Life Goes On

So.... it's the day after Thanksgiving already! Can you believe it?!?! I honestly cannot. And I am supposed to be having a party at my house on Tuesday... yeah, I totally forgot to send out the invites. I think I'm going to have to reschedule... again! Don't hate me Rachael! So I didn't think remodeling the house was going to take quite so long. I just figured we'd slap up a couple coats of paint and be done with it! Well, a month later, we finally finished the front room... mostly. We ran out of moulding in the dining room so I've got to go buy some more of that. And I haven't caulked everything yet.... because I just don't want to. Brook is growing like a weed. She's 14 months and she wears size four shoes now... my baby isn't a baby much longer! She walks like a champ- has been since her birthday. I was pretty worried when we moved in that all our floors are uncarpeted- I thought she'd be slippin and slidin all over the place, but she does amazing! She's actually only slipped twice! Anyways, enough of that. I will post a picture of recent life if I can find one... and I can't. So you'll have to wait!

We Moved!!!

So, we are in the house! Oh my word.... it is AWESOME! I so love it! It's so much fun! We've already started remodeling and painting and buying rugs and fridges and it is the best time of my life so far! My desktop is broken apparently- we think it fried in the storage unit this summer, so I don't have pictures and I'm still working on unpacking and stuff, so as soon as I do get things up and running and I find a minute, I'll get pictures posted!

My Beautiful Girl

Look at her cute piggies!

Garage Sales are my Friend

So we went to a few garage sales yesterday. We got Brook a front facing car seat for Grandma's car for $5! Sweet score! I like getting used stuff for way cheaper than new stuff. But I'm weird like that. We also go a few items of clothing that are pretty fun and a refrigerator for our new house! It's a really nice black Whirlpool. 4 years old, side by side, we really like it! We got a pretty sweet deal. So yeah, all in all, a successful shopping day. Check out what Strong Bad has to say about garage sales.

I've Been Tagged by Alyson

but I don't know how to do links that look cool and so, I'm not going to do that part. But basically the rules are, I tell 7 weird/interesting things about myself and then tell 7 other people to do it and leave them a comment about it! Fun! Okay, here goes:

1. I have a chronic nasal congestion problem. This is neither weird, nor interesting, just really annoying.
2. I have never broken a bone in my body- of course I'm not really into extreme sports,... or any sports really, so that helps!
3. My favorite time of year is summer... wait, that's not weird- that's normal! BEN!
4. I am four months older than my husband, Ben, who I happened to meet in high school when I was a senior and he was a junior. Yep, I'm a cradle-robber!!!
5. My arms are unnaturally long. For example, I am the same height as my friend, Jolene, and yet my arms are almost 2 inches longer than hers! Makes for a great Monkey Impression... maybe someday I'll post the video....
6. I would rather read anything than watch TV... unless it's The Office!
7. I want to be a fashion consultant someday!

Okay, now for the tag: Becca Allen & Robinson, Whitney, Randi, Emily, Hailey, & Kelly

No We're not Dead

Contrary to popular belief. We're just in "No House of our Own Land" and it's kind of a soul sucker. We're getting close though! We hope to close by 10/27! And then I can have my stuff again! Brook's pants are all getting too short because her next size up box is in the storage unit! Poor kid, she looks homeless... oh wait! She is!!! No, I shouldn't say that, we have a lovely home at Ben's parents house, there's just not room for our storage unit full of belongings here. Patience is a virtue! I keep telling myself that... wonder if I'll ever think it's true?

It's a Done Deal!

Yes, that does mean that WE BOUGHT A HOUSE! We are 95% sure that everything will go off without a hitch. We put an offer in and it was countered, then we countered, and it was accepted!!! We own a place! There are a few "restrictions" with our financing, so we have to jump through some hoops first before we're 100% sure that it's going through, but so far, so good and it looks like we'll be closing on 10/27/2008! I can't wait!!!!! We are SO EXCITED!!!!

Are we done yet?

So... still looking. Or rather, we've only actually been looking since Monday.... okay, so that's two days. Wow, I am really impatient. I just want a home!!! Is that so much to ask? We found a place we like, a real fixer-upper (just what I was looking for!). The location is good, the street it's on is not... it's half commercial, so we're pretty worried about resale. Anyways, we'll see. I'm going to look at it again tonight. But I've also got two others to check out. I just hate this part. I know, most people think it's fun, I'm weird like that. I just want to get to the real fun stuff- like painting and demolition and installing new kitchen cabinets and countertops... you know, the fun stuff!

Exciting and yet not....

So kids... I'm not sure who has heard and who hasn't, but we are on the hunt for a home! We are still in the "waiting to hear from our mortgage lender" phase and it is... well, really boring and trying my patience! We'd like to start looking as soon as possible, but we have no idea what we'll get approved for, so we don't even know our price range! I'm supposed to get a call today, so I am kind of on the edge of my seat waiting for the phone to ring! We are also selling the Tahoe, which is exciting, the gas hog! So that's me... waiting and waiting.

On a side note, Ben's parents have been absolutely wonderful and accomadating to us in our time of home-less-ness and I couldn't ask for better in-laws!

Monday is Brook's birthday, so I'll be posting pictures! I can't believe she's almost one!

I am Elaine

My buddy Kelly took this test and, as I love Seinfeld, I just had to do it! I feel satisfied with the results.... I couldn't have handled if I'd turned out to be George!

Which Seinfeld Character Are You?

More on Seinfeld. Created by BuddyTV

Names

So Rachael had this on her blog and I thought it was super fun. So I did a run of our names. Lucky for us, our last name has two S at the end, so sorry Rach, we even beat out your kids. Ben of course has the most, since Ben is a pretty popular name.

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 20 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

I was surprised so many people had my first name- over 30,000, but then again, pair it with Douglass.....

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 2 people with my name in the U.S.A. http://howmanyofme.com">How many have your name?

And Brook takes the cake:

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 1 or fewer people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Tagged By Rach

How long have you been together? SO LONG! We go way back to 2000.... yeah, I know, the high school years!!! We've been married three years though.
Who eats more? Um.... we'll say Ben. Though if we do it as a percentage based on weight, I do.
Who said I love you first? Ben did, and I was a very close "ditto." I didn't say ditto though, how lame would that be???
Who sings better? I love to sing, Ben just puts up with it, so I get to claim it!
Who is smarter? We both have a decent set of brains, but Ben was lazier in high school, so I got better grades. I'm a suck up.
Who does the laundry? Me. I actually enjoy it
Who does the dishes? I try to, but Ben is a very good helper! He doesn't mind it and I usually get really tired of them!
Who pays the bills? I do- it's the accountant in me that can't help it!
Who mows the lawn? Ben. He's a lawn artist- for reals. He's had lawn jobs since he was like 10! He's pure genius. Runs in his family. Very green thumbs.
Who cooks dinner? That'd be me. If we have dinner of course... I'm getting better!
Who drives when you are together? Ben- I get road rage..... I know, I'm sorry!
Who is more stubborn? Me for SURE
Whose parents do you see the most? Depends on the week
Who kissed who first? Ben totally forced me into it! Had to grab my chin and everything! I'm what you like to call a kiss-a-phobic... not anymore, but before... yeah.
Who proposed? That's the man's job. So Ben
Who is more sensitive? Me. I'm totally a girl and Ben is as manly as they get
Who has more friends? Ben has more friends that live close, but I think if we're counting around the world, we tie
Who has more siblings? DEFINITELY me- 7 to 4
Who wears the pants in the family? We like to share the pants.
I Tag: Whitney, Hailey, Sarah, Rose, Jolene

Home Again, Home Again

Jiggety jig.

So we left our beloved Colorado Tuesday night at 10:30.... pm. Yep, you heard me. We pulled an all nighter! And it was the best decision we ever made! We did have the inevitable pit stops for gas and snacks, but no baby stops! Brook was the perfect angel (as always) and slept clear through, even though we didn't make it to Grandma Douglass' house until 11:30 on Wednesday morning! We're still playing sleep catch up, but we're glad to be home. Except for that we don't have a home. We went home searching today and came up empty handed. It's really frustrating, but we aren't giving up! We're just thankful for parents who are willing to put up with us until we find a place of our own. Wish us luck!!!

Workin With Dad

Our dining room table had a little bit of a wobbly leg, so Dad and Brook set about getting it fixed. As you can see, Brook was a huge help!

Dad: Can I have the wrench please?
Brook: What, this wrench?
Dad: That'll do!
Brook: Anytime Dad.

She loves to be a little helper!

Brook's Got Bling

When the Douglass' were here, we went to the outlet shops in Castle Rock. While there, I found some pretty awesome bling for Brook for a dollar at Claire's. I figured she could have it when she was older and it would be fun for her to have. It has a heart and a diamond studded B on the chain. Anyways, we got home and decided to try it on her. She loved it! She crawled around for probably three days wearing it. She never tried to take it off. Sometimes she would pick it up and look at it, then lay it back down and get this "yeah, I look so awesome" look on her face and keep crawling. It's probably one of the funniest things I've ever seen!

Our Obsession

Yes, people laugh at us. Yes, they roll their eyes when we begin to discuss the rivalries between werewolves and vampires. Yes, they think our shirts are awesome. And yes, they wish they were doing it with us!!!

We had to do a quick overview of the first three books to get appropriately excited for Breaking Dawn!I got my book!!!!!See no ending, Hear no ending, Speak no ending! NOT until you read it!

Rockies Get Worked

So we went to a Rockies game last Monday with Mom, Sam, and Emma. What a cool stadium! It's Coors Field right downtown. You can see the city-scape in the background.

The Colorado Rockies played the Washington Nationals and we were totally favorites to win... and we didn't.

But it was still a good game and Brook, it being her first b-ball game and all, totally loved it! She especially loved the food... who doesn't love nachos and hot dogs?!?!?! No one I know!
Ben bought himself some peanuts, according to the song, and we all enjoyed them. The boys made a royal mess, but Ben said you're supposed to throw the shells on the ground. Janitors gotta feed their families too.
I have to say that I LOVE the nachos the best. Can't get enough of them!
Here's Daddy and Brooky at their first baseball game together. By the end of the night, Brook was all tuckered out and 100% relaxed in Dad's arms.
Mom and Emma also enjoyed the game. We're so glad they came to visit! We had so much fun exploring the city and going to all kinds of fun events!

Take the Money and Run

This is probably what we should have done instead of going to the Steve Miller concert... no I'm kidding! It was THE BEST CONCERT EVER!!!!! GO STEVE- YOU'RE THE MAN!!!

Dad and Mom Douglass, Sam, Emma, Ben, and I went to Steve Miller Band and Joe Cocker at the Red Rocks in Colorado on July 31st. It was so much fun!
Yes, that is the line going CLEAR up into the rocks. It surprisingly moved very quickly! We all wanted to get t-shirts, but they were $40 a piece on top of the $65 for the tickets themselves!

So Ben and I are sharing, we couldn't resist having one! It was so rad.
Steve played all the hits (minus Space Cowboy, but we forgive him for that) and they were even cooler live than they are on the greatest hits album. For his finale, he wailed on Jungle Love and the crowd was going nuts! I mean the man got called out for two encores! We couldn't get enough I tell you! It was a GORGEOUS venue and I would HIGHLY recommend if you ever have the chance to see someone live at Red Rocks, just do it! Worth every penny!!!

Back to Normal

Thank you all so much for your concern and support for our little family! Brook is almost completely recovered! She doesn't have a fever anymore and she's sleeping again and she's got her shining personality back! Hallelujah, I learned I'm not a very patient mom with whiney kids! Hopefully I never get any! Cross your fingers for me!

I just wanted to set all your minds at ease that we are fine and happy and little Brook is healthy. This isn't a reoccuring thing, though it could happen again, just like it really can happen to anyone. So no worries- life is good!

Do the words "Febrile Seizure" mean anything to you?

Well they do to me now!!! So I had the scariest, most upsetting thing in the world happen to me today. We almost lost our little girl. Or at least it seemed like it for about 10 minutes.

We were sitting in church listening to the speakers and Brook was just settling in for a nap on her daddy's lap. Well, she started to make this funny breathing sound, kind of like she was gasping for air, so Ben sat her up and she had this HUGE sneeze and a TON of drool poured out of her mouth. That's when she went limp. I knew immediately something was wrong and Ben was already on his feet carrying her out the door. We were both saying her name, rubbing her cheeks, talking to her, asking her if she was alright all the way to the car, but she just sat there, no response, with this catatonic look on her face. Well, naturally, I started bawling, I was losing it fast. Ben had his wits about him, got me to get in the car and hold Brook while we drove 80 miles an hour to the hospital about 2 miles away. Still took us about 5 or so minutes to get there with traffic- even with us honking our horn and swerving lanes like maniacs! I'm sure people thought we were horribly rude! But at that point, we didn't really care. The whole drive over, Brook had her eyes closed, white as a sheet with dark purple lips. She would take a ragged breath every 5-8 seconds. I was bawling and praying and trying to rouse her all at the same time! I kept trying to get her to respond, but she just laid there, her eyes rolled back in her head, barely breathing. Ben flew into the emergency pull-up and I ran inside. The second I came through the doors, Brook's eyes flew open. She looked at me with this "Mom, what's happening" panicked look and I thought my heart would break! The ER staff was wonderful and took us right back- got her hooked up to a monitor to check her vitals. They weren't great at first, but about 15 minutes since it had begun, she was looking somewhat normal again. The doctor checked her out and had a chest x-ray done. Turns out she has a good possibility of having pneumonia, but she's okay! It was such a relief to see her wake up from her nap after the x-rays and sit up and grin at us. After that it was all we could do to keep her from crawling all over everything and playing with all the medical equipment. Truly, it was one of the most terrifying experiences I've ever had to go through and both Ben and I swear, if she puts us through it again, she is in big trouble!

Now some information on febrile seizures:
They are brought on by a fever, usually between 101 and 104. The child's reaction may be different, but something similar to what Brook experienced. Your reactions should be to take off their clothing as quickly as possible and get cool rags on them to try to bring down the fever. Do not try to restrain them if they are jerking and don't try to do anything with their mouth. Also, even though it feels like they are not breathing- if they are breathing every 5-10 seconds, however ragged it may be, DO NOT give them CPR. I would call 911 immediately. These seizures can last 1-10 minutes. Brook's was about 5 or 6 minutes. It scares the daylights out of you, but these kinds of seizures are not supposed to be damaging in any way- physically or developmentally. I guess they are somewhat common.

My prayer is that none of you will experience this with your children. But I wanted to give what information I could in case it can help in a situation.

Turquoise Lake, CO

We went camping with Jolene and her family to a lake up in the mountains of Colorado around August 18th. It was SO gorgeous up there! I believe the highest elevation we got to was 12,000! It was crazy high! The men fished and the girls beaded! Ben caught a beautiful 14 inch trout with the pinkest meat any of us had ever seen! And it was delicious to boot- even I didn't mind it, which is saying a lot for fish! There was an afternoon of playing in the lake and a couple nights of campfires and smores, along with sleeping in the back of the Tahoe. Of course we forgot anything to sleep on, so we were pretty sore by the time we headed home. All in all, we had a blast!