There's nothing like a good friend!!

I had the wonderful opportunity to get together with some of my good friends from high school last night, and it was so wonderful to see them all again!! Just sitting and chatting with these cute gals, like old times, reminded me of so many wonderful moments and memories I have with them...

**I remember volleyball practices with Melissa, and our after practice Slurpee tradition!! I do not know how we were able to walk all around the school and town in our spandex and feel comfortable...but we did :)!!

**When our coach made Melissa run around the track for the rest of practice for talking back to him. In my anger stood up and proclaimed "Volleyball is a team sport! I am going to run with Meliss," fully expecting the rest of the team to join in...they didn't! They went back into the cool gym and Melissa and I ran outside for the rest of practice...:(

**We were cruising around in the "Chevy Nova" when we stopped in front of Meggin's house and it wouldn't start up again for some reason. Sweet Trisha (on crutches mind you) hobbled over from her house carrying a gas can full of gas to fill up my car, only to have us realize that I had the car in neutral the whole time! It started up just fine once I remembered how to drive...

**Watching Ashley dance in the 2002 Olympic Opening Ceremony!! I was proud to be her friend :)

**Our summer feud with Stu and Ryan, where they somehow put a dead, rotting fish on Melissa's car engine... it took us forever to figure out what the smell was. We got them back later though :)

**The fun nights we would have in Trisha's amazing back yard.

**Watching Megan play in a La Cross game, and watching Ash and Trish dance together, and having all the girls in the bleachers cheering us on during volleyabll games :)

**Being on the Blue Crew with Melissa, running for student council.

** Getting ready for dances together. Spending a good amount of time crimping our hair only to have my mom tell us we look like hags...

**Hitting a deer in Melissa's car on the way to a basketball game...scary!!

**Watching movies in Melissa's basement!

Most of all I just remeber having really awesome friends in High school. Good girls who were fun, motivated, beautiful and who had high standards. I really appreciated their friendship and I am so thankful for all the wonderful memories I have with them!! Thanks for the wonderful memories girls and thanks for last night!! I can't wait for Megan to be there next time :)

Tootie Mcfruitie- Another Crestline Quicky!!

As you already know, I am sure, Ryan and I manage a mobile home park. It's quite a glamorous job, let me tell ya!! ...Ok, so glamor is not really a work I would truthfully use to describe this job. It is, however, good for an entertaining tale or two, seeing as how I have many many interesting characters gracing the Crestline Estates office everyday to pay me a visit. The other day, in fact, one such character did come into the office...and this is his tale.

I was minding my own business, doing the typical office work, when a familiar face entered the office. A man who has been a long time tenant here at Crestline and who I have had the pleasure of talking to many many times. (He has a really sweet story, but that is tale for another time.) This particular day we were discussing the progress of selling of his home and finding proper applicants to sell it to.

I was being as attentive as I possibly could be with Jane running around the office and Beckham in the other room getting restless whilst also in the middle of office work, when I heard a noise I had never heard before and couldn't really identify. It sounded like a loud door, creaking open or something. This sweet old man kept talking while I surveyed the room to see if any of the doors were openeing without me noticing...nope!

I dismissed the phantom noise and continued to listen to this sweet man's worries and concerns, when out of nowhere I heard it again...What is going on? I thought to myself. Is the floor creaking? I surveyed the floor where I was standing and shifted my weight strategically, trying to see if it was me moving; all the while trying to stay somewhat attentive to my tenant. This wasn't it either... I was baffled.

I began to notice my dear friend getting further and further away from me as he talked, never ceasing for a second, his back practically to the door at this point. When suddenly I realized what the noise was...he had been tooting uncontrollably, poor guy. I was instantly impressed with his insane ability to keep his composure while obviously having some issues. I mean the man never even broke a sweat, he never lost his train of thought, and never paused for even a millisecond during his speech...! All I can say is...bravo my good friend, bravo!!

He eventually left the office. And I walked into my house laughing to myself at what I had just witnessed, but most of all at the fact that this is not the first time something like this has happened...ahhh good old Crestline...gotta love my job...

Babe Exhibit...don't take this the wrong way :)

Last week Jane, Beckham and I went to the Bean Museum with some friends, my sister and her cute daughter and it was such a blast...partly because I never get out anymore therefore even the smallest outing makes me way too excited, but more so because Jane was such a riot with her cute little friend, London!! Here they are enjoying the "aminimals" as Jane would say!!
We just happened to show up on the day when what seemed like 8 school busses full of kids where there as well. This group of girls decided to take some pictures and my friend offered to take it for them. They called this the "Babe Exhibit," (hahah) and cute little Jane felt like she needed to join in and be a part of this group...She is quite a babe...so she fit in quite well!!
She was having a blast just being one of the gals!!!
We happened to stumble across the reading time as well, which turned out to be super fun!! They read stories about an owl, a frog and this type of lizard thing- then brought out the real thing for the kids to pet!! I was surprised at how fearless Jane was...atta girl!!! She loved the cool reptiles...And here was one of my favorite exhibits...the dik diks... a group of animals that should be our family mascott :)What a great day! Thanks Mellissa, London, Brea, Christina and Mae for a fun time!!

A day in the life...

With my favorite season of fall and the glorious months of December and January bringing with it birthdays, new additions to our family and a New Year nearly gone, I find myself stuck in the dead center of what I have aptly named the "dreary days" of the year. This is the time of year, at least for our family, when nothing much is going on- just the monotony of school, work, snow, clouds and cold. This is the time of year when I generally start counting down the days until spring arrives.

However, one of my New Year's resolutions this year is to enjoy every day and not to wish my time away. I always somehow get caught up in the "when" game. For ex. "When summer comes...We'll get out more" or "When my kids are older, I'll have more time for this or that." Well, not this year! I want to enjoy the every day moments that are so precious, that you can so easily look over if you are constantly wishing or waiting for something else.

So, here is a day in the life of Mary...just hanging out at home...making the best of these "dreary days."
Every spare moment I have, has been spent trying to catch up on my scrapbooking-which I have gotten desperately behind on due to a new baby and an untimely surgery...
I have quite a collection of scrapbooks which meticulously document every major event and even many fun, small moments of our lives together!!
Of course, plenty of time is spent cleaning up toys (about 28 different times a day as Jane just pulls them out again), washing bottles, folding laundary etc. etc.
Naturally, there is the daily three hours of office work to be done for the park- and quite often some late nights as well...
And the BEST part of my day is getting to spend time with this crazy, fun girl...
...and this adorable, sweet boy. They are both growing too fast!!

So...that's it!! This is generally how my day goes. It may not seem like much...but ya know...I love all of it and I wouldn't wish any of it away. Soon enough my kids will be grown up, I'll have TOO much time on my hands and I will long for these simple, yet wonderful days again :)

26 years of craziness!!

Happy 26th birthday to my dear husband, Ryan!! His birthday was the 13th of January!!He is the BEST husband and father I could ever have imagined marrying and I am a lucky, lucky woman to have him!! :) Here is the man of the hour with our two adorable kids, Jane (2and 1/2) and Beckham (2 and 1/2 months)!!
We had a very tiny birthday celebration for him this year. He was busy, busy studying for a monster test at school. So, we had to squeeze in a birthday party between studying, working in the office at Crestline and taking care of two kids!! However I worked my butt off to try to make it special!! Here he is showing off his Crimson laser sight for his gun!! I think he was excited!!!
Here is Jane with daddy's birthday bow on her head!! She was the BEST birthday present!!
I made Ryan his traditional (since last year :)) flourless, chocolate torte with raspberry sauce for his birthday!! This little beauty takes like 10 hours overall to make so I had to get creative when trying to manage my two kids and baking for hours on end!!
And here is just an absolutely adorable picture of our little guy, Beckham, smiling and saying happy birthday to his daddy!! And the Best smile award goes to... Beckham Dick!!!
We love you, Ryan!! Thanks for all your hard work in school, at work and at home- you're the BEST!!

Kids say the darndest things...

My daughter Jane is a complete riot!!? She is talking so much and the craziest things manage to escape her lips :) I wanted to share a few of Jane's crazy thoughts:

**When Jane poops she bends over and pushes so hard her face turns bright red and a vein pops out on her forehead. One day Ryan asked Jane if she wanted to go sit on the potty and poop. Jane replied, amidst the pushes, "Poopin's so hard!"

**Jane was in the bath tub and some lint from her clothes managed to make its way into the bathtub somehow. Jane picked up a handful of water containing a piece of lint and said, "Look at these crusties!"

**While making Jane's dinner I was talking to her in a French accent (one has to entertain themselves somehow...:)). Jane looked at me with a puzzled look and said, "What are you talkin' about, mama?"

**Ryan was going to take Jane out to her first movie and she was refusing to go. Ryan whipped out a 20 dollar bill and said I'll give you money. Jane immediately ran to him and said "Real money! I need real money!"....Yikes!!

**Ryan and I were watching "Julie and Julia" while Jane was playing with toys, seemingly uninterested in the movie. However, when Julia Child came on the screen Jane proclaimed excitedly, "Look its Julia!" Who knew Jane was a Julia Child fan?

**The words Bubonic Plague came on the tv and I thought it would be funny to have Jane try to say it. Here is what Jane said, "Poop on it, leg."

**We were driving in the car and the sun happened to be on Jane's side of the car- apparently in her face. Because I heard Jane who sounded annoyed say, "Sun's so bright- shinin' shinin' shinin!"

**Jane was brushing my hair and patting my head so gently and sweetly one morning, so I asked, "Is mama's hair pretty?" Jane looked at my hair, then looked at me in the face while patting my head and replied, "Let's fix it."

Jane is so much fun and It makes my day pretty exciting as I wait to hear what Jane will possibly say next :)

Beckham update:
I sweet little man is doing much better now that we have him on acid reflux medicine and have him on a special formula because of his intolerance to protein. He is such a happy little fella and a good boy too!! He already sleeps 11 hours a night :) Hooray for a full nights sleep!!

Why do we need gall bladders?

It seems that half of the world's population is walking around without a gall bladder? I have discovered this due to the fact that I have joined the other half and am now gall bladder-less!! Before the whole ordeal, I was introduced to about a thousand people who had also had their gall bladders removed...I will never understand why we have organs that we simply can live without. Especially when those seemingly needless organs begin to cause us horrible pain and digestive issues for no apparent reason at all. Anyhoo, my gall bladder experience was one I will never forget- and don't wish to. So, I am going to re-tell the ordeal for my own benefit and if you want to come along for the ride feel free...but I am warning ya...it ain't all pretty

I walked into the surgical center at 5am on December 21st, 2009 after having been up toiling over the fact that my 5 week old baby had decided to get up in the wee hours of the morning and have one of his freakishly CRAZY nights on the day of my surgery. I had to leave my crying baby with my poor angel of a sister who volunteered to stay with my kids (while watching a child of her own) during my surgery...she had no idea what she was getting into. Luckily, she is one of those naturally amazing mothers and managed to survive.

I had gotten up, and amidst the howls of my baby, I showered and diligently did my hair, make-up and put on my new Juicy Couture sweat suit I had gotten as an early birthday gift. This somehow made me feel better since my nerves had finally kicked in and the urge to throw up was relentless as I thought about somehow dying during my surgery. This effort proved to be completely unappreciated by the surgical center staff as they immediately had me strip down, put a gown on, and cover my hair with a surgical cap. At least I looked good for a half hour or so...right? I am sure the one other elderly woman in the waiting room really appreciated it...

"How many other people have worn this gown" I thought as I trudged to my impending doom. As I laid in my coffin...err bed, I was visited my seemingly every member of the surgical center staff since my mother works there and was sure to inform everyone of my coming. Before I knew it, I was being wheeled into the surgery room. I was so scared I was shaking and felt the need to apologize for my uncontrollable wussiness. However, before I had the chance I heard "Here come the Bahamas" from the anesthesiologist and I was out. The surgery commenced. While out, I don't remember being anywhere near the Bahamas. In fact all I remember is immediately waking up and hearing all sorts of panting for breath and whining for pain meds. It took me a while to figure out that it was coming from me...yuck.

It seemed like no time at all before they had me up and walking to another area. This is when the uncontrollable nausea hit. I felt like puking all over my nurse for making me get up as she helped me walk to my lazy boy recliner where I would spend the next five hours trying to get my nausea under control. Though my sweet nurse tried, we were never able to get me feeling good enough to go home early. To prevent blood clots, I was supposed to get up and walk around every hour. This felt like utter torture as I would just fall asleep and be immediately awoken by an entirely too positive nurse wanting me to walk around...which would last about five seconds before I would feel the urge to puke and need to sit down.

Finally, after six hours of being laid out in the surgical center, which was a long time for a gall bladder patient, I was dressed back in my juicy couture sweat suit (a mistake as I realized comfort over cuteness is far more desired after surgery...oh well) and sent home. My nausea was still pretty bad but I couldn't stay at the surgical center any longer. So, I was sent home and puked again...which was dreadful because it hurt the stitches on my stomach so horribly. My dear sweet husband however, came to my rescue with all sorts of remedies to try to control my nausea and pain. Because he is getting a doctorate of pharmacy and is super smart, his remedies worked and I eventually started to feel much better!!

I hated being out of commission for so long- not being able to hold my kids or feed my baby or even vacuum my house was horrendously taunting and unpleasant for me. However, thanks to my wonderful husband who stepped in like a pro and my sweet family, especially my mother-in- law, we managed to survive. And now it has been two and a half weeks and life is slowly getting back to normal and I am feeling great!! I am so glad November and December are over- even though 2009 was a wonderful year!! Thanks to all those people who have been so thoughtful and sweet in bringing meals, offering to help with the kids and for just being supportive- I couldn't have gotten through these past two months without you!!! Love you all!!