You may want to sit down for this one...

WOW! Has this month flown by or what?!? Since my last post we spent two weeks with snow on the ground, which is HIGHLY unusualy for Oklahoma.  Bryce started getting another bottom tooth the weekend following my last post. Now he's about to have two more top teeth break through, to make a total of 9.  He's continued to want to eat everything we eat, including sushi!

On Friday Bryce had his 15 month check-up...thankfully no shots were required. Just a some stats to share, his head measured 49 cm which is in the 91 percentile!! His length was 30.5" (29%) and weight was 23 lb 13 oz ( 40%). Yes, he can still fit in some 12 months clothes. He's no longer has to drink whole milk, which is great since I'm tired of buying 2 different gallons of milk, he can just drink what we drink now.

This is the "I'm going to do something I'm not supposed to do" look, like hit you with the end of this stick horse!

In addition to normal everyday life it's been a busy month, with all the events leading up to my sister's wedding and the wedding itself. I was the Maid of Honor so it has consumed every bit of free time I've had. We had her bachelorette party last weekend at the Hard Rock Casino of Tulsa (which is actually in Catoosa). 

The area is quite familiar to me...or was at one time before the Hard Rock Casino took over. Regardless I always experience a little bit of nostalgia when in that area and remember exactly how it was. My Grandpapy and Memaw for as long as I could remember had lived in a 5th wheel in the KOA. We would spend lots of time in the summer and usually a week during Christmas break staying with them up until we moved to Tulsa in 1994, then we spent many summer days swimming in the pool at the KOA. 

Unforunately as of a few years ago the KOA is no longer there. : ( Any evidence that it was there is nonexistant so much so that it's hard to even imagine where the KOA was as it looks so different. Then you factor in the major expansion that were done to the Cherokee Casino to make it into the Hard Rock...

Oh well I'll always have my memories of the way it was, and in my 30 years change has always been a constant...especially when it involves your child.

So back to the bachelorette party...we booked a couple of rooms, of course the room that the Bride was staying in was a small suite. We had planned to have dinner at Toby Keith's I Love This Bar & Grill. I had called to see if they would let us make a reservation for our party of 12, but they would not. So I get there a little early to get our name on the list and they tell me it's going to be a THREE HOUR WAIT!! That just was not acceptable so we had to choose an alternative restuarnant which ended up being the Italian Restaurant, which after they told me it would just be an hour wait, it ended up being two. Thankfully we did get to sit down and eat, even if they had to put us at two tables.

Here's just half of the crew.

From there we had a VIP table the Friction Night Club in the casino, where we danced the night away.

The biggest significance of this night was that it was the first night I spent away from Bryce. Since Nic had to work early the next morning, Bryce stayed the night at his Mamo's and Papa's along with his cousins. We both survived!

This past weekend was the wedding. We started the weekend out with most of the bridesmaids and of course the Bride getting manicures and pedicures on Friday afternoon.

The next morning we were up bright and early. I was tracking down some greenery to make arrangements and the bouquets. It was my Mom's bright idea to do it ourselves. Thankfully one of the bridesmaid's mother also helped, otherwise it all would not have gotten finished.

It was a day full forgetfulness. My little sister's dress and shoes were forgotten, the plates for the reception were forgotten, and my mom took out her carseat forgetting that she would be taking Bryce home that night.

The one thing that could have turned into a disaster was the zipper busting on one of the Bridesmaid's dress. We didn't have time to replace the zipper since our pictures were in about 10 minutes, so thankfully someone had  a sewing kit and we literally had to sew her dress on!

 All in all the ceremony itself went off without a hitch, I didn't pass out and all the vows were said correctly.

Then to the afterparty...uh I mean the rehearsal. But before the rehearsal there was a little pre-party on the party bus!

Then we made it, and I was forced to do a speech, which was short and sweet...but no tears as everyone thought there would be.

Bryce was in a "I want my Mommy, so nobody else touch me" mood, as evidenced by him trying to push his Daddy away.

Then I dressed Bryce in his jammies, before he went home with Granny (in the car seat out of my car) for our second night apart. BUT before they left he and I took a picture in the photo booth. You'll have to ignore the pink pacifier, he found it at my Mom's and it's become his favorite.

The wedding is over and my sister is happily married. So now hopefully things will settle back down to normal.

An Oklahoma Blizzard

All I know is that darn groundhog better NOT have seen his shadow!!

I know there are many areas in the country that are used to blizzards, but here in Oklahoma we are not one of those areas. Yesterday we had a record breaking snow fall with measurements ranging from 10 to 20+ inches. I know in my short 30 years its the most snow I have ever seen...or atleast recall seeing. Also tonight I believe we are going to have a record low in the negatives.

One of my facebook friends posted this picture and it couldn't be more true!

My office has been closed for two days, my college had been closed for two days, and schools are out for who knows how long. Yesterday we had the unfortunate luck of our electricity going out. Knowing it was going to get really cold in our house real quick, we packed up and headed to my Mom's, even with Nic's 4 Wheel Drive truck we got stuck at the entrance of our neighborhood and struggled in other areas. Fortunately our electricity wasn't out for long so we made the decision to head home...there's just something about sleeping in my own bed!

Beside gas stations and Walmart nothing was open, it was like a ghost town. I couldn't believe all the vehicles I saw stuck, I can't imagine what some of those drivers were thinking to even attempt it in their Toyota Camrys and Honda Accords, I wouldn't have even tried it in my Pathfinder. Even if I wanted to I couldn't get it out of our driveway. It's buried!

We get a weekend in the middle of the week, however the best thing is that I was supposed to have a test last night so I now have another week to study...and with such a horrible teacher I'm sure I needed it.

So there is a major case of cabin fever in my household. After having a warm weekend where we were able to spend a little time outside, we're now cooped up in the house. I did bundle Bryce up and briefly take him outside.

He wasn't sure if he liked it or not. He definitely didn't like his sunglasses on and maybe didn't like the three layers of clothes he had on either!

Since I've had a little extra free time, I thought I'd get a post done. I hope everyone stays warm and safe, because I know we're not the only ones that are dealing with the brunt of this storm!

Happy Anniversary!

Today marks 8 years of marriage to my wonderful husband. My husband surprised me with a GORGEOUS bouquet a flowers that were delivered to my office. I even blushed when I received the call from the front desk stating that I had a delivery.

Well I was going to share a picture, but my computer doesn't want to read my SD card so I'll try to add it another time.

Who knew how much things would change in 8 years, with the biggest change just occuring in the last couple of years. If anyone says marriage is easy, that's definitely not the truth! The truth as all of us know is that it's not easy...at times it can seem impossible.

We've both changed a lot as individuals and as a couple, especially with parenthood. Nic has become a phenomenal husband and father. He always tells me he just tries to do his part, but the truth is he does way more than his part including a lot of mine. My job now is in downtown, which isn't too bad of drive directly from our house because it's all highway. However 4 days of the week Bryce stays at my Mom's which is on the completely different side of Tulsa including lots of stop signs and the worst two highways in Tulsa. On those mornings/afternoons my one-way commute time is right at an hour. The best way Nic has began to help me is to take Bryce anytime that he can, and/or pick him up, which splits my commute time in half. He also continues to do a big part of the housework. Sometimes I wonder how did I get so lucky! I just have to remember to show him how much I appreciate him. When I'm finished with school I plan to take some of these chores back from him.

In our time together we have been through a lot, gone many places, met many new friends, and learned lots of new things. Here's to many more years together...and maybe another baby at some point!

So to avoid having a completely pictureless post I will add this photo of my nephew and Bryce. It's not a great photo as it was taken with an iPhone but I think it's pretty funny...just ignore the chocolate on both of their faces!

Slipping...

Hopefully I can get back in the routine of this blog thing again. I just cannot get a handle of time and make it slow down because it is going by WAY TOO FAST! Here we are midway through January and I feel like Christmas was just last week.

I had every intention of posting on the 4th and I knew exactly what I was going to write since it was the 1 year anniversary since I returned to work after Bryce was born. Also we had just completed a full calendar year of Bryce's life which when we look back on 2010 it's always going to be a year of most of his great firsts. But 11 days after the fact won't have the same effect.

Not only can I blame Bryce for keep me busy, but my new job...well now that I'm 10 days shy of being there 90 days I guess we can just call it a my job...anyways, my job keeps me busy from the time I sit down at my desk in the morning until I've worked my 8 1/2 hours (6 on Fridays). I truly enjoy it and I love that I do stay extremely busy. Now if only finishing my degree would seem to fly by as fast.

Since the beginning of the year Bryce has started a few new things to help make 2011 memorable.

To begin with a first, Bryce got his first black eye Monday the 3rd! He's become quite the dare devil and likes to test the limits. He was trying to slide down his slide on his feet, he'd creep to the edge and then sometimes he wouldn't fall then a few times he would. Well this time he did and hit another toy. Then to top it off at the same time he had two scratched between his eyes from pulling his wooden puzzles down on him. So I called him my little UFC fighter!

Here's a picture of it. It really is hard to see, but it was his left eye. Needless to say he's resumed going down the slide on his belly.

Dare devil is not the only word to describe this little boy, he's also a rebel. I guess the two kind of go hand in hand. He definitely pushes and sometimes exceeds the limits. He's started shaking his head no, sometimes in anticipation or maybe it's a confirmation or acknowledgement of "no". For example: He's pretty much killed all of my indoor live plants, and probably would kill the artificial ones if they were alive. So when he walks over to the artificial plants he turns to us and shakes his head no. Sometimes he still tries to pull the leaves off, sometime he does't.

He's started blowing kisses in his own unusual way. He puts his thumb in his mouth and pulls it out real fast so that it make the popping/smacking sound. I don't know why he started that because he can make the kissing sound, which he does mostly for the dogs, but I guess from watching us blow kisses that's what he thinks we're doing. I've tried to get a video of it, but he hasn't cooperated with me yet.

On New Year's day I noticed that his top molars are coming in. I was surprised since I expected him to get a few more teeth in the front first. He still only has his 2 top and 2 bottoms. I guess his body thinks he needs those molars a lot more than the others right now...and I would have to agree since this child LOVES to eat. I haven't been able to spot the bottoms but they very well could be hiding in there as well.

He's also began having coffee (decaf) in his sippy cup in the morning. He saw my Mom enjoying her coffee one morning and he wanted some. To our surprise he liked it and has come to expect it every morning he is at Granny's house.

Since Bryce began walking we have had a difficult time getting him to wear shoes. Everytime we'd put shoes on him, he'd act like he had blocks of cement on his feet and would not move. I had bought him a pair of tennis shoes a while back, then my Mom bought him some really cute Converses for Christmas, and then my Step-Mom gave us a pair of Squeakers. I really liked the Squeakers because they were lightweight and I thought he might like the sqeaking sound.

Finally after a few tries in the Squeakers, including one test run where he held on to anything he could while he first walked in them, he will not only wear the shoes without complaint but he will walk in any pair of shoes including the heavy (but adorable) Converses! He's even started bringing his shoes to me to put them on, along with his jacket or coat...and my coat!

I guess that's all for now, but before I publish this post I'm going to share a video. Since's Bryce's toy room is overflowing with toys we moved the Rocking Horse into our bedroom since he's still a little small for it. Well the other night he spotted it and of course wanted on it. He then showed us that he is not too small for it!

Falling behind...

So much for catching up on the blog during my break from school, it's just been so nice to have time to read for pleasure and to go to bed around 9pm.

So Bryce's 2nd Christmas has come and gone. Santa was very good to him along with everyone else. Unfortunately for us, but fortunately for him, he received LOTS and LOTS of toys. We are almost out of room for them, I can't imagine where we'd put them all if we didn't have the second living room that we have.

Before I get to the pictures I'll share what's been going on.

As for my first semester back at school as a Mom, I took 9 hours and I'm happy to say I made the President's Honor Roll with all A's! Hopefully I can keep my 4.0 GPA at NSU. That could be stretching it a bit, but I'm going to try.

Bryce still isn't saying much that we can understand, there's a few words: Mama, Dada, yay, and he attempts banana.

He still has just 4 teeth. Despite having so few teeth he still manages to eat 2 waffles for breakfast! This child can put down some food like nobody's business.

For almost a month straight now Bryce has been sleeping all night in his crib. He still fusses a little sometimes when he's tossing and turning, but he's able to put himself back to sleep.

Otherwise he's as happy as always!

So A LOT of pictures (and a video at the end)...some of these should have been posted a while back.

Excited about the Christmas tree.

Bedlam! Thank goodness the Sooners won!!

 Helping Mommy decorate the tree.

Then undecorate it!

Bryce's own little Christmas tree.

Since Daddy had to be at work by 7am on Christmas morning, we made a special request that Santa come early Christmas Eve morning.
And this is what we found that morning!

Someone is still a little sleepy.

A short time later we went south to spend some of Christmas Eve with my Dad and his side of the family.

 Then we headed back home to spend Christmas Eve evening with Daddy's side of the family.

Christmas morning Bryce and I went north to Wichita, KS to spend Christmas with my Mom's side of the family.

What's up??

So Thanksgiving has come and gone. Now the mad dash for Christmas shopping begins...actually I think it began before Thanksgiving!

I did get our Christmas tree up and wrapped a few presents I bought over the weekend. Other than that, that is all I have done as far as Christmas decorating besides redecorating the same section of the tree over and over because Bryce likes to undecorate it.

For this semster of school I've got a project to finish and 2 finals to take then I'm done for a few weeks. I'm looking forward to not having to spend my free time after Bryce goes to bed doing homework.

Since Bryce's first birthday we have taken away the bottles, we're all sippy cups now. His last bottle was Thanksgiving night before bed. Fortunately he didn't even notice. A while ago he quit falling asleep with a bottle, so it was actually a pretty easy transition. The transition from formula to whole cow's has gone really well as well. I was trying to finish up the rest of the formula we had but he seems to spit up or throw up every time he has formula, so I guess I'll just toss it. Next to conquer... the binky addiction!

Bryce had his 1 year check-up on Monday. Nic volunteered to take him, so I wouldn't have to take off from my new job. I felt kind of guilty that I wouldn't be there to comfort him after his shots, but I was glad I didn't have to see the monstrous tantrum he threw after the shots.  Bryce weighed 21 lbs and 15 oz (21%), was 29 1/2 inches long (31%), and lets just say his head circumfrence is in the 78th percentile. : )

Dr Rossman encouraged us to pretty much just let him cry it out at night.  She said to shut the door and turn the monitor off.  She promised he would still love his Mommy in the morning. I really didn't want to ever do it, but I guess I had to as a last resort. 

Getting him down, once we got back in our routine, has been pretty easy. I lay him wide awake in his crib, and press the 'belly' of his sea horse. He settles in and falls asleep in 10-20 minutes. One habit I'd like to break is that I stay in the room until he falls asleep, but that will come in time.

So I decided Tuesday night I would try it, I would turn the volume on the monitor...I cant't make myself turn it all the way off, I think I deserve a little punishment. That night I was able to hold off from going in his room until 3am.

Wednesday night I was able to refrain from going in his room at all until after I had showered in the morning. So we made it an entire night.

Last night was the best night of sleep that either Bryce or I have had since he was born! I'm not including Nic since he stays at the fire station 1 out of every 3 nights, so he's had ample opportunities for an entire night's sleep. Bryce was asleep by 8:20 last night, he fussed a little just before 10pm. Then I didn't hear a peep out of him until 5am!!! He got up for the day around 6:30am. SUCCESS!!!! Let's hope tonight is just as good if not better!

My job has been going well, I've got so much to do that the days fly by. What's even better is I have my schedule worked out where I get off at 1:30pm on Fridays!! My company is very charitable and I guess every year they "adopt" families for Christmas and the floors are assigned gifts to purchase for these families. This year instead of several small families our company is adopting a few large families.

The family that my floor shares with a couple of other floors is a family of 7, mom and 6 kids!!!! I cannot even imagine. If being a single mom isn't challenging enough, the youngest who is a 1 year old girl, also has spina bifida.

Near our elevators there were little mittens and hats to choose with gifts listed on them. My floor was assigned to purchase gifts for the 1 year old girl and the 2 year old boy. So the gift I chose was the purchase "2 or more shirts" for the 1 year old girl. I'm always the personal that usually buys gifts based on the needs before the wants. I wanted to go ahead and get the pants hat/mitten too, but I thought I'd allow others the opportunity to buy for them as well. If there's any gifts left over to buy as the deadline approaches, I'll grab another.

I feel very fortunate that Nic and I can provide whatever Bryce needs and even wants,  and still be able to help out those less fortunate.

I'll post pictures later!

As promised...our first "family vacation" review. Better late, than never.

At around 4:00am Saturday November 6th, we loaded up in my Pathfinder and headed to the airport to catch our 6:10am flight. After a short stop in Houston, around 10:15am we landed, albiet a rough landing,  in 15 knot winds on our beloved island of Cozumel!

It was my 8th trip to the island. Since I had a short visit when I was early in my pregnancy we counted Bryce as being there for his 2nd trip ; ). As mentioned in an earlier post we stayed at El Cozumeleno. I'm not a really big fan of the All-Inclusive resorts, I don't really care to eat my meals off of a buffet but I find that they are a little more relaxing. I can't make myself eat every meal at the resort, but we did manage to eat at least 2 of out 3 meals every day.

Despite getting to the hotel at 11:30am, two of our three rooms were ready. After doing some unpacking, we changed into our swimsuits, ate some lunch, and were ready for some sun.

Instead of sunshine, it was cloudy and windy...not my ideal beach vacation weather. Apparently a cool front had just came through, a "norte" as they call it, and usually lasts a few days. Oh well we made the most of it.

We decided to eat at the hotel restaurant that night for dinner and the food turned out to be really good.

The next day was Sunday. The sun made an appearance, but the wind remained. While waiting for the rest of our group to arrive we watched some kiteboarders take full advantage of the wind.

 It looks like so much fun when they catch a wave a fly up into the air.

We spent a little time on the beach, relaxing.

Our final two traveling companions made their appearance around 3pm.

That evening we ventured out to town, to eat as Casa Denis and enjoy the local Sunday Fiesta. We were disappointed to find that Casa Denis wasn't open, so plan B: Plaza Leza. I had forgotton how great the beef tacos were there! YUMMY!

 Enjoying some songs from a local singer.

Bryce tried on a sombrero.

Monday the weather definitely improved and we took full advantage of it, enjoying Miami Vices and Blue Hawaiins by the pool.

That evening we watched the awesome sunste before we ventured into town to eat at my favorite restaurant, Especias.

Bryce got to meet the owner of Especias, Adrian who always greets us with a hug!

Back in April of 2009 we had quite the memorial night with Adrian. I did not partake in any of the Don Julio activities, but it was still quite enjoyable for my pregnant self.

Tuesday morning half of our group went snorkeling on a tour with Roswitha Flury. In 2007 I had did a snorkel tour with her and enjoyed it.

After snorkeling we returned to the hotel, played bingo and lounged by the pool. Real exciting stuff! That evening we had dinner at the hotel restaurant and once again were pleased with the meal.

Wednesday morning we negotiated a price with a taxi driver to take us around the island to the east side. The east side of Cozumel is primarily undeveloped aside from a few beach bars/grills and one wind powered hotel.

First stop was Mezcalitos. Where most of us enjoyed small but strong margaritas.

.

Our next stop was Coconut's, where we once again enjoyed margaritas...and lunch too!

Our last stop was Paradise...Rastas...er maybe the Bob Marley Bar...I don't know I can't every get that last one strait!

After returning to the hotel we spent the rest of the afternoon laying by the pool.

Nic and John participated in a horse shoe tournament and won!

That night we had dinner at the hotel again. We did learn not to order the mahi mahi...well one of us did!

Thursday was our last full day! Usually by this point in the vacation I'm ready to go home, but it just went by way to fast. I think I could have stayed another week. Since it was our last full day we spent it doing absolutely nothing!

That evening we had dinner in town at Casa Denis's, where we tried to have dinner on Sunday night. No one was disappointed!

Food was great and everyone (except me) enjoyed a celebratory shot of tequila!

Bryce kept himself entertained by playing peak a boo with the table cloth. 

Upon our return to the hotel, I put Bryce to bed and Nic's Mom was kind enough to stay in the rooms with him while we went out to the hotel "nightclub". Of course  I was ready for bed by 11pm!

It was a great trip and I was truly sad to see it end, I literally had tears in my eyes as we were on our way to the airport. At least I know we'll be there again sometime in the future...I just don't know when.