…love Jillian

So, my sweet little nephew has been having a hard/good time of it.  It’s difficult  to say when he will be coming home but we are all pulling for him day and night.  He has several smaller issues like eating, regulating his temp, and remembering to breathe as well as some more serious issues that need constant monitoring, like his hydrocephalus and remembering to breathe.  The doctors think the remembering to breathe is no big deal but I’m thinking breathing is pretty darn important so it makes both lists!  In the coming days they are going to make some decision on whether he needs the reservoir for his hydrocephalus or if they think it might be resolving itself (which is what we are all hoping) so we will know more about that on Thursday after his next ultrasound.  The last couple have led us to believe it might be resolving but we are all being so very careful to not get our hopes up too high.

He’s makes several steps forward and then he takes a couple steps back–the point is that he is progressing (maybe not as fast as we had all hoped but it’s progress none the less!)

His doctor, who is named Dr Preemie (it’s spelled differently but sounds just like Preemie which I think is super funny) has a special soft spot in his heart for the Little Brayden or maybe his soft spot is for my sister but either way, he has gone above and beyond to make sure she feels comfortable with his care and been respectful of her feelings towards the treatment of her one and ONLY baby! 

So while things are still a little up in the air he is still my favorite little guy in the world!

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Yeah, Yeah, I know I said I was going to update more and haven’t posted since then…I’m reliable like that these days! 

I have lots to report.  Baby Elizabeth has officially surpassed 3 months old!  She is growing leaps and bounds and is the most curious little thing!  She LOVES standing and sitting although she can’t do either by herself yet.  And her smile is the sweetest thing in the world.  I love walking into her room ever morning and seeing that smile.  I just know she is going to laugh any day now.  I have a feeling she’s going to have a very big personality and I can’t watch it come out.   Also, she started rolling over to her tummy but wasn’t able to get her arm out from underneath her UNTIL this week. Now she can totally get that tiny little arm out–if she wants it bad enough.  I’ve also been letting her Dad give her a few bottles here and there and I think he really appreciates the one on one time although, I’m usually pacing outside the door checking on them constantly.  AND she has spent the night at Granma and Granpa’s twice.  Once because the Hubs and I had an engagement party and once because I was super sick and off all day!

She took her first offical bath in the bathroom this month too:

I can’t remember if I posted her 1 and 2 month photos (I’m guessing probably not since blogging has fallen way behind my two favorite things 1) Staring at the baby and 2) Sanitizing.  So here they are:   

One Month:

Two Months:

 Three Months:  

Let’s not forget all her hair is falling out.  Mine too.  It’s unbelievable how much hair I can lose in one shower…thank you hormones.

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I heard this on the radio this morning and it made me laugh.  I love that it’s narrated by Samuel L Jackson–his voice is quite soothing!

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This weekend was busy.  On Saturday, Hubs and I got up, went to the Farmers Market, had breakfast, picked up his race packet, looked at baby furniture, got our piggies done, and made dinner for his mom and aunt.  It was a busy day.  But it was nice to spend the day together.  Then on Sunday, I went to a dog show with my parents and had family dinner while Hubs stayed home and did chores.  On Sunday night, we took some time to discuss Hubs racing/training schedule and hopefully after the Lawrence 70.3 there will be some relief on the triathlon front. 

I started working on the nursery last night too!  All of her bedding is here.  We’ve settled on paint, furniture, and a name (well, I guess a name doesn’t really have a lot to do with the nursery other than hanging it up on the wall, but still, we’ve picked a name.)  So, we just needed to get started.  Last night, I started painting the trim in her room.  Painting the trim is a slow go but I have someone coming to hang chair rail this weekend so I want to have at very least the trim paint done.  It’s coming together very nicely.  I can’t wait to post before and after pics.

Also, Week 23 is officially underway:  And she is really moving around too.  Babycenter.com sends a weekly email telling me all about the baby each week.  This week it said that she is around 11 inches long and weighs about the same as a large mango (around 1lb.)  They also said baby is getting used to our regular noises (like barking dogs, vacuum, music. TV) and that when she arrives she probably won’t mind those noises at all.  It never occurred to me that she could hear Maggie and Tyson’s schedule of barks.  Every morning when the kids pile up at the bus stop outside our house and after school when they insist on riding their bikes back in forth in front of our house….she’s getting used to that schedule/annoyance.  Maybe Maggie’s barks help remind her what time it is because right now she keeps a pretty regular schedule—when I wake up at 8ish (to the sound of unrelenting barks until the bus actually arrives) in the morning, I can lay around for 10 or 15 minutes and feel her boogie.  Then she must go back to sleeping, or cleaning, or growing eyebrows because she just kind of stops, when she stops; I finally get up.  Sometimes around lunch time she gets going again.  It’s like she’s reminding me it’s time for eating.  And again at night, around 10 she has a one man dance party going on.  Her movements are getting stronger and occasionally if I’m lying still I can actually see her moving my stomach. 

Sometimes, I still can’t believe there is a baby in there.

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8

I bought this book back in 2007.  I just couldn’t get it started though.  The prologue put my mind on auto pilot so quickly I would finish it and not remember anything that I read. 

Last week, (since I saw the previews for the movie) I decided to download it on my Nook and give it another try.  The first chapter reminded me of my grandpa and I cannot wait to read to more.

Here’s the passage that hooked me(which actually has nothing to do with my Grandpa)…

“When you are five, you know your age down to the month.  Even in your twenties you know how old you are.  I’m twenty three, you say, or maybe twenty-seven.  But then in your thirties something strange starts to happen.  It’s a mere hiccup at first, an instant of hesitation.  How old are you?  Oh, I’m—-you start confidently, but then you stop.  You were going to say thirty-three, but you’re not.  You’re thirty-five.  And then you’re bothered, because you wonder if this is the beginning of the end.  It is, of course, but it’s decades before you admit it.”

I cannot wait to get further into this book. I think this book, in my life now is a true testament to timing.  And just because something or someone isn’t the right fit right now; it doesn’t mean it/they won’t be later :) 

Have any of you read this book?  What did you think?

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I’ve never been the kind of girl to get excited about gadgets and technology and such.  Well, I’ve always had a new fancy phone but that is the extent of my technology wants.  Until now:

Nook for Android has changed my life.  Sure, the actual Nook is handy on car trips (and treadmills) but nothing beats being able to click click your phone and have the book you’re reading pop up right where you left off.  I absolutely love it.

DJ Hero is the first game I’ve gotten into since the “SSX Tricky” addiction of 2002.  I played that game incessantly.  And now, I can’t stop with the DJ Hero 2.  I love it more than Nook for Android.

Satellite Radio?  Oh, how I love thee.  You make my days in the car so much more enjoyable.

Garmin GPS?  How else am I going to know where to go?

I cannot wait to find the next thing I can’t live without!

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Christmas 2010 was a tough one.  It’s the first Christmas without my Grandma and coincidentally the first Christmas I’ve spent in a home that I’ve never lived in…Other than that, Christmas was good.  My Mom and Dad know how to make a holiday special and family is what Christmas is really all about anyway.  (Although, those new Uggs felt kinda nice.  And when you couple those new boots with my new North Face jacket..it was quite a warm and cozy holiday :)

Friday, we went to Hubs’ parents house.  I helped Alda cook dinner and drink wine (well, I didn’t help her drink wine, I helped her cook.  She drank her own wine.)  And then we did presents.  Hubs got tons of triathlon gear and I got a new purse, a specially made cross stitch that Alda stitched with tons of love.  I think Whitney was excited about her swim parka too.  The evening ended with a friendly game of Scrabble and I may or may not have won a game; which is kind of a big deal in the Carter household—they take their Scrabble very seriously.

On Saturday, we got up early and made biscuits and gravy at my moms.  I suppose Juls and Bret actually made the biscuits but we brought over the groceries :)  Then, it was time for presents!  Presents are always exciting.  My mom always knows exactly what we want and she does an amazing job of finding things we will love.  Then the eating started…again.  And pretty much didn’t stop until we got home.  Although, I did take a small break to win a Yahtzee game. 
Finally on Sunday we bundled up and head to Arrowhead for the Chiefs/Titans game.  It was freezing, but we had a great time.  After the game, we cleaned up the house and had a quiet afternoon cuddling on the couch. 

I would say all in all Christmas 2010 was a success.  Maybe next year we will have a little one to celebrate the holiday with….

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Super straight, fine hair is usually a blessing.  I can wash it, let it air dry (in like 8 minutes) and it looks exactly the same as if I had blown it dry and styled it—it’s always stick straight. 

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Tonight in the Carter household a HUGE victory has been won. After many months of passive aggressive complaining and eye rolls; Team Jillian has officially logged an, oh so satifying WIN and we are moving back to Blogger!

Remember this letter? Our trial separation is over….it is a beautiful day!

For those of you that know Hubs (and are not computer geeks) it can be difficult for Hubs to understand how the general public (aka me) does not understand the complexities of website development/hosting/coding/HTML (I seriously just typed ALL the computer geek words I know)

ANYWAY, back when I was trying to explain to Hubs how moving my site to WP would be detrimental to my independent website maintenance, he laughed and said, “It’s easy! You will figure it out.” And then I moved. Since then Hubs has fielded numerous phone calls and instance messages stating (sometimes yelling):

• My Twitter isn’t coming up…AGAIN!
• My Flickr isn’t working…AGAIN!
• Why are my fonts all messed up?!?!?!
• jillianranee.com is down!!!!!
• I want a search bar!
• I need a follow me on FB/Twitter button

The list goes on and on….. Anyway, tonight Hubs mentioned that he would like to have a ‘followers’ button on dashaun.net (you know, like all of his friends on Blogger ;) and so I started searching for a ‘followers’ plugin on WP. (FYI, there isn’t one.) And then our conversation went like this:

(I google for several minutes and of course all the possible solutions for importing my WP to my Blogger were written in computer geek…so lame.

Me: Hi! I think I might need some help.
Hubs: Hmmm I thought Blogger was soooo easy to use?
Me: (scoul)

10 minutes later all my posts were imported and everything is headed in the right direction. Hubs however, had to spend a few minutes on my Blogger Dashboard to facilitate this much appreciated transfer and that’s when I hear:

Hubs: Blogger is kinda cool. Analytics is right there!
Me: Wait, What! Blogger is kinda cool?
Hubs: Wait, you can montize right here too?

I’m not exactly sure what ‘monetize’ means but I know Hubs was excited….this was his next statment:

Hubs: Now that yours is migrated, I think I might move dashaun.net.
Me: Wait, you after all that arguing and ‘blogger is stupid’ talk you are going to move dashaun.net?
Hubs: I don’t think I actually said, “blogger was stupid. I think I just implied it.”
Me: But now you are moving?
Hubs: Maaaaybe.

Who knows if Hubs will ACTUALLY move his blog…but I can’t wait to find out! Win. Win. Win.

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My birthday week was pretty awesome!  A four day weekend didn’t really hurt either.  It started with dinner and a movie with Hubs on Wednesday and then a wonderful day full of laughing, family, (and lets not forget AWESOME bday presents) on Thursday.  We spent the day with my family and then went to Hubs’ parents for the evening.  It was a full day.

Friday I ended up running around with Juls and Bret and Mom most of the day.  I remember why I don’t shop on Black Friday but we still had a nice day.  Then Friday night we went back to Hubs’ parents house for leftovers and “Unstoppable.”  Watching “Unstoppable” with Hubs’ dad is like the first time I saw “Bring it On’ and I was all:  “that’s not real.”  But we still had  a fun night.

Saturday was the best day yet.  It was house cleaning Saturday.  We basically cleaned the entire house from top to bottom and it was so nice when it was finished.  At one point I came downstairs and Hubs had the refrigerator pulled out.  Our conversation went like this:

Me:  What are you doing?

Hubs: Thank goodness you were upstairs!  You would have freaked out if you would have seen all the puppy food under there.

Me:  Wait, you pulled out the fridge to vacuum?

Hubs: Yeah.

Me:  Someone is totally going to get some A+ cuddles tonight.

Hubs:  I pulled the drawer out of the stove and vacuumed in there too!

Me:  Thank you Lord.  I think I love you!

After all that work we decided to get out of the house and grab some drinks.  We met up with a couple girls from my High School and we had quiet a lovely night out.  Then Sunday, I spent some time with Mom and Juls wrapping presents before family dinner.

I’m not sure what we could have done to make my birthday weekend any better…maybe win the lottery?

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