Just Like the Good Old Days

I got a phone call from my husband at work today with a cryptic hint that he was going to be my favorite person on earth and that I needed to look in the refrigerator when I got home. I was temporarily amused and tried to guess what might be awaiting me, but soon enough, my annoying clients distracted me and I forgot that I was awaiting a surprise. When I got home, I opened the fridge to see what I could scrounge up for dinner and I saw a to-go box. I thought to myself that Billy must've brought me some dinner as my surprise, since he has baseball as usual tonight. I opened the box and guess what I found? CRISPITOS! Straight from the cafeteria of my alma mater, Bartlett High School, complete with cups of chili topper and little cups of shredded cheese toppings. I could not have been more excited. I have been half-way jokingly asking my husband (a teacher for those of you who do not know) to bring me some of these delectable lunch treats for the past 6 years and he has stubbornly ignored my pleas for years! I mean, who knew all I needed to do was bear his child for him to bring me my favorite lunch items from my high school days?

I remember looking so forward to crispito day in high school each week and taking a bite of these delicious items took me straight back to 1999. I highly suggest that all of you get your hands on some crispitos STAT! They are every bit as delicious as they were 10 years ago.

This gesture earned my baby daddy some serious brownie points. Hmm, brownies sound good but I think crispitos were enough of a treat for one day so I won't indulge that craving :)

Everyone have a wonderful Easter weekend!

Who says registering is fun?

So, I registered for baby things today at Babies R Us. I registered at Target on Saturday and attempted my BRU registry that day, but was informed after waiting for ages that the server was down and I had to come back another day. Today, my trooper of a sister came with me again because she knows how easily overwhelmed I am by things like this. When we first got there, the sales guy got out a room temperature gauge and informed us that it was some 77 degrees in the store. It was hot. I did my best not to get overwhelmed but I have no idea what I registered for. It is so frustrating. I registered for a "travel system" and matching pack n play and tried to look online for the matching swing and high chair and whatnot and found out that babies r us no longer carries that pattern. Now I am wondering if I should change my travel system and pack n play. I am afraid they will sell out and I will have to start back at square one. Annoying. Also annoying, I planned to come home and check out my registry online to see what all I asked for and to add and remove items as necessary and I cannot see any pictures of the items. It just shows a list of items. Boo! I'm also having a hard time finding a diaper bag that I like, that is not too girly and that is not insanely expensive. All in all, the registry process has stressed me out!

On a related note, I am ever so hopeful that people will stick to the registry (unless they have wonderful taste and understand my likes and dislikes). Baby boy stuff is so silly and girly for the most part. Why, why must it all be covered with inflated looking sports paraphernalia and animals? I mean, a simple polo style shirt does not need a teddy bear or a car or a truck or anything else. Less is more. Also, why must the sports related items all look like they are soft, inflated balls, bats, etc.? Why not put a regular football or baseball or whatever on the shirt or blanket or whatever? I do not understand why everything must be sissified for baby boys.

Well, that's my rant for the day. I shouldn't complain, I know. I will be grateful for any and all gifts I receive. I just hope I don't spend my entire 8th and 9th months of pregnancy returning items that I hate :)

Did any other moms have these concerns? It's so much easier shopping and/or registering for girls. Poor Carter. I will do my best to protect him from these atrocities.

Berry is so popular

First, let me just say that our new puppy, Berry, is the cutest thing ever. She is also the smartest. She slept through the night last night, which sent her stock soaring in my book! I have finally procured a device that allows me to upload pictures from my camera so you can all see how cute she is. There were pictures on my camera that had not yet been uploaded since my niece's 2nd birthday. She just celebrated her 3rd on March 8th. I am a loser. I will definitely need to get it together picture-wise before our human child gets here in July!

I took her to the vet today and she was seriously so popular. The vet insisted on holding her until I was done paying and ready to leave. My little girl is so cool. Buster is really starting to warm up to her, too, so I'm really relieved. My vet suggested a book for puppies called "Puppy's First Steps." Has anyone read it? As I previously mentioned, I love reading and think that reading is the key to knowledge and happiness so I may buy it. In true nerd form, though, I'll do a little research on the book before buying it.

The Morning After

So...we survived our first night with Berry and it went so well! Especially considering we had the added presence of Berry's Uncle Fulmer staying with us! She slept nearly all night and was such a little darling. I took lots of pictures but you'll just have to take my word for it since I have not located my computer cord and since my sister forgot to bring me the fun picture uploading device she has. She remembered to bring me dinner, though, so I forgave her.

Berry did get a good morning football workout (just like her namesake...football is in her blood). I took a picture of that with my phone so I was able to upload it.

Buster is still adjusting to life with his little sister but I have every confidence that, with time, he will grow to love her. He still refuses to look at her except when she is touching one of his toys. He is very protective of his toys and is not into sharing. Although, he loves to play with Berry's toys and eat her food when no one is looking so he is not afraid to ask her to share her things. We're going to have to teach him some manners!

I'm hopeful that we will have a playdate soon between Berry and our friend, Mable. Mable is Jared and Kelly's new bullmastiff puppy and you can check her out at www.kellyandjared.blogspot.com.

Well I hope everyone is enjoying March Madness! Go Vols!

She's Here!

We brought home our new addition today and we couldn't be more thrilled. Her name is Erica Berry Holt and we are calling her Berry. Hopefully, she will live up to her awesome name! We got her from a friend of mine from law school and she did so well on the ride home from Jackson. Hopefully, we will have the luck of the Irish and she will be a well behaved puppy from the start!

Buster sniffed her quite a bit when we first walked in the door. Honestly, though, he was more interested in sniffing Billy and me since we smelled like a whole litter of puppies. Since the initial meeting, he has been ignoring her and won't look at me or Billy, either. He is our first child and is very jealous and used to being an only child. He will get used to it and learn to love her. His world is about to get turned upside down when his human brother comes home this summer, anyway, so he'd better get used to life off of the throne pretty soon!

Her uncle Fulmer is also staying with us while my parents are out of town. He seems wholly unphased by her presence in the house. I think I overheard him telling Buster earlier, "I told you, man," in reference to Buster's new little sister. Fulmer is all too familiar with the arrival of a new little sister rocking his world.

I want desperately to share pics of our new baby and of Buster's meeting with her but I cannot find the cord that connects my camera to my computer. I could not be more ill about this. For now, my legions of screaming fans will have to make do with my crappy mobile uploads.

I am anxious to see how the evening goes. Hopefully she will not scream and cry all night. We rubbed a towel over her brothers and sisters so she could sleep with their scent. More to come!

101 Goals in 1001 Days

I am a copycat so here is my list:
1. Start an IRA
2. Purchase Carter's nursery furniture
3. Paint and decorate the nursery
4. Have a baby!
5. Get new carpet or flooring
6. Put our house on the market
7. Buy a new house
8. Get rid of the old furniture and junk in the attic that we will never use and that I know I will never have a garage sale to sell
9. Take the dogs and the baby on walks
10. Lose my baby weight...and then some!
11. Start cooking dinner again on a regular basis
12. Start going to church again on a regular basis
13. Buy a lottery ticket
14. Start putting money into a savings account each month
15. And add to the children's college fund
16. Find the cord that connects my camera to my computer
17. Or get a new, improved mommy camera!
18. Make it to East Tennessee for my family reunion with baby Carter in tow
19. Get a pedicure
20. Get a massage soon after Carter gets here
21. Get a new puppy!
22. Get the new puppy housebroken
23. Start taking more pictures
24. and adding them to facebook/picasa/blog to keep my family and friends updated
25. Start reading more (because I love it and don't get around to it nearly as much as I used to)
26. Make it to one Tennessee football game this season (we usually do...but with a new baby, everything will be different)
27. Re-establish the friendships I've let fall by the wayside due to jobs, stress and my general propensity towards reclusivity
28. Spend more time with my husband
29. Visit my grandfather as much as possible
30. Send thank you cards for EVERY gift (I used to be religious about this but now I am a total slacker)
31. Get new stationary to send thank you cards
32. Participate in Race for the Cure
33. Tell my husband I love him every day
34. Go on a family vacation (our first with a baby!)
35. Become more organized at work
36. and at home
37. Turn in C's daycare paperwork
38. Go to my husband's team's baseball games when it's nice
39. Paint the trim in my house
40. and the doors
41. and the master bathroom
42. Get new doorknobs
43. and cabinet handles
44. keep my closet clean
45. and my kitchen
46. Celebrate birthday number 29 (I have been saying I will ignore it and just stay 28 and celebrate Carter's b-days instead)
47. Clean the inside of my car
48. Vacuum the inside of my car regularly (this one is for Billy, really)
49. Start a baby registry
50. Get a shelf or cabinet for my office for my overflowing files
51. Start using my office storage space and stop storing files all over my desk
52. Start a baby book for baby Holt
53. Make my husband take me to the movies
54. Rent (or Netflix) 30 Rock to pass the time during baseball season
55. and Mad Men
56. Sit outside and enjoy a gorgeous afternoon in silence
57. Give myself a break
58. Work hard every day for at least a little while
59. Tell my sister how amazing I think she is
60. Find the perfect necklace as a baby present to myself for baby Holt
61. and try to get Billy to get it for me
62. Have a meal with my cousins (that is not on Christmas or other forced family holiday)
63. Find another location that serves Dr. Pepper icees
64. Take breakfast to my coworkers once
65. Learn a new recipe
66. Try something new
67. Say a daily prayer thanking God for all that I have, instead of only asking Him for things I want
68. Take time to really appreciate my life
69. Help someone with something important
70. Encourage someone to attain a goal
71. Allow myself to truly entertain the idea of writing a book
72. Think of a storyline that I would truly like to write about
73. Celebrate 6 years of happy marriage
74. Celebrate 8 years of togetherness with Billy
75. Attend a musical
76. Go to the lake
77. Take the puppy to charm school
78. Learn something new for work
79. Start doing wills
80. Say at least one positive thing a day (more of a challenge to an old, sarcastic pessimist than you know!)
81. Work every day to conquer my fear of failure
82. and allow myself to fail
83. and succeed
84. and learn from my failures
85. and reward myself for my successes
86. Practice patience with my family
87. and friends
88. and, most difficult of all, clients
89. Start a devotional
90. Ride around with my sunroof open and the windows down
91. Get some new shoes for work (mine are looking a little worse for the wear)
92. Drink more water
93. Drink less diet dr. pepper
94. Eat more fruit and vegetables
95. Keep fresh fruit in the house
96. Play makeup with Gracie
97. Take Buster and Berry swimming
98. Take my lunch to work at least 3 times a week
99. Adopt an angel to shower with Christmas presents
100. Have a photo shoot with G, E and baby C
101. Make a new list of goals!

Here Goes

Because I love to read everyone else's blogs, and because I love to have distractions from the things that I should be doing, I have decided to start a blog. For those of you who don't already know, Billy and I are expecting our first child this summer. Carter Barton Holt is due to make his debut July 7, 2010. We are both really excited (and anxious). I've recently gotten lots of practice with my sister's kids, so I am not the total lost cause to mommyhood that I once was. Carter has some pretty cool cousins and an awesome aunt, who will update her blog more than I will, I'm sure, so check her out at www.blissfullytheirs.blogspot.com.

We already have one "child," Buster, and he has been the one and only love of our lives for 6 wonderful years. Buster is getting a little sister TOMORROW! We're getting a new black British lab puppy. I want to name her Erica Berry and call her "Berry," after my second all-time favorite Vol, Eric Berry. My ultimate fave, of course, is Peyton. I do not think that Buster will appreciate his new little sister invading his territory, but I am hopeful that he will learn to love her. On a related note, if one more person tells me that I am crazy for getting a puppy a few months before we have a baby, I am going to go postal. I know that puppies require a lot of work and attention. I am a grown up and I will get a puppy if I want to, dang it! It will be fine!

I've been practicing in a family law firm since July of 2009, despite my best efforts to avoid the practice of law altogether. My long term goal is to win the lottery. I have yet to purchase a single lottery ticket, so I realize that my chances are limited, but I stand by my plan. It is my ultimate (and sort of secret) goal to write a book. If I had to pick a dream career, I think that writing books would be mine. I have loved to read my entire life. I loved to read before we all got old and it became cool. I would write fun, carefree books, nothing thought provoking or serious. Life is full of too many serious things, and books are my favorite way to escape from reality, so I would definitely write books that would provide that same sort of mindless escape that I so cherish. Maybe someday I will get it together and make it happen.

All of my sister's friends have done a list of 101 goals to accomplish in 1001 days. Maybe I'll steal that idea for one of my next posts. I will also try and put up pics of our new addition when I can!