Paige's 8th Birthday!! 7-23-09

Well...it's hard to believe that my little Paigey-Pie is 8 years old already...OMG, it just seems like it was yesterday that I was pg with her.



She was actually due on July 24th...and the day before, I got up and went about my day as usual. In fact, early that afternoon, I had the carpets cleaned. While the carpets were being cleaned, I took Taylor and Chase over to Tammi's house to swim with Krystal and her kids. When I got there, they weren't there (she had to run a quick errand and didn't have a cell phone)...so I waited for about 15 minutes, but when she didn't come back...I had to leave because I knew that the carpet guys were gonna be done soon and I needed to get back home to write them a check. So...we loaded back up and started the 20 min. drive back home. During the drive, I noticed that I had had at least 3 or 4 contractions (about 5 min. apart)...so after I got home, I called Nolan and said that maybe we should run up to the hospital and have them check me. So...Nolan came home and got me...and I think Krystal ended up coming out to stay with Chase and Taylor (Jimmy was 15 at the time)...

Anyway...we got to the hospital between 4 and 4:30...and I was admitted (at 4-5 cm)...I still was not having any painful contractions...they were regular, but they didn't hurt. My sil, Kathie, met us at the hospital, cause she wanted to be there for the birth (she had been at Chase's birth too)...and my sister was on her way from Boulder (about a 3 hour drive). My doctor, Dr. Tonsing (who was not my regular doctor was filling in cause my reg. doctor was no longer doing OB), came in and immediately wanted to break my water. Ummmm...no! Cause then I'll have this kid in 20 min. with no pain meds and after my experiece with Chase's delivery...uhhhh no thank you. So she called down to anesthesia...they came and got the required blood work and around 5:30, Dr. Wonderful came and placed my very first epidural! It was nice, but you have to realize that at this point, I was not in any pain...I just didn't want to go thru another excruiating l&d like Chase's was. By 6 pm, my contractions had slowed a bit, so they started some pitocin. At this point, the nurse was having me roll from side to side after each contraction. All the while, we were visiting with sil and her dd stopped by as she was in the hospital visiting a friend who just had a baby the day before...so she and her own baby (who was about 5 months old) were there too.

All of a sudden...when I had rolled from side to back...I felt what I thought was like a gas bubble. When the nurse checked me...she started screaming not to move or push or anything. She's calling down to the nurse's station to see if my doctor is still there and thankfully, she was. Doctor comes running in and in 2 seconds the bed's broke down and we're ready to go. All the while, I'm thinking...wow...this is easy...if I'd only known this 4 kids ago, we might have ended up with 10 kids, LOL!!

So I gave a couple good pushes and there SHE was (we didn't know the sex of any of the kids before they were born). Nolan cut the cord and the rest is history!! Even Nolan said, " Uh Uh Plllthhhhh...that's it??"...I said what more do you want?? LOL Guess he was just used to the other births with lots of pain, screaming, etc...I have to admit, it was really nice to just push and enjoy the birth experience instead of being in excruiating pain!

So...our little Paige Marlena was born on July 23, 2001 @ 7:01 pm. She weighed 8 lbs...5 oz...21" long!!












Here's some more of sweet little Paige...

Lunch with Courtney at DCs on "B" Street:


Birthday dinner in Durango (Mom, Dad, Paige, Chase, Tim and Brian):




Holiday and Spring dance recitals:




After riding the Steel eel at Sea World San Antonio:



In Corpus Christi:



Paige in Arkansas last Oct. 2008:

Good Times, Great Friends...

Well...I decided to put together a video montage (video photo album) of sorts. Over the last several years, we've had some fun times and I'm always taking a ton of pics. Since I'm always taking pictures of other people they rarely get to see all the photos and I kept getting requests to "see the photos"...so I thought instead of emailing everyone with just a list of pics...I'd put them together in a video album (for "funner" viewing). I obviously couldn't put every event, every photo or the video would be like an hour long...so I put in the highlights (it's about 8 minutes long)! Anyway...here's the video:

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

A few days in Steamboat Springs...

Awwwww...what a great 4 days in Steamboat Springs! The weather was gorgeous at around 80 to 85 degrees with a wonderfully cool mountain breeze! The kids swam (we had Chase and his friend Austin and Paigie Pie)...and we drank margaritas at the Rio Grande! Yeah...there's a 3 margarita limit (and believe me...I know why, LOL)!! Monday night, we went out with Tim, Clay and Clay's boss Joe to Rex's (the hotel restaurant). We each had a pound of peel & eat shrimp and a bunch of beers! With the exception of the crown and coke that Clay pushed in front of me (that was his) when his boss showed up, LOL!! Then...Tuesday night, we took Tim and the crew to the Rio for mexican food and of course, margaritas!! All in all, it was a nice little "business" getaway! If you notice on the pics of the ski mountains, you can see that there's a restaurant on the top and those little tiny black dots going up the mountain are gondolas, LOL!!








Awww...the Rio Grande! You know what they say about Tequila??? Yikes, LOL!!

School clothes shopping is done...

Well...sort of, LOL! Yestday I took Taylor out shopping to get a few things for camp week, and while we were out, I decided to go ahead and get the kids' some school clothes. I usually just get them some summer outfits as it's still pretty hot til mid October (and they start school Aug. 19th). Then around the end of October, we go and get jeans, sweaters, etc...Anyway, I found some really cute outfits for Paige...and I have to say that I am noticing that it's getting more and more difficult to find cute little girl's clothes. I do love Kohls (and do a fair amount of shopping there)...however, I must say how very disappointed I am in their selection of little girls clothes. When Paige was in the 4 - 6x, the clothes were darling...but now, she's in the 7 - 14 size (she's a 7/8) and unfortunately, the manufacturers seem to think that 7 yr olds should dress like teenagers...because that's how the clothes are designed. Needless to say...I found absolutely nothing for her at Kohls. I did find a couple outfits at JC Penneys...but amazingly, I found some very cute (and affordable) stuff at Target! Here's her school clothes spread:

I did get Chase some things too! He's easy to buy for (shorts/t-shirts). I didn't get him a whole lot of shorts cause he has a gajillion that are still in very good shape (and still fit him well). In fact, he has sooooo many t-shirts now that I really need to purge his closet again. But here's what he got:




Now all I need to get them is shoes, socks and new underwear (that's easy)! I already bought Paige's school supplies (through the school district) and so I need to get Chase's and we'll be all set. Well...except for Taylor. I'm thinking of putting her school clothes allowance on a VISA gift card then she can go shop til her hearts content...unless that is, she "wants" me to come along, LOL!!

A love/hate relationship...

Yes...I have one, and it's not with who you think, LOL!! It's actually with the "laundromat"...yep that's right. And why do I have a love/hate relationship with the laundromat you ask?? Well, to be perfectly honest, I've never visited a laundromat that was, well...clean (for one thing)...they're hot, unclean, and I always seem to go when there is the weirdest of weird people there, LOL! Thank goodness I only go 2 or 3 times a year. So, today...was one of the "2 or 3 times a year" days. Since Jim and Steph's visit, then my sister's visit, then father's day, etc...I just can't seem to tackle the mountain of laundry that's been reproducing while I'm asleep, LOL...so I finally broke down today and hauled 8 loads (not everything, but the bulk of it) to the laundromat. Thankfully, I picked a pretty good time to go and there were only a couple people in there. This one woman though...OMG, her 2 tiny kids (I'm thinking barely 2 or so) were running amuck, climbing inside the dryers (and one even shut the door on the other one)...and the lady is oblivious to her children's antics...then the little boy (again, not more than 2 or 3) was playing in one of those metal rolling carts with the hanging rack above and tipped it over (just feet from Paige and I). The cart hit a washing machine and the boy fell to the ground. I picked up the cart and asked him if he was okay...the mom??? Uhhhh, nothing...what an idiot! Then on her way out, she yelled at the top of her lungs at those two babies...what a creep! Anyway, that is one of the reasons I hate to visit the laundromat...I have seen some horrible things (involving children) and it really bothers and saddens me.

On a happier, ummmm love note...I did get 8 loads of laundry washed, dried, hung, folded and home in less than 3 hours...so I do love being able to knock out 2 days worth of washing in just a few hours!! Now...I really need to put on the major nag to get Nolan to get my old washer and dryer hooked up in the basement so I'll have a second set ((yippee))! That would cure a multitude of sins and make trips to the laundromat, much fewer and much farther between, LOL!!

The 4th of July Weedend...

Well...you know me...I'm a bit of a "bah-humbug" when it comes to the fourth. It's not that I'm not patriotic...it's just that...I really just don't like the 4th of July, LOL!! But...because the kids love it so, I do my best to make the fourth fun and exciting! I will say that the one nice thing I do like about the fourth is that Nolan always gets a 3 day weekend (which is uber nice)!!

Friday...Nolan spent working in the garage (it so badly needs to be cleaned out)...and I spent the day cooking up a feast. I made lasagna, salad and garlic bread. We had an early dinner and then Nolan and I went to the Tumbleweed @ 7pm. We promised Michelle that we wouldn't let Lee spend his Birthday (July 3rd) alone, LOL...so we all had a few buckets of beers. We missed Pete (he left right before we got there) and interestingly enough, Leon never showed up. We had a great time anyway...though we stayed out a wee bit too late, LOL!

Saturday morning...I got up bright and early (around 7 am) and got all the steak cut up and marinating (for kabobs). Then we all got cleaned up to go the annual PW 4th of July parade (wet parade...I'll explain later). They estimated a crowd of 20,000 (that 2/3 of our entire town). We hadn't been in years (I think Chase was a baby back then)...and things have really changed. This is not your typical parade...you know, the kind with marching bands, floats, and flag girls...oh no....that would be to, ummmm common, I guess. Instead, they have turned the parade into one ginormous water fight. I remember way back when...when the different floats/people would throw candy into the crowd. Well folks...apparently those days are long. Now...floats have been replaced by trucks pulling trailers stocked with huge water tanks and fire-like hoses. Everyone is dressed in "wet" wear. The crowd is armed with the hugest Super Soakers, buckets and every imaginable water device. I guess we were lucky to have parked in the second row (from the street) as we had not intended to get "soaked". We let Chase (Paige didn't want to get wet) go up to the road so he could get wet. I did keep an umbrella out (mainly to protect my camara) and there was one fire truck whose water actually did reach us for a slight "douse"...but my camara stayed dry, LOL!! I have never seen so many grown men (and women) squeal with such delight in soaking the living crap out of people...truly unbelievable! I guess a few years ago, the parade was cancelled because some "idiot" decided to throw "frozen" water balloons at the parade participants. I don't know...it was a little crazy for sure. Some pics:

Then, we were going to go over to the carnival...but it was just so packed and no where to park, etc...so we just came home (Taylor went with Erica and Katelin). So Nolan spent the afternoon back in the garage and I worked on dinner (lots of chopping, LOL)...I put the kabobs on around 6:30 pm and we started eating around 7 pm. We had rain off and on, but by 8:30 the kids were chomping at the bit to light some fire works. We had a few illegals (black cats and bottle rockets) then we did the "kid" fireworks. They loved it anyway. Around 9 pm, we headed back to the park area for the PW fireworks show (which was pretty good) and we were back home around 10 pm. Uhhhh, I was pooped, LOL!

Sunday we spent working in the yard (got a lot done). I mowed the front and side (darn corner lot) and Chase mowed the back yard and our empty lot (behind us). So...all in all it was a good, productive weekend. Here's a few more pics: