My Miracle.

On October 27, 2011 a miracle took place. My little Eli Riean was introduced into the world. He greeted us without so much as a whimper; eyes wide open and tongue sticking out. I have been madly in love ever since.

There are things they don’t tell you about having a baby. Some things I would have appreciated being prepared for. Other things… there was no way to prepare for.

First let me say that hospitals, regardless of popular opinion, are not a place to catch up on your rest. After 40 hours of labor you would think I would be permitted to sleep for more than 2 hours at a time. This is not true. Apparently it was important to wake me up to make sure I knew that they were going to take my blood pressure. Like I wouldn’t figure it out once the blood pressure cuff began its death squeeze. It was also important to take Eli for a hearing test at 4am. Why? I still have no idea… it was 4 am while they were explaining it to me. 

Another note regarding hospitals; I will never again go visit someone in the hospital who has just had a baby, unless they request it. I understand the desire to see the new baby. Until now, I have only been on the end of the visitor; as a visitee… might I recommend you take advantage of this digital world we live in and check out the endless photos posted online and sent via text by the bubbly dad (who, might I add, probably got a good night sleep) and give the new parents some time to adjust. The mental and physical exhaustion is indescribable. Mom might think she’s up for company but she is surging with hormones and not her sensible self… trust me.

Also, labor and delivery is a breeze compared to what most moms are forced to do 6-12 weeks later… return to work. This is the HARDEST thing I have ever done. To go from being with my little bird 24/7 for 10 weeks (not to mention the 10 months I carried him around in my womb) to seeing him for maybe 3 hours a day…. Torture. Nobody can prepare you for this! 

On another note, my upper body strength has improved greatly. I have mastered the art of doing house work while carrying around a 16lb baby. This isn’t because he requires it but because I refuse to put him down when I get home from work. After all, I only get to see him for maybe an hour and a half before he goes to bed. 

Enough with my sob story, I am grateful to have a beautiful baby boy, a wonderful loving husband, and yes, a great job.

Until next time!

Brides, Bridges and Babies.

Alright, so I have been really bad at contributing to the blog-o-sphere these days. In my defense, I have been pretty busy with work and given my avid dislike of all things electronic the last thing I want to do at the end of the day is tool around on the computer. So, for those who follow my blog and have been disappointed as of late, please forgive me. I will do my best to catch you up on the wonderful world of M.L.E.

First of all, I would like to send out a cyber congrats to the new Mr. and Mrs. James Caton. They were married last weekend (09/10/11!) and Matt and I both had the honor of being a part of their big day. The preparations, time of year and all around excitement brought back warm memories of my very own wedding day a year ago. I hope the joy of that day remains forever in our hearts as well as theirs. GOD BLESS YOU BOTH!!

Speaking of my wedding day, Matt and I spent our 1 year anniversary in Bar Harbor this year. We took our time getting up there, stopped at Fort Knox and the Penobscot Narrows Observatory. We took the elevator up to the top of the observatory where I almost peed my pants. Of course, I would have blamed it on the pregnancy, not the fact that we were 420ft up in the air, in a bridge tower, over a river. Matt had a field day with the camera taking photos at all sorts of nauseating angles (see photo below) I stood in the middle of the room for the most part pretending I had a parachute and life vest on….just in case. 

We had dinner in Bar Harbor, walked around down town and spent the night at The Castlemaine Inn www.castlemaineinn.com, a lovely B&B that I would highly recommend to any persons planning to travel that way.  The next day we drove the loop in Acadia up to the top of Cadillac Mountain. It was great to see the parts of Maine I don’t get to see in my travels. It was even better to be able to reminisce on the past year with my one and only true love.  I would also like to thank him for keeping his road rage under wraps (for the most part) during the long drive to and fro. 

And finally, this past Saturday we spent the day at Maine Medical Center in the express childbirth class. Here is what I learned;

1.        Maine Med’s new childbirth wing is beautiful!

2.       They need to allow more time for bathroom breaks in a class full of pregnant women.

3.       When it comes to pregnancy, daddy’s become shy and let the mommy’s do all the talking.

4.       Childbirth, though miraculous, is gross.

5.       Though all the women in the class were due around the same time, I definitely had one of the larger bellies… Thought: I wonder if the other mommies thought the same thing about themselves??

6.       I do not buy into that whole “breath into the pain” thing and fear that if someone tries to tell me to do such a thing I may be arrested for assault immediately following the delivery of my child. .

7.       Hospital food is not your friend. 

Anyway, at least we can say we did it! I won’t wonder if I missed out on some important piece of information by NOT attending the class.

So, its been busy, as you can see. I will attempt a few more blogs before the baby comes....well, I will try to remember to attempt a few more anyway :)

Until next time!!!

Counting my blessings.

Sometimes I can get so upset and offended by the actions of others! Maybe somebody did something to offend me, or didn’t do something. Maybe something was said that irked me. Either way, it’s easy for me to get wrapped up in these things and I forget to take a look at all the wonderful things I have been blessed with aside from my shattered expectations of others. Therefore, I am making a list…here it is;

My relationship with Jesus.

My husband, the love of my life.

My parents who have loved me unconditionally for 30+ years.

My brothers… as strange as they are.

My Nannie and Grampie for being an inspiration to me.

My great, big, obnoxious family… both sides.

My growing belly J

My health.

Karma Axel Tibbetts (K.A.T)

Pack Edge, where I have grown in more ways than just professionally (insert fat joke here).

My home.

All the worldly things Matt and I have been blessed with… there are certainly more than we could ever deserve.

Shannon Ronco.

The girlfriends who have stood by my through thick and thin, good and bad, right and wrong.

Matt’s family….. now my family, too!

Annabananna for being more than just a cousin.

My ability to use my God given common sense …. most of the time. 

I am sure there are many more that will come to me in the next few days. In the mean time, I will remember to look at this list when I am whining because I can’t sleep at night, or when petty annoyances get the best of my patience. 

Ciao for now!

And The Cat Came Back.... Thank God!

Its Sunday. I didn’t blog on Friday like I’m supposed to. I have a good excuse….

Thursday night I had to leave my lovable, little feline fuzz ball at the vets. This went over like the sinking of the Titanic ( I only use this analogy because The Titanic is on TV Land instead of Everybody Loves Raymond… I’m only slightly bitter). Karma and I both had serious emotional meltdowns. Karma because that’s how he is, how he’s always been and how he will always be. Me… because I can.

Let me start by saying I am not a huge animal fan. I used to be! In fact, I still do appreciate and respect animals when they are in there own habitat doing what they were made to do. (Example: Cows grazing, chickens laying eggs in the hen house, Lions on Animal Planet….) I am not a fan of animals living in houses. I know, I know… its weird! My mother puts her chickens in the basement in the winter and forgets about the dead cat she stuck in the garage to bury when the ground thawed in the spring. These things, along with her polar bear of a dog, are things I simply can’t accept.

My cousin Anna has a bazillion animals. They all live inside her house… except her chickens….I think.
But I digress….

The point is, although I am not a “pet” person per se, I LOVE my silly, selfish, rude cat. I hated leaving him at the vet overnight. Oooooooo…. And he was mad! I warned the vet in advance. They opted out of me sedating him beforehand, They wanted to see him in his normal state….well, they got him in his normal state. Hissing, spitting, growling. He was literally trembling…. It was a terrible site. All for a check up! (I hadn’t brought him to the vet in 8 years…. If you know Karma, you understand why.)They decided the best thing to do was to keep him overnight so they could sedate him in the morning, do all they needed to do and Matt could pick him up after work. This cued the drama by Yours Truly. I was a mess straight through 'till the next day while I waited for a report. Needless to say, Karma is fine. He is old and ornery and I plan to get at least another 10 years out of him.

Aside from the cat drama, all is well. Matt attended his 2nd Sox/Yankees game of the season on Saturday. I ran a bunch of errands, had lunch with my brother Riean, his girlfriend Katie and Pop-dukes. I ended the day with a visit to The Compound.

Today I attended Jeanna’s bridal shower. The cake was delightful. Matt got himself a pizza from Profennos.


Tomorrow we are back to the grind. Already???

Wishing you all a splendid week.

Ciao for now.

Welcome, 3rd trimester!

That’s correct, as of Tuesday July 26^th I am officially in my 3^rd trimester of pregnancy. What does this mean, you ask?

Well, apparently I will sleep even less than I did in the other 2 trimesters.

I will feel as if there is an elephant sitting on my chest from time to time (this usually occurs whilst I attempt to fall asleep).

I will not be able to sit with my legs crossed. (Note: My mother would approve of this. She once told me that it was inappropriate for ladies to sit with their legs crossed…. Then I pointed out how the nun in the pew next to us during Sunday mass sat with her legs crossed and that ended that discussion. )

I will feel (and see) my son rolling around in my belly more prominently.

I will laugh hysterically at things that aren’t really that funny.

I will cry easily and often….usually because I am laughing too hard.

I will learn to eat things that I don’t mind tasting for hours afterward.

I will run into stationary objects, trip over area rugs that have always been there and simply not be able to keep a solid grip on my fork, slices of pizza or my cell phone (nothing new there, really).

On the agenda this weekend is a get together at the lake with the MacDonald clan (Matt's Mom’s side of the family) on Saturday.

Sunday Matt and I will be visiting a new church to see how we feel about it. I will have more on our church search as we move forward.

Have a splendid weekend!

The Weekly Rundown

Well, here we are again. It’s Friday!

It’s been a busy week. Here’s the rundown. 

Saturday I mowed the lawn in the back of the house. Matt wasn’t impressed when he found out about this (he was off running errands at the time). I saw nothing wrong with it. Before Matt and I were married if I wanted these things done I simply did them myself. I am a lot of things…a nag isn’t one of them.

Note: Matt seemed to grow even more upset with this when one of his co-workers wanted to know why he pregnant wife was mowing the (expletive) lawn. That’s what we get for living on Route 302… oops.

Sunday we drove to Manchester N.H. to attend the Jack and Jill party of the future Mr. and Mrs. James Caton. I won 2 raffles at this party. A basket full of Tupperware (most of which I have no idea how to use) and a basket with body wash, lotions, a massage gift card and other spa-like things. Matt didn’t win anything. I offered to share my Lime Verbena and Coconut body wash with him.

Monday I read at Iris Network after work. We are almost done with Angels and Demons by Dan Brown.

Tuesday…. I have no recollection of.

Wednesday my cousin and I went grocery shopping after work. She bought four gallons of milk. I bought four yogurts…

Yesterday my wonderful husband went to Lowes and set up an appointment to have someone come out to the house and measure for a screen/storm door! This is wonderful news… I have been waiting for a screen door!

He also made the bed, picked up the living room (both chores I MUST do when I get home from work before I can relax), put the A.C. in the living room window, and had burgers on the grill by the time I got home. I’m pretty sure I am the luckiest girl in the world.

My BFF Shannon decided that I needed to add more items to my registry at Babies R Us. We both agreed to do this yesterday evening so we could soak up the retail A.C. while we were at it. This turned out to be a great call and more fun than one would think.

Tonight I will be soaking up some more A.C. at Pizza Hut with J-Dog. Matt refuses to eat Pizza Hut. I have a craving. J-Dog loves Pizza Hut as much as I do… it’s a beautiful friendship.

Enjoy your weekend friends.

Stay Cool!