Monogrammed Mom

Summer cold

Elisabeth is sick.  She's been sick since Thursday, but today I believe it's worse.  She's finally coughing up all that yucky stuff.  I slept was with her last night because she kept waking up.  She was coughing, hacking, sweating, etc.  She's haning outside with her Dad while he waters the new grass. 
On a brighter note, Elisabeth has two strawberries growing and today is my last day of following at the OG. 
Wednesday I will be making money.  I'm so excited!  Ever since I left the OG money has been tight around here. No more extravagant shopping sprees to Target, no eBay no Barnes and Noble.  We've been hitting Big Lots and the Dollar Store. That's fine.  It has been saving us money but I look forward to buying myself a new pair of Adidas trail running shoes and an invisible fence for the dogs. 
I work with Peter today. He's the GM at the OG. I have to plan my approach about going back on the bar.  I was told that I can go back on the bar.  I told the server manager that the bartender who has Sunday dayshift wants to give them back to me and that my old Tuesday night shift will be opening in August.  She told me that two people have been trained on the bar since I left and that the bar manager has to take care of them.  One is a server who has no personality (I just don't like her. she should go away) and the other is a transfer.  I believe that I should go back on the bar because of all that stuff that happened to me. Even though I was gone for 8 months.  I better put on my cocoa butter lip lotion because I have a lot of doopah kissing to do.

Luck be a baby and other stuff

The baby shower yesterday was very nice. The shower was held for Beverly, Michael's cousin. As usual Aunt Phyllis outdid, well, everyone. She is Michael's aunt, his mom's sister, Beverly's mother.  Aunt Phyllis is crafty to say the least. She sewed teddy bears that had pockets to hold goodies, she made signs, cookies, gift for the kids and decorated the room.  When I looked at Beverly's registries on Target and Babies R Us there weren't too many items that she registered for. I knew this was because Aunt Phyllis had pretty much bought everything. I didn't want to go because of the whole infertility thing but I wanted to see Michael's family because we hadn't seen them since November.  It was a little hard at first but I eased into it and enjoyed sitting with Cheryl and Eileen (Michael's sisters, Aunt Phyllis (she is very funny and very outgoing), Michael's mom and the guest of honor:  Beverly.  The food was good and the conversation was even better (it's fun to learn what Michael and his sisters were like as kids and just to learn more about his family).  Beverly's husband is named Chris and his grandmother came up to Aunt Phyllis to say hi.  She asked Aunt Phyllis if the woman sitting next to her was her mother (it was my mother in law) and she said yes.  Chris's grandmother proceeded to tell my MIL that she looked great and Aunt Phyllis responded by saying,"She's been taking Geritol for years." We laughed so hard.  God bless my MIL.  I've heard Aunt Phyllis has been a handful for years.

After lunch it was time to unwrap the gifts and I kept the list of who gave what for Beverly. I also gave her my number and email address in case she needed anything or had questions. She told me she's going to try and breastfeed.  In the Lampman house WE SUPPORT THE BOOBIES!!!  I had a hard time with Elisabeth (I ended up pumping after she was eight days old to let my nipples heal. After that I was good.) in the beginning. But I hung in there. I do not give up.  I told Beverly this. Not to scare her but to let her know that I had a hard time and it turned out okay.

Michael and Elisabeth had a good time at Chris and Beverly's house.  Nicholas and Kate were there (cousins).  They rode scooters and watched Cars.  Even though it was a long day I'm glad we went and had a nice visit.

We rounded out the evening by having a campfire with our soon to be neighbors, the Halagardas.  Elisabeth loves playing with Collin and Hailey.  They rode around in her Jeep and played in the camper. 

Today we worked out with FitTv.  Elisabeth has a stability ball and weights so we worked out together. I'm trying to make exercise fun and enjoyable.  She even goes running with me. I'll start out with her in her jogging stroller and she'll get out once in awhile and run along beside me.  It also helps to tire her out.  We then went shopping to Target for some odd and ends. I like loooovvvve that store.  I lose all track of time there.  It's such a cool store that has some really nice clothes for the whole family and everything else one might need.  Who am I kidding--you don't have to need anything there.  You can just go and buy stuff.  We did okay. Michael wanted sunglasses, I wanted OPKs, and Elisabeth needed toothpaste, t-shirts and boxer shorts. I can spend a small mint in there.  They just have the coolest stuff.  I would like to get a new cover for our bed by Shabby Chic .  The colors are much better in person. Every time I see these floral prints it reminds of old fashioned wallpaper and bedding. There was a story about a woman that is in a room and she peels the layers of wallpaper off.  It's called The Yellow Wallpaper .  (that is the story, it's not long. go ahead. read it.) 

I did do the OPK and tested positive.  I love to POAS.  I got a positive. So in the next 24-48 hours I will be ovulating.  I know isn't that exciting?  It is for me.  Having hypothyroidism and not being on medication you will not ovulate.  The thyroid controls not only metabolism but also ovulation. I did not know that.  Thanks to my gynie, who did a complete workup on me, who found this out.  If I did get pregnant this week my baby would be due around February 15.  That is very close to Michael's birthday, February 7.  I think it would be nice to be pregnant in the cooler months.  I was at the end of my pregnancy with Elisabeth in the summer but it wasn't too bad.  It wasn't that hot out.  Wish us luck!

I have been tagged by Mac to do a Seven Random Things about me list.  Here goes:

1.  I believe I sing well with the following:  Madonna, Depeche Mode, The Cure and U2. Especially in the car/shower.
2.  I am an only child.  I used to dress up my dog Muffin and cat Elizabeth.  I was desperate for a sibling/playmate.
3.  I love the smell of clothes that have been hung outside.  I laugh when my mom tells me that she doesn't because when she was little and my Nana would hang clothes outside and the weather would turn bad, they would have to run home from wherever they were to take the clothes down.
4.  I saw Billy Ray Cyrus at the Bloomsburg Fair with my Nana. It wasn't too bad of a concert. The only song I knew, though, was Achy Brakey Heart.
5. I love all Syrian and Lebanese food.  My Uncle Sami is from Cairo, Egypt and he always
makes me Baklava and Kibbe when he visits.  He also taught us how to belly dance when we were little.
6.  I told my Nana that my mom said it was okay to get my upper ear pierced (it wasn't) when I was 12.  I still have it in. 
7.  My special place to go to to reflect is the falls behind my parents house. Who would think that in my parents small town there would be such a magnificent place?  It's so beautiful.  Our photographer owes us our engagement pictures (story for another day) and I told him about going there. He's all for it.
Bonus: My dad has kept all of my baby teeth and I have kept all of my wisdom teeth. I have no plans on making dentures with them or anything but we are just a family of savers.

Special note to Julia:  I hope this makes for good reading at the start of your day!

We drove to CBS and got bird poop all over it

Elisabeth and I were talking about all the different cars I had while growing up (the conservations we have before she goes to bed. she usually wants to talk about hobbies).  The earliest car I remember was a really cool blue Mazda GLC.  It even had blue plaid seats (and this was way before the Mighty Mighty Bosstones). It was also cool because my mom used to buck it when she was learning to first drive it (stick shift).  I used to shout, "Gee Mommy! This car is so much fun!" Ahhh, to be five again. Anywho, we ended at Mimi's latest car, a Highlander, and I asked Elisabeth if she liked it. She told me she did and then said, "Me and Poppy washed it. And then we drove it to CBS to get some coffee and we got bird poop all over it. That was funny!"  She's almost four. I guess it's funny when you're that young.  If I find pictures I promise to post them.