffy, but a little black and blue.  Awesome.  Now you look like you've been assaulted.  Aunt of the year, right here.

Dear Baby Alex, Your Mommy and Daddy came over to watch a movie with us on Friday night, and I had the pleasure of spending more time looking at your cute face than actually watching the movie!  The best part was when you fell asleep on me and we snuggled for quite some time.  I totally hated that.

Dear Comcast, I called for help this evening and I swore that if your customer service lady said, "Uh yes, Miss Peters..." one more time - I was going to scream.  And make punching motions with my fist.

Dear New Job, We will get real acquainted with each other on Monday.  Now if only this week would fly by.  It gets challenging when I have transitioned all of my work already.  Hmmm.

Dear Hubby, We had dinner at Azteca the other night and when asked for your order, you asked for a "Pico de Gallo Burrito."  The waiter looked at your with a very puzzled expression, and we then determined you meant to order a "Carne Asada Burrito."  Sheesh.  Let's stay away from Mexico.

Take Luck,

LP

Puffy Lip

So, I work what we call a compressed work schedule and am lucky enough to have every-other Friday off of work.  Because of my brother and sister-in-law's work schedule (and perhaps the close proximity of our homes) I watch Mia, Kennedy, and Riley in the afternoons on those very Fridays.

I made the mistake of taking the three rascals to Baskin Robbins a few Fridays ago.  They had been behaving very well, so I thought they deserved a little reward.  It didn't seem like a mistake at the time, but as soon as I walked in the house this Friday - Kennedy was all about another Baskin Robbins trip.

I obliged because... Well, I love ice cream.

We were a troupe of happy people, although Mia elected not to have her photo taken.

4 years old.  Head tilt down pat.

    

Blue eyes.  Curly hair.  "Warwen."  Love this boy.

After ice cream they insisted on being taken to our house so they could see their second favorite person (second to me, of course!) - Uncle Ryan!  We got to our house and they greeted Uncle (or Aunt as Riley calls him) Ryan with big hugs and smiles and they headed straight for the dogs.

Brock and Sonny love everyone, so I never worry about them.  The only thing I do worry about is Brock being overly-friendly and knocking the kids down or licking them to death.  Brock immediately ran towards Riley with his tongue hanging out and the look on that little boy's face was pure terror.  I scooped him up and encouraged him to focus on the more-his-size, little Sonny.

I ended up just leaving poor Brock in his cage.  The poor dog is just too intense sometimes and doesn't realize how big he is.

Now is a good time to totally switch gears and say that we had to take our laundry room door off in order to fit our new washer and dryer.  There's plenty of room for me to do my laundry-goddess duties, but not enough room to have a door.  After Ryan took the door off its hinges, he laid it on top of Brock's cage - only placing it there for the time being.

Well, come Friday.  The door was still there.

So, Sonny was chasing Riley.  Kennedy was chasing Sonny.  I was  seconds away from saying, "OK, guys.  Enough running and chasing."

It was then that Kennedy ran smack (and I mean, smack) into the laundry room door.  It wiped her clean on her feet and she grabbed her little mouth.  My heart instantly sank and broke and I'm yelling inside, "Not on my watch!"

She was crying, or trying to cry, but no sound was coming out. I scooped up Kenny and (trying so hard to keep my composure in hopes to not freak her out more) squeezed her tight.  I made a pit stop to grab some ice cubes and a washcloth, then we went into the bathroom.

The first thing I wanted to check was to make sure all of her little teeth were still attached.  Hallelujah, they were!  She saw some blood on her little hand and started crying even more, but I wiped it off with lightening speed and assured her that she was going to be fine.  She had only cut her lip.

Riley and Aunt/Uncle Ryan came into the bathroom for some comedic relief and we were on our way to settling down.  Well, she was.  Within minutes she was fine, but I was far from fine.

I am a great Auntie.  I am responsible, always try to do fun things with them (hello, park trips and ice cream!), play with them, don't let them run-a-muck (besides this momentary lapse) and discipline them when necessary.  And now, I've let my sweet niece get a cut and puffy lip.

We went back home to wait for Haley, my sister-in-law, and I couldn't wait to tell her what happened.  I was so afraid of what she (not to mention my brother!) was going to say.

In the mean time, Kennedy, Riley, and I went and rode bikes outside.  I asked Kennedy if I could take a picture of her little puffy lip, and of course she agreed.

Pointing to the puffy lip.

Her "sad face."

Do not let this Hollywood-actress-in-the-making fool you.  Immediately after I took this picture, she wanted to see it and proclaimed (with a little too much pride), "That's my sad face!!" and went on riding her little tricycle... All smiles and yelling at her little brother.

 Haley came home and I told her what happened, and told her how terribly awful I felt.  She laughed at me and told me how Kennedy fell out of a hammock last weekend and split her lip open then, too - making this look like nothing.  I must say that made this Auntie feel a little better, but only a little.

While I was leaving, Kennedy assured me that she still loves me.  Puffy lip and all.

 I'd say we need to do a little child-proofing of our house before their next visit.

Take Luck,

LP

Decisions

How many decisions do we make in a day?  A week?  A month?  A year (which by the way is 525,600 minutes - in case you were wondering)?

Sure, we decide what to wear in the morning (at least on the weekdays), which route to take to work, and whether or not we run the yellow light on the way to work.  But it's not every day that we make monumental decisions that change the course of our lives.  That is, unless you count deciding what size coffee to order from your favorite barista a monumental decision.  To each their own.

I think about decisions a lot.  Probably more than I should, even.  Especially when Ryan and I are being silly or talking about when we first met.

It's not just decisions in general.  But mostly decisions that I've made - both monumental and not-so-monumental that led me to where I am right now.  Most importantly, sitting next to the man of my dreams.

I'm sure I've talked about this before, and if I haven't - lucky you.  I think a lot about the decisions that had to be made (on both of our counts, really) and how the cosmic universe aligned (perhaps just in my head) so that we would even meet each other.  One different decision and both of our lives could be very different than it is on this June evening.

I could have chosen to play ball and attend the University of Georgia instead of Southern Illinois  University.  I could have bailed and returned home after a super emotionally/mentally challenging freshman year away from home.  I could have taken a job at a rink-a-dink office supply marketing job right out of college instead of accepting the position from hell at Wells Fargo. 

Obviously, I could go on and on.  And I'm sure there are lots of decisions that you've made in your own life that are very similar - whether related to school, relationships, jobs, relocating yourself/family or whatever!

Sometimes I try to think about what my life would be like if I had gone to Georgia, or if I would have taken another job opportunity.  Then I remind myself that I didn't.  I made the decisions I made and they all brought me here. 

I didn't use to be a big believer in "Everything happens for a reason."  But four years ago - I decided I better start.

That is a decision I wouldn't change for anything.

Take Luck,

LP

Dear Monday

Linking up with Megan for Dear Monday

Dear Monday, Not only did I come to work late today, but I left early.  It was glorious.  I do, however, wish that I hadn't passed our department head on my way in and out.  Either that or I should have shouted a disclaimer, "I swear I have approved leave!"

Dear New Samsung Washer and Dryer, Uhm hello!  I love you already.  You are sleek and fabulous, and make the cutest little chiming noise when you finish washing and drying our clothes.  The best part is that this noise is very intriguing to the Brocky Boy and he tilts his head at the sound of it.

Dear Brock, Speaking of you.  Stop tormenting Sonny.  The last two mornings you have caused her to hide underneath the bed and refuse to come out.  This is a game I am growing very tired of.

Dear Webb Family, I ordered some of Liam's six-month (what the what?!) photos from snapfish.  They arrived today and I quickly ripped open the envelope to see my new treasures.  I did not, repeat, did not foresee the tears/waterworks that came from holding those precious photos in my hand.

 

Dear Keilani Ricketts, I think all of us (watching the Women's Softball College World Series) would appreciate it if you stopped chomping your gum like a grazing cow.  Mmkay?  You are a total rock star, but you should mind yo manners on national television.

Dear Hubby, The other night when choosing a movie, you chose Tangled because you knew I would enjoy it.  You singing along was just icing on the cake.  Thank you for being adorable, and for being you.

Take Luck,

LP