our little disney video

Whether you're 10, 30 or 50 years old, most people enjoy watching their family's home videos.  Smart phones make it easier than ever to make little short videos. It's the part where you need to MAKE SOMETHING out of all those little clips that often gets pushed to the side. When we went to Disney World, I knew I wanted to make this little video with pictures and video clips to remember how their eyes lit up, their sweet voices and excitement.  I wanted to remember each fun detail. This vacation was nothing less that a blessing to our family.

Here's a glimpse of our magical Disney Vacation....

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Quick trip to Baltimore & Washington DC

Jacob and I had the opportunity to go on a quick trip to Baltimore earlier this summer.   

I jotted down a little timeline while we were there...

Day 1:
It was the 1st time I had flown...that I can remember.  I think I had a couple times as a kid.
3:30am- wake up, get ready, hit the road.
5am-arrive at airport.  check in. security.  Chick-fil-A breakfast.  Score a window seat!  Overly excited as I watch a gorgeous sunrise.

6:10am-I was impressed that our 6am flight was prompt in leaving on time.

 6:30am-Jacob snoozes on the flight.  Me?  I am taking the coffee and peanuts (don't even eat peanuts, but it was part of the experience, right?!?

10ish- land in Baltimore.  Head to DC, excited that we have the entire day ahead of us and wanting to cram in all that DC had to offer.  Relying only on iPhone GPS, we get stupid-lost trying to get downtown as our GPS was contradicting what the road signs were saying.  In Jacob's defense, he is a great driver and usually easily navigates congested, confusing downtown roadways.  But DC was so screwed up.  Before we found a parking spot we were both pissed.  Even though I wanted to make the most of this day #1, we both were agreeing {in an argumentative way} that this was a bad idea!  We park in an underground parking deck and hope we can remember how to get back to our unfamiliar rental car.   15 minutes after parking, Jacob is tired of walking and announces that he has no interest in walking in all these museums.  AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

 12:00pm- Pass the castle.  I was most excited to visit the Holocaust Museum.   {In high school, I usually stuck to a couple topics for book reports, history project, etc.  I'm a Helen Keller and Holocaust wiz!}  I was disappointed to learn that I was supposed to already have gotten tickets to go into the 2-story exhibits.  So we just stuck to the main floor.  I was interesting what we did get to see.

 2pm-Even though Jacob's legs were about to fall off him, we made our way to the WW2 & Lincoln Memorial.  I enjoyed them all.  My papaw fought in WW2. Jacob's grandfather was in the National Gaurd for several years. We have a great deal of respect for our veterans & current soldiers.  It was humbling to see these memorials.

Selfie with Abe!

 3:00pm- our chicken biscuit from this morning was long gone, we were starving.  We found a Five Guys near where our car was.  We scarfed those burgers down and hit the road.  As frustrated and pissed off as we were navigating to DC, it was worse trying to make our way to our hotel in Baltimore.  After that stupid iPhone GPS got us making several wrong turns, we ditch the GPS and Jacob just uses the road signs to get us on the correct hwy.  NOW, we are stuck in traffic.  Shoot us.  What should've been a 40 minute straight shot, turned into an almost 2 hours of grumbling, huffs, puffs, a little cussing and silent treatment until we both started dosing off.  Remember, we had been going hard for a full 12 hours at this point.  Due to traffic, we were going a steady 15-20mph the entire time.  When we got close to the hotel, Jacob got a little over zealous & jumped the curb because he was so excited to be out of that car and finally to our destination!  Our room was nice.  It was directly next to the Camden Yards, home of the Orioles. {{FUN FACT: Jacob & I, along with our church youth group sang the national anthem on that field about 12-14 years ago!  They weren't playing any home games while we were there or else we would've tried to go to a game.}}

6pm-get ready for dinner.  Jacob picked out our dinner plans after seeing this ad in the plane magazine...

7:15pm-return the rental car.  Go on my 1st taxi ride to the restaurant.  Interesting.  Expensive.  So glad I have my own car and don't have to do that daily!  Dinner at The Prime Rib was amazing!  Delicious.  Romantic.  Fun.  

9:20pm-After sitting in the car earlier and that expensive cab ride, we decided to walk back to our hotel room.  It took us an hour. Only saw 1 homeless man sleeping. But the nighttime, city walk was nice.  The row houses were cool & different from what we are used to.  It felt good outside.  Although Jacob's legs were tired and hurting, he made it, with less complaints or maybe I had tuned them out.  Either way, I really enjoyed our long walk back. 

Day 2:

9am-It was cool and drizzly, but I refused to stay in the hotel room.  I went on a long run around the Inner Harbor, stopping only to explore the Seven Foot Knoll Lighthouse. It was maybe my most enjoyable 5 miles ever!

12pm-shower.  Eat this amazing sushi at Edu Sushi.  I had the Harbor Maki.  My mouth is watering thinking about it.  So delicious.  I then explored the shops at the Inner Harbor.  Took a nap.

 6:15pm- Got ready. After sitting in the lobby, watching it POUR down rain, I was praying it would stop soon so we could explore the inner harbor a little more. It finally did clear up.  I picked out this night's restaurant.  Phillips Seafood.  It advertised the best crab cakes, I wanted to be the judge.   I must say it was pretty dang perfect.  I ate the "Ultimate Crab Cake"  8oz of crab meat, mac & cheese, asparagus.  Then finished it with a bourbon cookie pie with ice cream.  Holy-moly was it good!

 Day 3:
9am-ridiculously expensive breakfast at the hotel restaurant. lesson learned.
10am-taxi to airport.
11am-because our boarding passes had us boarding last, Jacob and I weren't able to sit together...not even close.
2pm-got our girls, gave extra lovin, hugs & kisses.  We were so happy to see them!

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stopping to remember

Even though my to-do list for this weekend is a mile long, I feel the urge to sit in this seat and document my morning with my sweet girls.  Because this is the moments I never want to forget.  Later I'll fold the clothes, change the sheets, swap winter closets for summer clothes, finish trimming the crape myrtles, clean bathrooms, unload the dishwasher just to reload it just as fast. But I don't want to forget this morning....

I slept late, getting up around 8.  Bella came down in her princess jammies and messy hair.  She brushed her teeth in my sink, making a toothpaste mess.  I went outside to tell Jacob bye as he left to go help his mama move furniture.  Bella wanted her pink fishing pole.  She went to the flower bed to pretend to fish, until she realized there was no fishing line.  It feels perfect outside.  We came back in opened all the blinds and windows.  I'm sure I'll regret it when I find pollen inside...but it feels so good to not open them.  Lovely Lucy comes downstairs with her blanket, pillow and Minnie Mouse in hand and an oversized t-shirt on that her daddy brought her home yesterday.  

Bella asked for "pannacakes".  I'm not much of a cooker AT ALL, but I do enjoy cooking breakfast on the weekends.  So I gladly obliged.  The girls love being helpers.  We decided to add blueberries, which led to blue food dye for the perfect mini-blue-blueberry-pannacakes.  

They wanted to eat outside on the screened porch.

I'm on my 2nd cup of coffee, blogging about my beauties, music playing, windows open, washing machine buzzer just went off...ahh...I suppose it's time to begin tackling that mile long to-do list.

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Life's Little Blessings ~ Day 7

I'm linking up with Brynn during these 7 days of Life's Little Blessings.  Her post from today was so sweet!  She talked of our sweet friendship.

And opening His mouth He began to teach them, saying, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. "Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. "Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. "Blessed are you when men cast insults at you, and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, on account of Me. "Rejoice, and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Matthew 5:2-12

Life's Little Blessings ~ Day 7

I am a little stumped as to what to write about today.  It's almost 10:00pm and I'm still wondering what words I'll type.  I know it's kinda sad when I think about all the blessings in my life and I'm having a hard time with the final day.  

Maybe the best thing to do it discuss my day and all of life's little blessings throughout my day.  This morning I went to an Autism 5K in my town.  I helped pass out a few frisbees representing Coosa Valley Pediatrics.  I took the girls and they had fun riding the wagon, playing with friends, jumping in the bouncy house and getting their face's painted.  Some of my friends ran, one winning overall female!  Finishing the 5K in 26:30!  Way to go Jennifer Kissic!  But all my friends did a great job!  Dr Sawyer even ran with all 3 of her kids, pushing her youngest 2 and her 8-year old running with them!  I'm ready to do another one.  I know paying to run outside is crazy to some people...but it's fun, especially when your friends are their with you, encouraging you and cheering you on.  

 

This morning's blessings:

Running friends that inspire you to constantly be better.

Community that coordinates events to raise money for good causes.

Friends that are nice enough to play with and watch after your kids while you "help at your booth"

Blessed that no one stole my children during those few seconds they got out of my eye sight.

Perfect weather. 

Lucy was getting super cranky because she was tired.  We decided it was time to go, but Bella and 2 of her friends were having so much fun...so we brought the party to our house.  Lucy was happy to see her bed and was more than happy to "party" in her crib.  We had to be quiet since Jacob has been working night shift and he was still sleeping.  We hung out in the driveway/yard.  It was such a beautiful and warm day that we were all happy to be outside.  I even got a little sun.  However the amount of pollen was unbelievable!  EVERYTHING is yellow! We could actually see yellow waves of it when the wind blew.  We went on a neighborhood walk.  We are crazy-excited about some new neighbors who are prepping their land for building.  Even though it'll be a while before they actually move in, we are still excited!  We tatted our kids up with Scooby-Do tats.  Ate cookies.  Laughed, talked about frustrations and life.  Jacob and Lucy woke up, Jennifer and the girls went home.  We visited Bobo & Cassi as they are forming up for their new driveway.  Ate some chocolate and drank a bottle of water in one gulp.  Jacob got me a gun (for protection when he's away...just in case the boogie monster comes visiting).

This afternoon's blessings:

Nap time that does a 180 to a fussy toddler.

Good friends.

New neighbors. 

Exciting beginnings.

Girly giggles.

Safe Neighborhood.

Perfect weather.

A husband who wants me to protect myself & children in unsafe situations.

Jacob, the girls and I ate a yummy dinner together before he had to go into work.  Then I went grocery shopping with the girls.  Lucy loudly said "MMAAMMAA" and giggled throughout the entire store...getting louder and louder and louder.  She was cute the 1st time saying it...and VERY annoying the 50th time.  At the end of my shopping list I had one more item to check off my list that I was having a hard time finding.  As I was circling around and around...Lucy was getting louder and louder. I looked down, at these very dirty girls (from a fun day of playing outside), Lucy's hair was a total mess because she had pulled her little pony tail out, she was now screaming "MMAAMMAA"...I realized that we were THAT annoying family that everyone was wondering 'when are they leaving?'  Finally I knew it was time to wave that white flag and GO!  I checkout, load up, get home, unload, instruct the dirty girls to get in the bath, put them the bath while I put away the groceries.  I go into the bathroom to find this...

that would be Bella crawling up and around the tub because Lucy POOPED in the tub!  Ugh.  As if I weren't tired, with a pollen-induced-headache.  They immediately were evacuated to another tub where I quickly bathed them and put them to bed.  I texted Jacob all the "fun" I was having.  His response..."LOL".  I was scrubbing going...ha.  ha.  ha. Then I threw away every single toy you see in that tub, clorox scrubbed it, washed my hands, sat on the couch in the silence and ate an ice cream. It's now almost 11pm.  I'm going to tackle a large laundry basket full of warm, tiny, kid clothes.  When I'm folding their clothes, I swear it feels like there are 400 article of clothing in that one basket.  Why can't every load be like towels?  Anyways, then I'm showering and hitting the sack!

Tonight's blessings:

Family dinners.

Kisses in the parking lot.

The fact that we aren't on the 'People of Walmart' website.

Lysol and clorox

My super comfy couch, silence and ice cream

The fact that I only do laundry one day/week

A hot, cleansing shower

My bed (which is loudly calling my name right now)

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A Day in the Life of a Labor & Delivery Nurse......PUSH!!!!!!!!!

I'm excited to be joining in on my 1st link up!

I found Where We Can Live Like Jack and Sally through Mama Laughlin. And Holly is hosting this link up! To those who may be checking me out through them...WELCOME! I hope you enjoy it and stick around for a while.

  A couple weeks ago I did 'A Day in the Life' on an off day, so I thought I would give you a glimpse into a typical work day for me.  I have been a L&D nurse for the past 7 years.  Even though what I do is basically the same...no 2 days are the same! This was somewhat of a typical work day for me.  It was actually my most laid back work day of that week.  I would love to share some of the EXPLICIT DETAILS of my day...obviously I was very careful to protect all patient's information & personal details. As much as I enjoy blogging & sharing my world with y'all...I'm not willing to break the law (HIPPA) or lose my job. But in all it's vague glory, I think you'll find my day interesting....
{excuse the poor quality of the cell phone pics, a nurse can't carry around a large camera all day.}
{I used military time because that's what is used in the medical field.}

0445-alarm clock goes off...SNOOZE!

0454-drag myself out of bed.  Check out the gapped-up eye brow that I waxed off last night & attempt to color it in with make-up. (There are a few things in life that I try to save money and waxing my own eye brows is one of them...I might should reconsider and go to the salon.  Me & ol' Sally Hansen didn't do such a great job this time!!)

0521- in kitchen. Fix my lunch & coffee, Lucy's bottle, Bella's morning asthma meds and her snack-OJ & animal crackers (we are out of Cheerios & goldfish-her usual).

0530-get Bella up. She's upset about it. She was enjoying her sleep. She cries a good 10 minutes.

0540-wake Lucy up. Thankfully she's a happy girl.

0548-Run downstairs with both girls, one on each hip. Load up the car, as Jacob gives Bella her meds and asks me "Why are you taking my picture?!?".  "I'm doing my 1st link-up next week.  It'll be a "Day in the Life.  Have a good day.  Love you.  Bye!!"  

0550-now running late, but on the road.

0552-call and talk to my Daddy on our way to work.  We pass one another on the road & for the past 6 years, every time I go to work, I call him and talk for a few minutes.  *It's our time*

0602-drop them off at Mrs Betty's (home daycare). Mrs Betty reminds me that Lucy is completely out of formula...Jacob forgot to tell me! I call mama who lives in the same neighborhood in hopes that she has some to take to her.

0631-dang! I'm on empty! Stop, pump gas.  Fuss about how expensive gas prices are and how I should've filled up last night.

0652-park, badge on, rush upstairs. Clock in 1 minute late.  ugh!  Throw my stuff in my locker, go to the conference room to get my assignment and report.

0745-assist with a circumcision. Poor baby :-(   I'm glad I have girls!

0805-mama texts me back. She didn't have any formula.  SHOOT.  I hope Lucy is enjoying her 1st day of whole milk.

0820-visit with a co-worker who's in labor. 

(yes, I got permission to post this picture!)

0845-Discharge a pregnant patient who came in complaining of indigestion. (What I want to tell her~'yep hun, your stomach is up around your chest because there's a baby where your stomach used to be. It's called normal discomforts of pregnancy.  It sucks, I remember.  Go the full 40 and it'll all be over.')

0920-I like to think that I'm pretty good at starting IVs, but today proved me wrong. I couldn't get an IV & felt like a loser for hurting the girl.

0930-give a tour of a room to an expecting mother that just moved to the area.

0950-listened as my boss tells me the story of 2 children's books: The Littlest Angel & The Tale of 3 Trees. Watched her get teary eyed & cry at the desk! But they sound good...I plan on getting them.

1005-did postpartum teaching to a new mother. Gave instructions on things like how much bleeding to expect, hormone changes, how to treat her hemorrhoids, postpartum depression, pertussis prevention, how to cut the baby's nails, how to bath the baby, use of a bulb syringe, jaundice, car seat safety, how often it should be peeing, pooping, eating & sleeping, talked about shaken baby syndrome, colic, vaccines, when to call the doctor, on-and-on-and-on.....

1028-glance at the outside world

1030-get a full admission history a patient who thinks she's in labor.  Get her to sign a gazzillion consents.  Not really, just feels like it.

1040-vaginal exam

1100-give a shot in the butt

1115-ignored the fact that I brought my lunch to go "just look" & see what the cafeteria is serving today. Glance at what's in the gift shop as I breeze by. Wish I had some of that cute stuff! Dang it! 
They are serving 2 of my favorites!! I get a half of a buffalo chicken wrap as my 1st meal and a 6 piece fried shrimp with a side of fried okra as my 2nd meal. FATTY!  But it was good!

1145-regret eating all that fat-girl food

1200-really regret it when I see what the hubs posted on Facebook...he tagged me in it because I said I wanted to start back watching what I ate. Guilt!

1245-vaginal exam.

1400 (2pm)-successfully get an IV on the 1st attempt.   Whew, now I feel like a talented, skilled nurse again.

1450 (2:50pm)-hold a patient all hunched over while she gets an epidural, while I monitor her vital signs, IV fluids and her baby on the monitor.

1505 (3:05pm)- Insert a foley catheter in a bladder.  Vaginal exam.

1515 (3:15pm)-Heavily hint to the baby daddy, who is an attorney, to let me come to him to get a will written at a deep discount since they have a spectacular nurse taking care of them. (It's been on mine and the hubs To-Do List for the past couple of years)  He just smiled and gave me a business card.  I'm not sure if he heard the DEEP DISCOUNT part?!?!?

1545 (3:45pm)- hold a numb leg back as the doctor breaks the vagina dam.  Change several pads that are completely soaked with amniotic fluid.

1620 (4:20pm)- guilty pleasure.  Strawberry protein smoothie and a marshmallow bar

1640 (4:40pm)-  Vag exam.  Flip and flop positions with a patient who is completely numb...dead weight...cannot help move lower body at all.  Start sweating a little bit.

1700 (5pm)- vow with another co-worker not to say another filthy word for the rest of the day.  That's a little goal I'm working on...small achievable goals are easiest...right?!?

1730 (5:30pm)- more flipping and flopping, repositioning, adjusting the fetal monitors and fixing pillows just right and making sure her booty is covered all the way.  Answering lots of 1st time parents questions.

1840 (6:40pm)-laugh at the awesome t-shirt my mama sent me. I agree EVERYONE: WASH YOUR PART!

1900 (7pm)- offer to stay on-call for a friend, who isn't even working.  I felt bad that she would have to come in, so I stayed over for her.

1910 (7:10pm)- assist rushing a patient for a stat c-section.  Throwing things where they need to be.  Going over a mental checklist in record speed time.  Quick prayer while moving.

1916 (7:16pm)-Baby is fine!  Mama is fine!  I'm a sweaty stinkin mess, but now can exhale.

1940 (7:40pm)- Push a heavy bed with a mama and new baby in it to her new room, on carpet.  Still a sweaty, stinkin mess.

2000 (8pm)-massage a uterus, change pads with bloody clots on a patient who still cannot move.  Empty a urine catheter bag.

2040 (8:40pm)-tell my sweet patient and family congratulations and goodbye.

2045 (8:45pm)-check how my gapped-up eye brow is looking....not too shabby for working a 14 hour shift.  No one even noticed today or said, "Wow Megan, where's the middle of your eye brow?"  So I think I'll save my $15 every 2 weeks and keep trying to wax (and color in) my eye brows.

2050 (8:50pm)-get the ok from the charge nurse that I could go home and not stay until 11pm.  Yea!  Finally my work day comes to an end.  Jump in my car and crank the AC up.  I have been running for the past several hours & just want the cool air blowing in my face. My feet and legs feel tired.

my lunch that I packed that has sat untouched since this morning.

Carefully scan the almost empty parking deck for bad guys that are trying to kidnap and kill me.

Thankful post that my friend put on Facebook.  Makes me happy to help others!

2150 (9:50pm)- arrive home to a quiet house. Decide that I ate enough for lunch and should probably skip eating anything this late.  Opt for 2 Tylenol for a dull headache instead.

2200 (10pm)- shower, then sneak up to peek in on the 2 sleeping beauties.  Think about how I wish my time with them on my work days were more that 10 {sleepy, rushed} minutes in the mornings.

2230 (10:30pm)- quietly get into bed, make my To-Do List, scroll through Facebook & Instagram a little, plug up my phone and quickly dose off.

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This day would be considered a slower day than others.  Some other things I do that is not included on a regular basis are, but not limited to:

• give newborn baths
• hand and foot prints in baby books
• coach a pushing patient for up to 2-3 hours (with no breaks)
• catch a baby when it's not waiting for a doctor to get there...it's rare, but it happens
• shave pubic hairs before a c-section 
• help resuscitate newborns who come out premature or not breathing for whatever reason
• take patients ice, water, cokes, crackers, and blankets
• massage the lower back of a patient who is going natural because it's the only thing that helps her with the pain
• tell the patient, who wants an epidural, when her platelets are too low that she will not be able to get an epidural.  Then coach her through a total natural labor and delivery that she was totally unprepared to do.
• tell the patient that she isn't in labor and she has to go home and wait out the contractions until they get even stronger
• tell the patient that her water isn't broken that she probably just peed on herself
• ride on the bed, under the sheets, as the patient is being rushed to the OR while holding the cord to keep it from being compressed & keep her baby oxygenated.
• stare at the fetal monitor strip the ENTIRE 12 hour shift of an ornery baby
• comfort the patient who has to deliver her baby who's already gone to heaven 
• do the weight, measurements, footprints, lock of hair of these angels to give to the parents
• discuss disposition of their deceased angel...cremation or burial?
• quickly wipe up the poop of a patient who is pushing and tell her it's no big deal when she asks "what is that smell, did I do that???"
• help daddy's change their very 1st diapers ever
• help new mothers breastfeed their baby
• washing my hands a thousand times/day
• scrub my forearm when va-jay-jay juice gets past my gloved hand

Seriously, the list goes on and on~~~  

My job is jammed packed full of exciting, gross, frustrating and tender moments.

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