I Surprise Myself Sometimes

My dad has always been an avid Sherlock Holmes reader and loyal fan - which is why I steered clear of them. I thought they were a bit too above my reading level. But on a recent trip with my parents and my dad's handy dandy Kindle he tried to get me hooked.

My first story I read was, "A Scandal in Bohemia" where "the woman" is introduced. The strong, intelligent, and witty Irene Adler. I love a story with a strong woman. And well, I LOVED it. The stories aren't anything I thought they would be. I've been going online to read them. My dad received a new Kindle for his birthday so he his sending me his old one with all the complete works of Sherlock Holmes.

Honestly, I dare you, read them if you haven't.

That's it - I'm done.

So I had all the pregnancy books. I was reading them religiously, however, you want to know something? They were making me go CrAzY! I was turning into a paranoid weirdo. I was worried from the temperature of the water in my shower to various cramping and other weird things going on in my body (which is going to happen!!) I finally took the plunge and threw them away. And I feel so much better. I told my doctor he better just tell me the no's no's because I threw them out, and luckily he supported my decision.

Apple's Beat

I heard the Apple's heart beat today. It's such a beautiful sound. The big day of the ultra sound is November 19th, WOO-HOO!!

It's November and I'm Grateful

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays (okay, let's be honest, I love every holiday) and it's highly anticipated. I don't know if it's all the food I let myself indulge in coupled with a relaxing day, or if it's the next day that I look forward to. I do love having a four day weekend, and I have one man to thank for this, him:



As Thanksgiving draws near I thought it would be nice reminder to see the actual proclamation written by Abraham Lincoln proclaiming it a holiday (or I should, reiterating it a holiday, Washington proclaimed it a holiday but it was not celebrated consistently), and the reason behind for such a holiday. Lincoln had a way of turning words into elegant touching beauty.

**EDIT: I realize this is hard to read you can catch a copy here: http://www.infoplease.com/spot/tgproclamation.html

InSpIrE

I saw this on a website, I don't know where it originated. It looks like it's a quote based off of a quote by H.Q. Wells, and I liked it.

New addition

This is my sweet new niece. She is also my namesake - Okay, I really don't know that but we both share the same middle name so I'm going to say she is named after me and toot my own horn :) But I think she is adorable.

I can't get enough

I can't get enough of this candy, either can Brad. It's not sold in every grocery store, so when I finally did find a grocery store that had it, I bought 5 pounds of it. Yep, I have 5 pounds of it in my house. I probably eat about 50 pieces a day.

The Good,the Bad, and the Ugly

The Good: Currently, I am at home being lazy with my two favorite girls.

The Bad: I ruined two perfectly good dresses (one mine the other my SIL's) - however, it's washable.

The Ugly: Getting sick on myself while driving on the freeway in my Halloween costume... TWICE. (I got sick on my drive into work. Stopped at my SILs who let me clean up and found me some other black dresses to wear. Attempted to finally get to work, while on the way got sick again. This time I gave up and went home).

Verdict: Not my morning, however if you could see me now you might say it was in deed my morning.

Apple of my... womb?

At 15 weeks, this is the current size of my baby, who I will refer to as Apple (no, that will not be the name of the child just the nickname for the blog - it makes a cute nickname). I've learned I'm a little behind on this whole baby thing. Everyone keeps asking me, "Have you signed up with this baby site yet? Or this one?" And the answer is no. To be honest, I know I'm pregnant but it's still a little surreal. I still don't feel pregnant. I've been very lucky; my sickness has been minimal. And on the occasion I do get sick, I'm relieved because it reassures me everything is okay. I learned this was how my mom was too. But I digress, I finally got on the ball and signed up for baby center. It sends you daily updates of what is going on in your body and the baby's. I love it. However, the daily updated reminded me that I have 175 days to go! I still have a list of 1,000 things to do! I talked my dad into (and really there is no having to talk him into it I asked and he said, "Of course) to come out in February to be the "Project Manager" for our up coming project, "Prepare for Baby." Because really in a state of panic, distress, and chaos there is no better man to lead. Thank goodness. However, I keep pushing things off by going, "I'll just wait for dad to do that." Or "I'll just wait to go shopping with mom for that." Maybe once I know the sex I'll get more into the shopping thing. I won't know until Thanksgiving. I hope it comes soon.

What took us so long?

Our dogs are notorious for their lack of walking skills. They are constant pullers, and then when they actually see something pull worthy it's a disaster. We tried all the humane tactics to train the dogs to stop pulling, however it was to no avail. I finished reading, "Animals Make us Human" by Temple Gardin. She gave the most incredible insights into these furry friends we love and cherish like family. She said when you are walking your dog and it has the leash that attaches to the collar (around the neck) the dogs will pull because pulling alleviates the pressure and/or pain the leash strains on their neck, giving the dog instant gratification, therefore reinforcing the behavior of pulling. She said harnesses are a successful tool because it distributes the pressure on the whole upper torso, therefore the dog shouldn't have to pull to alleviate the pressure. So we decided to try them. And HOLY COW are they amazing. I couldn't believe the difference in their walking. It is actually easy to walk both dogs by yourself now. Now, don't get me wrong when they see another dog, skate board, little child etc. they will pull like crazy however the constant pulling during the walk has stopped. I've been converted.