Around the Yard

The apple tree.

Apple crisp, apple pie... maybe. ;)

I have a few flowers on the front deck (thanks to Jessica and Carrie's receptions - their step-mom Kathy did a wonderful job with their centerpieces!)

These are on my neighbors back patio.

So pretty!

These can be found on the side of our house.

I'm not even really sure what they are.

Preston's flowers. 

He got these on his field trip to Medary Acres and yelled at us several times that they had died.

Guess they didn't. ;)

Dustin's New Truck

Everyone's heard the story by now ...

 

Dustin's truck got hit about a month ago, in the middle of the night. I'm still trying to figure out how none of us were woken up by it.

 

Here's Dustin's truck after the accident.



 

After about a week, we got her insurance information. We then had to wait another week or so to find out if she actually had insurance.

 

She didn't.

 

So we started the process with our insurance company.

An adjuster came out and decided to total the truck.

The whole process moved very quickly, which was nice considering we had been dealing with all this for a month.

 

Dustin and I had gone last weekend to test drive a truck and everything fell into place with insurance and our loan officer to get the truck we had checked out.  :)

 

 

Dustin loves it and so do I!

Now we wait to see what transpires ... our inurance company is seeking damages/our deductible.

I'm not holding my breath.

Random Fun

 Lilli Jo can't get enough of her brother's puzzle. We took away the pieces so she would stop eating them and this is now her favorite way to play with it.

 Snapped this photo before Preston realized I was taking his picture.

 Then he promptly hid so I couldn't take his picture anymore.

 I'm not really sure what the exchange is here. :)

"Hawk Smash"

That's how it sounds to me when he says it. It could be something else entirely. For weeks he was running  around saying "Pop Bombers". We later discovered that it was Power Rangers.

Since we've no place to go ... 

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!

We had planned all along to ring in the new year at home, so this wonderful blizzard doesn't bother me at all! 

I got myself a new camera for Christmas, so I thought I would share some pictures on this snowy day.

 Preston loves his new toys he got for Christmas!

 Took him to get a haircut yesterday ... such a big boy!

And ... Preston's idea of a good time when you're snowed in. Wear your pants on your head!

Happy New Year Everyone! 

“We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day.” 

Edith Lovejoy Pierce

Recipe Hunting

With our tv shows on hiatus over the holidays, we've been watching The Sopranos lately (we have the whole series on DVD). Every time we watch it, I have this uncontrollable urge to eat Italian food and drink wine. So I've been searching for a recipe for Chicken Carbonara ... and I think I found a good one. The recipe is courtesy of Giada De Laurentiis; I love her show Everyday Italian but I don't think I've ever attempted any of her recipes. I'm thinking we'll also have to have Baked Ziti some night this week, it's Dustin's favorite. Here's hoping my Carbonara turns out tonight!

Happy Holidays!

Last Friday night, Dustin and I went to my holiday party and then last night we went out for supper with his co-workers. Mom and Dad took the grandkids to see Santa while we were at my party ... I'm anxiously awaiting pictures!

Then on Saturday Mom and I went to the Gallery of Gifts, albeit a little late (they were packing up when we got there). We got there late because we had to drop off my wedding dress at Kristen's. She's going to incorporate parts of my dress into Preston's suit for his baptism. I think she's going to make a blanket out of my dress too. Then it was of to Shade Vineyard for their annual Christmas gathering that they have. Preston got to see Santa there as well. We got something quite special there, but I'm saving that for later.

Next up is the kids holiday party for work, which is this Saturday. Pretty sure I'm going to go and get some more pictures of Preston with Santa. Might as well go as much as I can before he's terrified of the guy!

I go back to work next week. I haven't decided how I feel about that. While I'm anxious to be among adults again, it's hard to imagine not being with Preston all day, every day. But we have a great daycare provider, so I'm not worried about that.

The Weekend

This weekend started off great. We went over to my grandparents new house Friday night and helped them move some stuff and went back on Saturday to help move the rest. It was a great day for moving ... and I probably say this because I didn't have to do much! I unpacked some stuff and Randy came over with Allie in the afternoon so I just chased her around.

Then Saturday night I went to Sex and the City with my friend Lucy. It was amazing. I cannot wait for the movie to be available on DVD. Thanks again for going with me Lucy! And Dustin thanks you too ... Ha!!

Saturday also marked the halfway point of my pregnancy. So exciting!

Sunday was not so good. About a half hour after I woke up, I got sick. I had a brief period where I thought I was getting better and then it got bad again. The last bout of vomiting gave me a bloody nose, so we called Ask-a-Nurse. Upon her recommendation, and the recommendation of my parents and sister, we went to the emergency room. Now, normally I would have toughed it out. But when you're pregnant it's not just about you. Got to the ER and they gave me some anti-nausea medicine and an iv to get me hydrated. We hung out there for about an hour or so and then went home. I felt better than I did before we went, but I still felt like crap. On doctors orders, I'm home resting today. I feel much better though. Just tired and sore. I'm on the BRAT diet and it's going well. I'm just anxious to get back to normal.

Learning

Every once in a while I come across tutorials that help me develop my skills in the programs I use. This little ditty is one I've been working on the last couple of days. So fun!

Random

Let's see ... hosted book group last Thursday and made my weird food. It wasn't bad, but it certainly wasn't great! I don't know that I'll make it again, but at least I can say that I made some Afghanistan food to go with the book. Ha!

Did some yard work this weekend and I've decided that I need some plants or flowers or something on my patio. I have to find things that won't mind if I forget about them ... I have a tendency to kill any type of flower or plant I come in contact with. Mom, this is where you come in. We might have to hit up Medary Acres or something this next weekend.

Went out to Jessica and Josh's Saturday night for supper. It's always so nice to go out there and just hang out. We had a very informal supper (and discovered that we both like grilled cabbage) and then had a fire and listened to the coyotes. It's so peaceful out there.

Just realized today that RibFest is next weekend. I'm not quite sure how summer managed to sneak up on me, but I'm sure glad it did. Mom pointed out that it's been so chilly lately that it's hard to believe summer is on it's way. Also realized that I don't have to work a week from today. Good to know ... I probably would have went to work. ;-)

I ordered a couple new books from my book club (Doubleday) and they arrived today. Yay! Except I realized that I already own one of the books that I purchased. I must have really liked it! I know exactly how it happened. James Patterson has a new women's murder club book and I thought I ordered that one. I didn't. Oh well.

I think that's about it. Not much else is going on. I've had a couple doctor's appointments and everything is going great. We go again in June and I've been told that we'll have another ultrasound. Dustin and I purchased a new printer for our computer and it's also a copier/scanner, so I'll be able to share the ultrasound with everyone!!