We have a nephew!

Brendan Lawrence was born this morning to Jenn's little sister Beth and her husband Bill. He weighed in at 6 pounds 15 ounces and 21 inches long.

Welcome little nephew!!! Your Aunties love you!

Pittsburgh Trip-First Night

As you know our trip started off awesome with my little brother, Marshall, surprising me! We went out to dinner that night and then hung out in the hotel room laughing.
Marshall and Delaney at dinner:

This was also good for Chris. See poor Chris is the only guy. Joni, Lyz, Jenn, Avery, Delaney, two dogs, 3 cats and me, outnumber him. He claims that the fish are all guys so that he isn't alone. With Marshall around, Chris had a guy to gabber with.


I happen to really like this picture of Marshall (aka small fry) and I:


Jenn and Marshall take a pretty good picture too:


Thank you for coming Marshall!!! Thank you Jenn, Chris, Lyz, Joni and Avery for surprising me!! They caught it on camera...I was really clueless!!

Surprise!!

So we check in to the hotel here in Pittsburgh tonight and change to get ready for dinner. Avery calls and asks us to go downstairs to meet them in her room. Their room is different than ours and Lyz asked me to go into the kitchen to see if it is different than ours...

SURPRISE!!!



That is my little brother! He came and met us here to stay the night and hang out! Jenn surprised me! (Chris and Lyz were in on it too)

Yeah!!!

Happy New Year!!!

I love New Year's Eve...this year more than any other. It is a fresh start. The (pardon me) shitstorm that was 2008 is over, and this new year just has to be better.

I worked until 5:30 making sure everything was under control for the party that The Hotel throws, and then we headed to Jim and Elissa's for dinner and Wii playing. Dinner was very very yummy. Those two make a quite excellent pot roast. Mmmmm.

The have me addicted to a new Wii game and Jenn and I will be out there buying it soon. (But right now we are still too addicted to a different Wii game to get off our lazy butts and buy a new addiction.) I had way too much fun playing that game with Skyler, Austin and Annabelle. Belle made my heart melt by sitting with/on me the entire time. We really need to make a better effort to get out of our house and see our friends, I miss them. I never realize how much I miss someone until I see them again.

And I made a boo-boo. I forgot to bring my camera in. So no pictures of the fun with them :( (Although I am kinda happy that there is no picture of me doing really really badly at the get the ring on the bottle game lol)

The Jim and Elissa family then headed to her momma's house and Jenn and I headed to Lyz's. Chris was working so it was just her and the girls. I was forced to remember my camera there because Elissa had sent Avery's birthday present and a welcome present to Delaney with us, and wanted pictures of them being unwrapped.

Avery unwrapping a really cool dinosaur:


Avery showing Jenn the sweetest little baby ballet slippers!:


Then we spent a bit watching tv and relaxing. We had only intended upon staying until 9 or so...but after a long bit of roller blading:

and watching Delaney sleep:

it was suddenly 11:30 and we figured we should just wait out the half hour and watch the ball drop.

We toasted the new year in style:

(relax, it's sparkling cider, we didn't get the 3 year old drunk)
We put on some silly hats:

And brought in the new year with a bang of fireworks and pots and pans.
(opps, no picture, must have been a little loopy from the sparkling cider)

The year just has to be better. I'm sorry that we have put so much pressure on you 2009, but you have to come through for us. You simply have to.

Happy New Year to you all...may this be everyone's best yet.

The baby's here the baby's here!!

**Warning...this post does include lots of newborn baby pictures**

So, sorry for the lack of a mingo monday this week, I was preoccupied!!! Lyz's c-section was scheduled for 1pm on Monday December 8th.

Lyz is one of those uber-patient people that does not want to know the sex of the baby until that magical moment when the Dr. says "Its a _____". But that ruins some of the fun for Lyz, since she is in recovery when Chris goes out to the waiting room and announces to the family that mom and baby are healthy, and that the baby is a_____.

So, Avery, Joni, Dennis, Jenn and I were kind and semi-patient and waited until Lyz came out of recovery and could introduce us to the baby herself. That was really really really hard. See, we saw Chris come down the hallway with a big beautiful smile on his face, and had to cover our ears and yell "LALALALALLAALALA" to remind him. He took other family members into the hall around the corner and told them and showed them the video and pictures. Then they all came back. And they all knew. And Jenn and I did not know. (Joni and Dennis had Avery at the mall keeping her occupied.)

In case you don't know...I HATE SURPRISES. With a passion. No surprise parties. I don't even like gifts and will go to all sorts of lengths to find out what people may have bought for me. It's bad. Very bad.

I shall give you our personal guesses on what the baby was going to come out as. From very early on I had determined that the baby was a boy. Constantly calling the baby him or he. The last time Lyz was in the hospital I was there when they gave her a very longl ultrasound. They went over that area so many times, I was sure I would have seen a penis if there had been one, but never saw one. And I changed to not being sure, but still leaning towards a boy. It just seemed like Lyz and Chris were going to have a boy.

Jenn never stopped doubting that the baby is a boy. Even elbowed me when a family member said he.

So....after waiting several eternities we were escorted back to the room where Lyz was waiting for us, without the baby. We hugged and chatted. Remember how I've told you that Lyz has the highest pain tolerance of anyone I know...she proved it again. This time they gave her a spinal so she didn't feel the c-section thank goodness. But she still looked radiant and showed no sign of pain what-so-ever.

Finally the nurse brought the baby in. Every time a nurse would come in we would all freak a little and remind them NO PRONOUNS!!! Joni, Dennis, Jenn and I turned our backs, and Avery sat on the bed next to Lyz so that Avery could meet and hold her little sibling for the first time.



As the nurse left the room she told Lyz "I'll be back in a few minutes to show you how to use the bulb syringe on her."

And that is how after waiting a million hours we found out that the baby is a girl.

A beautiful 10 pound 2 ounce, 20.5 inch long picture perfect little baby girl. Her name is Delaney Leuck. Delaney is after Chris's father Delmar, and Leuck is for Lyz's grandfather who just recently passed away.

What?? You want pictures?? Oh baby I've got about 8 million of them, coming right up!!

Avery meeting her little sister for the first time:


Mom and Delaney:


Baam and her newest granddaughter: (aka Joni)


I don't have any of Chris and Delaney in this set for some reason, so I'll show off Jenn and Chris celebrating instead:


Jenn and Delaney:



(I couldn't decide which I liked better, so you get them both)

Delaney, Avery and I:


Avery was a wonderful big sister. She made Delaney her very first birthday cake:

(out of playdough of course)

Jenn was given the honorable task of making sure that Avery got enough attention, which is Jenn's favorite task in the world. They had the playdough and a dinosaur coloring book that kept the two of them content.

There was also a little playroom at the end of the hallway and on one of their walks to it Avery looked up and asked Jenn "Am I still your favorite." "Yes, but I'm going to love and play with Delaney too" "Okay, as long as I'm still your favorite.

Avery screamed and yelled and bawled when it was time to go home. She wanted Delaney to come home with her. Awwwwwww.

Thank you for calling, texting, Facebooking or emailing us wishing us well on Monday. It wasn't difficult like I thought it might be. I cried more driving to the hospital than I did holding the baby. It was simply too happy of an occasion to let my own woes hold me down. We did lose it a little at one point, but that was totally expected.

Welcome Delaney. I am very much going to enjoy having you for a niece.

So....the cookie contest.

I woke up yesterday morning and kept staring at my phone. I wondered if they would call. I wondered if they were going to call, when would they do it???

Then I sat down and played Dr. Mario and forgot all about it.

Imagine my surprise when my phone rang, I looked at the caller id and just knew it was the newspaper.

May I speak to Heidi _____ please?
(she mispronounced my last name)
This is she.
Hi! This is Stephanie with Local Newspaper...you are a finalist in our Holiday Cookie Contest!
YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Mystery Cookies (tomato soup) have made it into the finals. On Wednesday, December 3 I go to our local baseball stadium with two dozen of my cookies to be judged.

The next few days will be spent practicing, since I haven't made these cookies in ages. Of course they pick the cookies I haven't made in ages.

I'm scared to death. I may have mentioned here a few million times that I am super duper shy. Am I going to have to speak in front of people? What am I going to wear? Will I get to take my support system with me? Ekkee!!

I will be bringing my Grandma's picture with me so she can inspire me (and the judges?) during this competition.
Scared to death, but oh so excited!!

My Mommy Dearest and little brother Marshall came to visit!!

Yes, this was the beginning of the week, but with all the progesterone stuff I didn't post about it yet!!

They got here Sunday night. I had kinda hoped that my Dad was going to come along too and surprise me, but he has to work on Mondays, so he wasn't able to. We missed you Dad!!

We talked for a bit and then headed to Red Lobster for dinner...mmmm how I heart their biscuits!! We went back to the hotel (one of the perks of working in a hotel is that you can put your family up for free because your boss loves you tons!) and played with the Wii. I had downloaded Dr. Mario to the Wii because of my fond memories of playing it with my family all those years ago when we thought the Nintendo Entertainment System was just the cats meow!! I used to love to play against my mother and drop things on her!!

On Sunday night I do believe that I kicked all their butts!! Jenn, isn't so good at the game. Her moves don't make sense to any of us and we were teasing her a bit about it. At one point Jenn and my mom were playing each other and I said "Jenn, all the sudden your moves are starting to make sense...what's up??" She replied that she was learning and wanted to impress us. After she had beaten my mother, Jenn and Marshall started giggling. Here after they had started Marshall asked Jenn for the wiimote and had been playing for her!!



(ignore the fatness of me lounging on the bed...goodness I look like a slug!)

Monday morning Jenn went to the hotel to pick Marshall up for a game of golf while I waited at the house for the maintenance crew to come install our new patio door. When they hadn't shown up a hour after they were supposed to we called the office to whine and reschedule for another day, I didn't want my Mom sitting in a hotel bored all morning. We went to the hotel dining room for breakfast and then headed out to Kitchen Kettle Village. My Mom loves that place! I joked with her while we were at her favorite store that she doesn't come out here to visit me, she comes so she can go to that store and seeing me is just a requirement since she is here.

We went back to the hotel and played lots of Dr. Mario waiting for Jenn and Marshall to return and then headed to the outlets to find Marshall some new jeans and my Mom a nice winter coat.

We met Lyz, Chris and Avery for dinner at Shady Maple. I tell my Mom all the time how cute and smart and just wonderful Avery is, and afterwards she told me that she really did live up to all my bragging! We had lots of fun, and lots of food--even sitting in the lobby after we were done eating continuing to talk and play.

Headed back to the hotel for more Dr. Mario and to introduce my Mom and Marshall to Wii Fit. I think we sold them on it. I love that thing, I don't use it as much as I should, but I sure do love it. (Except when it reminds me that I am obese.)

Met Mom and Marshall again Tuesday morning to go out to breakfast at Cracker Barrel, and then had to say our goodbyes...

Thank you for coming out to visit!! I love you both. Dad, come see me soon! I miss your awesome hugs!! Love you too.

The Innocence of Children. Or, I wish I had the answer sweetie.

On Thursday night we saw Skyler, Austin and Annabelle for the first time since the night we told them they were going to be "cousins". Elissa had already filled them in that we lost Blueberry, but this is the first time we've seen them.

When we got to the field (it was the coaches meeting for Annabelle's softball team, Jenn is Elissa's assistant.) Jenn got right out and went to say hi to Austin and Annabelle (Skyler was trying out for the travel baseball team). I stayed in my car and chatted with Elissa. Jenn and Belle came walking over and Jenn told her "It's okay, you can ask."

"Heidi," said Belle, "why did your baby die?"

This is something she has been asking Elissa a lot. When she asked Jenn, Jenn responded "I don't know." Belle said "that's okay, I'll ask Heidi."

I told her the same thing. I don't know. I wish I did know. She asked if we were going to have another one and I told her we are going to try. She liked that answer and ran off. Elissa said that Belle really wants there to be a baby, so she thinks that if Jenn and I don't have one, that Elissa should.

After she ran off Jenn asked if I was okay. I was a little teary, but I love that she wants to know, and I hate that I can't tell her. I hate that I can't tell myself or Jenn or anyone that wants to know.

Birth control pill packs come in packs of 28. Four rows of 7.

The first row of 7 I partied each night doing a countdown...27...26...25...24...23...22...21...

The second row of 7 I was quiet about it. Swallowed each pill dutifully. I even stopped complaining about them giving me the poops.

I'm in the third row. The fourth row doesn't really mean anything, they are just sugar pills, meant to help those actually using them for birth control to keep on track, so I don't need those ones.

There are now only 4 pills left, and each night when I swallow one, I start to panic a little bit. I'm nervous. I'm kinda afraid to get pregnant again. Which I am hope is totally normal. I'm not saying I don't want to be pregnant, or even that I don't want to try. I'm just afraid to be pregnant. My poor doctors office will have to let me in everyday to check the baby's heartbeat (or babies if you follow Jenn's dreams and believe that this will be twin girls). I'm afraid to tell everyone until I can't hide it with clothes anymore. But I'm not going to stop blogging, so anyone who reads this will know when it happens. And I'll have to tell everyone that doesn't read this so that they hear it from me, and not through the grapevine. I want a new baby(ies he he) to be as celebrated as Blueberry is, so everyone is going to know. I just hope I don't have to untell everyone again.

We've got a little wager going between Jenn and I. She thinks that now that we know how my body works, we'll get pregnant first shot. I know my luck, that ain't gonna happen. I say at least the second try. I also know my body. I've been told that Aunt Flo should show up 2 or 3 days after the pills run out. So, I translate that to my body to mean at least a week, if not two!!

Anywho, I must be off to Skyler's birthday party. We'll be playing lazer tag and watching a lazer light show. And by we'll I mean that I will be helping Elissa hold down the fort and take pictures!!

Thanks Mom!

I "worked" eight hours today. Let me break that down for you.

Hours I actually did what I am paid to do: 0.75
Hours I spent working on homework: 1.25
Hours spent playing with my mom's Webkinz: 6