58 degrees on January 30th

This is amazing and I thought I would share because it's not everyday in Iowa that you get 58 degrees on January 30th! I did get out for a walk today at lunch and it felt great. I'm hoping to go home and grab my honey for one more walk today. All week is supposed to be like this. I can get used to this! The snow is melting and the sun is shining, this just means April 4th is right around the corner.

This weekend Tom and I made a trip to Davenport to Babies R Us, since we don't have a baby store in Dubuque, we have to travel an hour away, it's a pain in the ass, but it's nice to get away as well. Plus we got Red Lobster out of the deal as well. So no complaints here.

We headed to Babies R Us for baby furniture. I found a set online I really liked and I called around to the "surrounding area" (yeah right, all over an hour away) to see if anyone had the set in stock so we could see it. I'm just not comfortable spending so much money on something I can even see or feel, so out of Cedar Rapids and Madison, the only one who had the furniture was Davenport. They didn't have the color I wanted but at least the same set was there for us to look at. Here is what we have chosen. And the link just in case Baby bed

When we got here we noticed the sale was not on, from what I found online there was a sale however there is a different sale! Babies R Us is having a Trade-In sale, meaning if you bring an used/old items such as an old crib, stroller, highchair, stroller, they will give you 25% off an item, so if we bring in 3 items we will get 25% off each one! Cha-Ching! We even double checked twice to make sure we could bring in 3 items and get each item we want for 25% off. They said yes but we'd have to do 3 separate transactions, who cares! So needless to say I'm on a hunt for some old stuff! We called our mother's to keep an eye out for a few things and mom already called me back and said they still have the baby bed they had at there house for my nephews, it's in Grandma's garage so we have one item, she also thinks there is an old highchair as well and Tom's mom think her sister has an old crib as well. Even though these are big items, it's OK we'll just have to take the truck down once we get what we need. I'm now hoping for 4 items because I really want a
Nap Nanny for some reason I've been reading a lot of good things about this, even though I registered for a swing and a bounce seat I thought this might be good too, I don't know maybe its the first time mom in me, and I think it looks really comfortable! LOL I can always return it if we don't like it.

The sale ends Feb. 20th so we have plenty of time to gather up a few things and make a trip down to get our furniture ordered. From the sounds of it, the color we want, Chestnut, is in stock so they would just have to order from there warehouse and we'd have to make another trip down to get it, unless I could arrange something over the phone, we'll see about that.

And my bedding I got I thing will look awesome too.  Here's another pic of that as well, tell me what you think! I still need the Valance, Mobile and Blanket, (and the lamp but this is not sold at Target) these are all on sale at Target right now and they're on my registry, I almost bought them just in case I didn't get it. I still might since they are on sale and I can always return them if I get them at my shower. I have to figure out what color to paint the room too, I don't think a bright green room will look good with light blue.

We really are not in a hurry, actually I should say we are not in a hurry because we have no where to put the furniture yet, we are working on that. We are hoping to get our basement started in the next couple of weeks because time is just running out! Hello, I only have 9 1/2 weeks left and I'm starting to get that anxious feeling, I'm sure someone of you know what I mean. Yesterday at home I was like I need to do something and what I really wanted to do I couldn't so I settled for cleaning the bathrooms and dusting the house and cleaning up my Jazzercise stuff, I had papers all over the computer downstairs so I got that all organized. My brain is just going crazy, I sure hope this is normal.

There are still so many things I need to do:

• Saturday Tom and I are going to our birthing class, it's an all day event, Tom can't wait! NOT... it's from 9:00 to 5:00 which I thought was better than 4 weeks 1 day a week, this way we can get it done and over with. I'm super excited to see the birthing suites and all. Yeah I've been to see someone who's had a baby but you don't really pay attention to what the room is really like so I'm excited. LOL
• Find a pediatrician, I went onto our healthcare providers and found a couple but I'm not sure what to do. I'm not sure what to ask when I call, but I think I better get this checked off my list.
• Fill out my FMLA paperwork so that's all ready to go. I'm almost 100% positive that I will not go past my due date of April 4th, that's just what the doc said to me at my last appt. because of my GD. I'm hoping for an April 3rd baby so he and Grandma Lynch can share birthdays 89 years apart - Amazing!
• Baby shower, that's schedule for March 3rd and I don't really have much to do with that, my 2 sister-in-laws are taking charge, they are amazing and I'm sure I'm in for a big surprise! They booted me off Pinterest and let me tell you, it's hard to stay away! LOL 
• I'm all registered at Target but I still have a few more things to put on it since they were remodeling that section when I was out there, so I'll finish that up soon! They are having a great sale right now and a lot of the stuff on my registry is on sale, I'm thinking maybe we should have had the shower earlier. But I'm good with March 3rd! 
• We're all ready for Daycare - deposit has been sent and invoice received!

I know I'm missing so much and I know everything will come together and I can't wait to meet our little guy. Name for baby H will be announced soon, I want to make sure our Mother's especially know before I announce it here!

Well off for another walk, hopefully my blood sugars tonight will be better than they were this afternoon.

Gestational Diabetes

That's right, I have Gestational Diabetes (GD) I found this out last Thursday at my 3 hour long appt. it was actually about 3 1/2 hours long but who's counting. The testing went fast, I did get to do some work while waiting, thank God they had Wi-Fi and I brought my laptop with me, so I could catch up on some work. Then mom came and sat with me for about an hour so the morning went fairly quick. The only blood draw that hurt was the one on my right arm, the tech couldn't seem to find my vein so she was poking around a lot. I never use that arm but thought I at least better once or my left arm is going to be sore. She finally found it and it was all good, but the next 2 draws were out of my left arm. It wasn't fun, but had to be done.

After my test I met mom at the hospital cafeteria, they are really good food and it's cheap! I had a piece of pizza and after my training today it probably wasn't the best choice for me. LOL

Once I got to work, I got the phone call that I didn't pass :( so I officially had GD and that I would need to set up an appointment with a nurse and a dietician to go over what all goes on with GD and how to control it, if I don't do this, I could have a big baby and possibly have to have a C-Section or the baby would have a hard time coming out. So I'd rather have a normal size baby and try and do everything right.

Here are my levels I just took a picture of them:

As you can see I really only passed one of the 4 test and that was at my 3 hour one. The nurse was asking if I felt jittery or anything because my blood sugar was really low, but I don't recall, I just recall being super hungry!

So today was my appointment with the nurse and dietician, both were super nice and new a lot about this and I know I'm not alone. So the first nurse I spoke with was to go over my levels and discuss what GD is, it means my blood glucose (sugar) levels go too high during pregnancy, so when I eat my pancreas is not producing enough insulin to break down the sugars therefore the baby is receiving too much glucose (sugar). And as I progress in my pregnancy the insulin requirements go up extremely so this is why it gets tested between 26 and 28 weeks. So do you all feel smarter??

So now that we all know what's going on, now I have to start testing my blood sugars 4 times a day as well as my Ketones, yeah I've never heard of it either, but its a urine test, Ketones are a substance the body makes when it uses fat for energy. Fat is your body's second source of energy, after glucose (sugar) so they appear in my urine when I don't have enough glucose for energy and is burning fat instead. This would be a sign that my body is not getting the nutrition it needs for me and my baby. So every morning, I have to pee on this stick and test to make sure its OK, then I go on and prick my finger, then I get to eat. And after every meal, an hour after finishing, I have to test my blood sugar. I have a food log and all to write everything down.

Then it was on to the dietician, she just informed me of what I can and can't eat, it's not that I can't eat anything I just really have to watch my carbohydrate intake. I can eat lots of meat, cheese, nuts and veggies but I should stay away from pastas, breads, fruit, and of course chocolate shakes :( I need to keep a food log and fax to them once a week so they can see how my levels are and if I need to change anything, if I don't eat right, I could be put on insulin and I really don't want to do that, so my goal is to try and get in some exercise and really watch what I eat.

I'm only allowed 2-3 carb choices for breakfast, 1-2 for morning snack, 2-4 for lunch 1-2 for afternoon snack, 2-4 for dinner and 1-2 for my evening snack So the 2 to 3 carb choices mean I can have anything that has total carbohydrates of 26-35 so instead of a bowl of cereal for breakfast I will stick with an english muffin with peanut butter. That's better for me than cereal, because cereal has lots of sugar! And on the weekend when we cook breakfast like bacon and eggs, that's going to be perfect for me! LOL It kind of boggles my mind but I know they know what they are talking about, so for now on I have to write down everything I eat and keep track of my sugars. The biggest challenge is to eat every couple of hours, the mornings will not be a problem but the afternoons might be because I don't seem to get hungry until I get home around 4:00 and I don't want to eat much before dinner so I wait but I'll have to try and change that.

So that's all I know! Today is Tom's 40th birthday and we are going to Texas Roadhouse, I can eat all the steak and veggies I want the dietician just said to stay away from the rolls and maybe just a small potato, but we'll see. LOL isn't that the best part of going to Texas Roadhouse? This will be our first time to the new restaurant, they finally got on in Dubuque!

I'm going to start the testing tomorrow morning so wish me luck!

30 Weeks!

Today I am 30 weeks pregnant - only 10 more weeks to go!

Pregnancy Highlight:

Size of Baby: Baby H now weighs almost 3 pounds, about the size of a head of cabbage and measures 15.7 inches long from the top of his head to his heels!  

Total Weight Gain/Loss: I don't really know but now that I'm going to the docs office every 2 weeks, I'll figure it out at my next appt.

Baby's heartbeat at last visit: All I know is the doctor said baby's heartbeat sounds great!

Maternity Clothes: YES

Gender: We are having a BOY!

NAME: I think we are finalizing the name but I'm not posting it on here yet.

Movement: Yes! Yes! Yes! It's the most amazing thing. He's a squirmier and I think he's crawling right up into my rib cage.

Sleep: Sleeping great other than getting up to pee and it's so much more difficult getting out of bed lately.

What I miss: Besides being able to do what I used to do, my energy! I have lots of intentions when I get home from work but I seem to just plant my rear in the couch and don't get up to do what I want, like clean the bathroom or clean out some cabinets that I want to do before baby comes.

Cravings: Chocolate Shakes - definitely! I'm sure this is going to get worse starting tomorrow because I have to go on a low carb diet and what I can't have I'm going to want!

Symptoms: Starting to get some lower back pain. It mainly happens at work because I'm sitting so long so I have to make sure I get up and walk around, which I'm usually going to the bathroom about once an hour, but I need more movement.

Best Moment This Week: Lots of excitement this week. We celebrated Tom's 40th birthday this weekend, it was supposed to be a surprise but see my previous post on how I blew it. It was a great night and I can't believe he's 40, that means I'm not too far away - 3 years! I also pampered myself on Saturday, first with a haircut and color, then a pedicure and manicure. It was well needed and I really enjoyed myself. I'm hoping for at least one more before baby comes. Or maybe two. And last but not least I started going to the doc every 2 weeks and I went Monday. Baby's heartbeat was great and my doctor asked if I knew what we were having and I said a boy, she was like "you're going to love having a boy" she was telling me about her little boy who is 3 and how sweet they are and they just love there mommas. I can't wait to meet my sweet boy.


And just a quick picture of my hubby, it's his 30 week picture too. LOL I'm so proud of him, he joined WW last week and he lost 5 pounds. Now if we can just get downstairs to exercise.

SURPRISE 40th BIRTHDAY!

Saturday night I had a surprise 40th birthday party for Tom! Well, it wasn't much of a surprise because I blew it with a Facebook email, go figure, don't ever come to me to plan a surprise! LOL Anyway I was sending an email to the Barnstead group, we all meet once a month for dinner, and I hit reply all, not thinking Tom was on that list. So Friday afternoon he called me and asked me how well I knew FB, I didn't quite understand what he was getting at, but he proceeded to ask how to send a message to all his friends, and I knew exactly what I did! I was so bummed but at least I just did it, not a couple of weeks ago and the thing is I wasn't even going to do it, but decided what the heck. Not sure if anyone else figured out he was on the email but oh well. He said he stewed about it all night Thursday at work. He wasn't going to tell me but I'm glad he did.

So since he knew about his surprise party it wasn't hard to get him to Hammerhead's that night. We picked up Chris and Kristi about 6:00 and headed down to Houlihan's but it was packed so we decided to go to the Moose for a drink, had a couple there, got signed up for my baby shower, then headed down to Hammerhead's. There was quite a crowd, it was a great turn out. Here's a few pics of the night:

 

 Here's Tom walking into Hammerhead's but I can't seem to rotate the picture.

 

 

Mom found a dance partner and it wasn't me this time - thank God! My friend Linda was the culprit this time.

And so was Missy and Brandi - Tom's cousins.

 

Dewey talked mom into playing shuffle board with Chris and Erica. I think mom and dewey won!

 

And right before we left, Tom was full! LOL

Overall it was a good night, thanks to Linda, mom, Sandy and Shari, we had lots of good food. Linda made turkey and dressing sandwiches, mom made meatballs, Sandy made Enchilada meatballs and Shari made cucumber sandwiches. We also had chips and dip and salsa and chex mix. Oh and of course the cake. We didn't have many leftovers so all must have been pretty good.

29 Weeks

Today I am 29 weeks pregnant!

Pregnancy highlights:

Size of Baby: Baby H now weighs about 2 1/2 pounds, about the size of a Butternut Squash and measures 15 inches long from the top of his head to his heels! 

Total Weight Gain/Loss: +5 since my last doctors visit putting me about +16 pounds all together. Wowzers..

Baby's heartbeat at last visit: I should take this one out because the doctor never tells me, they just say "heartbeat sounds good" and that's really all I need to hear.

Maternity Clothes: YES

Gender: We are having a BOY!

Movement: Yes! Yes! Yes! It's the most amazing thing. He's a squirmier and I think he's crawling right up into my rib cage. As I sit here this afternoon I can see him squirming around in my belly. It's amazing I had to call a co-worker over. I was going to get Micayla but she was on the phone.

Sleep: Sleeping great other than getting up to pee and it's so much more difficult getting out of bed lately.

What I miss: Being able to get up and out of the couch and/or chair, it seems like a chore to have to get up, or tie my shoes, that's exhausting. I think I'll be keeping this as my "what I miss" but I also miss my energy.

Cravings: Chocolate Shakes - definitely! And I've been starting to crave pop, cherry Pepsi.

Symptoms: Lots of kicking going on and I love it. 

Best Moment This Week: Finally "seeing" him move around in my belly. I love it! It's like I'm having a little party in my belly he's moving that much. I still can't believe I only have 11 weeks to go! We are finally planning my baby shower. It will be here before we know it. We are getting the final bids on our basement and once we decide on that the basement will get started. I can't wait, there is just so much to do and time is running out.

I go for my 3 hour glucose test tomorrow morning, not looking forward to it but I'm glad I'm getting it out of they way, hopefully everything will be fine because I would hate to have to give up chocolate shakes and Cherry Pepsi. But I'll do what I have to do for this baby, he's my world!

I've decided not to go with the furniture I posted last week, so I'm kind of back to square one, well not that far back just have to decide what I want.

Daycare Decision

I can finally say we've made a decision!

Baby H will be attending ABC Learning, we can't wait, well I shouldn't say that because I'll probably be one of those mom's who cry after dropping there child off, I know I will be! 

But here's the proof!

I love the little note they wrote on our receipt we got this in the mail the other day. They seem to be a great place to take kids and I'm glad we chose them!

Weekend update

Thanks to Martin Luther King Jr. we get an extra day off work and it's a well deserved one. Work has been crazy and we were all in need of an extra day off.

So on this extra day off I'm relaxing on the couch, Tom's sleeping because he has to work tonight and the kids are out and about. I really wanted to do something today, like register for baby stuff, but decided to just relax at home in the peace and quiet.

We didn't do much this weekend, Friday night we grabbed dinner at Great Dragon and came home and ate it, it was an early night, Tom was exhausted and I was too so we were in bed around 9:30.

Saturday we stopped at Tom's Grandparent's house, then went to Sam's to do a little shopping and stopped and got groceries. We wanted to make twice baked potatoes to have in the freezer. We have all this meat in the freezer and decided some potatoes are great with them so we whipped them up and we ended up eating potato skins for dinner, we didn't even eat what we made. LOL Brandon had to work that night and Micayla was with her mom so it was another relaxing night. We watched a few movies then went to bed.

Sunday we slept in. Mom had us up for Clam Chowder, she had Grandma, Nikki, Chuck, Lexi and Andy up as well as Chris and Greg Weeks from Chicago, they were in town for Greg's work so they came up as well. It was nice seeing them, it's been a while since we didn't get to Chicago this year. But wow was it loud! The Packer game was on and everyone but Dad was cheering on the Giants, we don't know when he ever became a Packer fan but it was funny, they didn't play well and we were all excited to see them lose.

Here are a few pictures of the night.

Before everyone got there mom and dad were looking for something in the panty, it was so funny, Dad pulled out the flashlight!

Chris, Greg and Nikki discussing something!

And after everyone left, Abby got some much need TLC, I guess she wasn't feeling the best but she seemed fine to me. She's such a sweetie.

And a few random pictures. Here Brandon and two of his friends all went sleigh riding with the first big snow storm we got Thursday. It was so funny seeing these guys in there gear, which was some old stuff we had around the house that no one could fit in to but they figured it out. Brandon stepped aside because he looked "normal" here is Tyler and Kyle:

And here is an almost brand new pack and play that mom got for the baby from a friend of hers that was only used a couple of times. It looks brand new and has a changing table and everything. I'm so excited to see all this stuff, it means the baby is really coming.

 

I am heading to Grandma's for Chicken tonight, Chris and Greg are treating us to dinner, Tom's going to the Moose with his dad and Grandpa for Liver and Onions, yuck!

28 Weeks - Hello 3rd Trimester!

Today I am 28 weeks pregnant!

Pregnancy Highlights

Size of Baby: Baby H now weighs almost 2 and a quarter pounds, about the size of a Chinese cabbage and measures 14.8 inches long from the top of his head to his heels!  

Total Weight Gain/Loss: +5 since my last doctors visit putting me about +16 pounds all together. Wowzers..

Baby's heartbeat at last visit: I should take this one out because the doctor never tells me, they just say "heartbeat sounds good" and that's really all I need to hear.

Maternity Clothes: YES

Gender: We are having a BOY!

Movement: Yes! Yes! Yes! It's the most amazing thing. He's a squirmier and I think he's crawling right up into my rib cage.

Sleep: Sleeping great other than getting up to pee and it's so much more difficult getting out of bed lately.

What I miss: Being able to get up and out of the couch and/or chair, it seems like a chore to have to get up, or tie my shoes, that's exhausting. I think I'll be keeping this as my "what I miss" but I also miss my energy.

Cravings: Chocolate Shakes - definitely! And I've been starting to crave pop, cherry coke and/or pepsi, as I'm enjoying right now.

Symptoms: Lots of kicking going on and I love it. I get nervous when I haven't felt him in a while but if I just relax for bit he starts right up. Yesterday, Tuesday, I felt like crap, starting to get achy and felt like a cold is coming on, but today I feel OK, but my hips are sore. I think it's because I'm sitting all day long except to go to the bathroom, so I need to get up and move more.

Best Moment This Week: Getting to hear the baby's heartbeat and hearing the doctor tell me everything sounds/looks good and that I'm measuring right on track. Celebrating Tom's Grandmas' 80th birthday, it was a great night. Oh and finally choosing a daycare, I dropped my deposit off last night to ABC Learning! And I think I will have my furniture ordered in the next week or so. Wow, so much going on. I also start going to the doc every 2 weeks, which is crazy to me, but that means this little guy will be here before we know it.

One last note - I didn't pass my Glucose test so I have to go through the dreaded 3 hour test sometime next week, I'm thinking Wednesday or Thursday. Please pray that I pass!

So here's the furniture that I'm hoping to get, we'll find out this week hopefully. We just need a room to put it in and that's in the process as well. So much to do so little time!

Randon things

I don't really have much to talk about but thought I would write about a few things.

Work had been absolutely crazy busy! I have been exhausted at night and knowing I'm almost 28 weeks pregnant It's probably going to get worse going forward. January is one of the craziest months at work and it seems like it's much busier than last year. Job security, that's all I can say!

This weekend we celebrated Tom's Grandma's 80th birthday! We all, meaning Tom's parents, and his Aunts and Uncles, went for dinner at The Village Bar, a little dive restaurant in Keiler, WI. The food was delicious, I had steak and shrimp and Tom had the seafood platter.Tom and I were the only "kids" that went or were invited. It was great. You should have seen that prime rib that Tom's uncle and Grandpa got, it was the king cut and it was the size of big roast. After dinner we all headed to the Mystique casino, the former dog track. I didn't have any luck but Tom made a little money. The baby wasn't feeling the luck I guess. Oh well, it was some of the winnings from the previous weekend.

That was about the extent of our weekend, Sunday we stayed home all day and just relaxed. It was nice. Oh and I forgot to mention Saturday out contractor stopped by with an estimate for the basement, it's a little more than we were hoping but I think it's something we're going to have to do, time is running out only 12 more weeks to go before little baby H comes into this work. OMG only 12 weeks! I know I'm saying it too. We have lots to do within that time frame, picking a name is one of the things on our list to do.

Mom and I finally got to Jazzercise together again, it's been a while and it was nice having her back in class. Everyone else was so happy to see her back as well.

Today was my glucose test along with my 28 week appointment. Unfortunately I didn't pass which means I have to do the long 3 hour test sometime within the next 2 weeks. I have to go to the doc every 2 weeks now until 36 weeks then I go every week until the baby comes. It's so hard to believe that time is sneaking up on us. We have so much to do, such as create a registry, buy a crib, dresser/changer, figure out when I'll have my baby shower and I'm sure there is so much more to do but that's on the top of my list. Oh and decide on a pediatrician. Oh and a daycare, OK I think I can pretty much take that one off the list, tomorrow I'm going to drop off my deposit at ABC Learning. I was going to do it today but I just couldn't get myself to do it, then talking to Tom we have agreed ABC Learning it is.

I'm sitting here watching the movie Titanic and now I can't think of anything else. So my next post will be on Wednesday!

27 Weeks!

Today I am 27 weeks pregnant - last week of my 2nd trimester!

Pregnancy Highlights:

Size of Baby: Baby H now weighs almost 2 pound about the size of a head of cauliflower and measures 14 1/2 inches long with his legs extended!  

Total Weight Gain/Loss: +6 since my last doctors visit putting me about +11 pounds all together

Baby's heartbeat at last visit: 146 BPM

Maternity Clothes: YES

Gender: We are having a BOY!

Movement: Yes! Yes! Yes! It's the most amazing thing. He's a squirmier..

Sleep: Pretty good and I really slept good while Tom was off work all week. I actually slept better knowing he was in bed with me but that all changed once he went back to work, now I have the whole bed to myself again and I seem to wake up more often.

What I miss: Being able to get up and out of the couch and/or chair, it seems like a chore to have to get up, or tie my shoes, that's exhausting.

Cravings: Chocolate Shakes - definitely!

Symptoms:I'm starting to get some pain in my lower back on the right side, but this usually happens more ofter I've over done it, but other than that, not much. I do feel him move a lot more lately and at work this week I could actually see my belly moving, it was so cool.

Best Moment This Week: Celebrating the new year - I can't believe it's 2012! I know there are so many exciting things that are going to happen this year and I can't wait. I also loved having Tom home all week, even though I had to work it was still nice to be able to go to bed together and go out to lunch a couple of times while he was off.

Monday is my glucose test - I sure hope I pass!

Out with the old 2011 in with the new 2012

We sure ended 2011 with a bang, it all started out Friday night, Tom and I picked up Grandma and headed up to mom and dad's, Grandma got a Christmas present from Chris and Kristi, 20 one dollar casino chips and she wanted to try her luck, so me and Tom, mom and dad and Grandma all went down to the casino. They like me along so I can get them free drinks, I know that's not the only reason but it's a good one. I was the DD! Dad scored some free buffets from a guy he knows at the moose and is a Casino manager, so we scored big! We got to the Diamond Jo about 6:30 or so and got a few drinks then headed to the buffet for dinner. Everything was delicious!

 So during dinner we discussed our game plan. Mom suggested we all chip in $5 and either go to a $5 machine or a $1 machine. We decided on a $1 machine that way would get a few more pulls. We finally found the $1 machines and chose a Double Bow Tie machine, we got to play for awhile and were down to our last few spins and Grandma spun and hit for $800!

We were all so excited and walked away with $160 each, it was awesome, it was a great start to our night since this was the first that we gambled. I pretty much took my money and ran, I have baby furniture I'm saving for. LOL Tom went and played a few more slots and Grandma wanted to use her $20 chips yet and she wanted to play blackjack so her and I went and found a $5 table and I found a good one, well a good dealer, Bruce, I remembered him from when I worked there and he was super nice and always seemed to have a good time. Grandma pulled out her baggie with her chips and the few people at the table were like OMG but it was all cool, we played for quite a while however we didn't win anything. Dad gave me $20 to play with and when that was about gone he threw in another $20 we played on that for awhile, we had a blast, the dealer was calling Grandma - Grandma and helping her out as much as he could. When it was his time to for break the next dealer was not as nice so we decided to leave. Grandma ended up losing $10 and I ended up losing $14 so not bad. We played a few more slots then called it a night. Tom and I got home about 11:00. It's always great to leave with some money!

Saturday was New Year's Eve and we decided to spend the night at home and make ourselves some Steak and Lobster. First the kids wanted to go bowling so off to Cherry Lanes we went. I thought I would give it a try and it wasn't too bad. We bought 3 games each and Tom and I split the one, so he bowled the first and third game and I bowled the 2nd game, it was fun but crowded.

Micayla bowling! She was out of practice but finally got her game on about the 3rd game.

Brandon showing us how it's done.

Brandon and Micayla loving on each other.

And Tom, well, its tough for both of us. LOL

I don't think we'll be going the PBA anytime soon but we had a fun family outing. Once we got home I took all the Christmas stuff down and thanks for the help of Tom and Brandon it wasn't too bad. It's nice to have everything down so now I can concentrate on baby stuff! Brandon went to work about 5:00 and Micayla was off with some friends, so Tom and I made steak and Lobster, it was so good.

 

After dinner we relaxed and watched a movie and tried to stay awake to see the ball drop. Tom ended up having to pick Brandon up from work and take him to his friends house so he wasn't home by the time the NY ball dropped, and we were in bed by the time midnight our time rolled around. LOL But it was still a great night.

Sunday, New Years, is always a special day, for one its the beginning of the new year and it's also Dad's birthday. Mom always has an open house style party and dad's sisters and their families all come over and we get to play cards or dice. This year we played Left Right Center, lots of hooting and hollering.

Look at Tommie's headband, it's Olivia's, Sara Hilby's daughter. He won like 3 games in a row, Noreen made him move seats.

Taylor and her cousin, Aunna, we dancing, they were showing us there moves. I didn't get a picture of the 2 of them dancing but I did get a pic of Taylor and Dad dancing, it was so funny.

Nikki, the one egging them on.  Go figure. LOL

And finally, I had to get a picture of the wall in mom's basement. This is finally complete after 2+ years.

Overall we have no complaints for the lovely weekend we had. Tom's off to work tonight and tomorrow starts the day from hell at work. January is crazy but I'm ready for it!