This Week's Recap

Here are some random thoughts from this week:

I heard "mmmbop" in a store on Tuesday. Wow! It had been awhile since Hanson's lyrics and melody filled my head (and my heart). I have not been able to get it out of my head. I still have no idea what the song is about, but I can't lie, it makes me happy to hear it. Interestingly enough, I just googled the song title to spell it correctly and I found an mmmbop fan club. WOW!

I am so glad Lost is getting good again. Last night was filled with twists as promised. I loved it! I got scared at the end and made Cody hold my hand.

Tomorrow night we are having a girls slumber party at my house. Some of the girls from our class are coming over to watch chick flicks and eat fattening food. I can't wait.

Carley turned 3 months old on Tuesday. It has gone so fast. She has slept for 10 hours 3 nights this week! YAY CARLEY! She gets sweeter and cuter every day. I feel so blessed. We took her to get her 3 month pictures made. She wore a precious dress that will be her Easter dress that my aunt smocked for her and then a hilarious bunny outfit that she absolutely hates. The pictures of it are funny though.

I get to be an aunt again a week from today! Baby Camryn is coming! I can't believe it. You know I am freakishly addicted to my niece Lauren Ashley. I can't wait to see her become a big sister and for me to fall in love with baby Camryn and have a new precious niece.

Only 8 more weeks till school is out!

On Sunday there was a Friends marathon on TBS where they aired the last 10 episodes. I wonder if I will ever stop crying at the end.

Thanks for letting me get all of that off my chest. I hope you have a great weekend!

Pictures from Spring Break

Here is the lovely bride, Tiffany. We had a great time and it was an honor to be a part of her wedding. She and Sean are such a great couple.









Here are Lauren and Carley at Build a Bear. Lauren helped Carley through the steps. She took it very seriously. It was precious.

At the mall, they have a carousel. Lauren got to chose which adult she wanted to ride with and look who she picked. They were a cute couple!





The sun was too bright for our blue eyed girls to get a great picture outside. We all had so much fun.

"Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent.

Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you." Carl Sandburg

Do you ever feel like you don't have it all together? Man, time is so hard to catch, manage, and prioritize these days....

not too much to report

We had a great Spring Break. Here are some highlights from the end of the week.

* Thursday night we went to Dallas and spent the night with Alyssa, Clint, and Lauren Ashley. It was so fun. The adults went to Simply Fondue and had a great time. Alyssa got a babysitter for Lauren and Carley. It was my first time to leave her with someone other than Nana or Cody. She did good though. The next day we took Lauren and Carley to Build A Bear. It was so fun and cute. Lauren really got into it. I'll post pictures of it soon. Baby Camryn should be here on 4/6, just a couple of weeks away. Alyssa looks great, but VERY pregnant. I was amazed at her energy. I would have tired out way before her. I think Camryn is coming before 4/6 though. I just have a feeling....
* Friday we drove to College Station. The wedding weekend was great. Tiffany and Sean are such a great couple and they were so happy. Carley was a trooper on the traveling and didn't cry in the car at all. I did become an expert on the car adapter to the pump....Interesting. We will just leave it at that. Saturday night we stayed in Abilene to break up the trip since there was horrible rain and got home yesterday. We had a really good time. Cody and I are dorks and we listened to Harry Potter 6 the entire trip. I love books on tape. Since I had already read HP6 several times, Cody got annoyed with me for saying, "I love this part", "This is important", or stopping the CD to have a recap of what just happened.

Here is one of Carley's 2 month pictures. They were taken on 2/28. I can't believe how fast she changes.

The Power of Bonus Families

Recently on Dr. Phil, a mom was on who was trying to help her 4 year old make friends with selected children at the play ground. She only wanted her daughter to be friends with pretty kids from good homes. The audience and Dr. Phil helped her see the error of her ways. Just because a kid is pretty, doesn't mean they are good and your kid should not judge others. By doing this, you are laying a pattern of prejudice for your child. Of course, I completely agree with Dr. Phil, however, it is easy to want to surround your child with other kids whose parents you respect and it is normal, even good parenting, to want to monitor those who have influence over your child. Obviously you should not try to coerce your child into only being friends with good looking children with money, but the segment made me think a lot.

Cody didn't have a great childhood. Cody's parents divorced when we was 10. His mom lost custody of him due to her drug and alcohol problems. His dad worked all the time to support Cody and his 2 little sisters so he was never home. This isn't the place to share all the details, so I'll just say that Cody lived a totally unsupervised life from a little kid on. He also didn't have any one at home to help him do the things that we all take for granted. He saw and did very adult things at a very young age. All of this is to say that Cody was probably not the kind of kid you want your child hanging with after school.

Cody's life was incredibly impacted by his best friend growing up. Tim would bring Cody home after school. Tim's parents, Frank and Oleta, are great people. They fell in love with little Cody and loved and treated him like one of their other sons (Tim had a brother 2 years older and one 2 years younger). They didn't have much money, but Oleta sat a place for Cody at every meal. She even provided his lunch every day in high school. He lived with them at two different points in his life. Frank works in the oil field and Oleta works in a grocery store so they didn't have extra money. Having 3 hungry and growing teenage boys of their own was expensive enough, but they took on Cody not only on a daily basis but also for Christmas, family vacations, and his birthday. They taught him how to treat people, how to work hard, and how a family works. Since his father wasn't around and he didn't ever see his mother, all punishment came from the Spanns too. When Cody and Tim would get in big trouble, Oleta would ground Cody from their house, which Cody said was the worst punishment that he could have ever imagined. They completely assimilated him into their life. I met the Spanns before I met Cody's biological family. We have spent many holidays with them, go by the house and eat dinner, and at our wedding, they were escorted in and the three boys were all groomsmen. He calls them Mom and Dad for a reason. Not only does he consider them family, but Oleta's 7 siblings and all of their families consider Cody family as well. This week, Oleta's father passed away. Cody was listed as one of the surviving grandchildren, was a pall bearer like the other grandsons, and we sat with the family. Today, when we were leaving the funeral home, Cody said that he was so thankful the Spanns gave him stability and he doesn't know what he would have become without them.

Last night at the funeral home, Oleta was playing with Carley and someone asked her if Carley was her granddaughter and Oleta replied, "She is my bonus granddaughter. God loved me so much, He gave me an extra".

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I just wanted to share this story with you out there in cyberspace. God used the Spanns to help save Cody. He used them to completely change his life. I pray that Cody and I are able to minister to Carley's friends and open our home and our hearts to them. I pray that Carley has amazing Christian friends like I do that encourage, sharpen, and support me, but I also hope that we are open to opportunities to minister to others and not caught up in stereotypes about what makes a great kid is not always high TAKS scores, a good family, and a life similar to yours.

I DID IT!! I slept for 10 hours without waking up ! It was the most sleep mom has gotten since her 6th month of pregnancy. I have been getting up only once to eat after 6 hours, but last night I slept until 7 this morning after going to bed at 9:30! My parents are hoping this wasn't a one time thing...

Will my hair ever lay down flat? 

Carley started laughing on my 28th brithday! It was so fun. This is pretty much how Cody and I spend our days, leaning over her trying to get her to laugh, smile, and coo! 

Spring Break

Spring Break will officially be here in 4 hours and I can't wait. Here are my Spring Break plans:

1. I get to hang out with my cute baby girl. Carley is 10 weeks old. She laughs and cooes all the time. It is so fun. She tries to talk which is hilarious. Her hair is still wild. I will post pictures soon.

2. Tiffany is getting married. Only because I love her so much will I stuff my postpartum body into a light pink bridesmaid's dress. :) I am so excited and honored to be a part of the joining of Tiff and Sean. It will be great. Now, the car ride to College Station may not be. We'll see how Carley does.

3. Cody and I will have our anniversary on Monday. We will get to spend the whole day together. I am so excited. We are already going to the bank and the grocery store and maybe a matinee. Big plans, huh? Actually our big date will be described in #4.

4. Last year for our anniversary we came to Dallas and went with my sister Alyssa, my fabulous brother-in-law (and in-love) Clint, and my wacky niece Lauren to the Melting Pot. We had such a great time. We are going again on Thursday night to either there or Simply Fondue and we are getting a sitter for Lauren and Carley. I can't wait. The four of us have so much fun together.

5. I am getting a pedicure so I can start wearing sandals and flip flops.

The main point is, I will NOT be at work. :) Yeah for pajama pants and hanging out. I love Spring Break. I hope you have a great week as well.

Finally News From the Bachelor

I have no news or funny stories or anything this week. All I know is Spring Break is next week and I am ready. I also know that a 10 week old with a stopped up nose is not a happy baby or a good sleeper. Other than that, Nelson land is good!

My friend Carolyn gave me this link. (Thanks Carolyn) Finally Dr. Travis and Sarah gave an interview. Are they together? Are they engaged? Are they single? Are they friends? Click here for the truth!

Have a great day!

A Recap of the Entertainment World This Week

There was a lot of good TV this week. (and lots of bad TV) Here are my views on what we saw:

Grey's Anatomy: Sweet George, Bad Meredith. She shouldn't have done what she did. Here are my favorite parts:
- The end when George is on the couch at Burke's.
- A Lactating Dr. Bailey
- Ewwwww on the Poison Oak
- When did "walking the dog" become an innuendo for more (like Abilene's "feed the ducks") I am looking forward to them developing their friendship.

Bachelor: YEAH for Nashville! No "after the rose"??? I guess they didn't make it afterall. I will look for an update in People Magazine. Maybe they are like Charlie and that nurse and just keeping it on the DL.

Lost: Excellent episode
- the beard is stage make up
- Henry in the vault is definitely an "other"
- WHERE ARE WALT AND MICHAEL? Am I the only one that remembers them?
- Ethan was creepier than I imagined. Are they all part of the dharma experiment? Are they even on a island?
- I really like the revelation that Alex is a girl and Danielle's daughter. That was really great.

Deal or No Deal: I like the show. I am greedy. If I went on I would lose it all. My favorite part was the church choir this week. Love it.

Dancing With the Stars: Congrats Drew on being more than Jessica Simpson's ex brother - in - law. Nice cowboy outfit?

Days of Our Lives: Shawn and Belle need to get back together. Ewwww for Lexie and Tek. Seriously, Bo, Hope, Billie triangle again? This is the 3rd time I think. Maybe more. ENOUGH!

There is a new reality show starting on TLC called "Little People, Big World". It is about a midget family. Who in blog world is going to watch it? I am trying to decide.

What am I missing?

Attn: Mr. Postman

Yesterday was my 28th birthday. I had a parent meeting at work last night and Cody had been at the station all day and then had Paramedic class until 10:00. Carley was with my parents all day. After school and before the meeting I didn't have time to go home. I ran to my parents and fed Carley then I had to be back at work. After the meeting I went and picked her up and went home. I pulled in the driveway at 8:45. I got Carley out of the car and carried her to the mail box. I was telling her that it was my birthday and that I would read her my birthday cards. Earlier in the week I had already received some birthday mail and I just knew that this day would hold the same exciting sight when pulled down on the silver door. I excitedly opened the mailbox and.....it was EMPTY! I proceeded to check my neighbors box to see if they had mail and they did. The mailman had come, just nothing for the Nelsons. How many days a year do you not receive any mail? Maybe 3 days a year? No cards, bills, coupons, magazines! NOTHING! What in the world?? I looked forward all day to coming home and getting the mail and there was nothing there. An empty mailbox any day is sad, but on your birthday it is depressing.

A long night

Yesterday afternoon (Monday) there was a large fire. Actually it was a huge fire. A propane gas plant caught fire a little before 4:00 pm. Cody was on duty and his truck was called in to help. In fact 80% of the firemen in town were called in. Cody's truck was the first to actually fight the fire. (The first two trucks were called to start evacuating all homes and businesses within a 1/2 mile radius) I am having trouble getting my thoughts together to type this, so be patient as you read in case I jump around. There were a lot of propane tanks there and then several huge tanks. The truck Cody was on had the mission of trying to stop two 18,000 gallon tanks from exploding. If they exploded, the damage would have destroyed a mile radius. There were hundreds of homes in the area and hundreds of cars driving on the interstate (which was about 1/4 mile from the plant) during 5:00 traffic. Numerous 5 gallon propane tanks (like the ones on your grill) were popping like fireworks in the air. Pieces were found up to 3/4 of a mile away from the plant. The nearby businesses caught on fire as well as several cars in parking lots and various other landscape.

Cody was supposed to get off work at 6:00 pm. He borrowed someone's phone to call me at 6:20 and told me that they were not being released because the rest of the city was in danger. If 80% of the firemen and first responders were at the fire, then the city was left open and they needed the ones coming on duty to help run calls in the city. (They go on medical calls as well as fire calls). He couldn't come home until the fires were completely out.

What do you say when your husband says he has to stay on duty to help save hundreds of lives?
Three trucks pumped water on the two tanks 18,000 gallon tanks for about 8 hours. The big tanks never caught on fire although at one point one side was covered in fire and melted all the paint and warped the metal. They got it out in time. Like I said, if it would have gone off, hundreds of homes, cars, and lives would have been lost, including Cody's.

Cody called me a little before midnight. (I hadn't heard from him since 6:20) and told me he was on his way back to the station and that he was safe, the fires were out, and it was all over. They spent 1 1/2 more hours putting the truck back together. Cody finally came home about 2:30. I fell asleep hugging him tighter than I ever had before.

I don't really know what to say or how to finish this. You know I am a drama queen so you may question some of the details about last night. Read the articles. It was on CNN and lots of other news stations. Sadly, I am completely serious about this and the details.

Cody is a hero.

I held Carley the whole time Cody was gone and I spent lots of time thinking about God's faithfulness. Cody does his job because he feels like God has called him to this work. If you know Cody, you know he is so good at helping people. All I can say is that I saw God's faithfulness last night. Noone was seriously injured. Everyone went home. Honestly, if the story ended differently, I hope I would still say I saw God's faithfulness. My faith is weak and I am not sure how I would react. I hope I never find out.

Happy Birthday Amy!

Happy Birthday Amy B! Even though you are much older than me, I still think you look great! Thanks for staying "young at heart" while having young friends like me! :)

A Special Weekend

On Thursday, Carley & I went to Dallas for Alyssa and Camryn's shower. We had such a good time. Lauren was a great big cousin to Carley and Carley loved being entertained by Lauren. My sister made the trip so easy on us. She let Carley borrow all of her girls' stuff so we didn't have to bring much. We got lots of girl family time in together.

I am very thankful for Alyssa's friends. Not only are they great to her, but they are to me as well. They are always so fun, sweet, and thoughtful. I am blessed to consider them my friends too.

This Sunday was Baby Day at church. It was really special to receive a blessing for Carley from our church family. I love our congregation and class so much. There are lots of neat families in our class. They are our dearest friends. Our church is really growing right now which is lots of fun and our class has been blessed with new couples that want to get involved. I love the girls in our class so much. Sunday reminded me of how blessed I am.

A Party For Camryn

Tomorrow, Carley, my mom, and I are flying to Dallas for Alyssa's baby shower for little Camryn. (She will be here April 6th) I am so excited. It will be Carley's first plane ride so that will either be fun or a nightmare. It all depends on my little 8 week old's attitude. I can't wait to see Alyssa in her 8th month of month of pregnancy. I hope I get to feel that little cutie inside give her some good kicks. I also get to hang out with my favorite toddler Lauren who is one of the funniest people on the planet. Yesterday she called me and told me that she had slept all night in her big girl bed. Then she said, "Proud of You" which is really her saying, "tell me how proud you are of me!" I love that kid. Basically I get to spend the weekend (we are coming back on Saturday) with my favorite girls on the planet. I can't wait.

Camryn is going to be such a great addition to our family. I am dying to find out what she looks like and to hold her. I can't wait to see how she is like Lauren, like Alyssa and Clint, like Carley, and most of all like me! Being an aunt is the best.

Your Life's Theme Song

I stole this from Sam's blog...

Wondering what the theme song to your life is??
Go to this website and enter the date that you turned eighteen years old.
Leave a comment with the result.


Sadly, Mine is Boyz II Men and Mariah Carey's "Some Sweet Day".

Cody does it again

I am so lucky...

I had a great last few days of maternity leave. Monday I wore pjs all day and took a nap with Carley in my arms. Tuesday was Valentines Day. Since Cody worked that night, we did our date during the day. Carley went to my Mom's and Cody and I went to Harrigan's (the restaurant where we got engaged) and to a movie. Cody bought me a beautiful necklace and earrings. It was so great. Then came Wednesday.

Wednesday was my last day of maternity leave. Cody was at work so my mom had told me a couple of weeks ago that she wanted to go eat with me for lunch. When I woke up I called Cody and he told me that my mom and I weren't really going to lunch. He had asked her to keep Carley while he had planned for me to go to a SPA! I arrived and he had arranged for me to have an massage and a manicure on my last day of maternity leave! HE PLANNED IN ADVANCE and was so thoughtful. It was awesome and so sweet. For the first time in a long time I felt like me, not a hormone trying to get pregnant, not pregnant, not like a mom or a milk factory, just me. It was the perfect day!

Cody ROCKS! :) I love him so much!

P.S. I survived my first day of work. It was hard to leave her this morning, but the day went by quickly.

Back to Work

Man, maternity leave flew by. I go back on Thursday. I can't believe it. Carley will be 7 weeks old tomorrow. I am going to ease back into work. I go for 2 days this week, 3 next week, 4 the following week, then 4 1/2 days. I will have one full week then Spring Break. Cody is going to keep Carley on his days off ( I refuse to say baby sit when she is his too!:) ) He works for 24 hours then has 48 off so every 3rd day she will go to my mom's to be loved by Nana. I am really having a hard time thinking about going back.

• Carley is AWESOME! I love her so much. I never knew I could feel this way. I have really enjoyed being around her 24-7 and being there for every special moment.
• I love sleep. Carley is doing much better. She usually gives me one 5-7 hour stint of sleep at night. However, I have gotten used to going back to sleep for 2 more 2 hour stints and not getting up till 8:30 or 9. How on earth am I going to wake up and get there?
• Carley takes a bottle well. She has taken one a day since she was 2 weeks old in preparation for me going back to work. How am I supposed to feel professional at work while taking pumping breaks? UGH!
• Cody and I have gotten to spend a ton of time together. We have taken naps, gone to the movies, gone on walks, and just hung out for his time off. I will miss him too.
• Carley smells so good. I love her baby smell and I will miss it when I am dealing with stinky teenagers.
• I have no desire to wear clothes that aren't elastic which is all I have worn since my 4th month of pregnancy.
• I will miss my baby.
• Who will style Carley's wacked out hair? I smile everytime I see it!

Here is the kicker though:

• I love my job. It is perfect for me and I used to be really good at it. I am afraid I will not be good at it anymore and feel like I am letting my colleagues down.
• I feel guilty for wanting to go back in many ways because I do love my job and I enjoy the adult conversation, the interaction with kids, and the break from diapers.
• I feel guilty for wanting the financial stability that 2 jobs provide even though we could make it on Cody's alone.
• I feel torn. When I am home, I find myself missing work and missing my job. When I think about going back, I cry and think about missing one minute with my little girl.

MAN!

Any thoughts out there?

Thanks Allyson

This morning Allyson took a few pictures of our family for Baby Day at the end of the month. Allyson did a great job. If you need a photographer, give her a call or check out her site. Anyway, here are 3 of my favorites.