My new BFFs- Michelle and Oprah

I'm so behind on updating the blog! I am going to try to put together short posts to get caught up.

Since it is already on my mind, last night I was seriously lucky enough to get tickets to Michelle Obama's first book tour event in Chicago. It was billed an "intimate conversation" which was pretty funny because the United Center holds 23,000+ people. 

Oprah hosted and interviewed the event which was pretty cool. She looks like she has been rocking her Weight Watchers plan.

The event started with a long video of Michelle- her upbringing, her time in the White House, different appearances on shows like Jimmy Fallon or Dave Letterman. Then Oprah came out to talk for a few minutes before introducing Mrs. Obama. Their conversation lasted about two hours and it was really interesting. I haven't really seen any interviews this past week because life has been crazy so she may have talked about some of these things already....

The stage was pretty far away so at times it was easier to watch on the large monitors

One of the more interesting things Michelle talked about was how it felt like she was the "mom" of the country and Barack was the "dad." So while she is happy to be open about IVF, going through marriage counseling, etc. now she didn't really think that it was appropriate to talk about it while she was in the White House. There were so many other things going on at the time, she didn't want to be a distraction.

She also spent a lot of time talking about her experience in being the only woman or the only minority in the room with powerful men. Basically she spoke about how women and minorities' voices are important so we need to make sure to speak up. Also, there were tons of powerful men in these rooms but they weren't necessarily smart. :-) I'm butchering what she was saying, but it was powerful and true.

Anyway, I'm super happy that I was able to snag tickets for this hot event! I NEVER seem to get the hot tickets so the fact that I was able to get three (my mom and sister went with me) is amazing. Now excuse me as I have to call my new BFFs Michelle and Oprah. :-)

New family members

Two weekends ago CP went out with some guy friends and I stayed home to watch tv on the couch and browse the internet while the kids slept. I didn't PLAN on making my way to petfinder.com, but it just so happened to pop up on my browser and I figured that it couldn't hurt to look at nearby pets. Before heading to bed that night I sent CP a text message that said "Side door is unlocked. Spent the night on petfinder looking for a dog so that may need to happen soon..."

The next day while the kids were napping I brought up my search again, but CP said that he wasn't ready to bring a dog home. I mostly agree with him on the reasons that he thinks that we should wait at least a year (expenses, time involved, etc), but I really miss having a pet in our home. I am a dog person first and foremost and have never loved cats...but when faced with the decision of having no pet in our house vs. having a cat, I would rather have a cat. CP has had cats in the past so he was on board with that, but thought that we should get two of them so that they could keep themselves busy together while we were at work.

So the Saturday before the Superbowl we finished watching "The Princess and the Frog" with the kids (to see Tiana's story after Izzy met her at Disneyland) and were trying to figure out how to get them out of the house. I checked the shelter and they happened to be open for another hour and only a few minutes away from our house. As we walked out the door, CP said "okay, we are just going to look" which was fine with me.

As we walked in the shelter, they had eight 8-week old puppies right near the front door. They were SO ADORABLE, but not what we were here for (and not really the right breed as they likely would have been very high-energy). The shelter had about 30 cats in two different rooms which was a bit overwhelming. Wes loved seeing all of the cats, but kept trying to pet the ones that were not great with kids. :-/ Izzy was excited to pet the different cats, but after a while wanted to see the dogs that were up for adoption, so CP took her back there commenting "well, I guess she is a dog person." I decided not to see the dogs because I didn't think that I could handle it. 

I was drawn to a gray and white cat who was super sweet. She was part of a bonded pair with her son, a black cat who was also super sweet. They were living in a home where the husband fell ill and the cats were moved out to the garage. Someone realized that a garage was not the right place for them so they were brought to the shelter and had been there since July. As we were getting the kids ready to leave, CP asked if I wanted to put adoption papers in for the cats since there were people coming to see the mom and son the next day. I was shocked because CP was the one that explicitly said that we were just looking! (He explained later that if we found two great cats then why wait two weeks?) We put in our adoption application and the next day stopped by the pet store to buy a whole lot of cat supplies, figuring that our application would get approved.

Thursday afternoon I got the good news that we were approved and I was able to get over to the shelter after work before a big snowstorm hit Chicago. We didn’t tell the kids that we were picking up the cats a day earlier than expected so when I got home the kids were finishing dinner and they both got excited when they saw the cats. We tried to keep the kids calm and sitting down so that the cats could roam a bit around the house and get comfortable. The timing worked out well because CP's work and the kids' daycare were both closed so the cats had three full days with us in the house before we came to work today. 

Marshmallow is the mom and is about 3 years old. She hid behind the couch for the first day, only really coming out when the kids were upstairs sleeping...but since then has been more interested in hanging out with everyone. So far she really likes having her ears rubbed. When Cocoa starts to meow, she goes on high alert to make sure that he is okay. At 13 pounds, she needs to lose some weight. 

Marshmallow

Cocoa is her son and is about 2 years old. He was scared to come out of his crate when I first brought the cats home, but soon came out of his shell and is REALLY curious. He is super gentle with the kids and will lay down on the floor to have his belly rubbed- even with the kids! He also really likes to play so Izzy is having fun using the laser pointer with both cats.

Cocoa

So far the kids have been very nice and gentle with the cats and very excited to pet them/play with them/see them/etc. The cats are still wary of coming upstairs but will follow us when we go up there....but so far haven't tried to sleep with us. I'm actually okay with that because I don't need a cat walking all over my head while I am trying to sleep. Cocoa has been walking on the counters so we have a water spray bottle that we are using- hopefully he figures out that is not allowed soon.

Izzy's drawing of the cat on the picture frame given to us by the shelter

Welcome to the family Marshmallow and Cocoa! 

Annual Pretty Princess Day

Wow I am seriously behind in updating my blog. This holiday season is totally kicking my a**! 

My annual pretty princess day (aka my birthday) was back on December 10th. The night before we had my mom come over to babysit and CP and I went out for a nice dinner where the restaurant comped us dessert and two drinks for asking us to move tables between appetizers and entrees (sweet!). From there we headed to a neighbor's Christmas party for a little bit before leaving the party with another couple to go to a local bar. The wife and I both have a December 10th birthday so we celebrated with some prosecco and stayed out until 1am!

All of the drinks made it hard to wake up the next morning, but CP was nice enough to let me sleep in a little bit before we had to gather everyone for swim practice. After swimming my mom, Izzy, and I headed downtown for a scavenger hunt at the Art Institute of Chicago. My mom has been trying to take Izzy for two years now and I finally thought that she would at least be entertained and not a disaster this year. The theme was horses and the event was actually very cool. The hunt took you all over the building and the kids had to think about the different art pieces, either drawing some of their own, making their own version of the piece with yarn, etc. Izzy did FANTASTIC and was super well behaved the entire day which was very helpful as a hungover parent. There was one awkward moment where the kids were instructed to draw a memory of an animal or pet. The staff member was asking Izzy about whether she had a pet and she said, "yes a dog. But he died." She seemed okay about it, but I felt bad for the staff member who clearly wasn't expecting that response.

After the hunt the event included lunch where Izzy was really excited to put sprinkles, marshmallows, and a candy cane into her hot chocolate. My Dad met us at the lunch and afterwards wanted to show Izzy the miniature room section. To my surprise, she enjoyed checking out all of the rooms but at the end was bouncing off the walls so I knew it was time to leave. We headed back home to meet up with CP and Wes and instead of going out to dinner, we ordered in Thai food because I was exhausted and my head still hurt. Turns out when you turn 39 your hangover lasts a full day.... Oh, and the Eagles won for me so that was a treat (although terrible news for Wentz' ACL).

So there you go. My birthday was mostly all about Izzy which, as a parent, well, that happens.

I go into my 39th year with a great husband, two wonderful kids, a job that I enjoy, and a chaotic, but privileged life. Let's see what the next year brings!

*Curious as to why I call my birthday my annual pretty princess day? Basically it is because CP hates it and now years later, it has stuck. LOL.

8 years

Today is our 8 year wedding anniversary! It's funny, looking back over the years of this blog, I haven't always remembered to post about it and it hasn't always been a good time of the year.

2016- CP was traveling for work and I was home on one of my last maternity leave days with Wes. 

2015- We were in the depths of IVF #2 drugs and about to get my cycle transferred to an IUI. I made a quick note of going out for our anniversary, but that's it. 

2014- CP was in Thailand, I had a horrible day at work, and then had to take Buster to the emergency vet that night. 

2013- CP was traveling for work, my job was affected by the government shutdown, and I was heavily pregnant with Izzy. 

2012- I found out that I had another fibroid despite having surgery the year before to remove some.

2011- Dealing with the upcoming fibroid (and endo!) surgery. 

2010- Only a year into our wedding and a few months into trying to get pregnant. Still fairly hopeful. 

My how things change in 8 years! And frankly, I now hope that with family building behind us, our anniversaries will be a little better. This weekend my mom will be watching the kids while CP and I go out to dinner and catch a comedy show.

This year the world may be going to sh*t with islands in the Caribbean totally destroyed from the hurricanes, the massacre in Las Vegas, and a racist dictator as our President, but CP is not traveling and personally things are going okay for our little family unit. Our house renovation is basically complete, CP and I are in stable jobs (as far as we know), and we have our health (white privilege at its best).

What will next year bring?

Work stuff

Last night I got home from a quick work trip to DC and I was happy to be home. I did enjoy getting away from the kids for two nights, but was sad that I got home too late to see them before they went to bed. I only Facetimed with them once while I was gone so I was hard core missing them. I gave out a lot of kisses and hugs this morning after everyone woke up. :-)

While I was gone, CP had a phone call with the HR person at the company that reached out to him. While he doesn't have enough managerial experience on his resume for the job they originally touched base about (mainly because his current company made him a supervisor almost a year ago and has yet to place any employees under him), there is a new job that is opening that may be an even better fit. It would only be 10-15% travel (his current job is supposed to be 25-30% but it is much more) and more money. Also, the person that could be his manager is new to the position so when CP talks to him tomorrow on the phone, he can give suggestions on what the job could look like. (How cool would that be- to be able to craft your job!)

So now my fingers are crossed that this is going to be a good fit for CP. His commute would get shorter, he would get paid more, and he would travel less. Our lives could be more consistent and both the kids and I would be happier if CP was traveling less. CP also wants to be around more so hopefully this is a win-win for everyone!

Relaxation

As we get settled into our routine at the rental house, I have been able to relax a bit. I do feel guilty that we have even less time together as a family because we sit down to dinner later and only have a few minutes to play before starting bed time routines, but we only have 2.5 more months of the longer commute.

You know what is not relaxing though? Having your town hold up approval for the construction on your house! We have wasted two weeks waiting for the approval. Thankfully, it finally came and demo starts tomorrow. We are crossing our fingers that the time can be made up elsewhere because the more time they are behind, the more time we will be without a working kitchen after moving back in.

Last week I decided that with CP away in North Carolina, I would use one of my birthday presents and finally book myself a massage and facial on Saturday. I was all set to relax when I got to the spa and realized that my period was going haywire and that I had bled onto my underwear and the crotch of my pants. Awesome. So while I was able to relax and enjoy myself, in the back of my mind I was worried that I would get blood on the sheets (I didn't thank god). 

On a similar topic, I am soooo done with the mini pill and two to three periods I was getting each month. Now that I am not nursing I am going to switch to a pill where I only get a period every three months to see how that goes. The fact that my periods are super heavy again makes me wonder if my fibroid has grown? If the new pill doesn't work then I will try an IUD to see if that helps. 

Back to relaxation...also last week Jess contacted me because she wanted to send me Jenny Lawson's coloring book "You are Here." During a time when she is supposed to be taking care of herself, she thinks of someone else who is stressed which was so amazing to me. I looked through the amazing drawings and can't wait to start coloring. Maybe the relaxation will help me fall asleep faster at night? 

Finally, this pertains to possibly more relaxation in the future. Yesterday, CP got a message via LinkedIn from another company in the area about a potential opportunity. First of all, I am so jealous that this is the second time he has had someone contact him via LinkedIn about a job prospect. I am clearly in the wrong field! He is open to talking about the opportunity but if it is what he thinks it is? It would mean basically no travel which would make our hectic lives less hectic. So I am crossing my fingers that this is something worth pursuing so that he could be around more. It would also shorten his commute!

Obama Farewell Speech

Tuesday night I got to be a part of history. I was lucky enough to  score a ticket to Obama's Farewell Speech from work and it was amazing. It was such an honor to be in the room with him. 

My ticket!

We got in line around 5pm when the doors were just opening. Little did we know that A LOT of people showed up way before 5pm so we were actually towards the back of the security line! We waited for a good 2.5 hours to finally go through the metal detectors.

Waiting to go through security

With only 30 minutes until Obama's speech started we finally headed towards the hall. I guess we were late and missed Eddie Vedder's performance.

Heading into the hall

I have to admit, when Obama came out on stage, I had to wipe away a tear. I am going to miss this man. The crowd started to chant "YES WE CAN!"

Obama speaking on the big screen

We were pretty far back but if I got on my tippy toes I could see Obama speaking.

I don't know if you could hear it, but every once in a while, people would shout "FOUR MORE YEARS!" or "I LOVE YOU OBAMA!"

My view from towards the back of the room of Obama. He is to the left of the seated crowd, right above the blue thing in the center of the picture.

Towards the end of the speech when Obama was thanking his wife, his kids, the Bidens, etc. I started to get teary eyed again because it was so sweet. The crowd roared in approval and everyone was yelling "JOE!" when we saw Joe Biden on the screen. I finally got home around 11:30 with my boobs aching (the last time I had pumped was at 4pm) and my legs exhausted from standing for 4+ hours.

I am so honored and happy that I got to see Obama's farewell speech. My ticket is already hanging in my office and I hope that over the next few years I can look at it and remember how far we have come and how much we will have to fight for the progress that we have already made as a country. 

Yes we can. Yes we did.

2016 recap

Every year I see Jess take this survey and I think, I should have done that! Well, this year I am.

1. What did you do in 2016 that you’d never done before?
Had a son.  Became a manager.  Potty trained a kid.  Visited a second island in Hawaii. Watched the Cubs win the World Series!

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
Last year I didn't write it down on the blog, but I had hoped to keep up with sending out cards for birthdays. I LOVE getting a card in the mail and my friends always are happy to get it. I mostly get them to friends on time... I will make a resolution for 2017.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
I did! But also a good friend from law school and two neighbors.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
No.

5. What countries did you visit?
Sadly our trip to Costa Rica got nixed because of Zika fears and my pregnancy, so no international trips in 2016. I did travel to the Big Island in Hawaii, Boston for work, and my parents place in Michigan a few times. It was certainly an off year for traveling for me.

6. What would you like to have in 2017 that you lacked in 2016?
Assurance that our renovation of our home won't go totally over budget.

7. What moments from 2016 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Seeing Wes struggle to breathe while in the NICU. Jumping up and down for joy when the Cubs won with neighbors. The dread that followed the election. 

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Becoming a manager at work. I beat out a few coworkers and all but one of my employees is younger than me. So far I think that I am doing a decent job?

9. What was your biggest failure?
Not being patient enough with Izzy when I was in my sleep-deprived state with Wes as a newborn.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Other than a tough c-section, nothing major except for bronchitis and a sinus infection that took a month to finally go away. 

11. What was the best thing you bought?
A monthly cleaning service for our house. I still have to clean but I don't have to spend all of my time cleaning.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Izzy for totally stepping up as a big sister. She is so proud of Wes and to help us do things for him. It's the most adorable thing.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Trump. Racists.

14. Where did most of your money go?
Daycare and our mortgage.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Completing our family and never being pregnant again. Hillary Clinton as President.

16. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? Sadder simply because of the election.
b) thinner or fatter? Thinner because I am no longer pregnant!
c) richer or poorer? Technically richer because CP and I both got pay raises but having two kids in daycare means money is quite tight.

17. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Sleeping, working out, and eating better. Volunteering to make phone calls for the election to people in the Midwest.

18. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Worrying about how I was going to handle two kids. It's tough but both are still alive so far...

19. How did you spend Christmas?
At home. We opened stockings as a family and then the gifts from in-laws before my sister, her husband, and my parents came over. We had brunch before opening gifts. Izzy was excited to show "Frozen" to the crew so we watched that (in lieu of a nap for her) before my aunt, uncle, and two cousins came over for dinner. It was an exhausting day.

20. Did you fall in love in 2016?
Yes- with Wes.

21. What was your favorite TV program?
Game of Thrones or Stranger Things.

22. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

I already hated DJT so that isn't new....but I certainly hate him even more than I did last year.

23. What did you want and get?
A second child to complete our family. A fun trip with Izzy to Hawaii.

24. What did you want and not get?
Hillary Clinton as PEOTUS.

25. What was your favorite film of this year?
I only saw one film in the movie theater this year because it is simply something I don't do, but it was AMAZING. Bad Moms was hilarious.

26. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 38 on a Saturday. CP forgot to wish me happy birthday that morning so I was in a bad mood. I also had bronchitis and felt like crap so I was cranky for the morning but told myself to suck it up anyway. That night we went to a neighbor's house for a party, I had some champagne and felt much better. :-)

27. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2016?
Maternity clothes for the first half of the year. Nursing bras and easy to pull up shirts. This fall I worked on trying to look nicer in general.

28. What kept you sane?
My one day of telework a week. Facetime with CP when he is away on work travel. My parents. A monthly cleaning service.

29. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Kristen Bell has been entertaining me all year. Izzy loves her in Frozen and she was fantastic in Bad Moms and The Good Place.

30. What political issue stirred you the most?
Everything surrounding the election and Trump. This will continue into 2017.

31. Who did you miss?
Friends that live all over the country. Hopefully I get to see them in 2017.

32. How many miles did you run this year?

31.77 miles. I was pregnant half the year, had to wait until September to start running, and then I lost December to bronchitis. Here's hoping 2017 is a better year for running and just working out in general.

Two announcements

I have been so busy that I haven't even had time to write about how the announcements of my two big pieces of news went over at work!

Announcement #1:
Three days after I received word that I was being offered the Supervisor position I went into my boss' office and awkwardly (is there any other way?) told him that I was pregnant. His first comment was "first off- congrats!" Then he laughed and said that it was a good thing I waited until after the position had been filled. I knew he was kidding about that but it is probably a good thing- both for me to get the position without having to worry if my pregnancy would effect my selection AND for my boss to not have to worry about any other candidates complaining that I got the position only because I am pregnant and they didn't want a potential lawsuit filled by me.

His next thought went to whether I would be back at work in time to do performance reviews for my employees- I KNEW that this was going to be one of the first things that popped into his mind! I should be back in time- especially now if I decide to follow the MFM's advice to deliver early. I then assured my boss that I would be coming back to work after the baby comes and that this was the last baby. Lol. One of his last comments was "Mr. X's (his boss) head is going to explode when he hears this news." (In that, he is going to be worried about my work getting done while I am gone.) I am in the process of hopefully being able to get an employee from another division that just did a rotation under me to maybe take some of my work on a part time basis, but we'll see what her supervisors think of that. My boss will have to take over my supervision duties during my maternity leave, but at least we wouldn't have to find someone else in our already-strained division to do my other work.

Announcement #2:
Last week was our division's staff meeting and my boss decided that it was time to announce my promotion. Most people congratulated me; the guy to my right who I'm pretty sure also applied for the position didn't say a word... but the funniest part of the meeting was later on when we were going around doing staff updates. This customer service person (who is not a great worker and files lots of unsubstantiated claims against management) didn't have an update but said instead "(Old boss), I have some grave concerns that I need to bring to your attention and will need to talk to you about it after the meeting."

I wanted to giggle because it was clearly about the fact that I was becoming her boss, but was able to hold it in. I mean really- right in front of your new boss? You couldn't wait 5 minutes to voice your concerns until after the meeting? Ha ha. My boss came over to my office after the meeting and laughingly said "welcome to management!" I joked that a lack of tact and telling it like it is were great traits for a customer service rep! She sure is going to make things interesting!*

At the same meeting I also announced to everyone that I was pregnant and due in August. One woman commented "wow what a great year for you!" and another one tried to butter me up by asking if I was sure I was having the baby this August because I didn't look pregnant (I like being pregnant but not for almost two years!!).

So now that the cat is out of the bag on both fronts I don't have to hide anything which is nice. But quickly I am learning that taking this new job is going to entail so much more work than I originally thought (which is why an interview would have been nice because I would have had an inkling of what they expected). I'm up for the challenge but boy am I going to be busy!!


*The funny thing is, we don't have a bad relationship. She just isn't a fan of change. Good thing I know her and was able to laugh about the comment later. Someone from the outside may not have been able to react that way.

Microblog Mondays: Supervisor

Well, I was going to post about how potty training went this weekend, but will save that for tomorrow because this morning I received a tentative offer for the Supervisor position at work! YAY! I was getting worried because I hadn't heard anything, but should have known that HQ needed a few days to get everything together to make an offer. Once I pass the background check (which shouldn't be difficult considering I already work here) I will be good to go!

Not only will this be a nice raise for me, but today CP got word of his annual raise and bonus at work so this is a good day for the NSC household!


Looking to read more Microblog Mondays? Go here.

Annual Pretty Princess Day

Happy annual pretty princess day to me! (Calling my birthday my Pretty Princess Day as a joke annoyed CP a few years ago so it has now stuck.) Today I am 37 which puts me a year closer to the big 4-0.

It will likely be a boring birthday as CP is out of town yet again (North Carolina- hey it's better than last year when he was in China!). Izzy and I will probably go out to dinner tonight and hopefully I will get the best belated birthday present of all with a good ultrasound tomorrow!

Whatever happens, Izzy made my day this morning by singing me "Happy Birthday." I hope to get another rendition out of her tonight. :-)

Almost Wordless Wednesday- Pumpkin Patch

This past weekend the family headed up to my parent's place in MI. Buster is always excited to head to MI because it means running around the large property, chasing animals, and lots of extra petting/treats/attention from my parents. Izzy is more recently aware of Michigan and likes to say that we "drive to Michigan" which is correct.

We decided to head to a local farm to pick out pumpkins. Luckily for Izzy it also had a bouncy house and a pony ride so she had fun.

Tall girl!

I swear Izzy thinks that ponies and horses are everywhere we go. The horse's name was Pumpkin and Izzy (of course) had a great time riding.

Izzy said this pumpkin was "heavy"

Posing on top of pumpkins

My parents hadn't gone apple picking yet this year so after the pumpkin patch and lunch we headed out for some more apple picking. For those keeping score this was our third apple orchard, so far in three different states (WI, NH, MI). Lol we do love our apples.

Izzy also deemed this bag of apples "heavy" but continued to drag it on the ground until I took it away. She was not happy about that.

Eating an apple as big as her head!

Saturday night was our 6th anniversary so CP and I snuck away for a lovely dinner in South Bend, IN while my parents watched Izzy. I can't believe that CP and I had our first date a little over 10 years ago (October 2, 2008)! I have known CP for more than 1/4 of my life- crazy!

Microblog Mondays: Transformation Complete

This weekend CP and I became the ultimate suburban parents- we bought a Honda Odyssey minivan. I had been resisting a minivan for quite some time now so CP has slowly been wearing me down. I always made fun of minivans and said that I would never get one. 

Fast forward to 18 months with Izzy. When she was an infant it was sometimes hard to get her carseat in/out of the car if the person next to us parked too close....along with having to worry about not dinging the car next to us with the door. Not a problem in the minivan with sliding doors!

We haven't been up to my parent's place in Southwestern MI recently because they have been having some work done on the place and I thought it would be easier to keep Izzy away. But when we have gone in the past between the pack n' play, weekend bags, Buster's food, other baby-related items, etc. the car could get pretty packed and Buster didn't have much room. Now we have essentially doubled the amount of cargo space and Buster won't know what to do with himself back there this weekend when we make the drive.

The safety features on the car are awesome- a camera on the side of the vehicle gives me a view of cars/bicycles/etc. whenever I am turning right, a huge backup camera, lane drifting beeps, and even an alert when I am coming up too fast on someone else's bumper. The car we turned in (a 2006 Ford Escape Hybrid that we bought from my parents) didn't even tell me the temperature outside!

I posted on Facebook about how our transformation to suburban parents was complete with our purchase of a minivan and found that there were lots of minivan haters out there. I used to be in this camp but after driving the new car for only two days I am totally sold. 

Want to read more Microblog Mondays? Go here.

Wednesday bullets

*This summer I have seen a TON of pregnant women. Unlike two years ago or even when I was pregnant, but not showing, I am not jealous of the women. I do look at the bellies though, marveling at how funny they look with a basketball under their shirt- despite the fact that I was in the same boat just last summer! What a great summer to be pregnant though- at least here in Chicago it has been in the 70s or 80s every day except for a few hotter days (this is NOT typical).

*Yesterday I went to CVS on my lunch break and bought a few things, including a new bottle of prenatal vitamins. I continued to take them while I was nursing and have decided to continue to take them. If I am hoping to do a frozen transfer of my one and only embryo in January, that's only 5 months away. I might as well stay in the habit of taking them...I've been on them for 4+ years anyway! So as I was checking out, the clerk asked if I was pregnant. First off, I hope that I don't LOOK pregnant, but seriously what a forward question! I told her that no, I had a baby and just lied and said I was still nursing. Then she mentioned that she heard that taking prenatals keeps women from getting pregnant.  Ummm what?  Weird lady.

*I have been using my train commutes recently to use the app Duolingo. It's a FREE app to help you learn a language. I am using it to brush up on my Spanish before we head to Spain in December and it's awesome. It's mainly my vocab that needs refreshing so it's perfect!

*The piece of technology that is pissing me off the most is my Nike Fuelband. I haven't been able to sync it with my iPhone via Bluetooth in probably a month. It's really annoying.

*I randomly saw an ad on Facebook for Ecodu. It's a company that created a kit to turn an old formula canister into a play toy. I love re-using things and even better that it was a play toy that we didn't have for Izzy! At eight months she doesn't get the concept of putting the pieces into the circle/square/etc slots but she loves to chew on the pieces and play with the canister! (Note: they have kits for the major brands, not just Similac.) 

Izzy and her Similac/Ecodu canister 

*We have yet to baby-proof the house now that Izzy is crawling. I want to strike a balance between keeping her safe and not over-doing it. I worry if we over baby-proof that she won't actually learn not to touch certain things. CP ordered a bunch of stuff from Amazon and it should arrive here in time for us to do some baby-proofing when he gets back from Thailand.

*Unfortunately most of my pictures from the White House event I attended while I was in DC include me in them so I'm not going to post them, but Izzy got a souvenir from my trip! I was hoping to hit the White House gift store that supposedly has items that you can't find in the regular shops but sadly it closed before I was able to get there.  :-(  

I couldn't resist.  :-)

Oh and I also got to see Michelle Obama speak while I was in DC which was awesome!!

FLOTUS!!!

She is clearly reaching for me...  :-)

*This past weekend was the first time I felt old at a wedding. My cousin got married and although she is only 7 years younger.....it made quite a difference. The couple had a hashtag for people to talk on Twitter/Instagram about their wedding, they played music I had never heard at the reception, etc. It was the first wedding since I turned 21 where I didn't really drink which I'm sure didn't help. (I had to drive home from the city by myself- it was our first time leaving Izzy with a babysitter that was not my parents! We found the babysitter at our daycare- she claims that Izzy is her favorite and that she would quit her job to be Izzy's nanny if we wanted her to. The good news is that everything went great and Izzy had a big smile on her face when the babysitter showed up at our door.)

*Speaking of how awesome Izzy is, she was a total trooper the night before the wedding. My cousin invited us to the rehearsal dinner so that everyone could meet Izzy and she was such a hit! Luckily she took a late nap during the car ride downtown because dinner didn't start until 9pm and we didn't head home until 11 or so. She was up the entire time and absolutely fantastic. No crying, fussing, etc. Just smiling, happy, and excited to get some of mommy's dinner! She did have a bunch of random wake-ups throughout the night but settled down by herself so I didn't have to get up. Honestly, best baby ever.

Izzy in her rehearsal dinner outfit.  The bracelet is from a friend of the family who got it in Cambodia (I guess baby jewelry is a thing there?)

*Finally, I wrote most of this post yesterday but now when I am finishing it up to post it, I want to cry.  Not only did Izzy have a bad night of sleep- she cried out four different times last night- two of them I needed to go into her room to calm her down, but CP called this morning to let me know that he has to stay in Thailand for an extra week.  I was really looking forward to him coming home on Friday but now it will be THREE WHOLE WEEKS that he is away this trip.  I am not coping well with this news.

White House invitation

Oh my gosh you guys I am so freaking excited! On Friday I received an email from the White House inviting me to a celebration next week!! I will already be in DC for a conference and a two-day meeting on the same topic but OMG the WHITE HOUSE! I have never even been on the tour- just outside the gates!!

To say that I am excited is an understatement. I know that it is entirely possible that the President and/or the First Lady may not be there...and I have to admit, that will make me very sad. Today I have been emailing with Mel to get the scoop on White House visits (thanks for all of the great information Mel!) since she has been a number of times.  I like to know what I am getting into.  :-) I'm crossing my fingers that I can bring my phone in so that I can take some photos- my sister wants me to take a selfie with POTUS but I can't imagine that is going to happen.  But I do think that if he shows up, we are going to be instant best friends.

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In case you are worried about me getting too big for my britches now that I have been invited to the White House, no need to worry about that.  Today I showed up to work not realizing that the hem on the right side of my pants came out.  I didn't have a safety pin or something similar to fix the issue- so I used scotch tape.  Yep.  

Spoiler alert: I had to walk to a meeting a little less than a mile away and my "brilliant fix" didn't work.

Goodbye Koda

Thursday was a sad day for the NSC household. CP and I had to make the very difficult decision to put Koda, aka Fuzzy Britches, to sleep right before her 10th birthday.

While my MIL was in town the week before Christmas Koda suddenly fell as she was trying to get up. She lost control of her hind legs for a few hours. Thankfully CP slept downstairs with her and we waited to see how she was doing in the morning- amazingly, she bounced back. Koda tended to do that. She was a tough girl- she had powered through bloat surgery AND ACL surgery all in one year- but once in a while would look like there was something really wrong with her only to have her be okay a few hours later.

I had a sinking feeling that her losing control of her legs was the beginning of the end though. The right side of her head had really started to bulge out from the bone tumor. We are not sure if she could see through her right eye anymore because the third flap dogs have at the bottom of their eyes was sticking out and covering most of her eye. She was still wagging her tail and enjoying the snow, but right after we brought Izzy home CP had to start making Koda's meals as she couldn't open up her mouth very wide and couldn't chew hard food. She was pretty excited about the ground meat, sweet potato and rice concoction that CP made though; even Buster was jealous of her new food. For a while now it had been hard to get her outside- we would have to use a treat most of the time. But, we figured that it was okay to spoil her.  Not mention that even though it was wintertime, Koda randomly left large clumps of fur all over the place. 

From the moment I got downstairs Thursday morning though, she seemed different. CP takes the dogs out in the morning and before he left for work he informed me that Koda only ate a small portion of her breakfast. This was not a good sign as both dogs are very food motivated. Every hour or so throughout the day I would offer her the food simply to have her refuse.  Normally, she would sleep most of the day away, getting up to go outside, change position, eat, etc but this day she looked like she wanted to sleep but was too uncomfortable. It was hard to watch. I took the dogs out midday and instead of enjoying the snow by laying down in it or sticking her face in it, Koda peed then walked back towards the house.

I put the dogs' dinners down before CP got home. Buster gobbled his up as usual, Koda turned her head away. A few minutes later when she heard CP walk in the door she ate some of her food; I think she was really trying to please CP more than anything else. But after a few bites, she lay her head down and refused to eat. She walked over to CP and sat at his feet.

At that point, we both knew that she was not okay.  While both of us started crying, we started to discuss the night. Now that Izzy was here, she would complicate matters, but I wanted to be there. I couldn't imagine *not* going. Most of the car ride to the vet's office was in silence, but tears were streaming down my face the entire time. It was a good thing I had stuffed a bunch of Kleenex in my purse before leaving the house.

We both knew it had to be done but saying goodbye to her was so, so difficult. We elected to be in the room with her even though I debated on whether I could handle it. I remember watching a Celebrity Rehab where one of the "celebrities" had to put their dog down and just watching that had me bawling- and I didn't even know the dog.  The vet led us into a room with a big soft bed for Koda and told us to take as long as we wanted with her.  Once the vet came in, he administered the shot and within seconds her heart had stopped.  I had no idea it would happen so quickly.  I also don't think that I will ever get that last image of her out of my mind- her resting peacefully on that big dog bed.  She just looked like she was sleeping.  The rest of the night we were in shock that we were now a one-dog household.  When we got back to the house we put Koda's leash and collar in the regular bin and Buster came over to sniff it.  He seems a bit confused as to where she went....every time we put down food he waits for her to start eating first, even though she isn't there.  

Koda, you were a great dog and we will miss you very much.