another stella day

home at last

2010-11-15T23:21:00.016-05:00

Words do no justice to how amazing it is to have the family back together again. Saturday brought him home, and it couldn't have been a more perfect day.

Even though the flight was delayed by a few hours, it played well into Eli's nap schedule. I was able to get myself all prettied up while Eli got his beauty rest.

Of course, the preparation started the night before while I cleaned up the last little bits of the house. And then at one point found myself sobbing (sobbing?) because I couldn't believe the day was almost here.

And on an almost total coincidence we had figured out that Jim would have a layover in the morning 45 minutes from his parents' house. So I was on and off the phone with my MIL trying to make the logistics of the morning work. And it all payed off!

At about 7 in the morning, and to Jim's utter surprise, he was greeted off the plane in Norfolk, VA by his parents and two of his greatest buddies.

He enjoyed a leisurely lay-over and some Panera take-out while catching up with the east coast.

A few hours later he flew on to El Paso! Which is my favorite part. I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story. It's a pretty amazing one.

Waiting for the plane to land.

They're HERE!!!

Coming in the hanger. Very dramatic.
They even had a smoke machine.

Can you spot Jim? (Third on the left.) We were so close but had to wait through the 5.5 second speech. Seriously, it was almost funny how short it was.

Reunion!

I had a hard time keeping it together. Truthfully, I didn't even try. His first hug just left me crying in his arms.

Eli, on the other hand, had a deer-in-the-headlights look. Poor guy, he was very overwhelmed by all the commotion.

Checking out daddy.

I need to give a shout-out to my friends who came to take pictures and generally be supportive. Crystal, Liz and the whole Dykema clan cheered almost as loud as I did when the guys marched in. And I have to laugh, because the Dykema's had never even met Jim. They are just those kind of awesome people.

- - - - -

Thanks to all of you who prayed through the last year with us. Believe it or not it was an amazing year. Only God can turn what seems like bad luck into His perfect will, ya know? So if your prayers were not just for safety, but also a thriving marriage and a growing understanding of family, then consider them answered. I also got a stronger relationship with a God who makes all things GOOD to those who LOVE Him and are CALLED to His purposes. Romans 8:28. Check it out. It is well worth the ride..

so much to be done

2010-11-09T13:15:00.009-05:00

(image and pad available by finchandhawk.)

So what does a girl do to fill the days before her man comes home after a year??

Man, it's a long list. Partially because the list started before he left.

There have been things that I'd planned to do while he was gone, you know, to pass the time. They are still sitting staring at me. Really? You've had how many days, Karen, and that pile you vowed to go through is in its same exact spot? Sigh, yes.

So in an effort to have Jim think that while he was gone, I had it all together all the time, I still have to:

Empty out the big bin that's been hiding on the other side of my bed. It's full of notebooks, mail, and other stuff I pulled off of my counter the day I hosted a baby shower for 20.
Get my husband's favorite picture framed that he asked, "Maybe while I'm gone you can finally get that done?"
Wash the dogs. It's been a while.
Clean out the garage. Baby stuff has taken over and I'm not sure he can get his motorcycle out.
Organize our bathroom closet. It's only gotten worse over the last year.
~~Get a pedicure!~~ Because I'm pretty sure one of the first things he's going to notice is my feet. Ha!
Speaking of, I should probably shave my legs, too.
~~Shampoo rugs.~~
~~Clean the house.~~ (more on that later.)
Wash our sheets and comforter.

Slowly things are being crossed off. But time is a'tickin', people!

51 weeks down, 1 more to go?

2010-11-08T22:13:00.005-05:00

Jim left a year ago next week. And I can't wait for him to get back. The countdown is at days now, not even weeks! So, so exciting.

Today Eli and I went to welcome some good friends home. The flights have been coming in and Facebook has been a-buzz with reunion pictures and tear-inducing statuses.

Eli with some recently returned friends.

If you've never gotten to see a military home-coming, try to. It's so worth it. The kids are all running around in their patriotic t-shirts. Banners line the walls. And when the crowd sees the plane land, there is a cheer that you can only appreciate in person.

My favorite moment of the day was when, after many of the initial hellos were done and the crowd was starting to break up, I turned around just in time to catch one of Jim's co-workers lean his wife back and give her a big ol' smoochers. I'm pretty sure I'm the only one that saw it. But it melted my heart and made me secretly hope Jim gives me one like that.

So today got me all the more excited for "our day". Which is pretty ridiculous since my insides are already fluttering in anticipation.

He can't get home soon enough!

But I know he's working on it. Because I've gotten word that he's probably on a plane somewhere at this very moment. Which means he can't Skype anymore.

Which is fine with me because that means that the next time I see him, I'll SEE him!

tx and emails

2010-03-07T14:30:00.001-05:00

Remember this pic? It's amazing what a year and 3 months can bring.

Texas has welcomed us with open arms and amazing weather. Today the blinds are drawn and the back door is open to let the beautiful sunshine in. A few flies, too, actually. But nothing is deterring me from loving this Texas spring.

So first and foremost I would like to give El Paso a shout-out for it's short-sleeves and flip-flops.

Secondly, I'd like share with you a little snapshot of life here for Karen and Eli. I wasn't able to talk to Jim for a few days last week so as I was missing him something terrible, I sat down to type and email. I thought I'd share some of it with you:

so, things i've wanted to tell you the last few days...
Eli is by far the cutest little boy in the world. i love his puffy i-just-woke-up eyes and the way he melts into me when i first pick him up after a nap.
except when i have to see those eyes at 4:30 in the morning. like this morning. and a few others this week.
poor little guy is teething like crazy. drool galor. i got some Hylands teething tablets (thankfully endorced by Julie H.) and i'm not sure how well they help but at least i feel like i'm doing something for him. he sounds so pathetic with his wimpering.
Eli had his first playdate yesterday. apparently there's a standing invitation to all those in the neighborhood to meet at the playground at 10am on Mondays.
i love living on post.
and Eli loves the swing. he's still a little small for it, but he was happy to gnaw on the plastic seat all the same.
i'm still kicking myself for forgetting my camera. it was a beautiful El Paso first day of March. it was worthy of being documented and i failed. thankfully there's always next Monday.
remember how he didn't like carrots the other day? well, i've stealthfully hidden them in rice cereal and applesauce which works like a charm. and his poop is now sprinkled with orange confetti.
oh, and Eli had his first baby-sitter last night! he and she did great. Issi is Lisa's daughter and lives close enough to walk here, making things much easier. it was only for a few hours but he was peacefully sleeping when i got home from Bunco night.
until i decided to check on him and thought he was so cute laying face-up and spread eagle in the crib that i ended up waking him up. BIG mistake. he screamed bloody murder for most of an hour until I finally gave up and nursed him to sleep. BabyWise would be so disappointed in me.
lesson of the evening: let sleeping babies lie.
in other news... it's so dry here that sometimes when i go to pet Roxy, i shock her and she doesn't want to come near me for a while. i always feel so bad.

So we're all doing well here. Except for a little teething. And some desert air.

road trippin' again

2010-02-15T23:01:00.005-05:00

After a successful first leg with my grandfather keeping me awake at the wheel, Christie has joined the cross-country crusade.

It's been an amazing few months with family, but El Paso calls. And though I never thought I'd say it, I'm looking forward to getting back. Tomorrow we'll leave Tennessee and hopefully make some good time and sprint to Texas for the night. We'll see how it goes. We'll see you on the other side.

happy Wednesday, everyone

2010-02-08T23:46:00.005-05:00

Next he's going to want a tattoo. I'm not even ready for this.

from Jim, with love

2010-02-08T23:22:00.012-05:00

There are two things that make any deployment go faster for a soldier overseas. Facetime with the fam, and goodies in the mail.

Skype has made this deployment different and better than I ever expected. Words can't express my love for the inventors of free little internet electrons that shoot through the air between Iraq and America. I could kiss them. The inventors, not the electrons. Whom are from either Estonia or Sweden. Wikipedia can be so unclear.

But Eli doesn't care about any of that. He will spend his first year thinking his dad lives in a box. But at least that box has a face and smile. Not like that archaic and impersonal thing we used to know called a telephone.

As for the care packages, my husband has been the grateful recipient of many. Thanks to you who have gone out of your way to bake, tape and drive your way to the post office. Some with multiple kids in tow. You can't know what your selflessness does for the moral of a soldier overseas.

Jim would like to thank you in his own words for being the envy of the FOB Warrior post office. And offer advice for anyone wondering what they should jam into those handy Flat Rate boxes.

(Keeping in mind that only my husband can simultaneously thank people for sending him mail while asking for more.)

-------------------------------------------------------

Top 10 Care Package Contents
2009-2010 OIF Deployment

First and foremost, all deployed Soldiers LOVE care packages. On behalf of every Soldier that has been too busy or forgetful to ever send a “Thank you” note. . . Thank You. You could send a box of rocks and Soldiers would be happy to get a package in the mail; so if items from your care package did not make the Top 10 List, don’t think they weren’t appreciated. All of your mail have been and will be the brightest part of our day. Some additional notes: *Notice “2009-2010 OIF Deployment” in the title; often folks send the same items they send during Desert Storm. Truly, there are some classics (see #9 baby wipes and # 10 fresh baked anything) but Care Packages trends change from deployment to deployment. And of course this is all subjective. But what follows is my Soldiers' and my Top Ten List. So without further ado. . .

10. Fresh Baked Anything – Yummy and it reminds us of home. (Taste vary on this one; but G. Nittle has kept me well supplied in TASTY “friendship bread” during both my deployments)

9. Baby wipes and hand sanitizer – Iraq is a dirty country; that’s why we are here to clean it up. We have to get our “hands dirty” from time to time.

8. Hygiene and pamper items – I have not yet figured out how to use the “bubble bath” someone sent me, but all the bath and body works shampoos, conditioners, and body washes are GREAT! Bonus if they are travel size.

7. BULK (Anything enough to share with the entire unit or half of Iraq) – JEB Little Creek Chapel sent over 50 stockings for my Soldiers for Christmas. (Because of the busy-ness of having just arrived in country, we were unable to get a great “stocking group picture.”) Churches from Clarksville have also sent some MASSIVE care packages our way. The exciting thing is after all the Soldiers go through the boxes, our advise and assist unit gives the rest to our Iraqi Army partners, who are a close second for gratitude when it come to accepting your generous gifts.

6. DVDs – Anything new and exciting to watch.

5. Mix CDs – What’s new? What’s hot? (We have no idea, so I have always appreciated mixed CDs from any genre)

4. Anything organic or healthy (that can be mailed overseas) – There are no Trader Joes in Iraq. (frown)

3. Junk food – Yeah, we miss our favorite candy, chips, and jerky. Just don’t send these in BULK.

2. Pillows, sheets, and blankets – This one is a unique request, but one that effects almost half of our time in Iraq. Soldiers usually don’t have room to take nice pillows and sheets to Iraq, but when B. Robinson and the gang from Dominion Power sent pillows and a twin sheet set . . . JACKPOT! And the good news story is that I plan on giving the pillows and sheets to an Iraqi family before we leave.

AND THE NUMBER ONE CARE PACKAGE CONTENT . . . (drum roll) . . .

1. Pictures or videos from home – We miss you all very much! And if we have an office, we tend to litter the walls with pictures of people we love.

-------------------------------------------------------

And for a bonus feature, I will include:
MY personal Top 10 Care Package Requests
2009-2010 OIF Deployment.

10. Fresh Baked Anything = currency with local nationals here. (One of the famous artists here is going to paint a portrait of Karen because I shared cookies with him)

9. Anything organic or healthy (that can be mailed overseas) – There are no Trader Joes in Iraq. Gonna run out of my flavored organic oatmeal soon. (frown)

8. Cigars – I know many of you are surprised that this didn’t rank higher, but I’m pretty much stocked up on “Vitamin C.” I always love getting cigars though; it encourages me to share. (My favorite right now is the Gurkha Platinum & Grand Reserve and the Acid Roams.

7. U.S. Savings Bonds or Gold Bars – This would truly help send Eli to college. What is the tuition at Grove City these day?

6. TV series on DVD – I don’t have time to watch movies, so this is a nice compromise.

5. Mix CDs – (I need to stock the iPOD with some awesome workout music . . . any suggestions? PS Thanks to the Whaleys I have some serious Amazon bucks.)

4. Frocs – Yes the inexpensive “fake crocs.” Any cheap knock off of a genuine creature comfort is great. I won’t feel bad giving it to an Iraqi before I leave. “I’m a size 9, just like everyone else here.” – I can’t recall the name of the Soldier in Band of Brothers.

3. Rubber duckies and nice, big, fluffy towels – “You make bath time so much fun. . .”

2. Crazy random stuff from Party City, Dollar Store, or Spencers – Makes for great goofy pictures! (Warning: Spencers stores are not for the faint of heart.)

1. Small fishing lures – Yep, I plan on some serious fishing with Brandon when I get back. One small fishing lure a month will keep me motivated and focused on the finish line.

the east has been good to us

2010-02-07T23:23:00.005-05:00

Eli and I have been back east for 63 days and it's been a whirlwind. We've seen friends and family galore. And now we've seen snow. Lots of it. And like any good mother, I made sure to take the obligatory kid-who-can-barely-move-inside-his-snow-suit pictures. We couldn't get any smiles out of him, but I assure you the giggles returned once he thawed inside.

If I was still in Texas and had missed all this winter wonderland fun, I would have cried. Because I. Love. Weather. For the 29 hours that it took us to get our 24 inches, I was a constant on weather.com. I love me some satellite trackers. The whole thing brought back high school memories, bugging the neighbor next door who just happen to be the superintendent of the school system to beg him to cancel school for the week.

As the first snowflake fell, my mom and I hit up the two stores that every girl needs when stocking up for a snow-in: Safeway and JoAnns. Along with everyone else. It seems we weren't the only ones looking for milk and some crafty entertainment for the weekend.

Eli didn't seem phased by the excitement too much. Which is too bad, really. Had he been a year or two older, this would have been his winter to remember. He may never see snow like this again.

Of course, we could always get stationed in Alaska...

to you and yours

2010-01-02T09:30:00.004-05:00

As I was enjoying some quality son time a moment ago, the funniest and most predictable thing happened.

He was naked and cute and "airing out". I hear that's good for babies. I was looking into his blue eyes and just loving every ounce of him. And loving our family, as spread out as we are.

And then I got wet.

Thankfully I have some quick reflexes. And a handily placed diaper. But we will now be doing a load of wash that consists of
a full-sized blanket
a pair of yoga pants
a sock
a rabbit toy.

I hope your new year is full of happy family moments, as interrupted as they may be.

Army-Navy game

2009-12-13T22:34:00.010-05:00

I know I owe you all many updates on the happenings of the Grube home, including a 5-day cross-country trip that landed Eli, Roxy and I in Maryland for a few months. But Saturday was a big day. So I need to share.

I grew up in a Navy family. A family that holds the most important day of the year as the Army-Navy game, the biggest football rivalry in the world. Or at least that's what I was led to believe growing up. This year as no exception.

Maybe....

First I must explain. Being from a Navy family and rooting for Navy all my life means that switching teams would be a hard thing. But I'm now married to the Army, so what do I do?

Well, according to my dad it's easy. Because he and Jim made an agreement back in 2003 when Jim asked for my hand. At least this is how the story goes...

I could marry Jim if I root for Navy until I've been Army longer than I've been Navy.

So if I was married at 26, I can root for Navy until I'm 52. Then I have to switch sides. That'll be in 2030.

Did you follow that? Jim often reminds me that I'm allowed to change allegiance anytime before that. And I think I've already started to cave, actually. But don't tell my dad. Besides, it's not my fault. This little guy might have convinced me.

Because Jim has made me promise to never put Eli in Navy garb.

Ever.

So while we all piled into my parents' living room to watch the game on Saturday, everyone wore Navy shirts except for one. And he was the cutest of all.

a full week and a full heart

2009-11-17T00:00:00.003-05:00

These have been on my camera. They're snapshots from the last seven days before Jim left. Thought I'd share, because why not? They make me happy.

Remember at the beginning of the year when Jim took command? Well, last week he handed his unit off to another and took a different job within the battalion. It's a bittersweet day when you watch your husband fall into the formation of soldiers he's worked so hard for, instead of being in front of it. But for Jim this is a step up. I'm very proud he's been selected for this new position. Eli is, too. Can't you tell? Or maybe he's trying to escape...

One of our goals before Jim left was to ride the tramway up the Franklin Mountains and watch the sunset. Thanks to some friends who were willing to watch Eli, we had a delightful night just the two of us. It was crazy windy, but crazy worth it. If not just for that last picture that makes my heart skip a beat every time I see it.

As we waited Sunday morning for Jim's flight to leave, we found a warm corner and played one of our favorite games, Cribbage. Now it should be noted that I've been playing this game all my life, and Jim hasn't. So, I like to think of myself as way better than him. After all, it's about numbers and counting and I'm into that. But this last game I wasn't so lucky. Jim only needed seven points, and he got exactly that. Seven. Before the hand was played he told that if he wins I had to deploy for him. Gratefully he didn't hold me to it. Because among other reasons, I don't look good in camouflage.

These are my favorites. There have been many bonding moments with Eli. He smiles alot now and even coos back when we have conversations with him. He is definitely our favorite kid in the world. Jim soaked him in and is looking forward to running around with him when he returns.

_____________

I want to thank you all for blowing my inbox away with all the warm sentiments you left in my comments and on Facebook. It's hard to feel lonely when you guys have me surrounded. Your prayers mean the world to me, as the power of God in our lives can make mountains move. Let alone comfort a grieving heart. My heart is full. Which is quite an accomplishment. You... and I mean it... you have helped me get through the last few days.

Thank you.

and, he's gone...

2009-11-16T09:24:00.009-05:00

Yesterday we said our goodbyes. We've been anticipating this day for a year, and yet that out-of-control feeling still caught me by surprise as I watched the mass of uniforms move towards the buses.

I'm still grateful to those ladies walking about with their boxes of tissues. I don't cry very often. But yesterday as I stared at my steering wheel, I sobbed.

There was no hopeless "woe is me", or "how am I going to get through this". The tears were just sadness and the realization that it's finally happened. Jim has deployed.

I drove to Starbucks and had my customary frappachino. Why I chose to go in and melt into one of their couches, I'm not really sure. I didn't want to go home, I guess. Yet there comes a peace when a little baby falls asleep on your chest, and Eli played his part well. It all started to soak in. Sort of.

It's really hard to wrap your mind around a year.

But I don't think I really have to. It's more like, he'll be gone, then he'll be back. I'll wake up at the beginning of the day, and at night I'll put my head on my pillow. After enough of those, Jim will be home and Deployment #2 will be over.

Until then, I'll be thinking a lot about Romans 8:28, hanging out with Eli and waiting with bated breath for that next phone call from Jim.

That is one good thing about the Army. The honeymoon phase never really disappears.

I love you, hon. Stay safe out there. Your little family is missing you every moment.

Dang it. Where are those tissues.

SYTYCD - Top 16

2009-11-10T23:46:00.005-05:00

To those who are following the Sisterhood, Welcome! To those other loyal followers of my sadly neglected blog, I'm sorry if you're not into So You Think You Can Dance. And you're expecting more cute pictures of Eli. Or my still-not-finished nursery. Next time...

So, on with the Sisterhood! This is my first time recapping and I'm a bit nervous. Be kind. It's also a little last minute as I was called in as a sub. In fact, I should be honest and say that I haven't even watched the show since Vegas week. Not on purpose, though. Busy, busy, busy. I did my research and read all your recaps. However, I've decided to go into tonight giving all the dancers a fair chance. No preconcieved notions. (For the most part.) So these are my ramblings and impressions...

My first thought: Hey! New intro!

My second thought: What the heck, Cat??? Elvira? Really, I found her whole get-up very distracting all night.

On a similar note, after reading your recaps I was interested to meet this Karen girl and was disappointed to find out she was hotter than me. (Jim disagreed. He's such a good husband.)

Where was I? Right, Cat's crazy hair.

And a welcome/shout-out to last season's top dancers. It's been like a whole 2 months, right?

Then as Cat muffled a laugh while trying to compliment the joodges (did anyone else catch that?), Adam decided to wake up. Then way too much time cross-promoting various charities and shows. Cat doesn't seem impressed and almost falls asleep herself, I think. The coached applause from the audience only accentuated the boredom.

And then, as Cat said, "Back to tonight!"

First up, Karen & Kevin. Instantly Jim decides she's trying to channel JLo. Whatever. As long as she's not prettier than me. They do a hustle, which I didn't even know was a dance genre. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't too memorable for me. Afterwards Adams seems to just now notice that Kevin's in the competition. And Karen is a "quiet fire". And then he talked alot. Jim predicted a Train from Mary (who he refers to as Crazy Stupid Lady) and was almost right. I thought for sure it was coming and had my hands halfway to my ears. But no. Just more talking. Then Nigel.

Then commercials. To include Sonic commercials. I love me some Sonic commericals.

Jakob & Ashleigh are up next with a jazz piece. I would say they definitely didn't conquer the cane. And if the cane was the third character, than those spandex pants were the fourth. Yikes! I found the whole dance stiff and awkward. Which is too bad because I thought it was a fun concept and with the right dancers could have been great. I don't even think the audience bought it. But Adam apparently did. I couldn't have disagreed with him more. And I think he has a crush on Jakob. Is he still talking? Then Mary and Nigel liked it, too? Were they watching the same routine I was?

[Side note: When I watch this with my DVR friends, they always fast forward through the judges and I always bothered me. But I wish I'd had the button tonight.]

Pauline & Peter break out in a Hawaiian quick step. I thought it was cute. But maybe I'm a sucker for a guy in uniform... They weren't perfect, but I thought they brought it pretty well. The judges seem so-so. They point out the good and point out the bad, but I'm wondering if they're being too easy on the dancers this season... (Later I find out how wrong I am was.)

Kathryn & Legacy learn Broadway this week. Cute! I liked the storyline and thought they did a pretty good job. (And both Jim and I decide that the upper thigh is a random place to have a tatoo.) We also decided that Adam should not be allowed to call Legacy "Legs". Too, too weird. And poor Kathryn. They ripped her apart and I wanted to cry for her. I thought she did great. Then Nigel started to compliment Legacy (I think) but went on long enough with metaphors that the look on Legs' face was exactly what I was thinking: Wha?

Channing & Victor. (I love that she raced lawnmowers.) They pull out a great contemporary number. I really liked this. If they had performed this with a little more passion, it could have been awesome. But it still left me happy. If I remember correctly (my tired brain is getting a little sloppy) the judges seemed to like it, too. Except for the often boo'd Nigel. It's so funny how he interacts with the audience. Like he has to prove himself to a mass of people who have already proven that they'll clap at anything. Remember that five minute plug for Dizzy Feet?

Lil C is back with hip hop for Ryan & Ellinor. I like hip hop so I was hoping they'd be good. I think Mary (was it Mary?) nailed it when she said it got "sluggish half way through". Nigel had on his sour face. Come on, Nigel. I didn't think it was that bad! Sometimes he can be such a crotchety old man. I can't harp on the guy for having an opinion. It's his job. But he kept going on and on and on... I love that Cat always tries to keep things copacetic, trying to find just the right words to keep everyone smiling. She has such a charm about her, don't you think? Except for that hair...

Mollee & Nathan are challenged with the salsa. But before they even start to dance, I've decided that Mollee is, like, twelve. I'm already annoyed. They try their best, bless their hearts. Not even extreme yardage of yellow ace bandages wrapped around Mollee peek-a-boo body can distract us from, well, everything that went wrong. And the judges let them have it. Then I start to feel kinda bad for Mollee because she looks like she's going to cry as soon as Adam opened his mouth. I thought he summed it up pretty well, though. Really, it was just pretty bad.

Lastly we have Noelle & Russell with a newly made-up genre, Afro-jazz. I've been excited for this one all night. I vaguely remember Russell the Crumper from Vegas week so I was curious to see how he'd do. And I wasn't disappointed. I can see why he's a fan favorite. But as they are intro-ing the piece, I could't help but think I'd be bummed if I found out my spirit guide was a frog. Just sayin'. But they made it work. It was quirky and fun. So fun, that they get the Train. Thanks, Mary. And Nigel makes a jab at Russian Folk dancing again. It's obvious Russell is the judge favorite. And Cat's too, I think. Did anyone catch her checking him out when she was signing them off for commerical?

Overall I felt that that show was eternal. I didn't realize it was going to be two hours. Again, I've been out of the loop. And if I had to guess, I think Mollee and Nathan might go. And hopefully Cat's hairdresser. The two strongest dances were Channing & Victor, and Noelle & Russell. What do you think? Am I totally off? Let the discussion begin!

eli the gnome

2009-11-02T15:06:00.004-05:00

Isn't he the cutest thing you ever did see?

And his mischievous cousin Asher, too!

nursery teaser

2009-10-09T13:59:00.008-04:00

I'm that lame friends that promised to post nursery pics a while back. (Awhile is an understatement, yes.) I'm also the lame mom who had her baby two months ago and still doesn't have the nursery done.

I know. I know.

It's not my fault. It's this pesky quilt. It's refusing to cooperate. My goal is to finish it this weekend. And maybe move around those pictures I've been thinking about.

But since I figured there'd be a blogsphere coup if I didn't post something soon... (yes, I've been getting your not-so-subtle hints) here are some teasers to leave you with for the weekend.

I promise I'll have real pictures up by next Friday. But if I don't blog between now and then, pray for me because it's probably because I'm busy calling my quilt all sorts of bad names.

all in the family

2009-10-07T23:36:00.004-04:00

Remember that bingo picture?

And remember that really cute kid of mine?
Think we're related?

reunion

2009-10-02T05:12:00.005-04:00

It's been a month.

And now he's home.

I hope you all have a delightful weekend, too.

cloth diapering

2009-10-01T06:30:00.001-04:00

Yes, I'm one of those weirdos that has decided to go old school, but in a new school way.

I'm using cloth diapers.

And I love it!

This ain't your mom's trifolds, either. If you ever want to know more, I'd be more than happy to give you an ear full. But not in a preachy way. I hardly think everyone needs to be doing this. But I say, why not save you hours of research if I've already done it?

My favorite diaper story to date is about my dear friend Jennifer. She was kind enough to hold Eli (actually, I think she was about to pry him out of my arms had I not offered) while I was in a long meeting. In her typical care-free style she popped over after a little bit and grabbed my diaper bag so she could change his stink. I immediately explained the "cloth" situation and stood up to change him myself. But this is care-free Jenn! She said, "No problem."

Except there sorta was. Because I'd forgotten to pack another diaper for him. (Such a rookie move.) She searched the bag, but to no avail. Gratefully Jenn is a seasoned veteran of two boys herself and knows how to be inventive when necessary. She ingeniously washed the outer layer and stuffed it with one of my burp cloths. Brilliant and yet so obvious.

It didn't phase her a bit. I, however, couldn't stop apologizing. And wondering... if I was in the same predicament, would I have been as resourceful? I decided no, I wouldn't. Eli would be wearing a toga made of toilet paper.

So many of people have asked why I'm doing this. I don't have a trendy answer. It's not because of the environment, though that was a little bit of the influence. I occasionally have nightmares of a landfill in India filled with Eli's poo. It's not because I'm afraid of harsh chemicals on my baby's bum. Although we have gratefully had no diaper rash issues since switching over.

Perhaps pathetically, it's mostly about the money. I'm estimating that we'll save about $700 over the life of Eli. Not to mention that I should be able to reuse them for the next kid. Maybe saving another $1200? Not a bad trade off, I say.

I decided to do this after watching my good friend Becky tackle cloth diapers 3 years ago. She made it look effortless. I watched and learned and am finding that it really isn't as bad as most people think, even with my on-the-go lifestyle. (As I said, if you want to know more, I'll give you the run-down. Just shoot me an email.)

I'm glad I'm doing it. Yes, it means I do more laundry. And occasionally it's a bit messy. But overall I think it's great and am glad I wasn't intimidated past the point of trying. One thing I will mention, though - since cloth diapers have more material than disposable, some of his newborn pants and onesies don't fit anymore.
What can I say? Baby's got back.

my bff: when we weren't eating...

2009-09-30T01:40:00.018-04:00

Lest you think we forgot about Eli, I'd like to document that we did more than just eat. This is Kerri helping me shop. I'm a sling girl. I find carriers pesky and cumbersome. But how do you shop for clothes when you've got a kid wrapped around you? Well, you bring a friend along to do the hard work. And for opinions, of course! She rightfully talked me into that orange number from Banana Republic. And gratefully kept me from making some bad decisions that I likely would have purchased without her good sense.

Why would I even mention shopping? Because I was thrilled to finally fit into normal-sized clothes again (more or less). And I haven't been clothes shopping in like nine months. I had an itch.

But perhaps the most memorable outing was Kerri's very first rodeo. She got all decked out, belt buckle and all, and headed with my friends and I to experience Texas. There was barrel-racing, kids' mutton-riding, calf-tying, bull-riding (for real!), and even motocross-jumping. (Yes, that last one was random. I didn't see it coming either.)

Little known fact: It was my first rodeo, too. That became very evident when the first calf was roped and instead of cheering like everyone else, I cringed. The poor things. Over and over again some poor calf was slammed to the ground and then it would pop up just to do it again. I'm no animal rights activist, but it just seems wrong. I was assured by everyone around me that I should "think of it as their job, and be grateful. Because if they weren't in the rodeo, they would probably be on your plate." Um, that didn't make me feel any better.

poor baby cows...

As for Eli and his first rodeo? Well, he didn't care for it much, either. Refusing to drink from his bottle, he became quite unruly and I was forced to find a dark corner to nurse. Not easy in a stadium, but I can now attest that it can be done. And I didn't miss the bull-riding, either! (Which, oddly, I was totally ok with.)
Afterwards we made a Sonic run and I drove Kerri into the mountains to see the city lights. This is our view of Mexico on any given evening. Sometimes I'm still amazed at how close we live to the border.
And the rest of the time? We just chilled at the house. It was the perfect week with a best friend. Thanks, Kerri. You're the best bud around.

vote for Christian!

2009-09-28T00:46:00.005-04:00

Updated: Sadly Christian did not win. We suspected it might be "Lisa" who had a killer video of her own. Pesky Lisa. Well, I hope she enjoys Oregon. Thank you for your help!

We need your help. In between all the Mexican indigestion, Kerri and I were hard at work on a video. As a surprise for her husband, Kerri entered Christian in a contest that would win him a trip to Oregon to learn how to make better cheese. Because to say Christian likes cheese would be an understatement. And yes, he does make his own cheese. (I didn't even know you could do that.)

His video is on YouTube and we need you to give it 5 stars and leave wonderful comments about how badly you think he'd be the best person for the win. The judges will ultimately be the ones to decide, but if we utilize the power of social media and prove he's popular, than it can't hurt, right?

So click HERE and tell us what you think!

Oh, and he likes goats, too.

my bff: the food edition

2009-09-28T00:46:00.000-04:00

Few people in the world have a best friend as cool as mine. She told me months ago that she wanted to come out and help me with the baby when Jim was gone. And she did! For a whole week!

So what did you do while she was here? In one word, we ATE!

Kerri loves Mexican Food.

When she wasn't eating it, she was talking about it. (In fact, really, that might have been the real reason she came to El Paso.) State College, PA has exactly one Mexican restaurant. El Paso has a kazillion. And I'm not exaggerating. At least one every 10 feet. Of course, we only had time to hit up 5 of them.

And Kerri even came prepared, looking on all of her foodie websites and blogs to find out where the hot spots were. (I didn't even know El Paso was cool enough to have hot spots. It was an education for me, too.)

Directly from the airport I took her to Carlos & Mickeys. It is the place to take out-of-towners around here. The food is authentic, but I think it's the Texas-sized margaritas that draw the crowds. It was my first chance to have one of my own since being pregnant. But my pomegranate margarita was so s-t-r-o-n-g, I could only enjoy one quarter of it. Kerri's strawberry one was right on, though.
Next up was the Little Diner. Don't be fooled by it's name. Apparently they are known for their killer gorditas. I'd never had one before but am now a big fan. Of course, I had to steal one of Kerri's since I ordered my ever-safe taco plate. I did introduce Kerri to horchata. It's a rice-milk beverage that to me tastes like chai. It's not my favorite but Jim loves it so I figured Kerri should have a try.
Then we hit up L&J's. Delicious! It started back in the day as a bootlegging joint. And when we walked in the front door and were greeted by a dark bar, it kinda made sense. But there's a small restaurant in the back with a Mexican Combination Plate that let Kerri try one of everything. And my tacos were fantastic. The best I've had in El Paso so far.
La Casita was a bit of a disappointment. Besides feeling a little dingy inside and out, the waiter was clueless. My special-of-the-day steak tacos were out of this world. But Kerri's plate was so flavorless, she didn't even eat half of it. I won't be back.
And I've saved the best for last... Ranch Market! This place is a mecca of Mexican comida. It's actually a grocery store that had a little bit of everything else, to include a juice bar, a huge bakery, and a food court that rivals Wegmans. We spent a couple hours here. Yes, at a grocery store. I got some tacos, Kerri tried their horchata, her first tamale, salsa verde, mole sauce, and something chicken. Not to mention that we both walked out with a stack of fresh tortillas the nice senora handed us hot off the press. (It should be said that these were the same stack of tortillas that tipped Kerri's luggage past the overweight mark.)

food!

Kerri's first horchata.

I small taste of Ranch Market. It was amazing!

Enjoying my pig cookie from the Mexican bakery.

More baked goodness.

It was such a good time. There's more to say, and more pictures to share, but you'll have to wait until tomorrow for the second installment.

God bless family

2009-09-22T10:40:00.005-04:00

This post is a shout-out to Mom & Dad, Scott and Crystal, Rick & Caroline. Of course, they will now forever be known as Nana & Pop, Aunt & Uncle, Grammy & Granddad.

It's funny how nine months and a day of pain can change so much.

Not to mention how the once proudly independent and extremely capable Karen can turn into a sleep-deprived, insecure mess of hormones, second-guessing herself at every turn... Thank God for people who love me despite myself.

Nana & Pop

My mom came early intending to help out before and after Eli arrived. Only he was taking forever so she had to extend her stay or else she would have almost missed him. (She even got to witness the whole Muppets episode.) We had a great time anticipating his arrival to include shopping, a pedicure, swimming, catching a movie, and all around being girls. Unfortunately this meant that she was only able to overlap with Eli a few days instead of the hoped-for few weeks. Dad flew in for the weekend and barely let anyone else hold Eli the entire time. When we met him at the airport, he was smitten from the start and waited way too many minutes to kiss my mom because he was, um, distracted by a cute little bundle of joy. I think he's still living that down.

My mom was a huge help around the house. It was because of her I discovered my hidden love language: if you clean my kitchen then I am the happiest, most grateful girl in the world, no matter how few hours of sleep I've gotten. She kept things spic-and-span which made my view from the couch delightfully stress-free. Thanks, mom!

Aunt Crystal & Uncle Scott

I love that Scott and Crystal (of Circus fame) flew 2000 miles just to meet the newest member of the family. Since they came kid-less, it was a rare treat to hang as just adults. And what do adults do when the children are gone? They play. More specifically, they play Wii. Rock Band was a weekend favorite. Who knew my brother had such a gifting at the drums? And as it turns out, I still have the middle-school touch and clobbered Scott time after time at Dr. Mario. (You can't deny it, Scott. You know it's true.) Lest you think Eli was forgotten in the shuffle... he was more than content to watch us compete. Mostly because it meant we'd finally put the camera down and his eyes had a rest from all the props and flashing.

Caroline & Rick

By the time Rick and Caroline arrived, I was feeling better physically, and a little more confident in my mothering. Unfortunately Eli was entering his fussy stage, and Jim had returned back to work. Both left me feeling overwhelmed at times. But that made having extra hands around that much more appreciated. Caroline was a great help, especially into the late hours. She did her fair share of cleaning my kitchen, too. (Seriously, I love these people!) During the day, we dared venture out into the world again and enjoyed some shopping and eating out. When we weren't doing that, we watched many of Rick's favorites: football, The Cosby Show and Walker Texas Ranger. The latter only seemed appropriate since we now share residency with Chuck Norris in his favorite state, and all.

Gratefully, they we here after Jim left for a month so I wasn't by myself. But after their two week visit, they had to go back to east coast along with the rest of them. It was a wonderful month with family. And I'm not just typing that because I know all of the above read my blog. Many here warned against having too much family come and the added stresses that could bring when so much change was about. In hindsight, though, I can't say there's really too much I would have done differently. The help was great, and so was the company.

I am truly blessed with a wonderful family, both my own and the one I got to marry into. Besides, I haven't done the dishes for six weeks. Or made dinner for that matter.

Anyone who can put off reality for a month or two is blessed indeed.

saying goodbye

2009-09-21T00:45:00.012-04:00

It's been a busy few weeks at the Grube household. We've had friends and family coming and going. Unfortunately, included in that was Jim. He left on the 5th for a month of training in California. During his Army career we've said goodbye many times, but this time it was a little different. I think his heart is a little closer to home now.
This was taken during the last few minutes we had with him. Eli doesn't look particularly pleased either. We left Jim's office - he walked in one direction, and we drove off in another. It's never fun to say goodbye, but I think I might have the formula down. These are my tricks that make being an Army wife a little easier on days like this:

I go ahead and let myself shed those tears. There's nothing wrong with being sad. I give myself a day to mope. But then the next day I pull myself up by the bootstraps. If I mope too long, well, I'm just not fun to be around. And frankly, I'm gonna need some friends.
On the drive home, I don't turn on the radio. I let silence be my friend. No reason, in particular. It just seems irrelevant to have music on to a) cheer me up since I'm not in a good mood and don't want to be, and b) non-cheerful music would just be stupid.
To counteract those tears, I hit up Starbucks. And none of this low-fat soy crap either. Bring on the calories. Nothing like wallowing in a grande coffee Frappuccino. Yum and a half.
I think alot about Romans 8:28, "And we know that in all things God works for the GOOD of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." I've been called. Check. I love the Lord. Check. Then it's all good! (Chew on that for a while. It's good for the soul.)
And lastly, I have something fun planned around the corner.

In this case I had Jim's parents back at the house to cheer me up. I didn't even need a full day to mope. Sure, I miss him a lot, but that's not the same as moping. One is life. The other is just dramatic. Also, it's only a month, and in Army time, that's like a blink. The real test will be later this fall when Jim leaves for a year.

Yuck. I don't even want to think about it.

So I won't.

That's my other coping mechanism. If I don't think about it, it won't happen, right?

In the meantime, Eli has been great company. Along with a host of others. More on that later. Right now I'm thinking about Jim and how he'll be home in two weeks.

Man, I'm ready for him to be home. It just seems right that our little family should be together... but in the meantime, it's all good.

speaking of labor...

2009-09-06T23:14:00.003-04:00

Enjoy your Monday off!

birthing: d-day

2009-09-04T03:08:00.001-04:00

Thank you for your patience. You deserve a pat on the back. I'm totally holding on to the I-have-a-new-baby excuse, and throwing in a lot of I-have-tons-of-family-visiting too hoping you'll let me off the hook a little. It is true that I thought I'd have more time than I do now that Eli's here. (I'm guessing all mothers out there just snickered a little.) Enjoy the next installment of Birthing Eli, though I warn you it might not be as entertaining as the muppets.

As an aside: I suspect Eve is one of the few enrolled in heaven's Witness Protection Program. If not and I can find her up there, I have a few choice words to share. Beginning with, "I hope that was a darn good apple..."

So I left you at 5 centimeters.

We made it to the hospital, heard the wonderful words that admitted us to Labor & Delivery. By 4:30am I had my epidural. By 5:30am they broke my water.

But back to the epidural. When they asked I said, "Yes!" and they sent the nice anesthetist in. Dr. Talks Way Too Much wheeled in his cart and I promised myself I wouldn't open my eyes until it was all over. But he took forever and talked me through the whole thing. Which I didn't really want. I even interrupted him at one point to say,

"By the way, I should mention that I used to teach high school science. And when I got to the back part of anatomy, I skipped the spinal cord entirely. I'm not a fan. In fact, the spinal cord in general creeps me out."

He didn't take the hint. He continued to talk and even mentioned something about "two holes" but he didn't say Oops so I didn't realize he'd made a mistake at first. I still haven't looked at my back in case the two holes are still there. It gives me the heebie jeebies to think about it.

Shortly after they took the ginormous crochet hook to break my water, one of the nurses was encouraged by my progress and said she thought we'd be having lunch with our new baby. Silly nurse. Noon came and went. Every two hours or so they'd check what they check and the eternal day continued. It was slow going. We looked at magazines. We watched the whole first season of The Cosby Show. Jim played lots of computer games. And I took lots of naps, thanks to the epidural.

Dinnertime came and went, too. Speaking of food, I was really hungry. I found myself dreaming of a big bowl of spaghetti. Why spaghetti? Who can say. But I wanted it and I wanted it bad. Jim was so sweet. Every time he left to get food he just kinda pretended he needed to stretch his legs or something. He felt so bad that he could eat and I couldn't. My mom was also sweet. She'd come in from the waiting room to keep me company and feed me ice chips. It wasn't spagethetti, but at lest I didn't puke later.

Fast forward... 17 hours and two nurse rotations after being admitted, Dr. Brown finally gave me the ok to push. As I did I was convinced every blood vessel in my face was going to pop. And a few did (see picture above) but over all we did alright. Jim was a great coach and counted me through every contraction. I even remember asking him if he'd remembered to ask his co-worker if his wife still wanted to sell me her breast pump. Jim just looked at me funny, said something about "guys don't talk about that stuff" and we were on to the next contraction.

Exactly one hour later, Eli was born with his full head of hair. And his bloody, gooky self was beautiful. And I just stared at him. And I loved him.

birthing: day -1

2009-08-21T10:00:00.001-04:00

This post could also be titled The Night Karen Turned Into a Crazy Lady.

As I alluded to before, labor wasn't an easy task for me. Five days before he was born, the contractions began. They came fast and hard. But not fast enough. So we waited. They usually showed up at night and I had my trusty yoga ball to bounce the pain away. But after the fourth night I was tired and beat. And I'd already decided the epidural was a must.

On Monday I was at the commissary with my mom and barely made it through the line and back to the car. It wasn't that I was having contractions, but my back hurt, my stomach was heavy, and walking was difficult. So I decided I'd go into Labor & Delivery when Jim got home, contractions or not, and hope for that magic number: four centimeters. If I was four centimeters, they couldn't send me home.

But I wasn't. I was only three. So I cried. I couldn't imagine another night tethered to my yoga ball and a clock, counting in pain but to no avail. Gratefully the tears made Bad Bedside Manners Midwife and her trusty Doesn't Say Much Nurse soften a bit and they discussed sending me home with a sleeping pill.

I initially protested, but Jim was for it from the beginning. He'd taken Ambien before and thought it was great stuff. So down to the pharmacy we went. When the nice guy behind the window handed me the bag, he had a look of concern and gave me this warning: "When you take this, be in bed ready to fall asleep. Don't read a book, don't mow the lawn. You can out-think this medication and it'll really mess you up."

Jim's response: "Don't worry, I'll get my other 9 months pregnant wife to mow the lawn at 9:00 at night." The guy just kinda looked at him.

Back home we went, Ambien in hand, the promise of a peaceful night before us. Or so we thought. (This is where the muppets come in. I'm sure you were starting to wonder.)

By 9:30pm the pill was in my tummy and my eyes were closed. Unfortunately the next thing I remember is having to go to the bathroom, stumbling in the dark, surrounded by muppets - by the hundreds. Now it should be said that I don't like muppets the way some people don't like clowns. They are scary little monsters wrapped in fur. And they were everywhere. If I opened my eyes they were gone. But I'd taken a sleeping pill, people. My eyelids felt like bricks.

As I stumbled, I felt Jim and could tell he was a little concerned. His wife had clearly flipped her lid, and he was the one who talked her into it. And I think I can say with confidence that he didn't leave my side the rest of the night. Because every time I opened my eyes, there he was telling me to relax. And I'd feel better.

Pretty soon the contractions began again and this is my memory of the night (I'm not making this up, it's 100% true). I'm imagining this is what LSD must be like.

With every contraction, a muppet would hand me something that I had to give to Jim. But to get it to him I'd have to bounce on the ball. And I could tell how hard the contraction would be based on what they gave me. Once I distinctly remember being handed a belt and telling Jim not to worry, "this one won't be bad because the belt was small." So I rolled onto the ball, bounced away and the belt disappeared. I assume it went to Jim.

The next one was a doozy, though. And I knew it would be because I somehow turned into a muppet. I remember that vividly and could even draw it out for you if I wasn't so artistically challenged. So my big bottomed muppet self rolled onto the ball and, well, the details are a little sketchy after that point. But somehow the muppet was given to Jim.

All the while I remember Jim saying over and over again, Relax. And then at one point he said something about needing two more good contractions. I was aware enough to realize that meant something and asked, Why two? He said that for the last three hours I'd been contracting pretty steadily. The first two hours at 4 minutes apart, and the last one at 3 minutes apart. If it keeps up, we should go to the hospital. At that point it was 3:30am on Tuesday morning.

Somehow I was able to put together that my husband had been by my side for the last 6 hours with his watch, coaching me through contractions. He walked me to the bathroom everytime I had to go, which felt like every 10 minutes. And whenever I realized he was there, I felt safe. Seriously, this man deserves Husband of the Year.

After my two contractions we woke my mom, told her she had 5 minutes to get ready, and we were out the door.

Once we got to the hospital, we heard the magic words: I was 5 centimeters.

These are some quotes from the evening as told to me by Jim (since I don't recall alot):

"I'm worried because there are at least 100,000 people and only 50,000 subways." (We're assuming by people, I meant muppets. Scary muppets.)
"Ok, right now I need to focus on contractions, ... (something else) ..., and sleeping." To which Jim replied, "No, the thing you need to do is relax and go to bed." To which I replied, "Ok, first priority: relaxing. Second priority: sleeping."
And then the thing about the belt.

Our take-away from the evening: Karen will never take Ambien again, pregnant or not. Even though there are 9 pills in the bottle. I think I'll donate them to charity.

Next up: Eli's birth day.

Elijah Dale

2009-08-20T00:38:00.014-04:00

Thank you for all of your sweet comments on the announcement of our little guy. We have been loving all over him the last week and I can't get enough. He is so handsome and charming and cuddly and his head smells so good. I've decided this is my favorite stage so far.

In between nursing and sleeping and nursing and sleeping, I've been writing numerous blog posts in my head. Unfortunately I haven't had the chance to get to the computer until now. I have not been purposely absent, just really tired.

Many of you have commented on his name and I'm so glad you love it as much as I do.

Elijah means "the Lord is my God". A truth I pray he will someday know for himself. Or he could reign down fire from heaven. Both would be fine by me.

Dale is my grandfather on my dad's side. I had the honor of living with him and my Nana for a few years. In that time we developed a unique relationship as granddaughter and grandpa that I'll never forget. Sadly he passed away last year, but he's with our Lord and I know I'll get to hang out with him again someday. We'll probably play a game a Cribbage together. I can't wait. It makes me tear up thinking about it.

And now for pictures! You may have seen some of these on Facebook, so I'm sorry for the repeats. But these are some of my favorites.

When we brought him home, Jim thought he should have a picture with a gnome. Why not.

This is when Roxy met Eli. Since then she's been pretty disinterested.

G is for Grube!

Such studs. Aren't they hot?

This picture cracks me up every time. Note the grub onesie.

This is my favorite expression. He can be such a pouty-face.

I'll be telling the birth story in segments, as many of you have asked. Starting tomorrow, I hope!

The Little Grublet is Born!

2009-08-12T03:54:00.001-04:00

Hi everyone! Karen has been a little busy, so she asked me to post the BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENT! Yes, that's right - the long awaited little Grublet has been born and he has a name and especially chubby cheeks and lots of hair!
Details:
Elijah Dale Grube
8 lbs, 2 oz, and 21 inches.
DOB: August 11, 2009 at 9:20 PM

I'm sure she'll post more photos and the whole story soon. There were lots of interesting and humorous details that will be much better told in Stella style prose.

Congratulations Grube family!!!

Over and out,
Kerri Smith

i am "that lady"

2009-08-10T18:02:00.005-04:00

Remember this statement from a few posts ago?

And I was so trying not to be "that girl". You know, the one who comes in like five times before she's actually admitted because she's sure this is IT.

Apparently you can earn that title by calling too much, too. Because last night was the fourth night of counting very painful contractions for hours (4 1/2 to be exact) before they dropped off and I fell asleep.

And so, last night, like the previous three, I called Labor & Delivery, which is now programmed conveniently into my phone, and asked some questions. Maybe I just needed to hear someone say that this was normal and I'll be fine. Or more likely, I needed a nurse to agree with me that this totally sucks and I'm sorry you hurt so bad. Either way, partly into the conversation she asked my name. When I answered, this was her response:

"Oh, you're that lady."

No kidding.

Yes, I'm the lady who has called every night giving my argument for the dislike of the phrase "false labor", wondering if it's possible for a baby to accidentally fall out of your pelvis, and if I show up without my contractions being close enough but wincing in a pain I've never known, can you please not send me home?

It seems I've called enough and sounded desperate enough that they've pulled my medical record and it's been floating around just in case I come in. Everyone seems to know the name "Karen Grube". I'm flattered, really.

Since many have asked - after my appointment tomorrow afternoon we'll have a plan for induction. I'm hoping tomorrow night is free for them.

And for the record, at 41 weeks + 2 days, I might have changed my opinion on an epidural.

nope

2009-08-08T09:33:00.005-04:00

So the night didn't go according to plan. Thanks to bouncing on this bad boy (above), who makes contractions feel oh so much better, they actually started to slow down. Way down. After three hours of timing almost regular 5 minute contractions, they dropped off. So I went to bed.

Which in hind-sight was the best thing because I was exhausted and needed sleep. And I think I'm even grateful for the false alarm I complained about last night because it made me less anxious to go in and get checked. I didn't realize how uncomfortable monitors and hospital chairs were until then. And in wanting to stay home as long as possible, I got another night's sleep in my own bed.

So this isn't quite as frustrated a blog post as I would have expected. Though my patience is waning. Today is week 41.

false alarm #1

2009-08-07T21:46:00.004-04:00

Hopefully tonight won't be false alarm #2. We went in on Tuesday night because I was convinced my water had broken. Nope. I wasn't even dilated. I was a big zero.

And I was so trying not to be "that girl". You know, the one who comes in like five times before she's actually admitted because she's sure this is IT.

Well, I suspect tonight will be the second attempt.

Because I'm typing this in between contractions. Five minutes apart actually. The nurse on the phone said to wait as long as I could before coming in.

And when I do, the phone chain will begin. My friends Liz and Holly will join us for a celebratory milkshake on the way, Lindsay will pick up Roxy so she can play with her friend Rudy for a few days, and Christie will know to take care of my plants starting tomorrow morning.

It will all go according to plan. And shortly thereafter, lil' Grublet will open his eyes for the first time.

If you don't hear from me for a few days, you can assume it wasn't all another big stupid false alarm. Otherwise you can expect a very frustrated blog tomorrow morning.

ice cream deliciousness

2009-08-04T09:34:00.004-04:00

At least that's what I'd rename it if it hadn't been in the family forever as "Ice Cream Cake". Many of you have asked for the recipe. I'm not sure you can call it that since there's only 3 ingredients. But I agree that it's worth its own post.

Ice Cream Cake

1 box of graham crackers (no low-fat stuff either, the real deal)
1 humongous Hershey bar, frozen (I think it's a pound)
1/2 gallon of ice cream, any flavor (may I suggest vanilla, fudge ripple or mint chocolate chip?)

Take two packages of graham crackers and put them in a large zip-loc bag. Beat the snot out of them with a rolling pin so they break up. You want small pieces, but not total dust. Put in bowl.

Take a knife to the frozen chocolate bar and shave the whole thing down. This will get easier as the bar warms up in your hand. Too warm and it doesn't shave, it just chunks. Add to bowl of graham crackers and mix. (I should mention that my mom has found a short cut using those mini-chocolate chips or mini-M&Ms. But I'm a purist and like my milk chocolate so I stick to the traditional method. If it was good enough for Nana...)

In a 9x13 pan, cover the bottom evenly with half of the mixture.

Take the ice cream completely out of it's container/box by cutting down the sides if necessary. You want to cut the ice cream like a loaf of bread and lay slices (about 2 inches thick) on top of the 9x13 pan. You will have gaps so you'll have to cut and piece it together like a puzzle. Yes, it will feel like you're manhandling this dessert, but I promise, no one will ever know - or care - after they've tasted this amazingness you are preparing.

Once you have a solid 2 inch layer of ice cream in your pan, pour the rest of the cracker/chocolate mixture evenly over the top. Take some wax paper or Saran wrap, cover, and press down so the topping pushes into the ice cream.

Chill in freezer.

And that's it. Your hands will have chocolate on them and be frozen for the next hour, but it's worth it. Heaven on earth.

virtual baby shower

2009-08-03T11:08:00.027-04:00

This weekend came and went with little fanfare. Jim came home from the field exhausted and dirty. And my due date on Saturday brought no baby. It did, however, allow me to get some last bits of stuff done in the nursery - and as I folded cute little baby clothes, I was reminded that I have yet to post about the fabulous baby shower YOU all threw for me!

So I'm feeling kinda bad about that and will remedy it immediately...

Like now.

So here's the story of the best little surprise shower a blog and a SIL could throw.

To set the scene... I collected all the wonderful boxes that had been showing up at my doorstep and gave my husband the camera. His instructions were to document "everything". Which he did - 45 pictures worth. Though apparently baby showers can be boring for guys since later I found some of those pictures were of our dog and other random corners of our living room.

I started by opening the box from my SIL since it was clearly labeled "Baby Shower in a box. Open first!!" And inside were balloons, decorations, cookies, cute little prego napkins, and of course, gifts. Sadly the box got manhandled by our postal service so not everything came in the condition intended. But that didn't stop me from tearing into it with gusto.

What follows is a montage of pictures, so please adjust your inner radio to play some appropriate background music, such as Amy Grant's "Baby, Baby" or "Baby Got Back" or maybe the more traditional "Rock-a-Bye-Baby", and enjoy the show!

From Crystal, a few very appropriate "My Daddy is My Hero" bibs, and a frog "Baby". And in the background you'd here the Plumb CD of lullabies she sent.

You might wonder at the expression on my face here. These are HOMEMADE burp clothes from our very own craft-challenged Happy/Rebecca! Did you catch that? HOMEMADE! I love all the crafty stuff I got, but these might have floored me the most. I can't wait for our kid to start spitting up.

A card from Leni and wonderful gifts from Becky in PA - including the cutest homemade duck hoodie-towel you've ever seen.

Susie sent a host of things, all thoughtfully picked out just for us. But this camo hat and bootie set just melted me. She always makes everything with love. And what you can't see is that the hat has super-cute Elmer Fudd ear flaps, too!

We might have had the most fun with Shawna's gifts. I think she intended them for our baby, but Jim was very excited to try them out.

Here is the whole thing. It was a delightful shower. I can't thank you enough for remembering your long distance friend in Texas. And some of you I haven't even met. Hopefully my next post will be introducing you to this new little boy!

39 weeks

2009-07-28T10:13:00.004-04:00

I thought you'd like this picture since it includes a patriotic Texas star.

So Sunday night I thought I felt a few contractions. But I wasn't really sure they were contractions so I had to call a friend and ask. We confirmed that yes, they probably were and immediately I got really excited. But then I panicked as I looked around the house and decided, "We can NOT bring a baby into this world tonight. I am NOT ready!" Which is, I think, another term for nesting.

I discovered something funny about nesting. It's not so much this love of cleaning that takes over you like I'd imagined. It's more of a reaction to people seeing what a slob you are and so you better clean up and put on a good impression.

And the realization that I'm not totally packed for the hospital yet. Let's get it together, Karen. Seriously.

But my contractions were more Braxton-Hicks-ish and I haven't had any since. So in the meantime...

I've discovered how much I love swimming. It's the perfect thing to do on a 100 degree day here in El Paso. It's relaxing and takes the pressure off of my back. I plan to go every day until this baby comes. Hoping it'll help get him out.
Jim left for the field yesterday. As in, he's gone for the week. But don't worry - there are LOTS of people (I made sure of it) that are in charge of making sure he has his cell phone on him at all times. In case, you know, I call in between Lamaze breaths and need him to get to the hospital pronto.
We also discovered we're not quite sure the fastest route to the hospital from his field exercise. I'm hoping his GPS comes through for us.
Only in the Army does it not seem strange that days away from your wife's due date, you got camping with 400 of your closest Army buds.
I'm not concerned because I don't think this baby will come early. I have yet to dilate, and aside from that odd Sunday night cramping, I still feel normal (or as normal as 9 months pregnant can feel).
We almost have a name. We're still keeping it a secret, but mostly because we're still deciding between two and Jim gets to pick it when he sees the baby. So it'll be a surprise for me, too, which is kinda fun.
And I've purposefully not posted pictures of the nursery (which I know isn't entirely fair - I'm sorry) because, well, it's not quite done yet. I mean, it's done enough. But there's still a quilt I'd like to make and the pictures really wouldn't be complete without it. So you'll have to wait just a little bit longer. But it's turning out super-cute.

So the week ahead probably includes lots of sewing and nesting. And maybe a Grublet.

Crazy.

thirty-two

2009-07-17T10:41:00.012-04:00

Yesterday I had the privilege of sharing the very special day of July 16th with my SIL Crystal as our birthdays! She spent it with her family at the zoo. I spend mine as I always do...

Doing only things I want to, and doing nothing I don't want to.

It's my birthday mantra really. I even mentioned to Jim that this is probably the last year I can live that out since next year we'll have a kid and all. His response? "That's what baby-sitters are for." I knew I loved that man.

So what did I do with my day off from life?

Well.
It started off with my favorite cereal. My mom started this brilliant tradition when my brother and I were little. We were only allowed to have healthy cereal growing up - you know, Shredded Wheat and other twigs like that. But, on our birthday we got to pick any box of cereal we wanted from the vast aisle in the grocery store - sugary and all - and we could nurse that box as long as we wanted. I don't even recall having to share it with Scott if I didn't have to. But I'm sure I did, since, you know, I have that kind of big heart. Still to this day Pops is my favorite. So for my 32nd birthday yesterday, I had 2 bowls for breakfast.

Then, for 2nd breakfast (I've been enjoying those ever since I've been pregnant) I had some of my favorite ice cream cake. Now I can ice a pretty cool looking traditional cake if I wanted to. I have a collection of Wilton cake decorating tips and everything. But for my birthday I like to keep it simple. I always make my favorite in the world. Graham crackers, chocolate and ice cream. It might not look like much, but it's a tradition that I hope you all get to enjoy with me someday. It might change your life. (I'm also a little embarrassed to admit how little of it was left at the end of yesterday. I did have help, but not as much as it looks like I should have.)

In between my food fests I managed to post a blog (finally) catch up on a few emails, and spend many of my cell phone minutes chatting with well-wishers. It was wonderful.

I met Jim for lunch at Subway with some work friends and then I was off to shop. On the list? Nursing bras, some hospital-worthy pajamas, and a few more onesies for the Grublet. Sadly, all I found were the onesies. Do you know how hard it is to buy a bra when you don't know your size?

So I made myself feel better by getting a pedicure. Since I can't easily reach my toes anymore, I thought it would be a nice gesture. I do love a good pedicure. I prefer it when the technicians aren't real chatty and I can just fall into the gossip and fashions of their People magazines. She did great and I decided I didn't really mind that I sorta have a flip-flop tan. (Ha! Can you call it a tan when it's just white on whiter?)

After some needed rest on the couch, Jim can home early and I opened some cards and presents. My birthday gift from Jim? Well, in all honesty, it came early and we've been enjoying it for the last few weeks...So we played some more last night. (Though I'm not allowed to box or play any of the other more strenuous sports, what with my delicate state and all.) We've also since purchased Rock Band, and I'm just warning you... I'm pretty darn good on the drums. We even have Dr. Mario which was my favorite game back in the day. I'm a little rusty, but with a little practice, I'll be back on top in no time. Don't worry.

To end the night we headed over to a neighbors' house to watch So You Think You Can Dance and enjoy some more of the coveted Ice Cream Cake.

Then a much needed collapse into bed. Ahh, it's good to be 32.

cankles, among other things

2009-07-15T19:16:00.012-04:00

Today we're supposed to hit a record high of 106 degrees. According to my swollen feet, I think we made it. The other day (also in the 100s), some friends came over to help me paint some nursery furniture. And since they are such good friends and didn't want the baby breathing any bad fumes, they pretty much made me just stand there. In the heat I could feel the fluid draining to my legs. So I looked down and couldn't believe the sausages that used to be my toes. And then I looked at my ankles, and for the first time in this pregnancy, I officially had cankles.

Don't worry, as any good pregnant lady would do, I took it as a sign that I should immediately "put my feet up".

So I took a nap.

So what else has been going on since my last post nearly 3 weeks ago?

Well, first I've been feeling extremely guilty that it's been 3 weeks. I've been imagining up some exotic excuse as to why my life has been too busy to blog. But I've come up with nothing. And I knew that ruse would be up since many of you have probably caught me stalking your blogs in the meantime. So laziness wins the day and here I am eating humble pie... again.

I've also been feeling overwhelmed a bit by the fact that in 2 1/2 weeks I'm supposed to bring a kid into the world. The other morning as he was doing headstands in my uterus, I was picturing this cute kid and what it would come out looking like. And then I pictured ten centimeters. And then I kinda panicked. So I picked up my hospital labor book and started reading.

And last week Jim and I went to our first Birthing Class. When they turned out the lights for the video, I took your advice, and promptly told Jim that I wasn't watching it. I might have peeked once, though. Which I immediately regretted. Did you know that ten centimeters is only a starting off point? The head alone is bigger than that! Not to mention shoulders. My eyes got really big.

I've also decided on this little speech immediately upon being admitted...

"Hi, my name is Karen Grube and I'm here to have a baby. I don't want an epidural, but I reserve the right to change my mind at any time. I don't want a mirror to watch anything that goes on during the delivery of this baby. I don't want to have any part of pulling the baby out of me. And please feel free to clean off the baby before putting him on my chest. Thank you."

I know some of you think I'm crazy for the epidural thing. And the other half think I'm a bad mom for not wanting to be the first to hold my bloody baby. But I want to enjoy those first moments, so I'd rather wait until the nurses are done scrubbing and yanking. That way I can soak it all in peacefully.

Also... On this Army post, the prize of every pregnant woman is receiving the coveted Parking Pass that allows her to park in the first row of the commissary and hospital. So far I've gotten to use it not just once, but twice! I was so excited that I've taken a picture each time, but I'll only bore you with the one.

And last but not least.... a picture. My vanity almost kept me from posting this, but at 37 1/2 weeks (not to mention that 3 of those I've been MIA), I know I owe you. I'm definitely feeling big all over. I've got the pregnancy waddle down. And often I feel like I've been punched between the legs. Those are all good signs, my midwife tells me. She also says I've "dropped". Meaning we're that much closer to little Grublet's big day!

I promise to be better at posting. There's so much I want to share with you all. And I promise it'll be before the baby comes...

what a week it's been

2009-06-26T14:11:00.004-04:00

It's been a pretty crappy week. There's no other way to say it. Last Friday we lost a soldier in a tragic car accident. He left behind a young wife and three-year old daughter.

The unfortunate thing about the military is that it has a tendency to move you far away from family. And when something like this happens and your family is still a 14 hour drive away, the unit and FRG fill in the gap as best as we can.

So it's been a week full of sitting on the couch listening to stories, coordinating meals, meeting parents and in-laws, planning the memorial service, and doing everything we can to make the wife a little less overwhelmed. And having tissues ready at a moment's notice.

And praise the Lord for well-placed tissue boxes because I went through a good handful myself during the service yesterday. If you haven't been to a military memorial, it is a powerful half hour. Besides having the daughter point out "Daddy! Daddy!" throughout the slideshow presentation, Taps didn't leave a dry eye in the place.

But the family isn't the only one who suffers. Jim lost a soldier, too, which is a hard thing for any commander. These things leave him with a long list of things to do and people to comfort. He's been non-stop for the last 7 days.

I'm glad it's the weekend. We all need to take a deep breath.

my craft nook

2009-06-14T23:54:00.009-04:00

I'm very proud of my recent addition to our home. We have a strange little inset in our dining room that we weren't quite sure what to do with. For months it's sat there with no purpose but to collect stuff that hasn't found a home yet.

Over the last few weeks I've slowly moved all of those orphaned things into another room to be dealt with later, and have built shelving, put together Ikea boxes, and transformed this lowly corner into the most delightful Craft Nook I could ever have imagined.

Have you ever known what it was to have organized creativity at your fingertips? Nor I! This is a whole new world for me. And it's proved rather effective. Do you know what you can make when your sewing machine is out and ready for you at a moment's notice? Or what cards can be whipped up when your stamps, ink and paper aren't piled under other boxes?

I think I'd still like to spiff it up a bit - maybe some fabric or paper along the back wall so it's not so white. I may actually label all of those boxes so I remember what's in them. That lovely paper bag that's acting as a trash can may turn into something as attractive as it is utilitarian. And I have one of those accordion room dividers coming so that I can hide it all away when it's not in use.

And it's location is perfect. Because it's adjacent to the dining room, there's a large table that I can sprawl all of my materials on and craft away. I love to pass by it during the day, and imagine what's waiting for me as it beckons from it's corner of new life. I may never do housework again!

giveaway: we have a winner!

2009-06-12T18:02:00.010-04:00

Due to some comment happy-people, ahem, I couldn't go about this giveaway the way most do. With their fancy "random number generators" and such. Nope, we got a little old fashioned and pulled out the pen and paper.

So for those who would like to know that the contest was as fair as possible, we've documented the process...

All twenty names were painstaking written onto perfectly cut 1x2 inch pieces of paper. (That gave each you a 5% chance in case you like math.)

I interrupted Jim and Roxy in the middle of their movie to act as an impartial third party.

And the winner is... Susie who said, "WOW what a great quilt!! It has such Stella colors :-) You do such a great job and just whip them out with such ease. Count me in!!" Susie is the faithful mother of Crystal, a.k.a. the Circus, mother-in-law of of Jesse over at Muthering Heights, and has prayed our own little family through many separations, a deployment, and many years of wanting a baby. I couldn't be more thrilled to send this quilt to her!

Have a great weekend, all! See you on Monday.

quilting weekend in albuquerque

2009-06-09T22:40:00.011-04:00

Don't forget to enter here for the quilt giveaway. The deadline is tonight at midnight, so hurry!

Some of my girlfriends must have known that I wasn't too keen on being back in El Paso after our super-fun San Diego trip... So, they promptly planned a Girls' Weekend to Albuquerque, NM. Why? Because we all like to quilt and there are a ton of fabric stores in Albuquerque. So really the question is, Why not? Sarah, Christie, Lindsay and I (the Crafternoon crew) hopped in a car and off we went.

And it was super-fun. I now have 6 fabric stores worth of inspiration, and a few purchases to make that inspiration come to life. Gosh, I love to sew. Who knew? After one set of purchases, we all received a free fat quarter of our choice. But our choices were pretty much hideous, all in the "southwest" vein. So we decided to split the free loot with the assignment of having to make something to remember the weekend. Mine turned into the souvenir above - note the "gem" dangling in the middle. It will hang in my new craft nook that I'm still in the process of making. ...To always remind me of:

laughing so hard I almost peed my pants in Hallmark
staring very indecisively among bolts of fabric... often
being the first one to sleep one night because I was sooooo tired
learning lots about friends as we played "Loaded Questions" in the car
seeing my first transvestite hooker
almost dozing off during an Indian ritual dance
keeping Sarah happy by keeping to her well-planned schedule
always being early out the door in the morning (four girls and one bathroom!) and yet still managing to be late places
GPS-ing Starbucks on more than one occasion
going into the weekend believing Albuquerque was the "gem of the southwest", only to be a little disappointed (see bullet point #5)
but still thinking Albuquerque is pretty darn cool.

So here's some pictures of the weekend that include many new inside jokes (that's when you know you've arrived as a group of friends, right?) and other bits of crazy.

Twinkies... the joke that overtook the weekend

My good luck in finding European pretzels at a farmer's market

Perhaps my next quilt? Love it!

Lindsay and I with our new purchases

giveaway: a quilt for you!

2009-06-09T00:00:00.001-04:00

As a thank you for my loyal followers - a loyalty tested over the last few weeks, I know - I'm giving away a quilt. It's not a large quilt. Just shy of 30 inches square. But it's been made with lots of love. If you're into quilting details, scoot over to my Crafternoon post were I first introduced this quilt. I wasn't optimistic about it initially, but I've come to really like how it turned out. If you're interested, just leave a comment by Thursday midnight (MDT) on this post and I'll announce the winner on Friday. (I'm even happy to ship internationally.) Good luck!

san diego

2009-06-07T22:49:00.021-04:00

Our trip to San Diego was just what the doctor ordered. It was the perfect little vacation for two people who needed to just get out of El Paso for a while. It was a long drive (11+ hours), but sometimes the best conversations happen in the car.

We'd intended to stay in a hotel on the beach which we could only afford because of Jim's military connection (thank you, Navy Lodge). But a quick call to a friend opened up the opportunity to stay at his empty condo for the weekend, free of charge. And since free is cheaper that even a military discount, we went for it. So instead of staying on Coronado Island as originally planned, we spent most of our time in the charming little town of Carlsbad, CA. His place was a few blocks from the ocean, and this was the view outside our room every morning:
I pinched myself alot. While he was away, we watched his dog, Pax, who couldn't have been easier. (So if you see a dog in any pictures, don't worry, we didn't shave Roxy and dye her black.)

Some highlights of the week were a trip to Ikea, burgers from In and Out, walks along the beach, Balboa Park, dinner on Coronado Island, a guy who played the guitar with his feet, amazing flowers everywhere that smelled oh so good, shrimp tacos at Pedros Tacos, sleeping in, and just lots of quality time together.

This is my favorite picture which I think captures the trip well. I was having a hankerin' for some In and Out (seriously, you have to go) and a frappuccino, so I ran out and brought home some yumminess to share with Jim on the porch. And this is what we did for much of the trip - we hung out together, enjoying the friendship that has evolved over the past 5 years:

More pictures from the weekend:

Balboa Park

a really cute couple at Balboa Park

a phenominal guitar player

one of our many walks

a cactus that I fell in love with

Bouganvilla, my new favorite flower
(which, thanks to Lowes, is now in our backyard)

The trip was so perfect that I cried on the way home. Some people would call it pregnancy hormones, but I just didn't want it to end.

the one where jim doesn't go for a run

2009-05-25T15:49:00.006-04:00

So in addition to my lovely ring, Jim's decided to also buy me a calendar for our anniversary. And to hire another race-scheduler.

Because one of the reasons we chose to come to San Diego for our anniversary weekend was because there was a Rock n' Roll Marathon. And we thought it'd be cool to do that together. But then I got pregnant. So now it was just Jim running it.

And a few weeks ago as we were counting down towards this trip, Jim decided that since he hasn't been training very consistantly for this marathon, and it's hard to eek something like that out (unlike a half marathon, in say, El Paso) maybe he should downgrade to the half marathon option instead.

No problem. It wasn't his goal, but we figured the 13.1 mile tour of the beaches of San Diego would be just as nice as the 26.2 mile version. That is, until I got online and realized there was no half marathon option. It was all or nothing. I got to give Jim that fun news earlier this week.

Well, what are you going to do? It is what it is.

Until it isn't, anyways. As it turns out, we're here the wrong weekend. The Rock n' Roll Marathon isn't until the 31st. Um, oops. For months we've been planning everything exactly 7 days early.

Maybe it's a blessing in disguise. Or maybe I just feel like an idiot and won't live this down for a while.

Either way, instead of the intended pictures of Jim triumphantly crossing the 26.2 mile finish line, I've got nothing for you. Just the knowledge that next weekend tons of people will have those pictures to share and we'll be back in El Paso, probably sleeping in.

Anyone have a good calendar system? Jim would like to know.

Tomorrow: pictures from things we actually did get to do this weekend.

5 down...

2009-05-22T10:23:00.007-04:00

...a kazillion more to go, I hope.

This morning Jim and I woke up in San Diego. We are taking a long Memorial Day weekend to celebrate our anniversary.

In 5 years we've:

lived together for almost 3 and half of them (thanks, Army!)
made it through a full year deployment
made it through the after-deployment
fought alot
laughed more
moved 5 times
rescued our other family member, Roxy
mourned the loss of family members together
met new nieces and nephews
made a Grublet of our own

And to commemorate such achievements, Jim gave me this:

I've actually had it since Christmas, but it was always intended to be for today, exactly 5 years after the above picture was taken. One of the best days of my life. By far, the best decision I've ever made.

So happy May 22nd, everyone.
(Especially you, too, Cindy!)

reading baby books

2009-05-20T12:14:00.002-04:00

Like any newly pregnant woman, when I found out I was pregnant I started reading. Lots of reading. I've discovered there are really only 3 books a prego needs. But before I go straight to the book reports, I'd like to give a disclaimer in the form of a story.

I discovered that although it's good to be informed, there is such thing as too much information. My limit came at page 42 of book number 2: the section on Hemorrhoids. I didn't know what they were, but based on the description I knew I didn't want them. I researched some more to educate myself and I left horrified. Complete with nightmares. So that's when I stopped reading. That was in January. Even though books are filled with lots of helpful stuff, too much is just too much.

So I haven't read nearly as much as the typical prego. And I kinda pride myself in that. Or at least I did until recently when I realized that in 2 months a person is going to come out of my, ahem, and I really don't have a clue what to expect. I mean, I sorta do. There are friends that have told me way.too.much. But I feel like I should be a little more clinical about it and maybe read up on the situation. So, back to the books I go.

But first, book reports!

Essential Reading #1: What to Expect When You're ExpectingI know you're all rolling your eyes with how obvious a choice this is. But I would be remiss if I didn't metnion it. This is a great book for reference (FYI: hemorrhoids can be found on pages 173, 272-273, 422, 428) but it will also scare you. I don't suggest reading it before bed.

Essential Reading #2: The Girlfriends' Guide to PregnancyOne word: Hilarious. My good friend sent this to me the minute I called her with the news. It was a brilliant move on her part. This is a great balance to the other serious books I have. And it really does tell it like it is. Yes, this is the book that stopped me in my tracks at page 42, but I still skipped around the rest of the chapters and really appreciated the parts that didn't involve gross bodily deformations.

Essential Reading #3: Baby Bargains
I have to give a shout-out to my new friend Karen who let me borrow this fantastic and practical book. At 569 pages(!) it is the most thorough book on baby-ness that I've ever seen. With real-live moms weighing in on ease-of-use and pricing for most baby gadgets. It also tells you what to not waist your money on. So if you're a new mother and overwhelmed by everything marketed out there for your little peapod, then run, don't walk to your closest Amazon.com and order it. Pronto!

So those are my book reports for the day. If you know anyone who's newly pregnant, these would be great Welcome-to-the-World-of-Incubating gifts.

Now, anyone know a good book on that whole giving birth thing that won't terrify me?

weekend notes: dignity lost

2009-05-19T00:06:00.009-04:00

Usually this is where I give you a run-down of exciting events that filled our weekend. But not this time. This weekend was all about Roxy. Our cute rescue dog went from this:

to this:

We got her shaved. It was a hard decision - is shaving a dog even natural? But it's crazy hot here in El Paso. And with the massive amount of hair coming off of her hourly and my great dislike for cleaning, something had to change. And it wasn't going to be me. So off to PetSmart we went. Many (many) hours later she came back a little leaner. And a little embarrassed. I don't know if dogs really get embarrassed, but I think Roxy was acting a kinda shy when she got home.

She looks very funny to me and often I laugh at her. I don't think she even notices anymore. She's just happy to be cool.

sewing and more sewing

2009-05-15T09:58:00.000-04:00

A few Tuesdays ago I hosted my first Crafternoon. What is a Crafternoon, you ask? Well, it's a delightful little phrase coined by my friend Jen. And it's just what it sounds like. An afternoon of friends crafting the day away.

This time it was quilt-centric with 4 lovely ladies, and 4 different sewing machines. Lots of cutting tools and fabric, too.

So I would like to introduce you to my friends Sarah, Christie, and new-quilter Lindsey. You can always tell a new quilter because they say things like "Ugh!", "I hate quilting!", and "This is dumb." And every time Lindsey did, we told her a quilt-fairy died. Luckily Sarah was there to save us all from too many mistakes.

So, what are we working on, you ask? This is the pattern: And this is the fabric:
Now, I'll be honest. This isn't my favorite quilt for two reasons. One, I'm not really into the quilting styles of stars and pinwheels and all the things that make quilting traditional looking. Secondly, in an effort to modernize it, I found some newer Moda fabric I really liked. But somehow it isn't coming together they way I'd hoped. It's a little too busy and a little too pinwheelish. But, I have had fun making it and have enjoyed learning a new technique.

In a few hours the four of us rendezvous again for a Craftermorning to finish up our projects. Hopefully I'll have pictures next week!

more quilt creativity...

2009-05-14T19:06:00.006-04:00

So, on my trip to the East Coast I got to deliver some quilted-goodness to my SIL and her soon-to-be son. (No, not that SIL. I don't want to start any rumors.) Jim's sister is due 3 weeks after me so she's up to her eyeballs in nursery/bedroom colors and themes, too. And, in the spirit of quilting and gift-giving, I got creative and this is what popped out:
It's small, maybe 2.5 x 3 feet. But, this might must be my favorite quilt ever. It's got greens, blues and oranges thrown all about. It has that very scrappy but clean look that I love so much. Nothing fancy, just lots of pretty fabric. And for those that care, I did hand-stitch the top, but recently discovered my machine can free-motion quilt which enables me to potentially do all that fancy stuff you see on most other people's quilts. I say potentially because it scares me to death and will take some time to master. So in the meantime, I'll get out my needle and thread just like the Amish.
And since you've been asking, I have not decided on our nursery yet, but must soon. No worries, it's been agreed that there will be a presence of monkeys. Plural.

weekend notes: east coast blitz

2009-05-13T14:44:00.009-04:00

From Friday to Monday, Jim and I made a super-fast trip to Maryland and Virginia for a baby shower, and to be with our moms on Mothers' Day. What a fast trip it was!

It started with a long plane ride, as many trips do. We landed in Baltimore Friday evening and were picked up by our good friends the Cranes and surprise guest Danny! We made our way to the Cheesecake Factory in Annapolis. I had some delicious pasta that hit the spot. And we all decided we couldn't leave without dessert so I filled myself to the gills with their Chocolate Tower Truffle Cake. It was SO worth the stomach ache later.

We made it to my parents house around 11 and as always, stayed up too late talking. Then up again early in the morning for some delicious breakfast at my brother's house, a.k.a. the Circus. The five in the Circus crew, Jim and myself, my parents and my grandfather chowed and then the ten of us walked my nephew to his baseball game.

He was super-cute in his outfit with his bat and his helmet. And very focused. We had a great time on a perfect Spring day cheering him on. Sadly, the game ended in tears as my nephew didn't realize we had to leave right away to get down to Virginia. But we were able to snap this family picture without duress, and it might just be one of my favorites right now.

So down to Virginia we went. Four hours in the car after a plane ride the day before seemed eternal, but we got there in time for a double baby shower with Jim's sister (she's due 3 weeks after me!). It was an open house for friends and family, so there were lots of people and catching up. And after all the clothes we opened, our boy is going to be one stylish kid!

See how bored the guys look? Don't worry, after an afternoon of baby-ness, they got their testosterone on and had their fun with cigars and beer on the porch.

We had a lovely Mothers' Day. I say "we" because everyone insisted that having a baby in your belly for 6 months entitles you to your own day. I decided I wouldn't argue and enjoyed the attention! So my first Mothers' Day consisted of Starbucks, chatting with family, and sushi! Really yummy sushi. (But not the raw fish kind, don't worry.)

Monday we enjoyed a bit more family time before heading home. Another long day on a plane, and an early night to bed. It was a whirlwind, but absolutely worth it.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that on the plane, both Jim and I saw the baby move. Yup, it was cool.

happy odd day, everyone!

2009-05-07T11:45:00.003-04:00

What? You're not in the know?

nursery inspiration

2009-05-05T16:03:00.015-04:00

Well, we got quite the response on the Nursery Theme vote. It seems the monkeys were a hit! They got a whopping 14 votes. The Arcadia prints (my favorite) got a dismal 4 votes, the Leaves only 2. And then my dad suggested submarines since he was in the Navy and all. My nephew was disappointed there were no Spiderman options. And since he's 5 and the closest boy I know to having a nursery and an opinion, I feel I shouldn't discount his preference.

So all of that said, I am closer to making a decision, but can't jump into the monkeys all the way. Sorry folks, my heart just won't let me do it. But maybe I'll incorporate a few monkeys here and there? We'll see. I still have a few months.

In the meantime, I've been surfing the web for inspiration...

I love this nursery from Design Sponge because the color scheme works without being matchy-matchy, or themed. And I LOVE the rug. It's a bunch of carpet tiles by Flor. I would never have put those particular squares together, but it looks like a quilt for your floor. So of course that makes it my favorite.

This nursery from Sew Liberated is so minimalistic, it calls out to me. It's designed in the Montessori philosophy which really isn't me (ie: we'll have a real crib). But look at that wall mural. It's from Wee Gallery and I think it just makes the room.

This isn't the best picture, but if you visit Milo's nursery over at ohdeedoh, you'll see some clever mural ideas and a print that I might just have to get. It's whimsical. I think I could design a nursery around it, in fact.

I've always loved these paper globes and have tried to decide if they would work well in a boy's room. What do you think? (Also from ohdeedoh.)

But then, wouldn't it be fun to design a nursery around this? It wouldn't be boring. Think of all the color you could play with! I found it on Etsy a few days ago and I know you'll be pleased because "M is for monkey".

I could waste hours on the internet looking at nursery pictures. In fact, I just kinda did. If you find anything good, let me know!

weekend notes: the Parkers & Old Mesilla

2009-05-05T14:45:00.012-04:00

This weekend we were lucky enough to host our wonderful friends the Parkers for a night. As they traveled from one side of the country to almost the other, they made room for El Paso and we had a great time. It was low-key. A cookout in our backyard: brats, homemade speatzle, beer, cigars. The usual. With yummy strawberry shortcake for dessert. And lots of conversation. We caught up on all of our friends back at Fort Campbell and asked about the latest east coast news.

They'd just driven across TX, and Jim had a long day at work so it was a relatively early night for us. But the next morning we readied ourself for lunch at La Posta in Old Mesilla, NM. And man, were those tacos good. We made the trek and said our goodbyes outside the restaraunt (sniff, sniff) with plans to see them soon.

Then Jim and I decided to follow the music into the town square and were surprised that we had timed our Old Mesilla trip so well. It was a Fiesta Weekend! The trumpets were blaring, the street sellers were peddling, the mariachi band was singing, and the dancers were all over the place.

I was fascinated by this vendor because I've never seen such big or ugly piggy banks. The pig ones in particular. I think the were just glad to escape Mexico without the flu. They all looked so sad there, lined up with that blank stare in their eyes. Kinda creepy, really.

But we didn't leave before Jim could buy this:

It's a luchador mask, of course. Think Nacho Libre. Luckily it didn't come with matching underwear, tights and boots. But for $12 Jim can be happy for a day. And hot. Those things make you sweat!

One last picture of the day. This is our favorite cacti. They are all over the mountains as you hike. When we got here we were amazed at how dead they all looked. And it has the longest thorns I've ever seen. It's called the Crown of Christ because it was once thought to be used long ago to make, you guessed it, Christ's crown on Good Friday. It's very sobering to consider it because the thorns can be up to an inch and a half long. And thick.

But it true dessert fashion, things that look dead spring forth a life from within that is amazing. About a month ago, these cacti grew beautiful bright orange flowers at the tips. Every time we see them we're amazed.

Speaking of amazed, did you notice the growing belly?

nursery ideas

2009-04-29T07:38:00.013-04:00

Alright, I need your help. Ladies, channel your inner HGTV and let the deco-juices flow. Gents (there are a few, I know), since we're having a baby boy and you were at one time a baby boy, I consider you subject matter experts.

Picking out a nursery theme can be overwhelming. Especially when I pass by all the nursery-in-a-kit options at Babies 'R' Us and decide rebelliously to sew it all myself. Instead of playing eenie-meenie-miney-moe and having everything done for me (down to the matching lamp), I've chosen to hypnotize myself with walls of fabric at Joann's and the endless possibilities on the internet.

Why am I doing it this way, you ask? Well, because I'm me, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

So this is what I've come up with so far. Click on each image for a better view. Let me know what you think!*

1) The Monkeys Are Bananas

Now I'm not at all into "themes" when it comes to nursery prints, whether it be Noah's Ark, moonbeams, Disney, etc. But when we were registering, Jim kept being drawn by all things monkey. And when I saw these monkey heads at Joann's I wasn't in love, but I thought it doable. And, a bit cute. So I picked out some coordinating fabrics and, frankly, am still a bit taken by the bananas.

2) Leaves and Color

When I orginally thought about colors, I imagined greens and blues, and always bright, never pastels. So here we have a navy, lime, orange combo that I threw in with some leaf print. And as I find other prints that compliment, I'll probably add them into the mix, too. It'll be a bit scrappy overall, but that's what I'm into.

3) Arcadia

Here we have a different take on the blue/green/orange combo. I found this quilt browsing among the vast number of my go-to inspiration blogs on the handy world wide web. Instantly I was in love and discovered that the entire quilt comes from Moda's Arcadia line of fabric. I would have to take out any pattern with flowers on it (Jim's rule) but looking closely, I don't think that omits too many blocks.

So, what am I going to do with all this fabric? Well, the nursery will need a crib bumper, crib skirt, curtain, quilt, pillow for the rocking chair, and who knows what else. It depends on how creative I decide to get with leftover fabric.

So get your voting buttons ready. And all of you blog-stalkers out there, your vote counts, too. On your mark, get set, go!

*Although I am requesting your assistance and opinions, I reserve the right to change my mind last minute, ignore you all together, or pick that Pooh set at Target afterall.

grublet needs his toys

2009-04-24T11:29:00.009-04:00

First, I would like to add a disclaimer to this post. I do not like the idea of registering. I struggled with it 5 years ago when we got married. I struggle with it now. It's like telling people how much they should spend on EXACTLY what you want. There's little room for creativity. And there's a pressure that if you register for something too expensive, people will think you're spoiled and expect too much. So they might decide not to come to your wedding. Or like your kid... It's all very stressful, really.

Secondly, in an effort to use other people's money wisely, I spent hours and hours researching the best, safest, etc. baby products to get for our little Grublet. I even told Jim as we walked into Babies R Us that we will not be going about this willy-nilly like we did our wedding registry. This time we have a plan and we can't just ask for things that are pretty and might look good in a nursery.

Thirdly, Jim did not apparently hear me and when the nice lady at the counter gave him the gun, he was off. Like lightening.

So the story goes....

I don't know if it's the infrared gun-thingy, or if Jim just likes to pretend he's spending other people's money. But Jim LOVES to "register". I'm almost sad that this is probably the last time he gets to do this. He's never getting married again. (pause, for effect) And by our next kid, we'll have what we need for the most part. So, really this was a monumental moment for him. But I don't think he realized it. He was knee-deep in toys by this point.

Speaking of, do you like the Slip 'n Slide that our kid apparently needs? In his defense, Jim did not go about this almost-purchase thoughtlessly as you might expect. There was great consideration involved in this decision. Because at Target, there are like 7 to choose from. And with gun poised, he stood there thinking out loud...

Jim: We totally need one of these.
Karen: We do?.... or our kid does?
Jim: Our kid will love it!
Karen: But he won't be able to use it until he's 5, apparently.
Jim: No, I can hold him.
Karen: rolling eyes
Jim: But which one... I like this one. It's got a cool arch thingy. I even think it spits water out at you.
Karen: rolling eyes
Jim: Oh, but I don't know if I'll fit through it.
Karen: Again, this is for the kid...
Jim: But the other ones look boring. I really think he's going to want the archy one.
Karen: Just don't get the super-expensive one.
Jim: Yeah, he needs the archy one. And it's only $30 bucks! Someone will totally buy this for us.

That may not be exactly how the conversation went, but it's pretty close. And, except for toys, Jim was very respectful of all my research. He did get a little bored when I had to flip through my typed-out notes to remember what brand of breast pump that we wanted. But he was a trooper. And waited patiently until I pointed to a box and he got to shoot the gun again.

So that's the gist of how it went. Jim was very excited. We had very few arguements about "but this one's safer"/"but this one looks more manly". And in the end I think we did alright.

Besides, our newborn, who is negative three and a half months is totally going to love his Slip 'n Slide. Which will go perfectly with his 3D Star Wars Kite.

Next up: Nursery themes. Help!

belly pics and the Cloud

2009-04-23T10:31:00.006-04:00

So this is the progression over the past few months. You'll note the burst of weight gain the last few weeks in particular. It's gotten harder to bend over and, say, tie my shoes. Which has grown my appreciation for the inventor of flip flops. I think I have 6 pairs.

I still don't have maternity pants/shorts yet. I've been making due with the rubber-band around the jeans button method. But they have started to protest (both the rubber-band and the jeans) and I think I need to go shopping soon. Ugh.

I did break down and buy some maternity shirts a few days ago. I think I'm in love. I've spent the last month feeling insanely fat as I've been stretching my shirts past any reasonable point. And I almost cried Sunday morning when I couldn't find a thing to wear that didn't make me look like a whale. By the 3rd outfit Jim wasn't scrunching his face anymore when I walked out of the closet.

So with my new shirts, I've felt.... comfortable. And, dare I say, cute?

But my true love has been The Cloud of Glory. We just call it the Cloud for short. We = Jim and Karen. And maybe even Roxy, if she could talk.

Remember when I posted about my insanely large care-package that I wasn't sure what to do with? I even mentioned that it was "like the size of another person". In case you didn't believe me, here's a better picture of it for proportion.

I recently discovered it was from my friend Robin back at Fort Campbell who was a dear one night and listened to the stories of my sleeping woes. And it wasn't two weeks later that a box arrived at my door.

But it took me a while to even suggest moving it into our bed. Eventually I grew too uncomfortable sleeping and to my surprise, the next morning Jim said it worked just fine.

And by "just fine", I think that he secretly kinda likes it. On more than one occasion I've rolled over in the night to hug the other side and noticed that somebody was already there.

Ahem.

Even Roxy gets in on the action when Jim leaves for PT in the morning. She dutifully hops on the bed to find the warm spot and Roxy, the Cloud and I snuggle the early morning hours away.

It's like another family member, really.

So thanks to the Cloud and some well-fitting clothes, I might make it to nine months, yet.

Tomorrow: Registering for a baby with Jim.

practicing to be 70

2009-04-09T09:44:00.007-04:00

Tuesday night I got to go with some friends to a Bingo and Basket night on post. It's where you and 100 of your closest competitors get out your daubers and pray that nobody shouts BINGO before you. (I should mention that I'm too cheap to spend $1 on a dauber and just used a lame marker.) I never thought I'd get so into it. My extroverted self, honestly, went mostly to be social. But when that man started yelling out numbers, the blood started to rush.

Did you know there's a whole Bingo culture? This isn't just the run-of-the-mill try to get a line straight across or diagonal. There's X's, Frames, 9-Squares, Crosses, I's, Total Blackout. People can be intense! And then when you add door prizes on top of it? There are chances to win everywhere.

me & Elizabeth

The big prizes of the night were Longaberger baskets filled with goodies. Now I'm not really into these baskets - like I said, I just went for fun. But I still would have jumped to the sky if I'd called BINGO and taken one of these sweet over-priced puppies home.

But I didn't get to call BINGO. I got close once. And a few at our table won. I was a little jealous.

But I did win a door prize. In fact, the best door prize of the night. Thanks to the generous folks at USAA, they called my name I skipped my way up to the front to receive my $100 Visa card!

But....

That's not really the best part of the night. This is:You know how sometimes you're innocently posing for a "look how much fun we're having" picture and the microphone makes one of those loud noises that scares the living daylights out of you? And somehow you're the only one that reacts while everyone else knows to keep smiling prettily? And this is the picture that comes out? And then you feel stupid, but you can't stop laughing as everyone passes the camera around to show what an idiot you look like?

Well, this is that picture for me. But unfortunately it wasn't taken on my camera so when I came home I could only tell Jim about it... but really couldn't because I was laughing so hard and crossing my legs trying not to pee myself (thank you for that, pregnancy!). And Jim just looked at me like I had 3 eyes coming out of my head. Which made me laugh more. And then the tears came. And, well, maybe you had to be there.

Or maybe you should just click on the picture and zoom in on my head because it is that darn funny.

still recovering?

2009-04-09T08:39:00.005-04:00

That's the excuse I'm using, anyway, since I'm not posting until today. And it's not too far from the truth. The Circus visit was fun, chaotic, exhausting, delightful, and a whirlwind all at once.

As you can see from Crystal's account, the White Sands National Monument visit looked nothing like the picture below. The women and kids sought refuge from the sandstorm in the car while the men donned goggles, gator masks and hats with their sleds and made the best of it. Which was wildly entertaining to the rest of us. (Actually, I take that back. Crystal decided to take a few rides down the dunes, to my great awe and respect.)

But that's not really my favorite story from the weekend. As you might have heard, the Circus showed up a little sick. But that didn't stop us from inviting our friends the Podgurskis down from Albuquerque. They have a daughter that made an instant friend to my little nephew and nieces. So much so that while I was helping the Pods check into their hotel (they had already given up camping in our backyard due to the unforgiving El Paso winds), Scott called and suggested we try to "squeeze them in" to the house. Which wasn't as hard as it seemed once you realized that two toddlers could fit on the floor in our closet. Yup. Two kids, in our closet, all night. Well, almost all night. My niece got scared around 4:30am so I rescued her and we had a nice couple of hours snuggling on the couch until the rest of the crew woke up... Though somehow I failed to mention the killer Friday night pajama party that you can have with four kids under the age of 5. My brother cranked some song I never heard of and dance moves started flying out of these kids like I've never seen. And man, can they groove. SYTYCD had better watch out.

But then there's the "I'm never doing that again" story. Which took place Sunday morning as Scott and Crystal were trying to get the Circus on the road. As the kids started to get a little restless, I opted to take one of my nieces to the park since she seemed to be instigating some, ahem, disagreements among the kids. And why not take Roxy, too? So as I started to get the plan in action, my nephew decided he didn't want to be left out. Which, of course, meant that my youngest niece wanted to come. So before I knew it, our party went from two people and a dog, to four. Why I didn't think to ask another adult to come along, or maybe leave Roxy at home, I'm not sure. I'm really not sure.

So.

When we walked the few houses down and spotted the swings, I was immediately asked why we weren't going to the Big Park. And deciding there was enough time, our 2 minute walk turned into 15 minutes through the neighborhood to find the big park. Everyone holding hands, just like they ought.

Then we made it to the park and the kids immediately ran for the swings. Whatever. One pregnant girl lifting and swinging 3 kids quickly proved to be a bad idea. But what can you do now? Eventually one decided she was done swinging and proceded to tromp across the park. But the problem was the wood chips that some brilliant contractor thought would make great ground cover. Since we were just glad to get shoes on all the kids, we didn't even worry about socks. So now wood chips were falling into her shoes and making her cry. I got them all out, but she was too afraid to put the shoes back on. There was no other option but to hold her.

So again, to paint the picture... Pregnant me is holding one kid while pushing the other two, meanwhile hearing, "You're not as good as Daddy at this" over and over again. Geez. I'm trying, here.

With the last few minutes the older kids decided to play on the playground we'd walked so far for. And proceeded to toss wood chips up and down the slide. Sure, why not. At least they weren't getting in their shoes.

Until the walk home, of course. Pregnant Karen is still holding the youngest in one arm, and her shoes in the other. My other niece is obediently holding onto my shirt tail. And my nephew is helping me hold Roxy's leash as we walk down the sidewalk. Until woodchips showed up in my niece's shoe. To which I bent down and helplessly watched Roxy run my nephew down the street, yelling after him to "be strong!".

Needless to say, it was a long hour. We made it home and Scott and Crystal were able to make miraculous strides in getting them out the door. So I collapsed on the couch and watched the rest of the morning happen.

But I was really sad to see them go. And then go again, when after getting gas we realized I'd given them bad directions. Oops.

This was Sunday. It's now Thursday and I haven't heard from them yet. I'm hoping all is well and that sicknesses have vanished. Either way, I'm sure they're making perfect memories. I know I'd do it all over again.

the circus has come to town

2009-04-03T17:41:00.004-04:00

I won't have much to say today because the Circus is in town! My brother's family, all 5 of them, have taken over El Paso and Fort Bliss and we're having a ball. So I would suggest popping over to Crystal's blog to get the daily play-by-play of their visit here. Already their son is infatuated with the Army-ness surrounding us. I've enjoyed an impromtu picnic in our backyard with their other daughter. And their youngest was the picture of absolute cuteness just now cuddling with mom after her nap.

Often I wish Maryland wasn't so darn far from Texas. I could eat these kids up.

Tomorrow we're going to White Sands National Monument to go sledding. Yup, in shorts and t-shirts, we'll be sledding on sand. It's quite the thing to do around here. And since I don't like to post without including a picture, I've heisted one off of someone's website so that you can envy us all tomorrow.

I hope you can enjoy your weekend as much as I will. Never a dull moment here at the Grubes.

well, it's not a grubletta

2009-04-02T11:09:00.012-04:00

So right here is where a picture of my belly should be. But in the chaos that has been moving and cleaning recently, I seem to have misplaced my camera cord. So my pictures are stuck indefinitely on my camera. They may never be seen again.

But I will share these with you! On Tuesday night we had our ultrasound. If you can get past the creepiness, than he's actually quite cute.

You heard me right, HE.

I would show you the proof, but I always find those pictures a little, well, disturbing. Poor kid. Do we really need to start the embarrassment this early on? We have, like, 18 whole years for that.

And if you can get past the creepy thing, than do I have the picture for you:
As is natural, everyone has started to ask about names. To which I roll my eyes and give one of these three answers:

"When we do pick a name, we won't tell anyone because, among other reasons, then we can change it last minute if we decide to."
"Yes, we've talked about names, but it always starts a fight."
"On the way home from the ultrasound, Jim and I couldn't even agree on a nickname for the embryo."

And since this is a blog and you guys always get the rest of the story, here it is.

To set the scene: Jim and Karen drive home from the ultrasound reminiscing about the last 40 minutes and how we finally got to see this little guy that I've been incubating. It all seems so surreal. Miraculous, even. Then Jim says this:

Jim: So I've been thinking about nicknames for the kid and I think we should call him "Jefe". (pronounced: hef-ay)
Karen: What?! Where the heck did you get that name?
Jim: Well, we live in El Paso, and Jefe is Spanish for Chief.
Karen: (blank stare)
Jim: What do you think?
Karen: I think that sounds kinda stupid. Jefe? Chief? It reminds me of Heifeweisen. (a German beer)
Jim: That's even cooler!
Karen: Well, I was thinking I'd start calling him Skelator.
Jim: (blank stare)

Neither of us won. So for now it's still Grublet and you can often find me standing in front of my refrigerator looking at the ultrasound the nice technician printed out for us. I should say that the picture doesn't do him justice, because when the tech used his thingy-mabob to slather all that jelly around my stomach, I distinctly saw an expression on my little boy's face. And it was sweet. And he was cute. And he didn't look anything like Skelator.

what did you do this weekend?

2009-03-31T23:07:00.012-04:00

I made a quilt. I call in my marathon quilt. I bought the fabric on Friday and finished it last night. At 2am.

On Friday, two of my quilting buddies and I piled into my Honda and drove to the closest quilt store 45 minutes away in Las Cruces, NM. It was a delightful trip with lots of gabbing and getting to know each other. This is a picture of me being somewhat overwhelmed by options at Oregon Mountain Quilt Shop:

(and yes, I do stand like that alot.)

Why make a quilt in a weekend? Well, the Ginders were the lovely couple willing to let us house-sit for them when we first got to El Paso. And Kelly came home today. (Which is significant since I thought she'd be home Sunday, but gratefully I had until Tuesday.) And I wasn't sure what would be an appropriate gift for a couple who let us live in their space for so long.

So I went for personal and decided to make something. And in classic Karen-style, I waited until the last minute.

So this fabric was bought on Friday, conveniently pre-cut in what's called a fabric jelly-roll:
And this is what popped out on Tuesday:

front

back

I chose the Chinese Coins pattern and ran with it. I'm not usually one to follow quilt patterns since I prefer the scrappy, randomly pieced-together look. But I didn't have time to experiment, so $5 later I had a pattern and a plan.

It took many hours, and two movies: Gigi and Pride and Prejudice. (And not just any Pride and Prejudice, but the A&E 5 hour version. The very best one, in my opinion. It's my "quilting movie"; I watch it at least once per quilt I make. It's that darn good.)

And I think having a deadline and only a few days is the way to go. Otherwise quilts are like any other project that I start and never finish. For once, procrastination paid off this time.

As proof, I got a call from Kelly this evening saying she loves it. Absolutely loves it.

my very first baby shower

2009-03-26T23:15:00.015-04:00

First I should mention that I was absolutely surprised. Which is kinda dumb because every year when we get together, we ALWAYS throw a shower for whomever is pregnant. But there I was, standing in the doorway as surprised as ever. Here's the proof:

The whole shower was perfect. It started with an adorably decorated table. Since the sex isn't known yet, it was a Book Shower. Which means my kid will be really really smart. So the theme was Sweet Dreams, as in reading books to your baby before bed. Such a perfect theme.
Get it? They set the table like a bed. So clever.

Then, the food. They really put a lot of thought into it. Apparently Plan A was a Mexican fiesta, since I live near the border an all. But luckily I have a blog where I mentioned that Mexican food makes me want to hurl. So they moved to Plan B: a brunch, complete with homemade Egg McMuffins. Again, brilliant.

I should mention that there a few moments where it became clear how ill-prepared I am for motherhood. As I opened book after book, there were a few familiar ones that stood out. Goodnight Moon, the Golden Books, Dr. Suess... But there were so many that I didn't know. And as soon as I opened them up, there was a chorus of moms who said in unison, "Oh, that's a good one," and at times they even broke out with the words memorized! How can I compete with that? I guess I need to study up. I only have 4 and a half months until show time, you know.

I even found out a little secret that some of my very favorite blogger friends were planning on trekking to central PA for the occasion. Which really humbled me. You guys are awesome.

(I did get to see Amy over at Vileation for a fly-by visit. Even got to meet her Jake (cute baby) and Luther (infamous dog). But somehow, I don't think a picture exists of us together. Amy, any chance you can prove me wrong?)

There were some shower games, to include this picture of my future baby:I think I have Cindy to thank for this beautiful piece of artwork.

So it was fun and later that week I packed my suitcase full of baby books and Target gift cards. And lots of love from my friends.
I do have such great friends.

i'm back

2009-03-26T11:14:00.005-04:00

It's interesting the blogsphere mood-change that happens when you put off posting. My last comments started with the traditional, Hope you're feeling better!, and eventually ended with, Are you dead??. Though my favorite is from Dena who probably knows me best: "Time for some homework, Stella." Simple and to the point, Karen, you're procrastinating and I know it.

So I'm sorry I've been remiss* in posting. Frankly, I feel like I've been remiss in life the last few weeks. When I returned from my trek eastward I basically laid in bed for a few days while my mom unloaded boxes for me. When I awoke, most all of the boxes in the house were gone and she was itching to paint. Aren't mom's great?

So for the last 10 days instead of blogging I've been:

Dragging my sick body around El Paso looking for furniture.
Shopping for a headboard but ending up with an entirely new bedroom set. Fancy.
Battling some left-over sinus headaches from this cold. I have one now and it ain't pretty.
Going to a doctor's appointment and finding out I LOST weight. I guess my appetite goes when I'm sick.
Making up for lost time by discovering my love affair with ice cream. Mint chocolate chip is a current favorite - something about the mint and the cold is oh so good. But Rocky Road is proving a close second today.
Painting my beautiful and slightly illegal Maple Leaf Red and Latte (remember this post? Latte is almost identical to Lenox Tan.) Illegal because you're not really supposed to paint on-post housing. I'm going for the ask-forgiveness-later approach.
Organizing this house.
Cleaning the other house we've been living in. The owner comes back this weekend. I want it to be perfect. But gosh, I forgot how much I don't like to clean.
And finally, tackling all of this FRG stuff that I've been running away from like Jonah and Nineveh. I'm happy to report that it's not as painful as I thought it would be.
Did I mention the darn headaches?

Oh, and some anonymous person sent me this in the mail!It's like the size of another person. I'm not sure how to fit it into the bed with me and Jim. But it couldn't have come at a better time as I've been recently complaining about uncomfortable sleeping and an aching back. Jim might just have to go.

I'd like to give the proper thank you to whomever was so thoughtful. So come out, come out, wherever you are. Otherwise I'll have to settle for a generic shout-out thank you and, well, that's just lame.

So, tomorrow - pics from my trip home, but specifically from my first ever baby shower. Thrown by my lovely college girl-friends who know how to make a girl feel super special.

And thank you all for hanging in there while I took a blog-vacation.

Vacation over.

*remiss: \ri-ˈmis\ adj: negligent in the performance of work or duty; showing neglect or inattention. (definitely a word in my Jane Austin books that I use with too much frequency)

under the weather

2009-03-15T10:45:00.002-04:00

My time on the east coast has come and gone. And since I forgot to sleep while I was there, I'm paying for it big time, as I am quite under the weather. I've spent most of my recent El Paso hours in bed. I'm sorry to be so absent. But upon my return, I promise to post about the loveliest little surprise baby shower my dear friends threw for me while I was home. In the meantime, I'll be hanging out with my pillow and my Robitussin.

weekend notes: talks and runs

2009-03-05T08:51:00.005-05:00

Thank you for all of your encouragement last weekend! The talk at the retreat went great. That is to say, I'm my own harshest critic, but I had many women come up and tell me what they got out of it and I think that was God's way of saying, "Good job." And when God gives you the thumbs up, well, you just shouldn't argue.

So the talk was Friday night which meant I got to relax the rest of the retreat. Which also meant I stayed up until 2am playing games with the girls. And if there was ever a time to make new, good friends, a retreat is it! So fun was had by all and after a "quick" trip to a new-found quilt shot, I got home later on Saturday than expected and fell promptly to sleep.

But then I woke up early Sunday morning so Jim could run in the El Paso Half Marathon. The funny thing is that Jim signed up months ago for this race but we both forgot to write it down on our calendars. So whenever it came up, I said something about thinking it was at the end of the month. But then Jim called me on Wednesday and asked if I knew what March 1st was. I was up to my elbows in movers and boxes at the time so I didn't even guess. "The half marathon," he said. Long pause. "Oh."

I should also mention that Jim didn't really train up to this point, AND he'd been sick for most of the week.

But my husband is crazy and ran it anyway. It wasn't his best run, he said. And I could kinda tell as it looked like Death was running across the finish line. But he had a good excuse. The next morning at the doctors he found out he had Bronchitis.

So to sum-up, my husband ran 13.1 miles with bronchitis. He's amazing. He said that he didn't even bonk until mile 11. Without bronchitis I usually bonk between mile 6 and 8. He seriously is amazing.

So after his half, I slept for a few hours. Sounds fair, right? Then some friends picked me up for He's Just Not That Into You (click it! and just leave the song/soundtrack on in the background. Love it!) and the rest of the day was a flurry of unpacking and I now have all of my clothes beautifully organized in my humongous closet.

Which means I also have found all of my winter clothes. A very important detail since I'm now in Maryland where there's inches of snow on the ground and I'm experiencing true winter for the first time this season. I LOVE the east coast!

life is good

2009-02-27T07:32:00.006-05:00

It's been a stressful week, but not all stress is bad stress. Remember that last time I gave you move-in dates and such? Well everything got pushed up a day, so that basically left me less time to procrastinate.

We got a call on Monday from Housing that said if we could meet her at the end of the day on Tuesday, we could get our key early. Perfect! That meant I could call and have the movers come on Wednesday morning. Which meant that the cable/internet guy could come Thursday. Which was just perfect... in theory.

So I show up on Tuesday as promised and met our "nice" Housing Lady (remember her?), praying that nothing went wrong. But it did. To include Jim not being there. Which is my fault because I thought me and my trusty Power of Attorney could do it all. (If there's a military wife in the house, can I hear an "Amen"?) But I was wrong and in a panic called Jim 6 times in one and a half minutes. But to no avail. This could be a show-stopper, folks. Which is not good since at 8am the next morning, a big moving truck was showing up at the house, locked or not. I even called a friend to have her call her husband in case he was with Jim to have him tell Jim to get his rear-end down to Housing pronto.

And Jim did eventually make it. After one intense hour and keys that didn't work, Jim and I finally walked around our echo-y house and I fell in love with every corner of it.

Wednesday was the big day. This was the day that we finished our 4th move in nearly 5 years. (If there's a military wife in the house, can I hear an "Amen"?) Moving day is always a little nerve-racking for me since usually I'm there by myself when 3 big men show up with all my stuff. Sometimes they can be very condescending (read, bullies!) and insist they "know how to do it" and don't want you looking over their shoulder telling you to be careful with your stuff. (I'd already promised myself that if they made me cry, I was going to call Jim.) But, Praise the Lord, this was the best moving crew I've ever worked with. I think it's because I ran to McDonald's for lunch. My theory: if I take care of them, they'll take care of me. And three super-sized value meals later, none of my stuff was broken.

They left me with a house full of boxes at about 4, and I rushed around getting ready for my first FRG meeting at 5:30. Speaking of nervous! I had to talk in front of about 60 soldiers who were all told they HAD to be there after hours for this very important family meeting. Nobody wants to be there and it's my job to convince them that this is all worth while. (If there's a military wife in the house, can I hear an "Amen"?) The meeting wasn't great. I talked too fast. But it was over, and since this was the event of the week that I was dreading the most - I was happy.

At about 7:30pm Jim and I headed to our old house to get some stuff to the new house so we could sleep there the night. To me that meant, grab a toothbrush. But Jim was in this mood. He wanted to get as much stuff together as we could. And he was kinda motivated about it. I, however, was not and had been "moving" all day. All I wanted was OUR bed. So I was kinda grumpy.

After we're back at the new abode, we spend 10 minutes unpacking enough boxes to find our sheets and towels. We then spend the next 40 minutes trying to find our stinkin' shower curtain. But that never happened. Instead we were inventive and somehow didn't end up with water all over the bathroom floor the next morning. All of that credit goes to Jim since I still haven't showered since.... um... maybe, Tuesday?

So Yesterday was the big internet day. I waited all morning for the guy to come, and in 20 minutes, viola!, we had the internet. In our very own house! And I should mention that we are cheap and are paying only the very minimum for such luxuries. But for $5 extra a month we could also get basic cable (ie, 18 channels) so we decided to go for it. It saves us from buying one of those convertor boxes, right? On his way out, the guy tells me that he doesn't have a "filter" so instead we're just going to get all 78 channels. Um, okay.

And now, Today. All of our boxes are still staring at me so I know I have to tackle those. But this afternoon I leave for a women's retreat that I've been asked to speak at. My topic? Finding Joy in Transition - The Promise of Future Goodness. Appropriate, don'tcha think? Last night as Jim and I were mumbling to each other as we were falling asleep I mentioned I was nervous about it. He said, "Just talk like you blog and everyone will love you." I've decided that was the best advice I'd heard all week.

So it's Friday morning, and I've been up since 4:30am when Jim left for work. I couldn't fall back asleep so here I am drinking fruit punch, eating pretzels and blogging. I'm about to go take that much-needed shower and maybe find a Starbucks to camp out in and write out my talk for tonight. I'm still a little stressed, but at about 8:30pm tonight it will all be over and the week will be in the past. And tomorrow when I return from the retreat, I'll be greeted by the happiest red door I've ever known.

the culprit was broccoli

2009-02-20T13:29:00.004-05:00

I've been fortunate enough to not have extreme morning sickness. Ok, besides some inconvenient nausea, really, my first trimester went without a hitch. This second trimester, however, hasn't left me so lucky.

So here's the story of how my husband made me throw up. This might be kinda long.

It started when I had my first doctor's appointment about a month ago. It's was more of an orientation, actually, where I sat with about 20 other pregnant women and filled out paperwork. There was a lovely midwife there to answer any questions we had, as well as throw out a few important things, like "don't eat too much sugar". I didn't think too much of it until she said it, like, four times. So, as a good mom-to-be, I evaluated my diet and decided I was doing ok, but should probably lay off the juice. No big deal. But for some reason I decided to mention it to my husband. Now, Big Deal.

Fast forward to that Sunday night when I was unsuspectingly sitting with him at Bible Study. And, as usual, our host had a plate of cookies out that I'd been thinking about all through the 26th chapter of Matthew. When, at the end, we were all released to the cookies, Jim leaned over and said with all seriousness, "You may have half a cookie."

(Now, before you start sending hate mail to my husband who clearly didn't understand the long-standing rule that you never EVER tell a pregnant woman what she can or can not eat, please know that he did it in love. He's just concerned for the baby, he said.)

But that didn't stop me from looking at him with a look of absolute shock and stubbornness, saying, "I will eat a WHOLE cookie." I didn't even flinch. You would have been proud. But I did feel kinda guilty since the Bible talks about submission and all. Though I think there's a little known pregnancy clause found in some later-discovered manuscripts.

But I digress. After a short "discussion" I agreed to only eat half. But a few minutes later he presented me with a whole. See, he really is a good guy.

The problem was that the cookie was peanut butter. I really don't like peanut butter cookies at all. If it wasn't for the previous conversation I would have offered the rest to him. But I didn't. Out of spite, I ate half. Then I offered the rest to him. Did I show him or what?

So at this point many of you are wondering how this has anything to do with broccoli.

Well.

The next day we had our heartbeat appointment, and again the doctor asked some health questions that included something about drinking milk and calcium. Doh. I don't really like milk. Never have. Well, how about yogurt? That I could do. Oh, and don't forget your green leafy vegetables. Those are important. Dangit.

That night as I was making dinner for us, Jim "suggested" I have some spinach salad. But I gave him a look that said, "I don't even like spinach when I'm not pregnant. Good luck with that one, hon." Instead I added some raw broccoli on my plate and didn't think anything of it.

Until I ate a piece. It made me gag. Like when your stomach lurches and it's mildly unpleasant. No worries, I'd finish my mac and cheese in peace and quietly get rid of the green leafy stuff later. But I wasn't quick enough and Jim noticed my broccoli piled on my otherwise empty plate. So he made a comment about how I should eat it, and I instantly put on my defensive whiny voice complaining how, "seriously, Jim, it'll make me gag. It's gross. I tried already I promise. In fact, I'll eat one more piece and you can see how it makes me gag. And then you'll never make me eat broccoli again."

So I ate the broccoli. And exactly 18 seconds later I lost my entire dinner. Every single bit of it.

And he felt soooooo bad. He even held my hair back for me and rubbed my back like the loving husband that he is. And made all sorts of promises about not making me eat any more food ever if I didn't want to. But I wasn't listening because I thought it was way too cute that he was holding my hair and rubbing my back.

Gosh I love that man.

And aside from a few minor instances, that's been the worst of it. But really, is it so bad when you can get a blog post out of it AND brag about your husband?

the new grube home

2009-02-19T15:25:00.008-05:00

After being on the waiting list since August, and having arrived to Fort Bliss 3 whole months ago, I'd like to introduce you to our new home. It's lovely. And exactly what we wanted. I can't wait for you to come visit.

A little background: When arriving to a new army post and desiring to live in one of the government houses, it's important to get on the waiting list and... wait. Some posts are faster than others, but Fort Bliss is not one of these. But Fort Bliss is one of the few posts that has brand new housing for our rank. So nice!

God has been amazing in providing us a temporary house to stay in (a.k.a. house-sit) within the same neighborhood, allowing us to build some close friends that will soon become our for-real neighbors. And as I've lived in this borrowed house of ours, I've been able to do alot of observing and a lot of praying. It usually went something like this:

"Dear Lord, Thank you for providing a wonderful place for us to use that keeps us close to Jim's work and in a safe neighborhood (on post). But I'd really like to see my stuff again so we'd really like a home very soon. Preferably by the end of March, since that's when the owners of this house return. And... since we're talking of preferences, if you really wanted to know, God, I'd love for it to be one of the single story homes. And with a red front door... But I really would be happy with anything."

So, last week the lady from the Housing office called with the good news. And oh, by the way, she said, since she knew we were having a baby, she got me a one story home. She thought that would just be better.

I was floored.

I had to fight the tears. But, I was more floored when I hopped in my car in my pajamas with my mom on the phone and drove past our new address and screamed. Because, wouldn't you know, it had a red door.

Really, we just wanted a house. But God thought He'd give us that extra treat.

So here's our new neighborhood, that looks very southwest, I think:
And here's my favorite plant that's in the front yard:
And you'll notice by "yard", I mean rocks. The whole front yard is rocks. And half of the backyard is gravel. Gotta love living in a desert.

Wondering how I got these pictures without someone calling the MPs (military police)? Well, I parked down the street a bit and tried to look nonchalant with the camera behind my back. But I think I left subtle behind when I decided to peek in the backyard. No worries, it later became obvious the house was empty, so I quickly became "that girl" that was peeking in all the windows.

And there you have it. In exactly 6 days we will be the proud renters of a government house, all our own. And in exactly 7 days, all of our stuff will be dropped off by the movers - after nine months of storage. And in exactly 8 days, we should have the coveted internet in our very own home. I can't wait.

So, seriously, when can you come? We're going to have a killer housewarming party.

4 months and the bella band

2009-02-18T19:58:00.009-05:00

So I've been a little alarmed at my tummy's growth over the last week. This was taken Saturday at exactly month 4. The day before I didn't look pregnant, I promise.

And can you see my Bella Band in color "Pepper"? (I also ordered the black with lace.) It's serving it's purpose perfectly as none of you, I'm sure, can tell that my jeans aren't buttoned. With these lovely things I can pull another month or two out of these pre-prego jeans. Which is good since I wear them almost every day. They're the best $25 I ever gave Old Navy.

And my praise for Bella Band would probably be endless... if I'd bought mine one size bigger.

This is their sizing chart which I found confusing. I'm exactly between a size 1 and 2. This is their advice:

If you want a snug fit, go with the smaller of the two sizes you are considering. If the idea of something snug is unappealing, but you still need to hold up your pants, try the larger size.

Do I want snug or do I want larger? Who knows? I've never been pregnant before. So I guessed, but I think I guessed wrong.

The band tends to sneak up my waist during the day so I'm constantly pulling it down. Especially when I sit or bend over. But then again, what do you expect when you're wearing pants that don't fit? I suppose it's not going to feel perfect.

I ordered two bands, Pepper (above) and a black one with lace. My one thought, if I was to do it again - buy all bands with lace at the bottom. Because the top of the band is still lace. So you get the best of both worlds. (Of course, only the cute colors come in regular.)

And, interestingly enough, the day after I ordered my $26 bands online, I noticed Target has some that are only $15. Their colors are boring, but cheap sometimes is.

So that's my take. Overall, the Bella Band is a great idea. I've been wearing them almost every day since I got them. Just make sure you order the right size. Whatever that is.

catching up...

2009-02-17T16:38:00.005-05:00

Ever feel that just turning on the computer and hitting that Firefox icon is like admitting you have homework? There's a blog to post, Facebook to catch up with, three email accounts to sort through... it's no wonder I've been avoiding it all.

And that's my excuse. That's why I haven't existed since my last post on Tuesday. I've been ignoring my homework.

So first, to catch up, here's a list of what I've been thinking about instead of blogging:

It's unfortunate that Mexican food makes me want to hurl these days because I live 3 miles from Mexico.
I have mixed feelings about the Bella Band. A full review to follow.
Homemade egg Mcmuffins might just be my favorite prego treat.
And LifeSaver Gummies. They cost exactly $.80 at the mart down the street.
My stomach hurts in the morning because I always wake up hungry. No matter what I stuff it with the night before.
I have one of those uniquely wonderful husbands that likes to read my blog. But he recently told me that when I post about "girl clothes", he doesn't read the comments. Well.
My husband wants a motorcycle and our tax return might must make that happen.
I'm one of those crazy people that actually likes doing our taxes the old fashioned way. With pencil and the post-office's 1040 form. So I always do them myself first so I can dream up ways to spend the money. Then I go to the professionals to make sure I didn't mess up.
I don't, however, even attempt state taxes alone. When you're military, move twice in one year, have a job in KY, live in TN, but hold residence in VA, it's a maze of impossibleness.
Jim and I didn't do anything exciting for Valentine's day, which was just fine with me.
I've recently re-taken up the guitar. Unfortunately I sold mine at a garage sale last year. But Jim says if I sell the piano, he'll be more that happy to hear me play a new guitar all day. As long as I learn more songs. He's getting tired of the 3 I know.
We would have been one of the two million households that would have lost TV reception if analog signal died tonight. It kinda makes me laugh that we're that ghetto.
Besides that crazy snow day we had last week, I'm really starting to believe that it is sunny 360 days out of the year here in the far-west corner of TX.
I finished Sense and Sensibility this weekend and have since started Emma.
This is officially my 100th post.

Things you can expect this week as I plan to post EVERY DAY: (Don't fall over. It's a short week, with Presidents' Day and all.)

The promised Bella Band review. To include a much anticipated belly picture. Don't get too excited.
Pictures of our new house. (Yup! For reals. I got the call last Tuesday. We move in 2 weeks.)
A story about my husband making me throw up.

So there you have it. Thanks for still checking back here since I don't blog nearly enough as I'm supposed to. Darn homework.

am i in el paso?

2009-02-10T16:16:00.007-05:00

I checked the weather this morning to find out what to wear with the new Bella Bands I got in the mail yesterday. And this is what I heard:

"Coming from the northwest is a large patch of snow that will be brought in with gusty winds, as high as 50 mph."

Or something like that. My response, as I looked out the window at the clear blue sky? "Whatever."

And then an hour later I took some pictures.
It should also be said that on Saturday we had a record high of 79 degrees. Which didn't surprise me since I was hot in my shorts at the dog park.

So today my black lace Bella Band is neatly hidden under my wool sweater. And I've decided that El Paso is officially the craziest place I've ever lived. Did I mention the wind?

remember the alamo

2009-02-04T18:24:00.009-05:00

Ok, here is an embarrassing story of how Karen's christian school was sadly lacking in it's history department. Or, more likely, I didn't pay attention in 7th grade. This story takes place a few weeks ago, and is (sadly) entirely true.

So we're Netflixers, and since Jim can check the internet at work, he's the sole decider of movies we should watch.

One day, as I picked up the mail at our PO Box, I noticed he'd gotten us The Alamo. And I thought to myself, good idea! I don't know a lot about that event and since we now live in Texas, it would be good of me to watch a documentary and brush up on my history.

But it wasn't until we popped it in, that I realized it wasn't a documentary at all. It was John Wayne in all his glory, bringing life to the legendary Davy Crockett. Wearing a coon-skinned hat and everything.

Learned history fact #1: Davy Crockett was a real guy. All this time I thought he was some fictional character made for TV shows and coon-skinned marketers. I really had no idea. And did you know he was a colonel? Yeah, me either.

So we're watching it and secretly I decide I'm pleased it wasn't a documentary but instead filled with the classic Wayne one-liners and bad acting of the 1960s. We continue to watch and the suspense builds as a small army is forming inside the walls of the Alamo.

And well into the movie, as Santa Ana's army approaches and they've got like 5000 soldiers and we, the Americans, only have like 200, things didn't look good for us. And I turned to Jim and with a very confused look on my face, I ask, "Do we not win?"

Learned history fact #2: We did not win the Alamo.

Jim pauses the movie and we have this conversation:

Jim: lovingly rolling his eyes and giving of those pity looks, "No, Karen, we lose pretty bad."
Karen: "Really! Wow. So the whole 'Remember the Alamo' isn't a good thing."
Jim: "Nope, pretty bad."
Karen: "Wait, so is this where Davy Crockett dies???"

Jim insists I just watch to figure that one out for myself. He didn't want to give away too much. He clicks on the movie and I watch with suspense while learning a little bit about American history from Hollywood, not from a teacher.

(I kinda felt like that one person in the theatre somewhere who was shocked when the Titanic sunk and Leonardo and Kate are seperated forever.)

I must add, though, that I've since felt a little vindicated. I've shared this story with a few close friends (only the close ones who know I'm not very smart) and more than one has said that they weren't entirely sure who'd won either.

So, I'm curious. If your husband was to bring home "The Alamo" and you hadn't read my blog today, would it be as suspensful for you???

Help my parents not feel so bad for all that money they spent on my education. Please.

weeknotes: it was a full one!

2009-02-02T19:16:00.008-05:00

First, I want to thank you all for the maternity jeans advice. I'm so used to living in jeans, it never dawned on me that it might be too hot for them this summer. But given that today it was 60, I should plan for such an event!

Now on to the weekend - and it was a good one. I know because, this morning I woke up tired.

Saturday morning my neighbor-friend Janee was having a yard sale so I brought over the one Christmas present neither Jim nor I wanted and made a very fair $3. But the fun was in the friends, and the braving the cold (it's was in the 30s), and the homemade Belgium waffles. They were so good - with fresh strawberries and homemade whipped cream and everything. The boys all slept in but eventually made it over for the waffles. Boys and food.

The rest of the day I laid in bed (wasn't feeling too good) and read more of my Jane Austin, and I think I even got a short nap.

Then I had to get all dolled up for "girls' night". The yardsale crew (Janee, Liz, myself and Holly, above) all headed to The Clayground for a chocolate and wine evening while we painted our own pottery. I, of course, can't drink so I mentioned my with-child state and asked if they had anything else. Apparently they hadn't thought of that, or the need for designated drivers, so they looked at me funny and offered me water or a juice box. So fruit punch it was!

The boys were having their own night at the Ebel's with a prolonged Rock Band jam session. We later crashed their party, and if you ask me, made it alot more fun. I happen to be a big fan of the guitar, but have recently discovered my mad drum skills. Somehow the evening got louder as we went on and I had to drag Jim from the microphone at 1am.

Then, of course, church on Sunday. We've been trying new ones. And luckily this was one of those fancy mega-churches with a cafe in the front. Lucky because halfway through the service my stomach discovered it was STARVING. So I went out and got myself a 50 cent apple. I was pretty impressed with myself considering I really wanted the poptart, and a mocha frappachino. So I got full on my apple, and a half hour later was starving again. What is that baby doing to me?

It was decided upon that we should all go to Olive Garden for lunch and even though my stomach was growling as we waited the 10 minutes to be seated, after one bowl of Zuppa Toscana, I was stuffed. Again I ask, what is up?? No worries, just to make sure I was full, I had two more bowls. So good!

And then.... the best part of the weekend.... THE GAME!!!!

And what a game it was! We were invited to a party where you, you know, socialize while you watch. I did my best, but I was pretty glued to my comfy sofa seat as I turned my back to the crowd and watched with joy, then disbelief (Was that really a 100 yard return for a touchdown by #92 who almost died at the 50 yard line? Poor guy - I was glad they gave him some oxygen after that run), then assurance at halftime that we had this game in our hands, then fear as those silly Cardnals tried to push past us, than terror when they did, then awe when with seconds left Roethlisberger did that thing he does where he throws amazing passes into the end zone. Man, what a game. Of course, in my condition I'm supposed to keep myself out of stressful situations. But sometimes you just have can't.

I don't have any Steelers garb, or even a Terrible Towel, so this was my decoration for the evening. It's subtle, I know, but nobody had to ask me who I was rooting for. And during the game I wasn't wearing the green sweater, I promise. it was black and gold all the way.

Good game, man. Good game.

week in review: firsts

2009-01-30T15:48:00.005-05:00

I had myself a pretty good week. Nothing too out of the ordinary happened. Except that my life here is now if full swing. Now that Jim has taken command, I get to volunteer as the primary Family Readiness Group (FRG) leader. So that will feel at times like a part-time job. I am also starting to show (I didn't think so), and with that have come a few unwelcome comments. I tried on my first maternity clothes. Not an overly positive experience, actually. And I finished a book this week - the first book I've finished in who knows when.

Observations from the week:

I am now officially into my 2nd trimester and haven't found it as relieving as I'd hoped.
I puked on Wednesday.
I had a friend compliment my "cute baby tummy". Funny thing, though; I didn't take it as a compliment. New rule: if I'm not wearing maternity clothes, all sentances that include cute and tummy translates in my head as fat.
But I did go to Ross and try on some of those sexy blue-panel-at-the-top jeans. I took them off as quickly as I got them on. They felt weird.
So I pulled out the rubber-band for my current jeans. Which has been a great save.
And after my last post, I'm surely going to be checking out these things called Bella Bands.
But I'm also interested in any suggestions for maternity jeans. I LIVE in jeans and will be happy to drop some cash on them. Any ideas?
I almost passed out on Monday. Because my sense of smell is so keen, I always hold my breath when opening the fridge or garbage. On Monday I was doing both at the same time and didn't suck in enough air. So I got a little light-headed and the trash almost didn't make it into the can.
I received a lovely care-package from a friend that included the entire Jane Austin series. I have since read Persuasions cover to cover and yesterday I began Mansfield Park.
Last night I think I dreamt in Old English.
And have recently used the words "perchance" and some other one that made Jim look at me funny.
He also made fun of me because I have to make a cheat sheet whenever I read books. It includes a list of characters and identifying points about each one. Otherwise I get confused.
This is why I don't read very often.
It's now the end of January and with this ever-filling life of mine, I need to find myself a good calendar for my purse. I've picked out this one and plan to order it promptly. Gosh, I love Etsy.

Have a great weekend, all. Ours is packed. See you Monday.

tanks to the rescue

2009-01-28T18:46:00.007-05:00

So I have to share with you some friends of mine. My maternity tank tops from Target.

I've actually been wearing them for years. A non-prego friend of mine always wore them and I marvelled at how she found tank tops that didn't ride up on her and show her tummy. Of course, if they had, she didn't have a tummy to be ashamed of. But she wasn't really the type.

Well, she let me in on her secret - buy maternity. They're always long enough and never shrink too tight. So out I went to my favorite Target and snapped up the first two I saw. And since I'm one to layer EVERYTHING, I always had that perfect amount of tank showing below sweaters, tees, you name it.

What I DIDN'T know, is what a lifesaver they've become now that I am pregnant. (And getting rounder.)

I'm to the point where the jeans rarely get buttoned anymore and a rubberband has extended my pants on more than one occasion. And since it can be an awkward thing for a half-open zipper to show all the time, my long tank tops have come to the rescue. They pull down just right and keep everything under wraps.

So if you're willing to spend the best $9.99 of your life, run to that bullseye store. I have tanks in cranberry, mint and I recently added the ever-practical white.

They're lifesavers, I'm telling you.

my husband is important!

2009-01-26T18:39:00.008-05:00

One of the reasons Jim's family came into town last week is that Jim took command of his unit on Wednesday. To you non-Army people out there, it's a fancy way of saying he's in charge now. And like all things military, there has to be a ceremony when important things like that happen, right? And what better way to follow a ceremony than a reception - hosted by the wife of the new commander, of course. (That's me.)

So Wednesday morning I did what I haven't done in a long time - I got up early, took a shower, and tried my best to look nice that day. Jim's mom was a life-saver and helped the day run as smoothly as possible. Here's the run-down:

8:30am - Jim's already at work so Rick, Caroline and I pile tons of veggies, dip, drinks and coolers into my small Honda. We head to the commissary to pick up the cake.

But this is no ordinary cake. When I ordered it I asked Jim what he wanted and he showed me a picture and said, "This." Since his unit is called the Wolfpack, "this" was a picture of a claw scratch with blood coming from it. And some motto about hunting and killing. Nice.

So, right on time, we picked up the cake and some bags of ice, too.

9:00 - We load back into the car with the extra goods (it's getting tight) and head over to the unit area. We're greeted by a bunch of soldiers ready to unload the car. How nice! Nobody let me pick up anything remotely heavy. Geez, people. I may be pregnant, but I'm not an invalid.

9:45 - Everything is set out at this point. The table clothes are down, the veggies are arranged, the drinks are cold, and the cake is ugly. We just have to wait for the pizza to arrive.

10:00 - I'm rubbing elbows while I'm organizing last minute pizza details and being ushered to my seat. The ceremony has begun and my husband looks confident (and hot!) as he's at the front doing his Army thing. The National Anthem plays, speeches are made (his was short and sweet), flags/"guidons" are passed around, flowers are given, and my husband officially takes his command. There's singing of anthems that I don't know and before I knew it the ceremony was over. As in only lasting 16 minutes.

Which is a problem because my friends won't arrive with the pizza until 10:30.

The ceremony begins.

The unit guidon is passed to Jim.

Jim, in front of his new unit.

10:17 - After many handshakes and mingling we decide to cut the cake while we wait for the food. But slowly people are leaving.

10:35 - 20 pizzas arrive for the 70 people that are supposed to be fed. But by that time, there were probably only 30 people left. Which I'm not sure why everyone darted back to work so fast. If I knew there would be free food, I'd stick around.

But despite that unforeseen glich, we had a great time and found random passers-by to hand extra pizza to.

We were home by 12:00 and I was in bed by 12:30. And I slept until 3:30. It's hard work putting together a party! Somehow the kitchen was put back together when I woke up - all thanks to Caroline.

So that was Jim's day, from the perspective of his wife. I'm very proud of him and enjoy any chance I get to watch him at work. He's going to be a great commander, even if he just called to say he was going to have to work late tonight.

And so it begins.

(PS - look below as I've finally added pictures to last week's post.)

weekend notes: steelers and in-laws

2009-01-22T16:26:00.007-05:00

** Update: I'm finally adding the photos. Enjoy! **

So I must apologize for two reasons. 1) I'm just now posting about the weekend and it's Thursday. 2) Of the kazillions of pictures from the weekend, I only have one to show you. The rest are on my MIL's camera and we don't have a way to get them off. I hope to add them later.

So anyways. Our weekend started early because Friday Jim had the day off. And, if you could tell from my last post, we spent much of it in bed eating and watching TV. I had planned to clean the house, but I'm a really great procrastinator. That night we had a game night at some friends' house and partied until late. We'd never played Partini before. It's a clever game, kinda like Cranium. And sadly, the guys won.

Saturday was a more efficient day because I HAD to clean the house. And I grumbled the entire time. Gosh, I really don't like cleaning. I even made Jim promise that we'd hire a maid service to clean the house when we turn it back over to it's owners. I think it'll be an early birthday gift. Like way early.

That afternoon Jim's parents flew in to visit for the week. We showed them around Jim's work and ate out at Rudy's, a BBQ place where you don't use plates. Or silverware really. It's quite the place for any neanderthal. I had a small bag of Doritos. I wasn't feeling meat.

Sunday was a FUN day. It started with church and some girl I don't even know telling me why she was convinced the Ravens were going to win. And then the bag boy at the commissary said the same thing. People. I wish I could talk to them now.

So, The Game. We were in a little bit of a predicament since the only tv in the house that gets reception was in the master bedroom. If you could picture this with me: Rick, Caroline, Jim, Karen and Roxy all laying on a bed together watching the game. That wasn't really going to work, on so many levels. So instead we headed to BJ's Microbrew where I knew they had a big screen and beer.

(Now I should mention that Jim and I live in a strange universe where the wife cares about football and the husband doesn't. Last year I recall watching the Superbowl by myself while Jim closed himself off in his office all night.) So, to get him to care about this game, I had to take him to a place where they sold good beer. BJ's worked out just fine. We got a great seat right in front of their big screen and cheered with our waiter who even sported his own Terrible Towel. And what a great game it was.

Except that we had to leave at half-time. We had a Bible-study to go to. Bad timing, really. But it was a good study and well worth going. It was great, too, to receive the phonecall from my bro and SIL confirming the win - straight from the Steelers' stadium! All in all, a great day.

Monday was full as well. We took Jim's parents up to Old Mesilla in NM for a jaunt around the old west town of Billy the Kid. We had an amazing lunch of the best tacos I've had since we moved out here at La Posta - the original stagecoach post office used by the Pony Express. We even got homemade sopapillas for dessert that, when drizzled with honey, are phenominal!

(ok, so this has to be the least attractive picture of me I've ever seen. But I had to show you the coveted sopapilla. So there it is.)

On the way home we stopped by Stahmanns pecan grove. Who knew the west was known for it's pecans? We got our fill of pecans in coffee, pecans in chocolate, pecans in pie, and pecans in ice cream. See, multiple desserts in one day - I told you it was a good weekend.

And since we still had more time we stopped in the mountains for a quick hike around a mountain. Nothing too strenuous, but the weather was beautiful and the view was too good to pass up.
I can't remember what we did Monday night but I think it involved a movie and going to bed early. I was tired. Heck, I'm always tired.

And if you were keeping track, you'll notice that we ate out every day. Too. Much. Food. Even if it's sandwiches, we're eating in the rest of the week!

week in review: the life of a prego

2009-01-16T17:32:00.005-05:00

This week life has gotten wonderfully busy. I wouldn't say Jim and I have found our El Paso routine yet, but we are finding a niche. The week was full of doctor's appointments, meetings, crafting, Bible studies and luncheons. It's nice to have a calendar that fills up. I will soon regret typing that.

Observations from the week:

Stealing free wi-fi from the coffee shop has cost me 4 bagels, one bottle of water and a iced tall decaf vanilla latte this week.
The baby loves bagels. Toasted with butter, please.
And Egg McMuffins. Today at 10:15 I wondered if I hurried would I be able to get to Micky D's before they switched to lunch?
My handy GPS told me there is a McDonald's within 7 minutes of our house. Saved!
Sleeping is wonderful when you're pregnant.
Except that tossing and turning to find a comfortable position ruins wonderful sleeping.
Last night that wasn't a problem as I slept 11 hours.
I got out of bed at 10:15.
They say that sleeping on your left side is best for the baby. However my left arm falls asleep every night and suggests otherwise.
Jim has today off and it's been fun.
I took up a new craft this week - framing! Pictures will follow eventually.
We've recently discovered the sit-com Rules of Engagement via Netfix and are officially hooked.
Jim's parents come for a visit tomorrow and I haven't cleaned the house in many weeks.
Now that I'm pregnant, we eat out more.
My girlfriends from college are plotting to all get together in March and I CAN'T WAIT to be back on the east coast and see them.
It's been in the 60s all week in El Paso.
When I was filling in a date this week, I wrote 2008 by mistake. Man.
When I listen to my iPod while surfing the net I tend to bop my head.
My pants are getting tight.

Have a great weekend, all. See you on the other side!

the first secret i've ever kept

2009-01-14T17:13:00.005-05:00

And this has been a hard one. But...
It's true. We are 11 weeks and 5 days closer to a little Grublet entering the world.

Some of you know what a huge answer to many prayers this is. After 2 years and a miscarriage, God is granting us a little one. We've already started praying nightly that we don't screw it up.

And I know you all want to know ALL the details, so.....

11 days into becoming official El Pasoans, we discovered that Germany might have been better to us than we realized. After some exhausting days of doing nothing, and a larger than life chest, we decided to spend the ridiculous $8 on yet another test. Jim and I have a system where I take the test and he goes in after the eternal 3 minutes to check it. That way we're both a part of it. Clever, huh?

But, since neither of us really thought it'd be positive, we strayed from the norm. I figured I'd just take it during one of my middle-of-the-night pee parties. So, at the bladder-appointed time I popped out of bed, grabbed the test, peed in the dark and laid back down. Checking the clock I was surprised that it read 2am. (This is important because it explains why I seem so out of it.) A few minutes later, expecting "not pregnant", I held up the test to my squinty eyes and.... couldn't tell. Was there a second line? Maybe. It kinda looked faint.

So I laid back in bed for a few more minutes and checked again. I seemed like it might be just barely darker, but I also just turned the light on and was half blind. A few minutes later after the same routine again, I finally woke up Jim.

His take? "I think you're pregnant." I jump out of bed at this point and say, "Really? Are you sure?" Confusion ensued. We decided I was pregnant.

Jim promptly rolled over and fell asleep. Men. I couldn't turn my brain off until closer to 5am. And in that two and a half hours, I checked it at least 4 more times. (I still couldn't tell if it was getting darker.)

That was Sunday morning. November 30th. And if you know me, I'm not good with secrets. It's been SO HARD!

But our first heartbeat appointment was Monday and our fabulous nurse practitioner found that lovely swoosh, swoosh, swoosh sound that I may never forget. Up until this point, I've had a bit more fear than I was willing to admit. But with that heart beat, it all kinda melted away and I don't have to say "if we have a baby" anymore. And since I was laying down at the time, my tear fell right into my ear.

So there you have it, world. Coming in early August 09, Grublet Number 1.

santa's demise

2009-01-13T17:51:00.009-05:00

guest post by James Grube

OFFICE OF THE COUNTY MEDICAL EXAMINER
1133 W. Mesa St.
EL PASO, TEXAS 79906
REPORT OF INVESTIGATION BY COUNTY MEDICAL EXAMINER

DECEASED -

1. DECEDENT: KRINGLE, KRIS H. A.K.A. SANTA CLAUS // 2. SEX: M // 3. DATE OF DEATH: 12, 25, 2008
4. DATE OF BIRTH: UNKNOWN // 5. AGE: UNKNOWN // 6. RACE: UNCLEAR DUE TO INJURY
7a. PLACE OF DEATH: FT. BLISS OFFICER HOUSING // 7b. HOSPITAL: DOA
8. STATE OR COUNTRY OF BIRTH: GREENLAND // 9. CITIZEN OF WHAT COUNTRY: INTERNATIONAL CITIZEN // 10. MARITAL STATUS: MARRIED // 11. SURVIVING SPOUSE NAME: JESSICA GOODY DOLORES A.K.A. MRS. CLAUS
12. USUAL OCCUPATION: TOY-MAKER/DISTRUBUTOR 13. WAS DECEDENT EVER IN U.S. ARMED FORCES?: YES

DISPOSITION -

13. METHOD OF DISPOSITION: REMOVAL FROM STATE (REINDEER PULLED SLEIGH)

CERTIFICATION -

14. CERTIFIER'S NAME AND SIGNATURE: Aron "El Vis" (spanish nickname means - 'the sighting') Presley
14a. DATE SIGNED: 12, 25, 2008
14b. HOUR OF DEATH: 1159PM, 12, 24, 2008
14c. PRONOUNCED DEAD: 1159AM, 12, 24, 2008
14d. MANNER OF DEATH: UNDETERMINED

CAUSE OF DEATH -

15. WAS AUTOPSY PERFORMED?: YES
15a. If yes, were findings considered in determining cause of death?: YES
15b. If yes, were findings cross-referenced against at least 5 episodes of boring television crime series?: YES
16. WAS DECEDENT PREGNANT WITHIN LAST 6 WEEKS?: NO
17. INJURY AT WORK: YES
18. DESCRIBE HOW INJURY OCCURRED: Myocardial infarction
18a. DUE TO (OR AS A CONSEQUENCE OF): Comorbidity
18b. DUE TO (OR AS A CONSEQUENCE OF): Hypochondriasis (towards food allergies) AS WELL AS Photosensitive epilepsy

LAYMAN'S TERMS: Santa died from a heart attack (possibly due to being chased by Roxy. . . note the dog food, BUT more probably due to stress brought on by an irrational fear of non-existant food allergies AND an epileptic seizure brought on by watching parts of White Christmas).

Santa, recently having had PRK eye surgery, was wearing sunglasses in the house. Sneaking in as a pizza deliver man, Roxy arose and made such a clatter, but was subdued by some dog food. Santa sat down and began to drink milk, and eat cookies, and watch the Christmas classic White Christmas. He then saw a bottle of peanut oil near the cookies. Santa believing that he had a extreme food allergy to peanuts began to panic. His blood pressure rose. At the same time, the war scene in White Christmas caused a photosensitive epileptic seizure. Falling to the floor he pulled down various books and games.

Sadly, Santa was killed by an imaginary sickness and a horrible commercialized Christmas musical.

The moral of the story is only imaginary diseases can kill imaginary people. And musicals are dangerous to the rest of us. (Yes, many of your guesses were on the right track.)

***Editor's note from Karen: I would just like to add that the movie White Christmas is FAR from horribly commercialized. It's fabulous. And pretend that the year on the gravestone above reads 2008, not 2006. Also, pop back tomorrow for some great news from the Grube home!

my apologies

2009-01-06T19:10:00.004-05:00

So today is the 6th and it's my first post of the year. Sad. It's been that kind of a year so far, I guess. I'll get back to you soon. I promise.

(PS - Jim still owes you a Santa post, too. I'll make sure he hasn't forgotten!)

making due on christmas & my crazy husband

2008-12-28T18:29:00.015-05:00

Without Christmas decorations this year the house was looking a little bare. And there were some practical issues that needed to be addressed, as well. 1) Where do you put presents when you don't have a tree? 2) What do you use for stockings when you don't have any? (Btw, I wasn't about to go traditional and use actual socks. They're WAY too small. Please.)

Well, first I have to give my SIL a shout out. She called me last week and said that when I got my package from her, I had to open it right away. I was reluctant since I'm an avid fan of waiting until Christmas morning for presents. I love suspense. But she insisted. So on the 23rd I got a little piece of love from Annapolis, MD in the form of our very own mini Christmas tree, complete with lights, ornaments, and a star for the top. Oh, and artwork from my gifted niece and nephew to adorn the wall. I felt very loved.

So now to Issue #2.

Never fear. My creative husband is here! And I LOVE my creative husband. It's one of the reasons I married him, actually. He always makes the mundane, um, a little different.

His grand idea as to take masking tape and outline stockings on the floor. We would then, in turn, fill each other's "stockings" and cover them up for the big reveal on Christmas morning.

A clever idea, indeed. If only it stopped there.

I was banished to the other room, and a half hour later I came in to what looked like a crime scene in our dining room. And a very proud husband.

After filling his "stocking" (the left boot), I was banished again and woke up the next morning to this:

My husband doesn't do anything small. My stocking is on the right, full of many, many kinds of chocolate. (He's a good listener, too!) Santa's bag is filled with goodies we've gotten this month that couldn't wait until Christmas so were "opened" early. Under the tree are our real presents. And, what's that clutter all around the perimeter of Santa, you ask? Oh, that's evidence.

Duh.

Jim would like to know if you can figure out what killed Santa. Here are your clues:

Could it be the Christmas cookies left out for Santa?

Or the milk to wash them down?

Or, the impulsive Papa John's delivery from Christmas Eve?

The best Christmas movie ever?
(White Christmas, in case you didn't know.)

We know it's not this.

Hm... perhaps Roxy has something to do with it.

???

The uniform code for military justice?

It's hard to know. This is a clearly a complex crime. But if you can put the clues together, we'd love your theories.

And I hope your Christmas was as cool as ours. Crime scene or not.

christmas at our "home"

2008-12-18T10:09:00.004-05:00

My dear friend Megan is hosting a merry-go-round of sorts where everyone shares their festively decorated homes. We, however, don't really have a home right now, as we're house-sitting. And therefore we don't have any decorations. And therefore I can't really join in their reindear games.

In fact, the only reason I'm posting at all is to dissuade any of you from thinking that yesterday's picture of us in front of a tree is actually in front of our tree. That lovely piece of Christmas belongs to our dear friends the Ebels who were gracious enough to let us borrow it for a quick snapshot.

So no decorations this year for us. Jim does have a clever idea for stockings, but you'll have to wait until the 25th. Besides, I haven't bought the masking tape yet.

Curious?

in my spare time

2008-12-17T17:59:00.010-05:00

So, a long time ago when I started this blog I had every intention of filling it with creative inspiration and craftiness. But lately all you'll find is life stories about moving and other shallow things like clothes.

Shame on me.

Although, in hindsight, maybe it's better this way. A simple question about what to wear with a certain dress created quite a blogsphere stir. And this observation from my husband: "I can't believe we went to Germany and you get this many comments on a silly dress!"

Anywho...

Remember that afghan I couldn't get enough of so long ago? Well, I've been working on it and this is what I have so far.

When I started out, I thought I'd need 200 or so hexes. Well, this is about 100 and once sewn together, I think it'll cover my two feet. That's all. So I'm crossing my fingers that 600 will be enough.

I'm very happy with the colors overall. Early on my husband requested less pink. So I undid some and just left little bits of pink here and there. When it's all finished it's going to be fabulous. And my first child will be in college.

Because my husband insists that any blanket I make, whether afghan or quilt, MUST cover both of us easily. No such thing as a throw blanket in our house - they're all the size of queen bedspreads.

So I crochet on.

weekend notes: party time

2008-12-15T18:43:00.008-05:00

I'm afraid you are all about to be very disappointed. As it turns out, "holiday casual" means jeans. It was confirmed by the host. So no little black dress for me. No patent leather sky high red heals. No patterned stockings.

But in the end it may have been worth it. For this priceless conversation happened on Friday morning between my mother and me:

phone rings

K: Hey, mom, what's up?

M: I was wondering if you got the dress?

K: Oh, yeah, about that. Sadly we'll be wearing jeans. The Brigade Commander's wife (host) said it was very casual. I know, huge disappointment. I'm going to Banana Republic this afternoon to find a good holiday sweater.

M: Maybe you should get a pair of those jeans with the apples on the bottom.

Oh. Dear. Mother. You may be cool, but you're not very hip.

If you're lost and know not what I speak of, check out Crafty P's and Rebecca's comments here. You can order your own Apple Bottom Jeans here. The one's above are the Debbie Apple Pocket Skinny Jean at a reasonable $69.00. Very festive, don't you think?

I did run to the BR outlet, my favorite one-stop shop. I grabbed a cute short sleeve number there and some heels from Dillards. I looked very put-together in my jeans and holiday-wear. Sadly Jim and I took the holiday look quite literally, he in a red button-down, and me in my green sweater. We looked like that couple. What was I thinking?
Oh, and I should mention that the party was fun, complete with a tasty chili cook-off. (Lots of standing, so I sat on the couch and watched football when my feet started hurting. Darn heels.) We rubbed proper boss-elbows, laughed with friends, and ate and ate. One of the funner office parties I've been to, actually.

Yes, funner is a word.

And frankly none of you caught it because you're still trying to figure out how you'd even get into those jeans above. Or should I say spandex? That is one confident woman.

my christmas list

2008-12-10T19:29:00.012-05:00

Dearest Santa,

This year I will not be asking so much for what I want, as for what a Texan girl needs this Christmas. It may not seem like much. It isn't really. But it will make 2009 a lot more bearable. In fact, if I don't get these things, I can't make any promises about staying off your naughty list next year. Just saying.

Parched,
Karen

My lips have been cracked for the last three weeks. Jim used to say I was addicted to the stuff. He had know idea.

It's not even that I'm partial to Bath & Body Works. I just need the thickest lotion money can buy. Oh, and some fancy stuff for for my face, too, please.

If they sold intravenous gadgets that flushed water straight into the arm, I'd go for that. But a handy water bottle will do just fine, thank you. I'm starting to feel badly about all of those plastic bottles. But I m u s t d r i n k w a t e r.... It's like a desert out here.

to do: christmas parties

2008-12-09T17:04:00.009-05:00

*** You guys are great! I never expected such a response! So I had to add to the comments myself. Check it out!

So the great thing about moving to a new area around the holidays is that you are invited to parties and get to meet people quickly. And eat lots of Christmas cookies. The bad news is that we don't have any of our stuff yet so all my holiday-type-clothes are in a box somewhere far far away.

But really it isn't so bad since that means I get to go SHOPPING!

So I did and I have been. To find that perfect little dress that qualifies as "holiday casual". That's what Saturday night's invitation said anyway. Whatever the heck holiday casual means. Someone said it's like dressy church. Around here that could mean khakis. I've translated it as "party dress, but without extreme embellishment".

Which means I might be a bit dressier than the average party attendant this Saturday night, but gosh darnit, I'm going to be cute.

So last week I found myself at the BCBG Outlets and I think I did find the perfect dress. And at $58 dollars, it might be. I tried to find a picture online but the closest I could find is the one above. Mine doesn't have the ruffles, and the waist is a bit more empire so in a lot of ways it's not like that one at all. But it's super cute. And instead of listening to the Advent sermon on Sunday, I was accessorizing it in my head.

The tricky thing is, I don't have it yet. It turns out it's non-returnable so I panicked at the checkout. But I think I might go back and see if they still have it.

So, IF they do still have it, and IF I do go buy it, what shoes should I get? Do I wear black stockings since that seems to be so in right now? Do I even try to incorporate red since it is Christmas time? What about jewelry? The neckline is high, so I might forgo a necklace and opt instead for long chunky earrings. Any suggestions???

I need my blogsphere stylistas!

weekend notes: post thanksgiving

2008-12-02T16:26:00.008-05:00

I know this is late for a weekend summary as it’s already Tuesday afternoon - or evening if you're in EST time. But we don’t have the internet right now so I’m having to steal wi-fi wherever I can get it. Has the anticipation been killing you?

I’ll start with a picture of a rainbow God gave us on Thanksgiving. The weather geek in me loves rainbows. It was beautifully unexpected.

Moving on...

Friday night I cooked dinner. That may seem like an insignificant thing, but it was the first time I’ve had a kitchen to call my own (sort of) since we left Fort Campbell in May. We had terriyaki-marinated chicken, almond rice pilaf with veggies on the side. It was soooo yummy. We’ve settled into our temporarily borrowed home and even though it’s not ours, we are grateful to be out of a hotel and into a real house. Keep praying we get our on-post home, and soon. I'm happy to report we've dropped down on the housing list and are now a respectable 33.

Saturday Jim and I decided to go for a short run. Sounds simple enough, right? Nope. I almost died as my lungs felt like they were going to explode. Needless to say, it was a slow run. I was a little embarrassed but Jim reminded me that I was running 3000+ feet above sea level. El Paso is high, apparently, and it never dawned on me that it might be hard to breath. After two miles I was done. This, from the girl who ran a half-marathon 3 short months ago. Kinda pathetic.

That evening our new friends, Brandon and Liz, invited us over for homemade pizza and game night. Our other new friends, Jesse and Holly, also joined us. We taught them... wait for it... Settlers. (Bet you didn’t see that coming.) They loved it! Jim stole a win at the last minute (I was so close!) so with emotions high we switched to Pictionary. Jim and I clobbered them. Not very nice of us, I suppose, but I had to win something.

Sunday was another full day. Church in the morning and then the six of us (same group as the night before) piled into a truck and drove to Las Cruces, NM. We enjoyed Old Mesilla, a well preserved little tourist town rich in ol’ west history. We chowed on brunch at the Double Eagle which used to be the tavern/saloon Billy the Kid frequented. I’m still dreaming about those killer Belgium waffles. And mimosas.

Outside was a collection of vendors selling their wares, an old church and a really cool book shop. We perused for an hour maybe, then piled back in the car to head home.

I had time for a delightful nap (2 hours!) before we met up with Josh, the son of a family friend, who introduced us to the local microbrewery BJs. A salad for me and beer for Jim. We had a great time catching up, sharing about our holidays and watching the Bears get painfully crushed.

But soon I was ready to get home. I was still tired and we’d had a busy weekend. Besides, Monday starts Jim’s first week signed in to post.

Our month-long vacation is officially over.

black friday

2008-11-28T12:25:00.010-05:00

I'm feeling very unAmerican today because I didn't get up at 5:30am to go stand in line somewhere. Every year I do, even if it's by myself. One year I had all of my Christmas shopping done by 8am.

But not this year. I forgot to buy a newspaper for all the ads. And we don't have internet right now, so I couldn't research that way, either. And being new to the area, I wasn't quite sure how to approach it all.

So instead I slept in.

BUT... since I'm in a coffee shop right now with free wi-fi, I'm doing what I usually do and shop online. And I wouldn't be a good friend if I didn't share with you the fabulous sale going on at Tulle. Everything, absolutely everything is half off. And free shipping.

So I'm ordering:

blue cobalt sweater, $13.25

olive safari skirt, $12

white cardigan, $15.75

Warning: if you do order from them, everything runs small. Let me know what you get. I love hearing about others finds. Happy shopping!