Mr & Mrs Smith

21 weeks

2009-06-11T11:42:00.000-07:00

You will have to forgive these belly shots. I have been doing them on my own. I usually have the energy during the day when Nate is at work. It looks a lot bigger in real life. And it hurts a lot too!!! Hopefully my next 75 pregnancies will not be so painful because my tummy will already be stretched from this little guy.

Grocery shopping again

2009-05-30T19:44:00.000-07:00

Well, even though I just went and have our food for the month, I had to go out again today. One of our local grocery stores was doubling coupons up to 1.00. This means that if you have a coupon for a dollar off, they will double it to two dollars. WOW! I definitely had to take advantage of this before the sale ended on this Tuesday. My total before coupons came to 185.23 and my total after coupons was 53.08. That is roughly a 71% savings. I thought that was pretty good!!! Almost all of the stuff that I bought are things that I can keep in the pantry. No produce or meat today.

Just a List

2009-05-29T16:04:00.000-07:00

After hours of listening to different commentaries on the current President's desires to change the US into a socialist nation I just thought that I should make a list of the things that Obama has said or tried to put into effect that backs these claims:
He wants to tell us what cars we can drive
He wants to make any commentaries / news etc balanced by having the opposition's view required on the same show
He wants his own personal military
He wants to create nationalized healthcare
He stated that no one should listen to Rush on the radio
He against us having our own guns
He wants to censor the internet and monitor it (in an attempt to make it more secure - or so he says)

There will probably be more to come as my husband is very well versed on these issues LOL. If you ask me it is just plain scary!!!

Bran and banana muffins

2009-05-28T17:17:00.001-07:00

Well, over the weekend, Nate went wakeboarding. He ended up coming home with a torn ligament in his right leg. He was supposed to go to St. Louis on Monday for work but seeing as though he can barely walk and certainly can't drive, he is staying at home with me this week. He will see and orthopedic surgeon tomorrow to determine if the ligament will heal itself or if we need surgery etc.
The pain medication that he was put on causes constipation so I thought that I would make him some bran muffins to ease his woes. LOL I found this awesome recipe and on accident I left out the last two ingredients on the list. The muffins came out awesome. They are chewy and tasty and don't even need a pat of butter!!! Here is the recipe

1c flour
1c bran flakes
1/3c sugar
1c banana ( I used 6 small burro bananas - Nate had these on his mission and loves them)
2tsp baking powder
1/2tsp salt
1/4tsp cinnamon
1c skim milk

mix the bran flakes, banana, and milk in a bowl. Let sit about 5 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients. put in muffin pan and bake at 350 for 20 minutes. I figure that these come out to about 235 calories per muffin but they do have some good fiber and nutrients in them from the bran and banana!!!

Another belly picture

2009-05-28T17:13:00.000-07:00

Ok, so it doesn't look like much right now but but by the end of the day this thing is huge. I am almost 20 weeks at this point. Even though I have only gained 7 pounds since we began the pregnancy, I feel like a big lead weight by the end of the day. I will lay on the couch with Nate and not be able to get up without help. I am thinking that it all has to do with my center of gravity changing!

18 week ultrasound

2009-05-28T13:41:00.001-07:00

Perinatologist Visit

2009-05-21T12:50:00.001-07:00

So we had a level 2 ultrasound today. I am 18 weeks and 3 days today. The baby is measuring 18 weeks and 5 days. Basically what that means is that the baby is growing very well and is getting all the nourishment that he needs. His measurements are in the 72% percentile which means that he is bigger than 72% of the babies at this stage in development but he is smaller than 28% of babies at this age. I am hoping that he will be 6-7lbs when he is born. I am scared of anything bigger. He weighs 9 oz today. one week ago he weighed 7 oz. He is growing fast. The ultrasound showed that everything is normal (the growth, heart components, 5 fingers, 5 toes, good brain development etc). It also confirmed once again, to Nate's approval, that we are having a boy.

Groceries

2009-05-20T17:13:00.000-07:00

Well, as many of you know I clip quite a few coupons for groceries. In fact, if it isn't on sale, I probably wont buy it. So today Nate and i assembled all the groceries on the counter and I will list out what i got and how much it ended up costing. Here goes.
PRODUCE:
5 granny smith apples
5 gala apples
1 cabbage
2lbs baby bananas
1lb carrots
cilantro
3 cucumbers
lettuce
7 brown onions
3 mexican onion bunches
5lbs potatoes
4 grn peppers
7 tomatoes
2lb cherries
1lb strawberries

GROCERY
tortillas
spaghettios
mcCormick vanilla extract
4 12packs of diet mtn dew
3 Kraft dressing
2 bush's baked beans
wheat thins
mayo
parmesan cheese
12 string cheese
24 oz sour cream
3 boxes trix
3 boxes cheerios
2 dove soap
plastic wrap
4 McCormick grill mates
2 kraft marinades
2 pkg angel soft TP
2 coolwhips
2 kraft BBQ sauce
2 glass cleaner
2 colgate toothpaste
1 gallon fruit drink
4 dial hand soap
2 seltzer water
2 wisk HE detergent
2 electrasol dishwashing tabs
1 jet dry
1 pkg tortilla chips
flour
cream cheese
1 cattleman BBQ sauce
1 pkg shredded cheese
hamburger buns

MEAT
2 pkg hotdoags
6 lbs ham shoulder
10 lbs chicken leg quarters

BABY
2 pkgs size 3 huggies supreme diapers
3 pkgs huggies pure and natural diapers
2 pkgs huggies natural sensitive wipes

So, all of this cost me 140.00
Now, if I take out the diapers (which are really expensive than my total is 103.00 . This isn't my best savings but it is pretty good.

Busy little baby

2009-05-19T18:00:00.000-07:00

Well, for all of you that don't know, Nate and I are having a boy!!!! We are very excited and Nate of course is thrilled that he will have his own little prodigy. LOL This baby is so busy inside. He is constantly moving and kicking and punching. We are 18 weeks today so almost halfway through the pregnancy. We will have a visit with the perinatologist on Thursday the 21st. It will be fun to see the ultrasound. It will be a lot clearer because this ultrasound will be a bit more in depth than the standard ones you have seen so far on the blog.
Overall I have been feeling pretty good. Nate is doing well also. He is working and traveling quite a bit so he is very busy. And yes, Brutus is doing well too!!! We are all surviving the weather out here. It has been over 100 degrees for the last 2 weeks. We are basically locked in our house during these hot days:(

It was better when I thought it was just gas!!!

2009-05-13T18:21:00.000-07:00

So yesterday was the first time that i felt the baby move. I didn't actually feel it but I saw it. On my lower tummy I saw a little twitch. I put my hand over it and the baby kicked me 3 times. Right now I am laying on the couch and decided to take a look at my belly. I haven't felt the baby move inside at all during the pregnancy but I just did a minute ago for the first time. He kicked so hard that it raised my tummy like a 1/4 of an inch. Wow! How neat. But then he continued and now it is freaking me out. It is funny to think that you actually have this baby growing inside your stomach. It feels like little bubbles or twitches in your lower abdomen and if I thought it was just gas it wouldn't bother me. Since I know that it is a little baby it is a big weird feeling. LOL

17 week ultrasound

2009-05-13T11:21:00.001-07:00

Isn't that the cutest baby you've ever seen. I will post a 3D one next week after we see the perinatologist!!!!

A nurse should know these things

2009-05-12T13:30:00.000-07:00

So.........I woke up at 2:30am and I had this bulge in my lower abdomen that was hard. No pain or anything so I went back to bed. Nate got up at 5:30 because he had to fly to Houston today. I noticed that the bump was still there on my abdomen and was hard as a rock. It would come and go about every 5-10 minutes and it would even go from the right side to the left side. How weird. I decided that maybe it was the baby moving ( although it was too big of a bump ). I went along with my normal stuff and then started feeling tightening and crampy. I then decided that this wasn't normal and that I was having contractions. I made an appointment with my doctor. He confirmed that it was a contraction (Braxton-Hicks contractions) and that the bulge on my abdomen was in fact my uterus. He also confirmed that everything was absolutely normal. I felt so stupid. LOL. The ultrasound showed a good placenta and umbilical cord. The baby is measuring 17 weeks and 2 days. The heart rate was 156/minute. The baby is about 5-6 inches and weighs 7 oz. The ultrasound tech showed me a bunch of things like the four chambers of the heart, the skull and the baby's femur. I will post some pics of the ultrasound today. Nate and I will go and get a 3d ultrasound on the 21st and then I see my doctor again on the 26th of May. Anyways, everything looks great!!!!!

My tummy at four months

2009-05-03T07:23:00.000-07:00

Ok, so here it is. Nothing too big yet but you can definitely see the baby bump. I have gained back the weight that I lost when I was sick and nauseated but nothing else. I don't know how that's possible. Doesn't the amniotic fluid or increased blood volume or the fact that my uterus is bigger than a grapefruit count??? Well, I am sure I will be 9 months pregnant and feel too big then so I guess I should just enjoy this. LOL.

Frogs

2009-04-30T15:11:00.000-07:00

Nate saw a pattern for these cute little bean bag frogs and he made sure to buy it for me. After some pretty simple sewing, we ended up with two cuties.

boppy pillow

2009-04-30T15:01:00.000-07:00

Ok so I saw this boppy pillow in a baby magazine. I thought Wow! I have to have that. When I researched it the price was 59.99. For all of you who know me I am very frugal so 59.99 was too much for me. So..........needless to say, I made my own. The first pic is the one in the magazine. The second and third are the top and bottom of the one I made to copy the magazine. The fourth pic is of another cover that I made for the boppy. Oh yes, and for those who don't know, a boppy is a pillow that you put around your waist and lay the baby on to breastfeed:)

14 week ultrasound on 4/22/09

2009-04-30T14:59:00.000-07:00

Again, the baby was very busy during this ultrasound. We are still having a bit of bleeding so I am still at home, although the baby looks great and the heart rate is about 178.

12 week ultrasound on 4/7/09

2009-04-30T14:53:00.000-07:00

This ultrasound was done at 12 weeks. The baby was very active and jumping a lot. the babys head is to the right side just in case you can't tell. You can click on the photo and I think it will enlarge it!

9 weeks today

2009-03-17T19:34:00.000-07:00

Ok so here is a picture of our baby today. Last week the baby was 1.5 cm so the size of a small blueberry. Today the baby is 1 inch long and we saw it move and the umbilical cord pulsing. It was really pretty cool. So....another ultrasound picture was taken. I love my doctor. He is awesome. And today was the first time that we were able to see the baby thru my tummy. The previous ultrasounds have been transvaginally so this was a nice surprise today. We are so excited.

Here I am after my appointment today

2009-03-17T18:43:00.001-07:00

So I had an appointment today to follow up with my subchorionic bleed that we found last week. Last week the bleed was 2.5 cm and today it was 1.5cm so it seems to be resolving itself. I am supposed to be on very limited activity and not doing too much but I can be up more than I have been this last week. I am still off of work at least until 3 weeks from today which is when I see the doctor again. My mother in law goes home tomorrow and my mom is coming into town. I am really excited to see my mom!!! My mother in law was such a help. She cooked and cleaned and even ironed Nate's clothes. We are really grateful to her for taking care of us. So, when we were leaving the doctor's office today we were making the next appointment. Well because I have been very nauseous i had eaten rice krispies for breakfast and a few mini rice cakes and 1/2 an apple for lunch. Well this was about 3:30pm that we were leaving the office. I started getting really nauseous (I was actually afraid that I was going to throw up on the girl making the appt because she was right in front of me at the desk). LOL It is funny now but not at the time. Nate said that I got really pale and I felt like I was going to pass out. I was sweating and my heart was pounding. Dr. Rahaman came to where I was sitting and got me some gatorade from their employee fridge. I felt so bad!!! They are so amazingly nice there. He told me to go get a big mac at McDonalds. Yuck, I passed on that one but after I had the gatorade I felt much better. I have lost about 3 pounds in the last 2 weeks so hopefully this nausea doesn't last too much longer. I was always afraid of gaining weight when I was pregnant, not losing it!!!

Brutus and Nate taking care of me

2009-03-17T18:35:00.000-07:00

So Brutus saw that Nate and I were sitting together and he got a tad bit jealous. He decided he needed some love too. So, to my surprise, Nate said it was ok to have him come up with us as long as he was on the blanket. So, here we are, our little family!!!

Nate is home!!!

2009-03-13T21:22:00.000-07:00

Well,
Nate came home last night. He got in around 9:30 pm. I am so glad to finally have him home after a long week. He is laying with me on the couch right now sound asleep. He was supposed to go get me and his mother some frozen yogurt ( Yum that sounds good) but he is out cold. Bummer!!!! Bed rest is going as well as possible I suppose. I find that I am quite tired during the day which I find amazing because I am not doing anything. When I go up the stairs at night to go to bed I am winded. It is amazing how fast you loose your conditioning. When I get up I feel so weak and lightheaded. I am not sure if it is from the pregnancy or what. I know that I am definitely not dehydrated because I have been drinking a ton. It is definitely a new experience for me. It is the worst when Nate is home from work and outside or in another room because I just have to lay here and can't follow him. Usually I am like his little shadow. Lucky him. Well if anyone has good suggestions on how to keep occupied on bed rest please let me know. I have already been knitting and cross stitching and today I colored and did origami. Please let me know if you have read any good books lately. thanks!!!

Bed Rest

2009-03-12T23:09:00.000-07:00

I was always afraid of being on bed rest because I thought all I would do all day would be to eat. I tell you what though, this nausea thing is really working to prevent me from eating. When I finally think of something that sounds good, I eat it and then get super nauseated. I basically cannot eat anything that I have eaten during this nauseous period more than once. So for a quick list I can no longer eat:
Pancakes
salad with dressing
soup
asparagus
rainbow sherbert
cream of wheat
grapes
cran-raspberry juice
nachos
garlic bread
spaghetti
meatballs

So, what can I eat? The only thing that sits well with me is Rice Krispies. I hope I spelled that right. Well, I should go to bed. Good Night

Sad Sad Brutus

2009-03-11T10:25:00.000-07:00

Here is Brutus all sad that I can't play with him. So...........I invited him up to cuddle with me. :) Don't tell Nate, He'll kill us. LOL

Here I am on bed rest

2009-03-11T10:14:00.000-07:00

TLC A Baby Story

2009-03-11T09:57:00.000-07:00

Ok, I have decided that this show is not a good thing to watch when you are pregnant. Although I see this stuff everyday in real life these stories are just so moving. I am here on the couch on bed rest nauseous as ever just sobbing away about this show. I should probably be watching one of those crazy talk shows. :) I am feeling pretty good today, a little bit of cramping which I am hoping is normal. My mother-in-law should be here around 3pm so that will take some stress off of me. I won't have to get up to tend to the dog or get meals etc which is nice because every time I move I swear I can feel my uterus. It is probably all in my head now that I am thinking about it so much :)

Oh the joys of pregnancy

2009-03-10T21:42:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I am 8 weeks pregnant today. 2 weeks ago the baby measured 2.62mm and now the baby measures 15.71mm. Wow that is quite a change in 2 weeks. According to the ultrasound and my wonderful doctor (who sees me every 2 weeks and always does an ultrasound for me) the baby looks fantastic. He did however see a sac to the right of the baby and gestational sac. This is called a subchorionic bleed. What it means is that the placenta pulls away from the edge of the uterus causing a bleed. It is about the size of an inch which my doctor said that he was surprised by. He thought the amount was pretty large. He told me "I am taking you off of work." I giggled and said "Whatever." He looked at me and I said "Seriously? I know I should probably be upset right now but I'm not." It is funny because before the appointment I had been wondering what I could say to him to make him put me on bed rest so I could get out of work. I haven't been to work for 2 weeks now. One week they put me on call because they knew I wasn't feeling well and the second my Dr sent a note because I had a temp of 102.2 and the flu. I was actually scheduled to work tomorrow and Thursday and wasn't looking forward to it now that I have morning sickness all day long. Anyways, the Dr said that it should resolve on its own but he doesn't want to take any chances at this point. I see him next Tuesday and then we will see if the bleed is gone or what the report is.
Now as many of you know Nate travels quite a bit. In fact, he is in Kentucky today and will be in Missouri tomorrow and Thursday. Well if I am on bedrest, who is going to take care of me? My mother-in-law so graciously (OK, she practically jumped all over the offer) accepted to come to Phoenix and help me out. How nice is that? It will make it easier on me and I think it will take a bit of stress off of Nate too which is good.

I hate being sick

2009-03-09T10:30:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I have been very sick. I am actually going on my 3 week of being sick but am finally getting better. I had the flu with a temperature of 102.2. It was horrible. Now that the temp and sore throat are gone, I am starting to get morning sickness. It is hard for me to tell if it is part of the flu or part of the pregnancy. I am not sick enough to be in the bathroom but my stomach is just upset and churning from the moment I wake up until late afternoon. It is not a pleasant feeling. Poor Nate has been taking care of me. It is no fun for him. He wants to go do things and have fun and I want to lay on the couch all day. I feel like a big blob! Prior to pregnancy I used to run everyday for 45 minutes. When I found out i was pregnant, I stopped running because I was so afraid that I would cause a miscarriage. After we saw the heartbeat, I began running again and then I got sick about a week later. My life lately has been laying on the couch and watching tv. I don't even feel up to sewing or anything. Maybe in a few weeks I will feel better..........Hopefully:) Hope you all are feeling better than me!

Our little bean

2009-02-26T08:22:00.001-08:00

This ultrasound was done on 2/24/09. Approximately 6 days prior the gestational sac was only the size of a sunflower seed. Now it is the size of a large grape and you can actually see the baby. It is amazing but the little bean shaped thing is a baby and it already has a heartbeat.

New developments (literally)

2009-02-25T18:10:00.000-08:00

Well, as many of you know, Nate and I are pregnant. I am six weeks and due on 10/21/09. We are ecstatic and we were able to hear the heartbeat yesterday. It really is an amazing thing. I have not been nauseous at all. I have been extremely tired though. Especially today. I guess that explains the 2 hour nap. LOL. Nate and I have started looking at all the fun baby stuff that we get to buy now. Looking at the toys I have realized that the colors really don't go with our decor. What will we do? Well, that is our update. We will keep you all posted. Oh yes, and our baby is 2.6mm. When we heard the heartbeat I had tears in my eyes. Nate was sitting next to me holding my hand. He says to the ultrasound tech (during this moving moment) "Could you make sure to zoom in on the male parts?" We all got a kick out of it, considering that the baby is so tiny and looks like a little bean. Then when they were drawing my blood he asked the nurse if he could ask her a question. He holds up the ultrasound picture and asks her who the baby looks more like. Oh my goodness he has quite the sense of humor. He makes me laugh so much. Anyways, that is it for now.

More pics of the diaper bags

2009-02-24T18:13:00.001-08:00

This one is my favorite of the two.

Diaper bags

2009-02-24T18:01:00.000-08:00

Here are 2 diaper bags that I made. I am so proud of them. The first one has a divider in it and the second one doesn't . I like the fabrics in the second one much better than the first.

What's been going on

2009-02-17T19:24:00.000-08:00

Well, let's see. There hasn't been too much happening here in AZ. The weather has been great and Nate and I have both been working quite a bit. I was supposed to work today but I got put on call. I love being on call. As you all can see I have been sewing a lot. It is my new thing I guess. It keeps me busy. Nate and I have been finding a bunch of friends and relatives on facebook. It is pretty neat to see what everyone is up to these days. Well, we are going to play a game on the Wii so I guess I will have to write later.:)

Kimono Dress

2009-02-17T17:52:00.000-08:00

This is one of my new creations. Ok, I followed a pattern but I've never made a dress before. This one is for a 9 - 12 month old. It took me 6 hours to do this one today. Whew, I think Im done sewing for today. :)

booties

2009-02-17T05:11:00.000-08:00

So my new project was making these booties. They are my first pair ever and are pretty cute but not exactly what I wanted. I think that I need a bit more practice. LOL

Flowers

2009-02-09T19:38:00.000-08:00

Nate and I made this one together. I saw the flowers at Michaels and he made that box for them to go in. we filled it with river rock and arranged the flowers. Isn't it nice? It's fun to do those little things together.

My latest kimono

2009-02-09T19:31:00.000-08:00

I am really on a roll with these. I went to Joanns to get some stabilizer to make a crib bumper and a crib skirt. When I got home I was too tired to start a new project so I decided to stick with something that I knew. I am getting pretty proficient making them:)

Nursing Graduation

2009-02-09T14:41:00.000-08:00

Ok so this is a little late but here are a few pics of graduation. My mom and dad were able to come out and I was sooooo happy that they were here. I hope that you all like the white dress and hat that I am in. I almost died when I found out that we had to wear traditional nursing outfits. I can't imagine going to work in that. :(

My new hobby

2009-02-08T15:42:00.000-08:00

Ok so I usually sew quilts and that kind of stuff but I am not very good at patterns for clothing. My girlfriend bought a book of a bunch of cute baby projects. I decided to make these kimono pjs. The lime green ones are my first ones and my trial pair. The green with the light blue flowers are made with Amy Butler midwest modern fabrics. I think they are super cute.

Garage

2009-02-08T15:29:00.000-08:00

Ok so here are a few pics of the garage. Forgive the quality of the pictures. It is raining in Phoenix and the garage lights are a bit lacking. So after we did the floor coating we bought some shelving units and some gladiator wall storage systems to get a little more organized. At least now we can find things. When I was cleaning and organizing I found so many multiples of things. I guess we will be saving a bunch of money at the home improvement store in the future for those little things that we never used to be able to find around the house.

SOOOOOOOO Busy

2009-02-08T15:11:00.000-08:00

Wow, it has been quite a long time since I've written. There has been quite a bit that has been going on. I'm still working as a Postpartum nurse . In fact, I was offered a job in the labor and delivery department but I turned it down. I just really love where Im at and I love all the girls that I get to work with. It really is awesome. I have to say that if any of you are thinking of getting into nursing that the schooling is horrible but the job is awesome. I wouldn't trade it for the world. (It is a good thing that Nate really encouraged me, ok, basically bribed me to finish nursing school. LOL.
Nate recently got a promotion at work. He now oversees Kentucky and Missouri along with Cali and AZ. He is very busy and always traveling. We have recently done some home improvement. We put an epoxy floor coating in the garage. I picked the color so it is a little bit feminine. Oops!!! I meant it to be a modern blue but it turned out to be girly. LOL. Poor Nate. I guess I am fired from color choices in the future. (In my own defense, he should have known before telling me to choose the color. I painted the master bedroom 5 times:))

WOW what a summer!!!

2008-07-07T16:48:00.000-07:00

So, as many of you know I am in nursing school. Our school decided to do an accelerated summer program so that some of us could graduate in August. Well, I am almost done!!! As of today I have one more lecture day and 2 more clinicals. Of course I have to do 8 shifts at the hospital for my preceptorship but the school part is almost over!!!! I am super excited. That is just an update from us. I know that I haven't posted in a while but when I am finished school there will be a lot more activity on this blog. Edgar is taking me to Las Vegas when I finish and I am thrilled. I can't wait. I can finally relax and Edgar will finally have dinner cooked again and his clothes will be ironed. Those are two things that he hasn't had done from me in a while:( Poor guy. He is awesome and supportive and says he doesn't mind one bit at all. I love him:)

Rock Band

2008-04-28T21:38:00.000-07:00

Ok, so my new favorite hobby is playing RockBand on XBOX. Who would have thought it would be sooooo much fun. This is a picture of my and some of my nursing school classmates taking a break from studying. It was pretty stinkin fun!!!!

Perfect for a Nurse!!!!! LOL

2008-04-28T21:36:00.001-07:00

Re decorating

2008-04-15T21:34:00.000-07:00

Ok, Ok, so I know its been a while but we have been super busy. I am just finishing up my 3rd semester of nursing school and Edgar just recently went into a new business venture. It has been crazy......and on top of that, I am enrolled in an accelerated program at school so I will graduate in August of 2008. WOW!!! With all of that, we found time to redecorate. I made these curtains and the carpet is made up of carpet tiles. We put the design together. It is so bright and happy. I love it. (And so does Edgar. You can see he is thrilled to be in the pictures)

Brutus is not cooperating

2007-12-07T17:12:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures of Nate and Brutus. Brutus is a bit stubborn and wouldn't hold still for the pictures. These were taken in early December 2007. You can see that the weather in AZ never changes. It is always beautiful!

Nursing School

2007-12-07T09:57:00.000-08:00

I have been studying for this exam in nursing school for about 3 weeks now. If I could get in the excellent range of scores than I would be excluded from having to take the final. I actually got in the superior range with a score of 950 out of 1000. WOW!!! I am so excited. I am done for the semester so now I can relax. What a relief. I feel like my brain is about to explode. I can no longer tie my shoes but I can cardiovert a patient in acute atrial fibrillation to save their life!!!

Personal shopper

2007-12-02T11:45:00.000-08:00

I was complaining that I didn't have anything to wear so Edgar decided to solve that problem for me. He went out and bought me a bunch of outfits. He did really well with the sizes and styles. I was so thrilled. He really was sent to me from Heaven. He is my angel and I love him. (who wouldn't!!!! )

Pictures in sepia

2007-12-02T11:41:00.000-08:00

Here are some pics of Brutus and I. I was fooling around with some photo editing.

A cold day in Phoenix

2007-12-02T11:01:00.000-08:00

Wow! It is soooo cold here today. I got up to run at 6 am and it was 42 degrees out. That is the coldest that it has been this year. I decided to play in the yard with Brutus in the afternoon when it warmed up. He loves to play tug of war and fetch but he can be a little crazy sometimes. You may be wondering where Edgar is. He has decided that he doesn't like to be in pictures anymore. I will have to see if I can snap a few of him later. LOL

Quilts

2007-11-21T21:14:00.000-08:00

These are some quilts that I have made in my craft room. The pink and green one was my first real quilt that I ever made. I got the fabric for the second one from an awesome quilt shop in Las Vegas called Quiltique. I absolutely love that store. I can't wait until our next trip out there so that I can get some more fabric and start on another one!!!

2007-11-21T21:11:00.000-08:00

Here is another pic of Monica's baby shower. These are some of the guys in my class. They don't look like typical nurses, do they? LOL They make class very interesting.

2007-11-21T21:01:00.000-08:00

This is a picture of Monica and I at her baby shower a few weeks ago. Monica is one of my girlfriends in my nursing school. She is going to have her baby in January. I am so excited for her!!!!! I sewed her some homemade burp cloths. She loved them. I can't wait to have my own babies so I can start keeping some of the blankets and burp cloths that I make. LOL

Craft Room

2007-11-07T05:56:00.000-08:00

Well, here are some pictures of my finished craft room. I usually spend a lot of time in here....... but lately I have been focusing on school. The last things that I made were some burp cloths for a classmate that is having her first baby.

2007-10-19T16:24:00.000-07:00

Well,
Here are some recent photos that Nate took. We were just about to go to a design show in downtown phoenix. It was pretty neat to see all the great ideas there. We got a lot of inspiration for our house. We typically decorated in a traditional style but now we are thinking that we would like a change. I have pretty much "undecorated" the entire downstairs so that we can get a better look at the room to see what new things we might be able to do. Once we choose at least one piece of furniture, I think that it'll move along quickly....... It is just getting to that point. We are both really unsure of what we want. LOL

It's been a while

2007-10-16T18:02:00.000-07:00

Well,
It has been quite a long time since I posted anything. I started up nursing school again, so needless to say, I don't have a lot of free time. The courses this semester are pretty rigorous so I spend most of my time studying. I also have a 12 hour rotation at the hospital on Saturday and that eats up a lot of our fun time. The weather out here has finally started to change. The days are around 85-88 degrees and the nights are getting down into the 50s. It is beautiful. This is why we love Arizona. Edgar and I will be going to NH for Christmas this year and we are looking forward to seeing everyone. We may even take a trip to Boston! It will be nice to see snow again. Hopefully they have some by that time in the season. Well, I will start to post more frequently now. Hopefully I can take some pictures and post them too!

White Tank Mountains

2007-06-26T20:55:00.000-07:00

Our house is at the base of the White Tank Mountains, a national park. Edgar and I decided to take Brutus up there on a Saturday to go hiking. I thought it would be fun to get a picture of me hugging the cactus that is to the right of me in the pic. Unfortuately, I must have moved because I got stuck in about 7 different places on the palm of my hand. All Edgar could do was laugh and take a picture. LOL. Smart move.

My Craft Room

2007-06-26T20:48:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of my craft room. I have always wanted an apple green room. These pics were taken before it was finished. I need to take some more of the finished room. I made the curtain and the ribbon board in the second picture. I spend a lot of time in this room. I do rubber stamping, scrapbooking, and sewing. Edgar is very supportive of my addictions in these areas.

Home in Arizona

2007-06-26T14:57:00.000-07:00

These are some pictures of our home in Arizona. I have had a few requests for some pics of the house, so here they are. They were taken when we first moved in. We now have furniture and accessories so it looks a bit different. We are currently redecorating the family room (not pictured). When we finish, I will put another post up.

Just kidding

2007-06-20T13:26:00.000-07:00

OK, here is the real backyard. The pic of the pool and house below is actually one of Edgar's designs. He really is very talented. We haven't finished the other side of the yard that isn't in this pic. It is a sunken patio. It is about 4 feet deep. On one side there is a waterfall that disappears below ground level and on the other is a fireplace. We still have to finish the retaining wall and the stone facade. I'm sure it won't be too long until it's done. Edgar built all the stone walls by himself and he even went to Mexico and bought me the fountain as a surprise for my birthday last year. Isn't he thoughtful.

our backyard now

2007-06-20T13:03:00.001-07:00

Except for some help with the hardscape and planting the larger trees, Edgar did this himself. He really is amazing. We weren't sure about getting a pool but we finally decided that we would really enjoy one. Edgar did a great job of transitioning the pool area to the planter beds and the sod. My grandfather, Vinny, helped Edgar lay the sod back in November. He was such a big help.

Our backyard

2007-06-20T12:55:00.000-07:00

This is what the backyard started like. Edgar is a fantastic landscaper. He is a perfectionist and is great at what he does. He has really turned our yard into an oasis.

Brutus

2007-06-20T12:51:00.000-07:00

These pictures were taken by my girlfriend. She is a phenomenal photographer, although she will tell you that these pics weren't the greats. Nate and I think that they are awesome. (Brutus agrees too!) If anyone needs pics, let me know and I will send you the link to her blog. She's great!

Our baby, Brutus

2007-06-20T12:45:00.000-07:00

We know that some of you have much cuter babies than this one. For instance, maybe you have two of the sweetest littlest babies at the same time. Or maybe you have spread them out and have 3 or 4. (You know who you are!) Either way, there is one similarity between all these babies. They all drool the same. LOL.
Brutus is about 2.5 years old. He weighs about 125 lbs and is quite a goof. He is very spoiled by Edgar.

Edgar's New Toy

2007-06-19T19:57:00.000-07:00

We finally got rid of my old Honda Passport. I was sad to see it go but oh so happy for something that had good a/c. Edgar had been wanting a truck to do all his manly excursions with. When he found this one he fell in love. How sweet. It is definetly nice to be able to see over the other vehicles on the road. When we drive the car, we feel like we are on the ground. LOL After test driving a few other models, we decided that we liked the power of the Duramax. This truck even has a chip to give us additional horse power when we need it. Like the other day when Nate got pulled over. I told him to step on it but he decided to pull over and abide by the law. He was doing 67 in a 45! :) And yes, he did get a ticket.

San Diego

2007-06-19T19:53:00.000-07:00

This was taken in San Diego on Memorial Day weekend. We were standing in front of the Star of India down by the bay.

MEXICO

2007-06-19T19:44:00.000-07:00

On Memorial Day weekend, Edgar and I decided to make a trip to San Diego and go to Mexico. The bottom pic is of Tijuana. We had so much fun. The vendors have so many neat things. I absolutely loved the ceramic dishes that they have. They had hand painted ceramic sinks and they were selling them for 35.00$ When I got home, I searched them on the internet and found them selling for 190.00$ each. Wow. That just goes to show you the mark up. If anyone wants anything ( like prada, coach, dooney and bourke etc ) let me know. They are super cheap!

Labadee, Haiti

2007-06-19T19:36:00.001-07:00

Here we are in Labadee. This is Royal Caribbean's private island in Haiti. They did allow some vendors on the island so that we could shop. Edgar and I have been to Mexico before and so we thought that we knew what to expect when bartering with the "locals." The people here are about 100 times more aggressive than mexicans are. There were a few times when I thought that we weren't going to make it out of the market. The would literally chase you to get you to come back to their shop. Scary.

A Series of Unfortunate Events

2007-06-19T19:29:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of Edgar. The day after St. Martin he got a rash all over his body. It was from a combination of the sun and the antibiotics that he was on. He was soooo itchy, that I took all our towels and wet them down. I made him lay down and cover up with the wet towels to help the itching. It was hilarious. He really was in a lot of pain though:( A doctor's visit and 200$ later, he was feeling much better ) LOL

ST MARTIN

2007-06-19T19:26:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of the port in St. Martin. This was our second spot. We went snorkeling on one of the surrounding islands. I couldn't believe all the tropical fish that we saw.

Rum Distillery in San Juan

2007-06-18T19:49:00.000-07:00

These pics were taken at the Bacardi Rum Distillery in San Juan. We thought that the tour would be awesome. We wanted some time on the island to explore and since this excursion was about 2 hours, we thought that we'd have plenty of time to shop in the markets afterwards. We really wanted to learn about how rum was made. We figured that since sugar cane is Puerto Rico's main crop and since Rum is made from this that we would learn a bit about the island. It ended up being horrible. We waited in the hot sun for about 1.5 hours and the tour lasted for about 15 minutes in a small room. We didn't even get to see the machines that they use for fermenting the sugar cane etc. We did get some good pictures though.

2007-06-18T19:41:00.000-07:00

Here is Edgar in the dining room. It was 3 stories high. The food was delicious and the service was excellent. We both dieted before the cruise but I think that we each gained a bit of weight with all the eating that we did. LOL!

2007-06-18T19:29:00.000-07:00

So, I finally got Edgar to take a "real" vacation. He really needed a break from work and we needed some alone time.

This is the ship that we took our cruise on. Currently it is the largest cruise ship in the world. It had an ice skating ring, movie theatre, surfing simulator, miniature golf course, casino etc etc etc. It holds about 7000 people. WOW. We absolutely loved it. We went to San Juan, St Martin, and Labadee.

2007-06-18T19:23:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone! This is our new blog. Everyone is doing it so we'd thought we'd join in too. These blogs are super easy to do and a great way to stay in touch with family and friends. We hope you all will do it too!

Here we are on 6/17/07 at Christen and John's wedding in Las Vegas. We just came back from our vacation in the Caribbean on Saturday and made the drive to LV that night. We were so tired. It was a great wedding! We are so glad we made it.