Ah ha!

I've got the comparison shot for Big Fella's "Separated at Birth" post. Now, it's not the best, but hopefully you'll understand where I'm comin' from with his Brak look-a-likeness.

The link to the original post can be found...... here!

We're bad Americans...

We didn't vote.... Not that it would have mattered from a House of Representatives stand point... But it looks like it might for the Senate! Oh well. We were going to, but it would have required going to Arlington to do so, as we've not updated our address with the voter registration people. Next time, we will definitely be ready to go!

I know, no excuse, but, hey, as of right now (8:48 pm) everything we would have wanted to happen is (minus the House, but we would have needed more than us for that one.)

It's so exciting, though! Like watching a really close football game (only more personal, and a little more important...) Should be an interesting night.

Isn't he cute!

He's so sharp, eh?? He has to 'dress up' at least once a week, now! :-)

This picture doesn't do him justice, though... I took it while sitting down, but you get the idea.

Awww... my handsome man... :-D

Oh my gosh!

Britney Spears has filed for divorce from Kevin Federline!

Okay... now, this shouldn't make me happy, because I'm a firm believer in keeping your marriage vows, but.... well, I'm happy for her.

I know, I know, it's bad to be, but gosh, he was terrible for her! She was a saint for putting up with him as long as she did! She can do so much better!

Now, she probably shouldn't have married him in the first place, but it seemed like she was being young and stupid, and she wanted babies.... I'm sure she's not the first gal that settled for "less than best". She definitely deserves better, in my opinion.

Good luck Britney! America's behind you! Kevin, on the other hand... well, he's toast. No one will find it necessary to play his junk on the radio anymore. He can take his handful of fans, few millions from Britney and move to a deserted island for the rest of his life. I'm sure he'll have fun paying child support on 4 kids for the rest of his life ( not that Britney needs it, but seriously, that man should be snipped... no more babies for him! Please!)

Okay, I feel better now.

Awww! Nice people do exist!

On my way home from work, I stopped at Shoppers (local grocery store, for those who don't know...) to pick up a few things. Had to get some fresh veggies, so I grabbed my celery, carrots, mushrooms, etc, and was trying to find the green beans (all they seemed to have was the long chinese kind... didn't want those...)

As I was walking back to the beginning of the aisle, I walked passed this lady, and heard her say, "How pretty you look." I was confused for a second, but when I looked at her, I saw she was looking right at me, and smiling. A bit dumbfounded that a complete stranger would stop just to give me a compliment (really am not used to that!), all I could muster was an, "Oh, thank you," smiled and kept on walking. :-)

Then I had to leave the produce area--it took all I had to fight the tears that were welling up. I was just so touched that someone would do that! Flabbergasted is probably a better word! It really meant a lot to me. The entire way home, everytime I replayed that scene in my head, I couldn't help but smile and start to get emotional. I wish I could go back and tell her how much that meant.... I felt bad that all I could say was "thank you," though I can't think of a different response that would have been more suitable.

Guess I'm 'glowing'. :-)

"MTV hates black people."

So apparently, being the recipient of a Best Hip Hop Artist award at the MTV Europe Music Awards isn't enough for Kanye West.... When his video for Touch the Sky didn't win Best Video, the fool trotted up on stage and starting fuming about his apparent 'dis'.

"In a tirade riddled with expletives, Kanye said he should have won the prize for his video Touch The Sky, because it "cost a million dollars, Pamela Anderson was in it. I was jumping across canyons."

"If I don't win, the awards show loses credibility," Kanye said."

Riiiiiiight.....

What a baby.

New Ticker?

I'm thinking about changing Jeremy Jr's ticker... But I can't decide if I like the new one or not.

I need a vote! What do you think???

Do I keep this one:


Or use this new one:


Or switch the original one to a more humorous one:


I was trying to find some other choices, but to no avail... Oh well. Let me know what ya think!

Separated at birth???

Big Fella was sitting on the bed, watching me get ready for work the other day (he's a sick ole cat...) I glanced at him, and the face he was making looked just like Brak from The Brak Show! I swear, they coulda been brothers.... Well, I'm guessing most of you don't know who I'm talking about, so I'll put a pic here for ya... Unfortunately, I don't have the comparrison shot of the cat himself, but you'll get the idea...

UPDATE!!! Obviously, I now have a comparison shot of Big Fella. See it??????

30 Weeks!

We're 30 weeks preggers today! Can I get a "woot!"?

Seriously, though, time is going by quickly (thankfully...) I'm not a very patient person, and this is certainly helping me become one a bit more, but my goodness... I just want my baby! 7-12 more weeks to go! Pretty crazy...

I can't believe November is only days away... And November/December are those months that go by even faster than most (with October usually being the 'hump' month) because you've got major holidays in each one--Thanksgiving gives most of us a 3-day work week, and then Christmas??? Forget it. My company shuts down completely from the friday before 'til after New Years. It's like being back in school again, with Christmas break!

I had a bad dream last night... Well, it was more of a frustratingly hint of reality to come, I guess. Basically, Jeremy Jr was here (someone gave him to us as a gift at our baby shower... lol!) and he just would not, for the life of both of us, figure out the whole breast feeding thing! And so he would cry, which would make me cry, which made him cry more, and he CONSTANTLY had a dirty diaper, so I felt like a bad Mom for not always getting it right away (I mean, everytime I held him, it was dirty... NON-STOP!) So then I'd debate back and forth on whether to change the diaper or try feeding him and so on and so forth.... Yuck. I'm praying for a good baby! I know there's a good chance there will be trouble at the beginning--but that's what the midwife is there for. She won't leave until we've got the hang of it. And I bought "the book", The Womanly Art of Breasftfeeding. Supposedly, this is the Bible of breastfeeding. So hopefully, he and I will get it figured out quickly and not get too frustrated.

Anyways, time to go work on Jeremy Jr's room. We're painting it "Allegra Blue".... Oooo...

Oh, and Jeremy wants me to say, "Jeremy's the bestest in the world... I love him, he's the best... I need to go now so I can cook for Jeremy, 'cause he's the best...."

Finally! A solution to our "cat" problems I approve of!

**WARNING** Do NOT read the following if you are a cat lover--you will most likely end up hating me. :-) And I know by saying that, you are even more curious to read than you were before I mentioned it. Just realize.... I DID warn you.

Everyone knows I am not a big fan of "Big Fella", the 16 lb Spawn of Satan that inhabits our home (much to my dismay...) As we approach the birth of our child, I have had concerns about this feline and the frustrations he will cause, especially when I'm trying to do motherly things, such as nurse or coax my child to sleep (I have a feeling this will be "his" cue to act up...)

Well, I found a solution to the problem at Halfbakery's website. A few highlights I found particularly interesting....

"Set up a Tesla Coil in the back yard which is triggered by proximity. Unlike the "invisible pet fence" the coil would send a charge sufficient to render your pet unconscious."

"I originally tested this using a small catapult and a whole chicken and other than the 3rd degree burns at the point of contact it was utterly fool proof."

"The cat has not tried to jump the fence ,but rather spends most of the day hiding under the couch, only appearing long enough to use litter box. I have also notice the cat seems to be less intelligent (not possible for Big Fella), not recognizing its name when called and it drools profusely (could be messy...)."

I'm pretty sure this is a joke.... well, let's hope so. :-) Don't get me wrong, I wish no harm on Big Fella--that's just not right. However.... My child comes first. If Big Fella even sniffs Jeremy Jr. in a way that causes me to worry, he's outta here. I just think it would be for everyone's good if that happened sooner rather than later. Oh well. If anyone has any good suggestions, please let me know!

Wait! I just had an idea! Could this be a possible solution to our immigration problem....??? Why build a fence! They'll learn pretty quick that running cross that border will NOT be a fun trip. Huh? HUH??? Am I on to something or what?! :-) I'm gonna write my congressman a letter.

Happy 100th!

Post, that is. Apparently, the previous post here was the 100th post on our blog... Not too shabby, I guess. :-) We'll have to have a big celebration when we hit 1000. That seems to be a bit more of an accomplishment.

Anyways, just thought I'd give y'all a brief rundown on the week thus far. I'd say overall, it's been a good week. Busy, but good (aren't they all busy at this point?) I've got a special event to do at a Best Buy today, so that's gonna eat up most of it, since it's from 12-3 (I'll get there around 11:30 or so, if all goes according to plan...) But I'll be glad when the week is officially over. We were going to head to my parent's house for the night, but they sound pretty busy this weekend, so we may just stick to the homestead. That's fine with me, there is plenty that can be done around here, that's for sure. Anyone want an apple pie???

Jeremy Jr's been pretty active as of late. He's at that stage in development where if he moves even just a little, his whole tiny body moves and I feel it from the top of my stomach to the bottom. Usually he's awake when I'm trying to fall asleep at night, but it seems that lately, he's been a good boy during the night, and doesn't start moving again until I start moving in the morning. But when he moves, boy, does he move! It's cute, though. :-) We're in the homestretch!

And that's enough for now. Time to get ready for work. Hope everyone has a spiffy weekend!

Glad I wrote this this morning...

...because, just as I thought, moods change. :-) Not that I'm in a bad mood--just too tired to come up with anything like this! Glad the day is over. Enjoy!

I don’t usually blog from my car, but today deserves special attention. I’m just in a good mood, and those usually don’t last ‘til the end of the workday, so better get my thoughts down now while they’re still fresh (and hopefully, I won’t get carpal tunnel as a result of holding my laptop against my steering wheel…)I’ve got this great worship CD that I’ve been listening to a lot, and it always helps start my day off right, even if it can’t keep me there all along the way. One of my favorite tracks is “My Glorious” performed by Delirious?. It’s just a powerful tune to remind us of how God’s in control of everything, and in all things we should praise Him (especially since one day, “Every knee will bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,” or, “My Glorious!” My favorite lines from the chorus really make me tear up everytime, no matter what’s going on my life at that moment:

“God is bigger than the air I breathe, the world we’ll leave. And God will save the day, and all will say, MY GLORIOUS!”

In a world where there is so much chaos, so much hurt, so much destruction, so much fear, it’s comforting to know that God is bigger than all of it, that He is ultimately the one in control, and that He is faithful to His people. Does that mean that we won’t encounter hard times? Hurt? Destruction? Fear? No! Of course not. That’s what Heaven is for—this world is NOT Heaven. This world is where we stay for a short time, to learn and love, and share with others the love of God. Heaven is an un-earned reward—we can’t achieve it on our own merit; It is only through the grace of God that we are saved, after all.

Jeremy and I have seen God’s hand working in our lives in dramatic ways since we met. No small chance that we met the way we did (on eHarmony.com)—we had both been on there before, gotten off, and decided to give it another shot THE SAME EXACT WEEK as each other. And to think that we almost didn’t start talking because I weirded Jeremy out with my secret desires to be a ninja…. God obviously helped Jeremy see past that.

Throughout our relationship, God blessed us, and ultimately we married and were blessed some more! God helped us realize that the best place for me (for a time) was home, and blessed Jeremy at his job while we I quit mine. He then blessed us both again (within weeks of each other) with new jobs that we both love, and now He’s blessing us again with our first child. There are too many “perfect timings”, “coincidences”, “ya don’t say”, “weird” stuff that happens for it to be by chance. I can look back at the past couple of years and clearly see God shaping and molding our lives, ultimately, for His Glory.

It’s exciting to think about what God has in store for us. This morning, before work, Jeremy and I prayed together about Jeremy Jr., our jobs, our day, our week. It was so precious to hear my husband praying for his unborn son, and the “blessing” that he has already been, and I’m sure, will continue to be to us. I can definitely see how God has been working in His life, as he now gets up early for work to put in a good day, wakes up even earlier on Wednesdays to attend First Light, an early morning Bible study for men, just how he leads our family, because it’s the Biblical and Godly thing to do. How could I not be proud of him!

We have some wonderful Christian friends now, which is awesome. It’s so great to be able to say, “Hey, we need help with this or that…” and people actually say, “I’ll help!” We have a wonderful church that has a ministry specifically to help young couples (such as ourselves) grow together in maturity in Christ, to build strong, Christ centered marriages that will ultimately impact the Kingdom. We have loving parents, who are also Christ centered in their lives, who support us, pray for us, and encourage us. Really, we couldn’t ask for more.

The faithfulness that God has shown us is incredible. And even though Thanksgiving is still several weeks away, I can’t help but BE thankful for all He’s done, all He’s given, and all I know He’ll give. I just hope I can live a faithful life in return.

All Good!

Just wanted to let everyone know that I got the thumbs up from the midwives today. They called me during dinner to tell me that the results of my bloodwork came in and everything was a-o-k! My glucose tested at 118 (anything below 140, I believe, is normal), so they were happy with that (I was a bit concerned because I had had an Instant Breakfast for breakfast, and it's a bit high in sugar, but obviously, not a problem!) They were just a little concerned about my iron--it's a little low. Probably because I'm really bad at taking my prenatal vitamins... Haven't taken it in a week or so. I guess I'd better try harder at that.

YAY! I feel better. I wasn't expecting a phone call (thought they'd be like most doctors offices, who only call if there's a problem... So for a sec, I was like, "Aww, crap..."), but am very pleased it was good news.

Only 8-13 weeks to go now!! Woot! It's kinda hard to believe... In as little as 8 weeks, we'll be parents! I know I say that every week, but y'know, it's just so surreal right now... I definitely never doubt that it's going to happen--Jeremy Jr. won't let me forget that he's there for a second! I'm just looking forward to work being done and over with so that I can enjoy just being a wife and a mom... :-)

God is so good! :-)

What's going on...

Just so you know, I have been trying to post about my "Surprise Shower" for some time now, but blogger isn't liking the photos I've been trying to link up, and instead has been replacing them with the same two or three over and over again (too bad they're photos I don't particularly care for...) So I've given up for now, and will try again later. It was a fantastic time, though! I've never had a surprise party of any kind thrown for me before, and I felt SOOOOOO blessed and loved! Every single person there deserves a huge hug and THANK YOU, and I'm so glad to be surrounded by such wonderful people at this time in our lives.

That being said, the awesomeness of that day makes for a very tough week following it, as no day, no matter how good, can compare. Not that it's been a bad week... Just tiring.... Everything is tiring nowadays... And Jeremy Jr. kicked me real good the other day.... I feel like my belly is bruised from the inside out.... Not too happy about that, especially since he continues to kick me there over and over and over.... arga barga! I guess it's kinda cute... although if he continues to kick Mommy after he's born, we'll have some issues to deal with...

Had to do a glucose test today... Basically, it's to see how well your body handles sugar. You're given this super sweet (like syrup, but a liquid consistency) drink, and ya gulp it down, and they draw your blood an hour later. Blaaaaaaah.... needles.... Hopefully I passed, because if not, you have to do a 3 hour version, which requires being stuck with needles 4! times... Not fun... I won't find out for a few days how I did, but hopefully all is well.

Cleaned out Jeremy Jr's room last night... I was upset that it had become "Big Fella's" room, in that his box and food and water were taking up a lot of it, and just looking gross... So I dealt with it--'til 1 am this morning. But now, it's empty, ready to be painted, and much better than it used to be! So I'm happy about that. Amazingly, Jeremy slept through all my banging, and vacuuming, and lights on, etc, etc... Had it been the other way around, I would have woken up as soon as the light turned on in the hallway.... Just not a heavy sleeper. I guess that will come in handy once Jeremy Jr. joins us.

Tomorrow, we leave for Michigan to attend Jeremy's Grandfather's wedding. Luckily, we have direct flights there and back, and it's only about 1.5 hours, so it shouldn't be too bad. Still not happy about being stuck in a tiny seat on an airplane for that long, but it could be worse.... 1.5 hours on a plane is far better than 14 hours in a car. :-)

Much happier!

Mood today: PEACHY!

I feel much better today! My friends... my wonderful friends... threw me a surprise baby shower! I feel so special! They worked so hard on everything, it was just so great! They really went all out!

:-)

This is a serious "feely" booster for me! So THANK YOU SO MUCH to all who helped make it super-special... I really needed a boost.

I'll post more on this later, I just wanted to let everyone know that my sour mood from yesterday is gone. :-)

Thanks especially to Katharine, Layton, Allison, and Sunny! They were the masterminds behind this event. You gals are awesome, and I'm so blessed to have you as friends! Oh, and my wonderful husband Jeremy, who kept the surprise from me since the begining! I'm so impressed! Thank you so much!

Blah

Not happy tonight. The day went well enough... and then I came home... and that went well enough... And then I tried to find something to wear for a party tonight.... That didn't go very well. Nothing looks good, nothing fits right, nothing is comfortable.... And to top it off, the stupid Directv people didn't show up until almost 5, when we were supposed to leave at 5.

1-5 pm window my @$$ (told you I wasn't happy)

So now I still have nothing to wear, no tv to watch, no party to go to, and probably no shoes to wear. My winter coat is in a box somewhere (where, I don't know) and it's chilly outside... I don't really feel like going to any parties, or any socials or anything right now. I just wanna put my pajamas on and go to bed.

But I can't. We did commit to going to this party. And I want to go (does that make sense?). I just don't feel like going.

It's getting cold in here, from the stupid door being open so the stupid directv people can do what they need to do (the guy himself is not stupid... just the fact that they had to send someone out here to fix what should have been done right in the first place! and it sounds like they're going to have to come out again.... grumble grumble...)

Did I mention our house is a mess and that's bugging me?? Stupid work keeps sendin me more stupid junk... We've got boxes EVERYWHERE! And we just threw a bunch out last weekend.

I'm approaching the breaking point...

Does this seem appropriate to you???

See? And everyone thought I was crazy for calling Big Fella "gay". :-)

Goodbye 2nd Trimester....

....hello 3rd!

Am I the onlyone who's a bit freaked out by that??

Don't get me wrong, I'm not 'scared' in the traditional sense.... Just... I dunno, weirded out? I dunno, maybe the realization that Jeremy and I will soon be "parents", responsible for another human beings life (Big Fella is not a human... so the whole "Jeremy's Baby" comparison is a moot point... You might as well compare apples with primordial slime.... that's a better comparison. :-) My parents are going to be grandparents, for the first time... Jeremy's parents are going to be grandparents for the first time.... My GRAND-parents are going to be GREAT-grandparents for the very first time (we're trying to figure out what that makes them, because they're Portuguese, and we call them Avo' [long 'o' sound] and Avo [short 'o' sound] so I don't know if that'll make them Avo-avo' and Avo-avo, or Avo'-gran and Avo-gran or something else... need to look that one up).... Ben (Jeremy's brother) and my brothers, Jason, James and Stephin (who is only 13) are going to be UNCLES for the first time.... My Uncles and Aunts are going to be GREAT-Uncles and GREAT-Aunts (and, as Jason would say, not because they're nice guys...) It's daunting... This kid is bringing a lot of FIRSTS to our families... Pretty crazy.

Anyways, just thought I'd let y'all know that. We're watching the Redskins get roughed up right now... Laurence and Katharine will not be happy.... Steelers don't play 'til tonight, so we'll actually get to go to church and the Union.

The first week of October is officially over! The year continues to fly by...

Update: Found the Portuguese translation for grandparents... they'll be Grande-Avo' and Grande-Avo--this is suitting for my Grandfather, as he's a big guy, but I don't think my Grandmother will appreciate being referred to as "Grande". As someone at dinner last night mentioned, it sounds like a new Starbucks drink or something.

And.... we're back!

We have returned from the mountains, and I'm happy to report that we have not become "country" despite our extended exposure to such living. Well, there wasn't much about our trip that you would consider country, I guess... We were in a cabin, in the mountains, somewhat secluded (with our own private hot tub--wink wink, nudge nudge ;-) for 3 nights, and I'm very glad to be home. Don't get me wrong, we had a great time... It was just.... 'eventful'. :-) Well, here, I'll explain.

We arrived Tuesday evening, a little later than originally planned (we had wanted to leave at noon or one and take Skyline Dr, but we woke up at 11... So that didn't happen.) Got there around 5:10, checked in, unloaded, and hit the hot tub! Don't worry, we turned it down so as to not hurt Jeremy Jr (we kept it between 96-99 while there). After we'd had enough of that, we started to figure out dinner plans, and then realized, DUH DUH DUHHHHHHNNNNNNNN! We'd forgotten Jeremy's CPAP (if ya don't know what that is, Google it--lots of info there) at home. Now, we realized this shortly before 8 pm... Which meant either him trying to sleep without it (and snoring all night, which would have kept me up= no sleep for either of us) and getting it in the morning, or driving back home that night, picking it up, and driving back. We chose the later. So back in the car we go for another 2 hr drive, picked up his machine, and headed back on the road. We got back to the cabin around midnight, and basically crashed after that point. Thank goodness we had decided to go somewhere semi-close.

The rest of the week wasn't really eventful, but it had it's moments (more on those in a minute). We spent our time mostly relaxing (hot tub-TV-eat-hot tub-TV-eat, repeat), but we did get out Wednesday. Headed to an Amish type market (Yoders Country Store), got some spices and cooking stuff CHEAP, some fresh milk (chocolate, of course, that's why there are brown cows), meats, cheeses, breads, goodies, (seedlings gum for me, much to Jeremy's dismay--I tend to swallow chewing gum, so I've been told to try 'spitting it out', but what's the fun in that?! Seriously, who does that????) etc... Spent uber bucks, but it was worth it. I love those places, they should have them around here for me to shop at.

We headed to Charlottesville Mall to get some shopping done that we'd been putting off (new clothes for Jeremy, girl stuff for me, etc) so on and so forth... Had a nice dinner Thursday at The Lafayette Inn (fried green tomatoes.... mmmmmm.... although theirs was so and so... didn't taste like fried, tasted more like baked, but good enough I guess). And then we left to come home today, around 11 (we did stop at Yoder's on our way out, though). We made it home, through lots of rain, around 2 pm. It's good to be home.

Okay, so back to the 'eventful' side of things.. This may be kind of embarrassing for me, but I don't really care, so here goes. So, I was a bit freaked out by the "remoteness" of our location. It was nice during the day, but at night, I had the toughest time sleeping. I was subconsciously convinced that someone was gonna try to break into our cabin while we slept--or that there was someone watching us while we in the hot tub (but only at night, when you can't see anything 5 ft or more away...) or something! It didn't help that the first night we were there, I had a dream that a cop had chased someone down around the cabin, but that guy shot the cop and then said he was gonna go "shoot those people in the cabin next!" YIKES! Yeah, so I didn't sleep well this week. Last night, I had to get up and pee (like I usually do), but was too afraid to go downstairs to do so by myself (yes, I am an adult, and yes, I'm being serious). I had to wake Jeremy up to come with me (which he did! Awww, he's so sweet...) It didn't help that the bathroom was at the end of the kitchen, the door to it in plain view of the outside door (which was glass and had no curtains on it--pretty stupid if you ask me...)

Yeah... I'm glad to be home.

And that's it. I'm pretty sure Jeremy Jr has flipped and is now head down. Hopefully he stays that way. 10-15 weeks to go!

We are outta here!

Hi all, the precious few who read our blog....

Jeremy and I are leaving today. We're heading to the Blue Ridge Mountains for some much needed R&R. We'll be back on Friday, so don't do anything too exciting while we're gone! :-)

Someone wanna look after Big Fella? Aww, he'll be fine, I guess. We've left him for longer periods before.

Okay, so we'll talk later! Have a fun week!

~us wilcox types