Final countdown

I know this blog is usually about Emersyn and life as a mom, but now that the wedding planning is really picking up and I am in my final stages... it is starting to take on a life of it's own.

I blame myself for procrastinating so much. By the time we walk down the aisle, I will have been officially engaged for 14 months so I had NO excuse to wait so long to get on the ball but... I did. With Emersyn's first birthday, and building/buying a house I just kept putting it off. Well, after Christmas I got on the ball and bought a wedding planning book to keep me organized and honest.

In the first 3 weeks of this year I was able to register for all our pre-marital classes that the church requires, met with the caterer and finalized the menu (we have had the venue since last May), met with the photographer and signed the contract, met with the wedding planner at church to pick out readings and finalize all plans, met with a wedding/party planner to help us get organized and set-up/break down the day of, bought my dress, registered for gifts and this Thursday we are meeting with the DJ.

It has been a whirlwind of meetings and appointments. I am very grateful to those that could meet with us at our house and for my mom for babysitting when they couldn't. With a new house, a toddler and trying for baby #2 as soon as we are official- the goal of this wedding is to keep it simple and the prices down.

We are doing our own flowers, our own centerpieces, our own favors, buying a small tiered cake to cut and then serving sheet cakes to the majority of guests, etc. I am sure you will here more about the flurry of things to come. Our first class is all day 2/4 and February marks us buying the rings and sending out the invitations. We have lots to do still but I am so excited to legally and spiritually bond myself to Alex forever. Only 3 months and 7 days until I am a Lombardi (not that anyone is counting :-) )

Back to Back

I decided to be nice and move some furniture in our loft (so that it would be all set up for Alex when he came home) two weeks before Christmas. I didn't know how heavy our TV stand was until I tried to move it and felt a pull in my back. I kept waiting for the pain to start but nothing so I just went on. Then Saturday I woke up with a tight back. I was still able to do everything but it was just tight, tighter still on Sunday and I couldn't stand up holding Emersyn anymore. At church, Alex had to take her whenever we stood up and then gave her back to me when we were sitting.

I had taken the whole week before Christmas off to spend time with Emersyn since I work all year. I was so excited to be home but by Monday I was in lots of pain. I still trudged through and tried to ignore it while taking her to see Santa and Christmas shopping, but by Wednesday I was miserable. I was in extreme pain and could barely walk. I called Alex crying hysterically and asked him to come back home from work and take me to urgent care. Once there they told me that I had a pinched sciatic nerve (yippee!!). I was put on pain killers, muscle relaxers and a shot to relieve the pain. I was told to take 4 Advil every 4 hours too and to stay on top of my meds. I tried to relax the rest of the day/week and Alex was a huge help when he was home from work taking most of the duties from me.

Then Friday 12/30 came.... Alex was working in his office when I heard him cry out in pain. I rushed to his office and he was on his knees. He couldn't stand up or lie down. He was frozen in pain.... from his BACK! He had just moved to stand but he must have strained the muscle earlier in the week to weaken it. I tried to help him and he eventually was able to lie down to see if it would go away. I gave him some of my pain killers and muscle relaxers but it wasn't working. He called his dad to take him to the ER. He couldn't even stand up and I was no help since my back still hurt with trying to lift him. After about an hour, he pushed through the pain to stand. His dad came and took him to the ER while Emersyn and I stayed home. He came home a few hours later with "just a severely pulled muscle". He is now on his own brands of pain killers, muscle relaxers and got his own shot.

We are hoping that 2012 keeps the back problems away!!!!!

One for the baby book......

Before viewing the below picture below, please keep in mind that we had just left Starbucks 30 min before where she literally walked up to EVERY table and smiled at the people sitting there until they said "hi" to her and then she moved onto the next table. But... when there is just one man in a red suit.... we get the below reaction. I love that poor Santa smiled through it all!

Thankfully this will be great when she is 16 :-)

Happiest Place for a Toddler

This is going to be a long post, so sit back, grab a drink and enjoy J

Two weeks ago we made the trek to California to take Emersyn to the Happiest Place on Earth. I was a little nervous for the car ride with a toddler. My child is not one of those kids that falls asleep as soon as you get in the car. She tends to stay awake and want to be entertained so I packed a bag of toys and into the car we went.

We met up with my mom and aunt at Starbucks for some breakfast before heading out of town (yep poor Alex was the only boy on the trip). Thankfully, Emersyn loves books and kept herself pretty entertained “reading” in the backseat for a few hours before finally falling asleep. It felt like we stopped at every rest stop and we were at Jacki in the Box for lunch for about 45 min since Emersyn eats slow but we finally made it to the hotel. We checked into our rooms (Alex, E and I in one and my mom and aunt in the other). I was very grateful the rooms were connecting so that Emersyn had double the hotel space to wonder around.

After unpacking the cars and a quick wardrobe change, we headed over to Downtown Disney to shop and find someplace for dinner. We stopped first in World or Disney. I knew that I wanted a sweatshirt since I always borrow my mom’s on these trips so I went looking and found a super cute Tinkerbell sweatshirt. While in line, I found the best purchase of the whole trip- a toy cell phone for Emersyn that lights up, makes a fake photo click sound and has Cinderella talking when you hit certain buttons. She is still playing with it every day on the way to daycare J

 

We stopped in a few other shops and then all agreed we were starving. We decided on Rainforest Café. I know that we have them here in AZ but we never go to them here and it was fun for Emersyn. She was a little scared of the storm at first but got into it pretty quickly. Our friends Tallen and Nate met us all for dinner since they recently moved to Anaheim and we got to catch up. We hit the Lego store and a few more stores on the way home then bath, bottle and bed time.

We agreed that we would only be doing Disneyland this trip due to the fact that we only had 2 days and a toddler that needs naps so the next morning we got ready and headed over to the park. After the gates opened we went to the bakery for coffee (a must) and pastries. Then we headed over to Peter Pan for Emersyn’s first ride. She was not a fan of the dark we found out and that ride is dark (first mistake for mom lol). We then went on the carousel because she was eyeing it the whole time we were in line for Peter Pan. She did better on that. Then onto It’s a Small World. She did enjoy that by the time it ended. We decided that the adults wanted to do a ride and choose Indiana Jones. My mom’s shoulder was hurting so she stayed out with Emersyn while we went on. We came back to a sleeping baby so we took turns going on Pirates while Emersyn slept. She was awake by the time Alex and I got done and we headed over to the Country Bear restaurant for lunch. It was fantastic!

 

We headed over to the Winnie the Pooh ride and then decided to wear Emersyn out on Tom Sawyer’s Island so she would nap again. She ran around and loved it and was totally ready for a nap by the time we got back to the hotel room. After nap, we headed back to the park and hit up Buzz Lightyear. She rode with my mom and Alex and I would just like to point out that I kicked his butt J We hit the tea cups, Dumbo, dinner and hunted mansion before heading home for the night.

 

The next day was just as fun. We hit up Toon Town, tea cups 2 more times, Dumbo again, the adults got to go on Space Mountain, the submarines, we saw the parade, went on the train, and the Columbia boat. The trip was a huge success and I can’t wait to go back again with her. In fact, my mom and I are already trying to figure out when we can fit another trip in as soon as all of us recover from the lack of sleep :-)



Thankful Day 8

Since I will be pretty busy tomorrow.... this concludes my thankful posts for awhile. I will post about how Thanksgiving went in a few days, but we are focusing on what I am thankful for so.....

1- I am thankful that I was born and live in the United States. I am grateful that I am free to speak my mind, that I am able to pursue an education and a career of my choice. I am thankful for the countless men and woman that serve this country in the military, police, fireman, etc.
2- I am thankful for the people that work the thankless jobs that make my life easier. All I do is wheel my trash out to the curb and someone picks it up, my mail is delivered Mon-Sat with no issues, the streets are kept clean and playgrounds and parks are kept up. I know that these people don't hear thank you enough so.... THANK YOU!
3- I am thankful that I grew up in Iowa. That I spent my summers playing in the woods behind my house and catching lightening bugs. I am thankful that I grew up with seasons. I wouldn't want to move back to the snow but I am grateful that I grew up with it.
4- I am thankful for Thanksgiving! It is my favorite holiday and I love all the food and family time. I can't wait until tomorrow :-)

Thankful day 7

Today I am thankful for little things:

1- Starbucks coffee. It really does make me happy when I am having a bad day or start off the day right when I know it is going to be rough. I look forward to the day I can take Emersyn and any other kids there for mommy to have coffee and them to have hot chocolate.
2- Twilight. I realize that I am addicted to the series and if that is what my addiction is.... I am ok with it. I am currently reading the series again for the 5th time and still look forward to putting Emersyn in bed, finishing my workout and getting to lay on the couch and read. Also- the movies are FANTASTIC! I could watch them everyday and not get bored.
3- Disneyland. I love the magic and aura of it. I love that feeling you get as you walk through the gates and I am so thankful that I get to share that with Emersyn next week.
4- Target- I could get lose in Target for hours just looking at all the fun stuff. I love that store.
5- Going out for breakfast. We don't do it much but going out for breakfast is my favorite thing. I love it!

Thankful day 4,5 and 6 :-)

This weekend was a long one so I missed my thankful days. Here is day 4, 5, and 6 all combined.

1-      I am thankful for my friends. I have some amazing friends that are always there to support me and love me. I don’t know how I was blessed to get such great people.

2-      I am thankful for my job. I don’t always like my job and most mornings I despise getting up early for it, but in this economy and having the amazing co-workers I do- I truly am thankful and like my job 90% of the time.

3-      I am thankful for my new house. It is perfect. I love the fact that Emersyn has lots of room to run around. I love my big kitchen to cook in and I love the neighborhood. I love it all.

I will continue to be thankful tomorrow J Tune back in J