Friday, May 28, 2010

From Her Point of View

I have about 30 pictures or so taken by Kendyll with my camera on Sunday.


Ten of them are of grass.

Some of them are right on

But others sort of miss the mark.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Come On Hank!

On Mother's Day weekend, my in-laws got a new puppy! It is seriously the cutest thing ever. But, even cuter than Hank is watching Kendyll play with Hank.

We play this game where you run around the yard with Hank.

"Come On Hank, Let's Go!"

And for a while, Hank is all about this game.

But, eventually, he gets bored of it.

Even though Kendyll doesn't seem to have noticed.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

I Think I See A Career In Her Future.

On my Sunday picture taking spree, I took a lot of pictures of this one.



I think she might be a model someday.

She is a complete ham for the camera.

Oh, Kendyll,you are amazing. I hope my kid is as cool as you.

Poker Face

Isn't she the cutest kid you've ever seen???

Girl's got attitude!

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Making Up For Yesterday's Failures.

I completely made up for my lack of picture taking on Saturday by taking 222 pictures on Sunday. I got a little out of control.
It all started when Gabe asked me to come out and take some pictures of Carlton working up the garden with his horses.

And then I just couldn't stop snapping the camera.


It was so much fun documenting the Adventures of Bess and Betty.


Once Carlton got down with his garden, he decided to continue his work in the newly planted orchard. This would have gone without a hitch if Bess and Betty didn't get spooked and drag Carlton across the road causing him to get all cut up. That was definitely the scariest part of the day.

But a few cuts all along the side of his body was not enough to deter Carlton and after a few quick repairs he was back at it.

Monday, May 24, 2010

At Least There's One

I meant to take a lot of pictures on Saturday night.

I know what your thinking. Is she going to write a post about her lack of photography every week.

And honestly, I probably can't guarantee the answer that you want to hear.

But I can promise that I am trying to get better.

Anyway....

Saturday night was amazing. Gabe turned 22. We went out to dinner at Avanti's, aka - the most amazing pizza ever. I made a delicious yellow cake with white frosting which I brought into Avanti's with some candles for Gabe to blow out. But Gabe got really paranoid and blew them out after I only had three lit and refused to let me light more. But it was still delicious.

We went to Curley's for the evening. The bar was packed. The band was great. Gabe looked really hot. His sister-in-law, Lisa had given him a complete makeover and for the first time ever I saw him in a sporty polo shirt, trendy jeans, and puma sneakers. Needless to say, he got a lot of compliments.

I drank two diet pepsi's and a lot of water. Martin drank a lot also, but not water. He paid for that in the morning.

There was also a lot of dancing involved in Saturday night festivities. And, as you know, I'm a big fan of anything that involves dancing.

There was also a lot of catching up with people I haven't seen in way too long. That was amazing too.

Between all that, there wasn't very much picture taking.



But....

we did happen to snap one at the end of the night.



At least we got all the important people.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Recycling Frenzy

The recycling truck comes every other week here. Therefore, I have to somehow keep track of the weeks so I remember which week is the appropriate week to put out recycling.

Simple. Right?

Wrong.

This is way too much for me to handle. I generally attempt to keep on top of this because I fill a recycling bin about every two weeks, so if I miss a week I have more recycling on my hands than I have space for and it starts to overflow out of its spot tucked in our cupboard and onto our limited floor space.

By keep on top of this I mean that I look up and down our road on Tuesday nights to see if there is any recycling bins out. If there is, I put mine out. If not, I wait till the next week.

Simple. Right?

Well. I forget a lot.

Which results in us having 4 or 6 or 8 weeks worth of recycling in our kitchen. Which is not good for my blood pressure.

So, last Wednesday morning when I was rushing off to work, I suddenly noticed recycling containers down our street and immediately put the car in park and bounded up the stairs to our apartment to add my contribution.

As I bolted into the house, Martin was in the living room putting on his shoes.

Martin: (concerned) Is everything okay?
Me: Yeah. I just saw that the neighbors have recycling out and I wanted to put ours out.
Martin: (mockingly) I have to get going. I have to get going. Oh wait, I really want to recycle even more!

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Twenty-Two

Happy Birthday to
the best dressing,
 
most photogenic,

completely unabashed,

loyal friend,

who happens to be an amazing dancer,

and have the best hair I've ever seen on a 22 year old.

Happy 22nd Gabe!!!

Friday, May 21, 2010

Yes, I Work In A Grocery Store.

Judging by the looks of my refrigerator, you would never guess that I work in a grocery store. But the problem lies in the fact that, because I work in a grocery store, I can get what I need any day and it's always easier to put that day off until tomorrow.

Fast forward that mentality through two weeks and this is what you get:

20 beers plus a speciality beer in a wine bottle (none of which I can drink)
3 jars of pickles plus a jar of relish (because, really, can you ever have enough pickles?)
A massive amount of condiments and salad dressings (and no greenery to serve them on)
A lemon (because this has quickly become a pregnancy must have)
Swiss Cheese (but,alas, no bread for a complete sandwich)
Hummus (but nothing to dip in it)
And Eggs (which it's important to point out are only there because eggs were needed at the last minute in a recipe and required me to run to the nearest convenience store)

Hopefully your refrigerator looks better than mine!

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Living Life On The Wild Side

 Ingrid: I ate so much brie this weekend. I ate somewhere between a half a wheel, no well, maybe a good quarter of a wheel of brie.
Me: I would love to eat a quarter of a wheel of brie. And I mean, the whole not eating brie when you're pregnant doesn't really make too much sense. I mean, you aren't supposed to eat it because its not pasteurized, but my mom drank unpasteurized milk the entire time she was pregnant with all four of us and no problems ensued from that. And, if I am at my parent's house now and I need a glass of milk, I'm going to drink it.
Ingrid: (in an excited voice) So, you're going to drop the whole brie thing????
Me: Welll.......no.....probably not. I'm just saying.

a few minutes later in the conversation

Ingrid: Yeah, he is allergic to everything. He really has to look at the labels on everything he buys.
Me:  I don't think I could ever handle being allergic to anything. I can't even handle being pregnant.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Who Wouldn't Wanna Be Me?

In a recent conversation with Ingrid we were talking about our lives and other people's lives, and lives that are better than others.

Me: I think my life is pretty fantastic. I feel like pretty much anyone would want to be.
Ingrid: Well, it's good that you like your life so much, but I don't want to be you.

Talking to Ingrid on Sunday afternoon.

Me: So, I spent last night (Saturday night) looking up information about cloth diapers on the internet.
Ingrid: Ha, and you think someone would want to be you???

So, maybe no one wants to be me, but I couldn't be happier with me life and I guess that's all that matters.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Completely Normal

Last week I went to the doctor for a checkup to find out I have lost three pounds since my initial pregnancy visit. I, of course, was immediately concerned and questioned the doctor as to whether this was okay and how exactly it had happened since my stomach is definitely bigger than it used to be. The doctor informed me that this is completely normal in many pregnant women during the beginning of their pregnancy because even though my stomach is growing, my body is using all of its energy to form an environment for the baby.

However, I think its important to point out that when it comes to being pregnant everything is completely normal. You think I'm kidding, but I'm not. I've been working my way through What to Expect When Your Expecting and according to that book, absolutely everything that could possibly happen, even if it means completely contradicting the previous statement is completely normal.

I am pretty sure I could walk into the doctor's office and say "I've had sudden urges to light things on fire" and my doctor would most likely respond with something along these lines, "Well, I wouldn't worry about it; those type of urges are completely normal in some pregnant woman. Just do your best not to burn your house down."


disclaimer: I have not had any urges to set anything on fire. That example was purely for example's sake.

Monday, May 17, 2010

Oh Baby!

So, I finally was able to get my ultrasound pictures scanned on to the computer. When I went back to meet with the doctor the following week to "talk" about my pregnancy and for him to say everything was going well, I got to listen to its little heartbeat again. And, in typical Jenna *cough* VanLieshout *cough* fashion, I immediately became very proud of my little one.

Doctor: We'll try to hear the heartbeat, but typically it's really hard to find with this until the pregnancy reaches at least 15 weeks.
(puts machiney, thingy on my stomach and immediately we hear the heart beating)
Wow! It's usually never that easy. Usually it's me sweating trying to find the heartbeat and the mother looking at me in anticipation. Keep doing whatever you're doing because it seems to be working well!

So naturally, I'm impressed with both my baby, for growing so well, and with myself, for making such a habitable environment.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

On Trying New Things

So, I think I've mentioned before that Martin doesn't like change. That he's really into routines. Yeah. I've definitely mentioned that a time or two. So, I knew it was going to be a challenge to get him to try Thai Food. But, I love Thai and it would really make my life if he did also. So, I went about it as well as I knew how. I have made Pad Thai before. When I say made it before I mean I bought the appropriate noodles and also purchased a premade sauce. So, it's basically like making spaghetti. I'd love to say it's impossible to screw up, but if that was the case I wouldn't have anything to write about in this post, would I?

So, like I said, it's sooooo easy to make. You boil the noodles and coat in sauce. I made chicken pad thai, so I also grilled chicken breast pieces in a frying pan. Then you mix it all together and top with chopped peanuts and I like to throw cilantro on there for looks, but its completely unneccesary. So you see? Totally easy. A monkey could make that. I apparently was not a monkey this particular evening.
Everything seemed to be going great. Martin walked into the kitchen, noted that it smelled fantastic, tried a piece of chicken and said, This is delicious. I, in turn, became overly confident in the meal and started telling him how it was Thai food and I knew he would like it. Martin countered with an argument about how I had tricked him into trying it.

And then, the fatal moment, Martin went in to eat the pad thai with a fork. You know, eat the noodles and everything. And, I had undercooked the noodles. This caused them to have a weird spring to them and just taste kind of strange. I tried to explain to Martin that I had undercooked the noodles and they really are very good. But it was no use. He didn't eat any of the noodles and declared that he hated Thai noodles.

I think I've ruined my chances of him ever trying Thai again!

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Balding Beauty

I shed a lot of hair. Probably an excessive amount. It is a constant battle with Martin. One that he is typically always losing. Here's a few hair stories from Sunday.

Laying in bed Sunday morning.
Martin: There's something in front of my eye. Like a piece of hair or something.
Me: reaches over and removes said hair from face.
Martin: That was your hair wasn't it.
Me: Umm. Yes.
Martin: What am I going to do with you??

Before going out to dinner with my parents.
Me: Do I look okay?
Martin: Mmmmhmmm. (reaches over and pulls hair off of my sweater.)
Martin: You're my balding beauty.

Friday, May 14, 2010

The Good Ole Days

Last weekend, Martin finished his work week in Western New York and then started this week in Western New York. Therefore, he stayed out there on Sunday night when I went back to the Fingerlakes. Somehow, we ended up talking on facebook chat on Sunday night. Talking online. Basically the only form of communication we had leading up to when we finally started dating....many years ago.

Suddenly, I found myself blushing, because in my head this man who was blatantly flirting with me over facebook chat and I was blatantly flirting back with wasn't my husband or even my boyfriend. He was some kid I had a hopeless crush on 5 years ago that I was sure didn't like me.

And then Martin brought me out of my fantasy world and reminded me of how much better things are now.

Martin: Ok. I gotta get some sleep.
Me: Me too. I love you!
Martin: Love you two!
Me: cute.
Martin: you got it. i'm impressed.

And now there are three.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

I Blame Peer Pressure For All My Bad Decisions.

On Saturday morning, I met my amazing college friend, Michelle, in Batavia. We were going to catch up over lunch (even though I've been lucky enough to see her three weekends in a row!) and also, she said she wanted to go shopping with me to look for "flowy shirts". I'm starting to need flowy shirts. Until now, I have always bought tight, straight fitting shirts. This was due to my stomach which, with the exception of a brief hiatus senior year of college when I drank a little too much beer, has always been flat. But, its starting to fill out. On Friday night when I walked into my parents' house my grandmother's first remark after greeting me was, "Well, I guess your starting to get a little too big for those shirts, huh?" Only grandma's can say things like that and get away with it.

Anyway.

I met Michelle at Target at 10:30 where I proceeded to try on 13 different items of clothing and then purchase 1 shirt and two dresses. I then have an profound idea when walking by the shoe department that wedges are the answer to all my shoe problems. They are heels, but not really. Well, not pointy. I don't know. In my head you can dance all night long in them and your legs won't hurt. Unfortunately, reality, and experience, tell me that even if you dance in sneakers all night long your legs will hurt the next day.

Anyway.

I proceed to buy a cute, brown pair of wedges on sale for $15.99. Because, you know, someone has to solve all the world's shoe problems.

Then, after gorging out on Mexican for lunch, we go to Cato. I had never heard of this store before, but we checked it out. I proceeded to spend more money on clothes (and shoes) here. I got two yellow tank tops. I have been wanting a yellow tank top like one of them in particular ever sense that Clarion or some sort of allergy commercial came out. There's a girl, in a yellow tank top and a dog I think and inside and outside. I don't know. Point is..everytime I see that commercial I think, I would really like that tank top. And now I have it. I also found a pair of fake snake skin wedges at this store. Don't ask me why, but suddenly, I was on a huge wedge kick and I could pretty much picture tons of opportunities to wear snakeskin wedges (picture Martin standing in background and slowly shaking his head). Plus, they were only $7! So I really couldn't pass them up.
Don't blame me for my excessive shopping needs. Blame Michelle. She's a pusher and an enabler.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

To The Most Amazing Woman I Know

"It was as if a surplus of something so overflowed her being that it expressed itself beyond her will, now in the brightness of her glance, now in her smile."
Happy Birthday to my Mom, the most amazing woman I know.

My mom has always been a staple in my life, and now that I'm an adult, I realize more than ever what an amazing woman she is. If I can be half the woman she is someday, I'll be doing well.

Happy Birthday Mom! I love you!

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Branching Out.

On Thursday night, I was supposed to meet my darling friend Jordan who lives in Georgia and I never get to see. Unfortunately, the timing didn't work out. But, I had already planned on not cooking dinner as had Ranatta, so we decided to go out anyway. I hadn't bothered to fill Martin in on the restaurant of choice, mostly because I knew he was going to balk me on it. But, about halfway to the restaurant, he asked me where we were headed.

Me: Oh, Kyushu
Martin: Whhhaaaat???
Me: Well. They make sushi, but they also make lots of other stuff. They have hibachi which is basically just steak and rice and grilled veggies and they make it right in front of you and its really really cool.
Martin: (as predicted, shudders at the thought) Are you serious?? Is this why you didn't say anything? Well, I'll go because we're halfway there, but I just want you to know that I am going for you.
Me: It's not that bad. You're going to like it.
Martin: I'm going for you.

As soon as the chef started doing fun stuff with the egg and made fire on the grill, Martin was hooked.

Martin: Ok. That was really good. But we've got 45 minutes to get home.
Me: Why?
Martin: I'm going to need to use the facilities.
Me: But its not even really ethnic food. It's rice, vegetables, steak, and shrimp.
Martin: I know my body.

And like clockwork...he knows his body.

Monday, May 10, 2010

Really Need To Step Up My Game

This weekend was pretty much amazing. And also jam-packed. I went shopping and out to lunch with a dear friend, spent time with Martin's grandma, caught up and had dinner with my amazing sister-in-law, Jennifer, and her equally amazing family, went to the bar and danced with Gabe and Martin also got liquored up enough to want to join in on the dancing, played with a new puppy, played with Kendyll, played with the new puppy, had lunch with Martin's mom for Mother's Day, played with the new puppy and Kendyll, dinner with my parent's for Mother's Day, and spent time with my grandparents.

Do I have anything to show for this weekend?

No. Absolutely not. I don't have pictures. I completely suck.

In a couple of years my aging brain is probably going to forget this weekend ever existed. You know why? Because I don't have any pictures to remember it by!

I really need to step up my game.

Sunday, May 9, 2010

When Giving Gifts Was Easy

Mother's Day. Such an important holiday. I love my mom. She is absolutely the best. But I never know what to get her.

When we were in school, it was easy. Mother's Day was always in May which means we are always full swing in asparagus season which means every morning on top of feeding all the calves at the farm my mom was also cutting asparagus. So, it was a no brainer to think of something that would make her smile. I would just get up at the crack of dawn feed calves, cut asparagus, and then hurry home to make breakfast for my mom before she woke up. That is....unless my dad threw a wrench in all my plans by making me milk that morning or something. Dad's.....jeeze.

Now,  I don't what to get her. She never really liked material things. She's always been into gifts from the heart. And that one was just so perfect. Heck maybe I'll do it again this year. Just for old time's sake. And in my older and wiser years, breakfast can be even more amazing.

Oh, and I'll try to take some pictures of my dear mother so you can also see how beautiful and incredible and amazing she is. Because, I'm sorry to say this is about the only clear picture of her I have on my computer and her eyes aren't even open!

Friday, May 7, 2010

And This Is What The Real World Does To You

Things that will make you organized:

Being a class officer in high school.
hmm. That seems like a good answer. I mean, you have to organize events, plan reunions, you know, the whole shebang. But, no, unfortunately, that is NOT the answer we are looking for here.

Spend four years at Cornell University.
Once again, seeming pretty likely posibility. I mean, ivy league school, lots of extra-curriculars, definitely a constant balancing act. But, once again, NOT the answer we are looking for here.

Have various interships and jobs while attending said University.
More balancing. Good thought. NO.

Teach high school Biology in the inner-city for a year.
Bingo!


My best friend, Caton, and I are going on a road trip this summer. Sort of a last chance road trip before I have the baby! We are going to visit a couple of our friends living in Kansas and Oklahoma and leaving from her apartment in Nashville. Caton has never been what I would particularly call organized so when she called me yesterday and said she had put together a rough itinerary of the trip. That is exactly what I was expecting. You know, leave Nashville sometime on this day. Spend these approximate days in such and such a city, etc. etc. I was thinking rough.

So, you can imagine my surprise when I opened up my email to find this

Ok. So you can't really read any of the details here. Unfortunately, that's the best I can do, BUT to sum it up it includes drive times down to the minute, allotted site seeing time and even includes lunch breaks. Basically, it is only rough in the sense that there are not specific sites listed on the itinerary. I guess that will be coming closer to the date.


PS. I love this Caton!

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Didn't See That One Coming.

So, I've always been a sappy person. Lots of things make me cry. Things that shouldn't make me cry, make me cry. I just cried in Beauty and the Beast last month...and I've seen that movie at least fifty times.

But, even I, didn't see this one coming


Yesterday morning I went to the Doctor's office for my first ultrasound. I knew it was going to be cool. But I was inwardly really worried I wouldn't be able to see my own baby. I keep replaying that Friends episode in my head where Rachel starts crying at the ultrasound and Ross thinks its because she sees that baby, but its because she can't see the baby. I started thinking about Where's Waldo and Lord knows I never had the patience for that.


But, it couldn't have been more of an amazing experience. The ultrasound technician told me that she was first going to look at my cervix and ovaries and boring things like that, but assured me that after checking up on all that good stuff, she would show me the baby and I would be able to hear its heart beat and everything. But then, as soon as she placed the contraption on my stomach....there it was she didn't even get around to finding my ovaries and cervix right away because it was like hello baby! There was no possible way to miss it. And I immediately started crying. I didn't think it was going to be that amazing. I didn't think it would look that  much like a real baby. But there is was, rolling around, putting its hand up to its mouth, moving its legs, turning to lay on its side, moving to the back of the womb, coming back up to the front. It was moving so much she could barely get a good picture of it. You could even see the outline of its face. The nose, everything. All 4.5 centimeters clear for my viewing pleasure. You could even see its heart beating. Literally, you could actually watch the little white spot go pitter-patter-pitter-patter at 155 beats a minute.It was like a movie I wanted to watch all day long. Even my  attention span would have extended itself for this show.


And then, in typical mom fashion, I found myself thinking, Oh my god, isn't it the cutest baby ever! It is so cute and then I slapped myself and realized. Ok, its a black and white outline of your baby. Calm yourself.



ps. if you care to see pictures of the ultrasound, I apologize. While I realize my baby will probably not bring tears to your eyes, I also know a lot of you would like to see them, BUT I'm having technial difficulties with my scanner, meaning I want to break it, and I will post pictures later if I can resolve this issue.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Satisfaction.

Because I was not drinking this weekend...due to my coming attraction in November, I had plenty of time to have a lot of fun really enjoying other people drinking. In fact, I think I actually like going to the bar and not drinking better than drinking. It's like you never get tired. Ever. Because you're sober, and hydrated. It's actually quite amazing.

Anyway.

I think this series of pictures is my favorite from the weekend.
Getting ready to take the shot. Katie Mason is excited.
Cheers! I wish I could tell you what this was a shot of and I should probably remember...because I was sober. But..because I was sober I couldn't be bothered with such trivial things like the type of shot. I know its some sort of mixture thing. I think I remember someone saying it tastes like cinnamon? maybe?
And the satisfaction sigh after the shot. Perfection.

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Now We're Piping

This past weekend, was amazing. We had an alumni brunch for Sigma Alpha (my college sorority) so I had a plethora of friends in town. Which was absolutely spectacular!
One such friend was Michelle, who is funny and loves babies and weddings and planning parties. She's basically amazing.
She piped cookies for my friend Ginny who is having a baby. I just learned what piping was this weekend because I am lacking in domestic traits and Michelle made these adorable cookies with C's for Carlberg piped on the top.
Sometimes Michelle gets a little scandelous and tries to move in on men that are already engaged to her dear friend.
But...she's basically amazing. Also, does everyone love my cute yellow purse. I got it at the Salvation Army.

Monday, May 3, 2010

Flat Tires

Me: So, Renee got a flat tire when she was driving to one of her stores the other day. Luckily she was just leaving her house and there is a mechanic shop right around the corner so they got it patched up for her.
Martin: Oh yeah. That's good.
Me: Yeah. And I was just thinking I don't know what I would do if I got a flat tire. I mean, I got one once when I had stores out in Buffalo, but it wasn't really a big deal. I just filled it with air at the gas station right next to the store and then drove two blocks to a Goodyear and they patched it. But out here? I mean, I just think what if I got one when I was driving between Ithaca and Horseheads. I don't even know if there is a jack in my car to even change a tire.
Martin: I'm sure there is a jack in the wheel well, but I would not want you changing a tire on the side of the road.
Me: Why not??? I am sure I can handle it. I can change tires you know??? I've done it before. On skidsteers, even.
Martin: Well first of all, you are with child! And second of all, the last thing I would want is for the car to fall on top of you or something. I will put together a list of names and numbers of people who do roadside assistance for you to call.

I'm not sure if this story better exhibits what a sweet and caring, albeit worrisome husband I have or that I talk way to much in "conversations"

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Boosting My Confidence

My dear friend Ranatta was kind enough to pick me up from the airport when I returned home from my trip to Texas. On the way back to my house, between filling each other in on the events that had occurred in our absence we stumbled onto the topic of...........wait for it................you can probably guess it....................yep, I think you're on the right track...........the baby.

Ranatta: So, I was thinking. I really love that you guys are having this baby.
Me: Yeah. Me too.
Ranatta: Because, you know it wasn't planned, so its really a love baby. Which is nice.
Me: Yeah. I think so too, because there's never really a good time to have a baby so I'm kind of glad we didn't have to plan it.
Ranatta: Yeah. And also.....ok.....don't take this the wrong way.....but do you remember what you looked like that week after you came back from Florida. I mean, that was the week when your face looked like you had chemical burns. I mean, if you think about it, that baby was made that week. Which means Martin must really love you. So you really are having a love baby.

And whenever I need to feel good about myself, I turn to Ranatta.

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Panic Stricken

I want to start this post off with an apology for the mass amount of pregnancy posts that have been occurring in the last few days. Its just that I have ten weeks worth of pregancy stories to share and I don't want to forget any of the good ones. I promise, if you don't like hearing about babies all the time cough *Ingrid* cough. I will resume with other posts....eventually.....maybe....if I can stop thinking about this baby for 32 seconds.


Me: So, the doctor said my uterus is already starting to grow. (circa 7 weeks pregnant)
Martin: Immediately gets tense and very urgently, Is that a good thing?
Me: Well....I think so. I mean, I think he would have said something if it was a bad thing.
Martin: It didn't occur to you to ask him if its a good thing???

Oh, worrisome father, and at this point all we have is a pea, wait till we have a teenager.