So the updates... Brian's surgery went well on Monday. He'll be home recovering for about two weeks. Today we're on day three and he's still in a bit of pain but the doctor says the first to 7 days are the hardest. We're just glad everything was fixable and went as planned for the doctors on Monday morning.

Thank you for all you support and prayers, you've been wonderful friends and family.

He has some fun projects to think about and start on while he is home. He's going to reformat an old laptop for Brae. And then I'm going to Braedenize it which we're both excited about. And he's also going to be building a super awesome PC from scratch. The casing came to the house yesterday. I got him a hard drive for it last week and then other pieces should be rolling in shortly. He's psyched.

Braeden will be seeing an ENT specialist on Friday morning. I have no worries, I really feel like everything is going to be okay. I think they may want to schedule a CAT scan of his sinuses and check on his adenoids, but hopefully they'll look at him and say he's going to be A-OK.

As for me and Baby, we're hanging in there. Counting down, literally, until our due date. I know I had Braeden a couple weeks early, but maybe this birth will be different. I'm trying to stay as comfortable as possible, but this is not easy. It's a pain to waddle, it's a pain to sit and laying on my sides makes me need to flip over and over like a flapjack because I get so sore. Fortunately, I know this too shall pass and as long as Baby is doing alright then we're set. My next appointment is tomorrow.

Labels: brae, brian, family

This morning while checking my e-mail I found one from a blogging friend, Van.

His father passed away unexpectedly last night. I cannot even begin to tell you how profoundly upsetting this is and how deeply sorry I am.

Over the past several months Van and I have been reading each other's blogs and commenting. Learning we have a similar taste in music and more importantly we have a deep love for our children. Van talks about his kids all the time, how much he loves them and misses them when they are not home with him. His posts have always been quite endearing. Most of the time he mingles in work and he's always talking about movies and books he has recently read and/or watched. It's odd how even though I don't know him personally I am confident I could pick him out of a room and I am sincere in saying he is a friend.

Please pray for him and his family during this unspeakable time of sorrow. Send all your most positive of thoughts.

"I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge - myth is more potent than history - dreams are more powerful than facts - hope always triumphs over experience - laughter is the cure for grief - love is stronger than death." ~ Robert Fulghum

Labels: death, family, friends, sorrow, tragedy

What an interesting and jam packed weekend we had. Friday night actually Brian and I stayed in and watched two of the movies from the Blade Trilogy which were pretty cheesy but also very good and yes you can say those two things about a movie and it still make sense. The only thing cheesy were the effects. We drank wine, ate delicious pizza and tortilla chips. I was busy in my sewing machine from time to time and he on his laptop. It was a good stay-at-home night. Of course we missed Braeden, he left with his father at about 6:30 that night. =o/

Saturday morning I was awake before 8 a.m. so I turned on retroPlex (one of my new favorite digital channels) and began sewing. Bri didn't wake up until 11 a.m. so I had a chunk of time to myself and he had a chunk of time to actually sleep soundly.

My Aunt Mares was given a surprise birthday party at 1 p.m. on Saturday. She said she knew something was up when she came home to find her son Michael and her husband, my Uncle Larry, cleaning the house. hehe. The party was nice even though I was a zombie most of the time because I'm still sick. Coughing, sniffling, feeling crappy. I got to spend time with Nikki and her daughter Kaitlyn. They live so far away we don't see them nearly enough and I really enjoy their company. Nikki did a reiki session with me and I honestly think it worked. I do feel better. Though my chest congestion is the same there are other issues I was having which suddenly improved drastically.

My brother and his girlfriend Jada moved on Sunday. I didn't know the plans so when I called they were already packing up the moving truck. Knowing my Dad wouldn't be able to help I knew I had to step up to the plate even though I wasn't feeling well. They moved to Alden Park off of Wissahickon in Philadelphia. My Dad drove Greg's car, my Mom and I were in my Jeep, Jada drove her car and Greg was in the moving truck. All vehicles were packed to the brim with stuff. It was a 60 mile drive and traffic was AWFUL going up 76 west. With 30 minutes to go I knew I was going to be sick. My palms started sweating, I was done for and my Mom is not a woman who can drive in that kind of traffic. I called my brother, he didn't know where we could pull over. He called Jada and she didn't know. Fortunately, my Mom and I praying seemed to help and I made it to their apartment before getting sick. But then I was pretty much out of the count and wasn't much help. Sorry guys. They managed well in spite of the fact that they had to park the moving truck a good 50 yards from the door and then carry it to the freight elevator which was VERY small and get it up to the 7th floor. The elevator had a mind of its own and I had to hold the doors open with my body while they moved the things in and out. Even pressing the button to keep the doors open wouldn't work and it really did try to move me out of the way, it was possessed.

Their apartment is VERY old, but it has so many intricate details in the architecture of the place that I absolutely love. The ceiling have rounded corners. There is a 6-panel bay window and adjacent to the windows is a wood burning fireplace. On either side of the fireplace are built in bookshelves. All the door knobs are crystal. I wish I had brought my camera. Next time I make it up there I definitely will. If I ever have the money to design my own house I would use a lot of the elements from this apartment. The bathroom and kitchen are very tiny though. In my mad dash to the bathroom I threw the door open and it promptly swung back in my face when it hit the toilet on the other side. Yikes!

Jada should be able to bring one of her two cats up there soon and I know that will help to make it more homey for them. Their friend Trouble Adam Boaman lives nearby and I think that is a huge plus because when they lived in Florida they didn't know anybody.

The place used to be a hotel and was built in the 1920s. So there are antiques in the halls and floor to ceiling mirrors when you're walking through. It was a bit scary because nothing is marked. You literally had to walk down the halls trying door knobs to find the one with the stairwell. There are old postal service chutes which are awesome even though they don't work. I really just loved all the details. Though I bet you could easily film a ghost story in that place. =o) Which made it all the more cool in my mind.

Did I mention it is surrounded by a private 38 acre park? It is. The photo in this post is one from their website, it's an area of the central lobby room.

And then my parents and I tried to find our way home. We ended up in the museum district and then we got on 76W again when we needed to be going East. It took us about 45 minutes, maybe longer, to find 95. It was quite an adventure let me tell you.

So then I dropped my parents off and drove home. Brian and I had a bunch to talk about and then Brae came home. Within 10 minutes he had "lost" his pen. My kid loves to "write" and draws lines of squiggles on paper like he's a novelist. Pens are very important. =o)

There you have it. The complete play-by-play.

Happy Monday!

Labels: brae, brian, family, moving, party

Thank all Higher beings it is FRIDAY!

Man. Oh. Man.

So yesterday I had to call out of work and watch my Brae and my goddaughter Belle because daycare closed. My Dad had to have emergency knee surgery, and so Mom had to close the daycare obviously.

You might have read on the wellness section of this blog...about my Dad having hurt his knee. Due to the inflammation and infection around the knee they had been putting off surgery. Until they realized the infection was starting to eat away at his muscles. Oh yum! There is a significant amount of gout involved in the mix and so my Dad is in a considerable amount of pain.

Belle will be three years old on February 15th and Brae is four, so my day was quite hectic and loud. We had fun though. We played DVD Bingo, drew pictures at the easel, ate pizza and watched movies. Then I finished my third sewing project, Braeden's Tranformers pillow. The kids helped me stuff the pillow.

Last night I attempted making a bag for Belle. I had picked up cute scrap fabric that was lime green and purple and had little girls, polka dots, flowers, all kinds of girly stuff on it. I did finish something, and you could call it a bag, but I'm hoping for something a little more even next time. Haha. I should have taken a picture to show you. Bah. I need to take a picture of Brae's two new pillows. So since purchasing the sewing machine I have crafted four items. =o)

I have so many great ideas, but I don't yet know how to put them into patterns and sew them up. Little by little I'll rock it and you'll see, soon enough, J-LO will be asking me to sew clothes for her babies. =oP

Labels: brae, family, isabella, sewing

Braeden woke up before 6:30 a.m. on this fine Saturday morning in January. He is a complete contrary mess this morning. Crying at the drop of a hat! Argh! Right now he is playing Dig Dug and so is at least quiet but who knows when the next tantrum will arise. It's not even his fault, it is my own. He just wants to paint, that's all, but right now I'm too lazy to get up and get things ready for him. So he is mad at me. Bah.

We were so busy for the holidays, constantly out and about, driving from here to there. All I want to do today is sit, write, play games, read, watch a movie and perhaps Wii with Brae and Bri.

I know I need to get this blog back on track. I need to write more and less and sporadically. I have been doing well so far over the past week or so. Since things are less hectic now it should be easier.

Life has just been so crazy. My Mom had to put her dog down last night. I wrote about it briefly on the music section as a tribute post, but really there isn't a way for me to express the sadness she is feeling. She is a mess and there is nothing anyone can do; time is the only healer in this situation. Lucky was her unconditional, loyal pup for 12 years.

My brother is looking for a job and so he is all nuts right now. I'm sending him ideas left and right so we'll see what pans out.

And my Dad is out of commission with a bad knee which I wrote about in detail on the wellness section of this blog.

But, as Brae says when he is up to bat, "today is a new day." (Thank God for movies like Chicken Little that inspire such positive outlooks.) ;o)

Labels: brae, family, Gregory, life

He is my Wii champion. One of the greats. Braeden in all his 38 inch tall glory, wearing Transformer pajammies and spiderman socks...is currently boxing on the Wii that we received for Christmas. Braeden has already knocked out three people and is working on a knockout for yet another person who is nearly 80 points stronger than him.

In addition to bowing, Braeden can and will beat me in Wii bowling. With very little effort he strikes all 10 pins down at once or walks away with a spare. My four-year-old is a Wii champion of sports. He even gets birdies while golfing though I'd have to say golfing is the sport he is having the most trouble with. My guess is because he doesn't know how to calculate the stroke based on the wind mph and angle.

Brian has been playing his new pc game, Caesar IV and I think I have just as much fun watching him strategize to complete the scenarios as he does playing. As for the Wii he is pretty fine golfer and bowler though I think he is most interested in playing Super Mario Paper. I bought him Guitar Hero for our PS2 but that hasn't been opened yet.

The only bad thing about the holidays when you have multiple families to worry about is that you end up lacking time to be with your own or on your own rather. I haven't been able to pick up a new book yet but I have squeezed in play with Cake Mania. I'm also enjoying the Wii but haven't opened "Dancing with the stars" yet which I think will be fun.

Last night we had dinner at Brian's parents house because Kristin and Ben flew in from Michigan. It was a mini-Christmas since we didn't see her last week. It was good to see her and the spaghetti rocked, but Brae wasn't in good spirits and it was a bit trying to deal with him while also trying to have fun.

Brian, his Dad and Ben hooked up their new turn table. We ended up listening to Genesis, Rainbow Brite and Flash Beagle on vinyl. I have to say it was pretty awesome and certainly brought back fond childhood memories.

Brae fell asleep by 10 p.m. last night and boy did he need it. He was quite contrary. Brian and I managed to stay up to watch the ball drop in New York on television. Of course we watched the Dick Clark celebration and I have to say I think I admire Dick Clark even more now that he is persevering and continuing on in his tradition of hosting the celebration even after having a bad stroke. He is awesome.

And so Happy New Year. I wish you all the best for 2008. Good health and happy times. Be well friends!

Labels: brae, brian, family, new year

The 4th of July was much fun, except Brian wasn't there because he wasn't feeling well. But I assured him we have many more firework days to come. =o)

Braeden and Isabella had a great time together at Grandmom's. Good food, good people.

It was a very long day though and I am so exhausted. Roo's husband brought fireworks to a location I will not disclose. And in the pouring down rain, he set them off. Brae, Isabella, Roo, my Mom, my Dad and myself all stood out in the rain to watch. Though Brae and Bella sat on a towel trying to stay away from the rain under the little part of the roof that juts out.

I took a bunch of pictures throughout the day.

You can see them on Flickr.

Labels: 4th of July, family, photos

July 1st and I'm feeling more blessed than ever.

Brian and I had a fun karaoke night on Friday, we had some wine and sang our hearts out. We had a wonderful and fun night. Then on Saturday we went to Lauren and Dave's engagement party which was nice. Lots of happy people there. It's good to see Lauren and Dave so happy. After that party we then went to his Aunt Gerri's for Kevin and Emily's birthday parties. His whole family was there and I love them so much. They are funny, sweet and good people. His grandmom and I get along well, she's a talker like me. =o) And they had this awesome birthday cake. I need to get the number of that bakery! We watched home videos of the family and I had quite a few laughs, no, not all at Brian. It was just so cool to see a video of someone else's family, and to know that I am going to be a part of that family, too. Even if Mr. Stephan thinks I'm a P.I.T.A.

Saturday morning my Mom and I had a pretty darn successful yard sale. She said I was an excellent publicist. Apparently something worked, because we had so many people show up to this sale! We made over $200 and almost $150 of it was mine. =o) It all went into the bank immediately.

Needless to say Saturday night I was exhausted, but Bri and I ended up eating nachos and salsa and watching "Lady in the Water" which he had not seen before. He loved it, I knew he would. That movie is just incredible, if you haven't seen it you really need to rent and/or buy it because it's amazing.

Today I spent most of the day with my Mom over at the pool. I finished a book, which I'll write about on the book blog. It was an interesting story and I'm not sure how I feel about it even now that I am done.

My Grandpa came out and said "You guys gonna come in for some ham and cabbage?" My Mom and I looked at each other and shook our heads. Said we weren't hungry. Then Grandpa said "You don't have to be hungry to come in an be sociable." Hahaha. Five minutes later we both got out of the pool, dried off and went in to see my Grandparents. The stories we ended up telling and hearing were hysterical. I swear, my family is nearly insane. Nearly. In fact, I think I might be the most sane believe it or not. To my Mom seeing bears riding bicycles to my Dad seeing dead camels being lifted off the side of the road. Seriously, I don't know how I made it to the age of 26 so normal. Haha. It was a lot of fun to hear all the craziness.

And now my boy is home from his weekend at his father's house. We ate some pizza and then I went over to the pool again. Brae wanted to go swimming. We blew up a giant sea turtle float. Both Brae and I were able to float on it at the same time. I asked Brae what he would name the sea turtle. He thought about this some and then he told me the turtle's name is "Sushi." Quite frankly I think that is a brilliant name.

He is being very loving, I am getting many hugs and kisses and he has stopped me at least a dozen times in the last two hours to tell me he loves me.

Brian isn't feeling well and I haven't seen him today. Of course Brae is missing him, too and has asked many times if he is coming over "after." Haha. I assured him that Bri will be around as soon as he feels better.

And so now here I am, filling you all in and letting you know how happy I am. Missing my Bri of course, but feeling so content with my beautiful life. =o) I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Labels: brae, brian, family

Sorry for neglecting the personal blog.

When I'm not shoulders deep in writing water for all the other blogs, I am trying to catch up on sleep.

Right now I'm eating Cinnamon Toast Crunch at my desk. This stuff gets soggy really quickly, thank God I have my own office while slurping it down.

Brian, Brae and I had another very full weekend and I wish I had one more day off to actually relax. Saturday was an errands day. Brae and my Mom and I went to BJs and she had be signed up to be on her business membership so that was cool. Later on Saturday, Brae and Brian and I went to Wal-Mart and stocked up on so many things while also buying some Father's Day goods.

Sunday we woke up early to go to Church. Christopher was baptized at St. Rose's and Christopher and Brae are good buddies. They are in day care together and Christopher is Brae's 3rd cousin or something, but I don't think they know that. Christopher is 3 and a half and was just adopted so his parents had him christened. After everything Braeden scrambled to the front of the Church and went after Christopher to give him a hug. So Brae is in some of the pictures, haha.

Christopher's parents held a brunch at their house afterwards. The breakfast food was deeeelish. And Brae got in the pool for a bit. But never further than the second step. He had a lot of fun though.

And I saw Mrs. Leslie. I lost touch with a good friend, Jenn, and Mrs. Leslie is her Mom. I found out Jenn just had her first baby named after her husband Jamison Jr. Baby boy entered the world six weeks early. He was able to come home on Saturday and now weighs 4 lbs. Welcome to the world baby Jamison. I hope I get a chance to meet you and catch up with your Mommy. I miss her friendship!

Sunday afternoon/evening Brae, Brian and I went to the Stephan's house. I wanted Brae to see Mr. Stephan for an early Father's Day since I know he won't be able to see him next weekend. Mr. Stephan and Brae are pals, they played together most of the night. Well, Brae also threw and kicked a ball around with Mrs. Stephan as well. It makes me so happy to see him getting along with Bri's family since we're all really family now. We had Pat's pizza, Brae ate 3 slices! Yum-O!

And then after an episode of MacGuyver we all fell asleep.

Now if only I could stay asleep, maybe I would feel so exhausted!

Everything is good though. I need to put up some new pics. I have so many to share!

And tomorrow, weather permitting, we're all going to the Italian Festival! Woohoo!

Labels: brae, brian, family, friends, life

Monday morning, so I'm feeling a little bit sluggish, but it's bright outside today, lots of sunshine and that's a good thing. Seems as though I got a little color on my cheeks yesterday while being outside. As superficial as it may be, I love when I get a tan in the summer, it makes me feel better about myself. Plus, the sun gives you Vitamin D!

Mother's Day was wonderful for me. Everyone made me feel so special. Braeden gave me the cutest things that he made during daycare. One in particular that I loved is a book he made. He was asked questions and his answers were written down for him word-by-word. When asked how old I am his response was "3." When asked how much I weigh, his response was "3 pounds." Where does Mommy work? He said "Far away, with friends." When asked who Mommy's best friend is, he responded "Brian." He was asked where does Mommy like to go and he replied "To Uncle Greg's, far away." Among the many questions and answers he also drew several pictures. There is a portrait of me, I have crazy hair. Haha! He drew ice cream which is apparently my favorite food. The book is something I will treasure forever!

My brother called in the morning to speak with both my Mom and I. Hearing from him is always wonderful and I'm happy he thought to call. He also sent Mom flowers, very well done little brother!

We went to my Grandma's for dinner and celebrated both Mother's Day and my Grandma's 76th birthday. As my Grandma loves a good BBQ we had hamburgers, hot dogs, coleslaw, salad and lots of fruit. Everything was fantastic. Brae and I especially loved the nachos and dip. =o) Well, I guess Brae loved the watermelon the most. (Without the "nuts")

I think my Mom had a nice Mother's Day. I had gotten her necklaces, one is a rectangle with a heart cutout and the other is the heart. I'm wearing the heart necklace and she is wearing the shape with the cutout. =o) I also bought her a very nifty bag off of Etsy.com! Love that place!

We went to see Brian's Mom after the BBQ and had another BBQ! I think I'm still full. Haha. Brae ate a hot dog, the WHOLE thing! He played ball with Brian and the Scotties. Good times. Brian's parents were super nice as usual and the evening went by too fast. We did make it home in just enough time to see the last episode of 7th Heaven. I'm so upset the show has officially ended, as I think it is one of the better television shows in history!

So all in all, though busy, the day was wonderful. Actually, my whole weekend couldn't have been any better unless it were a day longer. =o)

Labels: brae, family, life

So, everyone I have talked to who has the cold I currently have, has decided it is some sort of cold mutation. Clearly, it has to be, because this is not your normal, everyday average run of the mill cold.

I'm sore. I'm miserable. I'm sneezy and stuffy and even itchy! I'm exhausted and having trouble breathing. AND IT WON'T GO AWAY!

On another note, I received season one of "Are You Afraid of the Dark?" in the mail on Friday. I absolutely love that show and watched it faithfully while it aired on SNICK as I was growing up. So now Braeden is asking constantly if we can watch it, he really seems to like it. Brian and I are helping him see that it is all good fun, nothing to be scared of and now he is enjoying watching it with us. Yay!

I also need to take a picture of the new earrings I have added to my collection. I have begun to buy earrings more and more because I really like earrings and well...I have eight piercings in my ears. =o) SO I bought these cool ones that are stars and they have a hot pink star in the middle. I wore them yesterday. Today I have long, silver, dangling things and they are so cute. Debbie at work admired them this morning. =o)

Oh, also big on the main events. Braeden has his first big boy bike. It is a Spiderman 16" bike with training wheels. He is doing very well on it. He fell a few times, but didn't hesitate to get right back up and keep riding. I took pictures, so I'll have to post them tonight when I get home. Yay!

So all in all, I had a good weekend. Except for being sick and for the period of time I wasn't so very friendly to Brian. Thank God he puts up with me. I'm so lucky!

Labels: brae, family, jewelry

Life is so good. The only thing I have to complain about is my wretched allergies.

I'm having articles published left and right, which is just an amazing feeling. You can check all of them out by going to the music section of my blog, because I put up some more links this morning.

Braeden was much better behaved yesterday than he has been in quite some time. And he's already into the swing of things with the garden, wanting to help his Pop Pop and Grandpop Willey. He's such a good little boy, always looking to see what he can do.

I've been keeping very busy with writing, reading, working and taking care of Brae. And it's all great, seriously, I feel so blessed!

And even though my allergies are terrible, I've got Bri to help with that, always looking out for me. =o) Thanks!

Labels: brae, family

My brother came up from Florida yesterday and it is so wonderful to see him! Braeden missed him very much and they played together all night. I wish he could find a job closer to home, I really hate that he is so far away in Florida.

Grandmom and Grandpop came over for dinner and Brian was there, too. So we got to eat in the dining room which was fun for Braeden. Even though his Uncle Greg kept teasing him and saying he would take his food. We had some very interesting conversations during and after dinner. Including Google stock, pharmaceuticals and people throwing themselves on top of cars. Yeah...

Brae was in much better spirits yesterday and even slept in his own room most of the night. Things are feeling a little bit back to normal and everyone seems to be in good spirits which makes me feel unusually content. =o)

Natalie ran a half-marathon in Tennessee and came in second place for the women. She rocks, I'm super proud of her! I wish I could do what she does. But she does enough running for the both of us I think. Haha.

I received my first assignment from Spacelab.org. I'll let you know when they publish it. I'm pretty excited about this development in my life. The album they sent hasn't come out in the US yet, it will be released next week. Makes me feel special to know I have it and am being trusted with reviewing it. =o)

This evening I will be taking Mya to the vet to have the tubes removed from her neck. I'm hoping this will be a good thing and will alleviate some of her discomfort. It can't feel good to have that stuck in her, of course none of this experience has felt good. She is being such a trooper, I am very proud of her. And yesterday she was back to her barking self, so I know she is improving.

Labels: family, music, mya

Easter was wonderful, short of missing Bri. =o/

I had Braeden this year for Easter and that thrilled me beyond belief. He ate with Belle next to him at Grandmom and Grandpop's. You should have seen the two of them, cutest kids ever! Unfortunately, she had to leave before the egg hunt, but I made sure to give her filled eggs before she left.

The Easter Bunny left an enormous amount of gifts for Brae. GINORMOUS!
And I made out nicely as well, with some candy, movies AND a new book which I am thrilled about. It may be the next one on my list. Right now I am reading "House of Wind."

When Tristan and Jack made it over the hunt hiding began. Bobby helped me hide them and we did a great job. I thought it would take forever to find all the eggs. But the boys were really good! And they got so excited each time they found another one. I have some great pictures to share as soon as I find time to get them all together. Even Tristan was catching on, being the youngest we weren't so sure about him, but he knew what he was doing. Egg hunting must be genetic.

Grandmom's raviolis are the most delicious thing I have ever had the pleasure of eating before. She let me take some home and I have a couple in the refrigerator at work. Yay!

Bri, Brae and I watched "Eragon" last night and it is such a great movie. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys fantasies. I want a pet dragon now. I hear they are rare. ;o)

Labels: brae, family