Tomorrow morning we see an ear, nose and throat specialist about Parker’s hedgehog like noises she’s made since birth. It’s a condition where her esophagus hasn’t hardened all the way and it vibrates when she breaths.  She’s had it since birth, but I guess in most cases it goes away between the 9th and 12th month… hers hasn’t changed much. So anyway, our pediatrician said that one option is surgery, and hopefully we’ll have more answers after tomorrow’s appointment. Just asking for some prayers tonight. When Bailey had her birth mark removed last year it was so hard on her and us… watching your child in pain, especially pain you opted for, is incredibly hard.  I’m praying that there is a non-surgical route we can take and would love you all to join in prayer with me.

I will update more after the appointment.

OK, so FOREVER ago I was "tagged" by Fern and I’ve been putting it off. In case you are not a big blog reader, being tagged means that another blogger out there tagged you to answer some kind of survey or fill out some kind of list. Fern tagged me to write about 7 random things no one knows about me.

For some reason that is just SO daunting to me! First, I am an open book to my close friends and family, so there are few things that NO ONE knows about me. Second, how in the world do you answer this question when, like I’ve said before, so many different people in your life read your blog?  So I decided that SOME people might know one or two things on this list, but the majority won’t, and if I write something that offends someone that reads this, then they can stop reading, b/c, whatever man.

So here I go…

7 Random Things You Don’t Know About Me:

1. I refuse to eat honey b/c at some point in my life I decided that it’s bee poop, and even though I now know it’s NOT bee poop, the thought just makes me gag. HOWEVER, I WILL eat it on a Casa Guilardo (sp?) sopapilla b/c that is one of my all-time favorite desserts. And I don’t know why that is the exception b/c you can eat sopapillas without honey. Hmmm.

2. I will not sleep with any part of my body hanging off the bed b/c when I was a kid I watched Little Monsters with Fred Savage and it totally freaked me out! It’s about a world of monsters that live under the beds of kids and wait for kids to hang an arm or leg over the side. For the life of my I can’t remember what they do to the hanging appendages, but I know it wasn’t nice. I even have to look over the edge of the bed before I step down in the middle of the night.

3. Speaking of sleep, I still sleep with my blankie. And I mean, cuddled in my arms every single night. It even travels with me. At this point, 28 years after it was given to me, it is starting to fall apart and that scares me beyond belief. And I wonder why Bailey has to take "Teds" everywhere with her!

4. When I was pregnant with Bailey I become completely stupid. Seriously. C and I were driving down Division in Spokane (where we lived at the time) and there was someone selling shoes on the side of the road. His sign said, "1 pair $15, 2 pairs $25". I look at it and immediately go into a rant about how stupid people are. Chris had no idea what I was talking about and probably against his better judgment, he asked me what I was talking about. "Well, that guy back there selling shoes had a sign that said 1 pair $15 and 2 for $25, but 15 + 15 = 25 so it’s really no deal at all!" He let me rant for a few more minutes before he cut in with, "Jod, 15 + 15 = 30, so it is a deal." Oh. Quiet.  So anyway, there were many more instances like that during both my pregnancies and when I got pregnant this time I was nervous I would really lose my mind. In order to combat this, every night, no matter how tired I am, I make myself complete a Suduko puzzle. It probably doesn’t do anything, but I’m convinced it’s going to help me stay smart!

5. I will only eat pizza like a sandwich, with two pieces, face down on top of each other so that I don’t have to touch the cheese. We mainly eat Imo’s, OK OK OK, ONLY eat Imo’s, and their crust has NO grease on it… so when I put two pieces together and I only touch the backs of the pizza my hands don’t get greasy. Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it…

6. I got to design my engagement ring. When C asked for my hand in marriage (and he "asked" both sets of parents) each mom offered a diamond from their mother’s ring. He lived in Spokane at the time and he knows how picky I am, so Terri, my mom and I went to Summa’s Jewelers in Kirkwood to design my ring. It was an amazing experience that I got to have with my mom and soon to be mother-in-law! We chose an antique platinum band, the diamond for the center, and then fit the diamonds from each of our grandmother’s on the sides. Although I wasn’t surprised when he proposed, this was the perfect way for US. And I LOVED sharing that time with my two moms also. To this day, 3 1/2 years later, I still find myself gazing at my ring like I did when I was first engaged. And the best part for me is that I have a part of my Grandma (who was SO special to me) and C’s Maw-Maw with me everyday. It is definitely a ring that will be passed down for generations!

7. I’m ending with this one b/c I’m hoping that most people got bored a few numbers ago and stopped reading, b/c this is gross. And I can’t believe I’m admitting this… one of my favorite things about being a mom is cutting their nails, cleaning out their ears and picking their noses. As a kid I loved picking off scabs (I have the scars to prove it!) and peeling sun burned skin. I have no idea why, b/c it grosses most people out, but those things totally make me happy! And oh man, I can’t wait to pop their zits!

So, were those random enough? Who knows. What a way to start this cold cold Tuesday. Jess is on her way over to watch the girls so I can FINALLY get my hair cut! So excited, although have no idea what I want. I told Sue, the greatest stylist ever, that I needed a "style" b/c my hair is always in a pony tail and i feel frumpy too often, like everyday. She asked if I had time to keep up with a style and I had to admit, probably not. So she said just stick with the pony tail until I stop getting pregnant! Nice! If it’s anything great I’ll post a photo later. Have a good one!

Head over to Jodified today… lots of changes happened this morning while Parker napped! The best is that I finally figured out how to post the Christmas card designs I’ve been working on!

Just wanted to share a few photos from today… too tired to write much…

Bailey is old enough to have a camera "smile" and although it looks nothing like her real smile, I love that she’s posing for me! Enjoy each stage right?

How blue are her eyes? I am in love with them! Even when they are throwing away everything in sight!
And do you love the snowsuit that is too big, the boots that are huge and the sort of confused look on her face? She couldn’t walk very well and just seemed to endure most of our snow play today, but we’re pretending like she loved it! Bailey sure did!

Parker really wasn’t sure about sledding, but Bailey LOVED pushing her down our little backyard hill!

These are for a few Christmas projects I need to get going on and although they collected a bit of snow today they still will turn out great! Planning on posting photos when I finish them and have given them!

Ok, finally a photo share!  All it took was some snow to get my to break the camera out.  Have a great start to your week tomorrow!

I just need to give a SHOUT OUT to Mark Williams, an old friend from Damascus Road who reads this blog and emailed me directions on how to set-up my wireless router! I am now on the internet sitting on my couch watching a movie! You have no idea how amazing this is for me! 13 weeks into pregnancy and my hips are already so sore that sitting in a desk chair for too long is agonizing.  NOW, I can work from any other soft surface in my house! The couch, the arm chair, my BED! THANK YOU MARK!

My favorite blog to read is Kal Barteski’s. And a few days ago Kal had her first baby girl. Pilot Maile Kostenchuk. Love that name. Go read the reason she chose that beautifully different name… it made me cry. It makes me question the names we’re considering for this new life inside. Anyway, finding out she had the baby was such wonderful news this morning I wanted to share. Go check out one beautiful little girl: HERE.

It is thunder snowing right now, which my mom said can bring 2 inches an hour. I hope she’s right b/c it’s already looking like winter wonderland out my window and I would love to be snowed in tomorrow. We were half snowed in today… a few inches was enough for some fun playtime in the yard but didn’t keep me from running to Target for some essentials (like my new router for wireless I CAN NOT FIGURE OUT!) or driving around after dinner with my folks to look at TrimTrims lights and eat Ted Drewes. GREAT neighborhood of lights right behind Ted D’s if you’re ever in the mood to have your heart melt. So if the snow keeps up it would be great to have to stay inside most of the day, work on Christmas projects and watch Christmas movies… along with the occasional 30 minutes getting the girls dressed to go outside for the 10 minutes they last out there!

During naps today C and I reorganized our office/bedroom and it’s amazing how changing an over-used space can change your whole perspective. Three trash bags of my purging later and I feel lighter! Dusting/vacuuming/mopping and it definitely is cleaner in here too! I will take photos when my camera charges again (can you believe I missed the "first snow of the year" photos today?)… I swear after all the photos shoots and editing this fall I’m so happy to leave the camera in the bag for a while. But missing all the great snow shots will force me to break it out tomorrow I’m sure.  Anyway, I will take photos of the "new" office b/c we got rid of the BIG desk we were storing for the Crews Family, simplified the computer desk for the laptop, moved the OLD MAC upstairs to the playroom for the girls to play with (Bailey is SO excited to have her own computer!), and moved our beautiful Pottery Barn coffee table that’s been in the basement up here to be the girls new craft table (covered in layers and layers of craft paper first of course!). It’s more open, user friendly and kid approved. Can’t wait to finish the detailed organizing and use it! I see an art project in our future tomorrow!

And just b/c I haven’t posted photos in a while… these are from last week:

Wondering what’s going on here? This is the floor of our dining room, near the entrance to the kitchen. The girls and I were playing one morning in the living room which is on the other side of the car when I realized Parker wasn’t around. I couldn’t see her b/c she was hiding behind the car and she was so "busy" and quiet.  What was she doing?  One by one she was taking a piece from C’s favorite 1000 piece Christmas puzzle and pushing them down the vent.  She’s also sitting IN the box if you can look closely!

Needless to say that puzzle had to be thrown away b/c I know I didn’t get EVERY piece out of that vent! Parker is also obsessed with the trash can. One day she threw away a wrapped up dirty diaper and we were so proud of her… we hadn’t shown her how to do that and we thought she was brilliant.  Never clap too hard for your kids accomplishments b/c you never know how far they will take their new talents! She now throws EVERYTHING in the trash! I have found, in no particular order, her favorite stuffed animal (Sheep), 2 remote controls, 3 dish towels, a sweater, my shoe, Bailey’s shoe, magnets, spoons, new diapers, crayons, and a book in the trash in the last few weeks. It was so bad one day that I finally put the whole huge thing up on the counter!

She loves emptying drawers, moving things around, pushing items into other places, etc. ANYTHING that makes a mess and my life more chaotic during the day! And Chris wonders why the house is perfect and dinner isn’t on the table when he gets home! How can it be when I can’t get AHEAD of the messes around here, I just try to keep up! But oh, someday I’ll miss finding the most random objects in the trashcan I’m sure!

Have an incredible *snow* day tomorrow!

Laying low today and truly enjoying it. Around 6:15am this morning I randomly fainted. Luckily I have such a rich history of fainting that I knew it was coming and made it to the couch before I lost consciousness.  I was more scared of freaking out the girls than what was wrong with me at the time… and when I came to both girls were standing by my head just watching. I always wonder how long I’m out and this is no exception, but I don’t think for too long or Bailey would have started telling me to wake up.  Anyway, I’ve been sort of out of it/dizzy/queasy all day so mom took the girls for a little while and I just laid down. Now they are napping and after I straighten up a little I’m headed back to the couch!

Tonight is the Kuhn Const. Christmas Party and although I’ve been to these my entire life, some by choice, most by force, I’m SO excited about the one tonight that I’m willing myself to feel better! My parents, who are amazing cooks, are serving steak, lobster, caesar salad, twice baked potatoes, etc. To die for! And this is one of the first years that I truly like all the guys that work for them.  Kurt Bethel is an old college friend and my "work husband"… he’s just one of those guys you can’t help but love! Don’t worry, he is HAPPILY married to his adorably pregnant wife!    Anyway, the one that will make it the most fun is an old childood friend that now works for them, Jordan Pickeral! He and Chris crack me up when they are together so tonight will be fun! Aside from the not being able to drink (not that I really drink anyway I guess) or eat the lobster, I’m so excited!

I have all the gifts to wrap for tonight still, laundry to do so I have SOMETHING cute to wear, a house to straighten at least a little for the sitter tonight and a couch that is still calling my name so I’d better get busy! Hope you had an amazing week and if you are in the St. Louis area I hope you’re praying for the snow they are promising!  A snow day tomorrow would be SO fun!

So I get an email this morning from my mom that just said she was "sick of the Lawhorn’s". I immediately call her b/c I thought her and Pat had some kind of huge fight or something only to find out she meant that I was behind in blogging. Don’t do that to me mom!

So yes, I’m behind. This weekend was FULL and what I thought was going to be a laid back week has turned into a rush for 4 Christmas card orders I’m trying to fill.  WHY DO PEOPLE WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE?  I’m pregnant with two toddlers people! I need EXTRA TIME!   Most orders are of course for family or close friends, so I forgive them and keep chugging along!  But seriously people, call in September!

Anyway, I have lots to share and will try to get back on here tomorrow.  I want to get these cards out of my computer and to the printer also and that comes first, so bear with me. I’ll be back.

I shouldn’t have said that b/c everytime someone says that in a movie they end up dying don’t they?  Or disappearing for a long time like Tom Hanks in the volley ball movie. Anyway, I will be back and with Santa photos in tow! So please stick with me… that includes you too mom!