Approximately One Year Ago...

Wow, the time has flown by! Hard to believe that a year ago, I was 8 months pregnant, and Elise was curled up, all cozy inside. I remember how anxious I was to meet her, and that I was absolutely terrified about becoming a Mom. Would I be good enough? (sometimes I feel I'm doing a good job, other days I haven't a clue) How would I know what to do? (it's all about the instinct) What if I drop her? (haven't yet, but she has rolled off the bed a few times! That girl can MOVE) What if she hates me? (this one is a no-brainer... all I have to do is see the way she smiles at me and holds her arms out for me to pick her up. This girl loves her Momma).

It has been an amazing ride so far, and although it would be a total lie to say I've enjoyed EVERY minute of it, I would do it again. In a heartbeat.

P.S. If you're wondering about the bruising on my arm, it's from shots I was given to stop my labour a few weeks before this picture was taken. I fell when I got in the bathtub to take a shower (right after I had cleaned it - let that be a lesson to you, clean bathtubs are slippery bathtubs!), and went into labour. Thankfully, they were able to stop the labour so Elise could cook for a few more weeks.

Welcome to the World, Brenden!

Congrats to new parents Andy and Jenny Box!!! Brenden Matthew was born Wednesday, July 30, at 1:51am. He weighed in at 8lbs even and was 20 1/4 inches long. And he is a total cutey! It was so sweet to hold a newborn again, although I have a hard time remembering Elise being that little. I swear my uterus sighed while I had him in my arms.

Welcome little Brenden, we're so glad you're finally here!

Daily Picture Reject #5

Behold, The Lambie of Fury.

A Liddle Good-bye

Last night there was a get together to say good-bye to our friends John and Katy Liddle. They are moving to Weatherford OK, where John got a job at a radio station doing pretty much everything, including sweeping the floors. I kid, I kid! He'll actually be doing some sports broadcasting, which is something he's been wanting (as well as something he's very good at). Yay John!

Anyway, I am sure going to miss me some Liddles. I wish that Fred and I had been able to spend more time with them, but life just seemed to always get in the way. John and Katy are the type of people that make a party more fun just by being there. Their joy for life is infectious, and you can't help but love being around these two. They are cool, fun, crazy, silly, sweet, and just plain lovely. And now they're leaving. Curse you, Oklahoma... when will you stop stealing our friends?

Please come back soon John and Katy. We'll miss you!

Liddles and the Cunhas

These are a few of my Favourite Things Part 3

Oh man, I have a new favourite show. It's called Hopkins and it airs on ABC Thursdays at 9 pm (CST). It's a six part series that follows caregivers at Baltimore's Johns Hopkins Hospital and offers a look at life working inside a busy urban hospital, as well as the impact this high pressure profession can have on doctors' personal lives. The footage is very raw, and very personal. If you're the least bit squeamish, then it's probably not for you. But if you're like me, and the field of medicine fascinates you, I recommend you give it a watch. Unfortunately, there's only one episode left, which will air next Thursday, but you can catch up by watching previous episodes online here.

The Thrill of the Hunt

I love a good deal... I do. I always tell people it's not really the shopping I enjoy, it's finding a good bargain. I have to be careful though, or I might find myself buying a coffee maker, just because it's 75% off. This would be a bad deal because neither Fred nor I drink coffee.

We actually have a rule in our house. I'm not allowed to buy toothbrushes unless they cost a quarter or less. This is because we have roughly about 50 toothbrushes stored under our guest bathroom sink. Along with about 15 tubes of toothpaste, 40 bars of soap, 5 boxes of band-aids, 10 deodorants, 5 cans of shaving cream, and close to about 20 razors (most of them Fusion razors, no less). Pretty much all of this was either free or 50 cents out of pocket for each item. Like I said, I love a good bargain. I clip coupons, and I watch sales. I'm pretty lucky that I'm blessed with an almost photographic memory. I can see an item on sale and know I have a coupon for that. I can also remember prices of items for each store we shop at, so I can know if I'm getting a good deal. Unfortunately, this really only works with money... I was never able to use it as an advantage while studying.

All this to say, I got the mother of all deals today. Granted, it was with a little help from my neighbour that works for the store. But man, I may not come down all week from this "bargain high". Right now in a lot of stores, diapers are going on clearance. That's because following the trend of a lot of other products, they're charging you the same price, for less product. So in come the newer, smaller packages, and all the old packages are going on clearance. My neighbour who works for the store, put aside 6 of the BIG boxes for me. So I went in today to buy them, and found they had been marked down almost 75%! Plus I had a bunch of coupons I could use. In the end, I paid $44 for 752 diapers. Or, roughly 5 cents a diaper. The person checking me out shot me some weird looks, probably because I was giggling from the sheer joy of it.

So hopefully, I can stunt Elise's growth enough that she'll stay in size 3 diapers for awhile. Looks like I'm going to need that coffee maker after all.

Who's the Master Blaster?

Elise's favourite book is "Winchell cuts the Cheese". I always read her a story right before nap time, and this is the book she pulls out of her bookshelf. Every time. Of course I realize that it's only appropriate that my daughter would love a story about a farting pig. The book is actually pretty funny (the title of this post is a line from the book). This literary work of awesomeness is about a pig named Winchell that keeps "cutting the cheese". When his friends ask him who did it, Winchell denies, denies, denies. Does Winchell come clean in the end? You'll have to find out for yourself. I found the book for $2 at Half Price Books (the one in Irving).

silly Winchell

These are a few of my Favourite Things Part 2

I was talking to a neighbour of mine the other day. We were complaining about the lack of good, fresh fruit here in Texas. She's from California. You know, the California where oranges leap off their trees, roll up to your front door, and knock on it while yelling, "Eat me! Eat me!" That's how fresh the fruit is. I told her I was so glad that a Sprouts Market opened up in Southlake. Can you believe that she had never heard of it? Neither could I, so I decided to post about it.

Fresh fruit is a must for me... I am addicted to it. And Sprouts is my pusher. Their fruit and veggies are a lot better quality than what you'll find at the grocery store. And most often, a lot cheaper. They have a pretty good organic selection too. I've been buying the produce I use to make Elise's food from Sprouts and I've been pretty happy with the quality. I think you can see that Elise likes it too!

My favourite day at Sprouts is Wednesday, or Double Ad Day. This is where the advertised prices from last week, and the ones from this week are good... all on the same day! It's twice the amount of stuff on sale. You can check them out at www.sprouts.com.

Now if you'll excuse me, I think I hear my strawberries screaming to be let out of the fridge.

Oh Poop!

Calling all Mommas! I need your tips on how to get a poop stain off of Elise's portable changing pad. She had the mother of all blowouts (I didn't realize it until I opened her sleeper and saw it all up her back, and by that time it was too late), and it got onto the white changing pad I use to change her when I'm downstairs. I washed it off almost immediately, but there's still a "brownish hue" that remains.

Any ideas? Anyone?


Edited to add: Thanks for the suggestions. I didn't have any Oxiclean, but I found some cleaning stuff that had "Oxypower" (whatever that means). It worked! Looks like I should add Oxiclean to my shopping list though...

What am I, hard of Smelling?

Cleaning... not really one of my favourite things. But one thing I enjoy less than cleaning is wallowing in my own filth, so I do it. This morning I noticed the master bathroom was becoming a little unsightly, so when Elise went down her nap, I went to work. I was out of bathroom cleaner so I went downstairs to my laundry room to get something from my stash. I saw something new that I had never used before and the label proclaimed it's scent to be "Green Apple Breeze". I closed my eyes and envisioned my bathroom would smell like an apple orchard on a bright spring morning.

My bottle must have been labelled wrong, because what I got was, "Green Apple Assault on my Sense of Smell". Seriously, I think that must be what hell smells like because it was BAD. I'm not looking for something I can spritz under my arms to freshen up with, but Bathroom Cleaner Makers? You've got to be able to do better than that.

At least my bathroom is clean.

Daily Picture Reject #4

Trained in Schwingen, the Swiss variant of folk wrestling while living in a rural area of the northern alps, Elise has picked the "Fisher-Price Ring of Gelb" as her weapon of choice. It may not look dangerous to the untrained eye, but cross her and she will use it to fondue your butt in about five seconds flat.

You know who you are

Dear vomit-inducing,cutesy, 20-something couple who were in front of me in line at Jamba Juice:

It shouldn't take you 10 minutes to order. Seriously, it's all fruit and when blended together at hyper speed, it all pretty much tastes the same. Hey, girl-who-thinks-she's-a-lot-cuter-than-she-really-is? Maybe if you took the fifteen layers of mascara off your eyelashes, you might be able to actually read the menu board, so you could make a decision. Never mind that there are 3 people in line behind you that already know what they want, and one of them (me) is holding a 19 pound baby.

And guy behind the register? When she finally makes her decision, please don't ask her what free boost she wants, paving the way for another agonizing, take-my-car-keys-and-pierce-my-eardrums-so-I-won't-have-to-listen discussion about whether or not you can get fat from Jamba Juice.

Sincerely,
The lady whose arms fell off after holding her baby for so long

Annnnnnd, exhale. Whew, just had to get that off my chest.

Thanks Jade!

My friend Jade (click on her name to check out her blog), read my post lamenting that I miss chocolate bars from my homeland. Because she is so uber-fantastic, she bought me a Coffee Crisp when she saw one at a snack bar at a musical (how random and weird is that?). Here I am posing with my chocolate bar, mere seconds before diving into its coffee-infused crispity chocolate goodness.

Thanks Jade, you are the coolest!

On a completely unrelated note, I like to say homeland. It makes me sound like I'm from a really exotic place.

all done!

Cunha Look-alike Meter

People always ask us who we think Elise looks like more. I've never been able to tell, but now I can say with 100% certainty that she has a bit of both of us in her! Pretty cool...

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Family search - Family history

Rest in Peace, Baby Gabriel

My heart is broken for my sweet friends, Johnny and Kellie Gaffney. Today, on a day that is usually reserved for celebration, they said good bye to their little boy, Gabriel. He was born on July 2, 2008 (at 28 weeks gestation) with Trisomy 18, a chromosomal condition that is not conducive with life. His parents took him off of life support and committed him into the arms of the Lord today.

The name Gabriel was chosen because, in the words of Kellie: "We know now that he is not destined to live on this earth, but in the heavenly realms. We wanted him to have an angel’s name that exemplified who he is. The angel Gabriel is the herald of all God’s mysteries."

Please join me in praying for them, that amidst the pain and sorrow of losing their child, they can rest in the Lord and find peace.

If you know the Gaffneys and would like to send them an email or a card, please let me know and I can give you their information. I know they would feel blessed to know that you are praying for them.

These are a few of my Favourite Things

As I've stated in a previous post, I have opinions... lots of them. And when I find something I love... I mean really, almost-as-good-as-chocolate love, I feel compelled to shout about it from the rooftops. So I've decided to post about them every now and again. I receive no compensation from these things/website/places/people, but would gladly welcome whatever they would like to send my way. I like presents.

Very rarely does anything touch my funny bone enough to make me laugh out loud, but this website will do it almost every time. It's called Stuff Christians Like, and it's a list of some of the weird, bizarre, funny things and traditions about the Christian faith. Learn about "side hugs", or how to find out how metrosexual your worship leader is. But it's not just the humour that I appreciate, the author also has some very wise and insightful writing too. Check it out at: http://stufffchristianslike.blogspot.com/

Enjoy!

Happy 141st Birthday, Canada!

Elise displaying her Canadian pride