It's Weird to Think I've Only Been a Mom for 12 Weeks :)

****I put Audrey down for a nap at 3:30. I did kickboxing for 30 mins in my living room to an on-demand-video my sister-in-law showed me that I have for free. Then I did some bible reading/praying for 30 mins. Then I thought about what make for supper and wondering what Chris was up to. Usually he's home by now. So, I thought I'd push my luck and write a quick blog while my sweet baby is sleeping. I hear her quick little breaths on the baby monitor :)
****Today I had lunch with my friend Casey. She is home from Garden City, Kansas where she is a teacher! She has to go back soon :( Casey is such a great listener. I find myself babbling and on because she listens so well :) She's always been one of those friends that you can talk to for hours :) Thanks for hangin' with me and Audrey and happily putting up with Audrey's mood swings.
****Audrey is 12 weeks now and she's one of the joys of my life. I adore being home with her and watching her learn and grow. There is nothing better! I love when we lock eyes and I talk to her and she makes cooing noises back to me and makes big eyes like she's excited that we're talking. I also love holding her my lap and reading to her. Sometimes she'll sit and stare for three or four books long, but then sometimes 1/2 a book is enough for her and she wants to wiggle on the floor. She can really hold her head plus her upper body up when she's on her tummy. Tomorrow we're getting her 3mo. picutres done at Target. She'll only be 3 days shy of 3 mo. I hope it goes well, this is our first time going to a studio with her. My goal is remain calm and enjoy the process even if she crys (I hope she doesn't!) I tried to plan it at a good time, but each day has its own good times and they're not always at the same time.
****I have to go to work on Monday, bah, let's not talk about that. I could blab on about all the things that bother me about that, but insted, here are the positive. I only have to work 2-3 evenings a week and every third weekend, I can help provide for our family, Chris gets to get to know Audrey better and to spend quality time with her by himself, I get to use my brain in a different way by critically thinking at work (I could do without this, haha), um, what else, hmm, other people get to spend time with her by watching her after I leave and before Chris gets home....Yeh there are good things, but I know I will be sitting at work thinking about what my sweethearts are doing at home and wishing I was there. I know Chris can do it! It will be fine :) Also, I can give glory to God by showing his love to my patients and caring for them and trying to be a positive co-worker. I'll do my bestest.
****Ok, I shall go! Audrey 's still sleeping and Chris is still gone. I hope he's not in the middle of some horribly stressful meeting or something! I'd like to have supper waiting, but I never know when he'll be home :)
****Hope you all have a wonderful rest of the week! I'm excited for Jenny's shower on Saturday (my future sister-in-law) at her mom's house.

See ya!

Audrey in her exersaucer, she likes it a lot!

Chris made this happen :)

Snuggling with my sleeping girl

All ready for church and getting Daddy kisses

11 Weeks Old

Audrey was 9 weeks when I blogged last and now she's well into her 11th week. I feel like she's changing a lot this week. I can't really put my finger on what it is exactly, but I think I can see her becoming more aware of herself, other people, and the world around her. She makes eye contact longer, smiles more, looks at her feet and hold her own hands. She grabs onto things, like shirts or the sides of her swing or car seat and she has a few new noises. No laughing yet, but some squeals and shrieks. She loves her swing, her mobiles, a mat she lays on with toys dangling above it, wiggling on the floor, "standing" on people's laps, and so on.

Within the past week or so she's been sleeping longer stretches, like 6 hours max. I was hesitant to call that sleeping through the night. However, on Tuesday night of this week she slept from 10p to 6a! 8 hours, so yes, sleeping through the night it was. Last night was 10:30 to 5a, so not qutie as well, but we're getting closer to being more consistant (I think) She is also taking longer and more consistent naps, which I LOVE. Her best nap as of this week is right now, from around 3-5:30! She went down at 3:30 today, it's 4:30 now and she's still sleepin'. She's also staying awake longer and stretching out the times inbetween eating.

A few days ago my friend Kelsey had Audrey and I ovet to her mom's pool. I ended up having Audrey in the water, she was so relaxed, she didn't mind it! She also had a fun day on the 4th with all her relatives. Grandma E. watched her so Chris and I could go to the fireworks, thanks Gran.

I feel like I have nothing else to talk about besides Audrey...I have to go back to work on the 20th. I'm trying to convince myself it's ok, but the thought of it pains me quite a bit. I disliked it before, but now I don't to miss any of Audrey's life. I am very thankful to go back 24 hours a week though thanks to my hard working husband :) Chris is at the big blue building in Rochester, I think everyone knows that by now. It's been a super busy week (quarter close) for Chris and the other financial peeps. He's at meetings (on the phone) and working on files and finding people who used to do the job he's doing to ask questions. It's a strange place. It's like here, do this job, the guy who used to do it moved to Antartica and he cannot help you. No one else knows how to do it, so you'll need to start from scratch or drive to Antartica to find the guy that knows how to do it. Oh wait, he forgot how or never did it in the first place, oh well, good luck, it's due by noon. Heehee, ok not quite that bad, but pretty much. This is not his dream job, but I know God has big plans for him someday, when, I dunno, in His timing I supppose.

I'm making tacos tonight, so I better get on that. It's so complicated. Put meat in pan, add water and seasoning, done! Yes! I love tacos.

I have more to say but I'll leave it for another blog before I lose your interest. Here are some pics for you as of this July!


She's such a big girl in this picture!

Grandma, we match and I am captivated by your shirt!

Oh uncle Gavin, you are hilarious!

Pool Time!

She put her own hand on the handle, haha.

Audrey Through The Weeks

Here is a brief summary of Audrey through these past 9 weeks! I won't comment much on the hospital stay and such cuz it will take too long. But everything went well and so many people came to see Audrey. She is so loved. She has been an absolute joy. I stare at her and cannot believe how beautiful she is. We love her so much and are so thankful to God for the blessing that she is. She makes everyone happy whereever she goes. She is surrounded by people that love her and I am so grateful for that. Sometimes it's hard, when she won't take naps and doesn't sleep well at night, but I know it will keep getting better. It's a bit exhausting at times to think about planning the day around her and the eating and such, but it's all worth it for her! She's so much fun to talk to now because she smiles and cooes at whooever is talking to her. She can really engage now and make eye contact for quite a while. Nothing is better than seeing her smile, she is just so precious :) Ok, here are the pics and such. It starts now at nine weeks and goes back to the beginning. PS: Last night I got to sleep from midnight to 5:45am, a new record!

Nine Weeks Old: Really tracking things and people with her eyes, watching her mobile and looking at everything. Moving hands everywhere and keeps hitting herself in the head. Lots of smiles and cooing when people talk to her!

Eight Weeks Old: Lots more looking around, sleeping longer, usually just get up once a night now, around 4 or 5 and then back to sleep. Love to sleep on people and not in the crib in the day, we're working on this, haha. I got a record 5 hours of sleep in a row.

Seven Weeks Old: Making spit bubbles now! Got vaccines and weights 12.2 lbs now.

Six Weeks Old: Many more smiles. Lots of eye contact and moving around. Love to look at the sky. Randomly turned over from belly to back, but haven't done it again since, just a fluke I guess. Still get up 2X a night to eat, but I love rocking her back to sleep afterwards.

Five Weeks Old: Chris was changing Audrey and she smiled at him. I rushed in and I got one little smile too! It was the best moment ever! I kept finding her in her crib lying on her side all curled up of with her legs stuck throught the crib rails. Making cooing noises and went to Ryan and Katie's wedding.

Four Weeks Old: Starting to look around and notice things, especially light out the window. Like to stare at the TV. Lifting neck a little more when lying on tummy.

Three Weeks Old: Baby dedication at church and Mother's Day!

Two Weeks Old: Started crying and not sleeping all day anymore. Started getting gas pains in the evening. Now 8lbs 12 oz.! Longest sleep I got was 4 hours in a row.

One Week Old: Sleeping randomly and a lot, we just do whatever she wants! 1st baby appt, she pooped 2X while we were there! Went on walks, garage saling, Culver's, Walmart. G+G Hemmer babysat her for the 1st time and Chris and I went to Mr. Pizza. 1st road trip to Adams, MN to see Great-Great Grandpa Neil

1st Day at Home: We brought Audrey home and layed her in her pack and play, where she did all her sleeping for the 1st 2 weeks. Then I finally felt comfortable enough for her to sleep in her crib.

Audrey Joanne Part 1

Hello all.

I have gotten several requests to blog, but I am finding it very very hard to do. I have too much to say and no time to say it. I can bearly focus on typing this as I am expecting a baby to cry any second...

So, anyways, you all know everything but just in case you wanna know again..

I had a baby! Audrey Joanne Lewis was born on April 19th 2009 at 5:17am. My water broke the evening before (after a 12 hour shift at work) at Whistle Binkies (akward). We finally got to the hosital an hour later and so labor began. At 4cm I had an epidural and less than 2 hours later I was 10cm and she was comin'. Labor was 7.5 hours and I only pushed for 35 mins. The pain was quite intense, I don't think the epidural did it's job towards the end, it hurt real bad, lemme tell ya.

All the sudden a screaming little baby entered the world. She cried for a few seconds and then before I knew it she was plopped in my arms. Chris and I stared at her in amazement and what do ya know, she stared right back for a very long time. She looked so tiny and perfect. Her face was delicate and petite, not all bloated and blotchy like I excpected it to be. We gave her lots of kisses and she was taken for a bit to get her hep B shot and some other things.

OK, she's crying now, so I guess that's all we're getting for now.........to be continued

Just got my gown on and I'm ready as I'll ever be to have a baby!

Audrey Joanne, on her birthday. 8lbs 4oz, 20 and 3/4 inches.

What a tiny little sweetheart. We love her more than we could describe.

A Big Belly and a Track Meet

Yikes, here are some belly pics. I hope they do not disturb you. Tomorrow I'm 39 Weeks!

32 Weeks

36 Weeks

38 Weeks (This one disturbs me)

I love my new lil' side table, it's perfect. Now, I just wait for the dresser/changing table that Grandpa E. is making us and the room is done!

Ok, so the due date is in 8 days and life changes forever! Or, it's in like 18 days if I have to wait a few more weeks and be induced, bah, let's hope not. Chris and I guessed the 24th, so I'll just hope for that, or any time sooner! I have to work this coming weekend, maybe the intensity of being there for 24 hours will bring about labor?! Right now Audrey is stretching up to my ribs and pushing! She's a good girl though, but she does love to wiggle. I did not sleep good last night. I woke up 3X to pee! A new record. But oh well, I'm sure I'm sleeping better now than I will be in a few weeks.

In other news, yesterday I went to Gavin's first home track meet. He's a thrower and out of 3 teams he got 1st in discus and had the 4th best throw in shot put. He was very unhappy with his discus throw, cuz he threw 10 feet further in practice, however, he still won :) It's fun to watch him throw, he's so smooth. Yesterday I also met Kelsey and Heather for lunch at Noodles and baby David of course. Kelsey's birthday was Monday, so it was sorta like a b-day lunch. It was lots of fun, David entertained us with his cute faces and noises, what a little sweetheart. Then we walked over to Cold Stone and had icecream. I realized that it's very hard to hold a baby while you pay for your ice cream and try to eat it. I was practicing multi-tasking and now my left bicep is killing me! Kels must have strong arms after these past 11months. David is getting super funny. Now when Kelsey pulls out her camera and points it at David, he stops everything he's doing and kinda poses for the camera, as still as can be. Then I got a call from Chris that someone was coming to look at our townhome (this is the 3rd time someone's looked) so I ran home quick and did some extra tidying and then went to Kelsey's house. We took David for a walk around her neighborhood. We thought maybe if I walked I would have the baby, no luck! Then we chit-chatted outside in the wonderful sun and watched David play in the grass for the first time. He really liked the twigs and sticks and of course, he tried to eat one. Mom and Dad came over last night and watched Idol with Chris and I. Adam was my fav of course. It was a very very fun day and it was so nice to be able to be outside.

I wonder if this'll be my last blog before the baby's born??? Ya never know.

So long!

I don't know why but this computer is making me blog under Brianna's thingy.
Any way I wish You all Happy Rabbit day.
Later Gator.

A Little Family

Audrey is due in.....18 days, 9 hours, and 24 minutes (my mom's blog has a countdown, I didn't acutally do the math here) So....we're excited! We realize she could come tomorrow, or in like 4-5 weeks, but whatever, we are, I think, as ready as any two people could be who've never had a baby before. Today we put the car seat in Chris' car, the other base is also ready in my car, so we're ready there, I guess the only thing I could do now is pack a little bag to take with us, I spose I should do that soon. We're excited to meet her, but it seems very unreal that we'll actually have a baby.

So, here is a sweet pic Mom took of our lil' family, heehee. We love each other so much and we're excited to give Audrey all the love we can :) So, pretty soon I'm sure my blog will be dominated even more by her :)

The Bestest Couple I Know!

Happy 27th Anniversary Mom and Dad! Love you both so much and I hope you have a fun day celebrating together!!!!!!!! xoxoxoxoxoxo.

Overnight Two of Two

Well at least it's the 2nd night so I can say it's over after this! It's 3:25, which means I have 3 hours and 35 minutes until the next nurse gets here. Then I have to give report to them, which will most likely take until 7:30. So, I'll be in my bed in about 4.5 hours. Hurry up!

I am very very sleepy! Tonight I have 2 totally different patients. Since I floated on Fri, I've managed to stay on my own unit for 2 shifts in a row! My peeps are sleeping through the night, which is very rare and odd. It's also a little unsettling, I'm not used to being out of their rooms for so long. So I sit here by the monitor and make sure they're doing well and peek in on them every hour at least.

I just got back from break. I had a little salad and a 100 cal pack and regular Sierra Mist and I read my book. Now I am covering for another nurse's break. His patient is not as stable as mine, so I'm keeping a close eye!

Today (well yesterday, Sunday) was fun. I went to bed right when I got home around 8:00a and slept until 1:30p. I just woke up and couldn't sleep no longer. Chris had just gotten home from chruch. So we just hung out, loungin on the couch. Oh yeh, we went on a walk, it was so pleasent outside! I loved it! I sorta felt like I got exercise, haha. Then around 5:00p we headed out to chuch for Dora's "Send me to the Czech" fundraiser spaghetti supper. It was so yummy! There was salad and garlic bread and little desserts too. Lots of peeps showed up, I hope she got a lot of donations! We sat with my parents and Brad and Julie, it was fun to hang out a while before work. Then I had to head out to 'the Mayo' and here I am.

I was hit hard when I got here, my patients were super busy at first complete with the overbearing family memebers. As one family member left, very reluctantly, at midnight, he made a great detailed speech about the location of the patient's water cup and how she may not be able to reach it and how I just might have to peek on her every so often and see if she needs water. I politely told him that I would be checking on her regardless and that I would certainly help her. As soon as he left, the patient was finally able to rest and has been sleeping pretty soundly since! The family member called me as soon as he got home to see how she was doing..... she's sleeping sir. Hahah, oh dear. It's hard to have patience, but I would certainly be concerned about any family member of mine.

When I was on break, Audrey was kicking like crazy, like a maniac, it made me laugh. I think she's confused as to why I'm awake. Heehee.

Welp, it's about time for 4:00 assessments and some meds and I think I hear an IV pump beeping. See y'alls later!

Overnight One of Two

Well here I am on my OWN unit, nice. I'm hoping I can get away with not floating tomorrow night either! However, get this, the med. ICU is full, so we're getting their overflow patients, so I am on my unit, but have 2 MICU patients, hilarious. Acutally it's fine, I'm just glad to be here. I'm on the small side of the unit. So, it's just me and one other nurse hanging out down here. It's pleasant!

I had a blah day, just ask Chris, I was sad and grumpy. I get very miserable on Saturdays when I have to work the overnight weekend. I try not to, but all I can seem to do is dwell on it and how much I hate it! It's never THAT bad when I'm here. Obviously I wish I was home right now, but it's ok. So, I did manage to take a nap from like 2:30-4:00, so that was nice. Chris told me I needed it, hahaha. He and I cleaned up the house (although it's already ridiculously clean) for the open house we had today. We have to keep it clean all the time because someone could come look at whenever. No one came to the open house, sad day. We ate outside at McDonalds today, although I had Wendy's. Chris had a random McDonalds craving. It was a joy to sit outside! Then we drove around and looked at open houses but didn't go in any, probably cuz I was no fun and just wanted to sit in the car, hahaha. Thanks for putting up with me Chris. Later we had tacos and got some groceries. Oh yeh, I bought the new People magazine for tonight, I should go get it! Or maybe I'll save it for my break at 3:00a.

Well, I guess that's all I have to say! I get a break in a 1/2 hour. Then when I come back I'll have 3 hours left, yes!!! It's going pretty fast. The hard part is just knowing I gotta come back later today.

See ya alls later!

Happy 1st Day of Spring

I should probably update.....

I am sitting here at work, floating to the Medical ICU, what's new and all is pretty well. They gave me 2 patients, one is confused, the other is angry, neither I feel comfortable leaving alone, so a PCA (patient care assistant) is sitting in the other room. The charge nurse realizes "this isn't ideal" but isn't changing it regardless. So, yeh, thanks for the friendly assignment! not.

I am so antsy to get home, I wanna go so bad! 2 hours left. So, I thought if I blogged it would take up some of the time....

We're getting excited about the baby. Since I last posted I've had 2 baby showers! The first was at church thrown by my aunties Julie and Susan. Lots of peeps came and lots of presents were opened! The next week My Gran E. and aunt Jodi threw me an "Erickson" side shower at Grandma's. I was so excited, everyone was there, even Jenny! It was so fun. We played games, ate the most delicious food ever, and opened more presents.

Baby Audrey has so much stuff! The once empty closet (after I cleaned our junk out) is now filling itself right up. I bought 80 baby clothes hangers from Target and they're all full and that doens't count the numerous outfits that came already with hangers. So, yeh, oh and then there are many many onsies in packages not hung up! There are about 8 or 9 blankets, many toys, bedding stuff, a pack n play, a boppy pillow, a bumbo seat, health care stuff, silverware, one bottle, pacifiers, books, dolls, shoes (3), hats, bibs, a swing, a monitor, a baby carrier, burp rags, and so on. I think I pretty much got what I need and then some. There are a few other things I'd like to have, but they're not completely necessary.

Yesterday I put together the swing (it was a beast to put together) although to give the company credit, they did recommend I put it together with another adult, hahaha, but I said no, I can do it. Then I put together and took apart the pack and play, it was easy! It's so cute, I got it with our Target gift cards and some money we got. It's not one of the super extravagant ones, but it's cute, sorta tan/brown with green and monkeys, haha. It's got an insertable bassinet thing so when she's little we can lay her in that and not have to bend way over. I also washed the crib stuff and put it all back on the mattress, so it's ready to go! Now I just need the baby! I read more from a good book I got about feeding/sleeping schedule stuff. It's a lot of common sense, but really good to read too. Some of it's different than what Mayo told us, but I feel like I agree more with the book. Haha, we'll see.

What else....I am feeling huge. It's hard to move and bend over and turn over. I am now taking prilosec and a bit of a higher dose and I have zero heartburn and I only have to take it once a day, sweeeeeeet. Audrey moves a lot and makes my belly move along with her, but that's fun. I'm 35 weeks, so it's gettin' closer!

Hopefully you're not all sick of my talking about baby stuff. What else, we have our 1st open house tomorrow, no body has come to look yet, well someone was gonna, long story with the lock box, and they didn't get in, but hopefully someone comes tomorrow, although we're not in some massive rush either. Who knows how the timing will all work out. I've done a lot of hanging out with Chris, going out to eat, just being togther, visiting my parents, going out to eat with them, haha. We went to Austin to take Linda out for lunch for her b-day, that was fun! We had a b-day party for Gavin turning 18 last week, that was also fun. I had lunch with Heather once at Noodles and Chris and I ate out with Kels, Jeff, and Davind another night. David is getting so funny! He's a hoot to watch and so cute too :) I think he will see Audrey and try to poke her, haha. One thing I haven't done in over a month, is go to a movie, I need to do that soon! Hint hint, anyone? Too bad I work all this weekend :(

Well, I'm sure there's more to say, but I'll end it at that. Thanks for all the guesses on Audrey's due date and such, I'll let y'all know who was closest!

~Brianna (see pics below! All are stolen from my mom, heehee)

Me and the "great-grandmothers" to be!

Susan and Julie threw me the shower!

A fun collage my mom did. I'm spoiled.

Shower #2 by Jodi and Gran E!

Cindy, Jodi, and Michelle, a bunch of wonderful aunts!

Alex, Jensen, Me, and Megan, my girl cuzzies!

Big Baby

You've probably already seen this pics, but if you haven't, here ya go! The last 2 are me @ 32 weeks!

Chris and I are getting very excited for our baby to come. It seems very unreal that it will actually happen and that we will have a little baby. It's been just the 2 of us here for 2.5 years, I cannot imagine what it will be like to have another person here! When I think about it, our lives are very easy and simple. We go to work and have a few other responsibilities, but other than that, we do whatever, whenever. Come and go as we please for however long. All we have to bring with us is our coats (and other frozen tundra gear) shoes, and my purse! Soon we will have a ton of things, along with a baby, to bring with us everywhere! We will have to plan and think ahead to what we can do and what we need. We can't just leave and go to a movie or whatever. I also expect that it will be very challenging when she comes home. The thought of feeding her often and not sleeping much seems very exhausting along with the loud crying that I'm sure will be frequent. However, I'm still very excited and feel that all the extra responsibiliy and challenge will so be worth it. God has truly blessed us and I'm excited to do my best to take care of a tiny person! I'm mostly excited because I get to do it all with my best friend and husband Chris! Then there's the extreme bonus of my amazing family members and friends who I expect will love her too! Every day she seems to get bigger and stronger in her kicking, so I'm getting excited to meet her and we're so anxious to see what she looks like! Will she look like me, Chris, or a random combo? She is due in about 7.5 weeks, ahh!! It seems close, but yet far too.

Anyhoo, here's a fun game for all of you. I remember Kelsey doing this before David was born and I though it was fun. You should leave a comment answering the following questions:

Audrey's Birthday: (remember, she's due on April 23rd)

Weight:

Length:

Hair/Eye color:

Looking more like me or Chris:

A Glider Chair

Mom and Dad took Chris and I to a furniture store a while back to have us pick out a glider chair (yes, glides, not rocks) for the baby's room! Since I'm sure we'll be spending a lot of time in her room feeding her and waking up with her, they thought we should have a quality chair to sit in. We loved this chair at the store and thought it was cozy and would last, probably forever. So, we chose it and and last week Mom and Dad suprised us by bringing it over!

Mom and Dad putting in a few screws

Note the padded arms, very nice.

Chris likes it. Note, the sides are solid, so little kids can't pinch fingers or arms or legs inbetween anything.

So, now the chair sits there and I probably sit in it at least once a day just gliding and thinkng and imaginging her being here. I could sleep in that chair, it's so comfy. Chris said he also sat in there and pretending holding her, heehee. So, we're very grateful for this generous gift! Thanks Mom and Dad, I know we will enjoy it for all the years to come :)

Graveyard Shift

Good news, I only have to work Sat overnight and not Sunday! I worked last Wed to make up for this Sun, so someone else is working my Sun overnight, yes! Hey, she asked, so I said YES!

It still seems like the night will never end. It's hard when it's on ly 1am, cuz there's six hours left. Not shockingly, I am floating, wow, I don't think I've EVER worked a full weeked on my own unit, whatever, I don't even care anymore. I actually assumed I would be floating. And to my happiness, I am in the neuro ICU. I love floating here, I always have the best assignments and nothing usually too critical so mostly, I dont' have to worry too much.

In the place of a very critical patient however, is the trade-off for a very needy patient. Needy patients remind me of working on Ortho. I spent from 9:30pm until now, 1am, trying to make her comfy. I have now given enough drugs to zonk her out a bit. I shouldn't speak too soon though, she's only been quiet for like 20 mintues. Basically as long as she's awake, so will be the resident, because I will be having to call him repeatedly. He'll figure it out soon enought that he needs to give me more drugs if this doesn't work! I spose it's better to give "baby" doses of everything then give too much.... Anyhoo, I'm hoping for her sake and my sanity, that she sleeps at least some of the night. Shoot, she just turned her head. Sleeeeeep sleeeeeeepppppp.

I am going on break at 2am. I am glad to do it, but I always feel so gross after eating in the night. I forbid myself popcorn, it tastes so good, but it feels so bad in the tummy afterwards. It's so werid, they serve regular food in the middle of the night, so my choices will be like hambergers/chicken/pizza/fries/cheese curds/motzarella sticks and then like vegetables of all sorts. Nice huh...nothing like fried food at 2am. Maybe I'll have mashed potatoes.

Today was fun. Mom and Dad were due to pick Chris and I up at 12:30 so we could go to lunch at Erb's (they volunteered to pick us up). Insted they showed up at noon with our chair! They bought us a glider chair, a very lovely and nice quality one, for the baby's room, for rocking/feeding her and such! We picked it out a few weeks ago and I'm so excited it's here! It looks very nice in the bedroom next to the crib, I'll have to put the pictures up soon. It is so comfy. I feel like I'll fall asleep in it. Thanks Ma and Pa! Then we ate and Chris and I went to an open house for fun, it was cute and pretty. Then we went over to my parent's house for a while. I helped Mom put away Brice's "Christmas village" that has been up in his room for like 4 years. It's about 12 or so houses and little figurines that he collected and set up. It included tons of fake snow and about a million light cords to unravel and dust. Now you can see the shelves in there again!

Soon I had to leave for work, sad day, Chris drove me through the drive-thru at Wendy's and soon I was off to work. Chris and Dad went to the JM/Century b-ball game, so hopefully they had fun.

Well, she's officially awake and moaning again, I shal go see what I can do....poor lady.

Goodnight and I hope you are all sleeping!

Mayo won't let me look at Facebook :(

Well, tonight is weird, I'm working a night shift, which is 11pm to 7am. A girl asked me if she could work my upcoming Sunday 12 hour overnight if I'd work her 8hr overnight today, I said, YES! I'll give up a 12 hr shift anyday!

It was very very hard to leave home for this shift. Chris was in his jammies and I felt like I should have been too! No fair! Now that I'm here, I'm ok. I have a very pleasent patient who is doing well, pretty well. So, I get to just hang out and keep an eye on her.

I'm not sure how I'm going to fill my time inbetween doing things with her, because I can't get on Facebook, what is the deal? I wonder if they're blocking it, jeesh. So, I'll just write a blog insted. I don't appreciate them blocking it, if that's the case. I am a responsible adult and my job as a nurse comes first, over Facebook. I would like the ability to be on whatever website I want when I have downtime. It's not like I'm going to be sitting on Facebook while my patient is in need of me. Whatev. They monitor us like we're prisoners. They're probably watching me write this right now! Hello!

This week has been lazy-ish so far. I worked Mon evening, did not much on Tues, and did not much today. Chris and I did go to Applebees for supper tonight for fun and then visited Mom and Dad and watched Idol.

I'm at a standstill with baby things. I guess the registries are mostly done. We just need to pick stroller, swing, and highchair, the stoller being the most important. I think I've done all the research I can do, I just need to pick :) The lil' baby is becomming quite the kicker. I just felt a strong kick. She's probably wondering why I'm awake and moving around at this time of day! I finally bought Pepsid today, well technically, the offbrand, due to my reflux. Tums don't really work, plus if I chew up another one I think I'll barf, yuck. I was told I coudl do Pepsid, so I'm trying it. I hope it works, my esophagus burns man!

FYI, when you're buying drugs/vitamins whatever from the store, you should look to see what the active ingredient is and then compare the fancy brand with the generic and most likely they are exactly the same drug, so pick the cheaper one! This also goes for soap/acne stuff, it's all the same, if you can get over the uglier bottle, you'll save lots of $$$. For example, my off brand famotidine was $7, vs the brand Pepsid, which was $15 for the same amount and they're identical drugs. Neato, I'm such a genius, heehee.

Chris and I had our 4th of 6 prenatal classes last night. The topic was drugs, ya know, like epidurals, which I plan on having. We also did some breathing exercises again. We were encouraged to try different things, sitting on the ball, backwards in the chair, lying on the floor, and all the while I got a backrub from Chris. What a good lil' supporter he is!!! I'm so glad to have him!

Tomorrow (later today) I think I'll try not to sleep the whole day away....but I don't work again until Friday evening and Sat 12 hr overnight. Then I think I get 3 days off, whoop! I'm so excited to go down to 0.6 FTE (24 hrs/wk) after the baby is born! I'm very lucky that Chris is supportive in this! It will hopefully allow no daycare and me being very very glad! The sacrifice is less income, obviously, but we're planning for the future around this.

I'm trying to think of more to say so I can take up more time, but I guess I'm out! I'm gonna take a break at 3-4am, then I'll have 3 hours left! This 8hr overnight goes pretty quick!

Talk to ya later!
~Brie

More Birthday Fun

Mom and Dad came over yesterday to watch the Superbowl with Chris and I! My dear mother made me a very wonderful chocolate cake. She also brought icecream and pizza too! And of course, some presents for little ol' me. My parents are so sweet, they never forget about my birfday, heehee. Thanks for hanging out with us, we love you!

Here Dad and Chris are acting out how the football game is making them feel. I made them do this :)

Chris is so upset, he's falling over

Chris, me, and my yum yum cake.

Mom and Dad got me rechargable batteries for my new camera! I'm so excited, no more double A's. Also a pretty pretty frame for Audrey's room and Dots (my fav)!

My 25yr old self with the cake! Yep, they even sang to me and I blew out candles.

My sweet mama and me.

Well, there you have it, my fun weekend is over and now it's on to work....

Scroll down for more new blogs :)

Magna Cum Laude

Look what Chris got in the mail! His diploma. It's official....he's a Bachelor of Arts! His official major is Business Administration (Management) with a minor in Management Information Systems! Not only did he graduate, but with honors! He's Magna Cum Laude, whoo hoo! I am very proud of my husband. I saw him start and finish college, working very very hard the whole time and never giving up! He's going to walk in the graduation ceremony in June. I can't wait to see him in his robe and get a picture of him with Audrey!
I love you Chris and I am so proud of you! Yay!!!!!!!!

PS: Scroll down, I was a blogging maniac and did 2 more :)

A Quarter Century Old

My birthday was yesterday and I turned 25! It was so much fun! First, we woke up and got to go to Perkins. This was very exciting for me because I love their french toast and hashbrowns. Chris isn't much of a "hot" breakfast person, so this isn't something we normally do! Then we drove up to the Mall of America. I was supposed to pick out a present, this was a deal, but I couldn't do it! I felt very bad, but there was just nothing I wanted! I had lots of fun just walking around and lookin' at stuff. I think Chris' highlight was the amazing Best Buy there with drums you could play and such, it was fancier than the Rochester Best Buy. We had a small Burger King lunch and were there for about 5 hours. That's about 5 hours of walking, I got a foot rub later! Then we drove to our hotel. I got a nice discount (for being a Mayo employee) at a hotel in Oakdale (around 10 mins East of the mall) that my parents have stayed at and liked. It was very pretty! The room was nice and it had an extended continental breakfast, yes! It was hard not to eat and eat and eat. I thought it would be fun to do something like this before we have the baby and don't have to arrange a babysitter, although I'm sure someone wouldn't mind :) Around supper time we drove to Woodbury, like 5 mins away. There are a ton of stores there and we ate at Champps (yes there are 2 p's). It was so yummy and I took 1/2 my meal home, so big! We later played rummy and watched a movie! It was sooooooo awesome to just spend the whole day with Chris, it made me very glad. To me, the whole day was one big present, especially since Chris told me I wasn't allowed to feel guilty about all the eating out and the hotel :) He also got me seasons 1 and 2 of House, which I have wanted for a long time. We got them on Amazon cuz I REFUSE to own them for $50 each (from the store, that's just sick and wrong). It was a wonderful birthday just taking out time and being together :) I also got calls and texts and facebook messages and emails from all my dear friends and family, thanks guys!
PS: The pic of Chris on the bed is when we got back from the Mall of America, haha, he fell into a deep sleep!

The Baby Room

So, we finally got a crib, or should I say the worst decision maker alive (me) fianlly picked one! We chose a crib from Pennys (free shipping!) and a mattress from Walmart as a gift from my Hemmer grandparents (spoiled). Okay enough parenthesis usage. It came in 3 days and Mom and I picked it up! Chris and I put it together in 40 mins, it was easy! And, we love it! Now the baby bedding has a home.

Me allen-wrenching a screw in.

Chris putting up a side.

Yay!

Us with our baby's bed, haha.

I bought wooden letters and decorated them to match her room. Her initials, Audrey Joanne Lewis.