Happy New Year's Eve!

Hope everyone has a fun and safe New Year's Eve tonight! Our big plans include staying in and trying to stay awake to watch the ball drop. Grandma Marshall is driving our new car out today from Michigan so we will all ring in the new year together.

1. What did you do in 2010 that you'd never done before?

Well, I had a baby :)

2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions and will you make more for next year?

I didn't really make any because I know I never keep them. I've decided to write down some realistic goals for 2011. I'm hoping if I write them down they won't fall by the wayside.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Besides me :) I did have a good friend have a beautiful daughter in June.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

Fortunately, no.

5. What countries did you visit?

Just the good old USA.

6. What would you like to have in 2011 that you didn't have in 2010?

A little more organization. Oh... and more money wouldn't hurt either.

7. What dates from 2010 will be etched in your memory, and why?

3/06 - My brother got married in Key West.
3/13 - I found out I was pregnant.
3/14 - I told Freddy I was pregnant.
10/30 - Our little baby boy was born.

8. What was your biggest achievement of this year?

There was the whole having a baby thing :)

9. What was your biggest failure?

I think gaining the extra weight before I got pregnant was my biggest failure.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

Nope.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

My little Nikon S4000 to keep in my purse.

12. Where did most of your money go?

Bills and rent :(

13. What did you get really excited about?

Marshall's first Christmas and our trip home to Michigan.

14. What song will always remind you of 2010?

Good Night by Black Eyed Peas. I know it actually came out in 2009, but they played it all the time in 2010.

15. Compared to this time last year are you a) happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c) richer or poorer?
a) Happier
b) Fatter
c) Poorer

16. What do you wish you'd done more of?

My craft projects.

17. What do you wish you'd done less of?

Sitting around in front of the TV.

18. What was your favorite tv program?

How I Met Your Mother

19. What was the best book you read?

Is it going to be sad to say I really didn't read too much in 2010? That's why one of my goals for 2011 is to read at least 50 books.

20. What did you want and get?

My baby boy.

21. What did you want and not get?

A house.

22. What was your favorite film of 2010?

I'm not much of a movie person but I did enjoy The A-Team.

23. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

I turned 34 this year. The night before Freddy and I went to the Mets/Tigers game. It was about 100% humidity and my feet and ankles swelled up like balloons for the first time during the pregnancy. The day of I took off from work and we had a nice dinner and went to see The A-Team.

24. How would you describe your personal fashion concept of 2010?

How about a lack of... I hope to do better in 2011.

25. What kept you sane?

My putties.

26. What political issue stirred you most?

Pretty much anything Obama did. I was especially irritated by the Credit Card reform.

27. Who did you miss?

I miss my family everyday.

28. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2010.

Nothing really turns out the way you planned.


I'll be posting my 2011 Goals tomorrow to keep me honest.

Be safe out there!

~AKO

A Look Back on the Holidays

When I logged into Blogger today I noticed that this is my 100th post! When I started this blog last year I really didn't know what I wanted to do with it. I still really don't. I just play it by ear each time I sit down to write a post. I never imagined I would still be blogging after 100 posts. Yay me!

I have a few pictures to share from our trip to Michigan over the Christmas holidays to visit my family that I've finally gotten a chance to upload. We were planning on returning to New Jersey on Sunday, but due to the storm that buried the East Coast, we didn't leave until Tuesday. Marshall's schedule was all out of whack from being on vacation so we were up most of the night Tuesday night and didn't get too much done on Wednesday as planned.

We decided to drive so we had our little Focus jam packed full of stuff to make sure we had enough supplies for Marshall. In the end I think I overpacked but I figured it was better to have too much than not enough.





We weren't home for 24 hours before the spoiling of the baby began. Marshall didn't spend too much time out of Grandma Marshall's arms.





I had just missed the smile in this photo. Marshall has been smiling a lot lately in response to people talking to him. He especially smiles a lot after he's been changed. I guess he enjoys being in a clean diaper :)





Marshall also met his Grandpa Marshall for the first time. In addition, I also met my new Step-Brother and Step-Sister for the first time since my dad's marriage to his girlfriend, Sue, in October. Unfortunately I wasn't able to make the wedding since I was getting close to my due date.





My brother and sister-in-law's first Christmas in their new home.





And what would Christmas be without...





Super Mario Brothers!! And yes, that is my sister playing Mario while holding the baby.





Still on the quest for the smile shot. I was very close with this one!





And this was one of my favorite shots of the week...





All in all a pretty good Christmas this year. I'm pretty excited for next year when Marshall will be a little more aware of what's going on. We all got lots of cool things this year. Plus Marshall got to meet my extended family for the first time since he was born. Most importantly is that I don't think I'll have to buy any clothes for Marshall for a really looooong time.

Then all of a sudden 2010 is almost over. This year went by pretty quickly. I think, for me, it went by quick because I was pregnant for most of it. Marshall is 2 months old today and growing like crazy. I'm definitely looking forward to 2011 and watching him grow and learn new things. Something I'm going to do this year that I haven't done in the past is write down some realistic goals that I would like to acomplish in 2011. Then, at the end of the year, I'll be able to look back and see how much I was able to get done that I wanted to. So you can expect a New Year's Goals post in the next couple of days. I don't want to call them resolutions because I feel that calling them resolutions doesn't make them real. I mean, really, who honestly completes their New Year's resolutions???

Hope everyone enjoyed their holidays this year and are looking forward to 2011!

~AKO

The Lions Win!!!

That's right! The Detroit Lions have now won 3 games in a row with their win against Miami today. That's a 3 game winning streak, folks! The first 3 game winning streak since 2007!





~AKO

Merry Christmas!!!

Marshall's first Christmas...





~AKO

Cookie #3: No Bake Cookies

All I can say here is yummy goodness!







I also made some peanut brittle tonight as well. This was my first crack at it and it actually turned out!







Can you believe that Chistmas Eve is 1 week from today???

~AKO

Cookie #2: Gingersnaps

I had big plans to make Gingerbread Men tonight, but for the sake of time opted for the less time consuming, but equally delicious gingersnap cookies.









Tomorrow I make no bake cookies and peanut brittle. I'm leaving the sugar cookies for Saturday since they are going to be a bit more time consuming. I plan on doing cookie cut-outs complete with colored frosting and sprinkles.

~AKO

Cookie #1: Peanut Butter Blossoms

True to my word I'm getting these cookies done!

With such a late start I decided to start with the easiest of the 3. Plus, there isn't anything that I really watch on TV tomorrow so I can spend more time on cookies :)

Tonight I made the Peanut Butter Blossoms in four easy steps.

Step 1




Step 2




Step 3



Step 4 - Enjoy!!




They don't taste too bad if I do say so myself.

~AKO

Cookie Time!

So with money being a little tight this year and with the arrival of little Marshall I decided to make cookie packages for some of our family as part of their Christmas gifts. The cookie plan includes peanut butter with hershey kisses, sugar cookies, gingerbread men, and no bake cookies. I may try to do some fudge and peanut brittle if I have time. My deadline is Sunday so I'm going to try and take care of one kind each night. We'll see how this goes by the end of the week :)

And now for some updated photos of Marshall. He is now 6 weeks old and changing every day...

His brooding look...





Worn out after a diaper change...





And C-Lo hating us silently from above...





~AKO

Disaster

In a word that is how I would describe my house right now... a disaster. Right now the only time I can really clean anything in my house is during the 2 hours after dinner and before I drag myself to bed.

We made it past the 1 month mark for Baby Marshall. I have his 1 month photo with the bear, but haven't had a chance to get it uploaded yet. I was actually able to get one without him screaming so that is progress I think :) He's been pretty fussy the past couple of days, which I think can be attributed to his 6 week growth spurt. As a result my days are pretty much shot even for a nap. It probably wouldn't be so bad if it were warmer and we could take a break from the house and take a walk to get some fresh air. Right now it is a little too cold to take a 6 week old outside for extended periods of time.

Last week I purchased one of these in an effort to still carry Marshall but also get some stuff done... An ErgoBaby!




Marshall fell right to sleep when I put him in it and I was a cleaning machine! Since he's going through a fussy phase right now he wants nothing to do with the Ergo and my poor house is suffering :( I actually had to start a task list of stuff that I need to get done so I don't forget anything.

Some of you may remember the to do list that I had going before Marshall was born. Well, I finally got one more item checked off yesterday. After 2 years, I finally ordered and framed our wedding pictures for display. I am bound and determined to complete this list! Now I just have to complete his name cross stitch and get our bookshelves organized.

1. Purchase a new sofa and love seat
2. Purchase a new crib, changer, and dresser
3. Clean and organize the office/storage room
4. Organize our bedroom to make room for crib
5. Switch out the old computer desk for the new one
6. Put up curtains in living room
7. Put up blinds/curtains in main bathroom
8. Put up blinds/curtains in small bathroom
9. Put up curtains in dining room
10. Put up all pictures, art, and other various wall hangings
11. Purchase china cabinet for china still trapped in boxes
12. Put up curtains in kitchen
13. Complete cross stitch name picture for Baby O
14. Order pictures for and complete wedding frame collage
15. Clean apartment!!!
16. Purchase bathroom space saver for baby bath supplies
17. Organize closets to make room for baby clothes
18. Organize bookshelves to make room for baby storage
19. Put crib together
20. Put dresser/changer together

Here's to finding more time to blog... and other stuff!

~AKO

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving today and that all of your loved ones arrived to their destinations safely.

Today was Marshall's 1st Thanksgiving. This was the best I could get with his "1st Thanksgiving" bib. We're still working on being set down for more than 5 minutes without throwing a fit.





~AKO

Wordless Wednesday: 2 Week Photo - FAIL

~AKO

Baby Steps

Marshall is now 2 weeks old as of yesterday. We are still trying to figure out how to get him to lay on his own without screaming so I can actually start getting some stuff done around the house. We did have a sort of first yesterday.

Marshall sat in his bouncer unattended...





...for about 5 minutes...





I guess we're moving along one baby step at a time.

~AKO

Remember Our Troops

Take a few moments today and everyday to remember those who put their lives on the line to defend our freedom everyday.

I'm proud to say that I am married to one of them.







~AKO

Firsts

I've been told that the best thing about parenthood is watching all of the "firsts" that your baby discovers over the years. In the words of Ferris Bueller, life moves pretty fast so hopefully I'll be able to record as many firsts as I can.

Marshall is now 1 week and 3 days old and so far we've seen the following:

1. Opens his eyes and looks around throughout the day.
2. First sleet storm yesterday... even though he didn't really care.
3. Looks like he is trying to smile.
4. First up all night where nothing would comfort Sunday night.

The first I'm waiting for is when we can put him down for 5 minutes without him thowing a fit. So far, he has to have someone holding him at all times, which makes it difficult to get things done.

~AKO

Marshall William Has Arrived!

I think it has been over a week since I left a post here. Well, my little Turkey baby decided he wanted to be a Halloween baby, which I guess is fitting since Halloween is my favorite decorating holiday.

My last day physically in the office was Wednesday, 10/27. My plan was to telecommute from home then until 11/12 and my leave would begin on 11/13 with my estimated due date being 11/16. We had a long list of items that we were planning on getting completed the weekend of 10/29 - 10/31 in preparation for Marshall just in case he decided to make his arrival within the next week. Well, little Marshall had other plans. My last doctor's appointment was on 10/27 and I had no signs of going into labor anytime soon.

On Friday, 10/29, I was working my normal day from my living room... conference calls, emails, complaining clients, etc. Around 2:30 in the afternoon I started feeling very strong cramping in my lower abdomin. At that point they were just uncomfortable so I didn't think anything of it. By the time Freddy got home from work around 6:30, the cramping had gotten a little bit stronger but they were still just uncomfortable and were very random as far as timing was concerned. By 7:30 I had to lay down each time a cramp started, but they were still untimeable.

We decided to call the doctor just to be on the safe side. Since the cramping was just very uncomfortable and not necessarily painful, the on-call doctor told me that it could possibly be the early stages of labor. Her advice was to take a hot shower, have a snack, and try to get some sleep. If they started to really hurt then I should call her back.

For the next 2 hours I tried to eat some dinner, but started to feel nauseous so I decided to go lay down for awhile. All of a sudden the cramping went from 25 minutes, to 16 minutes, to 1 minute apart. But they still were not hurting too badly. Just after midnight they started to hurt and pretty much stopped me in my tracks. I told Freddy we needed to go to the hospital even if this wasn't the real thing just to make sure everything was ok. So he called the doctor back and she told him to bring me in and she would meet us there.

We left the house around 12:50 AM. Since there was no traffic, it took us about a half hour to get to the hospital. I couldn't imagine the ride into the city if we were trying to do it during daytime hours! I was obviously in no condition to walk a long distance so Freddy took a chance and parked in a no parking zone in front of the Emergency Room. Of course the security guard waved us right through and before I knew it Freddy had a wheelchair for me.

When we got up to Labor & Delivery, the triage nurse had to enter all of my insurance information into the system since we hadn't gotten a chance to pre-register... one of my to do's for that weekend :) We probably only sat there for 10 minutes but it seemed like forever. It got to the point where I started to feel the urge to push and all of a sudden 2 nurses and an attendee were pushing me through the door to the assessment area. Freddy couldn't come in yet so he ran downstairs to move the car into a parking garage.

When the attendee checked me I was fully dialated and ready to have this baby. Finally they wheeled me down to a birthing room where everything started moving full speed ahead. Since I was fully dialated my dream of an epidural was thrown right out the window so I had to have this kid au natural. When Freddy got back upstairs, I was already pushing so he arrived just in time.

The next few minutes are kind of a blur. I only remember pushing 3 or 4 times when little Marshall William arrived at 2:06 AM on 10/30/10. He was perfectly healthy at 6lbs 9oz and 19in long.





Since everything happened so fast, they didn't have time to even officially admit us so we were able to stay in the birthing room for an extra hour while the nurse took care of all the paperwork. It was nice to just lay and relax for a bit and think about what had just happened. They moved us into the post partum room around 4:00 that morning. By the time we got everything situated, it was almost 6:00 and I realized that I had now been up for 24 hours! So Freddy went home and I tried to get some much needed sleep.

The next couple of days were a blur of visitors and phone calls. Since everything was going well, they said we could go home on Sunday instead of waiting until Monday.







So, we've spent the last week trying to figure out how to be parents and still get our house in order. Let the fun begin!

~AKO

50 Free Holiday Cards from Shutterfly

Thanks to Amber over at Random Rants of an Army Wife for the heads up on this one.

Shutterfly is having a promotion where you can get 50 free holiday cards by submitting your blog. I use Shutterfly for everything photo related, including holiday cards, and have never had a problem or been disappointed.

Just go to this link to submit your blog:
http://blog.shutterfly.com/5358/holiday2010-blog-submission-form/

This year we're planning on combining our birth announcements with the holiday cards so I can definitely make use of 50 free :)

~AKO

Putty Approved

I can't believe how this week flew by. I think work knows that I'm getting ready to be gone for 3 months so everything seems to be blowing up at once! I haven't even wanted to get on the computer once I got home at all this week and usually went to bed not long afterwards.

I had my 35 week appointment on Thursday and everything is still going as planned. I'm still hoping we don't go early since I have everything planned at work right up until 11/12, which is my planned last day of work.

My shower is next Saturday so my Mom and sister are flying in for the weekend for it. I bought this to wear for Halloween so I'm debating if I'll wear it for the shower or not. It arrived today. How cool is this :)





In other exciting news, the day that we've been waiting for has finally arrived... our new sofa and loveseat were scheduled to arrive today!

Since the furniture delivery was scheduled sometime between 7:00 AM and 10:00 AM, we knew we needed to be up and moving by 7:00. If we weren't, you know those guys would have shown up at exactly 7:00. So, knowing full well that I planned to be up and moving around 6:30, I went to bed around 11pm and proceeded to stare at the ceiling until almost 3:00AM! Not happy at all! I slowly dragged myself out of bed around 7, and who should arrive shortly thereafter??? No, not the delivery guys.... the roofers! We knew our landlord was having the roof of our building redone, but we didn't know they'd be showing up before the sun.

Being on the 2nd floor of a three story apartment, there was a lot of noise and banging going on all day. So much that the putties set up camp under the beds for most of the day. We still have no idea how Harley got his 20lb behind under the bed!







But finally, our new furniture did arrive and we spent most of the day rearranging the living room so that everything fit to our satisfaction. We had to put our old couch on the curb Thursday night for pickup so we went all day and night on Friday with no couch. And, both pieces are putty approved...







~AKO

That Didn't Take Long

Today at the supermarket I saw Sister Wives in the tabloids. So that took... what... a whole three weeks... Gotta love the media...

~AKO

Little Helpers

So...I had a little energy today and started cleaning and organizing some of the piles of mail and junk that had been accumulating on our dining room table. Turns out I had a couple of little helpers...





As you can see they were both very useful today.

~AKO

Who Says Jealousy Isn't Healthy?

So jealous of the lives of my cats...









~AKO

Sister Wives

So I'm watching Sister Wives and, I have to admit, it is rather interesting. I don't normally watch these types of reality shows because I normally find the families on them irritating. So far they seem like a healthy functional family. They have already mentioned their children do not have to follow in that particular lifestyle and one of the wives was not brought up that way either. All you ever see in the news and on TV about polygamy are the cult families so I'll be interested to see how this series progresses.

~AKO

Longing...

Well, maybe longing isn't the right word but I'm really REALLY ready for some nice fall weather. I thought we were finally done with the heat and humidity last weekend and then it got back in the 90's this past week. NOT COOL! I've been fighting the urge to turn the AC back on in order to keep our electric bill down but last night was hard. Even with the ceiling fans I was sweating!

So...I've been looking at some of my nice, pretty fall photos and reminders...









Go away Summer and let Autumn have her share!!!

~AKO