Keeping the Spark Alive

I know I promised you more Susie wedding photos, and I will get to them . . . I promise.

I just had to interrupt the fairy tale with a little reality.

This evening, John, Megan, and I were taking a walk.

The following is a little excerpt from our conversation . . .

John: Wow, your birthday is coming up. What do you want for your birthday?

Lisa: Hmmm, I don't really know. I can't really think of anything that I want.

*thinking harder*

Lisa: Oh, I know. I want to go out someplace and come home to a cleaned house. You know, all the toilets cleaned, all the sheets changed, floors washed, laundry done, etc. Oh yeah, and dinner already cooked too.

John: Couldn't I just BUY you something????????

***************************************************************

Dear, dear Susie . . . I hope you realize what you've

gotten yourself into with this whole marriage thing :)

Flower Girl - The Wedding Part 1

This past weekend, we traveled to Dayton and stayed at

John's parents house to attend Susie's wedding.

It was a beautiful day for a wedding - sunny skies and a warm breeze.

Megan looked like a princess as the flower girl.

The ring bearer (Landon) and the flower girl - they were so cute together.

I think it was love at first sight between the two of them. In the picture below, Landon brought Megan some flowers and Megan replied, "They are so little!"

I love this picture of her. It was before the wedding and she was getting restless waiting for her big moment to walk down the aisle. She decided to make silly faces in the mirror to pass the time. How adorable!

Megan starting getting a little distressed when the breeze was blowing the flower petals out of her basket. (She took her duties as flower girl very seriously.)

I love this picture of the "big girls" convincing Megan it was ok if a few petals fell out.

I have tons more family pics I'll share soon!

What's Cookin' Wednesday

You guys, it is way too hot to cook!

My air conditioning is set at 70 degrees.

John is walking around the house in sweat pants and I'm still a hot, sweaty pig.

A hot, sweaty pig that is going out for dinner tonight!!!!!!!

What We've Been Up To Lately

On June 19, we celebrated Megan's actual birthday.

I had planned to take her to the Loli-Pops concert at the park but a wicked thunderstorm canceled that event.

We went to an indoor rec center instead. My friend Andrea, her daughter Anna, my sister Katie and her son Colin joined us for the fun.

We enjoyed a delicious lunch and then some Italian Ice to cool us (ME) off.

Later, Megan got to chew her first piece of gum.

She has been asking for a while, "Mom, can I have some of that (gum)?" I kept responding, "When you are three." Well guess what, three came sooner than I expected. Maggie Moo reminded me of my promise, so here she goes . . .

Not tryin' to brag of course, but I've heard many children swallow their first piece of gum right away. I must have a gifted gum chewer on my hands. I am so, so proud.

A few days later, I took her for a little haircut.

Doesn't she look so grown up?

I'm throwing in a little Father's Day pic too, as long as I'm doing a catch up blog.
Here is Megan presenting Daddy with the yearly traditional gift - a garden stone with her footprints in it. He was so shocked :)


Sorry for the boring post. My typical hysterical self is in a pregnancy induced coma.
Please forgive me.

Happy Birthday Maggie Moo

Three years ago today you were so stubborn, the doctor had to pull you out of my womb.

You spent most of your babyhood crying - I think because you wanted back in.

Now you are so grown up.

Your tears and attachment to me have been replaced with a fierce sense of independence.

You insist that you are a "big girl."

But you still let me snuggle and kiss you just like when you were a baby.

I love you, Sweet Megan Kate.

Happy Third Birthday!!

Candy Bandit

OK - so it happened again.

I was in bed,

blissfully sleeping the morning away

while my child was up and getting into all sorts of mischief.

It was the day before her birthday party.

Megan found the treat bags, brought the stool down from her room to reach them on the counter, and silently helped herself to all the candy.

I didn't hear a thing.

I came downstairs and found this . . .

and a little of this . . .

Since my camera was right there on the counter, I snapped some pictures of the crime scene.
(Trying not to laugh, of course.)

I really had to try not to laugh when I asked her what she wanted for breakfast and she replied,

"I had breakfast already, Mommy. I had candy for breakfast."

But I absolutely couldn't stop myself from laughing when I went through the pictures on my camera and realized my little bandit had PHOTOGRAPHED HERSELF during the act.

Yep, that's my not-at-all-sneaky candy bandit.

Three Years

I seriously can't believe my little girl is turning 3!!!

We had a little celebration this weekend for family and friends.

The theme for the party . . . hmmmmm . . . Dora (big surprise.)

I almost hired a juggler and a magician to entertain the kids. I also considered having someone bring a petting zoo to the backyard. Then I remembered the stupid recession, the dwindling 401k, the period of unemployment when I vowed to change my spend-thrift ways . . .

Instead we filled up the kiddie pool and set up a slip-n-slide in the backyard. No one even missed the juggler (except for me :) Who says a leopard can't change her spots????

We had a backyard barbecue and then cake and ice cream . . .

Then we opened presents. We have the nicest family, friends, and neighbors who gave such thoughtful gifts!

Wow, her very first bike!

We don't typically ride bikes wearing bikinis in front of the house but Megan was so excited!

Doesn't she look so grown up? (weep weep)

Megan with her great-grandma, aka "Nana."

Three years have flown by so fast.

Sometimes I hold Megan on my lap, squeeze her, and whisper in her ear that she is growing up too fast. I beg her to slow down a little but time just keeps racing forward.

Very first birthday

First birthday

Second birthday

Third birthday

Watching her grow and learn has made them the best three years of my life.

MIA

Why I haven't been blogging all week . . .

It will definitely not go into the Hall of Fame as one of my best cakes but cut me some slack. I'm seven and a half months pregnant over here :)

Boots the Monkey is missing from the cake. Megan ate him. She almost ate Map too but I caught her in time.

Tomorrow is the big party! Can't wait!

Next, I think I'll conquer health care, world peace . . .

Last night's city council meeting was full of contentious debate and monumental political decisions. It was exhausting.

The good news - I passed my first significant piece of legislation since taking office.

If you live in my city, you are no longer able to place a piece of indoor furniture (ie: couch) on your porch or patio.

Move over Sarah Palin, here I come.

Prayer Request

I'm choked up with some sad news.

A little five year old girl from Megan's dancing school, Kelsi, lost her mommy yesterday.

She died from complications during childbirth. I remember talking to her at Megan's recital about our upcoming births.

Her daughter did the most adorable little solo routine, dressed as a little blue bird. Her mommy was so proud of her that day.

My heart is breaking for the little five year old girl who will grow up without a mommy. (The new baby too.)

Please pray for this family. It is such an unimaginable tragedy.

Happy Anniversary!

Winking at you was the best decision I've ever made (next to marrying you, of course.)

I'm so glad you winked back.

What's Cookin' Wednesday

What do you get when you combine loads of tasty vegetables, chicken, lean beef, a delicious homemade marinade and a hunk of a man to grill it for you???

Shish-KebobsYum Yum Yum

For these, I used a red pepper, a green pepper, container of whole mushrooms, a yellow squash, a zucchini, an onion, a chicken breast and about 12 ounces of lean beef.

Marinade

1 1/2 cups oil (I used extra virgin olive oil)

1/2 cup soy sauce

2 tbsp. dry mustard (didn't have any so I squirted regular mustard in there)

1/2 cup red wine vinegar

1/3 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

1 clove garlic (I used minced)

2 tsp. parsley flakes (I used fresh from the garden)

1 tbsp. ground pepper

Soak your veggies and meat for 3-4 hours or more in a giant bowl. (It doesn't have to be blue, but if you're jealous of my classy bowl you can pick one up for $1.99 at your local Walmart.)

Once they are done soaking, place your meat and veggies on skewers.

Wrap them tightly in aluminum foil and place on the grill for 10-15 minutes to steam them.

Take them out of the aluminum foil and continue grilling "until they seem done." (John's words)

If you're really lucky, you have a hunk of burning love to grill them for you. I can't decide what looks more delicious, St. John or the kebobs. Total toss up.

Watching him cook for me makes me sing him a song. I guess you could call it "our song." I've put it on the blog before. They simply don't write romantic songs like this anymore folks.

Let me take a moment to dedicate some of my favorite lyrics to my favorite guy in the world . . .

"Ummm, youre packed and you're stacked specially in the back. Brother, wanna thank your mother for a butt like that. Can I get some fries with that shake-shake boobie? If looks could kill you would be an uzi"

I love my St. John so much. Like so much, if I were a shish I'd want him to be my kebob. Now that's love!

Pregnancy Update - The Third Trimester

I'm still pregnant and growing rounder every day.

So round, in fact, that I started crying at the doctor's office yesterday and just couldn't seem to stop myself. I felt like a fool. Here's how it went:

Downstairs Doc: How are you feeling?

Me: *sniffle* I am so fat. I don't know what's wrong with me.

Downstairs Doc: You're pregnant. (hands me a tissue)

Me: *sob* But I weigh more than my husband.

Downstairs Doc: Your husband isn't pregnant.

Then I imagined St. John wearing a pair of my maternity great-grandma panties and all of a sudden I felt a little better :)

Seriously, I am doing just great going into the third trimester. My blood pressure was 93/60 and my glucose tolerance test was perfect. My back pain subsided quite a bit once I started walking instead of doing step aerobics. Weird, huh?

I'm doing so well that my doctor said I should come back in 4 weeks instead of the typical biweekly visits in the third trimester.

I'm pretty good at being pregnant. Now if only I was as good at the whole birthing thing . . .

We're still on for a planned c-section on August 17 but I can't help but continue debating trying a natural delivery. I'm not good at taking it easy after the birth and I'm not looking forward to the longer c-section recovery. (Last time I did sit ups and tore open my incision. Dumb I know!)

On the other hand, I think if I tried for a VBAC I would have to skip the epidural and really try to walk around to get the baby through my pelvis. Then I become very concerned I'm just not woman enough for that. I know my limitations.

And the debate rages on . . .

King's Island

Every year about this time I get the itch to plan a vacation to a far away land.

Remember last September's romantic getaway to Mexico???

I think we'll have to skip the exotic trip and stay home this September considering we'll have a one month old baby (and I'll still resemble a whale at Sea World.)

I felt a little sad about not traveling this year until I came up with a brilliant plan.

We'll just go to Cincinnati instead!

Hmmm . . . Cincinnati instead of the Caribbean??? Sounds like an even enough trade to me. (Yeah right!)

Here are the highlights of our trip to King's Island Amusement Park . . .

Megan got to meet her ultimate hero, Dora the Explorer.

And got to have an awesome time with her cousin Colin!!!!!!

Go Diego Go!

On the Giggle Coaster (only Megan hyperventilated instead of giggled)

Boots the monkey!

First bumper car ride

Since I wasn't allowed to ride anything, I just ate instead.

It was a fun trip and could hardly be considered a sacrifice.

(But don't you think for a second I'm not going somewhere more exotic than Cincinnati in 2010 :)